《The Last Experience Point》 Chapter 1: Respawn Chapter 1: Respawn Zach groaned nervously as he ducked and dodged his way through the throngs of people while making his way down one of the busier blocks in the garment district of Whispery Woods. It was a dumb idea to come down this stretch of commercial madness. What the hell had he been thinking? As things were, he was already running late enough to class, and he was about to show up even later as he noticed road workers drilling loudly into the sidewalk ahead of him. So now, he¡¯d have to cross the street to the opposite sidewalk and then inch his way closer to a lesser-busy block further up¡ªassuming he could even get around the giant cluster of people who all intended to do the same. I hate living in the Whispery Woods, he thought. It was bad enough that there was so much noise you could barely hear yourself think, but the city was so dense and so populated it felt downright claustrophobic at times. It was a massive metropolis of impossibly tall skyscrapers and loud, fast-moving hover vehicles. As he stood on the corner of the street and waited for his chance to cross, he watched, mesmerized, as hundreds of Dual-Engine Hover Vehicles¡ªDEHVs¡ªwhirled past his vision, blasting him with a never-ending gust of wind as they zipped by. Why was it taking so long for the light to change? ¡°Hey, Zach! There you are!¡± a voice called from somewhere off behind him. Zach was surprised he could even hear it at all with all the drilling from the crews repairing the damaged sidewalk and all the merchants shouting at pedestrians to come and buy their various foods, gadgets, gizmos, and whatever else they were selling. Zach glanced over his shoulder and sighed at the sight of the overly energetic girl that came blasting into his field of vision. ¡°Zach!¡± she said cheerfully. ¡°Wait up! Don¡¯t be mean.¡± Fourteen-million people live in Whispery Woods, and somehow Kalana finds me every single day. Ever since the beginning of the school year, Kalana had followed him almost everywhere he went; as far as Zach was aware, he was Kalana¡¯s only friend. She was introverted around everyone but him. Why him? He had no idea. Kalana could easily have become one of the more popular girls at school if she could only get over her low self-esteem. She was a bit on the shorter side, with short, dark brown curly hair and curious green eyes that peered out at the world with wonder. She was also pretty hot¡ªeven if she hid it behind overly modest clothing and an almost religious devotion to shyness. Her ears were also slightly more pointed than the average person¡¯s, and Kalana had once claimed it was because she had Elvish blood in her despite Elves having gone extinct thousands of years ago. It was a nonsense claim that Zach couldn¡¯t take seriously. ¡°Hey, Kal,¡± he said weakly. Why did she always have to bother him when he was in a rush? It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t enjoy talking to her, but she didn¡¯t run as fast as he did, and if he had to keep pace with her, it¡¯d slow him down. Not that it really mattered at the moment. Muttering a curse, he kicked the empty air in front of him, causing a brief outline of the electric-like, reddish-brown crossing barrier to briefly appear before disappearing less than a second later. To protect pedestrians from the instant¡ªand gruesome¡ªdeath involved with having a DEHV turn you into roadkill, no one would be able to cross the street until the light changed. ¡°How come you didn¡¯t come to my apartment this morning?¡± she asked him, her lips bunching up as if hurt. ¡°You never wait for me.¡± ¡°Because you take so long to get ready. Oh, and I overslept to begin with.¡± She folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. ¡°You love school too much. Nerd.¡± At this, Zach laughed. ¡°I don¡¯t love school, dummy. It¡¯s just I hate living in this crap-hole city, and the only way I¡¯m getting out is if I get into a good college with a good major, like¡­I don¡¯t know, engineering or computer science or something.¡± ¡°You really don¡¯t like it here?¡± she asked. Zach gave her a firm shake of the head. To say he hated the Whispery Woods would be the understatement of a lifetime. It was filthy, the crime was getting worse every day, and it was too overpopulated. He wanted to live in the much more spacious, comfortable suburbs just outside of the city. His dream was to own his own home in some high-end neighborhood like the DreadWound Catacombs or maybe even¡ªif he did really well for himself¡ªhe could even afford to live at the top of a skyscraper in a much nicer city like one of those high-risers in the Tomb of Fire or the smaller but more stylish condos in the Plains of Mist. Zach sighed. Most likely, he¡¯d be stuck here forever. Money was just too hard to come by and rising up the ladder was just way too¡ª ¡°Zach! The light changed,¡± Kalana said, snapping him out of his trance. ¡°Oh¡ªoh, right. Let¡¯s go!¡± Without saying another word, he reached out and grabbed her hand, then began dragging her behind him as he raced across the street with her. Why did her face turn red? Was she cold? It was the end of spring, the weather was turning warm, and the sun shined beautifully across the big blue sky above. Maybe she wasn¡¯t feeling well. Thankfully, she wasn¡¯t too sick to run, as she was able to keep his pace for once while he dashed through street just in time for the barriers to reappear and the noisy, gusty, avalanche of fast-moving DEHVs to resume. Spinning his body sharply to the left, he took off at another run, nearly knocking Kalana over as he bolted down the sidewalk past four dilapidated, fifty-story-high apartment buildings with restaurants at their base level¡ªall of them out of his price range despite being housed in such run-down, practically crumbling buildings. I don¡¯t even have 20g to my name. I need a damn job. Until last week, he did have a job delivering pizzas, but freaking Kalana had been having those ¡°dreams¡± of hers again or whatever the hell they were, so he¡¯d had to go over to her apartment and comfort her. The girl was crazy, always having these bizarre nightmares that would then become Zach¡¯s problem. Ever since she moved into the apartment across from his three years ago and decided on her own to be his new best friend, she pestered him at all hours of the day. Still, sometimes, when he looked at her from just the right angle, he couldn¡¯t help but feel this tiny little pain in his chest that¡­ No! What am I thinking? This is Kalana we¡¯re talking about! Running as fast as he could manage, Zach continued his mad dash down the sidewalk with Kalana until, once again, something just had to get in his way. This was really turning out to be a terrible morning. It was almost 9 a.m., school started at 8:30, and yet something else just had to pop up and get in his way. It was bad enough he hadn¡¯t had time to comb his wavy, jet black hair or slip into anything more sophisticated than a plain white t-shirt and a pair of black track pants, but now, in what was already a late start, he grunted in disbelief as a pudgy man in an orange hardhat stepped in front of him with his palms held out. ¡°Can¡¯t come this way, kids,¡± he said to them. ¡°Why the hell not?¡± Zach snapped. ¡°I need to get to school.¡± The man shrugged. ¡°Bunch¡¯a boys decided it¡¯d be funny to knock down a power line, so we¡¯ve got ourselves an electricity hazard. Should be fixed in an hour.¡± ¡°An hour? I don¡¯t have a damn hour. Look, I¡¯ll step around it. Just let me pass.¡± ¡°No can do, kiddo. Where you headin¡¯, anyway?¡± ¡°We both attend HS-54.¡± He nodded, then spat a wad of yellow-green onto the street. ¡°Your best bet is¡±¡ªhe pointed off behind him and to his left¡ª¡°to take 45th and Blood Wolf down and keep going until you hit 47th, then make a right, and you¡¯ll¡ª¡± ¡°Dude, I know how to get to school,¡± Zach interrupted him. ¡°I¡¯ve lived in this garbage city all my life. I need to get there on time.¡± Once again, the pudgy man shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t sleep in next time, kid. Not sure what ya want me to tell ya.¡± ¡°Whatever. Kalana, let¡¯s go.¡± Without looking behind him, he took off at a fast walk in the direction indicated, fairly certain that the girl would follow behind him. Even amid the raucous sounds and the buzz of drilling, he was pretty sure he could hear her agitated footsteps as she tried to keep up with him. Not that he needed to hear her to know she was there: that became perfectly clear as he abruptly stopped short, and she bumped into him. An idea had come to him: a pretty damn good one, too. ¡°Ouch, Zach! What the hell?¡± Zach spun around on her so fast that she flinched. ¡°W-what¡¯re you¡ª¡± ¡°Kalana!¡± he shouted. ¡°I have an idea.¡± She scrunched her lips together and regarded him skeptically. ¡°Your ideas usually end with us getting into trouble.¡± He waved off her remark, then nodded his head at the apartment complex behind him, at the base of which was a mid-range clothing shop and shoe store. ¡°Let¡¯s go through there.¡± ¡°Where?¡± He grabbed her hand¡ªgently this time¡ªand moved it so that it was oriented off towards the left side of the building, where a fenced-off section blocked off an entrance to an alleyway. ¡°There,¡± he said. Kalana¡¯s eyes widened just a moment before she again narrowed them. ¡°That¡¯s dumb. We can¡¯t go there.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s unstable!¡± She marched over to the fence that spanned the short distance between the apartment complex and an office building parallel to it. Then she pointed to the sign with the yellow background and red exclamation point. ¡°You love reading, Zach. So read!¡± Zach laughed, rolling his eyes. She took everything so seriously. ¡°They just put that up as a precaution. It¡¯s so you can¡¯t sue them for like a million gold if you get hurt.¡± Just behind her was a sign that read: WARNING: DO NOT ENTER. SERIOUS RISK OF INJURY OR DEATH DUE TO GROUND INSTABILITY. Zach approached so that he stood next to her and directly in front of the sign. Then he flicked it dismissively. ¡°If we cut through here, we can get to school¡­well, not on time, but I won¡¯t miss my test.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re not gonna,¡± she said, her tone leaving no room for debate. ¡°Maybe you¡¯re not. But I am.¡± ¡°But Zach! You read the sign. It¡¯s too dangerous to¡ª¡± Zach ignored her and hopped into the air, only just managing to grab the top of the fence with both his hands. Then, grunting with exertion, he lifted himself until swinging his right leg over the top of it, the rest of his body following. Then he dropped back down, landing in a crouch and sending a shock into his knees. In hindsight, he should¡¯ve thrown his backpack over first so that the heavy holobooks didn¡¯t weigh him down. That was what Kalana did, anyway. ¡°I thought you were too scared?¡± ¡°I am!¡± she said, her backpack nearly landing on top of Zach¡¯s head. He had to step backwards, nearly being clobbered by the thing. It landed on the ground in front of him with a whoosh. ¡°But if you¡¯re going, so am I.¡± He laughed, then watched as she awkwardly climbed up, swinging her own leg over the top of the fence. Kalana usually wore very long, plain skirts. Yet the motion of her leg as it cleared the fence caused it to hike up, and for just a brief moment, Zach unintentionally saw her underwear, which caused an immediate flush of heat to race into his cheeks. He quickly averted his eyes both out of respect and because he wouldn''t be able to handle Kalana taunting him about being a pervert. Reaching down to grab his backpack and sling it over his right shoulder, he craned his neck in the direction of the alleyway. ¡°Let''s keep going, Kal.¡± She slapped him, and he glanced at her, confused. ¡°You¡¯re gross,¡± she said. ¡°Huh? What are you talking about.¡± "You know." "No I don''t." She gave him a brief look of disapproval, narrowing her eyes at him. But thankfully, she didn''t press the issue. Together, the two of them made their way down the narrow alleyway, which was only wide enough to fit two normal-sized people standing side by side. Even still, they walked single file, with Kalana behind him. ¡°How are we gonna get over the fence on the other side?¡± she asked. ¡°It¡¯s taller than the one we just went through.¡± ¡°It¡¯s simple. I¡¯ll boost you up, and then I¡¯ll climb it. I can probably jump high enough to reach that.¡± She grumbled as the two of them passed the halfway point between the fence they¡¯d just hopped over and the one they were heading towards. ¡°We¡¯d better not get stuck here because of you. Then you¡¯ll be even later for school, and I¡¯ll be the one who feels dumb about it, because I knew this was a bad idea and I let you do it.¡± Zach laughed derisively and rolled his eyes. ¡°Kal, you need to stop being such a worrywart. That¡¯s why you¡¯re always having bad dreams.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not why,¡± she said, somewhat more angrily than Zach would¡¯ve expected. It actually caused a pang of guilt to creep into his chest. ¡°And for the record, you can say whatever you want about my dreams, but you¡¯re lucky I don¡¯t tell everyone in school that last week I caught you¡ªgahhhhhh!¡± Kalana¡¯s scream startled him, but not as much as his own scream. With a loud, snapping-crunch, a crack¡ªno, tear began to form under the pavement between his left foot and the wall of the apartment complex, expanding in a straight line so that it ran from him, to Kal, and to a little bit into the distance behind her. ¡°Oh, man, this is bad,¡± he said with a gulp. ¡°Kal, why did you insist we come this way?¡± ¡°Shuttup!¡± she snapped. ¡°What¡¯re we gonna do? Should we stay still or run?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°I dunno either! If we run, it might make it worse.¡± ¡°Yeah but¡­if we stay completely still, then what? Do we call the peacekeepers? The flame department? We¡¯ll get fined or worse for being here. What do we even do?¡± ¡°How about listen next time when the sign tells us it¡¯s too dangerous!¡± Zach frowned. ¡°Kalana, I asked you what we should do not what we shouldn¡¯t have done. Okay, just stay calm. I¡¯m sure everything will be just¡ª¡± With another snapping-crunch, another tear formed, splitting the ground in a straight line that once again ran from just beyond his right foot to an inch or two in front of Kalana. ¡°¡ªfine?¡± he asked. And then there was a final crunch, and this one was louder than any other sound he¡¯d heard today in the noisy city. With a desperate cry, he called out Kalana¡¯s name, and then the ground gave way completely. Before Zach knew what was happening, he found himself falling into the dark depths below the city. The sound of their screams joined together, and the two of them yelped in horror while they fell faster and faster and faster. They were going to die, weren¡¯t they? Zach had just gotten them both killed. Even as he fell to his certain death, he regretted letting her follow him. He deserved this for his own stupidity: she didn¡¯t. Why had he been so stupid? After what seemed like ten eternities but was probably closer to five or six seconds, Zach slowed dramatically until coming to a halt. It was only then that he realized he was underwater. Less than a split second later, he heard a loud splash followed by the form of Kalana¡¯s body shooting downwards next to him. It was so dark in here, but there was just enough light for him to realize he was staring into her eyes, and she into his. The surprise and fear in those green orbs was overtaken in a matter of moments by both indignation and a sense of relief. Together, the two swam upwards and resurfaced¡ªor at least Zach tried to. Just as he was about to come up for air, he realized he was weighted down too much by his backpack, which had fallen off his shoulder and had somehow gotten stuck to a rock down below. Somehow, one of the straps had actually gotten itself tied around his foot, and try as he might, Zach could not break it free; thus, it was tethering him like an anchor. Panicking, he struggled to breathe; Kalana, unsurprisingly, did not. Kalana was an amazing swimmer; whenever they went swimming in the lake during summer vacation, she would show off how long she could hold her breath. It was almost inhuman the way she could stay under for ten, twenty minutes at a time. That really came in handy now as she swam over to him, unzipped her own pack, and then removed a pair of scissors that she used to cut the strap and set him free. Together, the two swam up and above the water line. ¡°Oh, Gods above!¡± Zach shouted, gasping and panting. ¡°I thought I was going to die there.¡± ¡°You were gonna die there,¡± Kalana said. ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± ¡°Th-thanks,¡± he whispered. ¡°Uh, where are we?¡± Treading the water, Kalana darted her head around. ¡°No idea. Val En Sha!¡± she cried. Zach literally squawked in amazement as a light popped into existence above her curly-haired head. It wasn¡¯t very bright, but it was just enough to allow the two of them to see a few feet ahead of where they currently swam. Not that Zach cared about where he was anymore. Not after seeing that. He was in such awe of what he¡¯d witnessed that he almost forgot to kick with his feet, nearly submerging himself back under the water. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. This can¡¯t be real. This is impossible. ¡°Kal, you have an ability?¡± he asked, shocked to the point he struggled to breathe, though this time not due to the water. Of all things, she rolled her eyes at him. ¡°It¡¯s just a torch. It¡¯s not that big of a deal.¡± ¡°Yes it is! I¡¯ve never, ever, ever seen someone have an ability before. Except on TV during the yearly tournaments.¡± ¡°So? You¡¯re acting way too, you know, impressed about this, Zach. It¡¯s basically just a flashlight, and those only cost 5g at the hardware store.¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡­but it¡¯s something! When was the last time you saw someone who could actually do magic or anything?¡± ¡°What¡¯s it even matter?¡± ¡°Also, since when do humans have racial abilities? Everyone who¡¯s taken basic history knows that only El¡ª¡± he gasped¡ª¡°you really do have Elvish blood in you.¡± ¡°Duh. I told you that the day I met you.¡± ¡°But¡­but no one does.¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Okay, but¡­wow, this changes everything.¡± ¡°Why? Because I can make a torch above my head? It¡¯s really not a big deal. You better not treat me differently or nothin¡¯! I¡¯m serious. Now can we just get out of here please? My clothing is soaked and I feel grimy.¡± ¡°I''m not exactly comfortable either, Kal.¡± ¡°Yeah, but this is all your fault,¡± she growled. ¡°So you don''t get to complain. And also don¡¯t bug me about the stupid ability, either. You¡¯re being annoying today.¡± ¡°Okay, fine. But I just have to say: you realize you could be the coolest kid at school if you showed that off, right?¡± ¡°Well maybe I don¡¯t wanna be.¡± Swimming further into the darkness, the only sound that could be heard other than their arms as they navigated their way across the water was the intermittent sound from a now rather angry Kalana. How mad was she? Zach gulped. He wasn¡¯t sure if she was mad because of his reaction to her ability or if she was mad that she was soaking wet from what was¡ªhopefully¡ªnot sewer water. Or could it be that she was more irritated over the fact that he hadn''t listened to her when, in all fairness, he probably should have. Wherever this place was, it was big. It took nearly twenty minutes of swimming before they found something dry to stand on. It was a ledge just ahead of them. Given that Kal¡¯s torch was less bright than a cheap-end flashlight, they nearly bumped into it, which would have hurt. Still, even if it wasn¡¯t as bright as a hand-held, battery-operated flashlight, it didn¡¯t make it any less cool. It was still something. Hoisting himself up onto the ledge and then onto what felt like a rocky, cavernous floor, Zach spun around, held out his hand, and then pulled Kalana up next to him. She had her arm folded across her chest, and the fact that she noticed that he noticed she had her arm there only seemed to intensify her glare as she bared her teeth at him. ¡°Not going to lie to you,¡± he said, hoping to change the subject. ¡°I have no idea where we are.¡± He reached into his pocket, hoping his phone¡¯s GPS would shed some light on the situation. ¡°Oh, and great, my phone¡¯s busted. I can¡¯t afford another one. I don¡¯t just have 500g lying around!¡± ¡°Your own fault,¡± she said. ¡°You did this to your own¡±¡ªher eyes bulged, and Zach gulped¡ª¡°self? Ahh! Mine¡¯s busted too. You¡¯re buying me a new phone, Zach.¡± Flailing his arms in outrage, he shouted, ¡°How? I can¡¯t even afford to buy my own phone!¡± She poked him in his chest¡ªhard. ¡°I don¡¯t care how. You¡¯re buying me a new phone. It¡¯s your fault we¡¯re here.¡± ¡°No¡ªnot really! If you think about it, you insisted on following me. I was just going to leave you behind. This is at least half your fault.¡± ¡°Nah-uh,¡± she said. With her soaking wet hair, her scrunched up pouty face, and the way she folded her arms over her chest, Zach, in that moment, for a reason he couldn¡¯t even begin to explain, wanted to kiss her so badly that it actually hurt. It was an instinct that had come along so suddenly he hadn¡¯t been expecting it. ¡°Why¡¯re you looking at me like that? What¡¯s the problem now, dork?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s nothing,¡± he said blinking several times before spinning around to face away from her. ¡°Let¡¯s just find a way out of here.¡± For the next several minutes, they ventured deeper into this expanse of rocky terrain and utter darkness, their only source of light coming from the one Kalana had summoned above her head. Twice more, she had to redo the spell, and on the third one, she made a nervous-sounding moan and said, ¡°I can¡¯t make another one of these, Zach. We need to hurry.¡± ¡°Huh? Why not?¡± ¡°I can only do it three times every twenty-four hours.¡± Zach didn¡¯t mean to chuckle, but he couldn¡¯t help himself. ¡°Why does such a weak-ass ability have such a long cooldown?¡± From the glare in Kalana¡¯s eyes, Zach could tell he¡¯d touched a nerve. He wasn¡¯t sure why, though. But from the look of her, she was definitely feeling defensive. ¡°Well, so I guess it¡¯s not such a cool ability after all, huh?¡± ¡°N-no, it still is!¡± ¡°You¡¯re a liar. You think it¡¯s lame.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t! You saw how excited I was before.¡± ¡°You were faking.¡± ¡°Wait, time out. You are the one who told me it¡¯s just a lame ability or whatever. Or no¡­I think your exact words were that it was ¡®no big deal¡¯.¡± ¡°So? I still wanted you to think it was¡­you know what? I don¡¯t wanna talk about it. Keep walking, pal.¡± ¡°Jeeze, fine!¡± Aside from the drip-drip-drip of water from the ceiling and the occasional squeak of what was likely a bat, there was very little to see or hear in this place aside from a puddle every now and again. Making sure Kalana wasn¡¯t falling behind, Zach continued to lead the two of them towards what he was beginning to fear would be an endless stretch that spanned the entire city. What if there was no way out? What if they got stuck in here forever and died of starvation or dehydration? Their phones were broken, so they had no way of calling for help, and because the city was so short on gold, it would probably be months¡ªif not years¡ªbefore any crews came around to fix that patch of broken ground. I¡¯m just scaring myself. I need to be cool. Keep it together. He hoped this wouldn¡¯t be the place of his death. He had too many dreams. He wanted to be successful. He wanted to live in a nice home. And just now, for whatever reason, he just decided in this moment he wanted to someday marry Kalana, even as it made him cringe to think of it. ¡°Hey, I see something up ahead!¡± she said cheerfully. Well, at least she isn¡¯t mad anymore. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I dunno.¡± The source of light only cast a few feet in front of her, and Zach had no idea what she was talking about. Then again, she always did have amazing vision. He didn¡¯t doubt she¡¯d spotted something. ¡°Is it a way out?¡± he asked. ¡°I dunno what it is. It¡¯s straight the way we¡¯re going.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s the only way we can go.¡± ¡°Shuttup.¡± ¡°Fine, whatever. Anyway, that light source isn¡¯t going to last much longer. We really need to pick up the pace.¡± Without waiting for her to reply, Zach took off at a sprint, the sound of his feet tapping down against this rocky underground cavern now the only sound to be heard¡ªat least until, a few seconds later, the sound of Kalana¡¯s footsteps joined his. She was a bit behind but not by much. ¡°Wait for meeeee!¡± she called. Zach laughed. Why was she so cute when she was worried or angry? It almost made him want to run even faster just so she had to yell out to him more. But that probably wasn¡¯t a good idea as, the farther he got from her, the less he could see. In fact, he was now submerged in complete darkness. Glancing over his shoulder, the only thing he could still see was the source of light coming from Kalana as she hurried to his side. Once alongside him, she stopped short. Then her eyebrows rose to the top of her face, her mouth fell open, and she lifted a shaking, trembling finger. ¡°Kal?¡± he asked, becoming concerned. ¡°What is it?¡± Rather than reply, she opened her mouth even wider, her finger shaking even more uncontrollably. ¡°Zach. Z-Zach. Zach. Zach!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Look!¡± Zach turned his head back around¡ªand then nearly died of a heart attack right there on the spot. The shock of what he saw hit him with such unbelievable force that it made the earlier sight of Kalana using magic feel like a boring math lecture. As his eyes struggled to cope with what they saw before him, he needed to actually put in effort just to breathe. It wasn¡¯t a stretch to say that this was, literally, the most astonishing thing that he had ever borne witness to. Nothing could or would ever come close. On the ground before him were three creatures. Two were frogs the size of big dogs, and one was a rat the size of a house cat. But that wasn¡¯t what made him fill with such disbelief and awe that his knees nearly buckled; no, it was what appeared in white lettering above the creatures¡¯ heads: Level 1. ¡°Are these mobs?¡± he said with a gasp as what felt like a million volts of electricity caused his skin to prickle. ¡°I¡­I think so,¡± Kalana whispered. There was a small smacking sound, and Zach briefly turned his head to see her covering her mouth with her hand in what had to be the same level of amazement that he himself felt. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. There are no spawns in Whispery Woods. There¡¯s no spawns anywhere anymore. These can¡¯t be mobs. There haven¡¯t been any for five-hundred years or maybe more. Right? Or was it a thousand? My history textbook is back where we fell. So I¡­I don¡¯t know what we¡¯re seeing.¡± ¡°Ruhhbbbit,¡± croaked the dog-sized frog. ¡°Ruhhbt.¡± ¡°This can¡¯t be real. This can¡¯t be really happening.¡± ¡°I think it is,¡± Kalana said. She pointed. ¡°I think those are mobs and this is a spawn.¡± ¡°That¡¯s impossible! Only the elites have spawns. There are no spawns left in most of the world. If there were, some rich dude would¡¯ve bought the entire neighborhood around it by now and farmed it for himself. No one¡¯s leveled up in¡­well, who knows?¡± Everyone knew that almost the entire population of the planet of Galterra was level-1. Only the special few at the top could rise. They were like superheroes. They were stronger than the average person, and they could do things¡ªincredible things. They were like Gods among men. No one really knew for sure why people destroyed all the spawn points after the rise of industrialization. The history books weren¡¯t clear. The only thing people knew for sure was that only those who were special got to level up. ¡°Should we¡­¡± Zach inhaled sharply. ¡°Should we¡­kill them?¡± He flinched as Kalana grabbed his shoulder and squeezed. ¡°No, you dork! We¡¯ll die. We don¡¯t have any weapons or equipment. No one does! No one¡¯s ever even seen equipment except on TV.¡± Zach returned his attention to the beasts. ¡°They don¡¯t look so tough to me.¡± ¡°Zach, no! I will never forgive you if you get yourself killed.¡± ¡°How come they¡¯re not attacking us, anyway?¡± Kalana, on a shaky, uneasy-looking foot, stepped forward so that she was now directly beside him. ¡°I think they¡¯re passive. Meaning, they¡¯ll only attack if we attack first.¡± Under his breath, he muttered, ¡°I wonder if they can only attack three times every twenty-four hours.¡± As pain entered his back, he realized she¡¯d heard him¡ªand had slapped him. Zach ignored it. Instead, he shook his head, still in a total state of disbelief. ¡°Do you realize what this means, Kal? If we kill these things, then we can come back when they respawn. And we can kill them again. And again. And again. We might level up. We might even¡­we could get to like level four!¡± ¡°Stop that. You¡¯re gonna talk yourself into doing something really dumb, which is how we ended up here in the first place. People like us aren¡¯t, uh, you know, supposed to be¡­this isn¡¯t our world.¡± Zach gritted his teeth in frustration. She was right. This wasn¡¯t his world. But he couldn¡¯t accept that, could he? He was tired of this filthy city. He was tired of living a mediocre life below the poverty line in this low-end city where the best food money could buy still sucked! There was so much more out there in the world. With his left hand, he tapped his right shoulder blade three times in a row, and as usual, his stats popped up, the numbers floating in the air before him. Like just about 99.9% of other humans on Galterra, he was level 1, with 1 strength, 1 dexterity, 1 constitution, 1 intelligence, 1 point into speed, and 1 point into luck. Same as any other boring, ordinary human he had ever met or would ever meet. No one ever really bothered to check their stats anymore. Why would they? Intelligence had nothing to do with how smart someone was, and luck? Well, if he had any of that, he wouldn¡¯t be living in the Whispery Woods, now would he? Oddly enough, strength did have real-world effects if he recalled correctly. But for intelligence to matter, you needed to have access to spells or something. I wonder if Kalana¡¯s light would be brighter and last longer if she had more of that. Frowning at him, Kalana asked, ¡°Why¡¯re you looking at your stats? What are you, five?¡± The only real use the stats had to anyone was to goof off during class and make it hard for the kid sitting in front of you to see the blackboard. Everyone was fascinated with it when they were young, though. Little kids at the park would run around with their stats out and pretend to be higher-level. But it was just a boring fact of life once you got out of kindergarten. Not something anyone really thought about anymore¡ªthough Zach did recall a guy once getting arrested for leaning forward in a taxi-DEHV and intentionally bringing out his stats to blind the driver, causing a major accident that killed fifteen people. ¡°I¡¯m just thinking,¡± he said. ¡°Well, don¡¯t. This has nothing to do with us. Just¡­let¡¯s go.¡± Zach nodded as Kalana, taking charge for once, began to walk away. He followed her¡ªor at least he wanted to. I don¡¯t want to keep living this boring, garbage life. I want to be someone. I want to go places! ¡°Zach?¡± she called to him. ¡°Zach!¡± she repeated more firmly. This could be my chance. This could be my ticket to a better world. I can be someone! I can¡­even if I only ever get level 2, I¡¯ll be better than everyone I¡¯ve ever known. ¡°Zach!¡± she practically screamed. ¡°Don¡¯t. Don¡¯t! You better not, dork. I swear, you better not.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Kalana. I have to.¡± ¡°No!¡± she cried. ¡°Zach, I swear to the Gods above, if you even think about¡ª¡± He did it. He had to. He knew he had to. Pulling back his fist, he decked the frog-like creature on his left, slamming his fist into its face. At the same time, Kalana¡¯s words cut off with a gasp, and there was a brief moment of silence, during which a tiny little number ¡°1¡± popped up for a brief instant above the dog-sized frog. Zach swallowed. ¡°Oh sh¡ª¡± ¡°RRRRRRRRRIIBIIIIIIT!¡± it roared angrily. The creature jumped into the air, spun around so that it faced him, and then kicked out with its legs, slamming them into Zach¡¯s chest, causing pain to flare up immediately as he was thrown several feet backwards, slamming into the rocky wall behind him, which hurt even more. ¡°Zach! Zach!¡± Kalana cried. ¡°Oh, Gods above! What have I done?¡± ¡°RRRRRRRRIIIIIIBBBIIIIIIIIIIT!¡± it roared again, and so did the other one. Both began walking towards him, their eyes turning from white to red, seemingly glowing. The rat also made an angry-sounding squeak and started crawling towards him. ¡°I pissed it off. Oh, damn. I pissed it off!¡± Zach turned around and fled, running as if his life depended on it. He was going to die. For real this time! He should¡¯ve taken the win the last time he¡¯d thought he was going to die and hadn¡¯t. But now? Now he was definitely going to die. And this was made clear to him as the frog outran him, jumping again, and this time kicking him in the small of his back. He was sent forward and he landed with a rough plop down onto his stomach. The fall hurt. It hurt badly. In fact, now that he thought about it, the fall hurt way more than the two times he¡¯d been kicked. Like, way more. Wait a minute¡­ He scrambled back up to his feet as the two frogs and the rat surrounded him. Roaring again, the frog jumped, spun its body midair, and kicked¡ªonly this time, Zach crossed his arms, making an X-shape, and he absorbed the impact. It still pushed him back a few feet, but it didn¡¯t hurt to the extent he¡¯d been expecting. Then he grinned. ¡°Kalana! I think we can do this!¡± Once again, he struck out, slamming his fist into the face of the same frog he¡¯d attacked earlier, only this time using even more of his strength. The frog recoiled and roared in pain as a ¡°2¡± appeared above its head. I hit it for 2 damage. Is that good or bad? I don¡¯t even know. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you got me into this! You¡¯re gonna get it later!¡± Kalana yelled as she jumped over the frog and landed by his side. Then she too punched the frog, hitting for another point of damage. ¡°RRIIIIIIIIIIIIBIIIIIIIT!¡± Zach pushed her away and jumped to where she¡¯d been standing, absorbing the impact of the frog¡¯s retaliatory attack. At the same time, the other frog went in on him, and twice more, he was pushed back. Then the rat bit him¡ªand that really hurt. He cried out in agony, swinging his foot furiously as the rat¡¯s teeth sank deeper and deeper into the right side of his heel. Finally, he managed to knock it off, and based on the amount of blood that began to ooze out and run down onto the rocky floor, the thing had taken a chunk of his skin off. Kalana gasped. ¡°You¡¯re bleeding! Zach, we need to run!¡± ¡°We can¡¯t outrun them. They¡¯re faster than us. They¡¯re¡ªoh Gods it¡¯s going to bite me again.¡± Zach threw himself out of the way the exact moment the rat shot towards him like a rocket, snapping at the air where he¡¯d just been standing. Pain entered every joint in his body as he impacted roughly with the hard ground. Fueled by nothing but adrenaline and a will to live, he scrambled back up to his feet, ran forward, and with all his strength, he kicked the Gods-forsaken beast with every last ounce of his strength, causing it to lift up and off the ground and slam with a disgusting-sounding slap into the wall he himself had just collided with only moments prior. The kick itself only did 2 points of damage, but the impact with the wall did 10! He charged after it, intending to hit it again. But before he could so much as cross half the distance between himself and the rat, it simply rolled over, made a sad croaking sound, and then disappeared into a puff of smoke. And then he saw the numbers that would change his life forever. +50xp. (2xp + 48xp first-time new adventurer bonus) Level up! +1 str (2) +1 con (2) +1 spd (2) Wave Slash Acquired! He was so stunned and so fascinated by what he was seeing that, for a few moments, he totally forgot where he was or what he¡¯d involved himself in. He was reminded only as Kalana called out to him, fear and desperation in her voice. ¡°Behind you, dork!¡± Both frogs were kicking out at him at the same time. There was no way he was going to avoid their attack. It was impossible. Sure, he¡¯d try. But there was simply no humanely way possible that he could actually be fast enough to¡ª He cried out in shock as his own feet propelled him backwards at a speed that only a professional athlete could rival. ¡°What the¡­?¡± ¡°How¡¯d you move that fast? How¡¯d you¡­¡± Kalana gasped. ¡°Zach! You¡¯re...oh Gods above! You¡¯re level 2!¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­level 2?¡± he asked, still struggling to come to grips with any of this. ¡°You did it. You actually, really, truly did it. I¡¯m gonna cry. I can¡¯t believe it. No one¡¯s ever leveled up. This just isn¡¯t supposed to be possible anymore!¡± Zach, still struggling to process it all, noticed a glint of something metallic in the corner of his eyes. ¡°Holy crap!¡± he shouted. ¡°Kal! It dropped something. An actual, literal drop. Like for real! Like there is actually an actual, literal drop right there.¡± ¡°And it¡¯s mine!¡± she said excitedly, practically skipping over to it with the biggest smile he¡¯d ever seen on her. ¡°Like hell it is! I killed the thing. It¡¯s¡ªahh, crap!¡± Zach leapt out of the way as both frogs converged on him again. ¡°I don¡¯t know what dropped, but whatever it is, it¡¯s worth more than our lives. And it¡¯s mine! I need it. Don¡¯t even think of taking it.¡± ¡°Nah-uh. It¡¯s mine. It says so itself.¡± ¡°What the hell is that supposed to mean? We¡¯re not in a party!¡± ¡°Yeah we are. We came here together and fought together.¡± ¡°You hit the frog thing once!¡± Even as denial struck him, he couldn¡¯t deny that the item, whatever it was, did in fact belong to Kalana, or else she wouldn¡¯t have been able to walk forward and casually pick it up. Only after was it picked up would he be able to grab it off her like it was any ordinary thing you¡¯d find around the house¡ªor at least he was pretty sure that was how it worked. ¡°Whoah, cool! Hehe. It¡¯s a dagger.¡± She tapped her right shoulder three times, and her stats popped up¡ªand so did something else, too. Her inventory. Zach had never actually seen an inventory page before, because no one in the world he was ever likely to encounter would ever have something that would make it appear. Even as he continued to dodge the attacks of these stupid frogs who, now that he thought about it, did the same exact repetitive and easily avoidable attack over and over, he began to read the words that had appeared before Kalana. Dagger of Whispery Woods: discovered by Kalana Vayra. 2-5 physical attack damage +1 int, +1 con (500 seconds). Enables the user to summon a lesser bolt of lightning, doing between 5-15 magical damage to one target 50 range. ¡°Wow, this is so cool,¡± she said. ¡°Yeah, it really is,¡± he replied, filling with confidence. ¡°Also, I¡¯ve mastered dodging these things. If I hadn¡¯t been so scared, they never would¡¯ve hit me so many times. Look, watch this.¡± He laughed as he easily glided out of the way of their stupid frog-leg attack again and again. ¡°We are gonna be rich, Kalana! Rich! Once we sell that, we¡¯ll split the profits and¡ª¡± ¡°No!¡± she said, curling her lips. ¡°No? You¡¯re going to take all the money?¡± ¡°Nah-uh. I¡¯m not selling it. It¡¯s mine.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡± ¡°Yeah, I am. It dropped for me and I want it. I¡¯m gonna try it, too!¡± Zach sighed. ¡°We¡¯ll talk about that later. Just be careful because I¡¯m standing right¡ªOH MY GODS ABOVE!¡± Without warning, and happening so fast that it was quicker than a blink of the eye, a bluish-grey bolt of lightning materialized in the air just above the right-most frog¡¯s head, briefly illuminating the world around them and zapping the beast, causing it to croak in agony. It was the one that he had socked a few times. To his amazement, it suffered 11 points of damage. Which meant that, if he were to walk up to a random person and punch them with all of his strength five times in the face, getting hit by that magical bolt of lightning would still hurt more. Or maybe not. My strength went up. Am I stronger now than I was before? The frog stopped moving. It rolled over, died, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. ¡°I leveled up!¡± Kalana cheered. ¡°Zach! I¡¯m level 2 now!¡± ¡°Whatever,¡± he grumbled. ¡°I basically did all the work on that one. Hey, let¡¯s finish off this other one together, huh?¡± Kalana laughed and nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s do it!¡± It was still so fresh. It was still so new. It was still settling in his head that what he had just stumbled upon would forever change the trajectory of both of their lives. He just needed time to appreciate it. He just needed time to realize that, right now, in this moment, with 2 strength, he was now the strongest kid at school and probably the entire city. Maybe a professional weight-lifter who had spent years perfecting his body would be able to match him. But maybe not. I can¡¯t believe I leveled up. Is this a dream? Am I going to wake up and find out this was all in my head? As his thoughts nearly caused the frog to send him packing again, he decided to worry about the ramifications later. For the first time in since the dawn of the industrial age, someone had found out a spawn point: and it had been him and his pal Kalana. Nothing could ever be the same. Chapter 2: Permadeath Chapter 2: Permadeath As the high-caliber, armor-piercing round of a military-grade HC-58 rifle bounced harmlessly off his forehead, Varsh Gellor, fourth in command of the Royal Roses, grinned and clapped his hands together in mockery of the men firing upon him. So did his guild-mates, who fanned out around him and snickered at the futile attempt. Less than twenty yards ahead of them, a small grouping of men in green camo uniforms opened up in a relentless stream of fire, pausing only to reload. ¡°I can¡¯t believe our luck,¡± Seraphina said. She stood directly to Varsh¡¯s right. She was a young, attractive, green-haired chick with the lips of an angel but the eyes of a devil. Of all the members of the Royal Roses, few could rival her sadism or appetite for violence and murder. She wore nothing but a pair of tight-fitting, shiny black leather trousers and a sports bra. At her side was a rapier, which shined an unnatural purple color. Varsh looked at her, his grin widening. ¡°The enemy must be weak to have nothing but a bunch of pathetic ¡®Ones¡¯ guarding this place. The boss is going to be happy: very, very happy.¡± The two of them shared a laugh, even as a hail of bullets showered them. In truth, Varsh could barely feel it; at the most, it felt like someone gently throwing little strips of paper at him. Why did they even bother? These silly little Ones, who were no different from any other ordinary human. Varsh¡¯s orders had been simple: depart with Seraphina and four other members to an outpost belonging to the Guild of Gentlemen, then kill anything that moved, loot any equipment found in storage, and finally burn it to the ground. That last order would be a real shame, though, because this place was nothing short of beautiful. It was also unusual for a guild to attack another guild''s outposts directly, but recently, the rules of war had been changing in ways not seen for a very long time. The ¡°outpost,¡± as it was called, was in fact a five-story manor built on a field of grass surrounded on three sides by a white fence, beyond which lay gardens filled with pointed, multi-colored flowers that were rare enough to be called endangered. Fountains in the shape of various mythical beasts dotted the landscape, broken up by more flowers and the occasional bench for sitting and enjoying the sights. Far into the distance, Varsh was impressed by the site of a range of snow-topped mountains; on the tallest, a mountain known as Dragon Squire, it was said that, in seventeen more years, a legendary dragon not seen for centuries would at last respawn and whoever killed it would be rewarded with a sword of unimaginable power. Heh, wouldn¡¯t mind something like that. Even if I can¡¯t make use of it myself. ¡°Varsh,¡± Seraphina said. ¡°Why¡¯re you gawking? I¡¯m bored. I want to kill.¡± He waved a hand at her dismissively. ¡°Yeah, yeah. Go on, go on.¡± Seraphina stepped forward then drew her rapier, the blade of which glowed an even brighter purple. ¡°I¡¯ll take those charging up from the left.¡± Varsh looked where she indicated and saw ten more of the camo-uniformed Ones charging in their direction, stomping on and flattening many of the beautiful flowers in the process. The sight of it angered Varsh, which was strange even to him, since he knew he¡¯d be burning all of this down before long. ¡°You four,¡± he said to his guild-mates. All glanced eagerly at him. ¡°Stay behind me. You¡¯re still low enough that a lucky bullet might nick ya.¡± Varsh had arrived wearing the robes that had been gifted to him by their boss, the leader of the Royal Roses. It was midnight-black everywhere except on the right breast, where a glowing symbol of a rose glowed a dimly lit red color. Merely by wrapping this soft, lightweight cloth around his body, his intelligence was increased by 55, and his constitution by 20. Hell, 20 constitution alone was enough to prevent any known bullet from even so much as scratching his flesh. It only made these Ones all the more stupid for not turning and fleeing. Level-1 trash, he thought with a chuckle. To even attack us is an insult. Reaching into a holster strapped to his back, Varsh removed an oaken staff, which he then held in both hands. With a shout, he slammed the base of the staff into the concrete road where he stood at the entrance to the manor. There was a brief flash of orange light, and then the sound of screams erupted around him as all the men firing at him were lit aflame. They howled in agony, running in wild, random directions as they tried to roll or jump or otherwise beg the flames away. It would do them no good. The sound of their screams died only when they did. ¡°Follow me,¡± he ordered. Without even looking over his shoulder to see if his men obeyed, he marched forward through the single, gravel path towards the large, faded wooden doors of the five-story manor. To his left, he heard moans of glee as Seraphina slit open throats with her rapier, causing sprays of dark red blood to splatter on the brown-colored bricks outside the manor. Once inside, ten men and two women were waiting behind a makeshift barricade just in front of a grand spiral staircase that led up to the second and third floors. Varsh shook his head. ¡°Do you really think this is going to work against me? You guys should¡¯ve just run. Now I¡¯m going to have to¡ª¡± Although he continued to speak, his words were drowned out by the roar of gunfire that relentlessly assaulted him. He raised his hand to signal the four behind him to wait, then turned his head when he heard the sound of a shout and a gurgle. One of the four¡ªa younger fellow likely no older than 20 years of age¡ªgrabbed his throat, his eyes wide with fear. Blood poured out of the open wound as he fell to his knees, rolled over on his side, and then twitched a few times before lying still. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Shouldn¡¯t have brought him, Varsh thought. He¡¯s only level 4. Should¡¯ve seen this coming. Oh well. Two of the three men still standing also seemed to sustain some damage, but given that they were levels 5 and 7 respectively¡ªand had been lucky enough to receive points into constitution on their level-ups¡ªthe bullets only managed to inflict moderately deep wounds which could easily be patched up with either healing magic or the conventional use of stitches, antibiotic ointment, and bandages. Varsh glanced at his oaken staff, which he held in both hands. It was plain and ordinary looking; sometimes, very powerful pieces of equipment looked the part¡ªbut other times, they were unremarkable to the casual observer. Unlike his robes, with the dim, glowing rose and the flowing black cloth, his staff looked like trash left in the corner of a room somewhere. And yet, contained within it was the power to ignite his enemies in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, it was an ability that could only be used every ten minutes, which meant, at the risk of allowing more harm to befall his guild mates, he would have to deal with the remaining vermin one at a time. Dashing forward, he threw out his palm, then released a ball of fire that struck the soldier closest to the stairwell right between the chest, causing him to lift off the ground and sail several feet back in the air before colliding with the middle-most step leading up to the second-floor. With a gasp, he began to roll back down. Even before he hit the rug at the base of the steps, Varsh was already swinging around his staff, bludgeoning a second man to death. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there, you idiots!¡± he shouted. ¡°Fight!¡± This caused his three foolish guild-members to snap into action. Two drew swords from scabbards at their sides and charged, while a third folded his hands beneath his chest, lowered his eyes to the floor, and began chanting. By the time another three of the rifle-wielding, camo-uniformed troops had perished, a pinkish, oblong-shaped mass of pulsating energy was sailing across the foyer and heading straight for a younger-looking fellow, who dropped his rifle, turned around in the direction of the stairs, and began to flee¡ªbut he was far too slow. The pink mass of energy struck him in his back, and upon contact, it began to spin: faster and faster and faster. It drilled into him, causing skin, blood, tissue, and strips of the man¡¯s innards to shoot all across the room as though blown by a powerful fan. He screamed as he died, and so did the remaining survivors, who quickly dropped their rifles, got on their knees, and raised their arms in surrender. This was good. It would make it easier to kill them. With a nod to the three incompetent idiots, Varsh took a seat on the bottom-most step next to the charred remains of the camo-uniformed solider he¡¯d killed, then hummed an old song his father had taught him while he waited for his guild-members to finish cleaning up. They took way too long to get the job done: Varsh almost got up and lent them a hand, but he decided they needed the experience. Not experience points, mind you, as there were no experience points to be gained from killing non-mobs. But they needed a different kind of experience: the kind that only life-and-death battles could provide. When the last of their enemies lay still and unmoving, he crooked a finger at the three of them, who were now stained red with blood. Panting and breathing heavily, all three moved to join him. At the same time, Seraphina skipped and danced her way into the foyer, clearly having enjoyed herself. She sheathed her rapier and then smiled. ¡°I¡¯m back!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s keep moving.¡± Varsh led the five of them up two flights of stairs to the third floor, then walked quickly across the red-and-gold carpeted floor to another stairwell, which led them up to the fifth. At the end of the hall, beyond four doors, Varsh spotted a painting of a handsome man with dark blue eyes wearing a crown. Even an idiot would recognize him: he was King Peter the IV. He was also a reminder of just how powerful the Guild of Gentlemen used to be before King Peter¡¯s tyranny caused even rival guilds to unite together against him. Look at how far they¡¯ve fallen. They don¡¯t even have any leveled defenders to spare defending this place. To the right of the painting was a door leading to Varsh¡¯s destination. He knew from a spy he¡¯d tortured that this was where they kept their spare equipment. As expected, it was locked. ¡°Seraphina?¡± he asked. She laughed and nodded. She approached the door, took a step back, and then kicked. With a bang, the door flew inwards, sailed across the room, and then with a crack, crashed through one of the large, wide glass windows that ran nearly from the floor to the ceiling. It disappeared out of sight, likely landing in one of the gardens outside below. The room inside was mostly empty. There was little in the way of furniture¡ªor anything. There were no chests, no weapon racks, no armor stands: nothing. On the floor, however, were scratch marks in the wood that looked fresh, indicating that something¡ªor many things¡ªhad recently been moved. ¡°Gods above, damn this!¡± he shouted. ¡°Where is the equipment?¡± Seraphina made her way further into the room, her lips puckered innocently. Then, with a sweet, almost child-like voice that was at odds with her bloodthirsty demeanor, she said, ¡°Maybe they don¡¯t have anything, Varsh.¡± He shook his head. ¡°No, they have¡ªor at least they had. It looks like whatever they were keeping around here was moved recently.¡± ¡°So maybe we just need to search the place, meh-heh-heh!¡± He shrugged, then sighed. ¡°I mean, we could try, but I doubt we¡¯ll find it here. They either knew or suspected we were coming. They probably took it somewhere they could defend it more readily. Honestly, given how light the resistance here actually was, it seems like they more or less abandoned this place, leaving nothing more than a skeleton crew of Ones to guard the manor.¡± ¡°So¡­mission failed?¡± she asked with a moan. ¡°Rats! I wanted to see what they were storing. Oh well.¡± She sheathed her rapier. ¡°At least we got to kill. I love that.¡± She¡¯s sick in the head, Varsh thought. I mean, I enjoy it too, but she loves it way too much. ¡°We¡¯re not quite done,¡± he announced, causing Seraphina and his other three guild-mates to turn their heads his way with an expectant gleam in their eyes. ¡°We¡¯re not?¡± she asked. ¡°No. I know of another outpost pretty far from here, but it''s nothing if we travel by DEHV.¡± ¡°Where at?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know the exact location, but I know it¡¯s hidden somewhere in that nasty, oversized city: Whispery Woods.¡± ¡°Eww! I don¡¯t wanna go there.¡± Varsh shrugged. ¡°Well, suck it up. Because that¡¯s where we¡¯re going. If they moved their equipment, it would likely be there. And even if not, I¡¯ve been meaning to hit up the outpost there anyway, because there will be other good equipment for us to steal.¡± Seraphina pouted. ¡°I feel dirty just thinking about going there.¡± Varsh rolled his eyes at her. She was being ridiculous. How could that make her feel dirty? It was just such an odd thing to say given that the young woman was drenched from head to toe in blood, guts, soil, and a few flower petals. ¡°We¡¯ll take another look around here to be sure, but then after that, we¡¯re torching this place and making our way to Whispery Woods. Now get moving. I don¡¯t want to be here all day.¡± Chapter 3: Water Monster Chapter 3: Water Monster Given how elated and euphoric Zach had been feeling only a short while ago, the fact that he was now sweating, exhausted, and terrified certainly justified the use of the term ¡°emotional rollercoaster.¡± Seriously! He had been practically skipping along in ecstasy at the idea that he had somehow done something that should¡¯ve been undoable¡ªespecially for a lowly city dweller like himself. For the first time in his seventeen years of life, he felt like he was finally headed for greatness. He, Zachys Calador, a virtual nobody, might actually become something so much more than he¡¯d ever believed possible. And really, how could he not have felt so giddy? He had leveled up. He¡¯d really freaking leveled up! Even saying these words to himself had been enough to fill him with such elation that it actually made him shiver. And it wasn¡¯t just that, either; it was also the knowledge that, for the rest of their entire lives, he and Kalana would probably never come across a single person who had even seen a spawn, let alone defeated one. So, yeah. It was looking like his life and all his prospects had taken a dramatic turn for the better. Things were finally going his way for once. And then? And then the light above Kalana¡¯s head went out¡ªand just like that, the two of them were submerged in complete and total darkness. So now here they were, forced to trek along a dark, rocky, and damp underground cavern that, for all Zach knew, might go on forever, or at least it certainly felt that way. How long had they even been walking? Thirty minutes? Forty minutes? It was pitch black. It was so dark that Zach couldn¡¯t see his hands if he lifted them right in front of his face. Even Kalana, who had unusually good eyesight, nervously chirped that she was totally blind. ¡°I¡¯m scared,¡± she said. Though he couldn¡¯t see her, he could hear her stirring from where she walked beside him. ¡°What if we never get out of here?¡± Zach chuckled darkly. ¡°Then at least we¡¯ll die level 2.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not funny.¡± She was right, of course: it wasn¡¯t funny. He didn¡¯t even mean to say it. But ever since he was little, Zach had always defused fear or tension with facetious or otherwise inappropriate comments. It was simply his way of coping with stress. It wasn¡¯t even something he did intentionally. It was like an automatic reaction to adversity; the greater the hardship, the more outlandish or inappropriate the remarks. I just want to get the hell out of here. One foot after the other, he continued onwards into the seemingly never-ending darkness. With each step, the side of his right ankle throbbed in pain. Of course, the pain wasn¡¯t quite as bad as he¡¯d been expecting. In fact, shortly before Kalana¡¯s light had gone out, he¡¯d noticed that the wound had almost appeared to be half healed¡ªor if not ¡°healed,¡± then far less bloody and decently shallower than it¡¯d appeared when the rat-thing had bitten him. Most likely, this was because his constitution had increased, which he believed meant his body was now more durable, defensive, and able to withstand more damage. Too bad it doesn¡¯t make me less hungry or thirsty. As they continued their forward momentum into the all-encompassing darkness, Zach worried the two of them would plunge into another pool of water like the one they¡¯d landed in on the way down here. With each step, the ground seemed to become wetter. At first, it had begun as infrequent puddles; soon after, every other step resulted in the sound of a splash. Now, they were full-on wading in water up to their ankles. And the level seemed to be rising fast, as well. ¡°It¡¯s up to our knees,¡± Kalana said only a few moments later. ¡°We might have to swim again, Zach.¡± He groaned. ¡°Can you at least give us an idea of how far ahead this place runs?¡± ¡°Uh¡­how?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Use that dagger you found.¡± ¡°The¡­dagger I found? Wait a minute. You mean you want me to, ehh, make a bolt of lightning to light up the area ahead?¡± ¡°Well, yeah.¡± Kalana made a low growl at him. ¡°Ya know, you¡¯re supposed to be the smart one between us, Zach.¡± Zach frowned at her despite knowing she couldn¡¯t see it. ¡°The hell is that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°We¡¯re in water! What do you think is gonna happen if I zap somewhere in the distance and it¡¯s connected to the same source of water we¡¯re wading through? We¡¯ll be electrocuted.¡± Zach rubbed his head and made an embarrassed, dumb-sounding chuckle. ¡°Oh, right. Yeah, I¡­I kind of am an idiot. You know what it is? I just don¡¯t think clearly when I¡¯m stressed.¡± ¡°I know you don¡¯t! You always make the worst choices under pressure. That¡¯s why we ended up here in the first place. That, and ¡®cause you never, ever, ever listen to me.¡± ¡°Bad choices?¡± Zach grunted. ¡°I¡¯m the guy who just found us a freaking spawn point. You know, those things only the richest and most powerful people on the planet have access to?¡± ¡°Well, um¡­yeah, but¡­so what? I mean, if we die, who cares?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not going to die, Kal.¡± He snickered. ¡°Well, okay, maybe you are, but I¡¯m going to be fine.¡± ¡°That¡¯s also not funny,¡± she grumbled. ¡°Jerk.¡± ¡°I know, I know. I can¡¯t help it, sorry.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just keep going and pray to the Gods above we don¡¯t end up stuck here forever.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Doing his best not to let fear cloud his thinking, he pressed on, Kalana still by his side. He tried to keep a positive attitude even as a sense of dread grew stronger by the moment, especially because the water was getting deeper at an alarming rate. Only a minute or two had passed, and now it was all the way up to his hips, and given Kalana¡¯s height, it was likely up to her belly. Worse, as he extended his arm up and above his head, he could feel the roof of this underground cavern getting lower and lower as the water-level continued to rise. It would be one thing if they had to swim, but it would be another thing entirely if they had to swim a good distance with no way to come up for air. Sure, Kalana could hold her breath for like six-and-a-half eternities, but Zach? Pfft. He could maybe go two minutes before entering into a total, all-out panic leading to death via asphyxiation. As if the universe was determined to hit Zach with a ¡°luck debt,¡± then the cost of finding a spawn point was quickly becoming apparent; no sooner had these concerns arisen in his mind than they became a reality before him. The water was now up to his chin, and mere inches constituted the space between his head and the rocky ceiling above him. Now, once more treading water, he stopped moving forward. ¡°Wait, Kal,¡± he said as the sound of her paddling ahead of him caused him to feel a sudden pinch of fear. This place was scary enough with the two of them together: alone, it would be a nightmare. ¡°Aren¡¯t you coming?¡± Zach shook his head, then remembered she couldn¡¯t see him. ¡°No,¡± he replied, ¡°I¡­I think we¡¯re going to go under if we keep going this way.¡± For a moment, Kalana said nothing, and the only sound was the two of them as they treaded water in this humid, dark, and possibly inescapable cavern. ¡°What¡­what should we do?¡± she asked. But something was strange about how she spoke these words. Up until now, she had sounded just as fearful as he did. Now, however, there was a slight, but unmistakable change in her voice. It was subtle, but Zach had the sense she was now worried for him and not herself. This both embarrassed and annoyed him. ¡°Just say it,¡± Zach muttered. ¡°Say what?¡± ¡°What we¡¯re both thinking. Just say it. Don¡¯t baby me.¡± Kalana was silent for nearly a half minute, and so once again Zach demanded that she stop playing dumb. ¡°Just say it, Kal. Seriously.¡± She sighed. ¡°Maybe¡­maybe I should go on ahead and see how far this runs. I can hold my breath for a half hour or sometimes more.¡± ¡°Okay, well, there you go. Why¡¯d you make me wait so long for you to suggest that?¡± ¡°You know why,¡± she whispered. ¡°It¡¯s ¡®cause it¡¯s scary in here, Zach, and I don¡¯t want to just leave you alone by yourself. I know if it were me, I¡¯d be¡ª¡± Zach forced himself to laugh, cutting her off before she could even finish her sentence. ¡°You think I¡¯m scared, Kal? Me? You¡¯re being a dummy. Just go. Sheesh.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yeah I¡¯m sure. Stop babying me.¡± ¡°Zach¡­¡± ¡°Will you just go already?¡± he growled at her. ¡°Seriously. I¡¯m not a little boy.¡± ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll be back for you no matter what happens, though. I¡¯d never leave you, ya know.¡± ¡°Hurray for me,¡± he said dryly. ¡°You¡¯re such a jerk sometimes! Maybe I will just leave you here.¡± ¡°Do it. I want you to.¡± ¡°Okay then I will!¡± With that, she turned around, dove under the water, and swam off¡ªor at least Zach was pretty sure that that was what she¡¯d done by the sound of her body moving through the water. He had to restrain himself from calling out to her to clarify that she wouldn¡¯t really leave him here, right? Of course she had to just be joking. Wait, what if she¡¯s not? he thought, nervously. I was kind of a huge dick just now. Zach chided himself for worrying. Since befriending Kalana, he was the one who always messed with her. He didn¡¯t fall for it in the reverse. It was only because he was so spooked by the total darkness that the silly little threat she¡¯d made actually got to him. That was all it was¡­right? There was no actual way that Kalana would leave him here alone. This was just the kind of thought a person had when they were afraid and their mind was racing through all the possible things that could go wrong. It was just neuroticism. That was all, yep. That was all it was¡­right? Oh, crap. It¡¯s been like fifteen minutes. What if she¡¯s actually left me? What if maybe¡­maybe in her dumb head she actually thought I was being serious about her leaving and not coming back for me? What if she actually somehow took that literally? It was so quiet in here. It was so dark. There was virtually no sound aside from his body lightly treading the water. There weren¡¯t even any more of those bat-like squeaks he¡¯d heard from earlier on. He swallowed down his fear as the silence and darkness stretched on for what felt like hours. In truth, he had no idea how long it¡¯d been. Fifteen minutes was just a guess. It could just as easily have been five or fifty. He was becoming anxious, though. Of that much, he was sure. He also didn¡¯t blame himself for it, either. I¡¯m not being a coward, he told himself. Anyone who says otherwise should try spending more than thirty minutes in total darkness and near-total silence while submerged in water. Distantly, even as he became more and more anxious, he found it fascinating the way his mind seemed to want to torture him on purpose the more time he spent alone in the blinding, deafening nothingness. He started to wonder: what if something horrifying was behind him? What if something was about to grab his legs and pull him under? What if he had died and he was doomed to spend eternity here as some kind of cursed spirit? What if that noise he just heard was not actually his own feet treading water but was something else? Something evil? Wait, did I just hear a sound? Am I alone in here? Of course I am. Stop thinking these stupid thoughts. Stop it now! The more he tried to convince himself that whatever ¡°sound¡± he¡¯d heard was just his mind playing tricks on him, the more convinced he became that there was, in fact, some monster lurking beneath the water ready to grab him. He could feel his heart beat faster in his chest as he became more and more worried¡ªeven as the logical part of his brain shouted at him to stop acting like an idiot. There clearly wasn¡¯t anything below him. Of course there wasn¡¯t! And yet, it was in just that moment, as his anxiety inched ever close to a full-blown panic, that a loud, immediate, and totally unexpected splashing sound erupted in the area directly in front of his face, sending a shock into his chest with such force that he nearly lost his ability to breathe. ¡°Oh Gods above!¡± he screamed. ¡°Help! Help! It¡¯s a gods-damned monster! Ahhhhh!¡± ¡°W-w-w-w-w-what?¡± squeaked Kalana. ¡°Where? Where is it? Zach, save me! I think I hear it too!¡± Zach, panting, immediately seized control of himself and then exhaled in a massive, drawn-out sigh. This, as Kalana began splashing around shouting at him, demanding to know where this monster was and whether or not he was still alive. She must have been reaching out frantically into the darkness trying to find him, because what else could explain the way she bitch-slapped him three times across the face like he was some prostitute from the southern district who¡¯d been caught ripping her off, and she was his pimp. ¡°There you are!¡± ¡°Kalana, stop! You¡¯re going to drown me,¡± he said as she grabbed his shoulders. ¡°There¡¯s no damn monster. You just scared the piss out of me.¡± ¡°Oh. Whoops.¡± She laughed. ¡°Sorry.¡± Not wanting to seem needy or clingy, he tried to speak in his usual tone. He didn¡¯t want her to know just how unbelievably glad he was that she¡¯d come back to him and how relieved he was to not be alone in this eternally dark hell any longer. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°So, did you find anything?¡± ¡°Yeah. Sorry I took so long. I found, um, a whole bunch of different paths that led to different places, but there was one that I think leads us to a way out.¡± Zach felt his relief quadruple. ¡°Thank the Gods above. Can you describe it to me?¡± ¡°Well, uh, ya, I guess but¡­you¡¯re gonna be swimming in total darkness. Even if I say something like, ¡®It is so-and-so much to the left and then turn after however-many seconds¡¯, you might make a mistake and drown.¡± Zach opened his mouth to reply, then closed it immediately, realizing she was right. Even if she gave him extremely detailed instructions, once he was below the water and swimming, how well could he actually be expected to follow them without being able to see anything? ¡°How long of a swim is it?¡± he asked. ¡°If we go really fast? About three minutes. You¡¯re gonna have to try your best to hold your breath.¡± Zach swore loudly, unleashing an invective that was so obscene it likely made Kalana blush. In fact, he¡¯d bet money that it¡¯d made her blush. Oddly enough, however, she wouldn¡¯t be the only one blushing, as what she said to him next caused heat to flush into his cheeks. ¡°Wrap your arms around my waist,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll swim with you.¡± ¡°You want me to¡­wrap my arms¡­around you?¡± ¡°Mhm. It¡¯s a good idea, right?¡± Zach gulped, then hoped she didn¡¯t hear it. ¡°So you just¡­you just want me to uh¡­you know, just¡­¡± ¡°Do you have water in your ears or something? Wrap your arms around me and then swim with me. It¡¯s the best way. Unless¡­¡± ¡°Unless what?¡± he asked, once more hoping the terror didn¡¯t show in his voice. And it was at this that her voice became uncharacteristically playful and almost arrogant in a way that he¡¯d never before heard from her. ¡°Unless,¡± she continued, ¡°you¡¯re too afraid to do it ¡®cause you¡¯re worried you might like it too much.¡± ¡°W-what kind of¡­are you crazy?¡± he said with a gasp. ¡°What kind of nonsense is that?¡± She laughed at him mockingly. She laughed at him! This did not usually happen. ¡°So what are you so afraid of?¡± ¡°Nothing. Here. Let¡¯s just go.¡± With a nervous laugh that sounded so dorky and stupid¡ªand that he would totally hate himself for later¡ªhe extended both his arms and wrapped it around her waist, pulling himself closer to her. Then he had to resist the urge to mutter something nasty under his breath, because the dumb, annoying girl was right. He liked it way too much. But he¡¯d never let her know that. No way. No way at¡ª ¡°I thought you got rid of your phone?¡± she asked him. ¡°You said it was busted and threw it away.¡± Zach felt his eyebrows rise to the top of his face as his eyes widened in surprise. ¡°Why?¡± he croaked. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± She arched her back and bumped her hips into him then said, ¡°It feels like it¡¯s still in your pocket.¡± ¡°Th-that¡¯s¡­!¡± She¡¯s doing this on purpose, he thought, as so much heat entered his face that he worried it¡¯d melt. She has to know what she¡¯s doing. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go,¡± she said, a hint of something mischievous in her voice. Thankful for a way to escape the conversation, he said, ¡°Y-yeah, let¡¯s go.¡± Taking in as much air as his lungs could possibly hold, he clung tightly onto her, then followed after her as she dived under the water. Now, he was fully submerged, and worse, he had no idea which way was forward or back. Even if he¡¯d had a change of heart, he wouldn¡¯t be able to turn back around and surface for air, because even after just ten seconds of swimming, he doubted he could find his way back to where he¡¯d just been. In fact, the combined terror of swimming into complete darkness and having no idea when he¡¯d be able to breathe again was enough for his uh¡­his cell phone to not be in his front pocket anymore. It wouldn¡¯t be ringing any time soon. Not when he was this on edge. Doing everything he could not to panic, Zach tried his best not to count out the seconds or concentrate too hard on the feeling of tightness growing in his chest. It was spreading quickly, too. It was a burn: a need for air. The worst thing he could do was to give in and focus too heavily on it, as that would basically ensure he drowned. All he could do was kick his legs and hope that Kalana knew what she was doing and where she was going. That¡¯s all well and good, he thought, but damn, I really need to breathe. I really, really need to breathe! Oh, Gods above! I REALLY need to breathe NOW! ¡°Mmmnn!¡± he moaned, as the pain intensified. What was he supposed to do? He literally had no choice but to try to make the trip with her. It was either that or he died. He was right there on the verge of panic. The fear and alarm were so great that he almost lost control of himself and swam off in a random direction in a desperate search for a pocket of air. In fact, he even loosened his grip on Kalana as his body forced him to do exactly that. But then he stopped as he felt her grab his hands and once again wrap them around her waist, squeezing his wrists reassuringly. It calmed him just enough that he continued to kick and swim even as his lungs screamed at him for more oxygen. Then he began to feel lightheaded: dizzy. He knew he wouldn¡¯t last more than another few seconds. Luckily, he didn¡¯t need to. With a gasp, he sucked in every last drop of oxygen as he suddenly realized his head was above water. He wasn¡¯t even aware that they¡¯d been swimming upwards. He¡¯d been on the verge of blacking out. Now, he coughed and gasped as he filled his lungs with Gods-blessed fresh air. At the same time, a beautiful sight greeted his eyes: light! Actual freaking light! ¡°This way,¡± Kalana said. Swimming after her, he arrived at dry land: no, not land. A tube of some sorts. Like a¡­pipe? He wasn¡¯t sure what it was. It was short and required him to crawl, and it was not wide enough to allow them to move side by side, so he was forced to crawl directly behind Kalana¡ªand with a gradually increasing amount of light, he realized that his entire view was taken up by a sight that he sorely hoped she wasn¡¯t aware he had. ¡°Your eyes better be closed,¡± she said threateningly, confirming that she did. ¡°Or I¡¯ll stab them both.¡± ¡°Of course they are,¡± he lied. ¡°You think I like having your annoying butt in my face?¡± ¡°I know you do.¡± ¡°Yeah, right, Kal. Get over yourself.¡± ¡°Well, you better hope I don¡¯t find your cell phone again when we get out of here. ¡®Cause if I do I¡¯m gonna break it.¡± ¡°Kal¡­stop!¡± She laughed at him, and it was a long, drawn-out bout of giggles that was as mocking as it was cute. ¡°Now you know how I feel when you pick on me and make fun of me for things all the time.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t the same!¡± More quietly¡ªand awkwardly¡ªhe added, ¡°And I have no idea what we¡¯re even talking about.¡± For close to five minutes, they crawled along this tube or pipe or whatever it was. Finally, they came across a sealed grate made of rusted metal plating with metal bars preventing anyone from squeezing through. ¡°Gahh, this is no good.¡± She gripped her fingers around two of the brown, rusted bars and grunted as she tried to push it off. ¡°I can¡¯t do it.¡± ¡°Let me try,¡± Zach said. ¡°I have no idea how strong I actually am now that I¡¯ve got 2 strength. I¡¯ve only had 1 all my life. Who knows? Maybe I can rip that thing off.¡± ¡°Yeah, but that would require us backing all the way out of where we just came from so we could switch places. I have a better idea.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Back up,¡± she said. She began to crawl backwards, and Zach, for just the briefest moment, wondered if he should pretend that he was caught off guard so that she¡¯d back up into his face. He decided not to do that, though, because then she really might break his phone. On his hands and knees, he crawled in the direction opposite the grate for about ten or so seconds. Then Kalana stopped abruptly, and so did he. ¡°What are you planning to do?¡± he asked her. ¡°Just watch.¡± From where he was oriented behind her, it was genuinely difficult¡ªtruly, this wasn¡¯t just a perverted excuse¡ªto see anything other than her backside. But from the corner of his vision, he thought he could just make out the glint of something metallic: her dagger. ¡°It¡¯s dry enough in here, I think,¡± she said. ¡°And we¡¯re far enough away. Okay, here goes nothing.¡± Reflexively, Zach raised his arm to shield his eyes and face as a bright flash of blue light in the form of a bolt of lightning manifested itself at the end of the tube. It lasted only the briefest of instants, but it made a loud boom like the sound of thunder, followed by a secondary cling as the grate popped off and fell out of view. Immediately, Kalana cheered. ¡°It worked! I did it!¡± ¡°Nice,¡± Zach said with a sigh. ¡°Now let¡¯s get out of this tube before I get claustrophobic.¡± Kalana crawled to the end of the tube where the grate had been, then paused. Was there a drop? If so, it must not have been very high, because she laughed and then slid out of it. The sound of a splash came less than a second later. Not wanting to be left behind, Zach hurried after her, pausing only to look down at what was merely a five- or six-foot, nonthreatening drop into a much larger body of water outside beneath the noon, late-spring sun. Filled with relief, he slid his way out of the tube, and then with a splash, landed in what he was reasonably sure was a reservoir and not something much worse like a pool of sewer water. He could tell from the smell alone that, while this might not exactly have been safe to drink, it at least wasn¡¯t a disgusting combination of bodily fluids and trash. The moment he surfaced from the water, he immediately had to narrow his right eye and completely shut his left, as he had been in the dark for so damn long that even the smallest trickle of the bright, early-afternoon daylight was practically blinding. ¡°Where are we?¡± Kalana asked as she swam to a concrete indent in the terrain across from her that led to a dry pathway. With stinging eyes, Zach took in his surroundings. There were three giant, white, brick-made towers connected together by a massive stone wall that seemed designed to trap the water that ran off from a nearby river. On the path before him, there was a ladder that seemed to lead up the wall and into a crevice that looked designed for a human to fit inside. With a shrug, he ambled his way across the pathway, grabbed the ladder with both hands, and then began to climb; from the sound of hands and feet below him, he assumed Kalana was following. Upon reach the top, he entered inside the wall, which was really like one long narrow hallway with a few carved out sections that served as windows. Walking a bit of the way off to his right, he peered out of one of these sections and then chuckled happily. Far into the distance, he saw the skyline composed of densely packed, very tall skyscrapers that looked way nicer, cleaner, and overall much more impressive from a distance than while actually walking around nearby them. ¡°I know where we are.¡± ¡°Where are we?¡± Kalana asked, startling him. He hadn¡¯t heard her get so close. The girl could walk like an assassin, seriously! This was something she actually did a lot of the time. She¡¯d always been able to startle him, albeit unintentionally. But something was way different now: it was almost as though she had the ability to completely dull her footsteps. More Elvish tricks? he wondered. Zach pointed ahead of him. ¡°Do you see that large body of water?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± she replied. ¡°That¡¯s the Leviathan River. We must have somehow walked beneath the river in some ancient cavern that must¡¯ve, I don¡¯t know, never been cleared out. So basically we¡¯re on the outskirts of Whispery Woods. We¡¯re probably not far from that small, sleepy-little town your dad took us to once. What was it called again?¡± ¡°The Cursed Grounds?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Kalana beamed as if at an enjoyable memory. ¡°We need to go back there. They have such a nice candy shop.¡± Zach remembered the shop in question. It was a cute little place that sold some of the craziest flavors of candy he¡¯d ever seen. It reminded him of just how much there was to see in the world outside of this economic ¡°prison¡± known as Whispery Woods. ¡°Anyway,¡± Zach began, ¡°we must¡¯ve walked quite a few miles down there. And look¡ªthere¡¯s the Bridge of Torment.¡± Zach pointed at the elegant, silvery bridge that would glow brightly every night. Even in the day, it seemed to gleam majestically. Though they were a few miles away, they could still easily hear the whoosh of DEHVs soaring back and forth as they made their way in and out of the city. ¡°So, how do we get home?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy. We walk.¡± ¡°But my feet hurt,¡± she grumbled. ¡°Weirdly, mine don¡¯t. It must be because my strength and constitution raised. Hey, what did you gain in your level-up? Now that I¡¯m not worried about dying anymore, I¡¯m¡­kind of super happy again. Kalana! We freaking leveled up!¡± She laughed, then playfully slapped his shoulder. Then she tapped her own shoulder three times, and her stats appeared. Kalana Vayra: Level 2 (4/100 xp) 1 strength 3 dexterity 1 constitution 3 intelligence 1 speed 1 luck Zach felt his mouth gape as he saw her stats. ¡°You gained four points? How the hell? I only gained three.¡± She shrugged. ¡°I dunno, but you gained an ability, so if anything, you¡¯re the lucky one.¡± It was true he¡¯d gained an ability, but he hadn¡¯t even had the chance to look into what it did or how to use it. That was something for later. Thus, rather than debate whose level-up was better, Zach instead asked, ¡°Is that why you¡¯re able to walk so quietly now? I literally could not hear a single footstep. Not even when you were right behind me.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­now that I think about it, I do feel a little different. I feel like I can balance myself more easily and walk softer if I want to. I also¡ªand don¡¯t ask me how or why I know this¡ªbut I feel like if I picked up a rock, I could throw it from here into that old plastic cup all the way down there at the other end of the hall.¡± She pointed. ¡°No way. Impossible.¡± Zach looked around for a rock, but there was none. ¡°When we get home, you need to show me something similar. Because that¡¯s an impossible throw at this range. What is it, two-hundred feet away at least? Oh, and speaking of getting home¡­¡± He rubbed his hands together, and he knew a devilish grin was popping up on his face, but he didn¡¯t care. His excitement was simply too great to contain. ¡°If we hurry back, we might even get to school in time for last period!¡± ¡°Wow, you love school so much. Dork.¡± ¡°No, no, you don¡¯t get it,¡± he said, holding up his palm. ¡°I¡¯m going to stroll in there with my stats out. People are going to lose their minds. Wait until Synn and Ganks see this! It¡¯s going to create a scene like you¡¯ve never¡ª¡± ¡°Zach, no!¡± she shouted, interrupting him. ¡°Huh? Why?¡± She looked at him as though he were an absolute idiot. ¡°Are you serious?¡± He folded his arms and glared at her. ¡°Instead of scolding me, just say whatever it is you want to say.¡± She curled her lips, then raised her pointer finger at him. ¡°Number one: we have no idea what the reaction from this city¡ªor umm, heck, even the world is gonna be if two kids from Whispery Woods suddenly announce that they¡¯ve leveled up. You might think it¡¯s gonna make you look cool in front of everyone at school, and maybe it will, but it¡¯ll be the number-one story on the news worldwide by the time we get home.¡± ¡°Is that really such a bad thing?¡± ¡°Uh, yeah. We have no idea what¡¯ll happen to us.¡± ¡°Good things, probably?¡± She threw up her arms as if in outrage. ¡°Or horrible, horrible things. You¡¯re too¡­sheltered.¡± ¡°Sheltered?¡± he asked with a laugh. ¡°Look at where I live. My mom¡¯s dead, my dad¡¯s a drunk, and my brother moved out years ago. How am I sheltered?¡± ¡°Okay, sorry. Maybe¡­maybe I¡¯m being too harsh. But my family survived a genocide, and I was a slave until I was eleven years old, so to me, you¡¯re sheltered.¡± At this, Zach recoiled as if struck. ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t wanna talk about it. I didn¡¯t even mean to say that much.¡± ¡°Is what you just said even true?¡± ¡°I said I don¡¯t wanna talk about it!¡± He could tell from the intensity of her words that she had meant what she¡¯d said. Even still, he couldn¡¯t believe that she¡¯d been his friend for almost two years and never thought to mention that. It didn¡¯t even seem real. It wasn¡¯t that he doubted her, it was just that there hadn¡¯t been any genocides in centuries. Not even just in the cities run by the Guild of Gentlemen, either, but on the entire planet of Galterra. And slavery was outlawed a thousand years ago. Her words were difficult to believe. Yet¡­he knew she wouldn¡¯t lie to him about something so serious. I need to ask her about this later. ¡°Anyway,¡± she continued, ¡°things aren¡¯t as¡­simple as you think. If we go telling people we leveled up, they¡¯re gonna want to know how. And even if we don¡¯t get kidnapped in the middle of the night and tortured into giving up the location, it¡¯s only a matter of time before people follow us wherever we go.¡± Zach nodded, then snapped his fingers in agreement. ¡°You¡¯re right. Good point. We need to keep this a secret from everyone¡ªat least for now. You know we have to go back there, right?¡± She fixed him with a hard stare. He was expecting her to argue. He was expecting her to list off a million reasons why it was dumb to ever go back into that dark, belowground cavern. Instead, she merely nodded, and it was a firm, determined nod. ¡°Yep. Of course we do.¡± ¡°Tomorrow, after school, and then the two days we have off after that: we should spend every minute we can there. We should find out how long those things take to respawn, and then we should see if there¡¯s any other spawns or if that¡¯s the only one. After seeing this? I have to believe there are still dungeons out there somewhere. This might¡¯ve even been part of one once. Who knows what secrets are still in the world?¡± Kalana smiled. ¡°I guess I¡¯m gonna have to use all my gold, right? Since you¡¯re broke and we need supplies.¡± Zach made a weak laugh, rubbing the back of his head. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll pay you back once we¡¯re rich. We need food, water-proof helmet lights, maybe an oxygen tank, some extra flashlights, bandages just in case, and¡­and I guess fresh clothes for going in and out.¡± ¡°I only have 500g in my savings. I could maybe take a 100g loan, too.¡± ¡°That should be enough for almost everything. I can chip in 80g. If we sold that¡±¡ªhe pointed¡ª¡°we¡¯d probably get 80k or maybe over 100k. Or hell, what do I know? Maybe millions. It¡¯s hard to know what something is worth when it¡¯s the first piece of equipment dropped since like forever.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not selling it!¡± she said forcefully. ¡°It¡¯s mine and I love it.¡± He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. ¡°Fine, fine, fine. But if we get another one, I don¡¯t want to hear it: we¡¯re selling it and splitting the profit. Anyway, we have a lot of planning to do tonight if we¡¯re actually going to camp a spawn, words that I doubt anyone in this city has spoken in like a thousand years.¡± Zach felt his spirits grow and his energy level skyrocket as he thought about what the future was going to bring. Whispery Woods was impoverished and could barely pay for the roadwork, so the chance of anyone actually going spelunking down where¡¯d fallen was almost zero. Not for many months, at least. And even then, the construction crews would likely have no reason to venture as far into the depths as they had. ¡°Okay, here¡¯s what we do. Let¡¯s go put that grate back on or at least prop it up so it looks like it¡¯s still attached. Not that it really matters, but it¡¯s good to be safe. From now on, we¡¯ll come in through here. And then we¡¯ll¡­we¡¯ll do it. We¡¯ll actually do it.¡± ¡°Hey, Zach?¡± she asked sweetly. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°I¡¯m excited.¡± ¡°Me too!¡± Chapter 4: Royalty Chapter 4: Royalty With a yawn, Zach glanced up at the face-clock at the end of the third-floor hallway in his overly crowded public school. Since his phone had been destroyed, he had to either ask someone for the time or rely on a clock whenever one was in sight. Noting the time, his eyes felt heavy as he realized he still had another hour left before school ended for the day. I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m so tired, he thought. That hadn¡¯t been the case this morning, of course. Zach had bolted out of his apartment dressed and motivated even though he hadn¡¯t gotten so much as a minute¡¯s sleep last night. And it wasn¡¯t because he chose to stay awake, either¡ªsleep just wouldn¡¯t come to him. Clearly, the excitement of the previous day lingered too strongly in his head, and so for the entire night, he¡¯d tossed and turned and prayed for the time to move just a little bit faster. It hadn¡¯t, of course, and so he¡¯d spent hours awake in his dingy little bedroom in his dad¡¯s apartment, unable to turn off his brain. Miraculously, he hadn¡¯t been groggy or tired when his alarm went off in the morning. The memories of yesterday had continued to energize him¡ªor at least they had until he got to school. In all his memory, Zach could not recall any school day dragging along as badly as today had. He was desperate to get back to that spawn with Kalana. It was all he could think about. It was all he cared about. But with no sleep in him and lessons that seemed to stretch on forever, he kept finding himself drained of all his energy as, class after class, he was forced to explain why he didn¡¯t have any of his books, notes, homework, or even basic school supplies with him. Thankfully, most of his teachers were sympathetic once he¡¯d told them he¡¯d accidentally dropped his backpack into the river¡ªwhich was almost true¡ªbut it required him to tell the same made-up story over and over of how he and Kalana had been walking along the boardwalk down by the Undead Bank when, suddenly, a section of the wooden framework snapped off and they fell into the river together. Again: it was almost true. It also wasn¡¯t a lie he was likely to be caught telling, as ever since the Guild of Gentlemen found itself at war with the Royal Roses, the city¡¯s already miniscule infrastructure budget had shrunk even further. Hell, a section of the boardwalk probably did collapse yesterday for all Zach knew. I just hope that crap ends soon. This is like ten years ago all over again. Although it had only happened once before during Zach¡¯s life, it was apparently very common for the guilds to fight and go to war with each other for territory and control over cities, towns, or just about any type of land. They rarely ever fought around normal civilians, and from what Zach understood, most people just went about their lives. If their current rulers perished? Well, someone else would come along and either raise or lower their taxes, and there was really nothing anyone could do about it anyway. It just sucked the way the guilds tended to neglect ordinary, level-1 people while they focused all their resources on killing one another. When Zach was a small child, his mother had fallen ill with an easily curable disease. He didn¡¯t really remember his mom all that much. He was so young when she¡¯d died. But what he did remember was all the nights his dad would yell at the news on TV and complain that if the hospitals had still been up and running, she never would have died. Apparently, all the best doctors and nurses had been whisked away to tend to the injured guild-members, and so she¡¯d died for basically no reason. It hadn¡¯t been long afterwards that his father started drinking and becoming violent. I don¡¯t want to think about that. He shuddered. He hasn¡¯t hit me in a long time, at least. The memory of the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s previous war put Zach in something of a sour mood, but it only lasted a moment as he realized he only had one class left for the day, and it was the one class that both he and Kalana shared this year. It also happened to be his favorite subject: biology. It wasn¡¯t that Zach had any particular love of biological science, either; it was more that his teacher, Mr. Oren, was young, lively, passionate, and spoke with such charisma and charm that he somehow managed to make Zach care about cellular division even on a day like today. Before Zach had even taken his seat, Mr. Oren began enthusiastically addressing the class with his typical flair, gesturing wildly with his hands as he peered out at them from eyes hidden behind his russet-colored, cat-eye glasses. Though he didn¡¯t know for certain, Zach was pretty sure Mr. Oren was the youngest teacher in the entire school. He recalled hearing a teacher across the hall remark how incredible it was that he¡¯d landed a teaching gig at twenty-four. Mr. Oren was nearly six-feet tall with spiky, dark brown hair, and he wore a white lab coat even on days when he wouldn¡¯t be anywhere near a lab. He also rocked tattoos of dragons on both his arms, something that Zach only knew from having seen him play strike-ball in a short-sleeved t-shirt with some of his students last week. It was also how he knew that Mr. Oren clearly liked to hit the gym. His jaw was chiseled and from the outline of thin lab coat and thin undershirt, he clearly sported six-pack abs. Overall, the man was an odd, eccentric sort of guy who honestly looked like a cross between a nuclear physicist and a mob enforcer. He was the kind of person who¡¯d look equally in place in a lab as he would strolling through the city shaking down businesses for protection money. He was also really, really smart. ¡°Which is why,¡± he said, tapping his finger excitedly on the blackboard, ¡°even if they take on the appearance of terrestrial mammals, a mob can¡¯t be assigned any taxonomic rank. They aren¡¯t biological entities.¡± Zach raised his hand from where he sat directly in the middle-most desk in the fourth row towards the back. As though the teacher had eyes in the back of his head, he called on Zach while still facing the blackboard in the opposite direction. ¡°Yeah, Zach?¡± ¡°I just had a question about something you said,¡± Zach began. ¡°You said that one of the fundamental differences between biological life and mobs is that biological life doesn¡¯t have a level or stats. But if that¡¯s so, then doesn¡¯t that mean we aren¡¯t biological life? Since we¡¯re humans, and we have a level and stats just like mobs do.¡± ¡°Well, let me just stop you there for a second, Zach,¡± he said with a smile. He lifted his pointer finger and then playfully shook it in the air. ¡°That wasn¡¯t exactly what I said, but I totally get the confusion, my man. What I did say though was that biological flora and fauna do not have levels or stats. Now, whether or not you consider humanity as part of the ¡®fauna¡¯ is a philosophical debate best reserved for social science. In this context, though, I was referring to non-human entities.¡± Zach nodded, somewhat embarrassed. ¡°My bad,¡± he said with a timid chuckle. Then, more seriously, he asked, ¡°But wait, Mr. Oren. I was just thinking and¡­like, why actually is it that mobs have levels, and so do we¡ªmeaning like you, me, and everyone¡ªbut chickens and stuff don¡¯t? Why aren¡¯t chickens level 1? Why aren¡¯t things like goats or cows level 1? Or a horse?¡± ¡°I know at least one horse that¡¯s level-1,¡± someone from the last row in the back said. ¡°Her name is Miss Calador. In fact, she almost leveled up last night after I fu¡ª¡± ¡°Shut your Gods-damned mouth!¡± Zach shouted. He spun around in his desk and glared at the chubby, mean, antagonistic animal who¡¯d dared to just insult his dead mother. His name was Pack Dolan, and though he and Zach didn¡¯t really get along, Zach would¡¯ve thought he¡¯d know better than to say that crap about his mom. Sure, this wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d belittled or insulted Zach in front of the class, but it was the first time this garbage in human flesh actually went this far with it. Any feeling of weariness or fatigue left him immediately as he strongly considered getting out of his seat and punching the boy¡¯s lights out. Under normal circumstances, Zach didn¡¯t back down from a fight; even if he got his butt kicked, Zach never let someone push him around whether he won or lost. Given that Pack was both taller and larger, this would typically be a losing¡ªbut necessary¡ªbattle. But now? Having leveled up? Oh, man, he would love to see this pathetic slob try to say that again to his face. Zach would knock each one of his teeth out. He was also curious to see just how much stronger he was now. He hadn¡¯t had the chance to try lifting something heavy or really do anything at all to test his strength. ¡°You have a problem, dickwad?¡± Pack asked him. This only intensified Zach¡¯s anger. He had the nerve to stare at Zach like he was the one with the issue here. ¡°Yeah, actually, I do,¡± Zach growled at him, standing up from his seat. ¡°I don¡¯t like what you just said about my mom. Why don¡¯t you try saying that again? Go ahead. Say it again. Do it.¡± Pack darted his eyes around as if nervous, but he too got out of his seat as if feeling it would be more humiliating to back down from a challenge than it would be to simply keep his mouth shut. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll say it again if I want to,¡± he threatened. ¡°Then say it, then,¡± Zach challenged him. The entire class turned to watch, and from the eagerness in their eyes, they were really hoping for a confrontation. Everyone liked to watch a good fight. Who could blame them? If this was someone else, Zach would be lying if he said he wouldn¡¯t enjoy watching two guys duke it out. But today, it wasn¡¯t someone else. Today, it was him. For an instant, it looked like Pack might actually back down, but then, with a sneer, he took a step forward. At the same time, the sound of a disappointed sigh came from the front of the room. ¡°You two again?¡± Mr. Oren asked. ¡°Guys, settle down. I thought you two worked this out last time?¡± ¡°So did I,¡± Zach said. ¡°But you heard what he said about my mom. I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Oren. I love your class, but I need to put this fat idiot in the hospital.¡± ¡°Oh, is that right, tough guy?¡± Pack replied, taking yet another step towards him so that now they were only a few feet apart. ¡°Why don¡¯t you do something, then? I¡¯m right here.¡± In truth, this wasn¡¯t the first time he and Pack had gotten confrontational with one another in this particular class. They¡¯d gotten into a few heated back-and-forths before, two of which actually landed both of them detention. But this was the first time Zach ever thought it might lead to an actual fistfight right here in the middle of class instead of at the strike-ball park half a mile from school where these kinds of things usually went down. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Kick his ass!¡± one of the kids from the first row shouted¡ªeven as Mr. Oren frowned at him. ¡°Zach, knock him out.¡± ¡°Throw a punch,¡± another taunted. ¡°Don¡¯t be a wuss!¡± Zach pointed at Pack. ¡°Apologize for what you said about my mom and I won¡¯t break your nose.¡± ¡°Make me.¡± Pack beat his fist against his own chest. ¡°You¡¯re not gonna do a thing. You¡¯re scared. That¡¯s why you¡¯re just standing there.¡± ¡°Oh, you think so?¡± Zach laughed, balling his hands into fists. Then he began moving directly towards Pack, drawing back his arm, ready to strike. Pack also raised his hands defensively as if ready to meet the challenge. ¡°Well then let¡¯s see how you like¡ª¡± Before Zach could cross the last bit of distance, he came to an abrupt halt as Kalana, moving with powerful, angry, and stomping steps on the white-tiled floor, stormed her way over to the two of them. With one hand, she shoved Zach backwards and away from Pack; then, with the other, she sent her fist crashing like a heat-seeking missile into the bridge of Pack¡¯s nose, causing his whole head to snap back and a cry to escape his lips as if in shock. He stumbled eight full steps backwards before tripping over someone¡¯s book bag and falling on his ass. The class gasped as Kalana scowled at him and pointed at the door. ¡°Get out.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± he asked, clearly stunned and confused as blood began to drip out of both of his nostrils. ¡°Get the hell out!¡± Zach wanted to say something, but he was too confused to understand what was happening. Had Kalana really just hit him? And since when did she have the ability to kick someone out of class? She wasn¡¯t a teacher. She couldn¡¯t just ¡°remove¡± someone. But that was exactly what she did. As Pack continued to sit on his rear and gape at her as if too bewildered to even understand speech, Kalana marched over to him, yanked him up by his shirt, spun him around, and then delivered a powerful kick to his rear-end that caused him to once again stumble, but this time directly outside of the classroom. What is happening right now? Two students ambling down the hallway stopped whatever they were doing and turned to look at Pack, who continued to spill backwards until almost falling his way into the classroom directly opposite theirs. But eventually, he regained his balance, and when he did, he growled, spun back around, and half-walked, half-ran his way back towards the classroom with heavy, angry footsteps; only now, there was murder in his eyes. It was as if he finally managed to overcome his shock. ¡°I said go away!¡± Kalana snapped. An instant before Pack reentered the classroom, Kalana reached off to her side, grabbed the corner of the classroom door, and slammed it shut in his face. It closed with enough force to make a loud bang that caused more than half the class to flinch as if startled. Pack, reacting too slowly, did not slow himself down in time, and the result was him walking headfirst into the now-shut door. For the third time in a row, he began stumbling away, only this time, he tripped over his own feet and landed hard enough on his back that the thud was audible even from in here. Then, dusting off her hands on her skirt, she smiled and sat back in her seat as if nothing happened. ¡°Um, Mr. Oren?¡± she asked the moment she sat down, politely raising her hand. ¡°Y-yes, Miss Vayra?¡± he said, calling on her. She tapped her chin and hummed to herself a moment before speaking. ¡°Is a protist also a Eukaryote?¡± Mr. Oren blinked. ¡°Uh. Well, yeah.¡± Then, with a shrug, he launched into a long-winded explanation as if either forgetting or not even caring that three of his students had just gotten into a fight that resulted in one of them being KO¡¯d in the middle of the hallway. In fact, of everyone in the class, he seemed the least stunned. Zach imagined that he, on the other hand, was the most. I¡¯ve never seen her do anything violent to anyone before. And she just¡­like it was nothing to her. She just attacked him. Just straight-up went at him and then acted like nothing happened. This was a side of her that both confused and even intimidated him. She had been a silly, bubbly, sometimes annoying, but always good-natured girl during the past two years they¡¯d been friends. But there was clearly more to her than he thought. Especially with the stuff she was saying yesterday about being a slave and her family suffering through a genocide. It was almost enough to make him forget how excited he was to head back to the spawn point. Almost. **** ¡°This isn¡¯t what I asked for,¡± Varsh said as he gripped the spy''s throat even more tightly. He and his guild-mates stood just on the outskirts of Whispery Woods not far from the Bridge of Torment that spanned the Leviathan River and led into the city. They¡¯d stopped here at a small, rather isolated encampment where a handful of guards ostensibly kept watch on the city, but in actuality, were basically just old, balding troops who hadn¡¯t fought in a guild battle in a decade or more and likely hadn¡¯t been on the frontlines even then. They were all level-1 trash; one of them, however, was a man the Royal Roses had been paying for years in exchange for information: information he clearly did not possess. ¡°I know that there¡¯s an outpost in this garbage, festering pit of decay and trash you call a city. I also know our guild-leader¡ªour boss¡ªhas been sending you gold every month for years in exchange for intelligence. So tell me: were you ripping him off?¡± ¡°N-no, not at all, sir!¡± he shrieked, terror in his every word. ¡°That right?¡± ¡°Y-yes!¡± Varsh bared his teeth at the old, frail, and pathetic excuse for a soldier. ¡°Then why don¡¯t you know where the outpost is?¡± ¡°Because I just don¡¯t,¡± he moaned. Then, quickly, he added, ¡°B-b-b-but not because I w-wasn¡¯t doing what was asked of me, sir. Every month for almost three years, I¡¯ve sent over highly detailed documents outlining troop patrols, unit strength, and infrastructural documents to my contact in your guild.¡± ¡°That¡¯s nice. And I believe you. But that¡¯s not what I want!¡± ¡°P-please don¡¯t kill me!¡± he begged with a rasp as Varsh tightened his grip on the man¡¯s neck. ¡°I don¡¯t know where the outpost is hidden. You even just said you believed me!¡± ¡°I do,¡± Varsh said with a nod and a crooked smile. ¡°But if you want to live, you¡¯ll at least tell me something that¡¯s worth my time. Surely you know something that¡¯s worth sparing you for.¡± ¡°I¡­I do¡­!¡± His eyes began to narrow and his face began turning blue. He couldn¡¯t speak because Varsh was gripping his throat too tightly. With a laugh, he released the man, who inhaled sharply. Fear caused his eyes to bulge. ¡°Give me something worth my trip out here or I¡¯m letting Seraphina slice your head off. She loves doing that to people, you know.¡± ¡°You bet I do,¡± Seraphina said with a laugh. She rubbed her hand along the hilt of her rapier. Varsh wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she slept with that thing. With another, pained-sounding moan, the guard-turned-spy pleadingly lifted his index finger at Varsh as if begging for him to wait for a moment, then slowly, cautiously, turned around. Then he disappeared inside his miserable little ¡°cabin.¡± It was a plain, beige, box-shaped, and nondescript little structure that was only marginally bigger than a hut. It, along with three others like it, were located just beyond a hill a few kilometers off the highway leading to the bridge. The spy and three other guards¡ªdead now, of course¡ªseemed to live here. Tapping his foot impatiently, Varsh waited for him to either find something of value or face immediate death. From the frantic sound of scraping and shuffling, he imagined the old spy was desperately rummaging around in his sad little dwelling for something he felt could buy him his life. For a brief moment, Varsh thought he might have succeeded, as when he reappeared outside of his tiny cabin, he looked far less fearful and perhaps even a bit ¡°confident.¡± He must¡¯ve had something very, very good¡ªor so Varsh had thought. As he nervously handed Varsh a crumpled-up document, Varsh grunted angrily as he quickly skimmed it. ¡°This is trash,¡± he said. ¡°Are you playing a joke on me? Do you have any idea how slowly and painfully I can kill you?¡± Upon his threat, the spy¡¯s mouth fell open, and the confusion in his eyes was genuine enough that it caused Varsh himself to become confused. ¡°Why¡¯re you looking at me like that?¡± Varsh asked. Then he waved the document at the man, resisting the urge to crumple it again and throw it at him. ¡°You think this is valuable?¡± The spy appeared even more perplexed now than before. ¡°You¡­don¡¯t?¡± he asked. ¡°Of course I don¡¯t. Why the hell do I care about some¡±¡ªhe once more glanced down at the document in his hands¡ª¡°some uh¡­some Kalana¡­Vayra? This is just an order granting refugee status to some worthless, level-1 city trash.¡± ¡°S-sir,¡± the spy said, and of all things, there was now a certain unease in his voice that Varsh suspected had nothing to do with fear for his safety. ¡°Is it possible you don¡¯t understand what I¡¯ve given you?¡± ¡°Yes, actually. And if you want to keep living, you¡¯ll explain it to me.¡± The spy nodded slowly, then pointed to the sheet of paper Varsh was holding. ¡°That¡¯s not just any refugee, sir. That¡¯s Kalana Vayra, daughter of Fylwen and Eldora Vayra.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Despite there being no one around for a couple of miles, the spy lowered his voice. ¡°The last living, full-blooded Elves on the planet. The only survivors of King Peter¡¯s extermination efforts. You know¡­the royal family?¡± Varsh opened his mouth in shock and found himself momentarily speechless. He once more looked down at the document only to have it snatched from his fingers by an even more disquieted Seraphina, who shook her head as she read the names. ¡°This doesn¡¯t say nothing about Elvish refugees or royal families.¡± ¡°Of course it doesn¡¯t,¡± the spy answered. ¡°Most people think they went extinct thousands of years ago. I thought you would recognize the names, though. I guess even fewer people know the truth than I thought.¡± ¡°Well why do you know otherwise? If you expect me to believe that this girl is not only an actual living, breathing, full-blooded Elf, but that she¡¯s a princess to boot¡­then you need to explain why some lowly piece of trash like you knows this, but no one else, including I, a high-ranking member of the Royal Roses, seems to.¡± Clearly rattled, the spy took a moment as if to compose himself then said, ¡°I found the order of refugee status when I was on document-shredding duty. One day, my supervisor called in sick and his replacement showed up an hour late. It gave me the chance to actually read some of the things we were shredding. Apparently, after King Peter the IV was beheaded, some high-ranking noble in the Guild of Gentlemen named ¡®Sir Morrison of the Dark-Water Depths¡¯ felt bad about his role in helping the king uh, you know, secretly wipe out the last remaining Elvish civilization and sadistically enslave whatever remained of the royal family. So he had the prince and the prince¡¯s daughter smuggled to this rundown, mess of a city and granted them refugee status with just enough gold to start fresh. I don''t know what happened to the mother.¡± This time, it was Varsh who snatched the document from Seraphina. Again reading it over, he sighed, massaged his eyes, and then rubbed his chin. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can believe this.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s true, sir.¡± ¡°If this is real¡­I¡¯m just blown away. I mean¡­if she really is who you say she is, or if her father is who you say he is, then if I capture either one of them or both, it should be easy enough to prove them as non-human with a DNA analysis.¡± ¡°Well, correct,¡± the spy said. Ignoring him, and speaking mostly to himself, Varsh continued, ¡°Can you imagine the price one of them would be worth? An actual Elf. An extinct species. Seraph, do you even know how much gold we could bring the guild if we auctioned her and her father off to the right bidder?¡± She apparently did, because she was literally licking her lips. ¡°Not just an Elf, too,¡± she added, ¡°but a royal one. We would be showered with gold and equipment. We¡¯d be promoted in the guild, too.¡± With a grin, Varsh looked at his sly partner-in-crime then said, ¡°You know what we have to do now, right?¡± ¡°Yah,¡± she said, rolling her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not dumb.¡± Then she extended both her arms: one in the direction of their three guild-mates, and the other in the direction of the spy. ¡°Obviously we have to kill the spy to keep him quiet and then kill these three idiots so they don¡¯t get any of the credit or gold.¡± Varsh smiled at her. ¡°This is why I like you.¡± The three men he¡¯d brought as well as the spy all looked at one another as if confused or as though unsure they had heard correctly. And that was just fine, too. Because even before one of them could so much as open their mouths to voice a word in question, he and Seraphina were already on them. Varsh laughed. This was so much better than an outpost. Chapter 5: Spawn Camping Chapter 5: Spawn Camping With a heavy, but not completely unsteady breath, Zach popped his head out of the water, and then with one hand, he hoisted himself up and onto the solid, uneven, and rocky surface of the dark, underground cavern he had been dreaming about all day. He was finally here. After what felt like the longest school day of his life, he had finally returned. His clothing soaked, he grinned as he dropped the diving bag on the ground near his feet and turned around to wait for Kalana. Unlike last time, they¡¯d come much better prepared today; as soon as school had let out, the two of them had rushed first to a hardware store and then to a specialty shop a half-mile away, before finally hitting up a small supermarket near their apartment building. In total, they¡¯d spent more than 380g on supplies. Still, it was better than the 5 or 600 gold Zach had originally planned on splurging, and 120g of it was spent just on the submersible bag alone. We got some good stuff for the money, though, he thought, pleased with himself. Strapped to his forehead was a waterproof, head-mounted flashlight. Now that he could actually see the world around him, it had been easy for him to dive on his own and, following Kalana¡¯s instructions, swim his way here in less than forty seconds. To both his astonishment and intense satisfaction, he discovered that, when fully exerting himself, his increased speed and newfound power in his legs was enough to propel him forward through the water so swiftly that it rivaled the best of his school¡¯s swim team. Even more amazingly, Kalana had sent him through a different underwater tunnel than the path he¡¯d barely made it through alive yesterday afternoon. This one spanned almost twice the distance before it became possible to surface for air, and yet Zach had gotten through with only the slightest bit of discomfort just beginning to turn into an ache in his lungs. I can¡¯t believe this is really me. It was a good thing they¡¯d decided not to buy a diving suit and oxygen tank; after talking it over, they¡¯d both concluded that, with sufficient lighting, Zach¡¯s level-up already gave him the strength and speed to cross the distance comfortably with a single lungful of air. It would¡¯ve set them back another 500g that they might not have been able to afford. Of course, this was all just based on an educated guess, since Zach really hadn¡¯t had the chance yet to test himself. If they¡¯d been wrong¡­it was a scary idea to consider. Good thing we were right, then, he thought. The alternative would¡¯ve sucked. By itself, the swim alone was proof enough that he really had become stronger since yesterday, but this had actually been the second test of his newfound power: the first had been the feeling of weight as he carried the submersible duffle bag in his right hand during the several-mile walk to the ferry that boated them across the river. The bag was much lighter than it should¡¯ve been¡ªor at least how living his entire life up until this point had told him it should¡¯ve been. Several times, he¡¯d had to stop, unzip the water-proof seal, and check to ensure that he hadn¡¯t somehow dropped the contents inside, because it just felt too damn light. This¡­was going to take some getting used to. And this is with just 2 strength. What would happen if I had 10? Or 20? Or¡­or even 50 or more? Could I punch through a wall? Could I lift a DEHV? From the body of water came a splash, and within a half second after, Kalana emerged. Zach squatted down, extended his arm, and Kalana reached out, gripping his hand with hers. Then he pulled, and with an unexpected speed, she was plucked clear out of the water like a bear snatching up a fish, almost crashing into him. ¡°Take it easy,¡± she said with a chuckle. ¡°You¡¯re stronger now.¡± ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m¡­this is something I¡¯ve got to get used to.¡± Zach glanced down, shining his mounted forehead light onto his hands. He inspected his fingers as if expecting to see something different. Visually, his arms, hands, and the rest of his body still looked like it always did¡ªand yet, he was clearly not the same. ¡°It¡¯s still really hard to believe.¡± ¡°Yeah, well um, I hope it¡¯s gonna be even harder to believe by the time we leave today.¡± ¡°Hell yeah,¡± Zach said. He nodded, but then with a touch of apprehension, added, ¡°Assuming those three things we fought yesterday respawned. Who knows how long the timer is? I¡¯m not going to lie: part of me expects to just not see them ever again. It just¡­I guess it just still all seems too good to be true. How do we even know things actually respawn? The history books could all be wrong, and the elites keep all of this a secret. We don¡¯t actually know for sure how any of this works.¡± ¡°It¡¯s gonna be fine,¡± Kalana said, giving his shoulder a pat. With her short, curly brown hair dripping streaks of water down the sides of her face, she looked even cuter than usual. ¡°I hope so.¡± With a playful giggle, Kalana crooked her thumb in a beckoning gesture. ¡°Only one way to be sure, Zach.¡± And with that, she took off in a hurry. Zach laughed as he quickly scooped up the submersible duffle bag and chased after her. He could easily overtake her if he wanted to, as even before he¡¯d gained an increase in speed, he had always been faster than her¡ªbut he thought the better of it, deciding to let her get there first this time. She was too excited and happy to mess with today. Besides, after seeing what she¡¯d done to Pack Dolan¡­ Seriously, just what the hell was that? Through some miracle, neither of them had gotten into trouble. The teacher, Mr. Oren, had personally intervened on their behalf, telling both school security and the principal that Pack had instigated and provoked the entire ordeal, even going so far as to claim that Kalana had acted in self-defense. Zach had no idea why the teacher would do that for the two of them. Hell, if he was being one-hundred percent honest here, what Mr. Oren claimed had happened technically wasn¡¯t even the truth¡ªnot that Zach had any issue with it. Though obviously not the one who¡¯d instigated the situation, Zach had to admit he¡¯d clearly egged the entire thing on. He could have just ignored Pack¡¯s insult, but he¡¯d chosen¡ªcorrectly, in his opinion¡ªto become confrontational. Not to mention that Kalana had actually thrown the first¡ªand technically only¡ªpunch. Yet Mr. Oren seemed adamant in a way that almost came across as personal, even getting heated at one point when a security officer had asked him to clarify. It was just bizarre seeing him intervene so strongly and passionately on their behalf. Why would he do that? Did he just think him and Kal were cool or something? It made no sense. But, oh well. Whatever the reason, Zach was grateful for it. More time to spend here. Thanks to swimming the longer route, the tunnel Kalana led them down did not contain any water for them to wade through. Catching up to her, the two of them jogged, side by side, down a seemingly straight and narrow stretch of the cavern that they could thankfully actually see. ¡°Remember,¡± Zach said to her as they excitedly made their way deeper into the cavern, ¡°if they¡¯ve respawned, we¡¯ve got to go for the rat-thing first. I¡¯m probably going to have a scar from where that prick bit me. The other two just knock the wind out of you. That thing freaking hurts. It¡¯s legitimately dangerous.¡± Kalana nodded and smiled, and in that moment, she looked so vibrant and alive. Zach was grateful he got to see it, because it didn¡¯t last long. Within two seconds, she frowned and pushed his head away. ¡°It stings my eyes. Don¡¯t look directly at me with your flashlight on, jerk.¡± ¡°Sorry! I forgot how bright this is.¡± Kalana herself wasn¡¯t wearing one of the head-mounted flashlights, claiming that the light from Zach¡¯s would be more than enough for her to see. It reminded Zach that her eyesight was unnaturally good. He wondered if she¡¯d ever had a vision test. In any case, he was glad, because it¡¯d saved them even more gold. ¡°We should be there soon,¡± she said. Zach knew better than to question her sense of direction¡ªeven if he had no idea how she knew where she was going just from a brief survey of this place yesterday while he¡¯d been treading water waiting for her to find him a way out. It really was remarkable. For two years, Zach had been friends with Kalana, and in just over twenty-four hours, he¡¯d discovered like ten amazing and unbelievable new things about her. As the cavern began to somewhat widen and become less claustrophobic, Kalana held out her hand and said, ¡°Hey, stop for a second.¡± Zach came to an abrupt halt, confused. ¡°Why? What¡¯s up?¡± Rather than reply straight away, Kalana came into something of a crouch and then tapped her right shoulder three times, bringing up her stats. Just as they were last night, the same numbers greeted Zach¡¯s eyes. Kalana Vayra: Level 2 (4/100 xp) 1 strength 3 dexterity 1 constitution 3 intelligence 1 speed 1 luck ¡°Can you turn your flashlight off?¡± Kalana asked him. ¡°Uh, sure,¡± he said, raising an eyebrow. ¡°But why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard to see my stats with that stupidly bright flashlight. Let me use my own light for now. Also, uh, it¡¯ll save battery power.¡± ¡°Well, we bought extra batteries just in case, but if it¡¯s easier for you to do whatever you¡¯re¡­whatever it is you¡¯re doing, then yeah, I¡¯ll turn it off.¡± Zach reached his hand up to the left side of his face and fumbled around trying to find the switch. Once his fingers had settled on it, he flicked it into the off position, and right away, the entire world was submerged into a complete, total, all-encompassing darkness, through which not a single sight could be observed¡ªnot even the hand he now held near his eyes. This only lasted a moment, however, as Kalana shouted, ¡°Val En Sha!¡± Nowhere near surprised or impressed as he¡¯d been yesterday, Zach still felt at least a small degree of awe as small ball of pure, but soft white light appeared a little more than a foot above the top of her scalp. It was definitely a great deal brighter than it¡¯d been yesterday. Was this because she had higher intelligence now than she¡¯d had before? Regardless of the cause, what most amazed Zach was not so much that the light was brighter and now shined much farther into the distance, but rather just how ¡°soft¡± the light was. Zach had the sense that even if he held a book so close to the light as to almost touch it, he would still be able to easily read the words on the page. It was like it lacked the blinding qualities of typical light. In fact, even staring directly at it did not hurt his eyes. ¡°So, what¡¯re you up to, Kal? Why¡¯re you showing your stats?¡± She turned to him and winked. ¡°I wanna see something. Can you hand me my dagger out of the bag, please?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure, no problem.¡± Zach knelt down next to her, placing the submersible duffle bag on the rocky floor. He undid the water-proof seal, then unzipped and opened the bag. The high price had been more than worth paying, as despite literally swimming through a submerged underground passage, every single item contained within was perfectly dry, including the first-aid equipment, the bandages, several pairs of spare clothing, and all the food and bottled waters he¡¯d brought along. Reaching inside, Zach grabbed the dagger that had dropped here yesterday and handed it to her. Though sharp and appearing in very good condition¡ªactually, it looked brand new, as if it had only been made yesterday, which it kind of had¡ªit was a nevertheless unremarkable and could easily be mistaken for an ordinary weapon; the dagger had a rounded, brown-colored hilt, and a straight-edged blade roughly seven inches in length. There were no engravings or other markings or patterns. It truly was an unexceptional, ordinary-looking dagger that he wouldn¡¯t look twice at if he hadn¡¯t known that it was actually a real piece of ¡°equipment¡± that¡¯d dropped from an actual mob in an actual spawn point! I wonder if I¡¯m ever going to be able to believe this is real, Zach thought. That I could be so lucky to be in this situation. He handed Kal the dagger, and the moment she gripped her left hand around the hilt, she said, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see what happens.¡± With her opposite hand, she pointed at her stats. Zach cheered aloud, impressed, as right before their eyes, the numbers changed. It shouldn¡¯t have been a surprise, honestly. It was obvious that something like this would happen. Even still, seeing it for his own eyes¡ªexperiencing what almost no one in the world would ever get to see¡­it was amazing. Floating in the air before her, the readout of her stats now said: Kalana Vayra: Level 2 (4/100 xp) 1 strength 3 dexterity 2 constitution 4 intelligence 1 speed 1 luck At the same time the stats changed, the light above her head began to glow even more brightly, confirming to Zach that the light did, indeed, become more powerful with higher intelligence. If his memory served him correctly, the weapon, aside from being able to create that awesome-as-hell bolt of lightning, added a point to both intelligence and constitution. ¡°I can¡¯t believe how bad I¡¯m falling behind,¡± Zach said with a genuinely good-hearted chuckle. Tapping his own right shoulder three times, he brought forth his own stats. Zachys Calador: Level 2 (4/100 xp) 2 strength 1 dexterity 2 constitution 1 intelligence 2 speed 1 luck ¡°You¡¯ve really got me beat, Kal. It¡¯s that dagger you¡¯ve got that really gives you the edge. That and the better level-up. What even determines who gets what, anyway? Is it random?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± she said. ¡°My dad told me when I was little that leveling up just brings out your own inner power. What you¡¯re seeing is what¡¯s really in you all along. Or I dunno. That¡¯s just what he said. Anyways, I don¡¯t think I got the better level-up. I got one extra point, sure, but you got an ability. What¡¯s it even do, anyway? You still haven¡¯t told me. I bet it¡¯s awesome.¡± Zach shrugged and released a nervous, defeated laugh. ¡°I have no idea. I tried to figure it out before bed last night and ended up giving up. I¡¯m starting to doubt I even have an ability. Like, I don¡¯t ¡®feel¡¯ anything different. Meaning, I don¡¯t feel like I have some new ¡®thing¡¯ I can do that I couldn¡¯t before. Everything happened so fast when I leveled-up yesterday. And this is kind of humiliating, but I honestly don¡¯t even remember what it was called anymore.¡± Kalana tapped her chin a moment, then said, ¡°Um, I think it was¡­something slash?¡± ¡°Yeah, ¡®Wave Slash¡¯ I think it was called. I don¡¯t even remember for sure.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you just check and see?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t I check and see what, Kal?¡± She leaned closer towards him then chuckled. ¡°Ya know, what your ability does.¡± Zach ran his hand through his wavy hair, which still hadn¡¯t dried. He made a half-smile and said, ¡°What¡¯re you talking about?¡± Kalana leaned in even closer now and studied his face in the way that she often did whenever she thought he was playing a trick or a joke on her. Did she think he was lying to her or something for the laughs? He had no idea what she was on about. It was made all the more awkward by the way she tilted her head to the side as if trying to figure something out about him. Did she think he was crazy? Or stupid? Apparently, it was neither, because after another few moments of her uncomfortable staring, she widened her eyes, snapped her fingers, and then exclaimed, ¡°Oh, right! Duh!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± She crept over to him, so close that their shoulders were touching. Then she tapped him on the chest. ¡°You don¡¯t know, do you?¡± ¡°Know what?¡± he asked with a sigh. She laughed. ¡°Of course you don¡¯t. None of you humans¡ªahh, I mean Whispery Woods people¡ªhave passive abilities so you don¡¯t know how to check your ability information.¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. At this, Zach fully turned so that he faced her. The two of them had at some point these past few minutes shifted from squatting to sitting on the rocky, dirt-covered ground. With both excitement and agitation mixed together in his voice, Zach asked, ¡°Kal, what do you mean ability information?¡± ¡°Let me show you.¡± She again tapped four times on her shoulder, causing her stats to disappear. ¡°I guess it makes sense you wouldn¡¯t know. Use your pointer finger and do this.¡± Zach watched in utter fascination as she tapped her right shoulder with her pointer finger four times just like anyone did if they wanted to see their boring, useless, level-1 stats. Only, on the fourth tap, she did not remove her finger¡ªshe held it in place for what seemed like five full seconds. Then she removed her finger and tapped twice more in quick succession. All at once, a word appeared in easily legible black lettering in front of her and just above her head. It spelled out: Torch. ¡°Now watch,¡± Kalana said. Using the same finger that she¡¯d used to bring forward this stunning new thing that Zach couldn¡¯t believe she knew about, she tapped her finger on the word ¡°torch,¡± which caused it to vanish. Then, taking its place, even more letters began to appear. (T1 Elvish Racial Ability) Torch: Three times per day, the user may summon a light to illuminate the darkness around them, the brightness of which scales with the user¡¯s intelligence. This light continues to persist for a duration between 7 minutes and 5 + 2x intelligence (4 x 2) = (8) minutes, whichever value is greater. ¡°Holy crap,¡± Zach said with a loud, drawn-out gasp. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this. This¡­you knew you could do this the entire time?¡± ¡°I thought everyone knew,¡± Kalana said, now suddenly sounding embarrassed. Zach said nothing in reply to that. He was too busy trying to bring up his own ability information as he trembled with excitement. He tapped his own right shoulder four times, then held it there. ¡°How long?¡± he asked. ¡°To hold it? Count to five, but slowly, just to be safe.¡± ¡°Okay. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.¡± When Zach removed his finger, he tapped it twice more, just as she had done, and then he tried not to squeal in delight, as that would be humiliating. What popped up in the air before him, a few inches above his head, was the name of the one¡ªand only¡ªability that he had, for which he was grateful. No matter what it did or regardless of the fact he only had one, merely just having an actual ability was like the honor of a lifetime. Wave Slash. Overflowing with nervous anticipation, he lifted his shaking, quivering finger and moved it towards the words that had appeared before him. Was he finally going to find out what this ability actually did? Would he learn how to use it? A part of him almost didn¡¯t want to find out just in case it actually was something extremely lame. But, no, he reminded himself: anything, no matter what, was amazing. It would still be something almost no one else could do. ¡°Here we go,¡± he said, tapping on the words. ¡°Let¡¯s see what this is.¡± As it had been with Kalana, the words briefly disappeared and then reappeared slightly lower but with a great deal more text to accompany them. His heart pounding furiously in his chest, Zach slowly, carefully, and intensely read every single one of them. (Inner Ability) Wave Slash (UNIQUE) Requires Sword. User channels energy into their strike, unleashing a projectile that slices anything that crosses its path, dealing damage that scales with the user¡¯s strength. The speed of the projectile scales with speed. Cannot be used with short-swords or daggers. Exertion Level: Moderate. Nodding along with the words, Zach raised two fingers, shook his head, and then said, ¡°I just want to say these two things. Number one: this sounds like the coolest Gods-damned thing ever. And two: what is an inner ability, what does ¡®unique¡¯ mean, and where can I get a sword? And can it be just any sword?¡± Having asked three questions, he received three shrugs in a row. ¡°I got no idea,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Um, I would guess you need a sword that¡¯s also equipment. I don¡¯t¡­I¡¯m not gonna say I know for sure, but I don¡¯t think you can just buy a sword somewhere and have it work.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± Zach muttered, ¡°that¡¯s exactly what I was thinking, too. But what about the other stuff?¡± ¡°No clue,¡± Kalana said, returning a blank expression. ¡°I don¡¯t know what an inner ability is or what a unique ability is. I guess it¡¯s an ability that¡¯s unique?¡± Zach rolled his eyes at her but decided not to deliver anything in retort. Standing back up to his feet, he offered Kalana his hand, which she took. This time, more gently than he¡¯d done earlier when pulling her out of the water, he eased her back up to her feet. ¡°Maybe something will drop from the mobs. I¡¯m so amped and fired up right now. I hope those things respawned.¡± ¡°Me too!¡± Together, they crossed the rest of the distance to the wider, somewhat rectangular-shaped area that they had stumbled upon yesterday when they¡¯d fallen into this underground cavern. Back then, they¡¯d only wanted to find a way to escape. Now, however, it was about so much more. Zach released a sigh of relief followed by a roar of victory as he spotted the three mobs right where they were the day prior. Two were identical to frogs, only they were the size of large dogs and had a red stripe over their mouths. The third was just a gigantic rat with teeth that, Zach knew, were even sharper than they looked. All three had ¡°level-1¡± floating above their bodies. ¡°There they are!¡± Zach cheered. ¡°They respawned. They actually freaking respawned! We¡¯re going to get more experience points, Kal. We¡¯re going to level again.¡± He raised his fist to her, and she raised one of her own, and the two bumped. ¡°Should we start?¡± she asked. ¡°Uh, I guess so, but remember, Kal.¡± He pointed at the rat. ¡°That one is the most-dangerous mob of the three. We need to kill it first. When I fought it last time, I kicked it for 2 damage and then it took 10 hitting the wall. That was enough to kill it. How much damage does your dagger¡¯s lightning do again?¡± ¡°I think between 5 and 15,¡± she said. ¡°I have 4 intelligence, but I don¡¯t know any spells or abilities other than the light above my head.¡± Zach gave her a thumbs-up. ¡°I have to fight with my fists, so¡­you¡¯re still better off. Okay, here¡¯s what we¡¯ll do. Zap that rat thing, and then if it lives, I¡¯ll rush in and hit with everything I got. Once that goes down, we can make quick work of the other two.¡± ¡°Got it!¡± The two exchanged a brief, determined look, and then Kalana stepped forward. Immediately, a light far brighter than the one above her head sprang into existence. It was blue, and it lit up the entire cavern in a flash, but it only lasted for the briefest of moments. Then there was a tremendous boom of thunder as a bolt of lightning struck the rat dead on, leaving in its wake an acrid smell of smoke, which could visibly be seen trailing off the creature¡¯s body. Zach dropped the submersible bag and charged forward, running far faster than he had ever run before. But he quickly came to a halt as he saw the rat roll over and die. Mere seconds later, it disappeared into a white puff of cloudy smoke that quickly faded, leaving nothing behind but a brief message that faded almost as quickly as the rat had. +2xp As if reacting to the death of a friend, the two massive, dog-sized frogs began charging at Zach at full speed. Zach now stood halfway between them and Kalana, which was good. He knew how to dodge their attacks, having burned the way they attack into his memory. He¡¯d even tossed and turned all night fighting with imagine of them in his head. ¡°RRRRRRRRRIIBIIIIIIT!¡± the first one roared, angrily. ¡°RRRRRRRRRIIBIIIIIIT!¡± the second agreed. Both came at him at the same time. Zach dashed backwards and out of range of the first, then twisted his body to avoid the second, which sailed across the dimly lit space that he¡¯d just been standing, whereupon it found Kalana¡¯s dagger. She released an angry shout, and then with pure fury, she began slashing at the thing: like, really slashing at it. The dagger in her hand moved so fast it was like a blur that caused an equally fast stream of numbers to appear above its body. 2 4 2 2 4 The creature died before it could even offer up a second attack. Overwhelmed with disbelief, Zach felt his mouth open slightly. ¡°You¡¯re¡­so, so cool,¡± he whispered. ¡°N-no I¡¯m not,¡± Kalana said, averting her gaze and looking away. Was she blushing? ¡°Yeah you are. You¡¯re amazing. I don¡¯t give you enough credit. You¡¯re totally¡ª¡± ¡°Watch out!¡± she cried. Zach¡¯s words came out in an ¡°oomph¡± as something rough slammed into his back and caused him to land with a rough thud on his belly right by Kalana¡¯s feet. It was the price of being distracted. With a moan, he rolled over and saw that the frog was still coming after him. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I got it, Kal. It doesn¡¯t hit that¡ª¡± Before he could get another word in, Kalana was already dashing straight past him and heading right for the creature. The frog jumped into the air, turned its body, and kicked, but Kalana dodged effortlessly. Then she too jumped into the air, flipped once, and landed behind its back, where she plunged the dagger into its back. 25 (5 base + 20 critical backstab) The frog squealed in agony before rolling over and dying. A few moments passed, and then it too vanished into a puff of smoke. Zach, getting back to his feet, began to rub his sore back. He opened his mouth, but he coughed a few times. The wind had been knocked out of him. It still hurt a great deal less than it had last time when he¡¯d been hit and only had 1 constitution. Regardless, that was one hell of a shameful display. Especially in front of cute girl who he was slowly coming to realize he was crushing on way harder than he wanted to admit to himself. ¡°I sucked that fight,¡± he said plainly. ¡°It¡¯s just the truth.¡± Kalana rushed over to him. ¡°Nah-uh, you were great.¡± This time, she bent down and held out her hand. Grumbling, he brushed it away. ¡°Stop.¡± ¡°You were!¡± ¡°Kal¡­¡± She made a sour expression, then exhaled. ¡°Okay, fine. You did suck. But you¡¯ll do better next fight, right?¡± ¡°I guess, but¡­¡± As if snapping out of a trance, he pointed to her. ¡°How the hell did you do what you just did?¡± ¡°You mean the backflip and backstab?¡± ¡°Yeah, obviously. Since when could you do something like that?¡± ¡°I dunno. Ever since my dexterity increased, I just feel so nimble and light on my feet. I was doing cartwheels in my room last night. I just felt like that was something I could do, so I did it. I just kind of ¡®knew¡¯ if that makes any sense.¡± Zach looked at her. He was surprised there was no trace of jealousy in him. Well, okay, maybe just a tiny bit, but not like he¡¯d have expected there to be. He knew the usual him would be royally pissed that he was being so badly outdone by Kalana, and yet¡­? Nothing. All he could feel was pride, admiration, and a growing desire to tell her how much he liked her. He would do none of these things, of course, because this was still Kalana after all, and he could just not think of that goofy girl in such a way. He wouldn¡¯t let himself. He¡¯d snap out of it sooner or later. But if anything, I¡¯m snapping more into it, he realized. Dusting himself off and climbing back to his feet, Zach drew a deep breath, held it for a few moments, and then released it. ¡°So, what now?¡± he asked. ¡°Should we look around the place to see if there are any more spawns? Or should we wait here and see how long it takes? Oh, crap! I almost forgot.¡± Zach ran for all he was worth over to the duffle bag, which he then hurriedly unzipped. Since both of them had broken their cell phones and they couldn¡¯t yet afford the high cost of buying a new one, he¡¯d purchased a simple digital timer: a small, cylindrical device that fit into the palm of his hand and was capable of playing music, telling them the time, and serving as a sort of stopwatch. Immediately, he pressed the timer button, and the numbers on the digital screen began climbing in second intervals. ¡°We¡¯ll have to add a minute whenever they spawn.¡± Zach took a seat right next to the duffle bag, and then with a smile, Kalana skipped over and joined him, sitting next to him. Like before, they were now shoulder to shoulder. Was it weird the way he kind of enjoyed the feeling of her shoulder brushing into his? Yes. This is Kalana. Silly Kalana. Get this out of your head! His heart actually ached in his chest. That was new. It actually hurt. It was made worse when she closed her eyes and smiled contently at him. There was something so different about her. Zach wasn¡¯t sure what it was or why, but she was so much more than just the ditzy girl who nagged him whenever she was having bad dreams or wanted someone to watch TV with. Twice today, he had seen a side of her that she almost never showed. The first was when she¡¯d beaten the snot out of Pack, and the second was just now, when she¡¯d savagely attacked and defeated all three mobs on her own. During these moments, she almost seemed to be¡­majestic. Noble. Something more than just a girl living in one of the lower-income areas of an already cash-strapped city. ¡°Kal?¡± he asked. ¡°Yep?¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Huh? What¡¯s that supposed to mean.¡± She gave him a dumb look, then twirled her finger around her head as if to say he was crazy. ¡°How hard did you hit your head after that mean frog kicked you?¡± ¡°Kal¡­Kalana, I¡¯m only asking because I really want to know¡­who are you really?¡± She recoiled as if struck. ¡°Why are ya asking me that? What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± She fully scooted several inches away from him, sliding over the rocky surface on her butt as if it burned her. To Zach¡¯s own shock, he felt regret with each inch that separated them. ¡°Come back,¡± he said, forcing himself to laugh and appear cool and unfazed, though on the inside, his chest began to sting and he was starting to regret asking her this dumb question. ¡°I was just curious. You don¡¯t have to¡­do that.¡± She glared at him. ¡°You asked me a weird question.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It was dumb. Forget I said anything.¡± ¡°No way, nope.¡± She lifted her chin at him. ¡°Now you have to tell me what you meant by it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­it¡¯s just today, and I guess a little bit yesterday, you showed¡­you acted in a way that I¡¯ve never seen you act before. And then you told me about the slave and genocide thing. I just feel like there¡¯s so much more to you than what I always thought. And if I¡¯m being honest, you¡¯re basically my best friend at this point. I spend more time with you than anyone else.¡± To Zach¡¯s relief, she actually slid back closer to him. ¡°You¡¯re my best friend too,¡± she said. ¡°And¡­I guess I¡¯m gonna be honest and just say that, um, there are things about me you don¡¯t know. Like a lot.¡± ¡°How come?¡± ¡°Because this¡±¡ªshe pointed at herself¡ª¡°is the only me that matters now.¡± She smiled. ¡°The other me that you saw¡­that¡¯s an accident. This is my life. Or was, anyway. I dunno what¡¯s gonna happen now that we¡¯re camping spawns like it¡¯s eight-hundred years ago. But even then¡­I¡¯m just a person like you trying to, you know, have fun and live.¡± Zach wet his lips then hesitated before asking the question that was burning on his tongue. Calmly, he whispered, ¡°And who is the other you?¡± ¡°Do you really wanna know?¡± Zach, without hesitation, gave an immediate, firm nod. ¡°Yes. Absolutely. One-hundred percent.¡± Kalana turned her head away a moment so that she stared at the floor. Just then, her light went out, and now once more, the world around them was bathed in complete darkness. Oddly, Zach had the sense that maybe she¡¯d chosen to put it out at that moment. But there was no way he could ever prove that or even really be sure himself. Either way, when it appeared a moment later, the expression on Kalana¡¯s face was one that almost made him slide on his butt away from her. She looked fierce, determined, grim, and resolute. Her eyes were narrowed, and there was fire in them that burned brighter than any flashlight, torch, or bolt of lightning. ¡°Kal,¡± he whispered. ¡°I¡¯m Kalana Vayra,¡± she said, her words coming across as both a whisper yet also somehow firm and commanding. ¡°I¡¯m the daughter of Fylwen and Eldora. And I¡¯m not part Elvish. I am Elvish. I¡¯m not a human. My hair isn¡¯t really brown, either. It¡¯s a shade of gold distinct from anything found on a human head. I¡¯ve been dyeing it for years. Oh, and my ears are not really this round. It¡¯s painful making them look this way, but even still, they look pointed no matter what I do.¡± Zach wanted to reply. He wanted to say something, anything. But his voice caught in his throat. There was nothing he could do or say even if he wanted to. His body would not obey him: it would not allow him to speak. All he could do was sit perfectly still in a state of abject shock as Kalana studied him with a far more intense gaze than he¡¯d ever seen from her before. Then, she released a sad laugh and continued speaking. ¡°I¡¯m also a princess and technically heir to a throne that your kin destroyed because you feared us. That¡¯s why I hide what I am, and so does my father and mother¡ªassuming my mother is even still alive.¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know what to say,¡± Zach whispered. He was in such a state of shock he almost felt numb. What was she saying? That she, Kalana, was actually a full-blooded Elf? Could that even be possible? Everyone knew they went extinct thousands of years ago. And yet¡­she could do things no human could do, like hold her breath under water for half an hour. She could see clearly with just the tiniest bit of light. She had those cute little pointed ears that he¡¯d taken for just being an odd little physical quirk. ¡°That look in your eyes,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s why I never told you. Now you¡¯re never gonna look at me the same way ever again, right? You¡¯re never gonna¡ª¡± ¡°No!¡± Zach shouted at her, finally snapping out of his thunderstruck trance. ¡°How can you even say that? I¡­I could never think that way.¡± She regarded him skeptically. The way she looked at him¡­it was as though she didn¡¯t believe him. But why? Sure, what she¡¯d just said was a hell of a lot to take in and process, and it would likely take some time before he could actually absorb it all, but what did that matter? ¡°Just tell me this, Kal. You and me being friends¡­was that real? Hanging out and everything¡ªwas that just an act for you to¡­to I don¡¯t know, blend in?¡± ¡°Of course not!¡± she shouted. Now, the heat in her voice matched his own. ¡°Everything you know about me is true. It¡¯s really who I am, Zach. I never pretended to be someone I¡¯m not. I know you don¡¯t wanna believe that after what I just told you, but it¡¯s true. I came here to start over. That¡¯s what I did.¡± ¡°So then¡­let¡¯s make a deal, okay?¡± he asked her nervously. ¡°Deal?¡± ¡°Yeah, a deal. I¡¯m going to believe you about you being the same-old Kal, and you have to believe me when I say I don¡¯t think worse of you or anything. Hey, it¡¯s only fair, right?¡± The slightest beginnings of a smile crept up on her face. But it dropped immediately as Zach asked, ¡°Hey what did you mean when you said my ¡®kin¡¯ destroyed your¡­your throne.¡± ¡°I meant humans,¡± she said, speaking the word as though it disgusted and revolted her. ¡°I would never hurt you, though. Why¡­why do you say it like it¡¯s something I did? I don¡¯t even really know what happened to you.¡± ¡°Do you want to?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°No you don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Kal, I said I do.¡± ¡°You think you do, but you don¡¯t.¡± ¡°I do!¡± Zach said, more forcefully than he¡¯d intended. ¡°All right then, fine.¡± Kalana now came even closer to him. So close that if he bent over just a little bit, his forehead would bump into hers. Unlike other times she¡¯d come close to him, this he did not enjoy. She fixed him with a cold, intense gaze that gave rise to a strong desire to look away. Still, he continued to meet her eyes. Something told him if he looked away she¡¯d never forgive him. ¡°There¡¯s a lot I don¡¯t know about my people on account of how many of them humans murdered before I was even born, but for thousands of years we¡¯ve been hunted. Somehow, though, there were still some of us left in the world. We still had a few villages. Even though you humans have been trying to eliminate us for hundreds of years, we survived, protected the royal family, and almost managed to rebuild¡ªuntil King Peter IV betrayed us.¡± ¡°Betrayed you?¡± Zach asked, somewhat in disbelief of the conversation he was having. This felt less real than the spawn point, and that still felt like a dream. Even still, he couldn¡¯t shake the sense of impending doom that crept into his stomach as she continued to speak. ¡°I¡¯m one of the last of my people in existence. Do you know why, Zach?¡± He shook his head. ¡°No. Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because your kin¡ªhumans¡ªdecided to come into our forests, burn our homes, decapitate our fathers, rape our mothers, and throw our infants into pits of fire. Have you ever seen a newborn child scream in agony? I have. It¡¯s the only thing I can see or hear when I dream.¡± For nearly a full minute, Zach could do nothing but repeat her words in his head over and over and over until a nauseating sensation crept into his belly and he had to fight off the urge to vomit. It was a disgusting, creeping feeling of absolute despair that made him want to scream and cry all at the same time. How was a person even supposed to respond to what she¡¯d just said? What words could he possibly offer? ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Zach managed to say, overcome with sadness and a sense that this was way beyond something he had the capacity to truly understand or appreciate without witnessing it for himself. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t know what else I can even say.¡± She smiled at him, though it was sad and seemed forced. ¡°Hit the button, Zach.¡± ¡°The button?¡± He blinked in confusion. ¡°Yah, the button,¡± she said. As she continued to speak, with each word, she seemed to perk up and become livelier, as if slipping back into the Kalana he knew. ¡°The mobs respawned, you dork! Now we have to take off a minute. Just stop the timer.¡± She was right. The rat and both frogs were right where they belonged and far, far sooner than Zach had ever anticipated. This was great. This was beyond great! Reaching across from him, he slammed his palm down on the timer. ¡°It¡¯s about thirty minutes. We¡¯ll call it thirty. Which means¡­¡± He beamed at her. ¡°We¡¯re going to level up today after all!¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s simple.¡± He jumped back up to his feet, then pointed at the three mobs. ¡°If these things spawn every half hour, and we¡¯re getting 6xp a spawn¡ªtwo for each of them¡ªthen that means we¡¯re looking at 12xp an hour. We need a hundred to level-up, and we already have 10xp each, so¡­we¡¯re looking seven-and-a-half hours.¡± ¡°Yikes, that¡¯s a long time,¡± she said, her expression an eerie cross between a smile and a pout. ¡°We won¡¯t get home until the middle of the night. Maybe the early morning. And I can¡¯t call my dad because you broke my phone. So both our dads might be worried.¡± ¡°Not mine,¡± Zach said. ¡°He won¡¯t even know we¡¯re gone. He¡¯ll be too passed out drunk to notice. But if you need to run home and come back, we can always¡ª¡± He stopped speaking as she held out her palm, gesturing for him to stop. ¡°No, I¡¯m staying with you.¡± He grinned at her. ¡°Of course you are. No one can miss an opportunity like this. We might actually level up again, Kal. In fact, not even might: we will!¡± Kalana shrugged, of all things, which confused the hell out of Zach. As if noticing his confusion, she asked, ¡°You really think I¡¯m here because I care about leveling up that much?¡± Her words were so strange that Zach had to repeat them several times in his head just to process them. ¡°Well, yeah, of course.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯re a dummy.¡± ¡°Huh? How so?¡± ¡°Because, you dork, my world is bigger than leveling and being powerful. I only want to do this ¡®cause you want to. I don¡¯t want to be super powerful and lord over people and control cities and prey on people who¡¯re weak. That¡¯s what they do, you know? Jerks! I just¡­I was only just hoping to go on the adventure with you.¡± ¡°Well, we still can. What¡¯s stopping us?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± she said, readying her dagger. ¡°Now let¡¯s kill these already so seven-and-a-half hours doesn¡¯t become eight.¡± ¡°That sounds good to me, Kal.¡± With that, a bolt of lightning struck and killed the rat, and the two frogs roared angrily and charged. This time, Zach would make sure he got them both. Chapter 6: Flavor Text Chapter 6: Flavor Text As Zach kicked a frog the size of a dog into the wall opposite him, he turned around and began walking away even before seeing the puff of smoke as the dead creature evaporated into nothingness. Wiping sweat off his brow, he reached into the submersible bag and tore open yet another bag of chips, then downed it with a bottle of water. With an exhausted, fatigued sigh, he tapped himself on his right shoulder four times and glanced at the stats that appeared before him. Even though he¡¯d checked just a few minutes ago, somehow he¡¯d become compulsively addicted to checking his experience every time he killed something. Zachys Calador: Level 2 (52/100 xp) 2 strength 1 dexterity 2 constitution 1 intelligence 2 speed 1 luck ¡°This¡­isn¡¯t as fun as I thought it¡¯d be,¡± he said, taking a seat. ¡°Still, I¡¯d do this twenty-four hours a day if I could. It¡¯s all going to be worth it in the end.¡± Kalana nodded but somehow still managed to smile energetically. ¡°We¡¯re more than half of the way there now, too.¡± Since beginning a little more than four hours ago, Zach¡¯s lack of sleep had slowly begun catching up to him. It wasn¡¯t even because of the effort required to clear the three mobs, either. Actually, it was the opposite: it was the waiting. It was sitting down for half-hour stretches in a place with no furniture and uneven, rocky terrain. His brain and body were sick and tired of being in this damp, hot, and dark cavern. Even with two hand-held flashlights, his head-mounted light, and a few portable LED work lights, he still felt the oppressive force of this sunless dungeon. Genuinely, if this were outdoors, it would be so much easier. Something about being in this below-ground, lightless cavern felt wrong, as though humans just weren¡¯t built to reside for very long in this kind of environment. I wonder how the Dwarves put up with this. Apparently, there was a continent far to the north where ice and snow blanketed almost the entire continuous stretch of land from coast to coast. Other than a few daring¡ªor stupid¡ªresearchers or illegal-contraband smugglers, almost no humans ventured there, and not because it was inhospitable, either. It was because far below the icy plains was the Dwarven kingdom, where millions of them spent most of their lives, rarely traveling to the surface. Ever since King Peter IV, on the world stage, demanded the recognition of superiority of the human race, diplomatic and trade relationships between humanity and other sentient life on Galterra had essentially been cut off. Every day on TV, the news would go on for hours and hours about efforts to restore diplomacy, and the same few hundred annoying leaders and representatives from each of the human guilds would then be shown in this giant plenary room shouting at one another in complete disagreement how to proceed. Some even wanted to go to war. Thus, humanity had been confined to North and South Bastia, which, to be fair, wasn¡¯t exactly the worst thing in the world since the two continents also happened to be the largest and most resource-rich on the planet. Still makes the world feel like a smaller place, though, he thought. Then again, I¡¯ve never left Whispery Woods, so who am I to even care. ¡°Respawn in 25 seconds,¡± Kalana said. Zach nodded and jumped up to his feet. Without exchanging another word, he calmly moved forward and stood with his back to the opposite wall of where he knew the three creatures would appear. He and Kalana had now done this enough that it felt routine in a sense. Even the rat-thing no longer posed any real danger, as the bolt of lightning from Kalana¡¯s dagger always killed it on the first go with exactly 11 damage. Zach was beginning to get the impression that the amount of damage the weapon¡¯s ability claimed to do¡ªbetween 5 and 15¡ªwas not in fact random but a range based on factors and conditions he didn¡¯t yet understand. Maybe certain types of mobs are more susceptible than others? He had no way of being sure, of course, and even if he was correct, he also had no way of knowing the specifics of how any of this worked. A thousand years ago, it would have been common knowledge, but today? The information just didn¡¯t exist¡ªat least not for the general public. The guilds might know, but even if they did, they weren¡¯t going to share it. ¡°Five more seconds,¡± Kalana said cheerfully. Zach drew back his foot and counted the seconds down in his head. Then he kicked out with his right foot an instant before the frog to his left reappeared. He knew exactly where it would be and when, as these things not only seemed to respawn on an exact timer, but when they did respawn, their location never deviated. Zach wondered if this was true for all mobs or just these. Whispery Woods used to be a giant forest filled with things like these, he thought as he watched the frog roar in pain as it slammed into the wall behind it. I wonder how many times these things were killed before me and Kal found them. Zach had learned his lesson about being distracted during combat, so it was only because of how routine things had become that he was able to let his mind drift and fight at the same time. He effortlessly slipped out of the way of one of the frog¡¯s kicking attacks as he imagined what the world must have been like all those years ago. People must have come to this exact spot he was in right now. They must have grown stronger fighting these specific creatures. It almost was enough to make him feel a pang of sadness for what the world had lost¡ªwhat the world had needed to pay in exchange for hover cars, hospitals, hell¡­the internet! The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Refocusing his attention to the last remaining enemy, Zach unleashed a fast combination of strikes into the red-striped face of his frog-foe. First, he banged his fist into its left side for 4 damage. Then, he followed up with a right hook that scored him another 3. Finally, he bent his knees, drew his arm back, and hit out again with his left, delivering a straight punch that actually caused the creature to make an audible grunt of pain. To Zach¡¯s surprise, he topped his previous high, managing to deal 8 damage in a single hit. The creature rolled over and died, on the heels of which followed the usual puff of smoke. ¡°Nice one,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Thanks!¡± Zach began to turn around and walk back to what the two had come to use as their ¡°sitting and waiting¡± area when something caught his eyes. Immediately, his heart began to beat faster. As the puff of smoke faded, Zach realized there was something left behind in its wake. ¡°Oh, wow. K-Kalana, hey! I think we got a drop!¡± ¡°Really?¡± she shouted, rushing over. ¡°Oh, and it¡¯s yours, too!¡± It was definitely his. Zach could tell from the way it seemed to glow a white, shining color whenever he looked at it. Oddly enough, this shining light did not seem to cast shadows or even illuminate its surroundings, making Zach wonder if it could truly be called a light at all. Squatting down, Zach grabbed the box-shaped object that had been left behind for him. ¡°What¡­is this?¡± he asked, though the question was more to himself than Kalana. He glanced down at what appeared to be a cardboard box wrapped in packaging plastic. It was only slightly bigger than the size of his hand in terms of height, and its width was only around the size of a short paperback novel. ¡°This is¡­really, really weird,¡± he whispered. The front of the item had a cartoonish picture of the frog he¡¯d just killed jumping off a tadpole under a cartoon, smiling sun. In yellow lettering at the top of the box in a goofy, squiggly font were the words ¡°Frog Snax.¡± Shaking his head in confusion, Zach flipped the object over, and on the back of it were the words: Fun Fact #6: When the Great Ones decided to add Face-Eaters to the Leviathan River, adventurers grew so frustrated that they decided to build a bridge just to avoid boating across the treacherous waters. Some still insisted that the Face-Eaters were unfair and that the deaths of their loved ones was unjust. Sympathetic to their plight, the Great Ones created Frog Snax in their 1.32 terraform. Enjoy! ¡°Kal, you gotta read this. It says¡ª¡± ¡°I saw,¡± she said from directly behind him, causing him to flinch. He was so captivated by this strange item in his hands that he hadn¡¯t even felt her resting her chin on his right shoulder as he examined his drop. Zach blinked and then reread the words a second then third time just to ensure what he was seeing was real. He flipped the item over and back a few times just to make absolutely sure that this wasn¡¯t some hallucination brought on by being in this dark, uncomfortable cavern for so many hours. ¡°What¡¯s a Great One?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard the term before,¡± she said. Zach turned around to face her, and the curiosity and wonder in her beautiful green eyes told him that she was just as perplexed and mystified as he was. While holding the object, he tapped himself four times on his shoulder to bring up his stats. Then, for the first time in his life, he reached out and touched a new word that had appeared above his name and level: inventory. His stats vanished, replaced by a single line that read: Frog Snax: picked up by Zachys Calador. Now, he touched the air before him where these words floated, and then more words began to appear below. Frog Snax: picked up by Zachys Calador Summons a wisp of light that causes the nearest non-boss, non-enraged aquatic-type enemy to become distracted for 45 seconds, forgetting its target. (10 uses) 500 range. Only 1 wisp may be active at a time. Not usable by Goblins, Dwarves, or Shadowfangs. For almost a minute, Zach did not speak as he tried to make sense of what exactly it was he now had in his possession. Closing his inventory, he lowered his eyes to the item in his hands. By all appearances, this looked like a sealed package of snack food one might find on the shelf of a grocery store. ¡°What¡¯s a Shadowfang? Kalana, have you ever heard of that before?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± she replied. ¡°I dunno what that is. I didn¡¯t really understand anything I just saw, Zach. Is the item¡­good?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so, Kal. I think this¡­this is useless to us.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Zach pointed to the sealed package. ¡°This is totally a guess, but I think you were supposed to eat one of these, and there¡¯s probably like ten of them in here. And then if you were being chased or killed by an ¡®aquatic¡¯ mob, which I guess means a mob that lives in the water, it would probably summon something to make the mob forget about you so you could escape. But since there are no aquatic mobs anymore, at least none we¡¯re ever likely to see, it¡¯s just a useless snack.¡± She frowned. ¡°Are you upset?¡± To his own surprise, he wasn¡¯t. ¡°Not at all. This is¡­forget the fact it¡¯s useless. It¡¯s a priceless artifact that contains information and terms on it that even the world¡¯s best historians might not know. I¡¯m getting chills down my back just thinking of what a ¡®Great One¡¯ might be.¡± He wasn¡¯t lying or exaggerating, either. A prickling sensation moved down from his neck to his hips then even into his legs as he contemplated what in the name of the Gods-above he had just read. He knew that drops could be weapons or gear: you¡¯d have to live under a rock not know that, as even if you hated learning history, the yearly tournaments talked about ¡®drops¡¯ when the guild¡¯s finest competitors discussed how they had acquired their shiny new equipment. No one ever said anything about this, though. It was literally a packaged food product. Why¡ªor how¡ªcould something like this even exist? ¡°Should we try one?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°I wonder how they taste.¡± Zach tapped his finger against his chin. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­this thing could be worth a whole lot of gold. If we open it, it might ruin the value.¡± Kalana folded her arms. ¡°Fine, but if we get another one, we¡¯re eating it.¡± Zach laughed. ¡°Even if I could tell you right now for certain it was worth a million gold¡­like if somehow I just ¡®knew¡¯ that or whatever, you¡¯d still want to eat it, wouldn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Even if it turns out the snacks literally taste like frog.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± He sighed even as a smile came onto his face. ¡°You really don¡¯t care about money or power, do you?¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t either if you¡¯d lived my life.¡± ¡°You¡¯re probably right.¡± Returning back to their makeshift sitting area near the submersible duffle bag, Zach stored the ¡®Frog Snax¡¯ and waited for the next spawn. In just a little while longer, he would be level-3. Just thinking about that gave him the energy to ignore the fatigue his sleep deprivation had caused him. Unlike Kalana, he was hungry for power. For coin. For a future anywhere but here. And if that meant starting a business selling rare artifacts no one else could acquire such as Frog Snax, he was all for it. Even if he had to eat some of the profits to keep his partner happy. Chapter 7: Unwanted Visitor Chapter 7: Unwanted Visitor If not for the timer going off, Zach would¡¯ve fallen into a deep sleep. Since they knew the mobs took thirty minutes per respawn, they¡¯d changed the timer from a stopwatch to an alarm. And now, it blared loudly in an annoying, repetitive chirp as both he and Kalana groaned and sat up. For a brief instant, Zach forgot where he was or what he was doing. Then he shook his head and, realizing that this would be the last spawn needed to level, quickly regained his energy. Kalana¡­not so much. She merely rubbed her eyes and lazily extended her arm to shut off the alarm. Zach had gotten little sleep the night prior, and Kalana was simply exhausted in general. So it wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that the previous few hours had been pretty rough. The past few spawns in particular had taken a whole lot of willpower; for the last three in a row, the two of them had dozed off together during the thirty minutes it took for the mobs to respawn. No matter what happened today or how excited it might make him, Zach knew he would get a really, really good night¡¯s sleep when he got home and showered. ¡°This¡¯s the last one, right?¡± Kalana asked with a yawn, stretching her arms. Zach was so exhausted that he almost didn¡¯t care that she¡¯d napped with her head on his chest. This kind of thing would normally have sent his heart rate into overdrive, but because he himself was so close to collapsing into a sleep-coma, it was merely something he¡¯d observed, stored away in his head for later, and then ignored for the moment. ¡°We¡¯re going to level-up after we take these three down, Kal. This is the big moment.¡± ¡°Yep,¡± she said with another yawn. She really isn¡¯t in this for the power, Zach thought. It wasn¡¯t that he¡¯d doubted what she¡¯d said earlier, but it was more that it was just something that was hard to appreciate¡ªor rather understand. The idea that someone could be given the opportunity to become stronger than almost everyone on the planet and¡­and still the only thing she cared about was the adventure of it all? That was amazing. She¡¯s special. No more lying to myself. I¡¯m falling for her bad. Tomorrow, I¡¯m going to ask her out on a date. Not a friend-thing but a real, actual date. That¡¯s it. I¡¯ve made my mind up. Zach chuckled to himself as he realized he¡¯d exhausted himself to the point of accidental honesty. He could no longer deny these powerful feelings he had for Kalana. He liked her: really liked her. He almost wanted to use a stronger word than ¡°like,¡± but his brain fearfully blocked that off and shut it down. He couldn¡¯t go there. He wasn¡¯t ready to even think, let alone say that. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± Kalana asked. Zach stared at her in confusion a moment before realizing she was referring to the fact he¡¯d just chuckled. ¡°Nothing,¡± he said. ¡°Weirdo.¡± She again stretched, yawned, and briefly stood on her tiptoes while arching her back. ¡°Let¡¯s finish this. I¡¯m gonna pass out soon. We¡¯re never doing this again.¡± Alarmed, Zach asked, ¡°What do you mean? Leveling?¡± ¡°No, no,¡± she said, waving her hand at him. ¡°I mean this. Trying to¡­what¡¯s a good word to use? I¡¯m too tired to think and you¡¯re the book nerd. I¡¯m talking about sitting here and doing this all day and night in one shot.¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°Grind?¡± She smiled at him and her eyebrows rose slightly. ¡°Actually, yeah, that¡¯s the best word for what this is. You nailed it. Yeah. Grind. We¡¯re never grinding a whole day in here like this again. Especially since I think it¡¯s gonna take us way longer to get to level 4. Neither of us are Dwarves. It¡¯s bad to stay in a place like this all day, you know? And yuck! We¡¯re probably gonna smell like river moss and dirt for a week. I don¡¯t think people were ever meant to fight level-1s over and over like this.¡± ¡°True, but it¡¯s not like we have a lot of options¡ªor any.¡± He grinned. ¡°But I¡¯m happy enough just to have anything at all. Now, let¡¯s go get ¡®em.¡± She gave a thumbs-up, and then the two of them moved towards the three mobs that had now respawned. Even though he knew it would only be temporary, Zach was now wide awake, alert, and gushing with energy. Kalana, though, was still just as haggard and sleepy. She lifted her dagger and called forth her lightning even as she continued to yawn a third time. Then she immediately took a seat on the ground with her feet kicked out in front of her. ¡°Okay, those two are all yours,¡± she said, handing him her dagger. He half bent forward and grabbed it, not even worried about the two roaring, dog-sized frogs that he knew were rushing towards him. Having done this literally all day, Zach was now so accustomed to the movement of the two giant frogs that he could probably dodge them with his eyes closed. That wasn¡¯t an exaggeration, either, as he actually had sort of closed his eyes at one point during the last fight and still managed to get out of their way. He¡¯d had to borrow Kalana¡¯s dagger because he could no longer be bothered throwing full-strength punches at them. Two spawns ago, he¡¯d been so tired he¡¯d actually struck one for 0 damage. He hadn¡¯t even known that was possible. Thankfully, the dagger, combined with his pretty-much expert knowledge of all things giant frog, meant that he could swiftly circle around their air-jump attack¡ªwhich was the one and only attack they ever did¡ªand slash a few times to easily dispose of them. First, he took down the one on his right, using the bare minimum exertion needed to hit for 2 damage per slash, and then, suddenly becoming far, far more awake, he slashed the second frog four times quickly then paused. By now, he and Kalana had long-since figured out that the rat could only take 10 damage and the frogs could only take 11 damage before dying. The next attack would kill the frog. ¡°Kalana, stop dozing off. This is the moment we¡¯ve been waiting for.¡± To her credit, she did seem to become more alert, her eyes snapping open immediately. After all, Zach knew for sure that she did care about this. When not fatigued, she could almost be as excited by the idea of leveling up as he was. It was just that she seemed to view this as more of something ¡°fun¡± for them to do together, which Zach reasoned was why she lacked the sense of urgency that he had. Standing up to her feet, she stood close enough to Zach that the two of them were now shoulder to shoulder. For whatever reason, this caused the frog to roar at her instead of him, jumping in the air and kicking out at her. But like Zach, she¡¯d been at this all day too, and so she merely pivoted on her feet and spun her body out of the way. ¡°Okay, here we go.¡± Zach handed her back her dagger, which she took with a nod. Then he ran forward, kicked out with his foot, and with the heel of it slamming into the giant frog¡¯s face, he ended the creature all on his own. Briefly, +2xp floated above the thing¡¯s head, and then an instant later, two sets of those glorious words finally appeared before he and Kalana respectively. Zach held his breath as he read them, becoming giddy with joy and amazement. Level up! +1 str (3) +1 dex (2) +1 con (3) Boundless Acquired! ¡°We did it!¡± he shouted in victory as he glanced over to Kalana, who smiled back at him. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was real or imagined, but he actually felt more powerful. He straightened his back, clenched and unclenched his fists. His confidence grew. He felt bold, alive, sure of himself. And then¡­then he saw Kalana¡¯s level-up, and his jaw dropped so low he was surprised it didn¡¯t fall off his face like a cartoon. Level up! +3 dex (5) +3 int (7) +4 spd (5) Falling Star Acquired! Dagger Flame Acquired! Lesser Lightning Strike Acquired! Lesser Healing Acquired! Kalana looked first at Zach, then back at her level-up. Then she looked at Zach a second time. Then her level-up. Then she looked at Zach a third time and then once more her level-up. Finally, she met his gaze, smiled innocently, and scratched her curly-haired head while delivering a stupid, awkward-sounding laugh. ¡°Um, um¡­yours was way cooler,¡± she squeaked nervously. Zach sighed, then shrugged. ¡°At this point, I¡¯m still just happy to be the second most powerful person anyone will have ever seen.¡± ¡°Aww!¡± she said excitedly. Then Zach couldn¡¯t help but widen his eyes as she came closer to him and kissed him. It was brief to be sure, but it was on the lips and it made him almost forget what a level-up or a stat point even was. He couldn¡¯t believe how soft her lips felt. He couldn¡¯t believe she¡¯d even done that at all. It had all happened so quickly and so unexpectedly that he wasn¡¯t sure what to say. She, on the other hand, had no problems finding words. ¡°Hey, I bet your new ability is super-duper cool.¡± Zach smiled at her. She was trying so hard that he couldn¡¯t even be mad. If she was right, then leveling-up brought out the true power contained within each person, and if this was how strong Kalana was, then he was just glad to know her. ¡°All right, let¡¯s see what it is. You sure you don¡¯t want to check yours first?¡± ¡°Nah-uh. You go.¡± She balled her hands into fists and raised them to her cheeks as if excited. ¡°Boundless sounds so cool!¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Zach laughed, tapped his right shoulder four times, and then held his finger in place. Counting to five, he released his shoulder then gave another two quick taps. The names of his abilities appeared in front of him immediately in easily readable black text. Wave Slash Boundless Even before knowing a single thing about his new ability, a tingle in the back of his head caused him to suddenly become aware that he could¡­that he could ¡°do¡± something. He had no idea what that something might be, but it was simply there, in the back of his mind. It was almost like it¡¯d always been there and he¡¯d never noticed. It required as much mental cognition as wiggling his toes. He wondered if having a sword on him would awaken that same sense of awareness with his other ability, Wave Slash. Let¡¯s see what this new one does. He lifted his hand, extended his pointer finger, and then touched the air in front of him where the word ¡°Boundless¡± floated in bold black lettering. (Inner Ability) Boundless (UNIQUE) The next non-damaging, non-repeating spell, ability, equipment ability, or item ability can be used regardless of range unless a target is required, in which case the user must be within seeing distance. Cannot be used with abilities that aid in charming or card-capture. Cannot be used to target or affect card-based summons. Exertion Level: Very Low. Zach couldn¡¯t help himself. He didn¡¯t know if it was the stress, the humidity, his fatigue, or even if he was slightly losing his mind: before he had even finished reading the description, he burst into a fit of laughter so loud that the power and loudness of it almost blasted him off his feet. He laughed so hard that it became an issue for him to breathe or even stand up straight. Worse, just as he thought he was going to get himself under control, Kalana¡¯s cheeks puffed up, and then she too started laughing, which only set him off again. ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m sorry, Zach,¡± she said, laughing so hard that tears began to form in her eyes. ¡°The next ability will b-b-be better. This was just bad luck!¡± ¡°S-st-stop,¡± Zach choked out. He needed to breathe. He backed away and leaned against the wall with tears forming in his own eyes. ¡°Oh my Gods above, why am I laughing so hard? I suck so much it¡¯s actually funny even to me.¡± Wiping his eyes, he finally got himself under control, and so did Kalana. ¡°Okay, look,¡± he began, ¡°you¡¯re probably right. I¡¯m still happy just to be leveled up. Not everything is about me. Let¡¯s check out your abilities. They¡¯re probably amazing.¡± She scrunched her lips. ¡°No, I bet they suck.¡± ¡°Kal!¡± ¡°Okay, okay. But they¡¯re probably not that good. Don¡¯t feel bad.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t. Sheesh.¡± Kalana brought out the list of her abilities the moment that Zach removed his. Although it required a sequence of touches to bring forth information such as stats or abilities, oddly enough, the only requirement to dismissing them was to simply will them away. Moving closer so that he could see, Zach stood by Kalana¡¯s side and watched as her list of abilities popped into existence in the air before her. Torch Falling Star Dagger Flame Lesser Lightning Strike Lesser Healing Kalana reached out to touch one of the ability names, then paused. ¡°Zach, read it out loud for me. I wanna be surprised and hear it in your voice. It¡¯s more fun that way.¡± He nodded. ¡°Sure, fine.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not gonna be that good,¡± she said. ¡°If I got four new abilities, they¡¯re probably all really weak. They can¡¯t be that great.¡± Zach had to admit she had a point. ¡°True.¡± She tapped the words Falling Star with her right pointer finger, and then the names of the abilities below it moved downwards as if to make space for the letters that now began appearing in their place. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m closing my eyes. I¡¯m nervous. I bet it¡¯s gonna be so bad.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡± Zach cleared his throat and began to read. ¡°It says, ¡®Inner Ability. Falling Star. The user calls down a¡­a¡­¡¯¡± He gasped. ¡°A meteor?¡± Once more, Zach broke into a laughing fit at the exact same time as Kalana, which either intentionally or accidentally caused the entire explanation to disappear along with the names of the rest of her abilities. ¡°I¡¯m t-too tired,¡± she said, laughing even louder. ¡°I can¡¯t do this now.¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°No way. We have to read that now. Did it say you can summon a gods-be-damned meteor? What in all four layers of hell?¡± ¡°I¡¯m tired,¡± Kalana said, her face once more looking so innocent that it was almost enough to fool him. ¡°Can¡¯t we do this later?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re worried about my ego, don¡¯t be. In fact, I¡¯m not surprised by this at all. You did say you¡¯re from some kind of like royal, super-ancient Elvish family, right?¡± ¡°Mhm.¡± ¡°So you probably come from a bloodline that has tremendous power in it. But wait. I¡¯ve met your dad. He¡¯s a construction worker and level-1 like everyone else. If he was really the son of the king, wouldn¡¯t he be¡­?¡± Kalana exhaled, and the look of sadness in her eyes immediately made Zach regret broaching the topic. ¡°My family hasn¡¯t had access to hunting grounds for over a hundred years. I doubt most humans have any idea what your kind has been doing to us in secret for a very, very long time. In another world, I would¡¯ve grown up and had my own private grounds filled with spawn points to level off of. But neither my dad or my grandfather grew up knowing a whole lot more about leveling than you or the other humans around here do.¡± As all the humor drained from Kalana¡¯s expression, Zach decided to say nothing in reply. In truth, there were so, so, so many things he wanted to ask her. He had a million-and-one questions. He wanted to know more about her family, her history, and just about everything in between. Yet he knew the subject hurt her emotionally, so he decided he¡¯d never again bring it up unless it was for a reason so important it was worth hurting her for. And what could possibly be worth hurting Kal? ¡°You sure you don¡¯t want to read up on your new abilities?¡± ¡°I will, later. When I get home.¡± ¡°Away from me?¡± he asked her with a laugh. She smiled, the pain evaporating from her face. She stepped forward, poked him in his chest and then said, ¡°We¡¯ll learn about them together.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s the middle of the night,¡± Zach said. ¡°And you just told me you¡¯re going to read what they do when you get home.¡± Kalana smiled at him, and there was something almost sinister in the grin that popped up on her face. ¡°You could sleep over.¡± Zach¡¯s heart began firing off like a machine-gun. An acidic, nervous excitement swelled up in his belly that reminded him of how he felt before a big drop on a rollercoaster. With every bit of willpower he had, he made a casual shrug, turned over his palms, and muttered, ¡°Uh, yeah, that could be fun.¡± With that, Kalana spun around, giggled, and began walking back the way they¡¯d come. Zach hurried after her and grabbed the duffle-bag. It was only then that he realized he loved her. He probably had for a long time but could never admit it. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how stupid he¡¯d been for missing the signals she¡¯d been sending him for these past few months. For these past two years, really. But especially these past few months. He knew then he would stay by her side forever. Nothing would ever take her away from him. **** As the Elvish prince growled and screamed into his gag, Varsh cracked him hard enough across the face that his nose broke and blood began to pour out of his nostrils like an open-faucet. Yet still, his eyes remained wide with defiance and fury. Even as he dripped blood from his missing right thumb and his left pinky toe, which Seraphina had cut off him for refusing to answer their questions, he did not beg for mercy. Varsh looked around this disgusting apartment that this so-called ¡°prince¡± and his daughter lived in like rats. Like animals. The floorboards were old, squeaky, and not entirely clean. The ceiling lights flickered as if needing to be changed. The air-conditioning barely worked. The tiles in the kitchen floor were faded. Even the walls seemed ready to crumble. And the dust? Whew boy. Who would willingly live like this? The people who lived in this city were basically animals and not really worthy of being called ¡°people.¡± That went for human and Elf. ¡°Being poor like this is a choice,¡± he muttered. ¡°I know it¡¯s not considered in good taste to say that, but it¡¯s true.¡± ¡°It is,¡± Seraphina said with a chuckle. ¡°They call you an elitist these days when you speak the truth.¡± ¡°Speaking of speaking the truth¡­¡± Varsh lowered the prince¡¯s gag and then spat right in his face. ¡°Where is your daughter, ¡®prince¡¯ Eldora Vayra? Tell me where she is or we¡¯re going to have to hurt you some more.¡± ¡°She doesn¡¯t live here,¡± he said, his voice weak. He almost choked on his own blood as it poured down his nose, over his lips, and then dripped off his cheek and onto his floor. Some of it got into his mouth, but he didn¡¯t seem to care. He was a strong man for being a pitiful One. Seriously, the prince of his entire race, and he was level-1. It was so pathetic. It really was. He was apparently a construction worker of all things. It was laughable! Ones were such slobs and they lived like them, too. How could anyone feel anything other than pure revulsion and disgust for these so-called ¡®people¡¯? ¡°Do you think I¡¯m stupid?¡± Varsh asked him. ¡°I know she lives here.¡± He extended his arm behind himself and pointed. ¡°That¡¯s her Gods-damned room.¡± ¡°She moved out recently. Kill me if you must, but you won¡¯t find her here.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe you. And what¡¯s more, I¡ª¡± ¡°Varsh!¡± Seraphina called out, interrupting him. He glared at her. ¡°Don¡¯t interrupt me when I¡¯m¡ª¡± ¡°There¡¯s sounds coming from the hallway.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the middle of the night¡­¡± His eyebrows rose, and he grinned. At the same time, a look of absolute, wild fear shot into the tired, run-down face of the Elvish prince, and that alone spoke volumes more than any words he could ever utter. Licking his lips, Varsh lifted his chin at Seraphina, gesturing for her to be ready. Just then, a knock came from the door. With another gesture to Seraphina, she returned a nod and then swiftly moved over to the apartment door, opening it. ¡°Hey, El, I know it¡¯s real late and all but I saw your light on. I was just wondering if I could bum some beer off¡ª¡± Varsh watched as Seraphina grabbed a portly, bearded, and clearly inebriated middle-aged man by the scruff of his neck and then tossed him into the apartment like he weighed the same as a paperclip. The man stumbled forward, his hazel-colored eyes widening in fear. He fell forward onto his stomach as Seraphina slammed the door shut. ¡°The hell is this?¡± he shouted out, stumbling up into a crouch. ¡°El, what are you¡ªwhy are you all tied up to a chair?¡± ¡°Who is this?¡± Varsh asked. He spoke to the prince, as he would not demean himself by actually speaking words to a drunk idiot. ¡°He¡¯s just my neighbor,¡± the prince-turned-construction-worker said. ¡°He means you no harm. He lives across the hall with his son, Zachys. Please let him go.¡± ¡°Who¡¯d¡¯a hell are you people?¡± the man grunted, nearly falling in his attempt to get back to his feet. ¡°I should smack you in your gods-damned teeth.¡± Varsh recoiled slightly in disgust. ¡°Seraphina, throw this subhuman trash out of the window.¡± She giggled and rolled her eyes¡ªthen a moment later, narrowed them. ¡°Wait, you mean literally?¡± ¡°Yes, literally. Literally throw him out of the window, please.¡± ¡°Awesome.¡± Though she fought with a bladed weapon, her power came from her speed and dexterity. She was only a meager 15 in strength. Even still, that was more than enough to drag a One by his throat. Hell, she could probably carry him with a single finger. The man choked and gasped as she dragged him over to the larger of two windows near the side of the apartment that offered a decent aerial view of the city. In truth, Whispery Woods looked beautiful from a distance and decent from out of an upper-floor window. It was only when you were actually inside the buildings or standing directly in front of them that you could see just how poorly the city was holding up. Also, the streets were becoming filthier and progressively worse maintained by the day. ¡°G-g-get the hell off me!¡± he screamed his feet kicking as Seraphina dragged him. With a crack, he knocked a glass vase off a table, and then the apartment filled with the sound of it shattering. Then there was a lower, but heavier thud as he kicked out and knocked over a couch across from the TV. Finally, Seraphina had him just by the window, where his fate seemed to finally dawn on him. ¡°No, you wouldn¡¯t,¡± he whispered. ¡°Hey, look, I got a kid. I haven¡¯t been the best father. I told myself I¡¯d make it up someday. Planning to do it, too, so please. Please don¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°Wow, shut up already.¡± Seraphina did not even look at him as she casually tossed him over her shoulder and out of the window with a deafening crack as his body soared through it. Across the street, lights began to flicker on from previously dark apartments, likely at the sound of the man¡¯s blood-curdling scream as he plunged dozens of stories to his certain death. ¡°Okay, so where were we?¡± Varsh asked. Now that some drunken trash no one would ever care about had been disposed of, he returned his attention to the prince. *** ¡°What¡­what is this?¡± Zach asked, falling to his knees on the sidewalk as his pants became soaked with a crimson red stain. People were running out of their apartments and into the streets. The sound of peacekeeper sirens began to grow louder, approaching from somewhere in the distance. Zach felt the tears running down his eyes even as he outright refused to believe that the bloodied, mangled, and deformed man lying in front of him with his arms twisted at impossible angles was his father. ¡°Kalana¡­Kalana what¡­what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she replied. ¡°Zach, I¡­I don¡¯t know.¡± Chapter 8: Trash Chapter 8: Trash If there existed a known upper limit to the amount of confusion and pain an individual could feel simultaneously, Zach had surpassed it. As a steady chorus of sirens from various peacekeeper and emergency DEHVs grew louder by the second, Zach felt himself become so overwhelmed with pain and turmoil that it became a struggle for him just to keep his knees from giving out and falling forward onto the crushed, disfigured form of his dead father. To think, only a few minutes ago, he had been sauntering leisurely down his block with Kalana, the two of them exhausted and practically bumping into one another as they laughed and trekked their weary legs on what was usually an obnoxiously loud city street, which for once, seemed eerily sleepy and quiet. Then Zach had heard the crash of broken glass from what sounded like his apartment building along with the scream of a man who, at that moment, had not sounded anything like his father. It wasn¡¯t until he¡¯d hurried over with Kalana to investigate that he¡¯d seen the man who had fallen from the building. And for two, maybe even three seconds, either due to the darkness caused by the malfunctioning city streetlights or a simple sense of stunned disbelief, Zach did not even recognize him. Only when blood began to fill the cracks on both sides of the sidewalk did the connection finally register in his brain. And even then¡­it had taken another few seconds for him to process what he¡¯d seen. There had actually been an entire second where, upon realizing that this was his father, his immediate mental response was not to recognize that his father was dead, but rather, to assume that his father was playing some kind of joke, or that his dad was only pretending, or¡­there really was no explanation. It was pure and utter disbelief manifested within him. Then came the dread. Then came the understanding. And with both, Zach began to shout questions at a man who was no longer alive. ¡°Why are you there like this?¡± he¡¯d asked his father, not even realizing how nonsensical his words actually were. ¡°Dad, what are you doing?¡± Now, as his brain and emotions finally found themselves on the same page, he knew that if Kalana had not wrapped her arms around him from where she too knelt behind him, he would¡¯ve lost it. ¡°Did he kill himself?¡± he asked, crying. ¡°I never told him once I loved him. Not in years. Did my dad kill himself? Is he really dead? Maybe he¡¯s just hurt. Maybe he¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°He¡¯s gone,¡± she whispered into his ear. ¡°Don¡¯t look. Zach, let¡¯s go. Come on. We need to¡­we need to speak to the peacekeepers.¡± ¡°Kalana, is this actually happening?¡± he shouted. He realized he was making a scene and that a rapidly growing crowd of people began to pour out of apartment lobbies from not only his building but both adjacent buildings and even a few from across the street. All seemed to have the same reaction: first, a flash of annoyance, then a quick shift to surprise, and then lastly, frowns of sympathy for Zach, with several women putting their hands over their hearts and asking if he needed help or if he had a place to stay. ¡°Is that your father?¡± a middle-aged woman in a nightgown asked. She had crossed the street with her husband, along with a number of other curious neighbors. ¡°Oh, sweetheart, I am so sorry. You should step away. I know. I know.¡± Zach felt Kalana pulling him up and away, and he was too weak to stop her. His legs felt as though he¡¯d turned to gelatin, and he continued to point at his father¡¯s hideously twisted corpse. ¡°He wouldn¡¯t do that. He wouldn¡¯t have jumped.¡± Even though his words were intended for Kalana, random people he either had never seen before or only barely recognized in passing decided to speak to him in her place. ¡°I thought the same thing when my brother¡­¡± ¡°Young man, I am so, so sorry,¡± another woman said. She was on the older side, and she too stood next to her husband. Her hair was a mix of white and blond, and she wore a pink, knitted sweater that looked as though she¡¯d thrown it on over her pajamas. ¡°Why don¡¯t you come to our apartment and wait inside until the peacekeepers¡­ah, do their work. Was that man your father?¡± she asked, speaking to the both of them. ¡°Mine, not hers,¡± Zach replied, not even sure why he was bothering to answer the woman. ¡°He¡¯s my dad, yeah.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, honey. You should¡­you¡¯re getting blood all over your clothing. You should step away now.¡± Many of the neighbors approached slowly towards him as if intent on leading him away. Why were they involving themselves? He didn¡¯t want to see or speak to them right now. He didn¡¯t know what he wanted. No, wait. He did. He wanted answers. His father wouldn¡¯t do this. Surely, he wouldn¡¯t. ¡°Zach, let¡¯s go to my place,¡± she said. ¡°Now I definitely don¡¯t want you to be alone tonight.¡± He raised his hand to wipe his eyes, then waved it around aimlessly. ¡°What even is all this? I¡¯m so confused. I don¡¯t know what happened.¡± The peacekeepers and their emergency medical counterparts rushed onto the scene. The peacekeepers were dressed in their typical white and blue polyester uniforms with the badge of the peacekeepers¡¯ guild emblazoned on the right breast pocket as well as on both upper sleeves. The emergency services dressed in dark blue with a bright orange vest over the top. Their DEHVs caused the entire front of the apartment building to light up. As over ten of the peacekeepers flanked by two medical workers directly approached Zach, he decided to speak to them before they spoke to him. He pointed to where his father lay unmoving. ¡°That¡¯s my dad. Please, someone help him!¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, son,¡± one of the men said. He was the tallest of the bunch and the patch on his uniform said ¡®captain.¡¯ With a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, he said, ¡°I know this must be really hard for you, but we¡¯re gonna need you to step away.¡± He allowed himself to be led away from the sidewalk and towards the growing column of flashing DEHVs, of which more continued to arrive by the second. Thankfully, their sirens were no longer on which at least made it easier to both speak and hear what they were saying. Kalana stayed by his side through all of it. ¡°What happened?¡± the tall peacekeeper asked him. Zach swallowed, and his voice briefly caught in his throat. ¡°It¡¯s okay, son. Take a deep breath, hold it, and then let it out. Just like that. Now, try again.¡± ¡°He¡­my dad¡­I was walking home with Kalana, and¡ª¡± ¡°Who?¡± the man asked. ¡°Me,¡± Kalana said, her voice soft. ¡°We were walking home together. I¡¯m Kalana Vayra. He¡¯s Zachys Calador.¡± ¡°And what happened?¡± Zach opened his mouth to answer, but the peacekeeper held his up as if to indicate he stop. ¡°I think we should let the young lady explain. You seem way too shaken up right now. Miss?¡± Kalana nodded, and Zach only half listened as she recounted some tale of why the two of them were out so late and what they had seen when they¡¯d arrived. Naturally, she didn¡¯t say anything about leveling up or mobs, but even if she had, Zach was so rattled right now he doubted he¡¯d be able to care. Curiously, he saw a team of peacekeepers disappearing into his apartment, and even as Kalana continued to speak, he could hear their voices coming through the radio that was clipped to the man¡¯s utility belt next to his HC-9m service pistol. ¡°Patrol Unit 9, repeat that?¡± a woman¡¯s voice asked. ¡°PU-9, I said we¡¯re just doing our due diligence and going up there to make sure there was no foul play.¡± Only then, amid all the shock and pain that had stunned his thought process, did it occur to Zach that their apartment faced the opposite side of the building and the street two blocks over. How had he jumped out of a window in their apartment and landed here? Glancing upwards at the building, it was impossible to see from this close which window was shattered even though he could see that the lights of almost every apartment on every floor were now on. Had his dad gone over to someone¡¯s apartment just to avoid doing it in his own? It made no sense. ¡°It¡¯s what?¡± came another voice. ¡°Can someone please confirm?¡± ¡°Son,¡± the tall peacekeeper said to him, snapping Zach out of his thoughts. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What apartment do you and your father live in?¡± ¡°We¡¯re in suite 803, sir,¡± Zach replied. Distantly, in the back of his mind, he was proud of himself for speaking calmly and bravely. He would hold himself together. He¡¯d always known his dad would die young¡ªeven if not like this. He¡¯d been drinking himself to death for years, overwhelmed with grief at the loss of his wife. Even still, this was the worst way it could¡¯ve happened. Zach watched as the peacekeeper lowered his head, mumbled some words into his radio, and then once more returned his eyes to Zach, who could see confusion reflected back at him. The peacekeeper tilted his head sideways and asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you mean 805?¡± ¡°What? Uh, no. That¡¯s her apartment,¡± he said. ¡°Yeah,¡± Kalana agreed. ¡°That¡¯s mine. Why?¡± A dark, worried expression crossed the peacekeeper¡¯s face for just a moment, and then it was replaced by the calm, commanding, and confident look of a peacekeeper firmly in charge of a situation. But even still, Zach had seen it¡ªand he knew that something weird was going on. Kalana must¡¯ve sensed this as well, because he saw her shifting her position next to him as if suddenly becoming uneasy. Did he jump out of Kalana¡¯s window? Zach wondered, growing horrified just by the thought of it. Even amid all his sadness, the very idea actually angered him. He was surprised that he could even feel anger at a time like now. But if his dad had drunkenly wobbled into Kalana¡¯s home and decided to do something like this to her, to have her have to live with the knowledge that he¡¯d¡ª ¡°Whatever happened isn¡¯t your fault,¡± Kalana whispered to him as if reading his thoughts. ¡°I just wanna say that ¡®cause¡­well, it¡¯s just that¡­¡± ¡°That he might¡¯ve gone to your place to do this?¡± Zach asked her. ¡°If he did, I swear, I am so, so sorry that¡ª¡± She hugged him, and his words cut off immediately. ¡°Stop. This isn¡¯t your fault. No matter what.¡± He hugged her back, and once more, he began sobbing. ¡°How did today end like this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard. I know.¡± Holding the embrace for nearly a minute, Zach eventually pulled away as, in the corner of his eyes, he could visibly see the peacekeeper growing more frustrated by something coming from his radio, which Zach had stopped paying attention to. Eavesdropping in on the conversation, he remained quiet and listened. ¡°PU-9, you¡¯re going to have to say that again,¡± said the same woman¡¯s voice Zach recalled hearing a few moments ago. ¡°I need definitive confirmation.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the Royal Roses. Must be a war thing. I have no idea. Either way, it¡¯s guild business and we can¡¯t get involved.¡± With a growl, the tall peacekeeper turned away from them and began muttering into his radio as if not wanting him or Kalana to overhear what he was saying. With a brief, nervous glance at Kalana, who returned one of the same his way, they both inched closer and listened in. ¡°Are you telling me that someone in my city was just thrown out of a gods-be-damned window in cold blood and the mayor is not going to do anything about it?¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do. What, are we going to arrest him? He¡¯ll kill every one of us. This is a war-thing. It has to be. Why else would the Royal Roses be here? We¡¯ve already contacted the Guild of Gentlemen. They haven¡¯t left us any defenders. They¡¯re getting their ass kicked. Nothing we can do but keep our heads down.¡± A terrible, unfathomable sickness crept into Zach¡¯s belly and spread up to his chest and then into his throat. It was only by some miracle he did not vomit right there on the street in front of the peacekeeper¡¯s DEHV cruiser. ¡°S-sir,¡± Zach said, causing the man to once more face in his direction. ¡°Did someone kill my dad?¡± Is this because of the spawn point? Zach wondered, once more having to fight off the urge to empty his guts onto the pavement. Did one of the elites somehow find out we¡¯d leveled up and this is our¡ªmy¡ªfault? Did I make this happen to my dad? He felt his eyes widen in terror at the thought. ¡°Sir, please,¡± he said, speaking even more loudly. ¡°Did someone kill my dad? Please, just answer me.¡± The tall peacekeeper held up one of his fingers as if to ask Zach to be quiet a moment. Then, slowly, he removed his radio, held it up before the two of them, and then made a dramatic display of turning it off. ¡°Kids,¡± he said to them. ¡°Run. Get the hell out of here. Leave Whispery Woods and never come back.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± Zach shouted. At the same time, Kalana gasped and also shouted, ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know why. Some high-ranking member of the Royal Roses is in apartment 805 and has a man held hostage. My boys are already coming down here, thankfully unharmed, and then every one of us is leaving the scene.¡± ¡°Wait, a man in¡­¡± Kalana¡¯s mouth fell open. ¡°My dad! Do they have my dad? Tell me!¡± The peacekeeper came closer to the two of them and then placed one hand on each of their shoulders. ¡°You kids aren¡¯t listening to me. So let me make myself clear. I do not know anything. I know only that there is a man¡ªmaybe your father, maybe not¡ªtied to a chair in suite 805, and that the person or people who have him there are certainly not level-1 like the rest of us.¡± ¡°So save him!¡± Zach shouted. ¡°They could be the reason my dad is dead. I heard what they said on your radio. Why aren¡¯t you doing anything?¡± ¡°Son, what in the name of the Gods do you want me to do?¡± Zach widened his arms in a gesture of outrage. ¡°I don¡¯t know. How about something?¡± ¡°Like what?¡± the peacekeeper snapped. Then he lowered his voice apologetically. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m frustrated too. You think I am happy about this? There¡¯s nothing I can do. I don¡¯t know why your dad was thrown out of a window, and I don¡¯t know why your father¡±¡ªhe now spoke to Kalana¡ª¡°is tied to a chair in his own apartment. I only know that if I shoot a bullet, it¡¯s not going to hurt the people who did this. It¡¯s only going to get me and my men and maybe even my family killed. This probably has something to do with the war between the Royal Roses and the Gentlemen. If anyone should know what¡¯s going on here, it¡¯s you two.¡± ¡°I have no idea!¡± Zach said, only half convinced he was speaking the truth. ¡°Well, either way, now¡¯s your chance to run.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not running!¡± Kalana yelled at him. Zach had never heard her speak so loudly or angrily. ¡°They¡¯re not taking anyone else from me!¡± With that, she removed her dagger and dashed off towards the apartment building so fast that Zach could barely believe it. She moved at a speed faster than any human¡ªeven a trained athlete¡ªcould possibly achieve. It was only then that Zach recalled her previous level up, which had given her 4 points into speed. ¡°Who are you kids?¡± the peacekeeper asked, his voice dropping either out of caution, fear, or disbelief¡ªor maybe all three. ¡°I thought you said you don¡¯t know anything about this. That girl¡­she¡¯s no level-1.¡± ¡°Neither am I,¡± Zach said. ¡°Thanks for all your damn help!¡± He did an about-face, then sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him after her. He, too, was fast enough to elicit murmurs of shock and amazement from the neighbors on the street, but even still, he was nowhere near as fast as she was. The moment he¡¯d bolted inside the lobby, he glanced around for any sign of Kalana. One of the couches had been knocked over, the receptionist was nowhere to be found, and the status on the front panel of the elevator indicated that it was still somewhere towards the top of the building. Hurrying off to his left in the direction of the emergency stairwell, Zach just had time to see the white door swinging closed. That way! Ignoring confused cries from some of his neighbors, who had peeked back into the apartment as if out of sheer curiosity or genuine concern for him, he dashed forward, threw out his arms, and slammed the stairwell door open with so much force that he almost would¡¯ve been impressed if it didn¡¯t feel like the entire world were ending right now. The door swung open with such speed that it actually detached from the hinges and made a gunshot-like crack as it collided with the drywall to the right of the stairwell, leaving behind several holes that leaked plaster and dust. ¡°Kalana!¡± he called. ¡°Kalana!¡± He could hear the sound of multiple sets of footsteps¡ªor maybe just one set moving so fast it sounded like more than one person. Zach took off in a mad, all-out dash up the stairs after her. His father dying was a tragedy: Kalana getting herself killed would be the end of him. He wouldn¡¯t be able to cope. Not after only first admitting to himself how he truly felt. The regret would be more than he could live with. Zach moved with such urgency and disregard for his surroundings that, rather than come to a halt and turn around at the top of each flight of stairs, he actually threw out his hand, palm open, and pushed himself off the wall, leaving a hole in the shape of his handprint. He didn¡¯t care. Why would he care? The only thing that mattered was making sure Kalana was not harmed or killed by whoever¡ªor whatever¡ªhad just murdered his father. She¡¯s acting like me, Zach thought. This is the kind of impulsive thing I¡¯d do. Even as he dashed with all the desperation, urgency, and panic of an airline pilot whose engines had just failed, he couldn¡¯t help but chide and correct himself, because no, actually, this wasn¡¯t the kind of impulsive thing he would do. It was the kind of impulsive thing he was doing. Yet even knowing this didn¡¯t bother him. Right now, the only person he was putting at risk was himself, and he was more than willing to accept that risk for Kalana¡¯s sake. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Panting for air, he pushed himself onwards, pumping his arms as he ran. Finally, he reached the exit to the 8th floor, and with the same indifference as he¡¯d displayed on the way up here, he destroyed the door, literally punching it off its hinges to save himself every second he could. The sound of his feet as he sprinted at full speed down the apartment hallway made muted thuds against the dark brown and gold rug that was littered with dust, litter, crumbs, and in some disgusting cases, old cockroach carcasses. At the end of the hall, Zach sharply turned left and then proceeded down the next. Sweating with effort and exhaustion, he could actually hear the sound of drops of sweat flying off his face and onto the wall to his right as his body made the sudden maneuver. He could also hear the sound of a few doorknobs being turned as more people woke up and noticed the commotion. Zach didn¡¯t care. He only cared about saving the girl he now realized he¡¯d willingly die for. Please be okay, Kalana. Please be okay! Up ahead and to his right was a door that led to the apartment where he¡¯d lived most of his life: the place he¡¯d moved into with his father after his mother¡¯s death. The door to his apartment was closed. The door to the apartment across, however, was wide open. That was where Kalana lived, and that was where he was going. Shouting her name, he dashed inside. ¡°Kalana!¡± he yelled. So many sights greeted him at once that it took a second or two for him to take it all in. Right now, Zach stood just ahead of the entrance to a place he¡¯d been many times these past two years. Only, the apartment did not look as it had when he came over to hang out or to help with homework. Now, it was a mess: it looked like it¡¯d been ransacked. Couches had been flipped over, a vase had been knocked onto the floor, and there was glass on the carpet near the window, which was shattered. A few shards had bloodstains. Dad¡¯s blood, Zach thought furiously. There were four people in the room with him. One was a young woman, maybe nineteen or twenty years of age. She was attractive, well proportioned, and she had short, green undercut hair with the sides faded. She was wearing a shiny pair of black leather trousers and a skimpy bra that left little to the imagination. She was the first person to notice Zach¡¯s arrival, and when he met her gaze, she smiled sadistically and then caressed her side, where it looked like the hilt of a weapon was resting in its scabbard. ¡°Who¡¯s this now?¡± she asked. To the right of the green-haired woman with the sports bra was a man of average height who, while not quite middle-aged, did not seem all that far from it based on the wrinkles above and below his two deeply intimidating eyes. He had long, thick black hair, the sides of which reached down to both his shoulder blades and likely the middle of his back as well, though Zach could not see from this angle. The man wore a black cloth robe that was devoid of any color except on the right breast, where an image of a rose woven into the fabric actually glowed and gave off a dim red light. The man was slightly turned to his left, and he craned his head in Zach¡¯s direction while keeping his body firmly in place with his arm extended out in front of him and his hand wrapped around the throat of Kalana. That was when he noticed her there. The man had lifted her several feet off the floor and she kicked out urgently with her legs as she clawed at the hand wrapped around her throat. All while another man, who Zach immediately recognized as her father, screamed and moaned into a gag while he sat bound to a chair. The carpet near his feet was almost entirely coated in what appeared to be dried blood, and every muscle in Zach¡¯s body tightened as he realized why: Kalana¡¯s father was now missing two fingers and a toe, all of which were still on the carpet. Whoever these people were, they had wrapped his wounds in gauze and tape, but somehow Zach doubted they¡¯d given him anything for the pain. ¡°Who are you people?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Put her down! Why are you doing this to us?¡± ¡°Us?¡± the woman asked. She removed something from the pocket of her leather trousers: gum, of all things. She began to chew. After blowing a bubble, she said, ¡°Who¡¯s this ¡®us¡¯?¡± ¡°That man you killed was my dad, you bitch!¡± he shouted at her. ¡°Why did you do that? What do you want with me?¡± Two sounds entered his senses at the same time; the first was a gasp from Kalana as the man released her throat and she fell to the floor, choking. The impact somehow caused one of her father¡¯s missing fingers¡ªhis right thumb¡ªto roll several feet before coming to a stop near the kitchen table across from the living room where he was sitting tied in the chair. The man who¡¯d been choking Kalana fixed his harsh, burning gaze on Zach, and Zach had to fight the urge to flee just at the sight of it. The look in his eyes was a combination of outrage and disgust. It almost seemed as though Zach had done something personally egregious to the man¡ªhad wronged him somehow. ¡°What do I¡­want with you?¡± he whispered, repeating the words. There was a deep anger in the way he spoke them: a revulsion that carried his anger far better than a shout could possibly have. ¡°You actually have the audacity to think that I would want something from you, animal?¡± The dismissive, dehumanizing way he spoke to Zach was enough to cause anger to replace his fear. ¡°What did you want with my father, then?¡± ¡°What did I want with¡­?¡± He looked across the apartment at the broken window and then back at Zach. Then he rubbed his eyes. ¡°That was your father?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Zach shouted at him. ¡°Why did you kill him? Tell me, Gods-damned you! Why did you do that to him?¡± Zach felt his heated temper become an inferno as this man laughed at him: right in his face. It was a laugh filled with not even hate, but something closer to disgust. ¡°You think I killed your father because I wanted anything from either of you?¡± He laughed again, even more loudly. ¡°I had Seraphina here throw him out of the window because he disturbed me. He was trash¡­like his son. The very idea anyone could want anything from either of you. Oh, what a riot!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll kill you both!¡± Zach yelled. He had heard more than enough. Now, he wanted payback. He exploded forward into a sprint, his feet dashing across the carpet, and then he lunged, extended both of his arms, and attempted to grab the man¡¯s throat just as he had been doing to Kalana, who was on all fours gasping and choking as if still trying to regain her breath. Laughing at him yet again, the man stepped off to the side a moment before Zach was able to grab him by the throat and squeeze the life out of him; instead, Zach ended up tackling the only couch in the apartment that was still in an upright position. Both he and the green couch toppled over, and Zach found himself rolling a few times along the floor before coming to a stop on his stomach near the back wall. Not wasting even a moment, he hurriedly scrambled back up to his feet. ¡°Varsh, can I kill this one?¡± the woman asked. ¡°No, let me handle him,¡± the man said. ¡°This filthy, noisy, son of trash actually thinks he has the right to yell at me. This¡­this literal piece of toe lint.¡± ¡°How could you do what you did?¡± Zach yelled, his eyes dampening with tears. ¡°I already told you. He was trash and he interrupted me.¡± Zach pressed his palms against his cheeks as the implications of what he¡¯d just been told finally dawned on him, and as if noticing this, the man¡ªwhom the woman had called ¡°Varsh¡±¡ªbegan nodding his head. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. I meant what I said literally. I came here for the girl and her father. I don¡¯t know who you are or who your father was, and I don¡¯t care, either. You¡¯re not even insects to me. At least bugs form a part of the ecosystem. I don¡¯t even really consider scum like you ¡®life¡¯ if you want to know the truth. That¡¯s why I killed your father. Do¡­do you have a problem with that?¡± Zach howled in rage and threw himself at this man, this¡­this ¡°Varsh,¡± who had not only murdered his only living parent but was now openly taunting him about it. He crossed the distance between the two of them in less than a second and prepared to attack. Having leveled up twice, he had no idea how strong he was. He had no idea how much damage he could do. But if he killed the man, then good. He hoped he did. Oh, Gods above, he hoped he did. He wanted to mutilate the man who¡¯d turned his father into a squished clump of meat on the sidewalk. Zach would do the same to him! He drew back his left fist and sent it hurtling towards the man¡¯s face, aiming to bludgeon him on the side of his chin with all of his might. Unfortunately, the moment he connected, he knew that something wasn¡¯t right. The exact moment his clenched fist made contact with Varsh¡¯s chin, it came to a complete, unexpected halt, and then an intense searing, burning, and squeezing pain erupted into left fist as though he¡¯d just tried to bunch a brick wall. Pulling back his arm, Zach screamed in anguish and stumbled backwards. ¡°Hmm,¡± Varsh said, scratching his chin in the spot Zach had just struck. ¡°That almost tickled. Are you level-1?¡± Zach didn¡¯t answer him. He was too busy holding his left wrist with his right as his mind erupted in confusion and pain. What the hell had just happened? How powerful was this man that he had either broken¡ªor almost broken¡ªhis wrist trying to hit him? Just who were these people? Did they really kill his father for no other reason than he happened to cross their path on a bad day? All of these questions combined with the ache in his hand to make him shed even more tears of frustration. At the same time, the man, Varsh, took two steps forward to the match the two Zach had backed away, and then made a quick motion with his hand that Zach almost didn¡¯t see, as it appeared as something of a blur. Immediately, the world darkened, and a loud, constant ringing appeared in his ears. There was pain¡ªand so much of it that it made the earlier agony in his wrist seem like a minor headache. Zach was stunned, confused, emotionally distraught, and now, he suddenly realized he couldn¡¯t breathe. Worse, he wasn¡¯t even sure where he was. It actually took him several seconds to realize he wasn¡¯t even on his feet anymore. He was on his back, and Varsh was standing over him. What had just happened? Zach struggled to replay the events in his head that had only taken place mere seconds ago. Varsh had stepped forward to meet him, and then¡­right. Right. He¡¯d dismissively, almost casually back-handed Zach in the face, striking him in his nose. Now, Zach panicked as he realized that he could no longer take oxygen into his lungs. In fact, even trying hurt. He began to gasp. His panic increased. He writhed on the floor, choking and confused. It only caused Varsh to laugh at him yet again. ¡°This idiot doesn¡¯t even realize his nose is broken. He¡¯s still trying to breathe through it.¡± Zach opened his mouth and inhaled, sucking air into his lungs. Then, trembling and racing with fear, he brushed his face with his right hand, then moved it far enough away so that he could focus his eyes on it. Almost his entire palm was covered in dark red. And even as he held it there, he could see more splotches of red appearing like drops of water. And he could feel more running over his mouth and dropping onto his pants. ¡°I think you hit him so hard you knocked his brain out,¡± Seraphina said with a laugh. ¡°No,¡± Varsh said with a guffaw. ¡°The kid¡¯s just a wuss. Never had his nose broken. I wonder how he¡¯s going to feel when I set him on fire and burn him to death.¡± Zach tried to get up, but the world felt dizzy and he was disoriented. How was he this weak? Not just in terms of his level, but as a person. As he sat there whimpering, his nose bleeding, and his body shaking, he wondered who he hated more: Varsh or himself. He had never felt so powerless. Not even when his mother died had he felt this useless, this¡­this much like garbage. Like trash. ¡°Get away from him, you son of a bitch,¡± Kalana growled. She was back on her feet now. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have said that,¡± Seraphina told her, grinning. ¡°Now I have to kill him in front of you just to make a point.¡± Kalana screamed at the two of them. Zach watched helplessly as the green-haired woman, Seraphina, drew what appeared to be a rapier from her scabbard and then shifted her grip on the weapon as if intent on striking. Was Zach going to die here? Was this really how it ended for him? Were all his hopes and dreams about to come to an end as he sat here on a filthy carpet soaked in his combination of his and his dead father¡¯s blood? And to make it all so much worse, he didn¡¯t even fight back, either. The revulsion that Varsh had shown to him he now felt towards his own self as, whimpering, he backed away on his butt, sliding to the wall behind him as this leather-wearing psychopath strutted menacingly in his direction. As his back collided with the wall, and with nowhere else to run, it was in this moment that he made a promise to himself: he made a vow so strong that he knew he would take his own life should he break it. With his shirt, pants, and face covered in blood from his still-leaking nose, and with so much fear in him that he literally couldn¡¯t move, he made a promise with such intensity that he could actually feel it bind to his very soul: if he, through some miracle, managed to somehow live through this, then he would dedicate his life to never being this pathetic or weak again. He swore it to himself. Even as he sensed the end. Even as he whimpered. Even as he knew that the only reason he wasn¡¯t begging for his life was because he was too afraid to speak. The woman, Seraphina, raised her blade, clearly intent on stabbing him through the heart. But then, abruptly, she stopped, and oddly, it was Varsh who halted her, holding out his arm and barring her from taking another step. ¡°Wait a minute, Sera,¡± he said. ¡°I think we have a bit of an opportunity here.¡± ¡°The hell?¡± Turning his head away from her, he cast his gaze on Kalana, who despite backing up a step as if in terror was still somehow far braver than Zach. ¡°Girl,¡± he said, smiling viciously at her. ¡°It speaks ill of your character, but for some reason, you seem to care about this¡­this thing. I don¡¯t even want to call it human. Either way, how would you like to bargain for his life?¡± ¡°How?¡± she asked, clearly interested, her eyes as defiant as her father¡¯s. To Zach¡¯s utter, mind-destroying shame, he actually hoped Kalana would save him. He prayed she would come to his rescue somehow. And boy, he hated himself for it. But it wasn¡¯t just his survival mechanism at play. It was the knowledge that, if he somehow crawled his way out of here, he would either toughen himself up or throw himself out of a window like Varsh had thrown his father. Now that Zach, with his own two eyes, saw the evil that existed in this world, there was no going back: there was no looking away. If overpowering men like Varsh was what it would take to save Kalana and escape the confines of his mediocre life at the bottom rung of the societal ladder, then Zach would throw his own face into the fire if the flames gave him the strength to rip people like Varsh apart. ¡°What would it take for you to let him go?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°Please. Tell me.¡± ¡°I just want you to cooperate,¡± he said with a sigh. ¡°I intend to sell you and your father, for what it¡¯s worth. This isn¡¯t even personal for me. It¡¯s going to be a pain in the ass if you¡¯re trying to escape or fight me every inch of the way. So here¡¯s what I¡¯ll offer you. I know where this kid lives, and I have ways of finding him anywhere he goes. As long as you and your washed-up, so-called ¡®prince¡¯ of a father make things easy for me, I¡¯ll let him live.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Kalana asked. He nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t think you realize just how little I value this¡­thing. His life is of such small consequence to me that if he had run away a little earlier I wouldn¡¯t have even chased after him. He¡¯s nothing but a piece of dirt. If not cleaning him is what it takes for you to make my life easier, then so be it.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll cooperate,¡± Kalana said immediately. She got up and ran over to her father, hugging him. ¡°Just don¡¯t hurt my dad anymore and let Zach go.¡± ¡°Hear that, kid?¡± Varsh asked. ¡°It¡¯s your lucky day.¡± He pointed at the door. ¡°You¡¯ve got 10 seconds to get your pathetic, gutter-dwelling ass out of here before I let Seraphina carve out your entrails. And as for you,¡± he continued, addressing Kalana and her father. ¡°I¡¯m tired and need to rest for a few hours. I don¡¯t trust you while I¡¯m not awake. I¡¯m going to tie you up next to your dad but then I¡¯ll undo the restraints in the morning. Understood?¡± ¡°You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re going to sleep here?¡± Kalana asked. Zach was also surprised. Varsh barked out a harsh, mocking laugh. ¡°What, are the peacekeepers going to come and arrest me?¡± Then, briefly shifting his eyes, his voice turned low and deadly. ¡°I told you to get out of here. You¡¯d better go right now. You¡¯d really better go.¡± With tears in his eyes and his nose still dripping blood, Zach laid his palms flat on the wall behind him and somehow used it to push himself up to his feet. He glared at Varsh, openly scowling at him, and then he turned around and fled into the hallway. He ran as if his life depended on it, which it very well might. Yet even as he fled, he began to think of his next move. He refused to let this be the end of things. He simply could not allow him to take her away. I need to save Kalana. There has to be something I can do! Zach continued to run and did not stop until he burst out of the apartment building and onto the sidewalk, which he now saw was devoid of any peacekeepers or medical personnel. Even with his adrenaline pumping through his veins, he moaned and began to weep openly as he saw that his father was still there on the sidewalk. They hadn¡¯t...those bastards hadn¡¯t even taken his body. They fled just like he¡¯d fled, only he was a seventeen-year-old kid and they were adults. At least he¡¯d taken a few hits trying to do something. The peacekeepers had rushed out so fast they hadn¡¯t even bothered to treat his father with the basic human dignity even pets were shown. ¡°Dad, I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said, weeping. ¡°I¡¯m sorry this happened to you.¡± He looked down at his lifeless body, and all the years of loathing his father were instantly converted into pity and guilt. If he had gotten rich or become successful, he could¡¯ve changed the both of their lives. He might¡¯ve been a terrible dad, but this was still his father, and it hurt so much to see him here. ¡°You couldn¡¯t even take his body!¡± Zach shouted at the empty air. ¡°You¡¯re all shit!¡± Even the nosy neighbors had vanished. They likely got into their DEHVs and fled. Once rumor spread that a member of a guild at war with the Gentlemen was here, only one of two things would happen: one, a high-leveled defender would show up to dole out justice. Or, more likely, two: Varsh, true to his word, would take Kalana in a few hours and Zach would never see her again. Turning his head away, he began to walk away from the place he¡¯d called home, which after today, could obviously never feel like one to him again. Since luck clearly wasn¡¯t on his side tonight, it didn¡¯t surprise him that the sound of thunder erupted from the sky. Then a trickle of rain quickly turned into a massive downpour, soaking Zach from head to toe while doing absolutely nothing to wash the blood off his body or ease the ache in his still-bleeding nose. What do I even do now? He tried to consider his options carefully. He knew he couldn¡¯t fight those two. Not yet. If he showed up there again, all he¡¯d end up doing was get himself killed. Put simply, he wasn¡¯t strong enough. So what, then. What could he do? He could get stronger, sure. He even knew where he could go to do exactly that. But by the time he got to level 4, let alone a level high enough to actually engage those two in combat, Kalana could be on the other side of the continent. So, leveling was not the answer here. What about equipment? He could try to kill those things every thirty minutes and pray they dropped something super powerful. In fact, he still had enough supplies to do it, too¡ªhis submersible bag was actually right here on the sidewalk where he¡¯d dropped it a little while ago. Maybe he could roll the dice and try to find something that could save Kalana. No, that¡¯s never going to work. They¡¯re level-1. Even if I get something amazing like her dagger, it¡¯s not going to make enough of a difference. Grabbing his bag and walking away from the apartment, Zach became focused and determined to solve this issue. While he often made terrible and impulsive snap decisions, he was also a very analytical person who, at least in his own estimation, was pretty smart when it came to actually using his brain. With each step he took, his back straightened just a little more and his resolve hardened. Right now, there was no more time for crying, and so he sucked up his misery until the only liquid that poured down his eyes was from the heavy shower of rain. The answer I¡¯m looking for is not in that cavern, he thought. What other options do I have? Logically, if he couldn¡¯t fight his way out of this, and he couldn¡¯t ¡°cavern¡± his way out of this, then what did that even leave? Sneaking? That was possible but unlikely. If he tried to creep back in while her captors were sleeping, it might work. Or, for all he knew, it might backfire and get them both killed. So, fighting, sneaking, and grinding in the cavern were all a no-go. Were there any other options left? Only one: calling for help. But that was also a dead-end, wasn¡¯t it? Because who could he even turn to? The peacekeepers? Certainly not. Varsh and that Seraphina woman were basically being treated like Gods among men. The more Zach thought on it, the more he realized how bad things really were. It was to such an extent that he almost aimlessly walked into a busy intersection¡ªeven this early in the morning¡ªand found himself flattened by a massive DEHV that actually caused the ground to tremble as it zipped by. Usually, the barriers were supposed to prevent someone from mindlessly walking out into traffic, but since this was Whispery Woods, it wasn¡¯t much of a surprise that the one here on this intersection didn¡¯t work. Waiting patiently for his chance to cross the street, Zach half-ran to the sidewalk on the other side and then continued to walk randomly into the night while he ruminated on his current situation. There were very few other pedestrians on the street with him. The only reason traffic was still so busy was because this was the time of the day when delivery DEHVs had the easiest time getting in and out of the city before the morning rush made the commute an hours-long affair. Is there anyone in this city who can help me? Literally anyone? Zach doubted it. If there had been, then the peacekeepers would¡¯ve called them in rather than run away like cowards and leave his father¡¯s corpse to rot. Come to think of it, was he now going to have to carry away his own dead father? Zach shook his head to clear his mind of the thought. That wasn¡¯t helpful right now. He needed a plan. That was what he needed. But I can¡¯t think of anything! Every possibility he ran through he had to discard. There was almost certainly no one in this city who could help him take down those sons of bitches who killed his dad and kidnapped Kalana in her own apartment. Yet even still, he had to do something. He just would not accept the fact that she was as good as gone. He refused. He absolutely refused! But even still, he could not come up with a decent gods-damned plan. Continuing to walk and think, Zach noticed that, through sheer coincidence, he had walked himself almost all the way to school. Maybe it was muscle memory in his feet. As he looked at the large complex, he coughed out a dark, completely humorless chuckle. Zach realized that, at this point, with no one around for miles who could actually help him with his potential plan, he wondered if there was someone in this whole gods-damned city who was even useful enough to help make a plan, let alone execute one. Maybe I should ask someone at school, he thought sarcastically with another angry chuckle. Maybe one of the teachers would¡ª Then his thought cut off abruptly, he stopped walking, and for a moment, he stood there in the soaking rain as something that almost resembled a glimmer of hope rose up within him. It was¡­not an idea, but an idea of how to get an idea. Could that actually work? he wondered. He was so desperate to try anything at this point that even the least good option was still better than no option at all¡ªas long as it was viable. He was, put simply, in an absolute garbage situation where the city¡¯s law enforcement wouldn¡¯t help him and he needed to find some kind of solution. This was a problem that would take a genius to solve. And he actually did sort of know someone who was a literal genius. And he also knew that that someone was rumored to spend weekends in the school¡¯s lab doing his goofy experiments at all hours of the night. But would he even be able to help? Zach doubted it. But what else was left? Even trying something stupid at this point was preferable to just sitting back and accepting Kalana¡¯s fate. With that thought in mind, he took off at a mad dash to his school, running for all he was worth. Chapter 9: A Friendly Chat Chapter 9: A Friendly Chat Alex had just been about to pour a very dangerous substance into an even more dangerous substance when the double-doors to his office-lab hybrid exploded open with enough force that the brass doorknobs¡¯ impact with the walls caused two symmetrical holes to form. There was also a loud bang that reverberated in a tremendous echo in what was previously a near-silent room, save for the soothing sound of boiling chemicals and the soft buzz of the fluorescent lights on the ceiling. The sound didn¡¯t startle Alex, though; it merely caused him to sigh, gently set the two beakers he was holding down onto a workstation across from his desk, and then turn around to see what could possibly have prompted one of his students to barge in here at such an early-morning hour. Alex frowned, becoming alarmed the moment his eyes took in the sight of the boy. It was Zachys Calador. His condition was not great. He was panting heavily, his heart rate elevated. His pupils were dilated. Judging from the rapid rise and fall of his chest, he was in the throes of a panic attack¡ªand judging from his bodily appearance, it was likely justified. His nose was clearly broken: a bridge fracture. It was still bleeding. His shirt and pants were covered with a mixture of dried and fresh blood, indicating that some was old and some was new. Was all of it his own? Unlikely. This also wasn¡¯t the result of a fight with another boy: that much was obvious. No, not at all¡­Alex was pretty sure this was one of those times things were going to be just a little bit more serious than that. As Zach ran into the office¡ªthat Alex had also turned into a small lab¡ªthe boy, gasping, was practically stumbling over himself. The edges of his eyes were swollen, which suggested he had been crying a great deal. He held his left wrist in an awkward position. Indeed, that was almost certainly another break. There was also hesitance in his eyes. Something had frightened him to the point of a full mental breakdown. He seemed unsure of himself, as though he did not know whether or not Alex could really help him, yet he had come here anyway. Truly, it was amazing how much could be pieced together just by careful observation. Alex smiled at him. He needed to be calmed down. From the twitching of his lower lip, he was on the cusp of breaking down into another crying fit. That much was beyond obvious. He was right on the edge. ¡°You¡¯re not here for help with homework, are you, Zach, my man? It looks like you¡¯ve had a pretty bad day.¡± ¡°Mr. Oren,¡± his pained, anguished, and desperate-sounding voice half-rasped, half shouted. ¡°Please. I need your help. I don¡¯t know where else to turn.¡± And there it is again. Despite being only twenty-four years old, this had to be the seventh, or maybe even eighth time in his life that Alex had heard these words. ¡°Sit,¡± he said. ¡°You don¡¯t understand. I can¡¯t sit. You don¡¯t understand. The¡ªthe Kalana. They took her. She¡¯s gone. It wasn¡¯t because of the¡­ah, damn, I don¡¯t even know what I¡¯m¡­I don¡¯t know where to start. They¡¯ve taken Kalana. She¡¯s at her apartment, but she won¡¯t be for long.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been hit in the face pretty hard. Sit down.¡± ¡°No,¡± he said, shaking his head and dripping blood on the floor. ¡°Mr. Oren, I¡¯m trying¡ªit¡¯s an emergency. Something really bad has¡ª¡± ¡°Sit!¡± Alex snapped at him. He didn¡¯t like having to be so assertive or aggressive. But it was in the boy¡¯s best interest right now, so it would be done. Zach continued to ramble even as he walked over to the chair in front of his desk for visiting students. Alex listened just long enough to grab a few vital bits and pieces of his panicked stammering then raised his pointer finger to his nose. ¡°Shh. Quiet a second.¡± Then he walked over to a cabinet all the way across the room, opened it, and began removing first-aid supplies. He would have to at least tend partially to the boy¡¯s injuries. Zach was impulsive and stubborn, but also very bright. If he came here to Alex looking like that, then this meant he had just found himself in a situation which, for whatever reason, he could not involve the peacekeepers. And unless the boy had been on a crime spree, he didn¡¯t think the cause was self-preservation. That meant Alex would have to take care of this situation. Once again, the Will of the Favored had chosen him. What would it be this time? ¡°Can I please talk?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Not while I stop the bleeding. I¡¯m not a doctor but¡­well, I guess I am one tonight.¡± He laughed. ¡°Forget the bleeding. You don¡¯t understand how serious this¡ª¡± ¡°No, I do,¡± Alex interrupted him. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t just show up here like this. Who would? No, you probably feel this is a life-or-death situation and that your science teacher was your last resort.¡± ¡°Then please let me¡ª¡± ¡°Zach!¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Sit still. When I finish, you can tell me everything. Whatever it is, I promise you it¡¯s going to be just fine. Even if you don¡¯t believe me. It will be.¡± Alex smiled. On the outside, he projected a confident, calm demeanor to help ease the boy¡¯s terror. On the inside, he was burning with a rage so fierce it was a miracle he could keep his hands steady. Who would dare do this to one of his students? He had his suspicions based just on the barely coherent ramblings the boy had sputtered off when launching himself in here. He¡¯d only picked out bits and pieces, as the story he told was wild and out of order¡ªcompletely understandable given his age and what he¡¯d been through¡ªbut Alex would bet with 85% confidence he had probably already figured out the entirety of it. It was still important to let the boy vent it out anyway. He needed that. He needed someone to hear it. But yeah. This was going to be an exhausting night. First, he needed to patch the kid up just enough to ease his pain. He¡¯d have a friend of his look him over after this. Although not entirely certain, Alex felt confident enough in his assessment that he briefly slid his phone out of his pocket, dialed 6152, then pressed send, before returning it. Then he carefully and gently tended to Zach¡¯s wounds while righteous fury bubbled away at him so strongly it took all his willpower not to grit his teeth. This was just not acceptable. The anger inside him was likely why the Will of the Favored always chose him. I definitely heard him say that his father has been killed. ¡°Can I please tell you what happened now?¡± Zach asked the moment Alex had finished tending to his nose. It wasn¡¯t healed by any means. He¡¯d merely stopped the bleeding which should be good enough for now. His wrist would have to wait for later. ¡°Not yet. First, I want clarification. When you came in here, did you say that Kalana is being held captive in her own apartment? Yes or no, Zach. That¡¯s all I want from you right now.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he said. He was being brave. He was trying to hold back tears. Alex could see the look of humiliation and defeat in his eyes. It only intensified Alex¡¯s rage. To kidnap one of his students and do this to another. Oh, he was boiling inside. ¡°The ones who did this said they¡¯ll be there until morning?¡± ¡°Yes. But now can I please tell you everything? It¡¯s not¡­it¡¯s not a story you¡¯re going to believe. It¡¯s actually¡­look, you need to know that I¡¯m not what I seem. Kalana isn¡¯t either. It all started¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯ll tell me in the DEHV,¡± he interrupted. The boy grew impatient. Again, totally understandable, but Alex needed to be firm here because he had the sense that time wasn¡¯t exactly on their side. He looked like he was about to try speaking again. He needed to learn to listen. That was going to be important. ¡°Stop. Stop it. You¡¯re about to speak. Close your mouth. I¡¯m serious. Right now, you¡¯re going to do everything I say, and I promise you, on my life, it will be okay.¡± ¡°But you don¡¯t even¡ª¡± ¡°Zach, quiet.¡± He again shut his mouth even as he eyed Alex warily. And look: Alex understood. He wasn¡¯t actually upset with Zach. His skepticism was natural. But things had to be done a certain way for the sake of the boy¡¯s safety¡ªand mind. That fear in him? No, that wasn¡¯t good. But worse was the fact that, for him to have come here, he had to have been close to giving up. How high on his list of adult figures to go to in a time of extreme crisis could his science teacher have possibly been? Someone his age shouldn¡¯t have to feel like the world was this hopeless. Still, it was likely always going to be this way. Zach wasn¡¯t even close to the first person to unexpectedly come running into Alex with a life-or-death crisis. His experiments would have to wait. Alex took off his lab coat, walked around behind the chair that Zach was sitting in, and then threw it over him, then helped him put it on. ¡°I¡¯m going to let you tell me everything that happened in just a bit. And we¡¯re going to talk about all of it while we head back to your home. But first you need to listen to me very, very carefully. It¡¯s chilly outside. You don¡¯t take off that coat no matter what.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Say it back to me.¡± ¡°Say what back?¡± ¡°That that coat does not come off you no matter what.¡± ¡°It¡¯s too big for me. I have a spare coat in my¡ª¡± ¡°Zach¡­¡± He shrugged. His confusion was justified, but there was no time to argue. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll¡­keep your lab coat on.¡± ¡°No matter what. Say it.¡± ¡°No matter what.¡± ¡°Zach, this isn¡¯t a game or a joke. If that comes off I¡¯m going to be incredibly angry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not even that cold outside.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care. Say it. One more time.¡± Zach grumbled, ¡°I won¡¯t take off this lab coat.¡± ¡°Good. Now, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Where?¡± ¡°I told you. Your home.¡± He shook his head. ¡°You don¡¯t understand. If you would just let me speak, you¡¯d know that there are¡ª¡± ¡°High-level thugs from one of the ¡®guilds¡¯ accosting Kalana and her father?¡± he fired in. The look of surprise on Zach¡¯s face was so vast it momentarily seemed to drown out every trace of fear¡ªbut only for a moment. ¡°I gathered that. You kind of shouted that when you walked in here.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything close to that.¡± ¡°Yes you did. You just don¡¯t realize you did. You said more than enough. It¡¯s what you meant to say happened, right?¡± ¡°Well, yeah. And¡­you believe me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°So then why are we going there?¡± Alex helped him out of the chair and then pointed to the door. ¡°We¡¯re just going to have a nice little chat with these people and ask them¡ªpolitely¡ªto leave Miss Vayra and her father alone. She has homework overdue. She can¡¯t be wasting time as their hostage.¡± Zach stiffened with fear. And that was what Alex was worried about. That was what he didn¡¯t want to see. That was what needed to be fixed for his kid¡¯s sake. What kind of man puts this kind of terror into a seventeen-year-old boy? These ¡°guilds¡± were getting out of control. It was bad enough they called themselves ¡°guilds¡± without having any understanding of what that word even meant. But now they were kidnapping his students for profit? ¡°You can¡¯t¡­we can¡¯t actually go there.¡± ¡°We are going there.¡± ¡°But you don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand. We¡¯re just going to have a nice, friendly chat. That¡¯s all. And if I have to give him and his pal an attitude adjustment? Well, then so be it.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°Are you afraid?¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Do you want to be afraid forever?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Then follow me. You can tell me part of your story while we walk to my DEHV.¡± Walking slowly so as to allow the boy to vent, Alex listened as he told him everything that had happened to him, and as expected, Alex had more or less pieced it together from the get-go. Still, it was good for him to let it all out. Sometimes, it was important to have someone to talk to. ¡°So, you found a spawn, huh, my man?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Nice going. Congratulations.¡± ¡°Really? That¡¯s your reaction?¡± Alex shrugged. ¡°Did you want a party cake?¡± ¡°No, I meant¡­¡± ¡°I know what you meant, Zach. But anyway¡­so that explains why you and Kalana rushed out of here yesterday, I¡¯m guessing. Must¡¯ve been all excited to go camp your spawn.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­right, actually. But Mr. Oren, like I was saying, I don¡¯t think that has anything to do with why they attacked Kalana.¡± ¡°Probably not,¡± he agreed. ¡°But we¡¯ll worry about that later.¡± As he walked with the boy down the stairs and towards the school¡¯s main entrance, he quickly checked his phone, then frowned. Some people needed to learn how to move their ass during an emergency. Either way, it was good to give the kid a chance to talk and maybe divert his mind from the horror he¡¯d been through. ¡°So, you¡¯re level 3 now?¡± For just an instant, Zach¡¯s face brightened, and it was hard for Alex not to smile. He was clearly an adventurer. He must¡¯ve craved it. He wouldn¡¯t have wandered¡ªwell, really barged¡ªinto Alex¡¯s office otherwise. This never happened by coincidence. Not even once. ¡°Kalana and I both got level 3, yeah, but she¡¯s¡­way better.¡± ¡°Better?¡± Again, fear returned to his eyes, but this seemed like that of a different sort. He was worried. About what? Oh. Wait. Of course. It was obvious. ¡°I won¡¯t tell anyone or repeat any of what you¡¯re saying to me,¡± Alex assured him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re afraid I¡¯m going to tell everyone about your spawn point, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°You¡¯re¡­not?¡± he asked, sounding genuinely surprised. ¡°Why would I?¡± ¡°I just¡­¡± Alex laughed. ¡°So anyway, back to what you were saying.¡± The two of them walked outside of the school and then Alex helped him into the passenger side of his DEHV. With one of his hands almost certainly being broken, Alex didn¡¯t want him to risk falling on his face. He was having a bad enough day as things were. ¡°Okay, where were we?¡± Alex said. ¡°Oh, right. You were just telling me how you and Kalana spent all day bringing hell down on some poor plague biters and toadfeet.¡± Zach¡¯s eyes widened, and Alex had to stifle a laugh. ¡°What did you just call them?¡± ¡°Those things you described. They sound to me like plague biters and toadfeet. Did you get bit at all? Most adventurers do the first time.¡± Rather than reply, he stared in total bewilderment. Maybe Alex should¡¯ve been a bit more careful with what he was saying, as Zach now appeared so baffled that Alex had actually had to ask him three times in a row to put his safety harness on. There was time later to talk about this, after all. Yet, even still, he wanted to take the boy¡¯s mind off his trauma so he didn¡¯t panic all the way over there. ¡°I¡­I did get bit. Is that what¡­is that what that thing¡¯s called, Mr. Oren? A plague biter?¡± ¡°Yep. Nasty things, right? Where¡¯d it get you, my man?¡± ¡°My right ankle.¡± ¡°Did you have fun, though?¡± The question seemed to take the boy aback, as he again returned that same mystified look. Finally, after several moments of quiet, he answered, ¡°Yeah, actually¡­I did.¡± **** Zach gave up trying to pretend he understood what was happening or why it was happening as his seemingly omniscient science teacher rocketed them off in his DEHV in a direction that Zach was sure led to certain death. Or at least¡­at least he thought he was sure. The absolute, uncompromising confidence Mr. Oren displayed had him so perplexed he almost wondered if maybe the man actually knew what he was doing. No, what am I even thinking? He¡¯s going to get us both killed. Why am I willingly following him? I was only even going to him for advice. Not¡­not whatever this is. Zach shifted in his seat as it was impossible to get comfortable with this oversized lab coat on that Mr. Oren had strangely asked him to wear. At least his pain had significantly decreased. Almost to the point where he barely felt it. It was probably adrenaline. His left hand still throbbed, and he found he could no longer clench his fingers into a fist. That meant it was probably broken. But even that seemed to hurt a lot less. What are we doing? We¡¯re both going to die. He couldn¡¯t help but swallow nervously as Mr. Oren drove him home. It was a short ride, as school was within walking distance. He could feel his stomach rumbling the closer they got. Part of him wanted to believe that the guy could actually handle himself. He certainly looked like he could. Without his lab coat on, he was now in just a tank top and jeans, and the man was shredded. If this had been him up against any other ordinary person, Zach would put all his chips down on Mr. Oren. But none of that mattered. Not with these two maniacs. What if they killed Mr. Oren and then saved Zach for last? Who would stop them from killing him in the most prolonged and horrific way? That guy, Varsh¡­how much rage would he exhibit upon seeing Zach again after warning him? How badly would he react? Was he going to¡ª? ¡°So, Kalana¡¯s got some cool new abilities, huh?¡± his teacher asked him. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Zach wasn¡¯t sure why Mr. Oren knew so much about this stuff. He supposed it did make at least some kind of sense. The man was a scientific genius, so he probably had access to a lot of information most people didn¡¯t. But even then, this wasn¡¯t the kind of stuff you could read about online or get from a book. So he must have had friends in high places with information that wasn¡¯t publicly available. It was the only thing that made sense. ¡°What about you? You started to tell me about it.¡± His apartment was just a few blocks ahead. Zach tensed. This was it, huh? He¡¯d only just barely escaped from this place, and now he was about to march right back in with his freaking science teacher. The only reason he was even doing this at all was because Kalana was in there, and somehow¡­somehow knowing that gave him the strength to foolishly march to what was barely even a death but more like a suicide. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? He didn¡¯t even know anymore. ¡°Zach, I asked you a question. Concentrate, my man.¡± ¡°Sorry. So, yeah, Kalana got way stronger when she hit level 3. I got a bit better, and I acquired some useless ability.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no such thing, actually,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Which ones did you get?¡± ¡°So, the first one I got is called Wave Slash. That one might be good. The other one, not so much.¡± At this, Mr. Oren briefly took his eyes off the road and lifted an eyebrow. ¡°You sure you¡¯re saying that correctly? You said¡­it sounded like you called it ¡®Wave Slash¡¯?¡± ¡°Yeah, why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­I haven¡¯t heard of that one before.¡± Zach thought for a moment. He could easily just show the teacher, but that could also cause an accident. He also wondered why the man would know the names of abilities¡ªand also why, if he did know so much, he hadn¡¯t heard of this one before. ¡°I wonder if it¡¯s because it said ¡®unique¡¯,¡± he mumbled aloud. At the sound of an audible gasp from his teacher, he was confused by the look of genuine shock on the man who, until now, had seemed almost eerily unflappable. ¡°You have a unique ability?¡± he asked. ¡°Zach, are you sure?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what it said.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­actually incredible. To have a unique ability is a gift. Truly, it is.¡± ¡°I have two of them, actually.¡± Mr. Oren¡¯s mouth fell agape, and then he narrowed his eyes as though skeptical or maybe even disbelieving. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°What? You think I¡¯m lying to you?¡± Zach asked. ¡°I could literally show you right now.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­that¡¯s really unusual.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter because it¡¯s like a joke. It doesn¡¯t do anything useful.¡± ¡°What does it do?¡± Mr. Oren asked. Zach laughed. ¡°It makes it so the next time I use a¡­I think it said non-damaging, non-repeating ability, or spell, or basically anything along those lines, I don¡¯t need to worry about range.¡± A crease formed in Mr. Oren¡¯s brow. ¡°You need to learn to be more precise. By ¡®not having to worry about range,¡¯ you mean it¡¯s double? Triple?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s only for non-damaging abilities and spells¡ªoh, and items and equipment¡ªbut it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± ¡°What doesn¡¯t matter?¡± ¡°The range.¡± ¡°Meaning?¡± ¡°I just told you.¡± Mr. Oren sighed. ¡°You¡¯re not being clear. What I¡¯m asking you is in what way it alters the range. From what to what.¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re hearing me,¡± Zach said, becoming slightly annoyed. ¡°It makes it so I can use it from any range.¡± Zach felt himself fling forward as, for some Gods-know-what reason, Mr. Oren slammed on the DEHVs breaks, turned the steering wheel, and then pulled into an empty space in front of an office building where parking wasn¡¯t even allowed. ¡°Show me,¡± he said with a note of urgency. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re lying to me. I just don¡¯t think you understood what you read.¡± There was something very odd with the man¡¯s sudden, drastic change in behavior. He stared at Zach with an intense fascination that made him feel like one of his test subjects under a microscope. For a moment, he said nothing, and the only sound was the intense patter of the rain on the DEHV¡¯s windshield. Since he¡¯d already told the man so many secrets, he supposed it wouldn¡¯t matter if Mr. Oren learned of the existence of what only Kalana had seemed to know: a way to list one¡¯s abilities. Yet, as he made the four-tap, pause, two-tap gesture on his shoulder, Mr. Oren did not even seem remotely surprised. Did he know about this? He nodded along like it was nothing out of the ordinary. The same could not be said when Zach actually went and displayed the information that his teacher had almost caused a traffic accident demanding to see. And so, as the words blocked off most of the windshield and obscured their view of the outside world, Zach respectfully avoided saying ¡°I told you so¡± as he proved himself correct. (Inner Ability) Boundless (UNIQUE) The next non-damaging, non-repeating spell, ability, equipment ability, or item ability can be used regardless of range unless a target is required, in which case the user must be within seeing distance. Cannot be used with abilities that aid in charming or card-capture. Cannot be used to target or affect card-based summons. Exertion Level: Very Low. Mr. Oren¡¯s face tightened as he read the description. Based off the motions of his head and the direction of his eyes, he seemed to read it a second time. Then a third. Then a fourth. He read it to the point where Zach couldn¡¯t tell if he either didn¡¯t believe it, didn¡¯t understand it, didn¡¯t want to believe it, or was too distracted to comprehend it the first few times around. After several really awkward moments of relative quiet, he turned his head to look at Zach, and he asked, ¡°Zach, my man¡­you wouldn¡¯t happen to be related to a king, or¡­or a God, would you?¡± ¡°Because of that?¡± he replied, flabbergasted. ¡°Kalana can make a meteor. Did you know that?¡± ¡°She can? Good on her. Sounds like the girl learned Falling Star. But that¡¯s not important right now. Neither is this, really. But¡­but I¡¯d like to discuss this with you after we have a nice chat and get your her to safety. Oh, real quick: are either you or Kalana allergic to cats?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­a weird shift from one topic to the next, but no, we¡¯re not. Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s more important than you¡¯d think. What about her father?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± ¡°Okay, good.¡± ¡°Can you at least tell me why you¡¯re asking me that?¡± ¡°No time. Let¡¯s go fix this Kalana problem before we worry about that.¡± Zach felt himself tugged in two different directions as Mr. Oren first backed out and then sent his vehicle shooting forward. Within a half-minute, they arrived at the apartment building, which, even for this early in the morning, was dramatically quieter than Zach had ever seen. People must¡¯ve decided to leave town for a few days. As Mr. Oren exited the driver-side of his vehicle, and Zach stepped out onto the sidewalk to his right, he noticed that, even more so than before, a large number of DEHVs usually parked along the block were gone. He wouldn¡¯t be surprised if half or more of the residents were now deciding to take an abrupt vacation on no notice. The sight of the peacekeepers running away must¡¯ve been all it had taken for them to realize that, if the peacekeepers didn¡¯t feel safe, then they themselves certainly weren¡¯t. The rain appeared to have let up, but only slightly, and Zach found himself drenched in it. The lab coat did little to keep him warm despite what Mr. Oren had said, but given how much he¡¯d stressed keeping it on, it wasn¡¯t an argument Zach wanted to have. Either way, the thought of going back into his apartment building made his knees weaken as the very-recent memory of his previous encounter was still fresh in his brain. His best hope was that, maybe this time, he could¡ª Oh, Gods, no! Whatever he¡¯d been about to think cut off abruptly as a sense of profound wrongness and hurt manifested itself as a physical sensation in his chest. In fact, all thoughts in his brain terminated and a rush of fresh pain washed over him. Zach trembled and tears rushed back into his eyes. ¡°He¡¯s still there,¡± he whimpered, the sight of his father greeting his eyes. If anything, it now hurt more than at any other time, because it wasn¡¯t about the death anymore: it was about the unbelievable disrespect and mistreatment of someone he loved by the city he lived in. ¡°He¡¯s still there. My dad. Why is he¡ª?¡± Zach grabbed the sides of his face, and like earlier, he shouted at nothing and everything. ¡°What if this was your dad!¡± he screamed. ¡°How would you feel if he was left on the street like gods-damned roadkill? Huh? How would you feel then? If that wasn¡¯t my dad lying there but yours?¡± The pain was rushing back into him so fast he thought it would overwhelm him. But then, suddenly, the world went dark, and his vision obscured. Only then did he realize Mr. Oren had placed the flat of his hand in front of his eyes. Zach tried to brush him off, but Mr. Oren, with a note of command in his voice said, ¡°No. You¡¯re not looking at this anymore. Someone¡¯s going to come respectfully pick up your father¡¯s body and you will see him again at his funeral. Until then, just walk. I¡¯ll take my hand away when we¡¯re in the building.¡± The way he spoke left no room for negotiation or disobedience. Also, how could he even make a promise like that? Really, the man must have had some kind of natural gift, because the absurdity of what Zach was now doing was not lost on him: here he was, literally marching blinded back into the place he had almost died fewer than two hours ago to confront the ones who had killed his father who he was now being prevented from seeing. If Mr. Oren could convince someone to do something like that, then it was a wonder the man wasn¡¯t a cult leader. ¡°Can I just make sure one last time, Mr. Oren, that you understand¡ªlike, actually, truly understand that the people in there are high-level? As in, if you looked at their stats page, the numbers would be big. I just want to make sure you actually know that and you¡¯re not just misunderstanding something here.¡± Mr. Oren squeezed his shoulder confidently. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯re just here to have a chat. Oh, and I need you to remember to follow my instructions at all times. If I tell you to do something, you do it immediately and without hesitation. Okay, my man?¡± Zach nodded then exhaled an uneasy, fearful breath. ¡°I¡¯m scared. I¡¯m ashamed of how scared I am. My knees feel like they will buckle.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay. Just look at me and tell me to my face you will do whatever I tell you to do.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do whatever you say.¡± Mr. Oren grinned, then pointed towards the stairwell entrance across from the lobby. ¡°Did you do that?¡± Zach wasn¡¯t sure what he was talking about. ¡°Did I do what?¡± ¡°Break that door just like the one in my office?¡± ¡°That was me, yeah.¡± Zach surprised himself by releasing a small chuckle. It was likely just his nerves. ¡°I also banged up all the walls on the way to the 8th floor.¡± Ushering him forward with a hand on his back, Mr. Oren led him towards the elevator and pressed the call button. ¡°Adventurers need to be responsible with how they treat other people and their property. It¡¯s not okay to be reckless. You don¡¯t gain power for your own sake but to protect those you love.¡± ¡°Well, it wasn¡¯t my intention. I was just panicking.¡± ¡°I understand. I don¡¯t blame you, Zach. I¡¯m just saying that now that you¡¯ve become stronger than the average person, you need to be more mindful of how you interact with the world. People¡¯s lives aren¡¯t things for our amusement. I¡¯m hoping we can convince our friends upstairs of that. But just try to keep that in mind. Especially if you¡¯re planning on living the dream.¡± ¡°The dream?¡± With a ding, the elevator doors opened as Mr. Oren smiled and said, ¡°Yes, the dream. Fighting monsters and leveling up. It¡¯s what you want, isn¡¯t it?¡± The two of them stepped into the elevator. The doors closed, and Zach thumbed the button labeled 8. It began to ascend. As he had done earlier, Zach forgot his teacher¡¯s question amid the rush of nerves and fear that once more threatened to make him collapse. I promised myself! he shouted in his mind. I made a vow never to be a coward again! Then again, his promise had actually been to get stronger so that he didn¡¯t have to be one. He hadn¡¯t factored in the idea of coming straight back here two hours later when making his vow. Even still, somehow, through some means, he had allowed himself to get into this kind of situation. How? He didn¡¯t know. He still couldn¡¯t believe he was doing this even as the elevator brought him closer to death with each passing second. ¡°Zach, you didn¡¯t answer my question.¡± ¡°Sorry, what question?¡± Mr. Oren frowned, and then Zach wiggled his head in an attempt to force his brain to focus. ¡°Oh, right. The dream. Well, I never knew it was possible to live it. I¡¯m still not sure it is. But of course I want that. Doesn¡¯t everyone?¡± ¡°If they did,¡± Mr. Oren replied, ¡°the world would not have ended up this way.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­actually a good point.¡± The elevator doors reopened, and Mr. Oren stepped out, indicating for Zach to follow. Having made it this far, he was surprised when his legs refused to budge. His stomach lurched, he opened his mouth, and to both his humiliation and shame, he vomited all over the elevator floor. Then he gasped for air before vomiting a second time. Mr. Oren said nothing, waiting patiently for him to finish. ¡°You okay, my man? Got it out? Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± Zach pressed himself with his back flat against the elevator. Terror flooded him so fast that he didn¡¯t have a chance to control or fight against it. ¡°I can¡¯t. I¡¯m¡­I can¡¯t!¡± The doors began to close, and Zach watched as his teacher extended his arm, causing the sensors to halt the closure and reopen. ¡°You said you would do whatever I told you, and in return, I told you we¡¯d save Kalana. Do you not want to save her? Because we can go back to school if you want.¡± At this, Zach found whatever backbone remained in him, and he pried himself off the elevator wall with sheer force of will and then stepped out, one foot in front of the other and back into the hallway where he¡¯d only just fled through. ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s have a few words with your new buddies.¡± Zach followed after Mr. Oren. He walked at a calm, but deliberate pace. He did not pause or look over his shoulder to ensure that Zach continued along behind him. It was almost as if he knew it gave Zach no choice¡ªlike he was expected to follow. It somehow worked. He didn¡¯t feel like getting left behind now that he was this close. ¡°Just breathe,¡± Mr. Oren whispered when the two of them stood in front of Kalana¡¯s apartment. He spoke so quietly that Zach had to strain just to hear him. ¡°If you can get through this, you can get through anything. You¡¯ll be so proud of yourself when this is over.¡± ¡°I¡¯m freaking terrified,¡± he whispered back. ¡°I feel like I might piss myself.¡± Of all things, Mr. Oren shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s actually fine. Piss your pants. Seriously, go ahead. What makes you a man is whether or not you follow through on your actions. Not whether or not you escape with your underwear clean. Now just breathe, follow my instructions, and we¡¯re going to have this cleared up very soon.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Zach said¡ªor tried to say. It came out as a whimper. ¡°I hate how weak I am.¡± He also hated how he¡¯d just said that out loud, admitting it. Mr. Oren merely gave him a pat on the shoulder. ¡°No one is born strong. We learn it.¡± Then, without any kind of warning, discussion, or even just a count to three, he raised his fist and loudly¡ªrudely if this were any other context¡ªrapped his fist on the door in a fast, impatient rhythm. ¡°Hello?¡± he called. ¡°Open up. You¡¯ve got visitors.¡± The sound of a lock being undone set off a fluttering sensation in Zach¡¯s chest, one which turned into an explosion of pure dread as the door was opened and the green-haired, leather-pants-wearing woman appeared in the frame next to the long-haired, almost-middle-aged man wearing the black cloth robes with the glowing symbol of a red rose. ¡°I literally don¡¯t believe it,¡± Varsh said with a grunt, shifting his eyes to Seraphina. ¡°The kid¡¯s back. Either I hit him too hard on the head or he¡¯s decided to commit suicide. And look what we have here. He¡¯s brought along his¡­not father.¡± He chuckled. ¡°That would actually be scary. Who the hell are you, kid?¡± It was weird hearing someone refer to Mr. Oren as ¡°kid,¡± though given that he was in his young twenties and the black-robed man was likely almost fifty, it wasn¡¯t exactly an unreasonable thing to say. Zach might almost find it funny if his legs were not quivering in fear. How did I let him convince me to do this? Hell, how did I let him convince HIM to do this? Mr. Oren waved at them. ¡°Hi there, Mr. Gellor. Or would you prefer I called you Varsh? I¡¯m Alex Oren. I¡¯m actually here on behalf of the school. Zachys here¡ªMr. Calador¡ªis actually one of my students, and he told me there¡¯s been an altercation here today. Mind if I come in? Thanks.¡± Without even waiting for a response, Mr. Oren glided into the apartment while the eyebrows rose to the top of Seraphina¡¯s face. The two of them almost seemed to freeze; the look of incredulity and astonishment in both of them was so immense that, in this moment, they looked to Zach like robots that¡¯d just run out of battery power. He imagined the very same expression was on his own face as, against all logic or common sense, he hurried after Mr. Oren, not wanting there to be more than a few inches of distance between the two of them. Not even turning around to glance at the two most-dangerous individuals Zach had ever met, Mr. Oren walked casually over to Kalana, who thank the Gods appeared unharmed; she was, however, tied, gagged, and like Zach, her eyes were also red from crying. ¡°Hey, Kalana,¡± he said to her. ¡°Zach here told me you two have gotten into a bit of trouble. You¡¯re going to be okay, all right, sweetheart? Let me just have a nice chat with these two fine, upstanding members of the always delightful Royal Roses. I mean what fine members of society they are, right? So elegant. So upstanding. Their mothers must be so proud.¡± It didn¡¯t take a genius to realize that, at some point while he was speaking, Mr. Oren¡¯s words, though technically spoken to Kalana, had shifted to being directed at the two vicious, gawking tormenters who Zach couldn¡¯t believe hadn¡¯t attacked yet. As things were, they seemed to be slowly snapping out of whatever stupor they¡¯d fallen into. ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± Varsh growled. ¡°Depending on your answer, I might kill you slowly or¡ªwell, no, you¡¯re going to die slowly no matter what. You can blame the kid for that. Bastard was warned.¡± Mr. Oren patted Kalana on the head, whispered, ¡°Just give me a second¡± into her ear, and then turned around and began walking towards the two of them, meeting them halfway in the room. Zach was now directly by his side. ¡°So, like I told you, Mr. Gellor¡ª¡± ¡°Who do you think you are?¡± Mr. Oren cleared his throat. ¡°Like I told you, Mr. Gellor,¡± he continued, completely ignoring the question, ¡°I am their science teacher.¡± Varsh exchanged a quick, confused glance with Seraphina and then returned his attention to Mr. Oren. ¡°And that¡¯s all? You have nothing else to say?¡± ¡°I do, but first I need to address my student really quickly just to confirm something. Hey, Zach?¡± Nerves bubbled in his stomach as he was brought into the conversation for some reason. This was the last thing he wanted. Now, both Varsh and his demented, green-haired sidekick were staring at him as if remembering he was a person who existed and thus could technically die by virtue of not having been killed yet. ¡°Y-yes?¡± Zach asked. To his surprise, Mr. Oren gently grabbed his face by the chin, lifted his head up, and then with his other hand pointed to his nose, all while keeping his eyes on Varsh. ¡°Do you see this? Did you do that? Did you break my student¡¯s nose?¡± Varsh pulled back his upper lip in a half-scowl, half-smile. ¡°Yeah, and?¡± ¡°And Zach,¡± Mr. Oren continued. ¡°Is this the man who broke your nose? Is he correctly taking responsibility?¡± Zach gulped. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Okay. Well then in that case, hit him.¡± Zach blinked. ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°You heard me. Hit. Him. Right in his face.¡± An ocean of fear exploded into his chest. ¡°You want me to hit him?¡± ¡°Zach, I¡¯ve given you an instruction.¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡ª¡± ¡°Zach!¡± I¡¯m dead. This is it. I¡¯m going to die. Having come this far anyway, what did it even matter anymore? Zach, knowing full well how this was going to end, drew back his right arm, pivoted his hips, and then sent his fist crashing straight into the mouth of the man whose face had already broken his other hand. His fist connected, he felt flesh against his knuckles, and then he preemptively winced, tensed, and cried out in advance of the pain he assumed he was going to feel as he waited for the agony that came with breaking his only working hand. Instead, he flinched as a bang came from directly ahead of him, where for a reason he could not possibly explain, Varsh had been launched like a torpedo through the air, colliding into the wall to the right of the apartment¡¯s front door with such unbelievable force that his body caused an entire section to splinter and crack. The impact caused two paintings to fall off the wall, the TV to fall out of its mount and crash against the floor with a massive bang, and one of the lights from ceiling to fall loose and land on Varsh¡¯s head, the bulb shattering and causing glass shards to decorate his long hair. Half the width of the wall was now missing, and to Zach¡¯s amazement, he realized that if he¡¯d hit him just a little bit harder, he would¡¯ve gone straight through the wall and into the hallway. Varsh moaned, then tried to stand up, nearly succeeding. But with another moan, he fell backwards and into the hole he¡¯d made in the nearly destroyed wall, sending a spray of dust, old paint chips, and plaster scattering in every direction. Then, shaking his head, the look of murder returned to his eyes. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± he roared. The next few things happened so fast that Zach was only mostly sure he could recall them in the correct order. First, Seraphina bared her teeth, drew her rapier with her right hand, and then, with her left, she clutched it into a fist as a bright flickering ball of white-colored energy began to form around it. At almost the exact same time, Varsh peeled himself off¡ªor really out¡ªof the wall, reached behind his back, drew what looked to be an oaken staff, and then chanted a few words, causing the staff to begin glowing. Either shortly before, during, or after¡ªZach just couldn¡¯t be sure whose actions came first, as they all seemed to happen at once¡ªMr. Oren stepped in front of Zach, raised his fist up until it was almost level with his own chin, and then Zach let out a loud, surprised yelp as four large blue rings made up of what looked like pure blue light simply appeared out of thin air near the ceiling, then began to free-fall down one by one above Mr. Oren¡¯s clenched fist so that the first one traveled down his arm until stopping around the spot just below his shoulder, followed by next one halting near his upper arm. Then the third came to a stop around his forearm, and finally, the last ring of blue light wrapped around his wrist. These rings then began to spin, faster and faster, shooting orange sparks before eventually flying back up in the direction they had just come as they traveled along his arm. But rather than return to the ceiling, they bunched up and joined together right above his wrist into one giant clump of something that reminded Zach of a liquidized metal. This metal began to stretch, elongate, and shape itself into something longer and solid. The color began to change as well: dramatically and in different places. Before his very eyes, Zach watched as what had only just been four separate blue ring-shaped pieces came together into a singular entity and reforged itself into a shimmering steel blade with a black hilt. The sword was breathtaking: it was beautiful, even. The hilt had some kind of engraving on it, but Zach could not properly see it from where he observed. But more important than the engraving was the fact that his science teacher had just somehow conjured a sword. How am I even so surprised? Zach wondered. It was only now that he realized what should have been obvious over an hour ago. Had he not been so shaken up, he would¡¯ve put two and two together: he was sure that he would have. So instead of voicing his shock, he only asked a single question. ¡°Mr. Oren?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What level are you?¡± He laughed. ¡°High enough for these two. Hey, Zach. Did that feel good?¡± ¡°Decking him in the face?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Hell yes. But I thought we were just here to have a little chat.¡± ¡°We just did. You told him.¡± Zach laughed, and Varsh seethed with rage, eyeing Zach with a plain and unhidden desire to kill. There was a steady trickle of blood coming out of the corner of the man¡¯s lips, and as he opened his mouth to spit, Zach gaped in awe as saliva and blood was not all that escaped his mouth: two of his front teeth went with it. ¡°How the hell did I do that?¡± he asked. He was simply unable to believe what he had done. ¡°How could I possibly have¡ª?¡± Again, he reeled in both shock and amazement but also in shameful stupidity as yet another thing that should have been obvious to him only first clicked in his head just then. Even as the three of them gripped their weapons tighter and prepared to square off, Zach looked away and tapped his shoulder four times in quick succession. Then, moved to a point well beyond fascination, he touched the word ¡°inventory.¡± He was not surprised to see that there was a new item that hadn¡¯t been there earlier. What did surprise him was the information presented to him when touching its name. Legendary Hand-Wrought Robe of Mystic Transcendence: crafted by Alixa Firesbane Armor + 200 +30 str +15 dex +20 con +20 int +20 spd +5 luck +30% magic resist +30% physical resist User is immune to charm or sleep. While wearing, greatly diminishes the user¡¯s sensitivity to pain. (7,200 seconds): user is wrapped in a mystic veil of energy, forming a protective barrier around them. For the next five minutes, all magical and physical attacks are greatly reduced in effectiveness. Zach pinched the sleeve of the oversized lab coat he was wearing, then pinched himself to ensure he wasn¡¯t dreaming. This thing he was wearing¡­it was probably worth more than the entire Gods-damned city he lived in. How had his science teacher come across something like this? He was basically a literal God with this thing on. He glared at Varsh and Seraphina. Maybe now he was powerful enough to¡ª ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Zach, you did great, but these two are still way, way too much for you. I want you to use the ability you just read. This should be over before the five minutes are up. It¡¯s got a cooldown of two hours, though, so if for any reason I¡¯m still dealing with them when it wears off, take Kalana and her dad and run.¡± He crooked his thumb at the two of them, who were watching things unfold from the chairs they were bound to. ¡°What you¡¯re going to do for me now, my man, is stay back with Kalana and her dad. You can let them out now if you want to. I¡¯m going to deal with these two. My friends are already on their way.¡± ¡°Your friends?¡± Zach croaked. ¡°A few of my guild-mates.¡± What the hell is going on? Without bothering to reply, Zach stared, absolutely floored, as his science teacher blasted forward at a simply unbelievable speed, jumping up and then through the air while twisting his body around, striking out at Varsh with a slash that looked like it could cut a tree in half. Moving so ridiculously fast, his blade actually made a whining hiss as it seemed to cut through the air itself. ¡°Seraphina!¡± Varsh called. A mere instant before Mr. Oren decapitated Varsh, Seraphina bent her knees, sprang off her legs, and managed to somehow send herself hurtling in front of the robe-wearing man just in time to clash blades midair with Mr. Oren, resulting in an impressive shower of sparks and a clang loud enough to wake anyone on this floor who either somehow still remained asleep or to chase away anyone who hadn¡¯t decided yet to spend the night someplace else. Mr. Oren¡¯s feet clicked against floor as he landed at the same time as Seraphina. Almost before they¡¯d even touched down, the two launched into a series of back-and-forth strikes and parries that resulted in a series of loud clangs, one after the next, as well as a constant shower of sparks. This continued for several moments, and then, almost in unison, the two each dashed backwards and away from one another before immediately springing forward again and reengaging. With a grunt, Seraphina thrust her rapier forward as if to run Mr. Oren through with her weapon, the blade of which now shined a dark, purplish color. Mr. Oren spun on his heels, the rapier gliding harmlessly through the air where he¡¯d only just been standing. Then he swung his weapon at her while she was off balance. It would have connected, too, if a massive ball of fire hadn¡¯t shot out of Varsh¡¯s extended palm, requiring him to throw himself backwards and into a roll before launching himself back up to his feet. Mr. Oren chanted something¡ªZach couldn¡¯t hear the words¡ªand in the air above him, what looked like fifteen or maybe even sixteen arrows made of pure white light materialized, floating in a horizontal line just above his head. Then he gestured, throwing out his own palm, and all at once, the arrows of light soared forward through the air, with half heading towards Seraphina and the other half heading towards Varsh. At the same moment in time, Varsh slammed his staff into the ground, and Mr. Oren shouted, ¡°Zach! Use it now.¡± The urgency in his voice was more than enough. Zach used the lab coat¡¯s ability. He simply ¡°knew¡± how to do it. It was something that he was surprised he hadn¡¯t realized was there when he¡¯d slipped the thing on. Immediately, rainbow-colored light surrounded him from head to toe in a hexagonally shaped bubble of sorts. All at once, Zach was taken up by a sense of security and safety: as though he could feel himself become less vulnerable as this rainbow-colored barrier encased him. It was bright enough to cause the entire room to light up with at least ten different colors¡ªbut only for a brief moment. The light disappeared soon after; despite this, Zach could still feel the effects on him, and he was fairly sure he would continue to do so for at least the next five minutes. Somehow, he understood on a basic level that he was now way, way harder to hurt. That was a good thing, too, because the moment Varsh¡¯s staff smashed into the apartment¡¯s floor, there was a whoosh, and then both he and Mr. Oren were engulfed by flames which had simply appeared out of nowhere. From head to toe, their entire bodies were now on fire. Alarmed, Zach cried out in¡­he cried out in¡­wait, wait, why did he cry out? Even though he was being burned alive, he honestly didn¡¯t feel it. Like, at all. Zach casually and calmly looked down at his arms, hands, and legs, which were definitely, totally on fire. But neither his skin nor clothing burned. He really wasn¡¯t being hurt, was he? It just looked really bad. He heard Kalana screaming into her gag, and so, even while on fire, Zach gave her a thumbs-up to let her know he was okay. Thankfully, the fire dissipated not long afterwards, and while there was smoke coming off him, his skin and all his clothing were still completely unscathed. ¡°You¡¯re going to make me work hard for this, aren¡¯t you?¡± Varsh asked as both he and Seraphina sprinted out of the way of the light arrows, which tore hole after hole into the wall. One even flew over Varsh¡¯s shoulder and into Kalana¡¯s bedroom. A second and a half later, there came the sound of a soft, muted ¡°poof,¡± and Zach saw a heap of feathers and blanket scraps rising up like a mushroom cloud. Another of the arrows ended up flying over the kitchen countertop and into the open oven, causing the entire inside of it to burst into flame. ¡°What guild are you with anyway? You might be making a big mistake.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no mistake,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°I¡¯m not answering any more of your questions. Leave or die.¡± ¡°Seraphina?¡± Varsh asked. It was all he gave in the way of a reply. She nodded, then with her free hand opposite the one clutching her rapier, she threw her fist forward, and a white ball of energy was sent streaking across the apartment¡¯s living room towards Mr. Oren; at the same time. Varsh removed one of his hands from his staff, threw out his palm, and released another ball of flame. Mr. Oren jumped over the white ball of energy, then landed and very quickly swung his sword with perfect timing at the fireball, which simply dissipated upon contact. ¡°Nice try,¡± he taunted. If he was trying to goad them, his plan worked, because immediately after speaking, Seraphina dashed forward and around his right side while Varsh moved with surprising quickness to his left, effectively surrounding him. Mr. Oren sighed. Then he gripped his hands tighter on his blade, bent his knees, and extended his arms as if to extend his reach. With their attention solely on Mr. Oren, Zach turned around and began to untie Kalana, who gave him such an intense look of gratitude that he clearly didn¡¯t deserve. Did she have any idea how little he¡¯d actually done? How pathetic he¡¯d been? Zach had no idea who Mr. Oren was, why he was so powerful, or even why he was helping Zach. But what Zach did know was that he would never give up until he was twice as strong as his¡­well, his science teacher. The moment he freed Kalana, the two of them worked together to free her father. Then all three backed slowly away to give some distance to the teacher, who was now moving with lightning-quick speed to block a staff being swung like a club and a rapier attempting to pierce his heart. He jumped into the air and back-flipped over the two of them so that both were positioned before him and no longer to each of his sides. The two backed away somewhat, putting distance between themselves and the reality-defying science teacher. He didn¡¯t seem to mind. Despite their distance, he pointed his blade at Varsh like a giant finger. Varsh stared back at him curiously. Then the blade began to glow a bright blue color, and Varsh¡¯s eyes widened. An instant later, a pure blue, continuous beam of energy shot out of the end of the sword with a high-pitched, electrical hum. Varsh swore loudly and ran out of its way, but Mr. Oren turned his body and the sword, causing the beam to chase after him. As he ran, the beam simply shredded and incinerated everything in its path, which in this case was the wall behind Varsh, causing wood, plaster, and insulation to blast in every possible direction. Then, as Varsh ran more towards the inside of the apartment, the beam ripped up the flooring, exploded the kitchen table, and reduced the refrigerator to a heaping pile of sheet metal, foul, burnt-smelling circuitry, and an endless shower of increasingly dangerous-looking sparks. Even as Mr. Oren continued to use the bright beam of energy from his sword to pursue Varsh, he squeezed his opposite hand into a fist, and then Seraphina yelped, likely surprised, afraid, and confused, as a dark circle began to form both beneath her feet and above her head. ¡°What is this?¡± she shouted. The two circles were flat, almost two-dimensional, and darker than the night itself. But their two-dimensional nature changed quickly. The circle on the top and the one on the bottom expanded geometrically towards one another to form a cylinder¡ªor rather a tube, which she now suddenly found herself trapped inside. It had all happened so fast that even Zach could empathize with her frustration. He sure as hell wouldn¡¯t have been able to react in time to either know what that was or get out of its way. ¡°What is this?¡± she screamed, banging on her dark prison. It was almost impossible to see her at all. She was simply encased in this tube. It was like she was trapped in a giant, slightly transparent film roll canister. ¡°You were warned,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Sorry? Sorry about¡ª¡± She screamed in the purest sound of misery that Zach had ever heard as a loud buzzing not that dissimilar from an electric can opener seemed to come from within her tube. It looked like something was spinning in there with her¡ªsomething sharp. Or many sharp things. Soon after, the dark black tube became just a little bit redder, and though it was very difficult to see inside, Zach was fairly certain he could spot her being chopped into pieces as though she¡¯d been stuffed inside of a giant blender. Scraps of clothing, leather, skin, bone, and even the metal of her rapier were all swirled around, cut into even smaller pieces, and then mixed in with one another as a red fluid began to fill the tube. Mr. Oren, his science teacher, had quite literally just blended a person alive. And then there was one. Chapter 10: Exertion Debt Chapter 10: Exertion Debt Even though she had murdered his father and left his lifeless body on the sidewalk to rot, Zach could not help but feel a touch of pity¡ªif only just a touch¡ªfor the horrendous, horrifying, and nightmare-inducing way that the woman called Seraphina had died. After what she¡¯d done to his dad, Zach would be lying if he said he¡¯d be shedding any tears over her passing. But wow. Did she have to die like that? It also didn¡¯t help that Zach had never seen someone killed before. Sure, he¡¯d seen his mom¡¯s body at her funeral and he¡¯d seen his dad¡¯s corpse in such a horrible state, but this was the first time he¡¯d witnessed the actual act of death with his own two eyes. I¡¯m never getting that out of my head, he thought. Can¡¯t un-see something like that. The worst part of it all was that it was impossible to see someone die in such a unique and gruesome way and not also imagine it happening to you too. He couldn¡¯t help wonder what it would feel like. Hell, just knowing that Mr. Oren had the power to actually do something like that was enough to make him groan nervously. Though Zach was ¡°usually¡± pretty well behaved at school, he promised himself he¡¯d never talk in Mr. Oren¡¯s class ever again without raising his hand first. If I even go back to school after all this. Something tells me that part of my life is over with. Zach peered out from behind the cover of a knocked over green couch that he¡¯d taken with Kalana and her father shortly after his science teacher disintegrated half the apartment with a projectile beam that left the place smoking and filled with a nauseating burning smell. Across the room, Mr. Oren¡¯s blade battled against Varsh¡¯s staff as though it were a sword against another sword. The fighting was fast, frenetic, and it was impossible for him to know who was actually winning or losing. Mr. Oren had taken down the woman in the sports bra easily¡ªand disgustingly¡ªenough, so how hard could the other one be? He raised his conjured sword above his head in a two-handed grip; then, with a grunt, he slashed down at Varsh, who quickly shifted his grip to opposite ends of his staff so that he held it horizontally, raising it up to block. With a clack, the steel collided against the wood, which somehow did not break or even chip. Now, the two of them struggled against one another, both making grunts of exertion as Mr. Oren¡¯s sword pressed down on Varsh¡¯s staff. This continued for nearly ten full seconds before the two mutually seemed to disengage, the both of them leaping backwards and away from one another. Varsh was breathing heavily though not quite panting, whereas a light sheen of sweat on the back of Mr. Oren¡¯s neck was the only sign of anything resembling fatigue in the much younger man. ¡°You think you¡¯re something special because you killed that?¡± Varsh asked, spitting on¡ªor rather, across¡ªKalana¡¯s apartment floor, where his saliva landed just a few feet shy of cylindrical, mysteriously dark tube, which was still right there in front of the TV that had fallen off the wall and landed on the floor on its screen-side. The tube was just translucent enough that Zach¡¯s imagination could fill in the blanks of the few details he couldn¡¯t make out. Right now, he could barely see through it, and even still, it was enough to make for a traumatizing sight. He really hoped the tube wouldn¡¯t just disappear after a few minutes had passed, as he had no idea how this kind of ability worked. He just hoped that this tube-thing would stay right where it was, because if it vanished or broke apart, Seraphina¡¯s blended remains would likely spill out along with all the blood that had been in her body, which was actually quite a bit; based on what appeared to be a red-tinted shadow, Zach estimated the blood had pooled up to where her ankles would¡¯ve been if they hadn¡¯t become part of the Seraphina smoothie. It was not something he wanted to see spilled out over the apartment. ¡°She made her choice,¡± Mr. Oren said. He bent his knees, extended his arms, and angled his blade at Varsh. ¡°And so did you. But for what it¡¯s worth, I am sorry about your friend.¡± ¡°Friend?¡± he asked, saying the word as though it were foreign to him. ¡°Seraphina wasn¡¯t my friend. My friends don¡¯t let trash blend them to mush. Besides, she wouldn¡¯t blow me. Maybe if she had, I would¡¯ve put in a little extra effort to save her.¡± Mr. Oren¡¯s eyes narrowed and a crease formed in his brow. Zach had no idea how someone with even a modicum of sense would not recoil in fear at the sight of him, especially after what he¡¯d just done. Yet Varsh displayed no fear¡ªat least none that Zach could detect. He merely laughed as if enjoying Mr. Oren¡¯s reaction to his comment. ¡°You are a repulsive, disgusting cretin.¡± ¡°Says the kid who spends his days teaching Ones how to do science. The only thing Ones need to learn is how to lick boot.¡± ¡°You think level determines a person¡¯s worth, Varsh?¡± He shook his head. ¡°No, I think the opposite: I think a person¡¯s worth determines their level.¡± ¡°Here¡¯s the only thing you¡¯re worthy of!¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Abruptly, two more of the flat, impossibly dark disc-shaped objects appeared, with one directly below Varsh¡¯s feet and one directly above his head. Zach was tempted to look away. He was not in the mood to see this happen twice in one day. Apparently neither was Varsh, as he leapt to his side and came into a roll just as the previously flat, circular objects began to expand towards one another before hardening and taking on more of a plastic look. Unlike before, when the grinding sounds began from within, there was no one inside to be blended. Varsh immediately shot up to his feet and retreated several lunging steps backwards before slamming his staff into the floor with enough force that almost an inch of it sank straight through the carpet and into the wood below. Then, with his staff now anchored in front of him, he gripped both his hands directly around the middle of the staff with his right just over his left, and he began to chant. ¡°Val kest flammen cira ven¡­¡± As Varsh continued to chant, the red rose on his robe began to glow a brighter and brighter shade of red with an increased intensity that, after several seconds, made it difficult for Zach to look at directly without his eyes stinging. For some reason, Mr. Oren seemed content to stay where he was. Rather than charge forward at the man, he briefly closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, a glowing, orange aura appeared a few inches in front of his body. It looked like a wall made of a fading orange light that blinked in and out of existence as if pulsating in tune to some inaudible beat. In short order, the chanting came to an end, and with great speed, Varsh ripped his staff up out of the floor, extended it in Mr. Oren¡¯s direction in a two-handed grip, and then with a deafening pop that sounded like a detonated bomb, the end of his weapon fired out a purple, prism-shaped mass of flickering energy that made a terrifying screeching-hiss as it flew across the room to where Mr. Oren awaited. It crashed with an audible zap against the orange, pulsating, wall-shaped barrier Mr. Oren had erected, but to Zach¡¯s horror, the barrier, despite being made of light, shattered exactly like glass, and so the purple energy continued on towards his sword-bearing science teacher. After everything Zach had seen so far, he told himself that this must surely have been what Mr. Oren was expecting: what he¡¯d wanted to happen. After all, he had been in control of everything else that¡¯d happened so far, right? So this was probably just one more instance where he¡¯d pull out some amazing trick to counter whatever Varsh had done. Unfortunately, his sharp exhalation of breath suggested otherwise. ¡°How?¡± Mr. Oren half-whispered, half-grunted as he was struck dead center in his chest. The impact caused a brief but illuminating flicker of light similar to a camera¡¯s flash, and then it lifted him off his feet and threw him across the living room while his sword escaped his grip and flew off in a completely separate direction. He came to a stop only after crashing through the wall leading to the master bedroom, which resulted in a horrible noise that was like a cross between a bang and a crunch. He disappeared out of view after that, but from follow-up sounds of wood breaking and a heavy thud that came from somewhere out of sight, Zach had the impression that his situation had just taken a very, very dark turn. That¡­that¡¯s really not good! Zach thought, a pain borne of unease forming in his stomach. Please tell me he¡¯s okay and still able to fight! Before Zach had the chance to consider Mr. Oren¡¯s fate, a shadow moving fast over the carpet floor caused him to divert his attention to the sword. He watched it flip several times through the air, and he realized it was traveling in his direction¡ªas in directly at him. A sense of urgency struck him just in time, and he slid backwards and away as the sword landed just behind the couch with the bladed-end pointed downwards. It pierced the carpet and sank into the flooring like a dart thrown at a board¡ªand in the exact same spot where his crotch had been, too. He didn¡¯t just lose, did he? Zach thought, terrified. Because if he lost, then we¡¯re screwed. ¡°You¡¯re an idiot,¡± Varsh said, walking towards the master bedroom where Mr. Oren had just been sent flying. ¡°You¡¯re actually stronger than me, too. That¡¯s the funny part. But you gave your most powerful piece of equipment to some useless kid whose life is actually worth less than the coat you put on his back.¡± Zach swore. So things were going to turn out just the way he¡¯d feared. It really sucked, too, because for a while there, it had actually seemed like he, Mr. Oren, Kalana, and her dad were all going to make it out of this alive and in one piece. But no. Of course not. Mr. Oren had just sacrificed himself for Zach¡¯s sake, which was exactly what he¡¯d been worried would happen before they ever chose to come here. To make matters worse, what Varsh had said was correct: he wasn¡¯t worth the lab coat he¡¯d been given. At least not yet. Not the way he was now. Varsh, still moving towards the master bedroom, came to a sudden, abrupt halt. He remained still a moment. Then, grinning, he looked over in Zach¡¯s direction as if only first remembering he was there. Zach bristled. The staff-wielding scumbag now seemed to be more interested in him than Mr. Oren. ¡°I warned you about what would happen if you came back,¡± he said. ¡°Now I¡¯m going to mutilate you and your girlfriend. Oh, but don¡¯t worry, though. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll still buy the Elvish slut if she¡¯s missing an eye.¡± He growled, and it was a sound that was filled with a seething rage. ¡°I¡¯m so gods-damned pissed. I¡¯m really going to make you suffer! Let¡¯s see how brave you are when Mister ¡®science man¡¯ isn¡¯t here to wipe your ass for you, brat.¡± Zach hissed in misery that this was the way things had to happen. Gods, why? Why could he never be granted any luck? Just for once in his life! Now he would have to fight someone who he had no chance of actually beating. ¡°Kalana, get ready to run,¡± he said to her. ¡°You and your dad are getting out of here. I¡¯ll stay and¡ª¡± ¡°Nah-uh! We¡¯ll all run.¡± He gave her his sharpest look. ¡°No,¡± he said, speaking forcefully. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­this time I¡¯m not letting him get you. At least let me do this one thing right in my life, Kalana.¡± The look she returned him was equally as sharp. ¡°I said no. I¡¯d never leave you. You came back for me, so how could I ever¡­look, I¡¯m not gonna leave you, so¡­so either we all escape together, or I¡¯ll die with you.¡± ¡°Fine, we¡¯ll all make a break for it together,¡± Zach lied. In truth, he had no intention of fleeing, as he was certain it wouldn¡¯t do them any good without one of them staying behind. ¡°We¡¯re going to run when I count to three. Okay, you two?¡± He waited to see a nod from both Kalana and her father; this, even as Varsh licked his lips and slowly, menacingly turned fully in their direction. He began to walk the short distance from the living room to the overturned green couch they were hiding behind at sedate pace as if to draw out their fear for his twisted satisfaction. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°One,¡± Zach whispered, as Varsh came nearer. He tapped both Kalana and her father on the shoulder and then pointed in the direction of the apartment¡¯s front door. He waited until they looked where he indicated, and then, with their eyes turned away from him, he disobeyed Mr. Oren¡¯s most ardently given instruction and peeled the lab coat off his body, leaving himself virtually defenseless. ¡°Two,¡± he said, fidgeting with the coat and straightening it with both hands as Varsh¡¯s smile turned even more sinister. As the man approached, he held his staff relaxed at his side and seemed to caress it with his thumb. This time, he wasn¡¯t going to let Zach leave here alive. He wasn¡¯t going to let any of them leave here, but Zach was the only one whose life he planned to end. Even still, he¡¯d be the lucky one, as he¡¯d rather be dead than sold as a slave to some creep. He couldn¡¯t let her be taken. He refused to even imagine what the sick bastard who bought Kalana would do to her. That was why Zach had to distract Varsh¡ªeven at the cost of his life. I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m doing this. To be clear, he didn¡¯t want to die. He wanted to live. He wanted to live so Gods-damned badly. His desire to survive was so strong that tears began to well in his eyes as he knew what would come next. He wasn¡¯t ready for it to end. He wasn¡¯t ready to become nothing. But¡­but he was going to do it anyway, and it didn¡¯t matter that he was scared or trembling just at the thought of what came next. It didn¡¯t matter at all, because he now realized that what Mr. Oren had told him earlier was true¡ªbut even more so, it may well have been the most important thing that anyone had ever said to him. ¡°What makes you a man is whether or not you follow through on your actions. Not whether or not you escape with your underwear clean.¡± If nothing else, at least Zach would go down fighting: he¡¯d at least depart this world as someone who could respect himself. He wasn¡¯t going to run away only to be stabbed in the back or cut down by some high-level magical ability that would probably be every bit as awful and gruesome as the one that¡¯d killed Seraphina. No, he¡¯d fight like a man and save Kalana, and then he would at least know that he¡¯d kept the promise he¡¯d made to himself even if he hadn¡¯t fulfilled it in the way he¡¯d hoped. Zach inhaled, took a breath, and then held it for just a moment. He wanted more time. He wanted to wait longer. He wasn¡¯t ready for it all to end. But he knew if he delayed for even another second it might be too late, and then he¡¯d still die anyway, only without saving the girl he could no longer deny he loved. ¡°Three!¡± he shouted. Kalana bolted upright, as did her father. But Zach had already gotten to his feet before her. In just a few swift motions that were so precise and well executed it almost made Zach think he was the one with high dexterity, he grabbed Kal¡¯s right elbow, pulled her towards him, spun her around, and forced the lab coat over her back before she could even realize what he was doing. Even as she looked over her shoulder at him and opened her mouth to speak, he grabbed the right side of the coat with one hand and her right arm in the other and pulled it through the sleeve before doing the same to her left. Then, without giving her the chance to react, he shoved her forcefully into her father. ¡°Run!¡± he screamed at them. Without even looking to see if she listened, he grabbed the hilt of Mr. Oren¡¯s sword, yanked it free from the floor, and took off at an explosive run towards Varsh, whose eyes lit up with a small, but noticeable glimmer of shock. Even as he raced towards what would likely be his certain death, Zach was surprised at how easily his feet moved and how willing his body was to fight to the end. He wasn¡¯t even sure why. He was still terrified, and his heart was now pounding so heavily in his chest that he could actually hear it in his ears. Even his lips were trembling. And yet, through some means, he managed to find the courage to confront his enemy head on even knowing how much he might be hurt or tortured to death. Was it because of Kalana? Was it because, deep down, he knew that he¡¯d failed her once already and couldn¡¯t bear to let it happen all over again? Or was it because he¡¯d failed himself. Maybe it was a mix of the two. Either way, there was no turning back. The sword was heavy, and he held it in a one-handed grip, as his left wrist was still broken. He also noticed all his pains and aches from earlier had come rushing back now that he did not have the lab coat to suppress it. He was well and truly defenseless. It was just him now: a level-3 nobody armed with his teacher¡¯s sword. The moment he reached Varsh, he raised his arm above his head and then sliced downwards diagonally for a cut that he hoped would open up Varsh¡¯s face from his left ear to his right chin. As the blade came to within inches of the wicked man¡¯s face, he noticed that he made no attempt to defend himself or get out of the way. It was as he¡¯d been earlier¡ªand so too was the result of his attack. The sword struck his face, and rather than dig into his flesh, it bounced off him with enough force to make it fly out of Zach¡¯s hands, disappear somewhere behind him, and then land somewhere he couldn¡¯t see with a clang that sounded like it came from the kitchen counter. ¡°I have never seen anyone in my life who wanted to die so badly,¡± Varsh said. ¡°Do you know what I¡¯m going to do to you?¡± Zach ignored him. He spun around, sprinted over to the kitchen. He briefly scanned the table looking for the sword. He was so nervous and so afraid that his vision had become blurry. Somehow, he found the weapon, which had blended in between a bread basket and a potted plant. He grabbed it, spun back around, and then again charged at Varsh. ¡°Go on,¡± Varsh said, tapping his own chin mockingly. ¡°Try it again. I want to toy with you I think. I want you to really know how screwed you are. I want to see the moment you realize how bad a time you¡¯re in for now.¡± If Zach was going to die anyway, it didn¡¯t matter what happened to his left wrist. And so, as a wave of intense, unbearable agony shot into his hand and ached so fiercely that the pain even radiated up his arm and into his shoulder, he gripped the black-hilted blade with both of his hands and then swung it with all his strength at Varsh¡¯s neck. The result, unfortunately, was the same as before. The blade bounced off his neck, and Zach stumbled backwards quite a few steps, almost losing his balance and falling over. But at least, this time, he kept his grip on the blade. He¡¯d also gained a bit of distance, now almost ten feet away. ¡°Is it my turn now?¡± Varsh asked, baring his teeth. His shoulders were moving in an odd way, and it was only then that Zach realized the man was so filled with rage that he was actually trembling. This was going to be an awful death, wasn¡¯t it? This would be the moment Zach died: before he ever got to truly tell Kalana how he felt. Before he got to explore the world with her. Hell, before he ever got to figure out what his Wave Slash actually¡ª Wave Slash! The name struck him like a bolt of lightning as he suddenly realized in the back of his head that he could actually do it. He was holding a sword: and not just any sword, but one that was also equipment. He felt it now. That he could do it. Would it matter? Probably not. But why not try? He had nothing left to lose. At least he¡¯d finally get to see what it did before he was tortured to death. Spreading his legs and widening his stance, he gripped the weapon even more tightly despite the excruciating pain that went into his left, throbbing wrist, which he could barely close with his broken bones. Varsh laughed at him. ¡°You¡¯re not done yet? Little level¡­what are you, kid?¡± ¡°Three.¡± He barked out an even louder laugh. ¡°Look at the little level-3 trash. He thinks he¡¯s going to¡ª¡± Before Varsh had even finished speaking, Zach used his ability. He didn¡¯t know what to expect. He had thought a great many things might happen¡ªbut what he did not expect was his entire body to begin moving on its own without his input or control. His mouth opened all on its own. His left foot stepped forward all on its own, too, while his left knee bent and his back knee remained straight. He raised his sword high above his head¡ªas high as his arms would allow. And then, without any control over his actions, his mouth moved on its own, and he shouted out, ¡°Wave Slash!¡± and swung his weapon diagonally downwards. As though the sword were a brush and the air itself a canvas, a green, patchy, cloud-like clump of energy came off the sword like a spider shooting web, which folded in on itself so that it resembled something of an S-shape. Even before it had fully popped into existence, and even before Zach¡¯s sword had completed its downward swing, the S-shaped, cloud-like mass of energy began slowly drifting towards Varsh at a speed so slow it would make a sloth impatient¡ªat least for the first second or two. Then it began to pick up speed¡ªand not gradually, either, but with all the harshness of an insane driver stomping their foot down on a DEHV¡¯s acceleration pedal. In fact, the change happened so quickly that if Zach had blinked, he would not have seen it happen at all. First, it began to spin, its form continuing to change with each rotation as it pulled itself into a more rounded shape. In less than half a second, the S-shaped energy curved and folded in on itself, reforming into a disc. Then its texture began to change from cloudy and green to shiny and metallic. At some point, an indentation had formed in the disc, creating a second layer that jutted out and formed a dangerously sharp looking serrated edge. It looked like the kind of thing that would cut someone¡¯s finger in half even if they touched it gently. Zach watched in awe as the bladed disc continued to spin faster and faster until finally it spun so fast that it made a loud, high-pitched shriek as if the air itself was crying out in pain. Zach felt his clothing flap around him as it sent winds soaring in every direction, causing all kinds of dust, shards of glass, broken circuitry, and any other manner of mess to begin lifting off the floor and scatter to every side of the apartment as it tore across the living room heading straight for Varsh. And all this had happened within just two seconds of its creation. Varsh howled out in laughter, then puckered his lips, intentionally making himself look like an idiot. He held up his hand, letting his wrist sag and fall forward, then he moved it to his opposite shoulder. He was mocking Zach. It was obvious what he was going to do. He was going to limply backhand the bladed projectile, swatting it out of the air like it was a fly buzzing around his ear. He was going to drive one final stake of humiliation through Zach¡¯s heart before moving on to a literal one. The bladed disc approached, Varsh let out an obviously faked cry of fear designed to insult and mock, then did exactly what Zach had expected him to do. He swung his arm, flicked his wrist, and then backhanded the bladed metal disc away just like he¡¯d done earlier in the day to Zach¡¯s face. He succeeded, of course, and then as if to further taunt Zach yet again, he even went so far as to rudely throw his bloody, severed hand right into Zach¡¯s face. Wait¡­what the hell? Five fingers and part of an arm thwacked Zach between the eyes before falling on the floor between his legs. Then there was a scream: from him and from Varsh, whose forearm now ended in a stump that was squirting out so much blood it almost didn¡¯t look real. Then there was a loud bang followed by an even louder second bang that caused the entire apartment to shake. ¡°What did you do?¡± Varsh screamed even louder, crying in agony as his body shook violently. Zach blinked, so utterly confused that he struggled just to form words. ¡°What the hell happened? I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°You cut his arm off with that,¡± Mr. Oren said, now adding a whole new layer of confusion to the situation. He stood behind Zach, his dark brown spiky hair absolutely covered in dust, plaster, and drywall. So were his arms, as the twin tattoos of fire-breathing dragons were only barely visible now on his upper biceps. ¡°I¡¯m actually shocked. At level 3 you did that to him? Outstanding. I helped a bit, though, but still.¡± ¡°Helped?¡± ¡°I bumped you up about twenty points of strength using a once-a-day cooldown on my boots. Even still, you shouldn¡¯t have been able to hurt him that badly. I was expecting a moderately deep wound, but not that.¡± Zach twitched as he felt his teacher reassuringly slap his shoulder. ¡°You¡­what?¡± he asked, now panting for some reason. He tried to get over his shock but was finding it incredibly difficult. He fought with his brain to snap out of his haze and replay events in his head. He¡¯d sent his Wave Slash at Varsh. Varsh had backhanded it. And¡­and it¡¯d gone right through him. The two motions together at the same time had made it appear like he¡¯d willingly, on purpose, thrown his own hand and part of his arm at Zach¡¯s face¡ªlike as some kind of attack or taunt. Then the disc had continued to spin until it slammed through the wall, into the next apartment, and then curved up and hit the ceiling, whereupon a bathtub from a hopefully vacant apartment one floor above had fallen straight down into the one below, and the impact was enough to make the entire 8th floor rumble and vibrate on the heels of a boom that was so loud it would¡¯ve caused Zach to scream if he wasn¡¯t already screaming at the bloody hand that¡¯d been thrown at his face. ¡°You¡¯re alive?¡± Zach asked, not sure which of the two recent events were shocking him more. ¡°How?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m fine, my man,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°I just wanted to give you the chance to confront him. I had your back the whole time. I wouldn¡¯t have let him hurt you. But seeing you step up like that, I had to let you do it. I¡¯m proud of you. You did a great job.¡± ¡°Th¡­thah¡­thah¡­tha¡­¡± His eyes widened in panic. ¡°Thah¡­¡± He was still panting, only harder now. It suddenly occurred to him that he was not only struggling to breathe, but that from the moment the hand had been thrown at his face, he could not catch his breath. He felt like he¡¯d just run five miles, and he fell down to his knees. His eyes watering and his heart pounding faster and faster, he reached out a hand to Mr. Oren, but it was Kalana who ran forward and took it, calling out to him, demanding to know what was wrong. Even with his hand in her own, he fell forward onto his stomach, with his left arm flat at his side and his right arm lifted up by Kalana¡¯s hand. To an outside observer, it probably looked like she was trying to drag him. He tried again to form words, but he was panting too heavily. Even while lying perfectly still, he felt like he was running at a full sprint without resting. What was happening to him? ¡°Exertion Debt,¡± Mr. Oren grumbled. ¡°You need to do a lot of work, Zach. Your stamina is really awful.¡± Kalana released his hand and it plopped down lifelessly onto the floor next to him. ¡°Help me,¡± he begged. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°What¡¯s happening,¡± Mr. Oren answered, grabbing him, rolling him over, and then lifting him up into a sitting position like a sick patient in a hospital. ¡°Is that you used an ¡®inner¡¯ ability that required more than you¡¯re currently able to give. So you¡¯re still paying for it. You feel like you¡¯re doing some intense cardio workout, right? Yeah. It¡¯s normal. At your age, you¡¯ll be fine.¡± Zach didn¡¯t even know what he¡¯d just said. The room was spinning so fast. Then everything went black. Chapter 11: The God Slayers Guild Chapter 11: The God Slayers Guild Voices. There were voices. Whose voices? Zach didn¡¯t know. Actually, he didn¡¯t know much of anything, really. Like¡­where was he? Had he died? Was Kalana okay? All of these questions popped up, then repeated with greater intensity in Zach¡¯s mind. He couldn¡¯t see, but he could hear, though it was difficult to make out any words over a loud ringing in his ears that was only first subsiding. He was comfortable: oddly comfortable. And he felt something soft touching the sides of his face in a way that could almost be described as lovingly. He was so confused. Why couldn¡¯t he see? Where was he? What day was it? What was the last thing he could remember? He moaned, none of it making any sense to him. ¡°He¡¯s waking up,¡± said a girl¡¯s voice. It was Kalana. It came from above and slightly behind him. Why couldn¡¯t he see her? Because my eyes are closed, duh, he realized groggily. His lids slowly opened, though it actually required effort. Then he shut them immediately as his eyes were not yet able to handle the light. What little he saw was also too blurry for him to have any idea of where he was. ¡°What happened?¡± he asked. He could hear the fear in his own voice. ¡°Was I in an accident? Where am I?¡± ¡°You just passed out for a bit,¡± said a voice off to his left. It was Mr. Oren, his science teacher. Was he in school? The confusion began to increase in intensity, and with it came a restlessness¡ªan anxious worry that something had gone really wrong and he didn¡¯t quite understand what it was. He was soothed, however, when he felt the same two soft hands rubbing him around his cheeks, even playfully pinching the one on his right. He also realized that he was lying on his back on a hard surface, but his head rested on something much softer¡ªKalana¡¯s lap. Wait, his head was in Kalana¡¯s lap? Gods above, it was! This is the greatest moment of my life, he thought, suddenly becoming far more relaxed as she gave him some kind of weird nose and cheek massage that felt way too good. He smiled and couldn¡¯t even help the content sigh he breathed out as he nearly fell back asleep. I love Kalana. ¡°Z-Zach,¡± she said, her voice unusually high-pitched and shocked. ¡°If you¡¯re¡­if you¡¯re gonna say something like that to me¡­then¡­then uh, then¡­when we¡¯re in private say it, but not¡­not here. That¡¯s not how I pictured you saying it the first time!¡± He gasped. ¡°Did I just say all that out loud?¡± ¡°Yah. I¡¯m not mad or anything. I just¡­you should wait until you have flowers or something, I dunno. Jerk!¡± She pinched both his cheeks at once. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna let you forget you said it, either.¡± For some reason, a pair of voices¡ªno, three sets of voices¡ªthat he did not recognize all seemed to break out into laughter at once. Either because of embarrassment, surprise, or sheer coincidence, this seemed to rouse him back into full wakefulness, and for the second time, his eyes popped open, and now he did not close them. All at once, he remembered almost everything that¡¯d happened to him. He also recognized where he was: Kalana¡¯s blood-stained, badly destroyed apartment. He also remembered what¡¯d happened to his father. It was a topic he really didn¡¯t want to think about right now. If not for the realization of what he¡¯d just confessed¡ªbefore he was even ready¡ªhis mind would likely have dwelled on it. ¡°Oh, Gods,¡± he spluttered out, sitting up. ¡°I just said all of that out loud.¡± He groaned. ¡°What¡­my head is still so foggy.¡± His vision was blurry, but he was sure that there were more people in here now than there¡¯d been before. ¡°How long have I been out for? Where¡¯s Varsh? Who¡¯s in here with us?¡± ¡°Lie back down,¡± Kalana said. ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to move yet.¡± ¡°Why not? And¡­wait, you mean in your lap again?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Wow, okay,¡± he said, maybe too eagerly. He was still so out of it that he only realized after speaking how much he was embarrassing himself. But maybe it was better this way. He had now gone so far beyond the point of caring. If not for the fact that he was only first entering into a state where he could say his own name, he would¡¯ve been cringing and blushing himself to death. Yet he was so exhausted that his verbal inhibitions ceased to exist. ¡°Kalana, I don¡¯t care who hears me,¡± he said to her, lying back down. ¡°I thought you were going to be taken away forever. I want you to know I like you so gods-damned much. Like more than you even know. I never told you because I didn¡¯t realize how much I¡­you just don¡¯t understand. And it¡¯s my fault because I¡ª¡± ¡°Zach,¡± she whispered, sounding embarrassed. ¡°My dad¡¯s here¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s a bad time. I know. It¡¯s just that I almost died like eight times today, and now that I realize how easy a person can just die out of the blue, I need you to know it just in case something happens. Also, sorry, Mr. Vayra.¡± Her father chuckled from somewhere off behind him. Zach couldn¡¯t really tell because he was lying down with his eyes pointed at the ceiling, but also because the blur was still slowly receding from his vision. Closing his eyes and taking a slow, deep breath, Zach tried not to tense up apprehensively every time he heard the sound of footsteps from around him. Now that he was more fully awake and alert, he recalled Mr. Oren saying a ¡°few of his guild-mates¡± were coming along. This must¡¯ve been them. There was nothing to be worried about. Even still, he couldn¡¯t help but try to stand up reflexively whenever he heard the sound of boots walking along the floor. Each time, Kalana would press him back down. ¡°You¡¯re safe,¡± Mr. Oren said to him. ¡°Just try not to move.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because your wrist is completely shattered, my man. If you make things any worse, we aren¡¯t going to be able to heal you properly. Not without wasting a million-gold item. To be fair, I¡¯m not a doctor¡ªKesten here is¡ªand if I¡¯d known the break was so severe I wouldn¡¯t have let you swing that sword.¡± ¡°Kesten? Doctor? Gods, I¡¯m so confused. At least tell me something.¡± ¡°Everything¡¯s fine, Zach,¡± Kalana said, giving both his cheeks another pinch. Why the hell did that feel so good? It didn¡¯t even make sense. ¡°That guy from before is gone, and you were only out for about thirty minutes. One of Mr. Oren¡¯s friend¡¯s got amazing healing abilities¡ªand he¡¯s a real doctor on top of that, too.¡± ¡°How many people are here with us?¡± ¡°There¡¯s you, me, my dad, Mr. Oren, Kesten, Alixa, and Maric.¡± Zach nodded¡ªor sort of nodded. It was hard to move his head while it was in her lap. ¡°Okay, I know some of those people.¡± Mr. Oren laughed. ¡°They¡¯ll introduce themselves soon enough. Just lie still for now. Kesten is almost finished with His Majesty.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to call me that,¡± Mr. Vayra said. Then, after a slight pause, he added, ¡°I¡¯m an heir without a kingdom, a prince without a father, and a level-1 construction worker in a rundown apartment who just had his thumb cut off. If anything, for saving my daughter and her boyfriend, you¡¯re the royalty, young man.¡± In complete unison, Zach and Kalana both gasped, and it was likely for the same reason. Heat flushed into his cheeks, and he could actually feel Kal shake nervously. Why had her father used that word? That wasn¡¯t just a word you went throwing around. Why was Mr. Oren chuckling? Or his friends, for that matter? These were complete strangers he didn¡¯t even know. Why were they laughing, too? None of this was funny. This was a serious thing that just happened. ¡°Dad!¡± Kalana yelled at him. ¡°What¡¯re you even¡­? Stop!¡± ¡°Huh? What¡¯s wrong, bun? It¡¯s true. I¡¯m not royalty. I¡¯m just a tired, aging¡ª¡± ¡°Not that,¡± she grumbled. ¡°The other thing you said.¡± ¡°What other thing? Ohh¡­wait, I see.¡± Her father sighed, which told Zach he hadn¡¯t even spoken the ¡®b-word¡¯ playfully or even realized he¡¯d said anything wrong. Wait, did this mean he actually thought that, all this time, the two of them had been¡­? This just became so awkward. ¡°In my defense, I mean, you two have spent every day together since we moved here. You¡¯re always eating out together and going to the movies. Always sneaking off somewhere or another. Oh, and let¡¯s be honest now¡­you¡¯re both seventeen. In fact, I was only seventeen when I met your dear mother. So I just thought that¡ª¡± ¡°D-dad!¡± Zach closed his eyes tightly and tried to will himself to another plane of existence. He couldn¡¯t handle this. Her father wasn¡¯t messing around with them. That was the worst part. He genuinely seemed to have no clue why this was so humiliating. He only seemed to make things worse, too, with each subsequent word. ¡°I apologize if I embarrassed you, honey. So then, to clarify, Zachys is not your boyfriend. Correct?¡± Now Zach gasped. Why in the hell would he ask that question? What if she said yes? No, worse, what if she said no? The idea she might say that sent a tidal wave of fear crashing into him. He didn¡¯t even know he could still be this afraid after his encounter with Varsh. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Kalana stirred uneasily, and she almost knocked him in the side of his head with her knee. ¡°You¡­¡± She tapped him on the side of his cheek. ¡°Zach, explain to my dad.¡± Why is she putting me on the spot? he thought, stifling a moan. ¡°Okay, the thing is that¡­¡± As he searched his mind for how to answer the question, he once again remembered how close he had come to death, and how good it had felt to finally just say what he felt regardless of who was around him or how afraid he was of the way things would turn out. His cowardice was a part of him that he had vowed to change. Maybe that counted for more than just being able to defend himself against high-level, homicidal thugs? ¡°Actually, she is,¡± he said confidently. ¡°Okay, so then I said nothing wrong,¡± her father insisted. ¡°Right?¡± It didn¡¯t matter that Zach couldn¡¯t breathe through his nose. Because right now, his mouth couldn¡¯t take in any oxygen either as Kalana¡¯s silence felt like an anchor had been dropped on his chest. For almost ten seconds, she said nothing at all. But then, finally, she replied, ¡°Uh-huh.¡± Then she chuckled, and with a bit more certainty, she said, ¡°Yeah, I guess not.¡± The moment she answered, Zach remembered he¡¯d been holding his breath, and it burst out of him in a whoosh, which soon led to a coughing fit. If not for every bad thing that had happened in a short span of time during the past few hours, Zach would¡¯ve exploded with happiness. Did they just somehow, in front of everyone, in the most embarrassing and uncomfortable way possible, just make something official? Was that what just happened? Was he misreading the situation, or had he just gotten Kalana to be his¡­so were they now¡­? ¡°Alex,¡± a woman¡¯s voice whispered from across the room. She must¡¯ve been the woman named Alixa. Zach still hadn¡¯t actually been able to see her or the other strangers who Mr. Oren had summoned here. Actually, come to think of it, her name was familiar. Was she the same Alixa Firesbane who had crafted that legendary lab coat that¡¯d saved him from being burned alive? ¡°Yeah, ¡®Lixa?¡± he replied. ¡°The kids don¡¯t know, do they?¡± ¡°Of course not. We haven¡¯t even discussed it with His Majesty yet.¡± ¡°Then why are you letting them¡­?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m sure Zach will make the cut. I watched him closely today. He can do it. I¡¯m sure of it.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t know that. We¡¯re not an entry-level guild.¡± ¡°He will make it.¡± ¡°Alex¡­¡± ¡°Stop,¡± he said, his voice impatient. Zach had no idea what they were talking about, but for some reason, it sounded like it was about him and Kalana, and the tone Mr. Oren used was the same tone he¡¯d used to defend Zach after his altercation at school with Pack Dolan. ¡°I know the soul of an adventurer,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°I¡¯ve never been wrong before. We¡¯ll talk about this in a few minutes. Let¡¯s at least let him have some happiness, Alixa. For the love of the Gods, his father died today. Let him have a few moments of joy.¡± Okay, something is wrong here, he thought, a nervous pit forming in his belly. Why are they talking about us like that? ¡°I want to sit up now, please,¡± Zach said. ¡°No,¡± Mr. Oren said, a note of command in his voice. ¡°Wait patiently for your turn. Kesten is almost done.¡± ¡°Actually, I just finished. The prince¡¯s fingers should regrow within a few days. I could do the toe as well, but for a pinky toe, is it really worth a million-gold rejuv stone?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t heal it with your abilities?¡± ¡°Huh? Dude¡­they cut it off. Alex, you¡¯re the smartest guy I ever met, but sometimes you¡ª¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. I got it. Just help my student, please.¡± The sound of approaching footsteps caused Zach to lift his eyes and crane his neck. He could only see a pair of black boots and skinny jeans. Thankfully, he could at least make out these details with perfect visual clarity, which meant the blurriness had finally faded. ¡°You can probably sit up now,¡± Kesten said. ¡°In fact¡­Alex, give me a hand. We¡¯ll sit him down on the couch next to Mr. Vayra.¡± ¡°Guys,¡± Zach said with a laugh. ¡°I can stand up on my own two¡ª¡± ¡°No, quiet,¡± Mr. Oren said, shushing him. He felt hands on his shoulders, and then Kalana pushed him up into a sitting position. At the same time, Mr. Oren grabbed him under his left armpit, while this so-called doctor, Kesten, grabbed him under his right. Then he was hoisted up and dragged like a child over to the green couch, which must have been picked up and properly oriented at some point while he was unconscious. Now that he was seated and able to actually look around the apartment, he could finally take in his surroundings¡ªspecifically, the people Mr. Oren had called his friends. The one closest to him, the one called Kesten, was a guy of average height with shaggy blond hair, dark blue eyes, and both a face and voice that made him look more like the singer of a rock band than a medical doctor. The bottom-right portion of his lip was pierced with two silver-looking rings. There was also a third above his left eye. He was also really young, too. Zach doubted the guy was more than three or four years older than himself. That was way too young to be a licensed doctor¡­right? Then again, twenty-four also seemed young to be teaching at a high school, too. Come to think of it, he had a bit in common with Mr. Oren in this regard. Neither of the two guys dressed the way one would expect from a teacher or a doctor, the only exception being the lab coat that Mr. Oren seemed to wear all day every day. Aside from that one piece of profession-appropriate garb, he typically showed up to school wearing a pair of russet-colored, cat-eye glasses, which along with his tattoo-covered bodybuilder arms and his spiky hair, made him look more like a street brawler than a teacher. Kesten, as if following in this tradition, was apparently a fully licensed medical doctor, yet he wore a pair of blue skinny jeans, a white, short-sleeve t-shirt, and a leather jacket. He also had a spiked bracelet on each of his wrists, and the spikes looked like they were actually kind of sharp. In a humorous sort of way, Zach realized he had no way of knowing if the bracelets, the leather jacket, or even the guy¡¯s socks were actually just simple pieces of clothing or ungodly powerful equipment. ¡°Okay try not to move,¡± Kesten said. ¡°Alex, hold his arm steady¡ªboth hands.¡± Seated on the couch, Zach grunted nervously as Mr. Oren grabbed his shoulder with one hand and his forearm with the other, then held him in what felt like a vice grip. That was when Zach knew it was going to hurt¡ªand it did. Kesten placed his palm over his shattered wrist, and then a bright, vibrant green light began to shine from his hand. It was so bright that it actually caused his fingers to cast shadows along the middle of the apartment floor. ¡°Ah, Gods-damn it,¡± Zach hissed. He could actually feel his bones moving. The pain, though pretty bad, wasn¡¯t outright agony, but it was throbbing, unending, and the sense of bones moving in his own hand made it also uncomfortable and unpleasant. ¡°Don¡¯t look at your hand, look at me,¡± Kesten said. He was definitely someone who would conventionally be considered very attractive. Zach was surprised that, with everything that happened to him today, one of his biggest concerns now was making sure Kalana never looked in his direction. Seriously, if she so much as¡ª ¡°Whoah, does it hurt that much?¡± he asked him. ¡°You¡¯re glaring at me.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about something.¡± ¡°Dude, it¡¯s no problem. My name¡¯s Kesten, by the way, but you probably already know that now. Kesten Ardona.¡± As he spoke, his brightly-glowing palm moved up and down along Zach¡¯s wrist, close but never actually touching him directly. ¡°I just want to say how¡­how sorry I am about what happened to your father. Sucks, man.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault,¡± Zach said. ¡°Guilds are just scum.¡± Then he remembered that these guys were in a guild, and he croaked, ¡°Ah, sorry! I didn¡¯t mean¡­I offer my apologies if I¡ª¡± ¡°No, none necessary,¡± Mr. Oren said, speaking for Kesten. Zach felt pressure release on his arm as Mr. Oren let him go. For whatever reason, he didn¡¯t seem to think Zach needed to hold as still. Kalana¡¯s father then scooted over on the couch, and Mr. Oren slid a few inches away as if to give him some breathing room. ¡°You don¡¯t actually know what a guild is, so we¡¯re not going to take offense.¡± ¡°True,¡± Kesten said, nodding. The green glow brightened, and then Zach had to bite down as the intensity of pain went from bad but not awful to extremely awful before settling back down to just bad. ¡°That was a tough spot, sorry. That might happen a few more times. It can¡¯t be avoided.¡± Zach closed his eyes for a moment and gritted his teeth. He wasn¡¯t going to whimper or act like a little girl with Kalana watching. Even still, he wanted to cry out in pain. This hurt terribly. To Mr. Oren, he said, ¡°Can you please tell me what happened now? After I passed out¡ªor better yet, why I passed out? I¡¯m still a bit confused. I know you explained it to me but it¡¯s fuzzy and I can¡¯t remember. And did someone say Varsh is gone?¡± Mr. Oren crooked a thumb over his shoulder. ¡°That guy jumped out of the window to get away from me, actually.¡± ¡°He¡¯s dead?¡± Zach asked. The thought of death made him glance over to where Seraphina had died. He only just now realized the dark black, partially translucent tube was now gone. Someone must have come and taken it away¡ªthankfully. The empty one was still there, though: the one he¡¯d tried and failed to trap Varsh in. ¡°He¡¯s not dead, no. He can survive a fall of that height. Easily, he could. But I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll be coming back any time soon. You cut his hand off. Really quite impressed, Zach.¡± ¡°Th-thanks?¡± Mr. Oren laughed. ¡°Just take the compliment.¡± Zach decided not to argue the merits of whether or not he deserved to be congratulated for bodily mutilation, because in truth, even he didn¡¯t know how he felt about it. Disgusted? Yes. Amazed? Of course. Proud of himself? A little. But guilty? Honestly, no. He hadn¡¯t killed the man, and the guy clearly deserved it. Even still, he definitely didn¡¯t enjoy seeing that. ¡°I remember using Wave Slash and then thinking my heart was going to¡ªugh! Wow, that one hurt.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Kesten said. How long was this going to take, anyway? Hopefully it would be over soon. Kesten licked his lips and narrowed his eyes as if completely concentrated on his task. Yet he still seemed able to carry a conversation. ¡°It sounds like you OE¡¯d,¡± he said. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°What you were saying to Alex. About passing out. Sounds like you OE¡¯d.¡± ¡°OE¡¯d?¡± ¡°Over exerted. You went into E-debt.¡± ¡°E-debt?¡± Kesten sighed as if frustrated, which for some reason caused Mr. Oren to frown. ¡°Kest, he¡¯s a total noobie. And also a student. I don¡¯t like the way that sigh sounded. We should teach a student who asks questions, not lose our patience with them.¡± ¡°Okay, but dude, I¡¯m not a teacher. You are. And I¡¯m not trying to be a dick, it¡¯s just hard to explain things everyone knows.¡± ¡°You mean everyone who levels, right?¡± Mr. Oren asked. ¡°Let me remind you that more than 99.9% of the population of Galterra doesn¡¯t know any of what Zach is asking, either.¡± Kesten shrugged, but it was a strange shrug, because he performed it with only one shoulder as if to keep his green-glowing hand steady. ¡°All right, Zach. I¡¯ll explain, since it seems like you really do know almost nothing.¡± Zach neither frowned nor replied, but inside, he was kind of annoyed. It wasn¡¯t his fault he didn¡¯t know anything about how this worked. No one he¡¯d ever met knew a thing, either. You had to be born lucky to get to know the secrets of the world that these people apparently took for granted. While they were out slinging magical spells and fighting dragons on their private island resorts¡ªor whatever it was they did¡ªhe was delivering pizzas and trying to get into a decent college so he didn¡¯t have to live in a cockroach-infested apartment building the rest of his life. ¡°Kesten is a very kind person,¡± Mr. Oren said, as if sensing Zach¡¯s unease. ¡°I mean that. He¡¯s just extremely blunt and often hurts people¡¯s feelings without any ill intent.¡± ¡°What he said,¡± Kesten added with a grunt, still concentrating on repairing Zach¡¯s hand. ¡°Go ahead, Kest. Explain it to him.¡± Kesten nodded. ¡°There are two types of abilities, okay? External and internal. Oh, and so you don¡¯t get confused, a spell is also a type of ability, so people use the word interchangeably sometimes, even though not all abilities are spells.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Not much. A spell is just an ability that scales off intelligence. So yeah, anyway, what¡­what was I saying to you again? Ah right. So there¡¯s two types of abilities: internal and external. Internal abilities come from leveling up or racial inheritance, and external come from something other than yourself. Now, there¡¯s exceptions to every rule, but listen, this is the gist of it. External abilities usually have cooldowns, and internal abilities usually have exertion costs, which are described as Exertion Levels.¡± ¡°I knew some of that,¡± Zach said, easily following along so far. ¡°Kalana¡¯s dagger and her racial ability both use cooldowns. I¡¯m guessing her dagger is external, and her Elvish ability is internal¡­and I guess that must be an exception to the rule you were talking about.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Oh, right, of course you don¡¯t know. Kalana can make a little torch thing above her head like a flashlight, but she can only do it three times a day. So based on what you¡¯re saying, that¡¯s an internal ability with a cooldown, which is rare but happens. Am I getting this right?¡± ¡°Right,¡± Kesten said, ¡°and that little sword thing you did¡ªWave Slash, I believe you called it?¡ªwas an internal ability with no cooldown: it had a cost in exertion instead, which is true of most internal abilities.¡± ¡°Which I¡¯m guessing,¡± Zach replied, ¡°literally means exerting myself?¡± ¡°For the most part, yep.¡± Zach lowered his eyes a moment as he thought back to the ability¡¯s description after Kalana had showed him how to access that information. He winced a moment as the pain in his wrist flared up, but it was only for a brief second. ¡°I think my Wave Slash said: Exertion Cost: Moderate.¡± ¡°Looks like moderate is too much for you. What level are ya?¡± ¡°I¡¯m level 3. Is that why I can¡¯t handle it?¡± ¡°Ehh. I mean, that¡¯s part of it.¡± ¡°Part of it?¡± He sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not good at explaining things. Alex is only making me do this as some kind of punishment or something.¡± ¡°Not punishment,¡± Mr. Oren said, reminding Zach that he was still sitting right next to him. He had been quiet and Zach had almost forgotten he was there. ¡°I just think you need to learn to interact better with people.¡± ¡°Your mom needs to learn to interact better with my dick,¡± he mumbled under his breath but at a volume that was still clearly loud enough for the two of them to overhear. Zach couldn¡¯t help guffaw. Then he looked apologetically at Mr. Oren, who was glaring at him for some reason. How was that fair? Zach had only laughed at the quip. Kesten had been the one who¡¯d said it. Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t long before Mr. Oren slightly lifted his head and turned his attention to the actual perpetrator. ¡°Relax, Alex. It was a joke.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like or appreciate those kinds of jokes.¡± ¡°Dude, we¡¯re friends. Relax.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do it again.¡± ¡°Fine, fine.¡± Mr. Oren can be terrifying, Zach thought. The anger in his eyes was not just for show¡ªthat much Zach could personally attest to, having seen what he was capable of. ¡°Keep explaining it to Zach.¡± Kesten breathed out a sigh of reluctant agreement, then continued. ¡°Leveling up,¡± he explained, ¡°can definitely increase your stamina, but your level only accounts for about 10% of it.¡± ¡°Wait¡­is there a stat for stamina?¡± ¡°Kind of? Sort of?¡± Kesten shrugged, and like before, he used only one shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s what we call a hidden stat. Now, supposedly, there are people who can see it, but I don¡¯t really know. Even if so, it would be useless information by itself.¡± Zach felt his curiosity heightening, and he almost leaned forward out of fascination. He was glad he hadn¡¯t, because the movement would¡¯ve caused his wrist to judder, and who knows what that might¡¯ve caused to happen? ¡°Why would it be useless?¡± he asked. ¡°Because your stamina stat is actually just a sum of a bunch of different numbers, some of them static, some of them changing constantly.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Kesten rolled his eyes, then looked over Zach and at who Zach could only presume was Mr. Oren. He wasn¡¯t sure what kind of look Mr. Oren returned, but whatever it was, Kesten peeled his lips back slightly and released a nervous laugh, then apologized. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m trying here.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Zach said¡ªand he meant it. ¡°I¡¯m kind of a dick to people too sometimes. Working on it, actually.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a dick to me!¡± Kalana said cheerfully from the middle of the apartment living room. Why cheerfully? He had no idea. She almost sounded proud of it. She¡¯d even raised her hand as she¡¯d called that out as if wanting everyone to know that Zach picked on her a bit because he thought she was cute. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Anyway,¡± Kesten continued, ¡°unlike with your primary stats. You know, things like strength, dex, whatever. Your stamina is made up of multiple factors. A small part, of course, is your level. But dude, you need to start running or walking. Your cardio is a big portion of it. So is your ability tolerance, which¡­well it¡¯s basically something you can only increase by using Exertion Abilities. Wouldn¡¯t recommend using that one, though. Ease off that until you¡¯ve gotten a bit tougher.¡± Zach reflected a moment on what Kesten was saying, and he realized it was actually simpler than he¡¯d thought. ¡°So ah, okay¡­so basically if I use abilities a lot and build my cardio, I can exert myself more?¡± ¡°Exactly. There are also other factors that make up your stamina, and these are constantly in flux. They only play a tiny role, but they can matter. It¡¯s stuff like your emotional state, your will to live, how much sleep you got the night before. Things like that.¡± ¡°Make sure you get enough sleep,¡± a voice said from the other end of the room. It was the woman. She was now walking over to them. ¡°That¡¯s also important. Your stamina can plummet with too little sleep. Also, hi there, my name is Alixa Firesbane. I¡¯m so sorry about your dad. Also, I¡¯m sorry to interrupt, but I didn¡¯t get to introduce myself to you yet. Same for Maric here.¡± Alixa was a striking woman around the same age as Mr. Oren, which was to say very young, but still older than Zach. She had bright red, straight hair styled in a bob, a pair of big, nerdy glasses, and eyes that were pure green in color, which was something Zach had never seen before. She wasn¡¯t wearing contacts, either, as she wore glasses; this meant her eyes really were purely green in color. As in: there wasn¡¯t a single trace of white to be found in them. She also had two sword-shaped earrings, and each seemed to glow a dim grey color when observed from just the correct angle. She cradled a massive green book in both of her arms, which appeared to be a name registry of some kind, as indicated by the front cover. Zach wasn¡¯t sure what that was all about. ¡°Hi,¡± Zach said to her. ¡°I¡¯m Zach Calador. And thanks¡­about my dad, I mean.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so, so sorry.¡± ¡°So am I,¡± said the deep, gruff voice of a fiercely large man. He was over six feet in height, and he was so big he made Mr. Oren appear small. He also appeared to be the oldest of the bunch. From the wrinkles below his eyes and on his forehead, Zach guessed he was around the same age as his dad. He had short curly black hair, a thick, scruffy beard, and a bushy mustache. Put simply, the guy looked like a cross between a gladiator and a lumberjack. In his black tank top and gym shorts, every muscle seemed to pop out at Zach like a 3D movie. It was as if the Gods had intentionally designed him to wrestle bears. Thus, given his appearance, his impossibly booming voice, and based on the pattern so far with these people, Zach was going to guess he was like a nuclear physicist or something ridiculous. ¡°My name¡¯s Maric. Maric Ultdern. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. I¡¯m a nuclear physicist but also a full-time adventurer.¡± No. Effing. Way. Did Zach seriously just call that? No, wait. Stop. Stop! Did he seriously just call that? He did, didn¡¯t he? Zach tried not to chuckle or high-five himself. Wow. How in the hell did he pull that off? That was just a joke he¡¯d made to himself, but he¡¯d been right. The guy was a freaking nuclear physicist. Zach didn¡¯t even know what the hell that actually was, but he still got it right. And the worst¡­the worst part of it was that he could never tell anyone what just happened because it would be considered rude and offensive. Even Kalana would try to slap him if he bragged to her how he¡¯d judged him on his appearance. I¡¯m never going to get credit for that, he thought. I¡¯m going to have to live with this for the rest of my life. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you,¡± Zach said to him respectfully. ¡°You too, Alixa. Thanks for saving my life, by the way.¡± ¡°Hm? Saving your¡­life?¡± With his free, not-broken hand, he pointed to his left at Mr. Oren, who bowed his head in acknowledgment. ¡°The lab coat you made for him is the reason I¡¯m here right now. He made me wear it. I would¡¯ve died otherwise.¡± Alixa blushed of all things, then waved at him. ¡°Oh, stop. I¡¯m not that good of a tailor. Why, am I? Was it really that good of an item? Do you really think that? Exactly how useful was that old silly thing I made?¡± ¡°Your work is great, ¡®Lixa,¡± Mr. Oren said. To Zach, he whispered, ¡°She¡¯s deeply insecure. She¡¯ll fish for compliments for hours if you let her.¡± ¡°What are you two saying?¡± she asked, her eyes narrowing. Mr. Oren opened his mouth to reply, but Kesten answered for him. ¡°He said you need to stop begging for our approval. You¡¯re a good crafter, if not one of the best alive, but you need to stop bringing it up. It¡¯s fucking annoying, and everyone¡¯s sick of it.¡± ¡°Watch your mouth in front of the kids!¡± Mr. Oren snapped at him. ¡°Kesten, that¡¯s not cool, my man.¡± ¡°They¡¯re seventeen years old, not seven. They¡¯ve heard it before.¡± More politely, he smiled at Zach and said, ¡°You¡¯re good to go.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yep. Good as new. Also, do you see this?¡± He pointed to the right side of his face, where a bead of sweat was gliding down and over his chin. ¡°I had to use T2 Greater Healing on you, which has a moderate-high Exertion Level.¡± Only just then did Zach really notice the way the rise and fall of his chest had increased in pace over the last few minutes. ¡°I get it now.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Kesten slid off the couch, turned around, and then walked into the kitchen and out of sight. Alixa followed him with her eyes, staring daggers into his back. Though just a hunch, Zach guessed that those two had some preexisting bad blood between them. Zach doubted the scowl on her face was strictly because of the one mean comment he¡¯d made just now. ¡°I hate my ex,¡± she muttered under her breath. ¡°I hate him.¡± Zach slowly, cautiously lifted his hand and then squeezed, still expecting to feel the pain from earlier. It was now completely gone. Maric beamed a sincere smile his way, and Zach smiled back at him. Alixa also smiled, but hers was clearly forced, as even though her head faced in Zach¡¯s direction, her eyes were still tracking Kesten, who was muttering something in the kitchen that was too far away to be audible. ¡°What about my nose?¡± Zach asked. ¡°That, you¡¯re letting heal on its own,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Oh. I guess magic can¡¯t fix that.¡± ¡°No, it can.¡± ¡°Then¡­?¡± Mr. Oren slapped him on his back. He clearly meant the gesture to be friendly, but it was quite painful. Zach actually coughed upon contact. ¡°You need to toughen up. I need you to toughen up.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°So I can get you in my guild.¡± At this, Zach leapt off the couch and backed away, shaking his head. ¡°Are you serious?¡± ¡°Of course I am.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯d ever¡­the guilds are the worst. My mom died because of one of their stupid wars. Did you know that?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± Mr. Oren said, and with compassion in his voice, he calmly added, ¡°but I absolutely believe it.¡± ¡°So why would you think I¡¯d want to join a guild?¡± ¡°Because you don¡¯t even know what a guild is.¡± ¡°Of course I do.¡± ¡°Then tell me, Zach: what is a guild?¡± Zach didn¡¯t even have to pause a moment to consider his words. This was an easy question if ever there was one. ¡°A guild is a collection of rich people who level up together so they can run towns and cities and make laws.¡± Mr. Oren slightly raised his eyebrows but did not reply. ¡°Well¡­right?¡± Rather than answer him, he looked first at Maric and then at Alixa. Alixa gave a brief, curt nod. Zach wasn¡¯t sure what was going on between the three of them, but it looked like Mr. Oren was offering either one of them the chance to explain something before he decided to do it himself. ¡°All right, so here¡¯s the deal, Zach,¡± she said, placing her massive-sized registry book on the couch where he¡¯d just been sitting. She pointed to herself. ¡°First off, do I look to you like someone who runs a city?¡± ¡°That depends,¡± Zach answered. ¡°What do people who run cities look like?¡± She laughed. ¡°You¡¯re witty¡ªand cute. I like that. But the answer is no, and do you know why?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m in a real guild.¡± ¡°A¡­real guild?¡± ¡°Yes, a real guild. All the guilds you¡¯ve seen on TV? You know, the kinds that go to war over property and laws and taxes? The ones who are basically organized criminals that have somehow become our entire political system? Those people? Yeah, not real guilds. Not anymore, anyway.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°Of course you don¡¯t,¡± Maric said, his voice low and rumbling. ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to understand. They don¡¯t want you to.¡± ¡°Who doesn¡¯t?¡± ¡°These political ¡®guilds¡¯.¡± Mr. Oren cleared his throat, then said, ¡°If I may just quickly interject. Zach, my man, what he means is people like Varsh. The thugs in control of everything. They don¡¯t want you to know the truth. It threatens their power.¡± ¡°And¡­what is the truth?¡± At this, Mr. Oren stood up, walked over to Zach, and placed one hand on each of his shoulders. ¡°The truth,¡± he said, grinning, ¡°is that every single one of them are frauds, and using everything from the media, to entertainment, to the textbooks in your school, they have completely erased their own legacies.¡± Zach was becoming more confused by the moment. He understood some, but not all of what Mr. Oren was saying. The parts he didn¡¯t understand seemed like the most significant bits, too. ¡°I¡¯m having trouble following.¡± Mr. Oren nodded at him. ¡°Do you know what the real name of a guild is? The word ¡®guild¡¯ is actually short for something. There is a word that comes before it. Do you know what that word is?¡± ¡°No,¡± Zach answered truthfully. ¡°I thought we just call them guilds.¡± ¡°Yeah, we do,¡± Alixa said. ¡°And it¡¯s because they don¡¯t use the full name anymore.¡± ¡°And what is the full name?¡± Zach asked. For some reason, the question seemed to excite all three of them. Even Kesten, who returned to the living room with a bottle of Extreme Juice Pro smiled before unscrewing the top and pressing the bottle against his lips. ¡°The word ¡®guild¡¯ comes from a term,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°And that term is Adventuring Guild.¡± ¡°Adventuring guild,¡± Zach repeated, whispering the name. ¡°You do talk about adventure a lot.¡± ¡°Of course I do. It¡¯s what I live for. It¡¯s what all of us live for. It¡¯s why every guild for the past several-thousand years except for many of the ones created in the last century even came to exist. Zach, my man, the whole reason guilds were ever invented was so that adventurers could band together for the good of our own personal growth and to protect and help each other. It¡¯s always been about making the world a better place while forming unbreakable bonds with allies you trust.¡± That sounded nice. It really did. Zach wasn¡¯t entirely convinced, though. ¡°What about people like Varsh?¡± ¡°He¡¯s scum,¡± Kesten said, taking another sip. He wiped his mouth. ¡°Honestly, Alex, you should¡¯ve just killed him.¡± Then, to Zach, he said, ¡°The Royal Roses aren¡¯t a real guild. They¡¯re a criminal enterprise. Any guild you see on the news is the same. Why do you think we can whoop their asses so badly? They¡¯re not authentic. They might have been a thousand years ago, but they''re not anymore.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I just don¡¯t know if I can believe this. I want to believe you guys, but now both my parents are gone because of ¡®guilds¡¯. I hear what you¡¯re saying, but it¡¯s a lot to process.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± Kalana said. Zach had totally forgotten Kalana and her father were in the room. The two of them had been almost perfectly silent until just this moment, as they now came to his defense. ¡°Zach is right,¡± Mr. Vayra said. ¡°My daughter and I have had everything in this entire world taken from us by human guilds.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be mean or anything,¡± Kalana said, ¡°but I¡¯ve seen you guys do some of the worst things imaginable. I can¡¯t sleep at night because of it. If I told you, I don¡¯t think you would sleep at night, either.¡± Mr. Oren turned to her. ¡°I knew you were part Elvish when I first met you this semester, but I never would¡¯ve imagined you and your father were survivors of the royal family.¡± There was genuine pain in the way he briefly averted his gaze before returning it. ¡°Let me just apologize to you on behalf of every real guild on Galterra. There is a whole world you don¡¯t know about because neither of you ever had the chance. It¡¯s so different from what you believe.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Kalana asked. Her tone was polite and steady, but Zach could see there was anger in her eyes. Her lips almost seemed to be reflexively pulling themselves into a frown, one that she appeared to be consciously fighting against. ¡°Before I answer that, let me see what¡¯s going on with our appraiser. He should¡¯ve been here by now. Maric?¡± Maric folded his arms across his chest, for some reason looking like a disappointed parent. He even curled his lower lip. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s taking him so long.¡± ¡°Hold on, what appraiser?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Better yet, what is an appraiser?¡± Instead of answering, Mr. Oren walked over to the front of the apartment, glanced out of the door, which was still open, and then craned his neck to both his left and right as if scanning the hallway for something. He paused a moment, then turned around and rejoined them. He appeared annoyed for some reason, though Zach doubted it was directed at him, Kalana, or her father. ¡°An appraiser,¡± he said, stepping around a pile of still-drying blood, ¡°is someone who can determine certain genealogical factors without the need of DNA tests or other time-consuming efforts. Basically, he can look at you two¡±¡ªMr. Oren pointed to Kalana and her father¡ª¡°and tell me in an instant if you actually are the Elvish royalty that Zach told me you were, and which you yourselves don¡¯t deny.¡± ¡°Why does that matter?¡± Kalana asked defensively. ¡°Because then I can take steps to protect you.¡± ¡°Protect us?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get you appraised first. This will make so much more sense afterwards.¡± Tapping his chin a moment, he craned his neck towards Zach, who tried not to let his internal conflict show on his face, but it was difficult. He didn¡¯t trust ¡®guilds¡¯. He trusted Mr. Oren, though, and Mr. Oren was in a guild, and so it made all of this so much harder for him to come to grips with. It was like two powerful hands tugging on opposite ends of the same rope. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you¡¯re bad,¡± Zach said. ¡°You did so much for me and Kal. I just want you to know that. I think we¡¯re just¡­it¡¯s hard for us to trust the guilds because we¡¯ve all been hurt.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Mr. Oren replied softly. Then, with more energy behind his words, he said, ¡°And this all leads back to what I was saying before: these people who call themselves guilds are not guilds. How can they be? They don¡¯t even fulfill their core responsibilities.¡± Zach was going to ask what he was talking about, but Kalana beat him to it. ¡°What responsibilities? You mean genocide and theft?¡± ¡°No, Kalana. Of course not.¡± Zach wasn¡¯t positive, but from the way he folded his left hand over his right, and from the slightly lowered volume at which he spoke, it kind of seemed like Kalana¡¯s words had deeply hurt Mr. Oren. ¡°No guild would ever do that.¡± ¡°But they did!¡± she snapped. ¡°You can say they aren¡¯t really guilds, and I¡¯m not gonna say you¡¯re lying. I¡¯m just saying what happened to me and my family really happened to us.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± her father said. ¡°I understand that. But what I¡¯m trying to tell you guys is that¡ª¡± ¡°Mind if I take a shot?¡± Alixa asked. ¡°Sorry for interrupting, but I think you¡¯re going at this the wrong way. They need substance, Alex, not promises.¡± Mr. Oren looked at her, then bowed his head. After a brief moment, Alixa then walked over to where Kalana stood in front of the end of the couch where her father sat. As if in response to her approach, Kalana took a seat next to her father and crossed her left leg over her right while folding her arms across her chest. ¡°So,¡± she began, pausing in front of the couch. ¡°You¡¯ve all heard that most of the spawn points in the world have been destroyed, right? Oh, and ah, I¡¯m not just asking this to you two, but you also, Zach.¡± ¡°Of course we know,¡± Zach said. ¡°Everyone knows.¡± ¡°Well, here¡¯s what you don¡¯t know,¡± she fired back. Her tone became so much sharper and her body language more animated as she spoke. ¡°See, while you can destroy or deactivate regular spawns and even low-tier boss spawns, like T1 and sometimes T2, did you know that you can¡¯t actually destroy T3 or greater regardless of boss level? In other words¡­¡± Alixa extended her arms widely, and Zach felt a rush of nervous excitement as she declared, ¡°Almost every boss in the world still exists.¡± At this, Zach gasped, Kalana unfolded her legs and leaned forward, and her father merely rubbed his chin. ¡°That¡¯s crazy,¡± Kalana said, pointing at Alixa. ¡°You expect us to believe that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not crazy,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°I wish it were. I wish to the Gods above that Alixa was lying to you. But she¡¯s not. The boss spawns are all intact.¡± ¡°Then where are they?¡± Zach asked. Still keeping his eyes on Kalana and her father, Mr. Oren answered his question. ¡°And that¡¯s the question, isn¡¯t it Zach? That¡¯s the question that¡¯s the key to everything. The key to who I am. The key to why I¡¯m even teaching at your school. If anything is going to change your mind, then it¡¯s what I¡¯m about to say.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°So, where are these boss spawns? Such an amazing question. Do me a favor. And I¡¯d like all three of you to do it, please. Take out your phones and¡ª¡± ¡°Uh, Mr. Oren,¡± Zach interrupted, ¡°we broke ours. I told you the story.¡± He tilted his head a moment then raised his finger. ¡°Ah, right. Of course. What about you, Your Majesty?¡± Mr. Vayra removed his cell phone, but only after grumbling about responsibility and saying, ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me your broke your phone, Kalana.¡± Then, holding it up to Mr. Oren, he said, ¡°Okay? Now what.¡± Mr. Oren¡¯s entire demeanor changed in that moment. He straightened his back. He inhaled, and Zach could visibly see his chest rise as it filled with oxygen, which then fell as he slowly let it out in a deep exhale as if preparing himself for something. His eyes narrowed, but only somewhat. He gripped his right hand into a fist. ¡°You want to know where they are, these boss spawns? Let me tell you a little story about a town just twenty miles south of the city in Varda¡¯s Lair. It¡¯s a nice little place. I actually went there once as a kid. The bakery makes beautiful, delicious pastries. Are any of you familiar with this town? It¡¯s called Raven¡¯s Claw.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never been there,¡± Mr. Vayra said, ¡°but I believe I¡¯ve heard the name once or twice when passing through Varda¡¯s Lair. It¡¯s a beautiful city. Much nicer than this one.¡± ¡°Varda¡¯s lair is indeed a lovely city, Your Majesty. But this sleepy little town, the one called Raven¡¯s Claw? It was also a beautiful place. With kind, loving, and accepting people. I even hear they were planning to open a university to help the struggling local businesses since the guild in power these days, a hideously misnamed group of thugs calling themselves the ¡®People of Virtue¡¯, decided to raise taxes for the fourth straight month in a row, which they of course spend on booze, women, and gambling.¡± ¡°Animals,¡± Kalana growled. ¡°Animals indeed,¡± Mr. Oren agreed. ¡°But still, the people tried their best to prosper. At any rate, do you know how they¡¯re doing right now? The kind, hardworking people of Raven¡¯s Claw? Do any of you know? Have you heard anything? On the news, maybe? Hm?¡± ¡°No,¡± Zach said, becoming a bit agitated. He swallowed down the bile rising in his throat, as he had the sense he wasn¡¯t going to like what he was about to hear. ¡°How are they doing?¡± Mr. Oren turned around, fixed him with a hard, ruthless, but somehow still compassionate stare. Then he spun back to face Kalana and gave her the same, before finally, he settled his eyes on her father. ¡°They¡¯re dead,¡± he said. ¡°All of them. More than five-thousand residents: every man, woman, and child. They¡¯re all dead.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± Kalana shouted. ¡°How? Why?¡± ¡°Why?¡± Mr. Oren repeated. ¡°Because last month, in the early hours of the morning, just after sunrise, during what was set to be a beautiful, bright and sunny early-spring day, a level-57, T3 beast-type boss named Azex the Prowler spawned and began to indiscriminately kill each and every human it came across.¡± ¡°What?¡± Zach asked in a yell as disbelief poured into him. ¡°Impossible.¡± ¡°Impossible, Zach? No, I wish. Remember when I was out sick for a week? That¡¯s when it happened. And what followed was almost routine, sadly. As usual, not long after it spawned, the peacekeepers were called in. Predictably, they died too, but not before radioing in the ruling guild, People of Virtue, who took immediate action¡ªto cover it up. They only bothered to call my guild¡¯s alliance after three full days. We took the job, immediately and without question, but obviously, we had to gather our members and prepare, which took another day and a half.¡± Zach covered his mouth. ¡°So then for¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. For four-and-a-half days, this thing rampaged and methodically slaughtered every single living human in the town until we finally showed up too late and killed it. Our reward? The boots I¡¯m rudely using to walk over your carpet, Your Majesty. The cost? Five-thousand lives extinguished. Now, please look up the name of the town on your phone. There are several called Raven¡¯s Claw, so kindly make sure it¡¯s the one south of Varda¡¯s Lair.¡± A sinking feeling entered Zach¡¯s stomach as he watched Kalana¡¯s father tap the touch screen of his phone as he searched for what Mr. Oren had asked him to find. He looked up and announced, ¡°I found it.¡± ¡°Read the article, please. Pick one. I don¡¯t care which one.¡± ¡°Uh, okay.¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°Mysterious super-tornado destroys entire town, killing five-thousand. Wait¡­super tornado? The hell is that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s bullshit,¡± Kesten said, his nostrils flaring. ¡°It¡¯s an absolute lie. I was there. I¡¯m the one who struck the killing blow on the boss.¡± ¡°But¡­but why lie?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°What do they get out of it?¡± ¡°They get to keep existing,¡± Alixa answered. Her glasses began to slide down her face, so she pushed them up. ¡°You don¡¯t get it, do you? All right, hon, it¡¯s like this. Alex told you guys how these guilds you hate are bogus, right? He means that literally. They can¡¯t kill bosses. They wouldn¡¯t put themselves in danger enough to even try. It¡¯s the same for other races in other continents as well. The Dwarven guilds, the Orc guilds, even the Bartish. If people knew these threats existed and that their tax gold went to buffoons who let tens of thousands of people die to boss spawns every year, they would lose all their power. They might all hate humans right now thanks to King Peter IV, but even with all the bad blood, they still coordinate in secret to prevent this from getting out. They scrub social media, censor or threaten broadcasters, and anyone who tries to speak out is killed.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­it¡¯s hard to believe,¡± Zach said. He didn¡¯t think they were lying. In fact, it sounded exactly like something the guilds would do. The difficulty came not in believing they would react this way to the existence of boss spawns, but in the fact that these boss spawns still existed at all. ¡°If what you are saying is true,¡± Mr. Vayra said, ¡°then why don¡¯t you tell the world?¡± ¡°For several reasons. Number one, that¡¯s more difficult than you¡¯d think, since the guilds control the media and the media controls the narrative. But secondly, because we don¡¯t want to go to war with the so-called ¡®guilds¡¯ over this. Not yet, anyway. They¡¯re weak individually, but in a war, they have more numbers and more resources and can win a battle of attrition. Even our entire alliance united might not be enough¡ªyet. But here¡¯s why I¡¯ve taken the time to tell you all this.¡± Mr. Oren gestured, and Maric walked over to him. He raised his hand so that it was the level of his chest, palm open and pointed upwards. Mr. Oren touched his pointer finger to the middle of Maric¡¯s palm, and then, in the air above him, an image popped into existence. It was a picture¡ªan insignia, rather. It was a depiction of two blades with red-and-gold hilts crossed, and in between the blades was the cartoon, stereotypical image of a God: a man in white robes sitting on a cloud. ¡°All true guilds are adventure guilds,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Ours included. But some guilds specialize in different areas. As for us? We are a boss-killing guild. We,¡± he continued, extending his arm at the image in the air, ¡°are the God Slayers Guild. We don¡¯t rule cities. We don¡¯t tax towns. We kill bosses.¡± Amazing, Zach thought. If this is true, then¡­amazing¡­ Mr. Vayra raised his index finger questioningly. ¡°Here¡¯s what I don¡¯t understand. If this is true, then why are you teaching my daughter and her boyfriend science at a local high school?¡± Mr. Oren nodded as if expecting the question. ¡°For two reasons. One, because I love science, and two, because I¡¯ve been studying the river bed for rock samples in order to evaluate the natural movement predicted over time versus the actual, current rock distribution.¡± ¡°You¡¯re¡­studying rocks?¡± Mr. Vayra asked. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because believe it or not, I can use the formation of rocks and their current locations versus their expected locations to actually determine when¡ªor specifically, how long ago¡ªthey were most recently disturbed. In this case, almost exactly two-hundred-twenty-two years ago. That¡¯s¡­a really bad thing. A really, really bad thing.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Zach whispered nervously. ¡°Because, Zach, sometime within the next year, a level-87, T9 Leviathan-type super-boss from the Leviathan River is going to respawn. And when it does, there won¡¯t be a single building left standing.¡± ¡°No way!¡± he shouted. ¡°Whispery Woods is going to be destroyed?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Zach threw out his hands to both sides of himself and smiled. ¡°Th-that¡¯s great!¡± The glare Mr. Oren shot his way made him immediately lower his arms and meekly apologize. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not great. It¡¯s also why the budget is increasingly being lowered for things like building repairs and roadwork. It¡¯s not just the war with the Royal Roses. It¡¯s based on my findings that I sent to the guilds warning them.¡± ¡°Why would you do that?¡± Zach asked. Mr. Oren rubbed his forehead. ¡°Zach, my man, obviously so the people can be evacuated in time.¡± ¡°The entire city?¡± ¡°Yes, obviously. Even the guilds are smart enough to know they can¡¯t get away with letting fourteen-million people die to a monster taller than the highest skyscraper. They¡¯ll make up a lie, of course. They¡¯ll think of something. But in four or five months, I expect everyone to be gone from here.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s why you¡¯re here,¡± Zach whispered. ¡°Correct. I was actually testing some trace samples earlier today of the creature¡¯s last respawn that had somehow weathered over a century of time. It¡¯s all very corrosive, flammable stuff. That was right around when you barged in. Now here we are.¡± This was so much to take in: too much to take in. Zach believed him, too. He could tell from the horrified expressions on the faces of Kalana and her father that they believed him, too. Both of them looked like they needed to sit down despite the fact that they were already seated. ¡°Um, Mr. Oren?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°There¡¯s just one thing I don¡¯t understand. How come you didn¡¯t evacuate those poor people at Raven¡¯s Claw?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t know,¡± Alixa fired in defensively. ¡°There are mobs that spawn every five-hundred years. There are mobs that spawn every fifteen seconds. Some we know about, others¡­others we¡¯ve never seen before.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°But couldn¡¯t you have done something over there like you did here?¡± she asked. ¡°Uh, meaning use science to figure it out?¡± ¡°No,¡± he explained, ¡°because that requires two pieces of information we didn¡¯t have: the fact that there even was a boss spawn there, and secondly, the respawn duration.¡± As if sensing her confusion, he clarified, ¡°Even if we know of the existence of a boss spawn, there has to be some record on file, or someone credible who knows the respawn time. All I can do¡ªand only some of the time¡ªis figure out when the last spawn occurred. But that information is useless without knowing how long there is between respawns.¡± Mr. Oren walked over to the window to the right of couch and pointed into the distance¡ªto the river, which was visible even from here, as was the Bridge of Torment that allowed a never-ending, constant stream of DEHVs to blast safely across it. ¡°We know the Leviathan¡¯s respawn time because people far wiser than us used to keep detailed records of spawns and spawn timers. So much of it was lost, but not all of it. At any rate, we know it exists, as the river is named after it, and we know it has a two-hundred-twenty-two year respawn timer. We even found detailed descriptions of its size, level, tier, and ability. What we didn¡¯t know was the last time a raid had formed to kill it. I was able to painstakingly piece it together, which is why we now know the spawn is going to pop in just a few months. It¡¯s going to take the entire alliance to kill it. A T9 super-boss is bad enough¡­but level 87 too? It¡¯s going to take hundreds of us to down it, and loss of life is guaranteed. Some will die. But that¡¯s what the guilds do. That¡¯s what real guilds do. Do you finally get it?¡± ¡°I think so,¡± Kalana whispered. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I compared you to the¡­the monsters who hurt me and my family.¡± Alixa lowered her head. ¡°It¡¯s okay. We¡¯re used to it. The truth is, we often¡ª¡± ¡°NOBODY PANIC! I¡¯M HERE! I¡¯M HERE! I AM STILL ON TIME! DADDY, I AM HERE!¡± Alarmed, Zach spun around as fast as he could at the yelling voice that seemed to come from somewhere in hallway. He had never heard anything like it. It was so loud that it sounded like it was coming from a speaker system. It also sounded unlike any voice he had ever heard. It was high in pitched but definitively masculine. It was almost cartoonish in how uneven and somewhat silly it sounded. He heard a thud from behind him as Kalana jumped off the couch and stood by his side, grabbing her dagger and holding it defensively in front of herself. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Zach asked her. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kalana said. ¡°But this time, I¡¯m not gonna listen to you if you say to run. I won¡¯t leave you.¡± ¡°I am coming, I am coming,¡± the voice cried, lower in volume now but still pretty loud. ¡°I am being good. Don¡¯t worry, daddy!¡± There was a loud, excited patter of footsteps from the hallway. It sounded like four feet¡ªso there must¡¯ve been two people. Their footsteps were incredibly soft. Zach doubted he would hear them at all if not for the fact that, whoever these people were, they were moving fast¡ªvery fast. ¡°Our appraiser is here,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Finally.¡± Zach glanced hesitantly over his shoulder. ¡°This¡­this isn¡¯t the Royal Roses coming back to get us?¡± He laughed. ¡°No, actually, this is¡­¡± ¡°This is something so much worse,¡± Kesten said, scowling. ¡°I hate being around him.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare speak that way of him,¡± Maric threatened. For a brief moment, the two actually looked like they might get into some kind of brawl: the massive dad-aged bodybuilder versus the blonde doctor dressed like a rock star. Kalana twisted her lips, then lowered her dagger as the footsteps came closer and closer. It took her a while to put the weapon away¡ªas though she didn¡¯t fully trust that they were safe. Zach couldn¡¯t blame her, because he felt the same way, too. He wondered if ¡°safe¡± was ever something they¡¯d truly feel ever again. ¡°I know everyone must be mad,¡± the voice said, so close to them now. ¡°That is okay. Because now I am here. So you can¡¯t be angry. Everyone, everyone. I am here. I am here. Don¡¯t worry. I am here.¡± Zach lowered his eyes¡ªthen widened them in complete and total bewilderment as a fluffy cat with black and white fur raced into the apartment, jumped up on the living-room table, which had somehow not been destroyed earlier, then Jumped off the very same living-room table, before running into the kitchen and jumping onto a trash can, leaping off it a moment later and landing onto the kitchen countertop. Then it jumped off that and ran all the way across the living-room floor to where Zach stood, watching it in awe and wondering if it really had just spoken to them. It apparently had, because it talked a second time. ¡°I am now here,¡± it said, staring up at them. ¡°Fluffles, you¡¯re an hour late, gods-damn it,¡± Kesten said. The cat hissed at him. ¡°Fluffles did nothing wrong.¡± ¡°Where were you?¡± ¡°Fluffles did nothing wrong!¡± The cat jumped up on the couch, then sat down¡ªbut only for a half second. Then it jumped off the couch and walked over to Zach. ¡°Hi!¡± ¡°Ah¡­hey,¡± Zach said. Then he looked over to Kalana who merely returned an amused shrug. The cat spun around in a circle then ran away again, this time moving towards Maric. ¡°Daddy, I am here now.¡± His entire face softened as he looked at the cat. He puckered his lips and blew a smooch into the air. It was strange to see that from such a behemoth-sized, buff, and masculine man. ¡°Fluffles, we need you to appraise that girl¡±¡ªhe pointed at Kalana¡ª¡°and her father. We need to know if they are really the surviving Elvish royal family.¡± ¡°Those two?¡± Fluffles asked, gazing upon them from his soft, amber-colored eyes. Then he turned back to the one he called ¡®daddy¡¯ and said, ¡°No. I will not appraise. First, I want chicken. Give chicken.¡± ¡°Fluffles,¡± he said, in a high-pitched tone, which given his typically booming, rumbling voice, meant it sounded more like that of the average person¡¯s. ¡°Please appraise them.¡± ¡°No. I want chicken.¡± ¡°You had your lunch already.¡± ¡°I want second lunch.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t have a second lunch, Fluffles. We¡¯ve been over this. You are such a naughty cat.¡± ¡°I am not naughty. I want chicken. I want chicken now! I also want chin scratch.¡± Zach coughed into his fist, mostly to draw their attention. Everyone turned to him, even the cat. ¡°I have some canned tuna in my apartment. I wouldn¡¯t mind giving the cat some¡ª¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Fluffles cried. ¡°You are now my friend. You will give tuna, and I will appraise.¡± ¡°Uh, sure, whatever.¡± Zach began to walk towards his apartment, but he was stopped as Maric held one of his bulky, massive arms out, barring him from taking another step. ¡°No,¡± his deep voice boomed. He came across as scary and intimidating, though somehow, Zach had the sense that it wasn¡¯t even the man¡¯s intention to appear that way. ¡°Fluffles had a big lunch. He doesn¡¯t get to eat two lunches.¡± ¡°Yes. Yes I get two lunches,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°And chin scratches. Zach is my new friend, and he¡¯s going to give me tuna.¡± The cat¡¯s voice really was like nothing in this world he¡¯d ever heard outside of maybe a cartoon. It had a sort of innocent ¡°squeak¡± to it. It was rare that something could be so high-pitched and still maintain a masculine quality. ¡°Zach, let¡¯s go get tuna.¡± It began to walk in the direction of his apartment as if it knew where he lived, which for all he knew, it might. Who knew what was real or right anymore? He couldn¡¯t even follow the cat if he wanted to, because Maric was literally barring his passage. The cat stopped in the frame of the door. ¡°Zach. Tuna.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t, little buddy,¡± he said to the cat. ¡°This guy won¡¯t let me pass.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because Fluffles has already had lunch,¡± Maric said with a moan. The cat hissed. ¡°He is lying to you. Fluffles had no lunch.¡± ¡°Fluffles!¡± The cat meowed. ¡°Fine. It was small lunch.¡± ¡°You had two cans.¡± ¡°One can.¡± ¡°Fluffles¡­¡± ¡°Okay. It was two cans. I¡¯m sorry, daddy.¡± Zach looked over to the cat, who began to glide back into the apartment towards them. Then he looked at the cat¡¯s bearded, gruff ¡®father¡¯ who sighed as if he¡¯d been worried the cat would not cooperate. ¡°How¡­how is this possible?¡± he asked. For some reason, the question caused Mr. Oren, Kesten, and Alixa to all glower at the large, imposing man, who released an annoyed grunt. ¡°An accident happened.¡± ¡°A careless accident,¡± Mr. Oren said. Fluffles hissed. ¡°Do not call me an accident!¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°It wasn¡¯t meant that way, Fluff.¡± ¡°Yes it was. Now I will not appraise. You have offended. I want chicken and chin scratches and tuna from Zach. Hi Kalana.¡± The cat brushed against her, and with a quick raise of her eyebrows, she bent down and began to pet the creature, who seemed to know her name without anyone having spoken it. It purred as she rubbed the fur on its back and scratched under its chin. ¡°What¡­I¡¯ve never seen anything like this,¡± Zach said. ¡°Because it¡¯s never happened before. Or at least I don¡¯t think it has,¡± Maric replied. Then he groaned. ¡°I can tell you won¡¯t stop asking until I explain it to you, so here¡¯s the short version¡ªand it¡¯s why those three are mad at me. So, about two years ago, when Fluffles was still just a kitten, we came back from a guild raid. We defeated a boss that only spawns once every eighty-one years and drops a rare gem the size of your thumb that looks almost exactly like a diamond. No records exist of what the gem actually is or what it does, so we¡ªmeaning Alex and I¡ªdecided to study it together.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°Well,¡± he continued as a nervous laugh escaped his lips. ¡°I decided to start by evaluating its atomic structure, so I left it on my desk for just a few minutes unattended to go to the bathroom, and that¡¯s when Fluffles¡­he ate it.¡± ¡°It was not good,¡± Fluffles said, seemingly corroborating the story. ¡°It was not yummy like chicken.¡± The cat jumped back up on the couch and then walked onto Mr. Vayra¡¯s lap. He pet the cat as if out of reflex. Then the cat said, ¡°Alex, this man is the Elvish king¡¯s son. I appraised.¡± ¡°Finally,¡± Mr. Oren muttered. ¡°Thank you, Fluff.¡± ¡°Kalana is his daughter, too.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± The cat meowed. ¡°I did good. I was a good cat. Now I am supposed to get chicken and tuna from Zach.¡± ¡°No one agreed to that,¡± Mr. Oren said. The cat made a loud, angry meow. ¡°You all agreed. You all said Fluffles appraises, Fluffles gets chicken and tuna from Zach. You can not say and then¡ªoh, evil thing! I will kill. I will protect!¡± Fluffles jumped up onto the windowsill adjacent to the one Zach¡¯s father had been thrown out of. He pressed his face against the glass as a bird flew by. Even as shouts of ¡°No, Fluffles!¡± roared out of the mouths of Mr. Oren and his three friends, a loud, thunderous boom echoed from somewhere outside the apartment, followed by a full-on lightning strike that actually streaked across the entire sky. The bird was fried instantly. Zach could actually see it turn from a living creature into a pile of feathery mush as it began to fall out of sight back down to the streets below. ¡°I was good,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°Do not be mad at Fluffles. I protected you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it. I¡¯ve had enough of this creature,¡± Kesten growled. ¡°I have patients to heal and actual work to be done. I¡¯m leaving. I¡¯ve had enough.¡± With a growl, he added, ¡°Someone get this gods-damned cat under control.¡± ¡°I do not like Kesten,¡± the cat said. ¡°Alixa was right to dump.¡± Alixa snickered, Kesten again growled, and Zach watched as the leather-jacket-wearing doctor stormed out of the apartment in a huff, slamming the door closed with enough force to make the walls rattle. Zach also tried¡ªand failed¡ªto stifle a laugh. Though he appreciated the man healing his wrist, he had to admit he didn¡¯t much care for him either. For the next minute or two, Zach watched as Kalana fell in love with the cat, who fell in love with her back. He smiled. Even though something horrible had happened to his father, the sun had now risen, and he felt like there would be hope at the end of all his pain. But all that was crushed as Mr. Oren looked at him sadly and then said, ¡°Zach, I¡¯ve been putting this off, but it¡¯s time to tell you straight out and plainly that you won¡¯t be seeing Kalana again for a good while.¡± Zach frowned. ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°This is the part of the conversation I was dreading. But now it¡¯s time. All right, let¡¯s just give it to him straight.¡± As they began to speak, Zach felt a combination of hurt, disbelief, and even a slight feeling of betrayal. This wasn¡¯t something he saw coming at all. It blindsided him completely. He¡¯d had enough. Chapter 12: Quest Accepted and the Greatest Ally in History Chapter 12: Quest Accepted and the Greatest Ally in History ¡°Zach, calm down,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°I¡¯m on your side. You just don¡¯t see it.¡± How could Zach calm down after what he¡¯d just been told? How could he even begin the process of calming himself down? After everything he¡¯d been through today, including witnessing his dead father¡¯s body multiple times, getting his nose and wrist broken, then having to confront the one who¡¯d done it, then passing out, waking up, and so on and so on and so on¡­it was just too much. All of it. There was a silver lining, though. Oh, and it had been a big one. He had finally confessed to Kalana how he felt, even if it had started out as an accident, and it turned out she definitely liked him back, too. And she basically became my girlfriend even without specifically saying those words. Good stuff, right? A great ending to a tragic day, yeah? The epitome of the term silver lining, correct? Nope! Sorry, try again! There was no such silver lining. There was no positive ending to the day. It had been yanked away from him so unceremoniously that he felt cheated and betrayed. You see, all this time that he had been sitting here and chatting nicely with Mr. Oren and his ¡°friends,¡± they had all been planning to take Kalana and her father away from him while abandoning him here all alone in the building he¡¯d almost died in. ¡°I just won¡¯t stand for this,¡± he said. ¡°And I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯m coming across as disrespectful. I just don¡¯t see how you can do this.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not doing anything,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°In fact, I¡¯m practically throwing everything I have out there to help you. I like you a lot, Zach, but the way you¡¯re behaving is actually going to make the situation worse.¡± ¡°By standing up for myself?¡± ¡°By refusing to be reasonable and understand why things are as they must be.¡± Alixa yawned, then apologized. She sat on the green couch next to Mr. Vayra and Kalana. Her glasses had slumped down on her face, but with her eyes growing weary and beginning to close, she didn¡¯t seem to notice. Maric was still on his feet, but his expression was blank and he¡¯d said nothing during the entire argument as though he felt his words could only hinder not help. The same was likely true of Alixa. The sun had now fully risen in the sky, and he and Mr. Oren had been arguing for over an hour, which was when the bombshell news was just dropped on his feet like an anchor. One hour ago, Mr. Oren had told him that Kalana and her father needed to be moved to a safe, secure location protected by his guild¡ªwhich for the record, Zach had no problem with. He also had no problem with the fact that both Kalana and her father had expressed interest in joining his guild now that they better understood its nature and its purpose. Surely, the two of them were still skeptical and traumatized by the idea of guilds in the first place, but after Mr. Oren reminded them that he¡¯d never have saved their lives if he intended them any harm, the two seemed convince and onboard. Honestly, it was a great idea. Who¡¯d be against that? The only question Zach had at the time was how soon he should pack his bags. ¡°Zach, you¡¯re not coming with us,¡± Mr. Oren had bluntly said, to which Zach had merely laughed, thinking at first that Mr. Oren was only joking. But then he remembered that Mr. Oren, for all his amazing qualities, basically never joked about serious topics. ¡°What the hell? Why?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re not ready to join a guild. Especially not ours.¡± The sting of rejection had been so painful that it might as well have been a physical punch to the face. Thankfully, at the time, Kalana had leapt to his defense, and for the first half hour of the argument she had sided with him through and through. ¡°You¡¯re not gonna convince me to leave without him,¡± she¡¯d said. ¡°If he doesn¡¯t go, I don¡¯t go. I¡­I finally¡­he finally told me how he feels, and¡­¡± ¡°It won¡¯t be forever,¡± Mr. Oren had said. ¡°I keep trying to tell you that. But let me make something perfectly clear. Varsh will come back with a much more dangerous group, and if Kalana is still here, I won¡¯t be around to save you. She and her father need to come with us.¡± ¡°Obviously,¡± Zach had said in agreement, because it was the obvious choice. ¡°But why can¡¯t I go? Is it because Varsh was right? Because I¡¯m trash?¡± ¡°If you were trash, I wouldn¡¯t be throwing myself into the fire for you. I¡¯m going to get you in the guild as long as you put in the work. That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been trying to tell you.¡± ¡°Work?¡± ¡°You have to complete a quest.¡± ¡°A quest?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°To do what?¡± ¡°To reach level 10, and on your own. Find me then, and I swear I¡¯ll use every bit of influence I have to get you an official guild invite.¡± When the so-called ¡°quest¡± was first pitched, Zach hadn¡¯t been happy, but he¡¯d at least kept an open mind to it. He didn¡¯t understand why he had to face a requirement Kalana didn¡¯t have to worry about, nor did he understand what any of this was even for. Even still, leveling up was now one of his life¡¯s goals anyway, so reluctantly, he had at first agreed. ¡°All right. So where are you sending me, then?¡± ¡°Sending you?¡± ¡°Yeah, to¡­to fight mobs and get level 10.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sending you anywhere, Zach. How you get to level 10 is up to you.¡± Zach had thrown his arms up in the air in outrage. ¡°You expect me to camp level 1s all day in a cavern? At 2xp a piece, this gods-damned city will be swallowed by the Leviathan before I¡¯ve had enough time to do that.¡± ¡°To the contrary, Zach, I think at level 3 you¡¯re too high to be killing level 1s. You should go hunt higher-level monsters.¡± ¡°Oh, gee, you think?¡± Zach had snorted. ¡°Why didn¡¯t that cross my mind, Mr. Oren? Of course. Just go fight higher-level monsters. Oh, wait. That¡¯s right. There aren¡¯t any. Sucks to be me!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like your tone or your attitude. That¡¯s half the reason you¡¯re doing this in the first place.¡± Zach had to restrain himself from doing what would¡¯ve been unthinkable just a few days ago: attacking his high-school science teacher in his maybe-girlfriend¡¯s blood-stained apartment over a disagreement about leveling. Even amid his rage, he realized it was a comical problem to have. ¡°So this is punishment?¡± At this, the expression on Mr. Oren¡¯s face had actually softened. ¡°No. Never. I would never. Of course it¡¯s not.¡± ¡°Then what is it?¡± he¡¯d demanded. ¡°Why did I make you come with me here?¡± he asked. Zach wasn¡¯t sure what he was even referring to. Not exactly, anyway. ¡°Huh? What do you mean?¡± ¡°To this apartment. When you told me what¡¯d happened to you. Why did I make you come with me here? I could¡¯ve had you wait in my office. You would¡¯ve done it. I could have handled this on my own easily.¡± Zach had lifted his shoulders and turned over his palms. ¡°I don¡¯t know. You tell me.¡± Mr. Oren had nodded. ¡°Okay then, I will. It was for the same reason I stayed back and let you fight Varsh a second time when you thought you were going to die for it: it was so that you could overcome your fear. It was one of your problems.¡± ¡°But what does that have to do with any of this?¡± ¡°It has everything to do with it, my man. It¡¯s not punishment. You¡¯re¡­okay, do you remember the story I told you earlier about the boss that killed an entire town?¡± ¡°Well, yeah. It was horrible. But what does that have to do with anything?¡± ¡°It has everything to do with everything.¡± Mr. Oren had pointed to the window. Though he didn¡¯t specifically mention the gigantic boss spawn that would one day soon descend upon the city, it was clear his intention in pointing had been to remind Zach of it. ¡°Before I explained to you the truth about the guilds, you thought the guilds were just a bunch of rich, elite, or privileged people trying to run the world. Remember?¡± ¡°What about it?¡± ¡°You now know it¡¯s not true. None of those things are true for¡ªwell, at least for adventure guilds in general. For our guild, in particular, though, there is one part of that I have to admit is the truth.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± Zach had asked, folding his arms across his chest. Mr. Oren chewed on his lip a moment as if thinking on how to word his reply. Then he said, rather bluntly, ¡°We are elite. It¡¯s not a boast. It¡¯s not a¡­it¡¯s not an arrogant thing meant to put us on a pedestal. But as far as adventuring guilds are concerned, the God Slayers are an elite-tier guild. We fight bosses. People die. Only the extremely gifted can join us. If you haven¡¯t noticed, the people you met today were all very gifted.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s what this is,¡± Zach had said with a forced laugh as hurt and rejection gained new company in the form of wounded pride and a feeling of unworthiness. ¡°I¡¯m not good enough. Is that why Kalana gets an instant pass?¡± ¡°It¡¯s half the reason. The other half is your temperament. We¡¯ve worked on your fear, but you have other things you need to iron out before any of our guild-mates, including even myself, would feel comfortable attacking a boss spawn with you.¡± Every single one of his words had wounded Zach, but what made it all the worse was that he could tell that none of them were meant maliciously or even intended to cause harm. It would almost have been better if his teacher was trying to upset him. Somehow, that might actually be less humiliating and stinging than this. ¡°When I say this isn¡¯t punishment,¡± Mr. Oren said, ¡°that is what I mean. Kalana, she¡¯s¡­well, look. Criticism sucks. It really sucks. Everyone hates it. Even the people who pretend they don¡¯t mind it¡ªthey secretly hate it. So having said that, I¡¯m just going to rip the bandage off here, because I feel you deserve to hear the truth.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°What truth?¡± ¡°That Kalana is just better than you. She¡¯s not as book smart, but she¡¯s got better wits, she¡¯s stronger, her stats are higher, her instincts are better, she follows instructions more easily, she¡¯s more competent, and, I¡¯m sorry to say this, she¡¯s braver and far more reliable.¡± Aghast, Zach had almost felt blown away by Mr. Oren¡¯s words as thought they were a hurricane. The remarks had been so biting and so harsh that Zach was too devastated to even muster the outrage necessary to refute them. ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him,¡± Kalana had said, her tone dark and angry. ¡°He¡¯s an idiot.¡± ¡°Kalana, I¡¯m going to forgive that because I know what you¡¯re trying to do. It¡¯s yet another reason why you¡¯re perfect for the guild. Selflessness.¡± ¡°Zach is selfless!¡± ¡°No. But he will be. He¡¯s not. He doesn¡¯t understand enough yet to be.¡± ¡°The hell is that supposed to mean?¡± Zach shouted. ¡°Lower your voice, Zach,¡± Mr. Oren said, scolding him. ¡°What I mean is that by your own admission you originally wanted to get into adventuring as a way of becoming rich.¡± ¡°That¡­¡± Zach averted his gaze. ¡°That¡¯s true, but¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to justify it. What you don¡¯t understand¡ªand I¡¯m hoping someday you¡¯ll realize¡ªis that I wouldn¡¯t be standing here wasting my time if I didn¡¯t see the potential for greatness in you. The problem is you need to work for it. I would willingly bet my life that if you put in the effort, you will succeed. I know that sounds very ¡®teacherly¡¯ of me, but I mean that.¡± Up until this point in the conversation, Kalana had been on his side. It was only when he had nervously glanced in her direction, and she back in his, that his fears and worries had somehow been conveyed to her through some kind of wordless exchange of emotion. It was this point she¡¯d said, ¡°Zach, just so you know¡­I would wait for you. I¡¯d never want to be with anyone else.¡± ¡°So you want to leave me here?¡± ¡°No, of course not. Never. But he¡¯s saying if¡­if you get level 10, we can be together.¡± ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have to level up for¡­for that. That¡¯s my whole point.¡± ¡°I actually agree,¡± Mr. Oren had said. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have to. I also agree that a seventeen-year-old girl shouldn¡¯t have to live her life worried about being hunted in the middle of the night by modern-day slave traders. But she is, and she won¡¯t be safe here. None of this should have to happen, but it does.¡± ¡°If you ask me to,¡± Kalana had whispered, ¡°I¡¯ll stay.¡± Zach had refused her outright. ¡°No. No matter what, you¡¯re not staying. Mr. Oren might think I¡¯m a greedy prick, but even he knows I¡¯m not that selfish.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that about you. You¡¯re putting words in my mouth.¡± ¡°Either way, I¡¯m not arguing over that. I¡¯m only arguing about me. Kalana and her dad have to go no matter what.¡± ¡°Good. Then that makes this much simpler.¡± With that, Kalana had bowed out of the argument, and so, for the next half-hour, Zach had engaged in a ferocious back and forth with Mr. Oren. Only, he no longer had anyone on his side. Everyone had turned against him. Well, almost everyone. Through it all, he had acquired a new ally. He didn¡¯t know how he¡¯d acquired this ally. He didn¡¯t understand why he¡¯d acquired this ally. Hell, he didn¡¯t even really know when he¡¯d acquired this ally. But make no mistake: he had, through some unknown means, picked up a staunch, unflinching, untiring, and relentless defender who had been in his corner through every second of this. Even as Alixa and now Kalana looked to be growing drowsy on the couch, his new ally stayed right by his side through each and every second of this. ¡°You will not abandon Zach!¡± Fluffles shouted. ¡°Alex, I am mad. You are being bad to my new friend Zach.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been through this,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°I¡¯m not abandoning him.¡± ¡°Zach is invited to God Slayers. Fluffles says so. I say Zach invited. It my guild now. I take it from you, and it¡¯s mine.¡± It actually fascinated Zach the way Mr. Oren took the cat seriously. He argued with it the same as he would any other person. Which was good, because it meant Zach really did have someone on his side and in his corner. He never thought he¡¯d be so grateful for a cat. In fact, Fluffles defended him so vigorously and with such spirit, that Zach had genuinely been converted from a dog person to a cat person. That was how grateful he was to his new furry friend, even if it made no logical sense why the cat was so on his side. ¡°I want him to join, Fluff. He needs to prove himself. I don¡¯t have the power, at least not in his case, to grant him immediate admission.¡± ¡°But what you¡¯re asking me to do is impossible,¡± Zach said. ¡°You keep saying I¡¯m not listening to you, but you¡¯re not listening to me.¡± With a sigh, Mr. Oren rubbed his eyes then fixed Zach with a stern look. ¡°Zach, do you really believe there are no other spawn points?¡± ¡°Obviously.¡± ¡°Then how are you level 3?¡± ¡°Well, I found¡­I found the last one.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Zach had to admit, he did find himself becoming more skeptical of things now that he¡¯d had his eyes opened to the true nature of guilds. ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°Here is something I can promise you with all the certainty in the universe. If someone who is truly an adventurer at heart seeks out experience and growth, they will find it. And that¡¯s not a spiritual or religious argument, either. There are actual mystical forces at play. I¡¯ve seen the evidence myself, and as a man of science, those words mean something to me.¡± ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± Zach asked. ¡°That if I want it badly enough, I¡¯ll get it?¡± ¡°No. That¡¯s too broad a generalization. I¡¯m saying that if this.¡± He placed his hand over Zach¡¯s heart. ¡°Is in the right place, and you go looking, you¡¯ll find a way forward.¡± Fed up with the entire argument, Zach rubbed his eyes and then ran his hands through his head. He had worn himself out. He¡¯d been fatigued even before seeing his father¡¯s corpse, and then he¡¯d gone through the nightmare that followed. He¡¯d had enough arguing. Enough debating. ¡°So¡­if I get level 10?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get you in. These two are doubtful. But I give you my word. Or at least I¡¯ll put you on a path that leads there. Just get to level 10 and then we¡¯ll worry about the next step.¡± He exhaled. ¡°I know I have to grow stronger. It¡¯s just I don¡¯t want to be alone right now. My dad¡¯s dead. Kalana¡¯s going away. I don¡¯t know how I can make it.¡± He regretted saying the words, because the dampness in Kalana¡¯s eyes and look of abject guilt in her expression meant that she¡¯d now be burdened with something that Zach had never meant to burden her with. Maybe he really did need to do some growing up. ¡°Kalana, it¡¯s not your fault. I just¡ª¡± ¡°I know it¡¯s not,¡± she said, wiping her eyes. ¡°But I¡¯m still gonna feel bad. I don¡¯t wanna leave you here. You know that, right?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°And even if¡­I¡¯d stay even if it¡¯s dangerous.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t let you.¡± ¡°So then what do we do?¡± Zach again massaged his face, this time with both hands. Gods, he was so tired. ¡°Just go. All of you. I¡¯ll find my way forward. Even on my own.¡± As if sensing things had finally concluded, Alixa got up off the couch, stretched her arms, legs, and back, and then turned to offer Kalana a hand, which she took, pulling the girl to her feet. Her father also stood up. There was a tiny, pimple-sized dot where his right thumb used to be, the first sign that the regrowth treatment was working. Zach wondered if Varsh would regrow the hand he¡¯d lost. I still can¡¯t even believe these kinds of procedures exist. Hospitals can¡¯t do this. ¡°All right,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°I know it¡¯s going to be hard to be all alone for a while, but I promise you, I¡ª¡± ¡°Zach not alone,¡± Fluffles said, interrupting him. The cat jumped up onto the windowsill. ¡°I stay with Zach. You all go. I stay. Zach will give me tuna and chin scratch.¡± At this, Mr. Oren¡¯s eyebrows lifted in something that was either surprise or dismay: Zach couldn¡¯t tell which. Alixa also wore the same expression. Even Maric appeared somewhat taken aback. Yet, all three of them seemed to also be contemplating something, as evident by the way Maric rubbed his bearded chin with his thumb and forefinger. ¡°You know, that could work,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°I¡¯ll miss him, though,¡± Maric replied sadly. ¡°Nothing to miss,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°I am Zach¡¯s cat now. Daddy did not give tuna, so now I am Zach¡¯s cat.¡± Alixa smiled. ¡°It would be good not to have to deal with him for a bit, too. And I don¡¯t want to leave Zach alone for safety reasons as well as emotional. Fluffles can protect him if he gets in over his head.¡± Zach wanted to snort in derisive laughter. How would a cat protect him? Sure, he was adorable, and sure, Zach definitely wanted him to stay, because at least he wouldn¡¯t be all alone, but at the same time, the idea that a cat would keep him safe as opposed to the other way around was ridiculous. It was also ridiculous the way Mr. Oren moved over to the windowsill, leaned against the wall on his elbow, and actually began to threaten the cat. ¡°Fluff, if you stay with him, you need to be good. And you know what I mean by that.¡± ¡°I be good. Won¡¯t kill birds.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m talking about. Stop playing dumb.¡± Fluffles meowed. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Fluff, come on. You know what I¡¯m saying.¡± ¡°Fine. No¡­no cheat.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. No cheating! I know you think you¡¯d be helping your new friend, but your job is to protect him, not do the work for him. If you do, we¡¯ll just find out, and then you¡¯ll never see him again, and he¡¯ll never see Kalana again.¡± Fluffles hissed. Mr. Oren merely rolled his eyes. ¡°You can take that attitude with me if you want, buddy, but I¡¯m just an officer in the guild. I won¡¯t be able to help him if you start pointing out spawns or guiding him to them. You can teach him how to fight with a basic starter sword and give him advice, but no path-finding, no mob-location, no high-level crafting, and no, and I mean absolutely no, power-leveling.¡± Fluffles gave the angriest meow that Zach had ever heard a cat make. ¡°I power-level Zach!¡± ¡°No. No power-leveling.¡± Mr. Oren actually had to bend backwards to avoid the unsheathed claw that Fluffles sent at his face in a sudden swipe. Then he jumped off the windowsill, hopped onto the couch, and said, ¡°Maybe¡­maybe a little power-leveling?¡± ¡°What even is that?¡± Zach asked. Mr. Oren turned to him. ¡°It¡¯s when you slap a mob way higher level than you in the face, and then you run for your life while the cat kills it.¡± Zach blinked in astonishment. ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°It gives you some xp. Not as much, but it¡¯s basically doing the work for you. It results in stunted growth. Your stamina will be so far behind your level that you could end up screwing yourself. Power-leveling is something the guilds use during times of war to raise soldiers faster. The only time it¡¯s ever good to assist a low-level adventurer is when they¡¯re facing certain death.¡± Zach nodded, then held up his finger. ¡°I got all that. What I¡¯m confused about is that other part. The part about the cat killing the mobs.¡± Fluffles jumped off the couch then rubbed against Zach. ¡°Fluffles is level 47,¡± he said. ¡°W-w-w-what?¡± Zach shrieked. ¡°I am level 47.¡± ¡°That¡­that can¡¯t be.¡± ¡°It is,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°It¡¯s also naughty of him to say that, but I guess because it¡¯s you, it¡¯s okay. Just so you both understand, never tell anyone your level and never check your stats where non-allies can see it. Level ambiguity is the difference between being murdered and being avoided if a hostile guild ever stumbles upon you.¡± Fluffles meowed. ¡°Alex is level¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do it,¡± he threatened. ¡°You know how angry I can get. I¡¯m not like your daddy. I¡¯ll throw all your toys away, Fluffles.¡± ¡°If Alex touches my toys, I will set his house on fire. I want chicken and tuna!¡± Zach looked at the talking cat and then back at Mr. Oren. This was one of the craziest, most unbelievable things he¡¯d ever¡­like, how was he even supposed to feel about this? The damn cat was level 47? How could that even possibly be? He was a cat. People went their entire lives dreaming about reaching level 2, let alone 47, and yet this little furry creature had grinded that far in two years? ¡°Can¡­can I see your stats?¡± Zach asked him. ¡°Not now,¡± Mr. Oren answered in his stead. ¡°We need to wrap things up, and I don¡¯t want to listen to him brag for three hours. He¡¯ll tell you every bird he¡¯s killed with every ability.¡± Fluffles walked arrogantly to the kitchen and then back into the living room, wiggling his butt with happiness and confident pride. ¡°I tell Zach everything later.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you will.¡± To Zach, Mr. Oren said, ¡°I¡¯m giving you five-thousand gold as starter cash. Use it to get out of the city tomorrow. It¡¯s actually safer for you if you leave here. If you¡¯re going to be an adventurer, then adventure. That¡¯s what the guild needs to see. You can¡¯t do that from the comfort of your apartment or familiar places you¡¯ve been to already. Get on a bike and peddle until you¡¯re out of this horrible city and then find it¡ªwhatever it is you¡¯re looking for. It¡¯s there.¡± Taking his attention off Mr. Oren and the¡ªhis?¡ªcat, he craned his head to regard Kalana. She came over to him, and then she took both of his hands in her own. He felt his chest begin to swell with sadness. She was holding his hands not like a friend, but like someone who was more than a friend, and¡­and he could¡¯ve had this with her for so long if he hadn¡¯t been so dumb. The regret he felt was immense and immeasurable. ¡°I hate that I waited until now,¡± he told her, trying to keep his voice from breaking. ¡°We could¡¯ve¡­there was so much we could¡¯ve¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s gonna be okay,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯ll get level 10, and I promise I¡¯ll wait.¡± He wanted to kiss her so badly. He would have done it, too, if only her father hadn¡¯t been in the room. If everyone else had still been there except for him, he still would¡¯ve done it. But it would be wrong. Not in front of him. He let go of her. ¡°Okay. I¡¯m going back to my apartment. I don¡¯t know how I¡¯m supposed to find more mobs, but¡­but I¡¯ll find a way. I promise.¡± He turned around and began to leave. ¡°As far as today goes, I¡¯ve had enough of this bullshit.¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Fluffles shouted, following after him. ¡°We¡¯ve had enough of this bullshit! Right, Zach?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Zach smiled at the cat as he made his way into his apartment. At least there was someone by his side. Being in this apartment without his dad and without Kalana was going to be an unbearable loneliness he couldn¡¯t begin to imagine. That was why he would rest today, sleep tonight, and then tomorrow morning, he was leaving Whispery Woods for good and never coming back. He was going to buy a bicycle with a basket for Fluffles to sit in, a new phone in case he needed to call Mr. Oren, and then he was peddling the hell out of this city and to whatever came next. Actually, he sort of had an idea of how to find a spawn. It was a crazy idea, but it might actually work, and it¡¯d be the first thing he¡¯d try tomorrow morning when he got out of bed. But either way, he was leaving for good¡ªand he was taking his cat with him. Chapter 13: Frog Snax Chapter 13: Frog Snax As the early-morning sunrise caused a small sliver of light to appear on one of the old wooden floorboards in his bedroom, Zach sat up with a yawn, then stretched, rolled out of bed, and stumbled his way groggily into his kitchen. Opening the fridge, he grabbed a bottle of water and then made his way back to his room to get dressed. He was careful not to step on the shards of glass near the corner of his living room from the remnants of a window Fluffles had broken; he hadn¡¯t bothered to clean up any of it since he was never coming back to this place anyway. There are so many broken windows on the 8th floor now, he thought. He recalled that Varsh had broken one on his way out as well. Having been so sleep deprived, Zach had spent almost all of yesterday in bed. At first, he doubted it would even be possible to fall asleep with everything that had happened to him so fresh in his mind. Yet, it seemed that, even during times of emotional turmoil, there was just a certain point where sleep had to happen; in Zach¡¯s case, he must have greatly exceeded it. It wasn¡¯t just his lack of sleep the night before, either, but also an entire day spent grinding in a dark cavern followed by a battle in Kalana¡¯s apartment and ending with an ¡°exertion debt.¡± It was no wonder he was so tired. To his own surprise, he not only slept most of the day, but he slept the entire night, too. Other than a quick trip to buy a new phone, a chew toy for Fluffles, and a bicycle, which was now chained up outside of his apartment building, the only times he¡¯d gotten out of bed had been to feed the cat and to use the bathroom. ¡°Where is he, anyway?¡± Zach asked aloud, scanning his eyes around the apartment. ¡°He knows to be back by now. Uh, Fluffles? Hello?¡± Initially, Zach had been very concerned about the cat. It had been their first day together, and Zach didn¡¯t want him to be bored or depressed or feel lonely, but he¡¯d been just so damn tired he couldn¡¯t possibly stay awake and entertain his new buddy. This turned out not to be a problem¡ªlike, at all. After Zach had fallen asleep, he briefly awoke to the sound of a crash in his apartment living room. Despite being so many stories up, Fluffles had simply leapt right out of the damn window. As if it were a sign of how acclimated Zach was becoming to this new, crazy reality he¡¯d found himself in, he simply rolled back over and went to sleep, assuming the cat knew what it was doing and would be fine, not even caring about the broken window. About two or three hours into his first nap, he¡¯d woken in a bit of a panic as he suddenly realized the cat had no way to get back in. He¡¯d flipped over to his opposite side, prepared to jump out of bed¡ªand that was when he saw Fluffles, purring and sleeping in a ball on the pillow next to his. Confused, Zach considered waking him up, but he looked so peaceful and happy that he thought the better of it. With a shrug, he¡¯d gone back to sleep, only to awaken an hour later at the sound of footsteps. ¡°It okay,¡± Fluffles had whispered. Zach had only seen him through half-open eyes standing in the frame of his bedroom door. ¡°Fluffles?¡± he¡¯d half-whispered, half-moaned. ¡°Zach, you sleep. I go play outside again.¡± ¡°How do you keep getting back in?¡± ¡°Huh? I climb building. Zach not smart?¡± ¡°Wait, so you just¡­you just run up the damn building? Like, the wall?¡± Fluffles hadn¡¯t even answered him. He¡¯d simply disappeared into the living room and hopped out of the window again. Was he falling straight down and landing on his feet, or could the little guy sprout wings and fly? Who the hell knew? Then again, he was a high-level cat, which was apparently a thing somehow, so maybe that was why he could do something so insane. Whatever. It didn¡¯t matter. At any rate, this had turned out to be something of a ¡°pattern¡± all throughout the day and even the night. Fluffles would go outside, come back and sleep for a bit, then rinse and repeat. Every time Zach turned over in bed or got up to use the bathroom, he had never been able to predict whether or not Fluffles would be asleep on the pillow next to him or doing whatever it was he did outside. Now, however, as sunrise had finally come on the first day of his new life, he scratched his chin as he wondered where the cat had run off to. Slipping into a pair of black shorts and a white t-shirt, Zach became progressively less groggy with each second that passed. More so, he was actually feeling excited. It wasn¡¯t something he expected to feel. In fact, nothing seemed to turn out as he expected anymore. The moment he¡¯d stormed out of Kalana¡¯s apartment yesterday, he¡¯d really believed he was in for a long, depressing day of crying and loneliness. But no. For whatever reason, it just didn¡¯t happen. Instead, he¡¯d slept Gods knew how many hours and the only emotion that popped into his head was the one he felt right now: raw, utter excitement. I can¡¯t believe it, he thought. I guess Mr. Oren really does know better than me. To his shame, he finally had to admit that maybe, just maybe, Mr. Oren was right and he was wrong. And maybe, just maybe, he owed the man an apology. The idea of setting off on a real, actual adventure stirred him in a way he¡¯d never felt before. It gave him a sense of purpose he didn¡¯t know he was capable of. Somehow, that man had known his heart better than he himself did. All at once, Zach realized that he not only had to do this, but that he wanted to do this, too. And to think: he¡¯d been so damn angry yesterday. He never imagined that this sudden shift in perspective would happen so quickly and with such intensity. This is really happening. I¡¯m really going to do this. Having lost his nice, new backpack in the underground cavern, he was going to have to take his beaten-up old grey one that had scuffs in the fabric and a loose strap. Even still, it would have to do. He would have to be very careful about what he packed since he didn¡¯t have a whole lot of room. Spare clothing for sure, soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and¡­and what else? Food he could buy on the road, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to fit sheets or blankets into such a small pack. He supposed if he took that expensive submersible one he¡¯d bought there¡¯d be more room, but since he was traveling via bicycle, it would be extremely difficult to take with him. ¡°We¡¯re so close to summer, so I guess I¡¯ll take mostly shorts and a few pairs of jeans. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll need any¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget my chew toy,¡± Fluffles said, startling him. Well, it looked like he was finally back. The cat jumped up onto the bed, then immediately jumped off, making Zach wonder why he¡¯d bothered to hop on it in the first place if he had no intention of staying there. He doubted that was even a ¡°Fluffles¡± thing. It was probably more of a cat thing. It caused Zach to laugh. ¡°Why does Zach laugh?¡± Fluffles asked. ¡°I just think cats are funny.¡± He hissed. ¡°Now I am mad at Zach.¡± ¡°Sorry, sorry. I just thought it was funny because¡­ah, never mind.¡± ¡°No! Now you have to say to Fluffles why. Why funny?¡± Uh oh. This was not a conversation that seemed to be moving in a positive direction. Fluffles was staring at him with his amber eyes. As a cat, he lacked the ability to frown, but Zach noticed the way his bushy tail was now thwacking against the old squeaky floorboards. ¡°I just thought it was funny¡­you know, the way you jump on things.¡± Fluffles actually seemed offended, which was both alarming and kind of shocking. ¡°Zach think cats so funny? Humans funny. Humans stupid! I show you. I show Zach. This is what human do.¡± Zach opened his mouth, and the sound ¡°wh¡± had just been about to escape his lips when Fluffles did something so unexpected it made his attempted word cut off in a gasp. Without any warning, the cat let out a painful-sounding meow, hastily spun around three times in a full circle, and then began to blow up like a balloon. His body puffed up and expanded before Zach¡¯s very eyes. What had been a little ball of fur now grew to the point that Zach had to take two step backs, as his body covered the entire area rug. His paws and head had all vanished, too, so that now he really was just a gigantic orb of nothing but fur. ¡°Fluffles, what the hell is going on?¡± Zach shouted. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Fluffles did not reply. He just continued to grow and grow until finally, as this massive ball of fur sitting in the middle of Zach¡¯s bedroom, his body again began to shift. Two extremely awkwardly shaped limbs popped out of his sides, and another two emerged from below. Then something else began to grow where his head should have been. Wait, was he¡­was he trying to make himself look like a human? Oh, wow, he is. The giveaway was the head¡ªor at least something that almost looked like a head. Fluffles head was now a circle: not circular, mind you, but an actual perfect circle. His eyes were also perfectly round, and his lips consisted of a straight line as though it had been drawn with the aid of a ruler. His arms ended in something that ¡°kind of¡± looked like hands but with the wrong number of fingers. Hell, one hand even had more fingers than the other, too. His legs were also stubby, and his toes were triangle shaped. He also seemed to have some kind of beard-thing, but it was just a patch of fuzzy whiskers. Honestly, Zach felt like he was staring at a three-year-old¡¯s drawing of a human, only it was here in real life standing across from him. Oh, and it spoke, too. ¡°Durr, look at me!¡± he shouted, loudly. His voice still sounded like Fluffles, only now it also reminded Zach of someone with a profound cognitive impairment. ¡°I am human, durr! I do taxes and send things in the mail! Does anyone have a fork?¡± In an instant, Fluffles shrank, and before Zach¡¯s very eyes, he simply collapsed in on himself until the only thing that remained was the same old black-and-white cat that he¡¯d always been. ¡°That,¡± he said, with another meow, ¡°is what human sound like.¡± Zach stared open-mouthed at the cat, then held out his hands with his palms open in a gesture of surrender. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ll be more careful about what I say in the future when it comes to cats. Also, I didn¡¯t know you could...uh¡­do whatever that was.¡± So he¡¯s not just a talking cat but a shape-shifter, Zach thought, bewildered. Well that was scary as hell to see. Quickly packing whatever would fit in his backpack, Zach took one last look around his apartment and then realized it was time to go. Now that the moment had come, he did feel a rush of sadness, but it wasn¡¯t as bad as he¡¯d feared it might be. It was more of a hesitance¡ªa pang of doubt in the back of his mind that told him he wasn¡¯t good enough to be attempting what he was about to do. I have to be, he thought. Or Kalana¡­I¡¯ll never see her again. Fluffles followed him out of the apartment, and Zach could swear he had a knowing look on his face. Did he understand how sad Zach was to be leaving this behind forever? Or was Zach just imagining his compassion? Either way, the two of them walked down the hallway side by side; each step became easier for Zach the further away he got. Reaching the elevator at the end of the hall, Zach pressed the call button. Now, a whole different excitement bubbled up within him, but this one was much more of a nervous, uneasy type of anticipation, as the time had finally come to test his idea. It was finally time to see if his brain had actually come up with something that would work. As the elevator doors opened and the two of them stepped inside, Zach did not thumb the button for the lobby. Instead, he pressed the topmost button labeled ¡°M¡± which led to the roof. The moment the elevator began to lurch upwards, Fluffles meowed at him and said, ¡°Why we go up? Is chicken up?¡± Stolen story; please report. He smiled at Fluffles. ¡°Nope. I¡¯ll give you chicken later though, buddy.¡± ¡°Why we go up?¡± ¡°I want to test something. I¡¯ve been thinking about how to find someplace to level up. Mr. Oren thinks it¡¯s easy to do, but I sure as hell don¡¯t know where to begin looking. Am I just supposed to go meandering through forests and swamps?¡± ¡°But¡­Zach think mobs on roof?¡± He laughed. ¡°No, Fluffles. I just think the roof is a good place to try something I¡¯ve been wondering about for a while now, actually.¡± ¡°Tell!¡± ¡°I will. Just give me a second.¡± The elevator doors reopened, and the two of them stepped out. Zach felt his chest flutter as he prayed to the Gods above that this little experiment of his would actually work. It was something he¡¯d been thinking about in the back of his head during his lengthy ¡°debate¡± with Mr. Oren. Even while shouting at his boss-slaying science teacher, he had known on some level he¡¯d end up in this is situation, and his mind had scrambled for some of idea of what he¡¯d do if he really did wind up all on his own. There¡¯s no way this is actually going to work, he thought. But I still have to try. ¡°It stink!¡± Fluffles said. ¡°I do not like it here. I want no more smell.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s walk a bit faster.¡± The two of them navigated their way through a dark, narrow passage with dirty mops and trash bags everywhere, as well as a leaky ceiling, and a pair of gloves that looked to be covered in rat feces. At the end of this short passage were four damp steps leading to a rusted, blue, metallic-looking door. Zach tried to push it open, and to his dismay, it wouldn¡¯t budge. ¡°Damn!¡± he grumbled. ¡°It won¡¯t budge.¡± ¡°Fluffles can destroy if Zach want.¡± He looked at the cat and raised his eyebrow. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes. Fluffles break?¡± Zach thought about it a moment. Then he realized he himself had 3 points into strength. Sure, that might be nothing compared to what Mr. Oren had¡ªGods only knew how high his was with the lab coat and everything back on¡ªbut for normal, everyday objects like a locked door? Surely it would be enough. Zach took several steps back, then immediately bolted forward, slamming his entire body into the blue door. With a scratching-squeak, the thing flew right off its hinges and landed with a somewhat muted crack onto a gravel surface under the early-morning sun. Eager to be gone from the foul-smelling passageway, Zach stepped out and onto the roof, where he could now see the entire city of Whispery Woods in a way he¡¯d never been able to before. If they had only maintained it properly, it really could have been something special. When viewed in its entirety without focusing in on any single detail, Zach could almost see the wonder it must have been a hundred years ago when it¡¯d been built. There was a symmetry to the way the taller buildings flanked the shorter buildings that made the city look like a rising staircase. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s be careful up here.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°So I don¡¯t die.¡± Unlike Fluffles and Mr. Oren and Varsh and probably even Kalana, Zach was still the type of person who would die if he fell off the roof of a high-riser. Therefore, he walked no further out than the middle of the roof before stopping. There were barely any safety rails up here. The thought of falling off made his stomach queasy. ¡°Zach, you are doing something now?¡± Fluffles asked. ¡°Why come here? You promise to tell!¡± ¡°Sure thing. Just let me get something.¡± Zach removed his backpack and unzipped the larger of the two pouches. He reached inside, and he pulled out a sealed package of a snack food that he was positive could not be found in the local supermarket. It had been the only drop he¡¯d ever gotten from a mob: Frog Snax. ¡°Ohh!¡± Fluffles chirped excitedly, meowing several times. ¡°You take us here to enjoy snack!¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°You¡­you take us to¡­to give Fluffles snack?¡± Zach wiggled his finger. ¡°No again. I told you. I¡¯m here to try something out. Let me explain, okay?¡± ¡°Yes. Explain!¡± He took a breath, organized his thoughts, and then literally began to explain his plans to an actual talking cat, something that was definitely going to take some getting used. ¡°When I was leveling with Kalana,¡± he began, ¡°I got this item from one of those frog things. I forgot what they were called. They¡¯re like these big¡±¡ªhe gestured with his hands¡ª¡°frogs the size of a dog with a red stripe on their face.¡± ¡°Toadfeet,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°Ah, right. Toadfeet. Wow, I can¡¯t believe you know that.¡± ¡°I am very smart. I am a good cat. I should be rewarded with chicken.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you chicken later, buddy. But do you want to know my plan or not?¡± ¡°I sorry. Zach keep explaining.¡± Zach nodded. ¡°So anyway, I got this snack from them. Here, let me¡­let me show you the description so it¡¯ll make more sense.¡± He lifted his hand to tap his right shoulder four times, then quickly displayed his inventory to Fluffles. He only had one item, and it was the one he was holding. Frog Snax: picked up by Zachys Calador Summons a wisp of light that causes the nearest non-boss, non-enraged aquatic-type enemy to become distracted for 45 seconds, forgetting its target. 500 range. Only 1 wisp may be active at a time. Not usable by Goblins, Dwarves, or Shadowfangs. ¡°Do you like Frog Snax, Zach?¡± Fluffles asked. ¡°I have no idea, never tried them. But that¡¯s¡­that¡¯s not the point.¡± Zach tapped his finger on the box. ¡°The point is that this thing says if I eat one, it¡¯ll summon a wisp to distract the nearest aquatic-type mob within 500 range for 45 seconds.¡± ¡°Okay. That¡¯s nice. I know that though because you show.¡± Only then did it dawn on Zach just how crazy it was that Fluffles could actually read. It was such a strange thing to consider: a cat having the ability to read. It wasn¡¯t something he ever thought he¡¯d encounter. ¡°So, you understand, right? This thing distracts aquatic-type mobs. I think it¡¯s so that if you get attacked by one, you can run away.¡± He waited to see if Fluffles had anything to say in reply. The cat said nothing, so he merely continued, ¡°So anyway, the thing is that there are no aquatic monsters here. Or if there are, I have no idea where to find them. So when I got this item, it seemed really useless to me, and I completely forgot about it. I planned to sell it, actually. But then, I got this.¡± Now, Zach brought out his list of abilities, of which there were only two. It was the second of these that he showed his cat. (Inner Ability) Boundless (UNIQUE) The next non-damaging, non-repeating spell, ability, equipment ability, or item ability can be used regardless of range unless a target is required, in which case the user must be within seeing distance. Cannot be used with abilities that aid in charming or card-capture. Cannot be used to target or affect card-based summons. Exertion Level: Very Low. Pointing at the words in the air before him, he said, ¡°This was another thing I thought was useless at the time. But somehow, when Mr. Oren was breaking the news to me that I¡¯d have to level up alone and with no hint of even where to look, I started to get this idea that¡ª¡± Fluffles made a bizarre-sounding hiss, then focused his amber-colored eyes intensely on Zach. ¡°What is it?¡± Zach asked him. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°You¡­you do trick?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± The cat began to walk back and forth as if agitated. ¡°That ability not real.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Impossible ability. No one can have.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Fluffles abruptly stopped moving and again hissed. ¡°No one have infinite range. Impossible. Zach playing trick. Now I get to have two cans of tuna because Zach did trick.¡± Zach moaned, becoming agitated. ¡°It¡¯s not a trick.¡± ¡°You promise?¡± ¡°I promise.¡± ¡°Okay. I believe.¡± ¡°It¡¯s why we¡¯re up here. This ability might not be useless after all.¡± Once again, he tapped his finger on the sealed, cardboard box that¡¯d dropped from the Toadfeet. ¡°If I use Boundless, and then eat one of these¡­what will happen? It¡¯ll make a wisp, and then that wisp will go to the nearest aquatic-type enemy. Wherever on this planet that is. Right?¡± Fluffles meowed. ¡°Zach smart.¡± ¡°So you understand what I¡¯m going for, then?¡± The cat¡¯s only response was to come closer and brush up against him. Zach laughed. ¡°I have no idea if this will even work. If not, I will open this thing and ruin its value for no reason. But if it does work, then¡­well, let¡¯s just see.¡± Having waited long enough, Zach activated Boundless for the very first time. Immediately, several beads of sweat began to drip down the sides of his face, and his breathing became heavy. Despite being a ¡°very low¡± level of exertion, he felt like he¡¯d just run up and down a flight of stairs fifty times in a row. He even had to fan himself with the box of Frog Snax as the top of his shirt dampened. ¡°Whew, that was a workout,¡± he said with a laugh. ¡°So I guess¡­I guess that means I did it.¡± Zach turned the box of Frog Snax over a few times in his hand, then felt around with his index finger for a way of opening the package without destroying the box. He hoped they didn¡¯t taste awful. Despite the apartment building being a disgusting mess, he still didn¡¯t want to litter, so he placed the box down after unwrapping it, then turned around and stuffed the plastic wrapper in his backpack. That way he didn¡¯t have to throw it on the ground. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see what this¡ª¡± his eyes widened¡ª¡°Fluffles! Are you kidding me?¡± he shouted. The cat had torn open the cardboard with his claw, then looked at Zach with innocent eyes. In his mouth were two of the only ten Frog Snax that even came with the damn thing. They were small, orange in colored, and looked flaky on the outside like a breaded chip. ¡°D-drop it!¡± Zach said to him. ¡°Fluffles, no! Bad!¡± Fluffles turned around, facing away from Zach. ¡°I said drop it!¡± When he began to walk away, Zach moved towards him, and then he began to run, so Zach began to run too, chasing after him. Fluffles didn¡¯t seem to care and only moved faster, requiring Zach to in turn increase his own pace. Before long, he found himself sprinting in circles on the rooftop after the damn cat, gravel crunching beneath his feet as he stormed after his misbehaving friend. But Fluffles was way faster than him, and Zach never even managed to get close. Eventually, after running about six laps around the inner portion of the roof, he waved his hand, muttered, ¡°Fine, to hell with it!¡± and then returned to where he¡¯d dropped his backpack and the eight remaining Frog Snax that were still inside the box. To his misery, he could hear the sounds of happy crunching from somewhere off in the distance. It was almost like Fluffles was eating them as slow as possible just to gloat about his great victory over Zach. It had to be the case, because Zach had seen him gobbling down tuna and chicken, and he knew the cat didn¡¯t eat this damn slow. Fluffles was also clearly making a louder crunching sound than he had to, as well. But what was interesting and did have at least some value in noticing was that no wisp of light popped out of the cat. This meant there was in fact no aquatic-type mobs within range, and thus the light would likely only appear if there was something for it to pursue. So then, if I get the wisp to appear, it¡¯s got to mean it¡¯s found an aquatic-type to distract. ¡°Are you done yet?¡± he called to Fluffles, whose munching had finally come to a stop. The cat came running back over. He began acting way too sweet, brushing up against Zach and licking his hand with his sandpaper-like tongue. ¡°I love Zach,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°He is best friend.¡± ¡°Yeah, nice try.¡± As if dropping the act, Fluffles hissed. ¡°I did nothing wrong! You have to share with me. We each get five.¡± ¡°Fluffles, I don¡¯t think you understand what these are even for!¡± The cat meowed. ¡°Finding aquatic-type spawn using Zach cheating power that give infinite range?¡± ¡°Wait, so you do understand what I was saying.¡± Fluffles purred. ¡°I am a good cat and a smart cat.¡± ¡°So then¡­so you still want half of them even knowing how important they are?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Are they even good?¡± ¡°They are good. I love Frog Snax. We have thousands in guild boxes for junk loot. I like Frog Snax because it taste yummy.¡± Of course they have thousands of these. Why aren¡¯t I surprised? With another bout of nerves pinching his insides, Zach reached inside the box and removed another of the orange-colored snacks that were about a fourth the size of his hand. He sniffed it. It did smell kind of good, and it didn¡¯t actually appear to be made of frog. It was just a sort of cracker from the looks of it. ¡°I have no idea if this is going to work, but here goes nothing.¡± He put the orange-colored treat in his mouth and chewed. To his surprise, it was actually delicious. It tasted like a combination of buttered bread and grilled cheese. In fact, it tasted so good that he almost ate another one by mistake. He¡¯d even reached down for it, momentarily forgetting himself. ¡°These are good, Fluffles. Uh, Fluffles?¡± For some reason, the cat was looking at something above Zach. He lifted his head to see what had taken the cat¡¯s attention, and then let out a cheer of giddy elation as he spotted the white ball of energy that was steadily rising up into the air above him. It looked kind of like the top of a daisy, with a very bright center surrounded by more dimly lit, oblong-shaped petals. It also made a slight noise that was a mix between a buzz and a hum. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this actually worked,¡± Zach said. Fluffles meowed. ¡°I want to catch ball!¡± Higher and higher into the sky it rose. Zach watched, refusing to even blink, as it almost seemed to reach the clouds. Yet even amid the daytime sun and even as it continued to gain distance, it never lost any brightness or became any harder to see. On and on, the wisp of light rose, until finally, it simply stopped, and for almost ten seconds, it hovered unmoving. It simply lingered in place, doing nothing. ¡°Maybe it didn¡¯t work after all,¡± Zach grumbled. ¡°Maybe it¡ª¡± And then the wisp took off like a rocket, moving with such unimaginable speed that it left behind a trail made of pure white light like a meteor off in the direction of the Leviathan River and over the Bridge of Torment. It moved so fast that if Zach had not been looking at it when it¡¯d taken off, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to track it with his eyes. The wisp continued to streak across the sky, moving well beyond the bridge and over the highway, where a massive cluster of DEHVs were already stuck in traffic as part of the early-morning commute to work. Cupping his hands over his forehead so that he could see just a little bit farther, Zach lost sight of the wisp after it vanished somewhere along the Blood Rain expressway. ¡°So,¡± Zach began, nodding, ¡°now we know that there is a spawn-point in that direction.¡± He pointed. Fluffles brushed against him. ¡°I want more snack. Give more Frog Snax.¡± Before the cat could get any crazy ideas, Zach snatched the package up and stuffed it into his backpack. ¡°No. I¡¯ll get you any other food. But you can¡¯t have that one.¡± ¡°But now that is only food I ever want!¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because Fluffles not supposed to have it!¡± Zach sighed. Was this how all cats behaved? ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get to my bike,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s just start going in a straight line in that direction.¡± As Zach led the two of them back through the stinky hallway and to the elevator doors, he realized he was going to have to be very tactful in how he used the Frog Snax. He had seven left, and he had no idea how far away the nearest spawn actually was. It could be a hundred miles for all he knew. If he ran out of snacks trying to find it, he would screw himself. Therefore, he would have to risk passing the spawn and backtracking. It would be better to overshoot the mark and then find it via narrowing things down than continuing to eat them every few miles and never even knowing if he¡¯d gotten close. He sighed. This was going to be tougher than he thought. Chapter 14: Revenge Killing Chapter 14: Revenge Killing All things considered, it was only natural for conflict to happen from time to time. It was basically bound to happen; even still, it was never pleasant to deal with. Once again, a member of an adventuring guild had maimed a high-ranking lieutenant of a respected political guild, only this time, they¡¯d also killed five of its members, including an officer. This was now going to be a nightmare to clean up. This was not what Abram Gespon wanted to deal with first thing in the morning. Beginning just before sunrise yesterday, Abram¡¯s phone had been flooded with texts and calls from some of the most powerful members of the human race. Word of the attack on the Royal Roses by a member of the GSG spread like an uncontrolled fire from one guild to the next, and now the Royal Roses was demanding retribution. Hell, they probably would¡¯ve looked the other way if not for the embarrassment this was causing them. Once it¡¯d circulated among their peers, however, it had become a crisis. I can¡¯t let this spiral into another conflict. As a beautiful woman massaged his back and a scandalously dressed cherry-blonde stood at attention to the right of his office desk, Abram realized that today was one of those days where he¡¯d have to earn his gold. Even still, words could not describe how badly he wanted to hop into his own personal bathing pool on the 90th floor of his guild¡¯s beautiful skyscraper. He bathed in that damn thing almost every day, sometimes twice. Ornately crafted windows made of curved glass surrounded the tub and provided a three-sixty-degree view of the stunning, upscale metropolis known as Varda¡¯s Lair. He enjoyed falling asleep in his bath while watching the colorful, gigantic displays built into many of the windows of the other tall buildings, which showed off advertisements, movie clips, and sometimes just funny facts or trivia. Only the worthy got to live in a city like Varda¡¯s Lair, which was why most of the throngs of people hurrying up and down the streets were merely workers from one of the hundreds of nearby suburban communities or towns. Varda¡¯s Lair was also one of the few cities with a dress code. The city demanded that tourists and residents dress modestly and that workers dress professionally. Violation of the dress code was a serious offense punishable with imprisonment or hefty fines¡ªor both. There were exceptions, of course, for powerful men like himself who had certain needs that required fulfilling for the greater good, but even then, it was purely for the benefit of others. How could he steer humanity in the right direction if he was stressed? He required certain pleasures to focus: pleasures he was respectful enough to keep in the privacy of his office. For the good of society, however, the public needed to maintain certain standards. It was just too important. I doubt my guest cares, he thought with a displeased grunt. He just loves to flaunt his disregard for our laws. Regarding the cherry blonde to his right, he asked, ¡°Is the man here yet?¡± ¡°He¡¯s making his way up now, Gespon the Virtuous.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, Gespon the Virtuous.¡± ¡°Gods-dammit, woman. Tell me sooner next time!¡± Abram sat up straighter in his comfortable leather chair, then snapped his fingers at the two women, causing them to bow their heads and leave his office. Then, ensuring his appearance was up to snuff, Abram checked that his tie was aligned properly with the rest of his dark blue suit; from a drawer in his desk, he pulled out a brush and mirror and gave his short brown wavy hair a quick comb over. As a well-respected mediator and fair, upstanding member of the People of Virtue, he would not be caught dead looking unprofessional or sloppy. With his back perfectly straight, his expression neutral, and his demeanor calm, he folded his hands across his desk and waited in silence for the arrival of his ¡°guest.¡± Abram could actually hear him coming from the other end of the office, as his boots were loud and made intimidating thumps on the delicate, expensive Elvish carpets that decorated the entire 79th floor. Those couldn¡¯t exactly be replaced. He hoped the man wasn¡¯t wearing anything that could damage it. But even if he had been, Abram would likely not say anything about it. As the third-ranking member of the People of Virtue and a senior guild lieutenant, he, like most of his colleagues, valued human stability over all else, which was why he could not allow an escalating conflict between the adventuring guilds and the political guilds¡ªthe latter of which were the more sophisticated types who gave their heart and soul to bring law and order to the masses. In order for guilds like his to bring happiness and prosperity into the lives of the Ones under their care, he and other high-ranking guild officials often had to maintain a delicate peace with those who would otherwise be rightfully discarded. The loathsome adventuring guilds were a bunch of wild, out-of-control, uncultured swine who were always loud, poorly attired, and behaved more like beasts than civilized people. But even despite this, it was regrettably the case that such an unsavory group still needed to be tolerated¡ªat least for now. Without the adventuring guilds handling boss spawns, artifact recovery, and rare item acquisition, the entire political order would collapse. The adventure guilds had become the primary¡ªif not basically the sole¡ªsource of the coveted rejuvenation stones. If you were someone with an aggressive, untreatable cancer, it was either a purple rejuvenation stone or a grave. There was no other option. The adventure guilds were still, unfortunately, too important to dispose of. And we can¡¯t underestimate their strength, either. More and more these days, arrogant political guilds failed to realize that their intimidation tactics would not and did not work on the adventuring guilds. Even though Abram truly believed in the value and character of the political guilds¡ªor at least those aligned with the People of Virtue¡ªhe had to admit that some criticisms against their kind were valid, such as the claim that political guilds had become too soft due to a lack of genuine combat experience. This was because adventuring guilds were still, through Gods knew what means, finding spawns and dungeons in the wild and facing off against all manner of dangerous creatures. How? Nobody knew. Well, nobody other than the adventuring guilds themselves, whose members seemed to relish in leveling up the ¡°old fashioned¡± way, scouring the land for whatever remained of the old-world spawn points and risking actual death in their encounters with them. On the other hand, Abram¡ªlike any respectable member of a polite society¡ªdid not go frolicking around in the woods at night looking for a Minotaur to kill. No, like his father before him, he had leveled on his private estate by killing carefully cultivated mobs that maximized experience gain while minimizing personal risk, all under the supervision of a high-leveled instructor ready to step in on a moment¡¯s notice. Safety was everything, after all. But with that came certain drawbacks. Not four months ago, Abram had been forced to settle a dispute after a well-respected business magnate¡ªand level-65 member of the Lords of Justice¡ªdecided to pick a fight with a twenty-year-old, level-52 adventurer from the Explorers Brigade who, from what Abram recalled, had actually been a waitress working at Shakes and Cakes until two year prior. On paper, the fine gentleman from the Lords of Justice should have prevailed. He was thirteen levels higher for the love of the Gods, and he was fighting a former waitress. Then he died¡ªbrutally. And rather than assess how it was possible for a respected business mogul¡ªwho even had the respect of some foreign races¡ªto wind up on the losing end of a duel with a young woman who had only first picked up a dagger after putting down her butter knife, the guilds chose to be more outraged by the ¡°disrespect¡± than show any concern for their own shortcomings. Thus, Abram knew the criticism was warranted. The adventuring guilds frequently battled against things that could actually kill them, and so they knew how to fight far more ferociously. That was why, in a combat situation, they could deftly avoid, block, or counter a lot of what was thrown at them, and if their enemy¡¯s constitution and resistances weren¡¯t high enough to negate one-hundred-percent of their damage, they would win even against impossible odds. Put simply, if it was even possible for them to lay down some damage, they would unceasingly strike out again and again and again until they got the job done. Unfortunately, for the fine, upstanding soul of the Lords of Justice, though he may have had a massive, 13-level advantage over his opponent, it was still not enough to completely negate all the power of the level-52 woman¡¯s attacks. It also didn¡¯t help that she¡¯d been wearing gods-be-damned boss gear! But that was a whole separate issue: the fact that the adventurer guilds had special equipment that only came from bosses. That might even be a bigger problem in the long haul. ¡°You look pissed today,¡± a powerful, confident voice said from the door leading to his personal office. Abram snapped himself out of his thoughts, then chided himself for his lack of decorum. He was still sitting with his back perfectly straight and his hands folded, but a scowl had managed to pop up on his face. This was a mistake he would never let happen again. It could weaken his hand in any negotiation. One must never show emotion during a negotiation with hostile people. ¡°Not at all. Please, Donovan, come in.¡± With powerful, stomping footsteps, Donovan Iseldar, the leader of the God Slayers Guild and only known human to ever slay a fire drake one-on-one, strode into his office and then grinned slyly at Abram. He was a tall, built man whose very appearance served as a potent reminder of why that young, former waitress had so easily felled her higher-level counterpart. Unlike Abram, the man did not wear a suit and a tie. No, in plain violation of the dress code, he wore a midnight black breastplate with spiked shoulder pauldrons that seemed to emit a steady puff of black, quickly fading smoke. A matching pair of spikes ran down along the armor on both of his forearms, and he cradled a helm under his right arm emblazed with the image of two crossed swords threatening a God. From the neck to toe, he¡¯d come bedecked in full plate armor¡ªall except for a necklace he displayed openly. It looked like a tooth of some kind. ¡°Sorry to come looking like this,¡± he said with a playful laugh. ¡°I was out killing a T2 Manticore. Ah, do you mind?¡± He pointed to a box of tissues on Abram¡¯s desk. ¡°No, of course not.¡± Abram gestured with a wave of his hand. The sound of plate boots stomping on a gentle surface once again filled the sound of his office as Donovan stepped forward, grabbed a few out of the box, and began to wipe the spot below his right eye, where a steady trickle of blood had been pouring out of a gash. ¡°Please¡­have a seat.¡± ¡°Sure thing, bud.¡± Donovan pulled out the leather chair across from Abram¡¯s desk, then sat down and regarded him with an amused smirk. Was he enjoying this? Abram hoped not. This was as serious a matter as he had dealt with in years. It deserved a little bit more respect than to come barging in here bleeding on his irreplaceable carpet. Once more folding his hands on his desk, Abram forced a smile onto his face and said, ¡°I¡¯m sure you must have some idea why you¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Some,¡± the man said in agreement, his tone becoming less playful. ¡°Alex got into a little squabble with some of your allies, right?¡± ¡°Straight to the point, good.¡± Abram leaned forward. ¡°Look, you and I have a good relationship. I appreciate you taking care of that boss spawn in my town, and I don¡¯t want this little bit of awkwardness to hinder that relationship. Especially with how pleased the People of Virtue were with your guild¡¯s performance.¡± ¡°Everyone died, though,¡± Donovan said with a grunt. Though he was in his early thirties, the battle scars on his face made him appear older. ¡°Well, true, but¡­but at least now new people can move in and rebuild. We already have plans to fund a total reconstruction of the town. We¡¯re even going to let in some Orcish refugees. We plan to have Raven¡¯s Claw rebuilt and our tax revenue restored within the next five years.¡± ¡°Taxes. Right.¡± The man placed his helmet on the floor near his chair then removed one of his black, armored gauntlets and dropped it with a loud smack on Abram¡¯s desk. Then he did the same with his other. Now this upset Abram, though he did not allow it to show. This idiot might well have cracked the wood, which came from a forest that no longer existed. This one desk was probably worth more than Donovan¡¯s entire life! To make matters even worse, he only seemed to do it so that he could pick his fingernails clean. What a disgusting, uncultured animal! Be calm, he told himself. You¡¯re dealing with a savage. It doesn¡¯t know any better. Straining against the desire to frown, Abram exhaled slowly, then said, ¡°The Royal Roses are beside themselves with fury. Your officer, Alex Oren, maimed one of their lieutenants, a highly, highly respected man by the name of Varsh Gellor.¡± ¡°Varsh is well-respected?¡± Donovan asked, his right eyebrow rising. ¡°I know that guy. A real prick. He¡¯s respected? Seriously?¡± ¡°Yes, of course,¡± Abram said, somewhat baffled. He detected no trace of mockery or insincerity in the GSG leader¡¯s eyes, so did that mean he¡¯d asked a serious question? Was the man mentally deficient? Did he really not understand why someone like Varsh Gellor would be considered highly respected? Amazed that he needed to explain this at all, he said, ¡°Varsh Gellor is a lieutenant in the Royal Roses.¡± ¡°Uh, okay, so?¡± Donovan asked with a shrug. ¡°That¡¯s not even a real guild. Neither is yours, no offense.¡± For the first time in years, Abram at last lost his temper during a negotiation. He lifted his palms and then slapped them down onto his priceless Lir-wood desk, smashing off a chunk on each side and causing it to fall to his feet. ¡°Do not disrespect my guild!¡± Donovan laughed at him¡ªlaughed in his face. Did this moronic piece of shit know what Abram could do to his guild if he wanted? Forget killing them all, he could have them brought up on charges¡ªany charges, whatever he pleased¡ªand then hauled off to a dungeon where they would be beaten and sodomized and never see the light of day ever again. Was that what they wanted? Maybe that was what they deserved. Stupid mother¡ª You¡¯re losing control, he told himself. You¡¯re a professional. Don¡¯t let him goad you. Gritting his teeth, he took long, slow breaths, and he calmed himself as the savage continued to laugh at him. ¡°Take it easy, Abe,¡± Donovan taunted. ¡°You¡¯re gonna pop a blood vessel.¡± ¡°Are you¡­¡± Abram stopped mid-sentence and realized he was still so angry he needed to take another moment before he spoke. Then he tried again. ¡°Are you¡­ready to talk or not? Because I¡¯m close to doing things even I will regret.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°I¡¯m here, aren¡¯t I?¡± Abram paused a moment before continuing. ¡°Look,¡± he said, pointing his finger at Donovan. ¡°One of your guild-members attacked a public official and murdered a mid-ranking officer¡ªa lovely woman from a good family named Seraphina¡ªin the process. Not to mention the five low-ranking, but still valued members of the Royal Roses.¡± At this, Donovan scratched his chin and hummed to himself a moment. ¡°No, that¡¯s not true, I don¡¯t think. Alex said he only killed the woman and Varsh got away. So, that¡¯s what he said, and I believe it.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s not what I hear from the Royal Roses.¡± ¡°That right? Eh, and what are they saying happened?¡± ¡°They say they sent Varsh off on a morally sound and ethical equipment reacquisition mission to prevent further acts of violence by the guild of Gentlemen. Upon reaching their destination, it was determined that the equipment had been relocated to Whispery Woods. Unfortunately, upon entering the city, your guild decided to launch an unprovoked act of aggression that resulted in many lives being lost, including a civilian named Jonatan Calador and several patrol guardsmen.¡± Donovan snorted. ¡°Okay, well that¡¯s a load of crap. Varsh probably killed every single one of those people you mentioned. In fact, you probably think so too, don¡¯t you?¡± Abram intended to reply immediately, but hesitated, because he had to admit in all honesty and fairness that what Donovan said was probably correct. Though it pained Abram to admit this to himself, even he could not deny that there were some members of the guilds with self-control issues and violent temperaments unbefitting their status as moral arbiters of the civilized world. Varsh Gellor happened to be one of those individuals, and knowing the man¡¯s character, it was certainly possible¡ªif not more than likely¡ªthat he¡¯d killed everyone but the guild officer. Donovan also tended not to lie. The adventure guild savages were often too stupid or crude to know how to lie effectively, so it wasn¡¯t difficult to believe that what they said was true. ¡°Okay,¡± Abram relented, holding out his palm in a calm gesture of peace. ¡°I believe you. In fact, I¡¯d put money on it. But it doesn¡¯t really matter. The Royal Roses says this is what happened, and they¡¯re going to behave like it¡¯s what happened. They¡¯re ready for war. They¡¯re furious. You¡¯ve shown them great disrespect.¡± Donovan sighed. ¡°Well, that sucks. I don¡¯t really like to get into person vs. person conflict. I think PVP is a shame, to be honest, but if they come at my guild, we¡¯re going to defend ourselves if that¡¯s what it¡ª¡± ¡°Must you use such an antiquated term?¡± Abram snapped. The term ¡°PVP¡± was highly offensive to respectable members of the ruling order. It had been a historical term used to describe the ritualistic battles between members of various guilds for sport, and it carried with it a connotation of ¡°choice.¡± As if anyone ¡°chose¡± to engage in such bloodthirsty tactics to resolve their differences. To the adventurer guilds and the Ones they pitied and protected, they might have viewed many of today¡¯s struggles as ¡°optional¡± and being about land and property, but that was totally false. The change of property ownership was only incidental. Typically, wars were fought to free the inhabitants of these lands from their cruel former masters, such as the Guild of Gentlemen, who had once been led by a tyrant that had caused an economic depression through all of humanity thanks to his insensitive remarks about other races, especially the Dwarves. For generations, the Gentlemen had been so powerful that they were able to raise a lineage of four kings to rule over humanity. People would not soon forget the humiliation and cruelty the fourth in particular had subjected them to, and that was why many of the guilds, even former guilds at war, had decided to ally themselves together to strip the Guild of Gentlemen of all their lands and erase that vile man¡¯s legacy from Galterra. ¡°Look,¡± Donovan said, extending his arms in Abram¡¯s direction, ¡°I¡¯m just calling it what it is, okay? Here¡¯s the real truth if you want to know what actually happened. This man, Varsh, beat one of Alex¡¯s students and kidnapped another. He initiated the PVP, not Alex.¡± He¡¯s going to keep using that term, isn¡¯t he? Absolutely no class at all. None. Exhaling sharply, Abram replied, ¡°That¡¯s actually another matter altogether. Every guild knows now about the girl and her father. I¡¯ve already spoken to the Royal Roses. It was a simple misunderstanding.¡± ¡°Oh yeah? How so?¡± ¡°Both the leader of the Royal Roses and the commanders of the entire alliance assure me that not a single member of the Royal Roses or any guild in the alliance supports the practice of slavery, nor do we condone any mistreatment of the Elvish royal family. We extend our apologies for any suffering we might have inflicted on those two, especially in light of the way Peter IV treated their kind. That¡¯s why we¡¯re prepared to offer Kalana Vayra and her father, Prince Eldora Vayra, a generous sum of eighty-thousand gold to compensate them for¡ª¡± ¡°Cut the shit,¡± Donovan snapped. The glare in his eyes was enough to make Abram recoil in his chair. The man could be so terrifying when upset. It wasn¡¯t cowardly to fear him¡ªit was intelligent. Abram had an excellent survival instinct, and right now his was telling him to keep his mouth shut. ¡°The girl and her dad don¡¯t want your Gods-damned money. Do you understand? They want you to leave them alone. You can talk all the garbage you want, but that sad excuse of a man, Varsh, tried to kidnap and sell her. And you know it¡¯s true, and I know it¡¯s true, so you can spout whatever rehearsed lines you want, but save it for the mirror. I¡¯m not listening.¡± ¡°I hear you,¡± Abram said softly, trying to bring down the temperature a bit. ¡°Do you? Because we¡¯re not going to agree on anything, it seems. So why not just tell me what you want so I can get out of here?¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll just cut straight to the chase, then. The Royal Roses wants payment for their losses. Five-million gold and eight pieces of gear crafted by Alixa, and also an additional two-million gold for Varsh¡¯s regrowth treatment.¡± At this, Donovan released a bout of scornful, mocking laughter. ¡°Oh? They¡¯re so sad about the lives that were lost, are they? So sad that some gold and gear will make them all forget?¡± In a hideous display of disrespect, he turned his head and spat¡ªactually spat¡ªon Abram¡¯s priceless carpet. ¡°You make me sick. If someone from my guild was killed, you¡¯d pay in blood.¡± ¡°Well, Donovan, that won¡¯t be necessary this time. It¡¯s either that or war. Plus, you get to keep the girl, so it¡¯s not a bad deal. They¡¯re not demanding her or anything.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not property, Abe. This is why me and you could never be friends. The way you look at the world, I swear¡­but fine.¡± He angrily waved his hand. ¡°You¡¯ll have your gold. And your gear. Just keep away from the kid and her father. Are we done here?¡± ¡°There is¡­one more thing.¡± ¡°What now?¡± A nervous agitation quickly rose in Abram. This was the part of the conversation he¡¯d most been dreading. Were it up to him, he¡¯d not even bring it up. Regrettably, he had no choice but to voice the will of his alliance in this matter. He really, really didn¡¯t want to. Donovan Iseldar was a man who was extremely protective not just of his people, but of the people those people cared about. Even still, this last bit was a requirement. There would be no room for negotiation or discussion. ¡°The son of that man who was killed¡ªZachys Calador,¡± Abram said cautiously. Donovan lifted his chin and narrowed his eyes. He leaned forward in a way that made Abram reflexively wheel himself back a few inches in his seat. ¡°Okay, Donovan, before¡­just before I say anything, you have to remember that this isn¡¯t from me. I¡¯m not the one who wants to say this.¡± ¡°Say what?¡± he demanded to know. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you after you agree not to hold me personally responsible.¡± ¡°Fine. Say it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s one thing for us to settle a blood-dispute between guilds with gold and equipment, but a guild-less boy who attacks a lieutenant is a sign of disrespect that no amount of coin can compensate. Now, officially, for the sake of Varsh Gellor¡¯s dignity, your officer, Alex, is the one who everyone is publicly blaming for the uh¡­the amputation. But privately? Sadly, there was a witness across the hall who saw it happen as she was fleeing for her life, and her story made its way to us, and it¡­it has spread far and wide. So, basically, everyone in pretty much every guild knows that the boy, at a mere level 3, is the one who cut the Royal Roses¡¯ lieutenant¡¯s hand off. Even if no one would dare speak it out loud to sully his dignity. Varsh is never going to forgive him.¡± ¡°And?¡± Donovan growled. ¡°And¡­he¡¯s going to have to be dealt with. He¡¯s not one of yours, so you can¡¯t¡ª¡± Donovan stood up out of his seat, and with a swiping motion of one of his hands, he knocked his two gauntlets onto the floor. Then, Abram watched in stunned silence as Donovan picked up his entire desk in his massive, plate-armor-covered arms, still with its computer, monitor, office supplies, and personal items stuffed inside drawers. With a low grunt, he whirled his body around in a half-circle, launching the entire thing out of the window with a tremendous crash of shattered glass. Abram stared in horror as his expensive office furniture plunged down over 78 stories to where it would almost certainly be smashed into hundreds of pieces. He just desperately hoped it didn¡¯t land on anyone, as most salvaging and repairing spells acted wonky when the object was covered in blood. ¡°Donovan!¡± he shouted. ¡°You cannot disrespect me this way.¡± ¡°That so, huh? And what are you going to do about it, Abram?¡± Abram backed away fearfully, getting out of his seat and taking several steps backwards until he was nearly pressed against the wall. Donovan followed him and pushed his index finger into his chest. It hurt as though he were level-1 and it was the bladed end of a dagger. ¡°Leave. Him. Alone.¡± ¡°I am not doing anything,¡± Abram said. It was the truth, too. ¡°This isn¡¯t about me. Gods, you think I wouldn¡¯t just let him go if I could? And why do you even care? Have you ever even met the kid?¡± ¡°No, but Alex swears he¡¯s going to be one of my mine someday, so until I can judge him for myself, an attack on him is an attack on me.¡± ¡°I literally can¡¯t stop it even if I wanted to. This is just something that¡¯s happening. They¡¯re going to kill him whether you like it or not. He disrespected a lieutenant of the Royal R¡ª¡± ¡°Of a fake bullshit guild!¡± Donovan roared. For a moment, it looked like the furious guild-leader was going to strike him, but he appeared to settle for sending his fist crashing through the wall next to Abram¡¯s face. ¡°If you hurt him, I¡¯ll come back here and rip one of your arms off. And by that, I mean it literally. I mean I¡¯m literally going to actually grab your hand, just like this¡±¡ªwith his free hand, he squeezed Abram¡¯s¡ª¡°and then I¡¯m going to yank it off, tearing it like meat off a bone.¡± ¡°Please, stop,¡± Abram begged. ¡°I literally have no control over what happens to him. I can promise you I won¡¯t do a gods-damned thing. If anything happens, it won¡¯t be because of what I did. Don, please. I¡¯m telling you the truth.¡± The man released a loud, drawn-out growl, before spinning around, marching over to where Abram¡¯s desk used to be, retrieved his gauntlets and helmet, and then barged out of the room, slamming the door shut with such force that two posters and a picture of Abram¡¯s family fell off the wall above it, shattering the picture frame. It also caused a potted plant to tip over off a cabinet on the complete opposite corner of the office room, spilling filthy soil onto his Gods-damned Elvish carpets. ¡°Animal!¡± Abram screamed at him furiously about five minutes later when he was nowhere in range to hear it. ¡°That¡¯s right, run away like a bitch!¡± Fuming, embarrassed, and literally thirsting for blood, Abram signaled one of his secretaries to get her gods-damned ass in here immediately. ¡°Zachys Calador!¡± he shrieked, as his mind flooded with the images of his ruined furniture, the mud, the actual fucking mud on his carpets¡­he seethed uncontrollably. ¡°Ah¡­yes, Gespon the Virtuous?¡± the woman asked nervously, clearly frightened of him. Why, though? He wasn¡¯t going to hurt her. He wasn¡¯t a maniac. Sure, he was a little unhinged for the moment, but it wasn¡¯t like he was a threat to his own people. Didn¡¯t this idiot know that? Abram licked his lips. ¡°I want him dead immediately. And I want it to be one of us who does it. But you don¡¯t speak a word of this to anyone. The GSG can¡¯t be allowed to trace it back to me. I want revenge, Gods-dammit! Make it painful, too. I don¡¯t care how long it takes. Hunt him to the end of days!¡± The woman stared at him in stunned silence. ¡°As you command, Gespon the Virtuous.¡± His dignity soiled, his honor tarnished, and his precious furniture ruined¡ªof course Abram would seek whatever revenge he could safely get away with. Now he was pissed off. He was really, really pissed off. So you know what? Fuck the God Slayers Guild and fuck Zachys Calador, whoever the hell that even was. No one¡ªno one¡ªgot to just come in here, in his office, and do this to him. With that, he stormed out of the room and headed up to his bathing pool. He needed to warm up in order to cool off. ****** ¡°It¡¯s going to be all right,¡± Mr. Oren said to her. ¡°Trust me. I know the heart of an adventurer.¡± Kalana didn¡¯t mean to be so skeptical. It was just that she missed Zach, and the guilt of getting to come all the way out here to this literal paradise island was starting to eat her up inside. Also, she worried about him, because the stuff she liked best about the jerk was also the stuff that made her most worried about him. He didn¡¯t always make the best choices, and Mr. Oren was saying that he was going to be going off on his own with that cute little kitty who, let¡¯s be honest, also seemed like kind of an enabler. ¡°This is quite beautiful,¡± she heard her father say. She sat next to him in the carriage, and Mr. Oren was to her left. There were no DEHVs allowed on these lands or electric vehicles of any kind. There was only a single, vast, winding road in what was otherwise an endless ocean of green, grassy hills and fields of flowers. The only method of travel was either by walking or via horse-drawn carriage. It was kind of enjoyable after the exhaustive pace of travel she¡¯d endured to get here. First, she¡¯d been hurried aboard a six-hour flight. Then, before she could even stretch her legs, she¡¯d found herself whisked through an airport and into a DEHV, which had only served the purpose of driving her to a fancy-looking speedboat. Only now did she come to find out that they¡¯d taken her all the way to an island off the north-western coast of South Bastia. She¡¯d never been to the southern continent before. It, along with North Bastia, formed what other races referred to as ¡°the empire of humanity,¡± but what was in actuality a bunch of autonomous regions controlled by the guilds. And so, here she was, making her way along a narrow road that winded off and about in seemingly bizarre directions. There were also mobs here, too: tons, and tons, and tons, and tons, and TONS of mobs. Some were stationary, others roamed in packs, and a few were even flying in the sky above her. Everywhere she looked there were mobs. In fact, if either the horse¡ªor a person¡ªwere to steer off the path just a few feet in any direction, Mr. Oren had claimed it might draw their aggression and cause them to attack. One in particular caught Kalana¡¯s notice: it was a giant feathery bird with the shape of a muscular human¡¯s body. The creature walked upright, and it carried a katana in each one of its hands. Its face was also distinctly avian, though it also somehow rocked a human-looking six pack of abs. Above its head were the unmistakable words: Level 27. ¡°Frrragh!¡± it cried, walking back and forth in more or less a straight line. ¡°Frrragh!¡± It was amazing, but it also made her sort of sad, because Zach would¡¯ve lost his mind if he¡¯d seen this place. She wished he could. It wasn¡¯t fair that he didn¡¯t get to come here with her. But Mr. Oren still seemed insistent that everything was going to work out all right. ¡°Those are called Avislicers,¡± Mr. Oren said, as if noticing her watching the creature. ¡°You¡¯ll be killing them soon enough.¡± Kalana widened her eyes. ¡°It looks so dangerous.¡± ¡°Not as dangerous as you,¡± he assured her. ¡°Is this how¡­how your guild levels up? Do you guys come here and kill these things?¡± ¡°No. We do things the way we¡¯re making Zach do them.¡± Now that, she found to be confusing. But before she could speak a word, she heard a grunt¡ªno, a whimper from her father. He was in tears. Had something happened? ¡°Dad, what¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked. He wiped his eyes. ¡°I know this place.¡± ¡°You do?¡± Mr. Oren smiled. ¡°You finally remembered, Your Majesty? So, the rumors I heard were true.¡± ¡°Remembered what? What rumors? What¡¯s going on?¡± Her father, still wiping his eyes, said, ¡°I was only two or three when I saw the paintings. It was so long ago, but I thought I¡­I thought this place looked familiar. This island, this was one of ours, wasn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°How¡­how did you come to possess it?¡± ¡°It was given to us as a gift for saving a certain guild-leader¡¯s life from certain death. It was an act of generosity rarely seen from the so-called ¡®guilds¡¯ that rule over Galterra. The man was a genuinely kind soul who himself had inherited it through similar means. At any rate, it¡¯s no surprise his guild was wiped out. He was too kind for politics.¡± ¡°That¡¯s amazing,¡± her father whispered. ¡°Elvish hunting grounds. I can¡¯t believe with my own eyes¡­to see this!¡± ¡°It¡¯s yours now,¡± Mr. Oren said. At this, both she and her father gasped. ¡°What?¡± Kalana asked, more loudly than she intended. ¡°It belongs to you two. We¡¯re returning it. This is where you¡¯re meant to grow stronger. All we ask is that when the world needs you, you be there. Your bloodline has power beyond what any human is capable of. That¡¯s probably why we¡¯ve hunted your kind for so long. Consider this gift a sign of goodwill.¡± Kalana shuddered at the sheer amount of land and life and spawn points all around her. And this was only a tiny part of it! The other half of the island, as she¡¯d heard on the way here, was covered in a giant forest. She was willing to bet there¡¯d be plenty of monsters to hunt in there as well. ¡°I wanna show this to Zach! He would be screaming at me right now. He¡¯d be saying, ¡®Kal! We¡¯re gonna get so powerful!¡¯ I don¡¯t see why¡­why we couldn¡¯t take him.¡± ¡°Because he¡¯s not you,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°His needs are different than your needs.¡± Kalana sighed. ¡°I know, but¡­but what if that man comes back for him?¡± ¡°Who, Varsh?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Mr. Oren patted her knee. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Kalana. Zach won¡¯t even be in Whispery Woods anymore, so they¡¯d have to actually be looking for him to find him. And why would they? To them, he¡¯s a nobody. They don¡¯t want anything from him. In fact, they probably don¡¯t even know he¡ªah, excuse me one second, I have a call.¡± Mr. Oren reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. ¡°Hello? Ah, boss,¡± he said happily. ¡°Yes, she¡¯s here with me. And her father. Huh? Wait, who?¡± His eyes narrowed. ¡°No, of course he¡¯s not. I sent him on¡­wait, what about him? Him? Why, what did he do wrong? Wait, so it¡¯s just to spite us?¡± Mr. Oren rubbed his forehead as if stressed. ¡°Oh, shit.¡± Chapter 15: Falling Behind Chapter 15: Falling Behind With a final look at the apartment complex he¡¯d lived in since he was a small child, Zach unchained his silver and gold bicycle from the guardrail just off the sidewalk in front of the building, then chucked both the chain and his solar-powered DigiCombination lock into the top pouch of his backpack before zipping it shut and slipping it over his shoulders. ¡°Ready to go?¡± he asked the cat. ¡°Yes! Now we go chase ball!¡± Fluffles replied enthusiastically. Zach wheeled his bike onto the sidewalk, then threw his legs over the seat. He reached down to pick up Fluffles and put him in the basket, but the cat didn¡¯t seem to need any help; he simply hopped up into the air in a way that made it seem effortless and landed on his own inside the basket. It made Zach wonder just how high the cat could actually jump. Probably a lot higher than me, he thought. Gripping both handlebars, Zach hesitated for just a brief moment as it fully dawned on him that this really was it: this really was the end of his life as a citizen of Whispery Woods. He¡¯d left almost all of his and his father¡¯s possessions in the apartment, and since his dad had been living paycheck to paycheck, there was really nothing of any great value for him to inherit. Sure, he could go through the process of taking control of his father¡¯s bank accounts but, at most, he knew there was only a few-hundred gold in the man¡¯s savings¡ªif even that much. Retrieving it would take weeks if not months, and he wanted to be far, far away from this place by then. Besides, he didn¡¯t need it, thanks to his unexpectedly loaded science teacher. Mr. Oren had given him five-thousand gold before leaving with Kalana¡ªand what¡¯s more, he¡¯d even called it ¡°starter cash.¡± Imagine that! Five-thousand gold as mere ¡°starter cash.¡± Seriously, just how rich was the guy? This was more money than Zach had ever even seen before. In fact, he¡¯d have to stop off at a bank eventually and store some of this in his account. It was just too much to have on him at once. What if he dropped it by mistake? The thought caused him to remove his wallet and glance inside just to make sure it was all still there. In terms of quantity, there were only a handful of coins within, but three of the coins were a bit shinier and larger than the others, and on the back of these three was the number 1000, and on the front was the shimmering, dignified image of King Peter II, a man even the enemies of the Guild of Gentlemen fondly regarded. Alex couldn¡¯t help but take one out and examine it with disbelief. It was so rare to see one of these. It was the second-highest denomination after the 5000 coin. If there was one single thing in this entire damn world that the guilds were actually able to unify and agree on, it was anything that had to do with currency. When it came to anything else, they were basically a bunch of tribes who couldn¡¯t agree on how to tie a knot. But on currency? Not only were they unified, but they were so unified and so organized that human gold was the worldwide standard to the extent that, even in the six continents humans were currently barred from entering, the gold coin standard was still the coin of choice. Each and every year, the guilds unanimously voted to continue funding the independently run coin-minting press, ensuring that humanity had at least one thing it could do right. My dad worked his whole life for these little coins, Zach thought, flipping it over a few times before stuffing it back inside his wallet and returning it to his pocket. And he left the world with barely any more than he¡¯d had when coming into it. The thought made him a bit sad, and not for the loss of any meaningful inheritance, but because his dad had lost the love of his life and had spent the rest of his days working and drinking in a meaningless existence that ended simply by virtue of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I¡¯m so sorry, Zach thought. I don¡¯t blame you for anything. I love you, dad. Rest in peace, old man. There was still a blood stain on the sidewalk outside the apartment building¡¯s entrance where he¡¯d fallen, but at least his body had been put to rest. Zach had decided not to hold a funeral as no one would have shown up and it would have only tethered him here even longer, as it would require him to fill out paperwork and begin the whole process of reclamation. ¡°It okay, Zach,¡± Fluffles said, as if noticing the stain on the sidewalk Zach was staring at. ¡°Your daddy eating chicken up in the sky. I promise.¡± Zach chuckled. ¡°Thanks, little buddy. All right, let¡¯s get the hell out of here.¡± Finally ready to leave the world he knew behind, Zach began to pedal. The bike immediately darted forward, and with a surprised inhalation of breath, he took off at a speed that was far faster than he¡¯d intended. The wind picked up and beat against his shirt and Fluffles¡¯ fur as the two of them zipped along the sidewalk, making their way past the four other apartment buildings on his street. He was going so fast that, before he even had the chance to slow down, he had already approached the four-way intersection at the end of his block. Thank the Gods, however, that the light changed and the crossing barrier disappeared, as he would have slammed directly into the reddish-brown energy field and been thrown off the bike; instead, he merely soared across the road and onto the next street, the bicycle giving a little judder as its front wheel reached the tiny incline between the street and the sidewalk. So this is what 3 strength and 2 speed can do, Zach thought, amazed. He wasn¡¯t even using his full strength, either. If not for the fact he was biking through a city, he could likely go twice as fast. He wondered what would happen if he were wearing Mr. Oren¡¯s lab coat. Would he then be able to bike faster than a DEHV at max acceleration? He also kind of wondered which stats actually contributed more to how fast he could move: strength or speed. Slowing down, he decided to ask Fluffles. ¡°Hey,¡± he said, shouting to be heard over the general city noise and the wind blowing into his face. His ears flapping, Fluffles meowed in reply, and so Zach continued and asked, ¡°Which stat is more important for how fast you can ride a bike or run? Strength or speed?¡± Fluffles again meowed, but this time he added, ¡°Why I know? I can¡¯t ride bike or do human walking.¡± With a sigh, Zach decided to revisit the topic later. For now, he kept his focus on the area in front of him, having to swerve around several people who seemed intent on getting in his way. It was around two hours before noon, and the overcrowded city was already getting into full swing. It reminded him of everything he hated about Whispery Woods. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Since only two-and-a-half weeks remained before the official start of summer, more and more people were getting out and about. It required him to move a good deal slower once he¡¯d gotten off some of the residential streets and began passing the commercial ones. These, unfortunately, were simply unavoidable. In one such circumstance, such as the street he now attempted to amble his way down, there were so many people active that Zach had to actually get off his bike and manually wheel it over and across the pedestrian crosswalk. This, as an avalanche of people cramped him in so tightly that, one after the next, clueless, selfish pedestrians bumped rudely into him without so much as a mumble of apology. As a general rule of thumb, the closer one traveled to the Bridge of Torment, the busier and more crowded the streets became. In terms of physical distance, Zach guessed that, with his newfound strength, he could bike to the foot of the bridge in under twenty minutes. That was just a guess, of course, and again: that was in terms of distance. But with overcrowded streets and constant energy fields impeding his movement? He¡¯d be lucky to get there in under an hour. And as things were turning out, even that had been more wishful thinking than reality. I won¡¯t be missing this place, that¡¯s for sure. The noise level on commercial streets was obscene, with DEHVs honking and drivers screaming, angry customers throwing bread at merchants while claiming it was stale, peacekeeper sirens going off like a symphony, children crying, and music blasting from the storefronts in an attempt to attract the attention of customers. One merchant was even on a megaphone announcing heavily discounted sneakers, while a giant, obtrusive wagon that sold barbequed pork took up half the sidewalk; the smell of the meat wafted into the air along with the smoke from the barbecue. And yes, of course, Fluffles required him to stop for that. ¡°Pork! Zach, buy. Zach buy now!¡± he begged. ¡°There¡¯s like a million of these on the way to the bridge.¡± ¡°No! This one. I behaved today! I should have pork. This is best one. Please. I will be a good cat.¡± ¡°But there¡¯s literally like ten of these every¡ª¡± ¡°Zaaaaach!¡± ¡°Ugh, fine.¡± Zach didn¡¯t think pork was all that great for cats, so he only let him have a little. Still, Fluffles seemed so happy that it was hard to refuse. Of course, Zach probably should have refused, because by the time he¡¯d waded his way through the crowds to the very next food stand, Fluffles went back to begging for more¡ªthe same for the one after that, the one after that, and so on and so on until Zach just learned to ignore it. ¡°Zach is the same as Peter IV!¡± Fluffles whined after they¡¯d passed a cotton candy merchant. He meowed angrily from within his basket. ¡°Are you for real?¡± ¡°Yes! Zach the same as Peter IV!¡± ¡°From what I learned in history class, I think he did a lot worse than refuse to give his cat cotton candy.¡± ¡°Zach and Peter IV the same! Fluffles never ask for anything again.¡± ¡°Whatever.¡± Despite his promises to the contrary, Fluffles did, in fact, ask for something again, and by the time Zach had managed to power the two of them three-quarters of the way the bridge, he¡¯d actually gotten suckered into buying Fluffles an ice cream cone. For this, the point in dexterity he¡¯d gotten really paid off, as he¡¯d had to steer the bike with one hand and hold the cone for Fluffles in the other. It also helped that he was still basically walking and not pedaling. Between the hordes of people and slow-to-change traffic lights, the journey out of Whispery Woods was bad enough. But it didn¡¯t help that every time he got stuck behind an energy barrier at an intersection, every child and their mother had to pet Fluffles, who seemed to love soaking up the attention. He¡¯d even called Zach ¡°rude and mean¡± when Zach started to pretend not to hear the sounds of, ¡°Ooh, look at the pretty kitty!¡± Or, ¡°Mommy, look! It¡¯s a kitty in a basket!¡± Eventually, though, Zach finally managed to arrive at the foot of the Bridge of Torment, which led across the Leviathan River. It had taken two full hours, and according to his new phone, it was now just a few minutes past noon. With the sun bright in the sky above him on a beautiful, cloudless, late-spring day, Zach noticed that the lights on the giant silvery bridge were either turned off or could not visibly be seen. Escaping one last slow-moving group of people, Zach navigated him and Fluffles onto the bridge in the bike lane on the right side for those leaving; across from him was a similar lane for those arriving. Filled with two hours of pent-up frustration, he gripped his handlebars more tightly, gave a quick word of warning to Fluffles, and then he took off like a missile, pedaling for all he was worth on what was finally a clear, open stretch of road that began on an incline before leveling off. The blast of wind was even more intense than it¡¯d been when he¡¯d first started pedaling down his home street. With the sun shining on his back, a rush of pure excitement filled his entire being as he realized he was finally escaping the hell that was Whispery Woods. This was no longer an idea, but a reality. He was leaving and never coming back! Looking over the railing just a few feet to his right, he could see the clear blue river water far below him that had miraculously remained unpolluted despite bordering such a filthy city. Across the two-lane road and far to his left, he could just make out the reservoir where he and Kalana had discovered the plague biter and toadfeet spawn. Seeing it made him feel just a pang of nervous sadness in his belly, as it reminded him of how much he missed her. Even as he rocketed the two of them across the bridge, he risked lifting a hand from the left handlebar so that he could point it out to Fluffles. ¡°That¡¯s where we found it!¡± he shouted. ¡°The spawn point!¡± ¡°Why sound so sad?¡± Fluffles shouted back. ¡°I¡¯m worried about her. Kalana, I mean.¡± ¡°I check for Zach because he give ice cream.¡± ¡°Check? Check what?¡± Fluffles began to behave oddly. For a reason Zach could not understand, he spoke Kalana¡¯s name, over and over. ¡°Kalana¡­Kalana¡­Kalana¡­¡± ¡°Fluffles, what¡­?¡± Slightly more than halfway across the bridge, he looked over his shoulder to ensure no other bikes were coming and that he wouldn¡¯t hold anyone up, and then he squeezed the brakes. ¡°Fluffles, what¡¯s going on with¡ªwhat the hell?¡± About fifty tiny, grain-of-sand-sized purple dots were floating above Fluffles¡¯ head, and his eyes were now completely closed. ¡°Fluffles, h-hey!¡± Zach called. ¡°What¡¯re you doing? Are you okay? Fluffles, hey! Answer me, little buddy.¡± Becoming alarmed, Zach thought of shaking him or something, but thankfully, just before he¡¯d begun to panic, the purple dots disappeared, vanishing into thin air, and Fluffles eyes opened. Then, cheerfully, he said, ¡°I find Kalana.¡± ¡°You¡­you what?¡± He meowed. ¡°Kalana level 15. I appraise.¡± Zach coughed, then gasped, then shook his head wildly. ¡°Wait, wait. Are you sure? How did you do that? How can you know? How is that even possible?¡± ¡°Kalana level 15. Zach only level 3.¡± ¡°The f¡­¡± How the hell is she level 15 already? That¡¯s impossible. Even as he denied it in his head, deep down, he had the sense it was most likely true. As much as he wanted to believe otherwise, he seriously doubted Fluffles was lying. Kalana was somehow, through some means, already level 15, and to be honest, it didn¡¯t feel good to hear that. It wasn¡¯t that he was upset she was leveling fast or anything¡ªit was more the sense of dread and the feeling of being left behind. If she really was level 15, then she was now probably powerful enough that she could kill him just by flicking his forehead hard enough. Would she even have any use for him anymore? What if he never caught up to her? She doesn¡¯t think like that. She wouldn¡¯t look down on me just because of that. Doesn¡¯t mean I wouldn¡¯t look down on myself, though. Zach growled out his frustrations and began to pedal like a madman, literally panting with exertion as he blasted across the remainder of the bridge. Even as his heart began to protest his pace, he continued to pedal with all his strength as he pulled off the Bridge of Torment and then hooked a sharp right so that he brought himself onto the pedestrian footpath that ran parallel to the Blood Rain Expressway. Just a few miles up the road would be the Cursed Grounds, a cute, small little town that Kalana¡¯s dad had taken them to a few times to buy candy from its imported goods shop. It was an important place to Zach because it represented the farthest away from the city he¡¯d gone since arriving here as a child. Breathing heavily and fueled with unease and disbelief, he gritted his teeth, ignored the muscle pain in his thighs, and he pushed himself onwards. I need to find that Gods-damned spawn! Chapter 16: Swordmaster Fluffles Chapter 16: Swordmaster Fluffles ¡°We don¡¯t allow animals in here,¡± said a grumpy-looking woman wearing a bowl-shaped hat. ¡°He¡¯s my emotional support animal,¡± Zach said back to her as he grabbed two bottles of water out of the middlemost of three coolers. The convenience store was small, had no air conditioning, and barely covered the essentials, but at least he was able to find a can of cat food¡ªwhich Fluffles insisted he be allowed to pick out for himself¡ªand a cheap, small, one-gold plastic bowl for the cat to drink out of. Though his backpack had little left in the way of space, he could at least fit that. ¡°I don¡¯t care what he is, dear. We don¡¯t allow animals in here.¡± ¡°Mean lady should leave store then!¡± Fluffles snapped. The woman clutched her mouth, and Zach groaned as she leapt backwards in fear, slamming her back into the wall behind her and knocking a bunch of magazines, smoke-sticks, and lighters off the shelves above her head. ¡°Did that thing just speak?¡± Zach rubbed his eyes out of frustration, which was a mistake, as he was sweating so profusely that the motion caused the sweat from his forehead to drip down and make them sting. Now, blinking away the pain, he tried to diffuse this situation before it got out of control. ¡°Look, ma¡¯am, I don¡¯t mean any disrespect, but¡ª¡± ¡°How can that cat speak?¡± she shouted. She was dressed in a blue, button-up dress with a flower pattern stitched into the sides, and she pointed at Fluffles as though to reassure herself that he wasn¡¯t a figment of her imagination. Zach felt bad for her. She was probably someone¡¯s mom. He didn¡¯t want to give her a heart attack. ¡°He just¡­¡± Zach stopped himself. He was too exhausted for his, and he had no interest in actually coming up with an explanation. So instead, he simply shrugged and said, ¡°He just can, okay?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± She inched her way forward, slowly as if rattled, then leaned over the counter, glared at Fluffles, and straightened her back. ¡°Well, we still don¡¯t allow animals in here. Even if they can¡­even if they can talk.¡± I don¡¯t have time for this, Zach thought with a moan. Kalana is so far ahead of me. ¡°Ma¡¯am,¡± he said, pointing to himself. ¡°I¡¯m not level 1.¡± Her face paled, and she asked, ¡°Sorry, what?¡± Disregarding Mr. Oren¡¯s warning, he tapped his shoulder four times so that his stats popped out right there in front of him in the store. There was no one else around, so unless this poor, middle-aged woman was secretly someone very powerful, Zach would be long gone before she could tell anyone about him. Her reaction was immediate and caused Zach to well up with guilt, but at least it did the trick. The moment she saw his level, her eyes widened, her mouth fell open, and she looked at him as if he were the most threatening person she¡¯d ever come across in her life. ¡°I meant no disrespect, sir,¡± she said to him. ¡°In fact, you can just go ahead and take whatever you want and leave. It¡¯s on the house today. Just please don¡¯t tell your guild I disrespected you, and you can have anything you want.¡± ¡°Hurray!¡± Fluffles cheered. Zach glared at the cat, and he hissed defensively as if sensing that Zach was displeased. Then, looking at the woman, he bowed his head to her. ¡°Please, I don¡¯t want anything for free. I¡¯m not here to steal from you. I just want to buy my cat lunch and get some water.¡± ¡°Y-yes, sir, of c-c-course, just please don¡¯t hurt me or nothin¡¯. I apologize if anything I said or did was disrespectful.¡± Zach dismissed his stats screen and moved his way through an aisle loaded with potato chips and candy until he pulled up to the counter. The look of fear in this woman¡¯s eyes made him feel an extreme bout of guilt. This was not right. What he had just done was not right, and he wouldn¡¯t do it again. That much, he promised himself. Mr. Oren would be appalled if he had observed Zach doing something like this just to save time on a silly argument. In the future, if someone had a problem with Fluffles, he would just have to wait outside, and that might upset him, but it was better than this. Placing his items on the counter, he watched as the woman¡¯s hands shook violently as she scanned each one, ringing him up. It was so bad that Zach had to twice more remind her that he was not at all here to harm her and that he, not she, was the one who was sorry. She merely insisted the mistake was her own and then resumed ringing him up. Small bowl, round ¨C 1g CatYums Chicken & Beef ¨C 1g Water, Bottled ¨C 1g Water, Bottled ¨C 1g ¡°Anything else y-you would like, s-sir?¡± she asked, her eyes dampening. Zach thought about apologizing yet again, but at this point, he realized the nicest thing he could do for her was to hurry up and leave. Before reaching into his wallet, however, an object off to the right side of her store caught his eye. Next to a small selection of shotguns and hunting rifles was a cheap, two-gold compass. An old type of compass, too. Like, the ones that weren¡¯t battery or solar powered and didn¡¯t have to be turned on or anything. He quickly hurried over, grabbed it, and then put it down with the rest of his items. Survival Incorp. Compass ¨C 2g ¡°That¡¯ll be 6 gold, sir, if you¡­if you feel like paying today.¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Do you have change of a 250?¡± The woman nervously opened her cash register. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Forgive me, but I don¡¯t. Please understand, we¡¯re a very small shop, and¡ª¡± Zach waved his hand at her. ¡°You know what? Just keep the change.¡± At this, every trace of fear in her reverted to shock as if a switch had been flipped. ¡°You¡¯re giving me 244 gold?¡± It was, to be sure, a financially irresponsible thing to do. Between his phone, the bike, and the overpriced city snacks, he¡¯d already spent somewhere around 750g, and so, with this, he¡¯d have already burned through a fifth of his money. Yet his guilt propelled him to slap down the 250g coin, grab his items, which she¡¯d already placed for him in a white plastic bag, wave goodbye, and then hurry out of the store, all while Fluffles continued to hiss and insult his manhood. ¡°Zach turn down free food and give away all our gold,¡± he muttered. ¡°Zach is being a bad human. Fluffles should be in charge of gold now.¡± Once outside of the store, Zach decided to wheel his bike to the next shopping center over before taking the bowl out of the bag and pouring half the bottle of water. Fluffles lapped it up, demanded the other half, and then feasted on the can of cat food the moment Zach opened it and placed it down for him. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s move on. Kalana¡¯s probably level 100 by now.¡± Fluffles hopped in the basket without saying anything. Even without any further hissing, meowing, or just plain words, he could tell that the cat was annoyed with him. It struck him as odd¡ªthat a cat would be so stingy and uptight about money. Of all the things he now had to worry about in his life, the last thing he would ever have expected to add to that list was having a cat nag him about fiscal responsibility¡ªoh, and did he ever nag! He only remained silent for about five minutes. Once Zach began pedaling and heading further into the town, the criticism began. ¡°We starve if Zach give all money to mean cat haters,¡± Fluffles muttered. ¡°Zach think gold come from tree.¡± ¡°Okay, that was my bad.¡± ¡°Zach show stats to mean lady, then give mean lady all our money.¡± ¡°Yeah, all right, that was stupid¡ªbut I didn¡¯t give her all of our money. My money.¡± ¡°Our money. It Fluffles too!¡± ¡°Fine, whatever.¡± Fluffles quieted for a short while, but then soon after came more of the muttering, his words only half coherent. ¡°Only buys Fluffles 1 can, but gives lady enough to eat chicken and tuna for so many cans that Zach never buy Fluffles.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Zach snapped. ¡°I said I¡¯m sorry. What do you want me to do, go back and rob the place?¡± ¡°Yes! Go steal it back. I help.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not doing that.¡± Fluffles hissed. ¡°Then give chin scratches.¡± ¡°Okay, fine, I¡¯ll do that.¡± It was extremely difficult to steer with one hand, and provide ¡°chin scratches¡± with the other, but Fluffles had somehow conned him into doing it. For the next half hour, he would threaten to ¡°tell Alex¡± if he stopped for even a second, purring all the while. Eventually, Zach held his ground and demanded to be allowed to straighten his back and ride comfortably. ¡°You can give other half of chin scratch later,¡± Fluffles said. Picking up the pace, Zach ignored his growing exhaustion and quickly left the town of Cursed Grounds behind them as he made his way through a moderately trafficked main road and into the next town over, as evident by a sign that read ¡°Welcome to Doom-Bound Keep.¡± The further Zach rode away from the city, the more the scenery changed. Now, he found himself frequently sighting more and more greenery with each passing moment. Several times now, he¡¯d passed entire wooded areas, and very often there were small sections covered in grass that separated the sidewalk from the street. On one particular stretch of road, the adjacent sidewalk had a small tree planted every few feet of distance. As Zach rode down a wide, open street with two-story, fully detached homes on both sides, he bubbled up with envy at the way suburbanites lived. There were children playing on grass-filled lawns outside while their parents lounged in reclining chairs, some sipping beers. Almost every home had trees planted outside, many had gardens, and quite a few even had pools in their fenced-off backyards. That last bit was breathtaking. These people¡­they literally had their own swimming pools. Zach had never even been in one before! He only ever swam in the Leviathan River. At the end of the block, Zach spotted an actual park with swings, seesaws, and monkey bars. The unfairness of it all was profound. Supposedly¡ªand Zach couldn¡¯t say for one-hundred-percent certainty if this was even true, it was just ¡°something he¡¯d heard¡±¡ªbut supposedly, Whispery Woods used to have community swimming pools, parks with grass and trees, and other open spaces, but as more and more people began to pack into the ever-more overcrowded hell of a city, they needed to build more and more housing, until eventually they were forced to build on the parks when other spaces were no longer available. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Can¡¯t believe some people have their own pool. The thought of going for a swim sounded so good right about now. Today was beginning to feel more like a mid-summer day, and Zach¡¯s entire shirt from the chest to the area around his belly button was drenched with sweat. He rarely exerted himself or exercised like this. He really hoped it increased his stamina like Kesten seemed to imply it would¡ªat least over time, anyway. He was working his butt off today, unlike Fluffles, who had somehow fallen asleep. It had been a good hour since he¡¯d last said anything. He¡¯d lain down in the basket, curling himself into a ball, and he¡¯d snoozed while Zach continued to sweat under the sun. The town of Doom-Bound Keep was apparently much bigger than the last one, because according to Zach¡¯s GPS, at the current pace he was traveling, it would still take another fifteen minutes before he was out of it. That was fine with him, of course. Anywhere was better than Whispery Woods. Well¡­the city, at least. Technically speaking, he was still in Whispery Woods, as Whispery Woods was the name of an entire region and not just the city. But no one really thought of it that way. Whenever someone said ¡°Whispery Woods¡± in a conversation, they were almost always talking about the city. ¡°Stop over there!¡± Fluffles shouted, startling Zach. He hadn¡¯t even known the cat was awake. ¡°What¡­what¡¯s going on?¡± he asked. Rather than give him an answer, Fluffles hopped out of the basket even as the bike was still in motion, then ran off towards a massive field on the edge of town. ¡°Fluffles!¡± Zach called after him. ¡°What in the hell are you doing? Where are you¡ª? Hey, Fluffles!¡± He watched helplessly as the black-and-white, amber-eyed cat scuttled off on his own. He hopped up a small incline then slipped underneath a torn portion of a large fence that ran all the way around the field and allowed entry from only one side. The side in question was itself roped off by a metal chain, above which was a sign that read: No bicycles or other vehicles allowed in park. Zach swore under his breath as he brought his bike as close as he possibly could before having to dismount. Taking off his backpack and holding it in front of him, he unzipped the second pouch to grab his lock and chain¡ªbut then paused as, off to his right, he saw a cluster of other bikes, some upright, and a few lying down on their sides. That by itself wasn¡¯t such a bizarre sight, but what made it odd was that literally none of them were locked up, and all looked far fancier and more expensive than his own. Not only that, but there were backpacks, some with cell phones plainly visible in little compartments, just¡­just lying there unattended. Who the hell would do something like that? Why would¡ª Wait, do people around here just not steal? The thought was so foreign to him that the shock of it almost caused him to forget all about Fluffles. Where he came from, if you left your bike unlocked, there wasn¡¯t even a ¡°chance¡± it would get stolen: it would get stolen. There were no ifs or buts about it. Someone was coming to take it from you. But out here, it looked like people could just plop their personal belongings down without fear or concern that someone would make off with their property. Wanting to hurry after Fluffles, Zach groaned with uncertainty, then decided to just let his bike fall to the pavement in front of the park¡¯s entrance. If nothing else, his bike was clearly the least appealing to any would-be thief. If someone did come around looking to scoop up a new bike, they wouldn¡¯t choose his. As for his backpack, however, there was no way he was leaving that behind. He didn¡¯t care how ¡°safe¡± this town was: some habits were with you for life. Running onto the field, Zach was both impressed and stunned by how large, beautiful, and out of the ordinary¡ªat least to him¡ªit was. It was a massive field of green, or rather several of them, with each one sectioned off by a wall of shrubbery at least twice his height. In one section, dozens of neighborhood kids kicked a ball around cones, playing a sport of some kind. In another, a varied group of people walked dogs on leashes. In a third, blankets with food and beverages dotted the field sporadically, as couples and families seemed to be enjoying their own separate picnics under the warm sun. There was a fourth, mostly empty field, which was just a patch of smooth grass save for a paved indent that ran around in something of a loop. Zach took this for some kind of running track like the one in his school¡¯s gymnasium but only about fifteen times the size. This was where he saw Fluffles. Even without the ability to make most facial expressions, and even from at least a thousand feet away, he could tell that the cat was annoyed with him and becoming impatient. The hell is he trying to do? Zach wondered, himself becoming annoyed. Already exhausted from the day¡¯s efforts, he panted and pumped his arms as he ran. The fact that the cat had been able to move from where he¡¯d jumped off to all the way over there in such a short period meant that, at the very least, he had the ability to run faster than Zach could pedal on his bike at max speed. In fact, he was starting to wonder if Fluffles could outrun a DEHV. The thought was somehow both scary and awesome at the same time. Upon reaching the cat, he bent over, sucking in air. Damn, he was tired. He couldn¡¯t wait to get home and shower and¡ª No, what am I thinking? I have no home to shower in. That¡¯s done. Only now, in his sweaty, damp clothing did he realize how difficult this was actually going to be. Still, he knew there was no other option. He couldn¡¯t even imagine the shame, loneliness, and self-hatred he¡¯d feel upon biking back to his apartment then showing up for school tomorrow morning, all alone, without Kalana, without his dad¡­no! It was this or nothing! ¡°Why you make me wait,¡± Fluffles complained. Zach, still bent over, held out a finger in a gesture for the cat to wait and give him a damn minute to catch his breath. Exhausted, he even sat on the grass, which felt so amazing and comfortable as he ran his hands through it. He couldn¡¯t believe how much he¡¯d missed out on while trapped in that gods-damned city. ¡°What¡­what are¡­?¡± He couldn¡¯t get the words out. He paused, panted, and tried to speak again. ¡°What¡­what are you doing, Fluffles?¡± The cat ran around in circles as if happy, then came forward and briefly brushed against him. Zach patted him, having no clue what was going on. Then Fluffles said, ¡°I am a good cat. I teach sword fighting to best friend.¡± Zach recalled hearing Mr. Oren saying something about that, but at the time, he¡¯d had too much going on to even begin processing it. Or maybe it was just that the idea was so damn unbelievable that his brain had tuned it out. Either way, he needed to hurry up and find that spawn. ¡°We need to get going. I¡¯m level 3. I need to start getting some damn experience.¡± ¡°Zach not realize how important it is to learn sword fighting. You learn how now.¡± Zach rolled his eyes. ¡°And you¡¯re going to teach me how to fight with a sword?¡± Fluffles meowed, which he took for a yes. ¡°Really, now?¡± Once again, the cat meowed happily. ¡°And what am I supposed to learn with? A stick?¡± At this, Fluffles sat down and closed his eyes. ¡°Fluffles craft.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to craft me a weapon? How?¡± ¡°Shh!¡± My Gods-damned cat is shh¡¯ing me, Zach thought in disbelief. This is my life now. Too exhausted to even bother to protest, he watched as Fluffles continued to sit there on the grass with his eyes closed. This continued for several minutes, during which time Zach decided to lie down on his back and close his eyes. It felt so good. He didn¡¯t even care that a few ants had crawled on his arms. He wasn¡¯t afraid of insects like Kalana was. He merely shooed them off. This feels nice. A moment from dozing off, Fluffles meowed. Zach ignored him. Then he hissed¡ªloudly. This time, Zach groaned and sat up. ¡°What now?¡± ¡°I finish! I make best friend special sword. Now you have to give me tuna and chin scratches and tell me how good I am.¡± ¡°What sword?¡± As if in answer to his question, there was a very bizarre-sounding pop in the air above him similar to piercing a balloon. Then, a literal sword fell down with a soft, barely audible thump on the grass in front of him. Mind-blown, Zach reached over and picked it up. It was heavy, the blade was actually sharp and made of steel, and though it had an ugly, light-brown hilt, it nevertheless looked brand new¡ªas though it had only been forged moments ago. ¡°How did you do it?¡± he asked, swinging it around in one hand, getting a feel for it. ¡°Just tell me that much. How did you possibly just do this?¡± ¡°It easy,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°My guild very high level. Members use guild workshop from anywhere.¡± ¡°What?¡± The cat didn¡¯t answer him, either because he didn¡¯t know how to explain it or because he didn¡¯t feel it was worth the time. It did confirm one thing, though: the cat, at least based on what he¡¯d just said, was also literally a member of the God Slayers Guild. He wasn¡¯t just a cat who was friends with and whose ¡°daddy¡± was in the GSG, but he himself was a member as well. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one was around, Zach brought out his stats and his inventory. There were now two entries, one of which was Frog Snax, which meant that, even though his Frog Snax was in his backpack, as long as his backpack was on his, well, back, it meant that it was in his inventory. Of course, while interesting, that was not what currently had his attention; no it was his newest entry that gripped his fascination. Tapping it with his free hand, he read the words that appeared. Crafted Sword of the Apprentice: crafted by Fluffles Ultdern 4-8 Physical Attack Damage Zach was so impressed that he now had his own sword¡ªhis own piece of equipment¡ªthat he almost didn¡¯t care that it had no stats on it and that it only did such a small amount of damage. ¡°I don¡¯t get how this works,¡± he said, removing his inventory screen. ¡°So, even if I had a million strength, this thing could only hit mobs for 8 damage?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Fluffles asked. ¡°That not true. Why you say that, Zach?¡± ¡°Well, because it says it only does 4-8 physical attack damage.¡± ¡°That mean if you have 1 strength.¡± ¡°If I have 1 strength¡­?¡± Zach¡¯s eyes widened in understanding. ¡°Ohh! Those numbers represent bare minimums. I get it. So if I was just a level-1 dude and I really slashed something good with this, it could do up to 8 damage, but it can go higher if I¡¯m stronger.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What about against people? Not that I ever want to do that. It¡¯s just that I noticed there aren¡¯t any damage numbers when a person hurts another person.¡± ¡°No damage numbers.¡± ¡°Yeah, but why?¡± The cat had no answer, and once again, it must¡¯ve been either because he didn¡¯t know or he didn¡¯t feel like saying right now. Oh well. He¡¯d figure that stuff out later. For now, he was just glad to finally have a weapon of his own. Zach, carrying the blade in his right hand, bent and unbent his knees, feeling far more invigorated. He felt like a real warrior now. He had his own, actual sword equipment. That meant he could use Wave Slash again if he wanted¡ªthough it would probably be best not to do it until he was sure he wouldn¡¯t pass out from E-debt. ¡°This is awesome, little buddy. My first piece of real equipment. Thank you. You are a good boy.¡± Fluffles meowed and then ran in a circle, which Zach took to mean he was happy. ¡°Now I teach sword fight!¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡­¡± Glancing up at the sky while being careful not to look directly into the sun, Zach could tell even without looking at his phone that it was at least three hours past noon. If he started practicing now, he might have to find a motel or something in town. Did he really have time for this? ¡°Are you sure we shouldn¡¯t do this later?¡± ¡°If Zach goes fighting mobs, Zach die without knowing sword fighting.¡± He sighed. ¡°All right. Teach me then, Fluffles. I¡¯ll try to learn as fast as I¡ª¡± An intense, unbelievable pain exploded in the right side of his face, and without understanding why or what happened, Zach simply crumpled to the ground. For a moment, all he could do was moan on the grass and rub his forehead where he¡¯d been hit¡ªor struck by something. He was confused. It felt like someone had just punched him in the face with all their strength. ¡°The¡­the hell just happened? What just happened?¡± he asked, his words starting off conversational but ending in a high-pitched shout. Fluffles meowed in a way that sort of came across as angry but more in a forced kind of way. ¡°Fluffles hit you with wooden sword. You need dodge. Stand.¡± Zach scrambled back to his feet, still rubbing the throbbing, likely bruised spot on his head. Fluffles claimed to have hit him with a wooden sword, but how the hell had he even held one? Or where was it? He was so damn confused he couldn¡¯t even understand what ¡°hit you with a wooden sword¡± even meant. And then he saw the shadow in the grass, and out of sheer reflex alone, he dropped to his knees as the sound of a whoosh from above him told him he¡¯d only just avoided being clocked a second time. To his bewilderment, he could now see a wooden sword floating all on its own where he¡¯d only just been standing. It disappeared after only a moment, though, and if Zach had not turned his head up when he had, he wouldn¡¯t have seen it at all. ¡°Fluffles, are you summoning things to attack me with?¡± ¡°I am a good cat. I am helping you be a good Zach.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a yes. You could give me a little warning next time before you¡ª¡± ¡°You hold wrong!¡± Fluffles shouted at him, jumping in the air and then meowing. ¡°Spread legs wider. Hold two hands. Bend knees.¡± Suddenly not wanting to make this adorable, obscenely powerful creature disappointed or angry, Zach obeyed, bending his knees, spreading his legs wider apart, and gripping his sword in two hands instead of one. ¡°Look,¡± Fluffles said. The wooden sword reappeared, and Zach nearly jumped backwards, but he stopped himself as he realized it was no longer moving in to strike him. Instead, it was striking the empty air in front of Fluffles. ¡°Do,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°Do?¡± ¡°Do!¡± Oh, wait, I get it. The wooden sword was making a repetitive, constant motion. It would pull back, turn horizontally so that the blade faced Zach, and then quickly strike upwards before disappearing, reappearing, and making the same exact motion again. Nodding, Zach bent his knees, pointed his blade forward, and then swung his arms upward, his blade making a satisfying whoosh with the motion. ¡°Again!¡± Zach repeated the strike. ¡°Again!¡± Breathing heavily, he went at it another time. ¡°Again!¡± And a fourth time. ¡°Again!¡± On the fifth time, the wooden blade reappeared, but it did so directly in front and above him. He briefly yelped in fear, but to his amazement, the motion of his own blade deflected it before it could strike him, and with slightly echoing clack, the wooden blade was cut in half, with both pieces flying off in opposition directions. ¡°Yay!¡± Fluffles cheered. ¡°Now we learn next strike.¡± ¡°I need a break.¡± ¡°No break!¡± Zach groaned. This was going to be a painful lesson. Chapter 17: The Way of the Sword Chapter 17: The Way of the Sword foj okqh vs0 8yg8cb job njyu ,lj Did that make sense to you? What you just saw written there? No, seriously, did it? I¡¯m referring to this: foj okqh vs0 8yg8cb job njyu ,lj Did that make sense to you? No? Oh, okay. Just checking. Because, cards on the table? It didn¡¯t make sense to Zach either, yet he was pretty sure it was his favorite color after a wooden sword materialized in the air behind him and walloped him over the top of his head so gods-damn hard that his dead father would now have to be resurrected just to feel it. He dropped straight down to the grass, or maybe it was straight up to the grass? He didn¡¯t know. The whole world was spinning. He couldn¡¯t even tell what direction he was facing. As far as he was aware, he was hanging upside down like a bat. ¡°Uh oh,¡± a voice said. ¡°I think I hit too hard. Zach okay?¡± He opened his mouth to reply, and then he immediately moved his hand to cover it as a wave of nausea brought him to the verge of vomiting out his breakfast. Somehow, he fought off the urge and waited for the sickness to subside¡ªand it did. All at once, too. Mere seconds ago, he¡¯d been doubled-over with queasiness, dizziness, and an ache in his head that was so bad he hadn¡¯t even begun to feel it yet, as it was one of those types of pain that had a delayed onset like when he¡¯d bump his head on something. There would be this brief moment between the bump and the agony. Except, this time, the pain did not come. I feel¡­actually okay, he realized. It occurred to him that he was now on his knees on the grass, and a dark green, sparkling combination of mist and steam was surrounding him like a blanket, one that was quickly thinning out and rising upwards as it faded out of existence. It both cooled and refreshed him. Behind the mist, Fluffles could be seen gawking at him from widened, amber eyes. ¡°You okay?¡± the cat asked. ¡°Y-yeah, what was that?¡± ¡°That Healing Mist. I can only do once a week. It my only heal.¡± The last remnants of the green mist thinned into nonexistence, and now Zach was once more assaulted by the intense heat from the bright, unrelenting sun. With a slow, deep breath, he cautiously got back to his feet, glad to see there was no dizziness or nausea. In fact, he not only felt fine, but he felt better than he had when waking up in the motel this morning. His aches and pains were all but extinguished and his tired, sore muscles refreshed. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s incredible,¡± Zach said, clenching and unclenching his fists. Only then did he realize that he¡¯d dropped his sword. He squatted down and grabbed it, then marveled at the fact that his bicep, shoulder, and back did not erupt in extreme discomfort as he swung it around a few times in the air in front of him. ¡°Zach¡­Zach mad at Fluffles?¡± He smiled at the cat. ¡°Nope. That was my fault. I was sloppy.¡± He gripped the blade with both of his hands and assumed a fighting stance. ¡°I¡¯m ready to keep going.¡± Fluffles meowed. ¡°Zach make his cat so proud. Good human.¡± Zach laughed at the compliment, then apologized to Fluffles for laughing. The cat seemed to intensely dislike being laughed at even if it wasn¡¯t malicious or intended to insult, mock, or embarrass him. It was something Zach had to constantly remind himself not to do. ¡°Let¡¯s keep going,¡± he said. Fluffles looked over his shoulder at their backpack, which was a few yards away. ¡°Snack first.¡± Zach wanted to argue, but given that Fluffles had just used some insanely awesome healing ability on him, he sort of felt like he¡¯d earned this one, and so he quickly jogged over to his backpack, unzipped the primary pouch, and removed the can of CatYums Chicken & Beef he¡¯d brought with him to the park, snapping open the top and setting it down for him. Fluffles made a loud, happy meow and scurried over to it, burying his nose inside the can and munching it up with an almost religious fervor. Zach smiled, glad to see him enjoying it. Yet he only half paid attention, as even while he watched the cat gobble it all down, in the back of his mind, he was deep in thought replaying every move he¡¯d learned, imagining scenarios in which each might be required. I can¡¯t believe how much progress I¡¯m making, he thought. For the past three days, he had returned to the field at the crack of dawn every morning with Fluffles, and the two of them had spent almost every hour of daylight going over a myriad of strikes, counterstrikes, and footwork. To Zach¡¯s surprise and joy, he discovered he had a genuine knack for swordplay. Fluffles himself had said so, and though initially, Zach thought the cat was just being a ¡°good buddy¡± and trying to be nice, the more he trained, the more he realized that he was selling himself short and that he clearly had a natural talent. He was absorbing information and memorizing movements so fast it amazed even himself. It reminded him of how quickly he had learned the toadfeet¡¯s movement patterns in the underground cavern. If he stuck with this long enough, he wondered how good he could actually become. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I¡¯m glad I let Fluffles convince me to stay, he thought. Their very first day here, Zach had been so excited about having a sword of his own that he¡¯d lost track of time, and he¡¯d allowed Fluffles to teach him strike after strike until the sun had begun to set in the sky. By this point, Zach had drenched himself in sweat so many times over that he¡¯d likely smelled worse than a dead animal. ¡°I guess we¡¯re stuck in this town for the night,¡± he¡¯d said, to which Fluffles hadn¡¯t seemed to care. ¡°We need to find a place to stay for the night, and I desperately need a shower.¡± Fortunately, according to his phone¡¯s GPS, there was a quaint, cozy little family-run motel not a five-minute walk from the park, and he¡¯d decided to try his luck there first before going somewhere farther away, which he had dearly hoped would not be necessary as, by this point, his legs and knees had become so sore that he hadn¡¯t even been able to pedal his bike, needing instead to wheel it away from the park. Ultimately, what should have been a five-minute walk¡ªand maybe less than half of that by bike¡ªhad taken almost a half-hour as Zach limped his way to the motel. Having parked his bicycle just outside the entrance, Zach had gone inside to book a room for the two of them. To his dismay, it had looked like luck would not be on his side, as with a sad but firm frown, the receptionist¡ªwho owned the business with her husband¡ªhad informed Zach that no animals were allowed due to the risk to their furniture. She¡¯d even gone on to say that she personally loved cats and had four of her own, but that this was purely a business decision. Zach had weakly turned around to leave, resigned to his fate, when Fluffles had spoken to the woman, causing Zach to moan in anguish; he had been far too fatigued to go through that whole thing again. Amazingly, however, this time around, there¡¯d been a completely different ending. Much like the woman had at the convenience store, the receptionist initially reacted with astonishment and disbelief. Yet, unlike the previous woman, after recovering from her initial shock, she¡¯d slowly begun engaging in a conversation with Fluffles, who whined innocently about how tired and exhausted the two of them were and how ¡°he was a good cat who won¡¯t hurt the beautiful lady¡¯s furniture.¡± That last line had seemed to do the trick. And so, after insisting she be allowed to introduce her husband and two young children to the ¡°amazing, miraculous talking cat,¡± Zach had simply left Fluffles down there with her and went up to the 50-gold-per-night room to take a shower. Fluffles hadn¡¯t seemed to mind, and he¡¯d spent almost an hour down there chatting away with the woman and her family, bragging¡ªactually bragging¡ªabout how good of a cat he was and how well behaved. Even as he¡¯d been walking up to the second floor of the three-floor motel, Zach had been able to hear four sets of voices all swearing that Fluffles was ¡°such a good cat¡± and ¡°the cutest of all cats.¡± ¡°Do you promise?¡± Zach could hear him asking. ¡°Fluffles is the best and cutest?¡± ¡°Yes! You¡¯re the prettiest little kitty.¡± ¡°Say again, human!¡± Zach had merely sighed, knowing this was going to go straight to his head. Because having spent some time with him by this point, he already knew that the praise from this family could¡ªand would-¡ªactually be raised in a future argument the next time they got into one. Zach had even been able to imagine it right there on the spot. At some point, the two of them would get into an argument, and as evidence of why Fluffles¡¯ position was correct, he would almost certainly mention the fact that that woman and her family had said he was the ¡°best cat in the world¡±, and therefore whatever they were arguing about didn¡¯t matter, because Zach must be wrong to disagree with ¡°the best¡± cat. It was going to be annoying but¡­but at least they¡¯d found a place to stay, and Zach had found a place to shower. As a sign of how much Fluffles had liked the woman and her family, he¡¯d gone out of his way to ask Zach to carefully open the latch on the window so that he could come and go as he pleased, which had been something Zach had intended to do anyway. In fact, not only had Fluffles opted not to break the window, he¡¯d even yelled at Zach for dripping too much on the bathroom floor after coming out of the shower. ¡°Zach make pretty nice lady¡¯s bathroom a swimming pool!¡± he¡¯d yelled. ¡°You make Fluffles look bad because I promise be nice to room. Why no wipe up water?¡± ¡°Little buddy,¡± Zach had said, draped in a towel, grunting between words. ¡°I can¡¯t even bend over or move right now.¡± Fluffles had hissed and unsheathed his claws. ¡°All right, fine.¡± With a burning soreness that followed each and every motion he made, Zach had needed to bend down, groaning, and dry the little bit of dampness that Fluffles had totally exaggerated about being left on the bathroom floor. Then, limping his way into bed, he¡¯d passed out asleep. When he awoke the next morning, well-rested and with his energy levels restored, he had been disgruntled to discover that, though he was no longer fatigued, his muscles were still very much sore and aching. Even still, he¡¯d wanted to get a move on so that the two of them could get to the next spawn point as soon as possible. Yet Fluffles had made a fuss, downright demanding they continue Zach¡¯s training for another day. At first, Zach had been reluctant to spend any more time¡ªlet alone an entire day¡ªback in the park practicing swordsmanship; he¡¯d been in an anxious rush to get going the following morning, but Fluffles was unusually adamant that they continue. The cat had even told him that if Zach continued to go after the ¡°shiny sky-ball,¡± he would just stay right there and Zach would have to go by himself. Somehow, he didn¡¯t think the cat was bluffing, and so, for the second day in a row, Zach had pushed his body and his muscles to the limit as he learned the way of the sword¡ªand he was glad that he had. It had been on this second day that he fully saw the fruits of his previous day¡¯s training. He¡¯d been stunned at how deftly he could now block and parry the attacks Fluffles had demolished him with the day prior, and what was more, he had even come up with a few new flourishes of his own. By the time the sun had set on the second day, Fluffles had not needed to ask twice to convince Zach to spend at least one more day training. And so now, with his sword gripped and ready to go, he waited for Fluffles to continue today¡¯s lesson. Yet, it appeared the cat had something else in mind, as he approached Zach and sat down on the grass just a few inches in front of him. ¡°Zach ready for test,¡± he said. ¡°Test?¡± Zach replied, becoming somewhat nervous. ¡°Yes. I give test.¡± ¡°What kind of test?¡± ¡°If Zach can survive five minutes with Fluffles, he ready to go chase ball again.¡± Zach blinked in confusion. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes. Zach has to last five minutes and then we go find spawn.¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Okay, well in that case, I accept.¡± He twirled the blade in his hands. ¡°How hard can that be?¡± Chapter 18: Five Minutes Chapter 18: Five Minutes As Zach steeled his resolve, ready to defend against whatever evil onslaught the cat had planned for him, he forced himself to remain focused and determined on the task ahead. He knew how easy it was to become overwhelmed with outside worries and fears. Well, more specifically one worry. For the past three days, there had been a single question that Zach could not get out of his head. It was something that had caused him to experience a constant state of agitation. It was also a question that the cat could easily answer but deliberately chose not to. And that question was the following: what level is Kalana now? No matter how many times he¡¯d asked, Fluffles would simply refuse to tell him. He even seemed to regret telling him the first time around, claiming he¡¯d had no idea Zach would get so emotionally bent out of shape over it. Or at least, that was the gist of what he¡¯d said. His literal words were something more along the lines of: ¡°I scratch if you keep annoying! Fluffles tired of hearing about Kalana level!¡± Ever since telling him she¡¯d hit level 15, Zach could not take his mind off the idea that he was falling further and further behind with each and every second that passed. Nevertheless, Fluffles had convinced him, admittedly for his own good, to spend several days learning how to use a sword. Given the results, he had no regrets in agreeing to do so. But now? Now it was time to move on. Now it was time to get back on the trail. And if surviving five minutes against Fluffles was what it would take for the two of them to hop on his bike and hit the road, then Gods damn it all, so be it. ¡°Just so we¡¯re clear,¡± Zach said to him, backing away and gaining some distance. ¡°You promise that if I make it five minutes without passing out, we can leave today?¡± ¡°And tuna,¡± he added. ¡°What about it?¡± ¡°Five minutes and 2 cans tuna.¡± Zach gave the cat a blank look. ¡°Seriously?¡± ¡°Yes! I want tuna and Zach pass test.¡± ¡°Fine, whatever. Let¡¯s just get this over with.¡± ¡°Okay, Zach ready?¡± ¡°Yup. Let¡¯s do it. Just make sure you don¡¯t start until the beep goes off on my phone.¡± ¡°No start until beep,¡± Fluffles agreed. Only a moment ago, Zach had programmed his phone to let off a beep in three minutes and a second beep exactly five minutes after the first, and then he¡¯d put the phone on speaker and laid it down on top of his backpack, which was on the grass not far from the two of them. Thus, once the first beep played, all Zach had to do was ¡°survive¡± for three-hundred seconds against his level-47 cat. What a world he¡¯d gotten involved in, huh? Fluffles spun around and ran a little bit farther away from Zach, then again faced in his direction. Zach, gripping his blade even more tightly, made sure to take deep, slow breaths in order to keep himself from becoming overly excited. He knew he could do this. He had to do this. He was tired of being level 3¡ªwhich was funny since there was a time in his life when being anything other than level 1 would¡¯ve let him die happy. I can¡¯t believe the direction my life has taken, he thought. It really was amazing. No, really, it was. Like, when he actually stopped and thought about it: it was absolutely, unquestionably bonkers. Just last week, his biggest worry in life had been whether or not he was going to be able to pass pre-calculus. And today? Today, his entire destiny now relied upon whether or not a literal talking cat who was also his swords instructor decided he was worthy of chasing after a glowing ball summoned by eating a snack that would lead him to a spawn point that was required to fight boss monsters alongside the girl he wanted to date, who¡¯d been separated from him because a slave-trading guild official whose hand Zach had chopped off had murdered his father via throwing him out of a window after figuring out Kalana was Elvish royalty and deciding to sell her for gold. Now, try saying all that out loud without taking a breath. Go ahead, try it. See? It can¡¯t be done. Just normal, everyday life troubles, he thought sardonically. All that really mattered, though, was Kalana. He was going to do whatever it took to see her again. He was going to be the man he had to be. He was done being the ¡°trash¡± of this world. Varsh was wrong about him. They were all wrong about him. These next five minutes would prove that. ¡°Beep!¡± the alarm chirped. ¡°Beep, beep, beep!¡± Five minutes starts now. Here we go! This was it. The timer had begun. Five minutes. Three-hundred seconds. He needed to pull through this at any cost. Gritting his teeth, he held his sword with his hands gripping the lower part of the plain brown hilt. His arms were half extended and his elbows bent, the blade pointed upwards. His left leg was forward and also bent, while he kept his right leg straight. He knew Fluffles was going to really bring it this time around. This was going to be way harder than everything he¡¯d faced up until now. I got this! Fluffles attacked immediately after the alarm played. Almost as soon as the sound came through from the phone, a wooden sword popped into existence out of thin air in front and slightly above Zach, moving all on its own. Angled horizontally, it took a fast, rapid-fire swing at his face. As if acting out of pure, learned reflex, Zach prepared to raise his sword to guard¡ªthen stopped himself. No! Not for this! Of all the things Fluffles had drilled into him during the past few days, some of the most important lessons that Zach had learned turned out to be things he¡¯d figured out completely on his own just by virtue of having experienced them. These ¡°hidden¡± lessons, as he¡¯d come to think of them, were obtained not by instruction but by suffering the consequences of not abiding them. And the first of these lessons was likely one of the most important: conserve your energy! Right now, the entire south-east of North Bastia was experiencing a punishing heat wave with temperatures even higher than they¡¯d typically be two months from now in the middle of summer. This, combined with Zach¡¯s less-than-stellar stamina, had made him come close to fainting on so many occasions yesterday morning and all throughout the day prior. But it was only through his constant gasping, panting, and light-headedness that he finally came to fully appreciate that his energy was a resource that needed to be spent wisely, and not every attack required him to guard with his blade. Some could be far more easily avoided with simple body movements¡ªsuch as this one. Bending his knees while leaning backwards, Zach easily slipped under the strike, then quickly pulled himself upright with minimal effort. The blade continued on with the motion, however, coming back around for a second lunge at his throat, this one off on an angle. Zach came into a half-squat while twisting his body to the side. The wooden sword swooshed by within just a few inches of distance; it was close enough that Zach could feel a tiny blast of air as it passed harmlessly before him. Once again, Zach was quick to straighten himself back into a fighting stance. So far so good, he thought. Just keep cool, use my best judgment, and don¡¯t be an idiot. The wooden blade pulled away somewhat, reorienting itself midair so that it faced upright. Then it soared forward, lifted upwards, and slashed straight down as if aiming for the top of his scalp. For this, Zach merely spun on his heels, putting himself well out of the way of the sword¡¯s path. But like before, the floating weapon came around for a second attempt, which resulted in Zach merely repeating his previous action in reverse with the same result. One attempt after the next, the wooden sword lashed out of him, and each time, Zach sidestepped, ducked, weaved, or otherwise leaned out of harm¡¯s way, all while using the bare minimum effort required. It was, in his own estimation, a very good start. ¡°Fluffles begin easy,¡± the cat said. ¡°Now go harder.¡± Don¡¯t listen to him, Zach thought. Don¡¯t let him rattle you. The threat, unfortunately, was not an empty one, because a second wooden sword materialized just to the side of the first. This new, second sword turned itself midair so that it pointed towards Zach, then plunged down as if dropped by whatever invisible force was holding it. For an instant, it looked like it was going to keep falling all the way down to the grass, but then, as if ¡°caught,¡± it came to a halt, hovering just above the ground. This, while the first sword remained pointed upright. For a brief moment, both of the summoned weapons remained unmoving, and Zach held his breath while waiting for something to happen¡ªand then, with two explosive, abrupt movements, both wooden swords came at him, with one attempting to strike his feet and the other attempting to slice vertically down on top of his head. Right away, Zach noticed that they were both moving at different speeds, which actually made this easier than it would¡¯ve been otherwise. Though it would be very, very brief, there would indeed be a delay in timing between when the first weapon would strike and when the second one would. This enabled Zach to duck down and deftly avoid the first. Immediately afterwards, he leapt into the air and tucked his knees into his chest, narrowly evading the second; this, he did all while he continued to grip his own sword tightly in both hands. So far, so good, he told himself. I really think I got this. Both wooden blades moved away from him, with the second blade flying upwards and regaining altitude until it returned to being at even height with the first sword. Then, they split apart, with one traveling through the air until it was on Zach¡¯s left side and the other moving along to his right. With the two summoned weapons now to each of his sides, they both came at him yet again. The one on the left reached him first. It struck downwards and diagonally for a slash that, had it been from a genuine steel blade, could likely cut him open from the shoulder to his neck. But given that Zach¡¯s stance had his own sword out in front of him, blade pointed upwards, it made for an easy attack to guard against. Rather than make a large, tiring movement needed to parry, Zach simply rotated his wrists to the left so that his own blade flipped over onto its side, deflecting the strike. Then he twisted his wrists in the opposite direction, a small clack resounding in the air as he just as easily deflected the second wooden sword. Fluffles meowed impatiently, and as if deciding to take this more seriously, Zach watched as both wooden swords rose high into the air. Now, they came soaring down on him from two opposing angles that would make dodging impossible. Remaining calm, Zach swung his blade upwards at the first, splitting it in half with a clack, then back downwards, slicing the second and shattering that one as well. No sooner had those two fallen than three more came flying at him, all three seeming to appear in the air at the same time, already attacking. With a grunt, Zach jumped backwards to gain some distance and give himself a few extra moments to react. The movement, however, had the unintentional¡ªbut fortunate¡ªeffect of causing the three to bunch up in a single-file line instead of remaining fanned out. And in this single-file line, they continued to come at him, one by one. This made it much simpler. With three precise, lightning-quick strikes, the grassy field echoed loudly with a clack, clack, clack, as Zach managed to destroy all three wooden weapons in the span of half a second. This, without even raising his heart rate yet, let alone bringing himself to the point of panting. He was sweating, however, but that was purely due to the heat and not his level of exertion. I¡¯m doing so damn good so far, he thought. I can¡¯t believe it. How much more time is left? Having learned the lesson about conserving his energy, he stood a much better chance of making it through these next five minutes than he would¡¯ve if he¡¯d needed to swing around his sword full strength at every threat. Still, that was only one of his newly understood lessons. The second, and likely even more important lesson, was something that would¡¯ve prevented him from getting clobbered over the head earlier: be aware of your surroundings. As three more freshly summoned wooden swords came at him from his front, left, and right side, Zach knew that it was important for him to keep his attention on them: obviously it was. But that didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t also have to keep on the lookout for other threats, too. And thus, the second lesson he¡¯d learned was that, any time he found himself faced with an incoming threat, he still needed to make sure he darted his eyes around every few seconds just to be sure something else wasn¡¯t about to blindside him. Had he not exercised this rule, he would never have seen the shadow moving along the grass, which told him that something was moving in on him from above and behind him; what was more, it would reach him well before the other three wooden swords did. This was the exact same attack that Fluffles had hit him with before¡ªthe one that¡¯d required Fluffles to use his once-a-week healing mist thingy. Without even turning around to look, Zach shifted his grip on his sword so that he held it horizontally, and then he raised his arms high while slightly ducking his head. Rather than bludgeon him as Fluffles had done earlier, the wooden sword instead met his steel, and then with a push, Zach forcibly shoved it backwards and away from him just as the other three finally came to within striking distance. Both the one in front and the one to his right attacked simultaneously, with the one in front pointed at his stomach and coming at him in a thrust, whereas the one to his right seemed to be aiming a rounded slash at his neck. Zach, becoming a bit alarmed, realized that this was going to push his reflexes and reaction speed to the limit. Nevertheless, he maintained his cool as he hastily spun on his heels to the right, fully turning his body in the direction of the second sword, thus making it so that this one was now the one in front of him and the thrusting sword now became the one to his left. With a grunt of exertion, he dashed backwards, narrowly avoiding the thrusting weapon, while simultaneously lifting his arms for an upwards slash at the wooden sword before him, which was a mere instant from thwacking him hard in the head. Luckily, his blade showed up first, and once more, with a loud crack, he split it in two. Unfortunately, this left him open to attack from the third wooden sword, which he¡¯d almost forgotten about while dealing with the other three. A pain exploded in his right shoulder as the wooden weapon whacked him so hard that he could actually hear the bone in his upper arm click. The pain was so intense it nearly caused him to drop his sword. Worse, the thrusting sword had already been pulled back and was about to launch forward for another strike, and the one that¡¯d tried to hit him from behind was coming around for another attempt, too. All three seemed to converge on him at once. Zach, hissing and swearing with the Gods-cursed searing, throbbing pain in his shoulder blade, pulled himself together just in time to throw himself backwards and onto the ground, coming into a back-roll right as all three of the summoned weapons pounded into the ground with enough force to cause grass and a few patches of dirt to kick up into the air. Returning to his feet, he backed several steps away as the three wooden swords lifted off the ground, turned in his direction, and then fanned out before soaring after him like missiles. Trying to ignore the agony in his right shoulder, he continued to backpedal. I can¡¯t outrun these! he realized, watching nervously as the three wooden swords zipped across the field and headed straight for him. They were now coming at him more like spears than swords. To hell with running! Still backing away, he forced himself into an abrupt halt, planted his feet into the ground while bending his knees. He decided: it was time to go on the offensive. If there was no escaping these summoned weapons, then he¡¯d hit them before they hit him. Moving both his hands over to his right shoulder with the sharp end of his blade pointed off to his right, he swung the blade outward in a crescent-shaped arc. Due to a mixture of anger, pain, and adrenaline, he hit the first wooden sword with enough force that the impact caused it to simply explode. The Gods-damned thing just¡­it just exploded. It must¡¯ve shattered into at least fifty different pieces. He almost blinded himself as the resulting spray of wood dust got into his eyes. Somehow, he blinked the junk out, then took a full step back, as the next two came flying towards him. Stepping into the swing, he viciously whirled his blade up and into the next of the swords-turned-projectiles. This too exploded upon impact. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. When the third finally reached him, he sidestepped to put himself out of its flight path, causing it soar with an audible tearing sound over the grass before slowing, coming to a halt, and then racing back towards him the way it¡¯d come. ¡°Kiss my ass!¡± he shouted at it. He lifted his front leg, placed it back down while shifting his body weight forward, and then unleashed a swing of his blade that struck the wooden sword a mere instant before it struck him, destroying it completely. All three of them were now destroyed, but all three of them had been dealt with using far more force than required. Even still, it felt damn good¡ªbut it was hard to say it¡¯d been worth it, because now, he was beginning to breathe heavily. If he hadn¡¯t felt the strain of exertion up until this point, he sure did now. How much time had passed? It had to be at least a minute or two. Right? How much more of this would he have to endure? And why-oh-why were there six¡ªno, seven¡ªshadows surrounding him as though he were the center part of a flower¡ªthe pistil¡ªand they were his petals? ¡°Fluffles!¡± he shouted. ¡°This isn¡¯t fair!¡± Seven wooden swords converged on him all at once. Swearing loudly Zach bent his knees and then dashed backwards, throwing himself out of the way as they all struck the ground at the same time, causing more grass and dirt to fire up into the air and leaving a nasty hole that looked out of place in the otherwise immaculately beautiful grassy park. Unfortunately, despite slamming into the ground with such massive force, Zach didn¡¯t think the wooden weapons sustained any damage, as all seven lifted back up, turned towards him, and continued to fly his way, regaining any and all speed they¡¯d lost following their impact with the ground. Gods damn it! This is absolutely ridiculous! The seven wooden swords were absolutely relentless in their pursuit of him. And to make things even more intimidating, all seven emitted a high-pitched whistling noise as they tore through the air at him, moving far faster than any of the others had up until this point. They were all coming at him now, and all so fast. This could be bad. This could be real bad. The sheer terror that welled up within Zach was enough to completely overwrite his exhaustion as his heart began to pound wildly in his chest and his brain was taken over by adrenaline. Up until this very moment, he had been calm, cool, collected, and he had fought more with his brain than with his body. But now? Now, he went on autopilot, allowing instinct to take over. He no longer could afford to worry about which actions used less energy. Now, he just needed to survive: at any cost. The seven wooden swords were on him so quickly that they were almost like bullets. Zach, through some miracle, managed to duck under the first one, which was traveling so fast that, despite being made of wood, it looked like it really stood a chance of running him right through and skewering him. Hastily craning his neck, he took an extremely brief glance over his shoulder as he watched it fly away. Then, looking back ahead of him, he jumped to the side to avoid the second one. The third sword was on him less than an instant after that, and evading required him to completely twist his body to the left while bending backwards. Zach gritted his teeth as it flew mere inches above his face, the high-pitched whistling sound coming across like a scream. The fourth, however, came even closer to getting him than the third had. It flew in low, and he¡¯d had to jump over it. Though he succeeded, it was only through blind, sheer luck, as he¡¯d jumped without even really seeing it. It had been a total and complete guess. The fifth and six came next, but unlike the first four, Fluffles was using these sword as, well¡­you know, swords. Rather than hurl them at Zach like Javelins, with these two he opted for a more traditional slashing approach. Zach readied himself as both of them attacked at the exact same time. One was flying just above his left shoulder, and the other flew just above his right. Luckily, however, since they were both slashing downwards diagonally at him from equally distant points at ninety-degree angles, both swords would end up meeting at the same spot, which in this case would be his nose. Heart pounding with fear and adrenaline, Zach raised his sword to guard, blocking both of the wooden blades at the exact same time. Despite being a case of steel against wood, the two summoned weapons still collided with enough force to send an uncomfortable vibration of pure shock into his wrists; even still it was a hell of a lot better than what would¡¯ve happened if they¡¯d succeeded in connecting with his face. With his blade gripped tightly in both hands, Zach grunted and pushed with all his strength, shoving the two wooden swords off of him just as the seventh came in low for a sweep. Zach jumped over the wooden sword, evading the attack. But this time, rather than allow it to pull away and reposition itself for yet another go at him, he lifted his right leg and then stomped his foot down on top of it, pinning it in place; this, as the first blade that¡¯d originally flown over his shoulder had now managed to come back around for a second attempt. Using every last trace of his willpower to keep fear from leading to a premature attack, Zach fought to control his reflexes, commanding his body not to move until he knew the time was right. Holding his sword so that it was horizontal and level with his chest, he focused intensely on the wooden sword, which genuinely seemed to be moving as fast as a DEHV as it ripped through the air towards him. Not yet, he told himself, sweat falling down his forehead and onto the grass. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet, not yet, not yet¡­okay, now! He swung out in a circular arc, splitting the flying wooden projectile into two equal pieces, with one piece flying over his left shoulder and one over his right. Both fell lifelessly to the ground the moment that the second and third wooden weapons closed in on him. Zach raised his sword to defend himself, nearly falling over as the one pinned under his foot seemed to wiggle there as though it were actually alive. Ignoring it for the moment, Zach made two fast strikes with his weapon: an upwards slash followed immediately by a downwards cut. The result was that two more of the wooden blades were felled. Somehow, as though through a divine act, Zach had managed to take out three of the seven wooden swords. But it was looking like his luck was about to run dry. The fifth and sixth sword, which he¡¯d shoved away from him only a moment prior, were both now coming back in for a rematch. That wasn¡¯t exactly great, but on its own, it wasn¡¯t catastrophic, either; no, what made things so terrible was that, at the exact same time they came in to strike his front side, the fourth wooden blade was moving at breakneck speed towards him from behind. Oh, Gods be damned, I might be screwed here! The two swords in front of him were floating shoulder level but were no longer entirely symmetrical, which would make guarding against them more difficult. How was he supposed to deal with the two swords in front of him and the one that¡¯d been fired like a gun at his back? The hell did Fluffles expect from him? Gods-damned cat. This was total horseshit! Knowing the worst thing he could do was be indecisive, Zach decided to risk everything on a whim. Rather than wait for all three to come to him, he blasted forward on his feet, charging straight at the two in front of him. The one on his left struck out while the one on the right pulled back as if preparing to do the very same. Clearly, Fluffles, who was controlling them, had not expected that move from Zach, as it had thrown off the coordination of the floating weapons. Everything that came next took place within a second. First, Zach swung his sword horizontally outwards to meet the wooden weapon on his left head-on. The two collided midair, steel defeated wood, and the weapon was shattered. Then, dropping to his knees, he ducked beneath the slash from the one on his right, before jumping back to his feet and delivering an upwards strike with enough power cleave it in two. Then, finally, knowing he was completely out of time, and able to hear the horrifying whistling as the final wooden sword drew closer, he gripped his weapon tightly, bent his knees, and then spun around in a half circle while extending his arms, swinging the blade around with him. Through either sheer luck or the intervention of Gods, his blade managed to meet the wooden sword with a deafening, deep crack that saw the wooden weapon not only split apart, but it sent a large chunk of it blasting into the sky and off into the distance; it traveled so far that it did not come back down until it landed all the way on the other side of the massive field. The blade he''d been stomping on also seemed to lie still. Now, with all seven defeated, he began to pant and gasp for air. All around him, pieces of wood and broken sword were littering the park¡¯s field. It was a good thing he¡¯d brought along a black trash-bag, having learned his lesson from yesterday. By the time he and Fluffles were done, there was going to be so many broken pieces of splintery wood that needed to be picked up. Barely able to keep his sword gripped in his tired hands, he opened his mouth wide, huffing, breathless, desperate for air that wasn¡¯t so gods-damned hot and humid. He wasn¡¯t sure how much more of this he could take. In fact, he was pretty certain he¡¯d pretty much maxed himself out. And as Fluffles meowed and caused not seven, not eight, not even nine, but ten more wooden swords to simply pop into existence in a row above him, it was all Zach could do not to moan like a loser and cry. He had given it his all. He was done for. There was no way he could¡ª His eyes widened in surprise as the alarm on his phone went off. At first, he wasn¡¯t sure if he was hallucinating it or really hearing it. He almost wasn¡¯t able to bring himself to believe it was real. But it was. It really, really was. The usually unpleasant sound of an alarm was now a beautiful, sweet, enchanting melody to his ears, a song so lovely he wanted to walk Kalana down the aisle to it if he was ever lucky enough to actually marry her. I did it. I freaking did it! He¡¯d won. He¡¯d passed the test. He was better than his cat! Fluffles lost, and Zach won! Ahaha! Even though the cat had nearly turned him into a human dartboard, he¡¯d still somehow managed to pull himself together enough to survive the full five minutes! I did it! I actually did it. Oh Gods, I really did! And that, unfortunately, was when it happened. That was the moment that Zachys Calador made one of the stupidest, regrettable, and most easily foreseeable mistakes maybe since the moment of his birth. That was when he did something that, in hindsight, was so obviously dumb that he almost deserved what came next. But in his defense¡ªin the name of all that was fair, decent, or reasonable, his adrenaline was still pumping hardcore, his brain and body were exhausted, he¡¯d almost died like fifty times in just the last minute alone, and he was feeling euphoric at accomplishing something for once. If someone was being fair, they would have to take those factors into account. You must understand: poor Zach was simply not in his normal state of mind, and so he couldn¡¯t fully be held accountable for what came next. Not after what he¡¯d endured in this ungodly heat! Ah, well. Either way, regardless of how culpable, the outcome wouldn¡¯t have changed. Zach, hopped up on a combination of adrenaline, victory, and battle rage, filled with a giddiness so strong in him that it¡¯d turned him stupid. For in this moment, he chose to do something so unfathomably stupid that he probably should¡¯ve earned an award for it. He chose to do something so breathtakingly moronic that it probably broke a world record of some kind. With a confident, arrogant smirk, he turned to Fluffles, pointed at him, laughed in his face, and shouted, ¡°Ahahaha! You stupid cat! You lose! I win! You lose! Fluffles 0, Zach 1. Test equals passed, Fluffles. You got wrecked. Suck. My. Balls!¡± He pumped his fist in the air. ¡°Go Zach!¡± Fluffles hissed. ***** Zach screamed and whimpered as at least seven bolts of lightning exploded three trees, set an entire wall of shrubbery on fire, and caused Zach to yelp as again and again, he came to within inches of being struck. He pumped his arms, running for literally all that he was worth as he saw his life flash before his eyes. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the little ball of black and white fur racing after him, hissing and angrily meowing as the cat simply ran through an entire wall of flames without care or concern. How was he so Gods-damned fast? ¡°Fluffles, I didn¡¯t mean it!¡± Zach screamed. The cat was bringing out everything on him. Everything. This was the single-scariest moment of Zach¡¯s life. This was doomsday. Lightning bolts ripped across the sky, slamming into everything around him, while giant, dark purple balls of energy crashed into the ground around Zach and exploded upon impact, causing massive clumps of dirt and grass to launch into the air while razor-sharp, high-level weapons including swords, maces, and a two-handed axe the size of a car door pursued him with a never-ending fury. ¡°I¡¯m gonna die. I¡¯m really gonna die!¡± It didn¡¯t matter how fatigued he was. It didn¡¯t matter how exhausted. Zach just kept on running. This was the purest form of flight or fight he¡¯d ever experienced. Screams came from everywhere as families that¡¯d been enjoying picnics bolted upright and began to flee, most even leaving their belongings behind. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± a woman screamed in confusion as a bolt of lightning set her picnic blanket on fire as well as the tree behind her. ¡°Save me, Frank!¡± ¡°Save you?¡± a man said. ¡°Save you!¡± he repeated. ¡°This is your fault, bitch! This is because you worshipped the incorrect God! I told you this would happen!¡± ¡°Ohhh, no!¡± she cried. ¡°Spare us, oh Great Sehn! We are sorry!¡± Zach felt bad for them, but right now, he felt worse for himself. Yelling aloud as he fled, he raced across the park as fast as his legs would carry him, then wailed in confusion and horror as a cannonball¡ªyes, a fucking cannonball¡ªsimply disintegrated a portion of the field in front of him with a thunderous boom that caused his ears to ring and sent him flying off his feet. In total, he was thrown at least a dozen yards backwards, landing with a painful thud on his back and coming into a roll. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± a man in gym shorts holding a stick for some kind of sport cried. ¡°Are we being attacked? Why is this happening?¡± ¡°My cat¡¯s mad at me!¡± Zach replied to him. ¡°Run! He¡¯ll kill you all!¡± He climbed up to his feet, staggering a little, then continued to run. ¡°Stop run!¡± Fluffles shouted. ¡°I catch you!¡± ¡°Fluffles, I said I¡¯m sorry!¡± ¡°You say suck ball and then call Fluffles stupid cat!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± Fluffles hissed. ¡°I help best friend Zach, then he laugh and say those things about Fluffles!¡± Zach, on wobbly legs, nearly fell over, but it was actually a good thing: a really, really good thing, because it caused him to stumble off to the side rather than continuing to run forward which, if he had, would have led to him sprinting directly into a massive bolt of lightning. ¡°This is some bullshit!¡± Zach called back to him as he jumped over the fence that led back onto the street. He landed in a crouch, came into another roll, sprang back up to his feet, and then continued to dart across the wide street in the direction of his bike. Everywhere he looked, people screamed in utter confusion, not understanding why things were blowing up or being set on fire. To make everything even more humiliating, the woman whose motel they¡¯d been staying at had given Fluffles one of those little bells that go on cats. Fluffles claimed he didn¡¯t like collars, but he was willing to wear one for a day because he did like the bell. So now, as Zach sprinted well beyond the point of exhaustion just to continue living, he had to hear the Gods-damned bell jingling as the cat launched what looked like an airstrike at him along with more dark purple balls of raw, pulsating energy. Oh, and look! How wonderful. Now, there were fireballs, too! Realizing he wasn¡¯t going to make it to his bike, Zach jumped into the air, cradled his knees to his chest, and ducked his head as he crashed through the first-floor window of a supermarket that was closed for remodeling. The fireball heading for him passed through the area he¡¯d been standing until slamming into the sign out front, setting the entire thing ablaze. Zach landed inside the supermarket in a roll, pain shooting through his bruised right shoulder. The fire crews and peacekeeper sirens were growing louder by the second. It was a Gods-damned miracle no one had died yet or faced serious injury. ¡°Fluffles, please! I said I¡¯m sorry!¡± The cat jumped into the window, hissing. Zach looked over his shoulder, trembling. He grabbed something, anything, to use as a weapon. He wrapped his hands around something then held it out in front of him defensively. Oddly enough, this caused Fluffles to stop in his tracks. ¡°Three, not one,¡± Fluffles growled. ¡°Wh-wh-what?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Fluffles want three!¡± He had no idea what the cat was talking about. Then he looked down and saw the can of tuna in his hand. ¡°You¡­you want this?¡± ¡°Yes! Fluffles want three cans of tuna now because Zach say mean thing. And two hours chin scratches.¡± ¡°You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re not going to kill me?¡± Fluffles meowed. ¡°I would not!¡± ¡°But all that lightning?¡± ¡°I miss on purpose.¡± ¡°Liar.¡± ¡°Not lie! Zach level 3. Fluffles could kill in one second!¡± He brushed against Zach, who was leaning against the cat food aisle while he sat on the floor of the supermarket. ¡°I forgive Zach because he will give apology tuna and extra scratches on chin.¡± Zach nodded cautiously. ¡°So¡­so we¡¯re cool?¡± ¡°No more make fun of Fluffles.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t!¡± ¡°Okay.¡± He brushed against Zach again. ¡°I will be a good cat too.¡± He meowed and sniffed the can of tuna in Zach¡¯s hand, clearly wanting it. If Zach gave it to him without paying for it, wouldn¡¯t that be bad? ¡°So uh, since we¡¯ve already crashed through here, should we¡­you know¡­¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just saying. This place isn¡¯t open, and it¡¯s just a few cans of tuna, but¡­¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Fluffles cheered. ¡°Let¡¯s steal!¡± ¡°Ugh. When you make it sound like a happy thing that way, it makes me want to do it less. Look, no matter what, I think we should probably get out of this town.¡± He swallowed nervously. ¡°We kind of just committed the worst act of terror any of these people are likely to see in their entire lives.¡± Fluffles purred, and Zach, to his own surprise, actually pet him despite the cat nearly killing him multiple time. It was¡­a complicated relationship. Zach got up, his body exhausted and worn. ¡°How much damage did we do?¡± he asked. ¡°I think it¡¯s just this window and some fire in the field. But sheesh, Fluffles. Did you have to shoot a cannonball at me?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes! Now Zach know not to make fun of Fluffles or I fire cannon.¡± ¡°Is that really a proportionate and fair response to name-calling?¡± Fluffles thwacked his tail angrily on the supermarket floor. ¡°Next time I fire 2 cannons.¡± Zach couldn¡¯t believe how much power the cat¡ªor not even just the cat, but anyone would have at level 47. It only highlighted the extreme disparity between those who were leveled and those who weren¡¯t. It was simply beyond belief that a person could become this much stronger than the average, ordinary level-1. It was no wonder the elites didn¡¯t want to share their spawn points. They must¡¯ve loved being Gods. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go back to the bike and get the hell out of here. I passed your test, right?¡± He stuffed the cans of tuna into his backpack then decided to leave 10g on the counter even knowing that likely wouldn¡¯t cover the cost of the window or the sign on fire. With a nervous laugh, he decided to make it 20g. Then Fluffles hissed, and he knocked it down to 15. ¡°Um, Zach?¡± Fluffles asked as they climbed back out of the window together, his voice unnervingly cute and innocent. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°You¡­you promise not ever tell Alex or daddy what Fluffles do?¡± ¡°You¡¯re worried about that?¡± Fluffles¡¯ legs trembled. It was the first time he¡¯d ever seen the cat show fear. ¡°Fluffles get punished and yelled at if daddy or Alex find out I blow up town.¡± Zach looked out of the broken window. All things considered, the damage wasn¡¯t that bad. No homes or properties other than the supermarket window and sign had been damaged, and the field could probably be fixed just by covering the holes with some dirt and getting new shrubbery for the shrub wall¡ªif that was even something that could be done. Zach had no idea how that whole thing worked. ¡°I promise I won¡¯t rat you out, little buddy. But don¡¯t do that again. Sheesh.¡± ¡°Fluffles promise. I will be a good cat. I no more blow up towns. I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m sorry too. I was a total dick.¡± ¡°My feet tired now!¡± Without waiting for a reply, Fluffles jumped into his arms, wanting to be carried. As if Zach wasn¡¯t exhausted enough as things were, now he had to lug the cat around until they got to the bike? He sighed. It was well beyond the point they needed to proceed onwards. Fluffles fell asleep by the time he got back to the bike. He gently put him inside the basket and then hopped on. Every bone and muscle in his body ached, but something told him it would be good to get away from this place. **** ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± Anelia asked. ¡°It was the boy with the five-million bounty in this picture?¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± the woman replied. ¡°He came into my gods-damned store with a talking cat and started terrorizing me. Then I hear he started some mischief over in Doom-Bound Keep, the next town over.¡± Anelia Hellcrest had to resist the urge to lick her lips. If this was true, then it sounded like none of the other bounty hunters had found him yet. The People of Virtue were willing to pay big for his head. Well, all the guilds were, but they were willing to pay the most. Anelia had no idea what the pipsqueak could¡¯ve done to draw such ire, but she didn¡¯t care, either. All that mattered was that she was on his trail, and she would find him first. This job might even be easy. Chapter 19: Last Few Moments of Freedom Chapter 19: Last Few Moments of Freedom Briefly steering the bicycle with one hand, Zach wiped sweat from his brow and resisted the temptation to crack open one of the four bottles of water he¡¯d somehow managed to fit inside his cramped backpack. Though he desperately wanted to quench his thirst, he knew it wouldn¡¯t be wise to indulge his parched throat until he had a better idea of where he¡¯d be going next and, more specifically, how long he¡¯d need to make his current supplies last. Nevertheless, it wasn¡¯t easy to stop himself. He badly wanted to down all four of the bottles right here on the spot. Gods, how was it so hot? It was still at least an hour before noon, and already, he felt like he couldn¡¯t breathe. It¡¯s only going to get hotter, too, isn¡¯t it? Wouldn¡¯t even be so bad if it wasn¡¯t also so damn humid. ¡°Zach,¡± Fluffles called to him from the basket in the front of their bicycle. ¡°Yeah, little buddy?¡± ¡°It time to make shiny ball yet?¡± ¡°Five more minutes,¡± he replied, wanting to get just a little bit farther away from Doom-Bound Keep, where he and Fluffles had caused a bit of a stir. It had been just under an hour since the two of them had biked out of the town, and while Zach was glad to have put it behind him, he couldn¡¯t help but feel very strange about the way in which the two had left. To be perfectly honest, he was weirded out and uncomfortable¡ªand believe it or not, it had nothing at all to do with the little bit of mayhem that Fluffles had caused. Instead, it had everything to do with the peacekeepers¡¯ reaction to it. Wanting to both avoid trouble and prevent any more of it from arising, he¡¯d taken off at a brisk pace, making straight for the suburban road that would lead him and his snoozing cat out and away from the growing commotion. He¡¯d almost made it, too. Unfortunately, he¡¯d been spotted just as he¡¯d gotten onto the final stretch of the road leading out of town. Several DEHV cruisers had pulled up in front of his bicycle, and six men and two women in white-and-blue polyester uniforms had approached him. For a few moments, he had been terrified of what might happen next, as it had been impossible for him not to notice the HC-9m service pistols secured in holsters at their sides. He¡¯d fully expected them to arrest him or, at the very least, take him in for questioning. But to his surprise and astonishment, the eight of them had done neither of these things. Instead, what they had actually done had left him so shocked that he still couldn¡¯t fully bring himself to believe it. ¡°Good morning to you, sir. We ah, we¡­we heard about the incident that just took place,¡± one of them had said, approaching Zach. He¡¯d felt himself becoming anxious, wondering if this was the moment he¡¯d end up thrown in a cell somewhere. ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m sorry about that,¡± Zach had replied, having had no idea what to say. In fact, he¡¯d been thinking more about whether or not to try making a run for it with Fluffles. He¡¯d almost done it, too, but he¡¯d stopped in his tracks as the peacekeeper had winced fearfully at him and released a nervous laugh. ¡°Don¡¯t be sorry, sir,¡± he¡¯d said, waving a hand at Zach. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s probably our fault anyway. We just wanted to let you know how sorry we all are. In fact, we¡¯re investigating what might have provoked you, and I give you my word it will not happen again. So¡­please,¡± he said, extending both of his arms towards the road and actually bowing, ¡°feel free to go on about your business.¡± With his eyes wide, his mind blown, and his brain struggling to interpret what it had just witnessed, Zach had merely nodded his thanks and continued on his way, with Fluffles still having been asleep in his basket. It had only been around fifteen minutes later, when the shock began to wear off, that Zach pieced together the most likely explanation for what in the name of the Gods had just taken place. The peacekeepers, both from witness reports and basic common sense, must have reasoned that whatever had just been done in their town had been done via the use of abilities from someone higher than level 1. They had also likely thought that Zach had been responsible, not the cat. But either way, they almost certainly feared him and therefore treated him like royalty who was above the law and immune to consequences. Just like Varsh, he recalled bitterly. The craziest part about all of it though was that if one of them had pulled out their gun and shot him, Zach would probably have ended up in the hospital if not dead. Though he was no expert yet on the subject of leveling, he was still pretty confident that his 3 points in constitution would not protect him from a bullet. Sure, it might make the difference between death and hospitalization, but it certainly wouldn¡¯t stop their guns from tearing into him. The only conclusion he could draw, then, was that the men had not known that and would likely not be willing to risk it. Can¡¯t say I blame them, though. So yeah, Zach wanted to make sure he was just a little bit further away from the town before he stopped pedaling. Just in case, you know, they reconsidered for whatever reason and decided to come arrest him after all. In truth, the only thing protecting him from prison¡ªor worse¡ªwas the mere perception of him in the minds of those who actually could take him down if they were brave enough to try. Knowing this, Zach wanted to make absolutely sure he didn¡¯t cross paths again with them by mistake. Yet at the same time, he also knew he needed to stop and summon the wisp sooner rather than later, as he no longer had any solid idea if he was even heading in the right direction. Right now, the two of them traveled just off to the side of a divided, interstate highway called Basilisk Way, which unlike the Blood Rain Expressway, was far older, very lightly trafficked, and did not contain a single hover-lane, which meant DEHVs would have to use their ground tires, capping their speed at less than a hundred miles per hour. In the hour he¡¯d spent biking along this interstate, the scenery around him had changed dramatically. Back in town, there had been trees, ponds, a lake or two, as well as houses, business, and playgrounds. But now, no matter how far he glanced into the distance on either side of the road, there was nothing to be seen but an endless, seemingly infinite stretch of farmland. Other than the occasional ranch, cabin, or pen for livestock, it was just grass and crops as far as the eye could see. Zach squeezed the brakes on his handlebars and came to a stop. To his left, he heard a rumbling sound as a massive commercial DEHV with a label painted on that said ¡°SOIL BOYZ¡± sped along the road and passed them by. It had been almost fifteen minutes since the last time they¡¯d seen a vehicle. It was such a stark contrast to the Blood Rain Expressway, which was constantly overflowing with traffic and activity. From what he understood, Basilisk Way ran for several-hundred miles and led to the breathtakingly beautiful city in Tomb of Fire, which Zach recalled learning used to be the capital city of humanity until Peter IV was beheaded and the kingdom was dismantled. Once the bicycle came to a halt, Zach reached over and scratched Fluffles¡¯ chin. The cat purred, then hopped out of the basket to stretch his legs. ¡°Now we make shiny ball, Zach?¡± ¡°In a second. Actually, let me use the ability now so that I can recover first if we need to chase after it.¡± Zach activated Boundless, and he immediately had to take a seat. He¡¯d already been sweating profusely to begin with, but having activated his ability, he was now dripping sweat from both sides of his face. He could feel it uncomfortably rolling down his back, as well. ¡°Whew,¡± he said, panting. ¡°Gods be damned.¡± Was it possible that it wasn¡¯t as bad as the last time he¡¯d used it? A part of him thought so, but it was kind of difficult to tell, because last time, he¡¯d come off a nice, long period of bedrest, whereas this time, he was already exhausted from his ¡°five-minute test¡± with Fluffles; the ability actually seemed to make his body¡¯s aches a bit more pronounced. While he caught his breath, Zach reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. ¡°I need to figure out some stuff really quickly.¡± ¡°What Zach need to know?¡± He smiled at Fluffles. ¡°So, when I summoned the wisp on the roof of my apartment back in Whispery Woods¡ªerr, the city of Whispery Woods, I mean, I decided to use distance as a guide to when and where to use the wisps.¡± On his phone, he tracked his current location and then entered the address to his apartment. ¡°According to this, we¡¯ve traveled 70 miles since leaving home. Gods, that¡¯s amazing.¡± ¡°That not so far,¡± Fluffles said, clearly disagreeing. ¡°Maybe not for you, little buddy, but for me, that¡¯s a lot. Wow, I can¡¯t believe that¡¯s how far we¡¯ve come already.¡± He tapped his finger against his chin. ¡°Anyway, the point is I¡¯ve been heading in the direction I think it moved in. The thing is, the farther we go, the easier it is to get off track. Especially since you can¡¯t always move in a straight line, at least not when going through towns and the like. So, my point is, I have no idea if we¡¯re still heading in the right direction. The only thing I know for sure is that the wisp went south.¡± ¡°That important?¡± ¡°Yes. Come here. I¡¯ll explain.¡± Zach patted the spot next to where he sat on the side of the road, gesturing for Fluffles to come over. ¡°Come look at this,¡± he said, shaking his phone. The cat walked up to him and sniffed it. Zach had to force himself not to laugh. He knew how volatile Fluffles could be when Zach laughed at his weird cat behavior. It was just hard not to chuckle at the fact that, even knowing fully well what a phone was, Fluffles still decided he had to sniff it. ¡°What Zach want Fluffles to see?¡± He pointed at his screen. ¡°So, here¡¯s the situation we¡¯re in, okay? The spawn we¡¯re looking for is either going to be to the south, the south-east, or the south-west¡ªobviously, to varying degrees. Now, if it¡¯s heading southwest, we can follow this road on our bike without an issue, and it¡¯ll take us to the Tomb of Fire. That¡¯s what I¡¯m hoping will happen.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Well, for one, because I¡¯ve always wanted to see that city, but really, because if we stay on the road, not only can we bike the rest of the way, but there¡¯ll be plenty of places to stop for food and water.¡± The cat meowed, likely at the mention of food. Zach waited to see if he had any questions so far. When he said nothing, Zach resumed his explanation. ¡°So,¡± he continued, pinching his phone screen and zooming out on the map. Fluffles leaned in closer as he panned the map in another direction. ¡°If the spawn is either due south or mostly south, then we¡¯ll have to trek through farmland for a bit, but only for a few hours, because we¡¯ll end up coming across more towns just like the one we passed. Then we can get on this main road here¡±¡ªhe ran his finger along it¡ª¡°and it¡¯ll be smooth sailing. Overall, it¡¯ll be a bit rougher, but still doable.¡± Again, Fluffles meowed but said nothing. So Zach, after a brief pause, pinched the screen to again zoom out, then like before, he panned the map in a third direction. ¡°If it''s south east, that¡¯s going to be the one that sucks.¡± Zach pointed across the divided interstate to the two-lane road on the other side, which was separated from the one they were currently on by a small, but continuous patch of grass that seemed to run along the entirety of the interstate. ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to go straight that way.¡± ¡°Why that suck?¡± Fluffles asked. Zach sighed. ¡°Because if we end up having to go that way, it¡¯s almost entirely farmland for more than three-hundred miles. There are some very, very small towns and a couple of even smaller villages here or there, but they¡¯re spaced pretty far apart. And this bike, I mean¡­it¡¯s not a mountain bike. We can¡¯t take it with us, so we¡¯ll have to ditch it since it¡¯ll only slow us down. We¡¯ll both have to walk.¡± ¡°That okay. Fluffles like walking.¡± Zach rubbed his chin as he thought. ¡°The only good thing about south-east is that, at least based on how the map looks on my phone, we can probably go in pretty much a straight line¡ªwell depending on how far away we have to go.¡± ¡°Far away?¡± He nodded. ¡°Well, yeah. Don¡¯t forget, Fluffles. We don¡¯t actually know how far away this ¡®nearest Aquatic-type enemy¡¯ actually is. So we might be stuck on this one stretch of farmland for over three-hundred miles. Or wait¡­no, sorry. That¡¯s how long it takes to get to the city in Shadowfall Coast. To get back to just regular-sized suburban towns, it¡¯s only two-fifty. But that¡¯s still a lot.¡± Apparently, if he were to head due south-east, he¡¯d actually officially leave the Whispery Woods region in a hundred-fifty miles, crossing into Shadowfall Coast. The terrain wouldn¡¯t change, but the level of danger might. Zach really hoped they found the spawn before crossing that border, as according to the news, the fighting between the Guild of Gentlemen and the Royal Roses had become extremely vicious, intense, and the death count was really starting to rack up. That was just fine with him, of course, but what had him worried was the muttering that things could soon turn ugly even for regular civilians. Zach knew from social studies that every major guild¡ªand even most minor ones¡ªhad roughly a century ago signed an agreement called the ¡°Sanctity of Human Life Accords¡± that forbade any warring guilds from engaging in combat with ten or more participants while within the confines of a densely populated area, such as a city, a mall, a movie theater, etc. It also forbade guild officials and their officers from seeking refuge inside of these areas. If found to be inside, they were given three days to either surrender or meet on the field of battle, or at least that was how it was supposed to go. But from what Zach was hearing, many of the highest-level members of the Guild of Gentlemen, as well as tens of thousands of their level-1 troops¡ªaccording to the news, anyway¡ªwere currently fortifying themselves inside their city. Supposedly, there was even talk of the Royal Roses losing patience and considering returning to what the news called ¡°conventional warfare,¡± which was some really old type of fighting that involved tanks, bombs, and using¡­what was it called again¡­? Something like ¡°long-range artillery?¡± Zach had gotten that one wrong on a multiple-choice test once, so he¡¯d gone back and studied the material twice as hard, and he was pretty sure that was what it was called¡ªlong-range artillery. But whatever the hell it was, they were saying crazy stuff on TV about this turning into a ¡°classical conventional war.¡± Zach seriously doubted it, though. There was no way something like that could happen in modern times. This was just the guilds talking up a big game in order to rattle one another. It¡¯s never going to happen. Even knowing how ridiculous the idea, Zach nevertheless hoped to avoid that region just in case the guilds started engaging in open, tactical-based warfare instead of doing what they always did: agree to meet on some empty field somewhere far away from citizens, wait for an independent moderator to arrive, and then fight once the war-whistle was blown. ¡°Zach look worried,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± He smiled. ¡°So yeah, those are the three ways we might end up going. But whichever one it is, at least we¡¯ve got a great view here!¡± Topographically speaking, they just-so-happened to be on a section of the interstate that had the highest elevation of any stretch over the next few-hundred miles. This meant that, gazing out into the farmland, Zach could see far, far into the distance, especially in the south east, where the terrain would have a very slight and gradual decline for several miles before mostly leveling off. Bringing himself back up to his feet, Zach patted a few pebbles and some dirt off his exposed knees. He felt a bit better now that he¡¯d had a chance to sit down and rest. ¡°Are you ready?¡± he asked the cat. ¡°Fluffles ready!¡± he said cheerily. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°All right, let¡¯s do this. And hey, maybe we¡¯ll get lucky and the spawn will be right around here somewhere. It¡¯s at least possible, you know?¡± Zach removed his backpack and held it in front of him. First, he reached into the smallest pouch in the backpack and retrieved the compass that he¡¯d bought for 2 gold¡ªwell, more like 250 gold, but whatever¡ªand then he opened the primary compartment, fished through his disorganized mess of clothing stuffed inside, and pulled out the box of Frog Snax. ¡°Zach,¡± Fluffles moaned, watching him with hungry, greedy eyes. He twisted his lips. ¡°Come on, this is important.¡± ¡°But¡­but I love Frog Snax. Frog Snax are Fluffles¡¯ favorite.¡± Zach pressed his forefinger against the cardboard flap at the top of the box, peering inside and visually confirming that seven of them did in fact remain. Then he looked over at Fluffles, who was now meowing repeatedly. The fact that he was even considering giving him one made him feel like a soft-hearted idiot¡ªbut not as much as the fact that he then actually reached in and gave him one. ¡°Hurray!¡± Fluffles cheered, slowly and loudly munching the treat. Was it possible that, earlier, on top of his apartment building, the cat hadn¡¯t been eating it slowly just to taunt him? He couldn¡¯t be sure with someone like Fluffles, but it was starting to genuinely seem like the cat really did just love these things so much. To be fair, they are really good, he thought. He waited for Fluffles to finish so that they could be ready to go on a moment¡¯s notice. Zach stuffed his compass into his pocket, then pulled one of the Frog Snax out of the box and placed it into his mouth¡ªbut he did not chew. Holding it there, he stuffed the package back into his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and straddled the seat of his bike as Fluffles hopped into the basket in front of him. Then he began to chew. The moment he swallowed down the buttery- and cheesy-tasting snack, the wisp appeared immediately above his head. Even amid the punishing, scorching, and unrelentingly bright sun, Zach had absolutely no problems following it with his eyes. He refused to even blink as he watched it rise into the air while making a soft, buzzing hum. Higher and higher it went, until it reached the altitude he¡¯d expect to see from a fairly low-flying helicopter. For a few seconds, he remained motionless, and even from down here, he could continue to hear the buzzing hum. And then, without warning, it took off¡ªblasting away as though it were powered by jet fuel. ¡°Shit!¡± Zach shouted. ¡°It¡¯s heading south-east. Fluffles, come on! Ditch the bike!¡± Zach threw his legs over the bike, hopped off, and then began to sprint like a madman across the two-way road to the other end of the intersection. He did not bother to look to see if Fluffles was following, because he knew the cat could be trusted to come along with him. His heart racing, he darted his eyes around in search of any possible oncoming traffic as what he was currently doing would emphatically be considered suicidal had it been done on literally any other highway in North Bastia aside from these old, much-less-used lanes. Pumping his arms and sprinting as fast as his legs would carry him, Zach shot across the grassy partition that separated the divided highway, then continued onwards, now reaching the second of the two-lane roads. Not far ahead of him was an old, metallic, and waist-high guardrail. Not wishing to spare even a single moment, he bent his knees, launched himself up into the air, and then easily brought himself over it, landing back down softly onto the grass on the other side. I can jump way higher than I used to be able to. Sparing just the briefest, most fleeting of glances over his shoulder, he confirmed with his eyes that Fluffles was indeed following behind him¡ªno, not behind him, but beside him. He was easily keeping pace with Zach, which made him realize Fluffles was telling the truth earlier about only toying with him and not really trying to kill him. Clearly, the cat could have caught him if he¡¯d wanted to. Cupping his forehead with his right hand to block out some of the sunlight, Zach kept his eyes laser-focused on the wisp, which moved so fast that it left a trail of white, slowly fading light behind in its wake as it moved. Running down what was a slight, but still palpable decline in the terrain, Zach gained speed, now moving faster on foot than he¡¯d ever run before in his life. Then, the terrain leveled off and became flat, and with Fluffles still by his side, the two of them burst into a cornfield. The stalks were taller than the top of his head by at least half a foot, and so it was difficult to keep the wisp in his sights, and after just another few seconds, he lost sight of it completely. ¡°K-keep¡­keep running!¡± he gasped out. Overheated, thirsty, panting, and quickly running out of breath, he fought through the pain and relied on his willpower to keep propelling himself farther. It wasn¡¯t long before he finally made it through the stalks of corn, once more able to see the wisp, which was clearly moving way too fast for him to keep in his sights all that much longer. At the very least, this confirmed one thing to him: the ¡°45 seconds¡± that this thing was supposed to last likely didn¡¯t start until it actually reached the mob it was heading for. This meant that, theoretically, if Zach had been able to actually chase after this thing¡ªwhich definitely moved far faster than he could reasonably match¡ªit would lead him all the way to wherever it was going. A scary thought came to Zach as he realized it was technically possible that this spawn was in another continent. Despite what Mr. Oren had said¡ªor rather, implied¡ªabout there being more spawns out there than people realized, Zach himself did not have so much faith. It would be just his luck to chase this thing all the way to Shadowfall Coast only to have to start swimming after it. Gods damn it, I can¡¯t keep running like this forever! Badly winded, but nevertheless fueled by a burning determination, Zach continued to throw himself forward. ¡°You¡­you okay¡­F-Fl-Fluffles?¡± he panted. ¡°Whee!¡± Fluffles cheered. ¡°I love running! Why Zach not go faster?¡± Even if Zach had wanted to answer the cat¡ªand to be clear, he didn¡¯t¡ªthere was no way he could speak, as his chest was on fire and his mouth was now wide open as he sucked in as much air into his lungs as he possibly could. He concentrated all his energy and effort into keeping his legs moving one foot in front of the other for as long as possible. Together with Fluffles, the two of them began running through a beautiful field of yellow. Zach recognized these flowers: they were what people used to make vegetable oil. They were called rapeseeds. Everyone in class had snickered when they¡¯d learned about modern agriculture and this particular plant had been brought up. One boy in the class had even raised his hand and asked, ¡°What if I¡¯m not into seeds?¡± Ganks and his off-color jokes, Zach thought, wanting to laugh but too exhausted. Just a few-dozen feet up ahead, Zach braced himself as he realized he and Fluffles were heading right into a thick row of underbrush that ran from the ground up to a height almost twice his own. Gritting his teeth, he slammed straight through it, coming out the other side and nearly tripping over a cucumber. He realized he was now in a field of them. Thousands of cucumber plants organized in neat little lines separated by patches of dirt that was hard to walk on because it was uneven and hurt the arches of his feet. That¡¯s it. I¡¯m tapped out. Not that it matters. The thing is almost too far away to keep tracking. As the wisp continued to streak across the sky, it moved so far away that it was almost to the point of leaving his vision, Zach, taking in deep, fast inhalations of breath, began to slow down while reaching into his pocket to grab his compass, holding it up in front of him and aligning it exactly in the direction the wisp was flying. All right. 145¡ã southeast. Got it. Then he slowed from a full-out sprint to a jog to finally settling on a steady, gradual walk. Fluffles overshot him and had to spin around and come back for him. ¡°Yucky cucumbers,¡± he said, making a stink face at the vegetable. ¡°I hate cucumbers. They look like snake.¡± He unsheathed his claws and scratched the one nearest to him. Like it would make a difference. There were so damn many of them. ¡°What we do now?¡± Fluffles asked, coming alongside Zach after ¡°killing¡± about ten more cucumbers. ¡°We keep going,¡± he replied. ¡°I just need¡­to catch my breath. No point in running anymore, I think. Wherever this spawn is, it¡¯s, at a minimum, fifty miles southeast of us. That¡¯s at a minimum.¡± Catching his breath, Zach walked at a faster but still moderate pace through several more fields until finally he found a section of land that consisted of nothing more than short stalks of grass. It only went on for about a mile before he¡¯d again be forced to trek through field after field of any given plant or vegetable. There were dirt roads that could get around all this stuff, but Zach didn¡¯t want to risk going off course. He was determined to walk in a straight line until he found his spawn point. Especially since he only had five Frog Snax left on account of Fluffles eating three of them. Thanks, Fluffles! I can¡¯t afford any mistakes. Removing the plastic bowl from his backpack, he poured Fluffles half a bottle of water and then downed the other half. It felt so good on his throat, but it also only made him realize how thirsty he was. He craved more of it. The half a bottle was just a damn tease. Fluffles seemed to be feeling the same way. ¡°Fluffles want more water,¡± the cat said. ¡°Zach give Fluffles more.¡± ¡°Buddy, we need to conserve our supplies. Getting more water would mean we¡¯d have to go off course and head, uh¡­we¡¯d have to head¡±¡ªZach removed his phone and glanced down at the map¡ª¡°we¡¯d have to walk twelve miles to get to a tiny, dingy little grocery store. But if we keep going on our current course¡­¡± He panned the map and then traced his location to the south east. ¡°We¡¯d only have to go off course by about two miles to get to a small town. Really small. Only two-thousand people live there. But they have a general goods store.¡± Fluffles meowed. ¡°Okay but give more water.¡± ¡°Did you hear anything I just said?¡± The cat hissed. ¡°Fluffles thirsty!¡± Zach grunted. ¡°Okay, fine, but we only have three bottles left, so this is your half of the next bottle. You don¡¯t get any more water on the next water break, okay, little buddy?¡± ¡°Okay. Fluffles drink his half now.¡± ¡°All right then.¡± Zach poured the water into his bowl. ¡°You don¡¯t get any more the next time we stop.¡± He did get more the next they stopped. Obviously. And really? He was a fool to expect otherwise. Three hours passed as Zach, a sweaty mess, marched, waded, and stomped his way through field after field with the cat by his side. When he couldn¡¯t bring himself to take a single additional step without having some water, Fluffles put on the whole ¡°poor me I¡¯m so thirsty¡± song and dance, and then made a series meows and hisses that eventually wore him down. His tongue splashing water as he lapped it up cheerfully, Zach rubbed another pool of sweat off his forehead and simply proceeded onwards. Distantly, he wondered how it was possible for a gods-damn cat to be consuming the same amount of water as a human. Since he was such a tiny little ball of fur, shouldn¡¯t he only need like a couple of sips? It also kind of aggravated Zach how much he kept catching Fluffles sneak off to piss somewhere. It meant he was definitely drinking way more than he needed to, just so he could pee it out. So greedy, he thought. And Mr. Oren tells me I need to work on my damn generosity. Then again¡­ As Zach watched Fluffles pee then scuttle over to return to his side, he actually felt guilty for thinking the cat was greedy, because truth be told, Fluffles was literally spending all of his time with Zach for the benefit of Zach. It was the diametric opposite of greed. If he was just a normal cat and not a level-47 talking fur-ball with godlike powers, he wouldn¡¯t be here right now. He¡¯d be out running around and chasing birds all day or sleeping or doing whatever it was that cats did. Fluffles probably would prefer that, too. But here he was with Zach, instead. I seriously hope we don¡¯t end up dying out here of dehydration. The difference between walking and biking was tremendous. This became unbearably obvious as, after another three hours came and went, the two had only traveled twenty-five miles, or twenty six in total if including the mad dash the two had made chasing after the wisp. Worse, it was also becoming clear that they would seriously need to find some more water. They were down to just a single bottle, and the nearest village was seven miles away in the wrong direction. This meant that he and Fluffles could continue on in the correct heading and reach a village in about fifteen more miles, or, they could make a diversion for supplies and lose seven miles¡¯ worth of travel time. We¡¯ll never make it fifteen more miles, he thought. Then he swore, shouting out his frustration loudly and angrily, which caused Fluffles to take notice and react to him. ¡°What wrong?¡± he asked, sounding concerned. ¡°Why Zach just scream out, ¡®Fucking mother fucking son of a bitch!¡¯ at Fluffles?¡± Embarrassed, Zach sighed and rubbed his sweaty hair. ¡°Because I¡¯m a terrible person. And also because we now have to go in the wrong direction just to not die.¡± Fluffles meowed happily. ¡°That means more adventure! Why, not having fun?¡± ¡°No, actually¡­¡± He tilted his head somewhat, surprised by his own feelings. ¡°No, you¡¯re right. I am having fun. It¡¯s just Kalana is going to get more and more ahead of me. And I already go through most days lately trying my best not to feel like trash.¡± Fluffles said nothing for a while as they began to walk in the direction of the nearest village which, if nothing else, was at least less off course than the previous one would¡¯ve been had they decided to head towards it earlier. Exhausted, Zach said little as they journeyed together, and so did Fluffles. In fact, for the next hour, neither of them spoke a single word to one another. But then Fluffles abruptly halted, which caused Zach to then stop a few feet ahead of him and turn around. ¡°Zach not worthless,¡± Fluffles said; his tone was far more serious than Zach had ever heard from the cat. ¡°I know.¡± ¡°No, you not understand. Fluffles appraise you. I see it.¡± ¡°See it? Appraise?¡± Zach laughed, then immediately apologized, knowing how much Fluffles hated that. But Fluffles didn¡¯t seem to be annoyed. If anything, he seemed to be distracted with another thought. He was acting unusual and bizarre. It was only made worse as he walked directly up to Zach and then stared at him for almost an entire minute before speaking. ¡°Special humans glow when Fluffles look,¡± he said. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°When Fluffles look, they glow.¡± ¡°You mean, to your eyes, they glow?¡± The cat meowed affirmatively, and Zach asked, ¡°What do you mean by special people?¡± ¡°People Fluffles see that very special.¡± ¡°That¡¯s kind of circular.¡± As if finally becoming annoyed, the cat hissed, and Zach held his hands out defensively. ¡°All right, all right. I hear you. ¡®Special people¡¯ glow when you look at them. Got it.¡± The two resumed walking, but this time, it was Zach who stopped short in his tracks¡ªand only five minutes later, too. ¡°Did¡­did Kalana glow? When you looked at her, I mean.¡± Fluffles meowed happily as if at a fond memory. ¡°Kalana glow! She bright.¡± Swallowing nervously, Zach asked, ¡°Did I glow?¡± Fluffles answered the question so quickly it was as though he¡¯d been waiting for him to ask it. ¡°Zach glow. Zach glow more than anyone Fluffles ever see. Alex not know. No one know. But Zach glow more than anyone. That why Fluffles go with Zach.¡± The words were so confusing and difficult to believe that Zach basically couldn¡¯t help but pester Fluffles with a thousand-and-one questions about what he¡¯d just said; somewhat unsurprisingly, Fluffles refused to answer even a single one of them. Even still, Zach tried to get him to talk anyway. He wanted to know: what exactly did Fluffles mean? What did it mean to ¡®glow¡¯ in his eyes? Did it mean that he saw some hidden value in Zach that maybe he himself couldn¡¯t see just yet? I don¡¯t care if I glow or if I dim. I just want to get to level 10 so I can see Kalana again. Continuing onwards, the two made only light conversation as they spent the next hour and a half making their way to the location on his phone¡¯s GPS. As a testament to the unbelievable strength the sun was showing off today, there had not been a single occasion since early this morning when his phone¡¯s battery had gone below 100% power. Like any modern cellular device made in the last two decades, whenever a phone was taken out of a pocket or put near a windowsill, its internal light sensor would automatically and instantly switch the internal batteries over from charge mode to solar mode. Even with his screen on the brightest setting, Zach did not once see the top-right of his screen read ¡°Sol 99%.¡± But now, roughly around two hours before sunset, the device shed a few percentage-points for the first time today. ¡°Zach, look,¡± Fluffles said, meowing. Taking his eyes off his phone, Zach looked ahead and sighed with relief, suddenly glad they¡¯d taken the detour. Up ahead, just beyond a few stables and a ranch, was the outskirts of a small town that, even including the small, but cozy-looking houses, contained fifty or maybe fifty-five structures at max in its entirety. A crooked, badly damaged sign reading ¡°Viper¡¯s Haven¡± hung on the wall of a tiny little cabin that said ¡°Sherriff¡¯s Office.¡± With Fluffles by his side, the two entered the village. A few people turned to look, and they mostly seemed pretty nice. A woman cleaning the stoop outside of a pub waved at the two of them, and Zach waved back. As he would come to learn, this particular little village, like many of the farming villages in this part of North Bastia, thrived by providing services and a place to rest for the numerous deliverymen who traveled from all over North¡ªand in many cases since the drought, South¡ªBastia to pick up vegetables and other plant-based products. Some traveled great distances, and these people were the lifeblood of this cute little village¡¯s economy. They would often spend the night, shop, or stop by for a drink. Oh, and their inn allowed cats, too! Yawning, Zach wondered if it was best to call it a day. In truth, he wanted to continue onwards, but Fluffles insisted that the two of them rest. In truth, even Fluffles looked tired, though unlike Zach, his fatigue did not appear physical; rather, he just looked like he needed a snooze. Zach, on the other hand, needed every kind of rest a person could get. Well, I better get us checked in for a night, then. He didn¡¯t want to stay any longer than necessary. He¡¯d get them a room, then go to the general goods store, buy a whole bunch of water¡ªand a bigger backpack to carry it all¡ªand then wake up early the next morning ready to leave. That was the plan, and he was sticking to it. As he made his way towards the middle of the town towards the inn, something in the corner of his eyes made him stop right in his tracks. ¡°Look!¡± he told Fluffles, becoming excited. Fluffles looked where he pointed, then meowed. There was a tiny store across from them: a place so small it could almost be called a shack. It was a little wooden building with barely more space inside than his bedroom back in his apartment in Whispery Woods. But it was what was inside this small space that counted. ¡°We have to buy one,¡± Zach said. ¡°I don¡¯t care what it costs!¡± Although it might have been the world¡¯s smallest bicycle shop, with fewer than seven different bikes to choose from, Zach could not peel his eyes away from the black and red mountain bike that hung suspended by a chain from the ceiling with the price tag 550g attached to it. Even better, there was a place for him to attach a basket, too. ¡°Fluffles, I think our lives are about to get a whole lot easier. With this and my¡±¡ªhe dropped his voice to a whisper¡ª¡°three points in strength, I think we can probably find the spawn by tomorrow afternoon. I¡¯m dead serious.¡± ¡°Hurray,¡± Fluffles whispered back, even though him speaking quietly wasn¡¯t necessary. If Zach had known that he¡¯d be heading through such rough terrain, he would¡¯ve bought a mountain bike back at home. Even still, this was turning out to be a very, very fortunate turn of events. Because if he now had a way of crossing this more-or-less open terrain in a straight line, then they might end up reaching the spawn points way faster than he would have if he were traveling on smooth roads through town after town. Zach filled with excitement. As long as it was within this continent, he was going to get there far sooner than he¡¯d ever thought possible. ¡°Zach look happy,¡± Fluffles said as the two of them walked to the inn. ¡°Because I meant what I said,¡± he replied giddily. ¡°Our lives, buddy, are about to get a whole lot easier.¡± In hindsight, Zach should have known better than to say something so bold as if challenging the universe itself to prove him wrong. It was an interesting thing to wonder, though: would Zach have still felt this way if he¡¯d known he was about to be trapped inside of a mob-filled dungeon with no way of escaping aside from obtaining a boss key? Eh, probably not. Either way, it was good that Zach enjoyed his last few moments of freedom with his furry pal Fluffles. Because tomorrow, he''d get his wish. Chapter 20: The Catacombs of Yorna Chapter 20: The Catacombs of Yorna Zach cheered as the world whizzed by him. He was feeling extra energetic this morning, so he pedaled his beautiful new bike with a bit more umph. Having had to walk on foot for the entire day yesterday, Zach had rediscovered his appreciation for the invention of the wheel as he raced through yet another cornfield. The tickling sensation in his cheeks as the stalks slapped him in his face actually caused him to chuckle. Who knew that when he¡¯d woken up this morning, he¡¯d be feeling so damn alive and amazing? ¡°Go get it!¡± Fluffles shouted from his new, bigger, and hopefully more comfortable basket. Zach pedaled even faster, chasing after the wisp that streaked across the sky. He knew it was a bit premature to summon another one already, but he was feeling elated; there was something so incredible about traveling by bike after spending six hours just to travel two-dozen miles on foot. At his current speed, Zach was able to match that in a half hour. He was practically flying like the buzzing, humming wisp he was so ardently chasing after. In fact, in just the past two hours alone, he had moved a simply unbelievable sixty miles. According to the internet, the average athlete rode at around 20mph. Though he hadn¡¯t yet tried, Zach guessed that, thanks to his two level-ups, he could easily hit 40 if he truly wanted. Of course, that would drain him so fast it wouldn¡¯t be worth it. But the point was that he could. Realistically, even the speed he was currently going¡ªwhich the tracker app on his phone pegged at around 29.7mph¡ªshould have been draining him like an overused battery. But oddly enough, it wasn¡¯t. This, despite using Boundless only a few minutes prior. Sure, it¡¯d made him sweat, and sure, it¡¯d caused him to lose his breath for a minute or two, but he was quick to recover. This must be the part of stamina based in willpower, he realized. I don¡¯t know what my willpower number is, but Gods damn it, it must be through the roof right now. From the moment he had slipped out of bed this morning, he had awoken with the feeling that today was going to be his day. In fact, it might just end up being the greatest day of his entire life. His mood was elevated all the way up to Ascos, Galterra¡¯s blue-and-green moon. ¡°It getting away!¡± Fluffles cried. Zach pedaled even faster despite knowing he couldn¡¯t actually outrun or catch up to it. It was difficult to tell because, as he¡¯d learned in physics, perceived motion rarely matched actual motion for fast-moving objects at a distance, but he had to imagine that the thing was moving at least five times as fast as the bike. Rocketing through a smaller tomato field, the terrain began to slope downward, turning into something of a hill with a gradually increasing steepness. Fluffles let out a whoop of excitement as the bike picked up so much speed that the tires began to hiss. Zach immediately stopped pedaling, then hoped to God his ¡°3 constitution¡± would be enough to prevent him from bashing his head in if for any reason this bike tipped over. Right now, they had to be moving at least 50 miles per hour, something he didn¡¯t even know was possible to achieve on a bike. The wind picked up to such an extent that he actually had to struggle to breathe as it beat against the two of them; his t-shirt ruffled, and Fluffles¡¯ ears flapped. Gripping his handlebars more tightly, his stomach gave a nervous lurch even as a rush of pure exhilaration caused him to shout out a cry of pure joy. Faster and faster they plunged down the ever-steepening hill, and then with a terrifying bump that thankfully didn¡¯t knock them over, they once again soared across flat, steady land, moving so fast that Zach likely wouldn¡¯t have to pedal for close to another minute. So instead, he simply sat, relaxed, and enjoyed the free boost provided to him courtesy of gravity. With Fluffles sitting up and clearly enjoying the ride, they zipped across a pasture, where several cows paused from grazing to stare at the two of them. Fluffles hissed at each one of them, and he almost seemed to be preparing to jump out and fight them, but luckily, they breezed right through and left the poor animals to their own devices. Distracted, Zach had to lean the bike and come into a dangerously sharp turn as he nearly collided into the side of a ranch, where a young blonde who was riding a horse in tight-fitting clothing shot him a sidelong glance and made Zach think troublesome thoughts¡ªwhich in turn nearly caused him to bang his bike into a shed. Fluffles seemed to enjoy this, for some reason. It was like he hoped they would crash. Finally slowing down, Zach once again returned to pedaling. The wisp was now well out of sight, but something about its appearance tickled his curiosity. There was something here that he wasn¡¯t seeing: something that he should have realized from the very beginning but that he¡¯d missed. It was right on the tip of his brain. He needed to think. He needed to put the pieces together. There was an element at play here that was very, very easy to miss, and that he didn¡¯t even blame himself for missing, but nevertheless, he needed to consider. After continuing along for another few minutes, he squeezed the brakes and brought the bike to a halt. much to the confusion of Fluffles, who demanded to know why they¡¯d stopped. Knocking down the kickstand with his right foot, Zach hopped off the bike, then so did Fluffles, as if not willing to pass up a chance to stretch his legs regardless of why they¡¯d ceased moving. Right now, they were in a large field with short grass. Behind them had been the cattle ranch they¡¯d hurtled through, and ahead of them was a stable. Even without being able to see any horses, he could be sure they were inside just from the smell alone. And from the way Fluffles was acting, Zach clearly wasn¡¯t the only one who noticed. ¡°Horsies stink!¡± he whined. ¡°I hate horsies!¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s just nature. There¡¯s nothing you can do ab¡ªno, Fluffles!¡± Zach shouted as a purple ball of energy began forming in the air in front of him. ¡°I will never speak to you again if you blow up those animals.¡± ¡°I kill the horsies! They smells and ruin Fluffles tummy!¡± ¡°Fluffles, p-put away your purple thing.¡± ¡°It called T2 Energy Bomb. And I turn horsies into mush.¡± ¡°Fluffles, please!¡± Slowly, the purple ball of energy faded, and then Fluffles angrily meowed before jumping back into his basket and curling up into a ball. ¡°Zach make Fluffles smell horse butt. Why we stop?¡± ¡°Because I need to think. I¡¯m realizing something now.¡± ¡°What?¡± Fluffles asked, lifting his head as if curious. Zach held up a finger, removed his backpack, opened the largest pouch, then reached inside. With a hiss, he pulled back his hand and sucked on his thumb, which was now slightly bleeding. This had been the second time today he cut himself on his sword, which he¡¯d tucked inside. It was only through sheer miracle that the already worn-down backpack hadn¡¯t suffered any damage. Zach had needed to be so perfectly careful in getting the blade inside. Can¡¯t believe I cut myself again, he thought to himself with a grumble. Reaching inside again, but this time much more cautiously, he removed the box of Frog Snax, which made Fluffles¡¯ ears twitch. ¡°Snack time?¡± he asked. ¡°No,¡± Zach said. ¡°I mean yes. Ahh, I mean maybe. Just¡­just give me a second. I¡¯m figuring something out.¡± ¡°Why you no tell best friend Fluffles? I help!¡± Zach smiled at him. Then he brought up his inventory and showed Fluffles the description, which of course the cat already knew and had seen before. But even still, there was something important hidden in it¡ªsomething so easily overlooked that he had, well, just outright, plain and simply overlooked it. Frog Snax: picked up by Zachys Calador Summons a wisp of light that causes the nearest non-boss, non-enraged aquatic-type enemy to become distracted for 45 seconds, forgetting its target. 500 range. Only 1 wisp may be active at a time. Not usable by Goblins, Dwarves, or Shadowfangs. ¡°Do you see it?¡± Zach asked the cat. ¡°No. I want chin scratches.¡± Zach moved over to Fluffles, bringing the floating words with him. He began to scratch the cat¡¯s chin with one hand while pointing to a specific part of the item description with his other. ¡°That part. Do you see?¡± Fluffles either wasn¡¯t paying attention or didn¡¯t care. He simply purred as Zach scratched him. With a sigh, Zach said, ¡°Right here. It says only 1 wisp may be active at a time.¡± ¡°Why that matter?¡± Fluffles asked, as if suddenly again becoming interested. ¡°Well, I only just now realized that I could have figured out where the spawn point is without ever leaving my apartment.¡± ¡°How?¡± Fluffles demanded, actually sounding angry. ¡°You do trick on me again?¡± ¡°No trick, little buddy. Or well, okay, there is a ¡®trick¡¯ to it, but it¡¯s not on you. It¡¯s all right here.¡± Once more, he tapped on that very specific part of the description. Only 1 wisp may be active at a time. Then he dismissed the information. ¡°I didn¡¯t figure it out until just now myself, but now I realize we can actually gain really important information by using this fact.¡± Fluffles didn¡¯t appear convinced, so Zach continued to elaborate. ¡°If only one wisp can remain active at a time, then if we somehow, in the future, ever try to do something similar to this again, we only need to figure out how fast the wisp travels in order to determine a rough estimate of how far away the spawn point is.¡± When Fluffles still stared at him with a blank, dumb expression in his amber-colored eyes, Zach decided to be even more specific. ¡°Let¡¯s say I eat a Frog Snax, and a wisp appears. And then five minutes later I eat another one, and a wisp does not appear, it means that the first wisp still exists and therefore has not yet reached the spawn. So, if I know the rate at which the wisp flies towards the spawn, we can calculate its distance.¡± ¡°Fluffles confused,¡± the cat moaned. Zach tapped his chin. ¡°Okay, it¡¯s like this, Fluffles. If we know that it¡¯s not reached its target in five minutes, and let¡¯s just say, hypothetically¡ªand this is a complete guess¡ªthat it¡¯s traveling at 120mph, then X = (120mph)/(60/5), which equals ten miles every five minutes. Then let¡¯s say I wait twenty minutes and eat another one. And the wisp appears. Now, we know that the spawn must be less than 40 miles away. Even from my apartment, we could have used the Frog Snax to narrow it down to an exact point on a map. Now do you get it?¡± Fluffles looked at him for nearly a minute before saying, ¡°No! Zach is nerd. Fluffles hate math. Tuna time.¡± With a sigh, Zach reached into his backpack to grab a can of tuna, but Fluffles stopped him. ¡°No, not here. Horsies are stinky.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. All right.¡± Zipping his backpack and hopping back on the bike, he pedaled for a good ten minutes, as even long after he stopped being able to smell the ¡°horsies,¡± Fluffles insisted that he still could. Finally, in a section of land that had slightly taller stalks of grass but no ¡°horsies,¡± Zach got off the bike, removed his backpack, and opened a can of tuna for the cat, who began eating it up as though he¡¯d been starved. From the way he ate, one would actually think Zach starved this creature as opposed to revolving his entire life around his hunger. ¡°I¡­I think I¡¯m going to eat something too,¡± Zach said. He reached into his backpack, took out one of the Frog Snax, and then placed it in his mouth. Fluffles immediately popped his head up from his now-finished tuna can and stared at him as though he were insane. ¡°We not ready!¡± Fluffles said, hopping into the basket with a clear sense of urgency. ¡°Zach is being a bad human and not giving Fluffles time to digest.¡± With the Frog Snax in his mouth, Zach wiggled his finger at Fluffles in a gesture to indicate that everything was fine and this wasn¡¯t what Fluffles thought it was. Then, he took out his phone and downloaded an app as the perfect plan at long last dawned on him. Now, if only the damn app would hurry up and download, as the snack was beginning to dissolve in his mouth! Finally. Opening the application, he began inputting some data. Namely, he imported the map data of his current area based on GPS coordinates, and then took a few steps back, stood on his tiptoes, and did his best to input, with as much precision as possible, the location of a farmhouse that, just by estimation alone, sort of looked like it was around two, maybe two-and-a-half miles away from where it stood alone across a wide, vast field of squash and cucumbers. It was hard to be sure with the glare from the sun which, based on the weather reports, was looking to be just as much of a menace today as it¡¯d been yesterday, with more record-breaking heat in the area. I was close, he thought, nodding with satisfaction as the number 2.142 miles popped up on his screen. Then, finally satisfied that everything was in place, he very, very carefully positioned his thumb over his phone¡¯s screen, and almost at the same time, he used Boundless and then chewed, swallowing the Frog Snax even as he began to pant with exertion¡ªa level of which he was now sure was nowhere near as strenuous as the first time he¡¯d used this ability on his apartment roof. He was clearly getting better with regards to stamina. There was no longer any denying it. Here we go! The wisp of light appeared immediately, along with a buzzing hum, which dulled in sound but not in brightness as it flew upwards towards the sky, though it did seem to peak a good deal lower this time around. Zach waited, his body tensing, his reflexes primed. He waited, and waited¡ªand the moment the wisp took off towards the southeast¡ªin the very same exact instant¡ªhe pressed his thumb down, activating a timer on his phone, which began to count upwards in milliseconds. Then he watched intently without blinking as the wisp soared off into the distance. And with perfect timing, the moment it flew over the farmhouse, Zach pressed the button a second time. And even without looking at his screen, he just knew he¡¯d nailed it. 145.22mph. ¡°Fluffles, we got it!¡± he cheered. ¡°What we got?¡± the cat asked. ¡°The speed.¡± ¡°Can I have a Frog Snax?¡± ¡°Fluffles, this time I really do need all three. I know you love them, but can you let me have them? I¡¯ll make it up to you later, little buddy. I promise.¡± ¡°Okay. Fluffles love Zach and let him eat all Frog Snax.¡± ¡°Thanks, Fluffles! Hey, for what it¡¯s worth, I think we¡¯re close. I think we¡¯re way closer than we thought¡ªor well, I thought anyway. Point is, I don¡¯t even think we¡¯re going to have to leave the Whispery Woods region, but we¡¯ll see.¡± ¡°Hurray!¡± Zach returned his attention to the bag of Frog Snax. There were now just three left. Glancing at his phone, he waited patiently. Already, ten minutes had passed while his nerves caused his heart to flutter with both excitement and trepidation. In truth, he was cutting things really close, and there would be some guesswork required, but the bottom line was that, doing things this way, he no longer had to worry about the possibility he would have to choose between running out of the snack or so vastly overshooting his mark that he had to backtrack a hundred or more miles. Even as he grew restless and anxious, Zach kept his emotions in check, and then when eighteen minutes had passed, for the second time in a row, he activated Boundless. Despite gasping and dripping more sweat, he honestly only felt like a guy who¡¯d just run a few laps. Tiring, yes, but compared to the way it¡¯d felt the first time? This was nothing. He really, truly was increasing his stamina. It was likely a combination of his repeated use of the ability, his days of nonstop exercise, including sword-fighting, running through farmland, and bike-riding, and his sky-high morale and willpower. The moment his phone indicated that nineteen minutes and fifty seconds had passed, he munched on another of the Frog Snax, timing it so that he swallowed just as the 19:50 became 20. He crossed his fingers, he held his breath¡ªand then he released it in a loud, victorious cheer as the wisp appeared above him, rose into the air, and again took off. ¡°Yes! Fluffles, we¡¯re so close now!¡± ¡°We are?¡± ¡°Yep! Only 1 can be active at a time. That means, at 145.22 miles per hour, we can determine that the spawn point is closer than 48.406 miles.¡± ¡°This mean Fluffles is being a good cat?¡± Zach had no idea how that even followed or what kind of logic he was using, but he wasn¡¯t about to disagree. ¡°No, it means you¡¯re being the best cat.¡± Fluffles meowed happily then jumped into his basket, closing his eyes. He was obviously far less excited about all of this than Zach was, which was perfectly fine. Zach doubted he¡¯d be that excited either if he was level 47, had fur, and got to ride in a basket all day. ¡°This one¡¯s going to be rough,¡± he muttered, closing his eyes. For the third time, he activated Boundless. And while it definitely was less severe, he was now becoming exhausted enough that the overall toll on his body made him feel so winded that, despite it being just a few hours after sunrise, he was ready to call it a night. Thankfully, though, Zach was quite pleased to discover that his ¡°recovery¡± times were increasing a great deal. Though he felt on the verge of collapse, in a matter of just five minutes, he was almost back to his full energy levels. As soon as ten minutes had passed, he ate one of his two final Frog Snax, and it really did taste amazing. It was no wonder why Fluffles loved these. Upon swallowing, he glanced upwards, and he saw that there was nothing in the air above him. With that, he grinned. ¡°Guess what, Fluffles?¡± he asked. When the cat¡¯s only reply was to make a noise that was like a cross between a snore and a purr, he merely pretended Fluffles was listening and continued to talk to him. ¡°I just figured out my spawn point is between twenty-four and forty-eight miles out in that¡±¡ªhe pointed¡ª¡°exact direction.¡± He hopped on his bike, gripped the handlebars tightly, and then pedaled for all he was worth, propelling the bike forward so unexpectedly it caused Fluffles¡¯ head to pop up, confused, as the wind once more beat against the both of them. This is it. I¡¯ve really got it this time, he thought. Nothing is getting in my way now. Nothing is stopping me. ¡°Zach find aquatic monster?¡± Fluffles asked. ¡°Yep! Just about.¡± So close now, so Gods-damned close¡­Zach transformed himself into an animal: into a hunter chasing prey. He gritted his teeth, boiling with hunger. His determination was the strongest it¡¯d ever been in his entire life. It was to such an extent that he was now using every ounce of his strength to practically fling them across this hot, humid farmland while the sun beat down against them and the grass rustled as the bike soared over it. He didn¡¯t even breathe heavily as he pedaled faster and faster, ignoring the ache in his legs. His heart pounded harder in his chest, but it was not because of the exertion, but because of the anticipation: because of the hunter¡¯s instinct that he could now feel growing in him with each push of the bicycle¡¯s pedal. Blasting through another cornfield, he almost didn¡¯t bother to get out of the way of a fence, which was quickly approaching in front of him, as his ever-shrinking proximity to the spawn point fed into his desire to continue on in a perfectly straight line until he was finally there. Days upon days of pent-up emotions, his father¡¯s death, Kalana¡­! It all exploded in him, and for a brief moment, he honestly felt like he could just crash right through the fence as though he were ten levels higher. Luckily, he realized just in time how stupid that was, and how he¡¯d only end up thrown off his bike. Also, it wouldn¡¯t be nice to ruin an innocent farmer¡¯s property. And so, at the last possible moment, he¡ª Nope. He¡¯d find the guy¡¯s address and pay him back later. Really, he would. As Zach was just upon the fence, he shouted, ¡°Fluffles! Break it!¡± And to his satisfaction¡ªand also a little surprise¡ªthe cat actually obeyed him. A bolt of lightning appeared out of the completely cloudless sky, and with a boom, the fence exploded into what looked like a thousand tiny wood chips a mere instant before his bike was about to crash into it. I really will buy that guy a new fence after this, Zach thought, taking his left hand off the handlebar for just a moment so that he could save this geo-location to his phone and mail the guy gold later. I just need to get there! Up ahead was a hill, steep enough to rival the one he¡¯d practically flown down a short while ago. Taking a deep breath, Zach pedaled even harder, refusing to give up even an ounce of speed as he burned his way up this hill with an angry, hungry vengeance, all while the same few words echoes in the back of his head. You¡¯re still level 3. You¡¯re still level 3. You¡¯re still level 3. You¡¯re still level 3. ¡°I¡¯m coming!¡± he shouted. Fluffles meowed, but it was a soft, quick, concerned meow that he almost thought he could translate into the cat¡¯s concern that he was losing his mind. He laughed confidently. B-but not at Fluffles! He was quick to make that clear. Clearing the top of the hill, he leaned forward in the bike, lifted his ass off the seat, and pedaled like a maniac past a chicken coup and another barn, ignoring the confused looks he got from the two old farmers who stopped raking horse dung to turn and look at him. This was really it. This was really, finally, actually happening. He had traveled so many miles despite never having even gone on vacation before, and he¡¯d left everything he had behind but a few pairs of clothing and a backpack. And now, now he was almost there. His determination was now so ironclad that he activated Boundless even while he was still peddling with all his strength on the bicycle. To his amazement, he wasn¡¯t even sure he felt it. At least not mentally. In a distant sort of way, he could feel the physical drain, but his willpower tuned it all out. Then, steering with one hand, he grabbed his backpack, opened it with the assistance of his own Gods-damned teeth, reached inside while tucking it under his chin, and grabbed the box of Frog Snax, which he tipped upside down while leaning his head back. The very last one rolled out of the box and fell into his mouth, and he smiled. Then, to his surprise, the entire box vanished into a puff of smoke. He didn¡¯t dwell on it, though. He merely shrugged, grateful not to have to worry about littering as he chewed the delicious¡ªand last¡ªsnack in the now-vanished box. The wisp appeared above his head, and rather than remain stationary a moment or rise into the air as it had done so many times in the past, it merely flew alongside his bicycle for a short while before shooting forward at a speed that was less than half of what it usually traveled. Though it pulled ahead somewhat, it only flew about two-dozen feet in the air, and Zach, desperate to keep up with it, literally howled with exertion as he forced his legs to pedal faster and faster and faster. He followed it closely¡ªfar more closely than he thought he¡¯d be able to. Was he gaining on it? Or was the wisp just slowing down? He wasn¡¯t even sure. He was so caught in a haze of desperate anticipation. He had come so far. He had waited so long. He needed this! And so, with that in mind, he chased after it for what would hopefully be the last time, using all his strength to keep his bike close in pursuit. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Almost overtaking it, the wisp abruptly banked to the left, and so did he. The wisp flew through a patch of tall stalks of grass, and thus, so did he. The wisp flew up a rather steep, but manageable hill¡ªand so did he. The wisp went down another short hill over a patch of reddish-green grass, and yes, so did he. The wisp began to zigzag, and he zigzagged with it, somehow matching all of its motions. And then the wisp flew directly, intentionally, into a boulder, and so did¡ª ¡°Oh shit, oh no!¡± Zach cried out, and so did Fluffles, as his bike slammed with incredible force into a gigantic boulder the size of a small house, causing it flip up, over, and then in turn launch his own body into it. This was going to hurt so badly. This might even give him a concussion. Zach closed his eyes and braced for impact. He didn¡¯t even want to see it. His nose hadn¡¯t even fully healed yet, and now it was going to shatter like a glass dropped on the floor. It would probably break his jaw, too. In fact, he¡¯d be lucky if he even survived a face-first collision with such a massive rock. He just hoped he wouldn¡¯t take poor Fluffles with him. Did¡­did it happen yet? Was he dead? Why did he feel like he was falling? No, wait, why was he falling? Zach opened his eyes, then screamed in terror and confusion as he realized he was plunging down a cylindrical hole of some sort. Distantly, he felt claws digging into the back of his neck, which he took to be Fluffles clinging onto him. ¡°What¡¯s happening!¡± he screamed as they fell. ¡°We¡¯re falling!¡± ¡°We going to touch water! Fluffles hate swim!¡± the cat shouted, voicing a completely separate fear from the one that concerned Zach. There was a splash, and even as he began sink into whatever depths he¡¯d just fallen into, his mind briefly flashed back to the day he¡¯d gone through something almost like this with Kalana. This was eerily reminiscent. Except, at least that time, things made sense. Right now, he didn¡¯t know what in the hell just happened or why. Coming up for air, he looked around. Despite there being no apparent source of light anywhere, the place seemed to glow with enough ambient light that everything around him was plainly visible in what should have been a pitch black¡­a pitch black what? He didn¡¯t even know what this was, where he was, or how he¡¯d gotten here. All he knew was that, right now, he needed to find his cat. ¡°Fluffles!¡± he called. ¡°Fluffles!¡± Was he drowning? He wouldn¡¯t be able to live with himself if the cat died. He needed to find him. He began to panic. Where was he? There was a splash behind him, and he quickly swung around, using his arms to turn himself in the water. ¡°Oh, thank the Gods,¡± he whimpered. ¡°Fluffles, I thought you drowned.¡± ¡°No!¡± Fluffles said grumpily. ¡°Fluffles get wet.¡± The black-and-white tuxedo cat swam to what was clearly a set of stairs like those leading into a pool and then hopped out and shook himself off. Doing the breast stroke, Zach also swam to the set of stairs. They even had one of those metal railings that he¡¯d seen in videos of community pools. He grabbed onto it and then stepped out, his clothes now completely dripping. He was soaked. Turning around, he realized that what he had fallen into was quite literally a pool. As in, an actual, rectangular-shaped pool with clear blue water and a blueish, tiled lining. Well, I guess I can no longer say I¡¯ve never gone in a swimming pool before. Despite the utter storm of emotions, ranging from shock, to bewilderment, to a downright level of disbelief that shook him to his very core, Zach still managed to have a least some sliver of mental capacity to appreciate the fact he had now just cooled himself off in a refreshing pool. But even that was only the tiniest portion of what he was feeling. It was like 2% of his brain power. The other 98% was totally, solely, and single-mindedly devoted to raising the alert-level of his brain to its absolute highest threat level of ¡°what in the fuck?¡± Grabbing the sides of his head, Zach spun around in a circle, twice, and made a noise that didn¡¯t even sound human. It was as though his confusion was so strong it had somehow created a new, unique sound. It took him almost ten seconds before he could even manage to speak, and even then, he struggled to get the words out. ¡°What¡­what in the¡­how? Where? What¡­when?¡± Fluffles hissed, which only made Zach more perplexed. ¡°This is Zach fault,¡± he said. Zach threw up his arms in outrage. ¡°What is my fault? I¡¯m so confused right now that I¡¯ll claim responsibility for anything¡ªliterally anything¡ªif you just tell me what it is I¡¯m taking the blame for.¡± Fluffles hissed again. ¡°You throw us into dungeon portal without giving Fluffles time to prepare.¡± ¡°DUNGEON PORTAL?¡± Zach half-screamed, half-shrieked. Fluffles thwacked his tail on the floor, which was made up of some kind of weird, black marble that did not look or feel natural. ¡°Yes. You throw us into dungeon portal.¡± ¡°As if I even know what that is!¡± Zach shouted. ¡°Zach discover secret dungeon, then make Fluffles go inside without telling Fluffles he have to go in the bath.¡± Zach pressed his hand against his own face and then screamed into it, the sound coming out as a moan. ¡°Are you telling me the only reason you¡¯re upset right now is because you got wet?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°And you¡¯re okay with everything else? The fact we apparently are in a dungeon portal?¡± ¡°Yes, Fluffles okay with dungeon portal, but I not okay with bath.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t with you right now,¡± Zach said to him. ¡°Bad kitty.¡± Fluffles lunged forward and took a swipe at Zach, almost scratching him. ¡°Fluffles is a good cat. Zach is a bad human. He throw Fluffles in the bath.¡± ¡°You think I did this on purpose?¡± Zach yelled, the last word ending in a high-pitched screech of disbelief. ¡°You think I came in here and was like, ¡®Oh, look, let me crash my bike into a boulder at full speed so Fluffles has to take a bath¡¯?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Fluffles replied angrily. ¡°Zach make Fluffles take bath. Trick him into going on adventure to bathtub.¡± ¡°Oh my Gods!¡± Zach cried, now gripping his own hair. ¡°I can¡¯t deal with this right now. I just found out I was thrown into something called a fucking dungeon portal, and my cat is accusing me of conspiring all of this beforehand so I can make him take a bath.¡± Doing everything he could to calm himself, he lowered his voice, and with all the sincerity he could muster, he said, ¡°Fluffles, I swear on the soul of my dead father I did not do any of this on purpose. I don¡¯t even know where we are, or that this place existed, let alone that you were going to get wet.¡± Fluffles blinked just one time and then said, ¡°Oh, okay. I believe you Zach. Fluffles sorry he get mad.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Zach had to bite down hard to prevent himself from hurling profanity at the animal and starting another doomsday scenario. Somehow, for a reason he couldn¡¯t even explain, the fact that Fluffles just gave in so easily after putting Zach through all that actually made it worse than if he¡¯d continued to accuse Zach of bath treachery for the next ten minutes while slowly easing off and realizing the truth. Forcing calm into his voice, Zach asked, ¡°Can you please tell me what just happened and why we¡¯re here?¡± Fluffles¡¯ feet made little patters against the polished, impossibly clean black marble floor as he ran to the other end of whatever kind of room they were in, looked around, and then said, ¡°Zach throw us into a dungeon portal. That why we here.¡± ¡°You know what?¡± Zach asked. He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it. He wasn¡¯t even going to say what he¡¯d been about to say. He let the words die off as a sharp exhale that he hoped emptied out his frustration along with his breath. It didn¡¯t. So he resorted once more to trying to hide his aggravation. Since Fluffles wasn¡¯t going to be of any use¡ªbe it deliberately or through a genuine lack of answers¡ªZach had to try to piece things together himself, starting with the where of it all. Where the hell was he? Other than ¡°in a dungeon portal,¡± of course. He looked around to fully take in his surroundings. He was in a large, spacious, rectangular-shaped room with no ceiling. Glancing up above, he could see a blue sky and a sun that was more or less in the same position as the sun had been when he¡¯d fallen into this place. He could also, when turning his head to just the correct angle, make out a patch of reddish-green grass like that which had been in front of the boulder. This told him that, despite the use of the term ¡°portal,¡± he was in fact still, geographically speaking, exactly where he¡¯d been before¡ªjust lower. Much lower. The room he was in was adorned with golden statues affixed to the floor. There were two near the pool, two near an opening behind him, and several scattered in various locations throughout. The statue seemed to take on the image of a tall woman wearing some kind of eagle mask, with a substance he took to be blood dribbling down her chin. In each of her hands, she held a curved sword. At the base of each of statue was a name: Yorna. Come to think of it, every few feet on the dark brown, seemingly wooden walls, Zach could see banners hanging from rods that also bore an image after this woman¡¯s resemblance. Whoever this Yorna was, she was clearly something of a celebrity in these parts. Still dripping wet, Zach spun around once more to see if there was anything he missed¡ªand then realized there in fact was. A little towards the pool area where he¡¯d fallen, just outside of the water and across from where the cat now stood, was a red button and a panel that looked like a touch screen. As Zach came closer to it, he realized that there was an indentation in the wood in the shape of a door, though it lacked any kind of handle with which to open it. The panel that looked like a touch screen was blank, and when Zach placed his finger on it, he could see no reaction. With a shrug, and for no other reason than morbid curiosity, Zach tried pressing the red button. And to his surprise, the wooden door slid open sideways with a computerized ding. A bright, white glow leaked out of the open door and into this swimming-pool area. Zach, becoming even more curious, stepped inside. It was only once he did so that he understood he was now in an elevator, as evident by the clear, metal-colored buttons before him and to his right. They had very odd labeling. All but one of the buttons made no sense to him. From the bottom to the top, they read: B50, B40, B30, B20, B10, B0 [here], EXIT. ¡°Well, not exactly a hard choice,¡± Zach said with a laugh. He thumbed the button labeled ¡°EXIT.¡± It wasn¡¯t that he wanted to leave so much as he wanted to make sure he knew where he was and knew how to leave. Basically, he just wanted to make sure he could come and go before he started exploring. The moment he pressed the button, an ¡°URR, URR, URR¡± sound came from a speaker right below the button labeled B50, playing exactly three times. Each time the sound played, a flash of red light came from somewhere to Zach¡¯s left located equidistant to the button panel on his right. He leaned in closer to inspect it. There appeared to be a keyhole, and below the keyhole was a rectangular metal placard that appeared to have been attached to the space below the keyhole with six screws. On top of this placard were words written in typed black lettering. ELEVATOR REQUIRES KEY DROPPED FROM BOSS EVERY 10 FLOORS 10th: Moldark the Unbanished* 20th: Blood Stalker 30th: Vengeful Spirit of Elvador 40th: Chained Curved-Fang Beast 50th: Yorna, Goddess of Night Binding *Moldark the Unbanished also drops the EXIT key Zach read the message over and over, and not because he did not understand what was implied, but because he refused to believe that what he understood was correct. Because, unless he was mistaken, there seemed to be an implication here that he needed to literally kill a boss to walk out of here alive. Exiting the elevator, he returned to the swimming area to see Fluffles taking a nap on the floor. Of course he was. That damn cat. ¡°Fluffles,¡± he said. The cat did not move. ¡°Fluffles!¡± Yawning, the cat stretched out its paws and asked, ¡°What Zach want? Fluffles was having nice snooze.¡± ¡°We¡¯re trapped.¡± ¡°We are?¡± ¡°It turns out we can¡¯t leave without getting a key by killing a boss.¡± He rubbed his face. ¡°At least, I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s what¡¯s implied.¡± He reached into his pocket¡ªthen rejoiced, remembering he¡¯d deliberately bought a waterproof phone just in case he got submerged again like last time. Unfortunately, there seemed to be no service down here. Fed up, he pulled on his wavy, jet-black hair as he tried to think. ¡°There has to be a way out of here other than killing the boss.¡± At this, Fluffles stood up, suddenly alert. ¡°Zach, what you just say?¡± he asked, alarmed. This in turn only increased Zach¡¯s sense of alarm and unease. ¡°I said there has to be a way out of here besides killing the boss. Like I said, this place seems like it was designed to keep us here unless we kill the literal boss and get the exit key.¡± ¡°That impossible!¡± Fluffles shouted, now sounding on the verge of panic. ¡°Fluffles never hear of this before. Zach you not playing trick? I am a good cat, and I behaved, so you can¡¯t play trick!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not playing a trick. Go in the elevator and look yourself. It says we need to kill a boss to get the elevator key.¡± Fluffles ran over to him, then sat down and stared up at him. Zach felt sort of uncomfortable, as he wasn¡¯t used to the cat regarding him with such an intensity in his gaze. ¡°You say the boss. Now you say a boss. Why Zach confusing Fluffles?¡± ¡°Wait, what? What¡¯re you¡ªoh, wait. No, okay. I see what you¡¯re getting at. No, uh, it says there¡¯s like five bosses, and we have to kill the first one.¡± At this, for some reason, Fluffles released a drawn-out, annoyed-sounding meow. One that almost sounded more like disappointment than anger. But it also sounded like something else, too: relief. ¡°Okay, that not bad. Now Zach get strong and level.¡± ¡°Level?¡± Zach said, almost having forgotten why he¡¯d come out here in the first place. ¡°Wait, is this place the aquatic-type spawn?¡± Fluffles meowed affirmatively. ¡°So the¡­the spawn I was heading to all this time, it¡¯s here?¡± Voicing his question out loud, he realized how stupid it sounded. Obviously, it was here. It was a good thing that Fluffles either never used sarcasm or used it so rarely that Zach couldn¡¯t recall him ever doing it, because if the situation had been reversed, Zach knew he would answer the question with, ¡°Uh, no, sorry. It¡¯s in the other invisible boulder tunnel that happens to be right where the wisp led you.¡± Zach sighed. He did come here to level, after all. He didn¡¯t know about this whole ¡°boss¡± thing, and he certainly hadn¡¯t brought enough food or water for an extended stay. He had about 4 bottles of water left, a few cans of cat-food, and the tuna Fluffles liked. He¡¯d obviously have to eat the tuna if they were trapped here awhile, because he sure wasn¡¯t eating the cat food. Moving away from the elevator, he once again scanned this pool area for anything he might have missed, but he saw nothing else worthy of note. It was just the pool, the fancy black marble flooring, the statues, the banners, and the wide, door-less opening behind him that led into what he presumed was another area. Taking a few steps in that direction, he paused a moment to consider his options. If nothing else, he might as well at least explore the place. Maybe he could find another way out: an emergency route he could use. With that thought in mind, he stepped through the opening in what he had now decided to call ¡°the pool room¡± and found himself in a somewhat narrower hall that was completely devoid of anything noteworthy aside from an even narrower opening in what looked like a granite wall. To the right of the opening was a black sign with white lettering that read: B0 -> B1. Approaching the opening, he realized it was actually a stairwell leading even further down below ground. With nothing else to do and nowhere else to go, he began to descend. Right away, the polished, clean look of the place was replaced with something far muskier and more cavernous that reminded him very much of the underground area below the river he¡¯d discovered with Kalana; the only difference in this case was that, like before, though there were no obvious sources of lighting, he could see perfectly fine. At the bottom of the staircase, his feet crunched against what must¡¯ve been gravel. There was no flooring down here: just the ground. The walls were also purely made of rocks. There was a single narrow passage just large enough for him to slip through, and as he squeezed through it, he could just make out what looked like a far larger open area ahead. It was difficult to see, however, as it required him to finish slipping through this extremely claustrophobic space, which was far too narrow for his comfort. It was such a tight fit that one of the sharper rocks tore a chunk of fabric out of the side of his already old and battered backpack. It felt like the walls were closing in on him, which made sense, because this passage was almost like small, barely human-sized tunnel that had been drilled into the wall. Eager to get out of this highly unpleasant squeeze-space, he began to scuttle forward faster and faster, until finally, he practically skidded out and into the larger area. ¡°Okay, now where am I?¡± he said aloud to himself. Observing his new surroundings, Zach craned his head to the left. Then he turned his head to the right. Then he blinked exactly twice, tilted his head sideways, and finally dropped his jaw open and screamed at the absolute top of his lungs while somehow managing to drop to his knees just in time, ducking beneath a Gods-damned scimitar that nearly decapitated him from the neck up. The fact he¡¯d even ducked was a testament to the reflexes Fluffles had drilled into him. The fact that he was still screaming was a testament to the reflexes he needed to get rid of. ¡°Wh-wh-what the hell is that?¡± Zach cried, dashing backwards and away from a monster that ambled towards him. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± the monster moaned¡ªno, not a monster. A literal skeleton. An actual, literal skeleton! If Zach wasn¡¯t so busy backing away, he would¡¯ve wiped his eyes to make sure he wasn¡¯t hallucinating. He¡¯d been expecting an aquatic-type mob. What he had not been expecting was to find a human-shaped construct of bones wearing a red bandana and a ripped, decaying pair of shorts wielding a scimitar and coming straight for him. Above its head was an unmistakable declaration: Level 5. ¡°Frrruughhh¡± the level-5 skeleton moaned. ¡°Frrruughhh.¡± Wielding its scimitar in just one hand, it lobbed another swing aimed at Zach¡¯s head. And like the first time around, Zach did not choose, intend to, or even will himself to drop to his knees, lean back, and dodge the strike: he just did it. And the reason he did it¡ªthe reason he was still breathing instead of looking up from the ground at his own headless body¡ªwas all because his cat had beaten the shit out of him for three days in a hot park while he¡¯d bitched about falling behind. Thank you, Fluffles! As he jumped backwards and away from a slice that would¡¯ve cut open his belly, he realized that now wasn¡¯t the time for gratitude. Right here, right now, in this dungeon of hell that he had willingly taken himself to, he was in a real life or death fight. This was real. This wasn¡¯t pretend. This wasn¡¯t play. This gods-damned thing wanted to kill him, and he didn¡¯t want to die! Even still, Zach, without having any intention to do so, threw both his palms out and out of reflex, shouted, ¡°Wait! I¡¯m not ready! My sword is in my backpack!¡± Now, to be clear, Zach did not shout these words because there was any part of him that either meant them or was trying to communicate with a mob. He did not even want to shout these words. It was just a defensive, human reaction to being caught unprepared and flatfooted. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± The creature stumbled forward, almost looking like it was going to trip, and then it stopped short just a moment before reaching Zach, raised its scimitar above its bony head in one hand, and then chopped down on him. Zach, not wanting to be split open, threw himself off to the right, rolling on the rocky surface over his throbbing shoulder, which hurt from where Fluffles had hit him. Then he hurried back to his feet while scrambling to get this gods-damned backpack off his shoulders. ¡°Damn!¡± he cried, dashing backwards as the scimitar slashed the air where his nose and eyes had been. It was only here, now, in this very moment, that Zach learned how utterly difficult it was to open a zipper in a life-and-death situation. His fingers fumbled and grabbed around all over the backpack. Yet what was a simple series of movements he had performed thousands of times in school, he could no longer seem to do right. The red-bandana-wearing skeleton shouted, ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± and then rushed him again, its bones crackling as it swung the scimitar three times in quick succession at him. The first, Zach ducked beneath. The second, he evaded by leaning over to his right side. And the third, he jumped backwards and away from. Then he resumed frantically trying to open the damn backpack. The skeleton didn¡¯t care. The skeleton just continued to indefatigably lurch towards him. Somehow, their positions had become switched, and now the scimitar-wielding skeleton stood in front of the tiny narrow passage that would have served as Zach¡¯s only escape. Why is this Gods-damned zipper stuck? How can this happen to me now of all times? Coming straight for him, the skeleton began to swing out wildly with his scimitar, even while out of range. Zach had no choice but to backpedal away, retreating further and further into the room¡ªuntil to his horror, he felt his body bump into something distinctly skeletal in nature. Something that felt like a being made out of bones without any of the organs or skin that would typically accompany such a composition. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± ¡°Aw, shit!¡± Spinning around, he recoiled in terror as a second level-5 skeleton stared at him through empty, lifeless eye sockets while a ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± from off behind told him that the original skeleton hadn¡¯t forgotten about him either. So now, apparently, he was going to get it from both sides like a child stuck between feuding parents. But his new friend decided to act first. The skeleton he¡¯d bumped into slashed at his forehead, and boy, it came close to getting him. It really did. Oh, Gods, it came so close. Really, if not for the fact that Zach just so happened to be craning his neck to see how close the other one had come, he would have been lobotomized right there on the spot. I need my damn sword! Completely losing patience with his piece of garbage backpack, he applied all his strength in an attempt to open the zipper, which must have gotten caught on a piece of cloth. With an audible pling, the zipper ripped completely off the bag, and Zach moaned in frustration as he realized that now he couldn¡¯t unzip it at all. This, as both skeletons were now closing in on him, leaving him with no vector to escape or run away. Zach looked back and forth between the two of them. The original one, Skeleton #1, who¡¯d attacked him on the way in, would once again be the first of the two to have another go at him, though the second skeleton wouldn¡¯t be far behind. Glancing down at his backpack, Zach shook his head, growled, and grabbed it by the shoulder strap. ¡°Fuck it!¡± he shouted. With all his strength, he swung the backpack into the Skeleton #1, dealing 4 damage and causing it to stumble back a step. The skeleton retaliated by swinging his scimitar wildly again. Though poorly aimed and seemingly random, its bone-arm moved fast enough that if Zach just happened to be near the thing while it was doing that he¡¯d be chopped into little pieces. Spinning around, came face-to-skull with Skeleton #2, who swung his scimitar at Zach¡¯s throat. Zach ducked, shot back up to his feet, then ducked immediately again, as a shadow on the floor telegraphed the same exact strike from Skeleton #1. Something has to give! Both Skeletons were already drawing their arms back as if to strike him a second time. Skeleton #1 was bringing his blade downwards vertically, and Skeleton #2 was trying his luck with the same horizontal slash at his face. Because of the nature of the multidirectional attack, there was nowhere for Zach to run. If he tried to dash to the left or right, he would have to move within reach of their blades. If he tried to duck, Skeleton #1 would split his scalp open, and if he tried to side step, Skeleton #2 would slash half his face off. Swearing loudly, Zach lifted his left leg, pressed his knee against his stomach, and then shot his foot straight out, kicking Skeleton #2 with every ounce of strength in his body. Even through his sneaker, he could feel the odd texture as he connected with the creature¡¯s rib bones. Though he only did 5 damage, he managed to push it away from him. At the same time, he spun around as fast as he could. With no time to dodge or get out of the way, all he could do was lift his backpack up and use it as a shield. The scimitar sliced the entire thing in two, with the top half of his backpack falling to the rocky floor as all of his clothing, toiletries, bottles of water, and spare cat food spilled out onto the ground. But Zach didn¡¯t care. His eyes widened as he saw his sword, just sitting on top of the fabric waiting for him. This, as both Skeletons came at him yet again. The first struck out at him. And then so did the second. Zach immediately let go of his backpack. As it fell to the ground, he snatched his sword off it midair, and then immediately swung it upward to parry Skeleton #1¡¯s downward strike. The two blades collided in a shower of sparks, and then Zach spun around and clashed swords with Skeleton #2, who had been a mere moment away from opening Zach up from his ear to his jaw. Now, gripping his blade, bending his front leg, and straightening his back, Zach couldn¡¯t help but grin as, for the first time in this fight, he felt like he was truly in control. It didn¡¯t matter that these skeletons were each 2 levels higher than him. For days, he had endured the bullying of a level-47 cat. Like before, both skeletons attacked in unison. The first took a wild swing, trying to chop at him as though the scimitar were an axe. Zach raised his blade to block. He deflected the blow with ease, causing the skeleton to stumble back a step. Sensing an opportunity to create distance, Zach spun fully around, dashed backwards, and bent his knees, putting himself into a fighting stance while both skeletons were now in front of him. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± skeleton #1 cried, attempting again to chop off Zach¡¯s head. With a grunt, Zach swung his sword horizontally, clashing with the scimitar, resulting in another shower of sparks. Then he raised it above his head to block a downward chop from Skeleton #2. Pissed off and fed up, he did not wait for them to attack him yet again. Now, he seized the offensive. Zach dashed forward, and with all his might, he slashed Skeleton #1 right across his chest. The moment his sword connected, he was rewarded with a disturbingly satisfying crunch from the bony-monstrosity, who made a moan of pain as it suffered 17 damage. Zach followed up, striking out again, slashing its throat for an even louder crunch and another 19 damage. Getting greedy, he went in for a third¡ªthen stopped mid attack and dashed backwards as skeleton #1 stumbled forward at him. Wait, I¡¯ve seen this attack before! He¡¯d seen this a couple of times now, actually. The skeleton would stumble forward as if it were going to fall over, then it would stop short, lift its scimitar, and then bring it straight down for a strike aimed at splitting open his scalp. He recognized this attack! And just as expected, that was what Skeleton #2 did. Only, this time, Zach was ready and prepared for it. Coming into a quarter-squat, Zach gripped his weapon tightly, and then shot up into a standing position while whirling his blade upwards and diagonally so that it met the scimitar head on. The resulting clang was tremendous, as was the shower of sparks as the weapon flew out of the skeleton¡¯s bony hands with such speed that it spun several-dozen times in the air before piercing and getting stuck in the ceiling. Now, with the skeleton completely defenseless, Zach screamed out in rage and unleashed upon the unarmed bag of bones. First, he cut into its hip for 11 damage. Then he spun around, slashing its neck for 17 damage. Finally, he jumped into the air, raised his hands high above his head, and then slammed the blade down on top of the creature, dealing 28 damage. Just like that, it crumpled into a pile of bones as dust rose off the ground and into the air. +25xp Zach rubbed his eyes to make sure the number he saw was correct. Had that seriously just given him twenty-five experience points? Did he seriously just get a massive, whopping, jaw-dropping, twenty-five experience points for killing the¡ª ¡°Zach not pay attention!¡± Fluffles meowed, loudly. ¡°Zach open eyes!¡± He almost didn¡¯t see it. He¡¯d completely forgotten about Skeleton #1. If he had been even a tenth of a second slower, he may well have died. Throwing himself away and landing hard onto his back, he only narrowly avoided a swipe that would have cut his stomach open and emptied out his guts. ¡°Now I¡¯m pissed!¡± The skeleton came forward, swinging down at him. Zach met his blow with one of his own, their two swords meeting. Then Zach took a swing at the skeleton, dealing 16 damage. Then, he¡­he¡­well, he did nothing, actually, because it seemed that was all it had left, as like its friend, it crumpled to the ground into a pile of bones, causing a trail of dust to lift up into the air before disappearing with a poof. Come to think of it, the scimitar from earlier was no longer stuck in the ceiling, either. That, too was now gone. ¡°Thanks, Fluffles.¡± ¡°See? I am a good cat!¡± ¡°You really are. If you hadn¡¯t warned me, I might not have¡ªohh! Ohh! Did I get a drop? I think I got a drop! And it¡¯s huge! What is that?¡± Zach reached down and grabbed the object that, to him, at least, shined. It was some kind of fabric wrapped in the kind of plastic you¡¯d find covering a new suit. Zach picked up the item, tore open the plastic, and then removed the fabric within, unfolding it. It was a cloak. More specifically, a tunic. It was dark brown, and the chest area had a cartoonish picture of a bone on it. He grew excited. Was it any good? Decaying tunic of the Undying: discovered by Zachys Calador Armor + 5 +1 str +1 dex +1 con Zach cheered, ripping¡ªliterally, tearing¡ªoff his soaked, wet shirt and putting on this comfortable dry tunic in its place. He could actually feel himself becoming stronger and more coordinated the moment it was fully over him, which was strange, because he hadn¡¯t been able to feel these kinds of things before. ¡°Zach get gear,¡± Fluffles said happily. ¡°Okay. I take nap now. Go kill boss. If Zach get more Frog Snax come wake Fluffles.¡± The little thing spun around and made its way through the narrow opening that led here, and Zach watched him take off towards wherever he planned to nap. Raising his hand to tap his shoulder so that he could view his stats again, he wisely chose to stop, move to the other corner of the room in case anything respawned near him, and only then did he proceed. Zachys Calador: Level 3 (50/150 xp) Armor Bonus: 5 4 strength 3 dexterity 4 constitution 1 intelligence 2 speed 1 luck Zach nodded to himself. ¡°Okay,¡± he said aloud. ¡°Now I¡¯m finally starting to get somewhere.¡± He turned around, ready to continue exploring¡ªthen he gasped, as both skeletons were already back, having respawned in just five minutes. This¡­could be a problem. Chapter 21: Gearing Up for Skelly Chips Chapter 21: Gearing Up for Skelly Chips Even though the skeleton was ¡°looking¡± directly at him, the creature apparently showed no interest in Zach, as it seemed content to simply stand idly by just off to the right of the extremely narrow passage in the rock wall that Zach had come through. Because of the small opening, no one who ventured through could possibly see the skeleton, which was why Zach had been caught so off guard and unprepared. Now, however, he knew exactly where it was, and with his sword gripped tightly in both hands, he was ready for it. ¡°What happens if I yell at you?¡± Zach shouted at it. ¡°Do you even care?¡± The eyeless, red-bandana-wearing, scimitar-wielding sack of bones did not show any reaction. It continued to stand perfectly still, as did the other one, which waited in front of a rounded, cave-like entrance on the opposite end of the area. This meant that, at least in one regard, they were similar to the mobs he and Kalana had hunted in the underground cavern below the Leviathan River. But they were also different in one very key way: they appeared to attack on sight. Or¡­okay, not ¡°on sight,¡± but within a certain range. Once, a few years ago, when he and his dad had sat together in the living room of their apartment watching the yearly tournaments, a news reporter had been interviewing a member of the Children of Order on a beautiful ranch near his estate on the Faded Island off the south-west coast of North Bastia. There had been a pen behind the two of them, where his personal mobs spawned. They never showed them on screen for whatever reason, but Zach recalled what the man had said to the reporter when she¡¯d stepped too close to the wooden fence. ¡°Stay back, sweetheart,¡± he¡¯d warned, gently ushering her in the opposite direction. ¡°Those ones are aggro.¡± Right. That had been it. ¡°Aggro.¡± Some mobs ¡°aggroed¡± when approached too closely, whereas others were ¡°passive¡± and, as long as not physically touched, would do nothing to harm anyone who came within their range, no matter how close. These two skeletons were clearly aggro. That much, at least, was no longer in question. I can¡¯t believe this is how everything ended up, Zach thought, his emotions mixed and chaotic. In his mind, Zach had foreseen things turning out very differently. He imagined finding his ¡°aquatic-type enemy¡± near some pond or something, luckily discovering it was around his level, and then killing it over and over while he relaxed on a lawn chair in a nice little camping area he¡¯d set up. But now, it seemed, he was destined to be trapped in this bizarre, surreal place that was apparently a dungeon. Dungeons weren¡¯t even supposed to exist in this world anymore. Hadn¡¯t the last one been wiped out hundreds of years ago? That¡¯s what they tell us, anyway, Zach thought. But who the hell knows now? There could be like 20 of them still out there for all we know. He still couldn¡¯t believe that it was him in this situation. Here he stood¡ªhe, Zachys Calador, of all the people on this planet, in an actual dungeon. Would any of his friends at school believe him if he told them? Hell, would they even believe a dungeon like this existed right in the middle of the farmlands? The fact that Zach was literally trapped in here until or unless he fought¡ªand killed¡ªa freaking boss left him feeling apprehensive and uneasy. And yes, a bit afraid, too. But that wasn¡¯t all he felt, was it? No, he thought as his lips formed into a nervous grin. I¡¯m so damn excited. The fear was only a small portion of it. He was eager. He was hungry. As long as he kept his wits about him and didn¡¯t try to pull off anything crazy or stupid, he was going to level up¡ªmaybe even several times. It had taken him almost an entire Gods-damned day just to get from level 2 to level 3, and yet, right here, in this very spot, were enemies that seemed to respawn every five minutes and gave 25xp a kill. That meant if he just killed them twice more each, he would be level 4. If I stayed in the underground cavern, that would¡¯ve taken 25 spawns and twelve-and-a-half hours. This¡¯ll take me ten minutes if I¡¯m careful, cautious, and I don¡¯t rush. With that thought in mind, he stepped forward, then paused. The skeleton continued to remain where it was. Assuming a fighting stance, he took another small step forward¡ªand still there was no reaction from the level-5 enemy. Glancing behind him, he realized only about fifteen feet of space spanned the gap between him and the wall he¡¯d been pressed against. It wasn¡¯t a lot. Hopefully, he could get more before drawing the skeleton¡¯s attention, as he did not want to aggro the second one while still fighting the first, but he also didn¡¯t want to fight with his back to the wall, either. If I aggro both at once, the chance of making a mistake and taking a serious, life-threatening wound goes way up. Part of him, to his own amazement, actually wanted to rush in and take them both on. Even amid his natural fearfulness, he was mystified to discover how much he was enjoying this. In fact, he was no longer sure what he feared more: these mobs, this dungeon, the inevitable fight with a boss, or himself at how much he wanted to be here. That last feeling in particular was a growing one, too. Even just in the past few minutes, the scale that balanced fear vs. eagerness was tipping ever more gradually in favor of the latter. Taking a slow breath, he inched another step forward again¡ªand this was the one that did it. The moment his sneaker made contact with the rocky surface, the skeleton snapped to life. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± it moaned, its bony feet making a disgusting crackling sound as it walked towards him¡ªno, wait! Not walked: stumbled. Zach¡¯s grin broadened. If it was stumbling towards him, then he knew exactly what it would do. Zach bent his knees, lifted his shoulders, lowered his arms, and turned his wrists forward so that his sword pointed downwards and to his right. The skeleton continued to stumble towards him, almost looking as though it would fall over. And then the exact moment it reached him, it came to an abrupt halt, raised its scimitar in one hand above its head, and then struck down at Zach, who had been preparing for that exact sequence of movement. Just as he¡¯d done earlier, Zach shot back up, almost to his tiptoes, and lashed his sword upwards with him, delivering a massively powerful parry that caused the scimitar to fly out of the skeleton¡¯s right ¡°hand¡± and spin several times in the air before landing with a clank on the ground halfway across the room¡ªright next to where his destroyed backpack and all of his personal items had spilled out everywhere. Pleased with himself, Zach laughed at the creature, who merely stood there as if deliberately waiting for Zach to kill him. It seemed that, unarmed, the red-bandana-wearing skeleton had no attacks to use. ¡°Wow, it really just stands there,¡± he said aloud. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, jackass? Got nothing left to¡ª¡± ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± shouted the skeleton across the room. Zach turned his head in its direction, then swore, as after just the briefest moment of confusion, he was pretty sure he knew what happened. It was that damn scimitar! It had landed too close to the other one, and it must¡¯ve aggroed the Gods-damned creature. So wait, time out¡­did that mean then that mobs could aggro each other onto another person? Meaning, if he had enough strength to pick this whole skeleton up and just hurl him across the room into the opposite wall, would the act of him doing so cause his friend to come stumbling over to join the fight? I think so. It¡¯s just a guess, but it¡¯s¡­it¡¯s probably the case. Either way, he needed to kill this first one before the second one got to him. Or wait, do I? he wondered, pausing. He needed to play things safely and intelligently. These things were using real weapons and getting hit would result in equally real consequences. If he struck out at the disarmed skeleton while the other one was on its way, there was a chance he could put himself off balance and take a hit. Since the skeleton was now harmless and unable to actually hurt him, it made much more sense to use the distance he had and launch an attack on the one that was still a threat. Having made up his mind, he decided to leave the first skeleton standing brainlessly in place, and with a determined grunt, he lifted his blade and charged at the other, which was heading straight for him. He met the skeleton head on, and with all his strength, he swung his sword vertically down on its chest. 19 The skeleton roared, ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± and attempted to do the exact same thing to him. Zach pivoted, circling around and away, avoiding the attack, then slashed the creature across its chest bones a second time. 15 It turned to face him¡ªor at least attempted to do so. Zach was already striking a third time, prioritizing speed over strength, and thus hitting for 11. Then he drew his arms around, intent on going in again¡­but the skeleton died. It simply crumpled into a pile of bones, disappearing a moment later in a puff of smoke. +25xp ¡°Whew,¡± he said, wiping a bit of sweat on his brow. Amid the rush of adrenaline that came with fighting something capable of killing you, Zach failed to recall how much damage he¡¯d done and with what. It was probably a good idea to know how much damage these things could even take in case he found himself in a situation later where he was in combat with multiple ones and had to prioritize a single target. Zach turned around and calmly walked to the skeleton that was still ¡°alive.¡± The creature was obliviously standing in place, doing nothing. It wasn¡¯t even facing him. Zach came closer and positioned himself so that he was facing the skeleton¡¯s side; then, he fully extended his arm so that the entire length of his sword was jutting out, though he did not strike with it just yet. He merely waved it in the air, like one of those athletes who played ¡°ball-runner¡± when it was their turn to try hitting the ball and they¡¯d just stepped up to the swinging-marker. Nodding to himself, he backed up a few small steps. ¡°So this is my range,¡± Zach said to himself, doing his best to burn the distance into his memory. He needed to know exactly how far away he could be with his sword and still strike something successfully. ¡°I should test something.¡± Zach swung the blade across the skeleton¡¯s chest, hitting for 15. Then, using what he estimated was an equal amount of strength, he delivered the exact same strike, but only this time, instead of slashing it across the skeleton¡¯s chest, he went for its head. Following the sound of a crunch, the creature began to stumble a few steps back as the damage numbers appeared above its skull. 22 So, it definitely hurt more to hit the head area. Curious, Zach wondered what would happen if he tried to use a thrusting attack. His sword was clearly capable of stabbing as well as slashing, yet during practice with Fluffles, all the strikes Zach had learned were slashing. Taking a step back, he lifted his front foot, shifting all the weight to his rear leg, then immediately shifted it back forward, stepping down and thrusting forward at the same time. With an even grosser-sounding crunch, the sword pierced straight through the skeleton. Zach yanked it back out, which took a bit of effort, but was still easily doable. 14 The skeleton crumpled in on itself, reduced to a bunch of falling bones, each one making clack as they landed one after the next on the rocky floor; this, after doing a total of 51 damage, which meant that, however much these creatures could take, it was less than¡ªor equal to¡ª51. Zach breathed a pleased sigh, which quickly turned into a gasp as he spotted a shining white light following the puff of smoke. Another drop! Greedily, he reached down, picked up his item, and then ran over back to the safe corner outside of aggro range so that he could inspect it. It looked like a red piece of smooth, silky fabric, and like the tunic he now wore, it came encased in plastic as though it were something ordered from the internet or sent from a manufacturer. Decaying Bandana of the Undying: discovered by Zachys Calador Armor + 1 +1 dex Helm Sight Level: basic (non-boss) Zach stared at that last line in confusion. What in the hell was ¡°Helm Sight Level?¡± And why did it say helm? This was clearly a bandana¡ªin fact, the same red bandana those skeletons had been wearing. In what universe was a bandana a helmet? I guess I¡¯ll figure it out later. With his inventory and stats still open, he ripped open the plastic like a child opening a birthday present and tied it around his head. Interestingly, his stats did not change until the moment he had finished securing it and had taken his hands off. Zachys Calador: Level 3 (100/150 xp) Armor Bonus: 6 4 strength 4 dexterity 4 constitution 1 intelligence 2 speed 1 luck [EQUIPPED GEAR] Zach read along and nodded to himself, pleased to see that his stats had gone higher. But then his eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat as he noticed something there that definitely hadn¡¯t appeared before. Below his stats were the words ¡°EQUIPPED GEAR¡± in brackets, and they were slightly darker and larger than the letters used to display his stats. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The hell is this? Becoming curious, he touched the letters, wondering if it did something¡ªand it sure did! Right before his eyes, his stats zipped across the air in front of him, moving well over to the left, and in the place where they¡¯d been, a diagram¡ªor perhaps it was more accurate to say a ¡°silhouette¡± of what looked to be a generic human body took its place. This silhouette was standing with its feet spread apart and its arms extended, but angled downwards towards its hips. Surrounding this illustration on every side as if to form sort of an enclosing square were a bunch of boxes, and on all but three of the boxes was an illustration of some kind. One of the boxes looked like a pair of hands, and another a pair of feet. One looked sort of like a shoulder, and there was even something that distinctly resembled a necklace. There were also two that looked exactly, one-hundred-percent identical: fingers with rings on them. The only three boxes that did not contain an illustration were the three that appeared to be ¡°filled¡± with something. ¡°Oh, wow!¡± Zach exclaimed. ¡°I get it!¡± As it finally started to click, Zach realized that these ¡°boxes¡± were slots of some kind, and they must have represented equipment. That had to have been the case, because the three filled boxes contained what could almost be described as computer-like ¡°thumbnails¡± of the equipment he currently had in his possession. Directly above the figure¡¯s head was a filled ¡°slot¡± that contained the image of the red bandana that Zach was now wearing; to his satisfaction, he realized that simply by touching the thumbnail-sized image, he could make the bandana¡¯s stats appear above the box. The same was true of his tunic and of his weapon, which appeared adjacent to another box that showed an illustration of a sword. Zach took an educated guess that if he had another weapon of any kind in his opposite hand, it would occupy that particular slot. But wait! What would happen if he had another tunic? If he just simply threw on another one of these tunics, which one would show? Or could he even do that? The fact that he had ten fingers but only two ring slots made him doubt that he could just wear whatever equipment he wanted. This opinion was evidenced by the fact that his bandana had been called a ¡°helm.¡± The term must¡¯ve been referring to the slot as opposed to the item. Though he couldn¡¯t be certain, Zach felt this strongly implied that people couldn¡¯t just double or triple-up on equipment. Obviously, he¡¯d test it if he ever got the chance, but if he had to bet money, he¡¯d put his remaining 3,500g on something like that not working. The only thing Zach still didn¡¯t understand was why he was only first seeing this now. Did it have something to do with that ¡°Helm Sight¡± thing on his bandana? To test, he quickly removed the headband, and he noted with an ¡°ahh¡± that the silhouette and the boxes vanished, and his stats¡ªwith one less point in dexterity and armor¡ªquickly scurried back over to where they always were. Upon ¡°re-equipping¡± his bandana, his armor and dex again increased, but rather than return the earlier illustration he¡¯d seen, it simply caused the option to reappear. [EQUIPPED GEAR] Did this then mean that the ¡°Helm Sight¡± thing was what allowed him to view this information? His inclination, at least based on the current evidence, was to say that, yes, it was. But just to be sure, he removed his tunic so that he now stood in the dungeon shirtless, and to his frustrated surprise, the option to view his gear vanished, just as it had when he¡¯d removed his bandana. Why, though? It just simply made no sense? Unless¡­ Of course! There was only one possible explanation: only people with two or more pieces of equipped gear could access that particular illustration. It made sense, too, because now that he thought on it, the ability to see his inventory wasn¡¯t there if he had nothing in it. For whatever reason, it seemed people could only access certain information or statuses if it was applicable to them, which was why most people on Galterra would go their whole entire lives only ever having the ability to see their plain, boring level-1 stats. That¡¯s got to be it, he thought, putting the tunic back on. Satisfied with himself, Zach rotated his shoulders, bent and unbent his legs, stretched his arms, loosened his neck, and prepared for the next spawn. This time, he would level up, and Gods-be-damned, he was excited! Finally, he would make some progress. Finally, he would start to catch up. The Gods only knew how far along Kalana must be by now. But did she have access to her own private dungeon? He thought not! Actually, who knew? Maybe she did. Either way, he really needed to stop thinking about it all the time. Seriously, how did it help his situation to constantly stress himself out worrying about Kalana¡¯s level instead of his own? Why do I even want to do this in the first place? he wondered. To see her again, sure. But that¡¯s not the only reason! I want to level up for my own sake as well. I can¡¯t keep worrying about falling behind! Zach shoved all doubts about his progress out of his mind, and instead, he focused on fighting intelligently and killing the next two skeletons that would soon spawn. Because he¡¯d killed the one near the back of the area first, he wasn¡¯t surprised when it spawned a full half a minute before the one near the tiny, narrow entrance. No, that was entirely something he¡¯d expected. What he hadn¡¯t expected to see, and what was now floating above both of their heads, was: [45/45] Skelly Grunt A Level 5 [45/45] Skelly Grunt B Level 5 ¡°So that¡¯s how you know what they¡¯re called,¡± he said aloud, simply astonished. This time, he didn¡¯t even bother experimenting: this had to be what the bandana did. He was certain of it. This ¡°Helmet Sight¡± or whatever¡­it allowed him to see their names and how much damage they could take. But wait¡­if that was the case, then did all ¡°helm¡± equipment bestow this kind of ability onto their wearers? Or was it only this one special bandana that came from this one dungeon? Zach had so many questions about how things worked, and some day, he planned to find the answer to all of them. For now, he simply wanted to level up. He¡¯d waited so long for this! He¡¯d biked, walked, fought in a park under the hot sun, crashed into boulders¡ªit was time to keep going! The mobs had respawned, too. Determined and amped up, he stepped within Skelly Grunt A¡¯s aggro range and waited with his blade pointing forward. Unlike last time, the mob didn¡¯t open up with its stumble-attack. Instead, it delivered its easily avoidable horizontal slash with the scimitar held in its right hand. Zach ducked beneath it, then countered with a strike of his own, dealing 15 damage. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was the fact that his dex had increased or if it were just something he was imagining, but his body somehow felt more ¡°responsive¡± than it usually did, as well as more balanced. Whatever the case, it was with great ease that he was able to duck beneath two more of the same attacks that came in one after the next. Even as he evaded the strikes, he couldn¡¯t help but find himself grinning at the new, extremely helpful ¡°sight¡± he¡¯d gained. [30/45] Skelly Grunt A Level 5 Zach waited for it to attack him yet again. And like before, it used the exact same overhanded slash that it¡¯d just thrown at him twice. Zach didn¡¯t even bother ducking this time around. There was no need to conserve his energy, as he was overflowing with it. Raising his sword, he blocked the attack. Then, moving quickly, he countered with his own strike. Even though he¡¯d learned that attacking the head did the most damage, he went for what was easier and safer: the body. 15 Following another gross crunch as he rattled its bones, the Skelly Grunt cried, ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± and raised his hand, slicing downward. Zach lifted his own blade, which met the scimitar above his head with a loud clang, and then as the skeleton attempted to draw its hand back for another strike, Zach sent his sword forward into a thrust, stepping into the attack as he did so and penetrating the mob for 17 damage. This time, rather than pull his blade out, he waited to see what would happen. Fewer than two seconds went by, and then the mob simply crumpled into bones, collapsing around the blade. Zach chirped with glee, seeing the now familiar¡ªbut always exciting¡ªwhite shine that meant a piece of loot had dropped that belonged to him. His cheer died somewhat, though, as he picked it up and saw that it was another of the red bandanas. Well, maybe he could sell it, right? But where the hell would he put it? He had no backpack anymore: just a pile of now-filthy clothes with rocks and gravel covering them in the middle of this area. Oh well. At any rate, he wanted to be absolutely sure that this was the same piece of loot before he potentially threw it away, so he checked his inventory. Decaying Bandana of the Undying: discovered by Zachys Calador Armor + 1 +1 dex Helm Sight Level: basic (non-boss) ¡°Yep,¡± he said sadly and with a shrug. ¡°Same exact bandana.¡± At the very least, it gave him the option of testing his earlier theory. Tearing open the package, he removed the bandana, lifted it to his face, and then placed it against his forehead on top of the other, identical bandana. Then, a bizarre sort of warmth began to spread in his cheeks, one which, in less than a second, quickly turned hotter¡ªalmost to the point of pain. Then Zach screamed in terror as the entirety of his vision turned red as though he were wearing a special pair of glasses. At the same time, in the air all around him, he saw the following: X! X! X! X! X! ¡°Okay, okay, I get it!¡± he cried, tearing the second bandana off his face and chucking it over his shoulder. Once more, he could see clearly and in color, and the pain vanished as though it had never been there. The strange ¡°X!¡± things everywhere were gone too. With an uneasy, somewhat traumatized sigh, he said, ¡°Lesson learned. Only one ¡®helm¡¯ at a time. Got it.¡± Putting the disturbing experience out of his mind, he approached Skelly Grunt B, who aggroed him right away. Zach readied himself. Then he laughed as he saw the creature stumbling towards him. ¡°Yes!¡± he cried out. ¡°I love this attack!¡± An instant later, the skeleton was disarmed, and with three quick strikes, Zach dispatched him. Now, it was finally time. Now, his moment had come. After all this waiting. After all this journeying. After everything he¡¯d endured to get to this point: finally, it was time to level up! +25xp Here we go, baby! It¡¯s time! The words he so desperately wanted to see appeared. He rejoiced as his eyes saw them, and then, holding his breath, he read them¡ªthen almost choked as the air whooshed out of his lungs. Level up! +1 spd (3) Zach¡¯s mouth fell open. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± he whispered. Then, in an enraged shout, he cried out, ¡°That¡¯s fucking it? One Gods-damned point in speed?¡± This couldn¡¯t be. This was impossible. Was this all that he had inside of him? Was this the extent of who he was? Not even a new ability or anything, either. Seriously? Was this actually what he¡¯d gotten? Just a single Gods-cursed point into a single Gods-cursed stat? He checked just to be sure. Zachys Calador: Level 4 (0/200xp) Armor Bonus: 6 4 strength 4 dexterity 4 constitution 1 intelligence 3 speed 1 luck ¡°This is just unbelievable!¡± He ran his hands through his hair, trying his best to fight off his sense of self-loathing. What kind of horseshit was this? Strangely, though, his anger cooled off rather quickly as he saw the shining white light indicating he¡¯d gotten a drop. It was something green, though it was always difficult to know what he was looking at while it was shining. He reached down to pick it up, and as he did so, he felt as though he finally understood what ¡°speed¡± actually did. His limbs felt like they could move a bit faster and easier. Despite his Gods-awful level up, Zach at least felt some degree of satisfaction knowing that, piece by piece, he was slowly coming to learn and understand more things. In this case, he was fairly sure he had worked out the answer to a question he¡¯d asked Fluffles on the day he left his apartment. ¡°Which stat is more important for how fast you can ride a bike or run?¡± Zach had asked him. ¡°Strength or speed?¡± Fluffles had given him a bogus answer, which meant he either didn¡¯t know or didn¡¯t feel like saying. But now, Zach was pretty sure he solved the problem himself. It seemed that strength was the physical strength of his body, dexterity made him more nimble, balanced, and responsive, and speed controlled how quickly he could move his limbs, or even his torso and other parts of his body such as his head. Therefore, when it came to jumping, it was strength, running, it was speed, and riding a bike, it was likely a combination of them both. Though he still wasn¡¯t one-hundred-percent sure on the bike one. The faster you pedaled a bike, the less strength you needed and more speed you required. Or maybe that was just how he imagined it. Ah well, it was definitely a bit of both: that was for sure. ¡°Let¡¯s see what I got.¡± Zach picked up the item dropped by Skelly Grunt B and then walked over to his safe little corner to inspect it. His mood soured somewhat as it certainly didn¡¯t look very useful. In fact, it looked like a bag of potato chips, only in this case, the bag was green all over except on the very front, which was decorated with a colorful, cute little cartoon illustration of a dancing skeleton. Skelly Chips: picked up by Zachys Calador. A delicious snack; apple-flavored. Each bag contains 110 calories. ¡°Well, that¡¯s that,¡± he grumbled bitterly. Then he sighed. In truth, he was really hungry. He¡¯d expended a lot of energy, and lately, any time he wanted to eat something, he had to share with his damn cat, who had an insatiable appetite. Looking down at the bag of chips, he went to open it, then paused, becoming paranoid. He estimated he had at least another two minutes before the Skelly Grunt mobs respawned, so gently, practically on his tiptoes, he walked over to the ridiculously narrow passage that led from here to the area with the stairs he¡¯d come down. Very carefully, he looked into it, seeing it completely empty. Then he walked back over to his safe area. With extreme care, he pinched an end of the bag with one hand, and then the other end with his opposite hand. Very slowly, so as not to make even the slightest sound, he¡ª ¡°SOMEONE HAVE SKELLY CHIPS!¡± cried Fluffles. ¡°Gods-dammit!¡± The cat came soaring into this little spawn area so fast that he actually skidded along the ground, then turned to Zach and took off like a rocket in his direction. He ran so fast that he looked like he was hopping instead of running, his paws almost a blur. ¡°Zach get Skelly Chips?¡± he asked, his eyes practically glowing. ¡°Fluffles, I¡¯m starving.¡± ¡°Fluffles get half!¡± the cat insisted. ¡°I love Skelly Chips. They are Fluffles¡¯ favorite.¡± ¡°You said that about Frog Snax!¡± Fluffles meowed. ¡°Now it Skelly Chips. Zach starve Fluffles. I starving!¡± He knew he wasn¡¯t going to win this argument, so he poured half the chips into his hands and prepared to set them down, knowing that Fluffles wouldn¡¯t mind eating something without a plate even if it touched the ground. Annoyingly, Fluffles demanded that he add two more chips to ¡°his share,¡± claiming that Zach¡¯s share was slightly more. ¡°Zach try to cheat Fluffles. I was a good cat and was sleeping and now I get to have Skelly Chips.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± To Zach¡¯s delight, they actually did taste amazing. What was it with mob-food and extremely good flavor? Two items was too soon to call it a ¡°pattern,¡± but if it happened a third time with a new type of food, he was just going to assume that anything dropped by a mob was gourmet. Fluffles devoured the chips, told Zach to ¡°keep level,¡± and then turned around to leave just as the mobs respawned, which meant of course he drew aggro on his way out. Zach sighed as he watched the two skeletons growl at Fluffles, who growled right back at them as if he were taking it personally. ¡°Go away, mean, stupid skelly!¡± Fluffles said with a hiss. Two bolts of lightning streaked down from the ceiling, and Zach¡¯s eyes popped open so wide he feared they¡¯d get stuck. He stared in utter incredulity as Fluffles hit the nearest skeleton for 1,241 damage and the other for 1,187, stealing both kills from Zach, which meant he¡¯d now have to wait five more minutes again for them to spawn. But he didn¡¯t even care about that, because he was too busy gawking at how much Gods-damned damage the cat had just done. That was just outrageous. It was outrageous! ¡°Fluffles sorry,¡± the cat said with a meow. ¡°They come back soon. Zach okay?¡± ¡°Y-yeah,¡± he said. Then, as the cat turned to leave, his eyes widened a second time. ¡°Whoah, whoah, wait! Fluffles, come back!¡± ¡°What wrong?¡± he asked, having been just about to slip his head into the narrow passageway. Zach sprinted over to the spot where Skelly Grunt A had just died. ¡°Is that...¡± He released a cry of delight. There was a brown satchel, and inside the satchel were coins: gold coins. There was a 1,000 coin in there mixed in with a bunch of 100 and 50 coins. ¡°Wow! Fluffles, you are a great cat. You just made me so much m¡ª¡± ¡°Hurray!¡± Fluffles cried. ¡°Fluffles rich!¡± He bit the satchel, and upon contact with his mouth, it vanished into thin air. ¡°I add to Fluffles¡¯ account!¡± he announced. Then, the cat ran out of the room, presumably back to the swimming area, and likely went back to sleep, all while Zach was left standing there like an idiot. ¡°Time for me to start making my way deeper into this place,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°After these next two, I need to get a move on.¡± Zach went back to his safe area and took a seat while he waited for the skeletons to come back. Thinking things over once more, he at last made up his mind: after he wiped this next spawn, he was going to continue onwards and head deeper into the dungeon. Unless he wanted to spend the next few days living off cave water and skelly chips, he needed to go deeper. So that was what he would do. Somewhere down there was a boss he had to kill, and he planned to kill it. Chapter 22: A Harsh Introduction Chapter 22: A Harsh Introduction If not for the sudden outburst of screaming voices, Zach would have been well on his way towards discovering what devious machinations this creepy, yet morbidly exciting dungeon had in store for him. Just a moment ago, he had been getting pumped up, ready to travel deeper into this unknown prison and kick the ass of whatever boss needed kicking so that he could ride the elevator up and leave this place¡ªand come back right away, of course. After all, he wasn¡¯t planning to ¡°escape.¡± Not at all. He was going to leave, sure, but only so that he could resupply at the nearest town or village and come right back. In fact, depending on how much experience he could reasonably gain, he might just stay here for a good long time. Maybe even beyond level 10! At no point in his life had he felt so motivated and determined. After a short, five-minute rest, Zach had gotten back onto his feet, approached the aggro range of Skelly Grunt A, and had been ready for it the moment it spawned. Curiously, ¡°Skelly Grunt A¡± had spawned as ¡°Skelly Grunt¡± and remained that way until the other one spawned a few seconds after it. Only then did the letter ¡°A¡± become appended to the end of its name. Determined to venture deeper, Zach wanted to make quick work of the two skeletons in this room so that he had a few minutes¡¯ time to carefully inspect what might lay beyond before actually going any farther; the last thing he wanted was to find himself once again faced with an ambush from an area he couldn¡¯t see. Yet, only a moment after he¡¯d felled Skelly Grunt A, multiple screaming voices from somewhere above and behind him caused Zach to pause just an instant before entering into aggro range of Skelly Grunt B. If he had taken even a step farther, he would have initiated combat with the fleshless creature. He stopped, however, as to both his confusion and alarm, the loud, echoing screams that resonated from somewhere in the distance sounded as though they were coming from the area with the swimming pool where Fluffles was currently napping. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± he asked, becoming anxious. He turned around, and as fast as his body could move¡ªwhich was faster now than before¡ªhe squeezed himself through the tight-fitting passageway, not even caring that he scraped his knees against the rocks, and he bolted across the area beyond and up the stairs, which led to the pool. Even as his feet were slamming down on the steps, he could hear a tremendous splash, followed by the sound of vicious, angry meowing. ¡°Who attack Fluffles?¡± the cat yelled, hissing. ¡°Someone attacking Fluffles! Where Zach?¡± ¡°I¡¯m coming!¡± Zach screamed, his heart hammering away in his chest. On the verge of panic, he dashed into the swimming area, his sword at the ready, and he darted his eyes around for any sign of a threat. Fluffles was okay, thank the Gods¡ªbut he was now soaking wet. It looked as though something had caused a giant enough splash that the water traveled all the way across the room to where he had been napping. His fur was absolutely drenched. Darting his head around, alarmed, Zach finally spotted two figures making their way out of the pool. One was a boy who looked to be around Zach¡¯s age; he had short, buzz-cut black hair, plump cheeks, and though not exactly ¡°fat,¡± he was robust but in a way that almost looked intentional. He was wearing red, padded body armor that Zach took to be a leather brigandine, and he wore trousers that looked equally as bulky. On his back was a round, large shield and a silvery gem-encrusted sword, and around his neck was a pendant in the shape of a lion. Exiting the pool next to him was a girl, who also looked roughly around Zach¡¯s age. She was attractive, with long, blond-colored hair done into a ponytail that reached all the way down to below her shoulders and jutted out from behind a black, curved steeple hat. She had dark blue eyes, and she was slim in stature. Clutched in both her hands was a polished wooden staff, at the tip of which resided a bright red gemstone that looked like a ruby. She wore a thin, blueish-white vest on top of a white undershirt with a matching pair of blueish-white leggings. She also donned a necklace, and hers was in the shape of the sun¡ªand it glowed a brilliant bright yellow color, too. Both she and the boy with her regarded Zach, then looked at one another as though perplexed. ¡°Who are you two?¡± Zach asked¡ªor at least he intended to ask. He might have said some of the words or he might have said none at all. He wasn¡¯t sure. He was pretty certain that he at least got as far as the word ¡°who,¡± but whether he said one word, none, or all, it ultimately wouldn¡¯t have mattered because Fluffles drowned out whatever he¡¯d been about to say with a deafening shout. ¡°Zach!¡± the cat shouted. ¡°This serious. Ready sword. Prepare for PVP!¡± Up until this point, the two mysterious strangers had been standing with a more or less non-threatening posture and doing little more than regarding him and his cat with an understandable curiosity¡ªthe same curiosity that Zach was regarding them with. But that all changed the moment Fluffles spoke. Right away, the faces of both the boy and the girl tightened. ¡°D-did he just say ¡®PVP¡¯?¡± the boy asked, sounding shocked. ¡°Rian, did that kitty just talk?¡± the girl replied. ¡°Who the hell cares, Lienne?¡± He reached behind himself with both hands and drew his sword and shield. ¡°He just said PVP! You heard him!¡± Zach, becoming equally as uneasy as he was angry, growled and raised his own blade threateningly. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it,¡± he warned the two of them. ¡°No, you don¡¯t think about it. Drop your weapon, kid. Yield!¡± Yield? he thought angrily to himself, repeating the word. I¡¯m not Gods-damned yielding! I don¡¯t know who these people are, but I¡¯m not about to back down after everything I went through to get here. ¡°You fucking yield!¡± Zach snapped right back at him. From the way the boy gripped his sword, it wasn¡¯t a stretch to assume he had no intention of complying, so to Fluffles, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll take the guy on the¡ª¡± Zach¡¯s mouth fell open¡ª¡°are you seriously playing with your tail right now? What the hell are you doing?¡± Fluffles was running around in circles as if trying to catch his own tail, which he often did from time to time, but¡­but why now? Why in the name of the Gods was he doing this now of all times? Did he expect Zach to deal with these two people all on his own? Clearly, he did, because he somehow managed to chase his own tail out of the swimming-pool room, through the next hall, and down the stairs. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening,¡± the girl said, following the cat with her eyes, ¡°but we should end this quickly.¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Zach could sense from the shift in posture that the two were about to attack. Swearing loudly, he dashed forward, determined to strike before he was stricken. This seemed to surprise both of his bizarre visitors, as they flinched as if unready. But their surprise did not last long. The boy, Rian, snapped out of his stupor and raised his sword as if in challenge a moment before Zach was upon him. Zach struck out, exploding into a furious, three-strike combination he hoped would put an end to this immediately. First, he cut horizontally, but the boy called Rian managed to raise his own, somewhat shorter sword in time to block. Zach followed it up with the same strike once more, as if to bludgeon him, but the robust boy¡¯s guard held steady, managing to block; this time, the two blades crossing created a few sparks. Finally, Zach lifted his blade high and swung it downwards, and for a moment, he thought he might¡¯ve had this ¡°Rian¡± dude. Unfortunately, the kid managed to lift his shield just in time, and with a surprisingly loud, high-pitched thump, he endured the strike, even as it caused him to shift the weight to his back foot and nearly lose his balance. Having failed to land a single hit, Zach dashed backwards to reset, and he was glad he¡¯d done so, because less than an instant later, a dark blue, missile-shaped flame hurtled across the spot he¡¯d only just been standing. It continued onwards until slamming into the side of a wall where it disappeared, luckily not starting a fire. She¡¯s the dangerous one, he realized. I need to go after her first. Zach spun his body on his heels, then took off at a sprint towards the girl, his blade raised and ready to strike. He didn¡¯t want to kill her. He would try his best just to wound. The last thing he needed on his conscience was to have killed two people his own age he knew nothing about. As it were, he already had enough crazy things on his mind to worry about. ¡°Rian!¡± she shouted, beginning to take several defensive steps backwards. ¡°Taunt!¡± ¡°I know, I know!¡± Zach, still charging in her direction, stopped immediately as a strange, overwhelming sense came over him. He turned his body to face the one she¡¯d called Rian, and for a reason he couldn¡¯t explain, he suddenly realized that, of all the living beings on the planet, there was no one¡ªnot a single person¡ªhe hated more than Rian. He hated Rian so much that he would trade his own life if it meant Rian died with him. That was the extent of the rage he now felt. Screaming, he rushed blindly towards him, and then with fury in his voice, he shouted, ¡°I¡¯ll kill you! I hate you!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, kid,¡± he replied, grinning. ¡°Focus on me.¡± Why am I behaving this way? Zach wondered. By the time he realized something very strange had just happened, he was already striking out at the boy, who once more absorbed two of his sword attacks on his shield before countering with an overhand slash of his own. Zach bent backwards and evaded, though it came way too close. Then he raised his sword to block two fast strikes that came first from his left and then from his right side. Two loud clangs filled the otherwise silent swimming-pool area as Zach deflected both, then returned with yet another of his own, which was once again blocked by the shield. Before long, the two of them settled into something of a rhythm¡ªalmost a dance of sorts, of traded strikes. Zach managed to evade anything the boy sent his way, while on the flipside, that damn shield, which was twice the size of his face, managed to be everywhere his sword went. Eventually, the constant sound of grunts accompanied the occasional thud of sword on shield or clang of steel on steel. The boy, Rian, stepped forward and thrust his sword towards Zach¡¯s face. Zach leaned to the left, watching as it passed harmlessly through the air where his head had just been, then countered with a downwards slash, which Rian blocked by simply raising his right, shield-bearing hand. Then the two both backed away. ¡°Why are you two trying to kill me?¡± Zach demanded as he rushed back in to reengage. He stopped short at the last moment, ducked beneath another blue missile of fire, and then tried to hammer away at the boy¡¯s left side in an attempt to drop his guard. ¡°Why are you trying to kill us?¡± he fired back, taking a swipe at Zach¡¯s throat, which he successfully blocked with the middle of his blade. Zach dashed backwards. ¡°Wait, say that again?¡± ¡°I said why are you trying to kill us?¡± His mouth falling slightly, Zach began to slowly, cautiously, and calmly lower his sword, as he noticed the boy doing the same. ¡°You¡­you tried to kill my cat¡­right?¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± the girl said, her tone outraged. ¡°I would never. I love cats.¡± ¡°Well¡­well I¡­he told me you two were¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯re not here to hurt anything that¡¯s not a mob,¡± the girl said. Zach stared at the two of them a moment, searching their eyes for any trace of deception. Then he fully lowered his blade, sighed, and with heat in his voice, he shouted, ¡°Fluffles!¡± The cat came strutting in, wobbling with happiness and satisfaction. ¡°Fluffles find all his tuna on the floor downstairs!¡± he announced. Even knowing it was a risky thing to do, Zach turned his back on the two he¡¯d just been fighting with, and he regarded Fluffles. ¡°You told me those two were trying to kill you.¡± ¡°Fluffles not say!¡± the cat replied defensively. ¡°Fluffles say they attack.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the same thing! And what¡­what do you mean attack?¡± ¡°They splash water on Fluffles.¡± ¡°Are you¡­¡± Zach removed his left hand from his sword so that he could rub his face. The frustration was unbearable. ¡°Are you telling me you just had the three of us almost kill each other because they accidentally splashed you?¡± Fluffles meowed. He moved his head as if he were going to reply, but before he could speak a word, the girl answered in his stead. ¡°I believe it,¡± she said. ¡°I have three cats. That¡¯s exactly something they¡¯d do if they could talk. Also¡­¡± Zach turned around just in time to see her face turn red. ¡°D-did you say his name is fwuffles!¡± Fluffles walked over to her. ¡°I am a good cat. And I love chin scratches.¡± Here we fucking go, Zach thought, moaning. He couldn¡¯t believe the girl Fluffles had asked him to fight to the death was now scratching his chin and telling him how good of a cat he was. Why could no one resist this? Was Fluffles using some kind of high-level ability or was it just his face? How did he have such power over human brains? ¡°Okay,¡± Zach said, his sword-carrying arm now dropped non-threateningly to his side. ¡°Just¡­can we all agree that no one here actually wants to kill anyone else?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± the girl who he believed had been called Lienne replied immediately as she pet Fluffles. ¡°Of course not,¡± the other one, Rian, said. He had already returned his sword and shield to his back. ¡°Fluffles not kill adventurers,¡± he cat replied. ¡°He only want Zach to get mean humans back for splashing.¡± Zach pointed at him threateningly. ¡°Bullshit!¡± he shouted. ¡°One of us could¡¯ve died.¡± Fluffles hissed at him. ¡°You not yell at Fluffles! I not let humans die. I watch.¡± ¡°You know what? Whatever. Seriously, I¡¯m pissed.¡± Zach waved his hand at Fluffles. He couldn¡¯t even be bothered to deal with this now. Instead, returning his attention to his strange new company, he said, ¡°My name is Zachys Calador. This is sort of my cat, Fluffles.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Rian,¡± the boy said, extending his hand. Zach took it, and the two shook. ¡°Rian Astafort.¡± He gestured at the girl accompanying him. ¡°And this is my sister, Lienne.¡± Zach shook her hand, and she smiled at him. ¡°Pleasure to meet you, Zachys.¡± ¡°Just Zach is fine. And same to you too. Uh, I have to be honest with you guys: it¡¯s a bit of a shock meeting other people here.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Lienne asked. Zach blinked. ¡°Don¡¯t you know?¡± ¡°Know what?¡± ¡°This is a dungeon. As in, a literal, actual dungeon. With mobs.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why we¡¯re here.¡± Zach held up his pointer finger as if to reply, but the words got stuck somewhere in his throat, as he found himself dumbfounded by her reply. As if noting his confusion, the boy, Rian, let out a small, but non-malicious laugh and said, ¡°This is your first time meeting adventurers on the road, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Y-yeah. I didn¡¯t think¡­¡± With a brief glance at Fluffles, Rian said, ¡°I¡¯m sure we both have a lot of questions.¡± With that, he took a seat on the black-marble floor, and Lienne sat next to him. Confused, and still somewhat in shock, Zach joined them, and so too did Fluffles, jumping into Lienne¡¯s lap. ¡°I guess we can take turns. You want to go first?¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Sure.¡± And with that, he began his search for answers. Chapter 23: The Will of the Favored Chapter 23: The Will of the Favored Before speaking, Zach took a moment to regard the siblings who had plummeted down here with him in this inescapable dungeon. Even with them sitting together directly across from him, it still wasn¡¯t easy for him to believe that they were actually here. How had they found this place? Why were they so unsurprised to see him here? In fact, the only thing that seemed to have genuinely shocked either one of them was the existence of the talking cat, who was now asleep in Lienne¡¯s lap. At least, that was until the conversation began. Once he actually began speaking, the level of disbelief among all three of them began to rise. ¡°I guess my first question,¡± Zach said, taking a brief moment to look each one of them in their eyes, ¡°is how you guys found this place, and why you¡¯re not more shocked. I mean, this is a dungeon! How are you taking this so in stride?¡± At this, both Lienne and Rian looked at one another as though the question itself was absurd to them. Zach wasn¡¯t sure why. To him, it seemed like the most reasonable thing to ask right off the bat. ¡°We found this place¡­the same way you did, probably,¡± she said. Though her voice was soft and cordial, there was a note of confusion in the way she spoke¡ªas though she couldn¡¯t understand why Zach would even ask such a question. ¡°The same way I did?¡± Zach replied, pointing a finger at himself. ¡°Wait, you mean with Frog Snax?¡± Once again, the two siblings exchanged a mystified glance. ¡°What?¡± Rian asked. He¡¯d laid his sword and shield down on the floor to the right of where he sat as though it enabled him to be a bit more comfortable while in a seated position. His sister had also set down her staff. ¡°You know, Frog Snax. They¡¯re these¡ª¡± ¡°I know what they are,¡± Rian shot in. ¡°I just don¡¯t see what they have to do with¡­okay, this is getting stranger by the second.¡± Zach laughed. ¡°I feel the same way. You guys are confusing the hell out of me.¡± ¡°We¡¯re confusing you?¡± Lienne asked, sounding baffled. Fluffles, who still looked to be napping, somehow muttered, ¡°Fluffles confused too,¡± in a sleepy whisper. The cat was clearly asleep, so Zach had to wonder if his words were even in reply to the actual conversation or just him repeating something in his dreams. Rian folded his arms and twisted his lips. ¡°I thought the reason you were so surprised to see us was maybe because you didn¡¯t think you¡¯d ever run into others like you, but now I¡¯m wondering if it¡¯s something else.¡± ¡°Others like me?¡± ¡°Adventurers trying to make the cut.¡± ¡°Trying to make the cut?¡± Rian leaned in closer. ¡°Are you messing with me?¡± Frustrated, Zach threw out his palms. ¡°No! Why would I be? I feel like we¡¯re getting nowhere here. It seems like the core of it is that I¡¯m surprised that you¡¯re not surprised, and you¡¯re surprised that I¡¯m surprised that you aren¡¯t. Maybe we should both just start from the beginning. Because, from my perspective, I came down here with my cat to a place no one should¡¯ve known existed, and then you guys fell down acting like you were looking for it.¡± Rian nodded. ¡°Maybe we should back way, way up. Because everything you just said only makes me more confused.¡± ¡°Yeah, and I don¡¯t know how that¡¯s possible.¡± ¡°And I don¡¯t know how you don¡¯t know how that¡¯s possible,¡± Lienne fired in. ¡°So then here¡¯s a simple question,¡± Zach began, ¡°why aren¡¯t you surprised?¡± ¡°About what?" Rian asked. Zach motioned with his hands, waving them around himself. ¡°About this. About all of this.¡± ¡°Why would we be surprised? We¡¯re here for the same reason you are.¡± Zach laughed. ¡°Somehow I really doubt that.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I said I doubt you¡¯re here for the same reason that¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯re trying to reach level 10 so you can join a guild, right?¡± Rian asked. Zach widened his eyes. ¡°Wait, how do you know that? Did someone tell you about me? Who are you two? How do you know I¡¯m here to¡ª?¡± ¡°Whoah, stop it a second,¡± Rian said, holding out his palm. ¡°Why would we know anything about you? You¡¯re making me so confused that it hurts. Look, we¡¯re here for the same reason as you. We also want to join a guild.¡± ¡°By¡­by getting level 10?¡± Zach asked. Lienne narrowed her eyes at him. ¡°Obviously.¡± This was becoming too much to process at once. Zach felt like he was trying to solve a puzzle and three-quarters of the pieces were missing. ¡°That¡¯s just oddly specific,¡± he said to them. ¡°That you have to do the same thing I do.¡± ¡°What?¡± Rian asked, his tone higher in pitch. ¡°Kid, we¡¯re the same as you. We¡¯re just trying to get through the Rites of Initiation.¡± ¡°The what?¡± ¡°Okay, you¡¯re messing with me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not!¡± Zach snapped angrily. Then, muttering a brief apology for losing his cool, he continued, ¡°I¡¯m not. I¡¯m just so damn¡­I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t?¡± Rian said. He slapped his palm down against the black marble. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever been this confused before. I¡¯m not even convinced you¡¯re not messing with me or something.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t¡­I don¡¯t think he is,¡± Lienne said. She sounded compassionate if not somewhat alarmed. ¡°Zach, uh, you¡­I think the confusion between us is that we¡¯re not sure how¡­I¡¯m not sure how to phrase this. I guess me and my brother are wondering why you¡¯re acting like you don¡¯t know anything.¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t!¡± he shouted at them, throwing up his hands as he spoke. Once again, he had to apologize for the emotional outburst. Then, more calmly and slowly, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know anything.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s¡­¡± Lienne¡¯s words trailed off as though she weren¡¯t sure what to say. Then her brother spoke in her stead. ¡°I think what we¡¯re getting at, Zach, is that we don¡¯t understand how you can be in the same situation as us and not know what¡¯s going on.¡± Zach couldn¡¯t help but get just a bit defensive at the presumptuous way Rian had spoken to him. ¡°With all due respect, I don¡¯t see how you can just assume we¡¯re in the same situation.¡± ¡°Oh really?¡± ¡°Well, yeah.¡± ¡°So let me get this straight. You¡¯re not someone who was wandering around somewhere someday¡ªmaybe a forest, maybe a lake, or an old mine shaft¡ªor wherever¡ªwhen you suddenly stumbled into a pack of mobs that you couldn¡¯t believe existed, which you then attacked, leveled up off of, and later, you miraculously stumbled into a member of an adventurer guild who¡¯d been looking for you?¡± Zach actually trembled as the boy spoke. ¡°Holy shit,¡± he said with a gasp. For some reason, his surprise only increased their own. That had been spot on. Well, except the last part. Mr. Oren hadn¡¯t been looking for him. But even still! ¡°How did you know that?¡± ¡°Because that¡¯s how it always happens. We¡¯re just like you. My sister and I, I mean. We were born in a really poor neighborhood in the city in Shadowfall Coast. We ran away from home after our parents split, and one day, while we were walking through the woods near Serpent¡¯s Bite northwest of the city, we found a hatch that had been covered up by some leaves right in the middle of nowhere. We opened it, and there was like this ladder, right? So uh, so we climbed down¡ªand then there were mobs.¡± ¡°Then what?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Then,¡± Rian continued, ¡°Just like you, we found out we had the Will of the Favored, and our sponsor¡ª¡± ¡°Wait, time out,¡± Zach said. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to interrupt you, it¡¯s just these words you¡¯re using. Will of the Favored? Sponsor?¡± Lienne shifted uncomfortably, causing Fluffles to moan in her lap. At the same time, Rian rubbed his eyes as if frustrated. ¡°See, this is why we think you¡¯re messing with us? If you¡¯re gonna act like you don¡¯t know what we¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± Zach shouted. ¡°Why is that so hard to believe? That I just don¡¯t know what you know.¡± ¡°Because!¡± Rian shouted back at him, now seemingly just as heated. ¡°How is it even possible for you to be here if you don¡¯t know? How are we even having this conversation?¡± ¡°I feel like you¡¯re trying to confuse me on purpose,¡± Zach said. ¡°Believe me, that¡¯s how I feel right now.¡± With a long, drawn-out sigh, he added, ¡°I¡¯m really not trying to be mean to you, Zach, but it seems like we have very similar experiences. You found a spawn, right?¡± ¡°Me¡­me and my gir¡­my friend, yeah.¡± ¡°And an adventurer from one of the guilds found you, right?¡± ¡°Well, I kind of went to him.¡± Rian shrugged. ¡°Same difference. And then what?¡± ¡°He gave me some gold.¡± ¡°Starter gold, right?¡± One more amazed, Zach nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s what he called it.¡± ¡°Of course he did. Like I said, we¡¯re the same. Just like you, we found a spawn, met someone from one of the guilds, got sent to the induction, learned about the various properties of levels, got our ass handed to us in weapons training, then just like you, we got given our clue and spent two months figuring out how to get here.¡± Zach slapped both his palms down on the marble so hard he hurt his hands. ¡°Okay! That¡¯s it!¡± he said excitedly. ¡°Wh-what¡¯s it?¡± both Lienne and Rian said at once. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m so Gods-damned confused.¡± He snapped his fingers. ¡°I didn¡¯t do any of that.¡± ¡°Any of what?¡± ¡°Everything you just said.¡± ¡°Zach,¡± Lienne said softly, ¡°can you be more specific?¡± ¡°Everything you just said.¡± ¡°Everything we just¡­¡± Rian lowered his eyes a moment. ¡°You mean like finding a spawn?¡± ¡°Err, sorry, that I did.¡± ¡°Meeting someone from one of the adventurer guilds¡ªyou know, your sponsor.¡± ¡°Okay, so that I did too.¡± Rian leaned in closer, narrowing his eyes. ¡°Learned about the various properties of leveling?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± Zach said. ¡°No what?¡± ¡°Never heard about that.¡± ¡°Bullshit.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not bullshit,¡± he replied, trying his best not to become angered. ¡°Or that other stuff you said. The induction, the weapons thing¡ªalthough, I did learn how to use a sword from my cat. It¡¯s a long story. But I never¡­I mean you said something about a clue?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Rian said. ¡°How else would you even be here without it?¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°I used Frog Snax.¡± ¡°You¡¯re¡­¡± He turned to look at his sister. ¡°He¡¯s messing with us, right? He can¡¯t be serious.¡± Lienne shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think he is, Rian. I think he¡¯s being very serious.¡± ¡°Of course I am!¡± Zach said, passion entering his voice. ¡°You know what? This is still getting us nowhere. Why don¡¯t I just tell you guys everything that happened for me to be here right now. Then maybe you¡¯ll finally believe me.¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Please do,¡± Lienne said. ¡°It¡¯s probably what we should¡¯ve done from the start.¡± For the next thirty minutes, Zach recounted to these two strangers everything that¡¯d happened from the moment he and Kalana had fallen through the street and into the underground cavern below the Leviathan River. He didn¡¯t know if it was wise to trust these two with his secrets. He didn¡¯t know if he was making a tremendous mistake. But now that he finally had the opportunity to tell someone who wasn¡¯t a cat, it bled out of him like an infected wound that desperately needed healing. Not once did they interrupt him as he spoke, even though he could tell by the absolutely awestruck expressions on their faces, as well as the constant gasps, that they were mortified at parts of it. All at once, the pain of his father¡¯s death returned, as his eyes dampened while he recalled the way his body had been so badly mangled. This had been the only part of the tale where they had spoken, and it hadn¡¯t been to interrupt him, either. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± Lienne had whispered. ¡°Royal Rose shitheads,¡± Rian had muttered angrily. The more Zach spoke, the more wide-eyed and stunned the two became. By far, the parts that seemed to both energize and rattle them the most were when he¡¯d recounted his run-in with Varsh, the way he¡¯d used Frog Snax to find this place, and the fact that Mr. Oren had sent him away without telling him a Gods-damned thing about what he should do next. Even more so than the parts about Varsh and Seraphina, that last one had seemed to have the biggest impact.¡± ¡°So let me get this straight,¡± Lienne said after he had finally finished speaking, almost sounding disgusted. ¡°He didn¡¯t tell you anything, Zach? Other than what his friend told you about exertion abilities.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zach confirmed. ¡°He didn¡¯t tell me shit. I just packed up and left.¡± ¡°This is just unbelievable. This isn¡¯t¡­this isn¡¯t how we do things. You¡¯re not supposed to just¡­I mean do you even know what a tank is?¡± ¡°Well, obviously,¡± Zach said with a chuckle. ¡°I¡¯m not an idiot. I took history. It¡¯s an armored vehicle that¡ª¡± ¡°No, no,¡± Lienne said, cutting him off. She pointed to her brother. ¡°He¡¯s a tank.¡± Zach squinted his eyes skeptically. ¡°Say what now?¡± ¡°Yeah, he doesn¡¯t know anything,¡± Rian said, breathing out a sigh. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m beside myself right now. I am so pissed off on your behalf you can¡¯t even imagine it.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because you don¡¯t know anything. And I¡¯m really sorry I gave you so much shit before. I just¡­it¡¯s almost¡­I¡¯m not even sure I can understand how he got away with this.¡± ¡°Who, Mr. Oren?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an elite guild thing.¡± ¡°Elites,¡± Rian said, sticking out his tongue as though the word was poison. ¡°I can¡¯t stand them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I thought at first. But he was right about me. I really do crave adventure. I was pissed at first about getting ditched, but I woke up the next day and I couldn¡¯t wait to start.¡± ¡°Well, obviously,¡± Rian said, ¡°you don¡¯t have the Will of the Favored for no reason.¡± ¡°The what?¡± He made a fist and rested his chin on it a moment, and then both he and his sister regarded him with a bizarre combination of sympathy and compassion. ¡°Do you even know why any of this happened to you at all?¡± ¡°Meaning what?¡± ¡°Like, the reason you found a spawn in the first place?¡± ¡°I was lucky,¡± he said. ¡°No. It¡¯s because of a buff you have.¡± ¡°A what?¡± Once more, he sighed. ¡°Right. You don¡¯t know what that is because someone didn¡¯t bother to tell you anything. Okay. Do you remember when you were telling me the part about how you used that man¡¯s lab coat ability?¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Yeah, sure. For a few minutes, it made me way harder to hurt.¡± ¡°Okay, so, when we talk about buffs, we mean effects that are on you that change you in some way for the better, but usually temporarily.¡± ¡°Ah, okay. That makes sense.¡± Lienne pointed in his direction, and Zach traced her fingers with his eyes. It looked like she was pointing to something above him¡ªhis forehead. ¡°What kind of sight does your helm have? Or wait, do you even know what¡ª¡± ¡°Ah, that I figured out on my own,¡± Zach said, somewhat proudly. ¡°My helm has basic sight. Why?¡± ¡°Here,¡± Lienne said, taking off her black, curved steeple hat. ¡°Put this on for a second. This has detailed sight.¡± Zach shrugged and then went to place the hat on his head. He paused as both Lienne and her brother both yelped, half jumped up from a sitting position, and reached out towards him, yelling at him to take off his bandana first. ¡°Oh, right,¡± Zach said with an embarrassed laugh. He untied his bandana and then placed it on the floor. ¡°I almost forgot about that.¡± Fluffles meowed groggily, as the motion caused him to roll off Lienne¡¯s lap. ¡°Why Fluffles get¡­¡± he trailed off back to sleep on the floor, clearly too tired to finish whatever it had been that he was about to say. With the steeple hat on his head, Zach opened his mouth to ask what he should be looking for, but then he closed it as he found it on his own. In the very top-left corner of his vision, almost, but not quite out of sight, he could see what looked like a symbol of a golden hand inside of a box. It almost reminded him of his equipment in that it looked like a slot that had been filled, only there were no other empty boxes next to it. He also realized that if he lifted his head up and turned it to the left, he could see it more clearly. ¡°Touch it,¡± Lienne said. Zach nodded. Then he reached out, and pressed the spot in the air where the image had appeared. Words popped up beneath it. Will of the Favored User is blessed with an adventuring spirit. Duration: life ¡°What the hell is this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a buff,¡± Lienne answered. ¡°But¡­not a usual one. Here, this is what they usually look like.¡± She got up off the floor and came to a stand before him. Then she leaned down and grabbed her staff. With two hands, she tapped it against the ground, and she muttered something under her breath he couldn¡¯t hear. A moment later, Zach flinched, startled, as a deep rumbling sound came from everywhere around him; what looked like millions of particles of dirt began falling over his head or body, almost to the extent that he became covered from head to toe in it. But fewer than three seconds later, every last dirt particle vanished without a single trace left in their wake. ¡°Now check your buffs,¡± she said. Zach looked up and to his left. Now, to the right of the image of a golden hand was a brown image of a shield with a sparkle of light in the middle of it. Reaching out, Zach touched it. Lesser Enchantment of Fortification Increases the user¡¯s armor by 5. Duration: 29 minutes, 24 seconds Even as he stared at it, he could see the timer ticking down. ¡°Wow,¡± he whispered. ¡°That¡¯s awesome.¡± ¡°It is, right?¡± Lienne said with a cheerful laugh. She held out her hand, and Zach removed the hat from his head and returned it to her. Then he re-equipped his own bandana that he¡¯d gotten off one of the Skelly Grunts downstairs. ¡°So what does it do?¡± Zach asked. ¡°That buff.¡± At this, both she and her brother became more animated, excited. ¡°No one really knows,¡± Rian said. ¡°We don¡¯t know how we got it. We don¡¯t know why we got it. We don¡¯t know who gave it to us. The only thing we seem to know is that everyone who has it will eventually find a spawn. And when they do, if they attack and kill it, someone from an adventuring guild will find and induct them¡ªif they choose. If they don¡¯t attack the spawn, they lose the buff. If they decline the induction, they lose the buff. If they end up seizing territory or becoming political¡­well, they lose the buff.¡± ¡°Does it do anything else?¡± Rian looked at his sister, and both exchanged a brief, uncertain glance. ¡°We¡¯re¡­not sure,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t know if the guilds know more. But all we know is that it can be used to identify one another. Once you¡¯ve joined a guild, you can see who has the buff active and who doesn¡¯t. It¡¯s part of the reason we were able to find this place.¡± Zach raised his finger. ¡°Ah, about that. How did you find this place? You said something about a clue?¡± ¡°Oh, right,¡± Rian said, tapping his chin. ¡°So, after we learned the basics of leveling and stats, we were given a clue about how to find spawn points. Not this place in particular, but spawn points in general.¡± ¡°What was it?¡± Zach asked, becoming incredibly interested. ¡°We were told to seek the temple of knowledge that has withstood the test of time in even the lowest of cities. It was a riddle. It took me and Lienne a bit to figure it out, but we realized it was referring to¡ª¡± ¡°The grand libraries,¡± Zach said, to which both of them widened their eyes. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s right. How did you¡­?¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty good at riddles,¡± he replied, trying not to sound boastful or arrogant. In truth, he¡¯d known what they were referring to right away. He had always been fascinated by the grand libraries, or more specifically, the fact that every single city in the entire world¡ªin all eight continents¡ªhad one of them. Even the Gnomes had a grand library in each of their cities. ¡°So,¡± Zach asked, ¡°do the libraries tell you where all the hidden spawn points are?¡± ¡°Not¡­quite,¡± Lienne said. ¡°I mean, to begin with, no one even really knows where they all are. There are new ones being discovered all the time. But the libraries contain clues that can be pieced together for those who have Will of the Favored. We¡¯re allowed to access a special section containing thousands of old books.¡± ¡°Allowed?¡± She smiled and pointed at him. ¡°You¡¯re clever. Allowed by the head librarian, who in every city¡ªas far as we know¡ªis someone from an adventure guild.¡± ¡°Whoah,¡± Zach said under his breath. The two laughed as though hearing his surprised vocalization. ¡°They¡¯re cool people, too,¡± Rian said. ¡°Like, they can¡¯t really tell us anything or do the work for us, but they do give little tiny hints and suggestions if they see we¡¯re getting way off course so we don¡¯t spend weeks going down rabbit holes with no results. Actually, it would¡¯ve taken us a year to find this place without our librarian¡¯s clever little criticisms and quips. Even still, it took us two whole months to piece this together. Hey, when we set out to find our next spawn, you should come with us. We¡¯ll show you the process of figuring it out.¡± Zach almost¡ªalmost¡ªaccepted their offer immediately, which was a surprise to even himself, as in that short moment, he¡¯d forgotten all about the GSG and what he was trying to accomplish. He actually felt guilty for how badly he wanted to go with them. But he was supposed to join the GSG, right? And Kalana. He needed to be with her. So why did such a strong part of him want to go running off to some library to find secret spawn points? ¡°Can I ask you something, Lienne?¡± ¡°Sure!¡± ¡°What did you mean when you said your brother was a tank?¡± At this, her brother patted himself hard on his leather brigandine. ¡°I aggro mobs and take hits so you don¡¯t have to by using taunt.¡± ¡°Taunt¡­¡± Zach¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°Is that what made me hate you so much when we were fighting?¡± ¡°Hah. Yeah, eh, sorry about that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an amazing ability. So¡­so you try to get mobs to attack you? Like, on purpose?¡± ¡°Better me than our casters or DPS.¡± ¡°Your what?¡± Zach asked, as more bizarre words and terms he didn¡¯t recognize were casually brought up in this conversation. Rian reached over and patted him on the shoulder. ¡°You¡¯ve got a lot to learn. And I¡¯ll tell you what: my sis and I¡¯ll teach you everything you should¡¯ve already learned.¡± ¡°How?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Well, why not join our party? It seems we¡¯re here for the same reason, right?¡± At this, Zach laughed and nodded. He also felt honored in a strange sort of way. He was so used to not being wanted that the fact he¡¯d been asked to join them was almost overwhelming. His confidence and self-esteem had really taken a one-two hit, first from the beating Varsh had given him, and then from his rejection at the hands of Mr. Oren. ¡°So, you want in?¡± Rian asked. ¡°Hell yeah I do. That sounds fun. But¡­oh, do you guys know about the boss-key thing?¡± ¡°Boss-key thing?¡± He briefly explained it to them. Neither seemed all that alarmed. In fact, they only seemed even more eager to get started. ¡°There¡¯s a lot you don¡¯t know, and it¡¯s too much to go over at once, but we¡¯ll try to fill you in as things become relevant,¡± Rian said. ¡°When we start fighting, we¡¯ll go over the roles.¡± ¡°Roles? You mean like you being a tank?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°About that, can I just ask you one quick question?¡± ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡± ¡°Did you pick your role, or¡­?¡± ¡°No. When we level-up, we bring out our inner strength, and that¡¯s how we know what we¡¯re destined to be¡ªat least most of the time, anyway. The vast majority of people have easily defined roles. Other times¡­not so much. In my case¡­¡± In what Zach took to be a tremendous sign of trust, Rian tapped four times on his right shoulder, bringing out his stats. Following just a second or two behind her brother, Lienne then did the same. Rian Astafort: Level 6 (0/400xp) Armor Bonus: 35 3 strength 3 dexterity 14 constitution 3 intelligence 2 speed 4 luck Lienne Astafort: Level 6 (0/400xp) Armor Bonus: 8 1 strength 8 dexterity 3 constitution 15 intelligence 1 speed 1 luck ¡°You see?¡± Rian asked, as Zach nodded along. ¡°I have really high constitution. Now, obviously my gear is increasing that a bit, but the point is that I was born to have high constitution. I can take a whole lot of damage, and I can prevent even more. So I¡¯m naturally a tank.¡± ¡°And I,¡± Lienne said, picking up from where he¡¯d left off, ¡°am a natural caster, also sometimes called a mage. I acquire new spells fairly often and my intelligence keeps increasing when I level up. Not so much my other stats, though¡ªwell, except dex, which helps with casting speed and the speed that certain spells move after being casted.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Zach whispered. Then, not wanting to be the only one unwilling to share, he showed his own stats. Zachys Calador: Level 4 (25/200xp) Armor Bonus: 11 4 strength 4 dexterity 4 constitution 1 intelligence 3 speed 1 luck ¡°What would I be?¡± he asked, genuinely wanting to know. Rian tapped his chin a moment, then looked at his sister. Both nodded in agreement at the same time, and both spoke the same word at the same time as well. ¡°Bruiser,¡± they both said. ¡°Bruiser?¡± ¡°Non-tank, melee DPS.¡± ¡°DPS?¡± ¡°It means damage per second. It¡¯s basically a way of saying how much damage you can dish out to a mob each second. By the way, most of these terms mean nothing to the political guilds. They don¡¯t fight in the wild like we do, which is why we¡¯ve devised these terms, systems, roles, and strategies to help optimize our chances of survival.¡± Rian got up, stretched, and then picked up his sword and shield, returning it to his back. Then Lienne followed in suit, grabbing her staff. Zach also retrieved his sword and got back up. Fluffles continued to snooze away, clearly exhausted from all the running around they¡¯d done together. Come to think of it, cats slept way more than humans did. The poor guy must¡¯ve been so tired. Rian took several steps towards the area leading to the stairs, then asked, ¡°How many floors is this place, anyway?¡± ¡°Fifty,¡± Zach answered. He gawked. ¡°Whoah, really?¡± ¡°Yeah. How many do you think we can do?¡± A devilish grin worked its way onto his lips. ¡°The responsible number to give you is 10, but¡­you know damn well you want to try all 50.¡± ¡°I do,¡± Zach admitted with a laugh. ¡°Hey, I think there¡¯s a town not far from here. We should do the first 10 and go to the pub after this. We can have a kick-ass dinner and come back immediately tomorrow morning so we can clear more floors.¡± ¡°Sounds awesome,¡± Lienne said, bumping shoulders with him in a way that seemed just a bit too flirtatious. Zach tried to ignore it. There were certain things he just couldn¡¯t allow himself to feel without a wave of guilt that would inevitably follow behind them. ¡°So, Zach,¡± Rian said, ¡°are you ready to get started?¡± ¡°Technically, I already had before you guys fell down. So yeah, I¡¯m ready to continue.¡± ¡°All right, then. Let¡¯s see what this so-called Catacombs of Yorna is all about.¡± ¡°Wait, is that what it¡¯s called?¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Lienne said, answering for her brother. The three of them shared a chuckle and then made their way to the stairs. As they ventured down, ready to begin the plunge into this mysterious place Rian had called the ¡°Catacombs of Yorna,¡± Zach paused while they were halfway down, causing the two siblings to pause as well. ¡°Can I just ask you guys one last question?¡± ¡°Sure, go ahead,¡± Lienne said. ¡°Another reason why I was surprised you guys weren¡¯t surprised is because dungeons are supposed to have been wiped out. Are there more of them out there like this?¡± At this, Rian grinned. ¡°Actually, Z, almost all the dungeons still exist.¡± Zach coughed out a gasp. ¡°What? Seriously?¡± ¡°Yep. Though, that¡¯s only in a matter of speaking. From some perspectives, you might say they¡¯re gone.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Rian pointed to the area around them, then pointed to Zach. ¡°As far as most of the world is concerned¡ªeven the so-called ¡®guilds¡¯ you see on TV¡ªthese places might as well not exist, because they can¡¯t come here.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean literally that: they can¡¯t come here. Hundreds of years ago, something happened, and I¡¯m not sure what, but for whatever reason, only the people who have the buff that we have become able to enter dungeons. No one else can. Not even the political guilds.¡± Zach wasn¡¯t sure what to say in response to that, because he still didn¡¯t understand why or how that could even be. So instead, he said nothing at all, content to follow his new friends down the stairs and up to the narrow passageway, beyond which lay a skeleton waiting to ambush the first person who walked through. Zach warned Rian, and he nodded. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯m good to go,¡± Zach said. ¡°Ready,¡± Lienne said. With that, Rian, with what was objectively a great difficulty, began squeezing his larger frame into the narrow hole in the rock wall that formed the tight-fitting passageway. Zach went in after him, and Lienne followed last. It would be interesting for once to fight with people who had his back. Honestly, Zach thought he could maybe get used to this. Chapter 24: Dungeon Crawling Chapter 24: Dungeon Crawling Because Zach had warned him in advance, Rian thrust out his right, shield-bearing arm the exact moment his large frame squeezed out of the claustrophobic, criminally narrow passageway, which made even the much smaller, slender-bodied Lienne moan. Zach saw her squirm uncomfortably, then make a very quiet, barely audible squeak as a tiny spider crawled right near her face. It reminded him of Kalana, who despite literally being a member of a predominately forest-dwelling race, had somehow developed a pathological fear of insects. Zach, who was holding his sword in one hand with the blade pointed safely downwards, made a fist with his free hand and then squished the stupid thing between his knuckles. To both his surprise and amusement¡ªbut really, mostly amusement¡ªthe spider¡¯s squished body vanished, and a tiny little +1xp popped up in the air in front of where it had died. Wow, that wasn¡¯t a real spider, he thought. I legit thought that was real. Or ¡°biological.¡± Or whatever you¡¯re supposed to call it. No sooner had Rian emerged from the passageway than Skelly Grunt A, with a loud thunk, slammed its scimitar downwards on top of his large, round shield. Not wanting him to fight alone, Zach scrambled to move faster as he shimmied along and out of the passage which, really, was nothing more than a deep crack in an otherwise solid rock wall. Hurrying over to the skeleton, Zach, now gripping his sword with both hands, raised his weapon to strike it from behind as Rian sliced it across the chest with his gem-encrusted blade for 10 damage. Yet, a fraction of a second before Zach brought his own sword to bear, Rian called out, ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± as he raised his shield and blocked a return slice from Skelly Grunt A¡¯s scimitar. ¡°Huh? Why not?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Attack from the front or the side,¡± he said as his shield absorbed another attack. ¡°But not the back.¡± ¡°How come?¡± ¡°Because there¡¯s always the chance that¡±¡ªhe grunted as he caught another attack on his shield¡ª¡°a mob could dodge or evade, and then you¡¯d be slicing me open.¡± Mobs can do that? Zach wondered. In truth, despite fighting several of these skeletons, it was only really now that he became cognizant of the fact that they had thus far shown zero defensive capabilities. To be clear, it wasn¡¯t that he just hadn¡¯t ¡°noticed¡± it, either. Clearly, he had, as he¡¯d beaten several of them on his own. It was more that it hadn¡¯t consciously registered in his mind until this moment. No wonder I was able to beat them so easily. Even though these Skelly Grunts in particular didn¡¯t seem capable of evasive maneuvering, Zach reckoned it would be better to start developing correct habits now rather than later; and so, with a nod to Rian, he repositioned himself so that he was to the mob¡¯s side, as attacking from the front would be clumsy and require him to awkwardly find a way to strike around his new, rotund friend. Raising his blade high, he swung directly downwards as opposed to horizontally, as that could also unintentionally slice open Rian if either he or the mob took a sudden step forward or back. With a disturbing crunch, they both hit the creature simultaneously, with him striking for 17 damage and Rian only hitting for 8. Then, Zach immediately thrust his blade forward, dealing another 12 damage. Together, the two of them had dispatched Skelly Grunt A so quickly that Lienne had only first squeezed her way out of the thin passageway when it crumpled first to a pile of bones before evaporating into nothingness. Zach lowered his blade and waited to see the result of his efforts; when he did, it came as something of a slight disappointment. +12xp Zach rubbed his eyes to ensure he wasn¡¯t mistaken. Up until now, the ¡°Skelly Grunt¡± mobs had given more than double that amount. So why did they now only give him around half? Was it because Zach had leveled up? He doubted it, as the toadfeet and plague biter mobs continued to give the same 2xp after he¡¯d hit level 2. ¡°That¡¯s so weird,¡± he whispered to himself. ¡°What is?¡± Lienne asked, looking his way. Zach hadn¡¯t even realized he¡¯d been speaking loudly enough for her to hear him, but in a way, he was glad that she had, because either she or her brother might actually be able to explain this to him. Pointing to the spot the mob had just died, he said, ¡°These were giving me 25xp earlier, but now I¡¯m only getting 12.¡± Lienne lifted her chin back and averted her gaze. Her mouth moved, and Zach thought he could hear her mumbling numbers. She reminded him of a kid in school trying to solve a math problem. After a moment, she regarded him once more, nodded and said, ¡°Seems right to me, no?¡± Then, abruptly, she raised her eyebrows and added, ¡°Ohh, right! I forgot. You don¡¯t understand this yet.¡± ¡°Understand what?¡± Zach asked. ¡°I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s something to do with experience gain?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± She pointed first to herself and then to her brother. ¡°When two adventurers party together, there¡¯s no penalty to xp. When three or four party together, you lose half, rounded down. Five or more, you only get a third. Eight to ten, you get a quarter. And after ten, you get nothing unless you¡¯re fighting a boss.¡± ¡°Yikes.¡± Lienne smiled. ¡°Just be glad we¡¯re only level 6.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Because if we were any higher, you¡¯d get even less.¡± ¡°Wait, seriously?¡± Lienne nodded. ¡°Okay, so this is a bit tricky, but I¡¯ll try to make it simple. So, if you¡¯re by yourself, you get the same xp for the same mob no matter what level you are. So¡­let¡¯s say you¡¯re level 20, okay? You¡¯d still get 25xp for these skelly dudes. But! When you¡¯re in a party with other people and you kill one, then for each person that¡¯s at least two levels higher than whatever it is you¡¯re killing, there¡¯s a further xp penalty. Does¡­does that make sense?¡± Zach gave her a thumbs-up. He was fairly sure he understood her explanation. With a degree of guilt in his voice, he asked, ¡°So, if you two were here alone, you¡¯d be getting 25xp, but because I¡¯m with you, I¡¯m slowing you down?¡± This time, it was Rian who answered. He turned to face Zach and smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t think of it like that. We kill things way faster with three people than two. Also, it¡¯s nice to have company.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t argue there,¡± Zach agreed, very much glad to no longer be doing this alone. ¡°Uh, hey, I know I¡¯m asking tons of questions, but¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Rian said. ¡°Ask away.¡± ¡°How does¡­how do these mobs know we¡¯re in a party? Meaning, when they give us xp.¡± ¡°Because we know we¡¯re in a party.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I know, it¡¯s crazy. I can¡¯t really explain it all that much better, dude. I can only say that because all three of us want to be a party and know we¡¯re in a party, then just like that, we¡¯re in a party together. If one of us was unwilling, they wouldn¡¯t get any xp, or they¡¯d steal all the xp, but¡­nothing in between.¡± Rian shrugged. ¡°Believe me, if it helps you feel better, it doesn¡¯t make all that much sense to me either, but some things, you know, some things just are.¡± Rian turned away from Zach, now facing the cave-like opening that led to the next area, in front of which was Skelly Grunt B. Curiously, it still had the ¡°B¡± at the end despite ¡°A¡± dying. Did that mean that the letters could be added when the things spawned but not removed? Whatever the case, Zach watched, confused, as Rian raised his sword-wielding hand as high above his head as he could, almost as though he were trying to touch the tip of it to the ceiling. Then, before his very eyes, Zach saw the sword simply vanish into nothingness as though Rian had just performed a magic trick. One moment, the weapon was right there in his left hand, and a moment after that, it simply ceased to exist. This is like what Fluffles does, Zach realized, thinking back to all the things the cat could make appear and disappear, including an entire satchel filled with gold. He continued to stare, perplexed, as Rian lowered his head and began slowly craning it from his left to his right as if either reading a book or searching for something; this, while his left hand remained firmly held up above him as though he were trying to keep something from falling. ¡°This one should do,¡± he muttered to himself. Almost before he¡¯d even finished speaking, a steel-tipped axe with a black handle popped into existence, appearing in Rian¡¯s clenched hand. ¡°How did you do that?¡± Zach asked with a gasp. ¡°That¡¯s amazing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s less cool than you think,¡± Rian said with a laugh. ¡°No way. That¡¯s freaking awesome.¡± ¡°I agree, but it¡¯s not special. You¡¯ll see when you get level 6. Anyways, how long is the respawn on that skeleton we just killed?¡± ¡°Five minutes,¡± Zach replied. ¡°So, another four from now.¡± ¡°Okay, great. I think we should really quickly buff up and tell each other what¡¯s in our arsenal of abilities. We probably should¡¯ve done this first, but I was excited to start. Zach, you want to go first?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± he said, as a cloud of millions of dirt particles began covering him from head to toe following the sound of a deep rumble. Even as this shroud of brownish dust evaporated into nothingness, a similar rumbling began to echo from the area just in front of him, and now he saw that Rian, too, was covered in the same. Much like with Zach, every last trace of this dirt-like cloud simply disappeared almost as fast as it had arrived. One final time, the sound rang out, and now it was Lienne¡¯s turn, using the buff on her own self. I guess we¡¯re going to have to do this every half hour. Addressing the both of them at once, Zach said, ¡°The only two abilities I have are Wave Slash and Boundless. I think I told you about each of them.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll get more, no doubt,¡± Rian said. Crooking a thumb at himself, he continued, ¡°I also only have two abilities so far: taunt and axe throw. I¡¯m actually more comfortable fighting with a sword, but something tells me I¡¯m destined to use an axe.¡± Lienne grinned. ¡°I have Lesser Healing, Lesser Quick Heal, Flamestrike, Lesser Enchantment of Fortification, and Unthreaten, which I can only use on myself to make a mob less likely to aggro me.¡± ¡°All right,¡± Rian said, giving a confident twirl of his axe. ¡°I¡¯m gonna pull the skeleton over there for you guys, okay? Oh¡­yeah, Zach, ''pull'' means I¡¯m gonna grab its aggro. It¡¯s always best to let tanks pull.¡± Zach nodded. In truth, that made perfect sense. He was still trying to adjust to the fact that he¡¯d been called a ¡°bruiser.¡± He wasn¡¯t familiar with the term, and he wasn¡¯t sure how he was supposed to manage himself just yet, but he hoped he¡¯d learn in time. Drawing back his arm and leaning backwards, Rian then lurched forward in the opposite direction with a grunt, bending over and releasing his axe at the same time. Zach''s eyes followed the glimmering, fast-spinning axe; it made a distinct fluttering sound as it traveled through the air. Then, with a crunch, he watched as it smacked right into the skeleton, dealing 8 damage before flying back towards Rian in an elliptical arc. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± Skelly Grunt B moaned, heading straight for Rian. Even before it had come halfway, a blue, missile-shaped flame shot out of Lienne¡¯s staff, then streaked across the area, briefly illuminating everything around them with an ominous blue light, before slamming into the skeleton¡¯s chest; it not only dealt 21 damage, but it caused the skeleton to stumble three steps back. Rian, extending his arm and putting his shield defensively in front of him, began to take slow, deliberate steps closer to the Skelly Grunt, who made another ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± as it hurriedly moved towards him. I guess this is where I come in. Zach drew his arms back, raised his blade to strike, and then took off at run in the direction of Rian, who cracked the skeleton in the side of its face with his axe for 11 damage, then immediately struck it again directly after for another 9. Collapsing into a pile of bones, the thing died before Zach could even get to it. +12xp With a stupid-sounding laugh, he lowered his sword and wondered if he should apologize for having been useless. Honestly that had almost been too easy. Zach marveled at how effortlessly and seamlessly Rian and his sister had just dismantled that mob. Zach earned experience without even having to do a thing. In fact, the very idea of that was so hard to believe he had to check his stats just to be sure. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Zachys Calador: Level 4 (50/200xp) Armor Bonus: 11 4 strength 4 dexterity 4 constitution 1 intelligence 3 speed 1 luck With a shrug, he dismissed his stats and then followed behind Rian as his sister came hurrying over. ¡°Have you gone beyond this point?¡± Rian asked him, pointing to the opening leading to the next area. Zach shook his head. ¡°No. I was about to when you guys fell down. I feel like there¡¯s got to be a trap though.¡± Though the entrance ahead was nowhere even remotely as narrow as the one that led into their current room¡ªif you could even call these somewhat isolated areas rooms¡ªit too ended in a path that was only around as wide as a standard bedroom door, which meant nothing on either side of it was visible. With a grunt, Rian said, ¡°Stay back,¡± and then ran forward with his shield held out in front of him. Focusing on him like a hawk, and ready to spring into action on a moment¡¯s notice, Zach observed as he dashed though the opening, his feet stomping heavily down on the rocky, gravelly floor. Within just a few seconds, he made his way down the narrow, but not unreasonably tight segment connecting this area to the next, and then Zach held his breath as he passed through the door-sized opening into what appeared to be another, similar-looking area with rocky walls and gravel-covered ground. For a short moment, it looked as though there were no more of the skeletons to be found. But then, Zach saw fear enter into Rian¡¯s eyes, and though he did not scream, he stumbled back as five of the Skelly Grunts all converged on him at once. ¡°Shit! Why are there so many?¡± he shouted. Zach exploded forward into a run, dashing for all he was worth as he watched his new friend take an absolute thrashing. His sister shouted his name, running alongside Zach. Yet even as the two of them charged at full speed to aid Rian, Zach¡¯s eyes widened in horror as he wondered if it was already too late, as the five Skelly Grunts were not merely just attacking Rian with their scimitars, but three of the five were connecting, too. ¡°Ugh!¡± Rian cried each time he was struck. ¡°Ugh. Ugh.¡± Then, more loudly, he cried, ¡°Ahh!¡± Rian was on his knees, but somehow, he still had his shield raised to protect his face and head, which seemed to be holding off two of the five bone-bodied creatures attacking him. The one to his left, his right, and the one behind him were hacking into him like he was a piece of meat at a butcher''s shop. They were simply lifting their scimitars and then crashing them down on top of him, time and time again. How could he possibly survive this? Zach burst into the room, and with all his strength, he unleashed upon the grunt closest to him. Not even bothering to conserve energy, he screamed at the top of his lungs, and delivered a cut across the skeleton¡¯s neck with such force that it caused his whole body to spin in a circle. 29 The skeleton, this one labeled Skeleton Grunt D, immediately turned in his direction and slashed at his face. Zach circled around the strike, then vengefully struck out twice more in quick succession, the first taking the Skelly Grunt in its hip bones, and then the second landing on the creature¡¯s neck with such force that its head popped clean off with a loud, unpleasant snap. Even as the now-dead mob began to crumple, Zach launched himself at the Skelly Grunt hacking away at Rian¡¯s back. ¡°Come here, you son of a bitch!¡± He thrust forward, skewering this ¡°Skelly Grunt E¡± for 18 damage. Then, with his blade now stuck in its belly, he lifted his foot, pressed it against the mob¡¯s bony abdomen, and then kicked off while grabbing at his sword. Strangely enough, the kick caused 2 damage and the mere act of ripping his sword free caused another 8. With momentum on his side, Zach went in to try and score a killing blow, but unlike with Skelly Grunt D, this one seemed to have enough fight left in it to push him back. He had no choice but to jump away as the Skelly Grunt released a reckless series of poorly aimed, but seemingly devastating strikes into the air in front of itself. Thankfully, though, Zach saw an opening once it had finished its wild combination, and he struck upwards diagonally, his blade slicing from the hip to the upper-right breastbone for 15 more damage. [2/45] Skelly Grunt E Level 5 Zach didn¡¯t even bother to cut the thing. Determined to assist his new friend, he ran forward, raised his knee, and then delivered a powerful round kick to the creature¡¯s right side, dealing 5 damage, causing three individual bones to fly off its body, and ending it for good. Now breathing somewhat heavily, Zach inhaled deeply, ignored his fatigue, and moved to engage the other three¡ªbut then he paused as, to his utter, mind-blowing confusion, Rian was now back on his feet, his shield raised, and his axe striking Skelly Grunt A across its bony lips while simultaneously blocking B and C. Zach had been so busy focusing on the two he¡¯d taken down that he wasn¡¯t sure at what point Rian had actually picked himself up. He especially wasn¡¯t sure how he had done it, either. As the brigandine-wearing ¡°tank¡± managed to successfully fend off Skelly Grunts B and C, an unfortunate cleaving attack from Skelly Grunt A provided Zach his answer. Horrified, Zach shouted out in alarm as the scimitar tore across Rian¡¯s belly, tearing an entire section of his leather brigandine off and causing a dark stream of blood to fly off and stain the wall behind him. In fact, now that Zach was able to take a closer look, similar tears were spread all across the entirety of his front and back side, nearly exposing his entire stomach and shoulders, and the rocky, gravelly ground beneath where he¡¯d been kneeling was simply drenched in red. ¡°Rian!¡± Zach cried. ¡°Oh, Gods, no! Are you all¡ª¡± A dark, green, shimmering light erupted around Rian like an aura before disappearing in the same instant it arrived. Then Rian kicked out with his foot, shoving the skeleton away from him, before stepping forward, twisting his hips, and once again crashing the blade of his axe into the skeleton¡¯s face, this time killing it. Confused, Zach noted that what should have been a bloodied gash running across his stomach just below the belly button was just clean-looking, exposed skin. With a glance over his shoulder, he saw that Lienne was now on her knees with both her hands gripping her staff, which was planted in the ground as if for support. It seemed like it was now the only thing holding her upright. Her mouth was wide open, and she was taking loud, gasping, and intensive breaths. She must have been healing him each time he was hit, Zach realized. Unlike the ground below Rian, which was stained with blood, the rock- and gravel-covered terrain beneath Lienne was awash in a puddle of her sweat, which dripped down both sides of her face, her cheeks, her nose, and her mouth, splashing droplet after droplet on the floor. She¡¯s going to enter E-debt at this rate, he realized. Zach darted forward, and then slashed out with his sword, intending to hit Skelly Grunt B on his left; the mob had been moving in to again strike out at Rian. But even as his sword was in motion, Skelly Grunt C was moving directly into his line of attack, and the result was that Zach somehow hit them both, albeit far more weakly than if he¡¯d hit them individually. B was hit for 6, and C was hit for 9. Now, both turned his way and roared at him. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± they cried. Good, Zach thought. Rian and his sister have had enough. It¡¯s dangerous, but I think I can definitely take two of these as long as I¡ª With a Gasp, Zach watched as not one, but both of the Skelly Grunts immediately stopped in their tracks, almost as if frozen, and then spun around and began heading back towards Rian, who had clearly taunted them. Even after everything he¡¯d just endured, he still insisted on tanking these things? ¡°Don¡¯t act so surprised, Zach. It¡¯s my job.¡± Incredible. He¡¯s not backing down after being cut apart like fifty times! Though he¡¯d been told not to attack from a rear position, Zach doubted that applied to this situation, as the two skeletons were marching single file towards Rian, and Skelly Grunt C was more than enough distance apart so that Zach could safely attack it. Even if this mob could dodge, his blade would not even come close to reaching Rian, who blocked a two-hit strike, first with his axe, and then with his shield. Zach, bending his knees, let out a flurry of quick, powerful attacks into Skelly Grunt C¡¯s back, even as it continued to lurch over towards Rian. Whatever Zach had done, it clearly undid whatever Rian had done, because by the time he¡¯d hit the skeleton a third time, it once more stopped in its tracks, turned back in Zach¡¯s direction, shouted, ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± and then immediately died and crumpled into a collection of bones, as it was now at [0/45]. If I hadn¡¯t killed it, Zach realized, then hitting it that hard must have made its aggro go on to me. I guess if you hurt a mob enough, it will still target you even if it''s been taunted. Zach made sure he kept that in mind. There was no way he could allow himself to forget something so important. Apparently, a ¡°taunt¡± wasn¡¯t an absolute thing. It could in fact be outdone with a good-old-fashioned slice-and-dice fest from a bruiser. Together with Rian, the two made quick work of the final Skelly Grunt, and then both ran over to Lienne¡¯s side, where she was practically on her stomach. Her knees, hips, and abdomen were all touching the ground, but from the chest up, she was still somehow off the ground in a sort of half-pushup as she gripped her staff. Exhausted, but nowhere near as exhausted as Lienne, Zach helped her to her feet, as did Rian. She was breathing so heavily. Then, of all things, she smiled, as did her brother. ¡°That a good enough fight for you?¡± she asked, panting. He laughed. ¡°That was awesome.¡± Zach shook his head, unable to believe what he was hearing. ¡°How are you not traumatized? I just watched you get carved up over and over again.¡± He pointed to the spot where Rian had just been standing. ¡°You could decorate an entire bedroom with the amount of blood they sliced out of you.¡± Rian turned over his palms, then lifted them both. ¡°It happens.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Lienne waved her hand, a gesture Zach took meant to give her a moment. Zach estimated they still had at least four minutes to respawn. ¡°I had to use my quick heals there,¡± she said. ¡°The exertion level is moderate-low each cast.¡± ¡°What are quick heals?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Ah, if you¡¯re not too exhausted to tell me, I mean.¡± ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine.¡± She stood up a bit straighter, closed her eyes a moment, took another large breath, and then seemingly held it. When she exhaled, she seemed as though she were finally recovering. ¡°I have two heals. Quick heals for combat, which I had to basically spam on my brother, and slow, drawn-out heals, which don¡¯t really exert me as much. It¡¯s like¡­what you said that guy Kesten used on you. Only, I can¡¯t repair a broken bone¡ªat least not yet. My heals are for cuts, scrapes, and slices.¡± ¡°What do you mean by spam?¡± Zach asked. The only time he¡¯d ever heard that word used before was in the context of getting annoying advertisements sent to his email address. ¡°Spamming an ability,¡± Leanne explained, now sounding as though she¡¯d fully caught her breath, ¡°is just a funny way of saying you¡¯re using the same ability over and over again as fast as you can.¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad that you¡¯re okay and that you¡¯re not¡ª¡± His words cut off and his eyes lit up as he spotted a bundle of something on the floor. As though wondering why he¡¯d suddenly stopped speaking, in the corner of his eyes, he noticed Rian and his sister glancing first at him and then at the object he was looking at. Zach sighed a moment later when he realized it wasn¡¯t shining. This meant it wasn¡¯t his. ¡°A drop, huh?¡± Rian asked, bending down to pick it up. It looked like a pair of pants encased in the same shrink-wrapped plastic that Zach¡¯s bandana and tunic had been in. Flipping the item in his hands several times, Rian pulled up his inventory and glanced at the item so briefly that Zach couldn¡¯t see a word of it. Then he laughed, shrugged, and casually tossed it to Zach, who caught it out of nothing but reflex. ¡°There you go. Need before greed is part of the adventurer¡¯s code.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Need before greed,¡± Rian said, extending his hand, palm up, at the piece of equipment he¡¯d just thrown Zach. ¡°It¡¯s something we all follow. Even the elite adventuring guilds. Need before greed. If you get something, and someone else in your party needs it, you always give it. No exceptions.¡± Zach bowed his head. He really liked the sound of that. In fact, he liked it so much that it made him forget about the horrific, gory, horror-movie-like slashing that Rian had just endured. At least until Zach glanced down and saw the state of his body armor, which now had more holes in it than a fly swatter. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t need this?¡± Zach asked him. ¡°Your gear is pretty messed up.¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, right. It doesn¡¯t work that way.¡± ¡°Work what way? Wait, what doesn''t?¡± Rian ran his finger along the tear in his brigandine just below his belly button. ¡°So, if your armor or weapons actually do break, then when you examine them in your inventory, it¡¯ll literally say break. At least for a few seconds. After that, it''ll just disappear. For everything else, it repairs automatically. Hey, check this out.¡± He beckoned Zach to come over, and so Zach hurried to his side. ¡°Do you see that? Look closely?¡± Zach had to squint just to see it, but to his amazement, he saw what appeared to be tiny threads of fabric extending, intertwining, and unless he was hallucinating, regenerating. ¡°That¡¯s incredible.¡± ¡°Right? As long as you don¡¯t suffer what¡¯s called a ¡®full break,¡¯ you¡¯re usually good to go in ten minutes. Actually, speaking of minutes, how long until those five are back up? I don¡¯t want to still be in here when they respawn.¡± Zach tapped his chin a few times. ¡°Maybe two minutes. But¡­can I throw this on really quickly?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Lienne said, moving to stand next to her brother. Zach waited for a moment for them to turn around. When they didn¡¯t, he coughed into his hands. When they still didn¡¯t pick up on his cues, he twirled his finger around in a circle. ¡°Can you guys please look away for a second?¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Lienne said. ¡°Oh!¡± she then said, more loudly and with a blush. Both she and her brother turned around. Zach tore open the plastic, removed the red-and-brown leggings that actually perfectly matched the tunic, and then peeled off his sweaty gym shorts and slipped into his newest piece of equipment. Knowing he had at least another minute and a half before respawn, he took a quick moment to see what he was working with. Right away, he could see it was different from his other two pieces. Decaying Leggings of the Undying: discovered by Zachys Calador Armor + 2 +1 str +1 con Decaying Set (3/5) Set Bonus: Armor + 2 +1 str +1 con +1 dex +1 spd (300 seconds) User fires a small bolt of dread magic at target enemy, dealing 0-25 magic damage. Does not affect undead enemies or apparitions. 150 range He couldn¡¯t help but excitedly blurt out, ¡°whoah!¡± as he saw the section of information that had been stricken through. Though he had yet to see something of this nature, it likely didn¡¯t take a genius to see what the information was implying: that if he managed to find the other two pieces of this ¡°decaying set¡± that he was currently wearing, he would get an even bigger bonus to his stats. With just under a minute before respawn, and with an impatient grunt coming from Rian, Zach stole just one last moment to take a peek at his stats. Zachys Calador: Level 4 (110/200xp) Armor Bonus: 13 5 strength 4 dexterity 5 constitution 1 intelligence 3 speed 1 luck ¡°Okay, I¡¯m ready,¡± he said, noting that his armor was 5 points higher due to Lienne''s buff. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡± Rather than any more narrow pathways to traverse, the only thing around them were three walls¡ªincluding the one with the door-sized entryway that led in here¡ªand a massive tunnel with a somewhat lower ceiling. Since that was the only direction to travel without backtracking, it was naturally the one in which they ventured. As the three of them began making their way through the tunnel towards whatever came next, Zach was once more amazed to find that, what should have been a pitch-black, completely unlit tunnel, was still through some mystical means as bright as a well-lit room. He also noted that, after just a minute or two of walking, the sensation of rocks and gravel beneath his feet gradually began to lessen until, eventually, he realized he was walking on a paved, stone pathway, at the end of which was a metal door with a push-handle leading to a stairwell down to the floor below. Above it was a sign that read: B1->B2. ¡°Ready to go down?¡± he asked. The confident nods from both the siblings was all he needed to hear. Curiously, he could already see that Rian¡¯s brigandine had regrown to the point that only the largest tears still remained. Descending the stairs with his new compatriots, he braced himself for whatever the three of them would find next. Chapter 25: The Mystery of Dungeons Chapter 25: The Mystery of Dungeons Unlike the first, brief flight of stairs that had led from B0 to B1, the ones leading down to B2 gradually became wider and seemed to run far, far deeper. After walking with Rian and Lienne through the metal door and into the stairway, there had only been enough space at first for them to descend in a single-file line. Five minutes later, the three of them could walk side by side comfortably. But ten minutes after that, the distance between the granite-like walls to their left and right became large enough so that twenty people could all likely fit shoulder to shoulder while still having room to fit a few more. The stairs themselves also became increasingly more spaced out until they were more like two-foot-high ledges, and each required them to take several steps forward to reach the next. They also seemed to now be made of a uniquely polished sort of grey stone. ¡°How far down are we going?¡± Zach asked. ¡°We¡¯ve been walking for a half hour and we¡¯re still descending.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s strange,¡± Rian agreed. He spoke unevenly as though trying to conceal the fact that he was breathing heavily. Perspiration dripped down his face. In addition to being larger than he and Lienne, Rian also wore heavier equipment, especially when considering the shield on his back. As the stairs became steeper, the shock of constantly hopping down must¡¯ve been exhausting. Hell, Zach couldn¡¯t even imagine having to trade places with him; if he¡¯d been the one bundled up in such thick armor and forced to carry around a sword¡ªor axe¡ªand shield, he doubted he¡¯d be able to handle the weight half as well as Rian seemed to manage. It also didn¡¯t help that the general air quality had become warmer and more humid, too. ¡°Hey, guys, why don¡¯t we sit for five minutes?¡± Lienne suggested. ¡°I¡¯m ah¡­this is embarrassing, but I¡¯m still kinda exhausted from that last fight. My back hurts, too. Take five? Hm?¡± Somehow, Zach, who had also begun sweating, did not think Lienne was being entirely honest with him and her brother. This just seemed¡­well, it seemed too much like the kind of thing Kalana would do. Most likely, she was perfectly fine and was only asking for their sake. Though Zach couldn¡¯t speak for Rian, as far as he himself was concerned, he didn¡¯t want to seem weak and whine that he needed a rest; in truth, he wouldn¡¯t mind taking it easy for a couple of minutes. I¡¯m not going to be the one who asks, though, he thought. I can¡¯t look like a wimp in front of these guys. I only just met them. ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± Rian said with a confident nod. ¡°Same,¡± Zach agreed, wiping a bit of sweat from his brow. If Rian was still feeling well enough to push on, then he certainly had no right to ask for a break. ¡°I¡¯m good to go.¡± ¡°Well, too bad,¡± Lienne said. ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± She walked to the next curb-like step and sat down with her legs dangling over the edge. Zach joined her, and so did Rian, neither of them raising a word in protest. He watched as Rian slowly removed his shield, axe, and even kicked off his metal-looking boots, sighing in relief. And to think: they were this exhausted climbing down the stairs and not up them. Zach was now more determined to kill the boss than at any point since coming here to these ¡°Catacombs of Yorna,¡± because the elevator on B0 implied there was a stop on B10 that would take them back up, and there was no damned way in hell he was climbing these stairs on his way out. I don¡¯t care how strong the damn boss is. I¡¯d rather take my chance fighting it than have to backtrack through this many stairs. ¡°Something about this just seems weird,¡± Zach said. Glancing off into the distance, he could see no end to the ¡°stairway,¡± if one could even still call it that. It was really quite amazing, too, because for the first few minutes, they really had been just normal, ordinary stairs. In fact, he was pretty sure there¡¯d even been a metal bar on both sides to hold on to. Yet at some point, things had just sort of ¡°shifted,¡± and now it was unknowable just how deep down they would have to plunge just to get to their next floor: B2. ¡°I think it only gets stranger as you go on,¡± Rian said. Zach looked at him, and he could see that Rian was also nervously glancing down as though wondering how deep this actually ran. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just something Zephyr told us.¡± ¡°Zephyr?¡± At this, he grinned. ¡°Zephyr Vextran, our sponsor¡ªbut also leader of the Explorers Brigade, the guild me and my sister want to join. Actually, I hear he¡¯s good buddies with Donovan.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Zach asked. The question caused the grin to fall off Rian¡¯s lips; it was replaced with a frown, which made Zach frown in turn. ¡°What? What is it?¡± ¡°I know you said you don¡¯t know much, but you don¡¯t even know who Donovan is? Even I met him once.¡± To his sister, he said, ¡°Li, remember when all those guilds showed up for some alliance meeting? He was the one who put his feet up on the table and started cracking open beers. Remember? Even we met the guy.¡± Lienne shot her brother a glare. ¡°Be nice. It¡¯s not his fault he doesn¡¯t know.¡± Rian recoiled as if wounded and then his posture became rigid. ¡°I¡¯m not being mean to him. You¡¯re misunderstanding me. I just want to make that clear. I¡¯m not frowning at Zach because I¡¯m upset or frustrated with him. It¡¯s because I¡¯m upset and frustrated with his situation.¡± Zach laughed despite himself. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think you¡¯re being mean for what it¡¯s worth. I just think, honestly, if you¡¯re going to drop any names other than Alex Oren, Kesten Ardona, Maric Ultdern, and obviously, Fluffles, then just assume I don¡¯t know a thing. Not a thing.¡± Rian stared at him a moment, meeting his eyes. He looked almost apologetic. Then, with a nod, he explained, ¡°Donovan Iseldar is the leader of the GSG¡ªthe guild you were saying you wanted to join. I actually didn¡¯t know they were an elite guild until you told me. So, hey, there¡¯s one thing you knew that I¡ªthat we¡ªdidn¡¯t.¡± Zach chuckled, and Rian patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Anyway, Zach, why did we even bring him up? What¡­uh, what were we even talking about? I already forgot.¡± Lifting his finger and tilting his head to the side, Zach said, ¡°So, you were telling me how¡­oh, wow, shit. I forgot too. It¡¯s this damn humidity.¡± ¡°Right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just too damn hot down here.¡± Lienne sighed loudly as if wanting to be heard, causing them both to look her way. ¡°You two were talking about Zephyr and dungeons,¡± she said. ¡°Oh¡­oh right!¡± Rian snapped his fingers. ¡°So¡­okay, now I remember what I saying. Zephyr told us that some but not all dungeons can get weird.¡± ¡°Weird?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what he said. Weird. He said some can get weird, and a few can get really weird, and that the world inside of a dungeon doesn¡¯t always match the one outside.¡± Zach turned the words over in his head a few times, and then he lifted his shoulders in resignation. ¡°That could mean anything.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Rian replied, nodding. ¡°I think that¡¯s what he intended it to mean: anything.¡± Lienne whispered something to herself so quietly that Zach could not make out a word of it. Shooting her an inquisitive glance, she lifted her head, smiled, and then waved her hand. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± ¡°No, say it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­it¡¯s something I heard one of the Explorers Brigadiers say. But guys, I¡¯m like¡­like ninety-percent sure it was a joke.¡± ¡°What was it?¡± Rian asked, speaking the exact three words Zach was about to voice. ¡°The only reason I don¡¯t want to say is because of how sure I am it had to be a joke.¡± Rian pointed at her. ¡°Well, now you have to tell us either way. You can¡¯t just start then stop.¡± Lienne rolled her eyes. ¡°Okay, fine. When we were doing weapons training, do you¡­do you remember that really tall guy? The one with the silver hair and those big hoop earrings?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, damn, uh¡­what was that guy¡¯s name again? I have it right on the tip of my tongue. It was like D¡­Drel¡­Drellor? Something like that?¡± ¡°No, I think it was something else.¡± She shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Whatever it was, this was, um, back when you were learning how to use that shield. I overheard the guy talking to his friend in the courtyard about some¡­I dunno, some dungeon in South Bastia. Anyways, I wasn¡¯t trying to eavesdrop but I started to listen in¡±¡ªshe snickered¡ª¡°because I was totally trying to eavesdrop, who am I kidding? But anyways, he said he¡¯d just come back from this dungeon in South Bastia, right? And I still think this was just a joke or¡­maybe an exaggeration, but he said something¡ªand this isn¡¯t an exact quote¡ªbut it was something like, ¡®Man, we almost fell into a desert three times the size of Galterra.¡¯ I might¡¯ve gotten one or two words wrong, but that¡¯s basically what he said.¡± Zach tensed. ¡°Are you sure he said the word desert?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°A¡­dungeon desert?¡± ¡°Uh, no, I think he meant he almost fell out of the dungeon and into a desert.¡± ¡°An indoor desert?¡± Zach asked incredulously. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t look at me, Zach. I¡¯m not the one who said it. Actually¡­wait, I think he actually did say something about the sun being really strong. I honestly don¡¯t remember much more.¡± Zach tried to parse the words as if to extrapolate some deeper meaning, but he realized that, at least from his perspective, it all seemed nonsensical and absurd. ¡°It must¡¯ve been a joke,¡± he said, ¡°because if this guy you¡¯re talking about went inside of a dungeon, then how can he fall into an outdoor desert? Or almost fall, whatever. You know what I mean. Either way, it makes no sense.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I thought it was just a joke,¡± Lienne said. ¡°I still do. It¡¯s just¡­Zephyr said dungeons can get really weird. And look.¡± She stood up and waved her hand at the seemingly endless flight of steps before sitting back down. ¡°If there are fifty floors, and we¡¯re already this deep, I mean¡­something isn¡¯t right here.¡± Zach wanted to ask her more questions, but he stopped as he reminded himself that, while compared to him, these two might know a great deal about the worlds of guilds and leveling, they themselves were still fairly new to things, and if they did in fact have any further insight to offer, they would¡¯ve just said it. ¡°We should keep going,¡± Rian said with an exhausted grunt. ¡°Yeah, I agree. Lienne?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± she said. Zach stood up, stretched, and then reached behind him to pick up his sword. Rian returned his shield into the large sheath on his back, which had space enough to also snuggly fit his axe. Lienne, who had been resting her staff on her lap, hopped off the ledge and fell the two-or-so feet down to the ledge below them. ¡°Let¡¯s pace ourselves,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯re not even on the next floor yet and we¡¯re already struggling. This is supposed to be the easy part.¡± A nervous pinch forming in his stomach, Zach asked, ¡°I¡¯m starting to get the sense that this is not going to be something we get done in one day.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Rian agreed, his voice coming through as an agitated whisper. ¡°I¡¯m feeling that too.¡± ¡°Fluffles is all by himself,¡± Lienne chimed in, causing Zach to stifle a chuckle at the fact that she was more worried about the cat than about the three of them. To be fair, if this had been his first day with Fluffles, he would be equally¡ªno, far more¡ªworried. In fact, he¡¯d be turning back right now despite knowing he¡¯d have to face five skeletons at one time all on his own. But after everything he¡¯d witnessed so far, he knew that Fluffles could not only take care of himself, as the cat had something of an independent streak, but that if Fluffles really wanted to, he could rush them through this place so fast they¡¯d make it back in time for lunch. In fact, for a reason even he himself could not possibly explain, he actually had the sense that Fluffles likely wasn¡¯t even here anymore. He wasn¡¯t sure what could possibly make him entertain such an absurd notion, let alone outright believe it, yet, inexplicably, he strongly had the impression that Fluffles was likely already hunting birds or something back on the surface. From the beginning, he had doubted that Fluffles was ever really ¡°trapped¡± in here in the way that he was. Because he wasn¡¯t just a cat. He was also a level-47 adventurer that had almost certainly been to places far worse than this one. Whenever Zach slept, Fluffles would always journey off somewhere on his own, doing whatever it was that talking, self-aware cats did in their spare time. As ludicrous as it was to think that Fluffles could escape here at any time of his choosing, even more ludicrous was any scenario in which Fluffles patiently waited for hours or days while Zach and his two new friends crawled their way through this mysterious, ominous dungeon. Zach might not have known how, when, or why, but if he had to put money on it, he¡¯d bet everything that the mischievous little thing was no longer in this dungeon with the three of them and had, through some means, snuck out once he was sure Zach wasn¡¯t coming back for a while. So, no¡­he wasn¡¯t too worried about Fluffles. The cat would be fine. It¡¯s us I¡¯m worried about, he thought. Up until this point, Zach had done a very, very good job of suppressing what was, by far, the most grating side of himself. Ever since he was a small child, he¡¯d always had the tendency to become unbearably facetious, crude, and sarcastic whenever he felt afraid, worried, or unable to cope with what was going on around him. It had been something that, lately, he¡¯d been getting better at. Yet, as the three of them began to hop their way down into a seemingly infinite stairway made up of step-like ledges that only seemed to be growing in size and height, he at last slipped up and allowed his coping mechanism to seize control. After another twenty minutes of descending, he began making idle chat, not even really aware of what he was saying. Thus, unintentionally, he blurted out, ¡°I hope we find some salt at some point.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Rian asked him. Once again sweating as the air became even warmer and more humid, Zach, who was barely even paying attention to his own words, replied, ¡°Because if it turns out we¡¯re stuck here for days and I need to resort to cannibalism, I at least want to make sure I have some seasoning for the meat.¡± Zach continued to hop down a ledge, walk forward several paces, and then step off another. Only then, with a gasp, did his brain finally catch up to the senseless, idle banter that his mouth had just spewed. He¡¯d done it again, hadn¡¯t he? He¡¯d let his sense of impending doom trigger his facetious nonsense. ¡°Salt, huh?¡± Rian asked, leaping down next to him. To Zach¡¯s surprise, he barked out a laugh. ¡°That¡¯s not good for your blood pressure.¡± Already on his way down to the next ledge, he continued, ¡°See, Zach, what you wanna do, is you wanna cook the meat in its natural juices. That way, you don¡¯t need so much seasoning. Besides,¡± he added, lifting up the bottom of his brigandine and slapping his belly. ¡°I¡¯m already loaded with nutrients.¡± Zach, partially stunned, became further captivated as Lienne, now next to him, folded her arms and shook her head. ¡°You¡¯re both wrong,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s not food we should be worried about, but water. If we don¡¯t find any soon, you know where we have to get that from, right?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say it,¡± Rian growled playfully, holding out his finger. ¡°Zach and I are just having a friendly discussion about cannibalism. There¡¯s no need for you to make it gross, Li.¡± They¡¯re worse than me, Zach realized, trying not to smile like an idiot. ¡°Yeah, well someone has to bring up the harsh truth. Like what happens if this goes on for hours and hours and we need to use the bathroom? Has anyone stopped to consider how awkward that¡¯s going to be?¡± Zach coughed out a laugh. ¡°We need to designate a certain ¡®side¡¯ to do that on, so just in case we have to come back up this way, no one steps in it.¡± Lienne guffawed. ¡°Believe me, we already stepped in it when we decided to come to this shitty dungeon.¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°But it was your idea,¡± Rian said. ¡°I wanted to search for the Slime King in the Plains of Mist.¡± ¡°Why bother?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯m already talking to him.¡± ¡°Ouch, Li.¡± As Lienne grinned, Zach realized that, although she had initially reminded him of Kalana due to her sneakily considerate actions, the two could not be more different when it came to this kind of crudeness. If Zach had been in this exact same situation with Kalana, she would be on his case in an instant, calling him gross and mean. Kal also wasn¡¯t a fan of swear words. In fact, the more time Zach spent away from her, the more vulgar his speech had become. He¡¯d have to be careful about picking up too many bad habits so that he didn¡¯t upset her whenever he finally got to see her again. For now, however, he decided to just enjoy the company of his new friends and worry about reforming himself later. I like these guys way too much. For the next hour, the three of them traded quips and dark, humorous observations as the drop between ledges became close to four-and-a-half feet in height. The fact that they still couldn¡¯t see the bottom of wherever they were headed was bad enough, but the idea that the drops might continue to become higher as they pressed farther on heightened Zach¡¯s growing sense of apprehension. Yet despite all of this, somehow, having these two with him made it seem far less worrisome than it probably should have. Ledge after ledge¡ªZach was now completely done thinking of them as ¡°steps¡±¡ªthe three of them pressed onwards. But the drops worryingly continued to increase and, eventually, the height became almost twice as tall as Zach, and so he began to sit fully down and scoot forward on his butt to soften his landing. ¡°If I knew it¡¯d be like this, I would¡¯ve put my gear and my shield in storage,¡± Rian grumbled. ¡°I¡¯d have kept the axe just in case something attacked us, though. Ugh. Oh well.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you just do it now?¡± Lienne asked him. He made another grunt. ¡°It¡¯s an hour cooldown. With my luck, we¡¯ll get down there ten minutes from now and then have to wait another fifty so I can fight again.¡± Four or five ledges later, Rian muttered, ¡°To hell with it,¡± then motioned for him and Lienne to give him a moment. Stripping down to his undershirt, he removed first his axe and shield, which he set down on the stone platform behind him, and then he yanked off his brigandine and even his boots. ¡°Zach, you want me to take that for you?¡± he asked, glancing at his sword. ¡°What exactly do you want to do with it?¡± ¡°Put it in storage.¡± ¡°Storage?¡± He exhaled, sounding exhausted. ¡°Whenever a human gets level 6, we get our first racial ability.¡± At this, Zach gasped. He was so surprised that he momentarily forgot his own exhaustion. ¡°Wait, humans get racial abilities?¡± ¡°At least one, yeah,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t know if we get more. But the one we get is called Storage and Bank. I¡¯m too exhausted to explain the details, and it¡¯s easier experienced than described. It¡¯s got an hour cooldown, though.¡± Zach inched closer to the next ledge and then squinted his eyes, trying to see if he could spot an end to the seemingly never-ending plunge down from B1 to B2. Finally, with a shrug of his own, he said, ¡°Fuck it,¡± and he handed his sword to Rian just as Lienne passed him her staff. Then Zach bent down and handed Rian both his shield and axe, one after the next. Each time he¡¯d be given an item, Rian would simply raise it above his head, and it would vanish. ¡°Okay, is that everything? Yes? Good, because I¡¯m almost out of room. All right, I¡¯m closing the box.¡± Lowering his arm, he gestured with both hands to his sister as if asking her to continue on. ¡°Ladies first?¡± She slapped him on his shoulder, sat down on the ledge, where Zach was already sitting, and then the two of them slid forward together, landing at the exact same time with a plop onto the next stone platform below them. ¡°How come my cat can do this?¡± Zach asked as he readied himself for the next drop. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure Fluffles isn¡¯t human.¡± At this, both Rian and his sister regarded him with a blank expression. It seemed neither of them had any idea, once more reminding Zach that there was still probably a great deal that they themselves did not know about the world of adventuring and leveling. All in all, it was a good thing they¡¯d lightened their burden, as the three of them spent the next two Gods-be-damned hours continuing to make their way down. They were now much more careful in how they paced themselves. Even though Zach was keeping in high spirits¡ªand unless they were faking it, so too were the siblings¡ªhe was pretty sure that the gravity of what they¡¯d gotten themselves into was not lost on any of them. There was no actual guarantee that this hellish descent would end any time soon. ¡°Why couldn¡¯t you throw a few bottles of water in that storage space,¡± Zach muttered. He no longer bothered to hide any aspect of his personality around these two, as for some reason, in just such a short time, they had completely earned his trust. ¡°Kiss my ass,¡± Rian replied bitterly. ¡°That¡¯s why.¡± ¡°You should¡¯ve brought water,¡± Zach insisted. ¡°You screwed up.¡± ¡°Nope. I just knew we were going to be in this situation, and I wanted you to be thirsty. This was my plan all along.¡± The two of them looked at one another and then both exchanged a brief chuckle. Rian had beads of sweat pouring down his forehead. One in particular pooled up on the bridge of his nose, creating a steady drip that splashed against the stone platform beneath him. ¡°In all seriousness, dude, you can¡¯t store anything in there that doesn¡¯t come from a mob. Except gold, but that goes in the bank. You¡¯ll see how it is soon enough.¡± ¡°But some mobs do drop energy drinks,¡± Lienne interjected. ¡°Too bad I don¡¯t have any, Li.¡± As the front of his tunic went from damp with sweat to outright drenched, Zach wondered how washing and drying equipment worked. Did he need to chuck this into the washing machine like any other article of clothing? Did he have to worry about what detergent to use? Meh, whatever. These were all questions for later. Sure, he could ask Rian or Lienne right here and now, but he was quickly becoming too fatigued to even want to speak. On and on they worked their way down the ¡°stairs,¡± and just as he feared would be the case, the journey downwards became progressively more perilous at a steady pace. The only upside, if one could be said to exist, was that the space from one platform to the next increased along with the height between each. Thus, after every big drop now came a distance worth of walking equal to the length of the average school hallway, and these short walks allowed the three of them a chance to regain their stamina. Things are definitely ¡®weird¡¯ all right, Zach thought. That Zephyr guy wasn¡¯t kidding. Eventually, what Zach had been thinking of as ¡°drops¡± now became full-on ¡°falls¡± and things turned legitimately dangerous. At around twenty feet in height, the fall between platforms had become so unsafe that scooting off was no longer an option. Now, Zach had to sit down, turn himself around, and then drop down while hanging off the platform, and only then would he let himself go, landing in a crouch and hissing at the pain and shock in his legs. If I were level 1, this would have broken so many bones. Rian, despite weighing more, seemed to sustain no actual damage, yet did seem to find the efforts more exhausting. It must have been because of his much-higher constitution but lower strength. Lienne, on the other hand, with her low strength and low constitution, could not even safely make the descent anymore. Now, she merely walked off the ledge, shouted with glee each and every time, and then waited for Zach to catch her in his arms before gently setting her down. Though he would not dare admit this out loud, Zach didn¡¯t exactly hate doing it. This was probably a good thing, though, because before long, it became a consistent routine. ¡°Zach, are you ready?¡± she called to him. What in the eight continents of fuck is wrong with me that, after literally hours of hanging out with these guys, only now am I¡­agitated by how tight her Gods-damned clothing is? Am I an animal? What am I even letting myself think? ¡°Ready,¡± he called back to her. She walked off the ledge, and Zach reached out. A moment later, he caught her, and she giggled. Then he set her down and turned away to hide his blush. And was it just his imagination, or was Rian curling his lips back in a look of warning to him? Why even do that? Zach had done nothing wrong. Did Rian think he was going to hit on his sister right in front of him? He wouldn¡¯t dream of it, especially since Kalana was waiting for him. Platform after platform, the three of them continued, moving with a slow but steady pace down what had hilariously once been a legitimate staircase. It really had, too! That was the craziest part of all of this. At the very, very beginning, this had legitimately been a regular, plain-old staircase that you¡¯d find just about anywhere in civilized society. But now? Gods only knew what the hell this was. ¡°Look on the bright side, guys,¡± Zach said with a grunt, causing both Rian and Lienne to turn their heads his way. Rian was breathing heavily, and Lienne actually looked refreshed and filled with vigor, which made sense since she herself no longer had to endure the constant sitting, standing, hanging, and falling. Not that Zach minded, of course... Stop it, he warned himself. Don¡¯t you dare think those thoughts. Don¡¯t you dare! ¡°What bright side?¡± Rian asked him. Zach used his forearm to wipe away the sweat on his brow. ¡°Once we finally get all the way down, we get to look forward to doing this eight more times.¡± This elicited a groan from Rian and a shrug from his sister. Zach chuckled. ¡°How many hours have we even been at it? I don¡¯t want to waste any charge on my phone in case I need to use it as a flashlight. I don¡¯t trust this place not to eventually take us somewhere dark.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been more than four hours,¡± Rian said. ¡°It just never ends.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just keep going,¡± Lienne said. ¡°Just don¡¯t break your legs. I can¡¯t heal that.¡± Zach laughed, though the humor in it was somewhat forced, as he really did run the risk of breaking both of his legs if things kept up this way. Even hanging off the ledges to cut a foot or two off the drop, he was already pushing himself beyond his limits. The constant shock to his legs would not end well if this didn¡¯t end soon. It was no longer even possible to gauge if the end was in sight, as the hallways had grown to become almost a half-mile long. Early on, they had been able to stare off and down into the distance, but now, they literally had to walk half a Gods-damned mile just to make it to the next ¡°step.¡± I wish these were just steps. Walking with Rian and Lienne towards the next big drop, he asked, ¡°Did you guys ever think you¡¯d end up in a situation like this?¡± At this, Lienne¡¯s cheeks puffed up in a really cute way, and then she made a loud, whooshing exhale. ¡°Me? No way. Gods, no! I thought I was going to be an artist. I still want to be!¡± ¡°I also never pictured this happening,¡± Rian said. ¡°Before all this, we were just worried about our next meal. You told us a bit about your upbringing, but ours was only slightly better.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Zach asked. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind talking about it, I mean.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t mind.¡± Rian scratched his head. ¡°Basically, our parents didn¡¯t have a lot of money, but they did love us. Our dad owned a fishing boat and did ¡®okay¡¯ for himself selling his daily catches to the restaurants. Obviously, it shouldn¡¯t come as much of a surprise that Shadowfall Coast is pretty big on seafood.¡± ¡°And your mom?¡± ¡°Mom didn¡¯t work,¡± Lienne replied sadly. Her face tightened as if in pain. ¡°Why lie to him?¡± Rian asked. At this, Lienne shot him a threatening, rage-filled glare. It popped up on her face so abruptly that Zach was taken aback. Then he was doubly taken aback as the same, hate-filled look was returned right back the way it had come. Zach, sensing things turning ugly, raised his hands defensively and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay. You don¡¯t have to talk about it. Whatever it is.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not the issue,¡± Lienne replied. ¡°The issue is that my brother can¡¯t handle talking about it like an adult.¡± ¡°Talking about what?¡± Rian snapped. ¡°That mom was a fucking whore? Because that¡¯s what she was. Do you even know what it was like for me in school? When the other kids would find out she worked at a brothel? You can¡¯t even¡­you¡¯ll never understand.¡± Lienne took off one of her shoes and threw it at him. He swatted it out of the air, and Zach watched it roll over and off the next ledge. ¡°You think she did it for fun?¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather starve than eat food bought that way. She was disgusting. I¡¯m glad the Royal Roses killed her.¡± ¡°As soon as I get my staff back, Rian, I swear to the Gods, I am setting you on fire.¡± Zach watched, amazed, as seemingly out of nowhere, the two of them broke out into a screaming match. What had begun as a friendly adventure in a dangerous, potentially deadly place had turned into a public airing of family grievances that Zach wasn¡¯t sure how to respond to. It¡¯s definitely not my place to say a Gods-damned word, he realized. I have no business speaking up. He didn¡¯t even really want to eavesdrop, truth be told, but the two were yelling at each other so loudly it was impossible to ignore. From what they shouted to one another, Zach was able to piece together a basic understanding of what had happened. Their mother and father were poor. Their father didn¡¯t earn enough to make ends meet. Their mother was unable to find a job, as Shadowfall Coast was still in a state of economic recovery from the last damn war, which if Zach recalled correctly, had been between the Gentlemen and the Lords of Justice and resulted in a pyrrhic victory for the former kingdom, as they only just barely managed to defend their various territories. Both Rian and his sister agreed on the underlying premise and the majority of the facts regarding their upbringing; they differed only in their perceptions. From Lienne¡¯s point of view, her mother had sacrificed her body and her dignity so that she and Rian always had enough to eat, could celebrate birthdays, the year-end celebration of the Goddess, and never had to worry about sleeping in the cold. From her brother¡¯s point of view, their mother had shamed the entire family, had disgraced herself, humiliated him to the point he¡¯d contemplated ending it all, and made him wish that she would disappear forever¡ªwhich, as it turned out, she might very well have. Even amid their battling voices, Zach had pieced together what Rian had meant earlier when he said his parents had ¡°split.¡± Apparently, at some point following the declaration of war two years ago on the Guild of Gentlemen by the Royal Roses and the People of Virtue, both of her parents had signed up to be drafted into the military, which Zach knew typically meant cannon fodder for any level 1 dumb enough to actually pick up a rifle and engage in open-field combat. One thing was for sure: regardless of how either of them felt about their parents¡¯ actions, no one could reasonably claim that they hadn¡¯t sacrificed everything¡ªincluding their very lives¡ªfor their children. Even if it had come to nothing, as Zach now learned. His mood turned bitter as he overheard what the two fought over next. ¡°¡ªdidn¡¯t even get a Gods-damned gold coin!¡± Rian snapped. ¡°That¡¯s not their fault. They lied. They promised dad if anything happened to him or mom we would be taken care of.¡± Rian raised his index finger and shook it threateningly. ¡°Then where¡¯s the gold, Li? Where is it?¡± ¡°Why ask a question you already know the answer to? We¡¯re never getting it. They lied.¡± ¡°Exactly. Dad and his whore¡ª¡± ¡°Our mother!¡± Lienne snapped. ¡°His whore!¡± Rian insisted, ¡°ran off to fight in another stupid guild war, and they left us with nothing.¡± ¡°I know that,¡± Lienne said, her voice breaking somewhat. ¡°But that¡¯s not what they meant to do.¡± ¡°It¡¯s what they did. And for what purpose?¡± Rian looked over to Zach as if only first remembering he was there at all. ¡°Can you believe this garbage my sister is spewing?¡± Oh, please don¡¯t put me on the spot, he thought, concealing a groan. You can¡¯t just pull me into this, Rian. Zach tensed and froze up, not sure what to say. So instead, he deflected with a question. ¡°I¡¯m just a bit confused. What gold do you keep talking about?¡± ¡°Death compensation,¡± Lienne said. ¡°If our parents were killed, they were promised twenty-thousand gold for each. As if you can just ¡®pay off¡¯ what was taken from us. Like¡­like that would make it okay again! But¡­but even still, they failed to give us even that.¡± With as much compassion and sympathy as he could muster, Zach asked in a whisper, ¡°Your parents are dead?¡± This time, it was Rian who answered. ¡°That¡¯s the sick part of all of this, Zach. Officially, no? That¡¯s why they haven¡¯t paid us. Officially, they¡¯re still in the service of Sir Morrison of the Dark-Water Depths. But they¡¯re dead. Trust me, we¡¯ve given up hope. It¡¯s the one thing Li and I agree on. Once we went an entire year without getting a call or a letter, we knew. So now, they pretend that our parents are still alive, and that way, they can justify not paying up, because they¡¯re broke and all their money is going towards the war.¡± ¡°I know how that feels,¡± Zach said with a sad sigh. ¡°You¡­you do?¡± Lienne asked. It seemed that his words caused both of them to finally stop shouting. Now, they approached, their tones softer. ¡°Oh, right,¡± Lienne said, covering her mouth. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I forgot about what happened to your dad. I¡¯m so sorry.¡± At this, Zach released a scorn-filled laugh. ¡°My dad? No, no. I¡¯m talking about my mom.¡± ¡°Your mom? She was killed by the guilds too?¡± ¡°Not directly, no. But she got sick, and they couldn¡¯t cure her because all the doctors and nurses in the city at the time were busy tending to the war effort. And by ¡®all the doctors and nurses,¡¯ I mean those who served low-income areas. So, I can relate to how it feels to lose someone you love to their greed. Before I knew there was such a thing as an ¡®adventuring guild¡¯, even the word guild made me want to explode with rage.¡± ¡°Same here,¡± Rian said, and Lienne nodded. At the risk of pushing too far with people he had only met today, Zach continued, ¡°And about your mom. I just want to say I can understand both of you. I really can. But like, with Rian, I just¡­the truth is that it¡¯s different for guys than it is for girls. What I mean by that is I¡¯m not saying that there weren¡¯t really cruel things said to you at school about your mom, Lienne. I¡¯m sure you got a lot of shit for it, too. But for a guy, if¡­if our friends knew something like that, it would be on a whole different level.¡± ¡°For the record,¡± Lienne said, ¡°I did get bullied a lot at school, too.¡± ¡°Did anyone support you at all?¡± Zach asked her. ¡°I¡¯m sure you had at least some of your friends who would defend you is all I¡¯m saying.¡± ¡°Well, yeah, of course.¡± Even without knowing a thing about their personal lives, this much Zach could predict. He pointed at Rian. ¡°Not him.¡± ¡°How do you know that?¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t care what school on Galterra you go to. If you¡¯re a guy and someone finds out something like that about your mom, it¡¯s over for you. You can forget having a social life. No one is going to want to be the one who stands up for the son of¡­¡± ¡°A whore,¡± Rian finished for him, pain in his voice. Lienne folded her arms as if somewhat, but not entirely convinced. ¡°Guys are assholes.¡± ¡°Yeah, sometimes. But that¡¯s just how it is. For what it¡¯s worth, I can see your point too. Who would willingly want to do something like that? I¡¯m not¡­I¡¯m too young and too stupid to really weigh in on whether or not any of this is right or wrong. I¡¯m just saying that if it¡¯d been me in your brother¡¯s shoes, I¡¯d have already jumped off a building.¡± Rian came over and bowed his head gratefully. Then, after a soft pat on Zach¡¯s shoulder, he walked straight past him and continued on his own. Lienne reached out and opened her mouth, then shut it a few second later while slowly lowering it back down to her side as if deciding it wouldn¡¯t be wise. ¡°I really do understand your point too,¡± Zach told her. ¡°My dad left me with nothing because he didn¡¯t care enough to worry about what would happen if he died. He did the bare minimum, and he spent all his free time drinking. For your mom to do what she did, she had to really, really care.¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t understand that,¡± she said, lifting her chin in the direction Rian had just been. He¡¯d already disappeared, and judging from the distant sound of bare feet clicking down onto stone, he was already almost to the next platform. ¡°I don¡¯t know if he does or doesn¡¯t,¡± Zach said. ¡°It¡¯s stupid of me to even voice my opinion, because I¡¯m an outsider to this. I just personally feel that even if you¡¯re right and he¡¯s wrong, he¡¯s still not wrong for feeling how he feels. Sometimes, you can be wrong and still be right. I know that sounds confusing, but it¡¯s something I¡¯m trying to learn myself these days.¡± A smile appeared on Lienne¡¯s face, though it was one filled with sadness. ¡°You¡¯re a good person.¡± At this, Zach scoffed. ¡°No, that¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong.¡± ¡°How so?¡± He sighed. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t want to bullshit you. There are two types of people, Lienne. There are those who will look you right in the eye and tell you that, if they were in your brother¡¯s school, that they would¡¯ve stood up and bravely defended him.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s the other type of person?¡± ¡°Someone who¡¯s willing to tell you the truth. I wish I could say I would¡¯ve been any different from his classmates, but I¡¯d just be lying to you. The truth is if I had gone to school with him, I would¡¯ve laughed about it with everyone else. I wouldn¡¯t have personally picked on him of course. I mean, I¡¯m not a Gods-damned bully. But I would¡¯ve laughed and joked about it behind his back. So would every guy I ever knew growing up.¡± ¡°Would you now?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°If you went back to school tomorrow, and my brother was there.¡± ¡°Well obviously not now.¡± ¡°How come?¡± ¡°Because now I see¡­uh, you know, you kind of made it ¡®real¡¯ in a way it wouldn¡¯t normally be. It¡¯s hard to be cruel when you¡¯re aware of the pain you cause.¡± ¡°That¡¯s called empathy,¡± Lienne said softly. ¡°Maybe. But¡­but I¡¯m also not the same person I was a few weeks ago. I¡¯ve left my old life behind me.¡± Not wanting to fall too far behind, Zach sat down on the nearest ledge, turned himself around, and then dropped down a bit before releasing his hands and falling the rest of the way. Then, as he¡¯d been doing, he caught Lienne in his arms and set her down. As he turned around to make his way to the next ledge, he stopped as he felt her hand on his shoulder and her breath on his ear. Leaning towards him, she whispered, ¡°I like you, Zach.¡± Then she kissed his cheek, picked up the shoe that she''d thrown at her brother, and took off at a run. His heart beginning to pound in his chest, Zach remained frozen in place for a moment like a braindead statue as conflict and confusion sent his already upside-down world careening off a cliff and into another dimension. As if things weren¡¯t complicated enough already! Chapter 26: Terror in the World of Crimson Chapter 26: Terror in the World of Crimson Two sights greeted Zach¡¯s eyes at the exact same moment. The first was a metal door with a push bar and a sign above it labeled B2. The second was a tremendous, near hundred-foot drop that he doubted even Rian, with all of his constitution, could possibly survive unharmed. This, in Zach¡¯s mind, was the quintessential example of the age-old phrase: ¡°So close, but still so far away.¡± He ran his hands through his hair as frustration mounted and disbelief threatened to rattle him to the point of insanity. Peering over the edge without getting too close, he was practically taunted by the sight of his goal. There it was, all the way down there and across from them. After an exhaustive, tiring, five-hour journey, it was finally in sight¡ªand it was right freaking there. Now, the only things stopping him from reaching it were a pair of broken legs and maybe a few spinal injuries. ¡°This is like a cruel joke,¡± Lienne said. She sat on the ledge as if unafraid of potentially slipping off. Zach stayed a good few feet away. He didn¡¯t even have a fear of heights or anything¡ªhe just didn¡¯t want to take the chance of accidentally falling. So, on second thought, maybe he did have a fear of heights. But if so, then Rian did as well, because he was also hanging well back as though sharing the same concerns. ¡°There has to be¡­there has to be something we can do,¡± Zach said. He glanced over his shoulders and looked back in the direction they¡¯d come. This far down the so-called ¡°stairwell,¡± the individual ¡°steps¡± were basically indistinguishable from large, perfectly flat stone walls that couldn¡¯t possibly be scaled. Not to mention the energy and time required to even consider retreating; even if there was some way of climbing back up, they would dehydrate to death long before they made it a quarter of the way back to B1. Not like there¡¯s any guarantee we¡¯ll find water wherever it is we¡¯re going, either. Zach forced himself to end that train of thought. The problems they were currently facing were already enough without adding the potential for more to come their way later on down the line. Although it was certainly true that they might not be able to find water regardless of their actions, the fact of the matter was that they definitely wouldn¡¯t find any if they didn¡¯t think of a way to move on from here. As though noticing him staring at the wall, Rian exhaled loudly and said, ¡°There¡¯s no way we can backtrack. It¡¯s forward or nothing. Back just isn¡¯t an option.¡± ¡°The problem,¡± Zach said, ¡°is that forward probably isn¡¯t an option, either.¡± ¡°We have to, Zach.¡± ¡°But how?¡± He once again turned around to face the ledge. Then he pointed at the door to B2. ¡°Right now, it¡¯s looking like the only real choice we have is staying here and dying a slow death or jumping¡ªand then dying a slow death with broken legs. But hey, at least we¡¯ll die closer to B2.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll find a way,¡± Lienne said confidently. She scooted backwards on her rear and then slowly returned to her feet. ¡°I just have no idea how yet.¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°This sucks. This really sucks. Hey, while we¡¯re figuring it out, can I have my sword back, please?¡± Rian shrugged. ¡°Uh, yeah, sure. In fact, now¡¯s as good a time as any to reequip.¡± Zach watched with a sense of wonder as Rian reached up above his head and began pulling things out of thin air, one of them of course being the sword that Fluffles had crafted for Zach. It had been his very first piece of equipment, and Zach had already decided that, even when he eventually replaced it, he would never get rid of it. It would likely always be special to him. ¡°Do you have any rope in there?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Or anything we can use to make rope?¡± ¡°Nope, nothing,¡± Rian said. As if the issue was settled, he ¡°closed¡± his storage box¡ªsomething Zach still needed to experience for himself to understand¡ªand then turned to his sister. ¡°What about you, Li? Do you have anything we can use to make rope?¡± She shook her head no. ¡°I wish I did.¡± As Rian got back into his armor, Zach took a seat on the stone platform and folded his arms across his chest while his sword lay in the space next to him. There¡¯s always a way, he thought. I just need to be smart. I just need to think. Zach had always been clever when it came to solving puzzles. It was how he¡¯d even found this place at all. He wondered if anyone had ever before thought to use Frog Snax in the way that he had. Actually, he kind of doubted it, but for reasons that had nothing to do with him being particularly smart; as he had come to understand, he had access to an ability that was truly unique in that no other person would ever have one that was exactly the same. Even still, he felt he deserved at least some credit for putting Frog Snax together with Boundless. Too bad Boundless won¡¯t get me out of this mess. Closing his eyes, Zach took a second to make a mental list of every tool he had at his disposal as well as everything in his environment that could potentially be used to his advantage. So, what did he have? He had his sword. Okay. What else? There was the shield and the axe, sure. The staff. Anything else? There was the ground he was sitting on and the granite walls to his left and right, and also the stone one behind him. Is that it? Sadly, it did seem to be the extent of his resources. But could he do anything with what he had? Zach stood up, turned around, and once more examined the stone wall behind him, above which was the platform he¡¯d only jumped down from a few moments earlier with Rian and Lienne. Backing away a few steps, he crouched down without taking his eyes off the wall, and he picked up his sword. Then he again approached the stone. For a few seconds, he switched between staring at the weapon in his hands and the polished grey stone. ¡°I¡¯m going to try something,¡± he announced, causing both Rian and Lienne to turn their heads his way, regarding him hopefully. ¡°What?¡± they both asked. ¡°Something so damned stupid only an idiot would attempt it. But since our options are jumping to our deaths or dying of thirst and hunger while we stay right where we are, it¡¯s at least worth a shot.¡± Without bothering to explain, he bent his knees, turned his wrists, and pointed his blade towards the wall. Then he dashed forward, leapt into the air, and with all his strength, he thrust his sword forward. To both his amazement and satisfaction, the blade easily penetrated the stone, and with his arms gripped tightly around the hilt, he was able to reside there with ease, hanging in the air as though the weapon were a handhold. ¡°Rian, I need to see if you can catch me.¡± ¡°Of course I can.¡± Not wanting to lose his blade, he kicked off the wall with both of his feet. He freed his sword and sent both him and it backwards and into a fall. A moment later, with a painful thud, he found himself in a bear hug. Then Rian released him. ¡°Wow, this could actually work,¡± Zach said, causing both Rian and Lienne to widen their eyes and begin pestering him with questions. Rather than answer a single one of them, he instead asked one of his own. ¡°Rian, could you fall fifty feet and be okay if you absolutely had to?¡± ¡°I¡­that¡¯s really tough, but if I take off my shield and throw it down ahead of me, and my axe, too, then yeah, I think so. It¡¯ll hurt like all hell, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll sustain a major injury. Not unless I did it twice in the same day.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I needed to hear.¡± He grinned. ¡°You¡¯re about to do something wild, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Drawing a breath and holding it for a moment, Zach took one last moment to peer over the edge and at the hundred-foot drop. This was going to be so risky. There was every possibility this could fail and seriously injure¡ªor kill¡ªone or all three of them. Even still, if the only alternative was to do nothing and face certain death, then at least, if this failed, he¡¯d know he tried. The plan he¡¯d formed was absolutely crazy, but he couldn¡¯t think of anything else. I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m actually going to do this. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll tell you guys my plan,¡± Zach said, ¡°but first, I need to know: does anyone have any gear with dex on it that I can borrow? I just need something to give me an extra point or two to increase our chances of actually pulling this off. What I¡¯m planning to do is basically purely dexterous¡ªor at least, the first part of it is.¡± At this, Lienne raised her hand. ¡°My steeple has 2 dex on it. I can hold your bandana for you, too.¡± Zach rubbed his chin. ¡°That would only net me 1, since my bandana has a point of dex on it, but with a total of 5, that¡¯s probably good enough. If not, well¡­¡± He shrugged. ¡°It¡¯ll still have to do anyway.¡± He took off his bandana, folded it, and then traded it for Lienne¡¯s black, curved steeple hat. The moment he put it on his head, he could once more see the Will of the Favored buff that had apparently started the whole chain of events that would eventually lead him to where he was right now. ¡°What crazy scheme are you planning?¡± Rian asked him. He couldn¡¯t help but laugh at the question, because in total fairness, it really was a crazy scheme. ¡°I¡¯ll explain it to you guys, but as I do, just try to remember that there¡¯s literally no other way. And I think you¡¯d both agree that, if we¡¯re headed to certain death anyway, we might as well try something no matter how risky, right?¡± ¡°You¡¯re making me nervous,¡± Rian said. ¡°Not as nervous as you¡¯re about to be.¡± Rian grunted. ¡°Just tell me, already. What¡¯re you about to do?¡± Zach sighed. ¡°I¡¯m going to jump off and stab my sword in the wall once I¡¯ve fallen halfway. Then you¡¯re going to jump off, and I¡¯m going to catch you and drop you down the other half. Then Lienne is going to jump, I¡¯m going to catch her, then drop her to you, where you¡¯ll catch her before finally catching me. Simple, right?¡± Both Rian and Lienne¡¯s mouth fell open. ¡°I don¡¯t know about this,¡± she said. ¡°That sounds really¡ª¡± Right away, Zach knew that if he listened to what she had to say, she would succeed in talking him out of this, and once she had, he would lose the courage to go through with it. He wouldn¡¯t get it back, either. It was now or never. Thus, even as she continued to speak, he walked directly up to the ledge, turned around, and waved goodbye. Then, gripping his sword with both of his hands, he stepped backwards and off the platform, even as his heart pounded furiously as if in protest to his clearly suicidal actions. Holy shit! What have I done? he thought as he began to fall. What in the name of the Gods have I just done? He picked up speed fast¡ªmuch faster than he¡¯d been expecting. The wind beat against him, causing his tunic to flutter, and it was either by magic or miracle that the steeple hat remained firmly planted on his head. Despite the terror racing through him, he used all of his willpower to keep his wits about himself and to stay focused on what he was actually trying to accomplish. Faster and faster he fell, but through it all, he kept his head and eyes angled slightly downwards so that he could gauge his position relative to the ground as well as his distance from the wall. Then, just when he was about to cross the point of being halfway, he let out a loud battle cry, and he slammed his sword forward into the stone. He came to a stop immediately and with such force that his body felt like it would snap in two. His back, shoulders, and neck reeled in agony. It felt like someone had just dropped a boulder on top of his head. He was pretty sure he even lost consciousness for a brief second, and to his horror, he realized he was about to let go on his grip of the blade¡ªeven as Rian and Lienne screamed at him from the top of the platform. Shaking his head like a dog after a bath, he roused himself back to full attention then glanced upwards while he continued to hang in place. ¡°I can¡¯t hold like this forever!¡± he shouted. ¡°Rian, get your ass down here!¡± Rian laughed. ¡°You¡¯re crazy, dude. All right, here goes nothing.¡± Even though Zach was pretty sure Rian¡¯s shield and axe weren¡¯t going to strike him, he still reflexively tucked his head in as he spotted the two items plummeting down towards the ground below him, both landing with a much louder crash than he¡¯d expected. Then, calling to him one more time to ensure he was ready, Rian jumped off after him. Incredibly, this would now be the difficult part. Fear racing through him, he took his left hand off the blade and then gripped his right one so tightly that his knuckles began to turn white. Here he comes, Zach thought, observing as the falling form of Rian began to grow larger and larger as it approached. There was a very real possibility that, upon contact, he would lose his single-handed grip and then both of them would tumble down. If this happened, then in the best case, Rian would be fine, Zach would be seriously injured, and Lienne would be trapped; in the worst case, the two of them would be seriously injured and Lienne would still be trapped. Rian picked up speed as he fell closer and closer to the midway point between the wall and the ground. Zach braced himself. He gritted his teeth. He squeezed his right fist even more tightly. And then, with an extreme determination to survive so that he could see Kalana again, he reached out and plucked Rian¡¯s forearm the instant he came into range¡ªand then screamed as an intense, white-hot agony exploded in his right shoulder and right bicep. Oh, Gods, it hurt. It hurt so fucking bad! For a moment, he truly believed he was going to lose his grip. In fact, he was sure of it. He could actually feel himself slipping. But he fought against it. Even as he howled in pain¡ªas the intense, aching, unbearable sensations in his arm and shoulders were so fierce that they made his stomach lurch, he somehow managed to hold on. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Are¡­a-a-are you r-r-ready?¡± he growled as the pain made him almost want to give up. ¡°Rian!¡± ¡°Y-yeah!¡± Rian shouted. ¡°Drop me. I¡¯m good. Hurry!¡± Zach let go of him, and to his dismay, dropping his new friend did not in any way alleviate the terrible throbbing that made him hiss in anguish. Glancing down while still hanging from a single arm, he saw Rian land into a crouch, then fall forward onto his face. Oh, crap! ¡°Rian!¡± Zach shouted. ¡°Please, Gods, don¡¯t tell me after all that you¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± he snapped, his voice heated and seemingly enraged. Zach doubted it was genuine anger, however, and was likely just him shouting out in pain. Thankfully, however, Rian seemed more than capable of picking himself back up and getting to his feet, even as he grabbed his hips, which looked like they clearly were causing him a good degree of misery. Turning his head to look upwards, Zach called out, ¡°Come on, Lienne! Now or never!¡± She stood just on the edge and now she was gripping the sides of her face. ¡°This is absolutely mad,¡± she said. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m doing this.¡± ¡°Neither can I!¡± Zach shouted. ¡°Yet here I am. I can¡¯t hold much longer. Hurry!¡± She jumped down, and this time, when Zach caught her, the resulting ache was nowhere near as bad as when it had been Rian, who shouted out to Zach that he was ready for him to drop her. With a fierce, awful throbbing that ran from his fingers, down his arm, into his shoulders and back, and somehow even into his stomach, Zach forgave himself for resorting to his usual coping mechanisms. ¡°If she dies, it¡¯s your fault not mine, since I did my part correctly!¡± he called down to Rian. ¡°Yeah, true!¡± Rian called back up to him. ¡°Still would have to kill you for it, though. Sorry, bud!¡± With a laugh, Zach abruptly dropped Lienne, and she yelped in surprise and fear as she plummeted down another fifty feet towards her brother, who actually jumped into the air and grabbed her which, given her low constitution stat, was probably a very good move. ¡°Gods be damned,¡± she grunted, limping away a few steps when he released her. ¡°That hurt like a bitch.¡± Rian laughed. ¡°Well, that¡¯s what you get for¡ª¡± Just then, Zach¡¯s fingers slipped. He hadn¡¯t even felt them slipping, either. It was a surprise even to himself. ¡°Rian!¡± he screamed at the top of his lungs as the wind once again picked up and he felt himself hurtling downwards. I¡¯m going to land on my back! he thought, horrified. I¡¯m going to be paralyzed! He closed his eyes, ready for the end. Then he coughed up what he hoped was just spit as an incredible pain even worse than those he¡¯d already suffered soared through his back and, from there, radiated to every other part of his body. ¡°Got you,¡± Rian said. He felt himself being gently lowered down onto the stone. Nervously, he attempted to wiggle first his fingers and then his toes, and he sighed with relief as he confirmed to himself that he still had feeling in both. ¡°That¡­was beyond awful,¡± he whispered. Rian nodded, and so did Lienne. ¡°I think we all hurt like hell,¡± she said. ¡°Take five?¡± ¡°Make it ten,¡± Rian said. ¡°Screw that,¡± Zach said. ¡°Twenty.¡± In actuality, close to an hour passed before the three of them were ready to continue onwards, and during a good deal of it, all three of them seemed to spend varying amounts of time staring up at the top of the hundred-foot stone wall they¡¯d somehow actually managed to navigate their way down. It was simply incredible. Would anyone even believe Zach if he ever tried to tell someone this had happened? ¡°Hey, guys?¡± he asked. Both Rian and Lienne turned their heads his way. ¡°So, I know we just met today, but after what we just went through together? I¡¯m going to skip ahead a few years of friendship and declare you both as best friends.¡± Rian laughed. ¡°Dude, after what you just did, I¡¯d marry you if I swung that way.¡± Staring up yet again, Zach marveled at the height that they had just come down from¡ªand lived! It was just simply unbelievable. The fact that that had actually worked¡­it was like cheating death. He supposed the various aches and pains that were all over his body were a small price to pay for survival. Looking over at Lienne, he called out to her. ¡°Yes?¡± she asked. ¡°Can you do anything for the pain?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t. Not unless you¡¯ve been sliced or cut by something. For the kind of muscle-based injuries you¡¯ve sustained, you¡¯d need at least a healing mist.¡± My cat has that, Zach thought with a chuckle. Lienne looked at him curiously, but he waved her off and said he¡¯d explain it later. ¡°Honestly, Lienne?¡± he said. ¡°You should start carrying pain medicine with you and throw that at us since your heals are so terrible.¡± He regretted speaking the words even as he was speaking them, but much like with Kalana, Zach had a terrible, terrible habit of picking on girls he thought were cute. Sometimes, he just couldn¡¯t resist picking on them even though he knew it made him into kind of a dick. Amazingly, however, Lienne didn¡¯t get upset with him. Instead, she placed her hands on her hips, narrowed her eyes, and fired right back at him. ¡°Is that so, huh?¡± she asked. ¡°I think I¡¯ll take your advice. And if we¡¯re fighting and your belly gets sliced open, I¡¯ll pass you a nice glass of water and two pills. How¡¯s that sound?¡± From the way her mouth was twitching, Zach could tell she was trying to keep a straight face and not laugh. This made it difficult for him to keep a straight face, too. He held out his hands in surrender. ¡°All right, you win.¡± ¡°Yeah I do.¡± Stretching his back, and shaking his arms and legs, Zach thought he was just about ready to get a move on. Though he was hungry, incredibly thirsty, and he hurt all over, he reasoned he felt just about as good as he was going to feel given the circumstances. ¡°I guess we can move on then, right?¡± he asked. Both Rian and his sister nodded. Despite wanting to get going, it ultimately ended up taking another fifteen minutes before they were actually able to proceed, because Rian¡¯s Axe Throw didn¡¯t do enough damage to the wall to free his sword on its own, and thus it had taken five uses of Axe Throw and two uses of Flamestrike before it finally fell down and landed just in front of Zach¡¯s feet. Picking it up, he blew on it to get some of the dust off, and then, after a brief re-buffing from Lienne, he nodded his head in the direction of the door leading to B2. It was finally time to go. As they crossed the short distance, Zach snickered and said, ¡°You have to admit, the fact that our single-greatest challenge so far has been walking down a flight of stairs, we¡¯re probably going to die here.¡± ¡°Yeah, probably,¡± Rian said, placing both of his palms on the push bar. Lienne bowed her head. ¡°You boys may be right, but can we at least try not to? Thanks?¡± Grinning, both he and Rian nodded, and then Rian shoved open the door. Even before stepping inside, he wrinkled his nose and said, ¡°Gods-dammit, it stinks in here.¡± Then he entered, followed by his sister. Not wanting to be left behind, Zach hurried in behind them. Immediately, the stench of burning and sulfur made him want to vomit. Zach looked around at his surroundings¡ªor at least, he intended to. Before he had the chance, an atrociously loud bang from behind him made him flinch and recoil. He, along with Rian and Lienne, all spun around to see that the door behind them had now been slammed shut. Even worse, it was falling over. The hell? Alarmed and perplexed, Zach stepped out of the way as the metal door simply collapsed with another loud, but nowhere near as deafening bang. With a stunned gasp, he noticed that there was now nothing in its stead but a dense, burnt-looking brick wall. Knocking on it, the wall felt totally, completely solid to the touch, and it reeked of smoke. Zach placed his hand on it and searched for anything that could be taken for an indentation or a hinge. But there was nothing: not a single sign to indicate that the place they¡¯d only been mere seconds ago actually resided on the other side of these badly charred bricks. ¡°Impossible,¡± Rian whispered, disbelief in his voice. Zach swallowed nervously. ¡°You said it yourself: dungeons are weird.¡± ¡°Yeah, but this¡­?¡± All three of them took a moment to stare at what should have been a door-sized opening that would lead them back to where they¡¯d literally just come from. Yet there was nothing. Just this impossibly dense brick wall. ¡°Well, we wanted to come here anyway,¡± Zach said as a growing unease made him clutch his sword more tightly. As he once again turned around to take in his surroundings, he realized that it was much, much darker here than it¡¯d been up until this point. He could still see, of course, but his eyes now had to adjust to the much scanter light. It seemed that the lighting in B2 now matched the actual level of physical light present; this, as opposed to containing the mysterious ambient brightness that had allowed Zach, at least until now, to see perfectly clearly in places lacking a single visible light source. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t think I like this floor,¡± Lienne muttered. ¡°Same vibe here,¡± Rian replied. Zach agreed with both of them; right away, he knew he didn¡¯t care for this place either¡ªlike, at all. Immediately, he was faced with a powerful urge to be gone from here as soon as possible. There was an oppressive feeling that he couldn¡¯t quite shake, and a sense of wrongness abounded from every corner around him. The three of them appeared to be in some kind of dark corridor that continued on for a few-dozen feet before opening up and becoming wider just a bit farther down. To his left and right were more of the totally burnt walls, and the floor was made up of a filthy, muddy, and dark grey concrete. Unlike B1, which Zach felt reminded him of a sort of cave area, this new place felt more like a cross between an abandoned warehouse and a hotel that¡¯d been set on fire¡ªor at least those were his first impressions, anyway; things changed dramatically as the three of them began to wade their way deeper inside. All around them, a sort of very thin fog seemed to rise from the floor and reach up to their ankles before dissipating. There were picture frames attached to various points along the brick wall on both sides, but they were empty, and many were badly damaged. A few were on the floor itself, and they looked as though something had smashed them into smaller pieces. ¡°This place is creepy,¡± Zach said, walking slowly behind Rian. ¡°So glad I¡¯m not the tank who has to stay up front.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a man¡¯s job, what can I say.¡± Though Rian spoke the words confidently, Zach could clearly pick up on the shakiness in his voice. Following closely behind Rian, the three of them crept their way down the corridor. Zach kept his eyes peeled for any sign of movement. Something told him that he wouldn¡¯t be making his way through a place like this without encountering a few enemies. Reaching the end of the corridor without incident, the three of them entered into a much wider¡ªand far more horrific¡ªarea that caused Zach¡¯s entire body to seize up with shock and terror. With just a few glances at the area around him, he realized straight away that, right now, they appeared to be in some kind of dungeon¡ªonly in the very literal sense of the word ¡°dungeon.¡± To their immediate left were a row of cages that extended as far as Zach could currently see amid the poor lighting. To his right, spread evenly apart, were a number of faded, moldy support columns that led up to a relatively low ceiling. On all four sides of these columns were a lit torch, which provided the majority of the light around them. Beyond the columns, and all the way across from the three of them, were yet another row of cages. Many of these cages were filled with what appeared to be dead, bloodied human forms in various states of distress. There were torture instruments, too, and from the looks of things, who¡ªor what¡ªever had been confined in these cages had been brutalized. In one of these cages in particular, a bloodied saw lay on the floor next to a body that appeared to have been cut in half. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out what¡¯d happened there. But most shocking of all¡ªmore than the cages, the stench of smoke, or the hideously disturbing corpses of those who¡¯d been horrifically tortured, was what Zach saw as he peered into the cage to his right and glanced up at the tiny, four-inch-tall window towards the top of the cell. Zach pointed. ¡°Is that¡­real?¡± ¡°Is what real?¡± Rian asked. He¡¯d already been groaning intermittently as he took in the sights, but now, as he looked to where Zach pointed, his voice seemed to get caught in his throat. ¡°This place is terrible,¡± Lienne said. ¡°Hey, what¡¯re you two looking at? What are you¡ª?¡± She too fell silent as she traced Zach¡¯s finger with her eyes to the small window in the cell, beyond which resided a dark, viciously red sky and equally ominous red clouds. The sight of it caused Zach¡¯s knees to weaken. ¡°That¡¯s not real, is it?¡± he asked again. ¡°Like, if we went outside, that wouldn¡¯t be¡­I mean because we¡¯re underground right now. And the sky isn¡¯t red. So¡­¡± He felt Lienne place first one, then both hands on his shoulders. He wasn¡¯t sure if this was more to comfort him or herself. Either way, he hoped she couldn¡¯t feel how bad he was trembling. ¡°This has to be an illusion,¡± he insisted. ¡°It can¡¯t be real. This place can¡¯t be real.¡± ¡°It is,¡± Rian said with a horrified-sounding gasp. ¡°But it¡¯s also not our¡­we came here to level and to clear the floors. Let¡¯s just get through this one as fast as we possibly can. I don¡¯t want to be here a moment longer than we have to be.¡± Zach nodded. On this point, he was in total agreement. The sense of wrongness about this place was just so downright pervasive that it actually required a great deal of willpower for him to not just take off and flee in some other direction. Finding his backbone, he walked side by side with Rian, who clearly was no longer comfortable walking up front by himself. Lienne, on the other hand, stayed very close behind Zach with her chin practically buried into the spot between his shoulder blades. He was nearly certain that she was not doing this to be flirtatious. No, she was terrified. How could something like this exist beneath the Galterran soil? And if it didn¡¯t, then where in the name of the Gods were they, and how had they gotten here? Through some miracle, the three of them managed to keep their composure and continue their forward momentum at a calm, deliberate pace. Zach darted his eyes every which way, constantly searching for any sign of something that might aggro. So far, however, he hadn¡¯t seen a single mob. And when he finally did, it was well into the distance. A distorted chirp came from the complete opposite end of the dungeon in the direction they were headed. In the air, resting on what appeared to be the destroyed bulb of a round, low-hanging ceiling lamp, was a purple, bat-like creature with bright red eyes, sharp, pointed wings, and razor-sharp fangs. [??/??] Eep Level 3 ¡°What¡¯s with the question marks?¡± Zach asked in a whisper as they slowly proceeded towards it. ¡°It means you¡¯ve never killed one of them yet,¡± Lienne answered, ¡°so you don¡¯t know how much HP it has.¡± ¡°How much what? The hell is ¡®HP¡¯?¡± ¡°Oh, sorry. Forgot you don¡¯t know. It¡¯s uh, it¡¯s basically the amount of damage the creature can take before it dies. The number on the right is its total HP, and the number on the left is its current HP.¡± ¡°What does it even stand for, though?¡± ¡°HP stands for¡­¡± Lienne hummed as if in thought, and her chin tickled Zach¡¯s right shoulder. ¡°I can¡¯t remember.¡± ¡°Hit points,¡± Rian said. ¡°It¡¯s basically a term that makes it so you don¡¯t have to use like ten words to say, ¡®That monster has 14 damage left before it dies¡¯ each time you¡¯re in a fight. You can just say, ¡®The monster has 14HP.¡¯¡± The ¡°Eep,¡± as it was called, seemed content to do nothing more than sit on top of the ceiling lamp as though waiting for someone¡ªlikely them to enter within its aggro range. Gesturing with his palm behind him, Rian signaled for a halt. Then, taking just a few steps in front of the two of them, he drew his axe and shield, and with a grunt, he hurled his axe at the Eep. In this incredibly, disturbingly quiet nightmare of a floor, Zach was actually glad to hear the whooshing sound the axe made as it spun through the air and struck this ¡°Eep¡± thing for 19 damage. Even before the axe had flown halfway back towards Rian¡¯s waiting hand, the creature was already in the air, flapping its sharp-looking wings, and heading directly for them. ¡°Eep!¡± it screeched, earning its name. ¡°Eep!¡± The moment Rian caught his axe, he threw it a second time, dealing another 16 damage. And¡­that seemed to be it for the flying monstrosity. It simply made one final, somewhat sad-sounding ¡°Eep¡± and fell lifelessly to the mud- and soot-stained concrete floor before vanishing. +3xp In fairness, Zach really couldn¡¯t have expected all that much more from a level-3 thing that had died so quickly. With a chuckle, he said, ¡°Maybe this place isn¡¯t as scary as it looks.¡± Rian grinned. ¡°Maybe indeed. Hey, look, there¡¯s another one ahead right there.¡± He pointed. Due to the overall darker lighting, it had been easy for Zach to miss, but as they drew just a few steps nearer, he could spot another one of the creatures on a separate ceiling lamp that was just off behind and to the side of the first. [25/25] Eep Level 3 ¡°Should we kill that one next?¡± Rian asked. Zach nodded. ¡°Yeah, I think we might as well. It¡¯s only 3xp, but at least we¡¯ll get¡ªwait, wait, don¡¯t pull it, Rian. Hold!¡± Rian, who had been a mere instant from throwing his axe, asked, ¡°Why? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Zach pointed. ¡°Its name changed. Look!¡± [25/25] Eep C Level 3 Lienne made a quick, but frustrated-sounding grunt. ¡°Eep C? Where are the other two, then.¡± Zach looked around¡ªthen realized at least one of the two was much nearer than any of them would¡¯ve expected due to the fact that it shouldn¡¯t have been there yet. ¡°It¡¯s the one we just killed,¡± he said. ¡°It respawned already.¡± ¡°B-but that was like twenty seconds ago,¡± Lienne said. Zach shrugged. ¡°Well, it¡¯s back.¡± ¡°All right, I¡¯ll pull it again.¡± Rian stepped forward, raised his axe as if to use his Axe Throw ability, and then a mere instant before he the weapon left his hands, Zach heard a sound off behind him and to his right. He spun around to inspect the source of the noise even as he heard the fluttering of Rian¡¯s axe traveling through the air. Is something heading towards us? Or am I just imagining things? Trying his best to focus in on what could very easily have just been a shadow, Zach took out his phone and activated its flashlight. It was just too damn dark to see anything. Alarmed, he saw that another Eep was, in fact, heading their way. This, as a glance over his shoulder told him he¡¯d just received another 3xp for the one Rian had again just downed. ¡°Looks like there¡¯s one coming straight for us,¡± Zach said with a nervous sigh. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll handle this one so you can focus on¡ªoh, shit! OH SHIT!¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Rian asked, spinning around to face him. Zach pointed, his finger trembling. Rian twisted his lips skeptically. ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± he said, ¡°it¡¯s just one Eep.¡± ¡°N-no!¡± Zach cried. ¡°Its name. Look at its Gods-cursed name!¡± [25/25] Eep 2R Level 3 ¡°Oh, damn,¡± Rian croaked. ¡°That¡¯s not good!¡± ¡°What does that even mean?¡± Zach asked anxiously. ¡°What does 2R mean?¡± Lienne took a fearful step backwards. ¡°It means there¡¯s 44 of them. 26 plus 18.¡± ¡°That can¡¯t be right. Right? Surely there can¡¯t be¡ª¡± ¡°EEEEEEEEEEP!¡± screeched dozens of enraged creatures, all coming from somewhere in the distance that was too dark too see. ¡°EEEEEEEEEEP!¡± they screeched again, this time sounding a little bit closer. Rian raised his axe in the air and swung it towards the area in front of them. With terror in his voice, he shouted a single word: ¡°RUN!¡± Chapter 27: The Horde Chapter 27: The Horde Even as Zach ran for dear life, part of him wanted to laugh disdainfully at the realization that this kind of bullshit was almost becoming ordinary. Here he was, once again, panting and pumping his arms as something¡ªor in this case, somethings¡ªtried their absolute best to kill him. Seriously, this was like the third time in a Gods-damned week he¡¯d had to book it for all he was worth. Only, this time around, he wasn¡¯t on his own; now, he¡¯d have to make sure he and his friends made it out of this alive. For this reason, he actually had to slow down to keep pace with Rian and Lienne, who were beginning to fall behind as they scrambled away from the approaching horde of purple, razor-toothed, winged creatures. Lit by nothing but torches placed around columns, this literal dungeon did not cast enough light for Zach to see the forty-plus ¡°Eep¡± creatures that he knew were on their way. But boy, he sure could hear them, all right. Their loud, shrill cries made a disturbing echo that sent chills running down Zach¡¯s spine. They were getting closer, too; from the sound of their collective, high-pitched screeching, they were likely moving much faster than the three of them were. ¡°Gods they¡¯re gaining on us,¡± Rian said, huffing and puffing as sweat rolled down his face. ¡°If they catch us, we¡¯ll be torn to shreds.¡± To make things even worse, the three of them began to aggro the Eeps that were up ahead as well. The one Rian had killed a short while ago had respawned yet again, and it, along with four others that were nearby, flew up and off the low-hanging ceiling lamps upon which they¡¯d been perched, and all flapped their serrated wings as they soared through the air at them. ¡°Eep!¡± the five creatures screeched. ¡°Eep!¡± Unlike the quickly approaching horde of Eeps that were still well off behind them but steadily gaining ground, these five were close enough that outrunning the creatures wasn¡¯t an option¡ªbut then again, neither was stopping, either. This created a terrible dilemma, as they could neither stop to combat their nearest, imminently dangerous threats nor could they simply ignore the five Eeps, which by Zach¡¯s estimation, would reach him and the siblings in a matter of seconds. Zach glanced over his shoulder, watching as Lienne, now carrying her staff in one hand, extended her arm and pointed it behind herself as she ran. ¡°Val En Flamir,¡± she whispered. A blue, missile-shaped flame exploded from the tip of her staff, sailing off behind the three of them and almost striking one of the Eeps in its face. A mere instant before impact, the creature swerved midair, and the flame collided with the metal bars of one of the large cages several-dozen feet back in the direction they¡¯d come from, where it soon died out. What were those words? Zach wondered. He¡¯d never been so close to Lienne before while she was casting a spell, and so he hadn¡¯t even known that she was required to speak them. ¡°Val En Flamir,¡± she whispered again, firing off another of her blue-flamed missiles at the five Eeps clustered together as they came nearer and nearer. For a brief moment, it almost looked like the Flamestrike would hit not just one, but all freaking five of them. But to Zach¡¯s dismay, the creatures scattered right before the blueish flame reached them, with all five flying off in a different direction. Once the fire had passed harmlessly by, they once more converged into a swarm, continuing onwards towards them. ¡°Damn,¡± Lienne said, now breathing the most heavily of the three of them. Her arm drooped, her staff lowered, but then with a shake of her head, she again raised it. ¡°Val En¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± Zach called to her. She paused, shot him a brief, questioning look, and then before she could waste time questioning him, he explained, ¡°That¡¯s not going to work on those. You¡¯re just wearing yourself out.¡± She seemed willing to take his advice, as she began to again lower her staff down to her side. But then the first of the five Eeps reached her, and with a loud screech, Zach watched as it struck her across the shoulder with one of its serrated wings, tearing off a big piece of her blueish white vest and leaving a horrible, nasty gash in her skin. She hissed as if in pain then screamed, ¡°Val En Flamir!¡± A third blue-flamed missile shot forth from her staff, but like the first two, it did not find its mark. In two swift motions, the Eep dodged to the side, then immediately returned and took a chunk out of her opposite shoulder, this time using its razor-sharp teeth. Crying out in what was surely agony, Lienne seemed to lose her balance, stumbling several steps until finally falling forwards. ¡°Lienne!¡± both he and Rian cried at once, the two of them coming to an immediate halt. Zach went to pull her back up, but he could no longer see her, as the persistent, fog-like mist that rose up to their ankles had grown denser. Even still, this, all on its own, would not have been such a problem, but in combination with the poor lighting, she seemed to have vanished into the floor. For all intents and purposes, she was practically invisible now¡ªwell, to him and Rian, at least. To the Eeps, however? Not so much. This, Zach could tell as all five began taking a sudden dive downwards in the general direction that Lienne had tripped. Almost certainly, they were intending to tear her to pieces. ¡°Taunt them!¡± Zach shouted as he watched the five purple, winged creatures swoop down on what was likely the precise spot that Lienne had fallen. ¡°I can¡¯t!¡± Rian shouted, fear in his voice. ¡°They¡¯re moving too fast!¡± Swearing loudly, he threw his axe; for a reason Zach did not know, the Eeps did not seem capable of dodging this attack as they had Lienne¡¯s. The weapon made a swishing sound in the air as it traveled only a short distance and struck Eep B for 19 damage. Then, with two powerful, lunging steps forward, Rian extended his hand and caught his axe before spinning around in a full circle and immediately throwing it again, this time vanquishing the creature. Zach also sprang into action, throwing himself forward and blindly whirling his sword around, not even caring which of the bastards he hit. Despite striking from behind, three of the four remaining Eeps managed to again scatter, but Zach was at least able to land on one of them. To his amazement, his blade struck for 35 damage, splitting the mob into two unevenly sized chunks, which fell to the floor before vanishing out of sight and into the mist. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was due to being one level higher, his 5 points in strength, the creature¡¯s natural defenses, or some combination of all three, but either way, he was pleased to learn that he could at least dispatch these things in a single strike. Unfortunately, it still didn¡¯t look like it would be fast enough. The three undefeated Eeps plunged down into the ankle-high mist, and Zach raced after them, thinking it was safe to assume their intent was to attack Lienne. An instant later, he was proven right, as the sound of her screams echoed even more loudly than the high-pitched screeching of the approaching horde. As her cries reached his ears, Zach threw aside every last bit of caution and rushed in mindlessly to save her. He needed to be fast. Lienne was being torn apart! His heart raced in his chest as he dropped his blade on the floor, not even caring if he would be able to find it again. Then, blindly, he leaned forward, reached down, and felt for something, anything. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. He squeezed both of his hands around something painfully sharp, which he took to be one of the Eeps, and as he lifted it up and out of the mist, his eyes confirmed his assertion to be correct. Agony exploded in his palms and his fingers, as the writhing, thrashing, and screeching creature sliced his hands, wrists, and fingers over and over with its serrated wings. Zach didn¡¯t care. He ignored the pain. His adrenaline had completely taken over the moment he¡¯d heard Lienne¡¯s screams. And so, vengefully, even as it caused more and more blood to literally drip in a steady trickle from both his hands and onto the floor, he squeezed even more tightly around the mob¡¯s sharp-as-knives wings, and he pulled with all his strength. A moment later, a sound similar to tearing a sheet of loose-leaf paper came from the creature, and then Zach realized he had ripped the thing in half, with two equally sized pieces in each of his hands, both of which were now bleeding profusely. Even still, he didn¡¯t care. Without a second thought, he dropped both pieces of the dead monster and reached down, pulled another off Lienne, and then tore that one into another two pieces while Rian, as if catching on, grabbed the third. With his higher constitution and armor, Zach doubted he¡¯d suffer anything more than a few minor scratches. As Zach glanced down at his own hands, he winced at the sight of so much blood. He had never bled this badly before. It was simply leaking out of his hands, which were likely too torn now to even hold a sword. An entire, thick ¡°flap¡± of skin was jutting out of his right palm like an open door, and it was a miracle his left thumb was still attached. The pain was incredible. Yet, even despite this, he bent down, forced himself to bear the intense stinging, and lifted up Lienne, putting her over his right shoulder. She too was dripping blood from so many different places at once. They both needed a heal¡ªand badly. But for the moment, she was not conscious. Incredibly, this did not cause her to let go of the grip on her staff. Rian, sheathing his sword and axe, reached down, felt around as if looking for something, and then retrieved his blade for him. Then, the two exchanged a brief nod, and with Lienne held snugly over his shoulder, they took off again at a run, as not only were the five Eeps they¡¯d just killed already respawning, but the beginning of the horde was now visible, too. Holy shit that¡¯s so many of them! It was no longer just forty or so of them, either. No, now there was an entire legion of the screeching, swarming creatures. Even if he wanted to be optimistic, Zach would estimate that there were no fewer than two hundred of them. The sound of their collective screeches had grown so loud that, even if Zach shouted at the top of his lungs, he doubted Rian would be able to hear a word he said. It was good, then, that the two seemed to understand one another without the need to vocalize their intentions. Briefly glancing behind him, Zach could see the swarm coming closer and closer as he ran with Lienne over his shoulder. With his right, torn-apart hand securing her in place, he could no longer tell whether or not it was his or Lienne¡¯s blood that was staining her blue and white vest and part of her undershirt, as well as dripping all over his own tunic. Before he and Rian had managed to travel another fifty feet, the two aggroed another ten of the creatures as they rounded a corner at the end of the dungeon that led through another corridor. This one did not contain any cages, but it did have a massively large, garage-sized shutter door at the end of it. ¡°Dead end,¡± Zach said. ¡°We need to get that damn thing open!¡± No sooner had the two of them reached the shutter door than the ten Eeps they¡¯d recently aggroed rounded the same corner they just had. Right on their heels, the sound of hundreds of screeching monsters joined the chorus of the initial ten, and now, in one massive, monumentally huge swarm of certain death, the two-hundred-plus mobs all took off towards him and Rian. ¡°Get it open!¡± Zach screamed. ¡°I¡¯m trying!¡± Rian had dropped Zach¡¯s sword, and now he was squatting down and groaning as he struggled to force open the shutter door by grabbing the small handlebar on the bottom. This, as the mobs flew closer and closer. They were now at the halfway point between the shutter door and the opposite end of the corridor. Zach stared, transfixed, as the creatures flew so close to one another that they almost looked like a giant purple cloud. One thing was for damn sure: there would be no surviving this many of them at once. It would be more than two hundred biting, wing-slashing, and screeching creatures all rending their flesh at the exact same time. It would be such an awful way to die. ¡°Rian, please!¡± Zach shouted. ¡°You need to hurry or we¡¯re going to be ripped into little pieces!¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying,¡± he grunted. Zach could visibly see the strain in the side of his face as he pulled up on the shutters with all his strength. His arms were trembling, and he was gritting his teeth. As the front of the swarm approached to within twenty feet, he finally, as if through a miracle, succeeded in lifting the shutter door. All at once, it slid upwards and open just as the first Eep reached Zach and chomped down on the back of his neck. ¡°Gahh!¡± Zach cried, as the teeth ripped away a chunk of his flesh. It hurt so badly that it nearly made him drop Lienne. Distantly, he wondered how much worse it would be if he had zero armor and no armor buff. Would it have punctured him deeply enough to kill him? Rian jumped back up to his feet, then delivered a low kick to Zach¡¯s sword, sending it skittering into what appeared to be an old, dusty, disused dining area beyond the shutter door. Then he ran inside. Zach, swatting away the Eeps that continued to slash, bite, and remove more and more of his flesh, bolted inside after him. Then Rian slammed the shutters shut as seven or eight of them flew inside. An instant later, a series of loud bangs going off at the rate of machine-gun fire pinged relentlessly against the shutter as the horde crashed into it over and over again. Setting Lienne down upright as gently as he was able, he picked up his blade¡ªand failed, as his fingers would no longer close on their own. Lienne, wobbling on her feet, pointed her staff at him, nearly falling over in the process. ¡°Val¡­Val En Lor,¡± she whispered, speaking as though she could barely manage to part the words from her lips. An instant later, Zach¡¯s pain came to an astonishing, miraculous end, and he found himself bathed in a dark green aura of shimmering light. The blood leaking out of him dried, the wounds in his hands, neck, and back all closed, and now he saw that Lienne had a weak, exhausted smile on her face. ¡°Val En Lor,¡± she said again, and this time, she was the one who bathed in this dark green, shimmering light. Before Zach¡¯s eyes, he saw her wounds seal and close. He saw the tightness leave her face as relief flooded her expression. ¡°How¡¯s that for pain medicine?¡± she asked with a weak laugh. And then he saw her tumble forward and face-plant onto the filthy, muddy, soot-stained, white-tiled flooring. At least there was no more mist in this area. Once again attempting to pick up his blade¡ªand succeeding¡ªZach raised it defensively as one of the Eeps came straight for him. This one, he dispatched with a single, fast, energy-efficient slice that separated it into two pieces. In the same instant, Rian, having used Axe Throw, managed to take down another, but in one hit this time around instead of two. Then, the five remaining Eeps converged into one large cluster, and unwilling to allow a repeat of what¡¯d just taken place, Zach stepped protectively in front of Lienne as the five attempted to swarm her. This is going to hurt bad! He braced himself as the Eeps threw themselves at him, their mouths opened as if ready to taste flesh. Zach gritted his teeth, bent his knees¡ªand then widened his eyes in surprise as Rian dashed in front of him less than a fraction of a second before impact and thrust out his shield, blocking all five and causing them to slam headfirst into it. Every one of them suffered 10 damage, and the numbers were clumped so close together that it looked like binary code. 1010101010. All five of the purple bastards plopped down onto the dirty floor as if stunned. But their sharp, serrated wings began to wriggle as if attempting to quickly readjust and bring themselves back into flight. Suffice to say, neither he nor Rian were willing to allow that to happen. Rushing forward, Zach lifted his leg straight up and then began stomping on the creatures, as did Rian. ¡°Eep!¡± they shrieked as two sets of feet began smashing down on them. ¡°Eep, Eep, Eep!¡± Not until Zach saw the puff of smoke from all five did he cease his stomping. Now, panting and trying to catch his breath, he stumbled over to Lienne, who seemed to be in recovery from E-debt. This, as an endless, rapid-fire pounding came from the shutter door. For how long would that thing hold? Zach hoped they didn¡¯t stick around to find out. Once more handing Rian his sword, he lifted up Lienne, put her over his back this time, and then he and Rian continued to flee. I hope that damn shutter holds! Chapter 28: Points Required Chapter 28: Points Required Even if Zach was starving¡ªand at the rate things were going, he might very well be pretty soon¡ªhe couldn¡¯t imagine eating anything off the burned-up, horrendously smelling furniture in this sad excuse for a dining hall. Rows upon rows of wooden tables dotted the rather large area; most were blackened and charred, and in some places, they had simply collapsed. At the front of the hall was a counter long enough that it ran the width of almost the entire room, and at the ends of the counter on both sides were stacks of trays and plates¡ªnone of which appeared sanitary. A bit further into the distance, Zach spotted shelves containing tin cans filled with a muddy-looking liquid he was pretty sure wasn¡¯t water. At some point, we¡¯re really going to need to find some, he thought. I¡¯m so damn thirsty. Lienne and her brother must be too. With the banging growing louder and louder off behind them, he knew there was no time to go searching for water. Even if there had been time, he highly doubted he could trust anything that came out of the rusted, brown-colored, grime-stained sinks that he spotted behind the counter. Also, he didn¡¯t want to have to put Lienne down while he quenched his thirst. ¡°Are you okay, Lienne?¡± he asked her. He could tell from very slight body movements that she was beginning to wake up. ¡°Mmnn,¡± she moaned. ¡°I¡¯m¡­kay.¡± ¡°Can you hold on tighter?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯m going to start running, and I don¡¯t want you to fall off.¡± Unlike before, he was no longer carrying her over his shoulder; now, she was on his back. He had both his arms wrapped around and under her knees, and he¡¯d placed her arms over his shoulders where they had drooped down as if limp. Now, however, she crossed them around his chest with just enough strength to reassure him that she¡¯d be able to hang on. ¡°Let¡¯s make a break for it,¡± Rian said. With that, the two of them took off, moving hastily through this dining area as the constant banging on the shutter door became ever more frenzied. Zach resisted the temptation to twist his body and look behind to see if the Eeps were close to smashing through. Not only would it serve him no good, but it would distract him from the more important task at hand: finding a way out of here. Right now, he needed to focus only on moving forward. Lienne¡¯s life was likely in his hands now, and if he screwed up, it wouldn¡¯t be just himself who paid for it. I never thought I¡¯d be this kind of person. Other than perhaps Kalana, Zach had never typically cared all that deeply about the lives of others. That wasn¡¯t to say he was indifferent or callous, but he just simply never spent much time dwelling on the problems of people he didn¡¯t know. Sure, if he could help a person in need at very little cost to himself, then of course he¡¯d do it. But anything requiring more than a modicum of sacrifice, and he¡¯d simply look the other way. It was for this reason he was surprised at how willing he was to throw himself into the path of danger for his two new friends. Previously, Kalana had been the only person in the world he¡¯d ever consider risking his life for. I still doubt I¡¯d do it for a perfect stranger, though, he thought. If I ever end up in a situation like that, I wonder what I¡¯d do. With Rian by his side, the two of them maneuvered around a partially destroyed wooden table that, width wise, was so big it ran from one end of the room to the other. Then they continued to make their way across the dining hall, which seemed large enough to fit a thousand or more people. Perhaps it was more accurate to think of this place as something more akin to a cafeteria? But for who, though? Who would live this far below the surface of Galterra? From the small, vent-sized windows right below the ceiling in the corners of the dining hall, Zach once again spotted what looked like reddish clouds. It can¡¯t be what it looks like. It¡¯s not possible. Putting it out of his mind for the moment, he reminded himself to slow his pace so as not to get too far ahead of Rian, whose cardio was somehow worse than Zach¡¯s. Then again, that big, heavy shield on his back probably had a lot to do with it¡ªnot to mention he was still holding on to Zach¡¯s blade while Zach carried his sister. ¡°Rian, I know you¡¯re exhausted, but we need to pick up the pace.¡± Rather than reply vocally, Rian merely lifted his hand and waved, his mouth wide open as he took fast, deep breaths. Up ahead was another of the large, room-spanning tables. This time, Zach merely hopped up and on top of it, then ran across, causing Lienne to make a slight, wearied chuckle. From the abrupt vibration under his feet, along with the sound of a thump, Zach knew that Rian had jumped up behind him, and then the two hurried across before hopping down from the other side. The farther they traveled, the more the sound of banging dampened, yet this brought little comfort to Zach, as he knew that the purple, sharp-winged creatures flew more than fast enough to catch up. That was why, even as they left the dining area behind them and entered into a fairly narrow passage with more of the cages to both sides of them, he did not want to let up. The only issue was that Rian simply didn¡¯t look capable of maintaining their current speed. The boy was fading fast. Easing up just a bit, Zach asked, ¡°Are you okay?¡± As he¡¯d done earlier, he waved a hand, but this time, he said, ¡°I¡¯m good. It¡¯s just¡­dude, it¡¯s not normal for mobs to chase us like this.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Still breathing heavily, he explained, ¡°Most mobs have a pretty short de-aggro radius.¡± He stopped speaking for a moment, and it was obvious that he was struggling. ¡°If¡ªif you get away from them, they turn around and walk back to their spawn. But these must be pursuer-type mobs: let¡¯s just hope they¡¯re type-B.¡± ¡°Type B?¡± ¡°It means¡­ah, hell. I¡¯m too¡­too out of breath to explain.¡± ¡°I can explain it,¡± Lienne said, now sounding far more awake and alert. Though her voice was still somewhat weak, Zach was glad to see she was recovering very quickly, as they were likely going to need her sooner than later. As Zach hurried down the dark, cage-filled hall with Rian by his side, Lienne began to speak. ¡°There are two kinds of pursuer-type mobs: type-A and type-B. The type-B mobs are just mobs that have a much, much, much larger de-aggro radius than normal mobs.¡± ¡°And the type-A mobs?¡± He could feel her tremble on his back. ¡°Those ones will chase you forever until killed. If you swam across the ocean to another continent, they¡¯d follow you. Even if it took them years.¡± A chill ran down Zach¡¯s spine at the idea of him aggroing a mob, running away, thinking it was gone, getting on an airplane, flying somewhere, and then one day in the middle of the night, having his door broken down by some Gods-knew-what kind of creature, which then began ripping him apart while he slept. As Zach tried to shake the unsettling thought from his head, he and Rian scurried along until finally reaching the end of this particular section of the cage-lined hallway, where they came upon a large, oval-shaped opening that led into another, identical passage. Though it had quieted a great deal from the distance they¡¯d gained, Zach could still hear the banging on the shutter door, which implied the Eeps had not given up their chase. ¡°If they¡¯re still coming after us, does that mean that these are type-A mobs, Lienne?¡± ¡°Uh, not necessarily. Some type-B mobs have a de-aggro radius of several-hundred miles. Usually high-tier bosses do, at least from what Zephyr told us.¡± She now sounded far more energetic, and she was gripping him much more tightly. From the feel of it alone, Zach was pretty sure she¡¯d turned her head sideways and was now lying against the spot between his shoulders like it was a pillow. ¡°Can you walk?¡± he asked her, even as he felt her stiffen as if disappointed. In truth, he didn¡¯t mind carrying her at all. That was part of the reason why he needed to stop. Painful as it was to admit to himself, Zach knew it wouldn¡¯t take a whole lot for him to fall head over heels for someone like Lienne. In that sense, continuing to let her piggyback on him longer than necessary was just too¡­well, dangerous. If Kal said she¡¯d wait for me, then I would bet my life she¡¯s keeping her word. What would that say about me, then, if I were to go and¡­with Lienne. Even knowing this, the temptation was almost unbearable. Lienne was so damn hot, and she seemed to like him, and¡­and why was he thinking about this again? Especially here of all places. Just stop, damn it. Stop! Kalana was the one for him, and they¡¯d promised each other as much. So how could he be such an ass that he¡¯d even let himself think such an awful thing? It¡¯s the distance, he thought. It makes it so easy to forget how much I love her. ¡°I think I¡¯m okay now,¡± Lienne said, sounding somewhat dejected, though Zach had the sense she was trying to hide it. The fact that it made him regretful¡ªthat it made him question if he¡¯d made the right choice¡ªbrought out another bout of shame and confusion. He wasn¡¯t supposed to feel like this. So why did he? Just stop thinking about it, dammit! he told himself. Just stop. Stop thinking about it. Poof, it¡¯s gone. Just¡­just quit it! Zach paused for a moment, coming to a stop in front of a particularly gruesome cage so that he could set her down carefully. He tried his best to avert his eyes, but he still caught an unfortunate glimpse of whatever horror had been going on inside this woefully inhumane prison cell. From the stains of old, long-since dried blood and the scraps of tattered rags scattered in four different places near a dirt-covered bed, it looked like whoever had occupied this cage had been put into some kind of machine that stretched their body until all four limbs were torn off at the same time. Is this place even real? Zach wondered. Mobs aren¡¯t biological. So maybe whatever happened here happened to mobs and not real people? The thought grew on him, and it came close to providing something akin to comfort, but then he recalled that mobs disappeared when killed, and these bloodstains, scraps of clothing, and old, rotten clumps of flesh and bone were clearly remnants of something that had once been alive in the biological sense. It just didn¡¯t make any¡­it just defied logic and reasoning. ¡°I don¡¯t think you should even think about it,¡± Rian said, patting him on the shoulder as if reading his thoughts. He gently guided Zach so that he turned away, which was a good thing, because he really didn¡¯t want to stare at it anymore. ¡°Since we already stopped, I guess we can rest for a few more seconds,¡± Zach said. ¡°But we really, really need to make sure we keep moving as soon as we can. Those things are going to break through any second now.¡± As if in response to his very words, an unmistakable crashing sound rang out from the direction which they¡¯d come. Even from this distance, the bang of the shutter door breaking apart came through loudly and clearly. His lips peeling back in alarm, Zach briefly locked eyes first with Lienne, and then with Rian. Without speaking a single word aloud, Rian handed him his sword, Zach grabbed it, and then all three of them turned and continued to run, now with a sense of urgency far greater than before. ¡°Gods-damned Eeps,¡± Zach growled, sprinting down yet another narrow hall lined with cages to both sides of him. Although none of the mist from earlier rose up from the floors here, it was still extremely difficult to see, as the only source of light to be found was that which came in from the small window in each cell that looked out onto a world of red. The flooring changed once more to concrete, and his feet made a click as he raced across section after section with Rian and Lienne, all while the sound of screeching Eeps grew nearer. The damned things were just too fast! It was also demoralizing to think that with all the distance they¡¯d put between themselves and the purple creatures, it had barely bought them a minute¡¯s worth of time. ¡°Forget pacing yourselves!¡± Zach cried, as with a glance over his shoulder he saw the first few Eeps fly into view. ¡°Run for everything you¡¯re worth. Go!¡± Despite his own command, Zach exercised all of his restraint in order to not take off like bullet and leave his two friends behind. It was clear that they were going to have an issue here, though, as Rian was struggling really badly, and Lienne, whom Zach was fairly certain could almost keep pace with Zach, was deliberately refusing to leave him the dust. Neither of them were. ¡°There¡¯s something up ahead!¡± Lienne shouted. Then she pointed. ¡°Over there!¡± Zach looked where she indicated. Just a bit ahead of them was an opening the size of a small door that led into a far wider area that looked sort of like a factory floor. But it was what lay about two-hundred feet beyond this point that made Zach gasp, as he realized there was yet another shutter door; only, this one was even larger than the last one¡ªsignificantly so. The previous one had been the size of a garage door, but this one was the size of a movie screen in one of the fancier theaters that Zach had only been to a few times. Towards the bottom-right corner of it was something that looked like a pedestal with two red-lit buttons, which must have served as the controls. Making their way through the small opening, Zach stopped short. ¡°Lienne!¡± he called out to her. She zipped by him, but then she too stopped, spun around, and faced in his direction, as did Rian. ¡°What is it?¡± she asked. He motioned with his hand for her to keep going. ¡°See if you can figure out how to get that thing open. Rian, can you help me find something to barricade us in here?¡± ¡°Great idea,¡± he said. Lienne turned back around, presumably heading for the two red-lit buttons that Zach hoped would operate the shutter while he and Rian immediately began looking for something they could use to slow the Eeps down. Zach scrambled frantically as stress, fear, and panic all mixed together to create a storm of chaos that made his vision blur as his body tensed up. The screeching became so loud now that, like before, it would likely be impossible to communicate with Rian. They had, at most, half a minute before the first few were able to fly inside this much-larger area with them. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Zach searched for literally anything he could use along this mostly empty stretch of concrete floor and what looked eerily like plastic traffic cones. He spun around in a full circle, darting his head every which way. Quickly, he realized that, even if he did find something, he wouldn¡¯t have time to bring it over to the door-sized entryway and plug the gap. There was nothing nearby him except a black basket a few feet from him. He doubted he¡¯d stop the Eeps with that. Gods-damn it, he thought. There¡¯s basically nothing in here. Nothing I can move, anyway! Honestly, while at first he¡¯d thought this looked like a factory floor, now that he was actually inside of it, he was pretty sure it was an empty parking garage. Though difficult to see thanks to the warped, badly cracked concrete, he was certain he could make out faded lines here or there. ¡°There¡¯s nothing!¡± he screamed, hoping Rian could hear him over the chorus of hideously loud screeches. Rian looked his way, either by sheer coincidence or because his words had reached his friend¡¯s ears; either way, the look they exchanged said more than enough¡ªhe knew they were in deep shit. But what more could they do? There was just nothing in here. Well, except for a few old-looking DEHVs on the very far end of the lot that probably didn¡¯t work anymore. Other than that, the closest object nearest to him was a small black basket above and to the left of the door that contained a few black devices that actually looked like¡ª Wait a minute. Switching his grip on his blade so that he now held it in just one hand, he reached inside and grabbed something within as the first few Eeps flew into the room. The purple creatures bared their razor-sharp teeth as they lifted up into the air and, with a screech, began to swoop back down to attack the three of them. Rian was staring at him as if desperate for him to come up with some kind of plan, and Lienne had finally gotten the shutter to begin slowly lifting up. Not that it would matter at this point, because the horde would just follow them through it. Unless¡­ Zach¡¯s terror peaked at such a level that he was willing to try anything. Removing his hand from the basket, he glanced down at what looked like a small, black, circular device with two silver buttons on it: one showed a picture of an old-fashioned padlock being opened, and the other displayed the exact opposite¡ªthat very same padlock being closed. With literally no better ideas coming to mind, he pressed the unlock button. This is never going to work. There¡¯s no way a DEHV is actually going to¡ª Zach¡¯s eyes widened, his mouth fell open, and he threw out his arm, pointing to the far side of what he was now certain was a parking garage. Two loud chirps came from that direction, and the foreboding darkness was chased away by a pair of two red lights from the rear of a vehicle. ¡°Rian!¡± he screamed, even as he threw himself backwards and away from ¡°Eep 2L,¡± which snapped with its deadly teeth at the air where his face had just been. ¡°Follow me! Hurry! Lienne! Follow!¡± Through some miracle¡ªthrough some Gods-blessed act of pure, good fortune¡ªhis voice was just loud enough to be overheard by his companions, and both began moving in his direction even as Rian banged his shield in the face of an Eep that had just nipped at his ear. To Zach¡¯s relief, he suffered only a minor cut. In fact, it only really occurred to Zach that, if they were destined to die here, Rian¡¯s death would be, by far, the slowest and most painful. It would take the two-hundred-plus Eeps a good twenty minutes to finish him off, whereas for Zach and Lienne, it would be over in under one. We can¡¯t let that happen! Even with a one-handed slash, Zach was still able to put out the exact 25 damage needed to fell the Eep closest to him as he waited for Rian and Lienne to reach his side. In the area Lienne had just been standing, the large shutter was now nearly half open. To Zach¡¯s utter horror and disbelief, he now confirmed with his eyes a very real, very terrifying fact that there was indeed a dark, crimson sky filled with equally red clouds awaiting him beyond the shutter. It was, emphatically, an ¡°outdoor¡± area. An underground¡­outdoor¡­area¡­ How? How is that even possible? If not for the fact that his life was mere moments from ending, he would have been too stunned to move. What he saw was so mind-blowing that it was almost paralyzing. Yet with Lienne and Rian depending on him just to live beyond these next few moments, he pulled himself together, turned around, and began to sprint. For the first five seconds, there were, at most, about eight of the Eeps in the parking garage with him. Two seconds later, that number was around twenty. A second after that, it was closer to fifty. And by the time that Zach, Rian, and Lienne had bolted halfway across the parking garage to where those beautiful red lights awaited them, all two-hundred-plus Eeps were now right on their tail, shrieking madly at them. Rian and Lienne must have truly come to trust his judgement, because it was only in this moment that they seemed to realize what he was planning. He could visibly see their eyes widen as they finally took in the sight of the DEHV in the direction they were running. This meant that they had come to him blindly without even knowing what he intended¡ªand still trusted him anyway to the extent that they followed without question. ¡°How the hell did you find a working DEHV?¡± Lienne yelled. Zach could only barely hear it. ¡°Worry about it later!¡± Rian replied, answering for him. ¡°Just run!¡± As if sensing safety ahead and imminent death behind, Rian, for the first time, was able to run at a speed that almost matched Zach¡¯s. The panic and desire to live must have given him that last bit of juice needed to force his legs to cooperate with his desire to move just a little bit faster. Together with him and Lienne, Zach ran with every last drop of strength in his body towards what he now saw was a yellow, very bizarre-looking DEHV that appeared to be in far, far better condition than it¡¯d looked from a distance. The vehicle was smaller than any DEHV he¡¯d ever before seen, and its hover engines were not plainly visible, which meant they must¡¯ve been tucked somewhere out of sight beneath the DEHV¡¯s body. The ground tires were also pre-extended as if whoever had operated it last had intended to traverse non-hover supported lanes. What really struck Zach the most, however, was that between its two rear, red-colored lights was a graphic depiction of what sort of looked like a horse mid-gallop. It almost served as an apt metaphor for their current situation. He also had never before heard of the DEHV manufacturer printed just below its rear bumper. ¡°What in the fuck is a Ford Mustang?¡± he shouted. ¡°Who the hell cares?¡± Rian shouted. ¡°If it moves, we¡¯re using it!¡± The screeching grew louder¡ªnow to the point of pain. Zach didn¡¯t dare look over his shoulder. He didn¡¯t have to, either. He could actually feel a sort of wind on his back from the flapping of those damn serrated wings. At most, they were just twenty or so feet behind them¡ªand gaining very, very fast. The moment they reached the DEHV, Zach opened the door, dived inside the driver-side, and then slammed it shut. Rian and Lienne both dove inside the same rear-left door, practically flying together inside the backseat. Literally a tenth of a second after both of their doors were shut, an Eep flew directly into the window to Zach¡¯s left, taking 10 damage and delivering a nasty crack. ¡°Go!¡± Rian screamed at him. ¡°Go, go, go!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how to drive this!¡± Zach shouted back. ¡°What kind of controls are these? Where¡¯s the hover panel? What is this bullshit?¡± ¡°Just figure it out, Zach. We¡¯re gonna die!¡± Panicked, Zach tried to remember the one and only lesson his dad had ever given him. In Whispery Woods, people had to be nineteen to drive a DEHV, but parents were allowed to give supervised lessons when their children turned 17. Zach, even on his one¡ªand only¡ªouting, had proven himself something of a natural. That was why he¡¯d been fairly sure he could save them in this thing. But this particular DEHV looked like it was made by some kind of alien. He didn¡¯t see the switch above his head that was supposed to make it drive in reverse, though he reasoned from the labels on the stick to his right that the stick would do it for him. But wait¡­if that was the case, then where was the evacuation slider? He couldn¡¯t find it. He also couldn¡¯t find the barrier generator. Hell, forget the barrier generator¡ªZach couldn¡¯t even find the fucking hover switch! In fact, the only thing he recognized for sure were the acceleration and deceleration pedals, and even those looked off. ¡°Zach!¡± Lienne screamed. ¡°Hurry!¡± She let out a terrified cry as her window cracked just as Zach¡¯s had. And then she yelped again as it exploded into a shower of glass; this, as the swarm surrounded the vehicle, screeching so loudly that Zach shook with the terror of their combined, horrific shrieks. ¡°Just go!¡± Rian shouted. ¡°Please!¡± Frustrated, afraid, and having no idea how to even operate this Gods-damned DEHV, Zach moved the switch to the R position and stepped on the acceleration pedal while turning the steering wheel all the way to its right, causing the DEHV to lurch backwards with a loud ¡°rmmmv!¡± What in the name of the Gods was that noise? It sounded nothing like any DEHV he¡¯d ever heard before. Hell, from the smell alone, you¡¯d think this thing was powered by gasoline or something. As if. Nearly crashing into a concrete pole, he only just managed to avoid careening into another, similarly bizarre-looking DEHV as he gained a bit of distance from the swarm of Eeps while the DEHV glided backwards towards the middle of the parking garage. Slowing down somewhat so that he could turn the steering wheel to left, Zach ignored the shouts and cries of terror from Rian and Lienne as the Eeps began pecking and banging on the hood, rear, and sides of the vehicle. Three even flew inside, and Rian began to punch them until they flew back out. Once Zach managed to orient the DEHV properly so that it faced the now-open shutter door, he took a guess and moved the stick to ¡°D,¡± then slammed his foot down on the acceleration pedal. This caused another bizarre roar, and the vehicle took off with a speed and responsiveness that shocked him and pushed his entire body back into his seat. What the hell kind of DEHV was this? ¡°Just hold on tight, guys!¡± He picked up speed, flying out into the surreal world of crimson clouds and red skies, and then he let out a shocked gasp as it finally dawned on him that, yes, this was a indeed a real place they were now in, and it was indeed under a blood-colored sky. It also appeared to be daytime somehow, despite the fact that it should have been several hours past midnight. Zach¡¯s brain struggled to keep up with the world around him as so much information hit him so quickly that processing it all was a challenge almost as great as any he¡¯d faced so far. Directly in front of him, he spotted what appeared to be a wide, two-lane road with a yellow dotted line running through it. It seemed to go on for a good long while. To both sides of the road was the occasional patch of yellow-brownish grass broken apart by dirt and the occasional tree stump. In the sky far above, though it was not raining, a constant barrage of lightning was visible in the space between clouds. Far into the distance, there seemed to be something that may once have been a beautiful, grand bridge, but was now completely destroyed, with its entire middle section missing as though it¡¯d broken off. ¡°Eeep! Eeep! Eeep!¡± the horde cried. Zach realized he could see them through a mirror above and to his right. He swore, loudly, as they were still continuing to chase him, only now there had to be even more of the Gods-damned things. Maybe three hundred in total. ¡°This is the biggest bullshit in the history of bullshit,¡± he growled, slamming his foot down on the acceleration and watching as a red, needle-like object that likely represented speed began to turn clockwise. What kind of archaic vehicle was this? Soaring along the road, Zach gripped the steering wheel tightly as it dawned on him that there were virtually no¡ªif any¡ªGrav Rails in this DEHV, which meant that, however difficult it may have been to believe, he was personally in control of the entire vehicle. He could literally drive it off the road if he wanted to. Nothing was actually keeping him in place. ¡°Faster, Zach! Faster!¡± Lienne cried. ¡°I¡¯m trying, Gods-dammit!¡± The steering wheel, like the rear of this odd-looking DEHV, also contained the same logo of a horse mid-gallop, and as Zach turned it slightly to keep himself in the middle of the road, he found it difficult to breathe as the broken window was letting in an unbelievable blast of air, which hit his face like a physical blow. ¡°Eep! Eep! Eep!¡± ¡°They¡¯re gaining on us,¡± Rian said. ¡°Get us in hover mode. Hurry!¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know how!¡± ¡°Push buttons, then!¡± Lienne leaned forward in her seat and pointed at something, which was only possible because none of them were wearing safety harnesses, which Zach knew was unwise¡ªand apparently so did the DEHV, because it continued to beep and show a symbol of a silhouette wearing one above the steering wheel. ¡°Try that!¡± she said, pointing at a black knob below what appeared to be a touchscreen of some kind. Zach nodded and pressed it. He regretted it immediately. A jolt of panic shot through his body as, at a volume almost as loud as the screeches from the Eeps, a man¡¯s voice began to scream at them¡ªjust absolutely scream at them. The sound of it came from all around them, too. ¡°Let the bodies hit the floor. Let the bodies hit the floor. Let the bodies hit the floor. Let the bodies hit the¡ªFLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!¡± ¡°Turn it off!¡± Lienne screamed. ¡°Turn it off!¡± Zach tried banging his hand against the button again, but it only seemed to make it even louder. Even more strangely, he soon realized that what he was listening to might have actually been some kind of music. Since when could people listen to music while driving? That was a big no-no. It was almost as serious as the driver using a cell phone while the vehicle was in motion. This must have been some kind of highly illegal, black-market DEHV, this ¡°Ford Mustang.¡± Looking again at the misplaced rear-view mirror, he saw the Eeps steadily gaining on them, and now several of them were almost to the point of reaching the rear bumper. This, as the strangest music he¡¯d ever before heard blasted in his ear, announcing that something was ¡°wrong¡± with him. Something¡¯s gotta give indeed, Zach thought. Once again trying to turn off whatever music this was, he took one hand off the steering wheel and began to jam buttons at random. For some reason, this caused him to feel even more wind¡ªthis time on the top of his face. Confused, he glanced upwards¡ªand then let out a cry as he saw that the entire top of the DEHV began to slide backward and open up. Why would someone make something that could do this? ¡°I don¡¯t know what I did!¡± Zach yelled. ¡°Well don¡¯t change it!¡± Lienne yelled back. ¡°I can use this!¡± Glancing in the mirror, he saw Lienne climbing up to her knees before coming to a stand in the back seat until the top half of her body was hanging out of the DEHV. The number of laws that broke alone could be counted on seven hands. Pointing her staff at the incoming Eeps, she screamed, ¡°Val En Flemir!¡± The blue, missile-shaped flame burst out of her gem-tipped staff, and for the first time since coming to this ¡°floor¡±¡ªif that word still even meant anything¡ªZach watched as it finally found its mark. Apparently, while flying full speed, the Eeps lacked the ability to dodge as easily as they normally could, and so Zach literally roared in cheer as he watched Lienne strike fourteen of them at once, dealing a jaw-dropping 47 damage to each. Then, standing up to join his sister, Rian steadied himself with one hand, gripping the side of the DEHV, and with the other he threw his axe at the leading Eep, which was just about to fly into his face and again killing it in one shot. Zach watched as the axe returned to his hand, and then for some reason a bunch of words popped up in the air behind the DEHV and began chasing after the vehicle behind them just like the Eeps. They looked familiar, these words. They were words that, amid all the horror going on around them, Zach had forgotten all about and did not expect to see. Level up! +1 str (6) +1 lck (2) Somehow, with his heart pumping in his chest, adrenaline coursing through his veins, and a swarm of hundreds of vicious, winged bastards trying to turn him into mush, Zach still found room in his heart to feel disappointment and roll his eyes at yet another garbage level up. Seriously, was this the extent to what he had inside of him? Was this all he could do or be? Well, at least his strength increased this time around. And also his luck, which did¡­well, he didn¡¯t really know what it did. But hey! A two-point level up was still better than one, right? As Lienne pointed her staff at the next batch of Eeps that pulled ahead of the pack, she drew a deep breath as if readying herself to fire another missile, but not before both she and her brother looked over their shoulders at Zach, and in unison, shouted, ¡°Grats!¡± ¡°What?¡± he shouted back. ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s something you say when someone in your party levels up.¡± ¡°What, seriously?¡± he asked, annoyed. ¡°Forget that! Keep these things off our¡ª¡± His words cut off as he watched, in absolute shock, as every Eep¡ªdown to the very last one¡ªcame to an abrupt halt. They simply stopped midair as if they¡¯d hit some kind of invisible wall. Then, each and every one of them spun around in the air and began to fly back the way they¡¯d come. Lienne raised her staff high in the air and cheered, as did Rian. ¡°We left their range! We did it!¡± Refusing to feel even an iota of relief until he was absolutely certain it was safe to do so, Zach kept his eyes on the retreating Eeps, who indeed did seem to be taking off at full speed back towards the hellish dungeon that they¡¯d escaped from. Now, with the horde and Zach moving in opposite directions, it wasn¡¯t long at all before they¡¯d flown out of view. With another cheer, both Rian and Lienne turned around and sat back down in their seats while Zach fumbled with the vehicle¡¯s strange buttons, at last discovering how to shut off the music and close the top of the DEHV. Ahead of him, the road continued to stretch on, and the three of them were taken beneath an overpass that seemed to wrap around in a wild loop and lead to yet another road moving off into the distance. Where in the name of the Gods are we? Zach surveyed his surroundings. To both his left and right, he could see an endless array of burned-out, ruined husks that appeared to have once been medium-sized buildings. In several places, their DEHV shot by what looked like destroyed shopping centers with their own burned-up parking lots. But it was what was directly ahead of him that really gave him his biggest shock of the day. As he continued to drive, he spotted a massive green sign with large, bold white letters roughly a thousand feet ahead of him that said the following: -----> Exit 7A: Newark Intl Airport -----> Holland Tunnel ¡ý Continue straight for: B2->B3. Rest and food area ahead. Points required. Zachys Calador: 480 points Lienne Astafort: 390 points Rian Astafort: 450 points Swallowing nervously, Zach asked, ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you guys can explain any of this to me, right?¡± Both shook their heads, and Zach sighed. ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t think so.¡± Chapter 29: Innkeeper Angelica Chapter 29: Innkeeper Angelica As Zach reduced the DEHV¡¯s speed¡ªassuming this vehicle even was a DEHV¡ªand began to cruise at a much safer, more leisurely pace, he took a moment to really inspect the world around him. A sense of wonder came over him, but it was a nervous, apprehensive sort of wonder. It genuinely looked as though he were staring out at the ruins of a once-great civilization. He wasn¡¯t alone in his gawking, either; Lienne and Rian were also peering out of their respective windows on the left and right side of the hover-less DEHV. Not long after escaping from the Eeps, Zach had needed to briefly stop the vehicle to help Rian clean the glass shards out of Lienne¡¯s seat, as her constitution was too low to guarantee she wouldn¡¯t accidentally cut herself. At first, they¡¯d floated the idea of simply having Lienne sit up front in the passenger seat, but by that point, everyone had already lazily tossed their weapons¡ªor shield, in Rian¡¯s case¡ªonto the top of it, and no one felt like having to move things around. Not to mention that they also didn¡¯t know how to open the vehicle¡¯s rear compartment storage. Now, with everyone settled in comfortably, the three of them marveled at the gloomy-yet-fascinating sight of what was unmistakably a fallen civilization. For the past ten minutes, Zach had keenly observed the scenery to see if he could spot a single trace of non-plant life. There were broken buildings, some a few stories tall, others quite tiny, but there was nothing that suggested anyone lived in the burned-out husks of a single one of them. There were also no animals scurrying around or birds flying in the pure red sky. There was just¡­nothing. ¡°So, what are you guys thinking?¡± Zach asked them. ¡°Cards on the table? I say we¡¯re in South Bastia. No one really knows what¡¯s between the Ashen Kings. That has to be where we are.¡± He was referring, of course, to the two tremendous, impassible volcanoes in southwest South Bastia that supposedly either once had¡ªor still had¡ªa fertile valley running between them. Yet since no one was actually able to explore this area, at least based off what Zach knew, then it was the only place he could readily think of on Galterra that made any sense. It would also explain why the sky and all the clouds were blood red. He¡¯d read once that the smoke from volcanic eruptions could do that. In the rear-view mirror, Zach could see Rian tapping his chin as he looked out of the back-right window. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Zach,¡± he said. ¡°None of our phones are working. Why aren¡¯t we at least getting GPS?¡± ¡°Volcanic interference?¡± he guessed. ¡°Okay, but where are they, then?¡± Rian pressed his finger on the glass, which was not broken on his side of the DEHV. ¡°Volcanoes of that size should be visible no matter where we are in the valley.¡± Zach relaxed in his seat and slowed the vehicle even further. In truth after the heart-stopping last few hours they¡¯d shared together, he imagined all of them were enjoying the nice, calm, and slow drive to wherever it was this dungeon was taking them next. There was also something inherently liberating about being outside again, even if it was under a bleeding sky. Lienne also seemed to appreciate not having the wind blasting her so heavily while she stuck her head out of the window; it was as though she were trying to burn every sight to her memory. ¡°Here¡¯s what we know for sure,¡± she said, looking first behind and then ahead of them as she leaned even farther out of the window. She then returned to a normal sitting position so that they could better hear her speak. ¡°So, we know we¡¯re in a region called ¡®New Jersey,¡¯ we know that this road is called the ¡®New Jersey Turnpike,¡¯ and we know it was run by a guild called the uh¡­what was it again?¡± Zach opened his mouth to reply, then closed it as he realized he himself could no longer recall. Rian made a small noise that sounded like the beginning of some word or another, but then he too trailed off as if unable to bring it to memory. Earlier, when they¡¯d stopped to clean the glass out of Lienne¡¯s seat, they had stumbled across an old, barely legible pamphlet of some kind. Most of it was torn or faded, but there was something inside that sort of looked like a map, and at the top, plainly written in Human Tongue, were the words ¡°New Jersey.¡± In hindsight, they should¡¯ve kept it with them, but the thing was filthy and covered in dirt and foul-smelling tar. ¡°Oh, I remember,¡± Lienne announced with a giggle. ¡°It was the United¡­it started with the word United, right?¡± Zach took one hand off the steering wheel and snapped his fingers. ¡°Right! United. I remember that. United¡­Stars? United Stars of Amecia? Was it something like that?¡± ¡°Yeah, that sounds right,¡± Rian said, nodding. ¡°I think that was it.¡± Lienne curled her lips uncertainly. ¡°I dunno. I think¡­I mean, that might¡¯ve been it. It sounds close. Maybe it¡¯s right. I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s what it was,¡± Zach said. ¡°Rian nailed it. It was the United Stars of Amecia.¡± ¡°States?¡± Lienne suggested. Both he and Rian glanced at one another, then both shook their heads as Zach said, ¡°No, I don¡¯t think it said ¡®states¡¯. But¡­hey, who knows? Maybe. The map was so damn burned I could barely read it, so maybe it did say that. Point is, whatever guild controlled this region is probably long gone. Actually, now that I think about it, we might be in North Bastia after all. They say there are hidden lands deep behind Dragon Squire where long-forgotten guilds used to rule.¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t think we¡¯re in either North or South Bastia,¡± Lienne said, her voice dropping to a whisper. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Just a sense I have.¡± ¡°Then where are we? Ilioth? Zatrakhar?¡± She laughed. ¡°You¡¯re gonna think this is nuts, but I don¡¯t think we¡¯re on Galterra at all.¡± At this, both he and Rian laughed. ¡°Li, come on,¡± Rian said. ¡°The dungeon took us somewhere far away. Farther than we realized we¡¯d traveled. But we¡¯re still on Galterra. What are you even trying to say, anyway? That we¡¯re in another dimension or something?¡± She glared at him, and his laughter cut off immediately. Zach also stopped laughing before he earned the same glare for himself. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re in another dimension, dumbass,¡± she said to her brother. ¡°I think we¡¯re on a different planet.¡± Rian¡¯s cheeks puffed up, and then his hand raced to his mouth as though to try covering a chuckle, but he was too slow, as he burst out in a derisive, mocking bout of laughter. ¡°Li, I¡¯m sorry, but that¡¯s insane.¡± ¡°Okay, and what do you think then? Since you¡¯re such a genius.¡± Rian wiped his mouth. ¡°I think we¡¯re still underneath the dungeon, and this is some weird underground region called ¡®New Jersey¡¯.¡± Lienne pointed her index finger upwards. ¡°Then why is there a sky?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s what?¡± she demanded. When he said nothing, she asked him again. ¡°It¡¯s what? Go on. Say it.¡± When he still did not reply, she asked a third time, now even more forcefully. ¡°Say the words you were about to say. Say it!¡± Rian winced. ¡°It¡¯s¡­an underground sky?¡± Even as he spoke the words, Zach could tell that he knew how stupid they sounded, and so this time, it was Leanne who laughed at him. ¡°Really, Rian? An underground sky? So let me get this straight, okay? You¡¯re saying if we had an airplane and flew straight up we¡¯d go through the clouds and eventually hit¡­what, exactly? A rock ceiling?¡± His smile fading into a frown, Rian shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Li, okay? It makes more sense than saying we flew to another planet. You agree with me, right, Zach?¡± Zach sighed. ¡°To be honest, guys, I¡¯ve been wondering about something completely different.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± Lifting his chin at the road of ahead of him, he pointed to another one of the green signs, this one indicating that an off ramp was approaching in five-hundred feet. ¡°What would happen if we just turned this DEHV onto one of these exits and drove in the wrong direction?¡± At this, Lienne shifted her eyes to her brother, and he shifted his to her, and they both wore a look of confusion before turning their gaze back on Zach. ¡°Then¡­we¡¯d go the wrong way?¡± Rian said. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s my point.¡± ¡°What is?¡± ¡°What¡¯s physically stopping us from just¡­you know, riding off in a random direction?¡± ¡°Nothing is. Why do you even ask?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s just weird. I thought the dungeon would have some kind of barrier or something to keep us going the right way. Whether it¡¯s taken us to another region, planet, underground sky, or dimension, it just feels strange that we could literally just turn off this road and potentially travel hundreds or maybe even thousands of miles in any direction we wanted and there¡¯d be nothing stopping us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re still thinking of a dungeon like a linear obstacle course,¡± Rian said. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m shocked too, but Zephyr was right: dungeons are weird.¡± As if glad to find something that she and her brother could actually agree on, Zach saw Lienne nodding in the mirror. ¡°There¡¯s probably nothing that¡¯s stopping us,¡± she said. ¡°And if I¡¯m right, and we really are on another world far away from our own, then we probably could just drive away and get lost here forever. Is that what you¡¯re talking about?¡± ¡°I guess what I¡¯m really trying to get at,¡± Zach said, attempting to clarify, ¡°is I¡¯m wondering what part of this place is the B2 floor of the dungeon¡ªand what isn¡¯t. If Lienne is right and this is an entire world, then is this whole world just part of a dungeon? Or was it a real world that for some reason the dungeon leads through?¡± Lienne shifted in her seat, and Rian fell silent a moment. It was as though the two were finally understanding the uncomfortable, existential nature of the question that Zach had asked them. When neither of the two returned any kind of answer, he decided to let it drop. They¡¯d already had to worry about so much; it was probably for the best that Zach didn¡¯t pile even more on. Maybe it was better to just accept that whatever was, was. Especially since there were even stranger questions that needed answering, such as what that green sign earlier that¡¯d had their names on it was all about. Zach contemplated these things as he continued onwards. I hope it was telling the truth, Zach thought. We¡¯re all hungry and thirsty. Although a ¡°rest area¡± had been promised, Zach neither trusted nor was willing to put any faith in what the green sign had told them. It was part of the reason why he was driving so slowly at just about twenty miles per hour. At some point during the past fifteen minutes, Lienne had fallen asleep in the backseat, and Rian, too, looked to be dozing off. Without having any genuine idea of what horrors this dungeon would throw at them next, Zach thought it wise to allow them a bit of relaxation and comfort¡ªespecially Lienne, who¡¯d gone into E-debt earlier. Also, Zach really enjoyed driving, as he now discovered. He kind of wanted to prolong this a bit. The more he operated this vehicle, the more certain he became that it was not a DEHV. He wasn¡¯t actually sure what the hell it was, really; but without any idea of what to call it, he continued to think of it as a hover-less DEHV, which yeah, was kind of an oxymoron, but who cared? I really wish I had one of these. Despite being a primitive machine that likely ran on freaking gasoline of all things, there was something charming about the fact that it gave its operator full control of its movement. Zach could turn the steering wheel in any direction, and the onboard-steering AI¡ªif it even had one at all¡ªwould do nothing to stop him. Even if he was so reckless as to literally attempt to drive onto the brown, decaying grass off to the left side of the turnpike, he doubted the vehicle would stop or attempt to call the peacekeepers on him, as any DEHV would do. They would never allow something like this in Whispery Woods. Actually, other than maybe Giant¡¯s Fall or the Spider¡¯s Eye Oasis¡ªboth cities under the control of the Royal Roses¡ªZach couldn¡¯t think of a single guild that would allow a vehicle like this to be owned by private citizens. Varsh aside, the Royal Roses were notoriously libertarian in their views. They probably wouldn¡¯t care. But the rest of the guilds? No way. For the next half hour, Zach remained quiet and drove extra slowly. In the comfort of this vehicle, what would have been a terrifying walk through a gloomy, decaying landscape became a nice, relaxing, and only moderately bumpy trek through a civilization that had met a seemingly apocalyptic end. Eventually, however, he spotted another green sign that seemed addressed towards the three of them. It was at the end of a stretch of road that traveled beneath an underpass. ¡°Guys, wake up,¡± Zach said. ¡°Guys!¡± Both Lienne and her brother moaned, rubbed their eyes, and then sat up straighter. ¡°What is it?¡± Rian asked. ¡°Just look and see.¡± At this point, Zach had brought the hover-less DEHV to a stop with his foot on the deceleration pedal. One thing he¡¯d found odd about these vehicles was that they seemed to move slowly forward on their own unless you either put them in park or kept your foot planted. As he waited for the two siblings to shake away some of their grogginess, he noticed that Lienne was smiling lovingly at him even as she yawned and stretched her arms. I could fall for her so easily if I¡¯m not careful. As the two of them finally seemed to take stock of their situation, Zach watched as they both immediately became more animated. It was something Zach could understand, because he felt the same nervous excitement that they were likely feeling. ¡°I¡¯m guessing this is our stop,¡± Rian said. Just up ahead, at the entrance to what was a small underpass that ran below a wider road above, there was another green sign with white lettering. It was similar to the one before, but only with less writing. This one stated simply: B2->(Angelica)->B3 Zachys Calador: 480 points The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Lienne Astafort: 390 points Rian Astafort: 450 points ¡°What or who is Angelica?¡± Lienne asked nervously. Zach gulped. ¡°I don¡¯t know. But we should all grab our weapons and be ready for anything. Angelica, for all we know, could be the name of some kind of monster. We shouldn¡¯t assume anything.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± Rian said. Zach put the DEHV in parking mode, opened his door, and then walked around to the opposite side of the vehicle, where he retrieved his sword and then handed Rian his axe and shield. Then he passed Lienne her staff. Finally, side by side, the three of them walked the last few feet towards the underpass. It was dark inside. There was litter everywhere and graffiti on both sides. But there was something else, too: a mysterious, completely out of place metal push-bar door that, in a logical universe, would either not be there at all or would lead to the small patch of grass on the left side of the underpass. Somehow, Zach doubted that would be the case. ¡°Are you guys ready?¡± he asked, his body becoming tense, his heart beating faster. ¡°Yep,¡± Lienne said with a nod. Rian merely released a grunt in agreement. ¡°I¡¯ll go first this time,¡± Zach said. ¡°Rian had to do it last time.¡± ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯m the tank.¡± Zach switched his weapon to a one-handed grip then shrugged. ¡°If I die, then, it¡¯s my own fault.¡± With that, he placed his left palm on the push bar as a nervous energy shot through him. There really was no telling what was going to happen when they opened this door. They could end up literally anywhere. For all he knew, he could walk out into the sky and fall to his death. This is way more terrifying than I thought it¡¯d be. ¡°You sure you want to go first?¡± Rian asked with a chuckle. ¡°I do,¡± Zach insisted. Now that he¡¯d been laughed at, it basically guaranteed he¡¯d have be the first one in. ¡°I¡¯m going now. For real.¡± He took a deep breath. ¡°Here I go.¡± Gathering his courage, he pushed in the bar, opened the metal door, took a quick, brave step inside¡ªand then was immediately assaulted by the sounds of loud, energetic music, a multitude of cheering voices, and a golden, warm light, as dozens of sets of eyes turned his way, some with mugs of beer in their hands, others with chicken drumsticks or pork skewers. Upon seeing the three of them, all began to roar in celebration. ¡°Three newbies have found their way!¡± a male voice cheered, his voice filled with genuine happiness. ¡°Come on in, then!¡± a woman added. ¡°Everyone raise your mug. Three new adventurers made it to Angelica¡¯s!¡± Zach, struck with awe and confusion, tried to make sense of what his eyes were seeing. He appeared to be in some kind of cozy, lively, and very friendly tavern, with rows of tables and benches, on top of which were plates filled with food and mugs filled with various alcoholic and also non-alcoholic beverages. There were a set of stairs to his left that led up to what looked like a second floor, and off to his right, there were several people playing musical instruments. Straight ahead of him was a bar counter. The smell of the place was beyond wonderful, especially in contrast to the hell he¡¯d just come from. The air, though warm and inviting, carried with it the scent of barbequed meats but with a hint of something sweet. It was invigorating and made Zach want to enter farther inside. Everywhere he looked, there were people, both men and women of all different ages, fully dressed in equipment; much of it was fancy, glamorous, and seemingly high-level. There were swords that glowed brightly, chest pieces that shined, necklaces that glimmered, and rings that seemed to emit smoke if not fire or sparks. Zach even spotted a bracelet that released a constant flashing orange light. ¡°What the hell is this?¡± Rian asked. It had been the question that Zach was just about to voice. ¡°No idea,¡± Lienne said. ¡°Why are they all looking at us?¡± Still standing in the doorway, Zach struggled to try to piece together what he was seeing, as for all he knew, this could be some kind of trap that would require him to fight his way out. That was, of course, until four people stood up from a round wooden table dead center in the tavern, on top of which a black-and-white cat was eating from a bowl; the cat paused, and it, as well as all four of them, turned to face him. There¡¯s no way, Zach thought, suddenly feeling dizzy. One of the four was a spiky-haired man wearing cat-eye glasses, a lab coat, and sheathed in a scabbard at his side was a black and red blade that let off a constant purple smoke, which turned gradually more golden as it drifted higher into the air. It couldn¡¯t be. It¡¯s impossible. There¡¯s no way that¡¯s¡ª ¡°Zach!¡± Mr. Oren said, clapping. ¡°My man, you made it to Angelica¡¯s already! Wow, look at you go. I knew you¡¯d do it. And look, you made friends!¡± ¡°What the fuck is going on here?¡± he shouted back, causing Mr. Oren to frown as dozens of people roared in laughter. Along with Mr. Oren, Zach made out the forms of Kesten, Maric, Alixa, and for some reason Fluffles, who leapt off the table, rushed over, and brushed against his legs. He meowed. ¡°Fluffles get bored and come to get chicken. I want chin scratches from Lienne.¡± ¡°Is that really you, Fluffles?¡± He again meowed. ¡°Fluffles confirm identity only if given chin scratches from Lienne.¡± It¡¯s definitely him. ¡°I¡¯m so, so confused,¡± Zach said. Out of pure reflex, he began to close the metal door behind him¡ªbut he was stopped as a man came running over to him with his hand extended. ¡°Wait, wait, wait!¡± the man cried. ¡°Stop!¡± Zach reached out and grabbed the door a moment before it had fully closed, to which the man sighed and bowed his head gratefully. He was wearing a black, hooded trench coat with a brightly growing purple crest on the center of his chest. He also had on a pair of equally black boots with spikes on the sides. On his back was a monumentally gigantic sword that looked like it must¡¯ve weighed over a hundred pounds. It also seemed to be charged with electricity, as blue sparks consistently danced off the edge of the blade. The man pointed at Zach¡ªno, not at Zach, but the door behind him. ¡°What planet are you guys coming from?¡± he asked. ¡°Are you coming from Earth? I have a quest there I need to finish. I¡¯m way down in South Bastia, so I¡¯m a few-hundred miles from the nearest Earth-gate.¡± Zach stared at him blankly. Then he looked to his left to see Lienne with the same expression on her own face, as well as Rian, who matched it as well. Scratching the top of his head, Zach asked, ¡°What¡¯s Earth?¡± The man narrowed his eyes skeptically, but only for a moment. Then he smiled and laughed. ¡°Oh, right, you three are new. Earth is the homeland of¡­well, of us. You know, humans?¡± ¡°Homeland?¡± Zach asked, utterly confounded. ¡°What in the name of the Gods are you talking about?¡± The man let out another rough, powerful, but brief laugh. ¡°It¡¯s a really long story. You¡¯ll learn eventually. Just¡­just tell me this. Do you happen to know the name of the place you just came from?¡± ¡°We do, sir,¡± Lienne said to him, her voice sounding somewhat but not entirely nervous. ¡°It¡¯s called New Jersey, sir.¡± At this, the man pumped his fist in the air and shouted, ¡°Yes! That¡¯s so close, too. I¡¯m meeting my guild in Washington DC in one week after my quest for a rare spawn in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I just need to find a car.¡± ¡°A car?¡± ¡°They¡¯re like DEHV¡¯s but they don¡¯t hover. They¡¯re basically¡ª¡± ¡°So that¡¯s what they¡¯re called!¡± Zach blurted out. ¡°I knew they weren¡¯t the same as DEHVs.¡± At this, the man¡¯s eyes widened in delight. ¡°You guys already found one? Say¡­I don¡¯t suppose you could help out a fellow adventurer in need.¡± Before Zach even had the chance to reply, Rian bowed his head and said, ¡°Of course. Need before greed, always. It¡¯s right through there.¡± He pointed. ¡°Zach has the activator.¡± ¡°We just call them car keys. And thanks!¡± Idiot, Zach thought, though he kept his mouth shut. We could¡¯ve made him pay for it. This guy is clearly high level and probably has tons of gold. Now that Rian had basically offered it to the man for free, Zach meekly removed it from the pocket of his pants and handed it to him. ¡°You guys are awesome. Welcome to Angelica¡¯s, by the way. You¡¯re gonna love it here. Oh, and my name¡¯s Reni Sarwin. I¡¯m a member of Boss Rush.¡± He reached into his trench coat and handed Zach a small piece of cardboard, which appeared to contain nothing more than his name and number. ¡°If you ever need help, or if you¡¯re ever in trouble, just give me a call. I always return favors to those who¡¯ve done one for me. Take care, kids.¡± With that, he saluted, ran through the door, and then shut it behind him. Out of curiosity, Zach pushed open the door after it¡¯d been closed, and to his surprise, he now saw nothing more than a flight of stairs leading downward with the label B3 written onto the side of the wall in black marker to his right. Not even remotely ready to continue onwards, he let the door close a second time. Then he returned his attention to the last four people on the planet he expected to see here. As it were, they addressed him first. ¡°Come in,¡± Mr. Oren said, having already pulled up three empty chairs to their table. ¡°I¡¯ve actually been looking all over for you. I was scared out of my mind.¡± ¡°Scared?¡± Zach asked. Though he repeated the word, it barely registered in his head, as he was too busy glancing at everything around him in total shock to know what in the name of the Gods Mr. Oren was talking about. How was he here with them? How was Fluffles here with them? The cat was once again walking by his side. It wasn¡¯t even until this moment that Zach realized Fluffles had been speaking to him this whole time, yammering away about some nonsense or another. ¡°Then Fluffles get two birds. I am a good cat, so I only kill two.¡± He meowed angrily. ¡°Zach not listening to Fluffles¡¯ story!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, little buddy,¡± Zach said to him. ¡°I¡¯m just in complete shock. I don¡¯t know how this is possible.¡± Fluffles jumped back up onto the round wooden table as Zach and his two friends slowly made their way there. It took longer than it should have, because they couldn¡¯t take a single step forward without some impressively equipped adventurer congratulating them on ¡°making it to Angelica¡¯s,¡± and giving each of them a pat on the back. These people¡ªthese ¡°adventurers¡±¡ªwere, without question, the rowdiest bunch of individuals Zach had ever seen. They drank, laughed loudly, toasted, a few even fought, and all while several of them played instruments, dancing and singing to lively music. Zach felt like he¡¯d stepped into some kind of pirate ship. ¡°Why Zach act so weird. It only Angelica¡¯s,¡± Fluffles said as he munched on whatever was in his bowl. Lifting his head, he called, ¡°Angelica! Fluffles want buy more¡ª¡± ¡°No, no, you can¡¯t,¡± Maric said to him, his voice just as booming and deep as Zach recalled. ¡°You had too much.¡± ¡°No!¡± Fluffles said, unsheathing his claws and taking a swipe. ¡°Daddy doesn¡¯t get to say how Fluffles use his own points.¡± The gigantic, broad-shouldered man waved his finger at Fluffles, even as the cat took another swipe at him. ¡°Fluffles!¡± Lowering his head, the cat said, ¡°I get to have¡­one more bowl?¡± ¡°No, Fluffles. That was your last one.¡± ¡°Zach say I get to have more.¡± ¡°No he didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Yes he did! Right, Zach?¡± Why does everyone put me on the spot like this? Even with all the burning questions eating away at him, Zach sighed and resigned himself to having to first deal with the ¡°Fluffles situation.¡± He opened his mouth and prepared to tell Fluffles that he needed to listen to his dad, but then he stopped, as he recalled the fact that Fluffles had once been on his side when no one else had, and so, even as irresponsible and stupid as it might have been, Zach decided to be defiant out of a sense of loyalty. This might have been the absolute dumbest thing in the entire world, but he did owe the cat this much at least. ¡°I think Fluffles should get to eat whatever he wants,¡± Zach said. ¡°He is the best cat in the world, after all.¡± Maric¡¯s mouth fell open in incredulity as Fluffles hopped excitedly on the table. ¡°See, daddy? Zach say Fluffles get more.¡± Shaking his head, the behemoth-sized man grabbed the bowl away. ¡°I don¡¯t care. You¡¯ve had enough. Zach, you shouldn¡¯t enable him.¡± Breathing out a sigh, Zach pulled out the wooden chair and took a seat, with Lienne to his left and Rian to his right. Mr. Oren smiled at the three of them. ¡°It¡¯s great to meet you two. You must be Zach¡¯s friends. I¡¯m Mr. Oren, and I¡¯m actually¡ª¡± ¡°A fucking scumbag,¡± Lienne said with a scowl, causing Kesten to grin, Maric to drop his mouth even further, Alixa to flinch, and Mr. Oren to frown. Fluffles meowed with apparent agreement. ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°Maybe this isn¡¯t the time for this,¡± Rian whispered to her nervously. Zach himself was too shocked to speak. He couldn¡¯t fathom speaking to Mr. Oren that way. Sure, he was still a bit ruffled from the way he¡¯d been left on his own with nothing but a god-like cat¡ªwho actually turned out to be more than enough in the end¡ªbut even still, he¡¯d seen what the man had done to Seraphina. The last thing he wanted to do was get on his bad side. ¡°Lienne, it¡¯s okay,¡± he whispered to her. ¡°Just forget what I told you about¡ª¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not okay,¡± she said, slamming her fist down on the wooden table. ¡°He abandoned you. He abdicated his responsibility. You didn¡¯t even know what a tank was. He sent you out blind. You could¡¯ve died, Zach.¡± Of all possible reactions, Mr. Oren actually smiled as the outrage fell off his face. ¡°It¡¯s good to have friends who care,¡± he said. ¡°I understand why you¡¯re angry at me. But there are reasons for why I do what I do. Look, we can talk about that if you want. But first, don¡¯t you want to know where you are? Or why I¡¯ve been looking for Zach?¡± Zach nodded. He had to admit that, right now, he had questions he was far more interested in hearing answered than he was in re-litigating the sudden and abrupt way in which Kalana and Mr. Oren had abandoned him to his fate. ¡°Can you tell us why you¡¯re here? Is it for us? And can you tell us where here is? I also want to know how Kalana is doing.¡± Mr. Oren nodded. Before speaking, he raised his finger and then pointed it at a large mug on the table before him. ¡°Coming right up, Alex,¡± a woman said to him. She appeared a moment later and filled his mug up with a frothy beverage that was likely beer. Zach craned his head to look at the woman serving him¡ªand then with a gasp, he thought his eyes would pop out of his head. To his left, he could hear Lienne¡¯s chair shift as though she¡¯d been jolted in surprise. He could also hear Rian exhale loudly. They were all likely shocked for the same reason. The woman who had poured Mr. Oren his drink was dressed in a large, white, and fluffy dress. She wore clip-on cat ears, and she had a beautiful pair of blue eyes that complimented her short, curly green hair. But none of these things were what had rattled Zach; no, what took him so aback was that there were words above her head in bold, green lettering above more words in black lettering. Innkeeper Angelica Level 1027 ¡°She¡¯s¡­¡± Rian shook his head as if unable to believe his eyes. ¡°She¡¯s an NPC.¡± ¡°A what?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Non-person character,¡± Alixa said, answering for him as she adjusted her glasses over her pure green eyes. Her red hair was a bit of a mess. She looked like she¡¯d just been in a rough fight, as there appeared to be a trickle of dried blood on the right side of her face not far from one of her sword-shaped earrings. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Zach asked. ¡°It¡¯s me!¡± Angelica said. ¡°I¡¯m an NPC. I¡¯m here to serve the customers of my inn. Nice to meet you, Zachys. Or do you like to be called Zach?¡± ¡°Z-Zach is fine,¡± he replied. ¡°Nice to meet you, Zach. You must be so hungry and thirsty. You have 480 points. It¡¯s 300 points per night if you¡¯d like a bed. Our prices for food and drink are¡ª¡± ¡°Get them a round of house specials and a big, big mug of cherry cola,¡± Kesten said, interrupting her. He wore his leather jacket as he always did, but it appeared ruffled, as though he too had just gotten out of a big fight. ¡°It¡¯s on me. Use my points.¡± ¡°Wow, how nice of you,¡± Angelica said. ¡°I¡¯ll go whip it up for you kids now!¡± Once she¡¯d left, Zach returned his attention to Mr. Oren, as did Rian and Lienne, though Lienne alternated her attention between staring daggers at Mr. Oren and petting Fluffles who, at some point, had already settled into her lap for a nap. ¡°So,¡± he began, adjusting his cat-eye glasses. ¡°I didn¡¯t originally come here looking for you, but I sure am glad I found you here. It¡¯s a fortunate coincidence, but probably not as big a coincidence as it seems. If you¡¯re looking for someone, this place is usually where you¡¯ll find them if you hang around long enough.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Zach asked. ¡°It¡¯s one of the three central hubs¡ªor at least that¡¯s what we call them¡ªin the world of adventuring. There are quite a few ways of coming here. I¡¯m guessing you took the dungeon route. You¡¯ll be here many, many more times. Trust me on that one, my man.¡± Zach struggled to make sense of what he was hearing. He was also surprised when it was Rian who asked the next question; it reminded him once again that, despite having much more knowledge on how things worked than Zach did, his friend was still pretty new to everything as well. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that the place we just came from isn¡¯t the only way here?¡± Mr. Oren gave him a thumbs-up. ¡°That¡¯s right. There are more pathways to Angelica¡¯s than I could ever possibly list, and probably thousands more beyond those that no one even knows. There¡¯s never a dull moment here. You¡¯ll make tons of friends, and maybe a few enemies now and again, but this is one of the most important places in the world. It¡¯s considered a pretty big milestone the first time an adventurer steps in here. You three kids should be proud of yourselves.¡± Rian nodded his head enthusiastically, as did Zach. Lienne merely narrowed her eyes and glared at Mr. Oren. Zach couldn¡¯t help but feel somewhat touched that her hate was directed solely at the way he¡¯d been treated. But truthfully, though, he didn¡¯t hold a grudge. What happened, happened. ¡°So, you didn¡¯t come here looking specifically for me,¡± Zach said. ¡°But you were looking for me in general?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, Zach. We were actually relaxing here after clearing a few floors on a high-level dungeon when Fluffles showed up and filled us in on everything you two have been up to together. So we decided to wait here, knowing it was only a matter of hours or days before you showed up. In this case, we got here only a few hours before you did.¡± Zach repeated the words in his head a moment before responding. ¡°How did Fluffles get here?¡± ¡°Fluffles use secret door,¡± the cat answered, speaking for himself. ¡°I not tell Zach because Fluffles get in trouble. Daddy punish Fluffles if he help Zach cheat.¡± Angelica returned to the table and set down plates filled with an entire plump chicken and the most inviting tomato soup that Zach had ever laid eyes on; he had to struggle not to drool. She also placed down what she claimed was a ¡°custom made¡± cherry soda. Zach downed the entire mug before she had even walked away. I should really be drinking water, he thought. But Gods be damned, this is so good. The chicken was phenomenal. Zach wasn¡¯t sure if the seasoning was made of magic or if he was just so hungry that everything tasted perfect; either way, he greedily devoured it. Even Lienne, as thin as she was, seemed to be stricken by a sudden sense of gluttony as she tore into her plate. Wiping his mouth, Zach asked, ¡°So, why were you looking for me?¡± Mr. Oren¡¯s face tightened, and a sour expression entered his lips. ¡°I screwed up. Badly.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Zach gobbled down his food like a pig. He even licked his fingers, which was something he never normally did. But you know what? Who gave a shit? He was starving! ¡°I didn¡¯t think you were in any danger,¡± he said. ¡°Knowing how the guilds operate, I didn¡¯t¡­I thought they would perceive you as insignificant, especially since Varsh would not want to suffer the humiliation of actually telling anyone what you did to him. But it seems there was a witness, and word spread about the level-3 boy who humiliated a lieutenant of the Royal Roses.¡± He sighed. ¡°So now they want you dead. And they¡¯re coming for you.¡± Zach stopped eating at once, and he croaked. ¡°W-what?¡± Chapter 30: Fluffles’ Appraisal Chapter 30: Fluffles¡¯ Appraisal It was a good thing Zach had wolfed down most of his food, because the moment Mr. Oren began explaining the general situation to him, his appetite vanished and a queasy feeling entered his belly. Worse, other adventurers in the tavern had been clearly eavesdropping in, with several whispering and pointing to Zach and saying things like, ¡°Is that the kid who chopped off Varsh¡¯s hand?¡± Or, ¡°Hey, that¡¯s that kid, right? The one who humiliated Varsh.¡± Zach was beside himself with misery as the words Mr. Oren spoke fully registered in his brain. He almost didn¡¯t feel the squeezing sensation on his elbow as Lienne gripped him more and more tightly while the man spoke. ¡°So, that¡¯s basically how it is,¡± Mr. Oren said, finishing with a sigh. ¡°Donovan went over there and tried to make things better, but¡­it looks like his impulsivity has only made it worse. Word on the street is that they want to teach us a lesson through you.¡± Zach sat a moment in silence as Angelica came around and refilled his mug without even asking. He wanted to speak, but he wasn¡¯t sure what words he should say. He felt himself trembling. Could it really be true? That the most powerful leaders of the world wanted him dead? ¡°Fuck ¡®em,¡± a man with a long, bushy beard and dark, haunting eyes said. His face was scarred and disfigured, and several of his teeth were missing. He also seemed to be missing an eye. Yet despite his terrifying appearance, his equipment was even more intimidating. His shoulder pauldrons had actual blades spinning around like the propellers of a helicopter, and at each of his sides was a blade that Zach was pretty sure was dripping blood; only, instead of splashing down and staining the floor, the droplets appeared to evaporate just after reaching the wood. Had Zach not already felt himself so on edge from Mr. Oren¡¯s ¡°news,¡± he would¡¯ve been frightened of his man. Especially as he reached out and ruffled Zach¡¯s hair. ¡°You don¡¯t worry about those bastards, hear me boy?¡± he growled. ¡°They threaten us all the time.¡± ¡°Th-thank you?¡± Zach whispered in reply. ¡°Angelica!¡± he barked. ¡°A room tonight for all three of these lads. On me.¡± ¡°Wow, so generous!¡± Angelica chirped. Zach wondered why her name was so distinctly green as opposed to the greyish-black from other non-biological entities such as mobs. Was that to indicate friendliness? ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you, sir,¡± Lienne said to him. The man smiled, and though Zach was reasonably sure he intended the gesture to be friendly, it somehow made him look even more intimidating. ¡°Save your points for when you get to the bazaar. They¡¯re worth more than gold.¡± ¡°The what?¡± Zach asked him. But he was already gone. It seemed he too was part of a party, as three men and two women got up from a similarly round table and followed him to the metal door. As he opened it, Zach was struck with a blast of freezing-cold wind, and he stared in confusion as mounds of snow began to pile up near the exit, making its way into the tavern. ¡°Hey, Gil, hold up,¡± someone said. The intimidating man turned around and faced him. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°That the Frozen Lands?¡± ¡°Aye.¡± ¡°Sweet. Been waiting here for days to see if someone had an exit there. Mind if I come with?¡± He barked out a laugh. ¡°Not at all, son. Come along, then.¡± With that, they all vanished into a highly unpleasant-looking world of ice and snow. The door was shut soon after, and Angelica, looking genuinely annoyed, swore under her breath and rushed over to begin cleaning up the clump of snow that¡¯d built up nearby. ¡°She seems so real,¡± Zach whispered, wowed by how sincere and honest the display of emotions from Angelica appeared to be. ¡°Because she is,¡± Mr. Oren replied. Zach refocused his attention on the man who¡¯d literally once been his science teacher, but it was Rian who blurted out, ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean? NPCs aren¡¯t¡­you know, sentient. They¡¯re like mobs.¡± Mr. Oren grinned, but it was Kesten who answered him. ¡°That¡¯s not always true,¡± he said. ¡°Most aren¡¯t self-aware. But the innkeeper is special. No one knows why. Alex and I didn¡¯t used to believe it either, but over the years, we became sure of it. She¡¯s sentient all right. Cute, too.¡± Alixa rolled her eyes. ¡°Real or not, she¡¯s still not interested in you, Kest.¡± Kesten made a forced, angry-sounding laugh. Under his breath, Zach barely heard him whisper, ¡°You¡¯re such a bitch, Lixa.¡± To Zach, he said, ¡°Just make sure you¡¯re respectful and never mistreat her. I saw a guy grab her ass once. Alex was there. Her name turned red and she backhanded him in the face. His entire head came off. It was disgusting.¡± ¡°He had it coming,¡± Angelica said with a cheerful smile as she made her way back to the counter. She stopped, however, reached out her arm, and scratched Fluffles once under the chin. The cat purred. Then she continued on her way. The mental image generated in Zach¡¯s head was almost enough to make him forget Mr. Oren¡¯s disastrous news. But the moment Angelica returned to the bar counter, he once more felt acid rushing into his stomach at what he¡¯d been told. The fear must¡¯ve been plain on his face, because Mr. Oren frowned at him and then shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s what I hate to see,¡± he said, his voice coming across as saddened. ¡°That look of fear. You shouldn¡¯t have to live this way.¡± ¡°And whose fault is that?¡± Lienne snapped. She¡¯d been so quiet that Zach had forgotten she was sitting next to him. ¡°Do you really not see how this is mostly your fault?¡± Mr. Oren glared at her, and the look was intimidating if not outright threatening. ¡°I am working on a solution,¡± he said. ¡°You need to understand that these things happen sometimes.¡± ¡°What things?¡± Lienne fired back, clearly unafraid. Even Fluffles stirred as though uneasy. Why were all of them so frightened of Mr. Oren? Zach knew why he found the man to be scary on occasion, but why did everyone else? ¡°I spoke to Donovan just a few hours ago. We have a lot more leverage over the so-called ¡®guilds¡¯ than you¡¯d think. If they go after Zach, the entire NAC will respond in kind.¡± ¡°NAC?¡± Zach asked. ¡°It¡¯s the alliance,¡± Lienne said. ¡°The New Adventuring Coalition. Unlike the political guilds, who have several different alliances, every known adventuring guild belongs to the NAC.¡± Mr. Oren smiled in approval, reminding Zach that, despite all his other, wilder aspects, the man was still emphatically a teacher at heart. ¡°That¡¯s correct¡­Lienne, was it?¡± She crossed her arms and averted her gaze. Mr. Oren didn¡¯t seem to dwell on it or pay it much mind, because he immediately returned his attention to Zach. ¡°Look, here¡¯s what you need to understand. Right now? You¡¯re where you need to be.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± He extended both his arms and gestured at the tavern, which again caused many of the patrons to raise their mugs and cheer. ¡°By now, you must realize you¡¯re not on Galterra anymore.¡± Zach nodded uneasily. ¡°Yeah, I gather that, but¡­that raises way more questions than it answers.¡± ¡°As long as you¡¯re in a dungeon or a place like this, no one can get to you. Only those with the Will of the Favored buff can traverse the¡­oh, right. You don¡¯t know what either of those two words mean.¡± ¡°Actually, he does,¡± Lienne said angrily. ¡°We told him,¡± Rian agreed. Mr. Oren pressed his hands together and bowed his head. ¡°Thank you for filling him in.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you?¡± Lienne asked. She uncrossed her arms, placed her palms flat on the table, and leaned forward. It caused Fluffles to wake up and groggily jump back on top of the table. ¡°Why would you just leave him?¡± Mr. Oren shrugged. ¡°I made a mistake. Like I said, I needed to get Kalana away in case someone came back for her, and I didn¡¯t think anyone would care enough to retaliate against Zach.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not talking about that,¡± Lienne said. ¡°If you were too busy, then uh, that¡¯s one thing, but why didn¡¯t you send him to Rites of Initiation? Why didn¡¯t you give him a clue?¡± ¡°Because the GSG doesn¡¯t do that. It¡¯s that simple. We¡¯re not a starter guild. We¡¯re the kind of guild you join after you¡¯ve already proven yourself. But I still think Zach can make the cut. I just have a feeling about him. So I sent him on his way.¡± Lienne laughed, and it was a sound filled with mockery and disgust. ¡°Half of adventurers die before reaching level 10, and that¡¯s with guidance. You¡¯re telling me you just crossed your fingers and hoped for the best?¡± Mr. Oren¡¯s face tightened as if frustrated. ¡°I¡¯m not the guild leader. Donovan is. It¡¯s his way or the highway. We don¡¯t ¡®guide¡¯ people in the way other adventuring guilds do.¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re so ¡®elite¡¯?¡± Rian fired in. As the two ganged up on him, it was interesting to see how Maric, Alixa, and Kesten merely stayed out of it, showing no interest in defending Mr. Oren. Before long, all three began trying to talk over one another as the argument became more spirited and heated. Eventually, it turned from a two vs. one into a three vs. one as Fluffles decided to join the fray. ¡°Fluffles tell Alex he wrong!¡± the cat announced. ¡°He betray Alex. Fluffles first cat to say so and deserve all the credit and chicken. Everything Lienne say Fluffles say first.¡± She reached over the table and pet him. ¡°You can have all the credit you want, pretty kitty.¡± Fluffles purred. ¡°Alex is a bad human.¡± Zach, having heard enough of this, pushed his plate aside and rested his forehead in his palms. He was tired, weary, and he couldn¡¯t believe he was still having to rehash this argument again. Obviously, he agreed with Lienne and Rian, and he was grateful for them taking his side. But he already forgave Mr. Oren, because he just wanted to move on from this. Also, he doubted it mattered, anyway. ¡°I have to be honest with you, Mr. Oren,¡± he said. This caused Mr. Oren to look away from Lienne and Rian. Zach could see him peering down at him as he massaged his forehead while practically bent forward over the table. ¡°I don¡¯t think any of this matters, because I¡¯m probably not going to make the cut anyway.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zach sighed. ¡°My level-ups are garbage. Here, just see for yourself. This is with gear.¡± Zachys Calador: Level 5 (0/300xp) Armor Bonus: 8 6 strength Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. 4 dexterity 5 constitution 1 intelligence 3 speed 2 luck ¡°Zach,¡± he said, becoming alarmed, glancing around the tavern. ¡°Never do that in public. Not even in friendly places. Get rid of that.¡± Zach complied, and Mr. Oren breathed out a relieved-sounding sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone saw.¡± Once more focusing his attention on Zach, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t¡­I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re getting those kinds of levels. I usually have a pretty good sense of people. But even if that¡¯s the case¡ªeven if I¡¯m wrong¡ªfor you to have made it this far, you¡¯ll still have your pick at just about any starter guild you want. You don¡¯t have to join the GSG to see Kalana again. Just join any guild. Even if the GSG isn¡¯t right for¡ª¡± ¡°Alex know nothing!¡± Fluffles shouted, hissing. ¡°Fluffles, now isn¡¯t the time for¡ª¡± ¡°Zach stronger than Donovan.¡± At this, Mr. Oren¡¯s eyes widened in absolute, abject shock, as did Maric¡¯s and Kesten¡¯s. Alixa, who had been about to down another mug filled with beer, seemed to become suddenly clumsy, and she knocked her cup over, causing the liquid to pour over and along the table before leaking onto the floor. Angelica hurried over with a mop, complaining about how she was being overworked and how she would now deduct five points from Alixa. ¡°That¡¯s not funny,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Fluffles not make joke,¡± the cat insisted. ¡°Zach stronger than all GSG combine!¡± ¡°He¡¯s lying,¡± Kesten said. ¡°The cat¡¯s lying.¡± Fluffles hissed, and then he took such a vicious swipe at Kesten that Kesten actually had to get out of his seat and dash backwards. ¡°Fluffles not lie! Zach stronger than all GSG combine. I appraise.¡± Zach tried not to smirk. Fluffles apparently liked him so much that he was willing to try bullshitting his way into the GSG. In truth, Zach wasn¡¯t even sure he wanted to join anymore, and based on his past few level ups, he doubted he¡¯d be right for some kind of stupid ¡°elite¡± guild anyway. In fact, the only part of this conversation he even cared about¡ªother than, you know, the stuff about the entire ruling class wanting to kill him¡ªwas the part where Mr. Oren reconfirmed that, provided he reach level 10 and join a guild, he could see Kalana. ¡°I can¡¯t speak for any of the guilds,¡± Rian said, ¡°since I¡¯m not in one yet. But I bet Zephyr would take you, Zach. You could stay with me and Lienne.¡± ¡°That¡¯s beyond question,¡± Mr. Oren shot in immediately. ¡°The Explorers Brigade would run through fire to have someone like Zach among their ranks. Even still, I think¡­I still think there¡¯s a chance you could make it to the GSG. I won¡¯t lie to you. Those level ups are concerning. But at the same time, I¡¯ve never seen someone with two unique abilities before, let alone that second one.¡± He actually shuddered. ¡°At the end of the day, boss-fighting is about stats and power.¡± A flash of light erupted out of thin air, followed by a bolt of lightning as Fluffles hissed yet again. Zach had seen him angered before, but this was on a whole new level. The cat actually brought down a bolt of lightning, which crashed into Mr. Oren¡¯s mug just as he was about to drink from it, causing it to shatter and spill beer all over his lab coat. For some reason, as Angelica appeared immediately to clean up the mess, she seemed to hold her tongue and not scold the cat. ¡°Fluffles!¡± Mr. Oren shouted at him. ¡°Do I need to take away your chewy toys again?¡± ¡°Alex not listen to Fluffles.¡± The cat ran around in a circle as if agitated. ¡°Zach most powerful human. He better than Peter IV. I appraise.¡± ¡°We get it,¡± Kesten growled. ¡°You like your new friend and you want him to join the guild. But enough of the bullshit. Next time, if you want to lie, at least keep it believable. Say he¡¯s as strong as me, or maybe Alex. Don¡¯t say he¡¯s stronger than all of us combined.¡± ¡°I. Not. Lie! ¡± Fluffles hissed. ¡°If Zach start own guild, Fluffles join!¡± ¡°Start his¡­own?¡± Rian asked. Fluffles turned around to Rian and meowed. ¡°Stupid humans not listen to Fluffles. They feel stupid when they bow to him later.¡± With that, Fluffles hopped off the table and began making his way up the stairs, but not before stopping and calling back, ¡°Fluffles take nap in room.¡± No one spoke for a minute or two until, with a nervous, tension-breaking chuckle, Lienne said, ¡°Okay, so¡­¡± Zach tried not to squirm as Mr. Oren stared at him with an uncomfortable intensity in his gaze. His lips were moving slightly as though he were speaking to himself, but he made no sound, and Zach was no good at reading lips. Finally, as though coming out of some kind of trance, he shook his head, and a kind smile popped up on his face. ¡°As I was saying, Zach, you¡¯re doing great, and as long as you don¡¯t spend too much time in Galterra, you should be fine. In fact, I expect things to cool down in another few days at the maximum. But just to be safe, I¡¯ll try to keep nearby.¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°Well, I doubt I can spend much time ¡®in Galterra¡¯¡ªGods that sounds crazy to say¡ªeven if I wanted to.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Because I can¡¯t leave. We can¡¯t leave, I mean. Unless we get a boss key.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s your point of entry¡ªin Galterra, I mean?¡± ¡°Uh, in the farm lands in Whispery Woods. Not far from the border with Shadowfall C¡ª¡± ¡°Zach!¡± Mr. Oren exclaimed. ¡°Are you doing the Catacombs of Yorna?¡± "Wait, you know it?" ¡°Do I know it?¡± he asked with a laugh, giving Kesten a pat on the shoulder. ¡°Me and Kest ran that as our first dungeon way back when. No wonder you came from Earth. What¡¯d you think of it, by the way?¡± ¡°Think of what? The dungeon or Earth?¡± Mr. Oren lifted his shoulders. ¡°Both, I guess. But mostly Earth.¡± ¡°I just¡­it¡¯s difficult for me to accept that that¡¯s a¡­you know, a different planet.¡± At this, Lienne smirked and shot her brother the biggest ¡°I told you so¡± look that Zach had ever seen one person give to another. ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Rian said, downing his cola. Then, inspecting the empty mug, he raised his hand and said, ¡°Um, excuse me? Angelica?¡± The cute NPC came rushing over. ¡°Yes, Rian? Can I help you? You have 450 points.¡± The boy nodded. ¡°How much for a mug of what he¡±¡ªRian pointed at Kesten¡ª¡°is having?¡± Angelica smiled. ¡°Angelica¡¯s Special Ale cost 50 points and two years when you¡¯re old enough to drink it.¡± Rian recoiled as if wounded. ¡°So I¡¯m old enough to die in a dungeon but not old enough to drink beer?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± ¡°Makes sense,¡± he grumbled. ¡°Fine, how much for another cola?¡± ¡°Twenty points.¡± He grunted. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll take another.¡± ¡°Same,¡± Zach said. Lienne also raised her mug, signaling for a refill. As Angelica returned shortly thereafter and began to fill their mugs, Zach, having thought on Mr. Oren¡¯s question, at last decided to offer an answer, which in this case, took the form of another question. ¡°That guy before, uh¡­Reni Sarwin¡­was he telling the truth? Did humans come from that¡­that planet?¡± Mr. Oren nodded. ¡°A very, very long time ago. But yes.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s it all fucked up?¡± ¡°Zachys, your language¡­¡± Zach waved his hand in apology. ¡°Sorry, I meant why¡¯s it all messed up. Were we attacked?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°By who?¡± ¡°Ourselves.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Mr. Oren sighed. ¡°Long before humans thought of themselves as a distinct sentient species, we had a planet of our own, in which we were the only race. It turns out that, without a common enemy, we tend to destroy ourselves. But that¡¯s¡­that¡¯s a much darker conversation for a different time.¡± Zach didn¡¯t think Mr. Oren was going to enlighten him any further on the topic, and honestly, he wasn¡¯t sure he was ready to have something so ¡°dark¡± on his mind with every other problem he had to worry about. So rather than pester Mr. Oren for clarification, he instead half turned around in his chair and pointed to the metal door he¡¯d arrived in. ¡°When people open that door, is the exit different for everyone?¡± ¡°Everyone who didn¡¯t arrive from the same place, yes,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Your exit point is determined by your entry.¡± ¡°Ah. That makes sense.¡± Zach looked over to where several adventurers were hovering around the door and carefully observing those who entered and those who exited. ¡°Do some people come here specifically to wait for the door to open to where they need to go?¡± ¡°Very astute,¡± Alixa said, only first seeming to realize she had blood on the side of her face. She dabbed at it with a wet napkin as she spoke. ¡°It¡¯s actually really common.¡± ¡°So then, if we wanted to escape the Catacombs of Yorna without fighting the boss, we could just waltz out of here the next time that door opens.¡± ¡°Sure, you could,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°But do you really want to?¡± Zach laughed. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so.¡± He glanced first to his left, and then to his right, and he could tell his sentiments were shared by both Rian and Lienne. ¡°Even though we almost died, I can¡¯t help but feel like I¡¯m kind of enjoying this.¡± ¡°Of course you are,¡± Mr. Oren said with a grin. ¡°You didn¡¯t get the Will of the Favored by accident. At any rate¡­¡± He downed his beer and then yawned, stretching his arms. ¡°It¡¯s two hours to sunrise in Galterran time, and it sounds like you three got free rooms for the night. You should get some rest and then continue onward. But before you turn in, leave me the number of your new phone, Zach, and I¡¯ll give you mine. If you find yourself back in Galterra and anything happens, you call me, and I¡¯ll find a way to get to you. Okay? It really was good seeing you again. I¡¯ll work on your situation, but as long as you¡¯re here, you shouldn¡¯t have to worry about it.¡± As though it were contagious, Mr. Oren¡¯s yawn set off one of his own, and Zach, suddenly realizing how badly he needed rest, decided to call it a night. He knew his friends were equally¡ªif not more¡ªfatigued, and they too would likely want to catch some sleep after such a long, exhausting day. Briefly, he exchanged numbers with Mr. Oren, then got up from the table. ¡°I just have one last question,¡± he said. ¡°Sure. Go ahead.¡± He pointed at the wall across from him near where a giddy adventurer was singing his heart out while another five played various instruments, some of which he¡¯d never seen before. ¡°Oh. Of course,¡± Mr. Oren said with a chuckle. ¡°That¡¯s called an electric guitar. Humans invented it a long time ago.¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, no, I¡¯m not pointing at them. I¡¯m pointing at that window. It¡¯s pitch black. I was wondering what¡¯s outside of it.¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± ¡°Nothing as in¡­?¡± ¡°As in nothing. Angelica¡¯s inn and tavern floats in the void beyond the known universe. There¡¯s nothing out there. There never was anything, and there will never be anything.¡± Lienne moaned. ¡°Enough mind-fucks for one day. Please.¡± ¡°Language,¡± Mr. Oren said with a huff. ¡°Sorry, Alex.¡± ¡°Mr. Oren.¡± She tilted her head. ¡°Why? I¡¯m not your student.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re young enough to be.¡± With that, he and his companions began to walk away. ¡°Dick,¡± Lienne muttered under her breath. ¡°What an asshole. What a total, complete, self-important asshole.¡± Zach stifled a chuckle, not wanting to draw attention to himself. ¡°I guess we¡¯re calling it a night?¡± ¡°Yeah, whatever,¡± Rian said, sounding disappointed. ¡°I wanted to go drinking, but since that¡¯s not gonna happen, I guess passing out in a warm bed is good enough.¡± With that, the three of them approached the bar counter, whereupon Angelica handed each of them a separate key with a room number, and then they made their way up the stairs. Zach, only now becoming aware of his fatigue, almost collapsed at the top. It¡¯d been a long, long day. Chapter 31: Honor vs. Justice: the Ultimatum Chapter 31: Honor vs. Justice: the Ultimatum Sir Alistair Morrison, once hailed as the noble savior of the Dark-Water Depths, had until recently been known merely as the ¡°cousin of Peter IV,¡± the king who had brought humanity to its knees and engulfed all of North and South Bastia in death, war, and unrest. It was a dirty association, and it stained him like red wine on a white shirt. But even that was preferable to the moniker he had most recently been bestowed: coward. It sickened him. It filled him with misery. Even the association to his unfortunate familial connection with the late tyrant-king was preferable to being regarded as a man lacking in honor and bravery. It rankled him in ways little else could. To besmirch his reputation this way¡­he could dare not imagine a more insulting, devious attack on his character. And yet, however contrarily, it was all the predictable result of his own actions. For he had known this would happen, and he had chosen this path in spite of it. I had to do this, he thought to himself. What else could I have done? What other way was there? With his hands folded behind his back, he glanced out of the large, rectangular windows in his office atop the highest building in Shadowfall Coast. The city was still in economic recovery from the last war, yet in good times and bad, it never lost its charm. The sun having just risen, he watched as, off into the distance, large fishing boats headed out for the day, while workers all along the docks stood by with trucks ready to load up yields as other boats returned from late-night expeditions. This, as early-morning commuters began their trek to the centermost district, where the majority of the city¡¯s office complexes awaited them. Though most of buildings in Shadowfall Coast were not nearly as tall as those in Varda¡¯s Lair, Tomb of Fire, or even the Whispery Woods, the inherently less-dense nature of Shadowfall Coast made it so that a park filled with beautiful flowers or a large playground for the children was never more than a few miles away from any one point. For all the economic turmoil, the people of Shadowfall Coast took a unique sort of pride in their city and their culture. And it was this very same pride that caused Alistair the single-greatest moral dilemma he¡¯d ever faced in his life. ¡°Sir Morrison,¡± Major Baxtra said to him. He was an older man with short, buzz-cut hair and a sharp, pointed, and humorless face. At his side was a white-and-gold rapier designed more for ceremony and symbolism than combat. He wore a military coat adorned with various medals from his years of service. Alistair turned around and faced him, his armor clinking with each movement. Although highly uncomfortable, Alistair found that keeping it on most of the day helped to inspire confidence in those who served under him. Thus, his silver, laminar armor remained a permanent fixture of his appearance, covering him from head to toe. ¡°Yes, Major Baxtra? Do you have something to report?¡± ¡°Indeed I do.¡± He shifted as though uncomfortable. ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s what we expected. It¡¯s a missive from the Royal Roses.¡± With a sigh, Alistair waved him in, and following a slight bow, Major Baxtra approached his desk. He then handed Alistair an envelope containing the official seal of the Royal Roses: a blood-red rose with a bleeding thorn. Tearing it open, the words contained within were virtually identical to the email he¡¯d received only a half hour prior. Thus, tearing it into several pieces, he crumpled it and threw it into the trashcan to the right of his desk. ¡°Two weeks, huh? That¡¯s what they¡¯re giving us?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid so, sir. They say¡­¡± Major Baxtra¡¯s words cut off. ¡°You can speak freely to me.¡± ¡°I prefer not to repeat such vile words, sir.¡± Alistair forced a smile onto his lips, though it was not easy given the sting of his enemy¡¯s accusations. ¡°In truth, I already know exactly what they say. They say that I am a coward. That I have chosen to use my people as a human shield. That I have violated the ¡®Sanctity of Human Life Accords¡¯ and that I am going to be directly responsible for plunging North Bastia into the so-called return of conventional warfare. Correct?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s¡­that¡¯s the gist of it, sir.¡± ¡°And what do you think?¡± ¡°S-sir?¡± Major Baxtra seemed caught off guard, and he stirred as though uncomfortable. ¡°I want to know your honest thoughts on the matter. You will not offend me. I ask only for your sincerely held view.¡± His lips pursed for a moment, Major Baxtra eventually nodded and said, ¡°I don¡¯t believe you¡¯re a coward, sir. Your decision is not the one I would have made, but I understand why you¡¯ve made it.¡± ¡°Truly?¡± ¡°Yes. I wouldn¡¯t lie to you¡­sir.¡± The Royal Roses had been really stepping up their public attacks on his character these days. They accused him of sheltering multiple battalions inside of the city and refusing to meet them in open-field combat. They accused him of gathering the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s highest-leveled defenders and likewise barricading them inside the city. And thusly, they concluded, that he, Sir Alistair Morrison, had done these things due to his cowardice¡ªdue to his inability to meet a noble death on the field of battle or surrender himself with dignity. Sadly, all but the last of these accusations were correct. He had gathered together the bulk of his guild¡¯s strength, and he had placed them inside the city in outright violation of the accords. He indeed refused to meet the Royal Roses on the field of battle for a fight he would most certainly lose. Yet it was not due to some lack of bravery or the certainty of death. It was not because he or his guild were desperate to cling to power. No, it was for one reason and one reason alone: the people of the city. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Even despite the hardships that the Guild of Gentlemen had bestowed upon them, the people of Shadowfall Coast, much like the Tomb of Fire, were uniquely loyal to the Guild of Gentlemen in a way that was unprecedented in the history of Galterran guilds. Unlike the Plains of Mist¡ªwhich would likely fall to the People of Virtue any day now¡ªor even the Whispery Woods, those who lived Shadowfall Coast or the Tomb of Fire would never, under any circumstance, submit to any rule other than the Guild of Gentlemen. If not for this one fact, Alistair would have already made his way onto the field of battle and died a warrior¡¯s death. He was not afraid. He would gladly do it; in fact, he craved the opportunity. But in so doing, he would condemn the people of this city to their end. They were too stubborn. They would resist, and they, a bunch of Ones, would be crushed. Their weapons would be useless against their leveled foes. They would be stomped on like insects while their bullets bounced off the chests of their targets. How could he abandon these people to such a fate? Though obstinate, they were loyal and prideful. And if the cost of protecting them was to be labeled a coward and a progenitor of the return to conventional warfare, then so be it. Deep below the city were stores from centuries ago, where anti-missile defense systems and surface-to-air batteries still existed in functional form. If the Royal Roses truly intended to besiege the city, then he would be ready for them. Two weeks, huh? That was how long they¡¯d been given: their ultimatum. Just two weeks. If they did not surrender or march to battle in a mutually agreed upon field within that time frame, the Royal Roses claimed they would begin a siege of the city, in which potentially hundreds of thousands of lives could perish. But more than that will die if we leave. At the root of it all was the influence of Peter IV. So wildly detested around the world, he was still beloved in the Tomb of Fire and Shadowfall Coast. Here, the people believed in his message; they agreed with him that human beings were superior and should be treated as such. They despised the Dwarves, whose superior gadgetry had put so many of their own factories out of work. In all of Galterra, only those from the former capital city¡ªthe Tomb of Fire¡ªand the citizens of Shadowfall Coast still cherished his memory. They will never surrender. They will die. Especially to a guild like Royal Roses. Despite being a cutthroat guild that occasionally behaved more like a criminal enterprise than a ruling body, the Royal Roses had a bizarrely sympathetic stance towards non-human races. They frequently welcomed, Orcs, Dwarves, Goblins, and even those contemptible Lizard Folk with open arms. Anyone who they found to be useful they embraced wholeheartedly. If surrendering to the Royal Roses meant non-humans would be allowed to freely enter Shadowfall Coast, then just about every man and woman in this city would sooner die than acquiesce. Even knowing it meant certain death, they would pick up their rifles and fire on their new leaders, and it would end in a bloodbath unlike anything seen in half a century. ¡°How long until our reinforcements from the Plains of Mist arrive?¡± he asked. Major Baxtra curled the bottom-right portion of his lip and made something of a half-grunt, half-groan. ¡°Not for another three weeks, sir.¡± Since the writing was on the wall in the Plains of Mist, Alistair had ordered a slow, covert withdrawal of some of the higher-level forces stationed there. His plan was to have them proceed primarily on foot in plain clothing and then break up into much smaller groups, which would then separately navigate their way to Shadowfall Coast. It would take time: more time than they had. Unless something changed soon, they would be in for a losing battle. Even still, it was one that must be fought: conventionally or otherwise. **** With a yawn, Zach approached Angelica and gently placed his key down on the bar counter. Despite having slept until noon Galterran time, he was still so exhausted and weary. He was also the last to wake, as both Lienne and Rian were apparently seated at the same round table as last night, and both were waiting for him. From the raucous sounds of singing, dancing, and cheering, one would never guess that it was only noon local time. It seemed this place really was the same at all hours of the day or night. It was just as crowded as it¡¯d been the night prior, too; Zach did not recognize a single face in the crowd of merry adventurers. ¡°I¡¯m guessing Mr. Oren and the others left already,¡± he said aloud, speaking to himself. Nevertheless, Angelica answered him. ¡°Yep!¡± she said cheerfully. Oddly, her clip-on cat ears actually wiggled, which made Zach question if they were actually clip-on at all. Upon closer inspection, he was now leaning towards them being a genuine bodily feature. Angelica raised her finger, her expression beaming with happiness. ¡°Fluffles left me a message for you, Zach.¡± ¡°He did?¡± ¡°Mhm, mhm! He said he loves you, he¡¯s still your cat, but he hasn¡¯t seen his ¡®daddy¡¯ in a while so he wanted to join him for some leveling in a dungeon. He said that as soon as he¡¯s done, he¡¯ll come find you, and that he¡¯s not abandoning you. He also said that he really loves chicken and tuna, and that if you miss him, you can show it by having some for him when he returns.¡± Zach smiled. ¡°I¡¯m just happy he¡¯s doing something he enjoys.¡± In a way, Zach was glad the cat was off leveling, as he hated to think that hanging around Zach had impeded Fluffles¡¯ progress. Sure, he might¡¯ve been just a cat, but he was a still an adventurer like the rest of them, and he probably didn¡¯t want to remain stuck at level 47 forever. Taking a seat next to his two friends, he asked, ¡°Should we get some breakfast or just go?¡± Only Rian turned his head to look at him; Lienne was busy scribbling something down with one of multiple colored pencils on a blank sheet of white construction paper. He wasn¡¯t sure where she¡¯d gotten the paper or the supplies. But he did recall that she loved art, so he wasn¡¯t surprised to see her doodling an honestly shockingly realistic sketch of the tavern¡¯s stage, where an almost perfect, uncanny recreation of the five men currently singing together filled the sheet of paper. ¡°I think we should save our points,¡± Rian said. ¡°I¡¯m down to 410, and we ate a lot last night.¡± He slapped his belly. ¡°I could also stand to lose a few pounds.¡± Zach grinned. ¡°Hey, you said it, not me.¡± Then, with a quick gesture at Lienne, he asked, ¡°Where¡¯d she get the art supplies?¡± ¡°Angelica gave them to her. Said she loves art and would be honored to hang a sketch of her tavern on the wall. The more I see her, dude, the more I¡¯m convinced she¡¯s really sentient.¡± ¡°She certainly seems it.¡± Zach stretched his arms and yawned, then rubbed his eyes. As fatigued as he was in the moment, he knew that as soon as he walked out of the door and made his way to B3, he would become wide awake whether he wanted to or not. Even still, he could really use something to help him shake off the morning grogginess. ¡°How much do you think they charge for coffee in here?¡± ¡°Five points!¡± Angelica called out, somehow overhearing them from the counter. Zach smiled at her. ¡°Can we have three cups please? All on me.¡± ¡°Three cups of the best coffee you¡¯ve ever had, coming right up!¡± As Lienne finished her illustration and Rian and him made small talk, Zach braced himself for whatever was about to come next. He was grateful for this reprieve, but he also knew not to take it for granted; there was no telling how far or how much they¡¯d have to endure before they found a way back. It was time to continue their journey to the boss, and with that, Zach hardened his resolve. Chapter 32: Field of Death Chapter 32: Field of Death As the metal door shut on its own behind him, Zach knew there was no going back. All at once, the lovely smells of the tavern, the jubilant sound of cheering and singing, and the warm glow of comforting light¡ªall of it simply evaporated, and now there was nothing but a silence so intense that he could hear a sound of ringing in his ears. ¡°At least it didn¡¯t fall on us this time,¡± Rian said with a snicker. Though he spoke in a soft, conversational tone, his voice managed to echo due the absolute quiet. ¡°What happens if we try opening it?¡± With a shrug, Zach turned around and pushed open the door. Then he couldn¡¯t help but laugh aloud, as there was nothing behind it but a steel wall. ¡°I guess nothing happens.¡± As the three of them began to descend the stairs, Zach didn¡¯t have to be a mind reader to know that they were all worried they¡¯d be subjected to another seemingly endless, multi-hour journey down a dangerous flight of ¡°steps¡± that would only become more perilous the farther they ventured. Thankfully, however, it took less than a minute to reach the bottom, at which point they were greeted by yet another metal push door labeled B3, which Rian approached as if intent on opening. ¡°Wait, before we go through,¡± Zach said, reaching into the pocket of his red-and-brown, mob-dropped pants, ¡°mind if I check something really quickly?¡± Lienne came to a stop by his side, and Rian, who had his palm laid flat on the push bar, paused a moment then nodded. ¡°Sure, what is it?¡± Removing his cell phone, Zach swiped the screen, then held it up in the air above him before showing it to his two friends. ¡°I have service,¡± he said. ¡°I mean, barely any, not even a full bar, but that¡¯s not what matters. What matters is that I have service at all.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Lienne asked him. Zach half turned around and then extended his arm in the direction of the stairs. ¡°Right now, we¡¯re back on Galterra¡ªwe¡¯re just really, really far below the ground. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see if I could piece together events so far, and I think I have.¡± Lienne made a slight humming sound as if considering something. ¡°Piece¡­together events?¡± she asked. Zach returned his phone to his pocket. ¡°When we first came into the dungeon and made our way through the first floor¡ªall of that was on Galterra. After that, when we took that strange stairway down to B2¡ªthat was also Galterra. But then when we walked through the door, we somehow walked onto another planet, as insane as that is to say. Then we went from there to¡ªand I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m saying these words¡ªbut we went from there to beyond the edge of the universe, and now we¡¯re back in Galterra. So it seems this dungeon loops in, out, and around various places in the world.¡± ¡°And beyond here?¡± Rian asked, lifting his chin at the dark blue metal door labeled B3. Zach shrugged. ¡°No idea. But based on what we now know about dungeons, it could be literally anywhere.¡± He tapped on the steel wall to the left of the door. ¡°It could be somewhere on the other side of this wall, or it could be a place so far away that the light from it hasn¡¯t even reached our planet yet. We just don¡¯t know.¡± Lienne grinned, playfully pushed Zach aside, and then peeled her brother away from the door. Now, it was her palm that was laid flat on the push bar. ¡°I think it¡¯s my turn to find out,¡± she said. With that, she shoved open the door, and immediately, a gust of dry, frigid air enveloped Zach like a blanket and made him shiver. ¡°First instinct? Not Galterra,¡± she said, sauntering through. Rian was quick to follow behind her, and Zach equally as quick to follow him. Together, the three of them stepped out into what looked like a massive, wide-open field with a dirt path cutting directly through the middle of it. To both the left and right of the path were very short stalks of green grass with pumpkins growing out of the soil just about everywhere for as far as the eye could see; only, far removed from the typical orange color that Zach was used to, each and every one of these pumpkins were a vivid purple, which was unlike anything Zach had ever before encountered. Despite being slightly past noon in Galterra¡ªor at least in North Bastia¡ªit had to be well into the night wherever they currently were. Zach didn¡¯t even bother to check his phone for service to see if they were still on their home planet, as there was no need; simply glancing up at the unfamiliar constellations in the sky was enough of a clue on its own. That, along with the presence of two greyish-looking full moons confirmed this was a place that was far from home. It''s almost too hard to believe. Zach was once again blown away by the idea that he was now on a world that was not Galterra¡ªa world with its own unique geography, climate, and physical features. It was a place that had existed likely for millions of years, and here he was now, walking on it. It gave him an appreciation of just how large the world was compared to him or even just compared to Galterra. Mr. Oren once walked this same path as us, he realized. He and Kesten stepped on this very same dirt. Did they feel the same way too? Stuck in the ground on a small metal pole in front of him was an old, dusty sign that read: Follow the path 4.5 miles for B3->B4. Reach the exit in 59:54 for a 450xp bonus. Reading it over, Zach immediately looked at Rian, who looked at Lienne, who looked back at Zach, and then all of them nodded in unison. ¡°We should go as fast as possible,¡± Zach said. ¡°That¡¯s a shit-ton of experience points.¡± ¡°Not too fast, though,¡± Rian said. ¡°We have no idea what we might aggro out here.¡± ¡°Good point.¡± With that, they took off at a brisk pace as the sound of a door slamming shut echoed behind them. Out of curiosity, Zach glanced over his shoulder to see that what was once a metal door was now a wooden one, and it belonged to a two-story cabin that almost looked made out of straw. Without a doubt, if he opened it, he¡¯d find nothing inside but a dark, creepy old home that was very likely empty. It¡¯d be even worse if it wasn¡¯t, he thought, stifling a chuckle. As they continued to walk, Lienne folded her arms across her chest and shivered. ¡°It¡¯s f-freezing here,¡± she said, her teeth chattering. Zach, having already begun to shiver himself, found himself in full agreement. The air here was very dry and cold. Seasonally, it felt like the end of fall if not quite the start of winter. Back home, summer was only first beginning, and even in the middle of the night, it was hot and humid¡ªespecially during their current heat wave. Thus, none of them were appropriately dressed for this kind of temperature. As they made their ways along the dirt path, the only sound other than their feet as it stomped down on the ground was the whine of a breeze and the rustling of grass as a periodic gust made Zach cross his arms, trying to stop the wind from sapping the heat out of his body. He couldn¡¯t wait to be somewhere warmer. And also somewhere a bit less ominous, too. Aside from the pumpkins, there was nothing to see for what looked like miles in either direction to both his left and right with the exception of the occasional, terrifying-looking scarecrow. Every so often, they would spot one of them in the distance, and it added a sense of dread to each of their steps. Their eyes and mouths were blackened and looked like they had been burned on as opposed to drawn, and rather than straw fingers, the scarecrows seemed to have five- or six-feet claws that looked genuinely sharp. They wore overalls and jeans, typical farmwear, but the fabric was torn in places, revealing what almost looked like blood-stained straw beneath. ¡°It¡¯s so creepy here,¡± Lienne said, her head darting every which way as if searching for any sign of danger. Though it was quite dark, it was bizarrely better lit than Zach would¡¯ve expected, and he supposed it was due to the light reflecting off both of the large moons in the sky. It basically made it slightly more than twice as bright as he would normally expect if this had been a dark, unlit field somewhere in North Bastia. The terrain was not entirely flat, and there were frequently hills; this, combined with the dark of night, made it difficult to gauge how much farther they had left to travel. Yet at their current pace, he estimated they¡¯d journey the full four-and-a-half miles in just over a half hour with plenty of time to spare¡ªwell, provided Rian could keep up. ¡°Gods,¡± he said with a huff. ¡°I need to¡­I need to lose weight and work on my cardio.¡± ¡°You¡¯re doing fine,¡± Zach said to him. He meant it, too. Sure, Rian was a bit stout, but his ability to keep pace while carrying such a heavy shield and axe while also lugging around his own natural body weight meant that he must have really been pushing himself for the sake of Zach and Lienne. It was impossible not to respect that level of effort. Rian was clearly the antithesis of laziness. Zach actually found it inspiring. For the next ten minutes, the three of them traveled mostly in silence along the dark, more-or-less straight path through what Zach now thought of as some kind of otherworldly pumpkin patch. Each time he spotted one of the scarecrows well off into the distance on either his left or right side, he averted his gaze, and he noticed that Rian and Lienne did the same. They were unpleasant to look at, and they made him nervous, which in turn made him facetious. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°This seems like a really great place to raise a family,¡± he quipped, breaking the silence. Barking out a laugh, Rian said, ¡°Sure, just build a nice little cabin right here next to the purple pumpkins. Prime real-estate.¡± Lienne shivered. ¡°I don¡¯t even want to be out here for another five minutes, let alone imagine living here. Those scarecrows are seriously freaking me out.¡± ¡°Just don¡¯t look at them, Li,¡± her brother said. ¡°Believe me, I¡¯m trying not to.¡± Zach shuddered as another icy breeze swept over him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, guys,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯re making great time. We¡¯re probably more than halfway to the exit, and it¡¯s only been about twenty-five minutes. You¡¯re both doing awesome. And¡­and in all honesty, I don¡¯t like these damn scarecrows either.¡± Unfortunately, simply ¡°not looking¡± at them became somewhat more difficult as, the farther along they traveled, the more numerous the scarecrows became. Eventually, they came across one of the hideous things directly in their path ahead; it stood in the middle of the dirt road, which made it impossible to completely avoid glimpsing its deliberately unsettling figure. The scarecrow was actually so intimidating that, for a short moment, all three of them came to a halt as if not wanting to go near it. ¡°Should we just walk around it?¡± Lienne asked. ¡°Why waste time? They¡¯re everywhere,¡± Rian said. ¡°Hey, I¡¯ll go first.¡± With a disgusted look on his face, he crept forward and towards the disgusting creation of straw and cloth. Zach watched as he kept to the left side of the somewhat narrow dirt path as if to avoid coming close enough to brush against it. ¡°It really is disgusting,¡± he muttered to himself. Much like the other scarecrows, the portions of its cloth that were ripped revealed reddish-colored straw as opposed to the pale yellow that decorated its face. With a nervous sounding laugh, Rian continued to approach the scarecrow¡ªand then something happened. And it happened with such rapidity that Zach¡¯s eyes barely had time to register it. The moment Rian moved to within ten feet of the creature, a bright, green flame burst into existence over its eyes and mouth; where previously its lips had been nothing more than a straight, blackened line, they now took form, becoming distorted and deforming into the shape of a scowl. Then the creature screamed¡ªand it was a loud, terrifying shriek like that of a man who¡¯d been set on fire. In the same exact instant, words popped into existence in the air above the scarecrow¡¯s face, and it was this that caused Rian to holler in panic, raise his shield, and jump backwards. [??/??] Aggrieved Scarecrow Level 10 ¡°Shit!¡± Zach swore. ¡°We should¡¯ve known something like this would happen. We should¡¯ve known!¡± ¡°Level 10!¡± Rian yelled, backing away as the thing moved towards him. ¡°I¡­I¡­I¡¯ve taunted it. Light it up, Li!¡± The creature raised its claws, which were so long that, if held vertically, they were taller than the height of the average person. ¡°Ssssrraaaaaash!¡± it yelled. ¡°Ssssrraaaaaash!¡± The world around Zach briefly glowed blue amidst the creature¡¯s green fiery face as a missile-shaped flame struck it dead center between its eyes, dealing 31 damage but not causing it to miss a step or even slow in its advance towards Rian. Extending its arms and by extension its massive claws forward, it exploded into an unexpected run, heading straight for him. Then, with a speed that defied logic, it spun around in a full, three-sixty-degree arc, and Rian barely managed to catch its claws on his shield, one hitting instantly after the next. The impact was enough to cause him to drop down to his knees. Yet the creature was upon him again before he could even rise to his feet, spinning a second time and causing another thud-thud as it struck his shield back-to-back. This time, the second hit caused the shield to fly right out of his hands and sail across the air until it landed a second later on the dirt near Zach¡¯s right foot. He¡¯s defenseless! Zach thought, horrified. The creature raised its claws, ready to strike a third time. Somehow, Zach knew¡ªhe just knew that if the creature managed to land that one-two on Rian, Lienne¡¯s heals would be of no use. It would slice his entire head off. It would kill him in a single strike. With zero time to plan, zero time to think, and zero time to spare, Zach prayed his recent stamina growth, his previous night¡¯s rest, and his hearty meal with Mr. Oren were enough to see him through what he had been warned to avoid doing. Thus, powering through the fear in his heart, he attacked in a desperate attempt to save the life of his friend. ¡°Wave Slash!¡± he screamed, the words coming out on their own as his body made movements beyond his control. Lifting his blade high above his head, he slashed downwards diagonally, creating a streak of green, semi-transparent energy that quickly coalesced into a fast-spinning, double-bladed metallic disc that made such a tremendous, high-pitched shriek as it soared through the air that it drowned out even the sound of the scarecrow¡¯s cries. A moment before the creature began its spinning attack and finished Rian off with its sizeable claws, the disc slammed into the scarecrow¡¯s waist¡ªand eviscerated it, causing the creature to almost bend forward as its top half became completely severed from its bottom half. It made a barely audible thud as both pieces hit the ground before evaporating into a puff of smoke. Then came gasps from both Rian and Lienne as they pointed into the air above its head. 516 ¡°How the hell did he do that?¡± Rian shouted. ¡°Did that say¡­five-hundred sixteen? Did Zach seriously just hit for five-fucking-hundred and sixteen?¡± ¡°Gods above,¡± Lienne whispered. ¡°What level are you again, Zach? Better yet, who are you?¡± Zach tried to reply, but a wave of exhaustion crashed into him¡ªone so powerful that it took all of his energy just to remain on his feet. He wobbled, he nearly fell, and his eyes became blurry. It was for this reason he thought he must be mistaken as he saw the number they were referring to. But they¡¯d said it out loud. Had he both misheard them and been mistaken by what he¡¯d seen? He must¡¯ve been. After all, how could he possibly have hit for so much? Especially with his stats? Soon after the number faded, another took its place. +100xp For the second time, Zach tried to form words, but as if fighting a losing battle, his blade slipped out of his fingers, and he dropped to one knee. He tried again to stand, but it had the result of him stumbling backwards, off the road, and into the pumpkin patch. A mere instant before regaining his balance, he tripped over two of the purple pumpkins, landing with a painful thud on his back. This, for some Gods-knew-what reason made the two pumpkins growl at him Wait¡­they growled at him? But since when could a pumpkin¡ª? ¡°G-guys!¡± he screamed, as both of the wrongly colored pumpkins came to life before his eyes. ¡°Guys!¡± Throwing himself up into a sitting position, he backed away on his ass as the two pumpkins he¡¯d just bumped into sprouted a pair of arms and legs, and also a mouth. Though eyeless, they bared sharp, square, and somewhat human-looking teeth at him. Then, with another growl, the nearest pumpkin jumped into the air towards his head. Zach rolled over onto his stomach a moment before it bit his face. Then he rolled over again as the second also leapt at him. Now, above their names, he saw words that had not been there only a moment before. [??/??] Audacious Pumpkin Level 4 ¡°Zach! Come back to the path!¡± Rian yelled. ¡°Don¡¯t aggro any more of them!¡± Scrambling back to his feet, he ignored his exhaustion and ran towards his friends. But as he was disoriented, he again stumbled. Even as Lienne ran straight for him as though to help him steady himself, he tripped over a third pumpkin, and then fourth pumpkin after that. Had Lienne not caught him, he would have face-planted a second time. As things were, he nearly caused the both of them to fall over. Thankfully, he managed to regain his footing and stop her from toppling over. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said, gasping for air. Now, there were four of the creatures, and all were growling and snarling at him. As soon as he and Lienne made their way back to the path, yet another jumped into the air, propelled itself forward, and made as if to latch onto his face. But this time, however, Rian, having recovered his shield, stepped in front of him and blocked. The creature made a loud clack as it bounced backwards and off the shield. ¡°Everyone stay on the dirt path no matter what,¡± Rian said. ¡°We have to deal with these four before we go any farther.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± Zach said, panting, still trying to catch his breath. ¡°Sorry?¡± Rian asked, repeating the word as though it were absurd. ¡°You just saved my Gods-damned life. Just take it easy for a second. I think Li and I can handle these.¡± With that, Zach tried to regain some of his stamina as he watched the two of them leap into action. He should¡¯ve known things wouldn¡¯t go so easy. Even still, he hadn¡¯t expected this. With his heart pounding in his chest, he fought to get his breathing under control, and then, slowly retrieving his blade off the dirt path where he¡¯d dropped it, he waited for his moment to strike. Chapter 33: A Hidden Opportunity Chapter 33: A Hidden Opportunity By this point, Zach had seen enough mobs die to know that, when killed, they vanished into nothingness. For this reason, he didn¡¯t stress much as he sliced a leaping pumpkin into two pieces, causing a spray of viscous, nasty-smelling juice to stain the front of hit tunic while a small quantity splashed across his cheek. After all, he figured it would only be a matter of seconds before the purple creature disappeared¡ªand it in fact did. Yet for some reason, the stench of its innards as well as the slimy goop left in its wake did not seem to go with it, and after another few seconds, Zach realized that this particular ¡°parting gift¡± would remain with him. +5xp Wrinkling his nose, he looked for something to wipe it off and, finding nothing, used the back of his hand. It was disgusting to the touch. Lienne backed away from him as though fearful of getting any on her own clothing. It appeared she was perfectly fine with bloodstains and sweat, but purple pumpkin blood? No, that was a bridge too far. ¡°That¡¯s three of them,¡± Rian said, lowering his shield and axe while Lienne dealt with the fourth. ¡°Zach, how¡¯re you holding up?¡± Zach held out a hand to indicate that he was fine. ¡°I¡¯m doing okay.¡± In truth, he was slowly feeling better with each passing second. He was still a bit unsteady, but his breathing had come back under control and his heart rate had settled down somewhat. Even still, seeing how easily Rian and Lienne had handled the other three pumpkins, he¡¯d been content to let them have at it while he took another moment to recover. Individually¡ªor even in small groups¡ªthese so-called ¡°Audacious Pumpkins¡± weren¡¯t much of a threat. Though their teeth certainly looked sharp enough to do real damage, their movements were very easy to predict. In fact, the creatures posed such little danger that Lienne wasn¡¯t even wasting her stamina on them; rather than use Flamestrike, she seemed content to thwack them with the end of her staff. It was the first time Zach had ever seen her use the thing as a melee weapon. Though she only hit for around 10 damage, it was still a significant amount given their low HP. This, Zach observed as he watched Lienne put down the final pumpkin still moving. [10/30] Audacious Pumpkin C Level 4 Clobbering it upside the head for another 10, the pumpkin fell to the ground and disappeared. Only, unlike the other three, there was something shiny left behind in its wake. Zach¡¯s eyes widened like a child picking out candy. It was a drop! And it was for him, apparently. Also, strangely, it shined a very light greenish color as opposed to white. Was that just a trick of the moonlight? Or was this somehow different from other things he¡¯d gotten as drops? ¡°What¡¯s it mean that it¡¯s shining green and not white?¡± ¡°It is?¡± Lienne asked. ¡°Seriously?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°I think it has something to do with rarity. Heh. Figures,¡± she said with a laugh. ¡°I do all the work, and you get the loot.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m the one who took down the scarecrow.¡± It bothered Zach how his mention of the mob caused the cheer to drain from her face, replaced now with something more akin to skepticism or uncertainty. ¡°Now that you bring that up. How did¡­how did you do that?¡± Zach sighed. ¡°I told you already. I used Wave Slash.¡± ¡°We get that,¡± Rian said. ¡°But how did you put out that kind of damage?¡± ¡°Look, I just did.¡± He shrugged, not even bothering to hide his frustration. ¡°I don¡¯t know what else to say but that. Anyway, let me see what dropped.¡± Even as Zach bent down to pick the small, cube-shaped object up off the floor, he tried his best to tune out their annoying, pestering questions, which they continued to throw his way. They couldn¡¯t seem to stop asking him about how he¡¯d done 516 damage to the Aggrieved Scarecrow mob. Did they not realize that he knew even less than they did? If anything, they should be explaining to him how he was able to defeat the creature in a single strike. Why would I know anything they don¡¯t? They¡¯re the ones who got to go to some kind of fancy Initiation seminar. Wrapping his hands around his drop, he lifted it up and squinted his eyes to inspect whatever this tiny little thing was. Overall it was the size of a piece of candy, perfectly cubed shaped, and it was wrapped in what looked like aluminum foil. Despite being small enough to fit in the dead center of his palm, the thing was eerily heavy. It felt like it weighed at least ten pounds, which was bizarre when contrasted with its miniscule physical size. Zach guessed it was something edible, but just to be safe, he decided to inspect it first¡ªand boy was he glad that he did. As he read the item¡¯s description, he actually felt his stomach rumble nervously as he wondered what might¡¯ve happened if he¡¯d chucked the thing in his mouth. (UNCOMMON) Heartening Campfire: picked up by Zachys Calador Throw hard at the ground to create a medium-sized campfire that burns for three hours and twenty-five minutes. Also includes a picnic table, cutlery, dishes, and a choice of dinner for each member of your party (max 8). Choices include 8oz. sirloin steak, Angelica¡¯s Special Salmon, or roasted chicken. Sides include vegetables, fries, and choice of pudding or brownie. One 32oz bottle of water included for each party member. (1 use) The campfire, dishes, furniture, and all uneaten food de-spawns at the end of the duration. Can only be used on floor B3 in the Catacombs of Yorna. Zach rubbed his chin as he read the description several times. It wasn¡¯t that the words were, on their own, difficult to comprehend, but rather it was confusing in that this item seemingly contradicted their goal of making it through the exit in under the given time limit. Why would such an item drop here? Would that not render it completely useless? It seemed he wasn¡¯t the only one who was wondering that very same thing, as Lienne tsked as she stood beside him and read along. ¡°Not the best drop in the world,¡± she said. ¡°Oh well.¡± ¡°Yeah. Especially since I don¡¯t think any of us plan to come back to this spooky place.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Zach said. ¡°Something about all this bothers me.¡± Rian, who had only just sheathed his axe and shield, asked, ¡°How so?¡± Zach pointed at the words, which he had not yet dismissed. ¡°This feels too intentional. It feels too deliberate.¡± ¡°What do you mean? And do we really have time to be standing around making idle chat? We¡¯re going to miss our chance to get that sweet 450xp bonus.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°Do we really want that?¡± Rian blinked, then jolted his head forward as if mishearing him. ¡°Uh, of course, dude. What kind of question is that? And can we please walk while we talk?¡± Zach nodded. He dismissed his inventory screen, Lienne reapplied her armor buff to the three of them, and then once more, they resumed their trek through this dark, cold, breezy, and hellish landscape. Unlike before, the words above the scarecrows were no longer hidden. It was as though merely having encountered them was enough to ¡°uncover¡± the truth: that they were mobs and not harmless ornaments. Everywhere Zach looked, far out on both sides of the field beyond thousands of purple pumpkins, he saw: [400/400] Aggrieved Scarecrow Level 10 Oddly, the pumpkins themselves did not have their names visible, yet Zach was fairly sure each and every one of them would spring to life if touched or approached too closely. It was strange, though: why were there so many scarecrows safely out of harm¡¯s way? In fact, most of the ones in this place looked like they were not only unlikely to aggro, but would actually require a tremendous intentional effort to provoke. It was as though the scarecrows were being protected from the three of them as opposed to the other way around. Holy shit, Zach thought. What if that¡¯s on purpose? He came to a halt behind Rian and Lienne as, several-dozen feet in the distance, another of the Aggrieved Scarecrows stood directly in the middle of the dirt path, and at this, Zach could visible see Lienne and Rian go white in the face. ¡°Son of a bitch,¡± Rian growled. ¡°Another one of these things.¡± Lienne shuddered. ¡°Maybe if we cut our way through some of the pumpkins we can go around it. It only has an aggro range of about ten feet.¡± Rian swore. ¡°That¡¯s still about fifty pumpkins. They¡¯re everywhere. And Gods, it has 400HP.¡± Strangely, Zach wasn¡¯t afraid. Even though he doubted he could pull off another wave slash, something in the back of his mind was bothering him. Ever since getting that damn campfire item, he felt like there was something missing here: some bigger picture. This was almost exactly how he¡¯d felt the day he¡¯d discovered this dungeon. There was more to this than he realized. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Guys,¡± he said, causing them to both turn their heads his way, ¡°you two said you know what Frog Snax are, right?¡± Both of them nodded. ¡°We had some back at the Rites of Initiation,¡± Rian said. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Did you guys ever read the back of the box?¡± ¡°Uh, well, yeah¡­but why do you ask? What¡¯s that got to do with anything?¡± Zach crossed his arms, both to shield himself from a sudden gust of cold air as well as because it comforted him while he thought on things. ¡°What¡¯s a ¡®Great One¡¯?¡± he asked. ¡°I remember reading something about them.¡± ¡°Zach, this really isn¡¯t the time to be¡ª¡± ¡°Trust me,¡± he interjected. ¡°It¡¯s relevant, Rian. I promise you.¡± Rian exhaled loudly, the sound coming off as frustrated and irritated. ¡°I don¡¯t really know much. No one really does. When we asked, the only thing we were told is that the Great Ones forged our world and everything in it: they are the Gods who created the spawn points and all that we see around us.¡± Zach nodded as a grin formed on his lips. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I wanted to hear.¡± Clearly perplexed, Rian asked, ¡°Why?¡± In response, Zach glanced around at the pumpkins and scarecrows around him. ¡°Because it means all of this is deliberate. It¡¯s not some random thing that came to be due to evolution or whatever. This is all here on purpose.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that got to do with anything, dude?¡± Zach raised his pointer finger and then gestured down at the dirt path. ¡°It means this whole ''time-limit'' thing could be a trap.¡± ¡°A trap?¡± Lienne asked, now seemingly just as confused and frustrated as her brother. ¡°Zach, you¡¯re rambling and not making any sense.¡± Zach sighed. ¡°I¡¯m still piecing things together in my head. But something bothered me about that last floor. Were we really supposed to run from those Eeps? Once we got out of their aggro range, we could¡¯ve provoked them again. Hell, we could¡¯ve rammed into them with the DEHV¡ªerr, I mean, with the car. There were so many of them. We could¡¯ve leveled up several times. And now look: we¡¯re under-leveled because of it. Clearly we are.¡± Zach began to step forward as he became more and more certain in the idea that began to form in his mind. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw both Rian and Lienne reach out to him as if attempting to stop him, but they remained firmly in place as Zach continued on. He stopped short just outside of the creature¡¯s ten-foot aggro radius. Another step or two, and it would attack. He pointed at it. ¡°Have you guys considered that this scarecrow is literally doing what a scarecrow is supposed to do?¡± ¡°Zach, come back!¡± Lienne shouted. ¡°You¡¯re gonna get yourself killed.¡± Turning his back to the mob, he again asked, ¡°Guys, I¡¯m serious. Just answer me. What is the purpose of a scarecrow? Just answer. I don¡¯t care if you think I¡¯m being crazy or not. Humor me.¡± Rian, pulling at his hair with one hand and extending his hand in Zach¡¯s direction with the other, nervously called out, ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s to scare away birds.¡± ¡°And why?¡± ¡°Why what?¡± ¡°Why do birds need to be scared away?¡± ¡°Because they eat the crops or the seeds.¡± Zach smiled. ¡°Exactly. The scarecrows keep birds away by scaring them off from getting what they need.¡± Crooking his thumb over his shoulder, he pointed at the mob behind him. ¡°And what if that¡¯s what this thing is for? What if it only looks so scary because it¡¯s a test or a challenge? To see if we¡¯ll make a run for it and get that 450xp at the cost of something maybe way more rewarding.¡± ¡°That¡¯s insane,¡± Rian said. ¡°Zach, you really need to¡ª¡± ¡°You guys might want to take a step back,¡± Zach warned them as he took two steps backwards and towards the scarecrow. He didn¡¯t even bother to look over his shoulder as he heard the creature make a loud, shrill cry like that of a human in intense pain. ¡°Seriously, turn around and run. Trust me!¡± Lienne and Rian didn¡¯t need to be told twice. While yelling at Zach and accusing him of losing his ¡°Gods-damned mind,¡± they took off down the dirt path in the opposite direction¡ªthe way they¡¯d just come. Zach, sprinting as fast as he could manage, caught up to them in just a few seconds, and now he did glance over his shoulder to see the Aggrieved Scarecrow also sprinting after him. If I¡¯m right, then any moment now, that thing should¡ª Zach laughed loudly in delight as within just thirty feet of distance, the scarecrow came to an abrupt, total halt, spun around, and began to drag its claws along the path as it walked back to its spawn point, leaving ten lines in the dirt from its massive clawed fingers. ¡°I knew it!¡± Zach cheered. ¡°It de-aggroes so quickly. It¡¯s not random. I knew it!¡± ¡°Knew what?¡± Rian demanded. ¡°You¡¯re really starting to piss me off.¡± ¡°Because you don¡¯t get it,¡± Zach said. ¡°Look around you. Why are most of these scarecrows in difficult-to-reach locations? Why are there only a few we can easily get to? Why hasn¡¯t that first one we killed respawned? In fact, I¡¯d bet money that it probably takes days or weeks to respawn. These scarecrows¡ªthey¡¯re not predators. They¡¯re our prey. Don¡¯t you get it?¡± Rian firmly and adamantly shook his head. ¡°No, I really, really don¡¯t.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t believe me until I show you. That much is obvious. Okay, you two: stay right there. If I die, you have my permission to spit on my grave, because I¡¯ll go down as the biggest moron to ever walk this planet¡ªmaybe literally, considering not many people have been here.¡± ¡°Zach,¡± Lienne said to him. Despite her soft tone, her words came across as harsh and on edge. ¡°Whatever you¡¯re about to do, please don¡¯t.¡± A crease had formed on her forehead, and she was visibly worried. ¡°Please just trust me,¡± Zach reassured her. ¡°I keep thinking about how this thing almost killed Rian, and I think I know how it works. Just watch.¡± ¡°Gods,¡± Rian moaned. ¡°Part me wonders if you¡¯ve lost it, and another part of me wonders if I have. What are you planning to do?¡± In truth, Zach¡¯s heart was pounding heavily in his chest as his legs threatened to buckle with fear. He knew what he was about to do was beyond dangerous. It was one of those rare things in life where, if he was correct, he would look like a genius, but if he was wrong, he would look like an absolute, unrivaled moron¡ªsomeone so incomprehensibly stupid they almost deserved to die. Yet he knew he was right. He knew he had to trust his guts on this one¡ªeven at the risk of having them spilled out of him. Once more, he approached to within eleven feet of the Aggrieved Scarecrow. Swallowing down his nerves, he drew a deep breath and held it a moment while he gathered his courage. This thing really did hit hard enough to kill any of them in a single two-hit swipe with its five- or six-feet claws. Even if he was right, this would still be such a dangerous thing to do. Exhaling slowly to calm himself, he gripped his blade tightly and took another step forward. ¡°Ssssrraaaaaash!¡± the creature yelled, activating immediately. ¡°Ssssrraaaaaash!¡± Here it comes, Zach thought, readying himself. Off a bit behind him, he could hear Rian and Lienne shouting his name, telling him to run, and begging him to reconsider. For the moment, he filtered them out. If he was right, this would be worth the risk he was taking. The creature, as it had done to Rian, exploded forward at a run, stopping only when it reached him. Then, with a speed that was almost illogical coming from a creation of straw, it lifted its claws, held them horizontally, and spun around for an attack that would easily part his head from his body if it connected. Zach, becoming far too filled with adrenaline to be afraid, bent his knees, dodging the creature''s deadly sharp claws. Then he stood back upright as fast as he possibly could. Less than two seconds later, the creature struck at him again¡ªand so like before, Zach bent his knees, avoiding the deadly strike. Two seconds after that, the creature went in for a third attack¡ªand Zach ducked. Then this repeated for a fourth attack. And then a fifth attack. A then a sixth attack. Holy shit! Zach screamed in his mind. I was right! I was actually fucking right! In an act more ¡°audacious¡± than any pumpkin, Zach, after dodging an eighth spinning strike, spun around on his heels so that he fully, recklessly, and dangerously turned his back to the mob. Then he waved to his two friends, who gawked at him with a mix of total horror and amazement in their eyes. ¡°Hey guys,¡± he said, bending his knees the moment he heard the sound of straw moving behind him. Speaking aloud, he chanted, ¡°One, two¡ªand duck!¡± ¡°One, two¡ªand duck!¡± ¡°One, two¡ªand duck!¡± ¡°One, two¡ªand duck!¡± Rian¡¯s jaw dropped, and he pointed at Zach. ¡°You¡¯re a fucking genius,¡± he said. ¡°It just does the same thing over and over again. It¡¯s a¡­it¡¯s like a training dummy.¡± Zach laughed as the attack pattern became so firmly burned in his mind that he could literally perform these motions in his sleep. It was just like with the Toadfeet or the Plague Biter. He seemed to be really good at noticing these kinds of patterns. ¡°Do you guys get it now?" he asked. "The 450xp is bullshit. This is our"¡ªhe ducked¡ª¡°prize. This is what we need to be¡±¡ªhe again half-squatted down to avoid a predictably timed swipe of its claws¡ª¡°hunting.¡± After carefully evading two more attacks, Zach popped up to his feet and darted forward to rejoin his two companions. The creature chased him to within just a few feet of where they stood, but then, as if slamming against an invisible wall it came to an unnaturally heavy stop, turned around, and walked back to where it¡¯d come from. ¡°I think¡­I think we should stay here awhile,¡± Zach said. Thankfully, this earned no protest from Rian and Lienne, who continued to stare at him in astonishment. ¡°So, who here is cold and hungry?¡± Using his foot, he drew a line in the dirt in case it would be useful later. Then, reaching into his pocket, he gestured for his two friends to stand back, and with all his strength, he threw it at the dirt. Then he smiled. Things didn¡¯t always go his way, but when they did, it felt good. Chapter 34: Anelia the Clever and Patient Chapter 34: Anelia the Clever and Patient Kicking up her feet on the shaky, unsteady table, Anelia Hellcrest nodded at the barmaid to come along and give her a refill. She winked at the girl, whose face flushed with fear as she rushed over to pour her some more ale. Anelia had to admit: the little harlot was cute in her red shorts and matching red tank top. ¡°H-here you are, ma¡¯am,¡± she squeaked fearfully. Anelia cracked a smile. It wasn¡¯t the girl¡¯s fault for being terrified. After all, Anelia was currently clad in full scale gear with her helm and gauntlets resting on the table. It didn¡¯t take a genius to deduce she wasn¡¯t a One. It wasn¡¯t something she bothered to hide, either. And why would she? After all, with leveling came a sort of ¡°automatic¡± high-profile status. Simply making it known that you were above level 1 provided more benefits than she could count, and try as she might, Anelia could not stop herself from enjoying the empowered feeling that came with this increase in stature. When 99.9% of sentient beings were level 1, being higher provided one with a certain...well, ¡°respect.¡± No matter where in this world Anelia found herself, she was always an instant VIP. At famous restaurants, she never had to wait for a table. At a crowded store, the lines would part to allow her access to the front. If a discount was to be had, hers would be even steeper. If she needed a hard-to-get item, it was reserved for her. If she wanted seconds, she¡¯d instead be offered thirds. How could anyone not enjoy this? she wondered, suppressing just the tiniest pinch of guilt she felt at the downright unfairness and inequity that came with being a One. It was something she understood, as she''d used to be just like them. Typically, people leveled because they were either A, an adventurer, or B, a privileged child born into the right circumstances. There was a third option, however: people who wanted it badly enough and were willing to do anything for it. It was this category that Anelia found herself in. Born to a lower-class family in the Whispery Woods, Anelia knew from an early age that she craved the power and status of those who were born lucky enough to kill mobs and level. At this point in time, she, like most people, had no idea that there were such things as adventurers, and to be honest? She doubted she would¡¯ve gone that route even if she had known. No, she was crafty, resourceful, and she researched almost every member of every guild. Though there was a dearth of information about leveling in general, as the elite kept is mostly secret, there were other interesting tidbits one could find online, such as the fact that Elinarin Fallor, an eighty-eight-year-old guild member of the Children of Order, had become sick and less active in old age. Even more importantly, he had no biological family. His only daughter had fallen in war, and his wife had died of a broken heart. Borrowing¡ªwell, stealing¡ªher father¡¯s emergency gold, Anelia had bought a plane ticket down to the Faded Island. Under the cover of night, she had sneaked onto his private estate, and there, she attacked her very first spawn. She¡¯d been caught, of course, but rather than punish her, the old man simply found her to be amusing, and he even offered her equipment. It was quite the shock. ¡°I¡¯m too old to care about status anymore,¡± he¡¯d said to her. ¡°Kill whatever you like. I have no family and my friends have already departed this world. But know this: someone from my guild will be along to claim this land when I pass. Do what you must before I die.¡± With his explicit blessing, Anelia had been allowed to train night and day, and to her good fortune, the old man had ended up lasting two years before finally kicking the bucket. The tears Anelia shed at his passing were genuine. It was true she¡¯d had a vested interest in keeping him alive as long as possible, but she¡¯d also formed a connection with him that was as surreal as it had been endearing, especially after he¡¯d sent her parents tens of thousands of gold simply out of a sense of charity. Hell, he¡¯d paid for them to come visit her on his estate, turning what had begun as an act of daughterly treachery into a moment of pride as her parents watched her grow stronger and stronger. When the man had finally passed, he¡¯d left a note for his guild begging them to forgo custom and anoint Anelia as a member of the Children of Order. Predictably, they refused, but they did honor her by allowing her to keep his estate provided she offer her services to them as a bounty hunter. Thus, her career had begun. And for almost twenty-five years, she had continued to amass coin and power. She had spent her twenties and thirties hunting, training, and becoming the woman she was today. In truth, her appearance wasn¡¯t exactly feminine. She had broad shoulders, large biceps, thick, muscular legs, and when wearing her helm, she could easily be mistaken for a man. She preferred it this way. She found herself taken more seriously. She found that she tended to frighten others, such as the cherry-haired barmaid, who glanced fearfully at her as though begging her permission to leave and serve other customers. Anelia was used to this reaction. Just to begin with, Ones naturally feared those who had leveled, but in Anelia¡¯s case, her appearance added to the intimidation factor. Still, that wasn¡¯t why she was here. She hadn¡¯t wasted the last several days of her time in this small, but cozy little town known as ¡°The Den of Ziragoth¡± for the purpose of upsetting the locals; no, she was here because she was smarter than the average bounty hunter¡ªwhich was why, in turn, she was more successful than the average bounty hunter. As the barmaid quietly and cautiously turned to leave, Anelia snapped her fingers at the girl, causing her to stiffen upright, immediately turn back around, and face in Anelia¡¯s direction. ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am?¡± Reaching into her coin purse, Anelia placed a 1000 gold coin flat on top of her thumb, then flicked it over to the woman, who caught it midair with a look of shock on her face. ¡°For me?¡± she asked. Anelia nodded. ¡°You¡¯ve got two kids, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then yeah, it¡¯s for you. But also them.¡± ¡°Oh, wow¡­thank you!¡± Watching her again spin around and scurry away, Anelia made sure she caught an eyeful of the little strumpet¡¯s backside as she disappeared somewhere behind the counter and into the kitchen. Then she turned her attention towards observing her surroundings. There were three types of bounty hunters in this world: the stupid, the semi-smart, and the clever. Of these, Anelia was the latter. With the reward on Zachys Calador approaching into the millions as the People of Virtue became ever-more desperate for his head, the number of bounty hunters looking for him had increased tenfold. The stupid were searching the Tomb of Fire, the Shadowfall Coast, and Varda¡¯s Lair. The really stupid were snooping around Whispery Woods as though by some chance he''d actually still be there. The semi-smart, however, had correctly been lurking around this area, and four or five of them had even found the tracks through the farmland that led to an abandoned bicycle in front of a massive boulder. Yet, all but one of these bounty hunters had determined that the boy had moved on from here¡ªand so had they. And who was that one bounty hunter who had stayed? Me , she thought with a grin. See, unlike the semi-smart bounty hunters, Anelia was clever, patient, and open-minded. She knew that the adventurers had some Gods-damned way of vanishing into walls. There was something about them¡ªsomething only they could do. In fact, she¡¯d once seen it with her very own two eyes. She¡¯d tracked a member of the Explorers Brigade and watched as he simply walked face-first into the back wall of a library in Varda¡¯s Lair, disappearing through it as though there were an invisible passage none but him could access. For three days, she continued to wait. Sure, a part of her thought she might be losing her mind, but an even bigger part of her knew better than to doubt herself. And so she¡¯d waited, and waited, and waited¡­ And then he reappeared! That was the thing with these adventurers. Many times¡ªfar more often than not¡ªthey came back. And given he¡¯d left his bicycle behind, Anelia was willing to bet her time and coin that he¡¯d pass through this town sooner or later. And so, she would wait for him. For she was clever and patient. With that thought in mind, she took a drink, swished it around her mouth, and then downed it in a deep gulp. I¡¯ll be waiting for you, Zachys Calador. **** Just from the look on Rian''s face, Zach could tell that the more comfortable he grew in the presence of these giant-clawed scarecrows, the more absurd he felt for ever having been afraid of them in the first place. He seemed to be laughing at himself as he lay on his back to catch his breath while he stared up at the mob, which swiped the air above him over and over, clearly unable to bend down to hit him. ¡°Rian, you¡¯re being so lazy,¡± Lienne complained. ¡°I know you think this is funny, but it¡¯s not.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°It actually kind of is,¡± Zach said. When she glared at him, he held out his hands defensively and said, ¡°Hey. I¡¯m just being honest, Lienne! It really kind of is.¡± Right now, Rian was on his back making weak, baby-like chopping motions with his axe as he nipped away at a scarecrow''s heels doing between 3 to 5 damage while he ¡°chilled out¡± on the dirt and giggled like a schoolgirl. Zach couldn¡¯t help but laugh along. It was just such a ridiculous sight and it was totally out of character for the normally stoic boy. ¡°This feels like cheating,¡± Lienne said with a grunt. ¡°I¡¯m all for efficiency, but Gods, my brother looks ridiculous right now.¡± After a nice, relaxing lunch, She and Zach had sat at the picnic table and enjoyed the warm fire while Rian had aggroed the Aggrieved Scarecrow and had brought it back to just in front of the line in the dirt that Zach had drawn with his foot. Then, Rian had immediately dropped into a prone position, virtually rendering himself invincible to the Aggrieved Scarecrow¡¯s one¡ªand only¡ªattack. This, while he hacked away at the creature with some of the weakest attacks Zach had ever witnessed. Even if he had been managing to do a full 5 damage every single hit¡ªand to be clear, he wasn¡¯t ¡ªit would still take around 125 hits to kill the 400HP mob. ¡°Zach, you¡¯re just enabling him,¡± Lienne said with a shake of her head. ¡°Stop laughing.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s just so funny to see someone fight like that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s called strategy,¡± Rian said with another guffaw. Despite his heavy stature, Zach knew that Rian was not naturally lazy, and so he genuinely didn¡¯t think he was doing this out of an aversion to putting in effort. It really did seem like Rian was doing it because of how silly and ridiculous it was, to the point he didn¡¯t seem capable of controlling himself. The mob, unable to actually attack someone lying prone, just continued to spin around and claw the area in front of itself while dying very, very slowly. [278/400] Aggrieved Scarecrow Level 10 Zach looked down at his empty plate in fascination. The meal had been incredible. The moment he¡¯d thrown the cube at the floor, a warm campfire and a picnic table had seemingly popped into existence out of nowhere; additionally, a bunch of words appeared in front of all three of their faces. It seemed they could each ¡°touch¡± a selection, indicating what they wanted and how they wanted it cooked. Zach had selected the 8oz. steak, and he¡¯d requested it medium-rare. Then he¡¯d selected pudding for dessert, whereas Lienne had gone with the salmon and Rian had chosen chicken. Once all three had finished making their choices, their food had appeared in an instant on top of their plates, along with three wooden but comfortable chairs. Now, as Lienne made a sour expression as she watched her brother ¡°fight,¡± she rested her chin in her hands and said, ¡°Rian, come on. Just kill the thing normally.¡± ¡°Li, I just ate,¡± he said. ¡°If I start doing squats, I¡¯m gonna vomit.¡± ¡°Then maybe you should¡¯ve waited a second to digest. Ever think about that?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± She looked away from him and set her eyes on Zach. ¡°Can you believe this?¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°He¡¯s having fun. And to be honest, it¡¯s funny to watch.¡± In truth, it only took about two more minutes for Rian to kill the thing, but it was done with so many weak, inefficient hits with his axe that it felt more like ten for how boring it was to observe. Eventually, the creature died, and +100xp appeared above its head. ¡°You guys should be really close to leveling by now, no?¡± Zach asked. Lienne nodded. ¡°We should. Let me see.¡± Lienne Astafort: Level 6 (395/400xp) Armor Bonus: 8 1 strength 8 dexterity 3 constitution 15 intelligence 1 speed 1 luck ¡°Wow,¡± Zach said, lifting his finger and pointing at her stats. ¡°You¡¯re just five away.¡± Rian, slowly climbing back to his feet, dusted off his leather brigandine and padded trousers, then picked up his axe and shield. ¡°Five experience points away, huh,¡± he said. ¡°I might as well just kill a pumpkin.¡± Without waiting for any kind of confirmation from Lienne or Zach, he bent his knees, raised his arm high, and then leaned forward and threw his axe. Zach watched as it made a fluttering sound in the air as it spun, traveling in an elliptical orbit that led it to smack into one of nearest pumpkins not from off to the left of the picnic table before making its return flight to Rian¡¯s hand. The moment the axe made contact, the pumpkin became animated as though springing to life. [15/30] Audacious Pumpkin Level 4 The purple, arm-having, leg-bearing pumpkin growled and began to run towards Rian, who threw his axe at it a second time, this one putting it down for good and earning all three of them yet another +5xp. This last bit of xp seemed to do the trick, as now, in front of both Lienne and Rian, the words every adventurer craved to see popped into existence. Level up! +1 dex (9) +2 int (17) Fire Geyser Acquired! Level up! +1 dex (4) +2 con (16) +1 lck (5) Zach clapped his hands at the two of them. Then, remembering what was apparently some kind of ¡°custom¡± among adventurers, he said, ¡°Grats!¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± they both replied. Then, Lienne smirked and said, ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see what Fire Geyser does! Hey, how far along are you, Zach?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not actually sure. Let me check.¡± Zachys Calador: Level 5 (225/300xp) Armor Bonus: 8 6 strength 4 dexterity 5 constitution 1 intelligence 3 speed 2 luck Reading over his stats, Lienne smiled and said, ¡°One more scarecrow should do it for you, then.¡± ¡°Actually about that. Here¡¯s what I think we should do.¡± Zach waited for Rian to sit down at the picnic bench before explaining as the three of them glowed a bright orange from the light of the campfire. ¡°So,¡± he began, pointing off in the distance towards the path that led to the exit. ¡°First, we should follow along the path in the way we¡¯re supposed to go anyway. We obviously won¡¯t get the early exit bonus, but we should kill whatever scarecrows are easy pickings on the way there. Then we should double back to where we first started, and we should look for the ones that won¡¯t require us to fight hundreds of pumpkins at once to get to.¡± ¡°Actually, I¡¯m glad you mentioned that,¡± Rian said. ¡°Because I was also gonna say that there are a lot of them here we just aren¡¯t going to be able to kill.¡± Zach bowed his head in agreement. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s no way. Like that one over there¡±¡ªhe pointed¡ª¡°is basically untouchable. We¡¯d end up aggroing about two-hundred of those disgusting purple bastards all at once. But the one up ahead and to the right¡±¡ªhe moved his finger slightly and then watched as Lienne and Rian followed its motion¡ª¡°that one we could probably get with an axe throw if we kill maybe five or ten of them.¡± Getting up from the table, Zach picked his blade up off the floor and then watched as Lienne also unseated herself and retrieved her staff. Rian, having only just sat down, grumbled something and then joined the two of them. Then, together, the three of them set off in search of more experience. Chapter 35: The Horror of Nothing Chapter 35: The Horror of Nothing After nearly ten straight minutes of walking along the dirt path, Zach finally spotted a scarecrow that was right out in the open and ready for the taking. By his best estimation, he figured the three of them were now only a mile or so away from B3¡¯s exit. Hopefully, there¡¯d be at least a few more of these scarecrows before they reached it, as once they¡¯d crossed the remaining distance, their plan was to turn back around and begin hunting the ¡°comparatively¡± easier ones to get to, which in all cases, would mean battling their way through an untold number of purple pumpkins that seemed to be guarding them like loyal foot soldiers; for now, however they were going for any and all Aggrieved Scarecrows they found on this guided pathway, of which this mob was now the third, including the two they¡¯d already killed. This one in particular was halfway up a relatively minor hill that flattened out after about fifty feet of distance. With a grin, Zach prepared to aggro it. This is the one that¡¯ll get me to level 6, he thought enthusiastically. ¡°Okay, guys, let¡¯s do this just like we talked about,¡± Zach said. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Rian and Lienne nod. Since this was a unique mob in that it only had a single attack¡ªone that, with due diligence, was almost completely avoidable as long as Zach stayed focused and didn¡¯t do anything foolish¡ªRian had agreed to let Zach tank since evasive maneuvers were more his thing anyway. And so, approaching to within the scarecrow¡¯s aggro radius, he waited for the creature to run directly at him and begin its unrelenting but totally predictable assault. ¡°Ssssrraaaaaash!¡± it shrieked painfully as it charged forward at him. ¡°Ssssrraaaaaash!¡± ¡°Ten hits!¡± Zach called back to Rian and Lienne as he lowered himself down and avoided the first of its attacks. ¡°Let me hit it ten times to get full aggro, and then you two attack!¡± Since Zach did not have the liberty of using a taunt as Rian did, he reasoned that if he could get ten or so good hits on the creature, it should be enough to carry them through the fight. In the worst-case scenario, if for any reason they found themselves losing control of the situation, everyone knew to simply throw themselves on the ground where it couldn¡¯t harm them. Time to level up! Zach decided that, given the very real strength behind each of the mob¡¯s spinning, clawed strikes, it would be best to play things as safely as possible. Hence, after coming upright after a duck, he would only strike twice with his blade before again dropping down. In actuality, a third strike, if fast and carefully managed, was totally doable, and yet after talking it over with Rian and Lienne, the three of them had agreed that it was nevertheless unwise to attempt, as it introduced the possibility of a mistake, and with these particular mobs, even just one mistake likely meant an immediate, unpreventable, and graphically violent death. Thus, after firmly establishing aggro, Zach and his two friends fell into a familiar, constant rhythm. Zach alternated between ducking, striking twice really fast, and then ducking again. Each time he dropped down, Lienne¡¯s blue, missile-shaped flame along with Rian¡¯s thrown axe would strike the creature for about 40 damage and 10 damage respectively. Earlier, Zach recalled the very same fire attack hitting for only 31, which meant her two additional points into intelligence were having a starkly noticeable effect. Zach himself was only hitting for about 10 points of damage, but in fairness, he was prioritizing speed, form, and quickness over power. Blow by blow, the three of them whittled the creature down as their pattern of attack proved to be effective, fast, and relatively safe¡ªat least from the threat perspective of the scarecrow. In truth, Zach now faced more danger from his own friends than he did from the mob. He needed to trust that each and every time he ducked¡ªand only when he ducked¡ªtheir combination of axe and fire would strike the mob with perfect timing. If they were off by even a half-second, he could find himself with an axe sticking out of his back while he was set on fire. So far so good, Zach thought, evading the scarecrow¡¯s clawed spin with ease. He came up, struck for 10 and 10, and then went back down, as Lienne and her brother sent another 50 its way. The only foreseeable issue was the exertion cost on Lienne¡¯s part, as he could hear her breathing heavily after just three uses of her Flamestrike. Yet with a combined estimated total of around 70 damage every two seconds, the entire fight, to begin with, would likely only last around eleven-and-a-half seconds¡ªwhich indeed, was all it did. Somehow, even as she began to groan loudly with each utterance of ¡°Val En Flamir,¡± Lienne managed to launch all six Flamestrikes necessary for their rhythmic tri-attack to fell the disgusting creature and extinguish the green fire in its eyes and mouth for good. Zach let out a cheer as it fell backwards to its death, landing on the dirt with a thud. And then, soon after vanishing into a puff of smoke, it became his turn to see those beautiful words he longed to see. The words that told him he had finally reached another milestone of progress in his journey to become a true adventurer so that he could reunite with Kalana. Level up! Bank and Storage Acquired! As Zach read the words in the air in front of him, it took him several confused moments before he could even comprehend what he was seeing. He became so perplexed that he almost didn¡¯t notice Rian and Lienne moving to stand by his side. Even after the words had vanished, he continued to stare at the spot where they¡¯d been, totally baffled; his mouth fell open slightly and he looked around as though a better explanation lay in the world around him. ¡°The¡­hell?¡± he whispered. Lienne placed an arm on his left shoulder, and Rian placed one on his right. The conciliatory gestures actually made him feel worse, and he shrugged them both off. Then he pointed to the spot where the mob had just died. ¡°Did¡­did I do something wrong?¡± he asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Lienne said. ¡°Then why didn¡¯t¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I get any points?¡± he shouted. Anger submerged his consciousness to the point he could barely see straight, and it combined with a sense of unfairness that made him kick the dirt where the mob had vanished. ¡°Did I just get a blank level up? Is that even possible?¡± Rian again put a hand on his shoulder, and angrily, Zach again brushed it off. He wasn¡¯t trying to be a dick; he just didn¡¯t feel like being touched right now. His entire sense of being flared up in indignation. How could this even be possible? How could he level up and not even get a single point in a single stat? This shouldn¡¯t be possible. In what universe was this fair? In what universe was this just? ¡°Fuck!¡± he shouted, again kicking the dirt, this time sending a clump of it spraying in front of him. But it didn¡¯t help ease his temper, and so several more times, he swore and kicked more dirt. He was now not only demoralized, but he was incensed, and he felt like he wanted to strangle someone or something. This wasn¡¯t just unfair. It was total, complete, and utter bullshit. He earned that damn level up! So how could he have received nothing other than the guaranteed racial ability that every human would apparently receive at level 6? ¡°Zach,¡± Lienne whispered. ¡°What?¡± he snapped at her. Then, seeing the hurt on her face, he immediately regretted his actions, and he was quick to apologize. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m really, truly sorry. I¡¯m just pissed, but¡­but I shouldn¡¯t have yelled at you like that.¡± She smiled, though it appeared forced. ¡°I totally get why you¡¯re upset. I¡¯d be really mad too.¡± ¡°I just¡­¡± He removed one hand from his sword and began rubbing his face as the frustration continued to mount and the sense of hopelessness settled in. ¡°I just feel so weak. So useless.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t, though! I mean, my Gods, you¡¯re amazing.¡± At this, Zach let out a scorn-filled laugh. ¡°You¡¯re saying that because you¡¯re my friend.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s why she¡¯s saying that at all,¡± Rian said. ¡°Seriously, dude. I mean, you¡¯re right, we¡¯d say stuff like that anyway to cheer you up, but in this case, I really don¡¯t think that¡¯s where Li is going with this.¡± ¡°Oh yeah? And how so?¡± Lienne raised a finger. ¡°For one, you have an attack that for some reason can deal the kind of damage no one at your level should ever come close to dealing.¡± She raised a second finger, which joined the first. ¡°And two, the way you fight with that blade¡­like, you said you¡¯ve only been training for um¡­what, a few days? But if you told me you¡¯ve been practicing all your life, I¡¯d believe you, Zach. I swear I¡¯m not just trying to make you feel better. So please, at least try to believe me when I say that you fight like you¡¯re ten levels higher than you actually are.¡± ¡°Well, I sure hope I do,¡± Zach grumbled, ¡°because at this rate, I¡¯ll have the same stats I do now when I get that far.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe that,¡± Lienne said. ¡°Actually, you know what, Zach? I bet you it¡¯s only going to get better from here on out.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Rian agreed. Zach shrugged. ¡°Well, if there¡¯s one good thing about this floor, it¡¯s that we won¡¯t have to wait long to find out. In fact, let me check how much I need.¡± Zachys Calador: Level 6 (25/400xp) Armor Bonus: 8 6 strength 4 dexterity 5 constitution 1 intelligence 3 speed 2 luck Zach nodded. ¡°Okay, that seems like a lot, but with 100xp a kill, we just need to find four scarecrows to put down.¡± Drawing a deep breath, he released it in a slow exhale as he tried his best to remain optimistic despite the hideously awful non-level he¡¯d just received. ¡°Hey, look, maybe I¡¯m overreacting a bit. Let¡¯s just keep going. I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m a bit demoralized, but you know what? To hell with it. Let¡¯s keep it going. Oh, and on an entirely separate note, I just realized my armor¡¯s only 8. I don¡¯t know if it really matters since we¡¯re screwed if we get hit anyway, but maybe we should reapply the armor buff just in case. Better safe than sorry.¡± ¡°True,¡± Lienne said, taking a step back. ¡°We''re probably going to end up aggroing some of those yucky purple pumpkins. I think if that happens, it¡¯ll make a big difference.¡± As she began to use Lesser Enchantment of Fortification on all three of them, Rian asked, ¡°Speaking of the pumpkins, why don¡¯t we make them a target, too? They¡¯re not that hard to kill, and 5xp adds up over time.¡± Zach lifted his shoulders in a gesture of indifference. ¡°I don¡¯t mind killing them if you want to do that,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­it seems like most of them are way too clustered together. There aren¡¯t a lot of places to just pull one or two of them alone, and I feel like the chance of getting bitten and injured goes up with each one we go after. I¡¯m just thinking we might be better off only killing the ones in the way of a scarecrow to minimize risk. But that¡¯s just my opinion. I¡¯m not ¡®in charge¡¯ of us, and I just want to make clear that I don¡¯t mind doing it a different way if you guys think that that way is better.¡± ¡°No¡­you¡¯re right,¡± Rian said, tapping his chin with his thumb. ¡°I don¡¯t think the pumpkins are all that dangerous, but Lienne will have to use energy healing us if one of us gets our face ripped off. Not to mention it¡¯ll hurt like a bitch. Okay, let¡¯s just stick to our original plan. At least for now.¡± With that, the four of them headed off in the direction of the exit. Zach was eager to level up as soon as possible so that he could set his mind at ease. At this point, he just wanted to gain something. He didn¡¯t even care what it was anymore. To think, he¡¯d bitched about only getting a single stat point two levels ago. Hah! Now, he was terrified he¡¯d never get another point ever again. Even if he got a garbage level up with like a single point into luck or whatever, he¡¯d gladly take it now just to be sure that this wasn¡¯t some kind of dead-end he¡¯d bumped into. He just needed to know. He needed to see some kind of growth with his own two eyes! Unfortunately, not another scarecrow appeared in the middle of the dirt path for the last stretch of their journey. Eventually, at the very end of the path, the three of them came upon a small wooden shack that looked like it was used for storing tools and gardening supplies. Yet, rather than contain a matching wooden gate, the entrance was instead a dark blue, metal push-bar door, above which was written in black ink: B3->B4. Time expired for bonus experience. ¡°All right, so¡­it looks like we¡¯re gonna have to do some clearing,¡± Rian said. Folding his arms across his chest as the coldest breeze yet rolled in through the air, Zach asked, ¡°We still have about two-and-a-half hours left on our campfire. Maybe we should actually start from there and work our way out. That way we can warm ourselves up in between pulls.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with that!¡± Lienne yelled. From the way she curled her lips and giggled, Zach imagined she hadn¡¯t meant to shout her reply. Shivering, she said, ¡°It¡¯s s-so c-cold.¡± ¡°I feel like I¡¯m the only one who¡¯s only a little bit chilly,¡± Rian said with a laugh. ¡°You two are struggling way more than me. You sure you want to go all the way back? It''d be quicker if we started from here.¡± ¡°But, Rian, I¡¯m c-cold!¡± ¡°All right, Li, I hear ya. I mean, it might waste some time, but all right. Let¡¯s go back to the fire and start from there, then.¡± As the three of them performed an about-face and began marching back to their campfire, it did not surprise Zach in the slightest to discover that none of the Aggrieved Scarecrows they had killed so far had respawned. As he¡¯d predicted, the spawn timers on them must be exceptionally long¡ªand that was likely by design. He would be genuinely shocked if he saw a single one of them respawn before they left this place behind. With nothing to impede their progress, and the cold hurrying them along, it took less than fifteen minutes for them to return to their campfire, and after a brief, half-a-minute discussion, they all agreed they¡¯d spend the next ten minutes warming themselves up. Zach truly wasn¡¯t certain, but it felt like the temperature had actually dropped since they¡¯d gotten here. But it could also be their prolonged exposure to the cold. There was no real way of knowing. Either way, the feeling of heat from the fire was pure bliss. Maybe even too blissful, as after the ten minutes were up, they lingered another five, and the temptation remained to linger another five after that. ¡°What¡¯s another few minutes?¡± Lienne asked. ¡°It¡¯s so damn cold out here, and this feels so nice.¡± ¡°I know it does, Li, but we have to get back to it.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, whatever,¡± she grumbled. ¡°So, where are we starting?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± Rian turned his head in Zach''s direction. ¡°Zach?¡± ¡°Uhh¡­well, let¡¯s see.¡± Zach looked around. There were a few possible targets, but one stood out as being the simplest. About fifteen steps forward and then around a hundred fifty or so feet directly to the left, there was an Aggrieved Scarecrow that seemed fairly lightly guarded. ¡°How far can you throw your axe, Rian?¡± ¡°Fifty feet.¡± Zach scratched his cheek as he tried to visualize what would be required. For sure, they¡¯d need to deal with that tightly knit cluster of eight of the purple demons that was just off to the side of the dirt road. After that, there would¡ªor at least should¡ªthen be enough space for them to circle around a sporadic grouping of them, but to get any closer after that point, they¡¯d have to deal with two more separate patches of about five each. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start by killing those eight,¡± he said, pointing. ¡°Rian, you should probably tank these.¡± ¡°Yep,¡± he said with a friendly sounding chuckle. ¡°I don¡¯t think they can actually hurt me. My constitution might be stronger than the force of their bite. I say that because I¡¯m pretty sure one of them tried to nibble on my leg earlier and I didn¡¯t feel it. So, I think for this kind of fight, it''s best if I go straight up to them and¡ª¡± ¡°W-wait!¡± Lienne said, suddenly running in front of her brother and barring his passage. ¡°What is it, Li?¡± he asked, sounding annoyed at having almost bumped headfirst into her. ¡°Can I¡­can I try something?¡± ¡°Try what?¡± ¡°My new ability. Flame Geyser.¡± Rian looked at Zach, and then they both shrugged at one another. ¡°I actually do want to see it,¡± Zach said. ¡°But aren¡¯t you worried about getting aggro?¡± Lienne shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Those eight are so close together that I¡¯m pretty sure I can kill them all in one go. This is a moderate exertion ability like your Wave Slash, though. So it¡¯s gonna take a lot out of me.¡± ¡°Then isn¡¯t it better for us if you save your stamina for the scarecrow?¡± Lienne made a silly but cute grin and said, ¡°Well, yeah, but I really wanna see what it does. Please?¡± she asked so sweetly that it would have been impossible for anyone to refuse. With a sigh, Rian extended his shield in the direction of the purple pumpkins as though in a gesture for her to continue. Releasing an excited yelp, Lienne made her way forward. Then, gripping her staff with both hands, she held it close to her chest, and she shouted, ¡°Val En Maxi Flamir!¡± Zach watched, fascinated, as a growing, bright line began to move in a circular motion around the eight purple pumpkins. It looked as though someone was running a knife through the dirt and pouring lava in the small hole left in its stead. It actually took three or four seconds before this bright line had completely encircled the purple monstrosities; actually, it was only just big enough that all eight could fit inside. Had there been even a single additional pumpkin, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to entrap them all. Interestingly, Zach noted that, even as they became surrounded, they did not stir. They seemed to pay no mind to the fact that a brightly glowing, orange circle was now practically engraved into the dirt around them. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°So, now what?¡± Zach asked. ¡°What¡¯s supposed to happen ne¡ª¡± He yelped, startled, as a massive, cylindrical, fifteen-foot-high pillar of pure orange flame burst up from the ground with a loud, distinct whoosh! It was so bright it lit up the entire area around it, and even from where Zach stood, he could feel the heat of it. Despite the cold, it heated the air to such an extent that his forehead began to sweat. He actually had to briefly close his eyes as the heat caused them to sting. Incredibly, at the same exact instant that this ¡°geyser¡± of flame arrived, all eight pumpkins sprouted their arms and legs, finally activating; this, even as numbers such as 51, 48, 55, and numerous others in that general range began popping up around their heads. In fact, before their limbs had fully extended, the names that appeared above them indicated that nearly all of them were already at 0HP. [0/30] Audacious Pumpkin A Level 4 [0/30] Audacious Pumpkin B Level 4 [0/30] Audacious Pumpkin C Level 4 This was the same all the way up to Audacious Pumpkin G. Only a single pumpkin of the eight of them¡ªAudacious Pumpkin H¡ªmanaged to scrape by with just 1HP as the other 7 roared and growled in convincing-sounding pain as they vanished, netting their party an easily earned 35xp. With an impressed-sounding ¡°hmph,¡± Rian threw his axe at the lone survivor, splitting it in half for another 5 as its disgusting juice splattered and thankfully did not reach any of them. ¡°Not bad, Li. Really, not bad,¡± Rian said. She was breathing heavily. Though she didn¡¯t look quite as exhausted as Zach had after using Wave Slash, she still had the appearance of someone who was a great deal winded and needed a moment to collect their breath before they were able to speak. After a minute or so had passed, during which she was half doubled over with her mouth open wide as she sucked in lungful after lungful of air, she slowly released her right hand from her staff, raised it, and gave the two of them a thumbs-up. ¡°Your stamina must be way better than mine,¡± Zach said with a laugh. ¡°When I use Wave Slash, I have to struggle just to stay on my feet. Hell, the first time I ever gave that ability a whirl, I passed out for half an hour.¡± ¡°Using¡­using these¡­these abilities,¡± she said, panting, ¡°is¡­is one of the best ways of raising¡­stamina.¡± With the eight pumpkins dead, Zach gave the spot they''d died a quick glance over to ensure there were no drops, and then he followed Rian and Lienne as they took a carefully navigated path around a bunch of individual pumpkins and a few that were in small groups of two or three. They managed to aggro only a single one on their selected path, and Zach took care of it with a single powerful slice. Eventually, they came upon the next cluster they would have to wipe out. ¡°I¡¯ll aggro this bunch. You guys hang back for a second, okay?¡± Rian said, extending his shield and raising his axe. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna range pull. I¡¯m gonna body-pull.¡± ¡°Body-pull?¡± He nodded. ¡°It means just run right into them as opposed to pulling them out and back to us. Keep an eye out for adds, though, all right?¡± ¡°Adds?¡± Zach asked. ¡°What in the hell does that mean?¡± ¡°You know¡­adds.¡± Rian gave him a questioning look, but then, blinking twice in quick succession, he widened his eyes and said, ¡°Ahh, right, yeah, yeah, you wouldn¡¯t know that word. Durr! Sorry, Zach.¡± He laughed. ¡°Okay, so, an add is when you try to aggro either a specific mob or a specific number of mobs, but you end up ¡®pulling¡¯ more than you intended. The extra ones are called adds, get it? Because, you know, they ¡®added on¡¯ to the rest? So if I body-pull those five and then, like, two more of them that I didn''t even see just come straight out of nowhere and start running towards you, those are adds.¡± ¡°What if they come running to you, instead?¡± ¡°Still adds, since I¡¯m only trying to pull these five.¡± ¡°Ah. Well, that makes sense,¡± Zach said honestly. ¡°All right, then. I¡¯ll keep my eyes open for¡­¡®adds¡¯.¡± Luckily, there were no adds. Rian managed to easily aggro the five¡ªand only five¡ªpumpkins that stood in his way. The moment he struck just one of them with his axe for 19 damage, the four that were so near they were practically touching one another sprang to life, and all five jumped on him. Three of them managed to bite his chest, and one definitely got its teeth around his nose. It happened so fast that there wasn¡¯t even time to react. ¡°A-are you okay?¡± Zach shouted. ¡°Rian!¡± For a split second, Zach thought he could hear the sound of Rian crying in agony, but he soon realized that his friend was just letting off a haughty, arrogant, and odd-sounding chuckle that was more of a ¡°ho-ho-ho¡± than a ¡°hah-hah-hah.¡± ¡°They can¡¯t hurt me. Especially with my last level up. I¡¯m rocking like 40 armor right now and sixteen constitution. Even a bullet wouldn¡¯t be able to nick me. Gods, they smell bad though.¡± Zach watched as he plucked each one of them off his body and threw them roughly to the ground, actually dealing 3 damage to them in the process. It was somewhat futile, as they only jumped back up and latched onto him again. They would definitely break my skin, even with the armor buff, Zach thought. But I guess Rian¡¯s armor plus constitution is enough to make him truly invulnerable. ¡°Hey, Rian,¡± Zach said. He spread his feet wide apart, raised his sword so that the hilt was level with his eyes, and then bent his knees with his blade pointed directly upwards. ¡°Send them over here like you¡¯re the thrower in a game of ball-runner.¡± Rian snickered. ¡°Okay, that sounds pretty fun, actually.¡± Plucking one of the disgusting purple pumpkins off his face, he held the creature like a ball and then sent it hurtling towards Zach, who lifted his front foot, stepped down and into his swing, and then sliced it open right down the middle as opposed to sending it flying away, as he¡¯d have done if this were actually a game of ball-runner and he was using a club instead of a sword. For the next half a minute, the three of them came up with silly and creative ways of dispatching the purple, growling pumpkins. Then, fresh out of ideas, they stuck to a more or less traditional approach for killing the next 5 after that. In total, they netted 50xp for their party, and Zach, not wanting to have to take out his stats every time, was keeping a mental tally in his head. He was fairly sure he now had 120/400xp, which meant he¡¯d now only actually have to kill three of the scarecrows to hit level 7. Becoming curious, he inquired as to how much Lienne and Rian needed. They, on the other hand, actually had to pull out their stats, clearly not keeping it in mind. Rian Astafort: Level 7 (195/600xp) Armor Bonus: 40 3 strength 4 dexterity 16 constitution 3 intelligence 2 speed 5 luck Lienne Astafort: Level 7 (195/600xp) Armor Bonus: 13 1 strength 9 dexterity 3 constitution 17 intelligence 1 speed 1 luck ¡°I¡¯m pretty good with math and numbers,¡± Zach said. ¡°I can keep track of it in my head for you guys.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± they both replied. Left unsaid was the fact that their experience wasn¡¯t the only thing he was keeping track of. Bitterly, he realized that, the summation of his own points¡ªincluding gear¡ªwas a 21, whereas Lienne¡¯s was 32 and Rian¡¯s was 33. I need to catch up, dammit. I can¡¯t keep having these bogus, bullshit level ups! Especially since it looks like the xp starts to really jump. 600xp to get from 7 to 8? Damn, that sucks. Now that they were close enough in range for Rian to use Axe Throw, Zach gave him a thumbs-up and, carefully, as if to avoid catching the aggro of any of the much-larger clusters of pumpkins between them and their target, he launched his axe. Zach watched as it caused a rippling sound as it flew through the air and struck the scarecrow mob, which then came running over towards them with its typical shriek. ¡°Let¡¯s back up a bit so we have some room to fight,¡± Zach said. To which both Rian and Lienne nodded. As it turned out, that wasn¡¯t something they had to worry about. Because in a total, complete oversight that made Zach feel like a moron, it occurred to him that using Axe Throw on the thing from max distance was never going to actually work, as the moment it crossed 30 of the 50 feet of distance between them, it immediately stopped, turned around, and began walking back to its spawn point, which of course it would do! How could he have forgotten about the damned thing¡¯s incredibly short de-aggro range, which Zach continued to believe was deliberately designed by these so-called ¡®Great Ones¡¯ to make things difficult for them? Son of a bitch! To make matters even worse, Zach had also forgotten the lesson he¡¯d learned very early on in B1 when he was grinding Skelly Grunts by himself. Back then, he¡¯d parried Skelly Grunt A¡¯s scimitar with enough force to knock it out of its hand and send it careening across the area, where it had landed right next to Skelly Grunt B¡ªcausing that one to aggro, which he had understood at the time to mean that mobs could aggro other mobs and create something of a chain. Apparently, this was something that somehow Lienne and Rian didn¡¯t even know, as they gawked in total confusion as what seemed like twenty pumpkins all sprang to life and began growling as they ran on short, stubby legs at the three of them. ¡°What the hell?¡± Rian asked. ¡°Shit!¡± Zach swore. ¡°You mean you didn¡¯t know?¡± ¡°Know what?¡± Lienne asked. Zach sighed. ¡°Mobs can aggro other mobs onto people. I learned this back at the start of the dungeon but somehow forgot about it until now. Wait, you guys didn¡¯t know?¡± Rushing forward to meet the vicious purple monsters head on, Rian shouted, ¡°Nope! I do now, though!¡± Luckily, the scarecrow had only run through twenty of these things, as if they had approached it from even a slightly different angle, the current twenty purple pumpkins could have easily been two- or three-hundred purple pumpkins. Though Rian tried his best, he only managed to achieve aggro on about twelve or so of the pumpkins. The other eight made straight for him and Lienne. And it was in this moment Zach realized that, if nothing else, at least Lienne really was correct about him: he was getting so Gods-damned good with his sword. Despite four of them leaping at him from completely different angles, Zach actually found it easy to deal with compared to the drills Fluffles had put him through with the various wooden swords, which had moved far faster and were likely far more deadly due to their speed than even the sharp-teethed pumpkin things that were trying to eat him. Whirling his sword through the air, he cut each one of them down before they managed to reach his flesh; each time, a spray of horrific-smelling¡ªand now, he discovered, horrific tasting¡ªthick, slimy pumpkin juice splashed all across his face, mouth, and chest. Yet, at the very least, he managed to stop each one before it could bite into him. Even more so, he was also able to cut down the three that went for Lienne. The last of the three came close to biting her nose off, however, and it made Zach realize that, if they had aggroed even a single additional pumpkin, it might¡¯ve been more than he could handle. Much like the Eeps, these guys could become very dangerous in swarms¡ªalthough maybe not quite to the extent of those bat-like creatures, as they could fly and they also seemed to pack a bigger bite. Coincidentally, those had also been purple in color, too. ¡°Guys, a little help here!¡± Rian shouted, drawing his attention. ¡°I¡¯m okay, so don''t panic, but¡­but this is incredibly uncomfortable.¡± Zach opened his mouth to reply¡ªthen burst out in uncontrollable laughter as he saw his poor friend absolutely covered with pumpkins, which had latched onto him like purple-shelled leeches. One was on his nose, about three were biting his girthy belly, there was one on each of his arms and legs, two on each of his hips, and lastly, one with its mouth locked shut on his ass. Together with Lienne, they slaughtered each one, taking great care not to accidentally strike Rian in the process. ¡°Ugh, I tasted it!¡± Lienne yelled as some of the goop splashed on her mouth as well. By the time it was over, all three of them were drenched in the sticky, nasty, bad-tasting, bad-smelling pumpkin juice. There weren¡¯t even any seeds in it. It really was more like a type of blood than any kind of fruit. Well, at least that earned us a hundred xp, Zach thought. That puts me at 220/400xp. ¡°So,¡± Zach said, not even bothering to try wiping away the disgusting fluid all over his face and body, ¡°it looks like we cut a path through to the scarecrow.¡± ¡°Yeah, you ain¡¯t kidding,¡± Rian said with a groan. Once again, Rian threw his axe, this time from what Zach was fairly sure was its maximum range before it would de-aggro. Like before, the Aggrieved Scarecrow shrieked and charged at them, but this time around, they were within thirty feet of it. A moment before it was upon them, Zach stepped in front of Rian and, as they¡¯d planned, he sliced the creature once to draw aggro, and then another ten times in perfect rhythm before the three of them began their now-familiar dance, making short work of the thing and taking it down just as they had before. As the creature vanished, Zach took mental stock of where he currently stood regarding his level. ¡°I need 80 more experience points,¡± he announced. ¡°You guys need two-hundred and five.¡± Sheathing his sword and axe, Rian pointed in the direction they¡¯d come. ¡°So, I guess we¡¯ll relax and warm up in the fire and then figure out which one we go after next?¡± Lienne nodded, though it was a slow, disgusted nod that caused some of the purple pumpkin guts¡ªor whatever the hell it was¡ªto fall off her ponytail. ¡°I¡¯m freezing c-cold. Let¡¯s go take a break.¡± ¡°But guys,¡± Zach said, becoming impatient. ¡°I¡¯m only 80xp off.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, we¡¯ll get you there, dude. No worries.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just¡­I¡¯m worried I¡¯m going to get another bullshit level up.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see soon enough.¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°I literally can¡¯t wait. I need to know. It¡¯s eating away at me.¡± Rian narrowed his eyes. ¡°Well, that¡¯s too bad. Because we need a break.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine,¡± Zach said. ¡°I¡¯m going to take care of this next one myself.¡± He pointed to one of the straw and cloth creatures way off in the distance where it lurked beyond what had to be thousands of pumpkins residing between the three of them and the scarecrow. ¡°I¡¯ll just kill that one really quickly.¡± Rian chuckled, but it was a sound that came across as more worried than humored. ¡°And how are you going to do that?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no range limit on my Wave Slash. I just need to aim well.¡± At this, Rian¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Wait, for real?" "Yeah. I''m going to use it." "You¡¯re kidding me, right?" "No." "You can actually hit that thing from all the way over here, Zach?" "Yep." "I don''t believe it." "Well, it''s true." "Can I see that ability, please? You mentioned it, but you never actually showed it to me.¡± ¡°Yeah, seriously,¡± Lienne said. ¡°Can we please see it?¡± Zach shrugged. He didn¡¯t see why not. They were allies, after all. Moving closer so that he stood parallel by their sides so that all three could look on at the same time, he brought forward the information on the very first ability he¡¯d ever learned back when he¡¯d reached level 2 with Kalana. (Inner Ability) Wave Slash (UNIQUE) Requires Sword. User channels energy into their strike, unleashing a projectile that slices anything that crosses its path, dealing damage that scales with the user¡¯s strength. The speed of the projectile scales with speed. Cannot be used with short-swords or daggers. Exertion Level: Moderate. ¡°That¡¯s so amazing,¡± Lienne whispered. From the way her head was moving, she was reading it over and over. ¡°It cuts anything in its path? And there¡¯s no range limit? So if you aimed it just right, couldn¡¯t you kill a thousand pumpkins for us?¡± ¡°In theory, yeah,¡± Zach said. ¡°But aiming it so it flies a few inches off the ground in a straight line? That¡¯s not something I think I can pull off. In fact, I can¡¯t even really aim it exactly. I think about where I want it to go, and my body makes the movements on its own.¡± ¡°Oh, wow,¡± Rian said. ¡°It¡¯s a reactive ability.¡± ¡°Reactive ability?¡± He nodded. ¡°Some abilities require the user to move a certain way, speak certain words, or face a certain directions.¡± "This one defintely fits the bill," Zach said with a laugh. Then, more seriously, he said, "Shit, I hope I don''t pass out again." Rolling his shoulders, bending and unbending his knees, and trying to keep his body loose, Zach raised his blade and trained his eyes on the scarecrow far into the distance. It had to be at least a half-mile away. ¡°You said that this is the best way to increase my stamina, right? To use this thing more often?¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Lienne replied. ¡°This is going to be so Gods-damned exhausting.¡± Zach braced himself. ¡°All right, here I go." Lifting his blade high into the air above his head, he activated his ability, and then his body moved all on its own. "Wave Slash!¡± his mouth forced him to scream as he swung his sword downwards diagonally. As the resulting green energy solidified into a genuine metal object¡ªa double-bladed ring¡ªthat then took off towards the scarecrow, it confirmed something that Zach had only suspected and did not until now know for certain¡ªthat the farther the razor-sharp disc traveled, the faster it moved and the more accurate it became. This, in turn, caused its screech as it cut through the air to grow louder and louder until, by the time it reached its target, it sounded like a jet airplane coming in for a landing. Zach watched in exhausted satisfaction as his Wave Slash moved with such incredible speed that, rather than split the scarecrow in two, it simply exploded into a shower of straw and cloth. The thing was just absolutely disintegrated. 875 ¡°Holy Gods!¡± Rian actually screamed. ¡°Eight-seventy-five. Eight-seventy-five! Li, do you see this shit?¡± ¡°I see it,¡± she said with a gasp. Zach didn¡¯t even care about the damage. He was too nervous. Too concerned. Too worried. Too on edge. If not for his paranoia, he might¡¯ve found it interesting that the size of numbers seemed to scale with distance so that they could clearly see what was being written even from a half mile away. In fact, he¡¯d definitely find this cool as hell if he were in a normal state of mind. Instead, he agonized so intensely over his level up, which was an instant from appearing, that he somehow tuned out the overwhelming exhaustion that threatened to bring him to his knees. Holding his breath, he spotted the +100xp, and then immediately thereafter came the words he was waiting for. Level Up! ¡­and that¡­that was all. That was all it said. Zach¡¯s knees buckled both from emotional agony as well as physical exhaustion as a heavy weight of pure disappointment and sadness settled on his chest. ¡°I give up,¡± he said in disbelief. ¡°For real. I give up. I¡¯m done. I¡¯ve had enough of this shit.¡± ¡°Zach,¡± Lienne whispered. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m fucking done!¡± he screamed, far louder than he intended but still somehow not loudly enough to satisfy his burning rage. Lying down in the middle of the field, he ignored his two friends who were begging him to get up and rejoin them at the campfire. Zach didn¡¯t care. He¡¯d had enough. Something was wrong with him. Something wasn¡¯t right inside of his soul. And after two level-ups with literally zero gains, that much was no longer in dispute. Why even bother to try anymore? Twice in a row, he¡¯d gotten nothing. Just¡­just nothing! Why should he even bother anymore? Leveling up was not helping him in any way. His levels had been progressively getting worse, and now he was getting nothing at all! Why would level 8 be any different? Why bother trying to reach it? It would just be another blank, bullshit level. He was done. He was so over this. He''d had enough. All he wanted now was to rush through this Gods-damned dungeon and find a warm bed to sleep in. His morale was shot, his hopes were dashed, and his optimism was now nonexistent. At this rate, would even a regular adventuring guild take him in? Him, the boy who was for some reason physically unable to grow stronger with leveling? Even if they did, he would just be a charity case: someone let in out of pity and not merit. "Guys, please stop bugging me," he grumbled as Lienne and Rian continued to insist without a shred of evidence that things would improve. "Zach, I''ll make you a deal," Lienne said. "What deal?" he growled. "Sorry. I''m not grunting at you. Just my situation." "I know, Zach. I get it. I really do. But still, let''s make a deal." "What deal?" She bent over slightly and reached out, extending her hand in his direction. "Try one more time," she said. "Just one last level. And if it sucks, I promise you I''ll leave you alone. I won''t bug you anymore." Zach exhaled sadly, feeling exhausted. "Really?" "Yeah," Rian said, joining his sister. "I refuse to believe this is just some cruel joke being played on you. One more level, and I promise you, if it''s another blank one like that, me and Lienne will break you out of this dungeon ourselves and you can never look back if that''s what you want. We''ll go away and never bother you again, too." Zach frowned. "We can still be friends, you know? Even if I quit." Lienne sighed. "Fine. We''ll still be friends. But please. Just please try one last final time. Please! One more level and I swear on my life, if it''s another one like this one, we won''t say a word. You can quit, and we won''t even try to stop you." Zach sat up, banged his fist on the soil, and swore. "Fine!" he said. "I''ll get level 8. But you better keep your word. If nothing comes of it, I''m quitting this whole thing. No more leveling. No more adventuring. I''m not going to just keep humiliating myself as I realize how weak I am inside. Level after level, I just¡­I just get fucked! I''m not even normally a quitter, either. I''ve just hit my Gods-damned limit. But fine. I''ll try one last time." He took her hand, and she helped pull him up to his feet. Zach fixed her with a hard look, which he then gave to her brother as well. He meant what he was saying. This would be his last chance go at this. If level 8 didn''t at least give him a single stat increase, he was done. His story as an adventurer was over. And he would never look back. It was said¡ªand he truly believed¡ªthat leveling up brought out a person''s inner strength. It was what they had inside themselves all along. Leveling just brought out the power deep down inside one''s soul. It was for this reason that Zach was so close to giving up. Because for the past two levels, he had reached into his soul to see what resided inside, and both times, the answer had been nothing! Zach could no longer withstand reminder after reminder that his soul was so empty: so lacking in strength. It hurt. It confused him. It made no Gods-damned sense. "This is the last time," he said again. "The very last time." When Varsh had beaten the snot out of him back in Whispery Woods, Zach had made a promise to himself: he swore to become more powerful at any cost. He swore to never allow himself to be in that kind of situation ever again. But that promise relied entirely on the strength to stand tall residing within his heart. If there was truly nothing in his soul but emptiness and longing: if his soul was truly as barren as it now seemed, then this was a promise he never stood a chance of keeping no matter how pure his intentions. How could he face Mr. Oren or even Kalana? How could he show up at level 10 or higher and have the same stats as a level 4? How could he endure listening to them "pretend" that this wasn''t such a big deal and try to downplay the fact that he was so lacking in "inner strength" that he couldn''t even get a single stat point after working so hard to level up? No, he made his decision and he intended to stick with it. As long as he got at least one stat, no matter which one, he would continue to fight. But if his next level was devoid of anything at all, then he was done. He was giving up. Not because he was a quitter, but because it would be a sign that it just wasn''t meant to be. If he couldn''t get stronger through leveling up, then why level up at all? Leveling up without stats wasn''t truly leveling up. If he couldn''t level up, then why risk his life? It was only logical to ask himself such a question. Without growth, his effort was wasted. Just one stat point, he said in his mind in what was a cross between a thought and a prayer. When I get level 8, just please! At least give me one single stat point. I just want to know that I have some kind of inner strength. Any at all. Even if it''s just a point into luck. I can''t cope with the idea that I am so worthless that I have nothing in me left to give! That was now the bare minimum. There could be no more wiggle room. The next time he leveled up, he had to get something--anything! It was either that, or he gave up on his dreams. How could it possibly be any other way? Chapter 36: Kalana Vayra Chapter 36: Kalana Vayra When did it happen? When did he, Zachys Calador, become such a Gods-be-damned pessimist? No, seriously, when? It must¡¯ve been recently. That much was for certain. He wasn¡¯t like this a few weeks ago. So when had it happened? Was it when he saw his father¡¯s dead, mangled corpse? Was it when Kalana had been forced to leave him? Was it when Mr. Oren made him feel unworthy to join the GSG? These were questions he pondered only because he knew there was no way this brand new ¡°defeatist¡± attitude of his had emerged just as a result of a few rotten levels. Sure, they didn¡¯t help much, but at the same time, the Zach of just a few weeks ago would¡¯ve willingly leveled all the way to a million just in the chance something good might happen when he got there. I can¡¯t help it, he thought. Just gloomy as hell. Not wanting to spoil the mood of his two new friends, he tried his best to shove aside his dejected feelings, and with as much cheer as he could muster, he said, ¡°Grats!¡± as the dead scarecrow gave way to words which were joyous to everyone but him. Zach watched enviously as Lienne gained another two points in intelligence, a point in constitution, and a point in speed. Then he watched with even greater jealousy as Rian gained a point in strength, a point in dex, and another two points in constitution¡ªand learned some kind of ability called ¡°Bully,¡± which from the brief glance Rian had shown him at the description, seemed to cause a mob of equal or lower level to ¡°flee¡± for ten or twenty seconds or something. Apparently it was in a class of ability that adventurers referred to as a ¡°fear.¡± Both of them had pushed their way through a rather large batch of purple pumpkins with a joy and eagerness that he himself should have been feeling as he got closer to his next level. But rather than view his own experience gains with excitement and enthusiasm the way he had back when he was leveling with Kalana or even by himself early on against the Skelly Grunts, Zach now dreaded his next level, because he feared it would reinforce the nightmarish thought that had been working its way deeper into his brain: the idea that there was nothing inside of him. That he was hollow. That the reason his inner strength could not be brought to the surface was because he had no inner strength. But if I don¡¯t, what do I have? he wondered. He knew he was behaving erratically compared to his usual self, but a part of it was the realization that he no longer had anything in his life but this. Mr. Oren claimed he was being hunted. He no longer felt welcome in his own home city. He wouldn¡¯t be safe there even if he went back. So what did that leave him in life? It left him this. Being an adventurer was now his only option. And that on its own wasn¡¯t something he minded, either. A big part of him craved this. Yet, the thought that he might not be good enough for it was driving him insane. His self-esteem was in tatters, and if he was being honest with himself, it had been in a freefall awhile now. And so, going through the motions while lacking any of the genuine adventuring spirit, he did his part and played his role as they spent the next two hours fighting pumpkins and scarecrows, racking up an additional 325xp and putting Zach at 450/600xp needed to reach level 8. Their pace had slowed significantly from where it had been at the start due to the chill in the air requiring them to take increasingly longer and more frequent ¡°heating breaks¡± near the campfire. Yet, even with the somewhat reduced rate of experience gain, he still figured he would level up sometime within the next half hour¡ªor at least that was what he¡¯d expected to happen. But then the campfire died, the weather turned even colder, and in a matter of moments, there was an unspoken understanding among the three of them that it was time to move on. ¡°It¡¯s way too cold now,¡± Rian said. ¡°Even for me. Which is weird because¡±¡ªhe pointed up at the sky¡ª¡°it actually looks like the sun is coming out.¡± The change in light had been so gradual that Zach had barely noticed it, but it was indeed true: at some point during the past hour, the sky had turned from a dark black to a dark blue, one which was becoming brighter by the moment as the dual moons seemed to fade away against a backdrop of a gradually more azure atmosphere. Lienne looked like she wanted to voice her agreement, but her teeth were now chattering so fiercely that it had become an open question as to whether or not the girl was still capable of forming words. This, Zach could completely understand, because now, his teeth were also chattering. In fact, it had actually become so cold that their breath now let off water vapor. It reminded Zach of when he was younger and he used to believe he could breathe fire. One of his rare memories of his late mother was of her telling him that he was a dragon in the winter time, because he could make smoke come out of his mouth. For some reason, the random memory caused him to feel an abrupt pang of heartache for a woman he hadn¡¯t really thought about in a long, long time. Mom, he thought. I had a mom. It feels weird to say. ¡°I think,¡± Rian said, ¡°we should consider leaving this floor.¡± It was almost comical how unnecessary Rian¡¯s words were, because for the past ten minutes, without anyone actually saying a thing, the three of them had already begun walking towards the exit as though on autopilot. When they¡¯d first arrived here, the temperature felt like late fall with a touch of early winter. But now? Now it felt like mid-winter during a cold snap¡ªand it was still dropping, too! With such rapidity, the ambient temperature was becoming so uncomfortable that Zach temporarily lost all concern over his levels and stats as his mind shifted gears and instead focused on warmth and leaving this hell behind him. Or is it actually hell here after all? As the three of them approached the toolshed with the B3->B4 metal door, the sun finally made itself visible, and to Zach¡¯s astonishment, he realized that, under the proper lighting, this planet, wherever or whatever it was, happened to be breathtakingly beautiful. ¡°W-w-w-w-wow,¡± Lienne said, her teeth chattering. ¡°I d-d-d-didn¡¯t even s-s-s-see th-those m-m-m-mountains.¡± With the darkness abating, Zach could now see significantly farther out into the distance. Because of this, he only now realized that the three of them weren¡¯t just surrounded by mountains, but they were on a mountain, too. Not far from the tool shed there was a cliff, and beyond the cliff, at least three-thousand feet below them was a massive forest that seemed to stretch on for hundreds of miles. There were birds flying above the trees, too, and they were some of the strangest, most beautiful, and exotic creatures that Zach had ever seen. Their bodies were orange in color, with red, gold, and white feathers, and this particular flock seemed to be heading all the way off to Zach¡¯s right, where he could see a river that ran through the forest, which ended in a waterfall and led down to a much thicker, denser woodland area. ¡°Lesson learned,¡± he said aloud, shivering. ¡°Everything looks scary and shitty when it¡¯s dark outside.¡± Lienne laughed, even as her whole body shook. ¡°It¡¯s s-s-so b-b-beautiful. I almost w-w-want to st-stay.¡± Rian placed his hand on the push bar. ¡°I don¡¯t. Let¡¯s go, dudes. If it¡¯s too cold for me, it¡¯s definitely too cold for you two.¡± With that, he pushed in the door and stepped inside. Zach followed behind him¡ªor attempted to, at least. But Lienne, apparently too cold to spend another moment out here, actually shoved him aside, squeaked out an ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± and then rushed in behind her brother. Cracking a grin, Zach followed after her. She¡¯s cute. I can¡¯t deny that, he thought with a smile. Then, more seriously, he realized: but still, she¡¯s not Kalana. I need to not have these thoughts. The moment the door closed behind them, the temperature went from below-freezing to room temperature, and Zach literally sighed with relief, as did Lienne. They were in some kind of narrow stairwell that looked like the sort one would find in an apartment complex or office building. Ever since the trip down from B1->B2, Zach now found himself nervous in the presence of stairs. He wouldn¡¯t put it past this dungeon to make them go through something like that again. ¡°What do you guys think?¡± he asked. ¡°Ten-second flight down to B4 or another billion-hour plunge where we have to risk breaking our legs just to get from platform to platform?¡± Rian shrugged. ¡°To be honest, it probably doesn¡¯t matter anymore.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± He smirked. ¡°My constitution is high enough now that I can probably take a hundred-foot fall and be all right. I can put Lienne on my back and catch you if we need to go that route.¡± ¡°Having stats is nice,¡± Zach said dryly. ¡°I wonder what it¡¯s like to level up and get more points into things.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Get more experience and you¡¯ll find out.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make me slap you,¡± Zach joked. Rian¡¯s only reply was to give him a rough pat on the back; it was playful, but it actually hurt. Zach coughed out a laugh and then gave him one back. Before he knew what was happening, the two somehow erupted into a pseudo wrestling match right there in the stairwell while Lienne rolled her eyes and said she¡¯d punch either of them if they knocked into her. Given what they¡¯d been through together during the last two¡ªmore like three now¡ªdays, Zach felt like he¡¯d been their friend for years. The more time they spent together, the more comfortable he became with them. And just like that, he found himself somewhat at peace with his situation. It was a shift that came on so suddenly he wasn¡¯t even prepared for it. One moment, he was feeling gloomy over his lack of progress, and the very next, his emotions took a one-eighty as it dawned on him that it didn¡¯t matter how strong he was or wasn¡¯t, because he was going on an adventure with people he really liked and who seemed to like him back. But it was more than that: it was the fact that he had become so ¡°comfortable¡± with the idea of guilds and leveling and power that he¡¯d actually forgotten how to appreciate what he already had. Once upon a time, a boy named Zachys Calador would have literally traded his soul just to be level 2. Just to have a point in anything at all. Forget ¡°keeping up¡± with this person or that person or joining a guild or trying to ¡°one up¡± his new friends. If someone had told Zach that he¡¯d be in a dungeon today with a sword and that he¡¯d know how to use it and he would kill mobs with it, he would have been moved to tears from the sheer joy of it. And now, here he was, and he was acting like a grumpy bitch because he wasn¡¯t as powerful as he wanted to be. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± Rian asked him. ¡°You look so different all of a sudden.¡± Zach laughed. ¡°I just finally get it.¡± ¡°Get what?¡± ¡°This,¡± he said as he began to descend the stairs. ¡°What about it?¡± ¡°I would¡¯ve killed to be here right now doing this. And I am. So there¡¯s no reason for me to be upset. Or to quit if level 8 sucks as much as 6 and 7. I got so caught in the wrong outlook that I forgot why I ever wanted something like this to happen to me in the first place.¡± Rian stopped short on the middle of the second flight of steps, and Zach paused after passing him. ¡°You know what? Me too,¡± he admitted. ¡°Until you mentioned it just now, I almost forgot how excited I was when Li and I first learned we were going to be adventurers. The more into this world you get, the more normal it feels, and the more you lose sight of why you wanted to be part of it.¡± ¡°Exactly!¡± Zach said. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m trying to say. But then again, in my case, part of it was this whole ¡®guild¡¯ bullshit.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± Lienne asked, as though she were only first becoming interested in the conversation now. ¡°Well, when I first found my spawn,¡± Zach began, ¡°all I wanted to do was go on an adventure with Kalana. You know: level up a few times. Do something no one in my city has ever done before, or at least no one I¡¯d ever heard of. Just me and Kal, partners in crime.¡± Lienne frowned at the mention of her name, but Zach pretended not to notice. ¡°But I guess when I found out I¡¯d have to get level 10 to see her again, I kind of shifted my view on what I was supposed to care about, and in a way, it spoiled things for me. It became about the grind and not the journey.¡± ¡°Here¡¯s what I don¡¯t understand,¡± Rian said. ¡°Why do you care?¡± ¡°Huh? Care about what?¡± ¡°About this guild. The GSG. Why do you feel like you have to join them? Why do you give a fuck about them, dude? They sound like they¡¯re elitist assholes. You can still make adventuring about whatever you want it to be about. You don¡¯t have to check off power boxes on some douchebag¡¯s checklist.¡± ¡°It¡¯s so I can see Kalana again,¡± Zach said. ¡°That doesn¡¯t even make sense. Why can¡¯t you see her without being level 10? I mean, you¡¯ll probably be level 10 before the end of today or tomorrow, but even still, why does it matter?¡± ¡°Because Mr. Oren said¡­¡± Zach tilted his head sideways as he realized the absurdity of his words. Still, he spoke them anyway. ¡°Mr. Oren said I couldn¡¯t until I joined a guild. Any guild.¡± ¡°Who gives a shit what he says?¡± Rian asked with a frown. ¡°There¡¯s no law that says people named Zach need to be in a guild to see people named Kalana. That doesn¡¯t even make sense, man. Think about that. Why do you need to be in a guild to see her? Is there some kind of invisible barrier that won¡¯t let you? How about, when we get out of this dungeon, you just go? Hell, I¡¯ll go with you. We¡¯ll all just go. Who¡¯s physically stopping us?¡± Zach felt his eyebrows raise. How could something so simple and so dumb be so profound? The questions were so rudimentary and unsophisticated that they bordered on comical, and yet they were so damn true. What was stopping him? ¡°Hey,¡± Rian said, pointing at his pocket. ¡°Mr. Oren, your sponsor¡ªhe didn¡¯t ban you from having a phone, right?¡± Confused, Zach asked, ¡°Obviously not, but what¡¯s that got to do with anything?¡± ¡°Did he ban Kalana from having a phone?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± ¡°So why don¡¯t you just call her? Again, why are you just assuming you can¡¯t do something just because no one told you that you can?¡± Zach felt his chest tighten as, once again, such an uncomplicated, simple statement struck him with the force of something so much more profound. ¡°I guess¡­I don¡¯t know, Rian. I got swept up in this stuff. Since I came home that night and saw my dad thrown out of the window, I¡¯ve just been, you know¡­I¡¯ve been swept up. I haven¡¯t had the chance to really think about things like this.¡± Sitting on the bottom step of the second flight of stairs, Rian said, ¡°You should take out your phone and see if you have service. If so, call her.¡± Zach blinked. ¡°Right now?¡± ¡°Yeah, dude. Right now.¡± Lienne cleared her throat. ¡°Boys, we¡¯re kind of in the middle of something? Can we get going, please?¡± ¡°Li, stop.¡± She glared at Rian but said nothing. Zach removed his new phone. He didn¡¯t actually have Kalana¡¯s number programmed into it, but he didn¡¯t need to, either, as it was one he¡¯d memorized. ¡°I should call her? Right now?¡± ¡°Do you have service?¡± ¡°Somehow, yeah. Half a bar. Guess we¡¯re back on Galterra.¡± ¡°So call her.¡± Zach, unable to believe he was actually doing this, began to dial Kalana¡¯s number¡ªthen stopped, as he remembered something kind of important, and it made him laugh. ¡°I broke her phone,¡± he said. ¡°I can¡¯t call her. I don¡¯t know her new number.¡± ¡°What about her dad? Do you know his number?¡± Strangely enough, Zach did. It was mostly because Kal and her dad didn¡¯t have a home phone number and used their dad¡¯s cell as their apartment line, so whenever Zach couldn¡¯t reach Kalana on her cell¡ªwhich happened a lot given the thing was old and needed replacing long before he broke it¡ªhe¡¯d call her apartment, which was really just her dad¡¯s cell which was connected to a cordless home phone. Actually, I technically didn¡¯t even break her phone, he realized. If we¡¯re being totally fair here, the Will of the Favored buff broke it. Looking down at his cell, Zach rubbed his chin and thought carefully about whether or not this was something he should really do. Even as he tried to tune out Rian, who continued to goad him on, he needed to seriously consider this. What if hearing from him disturbed her? What if she had changed so much in such a short time like he had? ¡°Stop thinking about it and call,¡± Rian said. Becoming nervous, Zach was surprised by how much his hand shook as he dialed in her dad¡¯s number. He had no idea if it would even work. Wouldn¡¯t Mr. Oren want him to get a new phone or whatever after the Varsh incident? Wouldn¡¯t it be dangerous for him to still be using the same number? Hell, for that matter, was anyone actually even still after Kalana? From the way Mr. Oren made things sound, the situation was kind of reversed now, and it was him whom they wanted, not her. ¡°Here goes nothing,¡± he said, pressing the green ¡°send¡± button. The phone rang, and Zach felt his heart skip a beat. Then it rang a second time, and he was suddenly nauseous. A third time and he had to resist the urge to hang up. After the fourth ring, he began to strongly consider ending the call, even as he lacked any understanding of why he was so nervous in the first place. This was Kalana. He knew her better than he knew anyone. Since when did he find silly Kalana so Gods-damned intimidating? What was behind his sudden feelings of inadequacy? Was it really just because she was apparently super powerful now or whatever? She was level 15 the day I left my apartment. Gods only know what level she is now. Becoming too nervous, Zach made up his mind to end the call. He couldn¡¯t do it. He couldn¡¯t go through with this. Try as he might, he simply could not set aside his feelings of intimidation and unworthiness. It was something he¡¯d need to work on and fix before he could possibly¡ª ¡°Hello?¡± a man¡¯s voice said, causing Zach to gasp. That was definitely her father. That was definitely Mr. Vayra. ¡°Hello?¡± he asked again. ¡°Who is this?¡± Zach swallowed. He opened his mouth to speak, but he found himself unable to form words. His throat went dry, and his heart began hammering in his chest. ¡°Hello?¡± Mr. Vayra asked again. ¡°Well, if no one¡¯s there, I guess I¡¯ll just hang¡ª¡± ¡°Uh! Um, hold on a second, Mr. Vayra.¡± There was a brief pause. Then, in an excited, animated tone of voice, Kalana¡¯s father¡ªa literal prince¡ªsaid, ¡°Zach?¡± ¡°Ah¡­yeah, it¡¯s me,¡± he said. ¡°Gods above! It¡¯s so good to hear from you.¡± Zach was about to reply that he felt the same, but then he was once again stunned into silence as he heard another voice on the line, one which sounded like it came from a distance¡ªlike the other end of a room. To his complete shock, he found his eyes beginning to dampen just at the sound of it. This was not the reaction he¡¯d expected. This wasn¡¯t even something he thought himself capable of. Getting teary-eyed just at the sound of a voice? Since when was he that kind of person? ¡°Dad, did you just say Zach?¡± asked the voice of Kalana. ¡°No way! Is he on the phone?¡± Zach¡¯s nerves intensified as he realized he might very well be about to speak to Kalana. How was it even possible that something he¡¯d done a billion times over the last two years was now, for some reason, the scariest thing he could even imagine doing? How would he break the ice? How would he prevent the conversation from being awkward? How would he keep things sounding natural and cool? The last thing he wanted was to trap Kalana on a phone call where he came across as terrified and awkward. ¡°Dad, is that really Zach?¡± ¡°Yes, sweetheart. He just called me¡ªhey, take it easy!¡± ¡°Gimme, gimme, gimme!¡± There was a brief pause. ¡°Um, hello? Zach? It¡¯s me, Kalana! Why¡¯d you wait so long to call me, jerk?¡± Zach wiped his eyes. He was so damn glad she couldn¡¯t see him right now. This was just pathetic. He was supposed to be a man. Why was he getting all emotional? It was to such an extent he was afraid to speak to her, as he worried his voice would break. I¡¯m behaving like a woman. Get it together, Zach. Shit. ¡°Hey, Kal,¡± he said. ¡°To be honest, I didn¡¯t know I could. For all I know, Mr. Oren might throw a fit if he finds out I¡¯m talking to you without being the appropriate level or whatever.¡± ¡°Who cares what he thinks? Forget him. I just can¡¯t believe it¡¯s really you. I¡¯m so happy. You finally called me. I missed you! Where are you, anyway? I wanna know everything, you hear me? Everything!¡± Zach smiled. ¡°I¡¯m actually in a dungeon right now.¡± ¡°Wow! You¡¯re in a real live dungeon?¡± ¡°Yeah. I made some friends, actually. You would¡¯ve¡­I wish you would¡¯ve been here with us. It¡¯s weird doing something like this without you.¡± ¡°What kind of dungeon is it? Tell me.¡± Having no idea what to say or in what order, Zach decided to just go with the flow, and so he told Kalana everything that¡¯d happened. The only parts he left out were his level and the fact that his stats didn¡¯t seem to be going up. He knew Kal wouldn¡¯t care. He knew the right choice would be to just tell her everything. But he just couldn¡¯t bring himself: not yet, anyway. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. As Zach spoke, he felt gradually more comfortable as he realized that she was still the same girl, and a week or two away hadn¡¯t changed her. ¡°You went to another planet?¡± she shouted. ¡°Without me?¡± ¡°Two other planets,¡± he said. ¡°And you drove a DEHV?¡± ¡°A car. Something called a Ford Mustang. It was really cool. You would¡¯ve loved it.¡± ¡°Zach, you¡¯re so mean. You can¡¯t just go visiting other planets without me. You should come get me next time!¡± ¡°Wait, for real? I mean, I don¡¯t even know if I¡¯m allowed to see you yet. I still don¡¯t know why we were separated at all.¡± ¡°Because Alex is a know-it-all, that¡¯s why. But I don¡¯t have to listen to him anymore, because I¡¯m more powerful than he is now.¡± Zach could feel his eyes widening. ¡°Sorry, what?¡± ¡°I got really strong really fast,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m level 65.¡± ¡°Wh¡­¡± He felt the blood draining from his face. He wasn¡¯t sure how to react to something like this. He wasn¡¯t sure how he was supposed to feel. He couldn¡¯t understand how what she was saying was possible. How different could Elvish folk possibly be from humans that they could accomplish something like that? Even Rian seemed taken aback, as Zach¡¯s eavesdropping friend had a look on his face that Zach was sure was mirrored on his own. ¡°Did you say level 65?¡± Zach desperately hoped he¡¯d misheard¡ªand then he felt shitty for hoping such a thing. What did that say about him as a person? That he was so insecure it made him upset that Kalana was really powerful. But in total fairness, it wasn¡¯t like he actually chose to get upset. That was the thing, really. He wanted to be happy for her. He did! But people were not able to just pick and choose their emotions. Even though he didn¡¯t want to feel so emasculated, and even though he knew that, logically, he shouldn¡¯t, he could not control the fact that he did. Wanting to feel one way and actually feeling it were two different things. And so, if he were being honest with himself, he had to admit that it bothered him Kalana was so far ahead of him. Well¡­assuming, of course, that he¡¯d actually heard her correctly, because the level she¡¯d just claimed to be was simply ridiculous. ¡°Kal,¡± he asked, ¡°did you just say that you are level sixty-five? As in six with a five after it?¡± ¡°Well, okay¡­I kinda fibbed a tiny bit there. I¡¯m actually only level 64, but I¡¯m so close to 65 it almost doesn¡¯t matter. In fact, I think I¡¯m only, like, 80,000xp away from leveling up, so I¡¯m basically there already.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± Zach asked with a gasp. ¡°That¡¯s insane. It hasn¡¯t even been that long since¡­so how can you be this powerful already?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, you think that¡¯s high level? My dad¡¯s level 73 now.¡± ¡°Kal, I¡­this is too much for me to even take in. How? I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°Elves are awesome, that¡¯s how,¡± she said with a cute laugh. Zach worried his brain would explode as the sheer insanity of this situation dawned on him. If Kalana was telling the truth¡ªand he was pretty sure that she was¡ªthen that meant that, right now, at this very moment, Kalana was actually so powerful on such an absurd, ridiculous scale, that she was now strong enough to beat his cat in a hypothetical fight. She was actually more powerful than his cat! And you know what else? Yeah. This right here was now, officially, the ¡°new¡± craziest thing he¡¯d ever heard. Previously, the award for ¡°this is so insane I can¡¯t believe this is real¡± had gone to Fluffles for being a level-47 talking cat. Unfortunately, the kitty had now been dethroned. Kalana was the new champion. She was now the new reigning champion of ¡°there¡¯s no way this is possible.¡± And it wasn¡¯t just Zach who had a hard time grasping this, either; Rian also seemed pretty taken aback. Zach could tell from the eerie way he was mumbling to himself. ¡°So, this is why Peter IV feared the Elvish so much,¡± he whispered, his voice barely audible. At first, Zach thought his friend was speaking to him, but glancing over to where he sat with his eyes practically staring at the ceiling, he realized that Rian was instead talking to his own self. ¡°A human takes¡­decades to get to the 70s. This is unreal.¡± ¡°So,¡± Kalana said cheerfully. ¡°What level are you, Zach?¡± Gods-dammit! Zach made a humiliating moan that he hoped she didn¡¯t hear. ¡°Ah, Kal, the phone is¡ªchh!¡ªthe phone is¡ªchh!¡ªit¡¯s¡ªaking up¡ªchh!¡ªI can¡¯t¡ªyou.¡± ¡°Nah-uh! No it¡¯s not, you jerk. Just tell me what level you are. I hate how you get all defensive about this kind of thing.¡± ¡°Here¡¯s the thing, Kal. I actually can¡¯t tell you that, because Mr. Oren told me I¡¯m not allowed to tell anyone my level.¡± ¡°Yah right. And even if he did say that, he didn¡¯t mean you couldn¡¯t tell someone like me. Anyways, I¡¯ll find out sooner or later. I wish you¡¯d come see me.¡± Waving his hand at Rian, Zach got up off the step, ran halfway back up the flight of steps so that he could have a little privacy, and then, lowering his voice, he whispered, ¡°I want to so badly, Kal. I really do.¡± ¡°Things are way different now than they were just a week ago,¡± she said. ¡°I know I sound the same, but so much has happened¡ªand most of it is stuff that I can only tell you in person. If you wanna come see me, you can now. I promise you: no one can boss me around anymore. I know it¡¯s only been a little more than a week, but I don¡¯t ever gotta worry about people like Varsh ever again. There¡¯s a lot you don¡¯t know.¡± Zach put aside his feelings of powerlessness for a moment. His desire to both see¡ªand be with¡ªKalana far outweighed any dumb pride of his that she might be wounding by achieving level 65 in the time it would take Zach to order a fucking pizza. ¡°Do you really mean that?¡± he asked. ¡°I can come see you now?¡± ¡°Gods, yes!¡± ¡°But then¡­then if that¡¯s the case, why did Mr. Oren specifically say I had to get level 10 and join a guild before I could see you? I just don¡¯t understand. Are you sure this is okay?¡± ¡°Alex isn¡¯t a factor in my life, Zach. I promise! He was only even here for a day. You don¡¯t even know where I am right now, do you? I¡¯m on Elvish hunting grounds. This is my domain. Mine and my father¡¯s. No human can boss us around here. Oh, right. I¡¯m also rich now and I own a private jet.¡± Zach almost fell off the steps and rolled back down to Rian as his mind took in what she¡¯d just said to him. ¡°Fucking hell!¡± he yelled, not even meaning to raise his voice. ¡°How in the name of each and every fuck do you own a private jet? Fucking Gods be damned, Kal!¡± ¡°Zach, you¡¯re swearing so much,¡± she said grumpily. ¡°You¡¯ve developed bad habits. I knew you would! But anyways, now that we¡¯re finally talking, I wanna bring you here. We can hunt mobs together, and I can help power-level you and all that.¡± As if her words could not be any more shocking, she just had to unleash that on him. Was she actually asking him to come visit her in her special hunting grounds? She was, wasn¡¯t she? There was no way he¡¯d misheard her. She¡¯d outright asked him to come and be power-leveled. But wait¡­wasn¡¯t that a good thing? It was, right? But then, if so, what was that queasy feeling in his stomach? Why did the very idea of it cause him to feel so revolted? It was as though someone were twisting his insides. It wasn¡¯t that it didn¡¯t feel right¡ªit felt downright wrong. And the most confusing part of all was that Zach wasn¡¯t even sure why it felt so wrong. He only knew that the very notion of kicking back while a higher-leveled person¡ªlet alone the girl he wanted to marry someday¡ªdragged him through level after level, it¡­it sickened him in a way he simply couldn¡¯t understand or explain. Naturally, he knew she was trying to be nice¡ªno more than nice. She was trying to be loving. Kalana was, in her own way, trying to do everything she could to make him happy. Hearing this offer from her should have made him detonate with happiness. He should be crying tears of joy! But for some reason, he wasn¡¯t. Not even close. There was something inside of him that felt almost insulted. Oh, Gods, he thought, as understanding and clarity at last came to him as though through a divine act of intervention. I finally get it, Mr. Oren. I misjudged you¡­ It was now, in this moment, in this dungeon, that Zach came to understand that, while Mr. Oren may not always be right about everything, his former science teacher was right about a whole lot. Only now, having received such a generous offer from Kalana, did Zach finally realize just how¡ªand may the Gods curse him for even admitting this¡ªcorrect Mr. Oren had been in trying to prevent Zach from going with her. You knew this would happen, Zach realized. That was why you didn¡¯t want me to go with her. You knew what would happen to me. It was only through fighting in a dungeon for his life and going on wild car chases in a desperate attempt to flee from purple bat-like monsters that it truly dawned on Zach¡ªthat deep down within himself was an adventurer¡¯s spirit, and if he had gone with Kalana that day, she would have broken it. Never on purpose, of course. Gods no. But she would have. She would have torn it out of him, and he would never get it back. I don¡¯t want to be power-leveled, Kal, he thought to himself but did not dare say it aloud. I want to earn everything I get. I want to build my own life. I want to work for it! I don¡¯t even know why, but I do. I want to create something for myself with my own efforts. How did Mr. Oren know? How could he possibly have known? ¡°Did ya hear what I said, Zach?¡± Kalana asked, shaking Zach out of his moment of self-reflection. ¡°There¡¯s nothing Alex or any of them can do. I promise you. I know they seem scary, but if you come here, they can¡¯t stop you ¡®cause they can¡¯t stop me. I like Alex, I mean, but¡­but he shouldn¡¯t have kept us apart. And now he doesn¡¯t have the power to do that anymore.¡± ¡°Kal, I¡­I don¡¯t know if¡­if that¡¯s how I¡­¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if what I really want is¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know if¡­? Zach, you¡¯re rambling. I¡¯m not gonna be able to understand you if you don¡¯t speak clearly.¡± Zach gathered his courage. He truly loved Kalana. He loved everything about her: her voice, her face, her heart, her laugh, and even her dumb little names that she called him. The last thing Zach wanted to do was say something to upset her. But there were things he was still learning about himself¡ªthings he was only figuring out just this moment. For example: ten minutes ago, if someone had asked him how he felt about flying off to some Elvish hunting grounds to be power-leveled by his sort-of girlfriend, he would have replied, ¡°Pfft, I wish.¡± But now that the idea was presented to him¡ªand was actually real¡ªit was only right here, right now, that he discovered he not only didn¡¯t want that but also that there wasn¡¯t even a part of him that did. This wasn¡¯t even like one of those things where there was a ¡°small part of him¡± that did want to go and a ¡°bigger part¡± that didn¡¯t. No, there was no part of him that wanted to be power-leveled. The idea itself ran contrary to beliefs he didn¡¯t even know until this very moment that he held¡ªand strongly, too. ¡°Kal, you matter more to me than anyone in this world.¡± ¡°Zach,¡± she said in a somewhat higher pitch tone; despite it technically being impossible, he was sure he could actually hear her blushing. ¡°I¡­I feel the same, just so ya know.¡± ¡°But the thing is, Kal, I don¡¯t¡­I don¡¯t want to be power-leveled.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay.¡± Zach¡¯s mouth fell open in shock. ¡°Wait, really?¡± he asked as relief flooded into him. ¡°Of course! Did ya think I was gonna make you do that if you didn¡¯t want to, silly? I know you¡¯ve always loved challenges. So um, you can level the hard way if you want. There¡¯s this beautiful beach that has these level 15 things that look like snakes but they have wings and can fly. They give tons of xp a kill. You can start there, and I can watch you just in case, you know, you get in over your head.¡± Zach pretended not to hear that last bit, as he knew Kalana was not deliberately trying to belittle him. Yet for someone who was always so sensitive and careful about saying things that could upset others, she was on a Gods-damned roll today. ¡°That sounds really lovely,¡± he replied. ¡°But it¡¯s not what I¡­okay, so the thing is that you don¡¯t seem to¡ª¡± ¡°And there¡¯s this beautiful garden where there¡¯s a spawn of Goba Bombers that also gives lots of xp. Or, if you want, you can even level by the¡ª¡± ¡°No, wait, Kal, please, you don¡¯t understand,¡± he interrupted. ¡°What¡­what¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked, her voice coming across as puzzled but also a little bit pained. She also sounded worried¡ªfearful, even. ¡°You¡¯re making it sound like you don¡¯t wanna come. But you are though, right, Zach? You still want¡­you know, to be with me, right?¡± ¡°The hell kind of question is that?¡± Zach asked, having to force himself not to shout. ¡°Of course I do! So much it¡¯s like the only thing I can even think about most days. Kal, I¡¯m fighting my ass off in this dungeon right now just so we can be together.¡± ¡°But you don¡¯t have to. If you¡¯re scared of Alex, you don¡¯t need to be. I already told you¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that, Kal.¡± ¡°Whatever it is, I¡¯ll take care of it. I¡­¡± she lowered her voice to a whisper. ¡°I¡­I love you,¡± she said quietly. ¡°So I promise it¡¯ll be okay.¡± Zach held the phone with one hand and wiped his eyes with his other. He was so torn and conflicted that it was physically painful. On the one hand, the entire reason he was in this dungeon¡ªin this entire situation¡ªwas so that he could see Kalana again. It truly was something he wanted more than anything in this world. On the other hand, he¡¯d awoken something within himself that he couldn¡¯t put back to sleep. He was still here for her, but he wasn¡¯t here for her in the way he thought he was here for her. It was confusing, it was difficult, and it didn¡¯t even make sense to himself. How could he justify being in this dungeon for Kalana when Kalana was outright telling him to leave it and come straight to her? How could he¡ªor anyone¡ªpossibly explain that? Seriously, though! If something like this didn¡¯t even make sense to himself, then how on Galterra could he possibly expect her to understand it? ¡°Why do you sound like you don¡¯t wanna see me?¡± ¡°I do. I want to so bad, Kal. You¡¯re not¡­you¡¯re misunderstanding.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re gonna come here, right?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Now, her voice truly took on a pained quality, but there was more to it, too. When she spoke, there were elements of both surprise and outrage¡ªof stunned disbelief and genuine indignation. ¡°You¡¯re definitely gonna come here. What¡¯s there to even talk about? You wanna see me, right?¡± How could Zach delicately let her know that he wanted to see her¡ªright now, if he could!¡ªbut also that he didn¡¯t want her to accidentally destroy the part of himself that he was still discovering: the part of himself that he¡¯d first realized existed on the day he hopped on his bicycle and road off with his cat-turned-best-friend. Wait, I know! I have an idea! The answer was staring him right in the face. There was a way they could in fact be together, and all without him having to compromise on his personal growth and desire for adventure. It was so obvious that he couldn¡¯t believe this hadn¡¯t been the first thing he¡¯d thought of. ¡°Kal, you know what? We might actually be able to see each other sooner than you¡¯d think. Maybe even in just a day or two.¡± ¡°We can?¡± she chirped, now sounding far less upset. ¡°Yep. I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t think of this right away.¡± ¡°Think of what?¡± she asked, sounding excited. ¡°How?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just meet at Angelica¡¯s.¡± ¡°At where?¡± Zach frowned. ¡°You know¡­Angelica¡¯s.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°I thought¡­I thought you¡¯d know because of your level. Surely, you¡¯ve been to Angelica¡¯s, right? Every adventurer at your level knows¡­right?¡± ¡°Adventurer? Zach, do you¡­do you think I still have that buff?¡± Her words took him by such surprise he almost dropped the phone. ¡°The Will of the Favored? Of course you have it. That¡¯s why we found those mobs that day, Kal. It was meant to happen.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have that.¡± ¡°No, no, you do. I didn¡¯t know about this at first either, Kal, but it turns out, you never would¡¯ve¡ª¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand. I did have it. But now I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Zach, I got rid of that.¡± ¡°Got rid of what?¡± ¡°That weird buff. That¡¯s for humans. We don¡¯t¡­Elvish kind are not adventurers. We¡¯re¡­well, you know.¡± ¡°What?¡± Zach asked, becoming more confused and alarmed by the second. ¡°We¡¯re Gods.¡± For the second time, Zach had to struggle to hold onto his phone. ¡°The fuck is that supposed to mean, Kal?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be mean. I¡¯ll tell you about that some other time.¡± Zach was growing more uneasy with this conversation by the moment. Kalana was still the same girl she¡¯d always been¡ªat least superficially¡ªbut there was something different about her. Something that was beginning to frighten him. ¡°Why did you get rid of it?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Now you can¡¯t get into Angelica¡¯s. I wanted¡­I wanted so badly to show you that place. There¡¯s so many places I wanted you to see.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need that buff to go into dungeons or do whatever stuff you¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°You do, though. I only just learned this myself. In order for people to go into¡ª¡± ¡°Humans,¡± she fired in. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°In order for ¡®humans¡¯ to go into dungeons. My kind doesn¡¯t need any special buff for permission. Look, Zach, I don¡¯t wanna argue with you. I just want to see you again.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all I want, Kal.¡± ¡°Then why won¡¯t you just come here? You keep changing the topic and running around it. If you don¡¯t wanna come, then at least tell me why.¡± Even as Zach spoke, he could scarcely believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. Even though much of it was knowledge he¡¯d acquired from Lienne and Rian, he felt as though the words were coming from his very soul. ¡°Because people like me, Kal, we¡­we don¡¯t hunt on resorts or hunting grounds. We explore. We find. We adventure. It¡¯s what I always wanted for us both. It¡¯s what you wanted too, remember? You told me you didn¡¯t care about being more powerful and you just wanted to enjoy the adventure of it all. That¡¯s why you had the buff. Why would you get rid of it? I don¡¯t understand. Don¡¯t you remember what you said to me?¡± ¡°What did I say?¡± she asked. The question actually hurt Zach. The fact she needed to ask at all was painful. ¡°You said to me that your world was bigger than power and leveling. You said you only wanted this because I wanted it. You said¡­you said you just wanted to go on an adventure with me.¡± ¡°I remember,¡± she whispered. ¡°It wasn¡¯t that long ago. So of course I remember.¡± ¡°Then why did you ask me to tell you?¡± ¡°Because¡­I just wanted to hear you say it.¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°Kal, what¡¯s going on? You¡¯re confusing me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m rediscovering the person I was supposed to be, Zach. Being here, leveling, and finding what I found¡­I¡¯m slowly seeing the woman I would¡¯ve become if humans hadn¡¯t murdered my people and stolen my birthright.¡± ¡°That was shit of them to do, Kal, but what¡­what¡¯s that got to do with¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna rebuild it.¡± ¡°Rebuild what?¡± ¡°Everything. There¡¯s a way to bring it all back. I wanna do it with you, though.¡± Zach felt a chill run down his spine. ¡°Kal, what are you even talking about?¡± ¡°I¡¯d show you if you¡¯d get your dumb jerk-face over here!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind coming to see you, actually,¡± Zach said. ¡°Huh? Then what are we even arguing about?¡± ¡°Seeing you again is¡­of course I want to. If it¡¯s to see you, I¡¯d be there as soon as I get out of this dungeon. I just need you to know, that it¡¯ll only be to see you. Not to level. Not to¡­not to give up my ways for yours.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t have a choice.¡± Zach laughed at Kalana¡¯s silly attempt at humor. Then his laughter cut off as he realized she was being dead serious, as evidenced by her silence from the other end of the line. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°My dad and I are gonna bring it all back. Everything we lost. There¡¯s a way. Alex showed us how without realizing he was doing it. He wants to use me and my dad to help him fight bosses, and we¡¯re gonna, but¡­but that¡¯s not all we¡¯re gonna do. We¡¯re gonna take everything back. And then you¡¯re gonna be okay again, Zach, ¡®cause the guilds that killed your parents are gonna be wiped out. The world used to be perfect when Elves ruled Galterra, and I¡¯m gonna help my dad make it that way again, and then you and I can be together forever after we conquer North and South Bastia and kill every guild leader.¡± Zach frowned. ¡°Kal?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not funny.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not joking.¡± ***** ¡°Alex, do you think you might¡¯ve made a mistake?¡± Maric asked. Rather than answer, Alex jumped backwards as a disgusting, slimy cobra twice the size of a bus smashed an entire building to pieces. For a T3 Earth-world boss, this thing knew how to do some damage. Alixa was having to use a constant barrage of explosive light bolts just to keep it slowed long enough for Alex to cut it. ¡°Mistake how?¡± he replied, leaping sideways as the giant snake swung its body into another of the old, dilapidated buildings in what had once been a village in a land called ¡°Italy.¡± Supposedly, this thing only spawned every fifteen years, and there was an extremely low chance for it to drop a pair of bracers that allowed the user to turn invisible. There were many useful applications for that kind of ability. Hopefully, Alex would win it. As things stood, there were at least fifteen other people on this raid who would roll for it¡ªincluding Fluffles, who insisted that the item was compatible with cat-type Shadowfangs and that he could wear it as a collar. Though likely correct, Alex nevertheless did not find this pleasing. For what purpose would a cat require invisibility? Distracted, he scrambled to get out of the way as the snake continued to unleash its frenzied attacks solely upon him. Honestly, however, he expected this to happen. Put simply, he just hit too damn hard. Maric was one of the greatest tanks Alex knew, but not even he could hold aggro once Alex began unloading on something. Thus, once Maric¡¯s hold on the giant creature had slipped, it had begun its pursuit of Alex. The result, predictably, was that in a matter of minutes, almost every structure in this ancient village had been destroyed. It was a shame, too, because much here was of historical value. Alex threw himself forward onto the stone pavement and out of the way as, with a hiss, the cobra spit venom where he¡¯d only just been standing. Glancing over his shoulder, Alex saw it begin to burn a crater-sized hole through the stonework with an uncomfortably loud sizzling sound while smoke rose into the air. With a growl, Maric jumped high into the air and then swung his gigantic, Iescian-steel hammer down onto the cobra¡¯s face, causing a stream of dark red blood to spray all over the pavement followed by it briefly falling over onto its side and destroying yet another structure¡ªthis one the ruins of an old, two-story home. It simply crumpled into nonexistence, becoming yet another lost artifact under an uncaring crimson sky. Impressively, however, when the cobra again lifted itself upright, Maric had reestablished aggro. ¡°Stupid snake!¡± Fluffles shouted, as a seemingly never-ending parade of big, bright bolts of lightning rained down upon it mercilessly. ¡°You give Fluffles magical bracelet! Zach say Fluffles get to roll for loot twice.¡± ¡°Fluffles, we need to work on your honesty,¡± Alixa said, her palms extended. From each of her hands, she fired off beams of light, which exploded on impact, causing the gigantic, tanker-truck-sized cobra to hiss, lean its head back, and shoot what was likely dozens of gallons of black-colored venom into the sky. ¡°Kesten!¡± Alex called. ¡°It¡¯s using Venom Rain. We need a barrier!¡± Kesten, clad in his usual punk-rocker attire, spread his arms out wide, closed his eyes, and shouted an incantation a moment before it began to literally rain venom. Thankfully, Kesten succeeded in the nick of time, and so, rather than their raid being showered with a corrosive chemical that Alex¡¯s analysis indicated was eighty-five times more acidic than battery acid, a multi-colored, umbrella-like barrier made up of shimmering prisms appeared in the air above them, repelling each and every drop that fell from the sky. ¡°HAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEE!¡± Kasilis, the Undying Serpent King hissed. Using its head as sort of a battering ram, it launched itself forward at Maric, whose gargantuan shield was able to take the blow head-on with ease. ¡°Anyway, as I was saying,¡± he continued. ¡°I think you might¡¯ve really screwed up this time around, Alex. You¡¯re tampering with things well outside the realm of science.¡± Twice more, Maric blocked the serpent¡¯s vengeful blunt strikes. ¡°I was all for providing the girl and her father a home. But to send them to an Elvish hunting ground? What were you thinking?¡± ¡°Relax,¡± Alex said, becoming agitated by Maric¡¯s constant badgering. ¡°Kalana is a good girl, and her father is a good man. Mind you, he¡¯s also a construction worker.¡± Standing side by side with Maric, the cobra began to spit out more venom, and the two were forced to dodge in separate directions. ¡°I don¡¯t care if he¡¯s a Gods-damned party clown!¡± Maric called across the ancient town square to him. ¡°When Elvish royalty comes into contact with Elvish magic, they become more than the sum of their parts.¡± ¡°We need them!¡± Alex called back to him. Launching a barrage of fifty light-arrows, he once more drew aggro off Maric and onto himself. ¡°They will help us fight bosses.¡± ¡°What will you do if they actually find a way to resurrect the Elves?¡± ¡°They can¡¯t, Maric. That¡¯s not possible. Dead is dead. There is no such thing as resurrection.¡± ¡°You are too close minded,¡± he said, his tremendously deep voice booming as he spoke. ¡°You think that just because a prince becomes a construction worker he cannot again become a prince. You think a schoolgirl cannot become a princess because she was not taught how. Gods help humanity if the Elvish Empire were to arise again.¡± ¡°Fearmongering nonsense,¡± Alex said. ¡°Completely irrational phobias from one as intelligent as you, my friend.¡± Both of them were forced to dive forward as the cobra used its tail to create such a massive, wide-ranging swipe that it covered nearly eighty feet of ground. Despite being an elite-only raid, Alex was both disappointed and saddened to see that there was one member of their raid who for some reason did not know to dodge forward. Now, his body was torn open from his stomach to his neck. He screamed and begged as his guts and internal organs slid out of him like yolk from an egg. There would be no healing an injury like that. Especially not since part of his small intestine got caught on the cobra¡¯s tail, and it now looked like the boss spawn was playing jump rope as it uncoiled all twenty-two feet of it even as the man continued to scream and beg for aid. ¡°Fluffles!¡± Maric shouted. ¡°Why are you attacking that man¡¯s intestine?¡± ¡°Fluffles is sorry, daddy! It move and wiggle.¡± ¡°No chicken tonight.¡± ¡°No! Fluffles did nothing wrong. I was a good cat, and I get to still have dinner.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t just attack something because it wiggles. How many times have we been over this?¡± ¡°Daddy is being mean! Man was already dead. Fluffles only play with intestine because it wiggled. Zach say Fluffles allowed.¡± ¡°Here we go again!¡± To Alex, he said, ¡°Look, let¡¯s just finish this thing off and go home. I¡¯m not¡±¡ªhe performed a backflip as the cobra slammed its tail downward, causing a tremendous section of the pavement to detonate and shoot up rock and debris¡ª¡°trying to start a fight with you, Alex. But don¡¯t forget, I was there when Peter IV became a pariah. I alone saw how he suffered to fix his mistakes.¡± ¡°Please, Maric. Don¡¯t compare me to that man. He knowingly gave a book of elemental chaos to a member of the Elvish royalty and expected them not to immediately weaponize it against him. I, on the other hand, merely gave them a home that was rightfully theirs.¡± ¡°They can¡¯t control their nature when given power, Gods-dammit!¡± Maric shouted. ¡°Fluffles has more restraint in chasing after a ball than the Elvish have in abusing power. You can¡¯t possibly claim to know what artifacts are hidden in those hunting grounds. But I was there, Alex. I saw the actions Peter IV was forced to take¡­it drove him mad with grief and rage. I don¡¯t want that for you.¡± ¡°And why would that happen to me, Maric?¡± ¡°Because when the girl and her father try to rebuild their empire, you¡¯re going to be the one responsible for killing them.¡± Alex frowned. ¡°That will never happen. Kalana wouldn¡¯t. I am a good judge of people. Now, enough of this. Let¡¯s kill this Gods-cursed beast, roll for loot, and go home. I want to get back to the Whispery Woods region before Zach in case someone is foolish enough to actually attack him. But first I need to return to my lab. There¡¯s something else I need to look into.¡± Alex, growing impatient, unleashed all of his frustrations onto the T3 abomination, delivering the killing blow. Maric¡¯s awful lack of trust in that sweet girl Kalana and her kind father¡­it rubbed him the wrong way. They were good people. They were not a threat to anything that wasn¡¯t a boss spawn. Though Alex cared deeply for Maric, the man¡¯s stubborn, inflexible ways could often put him in a foul mood. Unfortunately for Alex, however, his mood was about to get even fouler. You see, it was said that, despite only spawning every 15 years, the bracelet in question still only had around a 1% drop rate. This meant that, on average, one bracelet was statistically likely to drop every 1,500 years. And lo and behold¡ªthe legendary bracelet of the Serpent King did in fact make an appearance on this day. It was a dream item. It was the kind of rare artifact that one would be lucky just to see with their own two eyes, let alone possess. And by the Gods, Alex wanted it. And he thought he¡¯d have it, too, for out of 100, he managed to roll a 98. He was practically salivating at the thought of being able to analyze such a rare, priceless treasure. But then someone rolled a 99. ¡°Hurray!¡± Fluffles cheered. ¡°Fluffles get rare bracelet. Now Fluffles get to steal tuna and no one know!¡± Alex narrowed his eyes and frowned. He was not pleased. Chapter 37: The World Reacts Chapter 37: The World Reacts Zach snickered, made an audible ¡°awwh¡±, and then, with a sharp exhalation of breath, yelped and dropped down to his knees as an arrow fired by a level-6 ¡°Skelly Archer¡± from across a vast chasm made a plunk as it lodged itself into the rocky wall behind him. This was followed by a glare from both Rian and Lienne, the first of whom grunted as he stepped in front of Zach and held out his shield, blocking another arrow while Lienne sent multiple Flamestrikes sailing across a several-hundred-foot gap and over what quite literally looked like a bottomless drop. One after the next, Lienne¡¯s magical attacks pummeled into Skelly Archer B, who made a loud, echoing ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± as it was actually knocked off its feet, dropping its bow¡ªwhich was also made of bones¡ªin the process. As far as Zach could tell, the only visible differences between Skelly Grunts and Skelly Archers were that the grunts were level 5, wielded a scimitar, and wore a red bandana, whereas the archers were level 6, used a bone-made bow, and seemed to prefer a green bandana. ¡°I¡¯ll finish it off,¡± Rian said, annoyance in his voice. He threw his axe at the Skelly Archer even as it wriggled on the ground as though unable to return to its feet. Zach watched as it sailed across the wide gap across from them and towards its prey. [2/60] Skelly Archer B Level 6 For a moment, Zach kept attention on the axe, watching as it came closer and closer to the struggling Skelly Archer. Then, slowly, all on their own, his eyes lowered back down to the phone in his hand. Sneakily turning around to face away from Rian and Lienne, he very quickly typed a message onto his screen. >Nah, I¡¯m not busy. I can talk. So cute! >I know, right? Her name is Nila, and she¡¯s only three months old. I got jealous! I mean, you have Fluffles, so I wanted to get a cat too. >Look at those ears! BRB 1 second. Zach, gripping his blade in one hand, stepped to the side as a Skelly Grunt tried to decapitate him. ¡°Fuck off,¡± he growled at it, striking out several times in quick succession and destroying the creature. He was only hitting for 15 a swing, but with only 45HP, his three fast strikes were more than enough to dispatch the annoying pest. Honestly, these things weren¡¯t even a threat to him anymore. They were barely worth the energy required for a measly 5xp. At least the archers gave 8. Earlier, Rian and Lienne had explained to Zach that, when partied with others who were at least two levels higher than the thing you were killing, there was an experience penalty, and as the grunt crumpled into a heap of bones and then soon after vanished, Zach once again puzzled over why this particular floor had followed B3. It just didn¡¯t feel like a natural progression. I really thought we¡¯d end up on another dangerous planet or something. This just makes no sense. He¡¯d known the moment they¡¯d entered B4 that they were still on Galterra. It was immediately apparent as the humid, somewhat musty-smelling quality of the air did not change between the door leading out of the stairwell and into this new floor which, at first glance, looked remarkably similar to B1 with regards to the gravel- and rock-covered ground and granite walls. Unlike B1, however, the entrance to this place presented them with two cave-like tunnels spaced evenly apart on the left and right side of an otherwise pentagonal-shaped area. Though not obvious at the time, both seemed to lead out into equally narrow ledges on opposite sides of a vast chasm that, for all Zach knew, could contain a ten-thousand-foot drop. It was too dark to know how deep it actually ran, and he certainly wasn¡¯t willing to find out. Interestingly, though, one side definitely seemed more treacherous than the other. Rian, seemingly choosing at random, had taken them through the left path, where a decent number of Skelly grunts were dotted unevenly throughout. The one on the right, however, contained Skelly Archers, who seemed to have a pretty tremendous aggro radius, as evident by the fact that they¡¯d been peppered with arrows from pretty much the moment they¡¯d exited the left tunnel. Had they chosen the right tunnel, they would instead have only had to fight the archers, as Zach knew that the grunts lacked both the aggro range and the physical capability of attacking across such a wide distance. Luckily, none of this seemed to matter, as for whatever reason, floor B4 was a pretty heavy step down in terms of relative difficulty from B3. Had they¡ªor at least Lienne and Rian¡ªnot leveled twice before coming here, it might have actually posed some risk. But as things were, they were tearing through this floor like a sheet of paper. Darting his head to his left, Zach spotted Rian and Lienne easily and effortlessly dealing with six more Skelly Grunts, which had run straight at them the moment they entered into aggro range. Zach moved in to assist. ¡°You guys okay?¡± he asked. ¡°By all means, Zach, finish your conversation,¡± Rian grunted in reply. ¡°Hey, you were the one who said I should start talking to her again.¡± ¡°Yeah, when we¡¯re not in combat.¡± ¡°Okay, but in fairness, she just got a new cat, and she only picked out a name for it today.¡± ¡°Amazing, Zach,¡± he said dryly as he cracked a Skelly Grunt in the side of its jaw with the sharp end of his axe. Another Skelly Grunt on his opposite side took a wild swing at him in return¡ªwhich connected with his face. The result was a thin scratch that didn¡¯t even bleed. It was just sort of like a¡­a tiny red little line on his chin that he probably didn¡¯t even feel. Who knew four more points into constitution could make such a difference? Zach, jumping into the air, made a flashy, showy, and in his honest opinion, cool-looking demonstration as he killed Skelly Grunt C, thwacking it right across the face in a one-handed slash for 25 damage, then thrusting forward and piercing it for another 18. Pulling his sword out actually managed to do enough damage to finish it off. The moment it died, Zach jumped back, gained some distance, and then¡­then glanced down and began typing into his phone. >I know you don¡¯t want to argue, but it would mean so much to me if you could come to Angelica¡¯s. I don¡¯t want to let this little¡­disagreement change things. >I don¡¯t either, she replied almost immediately. >But look, Zach¡­ >Here¡¯s the thing. >I know how important this is to you that you do it your way. I just fuwh Zach peeled the bottom-right corner of his lip back in confusion as he read her message twice over, having no idea what she¡¯d just sent him. >WTF Kal? You having a brain aneurism? >No! Nila jumped on my phone! >LOL! Fluffles did that to me a few times. Well, at least your cat doesn¡¯t try to justify it. Fluffles actually tries to come up with logical reasons why he was correct in ah shit BRB 1 sec. ¡°Gods-dammit,¡± Zach growled. ¡°Annoying ass-skeleton.¡± He was forced to deal with yet another as more of the things seemed to drop down from the ceiling as some kind of ¡°trap.¡± It might¡¯ve actually mattered if they presented any kind of real challenge. Though Zach was only marginally more powerful than he¡¯d been the last time he¡¯d taken these foes on, he had the benefit of knowing each and every one of their attacks by heart¡ªand also his skill with his sword seemed to increase each time he used it. He really felt like he had some kind of affinity for blades. ¡°Having a good chat?¡± Rian asked, using his Bully on one of the skeletons and causing it to run off the ledge and to its death. ¡°Cut me some slack,¡± Zach said sourly. ¡°The situation is crazy right now. You wouldn¡¯t believe what¡¯s been going on since we¡¯ve been in this dungeon.¡± Though Zach knew he was clearly making an excuse for himself, what he was saying might actually have been an understatement. Things really were going wild in Galterra. ¡°To be fair, it is kind of crazy,¡± Rian whispered in agreement, suddenly appearing to be a bit more understanding. He only knew part of what was going on, and Zach planned to fill him in as he himself came to learn more with each moment. Lienne, for her part, had not yet voiced any protest, but her facial expression told Zach all he needed to know about the way she felt about things. She averted her gaze as Zach caught her staring daggers at him, and then she whacked a skelly grunt over the head with her staff, dealing just enough damage to finish it off. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. >You¡¯re not fighting anything while we text, are you, Zach? >Nah, we¡¯re taking a break right now. Zach stared in awe as he looked down at her profile picture in the top-left corner of the messaging application. Pressing his finger against it, he was taken to her social media profile, and once more, his entire body shook in sheer disbelief at the transformation Kalana had undergone in the short time they¡¯d been apart. For starters, she¡¯d updated her image to look more like her natural self. Her hair was now the color of pure gold, and her ears were more pointed, and what¡¯s more¡ªshe boldly wore actual equipment, publicly revealing her identity. Gone were the modest and long skirts and plain-looking dresses. Now, she wore rough, hide armor that revealed her thighs and arms up to her shoulders, as well as her midriff. Yet this was actually the least shocking change to her profile. What really stunned Zach was that, now, she apparently had amassed over seventy-million followers. It seemed that, at some point in the past few days, she had publicly revealed herself to the world¡ªand boy, had it thrown things into chaos. This was what she had meant when she told Zach that ¡°so much had happened,¡± because now, not only did the general public know that the Elves were not, in fact, extinct, but the things Kalana had revealed in a post introducing herself had roiled the entire political establishment, who had strangely chosen not to censor it. Right now, from what Zach could gather, Kalana and her story was apparently the only thing being spoken about on the news. Zach had become so far removed from society lately that he hadn¡¯t even had a clue about any of this until an hour or so ago. In somewhat graphic detail, Kalana had revealed what Peter IV had done to her and her family. Given that the man was already so reviled, it wasn¡¯t a shock that the public at large did not require much convincing to believe it; no, what surprised Zach more was that the typically shy and reserved Kalana had revealed herself to the world at all¡ªand the world was certainly reacting. From the little time Zach had been given to piece together events, it seemed like somewhere around two-and-a-half days had come and gone following Kalana¡¯s social media post, during which there was radio silence from the political guilds and the media¡ªeven as she quickly became one of the top trending hashtags in the world. Then, at some point early yesterday morning, a single, mid-ranking officer from the Children of Order made a post on his social media profile tagging Kalana, in which he apologized for her treatment and condemned the Guild of Gentlemen. And then that had been it. That was when it happened. Just like that, the dam had been broken and the floodgates opened. What followed was a veritable fucking stampede of activity from every guild in North Bastia. A chorus of voices from every region and every guild all seemed to compete with one another to be the loudest and most visibly upset as they condemned and displayed outrage over the ¡°vile, unfathomable cruelty¡± of ¡°the tyrant-king.¡± It was at this point the media jumped on board, and now, from what Zach could see, there was near twenty-four-hour coverage of the ¡°hidden Elf genocide¡± that had ¡°taken place right under our noses.¡± Sincere or otherwise, the outrage was so vast and so extensive that, by yesterday in the early afternoon, at a time when Zach and his friends were waking up in their rooms in Angelica¡¯s, the Chief Engineer of the Dwarves¡ªwho Zach supposed was sort of like their king¡ªhad issued a public statement decrying Peter IV¡¯s cruelty and claiming to ¡°stand in solidarity¡± with the Elvish kind. Soon after, the Orcish queen put out a similar statement, and in her case, Zach found it to be genuine, as the Orcs over the past few decades had collectively become more and more ¡°socially conscious¡± and were now generally regarded as a race of college professors and justice advocates. Rather than release a letter of support for Kalana and a declaration of condemnation for Peter IV, they instead released something closer to a fifty-page missive of pure moral outrage and scorn, in which they derided the Guild of Gentlemen for ¡°still refusing to properly atone for the role their leadership played in acceding to Peter IV¡¯s reign of terror.¡± The Lizard Folk, on the other hand, were apparently so incensed that there was talk of them joining the Royal Roses in their war against the Guild of Gentlemen. Actually, come to think of it, public sentiment had shifted dramatically regarding the current conflict, and now large majorities of citizens in both Varda¡¯s Lair and Giant¡¯s Fall¡ªat least according to opinion polls¡ªapproved by 70 vs. 30 percent the war effort against the Plains of Mist and Shadowfall Coast. Even more bizarrely, a slim majority¡ª51%¡ªnow claimed they would support a return to conventional warfare if Sir Alistair Morrison of the Dark-Water Depths did not surrender or agree to mutual, open-field combat in less than two weeks¡¯ time. Unsurprisingly, the Guild of Gentlemen now stood alone as the only guild that did not go along with the chorus of indignation and, quite to the contrary, released a harsh rebuke against Kalana in the form of a statement that simultaneously denied all of her claims while somehow also claiming no involvement, which sort of contradicted the denial. Everything is just going crazy, Zach thought. Yet, as crazy as all this was, it wasn¡¯t even the most shocking part. What really dropped Zach¡¯s jaw was that the various human guilds¡ªexcept the Guild of Gentlemen¡ªhad actually come together and had unanimously reached an agreement on something other than issues concerning currency. All on its own, it was rare for the guilds in North Bastia to agree on anything, but now, the human guilds had come together to sign a document declaring that the Elvish hunting grounds in South Bastia, where Kalana was currently living with her father, were the sole, complete, and total sovereign property of the Elvish people, and that no human may interfere in their domain or step foot on it uninvited. Really, this truly was¡ªat least in Zach¡¯s opinion¡ªthe craziest part of everything. The fact that the girl he loved and crushed on had gone from a shy nobody into a¡ª ¡°Zach!¡± Lienne screamed at the top of her lungs. ¡°You¡¯re about to walk off the Gods-damned cliff!¡± Zach abruptly stopped short as the tips of his sneakers dangled precariously over the edge. With his eyes widened, his mouth agape, and his heart thudding powerfully in his chest, he shuffled backwards and moved away from the ledge. Then he put his phone in his pocket, shook his head, and apologized. ¡°Okay, no more phone during combat. I¡¯m acting like a child. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Rian nodded. ¡°I¡¯m cutting you slack because you¡¯re my new best bud, but also because I know how crazy this is¡­and I understand what she means to you.¡± ¡°Same,¡± Lienne agreed with a smile that didn¡¯t even look remotely sincere. Then, making an openly biting remark, she added, ¡°I think it¡¯s great you two have reconnected. I just wish you guys would discuss your love for fascism when we¡¯re not in the middle of a dungeon floor.¡± Zach frowned. ¡°Kalana¡¯s not a fascist. Don¡¯t say that.¡± ¡°Why? It¡¯s true.¡± ¡°No it¡¯s not. You don¡¯t even know her. Please stop.¡± Lienne narrowed her eyes at him. ¡°I like you a lot, Zach, but you need to wake up. You heard what she said. She wants to¡ª¡± ¡°Li,¡± Rian said to her with a threatening glare. ¡°Stop.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± she asked him. ¡°I¡¯ve only kept my mouth shut this whole time because I thought you¡¯d say something, Rian.¡± ¡°Say what?¡± he asked. ¡°What should I say? I mean what the hell?¡± ¡°Oh, piss off,¡± Lienne said to him as she turned around and began walking away. Then, with a sympathetic expression on his face, Rian shrugged at Zach. ¡°She¡¯s not a fascist, Rian,¡± Zach said to him. ¡°She¡¯s just¡­I¡¯m going to talk to her about this. She¡¯ll listen to me. I know her better than anyone. I mean, you know how girls can get, right?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Lienne called from a bit ahead of them. ¡°Tell us how we get, Zach,¡± she added with a snort. ¡°Every now and again we get a bit upset and try to declare war on human civilization. You know, just to relieve some of the stress.¡± ¡°None of that is going to happen,¡± Zach said, doing his best to keep his tone even. ¡°I know her. When I see her, I¡¯ll talk her out of it. I promise you. This isn¡¯t just some random girl we¡¯re talking about. I mean, maybe to you she is, but to me, she¡¯s everything. And no matter what she said, she hasn¡¯t actually done anything wrong yet. And she won¡¯t.¡± Lienne laughed scornfully. ¡°You¡¯re right. Why are we worried that the Elvish Princess who in a week just became more powerful than most humans can become in a lifetime might make good on her threats? I¡¯m sure there¡¯s nothing to worry about. I¡¯m sure she¡¯s just¡ª¡± ¡°Li, cut it out!¡± Rian shouted at her, his tone heated. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s gotten into you. For fuck¡¯s sake! None of this matters. We¡¯re adventurers, remember? It¡¯s not our concern who¡¯s at war or who¡¯s capturing what. Someone¡¯s always at war. If you care so much, go join a political guild.¡± ¡°You¡¯re such an ass, Rian.¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re getting worked up over nothing.¡± ¡°Over nothing?¡± she asked, her nostrils flaring. ¡°Oh, excuse me, Rian. I¡¯m sorry I don¡¯t feel like being ruled by Elves. Excuse me for caring about humanity.¡± For some reason, her words seemed to spark an even greater anger in her brother. ¡°Spoken like a true citizen of the Shadowfall Coast. Dad would be so proud. Congratulations!¡± ¡°Ugh!¡± she replied with disgust. ¡°Don¡¯t even. Don¡¯t. Even.¡± ¡°Why? Guessing I struck a nerve?¡± ¡°No, Rian. It¡¯s just that that¡¯s really low. Even for you.¡± ¡°Well, Li, it¡¯s how you always act when anything involving humans comes up as a topic. You just get so crazy and it¡¯s embarrassing.¡± ¡°Why? Because I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a crime in being proud to be a human being? That doesn¡¯t mean I support¡­you know what? I¡¯m so over this. Just keep moving. I don¡¯t want to talk about this anymore. Not with you, anyway.¡± Zach frowned as he watched the two siblings fight. When had Lienne become so sharp-tongued and mean? Was this some kind of jealousy because she¡¯d told Zach that she likes him? Somehow, he doubted that was it¡ªor at least that it was anything more than a tiny part of it. When Zach had first made contact with Kalana, Lienne had looked saddened, disappointed, but not at all angry. But then, as Rian whispered into her ear, filling her in on the ¡°gossip¡± he¡¯d gleaned from eavesdropping on almost all of their conversation¡ªincluding even the parts when he¡¯d headed up the stairs to speak privately¡ªshe seemed to grow more and more visibly upset. Everyone knew that people from the Shadowfall Coast and Tomb of Fire weren¡¯t the biggest fans of other races. It wasn¡¯t even a secret, either. The media in those regions were constantly putting out stories about how Dwarven engineering was outcompeting human engineering, the Orcs were taking over the universities, the Lizard Folk were all evil, and so on and so on¡ªbut surely Lienne and her brother were above that, right? Rian, at least, seemed to be. Lienne never struck him as the type to care much about that stuff. Zach sighed. Even in this secluded floor deep below the surface of the planet, Kalana was causing an uproar. At some point in the very near future, he needed to see her again. If he begged her to reconsider, he knew she¡¯d listen to him. That was assuming, of course, she wasn¡¯t just exaggerating in the first place. He didn¡¯t care what level she became: a girl and her father were not about to conquer land all by themselves. Either way, whether she could make good on her desires or not, Zach was going to talk her out of it. If she really loved him, she¡¯d listen. He knew she would. Chapter 38: The Value of Friendship Chapter 38: The Value of Friendship ¡°All right, then,¡± Rian said, sounding somewhat confused as he placed his palm on yet another push bar belonging to a dark blue metal door. ¡°I guess that was B4. Uh¡­good job, everyone?¡± Zach smiled. ¡°Hey, progress is progress.¡± Perplexing as it might have been, Zach was glad for once to have had an easy go of things¡ªeven if he couldn¡¯t understand why B4 had been so much less difficult than expected. In all honesty, it was anticlimactic in a way. Not that¡­not that Zach had any particular love of putting himself directly in danger. He wasn¡¯t exactly the bravest or boldest of mortals. Yet, at the same time, even despite his fears, there was just something so exciting about visiting dangerous, faraway places. It seemed self-contradicting in a sense, but it was almost sort of like someone who loved horror movies: yeah, sure, they were afraid, but they kind of wanted to be, which was why they were watching in the first place. Adventuring is a double-edged sword, he realized with a satisfied smile. It¡¯s the most fun I¡¯ve ever had, but it might just kill me. Now that Zach thought on it, he realized that B4 actually would¡¯ve made a whole lot of sense as a progression from B1. If he were one of the Gods, and he were creating the world, he would¡¯ve put B4 after B1 and then had that Earth planet serve as B3. For what possible reason would they have put this floor after the pumpkin and scarecrow floor? Maybe it was to help adventurers who rushed out of B3 catch up before entering B5? It was possible but still unlikely. Oh well, he thought. A win is a win. At this point, I¡¯ll take anything good that happens to me. Actually, things seemed to be going pretty well in general for him these past few hours. Given his horrible mood earlier due to his seemingly empty level ups, he almost couldn¡¯t believe his subsequent good fortune. Seriously! Like, not only had the three of them just breezed through another floor as though it were nothing, but he and Kalana had now begun ¡°active negotiations¡± to determine where they would meet, when, and who would go where. Best of all, he¡¯d gotten her to agree to one of his most important terms: whenever he eventually came to her island, she wouldn¡¯t try to force him to level up the Elvish way. Glancing down at his phone, he felt a rush of excitement and energy as, for what seemed like the billionth time in just 20 minutes, he reread their last conversation. >I¡¯m serious, Kal. This isn¡¯t going to be 1 of those things where later you convince me. Whenever I end up going, you can¡¯t make me level >Okay, fine! >:( >See? Was that so hard? >Yah! Actually it was! So you better let me show you the entire island when you come. No complaining. And you better go swimming with me, too! >Zach, are you still there? >Zach >Heyyyyy >Sorry >I was killing a Skelly Grunt >I thought you said you were taking a break. You better not be texting and fighting >Trust me, if you knew how easy this floor is, you wouldn¡¯t care >Okay well listen >I won¡¯t be able to talk again for a while >Why >I have to go for a bit. I¡¯m meeting with the guild leader of the people of firtue >LOL >FIRTUE? >And WTF??? Why??? >It was a typo! Stop being so mean! And it¡¯s bcuz they wanna give me and dad some fancy gift or w/e idk >I thought you hated the guilds >Obvs I do. But my dad says we gotta be smart now that we¡¯re officially recognized as a sovereign region >Also >Umm >Do I look nice? >swimsuit.jpg [download] Zach jealously guarded his phone and made absolutely sure not even the slightest portion of his screen was visible as he followed Rian and Lienne into another stairwell. An intense heat crept into his face as he looked at the image she¡¯d sent him. This was like the eight-hundredth time he¡¯d looked¡ªthis minute. He couldn¡¯t believe it was real. The first time he¡¯d seen it, he almost dropped his phone. This time, he almost stumbled down the stairs. ¡°What do you keep looking at?¡± Rian asked. Then, lowering his voice as though not wanting Lienne to hear him, he asked, ¡°What¡¯d she send you?¡± Zach feigned ignorance and tried his best to give off a puzzled look. ¡°Huh? What do you mean?¡± ¡°Dude¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s private!¡± Rian guffawed. ¡°Yeah, I bet it is. Actually, I got a chick in Varda¡¯s who teases me with stuff like that. I used to be a total loser, but ever since I leveled up¡­man, it¡¯s amazing. Your whole world changes.¡± ¡°About that,¡± Zach said, ¡°don¡¯t you worry the political guilds will come after you if you flaunt it?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Nope. Not as long as you don¡¯t start spilling secrets they don¡¯t want people to know, like about boss spawns and whatnot. Once you¡¯ve been initiated, they kind of lay off. It¡¯s an unspoken agreement between the adventuring guilds and the political guilds.¡± ¡°No shit? They must not have gotten the memo about me, then.¡± ¡°Yeah, sorry about that, Zach¡­but anyway, getting back to what I was saying, I¡¯ve been getting so many girls since I found that spawn with Li. If I see a girl I think is really hot, I just go up and talk to her, and as soon as I mention I¡¯m not level 1, they¡¯re suddenly just so into me.¡± Zach leaned back and curled his lip as a sense of unease came over him. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Rian. That feels kind of wrong.¡± ¡°What does?¡± ¡°Using the fact that you¡¯re so powerful to get girls.¡± ¡°Dude, come on. We¡¯re guys.¡± ¡°I know, I know. It¡¯s just¡­look, I¡¯m as much a pervert as the next guy, and between me and you, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s ever been a nice ass that¡¯s walked in front of me that I haven¡¯t stolen a peek at. But when it comes to something like this, you know, it just feels like it¡¯s kind of¡­I mean I¡¯m not trying to attack you or anything. But level 1s are really afraid of us. How can you be sure they¡¯re acting out of want and not fear or pressure?¡± Rian crossed his arms. ¡°Eugh, that¡¯s not really a fun thing to think about. Way to kill the buzz, Zach. I think you just ruined my whole mood with that one.¡± Zach laughed. ¡°Sorry. I¡¯ve been a huge pessimist lately. So uh, do you like this girl?¡± He nodded. ¡°Oh yeah. I think I¡¯m gonna take her on a date in a week or two. But Zach, there¡¯s something else I want to talk about. Listen¡­¡± He began to slow down, and so did Zach. Lienne had marched off ahead of them, still angry at her brother¡ªand by extension Zach too, probably¡ªand she was well out of earshot. This was good, as what Rian began to say would certainly not be something she would want to hear. ¡°Okay look,¡± he began, ¡°I think it¡¯s good you¡¯re into this Kalana chick. I¡¯m rooting for you one-hundred percent. But you have to know¡­my sister likes you. Like, a lot. She¡¯s into you.¡± Unsure why he was mentioning this, Zach nodded reluctantly. ¡°I know. She told me so herself kind of. But¡­why¡¯re you bringing this up?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°I think it¡¯d be good if you two weren¡¯t¡­you know? Because we¡¯re becoming good friends, and she¡¯s my sister, and it¡¯d make things so weird.¡± ¡°I completely understand,¡± Zach stated truthfully. ¡°I have to ask. Do you¡­you know, ¡®like¡¯ her?¡± ¡°I think so. Or at least I think I could if I didn¡¯t have Kalana. In that case, I¡¯d probably like her a lot more. But the truth is I know Kalana wouldn¡¯t betray me that way, so I don¡¯t know if I could ever forgive myself if I betrayed her that way.¡± Rian gave him a pat on the shoulder. ¡°Okay. That¡¯s a relief. Truth is, I used to be good friends with one of her ex-boyfriends before they started dating, and when they broke up, it was impossible for us to hang out anymore. You just never want your friend to date your sister. Trust me on that. It makes everything awkward. Unless he¡¯s gonna marry her, it¡¯s a bad idea.¡± Zach lowered his eyes a moment as he reflected on what Rian told him. He concluded that it made a good deal of sense and that Rian was not being unreasonable. ¡°I never had any siblings,¡± he explained, ¡°but if I did, I think I could understand that. It makes sense. Hey, let me ask you something now.¡± ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡± Before speaking, Zach moved down the next flight of steps, turned the corner, and then peered down the subsequent one just to ensure Lienne was out of earshot. ¡°Your sister¡­does she hate the other races?¡± Rian sighed, but he also firmly shook his head no. ¡°I was overly harsh on her before. She¡¯s not a hateful person at all. I think she¡¯s just a product of her environment.¡± ¡°Why aren¡¯t you?¡± At this, his friend barked out a quick, fairly loud laugh. ¡°Because I¡¯m just predisposed to not giving a shit about things like that. And also because I have so much resentment for the way my parents suffered in Shadowfall Coast that I associate ¡®kingdom culture¡¯ with pain.¡± ¡°Is it true that¡­never mind.¡± ¡°No, go ahead, it¡¯s okay. Ask.¡± ¡°I just don¡¯t know if this is offensive or not.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Zach. Just ask.¡± ¡°Do you and Lienne support Peter IV?¡± The speed with which Rian answered the question made Zach think he was expecting it. ¡°Lienne doesn¡¯t actively support him,¡± he said, ¡°but doesn¡¯t outright hate him, either. And as for me? I hate every political guild-leader. It¡¯s actually why¡­¡± Rian¡¯s voice became so low that Zach actually had to lean in quite close just to hear him. ¡°It¡¯s why I hope your Elvish girlfriend takes them all out,¡± he whispered. ¡°As long as she leaves us adventurers alone, she¡¯d be doing us all a favor.¡± Zach rubbed his face and resisted the urge to moan in frustration. What was it with people and wanting death and destruction? Zach hated the political guilds too, but he doubted the answer was just to start more war and do more killing. ¡°Something wrong?¡± Rian asked. ¡°Nope. Just tired,¡± Zach lied, not willing to start another argument over this kind of crap. Instead, he hurried down what turned out to thankfully be only four more flights of stairs; there, he found Lienne waiting with her back to a solid-steel wall beside another metal door, this one labeled B5. When she regarded Zach, her expression shifted several times in a single second, and it was an odd sight to behold. First, she smiled at him, then she glared, and finally, she looked away as her face tightened with what Zach took to be sadness and longing. It was as if the sight of him was agony for her. If Kalana didn¡¯t feel the same way about me that I feel about her, it would hurt so, so much, Zach realized. That must be what she¡¯s feeling. I never want to make anyone feel that way. He almost felt like telling her how sorry he was that she was hurting, and how the only reason he wasn¡¯t interested in her was because he already had Kalana. He wanted her to know that it wasn¡¯t her fault and that there was nothing about her personally that made him reject her¡ªit really was just the simple fact that he already had someone. Should I tell her that? Zach opened his mouth and came very close to speaking those words to her, but then he paused and closed it a moment later as he realized that she had likely already figured this out on her own, and anything he said to her on the topic would probably only make the sting worse. It would be better to be quiet and say nothing. Of this, he was sure. Once all three of them were together and in front of the door, Zach stepped aside to let Rian take the lead. Without hesitation, he pushed in the bar and opened it. Even before he stepped inside, the dim stairwell seemed to become brighter with a white glow. ¡°Weird,¡± Rian whispered, stepping inside. His curiosity piqued, Zach hurriedly followed him inside with Lienne close behind him. The moment he was through the door, he came to an abrupt halt and stared in wild fascination as a floor unlike any that had come before it awaited the three of them. In a dungeon full of surprises, this one had to be the biggest of them all so far. Based on Lienne¡¯s reaction, Zach was willing to bet she agreed; it seemed like she was captivated enough to forget her gloomy mood altogether as she pressed her hands against her mouth and gawked. The three of them seemed to be in some kind of very large, spacious room the size of a high-school gymnasium. To both the left and right side of the room, there were rows upon rows of circular tables sitting on top of beautiful, elegant, floral-patterned carpets. On top of each were ten sets of fancy, silver-and-gold plates, with gold forks and knives placed with perfect symmetry by their sides. Ten white leather chairs were tucked in at an equally spaced distance around each table, and each table also had several bottles of what to Zach¡¯s eyes appeared to be a fancy, high-priced wine. Towards the middle section of the room, the carpets ended, replaced instead with a large section made up of polished, white-tiled-flooring that was reflective enough that Zach could see the ceiling through each of the tiles. Up above him, he noticed there were spotlights as well as area lights that looked like they were made out of some kind of fancy, blue crystal. All the way ahead of them at the complete opposite end of the room, there was a table on wheels covered by a white cloth, and on top of this cloth was the single-largest cake that Zach had ever seen. It looked like it was large enough to feed a thousand people. Even from all the way across the room, Zach could easily read the writing on it that had been inscribed in multi-colored icing. Congratulations Moldark and Yorna! The cake was adorned with rose petals, which wrapped around it diagonally from top to bottom. They looked edible, too, which meant they were likely made from fondant or some other decorative food. Zach wondered how much vanilla and chocolate had gone into making such a wondrously tremendous cake. Moldark? Zach thought, repeating the name in his head a few times. Where have I heard that before? It sounds so familiar. As he fully took in the sights, Zach put two and two together and realized that the three of them were now inside some kind of super-fancy banquet hall. Honestly, this was the last place on Galterra he¡¯d expected to end up! Funnily enough, though ¡°last X on Galterra¡± was just a commonly used phrase, in this case, he suspected they really were on Galterra, as he could feel the phone in his pocket vibrate which typically meant someone had sent him a text. It was likely Kalana. Maybe she decided to text him during her fancy meeting after all. I¡¯ll check it later. ¡°You know,¡± Lienne said, wagging her finger, ¡°I really wanna say that this is my favorite floor so far, but I feel like I need to wait to see if we live through it first.¡± ¡°Yeah, no kidding,¡± Rian said. Then, his eyes widened and he gasped, pointing at something across the room¡ªsomething just beyond the cake. ¡°Is that what it looks like?¡± Zach¡¯s mouth fell open as he saw what Rian was pointing towards. ¡°Oh, shit. No way.¡± At the far side of the room, partially obscured behind what was seemingly a wedding cake, there was a metal push-bar door that was clearly labeled B5->B6. It was, unquestionably, the exit door. Enigmatically, it seemed that this one room was the entire floor. ¡°So¡­what should we do?¡± Rian asked. Zach smirked. ¡°I say we spend not even five seconds looking for traps and just walk straight across the room and right through the exit door. I mean, why not? It¡¯s just a nice little banquet hall, so there¡¯s definitely not going to be a horrific deathtrap here or anything.¡± ¡°Of course there isn¡¯t,¡± Rian said with a cheeky smirk of his own. He waved his arms at the air in front of him. ¡°It¡¯s just a beautiful party room with free drinks and cake. I agree with you, Zach. Let¡¯s just slowly walk across it. Maybe blindfolded, too, because it¡¯s so safe in here we don¡¯t even need to see.¡± Lienne laughed. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do it, then. On three, let¡¯s all just run across the room without even discussing it first.¡± Zach gave her a thumbs-up. ¡°Great idea.¡± ¡°Yeah, great thinking, Li. I¡¯ll count. One¡­two¡­three!¡± The three of them shared a chuckle as no one moved an inch. ¡°Okay, for real,¡± Rian said, ¡°what the hell do we do here? Can we all agree that something is going to pop out of that cake and kill us?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so, actually,¡± Zach said, ¡°and I¡¯m not making a joke this time, either. I think, personally, it¡¯s going to be the floor.¡± He pointed. ¡°It¡¯ll collapse when we walk on it and we¡¯ll fall. Probably not to our death, but to a much darker room with dangerous mobs.¡± Lienne nodded. ¡°I think you might be right. But then again, I don¡¯t know. I think this is gonna be more like B3.¡± ¡°What about it?¡± Zach asked her. She pointed at the tables. ¡°I bet those tables are like the scarecrows. Once we get close, they¡¯ll come to life and attack us.¡± ¡°I sure hope not,¡± Rian said. ¡°Gods help me if there are table mobs. Zach, you¡¯re the nerdy one here. What¡¯s your take? Table mobs¡ªare they real?¡± Zach rubbed his chin as he pondered the situation. ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­I¡¯ll tell you guys what, though, I really wish we could sit down at one of those tables while we figure it out.¡± Rian made a grand gesture, extending his arms and bowing. ¡°Sure thing, Zach, go right on ahead and pull up a chair, and I¡¯ll follow you after.¡± He laughed. ¡°Hell no. What if Lienne is right?¡± ¡°About the table mobs?¡± ¡°Yeah. The fucked up part is I¡¯m not kidding. Like can we actually, truly assume that these tables won¡¯t get names above their heads and grow arms and legs and start running after us or something?¡± Rian shrugged. ¡°The fact I can¡¯t say ¡®no¡¯ to that is proof of how far this dungeon has pushed us mentally. You know what, though? If you want, I could just throw my axe at one of them.¡± ¡°Good idea. Do it.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Even as Zach chuckled, he gave a firm bow of his head. ¡°I¡¯m actually not kidding. I mean, just imagine for a second the million-to-one chance those tables actually are mobs. Now, imagine that you don¡¯t throw your axe because you¡¯re so scared of the fact that, if they¡¯re not mobs, you¡¯ll look stupid for even considering that they might be in the first place. So let¡¯s say all that happens, and then we start walking through this hall, and all of them come to life. Right there, you¡¯re going to wish you¡¯d just thrown the Gods-damned axe.¡± Rian cocked an eyebrow and nodded with approval. ¡°You know what? That¡¯s a good point, bud. Okay then.¡± With that, he unsheathed his axe and shield, then drew back his arm, bent his knees, and hilariously threw his axe at the nearest table with enough force to crack it nearly in half with a loud snap and shatter three bottles of wine in the process. Then, laughing so hard at the sheer insanity of what this dungeon had driven them to feel they had to do, Zach watched as the axe flew back through the air and returned to Rian¡¯s hand. ¡°Not a mob,¡± Zach said. Lienne made a cute but dumb-looking grin and lifted her chin in the direction of the cake. ¡°Now do that, Rian.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because if it¡¯s not a mob, we¡¯re going to eat it.¡± ¡°And how do we know it¡¯s not poison?¡± ¡°Li, come on. It¡¯s not going to be¡ª¡± ¡°Who is making a racket on my wedding day!¡± a male voice cried out. Rian¡¯s words ended in a shocked-sounding squeak, and Lienne stiffened her back as a man appeared¡ªsimply appeared in front of the wedding cake as if by magic or teleportation. Zach was so taken aback that he raised his blade as though an attack was on its way, and he yelped in a loud, shrill cry. The man¡¯s appearance was so sudden and unexpected it had actually given him a jump-scare. ¡°Who is that?¡± Lienne shouted. Then, directing her words to the man, she yelled, ¡°Who are you?¡± Zach paused a moment to regard this new stranger. He was a handsome guy who looked to be in his mid-thirties, and he was tall, with blond, medium-length shaggy hair. He had blue eyes, and his face had just enough stubble to be noticeable but not enough to properly call a mustache or a beard. Minus a helm or gauntlets, he was otherwise clad in a highly decorative-looking silver suit of armor, and at his side was a beautiful, white, and glimmering blade. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Either because of his momentary state of shock or because of the confusion caused by his appearance, it took Zach much longer than it should have to realize that there were words above the man¡¯s head: Moldark the Unbanished. It was a name Zach was sure he¡¯d heard somewhere. Why the hell couldn¡¯t he remember? Where had I heard it? Fluffles? No. Mr. Oren? No. Maybe someone at Angelica¡¯s? His name was in green, which Zach believed meant he was friendly. He also made no attempt to attack the three of them, though he did stare in their direction. Also bizarre was that, directly above his green-lettered name, for a reason Zach did not know, was a yellow exclamation point. (!) [??/??] Moldark the Unbanished Level 8 Stricken with uncertainty, Zach did not make so much as a single movement. He remained perfectly still, as did Lienne and Rian, who themselves were also probably stunned into indecisiveness. What were they supposed to do? Attack? Approach? Speak to the man? What did he want? Why was he just standing there? ¡°Who is making a racket on my wedding day?¡± the man called out, repeating his earlier question. Zach craned his neck to glance at Rian at the same moment Rian looked at him. They both exchanged a blank stare with one another, which meant that Rian had no better idea of what to do than he did. Zach licked his bottom lip, then opened his mouth to ask Rian if they should consider running. Before he had the chance to speak, the man, Moldark, again spoke to them. ¡°Who is making a racket on my wedding day?¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Lienne said with a laugh, snapping her fingers. ¡°He¡¯s an NPC. But a normal one. A regular one, I mean. Not like Angelica. He¡¯s basically like a mob but¡­but a little more advanced? I¡¯m not sure how to describe it.¡± ¡°Are we in danger?¡± Zach asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± Zach was so on guard that he was clenching everything from his hands around his blade to his ass. Cautiously, he relaxed somewhat, trusting that Lienne was correct in her assessment. Even before he¡¯d lowered his blade, the NPC once again called out, ¡°Who is making a racket on my wedding day?¡± ¡°Can he hear us?¡± Zach asked. Rian shook his head. ¡°No. I don¡¯t think so, anyway.¡± ¡°You sure?¡± ¡°Go ahead. Test it.¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°Fine, then.¡± Cupping his hands over his mouth, he shouted, ¡°I¡¯m making a racket on your wedding day. Fuck your wedding!¡± ¡°Who is making a racket on my wedding day?¡± the NPC again demanded. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Zach said with a snicker. ¡°Hey, does anyone recognize his name? I¡¯ve heard it before, but I can¡¯t remember from where.¡± ¡°Hmm, not ringing a bell for me,¡± Rian said. ¡°Same,¡± Lienne agreed. ¡°I know I¡¯ve heard it before, though. Moldark the Un¡­oh! Shit, I remember!¡± Both Lienne and Rian turned their heads his way as he pointed at the NPC and said, ¡°That¡¯s the boss of B10. The guy we need to kill to get the key.¡± Rian blinked. ¡°Wait, say again?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the boss!¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be. That¡¯s impossible. We¡¯re only on B5. And that guy doesn¡¯t have a tier listed in his name.¡± ¡°A tier?¡± ¡°Who is making a racket on my wedding day?¡± ¡°Yeah, a tier. I guess that¡¯s something we forgot to explain, which is bad of us, because it¡¯s really, really important information. Zephyr actually stressed to us just how critically important it is that we don¡¯t forget it.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m listening if you feel like enlightening me. I mean, this guy¡¯s annoying, but he doesn¡¯t seem to be a threat to us¡ªat least not while we¡¯re standing here.¡± Rian moved a bit closer to Zach and then leaned against the wall nearest to him as if for comfort. ¡°Okay, so this is a bit complex but it¡¯s not too bad, really.¡± With that, he paused for a few seconds as if to give the NPC time to repeat its one¡ªand seemingly only¡ªline, and then he commenced his explanation. ¡°So,¡± he began, ¡°when you¡¯re looking at a boss mob, it will always have a tier before its name. It¡¯ll say something like T1, T2, T3, and so on.¡± Tapping his finger in the air, Zach nodded and said, ¡°Know what? I do remember Mr. Oren saying something about that when he was talking about bosses.¡± ¡°Did he explain anything else? Like why that number is important?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Figures,¡± Lienne grumbled. Rian looked upwards a moment as though organizing his thoughts before continuing. After a few seconds, he said, ¡°Okay, so the reason the tier number is such a big deal is because knowing a tier gives you a super-important piece of information about the boss you might end up fighting, including whether or not it¡¯s something you can handle fighting at all! Actually, there are technically two pieces of information, but one is more reliable than the other.¡± ¡°Reliable?¡± ¡°Yeah. So basically, the first piece of information¡ªand this was what Zephyr told us, okay?¡ªis the size of the mob. Zephyr said that in most, but not all cases, the higher the tier, the larger the creature. He said it¡¯s true way more than it¡¯s not true, but that there are times when it¡¯s not reliable.¡± ¡°Okay. That seems pretty simple,¡± Zach said. ¡°What¡¯s the other piece of information?¡± Rian grinned. ¡°Now this is the really important one. In my own opinion, it¡¯s the only one that really matters. It¡¯s also more reliable. Zephyr told us that it¡¯s reliable in almost every single case. Not one-hundred percent of the time, but so close that you might as well always trust in it.¡± Zach leaned in closer, becoming more interested with each word. Thankfully, his ears and brain had both somehow reached an agreement that allowed him to filter out the annoying question from Moldark, which he just kept on firing off at them. ¡°So, whenever you want to fight a mob, what¡¯s the first thing you look at?¡± ¡°Their level, obviously,¡± Zach answered. ¡°Exactly. But why?¡± ¡°Is this a trick question?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just a leading one! Just answer it.¡± Zach chuckled. ¡°Okay, then. You look at the mob¡¯s level to get an idea how strong it is.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. So if you wanted to fight Moldark over there¡±¡ªRian pointed at him¡ª¡°you¡¯ll see he has a level like any other mob, right? And that level is 8.¡± ¡°Uh-huh.¡± ¡°Here¡¯s the thing, Zach. Bosses are way stronger than regular mobs. And their level doesn¡¯t really help you know if you¡¯re strong enough to kill them. But thanks to the adventurers who came before us many thousands of years ago, it was discovered how to get a very close approximation of a boss¡¯s true level of power based on its tier.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yep. This is the part that might be a bit confusing, but it¡¯s actually not so bad. See, there¡¯s a really simple way of figuring out how strong a boss is. First, you take its actual level. So, in the case of Moldark, that¡¯s 8. Then you add that number to its tier modifier. And before you even ask, it¡¯s just the tier times another number that gets higher the higher the tier is. I know that sounds confusing, but it¡¯s so simple when you see how it works.¡± ¡°I¡¯m following along,¡± Zach said. ¡°Keep going.¡± ¡°Okay, so. For tiers 1 to 3, that number is 10. So let¡¯s say there¡¯s a T2 boss. Even before you know what level he is, the fact that he¡¯s T2 means he¡¯s at minimum level 20. So if he¡¯s T2 level 5, you take the 2, multiply it by 10, and then add the 5. So, even though it¡¯s level 5, it¡¯s like you were fighting a level 25.¡± ¡°Easy enough so far,¡± Zach said. ¡°But just to make sure I understand, tell me if I got this right. If Moldark is a T1, and he¡¯s level 8¡ªwhich he is¡ªthen it¡¯s like he¡¯s level 18. If he was T2, it¡¯d be like he was 28. If he was T3, it¡¯d be like he was 38.¡± ¡°Right!¡± Rian said. ¡°Now, once you get to T4, things change. For T4 to T6, the multiplier becomes 15. So a level-10 boss that¡¯s T5 would be¡­?¡± Zach rolled his eyes. ¡°Seriously? Level 85, obviously. 15 times 5 plus 10.¡± ¡°Right!¡± ¡°I¡¯m guessing the multiplier keeps getting higher with each tier?¡± ¡°Oh yeah,¡± Rian said, and there was actually a touch of fear in his voice. ¡°Once you get to tiers 7 through 9, you multiply by 25. For 10 to 12, it¡¯s 50. And anything higher than that it¡¯s a hundred.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± Zach said. ¡°But wait¡­¡± He felt an acidic ache enter into his stomach as he recalled something Mr. Oren had told him. ¡°Okay, wow.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Zach?¡± Lienne asked him. He looked at her. ¡°Mr. Oren was telling us about that Leviathan that¡¯s going to spawn in the Leviathan River. I¡¯m not sure how I even remember this since I could barely remember who Moldark was. But I can distinctly recall him saying that it¡¯s going to be a level-87, T9 Leviathan-type boss.¡± Rian¡¯s eyebrows rose to the top of his face. ¡°Gods be damned! If that¡¯s true, then that¡¯s 87 plus uh¡­shit, what¡¯s 9 times 25?¡± ¡°That¡¯s 225,¡± Zach answered. ¡°So it¡¯s like fighting a mob that¡¯s level 312. No wonder he was so serious about that thing.¡± For almost a full minute, the three of them said nothing to one another while the only sound in this eerily beautiful wedding banquet was the periodic question that Moldark had for them. Zach wondered what their next move should be. His chief concern was that if they got any closer to Moldark he would aggro. ¡°Here¡¯s what¡¯s bothering me,¡± Rian said. ¡°How can Moldark be the boss we¡¯re supposed to fight on B10 if, number one, he¡¯s right there.¡± Rian pointed at him. ¡°And number two, he doesn¡¯t have a tier in his name.¡± Lienne risked taking a few steps towards him as though to better examine their new ¡°friend,¡± who again and again asked the same annoying question like a malfunctioning robot. It almost made Zach regret breaking the table. If there hadn¡¯t been a racket, maybe he wouldn¡¯t have shown up demanding to know who¡¯d made it. Inching ever closer, Lienne made her way to the first table on her left and then sat down. Seeing that it was obviously safe to do so, Zach joined her, and so did Rian. This, as Moldark continued to ask the same question of them. ¡°Hey, Rian,¡± Zach said. ¡°Yeah?¡± Trying his best not to snicker, Zach said, ¡°Can I ask you something really quickly?¡± As though he had become a master at reading Zach, Rian¡¯s cheeks puffed in a way that suggested he was trying to contain a laugh. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Who¡¯s making a racket on Moldark¡¯s wedding day?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t hear you. Can you repeat that?¡± ¡°Who¡¯s making a racket on Moldark¡¯s¡ª?¡± Lienne coughed out a surprised-sounding laugh. ¡°You guys are so dumb. Stop. It¡¯s annoying.¡± The three of them sat together towards the back of the table so that each of them had a clear view of the NPC who Zach continued to insist was the boss of B10. Several times, Rian asked him to clarify if he was truly, absolutely, one-hundred percent certain that the name had been ¡°Moldark the Unbanished.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Zach said, becoming annoyed. ¡°I promise you. That was the first name on the elevator¡¯s list of names. I wish you¡¯d have just gone in and looked yourself so you could¡¯ve seen it too.¡± Rian held up his palm. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I believe you. The question then is what we should do about it. Right now, he¡¯s only level 8, and he doesn¡¯t even have a tier.¡± Zach narrowed his eyes. ¡°Wait, you¡¯re not suggesting¡­¡± ¡°I am,¡± Rian said, his grin becoming broader as a confident gleam entered into his eyes. ¡°I think we should kill it right now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a bad idea,¡± Lienne said excitedly. ¡°We could take it out right here and now while it¡¯s not even T1.¡± At this, Zach gave a firm, definitive shake of his head. ¡°No fucking way. You guys are nuts. That¡¯s the worst thing you two could do.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Well, for starters,¡± Zach began, ¡°his name is green.¡± ¡°So? You said you¡¯re sure he¡¯s the boss.¡± ¡°Yeah, of B10.¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®of B10¡¯?¡± Zach threw up his arms as a sudden rush of irritation forced him to actively keep from shouting. ¡°I mean he¡¯s the boss when we get to B10.¡± ¡°But he¡¯s not the boss right now?¡± ¡°Rian, are you messing with me?¡± ¡°No, dammit. Are you?¡± As a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu came over him, Zach rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. This was like a repeat of the argument they¡¯d had when they first met. ¡°All I¡¯m trying to tell you is that the first boss of this dungeon is Moldark the Unbanished. That¡¯s literally all I¡¯m saying. Where¡¯s the confusion?¡± ¡°The confusion is that it sounds like you¡¯re saying that this guy, right here, in this room, is the boss spawn, but at the same time, you¡¯re also saying he¡¯s not.¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying that he¡¯s not the boss right now but he will be on B10.¡± ¡°How does that make any sense?¡± Zach laughed, but it was an annoyed, angry laugh. Sometimes, Rian could really frustrate him. ¡°It makes perfect sense. Right now, he¡¯s not a boss. When we go to B10, he will be. How is that hard to understand?¡± ¡°Because it just makes no sense. How can he go from being not a boss to being a boss? He¡¯s either a boss spawn or he isn¡¯t.¡± Pausing a moment before speaking, Zach considered Rian¡¯s words, and then he asked, ¡°Wait is that something you learned?¡± ¡°Is what something I learned?¡± ¡°Meaning, did they teach you in your initiation that if something specifically doesn¡¯t start out as a boss, that it can¡¯t become one later?¡± ¡°Uh, no, Zach. I didn¡¯t learn that in initiation. I learned that by using common sense.¡± ¡°Okay, now you¡¯re just being a prick. Lienne, tell him.¡± Smiling nervously, Lienne said, ¡°Sorry, Zach. I¡¯m actually with my brother on this one.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Zach asked, lifting his palms and turning them over in a display of outrage. ¡°You too?¡± ¡°I think we should attack it and kill it now before it becomes stronger.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Rian said. Zach slapped his hands down on the tablecloth loud enough to cause a high-pitched clang from the plates. ¡°Are you guys dumb? You literally just contradicted yourselves.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Because you said it makes no sense that a spawn can go from a regular spawn into a boss spawn, but then, right after, you¡¯re saying we should kill it before it becomes a boss spawn, which means you agree with me that it can be one thing now and then another thing later.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not what we¡¯re saying,¡± Lienne countered. ¡°We¡¯re saying that it¡¯s a boss spawn right now but that it¡¯ll get stronger.¡± ¡°So basically, turn into a boss?¡± ¡°Okay, Zach. Now you¡¯re just being pedantic.¡± ¡°No, actually, I¡¯m being semantic¡ªand by correcting you over it, now I¡¯m being pedantic. But none of that matters. You guys are idiots if you go and hit that mob while its name is green. That means we¡¯re not supposed to hit it.¡± ¡°How do you know? Who even told you that?¡± ¡°No one did. That, Rian, is common sense.¡± ¡°You¡¯re making me want to hit you.¡± For a brief instant, Zach considered giving in to his temper and provoking a fight with Rian. But then he realized how Gods-damned stupid, self-destructive, and childish that would be, and so rather than continue to let things spiral out of control, he decided to cool the temperature a bit. With a sigh, Zach closed his eyes a moment, took a deep breath, and then apologized. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t want to fight with you guys. I¡¯m just really worried you¡¯re about to do something incredibly dumb. That¡¯s usually my job.¡± ¡°I know you don¡¯t mean any harm,¡± Rian said. ¡°Believe me: I know you¡¯re only acting out of concern. But this should be a group decision, and I think Lienne and I should have a say in this, and we both believe we should attack the thing.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to die instantly. I just know it. I feel it in my gut. Look, why don¡¯t we at least try speaking to it first?¡± Rian laughed. ¡°Because I don¡¯t care what it has to say.¡± ¡°At least tell me what you hope to accomplish here. Why even take the chance?¡± ¡°Because,¡± Rian said, a crease forming in his brow, ¡°if we kill the boss now, we don¡¯t have to gamble our lives away if it becomes an even stronger boss later on B10.¡± ¡°But we¡¯re supposed to fight it on B10. If you go and¡ª¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough talking about it. I made up my mind.¡± With that, Rian stood up from the table and took a few steps towards the NPC. Lienne also got up and then hurried over to join her brother, standing to his right side. Swearing loudly, Zach got out of his seat and ran over to them. ¡°Wait, please. Stop. I¡¯m telling you this is all wrong.¡± Rian had his axe at the ready, and Lienne, having rebuffed the two of them, raised her staff at the ready. Then, noticing Zach standing behind her, she applied her armor buff to him as well. ¡°It¡¯s going to be fine, Zach,¡± she said with a weak smile that belied a deeper uncertainty that was so clearly visible on her face. Unlike her brother, who looked self-assured, confident, and ready to spring into action, Lienne actually did seem to waver a bit as saw the urgent look that Zach was trying his best to give her. Even still, she showed no sign of reconsidering. This is bad. This is really, really bad. These two buffoons were actually going to attack him, weren¡¯t they? How could they be this out of their minds? Zach needed to convince them to stop. And he needed to convince them right now. If worst came to worst, he might even have to try physically restraining them. They couldn¡¯t be allowed to do this. The fact they even wanted to was a bigger shock than the fact that they were. Seriously, how could two otherwise very intelligent people make such a terrible judgement call? Zach, becoming more alarmed and panicked by the second, tried once more to appeal to their sense of reason. ¡°Just please, wait one more second,¡± he begged. Rian sighed then regarded him, and so did Lienne. Good. He got their attention. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s just say you¡¯re right and I¡¯m wrong, okay? Let¡¯s go with that assumption.¡± He pointed at Moldark. ¡°Neither of you are in a rush. Neither of you are lazy. Why wouldn¡¯t you want to fight him properly the way the dungeon intends? Why take this shortcut?¡± ¡°You¡¯re drawing conclusions here, Zach,¡± Lienne replied. ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°You¡¯re firstly assuming you know what the dungeon intends, which you don¡¯t, and you¡¯re also assuming that the boss will be something the three of us can kill by ourselves. Some bosses require a full party to take down.¡± ¡°Not this guy, though.¡± ¡°And how do you know that?¡± ¡°Because my cat wouldn¡¯t have let me come here if he didn¡¯t think I could handle it.¡± At this, Lienne laughed, and the fact that it was not a derisive laugh told Zach that she genuinely thought he was cracking a joke. A moment later, she seemed to realize he was being serious, and her laughter cut off. Now, she tilted her head and gave him a look that suggested she thought he was either a small child or an idiot. ¡°Do you not see how flawed your logic is?¡± Rather than defend the point¡ªwhich he could if he wanted to, but it would require even more time¡ªhe tried for another. ¡°Don¡¯t you see how obviously bad of an idea this is? Given everything you¡¯ve seen from this dungeon, why would the boss of B10 be on B5 if it were possible to just kill it that way? It must be here for a purpose other than to be killed. Doesn¡¯t it seem strange to you? That a boss the dungeon intends for us to fight on B10 appears before us as a basic level 8? Doesn¡¯t it seem too obviously a trap? If it was really this easy, why would anyone ever fight the boss on B10? Who would risk it?¡± ¡°No one,¡± Lienne said. ¡°Which is why we¡¯re not going to!¡± ¡°But you¡¯re not understanding. How do you not see how insane this is, Lienne? I¡¯m actually standing here with my fucking brain about to explode, because I just can¡¯t see how you can actually not figure out, all on your own, how idiotic this is.¡± ¡°I just don¡¯t see it that way.¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Zach shouted at her. ¡°That¡¯s the problem. You have no idea how stupid this is. It¡¯s actually scary to me how dumb you guys are being right now. And I¡¯m sorry if it sounds like I¡¯m being a dick, but you¡¯re literally going to attack a green-named NPC because you somehow think that, like¡­what? The Gods who created this place were too stupid to see something like this coming? Like they said, ¡®Oh, it¡¯s okay. Let¡¯s put our boss on B5 and make it a normal, weak level 8. No one¡¯s going to attack it¡¯.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± Lienne said. ¡°You know what, Zach? If you¡¯re going to talk to us like that, then maybe we¡ª¡± ¡°Li!¡± Rian shouted at her. ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± He grabbed her by the shoulder and ushered her back around so that she again faced Moldark. ¡°We¡¯re not going to agree on this, and I want to stay friends. So stop talking about this with Zach, okay? Before we all say more things we regret.¡± Speaking with confidence in his voice, he continued, ¡°Here¡¯s what¡¯s going to happen now. We¡¯re going to attack the boss spawn, and then after we kill it, no one¡ªand I mean it, Li¡ªno one is going to gloat about who was right or who was wrong. I¡¯m done fighting about this. Zach, if you¡¯re so sure this is a trap, then stay back.¡± Zach swallowed nervously. Then, drawing on the frustration and anger building inside of him, he said, ¡°I really will, you know? If you guys attack that, then I¡¯m not helping. I¡¯m serious. I need to see Kalana again. It¡¯ll break my heart, but I¡¯m not doing shit. So please. Don¡¯t do this. It¡¯s so obviously stupid.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to help,¡± Rian said. ¡°And I won¡¯t even hold it against you if you don¡¯t. If I held the beliefs you do, I wouldn¡¯t attack it either.¡± The two began to take several more steps towards Moldark. Once again, Rian appeared far more confident than Lienne. ¡°Guys, please,¡± Zach begged. He began to take one step back for each one the two of them took forward. ¡°You¡¯re making such an easily preventable mistake.¡± Once the two were within fifteen feet of Moldark, the handsome-looking NPC extended its arms in a friendly gesture and said, ¡°Oh, hello adventurers! I am so happy today, because it is my wedding day. But alas! My bride seems to have misplaced her wedding dress. If only I had fifteen spider-silk, I could have a new one made for her. Oh, drat! It¡¯s such a shame! Especially since I heard a rumor that spider-silk can be found from Screeching Spiders on B6. Oh well. I guess my wedding is ruined! Oh, how I weep! If only I just had 15 spider silk from the Screeching Spiders on¡ª¡± ¡°Get him, Li!¡± Rian shouted. Even as the NPC continued to prattle on about spider-silk, Rian threw his axe in the same instant that Lienne called upon her magic. Zach held his breath as he watched with an impending sense of doom, causing his knees to go weak. Never in his life had he hoped to be wrong more than he did right now. Oh, Gods, he hoped he made a fool of himself. He hoped this would be the single-most-humiliating ¡°I told you so¡± moment that he¡¯d ever be subjected to. He could tell Lienne was at least taking his warning partially seriously, because rather than open with just Flamestrike, she first called upon Fire Geyser, which caused a brightly lit circle to begin forming around Moldark even as her blue, missile-shaped flame hurtled through the air at him. Both her flame and Rian¡¯s axe struck in the same moment, with Rian¡¯s axe doing 1 damage and her Flamestrike hitting for 0. Zach just had time to see the horrified, bewildered look on their faces as the gigantic pillar of flame brightened the already well-lit room to the point Zach had to avert his eyes. He could feel the blast of heat on him as it set the tablecloth on fire. It was so tall it reached up to the ceiling and even caused one of the light fixtures to fall off. Squinting so that he could see amid the far-too-bright light, Zach could just make out the number 1. Then Moldark¡¯s name turned red, and with a horrible, fearful cry, Lienne screamed, ¡°Rian! We were wrong! We were¡ª¡± ¡°How dare you attack me, fools!¡± Moldark screamed at them. He marched forward. He didn¡¯t even run¡ªhe just marched. Then he stopped just before them, and he clapped his hands together. This caused a disorienting, loud, siren-like noise to erupt in the banquet hall, which suddenly rumbled as though in the throes of an earthquake. And then Rian and Lienne simply collapsed. Without another word, cry, or sound, they crumpled to the floor. ¡°No!¡± Zach screamed. ¡°He killed them. Oh, Gods, no! He¡ª¡± ¡°To the dungeons, with you,¡± Moldark said, shaking his head. Then they vanished. Both of them just¡­vanished. It was different from the way mobs vanished, as they tended to leave behind a quickly dissipating puff of smoke; in this case, it was more akin to when Rian or Lienne used their storage abilities. Zach didn¡¯t even realize there were tears in his eyes until they actively started to sting. He was so in shock he wasn¡¯t sure how to respond. Was he going to be next? Why was Moldark staring at him unmoving? Why was he turning back around? Why was his name green again? These questions assaulted Zach, who for some reason was spared the wrath of the aggroed NPC. Only after Moldark again began to demand to know who was causing the racket did Zach finally become certain that he was not going to be attacked the way that they had. But why? Why had Moldark spared him? After all, the three of them were in a party together, weren¡¯t they? Confused and thunderstruck, his eyes began to leak more tears as though they were somehow a step or two ahead of his brain, which was still far too overwhelmed to handle such complex emotions. All he could think about right now was why he hadn¡¯t been killed¡ªor taken¡ªand whether or not his two friends were still alive, which Moldark sort of seemed to imply they might be. Even amid the torrent of pain, sadness, and confusion, Zach struggled to understand why he had been left alone. But the answer soon became clear to him as his mind flashed back to a conversation he¡¯d had with Rian and Lienne very early on when they were hunting Skelly Grunts in B1. ¡°How does¡­how do these mobs know we¡¯re in a party? Meaning, when they give us xp,¡± Zach had asked him. ¡°Because we know we¡¯re in a party,¡± he recalled Rian saying. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I know, it¡¯s crazy. I can¡¯t really explain it all that much better, dude. I can only say that because all three of us want to be a party and know we¡¯re in a party, then just like that, we¡¯re in a party together.¡± Of course. Now it made sense. Of course he hadn¡¯t attacked Zach. It was obvious now in hindsight. By the time Rian and Lienne had aggroed the NPC, Zach wasn¡¯t in their party anymore. He was actually surprised by the fact he could even still think with a degree of reason and rationality after what had just happened. So that¡¯s why. Even without consciously intending to do so, Zach had become unwilling to remain in their party, and thus, just like that, he had left it. Wiping his eyes as more tears began to fall, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. Still in such an absolute state of shock, his hand moved automatically, and he removed the phone, even as he continued to stare in horror at Moldark. He wasn¡¯t sure why he checked his phone during a time like this. He didn¡¯t think there was any logical explanation or reason for it. He wasn¡¯t even sure why Kalana was risking embarrassing her father by continuing to text him while she was busy in a meeting with some super-important guild official or whatever. ¡°The hell?¡± he whispered aloud, staring at his phone¡¯s screen and having no idea what he was seeing. The texts, apparently, were not from Kalana. They weren¡¯t even from a damn cellphone number. Zach, it seemed, had received two text messages from ¡°The Catacombs of Yorna.¡± The dungeon itself had contacted him. Gods in heaven! As if there weren¡¯t already enough things that his brain had to process; now, he would apparently have to send some of them to the back of the line. Overcome with confusion, Zach opened both messages and read them back to back. The first was from a few minutes ago when he¡¯d entered into the room with Rian and Lienne, and the second one had only just come in now. >Catacombs of Yorna: There is a quest available in your location. Use your tracking app to keep tabs on current and future quests! Tracking app? Zach thought. I don¡¯t have that. Wait, do I? Briefly minimizing his messaging app¡ªand not even bothering to go down the rabbit hole of wondering how in the hell a dungeon had gotten his phone number¡ªhe saw that, on his home screen, there was indeed now an app labeled ¡°quest tracking.¡± Even more confusingly, there was an app labeled ¡°inventory,¡± ¡°equipment,¡± ¡°abilities,¡± and ¡°storage and bank.¡± But these were all concerns for later. He wasn¡¯t willing to spare an ounce of brainpower on those right now. Once again, he reopened his messaging app, and now, he read the second text that had just been sent to him. >Catacombs of Yorna: Quest automatically accepted: The Value of Friendship. Use your tracking app to keep tabs on current and future quests! ¡°What the hell is going on here?¡± he shouted aloud. The only response he got was: ¡°Who is making a racket on my wedding day?¡± Navigating back to his home screen, he tapped the tracking app, the icon of which was just a large, orange-colored ¡°Q,¡± and he was immediately greeted with a list of boxes next to a scroll wheel below three buttons labeled ¡°Active,¡± ¡°Failed,¡± and ¡°Completed.¡± Wait, I remember someone saying something about quests. Back when he¡¯d first stumbled into Angelica¡¯s, there had been a man whose name was¡­was it Reni Sarwin? Yeah, that¡¯d been it. So this man, Reni Sarwin, had said he¡¯d had a ¡°quest¡± to complete on Earth. At the time, Zach had thought nothing of it. He thought it no different from the way Mr. Oren had given him a ¡°quest¡± to get to level 10. But now, he was beginning to wonder if the word meant something else in the context of adventuring. Clearly, it must have, because if not, then what the fuck was he looking at right now? His hands were shaking so nervously that he had to hold his phone with both. Yet he still wasn¡¯t able to keep still enough to actually read his screen. It was only by sheer miracle he¡¯d managed to read his text messages. Walking over to the nearest table, he sat down and placed his phone gently on top of the tablecloth then let his sword rest next to it. He struggled to get his violently shaking index finger to press down on the one and only non-empty box under the tab labeled ¡°Active.¡± Eventually, he managed to press it, and as he began to read the words on his screen, something changed within him with each word that he read. It was a shift that occurred so deeply in his consciousness that it altered his very core sense of being. And it happened so fast that he wasn¡¯t even sure when the transition began or when it ended, but overall, he knew it had been during the very short time that it took for him to read the message. Quest: The Value of Friendship Given by: Catacombs of Yorna Reward: 2x Red Rejuvenation Stone, 1x Purple Rejuvenation Stone, 1x Yorna¡¯s Sword of Courage Description: Rescue Lienne Astafort and Rian Astafort by slaying Moldark the Unbanished on B10 before they are executed in 3 hours. Quest is considered completed only after both human adventurers have been freed from their cages. Quest is considered failed if the time limit expires or if either adventurer dies through any means before the expiration of the quest. Quest Expires In: 2:58:52 By the time he had finished reading the message, a powerful determination arose within him: it was a sensation in the farthest reaches of his mind that told him, beyond all question, that he would not be able to move on if he failed this quest. That he must succeed at any cost. And so, Zach did not think. He did not wonder. He did not contemplate. He didn¡¯t even plan. He simply acted. Shoving his phone in his pocket, he grabbed his blade, set aside every last modicum of caution, and took off at a mad sprint towards the exit door, not even bothering to look at Moldark on his way out. They were alive. Thank the Gods, they were still alive. And all he had to do to save them was make his way all the way down to B10 within three hours and defeat the boss in a one-on-one battle. And how would he do that? He didn¡¯t know. He didn¡¯t care, either. It was just something he now had to do. And he was going to do it. Chapter 39: Zachys Calador: UNLEASHED Chapter 39: Zachys Calador: UNLEASHED Even amid the flurry of emotions that all competed to be front-most on his brain, somehow, it was a sense of anger that managed to edge out fear as Zach burst through the metal door leading into the stairwell and then dashed down so fast that he was lucky he didn¡¯t slip and begin rolling his way into the next floor. He swore again and again, the curses coming out like automatic fire from a machine gun. His heavy footsteps echoed as he rushed to achieve the impossible. This shouldn¡¯t have happened. Why the hell couldn¡¯t they have just listened to him? Why couldn¡¯t they see what was so obvious? What was he going to do if he failed and they died? How would he live with that? ¡°Just had to poke the NPC, didn¡¯t you?¡± he growled, smashing open the metal door labeled B6, which led out into a stretch of rocky terrain that seemed to go on for miles. It was sort of like B1, only there were no crooks, crevices, entrances, or pathways to choose between: it was just one large, fairly wide expanse of gravel- and rock-covered ground with somewhat circular stone walls that curved up and over his head about fifty feet above him. Actually, as he got a better look at his surroundings, it looked kind of like a gigantic tunnel, but one that stretched on for so long that Zach couldn¡¯t see the end of it. Noting the distance, it took a great deal of effort for him not to whimper in fear and frustration. Don¡¯t think. Don¡¯t let yourself think! Zach knew it was dangerous to allow himself to form any kind of detailed thoughts right now¡ªand why? Because it was so blatantly obvious just how stacked the odds were against him. Forget the fact for a moment that he was now all alone, on his own, and that he had to somehow defeat a Gods-damned boss by himself. Forget all that! Even worse was the fact that just getting there in three hours seemed impossible. This place was so unpredictable that a fucking stairway could take half a day to climb down if he was unlucky. How was he supposed to get there on time? And there I go thinking about it! The emotions swirling around inside of him were so numerous that it threatened to overwhelm him. He was both frightened and determined, enraged and saddened, pensive and panicked¡ªhe was a mess. And all because Rian and Lienne had to go start some shit that he totally saw coming. I don¡¯t want them to die. Gods, please help me. I don¡¯t know if I can¡­no, no, I have to do this! There were mobs everywhere in front of him. Just so Gods-damned many of them. Some of them, he recognized¡ªothers he did not. He saw Eeps, Skelly Grunts, and Skelly Archers, but there were quite a few others here he hadn¡¯t seen before, such as the one closest to him, which looked sort of like a Skelly Grunt but with a broadsword instead of a scimitar, and an orange bandana instead of a red one¡ªwhich Zach himself was wearing. It also had a shield almost as large as Rian¡¯s. [??/??] Skelly Defender Level 8 Holding his blade in a single-handed grip, Zach rubbed the left side of his face and paused for a moment in nervous agitation even as he knew the seconds were counting down. He didn¡¯t know what to do here. This floor alone could take him days to complete all on his own. In fact, of all the floors thus far in the Catacombs of Yorna, a single glance was enough for him to see that B6 was, by far, the most straightforward of all¡ªboth literally and figuratively. Many of the mobs were in groups, but many were also on their own, yet all seemed to be positioned almost at random. There were some hugging the left side of the tunnel-like walls, some directly in the middle, and other to the right. Some were only a few feet behind others, and it seemed like, in places, there could be a good bit of empty space with no mobs at all. Then there looked like there were places far ahead where there were so many that it was practically cluttered. ¡°How?¡± he asked aloud, his voice beginning to break as the grim reality of things threatened to smash through his fragile wall of confidence. ¡°How can I do this?¡± Even if he avoided every mob he could¡ªwhich would really depend more on their aggro radius than his ability to sneak by them¡ªhe would still end up having to fight so many of these things. Either that, or he could risk an all-out sprint and try to barrel through them, but that would almost certainly mean death. Not to mention the Eeps respawned so quickly¡ªwhat was it again, like twenty seconds? Oh, and just great! Things got even worse, because as he darted his eyes around, he realized there were very dark objects slithering across the ceiling that must surely have been the Screeching Spiders the NPC had been going on about. They did not yet have names which, if past was precedent, meant they were supposed to be some kind of trap. They¡¯d likely fall down on unsuspecting adventurers, and only then would their names and levels become visible. As Zach stood there unmoving like an idiot and tried desperately to think, his head became cloudier and cloudier as the pressure of the time-limit only seemed to paralyze him further. Every second he wasn¡¯t moving was a second he lost. Yet just knowing that seemed to make him more indecisive. Reflexively, he began to bounce up and down on his tiptoes. He was only 17. He wasn¡¯t a soldier. He wasn¡¯t experienced. The fate of two lives shouldn¡¯t be in his hands. This wasn¡¯t supposed to be something he had to deal with. But he did have to deal with it. He couldn¡¯t let them die. So he had to do the impossible. But how? What if he could get help? Maybe if he found another entrance to Angelica¡¯s, he could convince some adventurers to help him. It wasn¡¯t a horrible idea, but it required him to, at the very least, get through this floor, which just from a casual glance, looked like a multi-day project at the minimum¡ªassuming he was even strong enough, stat-wise, to do it. Another idea was to become stronger, but that also ran into the issue of time. If only he had more time, he could conceivably grind levels and hope some of them weren¡¯t blank. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone and selected the tracking app. This, he did even while his brain screamed at him not to look. That there was no reason for him to waste more time on checking the¡­well, time. In fact, all he would do was make himself more anxious and make it harder to pull himself together. And here I go doing it anyway. This was because, on the flipside, the other, evil half of his brain told him the opposite. It said, ¡°Zach, you need to know how much time you have left. You can¡¯t do this. You¡¯re a loser. Your friends are as good as dead. Just look at the time!¡± As it turned out, eight precious minutes had already passed from the moment he¡¯d last checked, and now the quest timer stood at 2:52:01. I need to move. I need to save them. I need to! But how, dammit? As things stood, he was a level 7 with the stats of like a level 4, if that. How close was he to his next level, anyway? He¡¯d been so distracted chatting with Kalana that he hadn¡¯t even bothered keeping track of things last floor. Though, in fairness, the experience gains had been so pathetically small it almost wasn¡¯t worth bothering. The last time he¡¯d looked, he¡¯d been at 450/600 and he hadn¡¯t checked since. Despite not wanting to waste any more valuable, priceless seconds, he nevertheless brought out his stats if for no other reason than to take stock of his current situation before proceeding onwards. Tapping his shoulder four times, he quickly read the words that appeared in the air before him. Zachys Calador: Level 7 (598/600xp) Armor Bonus: 13 6 strength 4 dexterity 5 constitution 1 intelligence 3 speed 2 luck Dismissing it almost as soon as it appeared, Zach took note of the only two pieces of information that actually mattered to him: that he was 2xp away from reaching level 8, and that Lienne¡¯s armor buff was still active on him, raising his armor bonus from 8 to 13, likely for, at the most, another twenty minutes. It was almost funny how it all kept coming back to time. Everything was time! Staring at this ¡°Skelly Defender¡± only twenty or so feet in front of him and away from the metal door, he slowed his breathing in an attempt to control his overall unsteadiness. Each moment was now a desperate struggle to push aside feelings of hopelessness as the list of things going against him seemed so vast and insurmountable that it almost crushed him into further inaction. It wasn¡¯t just about the sheer number of mobs in here and the question of whether or not he was strong enough to kill them. Having a natural affinity for swordsmanship, Zach genuinely felt that there was a real chance he could kill some or most of these mobs, even if he didn¡¯t yet know their strength. The problem rather was what would happen afterwards. He wasn¡¯t a Gods-damned machine! Like any human being, there came a time when he would need to rest and catch his breath. And thus far, the two types of skeletons he¡¯d come across both seemed to have five-minute respawn timers. The Eeps, on the other hand, had a mere twenty or so seconds before they came back, and then there were all these other mobs he knew nothing about. For him to make it through just this one floor¡ªlet alone get all the way down to B10 in three hours¡¯ time¡ªhe¡¯d need to kill, move, and keep killing with no chance to pause or rest. And he¡¯d have to do this for an indeterminate amount of time, as he couldn¡¯t even see the end of this giant, mouth-shaped tunnel. Oh, and he had no healer now, too. So now, on top of everything else, getting injured equaled death or failure. This was just such bullshit. Every time it seemed like his life had begun moving in a more positive direction, there was just something else that had to go wrong. He found a spawn? His dad got murdered. The girl he loved wanted to be with him? She got taken to an island and developed a God complex. It just didn¡¯t FUCKING stop. The hits. They just kept coming! Once again compulsively checking his phone, he saw that he¡¯d wasted another two minutes, as he now had just 2:49:55 left before his two new and dear friends were killed as a result of his cowardice and inaction. With an audible whimper that sounded horrible even to his own ears, he realized that there really was no plan he could come up with. There was nothing. He had only two choices to him: push forward and almost certainly either die or arrive too late, or, he could abandon his friends, which would still require him to push forward through this floor or face death by inevitable starvation and dehydration. Just stop thinking about it. Just move and don¡¯t stop moving! Even picking a bad option was better than doing nothing at all. He would just have to try. That was all he could do now. Try. No more thinking. No more plotting. Just move your ass. Now. Do it now! Determined but still shaken with terror and doubt, Zach decided to waste not a single additional second. It was time to fight! First up: this ¡°Skelly Defender.¡± Without even considering the uncountable number of challenges waiting for him in this mob-filled zoo of a tunnel, everything that came next would begin with him killing the sword-and-shield-bearing, level-8 skeleton before him. If I get too close, I¡¯ll definitely aggro those Eeps and maybe even the archer. Their aggro range is gigantic. At times like now, he really wished he had an ability like Rian¡¯s Axe Throw. The only ranged power he could call upon was his Wave Slash, and given that he had about two hours fifty minutes¡ªprobably less now¡ªto get down to B10, exhausting himself on the first enemy probably wasn¡¯t a great idea. So, did this mean he¡¯d have no choice but to body-pull the Gods-damned thing? No, what am I even saying? I¡¯m an idiot! Feeling ashamed of his own stupidity, Zach remembered that he was literally surrounded in almost every conceivable direction by rocks. Bending down, he scooped up a nice large one that was just small enough to wrap his fingers around, and then he straightened his back and stared at the Skelly Defender. ¡°All right, you son of a bitch. Let¡¯s do this.¡± Spitting on the floor, Zach then bent his knees, drew his arm back, and sent it again forward with all his strength, hurtling the rock through the air at the Skelly Defender. Zach watched in trepidation as it approached with great speed, closing the thirty feet of distance in less than three seconds, and then, with a snap, it bounced off the creature¡¯s head, dealing 5 damage. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± the Skelly Defender yelled at him. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± ¡°Fruuuuhhk you too!¡± Zach yelled right back at it as it took wide, lunging steps in his direction. Raising his blade defensively and bending his knees, Zach nodded his head up and down and shook his shoulders to both loosen his muscles and psychologically pump himself up. It was time to fight. He could do this. He had to do this. If he didn¡¯t, his friends were going to die, and so probably would he. Zach was ready to spring into action the moment the creature came to him. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± it again yelled as it wasted no time lifting its imposing-looking broadsword and then slicing down at him. Zach raised his blade, deflected the blow, and then, narrowing his eyes, he returned with a strike of his own. Unfortunately, the Skelly Defender¡¯s shield wasn¡¯t just for mere show, and it was able to absorb the attack with a loud, echoing thud before retaliating with a horizontal slice aimed at Zach¡¯s neck. This, he simply leaned backwards and away from. Though it had only been a brief exchange, Zach was thus far unimpressed with the creature¡¯s swordsmanship. His only real concern was the fact that, for the very first time, he was fighting a mob that had the ability to defend itself against attacks, which meant that valuable time would be drained as Zach now poked at the thing, trying to find a hole in its guard. For nearly half a minute, he kept himself light on his feet, dodging and deflecting the occasional strike before returning with a rather weak one of his own. His attacks, at least so far, were not designed to inflict damage but to probe. This, he chose to do as a result of drawing upon his experience from his brief duel with Rian. That had been the first time he¡¯d ever fought against something with a shield, and his mistake back then had been to exert too much force against the shield rather than try to find an opening. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± the Skelly Defender roared defiantly. Its attack patterns were actually quite varied, and even amid the storm of emotions in Zach¡¯s heart, he still found room to be amazed at how deftly he was able to guard against, parry, or dodge the monster¡¯s attacks. There was just something about bodily movements he understood on an intrinsic level. His coordination and reflexes seemed almost uniquely attuned to feeling out something¡¯s movement in a way that let him predict where it would end up, such as right now, as the skeleton shifted its weight onto its back leg. It was going to attempt a thrusting attack, wasn¡¯t it? Zach pivoted on his heels and twisted his hip, easily moving out of the way. Then, finally catching the Skelly Defender off guard, he at last put some power behind his attacks, and he swung at full strength in a crescent arc. There was a loud crunch as his blade ripped across the Skelly Defender¡¯s throat bones, dealing 38 damage and causing an entire piece of the column connecting its head to its torso to fly off to its right side. The strike also chipped off a big chunk of its jaw. Now, its head drooped down as though it were staring at the ground, and Zach realized it was stuck in that position. Nevertheless, it didn¡¯t seem to alter how the creature fought, as the follow-up strike that Zach hoped to land was again blocked by its shield. How much HP does it have left? he wondered. I¡¯ve hit it for¡­I think 43 so far. As he and the creature continued to tussle, Zach became increasingly more annoyed and anxious. Mechanically, he was doing everything right. He was positive that his current method of dealing with this ¡°Skelly Defender¡± was emphatically the correct one¡ªor at least it would be if he could actually afford the cost in time! Had he come to this dungeon on his own or if Rian and Lienne hadn¡¯t been so stupid, he would be beyond pleased with himself for how he was handling this mob. Unfortunately, the clock was ticking, he¡¯d already been in combat with this thing for over a minute, and at the rate things were going, he could very well end up wasting five, if not ten more on trying to topple it. And so, acting in a way that he knew was reckless, instead of continuing to search for an opening, Zach began to hammer away at the mob using all of his strength. He struck so hard that he actually grunted each time he whirled his blade around. The skeleton frustratingly managed to block each and every attempted blow with its shield. ¡°Gods-damn you!¡± Zach hissed as he raised his arms high above his head and then brought the sword crashing down towards the top-middle portion of the creature¡¯s skull. The Skelly Defender raised its shield-bearing arm up just in time to block the strike, so Zach, with as much speed as he could muster, took a half step back and then quickly swung a horizontal slash at its midsection. The skeleton began to lower its shield down to guard, but it would be too slow. Zach¡¯s blade connected, dealing 27 damage and causing a rib bone to break free and make a clattering sound as it skipped several times along the ground. Having used so much energy on his previous volley of strikes, Zach had begun to pant. The fact that he was already at the point of breathing heavily was a very, very bad sign. This was just the first damn mob on a floor of a size he could not begin to guess, and already, he was starting to show the first signs of fatigue. Deep down, he knew this would be the case. He knew that what he was attempting was probably well beyond the realm of possibility, but how could he not at least try? How could he ever look himself in the mirror again if he just decided Rian and Lienne were lost causes and so fuck ¡®em? As more and more time ticked away, and Zach once again struggled to find an opening, his patience diminished, his level of panic steadily grew, and his attacks became increasingly more reckless¡ªwhich in turn led to mistakes. Despite fighting against something that was clearly inferior to him in terms of skill with a blade, he came so close to losing his head that a few strands of his hair were chopped off. Had he been even a tenth of a second slower to duck, he would have been decapitated. What was he realistically supposed to do here? In practical terms, he needed to slow down. But because of time constraints, he also needed to speed up. These two were not both possible at the same time. In any other situation, he¡¯d be chiding himself for his impatience, but this was literally life or death for Rian and Lienne. ¡°Just die, you piece of¡ª¡± Zach again almost lost his head, and this time, dodging put him off balance. He stumbled backwards and then bumped into the metal door leading to this floor. The moment his back hit the wall, the Skelly Defender took a shot at his head. He ducked, and with a high-pitched scratching, the Skelly Defender carved a thin line into the dark blue metal frame of the door. Zach threw his foot forward and delivered a kick into the creature¡¯s bony torso, pushing it back just a few steps and hitting for a paltry 3. Then he ran forward and swung his blade so fast that the steel made a whoosh as it moved through the air. Somehow, he actually managed to connect, slicing into the skeleton¡¯s right shoulder bones for 20 damage. He tried to get lucky a second time, taking another lightning-quick slice at the skeleton¡¯s opposite side, but the shield was there an instant before his blade, and so with another thud, his attack had been successfully blocked. Zach only had a few feet now between him and the door behind him, and he unfortunately had to use all of it, once again putting his back to it as the Skelly Defender charged forward and delivered a series of five fast, powerful slashes, all from different directions. This was normally the type of attack that Zach would be better off dodging or running from. Yet surprising even his own self, he moved his sword with an even greater speed, blocking each and every one and resulting in five consecutive clangs, the last of which was accompanied by a few sparks. Now breathing even more heavily, Zach went in for a counter attack¡ªbut he stopped, realizing that he wasn¡¯t getting anywhere this way. He needed to learn from what did work and what didn¡¯t. Thus far, he had successfully struck the monster three times, with the first being his most significant in terms of damage. It had been achieved as a result of Zach sliding out of the way of a thrusting attack. The second hit he¡¯d pulled off due to launching a heavy¡ªand blocked¡ªdownwards slice on the Skelly Defender¡¯s Skull, and then a somewhat weaker but faster follow-up on its midsection. His third successful attack was pure circumstance. It was those first two he needed to focus on. Even knowing it would cost him more valuable time that he couldn¡¯t afford, Zach held off from attacking and instead focused on simply making small body movements to dodge the creature¡¯s rather unimpressive assortment of strikes. He forced himself to remain patient as every second that ticked by made the situation more stressful and less tolerable. Even still, he continued to dance around whatever the Skelly Defender sent his way while getting his breathing under control. And then came the opportunity. The Skelly Defender shifted its weight to its back foot, and Zach felt a rush of energy and alertness as he sensed his opportunity had come once again. He dodged well before the creature thrust forward at him, and the extra time provided by his preemptive body movement allowed him to really wind up good. Using so much strength he actually screamed with the exertion of it, he smashed his blade across the Skelly Defender¡¯s face so Gods-damned hard it knocked off the rest of its jaw, the nose bone, and a decent piece of its forehead for 55 damage. The creature stumbled backwards several steps and looked as though it would fall over. In truth, Zach expected this to be the moment it crumpled to pieces. But somehow, through some means, it still wasn¡¯t dead. ¡°This is bullshit!¡± he growled. ¡°How much HP does this fucking thing have?¡± He ran forward, then stopped, remembering that no matter how hard he tried, he wasn¡¯t going to break through its guard by attacking blindly. So instead, he methodically repeated his other successful attack. Using his precious stamina, he raised his sword high and brought it down to bear on top of the skeleton¡¯s skull, and like before, the blade was blocked. Then, repeating the same movement as before, he followed up with a light, quick attack on the midsection. This time, it only hit for 15. But Gods be blessed, it finally did the trick! With a final, pained-sounding ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± the Skelly Defender crumpled into a pile of bones and then disappeared, as Zach panted and tried to regain his breath. +150xp As Zach saw the number, he lifted his head in surprise and then wiped his eyes with his free hand. That was a tremendous, massive amount for a level-8 mob. The scarecrows only even gave 100xp. But wait. That was in a group of three. By himself, this actually sort of made sense. It appeared that fighting solo was not without its benefits. Zach was so taken aback by the massive experience gain that he had forgotten all about what would come next. His eyes widened as he saw the words that he¡¯d gone from loving to dreading. They floated in the air before him, and even with everything else that was going on, he was able, for a brief moment, to forget his current troubles and divert all of his attention to the words before him. Level Up! +1 str (7) +1 spd (4) +1 lck (3) Okay then. All right. Yeah. Zach nodded to himself. This wasn¡¯t the best thing that anyone had ever gotten, but it certainly removed the fear in his heart that he was worthless and had nothing left inside of him. Also, he¡¯d seen firsthand through Rian what just a few points could do. And wait, were his eyes deceiving him, or had he just gotten a drop? I did¡­ As Zach bent down to pick up whatever the Skelly Defender had left for him, he wondered why all this good shit was happening at a time when there was zero chance of him enjoying any of it. In the last ten seconds, he¡¯d defeated a new mob, found a source of tremendous experience points, reassured his self-doubts, and gotten a drop¡ªand none of it made him happy because his friends were going to die. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we got here,¡± he said, moving as fast as he could. It was a definitely a piece of gear: Zach knew because it came wrapped in that same kind of plastic that every other piece of gear he¡¯d found had been wrapped in. Only, holding it in his hands, he wasn¡¯t quite sure what he was looking at. It looked like just a bundle of cloth with no distinct shape. Knowing that he was risking his friends¡¯ lives with every wasted second, he stopped wondering and started acting. Pulling up his inventory, he took a look to see what he had. Decaying Hand Wraps of the Undying: discovered by Zachys Calador Armor + 1 +1 str +1 dex ¡°Oh, right,¡± he said aloud. ¡°I forgot. This is part of that set I¡¯m wearing.¡± Zach had never worn hand wraps before, but they appeared simple enough to put on. They were literally just maroon-colored rolls of soft, quite comfortable fabric that he wrapped around each of his hands and wrists covering all but his fingers. Each roll ended in an adhesive fastener, securing it in place. ¡°With two more strength and another point in dex, I might actually be able to do this.¡± His sudden rush of enthusiasm was soon dashed as he removed his phone from his pocket and checked his time. He was now down to 2:44:21. Swearing loudly, he ignored his fatigue and then took exactly three steps towards the next mob before coming to an abrupt halt. Suddenly, a twisted, disgusting, horrible, no-good, absolutely ludicrous idea popped into his head. ¡°No,¡± he said to himself, shaking his head. ¡°You¡¯re an idiot. You can¡¯t do that. No. Stop thinking about it. Just stop!¡± But he couldn¡¯t stop thinking about it. It wasn¡¯t that he wanted to attempt something so obviously risky¡ªat least in a time sense¡ªbut it was more that he knew he wasn¡¯t going to make it in time the way he was going. He wasn¡¯t strong enough. He needed more power, and he needed it faster. Put simply, there was no way he could make it through this floor in under a day, let alone two hours. And that was just a fact. He might not have liked it, but that was just the way things stood. On the other hand, this new, far riskier idea that had come to him¡ªthere was basically no chance of this working either. But¡­but it might. Again, the odds were so ridiculously against him that it seemed almost pointless to even try. Only his adamant refusal to accept that it was truly too late and that his friends were really going to die¡ªonly this kept him from giving up in despair. As five seconds of thinking turned into ten, Zach realized that, despite this being such a monumentally consequential decision, he actually didn¡¯t even have the time needed to make sure he made the correct one. Time was now a resource that he couldn¡¯t waste. This, as he obsessively glanced down to see that only 2:43:01 remained before Rian and Lienne were put to death. ¡°What do I do?¡± he asked himself. He could hear the desperation in his own voice. Very briefly, making sure he spared only a handful of seconds, he snuck another peek at his stats. Zachys Calador: Level 8 (148/800xp) Armor Bonus: 14 8 strength 5 dexterity 5 constitution 1 intelligence 4 speed 3 luck It was those two new points in strength. If not for those, this idea wouldn¡¯t even be rummaging around his brain. When Lienne had gotten just two points more of intelligence, her spells had hit way harder. Every point made a big difference¡ªor at least at their level it did. ¡°I don¡¯t have time for this,¡± he moaned. ¡°I¡¯m just going to do it. To hell with it!¡± Zach spun around and flung himself towards the exit door with a speed even greater now than what he was capable of only a moment ago. He knew that, no matter how this turned out, he couldn¡¯t be faulted for anything bad that happened. He had no time to make a good decision. He just wanted his friends to live, and he had to act. That was all he could do now. And so, as his body crashed into the door that led to B5, and he started bolting up the few sets of stairs, he promised himself¡ªswore to himself that he would not allow himself to second guess anything from this point on. Only snap decisions from here on out. Those very same kinds of decisions that he¡¯d always gotten wrong in the past¡ªat least according to Kal. I wish she was here. Gods, I wish she was here with me. One of the things Zach had discovered about this dungeon was that the exit doors only disappeared when being transported off or returning to Galterra. That was why he was unsurprised to see the door to B5 right where it was meant to be as he slammed it open and tore across the banquet hall. ¡°Oh, hello, adventurer,¡± Moldark said to him. ¡°I am so happy today, because it is my wedding day. But alas! My bride seems to have¡ª¡± ¡°No one gives a shit!¡± Zach screamed at him as he ran for all he was worth over and across the shiny, white-tiled flooring of what he took to be a dance floor. Pumping his arms as he ran, he looked over his shoulder and shouted, ¡°No offense!¡± Then, extending his left arm all the way out in front of him while holding his blade in his right, he tackled the blue metal exit door without losing an ounce of speed. He didn¡¯t even hear it bang against the wall to his right until he¡¯d already climbed halfway up the first flight of stairs. Huffing, he ignored the muscle pain in his quadriceps, thighs, and calves and the intensifying pounding in his chest as he flew up another five flights; reaching the top, he once more extended his arm and bashed open the exit door¡ªand then immediately switched back to a two-handed grip, jumped up into the air, viciously slashed his blade downwards, and decapitated a Skelly Grunt that never even turned to face in his direction. +25xp ¡°Guess who¡¯s back?¡± he shouted, laughing giddily as his emotional turmoil had put him into something of an adrenaline-fueled, feverish rage. He began to laugh so hard and so crazily he scared even himself. But he didn¡¯t care. He was throwing everything on the line now. There was no going back. It was all for the sake of his two new¡ªand currently best¡ªfriends. No wonder this quest was called ¡°The Value of Friendship.¡± Fifteen feet in front of him were six skelly grunts spread out in a sort of semicircle as the width between the wall and the chasm was only about ten feet. Zach, squeezing his blade so tightly that his knuckles turned white, launched himself forward. Once he¡¯d crossed to within ten or so feet, all six turned and faced him. But he didn¡¯t aggro them. No, it was the other way around: they aggroed him. Zach didn¡¯t even care whether or not that was possible, because it was what happened. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± Zach yelled at the Skelly Grunts as he charged straight at them. ¡°Frrruughhh¡± ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± they all yelled back at him, moving in his direction and raising their scimitars. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡¯ The moment Zach got within their range, he lifted his foot and kicked the one nearest to the ledge with enough force that it stumbled backwards and fell off. Then, seething with anger and laughing giddily all at the same exact time, he unloaded on the other five of them. First, he crashed his sword into the midsection of the one to his immediate left, dealing 52 damage; then, he swung his arms around in the opposite direction, delivering a cut to the top of the spinal cord of the one to his right, hitting for 61 and cutting its head clean off. Quickly, he raised his blade and blocked the scimitar of the one directly in front of him, the clash of their two blades resulting in small shower of sparks; right after, he retaliated with a downwards slice that ended it for good. Now, the two remaining Skelly Grunts both moved in on him, one to each side, and so Zach extended his arms with his blade pointed forward. Spinning around in a full circle, he cut them both, hitting each for exactly 59 damage. +25xp +25xp +25xp +25xp +25xp +25xp According to Rian and Lienne, there were only two things that resulted in an experience penalty. The first was the number of people in your party¡ªanything over two¡ªand the second was the number of people in your party two levels¡ªor more¡ªhigher than the thing you were fighting. But if flying solo, Lienne had explained, then there was no such penalty regardless of level. That last bit was going to be a really, really big problem for the unfortunate, poor Skelly Grunts who were about to bear the responsibility for everything that had ever gone wrong in Zach¡¯s life. If part of his stamina really was based in willpower, then right now, he needed to draw on every last ounce of it, as Zach knew he was about to enter into the most cardio-intensive, angry, and grueling act of mass slaughter that any Skelly Grunt had ever had the misfortune of being part of. They were about to pay a severe price for Zach¡¯s misery. He was about to kill these things so ruthlessly that they¡¯d beg the mob Gods not to make them respawn. It was a good thing that the skeletons did not bleed when cut, because if they did, Zach would be moments from dyeing his entire outfit red. Yelling out a battle cry, he dashed forward and struck down two more Skelly Grunts before they even had a chance to turn in his direction. Then he continued onwards and dispatched a third. Ahead of him was one of the two traps on this floor where he recalled five of the Skelly Grunts jumping down from a ledge up near the ceiling. Zach was ready for them. As soon as he moved within range, all five Skelly Grunts leapt down at the same time, and then they moved to surround him. Sparks flew as he raised his blade to defend against the first grunt to attack¡ªthe unfortunate mob who¡¯d basically just volunteered itself to be his first victim. Ducking beneath a second strike, Zach thrust his blade forward, piercing it cleanly for 51 damage and ending the thing in one hit. Then he pulled back his weapon, spun around, and chopped off the head of one of the bastards that¡¯d slipped behind him. It was at this moment that a sharp, throbbing pain erupted in his shoulder. For a second or two, Zach was confused, but then he remembered the Skelly Archers far across the chasm, of which one must¡¯ve fired an arrow at him; with a quick, cursory glance at his right shoulder blade, he saw that an arrow had indeed penetrated his flesh and was jutting out of his shoulder, but it had not gone nearly deep enough for Zach to worry about thanks in part to Lienne¡¯s armor buff. In fact, he didn¡¯t even bother dealing with it. He simply dealt a killing blow to two more of the Skelly Grunts and then jumped backwards to avoid the downwards slice of a scimitar from the last. Pushing forwards, he delivered such a vicious counter slash to the torso of the Skelly Grunt who¡¯d attacked him that it cleaved the creature into two pieces, dealing 69 damage. Then Zach laughed at the sex number and continued his charge, stopping only briefly to duck down and avoid another arrow. Hurrying back upright, he proceeded onwards. He was now halfway across the expanse that would lead to the left tunnel, which was on his right this time around. Zach wondered what would¡¯ve happened if they¡¯d gone through the opposite route. Would the metal door at the end of that particular stairwell also lead to the same B5? Or would it have presented them with a different floor entirely? One that, in an alternate universe, Rian and Lienne did not get themselves locked in some kind of death quest. If only he had the time to find out. Up ahead, four Skelly Grunts cried out at him as he approached. Not a single one of them managed to lift their blades. Zach furiously swung his weapon, whipping it around for one strike after the next, ripping the creatures apart even as he now began to really feel the physical, exhaustive effects of his prolonged assault. His breathing was now far heavier than it¡¯d been before, and sweat was pouring down his face, back, between his legs, his arms¡ªeverywhere. But still, he continued on¡ªor almost did. First, he dropped down into a squat as two arrows fired back-to-back crashed into the rocky wall to his right with the first arriving one second before the second. Then, standing back up, he groaned as a third he didn¡¯t see coming slammed into his chest. ¡°Gods damn it,¡± he said. Switching his blade to a single-handed grip, he used his free hand and tore the arrow out of his body, then also plucked out the one in his shoulder. Though he was bleeding, it was not too bad. Actually, if not for his adventures with Rian and Lienne, he might have actually panicked at the amount of blood oozing out of him. Once upon a time, he would¡¯ve thought it was a lot. But as he¡¯d come to learn, it was often the case that what looked like a lot of blood and what was a lot of blood were two different things entirely. This here? This was nothing. And so he didn¡¯t even bother to try stopping the bleeding as he dashed forward. Behind him, he heard a thwump, thwump, thwump as three arrows struck the wall where he¡¯d just been standing, penetrating the rock. Once more gripping his sword in both hands, he raced forward, struck down another two grunts, then again ducked to avoid even more arrows that had been fired from across the chasm. Something white and shining caught his eye. Then, with a disappointed grunt, Zach kicked the headband off the ledge and watched as it fell for Gods knew how many feet into the abyss. He supposed he could¡¯ve stored it, but he definitely did not have time to read up on how that ability worked. Stolen story; please report. Continuing on, Zach moved at a jog rather than a run. It was something he soon corrected, as he refused to allow himself to become sluggish. He didn¡¯t have the luxury of resting. He didn¡¯t have the privilege of taking a break. To give himself the strength and willpower needed to eat through the exhaustion and press on, he intentionally, deliberately pictured Rian and Lienne in his head as they were brutally murdered. It tortured him. It made him yell in anguish. But it fueled him. It gave him the rush of anger and impatience he needed to obliterate another pack of five Skelly Grunts three-quarters of the way to the tunnel. Now, he was just about to enter the second of the two ¡°ambushes.¡± On this one, he couldn¡¯t remember if there¡¯d been three, four, five, or six Skelly Grunts, because at the time, he had been texting with Kalana about her cat. Ultimately, it didn¡¯t matter if there were a hundred. In fact, better so if there were! He was going to destroy all of them¡ªbut first, he needed to watch out for those damn arrows! Zach ducked below one, dashed backwards to avoid the next, and then slashed at the air, cutting the third in half before it struck him. He again ducked thereafter, as two more struck the rocky wall across from the ledge. Once he was sure that all the archers had fired their current volley, he moved into range of the trap, then glanced up to see four skeletons dropping down on him. This time around, Zach decided to save a few seconds by gripping his blade tighter, bending his knees, and then snapping back up to his feet while powerfully swinging his blade up and above him, splitting a Skelly Grunt in two before it even landed. No sooner had it vanished into a puff of smoke than the other three attacked him all at once. Zach twisted his body to avoid a thrusting attack from the one to his right while simultaneously raising his blade to deflect the one to his left. Unfortunately, the one in front of him managed to get him¡ªand it really, really hurt. The scimitar cut him right above his left breastbone, and though it was also a relatively shallow slice, it was just deep enough that it might be something he¡¯d need to keep an eye on later. For now, however, he was content to behead the bastard for hurting him, then make quick work of its two friends. Now, there were just two more left before reaching the tunnel. But before he even considered going after them, he once again had to wait for the next round of archer fire so that he didn¡¯t have to worry about it while he dealt with the two Skelly Grunts. He was grateful there was such a long delay between shots, as this would be almost impossible if they were rapid-firing at him. Also¡­was that a drop he spotted on the ground near his right foot? Even as Zach danced around to avoid the arrows that were now numerous enough to pose a grave threat, he tried to discern whether or not this was something he had already, but it was difficult while hopping around. The moment he evaded the final arrow, he dropped down, scooped up the item, and then almost cheered at the sight of two reddish-brown sandals that would complete his armor set. Knowing that he¡¯d found the fifth and final piece of equipment was so wonderful that it had brought him to within a hair¡¯s breadth of smiling. Sadly, the Rian and Lienne situation weighed too heavily on him. Rather than a shoebox, the sandals came wrapped in the same kind of plastic that the clothing did. Zach tucked them protectively under his left armpit and held his blade in his right hand. He then drew the aggro of the final two Skelly Grunts. The first, he ended immediately with a single slash to its bony face. The second, however, only took 43 damage from his one-handed strike, and Zach had to kick it in its nonexistent nuts to finish it off. It crumpled, vanished, and then, almost as though it were destiny, it turned out that these last two mobs were enough to grant him his next level up. And boy, was this a weird one. As Zach read the words that appeared in the air before him¡ªeven as he was forced to shuffle around a bit to dodge another volley of arrow fire from the Gods-cursed Skelly Archers¡ªhe found himself baffled and mystified by what he saw. If anything, it reinforced the idea that there was something screwy going on with him, because he was fairly certain that this was not a normal kind of level up. At least, that was his best guess, anyway. In all fairness, he still didn¡¯t really know how all of this worked. But even then, something about this just didn¡¯t seem right. Level Up! +1 str (9) +1 con (6) +47 int (48) Really, it was that last one that threw him off if he was being honest. Actually, ¡°threw him off" wasn¡¯t really a strong enough term to describe the immense confusion he felt at the sight of his intelligence gain. He didn¡¯t use spells. He didn¡¯t have a single ability or weapon that scaled off it. So why in the name of the Gods did he just receive forty-seven points of it? He was so shocked to see this that he couldn¡¯t even bring himself to feel an emotional reaction. Whether that was because of Rian and Lienne¡¯s current situation or because he felt like everything was just running off the rails, he didn¡¯t know. The only thing he did know was that if he didn¡¯t hurry, his two friends were going to die in¡­how long was it now? He took out his phone and checked. Zach gasped, immediately losing interest in his intelligence stat as he realized he¡¯d used up fifteen minutes of his time already. The tracker app now showed that he had just 2:27:54 left. So, basically, he had just two-and-a-half hours to get down to B10, and he had thus far not made a single inch of progress in terms of physical distance. Hell, technically, he¡¯d actually put himself farther away. Even still, he now had to make another very difficult decision, and like before, there wasn¡¯t exactly a whole lot of time for him to make up his mind. The question at this point was simple: should he stay here for another level or two or was he now strong enough to try bashing his way through B6 again? Hurrying into the tunnel as the archers released another round of fire, he took a seat on the ground, kicked off his old sneakers, and then placed the much-more comfortable brown sandals he¡¯d just found on each of his feet. They didn¡¯t seem to have any laces, nor did they feel like they particularly needed them, either; they were a perfect, exact fit. Zach inspected the sandals in his inventory even as he put them on his feet. Decaying Footwear of the Undying: discovered by Zachys Calador Armor + 1 +1 spd The item itself wasn¡¯t so great from a stats perspective, but it was really comfortable, easy to move around in, and most importantly, it completed his set. Now, he should have had his stats raised even further, no? Still looking at his inventory, he tapped the pants he was wearing. Decaying Leggings of the Undying: discovered by Zachys Calador Armor + 2 +1 str +1 con Decaying Set (5/5) Set Bonus: Armor + 2 +1 str +1 con +1 dex +1 spd +1 lck (300 seconds) User fires a small bolt of dread magic at target enemy, dealing 0-25 magic damage. Does not affect undead enemies or apparitions. 150 range Okay, so according to this, he now had a ranged ability¡ªthat didn¡¯t scale off intelligence, sadly¡ªthat he could use to pull mobs or really for any number of other practical applications. It wouldn¡¯t be useful against skeletons, though. But putting the ability aside, even better was that his stats had now gotten another bump. But would it be enough? Was he strong enough now? He sort of thought he could feel a bit more powerful if he rotated his shoulders and stretched his neck. Come to think of it, now that his constitution was two points higher, he realized that his arrow wounds had become more like scrapes, and the deeper cut above his breastbone was now more like the arrow wounds had been. If he took these boots off, would the wounds get worse? It wasn¡¯t something he had the time to experiment with, and in all honesty, if the answer was ¡°yes,¡± he doubted he wanted to find out. In order to avoid wasting any more time, Zach tapped the air in front of him to switch from his inventory back to his stats. Zachys Calador: Level 9 (23/1200xp) Armor Bonus: 12 10 strength 6 dexterity 7 constitution 49 intelligence 6 speed 4 luck As soon as Zach saw that ¡°1200¡± number appear, he knew that he would have to move on. He simply could not afford the cost in time to grind twelve-hundred experience points which, in a way, really served well to highlight just how dire things were; this was because, given that Skelly Grunts respawned every 5 minutes, gaining the 1200xp needed for his next level would probably only take around two respawns¡¯ worth of time since he¡¯d gotten over 600xp on the way to the tunnel. So, the fact he couldn¡¯t spare a mere 10 minutes to gain a massive 1200xp was a really good example of how deep the shit was that he was in. As things stood, the best he could do was rest for another four minutes¡ªand even that was pushing it¡ªand then try to kill them twice as fast on his way back. As Zach remained seated, he could hear thumps from just outside the tunnel as the archers continued to fire on him despite having no actual chance of reaching him. He tried not to move a single muscle. He needed to soak up every last second of this rest he was giving himself: a rest he wasn¡¯t sure he was even able to afford. As the time passed, he continued to stare at his stats. It seemed that the armor buff had expired, which left him with a total of 12. It was only a loss of two, and his gain of two constitution almost certainly more than made up for it. But really, what caught most of his attention was the stat that served him least, and how it was now, by a great deal, his highest. He just couldn¡¯t believe it. He couldn¡¯t believe that he actually now had 49 points into intelligence. This was so bizarre. He needed to talk to someone about this. Maybe Mr. Oren or Kesten or someone who knew something about all this, because it didn¡¯t seem sensible. Why would something like that even happen? Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be a ¡°bruiser¡± or whatever? Either way, these were yet more questions he¡¯d have to put off until later. Rest time was over, and he needed to get back at it. There were only two hours, twenty-three minutes, and thirty-one seconds remaining until Rian and Lienne were killed. The stats he¡¯d gained coming up here would have to be enough, because he was out of time. With a renewed sense of urgency, Zach got to his feet and soared his way back through the semi-narrow path that led across the expanse. He was now able to kill the Skelly Grunts with much less effort. He used this to advantage, striking much faster and using less exertion as he powered his way through to the exit in just under 3 minutes, all while earning a massive 675xp. Despite having exhausted himself once already, he again did not hold back as he raced down the steps and exploded into the metal door labeled B5, which let out into the fancy-looking banquet hall where he had last seen Rian and Lienne, hopefully not also for the last time. ¡°Oh, hello, adventurer!¡± Moldark called to him as he approached. ¡°I am so happy today, because it is my wedding day. But alas! My bride seems to have misplaced her wedding dress. If only I had¡­¡± Zach ignored him as he zipped his way towards the exit door labeled B5->B6. He did stop for just a brief moment, however. He knew he needed energy. He knew it would do Rian and Lienne no good if he collapsed dead or unconscious before he ever got to them. And so, with a sense of gratitude that no one other than a non-sentient NPC was around to see him do this, Zach outright grabbed two fistfuls of wedding cake with both of his bare hands, then just stuffed it inside his mouth like an animal. It was fucking delicious, too. Even as he chewed, he aggressively bashed his way through the door to the stairwell and flew down the few flights of stairs until once more appearing at the door to B6. He was now noticeably faster, with 6 points into speed. It gave him the slightest hope that maybe, just maybe he could actually pull this off. The moment he stepped into B6, he reached down, grabbed a rock, and knowing he had no time to spare, threw it at the Skelly Defender. Even without having used his full strength, it hit for 10 damage, which meant that, already, he could see a sign of his recent gains, as it had only hit for 5 earlier despite him throwing it with a great deal more effort. [140/150] Skelly Defender Level 8 ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± it roared as it ran over to him. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± Zach nodded to himself. He could do this. He needed to believe in himself. Raising his blade, he prepared to engage his foe. Only, unlike before, he wasn¡¯t going to do this the slow and steady way. After all, the entire reason he¡¯d just wasted so much precious time up on B4 was so that he could brute force his way through B6. He had to be so fast that it defied logic and reason. That was how little time he could spare on his way down. For this reason, when the mob came within striking distance, Zach gave it his all. He did not hold back. He did not ¡°conserve¡± his energy. He struck out with every single last bit of strength that he could force his body to provide. With reckless abandon, he shouted with the strain of exertion as he absolutely hammered away at the Skelly Defender¡¯s shield, each strike making a crack so loud it sounded like a gunshot. The first time his sword collided with the skeleton¡¯s shield, it worried him slightly, as it did not visibly inflict any damage, nor did it cause the mob to loosen its grip on the shield. The second time, however, he began to feel more confident, as the shield seemed to wobble somewhat. Zach now became certain: the Skelly Grunt would drop it on the next hit. Interestingly enough, that wasn¡¯t quite what ended up happening. Digging deep within himself, channeling his rage and fear, and picturing Lienne and Rian in his mind, Zach struck out with even more power as dark, murderous intent flooded his emotions. When his sword met the Skelly Defender¡¯s shield, rather than drop it, the shield simply detonated. It just detonated. With a satisfying crack, at least fifty pieces of it scattered in every single direction. It was like Zach had struck something made out of clay. ¡°Now you¡¯re really going to get it,¡± he told the creature. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± it replied. With every second mattering more than the one before it, Zach burst into action, and once more, using his maximum strength, he finally got to see with his own eyes and feel with his own hands the difference that four points into strength made. Slicing the skeleton across its chest, he delivered 61 points of damage and caused the creature to stumble backwards. Zach pursued. In one fluid, swift, and blazingly quick motion, he raised his arms, flicked up his wrists, and then lowered his arms and flicked down his wrists. The result was a two-hit combination that saw his sword slash up the skeleton¡¯s jaw and forehead and then right back down the way it¡¯d come, dishing out another 72. [7/150] Skelly Defender Level 8 Zach twirled around and avoided a return thrust from the broadsword, then practically tapped the skeleton over its head¡ªjust bopping it with the end of his sword for 9. An instant later, it crumpled into a pile of bones, which then vanished as though they¡¯d never existed at all. That took too much energy. How am I supposed to do this? Though he was now undeniably stronger, Zach was once again feeling a creeping doubt as he again took in just how much there was standing between him and an eventual exit to this floor. What if it was ten miles? What if it was fifty? There was just no way of knowing. Fighting to keep the negativity out of his mind, he walked over and beyond the spot where the Skelly Defender had originally spawned. With a quick glance at it, he reminded himself that he needed to be fast, as getting caught by respawns would be one easy way of guaranteeing he didn¡¯t make any progress. Thus, he took several quick steps forward, then paused as three mobs aggroed him at once. [25/25] Eep A Level 3 [25/25] Eep B Level 3 [??/??] Screeching Spider Level 6 The Eeps were going to be a problem. Those pricks respawned so fast it was almost pointless to kill them. Even still, Zach easily dispatched both of them with an almost effortless flick of his blade. They weren¡¯t quite as threatening as they used to be. Unlike his previous encounter with these creatures, he could now move fast enough to keep up with their in-air, evasive abilities. With great ease, Zach cut both of them out of the air, and to his pleasant surprise, as a solo adventurer, they were now worth 10xp each instead of the 3xp they''d been worth back on Earth. A good ten or so seconds passed before the spider came at him. It was large, black, and very furry¡ªbut in a disgusting way¡ªand it was the size of a goat. Unsure of what to expect, Zach jumped to the side as the creature made a dull hissing noise and shot what looked to be some kind of adhesive at him. Zach then darted forward¡ªonly to dash back as the Screeching Spider ¡°screeched¡± at him, jumping forward and attempting to impale him with its pincers. Cautiously, Zach risked taking another step forward¡ªonly to be pushed back a second time for the same reason. I can NOT retreat, Zach realized. I¡¯m being pushed back. I need to move forward! Refusing to retreat so much as another inch, Zach raised his blade high above him and stepped into, rather than away from, the spider¡¯s next leaping attack; at the same time, he brutally chopped his sword downwards with all his might. The result was that he not only ripped apart most of the creature¡¯s face, causing a disgusting green goo to spray all over his new sandals, but he actually reversed its momentum midair and knocked it away from him, dealing 88 damage. The spider landed on its back and began to hiss, wiggling back and forth as though trying to flip itself over. Zach approached, and with a scowl, he again lifted his sword up, but this time with the blade pointed downward. With that, he executed the creature, piercing it through its stomach for 71 damage and killing it. He was rewarded with 100xp. But he wasn¡¯t done just yet; the moment it died, he spun himself around, raised his arms, and swung his blade twice at the air, killing the two Eeps that had already respawned. Pressing onwards, he only managed to take about fifteen steps before aggroing another Skelly Defender and what looked like two Skelly Archers a bit in the distance beyond. Floating above the Skelly Archers were about 6 Eeps, and on the ceiling above them were another four spiders. This meant, in order to kill the archers, who would now begin shooting at him, he¡¯d have no choice but to aggro all of that other bullshit. This, as the two Eeps from before respawned. He could hear them from behind as they flew towards him. As the Skelly Defender took a swipe at his face, Zach ducked, spun his body around, and dealt first with the two Eeps. Then he ducked under an arrow from the first archer, and twisted his body out of the way of the second. Only then did he find the time to exhaustingly hammer away and kill the Skelly Defender, but the effort required left him panting. He was actually so exhausted that two of the arrows struck him dead center in the chest, as the Eeps, having come back yet again, each bit at his face. Zach killed them as fast as he could. But damn, he needed a rest. This was quickly looking like it wasn¡¯t going to be possible. It took everything he had within himself to avoid giving into despair. But then he cried out in pain as two more arrows bit into his flesh. None of them punctured deeply, but they hurt badly, and he was too exhausted to dodge. He was now genuinely afraid that, if he did attempt to charge after those two archers, he wouldn¡¯t have the energy left in him to actually fight the multiple Eeps, spiders, and archers all at once. As yet another two arrows caused an incredible stabbing sensation to form in his gut and in his right hip, his despair turned to outright terror. Shamefully, his survival instinct kicked in, and he decided to pull back instead of press forward. Faced with a very real possibility of death, he did the only thing he could: he retreated. Turning around, he half-limped, half-stumbled his way towards the direction of the dark blue metal door. He wasn¡¯t giving up, though. Oh, Gods no! He was just resetting. That was all this was. A reset. He just needed a reset. He wasn''t running away. He¡¯d never give up on his friends. He¡¯d never abandon¡ª " Frrruughhh! " Zach moaned in misery and terror as the Skelly Defender closest to the entrance spawned at the absolute worst possible time. How was he supposed to defend himself? He was badly exhausted, he had arrows sticking out of him all over the place, and his body was in pain. He needed a few minutes to recover, Gods-dammit! Somehow, Zach found the strength to raise his sword and block a downward slash that would¡¯ve split open his face between the eyes. But it was a small victory, as he was gasping for air in his attempt to backpedal away from the mob. He needed to breathe. He needed just a few Gods-fucking-damn seconds to recover. But he didn¡¯t even get that. He was forced to duck beneath another strike, and then raise his blade to block a third. The fourth, however¡ªthat one became the one that almost killed him. As Zach continued to back away, he had now become too winded to be aware of the mob shifting its weight to its back foot. Therefore, he did not see the broadsword thrust forward until it was too late. Although he did manage to avoid it, he did it by throwing himself off to his side and landing on the hard, gravel- and rock-covered ground. It was at this point, as he scrambled to get back up to his feet, that the broadsword got him. In the corner of his eyes, he saw the Skelly Defender as it swung its blade down on top of him. But slow to move, he could only twist his body and partially get out of the way. The result was a very serious slice on his left shoulder that ripped into his flesh and caused a spray of blood to stain some of the rocks to his left while more of it began to leak out at an alarming rate. Then came the intense, unbearable, burning sensations. Zach howled in agony as he crawled along the ground towards the exit door. He clutched his shoulder wound with his left hand and held his blade with his right as he slithered on his belly towards safety. Through some miracle, he managed to twist his body, lift his right arm, and block another of the mob¡¯s strikes with a loud clang while his left hand remained pressed against his wound. I¡¯m not even going to make it to the door. Shit! I don¡¯t want to die. I don¡¯t want to die. Gods, give me a break here, please. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± the Skelly Defender roared at him. Mercilessly, it lifted its blade as though it were going to thrust down and execute Zach the way that Zach had executed the spider. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± ¡°Fuck you! You¡¯re not killing me!¡± Zach rolled over onto his back, gripped his blade in both hands, sat up, and then at the top of his lungs, screamed, ¡°Wave Slash!¡± and swung his blade downwards. Thanks to his increase in speed, the semi-transparent green energy formed into its metallic, double-edged disc far faster than it ever had before, and as if realizing that Zach¡¯s attack would land well before its own, the Skelly Defender extended its shield as if to block. Even without having the chance to pick up much speed, and even at point blank, which in this case would likely mean minimum damage, the Wave Slash managed to explode through the shield and take the Skelly Defender¡¯s head clean off its shoulders, dealing 762 damage and causing the mob to crumple into a pile of bones. And then came the exhaustion. Zach dropped his blade and collapsed once more onto his back. Right away, he knew he was going to slip into Exertion Debt. Having felt it once before, he thought he could sort of tell the difference now between coming close to it and definitively crossing the line. He fought against it, of course, but his vision was becoming blurry and his head light. The world felt like it was spinning. He himself felt like he was running a marathon and couldn¡¯t stop. And so there he lay, on his back on the rough, rocky ground, staring at the ceiling as more and more blood leaked out of his left shoulder in quantities that might actually be sufficient to cause death. And yet, even as he began to drift into an unconsciousness from which it was possible he might never awake, he couldn¡¯t help but divert nearly all of his attention to the words that appeared up above him and halfway to the ceiling. Level Up! +1 str (11) +1 con (8) (LEGENDARY) Unleashed Phase Acquired! Phase Blink Acquired! Phase Shield Acquired! Phase Rescue Acquired! Phase Slash Acquired! Phase Reset Acquired! ¡°Fuck,¡± Zach said. He laughed of all things, as his eyes grew heavy and he slipped into E-debt. He actually laughed. ¡°Now I get this shit. Unbelievable.¡± He knew he was likely to die. If he slipped into E-debt, he would continue to bleed. Even if he woke up before the end, he¡¯d then be too weak from blood loss to actually do anything about it. And even if by some miracle he could, he was still within the Skelly Defender¡¯s aggro range. Most likely, even before the wound killed him, the damn mob would respawn and hack him to pieces in his sleep. I don¡¯t want to die. Gods dammit! He fought hard. He fought harder than he¡¯d ever fought before. The willpower part of stamina¡ªhe relied on that to keep from entering into his final sleep. But it was becoming more difficult. He was going into E-debt no matter what. Was there something he could do to stop this? Anything at all? Not with Wave Slash or Boundless, anyway. Not with the ability from completing his equipment set, either. Lifting a shaking hand that felt heavier by the moment, he performed the sequence of shoulder taps and pauses that brought forth his list of abilities. And then, using the last of his strength, he tapped one of the numerous new ones that he¡¯d unlocked. The moment he touched it, it became too much to keep his arm lifted, and so he let it fall back down to the ground. His eyes continued to go in and out of focus as he struggled to read the words that appeared above him. It was¡­a lot. This was the worst time to have to read this many words. Still, he tried his best because, if nothing else, he at least wanted to know what it did before he died. (Inner Hybrid Ability) Unleashed Phase (UNIQUE LEGENDARY) The exertion cost of this ability is not paid until after it is no longer active. (86,400 seconds / 24 hours): For the next fifteen minutes, Unleashed Phase Immediately grants its user the following effects: Armor + 35 +20 str +20 dex +20 con +20 int +20 spd +20 lck Helm Sight Level: UNLEASHED (boss quality) For the duration of Unleashed Phase, all exertion abilities other than Unleashed Phase are paid for with time rather than exertion. This time is then subtracted from the remaining duration of Unleashed Phase. The amount of time deducted is proportional to the user¡¯s stamina, which is refilled upon use. Existing debt and missing stamina are paid for with time. Cannot be used with hybrid exertion abilities other than Phase Shield. For the duration of Unleashed Phase, Zachys Calador may use Phase Abilities. These abilities may not be used while Unleashed Phase is not active. Exertion Level: High ¡°Holy¡­shit¡­¡± Zach whispered weakly, no longer strong enough to wiggle his toes or fingers. There was a lot of that he didn¡¯t understand. He was no longer capable of focusing. In fact, he barely even read most of it. He focused only on two specific parts: the constitution + 20, and the high exertion level that was paid for only after its use. Right now, any thoughts of saving Lienne and Rian had faded from his mind. He was now in pure, utter survival mode. He was desperate to live. He would cling to life for all he was worth if it meant he could see Kalana again. Therefore, the only thing he could still attempt was to use this new ability and hope the increase in constitution was enough to heal him. Then, when it ran out, he could find a safe spot to pass out in. Whether he slept for two minutes, two hours, or two days, he¡¯d probably survive. This was his best¡­best what? What was he thinking? Kalana? He loved Kalana. Was he dreaming? Heh. Wow, who knew he could¡­huh? Was he supposed to be doing something? Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be doing something? Who was he again? Oh, right. He was Zach. And he was sleeping because he had a test tomorrow. He smiled. He was so tired. He felt like he hadn¡¯t slept in a long time. No, no! Think! You¡¯re dying! Was he? Right. Right. He was. He was supposed to use his ability. This uhm¡­what was it again? Unleashed Phase or something? Okay, he¡¯d use it and then he¡¯d take a nice long sleep. Activating his ability, Zach closed his eyes and allowed his consciousness to drift off. He felt his troubles slip away as he entered into a deep, perhaps infinite slumber. He thought he could hear the sounds of birds chirping. Was he going to join the Gods in the heavenly realms? Maybe. He felt like he was finally at peace. He felt like he was finally able to¡ª As though a bolt of lightning had been set off in his chest while ten gallons of coffee was pumped through his veins all as a thousand screeching sirens blared in his ear, Zach''s eyes popped open so widely it caused his eyelids to rise. ¡°HOLY FUCKING SHIT!¡± he screamed, launching himself up so fast that he somehow found himself airborne: literally. There was a thud, a crack, and then a feeling of something hard as, for some reason, he had just bumped headfirst into the ceiling. Then he fell back down, and he landed on his feet. ¡°Oh Gods, oh, Gods, oh Gods!¡± he yelled. He was so overflowing with energy he couldn¡¯t even contain himself. He felt like he¡¯d just been shocked by a billion-volts of electricity. In fact, maybe he had been. Was he¡­was he smoking? Had someone set him on fire? Zach looked down at himself, then began to pat his chest and stomach as if trying to find the source of what looked like a strange type of impossibly black smoke. Then he realized that there were actually four sources: his hands and his feet. Both his feet¡ªeven from inside the sandals¡ªand his wrap-covered hands were releasing a smoke that was darker than the night itself¡ªpitch black. This smoke would then rise up into the air before disappearing a few feet above his head. Even more strangely, all of his skin¡ªor at least all of it that he could see¡ªnow seemed to be slowly pulsing with a soft, ambient light. And he felt strong. So, so, so strong. Hesitantly, he placed his right hand cautiously on his left shoulder and waited to feel the sting of his dire injury¡ªand there was none. Craning his neck down and to the left, he could just see what looked like scar tissue where there had previously been a nonstop stream of blood oozing out of him. ¡°It worked,¡± he whispered aloud. Realizing his list of abilities was still out in front of him, he now more carefully read over the description of this new power, trying to understand just what in the name of the Gods he had called upon. Was this real? How was this possible? Once again, Zach glanced down at his hands, and he clenched and unclenched them. A smoke the color of the darkest black he¡¯d ever seen continued to emit from his palms and between his fingers, and he shook his head in disbelief, trying to understand how any of this could be. Also, what were all these things he was seeing? In all four corners of his vision, there seemed to be tiny, almost imperceptible words that would enlarge and come into focus if he either tried to stare directly at them or merely willed them to do so. Yet before he could further explore the meaning of any of this, he was interrupted. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± The sound of a Skelly Defender reminded him of his own carelessness, as with a second ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± Zach now remembered that he was still standing directly in the range of aggro of the very same Gods-damned Skelly Defender that had almost just killed him! And worse, having only just gotten back to his feet, the thing was on him before he even had a chance to react. ¡°My sword!¡± Zach cried, looking around him. ¡°Where is it? Where the hell is it?¡± The Skelly Defender took a swing at his face, and Zach, with a sound that was a cross between a yelp and a shriek, bent his knees and ducked down¡ªinstantly. As in, like, faster than he even intended to. His body had somehow moved so ridiculously quickly that he almost stood back up before the sword had even made it halfway to his face. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± the creature cried again, trying again to cut him open. Frustrated, Zach backed away and again avoided being struck. Even as the creature approached, he spun around in a full circle as he tried to find his Gods-be-damned sword. While searching, he had to crouch down twice in a row to evade two separate strikes. Then, he had leap out of the way from several thrusting attacks. And this, all while he darted his head around looking for his sword. Eventually, his constant need to duck, dodge, and move led him to enter a state of great frustration, which in turn made him become angry, impatient, and vengeful. It wasn''t long before he lost control of his temper after being forced to avoid yet another attack. Balling his right hand into a fist, he screamed, ¡°Fuck off!¡± and then out of sheer reflex alone, he threw a right hook directly at the Skelly Defender¡¯s face, even knowing how useless it would be. It was simply an act of pure desperate fury. Nevertheless, the skeleton defender was still such a chickenshit that it actually raised its shield to defend. Zach winced in advance of the pain he knew he was going to feel when his bare hand collided with the skeleton¡¯s shield. Too late to stop now, though. Nope, he had no choice but to follow through with the strike. Less than an instant went by, and his fist met the skeleton¡¯s shield. Then there was bullet-like crack, and Zach coughed out a gasp of surprise as he punched straight through it, shattering it the way his sword had done only a few minutes earlier. For a moment, he remained perfectly still with his hand still outstretched as he stared in absolute astonishment at the shield fragments that began falling down to the rocky surface. He was so stunned by his own display of power that it actually took him a few seconds before he could even move. Then, pulling himself together, he balled his opposite hand into a fist, and now he struck out with that one. This time, he bashed the skeleton so hard in its skull that he cracked it open upon impact, doing a total of¡­ WHAT? Doing 865 damage with his fist and killing it instantly. ¡°How¡­how can I actually¡­? I¡¯m so confused.¡± Backing away, Zach nearly stumbled over his own sword, which at least he¡¯d finally found. Bending down to pick it up, he spun around and made his way back to the safety of the exit door while he tried to reassess the situation and figure out what was going on. Before he did a single other thing, however, he first checked the tracking app on his phone. Then he hissed in vexation as he realized he had used up way more time than he¡¯d realized. 1:49:44 He forced himself to calm down. He knew that he didn¡¯t have a lot of time on his side right now, but he also knew that impulsively leaping back into combat wouldn¡¯t solve anything, either. And so, calmly and efficiently, he tried gathering information about his current situation. First, he began by looking at his stats. And as his eyes took in the words that appeared before him, he actually shivered as, once more, he struggled to comprehend not only how this was possible, but how it was possible for him of all people on this planet. For not only were his stats indeed inflated by as much as this absurd ability suggested, but everything just looked different to him now.
Name Zachys Calador
Level 10
EXP 185/1500
Armor Bonus 47
Strength 31
Dexterity 26
Constitution 28
Intelligence 69
Speed 26
Luck 24
As he dismissed his stats, he realized that, rather than simply vanish, it shrank and moved to the bottom-left corner of his vision which, like the information all around his peripheral vision, came into focus before him whenever he willed it or focused on it. Right now, however, the most important info of all was the one and only thing that seemed to stay above and center to him at all times and never seemed to leave. It appeared to be the ability''s timer, and it said the following: Unleashed Phase Duration: 12:11 Remaining. Zach had so many questions, and he had the means to answer a great many of them simply by conjuring forth what he now thought of as sort of ¡°status displays¡± in every corner of the world around him. What he didn¡¯t have was the time to quench his thirst for answers. Rian and Lienne were going to die in¡­how long was it now? He''d only just looked, but he wanted to make sure he kept on top of it. Yet as he reached into his pocket to remove his phone, he paused as he noticed that, if he looked down and to the right, he could view his quest timer at any time without having to fumble around on his cell. 1:48:33 As Zach began putting together the various bits and pieces in his head, he became at once filled with an extreme feeling of heartbreak, as it looked like he really wasn¡¯t going to be able to save Rian and Lienne after all. Because while, clearly, he was now strong enough to fight his way through this floor, it wouldn¡¯t ultimately matter, because in about twelve minutes, he was going to go into some serious E-debt, and there was every possibility he wouldn¡¯t wake up until well after his friends were already dead if he even woke up at all. No, I refuse! he screamed inside his head. I can figure something out. I have to! So, what did he have access to? On the bottom-right corner of his vision, he could see his quest tracker. On the bottom left, his stats. In the upper-right corner, it appeared he could bring forth information about his inventory and equipment, and in the top left, he could see his buffs, and¡­and something else. Something substantial. As Zach ¡°called¡± upon the information, he watched as the words floated across the world until they moved to the center of his vision. Now, he was simply overwhelmed with data. He could now see every single ability he had as well as how much time it would subtract from what was now eleven-minutes and fifty seconds remaining on this ¡°Unleashed¡± ability that he¡¯d used. There was no way he could read all¡ªor even some of this. It was simply too much. So instead, he skimmed over it looking to see if there was anything in here that could help him solve his current dilemma. He didn¡¯t think there would be, but then again, he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d have any way of saving his own life earlier, either. And so, not willing to spend any more than twenty valuable seconds, he hurriedly scanned his eyes over his new abilities, comprehending almost none of it as he was only looking for certain keywords applicable to his current situation.
(UNLEASHED Ability) Phase Blink (UNIQUE) User dashes forward at the speed of sound. Cannot be used to travel through non-transparent walls. If used with a target enemy, Phase Blink transports the user behind target enemy. User is invincible while blinking through harmful attacks, effects, hazardous materials, dangerous substances, magic, curses, and extreme temperatures. 800 range. Usage Cost: 0:20
(UNLEASHED Hybrid Ability) Phase Shield (UNIQUE) (25 seconds): User summons a large golden shield for 1.2 seconds that overwhelmingly reduces the damage of incoming attacks blocked with Phase Shield. Usage Cost: 0:45
(UNLEASHED Ability) Phase Rescue (UNIQUE) User teleports target party member, raid member, or allied sentient to his side. 250 range. Usage Cost: 0:35 / 2:15 (if used with Boundless. Does not include cost of Boundless.)
(UNLEASHED Ability) Phase Slash (UNIQUE) Requires Sword. User slashes the air and sends an energy wave at target enemy dealing between 1 and 999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999 damage depending on an equal combination of all primary stats. Usage Cost: 1:10 / 6:10 (if used with ??)
(UNLEASHED Ability) Phase Reset (UNIQUE) Resets the cooldown of Unleashed Phase and increases Phase Level by 1. The Phase Level determines the following properties when using Unleashed Phase. Usage Cost: 0:00 (Phase Level decreases by 1 every twenty-four hours.)
Phase Level 0 (default) Exertion Level: High
Phase Level 1 Exertion Level: High. Additional +5 to all basic stats and additional Armor + 5
Phase Level 2 Exertion Level: Very High. Additional + 30 to all basic stats and additional Armor + 30
Phase Level 3 Exertion Level: Very High. Additional + 50 to all basic stats and additional Armor + 50
Phase Level 4 Exertion Level: Extreme. Additional + 100 to all basic stats an additional armor + 100
Phase Level 5 Exertion Level: EXTREME+ Additional + 1000 to all basic stats and armor + 1000
Phase Level 6 Exertion Level: Terminal. In exchange for the life of the user, additional + 10,000 to all basic stats, and armor +10,000. User has access to every ability and every spell. User can move faster than light. User can summon up to 5 dragons. Cannot summon Elder Dragons.
Zach swore, loudly. None of this was going to save Lienne and Rian, and he simply didn¡¯t have the time to read it all to be sure. The only thing he gleamed from any of this was that, if he absolutely had to, he could reset everything at the cost of another use of a high-exertion. But if he did that, then he¡¯d have to pay off two exertion debts, both from using something with high exertion. Since no one was around who could tell him whether or not that would kill him, he was strongly averse to taking that course of action. There had been a very brief moment where he thought he¡¯d come up with something. He wondered if he could use Phase Rescue together with Boundless to simply bring them both here by his side. But then he realized that they weren¡¯t in a party, and even if they were, he couldn¡¯t ¡°target¡± them without actually seeing them and knowing where they were¡ªat least based on his understanding of how ¡°target¡± was used in the context of abilities. As though it were becoming an obsessive compulsion, Zach checked both timers at once. He now had 11:02 remaining on Unleashed Phase whereas Rian and Lienne had 1:47:22 remaining on¡­well, you know, how long they had left to¡­live. Running his free hand through his hair, Zach groaned as he failed to come up with any good ideas. No matter how strong he might be right now, there was no chance he could clear this floor before his Unleashed Phase ran out. Yet every second he spent doing nothing was one second that was just wasted¡ªgone. Wasting his time in combat, no matter how awesome it would be, was just not an option right now. Though he did make a mental promise to himself to come back here if he managed to somehow get through all of this. Gods only knew how many levels he could gain in the fifteen minutes he had with this ability. As more seconds ticked by and more time was wasted, Zach decided that he would force himself to choose a course of action within the next ten seconds no matter what. No exceptions! This turned out to be the right thing to do, as it forced him to actually mentally list what possible actions were even available to him; in truth, it wasn''t much. So, he could either A: give up on Rian and Lienne, level up a few times while he was strong, and then sleep off his E-debt somewhere safe. He could B: try to fight his way through the dungeon as fast as possible. Or C: he could just make a run for it since none of these mobs were likely going to be able to hurt him right now anyway. C might not be the worst idea, he thought. It was of great personal danger to himself, of course. Since he didn¡¯t know where he¡¯d be if and when this ¡°Unleashed¡± thing wore off. But maybe, just maybe, he could through some miracle wake up before Rian and Lienne¡¯s time expired. Then he could activate Unleashed again and try to make it in time. It seemed like, as long as he used Phase Reset before his Unleashed expired, there was no time-limit on when he had to use Unleashed again. But it also seemed like Phase Refresh had to be used while he had the Unleashed buff active. So then, in that case, just to be safe, Zach figured he might as well activate it right now¡ªand he did. Just like that, he''d refreshed his cooldown and increased his "Phase Level" to 1 or something. It was still too new and weird for him to fully understand how this worked. When he had more time, he planned to read the abilities much more carefully. For now, he needed to commit to a decision and get going. It''s got to be option C, Zach thought, suddenly becoming morbidly sad. I guess I¡¯m making a run for it then. He knew this was barely a plan. This was so farfetched it was lottery-level odds. Honestly, he wasn¡¯t going to run from B6 to B10 in fucking like, what, ten-and-a-half minutes? It was patently absurd. But then, what else was there? He wanted Rian and Lienne to live so Gods-damned badly that he¡¯d try anything no matter how insane if it meant they had at least some chance. So, that was what he was going to do: he was going to make a run for it. And if any mobs attacked him, he¡¯d just ignore them. He would just keep going¡ªone final act of desperation to save his friends, even if he knew deep down that they were¡­that it was basically over. But I still have to try, damn it! Even knowing how dangerous this was, Zach made up his mind. And so, knowing that every second was now worth more to him than every gold coin in Galterra combined, Zach took a deep breath and prepared to take off at a run. It was time to make a crazy, desperate, insane mad dash to B10, even if it was just so that Zach could rest his head at night knowing he¡¯d tried. That he¡¯d truly tried to save them. With that final thought in mind, Zach commanded his feet to move. And all at once, everything changed. Everything. Zach screamed at the top of his lungs in surprise and terror as he blasted forward so absurdly, chaotically, and unfathomably fast that in less than half a second¡¯s worth of movement, he lost all control over his limbs and his body as a wind rushed into him with such intensity that he felt like he was running into a Gods-damned tornado. ¡°Holy shit!¡± he cried, trying his best to come to a stop. He planted his feet, but it only caused him to throw himself forward. He then somehow shifted forward, and for nearly ten seconds, he flew. He actually flew. He came to a stop only after crashing headfirst into a Skelly Defender, striking it for 100 unintentional damage, breaking its shield, and sending it soaring several feet away until it landed on its back. At the same time, his sword flew out of his hand, and it, still being propelled forward by the movement, spun several times in the air until slashing off the head of something called a Skelly Captain, hitting for 1,249 damage and giving him an insane 400xp. Actually, now that Zach realized it, the information above the heads of mobs was far more detailed than it had ever been before, as he could now see how much HP a mob had even if he¡¯d never fought it before. This, he realized just before this so-called ¡°Skelly Captain¡± disappeared.
HP 700/700
Name Skelly Captain
Level 12
Zach rushed over to grab his sword as he aggroed a variety of mobs he hadn¡¯t encountered yet. He was actually sort of disappointed he wouldn¡¯t get a chance to learn more about them. At any rate, he was just glad¡ªand amazed¡ªthat he wasn¡¯t hurt after sending himself flying like that. If anything, his mood had actually brightened considerably. No, not just considerably. Immensely. Because if he could move that fucking fast, then¡­ Then maybe there was still a real chance after all. This was the thought that renewed his vigor and filled him with hope as he once again took off at a speed that should not have been humanly possible. Chapter 40: Glossary Chapter 40: Glossary Few things in this world were more soul-crushing than false hope. It was for this reason that Zach did not want to become overly confident or optimistic as he rushed through B6 in his literal quest to save Rian and Lienne. He tried to remain grounded by reminding himself of the facts, which was odd in a way, because it had only been a little more than an hour ago that he¡¯d done everything he could to avoid ruminating over them; back then, the outlook had been so terrible that he¡¯d feared dwelling on the odds would paralyze him or make him give up. But now? Now, Zach suffered from the total opposite problem¡ªhe was worried he might be getting a bit too hopeful. Though, he could hardly blame himself for his extreme emotional swing. Initially, when he¡¯d decided to go with this ¡°last ditch¡± plan to make a run for it, it had been under the assumption that his friends were screwed no matter what he did. In fact, as shameful as it was to admit, this entire endeavor had almost been nothing but a formality. A way of coping¡ªof knowing that he¡¯d at least tried and had given his all in his attempt to save them. Sadly, the constraints that had been placed on their rescue, both from the expiration timer on the quest and the duration remaining on Unleashed Phase, had made it so that failure was all but certain. Or at least, that was what Zach had thought. But then, he moved his feet. Instantly, all of his assumptions had been smashed to pieces the moment he¡¯d actually tried running: the moment he experienced with his own body the absurdly tremendous difference that +20 to every stat actually made. As a result, his sense of where things stood had shifted enormously, swinging from one absolute to the other like a pendulum. Thus, out of a desire to keep level-headed, he reminded himself that he had only ten minutes and forty-five seconds before this new ability of his wore off, and when that happened, he¡¯d likely end up asleep for a good deal longer than Rian and Lienne still had left to live. But I might actually have enough time, he thought to himself. As crazy as that sounds, if I can really run as fast as I think I can¡­I might truly be able to do this! Using what felt to him like a mere portion of his maximum overall potential, he had already brought himself into a run that, by his estimation, was either slightly faster or equal to the best that he¡¯d been capable of achieving on his bicycle a few days ago. Incredibly, the physical strain to his body from the effort felt similar to that of a light-to-moderate jog. It was truly astounding. He felt as though he were barely exerting himself, and yet he had to be moving at least 40 miles per hour. The area around him whirled by as the wind beat against his face and caused his maroon-colored tunic and pants to ruffle. Unlike his previous attempt, Zach decided not to start off full bore, as he had not been able to keep his balance the first go around. Apparently, not even 26 points into dexterity was enough to keep his body oriented properly when launching himself from a stationary position into a speed that was¡­well, actually, he wasn¡¯t even sure how fast he¡¯d been going, as he¡¯d fallen over within a half-second. Having only just picked himself up off the floor and resumed his forward momentum, he was still relatively close to the entrance of B6. But now, as just a few more seconds of running came and went, he began to put it well behind him. Of course, he didn¡¯t dare look over his shoulder to check, as avoiding the plethora of mobs that practically infested this massive, wide, mouth-shaped tunnel required his full concentration. Constantly, he had to lurch his body to one side or another to avoid colliding with more of these ¡°Skelly Captains¡± among a host of other mobs. There were just so damn many of them, and he caught aggro from more than three quarters of those he passed as he made his way along the indeterminately vast tunnel. Once more, he was tempted to look over his shoulder, but this time to see how many of them were still chasing him and how many had de-aggroed and given up. Probably not any of the Eeps. Those sons of bitches took forever to forgive someone. They were like Fluffles after buying the wrong brand of CatYums. They¡¯d chase you for miles. But regardless, Zach could only imagine how much xp he was passing up right now. He was losing out on so much it was obscene. Once again, damn you two! He couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he should kill some of these mobs while on the move for the easy experience gain. The problem was he¡¯d have to do it without slowing down, which meant he wouldn¡¯t be able to properly swing his sword. One thing was abundantly clear: anything that resulted in him reducing his pace whatsoever was simply not an option. He would not take any unnecessary action if it increased, by any amount, the time it took to reach B10. He just couldn¡¯t afford it. He supposed he could try extending the hand he was using to carry his sword. This way, he could try to slice open a mob by running the blade over them whenever one happened to be at his side as he ran past it. The idea had some promise, but it would cause him to run awkwardly and uncomfortably, and as things were, he still wasn¡¯t completely on steady footing. Trying to swoop in and cut down mobs, especially once he began increasing his speed, could easily result in an unintentional collision. Right now, he had to make getting to B10 his absolute priority for which he could not compromise or trade even a tenth of a second. He needed to fight for every bit of time: down to the millisecond. And so, shoving aside his personal ambitions, he made saving his friends the only and sole priority, which meant avoiding everything in his path as he sped farther into and across the tunnel. Up ahead, he was forced to put his dexterity to the test as he leapt into the air and over the single-largest turtle he¡¯d ever seen. Its shell had spikes that looked sharper than his blade, and as Zach breezed past it, the creature spun around, made a terrifying hiss, and extended its long, wrinkly neck in his direction, snapping at the area where he¡¯d just been, though a good deal too late.
HP 600/600
Name Snapping Turtox
Level 10
Zach didn¡¯t bother to look back and see if it gave chase. No, he was far too preoccupied with trying to maneuver behind what could only be described as five shiny, silver, literal dinner forks the size of a broom that for some reason had a mouth, two eyes, a nose, and little strands of yellow, spaghetti-like hair rolling off the back of each one of its four sharp prongs. ¡°Bruru-bruhbruh!¡± all five shouted as he came near to them. They were floating in the air, and the way their mouths turned to frowns upon seeing him was both creepy and unsettling, as was the fact that Zach had to duck as the one in front of the other four began spitting out mucus-colored balls of energy that seemed to explode upon impact. What in the fuck kind of creature was this?
HP 390/390
Name Haunted Spork
Level 8
Not wanting to waste even a second of his time engaged in combat with silverware, Zach decided that now was the moment to try pushing things a little further. He was still moving roughly around his previous top speed on his bike¡ªthough Gods only knew how fast that could go if he tried riding it the way he was now¡ªand as the seconds continued to tick down, he knew this wouldn¡¯t be nearly fast enough if he wanted to do the impossible and make it to B10 in what now stood at just 10:09. Putting some more effort in, his speed increased dramatically, and Zach now had to actively fight not to fall over as his body struggled to adapt to such a fantastically unbelievable running speed. In fact, it wasn¡¯t even really true to call this ¡°running¡± anymore. This wasn¡¯t running. This was driving on foot. He was now entering ¡°car¡± levels of speed. He had no idea if he was running at fifty or sixty miles per hour, but it was somewhere in that area, and it was as exciting as it was frightening. The sheer force of the wind punching at his face made him struggle to breathe. The rocks on the floor whirled by so fast they almost seemed to coalesce together and form lines in his vision, much of it making the terrain in this dimly lit tunnel appear a blur. Moving this fast, it became increasingly harder to swerve out of the way of mobs along his path. Though the tunnel was dimly lit anywhere inside it that Zach happened to be at any given time, it seemed like anywhere too far into the distance was pitch black, which made it enormously difficult to spot and react in time to everything coming his way. And now, up ahead, he spotted something far too late for him to avoid it. It was yet another one of those Gods-damned Skelly Defenders. There would be no way he could lurch out of its path. Not at this speed. I have to run through it! Gripping his blade tightly in both hands, he extended his arms in front of him and leaned forward somewhat as he ran. Then he braced himself as he slammed directly into the oblivious mob. The result was a high-pitched, but softer-than-expected ping along with a much lower but also more unpleasant crunch as Zach impaled the entire creature on his sword. The Skelly Defender, as well as its shield, were now traveling along with Zach as though using his body to hitch a ride; it was attached to him through his blade, and it slid down on top of his chest as though it were trying to hug him. The damn thing was heavy, too, and it somewhat slowed him down. But most significantly, it completely blocked out his view. He could not see anything in front of him with this Gods-cursed Skelly Defender right in front of his face. Even worse, with the creature now close enough to kiss, Zach found himself intimidated by staring at its empty eye sockets. Due to the natural movement and rhythm of a human¡¯s running body, the shaking caused its head to rattle for just a moment, which spooked the shit out of him. Thankfully, it disappeared shortly after. This time around, rather than crumple into bones, it just sort of went poof and disappeared. Though he saw neither the damage number nor the experience gain, Zach was content to take it on faith that he¡¯d just banked another one-fifty. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Unfortunately, he had been running blind for two or three seconds by this point. Even slowed somewhat by the Skelly Defender, he had still been moving at what was definitely more than forty miles per hour, and thus, he completely lost his situational awareness. Now, it looked like he was about to run directly into another Gods-damned Snapping Turtox. And it was close: really, really close. Sensing himself beginning to lose control, Zach tried to slow down, but there was no way he¡¯d be able to stop in time, and so once again, he extended his blade in front of him, but this time, he was too slow and the creature¡¯s body shape too awkward. Rather than pierce and run the giant turtle through, Zach ran directly into the creature, stumbling over it with such force that it caused his body to flip several times in the air. For a terrifying few seconds, he tried his hardest not to vomit as the ceiling and the ground switched places one after the next. Then he let out a deep ¡°Oomph!¡± as his back smacked hard into the rocky ground and his sword pierced the rocks right next to his left ear. This time¡­this time it kind of hurt a bit. But worse than the pain would be any time that he lost. Scrambling back up to his feet as fast as he could possibly manage, he spun around, raised his arms, and whirled his sword upwards, slashing at the air above his face and mercilessly lobbing the head off the vicious shelled creature a moment before it took a bite at his nose. He watched as its severed head sailed up into the air and somewhere off behind him, still snapping despite being removed from its body. Then the Snapping Turtox, its shell, and presumably its head all vanished into thin air. +300xp With a sigh, Zach turned around and prepared to enter into another run¡ªbut before he could take a single step, a flash of blinding light followed by a loud boom accompanied an intense force of some kind that lifted him up off his feet and pushed him with enough force to send him several yards away and directly onto his back. Now, his ears were ringing, and at least for the moment, he couldn¡¯t see a thing as the flash had caused spots to form in front of his eyes. Blinking away the blurriness, he rubbed his face and looked around as, after a short moment, he could see well enough to find that his sword was once again stuck in the ground. Confused but relatively unhurt, Zach shook his head and tried to make sense of what¡¯d just happened to him. Then, as his vision fully returned to normal, he spotted something approaching him in the distance. His heart racing with alarm, he rolled over, grabbed his blade, and jumped up to his feet before dashing off to the side as another mucus-colored ball of energy detonated in the spot he¡¯d been lying, causing gravel and rocks to spray up and in every direction, some of them even hitting him in his face. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m being bombed by a fucking utensil!¡± Zach shouted, giving voice to a bout of rage that came upon him so suddenly it took him by surprise. In truth, he actually couldn¡¯t believe his level of anger nor the sound of sheer malice in his words. This was about more than just time or his friends. It was about the humiliation of it all. The idea that he¡¯d just been totally laid on his ass by a bunch of fucking dinner forks. There were no words to describe the dark, seething anger that arose within Zach at this realization. Dashing forward directly at the pack of five of them, he jumped into the air, avoiding another of these bombs. Then, even as he continued to run, he bent over and twisted his hips, almost charging face-first into a second one. Finally, closing the distance between him and the forks, he furiously whipped his sword around for five fast, successive strikes. His anger fueling him, he struck with far more energy than actually required, and he dealt more than 1,200 damage to each of these things, deliberately hitting the one that had bombed him harder than the rest for 1,343. Each one, as it turned out, was worth 150xp. And to Zach¡¯s utter indifference, as he hurriedly continued onwards, he realized that he had just leveled up. The information simply materialized in the air before him even as he once again began to pick up speed.
LEVEL UP! 11 (10)
Dexterity +1 (27)
Current XP 285
XP Required for Level 12 3000
Zach didn¡¯t care that he¡¯d gotten another shit level up. Actually, he wouldn¡¯t have cared if it had been a great one, either. Now that he had wasted even more of his time, he became nervous and agitated, and leveling was, at least for the moment, the absolute least of his concerns. All he wanted to do was get a move on, as he was becoming increasingly worried he might not make it after all. The pendulum that swung between hopeful certainty and morose pessimism began to swing ever so slightly back towards the latter. Was there any chance¡ªany at all¡ªthat he wouldn¡¯t faint with E-debt after the duration of his Unleashed Phase expired? He doubted it. He seriously doubted it. A better question would be whether or not there was any chance he''d wake up before the quest expired. And this, too, he still doubted. Especially since the two of them didn¡¯t have all that much time left. Actually, how long did they have now? Even though Zach no longer had to rely on his phone to view his quest expiration timer, it was still a great big pain in the ass to need to have this whole giant ¡°quest¡± display in front of him. It was distracting, and right now was a bad time for him to lose focus. As much as he appreciated this new ¡°Sight Level¡± he''d acquired, as it certainly provided a lot of very useful information, it was just too bad it didn''t group important timers together. Like, it would be so much easier if it put the quest timer right below the remaining duration of Unleashed Phase, because while he was busy running, it was just too dangerous to have to keep on¡­huh? Zach felt his eyes open wider as a hesitant but genuine smile popped onto his face. Was he seeing things or was this what it looked like? If so, this was too incredible to believe. It seemed that, as though responding to his desires, he now saw exactly what he¡¯d wished to see. Directly in front and slightly above him, in an easy-to-see place that didn¡¯t obscure his vision, he now spotted both of his critically important timers. Though certainly a welcome sight, the appearance of them together was so unexpected and surprising that he almost tripped over another Gods-damned Snapping Turtox as his attention had been diverted.
Unleashed Phase Duration 9:27 Remaining
Quest Expires In 1:45:47
Zach stared in awe as he viewed both numbers together. How in the name of the Gods had this happened? He knew he could summon information simply by willing it, but did this mean he could organize and rearrange it, too? Even as he continued to run, he decided to put this to the test. In his mind, he willed the two timers to move off to the left¡ªand to his delight and amazement, they did. Simply using his mind, he discovered he could not only choose where in his vision or peripheral vision they resided, but he could slide them across his field of view as fast or as slow as he wanted. Almost as though his brain had an invisible mouse cursor he could use to drag it around at any speed or to any location he pleased. Looking to see how far he could push things, it only took him a relatively short amount of poking around to realize that the information located in the four corners of his vision were not set in concrete. If anything, they were more like suggestions. He could easily, if he so chose, swap his buffs with his inventory and vice versa. But Zach wondered if he could skip through things entirely. Instead of going into his inventory and having to physically reach out and touch the words labeled [EQUIPPED GEAR], he wondered if he could just¡ªyep! He could. He could call forth anything and everything he¡¯d always had access to, only now, he could do it instantly. Yet it was what he discovered next that came as the biggest shock of all. As he played around with the information in the air before him, he had begun to wonder: was this all a result of his unique ability? Or could any piece of gear with a ¡°Helm Sight Level¡± of ¡°legendary¡± do this? And it had been at this particular point that he then wondered a very specific¡ªand as it turned out, significant¡ªfollow-up question. What really was Helm Sight Level? What did that term actually, specifically mean? As though the thought itself were a magical incantation, the question he¡¯d pondered caused something new that he¡¯d never before seen to appear in the world before him. It was something that could very well be the single-most significant discovery he had made today. To call it a breakthrough would be a dramatic understatement. Appearing before him was something that he knew could prove so important that simply contemplating the possibilities sent a chill of pure excitement down his spine.
Glossary Entry: Helm Sight Level Displays vital information to the user regarding the world, their surroundings, and themselves. On equipment, this ability is only visible to those currently in possession of the Will of the Favored buff.
Basic Displays the HP of known enemies to the user. At level 15, enables the user to view quests.
Advanced Enables viewing buffs, debuffs, and curses. Enables the user to view quests at any level. At level 20, enables the user to view their experience points in the form of a progress bar.
Full Standard feature of most mid- to high-level helms. Enables all features of basic and advanced at any level. Now enables the user to customize their interface, discern the HP of mobs before the user has defeated one in combat, view maps of completed dungeons, and many other features. For a full list of features, please search the glossary for [ALL HELM FEATURES]
Legendary Enables all features of basic, advanced, and full sight. Also enables access to the Glossary and allows the retrieval of all information requiring a Level 1 Clearance or less.
Zach was so stunned he had to slow down for a brief instant so that he could kick off his left foot and dash out of the way of a group of forks that began immediately launching more explosive mucus at him¡ªall while Screeching Spiders began to fall down from the ceiling at a rate that was far too slow to stand any chance at all of landing on him as he zipped right on by them. I can¡¯t believe something like this exists. There¡¯s so much more I want to know. So much I have to find out when I have the time! Right away, Zach knew that this was not merely an amazing discovery, but given his current situation, it was a dangerous one, too. He just simply did not have the luxury of sating his lust for answers. He decided to only check one brief thing before dismissing this information. And so, by will alone, he called forth an answer to his question: what does ¡®boss quality¡¯ mean? Once again as though by the doings of magic, the information appeared in an instant. Fortunately, it was short, to the point, and entirely uncomplicated.
Glossary Entry: Boss Quality Determines the ability to view detailed boss information before one has been killed.
Non-Boss Bosses not yet defeated by the user will display as [??/??] unless the user has obtained a [Level 2 Clearance Required] or has completed a relevant quest. Can be overwritten with [Level 5 Clearance Required]
Boss Quality Reveals the HP of bosses the player has not defeated.
So that was what it meant. Zach smiled. This was a very, very good thing. Because if correct, it meant he would know exactly how much he had to beat up on Moldark before the thing would die. This way, he wouldn¡¯t despair and wonder if he was close or not if the boss turned out to be stronger than anticipated. For the time being, though, Zach¡¯s only real priority was actually getting there in the first place. Dismissing this new information, he continued on. Chapter 41: Sacrifice Chapter 41: Sacrifice As Zach threw himself backwards, slammed his elbows into the ground, and then literally slid along the rocky terrain while leaving behind a several-inch-deep trail in the gravel reminiscent of shoveled snow, he realized he was really starting to get the hang of this. Sliding safely beneath a low-hanging grouping of stalactites, he slammed his right palm down against the rocks and pushed himself back up to his feet. Once more, he raced forward before jumping over two Skelly Captains, neither of which even had time to react to his presence. The moment his two sandals clicked against the ground, he again took off, dashing deeper into the tunnel. A bit ahead, his eyes tracked four fast-moving objects heading straight for him. By the time he realized they were arrows, he was already slicing his blade through the air even as he ran, cutting them to pieces before they struck him. Then he chided himself, realizing that these very same arrows had been too weak to hurt Rian earlier, and Rian only had 28 constitution and his armor was only¡­uh¡­shit, what was it again? Zach recalled it was maybe thirty-something armor. Regardless, as he took several deep breaths of air, he knew he had wasted energy that would have been better conserved. As scary as it was, he needed to trust in himself and just let the arrows hit him. Still, for the moment, though, he felt refreshed, recharged, and full of vigor. It was quite amazing to think that only a few minutes ago he¡¯d been passing out on the ground in E-debt. It appeared that Unleashed Phase had paid off all of his existing ¡°debt¡± as well as fully replenished his stamina. Zach wondered if that was why, the first time he¡¯d become cognizant of the timer, it¡¯d seemed like two-or-so minutes had been missing from it. Rather than the full fifteen, there had only been twelve minutes and eleven seconds on the timer when he¡¯d first become aware of it, and at that point, it had only been, at the most, a minute since waking up and brawling with the Skelly Defender¡ªif even that. Did that mean, then, that the sum of all the stamina he¡¯d exerted to the point of E-debt was only worth a mere two minutes of time? He had been passing out from exhaustion, fading in and out of consciousness, and somehow that had only been valued at two minutes? Shaking his head in incredulity, Zach quickly flicked up his eyes and kept note of his remaining time.
Unleashed Phase Duration 8:20 Remaining
Quest Expires In 1:44:40
One thing was perfectly clear: while abilities would not require the use of any exertion, it seemed that everything else still did. As the first bead of sweat trickled down the back of his neck, Zach realized it was still possible for him to burn through his stamina on the run down to B10. Naturally, it made him wonder: if he used Unleashed Phase a second time, would it again refresh him at the cost of time? Assuming he understood the ability correctly, he was fairly certain that was the case. He¡¯d likely reset back to thirteen or maybe twelve minutes instead of fifteen, with the missing time being used as payment for his stamina. But I can¡¯t let it get to that point, he thought. I don¡¯t know enough to know if a person can die from paying off two ¡°high¡± cost debts at once. Even though he had no intention of using a second Unleashed Phase, he had nevertheless used Phase Reset simply because there was no reason not to. Unless he found himself in a situation where he had accumulated too high of a Phase Level and needed to reduce it, he could not see any harm whatsoever in refreshing Unleashed Phase¡¯s twenty-four-hour cooldown just in case he had to ¡°pop¡± the ability again. Unless he had somehow misread or mistaken something¡ªand he was fairly sure he hadn¡¯t¡ªthen the only thing Phase Reset did was immediately reset the cooldown and increase the Phase Level by 1. If he did end up foolishly using it again, he¡¯d also likely need to use it before the duration hit 0:00, because the ability clearly stated it wouldn¡¯t pay for its own exertion cost; this meant that, if he let it expire, he¡¯d start to pass out, and if he used it as he was passing out, he¡¯d still remain unconscious in E-debt while the new phase was active, wasting it. Conversely, it also stated he wouldn¡¯t have to pay up until after it ended. So, his best guess, based on his current information, was that if he found himself in a dire situation where he was exhausted, desperate, and about to exit Unleashed Phase, he could re-use it, regain all of his stamina, and then pay for both his original and subsequent use together after it expired. But I won¡¯t use it again. I won¡¯t! He couldn¡¯t allow himself to do so. He wasn¡¯t ready to die. He would risk death for his friends, sure, but outright sacrificing himself? Doing something that would guarantee death? That was still a bridge too far. As shitty as it made him feel, he didn¡¯t owe anyone that. Or did he? Damn, he didn¡¯t even know. It would be better if he could just get there already so he didn¡¯t have to find out. With that thought in mind, he felt a renewed sense of urgency, and so as he¡¯d done earlier, he decided to pick up the pace. Currently, his body felt as though it were running at three-quarters of his full ability¡ªlike a sprint, but not an all-out sprint. Now, he was ready to really book it. With a nervous, sharp inhalation, he began to pump his arms, and then a jolt of excitement caused him to yelp as he shot forward, pushing himself as fast as he could make his body move. Though Zach was no expert on approximating speed, the sight of the rounded walls streaking across his vision reminded him of what it felt like to be in a DEHV traveling through a tunnel during times of heavy traffic when speeds were as low as 90 miles per hour. Assuming he was somewhere in the ballpark of being correct, he had now either gone beyond¡ªor was beginning to approach the end of¡ªwhat he came to think of as ¡°car¡± speed, and he was likely just on the cusp of DEHV speed. Had he been on his bicycle, he might very well have been able to reach¡ªand probably more safely, too¡ªsomething closer to a DEHV. The sense of momentum was so intensely unreal it was actually dreamlike. In some ways, it almost looked like objects were moving towards him as opposed to the other way around. Far, far into the distance, he spotted a particularly large, grey, rock. Then he watched as it rocketed towards him like a speeding bullet and ripped past his vision. At this speed, avoiding mobs was all but impossible. Yet somehow, as if by a miracle, Zach had now gone ten seconds without colliding into any of them, though he had come pretty close; several times now, he had only narrowly avoided crashing into one. At this point, he was basically gambling. There was no way he would be this lucky for much longer. So why was he doing this? If he eased up just a little bit, he could avoid potentially slowing himself down far more significantly or facing serious injury. Yet the unease in his belly refused to allow him to even consider cutting back his pace. I just don¡¯t have the time!
Unleashed Phase Duration 7:05 Remaining
Quest Expires In 1:43:25
Despite the overwhelming sense of optimism Zach had felt earlier, it had once more shifted most of the way back to pessimism, as this tunnel really did run a great deal longer than he¡¯d imagined it would. At his current velocity, he was likely moving a mile and a half every single minute. This, combined with how far he¡¯d already come, meant he was probably approaching five miles¡¯ worth of distance. The mobs also seemed to be changing, too; the farther he ventured, the more he spotted new ones he hadn¡¯t seen before and the less he saw the ones he¡¯d become used to. He was now moving far too fast to get a good look at any of them. He could barely even make out their features, let alone read their names. He could see some of their levels, though. They seemed to be getting stronger the farther along into this tunnel he ventured. Several were level 13 and a few were even 14. Technically speaking, Zach was now starting to fall behind. The fact he could nevertheless demolish any of these things despite himself only being level 11 was a testament to how baffling and off-the-rails his new ability happened to be. Why did he even get something so spectacular, anyway? Why him? He was a nobody. Hell, he was only here at all because a buff caused him to stumble upon a few mobs one day. It could have been anyone who¡¯d gotten that buff. There was nothing special about him. And as if to reinforce that, he¡¯d gone on an epic, multi-level losing streak getting garbage level ups as though they were a reflection of his overall low status in life. So why, then, of all the people on Galterra, had he been given this simply unbelievably powerful ability? Was this really what resided inside his soul? It doesn¡¯t feel right, he thought. I¡¯m not anyone powerful or special. I can¡¯t even picture myself that way if I tried. It doesn¡¯t seem real¡­ Having now gone slightly more than a minute miraculously missing every mob in his path, Zach¡¯s luck finally came to an end. Up ahead, he spotted some kind of gigantic, round, and furry-looking monster blocking off an entire portion of the tunnel. It was a hideous, mismatched-looking beast with horns, a beak, and thin, string-like ears that protruded out of the sides of its face and were so long they ran from its head, which was halfway to the ceiling, down along the sides of its gargantuan body, and onto the gravel- and rock-covered ground. Upon seeing Zach approach, the creature widened its white, fur-covered arms and began moving on wobbly legs towards him. Just from the way the creature snapped into action almost as soon as he and Zach were mutually in view of one another, Zach could tell it had a tremendous aggro range. ¡°Mmmmbahhhhhh,¡± it roared. Its voice was, deep, loud, and it created an echo that reverberated throughout the tunnel. ¡°Mmmmbahhhhhh.¡± There was no way Zach was going to be able to avoid a headfirst collision with this gigantic beast, especially not with it coming towards Zach at the same time Zach was moving towards it. Given that the ceiling was about fifty feet above him, and the top of this thing¡¯s head reached around halfway there, Zach estimated the monster to be roughly twenty-five-feet tall and about half as wide. As Zach neared this foul beast, bracing for his inevitable collision, he finally got a look at its name.
HP 2,500/2,500
Name Beast of Fillirana
Level 15
With his high armor and high constitution, Zach was reasonably sure he could escape too much pain or damage in a collision with this tremendous monstrosity. But it would cost him a lot in both time and momentum. This was the last thing he needed right now. He swore, loudly, as his body came closer and closer. Slowing down at this point would actually be a worse choice than continuing to barrel through. ¡°You asked for this!¡± he shouted at it. ¡°Mmmmbahhhhhh!¡± it answered. Given his elevated stats, the impact with the beast hurt far more than Zach was expecting. It felt as though someone had taken their fist and slammed it into his face, gut, and both his knees all at the same time. In an instant, he lost so much speed that he went from traveling almost ninety miles per hour¡ªat least by his own, admittedly imperfect estimation¡ªto something closer to fifteen or twenty. But the important part, and what he took away from all this, was that he was somehow still moving. The fact he hadn¡¯t been stopped completely meant he¡¯d ¡°won¡± the collision, in a sense. God that hurt. Moaning as a rush of pain traveled from the front of his head to the back, he closed his right eye, which had begun to sting, and peered out of his left to see the creature now several-dozen feet in front of him, screaming out a constant ¡°mmmbahhhhhh!¡± as it hurtled through the air for almost eight full seconds before slamming with a deafening bang into the left side of the wall a bit farther ahead. The impact caused the entire tunnel to shake, and Zach almost lost his balance. Pieces of dust, dirt, and several small rocks began to rain down from the ceiling above him, and the wall the creature had slammed into now had an impression in it in the shape of its massive, round, and furry frame. ¡°Mmmmbahhhhhh!¡± it roared, pulling itself out of the wall and turning in Zach¡¯s direction; once again, it began wobbling towards him at what was honestly an impressive speed given its body composition.
HP 1,900/2,500
Name Beast of Fillirana (Enraged)
Level 15
¡°Fuck!¡± Zach said with a growl, realizing he would have no choice now but to actually kill this thing. Its arms were the size of tree trunks despite its legs being more like sturdy little stubs that were comically smaller and disproportionate to the rest of its body. With a vicious snarl, the horned, beaked, and string-eared Beast of Fillirana crossed the distance to Zach in just a few seconds. Gulping nervously, Zach wondered what it meant for the thing to be ¡°enraged,¡± as was now indicated in parenthesis next to its name. He supposed he could call upon his glossary to find out, but that would obstruct his vision, and now was not a good time to do that. I better kill this thing quick! Briefly switching his sword to a one-handed grip, Zach threw out his palm and pointed it in the direction of the approaching creature. Having collected all five pieces of his current armor set, he now had access to a new power, one he had yet to try. Activating this ability, his hand twitched as though it were the barrel of a fired gun, and from it emerged a black ball that was almost, but not quite, as dark as the smoke coming from his hands and feet. As this black ball zipped through the air, spinning, Zach noticed that blue lines of what looked eerily like electricity rotated around it. Showing no interest in dodging or blocking, the creature continued to head straight for him, and as a result, the ball crashed directly into its chest before evaporating. The ability, which had a five-minute cooldown, struck for 25 damage. Pathetic, Zach thought. In fairness, he couldn¡¯t be too upset, because as he recalled, the set bonus¡¯s description had outright stated that it would only do between 0 and 25 damage. Zach had just sort of hoped that, like, you know, with +20 to every stat, that like¡­maybe it would do more? Right? Shit, he didn¡¯t know. Fuck it, whatever. Didn¡¯t matter. Once again switching his grip on his Fluffles-made sword to two hands, he bent his knees, tucked in his elbows, and raised his hands level to his chest with the edge pointed upwards in a defensive position. He really, really didn¡¯t have time for this right now. Towering over him, the creature made another ¡°mmmbahhhhhh!¡± and lifted its gargantuan, white-furred hand, which was eerily humanlike in nature, and then balled it into a fist. With another roar, the monster slammed it straight down towards Zach, who dashed backwards and out of the way. Closing his eyes, twisting his body, and shielding his face, Zach took cover as a shower of rocks and gravel pelted him on the heels of a loud crunch. A few seconds after, he opened his eyes and again faced forward, and now he discovered the creature¡¯s fist had punctured several feet into the ground. Removing it, the mob roared a second time and then hopped forward on its bizarrely stubby legs and slammed its opposite fist down. Zach again jumped away, and now, to his anger and frustration, he realized he was once more being pushed back¡ªin the opposite direction from where he needed to go. This time, the moment the spray of rock and gravel ceased assaulting him, he dashed forward, and with all his strength, he slashed horizontally, attacking the creature¡¯s right side. A mixture of what looked like fur, pus, and blood were ripped free of the monster¡¯s gigantic torso; given its size, Zach¡¯s sword only managed to cover what, on a human, would be the distance between one¡¯s belly button and the right side of their stomach. 770 ¡°Mmmbahhhhhh!¡± the creature shouted defiantly in its impossibly deep, booming voice. It opened its balled fist into something almost resembling a human palm, and then it swatted at Zach as though he were a fly. At this distance, there was no way Zach could possibly dodge. So he bent his knees even further, raised his blade, braced himself, and attempted to block the attack on his sword. It was through this action Zach learned that constitution could protect him from damage, but it wouldn¡¯t change the fact he was a human of a somewhat lighter weight being thwacked by a behemoth that likely weighed several-thousand pounds. The result was that he suffered no bodily harm, but he was instead sent flying off to his right, where he came to a stop after crashing face-first into a rock wall, shattering the surface layer of it and disappearing several feet inside. Now this on the other hand, hurt. ¡°I don¡¯t have time for this!¡± he yelled, pulling himself out of the wall just as the creature had done. He pulled himself together and charged a second time at this Gods-cursed monster, which was itself charging at him. Two good hits: that was all he needed to take this son of a bitch down. But the creature wasn¡¯t going to make it easy for him. It again tried to swat at him with its white, furry palm. This time, Zach had not yet closed in too much to where it would be impossible to dodge. Not wanting to be slapped into another wall, he came to an abrupt halt, then kicked off his front foot and sent himself backwards and away. Then he immediately dropped all the way down to his knees to avoid being struck by the opposite hand. Immediately after, he again raised his blade and charged forward. But the creature, this ¡°Beast of Fillirana¡± was a lot faster than Zach had anticipated something of its massive, round size could be, and before Zach could get into a striking position, it used its far superior reach provided by its much-longer arms to bring its right hand around for another swat at his face. Through sheer instinct and instinct alone, Zach removed his left hand from his blade, balled it into a fist, and then shifted his body towards his left to meet the creature¡¯s incoming blow. His tiny, human-sized hand met the creature¡¯s giant one, and to his amazement, rather than being blown away and sent once more crashing into the wall, it was the creature whose arm bounced back and away as though deflected. Zach stared in confusion a moment, unable to grasp what had just taken place. But then, as the mob tried to bludgeon him a second time in the exact same way, he repeated the earlier defensive maneuver and once more successfully deflected the blow. It¡¯s my strength, Zach realized, his eyebrows rising on their own. Of course! What should have been obvious from the start at last dawned on Zach. How was it that someone who was now technically strong enough to punch holes into walls and likely lift up a DEHV with one hand¡ªif not something far heavier¡ªcould not resist being blown away by the slap of a mob much weaker than himself? It hadn¡¯t made much sense. Now, however, Zach understood: it was because he had not been applying his strength. His constitution would not protect him from kinetic energy in the way that his strength would. If something tried to exert force in such a way as to send him blasting off in one direction, then Zach needed to exert his own force in the opposite direction using his strength. That was the key to everything. Truly, he had to start utilizing the power provided by his stats more efficiently. I need to start thinking outside of the box. With +20 to every stat, I can do things I couldn¡¯t before. Sensing his opportunity to strike, Zach decided to expand the limits of what he had previously thought was possible. Instead of running forward and merely striking the creature head on. He used his strength and dexterity to bend his knees and then launch himself up into the air, almost to the ceiling. He felt the rush in his stomach as he gained altitude. Then, as he began to fall, he gripped his blade in both hands, raised it high above his head, and as he continued to fall and pick up speed, he waited until the last possible moment and then swung his sword downwards and leftward with all his might, tearing the creature open from its right shoulder area to the middle of its stomach for 950 damage. An instant later, Zach had to lift his arms and turn his head away as a spray of blood showered him as though being squirted from hose.
HP 155 /2,500
Name Beast of Fillirana (Enraged)
Level 15
Wanting this to be over with as soon as possible, Zach struck yet again before the creature could react. This time, he prioritized only speed. He didn¡¯t care how hard he hit it as long as he hit it first. And indeed, with such a fast, aimless, and weak slash, he managed to punish the monster for a measly 210 damage which, to be fair, would have dropped his jaw to the floor had he achieved that against a mob just an hour ago¡ªthough not so much now. Either way, it proved to be enough, as the creature died, leaving behind nothing but the blood that now stained the entire front of Zach¡¯s face, body, and equipment. +1000xp Zach blinked in shock. The amount was simply staggering. A thousand experience points? To be fair, he did have to really work for it. But with no time to gawk and appreciate the gain, he switched his blade back to a one-handed grip and again took off at a run, racing his way through the tunnel that seemed to not want to end. This fucking dungeon! He was starting to hate it! As he picked up speed¡ªcarefully, so as not to lose balance and have to start again from zero¡ªhe recalled something in his glossary earlier about viewing his ¡°experience points¡± in a ¡°progress bar.¡± It would certainly make it easier than having to go through his stats every time. Diverting his attention for the briefest moment, he shifted his eyes downward and looked at the spot in the air in front of him he would prefer such a thing if it indeed did exist, and then he attempted to will it there. To his delight, it worked. Not a fraction of a second later, he now saw his experience displayed before him in a way that was convenient and easy to see without ever obscuring his primary field of view. Briefly, he checked his progress.
Name Level Current XP XP Required
Zachys Calador 11 1285 3000
Next, Zach checked his remaining time.
Unleashed Phase Duration 5:55 Remaining
Quest Expires In 1:42:15
Howling out a string of creative but extremely foul invectives that Kalana would give him an earful for if she ever overheard him speak, Zach threw all caution to the wind and exploded forward into an even faster run than he¡¯d managed before. He had to dig deep to find the strength for it: he had to pull out every last bit of speed that he could extract from his body. He wasn¡¯t sure, and he doubted he¡¯d ever really know, but in this moment, he truly believed he managed to break one-hundred miles per hour. Sadly, it didn¡¯t look like a speed that he could maintain, as not only did it leave him huffing and gasping for breath, but just up ahead there were two more of those fucking Beasts of Fillirana. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Standing together side by side, the two massive creatures managed to create something that, for all intents and purposes, might as well have been called a wall. Even if Zach wanted to slow down and try running around them, he wouldn¡¯t be able to, as they spanned the entire width of the tunnel. Given that he had just wasted over an entire minute fighting one of these things, he now had to make a snap judgement call. The last thing he could afford to do was waste even more time. Similarly, he also couldn¡¯t afford to spend any time, either¡ªboth figuratively and literally. But now¡­now he had no choice. There were no longer any good options. All he had left to choose from now was to decide between spending a little or a lot. And in this case, he chose a little¡ªor less, rather. And so, for the very first time, Zach used Phase Blink. The moment he decided to use it¡ªin the exact, specific, express instant that his mind had consciously chosen to use this particular ability¡ªthe world became distorted. For a duration so short it had to be ten times faster than the time required to blink an eye, everything around him seemed to become nothing more than one big blur of brown and grey. It happened so fast that Zach could not be sure he¡¯d really even seen this blur at all. He had been running, drawing closer and closer to the two Beasts of Fillirana, who aggroed him and began mutually heading his way. And then there was just this blur, one that faded away so incalculably fast that it had been impossible for Zach to consciously recall even a single detail of it other than that it consisted of the same general colors as his surroundings. And then, it was just¡­gone¡ªand so were the two giant mobs. Now, for a time that lasted a little bit longer than the blur had, but still only half that of an eye-blink, Zach found himself running once more, undisturbed, down a nice, empty, open, and quiet tunnel. Then came the boom. It was only through a combination of dexterity, willpower, and sheer determination that the resulting sonic boom of breaking the sound barrier did not startle Zach so horribly that he lost his balance. It was through an equally great miracle that the sudden gust of a tornado-like wind behind him did not likewise throw him off balance. His ears were now ringing, and his heart pounded with both exertion and terror. ¡°Holy fuck!¡± he cried, as the entire tunnel echoed with a boom so deafening that it sounded like a supersonic jet was in here with him. The ground shook, more of the ceiling leaked, and the sound of what he¡¯d done seemed to persist far longer than he could believe. ¡°Oh, Gods! Ah, hell!¡± Rattled, in disbelief, and plainly lacking the time to think about it, Zach pumped his arms while holding the sword in his right hand with the blade angled behind him as he continued to make his way. Assuming he recalled correctly, the cost of what he had just done was twenty seconds of time. Surely, that had to have been worth it, right? It also did not appear to have drained him physically so far as he could tell, confirming that abilities were in fact paid with time. Twenty more seconds I didn¡¯t have to spare! Now down even more time, Zach tried his best not to despair, as he was still on B6 and still struggling to get through this one Gods-be-damned floor. It was difficult to stay optimistic, however, as this tunnel had gone on for so much longer than he¡¯d ever anticipated. But like all good¡ªor in this case bad¡ªthings, everything had to eventually come to an end, and it looked like there was light at the end of this tunnel after all. Zach thanked all the Gods whose names he knew as he spotted something ahead in the darkness that he thought might just be the exit. And indeed, as he closed in on it, he realized it was in fact the exit door, which even from this far out, he could see was labeled B6->B7. Once more, Zach checked his timers.
Unleashed Phase Duration 5:25 Remaining
Quest Expires In 1:41:45
He barely had more than five minutes. This wasn¡¯t good. This really wasn¡¯t good. He wasn¡¯t trying to be a pessimist, but come on! He wasn¡¯t going to make it. Rian and Lienne were going to die. He¡¯d failed them. They were down there somewhere waiting for him, and he¡¯d let them down. Why couldn¡¯t he have just been faster, dammit? All at once, his nerves got the better of him. It was just seeing those damn seconds drain. Seeing the 5:25 become 5:24 and then 5:23 and then 5:22¡ªZach yelled in frustration as his eyes dampened. He had to be faster. He had to be quicker. He was now in a full-blown panic. But he didn¡¯t care. He had to make it. He didn¡¯t know how he could or how it would be possible, but he couldn¡¯t lose his friends. In the short time he¡¯d known them, they had become so special to him¡ªand right now, they were alive. They were actually alive. And they were there down in B10. And if he could just be there with them, he could save them. Mentally driven to the extreme, Zach slammed into the metal door, his body striking it like a heat-seeking missile. The half-bang, half-pop it made as it smashed against the wall was so loud it almost rivaled the sonic boom from breaking the sound barrier; once again, Zach¡¯s ears began to ring as the direct result of a noise he himself had created. He didn¡¯t care, though: he didn¡¯t need to hear to save his friends. He just needed to move his ass! Up ahead of him was a stairwell that looked similar to the last few floors, but with this place, one never knew. Either way, Zach understood they were the only path he could take, and so he took them. Approaching the stairs, Zach did not quite ¡°descend¡± them as he had done so many times now. No, he was in far too much of a rush to do something like that. Panic having settled in, he decided to do things he would never have thought to do otherwise. In this case, he leapt forward and flung his body across and over the entire flight of steps, and then, reaching the bottom of the opposite wall, he kicked out with his feet, pushing himself away from and off the wall and sending himself in the reverse direction, which in this case meant down the next flight of stairs. He landed upright, already faced in the correct direction, and so he did it again. Like before, he jumped forward and over the stairs, kicked off the wall ahead of him, and then sailed backwards and down the subsequent flight. He repeated this process five more times, and in so doing, he managed to descend a total of seven flights of stairs in the span of about eight seconds. Then, he spotted the metal door labeled B7 ahead of him. Like the one up above, it did not seem to break off its hinges or even become damaged as Zach launched himself through it and into a blindingly bright, sunny beach on what looked like a stunning, cloudless summer day. Zach had no idea where he was. He had no idea if this was Galterra or somewhere far away. Wherever this was, though, it was beautiful. About fifty feet to his right was an ocean that stretched forever on into the distance, at least so far as he could see. There were boats in the water, too: large vessels that looked quite a bit like fishing rigs. To his left, the sand remained flat for about a few-hundred feet before leading up to a hill that slowly turned to grass, beyond which was a boardwalk across the street from tall buildings that, while not quite as high as the skyscrapers in Whispery Woods, were far more elegant than those back home, and these ones were spaced enough apart that they allowed some degree of openness in what was clearly an otherwise big city. Oh, shit! Zach thought with a start. Gods, I know where I am! This is Shadowfall coast! This was definitely Shadowfall Coast. He was sure of it. Even though he¡¯d never been here before, he knew enough about North Bastia to recognize the architecture and general layout of the land. And assuming he was correct, then up ahead of him, the beach ran on for literally thousands of miles until reaching the Arid Dunes of Bastia, which were currently controlled by the Defenders of Peace. Why am I here? he wondered, mystified. Was this some kind of mistake? This was just a regular beach. There were no mobs here. If there were, people would¡¯ve noticed by now. In fact, this place was crowded. Very crowded. Way too crowded! As Zach continued his now-aimless mad dash forward, hundreds of beachgoers turned to look his way. There were shouts of confusion and cries of terror as he ripped across the sand past them, spreading fear, albeit unintentionally. For sure, this was no dungeon floor. The people were clearly here to have a good time. That much was patently obvious. Many were sitting on blankets or towels, others were on chairs, and some were lying on just the sand. Quite a few were eating, drinking, or watching their children dig holes and build sandcastles. All along the surface of water, there were people playing, splashing, and swimming. There were floats, balls, and people snorkeling. This¡­this was a regular noon day here. So what the fuck? This was B7? Then it occurred to Zach. Of course. Of course it was B7. Why wouldn¡¯t it be? A thousand years ago, this beach would¡¯ve been crawling with every imaginable monster the mind could conjure. Hell, Whispery Woods had once been a literal forest so thick that it was said people walking through it wouldn¡¯t be able to see the sky. If the dungeon ran through other planets, why would it be so difficult to believe it could run through Galterra? Glancing over his shoulder, Zach saw that he¡¯d come out of a portable bathroom stall. Having personally smelled what those were like, he was glad it hadn¡¯t been one at the time he¡¯d emerged from it. Actually, the fact that it was now a portable restroom confirmed that the metal doors that served as portals did not only lead to other planets, but could take one around Galterra as well. As Zach saw the veritable sandstorm he was causing as his feet blasted dozens of innocent people and ruined their day while he sped across the beach, he yelled out in apology, then ducked his face and hoped that he was moving too fast for anyone to see him. This was not the way to make friends. Worse, he might not have been doing this for any meaningful cause, as he had no damn clue where he was actually going. The last thing Zach wanted to do was hurt anyone, but in his wild scramble to save Rian and Lienne, he knocked over sandcastles, toppled chairs, stepped on an old man¡¯s sandwich, blasted people with sand, and caused a chaos that reminded him of the scene he¡¯d made with Fluffles back in that beautiful little town called Doom-Bound Keep. Only, unlike back then, his actions were entirely justified this time around, as this was a life-and-death matter. But where the hell am I supposed to be going? Zach was willing to bet that, a thousand¡ªor however many¡ªyears ago, whatever it was someone was meant to do on this ¡°floor¡± was no-doubt much clearer. Actually, given that the planet called ¡°Earth¡± was a destroyed hell-scape and that the dungeon had been built around that fact, Zach felt it reasonable to conclude that, whenever it was the Great Ones had created the Catacombs of Yorna, it was during a period after the destruction of the Earth but before the industrialization of Galterra. It was almost certainly the case that the beautiful, safe, and clean beach here on Shadowfall Coast had once looked profoundly different to the way it did now. Gods, please don¡¯t tell me I¡¯ve reached a dead end! All Zach could do for now was try to run straight. Thus far, previous floors that had led ¡°off world¡± had typically required them to more or less move straight¡­or at least one of them had. Of course, that might be difficult to do, however, as he was likely to get put off course each time he had to jump over or navigate around innocent people. He was already no longer traveling at full speed, as to do so risked killing someone by accident. He just wished he¡¯d taken his compass with him, but sadly, he¡¯d left it on B1 sprawled out on the ground with all the rest of his personal items and his shredded up backpack. All that he had on him now was his cellphone and his wallet. If he had known he would end up in a situation like this, he would have taken his compass with him. He needed to¡ª Oh, nice! the sound of his voice shouted in his brain as the non-physical manifestation of a compass popped up in the world in front of him. Once again, the information or tool he needed was already with him thanks to this ability. I need to take some time after all of this to figure out what else this Sight Level can do. Moving it up and to the right somewhat, Zach made sure he kept it where he could see it at all times as he tore across this previously peaceful and lovely breach and continued to ruin the days of hundreds more people. Once more looking off behind him, he felt his heart swell with even more guilt as people were getting up and fleeing. It was actually becoming difficult to see, as he was kicking up so much sand as he ran that he must¡¯ve looked to them like some kind of demon creating some kind of intentional sandstorm. It didn¡¯t help that he was wielding a sword while clad in what, though rather unimpressive, was clearly something that could only be equipment or a cosplay outfit. And just by the fact alone that he was running at a speed fast enough to create a blanket of sand behind him, he somehow doubted anyone would think this was a cosplay. Oh, right, and that wasn¡¯t to mention the fact he was also releasing an impossibly black smoke from his hands and feet that was now even more starkly noticeable under the light of day. Anyone who saw him would know right away that he was not a level 1 like they were. Trying his best to ignore all the people here¡ªthankfully, none of whom he¡¯d hurt or injured so far¡ªhe decided to try willing that ¡°map¡± thing he¡¯d read about in the glossary into existence. He didn¡¯t expect much, though, as the glossary had pretty clearly stated that it only showed maps of completed dungeons. Still, he gave it a shot, and as a blank square with a question mark in the middle took up so much of his vision that he almost tripped over someone¡¯s lunchbox, Zach dismissed it immediately. Oh well. He knew it wouldn¡¯t work, but he had to at least try it, right? This is bad. This is so, so bad. I have no idea where to go. Unlike the last floor, he could see very far into the distance on this one. He could even make out what looked like a tiny little lifeguard sitting all the way up in an elevated seat about three or so miles farther along the shore. No matter where he looked, there was nothing ahead of him but more sand, more people, and a whole lot of trouble. This was¡­this wasn¡¯t good. Where was this Gods-damned exit? He groaned in irritation and dread as he looked around, desperate to see something, anything that might be able to help him. He just simply didn¡¯t have the time to figure this out, nor did he know where to begin searching. But wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! There was someone who did, right? Someone who Zach knew personally that did know. Of course¡­of course, of course! Becoming desperate, he began the process of slowing himself down to a halt. Despite having already eased off a bit, he was still moving at a speed far too great to simply just ¡°stop.¡± He had to ease into a gradual, controlled deceleration, or else he would simply topple over and start flipping and rolling all along the sand. Once he was no longer moving, he grabbed his phone¡ªthen swore and covered his eyes and mouth as the storm he kicked up started enveloping him too, covering his entire body and gear, which was already stained in monster blood. The sand seemed to stick to it, which made him feel prickly and disgusting. Swearing yet again, he shoved aside his feelings of discomfort and shuffled away a few steps until he was away from it. Then he opened his phone and dialed one of the very few contacts he had. It only rang twice before someone picked up. ¡°Hello?¡± came the voice of Mr. Oren. ¡°Oh, thank the Gods, you¡¯re there. I need your help ASAP.¡± ¡°Ah, hey, Zach, my man. What¡¯s up? Are you all right? Don¡¯t¡­don¡¯t tell me someone tried to¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s got nothing to do with that!¡± Zach cried urgently. He hoped the sound of impatience and fear in his voice would let his former science teacher know how serious this was. ¡°I literally don¡¯t have the time to explain. I¡¯m on floor B7 of Yorna. Where in the fucking Gods-forsaken hell is the exit door?¡± ¡°Language!¡± Mr. Oren rebuked. Then, his tone changing to something that almost sounded like pride, he said, ¡°Wow, you¡¯re on B7 already? Very proud, Zach, very proud. But remember to be considerate of others.¡± Zach looked over his shoulder at the chaos and misery he¡¯d just caused and said, ¡°Yeah, of course. It¡¯ll be like I¡¯m not even here. Look, where¡¯s the exit door? Please. You need to hurry up and tell me.¡± Mr. Oren laughed. ¡°I can give you a hint, my man. But I can¡¯t just go giving you the answers, because that¡¯s kind of¡ª¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand,¡± Zach cut him off with an impatient moan. ¡°I¡¯m trying not to have to waste more time explaining, listen! Rian and Lienne got taken to B10 and they¡¯re going to die unless I get down there to save them. Every word you say is one less second that they have to live.¡± ¡°Where did you portal in on?¡± he asked, his tone now far more direct and serious. Zach looked around at his surroundings, the question confusing him. ¡°Where did I¡­? You know, the¡­th-the fucking usual place!¡± Zach hadn¡¯t even realized he¡¯d sworn until immediately after using the word, but this time around, Mr. Oren did not chide or correct him. ¡°The usual place?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Zach said, becoming frustrated and annoyed. ¡°Wherever it is you usually come in from.¡± ¡°Ahh, I see the confusion here,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Zach, it doesn¡¯t work that way. For stable, unchanging environments, the exit door is always the same. For environments in flux, it finds a¡­you don¡¯t have the time to listen to me explain, do you? Okay, let¡¯s make this simple. Are you on the farmland border, the forest, or the beach?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m on the beach.¡± ¡°Okay, so it took you there. Good. Can you see the city from wherever it is you currently are?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Zach said, spinning his body to the left. In the distance ahead of him, he spotted two buildings he guessed to be fifty stories in height with spires on top of the roofs of each. ¡°I can see it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s very good,¡± Mr. Oren said reassuringly. ¡°Now, is the city to the west of where you¡¯re standing or to the north? You can tell by looking at the position of the sun and¡ª¡± ¡°The city¡¯s west of me,¡± Zach answered. He knew because he had a literal compass in his field of vision. ¡°Even better. Facing in that direction, do you see the boardwalk on top of a hill that turns from sand to grass? If not, you need to head a few miles south.¡± ¡°I see the boardwalk,¡± Zach said into his phone. As he spoke, several-dozen people ran past him. One, a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties, had scooped up an infant in each one of her arms while a man Zach took to either be her boyfriend or her husband ran closely behind her holding a surfing board in one hand and a portable radio in the other. ¡°It¡¯s those fucking Royal Roses!¡± she shouted, completely oblivious to the fact that she was standing right next to Zach. She didn¡¯t even see him, did she? ¡°They must be attacking us!¡± ¡°Mr. Oren?¡± Zach asked, taking his phone off speaker as the noise level had gone way out of control. ¡°I said I see the boardwalk.¡± ¡°Zach, I hear people screaming in the background. Have you¡­have you hurt anyone?¡± Zach growled in frustration. ¡°No, dammit. Of course not. They¡¯re fine. I just¡­I scared them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not acceptable,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Do not do whatever it is you¡¯ve done again.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t on purpose!¡± Zach said, not even bothering to conceal the aggravation in his voice. ¡°I¡¯m trying to save my friends¡¯ lives. I do not have time to¡ª¡± ¡°Their lives are just as important as yours and your friends,¡± Mr. Oren said, his voice now coming across as far more heated. ¡°Do not trample on others.¡± ¡°I¡­I understand,¡± Zach said. ¡°I just. Please. I¡¯m so desperate. I have very little time. They attacked the boss on B5 and¡ª¡± ¡°I know what they did,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°How they could have been that stupid is beside the point. Okay, listen carefully, Zach. Here¡¯s what you need to do. First, head to that boardwalk without¡±¡ªMr. Oren put a great deal of emphasis on the word ¡®without¡¯¡ª¡°harming, scaring, upsetting, or accosting any other people. Once there, turn left so that you¡¯re facing south. Keep moving along the boardwalk until, across the street on your right, you see a furniture store called ¡®Good Sittings¡¯. In the men¡¯s bathroom, third stall, step on the toilet and walk forward through the wall. That¡¯ll take you to the hidden passage.¡± Zach, who was already dashing up the hill towards the boardwalk, snorted in sheer disbelief. ¡°How the f¡­how the hell is anyone supposed to know to do that? Was I supposed to just walk into every wall in the city hoping to find the way to the exit?¡± ¡°No,¡± Mr. Oren said, sounding disappointed of all things. ¡°You were supposed to¡ª¡± Despite everything that was going on around him, for some fucked-up reason, Zach still didn¡¯t want to disappoint Mr. Oren. And so, he quickly fired in, ¡°Go to the great library, right? Seek guidance or a clue of some kind? Spend a month looking for an exit door by researching?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­right, actually. See? You already knew the answer.¡± ¡°I might not have, though. What if I hadn¡¯t found¡±¡ªhe paused, breathing heavily as he ran¡ª¡°what if I hadn¡¯t found Rian and Lienne?¡± ¡°You would have found someone somewhere who would¡¯ve set you on the path. It¡¯s just how things are.¡± Now that he was on the boardwalk, it became much easier to run. For obvious reasons, he couldn¡¯t zip along at ninety miles per hour when there were so many people biking and running up and down along it with him. A collision could easily kill one of these people. Or even worse. Even way worse. It could kill one of their dogs. Zach knew if that happened, no amount of therapy would ever be able to help him forgive himself. So he took it a bit slower now. Even still, he moved far, far faster than any human had ever run¡ªor at least any that these people were likely to ever see. ¡°You know, I really don¡¯t like the¡±¡ªhe again paused to take a breath¡ª¡°the way you guys do things.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Mr. Oren asked him. While speaking, he kept his eyes peeled for the furniture store. He¡¯d seen two different ones so far, but neither had the name that Mr. Oren had indicated. Using the back of his hand that was holding the phone, he wiped sweat from his brow. It was a very hot day today, and the sun was absolutely scorching him. He hoped he didn¡¯t get burned, as his sunblock was still sitting in the middle of B1. ¡°Rian and Lienne could die. And you don¡¯t even care.¡± ¡°I very much care.¡± ¡°Then come save them.¡± ¡°I¡¯m in my lab at school. I wouldn¡¯t make it in time.¡± ¡°Go through Angelica¡¯s!¡± ¡°Do you have an entry portal with a corresponding exit?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then I can¡¯t. I¡¯m sorry.¡± At this point in the conversation, Zach knew he should politely say goodbye and keep his mouth shut. He knew it wasn¡¯t wise to start an argument with Mr. Oren just in general, but particularly not while he was making a mad dash at the fastest speed possible while still being relatively safe. But he couldn¡¯t control himself. Not after all that had happened. ¡°You work with kids for a living,¡± Zach said, panting as the sun made everything feel like it required more effort than it normally did. ¡°Doesn¡¯t it matter to you that they might die? That I might die.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t appreciate the insinuation that it doesn¡¯t. I find it distasteful. Rude!¡± Mr. Oren rarely raised his voice, and Zach couldn¡¯t help but feel a tremor in his shoulders as the sound of anger from a very, very powerful and dangerous man made him reconsider if this was really a road he wanted to travel down right now. ¡°Then why do you let them die?¡± Zach fired back. ¡°My friends¡ªthey could die. Don¡¯t you understand that?¡± ¡°Of course I do,¡± he said, now sounding genuinely sad. ¡°Many young adventurers do, unfortunately, die. If we are around to help, we help. If we are around to save them, we save them. But our principles partially stem from multiple great, ancient human civilizations, and our ways are sacred to us. Much of what has sustained adventurers over thousands of years is our adherence to a code of ethics and a system of values. A few in particular, specifically those that deal less with ethics and more with strength, come from a group of warriors who, in a far, far distant past, hailed from a guild called Sparta. Zach, we need to ensure¡ªthe world needs to ensure¡ªthat we raise adventurers who are strong enough to be useful. So we abide by our principles, and unfortunately, it¡¯s often a trial by fire.¡± ¡°That¡¯s stupid as shit!¡± Zach shouted, causing the people who were already staring at him to flinch and back away as though in the one-in-a-million chance Zach might direct their anger at them instead. ¡°Zach. You need to work on your language. It¡¯s getting worse. I understand that you¡ª¡± ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand anything,¡± Zach fired in. ¡°Respectfully, I¡¯m not¡±¡ªhe panted, more sweat pouring down the front his face¡ª¡°I¡¯m not an adventurer first and foremost like you are. I¡¯m a human first and then an adventurer second. If you people are so morally good or whatever-the-fuck like you say you are, you wouldn¡¯t let people go out and die every day. The political guilds don¡¯t send their kids to their deaths.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Mr. Oren said sadly, once more coming across as bizarrely sympathetic. But then, his voice turned colder, angrier, and more determined. ¡°But look at the character of those who emerge. Power comes at a cost, Zach. If you learn anything, let it be that. In order to protect the world from the threats most people don¡¯t even know exist, we have to be thrown into the deep end. We have to learn to sink or swim. These are our ways and our customs. I know you¡¯re upset that we¡ªthat I¡ªdidn¡¯t send you off to the Rites of Initiation, but if it¡¯s of any consolation, just know that that¡¯s a relatively new tradition started only about fifty years ago, and it¡¯s still very controversial¡ªand in my opinion, a mistake.¡± The more Zach heard, the less enthralled he found himself with ¡°adventuring guilds.¡± He didn¡¯t approve of any of this. ¡°Look, I¡¯m not trying to shit all over your customs, Mr. Oren, but Lienne told me over half of adventurers die before reaching level 10. That¡¯s a lot. Right? Wouldn¡¯t you agree? That that¡¯s a lot, Mr. Oren? No matter what you tell yourself, that¡¯s not something to be proud of.¡± ¡°Of course it isn¡¯t. You think we don¡¯t mourn the fledglings who don¡¯t survive? It¡¯s horrible. It weighs on all of us. But to produce adventurers of quality, character, and good moral standing, we don¡¯t babysit. It¡¯s just not who we are or what we do. It¡¯s why we have the discipline and the moral fortitude not to rule territories, steal from the weak, and prey on the Ones the way the political guilds do.¡± Zach shrugged despite knowing Mr. Oren couldn¡¯t see him. ¡°Well, no disrespect, Mr. Oren, but if you guys can¡¯t produce a group of people who aren¡¯t assholes without intentionally letting half of them die, then maybe you¡¯re not all that much better. Just my opinion.¡± ¡°Zach, what¡¯s gotten into you? You¡¯ve become very abrasive, foul-mouthed, and rude. I understand you¡¯re upset, but there is no excuse for the way you¡¯re behaving.¡± Zach sighed. ¡°Maybe not. But what you don¡¯t understand, is that I died today, Mr. Oren. So it doesn¡¯t really matter.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± he asked, now sounding a good deal alarmed. ¡°What is that supposed to mean? Zach!¡±
Unleashed Phase Duration 0:21 Remaining
Quest Expires In 1:36:41
He really, really wished he didn¡¯t have to do this. Zach felt his eyes dampen as he knew that this was probably, in all likelihood, the end for him. Why couldn¡¯t he just pass out right here on the boardwalk and wake up in a hospital? Why did he have to let his guilt weigh so heavily on him? He told himself he wouldn¡¯t do this. He didn¡¯t deserve to have to do this. It wasn¡¯t fair. They¡¯d made the mistake, not him. So why did he have to pay? Or rather, why did he have to make himself pay? He wasn¡¯t the kind of person to be this selfless. He only wanted power and money, right? Wasn¡¯t that why he was so excited to find those mobs under the river in the first place? So what was he doing? Had he lost his mind? ¡°It¡¯s not okay to me,¡± he said, trying his hardest not to let his voice break. ¡°You¡¯re worrying me,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°What¡¯s not okay with you? Speak clearly.¡± He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. ¡°Letting your own friends die. Just¡­just turning your back on them. I can¡¯t live with it. If I just¡­if I just let it happen, I¡¯d just, you know, I¡¯d always wonder¡ªwhat if I¡¯d just done so and so. That¡¯s why.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not making any sense, Zach. What aren¡¯t you telling me?¡± ¡°What I¡¯m telling you is that you shouldn¡¯t be okay with it. You shouldn¡¯t just, like, treat people like weeds in a garden. You know? Half of people who walk this path shouldn¡¯t have to die just so the other half emerge stronger. I don¡¯t care if I¡¯m not old enough or smart enough to say that. It¡¯s obvious. At least to me. So now I have to do this because you wouldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Do what?¡± Mr. Oren asked, again raising his voice in alarm.
Unleashed Phase Duration 0:03 Remaining
Quest Expires In 1:36:23
Zach closed his eyes and activated Unleashed Phase.
Unleashed Phase Duration 13:07 Remaining
Quest Expires In 1:36:22
¡°Zach, I¡¯m concerned. There¡¯s more you¡¯re not saying. I can help.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± he said. His sadness vanished. He felt strong¡ªeven stronger than before. He was practically teaming with power. All of his exhaustion had vanished in an instant. It was as though he¡¯d just gotten out of bed after a long, wonderful night¡¯s sleep and had just digested a hearty breakfast. His stats, he knew, had now increased even more, hadn¡¯t they? As a direct result of him using this ability while in Phase Level 1.
Name Zachys Calador
Level 11
EXP 1285/3000
Armor Bonus 52
Strength 36
Dexterity 32
Constitution 33
Intelligence 74
Speed 31
Luck 29
Ahead of him, Zach saw the furniture store that Mr. Oren had indicated. Running straight out into traffic, Zach didn¡¯t even care about the incident he caused, as two DEHVs swerved to avoid him and collided with a loud crunch. Neither of them sustained serious damage, and both drivers would be fine. Rian and Lienne, however would not. For this reason, he also didn¡¯t care that the store was closed today for some holiday or whatever. He simply kicked in the door¡ªwith more strength than he realized he¡¯d intended to use; he watched as it sailed across an open, wide showroom and landed on top of a glass table, shattering it. ¡°I don¡¯t like what I¡¯m hearing in the background, Zach,¡± Mr. Oren said. Zach laughed. ¡°Yeah, well, I didn¡¯t like what I was hearing on the phone either, Mr. Oren.¡± With that, he ended the call. His hands and feet were now emitting smoke twice as fast as before, but this time, gold, ember-like particles seemed to pop up every now and then, a few even jumping off and out of the smoke, falling down, and then vanishing before hitting the floor. Zach stormed his way into the bathroom. The door was locked, so he ripped it off and threw it over his shoulder. From the sound of a crash behind him, he¡¯d broken something else. Whatever. What were they going to do about it? Mail him a bill in hell? I can¡¯t believe I did this, he thought. He was supposed to be the guy who was smart enough not to die for others. Kalana, maybe. No, definitely. Definitely for Kalana. But even his close friends¡­like, they¡¯d totally brought this on themselves. Yet he was now living on thirteen minutes of borrowed time. There was just no way he¡¯d wake up from the combined debt of two ¡°high¡± cost abilities. If he did, it would be a miracle. He supposed he could¡¯ve asked Mr. Oren what would happen or if he¡¯d survive such a combination, but he knew that would be unwise, as if the answer had been a definitive ¡°no,¡± he¡¯d lose his courage. It was clear, though. When this thing ended, he probably wasn¡¯t going to wake back up. And thus, since his attempt to save Rian and Lienne had cost him his life, he now had to succeed. He simply was not allowed to fail. With that thought in mind, he stepped into the horrendous-smelling bathroom, made his way to the third stall, and hopped up on top of it. Ignoring the spatial part of his brain, which told him to not walk into a grimy bathroom wall, he stepped forward, off the toilet, and into the wall, which simply vanished against his touch like mist as he found himself in a pitch-black passage that was so narrow his elbows touched the wall to both sides of him. Running forward, this incredibly small passage gradually widened until he came upon a metal, push-bar door labeled B7->B8. With the urgency of someone who had twelve minutes and fifty-two seconds left to live, Zach crashed through it and continued on. Chapter 42: Adamus Chapter 42: Adamus With a grunt, the boy known as Zachys Calador smashed his way through the metal exit door labeled B7->B8 and then wasted no time in resuming his wild, frantic dash down eleven flights of stairs and towards the next floor. In this case, he was heading to the pirate level. He was unlikely to fight anything on this floor. In fact, of all challenges he had yet faced, this alone was likely to be the simplest, as the more open nature of this floor and the positioning of the mobs here would present Zachys with the opportunity to easily keep out of aggro range of the mostly level 12- to level-15 mobs and continue on to B9, which would require him to take down a gatekeeper¡ªwhich he would most likely succeed at doing. Zachys was refreshed. His stamina had been fluctuating constantly, but the proportion of it that came from willpower was far outside of the normal range. Given his relative newness and his previous, mostly docile lifestyle, it was not on its own surprising that Zachys'' willpower constituted a larger share of his stamina pool. But as he exerted himself over time, it should have become less and less a factor. Yet here he was, storming his way through another floor, and it was only growing! It was rare for someone¡¯s willpower to flare so strongly that they could actually pull themselves out of an E-debt, yet three times since entering the Catacombs of Yorna, Zachys had done just that. This time, however, the biometrics, unfortunately, were pretty clear: his prognosis was terminal¡ªor at least it would have been if not for the unexplained quest tampering. Otherwise, in twelve minutes and forty-five seconds, he was going to suffer death by heart failure. ¡°Pirates?¡± the thin, wavy-haired boy asked aloud. ¡°Really? With hooks on their hands and shit? What kind of idiot thought this one up? Great Ones, huh? My ass.¡± It was surprising. He actually did strike a few down. He was tunnel-visioning, though. He could have saved a few valuable seconds if he had only seen the path off to his right which would have completely negated having to burn his way through the grouping of large wooden pirate ships floating in the indoor lake. Zachys leapt from one to the next, dueling with the mobs awaiting him and dispatching them with ease. Incredibly, his stamina barely budged. Was this because knowing of his imminent death had given him some kind of superhuman resolve? Clearly, his determination was at a level that was simply uncanny. It was impossible not to root for him. Zachys¡¯ ability, Unleashed Phase, was beyond fascinating. Had anyone ever seen anything like this before? Sure, ¡®unique¡¯ was ¡®unique,¡¯ but many unique abilities were similar, bearing only minor differences that only technically qualified them as being unique. This, on the other hand¡­this was different. Ember-filled smoke rose up into the air from the boy¡¯s hands and feet while a dim, but noticeably glowing energy covered his skin, providing him what was currently a +40 boost to his armor. Therefore, it was wholly unnecessary for him to block, parry, or dodge the sword strikes from the red-outfitted, tricorn-wearing mobs with whom he dueled. What little stamina he did use was totally wasted. Even still, it was heartening to see his courage and persistence. He frowned as he ignored yet another drop. He clearly knew that he did not even have the time to pick it up, but he likely still felt a pang of disappointment at leaving something that could potentially be valuable or useful behind. It was totally understandable. Leaping from ship to ship, he hopped down onto the docks and said, ¡°I think that¡¯s the exit door! Wow, already? All right, I need to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to
ERROR 941 Signal Lost! Attempting to Reestablish Connection with Host #410-A56R
¡°Worthless piece of junk!¡± Prila snapped, slapping the side of her monitor despite knowing it would do little to help fix the issue. All at once, fifteen of her colleagues gathered around her released a collective moan of disappointment. They were supposed to be at their desks working, but the news of Zachys had spread from orbital station to orbital station, and now everyone was likely watching his progress. ¡°I hope he makes it,¡± Miza said. She was a sweet girl with a small, soft face. She was short with orange-dyed hair that sort of went well with her freckles. Prila thought it cruel that she¡¯d been assigned to monitoring, as she wept openly whenever one of her candidates perished. Prila, on the other hand, had become desensitized to it. That kind of thing sort of just happened over time. Half of them just wouldn¡¯t make it. That was just the way things were. I do hope Zachys pulls through, though, she thought. Though not quite emotionally attached, this was the closest she¡¯d come in a decade. She found she could empathize with him. She, too, had been born in the Whispery Woods. She too had longed for a life outside of the bounds of the hand she¡¯d been dealt. But unlike Zachys and those similar to him, she was not fit for danger, fighting mobs, or leveling. But they found me anyway. Typing furiously into a command prompt, Prila attempted to reestablish a connection by using a different access point. The system had become more and more difficult to maintain as all but two of the Great Ones had vanished thousands of years before Prila was even born. Now, the OMP¡ªOrbital Monitoring Platform¡ªas well as the bastards she refused to name were the last two groups of sentient life who still bothered to work around the clock maintaining, preserving, and upholding this ancient system built on a combination of long-lost technology and forbidden Elemental Magic. ¡°It¡¯s not working. We need repairs. Why can¡¯t we ever fix a fucking thing?¡± Prila growled. ¡°Because we don¡¯t have the resources,¡± Garoth said. He was a tall, broad-shouldered, green-skinned Lizard Folk with a forked tongue who looked out of place among the geeks here in the OMP. Yet looks could be deceiving, because Garoth was their most highly skilled engineer; his skills were unlikely to be surpassed by anyone. Though his yellow eyes and black pupils could often intimidate, as well as the ridges on his head or the folds under his chin, he was a gentle, caring man who gave his life to preserving Galterra. ¡°When are we going to get the resources?¡± Prila asked. ¡°It¡¯s always the same story. I feel like we¡¯re fighting a losing battle.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Things¡±¡ªhe dragged along the pronunciation of the letter ¡®s¡¯¡ª¡°are what they are, Prila.¡± He was standing beyond and to the right of her desk. Behind him was catwalk that led to the bridge, through which a large viewport in front of the ship''s piloting systems granted them a magnificent view of Galterra. From space, it truly was the most beautiful sight she had ever beheld. Even after ten years, she did not tire of seeing it. Apparently, Earth had also once been just as beautiful. Yet Prila had a hard time believing it. Galterra was a green-blue world with white clouds and a blue sky. It was a paradise planet. She was skeptical that the wasteland known as Earth had ever been quite so remarkable. She had actually been to Earth once, come to think of it. It reminded her a great deal of Mars with the exception that, despite both planets being very reddish in nature, Earth still had a breathable atmosphere and a few pockets of life here or there¡ªthough it was mostly tribal, unsophisticated remnants of the previous human civilization that had wiped itself out. It seemed the only regions that had survived the end of civilization had been some place called ¡°Ireland¡± and another called ¡°Australia.¡± The rest of humanity had either been evacuated to Galterra or fated to perish. As Prila tried desperately to get the feed back up and running, her coworkers goaded her on, all of them ganging up on her and demanding she ¡°hurry her ass up¡± because they ¡°wanted to see what Zachys did next." It was insensitive, sure, but after working in monitoring long enough, it all became just a show. Other than Miza, Prila did not know a single sentient being who could go more than a year without losing their emotional capacity to care about the candidates they monitored. ¡°I¡¯m doing everything I can,¡± Prila said to the group gathered around her. ¡°If you would just calm down and¡­huh? Why¡¯s everyone gone so quiet?¡± Prila had been so focused on staring at her screen that it actually took her a moment to realize that every single one of the chorus of impatient voices surrounding her had gone absolutely silent and in a way that was oddly unnerving. Frowning, she rolled backwards on her swivel chair and spun around. ¡°Now what¡¯s gotten into all you damned¡ª?¡± Her eyes widened, and her breath caught in her lungs. She immediately stood up, stepped forward, and dropped to her knees in submission as fear and wonder raced through her chest. This was not something she¡¯d expected¡ªor anyone had expected, she imagined. He was here. He was actually here! And he, their Lord, was standing right before them. God had actually come to Station 9 of the OMP. This was an honor so great that no words existed to describe it. She felt her eyes well up with tears. She¡¯d never seen him before in person. But there he was. She trembled. Miza, who knelt next to her, also trembled, which Prila could tell as their elbows were touching. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°My Lord,¡± Prila said, bowing her head down in subservience. ¡°Forgive me. I did not know you had come. Oh, my Lord, I beg you forgive my horrific and rude display of¡ª¡± ¡°Please,¡± he whispered. ¡°Stop that.¡± Confused, awed, and shaking with fear, Prila said absolutely nothing as Adamus extended his hand in her direction as if actually wanting her to take it¡ªas if actually deeming her worthy to touch the actual hands of a God. ¡°You don¡¯t have to fear me,¡± he said. ¡°I d-do not fear you, my Lord,¡± Prila said. He smiled. ¡°You do, but that¡¯s okay.¡± He was tall, nearly seven feet in height, with thick white patches of silver hair and dark green eyes. Though wrinkled and aged, his face did not lack whatsoever in the appearance of power and strength. His gaze looked as though it could cut diamonds. He wore a white robe made of a material that seemed to glow and emit a soft buzzing hum. His ears were pointed like the Elvish, and it was believed he shared some similarity to their kind, though to what extent, Prila was not definitively certain, as her knowledge was the subject of religious speculation. All she did know was that, right now, she was in the presence of the Great One, Adamus Vayra. Her hand shaking with fear and nerves, she accepted his, and with a powerful grip, she felt herself pulled back up to her feet. Then, with a smile, he gestured towards her chair. ¡°Please, sit. And the rest of you, stand.¡± Upon his word, all of her coworkers shot up to their feet and stood with their arms to their sides. This, despite Adamus then requesting they be at ease. That was one order they seemed incapable of obeying. Hell, Prila also could not bring herself to ¡°be at ease¡± in the presence of a Great One. ¡°I¡¯ve said this to so many people over the years,¡± he whispered, his voice soft but somewhat hauntingly sharp. He spoke as if the words were intended more for himself than Prila and the others. ¡°Why do they never listen? I am not a God. Why do you insist on this antiquated ritual?¡± Not a God? Prila thought. She feared her heart might stop as he continued to speak, as it contradicted what she had been told about him. ¡°Every few decades I return, and it is always the same. You are my people, but you are not my subjects. I am no more your God than you are mine. Please. I ask you to cease this display of worship. I am just a half-elf who has lived a very, very long life.¡± Walking almost casually, he stood to the right of Prila¡¯s chair and placed a hand on her shoulder. Despite his words, the sense of honor she felt was so powerful it nearly overwhelmed her. Tamping down her fear and excitement, she nervously said, ¡°We¡¯re trying to restore the link, My Lord.¡± ¡°Please, child, call me Adamus,¡± he said, his voice quiet yet still somehow so powerful. Prila nodded, though she knew it would be difficult to force herself to actually do such a thing. ¡°Tell me,¡± he continued. ¡°What of this boy?¡± Prila, finding her courage, explained the situation with Zachys Calador, the boy whom she had personally picked to receive the Will of the Favored, just as she had once picked Alex Oren, his sponsor. She had a sense about her¡ªsomething that superseded even the best of her peers. There was just something about the biometric data that called out to her. Sifting through tens of thousands of candidates a day, she would occasionally come across someone whose readings just touched her in a way. It was almost like a form of intuition. As she recounted the boy¡¯s journey up until this point, she did not dare ask him why he wanted to know this information or if that was the reason he had awakened from his sleeping chamber. For reasons unknown to Prila, it was said that Adamus, the Great One, tended to go into prolonged periods of sleep lasting anywhere from days to centuries. Supposedly¡ªand Prila would not dare ask such a question¡ªboth of his parents had also been Great Ones, too. Compared to others, she was not as knowledgeable in religious matters as she ought to have been, but she did know it was widely believed that Adamus¡¯s father was an Elvish God that had perished in a war among the Great Ones many millennia ago, and his mother, a human Goddess known only as Redemption, was a woman not originally from this universe, and that she had departed it eons ago to return to her own. Why she had come and why she had then left was not something anyone who spoke of this could answer. If he is not a God, then who or what even is? Prila thought, refusing to accept that the being standing beside her was anything less than a divine entity even if he himself denied such. A humble God was still a God, after all. I must not displease him. Under an immense pressure, with the hand of a God gripping her shoulder, Prila struggled to restore the link. She could not possibly allow herself to fail. How could she live with the shame of appearing so incompetent before a Great One? Thankfully, however, she at last managed to restore a connection, and once more, the image of Zachys Calador running down several flights of stairs to B9 filled their view. ¡°I believe he will succeed,¡± Adamus whispered softly. ¡°I do not like to interfere. But¡­I have given him a chance.¡± Prila gasped. Then, forgetting herself, she asked, ¡°You¡¯re the one who altered the quest?¡± She immediately covered her own mouth, ashamed of her insolence. To her surprise, Adamus not only did not reprimand her, but he answered her question immediately and politely, too. ¡°I did,¡± he said, smiling. ¡°I am the one who altered the rewards.¡± In the catacombs of Lorna, if an adventurer was foolish enough to attack Moldark on B5, it was taken as a sign that they were unbefitting and unworthy, and they were sent to B10 to await a certain death. There was an exception, however. If one or more of their party were wise enough to realize the error of such an impatiently carried out attack, they would be spared and given a quest to save their comrades. The reward for this quest was a paltry 50 gold coins and a bag of Skelly Chips. In truth, it was not intended for the surviving party members to attempt to rescue their comrades. To do so would require them to achieve the herculean task of rushing down to B10 in three hours, which was almost impossible. Yet Zachys Calador had taken off after them. His sponsor, Alex Oren, made no attempt to stop him, either, as it appeared¡ªat least from her observations¡ªthat like Zachys, he did not know that the point of the quest was for the adventurer to realize that they could not save their friends, and that sometimes, it was important to cut one¡¯s losses even at the cost of great loss or emotional suffering. Thus, the quest rewarded nothing but pocket change so as not to further encourage or incentivize rescue attempt. If anything, the insultingly small reward was to serve as a clue. But something was different this time around. The quest rewards, they¡­they had been altered. Prila could not understand how or why until now. If Zachys actually succeeded, he would be rewarded with two Red Rejuvenation Stones and, even more outrageously, a Purple Rejuvenation Stone to go along with it. These were items that very high-level adventurers would risk their lives for in places far, far, far more dangerous than the Catacombs of Yorna. The purple one in particular was one of the most coveted items in the world. It was partially why the political guilds tolerated the existence of the adventuring guilds. The purple stones in particular were used to repair internal organs and to eliminate most forms of cancer. The boy¡¯s debt would be reversed and his heart repaired if he managed to acquire and use one on himself. ¡°I can see the look on your face,¡± Adamus whispered. ¡°You want to know why, child, yes?¡± Swallowing nervously, Prila nodded. ¡°I¡­My Lord, forgive my questioning and spare me my insolence, but I merely struggle to understand why you would¡­¡± ¡°Tamper?¡± Prila did not nod. She wouldn¡¯t dare. But this was indeed what she had wanted to ask. As though understanding this, she felt his grip tighten on her shoulder, but not in a painful or uncomfortable way: it was more reassuring than anything else. ¡°I don¡¯t like to interfere, child,¡± he said. Now, his voice turned sad, which Prila found odd. ¡°Our system¡ªthe one you work to protect¡ªwas always intended to be the fairest, most meritocratic method of power distribution. So long ago, my dear girl, well before the earliest entry of your oldest history textbook, our planet was engulfed in constant war and chaos. A few all-powerful mages waged battle against one another using the lives of the innocent as pawns for their ambitions. People lived in total disharmony both with themselves and with one another.¡± He closed his eyes as he spoke, and Prila felt a chill run down her spine. ¡°We destroyed everything. Billions of lives, ended. When the smoke cleared, only a few-hundred beings remained on the planet, and of those, only twenty or so¡ªmyself included¡ªmanaged to set aside our hatred as we saw what our wars had done to our world and all those we loved.¡± Reopening his eyes, he fixed her with a hard stare. ¡°Individually, we were vastly powerful, but together, we found we could achieve a power of a near-infinite nature. And so we decided to remake the world from scratch. No longer would power be born to those few lucky mages capable of wielding it. We would create a world full of danger that would unite its people together in pursuit of a common enemy. Where anyone brave enough could grow and become stronger. Not all would be born of equal ability, but all would contain at least some potential.¡± Now, he removed his hand from her shoulder, and he turned to face the catwalk. He seemed to be staring out of the wide viewport in the bridge and at the planet of Galterra. ¡°For thousands of years, our image of a better world came to be just as we¡¯d hoped¡ªeven better than we¡¯d hoped. But¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°Eventually, things reverted into a mirror of what they once were. The Galterra of today is not far removed from the Galterra of my youth.¡± He looked at her. ¡°Once again, an elite class has formed, and once more, power is concentrated in the hands of a tiny number of people.¡± Prila¡¯s mouth fell as understanding dawned on her. ¡°So that¡¯s why,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s why you created the Will of the Favored.¡± Although he was a being of immense, immeasurable power, Prila could not help but notice Adamus had very kind eyes, which he half-closed as he smiled at her. ¡°That¡¯s exactly it,¡± he whispered. ¡°That¡¯s why I have asked you. All of you to do your part in restoring some semblance of fairness to our world.¡± Only now did Prila realize that everyone not just in the monitoring room, but the entire Gods-damned orbital station had now come to listen to him speak. Hundreds of people of various races were crowded around her desk and the two of them. In fact, Prila was fairly certain that every last soul had come to hear what he had to say. For how long had they been listening in on the conversation? Lifting his finger and pressing it against her monitor, Adamus said, ¡°If he succeeds, he deserves to live. That is why I altered the quest.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t you just¡­¡± ¡°Yes?¡± he asked her. The more she spoke with him, the less she feared him. Prila found herself amazed to discover that Adamus really was okay with being questioned. It was not a quality she¡¯d expected to see in a Great One. Speaking with a bit more courage and less shakiness, she asked, ¡°Couldn¡¯t you just help him?¡± ¡°I could, my child.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you?¡± At this, he inhaled and then released a slow, drawn-out sigh as though exhausted. ¡°Even interfering as much as I already have is uncomfortable to me. The Will of the Favored, the altering of the quest. These things¡­they go against the principles of fairness. We aren''t supposed to interfere in individual conflicts. That was always against our principles.¡± ¡°May I ask you one last question?¡± He nodded. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°What if things don¡¯t work out?¡± ¡°In what regard?¡± ¡°What if the system continues to break and the political guilds end up torching the world in another global war? Especially now with your descendent throwing her hat into the ring. What will you do?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± ¡°Nothing?¡± He bowed his head. ¡°Correct. Nothing. The system was intended to be Galterra¡¯s final chance. The Great Ones who designed it with me have all moved on to other worlds and other interests. The only two who remain are myself and the one who opposes me. Even if we were to become united and end our bitter rivalry, the two of us combined do not have the power to implement any more major system updates. Even altering that quest has drained me. I¡¯ve only just awoken and soon I will once again need to rest. I am an old man, and I am not immortal like my mother.¡± The implications of what he was saying troubled her to the point that a sense of impending doom caused her to shift uneasily in her chair. As if noticing her turmoil, he asked, ¡°You are troubled?¡± Prila licked her bottom lip, unsure of how to reply. ¡°I¡¯m just¡­I thought the Great Ones would return if things continued to deteriorate.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid not, child. The spawn points that are gone are never returning. The dungeons have mostly been preserved, though like B7, there are floors that are no longer intact. Even still, the means exist for a counter force to rise up and topple the elite. The system is still strong enough to endure if the people of Galterra can manage to embrace it. It either will happen or it won¡¯t happen. I leave Galterra to its fate¡ªand to you.¡± Chapter 43: Moldark the Unbanished Chapter 43: Moldark the Unbanished Whipping his blade upwards and then horizontally across, Zach delivered a slice to the chest of the foe who stood between him and the two people he¡¯d given his life to save. The eight-foot-tall armored man dropped his flail and his shield, fell to his knees, and then plopped forward onto the stone floor with a loud clank. Soon after, he vanished, and Zach panted a bit to catch his breath, earning +1,500xp following this so-called ¡°Gatekeeper¡¯s¡± demise.
LEVEL UP! 12(11)
Dexterity +1 (33)
Luck +1 (30)
Current XP 217
XP Required for Level 13 6000
If not for the urgency of his situation, Zach might¡¯ve really struggled to get through these past two floors, as despite their inhabitants being relatively easy¡ªat least while under the effects of Unleashed Phase¡ªthere was something that just felt different about killing human mobs. They looked like, sounded like, moved like, and bled like real people even though they weren¡¯t. Some had actually spoken, too. Twice, he¡¯d been called a ¡°yellow-belly coward¡± by one of the eye-patch-wearing pirates on the previous floor. That, and a few other choice put-downs that Zach had rolled his eyes at. Honestly, it was one thing for them to look and sound exactly like a human, but was the gore really necessary as well? Shaking off his blood-soaked blade, he sent a splash of it onto to the brick wall across from him and to the left of the door labeled B9->B10. This was finally it, huh? He had gone through hell and back to get all the way down here, and now, it was all he could do not to think about the end. Questions he¡¯d never really pondered before had begun assailing him as he came closer and closer to the boss. Things such as: what if nothing came after death? It terrified him. What if this really was the end? What if he closed his eyes, and then it was like¡­like before he was born. What if there was just nothing and he didn¡¯t exist anymore? The idea both haunted him and made his knees quiver. If by some miracle he survived this, he was never putting himself in a position like this ever again. The next time people were dying and needed someone to save them, it wasn¡¯t going to be him! Hell no. He was done playing the hero. Either because he wouldn¡¯t be around anymore to try, or because he somehow scraped through this and decided to make self-preservation a much bigger focus in his life. Either way, this was the last time he would allow himself to end up in this kind of situation. Seriously. As he pulled open the door to B10, his hand trembled fearfully, and a sudden burst of emotionally charged pain erupted in his chest: sadness. He realized he didn¡¯t even have enough time to tell Kalana. She was just going to ¡°find out.¡± Someone was going to call her or send her a message one day out of the blue, and she was going to read it, and it was going to say Zach was dead, and then¡­ Don¡¯t. Don¡¯t think of this now. Please. I can¡¯t let this be in my head before a fight. Wiping his eyes with his free hand, he forced his legs to move as he rushed his way down what he hoped would be a short and final flight of stairs that would lead him to where Rian and Lienne were waiting with the boss. As he got closer and the end came nearer, he was ashamed to feel such regret. If he was going to die anyway, he wanted to go down feeling like a hero. Like he¡¯d done the right thing. But that wasn¡¯t how he felt. He was scared. He missed Kalana. He missed his mom of all people, a woman he hadn¡¯t seen since he was a child. He wished he could undo his decision. Did that make him less of a man? The fact that, now that his impending death became more and more of a reality, he would go back and reverse his decision if he could? All that bravery he¡¯d felt while on the phone with Mr. Oren had begun to evaporate as the dark reality settled in and came ever closer to coming to pass. Yet even still, he pressed onwards, wanting his life to have at least been worth something. Also, he was running low on time.
Unleashed Phase Duration 9:45 Remaining
Quest Expires In 1:33:00
As he bolted down flight after flight of stairs, he decided to forgive himself for his fear and doubt, as he was once again reminded of something Mr. Oren had told him on the day he¡¯d found out the truth about his former science teacher. For all their disagreements, and for all the revulsion Zach felt towards some of his views, there had been one thing the man had said that had been so true to such an extent that Zach wondered if he should request to have it inscribed onto his tombstone. ¡°What makes you a man is whether or not you follow through on your actions. Not whether or not you escape with your underwear clean.¡± He couldn¡¯t control the way he felt. The sadness, the terror, and the longing for a life with Kalana. These were part of him. He couldn¡¯t just shed them because they were inconvenient at the moment. Rather than resent himself because of how scared he was of dying, all he really needed to do was follow through on his actions just like Mr. Oren had said. That was the difference that mattered. It was the only difference that mattered. Was it smart of him to do this? Of course not. Had he acted off emotion and a desire to see his friends live? Obviously. But did any of that matter now? No. His choice was made. He had to follow through on it. And so, preparing himself for what was likely going to be the most important¡ªand final¡ªmoment of his existence, he paused once he arrived at the metal door at the bottom of the stairwell labeled B10 and he took a few seconds to make some necessary changes to what he believed was called an ¡°interface.¡± There was information he needed to have at all times during this upcoming fight, but he also needed to be able to see clearly and have as little of his vision obstructed as possible. Right off the bat, he dismissed the quest timer, as that was no longer relevant, as well as his compass. The experience bar was down by his knees and would not cause an issue, so he left it alone. What he did need, however, was some more information. Thus, he tried to form clearly and coherently in his mind the information he wanted before him. He needed to see a list of his abilities without their descriptions, showing only their names and the time deductions for each. Was this possible? It seemed it was. It would also be useful to move his remaining duration on Unleashed Phase so that it was on top of this list instead of separate and on its own. There. Just like that. There we go. Fidgeting with this new view a bit, he took just a few more precious seconds to make sure everything was where he could see it easily¡ªto the left side of his face¡ªbut where it would not ever cause a blind spot to form in his vision. It wouldn¡¯t be good if he had to eat a sword strike to the throat because the information he¡¯d called forward obstructed what he was able to see. Craning his neck around to test his view of the world from every orientation of his head, he nodded in satisfaction. This was exactly what he needed. The only thing left to do was to see if he could selectively remove abilities that either did not have time deductions or that he could not currently use, such as Unleashed Phase and Phase Reset. Well, technically he could use Phase Reset followed by Unleashed Phase, but at that point, he might as well start calling down dragons, because if there was any hope of him surviving a double-high exertion cost, then tacking on another ¡°Very High¡± on top of his existing debt¡­like at that point, he might as well just keep resetting until he went up to Phase Level 6. The only reason he hadn¡¯t already done so was because he believed there had to at least be some chance, no matter how small, he could pull through this. At any rate, now that he was ready for his very first¡ªand yeah, probably last¡ªboss fight, Zach gave the display one final look over to ensure it had everything he needed before he proceeded and it was too late to change anything in the heat of combat.
Unleashed Phase Duration 9:10 Remaining
Wave Slash 1:15
Boundless 0:10
Phase Blink 0:20
Phase Shield (READY) (25 seconds) 0:45
Phase Rescue 0:35 / 2:15 (if used with Boundless)
Phase Slash 1:10 / 6:10 (if used with ??)
It suddenly occurred to Zach that, no matter how this turned out, he could likely save Rian and Lienne no matter what. Unless the two were hidden out of sight¡ªwhich, to be fair, was totally possible¡ªthen as long as he got his eyes on them, if things looked like they weren¡¯t going to go his way, he could just use Boundless and Phase Rescue to pull them out from wherever it was they happened to be and tell them to run. Or I could have them fight with me. Zach dismissed the idea. They¡¯d missed way too many levels. What good would they be? Honestly, Zach doubted they would even be able to hurt the damn boss. As things stood, he wasn¡¯t even sure he would be able to hurt it. He¡¯d never fought a boss before. He had very little idea of what to expect. But he knew it wouldn¡¯t be as easy as fighting a regular mob. Not that it actually mattered anymore, because whether this was difficult, easy, or impossible, it really was all the same. He had already committed himself to it, and as he thought about it, he let out a sad, but genuine laugh as he realized that he wasn¡¯t afraid of the boss killing him: he was afraid of him killing him, which he probably already had. Well, time to take this bastard with me, I guess. With one last bittersweet smile at a mental image of Kalana, he shoved all thoughts of her out of his mind and he pushed open the door to B10. The moment it swung open, he felt like he was stepping out of an elevator and into some kind of hotel, as there was a wall just a few feet in front of the door, between which was a narrow hallway covered with incredibly fancy-looking royal red carpets embroidered with golden-stitched patterns of swords, shields, bows, and arrows. As Zach stepped out of the stairwell and into this hallway, the general sameness in the air temperature and quality likely meant he was still on Galterra. To his left was a dead end, and to his right was a fairly narrow passage that gradually widened until ending abruptly in front of a pair of wide, wooden double-doors with bronze, ring-shaped handles. There was also a smaller door to the left of the double-doors, and it looked oddly out of place, as the wallpaper was a dull orange-grey, and the door was of the dark blue metal type that Zach had grown accustomed to in this dungeon. There were also paintings on both sides of the wall: many were of various mythical animals such as unicorns and even a few dragons, but some looked like oil paintings of Moldark, who Zach recognized by his devilish smile and uniquely decorative armor. Above the double-doors was a sign that read: Boss Ahead. 5+ Party Advised (Level 12 min, Level 15 recommended) <------Angelica¡¯s (using this door will set your exit point to B1) Zach swore, loudly. If he was understanding correctly, this meant that he was supposed to have four other people with him around his level to take down this boss. And if he decided to run into Angelica¡¯s and beg for help, he would be sent back to B1, which was not an option! But wait, couldn¡¯t he just hold the door open? Actually, he could, right? He¡¯d done something like that before. But what if the Great Ones thought someone might try that and built a mechanism to prevent it? What if there¡¯s something here that¡¯s designed to prevent you from cheating and coming straight back? Maybe as soon as I step through, it¡¯ll just force itself shut or something. Then I¡¯m really screwed. Zach decided it wasn¡¯t worth the risk. This was something he¡¯d have to do on his own. As much as he wished he could storm this place with an entire army of fellow adventurers and then waltz right back out of it again, alive and well, there was no point in fighting against the facts of the situation. The clock was ticking, he was dying, and so too would his friends if he didn¡¯t hurry the hell up. There¡¯s no time to stop and think. It¡¯s too late for that now. Continuing onwards, his feet made a louder-than-expected thud on the soft, fancy carpet as he hurried across the short passage. Then, gripping the bronze rings and pulling open the double-doors, he stepped inside what was clearly some kind of even fancier throne room illuminated by a golden, flame-lit chandelier. Columns that looked more decorative than necessary for support ran the length of both sides of the chamber, and dotted throughout were statues of a woman wearing a golden eagle mask whom Zach recalled from B1 was the image of Yorna. This room also had paintings decorating all four walls, many depicting beautiful landscapes that Zach had never before seen. He could not tell whether they were of Galterra or someplace else. From where he currently stood, the elegant carpets ran from the hall with the doors into this new, wider room, and then all the way up five small steps to a large, cushioned throne, on top of which sat none other than Moldark the Unbanished. Still clad in his silvery suit of armor, he now wore his feather-topped helm as well as his gauntlets. At his side was the same pure-white, glimmering sword that he¡¯d had with him on B5. Yet it wasn¡¯t his appearance that Zach paid much attention to. No, there were two other things that caught his attention. The first was his name, which for some Gods-damned reason was still green, but that wasn¡¯t even what bothered Zach; more specifically, it was what appeared in front of it: T1.
HP 45,000/45,000
Name (T1) Moldark the Unbanished
Level 18
It appeared he wasn¡¯t level 8 anymore, and based on the explanation he¡¯d received earlier, Zach knew that if he was level 18 and tier 1, then it was really like he was level 28, which¡­was kind of unnerving, truth be told. And his HP! Gods, what the fuck? 45k? Not good. Really not good. So yeah, he might have to summon those dragons after all. Son of a b¡ª Then the second thing caught his attention, and it had caused whatever he¡¯d been about to think to trail off into a void somewhere in the back of his mind. To both the left and right side of the throne, Zach spotted two enclosed cages that kind of resembled those used to confine birds. Only, these were just large enough to fit a human body. Both cages were suspended from the ceiling and hung several feet off the floor. In the one to Moldark¡¯s left, Zach made out the form of Lienne, and imprisoned within the one to his right was a much more tightly fitting Rian. Both were gagged, their faces swollen as though they¡¯d been crying, and they appeared understandably terrified and uncomfortable¡ªespecially Rian, whose stomach was practically being squished out of the small, square-shaped gaps in his confinement as his shield and axe were still on his back. If Zach ever got his hands on whatever sadistic son of a bitch made this dungeon, he was going to cut their head off. What kind of sick, degenerate piece of filth would actually create something like this knowing real people would come here and die? Who would even do such a thing? Then again, I did enjoy this, didn¡¯t I? he realized. In some ways, I still do. So I don¡¯t even know anymore. Upon seeing Zach, they began to moan into their gags, loudly, and their eyes bulged to such an extent that Zach worried they¡¯d pop out of their despair-filled faces. He couldn¡¯t tell if they were regarding him with hope, surprise, dread, or any mixture of the above. Actually, it occurred to they weren¡¯t quite looking at him in particular. He traced their eyes with his own, and he realized they were looking at the black smoke mixed with golden embers that came off his hands and feet. Zach raised his arm and waved at the two of them. ¡°Hey, guys,¡± he said, adding a shrug. ¡°So like, can we all agree now that it was a bad idea to attack him while his name was green? I¡¯m guessing this settles the argument, right?¡± Then, with more emotion in his voice, he said, ¡°Gods, I just¡­I¡¯m just so glad you¡¯re still okay. Look at me, getting all choked up like this in front of Moldark.¡± In truth, seeing them alive flooded him with such relief he almost forgot that he was going to die¡ªuntil he thought that very thing, which reminded him that he was probably going to die, which in turn made him not care as much about the fact that they were alive as he once more was reminded of the fact that he wasn¡¯t going to live. It was funny how that worked. But at least¡­at least he made it here. He¡¯d actually done it. With over an hour left to spare, he¡¯d trekked down to B10 in one piece and made it. No matter what happened next, even if they all died here together, his friends wouldn¡¯t have to perish feeling abandoned. Upon taking just two more steps into the room, Zach assumed he¡¯d crossed some kind of invisible threshold or barrier, because within an instant, the double-doors slammed shut with a loud bang, and Moldark¡¯s head popped up as though finally noticing him. Guess running away isn¡¯t an option for those two, Zach thought, discarding his earlier idea. ¡°Adventurers!¡± Moldark said, hopping off his throne and scurrying down the five small steps with his arms wide open as if in an inviting gesture. There was a smile on his lips, and he appeared totally non-threatening. Zach did not dare attack him while his name was still green, else he might end up in a cage right next to Rian and Lienne. Not that it would matter. He could just technically blink out of it. Still, he couldn¡¯t rule out something even worse happening. So instead, he stared at Moldark in a cautious state of confusion with his sword gripped defensively as the silver-armored man marched along the carpets, the thud from his feet echoing, until he finally came to a stop in the middle of the throne room right below the golden chandelier, which cast an almost angelic light on the portion of his face visible through his feather-topped helm. He regarded Zach as though he were an old friend who¡¯d come to visit, but then, abruptly, the smile fell, and a look of great sadness entered his eyes; his arms, which had been widened as though to embrace Zach in a hug, fell limply to his sides. ¡°Oh, my dear adventurers,¡± he said only to Zach despite speaking as though he were addressing multiple people. ¡°I have some very bad news.¡± For an awkward moment, he gazed directly upon Zach as though expecting him to say something in reply. When Zach didn¡¯t, Moldark simply continued. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what! My sweet Yorna, she¡­she has left. With that bastard!¡± Again he stared at Zach, his expression almost seeming blank for a moment, his mouth still open as though he had been frozen in place while he was speaking. Then, his face once more became animated, and he peeled back his lips in anger. ¡°That¡¯s right, adventurers! Adamus took her. He betrayed us. He lied to all of us. He deceived the Guild of Gentlemen! He and Yorna have gone back to the old world¡ªto Manhattan. They are trying to stop us from bringing our technology here to Galterra.¡± Like before, he stared at Zach, who continued to say nothing. ¡°What do you mean why?¡± Moldark demanded. ¡°To stop us from assembling a nuclear bomb. The races on this planet, despite being so technologically advanced in so many ways, have not yet figured out how to split the atom. Either that, or they never cared to find out. But don¡¯t you see, adventurers? If we can establish military supremacy, we will secure a future for the entire human race! This isn¡¯t about war or threatening our new world. It¡¯s about protecting our race from aliens with unknown intentions.¡± Zach glanced upwards at his remaining duration, which was now down to 8:30. He really didn¡¯t have time for this. How much was this boss going to say before the fight started? Zach was becoming incredibly frustrated and impatient. Especially as this guy started rambling on and on and on about ¡°Adamus¡± and ¡°nuclear bombs¡± or whatever the hell that even was. Zach was unfamiliar with the term, and honestly, he didn¡¯t care what it meant, either. He guessed it was some kind of weapon. Wasn¡¯t that guy Maric Ultdern into nuclear science? He¡¯d probably know what it was. Either way, Zach barely cared. It was of no concern to him. This needs to get a move on. How long is this guy going to talk for? ¡°Okay, look,¡± Zach said as his hands and feet continued to release impossibly black smoke. ¡°Can we please hurry this shit along? I don¡¯t care about any of this.¡± Spinning around in a circle frantically while grabbing his head, Moldark asked, ¡°You agree with me, adventurers, right? You agree that human weapon technology should be taken with us for the defense and safety of our people.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Zach said. ¡°I agree. Now let¡¯s fight!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t?¡± Moldark said in outrage, flinching as though Zach had just decked him in the face¡ªwhich he wouldn¡¯t actually do since the guy was still green. ¡°But, adventurers, how could you say something like that?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t. Let¡¯s go!¡± Zach moaned. ¡°I¡¯m kind of on the clock here, man.¡± Maybe he should just attack after all. At this rate, he would die before Moldark finished his fucking speech. Honestly, who would actually care about any of this? Were there actually adventurers out there who would get all ¡°into this¡± shit and start yelling out the answers at Moldark? Would anyone be that lame? No sooner had Zach wondered the question in his mind than his cheeks puffed up, filling with air. Then, in what came as a total surprise even to himself, he burst out laughing. Was he losing his mind? Or forget ¡°losing.¡± Had he already lost it? Rian and Lienne seemed to think so, as their eyes somehow bulged even more intensely as they watched him guffawing right there in front of Moldark. Zach couldn¡¯t believe how hard he had begun to laugh, almost choking on his own saliva in the process despite every horrible emotion that was swirling around his brain¡ªdespite knowing that he might not continue to exist in this world for all that far beyond the next few minutes. And why? It was all because, just then, he realized that there were, indeed, adventurers who would do such a thing. In fact, Zach just-so happened to know one of them very well. Fluffles, he thought. Fluffles would! If Zach still had a life to gamble away, he would bet it in a heartbeat that, whenever Fluffles came to dungeons like this one, the cat definitely ¡°participated¡± in this ridiculous boss performance. Zach was so sure of this that he seriously would bet his life on it. If someone came to him right now, told him he was going to survive, and then offered to take a bet, Zach would slap down the deed to his soul so fast that he wouldn¡¯t even stop to consider it. That was how certain Zach felt in his assertion. If Fluffles had come through this dungeon¡ªand he very well might have at some point¡ªhe would be standing right here on this carpet yelling each and every time Moldark paused for a response. ¡°No!¡± he would shout. ¡°Stupid human doesn¡¯t get nuclear weapon! But Fluffles still get tuna! Zach say!¡± It would almost be worth bringing the cat here just to see how much he would enjoy this. Fluffles would probably answer each and every prompt in the way the audience was ¡°supposed¡± to answer the question, by disagreeing with the bad guy or whatever. Seriously, this place was made for someone like Fluffles. I hope I get to see him again, Zach thought sadly, his laughter cutting off. At some point during the past half a minute, the Moldark guy had become really pissed at him, but Zach wasn¡¯t sure why, as he¡¯d totally zoned out. He wasn¡¯t following the ¡°story¡± or whatever the hell this was. Why should he? This wasn¡¯t school. Enough with this horseshit already, seriously. It was a miracle he hadn¡¯t taken his phone out to look up random stuff on the internet while this boss prattled on and on and on about Earth, and some guild called ¡°The United States Marine Corps,¡± and of humans, the war, and the battle for control over Manhattan, and on and on and on. Who gave a shit, seriously? Fluffles. Zach again laughed. His cat probably knew all the lore, and in this ¡°room¡± of his he was always hearing about, he probably had posters of this stupid shit hanging up. Now, as Zach tried to pay attention to what was going on around him, all he could think about was how Fluffles would respond to every one of these questions. ¡°Adventurers, please! Tell me you aren¡¯t going to betray me too?¡± He waited and took a step back. ¡°Don¡¯t make me have to do this. Join me. Together, we can make this world a better place for all of humanity.¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll join you,¡± Zach said, knowing his answer wouldn¡¯t make a difference. ¡°Sign me up. I¡¯m in. For real. I¡¯m in.¡± ¡°No!¡± he screamed. ¡°You dare refuse!¡± ¡°No, I just said I¡¯ll join you. Seriously. I¡¯m in.¡± He laughed again. Then he looked over to Rian and Lienne, and he pointed at Moldark. ¡°Think about how many quips you two could be getting in right now if you¡¯d just waited. This could have been you right now making fun of him.¡± ¡°I will give you one final chance, adventurers,¡± Moldark said, quivering with apparent rage. ¡°Will you join me or will you die?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll join.¡± ¡°Fine, then.¡± Moldark took several more steps back. Then, at long last, finally, fucking FINALLY, with only 7:15 remaining on Unleashed Phase, Moldark drew his pure-white blade and his name turned from green to red. ¡°Very well, adventurers,¡± he said. ¡°But I must warn you. My father once told me of a¡ª¡± Zach had heard more than enough. Even as Moldark continued to speak, he tightened his grip on his blade and rushed across the throne room, his feet slamming down against the carpet loud enough to create an echo while his weapon was held high. ¡°And that,¡± Moldark said, ¡°is why I decided to¡ª¡± Unwilling to pass up a free hit, Zach launched a strike aimed right at the boss¡¯s face, one in which he put all his strength and power behind the attack. Bringing around his blade, and moving in a right-to-left, upwards direction, he violently ripped his sword across the still-speaking face of Moldark the Unbanished, dealing 710 damage and causing his jaw to snap shut, his eyes to flare with rage, and a stream of dark red blood to fly off into the air before landing and becoming practically invisible amid the equally dark red carpets. Having never before fought a boss, Zach did not know what would happen next. He did not know what to expect or how he should proceed. Yet the look of hate and rage in the boss¡¯s eyes was enough to make him want to flee. Then there was a shift in Moldark¡¯s stance. It was slight. It was barely noticeable. But Zach could just see the tip of his front, silver-armor-covered foot pivot slightly in Zach¡¯s direction. Then, without saying another word, Moldark launched himself into a blinding, dizzying series of strikes that came in so fast that Zach had to use every last bit of his concentration and acquired skill to defend himself against them. Practically holding his breath, he tuned out every single other thing in the world around him and focused solely, intently on the rapid, furious combination of sword strikes that were coming his way. One came from his left, and he barely managed to swing his own blade around to block. No sooner had he done so than the same pure-white sword was slicing at him from the exact opposite angle. Zach hurried to counter, groaning against the strain as Moldark¡¯s blade slammed into his with enough force to let Zach know this guy was clearly strong enough to hurt him, even with his inflated stats. Zach was now so deep in concentration that he no longer even felt fear or alarm. Every ounce of his brainpower and strength was set to surviving this unbelievable flurry of wild, chaotic strikes. Another came from the left¡ªand he guarded. One from above, and he raised his own, stopping it just in time with a loud, metallic clang. Then came a forward thrust, and Zach spun his body in a half-circle to put himself out of the way. Then he blocked another two strikes from his left and right respectively, before successfully returning one of his own, hitting for 511. Finally, he raised his blade to halt yet another downward chop from above, and this time there was a giant shower of sparks as the two of them clashed against one another. Moldark was strong: really strong. So much so that Zach knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to win the struggle, so he dashed backwards, and Moldark pursued. He ducked, hearing a loud whoosh above his head as the boss¡¯s weapon crossed the area his nose had just been. Moldark followed up with a low slash that was coming in too fast for Zach to block. Exhaling sharply, he threw himself backwards, came into a roll along the carpet, and shot back up to his feet just in time to again cross blades, resulting in another shower of sparks. This is not going well! Zach again retreated. Then he dashed to the side as Moldark shouted, ¡°I will kill you, adventurers! This is for stealing my Yorna! This is for siding with Adamus!¡± With that, he whipped his blade at Zach so viciously he could actually see a ripple in the air as it moved. Having barely gotten out of the way, Moldark the Unbanished instead struck one of the fancy columns, slicing the thing in half. Then, like a machine, he pursued Zach, practically flying across the distance between the two of them. Three more strikes came his way, and three more times Zach deflected. But on the fourth, Zach was struck so hard that his sword flew directly out of his hands, and now, Moldark went in for the kill. He raised his blade high above his head and then swung it down, intent on slicing Zach open right down the middle. With no time to think, Zach activated Phase Shield. All at once, the entire throne room erupted into a brilliant, bright, and beautiful golden light as a gigantic metal shield twice the size of Zach¡ªboth in width and height¡ªburst into existence about two feet ahead and three feet above him. It was large enough that the entire front side of his body other than his knees and feet was safely hidden behind it. Rather than strike him, Moldark¡¯s blade slammed ruthlessly into the shield¡ªtwice¡ªwhich oddly enough, caused a very slight ache to form in Zach¡¯s body each time it was struck. It was more of a tingle than anything, truth be told. This must have been what the ability meant by ¡°overwhelmingly reduces damage.¡± It seemed that a tiny fraction of the force used against the shield would ¡°hurt¡± him afterwards. Regardless, almost as quickly as it had arrived, the shield disappeared, and even still, Moldark pursued. Filling with alarm but oddly not fear, Zach¡¯s adrenaline-filled body shuffled backwards and out of the way of another series of wild strikes. Now, unarmed, he could do nothing but backpedal, duck, and twist his way around the unending assault that Moldark the Unbanished was sending his way. Twice more, he maneuvered around columns, both of which were struck down just as the first had been. Finally, when Zach found himself pressed against the double-doors through which he¡¯d arrived, he clenched his teeth and swore loudly. He knew he was in trouble the moment his back hit the shuttered wooden entrance. ¡°I will kill you, adventurers!¡± Moldark shouted. ¡°This is for stealing my Yorna! This is for siding with Adamus!¡± As Moldark¡¯s pure-white blade raced down to the top of his scalp, Zach activated Phase Shield¡ªthen failed, forgetting it was on a twenty-five-second cooldown. In a panic, he did the only thing he still could: he instead activated Phase Blink. Mere centimeters away from tearing into the top of his head, Zach blinked across the room so quickly that he neither felt nor saw the movement. It was as though the world had simply reconfigured itself around him. Then came the sonic boom. ¡°Mmmnnnnnn!¡± both Rian and Lienne screamed into their gags as the explosive boom echoed so loudly in the throne room that even Zach had been startled. It didn¡¯t even matter this time that he¡¯d been expecting it. The sound was horrific. It was as though a hundred firecrackers had all gone off at the same time. Having moved safely out of harm¡¯s way, Zach now found himself face-to-face with Lienne, who was still gripping her staff as though wanting to join the battle. With his face practically pressed up against the cage, Zach got a good look at her eyes, which widened as they stared off at something behind him. Though she¡¯d screamed, she appeared defiant: the fight was still in her. This much, Zach could tell from the way she bobbed her head and moaned angrily. Suddenly, however, she screamed much more urgently into her gag, and Zach thought he understood the message: it was one of warning. As the sound of feet pounding down against carpet grew louder and faster behind him, he ducked, and sure enough, a blade passed over his head and thankfully did not strike Lienne. Lacking any weapon, Zach turned around and threw himself down into a pushup position, where he then spun his body around and kicked out with all his strength at Moldark¡¯s back, armored leg, which now bore most of his weight. The moment his right foot made impact, an intense, unbearable pain ignited into his heel bone, which he desperately hoped had not just broken. Yet the agony was not without its reward, as to his amazement, he succeeded at sweeping Moldark off his feet. The initial kick hit the boss for only 11 damage, but then, as he fell backwards and slammed with a combined thud and a clang onto the carpeted floor, Moldark the Unbanished suffered an additional 200. Yet he was quickly returning to his feet, and Zach needed to hurry. Racing back across the room to where the battle had first begun, Zach dropped down to the floor, slid along it for several feet, and then grabbed his own blade before pushing himself back upright by slamming his opposite palm down against the carpet. It had been a little ¡°move¡± he¡¯d learned on his way over here in B6. Immediately upon returning to his feet, he spun around and raised his weapon just in time to guard against another of Moldark¡¯s powerful downward strikes, this one causing another shower of sparks. As Moldark twisted his body as though winding up for his next attack, Zach saw an opportunity, and he seized it. Prioritizing speed over power, he slashed his blade across Moldark¡¯s silver breastplate, dealing 150 damage before hopping backwards and away from a strike that came to within an inch of cutting open his belly. Becoming desperate, Zach dashed forward and swung at Moldark¡¯s face. To his surprise, the boss was capable of guarding and parrying in a skillful way that Zach had never before seen from a mob. As Zach¡¯s sword whooshed towards the right side of Moldark¡¯s armor-covered head, Moldark swung his own blade at Zach¡¯s, parrying with enough strength that Zach¡¯s weapon almost flew out of his fingers. Caught off guard, Zach gritted his teeth as Moldark then attempted a riposte, which would have connected if Zach hadn¡¯t already been back-rolling along the carpet yet again, once more narrowly evading what might well have ended his life. ¡°I will kill you, adventurers!¡± Moldark shouted. ¡°This is for stealing my Yorna! This is for siding with Adamus!¡± Gasping for air and perspiring heavily, Zach knew that he might¡¯ve bitten off a bit more than he could reasonably chew. This boss was tough as shit, and as Zach looked at the amount of HP Moldark had lost compared to the amount of stamina Zach had already used, things were beginning to look somewhat dire, as he¡¯d barely made a dent thus far and had yet been brought to the point of breathlessness.
HP 43,418/45,000
Name (T1) Moldark the Unbanished
Level 18
Even worse, the duration remaining on his Unleashed Phase was also whittling away, with his Phase Shield and Phase Blink having cost him an additional minute and five seconds in addition to the natural flow of time. It occurred to him just then how foolish it had been for him to use the shield. The shield, he now realized, was better used for protecting allies by his side or defending while maintaining an advantageous combat position. Unless there was a good, strategic reason he didn¡¯t want to move from his current spot, then for simply avoiding an attack, he should have just blinked. It would have saved him twenty-five seconds.
Unleashed Phase Duration If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. 5:35 Remaining
Wave Slash 1:15
Boundless 0:10
Phase Blink 0:20
Phase Shield (READY) (25 seconds) 0:45
Phase Rescue 0:35 / 2:15 (if used with Boundless)
Phase Slash 1:10 / 6:10 (if used with ??)
With only five-and-a-half minutes remaining on his Unleashed Phase, Zach struggled to come up with some idea of what he needed to do here. If he was as screwed as it seemed, then maybe it would be best to just pump up his Phase Level from 1 all the way to 6. After all, he was like 99% likely to die here anyway, right? Or was he? The truth was he was operating off assumptions. He didn¡¯t actually know if his E-debt would kill him. He only thought it would. But surely¡ªsurely!¡ªif he added a ¡°Very High¡± on top of his existing two ¡°high¡± debts he would, with absolute certainty, end up in a coffin. So, he didn¡¯t want to go that route until it was beyond clear he had no choice. What else can I do, though? he thought, as even more sweat ran over his eyes and down his cheeks. What else do I have? What can I do? Well, there was still the tested and proven Wave Slash. It was expensive, though, costing a minute-fifteen. But Zach had to imagine it could do a whole lot of damage. The only problem was distance. At point blank, it wouldn¡¯t be worth the time it cost, and this guy was constantly in his face. Even if he blinked across the room, Moldark would be back on him so quickly that, at the absolute¡ªand still unlikely to be achieved¡ªbest, his Wave Slash would only traverse half the room before finding its mark, assuming the boss wasn¡¯t able to dodge it outright, which he very well likely could. For Wave Slash to really be worth it, he¡¯d need the boss to be standing on the complete opposite end of the throne room¡ªand stay there. So no, that was just not going to work in this situation. But then, what about that other ability? The one he hadn¡¯t tried yet: Phase Slash. It was tempting, but Zach decided against it, as he had never used it before and he was skeptical that now was a good time to waste a minute-ten on something he hadn¡¯t yet seen in action. What am I supposed to do, dammit? Before he had the chance to think any further on the dilemma, Moldark was upon him, and it was at this point in the fight that the two of them engaged in their most vicious, bloody exchange. First, Moldark tried to bludgeon his right side. Zach raised his sword, blocked, and returned a similar strike of his own, which Moldark twisted his body away from. Then Moldark came back at him with four ruthless slashes, two from the left, one from above, and one from the right. Zach blocked the first two, each one making a louder clang than the previous. Then he leaned to the side and avoided the attack from above. But it was the attack from his right that slipped through his guard and made contact. Zach howled in pain as Moldark¡¯s blade tore into his right side, slashing through his tunic and sending a splatter of blood spraying onto the carpet. Then he immediately delivered another five blazing-fast strikes, all of which Zach blocked but the fifth, which cut open his left hip, this time even more deeply. This piece of shit! More enraged than afraid, Zach returned with a furious, vengeful counterstrike of his own, bashing the right side of Moldark¡¯s face and managing to cut through the armor of his helm, slicing a piece of his lip off in the process and dealing 702 damage. Then Moldark erupted into a barrage of left-right combinations of varying height, forcing Zach to go back on the defense. The first six of these he managed to meet, and the seventh, he even parried, delivering a riposte that cut another piece of the boss¡¯s lip off for 605. But it was upon seeing his successful attack that Zach became greedy and erred. He tried to throw a sharp, upward swing and take off the rest of the boss¡¯s bottom lip, but he was too slow, and Moldark was able to parry and counter; once more, his pure-white blade found success and sliced into Zach¡¯s chest. Even with 52 armor and 33 constitution, Moldark still managed to wound him deeply enough that Zach knew he¡¯d bleed out in minutes if left untreated. Maybe even less than that. One thing was clear: whatever Zach was doing right now was not working. He could not win in this condition. He didn¡¯t need to be a doctor like Kesten to know that the three cuts he¡¯d just sustained were each fatal on their own, and combined, the blood loss would have him falling on his face in around a minute if not well before that point. Yet even knowing this, Zach did not despair, because despite the odds being once more totally against him, he still refused to give up. He had already come too far to turn back now. He just needed to be intelligent and avoid losing his cool. It would all come down to making correct, snap decisions without second-guessing himself. He hadn¡¯t come this far just to let his friends die¡ªeven if he had to expose them to a bit of danger in the process of saving them. This, he realized, as a horrifying amount of blood poured out of him in three different places, making it very obvious what he now needed to do. ¡°Lienne!¡± he cried. ¡°I¡¯m bringing you to me!¡± ¡°Mnnnnnn?¡± she moaned into her gag. ¡°Just trust me, Lienne! It¡¯s a new ability I learned. I¡¯m bringing you to my side, because I need a healer to get through this, so be ready immediately!¡± Fortunately, she was within two-hundred-fifty feet of him. Actually, this entire throne room was only about a hundred-fifty feet in width and maybe two-hundred feet in length. This meant he would not need to rely on using Boundless and draining even more of his precious time away. And so, even as he raised his guard and groaned with the effort of blocking another three powerful strikes from Moldark, he activated Phase Rescue, targeting his blonde friend. Instantly, a giant, bright, light-blue orb simply popped into existence around Lienne, causing her to make a tiny little yelp even with her gag on. Almost as soon as it appeared, the orb began to shrink, and Lienne began to shrink with it. Encased inside this light-blue orb, she appeared to collapse in on herself, reducing in size until both she and the orb vanished from existence itself. Then, right beside Zach, the bright blue energy reappeared for just a split second before vanishing once more, only now it left Lienne standing right beside him in its wake¡ªand Gods-be-damned, her eyes looked as though they were alight with the purest of fury. But he didn¡¯t have much time to worry about her, as Moldark had somehow slipped inside Zach¡¯s guard and seemed intent on finally ending him once and for all. Shit, I don¡¯t know if I can block this! Now that she was no longer stuck inside of a confinement so tight she could not even raise her arms, Lienne lifted her hand to her mouth, tore off her gag, and then even as Zach called out in warning to her, she confusingly and dangerously stepped in front of him, mumbled something to herself that made her entire body glow orange, and raised her staff horizontally with both hands to block a downward slash that had been about to cut open Zach¡¯s forehead. The result was that she¡ªand her staff¡ªwere thrown at least a dozen feet back, where she rolled several times across the carpet. Something deep within Zach stirred with worry and unease at seeing her so brutally flung down that way. Yet she was back up to her feet in an instant, and now, Zach felt a rush of relief flood into him along with a release of pain as a shimmering, dark green light covered him like an aura only to vanish, reappear, and vanish again¡ªand several more times after that. ¡°Val En Lor!¡± she yelled, choosing to roar out her healing spell instead of quietly muttering it in a barely audible whisper as she typically did. ¡°Val En Lor! Val En Lor! Val En Lor!¡± ¡°Val En Maxi Flamir!¡± To Zach¡¯s amazement, he realized he was now fully, completely healed. What¡¯s more, a pillar of bright orange flames had engulfed Moldark the Unbanished. And though it struck him for only 104 damage, the fact that he continued to attack Zach meant that he continued to stand inside of it, and after about two seconds, he was somehow struck a second time for 104 damage, and then a third! Zach had never seen this before. One attack was now hitting an enemy multiple times. He had no idea that was something that could happen. In total, the boss was hit six times, and Lienne dealt him a total of 624 damage before the pillar of fire dissipated. Now, clearly exhausted, Zach heard her breathing heavily as she sat on the carpet, gasping for air with her staff held in one hand while she gave Zach a thumbs-up in the other. ¡°Get my brother here,¡± she said, between breaths. ¡°Hurry!¡± Dodging beneath a terrifying slash aimed at his forehead before stepping around and to the side of another forward thrust, Zach replied, ¡°I can¡¯t do that, Lienne. He¡¯ll die immediately!¡± ¡°He can tank for us. We can win with him!¡± ¡°No, he can¡¯t! My constitution right now is¡±¡ªZach dropped to his knees and then rolled out of the way as the boss thrust his blade straight down, piercing the carpet and digging his blade straight into the floorboards¡ª¡°33 and my armor¡¯s 52. Okay, I guess 57 now,¡± he corrected himself as dirt and dust covered his body, which indicated Lienne had buffed him. ¡°Either way, you¡¯re both too low to¡ª¡± ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand,¡± she interrupted, her voice urgent. ¡°We¡¯ve been leveling up with you for hours.¡± ¡°What?¡± Zach asked in complete disbelief, wondering if he¡¯d misheard her. ¡°How?¡± His blade made a high-pitched ring as he deflected a diagonal, downwards swipe from Moldark, who took a lunging step forward and tried to follow it up with an overhead slash that Zach crouched beneath. ¡°Because you rejoined our party on your way down here.¡± ¡°B-but how?¡± Zach croaked, so shocked that he almost swallowed the point of Moldark¡¯s sword. ¡°Because you wanted to,¡± Lienne said. ¡°And because we wanted you to. And we¡¯re in the same dungeon. We all still really wanted to be in a party together, and so we just were.¡± ¡°You¡¯re fucking kidding me,¡± Zach breathed out, twirling his body around and out of the way of a thrust. ¡°But I was getting solo xp.¡± ¡°Yeah, so were we. I guess because we were being held captive, it gave all three of us solo xp. I don¡¯t even think it normally works that way. We were well out of xp range. It must be part of some unique mechanic with this boss and these cages. I really don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°So wait, are you saying I¡­?¡± ¡°Yes, you power-leveled us.¡± She spat on the carpet as though the words disgusted her. ¡°But I forgive you because you saved us¡ªwell, maybe. And because you¡¯re awesome, and you did all this for us, and¡­and what is that, anyway? What¡¯s Phase Strike?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Zach asked, spinning around another thrust so that he and Moldark switched places. He could once again see Lienne where she had sat down as if to recover her stamina. ¡°That display in front of you. That timer. What is that?¡± ¡°You can see that?¡± Zach asked, flabbergasted. She nodded. ¡°Uh-huh. That¡¯s not the only weird thing. As soon as you walked in here, we suddenly could see the boss¡¯s HP¡ªor at least I assume Rian can, too. But I¡¯ve never seen¡­a display like that before.¡± ¡°I just can¡¯t believe you can see this. There¡¯s no way.¡± Lienne shrugged. ¡°I can, though.¡± It must be because we¡¯re in the same party, Zach realized. He highly doubted anyone he wasn¡¯t allied with would be able to view the information he was displaying. He was sure of it. ¡°How are you doing that?¡± Lienne asked. ¡°The¡­the smoke and the timers.¡± Zach almost lost his head. Growling, he actually managed to find a hole in Moldark¡¯s defenses, and he punished the boss for another 515 damage before once more having to hop repeatedly backwards and away from the boss until he had returned to Lienne¡¯s side. ¡°I don¡¯t have anywhere near enough time to explain it to you. Since you can see for yourself, I¡¯ll just show you.¡± Dancing around as he avoided strike after strike, Zach simply called forth a list of all his abilities and their descriptions, and he sent it off behind him where it wouldn¡¯t get in his way. ¡°I had to sacrifice myself to come down here,¡± he said, panting with exertion as sweat glided down, over, and off his face and landed on the carpet. The last thing he needed was to explain why he couldn¡¯t let Rian fight, but there was no way Lienne would understand without seeing for herself. ¡°Do you see my¡±¡ªhe ducked¡ª¡°Phase Level.¡± She said nothing for a moment, likely because she was still reading and did not yet understand the implications of what Zach had done and how his ability worked. But Lienne was a smart chick, and it didn¡¯t take long before Zach heard her make a loud, horrified gasp. ¡°You¡¯re double exerted. High-level, too.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°This ability is¡­I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s real. And¡­and you did all this for us?¡± He would¡¯ve nodded if he could. Hell, he would¡¯ve offered a verbal reply if he could, too. Instead, all he could give as way of a reply was a howl of pain as, at the cost of another life-threatening gash that cut open his entire left shoulder, his own blade bit into the hip of his foe, dealing 455 damage and causing some blood to leak out of Moldark¡¯s silver armor. Thankfully, however, the pain in his shoulder did not last long as, Lienne, now back on her feet, patched him up with just a single heal. It was obvious she had become stronger even while in the cage. ¡°Zach, I don¡¯t¡­I don¡¯t want you to never trust us again. I know we screwed up. And we¡¯re sorry. But please. My brother is never going to forgive himself if he stands there gagged and watches you die trying to save his life. I promise you we can help. I swear it. Let us redeem ourselves. Please. I know you¡¯ll never trust us again, but¡ª¡± ¡°I do trust you!¡± Zach shouted. He didn¡¯t intend for the words to sound so angry, but he was grunting with the exertion of trying to block and attack. The problem, however, was that his own stamina was draining faster than his Unleashed Phase, which itself would run out in just 4:45. Swearing under his breath, Zach said, ¡°I just don¡¯t want him to be¡ª¡± ¡°Please,¡± Lienne begged. ¡°I know we messed up really, really badly. But please just trust me. You won¡¯t win without us. We¡¯ve got two forms of CC now!¡± ¡°The fuck does that mean?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Crowd Control.¡± ¡°The fuck does that mean?¡± Zach asked again. Then, with a grunt, he added, ¡°You know what? I¡¯ll do it just to prove I still trust you. But if you guys die, then¡ª¡± ¡°We¡¯ll all die together,¡± Lienne said, her voice grim but determined. Even though the two of them had screwed up so Gods-damned badly, Zach chose to put his faith in them once again. Was it stupid? Maybe. Did it ultimately make a difference to his own personal life? Probably not. Thus, he realized he really had no reason not to do so. It wasn¡¯t like they could get him killed or anything. The worst thing that could happen would be that they went down fighting along with him, which was what it seemed like they wanted anyway. And Zach was losing right now¡ªbadly. This was turning into a total loss. He was fighting to the best of his ability, but he could see this would not end well for any of them the way things were going. And so, activating Phase Rescue a second time, Zach took¡ªand came very close to landing¡ªa swing that nearly sliced into the top of Moldark¡¯s head even as the blue orb began to collapse around his imprisoned friend. Having evaded his attack, Moldark backed away out of range and then again thrust forward. Zach only just managed to dodge. But he failed to avoid the follow-up blow, which seemed poised to slice open the shoulder that Lienne had only just healed. Except, the blade never managed to make contact. A moment before biting into his flesh, Rian, angrier than anyone Zach had ever before seen with the possible exception of Varsh after being punched through a wall, screamed out a string of obscenities so vulgar it almost made Zach blush. Crashing into the boss at a run, Rian tackled Moldark, throwing him off balance. Moldark was quick to regain his footing, however, but Rian seemed to have expected this; now, he was bending his knees, and Zach noticed that his shield had begun to glow a dark, bloody red while emitting some kind of bizarre shockwave that caused ripples to form in the air all around it. Abruptly, Moldark seemed to forget Zach existed, and he turned to face Rian instead. ¡°Did you just taunt him?¡± Zach asked, filling with panic. ¡°Rian, no! Gods, stop!¡± Rather than reply, Rian pulled back his shield-bearing arm, shouted out even more obscenities, and then slammed his glowing shield right into Moldark¡¯s face. The moment the shield made contact, the red glow vanished, but an electric-like force seemed to fire out of the shield and travel directly into Moldark¡¯s body, causing multiple tendrils of blue-colored lightning to travel down the boss¡¯s head, back, and spine. Then, all at once, he completely stopped moving. He just¡­stopped. ¡°He¡¯s stunned for six seconds!¡± Rian shouted. ¡°Attack!¡± If Zach had not been so utterly floored by the fact that his ferocious opponent was now standing perfectly still while not moving so much as a finger, he might not have wasted an entire precious second of time as Rian again shouted out, ¡°Attack! Get him, Zach!¡± Snapping himself out of his stupor, Zach did not waste another moment. With his enemy frozen before him, he unleashed everything he had onto Moldark. One after the next, Zach whirled his blade around and around with every bit of force he could muster. He sliced Moldark across the face, his chest, his hips, and then his face yet again. Even as his body screamed at him to slow things down and catch his breath, Zach ignored it, attacking again and again and again as blood began to stain both his and Rian¡¯s faces and gear. Rian, too, was attacking, although his axe only managed to punish the boss for around 20 damage. Even still, it all added up. 414 511 341 550 465 With the 150 damage Rian managed to deliver, the two of them combined struck for 2,431 damage before Moldark started to move again. This, just as a missile-shaped flame from Lienne crashed into Moldark¡¯s face, battering him for another 118. Yet even with the combined assault, Moldark was still standing strong, and despite having sustained significant damage, he still had a long way to go.
HP 37,968/45,000
Name (T1) Moldark the Unbanished
Level 18
Having already burned the various costs into his memory, Zach now dismissed everything except for the timer on his Unleashed Phase, which he believed Rian and Lienne could also both see.
Unleashed Phased Duration 3:50
¡°All right, here he comes,¡± Zach said, panting. No longer stunned, Moldark seemed intent on resuming his attack. ¡°I will kill you, adventurers!¡± Moldark shouted, running straight for Rian, whom Zach seriously doubted would be able to take even a single hit. ¡°This is for stealing my Yorna! This is for siding with Adamus!¡± The boss raised his blade to strike¡ªthen immediately stopped, widened his eyes, and then opened his mouth in what could only be called a display of abject terror. Then he made a comically girly shriek and turned around as he began to run away. ¡°He¡¯s feared,¡± Rian said. ¡°Twelve seconds!¡± Right, Zach thought, remembering the Bully ability Rian had used to chase the Skelly Grunt mobs off the ledge in B4. Only now did Zach both see and understand how unbelievably valuable it was in a boss fight. So that¡¯s what Lienne meant by ¡®crowd control.¡¯ By CC. Chasing after the fleeing boss, who actually shrieked and whimpered as he ran around the throne room, Zach whacked him several times across the back. Gasping, he was now so exhausted he could barely chase and strike at the same time. Yet somehow, he still managed to lay another 1021 damage on him as he ran after the fleeing, silver-armored, white-sword carrying boss of B10. Eventually, Moldark came to a stop, but not before running into a location where, impressively, Lienne had laid down another pillar of flame just two seconds before he stopped, nailing him with perfect timing. Zach blocked four fast strikes, resulting in four loud clangs as Moldark burned, suffering another, additional 624 damage over the course of several seconds. When the pillar of fire dissipated, Zach could see that the boss¡¯s flesh was now burned and charred in places, and the stench of it was horrific. Still, he had the benefit of being oblivious to his pain, and he struck out at Zach in a very strange sort of attack that Zach had not seen from him before. He stepped forward, moving almost past Zach, and then just sort of ¡°swiped¡± weakly to the side of him, a half-hearted attack that Zach easily dodged. Only then did it occur to him that what he¡¯d just been hit with was nothing more than a ¡°passing¡± attack as he ran across the throne room heading straight for Rian, who must have again taunted him.
HP 36,323/45,000
Name (T1) Moldark the Unbanished
Level 18
Even with all of us together, we¡¯re not laying down enough damage to take this son of a bitch out! Very close to the point of complete exhaustion, Zach hurried after Moldark, who himself was hurrying after Rian, who Zach noted was tossing his axe to the carpeted floor and was now gripping his shield with two hands instead of one while bending his knees and arching his back. Incredibly, this actually seemed to work, as the moment Moldark began his furious series of powerful, ruthless sword strikes, Zach observed in complete awe as Rian somehow, through some means, withstood each one of them. He grunted each time the sword made contact, resulting in a loud, echoing bang. Yet he did not falter. He held on. He was practically in a sitting position at this point, squatting all the way down to the point his ass was only an inch or two from the floor. But he was holding. He was actually, fucking holding! ¡°My stun and fear have a minute cooldown each,¡± he said, his face visibly wincing in pain each time the boss attempted to butcher him. ¡°It¡¯s on you for now!¡± Zach, far more coordinated now than he was at the beginning of this dungeon, began hammering away at Moldark¡¯s back while Rian tanked. He knew that Rian wasn¡¯t comfortable with having someone attack from the enemy¡¯s rear flank, but things had changed from the way they¡¯d been when the three of them had first become a party, and now, he would just have to trust Zach. Lacking the stamina to launch into any more of his wild, high-damaging swings, Zach instead began to stab the boss with thrusting attacks. Had this been a regular human being and not a boss spawn, Moldark surely would have died after the first time Zach plunged the entire length of his blade through his stomach until it came out of the other end reddened and dripping blood. 705 Zach ripped out his blade, which dealt another 107. Then he plunged it a second time before removing it and stabbing a third. Again and again, he gripped his sword, thrust it forward, and repeatedly skewered this son of a bitch, who showed no sign that he felt any pain or even cared. Lienne, too, was hammering away at him with more of her spells. Rian actually had to scoot back an inch or two, as did Zach, as she went in for a third use of her Fire Geyser. She now looked just as exhausted and haggard as Zach. But at least they were finally laying down some damage. Through some miracle, it was all finally starting to come together, and within under a minute of their nonstop assault, they¡¯d gotten the boss down from around 37k to 21.2k hit points. For the briefest moment, Zach began to believe they might actually pull this off¡ªbut that was when their luck took a turn for the worse. Rian, as though finally reaching his limit, lost his grip on his shield, which flew off to the side somewhere while he himself was knocked onto his back. Now, Moldark hovered over him and began to thrust his sword directly downwards to finish Rian off. Zach, as though finding his second wind, leapt forward into the air, rolled along the floor, and then spun himself around and activated Phase Shield a mere instant before Rian was killed. The resulting golden light was so bright that he had to partially narrow his eyes as Rian propped himself up into a sitting position and began sliding backwards away with a grateful nod. Less than two seconds later, the shield faded, and Moldark continued after Rian like a wolf stalking prey. Even as Zach slashed away at Moldark¡¯s back, desperate to take his attention off his friend, he could not reestablish aggro. Moldark chased after Rian, who thankfully managed to retrieve his shield just quickly enough so that he could block another powerful strike, and then another one after that. What the hell are we going to do here? Zach wondered. At this point, it became clear to him that they were not going to be able to win this battle¡ªat least not with the way things were going currently. Moldark had now been reduced to 20,771HP, but the three of them were beyond exhausted, and the timer on Unleashed Phased was down to 2:20. Sensing an approaching defeat followed by death, Zach was now right about at the point where he was ready to activate Phase Reset. It had been a great effort, but this just wasn¡¯t working. ¡°Don¡¯t do it!¡± Lienne begged him. ¡°Do what?¡± ¡°I see that look on your face. Don¡¯t do it. Please!¡± Zach frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t have a choice. I¡¯m probably going to die anyway. At least¡­at least you two don¡¯t have to¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± she demanded. ¡°You haven¡¯t even tried to use Wave Slash yet.¡± Zach¡¯s mouth fell open in confusion at the suggestion. He shook his head. ¡°I need distance for that to work. And this guy can probably just dodge it no matter how fast it¡¯s moving. Unless¡­¡± Zach took a sudden, deep inhalation of breath and rushed with excitement as an idea came to him. A last-ditch effort before he was forced to reset and bury himself in even deeper E-debt. ¡°Rian!¡± he called. ¡°How long on your fear and your stun?¡± ¡°I can Shield Slam in 8 seconds and Bully in 11.¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Fear him in 11 seconds and save the stun!¡± ¡°Wh-why?¡± he asked, letting out a very-pained sounding groan as Moldark bashed away at him. ¡°Just trust me this time. Can you hold?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try!¡± Zach once again began slashing away at Moldark¡¯s back, but he had grown exhausted and weak, and now he was basically just delivering love-taps that hit for around 210 damage. Rian, on the other hand, was in really, really bad shape. He was practically lying on his back with his shield still miraculously blocking the strikes beating down against it. ¡°F-f-five s-seconds,¡± he groaned. ¡°Ughh.¡± ¡°Get ready to run,¡± Zach said, breathing heavily. ¡°Who?¡± ¡°You.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I need you to chase him. You have to!¡± He nodded, even as he closed his eyes as though he were in too much pain to keep them open. Moldark, shouting out the same threat about ¡°killing them¡± and ¡°Adamus,¡± raised his arms and prepared to strike again on the badly winded Rian. But then he stopped, widened his eyes in fear, made a shrill cry, and then turned around to flee. Zach got in one last weak slash against Moldark before he took off, and now his HP stood at 19,967. ¡°After him, Rian!¡± Zach called. ¡°Hurry!¡± Seeing that he was taking too long, Zach switched his blade to a one-handed grip, bent down, grabbed Rian by his leather brigandine, and then yanked him back up to his feet before shoving him hard enough to send him stumbling in the direction of the boss. Rian seemed too exhausted to complain. ¡°Just¡­¡± He gasped. ¡°Just¡­tell me what¡­to do.¡± Zach turned around and ran as fast as he could to the double-doored entrance from where he¡¯d first come. Then he about-faced and watched as Moldark the Unbanished pranced around the room like a little bitch. ¡°Stand in front of the steps!¡± Zach called to Rian, who seemed to already be moving in that direction as though he finally understood Zach¡¯s plan. ¡°When he gets to you, I need¡ª¡± ¡°I got it, I got it,¡± Rian said, bending over forward and opening his mouth as he sucked in more air. Lienne, too, seemed fatigued, but she was now standing by Zach¡¯s side. ¡°I¡¯ll use Fire Geyser while he¡¯s stunned, too.¡± Zach nodded. ¡°We might need every bit of damage we can get.¡± Running around seemingly at random, Zach began to worry Moldark might not actually move where Zach needed him to be. But his fear turned out to be unwarranted as, halfway before darting back to the middle of the throne room, the boss came to an abrupt halt, turned around, and then ran straight for Rian in his seemingly random flight. ¡°Now!¡± Zach screamed. His shield glowing a dark red, Rian bashed Moldark in the face the moment he came near the steps, sending an electric-like wave directly into him. Now, he was completely still¡ªand would remain so for only six, brief seconds. This was it. This was the last chance Zach had to bring this son of a bitch down. If this failed, it was time for the dragons. There was no other option left. Raising his blade, he shouted, ¡°Wave Slash!¡± His body then began to move on its own. With his stats far, far higher than they had ever before been when using this ability, Zach could scarcely believe the speed at which the green, semi-transparent energy solidified and reforged itself into a shiny, green, double-edged metallic disc, which took off far faster and gained speed far quicker than Zach had observed at any other time when using this ability. From the moment of its creation, it had already been moving so fast that it seemed like it would cross the entire two-hundred feet of distance from here to Moldark in under two seconds. Usually, it would begin at a tenth of this speed, but this time around, it started off fast¡ªblazingly so. And yet, even this turned out to be nothing compared to how much faster it would soon become. The moment the disc reached half the distance between the double-doors, where Zach stood side by side with Lienne, and the foot of the five steps leading to the throne, where Moldark remained frozen and momentarily paralyzed across from Rian, the Wave Slash took off with such unfathomable speed that Zach saw a cone-shaped ripple in the air as it burst forward so fast that he could no longer even see it moving. It reminded him of his blink, come to think of it. It was sort of like how, after using his Phase Blink, he would¡ª Oh, shit! Zach thought with a yelp. It just broke the sound barrier! Zach dropped his blade and covered his ears as the sonic boom caused the entire throne room to shake violently. It was so much worse than what had resulted from his Phase Blink. It was to the extent that the ceiling began to leak dust and plaster, and Lienne was actually knocked off her feet a moment before she was actually able to cast Fire Geyser. It wasn¡¯t just the boom that disturbed him, either. The disc seemed to rip apart the air itself, leaving behind a trail of orange fire and smoke in its wake as it crossed the remaining distance in the blink of an eye. Zach actually couldn¡¯t even see the collision take place between his Wave Slash and Moldark. But he did see sparks and pieces of green metal littering the carpet leading up to him. This told him that his Wave Slash, though technically lacking in any range requirement, was by no means infinite, as it would likely disintegrate itself beyond a certain point. Even still, he doubted that point had been reached¡ªand indeed, it seemed it hadn¡¯t, as Moldark was now standing before Rian with an entire arm, all of his right shoulder, and the entire lower half of his jaw missing. 12,500
HP 7,467/45,000
Name (T1) Moldark the Unbanished
Level 18
¡°How the hell is that still not enough?¡± Zach screamed in both rage and misery. He was now right on the verge of activating Phase Reset. He didn¡¯t want to do it. He knew it would guarantee the end of him. He knew it would eliminate what little chance remained that he might actually survive his existing E-debt. But what more could be done now? They were all exhausted, and somehow, the boss still lived! But then something changed. A mere instant from activating Phase Reset and using another Unleashed Phase, Zach noticed something glimmering on the floor, which was now so stained with blood everywhere that it could no longer blend in with the dark red carpet. Is that what I think it is? Zach wondered. A beautiful, pure-white object seemed to be lying all on its own unattended just a few feet away from the one-armed boss with part of its face now missing. Zach, only just now realizing that Moldark was completely unarmed, also noticed that Moldark himself seemed to realize this too, as the boss turned towards the sword and began taking a single step towards it. ¡°Oh, no you don¡¯t!¡± he shouted, causing both Rian and Lienne to glance at him with confusion evident in their expressions. He ignored them, as there was just no time to explain. Zach, having dropped his own blade, bolted across the throne room at a sprint. The rush of adrenaline overpowered his fatigue, and through either sheer luck or pure determination, he managed to arrive at the sword first. He dove at it, his body sailing through the air as he wrapped his fingers around the smooth, white, metal hilt of the surprisingly light-weight blade. It was funny, in a way. He now had only 1:02 remaining before his life ended, and yet all he could think about was how he could deal a little more than 7k damage in that short time. Defenseless, and with a large portion of his body missing while his right eye dangled out of his face, Moldark shouted, ¡°I will kill you, adventurers! This is for stealing my Yorna! This is for siding with Adamus!¡± Taking a deep breath, Zach waited a second or two to see if Moldark would try to do something¡ªanything. But it appeared, disarmed, this particular boss had no further attacks to deliver. He was, for all intents and purposes, the same as a disarmed Skelly Grunt. Somehow, Zach doubted all bosses were like this, though. Hell, in the grand scheme of things, this absolute juggernaut of a boss was probably considered one of the easiest ones an adventurer could even fight despite almost killing Zach about fifty times. ¡°Rian, can you hold him down?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Please!¡± ¡°Why?¡± Rian replied, still breathing heavily. ¡°What do you mean, ¡®why¡¯? Obviously, so I can stab him over and over in the face.¡± His friend laughed. And at the sound of it, Zach finally felt like all of this was worth it. He was starting to really love these guys. ¡°All right. Good reason.¡± Dropping his shield, Rian jumped forward and tackled Moldark the Unbanished to the floor. Moldark¡¯s only response was to wiggle while shouting that stupid phrase about ¡°Adamus¡± back at him. Then Zach walked over, cringed in disgust, and had to force himself not to look away as, in a mere instant, everything turned from a boss fight into a Gods-damned medical procedure. ¡°This is so disgusting,¡± Zach said, plunging his sword directly down and into the boss¡¯s skull for 1,211 damage. ¡°Oh, God. That crunch.¡± ¡°Dude, you¡¯re getting brain on me,¡± Rian growled. Lienne wasn¡¯t even contributing anymore. She was looking away¡ªintentionally faced in the opposite direction. ¡°This is so, so disgusting. I can¡¯t do this. You do it, Rian.¡± ¡°I¡¯m the one holding him down!¡± ¡°I feel like a Gods-damned psychopath. Like a serial killer.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a real person!¡± ¡°It bleeds like one!¡± Again and again, Zach turned the thing¡¯s entire face to mush. He even managed to shut it up during its ¡°catch phrase.¡± With most of its mouth removed, its voice cut off, and its tongue continued to wiggle around as though trying to create speech. Zach had become so soaked in blood that probably looked like he¡¯d jumped into a pool of it. Ultimately, though, it only took about fifteen seconds of constant stabbing to finally put an end to this hideous creature, and when its HP reached zero and it at long last vanished into nothingness, it left behind only the blood that now covered almost the entire throne room where the battle had taken place. Once Moldark had completely disappeared, Zach felt his burden become lighter as the sword in his hands vanished along with it. Then his emotions shifted in a fraction of second as his adrenaline faded. With the battle over, he whimpered. Then he began to tear up even though he didn¡¯t want to show such an ugly display in front of his friends. He was going to die now, wasn¡¯t he? This was it, right? This was the end? Was it going to hurt really badly? Or would it be quick? How much time did he even have left in this world?
Unleashed Phased Duration 0:50
+8,200xp
LEVEL UP! 13(12)
Strength +1 (37)
Constitution +1 (34)
Current XP 2417
XP Required for Level 14 15000
Suddenly drained of all his strength and feeling as though he needed to sit down, Zach backed away and fell to the floor, feeling lightheaded. Or no, wait¡­he didn¡¯t quite fall. He tripped on all the loot that had come out of the boss, some of it clearly being his, as he distinctly noticed two shining white lights, one green light, and a blue one to go with it. He didn¡¯t even bother looking to see what had dropped, either. After all, what the hell did it matter now? Rian and Lienne also seemed disinterested, as neither of them even looked at the loot. Instead, Lienne grabbed his right hand and squeezed, and Rian grabbed his chin with tears in his own eyes, his lips quivering as he muttered, ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m so sorry. This is my fault, buddy. Not yours. This is my fault. I fucking love you for this. I¡¯m so sorry. I¡¯m so, so sorry. I¡¯ll never forgive myself. Zach, I¡¯m so fucking sorry, man. I¡¯m so sorry. We love you, dude. I need you to know that. I¡¯m so, so, sorry. This was all my fault.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± Zach whispered as Lienne began to cling to him even more tightly, swearing that she would find some way of saving his life. That Rian would take him to Angelica¡¯s and someone there would be able to save him. Zach was actually so terrified that he couldn¡¯t even reply. He wasn¡¯t ready for it all to be over. He was so stricken with fear that he almost didn¡¯t notice or feel that something had just plopped straight down on top of his head in the same instant that a display of information popped up before his eyes without him willing or asking for it.
Quest Complete! The Value of Friendship
Given By The Catacombs of Yorna
Reward 2x Red Rejuvenation Stone, 1x Purple Rejuvenation stone, 1X Yorna¡¯s Sword of Courage
Confused, a brown satchel fell off his head. Then, he heard another plop as something glowing blue appeared out of thin air and landed somewhere off to his right side. Was it that sword thingy? Zach didn¡¯t care. He¡¯d never be wielding a sword ever again, would he? ¡°Pretty,¡± he whispered, his hands shaking fearfully as he saw the two objects in the satchel. One was glowing blue, and one was glowing purple, but both stopped glowing the moment he grabbed it and opened it. In what Zach suspected¡ªbut could not be entirely sure¡ªwas merely a coincidence, the thing that was glowing purple was actually purple in color, and the one that was glowing blue was red. Both appeared to be stones of some kind the size of marbles. And for a reason Zach did not know, the sight of these three stones elicited a collective gasp from Rian and Lienne. ¡°ZACH!¡± Lienne shouted, now with glee and happiness, wrapping her arms around him and shaking him. It left him so confused. Was she actually celebrating his death? After everything he¡¯d done for her? Rian, too, seemed to be in some kind of celebratory mood. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell us you had a quest,¡± Rian said. Then he laughed so loudly that Zach was completely taken aback. ¡°But forget the quest. It¡¯s the reward. Gods, Zach. Gods! You got a fucking Purple Rejuv stone!¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°S-so?¡± Rian asked. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t even know this?¡± he asked, reaching into the bag and holding it up in front of Zach, who at this point had fewer than thirty seconds left to live. He merely shrugged, and even that felt like it required too much energy from him. Rian again laughed. ¡°You don¡¯t get it, do you?¡± Zach winced as Rian painfully ruffled his hair. ¡°You¡¯re not going to die, dude!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not?¡± Zach asked, the faintest, barest glimmer of hope rising within him even though he knew better than to believe otherwise. Rian must have just been talking nonsense. Yet¡­at the same time, he seemed pretty sure of himself because he shook his head confidently at Zach¡¯s question. ¡°This,¡± he explained, ¡°is the second-rarest rejuvenation stone in the world, second only to the light stone. Purple Rejuvenation Stones are specifically for cancer and internal organs.¡± Zach narrowed his eyes as another tiny ounce of hope added onto the small, but steadily growing pile of it. ¡°What¡¯re you saying?¡± he asked. ¡°What I¡¯m saying,¡± Rian replied, ¡°is that people have literally killed each other for one of these. Only the adventuring guilds are strong enough to get them, and it¡¯s a big part of the way the guilds make their income. This bad-boy right here?¡± Rian tossed it in the air, let it flip a few times, and then caught it. ¡°This is going to save your life.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Oh yeah, man. I don¡¯t know how you did it, but you found yourself an actual, twenty-million gold rejuv stone. Lienne, as soon as he passes out, use it on him, okay?¡± Zach turned over Rian¡¯s words in his head as he watched his friend hand her the stone. How much did he just say it was worth? Zach thought. ¡°Of course!¡± Lienne said cheerfully. ¡°As soon as Zach starts going into E-debt, I¡¯ll¡ª¡± ¡°Wait, wait, everyone time out,¡± Zach said, suddenly finding all of his energy returning to him in one gigantic rush. ¡°Rian. Let¡¯s just¡­let¡¯s just back it up a tiny bit. That stone is worth how much, again?¡± ¡°About twenty million,¡± Rian said with a laugh. Lienne nodded. ¡°And as soon as you pass out, we¡¯re going to¡ª¡± ¡°Now hold on a second,¡± Zach said, throwing out his palms. ¡°Let¡¯s just¡­let¡¯s all just take a step back now and think about this calmly. Let¡¯s not go just rushing into things just yet.¡± ¡°Zach, what are you saying?¡± Lienne asked, her voice suddenly alarmed and shocked. ¡°I¡¯m just saying, like, we don¡¯t know I¡¯m going to die, right? We¡¯re not doctors. I mean, who knows? I could pull through, right?¡± She frowned. ¡°You¡¯re messing with us.¡± Zach greedily snatched the stone out of her hand. ¡°It¡¯s mine!¡± He glanced down at the object. Now that he knew it was worth twenty million, it looked ten times more beautiful than it had before. Surely, he could conquer a bit of E-debt, right? It was just exertion. Maybe if he started lying down right now and remained perfectly still, he¡¯d get a head start. ¡°You¡¯re going to die,¡± Rian grumbled. ¡°No way, Rian. I¡¯ll survive for this!¡± Zach kissed the stone. He literally kissed it. It was worth twenty fucking million gold! He slid backwards on his ass as Lienne tried to grab it back from him. ¡°We don¡¯t know for sure I¡¯ll die,¡± he insisted, resisting her attempts to take it from him. Then he snickered greedily as he stared at the beautiful, brilliant glimmer of this apparently super-rare item. ¡°Think of what we could do with twenty-million gold, you guys.¡± Zach caressed his new rare item. ¡°Think of what we could buy with that kind of money. Now that I know how much this is worth, there¡¯s no way I¡¯ll¡ªWHERE THE HELL AM I?¡± he shouted with a gasp, rolling off some kind of table and landing with a hard thud onto the floor as what sounded like hundreds of voices erupted into laughter. He choked, coughed, ripped something that felt like a needle out of his arm, and again he shouted, ¡°Where am I? What just happened? What¡¯s going on?¡± He darted his head around, his vision blurry and unfocused. This place seemed¡ªand smelled¡ªfamiliar. But he could barely see. ¡°What happened? Where am I? Who took me here? Where is here? Who am I?¡± ¡°Drinks are on me, boys!¡± a merry voice called, as cheering and laughter arose once more. His mind was foggy, his vision only first clearing, and his sense of time distorted. Had he just teleported here or something? What was going on? He was mid-sentence in a conversation with Rian and Lienne, and he was trying to explain something about a purple stone to them when¡­when what? What in the hell had happened? Where was he? How had he gotten here? ¡°Zach, take it easy,¡± Rian said to him. ¡°You¡¯re in Angelica¡¯s.¡± ¡°Angelica¡¯s?¡± he asked, repeating the name. ¡°No, no I¡¯m not. I¡¯m with you guys.¡± ¡°Yeah. In Angelica¡¯s.¡± ¡°No, dammit! Not in Angelica¡¯s. We¡¯re on B10. We¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°Zach, that was four hours ago,¡± Lienne interrupted. ¡°What was four hours ago?¡± Zach asked, lying on his back as his vision slowly came back into focus. ¡°You passed out from E-debt and were dying. We used the stone on you.¡± ¡°Wait, are you sure I was dying? Maybe I was just sleeping. Fuck!¡± ¡°Dude,¡± Rian said, laughing. ¡°Your heart stopped.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± Zach asked, suddenly feeling a morbid sense of dread. ¡°It did?¡± ¡°For like a second,¡± Lienne answered. ¡°Now, though, it¡¯s probably in better shape than it was before.¡± Groaning, Zach continued to lie on the inn floor, barely able to believe he was here at all. He was sure that he¡¯d just been having a conversation with those two. At what point had he been knocked out? Was this all some kind of trick? His head was still foggy, though it was slowly improving. ¡°These two saved your life, young¡¯un,¡± someone said off to his right. He was a tall, bearded man with a massive battle-axe on his back and a shield that seemed to be leaking droplets of water, though none quite landed on the floor, seemingly vanishing a moment before touching solid ground. ¡°Though, I hear you saved their lives first.¡± ¡°Why am I here?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Rian carried you,¡± Lienne explained, ¡°And then everyone¡ªand I mean everyone¡ªrushed over to help. As soon as we walked through the door, they put you on that table¡±¡ªhe saw her point from where she stood above him¡ª¡°and a doctor here put an IV needle in your arm and everything.¡± Zach felt around his arms. There was clearly nothing in there now. ¡°Why? I thought the stone saved me?¡± ¡°It did, but¡­¡± Lienne made an awkward smile. ¡°It turns out the purple stone wasn¡¯t enough to save you. We needed a two-million-gold Yellow Rejuvenation Stone as well, because even though we¡¯d saved your heart and lungs, the blood loss from your fight with Moldark turned out to be too much for you to handle while knocked out. You started to go cold, and your body temperature was really low.¡± Zach gulped. ¡°I don¡¯t have two-million gold!¡± Lienne helped him back to his feet, then said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It was donated. By him, actually,¡± she said, pointing to the tall, bearded adventurer who had just been speaking to them. ¡°Actually, lots of people came forward to donate stones. Everyone here really sticks together when a fellow adventurer¡¯s dying. It¡¯s kind of cool. There wasn¡¯t a single person who didn¡¯t want to help. Angelica was the first person to help carry you to the table, actually. And that¡¯s when this guy¡±¡ªshe pointed to him¡ª¡°gave you one of his yellows.¡± ¡°Yeah, really cool,¡± Zach muttered. To the man, he bowed his head. ¡°Thank you. I don¡¯t know how I can ever repay you.¡± ¡°Ye already have,¡± the man said with a cheerful smile. ¡°I have?¡± He nodded. ¡°Two red stones are worth about the same as a yellow. Your friend paid us back.¡± Zach blinked. ¡°He did what now? Wait, I still had two-million-gold worth of shit left? And you¡­¡± Zach clenched his hand into a fist and tried to control his temper. ¡°Rian!¡± His friend laughed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but it was the right thing to do.¡± ¡°What about all our other loot.¡± ¡°Oh, we got a shit ton. Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll divvy it up later. I¡¯ve got it all in storage¡ªalong with your old sword, too, but you¡¯ll probably want the new one. But like I said, we can divvy up everything later.¡± Zach frowned. ¡°If by ¡®divvy it up,¡¯ you mean give all of it to me because I saved your lives at the risk of mine, then yeah.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not how being in a party works,¡± Lienne said, crossing her arms. ¡°Aye, that indeed is not how it do work,¡± the bearded guy agreed. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s not how it works!¡± Angelica shouted at him from behind the bar. ¡°Yeah, kid, it doesn¡¯t work that way,¡± some woman said to him, giving him a wink and then downing her beer. ¡°It doesn¡¯t work that way,¡± someone sang into the mic, changing the words from whatever the lyrics had been of whatever song they had been singing. Zach waved at all of them. ¡°Okay, yeah, got it. Thanks.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t work that way,¡± Angelica said again, pulling up a chair that seemed intended for him and then setting down a giant plate of food. Of all things, she kissed him on his forehead and then patted him on top of his head before hurrying on her way. Then two more adventurers patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Doesn¡¯t work that way,¡± they said. ¡°Got it,¡± Zach grumbled. ¡°Thanks, everyone.¡± ¡°For sure, for sure,¡± someone with a sword the size of a light pole said. ¡°But it¡¯s important ye get it through yer head: that¡¯s not how it works.¡± ¡°Exactly. It just doesn¡¯t work that way,¡± yet another woman said. ¡°Okay!¡± Zach shouted at all of them. ¡°I get it, okay? It doesn¡¯t work that¡ª¡± ¡°It not work that way, Zach!¡± Fluffles hissed at him. Wait, why the fuck was Fluffles here? When had this happened? ¡°Zach is a greedy human,¡± the cat said. ¡°He try not to share loot on raid. Even Fluffles share loot. Zach not follow rules!¡± What the hell is going on? Zach was so confused. But at least he was alive. And apparently, for a brief moment in time, he¡¯d been rich, too. Now he was poor again. He might have just broken the world record for the fastest that anyone had ever gone from rich to poor. Zach moaned. This was so unfair. Chapter 44: Room 18361 Chapter 44: Room 18361 If part of being an adventurer was learning to detect and avoid traps, then Zach clearly still had some weaknesses he needed to address. This, he realized, as Fluffles¡¯ claws dug into his hands and broke his skin, causing him to yank his arm back and hiss in pain. ¡°Why?¡± he shouted, as Lienne laughed. ¡°Why did you do that again? You told me it was okay this time.¡± ¡°It always a trap,¡± Fluffles said, lying on the clean, carpeted inn-room floor on his back with his belly exposed. ¡°No one rub Fluffles¡¯ belly without attack.¡± ¡°But you asked me to. You told me I could. And then when I said I didn¡¯t want to because you always attack me, you told me you wouldn¡¯t this time, and you promised it¡¯s not a trap.¡± ¡°It always a trap,¡± Fluffles repeated. ¡°Zach fall for Fluffles¡¯ trap every time.¡± He meowed. ¡°Fluffles feel bad. Zach can pet belly this time. It okay. I not going to attack.¡± Fluffles had his paws in the air and his neck tilted back as if in invitation. Nevertheless, Zach wasn¡¯t about to make the same mistake for the eighth time in a row. He¡¯d finally learned his lesson. Never again would he be deceived this way. Lienne, on the other hand, seemed like she was willing to get a nasty scratch, as she leaned forward and actually tempted fate, placing her hand down on his white, fur-covered belly. Yet for some reason, there was no attack or clawing, which only heightened Zach¡¯s frustration and confusion. Why the hell wasn¡¯t Fluffles attacking? Was this some kind of favoritism or something? ¡°Pretty kitty,¡± Lienne said. Fluffles purred. The two of them were waiting in Zach¡¯s room for Rian to return. He¡¯d gone to pick up some lunch for the three of them¡ªand Fluffles¡ªbefore they began sorting through their loot. Zach hoped he didn¡¯t screw something up on purpose, as Rian hadn¡¯t wanted to be the one to go and had even angrily protested. Both he and Lienne had agreed that Zach shouldn¡¯t have to go since he¡¯d saved their lives against all odds, and thus, it had become a shouting match between the two siblings. Ultimately, since Rian was the hungrier of the two and wanted to eat the soonest, it was only fair that he be the one to make the unexpectedly long journey to the tavern and order four meals to go. We¡¯ll probably have to warm everything up when he gets back here, Zach realized, glancing over at the tiny little microwave across from where he was sitting in the inn room. Despite wanting to see his new sword and hopefully score some powerful¡ªand valuable!¡ªstuff, Zach had been way too tired yesterday to start messing around with storage and loot, and Lienne and Rian seemed to have felt the same way; hence, the three of them had each spent almost an entire day in bed. Now, during what Zach¡¯s cell phone assured him was just past noon in local Galterran time, he sat on the green-carpeted floor with Lienne and played with Fluffles while waiting for Rian to return. What was taking him so long, anyway? Zach expected Rian to be back by now, as he¡¯d been gone for almost five hours, and it was only a two-hour walk each way. It¡¯ll probably take him longer since he¡¯s carrying all that food. Something Zach had come to accept lately was that there were certain mysteries of the universe for which there was simply no satisfying explanation. The very existence and nature of ¡°Angelica¡¯s¡± was definitely one of those mysteries. And yet, the fact that this warm, comforting place of genuine safety was trillions of light-years beyond the farthest star in the known universe was somehow not, at least in Zach¡¯s opinion, the biggest mystery regarding this inn¡ªnor was learning that its owner was a super-cute, very much sentient, level-1027 chick with real, actual cat ears. Incredibly, the rabbit hole went even deeper as it pertained to Angelica¡¯s, and much of this Zach had learned yesterday on his ¡°walk¡± to his room, where he had encountered two grey-haired, elderly adventurers¡ªa husband and wife¡ªwho had filled the three of them in on many of the downright fascinating details. I still can¡¯t believe what they told us, Zach thought. Unlike the last time they¡¯d stayed here, when they¡¯d been given rooms 556, 557, and 558, this time around, Angelica¡¯s had apparently been ¡°very busy¡± yesterday when they¡¯d arrived, and she had instead given them something a little bit ¡°farther down the hall,¡± so to speak. Having just finished eating a meal that Angelica claimed was on the house, Zach, Rian, and Lienne had all decided they wanted to turn in early for the night. Hell, even if those two hadn¡¯t wanted to, Zach would¡¯ve gone without them. He¡¯d needed to shower, wash the blood out of his clothing and body, and then get some sleep, as he had driven himself well beyond the point of exhaustion. Fortunately, buying a room for the night was something that had now become easily affordable; all three of them now had more than 10,000 points, with Zach actually having 21,351. Thus, the 300 a night required for a room had suddenly seemed incredibly cheap. Fluffles had also insisted on coming along, which Zach was glad to hear, as he¡¯d missed his little buddy. Reaching beneath the counter without even looking, Angelica had produced three electronic key cards. Zach, confusingly, had received a room key with the number 18361 on it, which upon first glance, he¡¯d assumed must have been some kind of mistake. But then he saw that Rian had 18362, and Lienne had been given 18363. ¡°I thought there were only two floors here,¡± Zach had said to Angelica. He had then held up his key card to show her the number on the one she¡¯d just given him. ¡°This says room 18361.¡± Angelica smiled. ¡°Yep! It¡¯s just down the hall.¡± ¡°Down the hall?¡± ¡°Mhm. Just keep going. You can¡¯t miss it.¡± Zach had again stared at his key card. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s just¡­¡± It had been just then, in that moment, that the three of them had met the acquaintances of Mister and Misses Britethorn. ¡°First time at Angelica¡¯s?¡± a man who¡¯d later identified himself as Frederick Britethorn had asked him. ¡°Ah, no, sir,¡± Zach had replied politely. ¡°Second time.¡± ¡°What room did you stay in last time?¡± his wife had then asked. The two of them had been an odd sight to behold. Despite clearly being in their sixties if not early seventies, they were both clad in massive suits of shiny, bronze, and blood-stained armor; each of them held a matching helm under their arm. ¡°I was in room 556,¡± Zach had told them. At this, the old adventurer had tapped his chin with his armor-covered finger, nodded his head, and said, ¡°Ah-ha! That makes sense. Care to take a walk with us? We live in 12521. There¡¯s probably a lot you don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Live in?¡± Rian had asked. ¡°We¡¯ll explain on the way,¡± his wife had said, the two of them walking up the homely wooden staircase to the second floor. Sharing a collective shrug with his friends, the three had then hurried after the old couple, joining them on their ¡°walk.¡± As Zach and his friends would soon discover, Mr. Britethorn had indeed been correct: there¡¯d been a lot the three of them did not know, starting with the fact that, however inexplicably, Angelica¡¯s supposedly contained an infinite number of rooms. Upon hearing this, all three of them had asked for clarification, to which both Mr. Britethorn and his wife had then reiterated that, yes, the hallway they had been traveling down was believed by many to continue on infinitely. Both had then been quick to clarify that they themselves could not confirm it, but that even still, they believed it to be true. Zach found it to be perfectly understandable that neither of them had ever bothered to try disproving the belief, as he himself would not want to spend a week or more traveling down an infinite hallway only to run out of supplies and walk all the way back with no conclusive answers. After learning of the seemingly infinite nature of the second-floor hallway, Zach, having taken yet another glance at his key card, had asked the first thing that had popped up in his head, something that had seemed only natural to him. Clearly, it had been an obvious question, as the married, grey-haired adventurers had both nodded along while Zach spoke as if they¡¯d been expecting him to ask them exactly what he had. ¡°Are you telling me that there are more than eighteen-thousand people staying here tonight?¡± Zach had asked. ¡°Because as crowded as it is today, I don¡¯t know if I can believe it¡¯s that busy.¡± Their voices filling with excitement, it had been at this point that Mister and Misses Britethorn looked at one another, grinned, and then the two of them had begun taking turns as they energetically launched into a lengthy, detailed explanation of what they had referred to as ¡°the housing market.¡± Despite their age, the two elderly adventurers seemed to have no problem talking and answering questions as they glided down the supposedly infinite hallway even while clad in such heavy armor. If anything, it had been the three of them who struggled to keep up. ¡°The first thousand rooms of Angelica¡¯s contain a few special ''reserve rooms'' for people staying ten days or less,¡± Mrs. Britethorn had explained. ¡°On a regular day, you can usually get a bed in one of those. Since it¡¯s rather busy today, you¡¯re stuck taking the long walk with us.¡± As she had continued to speak, Zach found himself so enthralled in what she¡¯d revealed that he bumped into Rian, who hadn¡¯t even seemed to notice. It turned out that every room in Angelica¡¯s contained certain special ¡°properties.¡± For a normal stay, or even a somewhat longer one, these rooms all functioned exactly the same: they were all the same small, but cozy spaces with a single bed, a tiny little kitchen area, a small bathroom, and a washer and dryer¡ªsomething that Zach had definitely planned to use as his equipment was now his only clothing and it had been filthy, smelled horribly, and had been covered in the blood of everything from pirates to purple pumpkins. Aside from that, the only other ¡°unusual¡± feature shared by all rooms was that every twenty-four hours, they would clean themselves as though by magic. All that was required was for any occupants to step outside for a period of ten seconds or longer, and whenever they reentered, the rooms would be spotless, the sheets fresh, the bathroom immaculate, the air fresh, and even the kitchen counter free of any crumbs or other junk. ¡°So that¡¯s what every basic room in Angelica¡¯s has in common,¡± Mr. Britethorn had said. ¡°Now, here¡¯s where it becomes interesting.¡± Not long after passing the first thousand rooms, Mr. Britethorn had removed what looked like a tablet computer from somewhere inside his chest armor and had then showed it to Zach. Glancing down at it, Zach had seen what looked like a 3D model of a giant mansion. Within this mansion, everything from the flooring to the furniture, light fixtures, and even the stairs could be tapped on, bringing up a vast number of menus and configurations that could be purchased with ¡°points.¡± ¡°Any time an adventurer books a room for more than a hundred days that isn''t a reserve room, they get a tablet. That¡¯s where the fun begins.¡± Zach¡¯s eyes had widened. ¡°Wait, so if I were to book my room for another 99 days, I would get one of those?¡± Mr. Britethorn had nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right, son. And from there, you can begin modifying it: its size, its shape¡ªeverything. For about 200k points, you can get a starter house: two floors, three bedrooms. Or, if you want something more the size of an apartment, you can get away with 50k. But remember: if the number of days left before your booking expires ever falls under 30, you lose everything. It¡¯s all reset.¡± Zach had found this simply unbelievable. ¡°So, eighteen-thousand adventurers live here? Is that why we have to walk for two hours?¡± ¡°Kind of but not quite,¡± said Mrs. Britethorn. It had then been she who continued the explanation. ¡°Because adventurers are often so paranoid about losing their precious homes and all the points put into them, a lot of them book rooms for a great deal of time, well, well in advance. Sometimes to the point it¡¯s a bit silly.¡± She¡¯d chuckled. ¡°There are rooms booked up for thousands of years, and for whatever reason, death doesn¡¯t cause anything to reset. So a lot of the taken rooms in Angelica¡¯s are booked by people who¡¯ve been dead a long, long time. Room 101 is infamous. No one knows who ¡®owned¡¯ it or how long ago, but it¡¯s booked through the next fifty-thousand years.¡± ¡°That¡¯s kind of incredible,¡± Lienne had said. Then she¡¯d smirked. ¡°Now I want a house here, too.¡± ¡°You can earn one easily enough. You three seem very capable.¡± ¡°Thank you, ma¡¯am.¡± As the two old adventurers continued their explanation, Zach had learned that there was an entire housing market, primarily in the bazaar, of people willing to ¡°sell¡± their rooms to adventurers who wanted to be closer to the stairs leading to the tavern. It wasn¡¯t even just because of matters of convenience, either, but also because it served as something of a status symbol, too. Prices began to get pretty steep for any room lower in number than 2000, and they were doubly high for 1,000 and below. But even that was nothing compared to the top 500 or, Gods forbid, the top 200. If Zach ever wanted to live in one of those, he¡¯d be entering Purple Rejuvenation Stone territory. As the five of them had continued along, more questions and answers from Rian and Lienne had revealed some more interesting details. Many adventurers took a varied approach to how they both decorated their homes in Angelica¡¯s and even how often they lived in them. Some only visited once or twice a year, as many also had homes on Galterra as well, whereas others stopped by more frequently. And quite a few, such as Mister and Misses Britethorn, used their room in Angelica¡¯s as their primary residence. As incredible as all this had been, the nature of things hadn¡¯t truly solidified in Zach¡¯s mind until they¡¯d finally reached the room these two stayed in, and what Zach had seen, to put it mildly, had blown his fucking mind. Given that they¡¯d only been a few thousand rooms away, they¡¯d asked Zach, Rian, and Lienne to return for tea or coffee after they¡¯d washed up, and the three, having now been totally hooked and curious, had agreed fairly quickly. Upon returning, they had entered into what might very well have been the most elegantly furnished, elaborately decorated, and luxurious property Zach had ever born witness to. Their kitchen alone was the size that his entire apartment had been in Whispery Woods. Apparently, these two had spent decades saving the points required to build such a dream home. ¡°The more points you earn, the higher level of upgrades you can unlock,¡± Mr. Britethorn had explained, asking them to follow him after they¡¯d shared some tea. ¡°Even if you have the points for certain higher-end upgrades, you won¡¯t be able to buy them unless your overall point level is high enough to unlock its tier. An example would be our backyard where we have our own personal atmosphere.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Rian had asked. Mr. Britethorn had smiled proudly. ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll see.¡± With that, he had led them through a sliding glass door and out into what was, unmistakably, a beautiful backyard under a warm summer sky, complete with a pool, a deck, and garden, all of which was enclosed in an unusually high, see-through fence that was at least fifteen feet tall. In the distance, Zach could see what appeared to be an entire neighborhood on a conventional suburban city street. ¡°Everything not within this fence is fake,¡± Mr. Britethorn had said. ¡°If you jump over the fence, you won¡¯t land on that street over there¡±¡ªhe¡¯d pointed¡ª¡°but instead into the void of space, so be careful.¡± Zach had nodded. ¡°Yeah, definitely don¡¯t want that to happen. Hey, Mr. Britethorn, how is it so warm and lifelike out here?¡± Both Mr. Britethorn and his wife had shrugged. ¡°No idea how it¡¯s done. But I can make it winter, fall, you name it. You can have it set to a stable time of day, too, but we find it healthier to keep it set to our local time in Galterra. That way, every morning, a beautiful sunshine comes through the windows, and every night, we can see the stars.¡± Even before he¡¯d seen their backyard, Zach had been sold on this whole thing hook, line, and sinker. The only question was how he¡¯d convince Kalana to live somewhere like this with him, as she kind of had her own private island now. Zach supposed they¡¯d have to take turns. Kalana was always a stickler for things like ¡°sharing¡± and ¡°taking turns,¡± so he couldn¡¯t imagine she¡¯d have a problem with it. I want all of this, he recalled himself thinking. I want my own beautiful mansion. I want to control every aspect of it! Having been worn down from his dive to B10 and subsequent boss fight, Zach, Rian, and Lienne had only stayed for an hour or so, but before leaving, they¡¯d learned that Angelica¡¯s offered a variety of subscription services for points each month, such as having their mail miraculously delivered to their room. They could also order groceries and have it appear within a nanosecond in their refrigerator. There was so much more¡ªto the extent that it seemed what they¡¯d explained so far was only scratching the surface. As much as Zach had wanted to learn more, he had begun to doze off on their leather couch. Regarding him warmly, the two elderly adventurers had offered to let all three of them use the guest rooms, but Zach did not want to impose and so, along with Rian and Lienne, they had bid the Britethorns a good evening, and then they had returned to their own rooms. Given the very real security and safety of Angelica¡¯s, Zach actually felt comfortable leaving his inn-room door open a crack so that Fluffles could come and go while he slept. If there was anywhere in the universe he doubted he¡¯d be robbed or attacked in his sleep, it was this place. In fact, one of the final interesting bits of information Zach had obtained from the Britethorns was that Angelica¡¯s had some very unique but critically important rules that could easily result in death¡ªvia Angelica¡ªif not obeyed. And one of them regarded fighting. As merrily as most adventurers seemed to get along, they weren¡¯t without their interpersonal conflicts. And sometimes¡ªas in every fifteen minutes or so¡ªa fight tended to break out in the tavern. Zach had seen plenty of these his first time here, enough so that he had become desensitized to it after like the fifth or sixth time watching two people go at it. Yet what he hadn¡¯t known at the time was that there were very, very strict rules regarding fighting with dire consequences for those who disobeyed. Zach had learned that, not only did Angelica personally allow adventurers to resolve their issues with their fists¡ªshe actually encouraged it. In fact, she preferred that it happen in her tavern as opposed to anywhere else, at least according to Mister and Misses Britethorn. That said, there were numerous rules that she required be followed to the letter of the law. First and foremost, no adventurers were allowed to use weapons. If anyone so much as touched a weapon, Angelica would either knock them out¡ªif they were lucky¡ªor outright sever their limbs if not kill them. Secondly, anyone wanting to fight had to eat a nullification grape, which was apparently a fruit she kept under the counter that reset an adventurer¡¯s stats to that of a level 1 for the next five minutes. Lastly, when Angelica said it was time to stop fighting, it was time to stop fighting. It appeared that stamina wasn¡¯t the only hidden stat that adventurers had. It turned out that HP, too, was something that actually existed in people just as it did in mobs, and it functioned very similarly to stamina, which was to say it was comprised of a bunch of different values, some of which swung wildly from moment to moment. Angelica, it seemed, could see this number, and she monitored it very carefully, breaking up fights the moment either participant risked injury or worse. Furthermore, she only allowed two adventurers to fight at any given time, and if multiple people had scores to settle, they would just have to agree upon an order and wait their turn. Through this system, Mrs. Britethorn claimed, no adventurer had died in Angelica¡¯s tavern from fight-related injuries in over a thousand years other than the tiny handful Angelica had killed herself. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. It was for this reason, apparently, that the inn was a popular spot for adventurers with issues that needed to be resolved violently. It was also the only location and method that the adventuring alliance sanctioned for dueling or resolving disputes without requiring either participant to notify their guild-leader or guild-officers. In other words, assuming Zach had understood correctly, if for whatever reason, say, Kesten and Maric¡ªor whoever¡ªdeveloped some bad blood, they could punch it out in Angelica¡¯s without even having to tell anyone in the GSG. It was explicitly allowed¡ªas long as it happened here under the watch of Angelica. Having gained so much new knowledge in such a short time, Zach had been given more than enough to think about as he drifted off to sleep with Fluffles on the pillow beside him. And now, following thirteen hours of rest, he felt wide awake, refreshed, and with a growl from his stomach, he realized he was beginning to get really, really hungry. He hoped Rian would get his ass back here already with their food. ¡°What¡¯s taking him so long?¡± Zach asked. Lienne curled her lips. ¡°He¡¯s probably being lazy. Uh, hey, Zach.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± Zach felt a pinch form in his stomach as a drastic shift in her expression saw her biting her lip and somewhat narrowing her eyes. ¡°If you wanted to hang out later, I mean, after we go to bed, I¡¯d never tell anyone, you know?¡± Completely taken by surprise, Zach tried to speak but found that no words would come out. He was so jolted he wasn¡¯t even sure he¡¯d understood her correctly. ¡°Hang out?¡± he croaked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± She smiled. ¡°You know.¡± She¡¯s not talking about¡­¡®that,¡¯ is she? In truth, despite being seventeen, Zach had never been with a girl. He was still a virgin. For this reason, he was inexperienced and couldn¡¯t even be sure that this was what Lienne was referring to. Yet the way she then placed her palm down on top of his hand left little doubts as to her intention. ¡°I¡­I can¡¯t,¡± Zach said nervously. ¡°Kalana.¡± ¡°But she wouldn¡¯t have to know.¡± ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯d know.¡± Lienne frowned. ¡°She¡¯s young and has like fifty gazillion followers on social media. You don¡¯t think she¡¯s¡­?¡± At this, Zach gave an absolute, resolute, and completely confident shake of his head. ¡°I know she¡¯s changed a bit lately, but unless her entire personality down to its very core has been ripped out of her and replaced with someone else, then there¡¯s no chance. Kalana wouldn¡¯t. Not if she said she wouldn¡¯t. And she did. She¡¯s got more to worry about from me than I do from her. Which is why I can¡¯t.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not asking for a relationship,¡± Lienne said. ¡°Just some fun.¡± Zach despised himself for how tempted he felt. He wished he could easily dismiss her. He wished he could say he didn¡¯t want to. The fact he did want to disturbed him greatly. Did that make him a bad person? That such an outsized part of him wanted to pick up Lienne and throw her on the bed right here and now? Even still, he resisted. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I would if¡­if not for Kal. But I know she wouldn¡¯t do it to me. Even if she never found out, I¡¯d have to live with knowing what I did.¡± Lienne sighed, though there was sadness in the sound of it. ¡°Is it because I¡¯m ugly?¡± Zach guffawed. ¡°What? Are you insane? No, no, you¡¯re crazy hot.¡± ¡°Then¡­then why?¡± She sounded genuinely hurt. Zach had never been in this position before. He wasn¡¯t sure how to react. ¡°Because I love her,¡± Zach said. ¡°And I found her first.¡± ¡°If¡­if you didn¡¯t know her or didn¡¯t love her, would I¡­would I be good enough?¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Absolutely. I swear it. It¡¯s nothing wrong with you at all. I know it¡­it must suck to be told no and all, because if I were in your shoes, I¡¯d be really upset. I promise you it¡¯s the only reason. I swear it.¡± Lienne¡¯s eyes dampened, and Zach felt his heart ache with guilt as though a bullet had pierced his chest. Nothing he did or said in this situation would feel right. He almost thought about reconsidering: having one night of fun with Lienne and then pretending it never happened and never bringing it up again. After all, what harm would it do if Kalana never found out, right? Stop it, he told himself. You¡¯re enough of an asshole as it is. Don¡¯t be one of those people as well. Sensing the situation gradually becoming sadder and more awkward, Zach was grateful when his apartment door opened and Rian plodded his way in carrying two plastic bags in each hand, both filled with incredible-smelling food. As Zach saw the perspiration gliding down Rian¡¯s forehead, he felt somewhat bad for making him trek all the way there and back. Even still, his friend seemed to be in high spirits despite having had to make the journey while he and Lienne relaxed on their asses. ¡°Sorry I took so long,¡± he said, kicking the door closed with his foot. Then he swore. ¡°Oh, shit, I forgot we need to keep it open a bit for the cat. I¡¯ll get it, I¡¯ll get it. Huh?¡± He took several more steps into the room and paused. ¡°Li, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Her eyes reddened, she averted her gaze and shook her head. ¡°I was just telling a sad story about our parents to Zach.¡± Rian sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about that, Li. We¡¯re living a whole new life now. Hey, Zach, we¡¯ll do loot while we eat, okay?¡± Zach gave him a thumbs-up as he set down the bags and used his storage ability. Today would likely be the day Zach learned to use it as well. From what he could tell, it didn¡¯t seem to be all that complicated. ¡°Before we get going, this is yours I believe,¡± he said, grabbing something out of thin air. Having believed he was going to die, Zach hadn¡¯t even looked at the quest weapon he¡¯d earned. Now that he finally saw it, it moved him to stand up to his feet. Even before he got a proper look at the weapon, he could tell it was something special. He felt his mouth forming into an O-shape as Rian passed him the blade, as well as what appeared to be a shoulder strap and scabbard that came with it, along with his original sword that Fluffles had made for him. Setting his starter sword down on the bed, he decided to appraise his newest weapon. It¡¯s a good deal heavier than my other sword. Ever since coming to Angelica¡¯s, Zach had noticed that many¡ªif not most¡ªof the adventurer¡¯s had gear that just ¡°looked¡± special. Everything they wore, and every weapon they had, it all seemed to have a certain ¡°look¡± about it that distinguished it from any other junk one might find lying around. Now, for the first time, Zach had a piece of gear that seemed as though it would blend in well with at least some of what he saw from the other adventurers. The blade itself was made of a sharp, straight, and double-edged steel. It was thicker than his current sword by a good few inches, and the very tip of it shined with a blue, otherworldly light. There was also some kind of black writing inscribed along the right and left side of the blade in small black letters that Zach did not recognize. The grip of the blade was also black, and the crossguard was curved downwards and at an angle. But what really caught Zach¡¯s attention was that, inside the pommel below the grip, there was a beautiful blue gemstone that shined the same dark blue light as the tip of the blade. This is amazing. Eager to learn more about his new weapon, Zach willed forward his inventory. When nothing happened, he released a stupid, dumb laugh, which caused both Rian and Lienne to send him questioning looks. ¡°I forgot I can¡¯t do what I did before,¡± he explained to them. As their looks of confusion only seemed to increase, he grunted. ¡°Meaning my Helm Sight Level. I¡¯m not in Unleashed Phase.¡± ¡°Oh, right,¡± Rian said. ¡°Guess it¡¯s the old-fashioned way for now.¡± Zach laughed. Tapping his right shoulder four times, he brought up his inventory, and then he tapped in the air and selected his new blade, which was called ¡°Yorna¡¯s Sword of Courage.¡± He noticed Rian and Lienne coming to stand by his side as if also curious to see what the weapon was capable of. (RARE) Yorna¡¯s Sword of Courage: earned by Zachys Calador +4 str +2 dex, +2 con, +1 spd Successful, damaging attacks with this weapon grant the user 1 stack of Courage (max 5). Upon reaching 5 stacks, the user may activate Yorna¡¯s Courage. Yorna¡¯s Courage: consume all 5 stacks of Courage to create a barrier around the user that completely negates the next damaging attack, spell, ability, or item ability. If the user is struck with an ability that causes damage over time, then that ability is negated. If the user has already been struck with an ability that causes damage over time, then any damage from the next tick of the DOT will be nullified and the damaging effect(s) will continue normally thereafter until it is either removed or it expires naturally. Does not block curses or debuffs. ¡°Wow, not bad,¡± Rian said, bobbing his head with approval. Zach read the description several times, burning it to his mind so that he didn¡¯t forget it. Then, he said, ¡°I think I recall this glowing blue when it first dropped right next to me. Not the blue glow it has now, I mean. But like, the glow when you look at loot that belongs to you. I think if something is shining blue, it makes it rare. That um, that Purple Rejuvenation stone also shined purple. I think that has something to do with the rarity.¡± ¡°It does,¡± Rian said. ¡°White is common, green is uncommon, blue is rare, purple is epic rare, and gold is legendary. Silver is artifact, but that¡¯s so rare you might as well forget ever seeing it. So that¡¯s basically how rarity works. But be careful: rarity can also sometimes be misleading, too.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Because a rare item like that¡±¡ªhe pointed¡ª¡°in terms of value, is probably only worth a fraction of a common item dropped by something that¡¯s level 60.¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Makes sense.¡± Rian spent the next several minutes removing several items from storage and setting them down on the floor nearby. Then he, Zach, and Lienne took turns using the microwave to briefly reheat the food, which had gone cold. Fluffles, who had fallen asleep at some point during his conversation with Lienne, woke up the moment the microwave activated and waited as patiently as could be expected for his food. ¡°Did Angelica give you a plastic bowl for Fluffles?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Yeah, she did.¡± ¡°Maybe we should serve him first.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Fluffles shouted, meowing nonstop. ¡°Maybe serve Fluffles first! I was a good cat. I get to have first. Fluffles want extra.¡± As the four of them ate, they briefly discussed their plans of what they intended to do next. Rian and Lienne wanted to spend a few more days in Angelica¡¯s inn, which Zach could totally understand, because he loved it here too, yet he managed to convince them to leave with him tomorrow. ¡°I need to call Kalana,¡± he said. ¡°I definitely want to keep adventuring with you two, but I need to see her first.¡± ¡°So are you going straight away?¡± Lienne asked, the sad look once again returning to her eyes. Zach shook his head. ¡°No. Uh, actually, I think we should spend a few days in town, no? What did you guys say was the name of the town right near the entrance to Yorna?¡± ¡°Den of Ziragoth,¡± Rian said. ¡°It¡¯s a nice little town. Has a pretty decent market. One of those old-fashioned ones where you can haggle and bargain for all kinds of things.¡± ¡°Well, I do need to buy all new clothing¡ªand a backpack, too. Also, I left my bike near the boulder. I say we head into town for a few days. Besides, summer¡¯s started, and as much as I love it here, we need to see the sun again!¡± ¡°I sweat too easily,¡± Rian said with a half-frown. ¡°But I get where you¡¯re coming from, dude. So, after we hang out in town, then what? Meaning, after you see Kalana.¡± Zach pursed his lips as he thought about it. ¡°Well, there¡¯s always B11,¡± he said with a laugh. Lienne shuddered. ¡°I can¡¯t speak for you boys, but I¡¯ve had enough of Yorna for now.¡± ¡°Gotta agree with Li,¡± Rian said. ¡°We should go spawn-hunting. Find an actual, real-world spawn.¡± Zach finished chewing some of his roast chicken and then downed it with some of Angelica¡¯s custom-made cherry cola, which came in a plastic bottle like those from the supermarket and impressively had her actual name and face on it. ¡°I like the idea of going spawn hunting, but won¡¯t that be really hard? I mean, I guess I could use Boundless if we get far enough away from this place that it picks up something somewhere else. But for that, we¡¯d need to get some more Frog Snax or something similar.¡± ¡°Nah, forget that,¡± Rian said. ¡°That¡¯s basically, like, cheating. It also destroys the fun. You should learn to do it the right way with us.¡± Zach chuckled. ¡°By going to the library?¡± ¡°Yeah. We can even make it interesting: let¡¯s go to the Tomb of Fire.¡± Now this was an idea that Zach liked hearing. He¡¯d always wanted to go there. Back when the monarchy created by the Guild of Gentlemen had ruled over North and South Bastia, the Tomb of Fire had been the kingdom¡¯s capital city, and Zach had always wanted to see its beauty for himself. ¡°So how does this work, then?¡± he asked. ¡°We do a bunch of research, find clues, and then go hunting?¡± ¡°Pretty much,¡± Lienne said. Rian agreed. ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Okay, then,¡± Zach said, clapping his hands together a single time. ¡°It¡¯s settled then. Tomorrow morning, we¡¯ll take the elevator back up to the entrance, I¡¯ll get my bike, and then we¡¯ll spend two or three days in town. Then I¡¯ll meet up with Kalana. I¡¯ll probably spend a week or two with her because I really, really miss her. So¡­you guys can go on a vacation or whatever as well. Then we¡¯ll all meet up in the Tomb of Fire and find something new to level off of. But I do want to come back here eventually.¡± ¡°Of course, dude. So do I. Li does too, I bet.¡± ¡°Heck yeah,¡± she said. Rian stood up, wiped his chin, and said, ¡°Oh, and that reminds me, since you mentioned the elevator.¡± He marched over to Zach¡¯s bed, picked something shiny up, and then flicked it through the air at him. Zach reached out and caught it. It was a metal key. Rian then threw another one at Lienne, but she missed it. With a growl, she turned around and grabbed it where it¡¯d fallen behind her. ¡°We each get our own boss key?¡± Zach asked. Rian opened his mouth to reply, but strangely enough, it was Fluffles who decided to answer the question, which was weird, because the cat almost never contributed anything unless directly asked to do so. ¡°Everyone get,¡± Fluffles said, lifting his head to look at Zach. Then immediately after, he buried his face back in the bowl and continued to munch on his food. Making light chatter, the four of them continued to eat until, a half hour later, they had cleared a space on the floor as it became time to settle the issue of loot. Rian removed his cell phone and opened a simple app that appeared to be nothing more than a random number generator. Tapping the button would generate a number between 1 and 100. ¡°Adventurers all follow the same loot rules,¡± he said, bringing various items over from the bed. ¡°First, we do need-before-greed. If anyone honestly needs something, it¡¯s theirs. There¡¯s no limit. If two people need the same thing, we roll. Then, with everything that¡¯s left over, we roll to see who gets first pick, second pick, etcetera.¡± Zach rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. ¡°Oh, okay, so no one person can get everything.¡± ¡°Nope. If you roll third, you just get to pick third from anything that¡¯s in the greed pile. But first, we have to decide what to do about the gold split.¡± ¡°Gold split?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Yeah. Bosses drop gold. Well, mobs very rarely do sometimes as well, but bosses always do¡ªor at least that¡¯s what Zephyr said. Anyhow, personally? I prefer to split it three ways. Some people like to roll to see if¡ª¡± ¡°How much gold?¡± Zach asked, flying forward and grabbing Rian¡¯s shoulders. How had this not been the first thing that Rian had said? This was more important than anything else. The moment Zach had heard the ¡°G¡± word, he felt an explosion of money-hungry greed, and he had to force himself not to snicker. Gods, he loved gold. He loved it more than anything except maybe Kalana. Rian grabbed a cloth satchel and opened it, thumbing through the contents inside. ¡°I¡¯d guess about 50k.¡± ¡°No fucking way,¡± Zach said. ¡°For real?¡± ¡°Yeah. Do you wanna split it or roll for it?¡± ¡°Split,¡± Lienne said. Zach agreed. ¡°Yeah, split it. I don¡¯t want to risk losing it. That¡¯s still almost 17k a person. That¡¯s more than I¡¯ve ever had. It¡¯s more than I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± Rian rubbed his hands together and smiled. ¡°Okay then, well, that¡¯s one issue down.¡± No matter what happened with the loot, Zach already felt like a winner as he stared with lust at each and every gold coin that was placed in a pile by his left side, right next to his new sword, which continued to glow blue from where it lay on the carpet next to his shoulder harness and scabbard. To someone rich, this might not have seemed like a lot of money. But Zach¡¯s dad had only made eight-hundred gold a week. To someone like him, 17k was a fucking fortune. ¡°Okay,¡± Rian said excitedly. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we¡¯ve got here.¡± The moment he grabbed the first item, Zach pointed to Lienne even before she excitedly chirped out, ¡°Need!¡± It had been obvious. It had been beyond obvious. Of course Lienne was going to want something called ¡°Magical rod of Enchanting Power.¡± It was not as long lengthwise as her staff, but it was metal and appeared heavier. It was black, and both ends of it seemed to release a constant green mist, which actually looked really cool. It was also a rare-quality item, and the genuine look of happiness and excitement in Lienne¡¯s face made Zach smile, too. He just wanted her to be happy. That was actually a new kind of thing for him, too. He¡¯d always only cared about himself and sure, maybe Kalana, too, but rarely did he think twice about others. But now? Now he wanted Lienne to be happy. It meant something to him that she was. Even though it was such a strange feeling for him. The next item up, also a rare quality, was a pair of metal boots. Rian immediately declared need on it. Zach inspected its stats. It was a clear upgrade from his sandals. It also would raise his constitution which definitely needed raising. On the other hand, though, who the hell wanted to run around in metal boots? Zach¡¯s fighting style involved being quick and moving in and out, and it involved a lot of evading and dodging. At least, that was the way Fluffles had taught him¡ªand he¡¯d improved upon. So, as far as he could tell, the boots were just too heavy, too uncomfortable, and so¡­yeah, no thanks. Rian could have it. He would put it to better use than Zach would, anyway, as it was clearly an item for tanks. ¡°Thank you,¡± Rian said. ¡°For what?¡± ¡°For not ¡®needing¡¯ on it.¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t even want it.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± Rian reached behind him and grabbed the next item. The moment Rian¡¯s fingers touched it, Fluffles became ¡°activated¡± like a dormant robot. Literally out of nowhere, the cat darted forward and began to hop around. ¡°Finally!¡± he shouted. ¡°Fluffles roll need! Fluffles roll need!¡± Confused, Zach looked at him with a frown. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Fluffles roll need! Fluffles wait all day for this.¡± ¡°You...you weren¡¯t even there,¡± Zach said bitterly. ¡°You don¡¯t get to roll, little buddy. Come on.¡± Fluffles hissed. ¡°Yes! I was a good cat, and I get to roll. Fluffles need!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even know what this is,¡± Rian said. It looked like a cardboard box¡ªlike the ones used to ship medium-sized items in the mail. ¡°It 20 bags of Skelly Chips,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°Fluffles spend all night and day waiting.¡± The cat ran over, lifted his paw, and then pressed it against the screen of Rian¡¯s cell phone, generating a 5. Then he hissed, pressed it again, and generated a 3. Once more he hissed, and now he sounded really pissed. ¡°Rian phone cheat!¡± Rian backed away as Fluffles hissed a third time and tried to scratch him. ¡°The hell did I do?¡± he asked fearfully. Zach wasn¡¯t sure why he was reacting with such cowardice. Was he afraid of cats? He doubted it, as Lienne claimed she had some cats of her own. Actually, who was taking care of them right now? Zach thought to ask her, but first, he tried to figure out why Rian was backing away from Fluffles as though petrified. It all made sense to him a moment later, however, as Fluffles began to issue threats. ¡°Fluffles is level 48 now,¡± the cat said. ¡°Fluffles do PVP on Rian for Skelly Chips!¡± ¡°T-take them,¡± Rian said. ¡°I don¡¯t even care about them.¡± Lienne covered her face as if trying to hide the grin that had formed. ¡°I like Fluffles,¡± she said. ¡°And I don¡¯t really care about the Skelly chips either. Kitty can have them. I don¡¯t want them.¡± ¡°Neither do I, to be honest,¡± Zach said. ¡°I mean¡­yeah, I don¡¯t really give a shit. Fine, Fluffles, just take them.¡± ¡°Hurray!¡± Fluffles cheered. ¡°Fluffles extort his friends!¡± The cat placed its paw on the box, and just like that, it vanished into nothingness. Then he brushed up against Rian, who nervously patted his back with a smile on his face that looked forced. A moment after, Fluffles hopped his way over to Lienne, jumping into her lap and taking a nap. He was asleep and purring within seconds. Lienne bent forward and kissed the top of his head. ¡°Next item?¡± Zach asked. Rian quickly shuffled through the four common and one uncommon item remaining. Everything went into the greed pile, as there was nothing there Zach ever imagined himself actually using. To be honest, he was already content just with his new blade and the gold he¡¯d earned for himself. Even still, he thought he¡¯d take whatever he could, as at some point in the future, he figured he¡¯d end up in this ¡°bazaar¡± he¡¯d heard about. Though he knew nothing substantive about it, he thought it was a safe guess to assume he¡¯d be able to pawn off some of his extra junk for either gold or points, and really, he¡¯d be happy with either. In the end, he managed to win two items: one being a flail he was positive he¡¯d never use, and the other being another pair of the same ¡°decaying¡± trousers he was already wearing. Despite the name, it was fresh and smelled kind of nice. At any rate, both it, the flail, and his old sword needed to be put in storage. Standing up, he activated Bank and Storage, ready to final unravel the mystery behind its usage and learn the ins and outs of this apparent ¡°human racial ability.¡± As it turned out, when compared to all the other new things he¡¯d had to learn recently, Bank and Storage turned out to be rather simple and uncomplicated. It had only seemed complex because he could not see what Rian and Lienne could see when they had used the abilities. Now, however, it all made simple, intuitive sense. Before him, he now saw, clear as a day, a large storage chest roughly the size of a wide coffin, but one that was waist high. He could store a great many things in this, he imagined. To the right of the storage coffin was a piggybank, which somehow, Zach knew instinctually was not meant to be taken as a literal depiction of where his money would go, as above it were the words Account Balance: 0 gold. Right off the bat, Zach decided to put every last gold he had inside of it, as there was no longer any need to carry it around on him where the possibility existed, however likely or unlikely, of having it lost, stolen, or mugged off of him. He included both the remainder of his ¡°starter gold¡± Mr. Oren had given him as well as his much-larger haul that he now had received from the boss. Distantly, he marveled at the fact that these coins seemed newly minted and completely authentic. The dungeon likely far predated¡ªmaybe even by thousands of years¡ªany of the people depicted on the various denominations of coin, yet the gold received was current and legitimate, at least as far as Zach could tell. He highly doubted it was counterfeit. It was real, somehow. With his money safely stowed away and accessible to him any time he needed it¡ªminus the hour cooldown¡ªhe reached down and grabbed his silly-looking flail, as well as his old sword, and he raised them each above his head. Mentally, he visualized where in the storage box he wanted them, and just like that, they vanished and reappeared inside of the box. He wasn¡¯t sure how he¡¯d known to visualize it. It must¡¯ve been all that playing around with ¡°Legendary Sight.¡± He kind of just ¡°got¡± how these kinds of things worked now. Sending his extra pair of ¡°decaying¡± trousers into the storage box, he dismissed the box as well as his bank, and then he patted his hands against his pants to wipe away the cobweb which had somehow been on the grip of his old sword. No matter what, he¡¯d never sell or get rid of the blade Fluffles had made him. That much, he promised himself. But for now, he was happy to have something far more powerful. While holding it in his right hand, he checked his stats. Zachys Calador: Level 13 (2417/15000xp) Armor Bonus: 12 16 strength 10 dexterity 11 constitution 49 intelligence 7 speed 5 luck Oddly enough, he actually found it disappointing to look at them now. He was just so much weaker while not in Unleashed Phase. It made him worry that he¡¯d be completely, totally useless for someone of his level except for a brief fifteen minutes a day when he accessed such an insanely powerful ability. It was almost like some kind of tradeoff. Because really, just look at these stats! Intelligence aside, they were garbage for where he should be at his level. And since he didn¡¯t have any spells, his int was useless. Zach sighed. He¡¯d worry about it later. For now, it was time to have some fun. ¡°Let¡¯s go spend the day in the tavern and listen to some music.¡± Lienne smiled, and so did Rian. ¡°Sure,¡± he said. ¡°Tomorrow, bright and early, we¡¯ll head into town and hang there for a bit. I feel like there are only good things ahead for us now. Seriously.¡± As Zach nudged both of them on the shoulder and headed out for the two-hour walk down to the tavern, he felt like everything was finally going in the right direction. No more heroics. No more close bouts with death. Just Kalana and his friends from here on out. He''d suffered enough. Chapter 45: The Turning Point Chapter 45: The Turning Point A domino cannot be blamed for the existence of the one behind it, nor can the domino behind it take responsibility for subsequent dominos farther down the line. Nevertheless, a chain of causal events can only commence when and if the first one falls. Though it would take almost a century before historians were able to piece together a definitive timeline in what would eventually become known as the Great Human War, it would ultimately be concluded that the entire series of events had begun right here, this very evening, in the 65th floor of a newly renovated office located in the upscale metropolis known as Varda¡¯s Lair that served as the headquarters for the Internet Monitoring Agency. It was here that Graeme Braxel had just ended a call on his cell phone, in which the best news of his life had been personally delivered to him by a high-ranking member of the People of Virtue. With a whoop and a cheer, Graeme took a victory lap around the office and even entered into a sort of campy dance, shifting his body weight between his left and right foot while springing off of each. Yet, even as he danced and pumped his fist into the air, he had no idea that he was about to be directly responsible for the single-greatest blunder in the IMA¡¯s history¡ªone that would serve as a catalyst that would alter the course of human events for the next thousand years. And all because he¡¯d chosen to leave work fifteen minutes early to celebrate the news of his promotion with his wife. Giddy and feeling as though his entire life¡¯s efforts had finally borne fruit, he saw no harm in ducking out just a couple of minutes early to meet his wife for drinks before the evening rush of traffic made it impossible for him to come and go. Had he only decided to take a bus instead, then perhaps tomorrow, in the early hours of the afternoon, he wouldn¡¯t find himself stripped not only of his new promotion less than a day after receiving it, but of his current job entirely¡ªas well as any other future employment prospects to be found in Varda¡¯s Lair. Truly, it was incredible what a mere fifteen minutes of time could unravel. Of course, in his defense, Graeme Braxel had a very good reason to be so jovial. A longtime student of human psychology and the highest-ranking member of the Internet Monitoring Agency, he fancied himself as someone who held a unique insight into what, specifically, made people tick. It was for this reason he had ascended the ranks to achieve a position it was rare for a mere level 1 such as himself to obtain. As far as he was aware, he might very well be the first One in a hundred or more years to hold the title of Chief Censor, and it was a job he had spent the last five years performing with all the seriousness and urgency required of someone given such an important responsibility. Though there were a great many folk who did not care for or approve of censorship, this was only because they were ignorant and did not know any better. If not for people like Graeme remaining constantly vigilant against the threat of inflammatory information, public order would be impossible to maintain. Thus, he was willing to bear the distaste his title earned him among the general public, who only thought they knew what they wanted as a direct result of having never had to witness the consequences of obtaining it. Graeme knew that if the wish for an uncensored internet had been granted for even just a week, the people would very quickly beg on their hands and knees for someone like Graeme to come along and save them from themselves. Alas, it was a thankless job, but someone had to be willing to do it for the good of society. And in performing this vital task, Graeme had become so attuned to the behaviors and habits of the common people that he could predict with almost near certainty what information would go viral and what could be safely ignored or dealt with via other means. He¡¯d also learned something else, too. He¡¯d developed a good sense of what could be useful if spread in just the right way at just the right time. It was a skill for which he had always planned to one day use to rise even higher¡ªto walk on land that few level 1s would ever dare to tread. All he needed to do was wait for the right opportunity to fall on his lap. Once it did, he would use it to propel himself to even greater heights. Until that day came, he would continue to serve as Chief Sensor with the excellence and diligence expected of his position¡ªand he had. For five long years, he had given his job his all, performing far better than any of his predecessors. Then, finally, as though a message from the Gods, the opportunity he¡¯d been waiting for at long last arrived. Several days ago, when one of his subordinates flagged a post for him by someone shockingly claiming to not only be a member of the Elvish race, but of Elvish royalty nonetheless, Graeme had launched a quick investigation to determine the post¡¯s authenticity. Standard protocol dictated he hide and censor the information at once, then dispatch a team to monitor any chatter and stem the flow of information immediately. It did not matter whether or not this ¡°Kalana Vayra¡± had been telling the truth or lying, as the real issue was the claim itself: it was the kind of claim that could make waves, true or false¡ªand the entire purpose of his job was to keep the tides calm. But this time, he had something else in mind. Even knowing how dangerous it was for his career to stick his neck into political matters that were of no concern to a mere level 1 such as himself, Graeme had nevertheless launched an investigation to determine the veracity of the girl¡¯s claims, and once he had been able to verify them with a high degree of confidence, he had shown up uninvited to the office of Abram Gespon, a senior-lieutenant of the People of Virtue and the third-ranking member of the entire guild. He was a man of such power and stature that even standing in his presence had made Graeme¡¯s knees wobble with fear. For having the audacity to simply show up the way that he had, Graeme knew that a termination of his employment could actually be the least horrible thing that could potentially happen to him if things went wrong. Nevertheless, he sensed his opportunity, and he took it. ¡°What is it?¡± Abram had asked, seeming affronted that a mere One such as Graeme would dare bother him. The fact he¡¯d even allowed Graeme into his personal office at all was a surprise in and of itself, though to be fair, Graeme had caught him on his way back from lunch and had insisted he be given just five minutes of the man¡¯s time. ¡°This had better be important,¡± Abram had warned. ¡°It¡¯s completely inappropriate for you to approach me without an invitation.¡± ¡°I completely understand, Gespon the Virtuous,¡± Graeme had said. ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve stumbled upon something so¡­significant that I knew I needed to bring it to you directly.¡± The scowl that had popped up onto Abram¡¯s face had been enough to roil Graeme¡¯s stomach. But having already taken such a bold step, there really had not been any option other than to see it through to the end. Even if he had apologized just then and departed, his career if not life would be over for what would be taken as a sign of disrespect from a level 1 towards a superior. ¡°Who are you again?¡± Abram had asked, his hands folded on his desk, which had looked cracked and damaged in places. A section of his office window had appeared discolored as though it were brand new. ¡°I am Chief Censor Graeme Braxel, sir Gespon the Virtuous,¡± he¡¯d replied. ¡°And what possible business can the Chief Censor have that requires an audience with me? Do you not have a chain of command?¡± ¡°I do, sir Gespon the Virtuous. It¡¯s just that what I had to say would get nowhere through that route.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°And what is it you have to say? Out with it. My time is too valuable to spend entertaining Ones from the IMA department.¡± ¡°O-of course, sir,¡± Graeme had said, bowing his head. Removing a tan envelope from his suit, he had then asked, ¡°May I¡­approach?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a judge,¡± Abram had replied, sounding annoyed. Then he crooked four fingers at him. ¡°Whatever it is, bring it here.¡± Graeme had approached the man¡¯s desk, then opened the envelope and removed both a printout of Kalana Vayra¡¯s social media post as well as a forensic analysis that had determined its authenticity. Strangely, Abram had not seemed surprised. It was as though he¡¯d already known that the Elvish girl existed. Then again, would that even really be a shock? The leadership of the guilds were privy to a great deal of information that mere Ones such as himself would never be allowed to access. ¡°Is this why you disturbed me?¡± he¡¯d asked. ¡°I¡¯m actually stunned someone at your level wouldn¡¯t know better than to waste my time with something trivial like this.¡± ¡°Sir Gespon the Virtuous, may I please explain myself?¡± He¡¯d sighed. ¡°You have thirty seconds.¡± Graeme, with a sense of dread in his chest, had tamped down on his fear, ignored the queasiness in his belly, and with a level of confidence that had sounded so convincing he¡¯d even fooled his own self, had actually managed to turn those thirty seconds into a victory from what had surely, at least at the time, seemed to be a resounding defeat. ¡°I¡¯m not here to ask you whether or not I should censor this,¡± he¡¯d begun. ¡°I¡¯m here because, though I, a mere level 1, acknowledge that I could never be a fraction of what you are, sir Gespon the Virtuous, I must insist that there is one talent I possess in which I have no rival: and it is understanding human social tendencies, specifically as it pertains to the dissemination and spread of information.¡± ¡°And?¡± he¡¯d asked impatiently. ¡°And if you¡¯ll allow me to do so, Sir Gespon the Virtuous, I not only do not wish to censor this post, which has so far gone mostly unnoticed, but I wish to stealthily promote it: deliberately. And in a way that makes it seems organic.¡± At this, Abram had narrowed his eyes, and it had then become impossible for Graeme to read his emotions. With a calm, dispassionate voice, he¡¯d asked, ¡°And why would you want to do that?¡± ¡°Because I believe that if the public were to catch wind of this in a way that seems authentic and un-manipulated by the media or the leadership of the guilds, then they will rally behind the war effort and provide a tremendous boost in public support for further actions against the Guild of Gentlemen.¡± Abram had leaned forward, his left eyebrow raising. ¡°You must know how risky it is for a One to approach a lieutenant and actually offer political advice or discuss our politics in any capacity at all. Not only is that far, far above your station, Chief Censor, but some would say that it verges on meddling.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because it is meddling,¡± Graeme had said. ¡°Which is why I would willingly stake my life on the advice I¡¯ve given. For me to be here and take a risk like this, it could only be because I am either a mouth-drooling fool or because I¡¯m someone who has such faith in his own ability that he would dare make such a suggestion to one of the most powerful men alive. I would also have to be someone who, if given the opportunity to prove myself, would gladly accept the consequences of failure.¡± Abram had nodded at this, and a slight, but noticeable smile had popped up on the bottom-right corner of his lips. ¡°You would, wouldn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes, sir Gespon the Virtuous.¡± Abram had picked up the documents Graeme had handed him, though he¡¯d hardly paid them any real attention. Stuffing them back inside the envelope, Abram had then leaned forward and extended his arm in Graeme¡¯s direction. Nervously, Graeme took the envelope back from him. ¡°Do it,¡± he¡¯d said. ¡°I expect at least a five percentage-point increase in public support for the war effort. Any less, and I consider you to be a failure and want you out of my city. You picked your poison, now swallow it. I don¡¯t offer second chances.¡± Bowing gratefully, Graeme had hurriedly uttered his thanks and then had made his way out of the office so as not to overstay his welcome. It would not be an exaggeration to state that he had not gotten so much as a single second¡¯s sleep that night or the night after, either. He had stayed up scrolling on his phone and watching with a progressively increasing confidence and optimism that his plan had worked in exactly the way he¡¯d known it would. Now, several days later, with Kalana Vayra being the number-one trending story worldwide, and the general public broadly supporting not just a traditional, but also a conventional war if necessary against the Guild of Gentlemen, Abram had called Graeme personally to congratulate him for his accomplishment. From tomorrow on, he had announced, Graeme Braxel would soon be inducted into the ranks of the very, very small number of Ones permitted to officially join the political class as an analyst and an advisor. Though he would of course never be allowed to rise high enough to actually join the guild, as that was a birthright unobtainable by a One, he would nevertheless be treated with a certain dignity that would put him ahead of the average man¡ªsort of the halfway point between the nobility class and the commoner. And that was more than good enough for him! Unfortunately, his newfound stature would only last mere hours before it would all be horrifically yanked away from him just as quickly as it had been bestowed. And why? Because in his haste to crack open a bottle of wine with his beloved, he had left work assuming his assistant would do a final region-by-region area check, performed twice daily, to make sure that the jammers in every region were up and running. It was rare that any would break down, and it was even rarer that any major events would take place during the duration for which one was down. Even still, the jammers were the first¡ªand most significant¡ªline of defense against the distribution of dangerous materials, which was why they were checked twice daily. Although removing posts from social media was a tried and tested method of stemming the flow of harmful content, it was most effective at stopping the spread of information that was either not being ardently disseminated or had mostly gone unnoticed. It was not, however, an appropriate method of stopping a large number of witnesses from sharing content about the same topic at the same time. For this kind of situation, it was far more effective to launch an area jam, which would temporarily see all hotspots deactivated, Wi-Fi signals interrupted, data-flow through network cables halted, and phone service taken offline. Not two weeks ago, a member of an adventuring guild had literally castrated a low-ranking but nevertheless respected member of the Children of Order after he¡¯d drunkenly attempted to fondle her breast. This had taken place in public, too. Acting with the speed and wisdom required of the Chief Censor, Graeme had immediately taken action to shut down all connectivity in the area¡ªincluding even the rather antiquated ground-based phone lines¡ªwhile simultaneously erasing any mention of this unfortunate ¡°event¡± on any social media platforms. The result? The phones of witnesses had been confiscated until they could be sufficiently searched, erased, and their users bribed¡ªor if necessary, threatened¡ªinto silence. As Graeme grabbed his hat and his DEHV identification card and hurried out of his office with a big, happy smile on his face, he left a note for his assistant to do the final area check of the day. Tragically, however, he had somehow not been informed that his assistant had already left work ahead of him twenty minutes ago because her son had fallen ill in school. He also hadn¡¯t been informed that her assistant was out sick for the day. Had he only taken the time to manually inspect the status of the area jammers, he would have seen that one tiny little node had gone red somewhere in the farmlands in Whispery Woods. Specifically, in a place that was mostly desolate aside from a little town called the Den of Ziragoth. Though hardly a place likely to cause any kind of trouble, Graeme would still have taken the minute or two required to dispatch a technician to the area to have the jammer repaired. Especially since, the following morning, his assistant would be taking over as the new interim Chief Censor and would likely not be caught up to speed. For the rest of his life¡ªwhich, in all honesty, would not be a very long time¡ªGraeme would wish he could go back to this one moment to fix this one mistake. He would be tortured by the memory of happiness he¡¯d felt as he practically skipped out of his office, only to have it all come crashing down around him when he¡¯d turned on the news around noon the following day. This one little mistake would cost him everything he¡¯d ever worked for. At the very least, he would not suffer for long, as this would only be the second biggest mistake he¡¯d made in his life. The greatest mistake would turn out to be moving with his wife to Giant¡¯s Fall, a city under the control of the Royal Roses, in a desperate attempt to start his life over. Heartbroken and ashamed, he would not live long enough to truly appreciate what his only mistake in five years working for the IMA had set in motion: the mistake that started with every channel interrupting their programming to show a video of a seventeen-year-old kid with wavy, jet black hair whose hands and feet were releasing some kind of unnaturally dark smoke. At least, for tonight, he got to be happy. Chapter 46: The Piercing Thorn Chapter 46: The Piercing Thorn Scratching an itch that had formed on the tip of his nose, Haisel Ragora made sure that his arms were back down by his sides before any of his subordinates on the ship¡¯s massive deck turned around to see him. The level of activity aboard the Piercing Thorn had intensified in recent days as the ultimatum given to Sir Alistair Morrison continued to tick down. By the Gods, the last thing Haisel wanted was to have to besiege the city¡ªbut it sure looked more and more like an unavoidable conclusion, one that would see many thousands¡ªif not more¡ªdead as a result of it. If he would just fight us with honor or surrender, Haisel thought, the weight of his responsibility heavy in his chest. What man of honor would bring this upon the people he has vowed to protect? As the second-in-command of the Royal Roses, Haisel was more powerful than any other member of his guild aside from the guild-leader himself. For this reason, he had been the only person trusted to oversee the final preparations here on the Piercing Thorn, which in a sick, twisted sort of way, was a wondrous sight to behold. It was hard to believe that, in just ten years, the Royal Roses had actually managed to build this prehistoric ship from blueprints so old they¡¯d needed to use advanced AI algorithms just to make legible. And now, here he stood, on this relic of ancient human technology: a ship known as a Nimitz-class Aircraft Carrier. It had actually been Haisel¡¯s idea to recreate the carrier, though he never imagined he¡¯d actually be required to use it in a real combat situation. Back then, he¡¯d embarked upon this decade-long project for the purpose of scratching an itch that had formed inside of him as a child on the day his late father had told him the truth about humanity: the truth that was so secretive only the highest-ranking officers from each guild were permitted to know of it. The viciously guarded secret that they, human beings, were not originally from this world. Their kind came from a faraway world called ¡°Earth¡± whose very existence had only been pieced together through various artifacts from many millennia ago, such as manuals and blueprints like the ones Haisel had ordered followed in the construction of this ¡°Nimitz¡± carrier that he had named the Piercing Thorn. If any of the other races ever discovered this fact, it would paint all of humanity in a terrible light. An hour before nightfall, the late-afternoon sun still packed enough of a punch to make sweat glide down the back of his neck as he marched his way through the noisy, boisterous upper deck, watching as service technicians refueled the twelve F-15E Strike Eagles before resuming their training exercises. As far as Haisel was aware, it had been nearly eight-hundred years since the humans of Galterra had rediscovered the method of battle known as ¡°conventional warfare.¡± Back then, all of humanity had united together in a horrific, twenty-year war with the Lizard Folk. It had been a war that humanity had seemed all but certain to lose¡ªat least according to historical records. But then, the Guild of Gentlemen had unearthed blueprints from humanity¡¯s long lost home-world, and the guilds had apparently reconstructed the very-same fighter jets that were now being refueled atop this aircraft carrier. The history books, of course, would claim these new weapons to be the invention of the guilds at the time, but only Haisel and a select few others knew the truth: these ancient weapons were the product of minds that existed many, many thousands of years ago when humanity was at the peak of its greatness and power. For fifteen years, human beings had lost territory, millions of lives, and had endured an unimaginable amount of suffering as the Lizard Folk, who¡¯d been both higher in level and had far more level-1 troops to use for fodder, had simply overwhelmed even the best of their fighters. The entire war had been fought because the Lizark folk wanted to stem the continued pursuit of human expansion. Their goal had been to confine all human beings to North Bastia. They had been succeeding, too. Yet, all the while, in secret, humanity had spent those fifteen years on a project that had required the cooperation of every guild and every resource. It had been an undertaking so vast that nothing less than the absolute, enthusiastic coordination of each guild¡¯s most capable minds would allow so much as a chance of success. To even begin building these flying machines of death first required the construction of factories capable of producing the parts. And to even begin building those factories required completely separate factories, and so on and so forth. But as more and more ground had been seized by the Lizard Folk, something had awakened within the human spirit that had been dormant for so long it had been forgotten. Human beings, known as the most fractious, divisive, and self-destructive race on all of Galterra, had the unique tendency to unite in previously unimaginable ways when faced with a common enemy. It would be a lesson that none of the other races would ever forget: that for all their faults, if threatened as a whole, the power of humankind would unleash upon whoever threatened it. Thus, the human guilds persevered. Even with losses mounting month after month, the project continued until finally, in the early-morning hours on the first day of spring just before the sun had risen, the guild-leaders had authorized a fleet of the newly completed F-15E Strike Eagles to begin launching a counterattack against the Lizard Folk from the skies. First-hand sources from the time had indicated that, at best, the expectation was that their new weapons would provide humanity with some breathing room so that they could continue to train and level new defenders for the continuing war effort. This, however, had been a dramatic, overwhelming underestimation of their destructive new capability. What they had created would change the balance of power throughout all of Galterra and reestablish human beings as the dominant race. Very quickly, it became apparent to the guilds that these absurdly powerful weapons of war were able to gun down not just the fodder on the front lines, but even the best of Lizard Folk¡¯s warriors, some higher than level 50. Even tanks with exceptionally high constitution could not withstand the explosive force of what had been called an ¡°air-to-surface¡± missile. The success on the battlefield was so great that it not only turned the war around in a matter of weeks, but it had enabled humanity to retake all of their lost territory in under a month¡ªalong with the entire continent of South Bastia, which had previously been shared with the Lizard Folk. Of course, most of that was a matter of public record one could read in any basic history textbook. What would not be said was unfortunately how overboard humanity had gone with these new ¡°toys.¡± Desperate for revenge and thirsty for blood, the guilds had retaliated with a bombing campaign that had intentionally targeted civilian areas and cultural landmarks, especially those with great religious value to the Lizard Folk. Yet even that wasn¡¯t enough for some. Long after the Royal Roses and other human guilds had abandoned the war effort, the Guild of Gentlemen had unilaterally embarked upon an attempted genocide in the name of revenge, one that went well beyond what the Lizard Folk had ever planned for humanity. They had wanted to contain humans¡ªto prevent them from spreading. But the Guild of Gentlemen wanted to eradicate the entire race of Lizard Folk. To this day, the two still shared bad blood. Which was why, at this very moment, the Scale-King himself was in court to discuss aiding the current war effort. The Guild of Gentlemen remained as the only guild to never have made amends with the Lizard Folk. It would be very useful to have them on our side. As Haisel inspected each of the aircraft and asked pointed questions of the technicians who¡¯d overseen their restoration, he nodded with satisfaction. Unlike the aircraft carrier, these fighter jets had not been built from scratch. They¡¯d been taken out of storage and had needed extensive maintenance and refitting to be brought into working order. The last conventional war had taken place almost a hundred years ago, and it had been solely between humans. The cost in lives had been so great that conventional warfare had fallen out of favor, replaced instead with the current traditional system of mutual, open-field combat with the fighting to be done far away from cities or other highly populated areas. And now, we¡¯re going back to the old ways, Haisel thought sadly. No one wanted this. No one enjoyed having to turn back the clock and resort to these antiquated tactics of mass death and civilians caught in the crossfire. Should justice prevail, then the name ¡°Sir Morrison¡± would be forever shamed for allowing his personal cowardice to bring about this unfortunate escalation. Yet this was the game he¡¯d chosen to play, and the Royal Roses would not back down. They would pull out all the stops if necessary. Already, in anticipation of a return to conventional warfare, the Royal Roses had begun manufacturing and replacing the standard, military-grade HC-58 rifles with something far deadlier known as the ¡°M4 carbine,¡± which used 5.56mm rounds of far greater lethality than anything from the HC-line of weapons. They asked for this. All Sir Morrison ever had to do was fight on the field of battle with honor and dignity befitting a respected member of a guild. Failing that, Haisel would gladly have accepted his surrender. At the worst, he would have had to forfeit some of his gold and assets in exchange for his freedom. But now? Well, unless the buffoon came to his senses, the Royal Roses would have no choice but to besiege the city of Shadowfall Coast and take it by force. Their hands had been forced. They were now going to use the same technology the Guild of Gentlemen had rediscovered centuries ago to put an end to their legacy once and for all. ***** As Alistair listened with skepticism plain on his face to the simply outrageous claims put forward by Iris Roduncrest, his chief scientist, he found that he could not bring himself to believe what he was hearing¡ªeven more so, he did not want to believe it, either. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Iris, what you¡¯re saying is impossible,¡± Alistair said. He sat with her in what was both a scientific complex and also a bomb shelter located far below Shadowfall Coast that had not been used in hundreds of years¡ªand from what Alistair could see, had not even been known to exist. Unlike the stockpiles of ancient weaponry located in the tunnels up above, there had been no record of this facility, even deeper belowground, where large amounts of equipment had been frozen in cryo-storage. Though Alistair had no doubt that some of it might indeed be very powerful and useful in the coming battle, the claims Iris was now making were so ludicrous that he adamantly refused to accept them. ¡°It¡¯s not impossible,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s reality.¡± Iris was a middle-aged woman with grey hair and a face that was far more wrinkled than it would otherwise have been if not for her frequent smoking. Even now, as she spoke to Alistair, she kicked up her feet on the rusty metal table in this mysterious, perplexing bunker and lit up another of her smokes. ¡°You really have no care for decorum, do you?¡± he asked her. She took a puff, coughed, and then let out a chuckle. ¡°Fuck if I care.¡± Alistair sighed. Since they were alone, he decided not to reprimand her. Had anyone witnessed her display of impertinence towards him, he would have had no choice but to make an example of her or else risk losing the respect of the men and women who served under him. The room they were in was dark, and dust rose into the air like smoke. It had to have been several centuries since the last time someone had been down here, and if what Iris was claiming was indeed the truth, then it had been a great deal longer than that. According to Iris, it had been closer to thousands of years since anyone had set foot in this facility. Quite shockingly, Alistair wasn¡¯t even certain what this place was, exactly. Several days earlier, he¡¯d sent a team down to retrieve the anti-missile systems that secret, guild documentation claimed was stored in various secret tunnels beneath the city; his men had returned mere hours later with two pieces of news. The first bit of news was as he¡¯d suspected: there was a sizeable stockpile of defensive equipment that would be useful in protecting Shadowfall Coast in a conventional war against the Royal Roses. Alistair hoped these anti-missile systems still worked and, if not, that he would have the time needed to repair the equipment before the inevitable siege. As things stood, it was looking increasingly unlikely his reinforcements would arrive before the ultimatum expired. Most likely, the city was heading towards a resounding defeat. Earlier this morning, he¡¯d received word that the Plains of Mist had finally fallen, and now, the People of Virtue had claimed the territory as their own. Shadowfall Coast was likely to be next. Unless Alistair could somehow convince the Royal Roses to delay their invasion for three more days at the minimum, there was no way the units stealthily heading to Shadowfall Coast from the Plains of Mist would arrive in time to protect the city. But even if they did, it was still not likely to be enough. Put simply, the Guild of Gentlemen held just a fraction of the power that it had wielded even just two decades prior in the aftermath of Peter IV¡¯s defeat. More and more these days, it was looking like the end was now in sight for the several-thousand-year-old guild¡ªor so Alistair had been convinced. But then came the second piece of news. Supposedly, a cable had snapped while his men had been lifting one of the SAM turrets out of Storage Tunnel C, and it had rolled into¡ªand broken through¡ªa thinner-than-expected wall, which his men claimed had led into a completely separate area that ran far, far below the tunnels. When questioned, his men claimed this other ¡°area¡± had not been marked on or listed in any of the documentation Alistair had provided¡ªwhich should not have been possible. The Guild of Gentlemen were meticulous when it came to documentation. For thousands of years, the guild had always taken great pains to ensure that all of its secrets and all of its hidden resources were coherently described and passed on to successive generations to ensure the survival of the guild. For this reason, the very concept of a ¡°secret area¡± or an area that had not been detailed in existing documentation came across as absurd on the face of it. It was to the extent that Alistair had not been willing to believe it until he¡¯d seen it with his own two eyes. Frustrated, he¡¯d asked to be led to whatever it was they¡¯d claimed to have found. Following one of his men, he¡¯d descended a series of stairs that led down to a passage that came to an abrupt, dead end in the form of stone wall that had the words ¡°my gift to humanity¡± carved into the stone. Wanting to get to the bottom of this, Alistair had ordered an immediate excavation. Not only was this place seemingly hidden, but whoever had been responsible for it had taken great pains to make sure it was not easily accessible. It had taken days for the excavation team to safely unearth a secondary passageway, which led even farther beneath the tunnels into what was a gigantic bomb shelter that also served as some kind of scientific laboratory; it was filled with equipment preserved in cryo-storage. Promptly upon making this bewildering discovery, Alistair had dispatched Iris to investigate the nature of this unmentioned facility and report back to him. Yet, in a highly unusual measure, she¡¯d sent a message requesting he come down to her, claiming that what she¡¯d found was something she needed to tell him in person. And so, here he was, in this highly unusual subterranean research bunker, listening to Iris make a series of claims so outlandish he found himself completely unable to believe them. ¡°In all the years you¡¯ve known me,¡± Iris said, coughing as she took another hit of her smoke-stick, ¡°I ever been wrong about anything, Ali?¡± Once more, he was glad that the two of them were out of earshot, as there would be no way he could overlook such blatantly undignified behavior otherwise. With a reluctant grunt, Alistair said, ¡°No, you haven¡¯t. But you¡¯ve also never suggested something this outrageous before, either.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, what can I say? It¡¯s true, and you can either accept it or not.¡± Alistair slowly bobbed his head from left to right as he struggled to seriously consider the possibility that Iris was correct in her assertions. Logically, he had to admit that the very existence of a secretive place such as this meant there were things he did not know. But her claims were so farfetched that the suspension of disbelief required to believe them bordered on insurmountable. ¡°So let me get this straight,¡± Alistair said. ¡°You¡¯re saying there is a weapon here that will not only save this city, but that it is so powerful it will enable us to once again unite all of North and South Bastia under our rule?¡± She nodded in a way that was far too casual given her claims. ¡°Yep,¡± she said, shrugging. Then she took another hit of her smoke-stick, which resulted in her coughing for what seemed like ten minutes but was in actuality only a few seconds. ¡°Can you understand why I find this difficult to believe?¡± ¡°Sure can,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°But that¡¯s on you.¡± ¡°Explain it to me one more time, beginning with why you invoked the name of one of our earliest guild-leaders.¡± She frowned as though annoyed. Then she crooked a thumb over her shoulder at the vault door that led into an area she claimed was too dangerous to enter without wearing a protective suit that she¡¯d assured him her team was now creating for the both of them. ¡°Basically,¡± she began, ¡°from what little documentation I was able to find, one of the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s founding fathers, Moldark, had commissioned this place in secret to create a weapon that the Elvish rulers at the time were exhaustively trying to bar him from possessing.¡± ¡°Are you sure it said Moldark?¡± Moldark had been one of the earliest members of the Guild of Gentlemen. It was believed that he had also been one of the first human beings to colonize Galterra, though that was very much a closely guarded guild secret. Quite frankly, Alistair knew very little about Moldark other than that he existed. The earliest days of the Guild of Gentlemen were very murky and not well detailed. In a way, that would explain why this place had remained a secret for so long. Had anyone in the past several-thousand years discovered it, they would have written it down for future generations to know about. ¡°I know what I saw,¡± Iris said. ¡°But you don¡¯t even have to take my word for it, Ali. I¡¯ll just show you everything after I get back in there once we get the suits. Shit, I hope I wasn¡¯t exposed for too long.¡± ¡°About that,¡± Alistair said. ¡°You said it¡¯s irradiated. How can that even be?¡± ¡°It has to do with the weapon he built in here. The one you refuse to believe is real.¡± Alistair grunted. ¡°Because the way you described it¡­it sounds impossible.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s very much possible. I mean, hell, I can¡¯t believe no one¡¯s thought to make something like this in all the years ever since. I refuse to believe ancient humans really were all that smarter than us. In many ways, their technology, especially with regards to energy, pales in comparison to what we¡¯ve achieved. But Gods! When it comes to war shit, they knew what they were doing, oh yes they did!¡± ¡°Explain it to me one more time, please.¡± She sighed. ¡°It¡¯s called an ICBM: an intercontinental ballistic missile. It delivers a nuclear payload capable of leveling an entire city with just a single warhead.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the part where you lose me,¡± Alistair said. ¡°How can one single missile destroy an entire city?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t just destroy the city,¡± she interjected. ¡°That¡¯s just the initial blast. According to Moldark, this weapon then contaminates the area so that human life can¡¯t even exist in the region for decades afterwards, if not longer. It¡¯s a weapon of such destructive power that it¡¯s said to rival the smiting of a God.¡± Alistair scratched his chin as he processed what she was telling him. ¡°Let¡¯s just say for a second that I believe you, and that this¡­this ICBM really can do what you say it does. How long would it take you to learn how to fire this weapon? Or restore it to operational status if need be.¡± She coughed out a laugh. ¡°About a week longer than you have.¡± With a sheepish laugh of his own, Alistair said, ¡°Let¡¯s say through some miracle we can hold that long. Then what? How does this missile save us the way you implied it can?¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy.¡± She grinned, slapping her palm down on the rusty metal table. ¡°You go and launch this mother fucker at Giant¡¯s Fall, and the entire world will surrender to you right there on the spot. It doesn¡¯t matter that there¡¯s only one of these things in here. They won¡¯t know that. You go and tell the guilds you¡¯ve got plenty more where that came from, and the next thing you know, you¡¯ve got North and South Bastia by the balls¡­sir.¡± ¡°How many will die?¡± ¡°In Giant¡¯s Fall?¡± ¡°Yes. If everything you¡¯ve said so far is correct. How many would die?¡± ¡°Uh¡­all of them,¡± Iris said. ¡°Every single person?¡± ¡°Yeah, definitely. Well¡­maybe not from the blast. But anyone who lives is just going to die from radiation poisoning a few weeks to a few months later.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t¡­I could never do that,¡± Alistair whispered. Once again, she shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s them or us, Ali. But you¡¯re the one in charge.¡± As Alistair regarded her, he could not control the fascination he felt that this wrinkly-faced, smoke-stick puffing woman would so casually and easily suggest to him that he launch an attack with a weapon so powerful it would kill tens of millions of people. Worse, he was now so pressed into a corner that he was actually considering it. ¡°Them or us,¡± he said, repeating her words in his head. He sighed. ¡°Too bad we¡¯ll be dead before we ever have the time to see if this thing works. Maybe that¡¯s for the best. If this really is what you say it is, then I don¡¯t know if I want to be in a position to use it.¡± ¡°Afraid you might do it?¡± He nodded. ¡°Very much so.¡± Chapter 47: Spider Chapter 47: Spider Holding out her palm, Anelia signaled once more for the aging farmer to take it easy as she scooped up another bale of hay and loaded it onto the back of the massive hauler-DEHV where it was parked just outside his farm on the outskirts of town. A few beads of sweat rolled down her forehead, though it was from the heat and not the exertion. Despite the sun having only risen an hour ago, the temperature had already warmed considerably. It seemed the current heatwave was showing no signs of relenting. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t mind?¡± the elderly farmer asked. Though his teeth were rotten, his appearance haggard, and his clothing torn in places, a determined strength could still be seen in his dark blue eyes. ¡°I can at least help.¡± ¡°This is nothing to me,¡± Anelia said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Even in her armor, the two-hundred-pound bundle felt as though it barely weighed more than a twig. There was no reason for this man to break his back. Gods only knew how a level 1 managed to do this kind of intense labor at his age. For the past two days, Anelia had spotted him struggling as she¡¯d patrolled around the town in search of her target. Despite his frailty and overtly poor state of health, Anelia had watched as he¡¯d found the strength each day to perform what, to him, must have been a very strenuous task. It reminded her of her late father, a man whose memory she would forever cherish. He, like this old farmer, had worked himself to the bone long after he should have retired in comfort. Lacking anything better to do, she¡¯d decided to come by this morning and give the guy a hand. It was a good way to kill some time while striking up a conversation with one of the locals. She¡¯d gotten to know quite a few of them over the past few days. This man, if memory served her, was named Jaken Felsnar, and he had lived on this farm here in the Den of Ziragoth for all of his life. Apparently, his wife had passed away a year prior, and his eighteen-year-old son was off fighting for the Guild of Gentlemen in the Plains of Mist under the command of Sir Guthric Talbid. He clearly had no way of knowing that the conflict there had now been resolved, as in typical guild fashion, the media had been kept from reporting that Sir Guthric had been killed in action and would likely say nothing on the matter for at least a few more days. Custom demanded that Sir Talbid¡¯s family and next of kin first be allowed a week to process and grieve before his death be made public. More to the point: if Sir Talbid was dead, it was most likely the case that this man¡¯s son was dead as well¡ªthough Anelia didn¡¯t have the heart to tell him that. ¡°I really appreciate this,¡± he said to her. ¡°But just so you know, you really don¡¯t have to do this. I really¡­I am fine.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m here anyway. Like I said, this is nothing to me. I could lift your entire DEHV if I really wanted to.¡± He bowed his head, and there was a look of pure gratitude in his eyes. ¡°I am so honored. Thank you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± He scratched the single patch of grey hair that still remained on his otherwise bald head, then said, ¡°I hear you¡¯ve been doing so much for the town since you came here. You gave us all a big fright at first, but the Gods have truly blessed us with your presence. They say you pulled Arin¡¯s tractor out of the mud last night with your bare hands.¡± Anelia shrugged. ¡°I was in the area.¡± ¡°Whatever the reason, you¡¯re a good man, Mr. Hellcrest. I mean that.¡± Anelia didn¡¯t bother to correct him. The fact that she looked like a man was by design. It was useful in her profession. She found that it was easier to intimidate people, especially men, if they believed it was a man who was beating the information out of them. Early on in her career, she would every so often encounter someone who was so stubborn that no amount of torture or pain would allow his pride to give her the information she sought. To some men, dignity mattered more than broken bones. Truth be told, she held no preference for such violent methods of extracting information. In almost all circumstances, she much favored going the route of bribery. It wasn¡¯t always an option, though: at least not with some. For those types, it was easier in the long run just to masquerade as a male. It wasn¡¯t difficult for her, either, as she had always been unattractive and unsightly compared to other women. Her jaw was oversized, her cheeks were square-shaped, and her other cheeks were flatter than the surface of a dining table. It was fine, though. She did not yearn to be pretty. And why? Because with enough power and gold, everyone became beautiful in the eyes of the world. ¡°So, uh, have you found that boy yet?¡± Jaken asked. At this, she shook her head. ¡°He¡¯ll be here, though. Just keep your eyes peeled.¡± She bent down, grabbed another bale of hay, and loaded it onto the truck. ¡°And don¡¯t worry: whether I find him first or someone from town alerts me to his presence, you¡¯ll all still be rewarded.¡± Anelia had really taken a liking to this town. Though small and old fashioned, with a population of only around three thousand, it was a wholesome community of hardworking folks who were struggling to get by. With the reward for Zachys Calador now topping six million, Anelia decided that, after claiming his head, she¡¯d invest a million into this town¡¯s development for all the hospitality they¡¯d shown her. The school here was apparently in great need of new textbooks, the community center had fallen apart a few years back during a hurricane, and several of the roads leading in and out of town had potholes deep enough to damage tires. It seemed the Guild of Gentlemen were collecting tax money but not adequately performing their role as the governing body. Sadly, she doubted anything would change any time soon. The Whispery Woods was one of the most impoverished regions in North Bastia, and the Guild of Gentlemen had seemingly given up on it long before their current war with the Royal Roses and the People of Virtue. It wasn¡¯t just the crumbling city or the rise in organized crime that had been sprouting up more and more lately. Even the farmlands were being neglected despite the fact that a third of humanity¡¯s crops were grown here. Whispery Woods had devolved into the slums of humanity. The only exception, of course, was the upper-middle-class town of Doom-Bound Keep and some of the suburbs nearby it. Given the overall economic state of affairs, it was no surprise that, despite being completely undefended, no guild had bothered to contest or claim the region as their own. It wouldn¡¯t even require an army, either. Literally any guild, even a minor one, could step in and declare themselves the new rulers without a single ounce of blood being spilled. But Anelia knew that none would, as the tax revenue coming in would not come close to offsetting the cost of maintaining the aging city. Had these farmlands been their own region or part of any other, things would be different. But since they could not be decoupled from the city, they were being dragged down with it. Humorously, Anelia realized that Whispery Woods might be the one region that the Guild of Gentlemen would ultimately be allowed to keep when their multi-front war finally ended. She was fairly certain that Tomb of Fire, the former capital of the monarchy, was next on the list of targets once Shadowfall Coast inevitably fell. That was assuming there would be anyone left to defend it. Rumor had it the Guild of Gentlemen were putting it all on the line to protect Shadowfall Coast and were sparing no resources. If that were the case, then the legendary Guild of Gentlemen might come to an end in the coming weeks¡ªat least with the way things were going. Oh well. Sucked to be them. Having finished loading the last bale of hay onto Jaken¡¯s hauler-DEHV, Anelia wiped her hands on her scale leggings while he thanked her profusely and swore that one day he would repay her kindness. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± she said to him. ¡°All I ask is that you keep an eye out for my bounty, all right old man?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± he said. Then, lowering his voice, he whispered, ¡°Is he dangerous?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t actually know,¡± Anelia replied truthfully. ¡°What¡¯d he do, anyhow?¡± ¡°He maimed a member of the Royal Roses.¡± She raised her finger to her nose. ¡°But that¡¯s a secret you don¡¯t repeat, got it?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± His mouth dropping slightly, he said, ¡°If I see him¡ªor any of us see him¡ªyou¡¯ll be the first to know. The last thing we need in our town is a violent fugitive.¡± ¡°If you do see him, make sure you don¡¯t bother him or mess with him in any way, okay? Treat him as you would anyone else. I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll attack unprovoked. But because I can¡¯t know that for sure, it¡¯s best to be as passive as possible and stay out of his way unless he approaches you first. I¡¯ll be in town and never more than a few minutes away.¡± ¡°Understood. We won¡¯t let you down.¡± ¡°I know you won¡¯t.¡± With that, Anelia walked away and headed back for the direction of the town. She paused a moment, feeling a vibration in her pocket. She removed her cell phone and glanced down to see that she had missed four texts from her handler. She ignored all four of them. She knew what he was going to say: that Zachys Calador was a lost cause and that she should begin working on finding a new target to hunt until rumors of the kid resurfaced somewhere. Even after all these years of proving him wrong and rubbing it in his face, it looked like she¡¯d have to pull off yet another ¡°I told you so¡± on her handler once again. She knew Zachys would come here. She knew that the adventurers could vanish into thin air only to come back later in the spot they¡¯d disappeared. Returning her phone to her pocket, she resumed her trek back into town content in the knowledge that she¡¯d covered her bases. Anelia had spent the time required to make friends with the locals in the most strategically important locations: the pub, the inn, the general goods store, and with the majority of the street merchants in the open-air market dead center in the middle of town. If Zachys should wander in and somehow slip past her notice, then all Anelia would require was one of the townsfolk to spot him and call her work number on the card she¡¯d given many of the locals. He¡¯ll be here, she thought, licking her lips. Zachys Calador would come, and when he did, she would be ready to dispense justice and get paid in the process. A grin formed on her face as she imagined how wonderful it would be to collect the gigantic reward they¡¯d put up on him. Vendettas were good business, truly. Even subtracting the one-million gold she planned to invest back into the town, this was still going to be one hell of a payday. ***** As Zach returned his keycard and prepared to leave with Rian and Lienne, he finally discovered the reason Angelica¡¯s had been so crowded yesterday¡ªand was even more crowded this morning. It was actually kind of surprising he hadn¡¯t picked up on it until just now, whereupon it had become the primary topic of conversation among the patrons, all of whom seemed giddy with excitement. Apparently, in just fifteen more hours, room 857 was going to be available for booking, and everyone¡ªincluding even Fluffles, oddly enough¡ªwanted to partake in the raffle that Angelica was setting up to determine who would get dibs on booking it. Zach still couldn¡¯t believe this low-room-number shit was such a big deal. Then again, he¡¯d be lying if he said there wasn¡¯t a part of him that wanted to be here for the raffle. Even though he didn¡¯t have enough points to book the room for the 100 days required to actually do anything with it, he could probably sell it for a huge, huge profit. Greed before need, he thought with a snicker. Then he looked at Fluffles, who was practically hopping around in anticipation of the event, which still had many hours to go before beginning. The sight of it really took him aback. Wanting things like tuna and chicken, Zach could understand. But this was the first time he¡¯d seen Fluffles display a keen interest in real-estate. ¡°Zach,¡± he said longingly. ¡°I am a good cat, so I get room?¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s at least a chance you will. I mean, it¡¯s a raffle.¡± He raised his arms up into the air. ¡°Anyone can win it.¡± ¡°Fluffles deserve the most,¡± he said, sounding annoyed at the idea that other people also had an equal chance of booking the room. As if out of agitation, he leapt up onto the bar counter. Angelica, who was busy rifling through something in one of the drawers, patted Fluffles without even turning to look at him. Fluffles, in turn, purred, then hopped back down and spun around in a circle. ¡°I get the room. Right, Zach?¡± ¡°Only if you¡¯re lucky and win,¡± he replied, having to raise his voice so that he could be overheard amid the raucous shouting and singing from the swarm of adventurers that had now descended upon the tavern floor¡ªwhich also seemed somehow bigger now than it had been yesterday. Was he imagining it, or had the tavern actually expanded so that dozens more tables were now available for seating? No, I¡¯m not imagining it. There are twice as many people here but there¡¯s still just as much room to walk around in. Returning his attention to Fluffles, Zach asked, ¡°Why do you even want the room, anyway?¡± ¡°Fluffles want,¡± the cat said back to him. Zach nodded. ¡°Well, yeah, that part I get. But my question is why do you want it? You¡¯re a cat.¡± Even with all the noise going on in Angelica¡¯s, Zach could clearly make out the angry meow Fluffles directed at him. ¡°I want it!¡± the cat snapped. ¡°Stupid humans have big houses. I get to have big Fluffles house too!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need a house, though. Why would a cat need an entire house?¡± Fluffles hissed at him, and Zach could sense he¡¯d offended the furry creature. ¡°Sorry, sorry,¡± he said quickly. ¡°No offense intended. Sheesh, you¡¯re really sensitive sometimes, little buddy.¡± ¡°That cause Zach say mean thing and say Fluffles can¡¯t be homeowner.¡± That wasn¡¯t exactly what Zach had said, but was it really worth the effort required to correct him? He thought not. When it came to Fluffles, it was best to just apologize and move on. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said. ¡°My bad.¡± ¡°It okay. I forgive.¡± The cat brushed against him, and Zach patted the top of his head. ¡°I stay for raffle.¡± ¡°Will you come find us after it¡¯s done? We¡¯ll be in the Den of Ziragoth.¡± ¡°I go to Zach after. Fluffles promise.¡± Zach smiled. ¡°Good, because I¡¯d miss you a lot if you didn¡¯t. Anyway, we¡¯re probably going to head out now, all right?¡± The cat meowed in what Zach took to be acknowledgement. ¡°Be a good cat, okay?¡± ¡°I always a good cat. Lienne say I am best. Right, Lienne? Remember? You told Fluffles. You say it. You say Fluffles best cat.¡± Lienne bent down and gave Fluffles a pat, then kissed him on top of his head. ¡°Yes you are. Bye for now, pretty kitty.¡± Rather than reply, Fluffles hastily about-faced, jumped up on top of the nearest table in the tavern, and stole a piece of breaded chicken from the plate of a gruff-looking, broad-shouldered adventurer a moment before he stuck his fork in it. Then he took off and sped away, leaping over the edge of the table and darting beneath another one closer to the center of the tavern. With a sigh, Zach watched the cat disappear out of sight, and then he turned around and began heading with Rian and Lienne towards the blue metal push-bar door that would likely lead back to B10, where he expected to find an elevator they could use to return to the surface of Galterra. However, seconds after he started walking, something caught his ear from the table behind him. ¡°Every time with that damn cat,¡± loudly growled the man whose chicken Fluffles had stolen. ¡°Wish it would get hit by a DEHV and be smushed into the pavement. Next time I see that cat, I¡¯m kicking it.¡± Upon hearing the man¡¯s words, Zach stopped dead in his tracks, and for a moment, he merely stood in place while his lips pursed all on their own. Forcing himself to take a long, slow, and calming breath, Zach told himself to just ignore the disgusting comment and continue on. Words were just words, after all, and he knew Fluffles would always be safe in Angelica¡¯s. There was no reason for him to say anything or react in any way. Rian seemed to agree, because with a rather urgent gesture of his chin, he indicated for Zach to continue on his way to the exit door. And so Zach did. He took one step. Then he took another step. Then he even took a third step after that one. But following his fourth step, he stopped once more, shook his head angrily, and abruptly spun back around on his heels even as Lienne and Rian shot him a worried look and silently mouthed calls for him not to say anything to the man and to keep walking out with them. Zach tried so hard to stop himself, too, but the idiot¡¯s words had penetrated his skull and seeped into his brain like a poison. ¡°Hey, asshole!¡± Zach called to the man, who then began turning his entire chair around so fast it was almost as though he¡¯d been expecting such a reaction. ¡°Yeah?¡± the guy said back to him. ¡°Don¡¯t do it,¡± Rian whispered. ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± ¡°Zach, no,¡± Lienne hissed in an equally low tone of voice. ¡°That¡¯s¡ª¡± Zach ignored the both of them, refusing to listen to their hushed protests. Even if this was a bad idea, the two of them couldn¡¯t say a damn word after what they¡¯d pulled with Moldark. Tuning them out, he instead stared directly into the eyes of the much-larger, much-older man. ¡°The fuck did you just say about my cat?¡± he asked with venom seeping through each one of his words. As the man fully turned in his direction, the sheer number of scars on his face made Zach immediately regret his choice of action. This was doubly the case as the imposing fellow got right up from the table, causing his companions to smirk as he took three powerful steps towards Zach and glanced down at him with a shit-eating grin proudly displayed on his scarred-up visage. ¡°I said,¡± he began menacingly, ¡°I hope that stray cat gets run over by a DEHV, and I hope I¡¯m the one driving it. Got a problem with that, son?¡± ¡°Actually, I do,¡± Zach said, refusing to buckle under the intensity of the man¡¯s sharp gaze. ¡°Take it back.¡± ¡°Uh-huh¡­or what?¡± ¡°Just take it back.¡± ¡°Make me.¡± Zach scowled. The words sent such a dark anger coursing through him that he almost didn¡¯t care that the man was nearly as tall as Mr. Oren and looked like his entire body had been manufactured in an ass-kicking factory. He was tall, black, bald-headed, and appeared to be in his mid-to-late thirties. He was wearing leather-studded armor that was similar to Rian¡¯s, only his was lined internally with metal rivets that seemed to emit a constant red light like that of a laser pointer; a shortsword was at the side of each of his hips, the bladed ends pointing downwards at his steel-tipped boots. Though he tried to keep a brave face, Zach couldn¡¯t deny the squeezing, pinching fear he felt in his belly as the man towered over him in an intimidating, confident way. Even amid his anger, there was still enough room left over for this man to simultaneously frighten him. The guy was clearly dangerous. Zach could tell from the heat in his eyes. ¡°Angelica,¡± the man said without even turning to look in her direction. He kept his eyes focused solely on Zach. ¡°Yeah, Spider?¡± ¡°We¡¯re gonna need two of those nullification grapes. One for me and one for Zachys Calador.¡± How does he know my name? Zach wondered. He was sure he¡¯d never met the man before. And¡­nullification grapes? That sounds familiar. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Where had Zach heard that term before? ¡°Nullification grapes.¡± It was right on the tip of his tongue. Wait¡­wait a minute. Oh, right! Now he remembered. Yesterday, Mister and Misses Britethorn had told him about those. They were for people who wanted to fight out their differences in Angelica¡¯s. It would reset a person to level 1 for around five minutes while also blocking out the use of any abilities. But wait a second¡­if she was bringing Zach one of those, then did that mean she thought he wanted to¡­? ¡°How exciting,¡± Angelica said cheerfully, speaking loudly as if addressing the quickly growing crowd that had begun to form around them. ¡°Our noobie Zach just picked a fight with Spider.¡± Her cat-like ears twitched, and she handed him a small, round, soft, and oval-shaped piece of fruit that looked like a grape except it was silver in color, which Zach found strange. ¡°Two nullification grapes, here ya go,¡± Angelica said. Wait, Zach thought, his mind struggling to keep pace with the sudden change in scenery around him. We¡¯re fighting? For real? He didn¡¯t even fully understand what was happening to him until three-quarters of the patrons at the tavern had already encircled him and the cat-hating brute while drunkenly cheering at the prospect of a fight. It was almost like high school except with flashy, gear-wearing adventurers of all ages egging them on instead of terminally bored teenagers looking for any excuse to escape the monotony of daily school life. ¡°Hey, um, Angelica,¡± Zach whispered, ¡°I didn¡¯t agree to¡ª¡± ¡°Sword off,¡± she interrupted with a smile. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Your sword. Take it off your back.¡± Even as he complied, unclipping the harness and then handing his blade¡ªstill inside the scabbard¡ªto Rian, who nervously took it from him, he continued his attempt to clarify the situation. ¡°I didn¡¯t agree to¡ª¡± ¡°Equipment off,¡± Angelica said. ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°Take off your equipment, Zach.¡± With that, she derailed his entire train of thought as a much more urgent and immediate concern came over him. ¡°I¡­I can¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°Is it stuck?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­¡± He felt heat entering into his cheeks. ¡°Everything I¡¯m wearing but my boxer shorts is equipment.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine!¡± she said with an even broader smile. ¡°Off, off, off!¡± Interestingly, it seemed this ¡°Spider¡± fellow he¡¯d stupidly gotten himself into a conflict with was in the same boat. But he appeared to have no issue following the instruction. He was now shirtless wearing nothing but his underpants. With a fuller view of him, Zach could see that the guy was absolutely shredded. Gods be damned, he couldn¡¯t possibly have picked a worse person to start shit with. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I want to¡ª¡± ¡°Equipment off,¡± Angelica said, now speaking far more forcefully. Her smile had faded as well. ¡°Zach¡­¡± Not wanting to find himself on the bad side of a sentient NPC that was over level one-thousand, Zach realized he had no choice but to comply; nervously, he gulped and then hastily removed his tunic, boots, headband, and hand wraps. The moment he pulled down his pants, he saw Lienne¡¯s eyes go wide and then she began to blush. She was totally staring, too. ¡°We need more fights like this,¡± a chick standing next to her said. She was with a friend of hers, who giggled and nodded in agreement. Both were sipping drinks with umbrellas in them, and they, along with a number of other girls, began hooting while making loud, demanding, and occasionally obscene comments. Before Zach could once again try to diffuse the situation that he himself had created, Angelica commanded both of them to eat the grape. When Zach hesitated for just a moment, she set her eyes upon him, and he knew right away he could not refuse. Though Angelica was a cute girl with literal cat ears, she was also far more terrifying than this egregious man named ¡°Spider¡± who¡¯d wished death upon Fluffles. Thus, not wanting to upset or provoke her, Zach stuffed the silver-colored grape in his mouth and began to chew. It had a foul, bitter taste. It reminded him more of an olive than it did a grape. And he hated olives. I can¡¯t believe this is happening, he thought. I¡¯m actually about to get into a fistfight for the sake of my cat¡¯s honor. The more it dawned on him what he¡¯d actually just roped himself into, the dumber, more immature, and shameful he felt. His overall situation was just¡­it was absolutely ridiculous. Here he was, standing barefoot in the tavern in nothing but his boxer shorts, and all because some random asshole had made a mean remark about the creature that, in truth, was only really ¡°sort of¡± his cat. What the hell has gotten into me? Zach asked himself. Me, of all people, fighting this giant muscle-man for my cat¡¯s honor. Not even his life or anything. Just his damned honor. I must not be all that smart if I can end up in a situation like this. For a period of ten seconds that felt way, way longer, Angelica darted her eyes between the two of them in silence. Zach wasn¡¯t sure why¡ªat least not at first. But then, towards the end of her ten-second period of quiet, he felt a dramatic shift take place inside of himself. Suddenly, he felt weaker. He felt slower. His sense of balance and steadiness decreased to where he felt positively clumsy. His limbs felt weightier and less responsive. The weight of Galterra¡¯s gravity seemed to press down more firmly onto his back, making him feel heavier and burdened. It was only now, having been reset to level 1, that he truly understood the power he¡¯d earned for himself through leveling. It also left him struggling to come to grips with the fact that this had been the way he¡¯d lived most of his life up until this point. This was how most people felt every single day. Gods, it was awful! What struck him as odd, however, was that when Mr. Oren had made him wear the lab coat, he hadn¡¯t felt all that different when it was on him versus when it had come off. Zach supposed it was something that took a while to really understand. The whole incident had been brief, relatively speaking, and Zach had been in an incredibly fragile emotional state at the time with his mind in total disarray. Now, however, he very much felt the result of losing his stats. It was not pleasant by any means. ¡°All right, you¡¯re both good to go,¡± Angelica announced, speaking in a way that came across as casual. ¡°Just like that?¡± Zach asked fearfully as she began walking away. ¡°Like, are we supposed to just¡ª¡± Spider was on him in a second. Zach hadn¡¯t even been looking in the man¡¯s direction when he attacked, but he¡¯d noticed the movement in the corner of his eyes. All at once, he closed his mouth and let his words fall off. Right away, without even consciously choosing to do so, Zach turned his head towards his attacker and began analyzing the man¡¯s foot movements, his positioning, and on which leg he had distributed more or most of his weight. Though his stats had been reset, it was in this very moment that Zach came to realize he was still nevertheless a different person now from the level-1 kid he¡¯d been before, as the old Zachys Calador would never have noticed the approaching threat in his peripheral vision, nor would he have known how to respond to it even if he had. Clearly, were it not for the chaotic mess of wondrous highs and bottomless lows that his life had descended into recently, he would not have gained the combat experience needed to avoid being clocked in the face and knocked out cold. Even while his body felt sluggish and unresponsive, his mind worked at its usual speed. Fueled by a bevy of previous combat encounters¡ªeverything from Fluffles¡¯ wooden swords to dinner forks that spat out globs of explosive mucus¡ªZach now understood that while his physical body may have been reset, his brain had, in a sense, remained leveled up. Thus, even with everything being taken away from him, he was still so much more than he¡¯d ever been before. Drawing upon all of his past experiences, Zach bent backwards and slipped out of the way of a right-handed uppercut that had been cruising directly for his chin. Then, with the crowd cheering encouragements to both of them, he dodged a left hook and another, second uppercut, before nearly clipping his foe¡¯s jaw with a swift counter jab that the man had actually seemed to evade by accident, having only coincidentally turned his body in the opposite direction of his fist. As Zach took a single hop backwards and avoided a low kick aimed at his shin, it suddenly occurred to him that all of his fear had now vanished: it was completely gone. It reminded him of his fight with Moldark in that his brain had transitioned into ¡°fighting mode.¡± He¡¯d shifted gears. Whether it was due to his constant brushes with death in the Catacombs of Yorna or the traumatic night he¡¯d gone toe-to-toe with Varsh, something had dramatically changed within Zach. Any time he now found himself in the thick of a fight¡ªas opposed to the terrifying moment before it actually began¡ªhis fear would amazingly evaporate and his newly acquired skills would take over. I¡¯ve almost died so many times, he thought to himself. I can handle a little fistfight between two level 1s. This is nothing compared to Moldark! Though ostensibly on equal footing, Zach knew he still needed to be very careful against someone like Spider, because even though the two of them now had a mere 1 point into every stat¡ªthe same as any other level 1¡ªit didn¡¯t mean the two of them were equally as strong or could strike one another with the same amount of strength. Given Spider¡¯s much larger fame and toned, muscular body, Zach knew the man¡¯s punches likely packed a whole lot more power than he himself was capable of delivering. This much, Spider seemed all-too-eager to demonstrate as he pivoted on his hips and threw an unforgiving left hook Zach¡¯s way. Raising his right fist to block, an intense pain erupted in his wrist as he absorbed the blow and then followed it up with a left hook of his own. To his surprise and satisfaction, he actually managed to bludgeon the cat-hating scoundrel, crashing his fist into the man¡¯s jaw with enough force to snap his head back. Though if it caused the guy any pain, he did not let it show, because the man''s only reaction was to put on a broad smile that seemed shockingly genuine. The crowd erupted into a wild, unified cheer, roaring in what was clearly utter surprise at the fact that the much smaller and far-less experienced fighter had just landed the first clean blow against this older, far stronger beast of a man. ¡°Gods above!¡± a voice cried out from somewhere behind Zach. He neither recognized the voice nor could he afford to turn around to see who¡¯d spoken. ¡°Did you see that shit? That Zach kid just clobbered him!¡± ¡°Seriously though, what¡¯s even happening?¡± someone else said. ¡°That was insane.¡± Bouncing slightly off the balls of his feet, Zach kept his body loose and as agile as possible given his return to level 1. The worst thing he could do was stiffen up and become too tense. He needed to be able to make quick, efficient movements. Though hardly the same as a swordfight, a duel with fists still drew upon much of the same principles as any form of melee-based combat. If he could dodge a sword, he could dodge a fist. ¡°You¡¯re better than I thought you¡¯d be,¡± Spider said to him. ¡°Gee, thanks,¡± Zach replied dryly. ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± Immediately following those two words, Spider frowned, and Zach wasn¡¯t sure why. It wasn¡¯t even a look of anger or rage, but one of something that almost resembled disappointment. ¡°Son,¡± he said, lifting his chin. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± He made a ¡°tsk¡± and said, ¡°Keep your damn hands up. Always. Don¡¯t drop them.¡± Is this guy seriously giving me advice? Zach almost wanted to do the opposite of what he was saying just out of some twisted kind of stubborn, principled spite, but he knew that the guy, this ¡°Spider,¡± was actually right. He wasn¡¯t going to admit that, though. Instead, he concentrated only on weaving and ducking as Spider gunned him down with a series of powerful left-right combinations that saw Zach backing farther and farther away until nearly stumbling into a table. This, as what looked like hundreds of buzzed adventurers, some outright drunk, cheered and cried out with glee. Unable to find an opening, Zach continued to backpedal, and once more, he was being driven in the direction of another round, wooden table. But this, it turned out, provided something of an opportunity. Mere inches from bumping into it, he was ready to react as Spider struck out at him with a straight-cross. Sensing an opening, Zach quickly spun around and to the man¡¯s right side, then threw up his foot into a round kick aimed at his stomach. He dodged, of course, but in so doing, the man bumped into the table and, for just the slightest instant, was put off balance. And while he was quick to reorient himself and turn in Zach¡¯s direction, unfortunately¡ªfor him, anyway¡ªZach was already waiting for him. Realizing that this might be his one and only chance to take the far-larger man down, Zach walloped him on the right side of his face, causing his head to snap to the left. Then, he followed up with a powerful hook with his opposite hand, grunting with the effort. His knuckles bashed into Spider¡¯s cheek, and this time, the man¡¯s head snapped to the left. Finally, Zach finished the combo by bending his knees and shooting his fist upwards into an uppercut. Yet somehow, Spider kept enough of his composure to move both of his forearms protectively in front of his face and block. Cursing under his breath, Zach nearly fell over as he twisted his body to escape the man¡¯s intense counter punch. Once more, he found himself put on the defensive. But now, Zach began to sense a certain repetition to the way Spider attacked, and upon noticing this, he formed a plan. All he needed to do was focus and not be distracted by the thunderous cheering from the spectating adventurers. ¡°Wow, Zach!¡± Lienne cried. ¡°Get him,¡± Rian shouted. ¡°Keep going! Li, our buddy is tough as shit. That¡¯s Spider he¡¯s duking it out with.¡± ¡°I know, I know!¡± They weren¡¯t the only ones who seemed impressed¡ªor at least amused. ¡°This is actually hilarious,¡± a male voice from somewhere in the crowd said. ¡°You can tell Spider didn¡¯t see that coming. That¡¯s what he gets for toying with the noobie.¡± Drowning out the background noise, Zach focused carefully and analyzed the man¡¯s movements, watching as Spider entered into something of a pattern, throwing first a high-left followed immediately after by a low right aimed at the abdomen. One after the next, he continued on and on with this exact same series of strikes. Zach had to keep himself from grinning as he¡¯d already discovered a way to exploit it. Now that he¡¯d memorized Spider¡¯s attack pattern, he only needed to ensure he struck out with the correct timing. With that in mind, Zach waited until Spider threw two more consecutive left-right combinations, and then, on the third, Zach stepped into as opposed to away from the man, who cocked his right eyebrow as though in surprise. Now, Zach allowed himself to grin. He¡¯d just won the fight. He was about to knock the guy out cold. Drawing back his arm, he slightly bent his knees, and with a grunt, he launched himself forward, striking with all of his strength. A moment before impact, something bizarre happened, and Zach seemed to lose track of time. Then a loud ringing erupted unexpectedly in his ears along with an intense sensation of confusion and nausea. For less than half a second, Zach forgot where he was and what he was doing. It was to the extent that he almost wondered if he¡¯d nodded off to sleep even while still on his feet. Seconds later, a searing, pounding ache traveled through the top of his head while the world blurred and the ground seemed to shake. His balance became wobbly, and he began to fight with his own body to remain upright; he was also fairly certain that he was seeing double. ¡°What the fuck?¡± he asked, to no one in particular. He was confused. Had something happened to him? Why was he feeling this way? You¡¯re in a fight, stupid! What are you doing? Gritting his teeth, Zach shook his head, and with extreme rapidity, the fogginess in his brain lifted as it took until just then for him to realize he¡¯d been hit¡ªhard. Spider had brought down his fist and rapped him right on top of his skull. ¡°I¡¯m not a mob, son,¡± Spider said, pointing at him. ¡°You¡¯re a damn good fighter for your age, you¡¯ve got good instincts, and you¡¯re brave, too, but if you don¡¯t learn to mentally switch back and forth between people and mobs, you¡¯re going to die in the real world. I¡¯m not a mob. I don¡¯t have attack patterns. Don¡¯t study me like that. Rookie mistake.¡± ¡°What?¡± Zach asked. Spider didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he looked over to Angelica. ¡°He¡¯s okay to keep going?¡± ¡°Nah-uh,¡± she said. ¡°But you already know that which is why you stopped attacking him. Otherwise, I would¡¯ve said something.¡± She pointed at Zach. ¡°That hit was a standing knockout. He lost consciousness for half a second.¡± ¡°I did not,¡± Zach said defensively. ¡°He got a lucky shot in. I stayed on my feet. What kind of bullshit is this?¡± ¡°You can lose consciousness without hitting the ground,¡± Spider said. ¡°And you did. You lost. Good fight, son.¡± Is he mocking me? Becoming angrier by the second, Zach refused to yield. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m fine,¡± Zach said, feeling humiliated and refusing to lose a fight in front of all these people. It was bad enough that he was fighting shirtless and barefoot in his boxers, but to be KO¡¯d in a single hit like that¡­it was just too embarrassing. He was also fine. There was no need to stop. ¡°Let¡¯s keep going.¡± Spider shook his head no. ¡°Angelica says you¡¯re done. So you¡¯re done.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Zach gripped his hands even more tightly and then charged forward. He did not make it so much as a single step. Somehow, even from where she¡¯d been standing at the bar all the way across from him, Angelica managed to cross what had to be fifty feet of distance in about a hundredth of a second. It was so fast that only the slight blur as she moved let Zach know she hadn¡¯t actually teleported. But at the speed she¡¯d just moved, why wasn¡¯t there a sonic boom? He had no idea how she¡¯d done that. Now, standing in front of him, Angelica brought him to a complete halt simply by placing one hand on his shoulder. Her other hand, she placed on her hip. ¡°Zach, I said it¡¯s done.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Zach insisted. ¡°Trust me. I¡¯m good to¡ª¡± For just the briefest instant, her name flickered red in a way that was almost emotive. It was only for a split second, but it was clearly deliberate, as she lifted her hand and pointed at her own name in the air above her. Zach understood the message being sent to him loudly and clearly: it was like a non-verbal, visual warning. Gulping nervously, he nodded, unclenched his fists, and lowered his hands to his sides. He might have been royally pissed off, but he wasn¡¯t suicidal. He¡¯d have to be mad to disobey a level-1027 NPC. Calmly, and perhaps a touch pleadingly, he said, ¡°I really am fine, though.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t be if you take another hit like that.¡± More loudly, Angelica said, ¡°Minor head trauma. Can anyone heal?¡± All at once, about twenty different voices mumbled something in unison as nearly two-dozen people cast various healing spells on him all at once; it was as though it were such a trivial matter that the time required to coordinate who would cast it was worth more than the exertion of simply firing it off regardless. Now, Zach was covered in so many different types of green auras and green mists that he completely, totally lost his ability to see anything around him other than a screen of pure dark green. There was just a total, all-encompassing shroud of various types of green energy surrounding him. Some of the spells were the same, of course. At least six of them mirrored what Lienne had typically used on him. But five or so were more of a ¡°mist¡± like the one he¡¯d seen from Fluffles, and three were semi-identical beams of light. One stood out to him the most, however. As it did not quite ¡°cover¡± him as it did splash him. Even amid the storm of various dark green mists, auras, and energies that blocked out his view of everything more than a foot or two away from him, Zach flinched, startled, as what looked like ten gallons of dark green water drenched him from head to toe, soaking him completely. Strangely, however, after just a few seconds had come and gone, so too did every last trace of the water. It did not leave as much as a bit of dampness on his clothing or in his hair. Feeling embarrassed and wanting to redeem himself, Zach asked, ¡°Can I just have one more go at this? I could have won that. I was so close.¡± At this, Angelica ruffled his hair then laughed. ¡°You were never going to win, silly. That¡¯s Spider. He was playing with you. You still did really good, though.¡± ¡°Playing with me?¡± ¡°He goaded you,¡± a nearby adventurer whose face was concealed behind a hooded robe said. ¡°He does that to people.¡± Zach looked back over to Spider, who hadn¡¯t moved from where he¡¯d been. The tall, powerfully built man noticed his gaze and grinned back at him. To Angelica, Zach asked, ¡°Is the name ¡®Spider¡¯ supposed to mean something to me?¡± For some reason, this elicited a round of laughter from many of the adventurers who were still watching him. A good many of them had returned to other activities the moment he¡¯d been hit on top of his head. It seemed that they could tell when a fight was over just as easily as Spider or Angelica could. ¡°Who is that guy?¡± Zach asked, trying his best to keep anger out of his voice. Everyone here seemed to know who he was but Zach: even Rian and Lienne, who came hurrying over. ¡°We tried to warn you,¡± Lienne said, grabbing his shoulder. ¡°But you still did way better than I was expecting. That was really impressive. You decked him so hard his lip started to bleed.¡± ¡°Okay, but who is he, though?¡± Zach asked. ¡°I¡¯m so confused.¡± Before either of them could answer, Fluffles meowed angrily and loudly. ¡°Why Spider pick on Fluffles¡¯ human?¡± the cat shouted. ¡°Fluffles not forgive Spider!¡± A bolt of lightning appeared out of thin air and briefly lit the entire tavern a blinding, bright blue as it streaked down from the ceiling at a speed that was far too fast for the human eye to follow. And yet, with an even faster speed, Angelica whirled across the tavern, appearing as nothing more than a blur. When she reappeared, she was now extending her right arm with an aluminum frying pan in her hand. Astoundingly, she used the frying pan to catch the bolt of lightning an instant before it had struck its target. All throughout, Spider did not flinch or even so much as move a muscle. Even after Angelica had ¡°caught¡± it, he did little more than nod his head in thanks. ¡°Fluffles!¡± Angelica shouted, glaring at the cat. Fluffles made a sorrowful, frightened-sounding meow, backing slowly away and then hiding under one of the tables. ¡°Fluffles, come here right now,¡± she demanded. ¡°Fluffles not here anymore,¡± the cat said from under the table. ¡°He disappear.¡± ¡°Fluffles¡­¡± The cat slowly, hesitantly emerged from beneath the table and walked up to the bar counter. Angelica folded her arms and stared down at him. Fluffles¡¯ ears twitched, and bizarrely, so did Angelica¡¯s. ¡°Well?¡± "If Alex not borrow Fluffles'' magic collar, I turn invisible for real." "Fluffles," she said impatiently. Fluffles meowed. ¡°Okay. I sorry. I break rule again. But¡­but Spider bully Fluffles¡¯ human.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t bullying him,¡± Spider said. ¡°I was having some fun. I hear he wants to join us, anyhow. So I would¡¯ve kicked his ass sooner or later regardless.¡± ¡°Join you?¡± Zach said, mouthing the words several times over after speaking them aloud. ¡°What are you talking about? Also, how did you know my name earlier?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m the senior-most lieutenant of the God Slayers Guild,¡± he said as a nervous rush of exhilaration caused Zach to inhale in disbelief. ¡°I¡¯m second in command after Donovan Iseldar.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Zach blinked. ¡°You¡¯re in the GSG?¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re higher ranked than Mr. Oren?¡± ¡°Alex is like¡­seventh? Eighth? He¡¯s only just been promoted to guild officer. Too soon, in my opinion.¡± This was just too much to take in. ¡°So wait a second, then. Why did you¡­?¡± Zach massaged his forehead. ¡°Okay, so if you¡¯re in the GSG, why didn¡¯t you just say that? Before all this went down, I mean.¡± ¡°Because I was trying to piss you off, son.¡± Zach felt a hand patting his back, then soon after, he saw Rian appear by his left side. ¡°We tried to warn you. But you sort of rushed thoughtlessly in there.¡± Zach narrowed his eyes at his friend. Then he held up his pointer finger and actually scolded him like an angry librarian. ¡°You don¡¯t get to say shit,¡± he told his friend. ¡°Maybe I did rush in stupidly, but at least his name wasn¡¯t green and this wasn¡¯t in the middle of a dungeon.¡± ¡°Ouch, dude, point taken.¡± Spider barked out a laugh. ¡°I was just having some fun. I wanted to see what you were made of. I meant what I said though, son. Don¡¯t fight people like you fight mobs. Young adventurers make that mistake every time. Mobs have attack patterns. People don¡¯t. People have patterns in behavior, but not attack patterns. There¡¯s a difference. Even when you¡¯ve fought with someone a long time, you¡¯re always only guessing what their next move will be. Only with mobs can you be so certain.¡± Zach opened his mouth to reply, but just then, he felt his power and strength return to him in such a rush that it actually felt incredible. The grape must¡¯ve finally worn off. Having been deprived of his stats, even for just five minutes, he greeted their return with a renewed sense of appreciation and wonder. ¡°Good fight,¡± Zach said, bowing his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I was a bad sport about it at first. I just hate losing.¡± Spider came over and held out his hand. Zach shook it. ¡°You¡¯ll learn. You¡¯re still very young. Losing builds character.¡± Spider looked as though he had more to say, but then someone almost as big and intimidating as him approached with a cocky, confident smirk on their face. ¡°Spider, what do you say we have a rematch today. Winner buys loser a drink?¡± Spider gave him a brief, curt nod. Then, to Zach, he said, ¡°It was good to meet you. I think I get what Alex sees in you now. At any rate, I¡¯ll let you three get back to whatever you were up to before I picked a fight with Zach here.¡± He chuckled. ¡°I knew the Fluffles thing would work.¡± Fluffles hissed at him. ¡°Spider use Fluffles to bully Zach. So now Spider give Fluffles two more of his chickens.¡± ¡°One more. And the breading scraped off.¡± ¡°Two! Fluffles gets to have two because Spider bully Zach. And breading too!¡± While the two of them argued about chicken, Zach quickly got dressed back into his equipment then waved goodbye and made for the exit with Lienne and Rian. Despite the clobbering he¡¯d taken over the head, he was in no pain and felt perfectly fine. Approaching the exit door, he remembered his bicycle, and he was eager to make sure it was still there and no one had stolen it. He also badly needed to buy a new, hopefully larger backpack and get some new clothing and supplies. He wondered if his junk would remain littered in the middle of B1 for the rest of eternity. Before going to see Kalana, maybe he should go back and get it. Kalana, he thought, the name reigniting a nervous but exciting tightness in his chest. As soon as he was aboveground, he needed to text her and let her know he was okay. Then he needed to finalize his plans to see her. It was the only thing he truly wanted right now. Just the thought of being with her again caused him to swell with emotion as he placed his hand on the push bar and opened the exit door. Hopefully in just a few more days, they¡¯d be together. Chapter 48: Meeting Point Chapter 48: Meeting Point Stepping through the blue metal door and back into the dungeon, the very first sight to greet Zach¡¯s eyes was an elevator call button just a few feet in front of him on the opposite side of a narrow hallway, one which contained the same fancy, royal-red carpeting that he recalled the throne room and the connecting double-doored entryway having. ¡°Well, it looks like we¡¯re really escaping this place,¡± he said. Lienne exhaled theatrically. ¡°I think I¡¯m all Yorna¡¯d out for now.¡± ¡°Same,¡± Rian agreed. With a somewhat muted thud, the exit door closed behind them¡ªbut it did not vanish. Testing it to see where it now led, Zach was pleased to discover that he could not only open it again if he desired, but that it was still connected to Angelica¡¯s. ¡°You guys know what this means, right?¡± he asked of both Lienne and Rian, who stood to each side of him. At the same time, the familiar sounds and welcoming scents returned, but only for so long as the door remained open. Rian tilted his head slightly. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Zach gently closed the door and then rapped his knuckles against it. ¡°Even though we¡¯ll probably find more eventually, we now have a guaranteed way to get to Angelica¡¯s. Assuming we can just take the elevator back down here, I mean.¡± ¡°Ah. Good thinking,¡± Rian said. Then he laughed and pointed. ¡°Hey, check it out. Look.¡± As Zach turned his head to look in the direction Rian had indicated, he too let out a chuckle. They were now in a small, narrow hallway that was nearly identical to the one that had led to the throne room, only this one was on the opposite side of the chambers where the three of them had fought Moldark. This time, rather than a set of double doors, there was simply a giant, transparent window that spanned almost the entire section of the wall and gave a clear view of the throne room where they¡¯d taken down the boss. Clearly, this had not been visible while within the room, as Zach would definitely have seen it. In fact, he was fairly certain the only thing he¡¯d seen on the walls had been the paintings of landscapes and dull, orange-colored wallpaper. Becoming curious, Zach walked up to it and peered into the screen, which gave him a fairly good view of the throne room. From where he stood, he could just see the back of Moldark¡¯s throne¡ªand Moldark himself, of course, who was sitting in it, clearly having respawned. Interestingly, however, there appeared to be no way back inside, which meant that if he wanted to fight the boss a second time¡ªand to be clear, he did not¡ªhe would have to either break this window down or start all the way over from B1. Though, be it common sense or just basic intuition, something told Zach that even if he struck this panel with all his might while under the effects of Unleashed Phase, it probably wouldn¡¯t break. If whoever created this dungeon had wanted adventurers to be able to take an elevator straight to the boss, they would¡¯ve put a door here to get back in. Actually, that kind of raised a completely separate question. ¡°Rian,¡± he said. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°So wait, with this thing here¡±¡ªhe pointed at the window¡ª¡°how did you get me to Angelica¡¯s? After the boss died, I mean. You obviously didn¡¯t come through here.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Rian asked. He regarded Zach as though mystified, but very soon after, his eyes lit with understanding. ¡°Ohh, right. No, uh, so basically, after you passed out, the wooden double-doors reopened all on their own, and we went to Angelica¡¯s through the entrance just outside.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, forgot about that,¡± Zach said, recalling the entrance to Angelica¡¯s to the left of the warning sign that had said a party of five or more was recommended. His curiosity satisfied, he decided to put Moldark and Angelica''s out of mind for now, as it was long past time he returned to civilization and messaged Kalana. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get out of here.¡± Turning back around, he noticed there was little in this hallway other than the elevator to his left, the door to Angelica¡¯s on his right, and at the far, opposite end of the hall was another blue metal push-bar door labeled B10->B11. We¡¯ll be back for you another time, Zach thought with a smile. Similar to the elevator on B1, the actual ¡°door¡± was hidden and blended perfectly into the scenery. The only clues of its existence were the indentations in the wall before him as well as the little red button beneath a panel that looked like a touchscreen. Thumbing the button, the panel lit up a neon blue. And now, a single word¡ªor really, more like a location¡ªwas displayed on it in a font large enough to cover the entire screen. B1 ¡°I guess it¡¯s coming down to us,¡± Zach said. Lienne clapped her hands and made a chirp-like laugh. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to go shopping in that cute little market.¡± ¡°You and your dumb shopping,¡± Rian grumbled. She glared at him, and he shrugged. B4 Given how far belowground they must¡¯ve ventured, Zach was surprised to see how speedily the elevator was moving to their position. In total, he estimated less than a minute had passed between pushing the button and when, following a computerized ding, an entire section of the wall simply ¡°slid¡± to the left as a bright white glow leaked out of the subsequently formed entryway and into the fairly dim hallway. Eager to return to the surface, Zach stepped inside. Lienne and her brother wasted no time in following him. Then, once inside, the door shut automatically, and now a moment of silence passed between the three of them as Zach looked around for where to put the key Rian had given him, which he kept in the pocket of his reddish-brown pants. ¡°There it is,¡± he said aloud, mostly to himself. It was beneath the metal placard that offered a list of all the bosses in the dungeon. Apparently, whenever it would be they came back to this place, the next big foe they''d face would be someone or something called ¡°Blood Stalker.¡± Zach shuddered at the thought of whatever that might turn out to be. After reaching into his pocket and fishing around for the small, nondescript key, just three of the multiple metal-ringed buttons lit up with a yellow glow upon inserting it into the slot below the placard: the first was B10, where they already were, the second was B1, and lastly, the top-most button, labeled ¡°EXIT.¡± Zach stuffed the key back inside his pocket and went to push it, but with another giddy laugh, Lienne stepped forward and jammed her palm into the button before he had the chance. She was practically bubbling with excitement, at least from what Zach could tell. He couldn¡¯t blame her. With the gold they¡¯d gotten from the boss, they had a nice bit of coin they could spend on pretty much anything they wanted. Even if someone had stolen his bicycle, it would barely sting, financially speaking. Less than a second after Lienne pressed the ¡°EXIT¡± button, the elevator made several more dings almost as though it were a warning of some kind, and then it began to move¡ªand fast. Very fast. So fast that all three of them let out a yelp as, with an extreme, sudden burst of acceleration, the elevator took off like a rocket ship, causing Zach to fall backwards onto his ass. Rian managed to stay upright, but only because he had already been gripping one of the metal handles on the sides of the elevator; with his opposite hand, he grabbed Lienne a moment before she almost fell on top of Zach. ¡°Holy shit!¡± Zach shouted, unable to even return to his feet as an incredibly uncomfortable sensation traveled from his belly up into his chest. ¡°If it¡¯s this bad going up, imagine coming back down.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not doing it,¡± Lienne said, firmly shaking her head. ¡°We¡¯ll drive through Earth again!¡± Rian laughed. ¡°Stop being babies. This is fun.¡± After about fifteen seconds, the sense of acceleration and movement faded, and once another few moments had passed, Zach risked standing back up to his feet. To be safe, however, he gripped the metal safety bar to his left, opposite where Lienne held onto her brother as though for dear life. Ultimately, it did not do any of them any good, as a half a minute later, the elevator made another series of dinging sounds, one after the next. Roughly around the same time, the display of a green LED above the door changed from reading "B2" to "Approaching B1." Just based on the way the dings continued to ring out with a sense of urgency, Zach knew he wasn¡¯t going to like what happened next. And he was right, too. Rather than gradually slow its ascent, the sound of a loud, high-pitched screech erupted from within the elevator as it violently came to a halt in less than a second. Releasing another cry, Zach found himself thrown upwards and off the floor with enough force to actually yank his hand free of the safety bar. Then, with a loud bang, his entire body crashed into the ceiling before he fell back down and landed with a painful, secondary bang onto the elevator¡¯s hard surface. An instant later, he heard two more bangs, one from Rian and a smaller one from Lienne. Even before the inevitable ache began resonating in his back and shoulders, Zach shot right back up to his feet, dashed forward a step, reached out with his arms, and then caught Lienne in his arms as her brother crashed down with enough of a thud to cause the entire elevator to shake. ¡°I need out of this thing right now,¡± Lienne whimpered as Zach set her down on her feet. Fortunately, she got her wish. As Rian groaned and picked himself up off the elevator floor, the door reopened, signaling their successful escape from the Catacombs of Yorna. Right away, Zach had to raise both his hands to shield his eyes as a bright, blinding sunlight along with an immediate, intense burst of summer heat and humidity blasted him. The change in temperature and air quality occurred so quickly that Zach felt the fullness of it before the door had even fully slid open. Even with his hands in front of his face, he still had to partially close both of his eyes as he stumbled his way out of this elevator from hell and back into the farmlands that had originally brought him here. ¡°It¡¯s great to be back, but I don¡¯t miss this heat,¡± he said with a laugh. ¡°I mean, really, it¡¯s just as hot today as it was when I first¡ª-¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. He shouted out in confusion as he abruptly lost his balance and found himself planting face-first onto what was a hybrid of grass and dirt. It took him a moment to then realize why: it seemed he¡¯d just tripped over his own damn bicycle. ¡°Ouch,¡± he grumbled as a dull but annoying ache emerged in his right hip. Bitterly, he picked himself back up off the ground and then wiped away some of the dirt and grass on his tunic. Gods, he felt like such a clumsy idiot. Regardless, he was glad to see his bike was still here and in one piece and undamaged despite having rammed it into the boulder at full speed. But¡­wait a second. If his bike was here, did that mean he¡¯d exited in the same place he¡¯d entered? Zach only just had time to see the elevator door close before any trace of its existence became so blended together with the surrounding rock that it may as well have been invisible. Just to the right of where he¡¯d accidentally thrown himself into the dungeon upon his arrival was apparently the elevator that led out of the place. Yet, as far as he was aware, there was no way of calling it. Just to be certain, Zach walked up to it and ran his palms along the stone, which felt smooth in some places and rough in others, but otherwise, there was no sign whatsoever that an elevator door was hidden behind this huge boulder, and there were certainly no buttons or screens to activate it. This meant that returning to Yorna would always require him to jump into the pool. Now that I know what to expect, I might actually enjoy it the next go around, Zach thought. Taking out his phone, he saw that it was now just past noon. It sure felt like it, too; it was absolutely scorching outside today. Yet, even despite the extreme heat, he was relieved to be back in the open sun on his own planet for a change. He actually snickered at that last thought. Just the absurdity of it all. The fact that he was actually relieved to be on his ¡°own¡± planet as opposed to some other one. It really put into perspective the downright insanity that his life had become. ¡°You all right, Zach?¡± Rian asked him with a smirk. ¡°You look like you¡¯re cracking up over there.¡± Despite only being out here for less than a minute, Rian was already beginning to profusely sweat like the sides of a cup with ice in it. Zach waved at him in a gesture he hoped would convey everything was fine. He didn¡¯t feel like explaining what he¡¯d found so humorous. Staring at his bicycle seat, he said, ¡°I guess I have to wheel the bike since you two won¡¯t be able to keep up if I ride. Hey, how far away is the town from here, anyway?¡± ¡°Only about ten miles,¡± Lienne said. ¡°Only?¡± Rian asked, frowning. She crossed her arms and gave him a frown right back. ¡°Quit complaining. It¡¯s good exercise, and let¡¯s be honest¡ªyou need it.¡± ¡°Are you calling me fat, Li?¡± ¡°No. But¡­you could use a bit more cardio.¡± Of all possible reactions, Rian simply laughed. ¡°Yeah, because that¡¯s so different.¡± Something Zach was learning about Rian was that, when it came to most things, including even insults or harsh comments, he was very slow to anger and could easily accept criticism or take a joke in stride. But even that being the case, there were a few topics, particularly those involving his mother, family life, or other subjects that touched on previous trauma, where he could become explosively angry in an instant. It was something Zach needed to keep in mind for times when he decided to make a playful jab at Rian. Definitely no ¡®your momma¡¯ jokes, that¡¯s for sure. Gripping the bike by its left handlebar in one hand and its leather-padded seat in the other, the soft grass squished beneath his feet and the bicycle¡¯s two wheels as it rolled along beside him while he made his way to the Den of Ziragoth with Rian and Lienne. Even despite the terrifying elevator ride, he was still in an incredibly upbeat and optimistic mood. He ignored the perilous heat, the sweat that now began to trickle down his own face, and the doubts he had about what, specifically, he was going to do regarding joining a guild. Instead, he turned his thoughts towards Kalana, whom he was desperate to see. ¡°Can you wheel my bike for a second, Rian? Please?¡± Rian nodded, and the gesture caused sweat to whiplash off his chin and almost strike Zach, which would have been disgusting. Thankfully, it landed on the grass instead. Removing his phone from his pocket, Zach glanced down and noticed he had several missing text messages from Kalana. Eagerly, he began to read each one of them. >Just got back! The meeting went great! >I can¡¯t wait to tell you what happened. Ur not even gonna believe it >Hey >You there Zach >Helloooooo >OK guessing you¡¯re busy in the dungeon ^_^ msg me when done! Zach smiled at each one of the messages aside from the first, because he was pretty sure she was referring to her ¡°meeting¡± with one of those damn political guilds. Why would Kal ever want to get involved with those people? It made no sense. One moment, she¡¯d claimed she¡¯d wanted to conquer them, and the next, she seemed to be forging alliances or whatever. Clearly, there was a lot going on with her right now, and Zach had only caught up on a fraction of it. Even with just a cursory glance at the news, he could see that she was still the top trending and most-discussed news story. Gods, this was all so surreal. Now that he was out of the stressful dungeon and back under a blue sky surrounded by farmland and all the other ordinary, everyday Galterran sights, the full impact of Kalana¡¯s current celebrity status finally began to really register in his head. It just¡­it just didn¡¯t seem real. It wasn¡¯t merely that he couldn¡¯t believe this had happened to Kalana, but additionally, he was now reaching the point where he also couldn¡¯t believe he knew her¡ªlet alone that he was going to spend time alone with her. Why not? he wondered, becoming angry with his own self. This is Kal! No matter what, she¡¯s still just Kal. His brain had become caught in this two-track sort of mind. On the one hand, there were moments where he thought of her as he always thought of Kalana. And during these moments, he felt no uneasiness or apprehension. She was the girl he¡¯d spent so much time with over these past two years, and now, he was sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was head-over-heels in love with her. But¡­on the other hand, there was this new, second-track of his mind, and this was the one that saw her social media page, in which she had more followers than there were people living in some of the smaller regions. She had apparently¡ªat least according to the news¡ªsigned multiple branding deals for everything from a clothing line to a new type of perfume, and she was now casually exchanging comments online with some of the biggest celebrities on television. This was fucking insane. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Rian asked. ¡°You¡¯ve gone pale.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Zach said. ¡°It¡¯s not nothing, dude. Did you text her? She say something you didn¡¯t like?¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t text her yet.¡± ¡°Then what is it?¡± He sighed. Rian would keep prying until he fessed up. ¡°I¡¯m just a bit confused with what I¡¯m feeling.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Zach looked at him. ¡°I just found out the girl I love, in the span of days, has become an international celebrity and is now the most-discussed person on the planet. So I, you know, I just¡­how do I even explain it? I don¡¯t want to sound¡­¡± Zach again sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to word it in a way that doesn¡¯t make me sound pathetic.¡± ¡°Mind if I take a guess?¡± Rian asked as he continued to wheel the bike for him. Zach turned over his palm. ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡± All at once, Rian¡¯s expression became serious. And though his voice was soft, he spoke with a note of certainty. ¡°Just to be clear,¡± he began, ¡°I¡¯m only saying this because it¡¯s how I¡¯d feel if I were in your shoes, dude. So this isn¡¯t me trying to insult you or anything.¡± ¡°I gotcha. Go on.¡± ¡°Well,¡± he said, ¡°if I had to bet money on it, I¡¯d say you¡¯re intimidated.¡± He paused as if waiting for Zach to reply. Zach, however, said nothing as a sharp, stabbing sensation pierced his gut. It was sort of a combination of unrest and a feeling of being exposed. ¡°You¡¯re worried that you¡¯re not good enough for her anymore, right?¡± Rian asked. ¡°Now that she¡¯s become this gigantic¡­I¡¯m not entirely sure what to call it.¡± Rather than reply, Zach looked over to Lienne, who not unexpectedly, had begun to walk a few extra feet away from the two of them, as had become typical lately whenever Zach talked about Kalana. He really didn¡¯t like to bring this topic up in front of her. It was probably painful to hear him talking about Kalana. ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right,¡± he said. Out of consideration, he spoke at just above a whisper¡ªloudly enough to be heard while outdoors, but softly enough so that Lienne would not have to listen. ¡°But even still, she¡¯s still my Kal.¡± ¡°Then what are you so worried about, Zach?¡± He twisted his lips into a sour expression. ¡°With everything she has now, why would she even need me anymore?¡± ¡°And there it is,¡± Rian said, nodding. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The root of it all. Dude, you can¡¯t think like that. She either likes you or she doesn¡¯t. If she¡¯s the kind of person who would drop you just because she¡¯s in a much better position now than when she met you, then she¡¯s not really worth a shit anyway, right?¡± ¡°Point taken,¡± Zach said¡ªand he meant it, too. What Rian said made perfect sense. For some reason, it still did not lessen the uneasiness he felt as he thought about himself in comparison to the suddenly world-famous girl who¡¯d lived in the apartment across from him. ¡°So, are you all right?¡± Rian asked, his voice sincere. Zach nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m okay. I mean, let¡¯s be honest here: Kal becoming famous isn¡¯t even the craziest or most emotionally fucked-up thing that¡¯s happened to me lately. It¡¯s not even in the top five, so¡­¡± He shrugged then released a small laugh. ¡°I¡¯m just going to take it in stride.¡± ¡°Attaboy.¡± Rian, still wheeling his bike, took his hand off the handlebar for just a moment so as to give Zach a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. Then Zach returned his attention to his cellphone as he began typing a message to Kalana. >Just got out of the dungeon, Kal. Heading into town >OK COOL! I¡¯m coming to see you then¡­¡­¡­I can¡¯t wait anymore Zach blinked, and he felt a rush of fear, excitement, and disbelief. >Wait what???? >What do you mean??? >Kal??? >I¡¯m gonna come to see you in that place you said >The Den of Ziragoth? >Yeah >SERIOUSLY? Zach didn¡¯t realize how hard his chest was pounding until he started to pant. She was coming here? That was totally unexpected. Not entirely unwelcome, though. Honestly, Zach would be happy to see her in five minutes from now if that was possible, too. But putting all that aside, just the idea of seeing her today caught him so off guard he almost tripped over an oversized clump of dirt that had been partially concealed under a bush. >I¡¯m not far. Me n dad had 2 go see Alex. He wanted to talk to me and I wanted to get my diary and some other stuff from my old apartment >Wait, so you¡¯re in Whispery Woods right now? >Yep Wow. This meant they were in the same region, technically speaking. Zach practically burst with happiness as he told her to come as soon as she could. He couldn¡¯t believe this was really happening. Kalana claimed she would be done in about four or five hours or so and then she¡¯d head straight over. This was it. It was really happening. I need to buy her flowers in town! Zach lowered his phone to break the news to Rian and Lienne. Rian beamed a happy smile, which Zach took to be genuine. Lienne, on the other hand, didn¡¯t even bother to try hiding her disappointment, for which Zach did not blame her. If anything, it dampened his mood only ever so slightly as he now felt the sting of guilt accompany the wonderful, incredible news he¡¯d just received. Just up ahead, Zach spotted the outskirts of the town, where a man on a tractor was tending to his fields. Beside him was a road that led into what, despite clearly being the largest town Zach had seen in the farmlands, was still nevertheless a sleepy-little village compared even just to Doom-Bound Keep, where he¡¯d learned to use a sword in a field with Fluffles. Even from where he stood, he could already tell that the densest, busiest part of the town was located directly in the center, where most of the businesses including the pub, the inn, and the open-air market likely resided. Once beyond the outskirts, the inner part of the town did not contain any farms and was instead comprised of mostly small-to-mid-sized two-story homes that looked a bit quaint with a somewhat dated architecture as evident by the discoloration of many of the bricks and the presence of clotheslines. Everyone in the city used a washer and dryer, but in front of these particular homes, Zach could see a wide assortment of clothing hanging openly in the summer sun. ¡°Before we do anything,¡± Rian said. ¡°I need a cold drink and a bite to eat. Let¡¯s go to the pub first.¡± ¡°Sure thing,¡± Zach agreed. ¡°I could use a cola and a burger, too.¡± Lienne sighed and followed along. ¡°Whatever,¡± she muttered. Zach tried not to let his guilt get in the way of his fantastic mood. Finally, at long-fucking-last, he was going to see Kalana again! ***** ¡°He¡¯s where?¡± Anelia shouted into her phone. ¡°The pub? Right now? Thank you, Jaken. I¡¯ll be there in five minutes.¡± She ended the call, loosened the holsters at her sides just a bit so her guns could be drawn in a hurry if necessary, and then quickly headed back across town where she¡¯d only just been an hour ago striking up a conversation with a nice woman and her five-year-old son. It was time. Chapter 49: The Day Everything Changed Forever Chapter 49: The Day Everything Changed Forever ¡°Are you sure?¡± Prila asked, surprised by the sadness, desperation, and even remorse in her own voice as well as the creeping feeling of dread in her belly. ¡°We can¡¯t do anything to help him? Not even a warning?¡± Her coworkers at the OMP pretended to be busy attending to various tasks, but she could see the way that they were all sneaking hopeful glances over in her direction; she knew that they, too, did not feel comfortable sitting back and doing nothing. Especially not in a situation as serious as this. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Adamus replied in a whisper from where he stood to the right of her swivel chair. His expression was blank: unreadable. Yet Prila knew he was not nearly as insensitive as he might have appeared. ¡°It can¡¯t be done, my child. Not this time. I cannot condone any more interference. Events must be allowed to run their natural course. We have already interfered once on his behalf, and going forward, fairness must be maintained.¡± Fairness? Prila shook her head as she looked at the data on her screen. ¡°I no longer see how any of this is fair. Not in the times we live in. Surely you must realize that? The world has changed, Adamus.¡± The fact that she now felt so comfortable openly challenging him and addressing him by his name was a testament to how seriously he¡¯d meant it when asking her not to fear him, as no matter how forcibly she pushed back on his views, he never so much as raised his voice or showed the slightest hint of anger or disappointment. In fact, it wouldn¡¯t be too far of a stretch to say that, over the past few days, Prila had come to view Adamus as something of a friend, which was quite extraordinary considering that, until recently, she had believed him to be an actual God! And from the way he specifically chose to engage in these sorts of conversations with her, she was beginning to think he felt the same towards her as well. She knew he wanted her to speak her mind without holding back, and so with unrestrained defiance in her voice, she said, ¡°He has no idea what¡¯s coming his way. None of them do! Don¡¯t you care what will happen if we do nothing?¡± ¡°Of course I care,¡± he said. ¡°But I can compromise on my values no further.¡± Prila couldn¡¯t believe she was so ardently pleading with Adamus to intervene. Clearly, she¡¯d gotten emotionally attached. Something like this hadn¡¯t happened to her in a good long while. After watching Zachys battle Moldark and overcome impossible odds, she found herself unable to stomach the idea of witnessing his demise¡ªnot when she¡¯d seen his spirit. Not when she¡¯d seen him fight so hard to survive. A sense of wrongness came over her at the thought of it all being for nothing. ¡°If he could just be allowed to know¡­¡± ¡°It would be unfair to everyone else,¡± Adamus whispered. ¡°The system demands we do not intervene. I have already violated my principles once for him. I cannot do it again.¡± Prila had sworn to defend, maintain, and uphold the system at all costs. She had believed in it with every fiber of her being. Yet something within her had changed. Up until this point, she had believed it a breach of morality of the highest order to interfere with the principle of fairness. Yet, after seeing Adamus, one of the Great Ones, personally alter quest rewards and the party experience system to give Zachys a fighting chance at survival in the Catacombs of Yorna, Prila had begun to question everything she thought she knew about what was right and wrong. For the first time in decades, she no longer felt desensitized¡ªshe no longer felt so numb to the plight of those she viewed through her screen from the safety of their orbital station. Part of what had originally given her such strength in her convictions had been the belief that Adamus was a literal God, and that, through his Godly wisdom, he had dispensed the correct and true path for Galterra via the system. Now, however, she had come to believe him when he claimed not to be a God after all: just a very, very powerful half-elf. This, naturally, led to a dilemma for Prila, because if the system was not the invention of a God but of a mortal, then how could she be absolutely certain that it was correct and just? What if the system was not a force for good after all? What if, instead, it was exactly the opposite? **** As the cherry-haired woman with the skimpy red shorts approached the booth where Zach, Rian, and Lienne sat together in the mostly empty pub, it was impossible not to notice the shaking of the serving tray in her arms. Calmly and slowly, Zach half got up and actually tried to assist her in setting down their drinks, but the woman remained adamant that all was fine and she be allowed to do her job. With a hesitant nod, he once more sat back down and tried to smile as reassuringly as possible, yet he doubted that it would do any good. She was likely going to be terrified of them no matter what he said or did. ¡°H-here y-you are,¡± she said, spilling a drop of soda as she placed the glass down in front of Zach. Luckily, it was only a small amount, and most of it was absorbed by the napkin she¡¯d set it upon. ¡°Thank you,¡± Lienne said. Shortly after, Zach and Rian also said their thanks. ¡°You¡¯re most welcome,¡± the woman breathed, her lips trembling and her eyes constantly flicking towards the pub¡¯s entrance across from them at the other end of the establishment. Sadly, her fearful reaction seemed all too common in this town. Ever since the three of them had come strutting into the Den of Ziragoth about a half hour ago, every eye from every local had been trained solely on them whenever they passed by. Many of the townspeople would whisper to one another and point, and many others would go white with terror. A few people had even frantically begun typing something into their cellphones upon spotting the three of them. But¡­honestly? Zach really should¡¯ve expected this kind of reception. In hindsight, it should¡¯ve been pretty obvious that something like this would happen. With the three of them visibly bearing weapons and wearing equipment, it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that they were not normal, ordinary level 1s like everyone else around here¡ªor in most of the world, for that matter. If Zach had to take a guess, he¡¯d bet that the people of this town suspected them of being members of a political guild who were here to shake them down, abuse them, or to enact some other nefarious sort of plot. It was a shame, too, because Zach was genuinely trying to do everything he could to appear as non-threatening and harmless as possible. ¡°I promise I¡¯m not here to hurt you,¡± he told the woman when she¡¯d returned a moment later; her hands jittered as she set down three menus onto the table. ¡°None of us are. Truly.¡± ¡°O-of course, s-sir,¡± she stammered. Zach sighed. ¡°I know you¡¯re scared, but the thing is that we¡¯re not actually whatever or whoever it is you think we are. Actually, we¡¯re more like part of something that¡¯s¡ª¡± His words cut off as a sharp pain erupted in his shin. He turned his head and glared at Rian, who sat next to Lienne across from him on the brown leather seat at their booth towards the back of the old-looking, simple, but pleasant enough pub called ¡°The Singing Rooster.¡± Fixing his friend with an angry glare, he waited for the woman to be out of earshot, and then he vented on Rian. ¡°Why¡¯d you kick me in my shin, asshole?¡± he hissed. ¡°That hurt like hell.¡± ¡°Because,¡± Rian whispered to him while keeping his eyes on the woman, ¡°you¡¯re saying too much.¡± ¡°Too much?¡± He nodded. ¡°You almost said something about the adventuring guilds. You have to keep things like that a secret.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°You just do, okay?¡± ¡°And I¡¯m supposed to just know I can¡¯t say that?¡± ¡°Well¡­no, but¡­now you know, I guess.¡± His shin still stinging, Zach made an angry laugh. ¡°Oh, okay. Hey, Rian, while we¡¯re at it, why don¡¯t you make me a list of things I¡¯m not allowed to say so I come prepared next time.¡± ¡°Yeah, okay,¡± Rian muttered at him. ¡°Maybe I will¡­dick.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the dick,¡± Zach grumbled. ¡°You¡¯re both dicks,¡± Lienne said, sounding annoyed. ¡°Guys, drop it¡ªenough. Also, Zach, you¡¯re not going to convince these people that we¡¯re harmless no matter how much you try. I think we might as well just accept the fact that they fear us. It doesn¡¯t matter what we say at this point.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re probably right. Actually, we all need to start carrying around a change of clothing so we can go places without scaring the shit out of people.¡± Rian nodded in agreement. The entire front of his face and the visible portion of his white undershirt were drenched in sweat. Zach, too, was feeling grimy and in need of a shower. Though it was much cooler in this pub, it was still a lot warmer than he¡¯d hoped it would be. Though, to be fair, given that they were in Whispery Woods, it wasn¡¯t much of a surprise that whoever owned this place couldn¡¯t afford to set the air conditioning too low. Especially not on a scorching day like today. At the very least, it was comfortable in here. The booths were large and spacious enough so that Zach did not even have to remove the sword from his back to sit comfortably, and the somewhat darkish atmosphere was a pleasant break from the intensely bright sun. It was also nice to be reminded of ordinary civilization again; to their right near the bar counter were several fairly large televisions playing various sports programs. Dehydrated from the walk over here, Zach downed several large gulps of his cherry cola, not even bothering to use the straw in the glass. Though refreshing, it didn¡¯t quite scratch the ¡°itch¡± taste-wise. Ever since Angelica¡¯s, he¡¯d developed a craving for cherry soda, though he was beginning to doubt he¡¯d ever find anything that ¡°hit the spot¡± in the way Angelica¡¯s take on the beverage could. The same was likely true of the food here, too. Glancing down at the menu, his honest impression was that everything looked decent enough, but man¡­he could sure go for those barbequed ribs Angelica had made for him yesterday. ¡°I think Angelica¡¯s has ruined food for me,¡± Zach said. Lienne laughed. ¡°Hey, I was just thinking that.¡± Rian shrugged. ¡°Nothing ruins food for me.¡± Zach watched as he glanced down at the menu for five, maybe six seconds before pushing it off to the side as though immediately knowing what he wanted. Then, regarding Zach with a grin, he asked, ¡°So, when¡¯s the girl gonna get here?¡± Trying his best to filter out the glower coming from Lienne, he shifted slightly in the booth so that he could reach into his pocket and grab his cell phone. Glancing down at it, he said, ¡°She should be leaving Mr. Oren¡¯s lab in an hour, so I guess it depends on how long it takes for her to get out of the city. It¡¯s still early, so if traffic isn¡¯t too terrible, she¡¯ll be here in two hours, three at the latest.¡± Though he spoke the words calmly and casually, his level of excitement rose exponentially at the thought of reuniting with Kal in just a few hours from now. Even Rian seemed to be enthusiastic to meet her, and while Zach had no doubt a good deal of it was genuine, he suspected his friend also had an ulterior motive or two as well. This, he made perfectly clear by the questions he¡¯d asked Zach on the walk over here each time Kalana had come up as a topic of conversation. ¡°So uh¡­Zach,¡± he said. Here we go again. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°You know her really well, right?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°So¡­so I was just wondering and all, if you asked her to like and follow my page, do you think she¡¯d do it?¡± He sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Probably. Why do you even care? You told me social media is dumb.¡± ¡°It is dumb,¡± Rian said. Then he lifted his pointer finger and tapped it against his chest. ¡°But there are so, so many hot girls on it. If the Kalana Vayra likes my page, you know what that¡¯ll do for me?¡± Zach chuckled. ¡°You didn¡¯t even know who she was until a few days ago, and now you¡¯re saying ¡®the¡¯ like it¡¯s some big thing. Why don¡¯t I get a ¡®the¡¯, too?¡± ¡°When you become as famous as your girlfriend, maybe you will.¡± The two shared a laugh as the woman with the skimpy red shorts returned to take their order. Due to her trembling hands, she had to try several times to write it down on her pad. Come to think of it, this was the first time that Zach had ever seen someone write down an order using a pen and paper before. Usually, it was only in the movies where that happened. Though he could rarely afford to eat out, on the times that he had¡ªusually with Kalana¡ªthe servers usually punched orders into a tablet or some other electronic device. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you know how to write that way,¡± Zach said, fascinated. ¡°W-what way?¡± the woman asked. Zach smiled at her and pointed to her notepad. ¡°With that. A pen.¡± She gave him a sidelong look as though he were messing with her. ¡°You¡¯ve¡­never used a pen before?¡± Upon being asked such a ridiculous question, Zach couldn¡¯t help the laugh that escaped his lips. He hoped she didn¡¯t take it as mockery. ¡°No, of course not.¡± For the first time, the woman actually seemed to shed just a bit of her fear as, inquisitively, she asked, ¡°They didn¡¯t teach you to use a pen in school?¡± ¡°Why would they?¡± Rian asked, sounding curious. It had been the very same question Zach was about to voice. ¡°Wait, you either?¡± the woman said. ¡°Wow, you city people really are different.¡± ¡°They taught you to use a pen in school?¡± Zach asked her. ¡°Of course. How else would we take notes during class?¡± Take notes during class? Zach thought, turning the words over in his head and coming up empty. Does she mean like sending yourself a note so you remember it later? ¡°If something in one of our textbooks is really important, we just touch it and it gets added to our study list.¡± She made a strange sort of expression as though he was the one saying something weird. ¡°That¡¯s crazy.¡± He was sincerely amazed at how different life seemed to be for people who lived in these kinds of farmland areas. They were like five centuries behind everyone else. Who the hell used a pen and paper anymore? Like, what year did they think they were in? 6600? It was ridiculous. Under what possible circumstance would anyone ever have to write on paper using ink? It was so outrageous she might as well have said she learned to carve messages into stone with a chisel. Much like him, Rian also seemed to find this both humorous and bizarre, but Lienne, on the other, had entirely the opposite reaction. ¡°I think it¡¯s great,¡± she said, her words coming across as eerily passionate. ¡°Human beings should not throw away everything that made us who we are. The Orcs keep pushing their techno-culture onto everyone, and I just think like, you know, humanity is under siege these days.¡± Zach opened his mouth to reply, but Rian shook his head urgently. ¡°Don¡¯t get her started,¡± he said. ¡°She¡¯ll go on for hours about how everyone is shitting on humanity.¡± ¡°Ignore my idiot brother,¡± Lienne said. ¡°He¡¯s anti-human and an Orc sympathizer.¡± ¡°Here we go again,¡± Rian said, rolling his eyes. ¡°Li, just admit you hate the Orcs and be done with it.¡± ¡°I do not,¡± she said angrily. ¡°I think they¡¯re great. I just think that humans¡­why can¡¯t we just be proud to be human anymore? Is that really so bad? I¡¯m tired of always having to apologize for being human. The other races act like they¡¯ve never done anything wrong.¡± Despite warning Zach not to get her started, Rian ended up providing all the fuel Lienne needed to launch into another one of her tirades against whatever issue she was mad about. And Rian was no better, either, because he, as usual, seemed more than happy to spar with her. This, as their server looked on as though perplexed. The woman already feared them like they were dangerous killers or something, but now she probably thought they were idiots, too. Why do they always have to do this? Zach thought, stifling a moan. He loved his new friends. He really did. But when they started to pull this shit, it drove him absolutely mad. The first time they¡¯d gotten into one of these arguments, Zach had believed it was a sporadic sort of thing that came up only as a result of the recent news with Kalana. But oh, wow, had he been wrong. All day yesterday in Angelica¡¯s, the two of them were going at it about this issue or that issue. Then, on the walk over here, they¡¯d started it up yet again. It was annoying and tiring and Zach couldn¡¯t stand it. He was glad this place was mostly empty today, because as the two began to raise their voices and shout, he would have walked out of here in shame and embarrassment before being seen with them in public when they got like this. ¡°¡ªno you won¡¯t answer the question,¡± Lienne snapped at him. ¡°Why won¡¯t you answer the question, Rian? Why? Why? It¡¯s because you¡¯re scared.¡± ¡°Not true at all.¡± ¡°Then why won¡¯t you answer?¡± ¡°Because I reject the premise of it.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not why: it¡¯s because you can¡¯t. That¡¯s why.¡± ¡°Fine, ask it again.¡± ¡°Why do the other races get to act like they¡¯ve never done anything wrong? Why is it only human beings who always, um, you know, get called all these evil names?¡± ¡°Well, to be fair,¡± Rian said, ¡°there are only nine recorded genocides in Galterran history, and humans did eight of them. Well, nine now that we know about the Elves.¡± She crossed her arms as though annoyed. ¡°Here we go again with the ¡®eight genocides¡¯ myth. If you actually believe that, I don¡¯t know what to tell you.¡± ¡°So history¡¯s fake, Li, really?¡± ¡°When Orcs are the ones writing the history books? Yah,¡± she said. ¡°By the way, did you know they used to be like the most brutal, barbaric race on Galterra? No one ever talks about that. Look it up. Orcs used to wear loincloth and kill anything that moved.¡± ¡°And that was like, what, a thousand years ago?¡± ¡°Okay, and? So they don¡¯t have to get shit for their past but we do?¡± ¡°Well¡­we kind of just found out about the Elf genocide a few days ago, and that seems like it was a pretty recent thing.¡± Lienne seemed unmoved. ¡°How come any other race can come here whenever they want, but humans aren¡¯t allowed to leave North or South Bastia?¡± ¡°Seriously, Li? Deflecting from the topic?¡± ¡°How about you just answer the question? Why does¡±¡ªshe extended her arms widely¡ª¡°everyone just get to come to the Bastias, but we¡¯re not allowed to go anywhere else?¡± Rian rubbed his eyes in an exaggerated gesture of frustration. ¡°I dunno. Maybe it has something to do with Peter IV threatening war with the rest of the world? Or maybe it¡¯s when he declared that anyone who isn¡¯t human is no different from an animal or a pet? What was his catchphrase, again? ¡®I believe in human rights for human beings.¡¯ Yeah, maybe that¡¯s why.¡± The woman in the skimpy red shorts cleared her throat, causing both Rian and Lienne to turn their heads in her direction. ¡°So,¡± she said, ¡°you want one order of the house chicken, one soup of the day, and a roast beef sandwich? And another round of cherry cola for all three of you?¡± Zach, suddenly feeling embarrassed, nodded his head. ¡°That¡¯s all, thank you.¡± Once she was out of earshot, he placed his palms on the table, leaned forward, and then with far more vitriol and frustration than he intended, he said, ¡°Guys, enough of your fucking politics!¡± Though he spoke only slightly above a whisper, there would be no mistaking the anger in his words. ¡°I can¡¯t listen to this again. I¡¯m serious. Just stop it. No one actually likes talking about this. You know that, right? Talk about literally anything else. But around me, please. Just stop it. Literally, I¡¯ll talk about any other thing.¡± Randomly grabbing a glass peppercorn grinder off the table, he continued, ¡°Here, let¡¯s talk about this. I¡¯d rather talk about this than have to listen to you two fight about politics.¡± Somehow, Zach had managed to unite the two feuding siblings against him, as they stopped fighting with one another and now turned their fire on him, with Rian claiming he needed to ¡°chill¡± and Lienne asking why he had to get so defensive. ¡°Look,¡± Zach said to them, ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯m being an ass, okay? But all day yesterday you guys were starting this shit. I just don¡¯t want to hear it anymore. So here, if you have to talk about something¡±¡ªhe again raised the glass peppercorn grinder¡ª¡°how about you talk about this thing instead. Because I¡¯d rather argue about this than listen to another fight about¡ª¡± With a snap a thousand times louder than the pop of a party balloon, the peppercorn grinder exploded. It simply exploded. Shards of glass and pepper sprayed every which way even while Zach was still holding onto it. One moment, it was secured in his hand, and the next, he was closing his fist around nothing but broken glass and flakes of pepper. At the exact same time, there was another loud sound. Two of them, actually. Zach wasn¡¯t sure which of them he heard first: the sound of a crack that was so loud it caused his ears to ring, or the bang as the door leading into the pub slammed open. His jaw dropping, he stared in bewilderment at the destroyed peppercorn grinder, and then, for a brief few seconds, he made eye contact first with Rian and then with Lienne, who also seemed momentarily stunned as if unsure of what was happening or why. If anything, they were looking at him like he should explain what had just caused that loud snap which had resulted in the glass peppercorn grinder shattering into so many pieces that several even flew halfway across the pub. Also, why was that woman in the red shorts now ducking behind the counter with her hands over her head as though worried the ceiling might fall on her? Why was she shouting, ¡°They¡¯re over here!¡± while pointing at Zach and his friends? ¡°What¡¯s¡­going on?¡± Lienne asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Zach said. Then there was another loud, startling crack, and Zach¡¯s body reflexively ducked down and lurched to the side as a several-inch-wide hole appeared out of nowhere in the back of the leather booth near his right shoulder. Craning his neck to look at it, he saw smoke rising out of it; the area around the hole also now stank of burned leather. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Lienne asked. ¡°Why¡¯s there a¡ª¡± She screamed as another three tremendous cracks echoed throughout the pub spaced milliseconds apart. Then, one after the next, his glass, followed by Lienne¡¯s glass, and finally Rian¡¯s glass all shattered in sequence, spraying glass and cola all over their bodies and faces as Lienne yelped in pain. There was now a shallow but still troublesome gash under her right cheek. Seemingly confused, Zach watched in a state of total shock as she lifted her hand to her face. Then she pulled it away, and her expression became visibly horrified at the sight of her blood-covered fingers. ¡°Zachys Calador!¡± a voice shouted at them; it came from the entrance to the pub. ¡°Which one of you three is Zachys Calador?¡± Though it took Zach a bit to snap out of it, he finally understood that someone either had just been or currently was attacking the three of them. More specifically, they¡¯d shot at them. Someone had actually just shot at the three of them. Scanning the pub with his eyes, he quickly identified that the attacker was the individual standing in the frame of the pub¡¯s entrance wearing silver-colored scale armor and a helmet that concealed everything but their eyes, nose, and mouth. Based on their overly broad shoulders and large, muscular frame, Zach at first thought the shooter to be a man¡ªlikely in his fifties based on the wrinkles under his eyes. But as the scale-armor-wearing attacker took several steps farther into the pub, his scale boots clinking against the wooden flooring, Zach thought he detected a certain feminine aspect to the way the man walked and the shape of his hips. Whoever this person was, Zach¡¯s body tensed up in alarm and confusion as he or she again called his name. ¡°Zachys Calador!¡± The ringing having finally died down in his ears, he was able to listen carefully enough to the shooter¡¯s voice to determine that he was dealing with a woman. But who was she? What did she want? Why had she attacked him? Should he say something to her? One thing was clear: whoever this woman happened to be, she clearly did not have good intentions. As she approached the booth where he sat with Rian and Lienne, he could see the guns that she was wielding in each one of her hands. Upon first glance, they appeared to be pistols of some kind. But the closer she came, the more Zach could make out several distinct features that made them stand out from any pistol he¡¯d ever seen before. For starters, the barrel of the guns were large, round, and reminded Zach more of a cannon than a firearm. Secondly, the black grips of the weapons seemed to contain an engraving in the image of fire, which actually glowed a bright orange. This could only mean one thing: those weren¡¯t ¡°guns¡± in the traditional sense. They¡¯re equipment weapons! Crossing more than half the distance between the entrance and the booth where the three of them continued to sit in stunned confusion, the woman began to dart her head around between the three of them. Her eyes were cold and ruthless. She reminded Zach of a carnivore searching for prey. ¡°It¡¯s not the girl, obviously,¡± the woman said, her eyes shifting first on and then quickly over Lienne. Now, she darted them back and forth between him and Rian. ¡°It¡¯s you,¡± she said, pointing at Zach. ¡°You are Zachys Calador. Correct?¡± Zach swallowed nervously. ¡°Uh, who?¡± he asked. ¡°My name¡¯s Greg.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Rian said, nodding. ¡°He¡¯s Greg.¡± ¡°You like to make jokes, huh?¡± she asked. ¡°Step outside, kid. Now.¡± ¡°Outside? Who are you? What do you want?¡± ¡°I want you.¡± ¡°Me?¡± Zach asked, pointing to himself. ¡°Yes. I want you.¡± Zach sent a questioning look to Rian, who turned over his palms. Then he once more regarded this strange, bulky woman. ¡°Lady, I¡¯m sorry to break the news to you, but I¡¯m already taken. You¡¯ll just have to find someone else to¡ªwhoah, whoah, whoah!¡± He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender as she pointed both guns at him, her arms extended in front of her as she continued to close the distance between them with powerful, marching strides. ¡°Out of the booth. Now. All three of you,¡± she ordered as she stormed her way past the bar counter. She paused for just a brief moment. While still pointing her cannon-like pistols at Zach, she turned her head to her left and said, ¡°Bekka, it¡¯s safer outside. You¡¯re okay now. Go.¡± ¡°Thank you, Anelia!¡± the skimpy-shorts-wearing woman shouted gratefully as she made a mad dash for the exit. Once more returning her attention to Zach, the woman¡ªAnelia?¡ªsaid, ¡°I told you three to get out of the booth. Move it!¡± More to put himself into a defensive decision than to actually obey this unhinged maniac, Zach slid over and out of the booth at around the same time as Rian and Lienne. The woman who¡¯d been called Anelia approached until she was just a few feet before the three of them, who were now all standing side by side. ¡°Who are you?¡± Zach asked her. ¡°Why did you attack me?¡± The woman, whose face was still mostly concealed behind her scale helmet, grunted at the question as though it were unimportant. Nevertheless, she answered him. ¡°I¡¯m Anelia Hellcrest. I¡¯m a bounty hunter. You are my target, Zachys Calador.¡± ¡°Bounty hunter?¡± Zach said, repeating the words as though they were foreign to him. It wasn¡¯t that he¡¯d never heard the term before, but it was more that he couldn¡¯t possibly imagine why a bounty hunter would be after¡ª His eyes opened wider all on their own. ¡°This is about the Varsh thing, isn¡¯t it?¡± he asked with a gasp. ¡°Bingo,¡± Anelia said. ¡°So you do know why I¡¯m here.¡± Holding out his palms, Zach shook his head. ¡°Whoah, time out. There¡¯s been a huge misunderstanding here.¡± ¡°No, I think not.¡± ¡°No, trust me, there is. Mr. Oren said this was being handled. You¡¯re not supposed to be after me anymore.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true, ma¡¯am,¡± Lienne said. ¡°I was there when he said it.¡± Her mouth visible through the helm, Anelia made an expression that seemed to imply she found Zach and Lienne to be the two dumbest people she¡¯d ever come across. Tilting her head, she asked, ¡°Who is Mister Oren and why would I care what he has to say? Listen, kid, I waited here a long time for you. But l also don¡¯t have anything personally against you. So I want to do this clean.¡± ¡°You¡¯re¡­going to arrest me?¡± Zach asked her. At this, she made a dark chuckle. ¡°No, no. I¡¯m here for your head.¡± ¡°What?¡± Zach asked, even as he raised his hand to grab his blade, which was sheathed in the scabbard on his back. Before he could lift his arm up halfway, he flinched, ducked, and looked around in confusion as the gun in the woman¡¯s right hand briefly flashed a bright light and another loud crack echoed in the pub. Zach actually had to run his hands over and around his body to be sure he hadn¡¯t just been hit. ¡°We don¡¯t need to make this into a whole conversation,¡± Anelia said, taking another step forward. Zach, in turn, took one back, and so did Rian and Lienne. Now, there was nothing behind them but a closet and the door to a unisex bathroom. ¡°I¡¯ve got a contract on you. It¡¯s still valid. I always check right before my kill. So there¡¯s no bullshitting your way out of this.¡± ¡°I¡¯m only seventeen,¡± Zach said. ¡°Tough. Like I said, this is work, not fun. So here¡¯s what we¡¯re going to do. First, you¡¯re going to come with me outside of this nice pub so we don¡¯t damage it any further. If I end up staining the place everywhere with your blood, it might hurt the business and put some really nice people out of work. Do you want that to happen?¡± ¡°He obviously doesn¡¯t,¡± Rian answered for him. ¡°So here¡¯s a thought: just leave.¡± ¡°Secondly,¡± Anelia continued, seemingly ignoring Rian. ¡°I¡¯m much higher level than you are, kid. What are you? Ten? Twenty at the most? You have no chance of making it out of this alive. But listen, all right? See, we don¡¯t have to make this into a drawn-out, painful affair. I¡¯m not sadistic. This is work for me. That¡¯s all it is. So, here¡¯s what we can do. You¡±¡ªshe pointed to him¡ª¡°follow me alone out of this pub, and I¡¯ll make it so quick you won¡¯t even feel it. Gods strike me down if I speak a lie. You won¡¯t even feel it. That way, we don¡¯t have to wreck this nice lady¡¯s business. And the best part of it, kid? Your two friends get to live.¡± As Zach listened to what she had to say, the thing that stood out most in his mind was not the very real, very serious gravity of the situation. It should have been, of course. But for some reason, it wasn¡¯t. No, what stood front and center in Zach¡¯s head was a self-awareness of how strange it was that he felt no desire to beg or flee. Zach, for whatever reason, was far less terrified than he should¡¯ve been. Even with everything going on, he almost wanted to mentally congratulate himself on thus far keeping his shit together. The old Zach would never have been able to do that. In fact, forget the old Zach: not even two or three Zachs ago would be keeping it this cool¡ªwhere each Zach was equal to like one near-death experience. It actually struck him as kind of wild just how not afraid he was. Alarmed? Sure. Anxious and worried? Obviously. But afraid? For some reason, he just wasn¡¯t feeling it. Recent developments in his life had somehow dampened his ability to become so easily frightened. Zach supposed a person could only ¡°almost die¡± so many times before terror lost some of its impact. And if so, then clearly Rian and Lienne had not yet hit that point, as the two of them were visibly shaken. Lienne was grabbing his shoulder so tightly that if he had been level 1, it would have broken his skin, and Rian had now gone completely quiet¡ªthough from his posture, Zach knew he could rely on him to act if it came to a fight. Lienne, too. Neither of them would back down if it came to that. Zach was positive. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. To Anelia, he asked, ¡°Do you really think you can kill me and get away with it?¡± ¡°Kid, this isn¡¯t a debate,¡± she said. ¡°Let¡¯s go. If I absolutely have to, I will shoot you through the throat and let you gurgle to death on your own blood. You won¡¯t like that. Time to go. Now.¡± Zach stood his ground. ¡°Killing me is the same as killing yourself,¡± he said to her. She pointed her guns at him, her fingers hovering over the triggers, and now Zach did feel some degree of fear. Still, he held himself together. ¡°You don¡¯t even know anything about me, do you? This is suicide if you go through with it.¡± ¡°How so? You think I haven¡¯t killed people with powerful friends before?¡± ¡°Not as powerful as mine.¡± ¡°Really, now?¡± Zach nodded. ¡°This is going to sound crazy, but I¡¯ll swear it to every known God.¡± He lifted his chin defiantly at her. ¡°Mark my words: If you hurt me or my friends, my cat will find out and fuck you up so badly you¡¯ll beg to die.¡± ¡°You¡¯re insane,¡± Anelia said. ¡°What a shame. It¡¯s really, really distasteful to kill the mentally ill.¡± ¡°He¡¯s actually telling the truth, ma¡¯am,¡± Lienne said. Anelia chuckled, and it was a sound that came across as sincerely humored. ¡°His cat will come after me? You actually expect me to believe that?¡± ¡°Actually, yes,¡± Lienne replied. ¡°I know how it sounds, but he actually does have a talking, magical cat.¡± Anelia again laughed, though this time, she did somewhat angle her head sideways as though considering Lienne¡¯s words. ¡°You know what? When I was tracking him down, some store clerk did actually say that you had a talking cat. I thought they were just crazy in the head, but now¡­¡± ¡°Because he really does,¡± Lienne said. ¡°And he¡¯s super-duper powerful.¡± ¡°Even if you¡¯re telling the truth, he¡¯s still just a cat, though.¡± ¡°Yeah, but Fluffles isn¡¯t just any ordinary¡ª¡± ¡°Fluffles?¡± she asked with a chuckle. Anelia rubbed her left pistol against her forehead. ¡°Kids, come on. I¡¯m a patient woman when I have to be. But I¡¯m starting to think it¡¯s better if I just end you right now to save myself the headache.¡± ¡°Wait, please,¡± Lienne said, stepping forward with her arms held wide, her staff still on her back. ¡°Zach really does have some very powerful friends who will come after you if you attack us. It¡¯s not just his cat. It really would be suicide. No amount of money can be worth your life, right?¡± ¡°Even if I believe you,¡± she said with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯m still not worried.¡± ¡°You would be if you knew who his girlfriend is.¡± ¡°Oh really?¡± ¡°Yes. His girlfriend,¡± Lienne explained, her voice cracking so slightly that Zach doubted anyone but he and Rian would notice it, ¡°is Kalana Vayra.¡± Anelia cocked an eyebrow. ¡°The Elvish Princess? You¡¯re full of it.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not,¡± Rian said. ¡°We can prove it if we have to.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Zach said. ¡°And Kal¡¯s probably like level six thousand now or Gods only know what level. There¡¯s a chance Fluffles might let you off the hook, but if you kill me, Kal will hunt you down from now until the end of time.¡± ¡°I doubt that very much. I also don¡¯t believe anything you¡¯re saying.¡± ¡°I can prove it.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Rian, you need to close your eyes.¡± ¡°What? How come?¡±¡¯ ¡°Because I need to show her a¡­a sensitive picture.¡± ¡°Okay, well I wanna see it too, then.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t see it!¡± Zach shouted at him. ¡°But Li can?¡± ¡°It¡¯s different.¡± ¡°For the record, I don¡¯t actually want to see it,¡± Lienne said. ¡°Fine, you can close your eyes too. Both of you should. One second, let me just grab my phone and¡ª¡± ¡°Enough!¡± Anelia snapped. ¡°I don¡¯t care who you know or who you¡¯ll send after me. You can¡¯t bargain your way out of this. I already made a deal with my contractor. My reputation is at stake.¡± She pointed her guns at him. ¡°You have five seconds to decide: do I kill you in here or do I kill you outside. Same result, different level of pain.¡± His level of fear rising just a pinch more, Zach continued to hold himself together as he stealthily kicked Rian in his shin to catch his attention. Rian glared at him, clearly not understanding his intentions. But Zach hoped it would soon become clear to him as he said, ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll go with you. But there¡¯s just one thing you need to know.¡± ¡°No there¡¯s not. Let¡¯s go. If I see you¡¯re not following me, I shoot your friends. Got it?¡± Rather than reply with a yes or no, Zach said, ¡°I fought Moldark the Unbanished.¡± ¡°Who?¡± she asked. She must have been very confident in her own strength, because she actually turned her back to him as she began to leave. But now, as he mentioned the name ¡°Moldark,¡± she looked over her shoulder at him. Fixing Rian with a hard, intense, but very brief stare, he said, ¡°Moldark was a really tough boss. It was amazing what the three of us had to do to finish him off.¡± Rian¡¯s eyebrows rose with apparent understanding, and he gave a slight bow of his chin. Zach did not dare nod in return as Anelia was now watching him closely. ¡°What in the name of the Gods are you on about?¡± ¡°Basically,¡± Zach said to her, ¡°you really startled me with that gun before. It was really, really loud. I bet I can make an even louder bang than that, though. You¡¯d better cover your ears.¡± She pointed her gun at him again, and her lips twisted into a full-on scowl. ¡°That¡¯s it. I¡¯ve had enough of this. You¡¯ve got until the count of three to start moving or you die the painful way.¡± Of course it comes down to this, he thought to himself with a sigh. So much for talking my way out of trouble. ¡°One,¡± she counted. Zach remained right where he was. He kept his body loose and his hands by his sides. Shifting his eyes first to his left and then to his right, he sent a wordless signal to Lienne and Rian that he prayed they would understand. To their credit, they seemed to interpret his message perfectly, as they began to spread apart, moving a bit more to opposite sides of the pub, but too slowly and cautiously for Anelia to notice while her attention was fully on him. ¡°Two,¡± she continued. Zach closed his eyes a moment. That guy, Spider, had said not to fight a person like they were a mob, but in this case, Zach really had no choice. He had no data on his opponent, but he was willing to bet that, given her age and her confidence, she was far, far higher level than he was. He could think of only one way of besting her that wouldn¡¯t require a twenty-million-gold Purple Rejuvenation Stone. ¡°Three!¡± Anelia meant business. She truly intended to kill him: that much was no longer in doubt as she pulled the trigger with the gun pointed directly at his throat. In the same instant, he activated Unleashed Phase followed immediately after by Phase Blink. This time, it was more than clear which bang came first. Blasting forward with such unimaginable speed that he could not even feel or comprehend the motion, he actually reached the pub¡¯s entrance before Anelia¡¯s gun managed to fire. Oh, and it was her bang that came first, though not by much. Spinning around as fast as he was able, he managed to just see a bit of the muzzle flash from her cannon-like pistol as she fired at nothing, her gun making what, under normal circumstances, would be described as a hideously loud crack as her bullet tore through the bathroom door and left a fist-sized hole in the wood. Of course, volume was relative. Thus, once again: under normal circumstances, the echoing report of her fiery gun might be considered one of the loudest sounds Zach had ever heard. This, however, was most decidedly not a normal circumstance. Zach managed to spin three quarters of the way around when, a fraction of a second after the crack of her gunfire, the sonic boom decided to show up and put her gun to shame. Having turned his body as fast as he could possibly manage while under the effects of Unleased Phase, he managed to briefly see the ripple in the air where he¡¯d only just been standing¡ªthe result of his body breaking the sound barrier. ¡°Boom,¡± he said in unison with the thunderous, calamitous detonation of pure, chaotic sound that caused Anelia¡¯s entire body to flinch while simultaneously blowing out every single window in the pub, covering the floor in multiple showers of glass. Even with their hands preemptively covering their ears, Rian and Lienne still shouted out. But Rian was quick to recover. ¡°Now!¡± Zach yelled at him. Or at least he hoped he¡¯d yelled at him. There was no way of knowing, as nothing could be louder than the bang he¡¯d just caused, which would have no doubt been heard all throughout the Den of Ziragoth. Whether he heard Zach or not, Rian and Lienne clearly knew what they had to do, for which Zach was proud. Removing his shield and axe, Rian threw the latter at Anelia, who appeared to be struggling to recover from what, to her, must surely have been a completely unexpected and disorienting experience. At the same time, Lienne took her staff off her back and sent a Flamestrike Anelia¡¯s way, the darkly lit pub briefly shining blue as her missile-shaped bolt of flame streaked above seven sets of booths and four round tables on its path towards her. Even with the sudden disorientation, Anelia managed to somehow react to both threats at once. Zach watched as the woman dashed backwards, then shook her head as though pulling herself together before throwing both her arms forward, spaced widely apart. Two flashes were followed by two more cracks of gunfire, though both were not the same. Zach had no way of knowing for certain, but it appeared as though she¡¯d activated some kind of ability in her right gun, as the color of the muzzle flash was green instead of white. With her left gun, she shot Rian¡¯s axe off course, the impact resulting in several sparks. Rather than return to his hand, the axe ended up biting into the wall not far below the ceiling on the far side of the pub. With her right pistol, a ball of green, round energy collided with Lienne¡¯s Flamestrike, and then both disappeared into nothingness. And with that, she had neutralized both of their attacks. Zach did not care, however, as Rian and Lienne had clearly intended them to be nothing more than distractions anyway. Apparently, even with all her obvious talent and skill, the combination of Rian¡¯s Axe Throw and Lienne¡¯s Flamestrike was enough to leave her vulnerable for just enough time so that Rian, who had been charging forward at her, was able to successfully strike at her with the only ability that actually mattered in this situation. Get her! His shield aglow with a dark red energy, Rian shouted out a vulgar insult and then bashed her in the side of the face with it. All at once, the red energy dissipated, and instead, what looked like a thousand tendrils of blue electricity raced from the center of the shield into Anelia¡¯s body, where they then began fanning out and spreading everywhere from her earlobes down to her toes, paralyzing her. ¡°She¡¯s stunned!¡± Rian cried. ¡°Zach, now!¡± ¡°Wave Slash!¡± Zach cried out, slashing his sword through the air. With his Phase Level sitting at zero, the five fewer points into each stat did, in fact, result in a slightly slower-to-form green metallic, double-edged disc. But it was still more than fast enough to get the job done. Of the six seconds for which Rian¡¯s stun was supposed to last, Zach would only need two. With his back to the door, he watched as it burned through the air, literally, as it sped towards its target. He sheathed his blade immediately after, sensing this would end quickly. ¡°Fucking kids!¡± Anelia shrieked, struggling. It looked as though she were bound with an invisible wire as her body fought against whatever had paralyzed it. Then, somehow, through a means Zach could neither understand nor explain, she managed to break out of it. With a loud scream that sounded like a cross between fury and the agony of intense muscle strain, she managed to rip her arms free from where they¡¯d been pinned by her sides with a mysterious, audible snap. Then, the blue, electric-like tendrils of electricity racing all over her body were simply fired off of her, changing midair into what looked like triangular-shaped glass shards that scattered in every direction before vanishing into thin air. Now, following another, war-like shout, she threw herself to the side a moment before Wave Slash found its mark, causing her entire right shoulder guard to break off along with a chunk of her flesh. She came into a roll, threw herself back up to her feet with the exposed, bloody skin of her right shoulder-blade continuing to drip blood onto the floor, and then she pointed her guns at Zach and fired¡ªor at least she seemed about to. Suddenly, her eyes enlarged with apparent fear. ¡°Oh, Gods!¡± she shouted, turning around and fleeing in the direction of the bathroom. She bumped into the already damaged door so hard that she managed to rip it clean off its hinges as she blasted herself through it. Then, halfway inside the bathroom, she came to an abrupt halt, spun herself around three times as though completely at random, and proceeded to make a wild dash towards the bar counter. Rian must have used Bully on her! This is my chance! Now that he was under the effects of Unleashed Phase, Zach inhaled sharply as an overwhelming sense of strength and well-being flooded into him. His hands and feet were releasing a constant puff of impossibly black smoke, and his skin had begun to give off a very slight glow. But most importantly, in every conceivable way, he felt faster, more powerful, and able to react to things with far greater speed and accuracy. His vision had also been altered, too. With Unleashed Phase active, the way that he saw the world had become enhanced. Now, information that required complex body motions could be conjured forward¡ªand organized¡ªwith just a single thought.
Unleashed Phase Duration 13:22 Remaining
Wave Slash 1:15
Boundless 0:10
Phase Blink 0:20
Phase Shield (READY) (25 seconds) 0:45
Phase Rescue 0:35/2:15 (if used with Boundless)
Phase Slash 1:10/6:10 (if used with ??)
As Anelia darted aimlessly around the pub like a headless chicken, Zach grinned, reached over his shoulder, and gripped the pommel of his brand new sword, inside of which was a gemstone that shined with an ethereal blue light; with a satisfying, audible shing, he drew his blade from his scabbard. Wielding the larger, sharper, and weightier blade with both hands, he charged forward after Anelia, who seemed poised to run face-first into the wall on Zach¡¯s left, directly beneath the spot where Rian¡¯s axe had become lodged into. Still a ways behind her, he needed to reach the point of intersection before she did or risk losing what might ultimately be his only opportunity to strike. And so, bending his knees, he launched himself upwards and forward through the air, flinging himself across the pub like a catapult while raising his arms high above his head, the tip of his sword also casting a small blue light about the dimly lit pub. As he began to fall, he realized he¡¯d timed his jump perfectly. Assuming she did not make any other random changes in trajectory, the woman would run directly into his path at the exact moment that he struck. Distantly, he prayed to the Gods that he did not kill her. He did not want to be a killer. But this was purely self-defense, and he could tell that this woman, this ¡°bounty hunter¡± was far too powerful to hold back even slightly. He needed to use all of his strength against her. With a grunt of exertion, he swung his blade downwards with all his might on top of her in the exact moment that she crossed his path. ¡°No you don¡¯t!¡± she shouted at him. As though through sheer willpower alone, she somehow broke free of Rian¡¯s ¡°fear.¡± His sword mere inches from her face, she extended her arms wide, and then she fired both of her guns¡ªbut not at him, for some reason. She almost seemed to be pointing to each side of herself. Her intentions soon became clear as, rather than produce bullets, the guns formed a bubble-shaped, green, and wavy light that encompassed her entire body. Rather than slicing into Anelia, Zach¡¯s blade instead struck the barrier she¡¯d erected, and with a stunning flash of light, it exploded upon impact. Before Zach could even understand what had just happened to him, he found himself flying backwards through the air. A moment later, he crashed down with a painful crack on top of one of the tables, which completely snapped into two separate pieces and caused the booth itself to knock over onto its side. ¡°Now you¡¯ve made me angry,¡± Anelia said. ¡°This just became personal. I¡¯m pissed!¡± Scrambling back to his feet, Zach shouted in alarm as Anelia¡¯s pistols began to flash repeatedly. Now, the pub erupted into a chorus of loud, ceaseless gunfire, which Zach had no real way of defending himself against, as unlike arrows, bullets moved far too fast for him to stand even a chance of evading. Luckily, he didn¡¯t have to. Rian ran to his side and covered them both with his shield¡ªor at least he did for a time. Though the shield was somehow strong enough to endure the bullets, they caused indentations to form in the metal, and after just six or seven shots, the entire thing flew out of Rian¡¯s hands, bouncing hard enough on the wall behind them that it then traveled forward, landing not far from Anelia, who kicked it off to the side. Now, the two of them were both exposed. ¡°You die first,¡± Anelia said. Since she wasn¡¯t looking at Zach, Zach assumed she was talking about Rian. ¡°Wait!¡± he called to her, putting his body in front of Rian¡¯s. ¡°Don¡¯t do it. Please.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bother begging her,¡± Rian said. He pounded on his chest with his fist. ¡°Come get me then!¡± ¡°Gladly.¡± Swearing loudly, Zach activated Phase Shield the moment her guns resumed firing. Now, between the flash from her guns and the massive light cast by the gigantic golden shield that materialized in the air before the two of them, the pub, however briefly, appeared to be as well lit as a field under the noon sun. Firing into the shield one bullet after the next, Zach felt a minor prickling sensation on his skin that was likely the result of the portion of ¡°damage¡± his shield was able to let through¡ªbasically, nothing. The real problem, however, was that the shield lasted for only 1.2 seconds, which meant as soon as it fell, Zach and Rian would be just as equally vulnerable as they¡¯d been only a moment ago. And there was nothing Lienne could do to help, either, as it only just occurred to Zach that she¡¯d been launching Flamestrikes at the woman this entire time to no avail. As the golden light faded and the shield disappeared, Zach darted his eyes around for some idea of what to do. The best¡ªand only¡ªidea he could come up with was to use Phase Blink to instantly take himself behind the bar counter, and from there, trying his best to turn around in time to use Phase Rescue in the hope of pulling Rian to him before any of the woman¡¯s bullets struck him. It doesn¡¯t get me anywhere, he thought, but it¡¯ll keep us breathing while I think of something better. With his plan in mind, he studied Anelia¡¯s body movements and waited for her to pull the trigger. He was ready to activate Phase Blink the moment she made her move. And so he waited¡ªand then he continued to wait. And then he waited some more. After nearly a minute of nothing happening, he realized that she seemed to be pausing to reassess her situation, which made no logical sense. The shield only lasted 1.2 seconds, so now that it was down, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use it for another 25 seconds, so why wasn¡¯t she finishing them both off? That was what she wanted, wasn¡¯t it? So why wasn¡¯t she? Oh, of course! Duh! Zach thought, doing his absolute best not to let his emotions show on his face. She doesn¡¯t know that. She has no idea how my abilities work. For all she knows, the shield is still up just not visible. A lot of things work that way. Testing his theory, he walked boldly towards her. Right now, he was completely undefended, but he forced a cocky grin onto his lips and even lowered his blade down to his side in a one-handed grip. He could see now that there was sweat on the visible portions of her face through her scale helmet, and that she was breathing heavily. Fighting mobs is not like fighting people, Zach thought, finally realizing the lesson that had been imparted upon him by Spider. Unlike a mob, which would continue to attack without giving even the slightest shit whether or not its attacks were successful, a human being would become discouraged if he or she came to the conclusion their attacks would not work and they¡¯d only be exerting themselves for no gain. ¡°Go ahead, shoot me,¡± Zach said, rapping on his chest confidently. ¡°Try some more. Go on. Free shots.¡± She raised her guns at him and scowled. Had it not been for what sounded eerily like a bang followed by a human scream coming from somewhere outside, she would have seen right through his bluff. Thankfully, he¡¯d turned his head to look in the direction of the noise before chiding himself for turning away from his opponent. Once again, he met her eyes. ¡°They lied to me,¡± Anelia said with a growl, which intrigued and perplexed Zach. ¡°Who did?¡± he asked. ¡°They said you were under level 20. That¡¯s impossible. Those abilities¡­what are they?¡± ¡°None of your business,¡± Rian said, speaking for him. Anelia glared at him, but then quickly put her attention back on Zach. ¡°I have a revised offer for you,¡± she said. As she regarded him, a grimace came upon her face as her eyes lowered down to his hands and then his feet. The purely black smoke must have been causing her a degree of uncertainty. ¡°What is it?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Tell your friends to stay out of our fight, and I give you my word I won¡¯t kill them. If you want to fight for your life, so be it. But tell them to stay out of it.¡± ¡°And you won¡¯t take revenge on them for what¡¯s already happened?¡± ¡°I give you my word. Tell them to butt out, and I will never look at them again.¡± ¡°Done,¡± Zach said, knowing that they couldn¡¯t possibly help him here anyway. Rian¡¯s crowd control was really useful, sure, but he¡¯d lost his shield, and she¡¯d be able to shoot him easily before he went anywhere near it. Lienne, on the other hand, had amazing heals, but if Zach started getting hit by someone as strong as Anelia, he doubted they would matter. In truth, he had no idea how he was going to get out of this. Yet, even still, he was shockingly lacking in fear. ¡°Lienne, Rian,¡± he called to them. ¡°Don¡¯t get involved.¡± ¡°Are you crazy?¡± Rian asked. ¡°I¡¯m not letting you¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± Zach snapped at him. ¡°I¡¯ll be okay. I promise.¡± More shouting voices came from somewhere outside as Zach spoke, but he tuned them out. ¡°Rian!¡± ¡°Fine,¡± he said, appearing to be convinced. ¡°I understand,¡± Lienne whispered sadly as a blood-curdling scream caused Zach to once more look towards the pub¡¯s entrance. Even Anelia glanced in its direction. But then both once more locked eyes. Despite what he¡¯d said, Zach felt a pang of guilt, as he had totally lied to his friends. In all likelihood, he probably would not be fine. But since it wasn¡¯t Rian and Lienne whom this woman wanted, there was no need to have them potentially killed for no reason. Of course, Zach wasn¡¯t ready to just lie down and die, either. At the very least, he thought he might be able to wear her out a bit if he blinked around the room or directly behind her and scored some hits in wherever he could. Clearly, though, she was not willing to give him the time to strategize, as she raised her guns and said, ¡°Let¡¯s continue this.¡± Gritting his teeth, Zach once more gripped his blade with both hands, and he entered a fighting stance as more screaming voices¡ªthis time what sounded like dozens¡ªall echoed at once from somewhere outside. Zach craned his neck, once more looking off to his side. ¡°Before we fight to death,¡± he said, ¡°can you at least tell me if you hear that too? Or am I just going crazy?¡± A totally unexpected softness came upon the visible portion of Anelia¡¯s face. ¡°I¡­I hear it too. It sounds like quite a few people are screaming.¡± ¡°Do you have anything to do with that?¡± Zach asked her. ¡°I was just assuming it¡¯s something you did.¡± ¡°Why would you assume that?¡± He shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe you brought friends or something and they¡¯re attacking people in the town. How should I know?¡± Zach was taken aback as Anelia made a hearty, deep chuckle. ¡°I thought it might be your doing, actually.¡± ¡°Wait, mine?¡± ¡°Yes. I thought maybe it was some of those friends you were telling me about coming to save you.¡± ¡°Well, I have no idea what¡ª¡± ¡°Please, no!¡± screamed a woman¡¯s voice so loudly that it interrupted him. Then she screamed some more, and it was unlike anything Zach had ever before heard. It was a sound of pain so intense and filled with such unrelenting misery that it actually elicited more of an emotional response within Zach than he had felt so far during his entire run-in with this bounty hunter. At no point in his life could Zach recall ever hearing a scream of such agony. ¡°My baby! No, please! Gods, please. Please, no!¡± ¡°The fuck is going on out there?¡± he asked, becoming unsettled. Anelia actually lowered her guns. ¡°I don¡¯t know. But it¡¯s making me nervous.¡± It was a stunning admission from the bounty hunter, Zach realized. Admitting fear in front of the prey she was here to kill? In truth, he couldn¡¯t blame her. Because over the next ten seconds, even more screaming voices were added to the chorus. But it was only when the sound of children began to cry out that Zach urgently turned to Anelia and said, ¡°Please, can we postpone this? Something is seriously wrong out there.¡± Without even replying, she made a slow, hesitant nod and placed her guns back into her holsters. This, as Rian retrieved his axe and shield, and Lienne came to stand by his side. ¡°Zach, what¡¯s happening?¡± she asked. ¡°Why are so many people¡ª?¡± And then it happened. From somewhere outside the pub came a sound that Zach would never forget for so long as he lived. It was a sound so horrible, so utterly, disgustingly wicked in all manner of ways that it threatened to shatter every last ounce of courage Zach had built up recently and leave him as nothing more than a crumpled-up, enfeebled mess. It was a sound that was so vicious, so terrifying, and so haunting that, in the exact instant it reached his ears, Zach knew that any conflict that he¡¯d had with Anelia was now over and would likely never be taken up ever again. Whatever she¡¯d been here for¡ªthat was over now. Of course it was. Bounty hunters. Targets. These words were meaningless. Upon hearing this sound, Zach was overtaken by an innate, primal reminder that Anelia, like him, was only just a person. They were all just people. And there were bigger threats in the world than each other. Somehow, intrinsically, Zach knew that this was going to turn out to be one of the worst moments of his life. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± It was a roar of some kind. It was a cry so deep, powerful, and furious that the entire pub began to violently shake as though in the throes of a magnitude-9 earthquake. The pub shook so violently that Zach almost fell off his feet, and it was Anelia, of all people, who reached out and grabbed his arm to steady him. With her fingers on his bicep, he could feel her trembling. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± The roof began to leak dust and plaster. Abruptly, the power went out, and every light fixture in the pub fell off the ceiling and crashed with a crack onto the wooden floor. At the same time, nearly every bottle of alcohol fell out of its display case, creating a cascading sound of smashing bottles followed by the overpowering smell of liquor. Yet Zach simply ignored it, because it was nothing compared to the horrific, inexplicable roar of something so completely consumed by rage, hate, and a lust for murder. ¡°What in the name of the Gods!¡± Anelia shouted. She once more drew her guns, causing Zach to flinch. But she wasn¡¯t even looking at him, was she? No, she was marching over to the pub¡¯s entrance, which Zach recalled led out to the market. Kicking open the door, she peered outside¡ªand then the brutish, tough-as-nails bounty hunter screamed in horror and dropped both of her guns as though by accident before literally falling to her knees. ¡°No!¡± she cried. ¡°No, no, no! Why here? Why now? My fucking luck!¡± She began to slide backwards on her ass. And even lacking any idea of what Anelia could have possibly seen, her reaction to it¡ªwhatever it was¡ª nearly caused Zach to break as well. Because right now, the fearless, strong bounty hunter who had come to claim his head was shaking with her lips quivering and her shoulders twitching. She almost looked as though she were convulsing: as though the fear within her was attacking her on some kind of physical level. The look in her eyes¡ªthe look of total, utter dread from someone as strong as Anelia was nearly enough to cause Zach to join her on the floor. Rian and Lienne also seemed to have been stricken with the same kind of terror, as their faces now looked as though someone had drained them of all the blood in their bodies. Even still, they crept slowly towards the entrance and glanced outside. Immediately, Lienne screamed, and Rian covered his mouth, and then both ran¡ªnot walked, ran¡ªback inside the pub. Lienne now had tears in her eyes, and Rian looked as though he was not far off. ¡°What happened?¡± Zach asked. Grabbing Rian¡¯s shoulders, he shouted, ¡°What happened? Tell me, Gods-dammit!¡± Rian¡¯s only reply was to shake his head, and now tears in fact did run down his face. Bracing himself, Zach decided to see with his own two eyes what had so thoroughly broken Anelia and his two friends. Making his way to the pub¡¯s front entrance in four quick, powerful strides, with black smoke still rising up into the air off his hands and feet, Zach peered outside¡ªand then felt all the fear he thought he¡¯d learned to shed come rushing back into him in an avalanche. In this moment, he knew total despair. Blood. There was blood everywhere. There was so much of it. More blood than he¡¯d ever seen. More blood than he could ever have conceived of. The streets were stained in it. There was so much that, in places, it was running down into drains. It was everywhere. There was so much of it. Oh, Gods, no! There were body parts. Some belonging to children. Severed hands, feet, toes, and heads. Burned corpses. The streets were covered in gore. It wasn¡¯t just the quantity of blood, either. But the darkness of it, too. The blood was so, so dark in color. A little girl¡¯s lifeless body was just in front of the pub. An entire portion of her skull had been ripped open, spilling out brain matter onto the pavement. Next to her was a woman¡ªher mother? Her spine had been torn out of her body. She must have been the one he¡¯d heard scream. In front of her was an old man who had been cut into two pieces. His top half seemed to still be alive, as he was crawling desperately along the ground, leaving a bloodied streak behind him like a slug with red ooze. And then there was a roar. Another of those cursed, twisted cries of rage and death. And that was when Zach saw it. The creature. Something so horrible he struggled to believe it could even be real. It was dark brown, and its body was so massive that it fully took up the entire portion of the two-way street that it was standing on. The pavement beneath its sharp, black-toenailed feet was cracked and shattered. And this beast¡­this entity from the deepest, darkest layer of hell¡­it was tall, too. Just about as tall as the two-story homes that dotted the town center, several of which now lay in ruins. It had ferocious, golden, lizard-like eyes, and its body was covered in spikes so sharp they looked as though they could pierce the heart of a God. These spikes also ran down along its massive, barbed tail. Yet, its teeth were somehow even sharper than its spikes, and as it opened its mouth, Zach screamed in horror as a young boy attempted to flee its forked tongue, which was so long it was able to wrap around his body despite being nearly a dozen feet away. ¡°It¡¯s a Wyvern,¡± Zach whimpered. ¡°A¡­f-fucking Wyvern¡­¡± Above the head of this enormous, heinous, monster, whose wings were so wide and massive they spanned almost half a city block, was something that made Zach struggle for all he was worth not to weep. Even amid a terror so strong it paralyzed him, he somehow managed to cognitively assess the situation, and in doing so, he took note of what this¡­this thing was. It had a name. A name that, in hindsight, should have been obvious.
HP 15000000/15000000
Name (T7) Ziragoth the Awoken
Level 70
This is why you fight, Mr. Oren, Zach thought, and now he did begin to weep. This is why you exist. It took everything he had inside of him not to drop his blade. Not to turn around and flee. To leave his friends behind and abandon them. He could do it, too. He had enough time. He could Phase Blink¡ªand then keep on Phase Blinking until he was far enough away that the creature would never find him. He didn¡¯t, however. He wasn¡¯t even sure why he didn¡¯t or how he had the strength to continue on¡ªto not turn tail and flee in terror. Yet something deep within himself stirred at the sight of the small boy who kicked and screamed as the Wyvern pulled him closer and closer to its mouth, where it would inevitably crunch into his flesh and snap him into two pieces. No, no it won¡¯t! Zach screamed in his head. Without another thought, he activated Phase Rescue an instant before the Wyvern chomped down and ripped into the child¡¯s flesh. Moments before death, the boy disappeared inside of a blue orb of light, and the moment he then reappeared, Zach looked him in the eyes and said, ¡°Get out of here. Now!¡± Without even looking to see if the child obeyed, Zach took several steps out into the hot summer humidity. He watched as, with another deafening, earth-shaking roar, the creature flew into the air and then released a ball of fire so massive it stung his eyes worse than staring at the sun. Then came the sounds of even more screams as people were torched alive. It was a massacre: a slaughter. Now, everyone was out on the streets, either staring on in horror or running for their lives. Incredibly, some were even taking out their phones as though to record or stream this. They weren¡¯t brave, however. No. Zach, having felt the intense, crippling fright that came with being brave¡ªhe understood the difference. These people were just stupid. ¡°Get out of here!¡± he shouted at them. ¡°What are you fucking morons doing? Run! And don¡¯t stop running!¡± Rather than flee, they turned their cameras on him, and with a disgusted grunt, he ignored them. There were so many human body parts in the street that it was virtually impossible to avoid stepping on some. At least eight-hundred people if not more had already died by his estimation. Though it was impossible to tell. They were in so many different pieces. Now beginning to weep, Zach continued to walk farther into the street. Why was he doing this? No more heroics. You promised yourself. You said you would live no matter what. You promised to put yourself first. So stop it. You don¡¯t have to do this. You owe them nothing! ¡°I¡¯m such a fucking idiot,¡± he whimpered, tears gliding down his cheeks. He didn¡¯t want to do this. But who was going to protect all these people? There were children dying in front of him. He had no choice. But first, he needed to make a critically important phone call. Removing his phone, he dialed a number, and then he began to scream at the person on the other end of the line. **** Alex Oren had just been about to walk out of his office-lab hybrid with Kalana when his phone rang in his pocket. He thought of ignoring it, as he was having an incredibly fascinating conversation with the Elvish girl about some of the mobs she¡¯d encountered on her island, many that Alex himself did not know existed. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Zach,¡± he said. Kalana¡¯s face brightened the moment he spoke the boy¡¯s name. This was good. No matter what his guild-mates said, for Kalana to love a human with such intensity, it did not signal to him that she was as dangerous as they feared. He was a good judge of character. He was sure of it. ¡°Hello?¡± Alex said. He put the phone on speaker. ¡°Zach, you¡¯re on speaker. I¡¯m actually here with Kalana. I was just about to drive her over to come see you.¡± He laughed. ¡°You must be so happy to¡ª¡± ¡°SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW!¡± Zach screamed with such an intensity that teachers all the way across the hall turned to look. Kalana frowned, then shot a confused look at Alex, who merely shook his head. ¡°Zach, what has gotten into you? That¡¯s no way to¡ª¡± ¡°T7! PLEASE HELP US. IT¡¯S A FUCKING T7!¡± ¡°What did you just say,¡± Alex said into the phone, feeling all the blood drain from his face. Surely, he must have misheard. This was just the boy up to his usual antics, no? Perhaps he saw something he did not understand or¡­or Alex had misheard him. Either way, whatever Zach had said, it sounded so much like ¡°T7¡± that Alex became positively jolted, his heart beginning to pound against his chest. ¡°Zach, my man, please calm down. Please calmly repeat what you just said.¡± He moved his finger to take the phone off speaker, but Kalana snatched his wrist midair with enough strength to trap it in place, and if not for the word it almost sounded like Zach had just spoken, he imagined he¡¯d be quite terrified of the look in her eyes. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Kalana asked, fear plain in her voice. As Zach¡¯s voice blared over the speaker phone, Alex was reminded how, no matter how many times he went through this, nothing ever truly prepared him for the words he next heard Zach speak. They were words he¡¯d heard on far, far, far too many occasions, though he never would have expected to hear them from Zach of all people. Regardless, no matter the speaker and no matter how much time went by, this just never became easier. ¡°A BOSS JUST FUCKING SPAWNED OUT OF NOWHERE!¡± Zach screamed. ¡°IT¡¯S KILLING EVERYONE. EVERYONE¡¯S DYING! DO SOMETHING! MR. OREN, PLEASE!¡± Kalana gasped, then squeezed his wrist so tightly that he could not prevent himself from hissing in pain. An instant later, Kalana released him, then bowed her head in apology. Seconds after that, she stared directly into his eyes with a look of desperation that Alex understood well. ¡°I know,¡± he told her. ¡°Just be calm.¡± To Zach, he said, ¡°I¡¯ve never encountered a T7 before. Are you sure it¡¯s a¡ª¡± If not for the wall immediately to his left, Alex would¡¯ve collapsed to his knees as Zach turned on his video and he saw with his own eyes what could only be described as a nightmare made real. Very quickly, though, he regained his composure. ¡°Kalana!¡± he shouted to her. She immediately snapped to attention. ¡°What is it? What can I do? Please, tell me!¡± ¡°Dial #518 immediately into your phone. When Donovan answers, repeat exactly these words: Level-3 Apocalyptic Event in Progress. T7.¡± She nodded and seemed to do as Alex bid her. In the meantime, to Zach, he said, ¡°You need to run immediately. If that thing touches you, even with its weakest attack, you will die ten times over.¡± Even as Alex spoke to him, he messaged the emergency extraction unit¡ªthe EEU¡ªusing the highest-available alert code. ¡°Zach, I can get a team of helicopters to your position in a minute and forty-two seconds. Until then, I need you to hide, Zach!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± his voice whimpered. Then, all at once, the sadness in it seemed to fade, and it was replaced by an almost reluctant determination. ¡°Rian, hold this phone and make sure Mr. Oren sees everything so he knows how to fight this thing later.¡± ¡°What in the name of the Gods are you planning to do?¡± a boy Alex recalled meeting¡ªRian¡ªasked him. It was the question Alex himself had been about to ask. ¡°I¡¯m going to aggro it.¡± ¡°Oh no you¡¯re not!¡± Kalana said, running over to Alex¡¯s desk and shouting into the phone at him. ¡°Nah-uh! Don¡¯t you dare, Zach! I swear I¡¯ll never forgive you if you go and get yourself killed!¡± ¡°I love you, Kalana. I¡¯m sorry I never told you that until it was too late to matter. I love you so fucking much. Rian, hold it steady. Make sure they see everything.¡± ¡°Zach!¡± Alex shouted. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing? Under no circumstance are you to aggro the T7 Fire Wyvern. This is not a joke. You are not to engage the boss. You will die!¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to distract it,¡± he replied. ¡°For one minute and forty-two seconds.¡± Both he, Kalana, and that boy Rian all shouted for Zach to stop. What did he think he was doing? Alex rarely felt so unhinged and distraught. This was suicide. This was guaranteed death! He shouted for Zach to reconsider, but by that point, he was already watching the boy charge at it. Had he already been attacked? His body appeared to be smoking. A sinking feeling of trepidation entered the pit of his stomach. ¡°Zach!¡± Kalana cried, her voice a mixture of pain and rage. ¡°Kalana, I know this is a terrible situation, but you have to¡ª¡± ¡°Take me there right now!¡± she shouted at him, scowling. ¡°I¡¯ll kill it. I¡¯ll rip it apart if I gotta!¡± ¡°No matter what happens next,¡± he whispered sadly, ¡°I promise you you¡¯ll get your chance.¡± Alex spent the next several moments sending an alert to the alliance just in case Donovan hadn¡¯t done so. As it turned out, Donovan had. And in mere moments, he had already called for a war council and had established a rescue operation. He, Alixa, Kesten, and Spider coincidentally happened to be in Tomb of Fire at the time, which housed the closest possible EEU base, which meant the best of the best were on their way to save Zach. A T7, Alex thought to himself. An actual T7¡­ In all the time Alex had been an adventurer, the highest boss he¡¯d ever personally faced was a T5. He planned one day soon to fight the T9 Leviathan here in the Whispery Woods, but that was a Leviathan-type, which were known for exploitable weaknesses that could significantly decrease risk and increase success. This¡­this on the other hand was a dragon. Gods help them all. ***** ¡°If you let that boy die, I¡¯m ripping your balls off and shoving them down your throat!¡± Donovan roared at the helicopter pilot. ¡°Fly faster, you son of a bitch!¡± Donovan swore. Then he swore again. A T7 Fire Wyvern. A fucking T7 Fire Wyvern! This was bound to happen sooner or later. It was always going to come down to this one way or another. How could it not? They¡¯d been lucky for so long. That had to run out sometime. Every boss had a spawn timer, and every spawn timer eventually popped. Looked like that day was today. But Gods, did it have to be a fucking Fire Wyvern? ¡°Is Zach really engaging it solo?¡± Alixa asked, her eyes wide with terror. ¡°Yes,¡± Donovan said, to which she covered her mouth and shook her head. ¡°Why? Why would he do that?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s what any of us would do.¡± As they soared across the landscape at blazing speeds, Donovan looked around at the interception team he¡¯d put together in under a minute¡ªbasically, any adventurer who happened to be within shouting distance when he got the call. ¡°Remember, folks, your only job is to distract it until we can evacuate as many people as possible. I will tank it. Alixa, spam Amnesia on the fucker until your heart falls out of your chest. I don¡¯t give a shit if you go into E-debt. You do not let that thing get on the healer.¡± ¡°When are we going for the takedown, boss?¡± Kesten asked. Donovan looked over to where he sat in the seat adjacent to him. All five of them were communicating through headsets. ¡°Probably in two or three days when we have another hundred-fifty people with us.¡± ¡°Please tell me this isn¡¯t a roamer.¡± Donovan shrugged. ¡°We know less than nothing so far. But my gut instinct? It is. And if so, once it¡¯s done in the Den of Ziragoth, it¡¯s gonna start moving towards the next closest and most densely populated area.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± Kesten asked apprehensively. It was Alixa who answered his question. With a gasp, she said, ¡°Shadowfall Coast: a city of four-million people.¡± Donovan sighed. ¡°It¡¯s finally happening, boys and girls. No sense crying about it now.¡± To the pilot, he repeated his earlier threat. ¡°This thing moves faster or I chop off your balls! Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go!¡± Nine other helicopters buzzed along in formation with Donovan¡¯s. He prayed to the Gods for aid. That Zachys Calador¡­that crazy son of a bitch. Even as they soared along through the skies to his position, they were all watching it unfold from behind the screens of their phones: all except Spider, who refused to look. Seemed like he¡¯d taken a liking to Zach. It was okay, though. Donovan wasn¡¯t about to let him die. Not today. No damned way. Please live, kiddo. ***** ¡°MOM!¡± Adra cried. ¡°Hurry! You have to see this! You won¡¯t believe it! Mom, please!¡± Kala paused her exercise video as the sound of her daughter¡¯s alarmed voice caused her to drop her ten-pound weights and run across her small apartment to see what could possibly have caused her to shout that way. Her motherly instincts taking over, she raced into her girl¡¯s room to make sure she was all right. Panting, she said, ¡°You almost scared me to death. Why would you scream like that, Adra?¡± ¡°Because of that!¡± her daughter said, pointing at the television. ¡°Because of a monster movie?¡± she asked her daughter, exasperated. ¡°It¡¯s not a movie, mom! It¡¯s the news!¡± Adra blinked. ¡°It¡¯s what?¡± Chapter 50: One Minute and Forty-Two Seconds Chapter 50: One Minute and Forty-Two Seconds Abram Gespon had to shout to be overheard as almost every high-ranking guild member from North Bastia all chimed in at once demanding answers and accountability. Sitting in a large, black leather seat on his private jet, he endured the scorn heaped on him by dozens upon dozens of angry voices paired with their equally outraged faces, which all appeared in small boxes that covered the computer screen built into the cabin wall before him. Regrettably, it was onto Abram whom they directed most of their ire. To say that they were ¡°cross¡± would be an understatement so vast it would almost constitute a lie; his peers were downright fuming, blaming him both for the ¡°leak¡± and also taking issue with his emergency, subsequent response to it. Just keep your composure, he told himself. Show no visible signs of distress. Weakness promotes further attack. Suffice to say, today had not gone as Abram had planned¡ªnot by any measure. Originally, he had arranged to visit Senior-Lieutenant Haisel Ragora aboard his top-secret aircraft carrier, the Piercing Thorn. It was only due to their decades-long alliance with the Royal Roses that the People of Virtue had been trusted to know of the existence of such a breathtaking ship, one that, by all accounts, was a veritable recreated relic from humanity¡¯s pre-Galterran past. Abram had been quite interested to see it with his own eyes as well as walk around on it. But then¡­things kind of changed, hadn¡¯t they? Gods-damned IMA! he thought bitterly, though he kept his inner turmoil from showing on his expression. That incompetent halfwit, Graeme Braxel. He¡¯ll never be welcome in my city again. Worthless sack of shit! Faced with a crisis unlike any other in his lifetime, Abram had naturally had to clear his schedule for the foreseeable future. And so now, at this very moment, his jet was speeding along at an altitude of twenty-thousand feet on its way to the Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah for an emergency meeting of the United Council of Humanity; most, if not all members of region-controlling guilds with the rank of lieutenant or higher were also heading to Dal¡¯Zarrah. This, as the ¡°situation¡± continued to develop in the farmlands of Whispery Woods located in southeast North Bastia. Things were so dire that even Haisel had needed to depart the Piercing Thorn so that he could begin his journey northward to what, at least on paper¡ªif not quite in reality¡ªhad decades ago been formally declared the capital city of humanity following the beheading of Peter IV. Ostensibly, the official operating ¡°government¡± of the human race was the UCH, though few genuinely thought of it in such a way. In actuality, each region was more or less ruled solely by the guild in control of it. There were exceptions, of course, for issues on which a consensus could be reached: such as matters involving currency, the suppression of harmful information, and more recently, the island belonging to Kalana Vayra. For most other matters, however, the UCH was little more than an appropriate forum to yell at one another for a few hours to a few days before walking away with nothing accomplished. That wouldn¡¯t be good enough this time, though; given the gravity of their current situation, the guilds were going to need to pull themselves together and come to an agreement on how to proceed. So far, the only thing they¡¯d managed to agree on was how vehemently pissed off they all were at Abram. Well, all except the Royal Roses, who would not dare publicly attack their greatest ally. Privately, however, he knew they were just as incensed. ¡°Everyone, please,¡± Abram said to them, speaking into his headset. ¡°With everyone shouting at once, no one can be heard this way. One at a time. Please.¡± The background roar of his jet¡¯s engines and the dodgy internet connection already made it hard enough to address their concerns. The fact that they could not speak one person at a time only added to the growing sense of disarray. There was also a terrible lag, as many of them were also joining the meeting from their own private jets. This was precisely why business was typically conducted once on the UCH legislative premises and not en route to it. Yet this was a disaster of far too serious proportions to wait for everyone to arrive and gather together in a more formal setting a few hours from now. For the time being, this would just have to do. ¡°This is a catastrophe,¡± said the voice of High-Lord Kolorn Besh, the guild-leader of the Lords of Justice. From the seat and serving tray visible in his background, he was clearly also calling in from his own personal airliner. Though his guild actually controlled the Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah, the man had apparently been off conducting private guild business in Shores of Wrath in South Bastia. Thus, he was doubtless contributing to the overall poor connection. Due to either his internet or Abram¡¯s¡ªit was impossible to know which¡ªthere was a lag between when his voice came through the call and when his big, bushy beard moved along with his considerably smaller mouth. ¡°How did the IMA allow this to bleed through?¡± he demanded. ¡°The transmissions should have been shut down the moment that¡­that thing appeared!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t yet know, High-Lord Besh,¡± Abram admitted, using the proper title for his guild. Ranking members of the Lords of Justice preferred the titles ¡°Lord¡± and ¡°Lady,¡± with the guild-leader himself serving as the ¡°High-Lord.¡± ¡°Well, maybe you should find out, then, Sir Gespon the Virtuous. I cannot believe this happened under your watch. I thought you far more capable than to allow this kind of calamity to take place.¡± ¡°I assure you,¡± he replied, ¡°I¡¯m doing everything in my power to correct the situation and¡ª¡± ¡°What you¡¯re doing is destroying society,¡± interrupted Fiona Darkmae, the guild-leader of the Children of Order. ¡°Your actions run contrary to your claims, Abram.¡± Despite blatantly refusing to use his title, he offered nothing more scathing in reply than a pleasant, polite smile. Truth be told, it required a great deal of effort for Abram not to go off on this insolent bitch. It was bad enough that a guild of such allegedly high repute would allow a woman to serve as their leader, but a twenty-five-year-old girl, nonetheless? And for her to behave towards him with such utter disrespect, too? To make matters worse, the recently departed Duke Darkmae had a male heir of appropriate age. Though¡­if rumors were true, he suffered from a profound and severe cognitive illness. Even still, Abram would prefer to listen to the man¡¯s incoherent babbling than suffer this outlandish disparagement. Gods only knew how badly he wished the People of Virtue would declare war on this island-based guild, whose relative isolation was the only possible explanation as to how they had survived for as long as they had. I would love to capture this harlot and drag her back to my bed, he thought. Teach her some Gods-damned respect! ¡°My dear Duchess Darkmae,¡± Abram said, maintaining the polite smile on his lips. ¡°If you could please allow High-Lord Besh and myself to finish our conversation, that would be very-much appreciated.¡± She scowled. Even pixelated, he could see the way the admittedly attractive, red-haired vixen bared her teeth at him. Then she continued to dress him down using a colorful assortment of vulgar words that Gespon did not take offense to, as it only showed her youth and immaturity and made him look good by comparison as he sat with a calm, neutral expression on his face in a far fancier suit projecting much more confidence and composure than this pathetic excuse for a guild-leader. In truth, he didn¡¯t even listen to anything she was actually saying. As she spoke, he tuned her out and simply imagined which positions he¡¯d take her in if their two guilds ever warred and she ended up his hostage. Eventually, she seemed contented, and her tirade against him ceased. Abram thanked her for her take on the matter despite having listened to none of it, then said, ¡°There will be a full accounting of the situation once we¡¯ve navigated our way through to the other side of it. I give you my word.¡± ¡°There¡¯d better be,¡± High-Lord Besh said. ¡°Otherwise, we need to have a conversation about whether or not the IMA should continue to be based in Varda¡¯s Lair. This is a catastrophic screw-up!¡± Almost every other guild¡ªsave for the Royal Roses and his own¡ªvoiced their agreement. Well, and the Guild of Gentlemen, of course, but that was because no one from their guild was on the call. Being that they were currently in dire violation of the rules of engagement and had displayed no sign they were willing to alter their current course of action, they were not currently welcome to take their seats in the UCH. Not that anyone from their guild would¡¯ve shown up even if they had been. Those fools were barricading themselves in their city and were not likely to come out until bombs started dropping. ¡°You guys need to cut the man some slack,¡± Lieutenant Varsh said. ¡°There was clearly a technical issue. It¡¯s not his Gods-damned fault.¡± In the case of Varsh, Abram knew that the vile man was defending him less because of a sense of loyalty among their guilds¡¯ alliance and more because Abram was currently the sole driver behind finding and killing the object of his hatred: the boy, Zachys Calador. Though, in his case, it was not out of any desire to see Varsh avenged but to teach a lesson to Donovan Iseldar, who had gravely disrespected him in his own office. Even still, he allowed Varsh to believe it was due to some twisted comradery, as it made no difference one way or the other and came with the benefits of having an ally that cost him nothing to earn. ¡°Regardless,¡± said High-Lord Besh, ¡°that¡¯s no longer even my primary concern. Even if I were to chalk the leak itself up to an unforeseeable technical glitch, the actions you¡¯ve taken, Sir Gespon the Virtuous, have left me stunned and appalled. Not only did you make such a monumentally consequential decision without consulting a single one of us, but you did so in direct opposition to what you knew would be the wishes of our collective body.¡± He was referring, of course, to Abram¡¯s split-second decision to approve of media coverage of the unfolding disaster, something that he not only stood by but, in his estimation, should be lavishly rewarded for choosing to proceed with. ¡°It was the only choice to make,¡± he said. ¡°In what universe?¡± the ¡°Duchess¡± Fiona Darkmae asked. Dozens of voices spoke up and hurled similarly worded questions his way. ¡°Please, allow me to reply,¡± Abram said, holding up his palm to the camera. When they finally fell silent, he continued. ¡°From the moment this thing leaked onto the internet, it was out there no matter what we did. At this point, I had two choices before me. The first choice was to censor this information, which would be almost impossible because a critical mass of people had already seen it at that point, which means it would spread no matter what I did.¡± ¡°So you chose to amplify it even further?¡± High-Lord Besh asked, disbelief plain in his voice. ¡°Yes, actually.¡± ¡°But why?¡± Abram sighed. These people just didn¡¯t understand. ¡°The only other option aside from censorship¡ªthe second choice¡ªis extreme, radical transparency. Since censorship was no longer an option, I ordered the media to dedicate every last resource they have to covering this with all the urgency they¡¯ve been covering the Kalana Vayra story. Mind you, I had to make this decision only a few moments ago. This all just happened.¡± ¡°Once again: I ask why?¡± Abram paused just a moment to organize his thoughts before continuing so that he could word things in such a way that these absolute morons could actually understand. ¡°Because, High-Lord Besh,¡± he explained, ¡°if we were to put in even the slightest, and I do mean the slightest bit of effort towards censoring a story of this magnitude once it¡¯s already moved beyond what¡¯s reasonably containable, it would result in large-scale riots, conspiracy theories, and the one thing we should all be afraid of more than anything else.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± Abram narrowed his eyes. ¡°The question of whether or not something like this has happened before.¡± From the way High-Lord Besh¡¯s expression became visibly disturbed, Abram knew he¡¯d succeeded in making his point. Even that bratty woman looked as though she was finally understanding his logic. But just to make sure there remained no ambiguity, he said, ¡°Since the story has broken through, if we come right out of the gate with a level of intense, uncompromising transparency¡ªif we show everything and anything regarding this creature to the public and behave as though we are just as shocked as everyone else over its existence, it will make us look proactive and sincere. The people will turn to us for safety instead of away from us.¡± Though he knew his argument was persuasive, even Abram did not expect to sway nearly all of the guild-members on the call in such a short amount of time. There didn¡¯t even seem to be much of a debate over it. They simply nodded along as though silently changing their minds in favor of his view of things. ¡°That said,¡± Abram continued, ¡°we should be far more concerned about what this is and how it¡¯s going to be dealt with. This is not our field, obviously. Those adventurer guilds are already coalescing to handle it. I¡¯ve been in contact with the God Slayers Guild, Boss Rush, and several of the others. They said they¡¯re already on it.¡± ¡°Tell them to hurry the fuck up,¡± Corin Blatchett, the third-in-command of the Defenders of Peace said. Then, pointing to something off-screen¡ªlikely a TV on his jet¡ªhe asked, ¡°And who is that boy running towards it?¡± ¡°I have no idea,¡± High-Lord Besh said. ¡°Same,¡± Abram agreed. Of all people, it was Varsh who seemed to recognize him, as with an angry grunt, he said, ¡°I know who that little shit is.¡± Just from the scowl on his face alone, Abram knew right away. He didn¡¯t want to believe it, though. Surely, the universe wasn¡¯t so cruel as to put him in this situation when things were already bad enough. It couldn¡¯t be. Frowning, he said, ¡°Do not tell me that that is Zachys Calador.¡± Varsh scowled. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s him all right. Curse him and his whore mother!¡± Chatter immediately broke out among the various, ranking guild-members. Ignoring them, Abram shuttered his video transmission, as he knew he would not be able to maintain the neutral expression on his face. Not after this unfortunate and unbelievable revelation. As far as coincidences went, this was a big one: a really big one. He urgently signaled one of his assistants to come to him. After just two seconds, he decided she was taking too damn long, and so he unbuckled his own seatbelt, shot up out of his seat, and then marched over to her just as she was first standing up. ¡°Yes, Sir Gespon the Virtuous?¡± ¡°Put the word out immediately. All contracts are now voided on that boy. If he, somehow, through some means, survives whatever-the-fuck he¡¯s attempting to do, I will not take even the chance his death is traced back to one of the guilds. Not after the media has already started lionizing him.¡± How can I have such bad luck? he wondered. Given the recent developments, if that kid ended up dying by anything other than that monstrous dragon, it would cause a backlash so severe it might result in guild-on-civilian violence to put down the resulting riots. As far as why: the answer was quite simple, as it was literally written on the TV screen built into the back of the seat across from where his assistant had been seated¡ªwhere she had been watching the news. There, on the chyron at the bottom of the screen, in big, bold letters, Abram saw the following:
(LIVE) BREAKING! APPARENT BOSS SPAWN IN THE DEN OF ZIRAGOTH: MANY FEARED DEAD.
MYSTERIOUS YOUNG MAN SEEN RUSHING TOWARDS THE CREATURE.
***** Having lived most of his life in Giant¡¯s Fall, Roland had always wanted to visit the glorious, majestic city of Tomb of Fire. It was said to be almost as impressive as Varda¡¯s Lair but at a price-point that was more acceptable for middle-class tourists or even lower-income tourists who¡¯d saved for a while. Thus far, their vacation had been going perfect¡ªat least until this very moment. They were sitting together at a small table in a very popular sports bar located across the street from the Museum of Human Achievements. Here in the city center, there were so many lights and so many sounds that, even in the middle of a bright, sunny day, the streets were still aglow from the LEDs and projectors attached to many of the sleek, impressively tall buildings, two of which contained actual live flames that reached from the ground level to the 50th floors on both sides of each building. Roland had never seen anything quite like it. Having decided to take a break from sightseeing and grab a drink with his girl, he¡¯d come to this packed bar with his beautiful soulmate. It had taken them some time to get a table, though, as it was so crowded in here that they¡¯d needed to wait forty minutes just for a place to sit down! Roland wasn¡¯t a big fan of sports, so he¡¯d learned only through overhearing various shouts and cheers that the Tomb of Fire¡¯s very own team was playing against the Faded Island in what looked like Ball-Runner. But then something had happened. During an intense play that was so exciting it almost turned Roland into an instant fan of the sport, the news had cut in, causing the man behind the bar counter to frantically change the channel, only to discover that the news was now on every channel. And then they¡¯d seen it. Something that should not have been possible in this world. Something that went against everything they¡¯d learned in school and everything they¡¯d ever been told. There was a video feed of it¡ªor rather, multiple feeds, actually. And the voice of a reporter was talking over the video feed as it played. ¡°¡­please let me again remind you that what you are seeing is live, uncensored footage while we await our news team¡¯s arrival on scene. For those of you out there just tuning it, there has been a confirmed boss spawn in the Whispery Woods region. We are being told that the city is, in fact, officially on lockdown. If you or your family live in the Whispery Woods region, you are to immediately return to your homes and lock your doors. This is a region-wide order. If you live in Whispery Woods, you must get indoors NOW! Domanik, what can you tell us?¡± ¡°Well, Mallory, we don¡¯t know much at this point. Only moments ago, a large beast appeared and¡ªwait, what¡­? Okay, folks. Okay. It looks like someone¡­someone is attacking it. I¡¯m not sure what we¡¯re seeing here.¡± ¡°Is that a boy, Domanik?¡± ¡°I believe, so Mallory. There appears to be a young man wielding a sword, and some kind of uh¡­some kind of¡­like a green object just left his blade. We¡¯re not sure what¡¯s going on just yet. This has only just happened. Again: for those of you just tuning in, we now have confirmation that a boss has, in fact, spawned in the Whispery Woods Region. Residents region-wide have been ordered to immediately return to their homes.¡± Roland trembled. ¡°This isn¡¯t possible,¡± he said. ¡°This can¡¯t¡­this isn¡¯t supposed to happen¡­¡± ¡°All right, folks, we have a major update for you here. We¡¯ve just received word that this boy is a young member of the Royal Roses by the name of Zachys Calador. It seems the guilds are already taking this threat very seriously, so just stay in your homes and let the professionals do their jobs! The guilds will be addressing the public shortly. Once more: if you live in the Whispery Woods region¡­¡± ***** ¡°WAVE SLASH!¡± Zach shouted. It was too late to turn back now, wasn¡¯t it? This, he realized as the green, semi-transparent energy coalesced into a double-edged metal disc that sped off into the distance and towards something so powerful that it was a miracle Zach didn¡¯t piss himself. Based on what Rian had taught him, if this thing was level 70 and T7, then that meant, for all intents and purposes, it was almost as though he¡¯d just launched an attack on a level-245 mob. Level 245, he thought with a moan. I¡¯m an idiot. I can¡¯t believe I¡­what in God¡¯s name is wrong with me? Why had he done this? How could he have actually allowed himself to end up in this kind of situation again? Did he want to die? Was that it? He certainly didn¡¯t think so. In fact, he was pretty sure he wanted to live, so then why? I promised myself, Gods-be-damned! I don¡¯t want to do this. Truly, I don¡¯t! What was the point of repeatedly making himself promises only to be break them time and time again? This, Zach pondered fearfully to himself as his Wave Slash sailed across the air and headed directly towards the behemoth-sized monstrosity that had already ended close to a thousand lives and seemed intent on ending a thousand more. Having only just recently come so close to death during his encounter with Moldark, Zach had promised himself he would never voluntarily put himself in a position like this ever again. He had sworn to take better care of himself and let someone else be the one to step in and risk death for once. Yet, here he was, doing it again. Ah, for fuck¡¯s sake! Why, Zach? Why? Why couldn¡¯t he learn his lesson? He didn¡¯t owe anything to these people, especially not his life. So what was it that compelled him? What was it that moved him with such passion to fling himself at danger just to save the very same townspeople who, in all likelihood, had set him up to die by Anelia¡¯s hand? Oh well. Either way, what was done was done, and even if he now had a sudden change of heart, his Wave Slash was already ripping across the world with a shrieking hiss as it set the air itself aflame as though slicing it apart. It was heading directly for the wyvern, who was currently across town a half-mile down a two-lane road that cut through the open-air market and reached all the way to the farms located on the outskirts. At the moment, it seemed to have turned its attention towards razing a school building that, Gods forbid, might actually be occupied with kids attending summer school. ¡°Zachys!¡± Anelia called to him. ¡°If you¡¯re distracting it, I¡¯ll begin carrying the injured to the extraction point!¡± Without turning around to look at her, he shouted, ¡°Go! Lienne, help her! Rian, keep that phone steady and make sure Mr. Oren sees everything!¡± Shooting her guns into what Zach presumed was the air, Anelia began corralling pedestrians on the street towards the west end of town, where in slightly less than a minute and forty-two seconds, a rescue crew would arrive in helicopters to begin extracting the wounded, the elderly, and those with physical disabilities or who lacked a fast-enough means of transportation to safely flee the area. Everyone else, however, needed to get in their DEHVs right now and get the fuck out of here. Yet some were stupid enough to continue to stand by and watch, with many of them streaming this on their phones like it was some kind of sick form of entertainment. ¡°Get out of here!¡± Zach yelled at a kid around his age with brown hair who seemed to ignore him. ¡°Are you stupid? Do you want to die? That thing¡¯s going to¡ª¡± Zach forgot whatever he¡¯d been about to say as his Wave Slash reached its target. Ziragoth looked to be only a moment from either submerging the school in flame or otherwise crushing it in a physical strike with its wings, tail, or hell, even teeth. Instead, the monster came to an abrupt halt as Zach¡¯s disc slammed into the side of its body at full speed and maximum power, dealing¡­ ¡­1 damage.
HP 14999999/15000000
Name (T7) Ziragoth the Awoken
Level 70
I¡¯m so, so fucked, Zach thought. The dragon spun around immediately, and as though not even deliberately meaning to do so, one of its gigantic, spike-and-scale-covered wings slammed into a three-story house on the other end of town, blasting the entire front side and half the roof of it clean off, spraying debris into the air and street. Zach hoped no one was inside of it at the time. A pain entered his chest at the thought that a family might be trapped beneath that rubble, condemned to die a horrible, slow death of asphyxiation. ¡°Everyone, move your asses!¡± Anelia shouted, firing off her guns and herding the people like sheep. ¡°Sir, forget your house!¡± Lienne yelled at someone. Zach couldn¡¯t spare the time needed to turn around and see who it was she was speaking to. ¡°Your life is more valuable than your property, sir. So please. Hurry. My friend is putting his own life on the line to help you escape. Huh? Where¡¯s your cat? Hurry, then. Grab her and go!¡± Briefly, Anelia entered his peripheral vision, and with a strength that likely far exceeded even his own with Unleashed Phase, she lifted up a support beam from a collapsed home that likely weighed hundreds of pounds then simply tossed it dozens of feet to the side as though it were a paperweight. With her two massive, scale-armor-covered arms, she pulled out a man who seemed to somehow still be alive as though clinging desperately to life. She was like a Gods-damned superhero. She threw the man over one of her shoulders then grabbed another man and threw him over the opposite shoulder. Then, practically wearing the two men like a fur neck wrap, she took off at such a fast run that it likely would¡¯ve made both of them vomit if they hadn¡¯t already been bordering on death and unconsciousness. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I can¡¯t focus on Anelia right now, Zach thought, forcing himself to pry his attention away from her. I just¡­oh, Gods, I really did it. I just aggroed a fucking dragon! Now facing in his direction, Ziragoth stared directly at him with his furious, golden, lizard-like eyes¡ªand Zach gasped, as he realized something then. This creature, its eyes¡­there was something strange about them. Something that had not been in Moldark¡¯s eyes or the eyes of any other mob Zach had come across until this point. There was something almost unique about Ziragoth, something that, on second thought, he did recall seeing once before: from his favorite NPC, Angelica. Even though he couldn¡¯t prove it, Zach became certain that this creature possessed at least a small degree of real, genuine, but rudimentary intelligence. He wasn¡¯t sure how he knew. He supposed it was as simple as the fact that the look of life in the eyes of a living creature was something that could not be perfectly faked. And while Ziragoth did not contain the level of true sentience comparable to someone like Angelica who, despite not being a biological entity, was nevertheless unquestionably a living, thinking, and self-aware being, Ziragoth regarded Zach in a way that reminded him more of an animal or a beast¡ªbut one with the capability to form at least some level of thought, even if only for the purpose of hunting and killing prey. In fact, that was exactly it. Zach became ever more confident in his assessment the longer he made eye contact with the boss. This thing¡­it was like a living animal. It was not self-aware to the degree of a human, but perhaps something closer to a bear or a lion. And I angered it, Zach realized, horrified. I literally angered it. It¡¯s actually angry with me. With an intense glare that Zach was now sure beyond all doubt was personally intended for him, the T7, level-70 wyvern opened its mouth and released a growl so loud it once more caused the entire ground to shake. Not far down the block and to his left, a home that had already been damaged collapsed the rest of the way into rubble as people standing by screamed and ran for their lives as though they¡¯d finally seen enough to realize they were in real danger. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± With that, the creature flapped its powerful wings, bringing itself airborne. In the process, it knocked over two traffic lights and demolished an entire convenience store. Then, with its eyes still trained on Zach, it began to fly at breakneck speeds in his direction while simultaneously releasing a steady, massive bout of flaming breath that approached him like a tidal wave, only instead of covering the two-way street and everything around it in water, it instead spread an inferno. Several people were caught up in it, and Zach swore loudly as he watched them die, realizing if he¡¯d only acted faster, he could¡¯ve pulled them to him. ¡°Not that way!¡± Anelia shouted from somewhere behind him. ¡°Run to the west. Everyone, let¡¯s go!¡± She clapped her hands angrily at them. Her voice sounded closer the next time she shouted, and soon after, Zach could once again spot her in his peripheral vision scooping up two children in desperate need of aid while Lienne held the hands of two little girls, one on her right side and one on her left. ¡°Let¡¯s play a game and see who can run over there the fastest, okay?¡± ¡°Okay,¡± they said, fear evident in their tiny voices. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go!¡± The two of them were doing a great job together. All Zach needed to give them was time. Once again, it all came back to that, didn¡¯t it? Time. What Mr. Oren had referred to as the ¡°emergency evacuation unit¡± would be here very, very soon. He only needed to distract this beast long enough for them to actually arrive. If he was successful in doing that, he could save the two-thousand-or-so lives that had yet to be extinguished. Sadly, there was nothing he could do for the entire third of the town that had already been massacred. I¡¯ve got nine minutes and thirty seconds left on Unleashed Phase, he thought to himself. And I only need to survive for a minute and a half. As the creature flew closer and closer, Zach watched as the fast-approaching inferno drew nearer with each passing fraction of a second. It really did look like a giant wave: one made of pure fire. There would be no dodging or shielding from something like that. He needed to get the hell out of its way. Turning his body to the right, he spotted a lesser populated part of town. He hesitated for just a moment. If he went that way, the people still there might die as a result of it. But if he didn¡¯t, the much larger number of people here would die. He didn¡¯t want either to perish, but was there anywhere else he could take this thing? As the flames approached close enough to singe the hair on his arms, he realized he sadly did not have enough time to find out. And so, praying to the Gods for luck, he activated Phase Blink just before he was completely submerged in flame. Immediately, the world seemed to warp around him as he traveled at a speed so fast that his eyes could not register or interpret the movement. Then he spun around just as the sonic boom caused several fleeing townsfolk to duck in confusion, likely thinking it was something caused by the dragon. Now, Zach waited for it to come after him¡ªwhich for some reason, it didn¡¯t appear to be doing. Glancing to where Ziragoth now hovered a few-dozen feet in the air with its wings flapping but its body otherwise unmoving, the wyvern began exhibiting a startling behavior that reinforced what Zach had come to believe about the boss mob. Rather than robotically turn in his direction and continue to charge at him, Ziragoth released another, ground-shaking roar and began to furiously dart its head around. It was almost like¡­no, no, it was! It was searching for him. It didn¡¯t just ¡°automatically¡± know where he was by virtue of having aggroed it. It actually did not know where Zach had gone. And to his horror, he realized that it was beginning to eye a group of children being led away by Lienne. Urgently, Zach cupped his hands over his mouth and screamed, ¡°Come get me, you son of a bitch!¡± To his total astonishment, the dragon immediately spun its head in his direction. This meant it could actually hear him. The creature, despite being a boss mob that would vanish into nothingness if killed, had the ability to not only understand but also react to sound. Sensing that things were about to get really rough, and given the monster¡¯s gigantic size, Zach knew he needed as much of his vision unobscured as possible, and so he dismissed all of his abilities along with his experience bar, leaving only the duration remaining on Unleashed Phase in the air above and in front of him.
Unleashed Phase Duration 8:59 Remaining
The creature stared at him a moment, just as it had done earlier, but additionally, its eyes also darted back and forth between Zach and another group of stranded children. Worried that it might change its mind, Zach once again did what he could only bring himself to think of as ¡°verbally aggroing the mob.¡± At the top of his lungs, he continued to taunt it. ¡°Come and get me! I¡¯m right here!¡± He widened and extended his arms, including the one in which his hand tightly gripped his sword. ¡°Dragons are a bunch of¡ª¡± ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± The earth again shook, and once more, the creature took off at an incredible speed, heading in his direction. Thankfully, the rage-filled wyvern did not use its firebreath as it had last time, which spared most of the people whom he¡¯d worried about being caught in the crossfire. In fact, come to think of it, this one section of town where he now stood might just be the only part that¡¯d been completely evacuated, as the dragon had yet to come this way and had left the people here with an unobstructed pathway out of town. This meant that Zach really needed to keep this thing here. Of course, that would introduce a whole separate level of complexity and risk. I just have to do it for a little bit of time. Just a tiny bit! ¡°That¡¯s right, get your ass over here!¡± Zach shouted at it, as its eyes bulged with obvious rage. And Gods, did it obey. Even with all the strides he¡¯d made towards becoming a less-cowardly, braver person, Zach came unbelievably close to crying like a child as the humongous monster slammed down onto the pavement, landing in the middle of the street just ahead of him with enough force that its feet left several-foot-deep potholes in the ground; the resulting shockwave almost took him off his feet. Staring intently at Zach, the wyvern made yet another ground-shaking roar. Then, without any further warning, it sprang into action and attacked. With a speed and precision great enough to pose a very imminent risk to his life, Zach inhaled sharply as the dragon spun half around and whipped its barbed tail at him so fast that he almost didn¡¯t have time to react to it. Using every bit of his willpower to keep from losing his cool, Zach overcame his fear and once more activated Phase Blink¡ªonly this time, he finally used his ability with a target. In this case, he mentally chose to target Ziragoth the Awoken, which assuming he understood the ability correctly, meant that he would blink behind Ziragoth as opposed to in the direction he was currently facing. The moment after he activated the ability, his vision darkened, and a light-headed sense of disorientation and nausea came upon him. It wasn¡¯t difficult to understand why. He was now standing directly behind Ziragoth with his body facing the dragon¡¯s back. Even though he could not consciously feel the movement, his body seemed to reel a bit from the aftereffect of having spun around faster than the speed of sound. Nevertheless, Zach shoved the unpleasantness out of his mind. Seconds later, there came a combined sound of two big booms in quick succession: the first being from his Phase Blink and the second being the resulting crash of the wyvern¡¯s tail smashing down into the road with the force of a torpedo, causing a crater that was at least ten-feet deep to form in the street while concrete, dirt, dust, and even a few blades of grass were whipped up into the air, rising higher than some of the houses before pouring back down like some kind of unholy rain. Sensing an opportunity, Zach bent his knees, raised his sword, and unleashed a desperate series of strikes as he began to whirl his Yorna¡¯s Sword of Courage around him as fast as he could possibly manage. Even knowing fully well that he stood zero chance of actually damaging the creature¡ªgiven that a maximum-distance Wave Slash had only hit for a single point¡ªZach continued to assault the dragon anyway, because it wasn¡¯t the damage he was interested in. I need Courage stacks! Knowing that every five successful hits with his sword granted him the ability to completely negate a single attack, he prioritized speed to the extent that, had he been fighting a regular mob, he would still barely do any damage. One strike after the next, he whipped his arms up, down, across, then up again, striking four times in a row for 0 damage. During these four strikes, the dragon quickly spun its body back around, and now Ziragoth¡¯s vengeful, wrath-filled face was so close to Zach¡¯s that it became a real challenge not to drop his blade and flee. The dragon was close enough to kiss, and each one of the thing¡¯s eyes were almost the size of Zach¡¯s whole head. With another roar, Ziragoth lifted its barbed tail and then slammed it with incredible speed and force down upon Zach, who himself was swinging his blue-shining blade at the side of Ziragoth¡¯s enraged, intimidating face. It was an incredibly risky move, but he needed to play for time. Everything he was doing right now was for the sake of time! That was his only objective. And so, with his heart beating heavily in his chest, he sent his sword whirling towards the wyvern as the wyvern¡¯s tail came ever closer to him. One thing was clear: his continued existence became nothing more than a matter of who struck first. And thank the Gods, because it was his sword that bit into a Ziragoth¡¯s scaly face for a massive, whopping, zero damage a mere instant before Ziragoth¡¯s tail smashed him into the pavement and turned him from a human being into a flattened pile of skin and ground-up bones. That¡¯s five! Zach shouted in his mind. Having hit the beast five times, he had now gathered five stacks of Courage. And with that, he was able to activate Yorna¡¯s Courage. Immediately, an orange, bubble-shaped, and highly transparent barrier made of light popped into existence and completely encased him inside¡ªthough it vanished almost as soon as it had appeared as the dragon¡¯s tail crashed directly into it, hitting the barrier instead of Zach. The result was a brief, but brilliant flash of orange light as the barrier broke, followed by the wyvern¡¯s massive barbed tail actually bouncing off of it as though it¡¯d been parried. This only seemed to anger the creature even more, as it again brought its tail around. Now, Zach had no choice but to once more rely on Phase Blink, targeting the wyvern. In a repeat of just a few moments earlier, Zach, for the second time, found himself staring at the back of the gigantic monster as both the sonic boom and the loud crack of its tail slamming into the street both hit his ears at the same time. Only, something was slightly different now, wasn¡¯t it? Something wasn¡¯t right. Had¡­had he shrunk? Or had the dragon just grown massively taller? No, wait. It was neither of the two. Zach had forgotten that Ziragoth had smashed a ten-foot crater into the pavement with its tail¡ªwhich he was now inside. Son of a bitch! The creature turned around to face him yet again, and with its golden, lizard-like eyes filling with a tremendous fury, it opened its mouth. Zach cried in terror as a massive inferno of firebreath raced down towards the crater as though to bathe him in it and burn him alive. With adrenaline coursing through his veins, his reflexes kicked in, and without even having to think about it, Zach bent his knees, gritted his teeth, and with every last possible bit of strength he could command, he launched himself up into the air¡ªthen let out a nervous yelp has he blasted off in a way he hadn¡¯t actually known he was capable of. As his body rocketed upwards, he realized that this was the first time he¡¯d ever actually attempted to jump with all of his strength, and to both his surprise and relief, he¡¯d propelled himself upwards so fast that, in a matter of mere moments, he found himself at least a dozen feet above even the few three-story homes that accompanied the majority two-story homes lining both sides of the street. Now, he was looking down upon the dragon, which was breathing so much fire into the crater that in a bizarre sort of way it resembled a gigantic swimming pool in the middle of a community road filled with flames instead of water. Unfortunately, Zach¡¯s upward leap did not put him out of the way of danger for very long. With an angry cry, the dragon halted its firebreath, flapped its wings, and took off at an absurd speed in his direction. It was a potent reminder to Zach that, despite having saved himself from one method of instant death, he was now likely about to face another, because fundamentally, he was a wingless human being in the middle of the air, and he was going up against a fire-breathing wyvern that was likely even more powerful in an aerial faceoff than it was on the ground. Even before Zach had reached the apex of his jump and began to slowly reverse his motion into the beginning of his descent, the wyvern had already crossed three-quarters of the distance to where his airborne body helplessly awaited. He could do nothing but watch on in horror as it ripped across the sky towards him, its mouth opened widely and its tremendously long forked tongue extended and flapping greedily as it beat against the wind. As things stood, Zach was about to fall directly into the creature¡¯s open mouth, at which point he would be devoured and killed in a single, painful bite. This wasn¡¯t good. This was really, really not good! What in the name of the Gods was he supposed to do now? He grimaced at the sight of the thing flying towards his body on its way to devour him whole. Closer and closer, its open, drooling mouth approached, its teeth so sharp and so eerily shiny that they reflected the light of the powerful, North Bastian sunshine. The world started to darken as its surprisingly large mouth filled his view. With a start, he realized he was now already partially inside the thing. It was also scorching hot. If the heatwave wasn¡¯t enough, it was so intensely scorching now that it caused Zach to feel genuine pain. Lacking any better idea of what to do, Zach activated Phase Blink even as the sight of razor sharp teeth closing in on him caused him to brace himself. Though he managed to just slip away, he¡¯d be lying if he said it hadn¡¯t been way, way too close that time. Just too fucking close. Zach survived so narrowly that he actually shouted out in terror as a thankfully not-acidic glob of disgusting saliva landed on top of his head and drenched him as the creature snapped its mouth shut, submerging him in darkness. But then the darkness, along with the inside of Ziragoth¡¯s mouth, simply vanished: all of it did. The mouth, the teeth¡ªeverything, including the dark went away in a fraction of a second, and he was gone. Now, Zach fell a dozen-or-so feet until he landed in a smooth crouch on top of the roof of a neighboring house all the way down the block. As he touched down, he slapped his right palm onto the roof to steady his landing while extending his sword-carrying arm away from his body to prevent accidentally cutting himself. Had this not been such a dire situation, he might have felt bad for the hole he just put in the roof of the house, as his hand pierced straight through it. As long as they live, Zach thought to himself. They can rebuild. Returning to his feet, Zach almost forgot about the sonic boom, which for some reason was far, far louder this time around than any he¡¯d made until this point; it managed to cause every window of at least ten different houses to all shatter all at once. Exhaling, he wiped a glob of sweat and dragon saliva off his forehead, shook his legs and his arms to keep them loose, and decided to take a second to catch his breath. Then, he turned around and¡ªholy shit it was already on him again! He flinched as he saw the aggressive, monstrous wyvern hovering in the air just twenty feet or so in front of him, and with a vicious-sounding roar, it opened its mouth, and as soon as Zach saw the thing¡¯s face open up, he readied himself, knowing it was time to evade yet another round of deathly firebreath. Only¡­this time, it turned out to be something else: something far, far worse. Rather than lash out at him with a relatively slower-moving but all-encompassing inferno, Zach became startled as, from somewhere deep inside the creature¡¯s throat, an eruption caused the darkness of the dragon¡¯s mouth to light up with a bright flash similar to the muzzle of one of Anelia¡¯s guns. Almost in the same instant as the flash, Ziragoth¡¯s head twitched back and the sound of a thunderous boom erupted from his mouth with the same intense volume as that caused by using Phase Blink. Oh¡­shit. Zach felt his eyes widen all on their own in stunned incredulity as a gigantic, boulder-sized ball of flame soared through the air heading straight for him. It was so gigantic and so massive it could¡¯ve passed for a comet had it not been so bright and had he not seen where it¡¯d come from. Much like his Wave Slash, it caused a shrill hiss as it tore through the air as it made its way directly towards him. Filling with alarm and a sense of panicked urgency, he hurriedly activated Phase Blink and got himself the hell out of there. A moment later, he found himself transported to the roof of a home seven houses down on the opposite end of the block, whereupon he turned on his heels just fast enough to see the ripple in the air from his blazing-fast movement. He also managed to spin himself around in time to see the gigantic fireball¡¯s collision with the home. As the ear-piercing, brain-rattling, earth-shaking combination of noise and heat came upon the world in front of him, Zach was not sure which boom belonged to him and which one came from Ziragoth. All he knew was that he would never be able to forget the way his ears physically ached at the resulting explosion. The fireball collided with the home, and the entire two-story house simply exploded with such an intense fury that Zach almost fell off the roof as a resulting shockwave pushed him back and came very close to sweeping him off his feet. Then, mere seconds later, he was forced to temporarily sheathe his blade and raise his arms to guard his face as a hurricane of wooden planks, bricks, plaster, rocks, sand, and the lid of a toilet seat flew into him at what looked¡ªand felt¡ªlike over a hundred miles per hour. At the same time, an intense heat along with an overwhelming acrid smell of smoke made it difficult for him to breathe. But it was what he spotted next that caused his jaw to fall in sheer horror. Rising up from the incinerated home and reaching almost up to the sky was an entire cloud of pure smoke in the shape of a mushroom. The level of destruction was beyond belief. Shaking his head, he pursed his lips and forced himself not to become blinded by awe or fear. There was no time to consider anything other than his current task, which was staying alive long enough for help to arrive. He still had more than enough duration remaining on his Unleashed Phase to continue this elaborate, destructive dance with his dragon partner¡ªat least until people arrived to help.
Unleashed Phase Duration 6:58 Remaining
By his best estimation, he only needed to last another fifty or so seconds. Just fifty damned seconds and he could let someone else take over. Surely he could do that, right? He¡¯d survived five minutes against his cat, and Fluffles was way more aggressive than this fucking¡ª ¡°Shit!¡± As another boulder-sized ball of flame closed in on him, he blinked over to another rooftop. Then another after that. This thing was not going to make it easy for him, was it? **** ¡°I¡­I cannot believe what I am seeing, folks,¡± the news reporter said. ¡°I wish I had more commentary to offer, but¡­but I¡¯m just as stunned as you likely are watching this from home. I¡¯ve never seen anything like this before in my life.¡± Pack Dolan and over five-hundred fellow summer-school students sat on the floor of the gymnasium and watched the news report on a TV affixed to the wall in the basement of his high-school¡ªthe very same high school where the kid now being featured prominently on the news had actually attended until only a little while ago. Everyone here knew who he was. It was Gods-damned Zach Calador! Or at least, it was someone who looked exactly like him. It was just really difficult to believe it was really him on the screen. Too difficult, in fact. Like, for one, Pack couldn¡¯t ever recall Zach exuding some kind of pitch-black smoke. He¡¯d remember something like that. He also didn¡¯t remember Zach¡¯s skin glowing either. Also, since when would Zach willingly risk his life for anyone other than Kalana? But they¡¯d said it was him, Pack thought. So it has to be. Even now, the kid¡¯s name was continuing to slide along the fast-moving chyron on the bottom of the screen as the absolute maniac continued to fight that gigantic dragon all on his own without any help from anyone. Many of the kids were shouting out as though they were watching him fight in the hallway here at school. ¡°Get him, Zach,¡± someone said, raising their fist into the air. ¡°Get that bastard!¡± ¡°Holy shit!¡± Ganks shouted, pointing. ¡°How¡¯s he doing that?¡± Ganks¡¯ girlfriend, Synn, shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything anymore. First, Kal turns out to be some kind of Elvish princess, and now Zach is a Gods-damned dragon slayer? I¡¯m ready to check out.¡± The kid was literally dashing from rooftop to rooftop as the dragon sent out one fireball after the next, obliterating each home mere seconds after he would land on it. Slowly but surely, the entire section of the community was lighting up in flames, and worse, it was beginning to spread to other parts of the town. Now, there were a great many homes that were on fire that hadn¡¯t even been directly involved in the battle. At certain points, the video became difficult to watch as, despite this taking place in broad daylight, there were constant flashes of light so intensely bright that the cameras on the cell phones filming all of this simply went white. The sound of it all was unlike anything Pack had ever before heard, either; it was just a constant mess of explosions and loud, echoing booms as Zach-fucking-Calador, from science class, led a literal fire wyvern on a wild chase through a small community in a typically sleepy town in the farmlands. Even more strangely, because the video was on a second or two delay, they actually heard the booms from all the way over here in the city before they saw and heard them on the screen. Some of them were so loud they¡¯d caused Pack¡ªand the others¡ªto flinch, so he could only imagine how deafening they must be for anyone within earshot. ¡°Behind you!¡± a girl shouted at the TV. ¡°Zach, behind you!¡± Pack watched as his one-time-nemesis-turned-dragon-wrangler appeared to be unaware that the beast was swooping down on him as though to grab him with his razor-sharp feet. But then he disappeared and reappeared on top of one of the few homes remaining in the neighborhood, which was almost completely on fire and generating so much smoke that it could actually now be seen from outside of the rear window in the school¡¯s basement gymnasium all the way over here in the city. A moment after Zach reappeared on another roof of one of the last homes still intact, the dragon flew into¡ªand through¡ªthe one where he¡¯d only just been standing, and the result was like watching a mean adult kick over a child¡¯s sandcastle on the beach. The entire house was dismantled so quickly it almost didn¡¯t seem real. ¡°Just a reminder, folks, if you¡¯re in the Whispery Woods region, you are now in a maximum-alert-level lockdown. No one is permitted to be outside of their homes at this time. Back to you, Mallory.¡± Suddenly, the view changed, becoming much clearer. They were now looking down upon Zach, and it only occurred to Pack just then that the news media had somehow managed to get their own news helicopters onto the scene before the evacuation helicopters had even arrived yet, which was really pathetic and amazing all at the same time. It sort of spoke volumes about the priorities people had. ¡°I want to go home,¡± one of the girls said to the men in white peacekeeper uniforms guarding the exits. ¡°Please let us out. Please!¡± ¡°We can¡¯t do that,¡± one of the peacekeepers said. ¡°Everyone is to stay right where they are.¡± Then the man¡¯s expression softened somewhat, and so did his tone of voice. Speaking a bit more kindly, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯re all going to be fine.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why are we being forced to stay here?¡± Pack asked. ¡°You¡¯re saying it won¡¯t come here, then¡­why?¡± The man tensed up as though the question had caught him off guard. ¡°All right, well¡­we don¡¯t know it won¡¯t come here. But there¡¯s no reason to believe it will.¡± This, clearly, did not have the reassuring effect the peacekeeper had obviously intended, because it only made even more students nervous. Hell, even Pack started to take this seriously now as a touch of fear entered into his belly. ¡°It¡¯s not gonna come here, is it?¡± another girl asked as her friend hugged her. ¡°My mom and my dog are home by themselves.¡± ¡°Nah, we¡¯ll be fine. Zach¡¯s got this one,¡± Ganks said. Then he shrugged. ¡°I mean, I hope.¡± Pack returned his attention to the TV, which had now exclusively switched to their own camera feed, eschewing the video from bystanders due to the news choppers that had arrived with far superior equipment. Listening in, Pack struggled to come to grips with the fact that they were saying Zach¡¯s name yet again on TV. The world was starting to move too fast for him. Really, it was hard enough as things were to wrap his mind around the fact that Kalana, the chick who¡¯d beat his ass in the middle of the hall, was now the most famous person on the planet, but now Zach, too? Already, he could see his name trending on social media as more and more people inquired about who, exactly, he was, and whether or not he was single. ¡°¡­and can you just confirm earlier reporting for the people who might only first be tuning in, Domanik?¡± Mallory asked. ¡°Absolutely, Mallory,¡± he said. ¡°Officials with the Royal Roses have in fact confirmed that the boy¡¯s name¡±¡ªhe paused a moment as the sound of a boom followed by an explosion made it impossible for him to be overheard¡ª¡°is Zachys Calador, a high school student from the Whispery Woods who officials tell us was recruited into the ranks of the Royal Roses. As I¡¯m sure you know, Mallory, they¡¯re the only guild that has ever allowed the recruiting of individuals not connected to one of the core guild bloodlines.¡± ¡°And what can you tell us about this young man, Dom?¡± ¡°Well, Mallory, not much is known right now. I spoke briefly with Abram Gespon of the People of Virtue. He told us that Zachys Calador is a very brave young man who happened to be in the area with a bounty hunter by the name of Anelia Hellcrest in order to help tamp down on the rising crime in Whispery Woods that has been becoming more rampant since the guild of Gentlemen abdicated their responsibility to the region.¡± ¡°And what did you learn that we can share with our concerned viewers at home who may be watching this and thinking to themselves: how do I know a boss won¡¯t spawn in my own neighborhood?¡± ¡°Excellent question, Mallory. Excellent question. Well, in my brief conversation with Sir Gespon the Virtuous, who I might add, will be sharing all of this information shortly when he addresses the public a half hour from now, he wanted me to reassure everyone that what we¡¯re witnessing is a horrible, horrible tragedy and unlikely to ever happen again. He explained to me that given how many boss spawns used to exist on Galterra, it was always possible that there might have been one or maybe two somewhere on the planet that his forbearers missed and did not destroy. He also asked me to inform the public that everything possible is being done to keep North Bastians safe.¡± ¡°And do we know if this wyvern poses a risk to any other communities?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, we here at N-B-O-N haven¡¯t been able to uncover any information regarding that just yet, and Abram Gespon¡ªthe Virtuous¡ªhas as of yet refused to comment, however we¡¯ve been assured that, in the interest of earning the trust of the public, the media will be permitted to actively monitor the dragon at a safe distance from now until the moment it is inevitably slain.¡± ¡°Thanks, Domanik. Once again, for any viewers just tuning in, a fire wyvern boss has spawned in the farmlands of Whispery Woods, and officials are urging all residents to¡­¡± ****** ¡°Now do you see?¡± Prila asked, her voice impassioned as she pointed to the corpses littered all across the previously quiet, peaceful town of Den of Ziragoth. ¡°Don¡¯t you get it, Adamus? We aren¡¯t living in the world of a thousand years ago. These people¡­they do not understand your system. They do not know why their friends and family are dying in the streets.¡± Adamus did not reply as he stared stone-faced at the computer screen on her desk. Prila was sure that the sights before his eyes disturbed him, yet since he was refusing to say a word to her, she had no idea what he thought about any of this. Finally, however, after nearly five minutes of silence, he spoke. And while his words came out in his usual, typical whisper, there was a very real, very genuine note of pain that came across. ¡°That my creation has butchered this many people, I¡­I am beside myself with agony, my child.¡± ¡°So then you see it too, yes?¡± she asked, becoming hopeful. ¡°We need to make changes. If not to the system, then to Galterra. We need to begin warning people. We need to start¡ª¡± ¡°No,¡± he said, interrupting her. ¡°No?¡± she asked in disbelief. He inhaled slowly and closed his eyes. ¡°The system must remain as it is. It must be preserved and protected.¡± ¡°But¡­but what about everything you just saw? Everything you¡¯re continuing to see?¡± ¡°And what about the things you do not, child?¡± Frowning, Prila asked, ¡°Such as what?¡± He pointed to the screen, where Zachys Calador was hopping around in what could only be called a one-on-one duel with a literal T7 fire wyvern. ¡°Did you see the way that boy and the woman ended their conflict and began working together the moment that beast appeared?¡± ¡°Yes, so?¡± ¡°That, my child, is why the system exists.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s two lives against a thousand or more dead ones.¡± ¡°If you look at the smaller picture, yes. But we must look at the bigger picture. If anything, watching this has doubled my convictions. The system is correct and true. We must continue to fight for it.¡± Prila looked away from him, as she didn¡¯t want him to see the growing doubt she knew must reside in her eyes. Demoralized, she was less certain now than at any point in her life that she was doing the right thing. That dragon had been the creation of the Great Ones, sure, but the OMP had known it would spawn, where it would spawn, and what would happen when it spawned, and they¡¯d done nothing to alert the innocent people whose guts and body parts had now painted an entire section of the town red. For years, she would have chalked something like this up to the workings of a mysterious God. But now¡­now she felt like she was complicit in the wholesale slaughter of innocent people. And she really, really didn¡¯t like that. With sadness bringing her closer and closer to the breaking point, she continued to watch as Zachys Calador attempted to survive for another forty seconds against a monster powerful enough to terminate his life with its tongue, let alone the rest of its body. Chapter 51: World Famous Chapter 51: World Famous Even amid a terror that struck so deep it made her feel weak and helpless, Kalana¡¯s heart swelled with pride as she watched Zach dash from home to home as he tussled with a gigantic dragon that, for all its power, just couldn¡¯t quite catch him. She didn¡¯t know how Zach was doing the things he was doing or how he¡¯d acquired such an incredible set of abilities, but right now, she didn¡¯t care, either. She just wanted him to be gone from there, knowing she wouldn¡¯t be able to breathe properly until it was over. Every time the dragon swooped in for an attack or launched another of its gigantic fireballs, she tensed up and thought her heart would explode in her chest. She wondered if she was feeling more stress watching this than Zach was feeling participating in it. ¡°Rian,¡± Alex said into his phone from the seat to her left. ¡°You¡¯re doing great, but don¡¯t worry about the girl¡¯s circulation. You need to tighten that tourniquet.¡± The two of them were traveling in the back of an armored transport DEHV chauffeured by a captain of the peacekeepers. With its emergency sirens blaring, the DEHV cut across and in some cases through the intense traffic in the worn-down but bustling city. It was incredible, too, because in the half a minute it had taken the two of them to sprint out of the school, a peacekeeper transport had somehow already arrived and had been waiting for them. Apparently, she and Alex were making their way towards a so-called ¡°War Council¡± in Tomb of Fire, which also happened to be the place that Donovan Iseldar had promised Zach would ultimately end up¡ªand alive, he¡¯d assured them. He¡¯d better be, she thought darkly. ¡°Tighter,¡± Alex said into his cellphone. ¡°No, that¡¯s still not enough.¡± ¡°It¡¯s already hurting her, and¡­any tighter and she might lose her arm, sir.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that better than losing her life?¡± ¡°Well, yes, but she¡¯s only seven years old, and Lienne can try again to¡ª¡± ¡°It won¡¯t work,¡± Alex shot in. ¡°Healing spells either work the first time you cast them or they do nothing at all. If there was no improvement whatsoever after the first use, then the wound is too deep. I¡¯m sorry, but the responsibility is on you now to stop the bleeding¡ªquickly. The girl can live with a prosthetic, but she¡¯ll die if she loses any more blood. As it is, she¡¯s going to need several transfusions when she gets to Tomb of Fire. Do not let her lose any more blood, Rian.¡± ¡°All¡­all right, sir.¡± Alex frowned. ¡°Concentrate. You need to stop looking over your shoulder. I know you¡¯re worried about Zach, but more people need your help. Save every life you can. Believe me when I say I know it¡¯s hard, but you can do this, Rian. You¡¯re a brave kid.¡± ¡°I know. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Now that the news helicopters had shown up, Alex had told one of Zach¡¯s new friends¡ªapparently that boy, Rian, whom he¡¯d met in the dungeon¡ªto stop focusing his video stream on Zach and to instead assist his sister, Lienne, as well as some gun-toting, scale-armor-wearing woman with evacuating the civilians and administering emergency first-aid. ¡°That one, you skip,¡± Alex said a few moments later, his voice turning cold. ¡°But she¡¯s dying.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not going to make it. There¡¯s no time to argue about it. That old woman stands very little chance of surviving, but her grandson might still pull through. Show me his stomach.¡± Although Kalana did not peel her eyes off her own phone, her ears did perk up as Alex¡¯s conversation with Rian created a clear-enough picture of the awful brutality that was unfolding in the Den of Ziragoth. It was to such an extent that she was willing to put her own ambitions aside for now and do whatever had to be done to free the world of this evil creature that had spawned in on her poor Zach. Gods, if anything ended up happening to him¡­ ¡°It¡¯s a shrapnel wound. It looks like he¡¯s been hit pretty badly by a siding from one of the destroyed houses. If you pull it out, Lienne¡¯s slow-heal might be able to patch him up.¡± As Kalana listened to Alex¡¯s conversation with Rian while simultaneously watching Zach actually engage in a solo duel with a level-245-equivalent superboss, she could not stem the guilt that rushed into her. If she had only gone to him quicker, she could have been there with him. She would have been able to help, too: protected him. If she lost him, she didn¡¯t want to exist anymore. She couldn¡¯t open her eyes tomorrow in a world where he didn¡¯t exist. She couldn¡¯t do it! And right now, he was all alone. It wasn¡¯t fair. He shouldn¡¯t have to do this alone¡ªor at all. Especially since she knew this was not something he wanted to do¡ªat least based on the Zach she remembered. He¡¯d clearly changed, but she couldn¡¯t imagine he¡¯d changed that much. In all her life, she had never been as afraid as she was in this moment. Not even when that mean guild-person, Varsh, had tried to abduct her and her father¡ªnot even then had she been this worried. It almost made it impossible for her to sit still. The only reason she wasn¡¯t sprinting at full speed in his direction right this moment was because she knew that, even if she began running at her fastest, which she estimated to be three-times greater than what this DEHV was capable of going, she still wouldn¡¯t reach him before the others¡ªnot to mention she¡¯d probably run through buildings and DEHVs and kill many hundreds of people along the way. ¡°Kalana,¡± Alex said to her. ¡°Donovan is almost there. Just a little bit longer.¡± She briefly took her eyes off her phone and looked at him. ¡°Can¡¯t he go any faster?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯s asking the pilot that very same question. The important thing is that we trust in him to¡­huh?¡± His attention seemed to become diverted at the words spoken by a male reporter, whose voice came through Kalana¡¯s phone. She¡¯d been keeping it on speaker for him, as he¡¯d claimed he wanted to multitask and monitor the evacuation efforts while still listening in on the news¡¯s commentary. ¡°All right, folks,¡± the voice said, ¡°we¡¯ve managed to get our N-B-O-N ¡®ear cams¡¯ working. We now bring you live audio directly from this brave, young warrior. A reminder, though, that this is live, uncensored audio and may be disturbing for some viewers. We hope this will give us a much better idea of what¡¯s going on down there.¡± The sudden, totally unexpected sound of Zach¡¯s voice caused Alex to immediately drop his jaw and raise his eyebrows. It also came as just as much of a surprise to Kalana, who glanced down at her phone in awe. It seemed that the media were using some kind of long-range, audio capturing equipment along with a speech-detection algorithm¡ªwhatever that was¡ªto isolate the sound of Zach while discarding the cacophony of other loud noises that would otherwise render him indiscernible. Now, the unmistakable vulgarities of Zachys Calador filled the back of the armored DEHV transport. ¡°Are you fucking kidding me?¡± screamed an angry, frustrated, and clearly irritated voice that Kalana couldn¡¯t believe she was actually hearing on the news. Given that this was on every channel and involved a disaster of a magnitude unparalleled in recent history, there were undoubtedly tens of millions of people watching right now with millions more likely tuning in every minute. ¡°AGAIN with this bullshit?¡± he shouted. ¡°All you know how to do is use that one asshole fireball attack. Stupid fucking dragon! That¡¯s right. Go ahead. Try it again, you son of a bitch, piece-of-shit lizard! You can kiss my Gods-damned¡ª¡± ¡°Okay, we¡¯re sorry about that, folks,¡± said the male reporter¡ªDomanik¡ªwho abruptly cut off the transmission. ¡°Like I said, the nature of this kind of live, uncensored audio does leave open the possibility of that kind of language coming over the air. We recommend parents with young children use their best judgement while we continue to offer live coverage of this horrific, unprecedented event.¡± Alex sighed. ¡°He needs to stop swearing so much.¡± Kalana nodded. ¡°I agree. But um¡­I¡¯m just happy to hear his voice at all right now. Please, Alex. Tell your friends to hurry up.¡± ***** A roar from the skies was the only indication Zach needed to leap forward and off the roof of the last-remaining house in this section of town that wasn¡¯t either completely demolished or engulfed in flame. A moment later, his feet clicked against one of the last undamaged segments of concrete road as Ziragoth¡¯s entire body flew through the center of the home, smashing it apart with a loud series of snaps and leaving in its wake a ruinous husk of what had once been a place of refuge for the family who¡¯d lived there. With that, there were no more rooftops for Zach to blink across. Now, back on ground level, he struggled to keep his fear in check as he glanced around for where to move next. Most of the road and many sections of sidewalk near him were damaged and uneven, and every home was destroyed and aflame. A tremendous blaze surrounded him on all sides, the heat from which made it increasingly more difficult to breathe. There¡¯s nowhere left to run. Whether it had been the result of intelligent, strategic thinking on the part of Ziragoth or merely just the product of instinct, the wyvern had put Zach in a situation that severely limited his maneuverability. Completely encircled by the intense inferno, this sole unoccupied portion of town was basically encased in a prison made of flame. Sure, he could easily Phase Blink through the wall of fire if he absolutely had to escape, but the problem was that fleeing anywhere outside of this small area would put him¡ªand Ziragoth¡ªin contact with vulnerable, defenseless townspeople and would almost certainly lead to an even greater loss of life. Although many of the residents had already fled to the western end of town to await extraction or had otherwise escaped in their DEHVs, there were still many hundreds of people who were trapped or unable to leave. For starters, the creature had essentially cut off the few-hundred people who were now stuck on the eastern side of town, as there were no roads leading out and fleeing against something this fast on foot would be pointless. It would likely kill anything within several miles¡¯ distance once it got done with Zach. But that was only the first issue. Secondly, the roads in numerous critical locations were now so badly damaged that leaving via DEHV was clearly no longer a possibility. Put simply, there was no way any additional DEHVs would be able to hover over some of these deep, ten-foot craters, and unlike that ¡°car¡± he¡¯d driven in ¡°New Jersey,¡± the computers on DEHVs would override driver commands found to be unsafe or against road regulations. Therefore, Zach¡¯s only two options at this point were to either continue his death-defying dance with the tremendous wyvern inside this fiery prison or retreat to more favorable terrain, which would in effect pull the boss with him and knowingly cause the number of casualties to begin climbing yet again. As things stood, no additional people had crossed the dragon¡¯s path since he¡¯d come here to this isolated part of town, and he really needed to keep it that way. But I can¡¯t keep this up much longer¡­ Having spent a great deal of the remaining duration of Unleashed Phase from his near-nonstop use of Phase Blink, Zach was left with just shy of four minutes before it expired. He also guessed he had around forty or so seconds to go before help began to arrive. But did that timeframe include how long it would take for the helicopters to land and for backup to physically make their way to his location? Mr. Oren hadn¡¯t been clear about that. Genuinely, Zach had no idea how much longer he¡¯d actually have to keep this up for, and now that he was basically contained within a tiny section, it was difficult to keep his morale up and not give way to total despair. Haven¡¯t I done enough? he wondered. These people can fend for themselves, can¡¯t they? No one can say I didn¡¯t already do enough. Haven¡¯t I done my fair share? He knew the answers to these questions even as he asked them. Yet a part of him was searching for any excuse¡ªany rationalization that would justify him fleeing the scene and letting someone else worry about the lives of the townspeople. After all, this was tempting fate, wasn¡¯t it? It would only take one hit. It would only take one scratch. This thing was so incomprehensively strong that any contact at all would likely result in his instant death. And Zach really, really was not in the mood to die today. Not when he was so close to finally reuniting with Kalana. If he turned tail and fled, he could be with her before dinner. Morally, he was totally in the clear to ditch this wyvern and find his girl. Yet¡­he continued to fight on. All other factors aside, Zach knew that, the moment he disappeared, the beast would resume its earlier rampage. Even just ten seconds uninhibited would be enough time to wipe out another hundred¡ªif not a great deal more¡ªlives. This was especially true since they were all being herded towards the west end of town. Ziragoth was simply too strong and commanded a power too destructive. If it launched one of those fireballs at a fleeing crowd, it would, without question, annihilate every man, woman and child. And so, on this partially destroyed, disadvantageous terrain, Zach decided to continue waging this totally one-sided contest with the T7 wyvern. Why does it have to be me, Gods-dammit? All I ever wanted was to be a greedy, rich asshole. Not this. Due to the intensity and even height of the inferno surrounding him, he could no longer see Rian, Lienne, Anelia, or any of the others. Yet he took it on faith that they were doing everything they could to continue evacuating as many people as possible. If they were doing their part, he¡¯d keep doing his. With that thought in mind, he steeled himself as the ground shook with the impact of the wyvern slamming down onto the concrete before him. ¡°Here we go again,¡± he said aloud. As though it were losing patience, Ziragoth hissed and lifted its barbed tail up over its own body then smashed it down onto the concrete where Zach was standing. Lacking any other choice, Zach used Phase Blink and put himself behind the creature¡ªand into another one of the craters in the street. This time, however, he did not panic as the creature responded by spinning around, opening its large, fang-filled mouth, and filling the crater with more of its firebreath. Having realized his earlier mistake, Zach leapt up into the air and over the fire¡ªbut only enough to put him level with the ground. Then he activated Phase Blink yet again and once more zipped behind the creature on the heels of another sonic boom. Despite having crashed its tail down in this very spot only a moment prior, there was still a small piece of flat, undamaged terrain that Zach luckily found himself standing on. Then, ignoring the incredible bout of nausea that resulted in using a targeted Phase Blink twice in a row, he growled and began to slash away at the gigantic dragon¡¯s left leg, hitting for 0 damage each time. Somehow, he managed to gain all five stacks of courage in a single volley of attacks, and he immediately activated his sword¡¯s ability. A thin, orange, and bubble-shaped barrier of energy surrounded him as Ziragoth roared. The sound of it sickened him from this close, but having already lasted this long, he refused to let it intimidate him or frighten him away. Instead, he gripped his blade tightly and awaited the horrific beast¡¯s next move¡ªwhich came fast and frantic. Lifting its tremendous right wing, Ziragoth swung it horizontally at Zach as though it were a garage-sized blade. Zach knew he could absorb the hit on his barrier, but he decided to save it in case he made a mistake later on. Thus, once more activating Phase Blink, he rushed forward at a speed faster than he could even feel and then reappeared behind the creature¡ªwho somehow appeared to be expecting just such a maneuver. Zach cried out in horror, alarm, and disbelief as the sight of Ziragoth¡¯s mighty, barbed tail filled almost the entirety of his vision. As though evolving and adapting to Zach¡¯s combat tactics, Ziragoth had already swung his tail as if he knew that Zach would be blinking behind him. With a loud, terrifying thwack, it both popped and bounced off the barrier, leaving Zach unharmed. Yet it was already coming around for another strike. Confused, demoralized, and lacking any time to cognitively assess his situation, Zach Phase Blinked yet again¡ªonly to find the creature¡¯s wing streaking towards his face. There was no longer any doubt about it. The dragon had learned somehow from the battle up until this point, and the back-and-forth stalling tactics Zach had used would no longer work. Gods, this is bad. This is so, so bad! Panicked, desperate, and lacking any idea of what to do, Zach activated Phase Shield. Even amid the intense inferno and during a sunny day, the golden shield that materialized in the air before him cast a bright enough glow to temporarily drown out all other sources of light. With an impatient, angry hiss, Ziragoth bashed its wing into the shield¡ªand then Zach¡¯s entire body erupted with a searing, splitting, and unbearable pain as he was thrown off his feet and sent flying backwards at a speed far faster than what he could run while under Unleashed Phase. Even as his body soared through the air, he both saw and felt gashes beginning to form all over his body and on his skin: his arms, his legs, his chest, and even his forehead. At the same time, he felt his ears, nose, and even his eyes begin to run with what he was pretty certain wasn¡¯t sweat or tears. The wind pounded into him as the pain intensified. His muscles felt as though they¡¯d completely broken down, and his chest ached. And through it all, he could only think one, horrified thought: that this was only a fraction of a fraction of the damage that the T7 wyvern¡¯s wing strike had actually done. It was the smallest, tiniest slice that had been returned to him via his shield. His eyes blurry as they leaked blood, Zach lost all sense of where he was or where he was moving. From the brief, but very painful spike in body temperature, he assumed he¡¯d been hurtled straight through the wall of fire, and now, with a loud crunch, he blasted through what he thought was a brick wall and into what looked like a tiny clothing shop. Still, his flight did not end. With a crash, he broke through the storefront¡¯s glass display window then continued to sail over several now-empty booths in the open air market before at last coming to a halt with another painful bang that took all the air out of his lungs as he slid down the side wall of what was likely the town¡¯s only fast-food restaurant. Landing on his feet, he immediately dropped to his knees, fell forward onto his palms, and began to cough and wheeze. He needed air. He couldn¡¯t breathe. Everything hurt. Where was the dragon? Exhausted and in immense pain, he fell forward completely onto his stomach and then rolled over onto his back. Every part of him ached. He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his tunic, then stared in a mixture of horror and disgust at the sight of red. He really was bleeding from his eyes. It felt as though a million invisible tweezers were pinching every muscle in his arms and legs while an intense headache erupted in his forehead. Now on his back, he saw the dragon flying in circles and darting its head around as if searching for him, its powerful wings making an audible thwap as they flapped against the wind. It didn¡¯t take long for it to spot him, though, and when it did, the wyvern threw out both its wings, causing an audible whoosh as it came to an unbelievable, instantaneous stop midair. Then it angled its body downwards and began to dive straight towards him while releasing another mighty roar powerful enough to make the ground shake. Zach rolled over onto his belly. Fighting against the pain, he pushed himself back up to his knees as he looked around for some place to blink as the dragon dropped down towards him like a bomb. Still somewhat disoriented, he was surprised to hear a voice speaking to him. ¡°Are you all right, son?¡± a woman asked him. Zach swore loudly, which confused the woman, but he didn¡¯t care. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± he yelled at her. She offered nothing in reply other than a blank stare. You¡¯ve got to be kidding me. Why were there people here? Gods-dammit! Wiping blood and sweat out of his eyes with his forearm, he quickly looked around to see that there were in fact several people here. From what he could tell, they were all older, slower people who were still making their way to the west end of town but for some reason hadn¡¯t gotten there yet. Judging by the sight of suitcases and other personal items carried on their person, it soon became clear as to why. These absolute morons had chosen to go back into their homes to retrieve clothing, jewelry, and other items rather than make a break for it with everyone else. The worst part is I can¡¯t even blame them, he thought, too hurt and too exhausted to feel anger towards them. It¡¯s all they have. But even still¡ªGods damn them! ¡°Go,¡± he wheezed, finding it difficult just to speak. They seemed to pick up the pace somewhat as the furious wyvern raced down towards them. But they weren¡¯t going to get far enough fast enough, were they? When Ziragoth slammed into the pavement, he was going to kill every single one of these people, right? Was there any chance that they could move far enough away in time to avoid the dragon? With less than two seconds to spare, Zach pulled up his list of abilities once again, as well as his duration remaining on Unleashed Phase. Things weren¡¯t looking good. Not at fucking all.
Unleashed Phase Duration 1:50 Remaining
Wave Slash 1:15
Boundless 0:10
Phase Blink 0:20
Phase Shield (COOLDOWN) (2 seconds remaining) 0:45
Phase Rescue 0:35/2:15 (if used with Boundless)
Phase Slash 1:10/6:10 (if used with ??)
This was no longer a question of saving the lives of others but saving his own life, too. If Zach wanted to stand any chance of making it out of this alive, he¡¯d now gotten to the point where his only option was to phase blink over and over until Unleashed Phase ended and he collapsed of E-debt. Given how much his body had endured recently, he was certain that a single high-exertion debt was something he could survive. He¡¯d nap it off, hopefully far enough away for the dragon not to see him, and then he¡¯d hope that someone found him alive and pulled him out of there. But as far as these five¡ªor was it six?¡ªold people were concerned? Well¡­maybe they should fend for themselves. After all, why should Zach die for them? They¡¯d already lived their lives, and his was only just getting started. And they wouldn¡¯t even be in danger if they¡¯d have just gone with the others instead of lagging behind for the sake of their belongings. How could anyone even possibly expect Zach to trade away his own life in exchange for these five old¡­oh no. Gods, no, no, no! He groaned as he saw a little boy partially concealed behind one of the old townspeople. The child was tugging on the sleeve of an old, silver-haired woman with horn-rimmed glasses on her shriveled, frightened, face. ¡°Grandma, I¡¯m scared. It¡¯s coming, grandma!¡± ¡°Please,¡± she begged Zach, looking right at him. ¡°Please don¡¯t let it kill my¡ª¡± With tears¡ªor maybe blood¡ªleaking down his eyes, Zach shouted, ¡°Run! Just fucking run!¡± And with that, he waited the one final second required for the cooldown to refresh, and then he again activated Phase Shield a mere instant before the humongous, roaring wyvern crash-landed and killed all of them. Almost in the exact same instant, the golden shield popped into existence, the dragon slammed itself down into it, and like a nail driven by a hammer, Zach was furiously thrown down so fast that he bashed into the ground with enough force to smash straight through several feet of concrete and dirt. This, even as he activated Phase Blink. And as the pain began to form all over his body, he knew that this time¡­this time he¡¯d done real, grave damage to himself. As Phase Blink carried him away somewhere, he didn¡¯t bother looking around to see where he went or where he ended up. He couldn¡¯t, in fact. Truly, he was unable to form any coherent thoughts at all. The only thing he knew was that the level of pain he was in was now so great that nothing he¡¯d ever before experienced could even compare to it. Worse, something was missing. He wasn¡¯t sure what. But he had the sense that something was wrong: very, very wrong. He couldn¡¯t see properly. His vision was off in a way he couldn¡¯t quite grasp. Was his right eye closed? He tried to blink, but only his left obeyed. Confused, he raised his right arm to feel his right eye¡ªonly for nothing to happen. And so he tried again, but as though it had fallen asleep, his arm simply would not obey his commands. He craned his head down to look, and a rush of dizziness caused him to nearly fall over as the world seemed to twist upside down. Shaking his head, he again glanced down, and this time, he shrieked in pure pain and torment as a feeling of dread and horror arose within him¡ªone strong enough to crush his willpower and make him weep like a child. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. His arm. It was gone. Where once his right arm had resided there was now just a steady ooze of blood that poured out of a torn off stump with uneven strips of jagged flesh ending at the point of his shoulder blade. He also felt warm liquid pouring over the right side of his face, and as he began to stumble forward in a strange sort of bewildered misery, he caught his reflection in the half-broken glass window of a local barbershop. Oh, Gods. No! What have I done? Please don¡¯t let this be real. Please don¡¯t let this be real! His face was so bloody that the sight of it didn¡¯t seem real and for a brief moment left him stunned and confused. But then, with his left, shaking hand approaching but not quite touching the socket, he realized that the kid he saw in the reflection with the missing eye and the missing arm was none other than himself. Now, he well and truly screamed. He screamed unlike he¡¯d ever screamed before. He couldn¡¯t stop himself even if he wanted to. In this moment, with this level of anguish, he doubted any of this was worth it. It wasn¡¯t like it¡¯d been during his fight with Moldark, where he only knew he was going to die. Now, he felt it, too. Gods, he couldn¡¯t even believe it was actually possible for the human body to experience this much pain at once. It hurt so badly that part of him almost wanted to die just so it would end. It was only out of his desire to see Kalana at least one more time that he continued to stumble forward, his sword now clutched in the grip of his only remaining hand. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± The wyvern was on him so quickly he could only whimper and Phase Blink forward out of sheer desperation. Then, even as the sonic boom was still echoing behind him in the distance, he used it again. And then again. And then¡­then it refused to work. Why? Oh¡­right. He was running out of time. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw a bloody trail leading from the open-air market to wherever this was that he¡¯d ended up. His eye was going in and out of focus. He needed to Phase Reset. Why wasn¡¯t it working? For some reason, he couldn¡¯t get that ability to work, either. Did this mean that the duration on Unleashed Phase had fully expired? If so, then all he could really do now was keep wobbling forward on shaky, unsteady legs as exhaustion and pain collided together to create what he was sure would be a slow, sorrowful march to his inevitable death. And all the while, the wyvern¡­it came for him. ¡°No, go away!¡± he shouted. Everything hurt so badly. ¡°Leave me alone!¡± This was it. He was done for. He was dying. Nothing and no one could save him now. The world had finally taken everything from him. Worse, since his Unleashed Phase had hit zero, it was time to pay his exertion debt, and so now, he felt as though he were running at full speed even though his arm refused to move and he could barely keep stumbling forward. Yet, even as he continued to scream out in fear and agony, the one thing he did not do¡ªthe one and only thing he would not do was beg. ¡°Fuck you!¡± he screamed at the dragon, which was now right behind him. Still glancing over his shoulder, he saw the creature open its mouth, and Zach felt his entire body tense up as he prepared to be burned to death. Instead, however, the wyvern¡¯s forked tongue flew out of its mouth and shot across the air towards him. Through sheer coincidence, he happened to trip and fall, which resulted in him somehow managing to evade the disgusting, elongated pink dragon tongue. Instead of grabbing his body, the creature instead wrapped its tongue around his sword and yanked it right out of his hand while the rest of him landed on the concrete with a plop. Spinning around and shuffling backward on his rear, Zach watched as the tongue began to retract. In less than a second, it snapped back the fifteen-or-so feet of distance and disappeared inside Ziragoth¡¯s mouth, which he then snapped shut. Before his very eyes, Zach witnessed the sword he had earned in the Catacombs of Yorna break into three separate pieces, all of which then faded into nothingness as though they had never existed at all. Now, something changed in the wyvern¡¯s eyes. It regarded Zach with a look that could very well have been merely his imagination as he fought to stay conscious as he paid off his exertion debt. Was he hallucinating? It almost seemed like Ziragoth looked¡­satisfied? Pleased with itself? It was just the way its eyes narrowed ever so slightly as, once more, its tongue shot out of its mouth and headed straight for Zach, who spun around and began frantically crawling away on one arm. He was now on his belly, and the right sides of his face and body left a dark, bloody trail behind him as he tried to slither away. Unfortunately, he was far, far too slow. He yelled in terror as he felt a squeezing tightness in his gut as the creature¡¯s tongue wrapped around him. Fighting and clawing to no avail, he found himself being dragged, his face rubbing into the ground and scraping more flesh away from the socket of his missing eye, somehow managing to further his pain as more blood smeared the damaged pavement. Even though he knew it would do him no good, he punched at the monster¡¯s tongue, then tried to pry it off himself. Even if he hadn¡¯t been paying off a hefty exertion debt, he doubted he¡¯d have anywhere near the strength required to break free. Eventually, his strength failed him, and he allowed his arm to hang limply and lifelessly as he wept in pain, his face continuing to scrape against the concrete. When Zach was a mere moment from being eaten, the creature¡¯s tongue hauled him upright and a bizarre, inexplicable sensation flared up in his stomach; it was only then that he realized he had been launched into the air. Below him, he saw the creature open its mouth expectantly, its razor-sharp teeth awaiting its meal. Son of a bitch is toying with me. The thing had actually thrown Zach up just so Zach could plummet into its mouth and to his death. This was not normal mob behavior. Zach was sure of it. This was spite. It was angry that Zach had wasted its time. Had it even been a minute and forty-two seconds yet? He wasn¡¯t sure. It had likely been more than two minutes by this point. But what did it matter? As he began to fall, he cried out one final time. He screamed Kalana¡¯s name. He prayed for his pain to be quick and the end to come swiftly. In the distance, he could hear what sounded like many helicopters approaching at once. But it was too late, wasn¡¯t it? For him, anyway. As he fell, he saw something unusual moving in the corner of his one working eye. Something was heading towards him¡ªfast. He had no idea what it was. It looked like a gigantic, black projectile of some kind heading in his direction. His vision was too blurry for him to really make out much at a distance. Not that it mattered, though. Nothing would save him now as he picked up speed, falling faster and faster into the mouth of Ziragoth even as a blackish blur continued to race towards him. Then there was darkness. He must¡¯ve dozed off or zoned out, because he now found himself inside the mouth of the creature. He could feel its tongue on his wounds, which made them sting. It was also tighter in here than it was the last time he¡¯d almost been eaten. Everything hurt so badly, and he was so confused. He couldn¡¯t take this pain anymore. He couldn¡¯t take this grogginess or this confusion. Why were his legs and his arm sticking out of the monster¡¯s mouth? Why wasn¡¯t it crunching down on him? Was it playing with him? Was it toying with its meal? Maybe it planned to slowly bite down to maximize the pain for having disrespected it? It did neither of these things. Instead, for a reason he could not discern, it spit him right back out, and he found himself rolling over several times along a section of smooth, flat road before coming still. ¡°What¡­?¡± he wheezed. He could barely speak. His one eye continuing to go in and out of focus, he realized he was now gazing upon an entirely different monster. Whatever mouth he¡¯d just been in, it certainly hadn¡¯t belonged to the wyvern. No, this was something very different. What stood on all fours beside him was some kind of massive panther twice the size of a lion with black fur, viciously sharp teeth, and emerald-green eyes that seemed to bulge with a rage so intense it made Zach shiver¡ªor maybe that was just the cold from his blood loss. Either way, he could hardly believe what he saw out of his one eye, as even the hate-filled stare of the panther was nothing compared to the vicious, bloodthirsty roar it made as Ziragoth began to approach it. Up until this point, Zach had believed he understood what it meant for someone or something to be angry. He thought he¡¯d seen the darkest depths of rage. But nothing had ever growled with quite the fury and burning passion that this giant panther sent towards Ziragoth. Whatever this thing was, it had some kind of personal grudge against the wyvern, as it ran straight for the dragon in what could only be described as a mad frenzy. It was as though it were possessed by some kind of vengeful spirit¡ªas though all the hate in the world became channeled into a single entity, and that entity was this unnaturally huge panther, which had to be at least half the size of an adult elephant. And it spoke, too. It actually spoke. In a voice twice as deep and twice as booming as Maric¡¯s, it shouted, ¡°YOU HURT MY HUMAN! I KILL STUPID DRAGON!¡± Ziragoth roared, causing the ground to shake. And the panther growled right back at it. Though the ground did not shake, the rage evident in the sound more than made up for the lack of rumbling. Unsheathing its claws, Zach began to fade away as he watched the creature explode forward into a series of frantic slashes with such speed and rage its paws appeared as a blur. Ziragoth again roared, but this time in what actually sounded like surprise as the gigantic cat slashed at its face over and over, dealing between 10 and 15 damage each time. Whipping up its tail, Ziragoth tried to crush the panther, but the cat merely jumped directly to the side as the concrete beside it exploded. Once more, it rushed in and hissed with pure fury as it slashed again and again and again, growling each time. The panther clearly hated the dragon with every fiber of its being. That much was beyond obvious. One time after the next, it struck out at Ziragoth, who again tried¡ªand failed¡ªto retaliate with its tail. At the same time, a large shadow popped into existence from somewhere far up above. Groggy, in total agony, and morbidly confused, Zach weakly lifted his chin and looked up to see that a gigantic, fluffy cloud had just appeared in the otherwise cloudless sky, though it was dark and looked highly unnatural. No sooner had it appeared than it began to flash, and now, at a speed far, far too great for the eye to follow, one bolt of lightning after the next began to pour down on Ziragoth so fast that it looked as though it were literally raining lightning. Each time a bolt struck, it made a slapping sound and dealt between 12 and 17 damage. Yet the bolts came in with such unbelievable rapidity that the numbers all blended together. What¡¯s happening? Zach wasn¡¯t sure what he was seeing was even real. Was this actually happening? Seemingly out of nowhere, this gigantic creature had shown up and was now somehow putting out hundreds of points of damage each second as it vented whatever personal grudge it had against Ziragoth. Over and over, it clawed the wyvern across its face while it struck out with lightning. A cat¡­that makes lightning? If not for the fact that he was now too weak to do anything but blink and take shallow, unsatisfying breaths, Zach probably would¡¯ve realized well before that point exactly what¡ªor more specifically, who¡ªthe creature was that had come to avenge him. Yet it was so hard to think as his body grew colder and more and more of his blood spilled out of his shoulder and eye socket. Even still, he was truly grateful that his buddy had come to him before the end. Was it normal to be so moved shortly before death? ¡°Fluffles,¡± he whispered. ¡°Run. Can¡¯t help. Dying.¡± It had to be Fluffles. There was no other explanation. Zach didn¡¯t know how the cat had known to come here or why, but as he lost all sensation in his left hand and both of his feet, and as his eyelid began to droop, he recalled once seeing Fluffles transform into a crude imitation of a human male. Clearly, he was better at transforming into other types of cats than he was at humans. This much was obvious from the way Fluffles had taken on the form of a panther three or four times its natural size and continued to strike out at Ziragoth in what was decidedly a serious vendetta. This was personal for Fluffles. It was, wasn¡¯t it? Such a good cat, he thought. Such a good boy. Zach tried to call out to Fluffles: to beg him to run. But the way the cat hissed told him that Fluffles wasn¡¯t likely to stop any time soon. A sick, twisted thought popped into Zach¡¯s head, as he now hoped he¡¯d die before he saw the dragon get Fluffles, too. That was one sight he did not want to take in before he left this world. Oddly, the closer he came to death, the less he began to fear it. Of all things, he began to feel peaceful. He was going to see his mother again, wasn¡¯t he? Colors and sounds all began to distort. He became confused. He was no longer certain what was real and what was imagined by his dying brain. He thought he saw several more shadows racing towards the ground. With just enough strength left to shift his eyeball upwards, he wondered if he was imagining those five people he spotted literally jumping out of a helicopter far up above the town. He wondered if one of them was really glowing with an intense, reddish aura that left an actual streak behind in the air as the person fell directly down towards Ziragoth. It looked like a man: one covered from head to toe in midnight-black plate armor that had spikes jutting out of his shoulder pauldrons as well as along the backs of his gauntlets. He also appeared to be wielding a gigantic battle axe as he began to glow brighter and brighter as he fell. Is any of this real? He watched as Fluffles jumped backwards a moment before the man crashed down with an actual bang on top of Ziragoth, slamming his axe down on the creature¡¯s head and dealing 11,421 damage while sending a wave of electricity throughout the giant wyvern¡¯s body. An instant later, several other people landed beside him, some of whom Zach recognized. ¡°Fucker is stunned for ten seconds,¡± the plate-wearing man said. ¡°Alixa, spam amnesia. Now! Fluffles, get your human out of here before he dies on the side of the road.¡± ¡°FLUFFLES KILL DRAGON!¡± the cat cried, his voice so utterly deep and booming. ¡°IT HURT ZACH. FLUFFLES WANT REVENGE!¡± The man turned his plate-covered head in the direction of the cat and widened his furious eyes, which were filled with equal parts ferocity and command. ¡°Fluff, he¡¯ll die if you don¡¯t get him to Kesten on the west end of town. Now go! Hurry!¡± Then the man looked directly at Zach and grinned. ¡°You¡¯re not dead yet, kiddo.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­dying.¡± ¡°Not yet you¡¯re not. Not this time. Good job, by the way. You saved so many lives.¡± Even as he spoke, another dozen or so people jumped out the side of several more helicopters and began landing down next to him. Raising his voice, he shouted, ¡°Remember! We¡¯re here to distract only. I expect at least five minutes out of you lot. If that boy¡±¡ªhe pointed at Zach¡ª¡°can go two minutes solo against the dragon, I don¡¯t wanna hear any bitching. Five minutes. You all have to survive five minutes and then we can leave. Fluffles, get him out of here now before it¡¯s too late.¡± Zach tried to say something in reply. He was so Gods-damned confused. He was so hurt. His pain intensified as he once more found himself in the mouth of the creature who had saved him. His cat? Was this Fluffles? He couldn¡¯t remember. He forgot what had even happened, actually. Wait, wait, what did happen? Was he hurt? Did someone hurt him? Why couldn¡¯t he remember anything? What was going on? He was moving really, really fast. Something was carrying him and jumping from one rooftop to the next. Hadn¡¯t he done something like that once? He couldn¡¯t remember. Why did he hear the sounds of battle from wherever he¡¯d just been? It sounded like a whole bunch of people were making a whole lot of noise. Why couldn¡¯t they just be quiet? He was so, so tired. Yet over and over, people kept telling him not to sleep. More than one person, too. Wait, how many people? And why did they have to be so rough with him when they loaded him into the gurney and strapped him in. Was he on a rooftop? This one seemed way higher up. Like, as tall as a skyscraper. Since when was there a gigantic building like this in the middle of the Den of Ziragoth? Also, how could he be so cold with the sun so strong in the sky and practically baking him beneath it? Where am I? Nothing¡¯s making any sense! He was so disoriented and confused that he actually had to really struggle with the question of why there was a rooftop inside of his cat¡¯s mouth. Also, if he was inside of his cat¡¯s mouth, then why was his tiny little black-and-white cat meowing at him as he ran alongside the gurney, beyond a pair of double doors, and into a much colder, much darker place while several people hovered to each side of him and various machines beeped as needles were stuck in his arm. Where the fuck was he? ¡°Do not fall asleep,¡± said a man with shaggy blonde hair wearing spiked bracelets and a leather jacket. Zach knew him, didn¡¯t he? Yes. Yes he did. He remembered. This guy was Kesten. A doctor. Why was he seeing the doctor? Was he sick? ¡°Where,¡± he said weakly. ¡°Hurts. It hurts so much. I want Kalana. I don¡¯t care about anything anymore. I just wish she was here.¡± ¡°I¡¯m right here!¡± said the voice of Kalana, squeezing his one arm. She was holding onto him and ruffling his hair. This wasn¡¯t real, was it? Was that really her? It couldn¡¯t be. How had she gotten inside of his cat¡¯s mouth? Was she in the Den of Ziragoth too? ¡°You¡¯re not really here.¡± ¡°I am. See? It¡¯s me. I¡¯m really here. I promise. Oh, Zach. What did that thing do to you?¡± She was crying. Her face was so red. Did he upset her again? He was being wheeled along some kind of hard-surfaced floor. But where was he? Why was no one telling him anything? Why couldn¡¯t he make sense of anything anymore? ¡°His blood pressure is too fucking low,¡± Kesten said with an angry grunt. ¡°Not good. We can¡¯t use the stones on him like this.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Mr. Oren demanded. ¡°I don¡¯t care what it costs us. Give him my emergency light stone.¡± He reached into his lab coat and pulled out the most beautiful, vibrant, rainbow-colored gem that Zach had ever seen. It had to be worth at least a bazillion gold. Weakly, he lifted his hand and tried to take it. He chuckled, which caused both Mr. Oren and Kesten to look at him as though in disbelief. ¡°Zach get to have pretty gem,¡± Fluffles said, running alongside the gurney. ¡°He want gem. Fluffles know!¡± Mr. Oren shook his head as though ignoring whatever the cat had said. ¡°I will provide the stone. I¡¯ll pay for everything.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not about the money!¡± Kesten shouted, frowning. ¡°Gods, Alex. After what he just did, there isn¡¯t a single guild on either side that wouldn¡¯t cough up any gold asked if it¡¯s for the kid. Hell, even the Gods-cursed Royal Roses offered to pay for his treatment¡ªpublicly. The problem is that his vitals aren¡¯t stable, and if you go jamming a stone into him, it¡¯ll kill him. He¡¯s too wounded for even the stones right now.¡± ¡°So what, then?¡± Mr. Oren asked. ¡°If there are no spells or stones. Then what?¡± ¡°He needs surgery,¡± Kesten said. ¡°And I can¡¯t do it. I¡¯m a doctor, not a surgeon.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll handle that,¡± another voice said. Zach did not recognize him. He was a tall, brawny man wearing the fanciest business suit that Zach had ever seen; a stunning, golden crown was embroidered on the lapel of his tuxedo. The man had smooth, black hair, and he was quite tall, though not as tall as Mr. Oren. He was also handsome in an almost regal sense. ¡°How generous of you,¡± Kesten said with obvious sarcasm. For some reason, this caused Mr. Oren to give him a look of warning. Plainly ignoring the show of disrespect, the man nodded and said, ¡°The best surgeons in Tomb of Fire are already rushing over here as we speak.¡± ¡°Thank you, Sir Peter Brayspark,¡± Mr. Oren said. Zach was too weak to feel any surprise at the name. Nor was he clearheaded enough to really contemplate the significance of the fact that the leader of the Guild of Gentlemen and only surviving child of Peter IV was now striding confidently alongside him and looking upon him with gratitude plain in his expression. ¡°Kal,¡± Zach moaned. ¡°Are you really here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here, baby,¡± she said. Upon her words, Zach finally came to understand that he must have been seriously, seriously wounded; otherwise, the fact that she¡¯d just called him ¡°baby¡± would have sent him into overdrive. If only he could understand what it was that had hurt him? Why was he here? Once again, his brain went through the typical routine of trying to figure out what had happened to him and when. ¡°Where am I?¡± he asked. ¡°You¡¯re in the hospital,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Why? Am I hurt?¡± ¡°You¡­you don¡¯t know?¡± she asked, sounding alarmed. As if to reassure her, Kesten said, ¡°That¡¯s normal. Not brain trauma. He¡¯s just in shock. The fact he knows who you are is a good enough sign. One less concern to knock off the checklist.¡± As Zach found himself turning a corner, he saw a bright light above his one working eye. He realized it was Kesten, shining something down at him. He narrowed his eyelid and turned his head away. ¡°Zach, can you see this?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°A flashlight.¡± He switched it off. ¡°All right, good.¡± ¡°Where am I?¡± At this question, Kesten did frown slightly as though worried. ¡°We just told you. Don¡¯t you remember?¡± He nodded¡ªor tried to, at least. His head wouldn¡¯t move. ¡°The hospital.¡± The frown quickly gave way to a relaxed expression, perhaps one of relief. Zach, still in a great deal of pain, tried to clarify. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if¡­if I confused you. I¡¯m just having a hard time thinking. I meant to ask why I¡¯m here, not where I am.¡± ¡°You¡­you got into a fight,¡± Kesten said. ¡°A fight?¡± ¡°Yes. With a dragon.¡± A Dragon? All at once, the image of Ziragoth¡¯s demonic, hate-filled eyes flashed in his head. He could see it again. Those eyes. Those fucking eyes. It was after him. He was still there. This was all an illusion. He¡¯d never left the town. Of course he hadn¡¯t. He was still there! He began to struggle, fighting against the binds securing him to the gurney. ¡°His heart rate¡¯s spiking!¡± Kesten said. ¡°Get it away!¡± Zach screamed. ¡°Get it away!¡± Tears began to fall down his face. ¡°It¡¯s going to kill me. Get it away. Kal!¡± ¡°Zach,¡± she said back to him, grabbing him even more tightly. He was still fighting it, wasn¡¯t he? Of course he was. Its tongue was wrapped around him. He was dying. He was still there. All those bodies. All those people. They¡¯d been butchered and ripped into little pieces. The streets. They were covered in blood. Gods, make it stop. Please. Please. Please. Make it go away. There were so many bodies. Dead children. They were bleeding. He was bleeding. More death than he could conceive of. ¡°GET IT AWAY FROM ME!¡± he screamed. ¡°I DON¡¯T WANT TO FIGHT IT ANYMORE!¡± Zach thrashed and writhed against his bindings as he struggled to free himself. This, as the machine to his left beeped louder and louder and his head became foggier. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him?¡± Kalana asked, pain and alarm in her voice. ¡°What¡¯s happening to him?¡± ¡°PTSD most likely,¡± Kesten said. ¡°Not my field of expertise.¡± Zach continued to fight and claw at the straps securing him in place. ¡°It hurts! It hurts!¡± ¡°Give him pain medicine,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Please!¡± ¡°He¡¯s already had too much.¡± Someone was grabbing him¡ªno, it was multiple people. They were picking him up and dropping him onto a bed. He kicked one in the face¡ªor tried to. Mr. Oren merely dodged and didn¡¯t seem slightly offended. Even as Zach kicked out at him, he couldn¡¯t understand what he was doing or why. Now, he found himself on a bed in a gigantic hospital room that seemed fit for royalty or someone rich and famous, as it was private and had an entire team of nurses and doctors on standby as though they¡¯d been waiting here just for him. The moment he was on the bed, they snapped into action. Connecting him to various machines, sticking things into his arm. His arm? Where was his other one? Again, it flashed inside his head as though it were only happening now. ¡°I¡¯m ruined,¡± he whimpered. ¡°It took my arm. It took my eye.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°You¡¯ll get them back. I promise.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Regrowth treatment.¡± ¡°Did this really happen? Am I really here?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How? How am I here? I¡¯m so confused.¡± ¡°You¡¯re still in shock. Just be calm, my man. The surgeon is on his way up right now.¡± ¡°Why do I need surgery? Kal. Get me out of here.¡± ¡°Nah-uh, you need to get better.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. That thing. It¡¯ll find me here.¡± ¡°No, it will not,¡± Mr. Oren said. Zach looked around, becoming panicked. His adrenaline was coursing through his veins. There was a window not far from him. He peered out of it fearfully. He was sure he could see it¡ªthat gigantic creature. He could see it flying straight into the window, causing the glass to break. He flinched and closed his eye. Then he opened it, and he saw that the window was not only still intact, but that the sky was clear. ¡°I¡¯m gonna kill it for you,¡± Kalana said to him. ¡°I promise.¡± Upon hearing these words, Zach struggled furiously and nearly succeeded at getting out of the bed if not for multiple sets of hand restraining him, including Kal¡¯s. ¡°No you¡¯re not!¡± he shouted at her. ¡°I don¡¯t want you ever going near that thing ever.¡± Rather than reply, she merely cupped his chin and smiled at him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Only now that she was standing right before him and he had become somewhat more lucid could he truly appreciate how much she¡¯d changed, physically, since the last time he¡¯d seen her. In a matter of weeks, her shoulders had become more broad, her hair was now longer and the color of pure gold, and her ears were more pointed and Elvish in appearance. But more than that, she had completely ditched her typical modest attire, revealing a lot more skin than she used to. She wore a pair of tan-colored shorts, likely equipment, with a dagger sheathed at each of her hips, and she also had on a tan-colored chest guard that ended at the bellybutton and revealed much of her stomach. ¡°His heart rate¡¯s spiking again,¡± Kesten said. Then, in the corner of his limited vision, Zach saw Kesten staring at him, at which point he seemed to be following the path of Zach¡¯s one eye as though trying to discern what Zach was looking at. A moment later, he grinned and said, ¡°But in this case, it seems fine.¡± ¡°Why? What happened?¡± Kalana demanded, frowning. ¡°Why¡¯s his heart going up? What happened?¡± ¡°N-nothing,¡± Zach said. ¡°It¡¯s just a medical thing. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Kesten, his face is going red,¡± she said. ¡°Do something.¡± ¡°That¡¯s supposed to happen, Kal. It¡¯s part of the healing.¡± ¡°Nah-uh.¡± Mr. Oren sighed. He opened his mouth as though to speak, but before he could form a word, a man in pure plate armor barged in and began moving towards them all with quick, powerful strides. Zach vaguely recalled seeing him earlier. He was the man that had jumped out of the helicopter. ¡°Zachys Calador,¡± he said with wide smile on his face as he removed his helm. Zach winced in pain as the man pulled up to the side of the bed and gave him what he might¡¯ve intended to be a playful slap on the shoulder but was more like an attack from Ziragoth. ¡°Good fucking going, kiddo. Gods, you saved so many damn people. That was a hell of a show you put on.¡± ¡°Boss,¡± Mr. Oren said, backing away and bowing his head. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you¡¯re back unharmed. Did¡­did anyone die?¡± ¡°Two people, yeah,¡± he said sadly. ¡°Both from Boss Rush. But we managed to evacuate the West and East ends of the town. Then we hurried everyone back here.¡± Accompanying him were Alixa and Spider, and both of them looked weary and exhausted. ¡°Oh, hey again, Spider. That¡¯s the guy who beat me up,¡± Zach said deliriously, chuckling. Kalana¡¯s expression darkened, and she glared. ¡°Who is?¡± She lowered her hand slowly down to her side as though to draw one or both of her daggers. ¡°Point him out to me.¡± ¡°N-nobody,¡± Zach said with a smile. ¡°I was just confused.¡± She regarded him skeptically for a moment, but then soon after, her face visibly relaxed, and she rested her head in his chest. She felt nice. Zach was too weak to grab her back or he would pull her closer. ¡°So, what are we dealing with?¡± Mr. Oren asked, causing Kal to let go of him, stand upright, and face the others. Donovan grunted. ¡°It¡¯s bad, Alex. Really, really bad. We¡¯re gonna need a raid of at least a hundred-fifty. Probably more. Son of a bitch is powerful. It almost killed me.¡± ¡°Is it¡­a roamer?¡± Mr. Oren asked fearfully. ¡°No clue, but my gut instinct tells me it is. We won¡¯t know until we observe it for a few hours. News media has been told not to get any closer than fifteen miles. One of their helicopters already got blown out of the sky.¡± He laughed. ¡°Fuckers deserved it if you ask me.¡± Mr. Oren frowned. ¡°That¡¯s not funny, boss.¡± He shrugged. ¡°To each their own. Anyway, we¡¯ll talk about all of this at the war council. For now, all I¡¯ve got is my hunch.¡± ¡°And that is?¡± He lowered his voice, his tone becoming abruptly serious. ¡°I think it¡¯s gonna roam, and I think it¡¯s gonna move on Shadowfall Coast. Seventy-two hours at the latest.¡± Mr. Oren hissed in vexation. ¡°That only gives us less than three days to prepare.¡± ¡°It is what it is. But we¡¯ll talk about it later. For now, I wanna shake hands¡ªor hand, I mean¡ªwith Mr. Hero over here.¡± Nervously, Zach tried¡ªand actually succeeded¡ªin raising his hand. With a surprising gentleness, Donovan took it in his plated grip and shook it. ¡°You did a very, very good thing, Zachys.¡± ¡°Call me Zach.¡± ¡°You did a very good thing, Zach.¡± He winced. ¡°Will I really get my arm and eye back?¡± ¡°You better believe it, kiddo. So, how¡¯s it feel to be famous?¡± ¡°Huh? Famous?¡± For some reason, Kalana chuckled, and so did Donovan. Then, oddly enough, the literal son of Peter IV also let out a bout of laughter. ¡°Why¡¯s everyone laughing at me? What gives?¡± ¡°Yeah, what give?¡± Fluffles asked, jumping up on top of him and walking across his chest before jumping onto a green padded couch across from his bed. ¡°Why laugh at Zach?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know, do you?¡± Kalana asked. She looked way too amused. ¡°Of course ya don¡¯t. How could you?¡± ¡°Know what?¡± Zach asked, becoming nervous. Just then, four men in blue surgical gowns wearing facemasks entered into the room, though all four stood by the door as though intentionally giving Zach time to communicate with his friends, associates, and new acquaintances before doing to him whatever in the name of the Gods they planned to do. This, Zach gleaned as Kesten addressed them and said that Zach should be fine for a few more minutes. ¡°Someone tell me what¡¯s going on,¡± he demanded. Rather than reply, Kalana marched across the room, grabbed what appeared to be a black remote off a nightstand, and then returned to the bed, whereupon she pressed a button, and a gigantic, eighty-inch TV mounted on the wall above the door lit up. He squinted, unsure of what he was seeing. There appeared to be dozens upon dozens of reporters all converging on a hospital while peacekeepers held back a massive and growing crowd of people. They were reporting from a beautiful city with buildings that lit up red and a few that had actual streams of flame shooting up from the ground. It had to be Tomb of Fire. Come to think of it, Zach had always wanted to visit that city. Wait a second¡­ Zach turned his head to the left and again peered out of the window where he¡¯d mistakenly believed Ziragoth was flying towards him. Only now, having become much more lucid, he was able to actually make sense of what he saw when he looked out on the world. Now, he realized he was actually in Tomb of Fire. Then he looked back at the screen before again looking out of his bedside window. ¡°Wait a second¡­¡± Kalana raised the remote and dialed up the volume. A reporter stood with her back to a hospital building as a rapidly growing crowd of people chanted a name that sounded eerily similar to his own. ¡°Thanks, Trillia. Yes, I¡¯m standing here outside Humanity¡¯s Great Mercy in Tomb of Fire where we have just received word that Zachys Calador is being prepped for surgery.¡± Zach swallowed as a nervous sensation bubbled up in his chest. ¡°Why did she just say my name on TV?¡± he croaked. He was so surprised by the sound of it that it pulled his attention off the sight of Ziragoth, who it appeared the news helicopters were continuing to follow and who was now being shown inside of a box on the bottom-right corner of the screen. ¡°Right you are again,¡± the reporter said, answering a question he¡¯d been unable to hear. ¡°The young man who¡¯s being hailed as the hero who saved over a thousand lives is said to be in critical but stable condition. As you can see, the Guild of Gentlemen have ordered an extra layer of security to hold back the growing crowds eager to catch a glimpse of him.¡± ¡°And is it true that he¡¯s only seventeen years old?¡± a female voice asked. ¡°That¡¯s the same age as my son.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, Trill. He¡¯s only seventeen.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m just glad to hear he¡¯s going to be all right. I think everyone here at the studio heard me scream when he lost his arm.¡± ¡°I think the whole world screamed with you, Trill.¡± His mouth falling open, Zach stared blankly as he struggled to comprehend the fact that they were talking about him on the TV. ¡°What the fuck is going on?¡± ¡°Language,¡± Mr. Oren said with a frown. Then, ruffling his hair, he added, ¡°You¡¯re about to become the most famous adventurer who¡¯s ever lived.¡± Zach groaned. ¡°Do I have to?¡± Chapter 52: Level-3 Apocalyptic Event Chapter 52: Level-3 Apocalyptic Event With a groan, Lorik Mazefel rolled over in his bed and pressed his pillow over his ears. His Gods-damned phone never stopped ringing, did it? He¡¯d told his guild he was taking a week off to de-stress and get some rest and relaxation, but did they listen? Of course not. Whatever it was, it would just have to wait. He hadn¡¯t come all the way down to his remote getaway in the southern tip of South Bastia just so he could continue to be pestered with work. Or ¡°adventure¡± as it had once been known to him. It was funny how quickly one could turn to the other, wasn¡¯t it? ¡°Maybe it¡¯s¡­important,¡± his wife moaned into her pillow where she lay beside him on the bed. As taboo as it was to sleep in the middle of the day, he was in great need of rest, and since his level-1 wife volunteered to work nights at an emergency clinic, she was perpetually tired and equally needing sleep. ¡°It¡¯s not important,¡± he said groggily. ¡°It never is.¡± Honestly, couldn¡¯t they go a week without him? With a yawn, he once again drifted off asleep, which wasn¡¯t exactly difficult because he hadn¡¯t fully awoken in the first place. For a good five or so minutes, he continued to lie in bed in his cozy bungalow out in the middle of the wilderness, where it was quiet, tranquil, calm, and¡ª Hold on a second. What ringtone was that? His eyes suddenly snapping open, it occurred to him that the sound coming from his phone was not the ringtone he used for his typical calls, nor was it the series of beeps he used in the event of a guild emergency. It was the other one. The one he¡¯d only heard once before. It was a series of rising and falling tones: a sound that was as uncomfortable to hear as it was ominous. Rolling back over in his bed, he nervously grabbed his phone off the wooden floor near the bed and answered it. Even as he placed it to his ear, he felt his heart begin to pound faster in his chest. ¡°Alex?¡± he asked, recognizing the ID of the caller. ¡°Level-3 Apocalyptic Event in progress. T7. We¡¯re going to need you, Lorik.¡± Upon those words, he leapt out of bed, sprinted across the bungalow, frantically changed into his gear, grabbed his swords, and dashed out of the front door¡ªall without even bothering to speak a word to his wife, who would be annoyed with him for a day or two, but who would just have to understand. Apparently, an aircraft was already waiting for him. He needed to get to Tomb of Fire immediately. **** Diala Erenir was already dressed in full raid gear and ready to go when the call came in through her phone. Sitting on her green sofa and watching the unfolding news coverage, she knew it would only be a matter of time before either Alex or another God-Slayer called her. If anything, she was surprised it took as long as it did. A level-63 healer with her talents was always going to be called in for something like this. She had begun preparing the moment she¡¯d seen the foul creature rampaging through that town. ¡°Hello, Alex,¡± she said, answering the phone. ¡°I know why you¡¯re calling. I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I like to hear. Airfield 22. A plane is ready for you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m leaving now.¡± With her katana sheathed and her travel bag slung over her shoulder, she headed towards the front door of her two-story home in the suburbs just outside of the city in Giant¡¯s Fall. **** With her beautiful, flowing, flower-embroidered wedding dress flapping as a gust picked up in what was otherwise a perfect summer day, Joan paused in her speech and took a deep breath as both excitement and jitters took hold of her. She looked across from her at the charming, confident man whose messy brown hair and crooked¡ªbut cute¡ªnose reminded her of how out of place he looked in such a fancy suit. To her right, over two-hundred guests, friends and family all, sat in metal foldout chairs lined up before the elevated stage as she exchanged her vows with the groom: with the man whom she planned to spend the rest of her life with. It was for this reason she felt both shocked and perhaps even a little disappointed in him for lowering his eyes as she was speaking to him while his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. This isn¡¯t really happening, she thought to herself. Mikael wouldn¡¯t do this. Not on our wedding day. Yet as his mouth fell slightly and his neck craned downwards, a sense of outrage came upon her such that she almost felt like throwing his ring right into his face. ¡°Are you¡­for real?¡± she said to him. ¡°You not only left your phone on, but you¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand!¡± he said back to her. ¡°It¡¯s not supposed to¡­it¡¯s completely off.¡± ¡°Clearly not.¡± ¡°No, I turned off everything, Jo. Everything except obviously the¡­¡± Now, he regarded her with alarm plain on his expression as he reached inside his pocket and removed his cellphone. The mere act of doing this while exchanging vows caused both her parents as well as his parents to begin exchanging appalled glances. How could Mikael do something like this? For him to show such unbelievable disrespect to her¡­this was beyond the pale. It was hurtful, it was shameful, it was outrageous, and it made her question whether or not everything she¡¯d ever come to learn and love about this man was nothing more than a¡ª ¡°Jo!¡± he cried, the horror in his voice making her immediately forget whatever had just been on her mind. ¡°W-what is it?¡± she asked nervously. ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± His voice turned grim. ¡°It¡¯s a T7 Fire Wyvern, babe. Level-3 Apocalyptic Event in progress right now.¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± she swore, causing both her poor mother and father to gasp in confusion. They, along with the rest of the guests seemed to share another, collective gasp as Joan gripped her expensive, beautiful white wedding dress and simply ripped it off her body in front of everyone while Mikael tore and destroyed his own suit so that now the both of them stood on stage in their underwear in front of all of their friends and family. ¡°Selenor!¡± she called to the fancily dressed, olive-skinned adventurer who was both Mikael¡¯s best man as well as a mutual guild-mate of them both. ¡°It¡¯s a Gods-damned¡ª¡± ¡°I heard, I heard!¡± he cried, tossing a duffle-bag over the heads of the crowd, who followed it with their eyes until she jumped nearly ten feet straight upwards and caught it midair. Following the sound of torn clothing, he too was now also in his underwear, furthering the confusion of the primarily level-1 crowd. Joan landed, and then as fast as humanly possible, she tore open the bag and began reaching inside. Now, she and her fianc¨¦ hurriedly changed into something a little less wedding appropriate and a little more intimidating. Her parents¡ªalong with the rest of their guests¡ªwatched open-mouthed as she removed her bow and quiver while her fianc¨¦ grabbed his brightly glowing spellblade. ¡°Honey, what¡¯s wrong?¡± her father called to her. ¡°What in the name of the Gods has gotten into you three?¡± ¡°A dragon, da. A big fucking dragon. Hun, let¡¯s go.¡± Mikael nodded, and with that, she did not waste another second apologizing or explaining. She merely sprinted with the love of her life down the aisle and towards an armored DEHV that had already pulled up as though waiting for Selenor and the two of them. What a horrible day for this to happen. ***** It was during times like these that Angelica wondered why she was given the ability to think and feel only to be so utterly limited in what she was permitted to do to help the adventurers she cherished and loved. Many¡ªif not most¡ªof them were people she had first met when they were kids. Even Mister and Miss Britethorn had stumbled in here together as fresh-faced fifteen year olds all those years ago. ¡°Everyone, calm down,¡± she said, waving her finger in a motherly way. ¡°I¡¯m giving you the news as it comes in.¡± She didn¡¯t blame these rowdy people for their collective shock, as no one in here had known what was going on right now in Galterra¡ªor at least they hadn¡¯t until she¡¯d let it slip. Since then, everyone had been badgering for updates every other second. ¡°What now?¡± someone called to her. ¡°Anything else happen? How can we help?¡± ¡°I¡¯m checking now,¡± Angelica said. Her ears twitched as she picked up more information that could otherwise not be obtained through conventional means while residing inside her inn and tavern. Only guests with the proper upgrades were able to connect to Galterran internet or television from their rooms. For everyone else, this was essentially a dead-zone. By her estimation, the nearest Wi-Fi hotspot was approximately two-hundred-quadrillion light-years away, and it certainly didn¡¯t connect to Galterra but to some other, more primitive civilization that had only discovered the concept of ¡°internet¡± two decades prior. Angelica looked upwards and closed her eyes a moment. Her heart¡ªor at least what she thought of as her heart, as she did not actually possess a physical one¡ªflooded with relief as she saw Zachys Calador awakening in the hospital. He had survived his surgery and had now been administered a light stone. His wounds were all healed, and either later today or tomorrow, he was going to receive regrowth treatment for his eye, arm, and hand. ¡°He¡¯s fine,¡± she announced, causing the more than three-hundred patrons to erupt in such a loud, cheerful roar that the vibration of their voices and stomping feet caused two mugs to slide off the ends of two different tables and shatter simultaneously on the wooden floor. She frowned. ¡°You two boys clean that up right now!¡± she said, glaring at each one of them. For good measure, she briefly flashed red at them, knowing how that always did the trick. No one ever seemed to disobey her if she switched her name to red for a second or two. ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± they both replied obediently, and she watched as the two of them ran together to grab a mop and broom from her storage closet across from the bar counter. Rubbing her chin, Angelica thought on how to proceed. ¡°How many of you wanna go help fight this thing?¡± she asked the crowd. As expected, the three-hundred-plus adventurers all raised their hands in unison. She smiled at them, then said, ¡°Okay, but how many of you are actually high enough level? I know you guys all wanna help, but this is clearly a level-60-or-higher gig. Anyone lower is just gonna get themselves killed.¡± Reluctantly, most of the crowd lowered their hands until about only fifty-or-so adventurers remained. ¡°Kay, great!¡± she chirped. ¡°Who here¡¯s got an exit point in Tomb of Fire?¡± Her question resulted in murmurs all throughout the gathered crowd as heads turned and fingers were pointed. After two minutes, Angelica realized that none of her boys or girls¡ªas she thought of them¡ªhad any such exit. This caused her to frown¡ªespecially as they looked pleadingly at her. ¡°Guys, you know I can¡¯t!¡± she moaned. ¡°I¡¯ll get into trouble.¡± ¡°Angelica, please,¡± they begged her. And she was tempted, too. Ohhh! She wanted to help so badly. But stupid Adamus would give her an earful again if she helped them ¡°cheat¡± by changing one of their exit points to Tomb of Fire. Having run this inn for thousands of years, she¡¯d learned that there were certain ways in which she could break the rules and have a blind eye turned. For example: she could get away with giving a free drink or a free room for the night to someone really in need, as she often did. And at this, Adamus wouldn¡¯t even bother to mention it. Even if she did so blatantly, he wouldn¡¯t care. She¡¯d learned she could also push her luck in other ways, too. But changing someone¡¯s exit in order to assist with an over-world Galterran boss spawn? That¡­might be pushing her luck too far. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Oh, how I hate, hate, hate him! If not for the fact that he could terminate her life with the press of a button, Angelica would¡¯ve already killed Adamus. She was far more powerful than he was, and for whatever reason, she¡¯d either naturally developed¡ªor had been instilled intentionally with¡ªa love and protective feeling towards her adventurers: her boys and girls. Even the ones she¡¯d had to kill, she cared for, oddly enough. So of course she wanted to help them. But she couldn¡¯t, could she? Stupid Adamus! If not for him and his dumb rules, she would¡¯ve jumped through a portal the moment Zachys came under attack and killed that little dragon with one backhanded slap to the face. She was more powerful than every Galterran boss except two: one of which wouldn¡¯t spawn for another two-thousand years, and the other¡­well, that was going to be a level-5 apocalyptic event to say the least. Hopefully, the planet would survive that awful thing in five years from now when it spawned. Honestly, Galterra really needed to get its act together or it would destroy all of civilization. She shuddered to think of what would happen to her boys and girls in that event. Hopefully, if things got too crazy, she could shelter them all here for a while at her inn and help them get started on another planet or something. ¡°Angelica, we need your help,¡± said Reni Sarwin, an adventurer who had seemed to take a liking to Zachys ever since the boy had shown up with car keys and a New Jersey exit, both of which he¡¯d made use of. ¡°I can¡¯t do it, I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said. Then, putting a sly expression on her face that she hoped each and every one of them could see, she said, ¡°I¡¯ve decided to make a really special meal for our boy. A feast. A party! He¡¯s gonna be hungry since they used the light stone on him. Anyone feel like paying for it with their points? It¡¯s gonna be a big, big meal. But¡­I wouldn¡¯t want to break the rules or nothin¡¯.¡± Of course, all raised their hands and volunteered. She chose to let the richest one of them¡ªpoints wise, anyway¡ªfork over his points, and then she continued, ¡°Now listen up, you guys. I¡¯m gonna portal into his room and deliver it to him myself. But I can¡¯t carry it all. So if you guys wanna help, you can come along, but none of you better refuse to come back through the portal with me, because that¡¯s cheating. You got that?¡± she asked, winking. There were chuckles from the crowd. ¡°We understand, Angelica.¡± ¡°I mean it.¡± She wiggled her finger. ¡°None of you better think to use my portal as a way to get to Tomb of Fire.¡± ¡°We won¡¯t.¡± **** ¡°I love you so much, Kal,¡± Zach said. They were his first words upon awakening, and they were the only words he wanted to say to her. As his eye opened, he¡¯d already found his hand in her own, and he smiled at her. There was no face he¡¯d rather see than hers. Helping him sit up in bed, he glanced around the hospital room, which was now a bit less spacious than it had been when he¡¯d gone under, as a section of the floor was practically covered with flowers, chocolates, and letters, which were all addressed to him. Even still, the room was so large that it was twice the size of his entire apartment back in the Whispery Woods. ¡°I love you too,¡± she said to him. Then her eyes lit up. ¡°You¡¯re super popular now, by the way.¡± ¡°I¡¯m what?¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯ve almost got as many followers as me.¡± Zach was surprised by how awake and alert he felt. The grogginess seemed to fade so quickly that, by the time she finished speaking, he was now widening his eye in disbelief. ¡°They found my social media profile?¡± She nodded. ¡°Yep. They also know we¡¯re¡­¡± She blushed. ¡°You know.¡± He laughed. ¡°I don¡¯t care. Let them know. You¡¯re everything to me. I just wished I had the balls to tell you sooner.¡± Her face reddened once more. ¡°Yeah, but they¡¯re all talking about us.¡± She looked over her shoulder and craned her head upwards towards the TV. Zach lifted his own head and saw what she was referring to. In a way that felt surreal and difficult to believe, both of their pictures were now displayed side by side while a panel comprised of seven different ¡°experts¡± seemingly gave their opinions on why it ¡°made sense¡± that ¡°Zachys Calador¡± and ¡°Kalana Vayra¡± were a couple, and that ¡°in light of recent events¡± it was ¡°no surprise that the boyfriend of the princess was the one who¡¯d bravely staved off the dragon.¡± The last bit actually irritated him. It was as though they were implying that his appearance and actions only made sense because of his connection to Kalana¡ªthat it would be unthinkable if some random, ordinary person showed up and decided to put everything on the line for the sake of innocent people. Why would that be so hard to believe? His connection to Kal had nothing to do with why he¡¯d chosen to risk everything. No sense getting worked up over it, he thought, blowing out his stress with a large exhale. ¡°If you want, I can turn it off,¡± Kalana said. Zach shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I want to hear what they¡¯re¡­wait a second.¡± He sat a bit more upright and grimaced. ¡°Did they just say I¡¯m a member of the fucking Royal Roses?¡± he asked with a growl. ¡°Who the fuck ever said that I was a¡ªholy shit what the hell is that?¡± he screamed. With an incredibly bizarre sound not unlike that of a cork being popped out of a wine bottle, a gigantic, dark, purple disc of spinning energy materialized in the corner of his room. It startled him so fiercely that he jumped up into a sitting position and then pressed his back flat against the wall behind the hospital bed as Kal, also flinching, drew both her daggers and raised them as though ready to strike. Though the outer edges of the disc continued to rotate, the purple energy in the middle vanished away, and in its wake there appeared to be a hole of some kind¡ªlike a tunnel, through which a very familiar scent reached his nose. Moments later, an attractive girl with cat ears hopped through the tunnel carrying a tray in one hand and a very tall glass of what looked like cherry cola in the other. ¡°Hiya, Zach!¡± she said cheerfully, setting the food down on a table not far from the bed right beside the soda. Then she came towards him so fast she was practically skipping. She pinched his cheek and said, ¡°Everyone¡¯s so glad you¡¯re okay.¡± ¡°Angelica?¡± he asked aloud, surprised by the sound of cheer in his own voice. ¡°Wow, is that really you?¡± ¡°Sure is, hon.¡± ¡°Whoah,¡± Kalana said. ¡°That¡¯s the Angelica you were talking about, Zach?¡± Kalana seemed excited of all things. ¡°Wow, she¡¯s super high level.¡± ¡°Who cares about her level? How is she even here?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be mean!¡± Kalana said. ¡°Introduce me.¡± In total shock, Zach decided to just go along with it, because what the hell, really? ¡°Angelica, this is Kalana. She¡¯s my uhm¡­you know, my special someone.¡± ¡°Hi, Kalana. Pleasure to meet you!¡± For a brief moment, an intense, serious look replaced Angelica¡¯s smile. ¡°Hmm, I wish you wouldn¡¯t have gotten rid of the buff,¡± she said. ¡°Hey, I can give it back to you if ya want. Your heart is still right for it.¡± ¡°You can?¡± Kalana asked her. ¡°Mhm.¡± ¡°Wait, you can?¡± Zach repeated. Then he looked at Kalana. ¡°You¡¯ve got to take it, Kal!¡± To his disappointment, she shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s not right for me.¡± ¡°Yeah, but, Kal, this is your chance to¡ª¡± She lifted her finger and again shook her head. ¡°Don¡¯t forget what we promised.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You made me promise I wouldn¡¯t force my ways onto you, remember?¡± ¡°Well, yeah, but¡­¡± ¡°But nothin¡¯. You can¡¯t force yours onto me, either. Fair is fair.¡± He sighed. ¡°I guess that¡¯s true.¡± To Angelica, he smiled and said, ¡°How come you¡¯re here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s ¡®cause I wanted to come see you,¡± she answered, scurrying back across the hospital floor as though to prepare whatever meal she¡¯d brought here. She did not come alone, either. Men and women of varying ages¡ªall with incredibly fancy equipment¡ªfollowed on her heels, many holding plates and other utensils, as well as gigantic trays of wonderful-smelling food, pitchers of ale, and more cola to go with it. At the same time, Fluffles, who Zach only just now noticed was here in the room with them and napping on the green chair near the bed, popped his eyes open and jumped up to his feet. Then, as though completely, totally unconcerned with the fact that an entire crowd of people were walking through a literal fucking portal, he shouted, ¡°Zach share with Fluffles! Fluffles protect Zach and save from dragon. Now he get to have Angelica¡¯s chicken too! More than Zach get.¡± What¡¯s going on? My life is turning into a mad-house. As though in response to the commotion, the door to his hospital room banged open, and Mr. Oren, along with Kesten and Donovan, came rushing inside. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Mr. Oren asked. ¡°Did someone shout?¡± All three darted their heads around. Then Donovan, opening his arms wide, made his way over to one of the adventurers and said, ¡°Hey, Reni, you son of a bitch? How the hell are ya?¡± ¡°I¡¯m good, Don. I¡¯m here to help. We all are.¡± ¡°Damn good to hear, son. We¡¯re gonna need ya. We¡¯re gonna need all of ya. This is gonna be a real ugly one this time. War Council starts in four hours. You¡¯re right on time.¡± Zach watched as, one after the next, people began to flood the hospital room, and all of them came to personally thank him or congratulate him on surviving. Zach did not recognize any of these people¡ªany except for one. Towards the middle of the line, he spotted Fluffles¡¯ gigantic ¡°father¡± striding through the purple portal. ¡°Thank the Gods,¡± Mr. Oren said, briefly embracing him. ¡°We were looking everywhere for you, Maric.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I was at Angelica¡¯s. I never thought¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not your fault.¡± He sighed. ¡°We can¡¯t do this without you, though. You¡¯re the best tank we have. I¡¯m just so glad you were able to make it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to Angelica.¡± Maric nodded. Then he turned his head and made his way first to Zach, whereupon he uttered a few words of encouragement, and then to Fluffles, who he greeted with a loving smile on his face. Fluffles response was to confusingly hiss at him. ¡°Daddy not take away Fluffles¡¯ chicken. He earn it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to,¡± he said, his deep voice coming across as eerily soft, as it typically did when talking to the cat. ¡°I just wanted to say how proud I am of you. I heard how brave you were.¡± ¡°Fluffles the bravest cat. I save Zach.¡± ¡°Yes, yes you did,¡± he said, bending down and petting him. One after the next, more people came through the portal, and a sort of ¡°ritual¡± seemed to emerge¡ªa consistent pattern of sorts. Each time someone came through the portal, they would approach Zach, make eye contact, shake his hand, exchange a few words, and then immediately turn around and seemingly forget that he was there at all, putting all of their attention instead onto Donovan. Not that Zach minded, of course. He just found this entire situation to be both strange and amusing in a weird sort of way. Everyone¡¯s acting like it¡¯s just a perfectly normal thing for a portal to open up in the middle of my hospital room and for people to just come waltzing through it. Well, maybe it was normal. There was still a lot of things Zach didn¡¯t know or understand about the world of adventuring. Even still, this was one hell of an unexpected ¡°event.¡± It only seemed to get stranger, too. Shortly after waving goodbye, Angelica disappeared and the portal closed, and then, one by one, the adventurers began to grab the plates they¡¯d brought through with them and began to serve themselves food and drink. Eventually, Donovan approached Zach and asked, ¡°What¡¯ll you have, kiddo?¡± Deciding to just go with the flow, Zach cast aside all his confusion and disbelief and said, ¡°Can you get me some of the chicken and steak, please?¡± Donovan made a powerful guffaw. ¡°Sure can, Zach. And you, Fluff?¡± ¡°Fluffles want chicken!¡± the cat replied. ¡°All the chicken. I get to have all of it. Zach say. Zach say Fluffles get all the chicken.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t have it all,¡± Maric said. He¡¯d been in deep conversation with another adventurer at the time and had cut off whatever he¡¯d been about to say to answer the cat. ¡°I¡¯ll give him some, boss. Don¡¯t worry. Just make sure you get Zach a portion before these greedy adventurers take it all. Gods, it¡¯s supposed to be a party in his honor. We even brought a cake.¡± For some reason, this made Kalana clap her hands together. ¡°Did you hear that, Zach? This is a party they¡¯re throwing for you. How cool is that?¡± Zach turned over his left palm. ¡°I am still trying to process the fact that this is even happening.¡± Then he smiled. ¡°I told you how much I loved Angelica¡¯s, right? This is¡­this is kind of a slice of it, I guess.¡± ¡°It smells amazing in here all of a sudden.¡± ¡°Yep. It¡¯s always like that. It¡¯s why I was hoping to bring you there some day.¡± ¡°I can go without the buff, you know. I really can.¡± ¡°I know, but¡­¡± She gave him a playful nudge on his shoulder then waded her way through the unexpected crowd and grabbed a plate just as Donovan gently set one down on a dining tray attached to his bed while carefully handing him some cherry cola. Maric also returned and put down a bowl for Fluffles. The cat launched himself at the food and attacked it like it was Ziragoth. ¡°Where¡¯s Rian and Lienne?¡± he asked, suddenly feeling guilty to be throwing a party without them¡ªnot that he¡¯d had any say in this or even the slightest bit of foreknowledge that it was even going to happen at all. Maric shrugged. ¡°I have no idea.¡± ¡°Mr. Oren!¡± Zach called. He actually had to call the man¡¯s name several times to get his attention, as he was engaged in some kind of tactical discussion with three other adventurers about which type of weapon would be best to pierce the dragon¡¯s scales. ¡°Yeah, my man?¡± ¡°Where¡¯s Rian and Lienne?¡± ¡°Oh, they¡¯re right there,¡± he said, pointing at something above him. ¡°Huh?¡± Zach looked in the direction indicated, then dropped his mouth as the two siblings were standing side by side on the TV as a reporter interviewed them. ¡°What in the name of the Gods¡­?¡± ¡°Yeah, I stared it down,¡± Rian said. ¡°But at the end of the day, I knew that my sister and Zach had my back. I¡¯m kind of the leader of our group. By the way, you can like and follow my page at¡­¡± ¡°They¡¯ve been doing interviews all day,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°They seem to be loving this. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be too offended you didn¡¯t invite them.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t even know this was going to happen!¡± Mr. Oren laughed. ¡°It¡¯s like that sometimes.¡± Amid the sea of people, Zach did not see Kalana returning to his side, and so he flinched as he felt someone grab his hand. When he turned, he relaxed and smiled as he saw her standing beside his bed with a small plate in her opposite hand. Soon after, she let go of him and began to eat. Her eyes lit with delight. ¡°Wow,¡± she said. ¡°Right? I told you. Angelica¡¯s is just¡­it¡¯s the best thing ever.¡± ¡°You weren¡¯t kidding.¡± Although this was far from what he¡¯d expected to see upon waking up, and although his hospital room had erupted into a noisy, loud, and occasionally heated environment as people drank and spoke to one another, Zach honestly found that he didn¡¯t mind it. More so, he actually enjoyed their company. It reminded him that he wasn¡¯t alone in the world. Even with his dad gone, he had Kal, and Rian, and Lienne, and Fluffles, and in a weird sort of way¡­he kind of had all of these people as well. That was what made it so hard to imagine them rushing off to fight that Gods-forsaken creature. He didn¡¯t want a single one of them to die. Especially not Kal. I can¡¯t let her go. That was an argument to be had later, of course. For now, he merely ate great food and drank his cherry cola. Although he only knew one NPC that wasn¡¯t also a dungeon boss, he was sure that he¡¯d never have a favorite greater than Angelica. Someday, he¡¯d have to make it all up to her. It was no wonder everyone liked her so much. Doing his best to enjoy the party thrown just for him, he raised his glass of cola as Donovan called for a toast in his honor. It made him feel kind of embarrassed and singled out, but it sure beat dragon¡¯s fire and bounty hunters. Actually, speaking of bounty hunters, he wondered: what ever happened to Anelia? Strangely, he wanted to see her again. Having had to go through this ordeal, he couldn¡¯t help but feel some kind of twisted kinship with her. He hoped she was okay. Either way, it was yet another problem to worry about later. For now, he merely tried to enjoy the moment. Chapter 53: Dressing Down Chapter 53: Dressing Down An hour and a half before the ¡°War Council¡± was set to commence, people began gradually leaving the hospital room in greater and greater numbers. Once again, Zach shook hands and exchanged a few brief words with many of these adventurers as they bid him well and headed out the door. Before long, only a few of them remained, and this handful might¡¯ve stayed a bit longer, too, but Kalana seemed intent on getting rid of them. In a nice but also firm sort of way, she let it be known she wanted to spend some alone time with Zach, and honestly, the feeling was mutual. ¡°We¡¯ll wait for you near the elevator,¡± Mr. Oren said to Kalana. He and Donovan were the last two to leave¡ªalong with Fluffles, who had wanted to stay but had been lured away with some kind of treat. Now, with the two of them alone in the hospital room, Kalana smiled at him, shut and locked the door, and then said, ¡°I¡¯ve got about an hour before I have to go.¡± And so it begins, Zach thought, propping himself up on a pillow. He knew he needed to be strong here. Kalana could be just as stubborn as he himself was capable of being, and thus, he needed to make sure he got his point across without dancing around the subject. ¡°I don¡¯t think you should go,¡± he stated bluntly, to which she twisted her lips sourly. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that, Kal. If the situation was reversed, you¡¯d¡ª¡± ¡°The situation was reversed,¡± she said, folding her arms across her chest. ¡°Huh? How so?¡± Rather than reply, she unfolded her arms and then crooked her thumb over her shoulder and pointed at the large, mounted TV, which for the millionth time, showed a repeat of the worst minute and forty-two seconds of Zach¡¯s life. With a sigh, Zach closed his eye a moment, took a deep breath, and then reopened them. ¡°Kal, that was different.¡± ¡°Nah-uh,¡± she said. ¡°It was, though.¡± He pointed to himself. ¡°I didn¡¯t know any of that was going to happen, and I was the only one around who could do anything about it.¡± ¡°They need me,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m one of the only people around capable of killing that wyvern, and I also didn¡¯t know any of this was gonna happen.¡± ¡°But I¡­I don¡¯t want you to. Kal, let the God-Slayers handle this now. I¡¯ve already given an arm and an eye. I don¡¯t want to give you as well.¡± ¡°We only have an hour together. I don¡¯t wanna spend it arguing. I won¡¯t die. I promise you! And when I get back, we¡¯ll go somewhere really special, just the two of us. For now, though¡­¡± She came over to the where he lay in the hospital bed, and she reached for something off behind him. A moment later, the room darkened somewhat, as she pulled down the curtains and drowned out most of the intense evening sun. Then she spun to her left, walked beyond the green chair to the side of his bed, stepped carefully over bundles of flowers and greetings cards, and then flipped a switch, darkening the room. ¡°What are you doing?¡± he asked her, confused. ¡°You need to take a shower,¡± she said to him. She grabbed the remote near the side of his bed and turned that off, too, submerging the room in near total darkness, which made him even more confused. What was she trying to do? He only had one eye to begin with, and now she was making it far more difficult for him to see. A moment later, Zach nearly fell off the bed as she grabbed his sleeve and pulled on his hospital gown. For the first time since coming here, he found himself back on his feet and on solid flooring. Then, he yelped as he recalled the fact that there was no back to his gown and he was no longer under the covers. At some point since his operation, they had undressed him and put him in a hospital gown, which revealed everything from the rear. For this reason, when she spun him around, he called out, ¡°W-wait! I¡¯m naked from the¡ª¡± ¡°Yah, I know,¡± Kalana said. Her tone of voice was different in a way that both thrilled and terrified him. Swallowing nervously, he said, ¡°Well, if you get to see me like that, it¡¯s not fair that I don¡¯t get to¡ª¡± And then she did the unthinkable. Pushing him towards the private shower unit in this top-floor hospital room that was more like a hotel suite, she pressed herself against him, and before Zach knew what was happening, he found his lips against hers. Instinctively, he grabbed her back, and for the first time, he saw all of her. ¡°I¡¯ll help you scrub,¡± she said. Zach could only nod. Even as his heart raced with excitement and uncertainty, he could not possibly have known that the next hour of his life was going to be so perfect it would almost justify every shitty thing that had ever happened to bring him here. Thankfully, while he¡¯d only lasted one-minute and forty-two seconds against the dragon¡­ If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. **** Alex watched as Donovan stopped the two kids from passing. ¡°Not right now,¡± he said. ¡°Huh? But Zach texted us and told us to come see him,¡± Rian said to him. He and his sister had only just walked out of the elevator. The entire floor had become vacant, including even the small receptions area in what was very much a VIP area in the finest hospital in the city. Donovan sucked on his tooth as though a piece of food had become stuck. Then he merely shook his head. Aside from his helm, he was still covered in his midnight-black plate armor. ¡°You can see him in an hour.¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t we see him right now?¡± Lienne asked. ¡°He¡¯s busy.¡± ¡°Busy?¡± ¡°Kid¡­¡± In truth, Alex grew uncomfortable and awkward as the boy seemed to put two and two together while his sister stared obliviously at Donovan as though lacking any idea of what was clearly being implied. Either way, Kalana was far too important to their mission, and the War Council would not start without her. For the sake of her and Zach, they¡¯d promised her a full hour of time alone with him while they stood here and waited for her. Even from all the way down across the hall, there was an unmistakable, constant thud as though someone were stomping on the floor or being slammed into the wall. This had to be the fourth time in thirty minutes. Alex shook his head. At least they couldn¡¯t hear any voices or other sounds. ¡°Li, let¡¯s go down and check on those kids from earlier.¡± ¡°Are you sure? I don¡¯t mind waiting here and¡ª¡± ¡°Li!¡± ¡°Sheesh, fine, all right.¡± As the two disappeared back inside the elevator, Alex couldn¡¯t help but notice the identical ring they each wore on their finger. It seemed they had both now officially joined the Explorers Brigade. Publicly, of course, they were now known as being members of the Royal Roses, but was of very little importance, as what the public believed and what stood as the truth were two entirely separate matters. With a sigh, Alex turned his attention back to Donovan, who was now fixing him with a hard, ruthless glare. This came across as somewhat confusing to Alex. He did not like or appreciate the sudden harsh look, nor did understand why the scowl appeared to be directed at him, personally. ¡°What is it?¡± he asked his guild-leader. ¡°You know what,¡± Donovan replied. Alex frowned. ¡°No, boss, I don¡¯t,¡± he said, speaking the truth. At this, Donovan grunted. ¡°Cut the shit, kid. You know what this is about. I thought I¡¯d have a word with you now in private rather than berate you in public, but you had to know this was coming.¡± Stiffening his back, Alex met Donovan¡¯s harsh look with one of his own and asked, ¡°Is this about Varsh?¡± Donovan jerked his head back as though someone had flicked him in the chin. ¡°Huh? What?¡± He barked out a laugh devoid of any humor. ¡°No, of course not. I¡¯m glad what you and the boy did to that prick. Stop playing dumb. You know what this is about. This isn¡¯t the first time I¡¯ve had to bring this up, too.¡± He raised his gauntlet-covered hand and pointed his finger at Alex. ¡°You¡¯re on thin ice as it is.¡± Thin ice? Alex thought. He tried to conjure up some idea in his mind of what his large, imposing guild-leader could possibly be so upset about. The answer came to him less than a moment later. It was obvious, really. It looked like someone, either from within his guild or another, had ¡°snitched¡± on him yet again. ¡°This is about aggro, isn¡¯t it?¡± he asked. ¡°You¡¯re Gods-damned right it is,¡± Donovan growled. ¡°I heard about the shit you pulled with the serpent on Earth. See, this is exactly why you weren¡¯t invited to come along last year when we took on that T7. And this is the kinda shit that makes me wonder if you¡¯re really ready to be an officer.¡± Maintaining his cool, Alex said, ¡°Boss, I can explain. The truth is¡ª¡± ¡°I thought I told you to cut the shit!¡± Donovan snapped. ¡°You might be brainier than me and have all your fancy fucking degrees, but kid, I see through you like no one else. You know damn well what you¡¯re doing. Sure, you like to play Mr. Mature around everyone else, but those antics of yours are gonna get people killed. Especially against a Gods-damned T7.¡± Alex opened his mouth to reply, but he closed it as Donovan continued to berate him. ¡°I know why you do it, Alex,¡± he said. ¡°I can understand it, too. It makes you feel good to hit something so Gods-damned hard it pulls aggro off the tank. But it will get people killed.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying I shouldn¡¯t hit my hardest.¡± Donovan took a menacing step towards him, and Alex, despite himself, took a fearful step back. Even he was not immune to the intimidating presence of someone like Donovan Iseldar when the man became angered. ¡°You know what you¡¯re doing,¡± he growled. ¡°You go out of your way to intentionally pull aggro off the tank. You try that shit with this wyvern? I¡¯m telling the healers to let you die. You¡¯ve never fought something like this before. Do you know what an aggro spiral is?¡± ¡°No,¡± Alex replied truthfully. ¡°An aggro spiral is when bruiser like yourself grabs aggro off the tank and begins to take damage so fast the healers have to double their healing to keep you alive. The hell you think happens next?¡± Reluctantly, Alex whispered, ¡°The dragon turns around and attacks the healers.¡± ¡°Damn right,¡± Donovan said. ¡°Now the tanks have to go wild trying to restore aggro, and all while their healers are being cut down left and right. So what I¡¯m saying is simple: no showboating. Not on this raid, or any other. If I ever hear about you doing that shit on purpose ever again¡ªand I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s a T7 or a T1¡ªyou¡¯re done. You¡¯re out. I¡¯m not putting up with this anymore. Do you understand me?¡± Alex nodded. ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Good. Now tell me more about this kid you found.¡± As Alex began to once again recount everything he knew about Zachys, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit of resentment for his bruised ego. He was usually the one to deliver a dressing down and rarely the one to receive it. It did kind of sting. Worse, there was an element of truth to what Donovan had said. He did enjoy ripping aggro off the tanks. It was almost like a habit. He enjoyed showing off the fact that he could hit so hard no tank in existence could keep aggro once he started wailing on a boss. Yet he was no slouch when it came to tanking, either. He¡¯d always assumed if he bit off more than he could chew he could simply deal with it. Either way, he¡¯d clearly gotten an earful over it, and he decided not to risk Donovan¡¯s wrath any further. And so, glad to have a change of subject, he spoke about Zach, instead. Of course, given what they¡¯d seen from him most recently, there were far more questions now than there were answers. How had he survived against that T7? What kind of ability had he acquired? It was like nothing he¡¯d ever before seen. Maybe later he¡¯d try asking. For now, he was content to wait in silence with Donovan. Chapter 54: Determined Roamer Chapter 54: Determined Roamer As Aerick Ondoranth navigated his way down a slight hillock on a wide dirt path cut between a mile-long cornfield in Whispery Woods¡¯ hot, humid farmlands, he clenched his gloved hands nervously on his horse¡¯s reins and gathered his courage. He knew this probably wasn¡¯t one-hundred-percent necessary, but given the incredible importance of what he was here to do, he had to be certain¡ªhe needed to make sure he was correct. Briefly muttering a prayer to the Gods, he decided to risk death yet again. ¡°Here we go, boys. Be ready.¡± He knew he needed to hurry; the sun was about to set, and everything would become more difficult if he tried to make do in the dark. Glancing upwards at the last few rays of sunshine illuminating the farmlands from the sinking, orange ball in the sky, he lifted his Comm to his lips and instructed the news helicopters to begin pulling back and giving him some room. As soon as they were clear, he held his breath, slowly released it, and then once more warned his men to prepare themselves. It was time to do it all over again. And so, for the second, horrifying time in just the past 15 minutes, Aerick set aside his fear and intentionally put himself a few inches beyond the outer perimeter of the dreadful wyvern¡¯s aggro radius, which had now been firmly established as being an exact, 14.92 miles¡¯ distance in every direction around the beast. Prior to coming within range, Ziragoth had been ambling slowly on foot towards a heading of south-southeast; but now, following an ominous pause, the dragon stopped in its tracks, turned in Aerick¡¯s direction, and roared loudly enough to cause the ground to shake and spook the horses. Aw, hell, Aerick thought. Here we go again. Facing away from his eight guild-mates that had accompanied him on this scouting mission, all of whom were riding behind him, Aerick raised his hand, pointed his index finger upwards, and then twirled it around in a circle while tugging on the reins of his strawberry roan mare with his opposite hand, causing the horse to neigh in protest as it spun forcefully in the opposite direction¡ªand almost fast enough to throw him off and leave him for dead. At the exact same moment in time, his guild-mates also brought their animals into an about-face. ¡°All right, let¡¯s go!¡± With a few urgent, but gentle taps of his heel, Aerick sent his steed directly into a gallop headed back across the cornfield and up the small incline. Even without looking over his shoulder, he could tell from the chorus of thumping hooves against dirt that his guildies were following along on their mounts behind him. ¡°Don¡¯t look back!¡± he shouted to them. ¡°Trust me. Just keep your eyes ahead. These mares¡¯ll outrun the bastard.¡± If aggroed at maximum range, it had been discovered that a mere two miles was all that was subsequently required to de-aggro the fearsome wyvern provided it did not cross more than half the distance between its target and its location of origin by that point; otherwise, an additional ten miles would be required. It was only thanks to the five dead members of Scouting Team A that this vital information had been discovered. Their sacrifice, though tragic, would not only be useful for the current, upcoming raid, but it would also be logged so that, in a hundred, thousand, or however-many years it would be before this thing eventually respawned, the next group of adventurers forced to tangle with this horrific dragon wouldn¡¯t have to go into things quite as blind as they had. As blades of grass, stalks of corn, and rock-covered dirt rushed past his vision, Aerick attempted to vocally calm his horse, who made a fearful cry as the dragon¡¯s wings flapped audibly in the sky as it gunned straight for them. On the last go around a few minutes earlier, they¡¯d cut it really, really close: it looked like they¡¯d be cutting it even closer this time. Though only an estimate, Ziragoth clearly flew at well over a hundred miles per hour, and their horses could only manage to gallop at around forty. Even still, Aerick was sure they¡¯d make it out of aggro¡ªeven if only by the skin of their teeth. At the sight of a series of obstacles up head, he held on more tightly as his mare hopped three short wooden fences then a fourth that was several-feet high; from there it continued onwards and blasted its way through a bunch of knee-high stalks of grass. Then he had to practically lie forward and bury his head into his horse¡¯s back to avoid being knocked clean off his mount by one of the few decorative trees in a row of them planted at the edge of the cornfield. ¡°Watch for the trees!¡± he called behind him, the mass of galloping horses pounding down on the terrain. As his mare ran for dear life, he tried his best to keep her encouraged and calm. ¡°Good girl,¡± he said to her. ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s a real good girl. Just a little farther now, okay? Keep it going, girl. Keep it up. We¡¯re almost safe.¡± The dragon was getting closer¡ªfast. He could hear the sound of its wings becoming louder and louder. ¡°A little faster. Come on. You¡¯ve got this. Get us out of here, Delia.¡± He despised using force against his mount. Delia was his own personal mare, and he hadn¡¯t raised her for the purpose of fleeing dragons, but because he genuinely loved the companionship of horses. Therefore, it was with a heavy heart that he delivered a somewhat less-gentle kick into her side to encourage her to move just a little bit faster. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, girl. But if you want to live, you¡¯ve got to move!¡± His guild-mates were doing the same. Though, in truth, their kicks were likely not even necessary, as the dragon¡¯s roar, now closer and far louder than they¡¯d heard it yet, seemed to put the fear of the Gods into the horses, and it allowed them to eke out just a little bit more speed. Through some miracle, all nine of them managed to stay together and in formation. Though Aerick was not positive to what extent, he knew he¡¯d cut things far closer than he¡¯d hoped. Thankfully, however, two pulse-pounding, nightmare-inducing minutes later, he and his guildies looked to be in the clear. Once he was certain he¡¯d again reached the de-aggro vector, he slowed his strawberry roan down from a gallop and into a canter; checking over his shoulder just to be certain the dragon had turned around, he soon after settled her down into a slow, calm walk before letting her take a rest and come to a stop. With a shaky, but nevertheless relieved sigh, he dismounted, removed the cowboy hat practically sticking to the top of his head, and then he ran a hand through his medium-length brown hair, which was damp with perspiration. Gods above¡­that was sure something. ¡°Now what, Aerick?¡± Tones asked him, his horse pulling up beside Delia, who was breathing loudly and heavily. Girl needed a rest to be sure. Especially after that. ¡°What do you mean, Tones?¡± ¡°I mean¡­are we going in for round three?¡± Tones was a much older man who, despite being in his late eighties, was still choosing to live the adventurer lifestyle. Nearly a decade older than even the Britethorns, it did make Aerick somewhat uncomfortable that he was still running around like a man in his thirties. Yet he was capable and reliable, which was why Aerick had brought him along even amid the protestations of some of the other, younger members of Lost and Found, who for some Gods-knew-what reason wanted to come along so badly they almost seemed to crave it. Aerick reckoned that anyone dumb enough to want to be here would end up being more of a liability than an asset. ¡°Round three?¡± Aerick said back to him with a laugh. ¡°Haven¡¯t you had enough yet, Tones?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve had enough all right, but I¡¯ll do whatever I¡¯ve got to do if it needs doing. Can¡¯t let that boy put us all to shame, can we?¡± ¡°Boy? What boy?¡± Tones looked at him as though he were stupid. ¡°What boy do you think? The one who went toe-to-toe with that Gods-cursed thing.¡± He pointed at Ziragoth, who landed with such force it created a minor tremor beneath their feet even from nearly seventeen miles away. ¡°Oh, right. You mean that Zachys kid, yeah? Zachys Calador.¡± ¡°Yup. That¡¯s the one. Feeling okay over there, Aer?¡± He laughed. ¡°My head¡¯s a bit foggy after all that. I tend to think a lot better and clearer when I¡¯m not overflowing with adrenaline.¡± Aerick rubbed and massaged his temple in an attempt to de-stress. ¡°Lucky as we are to be alive, I can¡¯t believe that kid pulled through. Goes to show ya, miracles are real after all.¡± Tones shrugged. ¡°Miracle or luck, I¡¯m hoping that was the last time we have to do that. You still haven¡¯t said if we¡¯re going to have to piss it off a third time, Aer.¡± Having just dismounted his chestnut mare, Tones now stood beside him, and Aerick gave him a firm pat on the shoulder and shook his head. ¡°Nah, I think we got what we came for. I¡¯ve seen enough now to make a determination.¡± ¡°You sure?¡± He nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure. Hell, I was pretty sure the first time we aggroed the damn thing, but now? Now, I¡¯m as sure as can be.¡± As the fifth-ranking member and highest-ranking non-lieutenant officer of his adventuring guild, Lost and Found, Aerick had volunteered to lead this particular phase of the scouting mission. It also helped that he was good with horses as the onboard AI in DEHVs would absolutely refuse to allow the vehicles to be driven off road even in the event of an emergency. Given that a DEHV wouldn¡¯t start without its computer, and given that the computer was built from proprietary technology, it was not something a simple layperson would know how to overwrite. Since there wasn¡¯t enough time to get the manufacturers down here to rewire or reconfigure the DEHVs to their specifications, Aerick had needed to go a bit ¡°old school¡± as they say¡ªwhich meant either traveling via horse and saddle or otherwise running. Though Aerick might have had twenty-eight points into speed, it was a stat most adventurers did not seem to accumulate much of¡ªnot to mention how physically exhausting it would be to have to run at that kind of speed for miles on end. Ultimately, horses really had been the only viable option. Of course¡­even if they could have gained full control over a DEHV¡¯s semi-autonomous steering AI, he¡¯d still likely have opted to go the horseback route, as the dual hover engines would not perform well at all in this kind of terrain. Getting stuck in the ground, even for just a moment, could spell out death. ¡°If we¡¯re not going in for a third aggro, then what¡¯s our plan now?¡± Tones asked. Grabbing a bottle of water from a pouch beside his horse, Aerick downed all of it in a few quick gulps then said, ¡°I guess we¡¯re calling it in. I just hope they don¡¯t shoot the messenger.¡± The goal of their team had been singular in scope yet of incredible, vast importance. He and his men had been tasked with finding the answer to just one very simple question¡ªone that required an answer before the War Council could proceed. Now, Aerick was positive that he¡¯d gotten it. He was also positive that it wouldn¡¯t be long before the general public was informed as well. Right now, there was a palpable state of fear in North Bastia as everyone awaited the results of the so-called ¡®People of Virtue¡¯ expedition. Gotta¡¯ take credit for everything, don¡¯t they? Typically, the first phase of any boss-scouting operation was to determine whether or not the target was a roamer. In the case of Ziragoth, they were in sort of a ¡°unique¡± situation in that the question had already been answered¡ªand not by a scouting team, either, but by the news media of all places. In fact, before even a single scouting party had been dispatched, it had already been determined that the boss was a roamer. Not exactly a shocking revelation, either. After all, the only thing needed to make such a determination was to take a cursory glance at the live footage coming from the media¡¯s helicopters. A single glance at that was enough to know straight away that the dragon was, in fact, roaming away from its spawn point in the Den of Ziragoth. Thankfully, despite being a flying-type, it chose to travel on foot as opposed to airborne. So, where did that leave them? Well, they knew they were dealing with a flying roamer that preferred to walk: also known as a ¡°slow roamer.¡± And with that key piece of information in hand, the question had then turned from whether or not the boss was a roamer into what kind of roamer. This was where Scouting Team A had come in, as they¡¯d originally been dispatched to find out. They¡¯d been assigned two critical tasks: first, to determine the boss¡¯s aggro and de-aggro radius, and secondly, to deduce the type of roamer they were dealing with. Sadly, they¡¯d been wiped out after merely discovering the first. Thus, Aerick and his boys had been called in to complete the scouting mission with the designation Scouting Team B. See, although a great many bosses roamed, the real important detail that mattered above all else was whether or not a boss was headed off on a determined roam: the opposite of something that was often called a ¡°wandering type,¡± a category which the vast majority of roaming bosses tended to be; basically, it meant the boss would more or less randomly stumble about aimlessly and kill anything it came across. As unfortunate as this could be for some folk who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, it was the much, much, much more preferable type to go against. A ¡°wandering¡± roamer could be controlled, manipulated, and in some cases, contained with the careful use of aggro techniques. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Regrettably, though, any hope of Ziragoth being a wandering roamer was now dashed. Having aggroed the dragon twice in a row now, Aerick could state with absolute certainty that they were dealing with a determined roamer, as he¡¯d ruled out coincidence. Both times he¡¯d aggroed the wyvern, the moment he and his boys had fled horseback and reached the de-aggro vector, the dragon had stopped midair, turned around, and had flown back to where it had been when it had first attacked them. And each time this occurred, it would take itself out of flight, land back down on Galterran soil, and from there, it would continue its slow roam on foot in the exact same direction. Based on these facts, the boss was moving on a ¡°determined roam.¡± In other words, it had somewhere it planned on going, and no amount of distraction would be able to trick it into moving off course or going somewhere else, as was quite frequently possible with wandering-type roamers. Nothing to do now but call it in, Aerick thought, suddenly feeling exhausted. Raising his Comm to his lips, he said, ¡°Donovan, this is Scouting Team B, do you copy?¡± ¡°Yeah, I copy. How¡¯re you guys doing out there? You find out what we¡¯re up against yet?¡± ¡°I sure did, Don. And it ain¡¯t good.¡± Donovan¡¯s sigh was audible over the Comm. ¡°It¡¯s what I feared, huh? Determined Roamer?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid so, buddy. We went and aggroed the sonofabitch twice just to be sure. Both times, it went right back to where it was before we aggroed it and continued heading south-southeast.¡± ¡°Towards Shadowfall Coast.¡± The words came across as a statement and not a question, but Aerick decided to offer a confirmation anyway. ¡°Seems to be the case, Don.¡± ¡°Gods-dammit. All right. Head back to Tomb of Fire. You did good, Aerick.¡± ¡°Hey, uh, Don?¡± ¡°Yep?¡± Swallowing down an acidic sensation of fear in his throat, he asked, ¡°Does this mean we have to¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, we do,¡± he replied with a grunt. ¡°No choice, Aerick. Looks like we gotta raise the alert to a level-4 apocalyptic event. That fucker will kill every man woman and child if we don¡¯t either stop it before it gets there or evacuate the city. For now, get your ass back here. We have enough data to begin the War Council.¡± ****** Just five miles outside the city limits, a makeshift camp had been set up specifically for the purpose of dealing with what was now being dubbed by the media as an ¡°unprecedented emergency.¡± Having just received word from Scouting Team B, Alex had begun making his way towards the War Council along with Donovan and Kalana. Having taken Donovan¡¯s criticism to heart, he promised himself he would behave in a way befitting a God-Slayer. Far, far more lives than just their own depended on the success of this raid, especially now that the T7 fire wyvern was confirmed to be a determined roamer. Donovan¡¯s instincts were right, he thought. Though hardly surprised, Alex was still nevertheless distraught upon receiving definitive confirmation that Donovan¡¯s earliest, most dire predictions had turned out to be correct. Ziragoth, it seemed, was indeed stomping his way to Shadowfall Coast, where the wyvern would then attempt to exterminate every single living, biological entity and topple every building or other non-naturally arising structure in the process. To call the situation at hand dire would be a dramatic understatement. At least in the case of Whispery Woods city, Alex had more or less deduced a fairly accurate timetable of when the leviathan would spawn and what would be required to kill it. Although somewhat lacking, there was at least some documentation on the leviathan that existed from the encounters of previous adventurers. In the case of Ziragoth, no one had been able to dig up anything, though that in and of itself was not particularly uncommon, either. Intelligence on boss spawns was limited by what had managed to survive the test of time over thousands of years. Everything from wars to natural disasters had caused a certain degree of expected information loss, which was why there were still so many bosses that came as a total surprise. Alex had no doubt that, at one point in time, there was likely either a hard-written copy or a digital file containing everything one could possibly want to know about Ziragoth. But at some point in the flow of time, it had become lost or destroyed. And now, the only real clue of the dragon¡¯s existence was in the name of the town itself. Going forward, we must do a better job of preserving our records! Arriving at the camp, Alex proceeded straight for the meeting area, entering inside a gigantic, camo-green-colored tent, inside which over a hundred and thirty adventurers resided, as well as peacekeepers, representatives from the various guilds, and computer analysts working from laptops sitting atop metal tables. There was a definitive tension as members of the Royal Roses and the People of Virtue traded barbs with those hailing from the Guild of Gentlemen. It was through sheer fortune that these so-called ¡°guild members¡± were able to control themselves and not erupt into violence. ¡°Now is the time for you to order an evacuation, Sir Peter Brayspark,¡± demanded a low-ranking and rather unsightly officer of the Royal Roses whom Alex did not recognize. In contrast with the undeniably majestic, regal appearance of Peter V, the Royal Roses¡¯ officer was short, a good deal overweight, and despite appearing to be in his mid-to-late twenties, had only a patch of black, scruffy hair on his otherwise bald head. He also had a large, elongated nose, an eerily massive pair of shriveled, dagger-shaped ears, and three large buckteeth that were impossible not to notice. His skin was also a mysteriously yellow-greenish color, almost to the point of being sickly, yet he did not seem lacking in enthusiasm or vigor. ¡°I am the leader of one of the oldest guilds in recorded human history,¡± Sir Brayspark replied. ¡°I do not take demands from the Royal Roses. Especially not from someone of your station.¡± The officer laughed in a way that Alex found belligerent and unhelpful. ¡°Fine, then. Ziragoth will just eat all of your citizens. Seriously. It¡¯s only yourself you¡¯re hurting. I¡¯m only trying to appeal to your sense of decency¡ªshould you not be bereft of it.¡± ¡°My sense of decency?¡± Sir Peter Brayspark said with a huff. ¡°Good sir, you must think me a fool. Were I to give the order for Sir Morrison to evacuate the city, I don¡¯t suppose you would take it upon yourself to prevent his return, would you? Or is it your guarantee that you would thusly avoid taking any measures to prevent the re-admittance of my guild and our defenders into the city that we may resume things from the existing state of play¡ªas it were beforehand?¡± The Royal Roses officer scoffed at the question. ¡°Of course not. Your presence in the city is illegal and a war crime.¡± ¡°Then it hardly seems a reasonable request. Perhaps you should search within yourself for this much-lauded sense of decency to which you hold so dear. To be clear: any of my people may evacuate if they so wish. Aside from that, I will force none to flee without a preliminary agreement from your guild guaranteeing a positional and tactical freeze. If we were to evacuate, then when this crisis has ended, all resumes as it was before. How is that not fair?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re not supposed to be in there in the first place!¡± the guild officer snapped. ¡°Your very presence in the city violates the ¡®Sanctity of Human Life Accords¡¯.¡± At the sight of Sir Peter Brayspark literally quivering with rage, Alex wondered if perhaps a fight between the two might break out after all. He wasn¡¯t quite sure what, specifically, had set the man over the edge, but it soon became clear as he raised a trembling finger and wagged it at the man. ¡°You dare speak a word¡­a Gods-forsaken word about where my people are ¡®supposed to be¡¯. You dare speak to me of the value of human life, goblin? That a grotesque, subhuman creature such as yourself is allowed to breathe the air of my city is an affront to the dignity of all higher lifeforms to begin with, but now you lecture me on human affairs? Do you have any shame at all? Hm? Do you, goblin?¡± ¡°Okay, first of all, my name isn¡¯t ¡®goblin¡¯,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s Torg: first and last. Secondly, I am a respected member¡ªan officer!¡ªof the Royal Roses. I will not tolerate this disrespect, Sir Peter Brayspark. I am a¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯re a vile goblin is what you are,¡± Peter replied. ¡°A goblin. In my city. Telling human beings what they should do. Truly, a sign of the decay that the Royal Roses has shoveled on our species.¡± Alex had no choice but to turn away so as to avoid letting a frown be seen on his face. As a member of an adventuring guild, it was not his place to intervene in the politics of the fake, so-called ¡°guilds¡± that ran North and South Bastia. The issue with Varsh aside, adventurers strived not to meddle in their internecine conflicts, and now in particular would be the worst possible time for him to wade into affairs which truly did not concern him. Even still, he found himself strongly disliking Sir Peter Brayspark. Alex, personally, did not care for a single one of the political guilds, though if he had to choose which one he despised the most, it would be a close tie between the People of Virtue and the Royal Roses. Yet despite this, there was a part of him that tempted him to come to the goblin''s defense. There was something on a pure, innate level that struck him as heinous about the way in which Sir Peter Brayspark demeaned Torg along racial lines. He also felt somewhat astonished at his own lack of awareness, as he had until just now taken the goblin to be a horribly disfigured human. So that is what a goblin looks like, he thought. This was the first time Alex had ever seen a goblin before in the flesh, and he¡¯d imagined they¡¯d be a tad bit greener and less yellowish as they were commonly depicted in illustrations. Unlike the Orcs, Gnomes, Dwarves, and members of numerous other races, there appeared to be no famous Goblin actors, TV hosts, or musicians. Nor were there very many images of them on the internet. They were a very secretive people: likely for good reason, too. Once, long ago, it was said their population numbered over four-hundred million. Today, however, it was widely believed that fewer than five-thousand goblins still walked Galterra. If one were to crack open a history textbook¡ªincluding the books at the school where Alex taught in Whispery Woods¡ªit would be explained that this was due to a race-specific bacterial infection that targeted the reproductive glands of male goblins and still, to this day, continued to render three quarters of them unable to successfully breed. What the textbooks would not mention¡ªand what the goblins themselves likely did not know¡ªwas that the Guild of Gentlemen, with the eager support and endorsement of the Royal Roses, People of Virtue, and Children of Order, had concocted this disease as a bacteriological weapon eight-hundred-fifty years ago, during a time when humans controlled very little of South Bastia; then, the continent was mostly controlled by Goblins and the Lizard Folk. Amidst what had once been known as the Goblin War, humanity found itself taking up arms against goblin-kind after the goblin king, Ran¡¯ghlar, raised the price of Iescian steel, which was to be found in abundance in goblin territories but was in short supply in North Bastia. Though the goblins posed little threat to human territories, they were reportedly masters of their own domain. Their defensive capabilities proved far more than any human guild was capable of overcoming, as they were able to construct labyrinthine tunnels belowground in their territories that rendered it exceedingly difficult for humanity to disrupt their supply lines. It had also enabled them to use guerilla tactics to great effect. Faced with an unbreakable resistance, the human guilds had opted to use bacterial weapons of mass destruction. Almost a thousand years later, and a cure had still not been found. Incredibly, this did not count among the eight publicly known genocides. Of all the races on Galterra, humanity seemed to be the only one that continually fell back upon the idea of winning via racial annihilation. Distracted by his thoughts, Alex nearly fell behind, and he had to hurry to catch up; this, while Sir Peter Brayspark continued to heap scorn upon the unexpectedly resilient Torg, who in fairness, did continue to antagonize Peter by laughing in his face. As Alex began making his way farther inside the tent, hundreds of heads turned his way, though it was not upon him that they gazed; to his right walked Kalana Vayra alongside him, and to his left was Donovan Iseldar, the raid-leader and number-one in command of this operation, and it was on those two that the majority of eyes danced between. ¡°About time you showed up,¡± said a voice near a podium towards the center of the tent. Alex recognized him as Zephyr Vextran, the leader of the Explorers Brigade. He was a man of average height with intense, striking eyes, whose short, curly black hair was concealed beneath a hooded brown robe. He also wore an equally brown cloak, beneath which a white-and-blue, glistening sword was tucked away in a sheath on his back. Zephyr was a rather fascinating individual in that, on the one hand, he was neither particularly large, imposing, or likewise blessed with any overtly intimidating features, be it a battle scar or a gravelly voice. Quite to the contrary, the man had only just entered his thirties and still possessed a youthful, unblemished visage, and though not outright high-pitched, his spirited voice came across as amused if not whimsical; if not for a somewhat uneven nose, one could almost say he bordered on handsome. On the other hand, however, there was an almost radiant power to the sheer ambitious intensity in his dark blue eyes. In them, Alex found himself staring into a seemingly endless ocean of confidence and charisma. It was as though the mere image of Zephyr¡¯s gaze alone could somehow appropriately stand in as a meaningful definition of the word ¡°adventurer.¡± When meeting Zephyr¡¯s eyes, the man had a way of appearing so self-assured and knowing that it came across to Alex as equal parts unnerving and emboldening. ¡°Glad you could make it,¡± Donovan said, embracing Zephyr. ¡°I know you Explorers aren¡¯t so big on boss fighting but¡­really gonna need you on this one, buddy.¡± Briefly grabbing the spike-less sides of Donovan¡¯s large, plate-covered shoulders in a return embrace, Zephyr said, ¡°I¡¯ve brought some of my best with me. You called, I answered.¡± Alex knew that Donovan and Zephyr were very good friends and had been such for a long time. From observation alone, one might be forgiven for mistaking the two as brothers. Fundamentally, it hardly differed from the truth. Alex doubted that, if asked, either one of them would bother to dispute or deny the notion. It was for this reason it did not surprise him that Zephyr had been given the role of second in command¡ªor co raid-leader. If anything should happen to Donovan, Gods forbid, then Zephyr would immediately take over. It was a disturbing thought. Alex could hardly imagine the GSG without Donovan in it. Thankfully, he was quickly distracted from the morbid image in his head as Donovan stepped up to the podium, tapped his pointer finger twice against the attached microphone as though to ensure it was working, and then without any further warning, commenced the War Council. As he began to speak, every other voice fell silent, and all eyes focused solely upon him. Though Alex would not dare admit this aloud, he could not help but feel the slightest bit apprehensive about the coming raid. Though he had fought a great many bosses since joining the GSG, he had never fought a T7 before, let alone a dragon, which all on its own presented a host of problems. He also doubted he was alone in this feeling, as he could see just a bit of color drain from many of the faces of what were normally fearless, jubilant adventurers whose lives were imperiled on a weekly if not sometimes a daily basis. This wasn¡¯t going to be like anything the majority of them had encountered before, was it? Oddly enough, though, there was one individual aside from Zephyr and Donovan who looked well and truly fearless. Kalana. In her eyes, there was only a dark, foreboding anger, which seemed to triple in ferocity as a projector screen behind Donovan lit up with a three-dimensional overview of their target. It was as though she could not look upon the wyvern without seeing the harm it had done to Zach. The moment its image popped into existence, Alex could not help but notice the way she bared her teeth, flared her nostrils, and narrowed her eyes in a visible display of barely contained rage. Likely more so than anyone else in here today, this was personal for her. She massaged her daggers, caressing them as though they were her personal pets. Her shoulders trembled slightly, and he was sure it was not from fear. She now had the eyes of a killer. It was a side of her Alex had never before seen. It was troubling. Chapter 55: Dragon’s Rear Chapter 55: Dragon¡¯s Rear ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve had enough,¡± Zach said, throwing down his cards onto the hospital bed and running his hand through his wavy black hair. ¡°I¡¯ve got to get the hell out of here. I literally can¡¯t take another minute of this.¡± Lienne frowned. ¡°You have to stay. The doctor said you¡¯re not allowed to leave for at least five more nights.¡± ¡°Yeah, because that¡¯s happening.¡± Despite less than an hour having passed since Kalana left his room to venture off with Mr. Oren and Donovan, Zach was already feeling agitated, restless, and in desperate need of something more exciting or at least interesting to do. Anything was better than staying here and playing some boring card game with Lienne, Rian, and Fluffles. It was so mundane that it almost caused him to actually miss being in danger. Be careful what you wish for, he warned himself. There¡¯s no way you mean that. Lienne had pulled up a folding chair to the left side of his bed, Rian had similarly pulled up one to his right, and Fluffles was sitting on the blanket across from him. Apparently, even the mighty, lighting-calling, sword-summoning, and panther-transforming Fluffles was too low level to hunt the fire wyvern with the GSG, which was amazing considering the cat, much like Zach, had actually survived a brief one-on-one against it. It was hard to believe that didn¡¯t count as qualification enough for the raid. Although, then again, it probably had more to do with damage numbers or something, since the goal wasn¡¯t just to survive against the beast, but to kill it, too. Not that Zach was complaining, of course. The fact that he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about Fluffles getting killed actually came as a relief. If only Kalana had chosen to stay behind, too! Nothing better happen to her or Gods help me, he thought. Concerned for Kalana¡¯s wellbeing, it was becoming increasingly more difficult to sit still, so he decided to get up and go for an aimless walk around the hospital. But before he could climb out of the bed, Rian was already throwing another hand of cards his way. And so, at the insistence of his overeager friend, Zach begrudgingly played one more round of South-Bastian poker with the three of them, which thankfully ended very soon after it had begun. Without playing for money, there was no joy to be had in this. It was just an exhausting waste of time. ¡°Fun game,¡± he lied. ¡°But seriously, I¡¯m done now. No more.¡± ¡°Zach angry cause Fluffles win again,¡± the cat said, his cards levitating in the air in front of him above the bed. ¡°You sure did,¡± Lienne told him, blowing a kiss his way. In actuality, Fluffles hadn¡¯t won, and the cat had no idea how the game was actually played. Even still, he insisted on being part of it. And thanks to Lienne, he was under the impression that he was winning every single round. Zach understood why she did it, of course. She found Fluffles to be cute and wanted to make the cat happy. What she didn¡¯t understand was how this was only going to go straight to his head and inflate his ego. Though, in fairness, Zach¡¯s own ego was pretty inflated right now. He had to conceal a smirk as he recalled, once again, everything that he¡¯d experienced just before the three of them had come into the room. It only just happened and it still feels like a long-ago dream. The hour he¡¯d spent with Kalana had reinvigorated him even more so than the light stone had. It had changed him and the way he looked at the world. Previously, gold had been his number-one favorite thing, followed by adventuring, then eating, and then sleeping. But now, though? Now, everything on the list got bumped down a slot to make room for an entirely ¡°new¡± activity. Well, new to him, at least. An hour was all he¡¯d needed to be absolutely, one-hundred-percent certain that it was, in fact, his new favorite hobby. ¡°Zach?¡± Lienne asked. ¡°You¡¯re zoning out. Hello?¡± ¡°Ah, sorry,¡± he said. Mentally chiding himself, Zach ripped all thoughts of the time he¡¯d spent with Kalana out of his mind and shelved it for later. There was no way he could reflect upon that and keep a straight face. As things were, he actually found it challenging enough just to believe it¡¯d even happened at all¡ªand more than once, too. Honestly, he was just glad he¡¯d waited for Kalana and hadn¡¯t given into his temptations with Lienne. It just¡­it just felt right. ¡°Something bothering you?¡± Lienne asked. ¡°I was just thinking about uh¡­about the regrowth treatment.¡± Fortunately, she seemed to buy his excuse. ¡°Did the treatment hurt? It looked painless to me, but without being the one who went through it, what do I know?¡± Zach made a slight chuckle. ¡°It didn¡¯t hurt at all. I¡¯m just glad they did it today and didn¡¯t make me wait until tomorrow.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe how quick it was,¡± Lienne said. ¡°They just pressed a pink stone into your eye socket and another one into your shoulder-blade and¡­I guess that¡¯s all there is to it. Do you feel anything yet?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Nope. They say it¡¯ll take a few days before I get my arm and eye back, though. But even before then, I¡¯m leaving.¡± Lienne frowned. ¡°You¡¯re not allowed.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°I dunno. It¡¯s what your doctors said.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fully healed, and there¡¯s nothing they can do to speed up my regrowth. There¡¯s literally no reason for them to keep me here. You guys can either help me escape or¡­or whatever. But I¡¯ve had enough.¡± ¡°Fluffles help Zach escape,¡± the cat said. Zach smiled at him. ¡°Thanks, little buddy.¡± To Rian and Lienne, he said, ¡°Other than my new sword, all my gear made it out okay and has already finished repairing itself. It sucks I need to go back to Fluffles¡¯ sword¡ªno offense, Fluffles¡ªbut I¡¯ve got everything I need to get back at it.¡± Rian coughed into his fist. ¡°Except a second arm,¡± he said. Zach chuckled. ¡°Hey, I can fight one-handed. I¡¯m actually more annoyed with this bandage on my face.¡± The entire right upper side of his face was wrapped over and around with tape and gauze like he was some kind of mummy. Apparently, he wasn¡¯t supposed to take it off until his right eye had regrown, or else the developing retinas could be harmed by the light from the sun or something. It had been a long-winded explanation that Zach didn¡¯t fully recall. But the gist of it was simple: don¡¯t expose the eye to light until it¡¯s had enough time to form. ¡°So, what¡¯s it going to be?¡± Zach asked. ¡°You guys want to help me get out of here or what?" Rian yawned. "I do, but I also don''t want to get Zephyr on my ass. Look, let''s just talk about it tomorrow, okay? Li and I really need a good night''s sleep and we''ve each got these super fancy hotel rooms. So can we just shelve this for tomorrow?" Zach grunted. "Fine, whatever." With or without them, Zach decided he was leaving first thing in the morning. His run-in with Ziragoth had been a cogent reminder of just how weak he still was relative to the dangers that existed in this world. In order to protect both himself and Kal, he simply had to continue leveling. As soon as he woke up tomorrow, he was leaving this hospital. Even if he had to go alone. ***** If there was one criticism commonly leveled by the political guilds that Alex could not refute in good faith, it was the perception of adventurers as unruly, unsophisticated, discourteous, and immature rascals who often wanted to do little else but party, fight, drink, sing, and have copious amounts of sex. Truly, it brought Alex much dissatisfaction to have to concede a point on any topic to the vile, contemptible political guilds, but as one who had always believed in the value of introspection, it did not serve him well to deny the truth. On this one¡ªand perhaps only¡ªpoint, they were correct. This much became overtly obvious as what was now a level-4 apocalyptic catastrophe continued to unfold across North Bastia while these admittedly well-meaning men and women¡ªthe only people who stood any real chance of saving millions of lives¡ªcontinued to behave worse than even the most recalcitrant of Alex¡¯s high-school students. That was no exaggeration, either. Many of them literally behaved worse than teenagers. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Certainly, things had started out well enough. Donovan had given a brief recap of the situation so far, and every last adventurer in the large, spacious tent watched eagle-eyed and intently as he discussed timeframes, battle formations, and other various important details. But then things changed. After he¡¯d finished speaking, he¡¯d tasked Alex with giving a much more in-depth battle and tactics assessment, and it was here that their childish natures began to reveal themselves. Not all of them, mind you. Heck, not even half¡ªbut almost half. And that, put simply, was disgraceful. There were three large projector screens all side by side towards the back of the camo-colored tent, around which all the gathered adventurers had crowded. On the leftmost projector, a multi-angled video approximately one minute and forty-two seconds in length ran on a loop, displaying the one-on-one duel that Zachys Calador had engaged in with the monster. On the rightmost screen, the longer, five-minute dustup that Donovan Iseldar had led as an extended distraction also played on repeat; given the amount of smoke coming out of the town by this point, a clear picture was simply not obtainable, though by also utilizing multiple views from both the media and witnesses in combination with a noise-reduction algorithm, enough data could be extrapolated so as to be useful. Finally, the middle-most screen now displayed a highly detailed 3D model of Ziragoth complete with labels, notes, and in some cases, open questions. ¡°¡­this means,¡± Alex said, having begun speaking several moments prior, ¡°that after having attacked the creature from both sides, while it is by no means definitive, we have high confidence that specific locations along its latissimus dorsi are weaker than others.¡± Gesturing with his laser pointer at a specific portion of the gigantic wyvern¡¯s spike-covered lower back, an attendant all the way across the room sitting in front of a workstation computer typed something into the keyboard at her desk, and then the wyvern¡¯s model flipped around and zoomed in on location Alex had indicated, which was just above its barbed tail Alex opened his mouth to continue speaking, but before he could form his next word, he was interrupted. ¡°Hey, Al,¡± someone called to him. Alex vaguely recalled meeting him once before. He was a short, stocky man with so much facial hair it almost obscured his eyes, nose, and mouth. The man was beyond needing a good shave. He needed a lawnmower. ¡°Yes, Urnsk?¡± ¡°You got a thing for dragon ass?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± He nodded at the screen. ¡°Why¡¯d you have the lady zoom in on his ass, Alex? There something you¡¯re not telling us?¡± Alex frowned, but he did not reply. He wanted to keep things on track. And so once more, he tried to speak¡ªand once more, he was thusly interrupted. ¡°It¡¯s a fair question,¡± a woman from Boss Rush whose name he did not remember called out. ¡°We¡¯re a very welcoming group of people. If you¡¯ve got a thing for dragon ass, you can just say it. We all support you here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s really not funny,¡± Alex said, adjusting his glasses. Around adventurers, a thick skin and control over one¡¯s temper was often required. Even still, this was hardly the time or place for this kind of juvenile humor. ¡°As I was saying,¡± he continued, ¡°various locations are weaker than others. One such location¡ª¡± ¡°Is the ass,¡± Reni Sarwin called out, causing everyone nearby him to guffaw. Alex stared at him in disbelief, but even then, he chose not to make a scene of it. ¡°As I was saying, if we attack¡ª¡± ¡°I actually agree with what everyone else is saying,¡± another man he did not recognize interrupted. ¡°This guy clearly has a thing for dragon ass. I mean look how close he zoomed in on it. He didn¡¯t have to zoom that closely in. It¡¯s like it was really important for him to get a nice big view of that dragon ass. No judgement from me, though. To each their own.¡± Alex was not sure what was more disappointing. The fact that adventurers were actually choosing now to heckle him of all possible times, or that Donovan, the leader of the raid, was laughing along with them. Really, that was just so unbecoming of him. These people were quite literally more childish than the children he taught at school. And yet I¡¯m the one who gets a dressing down about pulling aggro off the tank and needing to change my attitude. ¡°Is everyone done?¡± Alex asked incredulously. ¡°Any more quips before we actually get down to business?¡± ¡°Oh, I bet you wanna get down to business!¡± yet another adventurer hollered. ¡°Open up shop on that dragon ass, am I right?¡± Finally losing his temper, Alex narrowed his eyes at the man who¡¯d yelled that out and shouted, ¡°Keep your mouth shut unless something intelligent is going to come out of it, which in your case, is likely to happen less frequently than a Ziragoth spawn.¡± With equal ire, the man who¡¯d interrupted him said, ¡°Hey, science bitch. If you have a problem, we can take this to Angelica¡¯s right now.¡± ¡°I actually cannot fathom the way some of you are behaving. It¡¯s literally beyond my comprehension. Just so we¡¯re clear: do you people understand that millions of lives now depend on whether or not we can successfully intercept or, if necessary, evacuate Shadowfall Coast?¡± His words seeming to fall on deaf ears, the crowd continued to badger him, and this continued for nearly five minutes until finally, standing up from his seat, Donovan looked at the crowd of adventurers and made a single grunt¡ªand they all fell silent. He didn¡¯t even actually say anything to them. He simply just grunted, and their voices fell off. It was only then that Alex realized the problem was that his fellow adventurers did not seem to respect or like him very much. This was personal, wasn¡¯t it? ¡°Unless I¡¯ve done something in a previous life that I can¡¯t recall, I¡¯m starting to think some of you have a problem with me.¡± ¡°I do,¡± Reni Sarwin admitted, raising his hand. This surprised Alex, as he barely knew the man, though he was quite close with Donovan. ¡°And what would that be?¡± ¡°Other than you being an annoying prick?¡± he asked with a snicker. ¡°It¡¯s the fact you¡¯re only twenty four, but you act like you know everything, you try to boss around everyone you meet, and you treat other adventurers like they¡¯re children from your school." As a shocking number of people nodded along with him, Alex decided to double down. ¡°Many of you act like children from my class,¡± he said. ¡°So I suppose I¡¯m only falling into old habits. Now do you want to get on with business or don¡¯t you?¡± When no one spoke, Alex resumed. ¡°Good. As I was saying, the location here¡±¡ªhe shined his laser pointer¡ª¡°on the lower back seems to be slightly less armored. But even more importantly than location of attack is going to be damage type. We¡¯ve determined that swords and other slashing weapons are highly ineffective against Ziragoth, and fire-based magic and abilities are not only ineffective, but may in fact heal the boss. Under no circumstance is anyone to use fire. Ice magic seems to be our best bet right now.¡± Sighing at the fact he¡¯d had to expend so much energy just to express a single thought, he asked, ¡°Does anyone have any questions? Serious ones only.¡± There were a surprising number of raised hands, and this time around, Alex did not think they were poorly intentioned. Nevertheless, as he began to take inquiries from the adventurers gathered around him, he was once more reminded at how embarrassingly unfocused some of them were. This became clear from the very start, as he called upon a woman with puffy green hair and a bizarrely large nose ring. ¡°So, how do you think he moves like that?¡± she asked. ¡°It¡¯s obviously an ability, but does it have anything to do with the smoke?¡± ¡°What smoke?¡± Alex asked her. ¡°Are you talking about the diving attack at fifty-seconds in?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± she asked, raising her right eyebrow. Then, quickly after, she shook her head. ¡°Oh, uh, no. I¡¯m talking about Zachys Calador. How do you think he¡¯s doing that?¡± ¡°I have no idea,¡± Alex said, ¡°and as much as I¡¯d like to know that as well, it¡¯s outside the scope of this raid. Any other questions?¡± He pointed to a green-haired man wearing a steeple hat. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You know the kid, right? You ever see him do that thing with the shield before?¡± Alex sighed. ¡°Please. Keep your questions about Ziragoth. Does anyone here have any actual Ziragoth-related questions?¡± To both his dismay and aggravation, every single hand went down. These people really were something else. Honestly, he did not begrudge them their curiosity into the profound, and uncanny abilities that Zachys had displayed. Truly, it was a spectacle far outside of the ordinary. Even so, they were all about to enter into a very dangerous situation, and these kinds of distractions were doing no one any good. ¡°If no one has any questions about how to specifically confront the dragon, then we should begin to make our way towards Shadowfall Coast. Like Donovan said, we¡¯ll need to begin constructing a fortification designed less to contain but more to divert the dragon once the battle begins. We only have two-and-a-half days¡ªat the most¡ªbefore it reaches our interception point just outside of the city.¡± ¡°Yeah, uh, I actually have a question I forgot to ask,¡± grunted a burly-looking man towards the opposite end of the tent. He was wearing a pair of ripped jeans and equally shredded tank-top. Alex could not tell whether they were regular, ordinary garments or crafted equipment designed to appear as such, like his lab coat. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Do you mind if, instead of Alex, I call you Dragon-Ass-Oren?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Alex replied, speaking barely above a whisper as rage coursed through his veins. ¡°Yes, I mind.¡± ¡°All right, so I won¡¯t do that then.¡± Filling with contempt for some of these morons, Alex turned his back to them and allowed Donovan to take over. He did not let their words get to him, though. All he cared about was saving as many lives as possible. He didn¡¯t need these utter imbeciles to ¡°like¡± him. He only needed them to perform adequately. The whole ordeal made him wonder if perhaps Zachys had a point. Their methods were designed to produce the strongest adventurers¡ªwhich it succeeded in doing¡ªbut also those of the highest moral character. That part, it seemed, was lacking. At any rate, he took a seat as Donovan once more began to speak. Hopefully, these idiots had learned at least something of value. Chapter 56: Not Again! Chapter 56: Not Again! Something that had become way too typical lately in Zach¡¯s life was that any moment of true happiness or greatness tended to be followed by one of horror or misery¡ªand vice versa. It was as though events were following along the path of some immutable track that deliberately set out to sandwich him between two constantly fluctuating extremes. Hence, as if it were a form of karmic repayment for the life-altering hour of pure bliss he¡¯d shared with Kalana, he now found himself suffering through the single-worst night of sleep of his life¡ªassuming the word ¡°sleep¡± was even appropriate to use in this context, as he was fairly sure he did not achieve so much as a second of actual rest. And really, how could he? How, when he had so much working against him? Even the idea of sleep seemed absurd when faced with the list of issues plaguing him, all of which he had not even been aware were issues until, three hours before midnight, a nurse came in and shut off the lights while he was resting in bed and watching the news on TV, which was finally talking about something other than him or Kalana. Apparently, it was now confirmed that Ziragoth was heading directly for the populated city of Shadowfall Coast, and this revelation had plunged all of North Bastia into further chaos, as it seemed Sir Alistair Morrison was refusing to evacuate his people. Despite the awful but historically significant, world-altering events that he watched unfolding on the wall-mounted television, Zach had yawned the moment the lights were out and had quickly grown drowsy. Given the day he¡¯d had, it was honestly no surprise. So, with the press of a button, he¡¯d shut off the television, rolled over, and had prepared to finally get some rest¡ªand it was in that moment he was fully able to appreciate just how impossible that would be, as there were numerous, significant issues barring his entry to the land of dreams. Each one of them on their own would¡¯ve rendered sleep unachievable, but when put together? It was to the point where only medication or a blunt object to the head would stand any chance of knocking him out. For starters, he was hellishly uncomfortable. Trying to sleep while missing an arm turned out to be extremely awkward and unpleasant. He couldn¡¯t fold his arms under his pillow the way he liked, which on its own was bad enough, but it was made even worse thanks to the fact that these hospital pillows were so thick it was as though they were manufactured with the intent of snapping a person¡¯s fucking neck off their body. Truly, all it took to appreciate what it meant to have two arms and two hands was to lose one for a few days. Life became that much more difficult, which was why he was grateful for the multi-million-gold regrowth treatment he¡¯d received. Incidentally, however, that served as the catalyst for his second problem: at least as it pertained to sleep. At some point in the past half hour, the socket of his missing eye and the point below his right shoulder had begun to itch so viciously he was tempted to slam both his body and face into his hospital-room wall just to sate the desire to scratch. Even if he could somehow find a comfortable position to lie in with just one arm, this Gods-awful itching would render it useless. It was so bad that Zach actually hissed with agitation as, the longer the night progressed, the more it gravitated from annoying, to intense, to a form of actual, bodily torture. So like...yeah. Between his missing arm and the maddening itch in his eye and shoulder, sleep was just not going to happen for him. And yet¡­and yet! That wasn¡¯t the end of things. Oh, no-no-no it was not. See, those were just the physical problems. Then there were the mental ones, and in many ways, these might¡¯ve even been worse. Even as a small child, Zach had never been the type of boy to be afraid of the dark. Other kids would lie awake all night after sneaking out to see a horror movie that wasn¡¯t age-appropriate, but Zach? Never. He was never rattled during bed time. But that had all changed now, as every shadow seemed to move like Ziragoth, and several times throughout the night, he began to pant and gasp as he was sure he heard that awful, bone-chilling roar. There had even been instances where he¡¯d thought he felt the bed shaking. It¡¯s not real, he would tell himself. You¡¯re just traumatized. It¡¯s not real. Come on, Zach. Stop being a Gods-cursed coward. You¡¯re fine! Several times, he¡¯d entered a state of full panic through which he either held his breath or conversely breathed in so fast he nearly hyperventilated. And yet, through it all, he was entirely cognizant of the fact that these sensations he was experiencing were not real. He knew that Ziragoth was not in the room with him. He knew that what looked like the wyvern¡¯s gigantic, wrathful face was just an odd bit of moonlight coming in through the partially opened window blinds and casting off of a quirky, bulbous-shaped lamp. Nevertheless, his body reacted with a panicked response that was in direct defiance of what his rational brain understood to be true. Yet somehow, incredibly, this was still not the end of his list of issues. Because amid everything else¡ªhis itching, his awkward sleeping positions, and his panic attacks¡ªa dark, somewhat unexpected self-loathing had popped up within him shortly after midnight. It was a sense that he had failed to keep the promise he¡¯d made to himself after Varsh had almost killed him. On that day, he had promised himself that if he managed to survive, he would dedicate his life to never being this weak or pathetic again. And yet here he was, cowering from shadows on the walls. But it wasn¡¯t just that, either, was it? No, it was also the fact that he should be the one going to fight the Gods-awful thing, not Kalana. Or at the very least, he should be there beside her. But for all the improvements he had made, he was still too weak. He was still so far behind. The strongest attack in his arsenal used at maximum effectiveness had only struck the wyvern for one Gods-damned damage. Just one! He felt so useless. So pathetic. His sword had been broken into pieces. He had lost his arm and his eye. He had been made into such a lowly, useless coward. And so, tossing, turning, sweating, panicking, swearing angrily to himself, and struggling to make it through the night, all of his problems coalesced together, overwhelming him and torturing him and making him wish he hadn¡¯t sent Rian and Lienne back to their hotel for the night. He needed them right now. Gods, he really needed them. But isn¡¯t that the problem? he wondered. Something strange happened. Something inside of himself seemed to click. It was only as he reached this concourse of various discomforts, fears, and insecurities that his one eye snapped widely open, and an exhilarating rush of determination burned through his body as it finally occurred to him what he had to do: what he needed to do. I need to make myself whole again. On the physical front, it was only a matter of time, not circumstance. But on the mental front, he needed to be proactive: desperately so. Because regardless of what any Gods-damned doctor said, Zach knew himself well enough to know that, if he languished here for four or five more nights, his fear of Ziragoth would spread like a virus and become a fear of mobs in general. A fear of adventuring. A fear of ever being hurt or frightened so terribly ever again. He needed to confront this. He needed to pull himself back together or he¡¯d spend every night from now on jumping at the shadows of lampshades. No, no, he needed to act. And he needed to act now. It didn¡¯t matter that it was only two hours past midnight. It didn¡¯t matter that his actions would be perceived as those of a raving lunatic. He needed to do something crazy. Something bold and audacious. Something terrifying. Something that seemed so intimidating and daunting that had he been in his normal state of mind, he¡¯d have lambasted himself for even considering it. And what was more: he needed to do it alone. He loved his new friends. He wanted to adventure with Rian and Lienne: and by the Gods, he intended to. But for this, he needed to go solo. He needed to pick his ass up out of bed right now and just¡­and just get it done. He needed restoration. He needed to gain back at least something of his that he¡¯d lost. And he knew exactly what that something should be, too. I¡¯m an insane idiot, he told himself. Am I really going to do this? As though to both torment himself but also channel some of his self-loathing into motivation, Zach touched his left hand to his right shoulder-blade, though not to inspect his now-healed wound, feel for any regrowth progress, or even to scratch the infuriating itch, but to tap it four times and bring forth his stats. Since he was not currently wearing a single piece of his equipment, the numbers that appeared before him were represented as their raw, base values. Zachys Calador: Level 13 (2417/15000) 8 strength 4 dexterity 6 constitution 48 intelligence 4 speed 4 luck Putting aside his bafflingly high intelligence stat, which was literally of no use to him as he did not possess a single spell or ability that scaled off it other than perhaps his Phase Slash, which apparently scaled off every stat¡ªthough he still hadn¡¯t yet gotten around to trying that one out¡ªZach couldn¡¯t help but feel a blast of disappointment. In fact, he¡¯d been counting on feeling that way. It was deliberate. He wanted to feel disappointment in himself. That way, he could then channel that disappointment into more determination. His stats truly were garbage for a level 13. Sure, he could use his Unleashed Phase for fifteen minutes¡ªless if he used any abilities¡ªbut that was of small comfort for the other twenty-three hours and forty-five minutes out of the day. Although, as he thought on it, he had the sense that it might not be entirely impossible for him to use the ability twice in one day if he really had to. If he used Unleashed Phase and Phase Reset, but then allowed his Unleashed Phase to expire, he was fairly certain he had enough stamina now to avoid going into E-debt from a single high-exertion cost. Undoubtedly, it would wipe him the fuck out, make no mistake. He would be panting and on his ass. But if he then rested up and made sure to take it easy for a few hours? He could probably do it. And for the insane, utter madness he was about to actually inflict upon himself, he might actually need to make use of such a tactic. In fact, he would definitely need to. I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m really going to do this. Oh well. Even if I end up getting myself killed, no one can say I didn¡¯t finally grow a pair. As Zach really let it sink in that he was actually going to do this¡ªand with one arm and one eye, too¡ªhe could not prevent himself from laughing uproariously. Maybe he really did have a death wish after all. Even still¡­he could not let himself become paralyzed with fear. If he did not nip this in the bud, it would be with him forever. What he needed now more than anything was to set a single objective and achieve it. And right now, that objective was to again retrieve something he¡¯d lost. Rian and Lienne would just have to forgive him for going at this solo. Same for Fluffles, who was out ¡°playing¡± somewhere in Tomb of Fire and would probably be upset when he returned and saw that Zach was missing. Having well and truly made up his mind, Zach hurried over to the green chair near the bed, on top of which was his equipment: folded and cleaned. Changing out of the plain pair of pajamas the hospital had provided for him, he quickly threw on his reddish-brown tunic, along with his pants and his bandana. Then, having to use his teeth, he wrapped one of his cloth hand wraps around his left hand. Once he was sure it fit snugly, he slipped into his sandals and attached his harness and scabbard over his back. Having left his stats and inventory open, he confirmed that his set bonus was still active despite missing his right hand wrap. He supposed this meant that one-armed people could still use gear sets. It was a useful piece of information to know if he ever ended up in this situation again¡ªwhich Gods help him if he did. At any rate, with his equipment back on, he once more regarded his stats. Zachys Calador: Level 13 (2417/15000) Armor Bonus: 12 12 strength 8 dexterity 9 constitution 49 intelligence 6 speed 5 luck Though inflated via equipment, they certainly looked a lot better now than they did in their base values. Nevertheless, it was still far behind what someone at his level should have. Well, someone other than a pure mage, which Zach most certainly was not, lacking even a single usable spell. Regardless, now that he was dressed, there was just one final thing to do before departing. Activating Bank and Storage, the visualization of a large storage chest around waist-level in height with the width of a wide coffin materialized in the air before him along with a piggybank. Reaching above himself with his one and only hand, he raised his right wrist wrap, which he could not currently use, and chucked it inside the chest. Then he grabbed his old sword that Fluffles had crafted for him. Though it was a bit small for the scabbard on his back, it still fit just well enough that he was sure he didn¡¯t have to worry about it. Lastly, he withdrew a thousand gold from his piggybank and stuffed it into his wallet. And now, with that out of the way, it was time to go. It was time to be crazy. ¡°I¡¯m such an idiot,¡± he moaned. ¡°What am I even doing?¡± Drawing a deep breath, he forced his feet to move before he allowed doubt and hesitation to paralyze him. Honestly, the worst part of what he was about to do would likely be the eeriness of being alone during it all. The feeling of it would be totally different now, wouldn¡¯t it? That¡¯s why I have to do this by myself. With one Gods-damned arm. If I can do this, I can¡­I can restore myself. Letting himself out of the fancy, rich-person hospital room where he still could not believe he had stayed, Zach marched down the totally quiet and now dark hallway on the highest floor in the building and made his way to the elevator. The receptions desk across from it was empty. Zach had been given a button near his bed to press in the event of an emergency, but aside from that, it appeared he truly had complete privacy up here. It was far removed from the packed and constantly noisy lower-levels, which he knew resembled much more of a traditional hospital. Thumbing the elevator call button, he glanced around nervously as he waited for it to arrive. Then, once it reached his floor and opened with a ding, he stepped inside, pressed the button labeled ¡°LL,¡± and readied himself as the door closed and he felt the elevator begin to descend. Unlike the last one he¡¯d ridden in, this was a much smoother, much more delicate ride, and at no point was he thrown up and into the ceiling. Hardening his resolve, he briefly closed his eye and visualized his objective as the next minute passed in what was total silence aside from the slight buzz from the light at the top of the elevator and the occasional soft clink each time he passed a floor. Following another ding, the elevator doors reopened, and now Zach stepped out into a much louder, much noisier, and much livelier scene as, even at this time of night, doctors and nurses shuffled back and forth through the lobby, some wheeling people in on gurneys and others wheeling people out in wheelchairs. Several medical personnel ran over to assist their coworkers as a man who was foaming out of his mouth was rushed inside of the building. Zach thought he heard one of the doctors urgently mention the word ¡°overdose¡± before calling out a list of medications as an IV drip was put in his arm. Across from him was a fairly large waiting area where a multitude of people in widely varying conditions sat on hard, uncomfortable-looking blue seats as they waited for a doctor to see either them or their family member, friend, or loved one whom they¡¯d brought with them. In a separate, but similar room directly across from this one, another group of people were also seated, though Zach was pretty sure this group was for those awaiting news of loved ones in surgery. In both rooms, a fair number of scrolling, touch-screen devices displaying the logo of the Guild of Gentlemen were attached to the wooden tables near the blue seats; each of these touch screens contained information about ¡°humanity¡¯s greatness and perseverance¡± and allowed patients waiting for their turn to ¡°entertain¡± themselves by selecting a particular medical advancement that humans contributed to Galterra and learning about all the lives that it had saved. Zach observed as a little boy who could not have been any older than five slapped his entire palm down on one of these devices then began to giggle as a voice came from a speaker built into the wooden table. Even from where Zach stood near the elevator, he could clearly hear the words of the narrator, who spoke loudly enough to be understood over the typical raucous sound of a hospital. ¡°Though it may surprise or even shock you to hear this, despite the millions of lives all across Galterra that humanity has saved with our advancements in airway enlargement, even the Dwarves, who most benefitted from our breakthrough technology, have yet to issue their thanks to humanity for this medical miracle that we provided to our world.¡± Making his way towards the automatic, sliding-glass-door entryway, Zach hurriedly walked first across a wide corridor and then across the waiting room, hoping to simply slip outside unnoticed. Unfortunately, he did not get very far before he ended up unintentionally drawing attention to himself simply by existing. He was immediately spotted by nurses, doctors, and patients alike, who seemed to bubble over with excitement at the sight of him. In fact, literally every single person in this section of the waiting room turned to look at him as he drew nearer, and those who didn¡¯t were tapped on the shoulder by those beside them, which usually accompanied excited whispers or outright shouts. ¡°Holy shit, it¡¯s him!¡± a guy who looked to be in his early twenties said. ¡°Dude, that¡¯s him!¡± ¡°No way. It can¡¯t be.¡± ¡°It is! I swear!¡± The more that people shouted and the more excited they became, the more subsequent unwanted attention Zach found heaped upon him. One by one, everyone in the hospital lobby who wasn¡¯t too wounded or sick to move their bodies turned in his direction. Now, a middle-aged woman he did not recognize approached him and tugged on the sleeve of his tunic. ¡°Young man, are you Zachys Calador?¡± Zach tilted his head to the side. ¡°Uh, do I know you?¡± Rather than reply, she again asked, ¡°Are you Zachys?¡± ¡°Well, yeah, but¡ª¡± ¡°Oh my Gods!¡± she shouted, loudly. ¡°Everyone, it is him! Wow. Young man, can I just say it is such an honor to meet you. My name is¡ª¡± ¡°Ah, I¡¯m really sorry, but I¡¯m in a rush. Nice meeting you, though!¡± To Zach¡¯s confusion and perhaps even horror, a massive throng of people began to encircle and crowd around him. They all called his name. Why were they treating him like he was some kind of celebrity? Was this really all because of the dragon thing? He hoped this would just be a temporary phenomenon that went away after a week or two had passed. Though, from some of the things they were shouting at him, he was starting to suspect it might linger just a bit longer. ¡°It¡¯s Kalana¡¯s boyfriend!¡± a girl Zach¡¯s age squeaked. ¡°I ship you two so hard!¡± ¡°The fuck does that mean?¡± Zach asked, briefly stopping in place to give the girl a sidelong look without even turning his head. ¡°You mean like a package?¡± Rather than answer him, the girl¡¯s entire face seemed to become contorted with pain and hurt. She even began to tear up and cry. ¡°He hates me,¡± she whispered. ¡°I¡¯m such an idiot. I said something dumb. He hates me so much.¡± ¡°Huh? I don¡¯t even know who you¡ªwhoah, buddy, easy,¡± Zach said, backing away from a man who tried to grab him. These people were behaving like they were possessed. He did not like this at all. To make matters worse, the doctors and nurses were now approaching him, and several pushed and shoved their way through the crowd as they made their way towards him. ¡°Young man,¡± a tall, auburn-haired woman in a doctor¡¯s uniform said to him. ¡°You haven¡¯t been discharged.¡± ¡°I¡¯m discharging myself,¡± Zach replied to her. ¡°I¡¯ve been explicitly told by my superiors you¡¯re to stay here for at least a few more nights.¡± Zach rubbed his face, becoming frustrated. He really, really didn¡¯t want to be an asshole, but he needed to keep moving before he lost his will to actually attempt something so insane. Thus, fixing her with a hard stare, he asked, ¡°How are you going to stop me?¡± The doctor seemed taken aback, as though this question had never even occurred to her. Even as she stood there gawking at him as if frozen in place while searching her brain for an answer, Zach marched directly past her, then found himself actually having to use a small degree of force to push himself through the back perimeter of the gathered crowd, all of whom actually tried to reach out and touch him like he was some kind of texture sample at a furniture store. What in the name of the Gods was wrong with these people? Even worse, as he approached the automatic, sliding entryway, a group of shady-looking individuals with large, black cameras accompanied by another group of much nicer dressed but also shady-looking individuals rushed inside the hospital and got in his way before he could get out. From the way they shouted a barrage of questions, some quite inane, he assumed them to be reporters. Why were they here at such a late hour? Surely they hadn¡¯t been camping out just in case he decided to sneak out at night, right? ¡°What can you tell us about the fire wyvern, Mr. Calador?¡± a sleazy-looking man in a trench coat asked him. ¡°Mr. Calador, Mr. Calador!¡± called a far more nicely attired woman wearing a blue, button-up dress. ¡°What advice can you give to teens facing addiction problems?¡± Zach looked around, confused. Was that question intended for him? The woman had said his name, and she¡¯d looked right at him while she was speaking, but the question was so bizarre and random he couldn¡¯t quite understand why it was something anyone would ask him of all people. ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡± he said. ¡°What advice,¡± she repeated, ¡°would you offer teens your age facing addiction problems?¡± ¡°Why¡­would I know that? Excuse me, I really have to get¡ª¡± ¡°Mr. Calador!¡± shouted a thin, short man with a bushy mustache wearing a blue pinstripe sports coat. ¡°Prior to the appearance of the wyvern, the Royal Roses were planning to use conventional warfare if Sir Alistair Morrison of the Dark-Water Depths refused to either surrender or meet on the field of combat. What do you make of this decision?¡± Zach opened his mouth despite having nothing to say, because he couldn¡¯t even understand why someone would come to him for an answer to this question in the first place. Honestly, it wasn¡¯t even the presence of these reporters that shocked him so much¡ªthough that on its own would be shocking to someone like him, who had never been assailed like this before¡ªbut more so, it was the absurd questions he was being called to answer. Why would anyone ask him some of these things? He could understand if they wanted to know something about Ziragoth like that trench-coat guy had or maybe even Kalana, but the more these reporters pestered him, the stranger and oddly more political the questions became. ¡°Sir, do you think the People of Virtue is correct in their call for a change of monetary policy?¡± one asked. ¡°Mr. Calador, how do you feel about the land reclamation deal proposed by¡ª¡± ¡°Guys, please, stop,¡± he said, even as they all pointed their cameras at him. ¡°I don¡¯t know the answers to any of these questions. I have to go. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Feeling exposed, he involuntarily lowered his head and shielded his face as the reporters and their cameramen followed him out of the hospital and into the street. Luckily, once he¡¯d made it to the relatively open hospital parking lot, he was able to pick up the pace and move far, far faster than any of these level-1 reporters could. Even without Unleashed Phase, his 6 points into speed was enough to leave this crowd behind him in the dust, crossing the entire span of the parking lot in the time it took them to walk just a few feet away from the entrance. Once they had given up their pursuit of him, he slowed himself down somewhat. Then he halted altogether as he was quite simply struck by the reality-defying beauty and brilliance of Tomb of Fire all lit up at night. All around him was color. There was color everywhere. The tops of buildings shined different colors: some blue, some green, some purple, and one that oscillated between all three. Several skyscrapers had literal streams of real fire shooting up into the air, and the tallest building on the street just ahead of him had its entire front-facing side projecting silly cartoon images. Were the screens built into the windows themselves? How did they even do that? Despite the average street being just as jam-packed and dense as any to be found in Whispery Woods, there was a certain cleanliness here. The smells were better, the people more relaxed and courteous, and despite it being the middle of the night, Zach had the sense that the streets were nevertheless perfectly safe for ordinary people to traverse, even unaccompanied women traveling alone by themselves, something that would be a big no-no in certain parts of Whispery Woods. Truly, it was breathtaking. And it was also difficult to believe that the same guild was in control of governing both cities. The disparities could not be any more obvious. Shaking his head in amazement, he smiled as he walked down the beautiful streets¡ªliterally, as in the very streets themselves were beautiful. Currently, rather than pavement, the entire sidewalk on which he walked was made up of giant white squares that were apparently LED screens, as each time he walked over one, it would light up a different color. With so many people walking up and down the street even at this time of night, the darkness was cast away by a bright assortment of multicolored lights coming off the ground. It never ceased to amaze Zach how unfair life was for some and how wonderful and brilliant for others. In Whispery Woods, forget having beautiful sidewalk lights¡ªthey were lucky if their streetlights functioned properly. As much as Zach wanted to take in¡ªno, not even take in, but drown in the sights of the city, he knew he needed to keep moving towards his goal, as the longer it took him to get there, the more he would start to question whether or not it was actually a good idea. And so, hailing a taxi DEHV, he waved at the driver as he pulled up to the curb near the sidewalk. The moment the vehicle came to a complete stop, Zach slipped inside the back seat. He wrinkled his nose at the combined smell of leather and perfume, which while not outright unpleasant, was still kind of off. ¡°Where ya heading?¡± the driver asked. He was a man who looked to be in his mid-fifties with a pudgy bald head and a demeanor that, while not quite unfriendly, was certainly far from warm. Reaching into his pocket, Zach opened up a map on his phone and pointed. ¡°Can you take me there?¡± ¡°There?¡± the driver asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°No way, kid,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°That whole region¡¯s on lockdown.¡± Zach sighed. ¡°How much does it normally cost for a trip there? It¡¯s, what, an hour-ten drive from here without traffic?¡± ¡°About eighty gold at this time of night,¡± the driver said, ¡°but it doesn¡¯t matter, because I can¡¯t take you there.¡± Zach leaned forward in his seat. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll play your game. 200 gold, sir.¡± ¡°Kid, I don¡¯t think you understand. Even if I wanted to, the DEHV literally won¡¯t let me drive there since the region has been flagged as on lockdown.¡± ¡°500 gold,¡± Zach said. ¡°Everyone knows you cab drivers have your own custom software installed.¡± The man frowned in a way that was exaggerated and almost playful. ¡°That would be illegal. I¡¯d never do that. Sorry, I can¡¯t help you.¡± ¡°A thousand gold,¡± Zach said, no longer giving a shit. He just needed to get there. For the first time, money was of no importance to him. The man looked at him as though he were crazy. ¡°Wait, for real?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Zach reached into his wallet and removed the two 500 coins he¡¯d taken out of his piggybank and waved them in front of the cab driver¡¯s eyes. The man went completely silent for a moment, but Zach could totally recognize the look of greed in his eyes, as it was one he himself was no stranger to wearing. The taxi driver opened his mouth, briefly licked his lips, and then raised his right index finger to his nose while simultaneously winking at Zach. ¡°Kid, even for a thousand gold I couldn¡¯t do it,¡± he said again, continuing to wink. ¡°That¡¯d be illegal.¡± Slowly, he turned back around, faced forward, and then flipped a switch, which caused the voices coming through what seemed like some kind of radio on his dashboard to abruptly cut off. Now, once again, he faced in Zach¡¯s direction. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°A thousand gold? You¡¯ve got a deal. I¡¯ll get you there in fifty minutes, too.¡± The man greedily held out his hand, palm open, and with a saddened sigh, Zach placed his precious gold into the man¡¯s eagerly awaiting hand, which seemed to shake with excitement. Then the man looked at him, tilted his head slightly, and blinked. ¡°Whoah! Hey, ain¡¯t you that kid from TV? Zachys Calador?¡± Zach moaned and rubbed his forehead. ¡°Yeah, but please, I don¡¯t mean to be rude, but I don¡¯t feel like answering any questions.¡± At this, the cab driver released something that came across as a mix between a brief laugh and a heavy cough. ¡°Hey, kid, for a thousand gold, I¡¯ll answer the questions for you. Just relax and sit tight.¡± With that, Zach fastened his seatbelt and the DEHV took off. And in what came as a total surprise to him, he somehow managed to do in the weird-smelling, oddly comfortable backseat of the taxi DEHV what he could not do in the fancy hotel-like hospital room: he dozed off. And thus, what should have been a long ride through dark countryside came and went so fast that, before Zach had even realized they¡¯d left the city, the man was calling his name and waking him up. They were somehow there already. Looking out of his window, Zach widened his eye in amazement. ¡°Did you¡­did you drive off-road?¡± he asked, realizing the DEHV was now hovering slightly above grass and dirt: something that was really, really not supposed to be possible. ¡°Uh, no,¡± the driver said. Then he again playfully raised his finger to his nose. Cab drivers, Zach thought, stifling a laugh. They really are all the same. Zach waited for the man to disable the hover engines, and then he thanked the driver and opened the backseat door. ¡°What, no tip?¡± he asked with a toothy grin as Zach leapt out the back and his sandals touched down on solid, grassy ground. ¡°Yeah,¡± Zach said back to him, ¡°about 920 gold.¡± The man laughed and then, before Zach could even adjust his one eye to the darkness around him, he had to shield his face from the bright lights of the vehicle as it roared back to life and sped off. Though abrupt and disorienting, the brief, but powerful illumination managed to shine just enough light to jog Zach¡¯s memory of his surroundings. ¡°I¡¯m actually fucking doing this,¡± Zach said to himself. Oddly enough, he was not as afraid as he¡¯d been expecting to be. No, if anything, he was excited. He was eager. He was determined. He was ready to kick ass like he¡¯d never kicked ass before. Even having only just awoken from a fifty-minute nap, he was already pumped-up and filled with a burst of enthusiasm and energy. Honestly, he hadn¡¯t expected to feel this amped¡ªbut he was. He really, really was. ¡°I¡¯m doing this,¡± he said aloud with a laugh. ¡°I¡¯m really fucking doing this!¡± And with that, he took off at a full-on sprint. Though nowhere as fast as what he could achieve while under the effects of Unleashed Phase, he still moved at a pace far faster than any normal level-1 human could ever hope to rival as his feet stomped down on grass and dirt. The wind picked up and ruffled his clothing as he made a dash past a familiar-looking farmhouse; the farmer who owned it was sitting on the porch, and his eyes lit up with recognition as Zach passed him by. ¡°H-hey!¡± he shouted. ¡°You owe me for that fence of mine you broke!¡± ¡°I forgot!¡± Zach called back to him as he zipped by. ¡°I¡¯ll definitely pay you back, I promise!¡± ¡°Naw, it¡¯s all right, son!¡± the man shouted as Zach pulled away from him. ¡°Consider it even for savin¡¯ all those lives.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± Filled with energy, Zach raced quickly up a steep hill and then soared past a chicken coup, beyond which was another hill. And it was upon reaching the top of this hill that Zach began to nod his head even as he ran, mentally psyching himself up for what he could now actually enjoy because he was aware of it in advance. As his destination approached ahead of him, he leaned forward slightly as he ran. With careful precision, he angled his body, oriented himself so that he pointed in the exact correct direction, and took a deep breath. Then, abruptly bending his knees, he leapt up into the air, flipped twice, and then extended his arm perfectly out in front of him as he disappeared inside of a gigantic boulder with his body now pointed directly downwards. For the first time in his life, he was getting to dive into a pool. Unlike last time, he let out a cheer of enjoyment rather than a cry of fear as he flew downwards through the darkness. With the element of terror removed, he now realized that the drop was nowhere near as bad or as scary as it had been the first time he had come here to Catacombs of Yorna. With a giddy laugh, he landed with a gigantic splash into the pool. Now that he had actually brought himself here, he was no longer quite so limited on time, and so he actually decided to take a few minutes to enjoy himself and swim a few laps back and forth in the pool while doing the breaststroke. One of the most fascinating things he¡¯d discovered since becoming an adventurer was that, when setting out to do something that seemed stupid and dangerous, he could never tell in advance if he was going to be terrified or excited and eager when he showed up. For whatever reason, there was just no way of knowing until he was actually here, in the moment. After enjoying a good swim, he exited the pool and stretched his one arm out wide. Oddly enough, his opposite shoulder had stopped itching. And it actually looked kind of longer now. It was as though the amputation had occurred a few inches lower along his upper arm as opposed to the shoulder blade. And also¡­now that he thought about it, he felt like he could kind of blink ¡°something.¡± He didn¡¯t want to call it his right eye, because that wouldn¡¯t be entirely accurate. But there was something there: something that vaguely felt like an eye behind all that gauze and tape, but also something that wasn¡¯t quite an eye, either¡ªwell, not yet anway. Doing a few quick squats, rotating his shoulder cuffs, and stretching his neck, Zach got ready to burn through this place like a fucking barn-fire. He had come here with a purpose in mind: a goal. And that goal was simple. He was going to get his Gods-damned sword back: his Yorna¡¯s Sword of Courage. He was going to restore himself. And to do that, it would begin with regaining the weapon he¡¯d earned but had lost. He was also fairly sure he knew where he could again obtain it: B5¡ªMoldark. He¡¯d had a quest, hadn¡¯t he? Before Rian and Lienne had fucked it all up. Moldark the NPC¡ªbefore turning into a boss on floor B10¡ªhad wanted like spider silks or something, right? Zach was sure that if they would¡¯ve all done the quest the proper way, all three of them probably would¡¯ve gotten one of those swords. Oh, wait a second! Does that also mean I¡¯ll get more of those stones, too? he wondered. He hoped so. He really hoped so. He would be rich beyond his wildest dreams. Drawing his sword in a tight, one-handed grip, he hurried his way out of the pool room, down the narrow hall, and into the stairwell labeled B0->B1. Marching down the steps, he emerged in a now familiar location: the rock-and-gravel covered cavernous area of B1. And as he had done on his first trip here, he squeezed through the tiny little opening in the wall that was too small to fit without scraping his body against the rock. Though, with his constitution now at 11, his skin was more likely to leave a scratch in the passage than the passage was likely to leave a scratch in his skin. As Zach maneuvered three-quarters of the way through the opening, he immediately paused, laughed greedily, and then used his elbow to squish the tiny little spider crawling on the wall for an easy +1xp. Hey, why not? No, really, why not? What did it cost him to do that? Every point added up. With his one experience point now added to his total, he continued to shimmy his way through the passageway. Now, emerging into the first of two much-wider areas, Zach, without even bothering to turn his head to look, pivoted lightly on his feet and thrust his sword off to his right side, killing a Skelly Grunt that he knew was there waiting for him. Then, for no other reason than he thought it would be fun, he briefly sheathed his sword and extended his palm in the direction of the other Skelly Grunt across the room, and with that, he activated his equipment set ability, causing a spinning black ball to emerge from the palm of his hand, which streaked across the air before striking Skelly Grunt B. Then Zach laughed at his own stupidity as a ¡°0¡± popped up above the skeleton¡¯s head. He¡¯d forgotten that dread magic doesn¡¯t do any damage to the undead. But it did at least serve as an easy, cheap, and literally effortless way to pull a mob without having to use any exertion. ¡°Frrruughhh!¡± the scimitar-wielding skeleton roared as it ambled towards him. At this point, even putting stats aside, Zach had become so much more proficient with the use of a sword that even if he didn¡¯t have much better stats now than he¡¯d had the last time he¡¯d come through here, he still wouldn¡¯t have had to worry. The skeleton raised its sword to strike, but Zach was faster. With a quick, efficient, but very light strike across the chest, he laid into the 45HP mob for 91 damage while barely straining himself in the process. As the skeleton crumpled to a pile of bones, and a +25xp appeared in the air where it had just been standing, Zach again briefly sheathed his sword, bent down, grabbed a nice, fresh bag of skelly chips, tore it open, poured half of them in his mouth at once, then tossed the other half of the bag over his shoulder while he crunched with his entire mouth stuffed full like a child. Interestingly, he did not see any of his old belongings here in the center of the room where he¡¯d spilled them. This left him genuinely baffled. Had someone come and stolen all of his shit? Or was there like a secret janitor that cleaned this place up? There wasn¡¯t even a trace of the mess he¡¯d left in the middle of the floor in this area from the first time he¡¯d come here. Oh well. With a playful little flourish, he twirled his sword and then stepped through another narrow opening in another wall and into the next area. The moment he entered, five Skelly Grunts all converged on him at once, with three managing to swing their scimitars at him at almost the exact same time. Yet even that tiny disparity in speed was enough for Zach to deftly swat away each one and return with a strike of his own. Honestly, he was toying with these things. He doubted their scimitars could even still do all that much more than scratch him. Lobbing off the heads of the remaining two Skelly Grunts, he pulled up his stats. Zachys Calador: Level 13 (2593/15000) Armor Bonus: 12 12 strength 8 dexterity 9 constitution 49 intelligence 6 speed 5 luck Yeah. He had now become way, way, way too high level for these peasant Skelly Grunts. Even with the full +25xp a kill as a result of being solo, it was barely making a dent. With a shrug and a sigh, he hurried on and quickly traversed a tunnel that led to a metal door labeled B1->B2. ¡°Okay, here¡¯s where I¡¯ve got to rush,¡± he said aloud to himself. Stepping through the metal door and into what, at least for now looked like your ordinary, garden-variety stairwell complete with a metal railing and short, easy steps, Zach grinned, straightened his back, and then called upon what had become his favorite ability. Once more, Zach Calador became unleashed. All at once, his skin began to glow and a constant smoke of such darkness it seemed almost illusory began to rise from his hand and both his feet. And now, he saw the world far differently than before¡ªor at least he did after a moment, as he had to will forward all the information he¡¯d dismissed when he¡¯d fought Ziragoth. First, he brought back his experience bar and put it below him. Then, he brought up a list of his abilities and their costs in time, with the duration of his Unleashed Phase on top. As a testament to how little exertion he burned on the way down here, he began with 14:99, which meant that he had only had to pay for a second¡¯s worth of energy replenishment.
Unleashed Phase Duration 14:59 Remaining
Wave Slash 1:15
Boundless 0:10
Phase Blink 0:20
Phase Shield (READY) (25 seconds) 0:45
Phase Rescue 0:35 / 2:15 (if used with Boundless)
Phase Slash 1:10 / 6:10 (if used with ??)
While he was at it, he decided to take a quick peek at his stats again.
Name Zachys Calador
Level 13
EXP 2593/15000
Armor Bonus 47
Strength 32
Dexterity 28
Constitution 29
Intelligence 69
Speed 26
Luck 25
Now, with his stats having been boosted by twenty across the board, he felt wonderful: better than wonderful, even. He inhaled, filling his lungs with fresh, invigorating air as a tremendous sense of power and control came upon him. He was stronger, quicker, better coordinated, and he had much greater balance on his feet. Since there was nothing in this next stretch to kill, Zach sheathed his sword. Then, confidently grinning, he exploded forward with enough momentum that he remained airborne for almost ten full seconds. By the time his feet again clicked against the stairs, they were already nearly two-feet high and several feet apart. Zach didn¡¯t care. Once again, he blasted himself forward, and he did so again and again each time he landed. In less than half a minute, he managed to cover a distance that had originally taken him, Lienne, and Rian almost three hours to cross. Now, the drop between steps had reached the point where Zach had originally began sitting down and sliding off to soften the blow. This time, however, he merely ran forward, and now, as the distance between each step grew longer and longer, he was finally able to enter into a full sprint. He simply could not believe the speed at which he was clearing this stairwell from hell. The most amazing part of all was that, now that he was able to travel this way, he kind of didn¡¯t want it to end. He was actually enjoying this. Eventually, however, he reached the final step. He smiled, remembering the daring maneuver he¡¯d had to pull off to get down this massive drop. This time, however, he merely spun around so that his back-faced the ledge, and then he extended his arm widely, closed his one working eye, and allowed himself to fall backwards off it. For a few seconds, he relaxed his body and simply enjoyed the feeling of the freefall. Then, a moment before impact, he spun his body twice midair and landed nimbly on his feet¡ªand all with 13:58 remaining on Unleashed Phase. ¡°Okay, easy,¡± he said aloud. ¡°Next.¡± Even amid all his confidence and feeling of strength, he had to admit that he did feel a nervous pinch in his belly as he placed his palm flat on the metal push door labeled B2. It wasn¡¯t that he actually held any concern that the Eeps on this floor could do him bodily harm, as even in their giant swarm, his constitution was wayyyyy too high for their teeth to penetrate his skin. Rather, he simply disliked the general scenery and ambience of the place. It had not been pleasant. Breathing out a sigh, he pushed open the door and then stepped back into the world he had later learned was called Earth and was supposedly the birthplace of humanity. Immediately, the smell of smoke and ash filled his nose. Behind him was the same brick wall he¡¯d seen last time, and ahead of him was the same dark corridor that led to a literal dungeon filled with the tortured remains of actual living beings. The fact that he now knew for certain that they were real and not just dungeon props made him feel a bit sick to his stomach. As it had done last time, the metal door collapsed and fell to the floor once Zach was completely through it. Pausing for just a very brief moment to consider his options and how best to spend his time, he decided to avoid messing with the Eeps, as even if he killed the entire swarm and got solo xp for it, it still wouldn¡¯t be worth it, as they were only worth +10xp a kill solo, and the time required to kill all 300 of them would be wasted. Deciding to just breeze past this floor, Zach took off at run so fast that his eye could barely register the grisly scenes all around this dark environment, which was lit only by torches placed around columns spaced far enough apart that there were areas of complete darkness in between. Aside from those torches, the only other source of light was the little bit of reddish light that streaked in from some of the small windows on the tops of some of the cells. Overall, the visibility in B2 was quite awful and was just as bad as Zach remembered it. It wasn¡¯t even just the lack of light, either: there was also a mist that that rose several-feet high and made anything below his knees impossible to see. The poor lighting and dense, rising mist, combined with the incredibly fast Eep respawn timer, was what had made this such a perilous journey the first go around. There were so many Eeps that one wrong move could bring the entire horde down on an unsuspecting adventurer. But none of that mattered this time, of course, because he was now burning across this dungeon so Gods-damned fast that he really didn¡¯t have to worry about the individual Eeps or the swarm. He simply bypassed them. He moved with such rapidity that, by the time the things actually took aggro, he was too far gone for them to ever catch up. Doing his best not to look at the insurmountable levels of cruelty on display in this hellish, literal dungeon, Zach continued to burn his way through this floor like it was nothing. Eventually, he reached the shutter door that led to that gross cafeteria. Strangely, though, as Zach approached, he realized that the shutter door had none of the cosmetic damage left on it from the last time he was here and was now back where it belonged despite the Eeps having broken it down. Rather than slow down and yank it open, Zach decided to save time and simply ram his entire body through it. With a deafening bang, he exploded into the door, which was then sent flying at tremendous speed across the cafeteria before smashing into one of the old, burned tables, which was knocked straight upwards, where it flipped three times in the air before miraculously landing back down right-side up. Then, with a second, but less intense bang, the garage-sized shutter door smashed against the floor. ¡°B2 is too easy,¡± Zach said with a laugh. Once more soaring forward, he recklessly tore his way through the cafeteria. At first, he had to constantly slow down to avoid this obstacle or that obstacle. But then he realized it was all a waste of time, and so he decided to run in a straight line, and whatever ended up in his way ended up in his way, and so be it. The result was a cataclysmic eruption of bangs and booms as he ran into tables, chairs, and benches. The collision with his speeding body caused them to hurtle across the cafeteria as he ripped his way through it, creating secondary bangs as some crashed into others and a few ended up flying through large glass windows. He¡¯d almost feel bad for making a mess of the place if it wasn¡¯t already a decayed, burned-up husk spilling over with rot and rust. Thanks to a speed fast enough that it would make his past-self jealous, he managed to make it to the car garage with 12:45 left on Unleashed Phase. And it was here that things finally clicked in his head. Upon seeing the yellow, stylish Ford Mustang parked exactly where it was the last time he had come through here, it finally dawned on him why his stuff was missing from B1, the damage they¡¯d inflicted last time had become undone, and the car garage was essentially unchanged. The floors must reset after a certain amount of time, he realized. Although just a guess, Zach imagined that, as long as a floor wasn¡¯t too badly tampered with, such as B7 literally being nothing more than a beautiful beach in Shadowfall Coast, everything would likely eventually reset to a default state. Whether it was based on time or some other factor, Zach could not say. But he must surely have been correct, because unless that guy¡­what was his name again? Reni Sarwin? Yeah. Unless that guy Reni Sarwin had driven the Ford Mustang back here to be polite, then things had reset. But then what happens to the version of the car I gave him? This was definitely a question he¡¯d need to ask Mr. Oren or Donovan about the next time he saw them. For now, however, he had to make a snap decision as to whether or not he should take off at a run or use a car to drive to Angelica¡¯s. On the one hand, Zach knew for sure that he could run faster than these ¡°cars¡± could go even at their full speed¡ªbut only slightly. On the other hand, he also knew that would exhaust the hell out of him. Having already wasted five seconds in thought, he decided to just take the car again because he¡¯d loved it last time. It might be a bit tougher now though to operate it while missing his right arm and hand. Still, he thought he could make do. But first, he approached the gigantic metal shutter and tried to remember where the switch was that Lienne had activated to open it up and allow their escape. Growling, he struggled to find where it was, wasting even more time. But then he abruptly stopped searching, as he remembered that his strength was also now literally on the level of a God, at least when compared to an ordinary, level-1 human being. Could he really not just simply bash it down? Like, sure, maybe it looked impossible. It looked like it couldn¡¯t be done. But nevertheless, Zach continued to wonder: why could he not just punch or kick the entire garage shutter clean off the building? To hell with it. I¡¯m trying it. With his sword still sheathed, he chambered his left knee into his chest, and then with all his strength, he shouted out a loud grunt and sent his left foot soaring forward. To both his amazement and disbelief, he not only knocked the entire wall-sized shutter door clean off the parking garage and sent it hurtling into the air and through an old, burned-up house across the street, but he also took the rest of the wall with it as well as the front door. ¡°I can¡¯t believe how strong I am,¡± he said. Then he chided himself. Because he remembered this level of strength was still nothing compared to Ziragoth or even what most of the adventurers he¡¯d met so far were capable of. Hell, even Mister and Misses Britethorn could probably literally punch his head off his shoulders with a right hook. I have a long way to go, he thought. Grabbing the car keys where he¡¯d found them last time, he hurried inside the Ford Mustang, turned on the engine, and though somewhat uncomfortable and awkward, he still managed to both steer and manage that stick-thing that took the vehicle out of parking mode. He wasn¡¯t sure what it was called, as these kinds of vehicles did not exist on Galterra. Backing out and then turning the vehicle onto the road, he disengaged what he¡¯d come to think of as ¡°reversal¡± mode and put the car in ¡°D¡± which he guessed meant ¡°drive,¡± though he couldn¡¯t be certain. Either way, it did what he needed it to do, and so with a roar from the primitive¡ªbut somehow oddly charming¡ªgas-powered engine, he slammed his foot down onto the acceleration pedal and took off, gaining speed at a rate much slower than a DEHV but steady enough to not make things difficult on what was very much an old, dilapidated highway from a civilization he simply could not believe used to be the birthplace of humanity. Up above, the crimson sky briefly added a blue shine to its all-encompassing red as a bolt of lightning streaked across. Zach wondered what in the name of the Gods the humans of the past had done to turn the sky red. Or had it always been red? He had no clue, but if he had to take a guess, he¡¯d bet on it once having been blue, as the color of it right now just did not seem natural. Whatever humans had been up to in the long-ago past, they¡¯d really screwed things up big time. As much as he wanted to slow down to learn more and take in the remnants of humanity¡¯s past, his Unleashed Phase was now down to twelve minutes, and he couldn¡¯t risk wasting any time for the sake of exploration. Even as he kept the acceleration pedal depressed and roared along at over a hundred miles per hour, he knew it would still take another three minutes of his time¡ªat the least¡ªbefore he got to his next exit. And as things turned out, it ended up taking four! With 8:07 remaining on Unleashed Phase, Zach bolted into the underpass, not even stopping to look at his available points listed on the sign, then grabbed the metal door that led to Angelica¡¯s, flung it open, and threw himself inside. ¡°Hi, Angelica!¡± he said cheerfully, sparing just one quick second to inhale the aroma of her cooking that he had grown to love. At the moment, she was washing the inside of a mug with a cloth rag. Upon hearing his voice, she looked up at him and her ears twitched; she appeared genuinely surprised to see him there. ¡°Hi, Zach,¡± she said. He waved. ¡°Bye, Angelica.¡± He turned right back around, opened the exit door, and then ran through it. As it closed, he heard her say, ¡°Bye, Zach!¡± Dashing down a brief flight of stairs, he slammed his way through the metal door labeled B2->B3 and then continued to run as he shivered from the intense cold of whatever planet this was. Once more, he was faced with the question of whether to stop for XP, and once again, he decided against it. The real XP to be had was on B6. Every single second he wasted here hunting scarecrows and pumpkins would actually not be worth the investment of time. B6 would be where he gained his levels¡ªas well as hopefully his sword back. That floor was just one straight corridor filled with so many easy-to-kill things that gave so much xp. He was going to be drowning in xp. Everything until then was a distraction. Just keep going. Ignore everything else! Despite entering this floor with only 8 minutes on Unleashed Phase, Zach unbelievably managed to reach the exit with 7:31 remaining. He was also given +450xp for his trouble just by touching the door, which was basically nothing. He honestly couldn¡¯t believe there had been a time where he thought that was a lot. It also meant that, back then, they actually could have continued to hunt the mobs and get the bonus. He didn¡¯t realize that all you physically needed to do was touch the damn door and not necessarily go through it! It was a shame he wouldn¡¯t be staying long in this place, though¡ªand by ¡°long¡± he meant another second. It was so beautiful now that the sun was out. He wondered if it was only so cold because he was on top of a large mountain that gave off a view of a beautiful forest in the distance, where the same exotic birds as last time could be seen frolicking in the sky. One day, he needed to come back here and explore this planet. Not just this one tiny little dungeon floor, but all of it. Ah well, nothing to do but keep on moving. With a satisfied grunt, Zach pushed open the metal door and prepared to step inside. He was making incredible progress. Hopefully, he¡¯d still have enough time left on Unleashed Phase to level up once or twice before he had to rest and¡ª ¡°Help!¡± a woman¡¯s voice screamed, as Zach placed one foot inside the metal door. ¡°Huh?¡± he said aloud. ¡°Could¡¯ve sworn I just heard someone scr¡ª¡± ¡°Someone, please help me!¡± the voice cried again. Confused and alarmed, Zach backed away from the metal door and turned around. The sound of the voice seemed to be coming from somewhere off to his left. Becoming curious, he decided to risk just a few seconds of time to see what in the name of the Gods he¡¯d just heard, as it was possible another adventurer was also making her way through the dungeon and had bitten off more than she could chew, and if so, Zach obviously had to help her. Heading back the way he came for about twenty feet, he realized that the source of the cry for help was coming from all the way across the pumpkin patch. His first time here, it had been night, and he hadn¡¯t been able to see very far into the distance. Now, however, he could see that what he thought at the time was a near endless field of pumpkins was actually a lot smaller than he¡¯d been led to believe under the darker lighting. It ended with an ordinary wooden fence, behind which was an immensely steep hill of the sort one could only slide, not walk down. And beyond that hill were many miles of grassy plains that, even farther into the distance, eventually seemed to lead into another forest. And something, Zach now saw¡­something was emerging from this forest. Multiple things, actually. Right now, emerging from the forest were a bunch of¡­ Zach¡¯s breath caught in his throat, and it actually made him choke and gasp as a sight so out of this world came across his vision that it overloaded his ability to mentally react to it. What he spotted just then was so absurd it served to directly challenge his sanity. ¡°Okay. Yeah, no,¡± he said with a shake of his head. ¡°Not this time. No thank you. I¡¯m out of here.¡± There were some situations in life for which a real, genuine expenditure of time, thought, and effort was required in order to form a rational and reasonable assessment. Then there were other times when something was simple, obvious, or otherwise immediately apparent upon first glance. But this, however¡­this downright ludicrous, preposterous spectacle was neither of those two. This was an entirely new type of situation¡ªat least to Zach, anyway. It was the kind of situation where the sight that greeted his only working eye was simultaneously far too confusing and baffling to understand, yet he still did not need more than a fraction of a fraction of a second to assess right away, without even so much as a moment to process the information, that he wanted nothing to do with it. Truly, all Zach really needed was a glimpse: a mere glimpse of what emerged from those trees, and that, all on its own was enough for him to know it was time to get the fuck out of here, because he was having none of this. Since becoming an adventurer, he had seen a lot of strange shit. Oh, yes indeed he had. He¡¯d encountered a dragon, he¡¯d been toppled by forks that spat out exploding mucus, he¡¯d adopted a talking cat, he¡¯d cut a world leader¡¯s hand off, he¡¯d been to other planets, and he¡¯d made friends with an NPC that lived outside the edge of the known universe and ran her own tavern and inn. So yeah. Zach had definitely now seen his fair share of inexplicably strange, bewildering things. But this? This shit was on a whole different level. Would anyone even believe him if he told them what he saw down that steep hill beyond the pumpkin patch? It was so simple to describe, yet so outrageously unbelievable. Even though Zach did not do drugs, he wondered if he was high. That was the extent to which this simply unreal scene boggled his mind. Right now, what appeared to be a massive horde of level-18-to-24 decaying, lime-colored, shortsword-wielding zombies on roller-skates were working together with a gigantic, level-27 electric toothbrush the size of a statue, whose bristles shot off constant sparks of electricity, to chase after about fifty or maybe even sixty green- and white-cloaked Elves armed with bows and arrows¡ªall while unicorns ridden by even more Elves flew across the sky, and with a level of violence Zach had not seen since Ziragoth, were both viciously killing and being killed by winged, level-25 skeleton horses mounted by level-22 mummies. Oh, right. And the woman who¡¯d screamed earlier was actually a talking black Labrador retriever with a jetpack on its back. ¡°Someone help! Please!¡± the dog cried with both words and barks as it flew up into the air and shot lasers out of its eyes, causing one of the winged skeleton horses to explode in a shower of bones. ¡°We¡¯re being overrun!¡± Zach nodded as he watched the situation unfold. Then he laughed and wiggled his finger. ¡°Not this time, universe. Nice try. Really, nice try. But not this time. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m getting involved in that shit.¡± The spectacle before him was so crazy and so otherworldly that Zach could not even process an emotional response to it. He merely rolled his one eye and began to turn around to leave¡ªand then he halted abruptly, dropped his jaw, and worried his heart might stop in his chest as for some Gods-damned reason he saw his very own Kalana of all beings in this world running for dear life away from a bunch of zombies that had just surrounded her. How? Why? How is she even here? To say that Zach had no clue whatsoever how, why, and what Kalana was doing down there would be putting it so mildly that the words would fail to capture even a fraction of a percent of the confusion he felt as he saw her fleeing for her life. Even from such a far distance, he could clearly make out her distinct features. She was the girl he loved above all, and he would recognize her from ten worlds away, let alone a cliff-like hill and a section of plains. Because of this, Zach did not actually care¡ªat least not yet¡ªwhat possible reason Kalana could have for being involved in what looked like a war between cartoon characters when she was supposedly off in Shadowfall Coast building up fortifications for when the dragon arrived. The only thing¡ªthe only thing¡ªthat mattered was that his Kalana was in danger. And so, sparing not a second thought, he activated Boundless, followed immediately by Phase Rescue. He did not care that he had just spent 2:25 of his remaining time. He would Phase Reset himself to death if it was for her. Whatever it was she¡¯d gotten herself involved in, he would figure it out later. For now, he merely watched with terror in his heart as roller-skating zombies came so Gods-damned close to decapitating her. Luckily, the blue, shrinking orb took her away just in time, and now, Zach rushed forward to embrace her as she appeared before him. ¡°Kal, thank the Gods you¡¯re okay,¡± he said, wrapping his arm around her. ¡°Why are you here? What in the name of the Gods do you think you¡¯re doing getting involved in some crazy shit like that? I can¡¯t believe you¡¯d¡ª¡± ¡°Get your hands off me, human!¡± Kalana screamed at him. Zach wasn¡¯t sure what she did to him. He had absolutely no idea how he was now on his back staring up at the sunny blue sky in this cold but beautiful world of purple pumpkins and roller-skating zombies. Presumably, she used some kind of martial arts shit on him. He didn¡¯t know. He was too confused to really understand anything as Kalana lifted her foot, which he now saw was covered in a steel-plated boot, and sent it soaring down towards his neck. ¡°Kalana, what in the hell are you¡ª¡± ¡°Did you just say Kalana?¡± Kalana asked, her foot stopping midair mere inches from stomping his face in. ¡°Yeah, of course I¡­¡± With only one working eye, Zach squinted. ¡°Holy shit. You¡¯re not Kalana!¡± Now that she was closer to him, he could see that this woman was not his Kalana after all. She was older, maybe by about twenty years, but from a distance, the two were so similar looking that it was literally impossible to tell the difference. The resemblance was so extreme that he couldn¡¯t possibly blame himself for mistaking the two of them. ¡°Kalana who?¡± the woman said to him. ¡°Kalana¡­who?¡± Zach repeated. ¡°What is this, a fucking knock-knock joke? Lady, this was my bad. I¡¯ll just¡ª¡± ¡°Kalana who?¡± she thundered. ¡°What¡­is her last name? The last name of the Kalana you mistook me for.¡± ¡°Ohh, right. Of course that¡¯s what you meant,¡± Zach said with a chuckle. ¡°I thought you were Kalana Vayra, my girlfriend. I¡¯m sorry.¡± All at once, the woman¡¯s face brightened, and for a reason Zach couldn¡¯t begin to understand¡ªespecially with all this other insane, lunatic shit happening around him¡ªher eyes began to dampen, and soon after, she began to fully weep. ¡°She¡¯s okay?¡± Zach narrowed his eye. ¡°Wait, you know her?¡± ¡°Know her? She¡¯s my daughter! I am Queen Fylwen Vayra, and my people and I have been hiding here on Archian Prime for the last decade, as I have taken to rebuilding our kingdom here while my husband and daughter take refuge on Galterra until we are strong enough that I can ensure their safety among us.¡± She extended her hand, and Zach took it. She lifted him up, and he nodded his thanks. ¡°Sounds like a lot of work,¡± Zach said with a smile, dusting off his tunic and pants. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll tell her you said hi. I don¡¯t mean to be impatient, but I don¡¯t have a lot of time to chat and¡ª¡± ¡°You look capable. You must help me. Please!¡± ¡°Uh, help you?¡± Zach asked, as a sinking feeling of dread entered his stomach. He had a strong sense that this woman was about to say something he really didn¡¯t want to hear. She nodded. ¡°The vampires have broken their treaty, and now they¡¯re sending the forces of the undead to raid our villages.¡± Zach groaned. ¡°Ahhh, fuck. I knew it was going to be something like this. Listen, Miss Vayra, I have to be honest with you. There¡¯s some really, really serious shit going on back on Galterra, and I need to get to B6 and¡ª¡± ¡°Please,¡± she begged. ¡°You say you are my daughter¡¯s consort, yes?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t¡­I mean that¡¯s not the term I¡¯d use if I¡¯m being honest, but¡ª¡± ¡°Then help her mother. Please. You must.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to give me much of a choice, are you?¡± ¡°I am sorry, but I¡¯m afraid not.¡± Zach swore, and he didn¡¯t even care that a literal queen heard him do it. ¡°Mother fucker how does this keep happening to me? How? Okay, fine. I¡¯ll go fight zombies now. Because why not? This is some bullshit. How does the universe even allow me to be in another thing like this? There has to be some kind of upper limit to how fucked one person can be on a weekly basis! When do I get a pass? When?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, young man.¡± ¡°Yeah, whatever,¡± he said as he drew his blade. ¡°At least they look like they¡¯ll be worth xp.¡± Chapter 57: Shadowfangs Chapter 57: Shadowfangs Having been roped into yet another hopelessly perilous situation, Zach had no choice but to momentarily abandon his current objective and replace it with one so bizarre he couldn¡¯t help but question whether this was truly real or all some delusion he¡¯d conjured up in his head. Surely it was at least possible, no? Maybe Ziragoth had actually struck him with a finishing blow after all, and everything that was happening now was just one final dream churned out by his dying brain. Hell, that made more sense than this¡­this calamity of flying unicorns and roller-skating zombies he was about to wade right into. With his sword gripped in his left hand, Zach muttered angrily as he swatted away scores of leaping, teeth-gnashing, and foul-smelling purple pumpkins with minimal effort, causing sprays of the odious, pungent, and disgustingly bitter-tasting purple slime to get all over his tunic, legs, and face. This, as he followed after a clearly agitated Elvish woman whom he still couldn¡¯t believe was Kalana¡¯s actual mother. Zach kept himself closely behind her as she led him directly through the field of scarecrows and pumpkins and towards a hill that was so steep the two of them would have to slide down a several-hundred-foot slope to descend it. Every few steps, she looked over her shoulder, and though she sent her gaze in Zach¡¯s direction, she seemed to be peering at something behind him. Assuming this woman was who she claimed to be, Zach had so many questions for her that he¡¯d have to wait until later to ask, such as whether or not Kalana knew that her mother was here on this planet and building a kingdom for her and her father¡ªand if not, why Fylwen hadn¡¯t at least let her daughter know she was alive and well. He also wanted to know if she was aware that Kalana had begun leveling all on her own and was now an international superstar. And I am too now, Zach thought bitterly. Genuinely, being in the spotlight was not something he¡¯d ever wanted to begin with, and now that he¡¯d experienced firsthand how people were reacting to him, it was something he wanted even less. Truly, there were so many people around the world who desperately craved fame and fortune¡ªbut Zach? He was good with just fortune, thanks. At any rate, though he¡¯d need to ask Fylwen to be certain, he very much doubted that Kalana had any idea what her mother had been up to all this time. By now, Zach had to imagine it would¡¯ve been something she¡¯d have told him. Though, to be fair, Kal was definitely the type to keep secrets, especially those that pertained to her past or her Elvish ancestry. Even still, his instincts told him she would be just as surprised to learn what her mother had been up to this past decade as Zach himself had been. Assuming this is really Kal¡¯s mom, Zach thought to himself. Can this really be her? As shocking a notion as it was, he couldn¡¯t deny the near-perfect resemblance. The two of them looked remarkably identical with their short, golden, and curly hair, as well as their green, wondrous eyes. They were also exactly the same height and had very similar voices¡ªthough Kal¡¯s mother¡¯s was a tad bit deeper and her speech patterns more regal and eloquent. Actually, their manner of speech was likely the only way Zach could even tell them apart aside from the handful of wrinkles that contrasted Fylwen¡¯s otherwise seemingly youthful features. Even the sway of this woman¡¯s hips as she walked reminded him of Kal. In fact, from the back side of her, Kalana¡¯s mother looked exactly the same as her daughter to the extent that Zach had to actively remind himself that the figure strutting before him was not his girlfriend; this, shamefully, was a really important thing for him to keep firmly planted in mind as, much like Kalana, she seemed to share the same proportions in all other areas as well¡ªso naturally, Zach was tempted to drop his gaze down a little farther¡­ Don¡¯t you dare look, Zach told himself. You¡¯re better than that, Zach. You¡¯re not an animal. Don¡¯t even think of looking at her ass. Don¡¯t. You. Dare! In order to keep a clear conscience, Zach pretended that her booty was radiating a dangerous, ultraviolet light like the sun with the capability of blinding him. He forced his chin to remain elevated and his eye to keep pointing forward as he hurriedly followed after her¡ªall while he continued to effortlessly slice apart pumpkin after pumpkin, barely moving his arm. He merely flicked his wrist or, if absolutely necessary, made light, waving motions with his sword, as the level-four creatures were so far below him that they barely demanded any attention be given to their existence. It wasn¡¯t even out of necessity that he killed them, nor did the paltry +8xp solo experience they provided serve as any kind of motivating factor. Rather, Zach cut them down more or less for the same reason that a person swats flies buzzing too close to their face. Regardless, as someone who was always happy to scoop up easily earned experience points no matter how little, Zach made sure to mentally recognize the fact that he was not in a party with Kalana¡¯s mother so that it would be as true in reality as it was in his head. It seemed to work, as he had already banked 240xp which, while not much, still moved the needle in the right direction, so-to-speak. I¡¯d rather stay here and kill pumpkins all day than have to go down there, he thought with a frown. Taking a glance ahead of him and down below, he once again struggled to believe that he had actually somehow gotten himself involved in this fantastically ridiculous war against a legion of mobs that were, even now, emerging in droves upon droves from this mountainside forest. Though cowardly, he knew if he really wanted to he could simply Phase Blink his way out of this mess and leave this woman to her own problems. Unfortunately, this woman happened to be Kalana¡¯s momma, so he obviously had no choice now but to help her. It was basically required of him. Otherwise, he¡¯d be the scumbag boyfriend who let his girlfriend¡¯s mom die because he didn¡¯t feel like getting into a little danger¡ªor a lot, in this case, at least based on the mind-boggling number of zombies walking¡ªor rather skating¡ªinto view. ¡°Gods,¡± he said aloud as they approached closer and closer to the wooden fence blocking off the several-hundred-feet slope. ¡°There¡¯s so many of them. Miss Vayra, I really don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to be able to do much against that large a number. I¡¯m not as high level as you seem to think I am.¡± ¡°And?¡± she asked, beginning to walk noticeably more slowly for a reason Zach could not discern. She paused briefly, half turned around, and narrowed her eyes at something in the distance back in the direction they¡¯d come. ¡°And¡­well, I¡¯m not going to be able to kill that many of them. Also,¡± he added, growing uncomfortable with her more sedate pace, ¡°there are time constraints, so we need to hurry. It would take me way too long to explain why, so you¡¯ll just have to trust me when I say I can only fight, at the most, for another four minutes and twenty-five seconds: possibly even less.¡± Rather than speed up, Fylwen slowed even further as they neared the fence. Then she again looked over and beyond Zach as though staring at something. This made Zach squeeze his grip tighter on his blade in frustration. Had she not heard a word of what he¡¯d just told her? ¡°Look, I¡¯m only level thirteen,¡± he said to her, to which she cocked an eyebrow as though skeptical of his claim. ¡°But,¡± he clarified, ¡°I can fight like I¡¯m higher level than that for a short period of time.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± she whispered, still regarding him dubiously. ¡°I suppose that explains the black smoke. It must be a buff of some sort.¡± At a more conversational volume, she said, ¡°Well, the good news for you is I do not require you to kill all or even many of them, young man. I only need you to join my people in holding them and buying us time.¡± At this, Zach nodded. ¡°Ah, I get it. Reinforcements are on the way, right?¡± ¡°No,¡± Fylwen replied with a firm shake of her head. ¡°None are needed.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Like you said, human boy, we are very short on time, so I¡¯ll give you the quickest, simplest explanation, and that will have to suffice for now.¡± She extended her arms widely in the direction of the forest, through which an uncountable number of zombies skated out onto the open, shallow-grass-covered clearing from within the dense grouping of large trees, which Zach noted had dark, bluish-green, hexagonally shaped leaves, a color which he found unusual and incomparable to anything he¡¯d seen on Galterra. ¡°Every loathsome, undead creature you see before you,¡± she continued, ¡°all of them¡ªthey are all the doing of just one vampire. Since vampires likely do not exist on Galterra anymore, it¡¯s understandable you do not know of their powers and the limits of those powers.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening,¡± Zach said. She turned around and faced his direction, then began waving her pointer finger at him. ¡°Vampires are a race of beings only capable of using long-range artillery magic and necromancy. They are racially locked to only have 1 point into constitution regardless of equipment worn or buffs received. If you were to ever see a vampire on the field of battle, that vampire has already lost. An ordinary level-1 being could kill a vampire. A mage could fell one simply by hitting the disgusting thing with the blunt end of her staff. For this reason, they hide in the shadows and attack from many miles away.¡± Zach watched as she turned her index finger around and now pointed at herself. ¡°My people and I were scouting for resources in the Shi¡¯Ank woods when we fell for Count Soloux¡¯s ambush. Our entire raiding party was hit with a T4 Enfeebling debuff, causing every one of our stats to plummet. At the same time, the wicked count summoned an entire army of low-level mobs, which we are struggling to deal with now that our stats have been so greatly diminished. It wears off in a few minutes, however. In the state I am in now¡­I would have perished if not for¡­for whatever it was you had done to save me. I thank you.¡± Zach nodded. ¡°You¡¯re welcome. And I¡¯ll help however I can but¡­but look, I¡¯m just one person against¡­¡± He swallowed fearfully as what looked like several-hundred more zombies and now even more of the flying, winged, skeleton horses with their mounted mummies swarmed the steadily retreating Elvish fighters, who were coming closer and closer to the base of the hill that led up to where Zach was now looking down upon them. Even still, a steady hail of arrows every few seconds were launched straight up into the air before falling down and in some cases outright killing dozens of zombies. ¡°I will barely be able to contribute,¡± Zach said. ¡°Like, I might be able to hold one or two at bay out of hundreds. As you can tell, I¡¯m also missing an eye and an arm. So I¡¯m not even at my strongest right now.¡± ¡°Every second you can stall will be a second longer that we live. Also, your Shadowfang will be of great assistance. It is powerful. I can tell.¡± Zach blinked. ¡°Uh, my what?¡± At this, a dark, impatient look came upon Fylwen¡¯s face. ¡°Like you said, we have little time. Please, young man.¡± ¡°My name¡¯s Zach by the way.¡± ¡°Well then: please, Zach. Let us not waste time with this nonsense. I may be the queen, but I am also a high-level Elvish warrior, and I can see that which has been concealed behind a bending of light.¡± Zach lifted his sword along with his hand for a one-armed shrug. ¡°Great. Still have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°Young man!¡± she snapped, and Zach actually flinched at the heat and irritation in her voice. ¡°My people are dying. I do not have time for games.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not playing any games. I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. I don¡¯t even know what a fucking Shadowfang is!¡± She studied his expression for a second¡ªa second which neither of them could really afford¡ªand the look of confusion on her face came across as both genuine and concerning. ¡°How can that be?¡± she asked. ¡°You are clearly here with your bonded Shadowfang, as I am with mine.¡± ¡°Yours?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Yes. Mine.¡± She turned her head somewhat and gestured with her chin at the cute doggie that was flying around the sky with the aid of a literal jetpack while shooting laser beams out of its eyes. ¡°We¡¯re being overrun!¡± she cried. Then the black Labrador retriever barked, and it was a much, much deeper sound. ¡°Awoof! Awoof! Rrrrruuhf! R-r-r-r-rufh! ¡± ¡°That talking dog is a Shadowfang?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Yes. It is a dog-type Shadowfang.¡± ¡°Dog¡­type?¡± Zach widened his eye as things began to dawn on him. ¡°Wait, so that talking, fighting animal is a dog-type Shadowfang. Then¡­can a cat be one too?¡± At this, Fylwen approached to within a few inches of Zach, leaned forward, and intensely studied his eye in a way that made him squirm uncomfortably on instinct. ¡°What?¡± he asked her. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t¡­you don¡¯t know, do you?¡± ¡°Know what?¡± She pointed at a patch of dirt about twenty feet behind him, which was surrounded by the purple slime of two dead pumpkins in a location that, come to think of it, Zach could not recall actually killing any of them in. ¡°Your Shadowfang is right there.¡± Zach squinted his one working eye. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything.¡± ¡°I assure you. The foul creature is¡ª¡± Zach took a reflexive step back, flinching as light seemed to bend on itself, creating a wavy effect in the air like a stone skipped along the surface of a pond. Then things seemed to settle, and for a mere moment, things appeared somewhat blurred before eventually taking form. When they finally did, Zach released an amazed gasp as he saw his black-and-white cat standing there before the two of them and hissing angrily. He appeared to be wearing some kind of magnificently elegant collar, which was made up of a dimly glowing silver. At the center, beneath Fluffles¡¯ chin was a silver-and-gold serpent, and from within this serpent¡¯s mouth, a very small, but constant dark-green gas seemed to trail off and quickly dissipate. ¡°Fluffles?¡± Zach half-asked, half-shouted. ¡°Is that really you?¡± Rather than answer him, the cat again hissed. ¡°Stupid lady call Fluffles foul. Lady is foul and has smelly butt and face.¡± Clearly offended, Fluffles confusingly ran over and hissed at Zach for some reason. ¡°Why Zach let lady say about Fluffles?¡± ¡°Why are you even here ?¡± Zach asked him. ¡°How did you get here? Why did you come here?¡± He moaned and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m so confused. Were you spying on me, Fluffles?¡± The cat meowed. ¡°Yes. Fluffles spy.¡± ¡°So you admit it?¡± Zach exclaimed. ¡°I was being a good cat. Alex say Fluffles watch Zach.¡± ¡°Mr. Oren told you to come here?¡± Seemingly ignoring the question, he yet again faced Fylwen and hissed at her. ¡°Lady call Fluffles foul. Lady have big stupid butt and is dumb.¡± Now, he made an even angrier hiss, and this time Zach detected a note of outrage, as though Fluffles was appalled by something. ¡°And she smell like doggie. Fluffles hate doggie.¡± Zach, terminally confused at this point, opened his mouth to reply, but rather than speak any words, he instead released a shrill, startled cry before ducking out of the way of an errant laser beam that, for some reason, was fired in his direction. Thanks to Unleashed Phase, he was just able to maneuver his body to relative safety as the laser beam collided with the ground and exploded on impact, causing a loud boom to form not far from where he¡¯d been standing and sending about twenty pounds of mud, dirt, and soil shooting straight up into the air. For almost ten, further-wasted seconds, Zach glanced upwards and stared at the earthen mass in confusion¡ªand then he remained perfectly still and frowned with deep resentment as it came pouring right back down on top of him, covering him from head to toe in mud and dirt. A moment later, there came a shout. ¡°Who brought a stupid cat here? Awoof! Awoof!¡± Zach again ducked, this time purely out of being startled, as a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. ¡°Fluffles hate doggie!¡± the cat shouted. The dog, changing the direction of her jetpack¡¯s flame midair, managed to somehow move fast enough to dodge lightning, and then from her eyes, returned another lethal laser beam. ¡°Gods-damn my life and everything in it!¡± Zach cried, looking pleadingly at Fylwen. ¡°Do something! Our pets are PVP¡¯ing!¡± She seemed equally as annoyed as Zach, though in addition, she also appeared disappointed. Zach couldn¡¯t even be bothered to feel disappointment at anything Fluffles did. Just like any other cat, there was no such thing as correcting his behavior or getting him to change. Cats just did what cats do. And in this case, that meant summoning lightning strikes to try and knock a jetpack-utilizing black Labrador retriever out of the sky, while the black Lab returned a series of explosive red laser-beams, none of which even came close to hitting Fluffles, but all of which almost killed Zach. Crying out in both fear and deep unhappiness as he wasted more, precious seconds of his Unleashed Phase, Zach, to his utter misery, found himself dashing every which way to avoid a staggered, but consistent influx of bright, red, and explosive laser beams ¡°Stop it!¡± Zach shouted. ¡°Fluffles, stop now!¡± ¡°Bad girl!¡± Fylwen called to her Shadowfang. ¡°You get down here right now, Chumpkenwiffles!¡± Fluffles hissed angrily. ¡°Chumpkenwiffles is stupid name. Not special name like Fluffles.¡± ¡°Fluffles is the worst name I¡¯ve ever heard!¡± the doggie said. Zach was almost scorched to death by a blaze of fire as the dog showed no concern for his wellbeing as she simply descended right near him, which meant shooting a dual stream of fire below and to each side of herself as she landed with her jetpack. The moment it touched down, she growled and ran straight at Fluffles, who himself hissed and ran straight at her. Zach, stupidly, angrily, and in sheer disbelief, ran directly in the middle of them both, and then he howled in pain as he was both bitten and scratched at the same time. ¡°Fucking cut it out!¡± he shouted. ¡°Ouch, it bit my ass! Do something!¡± ¡°Ok!¡± Fluffles shouted. ¡°N-no, not you!¡± ¡°Fluffles avenge Zach!¡± he hissed and took a swipe at Chumpkenwiffles, who dropped down and rolled over her belly and off to her right to avoid it. So instead of scratching the dog, Fluffles almost took his other eye out, only narrowly missing and hitting his forehead. Then the black Lab growled, and she bit Zach¡¯s shin. ¡°Owe! Get her off me!¡± ¡°Fluffles save Zach.¡± ¡°Ahh!¡± Zach cried as Fluffles swiped his opposite shin so hard that a piece of his pants tore off and hopefully wouldn¡¯t count as an armor break. ¡°Fluffles, please. You¡¯ve got to¡ª¡± Anything he¡¯d been about to say became drowned out amid a viciously angry-sounding back-and-forth of hissing, barking, and growling. Then both animals again went at it, and every bite and scratch landed only on Zach. He found himself taking so many hits so fast that, by the time he managed to stumble out of there, literally half of his tunic was ripped off, exposing his belly button, parts of his chest, and most of his left side¡ªand an entire sleeve of his right pant leg was now gone. It was only by some miracle the two pieces of equipment were not completely broken. ¡°Fluffles, stop it now!¡± Zach shouted at him, bleeding from so many places he might as well have been bleeding from everywhere. None of his wounds were deep enough to pose any real danger, but they all stung and made him wonder if one of the Gods had something personal against him for this kind of shit to be happening. ¡°Please, little buddy,¡± he begged. ¡°We¡¯re in the middle of a fucking zombie war. Are you not aware of that?¡± ¡°Dog worse than zombie. It smell and have stupid dog face.¡± ¡°Awoof! R-r-r-r-rufh! My Queen Vayra, you lets me eat this?¡± she begged. ¡°I want to eats it.¡± ¡°No!¡± she snapped. Then she glared at Zach and pointed at him. ¡°Young man, control your animal!¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Oh, no she didn¡¯t. Tell me she didn¡¯t. ¡°Did you just say my animal?¡± Zach snapped back at her. ¡°Your stupid dog started the fight.¡± ¡°Chumpkenwiffles did nothing wrong, young man,¡± she replied. ¡°She was protecting me from your cat¡¯s aggressive behavior. She did not do anything wrong here.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Fluffles insisted. ¡°Yes! Lady lie. Chumpkenwiffles antagonize Fluffles. Zach saw. Right, Zach? You saw. Zach see Chumpkenwiffles say¡­she say Fluffles stupid cat.¡± ¡°I did not say that,¡± the dog replied defensively. This only seemed to further agitate Fluffles, who literally hopped up and down as if so anxious he could not control it. ¡°Chumpkenwiffles lying!¡± Fluffles shouted. ¡°Zach hear her say it. Chumpkenwiffles is lying bad dog.¡± ¡°No!¡± Chumpkenwiffles barked back. ¡°Fluffles is a bad cat. I am a good girl.¡± ¡°You are the worst dog. Fluffles is the best cat. Even Lienne say Fluffles best cat.¡± ¡°Ry¡¯lina said Chumpkenwiffles is a good girl and the best one.¡± ¡°Lady from the inn say Fluffles the best cat she ever see.¡± ¡°Chumpkenwiffles killed two squirrels today.¡± ¡°Fluffles kill ten birds!¡± ¡°I¡¯m about to kill myself if you two don¡¯t stop¡ª¡± They were already going at it again. And this time, they finally got him. Oh, how they finally got him good. A bolt of lightning and a laser-beam both struck Zach at the exact same time. And while it hurt like a bitch, far worse was the way it knocked him about twenty-feet off the ground. Zach yelped as he was flung backwards, and all at once, he saw Fluffles avert his gaze, Chumpkenwiffles lower her head down in shame, and Fylwen reach her hand out and open her mouth in alarm as Zach found himself launched backwards, over the wooden fence, and then with a terrifying, but at least not too painful bump, he began rolling down the biggest hill he¡¯d ever seen in his life. Worse, he began to pick up speed, too. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Ouch, ouch, ouch!¡± he cried out as he rolled faster and faster, becoming dizzier and dizzier. He now lost total and complete control of his body. The sky was below him, the ground was above him. Then one was to his left and the other to his right. Zwoosh, Zwoosh, Zwoosh. Everything was spinning and spinning, and he was falling and falling. Faster and faster. He vomited, and he was moving so fast that he had no idea where any of it went. His clothing? The side of the hill? It was anyone¡¯s guess. Yet he continued to pick up speed. It became so frightening and uncomfortable he screamed like he was on a rollercoaster; only, at least rollercoasters didn¡¯t hurt this bad or spin this fast. His one arm continued to pound against rocks or Gods knew what. He was moving and spinning too fast to be sure what was even happening. Eventually, however, he finally, finally rolled off the hill, finding himself now spinning over the short, greenish-white-colored grass and sailing past many of the retreating Elves, who shot him confused and uncertain looks as they fired their arrows over his head. ¡°Young human child, fare thee well?¡± one asked. Unlike the other green-cloaked, brown-tunic-wearing Elves, this one dressed in all white with an equally white cloak. ¡°Doth thou require mine own aid?¡± called another, a woman, also dressed in white. ¡°Kid, you okay?¡± asked one of the green-cloaks. ¡°Shit, you took a bad fall there.¡± ¡°Canst thou still fight?¡± a man, this one in all white including long, braided white hair asked of him. ¡°Has¡¯t thee cometh to aid us in this moment of most wondrous peril?¡± I literally want to die, Zach thought. I hope something kills me right now. Seriously, I hope something¡ª ¡°I don¡¯t want to die!¡± he shouted, rolling over as fast as he could possibly manage as a shortsword stabbed into the ground where he had just been lying. Zach frantically scrambled back to his feet and took several steps back. Somehow, still miraculously holding onto his sword, he let his instinct take over and he raised it to block two strikes from two shortswords wielded one to each hand by a pale, hideous-looking creature whose skin was disgustingly peeling off its face and many visible portions of its pale, rotted-away body. It wore nothing more than a pair of genuinely pristine roller skates that seemed totally out of place against its tattered, filthy rags that it wore for clothing, though, to be fair, the same could now be said of Zach, whose equipment was so torn in places that he simply could not believe it had not registered as a break and vanished into smoke. As dozens of Elves retreated further back in the direction Zach had just rolled in on, he put aside every miserable thing that had just happened to him and now focused on surviving the creature right in front of him. Zach regarded his foe as, with a missing arm and a missing eye, he prepared to defend himself against it. He had never seen this type of creature before, but Gods were there a lot of them! They smelled, too¡ªhorribly. They might have been mobs, but that did not prevent them from taking on qualities of real things, as Zach had learned all-too well when it came to killing humanoid mobs that could bleed in Yorna, which¡­actually, that was technically where he was right now, wasn¡¯t he? Or had he just rolled out of what would normally be considered Yorna? Either way, it was a question for later. For now, he was content to assess the pale, rotting thing across from him.
HP 6000/6000
Name Fundead Roller-Ghast 5B
Level 18
Even as hundreds of these things began to swarm the area around him, Zach kept his attention focused solely on the one he had somehow aggroed. Unfamiliar with an enemy like this, he hopped a few steps back to assess and analyze the situation. Unfortunately, he was immediately put on the defensive, as the zombie rushed forward at him on its pair of Gods-cursed roller skates. The footwear clearly served as an apt gap closer and so now Zach was once more forced to fend off a dual strike right at him. Dripping blood from a billion different scratches, bites, and collisions with giant rocks as he¡¯d rolled down here, Zach tried to ignore the fact that he was in so much pain and that his equipment was so torn he was borderline naked. In fact, at least for right now, the damn zombie was better attired than he was, as he had numerous cloth strips just dangling in the air around him, revealing fairly shallow, but still nevertheless bloody cuts, scrapes, and wounds beneath. It was also freezing-fucking cold out here, and worst of all, he now only had 3:03 left on his Unleashed Phase. ¡°Ruuuuhhhh!¡± the zombie moaned. ¡°Ruuuuhhhh!¡± First, it raised its right, badly rotten wrist and took a shot with its sword at his cheek. Then, almost at the exact same time, it brought around its opposite shortsword aimed at his opposite cheek. Even with just one hand, Zach was easily able to deflect both strikes in two quick motions, each deflection resulting in two back-to-back clangs. Upon blocking both shortsword strikes, the zombie again moaned, but this time, it lurched forward on its roller skates. From the way both of its rotten feet were parallel to one another, Zach was unable to determine from which side or in what manner it planned to attack. It was such a weird stance. How did it plan on striking him with either of those shortswords while it advanced in such a flat-footed way? As it turned out, the mob had no intention of using its swords again¡ªat least not this time. And ultimately, it was only thanks to a verbal warning from one of the green-cloaked Elves that Zach managed to avoid what may well have either killed or seriously sickened him. ¡°Don''t let it bite you!¡± called a young Elven kid either the same age or slightly younger than Zach. ¡°Even if you don¡¯t die, it¡¯ll give you a curse!¡± Even with his +20 to speed, the creature was already upon him and moving far too fast for him to even turn around, let alone consider dodging. So instead, Zach left his fate to the mercy of gravity, and he dropped himself straight down onto the grass while simultaneously kicking out both of his feet. Rather than sink its teeth into his flesh as both a cat and dog had just done, Zach instead tripped the zombie, which actually flew forward almost fifteen feet before face-planting onto the ground and taking, what was it, 7 or 8 points of damage? He was barely paying attention. More prudent was seizing an opportunity he now found himself with¡ªeven if it was very short-lived. Even while wearing roller skates, and even while being a Gods-damned zombie, the thing was still able to get back up to its feet in a fairly reasonable amount of time. Zach beat it out by only a few seconds, but by the Gods, he made sure he made excellent use of every last bit of that time. As the ¡°Fundead Roller-Ghast¡± made an eerie sort of vibration-like movement with its arms and legs as it wriggled itself back up to its feet, Zach struck out with as much strength as he could possibly muster while holding his level-1 starter sword in just one hand. Slashing downwards and across the zombie¡¯s face, Zach tore into its flesh and caused a fist-sized clump of horrific-smelling, decayed skin along with a tremendous glob of green pus to stain the surrounding grass around its body. 711 He would¡¯ve hit way harder if he¡¯d had his second arm¡ªespecially to have whacked it over the head as he¡¯d done. Yet there was still time for another hit, and Zach went for it. This time, taking his blade from a low to a high position, he cut up and across the monster¡¯s chin, slicing off half of its nose in the process and causing another giant glob of green pus to fly over its shoulder as a steady stream of it began to first pour, then slow to an ooze. 741
HP 4540/6000
Name Fundead Roller-Ghast 5B
Level 18
Unleashed Phase Duration 02:59 Remaining
Wave Slash 1:15
Boundless 0:10
Phase Blink 0:20
Phase Shield (READY) (25 seconds) 0:45
Phase Rescue 0:35 / 2:15 (if used with Boundless)
Phase Slash 1:10 / 6:10 (if used with ??)
Having landed two successful strikes, Zach went forward to press the attack¡ªthen immediately dashed backwards and dropped to a crouch as a low-flying winged skeleton horse blasted by alongside him, whereupon a mummy holding an axe tried to take his entire head off. Thankfully, the skeletal horse along with its bandage-wrapped rider flew off somewhere out of sight, and Zach stood back to his feet¡ªonly to drop down a second time as yet another flying mummy came so close to splitting open his head that he could hear the whoosh as the axe missed by mere inches overhead. It¡¯s chaos out here! Freezing cold but burning with anger at the universe, Zach, for the second time, got to his feet and prepared to advance on the stupid¡ªbut admittedly appropriately¡ªnamed zombie. This turned out not to be necessary, as while he was dodging the mounted mummies, his new undead friend had already skated his way over to Zach, and with another ¡°Ruuuuhhhh!¡± it began unleashing a constant, wild series of back-to-back one-two combinations, alternating between swinging its left then right shortsword. There was a good deal of strength behind the strikes, too, as putting his one-handed grip aside, he still did not expect to feel this amount of shock each time he deftly flicked his wrist to block an opposite side. Despite attacking in a repetitive, unchanging pattern, the literal bag of decaying flesh counterintuitively struck out with such speed and fervor that Zach, despite knowing the when and where, could not make any time to retaliate with a counter strike. All he could do was backpedal and continue to raise his guard to block these unceasing one-two combinations. Each one landed a quarter of a second after the next, and for whatever reason, the second strike always seemed to make a louder, higher-pitched cling each time Zach blocked it. The result was that he found himself pressed steadily backwards towards the hill he¡¯d rolled down as a constant melody played in the background. Cling CLING. Cling CLING. Cling CLING. Cling CLING. Zach realized he was badly losing ground. Worse, about ten more of these things were coming towards him, including one that looked almost identical except its flesh was completely, totally puke-green as opposed to pale, and its roller skates were blue, decorative, and let out bright yellow sparks as he skated towards Zach.
HP 10000/10000
Name Fundead Shocker 2B
Level 20
Zach swore. They really were being overrun. That damn dog was right. He hadn¡¯t even killed one of these fucking things yet, and already he was going to have to worry about fighting nine more along with an even more powerful one. Deal with the one in front of me first. Then worry about the rest! For the time being, Zach was still locked in a defensive position, the zombie forcing him to continue to block its seemingly never-ending one-two combination. Honestly, having fought a fairly decent variety of sword-wielding mobs by now, Zach found this particular ¡°Fundead Roller-Ghast¡± to be among the worst in terms of its general swordplay and offensive abilities. In fact, if he were to consider strictly only swordsmanship and no other factors, Zach¡¯s honest opinion would be that this was the weakest of all mobs, skill-wise, he¡¯d gone up against. And yet, so far, it was proving to be one of the most difficult¡ªand it was all because of those damn roller skates. Without those, Zach would have dominated and destroyed this damn thing a hundred times over. Yet the rollers-skates not only allowed it to maintain superior positioning pretty much at all times, but it also eliminated the one weakness of its dual-wielded shortswords, which were the weapons¡¯ much-smaller reach. Since the ¡°Fundead Roller-Ghast¡± never had to worry about being outranged, Zach was forced to allow it to set the pace. He needed to reverse that. But how? The thing was swinging so fast that, if he tried dodging to the side instead of continuing to backpedal, he would be hit. If he tried to jump backwards and gain some distance, the thing would just skate to him so fast the distance between them would be crossed before Zach even landed. There were always his abilities, of course, and in truth, a good number of them would be perfect for right about now; unfortunately, however, he did not have enough time left on Unleashed Phase to begin popping abilities. Though, a single Phase Blink right here would really go far towards ending this thing once and for all. How much time do I still have?
Unleashed Phase Duration 02:44 Remaining
Wave Slash 1:15
Boundless 0:10
Phase Blink 0:20
Phase Shield (READY) (25 seconds) 0:45
Phase Rescue 0:35 / 2:15 (if used with Boundless)
Phase Slash 1:10 / 6:10 (if used with ??)
Zach swore. The idea of using Phase Blink might not be such a bad idea after all. Though it cost twenty seconds of time to activate, he¡¯d already wasted almost that much just in defending against this stupidly fast, stupidly strong one-two combination. He needed to deal with this thing fast, as those other ten zombies were closing in on him¡ªno, wait. It was fifteen heading towards him now. No, wait! Twenty! I¡¯m so fucked! No longer willing to idly ruminate on it, Zach decided to go with his gut, and he activated Phase Blink, targeting the ¡°Fundead Roller-Ghast¡± that was right in front of him. Or was it? The moment he activated the ability, he found himself behind the mob so fast that it didn¡¯t even seem like he¡¯d moved or turned himself around. Rather, it looked like the mob inverted itself before him, so that he now faced its back, and it was still facing and slicing where he¡¯d only just been standing. Even before the sonic boom echoed loudly enough to become the dominant sound that drowned out all others, Zach was already swinging his blade with as much speed and strength as he could manage. Furiously, he struck the zombie across the back, tearing an entire section of its rags off and hitting for 521. Then, aiming more carefully, he slashed at its head, and following the bodily departure of another chunk of green pus and decaying skin, Zach saw he¡¯d inflicted 701. As Zach came around for a third attack, it was at this point that his sonic boom erupted in this cold, zombie-infested land so loudly that he managed to inadvertently startle every Elvish warrior around him and even spooked one of them so badly that he dropped his bow. ¡°What in the ever-loving hell was that?¡± a green-cloaked man said a moment after one of his arrows put an end to a zombie with a shot between the eyes. ¡°Verily, I knoweth not,¡± one of the white-cloaks replied. Zach was glad they didn¡¯t know it was him, because now that he saw it had caused them to become upset and confused, he decided it was better if his identity as the culprit remained a secret. At any rate, he had more important things to focus on: such as unloading everything he had into this Gods-damned zombie. Much to his good fortune¡ªor as good a fortune as someone who¡¯d just been mauled by two hyper-sentient animals and thrown down a several-hundred-foot hill after being conscripted into his girlfriend¡¯s mother¡¯s army could possibly be said to have¡ªhis Phase Blink had accomplished even more than he¡¯d originally expected. As these zombies were all wearing roller skates, Zach had never even considered that they would be far slower to fully turn around on their feet than if they had just worn shoes, sandals, or even went barefoot. Now, as this zombie turned around nice and slowly, Zach went to town on the son of a bitch. He finally let himself vent some of his anger. Typically, fighting while pissed off led to making mistakes. But now, he allowed his rage to power him. And so, grunting with each strike, he shouted, ¡°Die. You. Piece. Of. Shit!¡± He punctuated each of his words with a vicious slash aimed squarely at the creature¡¯s head, hitting for 510, 705, 811, 635, and 771. The sight of what he did to the thing with each blow of his sword reminded him of the disgusting way in which he¡¯d killed Moldark. Zach had now caused so many chunks of flesh and green pus to go flying in so many places it was a miracle one of the Elves or one of the mobs didn¡¯t slip on it. Having finally turned around, the zombie shouted, ¡°Ruuuuhhhh!¡± Then it skated towards him and lifted both shortswords as though intending to strike with both in unison.
HP 156/6000
Name Fundead Roller-Ghast 5B
Level 18
Having gotten it so damn low, Zach decided to risk striking out first. Even as he saw both blades streaking towards each side of his face, he shifted all of his body weight forward, and then stepped into a forward thrust, his sword piercing the decaying flesh around the mob¡¯s chest and running him completely through for 679 damage. Then, a moment before Zach could pull his sword back out again, the entire creature began to brighten and turn green. Before Zach¡¯s very eye¡ªand very unwelcoming nose¡ªhe both smelled and saw every last trace of the creature soften and turn into a green ooze, which ended up as a puddle on the grass that did not disappear. +2000xp Zach grinned greedily at the massive amount¡ªat least compared to what he¡¯d seen so far¡ªof xp that he was rewarded with for his kill. His cheer, however, was short-lived, as he soon found himself only moments from being overtaken by five more zombies with a great many still on their way. The one nearest to him skated towards him with his legs parallel. This time, Zach knew what to expect. The creature would try to bite his face off and curse him, wouldn¡¯t it? Knowing in advance what it was going to do, Zach prepared to jump off to the side¡ªand then he slipped in the Gods-damned puddle of green goo and pus from the one he¡¯d already killed. And he didn¡¯t even just do a regular slip, either, like one of those ones where you lose your balanced and fall forward or backwards. Oh, no. This was one of those bad slips. When your entire foot slides forward and up with such force that it causes your whole body to flip backwards and send you crashing down onto your back. ¡°Shit!¡± Zach cried as the roller-skating zombie did not seem to mind that he¡¯d fallen onto his back. The thing was now airborne with its decaying arms extended out in front of it. It was diving at him. The damn thing was actually diving at him! Zach shrieked as its sharp teeth, open mouth, and disfigured, rotten face began to fill his vision. Having absolutely no idea what to do, Zach acted out of literally nothing but fear and reflex. Lying flat on his back, he grabbed his sword, threw himself up into a sitting position, and then jammed his arm straight forward, plunging his blade directly inside the mouth of what had been called ¡°Fundead Roller-Ghast 4X.¡± Due to the momentum of the roller blades, the zombie was unable to stop. It had no choice but to impale its own self onto Zach¡¯s blade, to the extent that, after a brief moment, a lump formed in the back of its skull, and then with a disgusting-sounding tear that Zach knew would haunt his nightmares, his sword reappeared, now poking through the mob¡¯s skull. But it was what he saw next that surprised him the most. Mob-Specific Vulnerability Multiplier: 9x 701 (x9) 6,301 +2000xp Two thoughts immediately formed in Zach¡¯s head. The first was that he had now discovered a way to instantly kill any of these things that tried to bite him¡ªat least the level 18 ones, anyway¡ªand that in itself was totally badass. The second thought that formed was that he really needed to get out of there before it¡ª Too late. Having already been grossed out by the purple pumpkin shit all over him, Zach had something far worse to worry about now as the entire creature melted down into green pus and goo right over him, simply covering him from head to toe in the most foul-smelling, acerbic, and rotten-smelling bile that his poor nose had ever had to endure. Now, drenched in green zombie pus, he shouted out angrily. His Unleashed Phase timer was ticking down, his cat and some dog had kicked the shit out of him, and he smelled like the asshole of a two-thousand-year-old corpse. He was downright miserable. Someone had to pay for this. Chapter 58: Approval Chapter 58: Approval Two hours before the first golden ray of summer sunshine was set to appear above the green, rolling hills in the grasslands ten miles outside the city of Shadowfall Coast, Alex signaled to a team of orange-suited construction workers to spread the steel beams they were staking into the dirt several feet wider apart. They saluted, a gesture he took to mean they understood his instruction. The foreman, who wore a red-striped helmet, shouted orders to the five men nearest him then whistled at one a bit farther away who was carrying a bucket filled with cement in each hand. All six gave a brief nod in reply. From the fearful look in their eyes, Alex could tell that they were worried about still being around here when the dragon finally arrived; he hoped this would not lead to them rushing and making careless errors. The same goes for everyone else, too, he thought. All around him, adventurers, level-one civilians, and various members of the media were abuzz with activity as, under the direction of Zephyr Vextran, hundreds of people worked as fast as humanly possible to turn this atypically flat stretch of terrain into a fortification. It was here in these hilly grasslands, with a view of the brightly lit city beneath the night sky visible in the distance behind them all, that Donovan had chosen to establish their interception point for Ziragoth the Awoken. Therefore, what was normally a quiet, rarely traveled stretch of mostly short grass broken up by the occasional patch of shrubbery had now become a noisy, hectic scene. The sound of saws cutting wood, the banging of hammers, and the roar of the construction DEHVs all joined the buzz of helicopters overhead to create a symphony of industrial madness. Alex actually found himself feeling guilty at the sight of all the small animals that scurried away, clearly agitated by their tranquil habitat suddenly becoming so chaotic. The smells of burning metal, wood, and in some cases smoke also added to the overall disquiet. Though far from the ideal time of day to work on such a complex, highly specific project, a myriad of bright, powerful work lights chased away the darkness and enabled the construction crews to work through the night, which Alex had been informed was typically not something they wanted to do. Given the urgency of the situation, however, there had been no time to wait until sunrise. This had to be done now. What they were preparing to face against required they make use of every second of time available to them until the battle commenced. If any advantage was to be had, then it was incumbent upon them to seize it; this was especially true since millions of innocent lives depended on the success of this raid¡ªprobably more than millions. In fact, if by some horrendous misfortune they were to ¡°wipe¡±¡ªa term colloquially used to refer to the death or escape of all members of a raiding party following an unsuccessful boss-slaying attempt¡ªthe consequences would be so horrifying they sent shivers down his back just to imagine. Even the very idea of a raid wipe against something like this was enough to make Alex breathe heavier. We can¡¯t let that happen. No matter what. If a catastrophe of that magnitude were to occur, the T7 fire wyvern would proceed to eliminate all life in Shadowfall Coast. And then? Then it would probably move north to the Arid Dunes of Bastia before heading to Spider¡¯s Eye Oasis, Giant¡¯s Fall thereafter, and so on and so forth. Unless slain, the dragon would continue to roam from one densely populated area to the next until it had succeeded in either annihilating or chasing off the majority of the human population of North Bastia. And in this instance, Alex was fairly certain the political guilds would not be able to stop it¡ªassuming they even bothered trying in the first place and didn¡¯t simply flee to their friends in the Shores of Wrath in South Bastia. But even if they did attempt to mount a defense, they would most certainly fail. Truly, if Donovan¡¯s raid did not succeed, the result would be a humanitarian disaster worse than anything in any recorded history book. And Alex doubted the other races were in a particularly ¡°helping¡± mood given their treatment at the hands of Peter IV, thus this was one crisis humanity would have to solve mostly on its own. For this reason, ensuring their preparations went smoothly was of the utmost importance, especially with time quickly fading. As of this moment, Alex estimated that a mere thirty hours and eight minutes remained between now and the time when the hundred-forty-seven brave men and women gathered here with him would engage the T7 fire wyvern for what would be the single-most important fight of Alex¡¯s life. More were still on their way, too. They might even break a hundred sixty. But even that did not guarantee success. That was why it was so important that everything now went according to plan. There was no wiggle room. There was no margin for error. They could not afford to slow down or take breaks. Every last second between now and the arrival of Ziragoth needed to be spent focused solely on the upcoming battle. And it was for this very reason that Alex was forced to call upon all the patience and restraint he could possibly muster to avoid losing his temper as a completely unnecessary issue began to spiral out of control. He quite honestly could not think of a worse possible moment to have a completely unrelated distraction pop up and create havoc. At a time when all of his attention needed to be on preparing for the arrival of this T7 harbinger of death, it was downright infuriating that he needed to divide his focus between assisting Zephyr in overseeing their vital constructions plans and¡­and dealing with such idiotic nonsense from the political guilds. ¡°No,¡± Alex said into his cellphone, barely able to contain his anger. ¡°I do not know where he went. But are you aware that we¡¯re trying to protect all of North Bastia from an impending doom that could burn down every major hub of civilization on this continent?¡± ¡°Easy now, son,¡± the voice of Haisel Ragora, second in command of the Royal Roses replied. ¡°We¡¯re throwing in everything we can to make this succeed. But a little give comes with a little take. You should know this. And it¡¯s our image that is being hurt by this.¡± Even as much as Alex despised the political guilds, he could not deny that they were supporting this raid in a way that was unprecedented for them. Anything Donovan needed, they provided: construction crews, aerial surveillance of the dragon, peacekeepers to keep the area clear of civilians, vehicles, emergency transports, and even the very materials with which they were now constructing their fortifications. Given their typical uselessness, Alex had not expected them to go so far above and beyond in the aid they provided. It didn¡¯t matter that it was the lives of them and their people whom Alex and the others were risking their own to protect¡ªeven that wouldn¡¯t usually be enough to get them so heavily invested in a raid operation. They seemed genuine in their desire to assist¡ªbut not without strings attached, as usual. ¡°I¡¯m doing what I can to find out where he is. Right now, I truly don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not upset,¡± Haisel Ragora said. ¡°I just want to make that clear. Everyone makes mistakes. He clearly doesn¡¯t know what he¡¯s doing. We just want him to attend media sensitivity training as soon as possible. That¡¯s all we¡¯re asking. Mind you, we¡¯ve already graciously cleared any and all bounties off his head. No one will ever come after him again. So we¡¯re really putting a lot out there for your kid.¡± Alex scowled. He could hardly contain himself when faced with the audacity of these miserable, manipulative cowards. Looking around at the scene of historic importance unfolding before him, he just simply could not believe that he actually had to deal with such a ridiculous ¡°problem¡± amid a raid that was so consequential its failure could spell out the death of tens of millions. To even bring something like this up now¡­it was insanity. And yet, despite this, Alex was essentially forced to deal with it. ¡°He¡¯s not technically ours,¡± Alex said. ¡°He basically is,¡± Lieutenant Ragora said. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you people perform your indoctrinations, but he¡¯s basically one of you adventurers already. So this is your responsibility.¡± ¡°Mine?¡± Alex asked, and now he could not avoid the irritation that seeped into his words. ¡°You were the ones who decided to claim he was a member of the Royal Roses. How can any of this be our responsibility?¡± ¡°You know the rules,¡± he replied. Alex desperately wanted to debate the point, but he knew it would not be a winning argument. Among the adventuring and political guilds, there were certain unwritten ¡°rules.¡± Actually, it would be more accurate to call them ¡°laws,¡± as they were so stringent and so rigorously enforced that they may very well have been codified into law for all the difference it would make. Alex did not know how or when these unwritten, unspoken laws came into being, and he did not know if they were the result of some decades-old compromise or if instead, as he suspected, they had arisen naturally over the course of many years. Whatever their origin, these unwritten laws served to allow the peaceful coexistence of the adventuring guilds and the political guilds where such coexistence would otherwise be totally unachievable. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. The political guilds explicitly allowed the adventuring guilds to pursue their own interests, fight boss spawns, and move about freely. In exchange, the adventuring guilds were to do nothing to try to usurp or challenge the ¡°established order.¡± Part of this included going along with whatever media narratives the political guilds concocted if for any reason a member of an adventuring guild inadvertently stepped into the spotlight, such as in Giant¡¯s Fall, when a member of the Explorer¡¯s Brigade single-handedly stopped a bank robbery, or in the case of the Den of Ziragoth, when Zach Calador had miraculously gone toe-to-toe with a T7 fire wyvern for one minute and forty-two seconds while the entire world watched on in awe. During these times, the political guilds would claim responsibility, and in order to maintain the peace, adventurers had no choice but to go along with it. Sighing, Alex said, ¡°How much is this going to cost us?¡± ¡°Three pieces of Alixa gear and fifteen-thousand gold.¡± Alex grunted. ¡°The damage wasn¡¯t even that bad.¡± ¡°Well, you told us the boy would be in his hospital bed for the next five days.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because I honestly didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be up and about so soon,¡± Alex stated truthfully. With a gesture of his chin at the foreman across from him to indicate he was satisfied with the adjusted spacing of the steel beams, he continued, ¡°I¡¯ll make sure you get your gold.¡± ¡°Good. And you¡¯ll continue to have our full cooperation.¡± Alex hastily wrapped up his conversation and actually felt relief when he finally ended the call. He wholeheartedly loathed the Royal Roses. And now that they were actually wasting his valuable time on nonsense, he felt even greater contempt for them than he usually did. Hurrying over to Kalana, who was sitting on the grass while typing nonstop into her cellphone, Alex asked, ¡°How are things?¡± She looked up at him and smiled. ¡°I think I¡¯ve smoothed it over.¡± ¡°Please make sure. The Royal Roses are making my life miserable over this.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This involves me too, so um, I would¡¯a done this anyway.¡± From what Alex knew of her, Kalana had been a relatively shy girl who had not been very outgoing prior to recent events. It was for this reason he was both surprised and impressed by how naturally adept the girl was at public relations and handling herself on the world stage. It was as though she possessed some kind of natural talent for it. ¡°Just so you understand,¡± Alex told her, ¡°I don¡¯t blame Zach at all for this. He didn¡¯t know any better, and I didn¡¯t think this would be an issue.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Kalana said. She frowned. ¡°I¡¯m still a little mad though. He didn¡¯t have to be so mean to that one girl. He¡¯s gotta consider how people feel now that he¡¯s super famous.¡± Alex shrugged. ¡°Aside from the unnecessary use of swear words, I didn¡¯t see what was so bad.¡± Kalana shook her head. She held up her phone and turned it his way. Alex glanced down. Then a frown popped up on his face as well. The media seemed to be really latching on to this one little story of theirs, and it was hard to believe that these were the very same reporters who, not even a full day ago, were calling Zach a hero and a savior. Now, scrolling across the bottom of the screen, it became clear that their tone had become a little more critical. WATCH! Zachys Calador shoves fans and curses at teenage girl. ¡°This is pathetic,¡± Alex said. ¡°Why are they wasting their time on this?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter why,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Just look.¡± A young reporter wearing a blouse was standing next to a girl who looked Kalana¡¯s age. She was smiling, though from the puffiness around her eyes, she must have been in tears until just a short while ago. With one hand holding a microphone and the other resting on the girl¡¯s shoulder, the reporter spoke to her. ¡°So, what happened, hon? What can you tell us about what might¡¯ve led to that ¡®moment¡¯ which is now going viral all over the internet.¡± ¡°Well, like I told the other news people, I saw Zachys Calador, and I¡­I was so excited. And I told him how I ship him and Kalana together, and he screamed the ¡®F¡¯ word at me and then started pushing everyone away.¡± ¡°For those of you unfamiliar with the lingo,¡± the reporter said, ¡°the term ¡®ship¡¯ is a word used in various ¡®fandoms¡¯ that means to root for the romantic relationship of two individuals.¡± ¡°Yah, but I just want to say, please, that it¡¯s okay now. I got a message from THE Kalana Vayra. I screamed when I saw it on my phone! She even liked one of my posts on my¡ª¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve heard enough,¡± Alex said. ¡°Please turn that off.¡± He waited for her to close the stream before continuing. ¡°Look, Kalana, I¡¯m hardest on Zach out of everyone, but even I can¡¯t say he did anything wrong here. He couldn¡¯t have known this would happen.¡± ¡°We¡¯re gonna have to talk to him, though. He broke that girl¡¯s heart, and I felt so bad.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand why,¡± Alex said. ¡°He used profanity, yes, but it wasn¡¯t as though he¡¯d insulted her.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t about what he said. It was his tone of voice. I know my Zach didn¡¯t mean anything bad. But when you¡¯re really famous, it doesn¡¯t take a lot to really hurt someone else. You don¡¯t understand how it feels to be our age and have someone you really look up to speak like that.¡± ¡°But she didn¡¯t even know who Zach was until yesterday afternoon. No one did.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. That¡¯s just how it is.¡± Alex rubbed his chin as he mulled over her words. He still could hardly believe the media was wasting precious time on this ¡°controversy¡± as they were calling it, nor could he believe the Royal Roses were so incensed about something of so little consequence. Things like ¡°public image¡± and ¡°public perception¡± were not the sort of concepts an adventurer was meant to concern his or herself with. Honestly, this whole situation was downright bizarre¡ªfrom the beginning to now. The fact that the media were actually running opinion polls on Zach was also partially what made it so surreal and bewildering. Initially, the boy had a 97% ¡°approval rating¡± from the general North-Bastian public, which cut across age, region, and gender. The three percent who claimed to disapprove of him were people who were so off-put by the foul language he¡¯d used during his duel with the dragon that even Alex felt they needed to lighten up. Yet, things seemed to change after his most recent media ¡°appearance.¡± A short while ago, Zach had apparently left his hotel, pushed his way past some people, and he¡¯d given voice to some choice vulgarities in the process. The result? Now, 81.4% of people approved of Zach, with 75% strongly approving. His drop in popularity had apparently come from mothers with teenage daughters as well as women more broadly, particularly older women. Bafflingly and inexplicably, this little drop in support seemed to send the Royal Roses into a kind of panic that almost rivaled their reaction to Ziragoth. In fact, from what Alex could tell, they almost seemed to care about this more. It was as though they viewed Zach as some kind of golden-egg-laying goose whose value needed to be maintained for whatever dark purposes they intended to use his name for. Thankfully, Kalana had done¡ªactually, was now doing¡ªwhat she could to smooth things over. And the GSG had once again been hit with a fine over Zach despite the fact that he wasn¡¯t even a member of their guild. ¡°Where is he, anyway?¡± Kalana asked without even looking at him. Her eyes were glued to her screen, where she continued to type away messages in what Alex hoped would appease the Royal Roses at least for now. ¡°I have no idea,¡± Alex said. ¡°He probably just went for a walk. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°He did always want to see Tomb of Fire. You¡¯re right. He¡¯s probably just walking around the city. Still¡­I worry about him. I wanna go back to him.¡± ¡°You will. Soon.¡± Alex softened his voice. ¡°Kalana, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Yeah. I know.¡± ***** ¡°Holy fuck I¡¯m going to die!¡± Zach cried as a massive explosion of pure electricity launched from the bristles of a gigantic electric toothbrush forced him to dive out of the way. At the same time, dozens more zombies converged upon him, and approaching at great speeds behind them were several more of the mummy-mounted, winged skeleton horses. Things were bad: so bad. His Unleashed Phase was not going to last much longer, he and the Elves were almost pushed back to the hill he¡¯d slid down, and to make matters even worse¡ªto add insult to injury, Fluffles and Chumpkenwiffles were still fucking fighting! Yeah. For real. They were still fighting. Those two idiots were indulging whatever personal animosity they had towards one another¡ªdespite having only met a few moments ago¡ªand were ignoring their friends and allies in order to streak across the sky and take shots at one another. In fact, the entire sky was lighting up with constant flashes of alternating blue and red light as Fluffles, who had at some point transformed himself into a giant brown cat with white, fluffy wings, continued to wage some kind of epic battle in the air with Chumpkenwiffles, whose loud, angry barking Zach could hear even from all the way down here. With one arm, one eye, and most of his equipment so badly torn it was a miracle nothing had broken, Zach swore and blocked four different shortsword strikes from three different mobs as they continued to press him farther and farther back. This could get ugly.
Unleashed Phase Duration 1:57 Remaining
Continuing to back away, Zach regarded the chaotic field of battle and hissed in anger. Maybe he should''ve waited for Rian and Lienne after all. Chapter 59: Survival Chapter 59: Survival As a cold, shivery breeze rolled across the plains and over Zach¡¯s shredded attire, the numerous areas of exposed skin on his body began to tingle, yet he only distantly felt the chill as though it were a far-away sensation just beyond his notice. The harsh, frigid air, which would normally make him fold his arms and cause his teeth to chatter, instead went mostly ignored as he kept every last bit of his awareness and focus on surviving the next few treacherous moments. On the grass all around him, dark red Elvish blood and nauseating green pus mixed together as two opposing forces faced off. Grunts of exertion filled the air, as well as the occasional scream of pain and in worse cases death that came from both sides of him as well as above. Sadly, he could not pay these desperate voices any mind, as the sheer ferocity and intensity of this mob horde required him to put all of his effort into ensuring his own survival. With such an oppressive, unrelenting swarm of hostile mobs drawing nearer by the second, he lacked the ability to both defend himself and also help others. In fact, Zach no longer concerned himself with the reason he was here at all. The only thing that mattered now was protecting his life; it was all he could do just to continue fending off the seemingly endless parade of rag-wearing, vile, rotten-fleshed monsters¡ªit required everything he had to give and more. He knew if he allowed his attention to divert for even a moment, it would likely spell death. There was therefore no time for him to dwell angrily upon the way he¡¯d been bamboozled into fighting in some kind of vampire war on behalf of the Elvish people, and there was no opportunity for him to reflect on the fact that if he¡¯d arrived at the dungeon just five seconds earlier, he likely would¡¯ve slipped through the metal door before ever having caught wind of this nightmarish situation. Hell, he couldn¡¯t even spare the energy necessary to swear at Fluffles and Chumpkenwiffles for ripping apart his equipment to the point he was almost naked before throwing him off a cliff-like hill and onto a literal battlefield. No, all Zach could do was concentrate with the fervor required of someone surrounded by a still-increasing horde of decaying zombies, flying skeleton horses with wings, axe-wielding mummies, and most absurdly of all, a gigantic, level-27 electric toothbrush nearly five-stories tall that continued to launch bolts of electricity at them.
HP 27425/40000
Name Face Scrubber
Level 27
¡°Just hold out as long as you can!¡± a tall, brown-haired Elvish warrior wearing a green, hooded cloak shouted loudly enough to be heard by all. Above him, unicorn-riding, longsword-wielding Elves continued to swing, block, and parry against an even larger number of level-22 mummies riding winged, level-25 skeleton horses that flew in a U-shaped formation in front of the ¡°Face Scrubber.¡± It was almost as though the mummies were deliberately barring the Elves¡¯ passage. Those who did slip through, however, were flying back and forth alongside the gigantic, faceless toothbrush and taking shots at it as they passed. Though they were successfully¡ªand gradually¡ªchipping away at its HP, they did not do so without facing a great deal of peril of their own. Flying low to the ground and at incredible speeds, these Elvish riders were forced to constantly swerve midair to evade a relentless barrage of bright yellow lightning fired out of the creature¡¯s bristles. While most were able to deftly avoid the return-fire, one, however, was not so lucky. In the corner of his one eye, Zach spotted a stocky figure clad in a white cloak pulling on the reins of his mount while shouting out in alarm as he seemingly flew directly into the path of an oncoming bolt of lightning. With an audible flap of its wings, the white-furred unicorn attempted to turn itself around, but it was far too slow to react. The lightning impacted it head-on, striking the singular, spiraling horn protruding from its forehead. Then, in an instant, the yellow-colored electricity spread all throughout the unicorn¡¯s body before subsequently making its way up and into the rider¡¯s as well. Even from down here, Zach could smell the Elvish warrior¡¯s burning flesh as he screamed out in agony. A moment later, the unicorn¡ªalong with the rider¡ªwere fully burned to a crisp, and now Zach recoiled in horror and disgust as, trailing smoke, he witnessed the bodies of both fall back down to the grassy surface where they landed with a soft thud, their corpses blackened as though cooked. Disturbingly, the unicorn¡¯s hooves twitched as though life still remained in them. Don¡¯t look! he warned himself. Pay attention to what you¡¯re doing! Faced with his own problems, Zach pried his attention off the grisly sight. As things were, he was struggling for all he was worth not to succumb to the overwhelming pressure of the gigantic horde that was enveloping him inside of a tinier and tinier space as he found himself continually pushed ever farther back. With a grunt, he ripped his blade out of the partially opened mouth of a level-18 zombie on roller skates, having killed it in a single thrust. There was no time to pause and appreciate the +2000xp that appeared in the air above its dissolving head. Immediately, he raised his weapon to guard against a strike from another, identical zombie standing directly beside it. Yet even as he just managed to meet the rival weapon in the air above his forehead, a rush of alarm traveled down his spine as he realized how close he¡¯d come to being cut open. ¡°Ruuuuhhhh!¡± moaned dozens¡ªor maybe even hundreds¡ªof zombies as they advanced without mercy. Again and again, he was attacked without pause. The pressure did not let up for even a moment. Hastily, Zach jumped backwards and away from a third zombie that he hadn¡¯t even seen until after the one he¡¯d just killed melted into a pool of green pus, revealing the eager, decaying sack of flesh already advancing towards him behind it. No sooner had its fellow zombie melted away into foul-smelling green ooze than this newly revealed creature skated aggressively forward and began slashing wildly at Zach. With a loud, ringing clang, Zach guarded against it¡ªthen pivoted to continue blocking two more zombies to his left and right side respectively. With so many enemies and so little time, he no longer bothered to return with any attacks of his own. Instead, he decided to wait for one of them to try biting him, at which point he could fell them simply by jamming his sword into their throat¡ªwhich was exactly what he did when one named ¡°Fundead Roller-Ghast 2F¡± lunged forward at him. ¡°Ruuuuhhhh!¡± The decaying, rotten creature nearly knocked over the two zombies beside it as it skated frantically towards Zach with its mouth wide open, clearly ready to bite. Stepping forward, Zach thrust his blade into its teeth-baring, gaping jaw. With another disgusting tear of flesh, his sword reappeared out of the back of the zombie¡¯s skull, and then like the others before it, the creature¡¯s pale skin quickly turned bright green as it liquified and became nothing more than a puddle of ooze on this alien grass. +2000xp Part of what made all of this so frustrating was that his efforts did practically nothing to thin the herd. Just like before, as the zombie melted away, another skating behind it was quick to take its place. And now, Zach found himself quickly whirling around his sole, sword-bearing arm to frantically block an overwhelming number of constant, nonstop strikes from the six shortswords wielded by the three zombies before him. And since he was backing away and they were on roller skates, he was totally unable to gain any meaningful distance. He also couldn¡¯t Phase Blink behind any of them as he¡¯d done earlier, because there were so many of the things now that only a few inches worth of space separated one zombie from the next. If he were to put himself behind any one of these creatures, the one behind that one would likely stab him through the spine. And so, all Zach could really do at this point was deflect and guard. Somehow, he was just managing to keep himself from harm. The same, however, could not be said for everyone else. A fast-moving shadow to his immediate left revealed itself to be the form of a falling Elf, who landed on his back and then shrieked in pain and desperation as a zombie jumped on top of him, bit into his throat, and ripped out a chunk of his flesh before taking a second, then third bite out of him. Zach, to his shame, could do nothing to help as the poor Elvish warrior was torn to pieces, all while begging for someone to save him. Don¡¯t look. Just don¡¯t look! Turning his head slightly in the other direction while still keeping the zombies ahead of him in view, Zach was able to put the gruesome scene out of his field of vision. Unfortunately, this presented him with the sight of another tragic death off to his right and farther down the line of Elves. Even while he focused on blocking the shortswords slashing down at him from three different directions, he could still glimpse the sight of a flailing Elf, who cried out in pain as seven zombies struck him again and again, hacking off various limbs and parts of his body while a green-haired Elvish woman screamed in misery and leapt at them. Then she too died, and the resulting ache in his chest at the sight of it was too much for Zach to handle. So he blocked it out of his head and focused once more on the uncomplicated but very difficult task of surviving. Completely unable to turn the tide, Zach, like all the green-cloaked and white-cloaked Elvish fighters beside him, had no choice but to continue shuffling backwards and away from the zombies as they continued to drive him and the others towards the base of the giant hill. Yet they were all running out of space. Once they had been pressed into the slope leading down here, there would be nowhere left to run. Then what? Did Zach even have an escape plan? Or had he once again allowed himself to be put into a situation where it was ¡°all-in¡± or nothing? It sure seemed that way, as he definitely lacked the time remaining on Unleashed Phase to flee and risk going at it alone.
Unleashed Phase Duration 1:38 Remaining
¡°Fall back, mine brothers and sisters!¡± a white-cloaked Elvish woman called. She dropped her bow and unsheathed a shiny longsword from a scabbard by her side. ¡°Draw thy steel!¡± Abruptly, the very soft thuds from dozens of bows being dropped onto the ground was soon followed by the shing of unsheathed longswords. All around Zach, Elves, some in green and others in white, began to slice and cut down the approaching horde as they continued to back away. Unlike Zach, they seemed capable of both killing and retreating at the same time, and they dispatched many of these creatures with a ruthless efficiency despite it ultimately still proving to be insufficient in significantly reducing the enemy¡¯s numbers. The fact that there were so many of these zombies closing in on them was made even more remarkable when considering the tremendous number that the Elves had¡ªand continued¡ªto kill each and every moment. Scores of these roller-skating monsters had already been cut down by a regular flurry of arrows from these bow-wielding Elvish warriors. Thus far, they had slaughtered so many zombies that Zach wondered if there was now enough green ooze on the grassy terrain to fill a small swimming pool. Truly, the number they¡¯d slain had to be in the hundreds. Yet even still, it seemed to not have made a dent in what looked like a sea of level-18 zombies with a few level 20s thrown into the mix. There were also a very small number of level 24s approaching from the very back, and these ones managed to send a shiver straight down his spine. Zach was thankful he had not personally encountered these yet, as they were several-feet taller than the ¡°Fundead Roller-Ghasts¡± and the ¡°Fundead Shockers¡± and appeared a great deal more powerful, too. They had triangularly shaped eyes, a much larger mouth, and a set of teeth that were more like the fangs of a predator than anything human. They were also completely bald, did not wear rags or any other type of clothing, and they did not wield shortswords due to the fact that they lacked hands or fingers. Instead, their arms ended in curved, bloody, flesh-colored blades.
HP 25000/25000
Name Blood-Hunting Maneaters
Level 24
Continuing to back away, the unsettling sight of these eight-feet tall monstrosities distracted Zach, and for this reason, he reacted with a yelp of surprise as the terrain changed so quickly his feet could not compensate. Cursing himself for his own stupidity, he fell backwards into a half-lying position on the slope of the hill he¡¯d rolled down only a few minutes earlier. It seemed they¡¯d finally been driven back to the base of the hill, and now, there was no option left but to fight what was almost like a moving, sliding wall of zombies that seemed undeterrable and would continue to advance until Zach and every Elf here with him was dead. ¡°Shit!¡± he cried aloud. He didn¡¯t even have the time to push himself back up into a standing position. He rolled over to his left as a zombie thrust its shortsword down into the grass- and dirt-covered hill where his head had just been. Immediately afterwards, he was forced to again roll over to his right as the zombie beside it also stabbed down. Now, Zach was once more half-lying, half-standing with his back to the slope as the first zombie lifted the shortsword in its left hand as though intent on trying a second time to plunge his blade into Zach''s forehead. This time, however Zach struck first. He jumped up, leaned even farther backwards, tucked both of his knees into his chest, and then shot both of his feet forward, kicking the zombie in the stomach and delivering a paltry 18 damage. More importantly, however, it caused the creature to stumble backwards and into the roller-skating zombie behind it, and both actually tumbled and fell to the ground. This gave Zach just enough time to get back up, adjust his stance, steady his grip, and raise his sword to block two strikes back-to-back that came from a Fundead Roller-Ghast to his left and another to his right. This, as many more converged upon him. Yet he was so tightly boxed in that only four or five would be able to attack him at any one time. Not that that alone wasn¡¯t more than enough. Hell, it was only because their attacks were not synchronized that it was even possible to block or avoid them all. If all five struck out at him in unison, he would take severe, possibly fatal damage. Though Zach was not someone who suffered from claustrophobia, he thought that might be about to change as he was completely, totally surrounded by zombies; it was to the extent that he could only barely make out the form of the green-cloaked Elvish woman to his left and the white-cloaked man to his right through the gaps in the bodies of the rag-wearing, foul-smelling, decaying zombies. It honestly felt like he was pressed into the back wall of an incredibly overcrowded dance floor. Only around two feet¡¯s distance separated his body from the bodies of the zombies to his left, his right, and the three immediately before him. They had now completely boxed him in. Not only was there no place left for Zach to run, there was no place left for him to walk, either. Hell, there was barely even enough space for him to move. With so many of them so close, his nose could now fully appreciate the utter stomach-churning wickedness of the stench that came off the rotten bodies of these decaying monsters. Not only did they have him surrounded, but behind each was most certainly an eager reinforcement waiting to replace the one before it. Seriously, even if Zach somehow could slay all five of these zombies, five more would near instantly move in to take their place, and then five more would replace those ones after that. By Zach¡¯s estimation, there must have been more than five hundred of them now¡ªand that was on the low end of things. His survival instincts kicking into full gear, Zach glanced over his shoulder and seriously considered trying to climb his way back up this slope. Yet as he took a closer look at the steepness of the incline, he realized it would not be possible. Even if he still had two usable hands, he wouldn¡¯t be able to scramble up and out of this horrible situation. It was simply too steep. There was no way he was going to be able to escape that way. He was well and truly trapped, surrounded, and about to experience a situation every bit as perilous¡ªand quite possibly as painful¡ªas his run-in with Ziragoth. Gripped with a sense of impending doom, Zach trembled. Despite his attempts to stave it off, fear came crashing through faster and harder than expected. But even still, Zach refused to buckle. He adamantly, outright refused to collapse in terror. In fact, that had been his whole reason for coming out here in the first place, hadn¡¯t it? It wasn¡¯t just about replacing his destroyed blade. It was about proving to himself that he would not give in to his terror: that he would not let the way Ziragoth hurt him break his sprit. I have to fight! Even as it fully dawned on him just how hopeless and impossible his current situation appeared to be, he somehow found the strength to keep himself under control: he somehow found the courage to stand defiantly and hold his ground. Or at least, for a brief instant, he did. But then things changed when the five zombies surrounding him began their all-out assault. To say that Zach felt ¡°overwhelmed¡± as these rotten, foul-smelling creatures began to violently lash out at him would be to put it so mildly it bordered on comical. The sheer, unmitigated panic that erupted inside of him as he found himself having to defend against five monstrous zombies wielding ten deadly shortswords all at once was so all-consuming and crushing that it was only by some divine miracle that he was able to defend himself. Every muscle in his body tightened in alarm. He held his breath. Fear caused a rush of adrenaline to pour through him, and time seemed to slow down. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Zach, so overcome with fight-or-flight, could not even bring himself to exhale let alone shout as shortswords sliced through the air towards him from every direction other than directly behind him, where the unclimbable, vertical slope trapped him here with these horrendous mobs. Not only was he forced to react and defend against so much at once, but with only one working eye limiting the range and scope of his peripheral vision, he couldn¡¯t even see everything around him. Thus, the next five seconds alone felt like five years as he fought to continue living. Zach ducked beneath a swing coming off to his right while simultaneously raising his sword-bearing hand to block and deflect a shortsword from his left. Almost in the exact same instant, he twisted his body half around to narrowly avoid having his stomach ripped open by a vicious slice to the right of him, then fully spun in the complete opposite direction as a thrusting strike almost ran him through from his opposite side. Even as he turned his hips to move his body, he quickly, urgently, and aggressively flashed his arm around three times in blazing fast succession and somehow actually managed to move fast enough to guard against three more powerful strikes that came in from three totally separate directions. Then he ducked under another strike, side-stepped away from one after that, and now at last he began to breathe¡ªheavily, too¡ªas he whipped his arm around to block four more that came in even faster than the previous three had. And all this in five seconds. There was no break, however. There was no ¡°time out.¡± There was no moment to reset. Zach could only struggle with everything in his heart to defend himself against this brutal onslaught that would likely never let up. Each second that he continued to live was a second he had to fight for with everything he had inside himself: each second had to be paid for with all that he could give. Yet he knew he was merely biding his time. The fact he had not died yet was likely the greatest accomplishment of his life. A tiny inkling of pride in himself actually managed to make its presence known even amid all the fear that occupied the majority of his emotional capacity. He knew he couldn¡¯t keep up this pace for long. He ducked, wriggled, side-stepped, blocked, and just now, bent backwards as a zombie skated forward and horizontally swung his shortsword, the blade passing above him so close to his face that it nearly cleaved his nose off. Straightening his back, Zach raised his weapon to guard and twice more blocked, twice more ducked, and incredibly found the tenth of a second needed to thrust his sword through the open mouth of a zombie to his left that he noticed lunging towards him. With virtually no time to spare, he jabbed his sword forward and then yanked his arm backwards in one lightning-quick motion that was so fast that he was already raising his blade to parry a downwards slash from the mob across from him before the zombie even began to turn green and liquify. +2000xp Unsurprisingly, a fresh, new zombie had replaced the one Zach killed so quickly that, had he blinked, he might not have seen the switch happen. Yet for better or worse, he did¡ªand it caused him to struggle with a feeling of demoralization as he observed what looked like an endless line of zombies all waiting for their turn to kill Zach. And there were many of these lines in every single direction. It really drove home just how shitty of a situation this was and how unlikely Zach¡¯s chance at survival happened to be. But what could he do other than fight? Should he just accept his odds, lie down, and die? No, Gods-dammit! He wanted to live. He refused to die as a pawn in some stupid vampire war on another planet! Yet as several more seconds came and went, he began to doubt himself even further as he felt himself beginning to slip. There were too many attacks coming in from too many directions¡ªand all of them too fast. Despite miraculously managing to survive this long against such unspeakable odds, his coordination was gradually becoming worse, the attacks came ever closer to connecting, and it was only by virtue of losing his balance and stumbling slightly to one side that he evaded a forward thrust he didn¡¯t even see until a shortsword was already piercing the dirt behind him where he¡¯d just been standing. Through the small spaces between zombies, he could just make out several of the Elvish warriors holding their own with much greater ease, with some of them killing a great many of the rotten creatures all by themselves. Though, a few did look to have died, Zach noted regrettably. Still, the sight of them fighting for and succeeding in their struggle to survive emboldened him. This, even as he realized he was becoming less capable of keeping up with this grueling pace. And it was in this moment that his resolve at last ran headfirst into the wall of reality. Upon deflecting a downward slash from the particularly aggressive, pale, and deteriorating zombie across from him, Zach hissed as a sharp pain entered his wrist, which was aching fiercely from the constant shocks sent into it. Yet he ignored the throbbing and twirled his sword around before raising it to block another two strikes from the very same mob. It was after the second of these two strikes that bodily anatomy scored a victory over Zach¡¯s determination, for a moment later, his hand, all on its own, simply released its grip on his sword. With a gasp, Zach watched as it fell straight down and landed silently on the grass, leaving him defenseless. ¡°What the fuck?¡± he asked his own self, confused. ¡°Why?¡± Once more, time seemed to come to a standstill as Zach saw multiple swords streaking towards him, seemingly all in unison. And there he was, totally undefended. Oddly enough, he lowered his head and stared down at his wrist, which shook uncontrollably, though not out of fear, but of strain. It had happened so suddenly that it took him a moment to even mentally process the fact that he had dropped his weapon. It was so unexpected. So outside of his control. He hadn¡¯t done anything wrong. He hadn¡¯t commanded his fingers to release their grip and drop the weapon¡ªthey just¡­they just sort of did it all on their own. Now, completely unarmed, Zach was nearly immobilized with shock. He came quite close to remaining motionless as these shortsword-wielding zombies hacked him to pieces. Somehow, though, he managed to snap himself out of it just in time to drop straight down to his knees, ducking beneath what would¡¯ve been the killing blow against him. But the zombies were quick to adapt, and now, following several loud moans, they skated forward, encircling him even more tightly, and then they slashed downwards at him. Unable to stand, Zach¡¯s only move now was to fall backwards onto the steep slope behind him, avoiding another series of strikes. Tragically, however, those were the last two moves he could realistically make, as now that he was on his back and partially reclined, there would be no further means of avoiding being cut, stabbed, or sliced. These Gods-cursed things were too close to him now, and there were too many of them, and even if he reached down to grab his sword, he would not be able to wrap his fingers around the hilt, let alone pick it up before he was either sliced to pieces or bitten. They had him. He¡¯d lost. His damn hand had betrayed the rest of his body, and now he was in for it. Oh, Gods-be-damned, he sure was! And yet, strangely, with death looming, he was surprised to find that his level of dread was not quite what it had been during his encounter with Ziragoth. Zach began to wonder: was this because death at the hands of Ziragoth was that much more horrifying than death at the hands of these horrific-smelling, decaying vermin? Or was it because he had come here and faced his fears, and he had become a braver person¡ªeven if just a little¡ªas a result of it? Truly, he did not know. To be fair, as five or six separate shortswords wielded by several of the zombies came bearing down towards him, he did, in fact, become once more paralyzed with fear. But even then, he did not feel the sting of shame as a result of it, as he knew he was still holding himself together much better than he had during his run-in with Ziragoth, and after all, it was only natural for death to be scary. As the end approached, Zach tensed up to the point it hurt, and instinctively, he raised his one elbow protectively over his face despite knowing how useless it would be. Engulfed by fear, he gritted his teeth and tried not to close his eye like a coward as the shortswords sliced through the air and headed directly for him. Closer and closer they came. He wondered how much it was going to hurt. Would it be quick? Or would he suffer as they hacked him apart? Before he had the chance to find out, the world erupted with the sound of an angry, vicious roar followed by an equally vicious and equally angry-sounding woof. Two shadows appeared and quickly grew in size as two figures approached at a speed so fast it made Zach flinch. Then, abruptly, there was a loud, startling bang as two forms collided down onto the grass with enough force to make the ground shake. Then came a smell: a terrible, rotten, and intense smell. Suddenly, Zach felt sick to his stomach. Unable to control himself, he vomited, gasped for air, and then vomited a second time. Only now did it occur to him that he was absolutely drenched in green ooze as though someone had splashed ten buckets of the stuff all over him. Confused, he tried to make sense of what had just happened. Vomiting a third time, he lifted his head and studied the sight that greeted his eyes. In front of him, two zombies were now smashed¡ªas in completely, totally flattened. It was as though an industrial-strength ¡°zombie compactor¡± had flattened them like pancakes with such force that their innards had simply exploded out of them. Their faces were now nothing more than loose skin, and their bodies were releasing steady puddles of ooze. Standing on top of them, with tails flapping around in the icy breeze, were Fluffles and Chumpkenwiffles. Zach widened his eye as he realized what had just happened. Fluffles and the dog¡­they had seemingly swooped down from the sky above and crushed the two mobs beneath their very paws. This, Zach had just enough time to deduce before whatever remained of them turned green and reformed into the same ooze that had so thoroughly drenched him. Before Zach could ask a single question or form a single word, Fluffles leapt forward in his direction. With another loud, angry roar, the cat, now several-times larger than even a lion, swiped the head clean off a zombie that Zach didn¡¯t realize until that moment was trying to bite him. An instant later, a bolt of lightning streaked down out of what was a mostly sunny sky and exploded another of the creatures, causing another ocean of green pus to blanket Zach. Keeling over, he vomited yet again as the overwhelming stench got the better of him. Yet even as he puked up his guts, Chumpkenwiffles barked angrily and bit the head off a zombie that Zach had once again not even seen skating towards him with its shortsword raised and ready to strike. ¡°Fl-Fluffles,¡± he rasped, wiping his lips. ¡°I here now!¡± the cat shouted as it began lobbing off heads so fast that several seemed to become airborne at once. With a ferocity that defied belief, the cat lifted itself up onto its hind legs, and one after the next, swiped at zombie after zombie with claws that now seemed made of steel. ¡°I am here too,¡± the black Labrador retriever said. She growled, opened her mouth, and then dashed forward, tackled a zombie to the ground, and then with a disturbing, deep, ¡°Awoof! Awoof! Awoof!¡± she began to bite and tear, killing the mob before tackling another. It was only just then that Zach realized Kalana¡¯s mother was riding on her back. She jumped off, ran over to his side, and knelt down before him. ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked. He nodded. ¡°Yeah. Just barely.¡± ¡°I am so sorry about what has happened, young man.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Zach bent down to pick up his sword. ¡°I can still fight¡­for another thirty seconds.¡± ¡°And then what?¡± she asked, looking around nervously. Just then, her eyes seemed to moisten. Zach didn¡¯t have to look to know that what saddened her was the sight of her kin who had fallen. ¡°What happens in thirty seconds?¡± ¡°My¡­my ability ends, and I become exhausted.¡± ¡°And you cannot use it again?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Nope. Well¡­well technically I can, but then I¡¯d go into double E-debt and probably die. I don¡¯t think I can do that and live just yet.¡± She placed one of her hands on his shoulder. His tunic having not yet repaired itself, he felt her palm on his bare skin, and her touch really did remind him of Kal in a way that he found both eerie and comforting all at the same time. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about E-debt,¡± she said. ¡°I can heal you afterwards. If you think you can help save my kin, then please. You must!¡± Zach blinked. ¡°Wait, really?¡± He felt her squeeze his left shoulder blade even more tightly. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°With one of the rejuvenation stones? You have one?¡± ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°With my abilities. I do not have need of those stones.¡± ¡°Wait, seriously?¡± ¡°Yes. I swear this to you. If you have a way of continuing to fight, I implore you: please help me save my people. Please, Zach.¡± The sound of Elves fighting echoed loudly enough that Zach could hear it even amid the growling and hissing from Chumpkenwiffles and Fluffles. He could also hear the periodic cry of pain from someone who hopefully hadn¡¯t just died. Above him, the Elves continued to duel with their mounted-mummy counterparts while a few others battled the giant toothbrush. ¡°Miss Vayra, I might be able to help you even more than you realize.¡± ¡°Really?¡± she asked, her eyebrows raising. She grabbed one of the loose strips of his tunic and pulled him slightly towards her, further ripping the equipment in the process. Zach winced, hoping she wouldn¡¯t break it. It couldn¡¯t be all that far from being destroyed. He knew it would repair itself, but not if it continued to take more damage and vanished altogether. ¡°Truly, Zach: can you?¡± she asked, her tone pleading and desperate. ¡°Maybe. It depends.¡± ¡°Depends?¡± ¡°Yeah. Uh, is there a limit?¡± ¡°A¡­limit?¡± ¡°To how much you can heal.¡± ¡°Why? What do you mean by ¡®how much¡¯?¡± As briefly as possible, Zach attempted to explain to her how his Phase Reset worked. He was forced to leave out many, many details, and the result was that Fylwen looked upon him with a confused, partially empty stare. Realizing he was getting nowhere, Zach released a sigh and said, ¡°Join my party and I can show you.¡± ¡°Show¡­me?¡± ¡°Yes. Hurry! Just join a party with me and let me know when you do. Okay?¡± Pausing a moment, Zach asked, ¡°Did you join? I¡¯m not sure how this¡ª¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said urgently. The way she continually glanced over her shoulder, it was as though she was uncertain as to whether or not this conversation was even worth her time. Zach couldn¡¯t blame her. He wasn¡¯t certain either. And also, her people were currently dying, so of course she lacked the patience for calm discourse. At any rate, with Fluffles and Chumpkenwiffles protecting the two of them, Zach believed he was in her party, at least temporarily, and assuming she had done the same, then the two of them were in a party, as that was how he¡¯d been taught it worked. Content to assume that it had worked and that the two had successfully joined one another¡¯s party, he brought up the information that was easier shown than explained. He only hoped that this would be sufficient for her to grasp what he was trying to get across to her.
(UNLEASHED Ability) Phase Reset (UNIQUE) Resets the cooldown of Unleashed Phase and increases Phase Level by 1. The Phase Level determines the following properties when using Unleashed Phase. Usage Cost: 0:00 (Phase Level decreases by 1 every twenty-four hours.)
Phase Level 0 (default) Exertion Level: High.
Phase Level 1 Exertion Level: High. Additional +5 to all basic stats and additional Armor + 5
Phase Level 2 Exertion Level: Very High. Additional + 30 to all basic stats and additional Armor + 30
Phase Level 3 Exertion Level: Very High. Additional + 50 to all basic stats and additional Armor + 50
Phase Level 4 Exertion Level: Extreme. Additional + 100 to all basic stats an additional Armor + 100
Phase Level 5 Exertion Level: EXTREME+ Additional + 1000 to all basic stats and Armor + 1000
Phase Level 6 Exertion Level: Terminal. In exchange for the life of the user, additional + 10,000 to all basic stats, and armor +10,000. User has access to every ability and every spell. User can move faster than light. User can summon up to 5 dragons. Cannot summon Elder Dragons.
Recalling that Lienne and Rian had been able to see what he could see while in the same party, he decided to try it out with Fylwen. It seemed to work, because the moment he brought this forward, she began to focus on the spot in the air he had projected it. Giving her a few moments to read the information, he asked, ¡°Well?¡± ¡°Well,¡± she whispered. Zach narrowed his eye. ¡°Well what?¡± ¡°Well¡­what,¡± she replied, her tone still a whisper. Becoming frustrated, he snapped, ¡°Hey, are you messing with me?¡± She turned her head his way, and the look in her wondrous green eyes was one of pure amazement and disbelief. Zach was so taken aback that it made him uncomfortable and fidgety. Why was she gazing at him this way? From the way her mouth opened slightly in what may very well have been shock, it made Zach feel as though she thought him to be some kind of freak. Of all things, he even suspected there was a hint of fear in the way she regarded him. ¡°Uh, hello?¡± he asked angrily. ¡°What gives?¡± As if finally snapping out of some kind of trance, Fylwen shook her head and apologized. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said. ¡°This is just¡­it¡¯s quite remarkable. I did not know something like this¡­you are a human, not an Elf. How does a human possess an ability of such¡­.¡± Her words again trailed off. Becoming irritated, Zach said, ¡°Look, there¡¯s a reason I showed you this. You said I shouldn¡¯t worry about E-debt. The reason I¡¯m asking you is¡ª¡± She held out her hand and extended her palm in his direction. ¡°No, no, I understand.¡± Pointing at a spot in the air before the two of them, she added, ¡°I see now why you asked, and I¡¯m glad that you did. In this case, go to Phase Level 2. Don¡¯t go any higher, or even I won¡¯t be able to save you.¡± Zach pursed his lips a moment in uncertainty. ¡°Are you sure? I can really go to Phase Level 2 and you¡¯ll be able to heal me afterwards?¡± ¡°If we survive? Yes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­it¡¯s just if you¡¯re wrong, I¡¯ll die.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not wrong.¡± ¡°And I know you¡¯re Kal¡¯s mom, but this is a lot to trust you with.¡± ¡°Why would I save you just to deceive you into killing yourself?¡± Zach groaned. ¡°It¡¯s just that, once I Phase Reset to level 2, the exertion cost goes from high to very-high. So I¡¯ll have two high debts and a very-high on top of that.¡± Fylwen nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it. We still have 7:22 left on our debuff. Once it wears off, we will kill every mob here in seconds. I need you to save as many of my people as possible, and I swear to you, young man¡ªyou, Zach, who are the consort of my daughter¡ªI will not allow you to perish. I am far more powerful than any human.¡± Zach opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say a word, Fluffles, with a deep, booming voice, said, ¡°Lady not tell the truth! Zach more powerful than Fylwen and all Elf. I appraise.¡± Then he proceeded to swipe the head off another zombie. With a growl that Zach doubted was intended for the zombie whose throat she was biting into, Chumpkenwiffles spat out a wad of green ooze and said, ¡°Fluffles, you are a lying cat. My queen is the most powerful.¡± Fluffles roared. And in this giant panther form, Zach couldn¡¯t help but tremble every time he spoke, as his pitch was so deep in tone that it came across as evil and filled with malice regardless of what the cat intended. ¡°Fluffles not lie!¡± he shouted. ¡°Zach is most powerful. Chumpkenwiffles appraise Zach. You see.¡± ¡°Fine. I will appraise him,¡± she said. Spinning around, she waggled her tail as she ran over to him. Out of instinct and reflex, Zach pat the top of her head, and she stuck out her tongue and panted with what could have equally been happiness or fatigue. Then she barked three times. ¡°Oh. Okay,¡± she said. ¡°Fluffles was telling the truth.¡± ¡°See!¡± Fluffles shouted defiantly. ¡°Chumpkenwiffles say I lie, but¡­but now she admit I¡¯m a good cat. Now I get to have two dinners because Chumpkenwiffles lie about Fluffles.¡± Fylwen frowned, and the expression she made seemed to radiate equal parts doubt and frustration. ¡°Chumpkenwiffles, what nonsense are you saying?¡± she asked. ¡°Why are you lying?¡± ¡°I am not lying, my queen,¡± the dog replied, barking. ¡°I¡¯ve heard some humans are gifted, but surely you cannot mean to say the boy has more potential than myself or any of my Elves.¡± ¡°He does,¡± Chumpkenwiffles said. ¡°His name is Zachys Calador. He has the potential to be the most powerful living being on all known worlds.¡± Chumpkenwiffles barked several times, each one deeper than the last. ¡°This is because of a genetic mutation on the MSTN gene and ACTN3 gene not seen before. Unique.¡± Chumpkenwiffles again barked. ¡°I¡¯ve appraised.¡± Zach rolled his one eye. It seemed this dog had the same kind of delusional idea that his cat did, which was to say she thought she could somehow divine a person¡¯s inner strength just by looking at them. Just as Fluffles thought he was the ¡°greatest cat in the world,¡± it didn¡¯t surprise him that the animals thought they knew everything about which people were the best, too. It was actually kind of cute. He was somewhat surprised to see that Fylwen seemed to buy into this, though. Or did she? ¡°You must be mistaken,¡± she said. ¡°Of course she¡¯s mistaken,¡± Zach said with a laugh. ¡°She¡¯s a dog. Ah, no offense,¡± he quickly added as she began to growl. Then, his mood darkening, he asked, ¡°Are you sure you can save me if I enter Phase Level 2?¡± ¡°I would not let my daughter¡¯s consort perish,¡± she said. Zach closed his eye a moment. ¡°I really, really hope you¡¯re not bullshitting me. Because if you are, Kal will find out someday somehow. And even if you¡¯re her mom, she¡¯s not going to forgive you if you trick me into killing myself.¡± ¡°I give you my word. Please, my people are struggling. I only need you to buy them a few more minutes.¡± Zach sighed. ¡°Gods, I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m really going to do this.¡± With a mere eleven seconds remaining on his Unleashed Phase, Zach left the party, activated Phase Reset, and increased his Phase Level to 1¡ªor at least it would the next time he used Unleashed Phase. Bending down to pick up the sword Fluffles had crafted for him, he took a deep breath and held it for a moment. He was really going to do this, wasn¡¯t he? Gods help him. If she ended up betraying him, he was going to look so, so stupid. Chapter 60: Monster Chapter 60: Monster At the center of a wide, polished, and overly cluttered marble table, on a small clearing between scrolls, blueprints, and piles of handwritten letters, there resided a glass dome mounted atop a golden stand, inside of which a storm of rare, milky-white sand from a planet no longer in existence swirled around and around like a miniature tornado made of ghostly dust. This priceless sand, also known as ¡°sight-powder,¡± began to break apart and form various shapes, which themselves broke further apart as the white sand changed not just in texture but also in color, taking upon various different shades and hues. Like paint on a canvas, these colors blended together to create a picture: one that was so lifelike it was as though the resulting image was captured through the lens of a camera. With a prickling sensation popping up all over his cold, pale skin, Count Olivir Soloux leaned forward in the chair in his study and peered into the glass dome. He observed what appeared to be a human kid with jet black hair surrounded by his minions of the dark. He was injured¡ªmissing an arm and an eye, but Olivir did not think that this was his doing, as the wound below the point of his right shoulder was sealed and did not look fresh, and a bandage covered what Olivir merely assumed to be a missing eye. Interestingly, alongside the kid were two Shadowfangs: a dog-type and a cat-type, and someone else, too. Someone far worse. It was the devil herself: Queen Fylwen Vayra of the Elvish folk. The sight of her made Olivir scowl. It meant she was not among the Elvish who had thus far died. ¡°What¡¯s she up to now?¡± he muttered. ¡°And how did she drag a human from Galterra into this? Gahh! She¡¯s up to something. I just know she is.¡± ¡°This could all end if I just turn myself in,¡± a soft, sad voice said from behind him. ¡°No, Kolona. I will never let your aunt have you.¡± She released an exhale that quickly turned to a whimper, and there was such pain in the sound of it. She was the most beautiful creature that Olivir had ever beheld, with curious green eyes and hair the color of the richest gold. It gnawed at him to see her so visibly hurt. She shed several tears, the side of her face aglow from the light of the fireplace built into the wall behind her in this otherwise dim, candlelit hall. ¡°She won¡¯t stop. Not until I¡¯m dead¡­again.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll never die again. I¡¯ll never let that happen!¡± Olivir winced as a pain erupted in his skull. His head ached fiercely. He had exhausted himself almost to the point of E-debt in casting such a powerful debuff in such a wide radius over a hundred miles away. That was the extent of what he was willing to do to save his Kolona. He would never let Fylwen have her niece. And while the other vampire counts might be enraged with Olivir for starting this war merely by resurrecting her, he did not for one moment regret his decision. How could something¡ªor in this case, someone¡ªso beautiful be allowed to die at such a young age? And for what? Because she might someday pose a threat to the legitimacy of her first-cousin, Kalana Vayra? Kolona wanted nothing in the way of power. She was kind, warm, and did not remotely desire to rule, or in this case, contest the right to rule over a race that was nearly extinct in the first place. Though Olivir was many, many years older than Kolona, they both looked mostly the same age. This was because, as a vampire, he aged tremendously slower, both mentally and physically. He was tall, though somewhat scrawny, and his medium-length, silver-dyed hair was still rich and thick. It would be a very long time before he outwardly appeared to be any older than eighteen or nineteen years of age. That was assuming, of course, that Queen Vayra did not kill him before that point. Returning his attention to the glass dome before him, Olivir frowned as Kolona¡¯s aunt, Fylwen, seemed to converse with the human kid, whose hand and two feet were radiating some kind of smoke so black in color that his ¡°sight-powder¡± was having difficulty drawing it. This kid¡­Olivir found him to be intriguing. Who was he, why was he here, and why was he getting himself involved in this war? Olivir doubted he had been a member of the scouting party that Fylwen had been leading: the scouting party that had come closer than any other to discovering his location. If one of Olivir¡¯s zombie spies hadn¡¯t caught sight of her when it had, she would have finally stumbled upon this large, fifty-acre manor concealed within an illusory fog that his sire had gifted him, and where he had spent the last year living with Kolona. Yet for all the joy she had brought him, every day with her had been overshadowed by the knowledge that they were both being hunted¡ªby the queen. Why won¡¯t she just die? he wondered. That damn woman. The sight of her always managed to darken Olivir¡¯s mood. But truly, it had not always been this way. Ten years ago, when she had first appeared on Archian Prime as a fresh-faced, kind, and dare he even suggest innocent level-1 refugee, it had been Olivir who had found her wandering the barren fields in the ashen lands far to the south. She, along with a few hundred of her green-cloaked companions, had been in search of what she¡¯d claimed were ¡°rumors¡± of an Elvish outpost that her people had lost contact with a great many years ago. She had asked Olivir if he knew where or even if they still existed. Well, not only did Olivir know of the existence and exact location of their settlement, but vampires had lived in peace with her white-cloaked brethren for hundreds of years. In fact, as a younger vampire only two-hundred-ten years of age, the white-cloaked, fancier-speaking Elvish folk she¡¯d been searching for had actually been living here for almost two centuries before Olivir was born: before his sire found him as a human boy on Galterra and turned him into a vampire. Having never known the Elvish to be anything more than a kind, wood-dwelling species, he had gladly called forth a fleet of winged Mega-Eeps and, on their backs, he¡¯d had her group flown all the way here to the north, where they were promptly reunited with what, at the time, had looked like a genuinely stunned group of white-cloaked Elves. The second-biggest mistake I¡¯ve ever made, Olivir thought bitterly. Though he felt a great deal of guilt in his cold, still heart over the way things had turned out, he did not fully blame himself for them, either. How could he have known that this woman was a member of some royal family? How could he have known that she would just ¡°assume¡± command over a group of people who¡¯d been separated from her family line for hundreds of years? But even more so than all of that¡ªhow could he have known she would militarize them, expand her territory, and explode with a power that Olivir did not even know the Elvish were capable of? How was he supposed to know she would level up so fast it almost seemed to defy reality? Despite his initial worries, she had assured Olivir several years later that she meant vampire-kind no harm. She had gone to the high council and promised peace¡ªprovided that the vampires did not seek to inhibit her ¡°territorial goals¡± or attempt to hinder her progress. They had all agreed, as Archian Prime was a very large planet and the dominant sentient species that had lived here had gone extinct two-million years prior. Thus, there was little reason for concern. It was a treaty of sorts: and it had held just fine¡ªuntil Olivir had broken it. Slightly less than a year ago, while flying on his Mega-Eep in search of high-level mobs to smite from the sky for some easily earned experience, he had flown over a woodland area not far from one of the new Elvish outposts that Fylwen had established. The queen had begun construction of additional towns in anticipation of a future need of them, as she had ordered all of her ¡°subjects¡± to begin mating and breeding, which from what Olivir had understood, was just as strange and uncomfortable to the Elvish as it sounded to him. Regardless, she had demanded that each Elvish woman bear three children at a minimum. She seemed intent on bringing her race back into prominence by any means necessary, including the use of forced pairings and breeding quotas. Given how adamant Fylwen was that Elvish kind reproduce and regrow their numbers, Olivir therefore found it odd that an entire party of them¡ªas he recalled, it had been over twenty, a mix of green and white cloaks¡ªwould be so intent on killing one of their own kind. On this day, he had spotted them chasing a young, beautiful woman through the woods, which Olivir was able to view through the gaps between trees where he flew just below the clouds. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Kill her!¡± a male voice had shouted. ¡°She is a heretic! Queen Fylwen demands it!¡± Even though it had been almost a decade since Olivir had first seen her as a much younger girl, he quickly recalled that this had been the child who had accompanied Fylwen through whatever portal she¡¯d taken to come here. Back then, the girl had been nervously clutching the ¡°queen¡¯s¡± hand and sobbing into the side of her trousers. He had assumed them to be family. He was therefore shocked to see the ferocity with which this girl¡ªnow a young woman¡ªwas being hunted down. And they got her, too. Indeed, they riddled the woman with so many arrows that Olivir had actually shouted out in horror as the kind Elvish folk he thought so fondly of were behaving almost like the barbaric vampires of ten-thousand years ago, back when his kind used to feed on the blood of sentients as opposed to rodents and other small animals. Having heard his cry of confused terror, the Elvish warriors had then begun to fire on him. As a vampire, a single arrow would be enough to end him, as he had but one point into constitution. Luckily, his own, personal Mega-Eep, a T3, level-50 boss he¡¯d named ¡°Mantril,¡± had been more than powerful enough to kill the entire group in a matter of moments¡ªand purely in the name of self-defense. Having spent the past year thinking back on it, Olivir had slowly come to believe that, if he had stopped right there, his people might have been able to sue for peace. Queen Vayra would have demanded payment for her fallen Elvish kin, and that payment would likely have been steep, but ultimately, he imagined she would have forgiven him in time. The same could not be said, however, for his next act. It was this, he was now certain, that had started the war. With a gesture of his hand, he¡¯d ordered Mantril to land. The creature was so massive that five trees had been knocked over with a loud series of cracks followed by an even louder number of thuds, creating something almost of a small clearing in the middle of the woods as he hopped off his mount¡¯s back and knelt down beside the young woman, whose body had gone cold as much of the blood inside of her had leaked out onto the soil. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t,¡± he¡¯d said aloud as he¡¯d gazed down upon her empty, lifeless face. Her mouth had still been partially opened as though perpetually in the process of uttering her final, fearful scream. Something about her called to him. He wanted to bring her back. He wanted to save her. Yet he knew he was not old enough. He had not yet been given permission to create more of his kind. Unlike the Elvish¡ªor at least Queen Vayra¡ªwho seemed to equate success via the quantity of their species, the vampires cherished their rarity and careful selection. There were only ninety-two vampires in all of Archian Prime, and Archian Prime was believed to be the only planet in the entire universe where the vampires now existed. It was therefore law that only upon reaching his or her four-hundredth birthday, and only upon passing a series of trials, could a young vampire be allowed to raise a sentient from the dead for the purpose of turning. Resurrection for any other reason was also forbidden. Yet, with another glance at Kolona Vayra¡¯s cold, pale face, Olivir had chosen to bring this young light back into the world of the living. Twenty minutes: that was how long a sentient could lie dead before only the Gods, should they truly exist, had the power to bring them back. In all situations, the immutable law of death and resurrection was twenty minutes. Even so much as a second longer, and the soul one wished to return would perish forever. Though turning the resurrected was not actually required, it was the only instance in which such a dark act of necromancy was ever allowed. But only for those granted such a right. For that reason, it was in direct opposition to law and custom when Olivir had opened his mouth, bared his fangs, and had bitten into her recently departed neck. He could have simply returned her to life, but given that her kind had appeared to forsake her, he had chosen to make her like him. He had turned her. Now, as he craned his neck and kissed the hand she placed on his shoulder, he knew that he would never regret the choice that he had made. For what the elders on the high council had claimed to be the first time in history, the world saw the birth of an Elvish vampire, one of such remarkable speed and strength that had she not been such a stringent pacifist, she could likely tear apart an entire battalion of her former kin even with just a single point into constitution, as she was literally capable of moving faster than the eye could see and would likely kill any foe to oppose her before they had a chance to strike her. Yet Kolona refused to kill anything biological or non-mob in nature¡ªeven insects. ¡°You should rest, Oli,¡± she said to him. He shook his head, then leaned forward and continued to peer inside the glass dome. ¡°I can¡¯t. I need to watch for any possible signs of danger.¡± ¡°Do you think¡­?¡± Her words trailing off, Olivir half turned around in his chair and glanced at her. ¡°What is it?¡± he asked, her pale skin appearing even more so. ¡°Do you think they¡¯re all going to die?¡± ¡°You really care that much?¡± he asked. ¡°They want to kill you.¡± ¡°Maybe that would be better,¡± she said. The guilt was so plain on her face that it was palpable. ¡°My life can¡¯t be worth all of theirs.¡± ¡°To me, it is worth all the life on this planet, including my own.¡± Kolona made a sad, exhausted-sounding sigh. ¡°So then¡­you¡¯ve finally got her? My aunt, the queen.¡± ¡°Not yet,¡± he admitted. ¡°But even if I fail, I¡¯m hoping they¡¯ll be too weak and injured to continue scouting. They were on a path that would¡¯ve led them straight here. If necessary, we can find one of those portals, and you can¡ª¡± ¡°I will not leave you!¡± she snapped. Olivir was taken aback by the heated tone of the normally soft-spoken Kolona. ¡°You will have to come with me, or I just won¡¯t go.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been through this,¡± Olivir said to her. ¡°I can¡¯t use those portals. I don¡¯t know why. I¡¯ve found them before, you know? I can sense that there¡¯s something there, but¡­but I just can¡¯t go through them. You can. And apparently¡­apparently so can he.¡± ¡°He?¡± Olivir nodded at the glass dome. ¡°That human kid. He¡¯s a bit younger than you.¡± ¡°He came through a portal?¡± Kolona asked. He shrugged. ¡°I didn¡¯t witness it personally, but unless he crashed a spaceship somewhere around here, I¡¯ve got to assume he did.¡± ¡°Who is he?¡± ¡°I have no idea.¡± ¡°Why is there smoke coming out of him?¡± ¡°Same answer.¡± Kolona turned around, grabbed a chair, and then pulled it up beside his. She took a seat next to him, and together they continued to watch. ¡°I wonder what he has against us,¡± she said. ¡°What have we ever done to him to deserve this? I never hurt him or anybody else. Why does that boy want me to die so badly?¡± Olivir grunted. ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell you. Who knows why he hates us? Clearly, he¡¯s got some kind of grudge. He did jump between worlds just to assist in killing us.¡± ¡°But I wonder why,¡± she whispered fearfully. ¡°He doesn¡¯t look so evil.¡± Olivir placed his hand over hers on the table. ¡°Maybe he just doesn¡¯t like vampires. On Galterra, we¡¯re pretty badly demonized because of our history. We were once very violent, especially against the weak and defenseless. We¡­ate them.¡± ¡°Eww,¡± Kolona said, her lips souring. He laughed. ¡°It was before my time. I grew up thinking vampires were just a myth.¡± ¡°You lived in Giant¡¯s Fall, right? In North Bastia?¡± ¡°I did,¡± he said. ¡°Do you ever miss it? Galterra?¡± ¡°Do you?¡± She averted her gaze for a moment, and after a pause, she said, ¡°I can¡¯t really remember what it was like. I haven¡¯t been there since I was a little girl. Uh, my cousin and her father still live on Galterra, though. I wish I could meet them. Sometimes I think about sending her a message.¡± ¡°Who, Kalana?¡± ¡°Mhm.¡± At this, Olivir shivered in disgust. ¡°Why do you keep saying things like that?¡± he asked, unable to keep the anger out of his voice. ¡°Your cousin is the reason any of this is happening. What do you think she¡¯d do if she ever met you? She¡¯d slit your throat just as her mother would, that¡¯s what. You need to be stronger, Kolona.¡± She frowned. ¡°I remember playing with her when we were little. She was really nice to me. That was before Peter found our village.¡± ¡°How old were you then?¡± Kolona closed her eyes a moment. ¡°I think five or six.¡± ¡°And she¡¯s two years younger than you, right?¡± She nodded. ¡°I think so.¡± ¡°Okay. Well, she¡¯s seventeen now, and she¡¯s probably not the person you remember.¡± ¡°I know,¡± she whispered sadly. ¡°She¡¯d kill me. I know. I¡¯m not stupid. I just wish¡­I just wish it didn¡¯t have to be like this.¡± ¡°It won¡¯t be for much longer,¡± Olivir said, patting her arm. ¡°We were lucky enough to snag the queen herself this time around. Once she¡¯s gone, we can end this war, end the killing, and things can go back to the way they were before. Everything is going to be all right. My forces are winning. The Elves are tiring. There¡¯s no one left who can¡ª¡± Olivir stopped speaking and squeezed Kolona¡¯s hand tightly in both fear and dread as things changed near instantly. The human boy, who had several times now come so close to death, seemed to have undergone some kind of instantaneous metamorphosis of the sort that defied any logic or explanation. He simply began to ¡°act up,¡± and when he did, Olivir could only watch in absolute confusion as the situation deteriorated so fast that he could do little more than breathlessly witness his demise. Having landed his strongest spell, having boxed in the queen herself, and having sent every last one of his mobs at the queen and her scouting party, he had been ready to put an end to this bloody mess once and for all. And now, as his eyes took in a sight that they struggled to believe was real, he felt his willpower collapse and his mood turn from grim to desperate. Who is this monster? Why is he doing this to us? Curse you! Chapter 61: Ascension Chapter 61: Ascension Like an explosion from within, a rush of pure energy washed over Zach as he activated Unleashed Phase. His eye widened, he took a sharp inhalation of breath, and a feeling of renewal came upon him so suddenly that it overwhelmed his senses. The cold air biting into his skin seemed to relent; the chill in his spine lessened until a steadily growing heat replaced it. All at once, he felt reinvigorated: fully, completely alive. To his satisfaction, he found himself able to grip his blade tightly in his wrist, which was no longer aching and trembling. His breathing, which until a moment ago had been heavy and on the verge of panting, was now slow but deep and refreshing. Other than a slight, lingering nausea caused by the stomach-roiling, putrid smell of rapidly drying green ooze that had drenched him from head to toe a moment prior, Zach felt better than ever before. As had been the case the last time he¡¯d gone to Phase Level 1, his hands¡ªor hand, rather¡ªand both his feet, which had already been releasing a steady puff of impossibly black smoke, now added the occasional golden, burning ember as even faster, thicker smoke rose up into the air a bit above his head before dissipating. Like a light emerging in the darkness, a sense of purpose came upon him. He felt powerful and determined: stoic and unafraid. All this, while Kalana¡¯s mother watched on with awe plain in her expression. ¡°Incredible,¡± she said. Though the word was ostensibly spoken as a compliment, a crease in her brow gave Zach the impression that she was displeased by what she saw. ¡°For a human to have such an ability, I¡­¡± She began muttering under her breath at a volume too low for Zach to overhear. At the same time, something akin to disgust popped up on her lips. Had he somehow upset or offended her? ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Zach asked. ¡°It¡¯s¡­nothing,¡± she whispered in reply. ¡°Pay it no heed.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± Putting Fylwen out of his mind, he drew another deep, satisfying breath and craned his head to loosen the muscles in his neck. ¡°You know, I have to admit: for doing something so dangerous, I feel pretty damn good right now.¡± ¡°I can see that,¡± she said, her voice still coming through as a whisper. He was surprised he was able to hear her at all amid the mess of chaotic, angry shouting, even louder cries of pain, and in a few unfortunate cases, the final gasps of death that came from every direction around him here on this grassy, open battlefield. Raising her voice somewhat, Fylwen fixed him with an uneasy, skeptical look and said, ¡°You seem completely refreshed.¡± ¡°Because I am,¡± he replied, to which she again cringed¡ªor at least he was pretty sure that was what she did. Her movements were slight and almost seemed involuntary, which caused Zach to second-guess what he observed from her. Yet he didn¡¯t think he was imagining the way she shifted uneasily on her feet and ever-so slightly narrowed her eyes distrustfully at him. No, he was pretty sure he was picking up on some kind of genuine resentment directed his way. But¡­why? It made no logical sense, especially since her displeasure was seemingly in response to learning about¡ªand now witnessing¡ªZach¡¯s abilities. Of all things, why would that upset her? Seriously, how could Kalana¡¯s mom be anything other than happy¡ªor at least relieved¡ªthat someone had come along who could help her people? Wasn¡¯t that exactly what she¡¯d wanted in the first place? It just made no damn sense. Now¡¯s not the time to worry about it, though, he told himself. Focus! From the loose, light feeling in his legs, the easing up of his breathing, and the dramatic rise in his overall level of energy, Zach could tell that all of the stamina he¡¯d burned up while dodging, blocking, striking, and running had been replenished. It was as though he¡¯d just gotten up out of bed after a long, restful sleep, and now he was fully charged and eager. Every last bit of his energy had been restored. As he¡¯d come to understand, stamina could be drained two different ways: by using abilities with ¡®exertion costs,¡¯ or by literally just performing cardio-intensive actions. Though Unleashed Phase altered Zach¡¯s abilities so that he paid for them with time rather than stamina, he could still exhaust himself through physical means. Thankfully, each time he used Unleashed Phase, it replenished all of his stamina at the cost of time. Zach glanced at the information hovering in the air before him, where he could see his remaining duration of Unleashed Phase as well as the time costs of his various abilities. It seemed that amid his frantic, panic-filled struggle to survive, he had exerted himself even more than he¡¯d realized, as the cost of the stamina he¡¯d replenished had been deducted from the current duration remaining on this fresh, new instance of Unleashed Phase, and it was a bit higher than he¡¯d expected, leaving him with just over thirteen-and-a-half minutes. Not that it mattered, of course; after all, he was about to reset it yet again.
Unleashed Phase Duration 13:49 Remaining
Wave Slash 1:15
Boundless 0:10
Phase Blink 0:20
Phase Shield (READY) (25 seconds) 0:45
Phase Rescue 0:35 / 2:15 (if used with Boundless)
Phase Slash 1:10 / 6:10 (if used with ??)
¡°So, how does it work?¡± Fylwen asked him. ¡°Do you simply repeat what you¡¯ve just done a second time? To activate this next¡­this next ¡®phase¡¯ of yours?¡± The question pried his attention off the timer, and he turned his head towards Fylwen as an unexpected sinking feeling entered his belly. ¡°Oh, uh, yeah.¡± Even amid such a wild surge of confidence and energy, Zach¡¯s footing became suddenly unsteady as he thought about the reality of actually ramping things up to Phase Level 2. Despite Fylwen¡¯s promise that she could protect him, there was a natural inclination within himself¡ªa sort of inner voice that called out to him not to push himself any further. As things were, he was already risking almost certain death just by taking on a double-high exertion debt, which he would have to pay when his current duration of Unleashed Phase expired. To tack on an additional ¡°very high¡± cost on top of that? The idea of it rubbed him the wrong way. If Kalana¡¯s mom was mistaken or had miscalculated even slightly, it could cost him his life. What if it turned out she couldn¡¯t heal him after all? In that case, Zach guessed his chance of death went from ninety-nine percent to one-hundred percent. Filling with a stubborn sense of reluctant hesitation, he tensed. ¡°Miss Vayra, are you sure you¡¯ll be able to¡ª¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she replied immediately, sounding alarmed, impatient, and restless. She whipped her head around as though to take in the sight of the Elves, both dead and alive, all around and in some cases above her. The sudden movement caused a strand of her golden hair to briefly cover one of her eyes. ¡°My people continue to die,¡± she said, her tone desperate. ¡°So please. You must unleash more of yourself. Relieve some of their burden. I implore you, young man." ¡°It just feels wrong,¡± Zach said apologetically. ¡°It just¡­it just doesn¡¯t feel right. I feel like something bad will happen to me if I do this.¡± Fylwen ran her left hand through her hair while bobbing her head around in seemingly random directions. ¡°Nothing of the sort shall occur,¡± she said. ¡°You will be fine¡ªbut my people won¡¯t be. Now please, hurry!¡± Though Fluffles and Chumpkenwiffles were doing a great job of protecting the two of them, there had been a few close calls during the last couple of moments as zombies continued to encircle them from every direction. As powerful as the two Shadowfangs might have been, Zach could not reasonably expect them to continue to be fast enough to cut down the roller-skating mobs that determinedly and unendingly advanced towards the four of them. He also couldn¡¯t afford to continue standing around idly while considering his next move. He could either trust Fylwen or he could disregard her: but he had to choose one or the other. Becoming agitated, he called forth his stats and briefly glanced over them.
Name Zachys Calador
Level 13
EXP 13283/15000
Armor Bonus 52
Strength 37
Dexterity 33
Constitution 34
Intelligence 74
Speed 31
Luck 30
Having gained +5 to all of his stats, as well as an additional +5 to armor, Zach paused to consider whether or not this might be enough of a boost all on its own. What if he was strong enough now to make a difference? Truly, did he actually need to risk another Phase Reset and Unleashed Phase? It was an important question, and as a single zombie somehow slipped through the perimeter that Fluffles and Chumpkenwiffles had established, it seemed he now had the perfect opportunity to learn the answer for himself. With a loud, angry-sounding moan, the zombie not only made straight for Zach, but it came at him already swinging, too. Stepping forward to meet it head-on, Zach bent backwards to duck beneath a one-two combination that the ¡°Fundead Roller-Ghast¡± immediately threw at him. Straightening his back, he retaliated, whipping his own sword from left to right and striking the zombie directly across the face; this caused a giant blob of green, slimy pus to splatter across the grass while cutting off most of the creature¡¯s nose and dealing 997 damage; it also caused the mob to stumble backwards into the one behind it, and both nearly fell over.
HP 5003/6000
Name Fundead Roller-Ghast 1F
Level 18
Though the increase in damage was clear and undeniable, Zach frowned as he realized it still wouldn¡¯t be enough. Darting his head around, he noted the absolute sea of mobs that continued to encircle and enclose the Elvish resistance. There were just so many of them. And for him to make even a marginal difference, he would not be able to get by with his current level of power. It really was as simple as that. Had there not been such an insurmountable quantity of the horribly smelling, vile creatures, it would be one thing. But with so many of them packed in so tightly that their bodies made it difficult to see beyond more than a few-dozen feet in any direction, he just wouldn¡¯t be able to impact their numbers in any meaningful way with his current stats. Even with his best efforts, more of Fylwen¡¯s people¡ªmore of Kalana¡¯s people¡ªwould die, and if he allowed that to happen, he knew it would weigh on him for a very long time. I have to do this, he thought. And if nothing else, at least I''ll get to see what I can really do. Having made up his mind, Zach activated Phase Reset, which immediately reset the cooldown to Unleashed Phase, now once more ready to be used, though this time with a ¡°very high¡± exertion cost. Then he prepared himself. He accepted that he was really, truly, actually going to do this. Zach was actually going to go through with this insanity. It was time to activate Unleashed Phase: it was time for him to go well beyond the point he was capable of handling. Yet as he took one final glance at the duration remaining on Unleashed Phase, a sense of dissatisfaction came over him. He couldn¡¯t help but feel like he was putting a whole lot of time to waste. If he was going to reset it all anyway, wouldn¡¯t it be best to use a few abilities first? Hell, he could burn all thirteen-and-a-half minutes in under ten seconds if he unleashed a barrage of Wave Slashes back-to-back. Whether he used Unleashed Phase with thirteen minutes or thirteen seconds left on the clock, it would make no difference, so why not at least get something for his time? I might as well, he thought. I¡¯ve got nothing to lose by using it up. Having become momentarily lost in his thoughts, he was slow to realize that Fylwen had been staring at him as though intent on observing his every move. ¡°Have you done it?¡± she asked him, sounding even more impatient. Yet there was more than just impatience about her. There was something else: something Zach took to be revulsion. It was evident in the way she slightly peeled back the bottom-right corner of her lips and partially wrinkled her nose. Her jagged, pointed ears also seemed to flutter with small, unsteady movements. ¡°Not yet,¡± he said. ¡°In just a second.¡± ¡°In just a second?¡± she asked, repeating his words. ¡°My people!¡± ¡°I know, I know! I just don¡¯t want to waste all this time.¡± ¡°It seems to me that¡¯s exactly what you¡¯re doing.¡± Zach chose to ignore her rude quip. He reminded himself that the people she cared about and loved were fighting, being injured, and in the worst of cases dying all around her. Even still, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a rising bout of annoyance at the fact that, for someone who seemed to show disgust at the mere existence of his abilities, she sure couldn¡¯t wait for him to use them. When this was all over, he planned to take this up with her. As awkward a conversation as it might be, he was going to ask her why she kept scowling at him, as he was now positive that he was not mistaking her facial expressions for something else. The looks she sent his way were not due to the general situation or the plight of her people: no, they were deliberate, and they were definitely directed at him personally, and he wanted to know why. For now, though, he merely tuned her out and returned his attention to the zombie he¡¯d just struck, which was now skating its way back towards him. This, as several severed heads streaking green ooze continued to fly over his own head following more strikes from Fluffles¡¯ claws. After a particularly gruesome kill, the cat paused, glanced over his shoulder at Zach, and then, as if noticing the approaching threat, began to move in Zach¡¯s direction. But before he could travel so much as an inch, Zach raised his chin at Fluffles and called to him to stop. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve got this one.¡± ¡°Zach have that one,¡± the cat said without hesitation. Instead of a meow, a loud, startling roar followed his words, which were still deep and booming in comparison to his normally higher-pitched, more child-like voice. ¡°Fluffles kill this one instead.¡± With that, the cat lifted his front-left paw, swiped it up and across, and decapitated another level-18 ¡°Fundead Roller-Ghast,¡± dealing an astonishing 7021 damage with just a single hit. Then, striding into Zach¡¯s view with an angry ¡°woof¡± that was equally as loud as Fluffles¡¯ roar, Chumpkenwiffles tackled one of the zombies to the ground and began growling as she savagely tore into its flesh, killing it in three fast, successive bites, each doing over two-thousand damage. Zach honestly couldn¡¯t tell which of the two animals was more powerful because, on the one hand, Fluffles¡¯ attacks struck for far more damage, and he was also capable of using powerful magic, but on the other hand, Chumpkenwiffles attacked far, far faster. It was to the extent that the dog could likely deliver numerous bites to an enemy before Fluffles could claw them a single time. Oh, and then there were her explosive laser beams, which she now used to practically detonate two more of the zombies, sending their guts and green ooze splattering everywhere. Distracted by the two Shadowfangs, Zach nearly lost his own guts. Having just managed to take a wide, lunging step to his left to avoid a forward thrust from the shortsword wielded in his foe¡¯s left, rotten hand, he swore at himself for making the kind of mistake that should¡¯ve been ironed out of him by now. With the sounds of battle playing like a disturbing concert all around him, he took two brisk steps, lifted up his foot, and sent it shooting forward, striking the creature dead center in its chest for 82 damage, which literally sent it rolling backwards on its skates until colliding straight into the mob behind it. For the second time, both of the decaying sacks of flesh nearly fell over. But also like before, the one he¡¯d struck was quick to regain its footing and begin skating back in his direction. ¡°Ruuuuhhhh!¡± the zombie moaned as it pursued him. ¡°Ruuuuhhhh!¡± ¡°Wave Slash!¡± Zach shouted in response, slashing at the air with his blade. Zach watched expectantly as his sword carved out a mass of green, patchy, cloud-like, and semi-transparent energy, which quickly solidified and reformed itself into a metallic, double-bladed disc that began to move, slowly at first, in the direction of the ¡°Fundead Roller-Ghast¡± that skated straight towards where he stood beside Fylwen. Though the disc started off at a painfully slow pace, less than a second later it began to pick up speed. Then, just as it seemed about to really take off, it struck its target, dealing a confusingly low 1,457 damage and slicing off almost the entirety of the zombie¡¯s right shoulder blade, severing its arm in the process and causing it to drop one of its two shortswords. However briefly, it also halted the filthy, decaying creature¡¯s forward momentum, though not for long. ¡°What the hell?¡± Zach asked aloud with a growl. ¡°That¡¯s all it did?¡± He blinked in confusion¡ªbut it was short-lived. Almost as soon as he finished speaking, he released a mild chuckle at his own stupidity as the painfully obvious reason dawned upon him. ¡°Oh, right. I¡¯m too close. Duh.¡± Given that an uncountable number of these foul, ragged zombies occupied nearly all of the empty space around him in every direction, it made sense that his Wave Slash did not provide much in the way of damage. How could it? There had only been about eight-or-so feet separating him from his would-be attacker. And since Wave Slash required a reasonable amount of distance to be used to its full potential, it should not have been a surprise to him that it lacked the killing power he¡¯d been hoping for. It did, however, continue on to strike more than just one target: way more, in fact. Even in its weakened state, it managed to hit so many targets that Zach needed a moment to understand what his eye was seeing. First, the number 909 appeared above the zombie lurking behind the one that Zach had just struck. Then, almost in the same instant, the number 702 appeared above the head of the zombie behind that one, with this zombie being named ¡°Fundead Roller-Ghast 1H.¡± Farther down the line, the number 505 popped up next, then 301, 104, and 62. But it didn¡¯t stop there. Zach observed in a state of pure fascination as, following a 9, a cascade of 1s began appearing one behind the next at an increasingly faster rate, stretching on for as far as the eye could see in a single direction until he eventually lost the ability to gaze any farther into the distance. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Holy shit! How many did I just hit? ¡°Ruuuuhhhh!¡± moaned Fundead Roller-Ghast 1F, reminding Zach that his foe was still very much alive and demanding his full attention. Zach took his eye off the cluster of 1s that were only now beginning to fade away into thin air, and he prepared to strike a second time.
HP 3464/6000
Name Fundead Roller-Ghast 1F
Level 18
¡°Wave Slash!¡± Zach shouted yet again, slashing the blade that Fluffles had crafted for him diagonally downwards and forming another cloudy, semi-transparent mass of energy that, as always, soon thereafter became a shiny, metallic disc, which took off slowly before surging ahead with a rapid increase in speed. With the zombie having already closed most of the distance between the two of them on its roller skates, the disc struck the undead cretin point-blank a mere instant after the energy had finished transforming itself. Zach was so close to his enemy that he could actually hear the sound the disc made as it ripped and tore through the creature¡¯s flesh; it was only by luck that the resulting spray of green ooze did not shoot in his direction and coat him with another fresh layer of the pus-like, abysmally smelling green slime. Despite his Wave Slash cutting a hole straight through the creature¡¯s chest before shooting out of its back, it somehow only managed to inflict a paltry 901 damage, as well as an even more anemic 375 damage to the one behind it, and 111 to the zombie behind that one. Like his previous Wave Slash, it only took a matter of moments before another parade of 1s popped up in a straight, seemingly endless line as the disc continued farther along. But this time, however, with many of the nearest roller-skating zombies already put off balance from the first Wave Slash, their bodies were angled in such a way that Zach could just see the metal disc through the gaps between their rotten forms; now, Zach was able to observe how, each time it struck a target, it became smaller and smaller even as it continued to pick up more belated speed. By the time his Wave Slash had struck the tenth zombie in the line¡ªor maybe the eleventh, as it was hard to tell¡ªit had shrunk until it was smaller than a pebble and no longer visible. ¡°Still not enough to kill you, huh?¡± Zach asked the one-armed zombie with a literal hole in its chest that yet again continued to skate towards him. With a grunt, he raised his sword to block a clumsy downward slash from the shortsword in the creature¡¯s left hand. Then, with another grunt, he pressed his sword forward, shoving his weapon against the zombie¡¯s smaller blade, and the result was that the mob skated backwards a foot or two before halting and advancing once more. Zach was both annoyed and angered to see that, even after two Wave Slashes, it still had close to half of its HP.
HP 2563/6000
Name Fundead Roller-Ghast 1F
Level 18
Making things even more frustrating was the fact that, now that he knew a single Wave Slash was capable of hitting a great many targets if they were lined up in a row, he realized if he¡¯d only been a sufficient distance away, he could have likely killed dozens of the foul things at once with a single use of the ability: hell, maybe even more! To be fair, it was kind of hard to know without trying it for himself. Unfortunately, since the zombies had him, Fylwen, and the Elves so unforgivingly boxed in, there was no way for him to flee or Phase Blink to gain distance. Any path forward was one he would have to cut open himself. Venting some of his discontent, Zach stepped forward and released a slash that cut cleanly across the creature¡¯s throat, dealing 845 damage. His foe immediately retaliated, but with only one shortsword, it was easy enough for Zach to simply swat away the weak counter strike sent his way. Then he slashed twice in quick succession, putting even more anger and power into each cut, and with those, he butchered the creature for another 870 and 945 damage respectively. The final blow seemed to do the job in finishing this monstrosity off once and for all. The moment Zach saw its HP hit 0, he immediately hopped backwards, pulling himself away from the zombie as its flesh turned green, brightened, and then liquified into a giant ooze vaguely in the shape of a human that quickly collapsed into a puddle on the grass. He was glad he was able to avoid getting any of the gunk on him from the messy splash. +2000xp
LEVEL UP! 14 (13)
Dexterity +1 (34)
Constitution +1 (35)
Speed +1 (32)
Current XP 283
XP Required for Level 15 25000
Having been so caught up in the horror and excitement of his current predicament, Zach had forgotten all about leveling up and experience points. As a display popped into existence declaring him to now be level 14, two thoughts entered his mind at the exact same time: the first was that, while certainly not perfect, this was far from the worst level up he¡¯d ever gotten, and the second was that the jump in experience points required between levels was starting to get higher and higher. It was no wonder it took people their entire lives to get to such high levels¡ªand it also really highlighted the sheer absurdity of how fast Kalana and her kind seemed to race through it all, achieving immense power in a fraction of the time it took humans. How am I even going to keep leveling up? Zach wondered. The amount required keeps getting so much damn higher! Stuck in a turbulent and potentially fatal situation, Zach forced any thoughts of his progress relative to Kal¡¯s out of his head. He knew that if he allowed himself to be distracted it could result in the death of himself or others. Even still, it wasn¡¯t easy to calm the anxious feeling in the pit of his belly that arose at the uncomfortable realization that seemed to be facing him: that he might never be able to catch up. That it might take him thirty years of constant grinding for XP just to get halfway to where Kalana was right at this moment. Shaking his head as though to cast away doubt and uncertainty, he refocused his attention elsewhere, glancing instead at the display containing his abilities and Unleashed Phase duration. He still had plenty of time left on the clock. In the corner of his eye, he saw Fylwen standing beside him with her hands on her hips and an impatient, desperate glower in her eyes. He knew he couldn¡¯t keep her waiting for all that much longer. He needed to hurry up, throw a few more Wave Slashes, and then be done with it. Though, given how ineffective they were at such close range, he wondered if it would even be worth the few seconds it took to do it. Surely, he might as well. After all, it wasn''t like he had anything better to use, right? Wait, do I? As a question formed in his head, Zach snuck another brief peek at the display, and this time, it was the list of abilities that drew his interest as opposed to the time remaining on Unleashed Phase. Up until now, he had assumed that Wave Slash was his only ability of value that he could use to attack and kill things, but that wasn¡¯t exactly true, was it? At the very bottom of his display, he saw the name of an ability that he had somehow forgotten he possessed.
Unleashed Phase Duration 10:49 Remaining
Wave Slash 1:15
Boundless 0:10
Phase Blink 0:20
Phase Shield (READY) (25 seconds) 0:45
Phase Rescue 0:35 / 2:15 (if used with Boundless)
Phase Slash 1:10 / 6:10 (if used with ??)
Phase Slash, Zach thought. What does it even do? Since learning Unleashed Phase, he had never once had the chance to try Phase Slash. This was because, up until now, every time he¡¯d used Unleashed Phase, he¡¯d found himself in a position where there was either no need to try using it or it was too risky due to the cost in time or the uncertainty of what it might do. But now? Now, things were different. It didn¡¯t matter if he used it and it was useless. It didn¡¯t matter if he threw away the cost in time that the ability demanded. Because he was just going to reset the timer anyway. This was a unique opportunity to see if this thing was even worth the minute and ten seconds it cost. Willing it forward, Zach called forth a new informational display, this one containing just the description of Phase Slash.
(UNLEASHED ABILITY) Phase Slash (UNIQUE) Requires Sword. User slashes the air and sends an energy wave at target enemy dealing between 1 and 999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999 damage depending on an equal combination of all primary stats. Usage Cost: 1:10 / 6:10 (if used with ??)
Being that the ability cost five seconds less than Wave Slash and had a somewhat similar description, Zach had naturally assumed that it must be slightly less powerful or simply not as worth using. But now that he had no reason to hold back, he decided to go for it. After all, he really had nothing to lose but time: time that he¡¯d be giving up anyway, right? So why not? Not wanting to keep Fylwen waiting any longer, Zach decided to burn the rest of his time on Phase Slash. Even if it wasn¡¯t as powerful as Wave Slash, it still wouldn¡¯t matter in the long run. And so, with his mind firmly made up, he prepared himself to activate the one ability in his arsenal he had yet to call upon. For this, however, he needed a target, as unlike Wave Slash, this ability required Zach to specifically choose who or what he wanted to strike. Unsurprisingly, he mentally selected the zombie that had begun skating towards him to replace the one Zach had just killed. And with that, he activated it. Right away, one thing became perfectly clear: that much like Wave Slash, this ability caused his body to move all on its own as though automated. The moment he activated the ability, his mouth popped open, his left, sword-bearing arm raised upwards and off to his left side of its own will, and his knees bent ever so slightly. ¡°Phase Slash!¡± he shouted out, the words automatically escaping his lips. With that, he swung his blade diagonally downwards in a way that was reminiscent of Wave Slash. But that, to be certain, was where similarities between the two ended. This much became totally clear the moment his blade completed its downward slash, revealing this to be yet another excessively, painfully loud ability. As though following on the heels of the sword¡¯s motion, the entire world erupted with a sound that was eerily similar to a jacket zipper being opened; only, the volume of it was easily enough to rival, if not outright exceed, the explosive pop of the sonic boom that typically followed Phase Blink. In fact, for sure it was louder. To be clear, this was certainly no ¡°pop¡± or ¡°boom.¡± This zipper-like sound was instead much higher in pitch and caused a giant, secondary echo that was almost as bad as the core sound. Zach had no idea how he resisted the urge to jump as the startling noise filled his surroundings. As things were, he was just glad it didn¡¯t cause any of Fylwen¡¯s people to die, as many of the Elves around and above him fearfully turned their heads away from their actual enemy and towards Zach as if to investigate the source of such a loud, bizarre sound. Upon completing the downward slash with his blade, there was movement¡ªbut Zach did not see much of it, for he was too taken aback by the screeching, zipper-like sound to be cognizant of whatever it was that escaped his blade. He only distantly became aware of it, catching a mere glimpse of movement in his peripheral vision. Whatever it was, though, he missed it. But before he had time to reflect, there came another sound, this one far, far lower in volume. It was a squish: an audible, unmistakable squish. By the time Zach realized that the mob skating towards him had taken 8,241 damage and had likewise exploded, he was already being showered by an absolute torrential downpour of green, rotten ooze, which once more activated his gag reflex and sickened him to the point that his knees felt weak. If not for a sense of sheer disbelief causing him to feel somewhat detached from reality, he would likely have vomited all over himself a second time. At the very least, he wondered if he was finally becoming somewhat desensitized to the horrible smells of this planet¡ªeverything from pumpkin blood to zombie ooze. +2000xp It took him a moment to realize that Chumpkenwiffles and Fluffles had both stopped whatever they were doing and had turned their heads to stare at him, as did Fylwen, who looked, of all things, positively miserable. The sense of utter repulsion in her expression was so at odds with the gratitude Zach supposed she ought to be feeling upon finding an ally capable of fighting for her imperiled Elvish kin. Had he not had so many more important things to worry about right now, the look she wore on her face would have probably started an argument right here on the spot. No longer did she appear to be suppressing or hiding her disgust: she now wore it openly on her face. ¡°What did you just do?¡± she asked him. ¡°I uh¡­I tried out my Phase Slash.¡± ¡°Tried? What do you mean you ¡®tried¡¯?¡± Zach shrugged, though he did so with only the one fully intact shoulder that he actually had. ¡°I never got the chance to use that before, so I wanted to see what it did. Ah, speaking of which!¡± Zach inhaled and held the breath within himself for a moment. ¡°Phase Slash!¡± he then shouted out an instant later, releasing the air in his lungs and activating the ability a second time. Due to Fluffles¡¯ and Chumpkenwiffles¡¯ brief pause, three more zombies had broken through the perimeter they had established, skating right on through and making Zach, as usual, their primary target. All three moaned loudly as they raised their shortswords, gliding ever closer to him by the second. Unfortunately for the one in the middle, Zach was already slashing his sword downwards through the air; like before, a zipping, high-pitched noise drowned out nearly all other sounds as Zach completed the slash. Paying closer attention, this time he was able to see what had only registered in his brain as ¡°movement¡± during his first use of Phase Slash. And as he discovered, there was a very good reason why. Unlike Wave Slash, which was flashy and involved green-colored energy reforging itself midair, this ability was only barely visible¡ªand even then, it required him to view it from just the correct angle. With a narrowed eye, Zach could only describe what emerged from his blade as some kind of distortion in the air itself. Rather than produce any visible energy, the very world rippled in a way that, while not quite shapeless, was nevertheless too nebulous to attribute to any one form. It was as though the empty space itself was bending and twisting around a partially visible distortion. And this ¡°distortion¡± moved at a speed far, far greater than Wave Slash; it also did not increase or decrease its velocity. The moment the distortion appeared, it burned across the distance between it and its target at what was consistently a nearly imperceptible speed, striking almost instantaneously. And like before, a ¡°squish¡± came from the zombie that the Phase Slash struck, dealing 7,841 damage while causing the creature to pop like a boot stepping on a water balloon. For the second time, a green, slimy ooze showered Zach, but to his own amazement, he ignored it and turned his attention towards dealing with the other two. Even as more slime continued to pour down and drench his gear, which was only first starting to automatically stitch itself back together and repair the many holes that Fluffles and Chumpkenwiffles had torn into it, Zach was already raising his blade for another strike. ¡°Phase Slash!¡± he cried. ¡°Phase Slash!¡± Twice more, he swung down his blade, and twice more, he exploded zombies. In this case, he dismantled the one to his immediate left and the one to his immediate right, both of whom were about to reach him. They popped like a potato in a microwave, further splattering their disgusting ooze all over his face and body. +2000xp +2000xp Following the death of the second zombie, a bag glowing with a white light appeared near a puddle of ooze, which was all that now remained of the foul creature, but Zach didn¡¯t dare pick up the loot¡ªnot with everything else going on around him. Whatever had dropped for him, it would have to wait. Right now, he had more things he needed to kill. How much time did he have left, anyway?
Unleashed Phase Duration 7:05 Remaining
Wave Slash 1:15
Boundless 0:10
Phase Blink 0:20
Phase Shield (READY) (25 seconds) 0:45
Phase Rescue 0:35 / 2:15 (if used with Boundless)
Phase Slash 1:10 / 6:10 (if used with ??)
Twirling his blade in his left hand, he took a step forward, eyed another three zombies towards the edge of the perimeter, and rather than wait for them to skate over to him, Zach seized the initiative and attacked first. ¡°Phase Slash!¡± ¡°Phase Slash!¡± ¡°Phase Slash!¡± Waving his sword around like a musical conductor, he activated one Phase Slash after the other, and each time, the air in front of his sword became distorted, and this distortion was hurtled across the distance at each one of his targets, exploding their bodies with another squish. These three mobs fortunately happened to have been far enough away so that Zach was well out of reach of the green slime that eventually began raining down onto the grass in front of him. +2000xp +2000xp +2000xp Zach couldn¡¯t believe he¡¯d had this kind of power up his sleeve the entire time. Clearly, it packed an even greater punch than Wave Slash, though he supposed the drawback here was that Wave Slash could strike multiple enemies and didn¡¯t require a target, whereas Phase Slash could only hurt one enemy at a time. Even still, he was glad to have something like this to call upon¡ªand call upon it he did. With just enough time left on the clock, he was able to explode another three zombies for an additional +6000xp, and all while Fylwen¡¯s frown turned ever closer into a scowl from where she stood beside him. Seriously, what the fuck was her problem? It was really starting to piss Zach off. Pretending not to notice her reaction, he asked, ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite powerful,¡± she said. ¡°But you still did not make a dent in the enemy¡¯s number. Now, will you please get on with it?¡± ¡°All right,¡± Zach said with a nod. ¡°But I have to say, Miss Vayra. I do notice the way you keep looking at me. I¡¯m not blind¡ªat least not completely.¡± She shifted her eyes in his direction, and then she narrowed them, all while keeping her head pointed forward. ¡°What look would that be?¡± Zach grunted. ¡°Come on. You know.¡± ¡°I know?¡± He sighed. ¡°All right, fine. Just forget it for now. But I know you¡¯re giving me bad looks. I¡¯m not going to pretend like I don¡¯t see it.¡± With fifteen seconds left on Unleashed Phase, Zach did not have the time to press her about the bitchy attitude and mean stares she kept sending his way. Instead, he needed to put all of his effort on suppressing the return of nervous, acidic pain that flowed into his gut at the thought of actually activating Unleashed Phase again. Though he¡¯d already made up his mind to do so, it didn¡¯t make it any less terrifying. But this was something he had to do. There was no more time left to stall. With mere seconds remaining before he collapsed into a potentially fatal E-debt, he had no choice but to grip his blade more tightly, gather his courage, and pull the trigger, so to speak. And so, that was what he did. Despite already owing two high exertion debts, and despite some well-grounded uncertainty over whether or not he¡¯d even be able to handle a single ¡°very-high¡± debt all on its own, Zachys Calador activated Unleashed Phase with a Phase Level of 2. And when he did, the change in his very being was immediate and overwhelming to the point he almost became lost in it. Something akin to an explosion went off inside of him: like he was one of the zombies he¡¯d blown apart with Phase Slash. As soon as Zach activated Unleashed Phase, he arched his back, gritted his teeth, and hissed in both agony and delight as a sensation of power came upon him that was so bafflingly intense that he couldn¡¯t help but drop his sword and fall to his knees. ¡°Young man?¡± Fylwen called to him, sounding alarmed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Tell me!¡± He couldn¡¯t reply. For a moment, he was completely mute, not even able to shout or scream out the rush of extreme sensations shooting through his body. It was as though it were a side effect of using a level of exertion so vastly far beyond his current level of stamina. Or maybe this was something that would¡¯ve happened anyway, whether he was ready to use this ability or not. In either case, it did not change the fact that every last inch of his skin felt as though it were being shocked with a thousand volts. ¡°F-fuck,¡± he said, barely able to get the word out. ¡°Are you okay?¡± asked a female voice somewhere behind him, which he took to be Chumpkenwiffles. ¡°Awoof! Awoof! Are you okay?¡± ¡°Zach okay,¡± Fluffles replied, his voice still deep, booming, and powerful. ¡°Chumpkenwiffles not worry and give Fluffles chin scratch with paw.¡± ¡°No. You give me back scratch with your claws.¡± ¡°No! Zach say Chumpkenwiffles obey Fluffles.¡± ¡°He did not say that.¡± ¡°Yes! Yes he say! I hear him. Right, Zach? Right? Right you say doggie have to obey Fluffles?¡± Zach ignored the two of them. Right now, it was all he could do not to collapse face-first onto the grass and into a puddle of still-drying green ooze. Clenching his teeth even harder, he fought to gain control over himself as the extreme, unbearable sensations flowing through every corner of his body made him release something close to a half-hiss, half-groan. It was like being caught in the current of an ocean or a powerful river. He tried to swim, knowing that to be carried away in this case would mean death. Though only a few seconds had passed, he was now fairly certain that this was a direct result of him pushing himself way, way, way beyond the point he could reasonably handle, and assuming he was correct, it meant that E-debt wasn¡¯t some bottomless thing after all. Although one could certainly ¡°borrow¡± more than they could repay, which would result in either passing out or, for very big debts, a quick death, it seemed that even that had its limitations. Contrary to what he¡¯d come to believe, it did not seem like he could simply Phase Reset himself to the point of summoning dragons if he ever found himself in an inescapable pinch that was sure to result in certain doom. No, it seemed that there were limits after all, and he¡¯d brushed very, very close to one. Or at least he hoped he¡¯d only ¡°brushed¡± it. He now had the sense that passing this limitation would mean instant death. Thus, he would either get back onto his feet and stabilize, or he would fall forward and die. Kalana, he thought, grinding his teeth. Kal, I¡¯m okay. I¡¯m okay, Kal. I¡¯m okay. I¡¯m okay. I¡¯m okay! Whether it was through willpower or dumb luck, he somehow found the strength to pull himself back together. He wasn¡¯t sure how he did it: he wasn¡¯t even sure if it was something he consciously did at all or if it was just his body adjusting to what he knew was going to be a big, big boost in power. Whichever the case, he was thrilled to discover that he was able to return to his feet. And when he did, he noticed that all of the impossibly black smoke that typically trailed off his hand and his feet was now gone, replaced instead by frequent, fast-moving columns of pure, golden, burning embers, which rose to varying, unpredictable heights in the air before jumping off in seemingly random directions. As Zach blinked a few times and regained his composure, he was only distantly aware that Fylwen, Fluffles, and Chumpkenwiffles were all firing off questions at him, even as the two animals had returned to fending off zombies as though to rebuild the crumbling perimeter. Ignoring Fylwen as well as the Shadowfangs, Zach called forth his stats, wanting to see the confirmation that he had truly been able to pull a greater power out of himself.
Name Zachys Calador
Level 14
EXP 18283/25000
Armor Bonus 77
Strength 67
Dexterity 64
Constitution 65
Intelligence 104
Speed 62
Luck 60
¡°Gods!¡± he said with a gasp as the sight of his own stats shocked him. ¡°I can¡¯t¡­I can¡¯t believe it.¡± Fylwen¡¯s face darkened, and with a horrified-sounding whisper, she said, ¡°Neither can I, human.¡± Chapter 62: Phase Level 2 Chapter 62: Phase Level 2 It wasn¡¯t until after the ringing in his ears had completely subsided that Zach realized it had ever been present in the first place. With all the other tumultuous sensations rioting through his body, it was amazing he¡¯d become aware of it at all. Strangely, he almost wished it had remained, as its absence meant that he could now more clearly hear the demanding questions Fylwen was shouting at him while he dismissed his stats screen and tried to stand up straighter. On shaky, but quickly steadying legs, he channeled all of his willpower and fought to bring himself further under control. ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± the Elvish queen snapped. She waved her arm in an arc in front of herself as though to gesture at the mass of approaching zombies. ¡°We¡¯re being overrun. Start killing!¡± Rather than reply, Zach held up his pointer finger. Then, tuning her out, he took a few precious moments to allow his head to clear and his body to fully adjust to Phase Level 2. Fylwen didn¡¯t seem to appreciate this, and it only seemed to encourage her to badger him with an even greater fervor. Even still, he had no choice: he needed to anchor himself. Despite knowing it would only further upset her, he continued to ignore the distraught woman as the rush of negative sensations steadily retreated, some of which were more worrying than others. His heart, for one, was beating terrifyingly fast, and his posture, though straight, felt like it required a greater amount of effort to keep upright. Closing his eye for just a few seconds, he tried to filter out the shouts, grunts, and horse-like cries from the mounted unicorns soaring above him. He attempted to slow his breathing and calm the pounding in his chest. One thing was for sure, though: he knew he was going to live¡ªat least until the end of Unleashed Phase, anyway. Having managed to pick himself up off the ground, Zach was positive that the worst of his inner storm had passed. Although it had only been twenty-or-so seconds since he¡¯d activated Unleashed Phase for the third time, nearly all of his most-serious issues had relented. Even his furious heart was beginning to calm itself. What lingered now was a particularly harsh wave of dizziness and inertia that was also rapidly fading, likely to be gone in just a few more moments. But there was one issue in particular that became more prominent and noticeable as his other problems abated: something that did not appear to be improving. In fact, it appeared to be worsening. Zach winced and groaned as an all-consuming tingling sensation flared up in his slowly regrowing right arm while an even fiercer one radiated in the socket where his right eye used to be. Though the feeling was not outright ¡°painful¡± in the typical sense, it was uncomfortable to the point of torture¡ªand it was getting worse, too. By the time he¡¯d gotten his breathing back under control, the sensation grew to become unbearable. It was far worse than the itching he¡¯d experienced the night prior. In many ways, it reminded him of the way it felt whenever he slept on his arm and woke up with it asleep. First, it would be numb. Then, it would fill with a sensation not all that dissimilar to the one he currently felt. Finally, he¡¯d get the ¡°pins and needles.¡± Right now, he was experiencing a combination of all three, only to an absurdly higher degree. ¡°Fucking hell,¡± he growled, shaking his arm. The last time he¡¯d given it a good look over, it had grown a few inches from the point of the shoulder blade. Now, he glanced down at where it jutted out of his maroon-colored tunic, and when he did, his mouth fell open. ¡°What the hell?¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on with you?¡± Fylwen asked, moving closer to him. ¡°Why do you look so¡ªhuh? Is that¡­?¡± Zach tried to speak, but the sensation in his arm became so powerful that he was no longer able to form words. Yet even if he could, he imagined he¡¯d still be too shocked and confused to say much of anything. A single thought popped up in his head and overtook his entire brain. It was a question, actually. Right now, he wanted to know just one thing: was this real? Was he really, actually seeing this? It¡¯s growing, he thought. Either I¡¯m going crazy, or it¡¯s growing! Even as he filled with amazement, he could only moan and groan while his limb expanded and sprouted in real time right in front of him. Lifting his arm, he stared down at where his hand would have been, and he became both entranced and stunned as he observed bone and tissue forming inside of his growing arm while a shallow layer of red-tinted skin stretched and wrapped itself around it. Beneath this shallow layer, he could see blood filling inside through freshly grown veins before even more, thicker layers of skin formed on top of it. It was a sight as disgusting as it was fascinating. ¡°Why¡¯s this happening?¡± he asked, releasing another drawn-out groan as strange, but tremendously intense sensations continued to erupt in his right, regrowing arm. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Fylwen whispered. Tilting her head to the side, she asked, ¡°By any chance, did you¡­did you use one of those stones on yourself? The ones that regrow missing appendages.¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Actually, yeah. The doctors used a few of them on me after I got hurt. It was, uh, not long before coming here. But it should still be¡±¡ªhe released another groan and paused a moment to grind his teeth as he struggled to bear the unpleasantness¡ª¡°it should still be a few days before my arm¡¯s back. I could tell you what happened if you want.¡± She shook her head. ¡°No, we don¡¯t have time, and the ¡®how¡¯ of it isn¡¯t relevant.¡± She tapped her chin with her forefinger. ¡°But think I know what¡¯s happening to you.¡± ¡°You do?¡± he asked, watching as his arm had now grown to the end of his forearm and the beginning of his wrist. This really was like pins and needles times a thousand. He swore loudly as the dreadful feeling just kept on getting worse and worse. His only consolation was that his eye no longer bothered him and now simply felt itchy and somewhat cool. Fylwen pointed to his wrist, where his fingers were now forming. He could actually see the various layers of skin wrapping around each of his digits as his hand was recreated in front of him. ¡°Your constitution,¡± she said with a sudden, unexpected horror creeping into her voice. ¡°It must be over fifty now.¡± ¡°Well, yeah. It¡¯s sixty-five.¡± Fylwen¡¯s eyes twitched, and she bared her teeth. Zach had no idea why. ¡°Did you say sixty-five?¡± ¡°Yeah, why?¡± She curled her bottom lip. ¡°And what is it normally, young man? When you¡¯re not using this ¡®phase¡¯ ability, I mean.¡± Zach groaned before answering. ¡°It¡¯s six¡ªor no, wait. It¡¯s seven now that I leveled up.¡± ¡°Well, that explains it.¡± ¡°Huh? What explains it?¡± Even as she began to enlighten him, he could not help but focus on the way her nose curled in what was plainly disgust. ¡°In both humankind as well as Elvish,¡± she began, ¡°after 50 points into constitution, every additional point increases your rate of passive HP regeneration while not exerting yourself or participating in combat.¡± ¡°My what?¡± Zach asked, confused. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this,¡± she muttered. Even still, she continued her explanation. ¡°As long as you aren¡¯t critically wounded or still fighting, you begin to restore some of your HP every five seconds while at rest.¡± ¡°Wait, seriously?¡± ¡°Yes. In fact, with sixty-five points into constitution, I¡¯d imagine you could have your stomach sliced open and be fine in half an hour as long as you weren¡¯t bleeding out. It¡¯s essentially your body healing itself in fast-forward. Most races have the ability to heal from wounds. It¡¯s why we don¡¯t die from paper cuts. With high enough constitution, you heal faster.¡± Looking down at his reformed hand, Zach attempted to clench it into a fist. To his surprise, despite a bit of numbness, he had full control over his wrist. He could also feel each one of his fingers, too, though only slightly. All at once, he became overwhelmed with a feeling of pure joy. Even though, in the grand scheme of things, he hadn¡¯t been without his right arm and hand for very long, it had still felt like an eternity. He¡¯d missed it so much. Zach clenched and unclenched it several more times as feeling began to return in a flood. And although it caused the uncomfortable, prickly feeling of pins and needles to increase, it had already improved to the point it barely disturbed him. Curiously, after making a fist for the fifth time, when he once more opened his hand, an orange light formed in his palm as a golden, burning ember shot out of it, launching several feet into the air before veering off to the right and once more falling back down, vanishing before ever hitting the ground. Then a second ember fired out of his palm. And then a third. Now, much like his left, his right, newly restored hand began to shoot off one ember after the next. These embers increased in speed and frequency until his right hand eventually matched the pace of his left. It''s really back, he thought. I can¡¯t believe it. Based on the tightness that entered Fylwen¡¯s face, she clearly did not share in his cheer. With an equal combination of distress, impatience, and revulsion all mixed together in her expression, Fylwen once more gestured at the world around them and said, ¡°Can you please do something? Truly, I cannot bear to lose any more of my kin. You must surely be well enough now, young man.¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡°So, will you fight at last?¡± Zach bent down, retrieved his sword off the grass, then returned to his feet. With a grin, he met Fylwen¡¯s eyes and nodded at her. ¡°You bet I will.¡± Raising his left hand to his face, he tore off the bandages and gauze that had been covering his right eye, and now, once again, his heart swelled with joy as he realized he could see out of it¡ªalthough it was blurry at the moment. He imagined that would get better over time. But even with the blurriness, viewing the world out of two eyes was still a great deal better than being limited to just one. And so, with two arms, two eyes, and a burning eagerness to rip apart every gods-be-damned zombie around him, Zach at long last gripped his sword tightly in both hands and raised it with the blade pointed upwards. Without a doubt, the weapon felt much more secure now. Hell, he felt much more secure now. But it was more than that, too, because now that his body had fully adjusted to the vast boost in power provided by Phase Level 2, all of the negative sensations he¡¯d been experiencing were replaced by positive ones. And to think: he¡¯d actually thought his level of energy had increased with Phase Level 1. Hah! It was nothing compared to the bottomless depth of strength and power he felt pulsing through every vein in his body. Now, he was finally going to see what he could do: what he was capable of doing. And he had plenty of time to do it, too.
Unleashed Phase Duration 14:11 Remaining
Wave Slash 1:15
Boundless 0:10
Phase Blink 0:20
Phase Shield (READY) (25 seconds) 0:45
Phase Rescue 0:35 / 2:15 (if used with Boundless)
Phase Slash 1:10 / 6:10 (if used with ??)
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. It was fortunate that he¡¯d pulled himself together when he had, because as it turned out, the perimeter Fluffles and Chumpkenwiffles had established was no longer holding. By killing so many of the creatures so fast, they had established something of a little ¡°pocket¡± amid what was otherwise an unbroken sea of decaying, foul-smelling mobs. But now, as the zombies pressed forward with an even greater ferocity, they began to crash down on this ¡°pocket¡± like water rushing in to fill a whirlpool that had lost its rotational energy. Here we go, Zach thought. I hope I¡¯m strong enough. Ready for battle, Zach began making his way towards the nearest zombie¡ªor at least he¡¯d intended to do so. But before he could move an inch, the perimeter finally broke, and the pocket became flooded. It seemed that, rather than take the fight to the zombies, the zombies were intent on taking the fight to him. Oh well. Honestly, it was all the same to him. Either way, he planned on massacring a whole lot of them¡ªand for reasons that were personal to him now. After what they¡¯d put him through, it was more than time for a little payback. And would you look at that? It seemed he already had a willing volunteer to be his first victim, too. How nice. Skating straight towards him, Zach spotted one of the filthy, torn-rag-wearing zombies, this one named ¡°Fundead Roller-Ghast 3A.¡± For some reason, the creature was missing its left ear and a piece of its jaw, as well as a few-hundred points of HP. Though he couldn¡¯t know for sure, Zach guessed it must¡¯ve been from one of his two earlier uses of Wave Slash. If so, it looked like he wasn¡¯t the only one interested in getting a little revenge. Unfortunately for the zombie, it would not succeed. Rushing straight at him, it moaned angrily and delivered a quick, horizontal slice aimed at his throat. With his body more responsive than ever, Zach bent his knees and ducked. With a whoosh, the shortsword passed harmlessly above him. Then he shot back up and delivered two blazing-fast strikes of his own¡ªand both of them connected. They really connected. And when they did, Zach was positive he did not imagine the sound of a disgruntled hiss that came from Fylwen, who was now watching him in action from where she stood a few feet behind him. In truth, he hadn¡¯t really known what to expect. With 67 points into strength, Zach hoped he would be strong enough to kill the creature with the efficiency of Fluffles or Chumpkenwiffles. To say he succeeded would be putting it mildly: so much so as to be absurd. This much, he did not fully appreciate until the moment just after his blade had torn into the creature¡¯s flesh. When it did, both his old and new eye widened in shock as he saw the results for himself. His first strike, which came in from the left and whipped across to the right, managed to sever the entire top portion of the zombie¡¯s head. Everything above the monster¡¯s eyes was chopped off as though it were a carrot on a cutting board, dealing 5,185 damage.
HP 415/6000
Name Fundead Roller-Ghast 1F
Level 18
Green slime began to leak out of the zombie¡¯s skull, along with something darker in color that Zach hoped wasn¡¯t brain matter. It poured down the mob¡¯s face, over the sides of its rotten cheeks, and eventually it began to drip onto the grass. Aiming a bit lower, Zach decided to put the loathsome creature down with an even faster, second swing of his blade, and with this strike, he connected with the zombie¡¯s neck. Now, he took the rest of its head off its shoulders. With its tongue eerily sticking out of its mouth, the zombie¡¯s head flipped several times midair before landing quietly onto the grass. Then, after a several-second delay, the rest of the mob¡¯s body tumbled over onto the side, landing next to its missing head. +2,000xp ¡°Okay, then,¡± Zach said, grinning menacingly. ¡°Who¡¯s next?¡± Almost immediately, a second zombie replaced the one he¡¯d killed. Releasing his bottled-up frustrations, Zach stepped forward, bent his knees, and unleashed a powerful, two-handed slice aimed at its midsection. This time, not only did he manage to destroy the mob in a single strike, but his sword fully severed the zombie¡¯s bottom half from its top half. Zach actually had to duck slightly as he struck with such force that it caused the zombie¡¯s torso from the waist up to separate and fly above his head and over his shoulders while the bottom half simply fell forward. Both ends sprayed more green slime, much of it getting into his face and onto his gear. He no longer cared, though. At this point, he was already so covered in it he could barely smell it anymore. +2000xp Unable to learn their lesson, two more zombies immediately rushed at him, and both attacked at the exact same time. Zach jumped backwards, dodging the strikes from each. Seemingly undaunted, both of the roller-skating creatures pursued, but one found itself in front of the other. With an angry moan, the leading zombie tried to decapitate Zach the way Zach had decapitated its friend. But it was far, far too slow. Zach squatted down to his knees and ducked beneath the strike. But rather than stand back up, he instead spun his body around in a full circle while extending his arms and holding out his blade. The result was that he slashed through both of the creature¡¯s legs just above the kneecap, amputating both of its limbs and dealing 5,322 damage. Freakishly, the two legs remained standing in an upright position even as the rest of the monster slid forward and landed with a plop onto its rotten belly. ¡°Ruuuuhhhh!" the one behind it cried. Zach sprang back to his feet, raised his sword, and blocked a downward strike, as well as a two-strike combination from a third zombie that had somehow snuck up on him from somewhere off to his right. Striking out furiously, he ripped apart this newcomer, killing it in two quick hits. Then he ducked beneath yet another horizontal swing from the zombie in front of him. Overflowing with a sense of power, Zach gripped his blade even more tightly, and with far more strength, he swung it ferociously at the son of a bitch¡¯s throat, dealing 6,101 damage and beheading it in a single shot. Then, twirling his blade so that it pointed downwards, he bent his knees, gritted his teeth, and thrust his blade straight down towards the grass-covered ground, ending the life of the initial zombie that was attempting to crawl away on its belly. A few seconds later, both its body as well as its still-standing legs turned bright green in color and liquified into two separate puddles of ooze, joining the corpses of the other two that had already vanished. +2000xp +2000xp +2000xp
LEVEL UP! 15(14)
Luck +1(61)
Current XP 3283
XP Required for Level 16 35000
¡°What a trash level up,¡± Zach growled. ¡°I¡¯m going to take it out on you bastards!¡± Given just how fast and easily he could dispatch these zombies, he couldn¡¯t help but shift his perception of these decaying freaks. Where he previously saw them as a horrifying threat, he now came to think of them as a resource: something he could use to level up Gods-knew how many more times before all this was over. This was his chance, wasn¡¯t it? A rush of enthusiasm shot through him. He could begin to catch up, couldn¡¯t he? He could soar ahead. He just needed to kill. He needed to kill, kill and kill! ¡°I¡¯m about to go a bit crazy,¡± Zach said, bending and unbending his knees. Now that he saw what he was capable of, his head filled with an outpouring of determination, eagerness, and a hunger for more experience points. He didn¡¯t care if Fylwen didn¡¯t like what she saw. This was what she¡¯d asked for, wasn¡¯t it? Whatever her problem was, it sure wasn¡¯t his. He was going to do his best to save as many lives as possible¡ªand he was going to be rewarded handsomely for it in the form of XP. And if she didn¡¯t like it, she could shove it for all he cared. He was done letting her mean-spirited looks get to him. Okay, Zach thought to himself, I¡¯m clearly strong enough now to make a real impact. But how do I save these Elves? What can I do to make the biggest difference? Glancing first to his left and then to his right, he realized that, rather than push the wave of zombies outward and back towards the forest from where they¡¯d emerged, it would be better to build an ever-increasing pocket to both of his sides, where Elves individually fought for their lives¡ªisolated and surrounded by dozens upon dozens of the filthy creatures with their backs to the hill he¡¯d fallen down. After all, that was the real issue here: their isolation. Each Elf was more or less trapped in their own tiny space, separated from their allies by a wall of zombies. If Zach focused his efforts on killing the ones that separated the Elves from one another, he could essentially ¡°free¡± and ¡°connect¡± them, creating an ever-bigger pocket. Then, they could stand together and cover each other¡¯s flanks. ¡°Fluffles!¡± Zach called. ¡°Chumpkenwiffles!¡± Both the cat and the dog turned their heads in his direction. Zach removed a hand from his blade and pointed to their right. ¡°Focus on killing the zombies from that side until you reach one of the Elves. Then have that one push the perimeter outwards. Then keep going down along the base of the hill in that direction until you reach more of them. Got it?¡± ¡°Awoof!¡± Chumpkenwiffles barked in what Zach took to be an affirmation. Fluffles roared. ¡°No!¡± ¡°N-no?¡± Zach asked, confused. Fluffles again roared. ¡°Fluffles get to have three cans of tuna and two cans of chicken or no help Zach.¡± ¡°Okay, it¡¯s a deal.¡± ¡°Zach promise?¡± ¡°Yes, dammit! Now go!¡± To Fylwen, he said, ¡°Stay close to me, all right?¡± ¡°I will,¡± she replied bitterly. He didn¡¯t like her tone, but he ignored it. Zach watched as both of the Shadowfangs backed away from the encroaching horde and, together, began lashing out at the ones off to their right as they began cutting a path to the nearest isolated Elvish warrior on that side. At the same time, Zach retreated so that, he, too, had his back to the steep, unclimbable hill. Once more gripping his sword in both hands, he turned his body to the left and exploded forward, ready to kill everything he came across. Now, as he switched over from defense to offense, one thing became clear right away: the horror these mobs had put him through might as well have been a distant memory. Whatever else came before this point, it no longer mattered. These vicious, roller-skating anomalies were no longer a threat to him¡ªno, not even slightly. They were just food for the experience bar he¡¯d put towards the bottom of his vision. Like a butcher, Zach began ripping them apart. Striking for 5,207, then 4,906, he hacked the nearest Fundead Roller-Ghast to pieces. Then, for 6,014, he cut the head off a second one. He didn¡¯t stop there, however. No, he was only just getting started. With so many zombies in front, behind, and to the right of him, he whirled his blade around with near reckless abandon, indiscriminately striking so many zombies so fast that he did not even prioritize killing one before starting on another. Arms, legs, heads, and various other appendages were hacked off and tossed around as he ripped his blade through the air at them. With an upward slice, he ended one of the zombies before it could even attempt an attack against him. Immediately after, he swung his sword back down in the opposite direction, vertically splitting the skull open of the one behind it and causing the left side of its face to detach from its right. Then, an instant later, without even pausing to look over his shoulder, he reversed his grip on his sword so that the bladed end pointed behind him. Even while keeping his body oriented forward, he bent his knees, twisted his hips, and stabbed his blade in a backwards thrust, ending the decaying sack of flesh trying to fill in the empty space behind him. Finally, he spun his body around in a semicircle and decapitated yet another of the creatures to his right. Grunting, he realized he would need to be even faster: he would need to be even more aggressive. These things were so quick to fill any empty space that it wouldn¡¯t be enough for him to simply slice his way towards the nearest Elvish warrior, whom he could just see struggling for dear life behind a row of about six zombies. He also needed to continue felling those behind and to his right when they got too close. For once, he was actually glad to have the hill occupying his left side, because it meant he only had to worry about three, rather than four directions. ¡°Help!¡± a voice cried. ¡°I can¡¯t hold much longer. Please!¡± It was one of the green-cloaked Elvish warriors. ¡°I¡¯m coming!¡± Zach called to him. ¡°Just hold on!¡± With that, he burned forward like a human inferno, and he began to butcher his prey. ***** ¡°Pack your things!¡± Olivir shouted at Kolona as he paced back and forth in front of his desk while nervously grabbing and tugging on locks of his silver-dyed hair. ¡°We¡¯re getting the fuck out of here! He¡¯s a Gods-cursed demon. I¡¯ve never seen anything like this!¡± Across his grand hall, beyond a golden archway and inside of an opened, double-doored entryway that led into the master bedroom, Olivir could hear a sobbing Kolona ripping open drawers and stuffing what few of her possessions she could fit inside of a modestly sized travel pack. ¡°You¡¯re coming with me!¡± he heard her shout from across the hall. ¡°I¡¯m not going to let you stay here, Oli. Tell me you¡¯re coming with me!¡± ¡°Of course I am,¡± he lied to her. In truth, he had no way of escaping this planet. Everyone other than the Elvish required some ¡°buff¡± or another to travel through the ancient dungeons, which also served as convenient portals to other worlds. Kolona knew this very well, but she must have been in denial. Either way, he wouldn¡¯t remind her of this fact until the final moment when he planned to kiss her goodbye. It wasn¡¯t that he wanted to die¡ªhe was far too young of a vampire to part this world¡ªbut rather, it appeared to be a foregone conclusion at this point, and what sense was there in taking her with him? Reinforcements were supposed to have arrived from the other vampire counts¡ªbut they hadn¡¯t. And judging from the reports he¡¯d received from his zombie spies, the Elvish were no longer attacking or pursuing any other domains other than his own. This meant that, in an act of unbelievable treachery, the other counts must have made some kind of deal with Fylwen: the life of Olivir in exchange for peace. That must have been the case: what other possible conclusion could he draw? Butterflies filling his stomach, Olivir struggled to pry his attention from the glass dome, which showed the sword-wielding human boy absolutely eviscerating his minions of the dark. He¡¯d somehow healed himself, too. And now, with both of his hands and feet shooting off smoldering embers, Olivir could only seethe in misery at the sight of him dismantling one zombie after the next with a ruthless efficiency. How had he achieved such a dramatic spike in power? The kid had nearly been killed just a few minutes ago. What in the name of the Gods was going on here? ¡°Hurry up, Kolona!¡± he shouted. ¡°You hurry,¡± she called back to him with a whimper. ¡°I am,¡± he again lied. He had a travel pack of his own nearby, but he only pretended to stuff it full of clothing. There was no point in him actually bothering to pack. As sure as night turns to day, that boy was going to end up saving those Gods-cursed Elves, and when he did, he would likely march right on over to this manor, whereupon he would end up beheading Olivir like one of his minions. What an utter catastrophe. Curse Fylwen. Curse the Elvish. Curse himself! If only I still had Mantril, he thought sadly. He had loved that Mega-Eep. May Fylwen burn in an eternal fire for the way she¡¯d disemboweled his beloved mount. The writing was on the wall: the end was near. And unless something changed soon, everything was about to come crashing down around him. Once more, Olivir was forced to wonder just who in the hell this kid was and what in the name of the Gods Olivir had ever done to deserve his ire. Unfortunately, the way things were heading, he¡¯d probably end up dying without ever finding out. And all because he¡¯d once saved the life of an innocent girl: a girl he now loved more than anything in this world. Truly, no good deed went unpunished, did it? Chapter 63: Game On Chapter 63: Game On With the destructive force of a tornado ripping through a house made of straw, Zach rampaged across the battlefield like a sentient natural disaster. One vicious strike after the next, he indiscriminately cut down, dismembered, and in some cases decapitated so many zombies so fast that he did not even bother paying attention to damage numbers or HP as he tore through his enemies. Hell, he wasn¡¯t even certain he killed every one of the Gods-cursed creatures that found itself in his path. For sure, there were some he¡¯d left crawling along the grass legless or stumbling about with no arms. But there were too many for him to care about the fate of any individual mob: not with so many lives depending on him. ¡°Watch where you swing that thing,¡± Fylwen said, sounding annoyed, disgusted, but not even remotely appreciative. She was following along behind him, and given the tight confines created by the sea of tireless zombies, she had to stay close so that he could protect her. ¡°Do you want me to hurry or not?¡± Zach asked, doing his best not to accidentally kill his girlfriend¡¯s mother as he proceeded to slaughter everything around him. If Fylwen had something to say in reply, she didn¡¯t voice it; instead, she merely released a grunt of reluctant acceptance. Just to be safe, though, Zach extended an arm towards her, gesturing for her to hang a little bit farther back. Once he was sure he had enough room to wave around his blade without accidentally slicing her open, he continued his onslaught. Despite the frigid air, he began to sweat profusely as he whipped his sword in every conceivable direction, hacking away at the swarm of foul-smelling, roller-skating monsters that stood between him and an injured Elf who clearly wasn¡¯t going to last a whole lot longer. Showers of green slime rained down upon him as he carved his way towards the unfortunate, green-cloak-wearing fellow with short curly hair, dark green eyes, and a potentially life-threatening gash across his upper chest leaking blood. Right now, the Elf was down on one knee with his curved, silver sword held high above his head in his right hand, which he used to block a series of increasingly more intense strikes from a growing number of mobs surrounding him. Already off balance, Zach knew it wouldn¡¯t be long before he was disarmed¡ªand indeed, it wasn¡¯t. The Elf yelped in what sounded like surprise as a violent downward blow resulted in the weapon flying free of his fingers and landing somewhere behind him near the base of the hill. Now defenseless, Zach could see his eyes going wide with terror as it must have dawned upon him that the end was near. ¡°Ruuuuhhhh!¡± moaned the zombie that had knocked away his only remaining means of defense. The creature lifted its left shortsword and made as if to bring it crashing down on top of the already wounded Elf. Damn! Zach thought to himself. I¡¯m not going to make it! Setting aside all caution and regard for his own wellbeing, Zach switched his grip on his own sword so that he wielded it in just his right hand; then, with his left, he bent his elbow and raised his fist so that he held it out before himself protectively like a shield. With that, he launched himself forward at a full sprint, praying to every known God and Goddess that he would reach the Elf¡¯s side before the bladed end of the zombie¡¯s shortsword ripped through his skull. As he began to move, the resulting burst of momentum nearly toppled him. Now that he was in Phase Level 2, Zach was boosted by a simply unbelievable 55 points into every stat: an amount so great that he lacked the ability to fully appreciate the power of it. This much was made very clear to him as he blasted ahead with such speed that it was only by some combination of luck and desperation that he managed to avoid falling over as he¡¯d done the very first time he¡¯d used Unleashed Phase, back in floor B6 of Yorna. Rocketing forward, he slammed into¡ªand then through¡ªthe two zombies that stood between himself and the soon-to-be dead Elvish warrior. As though they were mere paperweights, his body¡¯s impact with the two creatures caused them to be flung in opposite directions before disappearing out of sight from both corners of his vision. Now, the only thing before Zach was the kneeling, disarmed Elf and the zombie slashing down at him. The blade was close to striking its target, too: close enough that Zach had to grit his teeth and demand that his body move even faster. No, no, no! Having seen enough Elves die today, he was determined to make it in time. Intentionally dropping his blade, he hopped into the air, extended both of his arms in front of him, and dove forward at the decayed, rag-wearing foe about to slay the defenseless Elf. An instant later, he collided with the zombie, whose blade was less than an inch away from cutting into the Elvish warrior¡¯s scalp. Having been moving at such a great speed, and with a power greater than he could bring himself to believe, Zach actually managed to tackle the zombie for a staggering 1,595 damage; less than a fraction of a second later, on the heels of an audible thud, he slammed it into the ground for another 751. The moment the mob¡¯s back hit the grass, its left shortsword flew out of its hand, though it managed to maintain its hold onto its right weapon. With Zach pinning it down, it tried to flail the shortsword around and cut at his left side. Growling, Zach grabbed the creature¡¯s forearm and held it in place right as it tried to strike him. He was clearly stronger than the zombie: enough so that he immobilized the monster¡¯s sword-bearing arm with ease. Then, using his opposite hand, Zach shouted out his anger and crashed his fist into the thing¡¯s jaw with all of his strength, hitting for 1,322 and knocking out three quarters of its teeth while causing a spray of green ooze to add another layer to the collection of it already covering most of his face. Briefly, he wiped some of it off his eyes with the one semi-clean portion of the sleeve of his tunic. Then he decked the creature a second time: and then a third time. On the fourth, he crushed its skull, turning it into something more closely resembling a cracked egg. Quickly, he released the creature¡¯s arm, letting it drop down lifelessly onto the grass. Having killed the mob, he hopped off of it just as it began to brighten, liquify, and turn into mush. +2000xp ¡°Are you okay?¡± Zach asked, turning his head in the Elvish warrior¡¯s direction. Fylwen broke away from Zach and hurried to the Elf¡¯s side. There was a genuine and deep concern in her eyes: one that Zach doubted she¡¯d show him if he ended up wounded and cornered. ¡°Not¡­not yet!¡± the youngish-looking Elf replied. He too was dripping sweat despite the below-freezing temperatures amid what was paradoxically a bright, sunny, and cloudless day. His eyebrows rose as though in alarm, and he recoiled. Zach craned his neck to see what approached. Having only just returned to his feet, Zach became aware of another two zombies bearing down on the defenseless Elf, who was still himself only first getting up into a standing position. Awkwardly, both the Elf and Fylwen began backing away from the two roller-skating zombies that were now zipping along directly towards them. Taking a deep breath, Zach turned in their direction and moved as fast as he could manage to intercept. Once again, it was a close call. Dashing straight for them with a sense of urgency, he managed to physically put himself in between the two approaching zombies and where Fylwen was standing beside the wounded Elvish warrior; with a peek over his shoulder, he noticed that the two of them had continued to retreat but had now run out of room, having come to the base of the unclimbable hill. Gently pushing the injured Elf into somewhat of a reclining position, Fylwen placed both of her hands on his chest wound and began whispering something indiscernible. A moment later, they began to glow with a bright, pulsating green light. ¡°Stay put. I must tend to this immediately, Nerilan.¡± ¡°You¡­you are too kind, my queen,¡± he groaned. As Fylwen tended to the wounded Elf, the two advancing Fundead Roller-Ghasts¡ªone named 2U, and the other 3V¡ªdidn¡¯t seem to mind switching their aggro to Zach, who used his body to cut them off from their intended prey. With a loud ¡°Ruuuuhhhh!¡± they turned their dual-wielded shortswords on him. Clearly, they didn¡¯t care who or what they targeted as long as it was sentient and alive. And so now, with both positioned symmetrically apart, they struck out at him from both sides at nearly the same time, which would make defending against them difficult. Grunting, Zach¡¯s reflexes took over, and he raised his blade to block¡ªonly to then remember he¡¯d purposely dropped it a few seconds ago and was now just as unarmed as the Elf he was trying to protect. But even worse, it was too late for him to use Phase Shield, as the swords were too close. Swearing aloud, his breath caught in his throat as he nervously attempted to suck air into his lungs. His body tensed, all of his muscles stiffened, and he reflexively tucked his head down while simultaneously raising his arms to protect his face. He braced himself for what his instincts told him was going to be a world of agony. He winced in advance of the terrible pain he was expecting to feel as two shortswords¡ªone to each side of him¡ªsliced down, found their mark, and tore across his forearms. His body tensed even further: he knew that this would be the part where it began to hurt. And yet¡­oddly, it didn¡¯t. Momentarily confused, he shifted his hips and pivoted slightly to block another sword-strike from the zombie on his left, absorbing the blow yet again on his left forearm before twisting himself in the opposite direction and guarding against a similar one to the right. Like before, there was no pain, and as he defended against a third, similar round of attacks, he calmed himself enough to assess the situation. Now, he saw that, not only was he not sustaining any meaningful damage from the shortswords, but he wasn¡¯t sustaining any damage at all¡ªnot even a scratch. Totally unhurt, he came to the realization that the combination of his armor and constitution were likely so high now that he was actually invulnerable to these level-18, Fundead Roller-Ghasts. The sudden understanding caused him to chuckle. These stupid bastards: they couldn¡¯t actually hurt him anymore! ¡°Whoah,¡± he whispered to himself. ¡°Okay, then. In that case¡­¡± With a rush of determination, Zach grinned, balled both his hands into fists, bent his knees slightly, and lurched his body forward, delivering a full-power cross punch aimed right between the eyes of the zombie to his left, completely knocking the thing off its feet and planting it onto its back for 2049 damage. It also caused its nose to bend at a ninety-degree angle. Zach was surprised he hadn¡¯t snapped it completely off. ¡°Ruuuuhhhh!¡± cried the one still standing as though begging for attention. It came straight for him. Undaunted, Zach fired off an uppercut that landed just beneath the jaw of the impatient, foul creature, which similarly lifted it off of its feet as well. Disturbingly, Zach could feel its jawbone breaking from the impact with his fist as it, too, was laid flat onto its back just as its friend had been; this, as five more zombies¡ªtwo to his left, two to his right, and one approaching from behind the two he was currently dealing with¡ªmade their way towards him. Glancing over his shoulder, Zach regarded Fylwen as well as the bleeding, injured Elf and asked, ¡°Can one of you guys find my sword for me? I know this isn¡¯t exactly the most convenient time to ask, but I need it to properly deal with these guys. I dropped it somewhere over there.¡± He pointed towards the direction he had charged in from. ¡°I¡¯ll keep these guys at bay while you find it. All right?¡± Rather than reply, the Elf merely returned a blank stare as though confused and disoriented. Licking his lips, Zach tried his best to be patient. With more forcefulness in his voice, he again asked, ¡°My sword: can you find it for me?¡± As though the meaning of Zach¡¯s words had finally clicked in his mind, the Elf nodded, causing a bead of sweat to fly off his chin and land on a single blade of grass. ¡°Y-yes, of course, human. And¡­and th-thank you. Seriously! You saved my life, and this is the least I can do. I¡¯ll retrieve it for you.¡± ¡°No,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°I¡¯ll get it. You rest, Nerilan. You were badly hurt.¡± ¡°I am fine, my queen. I¡¯ll get his¡ª¡± ¡°Please,¡± she said forcefully. ¡°Rest.¡± He nodded. ¡°As you wish, my queen.¡± Zach watched as Fylwen left the Elf¡¯s side and began scanning the grassy ground as though looking for wherever the blade had been dropped. Then, her eyes briefly narrowing, she began to scamper off as though spotting it. For a split second, Zach feared she might get herself killed as she nearly ran headfirst into a zombie. But she fortunately managed to sidestep around it and continue on her way. Unarmed but far from defenseless, Zach refocused his attention on the approaching pack of zombies. With a sense of confidence, he assumed a fighting stance and prepared to knock the daylights out of the roller-skating bags of rotten flesh that surrounded him, beginning with the two he¡¯d already wounded, both of which had gotten back up to their feet. As though eager for some payback, they skated at him and raised their blades with clear intent to strike. Even though Zach knew their weapons likely wouldn¡¯t be able to harm him, he still felt uncomfortable taking any chances, which was why rather than focus solely on offense and simply allow them to connect with their wild attacks, he bent his knees to put himself beneath an overhanded slash from the zombie whose nose he¡¯d snapped, then took one quick backstep an instant later to avoid a forward thrust from the zombie with the broken jaw, whose mouth was now drooping open and releasing a steady flow of green ooze. Sensing an opportunity to counter, Zach drew back his arm, squeezed his fist even more tightly, and then unleashed a furious hook into the face of the bent-nosed zombie, hitting it with such power it caused the thing¡¯s head to spin around and its neck to audibly snap with an unsettling crunch. Having practically ¡°stepped into¡± the blow as it came towards him, he clobbered it so hard that, despite being unarmed, he hit it for 3,021 damage.
HP 930/6000
Name Fundead Roller-Ghast 3V
Level 18
Growing impatient, Zach stepped forward and grabbed its twisted, disfigured neck. Then, displaying his newfound power as much to himself as to the fearful Elf sheltering behind him, he raised his arm, lifted the zombie clean off its feet, and with enough strength to make him involuntarily release a grunt of exertion, he slammed the repulsive vermin so hard down onto the ground that it made the creature bounce back up few inches before finally lying still. 1,151 +2000xp The zombie with the broken jaw volunteered itself to be the next to die. Zach leaned backwards and dodged the creature¡¯s left-hand shortsword, which would have cut him across the throat. Well¡­maybe. Or maybe not. In all likelihood, it would not have even scratched, let alone wounded him, but his reflexes simply would not allow him to remain put. Thus, he maneuvered out of the way. Then he retaliated by twisting his hips, turning his body, and bashing the creature across the face with a strike from his elbow, which he followed immediately after with another hook from his opposite fist. Now, the zombie released one final moan and collapsed onto its knees. It remained in that position for just a moment before plopping forward face-down onto the grass, unmoving. Soon after, it brightened and turned into a puddle of green ooze. +2000xp
LEVEL UP! 16(15)
Strength +1(68)
Constitution +1(66)
Current XP 3283
XP Required for Level 17 50000
In a way, it was probably a good thing that Zach was far too busy fending off the five fresh, full-HP zombies that skated straight for him to think about the fact he¡¯d just received yet another below-average, meager level up. Really, the last thing he needed right now was to be forced to contend with a flare-up of his self-doubts and insecurities. Therefore, the wave of unease and discontent that he would normally feel each time he was greeted with a trash level up was instead relegated to a slight feeling of disappointment somewhere in the very back of his mind. ¡°Young man,¡± Fylwen called to him. Keeping his head pointed at his approaching enemies, Zach shifted his eyes to his right, where he spotted Kalana¡¯s mom hurrying towards him with his sword cradled in her pale arms. ¡°Here. Take it.¡± From a safe distance, she gently tossed it his way with an underhand throw that kept the blade pointed upwards as it slowly glided through the air. Zach fully extended his right arm, his hand open and ready to catch the weapon. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was due solely to his massive increase in dexterity or if all of his previous battle experience also played a role, but he somehow had a good enough sense of ¡°timing¡± now that he knew he would catch his sword before the leading zombie was able to strike him. This wasn¡¯t a ¡°hunch¡± or a ¡°feeling,¡± either. He was sure of what would happen next: he¡¯d catch the blade midair just as the frontmost zombie began slicing its shortsword at him, and with a superior speed and form, he would be able to block just in time, then counter with a blow that would decapitate it. Never in his life had he felt so dexterous and coordinated: never had he felt so in tune with his body¡¯s movements. There was a natural rhythm at play here: an ebb and flow. And all of it had become innate to him since entering Phase Level 2. It was only in this moment that he was able to finally appreciate the value of the dexterity stat. The more dex he had, the more he could anticipate and react to situations. And not just on a physical level, either, but on a mental one, too. Right now, he was so certain in his heightened sense of timing and agility that he did not so much as flinch as the zombie skated close enough to put itself within attack range. He remained perfectly still, his arm extended and ready to catch the blade as the awful creature moaned and raised its shortsword to strike¡ªwhich it then did, just as he¡¯d known it would. At the same time, Zach, without even turning his head to look, snapped his hand shut into a grasp and caught his sword. He¡¯d known the exact moment it would reach him, which was why he was not surprised when he felt his fingers wrap around the hilt of his weapon. It was exactly what he¡¯d been expecting. And as the shortsword of the zombie before him closed in with a downward slash, Zach was ready for it, as he¡¯d been expecting that, too. It was like he was synchronized with the world around him: like he had become prescient. Or at least that was what he believed for about all of two seconds. Then the area in his immediate vicinity abruptly darkened as though a storm cloud was passing overhead, and Zach knew right away that something was wrong. Rather than raise his blade to guard, he stared dumbfounded as a giant, quickly approaching shadow streaked into his vision so fast that he lacked the time necessary to even understand what he was seeing, let alone react to it. All at once, there came a loud, shrill, animal-like cry: a sound that reminded him of a horse¡¯s neigh, only slightly less familiar and far higher in pitch. It was a sound that rapidly grew in volume as though whatever caused it was drawing nearer. Something was definitely coming towards him. But what? And from where? His eyes ended up finding the answer to these questions before his brain could think through a single one of them. With a start, he noticed something plummeting down at him from up above: something moving so fast as to appear just a blur in the corner of his field of view. By the time he realized what it was, it was already too late. Even with his tremendous increase in dexterity, he was unable to act. Having only just gotten ahold of his sword, he lost the weapon a second time. It, along with all the air in his lungs, was knocked right out of him as a massive, winged skeleton horse swooped down from out of the sky and rammed into him so unexpectedly that it wasn¡¯t until he found himself literally airborne that he realized he was no longer standing on the grass where he¡¯d been just a half second ago. ¡°W-what the fuck?¡± he shouted, confused. He struggled to make sense of what was happening. Yet before he could even attempt to defend himself, for the second time, the wind was knocked out of him as his back collided with the steep, unforgiving slope behind him. There was a bang from something: from him! More specifically, his body. To both his sides, he saw rock, dirt, grass, and dust shooting forward as though struck by an explosive. Then came more movement. His stomach churned and a sense of vertigo came upon him as he realized he was being lifted off the ground while a disturbing scraping and ripping sound echoed behind him. It was only as he exhaled, coughed, and darted his head around fearfully that he realized this Gods-be-damned winged skeleton horse had knocked him up and into the slope that led down here from the pumpkin patch and was now pressing him against it, essentially pinning him there in place. ¡°Mmmmmmnn,¡± said a voice in what sounded like a combination of a moan and a growl. Zach scowled at the sight of a humanoid figure completely covered from head to toe in white, grimy bandages that smelled of foul body odor. The figure was sitting atop a saddle on the back of this skeletal, winged horse. Only its blackened eyes and equally blackened lips were visible, and both looked as though they had been charred or seared. It was as though this creature had been burned in a boiling pot of sewer water. Come to think of it, aside from the disgusting stench of body odor, Zach also detected a hint of ash coming off its greasy, filthy bandages. ¡°Mmmmmmnn.¡±
HP 15000/15000
Name Mummy Rider T
Level 22
The mummy, which gripped the reins of the skeleton horse with one hand, raised a rusted but still deadly looking battle-axe in the other as if to strike. Zach hissed in anger. Why the fuck did this have to happen now of all times? How had he managed to aggro this thing? Or was he specifically targeted by the ¡°vampire count¡± or whatever it was that was controlling this undead army? He was stunned and disoriented. He really needed a moment to think. But it didn¡¯t look like he¡¯d be able to get it. Right now, he was completely pinned against the slope about halfway from where he¡¯d originally fallen¡ªabout a hundred-fifty feet above the zombie-swarmed battlefield. He wasn¡¯t worried about falling again, as he¡¯d already done that once and had ended up more or less fine. And that was before he¡¯d increased his Phase Level twice. So, yeah, falling wasn¡¯t his concern¡ªfreeing himself was. Leaning forward, the mummy made another of its moan-growls and then swung its axe right down on top of Zach, who struggled as it came closer and closer to cracking open his head¡ªor possibly doing nothing to him at all. Honestly, Zach had no idea. He genuinely had no way of knowing what attacks would kill him, what would merely wound him, and what would fail to harm him whatsoever. Having gone from a base constitution of 8¡ªwell, 11 with gear¡ªall the way up to 66, there were some pretty big gaps in his knowledge of what attacks did or did not do damage at various levels of constitution. And that was without factoring in armor, which only made things more complex. Therefore, he needed to treat any unknown attack like a grave threat. He could not afford to make assumptions. He only had to be incorrect a single time to die. Be calm. You¡¯re okay. Be calm! Trying his best not to panic, he twisted his neck to the side just fast enough to avoid being struck with the axe. Instead, he heard a somewhat dull doomf as the axe bit into the grass-covered hill behind him and sprayed some dust and dirt. Clearly unbothered by its failure, the mummy pulled its axe out of the hill, raised it a second time, and seemed intent on having another go. Son of a bitch! Zach reminded himself that he was strong: very strong. There was no reason he shouldn¡¯t be able to find a way out of this. Quickly, he raised his glowing, ember-shooting hands and felt around his shoulders, realizing that what held him in place was nothing more than the skeleton horse¡¯s weight pressing against his body while the creature flapped wings made of bone and flew stationary in the air. Nothing else was tethering him aside from its weight. He could see now that he hadn¡¯t been grabbed, bound, or tied to anything. The bone-winged creature was simply pressing him into the slope. But¡­wait. If he hadn¡¯t been grabbed or seized, then how had the skeleton horse done this to him? The only possible explanation was the simplest one: it had literally rammed into him with enough speed and force that it caused his entire body to go flying backwards into the hill¡ªand then it had pressed him against it while it flew directly upwards, dragging him along it. Yet, despite this, he wasn¡¯t seriously hurt¡ªor even damaged at all. In fact, it was only due to the shock of his impact, both with the horse and then with the hill, that the wind had been knocked out of him. Otherwise, he hadn¡¯t been injured, something that both amazed and confused him. It also served once again as a testament to how mentally unprepared he was to appreciate this level of power. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Having lived nearly all of his life as a regular, ordinary, level-1 human being, it was not easy for him to mentally cope with the fact that someone¡ªanyone!¡ªcould be more-or-less unharmed after getting hit with a moving object fast enough and heavy enough to be sent careening through the air into a slope only to then be essentially dragged halfway up with their back scraping along grass, dirt, and rocks. Glancing downward, Zach could now see that there was a slight indentation in the shape of his body leading all the way back down to the base of the hill like a trail. And yet, he was just fine. A bit rattled? Sure. But otherwise, he was okay¡ªfor now. Somehow, Zach managed to wiggle his body so that he leaned off to his right side in order to avoid the axe yet again. The mummy didn¡¯t seem to mind. As was typical of mobs, Zach imagined it would try over and over until it succeeded. With a third moan-growl, it ripped its rusted axe free of the hill and then drew its arm back, clearly intending to go in for yet another attempt. I don¡¯t have time for this! Acting out of sheer desperation, Zach began to struggle, and to his surprise, it actually worked. He tried to shift his body and lean forward, and without even using much strength, some of the weight of the skeleton horse came off him. It wasn¡¯t enough to release him, but it was enough for him to realize something critically important: something he could only truly learn by being in the kind of situation he found himself in now. It was something that cut against all of the impulses, reflexes, and basic understandings he''d developed simply by virtue of living the life of a normal human being in an unremarkable, unexceptional city. It was in this brief moment that Zach understood that strength needed to be intentionally, actively exerted to be of any benefit to him. This reason that the creature had been able to swoop in and swat him away was because he hadn¡¯t actively been trying not to allow it to do so. Zach still wasn¡¯t accustomed to revisualizing the world as a place in which someone like him could lift thousands of pounds or jump out of skyscrapers and survive. His reality up until recently was still tainting his perception of what was possible and impossible. Yet now he understood: without deliberately exerting himself, he could still be thrown about and tossed aside and manhandled. It was kind of like the way those ¡°Haunted Spork¡± mobs in B6 had sent him flying each time they¡¯d fired off one of their balls of exploding mucus at him. In order to not be thrown around like a ragdoll, he needed to consciously disallow it. He needed to exert strength in a way that had never been applicable to him before now. With this vital piece of understanding in mind, he pursed his lips, gathered his strength, and then shoved the horse off him while simultaneously lifting up both his knees and kicking out with both his feet. He hoped it would push the thing off him. And if not, he hoped it would at least give him enough space to let him maneuver or wriggle his way out. And if even that failed, he at least prayed it would allow him to more easily avoid the mummy¡¯s axe. As the sound of various bones cracking filled his ears, he realized he¡¯d done all of this and more. The moment his sandal-covered feet crashed into its torso, Zach watched on in awe as he struck with enough power to snap apart and crack open several of the numerous bones holding the skeleton horse together while blasting it nearly twenty feet in the opposite direction, whereupon one of its wings somehow became detached; as the wing fell down to the blood- and ooze-covered grassy battlefield below, the creature began spinning wildly midair, which launched the mummy up and out of the saddle and caused it to fly off somewhere so fast that Zach did not even see where it went. Then the skeleton horse began to fall¡ªand so too did Zach. Unlike before, when Zach had earlier rolled down this dangerously steep hill, this time around, he experienced far less dizziness and actually felt in control of himself. Was this because of his increase in stats as well? It had to be. Even as he picked up speed, rolling faster and faster, he was amazed to discover he could guide himself and control the direction in which he rolled. He felt balanced: steady. Though, towards the end of his descent, as he began to pick up even more speed, things did get a bit rough, reminding him that limitations did in fact exist. Thankfully, he was already on solid ground and jumping up to his feet before he got to that point. ¡°Young man!¡± Fylwen called to him. ¡°Are you all right?¡± She was standing protectively in front of the wounded Elf just ahead of the base of the hill only a few feet behind the spot where Zach had come to a stop. She seemed to be extending her hand in his direction. She was carrying something: his sword. He sighed, glad that she¡¯d picked it up for him¡ªagain. She once more tossed it his way, and with a shout of thanks, he reached out and caught it midair right in time to spin his body around and cut the head off a wayward, roller-skating zombie that had creeped up on him. +2000xp ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he said. ¡°Thanks for getting my¡ªahh, shit!¡± Zach dashed backwards in a panic as another shadow appeared above him. A split second later, there was a muted thump as the one-winged, undead horse slammed into the ground, causing the entire creature to simply detonate into a shower of hundreds or maybe thousands of bones that flew in every direction. Although the bones did not vanish upon its death, they did not maintain any recognizable shape or form. +1500xp ¡°Anyway,¡± Zach continued after a brief moment. ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m uh, I¡¯m fine.¡± He took a deep breath then shook his head. ¡°I just kind of¡ªfuck! Not again!¡± For the second time, Zach hastily dodged out of the way as a louder, messier-sounding plop came from the body of the axe-wielding mummy, landing mere inches beside where Zach was standing. Defensively, he raised his blade to protect himself. But it wasn¡¯t necessary. With a weak, almost pitiable-sounding moan, the mummy took 8,477 points of damage simply from having fallen over a hundred-fifty feet, and with that, it died instantly.
HP 0/15000
Name Mummy Rider
Level 22
+4000xp Above him, Zach could see numerous other mummies riding skeleton horses, most of which were locked in combat with the unicorn-mounted Elvish warriors struggling to defend against them. A bit further beyond, at what he estimated to be the halfway point between the base of the hill and the forest from where all of these freakish creatures had emerged, a second regiment of unicorn-riding Elves were still engaged with the gigantic toothbrush that was attempting to electrocute them. Forcing his attention away from the larger battle, Zach focused on his original plan: to create pockets of space that linked up what he now decided to think of as ¡°the ground troops,¡± who were all isolated and unable to protect one another. ¡°Can you fight?¡± Zach asked the wounded Elf, whom he believed Fylwen had called ¡°Nerilan.¡± ¡°No,¡± Fylwen said, answering for him. ¡°Nerilan needs to rest.¡± ¡°I am fine, my queen,¡± he insisted. As if to prove his point, he moved several paces forward. At first, he stumbled, but quickly he seemed to regain his balance. Then he bent down, retrieved his curved, silver sword, and almost as soon as he picked it up off the grass, he began to slice away at the nearest zombie. It took him several heavy strikes, but he did manage to kill the thing quickly enough. Once it had perished, he turned his head to Zach and asked, ¡°What do you need me to do?¡± Briefly, Zach explained his plan. ¡°Keep all the ones in front and to your right busy. Everything that way¡±¡ªhe pointed to his left¡ª¡°I¡¯ll take care of.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll come with you,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°In case there are more wounded.¡± Zach nodded. And with that, he gestured with his shoulder for her to follow and resume the earlier onslaught. It was time to get back to ripping these disgusting, filthy creatures to shreds. And then¡­then, hopefully, he could get back to Yorna and back to his original goal of finding a sword to replace the one that Ziragoth had broken. Ziragoth¡­ Ziragoth? Ziragoth! A wave of fear exploded inside of him. He glanced nervously upwards. Was it his imagination, or did he just see that terrible, Gods-cursed wyvern flying in the clear skies above him? He could¡¯ve sworn he¡¯d seen it. Had it come back for him? Had it returned to finish the conflict that Zach had started? The idea caused him to breathe heavily, and his heart began hammering in his chest. It was here, wasn¡¯t it? Fighting for the vampire count. Somehow, it had gotten here. It¡¯d come back for him. It¡¯d come back to kill him. Oh no. It was here. It was coming for him. Gods, please! It couldn¡¯t be here! Not again. Not again! ¡°GET IT AWAY!¡± Zach screamed, causing Fylwen to flinch, stop short, and nearly fall over backwards. She glared at him with an equal mixture of confusion and revulsion in her irresistibly beautiful eyes. ¡°Get what away?¡± she asked, coming across as both desperate and irritated at the same time. ¡°Have you gone mad?¡± ¡°Have I gone¡­?¡± Zach blinked a few times then wiped his eyes. Afterwards, he shook his head. What¡¯s going on with me? he wondered. Ziragoth isn¡¯t here. How could he be? That would be ridiculous. ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± he said with a sharp exhale as he brought himself under control. Even with a deadly battle raging on around him, he couldn¡¯t help but cringe with embarrassment. He had no idea what was going on with him. Was he crazy? Was he going crazy? Was he losing his mind? He cursed himself for whatever the hell had just happened. It was probably just stupidity. That had to be it. Whatever the case, it certainly did not endear him to Fylwen. By now, it was abundantly clear that she not only disliked him but felt outright disdain for him. Why? Impossible to say. Who knew? Zach certainly didn¡¯t. But for whatever reason, despite him never having given her any cause to feel negativity towards him, the mother of his girlfriend¡ªand the queen of Elves¡ªhad taken an immediate, dramatic, and totally transparent dislike to him. And this? This little¡­well, whatever the hell was wrong with him¡ªthis did not improve things with the woman. It only made the scowl on her face deepen and caused an even stronger look of disgust to entrench itself into her eyes. At any rate, he¡¯d worry how to smoothen things over with her some other time. More than anything, he wanted to return to his original goal. It was the only way he could make himself feel whole again. And this¡­this whole ordeal would be over soon. He only needed to keep this up for a few more minutes, as once this ¡°debuff¡± wore off, Fylwen assured him that she and her people would be able to obliterate the majority of the swarm on their own and that she would likewise be able to save him from what would be certain death via exertion debt. Zach hoped she was right. He hoped her warriors would be able to handle this once they were back to their full strength, because even with his current, gigantic boost in stats, he knew he still couldn¡¯t make a dent in their numbers. Really, all he could do was relieve some of the pressure on the other Elves and hopefully keep them alive until they were able to fight to the best of their ability. That was his only goal. With that in mind, he continued on. ***** In over two-hundred years of existence, Olivir had never bitten his fingernails¡ªnot even as a child. Well, that all changed today. Right now, he was biting into those pesky nails like they were the veins on the neck of a plump goose. He couldn¡¯t stop himself. It was a nervous reaction to the sense of dread that he felt as he watched the boy with the jet-black hair rescue one Elf after the next and form some kind of ¡°link¡± between each of them. With his hands and feet shooting out glowing, burning embers, he viciously cut down every zombie in his path. Each time the boy carved his way to another Elf, he would then have that Elf fend off any zombies along the path he¡¯d just cleared before continuing to move along the base of the steep hill below Krul¡¯s Pumpkin Patch, thereby rescuing more of them farther down the line. It was a very simple strategy, but it worked, as each Elf he rescued relieved more and more pressure in two of the three flanks. Overall, in less than three minutes, the kid had somehow managed to establish an entire perimeter. Now, a row of Elves, a cat, and a dog all stood more or less side by side spaced evenly apart and were actually managing to fend off the Fundead Roller-Ghasts that, until just a few minutes ago, had been succeeding in wiping out the Elvish raiding party¡ªthe raiding party that had set out with the goal of killing him and Kolona, the love of his life. This looks pretty bad, Olivir thought with a groan. ¡°Are you ready to go?¡± Kolona whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder. Halting his nail-biting, he placed his own hand on top of hers, craned his neck, and forced a smile onto his lips. He was so caught up in watching the battle unfold that he hadn¡¯t even realized she¡¯d finished packing and was now standing behind him in his study. ¡°Just about,¡± he said. ¡°I¡­I still have a few pieces on the board that might be able to turn things around before my curse expires.¡± He was running out of time: that much was for sure. As strong as this human boy might have been, each Elf he was fighting alongside was at minimum twice as powerful when not under the affliction of his debuff¡ªand some were far more powerful than that. Closing his eyes a moment, he placed his opposite hand on his chest and began to whisper instructions to his minions. He had already lost ten years¡¯ worth of experience points thus far in the battle. As a vampire, whenever he killed a mob, he had a choice between using the xp to add to the progress towards his next level or instead sending it to his summoning pool. From this pool of xp, he could create his minions of the dark. Thus, every last xp that the boy or one of the Elves gained from slaying his minions was an experience point that Olivir had personally spent to create them. In a way, the xp in his summoning pool was almost like a form of currency. That was why it was doubly painful to see so much of it lost in this battle. It was also why he hesitated to send out his more powerful units to the front line. Individually, the units might be cheap, but collectively, an army was expensive. It cost him 2000xp for each of his level-18, Fundead Roller-Ghasts. That increased to 3000xp for his level-20 Fundead Shockers and 5000xp for his level-24 Blood-Hunting Maneaters. His flying units were even more expensive. Still, he was becoming desperate, and in all honesty, he would exhaust the entirety of his summoning pool if it meant he and Kolona were able to live a life together in peace. And so, recognizing that losing his hard-earned xp was the least of his concerns, Olivir ordered his Roller-Ghast grunts to begin making way for the more powerful zombies to come through. Let¡¯s see how they handle these guys. ***** ¡°I understandeth not,¡± exclaimed an Elf in a white cloak who stood to Zach¡¯s right. ¡°Wherefore doth they pause?¡± Unlike the green-cloaked Elvish warriors, who brandished a curved silver sword, the white-cloaked Elves seemed to prefer using heavier, larger broadswords with gem-encrusted, golden-colored hilts. This one in particular, whom Zach believed had called himself ¡°Eilinariat,¡± had proven himself to be among the strongest of the Elvish warriors he had rescued. He was doing more than his share to hold the line Zach had created. ¡°What¡¯d you say?¡± Zach asked as he stepped forward and plunged his blade into the rotten gut of a Fundead Roller-Ghast, dealing 5,855 damage. Then, ripping it free of the creature¡¯s flesh, he immediately slashed across in an arc and decapitated the mob, dealing another¡­well, it didn¡¯t really matter at that point, did it? ¡°Didst thee not heareth me?¡± ¡°Well, yeah, but I don¡¯t get the question,¡± he replied with a tired gasp, both breathing and sweating heavily. Although Zach had more than enough time remaining on his current duration of Unleashed Phase to last until the expiration on their debuff, his stamina had plummeted a great deal during this exhausting, nonstop battle. While it had only been a few minutes, he was fighting at a frenzied and unsustainable pace. ¡°Seriously, I can¡¯t understand anything you¡¯re saying.¡± ¡°Thou art no more brain than stone!¡± the white-cloaked Elf exclaimed angrily right before he split a zombie in two equal halves. Zach chuckled and stepped to the side to dodge a sloppy piercing strike, then returned with two fast slashes of his own, making quick work of another zombie. ¡°Yeah, sorry, I don¡¯t know what that means.¡± ¡°He was insulting you for not understanding his question, human,¡± said Nerilan, who deftly sliced off the arms of a Fundead Roller-Ghast before finishing it with a third strike that slit its throat. ¡°I don¡¯t blame you, though. It took many of us some time to understand the old tongue from those in white.¡± Zach only partially understood Nerilan¡¯s explanation, and had he not been panting, sweating, and struggling to stay on his feet, he might have requested him to elaborate. Instead, he merely asked, ¡°What was his question?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you see it yet?¡± ¡°See what?¡± This time, it was the woman in a green cloak to Nerilan¡¯s left who replied. ¡°They are slowing their advance,¡± she said. Fatigued, Zach actually had to put in extra effort to lift his head and take in the approaching horde. Upon more careful observation, he could now see exactly what she was talking about. The roller-skating zombies seemed to be skating more slowly, and indeed, many of them had stopped outright. And almost all of them were beginning to spread out as though making room for something. But what? As it turned out, Zach did not have to wait long to find the answer to his question. One of the level-20 zombies he¡¯d spotted earlier emerged from the gradually widening gap between the spreading out Roller-Ghasts. Even if Zach hadn¡¯t been told to look, his eyes would have inevitably been drawn towards it, as unlike the Fundead Roller-Ghasts, this one, called a ¡°Fundead Shocker,¡± had fancier-looking roller skates that fired off electrical sparks whenever it moved, as well as a body covered in puke-green skin. With a nearly identical moan to its level-18 counterpart, it began skating forward, advancing all by itself towards their defensive line. Becoming more alert, Zach raised his sword to guard, and with a quick glance to both his left and right, he saw that all the other Elvish warriors were also stiffening their postures as if in response to this new threat. Oddly enough, while the ¡°Fundead Shocker¡± skated towards their line of defense, the Fundead Roller-Ghasts actually began to skate very slowly backwards and away. ¡°It¡¯s just a single level 20,¡± Nerilan said confidently and loudly as if to bolster the others. ¡°It¡¯s nothing!¡± Closer and closer the Fundead Shocker skated, and Zach tightened his grip on his blade as he fixed his eyes on the thing, watching as it drew nearer. Then, abruptly, it stopped. It simply just¡­stopped. It was now halfway between what was basically a wall of Fundead-Roller Ghasts and the defensive line that Zach had established¡ªand it had now come to a complete halt. ¡°What¡¯s it doing?¡± he heard a green-cloaked Elf farther down the line ask. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± another replied. Unlike the Fundead Roller-Ghasts, this one did not dual-wield a pair of shortswords. Hell, it didn¡¯t even wield one shortsword. In fact, it did not appear to possess a weapon of any kind, at least not one that Zach could see. Instead, with another moan, it raised its hand, palm open, and pointed it at something¡ªor someone. Zach felt his eyes widen. It was going to attack them somehow from a distance, wasn¡¯t it? He opened his mouth to shout out a cry of warning. But it was already too late. Both of the Fundead Shocker¡¯s roller skates began to glow incredibly bright, shooting out a flurry of yellow-colored sparks. Then the creature¡¯s entire body lit up as electricity danced along its skin from head to toe. Finally, from the center of its palm, a blast of forked lightning streaked across the battlefield, and Zach yelped in alarm as it struck Eilinariat dead center in the middle of his chest. For just the briefest of instants¡ªa period of time so fleeting it could be measured in milliseconds¡ªEilinariat scrunched up his face in what looked like pain. Then there was a bright flash, and it was following this flash that the poor man¡¯s entire body exploded, showering Zach, Nerilan, and numerous other Elves with a downpour of guts, blood, and body parts. Zach screamed as half a hand, a tongue, and a few teeth fell before his feet, whereas Fylwen howled in misery as an eye and a toe dropped down on top of her. As unpleasant as the green ooze and purple pumpkin blood had been, this was far, far worse. This was not a mob that had died, but a living being. This Elf, Eilinariat¡ªhe had been completely obliterated. The rage and agony this caused was immediately apparent. Amid the obvious looks of shock and horror on the faces of all those to his left and right, Zach could also see a desire for revenge in the way they glared at the mob. But he could see something else, too: he could see a great deal of hurt. Of sadness. In a way, Zach thought he could almost feel the pain they were experiencing simply by looking into their eyes. The sadness was visible in everyone present¡ªwell¡­almost everyone. There was one among them who did not seem upset. Someone who decided to embarrass Zach at the worst of moments in the absolute worst, most disrespectful of ways. ¡°Hurray!¡± Fluffles shouted cheerfully. ¡°Did Zach see? Elf go boom-boom!¡± Zach swelled with an unbearable sense of shame and embarrassment as, not only did Fluffles actually say such an insensitive thing, but he shouted it during a moment of stunned quiet at a volume so loud that every single last Elvish warrior heard it. And he wasn¡¯t done, either. ¡°Did Zach see?¡± the cat shouted again. He was now back to his normal size, and so he spoke with his usual high-pitched, cartoonish voice. And if things were not embarrassing and awful enough already, Fluffles decided to take it up another notch. Zach watched as his cat actually ran forward and began spinning around in circles, chasing his own tail in front of everyone. It was almost like¡­ ¡°Fluffles, are you playing?¡± Zach hissed in a tone that was a failed combination of a whisper and a scream. He was just so distraught that, for some reason, he thought it might be possible to shout at the cat quietly enough so that only the cat could hear but no one else. Obviously, that was not possible. Even still, he continued. ¡°Are you seriously playing right now?¡± ¡°Fluffles play,¡± the cat admitted, running back and forth in front of the defensive line, jumping up on the shoulders of various Elves too shocked to react before finally brushing up against Zach¡¯s legs and purring. ¡°I bored now. Zombies are stinky and stupid. I want chicken and tuna.¡± Zach frowned. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious. Did you not just see¡ª!¡± His words fell off in a gasp as the Fundead Shocker again began to light up, its roller skates glowing intensely bright and shooting off sparks. Zach once again tried to shout out in warning, but all he could do was croak as it seemed the mob was poised to kill yet again. ¡°Fluffles bored!¡± the cat shouted angrily with a hiss, thwacking its tail down onto the grass. In perfect timing with his angry tail movement, a bolt of lightning emerged from out of the cloudless sky and slammed down onto the Fundead Shocker, detonating it just like the Elf it had killed. Thankfully, it was far enough away that its own gore did not shower back down on anyone else. ¡°Oh!¡± Fluffles announced with an excited meow. ¡°I level up! Fluffles level up! I am a good cat. I want to tell daddy I level up again.¡± Even with all the shame, embarrassment, anger, surprise, and downright disbelief that Zach was experiencing at Fluffles¡¯ words and actions, he somehow managed to find room to feel relief at the fact that at least the Fundead Shocker was dead. Unfortunately, however, his relief was very short-lived. From among the sea of stationary Fundead Roller-Ghasts, more than a dozen additional Fundead Shockers emerged and began skating towards them, and behind those zombies were the even more menacing level-24 ¡°Blood-Hunting Maneaters¡± he¡¯d spotted earlier with flesh-colored blades in place of arms and a figure that was decidedly less human in nature than the other two mobs. These ones wore no clothing, had no hair, and had triangularly-shaped eyes. They were also all over eight feet in height and had fangs for teeth. ¡°What do we do?¡± an Elf whispered. His green attire was stained red with the blood of the white-cloaked Elf who had only just perished. An oppressive sense of gloom and unease came over Zach, and he was sure that the others were feeling it as well, because rather than ready themselves for more combat, they seemed frozen as though too shaken and traumatized to move. This, as a Fundead Shocker had already reached the same halfway point between their line and the Roller-Ghasts that the previous one had. Once there, it came to a halt. Now, much like the one before it, the creature¡¯s roller skates began to brighten and shoot an intense shower of sparks; then its body became aglow as tendrils of electricity danced along its skin from head to toe. Finally, just like before, the creature raised its hand, palm open, and pointed it at someone. It was going to happen again! And no one was doing anything, likely because they were all paralyzed with fear and uncertainty. Everyone was just standing there like an idiot¡ªincluding Zach. They needed to wake the hell up. I better do something quick! ¡°Phase Slash!¡± Zach shouted. His body acting on its own, he raised his sword and slashed it diagonally downwards. All at once, a high-pitched noise similar to a zipper being closed drowned out every other present sound while a blazingly fast-moving distortion in the air tore across the distance and collided with the Fundead Shocker. Then came another sound. It was a ¡°pop¡± of sorts¡ªlike a kernel of popcorn in the microwave. And with that, the mob was gone. It simply ¡°popped.¡± One moment it was standing there, ready to kill another Elf, and the next moment, it exploded like a squished bug. The only evidence it ever existed at all were the very small puddles of green, bubbling ooze that, strangely, were emitting some kind of steam as though they¡¯d been superheated or boiled. +3000xp Animated mutters came from all those around Zach, as his Phase Slash seemed to generate a whole lot of nervous discussion and commentary, the loudest of all being that which came from Fylwen herself. Her jaw was agape, and her eyes were wide and flooded with fear. This, Zach found totally understandable¡ªor at least he would have if not for the fact that the terror was clearly directed at him and not the more powerful mobs emerging to fight them. ¡°You just hit that thing,¡± she whispered fearfully, pointing at him in a way that almost seemed accusatory. In addition to the horror in her voice, Zach also detected a growing hint of anger and disgust. ¡°You¡­you hit that thing for forty-five thousand damage.¡± ¡°I did?¡± Zach asked. In truth, he hadn¡¯t even been looking. ¡°I guess because my stats are really inflated, my Phase Slash hits harder than when I used it before. Even still, I think I¡ª¡± Fylwen shook her head and interrupted him. ¡°Humans are such dangerous creatures,¡± she said, a crease forming in her brow. ¡°Even as they are normally, they are such dangerous, wicked creatures. But with that kind of power? It is most vile and wicked, and it aught not be in the hands of humankind.¡± ¡°Yeah, well.¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°Shit, I don¡¯t know what to tell you here, Miss Vayra.¡± ¡°Queen Vayra!¡± shouted several incensed Elves. Zach was taken aback that such a thing would even matter to them at a time like this. ¡°Sorry, Queen Vayra,¡± Zach corrected, rolling his eyes. Fylwen¡¯s expression darkened. And now, of all things, she appeared saddened¡ªalmost remorseful. ¡°My daughter is everything to me. She must stand tallest among all.¡± ¡°Uh¡­sure.¡± Becoming uncomfortable with the conversation, Zach returned his attention to the new threats coming their way and prepared to continue the fight. Whatever had gotten into Fylwen was her own problem. Maybe, the next time he saw her, Kalana could shed some light on why her mom was so weird. For now, though, it hardly mattered. Bracing himself, Zach raised his blade and widened his stance. This would all be over soon. **** ¡°She¡¯s going to kill him,¡± Olivir said with a gasp. ¡°She¡¯s what?¡± Kolona asked, tightening her grip on his shoulder. ¡°Your aunt, the queen¡ªshe¡¯s going to kill that boy.¡± He pointed to the glass dome. ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°Because during the pause in the fighting while my minions reordered themselves, I was able to devote some of my power to listening in through their ears. There¡¯s a lot I don¡¯t know. I still don¡¯t know who that boy is, why he¡¯s here, and how she got him involved.¡± He swallowed nervously. ¡°But I do know Queen Vayra, and I know she¡¯s going to kill him.¡± ¡°But he¡¯s protecting her!¡± ¡°I doubt she cares.¡± For the first time since the boy¡¯s appearance, Olivir smiled as he was overtaken by a rush of optimism. Reaching across his gigantic desk, he slammed his fist against a red button in the middle of a wooden plate, which caused a loud ringing to echo throughout his manor. Not ten seconds later, the sound of a pair of running feet came from the hallway outside his study, and just a moment after that, the wide double-doors burst open. ¡°Yes, master? You called? Grundor is here, master!¡± ¡°Come to me,¡± Olivir said. He spun around in his swivel chair then beckoned his favorite minion to enter. As eager to please as always, Grundor hurried into the room, pausing on the carpet just before Olivir and Kolona. ¡°Hi, Grundor,¡± Kolona said with a cheerful laugh, waving to him. He bowed to her. ¡°Hello, Mistress Kolona,¡± he said with equal cheer. To Olivir, he asked, ¡°How may I be of service to you, master?¡± Olivir rubbed his chin while he regarded his level-73, fully sentient zombie pet. Grundor was tall, had naturally green hair, and ridiculously pudgy cheeks that protruded several inches out of his constantly smiling and goofy-looking face. And though he was a zombie, his skin was not so much decayed as discolored with a greenish-white hue. He was also incredibly muscular and fought using his bare hands. Oh, and he made a killer martini. Unlike his other minions, Grundor was not some disposable, mindless pawn. He did not come from the pool of xp that Olivir used to create his servants. No, that was something separate entirely. Grundor was what was known as a ¡°pet¡± or a ¡°companion summon.¡± Not all pets were sentient¡ªin fact, Olivir could think of none other besides his that were. In the case of Grundor, he was a ¡°UNIQUE¡± type ability that Olivir had learned upon awakening as a level-1 vampire over two-hundred years ago. His level would always be proportional to Olivir¡¯s, and Olivir could only ever have one Grundor. If Grundor died, he was gone forever, and Olivir would not be able to make another. The ability ¡°Summon Grundor¡± would become useless in such an event. For that reason, Olivir had not asked him to fight alongside the other zombies and mummy riders. He could not bear it if something were to happen to him. Not after he¡¯d lost Mantril. If he were there right now, the situation would¡¯ve been handled already, Olivir thought with a sigh. A level-73 zombie like Grundor would have steamrolled the Elves. But if even one of them survived, Grundor was as good as dead once the debuff wore off. Olivir just couldn¡¯t bring himself to risk it. ¡°I need you to do something for me, Grund.¡± ¡°Yes! Yes, master!¡± He clapped his massive hands together and chuckled. Kolona smiled at him. She was very fond of Grundor. ¡°Do you see that boy?¡± Olivir asked, pointing at his glass viewing dome where it sat atop its golden stand. ¡°Mhm,¡± Grundor replied with a grunt. ¡°Master, do you want me to kill that boy?¡± ¡°No, that won¡¯t be necessary. In fact, he¡¯s probably about to die all on his own.¡± Grundor scratched the green hair on top of his misshapen head. ¡°Old age?¡± Kolona laughed and covered her face as though not wanting to seem mean. Olivir merely smiled. ¡°No, buddy. Not old age. Queen Vayra¡¯s going to kill him¡ªor get him killed. It¡¯s just a sense I¡¯ve got.¡± ¡°That bitch,¡± Grundor said angrily. ¡°I don¡¯t like her.¡± He raised his greenish-white arm and flexed, displaying his bicep. ¡°I¡¯ve been working out.¡± Grundor often made comments that had absolutely nothing to do with the current conversation, so Olivir ignored it. It was too easy for him to go off on wild tangents. He also had a tendency to obsess over seemingly random hobbies for an even more random period of time. For the past three months, Grundor had taken up writing poetry. Two weeks before that, he wanted to be a professional bird-watcher. And for about an entire year and a half before that, Grundor had found some kind of ancient human relic called ¡°anime¡± in the archives in the library over at Count Izex¡¯s manor. Of all his obsessions over the past two centuries, that one alone had to be stopped. It had gotten totally out of control. Olivir had no choice but to ban it. He shuddered just thinking about that period of Grundor¡¯s life. Never again. ¡°Here¡¯s what I need you to do for me, Grund,¡± Olivir began. ¡°And listen closely, because this is important¡­¡± Olivir knew his idea was risky. He knew he was probably grasping at straws. But people tended to reach out and grab hope wherever they found it, and Olivir was never the type to resign himself to an awful fate if there was even a chance that he could avoid it. And so, as he gave voice to the idea that had come to him over the past few minutes, he tried his best to contain his excitement and not become too optimistic. After all, it was one hell of a long shot. But it just might work. Chapter 64: Game Over Chapter 64: Game Over An icy, numbing wind spread across the battlefield, and Zach shivered for the first time since entering Phase Level 2. His teeth chattered, bumps formed along his neck, and the sweat running down his forehead turned painful and caused his eyes to sting. The utter harshness of it caught him off guard, and it became a struggle to ignore the intense discomfort brought on by this sudden bout of deathly cold. Even the glowing, burning embers that were shooting from his hands vanished into nothingness mere inches after leaping off his skin as though extinguished by the freezing temperature. For Zach to find himself vulnerable once again to the chill, this must¡¯ve been an exceptionally frigid and powerful gust. As it rolled across the grassy field, it howled loudly enough to be heard even above the shouts of fear and alarm from the Elvish warriors who stood in a line to both sides of him. Unlike Zach, however, none of the Elves visibly reacted to the blast of bitter air or gave any indication whatsoever that it affected them. Instead, all were focused intently on the Fundead Shockers that were moving hastily in their direction. ¡°May the Gods have mercy on us,¡± said a green-cloaked woman with braided brown hair four Elves down the line to Zach¡¯s left. Her face tightened and her pointy ears became rigid as she stared at the approaching enemies. Though far, far smaller in number, the Fundead Shockers were clearly a great deal deadlier than their Roller-Ghast cousins, as evident by the way in which one had absolutely vaporized the white-cloaked Elf known as Eilinariat. And there was no telling how lethal the slower-moving ¡°Blood-hunting Maneaters¡± trailing behind them would turn out to be, either. ¡°What do we do now?¡± asked another Elf, who sounded equally as rattled. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Nerilan replied. He turned his head to Zach. ¡°Human boy: can you slay them the way you slew that one over there?¡± He pointed to a spot across from Zach where plumes of smoke were still trailing above several small puddles of ooze; it was all that remained of the Fundead Shocker Zach had killed only moments ago with Phase Slash. ¡°Can you eliminate more of them that way?¡± Despite the answer being obvious, Zach quickly took a glance at the information in the air before him, hoping to see something different from what he already knew would be the case. As things stood, he had 8:02 remaining on his current duration of Unleashed Phase, and at a cost of 1:10 per use, he could technically use Phase Slash seven more times¡ªand by extension, kill seven more enemies. But would that really fundamentally change anything? There were dozens of these electrified creatures coming at them, and all were about to begin firing more lightning. But even more importantly than the impact it would have on the battlefield was the consideration of how much time the repeated use of Phase Slash would leave him with. Fylwen had claimed she would heal him only after she and her people had survived this ordeal. If Zach collapsed into E-debt before that point, there would be no chance he¡¯d survive long enough for her to tend to him: not with two high exertion debts and a very high on top of it. Thus, while perhaps somewhat selfish, Zach was hesitant to do anything that would leave him with a dangerously low amount of time. He had to make it out of here alive. As long as Kalana lived¡­and as long as she loved him¡­he could not afford to die in a place like this. ¡°Well? Can you?¡± Nerilan asked, clearly unnerved and impatient. As Zach shook his head, he could see the faces of those around him darken with disappointment. ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Because of exertion debt?¡± Again, Zach shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s a bit more complicated than that, and it would require too much time and effort to explain.¡± Shifting his eyes first to his left and then to his right, he evaluated the anxious-looking Elves fighting alongside him. ¡°How long until everyone¡¯s debuff expires?¡± ¡°Just about two minutes,¡± Nerilan said. Then, with an out-of-place chuckle, he added, ¡°It would be a real shame to die now.¡± Zach gave a curt nod. He agreed wholeheartedly. With only two minutes remaining, it really would suck for them to die when the end of this nightmare was so close at hand. If the majority of the Elvish warriors did not live through these next two minutes, it would mean that Zach had gone through this entire ordeal for nothing but a few mediocre level-ups, which was why he now seriously considered ending at least a few more of the Fundead Shockers with Phase Slash. Surely, as long as he kept at least two minutes on his timer¡ªmaybe three to be safe¡ªhe would be fine, no? He would just have to urge Fylwen to tend to him immediately. But what if she prioritizes healing her own wounded people first? he wondered nervously. I hate the idea of cutting it so close. Before Zach could fully consider his options, his attention was drawn to the sound of deep, agitated moans coming from the Fundead Shockers; electricity concentrated around their roller skates, with tendrils traveling up their legs and then into and through their bodies. This, Zach knew, meant they were beginning to charge up a fairly large volley of their electrical attacks against the Elves¡ªone that he feared would result in a massive number of casualties. After all, Eilinariat had been a stout, imposing figure¡ªthe very image of strength¡ªand yet just a single strike from a single Fundead Shocker¡¯s lightning was enough to detonate his entire body and reduce the entirety of him to a pile of bloody, fleshy scraps. So, there was little doubt in Zach¡¯s mind that any of these Elves wouldn¡¯t face the same exact fate if struck. ¡°What in the name of the Gods are we doing?¡± Nerilan growled as a line of about forty of the creatures all lit up in unison as the roller-skating fiends readied their deadly attack. ¡°We¡¯re just standing here waiting to die. We¡¯d be better off taking our chances and charging these¡­these profane abominations.¡± ¡°I concur,¡± said a white-cloaked Elvish woman with short, curly blonde hair and atypically square-shaped ears; she stood with her back straight a few Elves down the line to Zach¡¯s right and held her blade with a reverse grip. ¡°Alloweth us square with blade in hand.¡± Her words drew roars and cheers of agreement from the assembled Elves. Nerilan, nodding his head, quickly raised his blade high in the air and cried, ¡°Let¡¯s not make this too easy for our enemy! Charge!¡± And with that, the battle reached its next¡ªand likely final¡ªphase. Zach watched in a mystified stupor as the world erupted with the sounds of shouting Elves and stamping feet as every Elf dashed forward towards the Fundead Shockers with their blades raised and ready to strike¡ªall except Queen Vayra, who stayed behind with Zach, Fluffles, and Chumpkenwiffles, although the latter two were once again ascending into the air. ¡°What are you waiting around here for?¡± she asked him with what Zach took to be a total lack of self-awareness. With a glare, she raised her chin at the line of Elvish warriors rushing in to do battle. ¡°Get in there and fight!¡± Zach swore under his breath. He did not appreciate being ordered about like one of her pawns. He was here in a purely voluntary capacity, and given the way she¡¯d been treating him, she was lucky his assistance remained voluntary. Then again, now that he was in Phase Level 2, he kind of had no choice, as without her healing, his death was a certainty. But even that did not give her the right to bark orders at him like he was her subject. Regardless, though, there was nothing to be gained in arguing the point or wasting time thinking about it. And so, drawing a deep breath, he bent his knees, ignored his exhaustion, and bolted forward while raising his own blade, ready to join the others in their desperate, final push. Above him, he saw Chumpkenwiffles and a transformed Fluffles soaring across the sky to engage more of the mounted, flying mummies. Just two more Gods-damned minutes, Zach thought as more frustration began to seep in. They literally just need to last two more minutes. Before the Elvish warriors could cross half the distance between themselves and the enemy, the first barrage of lightning strikes was already escaping the open palms of the Fundead Shockers and streaking indiscriminately towards the green- and white-cloaked fighters charging in their direction. All of it seemed to come at them at once as though synchronized. There was so much lightning headed their way that Zach became partially blinded¡ªbut only partially. Unfortunately, even with spots in his eyes, he was still able to clearly make out the final moments of two white-cloaked Elvish women and a green-cloaked Elvish man who were struck head-on and vaporized instantly, their bodies transforming from beautiful Elvish elegance into something more resembling a literal cloud of blood, bones, and tissue that hauntingly seemed to drift on the wind. A fourth Elf, this one somewhat slender and shorter and wearing a white cloak, avoided being directly struck through what looked to be mere chance. Lightning crashed into the grass just inches from his leading foot and caused a secondary detonation that not only halted his forward momentum but sent him nearly two-dozen feet in the opposite direction. He landed on his back with a loud, painful-sounding groan, but he looked otherwise unharmed. Though the three dead Elvish warriors were a terrible misfortune, Zach could not help but feel at least some degree of relief that the others managed to escape harm. It seemed that the accuracy of the Fundead Shockers decreased significantly against moving enemies. For this, Zach was grateful. Of the nearly forty bolts fired at their group, three struck and killed their target, one merely downed and wounded its victim, and the rest miraculously missed them entirely and crashed into empty ground, causing miniature craters to form as thin plumes of dust, grass, and pebbles were kicked up into the below-freezing, bitter air. Thankfully, though, no one else appeared to be hit¡ªwell, sort of. Technically, another bolt did find its mark, and it was Zach who was struck dead-on, though he only realized it a few seconds after it actually happened. His vision impaired from the bright electrical flashes, he hadn¡¯t even seen it coming. He merely felt something akin to a light slap on the side of his head. It was as though someone had flicked him or had thrown a paper ball at his noggin. Totally unharmed, the brief experience emboldened him. It reminded Zach that, at least for the moment, he was the strongest living being on this battlefield, and he needed to do all he could to help his new Elvish friends. ¡°Keep charging!¡± Nerilan cried, bolstering his Elvish fighters. ¡°Do not stop!¡± Lacking any sense of sentience, the mobs remained fearless and undeterred as dozens of sword-wielding Elvish warriors dashed across the field heading their way. Now, just as they¡¯d done before, the entire lot of them began charging up once again for what could only be another round of attacks. All at the same time, their roller skates sparked and glowed, which soon gave way to tendrils of electricity climbing up their body and into their arms before concentrating in the palm of their hand. Despite having given the Elves a head start, Zach not only caught up to the others, but quickly pulled ahead of them as he blasted forward with enough speed to cause his tunic to flap loudly against the wind. In no time at all, he reached the first Fundead Shocker in the line of nearly forty of them. The creature, as though reacting to his presence, made a confused-sounding ¡°Ruuuuhhhh!¡± and then abruptly ceased charging. The electricity pooling together in its palm dissipated, the tendrils vanished from throughout its body, and its roller skates ceased sparking. It simply¡­stopped. So taken aback, Zach nearly tripped over his own two feet as he contemplated why the Fundead Shocker had decided to pause its attack. As a result, he halted clumsily in front of the monster, and with an equal clumsiness, he sent out a slash that he¡¯d intended to remove the thing¡¯s head from its shoulders but instead only managed to cut into its right breast. Nevertheless, his mouth fell open in surprise as he struck for 10,907 damage and killed the decaying sack of flesh instantly in a single hit.
HP 0/10000
Name Fundead Shocker 2A
Level 20
Zach stared confusedly at the creature as it dissolved into green ooze before his eyes--which, as it so happened, he could no longer even smell, as he himself was so covered in the slimy, revolting filth that he¡¯d actually become immune to the scent of it. The creature¡¯s body liquified and dissolved while a +3000xp appeared in the air before him. Wrinkling the bottom-right corner of his lips, Zach struggled to understand how his clumsy little slash had done more than twice the damage to this zombie that one of his well-aimed, full-powered, and decapitating blows had done to any of the Fundead Roller-Ghasts he¡¯d slaughtered in droves after reaching Phase Level 2. Not to mention the fact that these guys were also two levels higher. As the Elves caught up to him and began filing in to both his sides, the answer to his question became apparent; the Fundead Shockers reacted to their approach in exactly the same way as the one that Zach had just killed had reacted to his. All in unison, they cried out with a loud, confused-sounding ¡°Ruuuuhhhh!¡± while immediately halting the charging of their deadly electrical attack. Yet unlike Zach, the Elvish warriors did not manage to kill a single one of them. Together, as a group, the Fundead Shockers did something Zach had never before seen from a mob¡ªor at least one that was not under the effects of Rian¡¯s fear. Moving as a single unit, they outright retreated. Simultaneously, every single one of them began skating backwards and away from the incoming throng of murderously angry Elves. As Zach watched them skate away, he became increasingly confident that the reason why these mobs were retreating was linked to the reason that his sword had delivered twice as much damage as he¡¯d expected: it was because the Fundead Shockers were weak to close-range, melee attacks. That had to be it. It was the only thing that could explain why they would run away once an enemy drew too near¡ªa tactic, Zach now saw, that revealed itself to be successful. Noticeably slower than Zach, whose speed stat was inflated beyond what he could bring himself to believe, the Elvish fighters did not manage to cross the distance in time to catch their prey. Instead, they shouted loud battle cries and continued to pursue, running right past Zach, who for the second time, took off after them. And it was at this point that the Blood-Hunting Maneaters finally decided to join the battle. The Fundead Shockers, in an unusually organized display of battlefield tactics, retreated behind the Blood-Hunting Maneaters and then continued to back-skate to gain even more distance. At the same time, the Blood-Hunting Maneaters marched forward and towards the charging Elvish fighters, who all paused their advance as if in hesitation as they took in the eight-feet-tall monstrosities that were stamping their way towards them. Zach couldn¡¯t blame them for their hesitation; the large, fiendish giants bearing down on them were, by far, the most unsettling, intimidating thing of everything Zach had encountered during this battle. Taller than the tallest of humans, these Blood-Hunting Maneaters had triangularly shaped eyes, bald heads, razor sharp teeth, and flesh-colored blades in place of arms. They also did not appear to be zombies; their skin was a reddish-pink color and looked more discolored than rotten. They were naked, though they lacked the anatomical elements that would enable Zach to identify them as male or female. Their feet were also large, and their toenails were long and sharp. Although there were only eight of these creatures in total, their size, along with their horrific appearance, made it feel like there were a great many more. ¡°Greeeehhhr!¡± they growled. ¡°Greeeehhr!¡± Behind them, the Fundead Shockers began reorganizing themselves into a line, skating so that they were once more orienting themselves in a side-by-side formation. Zach frowned. He knew what they were intending to do, and he needed to warn the others. ¡°Nerilan!¡± he called as he raced after the Elvish warrior he¡¯d saved. ¡°They¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°I know,¡± Nerilan said, pausing in place and waiting for Zach to reach his side. ¡°They¡¯re going to fire on us from a distance while those¡­those monsters keep us at bay.¡± ¡°Shit!¡± Zach hissed. ¡°We have to break through. They¡¯re big, but there¡¯s only a few of them.¡± Unfortunately, not only had the Elvish warriors ceased their charge, but now, they began to retreat back the way they¡¯d come until pausing once again by Zach and Nerilan. ¡°Human boy,¡± one of them said. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you would mind going in first and letting us study them for a bit? You are, after all, the most capable among us at this moment.¡± There were numerous nods of agreement from the other Elves, and Zach found their reluctance totally justifiable. Judging off appearance alone, the Blood-Hunting Maneaters certainly lived up to their name. The level-24 mobs looked like they should have been low-tier bosses in their own right. All along their bladed arms and large, muscular legs were bright blue veins that ran over their hairless, mutant skin. It was no surprise the Elves did not want to rush in at them without first seeing what they were dealing with. Yet there was no time to sit back and observe the enemy. If they did not smash their way through, the Fundead Shockers would shower them with more lightning¡ªlikely while they were still in the process of dealing with these so-called ¡°Maneaters.¡± Zach did not want to offend any of his newfound allies, but he couldn¡¯t afford to put his words gently. He needed to convince everyone to once more charge the enemy even if he had to come across as a dick to do it. Luckily, however, he was spared having to be the one to persuade them. ¡°Doth ye has''t shame?¡± angrily shouted a female Elvish woman wearing a white cloak. She stepped forward. Even if her gilded, shiny breastplate had not caused her to stand out from her peers, the deep, fearless quality to her voice would have. She extended her arm and pointed her sword at the pack of large, towering creatures that growled continuously as they approached. ¡°Ye wouldst cower behind a child?¡± Her words had an impact that was both powerful and immediate. As though humiliated into action, the backpedaling Elves appeared to overcome their fear. Once more, they joined together in a unified battle cry and then advanced towards this new, terror-inducing foe¡ªthough unless Zach was mistaken, they did appear to move just a bit more slowly than they had only a moment prior. Zach, for his part, did not mind if he was the first to go in. And so, like before, he raced ahead of them yet again, and also like before, he was going to be the first to reach the enemy. With a sigh, he prepared himself for whatever may come next. And while he¡¯d be lying if he said he wasn¡¯t intimidated by the vicious, animal-like appearance of these ¡°Blood-Hunting Maneaters,¡± he also knew that he was the most capable fighter among them right now and that being in the lead was best for all their sakes. My survival depends on their survival, he thought. Clamping down on the terror that threatened to give him pause, Zach rushed towards the centermost Blood-Hunting Maneater. As he drew nearer, he hoped the Elvish fighters were smart enough to know that they needed to divide their forces so that the majority could continue to charge the Fundead Shockers to prevent another barrage of lightning. Quite clearly, they couldn¡¯t all engage these eight huge enemies. That would result in the Fundead Shockers being able to freely cast whatever spell or ability they were using to shoot electricity out of their palms¡ªwhich would translate to massive casualties among the Elves. Steeling himself, Zach reached the mob called ¡°Blood-Hunting Maneater C,¡± and with that, he sprang into action. Up close, he really began to appreciate just how large this thing was, as he had to crane his neck upwards just to see the razor-sharp teeth in the creature¡¯s mouth as it growled at him. ¡°Get out of my way!¡± he shouted at it, taking a step forward and whipping his sword from right to left while twisting his hips. The creature released another growl, but this one of pain. Zach¡¯s blade ripped into its midsection and tore open its flesh. As opposed to ooze, a far more unsettling dark red blood splattered all over the grass with a fair amount of it also covering the front of his tunic.
HP 20,200/25,000
Name Blood-Hunting Maneater C
Level 24
Having hit the creature for 4,800 damage, Zach struck with enough force that it caused the monster to turn slightly to one side, opening it up to a follow-up attack. Having no idea what tricks this thing had up its sleeve, Zach wisely chose not to seize the advantage as the large, vicious, and growling monstrosity twisted itself back around while raising both its flesh-colored blade-arms in one fluid motion, delivering a neck-level, X-shaped slice that made the air whoosh as Zach ducked beneath it. ¡°Greeeehhhr!¡± it growled as it bent its knees so that it stood only a single head¡¯s height above Zach. Then it lurched its body forward. It was an odd, strange movement, but Zach, feeling some degree of pride in himself, knew exactly what the creature was intending to do. With its left blade-arm, it swiped upwards from its hip, and with its right, it struck downwards. The result was two bladed arms attacking him vertically from opposite sides. This, Zach outmaneuvered with a single backstep. Then he quickly raised his sword to guard another strike from the monster¡¯s right arm. The impact of his sword against the arm made a crack as opposed to a cling. From the level of shock relative to his current elevated stats, Zach somehow knew on some level that this thing was actually strong enough to seriously hurt him if not kill him. The Blood-Hunting Maneaters were every bit as dangerous as they looked. But just from this brief exchange, Zach could also see that their massive power came at a cost. Though it wielded its blade-arms in a way that was intensely lethal, its movements were heavy, weighty, and performed with exaggerated motions that made them predictable. Unless this creature had more to offer than it had currently shown, things were really starting to look up. This, Zach came to believe even more firmly as he struck again for 4,201 and immediately after for 5,005, watering this alien grass with more streaks of dark red blood. We¡¯re actually going to be okay, Zach thought, mentally rejoicing. These things are nowhere near as difficult as they¡ª ¡°Nerilan!¡± cried a female voice to Zach¡¯s right and slightly behind him. Zach¡¯s shifted his eyes to see what had happened. Then his jaw dropped and his heart sank as he saw his new Elf friend cut into two halves along his torso. A pool of blood stained the grass as his intestines began to spill out of him. From the top half of his severed body, his eyes lowered in what did not look to Zach like fear or pain, but rather total confusion¡ªas though he was unsure of what had just happened to him. Zach was equally as confused. And this confusion turned to outright disbelief as another scream of misery erupted to his left. Now, he turned to see an Elvish woman hovering several feet in the air while gasping and choking and coughing up blood. One of the Blood-Hunting Maneaters had jammed its blade-arm straight through her chest and out of her back and had lifted her up, dangling her midair while she kicked her legs and gargled as if unable to breathe. Within seconds, though, she had stopped kicking. And then the mob coldly threw her lifeless corpse onto the ground. What the hell is going on? Zach shouted in his head. Even while barely paying attention to the mob he was fighting, Zach was able to slip under another X-shaped attack and raise his blade to deflect a slash from above while he scanned the area around him for some clue as to what in the name of the Gods was happening here. Yet what he saw only served to heighten his confusion. Everywhere he looked, he saw the Elvish fighters struggling¡ªand losing terribly¡ªagainst the Blood-Hunting Maneaters. They were being absolutely destroyed. Even though only two had died so far, it was clear to Zach that the entire bunch of them were going to perish at this rate. Not only had none broken off to chase down the Fundead Shockers, but even outnumbering these mobs, in some cases five to one, they were being absolutely fucking demolished. What Zach didn¡¯t understand was why. He couldn¡¯t understand why they were losing so badly. Did that Elf across from him not see that the Blood-Hunting Maneater he was fighting was bending its back leg and lifting its front in what could only be a powerful, upwards strike with its deadly, bladed arm? Or did that white-cloaked Elvish woman with the fancy breastplate who¡¯d roused them into action earlier not see that the reason she was being pushed back was because her foe was shifting its weight from foot to foot and she was failing to anticipate its alternating strikes? In fact, everywhere Zach looked, he saw the same problem: these mobs tended to attack from very strange, very unusual angles as if to throw its enemy off balance. But this was easily seen through¡­wasn¡¯t it? So what, exactly, was the problem here? Why were these mobs crushing the Elvish warriors? Why were the Elves failing to anticipate and respond to these blatantly telegraphed attacks? Gods, Zach thought, releasing an audible gasp as he suddenly understood what was plainly happening here. A chill ran down his spine as it dawned upon him that he¡¯d been overthinking things and that the answer was exactly what it appeared to be at first glance. They¡¯re totally unskilled. They have no idea what they¡¯re doing, and they¡¯re all going to get themselves killed! Up until this moment, Zach had assumed them to be capable swordsmen and swordswomen because, earlier, when he¡¯d been surrounded and nearly killed by those Fundead Roller-Ghasts, the Elves had experienced a much easier time defending themselves and even holding their own against the horde. Now, however, Zach came to understand that this was not due to their skill with a blade, but simply the fact that their stats were likely higher¡ªeven with their current debuff¡ªthan his were while at Phase Level 0 or even Phase Level 1. Put simply, their bodies had been quick enough to counter-attack the sword-wielding zombies, whose shortswords struck so fast that, at the time, Zach could do little more than defend. It had not, however been due to their proficiency with a sword. How can that even be? Zach wondered. Aren¡¯t these trained Elvish soldiers? Without a doubt, Zach¡¯s own success in dealing with his Blood-Hunting Maneater was due in part to his absurdly increased stats. Clearly, obviously, that made a noticeable difference. And yet, in spite of that, he was positive¡ªone hundred percent positive¡ªthat in a one-on-one fight with one of these, even at Phase Level 0, he would win provided he didn¡¯t exhaust himself. He didn¡¯t know how much damage he¡¯d do or how many strikes it would take to kill one with far less strength, but assuming he had the stamina to deal with the creature, he was completely sure he would come out on top. Since the day Fluffles had taught him how to use a sword, he knew he¡¯d found something he was naturally gifted at. He picked up on things quickly¡ªand he often surprised even himself with how precise he was with recognizing motion and anticipating attacks based on body movements and posture. Yet he never would have expected that he¡¯d be so far ahead of these Elvish soldiers that he almost began to look down on them for how inept they seemed, at least compared to him. Having seen enough of Kalana¡¯s people perish today, Zach made a promise to himself that he would not let a single additional one of them die. Enough was enough. The path to living through this was becoming clearer by the second. And even as a pain slithered down his chest and into his gut at the sight of Nerilan wiggling on the ground in two pieces, he tightened his grip on his blade and prepared to put this whole ordeal behind him once and for all. No more. He was done playing games. Not one more Elf, he promised himself. Not even one more Elf! The ¡°Blood-Hunting Maneater C¡± attempted to lunge forward and run him through just as one had done to the Elvish woman a bit to his left. Zach, however, would not prove to be so easy a victim. Grunting, he spun around to the creature¡¯s side, and then with all his might, he delivered two strikes, one after the next, that tore the creature¡¯s chest apart while splattering what looked like gallons of blood all over his tunic, face, and leggings. The first hit for 4,817, and the second, which struck the same part of the monster¡¯s body but from the opposite direction, hit for 4,623.
HP 1,554/25,000
Name Blood-Hunting Maneater C
Level 24
Almost as though it sensed its own demise, the creature flailed its lethally sharp blade-arms at him at uneven angles in a staggered pattern of attack. With two quick flicks of his wrist, Zach batted both aside, and then he stepped forward and ran his own sword through the monster just as its friend had done to the Elvish woman. He punctured it through the heart, assuming it even had one, which it likely didn¡¯t¡ªthen he jumped back, somewhat startled, as the creature made a haltingly loud ¡°Greeeehhhr!¡± and dropped down into a squat. Now, it hugged its own body, and it began to disappear while a sound not unlike that of a vacuum cleaner filled the air, fading away only when the creature did. ¡°Greeeehhhr!¡± it let out one final time as it disappeared, its voice trailing off mid scream. +5000xp Without wasting another moment, Zach urgently spun his body to the left, then quickly shuffled a few paces to his side, lining himself up so that three of the seven remaining Blood-Hunting Maneaters were more or less in a straight line ahead of him as they dominated the vastly underperforming Elvish warriors. ¡°Go!¡± Zach yelled at them. ¡°Stop fighting these guys and chase after the Shockers!¡± All the Elves to this side of him shot him a questioning look, though only briefly, as they needed to return their attention towards surviving the Blood-Hunting Maneaters, whose oddly angled attacks were not only throwing them off their game, but caused an Elvish girl who looked to be around Zach and Kalana¡¯s age to lose her arm from the point of her shoulder, much the way Zach had during his encounter with Ziragoth. She fell to the grass, screaming. The Blood-Hunting Maneater, practically ignoring the other three Elvish fighters attacking it, seized upon the opportunity and thrust both its bladed arms downward as if to finish her. Swearing out loud his most obscene and profane curse words, Zach activated Boundless and then used Phase Rescue. Immediately, two minutes and twenty-five seconds¡¯ worth of time was deducted from his current duration of Unleashed Phase while a blue light engulfed the girl before shrinking her inside of it and whisking her away to Zach¡¯s side. With a thwack, the Blood-Hunting Maneater¡¯s arms pierced the ground where she had just been lying. Now, she bled out onto the grass beside him. ¡°Fylwen!¡± he shouted, turning his head back in the direction he¡¯d left her. ¡°I need you to¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m here!¡± she shouted from directly behind him, giving him a brief scare and making him flinch. ¡°I came running the moment I saw.¡± Dropping to the ground so quickly she came into a something of a slide, she grabbed the Elvish girl and immediately began to chant something under her breath. As her hands began to glow, Zach saw her stroke the girl¡¯s hair. With love and compassion in her voice, she said, ¡°You will not die today, Saerina. You¡¯re going to be okay.¡± The girl was screaming in pain, writhing uncontrollably on the ground. Tears fell freely from her eyes as she called out for her mother who, incidentally, happened to be there with the rest of them. Zach swore aloud a second time, as once again, he had to use Boundless and Phase Rescue to stop her distracted mother from losing her head to an easily predictable swipe coming from ¡°Blood-Hunting Maneater A.¡± It wasn¡¯t even an odd-angled attack, either. Fluffles had given him worse to deal with the first day he¡¯d ever held a sword than the little swipe that¡¯d almost killed her. ¡°Get away from them and charge the Fundead Shockers!¡± Zach shouted as loud as his voice would carry. ¡°B-but then they¡¯ll attack us from behind,¡± replied the voice of a clearly skeptical Elf. ¡°No, I¡¯ll deal with them. Just go!¡± ¡°All seven of them?¡± asked a thin, lanky Elvish fighter with auburn hair. He came across as dubious if not outright disbelieving. Pressed for time, Zach had to put in real effort not to clench his teeth angrily or lose his cool. ¡°Yes, all seven of them. Especially since none of you stand a chance against these. Look, we don¡¯t have time to argue. Just listen to me, Gods damnit!¡± Several of the Elvish fighters opened their mouths, but Zach preempted whatever they intended to say. ¡°No more questions. I¡¯m not answering anymore Gods-be-damned questions! Go now¡ªor die. Your choice!¡± With that, he spun around and faced the opposite direction. Then he called out to the remainder of the ground forces that were squaring off against the other four Blood-Hunting Maneaters. ¡°You guys as well! Ignore those things and let me handle them. I only need to survive for, what, a minute? Just drive back the Shockers and keep them running until the debuff runs out. Now go! Before they finish charging their lightning. Hurry!¡± He knew what they were going to say in reply, and once again, he kept a step ahead of them. ¡°I¡¯ll grab aggro. Just fucking go already!¡± Zach inhaled as much oxygen as his lungs would allow. Then he released it all in a quick, mostly unsatisfying sigh. His hands were continuing to shoot embers, and the cold was still dissipating them almost the moment they left his palms and feet, but unlike before, he no longer felt the chill. Now that he was back in action, he¡¯d again begun to sweat. I¡¯m going to be cutting it really close again, he thought. Gods dammit! Zach knew he needed to act quickly. To both his sides, the Blood-Hunting Maneaters more or less stood in a relatively straight line¡ªbut only for the moment. As the Elves began backing away from their large, overpowering foes, their formation would become staggered. If Zach wanted to grab aggro, he¡¯d have to do it now. ¡°Wave Slash!¡± he shouted, swinging his blade in an arc and forming the green, patchy, cloud-like clump of energy that quickly solidified, sharpened, and turned into a metallic, double-bladed disc. The exact moment it departed from his blade, he did an about-face, and for the second time, he shouted, ¡°Wave Slash!¡± Given the relatively short distance to the first target in line, he did not expect to do much damage to the tall, monstrous creatures. Yet the Elves had failed to do all that much either, so he was pretty sure he would at least hit them hard enough to pull aggro. As he watched his Wave Slash rip through the stomach of the leading Maneater and deal 5,214 damage, he was more content than disappointed. The mob, which had been raising its right arm in what Zach estimated to be a downward slash, actually stopped what it was doing, then turned to face him¡ªas did the next one down the line as well as the other two after that one. Now, all four began marching towards him at a speed that was not particularly slow but still not fast enough that he didn¡¯t feel safe taking his eyes off them a moment. Glancing once more in the opposite direction, he was glad to see that he¡¯d pulled the other three behind him as well. So now, as intended, he had all 7 stomping their way towards him. Following a brief moment of hesitation, the Elvish warriors appeared to regain their composure and take off after the Fundead Shockers, which truly were the bigger threat.
Unleashed Phase Duration 2:25 Remaining
¡°Do I even need to fight these things?¡± Zach asked himself aloud. ¡°They¡¯re not that fast. Heh. I wonder if I could just run around in circles while they keep following me.¡± Though he spoke those words to himself more as a tension-relieving joke than as a serious self-suggestion, his eyebrows raised to the top of his face as he realized it might actually not be the worst idea. ¡°Whoah! Has anyone ever thought to do that before?¡± Zach half puckered his lips in amazement as he realized the potential of the idea he just had. Mobs, generally, were stupid and brainless, and there were probably so many ways of manipulating them to make one¡¯s life easier. If he wanted to¡ªespecially given the open space now that most of the horde had backed away to make room for the Fundead Shockers¡ªZach could literally run back to the base of the hill, then slip behind the Blood-Hunting Maneaters before running back again. He could basically take these things out of the fight completely while avoiding all risk to himself. Had other adventurers ever thought to fool mobs that way before? Surely they had, right? ¡°That¡¯s called kiting,¡± Queen Vayra said, confirming to Zach that this was by no means a novel idea. She stroked the hair of the traumatized Elvish girl with one hand while tending to her wounds with the other. ¡°It¡¯s an extremely common tactic used when other forms of crowd control prove insufficient.¡± Though her words were helpful, instructive, and likely true, her tone as she spoke them was cold, dark, and malicious. Despite having just saved a young Elvish girl the same age as her daughter, Fylwen showed no appreciation whatsoever and now glared at Zach with an intense hatred and disgust that made him begin to fear her more than the seven mobs stomping their way towards him. She whispered into the Elvish girl¡¯s ear, and abruptly, the wounded girl fell asleep. Then Fylwen stood up, straightened her back, and narrowed her eyes at Zach. ¡°Kiting them may be the wisest decision. Unless you think you can last a whole forty seconds against seven of those large beasts.¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Zach laughed of all things. ¡°That¡¯s a minute less than I had to last against something way, way worse, Miss Vayra.¡± ¡°Queen Vayra,¡± she corrected. ¡°Ahh¡­yeah, sorry, my bad.¡± In the distance, Zach watched as every Fundead Shocker ceased charging up their fatal electrical attack and instead began to flee from the pursuing Elves, which in turn caused the far, far, far larger horde of Roller-Ghasts to also begin skating backwards as well as if to make room for their retreat; this, as the seven Blood-Hunting Maneaters marched closer and closer to Zach¡¯s position. Yet, even despite the danger they imposed, he could not stop himself from once more pulling his attention away from the approaching threat to instead regard Fylwen Vayra, the Elvish queen. Something was changing in the woman¡¯s expression; it was gradually darkening, and Zach was beginning to feel increasingly more unsettled. Her scowl was deepening, too, and the intensity of the hate was growing to the point where Zach didn¡¯t see how she could still possibly deny it. Surprisingly, though, for the first time since meeting her, she didn¡¯t. ¡°This hate¡­¡± she said softly. ¡°It is not for you, young man.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not?¡± Zach asked, generally perplexed. With ease, he leaned backwards, ducked, and then spun around three successive slashes from the first Blood-Hunting Maneater to reach him. Then he retaliated with a vicious slash of his own, striking its knees with such force that he managed to sever both of its legs and incapacitate it right off the bat. The eight-foot-tall monster, now unable to stand, fell forward and slammed down onto the grass with a thud and a growl while each leg flew off in an opposite direction. ¡°No,¡± she whispered, peering out at him like a hawk watching prey. ¡°It¡¯s for me.¡± Zach wasn¡¯t sure how to respond to that, so instead, he turned his attention to the downed Blood-Hunting Maneater. Despite still having three quarters of its HP remaining, the legless, blade-armed fiend was clearly no longer a threat. Even still, having arrived just a bit ahead of the other six, Zach had enough time to finish it off¡ªbut not before being forced to drop all the way down to his knees to avoid the battle-axe of an errant skeleton-horse-riding mummy, which for some reason felt like taking a random shot at him as it darted past him while flying low to the ground. Annoyed, Zach was glad to see Fluffles swoop down a second later and rip both the horse and its rider to pieces in the corner of his eyes. ¡°Mummy stupid!¡± Fluffles shouted, his voice deep and booming in his transformed form. Now, pointing his blade downwards, Zach placed his left fist over and above his right on the sword¡¯s hilt, then bent his knees and thrust downwards with all his strength into the back of the monster¡¯s skull with enough force that it pierced straight through. Yet that still did not finish it off. Undaunted, he ripped his weapon free and shook away some of the blood and brain matter before launching two more hacking, downward strikes with the first taking its head half off, and the second fully decapitating it. Even headless, it still growled as it vanished into a void of nothingness while a sound that was eerily like that of an electric vacuum cleaner accompanied its disappearance. +5000xp ¡°You seem to be handling those just fine,¡± Queen Vayra said, stepping away from the sleeping Elvish girl. Her bleeding had thankfully stopped, and though she was missing an arm, she was resting peacefully¡ªat least for the moment. ¡°Can you move these unsightly things a bit further away from her?¡± ¡°Uh, sure,¡± Zach said, deflecting a series of bladed-arm strikes from two of the large, lumbering creatures. He jumped over a sneaky, but otherwise futile attempt to sever his own two legs from the monster¡¯s left arm, which came at him at a low, lopsided angle. Honestly, he was beginning to think of these Blood-Hunting Maneaters in the way that he¡¯d come to think of those ¡°Aggrieved Scarecrow¡± mobs that had seemed so threatening the first time he¡¯d been to this planet with Rian and Lienne. They, like these, were imposing, frightening-looking mobs that had very powerful attacks while also having some even more powerful weaknesses. In all honesty, Zach was starting to find these creatures to be the least threatening of the vampire¡¯s forces. It would be an entirely different story if they, too, had roller skates or could move a little faster. But as things were, they simply were not that much of a threat to him. By staying agile on his feet, he found that he could easily keep two or three of them near him at a time while the rest trailed behind. Full-on kiting wasn¡¯t even necessary. In fact, he deliberately put himself in their way for no other reason than to gain experience points and because he found their oddly angled attacks to be good practice. Before long, he managed to kill a second¡ªwell, technically third one. +5000xp
LEVEL UP! 17 (16)
Dexterity +1 (65)
Intelligence +1 (105)
XP Required for Level 18 65000
(LEGENDARY NON-UNIQUE) Card Capture Acquired
(LEGENDARY NON-UNIQUE) Card Summon Acquired
(LEGENDARY NON-UNIQUE) Card Dismiss Acquired
¡°Whoah,¡± Zach said aloud while he twisted his body to avoid a lunging forward-thrust from the arm of the mob in front of him. ¡°What¡¯s a ¡®legendary non-unique?¡¯¡± he asked as he dashed backwards to keep from being surrounded by the remaining five enemies. Fylwen¡¯s eyes seemed to bulge with rage at the question. ¡°That term describes the acquisition of a very, very rare¡ªbut not unique¡ªability.¡± Her eyes narrowed even more. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you picked up a new ¡®trick?¡¯¡± Zach tried not to buckle from the intensity of Fylwen¡¯s gaze. The uneasiness she was causing him was steadily growing the closer his Unleashed Phase came to ending. He couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that someone who sent such contempt-ridden stares his way was someone he really shouldn¡¯t be trusting: or rather ¡°have trusted¡± would be the more accurate thing to say: he shouldn¡¯t have trusted her. But that was no longer really an issue, was it? Because he had trusted her. The ¡°trusting¡± part was already done. Yet with each passing second, it started to really dawn on him just how serious this situation was. Going off nothing but her word alone¡ªthe word of a complete stranger¡ªhe had done something to himself that would mean instant death if her promise turned out to be false. His life was quite literally in her hands. Thus, the way she looked upon him like he was some kind of parasite¡­it didn¡¯t do much to boost his confidence. ¡°Uh, yeah,¡± he replied to Fylwen, which only caused her frown to deepen. He had the sense that maybe he shouldn¡¯t be telling her these things. In fact, he¡¯d had that sense for a while now. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that literally all of the trust he had in her was predicated solely on the fact that she was the mother of the love of his life. Yet, as she questioned him, her angry, bitter, and demanding tone left little doubt in Zach¡¯s mind that she would not handle it well if he neglected to answer her questions. As Fylwen¡¯s temperament and the promise she¡¯d made to him became a bigger and bigger concern, Zach was forced to split his attention between the Elvish queen and the enemies that relentlessly stomped on towards him, such as the Blood-Hunting Maneater directly ahead of his position that thought it was being cute by half-turning away¡ªas if Zach had lost its aggro¡ªonly to abruptly turn back around and take a wide, explosively powerful shot at him with its left, bladed arm; the slow, but ruthless creature swung at him with so much strength that the force of it caused the mob to lose its balance and nearly fall over. For all his additional armor and constitution, Zach had the sense that, even if such an attack somehow didn¡¯t kill him outright, it would still very seriously wound him if it connected. So it was a good thing, then, that all it took to evade the massive but reckless blow was to simply bend backwards and shift his weight slightly off his front foot. As he leaned away from the blow, he extended his sword in front of himself and allow the oversized, repugnant, monster to slice its own self on his blade as it stumbled to the side, ripping open a section of its stomach and dealing 4,211 damage. ¡°I must admit, young man, you have a penchant for acquiring some rather useful abilities.¡± Even with its stomach sliced open and leaking a yellowish fluid in addition to hemorrhaging more dark red blood, the Maneater regained its balance and growled loudly at him. But it did not attack: no, it would have to wait its turn. The one behind greedily ambled towards Zach, who bent his knees and raised his arms above his shoulders while pointing the blade forward in a two-handed grip, ready for whatever it had to bring. ¡°Ah, thanks,¡± he said, hoping his uncertainty and growing distrust did not leak through in his voice. ¡°Indulge my curiosity," she said. "What ability did you just acquire?" Though she spoke her words at barely above a whisper, the intensity in them resounded far louder than if she¡¯d shouted. Zach felt acid entering his belly as his nerves took hold of him. Given that he now had only around two minutes left on his current duration of Unleashed Phase, he was again reminded of the fact that he was going to have to rely on this woman to save his life: the woman who clearly had something against him despite never having met him before. Given those facts, Queen Fylwen Vayra was not the kind of person Zach wanted to upset right now, yet no matter what he said or didn¡¯t say, the result always seemed to be the same: an increase in the bitterness he could feel radiating off her. Second by second, Zach¡¯s E-debt came closer to being due. And when the only person in the world who could stop him from kicking the bucket was glaring at him like she wanted him to die¡­yeah, that was not comforting. In fact, Zach was so offput by her overall disposition that he made a mistake and failed to raise his guard in time as a Blood-Hunting Maneater growled and went for his head. If not for quick reflexes and an even quicker pivot on his heels, he would have had part of his face ripped off by a horizontal slash from one of the bladed arms of ¡°Blood-Hunting Maneater H.¡± ¡°What ability have you acquired?¡± she asked again. She was following swiftly alongside him as he ducked, weaved, and repositioned himself so that he was never surrounded by the mobs even as he engaged with and fought back against them. Despite seeing him nearly lose his head just now, Fylwen showed no visible sign of concern for his wellbeing and instead continued to question him about his new abilities. ¡°Are you ignoring me, young man? I asked you what ability you acquired.¡± Buried deep in her tone, Zach was positive he could detect a hint of desperation; yet she concealed it so well that he almost wasn¡¯t sure it was there at all. But along with the way her eyes were seemingly locked on him, as well as the mere fact that she asked him the same irrelevant question for the third straight time in a row, he could no longer deny that there was a very real urgency to her questioning. And it was this realization that caused Zach¡¯s entire body to become tense, his eyes to go wide, and his heart to beat faster as, at long last, everything began to fall into place, and a wave of understanding slammed into him like a train. It was only now, as the last moments of this surreal, otherworldly battle played out to its conclusion, that everything finally clicked in his mind. And as it did, Zach cursed himself for being too slow to see it until now. He was surprised and ashamed it had taken him this long to put it together. But in fairness to himself, there had been far too much going on around him to see things clearly. Honestly, if not for the fact that most of his attention had been placed on surviving this battle and saving the lives of her people, he would have realized it way sooner. Because now he knew, didn¡¯t he? Yes. Yes, he did. He knew it now. He knew the reason why she was angry with him: why she was disgusted with him. Why she gazed upon him with such intense dislike. He understood it all now¡ªand it was so, so simple, too. It was so incredibly, painfully obvious. It was something he should have deduced straight away. She hated him for one reason and one reason alone: because she viewed him as a threat. She, a woman whose entire life had been defined by the pain and suffering humans had inflicted upon her, viewed him as some kind of existential threat to her and all of her people. And it was all because of Fluffles and that dog. All because some cute but dumb animals¡¯ proclaiming that Zach was more powerful¡ªor rather would become more powerful¡ªthan she herself was. That had really been the moment everything had changed, hadn¡¯t it? It had been just after Chumpkenwiffles¡¯ nonsense ¡°appraisal¡± that Queen Vayra had become threatened by his very existence. That was what this was about. For sure, that was the root of all this. But he couldn¡¯t blame himself for not noticing sooner. How could he? He¡¯d been thrust totally unprepared into a war between vampires, the Elvish people, and zombies. But now, at least, he finally understood. This is all because of some laughably stupid bullshit said by a talking dog and a talking cat, Zach thought, shaking his head. Even as he deflected two different attacks from two different Blood-Hunting Maneaters at the exact same time, he continued to reflect on her gradually worsening treatment of him¡ªbut he was soon taken from his thoughts as her voice became louder and more demanding, drawing his attention once more to her hateful gaze that now seemed permanently fixated on him. ¡°Can you not hear me?¡± she asked sharply. ¡°S-sorry!¡± Zach replied, bowing his head first in apology, but then a second time to avoid decapitation. Caught off guard, he found himself in a bit of trouble and had to throw himself at the grassy ground and back-roll away from danger before springing up to his feet and whirling his blade around to block several incoming strikes from three different Blood-Hunting Maneaters at once. ¡°I was concentrating.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve asked you several times now: what ability did you just acquire?¡± Zach really, really didn¡¯t want to tell her. Now that he understood what was going on in her head¡ªas stupid and unbelievable as it was¡ªthe last thing he wanted to do was say something to make himself seem even more of a threat. Right now, only one thing in this entire world could keep him from death, and that one thing was this woman. And now she was asking him a question that could totally backfire on him depending on how he answered. Biting the corner of his lip, Zach said, ¡°Just something about a uh¡­¡± ¡°A what?¡± she asked, her tone implying there was no room for Zach to wiggle out of answering this. The craziest part of all of this was that, having no idea himself what his new abilities did, Zach now actually had to hope and pray to the Gods that whatever he¡¯d just acquired was a useless piece of shit. How messed up was that? He actually had to hope that his new abilities sucked. I should¡¯ve just kept on walking to B4, he thought. This is what I get for trying to be a good guy. Fuck me, man. May the Gods damn all of it! Zach actually lowered his guard a moment just so that he could shrug, a gesture he hoped would convey a feeling of non-excitement regarding his new abilities. But he could only half-complete the gesture, as he had to immediately raise his weapon as fast as he could to parry an attack from the Blood-Hunting Maneater opposite him before returning with three blazing-fast strikes of his own, cutting off a section of the monster¡¯s face and a piece of its shoulder. ¡°Something about what?¡± Fylwen asked again. ¡°Speak!¡± ¡°Uh, you know, just¡­just something about a, uh¡­a card?¡± Zach said casually, trying to downplay whatever ability he¡¯d unlocked. He hoped his words did not ring a bell in her head, or at least if they did, that they would not cause her any further alarm or distress. But since he hadn¡¯t had the chance to examine whatever he¡¯d acquired, there was no way he could try to guess how she¡¯d react. Hell, not only did he not know what he¡¯d earned, but he couldn¡¯t even recall the names of the abilities or say for sure if it had been two or three new ones he¡¯d gotten. He was only sure it was more than one. Other than that, he knew absolutely nothing. But Queen Vayra? Well, to his utter misfortune, she seemed to know. Oh, she seemed to know all right. And it took less than a fraction of a fraction of a second for Zach to see that she was not happy about it. Her eyes widened, her lips quivered, and she mouthed a word in Elvish he did not know while she slowly shook her head and briefly averted her gaze. Clearly, the answer he¡¯d given her was not the one she¡¯d wanted to hear. ¡°Card capture?¡± she asked him. ¡°Was that the name of it? And was it accompanied by two other abilities: one to summon and one to dismiss?¡± Swallowing nervously, Zach wet his lips and said, ¡°Ah¡­yeah, maybe. I think so, anyway. I mean, I didn¡¯t really get a good enough look, but I think that¡¯s what I saw.¡± Zach felt a nervous pinch of apprehension in his stomach as Fylwen actually stomped her foot on the ground like an angry child, then shouted, ¡°So now you can Card Summon, too?¡± ¡°I guess.¡± Again, she shook her head. ¡°But¡­but how?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Why what? Why don¡¯t I know? Or why can I card summon¡ªuh, whatever the hell that even is.¡± ¡°Both.¡± Zach dashed backwards, then lurched forward, ducked, and finally deftly spun around to the side of ¡°Blood-Hunting Maneater H¡± and delivered a quick, efficient finishing blow, earning himself +5000xp in the process¡ªand something else, as well. The moment the mob faded out of existence, a blue, shining light on the grass caught Zach¡¯s eye. It came from the spot the creature had died. Loot! Even in spite of everything going on around him, Zach¡¯s greedy, loot-loving nature manifested itself so thoroughly that he momentarily forgot the way his girlfriend¡¯s mother was staring daggers at him. But given that she was already irritated with him¡ªeven though it was for a totally stupid reason¡ªhe did not want to make things worse by looking heartless or like the kind of person that would prioritize loot over saving lives. And so, to play it safe, he waited until one of the Blood-Hunting Maneaters launched an attack that required him to evade by ducking down. Then, putting himself low to the ground, Zach quickly snatched up what looked like a golden ring of some kind with silver writing inscribed on it. He clearly lacked the time to even so much as take a peek at it let alone appraise the item, so instead, he stuffed it inside the single pocket on the right side of his Decaying Leggings of the Undying and decided to leer at it later. The fact that the light was blue, if memory served him correctly, meant that this item was a ¡°rare.¡± If not for Fylwen setting off a rapidly growing feeling of alarm and danger, Zach would be so giddy right now he¡¯d have to force himself not to start dancing right here on the battlefield. Returning his attention to Queen Vayra¡ªand only partially focusing on dealing with his pursuing enemies as he slowly led them back and away towards the base of the hill he¡¯d rolled down¡ªhe realized that the woman was still staring at him demandingly as if waiting for him to answer her question. ¡°The truth is I don¡¯t know the answers to your questions,¡± he said. ¡°In the name of the Gods, I swear I don¡¯t even know what a card summon is.¡± As she bared her teeth at him, he realized he could no longer mentally take the pressure. His panic and paranoia were becoming too strong. He knew he had to finally address this whole thing with her. ¡°Look, can I be honest with you, Miss Va¡ªahh, Queen Vayra?¡± ¡°Please do,¡± she said. Zach stirred uneasily on his feet as his suspicion and paranoia increased. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I know now why you¡­I know why you look at me like that.¡± ¡°You do?¡± she asked. She then took her eyes off him¡ªbut only for the briefest of moments. Zach craned his neck to see what she was looking at. It seemed the Fundead Shockers were still on the run, but now the Fundead Roller Ghasts were once more plowing forward. This had the positive effect of blocking the Fundead Shockers from being able to target the Elves, but at the same time, it also caused the Elves to once again be swarmed by an uncountable number of decaying, rotten, and roller-skating zombies, which was basically a complete reset back to what the situation had been at the start of the battle. The only difference now, however¡ªand to be fair, it was certainly a big difference¡ªwas that time was now on the side of the Elves as they began to back away in Zach¡¯s direction, seemingly avoiding combat altogether as the Fundead Roller-Ghasts chased them. Not that it mattered anymore. Having already lost all the space that they¡¯d claimed at the start of the fight, the Fundead Roller-Ghasts did not have the time they would need to chase the Elves all the way back to the base of the absurdly tall hill. The end was now plainly in sight. Thus, for all intents and purposes, the battle had been won. The debuffed Elves were now down to their final seconds of weakness, and in just a few moments, the curse would expire and they would all regain their strength. Whoever this vampire-person was or whatever he¡¯d been intending to do, he had failed. His minions, however, did not seem to be aware of that¡ªparticularly this Blood-Hunting Maneater that was aggressively bearing down on Zach. With two powerful movements, Zach swung his sword up and to the left, knocking aside one of its bladed arms that was slicing down at him. Then he slashed his weapon through the air in the opposite direction, batting away its opposing limb. Finally, he stepped forward and rammed his blade through the monster¡¯s chest. There was a disgusting crunch as the sword plunged deep into his foe and inflicted 5,008 points of damage while also causing the large, eight-foot-tall creature to become put off balance. Wasting not a moment, Zach quickly yanked the blade out of the Maneater¡¯s body, slightly bent his knees, and then, with great speed and even greater force, he whirled his body around in a full circle while springing back up and extending both of his arms, spin-slashing the head of the Blood-Hunting Maneater right off its shoulders and earning him another +5000xp. The monster¡¯s head landed on the grass only a few inches ahead of where he himself landed. Venting some of his frustrations, Zach skipped forward a few steps and kicked it away like it was a ball in gym class. Along with the rest of its body, the head began to vanish midair, but not before it collided with the head of the Blood-Hunting Maneater behind it, bouncing immediately back off and dealing 3 damage. It then fell back down towards the grass, disappearing entirely a split second before landing a second time. ¡°I do,¡± Zach confirmed. ¡°I get it.¡± The skepticism was plain on her face as her cheeks scrunched slightly and her brow furrowed. With a sigh, he said, ¡°I just want you to know that Kal¡­Kalana, she told me about, you know, what it was like for her as a little girl.¡± ¡°Did she?¡± He nodded. ¡°I know what happened to you is something so terrible I can¡¯t ever understand it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Fylwen said with heat in her voice. ¡°You couldn¡¯t. But why mention this to me?¡± Zach squeezed his hands more tightly on his sword, though it was not for the sake of getting a better grip on the weapon, but in an attempt to gain control of the very rapidly increasing sense of worry and suspicion he was feeling. ¡°Queen Vayra, I¡­¡± ¡°Hm?¡± He drew a breath, held it a moment, then released it. ¡°I really, really love Kalana. Your daughter. She¡¯s everything in this entire world to me. If she wasn¡¯t alive, I don¡¯t even know if I¡¯d want to be. I know you probably think I¡¯m too young to say this so confidently, but she¡¯s the one. I¡¯ll never love anyone like I do her.¡± Upon his words, a tiny, nearly imperceptible degree of softness entered Fylwen¡¯s expression, only to then vanish just as quickly as it had appeared. ¡°Why tell me this?¡± ¡°Because¡­¡± Zach swallowed fearfully. He had to work hard to stave off the panic growing within him: the doubt that was near to the point of making him tremble. ¡°Because I¡­I¡¯m starting to worry you might go back on your word. I mean no disrespect¡ªI swear I don¡¯t. I just have this really scary feeling right now that you maybe lied to me or something.¡± For the first time, Queen Vayra¡¯s scowl left her face, and in her eyes, Zach could now see only mistrust, hurt, defiance, and even a degree of confusion. He could see something else, too. Something that she likely carried with her always: the pain of a woman whose people had been slaughtered by the hundreds right in front of her. If half the things Kal had told him about her upbringing were true, then Queen Vayra had lived a horrible, traumatizing life. ¡°I didn¡¯t lie to you,¡± she said after a pause that lasted only a few seconds but felt like a few lifetimes. Feeling just a slight lessening of fear¡ªthough not at a level enough to be reassured¡ªZach wet his lips and asked, ¡°So you¡¯re going to heal me, right? Because you promised me that if I helped you, you would.¡± ¡°I meant what I said,¡± she confirmed, causing Zach to sigh with relief as he continued to fight. His muscles, which had tensed almost to the point of locking up, had once again relaxed, and he felt as if a great weight had been pulled off his shoulders. Relief flooded into him like a river, and he felt like he could breathe again. A return of positive feelings and general optimism lifted his spirits. His mood was well and truly restored¡ªfor all of about two whole seconds before it all came crashing and burning down. His relief turned out to be incredibly short-lived, as less than a moment after she spoke those words, she lifted her chin and met Zach¡¯s eyes unblinkingly. Then, with an icy, unremorseful, and yet eerily conversational tone, she said something to him: something that knocked the air out of his chest as though it were a physical blow. Something that caused an explosion of pure terror to materialize within him. Something that gripped him so tightly that it paralyzed him. ¡°I meant what I said,¡± she repeated, ¡°¡­when I said it.¡± ¡°Meaning what exactly?¡± Zach angrily shouted as she returned his gaze with a cold, merciless stare. ¡°What do you mean by that? Tell me! Hey, dammit! What do you mean by that?¡± Her only reply was to continue to watch him through eyes that did not seem to blink. Even though Zach had answered all of her questions, she did not grant him the decency of answering his. Although¡­that wasn¡¯t entirely true either, was it? No, he knew exactly what she meant. If not, he would not be suffering from such a sinking feeling of all-consuming dread. The implication of those four words was as clear as day, and she wasn¡¯t even attempting to hide it, either. The reason she did not answer him was most likely because no actual reply was needed: her words and, even more so, her eyes, spoke clearly enough. What have I just done? Zach thought to himself as his knees weakened and it all really began to sink in. I trusted someone I shouldn¡¯t have. I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m not going to be okay, am I? I fucked up really, really badly. Oh, Gods. What did I do? What the fuck did I do? Two things happened in that moment, and both occurred at the exact same time. First, Zach felt a shot of fear pierce him like a bullet. He felt as though he had just been pushed off a building and was entering freefall. His heart leapt in his chest, butterflies raced in his stomach, and his throat went dry with shock. He became so paralyzed with disbelief, hurt, and a self-loathing at his own stupidity, that he completely lost his ability to defend himself from the last three Blood-hunting Maneaters that surrounded and advanced towards him. As Zach processed her words and the implications of what she was saying, he lost all motivation to fight or even defend himself. He was buried beneath the sensation of having one¡¯s worst fears and creeping suspicions confirmed. It was the shame of hindsight. It was a ringing chorus in his head of the words ¡°she can¡¯t possibly,¡± and ¡°she¡¯s doesn¡¯t really mean.¡± For these reasons, he had become completely defenseless, though at least on that front, it no longer mattered, because in the same instant, the debuff on Fylwen and her people finally wore off. And then¡­ Then Zach really understood what it meant to be powerful. Amid his shock, he only witnessed a fraction of it. Just a small fraction. Yet even if he had been paying a great deal of attention, what followed happened so fast that he still would have only caught a glimpse of it. To say that the restored Elvish warriors dealt with the vampire¡¯s forces ¡°quickly¡± just wouldn¡¯t cut it. In fact, there were no words to describe the onslaught of power and rage that transformed the entire battlefield in a time only slightly longer than the blink of an eye. Right here, right in front of him, he was shown a display of such fantastic, overwhelming strength that it now made perfect sense why the Elves did not bother perfecting their skills with a sword: with this kind of raw, unfathomable power, they had no need. Everywhere and anywhere around him, there came light, sound, and flashes of movement. That much, Zach was sure of¡ªeven if much of that movement was too fast for him to follow. Unicorn-riding Elves whipped across the sky at such intense speeds they left streaks of fire behind in the air. Large pops not unlike firecrackers only dramatically louder buried every other sound. Numbers began popping up in the sky. Damage numbers. Numbers in the hundreds of thousands: a few even in the millions. And then it rained. It rained horse bones, bandages, and ooze. And as it rained, there was a loud, snap-like crack. In the very corner of Zach¡¯s vision, he saw the gigantic, several-story-tall ¡°Flesh Scrubber¡± mob broken apart into thousands of pieces. Or at least he thought he did. So much was happening everywhere and all at once that his brain could not interpret this much data this fast and retain it all. He was sure he saw Fylwen¡¯s entire body glow. That much, he had high confidence in. He was also sure she screamed and unleashed some kind of reddish energy that expanded outwards and around and stretched to become miles long and all-encompassing within just a few seconds. But was he absolutely, one-hundred-percent sure that it was that reddish, barrier-like energy that caused hundreds¡ªno, thousands¡ªof the Fundead Roller-Ghasts to disintegrate into little piles of dust? Not even ooze, but dust. Even those that were currently being cut down by Elvish swords were wiped away like some kind of punitive act from a vengeful God. And then there were the Fundead Shockers. Zach couldn¡¯t even be certain that what he saw in the opposite corner of his other eye was reality. But from the immensely loud explosions, along with a heat he could feel even from all the way over here, it genuinely did appear that an entire grouping of flaming, boulder-sized meteorites were being summoned from the sky and slammed down onto the Fundead Shockers, dealing hundreds of thousands of damage and causing the entire world to shake. There was so much more, too. So much that Zach either didn¡¯t see, couldn¡¯t see, or couldn¡¯t understand. And through it all, he was left standing there, shaking, in total disbelief that he had been betrayed by Kalana¡¯s mother. He was so distraught with feelings of rage, misery, and even self-guilt that none of the explosive sounds or sights even startled him. He was lost in a trance of his own, one that he snapped out of only as he saw the duration remaining on his Unleashed Phase drop below one minute. This, he came to understand, was an entirely different terror than the one he felt during his fight with Ziragoth. This was the sense of impending doom. It wasn¡¯t the traumatic, heart-destroying fear that was caused by actively fighting for one¡¯s life and dying in the process. There was no massive adrenaline rush or fight or flight response. Rather, this was a much more ominous, slow, and torturous sensation of knowing that your imminent death had already been decided, and your only choice was to wait for it to happen. The level of despair and hopelessness¡­it was too much to bear. Zach felt weak. His knees felt like they would give at any time. His head was beginning to fog up. Yet for all he was worth, he fought to hold back the tears, wanting to keep at least some of his dignity intact. This was not the first time he¡¯d felt this way: it was merely the most severe. He¡¯d experienced this once before after fighting Moldark the Unbanished. Then, too, he had stood around waiting for his death after pushing himself too far. But at least he¡¯d had Rian and Lienne there with him. And a hope that someone might somehow possibly save him. No one is coming for me this time, he thought, trembling. In no time at all, the carnage was over. It ended so quickly that Zach didn¡¯t even realize he was now completely surrounded by the Elves until he heard their voices. Were they standing around him and waiting for him to die? Did they need to see it with their own eyes to be sure they got him? To Zach¡¯s surprise, when he looked upon their faces, most of them returned glances that, as opposed to being filled with malice, were filled instead with worry and confusion. Fluffles was there, too, and as he brushed against Zach¡¯s leg, he let out a concern-filled meow. ¡°What wrong, Zach?¡± his cat asked. ¡°We win. And now you give me tuna! You promise Fluffles. You say Fluffles get to eat two-million cans!¡± All at once, many of the green- and white-cloaked Elves approached to thank and praise him. ¡°Well done, kid,¡± one of the green-cloaked Elves said, giving him a pat on the back. ¡°This was a tough day for all of us. I can see you¡¯ve got post-battle jitters. That¡¯s all right. Many of us do.¡± ¡°I will never forget your kindness and what you have done for us,¡± another said. ¡°Truly, you are¡ª¡± ¡°Please!¡± he begged, ignoring all of them and focusing all of his attention on Queen Vayra. He looked her directly in the eyes, and she did the same to him. Zach¡¯s voice caught in his throat as he tried to form words, so he had to shake his head and try a second time as the fear of death made it difficult to speak. ¡°Please,¡± he said again, this time in a whisper. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die. Please. Please don¡¯t do this to me. I¡¯m begging you. I trusted you. You were going to die, and I saved your life. I saved their lives, too. didn¡¯t have to do this. I didn¡¯t have to help any of you. How can you do this to another person? How do you even¡­how can you do something like this and not hate yourself!¡± Her expression became blank. All trace of emotion left her face. There was no anger, sadness, or regret. She was as blank as a white canvas. ¡°Because I have to,¡± she said. Once again, the Elves surprised him by shooting him questioning glances as they looked back and forth between Zach and Queen Vayra. It was in this moment that it occurred to Zach that these Elvish men and women, both in the green and in the white, had absolutely no idea whatsoever what was going on, did they? No. They genuinely did not seem to know! Yet as though sensing that something had gone terribly wrong, they began to approach Zach and offer words of concern and consolation. They don¡¯t know! In a final, last-ditch act of desperation, Zach raised his voice and addressed them directly, trying to appeal to their sense of decency. Like before, he tried to stem the tears that were beginning to form in his eyes. He held them back as best as he could. Extending his arm, he pointed at Fylwen while keeping his head scanning the faces of the Elves that were crowding around him. ¡°I didn¡¯t have you help you,¡± he said to them, his voice beginning to break. He paused a moment and tried really, really hard to steady himself. ¡°I didn¡¯t. I chose to do it.¡± ¡°We thank you, human,¡± one of the green-cloaked Elves said. ¡°But why are¡ª¡± ¡°SHE PROMISED!" Zach screamed at the top of his lungs at a volume louder than he''d ever used before or even knew he was capable. "She promised me! She promised she''d save me if I saved all of you!¡± ¡°Save¡­you?¡± He nodded, unable to stop himself from baring his teeth at Fylwen in abject misery. ¡°I used an ability that I knew would kill me if I did it. I used it because Queen Vayra, she¡­she said that if I did it, she¡¯d heal me. She told me to use it to save you all, and then when it was over, she¡¯d¡­¡± His voice dropped on its own as he shivered and said, ¡°she¡­she said she could heal me. But now she won¡¯t, and I¡¯ve only got less than a minute to live.¡± Now, with far more emotion in his voice than he intended, he pleaded with the Elves. ¡°I know it¡¯s cowardly to beg. I know it¡¯s not brave. But please. PLEASE! I don¡¯t want to die. I¡¯m only here because you guys needed help. Please don¡¯t do this to me. I don''t want to die. I don''t want to die! I saved you. I risked my life for yours, and I didn''t have to.¡± He pointed to the mother and daughter he¡¯d used Phase Rescue to save. ¡°So why would she do this to me?¡± Now, at last, tears did find their way into his eyes. He¡¯d held out for so, so long. ¡°Are you all just completely evil? Why aren¡¯t you saying anything?¡± Zach fell down to his knees, feeling hopeless and alone. ¡°Why would you do this to me?¡± His time ticked down as the Elves all stared at him in complete silence, saying nothing. Yet it was only because of the rush of fear and despair that he could not get a read on their emotions. He had no idea if they were any better than their queen, and to be honest, he doubted it. But then, after another few seconds had come on and gone, at last a woman wearing a green cloak turned her head to her queen and said, ¡°This is not true, is it, my queen? Surely it cannot be.¡± Fylwen closed her eyes a moment. Then she reopened them and said, ¡°Can''t it, Anlithira?¡± The Elvish woman recoiled, bending backwards slightly. ¡°What are you saying, Your Majesty? Is the human boy telling the truth?¡± Zach expected Fylwen to lie. He expected her to deny the accusation. Instead, to his amazement, she outright admitted it. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s true,¡± she said. ¡°But you all saw for yourself how dangerous this boy is. You all know what humans have done to our people.¡± She shook her head. ¡°We would all sleep better in a world that he is not a part of.¡± The reaction from the Elves to her words came as another genuine surprise¡ªand quite possibly the last surprise of his life. Immediately following the queen¡¯s casual, almost ¡°matter-of-factly¡± confession, the response from the Elvish warriors, both those who had fought on the ground with Zach, and the rest who were only now landing near him on their unicorn mounts, was nothing short of pure, utter, total, and completely unrelenting outrage. An eruption of repulsion and condemnation occurred as the Elvish people inexhaustibly displayed a level of disgust that was so intense Zach could scarcely believe they would display it openly before their monarch. All around him, men and women who were clearly just as shocked as himself began shouting and in some cases outright screaming at their queen. The white-cloaks in particular exploded into such a state of uproar that several of the green cloaks were nervously lowering their hands down to their swords as though they feared a fight could break out. Though the white-cloaked Elves spoke using a form of speech that did not always make sense to Zach, the passion and disgust in their voice still managed to convey one of the most intense dressing downs of another person that Zach had ever witnessed in his soon-to-be ending life. They demanded to know how anyone, let alone a queen, could conduct herself with such appalling treachery and indecency. ¡°My decisions are not yours to question,¡± Queen Fylwen said calmly. But now, in a way that was hidden but still noticeable, there was a small degree of emotion that broke through her words. She placed her right hand on her chest. ¡°I love each and every one of you. But this is final. I am sorry to say it must be so, but this boy is a threat. My Shadowfang appraised his strength. He poses a threat: a true, and terrifying threat! So hear me: I decree that what happens to him is what happens to him. But try to understand that I am not striking him down by my hand. He will die, yes, but he will die consumed by the debt of the flames he himself has stoked.¡± "The flames, Your Majesty, that you invoked him to call upon!" shouted a tall, wide-eyed Elven warrior. "To save you all, I did. Yes." Her words did not sit well with either the green or the white cloaked Elvish folk, all of whom loudly demanded that she save Zach¡¯s life or else live with a mark of shame. And when the queen refused, they became even louder and more agitated. Many of them even began bringing religion into the mix, calling upon the names of various Elvish Gods and Goddesses to accuse her of treason against the heavens. From the way they were so quick to snap at someone who was their literal queen, Zach had the sense that this was not one-hundred percent due to her actions towards him. To the contrary, it was beginning to look like this was far from Fylwen¡¯s first act of ugliness that they¡¯d taken issue with. It almost seemed like her betrayal of Zach was just the back-breaking straw that popped some kind of bubble that had been growing for a long time among them. Or maybe not. Who knew? He¡¯d never find out either way, would he? Fluffles hissed and joined in on the loud berating of the Elvish queen. ¡°Stupid Elf lady! Zach not die. You are wrong and stupid. Right, Zach?¡± He meowed, loudly. His confusion and panic were evident in the sound of it. ¡°Zach? Make promise. Make promise!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± he whispered. ¡°I¡¯m dead in¡­¡± His voice broke, and he closed his eyes to hide his shame as it ran down his face. ¡°I die in ten seconds,¡± he somehow managed to say. Then he spoke the last words he could bring himself to form. ¡°Fluffles, you have to tell Kalana that I''m sorry. I was so stupid. I acted without thinking. Make sure she knows I love her. Please, Fluffles.¡± Although it was only a very small comfort, if nothing else, he at least did not have to die completely alone with no one by his side. Just then, two Elvish women, one in a white cloak, and one in a green, each came over to him, and both held his hands while the end approached. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± said the green-cloaked woman. She was the one Zach had saved along with her daughter. ¡°Human boy, I am truly so sorry. This isn¡¯t what we are. It¡¯s what she is. I¡¯m so sorry. Please forgive us. Please. You saved my child''s life. I will live with the pain of what she did to you for all my days.¡± Almost as if reacting to the word itself, a pain detonated inside of him: intense, terrible pain. Zach clutched his heart, which began to ache with unbearable ferocity. It was the greatest sensation of pain that he had ever before felt in his life. But at the same time, it was also brief: very, very brief. Enough so that he only had to endure it for a few seconds. Then the pain dulled, and instead, it was replaced by a sensation of heaviness. Now, it felt like a thousand pounds of weight was sitting on both his shoulders: like there was an elephant on his chest and another on his back, crushing him. It was so heavy that he found it impossible to remain upright. He tried to breathe, but he couldn¡¯t. His lungs failed him. He tried to beg, but still, he couldn¡¯t. His words failed him, too. He collapsed forward onto his face. He was terrified. He was so, so scared. He¡¯d come close to death before. But never this close. This wasn¡¯t supposed to happen. He never should¡¯ve left his hospital room. Kalana wasn¡¯t going to be able to handle this. His Kalana. He was so sorry. He failed her. He failed her¡­ Now, there was only darkness. Just darkness. Did he exist? Was he in the afterlife? Why was there nothing but darkness and absolute quiet? He was alone. Totally, completely alone. No, wait. No! No! There was in fact something else with him. It was there, deeper into that darkness¡ªrather, beyond the darkness. There was a shadow. A specter. A robed figure with no face: a shadow. And that shadow flew over and around him, dancing in the darkness, embracing him like a blanket. It whispered to him, too. ¡°Five years,¡± it spoke softly into his ear. ¡°Try not to forget this time. I know it''s hard, but try. Tell everyone who matters that the World Eater spawns in five years. The proof is in Dragon Squire. You must not forget! This is the most important thing you will ever do. So please: please try not to forget this time. Five years. World Eater. Oh, and Zach? I really hope I don''t see you back here a fourth time. Your luck is bound to run out some day.¡± Zach coughed weakly. He was confused and afraid. And then he died. The¡­End? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ***** ¡°I¡¯m going as fast as I can,¡± Grundor said as he jumped from treetop to treetop carrying a human corpse over his back. He needed to rush. He was running short on time. Those scumbag Elves had taken way too long to leave, and it¡¯d thrown off the entire timetable. Even still, he could only imagine how cool and heroic he looked right now while he hopped from tree to tree to save the day. Grundor was so amazing. He loved himself! Grundor wondered if it showed how much he¡¯d been working out. Ever since Olivir let him build a gym in their estate, he¡¯d been hitting it nonstop. He doubted there was a single zombie in the history of zombies that had abs like he did. Not even a single one. He got all the zombie pussy. For real! Okay¡­fine, maybe not all. But if he wanted it, he¡¯d get it. He was sure of it. He just hadn¡¯t been around that many other sentient zombies yet. But trust Grundor: as soon as he came across one (assuming she was hot) Grundor was going to be on that so fast you have no idea. It would be instant. ¡°Ugly zombie-man go faster!¡± the black-and-white cat shouted at him. ¡°I say hurry!¡± The cat meowed and frantically shifted positions as if having spotted something important in the distance. ¡°Oooh! Birdie! Zombie not worry. I will protect!¡± A flash of lightning streaked across the sky, and Grundor let out a grunt of surprise as an innocent, beautiful, and exotic rainbow-colored bird fell out of the air, smoke rising from its charred body. It continued to fall until it disappeared somewhere below the tree line. ¡°Birdie die. So now you go faster,¡± Fluffles demanded. ¡°I save ugly zombie man from birdie, so now ugly zombie man have to run faster.¡± Grundor frowned and lifted his eyes. He could only just see the tail of the cat that was sitting on his head, hitching a ride as he raced back to his master. He paused for a moment, glancing behind him to ensure he wasn¡¯t being followed. He really did need to hurry. The kiddo only had about four minutes left. ¡°What¡¯d you say your name was again?¡± he asked. ¡°Fluffles,¡± the cat said with an impatient meow. ¡°Where vampire? Why zombie man not hurrying? I want tuna and chicken, too. You better feed Fluffles when we go to vampire man. I starving!¡± ¡°I¡¯m going fast, kitty cat,¡± Grundor said. ¡°I¡¯m just being careful.¡± Satisfied that no one was tailing him, Grundor leapt off his haunches and soared forward, landing with perfect balance on the topmost branch of the next tree. Spotting a familiar landmark¡ªthree mysteriously gold-colored trees¡ªhe knew he was going to make it in time, and so he relaxed a bit and made conversation. ¡°So, anyways, she betrayed you guys too, right?¡± Fluffles hissed, and Grundor could sense a deep revulsion and hate in the sound of it. ¡°Fluffles hate Elves now. Fluffles like Elves before, but now I hate!¡± ¡°They¡¯re not all bad,¡± Grundor said. ¡°But yeah, Queen Vayra¡¯s a bitch. You should hear what she did to Master! Don¡¯t worry, kitty cat. Uncle Grundor¡¯s got this.¡± Grundor dropped from the trees and began sprinting forward, picking up the pace. With one hand, he knocked aside a dense outgrowth of shrubs as he darted through it, and with the other, he pet the cute but not very nice kitty, who began to purr as he stroked his fur. ¡°Lower,¡± Fluffles demanded. ¡°Lower! More lower! Okay. Right there. Now do chin scratch. I want food now, too.¡± Grundor smiled. Things were going to work out. He knew they would. Chapter 65: Then and Now Chapter 65: Then and Now Betrayal was a pain unlike any other, for it often hurt in ways that not even time could heal. Not only did it tend to linger in the hearts of the betrayed, but in some cases, it persisted even through death, passed from generation to generation like an inherited trait. The deeper the wound, the stronger the resentment. Often, it festered like an infection and grew unseen beneath the surface until inevitably bursting and enveloping the world in the fires of toxic retribution. But could one truly blame the betrayed for seeking their belated justice? Of course not. The righting of wrongs was the most fundamental principle of justice itself: and few wrongs were as deserving of bloodshed as betrayal. And so, should one be of rational mind, the only possible conclusion to be reached was that Queen Vayra deserved to bleed. Queen Vayra was a woman who needed to die, and not simply for what she had done, but alas, for what she continued to do. Nay, death alone was not sufficient. Queen Vayra needed to suffer. She needed to be tortured in such a way that every last neuron in her brain was dedicated solely to the feeling of pain. She was a woman who needed to experience the absolute maximum suffering it was possible for an individual to feel: the upper-limit of torture. In fact, she deserved even worse than that! Were it only possible, her brain ought to be modified to heighten the range and depth of agony one could process so that she might know a level of torment exceeding that which was medically possible. That, indeed, was what such a horrific, miserable, and traitorous bitch such as Queen Vayra deserved. She was a traitor. She was a liar! Her promises were worth less than a pig¡¯s shit. She had lied to him. She had broken his heart and robbed his life of joy. ¡°And I can never forgive her,¡± he finished in a whisper. ¡°I know you can¡¯t.¡± ¡°No matter much time comes and goes, I still hurt.¡± ¡°I know you do.¡± ¡°It never gets any better.¡± ¡°That¡¯s how it is sometimes, Moldark. But you have to pull yourself together. What you¡¯re attempting to do is wrong. On some level, I know you must realize this. But believe me, my friend, I do understand how you feel.¡± Moldark pulled his face out of his hands and weakly stared up into the eyes of Francis Calador, who stood across from him behind a desk littered with paperwork and photos of his children. ¡°No, Francis, you don¡¯t know how I feel. You couldn¡¯t! They¡¯re in Manhattan right now, the queen and Adamus, sabotaging everything I¡¯ve worked for. And you¡¯ve chosen to stand against me!¡± He wiped his eyes, which had dampened with tears of rage. ¡°Do you think I wanted to be here under these circumstances?¡± Moldark knew he was becoming unhinged. He tried his best to calm himself as he gripped the armrests of the large velvet couch in which he sat. Meanwhile, the sound of screams and death echoed from outside of the large, well-furnished office at the top floor of the tallest building in the one and only human city in all of Galterra: Tomb of Fire. ¡°No, please!¡± cried a voice from somewhere down the hall. Then came another scream. With a pained sigh, Francis reached into his oak desk and removed a bottle of whiskey along with two small glasses. ¡°Let¡¯s have a drink together,¡± he said. ¡°Like old times.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to drink, Francis! I want to kill. That¡¯s all I want to do: kill.¡± ¡°I know,¡± he said. ¡°But it will help you feel better.¡± Francis was tall, thin, and had soft, caring eyes along with a head of short, black, and wavy hair. By appearance alone, one would never suspect him to be the leader of what, until today, had been humanity¡¯s largest guild, the Order of the Golden Fox. Even having known him for most of his life, Moldark would never understand how someone so compassionate and emotionally understanding could hold within himself such spectacularly destructive power. Though he would not dare say so aloud, Moldark strongly suspected that Francis Calador may just well represent the closest in terms of raw power that any human had ever come to reaching the capabilities of an Elvish Great One. Had he only the appetite to push himself further, perhaps he could even rival or exceed them. He was not only the strongest human that Moldark had ever known, but until last week, he had also been the only man in this world other than his own son who Moldark would willingly die for. For this reason, even in a world where guild vs. guild violence was as common as the sunrise, Moldark had never once allowed the Guild of Gentlemen¡ªthe new largest human guild in Galterra that Moldark had created with his own two hands¡ªto go to war with the Golden Fox. It was a good thing, too, because having the two most powerful human guilds abstain from conflict brought a degree of stability to the world. It was a moderating factor as all the small- and medium-sized guilds seemed to relish in conflict and destruction--exactly as those Elvish bastards wanted it. Yet, sadly, even that tradition had to end. And now, today, following a week of what was surely the bloodiest human-on-human conflict to have ever taken place on Galterran soil, Moldark had seized the Tomb of Fire, which itself was the only place on this entire goddamn planet that supposedly resembled anything like home. This world, this so-called ¡°gift of freedom¡± was not in any way like the stories Moldark had heard as a child of Earth. It was hazardous and hostile: it was uncivilized. It was a dangerous, unkind planet that the ancestors of those who would not submit to Elvish rule had been sent to begin anew. It was a place governed by a system of rules and laws that had been enacted after the original Elvish civilization that lived here had wiped themselves out in some civil war. And to think: this was considered a gift. An act of mercy and freedom! Everywhere one stepped there was danger. One could not venture more than a mile outside the city without some vicious, crude imitation of life leaping at you with murderous intent. This city itself was built upon a ¡°dungeon,¡± the entrance to which was buried deep in the sub-basement of a skyscraper across town. It was only due to the existence of this dungeon that an area of safety had been found, as no mobs spawned on the land above it. It was now all that humanity had. ¡°Francis,¡± Moldark whispered, ¡°do you truly intend to let me kill you without a fight?¡± He took a seat on a fancy black leather reclining chair across from Moldark and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m done fighting, my friend.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t want this. I really, truly did not.¡± ¡°I know you didn¡¯t.¡± With that, Francis placed two glasses on the table between them and slowly filled each. Rubbing his forehead a moment as stress overcame him, Moldark leaned forward and grabbed his, as did Francis. The two toasted, and then they drank. ¡°At least tell me why you did it,¡± Moldark said. ¡°Why did you side with Queen Vayra?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± Francis insisted. ¡°I sided against you.¡± Moldark closed his eyes a moment and waited for the pain in his chest to subside, as hearing his greatest friend speak those words hurt him more than any blade. ¡°After what she did, how could you?¡± Francis sighed. He briefly lowered his head as if to glance upon his empty glass, and then a moment later, he refilled them both. ¡°Moldark,¡± he said, ¡°I do not support, not in the slightest, what Yorna has¡ª¡± ¡°Do not call her that!¡± Moldark shouted, slamming his fist down on table. ¡°I don¡¯t ever want to hear that name again!¡± Francis held up his right palm. ¡°Understood. Let me correct myself, then. I do not support what Queen Vayra has done.¡± ¡°She promised me she would give it back to us. She lied.¡± ¡°I know you aren¡¯t going to like hearing this,¡± Francis began, speaking with a lowered tone that suggested he feared what he was about to say might further provoke Moldark¡¯s temper. ¡°But I don¡¯t think her intention was to lie to you. She tends to make promises she regrets or later realizes she can¡¯t keep. She always has.¡± ¡°Oh, I am well aware,¡± Moldark said, not in the slightest bit offended by his suggestion. ¡°Even after we wed, I think there was a time when she still loved me and still intended to keep her word.¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°So then¡­¡± Francis leaned forward slightly. ¡°¡­you do comprehend her reasoning?¡± ¡°Of course. Absolutely, I do.¡± Moldark leaned forward slightly as well. ¡°It¡¯s a load of shit, though. And regardless of all other factors, she made me a promise. Nay, she made us a promise. She swore to return the Earth to humanity. She told us we could go home!¡± ¡°You could have gone home!¡± Francis shouted, and it was the first sign of temper he had shown since Moldark had literally paraded his troops through the streets slaughtering his people. ¡°We all could have gone home were it not for your actions!¡± ¡°Home to what?¡± Moldark replied. ¡°An Elvish controlled world? An Elvish controlled society? Where our people are oppressed.¡± Francis shook his head. ¡°They¡¯re not.¡± ¡°How can you say that?¡± Moldark demanded. ¡°Because the humans who live on Earth today don¡¯t even remember a time when the planet was ours. They live in peace with the Elves. They follow the same laws as the Elves. They¡¯re given the same opportunities as the Elves. It¡¯s how they govern.¡± ¡°BUT IT¡¯S OURS!¡± Moldark screamed at Francis. ¡°Was ours,¡± Francis said back to him, downing another shot of Whiskey. Moldark laughed, but it was not a sound of joy or amusement. Even to his own ears, he was offput by the hatred and illness in it. Shaking his head, he leaned back in the chair and again tried to comprehend how Francis had been so taken in by these Elvish scoundrels. The Elves pulled the same wickedness everywhere they went. They would invade whatever they deemed a ¡°struggling civilization¡± and conquer the entire planet; then they would assimilate the population, and afterwards, they would send those who would not willingly subordinate to their laws to Galterra where they would be given a fresh start under their system, of which Earth itself was now a part. They¡¯d done this to the lizards, the dwarves, those monstrous barbarians known as ¡°orcs,¡± and to all the other races as well. When did it end? ¡°They had no right to take our home from us.¡± ¡°They did not,¡± Francis agreed. Then he shrugged. ¡°But they did. You know the history as well as I. We fought, we lost, and yet, humanity still exists.¡± The Elvish were known, among other things, to be religiously, culturally, and personally averse to anything resembling genocide. It was why even the patently parasitic species known as the ¡°orcs¡± had been allowed to continue to exist. Regardless of how the next stage of Moldark¡¯s plan proceeded, that was one Elvish mistake that needed correcting. Orcs were animals, not sentients. Vicious, bloodthirsty, and loud animals that performed atrocities against all other races, especially the humans. Their two races had gone to war pretty much from the moment the system had been reset. Luckily, the orcs were now too busy dealing with the gnomes to raid their smaller villages and outposts dotted around North Bastia. In silence, Moldark shared another drink with the best friend he¡¯d ever known. Then he stood up and drew his blade. ¡°You really won¡¯t fight back, will you?¡± Francis did not even rise to his feet. He merely poured himself another glass and began to sip at it even as Moldark pressed the blade against his neck. ¡°I don¡¯t want to do this. I¡¯ve never wanted anything less.¡± Francis shifted his eyes upwards. ¡°Then don¡¯t.¡± ¡°I have to. You know I can¡¯t stop now. Not unless you have a sudden change of heart.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because if you succeed in hacking the system, and you spawn the World Eater on Earth, you won¡¯t just massacre the Elves, but the billions of humans who live there too. The planet will die. The skies will become red. It will be the end of the home world you cherish.¡± Moldark laughed, and this time, it was of amusement. ¡°If humans can¡¯t have it, no one can.¡± Francis exhaled slowly. ¡°Just tell me one thing, Moldark. Please.¡± As he spoke, there was real, genuine concern in his voice¡ªand more than a touch of fear. ¡°What is it?¡± Moldark replied, his blade still pressing into his friend¡¯s neck. ¡°My children. Are you going to hurt them?¡± At this, Moldark actually flinched, unable to believe what he¡¯d been asked. ¡°Jesus Christ, Francis. Absolutely not! How could you even¡­? I would never. I would never.¡± Francis sighed. ¡°I just wanted to make sure. All right. Get it over with.¡± Moldark squeezed the blade more tightly and nodded. He would make this quick. ¡°As my great grandfather used to say, Francis, ¡®Au revoir, mona mi.¡¯¡± And with that, Fluffles brought his sword down onto Francis¡¯s neck, and then he began immediately jumping all over the office looking for chicken. The cat became agitated, unable to find what he was looking for. ¡°Fluffles still hungry,¡± he complained bitterly. He meowed. ¡°Zach, wake up. I want to play. It boring here.¡± Clearly, the cat was not pleased. He was bored because he¡¯d killed Francis and had nothing left to do. Wait¡­who was Francis again? Uh, he¡¯d been that guy who¡­gah! Why couldn¡¯t Zach remember? Actually, come to think of it, why, exactly, was Zach here again? Where was here? No, wait, even better question: was he actually here? ¡°Zaaaaaaach!¡± the cat moaned, running behind him. ¡°You sleep so long. Wake up!¡± As Fluffles ran, Zach spun around to look at him. The little creature darted beneath the desk in the office. Or wait, was this an office? It looked a lot more like a cave. That was right. He was in a cave, not an office. That had been a different dream. Dream? I¡¯m asleep? When did I even go to bed? When did I¡ª ***** Zach gasped loudly as his eyes popped open. He inhaled, sucking as much air into his lungs as he could manage. He could hardly see. Everything was blurry. His body felt damp, as though he¡¯d been soaking in his own sweat. There was something wet on his head, though it felt like fresh, warm water. Was it a cloth? A towel? His heart began to beat faster. He was confused. Where was he? How had he gotten here? What was the last thing he¡¯d done? Did he have school today? He tried to sit up, but couldn¡¯t. Something was securing him to the bed. Actually, this wasn¡¯t a bed at all. He felt like he was on a metal table of some kind. He tried to rub his eyes to clear some of the blurriness, but for some reason, he could not lift his hands¡ªor his feet for that matter. Slowly, it occurred to him that he was strapped in. This set off a panic within him. ¡°Hello?¡± he called out, terrified. ¡°What¡¯s going¡ªppfvvvt.¡± His words were cut off as Fluffles, who was also here for some reason, randomly jumped on his face, licked his forehead one single time with his sandpaper tongue, then jumped off, humming some kind of song he¡¯d heard. Still unable to see clearly, Zach could tell by experience alone that the sound of something crashing off to his right was the result of Fluffles inconsiderately and intentionally knocking an item off a shelf. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Zach again asked, his vision still slow to clear. ¡°Fluffles, where am I? Are we in Whispery Woods? What happened?¡± ¡°Oh,¡± the cat said, jumping onto his chest. ¡°Zach die. But it okay now.¡± ¡°I what?¡± Fluffles meowed. ¡°Zach die.¡± ¡°You mean I¡­I almost died?¡± ¡°No!¡± he meowed, and the sound of it came across as agitated and annoyed. ¡°Why Zach stupid now? Zach die.¡± ¡°I obviously didn¡¯t die, because I¡¯m¡ª¡± ¡°Actually, you did,¡± said a voice from what sounded like across whatever room he was in¡ªand perhaps slightly above him, too, as though the speaker was looking down on him from an elevated balcony. ¡°Who is that?¡± Zach shouted. He was dazed, oblivious, and horrifically confused. He lacked any idea what was going on. ¡°My name¡¯s Olivir Saloux: also known as Count Olivir Saloux. I¡¯m a vampire.¡± He laughed. ¡°You know, the one you came all the way to this planet to kill? That ring a bell?¡± It did. And Zach frowned as his grip on reality and recent events began flooding back into him. ¡°Oh, shit! Look, man, I didn¡¯t¡­I don¡¯t know anything about your war with¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay,¡± he said with another laugh. ¡°I promise I¡¯m not here to hurt you. Actually, you know what? I¡¯m the one who saved ya.¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t I see? What happened to my eyes?¡± ¡°Nothing. You¡¯ve just been asleep for twenty-five hours, and you um, you¡¯ve been up for like twenty-five seconds. Give it a minute.¡± ¡°I¡­I remember what happened. I think¡­¡± He gasped. ¡°I think I died.¡± ¡°Yeah, you did,¡± the vampire said. His voice was oddly playful, lacking in any sense of malice. He also sounded young: around Zach¡¯s age. With a chuckle, the vampire added, ¡°Me and your cat are telling you the truth. You did die. Also, I know you¡¯re agitated, upset, disoriented, frightened, and you probably have no idea why you¡¯ve been bound to the operating table, but before I can tell you any of that, I need to ask you: please tell Fluffles to stop chasing my zombie around the estate. Their ¡®playing¡¯ is causing literal explosions that can be heard for miles, and unless you want Queen Vayra to find us, I need him to stop, please. They are both way too hyper and out of control.¡± ¡°It not true!¡± Fluffles hissed. ¡°Vampire man is lying. Fluffles was a good cat and did not break anything. Grundor too hyper, not Fluffles. Fluffles play nice but Grundor hyper.¡± ¡°You both are,¡± the vampire calling himself Olivir insisted. Zach was so out of it that the words and accusations he was hearing meant absolutely nothing to him, and yet, incredibly, he still knew the vampire was telling the truth, because when it came to Fluffles, everything that the cat was being accused of doing was totally believable. ¡°Fluffles, stop it or no dinner,¡± Zach said. The cat hissed, loudly and angrily, but Zach was in no mood for this right now. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear it, little buddy. I just found I died, okay? I died. And I¡¯m locked into a¡±¡ªhe tried again to move his arms and legs¡ª¡°I¡¯m shackled to an operating table. Please. Just stop whatever it is you¡¯re doing.¡± Fluffles jumped up onto the operating table, and now, Zach¡¯s vision cleared just enough to see the outline of his face. Even though cats could not directly make facial expressions, they still somehow had a way of showing off their grumpy face. Spinning around, Fluffles jumped off the table and began walking in a huff across the room while grumbling about how Zach had sided with ¡°the vampire man¡± instead of the ¡°the best cat.¡± ¡°I am so confused,¡± Zach moaned. ¡°Ehh, I¡¯m pretty confused too,¡± the young-sounding vampire said. ¡°Hey, look. I have just as many questions for you as you do for me, so¡­you know what? Do you like pancakes, um, Zach¡¯s your name, right? I still eat ¡®em. I mean, I don¡¯t get anything out of it, like, nutritionally, but I love them. You¡¯ve gotta be hungry after sleeping over a day. Why don¡¯t we just talk, and we¡¯ll see where we both stand, okay? Tell ya what: I¡¯ll let you out of those level-48 shackles right now if you promise not to hurt me or anyone else here, and then we can just talk this out. All right?¡± Zach nodded and exhaled. ¡°Yeah, all right.¡± Pancakes sounded nice, truth be told. Chapter 66: Final Preparations Chapter 66: Final Preparations Alex knew that if one thing in this world could always be relied upon, it was the powerful, motivating, yet seemingly unexpected effect that Zephyr Vextran, the leader of the Explorers Brigade, had on those who listened to him speak. Despite being such a generally unimposing figure with an uneven nose, a whimsical voice, and a silly-looking smile, the man had managed to create the single-largest adventuring guild in all of Galterra and had demonstrated he had a way of rallying people to his cause. On a day like today, Alex was grateful to have him around. ¡°What kind of mood is this?¡± he asked aloud, stepping confidently out of his tent with his arms opened wide. He yawned, stretched, and then tsked as he wiggled a finger at those who turned their heads to greet him. He wore his typical brown, hooded, and plain robe, with the only noteworthy element to his attire being the magnificent, white-and-blue sword at his side that came from a once-a-century boss spawn. The sword shined with a bright white light that, on its own, could illuminate a dark room. ¡°What is everyone so gloomy for? That better not be fear I see in your eyes, people. Oh, no-no-no-no-no! We are gonna be dragon-slayers now.¡± He again tsked. ¡°We can¡¯t have that.¡± His eyes beaming with conviction, reassurance, and enduring spirit, he calmed the nerves of the typically rowdy adventurers, who for the first time since making camp here in this uncommonly flat section of rolling, hilly grasslands, had finally seemed to appreciate the gravity of what was coming their way and the overwhelming responsibility they had of dealing with it. Up until this point, they had chosen to prepare for Ziragoth by partying, drinking, and acting like this was some kind of summer camp. This, while Alex had spent each waking moment overseeing the construction of their fortifications, which in this case consisted of a spiral-shaped wall nearly twenty feet in height that, if straightened, would run for a mile in length. Positioned equidistantly along this wall were dome-shaped towers with square-shaped entry holes located at the base of each one. The purpose of this construction was not to withstand or defend, but merely to hide and provide cover for vulnerable casters, healers, and enchanters to help more easily manage aggro from Ziragoth. Though it only very slightly increased the odds of survival for a caster or healer who picked up aggro, the ability to break line of sight would make it so that living beyond the next few moments was at least plausible if one happened to find themselves the target of the fearsome, murderous dragon. Not much time left, but there¡¯s still more I can do. While Alex took on every responsibility he possibly could, the lazy, irresponsible adventurers¡ªincluding some who shamefully were from the GSS¡ªhad to practically be forced to work, and when they did, they half-assed their tasks. Thus, Alex had requested their aid only when absolutely necessary, as they were more likely to get in the way than assist, which meant he needed to pick up their slack while they drank and had sex and sang songs. But all that changed this morning. The sun had risen just over an hour ago, and the very same adventurers who had passed out asleep the night before now emerged with grim, gloomy expressions. They tried to hide it, certainly, but even without the overtly obvious fear of death in their eyes, a blind man would pick up on their malaise as the ordinarily loud and obnoxious thrill-seekers were suddenly a lot quieter. It was as though they had spent all their time up until now pretending that they were not about to fight something that stood a very real chance of killing them and all their friends who¡¯d accompanied them. Now, however, with the dragon set to pull within aggro range of their camp in approximately eight hours from now, his fellow adventurers were forced to reckon with the unpleasant reality they¡¯d been avoiding having to face. But, all things considered, Alex supposed the fact that they¡¯d begun respecting their circumstance at all was a win. Zephyr continued to raise the general level of morale as more and more adventurers emerged from tents on what might very well be the final morning of their lives. Very quickly, the muscles in their faces relaxed, and soon after that they began to form slight grins, which gave way to laughter and then finally cheers. ¡°Who¡¯s ready to slay a fucking dragon, huh?¡± Zephyr cried out. The adventurers shouted out loudly in eager agreement. At the same time, a grinning Donovan emerged from his command tent and nodded in approval. Having been Zephyr¡¯s best friend for as long as Alex had known them both, he imagined Donovan would want to clap at the rousing speech, but that would have required him to unwrap his arms from around the waists of two half-dressed women who stood to each side of him and clung to his chest. ¡°You girls might want to get back to the city,¡± he said with a grin. ¡°We¡¯ll get rid of that nasty monster for you.¡± Alex sighed. Donovan could be just as bad as the rest of them. Never mind the fact that he was taking women to bed who were young enough to be his daughter and couldn¡¯t have been more than a few days over legal age, but the way he slapped them both on the ass as they hurried off then laughed heartily while scratching the stubble on his chin gave off such a primitive, animal vibe that Alex found disgusting. Of course, then again, Alex was unlike the typical man his age; he wouldn¡¯t take a woman to bed unless she was intelligent, confident, and had class. Truly, he respected the tastes of others, but he could not help being put off by Donovan¡¯s sleezy, immodest behavior. And he certainly had reservations about taking advantage of level-1 women during a time of crisis. It was easy to lose sight of the fact that, to the vast, overwhelming population of Galterra, people who had leveled up were like Gods in their eyes¡ªor superhuman beings of incredible power. ¡°Hey, uh, Alex?¡± said a voice off to his right. Alex turned his head to see Reni Sarwin from Boss Rush approaching along with the messy-bearded ogre of a man, Urnsk, and several women he did not know. As they drew nearer, others followed along behind them, and before long, Alex found himself standing in the center of a large gathering of adventurers. All were eying him expectantly, and even before they spoke, he knew why. As a matter of fact, he¡¯d known this was going to happen from the very beginning, because he knew the mind of these overly simple adventurers too well. From the moment this raid had been made official, he¡¯d been expecting them to party themselves silly and then come to him at the last minute. ¡°Yes?¡± Alex asked, pretending he did not more or less know exactly what the next words out of their mouths were going to be. ¡°Look,¡± Reni said, rubbing his scruffy hair with his left hand while wrinkling his lips sourly. ¡°The other day¡­when I¡­you know, when I busted your chops a bit with that whole ¡®dragon ass¡¯ thing, you have to know, I was just drunk and having fun. There wasn¡¯t any uh¡­I wasn¡¯t trying¡­¡± Alex sighed. While he would very much have enjoyed drawing this out under other circumstances, he knew that time right now was too valuable to waste on indulgence. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± he said. Hastily scanning the faces crowding around him, he asked, ¡°I¡¯m guessing you all want that briefing now, right? The one I tried to give before?¡± The way in which they awkwardly nodded yes and smiled cheekily as though embarrassed rubbed Alex the wrong way. They really were like children. Many whispered to him a curt, one-word apology as he wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead and assured them that he¡¯d be happy to present everything to them a second time, as they had chosen to insult and disrespect him the first time around rather than pay attention. ¡°I¡¯ve already prepared the model in the main tent,¡± he said. ¡°Everyone who¡¯d like to go over the raid again can join in. We¡¯ll begin one hour from now.¡± ¡°Would you mind if we attend as well?¡± asked a high-ranking officer of the People of Virtue who stood a bit away from the large crowd of adventurers yet was still close enough that Alex could hear her speak with only a slight raising of her voice. ¡°Just in case¡­you know¡­¡± Alex turned his head to regard the woman who¡¯d spoken to him. Of all the developments that had taken place in the last twenty-four hours, one of the most surprising was the fact that members of the political guild¡¯s leadership were not only not fleeing the soon-to-be raid battle, but to the contrary, even higher-ranking ones were actively flying in from all the way up in the Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah, the ostensible ¡°capital¡± of the human race and current location of the UCH: the United Council of Humanity. Early this morning, just before the sun had risen, Alex had received a text message that High-Lord Kolorn Besh, the guild-leader of Lords of Justice, was coming here in person and would likely arrive in the next half hour. To call this significant would be an understatement; largely a ceremonial role and possessing no actual power to act unilaterally, the man was the closest thing that human beings had to a ¡°head of state.¡± Though contact between humans and other races had diminished tremendously thanks to Peter IV, it had not evaporated completely and indeed showed signs of warming up. Thus, during times that called for a representative of humanity to meet with another head of state, such as the dwarves¡¯ Chief Engineer, Ailor Lemdrach, it would be him who would shake hands, appear before cameras, and make a public¡ªhowever farcical¡ªdemonstration of negotiation and discussion. ¡°Feel free to join,¡± Alex said. ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. ¡°If¡­if the worst happens to your group, the information could matter.¡± As things stood, there were no plans for any members of the political guilds to participate in the raid. Their entire motivation for being here, quite naturally, was selfish and self-serving. Still, Alex had no issue with tolerating their presence because, his dislike for the political guilds aside, he did understand that having North Bastia¡¯s leadership on site was ultimately necessary to ensure continued public order and the safety of human lives everywhere on the continent. For the sake of showing the people of North Bastia that their leadership was actively involved with and personally working to ensure their safety, it was only natural that the guilds were sending so many of their most important figures to the field camp to speak to reporters and project an aura that everything was well under control. Even still, the fact that they were lingering about when the dragon was nearly upon them was something he never would have expected to see. It was shocking, and that was even taking into account the fact that he fully expected all of them to hightail it out of here and fall back to safety at the last possible minute before combat. Though they were cutting it close, he did not expect any of them to remain come a few hours from now: well, except for just one of them. ¡°I¡¯d like to join in the briefing as well,¡± said the fancily attired and regally appearing Sir Peter Brayspark, firstborn son of Peter IV and the current guild-leader¡ªand also self-proclaimed monarch¡ªof the Guild of Gentlemen. Whether due to a political calculation or some ingrained sense of honor, he had claimed last night with a straight face that he intended to fight on the front line with the rest of the melee DPS. When very gently told that the adventurers were more skilled in combat and would not be able to ensure his safety, Peter had respectfully bowed his head and assured them all that he would hold none of them liable for his death and that, if it was an issue, their healers would not even have to heal him if he was wounded and to do so would prove a burden. ¡°Should I prove to be an obstacle, then do not hesitate to let my bones be crushed beneath the winged beast¡¯s foot,¡± he had said. ¡°Yet I shall not allow myself to be sullied by the indignity of relying solely upon the blood of others to defend my people.¡± Though it made Alex uncomfortable to admit, he had actually found Peter Brayspark¡¯s commitment to fight the dragon honorable and decent, which did not surprise him all that much, as it lined up with the values his father once held before mental illness destroyed his legacy and almost destroyed the world. Come to think of it, Alex was likely one of the very few beings on all of Galterra who knew the truth about the man¡¯s father from tales accidentally told to him by a drunken Maric¡ªstories so secret and terrible that he did not even feel safe to think about them in his own head, let alone ever speak them aloud. But more to the point, having now actually gotten to know the son of Peter IV and having spent some time with him in person, Alex found that Peter Brayspark came very close to being the first member of a political guild that Alex found likeable¡ªand would have, too, if not for the fact that the man was such a vicious, uncompromising, and incorrigible racist who openly and unashamedly reviled any non-human with a fervor that bordered on cultish. Putting his guild¡¯s war with the Royal Roses aside, it was for entirely separate reasons that the man refused to speak with, look at, or even acknowledge the existence of non-human members of the Royal Roses, as he made quite clear how disgusting he found it that a human guild had begun recruiting non-human members and allowing them and their families to move to North Bastia. The fact that numerous non-humans had also been promoted to positions of leadership within the guild also clearly rankled him to no end, and that, too, he did not bother to hide. For this reason, Alex had kept him separated from the goblin known as Torg, whom Peter had already insulted several days prior, and now, Alex found it necessary to prevent any interaction between the princely guild-leader and Norc O¡¯cral: an orcish officer from the Royal Roses whom Peter regarded with plain and unhidden distaste. The orc, who appeared to be very well aware of Peter¡¯s hatred, had thankfully chosen to ignore the man and had kept his distance. Though Alex had disdain for the political guilds, he did, as a matter of decency, feel some degree of regret that the orc from the Royal Roses had been forced to sleep on a bedroll outside because there were no tents that could accommodate his nearly seven-and-a-half foot-tall frame. ¡°This is terribly problematic,¡± the orc said as though alarmed, his two large tusks jutting out of his mouth as his gigantic muscles strained against his lavish, button-down suit. With his humongous forearms, he wiped a small pooling of sweat away from his brow, which had begun to drip down his lime-green skin and stain the collar of his suit. ¡°Young man?¡± he called to Alex. ¡°Could I perhaps beg your pardon a moment?¡± ¡°Just a second,¡± Alex said back to him. Very quickly, he assured Sir Brayspark that he was welcome to attend the briefing, and then following a brief nod, he hurried along to the orcish officer of the Royal Roses. Norc was another extremely rare example of a member of a political guild that Alex could almost see himself liking, although in Norc¡¯s case, Alex simply did not know much about him to form a fuller opinion. ¡°Yes, Officer O¡¯cral?¡± Alex asked. ¡°Oh, just Norc is fine, please,¡± the orc insisted, smiling and holding up his palms. ¡°I haven¡¯t the slightest taste for such garish formalities as honors and titles.¡± ¡°I¡­see,¡± Alex said, somewhat taken aback. ¡°Can I help you with something, Norc?¡± The orc dropped his smile and his expression turned serious as he nodded. Lowering his voice somewhat, he pointed to a tent across the camp. ¡°I do not intend to stir any pots before such a significant battle, but I simply cannot remain silent.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡± Alex asked, growing concerned. ¡°There is a young man in that tent whom I distinctly heard refer to his female colleague as a ¡®bitch¡¯ while making offensive, sexist, and inappropriate remarks regarding her breasts.¡± Norc snarled, and the growl he released caused Alex to flinch due to its louder-than-expected volume. ¡°She clearly did not want or invite these remarks, yet he continued to sexualize her. Believe me, young man, I quite completely understand the severity of the situation with this dreadful wyvern, but surely you cannot overlook the way in which that young man has created a toxic, unsafe environment for the women around him?¡± Alex opened his mouth to reply then paused. In truth, he had absolutely no idea how to respond or how deal with a situation of this nature arising at such a critical time. He did not doubt the orc¡¯s honesty, and based on his own interactions with adventurers, he would likely bet on the claim being true. Furthermore, he was not himself okay with that kind of behavior, and had he been dealing with the kids in his class, he¡¯d have straightened that out the moment he saw it. Unfortunately, the adventurer in question was a member of the Explorer¡¯s Brigade, and Alex could not simply reprimand him. ¡°Ah, look, there it is again,¡± Norc said, releasing an even angrier snarl. Alex frowned. While it was true that orcs tended to be overzealous, overly judgmental, and often tended to become a bit more offended by many situations than was actually warranted, in this case, the orc described the problem accurately. Without any sense of shame, a drunken adventurer wearing padded leather amor was following around a clearly distressed and younger woman who was folding her arms defensively as she tried her best to walk away from him. ¡°Just leave me alone,¡± she said. ¡°Don¡¯t be a fucking tease,¡± he growled as he pursued her. ¡°I¡¯m a tank. I could die today. Just give it a few strokes and I promise I¡¯ll leave you alone.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°Yeah, well I don¡¯t want to be on the front lines, either. If I¡¯m doing my part to make your life easier, how about you do yours to make mine.¡± As she stormed her way towards the other end of the camp, with him following behind her, many of the other adventurers shot questioning glances their way while others exchanged looks of uncertainty with one another. Alex knew he would not be able to prevent himself from taking action. Even if it wasn¡¯t his place to do so, Zephyr would just have to forgive him. This needed to be resolved immediately, as with the time it would take to march over to Zephyr, inform him of the situation, and then wait for action to be taken, it was possible for things to escalate or for the man to inflict a great deal more undue suffering on the woman. Offering a reassuring nod to Norc, he said, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go over there and¡ª¡± ¡°Enough!¡± shouted the voice of Kalana Vayra, storming out of her tent with intense ferocity in her eyes an instant before the woman walked past it. She stood with her back straight and each of her hands hovering over a dark red dagger that gave off small plumes of smoke from where they were holstered to each side of her tan-colored shorts below her leather chest guard. Her golden, flowing hair whipped against the wind as she glared at the man ahead of her. ¡°K-kalana,¡± the woman whispered as though in a mixture of awe and disbelief. In such a short time, Kalana¡¯s name had become known to just about everyone whose primary residence did not reside under a rock. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I woke you. I was just¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯re all good,¡± she said, her expression softening and her lips briefly forming into a smile. She took the woman by the hand and pulled her a bit to the side. ¡°You can go.¡± ¡°I can¡­go?¡± ¡°Yep. You¡¯re all good. It¡¯s okay. You can go. Don¡¯t look at him: look at me. If you want to go, you can.¡± Kalana paused a moment before continuing. ¡°Do you want to go? Or do you wanna stay with him?¡± She wiped a tear from her eye and fearfully turned her head to look back at the man pursuing her¡ªor tried to, at least. Kalana stopped her. ¡°Don¡¯t look at him. Look at me. Do you want to be with him or do you wanna go?¡± ¡°I really want to go. I don¡¯t want to be near him.¡± Kalana released her hand. ¡°You can go. I promise.¡± Slowly, at first, she began to walk away. Then she started to walk faster, and within just a few seconds she was hurrying away. With a loud, angry curse, the belligerent man began to chase after her. He made it all of two steps. Kalana lunged forward and drove her sandal-covered foot into the pursuing adventurer¡¯s nether regions, eliciting a cry of agony and causing two of his nearby compatriots to remove their swords as he fell to his knees and screamed loudly enough in pain to draw the attention of the entire camp. Almost in the same instant, the female officer from the Royal Roses snapped her attention to a reporter from the media, who was beginning to turn her camera in the direction of the commotion, and with a threatening look, she said, ¡°Don¡¯t you even think about it.¡± ¡°Of-of course not, ma¡¯am,¡± the reporter squeaked in reply, lowering the camera. As the two male adventurers stared down Kalana, Alex felt his heart begin to pound in his chest as a situation that had popped up out of nowhere¡ªand at the worst possible time¡ªbegan to spiral wildly out of control. It was only by some miracle that Kalana had not drawn her daggers yet. This was not good. Alex did not like this. She could easily rip them to pieces and then tear those pieces to pieces. Alex wasn¡¯t sure what to do. This was a conflict he could not have foreseen¡ªand it involved members of a guild that was not his own and he had no authority over. Gods, what would happen if those two foolish men provoked her? Had they no concept of what¡ªor rather, who¡ªthey were upsetting? Alex commanded his feet to move¡ªto put a stop to this¡ªbut he was so transfixed and in shock at the fact that it was happening at all, that he could not help but watch in awe. This was something that rarely happened to him, too. He was not the sort to be struck with uncertainty. Yet there he was, watching on in silence with his mouth hanging partially open just the same as the rest of them. ¡°Go ahead,¡± Kalana taunted, extending her arms widely. ¡°You each get one free shot. Not joking. Try to stab me as good as you can, ¡®cause afterwards, if you don¡¯t kill me, well¡­¡± She scowled. ¡°You¡¯ll see what happens.¡± The sweat that ran down the faces of both men could have easily been due to the intense summer heat, though Alex suspected it was borne of fear. This proved to be even more likely as¡ªthank the Gods!¡ªthey lowered their weapons, muttered excuses about how they ¡°didn¡¯t need to waste time fighting a kid,¡± and began to walk away, abandoning their fallen friend, whose existence Kalana did not appear to forget. Once the two had taken a few steps away, she bent down, grabbed the man by his thick, medium-length brown hair, and then literally began to drag him along the grass while he flopped around on his belly and continued to groan, attempting to pry her fingers free, his efforts futile. Finally, snapping out of his trance, Alex hurried after her. ¡°Kalana, wait,¡± he called to her, jogging to catch up. ¡°What¡¯re you doing?¡± ¡°He¡¯s off the raid,¡± she said, her tone making clear that her words were not a suggestion or open to discussion. She stood up so that her back was straight, and since the man was being dragged by his hair, he was now almost in a sort of sitting-up position as he slid along the grass partially on his rump and partially on his lower back. ¡°You can¡¯t just remove him. You don¡¯t have the authority to¡ª¡± She stopped short, and she fixed her narrowed eyes onto his. Though Alex did not flinch, he did feel his throat become unusually dry. ¡°He¡¯s. Off. The. Raid.¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Where are you taking him?¡± Alex asked as she resumed dragging his groaning, wailing form along the uneven, grassy terrain. ¡°Kalana, you¡­please don¡¯t kill him.¡± She again stopped, and again she looked at him, though this time she appeared more irritated than fierce. ¡°Duh! Obviously I¡¯m not gonna. I¡¯m not like a psycho or something.¡± Alex breathed a sigh of relief. Clearly, he¡¯d let the others get way too in his head about her¡ªand how could he not? Maric, Kesten, and even Alixa had been badgering him for a while now that his actions might have caused the birth of something so dangerous as to be world-breaking. But even still, even with this display of brashness and aggression, everything Alex saw¡ªand could still see in her eyes¡ªtold him that Kalana truly would not turn out to be the same as the stories Maric had told him of her grandmother. She was different. He was willing to risk it all in believing that. ¡°So where are you taking him?¡± ¡°I¡¯m kicking him out.¡± ¡°I understand you¡¯re upset,¡± Alex said as the man yelped. Kalana had come across a rather large rock that might well have fit the classification of a boulder, and rather than walk around it, she simply whipped her arm around, slamming him through it back-first with a loud crunch and causing it detonate, sending smaller rocks scattering in every direction. ¡°Owe! You¡¯re killing me!¡± the man cried. ¡°Nah-uh,¡± Kalana said, continuing to drag him. ¡°You¡¯re a tank. You didn¡¯t even feel that.¡± She tugged on his hair, and he cried out in pain. ¡°You felt that, though.¡± He glanced up to Alex as though begging for help, but Alex turned his head away resentfully. ¡°I¡¯m disgusted too, Kalana. I understand your anger. But Donovan and Zephyr are leading this raid, and this could create a conflict.¡± Kalana laughed. ¡°Oh yeah? Look at them.¡± She nodded her head at something behind Alex and then waved her free hand as if in greeting. Alex looked over his shoulder to see both the men drinking a pint of beer and laughing as if this was pure entertainment as they waved back to her. Alex breathed another sigh of relief. Thank the Gods those two were both just as rowdy, stupid, and yes, in fairness, brave as the men and women who followed them¡ªor this could have become much more violent. Genuinely, if this man, whose name Alex did not even know, had been an adventurer of any real importance, skill, or reputation, he was confident that Donovan and Zephyr would have already intervened. Both of them, even while drinking, were far, far more observant and aware of their surroundings than what they let on. They¡¯d likely watched the entire spectacle and deliberately allowed this to happen, or so Alex was forced to surmise based on their nonintervention. Relaxing somewhat, Alex decided to just let things be, and so he stopped following Kalana and observed as she dragged the man by his hair half a mile along the grassy terrain and then threw him off a hill that led back towards the direction of the city, watching him roll down while she wiped her hands on her shorts. Then she once more approached him. He waited for her, sensing she was eager to speak with him. ¡°Where¡¯s Zach?¡± she asked as soon as she was within casual speaking distance. ¡°I¡¯m worried and scared. He hasn¡¯t called or returned my texts for a while now.¡± ¡°He¡¯s fine,¡± Alex told her. Those were not mere words of reassurance, though. He meant them sincerely. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about him.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just saying that to make me feel better. You dunno if that¡¯s true.¡± At this, Alex actually managed to form a smile. ¡°Actually, Kalana, I do. In fact, I¡¯m pretty sure I know exactly where he is.¡± ¡°You do?¡± she asked, her eyebrows raising. Her whole face seemed to brighten with hope. ¡°If I tell you, will you promise not to go running after him? We need you here. Especially since we just lost a tank.¡± She nodded. ¡°Yup. I just wanna make sure he¡¯s okay.¡± Alex paused a moment as he thought on how to explain things to her in a way that was both honest and believable. ¡°The truth is,¡± he began, ¡°I can¡¯t actually prove to you where he is. The only reason I can speak with such certainty is based off my experience and understanding of adventuring. So basically, you¡¯re just going to have to trust me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± Alex smiled gently. ¡°Well, I know how adventurers think. And young adventurers, in particular, tend to do a lot of the same things. They get ideas that they think they¡¯re the first to come up with, and then they do exactly what everyone before them has done.¡± Together, the two began to walk back towards camp as he continued to reassure the young Elvish girl. To his surprise, he actually found his mood beginning to lift as it brought back warm memories of his own earliest adventuring days when he was just a bit younger than Zach was now. ¡°When Zach left the hospital,¡± Alex continued, ¡°I thought he was just going for a tour around the city. But when he didn¡¯t return, I knew right away where he¡¯d gone.¡± ¡°Where?¡± Kalana asked innocently, looking up at him with wondrous eyes that lacked any sign of wickedness or evil or even a trace of what the others feared from her. In fact, it was in this moment that Alex finally realized that the biggest challenge Kalana was going to face in her life would be convincing the powers that be that she was not the same as those who came before her. And yet, even believing this as strongly as he did, there was a sinking feeling in his stomach¡ªan uneasiness¡ªthat something was off. That things could go off the rails in ways he should have anticipated. And no: it was not because of her. Ever since the incident with Varsh had resulted in Alex discovering that two of his students, Zach and Kalana, were destined to enter the world of leveling, the GSG¡ªa well as the other adventuring guilds¡ªhad been quietly panicking over the future of Kalana in a way that the political guilds were not. There was a very real fear, one that they dared not express in front of the girl but made no secret of in private. And that fear was of what Kalana could become if given the opportunity to do so. They thought Alex insane for giving her the chance to grow on the island gifted to her. And yet, Alex did not regret his actions, as he was so totally certain in what he saw from her that he was actually willing to be the first to die by her hand if he was wrong. Truly, he was. But there was another problem. One he found himself unable to even voice¡ªand that was before recent events. To even suggest his concern now would upset everyone in his guild, none of whom would be willing to discuss the issue or even entertain the very thought of it. They would find his words to be egregious, offensive, or else they would dismiss him outright, Donovan included¡ªhell, especially Donovan. And for good reason, too: it was a stupid thought. It was an absurd thought. It was something that was most certainly a manifestation of unfounded paranoia. And yet, ever since a private conversation he had with Fluffles a few weeks ago, it had been burning in the back of his mind, growing worse with each day despite how hard he tried to shut it out and ignore it. Because really, it was ridiculous: it had to be. Why do I keep feeling so uneasy? Like I¡¯ve been missing something all this time? Kalana would have to overcome her inner demons. She would do things that would scare him. She would do things that would scare others. But Alex would willingly put his life and the life of this world on the line that the girl would find her moral footing and would do right by Galterra. He did not know what path that would take: if that would be through influence or conquest. But whatever Kalana chose to do, and however she chose to use her power, he could see in her eyes that she held within herself a real desire to spread good. The retribution and anger in her heart would fade. No matter the reputation of her family or their past, he knew this was right. He knew the others were wrong. There was no law of this universe stating that she had no choice but to be what those before her had become. And so, with all the concern in the adventuring world focused solely upon the possible catastrophic destruction that Kalana might inflict upon them all, would it not be among the greatest tragedies in history if their misplaced fear blinded them from missing something right in front of their faces? What if it turned out, that while he and the others placed all of their attention on this incredible young woman, and were so taken in and caught up by the existence of a surviving Elf¡­what if they had become so distracted that they were ignoring something that should have been obvious to them from the start? Alex swallowed nervously, as he among all would be the guiltiest. He, and he alone, would truly be responsible. Zachys Calador. They were so distracted and concerned about Kalana: so sure that if anyone were to pose a threat to Galterra it would be her. And for that reason, the things Fluffles had openly said to all of them, including Donovan, was simply being ignored. It simply went in one ear and out the other in a way that was inexcusable. They¡¯d all heard what the cat had to say. He¡¯d been appraised. They knew that the level of his power exceeded the Elves. Fluffles had told them so himself. They knew that he could become greater than the Great Ones. That he could smash this whole world to pieces. Yet he was ultimately ignored. Even after having survived against a superboss all by himself for a minute and forty-two seconds, he was again quickly forgotten, and all attention had returned to Kalana Vayra. Even as Donovan and Zephyr waved affectionately to her, he knew that both men, while well-meaning, feared her terribly. She had Elvish blood. It made her powerful. It made her dangerous. But they were pre-judging her: and they were wrong. Yes, there was darkness in her. Yes, she had been traumatized and hurt. But she was still growing, and she was growing in the right direction. Why haven¡¯t I been paying more attention? I should be smarter than this. It wasn¡¯t just his fight with Ziragoth. Alex distinctly recalled the day he had driven Zach to Varsh in order to save Kalana and her father. Zach had shown him that ability of his: Boundless. That should have been a wakeup call all on its own. No one should have something like that. But he did. And yet, masking what should have been a giant flashing sign of alarm was inexperience, timidity, weakness, and the innocence of youth¡ªall of these being things that time had already begun to iron out of the kid. A tightness in his chest formed as it really began to sink in how negligent they had been regarding Zach. How negligent Alex had been: how horrifically, disgustingly irresponsible. There was a reason why random adventurers did not show up to banks and break into vaults every other week. There was a reason why they did not rampage through cities, tear down buildings, and go on mass killing sprees. It was because they policed their own. Even as unsophisticated, loud, and wild as adventurers tended to be, even the least responsible among them had at least some inclination to keep an eye on their most talented, promising, and gifted in their community in the event they went down a bad path¡ªhowever unlikely it was. The fact that Zach was unlikely to do acts of evil really was not the issue: it was that no one was there to guide him not to do so in the event he stumbled. Alex had more or less left him to his own devices, failing to truly understand until now just how dangerous he could be. ¡°Well?¡± Kalana asked, taking him from his thoughts. ¡°Where is he? I promise I won¡¯t go running after him if he¡¯s really okay.¡± Alex nodded and lifted his pointer finger then extended his arm off to the west. ¡°For sure, he¡¯s in Yorna.¡± Kalana curled her bottom lip and made a sour expression. ¡°Why would he go back there?¡± ¡°Because there¡¯s a hallway there in B6, Kalana¡ªthat¡¯s a floor in the dungeon in case you aren¡¯t familiar with the term¡ªand this hall is really, really big.¡± Alex made a slight chuckle as he extended his arms widely in a gesture of size. ¡°And there are loads of great mobs for someone his level to go after and level up.¡± Kalana made a disappointed-sounding grunt. ¡°Yeah, but he¡¯s missing an arm and an eye. Now you¡¯re making me wanna run over there right now.¡± ¡°We need you here. And besides, that¡¯d probably damage his pride.¡± ¡°Nah-uh, that¡¯s why I¡¯ll be quiet and hide in the shadows. I just don¡¯t wanna let him be all alone. You know, ¡®cause he¡¯s missing his arm, so he might make a mistake.¡± She really loves him, Alex thought. It¡¯s not fake. It¡¯s genuine. ¡°I¡¯m positive he¡¯ll be fine,¡± he told her. ¡°Believe it or not, I¡¯m actually proud of him.¡± ¡°Wahhh? He snuck out of the hospital. You¡¯re a teacher. You should be angry.¡± Alex laughed. ¡°As an adult, maybe, but as an adventurer, he picked himself off his butt and went exploring. To be honest, I didn¡¯t expect him to remain in the hospital for his full stay. And you know what, Kalana?¡± ¡°Hm?¡± Alex paused, and she paused beside him. Now, even as he tried to keep his voice light, he could not help but allow a hint of darkness to creep into it. ¡°With what¡¯s coming our way, do you really want him in Galterra right now?¡± From the way her lips formed an O-shape, he could see that she understood the point. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± she whispered. ¡°Zach¡¯s already proved he can survive against way worse stuff. I guess I¡¯d rather him be on another planet or a dungeon than anywhere that thing might go.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± With that, the two resumed their trek back to the camp to continue their final preparations¡ªalbeit a man down. Yet a moment after they resumed walking, Alex paused again, and once more, she too paused beside him. Now, as she regarded him with her curious eyes, it was here that Alex decided to do the dumbest possible thing he could ever do. He decided to take an unparalleled risk: a reckless, foolish leap of faith. And why? Because there was something inside of him that told him it was right. An intuitive sense of purpose that he simply could not ignore. ¡°Can I please tell you something, Kalana?¡± She nodded slowly and a serious look came upon her face as though she could sense that whatever he wanted to say to her was significant¡ªwhich it was. Alex took a few moments to collect his thoughts before speaking. He drew a breath that filled his lungs to its maximum before letting it out as a slow exhale. ¡°If you only knew what would happen to me if the others knew I was about to have this conversation with you.¡± He shook his head. ¡°What I¡¯m about to do, Kalana, is put more trust in you than I¡¯ve ever put in anyone in my life, and I¡¯m basing it on a completely irrational gut feeling with no evidence to support this course of action. The very definition of foolishness. Anyone with a rational mind would say that not only is this stupid, but suicidal, too.¡± Kalana gently placed a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Uhm, whatever it is, I really appreciate it.¡± Alex laughed. For the moment, the others in camp had gone back to their activities and were not watching him. Even still, he motioned with his neck for Kalana to follow him along a different path that kept them both out of earshot. ¡°Everyone really likes you, Kalana,¡± he said. ¡°I swear on my life that they do. But they fear you. They resent the opportunity I¡¯ve given you, and when you¡¯re not around, they create contingency plans.¡± Kalana frowned. ¡°For what?¡± Alex needed to be blunt and honest with her, and so without holding anything back, he said, ¡°For the day they assume you will go mad with power and try to kill them all.¡± Upon his words, he had expected Kalana to express shock, to express outrage, to express anger¡ªbut her reaction was instead to lightly purse her lips then exhale sadly. ¡°I guess I¡¯m not really all that surprised.¡± ¡°There¡¯s more,¡± he said. ¡°They are studying to find ways to kill you. And they are researching weaknesses to divine what, if any, you might have.¡± At this, Kalana did appear a bit grumpy, but still, she appeared mostly saddened. Alex studied her a moment before continuing. When she met his eyes, he said, ¡°Having told you all that, it might make me seem like a traitor. Do you think I¡¯m a traitor or would betray my guild?¡± ¡°No way.¡± ¡°Then why would I tell you that?¡± Kalana regarded him a moment, her brow furrowed as though in confusion. Then she bowed her head as she said, ¡°Because you don¡¯t think they¡¯re right about me.¡± ¡°I know they aren¡¯t right about you, Kalana.¡± ¡°What if¡­what if they are?¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t.¡± ¡°You dunno that,¡± she said. ¡°I want revenge against the guilds that hurt me so bad. You shouldn¡¯t trust me, Alex. I¡¯m gonna disappoint you.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you will. It¡¯s stupid of me to so blindly assume so. But the more you help people and the more you use your power for the right reasons, I think you will be motivated towards kindness. I already see that so much with the things you do.¡± ¡°I threw a guy off a hill.¡± ¡°For a good reason,¡± Alex said with a laugh. She chuckled. ¡°Yah, that¡¯s true.¡± Once more, he spoke with a serious tone, and thankfully, she seemed to be listening to him carefully. ¡°Kalana, you aren¡¯t always going to do the right thing. No one in this world ever does. But you learn from your mistakes. That¡¯s what matters.¡± He sighed. ¡°But please listen to me, because there¡¯s an even more important reason I need to speak with you. And just so you¡¯re aware, I¡¯m risking every friend I¡¯ve ever made, my place in my guild, and my entire life to have this conversation with you.¡± Upon hearing these words, she released a small gasp. ¡°You¡¯d be in that much trouble if they knew what you were saying to me?¡± He nodded. ¡°Even more than a little. My life would be over. I¡¯d lose everything. I¡¯d be thrown out of my guild. I¡¯d never see my friends again.¡± Kalana pursed her lips, her posture became rigid, and to Alex¡¯s utter, total relief, he could see that she was taking what he said very, very seriously. She understood the gravity of it. He was sure that she did. ¡°You¡¯re gonna tell me something really serious, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Something that¡¯s um, that¡¯s so important it¡¯s worth risking your life for.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Kalana averted her gaze a moment as if in thought, then returned it. ¡°Because I¡¯m the only one you can trust.¡± Alex chuckled with relief. ¡°That¡¯s exactly it. But there¡¯s another reason. It¡¯s because you¡¯re the only one who will listen, and you¡¯re also the only one with the power to make a difference.¡± Boldly, she replied, ¡°Tell me.¡± Alex licked his bottom lip. ¡°It won¡¯t be a nice conversation.¡± ¡°Tell me,¡± she repeated. He closed his eyes a moment and prepared himself for this. What he was doing right now was either an act of extreme good that could steer the future of humanity towards peace and happiness, or an act of stupidity so terrible that he¡¯d already doomed them all with just the things he¡¯d already admitted to, let alone what was to come. ¡°Zach is not normal, Kalana. There¡¯s something¡­I don¡¯t want to say ¡®wrong,¡¯ but the word ¡®unusual¡¯ isn¡¯t strong enough.¡± She opened her mouth slightly as her eyes expanded, her expression filling with equal parts fear and worry. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to know this. No one outside the GSG is. But Zach isn¡¯t like other humans. Heck, he isn¡¯t like anyone. He¡¯s¡­I don¡¯t know how to describe it.¡± Having bottled this up for weeks, Alex actually began to tremble slightly as it all finally settled in just how Gods-be-damned inattentive he had been. Kalana reached forward and grabbed his shoulder in a friendly gesture of support, which he appreciated greatly given the sensitive nature of this topic and the knowledge of how much he¡¯d hurt his friends and guild if they knew he was having it. ¡°I¡¯m gonna guess whatever you need to tell me has been bothering you for a while. But please, if this is about Zach, you gotta tell me.¡± He nodded. ¡°Without consciously meaning to do so, I¡¯ve just been ignoring or not processing something I¡¯ve known for awhile.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him?¡± she asked. ¡°Kalana,¡± he began, ¡°everyone is so worried about the danger you might pose to us that we¡¯ve just been ignoring something that was right in front of us for a while now.¡± ¡°Meaning Zach?¡± He bowed his head. ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯ve been ignoring someone who is unique in ways that likely have never existed before. And when this person came strolling along, we were too unfocused to realize it and consider how best to approach the situation.¡± Kalana spoke softly, but Alex could tell she was having to force herself to be calm as her concern for Zach was written all over her face. ¡°Please explain, Alex.¡± He took another deep breath and prepared himself for this moment: this gamble he had taken on a mere whim, but only because he felt he truly had to do so. ¡°Zach,¡± he began, ¡°for a reason I don¡¯t know, and for a reason I can¡¯t begin to explain, is going to become stronger than any human who has ever lived in the entire history of humanity. He¡¯s going to become stronger than any Elf, too. Don¡¯t ask me how this is possible, because I don¡¯t know. All I know is that he¡¯s getting close. He¡¯s going to explode with power. I don¡¯t know when he¡¯ll start really ramping up. But as he levels, it¡¯s going to accelerate. He¡¯s going to find himself in control of so much power so fast that even the best of men would struggle to know what to do with it and how to use it responsibly. And he¡¯s only a kid: you both are.¡± Kalana gave him an intense look that made him feel as though he¡¯d been placed under one of the microscopes in his office. It was a though she were searching for any signs of dishonesty or deception in his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re being serious?¡± she asked him. ¡°You¡¯re telling me the truth?¡± ¡°Have I ever lied to you, Kalana?¡± She shook her head. ¡°No. But why¡­why is it so important I know this? Why are you telling me this?¡± ¡°Because I believe Zach is, at heart, a good person. But I also know what power does to men, and no man has ever known power like Zach soon will.¡± As he explained to Kalana the appraisal he¡¯d received multiple times now from Fluffles, the girl stiffened her back and seemed to fill with resolve and determination instead or confusion and fear. That was a far, far better reaction than anything he could have hoped for. ¡°You are stronger and growing faster than anyone could have ever expected. It¡¯s why they are so afraid of you, Kalana. It¡¯s also why everyone is going to need you so much. Because I don¡¯t think you fully understand just how¡­just how much this world is going to rely on you.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Alex placed his hand over his heart in a gesture he hoped to convey to Kalana his sincerity and the hope and trust he was placing in her. ¡°You¡¯re so powerful right now, and you¡¯re getting stronger so fast. It won¡¯t be long before the only person in the entire world who can compete with him is you.¡± ¡°Compete with him?¡± Kalana asked, frowning. ¡°Why would I wanna do that?¡± ¡°First, please, tell me this: assuming you believe me, do you find Zach to be a threat now that you know the truth about his capabilities?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± She looked at him like he was stupid, and that one look alone was the single-biggest moment of validation that Alex had ever experienced. That one, small, fleeting look of confusion was concrete proof that he was right and that the others were wrong. The mere fact that she genuinely did not seem to find the idea of someone wielding more power than her to be a threat did more to reassure Alex than anything else. He was now positive he could fully, openly say what he wanted to say to her. Because now it was beyond a doubt that he was right. ¡°Kalana,¡± he said, fixing her with a hard stare. ¡°You have a responsibility that you may not want but is still yours to bear. You need to make sure he doesn¡¯t become the kind of person who you and I both know power can corrupt him into.¡± She frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t even say that.¡± ¡°I have to, Kalana. Because no one else will. I¡¯m not telling you these things for no reason. I¡¯m not taking this risk for the thrill of it.¡± He looked behind him at the camp. He only had a few minutes before his briefing. ¡°Look,¡± he continued, ¡°let me be perfectly clear where I stand here. If I was forced to put money on it, I¡¯d strongly bet that Zach becomes a force for good in the world.¡± He paused for a moment, not wanting to say what he knew must come next. To his surprise, Kalana, on the heels of a deep, anxious breath, finished his thought for him with a strength, determination, and resolve that he so deeply wished the others could see in her the way that he did. ¡°But if Zach becomes dumb like some of the humans and thinks he is a God just ¡®cause he has the powers of one, you want me to be there to¡­to act however it¡¯s gotta be.¡± ¡°Not want,¡± Alex said. ¡°Need. Because there¡¯s not going to be anyone else. Right now, you¡¯re both kids, but it¡¯s¡­he¡¯s going to explode, Kalana. It¡¯s going to frighten you how fast and how powerful he¡¯s going to become. It won¡¯t be that long before the only one stronger than him in Galterra is you. And then, eventually, even that won¡¯t be true anymore.¡± ¡°But I know him. He¡¯s not like the people who hurt me.¡± Alex rubbed his eyes as a he struggled with the idea of how much to tell her. There were things about her family she¡¯d have to learn on her own. There were things he had no right to tell her. But there were also things he needed her to understand. ¡°Whether you like it or not, Kalana, Zach is probably going to end up being a king or an emperor. It sounds crazy. I hear myself say it and don¡¯t even believe it. But power does what power does. One day, Zach is going to realize that all the things he dislikes in the world, he has the power to change. Everyone who power has corrupted begins with honest intentions to make the world a better place. I know you love Zach and think the best of him. But do you really believe he¡¯s immune to being corrupted?¡± He could see Kalana visibly shake with confusion and pain, and Alex didn¡¯t have to be a mind reader to know why: it was because she did not want to believe what he was saying while simultaneously knowing that it was true. ¡°He won¡¯t do anything like Peter IV,¡± she said. ¡°I actually don¡¯t think he will,¡± Alex said, and now, he lightened his voice and smiled compassionately. ¡°Because as long as you truly understand how serious this is, you¡¯ll be by his side and you won¡¯t let him.¡± Kalana nodded, and now she appeared as strong as he had ever seen her. ¡°You¡¯re right. I know my Zach. He¡¯ll listen to me. You don¡¯t have to worry. I won¡¯t let him be corrupted. Things won¡¯t go the way you¡¯re worried about. He¡¯s a good person.¡± ¡°I need you to be strong for me now. Because I have to ask you a question you won¡¯t want to answer. If you truly love Zach, you need to be able to look me in the eye without wavering when you do. Otherwise, you won¡¯t be strong enough if the worst does end up happening. Again, there¡¯s no reason to ever think that Zach would ever become like Peter IV. But when he was a boy, he was a kind, loving person, and he lived to make others smile.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know that.¡± ¡°Almost no one does anymore,¡± Alex said. ¡°Sometimes things go a bad way. You should know from your own life that the worst thing that can happen sometimes happens. So, when I ask you this question, I want you to realize that even though this is something unlikely to ever happen, especially if you are there for him, it still needs to be asked.¡± Kalana nodded. ¡°I¡¯m ready. Ask me.¡± Alex could see her steeling herself physically and emotionally in anticipation of what he was going to say to her. Deciding not to draw this out any longer, he asked, ¡°What do you do, Kalana, if four years from now, Zach, whom you clearly love more than anything, turns to madness and begins razing a village and burning children alive as a form of punishment for some perceived slight¡ªand no one is able to stop him. What do you do?¡± Without a moment¡¯s hesitation, and without any sign of weakness other than a slight, almost imperceptible quivering of her lip and a tremble of her shoulders, she said, ¡°I kill him. And then myself.¡± ¡°Not yourself.¡± ¡°Yes myself.¡± ¡°I regret having this conversation,¡± Alex said as guilt rushed into him. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t. I understand why you did. And¡­you¡¯re right, Alex. I lived through the worst humans can do. So I do know in my heart that anyone can be that way. I¡¯m not dumb, you know? I know it¡¯s possible even if it makes me wanna scream just picturing it that Zach could do that stuff too. But I won¡¯t let anything like that happen. I promise.¡± ¡°And if it does anyway?¡± She closed her eyes. ¡°I make sure it doesn¡¯t anymore. Even if it means the end.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry to put this on you,¡± he whispered. ¡°But the others won¡¯t listen to me. Even if I tried to bring the topic up, they¡¯d shut me down.¡± With passion in her voice, she said, ¡°I¡¯ll never forget what you did for me today. Please don¡¯t feel sad about making me understand how serious this is. If I didn¡¯t know this stuff about Zach, I wouldn¡¯t be able to support him.¡± Pausing a moment, she said, ¡°And¡­and I hope I don¡¯t ever make you feel you were wrong about me.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t. Everyone makes mistakes, Kalana. You¡¯re going to do things that aren¡¯t always acts of good. That just makes you a person.¡± Alex gave her a pat on the back and then hurried off to the attend the briefing in the central tent in the camp, feeling reassured. He had to trust in Kalana. Now that she understood the truth about Zach, she would surely be able to prevent him from becoming corrupted by power. Even on his own, Alex did not believe the kid would descend into evil. But with the support of Kalana, whom he knew Zach would never hurt, he was certain that he would not turn to darkness. That Zach was a decent person was not in question: it was whether or not he¡ªor really, anyone¡ªcould drink in such unfathomable power and still remain one. Alex doubted anyone could: himself included. That was the basis for all his fears. But now, with Kalana looking out for him, he felt he could relax a little. Chapter 67: Double-Phase Chapter 67: Double-Phase As a large, muscular, and almost certainly sentient level-73 zombie danced around an unexpectedly cozy kitchen wearing a tight-fitting tank-top and a flower-embroidered apron, the fact that Zach did not so much as raise an eyebrow was a testament to just how indoctrinated he¡¯d become towards coping with the unexpected. Really, it should¡¯ve been a mind-blowing experience to watch this brawny, undead being with green bushy hair and surprisingly healthy greenish-white skin joyfully prepare breakfast. Yet the sight failed to arouse even the slightest twinge of astonishment within Zach as the high-level zombie, who had apparently just taken a shower and now smelled of raspberry shampoo and aftershave, grabbed a frying pan out of a large, double-doored cabinet while shaking his hips and humming; he glided his way across the marble, hexagonally-tiled kitchen floor and dropped the pan onto the stove above the granite countertop. Had Zach still been an ordinary, level-1 kid going to a boring school in a broken-down city, this absurd, otherworldly sight would have sent him into a state of muted shock. But now? Well, why would it? This wasn¡¯t even the first time he¡¯d seen a sentient NPC wearing an apron cook breakfast. Hell, it probably wouldn¡¯t be the last time, either. Thus, the only thing he felt as he watched the zombie grab various ingredients and happily dance around was amusement. It even made him smile as this Grundor sang aloud. ¡°Shooting at the walls of heartache: BANG-BANG! I am the warrior!¡± It was not a song Zach had ever heard before, but it was definitely catchy. Grundor had been singing it almost on a loop to the point that even Fluffles had apparently learned the words. The cat was running back and forth along the countertop singing it together with him. ¡°Fluffles is the warrior!¡± the cat sang. Even as he performed various tasks, such as cracking eggs, pouring batter or milk, mixing ingredients, and working the stove, Grundor somehow always had a free hand available to pet Fluffles whenever the cat darted past him on the counter. Occasionally, Fluffles would run straight through the fire, and Zach did wince each time. He had to mentally remind himself that Fluffles was not an ordinary cat but a leveled adventurer who, despite his tiny, adorable, and soft body, could probably withstand gunshots and rocket launchers, let alone a stove flame. I wonder why really hot weather still makes me all sweaty and uncomfortable, but at the same time, I could probably be hosed down with a flamethrower and not be burned. As Fluffles ¡°helped¡± Grundor cook, Olivir motioned with a friendly gesture of his hand for Zach to take a seat at the dining table. Zach pulled out the chair at the back end of the table, but he did so with extra slowness given how fancy and expensive it looked. Hell, even the linen tablecloth, with its pattern of golden and silver stitching, looked like it alone was worth more than Zach¡¯s entire former apartment in Whispery Woods had been. Awkwardly, Zach slid the chair backwards over the tiled kitchen floor. His arms were a bit unsteady, and so were his knees, he now realized. Though he felt mostly fine, he supposed he must have still been a bit out of it or something. He wasn¡¯t exactly tired, but there was an overall ¡°jittery¡± quality to his limbs and a slight weakness that he hoped would fade in the next few hours. Most likely, this was one of the effects of having literally died and returned to life, something that still didn¡¯t feel real to him despite knowing for certain that it was true. And so, with continued slowness, he sat down and watched as Olivir took the seat across from him. The vampire was fascinating in that he did not at all look the way Zach had expected. Aside from the two fang-like teeth that slightly protruded from the top of his mouth and his unusually pale skin, he was more fancy than fierce. Judging off looks alone, he came across as somewhere in the same age range as Zach, with a youthful, unblemished face and gentle, hazel-colored eyes. His slicked-back hair was perfectly silver, though Zach could not tell if that was its natural color or simply the result of dye. He was also pretty tall, probably only an inch shy of six feet, and he was very thin. He wore a lavish black vest with white sleeves and gold-colored buttons and a pair of black, laced dress shoes like he was planning on attending a formal occasion. His voice was both soft and light, and when he spoke, there was a constant sense of amused confidence in how he formed his words. ¡°All right, so I think we should start with the basics,¡± he said. ¡°Even though you already know this, my name is Count Olivir Soloux, but you don¡¯t have to call me that. Oli or Olivir is fine.¡± Zach smiled appreciably. ¡°Fair enough. You also know my name is Zach, but my full, real name is Zachys Calador. Oh, and just Zach is fine, too.¡± Something strange happened as Zach told Olivir his name. Though it was subtle and lasted for only an instant, Olivir¡¯s lips briefly parted and his eyes widened ever so slightly. It was as though he¡¯d experienced a fleeting moment of shock, which made no sense, because nothing Zach had said so far was remotely shocking. ¡°Ah, your last name¡¯s what, again?¡± ¡°Calador,¡± Zach repeated. ¡°Zachys Calador.¡± And then, there it was once more, only now, he appeared confused on top of everything else. He scratched his chin a moment and then sucked on the bottom-right corner of his lower lip. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty¡­specific name. Calador, I mean.¡± ¡°Specific?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Specific how?¡± Olivir chuckled and then all trace of surprise fled his expression. ¡°Nothing. I¡¯m being dumb. It¡¯s just that your last name is the same as some really important historical figures that you¡¯ve probably never heard about and I only happen to know by chance.¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s just my name. Trust me, I¡¯m not linked to anyone special, famous, powerful, or important. Actually,¡± he continued, frowning, ¡°my dad was a loser alcoholic who could barely pay rent and was murdered by a very powerful man who threw him out of a window and left him to bleed out on the sidewalk.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Zach paused as a pain entered his voice out of literally nowhere, and then his volume gradually began to ramp up as he spoke. ¡°Yeah. Just fucking left him there like he wasn¡¯t even a person. And not because of his name or any actual reason, but because the guy who killed him did so on a whim¡ªbecause he thought my dad¡¯s life was worth less than a bug!¡± Realizing he was now shouting loudly enough to cause Fluffles and Grundor to pause their singing and glance over at him, he released a nervous, awkward laugh. ¡°Wow, sorry. I don¡¯t know where that came from. Sorry to unload all that on you.¡± ¡°Oh no, it¡¯s totally cool,¡± Olivir said. ¡°Repressed emotions suck. I get it. And¡­I¡¯m sorry about your dad. It was the political guilds, I¡¯m guessing, right?¡± ¡°You know about them?¡± Zach asked, caught off guard. ¡°Mhm.¡± ¡°How?¡± Olivir leaned forward in his chair and placed his palms on the table. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you. But first¡­can I just address the elephant in the room if that¡¯s okay with you? It¡¯s kind of the most important thing before we can really talk. I know you¡¯ve got lots of questions, but I need to ask you one first.¡± Knowing exactly where Olivir was going with this, Zach gave him a thumbs-up. ¡°Yeah, go ahead.¡± Olivir nodded and then looked him directly in the eyes. ¡°I just want to confirm something one more time, and no matter how you answer, I¡¯m not gonna hurt you, so there¡¯s no reason to lie.¡± He continued to lock eyes with Zach as he sat up straighter. ¡°So just to get this out of the way once and for all: you didn¡¯t come all the way here to his planet for me, and before today, you had no idea who I was. You also didn¡¯t know vampires were real, and you never had a goal of killing me or anyone close to me. Is all that right?¡± Zach replied immediately, enthusiastically, and with no hesitation whatsoever. ¡°One-hundred percent.¡± ¡°So, your reasons for coming here to Archian Prime didn¡¯t involve me whatsoever.¡± ¡°Not at all,¡± Zach said. Then he laughed, but more out of frustration and stress than humor. ¡°Gods, believe me, uh, Olivir, the last thing I wanted to do when I came here yesterday was get involved in a conflict on a freezing-cold planet with an army of zombies.¡± He cringed just at the memory of what he¡¯d been dragged into. ¡°You have no idea how much I did not want to be there. Like, not only didn¡¯t I come here to hurt or kill you, but the most messed-up part of it all is that if I hadn¡¯t stopped for just ten seconds to look at the scenery, we never would¡¯ve even met, and I never would¡¯ve gotten involved. Those ten seconds are what got me into this whole nightmare.¡± Olivir reacted to his words by again leaning forward in his chair. He made a questioning ¡°hah?¡± sound as if he found Zach¡¯s explanation to be comical. ¡°Wait, are you saying you were just passing through? You¡¯re not Queen Vayra¡¯s associate or a friend or something like that?¡± At this, Zach gave a firm shake of his head along with a derisive laugh. ¡°Gods no. And uh, yeah, I was just passing through.¡± The vampire guffawed. ¡°Oh wow, man, that sucks. Talk about bad luck. See, me and Kol¡±¡ªhis words cut off with the briefest of pauses, but he resumed speaking an instant later¡ª¡°me and Grundor thought she must¡¯ve called on you or hired you or something.¡± Zach twisted his lips in disgust. ¡°She didn¡¯t. I¡¯d never seen her before yesterday. I swear to you.¡± Olivir gave him a broad, genuine-looking smile. ¡°I believe you.¡± Now, with a more serious expression, he lifted his pointer finger and spoke in a more business-like tone. ¡°So, if you were just passing through, it must have been from one of the dungeons, right? It had to be. I mean, it¡¯s the only way to even get here without traveling through space, and last I checked, humans on Galterra don¡¯t know how to do that anymore, so you must have come from one of them¡ªright?¡± Zach nodded, and for a reason he could not discern, a look of excitement and cheer spread on Olivir¡¯s face. ¡°All right! Awesome! So then, uhm, if you came from a dungeon, that means you might be able to¡ª¡± ¡°Wait, hold on a second,¡± Zach interrupted as he found himself starting to get lost as the conversation progressed. For the first time since entering the kitchen, he felt shocked by something he¡¯d either seen or heard. ¡°What was that last thing you said about people traveling through space?¡± ¡°Oh, I was just saying how Galterrans can¡¯t do that anymore¡ªat least as far as I know¡ªso you had to come from a dungeon.¡± Zach blinked. ¡°That¡¯s not like a joke or a metaphor?¡± ¡°Huh? No, why would it be?¡± Zach looked away for just a moment, unsure if he was hearing the vampire properly. Returning his gaze, he said, ¡°It¡¯s just, the way you¡¯re wording it makes it sound like you think people did used to be able to fly through space. As in, you know, the place above us with the stars.¡± Olivir squinted as though he thought Zach was messing with him. ¡°You¡­you didn¡¯t know that?¡± ¡°Know what?¡± ¡°That humans used to fly to the Galterran moon to hunt bosses and experience.¡± Zach narrowed his own eyes skeptically, no longer sure if Olivir was messing with him. ¡°Okay, am I being fucked with?¡± ¡°No, dude! For real. People used to fly through space. How do you not know that?¡± Zach laughed. ¡°Because that¡¯s ridiculous. I mean, I know it¡¯s possible to launch satellites up there: it¡¯s how our phones work. But people? How would we even do something like that?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t they teach you this in school?¡± the vampire asked him incredulously. ¡°You fly in a spaceship, obviously. How else would I have gotten here?¡± Zach again laughed. ¡°Are you telling me you flew here from space? Come on¡­¡± Olivir crossed his arms over his chest. ¡°I¡¯m not lying to you. I came here a long time ago in a ship the elders built when all of my kind fled Galterra to be free from the demands of the political guilds.¡± ¡°You what? You¡¯re saying you literally got into a space-DEHV and just¡­just flew through space to another planet?¡± ¡°Well, yeah. But it¡¯s not a ¡®space-DEHV¡¯. It¡¯s a spaceship. Or at least that¡¯s what we called them. The other humans couldn¡¯t figure out how to build one, but vampires had the knowledge to do it. So we made one in secret and left. It took us twenty years to reach the jump gate at the edge of the solar system and then another five to reach this planet after like an eight-second jump.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Zach rubbed his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m calling you a liar, but this is all really hard to believe. I mean, wouldn¡¯t that make you like forty years old or something?¡± ¡°I can explain that in a second. And hey, I¡¯m a bit surprised, too. You¡¯re telling me no one at your school ever taught you that human beings used to fly in spaceships in ancient history?¡± ¡°No,¡± Zach stated, positive in his answer. ¡°Actually, we were told the complete opposite. They told us that there are trillions of other planets out there, but that visiting any of them is impossible, because nothing can survive in space and that, even if we could build a DEHV capable of reaching it, it would explode from the pressure and so would anyone inside of it.¡± Olivir laughed, loudly. ¡°Well that¡¯s obviously bullshit. So not even one of your teachers or books told you about how we used to fly to Galterra¡¯s moon for experience points?¡± ¡°Nope. Nothing about that or any kind of ¡®jump gate,¡¯ whatever that is.¡± ¡°Ahh¡­well, the jump gate thing is actually not something they know about. I should¡¯ve mentioned that. Most humans have no idea we''ve flown to other celestial bodies besides the moon, but from what you¡¯re telling me, they don¡¯t even know that anymore.¡± ¡°I sure never heard that.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± Olivir said. ¡°Looks like Galterra humans forgot even more of our history over the two-hundred years since I was there. Actually, I should¡¯ve just assumed that at the start. I bet I even know what happened, too.¡± He tapped his finger against the table and nodded. ¡°Thinking back, I remember that the guilds were wasting so much gold trying to launch rockets capable of carrying humans into orbit, but they kept messing it all up. You know what? Knowing how they operate, they probably just struck everything about spaceflight from the curriculum so they could cancel their space program and future generations wouldn¡¯t ask any questions. It¡¯s a lot cheaper to just erase the fact of spaceflight from history than to spend all that money on rockets.¡± Zach curled his lips in an unintentionally sour expression. He was unsure of what to make of any of this. ¡°Olivir, are you telling me you¡¯re two-hundred years old?¡± ¡°Two-hundred ten, actually, but I¡¯ll be two-eleven next month.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Zach said. ¡°Yep, I¡¯m being fucked with.¡± At this, Olivir lifted both his hands with his palms facing Zach, and then he shook his head. ¡°No, no, no,¡± he said. ¡°Zach, I¡¯m not messing with you.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Zach eyed him up and down again, then returned his gaze to the vampire kid¡¯s face. Truly, aside from the paleness and those two fangs, he might¡¯ve even looked younger than Zach, if not by much. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to be an asshole, it¡¯s just that that¡¯s such an incredible thing to hear¡ªand I¡¯m saying that as someone who, at this point, has gotten really used to having to accept things that are way, way out there. So, I guess I don¡¯t not believe you. It¡¯s just¡­it¡¯s a lot to take in.¡± Olivir scrunched his lips together and lowered his eyes for a second or two as if in thought. ¡°Maybe we need to back up a little bit. Before we get into the stuff about how and why you linked up with Queen Vayra, I should probably explain a few things so everything else makes more sense.¡± He lifted his head, once more confidently meeting Zach¡¯s eyes, and with that, he cleared his throat. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start with this. So, you already know I¡¯m a vampire, but do you actually know what that even is?¡± Zach had only ever heard the word a few times in horror stories, and even then, they were usually only described as background characters. ¡°A vampire is like¡­it¡¯s basically a person that kills people and eats their blood, right?¡± ¡°Ehh, maybe thousands of years ago,¡± Olivir said. ¡°But today, a vampire is just someone who has vampirism: a permanent, life-altering curse that comes from a boss that doesn¡¯t spawn anymore and can be spread from person to person through resurrection. There are a lot of myths about us, like that we can¡¯t go out in the sun, or that we die if we touch silver. It¡¯s all untrue. We¡¯re just people who have something that¡¯s a curse, but it¡¯s also kind of like a buff in a lot of ways.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± Zach whispered. ¡°What¡¯s it do to you?¡± He watched as Olivir drew a breath before continuing. ¡°Well basically, whenever someone becomes a vampire, no matter what level we were before, our level is reset to 1 and we become locked into only having one point in constitution. But there¡¯s a tradeoff, because we gain an entirely new set of abilities and our stats grow way higher elsewhere each time that we level. There¡¯s a few more effects, too.¡± The fact that Fylwen had told him much the same actually helped Zach more readily accept what he was hearing as truth. It wasn¡¯t that he trusted Fylwen whatsoever, but rather, given that her explanation was mostly the same as the vampire whom she wanted to kill, it served as a form of corroboration. ¡°I¡¯m guessing the age thing is another effect, right?¡± Zach asked. Olivir smiled. ¡°Yep. Vampires live a long time. Maybe even forever, meaning we might be immortal. But I don¡¯t really know for sure.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s not really clear because we do age: it¡¯s just we do it really, really slowly. No one even knows what the upper-limit is, but I once heard of a vampire who was so old that he had trouble walking, so I¡¯m guessing at some point we die. We probably would¡¯ve found out for sure in another century or two, but Count Archibald¡ªthe guy I¡¯m talking about¡ªkilled himself after his wife of four-thousand years made a mistake and died to a boss that spawns in a valley about a hundred miles south of here. Anyways, Zach, I¡¯m rambling a bit, but¡­so basically, I¡¯m over two-hundred years old, and I was born on Galterra just like you. Actually, I grew up in the city of Giant¡¯s Fall, and I was level 24 and sixteen years of age when I was killed during a boss raid and turned by my sire.¡± Even though he¡¯d opened his mouth to speak, Zach remained silent. It was not, however, because he intended to be rude. In fact, he was entirely willing to reciprocate with this unexpectedly friendly and likeable vampire whose ¡°army¡± had given him such a hard time yesterday. First, though, Zach needed just a few moments to process and mull over the incredible things he¡¯d just heard, because honestly? This was a bit of a mental overload. Olivir understood this¡ªor at least Zach assumed he did, because the two-century-old vampire who looked Zach¡¯s age did not appear to have an issue sitting patiently and quietly while Zach rested his forehead in his palms and ran everything that he¡¯d just heard through his brain a few more times. ¡°Can anyone be a vampire or just humans?¡± he asked finally. ¡°Orcs can¡¯t and gnomes can¡¯t, but most other races can,¡± Olivir answered. ¡°And that¡¯s how you¡¯ve been alive for so long?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°And all it takes to make someone into a vampire is to¡­¡± Zach, filling with worry, lifted his index finger and pointed it towards himself. ¡°You just said vampirism is spread through resurrection. So does that mean that now I¡¯m also¡­?¡± Olivir chuckled, and his eyes took on a kind, yet mischievous glow; it was as though he held compassion for Zach¡¯s circumstance while simultaneously finding it funny. ¡°No, you¡¯re not a vampire, dude. You can relax: I didn¡¯t give you the curse. I can bring people back without it¡ªa huge taboo among vampires by the way. Ahh¡­I did have to have to rush, though, but only because Grundor cut it way too close in bringing you here.¡± ¡°Rush?¡± Zach asked. He nodded. ¡°Meaning, when I bit into your neck, I bit a bit too hard, and you¡¯re probably going to have scarring.¡± ¡°My¡­neck?¡± Zach raised his right hand to his chin, then from there, began slowly lowering it downwards until he felt something different right around the middle of his throat. He hissed slightly, wincing as it caused a stinging pain. He couldn¡¯t tell how bad it looked since there weren¡¯t any mirrors in his immediate vicinity. ¡°It¡¯ll stop hurting in a few days,¡± Olivir said. Then he crossed his left leg over his right and leaned backwards in his chair as if making himself more comfortable. ¡°But anyways, yeah, you¡¯re not a vampire. You¡¯re still the same you.¡± Despite having just met Olivir¡ªand dying in a battle opposed to him¡ªthere was a large part of Zach that wanted to trust the boyish-looking vampire. Even still, he knew he needed to confirm the truth for himself. Put simply, after what had happened between him and Queen Vayra, Zach doubted that he¡¯d ever be able to fully trust anyone other than Kalana ever again. How could he now that he knew the price that came with betrayal? Now that he understood what could happen to someone who trusts others thanks to that terrible, soul-lacking, evil Elvish woman that had intentionally and knowingly led him to his death. Thus, Zach needed to reassure himself that he was really here, really alive, and really not some newly reborn vampire. Placing his hand on his shoulder, he tapped four times to bring forward his stats. Then he frowned, as he always did when he saw them appear in the air before him. Zachys Calador: Level 17 (10000/65000) Armor Bonus: 12 13 strength 10 dexterity 11 constitution 50 intelligence 7 speed 6 luck No sooner had Zach brought forward his stats than he recalled Mr. Oren¡¯s warning never to reveal this information to anyone other than someone he¡¯d trust with his life, as it exposed vital information such as his level and his strengths and weaknesses; this information, Zach naturally assumed, could form the basis of whether or not an enemy decided to attack him. Without knowing the specifics of someone¡¯s capabilities, launching an attack on another person was naturally a risky endeavor. Almost as though he was reading Zach¡¯s mind and knew exactly what was running through his head, Olivir¡¯s lips formed into a cheeky, amused grin. ¡°You know you should be careful about doing that in front of people, right?¡± he asked with a laugh. ¡°That¡¯s like getting naked in public but only way more dangerous even if it¡¯s not as embarrassing.¡± Zach sighed. ¡°Yeah, believe me, I know. I¡¯m a fucking idiot.¡± ¡°No you¡¯re not,¡± Olivir said. ¡°You¡¯re just seventeen and inexperienced. But it¡¯s actually okay, because I¡¯m the one who saved your life. You were dead. So at this point, it¡¯s like¡­does it really matter if I see your stats? If I wanted you to be dead, uhm, you know, you were dead already, so it¡¯s like how much risk can there be?¡± A nervous laugh escaped Zach¡¯s lips. ¡°I guess that¡¯s a fair point.¡± Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Zach watched as Olivir slowly lowered his eyes while he presumably read over Zach¡¯s stats. When all he did was mutter the word ¡°interesting,¡± Zach¡¯s frown deepened and he dismissed the screen. ¡°You can just say it.¡± ¡°Say what?¡± ¡°That my stats are terrible and way less than what they should be for my level.¡± Olivir snorted. ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean anything, dude. Also, your intelligence stat is really high for a human at that level.¡± Zach, without meaning to do so, threw up his arms in self-directed outrage. ¡°I don¡¯t even use that stat!¡± ¡°You might later on. But really, I don¡¯t actually think you should care so much.¡± Zach lowered his arms back to his sides and dropped his voice back to a conversational level. ¡°I just feel like I¡¯m falling so far behind and I¡¯ll never catch up.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Olivir asked, cocking his right eyebrow. ¡°Because I saw you massacre like over a hundred of my minions of the dark, so you¡¯ve clearly got a lot of fight in you. I¡¯m guessing those numbers don¡¯t¡­stay that way, right?¡± Zach opened his mouth to explain, then closed it. The last time he¡¯d explained to someone how his abilities worked, she¡¯d become so threatened by him that she¡¯d decided to trick him into killing himself. Even though Olivir had saved his life, Zach was fearful that he might have the same reaction upon learning about Unleashed Phase. As Zach thought these things over, he noticed that Olivir was studying him with an intensity that actually made him uncomfortable. It also caused him to reflect on something particular that Olivir had just said to him. ¡°Wait, what do you mean when you say you saw me massacre your ¡®minions of the dark?¡¯¡± Olivir shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve got a couple of ways to observe the battlefield. I¡¯ll tell you about them another time. There¡¯s still a few more important things I really need to talk about with you.¡± Biting the lower corner of his lip, Olivir¡¯s face tightened, and now, he became far more serious. ¡°I didn¡¯t resurrect you just because I wanted to be nice, Zach. I really need your help with something¡ªif I can trust you. It¡¯s why you¡¯re sitting here right now. Let¡¯s face it, amigo: you owe me.¡± ¡°Amigo?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Spanish for ¡®friend.¡¯¡± ¡°Spanish?¡± Olivir snickered. ¡°Never mind. A conversation for later. But anyways, you do kind of owe me, ya know.¡± ¡°Yeah, I kind of figured that was why I was here,¡± Zach said with an exhale. ¡°I¡¯m not gullible enough to think you brought me back from the dead just to have breakfast¡ªwhich actually smells amazing, by the way.¡± At some point over the past few moments, the smell of Grundor¡¯s cooking had finally reached his nose. The distinct smell of eggs, buttermilk, and something sweet like honey filled his nostrils, the pleasant aroma reminding him that he had not eaten in what was apparently over twenty-five hours. Yet, oddly, he was not hungry. In fact, the very thought of actually consuming food made him a bit nauseous. He wasn¡¯t sure why. Olivir was now leaning forward with his elbow pressing down onto the table and his chin resting into his palm while he continued to observe Zach with a nearly unblinking gaze. For the moment, he said little, and Zach, becoming somewhat uncomfortable, decided to break a relatively short silence that had come between the two of them. ¡°It¡¯s true I owe you for saving my life, especially since I was technically your enemy. So I¡¯ll help you if I can. But what happens if you don¡¯t decide to trust me? What¡¯re you¡­what will happen to me?¡± ¡°Absolutely nothing,¡± Olivir said. ¡°You can walk out of the door and go on doing, uhm, whatever it is you want. I¡¯m not Queen Vayra. There won¡¯t be any last-minute backstabs or that kind of stuff. Not from me, nope. You can literally just go. I don¡¯t have any traps to spring.¡± Would he really let me go that easily? Despite coming across as nothing but kind and considerate, Zach was not ashamed of his skepticism. If anything, he was proud of it. After what had happened to him, he needed to be a lot more skeptical from now on. He needed to be much wiser about trusting people. This was a life lesson learned in death: and one that he would never allow himself to forget. Even still, given the situation, Olivir had done a lot so far to make Zach feel as though he could trust him¡ªat least as much as he could trust anyone anymore. Realizing that his throat had gone a bit dry, he reached across the table and grabbed the side of an elegant, blue-and-white ceramic pitcher, containing what looked and smelled like orange juice. As he went to grab it, his hand, still shaking, had trouble finding its grip. His arm, too, felt weak to the extent he could not lift it. Finally, after nearly ten seconds of struggling, Olivir half stood up, grabbed the pitcher, and poured a cup of it for him into an equally beautiful mug that contained images of harps and other musical instruments. ¡°Thanks,¡± Zach said. ¡°How long until these side effects wear off, by the way?¡± For some reason, a very, very uneasy look came across Olivir¡¯s face, and of all things, he turned his head to look at Fluffles, who was oddly staring right back at him. Up until now, the vampire had seemed very assertive and sure of himself. But something was clearly different. He now seemed indecisive and hesitant. Was there something important Olivir wasn¡¯t telling him? Was Zach being foolish to think he could at least partially trust the guy? And seriously, why were him and Fluffles exchanging such knowing glances? ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Zach asked, becoming worried. ¡°Is there something you¡¯re not telling me about these side effects? Am I not going to be okay?¡± ¡°Zach, there¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± Zach demanded. ¡°Just please, tell me. I can handle it.¡± His hands and feet had not stopped jittering since he¡¯d entered the kitchen¡ªor really, since he¡¯d woken up. ¡°Is there some kind of permanent damage to me?¡± ¡°No,¡± Olivir said. ¡°Well, at least not from what I did.¡± ¡°Then when will these side effects go away?¡± Finally, with a bizarrely compassionate-sounding sigh, Olivir said, ¡°Zach, there are no side effects. Other than that painful bite mark on your neck, I mean.¡± Zach frowned. ¡°Like hell there aren¡¯t! I can¡¯t even pick up a pitcher. Look, I know I¡¯m lucky to be alive, so I¡¯m not blaming you for any of this. But I need to know what to expect going forward.¡± ¡°Those aren¡¯t side effects of resurrection,¡± Olivir again insisted. ¡°Bite mark aside, you¡¯re actually fully healed, dude.¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Zach raised his shaking hands to his face. ¡°Then what the fuck is this?¡± Olivir wet his lips and opened his mouth, then hesitated. It was like he had something he wanted to say but didn¡¯t want to say it¡ªor no, wait. That wasn¡¯t it either, was it? Zach regarded him a moment, trying to piece together the cause of Olivir¡¯s reluctance. Only then did he realize it wasn¡¯t reluctance: it was caution. The look on his face was the look his mother used to give him when she wanted to tell him something important that might upset him, so she tried to phrase it in a way that wouldn¡¯t make things worse. ¡°Zach, you¡¯re shaking because you¡¯re really, really traumatized.¡± ¡°I¡¯m what?¡± ¡°You have PTSD, and the sedative I gave you earlier is wearing off, and I can¡¯t give you another. You¡­you don¡¯t remember anything about last night, do you?¡± ¡°Last night?¡± At this, Fluffles hissed. ¡°Nothing happen! Vampire man is lying!¡± Zach turned his head to the left just in time to see Fluffles jumping onto the table. ¡°Vampire man keep stupid mouth closed or Fluffles bite again!¡± ¡°What¡¯s he talking about?¡± Zach asked Olivir. ¡°What do you both know that I don¡¯t?¡± Rather than reply to Zach, Olivir smiled at Fluffles and attempted to pet him. The cat¡¯s response was to lift his paw and swipe the air in front of his hand. ¡°Vampire man stupid! Zach was a very good human and did nothing wrong.¡± Despite Fluffles¡¯ claim, a growing sense of wrongness came upon Zach, and it became amplified as, for the second time, Olivir attempted to pet Fluffles. This time, he allowed it. ¡°I kind of have to tell him, Fluffles. He needs to hear it. You¡¯re not protecting him by hiding the truth.¡± Fluffles again hissed, but thankfully did not strike the vampire, whose single point in constitution would not protect him if Fluffles tried to swipe at him with any real force. It would be a tragedy if his cat murdered someone at the breakfast table right before his eyes. Bracing himself, Zach said, ¡°Please, just tell me and make it quick.¡± Olivir once again met his gaze. ¡°All right. Zach, the reason that I had to put you on that operating table and strap you in isn¡¯t because I thought you¡¯d wake up and decide to kill me. It¡¯s because you already did.¡± Zach recoiled, pressing his back against the chair. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just going to tell you the truth, because you need to hear it even if it hurts. When I brought you back, I had Grundor carry you upstairs and tuck you into a nice, warm bed. You slept for about ten hours. But then, in the middle of the night, you started screaming and bashing apart the room. I¡¯d never heard anyone scream so loudly before.¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t. That didn¡¯t happen.¡± He continued, ¡°Fluffles and I came to check on you, but you attacked us. I would¡¯ve died if Fluffles hadn¡¯t been there. And¡­¡± ¡°And what?¡± At the sight of Olivir bracing himself, Zach¡¯s hands began to tremble even more wildly. ¡°What? What happened?¡± ¡°Vampire man lie!¡± Fluffles said. ¡°Nothing happen. Zach and Fluffles best friends.¡± Olivir looked first at Fluffles, and then at Zach, and Zach suddenly found it difficult to breathe. He had absolutely no memory whatsoever of any of this, and yet such a dark, wicked feeling entered into him that he honestly feared he might lose consciousness. ¡°What happened?¡± he whispered, his voice only barely managing to escape him. The concern in Olivir¡¯s eyes only seemed to heighten his fear and his sense of wrongness. ¡°What¡­what happened?¡± ¡°Your cat tried to get you to calm down, but you started to fight. You were screaming, but I couldn¡¯t understand what you were saying. I ordered Grundor to rush down to my alchemy station and get a sedative, and even though he moved as fast as he could, we were too late. You¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say it,¡± Zach begged. ¡°Don¡¯t say it.¡± ¡°You killed him.¡± Zach furiously shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s a lie! Tell him that¡¯s a lie.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a lie!¡± Fluffles shouted. ¡°See? I tell Zach vampire man lying. Vampire man is stupid and make up stories to upset Zach and Fluffles.¡± ¡°If I wasn¡¯t there,¡± Olivir said, ignoring the cat and keeping his attention focused solely on Zach, ¡°Fluffles would¡¯ve stayed dead. I had to bring him back just like I brought you back. If you don¡¯t believe me, there¡¯s a bite mark under his fur in the middle of his back.¡± Zach looked over to Fluffles, who spun around and jumped off the table and returned to Grundor. ¡°Vampire man is lying because he is mean and stupid. Zach never hurt Fluffles.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zach said, nodding. ¡°That¡¯s not even possible. There isn¡¯t any universe where I¡¯d do that. I¡¯d rather die. I would rather fucking die.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t on purpose,¡± Olivir said. ¡°Clearly, it was an accident.¡± Zach wanted to scream, but the weakness in him became stronger and stronger. ¡°Why are you telling me this? Just tell me what you want from me, and I¡¯ll help you and be on my way.¡± Without even waiting to hear Olivir¡¯s reply, Zach got up from the table and hurried over to Fluffles, scooping the cat up and hugging him tightly. Like water breaking through a dam, he began to weep like he hadn¡¯t since he was a child, burying his face in the cat¡¯s fur, soaking it in the process. ¡°Please tell me I didn¡¯t do it. Please tell me I didn¡¯t do it. I love you so much, and I wouldn¡¯t hurt you, Fluffles. I swear I wouldn¡¯t. I wouldn¡¯t. I swear. I wouldn¡¯t even be capable of it. You know me. You know I wouldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°It not true,¡± the cat said. ¡°Vampire man lying again.¡± ¡°He¡¯s lying. He has to be. It¡¯s impossible. You¡¯re much higher level than me. You wouldn¡¯t let me just kill you. Right? You¡¯d protect yourself.¡± The sickness inside of him exploded as even the mere thought of hurting any cat, let alone Fluffles, filled him with such dread, such fear, such revulsion that it caused him to break down to the point he no longer cared where he was or who was watching him or how unmanly it looked. He merely bawled, unable to stop himself. ¡°As I was saying,¡± Olivir said, ¡°I don¡¯t know you, Zach. But honestly? Just from what little I¡¯ve heard, I already know you saw your father¡¯s body in a really bad state, I know you were betrayed and killed by the Elvish queen, and I know when you showed up here, you were missing an eye and a limb. And something tells me that¡¯s still not the extent of it, is it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Zach said. ¡°Really, I¡¯m just having a bad week.¡± Olivir made a slight chuckle. Zach could hear him approach from his footsteps behind, but with his face buried in Fluffles¡¯ fur, he could see nothing around him. ¡°The reason I¡¯m not sure if I can trust you is because I need you to save what¡¯s most important to me in this whole damn world, and¡­and I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re okay right now to do that. It took me a year to get over dying, and if it was just that, it¡¯d be one thing, but I get the sense that yesterday was just another layer.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Zach insisted. ¡°Can¡¯t someone just have a bad day anymore?¡± ¡°You¡¯re in total denial,¡± Olivir said. ¡°I¡¯m over two-hundred years old, and like¡­for a vampire, that¡¯s basically an infant, but for a human, that¡¯s a lot. And the only reason I bring that up is to say that I know what trauma looks like. You can¡¯t be around for two centuries and not know it when you see it, and you¡¯ve got it really, really bad.¡± Zach brought himself under control. He reminded himself that he was a man now, not a boy. What kind of man bawled like an infant this way? If he wanted to be able to look himself in the mirror ever again, he needed to pull himself together, suck this the fuck up, and get over it. Seriously, wasn¡¯t that why he¡¯d come out here in the first place? So that he could get over this Gods-be-damned ¡°jitter¡± that Ziragoth had put into him? That¡¯s all this was. A hiccup. He was a gods-damned man. Men pulled themselves together. Men picked themselves up. They didn¡¯t cry. They didn¡¯t break down. Pulling himself out of whatever slump he was in, he somehow, miraculously, whipped himself back into form. His hands stopped shaking, his tears stopped flowing, and as though the Gods themselves had intervened on his behalf, he truly did pull himself together. He kissed Fluffles on the forehead. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened, but I swear to the Gods if I ever hurt you, I want you to kill me and don¡¯t think twice about it.¡± Again, he hugged his cat. ¡°Please promise me that.¡± Fluffles wriggled his way out of Zach¡¯s arms and then, without offering any kind of reply, scampered off back to the other side of the counter to hang out with Grundor. Zach, still breathing a bit heavily, craned his neck as he felt a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s sit back down, okay?¡± He nodded. ¡°All right.¡± Once more returning to their seats at the table, Olivir waited for Grundor to place a plate in front of each of them before he began speaking. Lowering his eyes, Zach found himself beyond amazed by what he saw: stacks of pancakes already smothered with maple syrup along with scrambled eggs and cheese, hashbrowns, sausage links, and even mashed potatoes. His stomach ached with hunger, yet he still felt queasy at the thought of eating. ¡°Did I really do it?¡± he asked. ¡°In a way, you didn¡¯t,¡± Olivir replied. ¡°It clearly wasn¡¯t you. But you were still responsible. And if it had happened anywhere in this universe but here, uhm, you¡¯d be feeling a whole lot worse.¡± Tears once more threatened to appear unbidden in his eyes. He fought them. Gods, he fought them. He held them back like they were acidic and would melt his eyeballs. ¡°I just can¡¯t accept¡­it¡¯s too much.¡± ¡°If it makes you feel any better, Fluffles really didn¡¯t care about anything other than you finding out. I¡¯m not exaggerating or saying that to make you feel better, either. As hard to believe as it is¡ªand it really is hard to believe¡ªFluffles truly didn¡¯t seem to care that he¡¯d died. Not even in the slightest. I mean, literally zero, Zach.¡± Zach wasn¡¯t sure how to respond to that, as he didn¡¯t fully comprehend what he was being told. ¡°How do you know that?¡± Olivir¡¯s lips twisted, then twitched, and to Zach¡¯s shock, he actually began to laugh. First, he snorted, and then he covered his mouth before literally spitting through his fingertips. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t¡ªcan¡¯t help it,¡± he said as he began to cackle. ¡°It was just too unexpected and funny.¡± ¡°What was?¡± ¡°When I bring someone back, they usually sleep for at least ten hours before waking up. Fluffles woke up within a few seconds¡ªand bit me. Really hard, too. He said it was because I bit him first and that¡ª¡± ¡°Vampire man did bite Fluffles first!¡± the cat shouted with a hiss. ¡°Fluffles do self-defense. Vampire man started fight and Fluffles win.¡± Olivir rolled his eyes. ¡°I was saving you. It wasn¡¯t a fight.¡± The cat meowed. ¡°It still count. No one bite Fluffles for free.¡± The cat spun around and lifted his head so that he looked up at Grundor. ¡°I want food.¡± With another chuckle, Olivir explained to Zach that the cat had gotten it into his head somehow that, because Olivir had drank some of his blood, Olivir had to feed him two dinners instead of one despite him already having been fed dinner. The result was that Fluffles lost patience and decided to use a magical projectile to blast open the cellar door and steal a pound of smoked fish, which he then ate until the point that he puked. He¡¯d then blamed Olivir for ¡°allowing¡± him to do that. ¡°I kept checking to make sure Fluffles was okay, but within an hour of coming back, he was running around the estate playing happily with Grundor. The only time he seemed even slightly upset or angry was when he would go into a rant about some dog that he hated.¡± Almost as if on cue, a low, rumbling meow came from Fluffles, who lifted his head from a bowl containing sliced chicken. ¡°Fluffles hate Chumpkenwiffles. Grundor know what happen? I tell.¡± ¡°You told me so many times, kitty cat,¡± the zombie moaned. Even still, the cat launched into a loud, angry diatribe about his encounter with ¡°the worst creature in the world¡± and how terrible and awful it was, claiming that ¡°Chumpkenwiffles¡± was his number-one worst enemy, and that he would get revenge someday. Zach forced a smile onto his face that he didn¡¯t really feel. His emotions were a mess right now, but he was at least keeping it together. One thing was for sure: he had a new scar now, one borne of guilt. There was nothing¡ªnot one single damned thing¡ªthat anyone would ever be able to say to him for the rest of his life that would lessen the guilt inside him even the slightest bit. For him to have done what Olivir claimed, Zach would never forgive himself. This was completely regardless of whatever Fluffles said or how Fluffles felt. No wonder he had felt so sick to his stomach this morning. There must have been some part of him that knew. Just like there was some part of him that knew the World Eater was going to spawn in five more¡ª What? Zach blinked in confusion. There was something very important he was forgetting, but he couldn¡¯t remember what. Either way, he needed to eat, even if he didn¡¯t want to. He forced himself to consume some of the food, which his body craved, yet his mind rejected¡ªor maybe it was the other way around. It was actually, in a sense, too difficult to even be sure. Yet he forced it down anyway, bite after bite. During the course of breakfast, chatter was thankfully light. The only things they really discussed were the weather patterns on Archian prime. Zach wanted to know why it was so damned cold, and Olivir had explained to him that it was because, on this planet, they were currently in the middle of winter. He then claimed that their summers were every bit as beautiful and hot as their winters were cold and painful. Ultimately, Zach did manage to finish half of the breakfast, and before long, Grundor had come around to collect their plates. Feeling much more like himself, Zach gripped his hands into fists, rotated the muscles in his shoulders, and shrugged off the pain like it was a fly on his shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about whatever it is you saved me to do,¡± Zach said. Olivir was slowly stroking his chin, studying Zach as he¡¯d done before. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay?¡± ¡°Definitely. I¡¯m fine now.¡± ¡°Maybe for now. But you need to get yourself help at some point. I don¡¯t know what happened to you, dude, but it couldn¡¯t have just been one or two things. You¡¯ve gone through a lot of fear and pain. I can tell.¡± Zach waved off the vampire¡¯s concern. ¡°Trust me, I¡¯m fine. What you saw before was¡­like I said, I had a really rough week. I took a lot of hits and got hurt in a lot of ways, but it¡¯s out of my system now.¡± Olivir frowned. ¡°If you say so.¡± Much lower, under his breath, and at a tone Zach could only barely discern, he muttered, ¡°I care too much about people, and that¡¯s why I¡¯m in the mess I¡¯m in.¡± ¡°Huh? What mess?¡± ¡°Before I can tell you, we need to finish the conversation we were having before.¡± Zach stared off to the side for a moment, trying to recall where they¡¯d left off. ¡°Oh, right, Queen Vayra.¡± ¡°Yup. I kind of need to know how you crossed paths and why you chose to side with her against me.¡± Zach released a bout of laughter, and this time, it really was good hearted as the absurdity of how this had all happened really sank in. ¡°It all started with her dog yelling for help.¡± ¡°Is this the same dog your cat hates?¡± ¡°Yes. Basically, here¡¯s what happened¡­¡± In as much detail as possible, he explained to Olivir how he¡¯d been about to leave Archian Prime when he¡¯d heard a cry for help as the battle had moved from the forest into the open field that ran for a few miles until coming to an end at the base of the hill, on top of which he¡¯d been observing. He then explained how he saw Queen Vayra about to be killed. ¡°So that¡¯s what happened,¡± Olivir said, sighing. ¡°You saw a woman in danger and decided to save her.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s only partially why,¡± Zach said. Again, he laughed. ¡°This is the crazy part. Believe it or not, she looked exactly like my girlfriend. From a distance, I couldn¡¯t tell them apart.¡± As he continued laughing, Olivir had the totally opposite reaction, his eyes beginning to widen fearfully and his lips pulling back slightly to reveal his fangs. When Zach caught sight of this reaction, his laughter cut off immediately, and he nervously took another sip of his orange juice. ¡°Olivir, did I say something wrong?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­¡± Olivir muttered something under his breath, then craned his neck back and forth between Grundor and Fluffles before again regarding Zach. ¡°When you say she looked exactly like your girlfriend: what do you mean by that?¡± It only then occurred to Zach that, even though Kalana was a completely different person, Olivir might be a bit uncomfortable with the whole situation given his intense dislike of her mother. Even still, that was no reason to hold it against her. ¡°So, the reason I was laughing so hard before¡ªand I can see this is way too personal for you to find funny¡ªis that the girl I¡¯m dating is actually her daughter. Her name is¡ª¡± ¡°Kalana Vayra!¡± he shouted furiously, slamming both his fists down onto the table and causing his orange-juice-filled mug to turn over onto its side and spill the contents on the floor. The fury in his voice blasted Zach with confusion, as every last trace of confidence in Olivir¡¯s expression seemed to be ripped out of him. Now, what was almost certainly an unholy mixture of fear and anger flooded in to take its place; his pupils became dilated, his mouth fell open, and his hands gripped the sides of his chair. ¡°You¡¯re dating Kalana Vayra! Gods, tell me this is some sick joke!¡± Becoming somewhat defensive, Zach held out his palm and raised his voice, though only slightly. ¡°You¡¯re getting the wrong idea,¡± he said. ¡°Like I told you before, this really was a coincidence. If you¡¯re trying to imply that I had any¡ª¡± Olivir now held up his own palm, mirroring Zach. ¡°No, I know you¡­I know you were telling me the truth. I know you were only there by chance, and I believe you when you say this is all one big coincidence. I¡¯m not angry at you, Zach. I¡¯m pissed at your girlfriend. Even hearing her name gets me seething.¡± It was all Zach could do not to glare at Olivir¡ªor anyone who spoke in a negative way about Kalana. Only his gratitude and debt to the vampire kept him from losing his cool. ¡°Why the hell are you mad at Kalana? You don¡¯t even know her.¡± Olivir grunted, loudly. ¡°She¡¯s the reason for all of my problems. Everything that¡¯s happened¡ªit¡¯s all because of her. And you know what? That¡¯s probably a big part of why the queen killed you, too. Gods, it always comes back to that damn daughter of hers!¡± ¡°Easy,¡± Zach warned. ¡°I love her.¡± Olivir, as if only just now realizing that Zach would not take his words very well, offered a quick, but sincere-sounding apology and then lowered his voice. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can trust you after all. Not for any fault of your own, but because the conflict of interest is just too much, dude. And I can¡¯t risk something so important to me.¡± Becoming even more confused, Zach got out of his chair, stretched the muscles in his back, and took a few deep breaths while he thought over the vampire¡¯s words. Yet he just couldn¡¯t seem to piece together any kind of understanding from them. ¡°You must be mistaken,¡± he said. ¡°Whatever it is you¡¯re upset about, you¡¯re putting it on the wrong girl.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± Olivir said. ¡°Kalana Vayra is the source of my misery.¡± ¡°That¡¯s literally impossible,¡± Zach said, desperate to reason with him. ¡°It actually can¡¯t be.¡± ¡°And why¡¯s that?¡± Zach pointed to himself. ¡°Because I basically grew up with her even before I loved her, and I can tell you beyond all doubt, she¡¯s never even been here to Archian Prime. Whatever you think she¡¯s done, it¡¯s just not possible.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not about what she¡¯s done. It¡¯s about what she allows to be done in her name. I¡¯m being hunted by her mother because of her. Just because she¡¯s okay with letting someone else do her dirty work, it doesn¡¯t make it okay or mean that she¡¯s not still personally re¡ª¡± ¡°Wait a minute, though,¡± Zach said, lifting his head somewhat as it became apparent that the source of Olivir¡¯s anger was due to an extreme misunderstanding. ¡°I think you¡¯re confused about something.¡± ¡°How am I confused?¡± Zach actually chuckled as it dawned on him just how badly Olivir¡¯s understanding of the situation happened to be. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you think you know about Kalana, but she¡¯s basically in the same situation as me.¡± ¡°Meaning what?¡± ¡°Okay, so get this: not only doesn¡¯t she know that you exist, this place exists, or that this planet exists, but I¡¯m pretty sure¡ªlike more than ninety percent¡ªthat she doesn¡¯t even know that her mother¡¯s still alive. Do you understand what I¡¯m saying? She doesn¡¯t even know that any of this is happening. She knows less than I do, and everything I know I found out yesterday.¡± Olivir again grunted. ¡°But when she finds out, she¡¯ll¡ª¡± ¡°No, you really don¡¯t understand her. Like, at all.¡± ¡°Oh really?¡± Olivir asked sardonically. ¡°So you¡¯re saying she¡¯s not an egotistical Elvish princess with a God complex? Zach made a weak, nervous laugh. ¡°She¡¯s¡­okay, she has some of that. I won¡¯t lie to you. She¡¯s definitely got the whole God complex thing going on right now. Honestly, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s up with that.¡± He shook his head. ¡°But! I would swear on my life ten times over that she would never hurt you. She might have the ego of her mom about some things, but her kindness and compassion reminds me of yours, if I¡¯m being honest. She would never hurt you. I swear to you she wouldn¡¯t. And when I tell her what her mom did, I¡¯m going to have to stop her from going after her own mother. Actually¡­¡± Zach shuddered. ¡°Maybe I shouldn¡¯t tell her about that after all.¡± Olivir had been about to speak, but then he halted, and his mouth snapped shut. For several seconds, he stared at Zach as though Zach had jut said the most ridiculous few words ever spoken. Finally, he asked, ¡°Are you saying that she would kill her own mother over a human? You¡¯ve got to be exaggerating.¡± ¡°I wish I was exaggerating,¡± Zach said with a moan. ¡°Gods, there¡¯s no way I can keep this a secret from her, but I don¡¯t know how to tell Kal that I was literally killed by her mother without having her chop her mom into little pieces.¡± ¡°This is just too¡­now I know how you felt earlier,¡± Olivir whispered. ¡°What you¡¯re saying to me is too much. How am I supposed to believe any of that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Zach said. ¡°But either way, if the reason you¡¯re angry is because of Kal, you don¡¯t have to be. Kalana is a good person. Maybe the best person I know. And I promise you that she would never¡ª¡± ¡°Do you really mean that?¡± shouted a girl¡¯s voice from somewhere off behind him and across the kitchen. Startled, Zach swung spun around while, in the exact same moment, Olivir jumped out of his seat, leapt onto the table, darted across it, and then leapt down the other side, placing himself directly in front of Zach. For a moment, Zach thought he was about to find himself under attack, but all Olivir did was extend his arm in the direction of the double-doors that led into the main hall of the estate. ¡°You can¡¯t come out!¡± he shouted. ¡°You can¡¯t reveal yourself. Please, don¡¯t!¡± Whoever he was calling out to did not obey. Strolling assertively into the kitchen, with golden hair, wonderous eyes, and a face that Zach would recognize from a mile away, was a girl who, this time around, he forcibly reminded himself could not possibly be Kalana, even as a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu struck him and made him wonder if the Gods had sent him to some kind of hell where he had to experience things on a loop. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be in here, Kolona,¡± Olivir begged, taking powerful steps across the kitchen to meet her. Please, my love. Don¡¯t say anything that might help the queen to¡ª¡± ¡°Is it true?¡± she asked, her voice demanding yet still somehow remaining kind. She stepped around Olivir, avoiding his attempt to grab her, and then she marched over to Zach, who immediately blushed and felt his entire body soften with a number of confused feelings as he attempted to remind himself that this girl in front of him, this beautiful, golden-haired angel of an Elf¡ªthis was not his Kalana. And the freckles on her face were proof of that! Even if all her other proportions were¡­uh¡­correct. ¡°You know Kalana?¡± ¡°Know her? I love her,¡± Zach said. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell him,¡± Olivir said. ¡°I haven¡¯t decided yet if we can¡ª¡± ¡°My name is Kolona Vayra, first-cousin to Kalana Vayra and niece of Queen Vayra. My father is Arel Vayra, brother of Eldora Vayra, both who have died and left this world. That¡¯s who I am.¡± Zach, having no idea how to respond to something like that, offered Kolona his hand, and she took it. Briefly, the two shook, as Olivir visibly fretted beside them. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Kolona. I¡¯m Zachys Calador. Also, by ¡®left this world¡¯, do you mean dead?¡± Her eyes lowered as a sadness came upon her. ¡°Yes. My father was killed by Peter IV, as was Eldora.¡± ¡°Hah?¡± Zach asked, twisting his lips. ¡°Since when?¡± ¡°What¡­do you mean?¡± ¡°By ¡®Eldora,¡¯ you mean Kal¡¯s dad, right?¡± ¡°Yes, of course.¡± Zach scratched his head. ¡°Uh, he¡¯s not dead. Actually, he¡¯s doing great last I checked. In fact, I spoke to him on the phone not all that¡ª¡± ¡°THE KING IS ALIVE?¡± both Kolona and Olivir shouted in unison as they stood side by side, their mouths agape and their eyes widened in what Zach could only call an extreme state of shock and disbelief. For some reason, Zach¡¯s words had actually stunned them into silence. For a few seconds, he¡¯d worried that he¡¯d somehow literally petrified them and turned them into stone and that they would remain that way forever. But finally, after a very awkward few moments, they both turned to face one another, their faces now lighting up with equal parts wonder and amazement. Olivir again looked back to Zach. ¡°Are you sure about this? One-hundred percent sure?¡± ¡°We¡¯re talking about Kalana¡¯s dad, right? Eldora Vayra?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Kolona said. ¡°King Eldora, as he would have been if he didn¡¯t¡ªif we hadn¡¯t been told of his death. Are you saying you know him? Really?¡± ¡°Know him? The guy used to drive me and Kal to the movies on weekends. He was actually there the day my dad died. It was him they were looking for¡ªah, but don¡¯t worry. That all worked out in the end.¡± Zach knew he was going to have to elaborate, as this clearly seemed to be a very important piece of information to the girl, and so after giving Kolona a description of Eldora just to reassure her that they were talking about the same guy, he then recounted the story with much more specificity of the day his father had died. Kolona surprised him by running forward and wrapping him in a hug. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry my family has cost you so much,¡± she said, weeping. ¡°Thank you for saving my uncle, and I am so sorry that his existence cost you your father.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not your fault or his. It¡¯s Varsh¡¯s fault. Your uncle didn¡¯t do anything wrong. I don¡¯t blame you, him, or Kal for what happened. No one should be kidnapped in their own home.¡± She released him, and then Zach watched as Olivir placed a hand on his own chest; by the sound of the exhale he made, it was clear that a great sense of relief had rushed into him, even if Zach could not quite understand why. ¡°This makes everything so much better,¡± he said at last. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Because the favor I really needed from you, Zach, is to take what¡¯s most important to me in this world¡±¡ªhe waved an arm in Kolona¡¯s direction¡ª¡°to safety. The truth is, Queen Vayra is going to find this place, likely by tomorrow night if not earlier. But if King Vayra is still alive, and if you can somehow find a way to get Kolona to him, he will protect her at all costs. She is the child of his dear brother. He will never allow Queen Vayra to harm her. The love that man had for his brother, and the grief he felt at his death¡­it¡¯s inconceivable that he would allow his niece to be hurt, not even by his estranged wife.¡± Zach smiled. ¡°Well, you¡¯re in luck¡ªI think.¡± ¡°Hmm? What do you mean, Zach?¡± Rather than answer, he responded with another question. ¡°How far are we right now from that hill that I fell down yesterday?¡± ¡°The one with those low-level pumpkins and scarecrows?¡± ¡°Yeah, that one.¡± Offering him a curious but hopeful glance, Olivir paused a moment and said, ¡°About twenty minutes by skeleton horse or an hour on foot. If you needed to go there, I could summon the horses and take us stealthily.¡± Now, Zach paused to calculate a few things in his head. ¡°Okay, then in that case, while maybe not true in the technical sense, in the actual sense, Eldora and Kalana are only like an hour and a half away from here, depending on how you look at it, I mean.¡± Having been the confused one all night, it was almost a relief to see Olivir now the one with all the questions burning in his head. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zach felt himself becoming more energetic and hopeful as he explained. ¡°So, the dungeon I came here in leads out to a floor called B4, which is really short, and so is B5. After that is B6, which is just a really long hallway, and then through there you end up on this beautiful beach in Shadowfall Coast. Kalana and her father are just a couple of miles from there with a whole bunch of really good people that I know.¡± Olivir reacted to Zach¡¯s explanation with a stunningly mismatched display of equal parts relief and worry. ¡°Why are they all gathered together like that? Is there a reason?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, it¡¯s for a boss raid.¡± ¡°Ahh, of course,¡± Olivir said after a moment, a chuckle following his words. ¡°Who¡¯re they up against.¡± ¡°There¡¯s this dragon thing. It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s kind of the thing that hurt me really badly.¡± ¡°I saw that,¡± Kolona said sweetly, her face softening. ¡°You were missing your arm and an eye. You poor thing. Did that dragon do it to you?¡± ¡°Sure did,¡± Zach said. Very briefly, he explained how he¡¯d been fighting a hitwoman in a small town when a dragon had spawned and he¡¯d been forced to fight it alone for a minute and forty-two seconds while as many people escaped as possible. ¡°It¡¯s been in my head ever since,¡± he finished. ¡°It¡¯s why I crossed paths coincidentally with Queen Vayra. I was only in that dungeon to try to regain my courage. And that¡¯s when all this happened.¡± Olivir¡¯s face lit up with understanding. ¡°Everything finally makes sense now,¡± he whispered. ¡°You just filled in all the pieces for me. But listen, Zach, you don¡¯t need to feel any kind of shame. Trust me: dragons are a bunch of pricks. I¡¯ve had to kill a few myself. There¡¯s no shame at all in being frightened of them. Which one spawned, anyway? Let me guess: Golarth. That¡¯s a nasty one and also a determined roamer. I know how to beat it, though. When does it roam over to their camp?¡± ¡°It should get there in like¡­actually, I think in just a few hours from now. And no, it¡¯s not any ¡®Golarth.¡¯ I have no idea what that is. This one¡¯s called Ziragoth.¡± Olivir¡¯s reaction was one that caught Zach so off guard he almost stumbled backwards and fell over. The vampire, who looked like a kid Zach¡¯s age, slapped his own forehead, moaned loudly, and now a look of pure, utter frustration popped into his face as he grabbed a lock of his silver hair and tugged on it. ¡°Fuck!¡± he shouted. ¡°You¡¯re kidding me. Gods-damn it!¡± He unleashed a series of expletives dirty enough to make Zach feel like he was listening to a recording of himself as a nervous pain entered into his belly. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder why that name had rattled Olivir so much. Whirling around, Olivir turned to face Kolona, and he grabbed her shoulders. ¡°Looks like we need to come up with another plan. We could try Earth. Maybe Zach can¡ª¡± ¡°Wait, wait, hold up!¡± Zach yelled, cutting him off. ¡°What other plan? What¡¯s the problem?¡± Olivir released Kolona, made a fist, and then tapped it against Zach¡¯s chest as his voice suddenly turned remorseful and pained. ¡°You¡¯ve been through so much. I don¡¯t even know if I can tell you this.¡± ¡°Tell me what?¡± Zach asked. ¡°No more games. What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°You¡¯re sure this is Ziragoth, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. Believe me, I know the name of the fucking bastard that ripped off my arm and gouged out my eye. It¡¯s kind of hard to forget it when I see it every time I go to sleep. It was the worst thing that ever happened to me¡ªuh, maybe. Shit, now it might be the second worst. Gods, no wonder I¡¯m all screwed up. But yeah, I remember that Gods-be-damned thing¡¯s name. You don¡¯t have to worry, though. Right now, all my new friends and Kalana are over there waiting for it, and they¡¯ve got the best Galterra has to offer, so it is going to die.¡± Olivir took a long, deep breath, then exhaled slowly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but Kalana and all your friends are basically dead. There¡¯s nothing you can do, and it¡¯s over.¡± ¡°Like fucking hell it is!¡± Zach shouted, both appalled and horrified. ¡°Why would you even say that?¡± ¡°Because there¡¯s no damn way your friends in Galterra are killing that thing. That¡¯s a double-phased enemy.¡± ¡°A what?¡± ¡°It means after you get it half health, it regenerates back to full and enters a second phase: in this case, making it five times as strong and ten times as aggressive. Your friends are going to die, North Bastia is going to be burned to the ground, and then it¡¯s going to fly from continent to continent killing everyone else. Galterra is done for. But we still have Earth, Zeux II, Zeux III, The Horizons of¡ª¡± ¡°I won¡¯t accept that,¡± Zach said, shaking his head. ¡°Donovan Iseldar is there. He¡¯s the leader of the God-Slayers Guild.¡± Olivir sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t care who he is. He¡¯s dead. Ever since our genius political guilds began dismantling all the spawn points for the sake of safety, our world became unable to deal with threats like these, because it requires a whole lot more than just a few-hundred adventurers to take down a dragon God.¡± ¡°A what?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Is that another name for a superboss?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s worse than a superboss. It goes: mobs, bosses, superbosses, God bosses, and then planet destroyers¡ªwhich as the name suggests, destroy planets. God bosses, though, they just kill everyone on it without ruining the planet itself. Regardless, your friends don¡¯t even know what they¡¯re about to fight.¡± ¡°Well, how do you know?¡± Olivir snapped his fingers. ¡°Grundor, can you go to the library please and get the Ziragoth file?¡± Grundor, who had been cleaning the kitchen up until this point and had clearly not been paying attention, actually dropped a plate, causing it to shatter as he shrieked. ¡°Whoah, who¡¯s fighting Ziragoth? That thing spawned already?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Zach grunted. ¡°What was that like? Grundor asked, hurrying over. His patience shot, Zach muttered, ¡°Painful and really unpleasant.¡± ¡°S-sorry,¡± Grundor said. ¡°That was a dick thing to ask. Okay, I¡¯ll get you the file.¡± He then hurried away, and the sound of his massive feet banging on stairs resounded throughout the estate as he went wherever it was that he was going. While they waited for him, Olivir continued his explanation. ¡°Most of what I know, I know from vampires who are way, way older than me. Some of these guys are in their thousands. One of them, Archivist Master Count Cadogan, told me about Ziragoth about eighty years ago when we were going camping together. I distinctly remember it because he told me it¡¯d been something he¡¯d had to deal with during his early years as a vampire. It¡¯s no wonder you¡¯re so traumatized. That must have been what you were fighting in your dreams. Was it?¡± Zach did not reply, as he could no longer bear to talk about that subject with Olivir. Luckily, Olivir picked up on that did not ask him a second time when no answer came. Trying to keep focused, Zach approached closer to Olivir and met his eyes. ¡°Please, I need to help them. I need to warn them.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Olivir said. ¡°It¡¯s not going to do a thing for you, but I¡¯ll give you the file in exchange for taking Kolona to a safe planet. We¡¯ll be cutting it close on time, but¡ª¡± ¡°No!¡± Kolona shouted, surprising them both. Zach flinched, and so did Olivir. Grabbing his arm and tugging him slightly in her direction, she asked, ¡°My cousin, Kalana. Are you sure about what you said?¡± ¡°You mean about there being no way she¡¯d ever hurt you?¡± He waited for Kolona to nod before continuing. ¡°Of course I¡¯m sure. Without any doubt in this world.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m not abandoning her. I¡¯m going with you to Galterra¡ªOlivir shush! I love you so much, and you are everything to me too, but my cousin is still alive, and she¡¯s not what you said she was. I remember her. I knew in my heart it couldn¡¯t be true: she couldn¡¯t be like her mother.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not,¡± Zach said. ¡°Like I said, she¡¯s definitely gotten a bit¡­not sure what word to use. I guess you could say ¡®full of herself¡¯ since becoming powerful, but not in a malicious or evil way. She does think she¡¯s a God, and I realize that sounds bad, but the flipside to that is she sort of thinks she¡¯s a benevolent God and not like a fiery one that kills people. Heh, that¡¯s the kind I¡¯d probably be if I had the power she has. I¡¯m just so pissed at everything.¡± For some reason, his words caused an even sharper reaction of alarm to pop into Olivir¡¯s eyes than the name of Ziragoth had. Or maybe Zach was mistaken, because it was gone so quickly, he could not really be sure it had been there at all. ¡°This is a mistake, Kolona,¡± Olivir said. ¡°When I die to Queen Vayra, I want to die knowing you¡¯re going to be okay.¡± As Grundor returned with a paper-based file¡ªZach had been expecting something electronic¡ªhe stuffed it into his tunic and shot a questioning look Olivir¡¯s way. ¡°What do you mean when you die to Queen Vayra?¡± He gave Zach a pat on the back. ¡°I can¡¯t come with you guys.¡± ¡°Sure you can. Why stay here and die? Maybe you can help kill Ziragoth.¡± ¡°I would if I could, but I literally can¡¯t.¡± At this, Kolona began to tear up. ¡°It¡¯s true. I can¡¯t accept it myself, but I know it¡¯s true.¡± ¡°But why?¡± Zach asked them both. It was Kolona who answered. ¡°Only Elves and people with that buff can go in the dungeons.¡± ¡°Why, what happens if someone who doesn¡¯t have it tries to enter?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± Olivir said. ¡°There¡¯s a barrier on the door we can¡¯t get through.¡± At this, Zach couldn¡¯t help but smile as he said, ¡°That¡¯s not a problem, Olivir. I can get you in.¡± Upon hearing his words, both Kolona and Olivir spoke at the same time. ¡°Really?¡± Kolona asked excitedly, her voice full of hope. ¡°You can¡¯t,¡± Olivir insisted, his tone sad and somewhat defeated. Then, to Kolona, he said, ¡°He can¡¯t, my love. I know what he wants to do, but it won¡¯t work?¡± ¡°You have no idea what I plan to do,¡± Zach said with a glare. ¡°I have an ability that¡ª¡± ¡°I know what your ability does. I saw it. The one with the blueish energy that teleported those Elvish warriors away from my Blood-Hunting Maneaters. That one, right?¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡± Olivir sighed sadly. ¡°That¡¯ll never work.¡± ¡°But why?¡± ¡°Because while you¡¯re standing on one side of the door, and I¡¯m standing on the other, visually, it might look like I¡¯m only ten or so feet away, right?¡± ¡°Okay, yeah, so?¡± ¡°Well, the truth is, I¡¯m actually two-hundred light years away. By galactic standards, that¡¯s the equivalent of a single bus stop. By human standards, that¡¯s a distance so far and so vast that if Galterra exploded right now this second, no one here would be able to tell for two-hundred years.¡± Zach rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger as he tried to see the problem here. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll be an issue. Meaning, if it¡¯s the range you¡¯re worried about.¡± ¡°Of course it will be,¡± Olivir insisted, now sounding a little annoyed on top of worried. ¡°I really do appreciate you trying to help, but you need to visualize this not with your eyes but with your brain. I don¡¯t know what the range on that ability is, but I¡¯m sure it¡¯s not two-hundred light years.¡± Zach grinned. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s boundless.¡± ¡°It¡¯s what?¡± ¡°If I show you, do you promise not to suddenly view me as a serious threat and then kill me like Queen Vayra?¡± The question was intended to be asked as a joke, but Zach¡¯s voice actually shook with fear as he asked it. ¡°No vampire would,¡± Olivir replied, his tone deadly serious. ¡°Do you know why?¡± ¡°No. Please tell me.¡± ¡°Because,¡± Olivir began, ¡°Normal level-1 humans live around eighty years on average, and even high-level adventurers can maybe push one-fifty if they take great care of themselves. But even if you managed to live to be five-hundred, Zach, I would still look only a month or two older than I do right now. So unlike Queen Vayra, it doesn¡¯t matter to me if you are powerful: not even if you were the strongest being in the universe. You¡¯re never going to be a threat to me, because even if you conquered the entire world, as long as I¡¯m not on your bad side, all I¡¯d ever have to do is wait.¡± Zach was stunned at how much sense that actually made to him. In just that one explanation, Olivir had actually offered what he¡¯d thought just a few minutes ago was unthinkable to him: a way to truly, fully trust a person after what Fylwen had done to him. Because what Olivir had said was actually true. While Zach had no idea what ambitions the vampire held or what he sought out of life, no matter what it might happen to be, his and Zach¡¯s interests would never actually collide in a way where one prevented another, because there was nothing in this world Zach could ever do that Olivir could not simply navigate around just by virtue of waiting for Zach to get old and die. ¡°Okay, join my party,¡± Zach said, finding his courage. ¡°I¡¯ll show you what I can do.¡± And that¡¯s exactly what he did. Though he was not in Unleashed Phase, he realized he could still share his list of abilities doing things the old-fashioned way. Bringing forth the ability description for Boundless, he watched as Olivir remained perfectly silent and motionless as he appeared to read over the same few lines again and again as though expecting them to say something different each time. Finally, after several more moments had come and gone, he nodded his head and looked at Zach. Then he said something that Zach had actually heard a person say to him once before, and the fact that he spoke it in almost the same way with the same inflection made him wonder if there was some kind cosmic joke being played on him. ¡°Zach,¡± he said, meeting his eyes. ¡°Y-yeah?¡± ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not related to a God or something?¡± ¡°If I am,¡± Zach replied, ¡°He or she doesn¡¯t give a rat¡¯s ass about me.¡± Both of them shared a laugh, and then they got down to business. Chapter 68: Trouble Above Chapter 68: Trouble Above Zach ducked his head as a low-hanging tree branch whipped by above him. Then he ducked a second time as another, similar branch came within inches of clipping him. This, as the sound of skeletal hooves pounding down onto soil reverberated from all around while the icy, painful wind made him shiver. His hands and knuckles becoming numb, he held his breath a moment then released it. Cold aside, everything so far was going according to plan. Yet he needed to calm himself. He couldn¡¯t allow urgency to make him careless. I need to warn Mr. Oren and Kalana, he thought. They have to know what¡¯s coming for them! All things considered, the undead skeleton horse that Zach rode on was not as uncomfortable as he¡¯d been expecting. Thanks to the cushion provided by the saddle and the firm grip of the reins, the bony, level-20 creature beneath him felt exactly how he imagined a normal horse would feel. Of course, never having ridden a real one, that was merely an assumption: and so too was his guess that one of those winged, flying ones he¡¯d had to deal with yesterday would be a great deal more difficult to handle as well. Part of him wished he¡¯d gotten the chance to find out, but given the absolute need to move quickly, quietly, and to avoid being spotted by air, it was only common sense that traveling by ground was the better of the two options, especially considering the relatively short distance to where they were heading. Whatever the method, though, Zach was just glad to be on the move and making his way off this planet. Having left the safety of Olivir¡¯s estate, he felt extremely vulnerable as he, Kolona, Grundor, Olivir, and Fluffles galloped their way together through a dense, thick forest with trees so tall that most of the light from the sun above them became blocked out and made the surrounding terrain dark and ominous. Although the canopy provided them almost perfect cover from any Elvish scouts flying above, it also made Zach stir uncomfortably each time he glanced at the shadows all around him, fearful that something might leap out and knock him off his mount. By far, this was the densest forest he¡¯d ever seen; it was also teeming with creatures of both a biological and non-biological nature alike. One thing was clear: if not for the presence of Queen Vayra and her Elves, this was a planet he would¡¯ve loved to come back to. It was untouched in a way that could not be said of Galterra. There were mobs everywhere¡ªliterally, everywhere. He saw giant frogs, giant bees, praying mantises the size of goats, blobs, slimes, and dozens of other things that he whipped by so fast he couldn¡¯t even properly discern. Everywhere he glanced were mobs of various levels, sizes, colors, and names. There was even a grizzly-bear-looking boss just a bit off into the distance guarding a cave that, for all Zach knew, might have even had some kind of treasure hidden inside of it. [??/??] (T1) Butcher Bear Level 21 Along with his sense of danger was an even greater sense of excitement that bubbled inside of him: of adventure and possibility. This whole planet was a place not unlike that of what Galterra had been so long ago. There could have been literally millions of different mobs and bosses scattered all over the world. It was an entire planet of places to hunt and grow strong, of things to find and explore. It probably had its own unique dungeons, too. And yet, sadly, no one other than the Elves, a few vampires, and maybe some adventurers would ever get to see any of it. ¡°You know, Zach, there¡¯s even more planets out there like this one,¡± Olivir said. He was riding to Zach¡¯s immediate right and grinning. ¡°I know exactly what you¡¯re thinking.¡± ¡°You do?¡± He nodded. ¡°¡®Course I do. It¡¯s the same thought I had the first time I arrived here with the other vampires.¡± He briefly released the reins of his saddle so that he could extend his arms widely. ¡°You¡¯re amazed to be someplace that¡¯s a lot like what the history books say our own world used to be, right? Well, there¡¯s at least five more planets like this that I know about, and there¡¯s probably more out there than just that, too. We¡¯re talking entire worlds filled with quests and mobs and some other stuff you would have to see to believe. Some are really high level, though, and you wouldn¡¯t be able to go there without meeting certain requirements or you¡¯d get yourself killed.¡± Olivir¡¯s claims stunned Zach, and he felt his eyebrows rising to the top of his face. ¡°Wait, really? There are other planets like this one?¡± ¡°Oh, for sure, dude. I¡¯m not messing with you.¡± ¡°Have you actually been to any of them?¡± Zach asked, fascinated. Olivir snickered. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve never been to any of them myself, but I know from the elder vampires that they exist.¡± ¡°Why are there so many of them?¡± Olivir hummed to himself a moment as if considering the question. ¡°I don¡¯t really know for sure. But if I had to guess, the Great Ones had a vision of how they thought things would go, and well¡­they clearly didn¡¯t go that way. Hey, you know about the Great Ones, right?¡± Before replying, Zach peered out as far into the distance as he could. It was so dark and visibility was so poor that he had to really focus his eyes to effectively avoid any obstacles in his way. They were not traveling on any particular ¡°path.¡± Rather, they were riding at great speed directly through the massive, dense forest that would lead them to the base of the plateau, on top of which was the door that led to B4. Once Zach was confident that he had his mount well under control, he risked turning his head in Olivir¡¯s direction. ¡°I¡¯ve only heard the term a few times,¡± he admitted. ¡°I¡¯m guessing they¡¯re the Gods that made our world.¡± ¡°Uhm¡­I guess you could put it that way. It¡¯s a whole topic that even the oldest vampires only know bits and pieces about. But yeah, what you said is basically right: they made the world as we know it. And what I¡¯m saying is I think the way things turned out for Galterra isn¡¯t what they thought would happen.¡± For the third time, Zach leaned forward to put his head below a low-hanging branch that would¡¯ve slammed into him and possibly knocked him off his mount. ¡°What do you mean?¡± he asked, straightening his back. ¡°Okay, so this is just some dumb idea I came up with,¡± Olivir began, once more gripping the reins of his skeleton horse, ¡°but I think the Great Ones never thought we¡¯d find a way of destroying all¡ªor at least almost all¡ªof the spawn points on Galterra. My thinking is that they assumed we¡¯d level up, go to a higher-level planet, level up some more, and continue on, growing stronger and more prosperous from working together and cooperating. I¡¯ve actually always had a theory, and I have no way of confirming this and no evidence to support it, but uhm¡­I¡¯ve always felt like the entire planet of Galterra was just meant to be a place to start off, not a place to settle down and build a society around. I think that¡¯s what the Great Ones wanted.¡± Zach snorted. ¡°They don¡¯t sound all that smart, then. Anyone could¡¯ve told them that would fail.¡± ¡°I guess so,¡± Olivir said, sadly. ¡°Humans just aren¡¯t meant for that.¡± Zach opened his mouth to reply, but Kolona, who was riding to his left, spoke first. ¡°It¡¯s not just humans,¡± she said, her golden hair blowing in the freezing wind. ¡°Elves have our own issues, too. All the races do.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, I know that,¡± Olivir said, nodding. ¡°But humans, we¡­we tend to self-destruct way, way worse.¡± ¡°Maybe that¡¯s true,¡± Kolona agreed, though she sounded somewhat reluctant. Then she twisted in her saddle and smiled at Olivir. ¡°But for every one of you who¡¯s pure evil, there¡¯s another who¡¯s pure good.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t Elves the same way?¡± Zach asked her as he tugged on the reins to avoid having the skeleton horse smash directly into a tree. Unlike real horses, which Zach just assumed would naturally refuse to crash headfirst into something, Olivir had explained shortly before departing that mounted mobs would literally run off a cliff if guided to do so, and because of this, it was important to pay a lot more attention to where a mount was being steered. On the flip side, however, it was never necessary to pause to let the skeleton horse catch its breath or drink or eat. Only sentient NPCs, like Grundor and Angelica, appeared to have any kind of basic needs. Kolona replied to his question, but not before pulling her own horse out of the way of an approaching tree. ¡°Some Elves are like that,¡± she said. ¡°Like my aunt, who¡¯s pure evil. But most Elves, I guess, are closer to the middle.¡± ¡°I think most humans are, too,¡± Zach said. ¡°But yeah, I¡¯m sure we do have more people on the extreme ends of things.¡± I wonder what end I¡¯m on, he thought. Am I a good or bad person? The fact that he didn¡¯t know was what struck him as so odd. Or rather, to be more specific, it was the fact that he¡¯d never even contemplated the question in the first place. In all seventeen years of Zach¡¯s life, he had never once actually considered whether or not he was a good or bad person. Sure, he could be a dick at times, or he could be kind at others, but from a much broader, general perspective, he genuinely did not know the answer. On the one hand, he had almost died saving innocent lives after Ziragoth had spawned in the middle of a town and had begun indiscriminately killing everyone from men to little children. Zach had lost an arm and an eye in the process of saving those people, and he¡¯d done it because he couldn¡¯t stand to see any more people dying. But on the other hand, he didn¡¯t want to do it, and if he was being honest with himself, he knew that his motivation was selfish in a sense. Had he left those people to die, he would not have been able to bear the guilt of it, and so to avoid having to feel that guilt, he¡¯d recklessly charged at something so powerful he was only first beginning to understand the extent of it now. I wasn¡¯t trying to be a good person, he thought. I was just trying not to make a choice I couldn¡¯t live with. Even if he allowed himself to put his Ziragoth actions in the ¡°good deed¡± column, there was still the fact that he was so, so greedy and money-hungry. What Zach wanted most out of life was to be rich beyond his wildest dreams, and to level up and become more and more powerful. He wanted lots of land, and he wanted giant screens to watch movies, and he wanted a huge garden, and a swimming pool, and a hot tub. He wanted to get a room in Angelica¡¯s from the first hundred doors and build an entire kingdom inside, where such a thing was not only possible, but could be done easily and quickly with the push of a button on a tablet. He also wanted a fancy DEHV, and also one of those Earth cars, too. He wanted so much, and he wanted to give so little. Didn¡¯t that make him sort of bad? I don¡¯t know what I am, he thought. I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m supposed to be, either. The realization that he had absolutely no idea who or what he truly was sent Zach into moment of deep contemplation: a moment that lasted just a second or two too long. He was snapped out of his thoughts as Olivir called out to him in warning. ¡°Zach, look out!¡± Tugging hard on the reins, he only narrowly avoided ramming his skeleton horse head first into the hard base of a tree so tall that it could almost rival the height of one of the smaller skyscrapers in Tomb of Fire. Although Zach managed to pull himself out of the tree¡¯s path, he did so in a way that was awkward, clumsy, and momentarily cost him control over his mount. Now, veering off to the left, he hissed in frustration as he came within an inch or two of ramming into Kolona and taking the both of them down. Luckily, her reflexes were incredible, and she was able to deftly maneuver her mount around the side of Zach, so that, now, she rode between him and Olivir as he continued to make zig-zagging motions in an attempt to regain control. So glad I didn¡¯t hit her, he thought, his heart racing. If Zach did actually crash into one of these trees, he doubted he¡¯d be seriously injured or injured at all. Even with a mere 11 points into constitution¡ªand that was after taking gear into account¡ªit was a virtual certainty that, at the worst, he¡¯d suffer a minor bruise. The real problem would be the setback in time and the possible destruction of his skeleton horse, which for whatever reason, only had 20 points of HP. Kolona, on the other hand, having been turned into a vampire, could either die outright or suffer a catastrophic injury, as she had only a single point into con. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said, slowly inching his way back into formation. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Kolona replied. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me.¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°No, that was really dumb of me. If I hit you, you could¡¯ve died.¡± ¡°No way,¡± Olivir said with a laugh as Zach and Kolona carefully traded places so that he returned to the middle between them. ¡°Believe it or not, Kolona¡¯s a really unique type of vampire.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Zach asked. Rather than answer, Olivir paused a moment to smile lovingly and affectionately at Kolona, who returned the gaze with equal fervor. Becoming uncomfortable, Zach ducked somewhat in his saddle, as it made him feel awkward to be in the middle of their romantic glances. Finally, however, Olivir took his eyes off Kolona and answered the question. ¡°Even though she¡¯s a vampire, she¡¯s primarily a melee fighter.¡± The words stunned Zach, and it was only due to the embarrassment of his previous mistake that he did not take his eyes off the rush of incoming trees ahead of him to peer questioningly at Olivir. ¡°With only one point in constitution?¡± ¡°As far as the elders are aware, she¡¯s the first Elvish vampire to ever exist,¡± Olivir said. ¡°She has a unique set of abilities that make her perfectly suited to fighting at close range. To the point I don¡¯t worry so much about her getting hurt or seriously injured.¡± Zach chewed on his lower lip a moment as his curiosity took hold of him. Unable to resist, he asked, ¡°What abilities?¡± At this, Olivir swerved around a thick tree before returning to formation and smiling. ¡°If I tell you, will you tell me how yours works? The one that made all that smoke come out of your hands?¡± Zach frowned. ¡°I already told you how Boundless works. And look, I really do feel like I can trust you, Olivir, it¡¯s just¡­after what my girlfriend¡¯s mom did, I¡¯m still kind of nervous about anyone learning too much about me.¡± For just a brief moment, Olivir smirked confidently, released the reins of his mount, and shrugged. Then he grabbed them once more and gracefully dodged another tree. ¡°That¡¯s fine. You don¡¯t have to tell me, dude. But I¡¯m not outing her secret unless you tell me yours.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Kolona said, her expression bright and trusting. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you.¡± There was a softness to her that Zach found genuine and soothing. In many ways, she reminded him of Kalana¡ªparticularly when it came to looks. Truly, the only things that separated the two girls were that Kalana¡¯s shoulders were a bit broader and Kolona¡¯s face had freckles that he found cute in a way. Kolona was also a touch paler, but that was difficult to make out under this dark lighting. But their personalities, on the other hand, were a great deal different. Zach believed with every bit of his heart that, despite some of her more alarming goals and aspirations, Kalana was a truly good person who would never hurt the innocent. And Kolona seemed like a really good person, too. But whereas Kalana had always been forceful, dominant, headstrong, and stubbornly persistent¡ªtraits that had only become stronger since she started leveling¡ªKolona, on the other hand, was far more subdued, acquiescent, soft-spoken, and timid. It wasn¡¯t that she hadn¡¯t shown signs of strength, such as when she demanded to return to Galterra with Zach to warn her cousin about Ziragoth, but rather, she displayed her strength with far less regularity and seemed much more inclined to go along with the flow of things. Zach studied her for any sign of deceit or manipulation. She merely closed her eyes and smiled cheerfully while still managing to nimbly avoid crashing into an old, decaying tree that was split down the middle and looked as though it¡¯d once been set on fire. As though in opposition to gravity, the tree somehow remained upright even though both halves looked like they were ready to fall over at any moment. With a tug of the reins, Zach watched as her mount leapt into the air and then dashed through the small gap where the tree had split. It was a tight fit, but she soared through it without issue; upon landing, she reopened her eyes and nodded at him. ¡°When I woke up as a level-1 Elvish vampire,¡± she said, ¡°I had a new, unique-type passive ability called Shield of the Agile Goddess.¡± She elevated her chin somewhat, and though it was only slight, Zach definitely detected a hint of brashness hidden in her otherwise more reserved nature. ¡°What¡¯s it do?¡± he asked, already intrigued by the name alone. ¡°It works like this: anyone¡ªor any thing¡ªthat has a lower speed stat or dexterity stat than me has to hit me five times before I can be hurt, resetting every five minutes.¡± Zach¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°Wait, so if I were to take out my sword right now and hit you with all my strength¡­?¡± ¡°It would bounce right off her,¡± Olivir said. Then he sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t believe she told you that for free. Take it as a sign of trust, then. That information makes you really, really dangerous to her. The fact I¡¯m not freaking out or anything is another sign of trust.¡± Zach laughed quietly to himself a moment. ¡°So, if you crashed headfirst into one of these trees, would that hurt you?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± Kolona said with another cheerful smile. In all honesty, if Kalana did not exist, Zach could see himself falling for this girl in a heartbeat. She was just so vibrant and friendly, as well as beautiful. It made him really miss Kalana. His mood became elevated as it fully dawned on him that he was going to see her again very, very soon. Within two hours or less, most likely. Even with such dire news and terrible circumstances, the idea of seeing her again was enough to shove down his fears and make him genuinely happy. As if noticing his sudden change in demeanor, she shot him a questioning glance. ¡°Ah, sorry,¡± he said, realizing he had been staring at her face. ¡°I was just thinking about Kal.¡± ¡°You really love her, don¡¯t you?¡± she asked him. He nodded. ¡°More than anything.¡± Only moments ago, Zach had been thinking about his goals in life: how he wanted money, power, and all the material possessions he could imagine. But that wasn¡¯t the whole of it, was it? No, it wasn¡¯t. The one thing he wanted above all else was Kalana. Building a kingdom meant nothing if she did not live in it with him. Kolona scrunched her lips together. ¡°Cute,¡± she teased. He removed his left hand from the reins of his mount and waved off the remark before gripping it once again. ¡°Yeah, yeah. Anyway, back to what you were saying before: you¡¯re telling me that even if you slammed into a tree, it wouldn¡¯t hurt you?¡± ¡°No, because a tree doesn¡¯t have any dexterity or speed, technically. Most inanimate objects count as nothing, so I would have to purposefully ride directly into it five times in a row to be vulnerable.¡± Amazed, Zach asked, ¡°Does it have to be the same tree?¡± She laughed. ¡°Yes. And every five minutes it resets, so whether I¡¯ve been hit four times or all five and become vulnerable, the shield returns and the counter goes back to zero.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± Zach whispered. For a few seconds, he said nothing. Then, finding his voice, he said, ¡°I¡¯m in shock at how incredible that is.¡± ¡°Oli¡¯s reaction was the same when he learned what I can do, too.¡± Olivir cleared his throat, reminding Zach that he was still part of the conversation despite having gone silent for the moment. ¡°She might have told you that for free, but don¡¯t think she doesn¡¯t also have a bunch of other cool things she can do. Those, I¡¯m not letting her tell you.¡± He gave a firm, resolute shake of his head. ¡°No way. Trust or no trust, there¡¯s no way I¡¯ll let anyone know the extent of what she can¡ª¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Kolona is level 64 and can turn invisible,¡± Fluffles announced with a meow, causing Olivir to gasp, Grundor to frown, and Kolona to chuckle. The cat was riding on top of the zombie¡¯s head behind Zach. Apparently¡ªand unsurprisingly¡ªShadowfangs were not able to ride and control mounts, and to be honest, it would look kind of silly to see Fluffles riding on his own. ¡°Kolona have special stealth power and can backstab for ten-times damage. Kolona also have¡ª¡± ¡°Please, stop!¡± Olivir begged, panic in his voice. He turned his eyes towards Zach, who was himself totally in disbelief of what he was hearing. ¡°Zach, please ask him to stop. I know you¡¯re curious but I¡¯m really uncomfortable with¡ª¡± Zach held out his palm. ¡°No, I totally get you,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to learn anything you don¡¯t feel like sharing. But uh, is Fluffles actually right? Why does everyone take these talking animals so seriously?¡± ¡°Because they can appraise,¡± Kolona answered in Olivir¡¯s stead. ¡°And yes, the cute little kitty is right.¡± Tilting his head to the side somewhat, Zach took his mount slightly off to the side to evade a smaller tree, then asked, ¡°I¡¯ve heard about this ¡®appraise¡¯ thing before, but just how accurate is it?¡± ¡°Perfectly,¡± Olivir said with a moan. ¡°Please ask the little guy to stop before he gives away every secret my sweet Kolona has.¡± Zach nodded and asked Fluffles to please respect her secrets¡ªor at least he was pretty sure he did. It was also possible he¡¯d only just mouthed the words without actually speaking. It was hard to tell, as he suddenly felt lightheaded and a bit dizzy as a rapidly rising sense of nervousness and unease came upon him. Truth be told, it was a miracle he managed to avoid crashing his mount into any of the trees in his path. Even as he struggled to remain focused, his mind flashed back to Fylwen¡¯s reaction when Fluffles and Chumpkenwiffles had appraised him. He also recalled a time even before then when the cat had appraised him at Angelica¡¯s. Numerous times now, the cat had made absurd claims about him: claims that were so ridiculous he¡¯d dismissed them out of hand despite everyone seeming to take them so seriously. They were claims that were too difficult to believe and too grandiose for his taste. They implied something about him that he not only didn¡¯t see in himself, but couldn¡¯t imagine having to face; he could not even picture himself in the shoes of the kind of person that Fluffles had proclaimed him to be. So what if¡­what if all those downright ludicrous things the cat had said about him were actually true? They can¡¯t be, he thought. I¡¯m just me. I¡¯m no one important. I¡¯m not anyone who really matters. He refused to accept that there was no chance whatsoever that Fluffles could be mistaken. Fluffles might have been a very, very special cat, but Zach had once seen him bite his own tail so hard it¡¯d made him cry out in pain. He¡¯d then hissed at Zach like it was Zach¡¯s fault he couldn¡¯t control himself. Another time, he¡¯d witnessed Fluffles getting stuck inside of a sock. Was Zach supposed to believe that the cat was infallible? That Fluffles couldn¡¯t possibly make a mistake? It just can¡¯t be right, he thought. I know myself too well. I¡¯m not what he says I am. It¡¯s probably going to take me my whole life just to become something slightly better than worthless. I¡¯ll never be what Fluffles thinks I am. The more he allowed his thoughts to trouble him, the more Kolona and Olivir stared at him as though concerned. ¡°You okay?¡± Olivir asked. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°You kinda¡¯ went quiet there for a second.¡± Zach made a weak laugh. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m just a bit out of it.¡± Hoping to change the subject, he said, ¡°Since I know so much about Kolona now, I guess it¡¯s only fair that I tell you about Unleashed Phase: the name of the ability you¡¯re curious about.¡± He sighed. ¡°I might as well trust you at this point.¡± ¡°All right!¡± Olivir cheered. ¡°This, I really wanna hear.¡± He leaned a bit closer towards him while their group continued to ride onwards. He was clearly keen to hear the details, and from the looks of Kolona, so too was she. Even Grundor rode a bit closer in formation as though very much wanting to discover more about Zach¡¯s abilities. Fluffles, to the contrary, yawned and looked about ready to take a nap right there on Grundor¡¯s head. Hesitantly, Zach peered ahead of him to make sure there were no obstacles approaching, then twisted his neck to look over his shoulder at the cat, who was now riding close enough to be pat if Zach bent his back and stretched his arm a bit. Yet before he could even lift his hand, Fluffles¡¯ eyes opened wider, and he hissed. ¡°No!¡± the cat shouted. ¡°No more pats or hugs today! Zach get greedy with Fluffles.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Zach mumbled, lowering his hand and again facing forward. If there was one thing almost universally true of cats, it was that nearly all of them had an upper limit to how much they could be bothered before they started swinging their tail around and hissing. Zach had long-since reached that point. Ever since learning the unbearable, soul-crushing truth of what he¡¯d done¡ªand what he had no recollection of doing¡ªhe had annoyed the hell out of Fluffles. From the moment breakfast ended to the moment they¡¯d departed the large estate, Zach had not been able to leave Fluffles alone. Despite trying to control himself, he could not stop scooping Fluffles up into his arms every few minutes or whenever Fluffles walked by¡ªeven after Fluffles became irritated. As a result, he¡¯d suffered a number of painful scratches and bites in the process of harassing the poor cat. At first, he¡¯d managed to appease Fluffles with food, but eventually even that had no longer worked. Most likely, it would probably be a day or more at the bare minimum before Fluffles allowed Zach to pet or carry him again. ¡°That¡¯s harsh, kitty,¡± Grundor said, lifting his eyes as if trying to look up at the cat lounging around in his green, bushy hair. Fluffles made an angry-sounding meow. ¡°Grundor mind own stupid zombie business. Zach not leave Fluffles alone all day. No more pats today or I scratch and bite!¡± Zach knew better than to call the cat on his bluff, and so, having become somewhat embarrassed, he returned his attention towards his two new vampire friends. At the moment, Kolona was gripping the reins with one hand while she used her other to cover her mouth; it was obvious she was concealing laughter. Olivir, on the other hand, kept his eyes glued on Zach with excited, expectant eyes. It was clear he was very eager for Zach to begin his explanation, yet at the same time, he did not show any outward display of impatience. Honestly, these two vampires were likely the most considerate people he¡¯d ever met. And to think: he¡¯d literally died in a war fighting against them yesterday. Given that they were moving relatively fast through a maze-like jungle of tall trees and constant obstacles, there was no way Olivir would be able to easily read Zach¡¯s abilities if he pulled them up and showed them to him. Hell, the motion of the horse as it galloped through the forest was so unsteady that Zach himself wouldn¡¯t be able to read them aloud. Even trying would likely make him queasy and upset his stomach. Not to mention the inherent, obvious issues that arose with partially obscuring his vision in what was already such poor lighting. Thus, he would just have to give as coherent an explanation as he possibly could while dividing his attention between providing details and keeping on course. Luckily, he had enough experience with Unleashed Phase by now to give what was, in his estimation, a fairly accurate description. ¡°Okay, so it works like this¡­¡± As he began to explain, both Olivir and Kolona listened intently, saying little. They seemed content to allow Zach to paint as complete a picture as he could before dispensing with any questions. While Zach spoke, he fidgeted slightly in his mount as there was still some part of him that worried Olivir of Kolona would find him to be ¡°too threatening¡± like Queen Vayra had. If so, however, they showed little sign of it. Truth be told, they showed little sign of anything. For the most part, their faces remained blank as he recalled all that he could about his ¡°legendary unique¡± ability. Yet there were signs that, even amid Kolona and Olivir¡¯s neutral gazes, both vampires were more than a little surprised by what he had to say and were trying to suppress it; the way their faces tightened and their mouths became slightly ajar betrayed what was otherwise a pair of perfectly guarded expressions. ¡°¡­and that¡¯s basically it,¡± he finished. Zach nervously shifted his eyes between Olivir and Kolona as they continued to stare silently at him as though in judgement. Truly, he did not know why he was so apprehensive. What did it matter what Olivir, Kolona, or anyone for that matter thought about him? As long as they meant him no harm, why should he care if they approved or disapproved? Quite obviously, he shouldn¡¯t. Yet for whatever reason, he did. And the fact that both of them seemed to be taking a moment to reflect upon his words actually caused him to become tense as he wondered what was going through their minds. For this reason, the next ten-or-so seconds of relative quiet felt a great deal longer as the only sounds became the shriek of the intensely cold wind and the sound of bone-hooves stomping down onto soil. Finally, Olivir tapped his chin several times, shot Zach an approving look, and said, ¡°Wow, that¡¯s wild. What an awesome ability.¡± ¡°It¡¯s amazing,¡± Kolona added. Zach breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Gods yes,¡± Olivir said. ¡°I¡¯m not lying when I say I never heard anything like that before. So let me get this straight: for fifteen minutes, you get a huge boost to stats, and all your stamina is restored?¡± Zach bowed his head yes. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how I lost it, either. Oh, but I have to pay for the stamina with time just like I do my abilities.¡± ¡°Okay but when you say ¡®all,¡¯ do you mean literally all?¡± Zach scratched an itch that¡¯d formed on his cheek before again nodding in the affirmative. ¡°Well, yeah. I mean, I feel refreshed. It¡¯s like I hadn¡¯t lifted a finger yet. I feel back to one-hundred percent. But like I said, it costs me time.¡± ¡°What if you¡¯re like, uhm, really tired and about to pass out?¡± Olivir asked, once again leaning towards him as though hanging on his every word. ¡°Would you lose a huge chunk of time?¡± ¡°Surprisingly, no,¡± Zach said. ¡°Actually, the first time I ever used Unleashed Phase, I was about to pass out from E-debt on a dungeon floor. In fact, I can probably show you guys the exact spot when we get there. But anyway, I shot back up to my feet and I felt really, really good. And I¡¯d only lost like, uh, around three minutes.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± Olivir said with genuine-sounding fascination. ¡°So that must mean all of the stamina you have in your body is only worth three minutes of time. I wonder if that¡¯ll change as you get stronger and gain more of it.¡± He lowered his chin as if pondering something, then again turned towards Zach and asked, ¡°And the Phase Level thing, how does that work, exactly?¡± ¡°Eh, well basically, like I was saying before, the cooldown of Unleashed Phase is twenty-four hours, but if I use Phase Reset, I can activate it again immediately, but with an exertion cost that changes based on the Phase Level. It also becomes stronger each time, too. So like, at Phase Levels 0 and 1, it¡¯s high. But at 2, it jumps up to Very High.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s the farthest you¡¯ve ever gone?¡± Olivir asked with an excitement that accentuated his youthful features. His behavior and mannerisms really fit his appearance, and it made Zach wonder if vampires also matured as slowly as they aged. Aside from having accumulated wisdom greater than anyone he¡¯d likely ever before met, Olivir did not act like a man who was over two-hundred-years old. Of course, in fairness, Zach had never met anyone that old to compare him to. ¡°The furthest I¡¯ve gone is Phase Level 2,¡± Zach muttered with a bit more bitterness than he¡¯d intended. Olivir seemed to pick up on this, because he glanced off into the distance, mouthed a few words that Zach could not overhear, and then stared back at him with his eyes widened in surprise. ¡°That¡¯s how she did it, isn¡¯t it?¡± he asked with a snap of his finger and a gasp. ¡°That¡¯s how Queen Vayra got you to kill yourself, right? She pushed you into burning your life out with an E-debt way too high to afford.¡± His throat suddenly becoming tight and his body more rigid, Zach nodded and had to force himself to speak as the sensation of fear flooded into him. He fought to contain it. It was not, by any means, a pleasant memory. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he said, pushing aside the painful torrent of emotions that threatened to overtake him. It wasn¡¯t easy, though. There was so much of it: shame, anger, terror, and the sense of being wronged. ¡°She told me she could heal me and then left me to die.¡± Olivir frowned. ¡°I hate her so much,¡± he said. ¡°I hate her so Gods-be-damned much. She¡¯s a fucking bane to everyone who goes near her.¡± He twisted around in his saddle and spat a wad of saliva out of his mouth as though to rid himself of the distaste caused by Fylwen¡¯s very existence. Incredibly, his spit actually managed to drift on the wind and hit the face of a level-19 bunny-rabbit-looking mob with four purple ears that aggroed and began to chase after them. Not that it mattered, as they were moving far too fast for it to ever stand a chance of catching up. ¡°I¡­I hate her too,¡± Kolona whispered. Zach actually experienced a twinge of guilt, as the shame Kolona felt bled through in her words. She must have felt so much embarrassment at the fact that she was related to a woman capable of such evil and betrayal¡ªone that appeared to be driven by nothing more than insecurity and fear of humanity. Both for the sake of not causing her any more shame as well as personally not wanting to dwell on it, he tried to shift the conversation away from the queen. ¡°So, that¡¯s basically how it works,¡± he said. ¡°Every twenty-four hours, my Phase Level goes down by one. So right now, if I were to use Unleashed Phase, it would have a high exertion debt, which I can definitely handle¡ªI mean, if it¡¯s just one of them¡ªand I¡¯d be in Phase Level 1, which would give me an extra +5 to all my stats on top of the +25.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s what you need to do to save Olivir, right?¡± Kolona asked him. ¡°Yeah. My ability, ¡®Phase Rescue,¡¯ only works while I¡¯m in Unleashed Phase.¡± ¡°What about that other one? The Boundless ability?¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°Oh, uh, no, that one and Wave Slash I can use whenever I want. I also don¡¯t know about the three new abilities I got right before Fylwen tricked me into killing myself. I haven¡¯t had any time since then to check.¡± He laughed. ¡°I see that look you¡¯re both giving me. Fine, since I¡¯ve basically told you everything you could possibly know about me already, I¡¯ll let you guys know what they are when I get the chance to find out about them.¡± Olivir beamed with delight then imitated a gun with his thumb and forefinger. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t think I¡¯m trying to flatter you when I say you really are amazing.¡± Zach rolled his eyes. ¡°Why? Because I can be sort-of useful for fifteen minutes a day without killing myself? You saw my stats, Olivir. You know what they¡¯re like otherwise.¡± Olivir studied him a moment, and Zach wished he could have the confidence he saw in his new friend¡¯s eyes. ¡°I think you¡¯re really kind of misjudging yourself. Something tells me you¡¯re going to be worth keeping an eye on.¡± ¡°Meaning what?¡± He chuckled in a way that was playfully menacing. ¡°You ever think of making your own guild? Because I¡¯d join and I bet so would Kolona, and we¡¯re probably more powerful than most humans on Galterra. So you¡¯d be off to a running start.¡± The words caught Zach totally off guard, and had there been any trees ahead, he would have slammed into one. Was Olivir serious? Was he toying with Zach? Why would he even ask such an¡­an intense question? Zach was at a complete loss for how to answer it. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t need to, as the terrain changed up ahead. Not far from where they currently rode, through a light sheen of mist, was a dark, rocky slope that shot straight up from the ground for several-hundred feet before leveling off. ¡°Is that the hill?¡± Olivir asked, extending his arm in its direction. ¡°Is that the one you said has the exit?¡± ¡°Y-yeah,¡± Zach said. ¡°I think so, at least. That looks more like a wall than a hill.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because we¡¯re approaching from the other side. It¡¯s a much steeper angle. Don¡¯t worry, I can get us up there really easily. I just need to check first to make sure it¡¯s clear. We should lower our voices a bit from here on out.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± Zach whispered. ¡°Gotch¡¯a,¡± Grundor said. ¡°Fluffles want tuna,¡± the cat moaned. Kolona merely patted him on top of his head¡ªwhich he allowed. Apparently, it was only Zach who had run out of ¡°pets¡± for the day. And as if to taunt him, Fluffles actually stuck his tongue out of his mouth in very human-like way that Zach was sure was directed at him. ¡°Zach greedy and get no more until tomorrow,¡± he said. ¡°Yeah, yeah, little buddy. I know.¡± I can¡¯t believe there¡¯s a cooldown on when I can pet my cat. Zach slowed his skeleton horse until it came to a complete halt, and so too did Olivir, Grundor, and Kolona. Despite having arrived at the base of the plateau, they were still well under the cover of the tree canopy, which meant it was still quite dark here despite it being such a bright, sunny, and oddly freezing day. Dismounting, Zach flinched as his horse vanished into thin air the moment his feet touched down onto the mushy, damp soil. The same phenomenon repeated for the other three horses as his companions got out of their saddles and joined him. Now, huddled together at the base of the vertical slope, Olivir crouched down, lifted his left hand, palm upwards, and briefly closed his eyes while muttering words that Zach could not ascertain. An instant later, a cloud of indigo-colored smoke twirled around above his hand before reforming itself into something black and solid, eventually taking shape and becoming a raven of sorts, only far smaller. It was no larger than a pouch and looked like it could easily fit into Zach¡¯s pocket. It was also a mob, and level-5 at that. Flapping its wings, it took off, flying upwards and out of sight. ¡°Wait here a second while I check to make sure we¡¯re all clear, okay, guys?¡± ¡°Yeah, of course,¡± Zach said. ¡°I trust you, Oli,¡± added Kolona. Still speaking at a whisper, Olivir came closer to Zach and gave him a gentle, reassuring elbow in the chest. ¡°Everything is going to work out. We¡¯ll get back and warn your friends, and I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll use my monthly if we need to buy them some time.¡± ¡°Your what?¡± ¡°Oh right, you don¡¯t know what that is.¡± He snickered mischievously. ¡°Well, you¡¯ll see¡ªmaybe.¡± What¡¯s a ¡®monthly¡¯? More seriously, Olivir said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about your stats too much. You¡¯ll drive yourself crazy. Not every level up is perfect. Trust me, I¡¯ve had 72 of them. And if you¡¯re wondering why I¡¯m only level 73 despite being alive for over two centuries, it¡¯s because being a vampire, for whatever reason, comes with a massive xp penalty. That, and I don¡¯t push myself nearly as hard as I should.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Either way, we live so long that as long as we don¡¯t get ourselves killed, we end up becoming really powerful pretty much inevitably.¡± Zach played Olivir¡¯s words over in his head a second time. Then he glanced at Kolona. As if reading his mind, Olivir said, ¡°I don¡¯t know if you realized this by now, but uhm, Elves get a huge xp boost that no other races get. And Kolona didn¡¯t lose hers after turning. So she¡¯ll end up being more powerful than me after just a few years of being a vamp.¡± Zach¡¯s mouth fell open in surprise and, of all things, a sense of relief came up on him. ¡°So that¡¯s why,¡± he whispered. He actually laughed as it all finally made sense. ¡°That¡¯s why Kal got so far ahead. All this time, I thought I was doing something wrong.¡± Then his relief faded as he recalled that, even if he was a much higher level, there was no guarantee his stats would rise proportionally. Regardless of what Olivir said, it was still something that bothered him greatly. I need to get them higher, he thought. I don¡¯t care if I do it through leveling or gear. I need to¡ª It was only then that Zach recalled the rare loot drop he¡¯d earned while fighting Olivir¡¯s zombie army. Reaching into his trousers, he felt around for the ring that had dropped and then clutched it inside of his hand, removing it a moment later. Olivir¡¯s eyes lit up with amusement as he uncurled his fingers and revealed the solid-gold ring with silver, runic-looking writing inscribed into it. Even in the darkness, it held a bit of a dull shine. ¡°Hey, you got one of those, Zach? Nice job. That one¡¯s pretty rare.¡± Zach looked at him. ¡°Did you make this?¡± Olivir shook his head. ¡°Nope. I don¡¯t know how loot works or why it does. I only made the mobs through a really complex system I¡¯m not going to bother trying to explain. What they drop and why is determined after I¡¯ve created a type of mob and given it its properties. But I don¡¯t have any control over it.¡± He gestured with his chin. ¡°You might as well put it on. It¡¯ll probably work well for you.¡± Now that he had a short moment while he waited for Olivir to scout, Zach tapped his shoulder four times to bring forth his stats. Then he touched the spot in the air below his stats to access his inventory. Becoming excited, he hurriedly tapped the item he¡¯d acquired, eager to see what he¡¯d found. Hopefully, he¡¯d at least managed to drag something positive out of what had been a completely negative experience that ended with his actual death. (RARE) Exquisite Blasting Ring of Focused Clarity: discovered by Zachys Calador +5 dex +5 int +5% physical resist +5% magic resist (1,200 seconds) (blasting ability/beam type): Ring fires a beam of energy, dealing beam damage. The size of the beam, as well as the distance traveled and damage dealt is based on user¡¯s intelligence. Only one ring with a ¡°blasting ability¡± may be equipped at a time. Not usable by Elves. Not usable by bear-type Shadowfangs. Dog- and cat-type Shadowfangs may only equip in the necklace slot. Zach couldn¡¯t help but pump his fist in the air as he read over the description of his newest item. Not only did he finally find something that had an ability that scaled with intelligence, but it had magic and physical resistance, too, which he recalled from wearing Mr. Oren¡¯s lab coat made a huge difference in the ability to withstand various attacks. ¡°Oh, shit, this is awesome,¡± he said, sliding it on his index finger. Whether it was due to a sort of placebo effect or simply him becoming more accustomed to the various stats, he was fairly positive he felt more coordinated and balanced as his dexterity increased by 5. He did not feel any smarter, though, and that was not surprising. Intelligence didn¡¯t refer to literal intellect, after all. It was something that basically only affected magic and certain other things that scaled off it¡ªand finally, he had something that did! ¡°It looks good on you,¡± Kolona said with a wink, to which Olivir folded his arms and gave a teasing, jealous shake of his head. Zach smiled appreciably then remained quiet as he waited for Olivir to finish scouting the area above them. He felt more alive and excited by the second as each moment brought him closer to seeing Kal again. While in technical terms she may have been a bazillion miles away or however far two-hundred light years happened to be, in practical terms, she was a hell of a lot closer. To be exact, she was close enough so that reaching her would only require Zach to head up to the top of the plateau, enter a door, enter another door, run past a few skeletons, say hi to Moldark in the wedding room, run down a really long hallway, and then¡ªand then she would be just a couple of miles away. He gripped his hands into fists. Nothing was going to stop him. Nothing at all. He wouldn¡¯t let anyone get in the way of him finding his¡ª ¡°HUMANS!¡± shouted a loud, angry voice from above them that Zach had never heard before. He whirled his head around, as did Olivir and Kolona. They¡¯d been caught, hadn¡¯t they? Fuck! Someone had seen them. But where? Who? Zach spun around and tried to find the source of the voice. Was it one of the Elves? Were they under attack? The three of them exchanged confused glances as none of them, including Grundor or Fluffles, could seem to pinpoint the loud female voice that had shouted at them. Or had it even shouted at them at all? After a tension-filled moment of quiet, even more shouting emerged from somewhere above them and into the distance, and right away, it became apparent that it had not been at the five of them that this female-sounding voice had roared. ¡°Whoah, whoah, put down the spear!¡± shouted a different, male voice from somewhere on top of the plateau. Now this voice¡­this was one that Zach recognized, and the sound of it caused sweat to appear on his brow despite the unreasonably cold temperature. Confusion, fear, and stress all mingled together at once as he fought to understand what the hell was going on. ¡°Miss, please,¡± said a completely different female voice, which Zach also recognized. ¡°We aren¡¯t here to cause any harm. We¡¯re just adventurers passing through Yorna. We¡¯re trying to find our friend. His name is¡ª¡± ¡°You are intruders on Elvish territory! There is no excuse! You will be taken prisoner and interrogated until we can determine why you have violated the sanctity of our domain.¡± ¡°Look, I told you why we¡¯re here,¡± the male voice said. ¡°We¡¯re just looking for our buddy. Hey, whoah, relax! Miss, please get that thing out of my face, okay? Oh boy. Li, run!¡± Zach hissed in anger¡ªand so did Fluffles. This, while Grundor, Olivir, and Kolona alternated between looking at him and his cat as if demanding to be informed about what the two of them knew. ¡°Are you fucking shitting me!¡± Zach growled. ¡°Fluffles coming!¡± the cat called out to the voices on top of the plateau. Zach shouted out for the cat to stop, but before he could release a single word, Fluffles had already transformed himself into a giant, panther-like beast with wings and hideously sharp teeth as he took off flying in the direction of the shout. ¡°Fluffles coming!¡± he said again, only now his voice was booming and far, far deeper in pitch. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Olivir asked, the confusion plain on his face. Kolona grabbed his arm. ¡°Do you know those humans? Zach, please, tell us what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°They¡¯re my friends,¡± he explained. ¡°And they must¡¯ve come here looking for me. Their names are Rian and Lienne.¡± Standing up from their huddle, he wasted no time. At once, he activated Unleashed Phase, and now a thick, impossibly black smoke began to immediately pour out of his hands and feet, along with the seldom, occasional burning ember that was prematurely extinguished by the cold, unforgiving winds. ¡°How quick can you get us up there? Fuck scouting. I need to help them now!¡± Olivir, for his part, displayed no hesitation. With a firm nod, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll summon some winged skelly horses right now. You¡¯ve got, what, fifteen minutes in that phase, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. Looks like we¡¯re just going to have to grab those two and make a run for it.¡± He swore, loudly. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this is happening!¡± Olivir sighed. ¡°Look on the bright side, Zach.¡± ¡°What bright side?¡± he shouted, louder than intended. Olivir grinned. ¡°If we¡¯re going to make a mad dash to Galterra, then that means you¡¯ll be seeing your girlfriend again in the next fifteen minutes instead of an hour.¡± The smile that worked its way onto Zach¡¯s lips surprised him, as he did not expect it. ¡°Oh yeah. Good point.¡± Chapter 69: Fight or Flight Chapter 69: Fight or Flight With less than four hours remaining until an unavoidable raid of such unparalleled, historic importance, the time was quickly approaching for everyone to begin moving into combat positions. It was no exaggeration to say that the fate of millions of lives would be decided just a short while from now, and this was probably the last opportunity that the gathered adventurers would have to ensure that their wills were in order, their loved ones taken care of, and any outstanding business tended to before what could quite possibly be the final moments of their lives. This was not, conversely, an appropriate time for petty, unnecessary distractions. And yet, regrettably, more and more seemed to be popping up every few moments, and they showed no signs of slowing down, either. Honestly, it was just one thing after the next, and Alex was having trouble balancing it all as the clock winded down to their confrontation with the level-4, apocalyptic event. For the past thirty minutes, a black-haired woman from the Royal Roses wearing a business suit and sunglasses had approached Alex in almost perfectly spaced, five-minute intervals to inform him that another powerful world leader had landed and was expected to arrive imminently at their camp. Though none had arrived quite just yet, all would likely be present within the next half hour, and it truly was an uncanny, stunning turn of events; the very idea that the wealthiest, most politically powerful, and influential members of humanity were all soon going to be meeting up together in what was ordinarily a seldom traveled, mostly empty stretch of grasslands just outside of Shadowfall Coast was so surreal that he couldn¡¯t bring himself to visualize it even as it played out before his very eyes. With an urgency that actually seemed greater than that given for the impending arrival of Ziragoth, ambassadors, dignitaries, and several level-1 but politically significant figures who¡¯d arrived ahead of time were loudly barking orders at various attendants and staff as emergency vehicles carrying furniture, exotic decorations, rugs, and construction materials catapulted onto the scene in a baffling display of hubris and decadence. It was a sight as stupid as it was spectacular; with an enemy strong enough to threaten an entire continent nearly upon them, the political guilds were actually constructing a beautiful, red-and-blue command tent nearly three times the size of the one used by the adventurers for when the various political guild leaders showed up. These idiots are more concerned about their guild-leaders arriving than they are the dragon, Alex thought. As a matter of technicality, Alex supposed the blame for all this could be laid at the feet of Sir Peter Brayspark, but that really wouldn¡¯t be fair. For all his flaws, the leader of the Guild of Gentlemen and ¡°king¡± to his people truly had come here for no purpose other than to assist in the raid. Unfortunately, as a natural consequence of his presence, their raid camp had been turned into a veritable circus, and in hindsight, to have ever expected anything else was foolish. Right now, the media was broadcasting much of these events to all eight continents of Galterra, and in no universe could the leader of any political guild¡ªlet alone the reputationally damaged Guild of Gentlemen¡ªbe shown as the only leader of a guild who was fighting heroically on the frontlines in a forthcoming battle to save all of North Bastia: not without every other leader of every other political guild scrambling to make an appearance of their own lest their absence brand them with a permanent mark of shame and cowardice. Incredibly, a few higher-ranking lieutenants from some of the South Bastian guilds were even planning to show up. Really, there was simply no avoiding this. And the fact that none of them aside from Peter were actually going to fight was immaterial; all that mattered was that the public would believe that they had¡ªoh, and that their presence at the camp was documented for the history books, of course. If it helps ease the terror of all the frightened people watching this in their homes right now, at least some good will come of it. People should never have to live their lives in fear. As the camp grew in size and more and more individuals arrived, there was no lack of sneering from the adventurers each time they turned their heads to look at those hailing from political guilds. Come to think of it, Alex could not recall any time in modern history that so many adventurers and so many political guild members happened to be in the same place at the same time. It really served to highlight the contrast between the two. Whereas the general attitude towards adventurers by the political guilds ranged from simple dislike to distrust, it was not unfair to characterize the feelings of adventurers towards the political guilds as one of pure, utter disdain. It was a hatred that Alex himself shared in. Though, the more time he spent among the two sides, the more he realized that his common contempt for the political guilds was not entirely for the same reasons. And this unnerved him. For almost all of his life, Alex had despised the political guilds due to their incompetence, their disregard for the wellbeing of the common people, their overreliance on deception as a method of maintaining power, and most of all, their total inability to protect their people from boss spawns. To be sure, all of his fellow adventurers likely felt the same way and would agree without question if such a point was to be brought up in a conversation. Yet, more and more, Alex was realizing that that wasn¡¯t what really drove their scorn. In fact, those reasons probably held only the slightest of significance to the majority of adventurers. No, their issue with the political guilds stemmed from a much more primal dislike of authority. They were free-spirits who craved adventure, and they abhorred the rules and formalities the political guilds imposed both on themselves and others. Do I really still fit in with these people anymore? Alex wondered. To be absolutely certain, Alex also held these mutual feelings in his heart as well. As an adventurer himself, he too was naturally resistant to heavy-handed authoritarianism: he too respected the legacy of the word ¡°guild,¡± which hailed from ¡°adventuring guild.¡± But where he differed from so many of his peers was that he hated the political guilds because of how they were run and not the mere fact they existed at all. That was why he, too, did not consider them to be ¡°real,¡± legitimate guilds. But as his eyes scanned all of his fellow adventurers who were making their final preparations, Alex realized he was losing faith in his own kind so fast that, at this rate, he¡¯d end up hating adventurers more than he did the political guilds due to nothing more than their childlike immaturity, insufferable behavior, and complete failure to improve upon their moral character. It wasn¡¯t that Alex did not approve of partying, drinking, and adventure: of course not! He regularly engaged in all three! But he also understood that the real purpose of adventuring was to help and serve humanity. Somehow, that core goal had become lost amid the almost religious need to have a good time. At any rate, it was now just a few minutes past noon, and the strong, Galterran summer sun scorched the camp unchallenged by a cloudless, clear blue sky. This was going to be a summer of constant, record-breaking heat: that much was for sure. For the fifth time in under a minute, Alex wiped sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his lab coat as he searched the camp for Kalana. With a frown, he saw that the young Elvish girl was still doing the exact same thing he¡¯d hoped she wouldn¡¯t be: sitting on the grass with her back leaning against her tent while frantically typing away on her phone. Heading over to the girl, Alex squatted down across from her and said, ¡°Kalana, you can¡¯t let yourself be distracted. Please, trust me on this.¡± She looked up at him, her face filling with worry. ¡°Yah, I know, but it¡¯s just¡­it¡¯s just that it¡¯s been so long since he texted me back, and I¡¯m gonna keep worrying until he does.¡± Alex leaned forward a bit and placed an arm on her shoulder. ¡°I know. But trust me: Zach is fine. If you go into a raid with him on your mind like this, you might make a mistake and get really hurt or worse.¡± Kalana curled her lips. ¡°If Zach¡¯s really okay, why doesn¡¯t he text me back? It¡¯s been over a day since I last heard from him.¡± ¡°He might not get cell service wherever he is. If he¡¯s in B6 like I think, that tunnel is really deep underground, and with the state of emergency going on, there¡¯s been a lot of congestion in the networks.¡± He squeezed her shoulder blade. ¡°If you still haven¡¯t heard from him by the time we¡¯ve dealt with Ziragoth, I¡¯ll find him myself and bring him to you.¡± ¡°No,¡± she said, shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m gonna go with you to find him.¡± Alex nodded and smiled. ¡°You¡¯ve got a deal.¡± Slowly, and with a clear hesitation, Kalana stuffed her phone back into the right pocket of her tan-colored shorts and stood up. Alex joined her. He could see from the look on her face that she was worried about Zach for more reasons now than just his safety. It was heartening to see that she was taking Alex¡¯s words of caution so seriously: maybe too seriously. Alex had not wanted her to be this troubled. Yet something within her had changed since their talk; that much, he could tell for certain. She looked at him. ¡°Are you sure you didn¡¯t get any texts or anything from him? ¡®Cause if he did get into any trouble, you¡¯re always the first person he goes to.¡± Just to put her mind at ease, Alex took out his phone and showed it to her. Coming closer to him, she glanced down at the screen as he opened his contacts, tapped Zach¡¯s name, and displayed their list of text messages, which were brief and benign. Though Alex hoped seeing this would calm her down, it had the opposite effect. ¡°Something¡¯s wrong,¡± she said. ¡°I just know it is. It¡¯s been too long since we talked. I¡¯m so, so worried.¡± ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong,¡± Alex insisted. ¡°Believe me. Zach is just fine. He¡¯s just off having fun and leveling. You need to stay focused.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll focus, but I¡¯m gonna keep checking my phone just in case.¡± Alex sighed. ¡°If you absolutely must, then fine. Just please, do it less. We¡¯re about to be in a truly terrible fight, and even if everything goes perfectly, at least some of us are almost certainly going to die. I can¡¯t let you be one of them.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t be,¡± Kalana said, her eyes becoming sharp and intense¡ªbut only for an instant. Softness returned a moment later, as well as fear. ¡°I just really hope Zach¡¯s not in any kinda¡¯ trouble.¡± ¡°He¡¯s definitely not. I sent Fluffles to look after him, too, just in case. I know it¡¯s hard to put your mind at ease, but trust me: I know how adventurers think. Right now, he¡¯s having the time of his life leveling up in B6.¡± ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± Alex again squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. ¡°I¡¯m one-hundred percent sure. He¡¯ll be fine, Kalana. We need to concentrate.¡± ¡°All right,¡± she whispered. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re right. He¡¯s probably having lots¡¯a fun. Wherever he is, it¡¯s probably better than being here, anyway. He went through so much ¡®cause of that mean dragon. At least he¡¯s somewhere safe, right?¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Alex said. ¡°At least he¡¯s somewhere safe.¡± ***** ¡°Nowhere I ever fucking go is safe!¡± Zach growled as he unsheathed his blade and leapt on top of the winged skeleton horse mount that had appeared out of thin air with a high-pitched ¡°poof!¡± Then he sat down and grabbed the reins with one hand and continued to grip his sword with the other. True to his word, Olivir had summoned four of the level-25, winged mounts with a mere snap of his fingers. And now, Olivir, along with Grundor and Kolona, each hopped into a saddle of their own so that all four of them were mounted and ready to race after Fluffles, who had flown upwards and out of sight. One thing was for sure: there was a huge commotion going on above them. Even from down here, Zach could clearly make out the sounds of numerous distinct voices all shouting out to one another in a combination of fear, anger, and distrust. Thankfully, though, he did not hear anything resembling fighting or battle, which meant that, if they rushed in there fast enough, they could likely arrive before anything too terrible happened to Rian and Lienne. How did they even know to come here looking for me? Other than the cab driver, Zach hadn¡¯t told a soul where he was going. And given that Fluffles had been the only one following him, he was pretty sure there wasn''t anyone else who could have informed the siblings where he¡¯d run off to. The only logical conclusion, then, was that the two of them had figured out all on their own that Yorna was where Zach had gone and had come here looking to find him. Thus, it was his fault they were here. If anything happened to either of the two, he knew he would blame himself. They were probably only here because he''d snuck out of the hospital without a trace and had caused them to worry. But more importantly, neither of them had any idea of how terrible a situation they¡¯d just stumbled blindly into. They were completely in the dark about the hidden Elf society and how dangerous this planet was. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go,¡± Zach said anxiously. ¡°Please, before anything happens to my friends. We need to¡ª¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Olivir shouted, holding out his palm in a gesture signaling Zach to halt. Before Zach could demand to know why, he added, ¡°Just wait a couple of seconds. Kol?¡± She nodded. ¡°On it, Oli!¡± Removing a reddish-purple dagger from a sheathe at her side, she began waving it in the air while reciting words that Zach had never heard before. She spoke fast¡ªincredibly so¡ªwhile waving the dagger around with a speed that made it appear a blur. Then things began to happen all around him: and all at once. First, in a way that reminded him of his time spent in Yorna with Rian and Lienne, his entire body was surrounded by what looked like a million particles of dirt, which covered him from head to toe. The same was also happening to Grundor, Olivir, and Kolona herself. From appearance alone, it was extremely similar to the armor buff that Lienne had given him, only the dirt was so much thicker, and mixed in with it were what looked like sharp rocks. Before long, though, the dirt and rocks all vanished into nothingness, leaving not a trace behind. Yet almost as soon as they vanished, Zach had to narrow his eyes somewhat as the world around him became awash by an intensely bright red light that reminded him of having a laser pointer shined in his eye. This reddish glow seemed to shrink rapidly until forming into something of a ring that hovered in the air above his head before sinking down to his waist and surrounding his body. It hovered there a moment, remaining still just above his lap where he sat on the skeleton horse. Then that, too, faded. Still, there was more. As Kolona continued to wave her dagger around, an actual tiny cloud appeared no more than a foot or two above Zach¡¯s head, which then began to release actual rain, soaking him from head to toe. Yet strangely, when this cloud vanished, so too did any trace of the water that had poured over him. But even before the cloud and water had faded away, another light appeared around Zach: two lights, rather. One of the lights was above his left shoulder, and the other his right. Zach soon realized these lights were glowing wings that looked like the wings of an angel. They even flapped a few times, too, making a fluttering sound before vanishing like everything else had. She¡¯s buffing us, he thought. Zach willed forward a list of his buffs while he waited for Kolona to finish, curious about what she had given them. He quickly read them over even as another began to appear. Of all things, an entire grandfather clock popped into existence right above his head, and it made a loud ticking sound that was impossible to ignore. This ticking sound quickly became more rapid as though speeding up until finally the clock, as well as the ticking, abruptly ceased to exist.
Name Will of the Favored
Effect User is blessed with an adventuring spirit
Duration Life
Name Enchantment of Fortification
Effect Increases the user¡¯s armor by 15
Duration 29:52
Name Minor Aura of Strength
Effect Increases the user¡¯s strength by 10
Duration 29:53
Name (T1) Raindrops of the Heavens
Effect Passive HP Regeneration + 15%
Duration 9:54
Name Wings of Hastening
Effect Increases the user¡¯s speed by 15
Duration 29:55
Name Lesser Time Shift
Effect +35% Casting Speed
Duration 4:56
Name Zachys Calador
Level 17
EXP This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. 10000/65000
Armor Bonus 67
Strength 48
Dexterity 40
Constitution 36
Intelligence 80
Speed 47
Luck 31
Unleashed Phase Duration 14:51 Remaining
Despite being surrounded, covered, or otherwise drenched by so many different sights, sounds, and colors, it only ended up taking under ten seconds for Kolona to buff the four of them, and then finally, they were ready to take off. Even while sitting still in the saddle of the winged skeleton horse, Zach could definitely feel himself having become stronger and faster from Kolona¡¯s enchantments. He hoped he wouldn¡¯t need to make use of them, but he was prepared now for anything. ¡°All right,¡± he said, tugging on the reins. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± His mount, made of nothing but bone, flapped its shockingly powerful wings, and Zach gripped the reins even more tightly as it took off, causing his stomach to lurch as he found himself suddenly thrusting upwards. To both his sides, he could see Olivir and Kolona, and like before, he assumed Grundor was following behind him. Given that his face was only a few feet from the near perfectly vertical, rocky wall that led to the top of the plateau, his journey upwards felt more like riding an elevator than flying on the back of a tamed mob. There was no need to soar or move side to side: straight upwards in a direct line was all he needed to get where he was going. I need to hurry! His stomach bubbled nervously as the mount rocketed higher and higher, carrying him the full distance in just a few short seconds. Eventually, the skeleton horse flew above the tree line. Branches and leaves smacked into Zach and left a sticky, sap-like residue on his face as he burst out from the canopy and into the light of day. Having been in such a dark forest, he now had to partially squint as his eyes adjusted to the greater lighting. Even still, he could see well enough to make out the various forms on the opposite side of the plateau directly across from him. And what he saw did not leave him feeling optimistic. Beyond a stretch of field that was filled with thousands of purple-colored pumpkins, on a path that ran across the plateau that Olivir had told him was called ¡°Krul¡¯s Pumpkin Patch,¡± his two friends were standing side by side just ahead of the entrance to B3 that Zach himself had come through a little more than a day ago. Even with their backs facing him, he could still identify both of them by appearance alone; Rian, his rotund, axe-wielding, shield-bearing friend, was clad in his leather brigandine and baggy trousers, whereas his blond-haired, staple-hat-wearing sister huddled close to him in her blueish-white vest and matching leggings. The first time that Zach had ever seen her, she¡¯d been wielding a wooden staff; now, she gripped a shorter, metal rod that steadily released a green mist that Zach recalled had dropped from Moldark. Come to think of it, those metallic-looking boots Rian was wearing had also come from the boss, too. Although it had only been a couple of days since Zach had last seen them, it felt a great deal longer in light of everything that had happened since then. Only now did he realize how much he missed them. Was it wrong of him to have ditched the siblings in an attempt to restore his courage and dignity after Ziragoth had butchered him? He didn¡¯t know¡ªthough it was beyond denying that things certainly hadn¡¯t worked out as intended. Regardless, what really struck Zach was the fact that they had come looking for him at all: the fact that he mattered enough to them for the two to even bother trying to find him. They were true friends. Friends he had to protect. He drew a sharp breath as an acidic, burning sensation in his gut flared up at the thought of something awful happening to them. Across from Rian and Lienne¡ªand drawing cautiously closer¡ªwere four green-cloaked Elves and two wearing the white. All but one of them were male, and each of the Elves brandished various weapons, with the frontmost of them, a tall, auburn-haired, and green-cloaked woman with a spear, continuing to advance while shouting out demands. Her voice had been the one that Zach had originally heard. Only, now, she was not the only one shouting. Everyone there was now yelling¡ªincluding Fluffles, who had already arrived ahead of the rest of them. Positioned protectively in front of Rian and Lienne, Fluffles had assumed his much larger, much more intimidating version of himself. Having transformed, the cat looked vaguely like a panther, only twice a panther¡¯s natural size and with far sharper, far pointier teeth. He also had a pair of wings on his back that he¡¯d used to fly to them. His voice was now deep, booming, and loud, and he was actively engaging in the commotion that was taking place. But even as loudly as Fluffles yelled, Zach could still not discern what he was saying. In fact, Zach could not make out a single word that any of them spoke, because they were all shouting and screaming at one another at the same time such that it all just became one jumbled mess. ¡°Yep¡­this is a bad situation,¡± Olivir said, flying stationary in the air to Zach¡¯s right. ¡°This isn¡¯t good, dude.¡± Zach turned his head towards Olivir. ¡°What are you saying?¡± he asked, becoming worried. ¡°I¡¯m not just going to leave them. I¡¯m sorry, but there¡¯s no way I can just¡ª¡± ¡°Oh, whoah, of course not,¡± Olivir said, holding up his hand as if to allay Zach¡¯s concern. ¡°Me and Kol aren¡¯t gonna abandon your friends and Fluffles. I was just saying it¡¯s a real bad situation is all.¡± His voice becoming far more serious and a touch grim, he turned now to Kolona and said, ¡°We need to go lethal.¡± Kolona¡¯s already pale faced seemed to become even more so as she curled her lower lip and lowered her head. ¡°Oli, I don¡¯t want to kill. I¡¯m not a killer. It¡¯s not who I am!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to kill either,¡± Olivir said, ¡°but we have no choice here.¡± The knot in Zach¡¯s stomach became even tighter as he listened to the two of them speak. ¡°Hey, wait a minute, guys. We¡¯re not killing them. I literally died to save those assholes yesterday. They¡¯re not bad people: they just have a really bad queen. So please, we¡¯ve got to do this without anyone dying.¡± ¡°Heh, no way that happens,¡± Grundor said, flying forward a bit so that now he was to Kolona¡¯s left side. He took both his massive, greenish-white hands off the reins and gave Zach a double thumbs-up along with a wink. ¡°Don¡¯t ¡®cha worry, Zach. Me and Master will rip those no-good Elves apart. Right, Master?¡± Olivir sighed. ¡°It sure looks that way, Grund.¡± A sick, twisted feeling of wrongness temporarily overpowered Zach¡¯s nerves just at the very idea of taking the life of a sentient being. ¡°We can¡¯t do that,¡± he insisted. ¡°I¡¯m not a murderer. We can save Rian and Lienne without killing the Elves.¡± ¡°Ah sheesh, Zach,¡± Olivir said, frowning. ¡°I wish we didn¡¯t have to, but it¡¯s either we sneak by them and leave your friends behind, or we kill those six.¡± ¡°And why are those the only two options?¡± Olivir extended his arm and pointed at the six Elves who were still shouting at Rian, Lienne, and Fluffles while remaining totally oblivious to their presence. ¡°If they see us, and even one of them gets away, they¡¯ll run back to Queen Vayra and tell her they saw us.¡± ¡°So?¡± Zach asked, turned over his palms and furrowing his brow. ¡°We¡¯ll be long gone by then.¡± ¡°Yeah, but Elves can use the dungeons too, remember?¡± ¡°Why does that matter?¡± ¡°Because,¡± Olivir continued, ¡°they¡¯ll come after us.¡± Zach snorted. ¡°Where, to Galterra?¡± Olivir met his eyes and nodded in a way that left no doubt in his expression. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°You mean to tell me they¡¯ll chase us all the way back to fucking Galterra?¡± Zach asked again in total disbelief. ¡°A lot farther than that, actually,¡± Olivir said with a small, bitter, and unamused-sounding chuckle. ¡°War or no war, Queen Vayra doesn¡¯t really care too much about me¡ªbut you and Kolona? Mhm, she sure does. She¡¯d invade Galterra without a second thought just for my sweet Kolona alone, but if she finds out you¡¯re still alive, too? It won¡¯t be good. And that¡¯s not even the only problem, either.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not?¡± Zach asked with a groan. ¡°Nope.¡± Olivir again pointed to the Elves. ¡°You might not be able to tell just by looking, but uhm, those six aren¡¯t warriors: they¡¯re scouts. But even still, they¡¯re a huge threat. If me and Kolona try to go easy on them to spare their lives, they¡¯ll end up killing us instead. Especially since you won¡¯t be able to do much to help us take them down, Zach.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t?¡± he asked, trying not to become defensive. ¡°What makes you say that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because even though those guys aren¡¯t as powerful as Elvish warriors, they¡¯re still way, way, way more powerful than you are. The best you can do is use your abilities to support me and Kol defensively. I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll really be able to hurt them at your level. At least I don¡¯t think so.¡± Zach lifted his hands to his face. Out of each of them came a steady stream of impossibly black smoke along with the occasional burning ember. His skin, too, had a sort of dull, ambient, and pulsing glow. After just a second or two, he again met Olivir¡¯s eyes. ¡°They¡¯re that strong?¡± This time, it was Kolona who answered. ¡°I¡¯m afraid so.¡± There was pain and shame in her face, as well as a sort of reluctance that seemed to be fading with each second, replaced by a startling sort of morose determination. ¡°Oli¡¯s right. I don¡¯t like killing, Zach. I don¡¯t like hurting people. But there isn¡¯t a choice this time.¡± Zach swore. ¡°I just¡­I have to¡­¡± He drew a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m going to go talk to them. Do not kill them. Please! Just let me talk to them first. Just give me five minutes and wait here so they don¡¯t see you.¡± Olivir¡¯s eyes widened in alarm. ¡°What do you mean talk to them? Zach, you can¡¯t reason with them. They¡¯re not going to¡ª¡± Tugging on the rains, Zach¡¯s mount bolted ahead, and now he found himself propelling forward towards the increasingly chaotic scene near the entrance to B3. Below him, a countless number of the purple pumpkins along with the occasional scarecrow remained in their dormant form as he sped past them. The mobs here, Zach recalled, would only ¡°come alive¡± when approached too closely. They would also continue to fill most of the terrain until reaching halfway across, at which point there would be the scarecrow-laden path that led from B3 to B4. Beyond this path was yet another long stretch of pumpkins followed by the side of the hill that Zach had fallen down when Flywen had enlisted him to help save her people, a mistake that had cost him his life. As he flew at the mount¡¯s maximum speed towards the hostile Elvish scouts, the icy wind assaulted his face and body and caused his cheeks to go partially numb. He ignored it, though. In fact, he barely even felt it. He was far too overtaken by a rising sense of panic and a desperate need to intervene before things turned bloody. The closer he flew, the louder the sound of shouting became. Things were escalating very, very quickly. And for once, Fluffles did not seem to be rushing in to make things worse. The cat actually seemed to be assuming a purely defensive posture, bending his legs, lifting his head, and growling loudly at the Elvish scouts who seemed intent on capturing Rian and Lienne. In total, it took less than fifteen seconds to cross the distance to his friends, and he was about three quarters of the way when two of the six scouts caught wind of his presence. They called out to their allies, but by the time all six sets of eyes were glancing up at him, he was already flying directly over Rian, Lienne, and Fluffles. Anxious, worried, and in far too much of a rush to get to his friends, Zach was not even remotely willing to bring the skeleton horse down for a calm, slow landing. Instead, he hastily slid right out of the side of the saddle and then entered into a brief freefall, plummeting nearly fifty feet before landing gracefully upright without so much as an ache in either of his legs. He touched down only a few feet ahead of Fluffles. Although his sword remained unsheathed, he gripped the hilt with only one hand while keeping his weapon non-threateningly at his side. Immediately, Rian and Lienne dashed forward, running straight ahead of Fluffles so that they could stand by him. Despite coming back to this dungeon specifically to find him, it was clear that they were surprised to see him here. Rian¡¯s jaw fell open, and he reached out with both hands hesitantly as though afraid his eyes might be playing tricks on him. Lienne, however, began whispering something indiscernible to herself before she inhaled sharply and moved towards him. ¡°Buddy!¡± Rian shouted, scooping him into a bearhug. It was a good thing that Zach was in Phase Level 1, because Rian gripped him so tightly it might¡¯ve crushed him; also, the bladed end of his axe was tapping into Zach¡¯s left shoulder while his shield pressed against his right. ¡°We¡¯ve been looking all over for you!¡± ¡°There you are,¡± Lienne said, dragging him into a hug the moment Rian released him. ¡°Why¡¯d you run off without us? You scared me so much. Wait a sec¡­¡± She poked him just below his shoulder. ¡°Your arm¡¯s back already? And your eye, too! When did that happen? Also, did you just fly here on a¡ª¡± ¡°Li, that doesn¡¯t even matter right now,¡± Rian said, interrupting her. His tone quickly shifted and became serious as he pointed to the Elvish scouts across from him. ¡°Zach, listen. This is going to sound really crazy, but I think there are Elves living on this planet, and for some reason, bud, they¡¯re like really mad at us. As soon we got here, these guys, Zach, they just like came out of nowhere and started yelling at us completely unprovoked and¡ª¡± ¡°Zachys Calador!¡± shouted the red-haired woman, pointing at him. ¡°You¡¯re alive?¡± This prompted a series of awestruck, confused stares from both Rian and Lienne as the Elves all began to mutter and mumble to one another with equally confused glances¡ªall except for the two white-cloaked Elves, who averted their gaze and made pained facial expressions as though stricken by shame. Zach did not recognize a single one of these Elves¡ªincluding the red-headed woman¡ªfrom the prior day¡¯s battle, but despite this, they seemed to know who he was quite well. Word must have spread. ¡°Art thee Zachys Calador?¡± asked a white-cloaked man wielding a tremendous, silver bastard sword that likely weighed as much as a person. ¡°Are thee the peasant our queen did shamefully betray?¡± ¡°Queen?¡± Rian asked, shouting the word in an exasperated way that did not seem intentional. Lienne scratched her head. ¡°Betray? Zach, why do these Elves know your name?¡± Zach released an awkward, uncomfortable laugh. ¡°It¡¯s complicated. A whole lot happened since we last saw each other.¡± A crease formed in Rian¡¯s brow and his lips puckered as though to form the ¡°wh¡± sound. It was Lienne, however, who spoke. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± she asked. ¡°It¡¯s only been a day, Zach. What could possibly have happened?¡± ¡°A lot. Way too much to explain right now.¡± ¡°Give us the short version, then,¡± Rian demanded. ¡°It won¡¯t make any sense.¡± ¡°Try me.¡± Zach sighed. ¡°Kalana¡¯s mom made me fight in a vampire war against zombies and then betrayed me and killed me.¡± ¡°Okay, you¡¯re right,¡± Rian said. ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any fucking sense.¡± ¡°Wait, what¡¯d you just say?¡± Lienne asked, her voice now much higher in pitch. Zach made yet another sigh, and rather than try to explain, he instead turned his attention to the far more pressing situation. Even as Rian and Lienne fired off question after question, he ignored them for the moment. Now, stepping in front of his two baffled, inquisitive friends, he walked directly up to the spear-wielding Elvish woman and looked directly into her eyes. ¡°If you know who I am, then you know I saved a lot of your people.¡± ¡°You¡­you did,¡± the red-headed Elvish woman said. ¡°My aunt was one of them.¡± ¡°And you know what your queen did to me, don¡¯t you?¡± She winced, and her spear lowered slightly. ¡°Everyone does,¡± she said, her voice now just a tad bit softer. ¡°Forgive the queen. She¡¯s a wounded woman who is only trying to make us whole again.¡± Zach wet his lips as he thought on how to proceed. ¡°I saved your friends. And these two¡±¡ªhe quickly waved his arm in the general direction of Lienne and Rian behind him¡ª¡°are my friends. They¡¯re only here because they were looking for me. So please. If you know what Queen Vayra did was wrong, then just let us leave here peacefully. We never did anything to any of you, so why can¡¯t you just let me and my friends go?¡± His words clearly stirred the Elves. It was plainly visible from the way their lips parted with uncertainty. After a short pause, one of the green-cloaked men wielding a large, curved staff moved forward so that he stood directly by the side of the red-haired woman. ¡°Merienel,¡± he said, his voice only a few decibels above a whisper, ¡°our orders said nothing about random humans. We are not honor-bound to arrest them.¡± ¡°I concur,¡± said the white-cloaked Elf with the massive sword. He turned his head to look at the green-cloaked woman. ¡°Merienel, we shouldst alloweth the humans passage unbarred." The other Elves all chimed in with agreement at the same time, and for just the shortest of instants, Zach relaxed, believing that he might have actually pulled it off. But then he again tensed as his hopes were not only dashed, but set on fire and exploded. The woman, whose name Zach now believed was ¡°Merienel,¡± again lifted her weapon threateningly and pointed it at him. She was close enough now that if she took even a single step forward, the weapon would make contact with Zach¡¯s skin. ¡°We cannot let him go,¡± she said, narrowing her eyes. ¡°But why?¡± asked a green-cloaked Elf wielding a dagger in each of his hands. ¡°It¡¯s not a violation of our honor.¡± ¡°It is,¡± she said. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Because he¡¯s alive,¡± she said. The other five Elves shifted their eyes to look at one another as though puzzled. It was the same expression that both Rian and Lienne wore on their faces as well. As if sensing her point had not gotten across, she made a slight motion with her spear as if to gesture at Zach. ¡°Everyone who was there confirmed his death,¡± she said, a tightness entering into her eyes. ¡°And yet he lives. Tell me: how can that be?¡± Zach swallowed nervously as understanding popped into the eyes of her compatriots one by one. Within just a few seconds, all were staring at him with a ferocity that had not been present until just then. ¡°The vampire,¡± said the staff-wielding, green-cloaked Elf. ¡°He¡¯s in league with Count Olivir Soloux!¡± Pursing his lips and trying to put the stupidest expression on his face that was humanely possible, Zach asked, ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Do not deceive us, you filthy humans!¡± Merienel shouted. ¡°We know that you¡ª¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± fired in Lienne, stepping in front of her brother so that she stood by Zach¡¯s side. There was an even greater intensity in her eyes now than there were in the Elves¡¯. Her shoulders were trembling, and the scowl on her face radiated an anger that he had never before seen from her. ¡°I love how you think you can just call us ¡®filthy humans¡¯ like that¡¯s something we should just accept. Because you¡¯re totally just such a ¡®victim,¡¯ right?¡± She pointed angrily at the woman. Zach did not know how to react. He was actually stunned. There was so much rage in Lienne that her finger actually shook as she continued to point and speak. ¡°Maybe, instead of insulting our humanity, you should shut your fucking mouth, you violent, uncivilized Elvish animal.¡± ¡°What did you say?¡± the woman roared, gripping her weapon even more tightly. ¡°You disgusting, vile humans!¡± ¡°Oh, really? We¡¯re the vile ones?¡± Lienne shouted back. ¡°You¡¯re the one who attacked us just for being born human. I¡¯m really sick of humans being treated like dirt because of Elvish lies and smears.¡± ¡°Lies¡­and smears,¡± Merienel repeated with a note of utter outrage and disbelief. ¡°Like what? That you¡¯re a genocidal species of warmongering, prejudiced fools who would probably be killing off one another if you didn¡¯t have so many other races around to hate?¡± Lienne laughed derisively. ¡°It looks like someone borrowed their talking points from the orcs.¡± ¡°It¡¯s called a historical fact, human. I lived through it! My mother was executed in front of me when I was an eleven-year-old girl.¡± ¡°Oh, Gods,¡± Rian moaned, burying his face shamefully into his hands. ¡°Li, for the love of the Goddess, please do not get into a political argument with the fucking Elvish military people! Are you kidding me, Li?¡± ¡°No!¡± Lienne shouted back. ¡°I¡¯m tired of this, Rian.¡± ¡°How about I shut that human mouth of yours permanently, you wretched creature!¡± the Elvish woman asked. Lienne twisted her lips angrily, and then she said it. She actually said it. A moment before she said it, Zach, sensing things were getting out of hand, tried to place a hand on Lienne¡¯s shoulder to signal for her to maybe ease off a bit. This was only making a bad situation even worse. Yet before he could, Lienne said something so terrible that it left even Zach stunned¡ªand likely Rian, too. From the moment her next few words were spoken, any chance of peaceful negotiation died a thousand deaths. Though, in fairness, things were looking pretty bad by that point. Even still, it didn¡¯t excuse what she chose to say. Because she went there. She went there in a way that Zach honestly did not think she was capable of. He thought she was better than that. Maybe she was just really angry. Maybe she was just speaking out of fear. But she well and truly crossed the line as she straightened her back, coldly locked eyes with the spear-wielding Elvish woman, and then said the one thing no human should ever say. ¡°You know what?¡± she shouted furiously. ¡°Peter IV was right.¡± The collective gasp from the six Elvish scouts followed by the immediate, intensely angry scowls that popped up onto every face told Zach everything he needed to know. Almost as though they couldn¡¯t believe what they¡¯d heard with their own, angrily twitching ears, the Elves glanced at one another to be sure that they had really heard the thing they¡¯d just heard. Even Rian glared at his sister, who by the look of shame on her own face, knew she must have gone too far. If they weren¡¯t already, they were in big trouble now. ¡°Well, you tried,¡± said a voice from above and to Zach¡¯s left. A moment later, three shadows gave way to three falling forms as Olivir, Kolona, and Grundor leapt down, their mounts vanishing the moment they slid out of the saddle. Kolona and Olivir landed right beside Zach, and Grundor dropped down a bit off to his left. Immediately, the confusion among the Elves, Rian, and Lienne all seemed to increase tenfold. Rian demanded to know who ¡°these people¡± were, as did Lienne, who alternated between glancing at, what to her, must have seemed like a random high-level zombie, an extremely well-dressed vampire, and an Elvish girl who she probably mistook for Kalana. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t say things like that,¡± Kolona scolded her. ¡°That was really hurtful.¡± ¡°S-sorry,¡± Lienne whispered, clearly too confused to argue. A temporary stupor seemed to settle over the Elvish scouts, though it was sadly short-lived. As though waking up from a surreal dream, the Elvish woman shook her head, widened her eyes, and shouted, ¡°There she is! It¡¯s Kolona! We found her!¡± ¡°You also found me,¡± Olivir said. He extended his arms widely, and Zach flinched as an explosion caused a massive chunk of dirt and soil to shoot up from the ground just behind the six Elves as a gigantic, earth-shatteringly huge being of some sort slithered up out of the ground and continued to rise higher and higher into the air as though stretching itself and becoming longer. It took Zach a moment to realize what he was even seeing. From the point of the explosion up to about fifty feet in the air was a pillar of pure black energy that, despite being darker than the darkest of nights, somehow seemed to radiate an eerie, glowing light. Glancing upwards a bit, Zach then realized that it was not a pillar after all: but a shadow-like arm, on top of which was a hand containing five fingers. It was also slightly transparent in a ghostly, unsettling way, and every so often, it seemed to almost, but not quite fade out of existence, constantly shifting between perfectly solid object and ghostly apparition. The hand portion of it was also very large: so much so that Zach estimated the width of it had to be equal to three doors side by side. ¡°What is that?¡± shouted the Elvish woman, spinning around to face it¡ªas did all five others. No sooner had she asked the question than another loud bang came from the opposite side of the path, this one behind Zach. It was so sudden and so unexpected that he raised his arms defensively, bent his knees, and tucked his head down somewhat out of sheer surprise. Lienne and Rian also had similar, startled reactions. Now, following a glance over his shoulder, Zach saw that there were two of these gigantic, tentacle-like arms sticking out of the ground¡ªand then they moved in unison. With a speed that Zach neither expected nor could he have predicted, the two phantom-like arms crashed down and slapped the ground where the Elves had been standing with such incredible force that he was forced to raise his arms to shield himself from the resulting blast of dirt and rocks that would have gotten in his eyes, nose, and mouth. Somehow, however, the Elves appeared to escape. This, Zach deduced when he lowered his arms and saw that they were no longer present. All that remained was a depression in the ground where the two hands hand slapped. Other than that, there was no sign of the Elves. They must have scattered at an unimaginable speed, reminding Zach that this was a battle that was totally out of his league. As fast and surprising as that attack had been, the Elves had still all managed to avoid it. No! Not all of them, he realized with a gasp. One of the Elves was still there, Zach now saw. Nearly thirty feet above ground and trapped inside the gigantic, ghostly hands, there was a white-cloaked Elf whose eyes had gone wide with fear. The rear hand had become snapped shut into a tight grip that, from the Elvish scout¡¯s shouts of pain, must have been crushing his pelvis and upper legs. And the other hauntingly black, glowing, and semi-transparent hand was gripped tightly around his upper chest and part of his midsection. Screaming and crying for help, the white-cloaked Elf began beating his fists desperately against the plank-sized index finger of the ghost-like appendage, but it was to no avail. Then his cries went from pained to blood-curdling as both hands began to pull and tug in completely opposite directions. Zach knew immediately what Olivir intended to do. ¡°No!¡± Zach screamed. ¡°Olivir, please! Don¡¯t!¡± It was too late. Olivir made a gesture with his arms, pulling them even more widely apart. Then there was a scream so loud and awful that Zach trembled just at the sound of it, and on the heels of this scream came a horrific-sounding tear, along with a subsequent series of snaps. Before Zach¡¯s very eyes, the white-cloaked Elf was ripped into two halves: literally pulled apart into two pieces. His guts, intestines, and enough blood to fill a large bucket rained down on top of the pathway, creating a disgusting thwop sound each time more of his innards fell from one of the two halves and landed onto the dirt. "That''s one," the vampire said. Zach held his breath. Why did it have to be this way? Now, things were about to turn really bloody. Chapter 70: Kill or be Killed Chapter 70: Kill or be Killed For a short while, there was an unnatural, foreboding quiet: an unsettling moment of silence that even the howl of the skin-numbing wind did not interrupt. Whether it lasted five seconds or five hours, Zach could not be sure. All he could do was observe in a state of mute horror as blood, chunks of flesh, internal organs, and even a few rib bones continued to fall out of a torn-apart body, dropping fifty feet downwards before joining a pile of butchered remains that now stained the pathway leading to B4. It would be yet another thing that Zach would have to see when he closed his eyes: another grisly image to appear in his nightmares. He was quickly growing a collection of them, wasn¡¯t he? ¡°Gods above,¡± Rian whispered, his body visibly trembling. Lienne covered her mouth and took a step back. ¡°That¡­that¡¯s too much,¡± she said. Given her overt dislike of the Elvish people, Zach found it oddly reassuring that, at the very least, her reaction to the display of Olivir¡¯s unmerciful brutality came across as equally as horrified as his own. Rian was also wincing in disgust, and he began darting his eyes between Zach, Lienne, and somewhere over his shoulder as though considering a route of escape. For the time being, all three of them continued to back away as the constant leak of blood slowed down to a trickle. Finally, the two appendage-like apparitions that Olivir had summoned started to become increasingly more transparent before eventually disappearing into nothingness. No longer held by anything, this caused both halves of the white-cloaked Elvish scout to begin plummeting back down to the surface of the plateau. What followed was the sound of a slap followed soon after by another slap as two large chunks of flesh plopped onto the pathway like discarded pieces of meat. After the second of the two hit the ground, Zach felt Lienne nervously clutching his arm while Rian made an audible gulp. ¡°Are¡­are those three people on our side?¡± she whispered as though afraid she might be overheard. Zach nodded. ¡°Yeah. The level-73 zombie is Grundor, the Elvish girl is Kolona, and the guy with the fancy vest and silver hair is Olivir. He¡¯s the one who brought me back to life.¡± Lienne huffed and clutched his arm even more tightly. ¡°You mean¡­what you were saying before was true, Zach? You really did die?¡± He drew a breath and released it slowly. Then he tried to speak, but he found his throat had gone dry. He wasn¡¯t ready to call to mind what had happened between him and Queen Vayra. He was also tired of constantly seeing shit like this: of witnessing people die, especially in such terrible ways. When did it end? Did it ever end? Certainly, there would be at least some more to come in the next few moments. Then what? Was he destined to be around murder and death for the rest of his life? Worst of all, the way Olivir had killed the white-cloaked Elf reminded him so much of the way the dragon had ripped apart its victims. Can¡¯t think about this right now. Really, really not a good time! Zach had to fight to stop his brain from pulling up those horrific memories of Ziragoth butchering the townspeople, as for some reason, the images of what¡¯d happened there began to pop into his head with such vivid detail that it actually seemed to obscure his vision. He saw their faces with perfect clarity: he saw the blood running down the street. How was this happening to him again? He should¡¯ve been over this by now. Wiping his face, he fought to keep himself under control. This was not the time or place for this. He needed to be strong. ¡°You really didn¡¯t have to do that, Olivir,¡± Zach said, unable to control the horror and pain in his words. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Olivir replied. His voice contained what genuinely seemed like a great deal of compassion. He spoke to Zach without turning around to look at him, keeping his eyes pointed on the threats ahead. ¡°Once you¡¯ve been alive for over two centuries, uhm, you kind of learn that sometimes it really is kill or be killed.¡± Kolona exhaled, and there was an unmistakable note of sadness and regret in the sound of it. She had now unsheathed both of her reddish-purple daggers. It seemed she fought in a way that was similar to Kalana. Fluffles, for his part, unsheathed his claws, and Grundor balled his massive hands into fists as though preferring to fight unarmed. Come to think of it, Olivir also had no visible weapon that Zach could see. Although, after what he¡¯d just done, Zach doubted he needed one. The three of them were standing just a foot or two ahead of Fluffles, who himself was standing protectively in front of Zach, Lienne, and Rian. Across from them, behind the mound of flesh and gore that had once been an Elf, were the five Elvish scouts who were regarding them all with equal parts fury and misery. The white-cloaked Elf was holding his massive sword in an elevated position as if prepared to charge, and the other four Elves wearing cloaks of green appeared equally as ready for battle. Merienel stood frontmost to them all; her eyes were wide, her knees slightly bent, and her grip on her spear tight. Behind her, two of the green-cloaked Elves stood side by side. The one to her right wielded a dagger in each hand like Kolona, whereas the one to her left brandished a single, double-edged arming sword. Behind them both, the fifth and final Elf carried a curved, wooden staff. ¡°We should retreat,¡± the staff-wielding Elf said. ¡°We can return with help.¡± ¡°Thou shalt not!¡± yelled the white-cloaked Elf, his eyes bulging with rage. ¡°They hath killed mine own brother. Their heads art mine to collect. Ilan¡­Ilan wast mine twin. Mine own twin! Humans! I curse ye till the last breath!¡± Rian cleared his throat. ¡°In fairness, you guys started it.¡± His words caused all five sets of eyes to glare solely upon him. This caused Rian to take another step back. ¡°What?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯m just saying. I mean, it¡¯s true, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Tis not!¡± Zach coughed out a laugh, and it was at this point he lost control of himself. There was something about Rian that brought out the worst of his facetious ways. Ever since he was young, he would always cope with serious situations via inappropriate remarks, which tended to make everything worse. He¡¯d gotten way better at it in recent days: almost to the point he thought it might be gone from him for good. But something about Rian brought all of it back to the surface. And now, he was so guilt-ridden, troubled, disgusted, pained, sickened, and just¡­just entrenched into this mess that the only way he could protect himself¡ªthe only way he could emotionally survive what he knew was to come would be to clamp down on it like a steel security gate and let the asshole inside of him take over. For the first time in a good while, Zach fully gave in to his ugliness. It was the only way he could stop himself from being swallowed by everything he¡¯d been made to endure. ¡°Look on the bright side,¡± Zach said to the white-cloaked Elf, nodding his head at the torn-in-half corpse. ¡°Now you have two brothers.¡± The Elves gasped, Kolona tensed, and Rian barked out a laugh¡ªand in that moment, Zach understood that he and Rian really were the same in this regard. Rian¡¯s mother, Zach recalled, had sold her body for money and ruined his childhood as a result of it: and that was before his parents had died in a guild-on-guild war and left him and Lienne alone and destitute. He must have understood it too: when things became too much, there was only one way to deal with it. And that was to shut the door. Close yourself off. ¡°Hey, Elf guy,¡± Rian called. Like Zach, he motioned at the absolute mush of a corpse. ¡°How do you even know he¡¯s really dead? Maybe you¡¯re getting ahead of yourself here. I mean, none of us are doctors. Maybe he just needs CPR.¡± ¡°You dare?¡± the Elf shouted indignantly. ¡°Tis my brother you mock!¡± ¡°Was your brother,¡± Rian corrected. ¡°Now he looks like poorly folded laundry.¡± Zach laughed so hard that he cackled. But it hurt. It hurt so much. The guilt. The cruelty. What was he doing? Why was he doing it? This was cruel. This was awful. He didn¡¯t want this. He didn¡¯t want any of this. This wasn¡¯t who he wanted to be. He grinned. ¡°Honestly, Rian, I think all that white cloth makes it look way worse than it actually is. It really draws your attention to the lower intestine, right?¡± Rian barked another laugh. ¡°How will they even explain what happened to his family? What would they even say? ¡®We¡¯re sorry, ma¡¯am, but your son was ripped in two pieces by a giant transparent hand monster?¡¯ They¡¯re going to have to lie and say he died in a sword fight to make it seem less embarrassing. I got 50g that says no one tells the parents the truth.¡± Zach choked on his own laughter. But he wasn¡¯t enjoying this. It hurt. He wanted Kalana. He wanted to go home. ¡°Hey, imagine if there¡¯s actually, like, a box on the life-insurance form to check for that exact thing. Right beneath heart attack and accidental fall, there¡¯s just a fucking box for ¡®giant hand monster.¡¯ Like it¡¯s not even that rare. It¡¯s just something that happens here sometimes.¡± Rian guffawed. ¡°I wish I had that power. If I could summon a giant hand like that, I wouldn¡¯t want a girlfriend.¡± ¡°Who¡¯re you trying to kid, Rian? You wouldn¡¯t even be able to make full use of the pinky.¡± Rian feigned being struck. ¡°Wow. You take that back right now, you¡ª¡± ¡°Guys, enough!¡± Lienne shouted at them. ¡°Both of you: stop. This isn¡¯t the right time, and you¡¯re¡­¡± She lowered her voice. ¡°¡­you¡¯re scaring me,¡± she finished at barely above a whisper. Olivir and Kolona both took their eyes off the Elvish scouts and, in unison, glanced over their shoulders; each were glaring at the two of them. Or were they actually glaring? No. No, they weren¡¯t. It only seemed that they were because of the frowns on their faces. But on second thought, Zach was pretty sure what he saw in them was concern¡ªparticularly for him. But if so, Grundor did not share in it. He laughed loudly and obnoxiously while clapping his hands together. Fluffles had no reaction at all, and Lienne merely looked at the whole lot of them as though totally confused and uncertain as to how to react, but at Zach and Rian in particular, she came across as worried and off-put in a way that seemed unlike her usual self. ¡°Hang out with you for two seconds, Rian, and I¡¯m back to being a fucking asshole,¡± Zach whispered to him. ¡°Back?¡± Rian replied in an equal whisper. ¡°You never stopped.¡± If there was any chance the Elvish scouts were going to retreat or surrender, it had likely vanished the moment Olivir had ripped apart one of their kin. Even still, Zach held out hope deep down that maybe they¡¯d be frightened into running away; maybe they¡¯d decide that this wasn¡¯t something worth risking their lives over and would just flee. Yet as he and Rian provoked and prodded the white-cloaked Elf who had just watched his own brother die in front of him, Zach was not surprised when the Elf released a scream filled with anguish and pain then began to charge forward, followed soon after by his compatriots. And by the Gods above, did they all move fast. In just an instant, it became perfectly, unmistakably clear to Zach why Olivir had insisted that he wouldn¡¯t be able to do much to help. Not only did the five Elvish scouts explode forward with a speed he could not match, but they dashed towards his group so unfathomably fast that his eyes almost couldn¡¯t keep up with it. There was even something akin to a miniature detonation on the ground where each of the five had taken off, causing literal spirals of dirt and dust to rise up into the air where they had been standing. Yet with equal, if not even greater haste, Grundor and Kolona blasted forward to meet them. And then, just like that, the fight began in earnest while Zach, Lienne, and Rian all remained perfectly still. It was probably a safe guess to assume that Rian and Lienne were just as clueless as Zach was regarding what they could actually do to help or if it was even possible for them to assist. Zach, at least for now, had enough time remaining on Unleashed Phase to contribute if he was needed.
Unleashed Phase Duration 11:02 Remaining
Two loud grunts temporarily drowned out all other sound as Grundor met the grieving, white-cloaked Elf head on, followed by two high-pitched clinks as Kolona locked her daggers against those wielded by a green-cloaked Elf. Immediately, she and the Elf began trading wild slashes at each other¡¯s throats while mutually evading; this, as the Elf with the arming sword rushed to Kolona¡¯s side and lifted his weapon high above his head. With a grunt of exertion, he then brought it down with enough strength that Zach could hear it whoosh through the air even from where he stood. A terrible wave of fear shot straight through his heart as he realized that Kolona would not be able to dodge it: not while she was so busily engaged in ducking beneath alternating dagger slashes from the foe in front of her. Zach froze up. What should he do? Should he dash in to help her? Ultimately, it didn¡¯t matter what he decided, as he was already too late. The sword connected perfectly, slashing down directly onto the side of her neck. But rather than tear into her throat and splatter more blood onto the pathway, there was instead a brief, yet violently bright orange flash of light, and abruptly, the sword was repelled with such force that it flew backwards over the head of the Elf who¡¯d struck her. His hands still gripping the blade, it caused his arms to curve over his own scalp as he stumbled away; it was as if the sword were pulling him backwards. It was only then that Zach recalled her passive ability: Shield of the Agile Goddess. As long as Kolona had a higher speed or dexterity stat than whatever was trying to harm her, she would need to be struck five times before she was vulnerable. Pausing a moment as if confused, the sword-wielding Elf readjusted his stance, again moved in towards Kolona, and then raised his blade as he tried charging her once more. But this time, Kolona, who had only just leaned away to evade a high-aimed slash of her foe¡¯s dagger, pivoted on her hips, lifted her foot, and thrust it backwards, kicking the sword-bearing Elf in the chest with such incredible force that he was actually sent airborne. Zach watched as he literally flew more than twenty feet away in the direction of the field behind Kolona before landing on his ass, dropping his sword, rolling uncontrollably, and aggroing about thirty purple pumpkins in the process¡ªall of which sprang to life and began to leap at him, nipping and biting. The Elf merely groaned, sat up, retrieved his weapon, and then completely ignored the mobs as he scrambled to his feet and charged forward a third time, clearly intent on returning to the fight. Kolona, now momentarily free to focus all of her attention on just one enemy, again ducked beneath a strike from one of the daggers, but this time, the moment she straightened her posture, rather than return with a slash of her own, she spun her body full circle while lifting her rear leg, delivering a spinning heel kick directly to the face of the dagger-wielding Elf, snapping his head back while knocking what looked like several teeth out of his mouth; this, as the Elf with the arming sword¡ªand his train of now at least fifty level-4 ¡°Audacious Pumpkins¡± chasing after him¡ªcontinued to make straight for Kolona, whose broken-jawed opponent appeared dazed and stunned, his mouth oozing blood. Somehow, he still managed to duck and weave, surviving what Zach had been sure would be a killing blow from Kolona. He watched as she grunted, twisted her hips, and delivered an incredibly heavy, overarm slash that would not only have killed, but likely decapitated her target. Given the wobbly, unsteady state the Elf was in, Zach had been sure that the attack would connect; he¡¯d even tensed up in anticipation of it. Yet, somehow, the green-cloaked Elf managed to just put himself out of her reach even as he continuously shook his head, likely trying to recover from the powerful kick to the face. Undaunted, Kolona pressed forward after him while the sword-carrying Elf continued to gun straight for her with dozens of aggroed purple pumpkins hurrying closely behind to catch up. Zach did not see what happened to Kolona next. In fact, he was immediately forced to take his eyes off of her as, in the corner of his vision, he noticed a green, missile-shaped projectile that he assumed to be magic heading straight for where he, Rian, and Lienne were standing. The shape of it almost perfectly resembled that of Lienne¡¯s spell, Flamestrike, differing only in color. But this projectile was larger, flew through the air far, far faster, and left a green streak behind wherever it traveled that disappeared only after several seconds had come and gone. ¡°Watch out!¡± he called out to the siblings. Both turned their heads his way, yet he could tell from their confused, alarmed frowns that neither Rian nor Lienne understood what he was attempting to warn them about and from where. Acting off reflex alone, Zach shoved Rian out of the way and switched to a single-handed grip on his sword. Then he wrapped his free arm around Lienne¡¯s waist and physically lifted her up before running out of the projectile¡¯s path, narrowly avoiding being struck. Having only barely dodged the fast-moving bolt of magic, Zach looked over his shoulder and watched as it continued to fly off into the distance, casting a green glow in a small radius around itself until finally it met its end after crashing into an Aggrieved Scarecrow and doing 26,660 damage against the level-10 mob¡¯s mere 400HP. Releasing Lienne, Zach once more gripped his blade with both hands. Then he looked around frantically to see who had attacked him and where they were attacking him from. He realized only a moment later that no one had specifically attacked him, and what he¡¯d dodged had been a wayward attack in some kind of magic battle between Olivir and the staff-wielding Elvish scout. The two were standing about twenty feet directly across from one another while Grundor fended off the white-cloaked Elf and Merienel, preventing either from attacking his master. ¡°Just die already, vampire,¡± the Elf said, panting. He pointed his staff directly at Olivir, who merely smirked and stood with a calm, relaxed posture. ¡°Ehh, but I already did that once before. It didn¡¯t take.¡± The Elf shouted out a word in a language Zach did not know then fired off three more of the projectiles from the end of his staff. Each one cast an eerie green glow as they zipped across the short distance and headed straight for the vampire. Olivir merely ducked beneath the first, stepped deftly around the second, and then made an upward, swinging motion with his right hand, causing a literal scythe to briefly materialize in the air before him and knock away the third¡ªin Zach¡¯s direction, unfortunately. Once more, Zach was forced to shove Rian out of the way as it flew towards him at an incredible speed. But unlike before, there wouldn¡¯t be any time to ¡°relocate¡± Lienne. So, instead, switching yet again to a one-handed grip, he placed his left palm between her shoulder blades and forced her to duck down beside him. The green, missile-shaped projectile flew mere inches above the both of their heads. Far too close for comfort. Zach had to imagine that, if that thing even grazed one of them, they would die instantly. Now, Zach felt an intense fear rising within him, and not for his own safety, either: but for Rian and Lienne¡¯s. As outclassed as he might have been by the Elves, who were clearly far higher in level than himself, he at least had tools at his disposal to survive an encounter with enemies far stronger than himself; the fact that he had lived through Ziragoth was by itself proof of that. Lienne and Rian, on the other hand, did not. By far, they were the most vulnerable people here¡ªeven more so than Olivir, who despite having only a single point into constitution, genuinely did not appear rattled or worried. Though it would only take a single hit to put an end to the vampire, scoring one was clearly going to be easier said than done. But for Lienne and Rian, who lacked the speed and dexterity needed even just to stay safe from a distance, Zach became fearful that something terrible might happen to them. Fluffles must have also been worried about the siblings, because rather than attack the Elvish scouts, he too continued to remain where he was and stand before them protectively. By now, Zach had expected him to join in the fight. Was he too concerned to leave them alone? Or was there another reason? Actually, now that Zach had a closer look at the giant, shapeshifted cat, he realized that Fluffles wasn¡¯t even really paying attention to the battle. He was looking at something beyond it. His head was turned to the direction of the hill that Zach had originally fallen down, and he began to hiss with a wrath that Zach had not seen from the cat since their encounter with Ziragoth. ¡°Fluffles smell her,¡± the cat announced, his voice booming and filled with hate. ¡°Who?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Chumpkenwiffles. Fluffles smell the doggie!¡± His knees becoming unsteady, Zach felt as though the blood was draining from his face. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°Doggie is coming here.¡± Zach tried not to shout in alarm, but it was difficult. ¡°Is she coming alone?¡± ¡°No,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°The other one come too. The one who lie about Fluffles.¡± ¡°Queen Vayra?¡± Zach asked, his breath getting caught in his throat. ¡°Please tell me it¡¯s not Queen Vayra. Gods, please, anyone but her.¡± ¡°Yes. Mean lady coming with Fluffles¡¯ greatest enemy.¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± Zach shouted¡ªand so did Olivir. The vampire turned his head towards Fluffles. ¡°Queen Vayra¡¯s on her way here?¡± ¡°She coming now. Chumpkenwiffles tell her we here.¡± ¡°Shit, shit, shit! Kolona, end this now! We need to kill these scouts and make a run for it!¡± Zach looked over to the Elvish, spear-wielding woman, who was spinning around gracefully and launching attack after attack on Grundor. Each one was connecting, and each attack dealt tens of thousands of damage to the zombie, who Zach could now see was at less than half health¡ªand in real, genuine pain. Though he was succeeding in keeping her and the white-cloaked Elf off Olivir¡¯s back, the two-handed bastard sword combined with the fast and merciless spear attacks were shredding his HP so fast that Zach began to wonder if he might actually die. Even if he was just an NPC, he was still a living, sentient being. They all were. That was the tragedy of this whole fucking mess! As Grundor bravely tanked hit after hit, Zach could see that Olivir was constantly shifting his eyes to look at Grundor¡¯s health. ¡°You okay, Grund?¡± he called. ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t look it.¡±
HP 457273/1200000
Name Grundor
Level 73
For a brief moment, Olivir¡¯s entire body became shrouded in a black, shadowy aura. Then it faded, and now, an otherworldly black flame engulfed both of his hands like gloves. Narrowing his eyes, he threw his right arm forward, and then Zach watched as the flame fired off his hand, heading straight for the staff-wielding Elf, who in response threw himself off to the side and avoided it. In the spot where he¡¯d been standing¡ªand in a considerable radius around it on both sides of the path¡ªa flame of pure blackness set the terrain alight. Though it produced no heat¡ªat least none that Zach could feel¡ªit caused all the grass nearby to become brown, wither, and then disintegrate all in a matter of seconds while burning about twenty pumpkins for over 50,000 damage each. The Elf retaliated¡ªor almost did, at least. Huffing and looking exhausted, he pointed his staff at Olivir, but he was too slow. Olivir threw his opposing hand forward, and once more, he sent forth his black flame. The Elf swore, lowered his staff, and was again forced to dodge. But due to the locations of both flames, which somehow remained active even with nothing to feed the fire, the Elf had been forced to maneuver himself in such a way that he was now cut off from his friends and trapped in a small, relatively narrow space where he would no longer be able to escape. Now, Olivir had him. Both of them knew it. Zach felt an enormous pain in his chest: one borne of pure guilt as he saw the Elf¡¯s face contort in a look of utter desperation and fear. And for just the shortest of moments, the Elf turned his head in Zach¡¯s direction, and he saw the pitying look that was being sent his way. This caused the Elf to bare his teeth, shriek in a horrified rage, and become frenzied in a way that Zach could not have anticipated. With another, even louder and angrier shriek, he extended his left, staff-bearing arm all the way up and above his head, and then he roared a word in what Zach presumed to be the Elvish language. ¡°If I¡¯m going to die, I¡¯m taking them with me!¡± ¡°Them?¡± Olivir asked. Then Olivir scowled and spun his body around to face Zach, Lienne, and Rian. He¡¯s targeting us instead! Zach realized. Oh, shit! Two things then happened at the same time. First, the world erupted with a light so intense that Zach had no choice but to avert his eyes or risk being blinded. And second, a sensation of heat flooded his senses: one so terrible that it made Zach immediately miss the bitter cold. In less than the time it took to blink, the temperature around him skyrocketed from well below zero to what Zach estimated to be that of a pre-heated oven. Up until this point, he was tolerating¡ªif barely¡ªthe frigid air. Now, not only was the chill chased out of his body, but he began to sweat. It was so hot that it was painful. There was also a hell of a lot of noise, too. The sound of a hissing screech drowned out everything else going on around him. It was as though someone had set up a microphone connected to an incredibly powerful speaker system next to a boiling teapot. Cupping his hands to control how much light entered his eyes, Zach looked upwards¡ªand then yelped in terror. In the sky above them was a sun-like fireball larger than a two-story house, which with each passing second, descended faster and faster towards him and his two friends. Within an instant, the temperature skyrocketed again and went from painfully hot to torturously hot, and the world became so bright that Zach now had to fully close his eyes, but not before witnessing Lienne falling to her knees and screaming in agony, while Rian covered his eyes and lowered his head. As painful as this was becoming for Zach, it must have been dramatically worse for them. Zach was in Unleashed Phase with a Phase Level of 1. Right now, he had 36 points into constitution. That was probably a bit more than Rian had despite being a tank. And Lienne no doubt had way less. She could die or be seriously injured before the ball of flame even crashed into them. She was now screaming so loudly that, even with the screeching hiss of the fireball, Zach could hear her wailing. What am I supposed to do? he thought, panicked. There was no way he could Phase Blink away and Phase Rescue the both of them. He needed to see his targets to use that ability, and it was far too bright for him to even open his eyes, let alone actively look for them. Phase Shield also wouldn¡¯t do him much good, because even if he huddled over both of them and used it, it would only protect them for 1.2 seconds. Even if he waited until the moment of impact, it would be too late: they were both likely going to die before the fireball even struck them. I¡¯ll just have to use Phase Rescue. I have to do it! Zach forced his eyes open, then shouted in pain as the obscenely bright light caused his head to ache and a burning sensation to form in his retinas. He darted his head around, now becoming abruptly disoriented. Where were Rian and Lienne? It was too bright. He couldn¡¯t see them. He couldn¡¯t see anything¡ªanything other than a humongous skull that appeared to be laughing as it soared upwards into the sky heading straight for the ball of flame. Wait, what? Was Zach becoming delusional? Had his eyes become so badly damaged that he was now seeing things? Whipping across the sky and rising directly upwards was what looked, at least to Zach, like a literal laughing skull that actually cackled hysterically as it rose higher and higher into the air. It was massive: almost as large as Olivir¡¯s estate. And it was making straight for the ball of fire¡ªnow with its mouth opened impossibly wide, even as it continued to cackle as though reacting to the world¡¯s funniest joke. Then the light began to dim, and the heat began to dissipate. His vision clearing, Zach now watched in utter fascination as this gigantic skull, which could only have been summoned by Olivir, actually ate the fireball. It¡­it ate the Gods-cursed thing! One moment, it was streaking towards the three of them, and the next, it disappeared inside of the skull¡¯s mouth, which immediately snapped shut. Yet despite this, the skull still continued to cackle, even as it began to shake and vibrate madly as though it were having a seizure. This continued to pick up in speed and intensity until, with a deafening bang, the skull exploded, resulting in one more flash of bright light, one more wave of intense heat, and one more cry of pain from Lienne and Rian. Then, at last, everything became still. Even with his ears ringing, his eyes burning, and his head fuzzy, Zach reached down and pulled Lienne back up to her feet, desperate to ensure she was okay. She was crying, and she looked really shaken up, but both she and her brother looked like they were mostly unharmed. Even still, she was panting, sobbing, and insisting that it still hurt. ¡°Zach, I¡¯m burning,¡± she cried. ¡°I¡¯m burning!¡± Her eyes were still closed, and she was trembling. ¡°You¡¯re okay,¡± he told her. ¡°It¡¯s gone. Olivir got rid of it.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. You can open your eyes now.¡± She opened them slowly, as did her brother. They each looked like they had something they wanted to say, but neither of them seemed capable of speaking it. They were in shock. Zach couldn¡¯t hold that against them. Gods, he knew what that was like all right. That had been way too close. They¡¯d almost died. Zach had almost lost the only friends he had aside from Olivir and Kolona. They were too important to him. Even despite not knowing them for very long, they had already been through so much together, and if anything happened to Rian or Lienne, he would not be able to handle it. Especially because Zach had basically already lost everything else: his mom, his dad, his apartment in Whispery Woods. His entire former life. What he had now was adventuring, Kalana, and his friends. And he almost lost them. He almost lost them both. And it was all because¡­ It was because of him! Because of that fucking Elf! Zach scowled at the staff-wielding Elf, who along with Olivir, was struggling to catch his breath. The two of them had temporarily paused their duel, as it seemed they were both in exertion debt. This, however, did not stop the Elf from forming a crooked smile and laughing at the three of them. ¡°You¡¯re right to be afraid,¡± he said. ¡°There¡¯s another where that one came from. Just wait for it, humans. Just wait for¡ª¡± Zach activated Phase Blink, targeting the Elf who had almost killed¡ªand continued to threaten¡ªhis friends. He wasn¡¯t going to take them away from him! No! That couldn¡¯t be allowed. Even as Rian and Lienne cried out for him to stop, and even as Olivir¡¯s eyes widened in alarm, Zach screamed out his rage and misery in a sound that was so terrible he almost did not recognize it as his own voice. Less than an instant after activating Phase Blink, he felt the world shift around him as he moved far too fast to even register his change in positioning as a form of motion. Having used it with a target, his body was spun around a hundred-eighty degrees so that he faced the staff-wielding Elf¡¯s back. Then he raised his sword, gripped it tightly, and again screamed out in maddening rage while the sonic boom from the broken sound barrier resulted in a bang so loud that it caused all five of the Elvish scouts, along with Kolona, Olivir, Fluffles, Rian, and Lienne to flinch. This Elf might have been dramatically more powerful than Zach. He might have been way higher level, too. But if he was anything like Lienne, his constitution would be far, far lower as a spellcaster: low enough, Zach was willing to bet, that even someone like himself, who the Elf could ordinarily kill with a single ability, posed a serious threat to him if he managed to get in close. Especially with a strength and speed buff active on him. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. To the Elf¡¯s credit he did manage to fully turn around and face Zach, his jaw dropping open in bewilderment and fear. ¡°How did you move so fast?¡± he asked with a gasp. ¡°How did you¡ª?¡± In that moment, Zach drew upon everything in the world that had hurt him¡ªall of it. Varsh. The memory of his father¡¯s death. Ziragoth. Queen Vayra. He channeled the pain of all of it into himself, and with a hateful glare directed at the Elf who had almost killed his two best friends, he made all of it his fault. This Elvish scout, whom he had never before met. Right now, Zach made him the bearer of every last ounce of his burning contempt. And with that, he opened his mouth, screamed blindly yet again in a fit of uncontrollable rage, and he thrust his sword forward, piercing the Elvish spellcaster through the chest and causing his mouth to drop open. There was a tearing sound as his sword emerged from the other end of his body, followed by a cough that sprayed blood out of his mouth and all over Zach¡¯s face. Zach, gritting his teeth, yanked his sword free of the Elf¡¯s chest. The Elf, gasping for air, clutched at his wound, then coughed up even more blood while stumbling backwards. But Zach pursued, and with a furious, left-to-right swing of his blade, he decapitated the Elf, causing another spray of blood to literally squirt from the stump between his shoulders where his head used to be. ¡°Zach,¡± Olivir whispered, still breathing heavily from using something that must have come with a monumentally huge cost in exertion. Zach looked at him. And rather than say any other words, Olivir gave him a firm, knowing, and eerily compassionate nod. It was a look that conveyed more than any words could speak¡ªthough speak he did after another few moments of silence. ¡°I¡¯ll take it from here. Just give me a second.¡± ¡°No,¡± Zach said, shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯m not done!¡± Grundor was still struggling valiantly against Merienel and the white-cloaked Elf, whose massive sword was making quick work of him. Zach needed to act now before it was too late. ¡°Phase Slash!¡± he cried out, swinging his blade and targeting Merienel. A ripple formed in the air before him, one which traveled so fast that it was almost impossible to see. Yet, somehow, even with her back turned to him, she did see it. How? Zach did not know. But in just a fraction of a second, she ceased attacking Grundor, spun around, and then bared her teeth at Zach, likely only first noticing now that he¡¯d killed another of her friends. Not that it would matter, anyway. She was done for. His Phase Slash had struck her dead on. He watched as the ripple slammed into her and did¡­nothing? The hell? Zach felt a jolt of terror race through his heart as what was supposed to be one of his most powerful abilities did about as much to the Elvish woman as his Wave Slash had done to Ziragoth. It was almost as though her body had simply absorbed the hit like it was nothing more than a soft snowball. ¡°Da¡¯lir,¡± she said, her voice filled with anguish and hurt. ¡°You killed Da¡¯lir!¡± Despite the rush of fear in his heart, his own piping-hot anger and need for catharsis was somehow greater. Therefore, even against all common sense, Zach stood his ground and returned every last bit of the hatred in Merienel¡¯s glare with one of his own. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you too,¡± he said back to her. He raised his sword and prepared to engage her directly. ¡°I gave my life to save your people. And all any of you have ever done is try to hurt me and people I care about.¡± ¡°Zach, no!¡± Olivir shouted in warning, having apparently caught his breath. ¡°It was really smart of you to go after the mage. I didn¡¯t even think of that. But you really won¡¯t be able to do much here. Seriously, dude. I¡¯ve got this. She will kill you.¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°I¡­I killed someone. I killed someone¡­¡± ¡°You can¡¯t think about that right now. Don¡¯t let yourself.¡± Olivir took a single step towards him. ¡°You need to get away from her before she¡ª¡± Even with the speed buff that Kolona had given him, and even with his natural affinity for fighting with a sword, Zach was totally, completely unprepared for the level of power difference between himself and the Elvish woman, who despite being just a scout, moved with such magnificent speed and precision that it was only by the grace of the Gods themselves that Zach, mostly by pure chance alone, managed to raise his sword and guard as she rocketed towards him so fast that her body appeared to his eyes as just an incomprehensible blur. As fast as the other scouts were, she was faster. In a time so short he doubted it could be measured, she crossed a distance of almost fifty feet and then howled at him, her voice filled with grief and vengeance. Had his arms not already been well positioned to block in the direction that her attack had coincidentally happened to come from, and had his eyes not been fortunate enough to somehow anticipate, based on nothing but a blur, her angle of attack, Zach was sure that this would have been his last moment of life. Swinging her spear horizontally, the bladed tip of her weapon crashed with a thunderous clap against the middle of the sword that Fluffles had crafted for Zach. The force of the blow was so strong it caused an electric-like shock to travel through Zach¡¯s wrists and subsequently into his fingers. It actually caused his body to physically slide several feet backwards over the dirt on the pathway as though pushed. But worst of all, she destroyed his sword, splitting it directly down the middle. Zach watched, his mouth agape, as the top half of the blade shattered and flew over his shoulder. Then, all at once, the hilt and whatever remained began to vanish into nothingness, suffering a full break. Voices shouted out to him in warning. Lienne, Rian, Olivir, and even Kolona all cried for him to run. They were all either preoccupied, unable to help, or incapable of reaching him in time. He merely stared a moment in a hopeless confusion as Merienel peeled back her lips even further and bent her knees. She was going to attack him again, wasn¡¯t she? And now, he was completely defenseless. Now, he was really going to get it. Maybe he deserved this. He¡¯d killed someone. He¡¯d taken a life. How would he ever be able to¡­ No! No! Shut the fuck up! Fight! Do not be weak! Your friends need you! Even from fifty feet away, Zach had only just barely been able to see her movement, which to his lower-level body, had come across as a streak of light. But now that she was less than eight feet from where he stood? It was reasonable to assume that he not only wouldn¡¯t be able to see her next strike, but even if he could, his limbs wouldn¡¯t physically be able to move fast enough to avoid it. Therefore, with the understanding that relying on reaction or past fighting experience was totally, completely useless in the face of such an overwhelming difference in stats, Zach decided to activate Phase Shield immediately as nothing more than a guess. And thank the Gods, he guessed correctly! Even while the Elvish woman was still physically standing there across from him, unmoving, the world lit up with a beautiful, golden, and comforting light as a gigantic metal shield twice the size of his body materialized into thin air before and slightly above him, protecting his entire frame behind it. Less than a fraction of a second after the shield came into existence, Zach just sort of ¡°noticed¡± that Merienel was now right in front of him, with her spear thrusting forward and meeting his shield. She had moved so quickly that he did not even witness it. Yet as Zach¡¯s shield fully repelled her forward-lunging strike, she appeared baffled, amazed, and overtaken with explosive rage all at the same time. Despite the shield only lasting for 1.2 seconds, she struck three more times, and each time, her weapon bounced harmlessly off the shield, which at last vanished into thin air. And now, Zach braced himself. At no point during this encounter with the Elves was he as frightened as he was in this moment as he waited for the pain to begin. Phase Shield would always return a very small portion of the damage it had blocked to the user. In the case of Moldark, this meant a slight little pinch that he could barely feel. In the case of Ziragoth, it had cost him his eye as well as his arm. And now, having just stopped multiple attacks from an Elf who was far higher level and far stronger, the returned portion caused¡­a nose bleed? Zach wiped his nose, which ached slightly and had begun to release a small trickle of blood¡ªat least based on the miniscule amount he saw as he ran his sleeve across his face. He did not think this was due to lacking even slightly in power, either. It was more a testament to how unbeatably strong Ziragoth was. And to think: his reward for surviving through this¡ªif he somehow did¡ªwould be to have to worry about that as soon as this was over. Maybe he was better off dying after all. No! I have to live! I have to see Kalana again! I have to warn Mr. Oren! Now that he had used Phase Shield, the ability was on cooldown for another 47 seconds. He was now well and truly out of luck, wasn¡¯t he? Lacking a sword, he could no longer use Phase Slash or Wave Slash, not that either of them would so much as tickle the woman. And Phase Blink likely wouldn¡¯t be as much help as it usually was, either, as Merienel was so fast that, in the time it took him between one use of the ability and the next, she could probably catch up to him and stab him in the back. So, what was he supposed to do now? Behind him, he could hear Rian and Lienne sprinting over in his direction as if to help. In fact, he was pretty sure the shadow he saw moving along the ground in the corner of his eyes was one of Lienne¡¯s Flamestrikes. He almost wanted to laugh as the missile-shaped bolt of fire flew over his right shoulder and struck Merienel dead center in the face. She didn¡¯t even blink. With her vengeful eyes trained solely on Zach, it was possible she wasn¡¯t even aware someone had tried to attack her at all. ¡°You killed one of my people!¡± she hissed. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Zach guessed that the only reason she hadn¡¯t finished him off was for the same reason that Anelia Hellcrest, the bounty hunter, had also hesitated after he¡¯d used his Phase Shield against her: uncertainty over what he had done and how she should proceed. Last time, Zach had managed to bluff his way out of further combat, as he had been dealing with a professional bounty hunter who, while irate, did not possess any true hate or malice towards Zach in the way that Merienel now did, and who therefore weighed her own safety into each of her attacks. This time, things would be different: he knew they would. Any second now, she was going to explode forward and skewer him or hack off his head. If there was anything in this world he could do, now would be the time to do it. Yet he had nothing left. Nothing! His sword had been destroyed¡ªagain¡ªand the only ability that could save him was on cooldown. Truly, he had nothing left in his arsenal. Except maybe that ring, but he doubted an item ability of all things was going to save him. Still, he realized he might as well try it. He had nothing left to lose at this point. He was desperate to try something¡ªanything! He was up against someone far greater than him, with stats so high he doubted even a maximum-distance Wave Slash would give her so much as a paper cut. Hell, Phase Slash had not even impacted her with enough force for her to notice it, so what good would this do? And so, even knowing how useless it would be, Zach balled his right hand into a fist, lifted his arm, and extended it in her direction. Mentally saying goodbye to Kalana, he activated the so-called ¡°blasting ability.¡± Then he opened his mouth as wide as it could go and made a ¡°GUHH!¡± sound as a red light even more blinding than the light of the decapitated spellcaster¡¯s fireball caused everyone, enemy and ally alike, to pause what they were doing and turn their heads. An inch or two away from his knuckles, a cylindrical laser beam fired out of the ring with such incalculable force that it launched Zach backwards at a speed that made him wonder if he¡¯d somehow activated some kind of ¡°reverse¡± Phase Blink. The size of the beam was ludicrous, too; even having emerged from such a tiny ring, it was so large that, if it had been a solid, hollow tunnel, an adult male could fit inside of it. Time almost seemed to come to a standstill. One moment, he was activating his ability, and the next, he was shooting backwards like bullet fired from a gun. Only, instead of the crack of gunfire, an even louder, almost cartoonish-sounding ¡°pew-pew¡± became the dominant sound on the plateau. Shocked, Zach stared ahead of him in disbelief. Then, with a painful, head-splitting bang, he collided into Rian, who also made a low, guttural noise as the two of them were now both flung away from Merienel, whose eyelids opened wide, and whose pupils became enlarged as the blasting beam ¡°blasted¡± a hole straight through her entire body. Even as Zach flew backwards through the air, he could see the surprise in her face as his beam punched a hole directly through her. By the time the beam faded, there was just an emptiness from her waist all the way up to her neck. It was like her entire torso had been a detachable door. Zach could actually see through her and out the other side. There was nothing there: no organs, guts, or blood. Just an entire, cylindrical-shaped hole. ¡°W-what?¡± she croaked. Then she fell forward onto her face and did not stir again. This much, Zach had just enough time to see before he and Rian crashed into¡ªand then through¡ªthe straw- and thatch-built cabin that marked the entrance to B3. Zach groaned and grunted as a myriad of sights and sounds came upon him so quickly that he did not have time to process any of it. Why had everything gone so dark? Was he rolling? Where was he? ¡°Ugh,¡± Rian moaned. ¡°You okay, bud?¡± Zach tried to speak, but no words would escape his lips. And it wasn¡¯t until everything had finally stilled that he realized why: his lips, like the rest of his entire body, were currently buried beneath about fifty big pieces of thatch. He and Rian, it seemed, had literally destroyed the entire cabin. They¡¯d simply detonated it. Digging his way out, Zach pulled his head up from beneath a massive pile of thatch and straw like he was a diver coming up for air. Then he saw Rian¡¯s hand extended towards him, and he took it. His friend yanked, and he pulled Zach out of the rubble so that now they stood at the very beginning of the path that led to B4. ¡°You don¡¯t think this is going to fuck up the dungeon, do you?¡± Zach asked him. ¡°We just destroyed the door.¡± ¡°I doubt it,¡± Rian said. ¡°Remember the door that took us to B2?¡± Zach lowered his head a moment as he called it to mind. Right away, he understood the point that Rian was trying to make. ¡°Oh, yeah, right.¡± After descending what Zach now thought of as the ¡°never-ending staircase,¡± upon entering the door that led to B2, it would then literally fall forward and collapse after walking through it. From now on, that would likely be what happened any time someone came to B3. If someone were on the outside looking in, Zach imagined they¡¯d see a metal door pop into existence out of thin air, only to fall over and vanish once someone had come through it. Previously, the door would remain, and the entrance would turn into what had been a two-story thatch cabin. That was clearly no longer going to be the case. Or maybe everything will reset in a few weeks? Either way, this wasn¡¯t the best time to wonder about the dungeon. Zach, in a bit of pain, stumbled forward. His hands and feet were still releasing black smoke and the occasional ember, but he felt weakened and fatigued. His wrists ached terribly just from the one attack that he¡¯d guarded against, and he no longer had any weapon with which to fight. Come to think of it, he was pretty sure he had a flail in storage, but he had no fucking idea how to use that, and he wasn¡¯t about to try to figure it out against high-level Elvish scouts. ¡°How did you do that?¡± Rian asked him, awe in his voice. ¡°And why did you wait so long?¡± Zach looked at him and sighed. ¡°I found a ring that scales off intelligence. I guess I¡¯m so used to fighting with melee I forgot that intelligence is actually my highest stat. It¡¯s been useless to me until now.¡± ¡°Just¡­just how high is your int right now?¡± ¡°80.¡± Rian made an inhuman sound that resembled a squawk. ¡°That¡¯s nuts! Gods, Zach! No wonder.¡± Zach moaned. ¡°It¡¯s not what I¡¯m good at, though. I¡¯d rather have more strength and constitution.¡± His friend opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by Lienne, who came hurrying over. She still looked a bit shaken up, but she appeared to be in higher spirits. ¡°You guys,¡± she said, ¡°we¡¯re winning!¡± ¡°We are?¡± Rian asked. The three of them were now several-hundred feet away from the action, but even from here, Zach could see what she was referring to. And when he did, he wished he hadn¡¯t. Having calmed down now from his adrenaline-fueled battle rage, an immeasurable guilt flared up within himself, one that was not aided by the sight he now took in from farther on down the path. It took a moment for him to hone in on what was actually happening, as the battle was now a complete mess. Over two-hundred pumpkins and about five scarecrows were uselessly hacking away at everyone but Olivir, who wisely chose to stay out of their range, as he alone could be hurt by them. The rest of them, however, simply ignored the parade of low-level mobs as though they weren¡¯t even present. Zach observed as Kolona at last gained the upper-hand on her foes. On the heels of a successful combination attack that saw the dagger-wielding Elf hit her twice in quick succession, both times repelled by the shield, Kolona ducked beneath a third attack, and rather than strike back with one of her own, she decided to bend backwards, rotate her hips, and jab her arm awkwardly and unexpectedly behind herself, catching the sword-bearing Elf to her rear off guard and puncturing him right between the breast bone; the Elf had been trying to flank from behind, but he was stopped short as her reddish-purple dagger found its mark. Rather than pull it out, however, Kolona gritted her teeth and began to run it upwards, slicing him open from his chest all the way up to his throat, using the dagger to open up the Elf like it was a zipper. Only then did she pull out the weapon as the Elf clutched himself with both hands while blood gushed out of him. Though she was too far away for Zach to overhear, he could tell from the movement of her lips that she said, ¡°I¡¯m so sorry.¡± Spinning herself back around, Kolona prepared to re-engage with her fellow dagger-user, but it was to no avail; the Elf was backpedaling away from her, completely oblivious to the level-73 zombie who had crept up behind him. Grundor reached down and grabbed his right leg with both his hands. The Elf shouted out in shock as, with a tremendous amount of force, Grundor lifted him up into the air by his leg and then slammed him back down headfirst onto the pavement. But he did not release the Elf¡¯s leg. Instead, he lifted him right back up, whirled his arms over his own shoulders, turned his body, and then slammed him a second time in the opposite direction, again headfirst. The sound of his head hitting the ground was loud enough that Zach could hear it from several-hundred feet away. Grundor did not show the Elf any mercy. His body, already twitching, continued to do so as Grundor lifted him up and slammed him a third, then fourth time. He was dead long before the fifth, and by the time Grundor got to the tenth, Zach had the impression that this was personal. The Elf¡¯s eyes were still wide open and unblinking. Eventually, Grundor seemed to get bored and he dropped him, only to begin stomping down on his skull until it became deformed and oblong shaped. Zach had to look away. Olivir was also faring well. And by ¡°faring well,¡± Zach meant that the white-cloaked Elf was in so many different pieces that his brother¡¯s corpse now looked relatively intact by comparison. Zach didn¡¯t even see what Olivir had done. He had no idea what magic had been used or how gruesome a fate had awaited that poor man. Lienne did, however, and from the way her face paled and her lips quivered, Zach did not imagine it was something she wanted to talk about. ¡°Chumpkenwiffles coming!¡± Fluffles shouted. With everyone out of breath, exhausted, and hurt both physically and emotionally, Zach knew that there would nevertheless be not so much as a minute¡¯s rest. All seven of them walked towards one another, meeting up quickly. ¡°So, after all that,¡± Olivir said, breathing heavily, ¡°we¡¯re still going to be rounded up by Queen Vayra.¡± ¡°No,¡± Zach said, shaking his head firmly. ¡°We¡¯re going to make a mad dash for Kalana.¡± Olivir cringed. To say he looked skeptical was an understatement. Despite having already resolved the argument over Kalana¡¯s nature, Zach could tell he was still not fully convinced. ¡°She¡¯s going to kill us all,¡± he muttered. ¡°I don¡¯t know if we should still go along with this plan. Queen Vayra is on our tail, and you better believe she¡¯ll follow us, dude.¡± ¡°We just need to make a run for it,¡± Zach said confidently. ¡°Nothing¡¯s really changed.¡± Olivir held out his hand as he struggled to catch his breath. ¡°So, wait, wait, wait. Time out. You¡¯re telling me your plan is to¡­what, exactly?¡± Zach sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve got like six minutes left on my Unleashed Phase. If Kolona gives Lienne and Rian her speed buff and we all make a mad dash for B7, which is just a beach on Shadowfall Coast, I can get you through the door and maybe make it onto the sand before I collapse and pay off my high exertion debt.¡± ¡°And then what?¡± Olivir asked. Rian coughed into his fist as if to draw their attention. ¡°I still don¡¯t even really know anything that¡¯s going on. Can someone please explain to me why all this shit just happened?¡± ¡°I¡¯d also really like to know,¡± Lienne said. Zach ignored them both. He¡¯d explain it to them both while they ran through Yorna. Returning his attention to Olivir, he said, ¡°Look, it¡¯s really simple. I know it sounds crazy, but it¡¯s the only thing that I know for sure will work. First: we run for our lives.¡± ¡°Then?¡± Olivir asked, curling his lips. ¡°Then, I take out my phone.¡± ¡°And then what?¡± Olivir asked, exasperated. ¡°What happens next?¡±¡¯ Zach gulped. ¡°I make a call and hope for the best.¡± ¡°A call?¡± Olivir repeated dubiously. ¡°That¡¯s right. A call.¡± ***** Alex tried his best not to be overly harsh, but as the girl¡¯s former teacher, he was losing patience with her. ¡°Kalana,¡± he said, becoming well and truly annoyed, ¡°you need to focus and review the data we have on the dragon.¡± ¡°I am,¡± she lied. Alex folded his arms and gave her a look of disappointment. ¡°So you¡¯re not hiding your phone behind your back?¡± She giggled. ¡°Nope!¡± He rolled his eyes. ¡°Please. Just for once, take my word for it. Zach is fine. There¡¯s no need for you to keep checking your¡ª¡± Kalana¡¯s ears twitched as her phone rang. Then her whole face lit up. Alex knew right away that it had to be Zach calling her. It was as if reality had conspired against him to make him look stupid. Oh well. No one was right all the time. Even still, he blamed Zach more than Kalana for this. Zach knew what Kalana was about to do, and he must have known she needed to concentrate. For him to wait until right now to call her was highly irresponsible. But at least, finally, Kalana could have some peace of mind. She was going to need it if she was going to be able to concentrate on the¡ª ¡°KALANNAAAAAAAAAA!¡± Zach¡¯s panicking, furious voice screamed so loudly that Kalana almost dropped the phone and even Alex flinched. ¡°Z-Zach? Where have you been? Why¡¯re you yelling? Umm, I¡¯ve been so worried about you, and I was so scared, and I thought something might¡¯ve¡ª¡± ¡°YOUR MOM IS TRYING TO KILL US KALANA!¡± his voice roared out of the phone¡¯s speaker. ¡°YOUR MOM IS¡±¡ªhis voice was briefly interrupted as something akin to a massive explosion was briefly audible before giving way to static¡ª¡°HOLY SHIT SHE¡¯S BLOWING UP THE WHOLE FUCKING DUNGEON. SHE¡¯S GOING ON A RAMPAGE!¡± ¡°What¡­what¡¯s going on?¡± Kalana asked, her face draining of color as though taken over by fright. Whatever she was feeling, Alex was likely beginning to feel it as well. A sinking, terrible dread began to grow in him and caused him to feel weak in the knees as he fearfully wondered what in the name of the Gods the boy had gotten himself into this time. As things would have it, Donovan, Zephyr, and several high-ranking members of various adventuring guilds just so happened to stroll over, as Zach was screaming so loudly through the phone¡¯s speaker, which was on maximum volume, that he immediately began to draw a crowd. ¡°KALANA LISTEN TO¡ªOH FUCK WHAT KIND OF MAGIC IS THAT, OLIVIR? OLIVIR, DO SOMETHING! I THINK SHE¡¯S SUMMONING A FUCKING WIND DEMON OR SOME SHIT. RUN! NO, GO LEFT. KALANA, ARE YOU THERE?¡± ¡°Zach, what¡¯s wrong?¡± she shouted into the phone. ¡°I can¡¯t understand anything you¡¯re saying! Please, talk to me!¡± ¡°IN CASE I DIE, I NEED YOU TO HEAR IT ALL AT ONCE: YOUR MOM IS TRYING TO KILL US, YOUR COUSIN IS ALIVE, AND ZIRAGOTH IS A DOUBLE PHASE, WHATEVER THAT MEANS, AND IT¡¯S GOING TO WIN. AND I¡¯M WITH A VAMPIRE. I¡¯LL BE THERE IN FIVE¡ªRIAN, DUCK!¡± His voice abruptly became lower, but he still spoke more than loudly enough to be heard by the curious, growing crowd. ¡°Is she¡­is she summoning a fucking tidal wave? She is! That twisted psychopath! She¡¯s going to drown us in the tunnel. What kind of insane powers does this miserable bitch have?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t look back!¡± cried a different, young-sounding, and male voice that Alex had never heard before. All of this was happening so fast. Whatever ¡°this¡± even was. Alex was now in a stunned state of silence as he listened in on this madness. Even Donovan seemed to sober up and straighten his posture as whatever chaos Zach had gotten involved in seemed to render everyone speechless. ¡°Kalana, are you there?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here!¡± she cried into the phone. ¡°I¡¯m so confused. Are you okay? Where are you? I¡¯ll come right now! Did you¡­did you say my mom?¡± ¡°Listen to me, please! I¡¯m in B6. I¡¯ll be on the beach in Shadowfall Coast in like three minutes from now if your mom doesn¡¯t kill me first. We have intel on Ziragoth. He¡¯s like ten times worse than what Donovan thinks he is and we have the file or something. Also, your¡ªhold on a second. Fluffles! I swear to the Gods you¡¯ll never get dinner ever again if you chase that flying unicorn.¡± ¡°But it a horsie birdy.¡± ¡°Fluffles, you will die! Don¡¯t you understand that?¡± The level of confusion that Alex¡ªand likely the others¡ªfelt listening in was so great that it could almost be fairly described as being a type of agony. What the hell was happening? Was Zach in some kind of danger? Why was he, Rian, and an unidentified boy whom Alex believed was called ¡°Olivir¡± all shouting at one another? Also, did he just say the words ¡°flying unicorn?¡± ¡°Baby, please, I don¡¯t understand anything you¡¯re saying. You need to speak more clearly. You keep using words like ¡®mom¡¯ and ¡®cousin¡¯. Is that some kind of code? Zach, talk to me!¡± A steadily growing panic had entered into Kalana¡¯s voice, and at this rate, it would rival Zach¡¯s before long. Rather than words, the only sound to come through the phone¡¯s speaker was a tremendously loud roar of a creature that Alex had never heard before, followed by three consecutive explosions and what Alex took to be a great deal of running water. Then a bunch of extremely profane swear words from Zach, who really let them fly without regard for whoever might be listening. "What in the Gods is that thing?" Zach asked with a yelp. Alex did not think he was speaking to Kalana. "No, seriously. What in the absolute fuck is that?" "What thing?" the boyish voice asked. Then he audibly grunted. "Oh, that. That''s a dinosaur." "A dinosaur? What the hell is a dinosaur?" "It''s the thing that''s chasing us." "It doesn''t even look real. Keep that away from me!" "Zach, please," Kalana said as she began to urgently call out Zach''s name as if to regain his attention. Somehow, it worked. "Sorry, Kal! What I was trying to say is that your cousin¡¯s alive. She¡¯s with me right now. I¡¯ve also got a vampire with me. And about fifty of the green-cloaked Elves are chasing us not including your mom.¡± ¡°My cousin?¡± Kalana asked, sounding bewildered. ¡°Zach, I don¡¯t have any more cousins. I haven¡¯t had any since¡ª¡± ¡°Okay, maybe you just need to talk to her yourself. Catch!¡± ¡°Catch?¡± Kalana asked. There were two pops from the phone, and Kalana became even more anxious as she shook her head. ¡°Zach, what are you saying? My mom? My cousin? Green cloaks? This doesn¡¯t make any sense. Where are you? What¡¯s going on? I¡¯m not gonna be mad if you got yourself into trouble, I just really wanna come help, so if you¡¯ll just¡ª¡± ¡°Kalana?¡± a sweet, innocent-sounding voice said. ¡°Oh, Gods, is that really you?¡± Alex watched in a state of morbid confusion as Kalana, in a single instant, went from panicked and excited to something else entirely. The exact, precise moment that the girl¡¯s voice came through her phone¡¯s speaker, Kalana covered her mouth and began to weep. ¡°K-Kolona?¡± she replied in something in between a question and a shout. ¡°Is this real? Is this really happening?¡± ¡°Kal!¡± the voice cried. ¡°It¡¯s really you, isn¡¯t it?¡± The voice broke, but not due to the connection quality: the girl appeared to be weeping the same as Kalana. ¡°Oh, Kolona. I¡¯ve missed you so much. How are you alive? Where are you? How do you know Zach?¡± ¡°Zach¡­Zach said you¡­you wouldn¡¯t hurt us if he took us to you.¡± ¡°Hurt¡­you?¡± Zach¡¯s voice chimed in. ¡°The vampire I¡¯m with thinks you¡¯ll try to kill your cousin if¡ªstop it, Fluffles. I told you three times now to stop provoking the dog!¡± ¡°No! Fluffles HATE Chumpkenwiffles!¡± Alex rubbed his temple as the sound of loud, angry barking echoed through the phone¡¯s speakers, as well as yet another, more distant-sounding voice. ¡°You can¡¯t run from me, Fluffles! I am going to eat you!¡± ¡°I not running! Fluffles fight Chumpkenwiffles any time! You are a bad doggie.¡± ¡°You are the worst cat.¡± ¡°No! No! Lienne say Fluffles the best cat.¡± ¡°Felidrath said that Chumpkenwiffles is a good girl and the best.¡± ¡°The hell is going on?¡± Donovan asked, scratching his head. ¡°Nothing good,¡± Alex replied with a moan, rubbing his face as his stress levels grew. Just then, the covering to Kalana¡¯s tent was ripped aside, and a man clad in golden, glistening armor wearing a white-and-red cape stepped out. As much as Kalana had changed, her father had perhaps changed even more. He now looked every bit the king he would have been had he not been cursed to forever remain just a prince following the destruction of his people, which barred him from claiming his right to ascension. And though his daughter¡¯s potential was greater than his own, for the time being, he was the more powerful of the two. ¡°Zach, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Eldora said, his voice as kind as his figure was impressive. ¡°Did I just hear you mention Kalana¡¯s mother? And¡­and that voice I thought I just heard.¡± ¡°Your Majesty!¡± excitedly squeaked the female voice. ¡°It¡¯s really you! Uncle!¡± Of all things, Eldora fell to his knees and began to weep beside his daughter, the two now holding on to one another. ¡°My dear, dear Kolona,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re alive. Oh, Gods, you¡¯re alive.¡± ¡°Not for long!¡± Zach roared. ¡°Is no one fucking listening to me? Your wife, Fylwen, is literally gaining on us.¡± Eldora¡¯s emotions shifted dramatically from one of joy, relief, amazement, and disbelief, into rage and something akin to fatherly concern. ¡°So, she made it to Archian Prime, then.¡± He spat onto the grass. ¡°I thought she¡¯d died.¡± ¡°Dad? What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Nothing good, Kal. Nothing good. Zach is in real trouble. I won¡¯t let anything happen to him or my niece. Not after only just finding out that she lives!¡± Alex turned over the words in his head. He was slowly¡ªbut very poorly¡ªpiecing together what he was hearing. Yet it was Zephyr who nodded as though he¡¯d been understanding everything all along. ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s what¡¯s happening,¡± he said with a chuckle, rubbing his chin. ¡°It¡¯ll be good to see Olivir again.¡± ¡°Who?¡± both Alex and Donovan demanded. It didn¡¯t surprise Alex that Zephyr Vextran, leader of the Explorers Brigade, had, well, explored enough to have some clue as to what was going on, but what did surprise him was how coy he was being about sharing whatever he knew. ¡°Count Olivir Soloux,¡± he said, snapping his finger and nodding his head approvingly. ¡°A vampire from Archian Prime I ran into during an expedition. Very, very well-mannered man. He looks like a boy, though.¡± ¡°Who is he? And what does he have to do with what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Everything,¡± Zephyr said. ¡°At least everything that matters to us about this raid.¡± Zephyr shrugged. ¡°I never got the chance to barter with him, but I always suspected he has valuable information on boss spawns in his library. If he¡¯s with Zach, and Zach¡¯s claiming he has information on Ziragoth, then it¡¯s likely that, all this other cute madness aside, whatever he¡¯s trying to warn us about is a real and serious problem. We might need to¡­¡± Zephyr halted speaking in a way that came across as sudden and intentional. Before Alex could ask him why he¡¯d gone quiet, heads began to turn and eyes began to widen. Without even looking over his shoulder, Alex knew right away that the leaders of the political guilds were coming to investigate the source of the commotion. One, in particular, arrived just in time to hear Zach say, ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re going to make it. I¡¯m sorry, Kal. I love you. You¡¯ll never get to us in time. We might be able to make it through the door, but at the rate the Elves are gaining on us, Fylwen will end up killing us on the beach.¡± With indignation and alarm, Peter Brayspark, leader of the Guild of Gentlemen, rudely shoved Alex aside and shouted, ¡°Zachys Calador! Did you say that the Elvish are pursuing you onto human lands?¡± He scowled. ¡°Take heart, young warrior. I am coming now, and on my honor, I shall save you and your companions. No Elvish scum shall dare lay a finger on a human in our place of refuge! Fylwen has some nerve coming back here after the way she betrayed me.¡± If anyone wasn¡¯t paying attention to the fiasco up until this point, that all changed now. All at once, the entire camp turned to total disarray as, amid every other absurd happening, Peter V spread his arms widely, and a red gemstone he wore as a necklace began to glow, brightly. Now, out of a clear, hot, and sunny blue summer sky, nine bolts of lightning struck the ground in a ring all around him. Before Alex could so much as question what was happening, he gasped in total surprise. Standing before him were nine, fully-armored, angel-winged Valkyries, and each one was over level 150¡ªa level higher than anything he¡¯d ever before seen with the sole exception of the sentient NPC known as Angelica. He also summoned a level-50 flying Pegasus whose hooves were made of pure fire. ¡°How dare that accursed woman threaten a human,¡± Peter growled. ¡°Indeed, she ought to have remained in that other world. But to come to our home and threaten Zachys Calador, a hero of humanity. Gah! Nay, I cannot forgive this treachery. I dare say our duel is long in coming.¡± Alex really wanted to say something to him. He wanted to say anything to the man. But he was simply far too overcome with shock and incredulity. What level was Sir Peter Brayspark? He doubted Peter¡¯s level was that much higher than his own, and if he had to bet, he''d say it might even be a tiny bit lower. This meant that whatever gem he wore around his neck must have been some kind of equipment with artifact-level rarity. But if so, why had he never called upon this force in one of his guild¡¯s numerous battles? Even now, he could be putting an end to the Royal Roses. It must be some kind of restriction, Alex thought. Maybe the Valkyries won¡¯t attack humans. Whatever the case, Peter, along with his nine NPC Valkyries of a level more than double Alex¡¯s own, blasted off into the distance at the same time that Kalana and Eldora began pulling themselves together. ¡°Zach,¡± she said, wiping her eyes. ¡°Why would you say Kolona is worried about me hurting her?¡± ¡°Because of your mother,¡± Eldora answered in place of Zach. There was an intensity in his eyes that Alex had never before seen from him. ¡°I think I know exactly what¡¯s happening now.¡± He scowled. ¡°We need to hurry, Kalana. Your mother will kill Zach and my niece if we don¡¯t hurry. I never thought this day would come, but it has.¡± ¡°What aren¡¯t you telling me, dad?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Too much to explain now. But I will. I promise you. It''s just that there are so many things you would be happier not knowing.¡± ¡°Everyone always assumes that about me!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Kalana.¡± Alex felt truly awful for the girl, who was so confused that it actually looked painful. To be fair, Alex was just as perplexed, but in her case, these events seemed far more significant to her. At least part of them did, anyway. Despite in no way wishing to undervalue the extreme importance of what she appeared to be discovering, it was those few snippets about ¡°Ziragoth¡± that most troubled Alex, and he had no doubt that it was the same for Donovan and all the other raid leaders as well. That, and only that, was his concern for the time being. ¡°Donovan, you heard it too, right?¡± Alex whispered to him. He nodded. ¡°I got no idea what the kid knows, but man, my blood¡¯s boiling.¡± ¡°Did he say Ziragoth is a ¡®double phase¡¯ boss?¡± ¡°Sure sounded that way, Alex.¡± ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°No fucking idea,¡± Donovan said with both a laugh and grunt simultaneously. Alex returned his attention to Kalana, who was having to almost physically fight people who tried to shout into her phone or grab it as a mass hysteria and confusion had settled over the raid camp. The political guilds were demanding to know when they could ¡°expect to begin negotiations with their esteemed Elvish visitors,¡± whereas the adventurers were now all shouting about Ziragoth. But one man in particular managed to calm them down. He was a man who, despite not being a guild-leader, Alex took to be the most dangerous and formidable member of any political guild. ¡°I need to get there immediately,¡± Abram Gespon said. He was grinning ear to ear. In his eyes, Alex could tell he saw an opportunity. He was a man that defined craftiness. Despite only finding out mere moments ago that there were more Elves alive than Kalana and her father, and that they were headed here now, he had likely instantly devised some plot or negotiation tactic that, in all honesty, he would probably succeed in achieving. ¡°This is a wonderful, wonderful day,¡± he said, patting several of his compatriots on the back. ¡°Sir Gespon the Virtuous,¡± said Norc, an Orcish captain of the Royal Roses who Alex actually found to be tolerable. ¡°Pardon my interruption, but I do hope you don¡¯t intend to meet alone with what could very well be a hostile party.¡± Abram Gespon chuckled. ¡°You¡¯ll all be meeting this ¡®queen¡¯ fairly soon. Mark my words, I will bring her back here, because I know I¡¯ve got something she wants. Even if I don¡¯t know what it is yet.¡± Raising his voice, he ordered his attendants to begin rushing in even fancier carpets and to prepare for an ¡°official state visit.¡± With two hours left until Ziragoth would begin his rampage, Alex was now actually listening to a man order various, white-hatted chefs to begin preparing their finest food while demanding even nicer decorations for the ¡°leadership tent.¡± Upon these words, he hurried off after Peter Brayspark, though in his case, he appeared content to wait for a helicopter as opposed to flying on a mythical animal. This whole situation has become insane. ¡°Zach,¡± Kalana said, ¡°is my cousin there? Please. I gotta talk to her.¡± ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± she replied. ¡°I can hear you.¡± ¡°Did you¡­did you think I would actually hurt you? Is that why you never told me you were still alive? I missed you so much. So, so much.¡± ¡°I¡­I didn¡¯t know if you would or wouldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°I would never,¡± Kalana said, tears once more in her eyes. ¡°I would never. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever!¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I always believed too, Kalana. It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve already died once, and there won¡¯t be any bringing me back the next time.¡± ¡°Died?¡± Kalana asked with a gasp. ¡°I was brought back by my Olivir. Same as your Zach.¡± ¡°Shh!¡± hissed what sounded like the voice of Zach. ¡°Oh! Sorry!¡± If there was any point during all this madness that Alex should have grabbed away the phone, it would have been at this point in the conversation. Even with only the slightest understanding of what was taking place, he knew that what had just been said could not be unsaid: and he knew that nothing good could come of it. Kalana¡¯s expression darkened and her eyes narrowed. ¡°Zach¡­died?¡± she asked in a whisper. ¡°Of course not,¡± Zach said with a laugh. ¡°Fluffles! No! Leave the dog alone!¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Kolona replied. ¡°Olivir brought him back.¡± ¡°But¡­but he¡¯s still alive right now?¡± Kalana asked, her voice having become somewhat cold. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°But he did die. For real?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± She looked at her father. ¡°I¡¯m gonna kill mom. Slowly.¡± ¡°Let me handle her, Kalana. You rescue Zach and your cousin. I will deal with your mother.¡± Fury in her eyes, she viciously shook her head. ¡°She¡¯s dead. She¡¯s dead!¡± Alex tried to interject, but before he could utter a single word, a miniature explosion coming from where the girl and her father had been standing, along with a sudden gust of wind, caused grass, dust, and dirt to be sprayed all over Alex and Donovan as the pair of Elvish royalty blasted off at absurdly irresponsible speeds that put themselves and others in danger. Alex frowned. It was never acceptable to run that fast within two miles of a sentient being. He needed to have a talk with her about that later: but first, he had to break his own rule. ¡°Media blackout, now,¡± ordered a member of the Royal Roses into a communications device. ¡°I don¡¯t care what reason. Do it now. If I see a camera within fifteen miles of any point along the city¡¯s coast, whoever owns it is getting ten years behind bars, and whoever operates it is getting twenty. Thirty years if they''re the same person.¡± Alex waited for the Royal Roses captain to pass, and then, against his own better judgement, he decided to abandon the raid camp and hurry after Peter, Abram, Kalana, and Eldora. With a degree of self-aware hypocrisy, he broke into a full sprint even knowing how dangerous it was. If he tripped, he could easily slam into a building and kill dozens or hundreds of people. Even still, he felt that he had no choice. For once, he needed to be there for Zach¡ªeven if he had no damned idea what was going on. Much to his surprise, as he took off at a mad dash, the world seeming to blur around him, he saw that Donovan, Zephyr, and dozens of other adventurers were following behind. Whatever was going on, he just prayed to the Gods that they made it back in time for the dragon. Chapter 71: Humanitys Salvation Chapter 71: Humanity''s Salvation It seemed like more and more each day, Prila found herself wishing Adamus was actually the God she¡¯d always thought he was. Because even an incompetent God had to be better than the wiry old half-elf who refused to lift a finger to do anything useful¡ªeven when it fell well within the mission parameters for which this entire Orbital Monitoring Platform had even been created. Folding her arms as she sat in her chair with Adamus standing by her side, she wondered if she would be able to make it to the end of today without taking something to calm herself down. She was now truly, fully emotionally invested into the wellbeing of Zachys Calador. She had not slept a wink since Ziragoth had spawned, as she¡¯d been glued to her monitor watching as Zach narrowly avoided death¡ªor came back from it¡ªone time after the next. She never imagined someone would come along who would make her feel again. But there he was: the boy whom she desperately did not wish to see die, but whose death was bound to happen someday sooner or later with the way he kept leaping from one deadly situation to the next. But this time, however, things were different¡ªor at least they should have been. For once, Adamus should have been willing to interfere, as it just so happened that the very same entities that currently threatened Zachys Calador were also posing just as great a threat to the system. Right now, Queen Vayra and a squad of what she estimated to be fifty, green-cloak-wearing Elvish warriors were pursuing Zach through level B6 of the Catacombs of Yorna¡ªand destroying it. ¡°You keep telling us about how important it is to uphold the system, Adamus. So please: uphold it then.¡± ¡°I am, my child,¡± he whispered. ¡°I uphold it by staying impartial.¡± Prila unfolded her arms and then waved them both at the viewing screen in outrage. Nearly all her coworkers also made similar gestures. Almost everyone here was united in support of helping Zach deal with his current dilemma: everyone but the figure in charge. ¡°There won¡¯t be a system left if we allow Queen Vayra to destroy it,¡± she said, trying to reason with him. Prila turned her head to see Adamus closing his eyes and drawing a deep breath. He did not reopen them until he¡¯d taken a slow, calm exhale. ¡°You do not wish me to interfere out of a concern for the structural integrity of B6. You wish me to interfere because you want to me to prioritize the life of the boy over the life of the ones pursuing him.¡± ¡°So, what if I do?¡± Prila asked bitterly. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter either way. You¡¯re really going to sit there and let the queen obliterate an entire dungeon floor? That would mean B6 as well as B7 will be functionally dead. Actually, it¡¯s worse than that, because unlike B7, taking the sixth floor out of commission will make linearly progressing through the dungeon impossible for new adventurers who don¡¯t have an elevator key or know about the B8 entrance hidden inside the bathroom.¡± ¡°It will not,¡± Adamus said. ¡°There are none remaining on Galterra with the knowledge of how to destroy a dungeon floor.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m seeing,¡± Prila remarked dryly. ¡°I understand how things may appear. Yet I assure you, the floor will not be destroyed.¡± She wondered if Adamus could tell that she was losing respect for him. Or if he even cared. She no longer feared him even slightly. Any lingering awe she had from when she had believed him to be a literal God was long gone. Now, what she saw was a useless old man who had gathered together many promising, talented people to uphold a system without giving them the tools in which to do so. Why were they even here, then? ¡°Are we both looking at the same thing?¡± she asked, pointing to her screen. ¡°She¡¯s annihilating the entire floor.¡± ¡°It does seem that way, my child, but it is not that way.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Adamus sighed. ¡°Though it looks quite terrible, dungeon floors can reset themselves every week provided most of the core fabric is intact. And of the few living beings who know how to destroy it, the Elvish queen is not among them. Though the damage may be significant, it can be repaired. Once the PVP encounter between the two parties has either moved on or is otherwise resolved, deactivate all portals to Yorna and dispatch a maintenance team to clear out the rubble and manually reset the entire dungeon early. This way, a new adventurer won¡¯t travel down and find themselves at a dead end until we¡¯ve reset it.¡± Prila opened her mouth to argue the case, then shut it before she had spoken a single word. Instead, she filed the required electronic paperwork required to comply with Adamus¡¯s instructions. Keeping a neutral expression on her face, she tried to hide her excitement as an idea came to her. This could be just the opportunity she finally needed to make an actual difference in the world. Speaking slowly, calmly, and doing her best not to appear overeager, she asked, ¡°May I deploy with them, Adamus?¡± At this, Adamus took his eyes off her screen, turned his head in her direction, and curiously raised his right eyebrow. ¡°You wish to fly down to Galterra with the maintenance team, my child?¡± She nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve been here for so many years. It¡¯d be nice to get down to Galterra again. I¡¯m also the most qualified engineer. If we need the dungeon up and running as soon as possible, I should lead the team this time around.¡± Adamus stroked his chin for a moment and regarded her with an unreadable expression. She suppressed any visible display of apprehension and merely stared confidently back at him. Finally, he made a curt, nonchalant shrug and said, ¡°That is fine. You may.¡± Prila bowed her head in thanks, then redirected her attention back to her terminal. Butterflies took over her stomach as she realized she was actually going to be able to do the one thing she had now decided she needed to do above all. No matter what¡ªeven if it cost Prila her life¡ªshe needed to find and speak with Angelica. She had to get to that inn somehow, and she knew there was a secret entrance on B4. All she¡¯d have to do is sneak past a few skeleton archers and she could finally visit the famous inn for herself. It would be easier, of course, if she deactivated the mobs on B4 ahead of time, but deactivating the mob spawns on any level other than B6 would raise too much suspicion. As a level-1 human, it would pose an incredible risk to her life. But she was tired of watching everything unfold from the sidelines. Galterra needed her: even if it didn¡¯t know it yet. Galterra needed Zach, too, which was why he damn well better survive this. Just keep running, kid, she thought. Keep going! ***** The world shook, the walls began to crumble, and dust, along with loose rocks began to leak down from the ceiling as an explosion hit B6 that was so powerful Zach feared it might cause the entire tunnel to cave in. If not for his amplified dexterity, he probably would have been knocked off his feet, and if not for Kolona and Olivir rushing to steady Rian and Lienne, the two of them might¡¯ve fallen over as well, which in this context, would nearly certainly mean being captured or killed. Put simply, things right now were not good: not at all. Zach, together with Rian, Lienne, Olivir, Grundor, Kolona, and Fluffles, continued to dash frantically down the miles-long tunnel in a desperate attempt to escape from Queen Vayra, who if not for Olivir¡¯s frantic summoning, would have reached them by now. One after the next, he called forth Fundead Roller Ghasts and Fundead Shockers, and then he imbued each one of them with a flashing, dark-purple orb that served as a sort of time bomb. The zombies would then skate directly at the front-most Elf and explode, doing very little damage but succeeding in slowing them down. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. It''s so weird to see them on my side for once, Zach thought, unintentionally tensing up each time one of the mobs popped into existence next to him. The mob would skate alongside them, keeping pace, until Olivir imbued it with a bomb, and then it would halt, turn around, and make a beeline to the Elvish warriors charging after them. How are we even still alive? Zach was no longer willing to look back. He¡¯d learned his lesson after the last few times. They all had. The sheer number of things that had either almost¡ªor were currently about to¡ªkill them was so unnerving that even just seeing it made Zach want to flee at full speed. But since Rian and Lienne could not keep up, it would mean leaving them behind, which he simply would not do. It was for this reason he needed to gather all his courage and force himself to keep pace with them. Less than a minute earlier, Fylwen had nearly succeeded in drowning them all to death. The woman had actually summoned a fucking tidal wave with enough water to completely fill a large section of the tunnel. Right now, half of B6 and all of B5 were underwater. Distantly, Zach wondered if Moldark, in his NPC form, would still be standing there in the wedding room robotically gargling out his lines while submerged in water. ¡°Why¡¯re you grinning all of a sudden?¡± Rian asked, panting heavily as he struggled to keep up. ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Zach said. ¡°Tell you later.¡± With less than two minutes left on Unleashed Phase, there was no chance whatsoever that Zach would have enough time left to use Phase Rescue and pull Olivir through the exit. Luckily, however, it was looking like he might not have to due to something they¡¯d discovered as a result of ¡°warping¡± Olivir into the dungeon. In fact, the entire reason Fylwen had managed to catch up to them so fast in the first place had everything to do with bringing Olivir here. It had cost them thirty-five precious seconds of time: an exact number that he knew only because he¡¯d been watching it tick down. Immediately after entering B4, Kolona had hurried Fluffles, Grundor, Rian, and Lienne inside, then held the door so that Zach could maintain a visual line of sight to Olivir, who claimed he could not even see the door that they¡¯d all just walked through. Each time one of them entered, he would remark that, to his eyes, they looked like they were vanishing into thin air. Just as they¡¯d planned, Zach had wasted no time in activating Boundless and Phase Rescue. Immediately, a blueish orb had surrounded Olivir exactly as Zach had expected, which meant that he¡¯d been right and his ability would, in fact, work. But rather than collapse in on itself as it always did¡ªbefore reappearing by Zach¡¯s side¡ªit instead blasted off straight upwards and into the sky, leaving behind a blue, comet-like trail in its wake. Within the shortest of instants, it then disappeared, and it had been at this point that Zach, as well as Kolona, had become very worried. Where had he gone? Why hadn¡¯t he reappeared? These were the things that Zach had asked himself when, after five seconds of waiting around anxiously, Olivir did not reappear. The following thirty seconds after that had been some of the longest thirty seconds of his life, during which Zach had been forced to confront several horrifying questions such as: what if Zach had been wrong and he had just killed Olivir somehow? What if he never showed up? Should they leave without him? How long was he supposed to wait? Finally, however, on the thirty-fifth second, Olivir at least reappeared on the heels of a blue orb that lit up the stairwell somewhere behind him. ¡°Are you okay?¡± both Zach and Kolona had asked him at the same time. ¡°What happened?¡± Olivir had an expression on his face of pure wonder; it was an expression unlike any Zach had seen before. ¡°I¡­I saw everything,¡± he¡¯d said, speaking first at a whisper. Then, with a giddy sort of excitement, he¡¯d said, ¡°I flew straight into space, right through the middle of a gas giant in this solar system, and then I traveled at gate-speed two-hundred light years to Galterra. Oh! I know where we are, too, dude. I was moving so fast, but I still saw it. We¡¯re in the far east: on Zatrakhar.¡± Olivir had explained to them that they were many miles below the surface of Galterra, specifically beneath the Orc-run continent of Zatrakhar, which was a good thirteen-thousand miles away from North Bastia. If not for the fact that their lives had depended on them immediately continuing on their way, Zach would have liked to stop and ask Olivir a billion follow-up questions about what had just happened to him and what he¡¯d seen. Instead, the only vital point of discussion revolved around a claim that Olivir had made, in which he¡¯d stated that he could now see the door that was invisible to him before. Therefore, Olivir had surmised that the barrier preventing travel was only active on entrances and not exits¡ªwhich in turn meant that Zach would not have to use Phase Rescue again when they got to B7. Assuming Zach understood things correctly, then theoretically, he would have to use it again if they had been intending to go to B8. This was because, despite technically being ¡°floors¡± in the dungeon, the doors leading to B2, B3, and B7 were ¡°exit¡± points that were not fully part of the core dungeon. It was more accurate to say that these floors ran through the dungeon, or parallel with it. For this reason, it was impossible for someone to be trapped inside the dungeon if for some reason they lost their buff¡ªor in this case, if they never had it in the first place. They could end up stuck on a foreign planet, but not inside a floor like B6. I hope that¡¯s the case, because there¡¯s no way I¡¯ll have enough time left on Unleashed Phase to pull Olivir through the door. As the sound of shouting grew louder behind him, Zach wondered if he should just scoop up Rian and Lienne and carry them through the final stretch. Humiliating or not, the Elves were getting closer, and there was still a bit of ground to cover. Given their current speed and their difficulty in slowing the enemy, it was now entirely possible they wouldn¡¯t even make it to the beach, let alone stand any chance of surviving once they got there. Zach gripped his hands into fists and prayed to the Gods that they all made it through this. They were so close now. ***** If not for one boy¡¯s heroic actions, an egregiously incompetent former Chief Censor at the IMA, and a chance discovery deep below Shadowfall Coast, Sir Alistair Morrison was certain that the legendary Guild of Gentlemen would soon be no more. Yet down here, deep in this hidden laboratory, they had discovered a new cause for hope: a weapon that was far more powerful than anything that had come before it. It was a weapon that no level was high enough to tank, no magic was powerful enough to thwart, and no ability was dexterous enough to evade. It was called an ICBM, and attached to it was a nuclear warhead that, should it be required, would reduce an enemy¡¯s city to ashes. All of it. It would end the war in a single instant. It would put a stop to their losses and allow them to retake all they had lost. And yet, Peter Brayspark, their leader¡ªthe man they trusted above all and the son of the last true king¡ªhad actually ordered Alistair to destroy it and never speak of it again. Well, he had no intention of following that order. For the sake of Peter as well as all of humanity, the Guild of Gentlemen could not be allowed to fall. If the Royal Roses chose to attack this city using conventional warfare, and if the defense force of Shadowfall Coast was not able to repel the invasion, Alistair was prepared to do whatever it took to defend his people. But for now, he wanted to use every last second of his time. Time was now the most important resource in the world to him. Until this situation with the dragon was resolved, the attack on Shadowfall Coast would not commence. Hopefully, Ziragoth would occupy the world¡¯s attention for at least a short while longer. His scientists needed just a little more time: precious moments required to figure out how to build more of these weapons, as one alone might not be enough. If these weapons were truly as powerful as his chief scientist, Iris Roduncrest, had claimed, then merely the threat of being attacked by one would be enough to make the world fall in line and bow down before King Peter Brayspark the Fifth¡ªeven if the man did not himself understand the importance of it. Iris had never led him astray before, and she had promised him that this weapon would deliver. Thinking of the old woman, Alistair placed his hand on his heart and closed his eyes in memory of his dear friend and trusted confidant. The weapon had proven far more dangerous than they¡¯d originally anticipated. Even using the cancer-healing rejuvenation stones, his top physicians had been unable to cure her, and she had died several days prior from exposure to this ¡°atomic bomb.¡± Even though she had worn a protective suit that was supposed to defend her from radiation, it had not proven sufficient. Yet that did not deter the other brave men and women who had replaced her, several of whom had passed away since work on this had begun. It was a death sentence: but it was for the sake of humanity. And Alistair was so proud of their bravery. With this weapon, they would reestablish the monarchy and once again guide humanity on a path of righteousness. And all thanks to a man named ¡°Moldark,¡± who centuries ago had been wise enough to know that this day might come. All of humanity owed him their thanks. When this war was over, Sir Alistair Morrison would order a statue be erected in his name. He was, truly, their savior. Chapter 72: Onward to Ziragoth Chapter 72: Onward to Ziragoth If not for a random, level-3 Eep that Zach aggroed without even noticing, it was a virtual certainty that he would have died. That was the only possible conclusion he could draw as Chumpkenwiffles made a loud ¡°Awoof! Awoof! Rrrrruuhf! R-r-r-r-rufh!¡± and fired dual laser beams out of her eyes. The dark tunnel briefly lit up and took on a reddish glow as both parallel-running lasers sailed across the dungeon floor on a trajectory that would have hit Zach right in the middle of his back. Though it probably wouldn¡¯t have killed him outright while he was in Phase Level 1, it would¡¯ve taken him clean off his feet, and then he would have died, likely at the hands of Fylwen¡ªagain. Luckily, however, that did not happen. The Eep, which Zach had no recollection of even aggroing, flew down from the ceiling, swooped right over Zach¡¯s head, and then soared directly into the line of fire. Despite hitting a mob, there was still a detonation as the laser met its end, albeit a smaller one, and it was a miracle that no one was taken off balance as a result of it. To fall, slow down, or halt in any way was out of the question. As things were, their odds of making it to B7 were steadily declining. Queen Vayra and her Elves had now drawn close enough that they were beginning to unleash arrows and magic at the seven of them. Although Olivir used various means to divert what he could, some were beginning to slip through his defenses. Gods be damned, we¡¯re so close! Right now, Zach was running with his left hand pressed against the middle of Rian¡¯s back and his right against Lienne¡¯s, and he was literally shoving the two of them forward as he ran between them. Things had now progressed to the point where he would have carried them¡ªwith or without their consent¡ªif it were only possible to do so without also requiring him to stop and work out the logistics of it. Due to their forward momentum and the shapes of their bodies, even trying to wrap an arm around each of them at the same time without knocking them or himself over, obscuring his vision, or dragging them in a dangerous way was too great a risk. So instead, he settled for literally shoving them along with just enough force to propel them but not enough to cause either of the two to stumble. Thankfully, they did not seem offended. If anything, they appeared grateful. Zach supposed neither of them was in the mood to die¡ªand he wasn¡¯t either, for that matter. ¡°Just a bit farther,¡± Zach said to them. ¡°Please don¡¯t give up. Force your legs to move!¡± Both siblings were panting, but Rian in particular appeared especially run down. Zach knew his friend was not going to be able to last much longer. Sweat was pouring down his face like a leaky faucet, and only a moment ago, he¡¯d dropped his axe and shield to relieve some of the weight, simply tossing them aside as though content to leave them behind forever¡ªwisely, in Zach¡¯s opinion. Clearly, the axe and shield were not worth his life, and Zach guessed that activating Bank and Storage and stowing his equipment away properly would be too difficult to do while fleeing wildly from a pack of angry Elvish warriors and their miserable, traitorous queen. Rian¡¯s mouth was opened wide, and he was taking large, audible, heaving gasps of breath. Even still, he raised his hand and made the OK symbol with his thumb and index finger along with firing Zach a brief, unconvincing grin. Despite trying to project reassurance, the sweat pouring down his eyes along with his gradually worsening posture belied the gesture of confidence. Zach decided to continue encouraging him. He needed to keep morale high for just a little while longer. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he said to Rian. ¡°We¡¯re almost¡ª¡± ¡°Zach!¡± Olivir cried. ¡°Watch out!¡± Caught unaware, Zach felt a jolt of alarm shoot through his chest as he glanced over his shoulder and saw another pair of lasers heading straight for him. Chumpkenwiffles was now running ahead of all the other Elves, and she¡¯d come close enough now that Zach could actually hear her paws clicking down onto the surface of the large, tunnel-like passageway as she growled and attacked. This time, having fired from a much closer position, there was no time for Zach to react: there was no chance for him to dodge. He was going to be hit¡ªor at least he should have been hit. Yet for the second time in a row, a stray Eep that he could not recall aggroing decided to launch itself straight down from the ceiling and put itself in the path of Chumpkenwiffles¡¯ lasers, absorbing the hit and becoming vaporized instantly. Undeterred, Chumpkenwiffles fired off yet another pair of lasers from her eyes, and then another one after that. But twice more, an Eep dropped down from above and took the hit. Mystified, Zach blinked his eyes several times to ensure he was really seeing this happen. To call this ¡°lucky¡± would go beyond just putting it mildly. No, this was a level of luck that Zach could not even believe he possessed. What was the chance of that happening four times in a row? Probably pretty low. But then it happened again¡ªand again, and again, and again! Chumpkenwiffles, as though frustrated, began growling loudly and rapid-firing lasers while pivoting her head from left to right then back again like some kind of automated turret. The result was the dog sending out a barrage of lasers so fast that Zach couldn¡¯t keep track of them all, and instead of aiming at just Zach, she now seemed desperate to hit anyone at all. Yet, with a loud, collective ¡°Eep!¡± an entire horde of Eeps from deeper into the dungeon began to swarm the area behind Zach, creating something of a net that caught each and every one of the lasers, as well as every arrow and magic projectile that Olivir could not deflect. I need to play the lottery if I live through this, Zach thought. The Gods are definitely on my side today! Knowing how the universe tended to work, Zach should have known better than to let himself experience even a brief moment of renewed hope. Yet he allowed himself to do so anyway, and of course, it was ripped away from him not a second later. His moment of elation came to an abrupt, immediate end as he heard the voice of someone who had hurt him more than anyone else ever had before: Varsh and Ziragoth included. It came from somewhere behind the leading row of Elvish warriors, and it was a voice he would never forget no matter how much time passed. It was the voice of someone who had deceived and betrayed him: of a woman who had given him a scar that would never fully heal. It caused Zach to tremble in equal parts rage and fear. ¡°Adamus!¡± the voice cried from somewhere deeper into the tunnel and behind what sounded like dozens of angrily marching boots. ¡°Where is your impartiality? Is this how you run things? Have you any shame?¡± The sound of the voice sent a shiver rolling directly down Zach¡¯s spine. Though he could not see her, as she was concealed behind several of the green-cloaked Elves, the voice was unmistakably that of Queen Fylwen Vayra, the woman who had intentionally tricked Zach into killing himself. He was also far from the only person to have an issue with her. A bit to Zach¡¯s right and slightly behind him, he noticed a deep, vengeful scowl pop up onto Olivir¡¯s face as Fylwen¡¯s words reached his ears. ¡°What¡¯s she yelling about?¡± Zach asked him. ¡°Ehh, I¡¯ve got no idea, dude, but with her, it¡¯s never anything good.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve definitely heard that name before,¡± Zach said. ¡°I just can¡¯t remember where.¡± ¡°What name?¡± ¡°Adamus,¡± Zach clarified. ¡°Oh, he¡¯s one of the Great Ones.¡± ¡°And why¡¯s Queen Vayra ranting about him?¡± Even while running for his life and fending off spells, Olivir managed a shrug. ¡°Who knows? The woman¡¯s nuts. Just ignore her and keep running.¡± ¡°Yeah, good idea.¡± ***** As Prila removed her hands from her terminal and placed them onto her lap, the look that Adamus gave her was not one of anger or scorn, but rather one that seemed akin to fatherly disappointment. ¡°That was clearly not an appropriate use of the system, my child,¡± he said with a whisper, releasing a slow breath. Prila lowered her head and feigned a level of shame that she did not authentically feel. To begin with, her faith in Adamus¡¯s system was shaken, and further exacerbating that was her rapidly growing, protective instinct towards Zach Calador. Nevertheless, the fact that she no longer believed in the vision of the system was not something she could let be known. Not while there was still some good that she could do from within. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said back to him, also speaking in a whisper. Then, at a more conversational level, she said, ¡°I just find that Elvish woman to be so reprehensible, and I couldn¡¯t bear to see Zach die: not this way.¡± ¡°I am well aware of why you did it,¡± he said, ¡°but¡­but it is completely forbidden to interfere on this level. You know that kind of conduct is unacceptable.¡± He paused a moment and rubbed his eyes. ¡°I realize this may come across as hypocritical given my own interference during Zachys Calador¡¯s first traipse through the Catacombs of Yorna, but I did not interfere to the detriment of another party, as distasteful as it was. This¡­this is not acceptable. Not at all.¡± Prila tensed. She knew that her plan could come to a grinding halt if Adamus relieved her of her duties. She doubted that he would have her killed or harmed. By now, she had come to fervently believe that such a thing was not in his nature. But if she were dismissed from her post and sent back to Galterra, it would make it that much more difficult to connect with Angelica. Additionally, there was so much more she still wished to learn from Adamus. He knew things that no human¡ªor member of any race¡ªknew. Details about the past: about Prila herself that fascinated her to no end. Adamus had taught her things about the old human home world of Earth that were not documented anywhere on Galterra and, among living beings, existed only in his head. For example: Prila learned that, had she lived on Earth many thousands of years ago, she would have been born in a ¡°country¡±¡ªthe word he¡¯d used¡ªcalled India, and she would have practiced a number of customs and enjoyed a variety of food that it was no longer within anyone¡¯s knowledge to practice or cook. Her name, she had found out, was derived from the name ¡°Priya¡± and meant ¡°dear¡± and ¡°beloved.¡± Apparently, there were bits and pieces of trivia that the vampires on Archian Prime had of old Earth in their archives, but Adamus knew details and specifics to a far greater degree than anything the Vampires had access to. What¡¯s more, he claimed that a full, detailed, and complete accounting of the entire history of humanity¡ªas well as every other non-Elvish race¡ªhad been painstakingly documented and preserved for all eternity on a high-level planet that no being other than a Great One had ever stepped foot upon due to Galterrans failing to work together to progress to the point they could access it. The more she learned, the more she desired to learn. And so, for a selfish reason as well as a noble one, Prila did not wish to find herself ejected from the OMP and cast away. At least not just yet. Thus, doing her best to put as much remorse, regret, and sincerity in her voice as she possibly could, she said, ¡°I am truly sorry, Adamus. I made a terrible, emotional mistake.¡± Adamus stared at her a moment, his gaze stern. She lowered her head even further. Though she did not fear for her safety, she nevertheless could not control the slight tremble in her shoulders at the idea of her newly derived plan coming to a swift, unceremonious end. But even if so, it would have been worth it provided Zach survived this ordeal. For nearly ten, painfully long seconds, Adamus maintained his harsh, unblinking gaze. Then finally, with another sigh, he visibly relaxed and shook his head. ¡°This is the first time you¡¯ve ever done something like this such that I am aware, my child,¡± he whispered. ¡°I will overlook it just this once. Do not interfere again.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± she replied. ¡°And I¡¯m sorry.¡± He held out his palm. ¡°It is fine. Let us forget this has happened. But do keep from making this mistake again. We can have no more interference.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± With that, Prila returned her attention to the screen at her terminal. **** Lacking even the slightest clue as to what could have possibly provoked the Eeps in the first place, Zach was unsurprisingly just as clueless when, with an equal fervor, the horde that had saved all their lives began to suddenly and rapidly disperse. As though collectively changing their mind, the Eeps, which almost seemed to be acting with some kind of deliberate, protective intent¡ªas impossible and ridiculous as that was¡ªwasted no time at all in scattering and returning to their various different spawn points, leaving the seven of them once again vulnerable. Actually, they were even more vulnerable than before now that the Elves had gained even more distance on them. Yet Zach did not despair, because at last, the end was in sight. ¡°Rian,¡± he said, worried that his friend would collapse at any moment. ¡°We really are almost there. The door is just behind those two big monsters.¡± He pointed. ¡°I remember this really well.¡± Rian was now panting too hard to even vocally reply. He was dripping so much sweat he left a trail of it behind him as he ran. Unable to speak, he made a weak, waving motion of his hand. Lienne, on the other hand, had enough within her to mutter a quick ¡°Thank the Gods¡± under her breath while Olivir seemed to ready himself to deflect any further attacks that came from the Elves. They had paused momentarily as if realizing they were wasting their exertion. But with the screen of mobs now dissipating, it was only a matter of time before things ramped up. We¡¯re so, so close! Up ahead, Zach spotted two of those strangely mismatched-looking beasts that he remembered fighting on his first trip through here. They were massive¡ªstanding tall enough that the top of their heads reached more than halfway to the ceiling¡ªand they had a very rounded body shape that was covered from head to toe with fur. They also had horns on their heads, a beak instead of a mouth, but most oddly of all were those ears of theirs, which were more like a piece of string or a wire that ran all the way down the sides of their bodies and over the rock- and gravel-covered ground. Given their size, the two of them standing side by side were large enough to create an impassable wall.
HP 2500/2500
Name Beast of Fillirana A
Level 15
HP 2500/2500
Name Beast of Fillirana B
Level 15
Having absolutely no time for this whatsoever, Zach gestured for everyone to move to the right side of the tunnel and get behind him. Olivir and Grundor both nodded, as did Kolona and Lienne, but Rian merely just obeyed without saying a word or offering any kind of confirmation at all. He was not holding up well. But it would only be a few more moments. Completely unarmed, with his sword having been broken, Zach lifted both his arms and extended them in front of his body with his fists pointing upwards like a makeshift shield. Then, running ahead of the others, he bolted forward, gritted his teeth, and told himself to ignore his eyes and trust instead in his stats. Physically, the thing was many, many times his size. His life spent as a level-1 told him that anything that large and that heavy was something he should not be running headfirst into. But the rules of life had changed dramatically for him, and it was something he needed to now keep in mind. As things stood, with Kolona¡¯s strength buff still active, he had a grand total of 48 points into strength. And that thing was only level 15. There was no need to run around it or try to lure it away. He needed to go straight through it. The real danger is behind me, he told himself. There¡¯s no need to be scared of that thing! Even despite knowing beyond all doubt that, right now, he was a great deal stronger than the mob, he still held his breath and had to resist the temptation to close his eyes as he rammed into the monster at full speed. The result was an immediate appreciation for his current level of power as he not only succeeded in charging straight through the beast, but he torpedoed the gigantic creature in the opposite direction with such ease that it felt like ramming into nothing more daunting than a soft curtain. The mob was not only blasted away, but with a loud crack, it crashed into and then through part of the wall, causing rock and gravel to shower forward as it suffered 1,700 damage and nearly died outright. ¡°Mmmmbahhhhhh!¡± it roared as it struggled to free itself from the indentation in the wall that Zach had launched it through. ¡°Mmmmbahhhhhh!¡± ¡°Ignore it!¡± Zach shouted. ¡°That¡¯s the door. Right there, Rian. Do you see it? Look!¡± Rian lifted his head and Zach watched him peer in the direction he indicated, where a door that was simply labeled B6->B7 awaited at the end of the tunnel at long last. Seeing this, Rian¡¯s eyes widened with relief, and as though inspired to be out of this place for good, he began to move just a little bit faster despite his exhaustion. Zach decided not to tell him that they¡¯d have to descend seven flights of stairs. At least it was going down, not up. As Zach shouted for his companions to hurry, Fluffles and Olivir continued to each call down lightning upon the advancing Elves. Though, whereas Fluffles summoned blueish electricity, the bolts that came from Olivir were pitch black. Now, however, they finally stopped, and both took off so that they stood by Zach¡¯s side, leaving Kolona and Grundor to guard Rian and Lienne. ¡°Do not let the humans escape!¡± called a voice that Zach did not recognize. ¡°Archers, fire!¡± ¡°Get in!¡± Zach screamed as what looked like hundreds of arrows began tearing through the air heading in their direction. He pulled open the door and began frantically waving his arms as though that would somehow make Rian and Lienne move faster. Panicked, he ended up leaning forward, grabbing Rian by his wrist, and literally yanking him inside, throwing him down the first flight of stairs with enough force that his body crashed into the end of the stairwell one flight down and left a dent. If he felt any pain at all, he did not show it. He merely scrambled back to his feet and started to descend the second flight as Lienne, Olivir, Grundor, Kolona, Fluffles, and Olivir dashed inside the stairwell, with Olivir slamming the door shut behind him. The exact moment in time that the door was closed, there came a series of plinks as arrow after arrow turned their end of the door into something more closely resembling a spiked shield. ¡°Go, go, go!¡± Zach cried. ¡°We need to¡ª¡± Zach didn¡¯t know what spell hit him¡ªor rather, the door in front of him. He didn¡¯t have a clue. All he knew was that something had hit the door, and that something caused a massive bang that saw the door slam into him at full force, sending him hurtling down the first flight the same way he had sent Rian. And yeah, it fucking hurt. ¡°Guh!¡± he yelped with a gasp as his back hit a cracked portion of wall that Rian¡¯s body had already broken. Knowing he literally did not have the time to wait for the pain to abate, he did the same thing Rian had done: he rushed back up to his feet and prepared to hurry after the others. Only, this time, he threw the door with all of his might back where it belonged, and to both his surprise and satisfaction, it actually ended up crashing into the first Elf who had entered; a spellcaster, the Elf was immediately knocked backwards, presumably unconscious. Then dozens began to stream through. Screaming at his body to move, Zach burst into another sprint and started heading down the next flight of stairs. In the corner of his eyes, there was a wide variety of multi-colored lights from what he assumed was an untold number of different magical spells as a deafening, ear-piercing series of explosions caused the entire stairwell to shake, each striking the bottom wall of the first flight of stairs where Zach¡¯s body had physically been not even a half second ago. Too close, too close! Despite having been the first one to enter, Rian was again lagging behind. This much became obvious as Zach and all the others passed him as he rounded the second corner of the second flight of stairs. ¡°Fuck it,¡± Zach growled, pausing just a moment to wrap his arms around Rian¡¯s waist and fling him over his right shoulder. If Rian had any complaints, he was too exhausted to voice them. Now, Zach again took off at a full, mad dash, heading down a third flight and then a fourth. Each time he rounded a corner, his eardrums would ache with the sound of a parade of magical projectiles causing untold amounts of destruction. He could smell fire and smoke, and he could feel the rumbling from whatever powerful magic they used. ¡°No matter what happens, do not look back!¡± Zach shouted in warning. ¡°Believe me, we get it,¡± Olivir said. The usually calm vampire sounded just as terrified and rattled as Zach did. ¡°I¡¯ve never been so scared in my life,¡± Lienne whimpered as she struggled to keep pace with the rest of them. ¡°Goddess, please protect us,¡± Kolona said, a desperation and terror in her voice. ¡°We¡¯re¡­gonna die,¡± Rian said, panting. ¡°WEEEEEEEEEEE!¡± Fluffles shouted gleefully as he rode on Grundor¡¯s head. ¡°This the most fun Fluffles ever have! WEEEEEEEEE!¡± You¡¯ve got to be fucking kidding me, Zach thought angrily. ¡°This is so awesome,¡± Grundor added with a laugh. ¡°Now this is living!¡± ¡°Psychopaths,¡± Olivir said, now himself sounding out of breath. ¡°The two of you are¡ª¡± His words were cut off as a violent explosion came from one flight above, and it was one that contained such terrifying force that it really did knock Zach¡ªand all the others, right off their feet. He dropped Rian, fell onto his side, and began rolling down another flight of steps along with his friend. Then part of the ceiling collapsed, and if not for Zach shooting straight up to his feet, running forward, and punching a boulder-sized piece of metal out of the way, Lienne and Olivir could have been crushed to death. Yanking them both up to their feet, he turned around to grab Rian, who held out his hand and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m good now,¡± he said. ¡°Just run!¡± Once more, all seven of them rounded another corner and began running down another flight of steps. ¡°There he is!¡± a voice called. Zach looked over his shoulder. One of the Elves, a young male who looked to be the same age as him, had somehow gotten ahead of all the others. His sword was held in front of him indecisively as though unsure of what he should do. Grundor made up the Elf¡¯s mind for him. With one staggeringly powerful punch, the Elf was blasted back up the entire flight of stairs he¡¯d just stormed down, where he then collided with another fast-moving Elf, the two of them collapsing onto one another. Zach did not think either of them had died¡ªhopefully. ¡°They¡¯re gaining on us!¡± Zach shouted. ¡°Guys, move your fucking asses! Hurry!¡± Herding them all like they were sheep, Zach shouted at them to move faster or die. He wasn¡¯t trying to be mean, but there was no time to coddle anyone¡ªespecially Rian, who was once again moving too damn slow, so Zach helped him along by throwing him down another flight of stairs. Of all things, he chuckled and gave Zach his thanks, and because Rian was infectious, Zach too began to chuckle. Then he chided himself, as this wasn¡¯t the time for bullshitting. ¡°The door!¡± Rian said, scrambling back up to his feet. ¡°There it is!¡± ¡°Shit, you¡¯re right!¡± Zach darted forward towards it. It was a blue metal push-bar door labeled B7. ¡°Can you see it, Olivir? Please, for the love of the Gods, tell me our theory was right.¡± He nodded. ¡°I can see it, dude.¡± ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s go!¡± Zach called to them. ¡°As soon as we get on the beach, we need to make a sandstorm to hide us. Then we can sneak away. There won¡¯t be any help for a while. We have to survive for a bit on our own.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± Kolona said. ¡°Let¡¯s just hurry. Please!¡± Zach nodded and then threw himself at the door. Come to think of it, that was what he¡¯d done the last time he was here as well. He¡¯d also been in an urgent need to run for dear life. Just once, he¡¯d like to make his way through Yorna at a normal pace¡ªassuming there was anything left of it after what the Elves had done. Slamming himself into the push-bar door, Zach¡¯s eyes were immediately assaulted by the bright noon daylight, and his entire body was reminded that this was one of the hottest summers on record. Within just the first second of being outdoors, he knew he was home. Holy fuck was it hot¡ªintensely so. Spinning around, he watched as four humans, an Elvish girl, and a cat all ran out of a tiny portable bathroom that was designed to barely fit one person. ¡°Shut the door!¡± he shouted after the last person, Rian, emerged. Rian nodded and slammed it closed, and it stayed that way, too¡ªfor about one tenth of one second, whereupon it immediately detonated back open. And for the second time in a row, Zach was impacted head-on by a flying door that had to be traveling over one-hundred miles per hour. But this time, he exerted his strength. He had learned now that strength had to be consciously exerted in order to avoid being flung around like a child¡¯s doll. And so, planting his feet into the sand, he extended both his palms and caught the door, before spinning around full circle and throwing it right back where it came from. The first Elf to step out, however, was not a spellcaster. She was a sword-wielding warrior who instantly sliced the push-bar door into two halves, each one flying off to its own side behind her. Then more Elves began to emerge. ¡°Now¡¯s our chance!¡± Zach shouted. ¡°We need to obscure their vision. Olivir, use your magic to¡ª¡± And then it happened. It fucking happened. Having completely forgotten to keep an eye on his timers, Zach¡¯s Unleashed Phase fully ran out, and now his body demanded payment. And for the first time, Zach had to pay off a high debt all at once, something he had never before done without either dying or having a stone used on him. In truth, he wasn¡¯t even sure he could handle it. He was fairly sure that he could, but this would now be the first time he¡¯d have the chance to truly find out. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Suddenly, Zach went from feeling somewhat winded but mostly energized to instead feeling like he was running on the world¡¯s fastest treadmill at a speed his body couldn¡¯t even begin to handle. ¡°Fuck!¡± he croaked as he began to huff and pant even worse than Rian had. Sweat, both from the heat and from his debt of exertion, began to run down from his brow, over his cheeks, and drop off his face. Even as the eyes of his friends all filled with alarm, he fell down to his knees, struggling to remain conscious. He needed air. He needed more air. He fell over and landed onto his back, having to close his eyes to filter out the blinding sun. Voices were calling to him. He felt as though he were drifting off to sleep, though he was not entirely alarmed, as this was not the feeling of death that he¡¯d experienced once¡ªalmost twice¡ªbefore. This was closer to the feeling of when he¡¯d first used his Wave Slash. He¡¯d likely be KO¡¯d for just a couple of seconds. He¡¯d likely wake up confused. He¡¯d likely be captured or killed by the Elves. He¡¯d likely remember about the World Eater and question why he was still continuing to do nothing about it. World Eater? he thought. What¡¯s the¡ª THE WORLD EATER! he screamed inside his head. How do I keep forgetting? Oh, shit! Why do I keep forgetting? I need to go to Dragon Squire. I can¡¯t forget! No matter what, I cannot let myself forget about the¡ªwait, what was I¡­? Did I nod off again? For what was likely just a few seconds but could have been a few hours¡ªit was impossible to tell when so disoriented¡ªZach realized he¡¯d dozed off at the absolute worst possible time. Yet he couldn¡¯t control it. He was so exhausted that even just breathing required a great deal of effort. ¡°Zach!¡± Rian, Lienne, Olivir, and Kolona all cried out at once, rushing over to him. Rian knelt down beside him. ¡°This time it¡¯s my turn to carry you, I guess. We need to get you out of here.¡± Zach forced himself back up into a sitting position, and it took so much effort just to do so that he worried he¡¯d pass out again from that alone. ¡°Just go without me. Hurry!¡± ¡°No way,¡± Rian said. ¡°You have to. Please, don¡¯t argue. Take your sister and leave. Now!¡± ¡°We can¡¯t leave you,¡± Lienne said. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t leave us,¡± Rian added. Zach shook his head in an attempt to clear it. ¡°She¡¯s going to be coming through any second. Olivir, Grundor, please take my friends and go.¡± Kolona hurried over to him and knelt beside him opposite to where Rian was already kneeling. ¡°Zach, we can¡¯t leave you here. I won¡¯t do it, and I know Olivir won¡¯t, either. We can summon a skeleton mount for you to ride.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no time! If you don¡¯t start running right now, you¡¯re all going to be¡ª¡± ¡°No more running!¡± a cold, wicked voice yelled at them as a woman who looked like an older version of his girlfriend stepped calmly out onto the beach, her golden hair blowing in the wind at the same moment that a wave crashed onto the shore only a few-dozen feet to the side of her. She frowned. ¡°None of you will be going anywhere.¡± It was clear by that point that Zach was not going to die from his exertion debt, because not only wasn¡¯t he collapsing, but he was slowly beginning to recover. This should have come as a relief to him. It didn¡¯t, however, because it hardly mattered. He was about to die to something even worse. Fylwen began to glide closer to him as more and more of her Elvish warriors raced through the door-less portal and began to form a horizontal line behind her. Even still, it was not terror he felt as she drew nearer and nearer. It was raw, uncontrollable rage. Even despite the fact that he was now so exhausted that his eyes were blurry, his body could barely move, and he was gasping for air, he somehow found the stamina to hate her just a little bit more. He glared at her with open defiance and a genuine loathing. ¡°I saved your people!¡± he yelled at her, his voice cracking so suddenly that it actually surprised him. He hadn¡¯t even expected there to be so much emotion in his words as he addressed the awful queen. But there was. And several tears glided down his eyes as he continued to stare murderously at her. The fact that she herself grimaced as though pained only made him angrier. How dare she pretend that she was even capable of such feelings? She was a monster. She was an animal! ¡°You betrayed me, you evil bitch!¡± The scowls from the Elves who accompanied her, not one of which Zach recognized from the battle with Olivir, told him that he was pushing his luck at using such a word against their queen. He didn¡¯t care. He said it a second time. ¡°You evil, good-for-nothing bitch!¡± One of the Elves, an incredibly tall man well over six feet in height wielding a double-bladed spear, stepped forward angrily, but he paused when Flywen held out her palm to him. Soon after, he fell back in line as more and more of the Elves emerged. Zach had estimated she¡¯d brought fifty of them with her, and now, over forty of them had already joined the horizontal line of them. From a ruby-red-colored sheathe that Zach now noticed was concealed beneath the side of the elegant, queenly, green-and-white gown that she was wearing, Fylwen removed a shortsword that looked to Zach like a gladius. Its hilt and grip were made of pure gold, and the double-edged blade itself appeared a perfect silver that shined and reflected the light from the vengefully hot summer sun. Zach, having fully exerted himself, could only so much as back up slowly on his butt over the sand as she strode confidently towards him. ¡°I will make this quick,¡± she said. ¡°I should have done this myself the first time around. I was a coward. I condemned you to death but lacked the courage of my convictions.¡± ¡°Like hell!¡± Rian yelled. He rushed forward at her¡ªand made it only a single step. Immediately, one of the green-cloaked Elves pounced on him. She was another young warrior who Zach estimated to be around their age. She was a girl with fiery red hair, determined blue eyes, and in a fraction of a second, she had Rian¡¯s face pressing down into the sand with her knee on his back. He turned his head to the side so that he could breathe, then began to shout and struggle. He quieted soon after as she pressed her kneecap into his back forcibly enough that it made Zach wince. ¡°Don¡¯t struggle,¡± she whispered. ¡°You¡¯ll make this worse.¡± As though in direct disobedience to her orders, Lienne made a direct lunge for Zach, and then she too was thrown onto the sand and pinned down. Then, as though unwilling to wait for Grundor, Olivir, and Kolona to make moves of their own, all three ended up subdued just the same. Fluffles was the only one who managed to slip away, and Zach watched his little body hopping along the sand as he came to his side. He hissed both at Fylwen and Chumpkenwiffles, who growled but remained where she was with the other Elves. ¡°Mean Elf lady leave Zach alone,¡± Fluffles said, unsheathing his claws. ¡°I can¡¯t do that,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°He¡¯s a threat to me. You all are.¡± Upon those words, she burst forward towards Zach. Now that he was his regular self, and now that his buffs had worn off as well, his speed was a mere 7 and his dexterity was 15. For this reason, Fylwen did not even appear as a blur as she moved. His eyes could no longer detect any motion from her at all. For all intents and purposes, she may as well have teleported for all that he could tell the difference. Now, he found her hovering over him with her gladius held at his throat and her own knee pressing down onto his stomach. He grabbed her wrist and tried to hold it back, but she was infinitely stronger than him, and his attempts to hold her weapon at bay were no different comparatively than it would be if he was a literal toddler flailing around for all the good that it did. ¡°Get the fuck off me!¡± he screamed at her. ¡°Get off me!¡± ¡°I have to kill you,¡± she said. ¡°And then I have to kill her.¡± Her eyes shifted towards where Kolona was being pinned down by one of her warriors. ¡°I will do it by my own hand. I won¡¯t stain any others. I¡¯m sorry it has to be this way, young man, but the world is not a fair place.¡± She lifted the shortsword. Now, Rian, Lienne, Olivir, Kolona, and even Grundor all began to fight, flail, and scream frantically, struggling for all they were worth to break free. ¡°Let me go!¡± shouted Olivir. ¡°Don¡¯t you touch him, Queen Vayra! Don¡¯t you dare!¡± ¡°Zach!¡± Rian and Lienne cried pleadingly. Fluffles hissed and took a swipe at Fylwen, but she merely brushed him aside, backhanding him and causing him to be thrown off to the side not far from the ocean water, where he rolled several times along the sand and then struggled to get back up to his feet. The sight of her hitting his cat brought fury into his heart on a level he could barely contain. He screamed at the top of his lungs and tried to fight with every last ounce of his strength. But no amount of effort would make any difference at all. Only then did he realize that the cooldown on his ring had likely ended mere seconds ago. Pointing it at her chest, he activated his blasting ability¡ªand then he groaned in despair as she moved so fast to dodge it that it truly filled him with a sense of utter hopelessness. Almost before the beam had even popped into existence, Fylwen had already leaned her body to the side as she knelt on top of him; then, the much smaller, but still considerably sized beam blasted out of the ring and streaked uselessly towards the sky before disappearing. Now, she again straddled his chest and again raised the shortsword. She turned it so that it pointed downwards, and she held it in both hands, lifting it even higher and arching her arms back as though intent on plunging the blade straight down directly into¡ªand through¡ªhis heart. ¡°May the Goddess accept your weary soul, young man.¡± And with that, Zach watched in misery and horror as, for the second time, he realized he was about to die at the hands of Fylwen Vayra. He was totally, completely powerless to resist as the shortsword plummeted down to his chest. He squirmed, fought, and shouted out his defiance yet was totally unable to unseat her. He gritted his teeth, tensed his body, and strained every muscle, but there was no use. His friends called his name. Rian and Lienne began to humiliate themselves by begging¡ªfor his life. But he already knew how this went. Fylwen didn¡¯t care about things like that. He¡¯d begged her once before, and she¡¯d killed him anyway. This time, he did the one and only thing he could do before his second¡ªand likely final¡ªdeath. He spat right in her face even as she brought the gladius down. I hate her, he thought. He regretted it immediately, however, as he did not wish that to be the last thing to run through his head before he left this world. Completely defenseless, there was nothing left that he could do. It was over. Fear drowned out all other sensations, and he could no longer clearly discern the screaming from his friends who were being forced to helplessly watch his execution. Their voices all blended together until Zach could no longer distinguish one from the other¡ªor at least that was true at first. But then he heard something else. Something far louder and far more enraged. And in that moment, his eyes widened and awareness flooded back into him. From a distance behind him came a roar of defiance, fear, and murderous rage. It was a scream so loud and so powerful that Zach felt it pierce his heart even before Fylwen¡¯s gladius. ¡°NO!¡± the voice screamed. ¡°NO!¡± Mere centimeters from plunging into his flesh, there was a startling, blinding spark that popped into existence just above his chest, along with the sound of a cling. Confused and unable to understand what was happening, Zach weakly lifted his head to see that there was dagger even closer to his heart than Fylwen¡¯s gladius, which itself was only an inch or two away. The dagger was oriented horizontally and flat, and the gladius was pointed downward and pressing against it. The two blades struggled against one another, and it took Zach a second to realize what was happening, and when he did, he inhaled so sharply he began to cough. Something had stopped the blade from puncturing his chest. And now he realized he was temporarily shaded from the sun as though someone was leaning over him. No, not someone. This wasn¡¯t just ¡°someone.¡± This, to him, was everyone¡ªand everything. She¡¯d come for him. She really had come. ¡°Get off him now!¡± Kalana screamed with such vast, boundless anger that it sent confused chills all over his body. He had never heard Kalana sound this way before. Never. It was to such an extent that he could not even believe it was her at all. ¡°Get! Off! Him! Now!¡± she screamed again. Fylwen¡¯s reaction was one of total shock, confusion, and oddly enough, joy. ¡°Kalana?¡± she asked, her eyes becoming moist. ¡°My baby. My Kalana! Gods be praised! It¡¯s me, my Kalana. Your moth¡ª¡± Zach watched as Kalana, whose teeth were bared and whose face was twisted in horrific rage, drew back her arm and then crashed her fist into her mother¡¯s face with such vengeful force that she was not only thrown off Zach, but she rolled backwards over the sand a half dozen times. This caused an uproar from all the other Elves, whose mouths had fallen open and who stared between the two of them in confusion as if only first realizing now who she was. Zach wasn¡¯t sure what to say. He wasn¡¯t sure what to do. He was so disoriented, exhausted, and in disbelief. ¡°Kalana,¡± he said as she lowered her beautiful green eyes down to look at him. ¡°Kalana, I¡ª¡± Whatever he was trying to say was lost to an even greater amount of confusion as he suddenly realized he was moving fast¡ªvery, very, very fast. It was to such an extent that it took him a good few seconds to even realize what was happening to him. His right arm was extended, there was a sliding sensation beneath his back, and only now did he realize he was being dragged over the sand¡ªby Kalana. She was dragging him backwards at a speed far faster than he himself was capable of moving. Then he felt a terrified, trembling hand wrapping around him, and he felt her chin on the crook of his neck. ¡°You¡¯re still alive,¡± she said. Though he could not see her face from this angle, he could feel his neck becoming damp as she buried her face into him and cried. ¡°My Zach. Thank the Gods you¡¯re still alive. I¡¯m so sorry for what she did. I¡¯m gonna make her pay. Promise.¡± She clearly did not realize her own strength, because she squeezed him so tightly that Zach feared she might cut off His circulation. Even still, he closed his eyes and merely placed his hand over her own. Then he tried to stand up¡ªand realized he couldn¡¯t. Kalana would literally not let him go. ¡°Kal, I need to help the others.¡± ¡°Nah-uh!¡± she said. ¡°You stay here.¡± Zach opened his mouth to reply, but shut it and instead let out a frightened croak as he saw Fylwen rising from where she¡¯d been knocked flat, her mouth dripping blood, as well as her nose. ¡°Kalana, how could you?¡± she asked with genuine hurt. She began to approach. Kalana was now directly behind Zach. With her left hand, she was holding him against her chest, and with her right, she extended her arm fully, her hand gripping one of her daggers, which she held above herself threateningly at her mother. Though Zach could not see her eyes from this position, he didn¡¯t have to in order to imagine the fury that must be within them. ¡°Don¡¯t come any closer!¡± she shouted. ¡°One step¡­one step and I¡¯ll kill you!¡± ¡°Kalana, it¡¯s me,¡± Fylwen said, and there was true pain and desperation in her voice. ¡°Don¡¯t you remember me? I¡¯m your¡ª¡± ¡°I know who you are!¡± Kalana snapped. ¡°And I¡¯ll never forgive you!¡± ¡°And neither will I,¡± said another voice. Turning his head to the right, Zach saw an Elf he quickly recognized as being Eldora Vayra. Like Kalana had done with Zach, he had dragged Kolona away from the other Elves, and now he stood protectively in front of her. Across from him, the Elf who had been subduing Kolona was now flat on his back and hardly moving. Thankfully, Zach could tell from the rise and fall of his chest that he was still breathing. He¡¯s changed a lot, Zach thought. Eldora did not look the way he had when Zach had last seen him. He was now far more regal in appearance, wearing a magnificent suit of golden plate armor along with a red-and-white cape that billowed as another breeze caused sand and debris to roll along the beach. With a dark, malicious look at Fylwen, he shook his head then raised his voice. ¡°How dare you hurt my niece!¡± he howled at her. ¡°My brother¡¯s only child. All that remains of him in this world. You horrific woman! You vile, repugnant monster! You are no wife of mine, and I am no husband of yours!¡± Fylwen scowled, then turned her head to Kalana. ¡°What has your father told you about me? What did he say to make you hate me?¡± ¡°Nothing!¡± Kalana shouted in reply. ¡°I hate you ¡®cause of what you did to Zach!¡± She actually flinched. ¡°Your human consort? That¡¯s what you¡¯re so upset about?¡± Zach again tried to go help his friends, but Kalana was not letting go of him. He was both annoyed and touched at the same time. But he didn¡¯t need to be babied. Also, he was now so angry and disoriented that he could no longer make rational decisions. ¡°Let me go, Kalana,¡± he demanded. ¡°I¡¯m going to go Phase 3 on this fucking bitch!¡± He again spat in her direction. ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of this shit.¡± ¡°Zach, language,¡± said another voice from behind him, one that he recognized immediately. In a matter of seconds, an entire army of adventurers, many of which he recognized, seemed to appear out of nowhere. Judging from the sandstorm left behind in their wake, it wasn¡¯t a stretch to assume they¡¯d run across the beach like he had the first time he¡¯d come here. ¡°Mr. Oren?¡± Zach asked, becoming so confused it actually hurt. ¡°What¡¯re you doing¡ª¡± ¡°Queen Fylwen Vayra!¡± yelled an indignant, enraged-sounding voice from above, which was accompanied by a flapping sound of wings. Before Zach¡¯s very eyes, a Pegasus with flaming hooves landed onto the sand, along with nine mobs wearing shiny armor and face-concealing helms. They also had the wings of an angel, and each one was¡­Zach blinked. Then he blinked again. Each one was somehow around level 150. What in the fuck? Sliding off his mount, Peter Brayspark, leader of the Guild of Gentlemen drew his blade and pointed it in her direction. ¡°Those three humans: you will release them now!¡± Zach watched as Peter actually shook¡ªhis whole body shook with what to Zach looked like moral outrage. He was so angry that his lips even quivered. ¡°You¡­you would dare¡­you would dare threaten humanity on my territory? Release those three humans this instant, or on my honor, I shall not spare a one of you. Lest you try your luck, I shall consider so much as a single harmed hair to be the same as a declaration of war!¡± Fylwen glared at him, yet there was something more than mere contempt in the way she regarded him: something Zach could not pinpoint. It was similar to sadness, but not quite. ¡°You¡¯ve really grown, Peter,¡± she said, her tone lacking in its usual ferocity. ¡°You¡¯re no longer the little boy who used to play with me in the park.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re no longer the girl who liked picking flowers and drawing in her coloring books. Now, unhand these humans at once. Human affairs are of no concern to you.¡± ¡°And Elvish affairs are of no concern to you, Peter!¡± she snapped. Peter tilted his head as though confused. ¡°Have I ever claimed otherwise? Why would you even waste your breath to mention such a banal triviality?¡± ¡°Because of her,¡± Fylwen said, pointing to Kolona, who was now partially hidden behind Eldora. ¡°Even if I could be persuaded to release the vampire, who has killed many of my kind, and even if I could somehow overlook the existence of this¡­¡± She ran her eyes up and down over Zach, who was still trapped in Kalana¡¯s arms. ¡°This freak,¡± she finished, regarding Zach with an overt look of disgust and revulsion. Her words angered Kalana so fiercely that she tightened her grip on Zach, causing her to ease up a moment later after he coughed and tapped on her arm. He was lucky she even noticed him at all with the way her head was pointed straight at her mother. Zach was actually glad he could not see the look in her eyes all that well, as he wasn¡¯t sure he wanted to ever see her with the level of hate he knew she must be feeling. ¡°Even if I could overlook the existence of those two, Peter, I cannot overlook Kolona Vayra.¡± At this, Peter gave off a look of stunned confusion. He turned his head to the left, then craned his neck to the right, and in an instant, his voice changed from threatening and serious to baffled and frustrated. ¡°Wait, so what¡¯s the problem here, exactly?¡± he asked. ¡°You tell me.¡± Peter shrugged. ¡°I see no problem at all. That which you choose to do with your own Elvish subjects is of no concern to me. I care only for those three humans. Give them to me, and you can return to Archian Prime with any Elf you want.¡± He sheathed his blade. ¡°I see no reason for bloodshed.¡± Finally, Kalana released her grip on Zach, and then rushed over to her cousin, whom she pulled into the same kind of ¡°protective hug¡± as though afraid of letting go, and once more, she pointed her dagger at her mother. ¡°Nah-uh! You better not come anywhere near Kolona, either.¡± ¡°Honey, there is so much you don¡¯t understand,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°Lower your weapon and we can talk about¡ª¡± ¡°Stay back!¡± she again warned her mother, who had inched a step forward. ¡°Kal,¡± Kolona said, her eyes damp. ¡°You really aren¡¯t my enemy. Zach was right.¡± ¡°¡¯Course I¡¯m not,¡± she said, hugging her cousin tightly. ¡°You never have to worry about my mom ever again. I promise. Whatever she did to you, I¡¯m so sorry. I didn¡¯t know anything about it, honest.¡± ¡°I believe you,¡± Kolona whispered. Then she gazed fearfully at Fylwen. ¡°But she¡¯ll never stop coming for me. She¡¯s already killed me once, Kal. I¡­I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to walk away from this alive.¡± ¡°You will,¡± Eldora growled. Though he spoke only those two words, there was a passion and intensity in his voice that conveyed so much more, as well as an unspoken threat that lingered in the air for several moments thereafter, during which Fylwen did not speak and merely chewed on her lower lip as though uncertain. The fifty or so Elves who had come here with Queen Vayra appeared so taken aback by the mere presence of Eldora and Kalana that they looked as though they had suffered some kind of catastrophic brain malfunction. Robotically, they shifted their eyes between all three of them as though unclear about what they were supposed to be doing and who they were supposed to be obeying. But as messy and confusing as things were in this very moment, they were about to become even more so. A buzzing came from the sky, and Zach glanced upwards to see a helicopter beginning to land only a few-dozen feet from where they were all gathered. Donovan and the other adventurers scowled. Even with Zach recovering from exertion debt and partially dazed, he nevertheless still had some degree of appreciation in a detached sort of way for the gravity of what was taking place around him. Little by little, he was coming to grips with the fact that there was no way everything happening this very moment did not make its way into the history books. Yet even despite this, it was what Olivir was about to say to him in just a few moments from now that not only snapped Zach out of his stupor and brought an immediate end to his exhaustion, but also gave him the urge to flee. First, though, Zach watched as his friends were at last released. Having become so stunned by the appearance of Kalana and Eldora, the Elves, either intentionally or simply due to shock, had somehow released their grips on Lienne, Rian, Olivir, and Grundor, who also managed to tear themselves free of their captors with what was surely minimal effort. Of these four, three of them came running over to Zach. Only Rian remained where he was, and the reason for this soon became abundantly clear. Right now, his friend had a massive grin plastered on his face while a very cute Elvish girl with red hair sat on top of his chest, pinning him down. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry,¡± he said to her, ¡°I won¡¯t try to escape. I¡¯m your prisoner fair and square.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± she asked. Then she immediately blushed. ¡°Wait, what?¡± she said in a high-pitched shout, getting off him. ¡°Yuck! Dirty human! Next time, I¡¯ll stomp you into the ground.¡± Rian got up and wiped sand off his clothing then shook some of it out of his hair. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t threaten me with a good time.¡± She scrunched up her lips as she looked at him. ¡°Now¡¯s your chance to run! I don¡¯t know what we¡¯re supposed to be doing right now, so you should just go before I change my mind.¡± ¡°I hope you do change it,¡± he said to her. Is he seriously flirting with the Elf? Zach thought. He was utterly floored to see that, the more Rian spoke with her, the more she spoke back. The two now seemed to be bantering back and forth. What in the name of the Gods was Rian doing? Did he not realize he was hitting on a Gods-cursed Elf? Not a second after wondering this, Zach released a very quiet chuckle at his own lack of self-awareness. I¡¯m not one to talk, am I? With that, he briefly embraced Lienne, Olivir, and even Grundor as the three arrived by his side; this, while Fylwen¡¯s Elves continued to stare indecisively at one another as though uncertain over the entire affair. Many were whispering a name to one another: King Eldora. Whereas others mentioned a different name: Princess Kalana. Still in a seated position, Olivir bent over and held out his hand to Zach, and he took it. Despite only having one point into constitution, Olivir must have had at least a few in strength, because he was surprisingly strong as he yanked Zach back up to his feet. Then, turning around as if to regard the adventurers who had now mostly coalesced around Zach, he asked, ¡°Who¡¯s the raid leader here?¡± ¡°I am,¡± Donovan said. He barked a laugh. ¡°You must be that Count Olivir Soloux I¡¯ve been hearing about.¡± His lips forming an o-shape, Olivir asked, ¡°You know me?¡± Donovan shook his head. ¡°Nah, but my best bud does.¡± He nodded his chin to the cloaked man next to him, and Olivir, as though only noticing him for the first time, raised his eyebrows and his expression lit up. ¡°Zeph?¡± he asked, hurrying forward and briefly embracing the adventurer. ¡°Wow, I never thought we¡¯d cross paths again.¡± ¡°Neither did I,¡± Zephyr said with a laugh. ¡°Oli, you¡¯re an awful long way from Archian Prime.¡± Olivir rubbed his head and laughed. ¡°A fifteen-minute run depending on how you look at it.¡± Zephyr grinned. ¡°That¡¯s about right.¡± More seriously, he asked, ¡°How long until Ziragoth shows up?¡± This time, it was Mr. Oren who spoke. ¡°You have valuable intel for us, correct?¡± ¡°First, please answer: how long. Also, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. I¡¯m Olivir.¡± He extended his hand. Adjusting his lab coat and his cat-eye glasses, Mr. Oren briefly introduced himself, shook the vampire¡¯s hand, then said, ¡°It should be here in about an hour and a half.¡± And now, finally, Olivir turned to Zach, and it was at this point that Zach truly, fully came back to his senses and recovered from his E-debt. And when he did, he really wished he hadn¡¯t. ¡°Okay, not a lot of time then. Zach, remember when I told you I had a monthly ability? Now¡¯s the time to use it. Time for us to go.¡± ¡°Go? Go where?¡± Zach asked nervously as the first pinch of fear entered into his belly. Olivir pursed his lips then made a humorous yet compassionate chuckle. ¡°To Ziragoth. We need to go pay him a visit.¡± ¡°You¡¯re fucking with me,¡± Zach croaked. ¡°Nope. Your friends are going to need some time to prepare once they pore over the Ziragoth file, and it looks like things here with the Elves are gonna take time to work themselves out, too, so I need to, uhm, put the thing to sleep for a day using my monthly ability. It¡¯s a T5 sleep and it¡¯ll buy us enough time to¡ª¡± ¡°Wait, time out,¡± Zach interrupted, a heat entering into his voice. ¡°You never told me anything about me having to go after Ziragoth. I never want to see that thing again. Why do you need me there?¡± ¡°Because I need you to distract it for me while I ready the spell. Don¡¯t worry. It will be fine.¡± ¡°You have to be out of your mind!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry," he said again. "This time, it¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°It will not be fine,¡± Zach insisted, beginning to feel his heart pound faster and faster in his chest as even the thought of seeing that fucking dragon again made him want to dig a hole and hide in it. Suddenly, he found it difficult to breathe, and his hands started to shake. ¡°The last time I went near that thing, I lost an arm and an eye.¡± ¡°True,¡± Olivir said, nodding. Then he winked. ¡°But the last time you encountered Ziragoth, you didn¡¯t have me with you. Time to face your fears, dude. You have to do this or you¡¯ll never move on.¡± Zach gave an absolute, firm shake of his head. ¡°Fuck that. I can¡¯t do it. I¡¯m not¡­I¡¯m not¡­I¡¯m too afraid,¡± he finished in a whisper. At this, Mr. Oren immediately snapped his head in Zach¡¯s direction. ¡°Then you have to go,¡± he said. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, this is just like with Varsh. Do you remember what I told you back then?¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Of course I do. I¡¯d never forget it.¡± ¡°What did I say?¡± Zach drew a breath. ¡°That what makes you a man is whether or not you follow through on your actions: not whether or not you escape with your underwear clean. But I¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Mr. Oren said to him with an oddly comforting smile. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the vampire plans for you to do, but you won¡¯t be the one doing it.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± both Zach and Olivir said at the exact same time. Just then, someone slapped his back hard enough to make him flinch, and to his surprise, he saw Donovan beaming down at him. ¡°Not sure what¡¯s going on, but it looks like we¡¯ve got some work to do, huh, kiddo?¡± This was too much. It was just too damn much. Right now, with world leaders, adventurers, Elves, vampires, and his girlfriend all staring hesitantly at one another as a knot in desperate need of being untied threatened to suffocate all of them, Olivir expected Zach to simply walk away from this mess and engage that fucking beast again? Was he out of his mind? Even as he tried to make sense of what he was being told, he flinched a second time as an even more powerful hand slapped down on his opposite shoulder. He turned to see Spider standing to his left. He was the guy who¡¯d totally whooped his ass at Angelica¡¯s and had taught him a valuable lesson in the process. As Zach recalled, he was also second in command of the entire God-Slayer¡¯s Guild. ¡°We¡¯re comin¡¯ with you too,¡± he said. Zach held up his pointer finger. ¡°Okay, but what about this whole situation with the Elves? And Kalana, and Eldora, and Peter, and¡ª¡± ¡°Political guild bullshit,¡± Donovan said, spitting out a wad of saliva onto the sand. ¡°Didn¡¯t Alex ever tell you not to worry about that?¡± ¡°Well, yeah, but¡ª¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°What if they all start fighting each other?¡± ¡°They won¡¯t.¡± ¡°How can you know that?¡± Donovan twisted his lips sourly. ¡°Because that prick is here.¡± ¡°Prick?¡± Donovan flicked his chin in the direction of a man exiting the helicopter in an absurdly fancy-looking, satin tuxedo. He had to be the most well-dressed figure Zach had ever seen, with a golden bracelet on his right hand, a fancy watch on his left, and a black suit with white-and-gold cufflinks that accentuated his look of importance and wealth. Zach only vaguely recognized his face from the news. He had never been much into guild politics, and so while the man''s name and face were somewhat familiar, Zach knew little about him or what he did. ¡°What he means,¡± Mr. Oren said, ¡°is that with Kalana, Eldora, and the political guilds here, violence is very unlikely to break out.¡± ¡°How can you say that? They¡¯re all threatening each other, and Kalana and her dad want to kill her mom, and her mom wants to kill her cousin, and then there¡¯s all those Elves.¡± ¡°Zach, my man, I get it,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°But as soon as Abram Gespon introduces himself to the queen, this entire nightmare is going to transition from a violent one into a diplomatic one.¡± ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re probably going to be talking for some time,¡± Donovan said, tapping his chin. Then he gave Zach another pat on the back, and holy fuck, it hurt like hell. Was this supposed to be a sign of affection or some kind of punishment? ¡°Donovan is right,¡± Mr. Oren said, now joined by Kesten, Alixa, and Maric. Fluffles, too, had rejoined his side, though the cat kept his eyes pinned firmly on Chumpkenwiffles, who Zach now realized was staring back at Fluffles. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen here, but I have a responsibility to focus on killing the dragon. Ah, you said your name is Olivir, correct?¡± Olivir nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Count Olivir Soloux.¡± ¡°You can really put the dragon to sleep?¡± ¡°For one day, yep. It¡¯s a monthly ability I have. It¡¯s basically a T5 sleep.¡± ¡°And it even works on superbosses?¡± Mr. Oren asked with a gasp. ¡°It works on any mob or boss,¡± Olivir said. ¡°Also, just so you know, Ziragoth isn¡¯t even a superboss: he¡¯s a God Boss.¡± ¡°A fuckin¡¯ what?¡± Donovan asked with a shocked grunt that also sounded a bit on the angry side. Olivir laughed. ¡°Right, you Galterrans don¡¯t even know what that is anymore, do you?¡± ¡°Do we want to?¡± Kesten asked. He was still wearing his typical leather jacket, and Zach had no idea how he continued to wear that thing in this intense summer heat. ¡°Probably not, but I¡¯ll tell you anyway. A God boss is one step above a superboss. Even though the dragon is a superboss right now, it¡¯ll become something even worse once you lower its health to half.¡± ¡°You¡¯re kidding,¡± Maric said, a wrinkle appearing on his brow. ¡°Nope. It¡¯s why I told Zach we should just abandon this planet and go somewhere else¡ªno offense.¡± Mr. Oren visibly tensed. ¡°I thought a superboss is the highest tier of boss. I¡¯m not liking where this sounds like it¡¯s going. I¡¯ve never heard of this before.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t surprise me. I can give you the full details on Ziragoth after I put him to sleep. But for now, I guess you should just know that if he does succeed in wiping out this continent, he¡¯ll move on to another continent and continue on. A God boss doesn¡¯t de-spawn until it¡¯s killed all sentient life on a planet.¡± ¡°What?¡± shouted Kesten, Maric, Alixa, Donovan, Mr. Oren, and even Abram Gespon, who had just been about to introduce himself to Queen Vayra when he¡¯d paused upon hearing this. ¡°Yep, sucks, right? That¡¯s what they do, though. If you guys don¡¯t kill it, it¡¯ll kill everyone on the planet, and you can¡¯t really hide from it either. It¡¯ll just roam towards you wherever you are. I guess you could fly around it and spend a few weeks in one hemisphere, then a few weeks in the other and let it cycle back and forth. But most people will just die.¡± ¡°Is this true?¡± Abram Gespon asked, fixing Olivir with a hard, cold look. ¡°Yeah. I swear it is.¡± ¡°Perfect!¡± the man said with a greedy smile for a reason that Zach could not even begin to discern. The puzzled looks on the faces of those around him also mirrored his own. He rubbed his hands together. ¡°So many opportunities,¡± he said. ¡°Thank you for that information.¡± ¡°Uh, okay.¡± No one spoke a word as Abram continued on his way with an entourage of staff by his side. He made his way straight for the queen. Then, reminding himself that the political guild nonsense was not his concern, he asked, ¡°Why do you need me to go with you, Olivir? It looks like you¡¯ve got the entire GSG to escort you. If you truly needed me, you know I¡¯d come with you. But if¡­if there¡¯s no reason for it, then why?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a reason,¡± he said. ¡°You know why.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°You do,¡± Olivir insisted. "But I don¡¯t want to talk about that in public. Just trust me when I say you need this, dude.¡± ¡°Like hell I do,¡± Zach grumbled. Of all people, Donovan seemed to understand whatever it was Olivir was implying, as evident from the way he grunted in approval then asked, ¡°Kid¡¯s got the jitters bad, huh?¡± ¡°Really bad,¡± Olivir said, nodding. Donovan made another grunt. ¡°Can¡¯t blame him. Dragon fucked him up pretty bad.¡± The two, despite having never met one another before, exchanged a knowing look and then said no more. This, as more and more high-ranking members of political guilds showed up onto the scene and Abram Gespon at last made his introductions to the queen. Kalana, who had been arguing loudly with her mother, paused abruptly and then scuttled back over to Zach, once again grabbing his arm. ¡°No way he¡¯s going,¡± she said. ¡°Okay, now I have to go,¡± Zach replied, becoming embarrassed. It meant so much to him that Kalana loved him, but she was now becoming too protective to the point of humiliation. ¡°Nah-uh. No way. You¡¯re staying.¡± ¡°Let him go,¡± Eldora said, to which Kalana glared at her father. ¡°But, dad, the dragon¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯re humiliating him, Kalana. Let him go.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m going too.¡± ¡°So am I,¡± Kolona said. Fylwen stared at the girl in outrage. ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere!¡± Another round of bickering ensued. This was a mess. A total fucking mess. How would they even begin to untie this knot? For the time being, he was just glad that none of his friends had died. But he was not glad that Olivir, who Zach thought understood him, wanted him to see that dragon again. He already saw it plenty: in every one of his nightmares. Why should he have to see it in the flesh as well? So much had happened, and there was so much to figure out. What had Zach gotten himself into? Chapter 73: The Ant ¡°So any time you¡¯re getting low, instead of letting go, just remember that ant. Oops there goes another rubber tree plant¡± ¨C Frank Sinatra Chapter 73: The Ant Given that he was only seventeen and lacked the life experience of someone two or three times his age¡ªor in the case of Olivir, someone more than twelve times his age¡ªZach was by no means the arbiter of what was and wasn¡¯t ¡°normal.¡± He simply hadn¡¯t lived long enough to state with any kind of authority whether or not something was actually unprecedented, and this was doubly true for matters concerning adventuring and leveling. Yet, even with that being the case, he would still bet his life, his dignity, and all the gold he had left from the Moldark boss fight that the commotion taking place around him was so completely out of the ordinary that nothing like it had ever happened before. To call it ¡°unusual¡± just wouldn¡¯t be going far enough. Right now, along with the salty-smelling ocean breeze, the air was filled with the sound of so many powerful people shouting at so many other powerful people that Zach struggled to come to grips with the fact that this was really happening, let alone make sense of it all. And they were doing this while crowded together around a dirty, wooden, and portable outdoor bathroom that literally served as an exit portal to a subterranean dungeon floor on the opposite side of the planet. This is definitely not normal, he thought to himself. No way. Too much was happening simultaneously, and it was all taking place fast enough to leave him feeling dazed. Or maybe that was just the heat starting to get to him. His eyes beginning to sting, he shook his head, and the motion caused several beads of sweat to whip off his face and land onto the sand. Given the scorching temperature, he was surprised the droplets didn¡¯t evaporate on the way down. Gods, it was so disastrously hot outside today. It was difficult to believe that, not even an hour ago, he¡¯d been shivering and clutching himself as the vicious winter winds on Archian Prime had made his fingers tingle and go numb. In fact, both his hands were still red from the exposure to the cold. Yet here he was, such a short time later, and he would actually pay to have one of those punishingly icy blasts of frigid air come howling across the beach. He needed to cool off. Mischievously, he wondered if it would be a bad idea to tear off his tunic right in front of everyone and run into the ocean for a swim. Sure, the situation was urgent, but it wasn¡¯t like their precious time wasn¡¯t already being wasted anyway on pointless bickering¡ªor rather, pre-bickering. Technically speaking, the real bickering hadn¡¯t even started. No, what was happening here was even worse than that. I can¡¯t believe how stupid this is, he thought, filling with resentment. What Zach found so crazy and, to be honest, frustrating, was that no one was actually arguing about the numerous underlying issues that formed this headache-inducing mess. As bad as it was to have to deal with this now of all times, it would at least be understandable if the conversations being had were of substance. But instead, everyone was currently engaged in some kind of pre-negotiation negotiation; specifically, they were debating who on this beach was allowed to leave and who needed to be forced to stay behind as like a¡­like a temporary ¡°political hostage¡± or something. Honestly, it was just pure stupidity through and through, especially since that Gods-cursed dragon was drawing nearer by the second. They didn¡¯t have the luxury of messing around right now, and Olivir in particular could not afford to be jammed up in some surreal standoff with the queen and her Elvish warriors: not if he could actually do what he claimed, and Zach did not doubt that he could. In order to fulfill the desperate need for more time and give everyone some breathing room, Olivir was apparently going to temporarily subdue the dragon by putting it to sleep¡ªor at least that was what he and Zach had been just about to set off to do. But then Queen Vayra had put a halt to things, and right now, it wasn¡¯t clear that she was willing to let the vampire peacefully leave. In fact, she wasn¡¯t okay with Zach, Kolona, or even Kalana running off either while things between her and them were still ¡°unresolved.¡± The very idea of it had set off a firestorm of heated debate along with a widely varying mess of contradictory emotions. Depending on who was saying what, there were notes of anger, joy, sadness, frustration, but incredibly enough, there was also a degree of optimism as various individuals¡ªmany with their own, competing interests¡ªall shouted and tried to be heard over one another. ¡°Your Majesty, please, there¡¯s no time for this,¡± Mr. Oren said, somehow managing to make himself heard. ¡°I understand that you have numerous¡­conflicts with individuals here, but we¡¯re in a moment of crisis right now. If you¡¯d at least let us delay the dragon, it would make resolving things a great deal easier. Olivir, Zach, and Kolona have all given their word that they will return afterwards and not flee.¡± Rather than reply to him directly, Fylwen seemed content to allow a young, brown-haired Elvish girl to speak on her behalf. ¡°The queen is not about to fall for human trickery,¡± she said. ¡°How stupid do you think we are? If we let the vampire and Kolona leave here before settling things, there¡¯s no way they¡¯ll come back willingly.¡± ¡°Are you calling me a liar?¡± Olivir asked, his upper lip peeling back angrily and revealing his fangs. ¡°I¡¯m saying you humans play games with the truth.¡± ¡°Okay, but uhm, you do realize your queen is more dishonest than any human, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Kolona said, her face peering out from behind Eldora¡¯s body. She¡¯d been sheltering behind her uncle, as it was clear that, if there was anyone here Fylwen wanted to kill above all else, it was her. ¡°My aunt lies and betrays people. And she murders without remorse. She started a war with Oli just because he brought me back to life.¡± ¡°Well maybe he should not have involved himself in our affairs!¡± another of her warriors shouted. He was a short, but athletic-looking Elf with a large shield and a curved sword. ¡°I¡¯m sure the queen had her reasons. And if you were supposed to be dead, you should have stayed that way. Now we have to work twice as hard.¡± Eldora¡¯s eyes widened in rage and indignation almost immediately after the Elf had finished speaking. ¡°Threaten my niece again, and I¡¯ll rip your head from your shoulders and kick it into the ocean!¡± The remark also provoked an even greater response from Kalana. She growled, and it was only due to Zach grabbing her wrist and pulling her back towards him that she didn¡¯t end up leaping at the Elf with her daggers drawn. Thankfully, she didn¡¯t yank her arm free of his grasp. Kalana was ridiculously higher level than Zach was, and he was well aware that he couldn¡¯t actually stop her if she decided to attack. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± she said, even as she glared hatefully at her mother and several of the Elves. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Zach trusted her, and so he released her. She then hurried back over to her cousin as if fearful one of the Elves might try their luck and attack even with Eldora guarding her. For the moment, though, they were remaining right where they were. This, as more voices became raised and tempers flared elsewhere. As the bickering intensified, Zach darted his eyes around, noticing that several ¡°sides¡± had now formed. To Zach¡¯s right, and closest to the outdoor, portable restroom, were Kalana, her father, and Kolona; across from them were the fifty Elvish warriors along with Queen Vayra, who stood with her hands on her hips and her chin in an elevated position as she both berated and was in turn berated by Peter Brayspark. Zach, for his part, had grouped together with Rian, Olivir, Lienne, Grundor, and the numerous adventurers who had shown up here to support him. Finally, across from him, and not far from the shoreline, were various high-ranking members from several different political guilds. In total, there had to be about thirty of them, give or take a few, with almost all being ornately attired in button-up suits and dress shoes. Of this group, the members of the Royal Roses stood out the most, as each of them had a dimly glowing red rose on the lapel of their suit which made them easy to identify. The rest were a mix of people from Lords of Justice, Children of Order, People of Virtue, and Defenders of Peace. There were also several-dozen staff who were frantically shuffling all over the place doing Gods-knew-what as they moved around, speaking quietly to one another as well as to other political guild members, adventurers, and even a few of the Elves. But for the most part, they were practically invisible, almost as if by design. Zach guessed the vast majority¡ªif not all of them¡ªwere level-1, unlike the political guild members they served. There¡¯s so many high-ranking people here. And Mr. Oren says there¡¯s more of them at the camp. Even though Zach had little idea what most of their names were¡ªor what they actually ¡°did¡± as far as politics went¡ªhe sort of recognized a select few of them, either from happening to see them on the news every now and again, or from watching them compete in the yearly tournaments, which until recently had been the only way that Zach¡ªalong with most of humanity¡ªcould experience anything from the world of leveling, guilds, and mobs. Generally speaking, Zach could both visually recognize and correctly name the leader and second-in-command of any major human political guild¡ªand so could just about everybody, as that much was common knowledge taught in school. Really, it would be weird for someone not to know at least that much. Then there was your average ¡°informed¡± human who could probably name the third or perhaps the fourth. But only those who paid close enough attention to politics knew the names of those even lower down the chain, as the lower in rank, the more esoteric the knowledge became. Only political nerds and guild fanboys knew who the fifth-highest ranked, sixth-highest ranked, and so on were. And so, other than a passing familiarity with just a few faces here or there, Zach did not recognize the rest of them¡ªexcept for Abram Gespon and Peter Brayspark, of course, but also one other in particular. He was a man that anyone would know assuming they didn¡¯t live under a rock. Even someone as tuned out of politics as Zach could identify him right away, as he was the second-in-command of the Royal Roses: Senior-Lieutenant Haisel Ragora. He was constantly on the news these days to talk about the war effort against the Guild of Gentlemen, which he was apparently leading. He was a tall, intimidating-looking figure in his early forties with short black hair, broad shoulders and a thick, full beard that went well with his overall larger frame. He stood with a rigid, almost militaristic posture, his hands folded behind his back and his attention focused on the Elves before him¡ªat least until he caught Zach staring at him. For a brief moment, he flicked his eyes in Zach¡¯s direction. Becoming anxious, Zach chose to look away rather than meet his gaze. Then he chided himself for it. It was hard not to be intimidated when unexpectedly locking eyes with a powerful world leader that, just a few weeks ago, Zach could never have imagined himself being anywhere in the vicinity of. And that wasn¡¯t even the whole of it, either; apparently, the leaders of the guilds themselves were also going to show up. Mr. Oren had informed Zach just a few seconds earlier that, not only were the guild leaders of each North Bastian guild coming in person, but most of them had just landed moments ago and would be making their way over to the raid camp imminently. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Zach asked him. ¡°One-hundred percent,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Trust me, I had a difficult time believing it, too. Oh, and¡­¡± ¡°¡­and what?¡± Zach asked. The sudden shift in Mr. Oren¡¯s tone and posture made him uneasy. And it certainly didn¡¯t help that his former science teacher was now fixing him with a stern, totally unexpected gaze that caused Zach¡¯s body to stiffen. He could actually sense that he wasn¡¯t going to like what Mr. Oren was about to say. ¡°What is it? Just tell me.¡± ¡°They want to meet you, Zach.¡± ¡°They what?¡± Zach blurted out a bit too loudly, which drew a bunch of unwanted attention to himself. Now, he was forced to direct a stupid, innocent smile at the handful of Elves who turned to look suspiciously at him. Then he waited for them to look away before he continued to speak, and when he did, he dropped his voice lower so that he couldn¡¯t be overheard. ¡°They want to meet me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been informed personally.¡± ¡°Are you sure they meant me?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Mr. Oren said, ¡°they meant you, Zach.¡± Zach rubbed his eyes, both out of a sense of disbelief and also to rid himself of the sweat pooling on his lids. ¡°That makes no sense.¡± ¡°Sense or no sense, they want to meet you.¡± ¡°Can I refuse?¡± ¡°Ordinarily, not only would I tell you that you can indeed refuse, Zach, but I¡¯d even advise you to do so.¡± ¡°But not this time?¡± Mr. Oren sighed. ¡°Not this time. The situation is¡­complicated.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll bet it is,¡± Zach muttered under his breath. He stirred uneasily; still a bit run-down from his E-debt, his feet had trouble remaining balanced on the sand to begin with, and now he was agitated on top of it all. It made it so that Zach had to struggle just to remain upright. He did not need this right now. As if he didn¡¯t already have enough to be worried or nervous about, he now had to consider this in addition to everything else? He¡¯d only just found out that he needed to come face to face with Ziragoth again, and already, another bomb had been dropped on him. He, Zachys Calador, was actually going to have to introduce himself to some of the most important people on the planet: the guild leaders who ruled over more than a billion North Bastian lives. Gods-be-damned, give him a break! Just the thought of meeting them caused his stomach to become upset and his throat to dry. He was not looking forward to making their acquaintance: especially Vim Alazar, the guild leader of the Royal Roses. Every time Zach had ever seen that guy on TV, he came across as such a dick. And Zach was kind of a dick, too, but only sort of and not all the time. This guy, though? He was a round-the-clock asshole¡ªat least if his TV personality was anything to go by. Gods, Zach did not want to meet the guild leaders. The idea of being around such important people was making him nauseous. Curiously, though, Zach wondered why he didn¡¯t feel this way in the presence of Peter Brayspark. He suspected it was probably due to the fact that he¡¯d already made the tall, regally handsome ¡°king¡¯s¡± acquaintance in the hospital after his run-in with Ziragoth. But there was more to it, too. Peter seemed different from his peers in a way that Zach could only sort of describe. There was just this¡­ this intense level of passion that the man radiated, and it was something that Zach really didn¡¯t see much of from other members of political guilds. That wasn¡¯t all, either; he also came across as more genuine and sincere in what he claimed to believe and feel. Peter was currently standing in more or less the general vicinity of the others from the political guilds, but in his case, he remained slightly apart from the rest of them and somewhat by himself as if to signal that he was here in his own capacity and not as part of their collective. Of all the humans here on this beach, he stood closest to Fylwen, and the two seemed laser-focused on one another in what felt like an odd cross between dark animosity and something bizarrely close to sibling rivalry. ¡°Enough of this!¡± he snapped in response to something that Zach did not quite catch. He snarled at Fylwen. ¡°Even just the suggestion that a ¡®negotiation¡¯ is required for a human to engage in free travel whilst within my territory is offensive and unacceptable.¡± His high-level Valkyries fanned out beside him, and despite clearly being non-sentient NPCs, they somehow still came across as eager for battle. It was in the way their armor-covered hands hovered near the gleaming blades sheathed in scabbards at their sides. ¡°Don¡¯t speak to me of territory,¡± Fylwen replied. ¡°Or should I remind you that one of your humans invaded my territory.¡± Her words caused Zach to immediately look around questioningly, and he spotted the same confusion in the eyes of Rian and Lienne that he knew must have been present in his own. Is she talking about me? She is, isn¡¯t she? Zach opened his mouth to challenge her bullshit lie, but before he could speak a word, he felt a pinch on his shoulder from Mr. Oren, who shook his head no. Grunting to himself, Zach decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being. It wasn¡¯t easy. The woman was a snake, and unlike her daughter, her beauty was only skin deep. Her elegant gown, fancy rings, multiple gold-and-diamond necklaces, and noble, perfectly upright posture gave her a far more dignified appearance than she had any right to display¡ªat least in Zach¡¯s heavily biased opinion, anyway. Every time she spoke, it gave him a foul taste in his mouth. And while he despised the political guilds just the same as any other adventurer, Zach was glad to see that Peter did not appear intimidated by her and was willing to challenge her lies in his stead. As shameful as it was, Zach found himself secretly rooting for the man as he narrowed his eyes at Fylwen and stood defiantly before her. ¡°Is that so? Invaded, you say?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± ¡°Is it now?¡± he asked, tapping his chin. ¡°That¡¯s interesting. Having only just heard the tale mere moments ago, that seems to be an outlandish misrepresentation of the facts. As I hear it, what you now describe as an ¡®invasion¡¯ was a direct request for aid from a member of humanity: one that was subsequently granted. And upon the completion of this most charitable display of kindness and gallantry, you saw fit to betray and murder the very same human whom you begged for succor. Is that not the way of it, Your Majesty?¡± ¡°That¡¯s also the truth,¡± she stated bluntly, though there was a slight tremble in her shoulders. ¡°I won¡¯t deny my actions.¡± As terrifying, humiliating, and painful as her betrayal of him had been, Zach was glad to hear it spoken aloud in an accusatory way. Otherwise, he would have been unable to avoid inserting himself into the conversation. For her to say that he¡¯d ¡°invaded¡± her land was infuriating. But if nothing else, at least she did not attempt to deny or downplay what she¡¯d done. Without looking Zach¡¯s way, Fylwen¡¯s body became even more rigid, and now she fixed Peter with a hard, unblinking glare. Peter seemed perfectly content to return an even icier one. At once, he stopped tapping his chin then turned over his right palm. ¡°Well, if that is indeed the case, I must first thank you for admitting it, and secondly, I¡¯d kindly ask you to please round up your Elvish horde, lead them back into whatever hole you crawled out of, and begone from my sight this very instant, you self-aggrandizing, disreputable scoundrel! You are not welcome here.¡± Rather than help the situation in any meaningful way, Peter¡¯s words unsurprisingly served to raise the temperature even further. But really? Zach couldn¡¯t even understand why. Sure, he¡¯d called the woman a ¡°disreputable scoundrel,¡± but that was hardly an insult. If Zach had been the one speaking to Fylwen, he¡¯d have called her a dumb fucking bitch and told her to kill herself, because that was exactly what she was and exactly what he wanted her to do. Zach despised her so much that he doubted he could even speak to her at all without swearing at her in the most profane of terms the moment words escaped his lips. She¡¯s got me so pissed off, he thought. The reaction to Peter¡¯s remark was swift and came from every side at once. Immediately, the Elvish warriors flanking Fylwen became heated and defensive. ¡°You dare speak to our queen in such a disrespectful tone?¡± shouted an older-looking, green-cloaked Elf with short, almost purely gray hair who appeared ready to draw his blade. ¡°You had better mind your words and your manner, or I will mind them for you, Peter.¡± ¡°The absolute nerve of him,¡± said another. ¡°I will not allow the dignity of Her Majesty to be called into question by any human, least of all the son of Peter IV. Apologize to her!¡± ¡°Miserable human scum,¡± growled a third. ¡°The spawn of the devil himself, and yet he wants to talk down to our queen. How dare he even form words from those cursed, tainted lips. He¡¯s as foul as his father.¡± Peter reacted with immediate hostility towards the Elves. He curled his nose, and a crease formed on his brow. ¡°Speak ill of my father again, any of you, and I¡¯ll cut your tongues from your mouths!¡± Then, shocking everyone, including every adventurer, political guild member, and Elf, he abruptly raised his voice and cried, ¡°Valkyries, at the ready!¡± All at once, and in perfect harmony, a legion of female voices shouted, ¡°YES, SIR!¡± Then the level-150 NPCs straightened their backs, and there was a synchronized clink from their armor as they shifted their stance so that they stood at attention with their feet close together. Zach raised both his eyebrows in awe but also in envy as he desperately wanted whatever item, ability, or piece of gear it was that had allowed Peter to conjure forth something so incredible. Turning his head, he noticed that Rian also appeared to be equally as jealous, although in the case of his deviant friend, he knew that Rian would have other plans for the Valkyries aside from using them in combat. Despite a moment of stunned disbelief that brought an immediate, albeit short-lived end to the ambient shouting, the Elvish warriors were quick to get over their surprise and almost seemed to grow even more eager to lock blades with Peter V as a result of his brashness and defiance. ¡°We do not fear you, human king,¡± one of the green-cloaked Elves said with a great deal of pain and emotion in his voice. ¡°Your threats do not frighten us as your father¡¯s did, and they never shall again. Come! Cut off my tongue if you think you can. I challenge you right here on this beach. Just try and¡ª¡± ¡°All right, all right, let¡¯s all just take a step back,¡± said Abram Gespon, marching over to where Peter and Fylwen were standing practically nose-to-nose. ¡°This is getting us nowhere.¡± He paused a second to adjust his tie and smoothen a wrinkle in his slacks. Then he continued to amble towards them. Zach watched as he intervened just as things seemed poised to reach a boiling point. Somehow, the man had ended up becoming the unofficial referee here. The moment he strode over to Peter, placed a hand on his shoulder, and then nodded his head at the queen, things began to deescalate straight away, if only slightly. The deference showed to him by the other guilds was intriguing, and Zach wondered why he appeared to be so highly regarded. If he paid more attention to politics or the news, he¡¯d probably already know. But he didn¡¯t, and so he was in the dark about why most of the other guilds seemed willing to let this man call the shots. Well, aside from the Guild of Gentlemen, who was currently at war with the People of Virtue. This was made evident as Peter aggressively slapped away his hand and glared at him. But Abram appeared to pay it no heed, even gesturing to his own guild-members to disregard it. It only just then occurred to Zach that, despite this being a region controlled by the Guild of Gentlemen, Peter, the guild¡¯s leader, was the only member of his guild present. He had not called upon any of his own members for support. I wonder why. As Zach watched Abram Gespon approach Queen Vayra, he was actually taken aback by the sheer, audacious confidence in the man¡¯s gait as he fearlessly walked right up to her and smiled. Having only briefly introduced himself a short moment prior, he was now boldly putting himself within range of a person who could likely rip the lungs out of his throat with minimal effort. Zach couldn¡¯t believe the level of self-certainty he seemed to display. If there existed any fear or concern within him whatsoever, he did not let even the slightest bit of it show on his face. For some reason, Donovan, who was standing to Zach¡¯s right, began to cross his arms and mutter words under his breath that were so vicious that even Zach wouldn¡¯t use them. ¡°You seem to really not like this guy,¡± Zach whispered to him. ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Donovan whispered back. ¡°And you shouldn¡¯t, either.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Donovan grunted. ¡°¡¯Cause that¡¯s the guy who put that bounty on your head.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Zach asked, becoming confused, irritated, and irate all at the same time. He pointed to Abram Gespon, the man in the incredibly expensive suit who was third-in-command of the People of Virtue. ¡°That guy? I don¡¯t even know him. What¡¯d I ever do to him?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not what you did to him,¡± Mr. Oren said a moment before Donovan could reply. ¡°It¡¯s what Donovan did to him.¡± Suddenly, the look on Donovan¡¯s face went from one of white-hot anger to something that actually reminded Zach of Fluffles whenever he did something he wasn¡¯t supposed to do but was trying to hide it. He made an impish, but somehow hearty laugh. ¡°Yeah, that one was kinda¡¯ my bad.¡± Zach leaned his head to the side. ¡°What¡¯d you do?¡± Once again, it was Mr. Oren who answered. ¡°I actually told you once before, Zach. Do you remember? It was back during your very first trip to Angelica¡¯s.¡± Zach took a moment to recall the time in question, then nodded. ¡°Yeah, you said that Donovan went over and¡­¡± Zach gasped. ¡°Wait, that¡¯s the guy? That¡¯s the guy whose desk you threw out of a window?¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Donovan said. He made another hearty chuckle as he rubbed his own head and shrugged. ¡°Fucker pissed me off, so I smashed his office up a bit.¡± Zach released an exhale that gradually turned into a moan. ¡°When Mr. Oren told me the story, he just told me you upset ¡®a political guild member¡¯. He never said it was the Gods-damned third-in-command of People of Virtue.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°There¡¯s no bounty on you anymore. That¡¯s all done with now.¡± ¡°Well, yeah, I know. I¡¯m just¡­ah, never mind.¡± The fact Zach didn¡¯t even care all that much was a testament to how off-the-rails his life had become. He had so many other pressing issues to worry about that someone having once tried to have him killed¡ªalmost succeeding, too¡ªwas not even something he could afford to think about anymore. Hell, it might not even make a top-10 list of ¡°worst shit to happen to Zach¡± at this point. Rather than dwell on it, he instead focused all his attention on Abram¡¯s interaction with the queen. He looks way too sure of himself. Zach watched, somewhat stunned, as Queen Vayra appeared to size up the man standing before her, who unless Zach was misreading the situation, had deliberately chosen this moment to finally exchange words with her. It was almost as though he¡¯d consciously chosen to allow a degree of bickering to take place before making his move. ¡°What do you want, human?¡± Fylwen asked him with an annoyed, dismissive tone of voice. With total confidence, he smiled at her. ¡°Your Majesty, I¡¯d hoped we could speak sooner, but I tried to hold off awhile on interrupting you and Sir Peter Brayspark. I introduced myself briefly to you before. Once again, I am Sir Abram Gespon the Virtuous, but I have no problem with you calling me Abe if it so pleases you.¡± He paused, likely to draw a breath, then continued. ¡°As it so happens, Your Majesty, I am with a guild called ¡®the People of Virtue¡¯. I am a senior lieutenant, and I¡ª¡± ¡°I know who you are,¡± Fylwen interrupted coldly. ¡°You do know I was born on Galterra, right? I lived here until shortly after the birth of my daughter. I am not a stranger to this world.¡± Despite the woman showing clear signs of irritation, the look on Abram¡¯s face seemed to be one of delight. He rubbed his hands together. ¡°Is that right? Wow, wonderful. Okay, so in that case, I don¡¯t need to waste your time explaining things, correct? Absolutely wonderful. So, Your Majesty, I can assume, then, that you know about the Royal Roses, the People of Virtue, the Children of Order, and so on, yes?¡± Fylwen¡¯s single-worded reply came across as both annoyed and impatient. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just perfect,¡± Abram said. Then, in the same instant, he closed his eyes, smiled, and nodded all at the same time, creating a look of joyful satisfaction that confused the hell out of Zach. Exactly what was he trying to do? Whatever it was, no one seemed to intervene or challenge him. Not even members of his own guild. Did he really know what he was doing? The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Even as Queen Vayra grew visibly more irked, Abram Gespon took his time before continuing to speak. Slowly, he half turned around and extended his left arm in the direction northwest of the city. ¡°We are so happy that someone of your stature and elegance has graced humanity,¡± he said to her. ¡°We are honored to have you here, and although we aren¡¯t capable of accommodating you in Dal¡¯Zarrah due to an imminent threat, we have prepared a feast deserving of your greatness, as well as some gifts, fine wine, and other treasures. It would be my honor if you could accompany me to our camp so that we can have discussions in a more dignified location. More so than this beach, at any rate. My guild leader, as well as the guild leaders of all of North Bastia will be waiting there to greet you, as well as the media, eager to show the world your stunning beauty.¡± Fylwen paused a moment, likely to take in everything he¡¯d just said. At least, that was what Zach assumed she was doing, because it was what he was doing. What exactly was going on here? Abram, for his part, did not hurry or rush along the woman at all. He merely waited patiently for her to mull over what he¡¯d said to her. Finally, after several more seconds of silence, Fylwen twisted her hips and craned her neck to look at several of the faces of the Elvish warriors she¡¯d brought along here with her. Then, quickly, she once more faced in Abram¡¯s direction. And with that, she released a short bout of loud, mocking, and dismissive laughter. ¡°Why would I do that, human? Why in the name of the Gods? Truly, I should send your head to your guild leader in a box just for wasting my time¡ªand for speaking to me so cordially as though we are well acquainted enough for you to behave this way.¡± It was at this point that Zach became completely, totally lost. Because even as she regarded Abram with an open mixture of scorn, ridicule, and even violent intention, the level of confidence and certainty in the man¡¯s eyes seemed to explode. Rather than react with even the slightest bit of defensiveness or concern for his own safety, Abram held up his pointer finger and laughed merrily as he tapped it against the air. ¡°You know what? You probably should,¡± he said with another laugh. ¡°I can¡¯t stand me either.¡± ¡°You¡­what?¡± Flywen asked. And then he did it. Zach, who had never witnessed anything like this before in his life, did not know what Abram was doing or how he knew to do it, and yet he could almost visualize the imagery of a trigger being pulled as Abram Gespon cleared his throat, again adjusted his tie, and then smirked at the Elvish queen. ¡°I¡¯m going to level with you here, Your Majesty,¡± he said, drawing a breath, holding it, and then releasing it slowly. ¡°You could indeed kill me. Perhaps easily, too. But¡­¡± He shrugged. ¡°You¡¯re not going to.¡± ¡°Oh? And why is that, human?¡± ¡°Because I have an offer for you. An offer you¡¯re going to accept.¡± Upon his words, Fylwen made a bizarre, almost comical series of facial expressions. At first, she frowned¡ªor at least she attempted to frown. But instead, she slightly pursed her lips and tilted her head. It was like she was so confused that she couldn¡¯t even be angry. It was as though she wanted to react with hostility, but the man¡¯s borderline suicidal confidence had blown her mind. ¡°How can you even say these things to me?¡± she asked eventually. ¡°Do you not¡­understand who you¡¯re speaking with?¡± ¡°Of course I do, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Do you? Truly?¡± Abram nodded. ¡°Of course. And for me to be standing in front of you right now, you must realize there are only two possibilities. One: I am an idiot who has no idea the level of danger I¡¯ve just put myself in. Or two: I am someone with an offer for you that is so absurdly, ridiculously, irresistibly good that it wouldn¡¯t even be possible for you to refuse. An offer so lucrative on the table that you would have to be clinically insane not to accompany me back to our camp as an honored, esteemed, and cherished guest in order to accept.¡± Of all things, Fylwen¡¯s lips slowly transitioned into a grin. ¡°It would have to be something truly spectacular, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°It sure would,¡± Abram said, the grin now becoming reflected on his own face. ¡°Something I know you want. Something you would want badly enough to give me something that I want.¡± ¡°And what is it you want, Sir Gespon the Virtuous,¡± she said, shockingly using his formal title. This, Zach did not see coming. He placed his hands together, palms pressing into one another. ¡°Your Majesty, on behalf of all of humanity, I would like to request from you the following: the release and pardoning of Zachys Calador and his companions for any crimes committed against Elvish kind, and secondly, for you and your Elves to help us deal with our dragon problem.¡± Zach widened his eyes, Lienne gasped, Olivir scowled, and Mr. Oren adjusted his cat-eye glasses with a trembling finger. Without even bothering to ask, Zach could tell that neither he nor anyone else here had been expecting to hear what they¡¯d just heard. He wasn¡¯t even sure how to respond to it: or if he could respond to it. He wasn¡¯t even certain that he¡¯d actually heard Abram correctly. That second request of his was so shocking that Zach couldn¡¯t even bring himself to be angry over the insinuation that he needed to be ¡°pardoned¡± from something that ¡°he¡± did. Instead, all he could do was continue to watch as though hypnotized as Fylwen not only took his request in stride, but began rubbing her chin with a grin on her face. In a complete, total one-eighty from the start of the conversation, the more this man spoke to her, the further from anger she now became. Whatever it was that Abram Gespon was doing, it was working. Zach reckoned he was luring her in, but he also assumed that she knew she was being lured in¡ªand was okay with it for some reason. What can he possibly have for her? Diamonds? Money? I don¡¯t get it. ¡°To not only approach me as you have,¡± Fylwen said, ¡°but to ask for me to put my own kin in harm¡¯s way to save human lives. Oh, what a price that would have. What a magnificent price indeed. You must know this, yes?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°And what could you possibly have to offer me?¡± ¡°If you¡¯d please accompany me back to the camp, I would be happy to discuss that with you. Furthermore, if what I have to offer does not meet your expectations, then I implore you to simply cut off my head for wasting your time, as you implied earlier.¡± ¡°You¡¯re that confident?¡± she asked, her eyes growing wide. He nodded. ¡°You will want this.¡± ¡°Well then, I suppose I can hear what you have to say.¡± Abram clapped his hands together. ¡°Fantastic. You, and all your Elvish companions, will be treated with the utmost of respect and served only the finest wine and food that Galterra has to offer. We¡¯ve already prepared for your arrival. There is just one thing, however¡­¡± Queen Vayra rolled her eyes. ¡°Let me guess: you need me to give the vampire boy, the consort, and my niece leave to make this dragon have a little nap, yes?¡± Abram laughed. ¡°That¡¯s correct, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°I am a generous and fair woman. I will allow it.¡± And just like that, the two of them began to walk slowly away along the beach. Even as mystified, skeptical, and astonished as he currently was, Zach nevertheless still breathed out a sigh of relief as he observed the two of them calmly sauntering together along the beach¡ªas did almost every adventurer nearby him. At the same time, Donovan gave him a firm nod of the head. Without even speaking a word, Zach somehow understood everything the leader of the GSG wanted to say through that one, brief nod. He was reminding Zach that, as shocking as all this was, it was not his responsibility right now. He was to focus on the dragon and only the dragon until it was dealt with. How Zach could derive all of that from a single glance, he did not know. The fact he understood it at all amazed him. But he was sure of it. ¡°Olivir,¡± Donovan said. ¡°Are you ready? It¡¯s time for us to go.¡± Olivir gave a thumbs-up. ¡°I¡¯ll summon some mounts for us to¡ª¡± ¡°Oh, and one more thing,¡± Queen Vayra said, stopping in her tracks while looking directly at Zach as she spoke. Abram, who had been walking alongside her, also came to an abrupt halt as the queen pointed in his direction. ¡°Yes, Your Majesty?¡± She narrowed her eyes at Zach. ¡°I don¡¯t want that boy going anywhere near my daughter anymore. Any deal we reach must include a provision barring that human from any continued contact with my child. She is not yet of legal age, and as her mother, even your own laws and customs allow me this right. I want you to keep your human away from my kin.¡± ¡°The fuck?¡± Zach screamed at her, the words bursting out of him so loudly and so uncontrollably that he hadn¡¯t even been aware that he was the one who¡¯d shouted them until after they¡¯d already filled the stifling summer air. In a matter of seconds, his heartrate spiked, his adrenaline began pumping through his veins, his emotions took hold over his senses, and a rage so terrible it frightened him blasted away any semblance of control that he had over himself. All around him, he could see shock, confusion, and worry¡ªworry that was directed at him. Particularly from the political guilds. Did they think he was going to break the peace? Because they were right. He was definitely going to break the peace. He didn¡¯t even care. Fuck everything. Seriously, fuck everything and everyone. He¡¯d had enough. There was no way he¡¯d agree to this. He wouldn¡¯t even consider it. Opening his mouth, Zach prepared himself to release a string of vulgarities so vile and ugly that ten generations of Elves would remember he¡¯d said them to their queen. He was going to dig deep and unleash the absolute meanest, nastiest, angriest¡ª ¡°Zach, no,¡± Mr. Oren said to him, his tone uncharacteristically sharp and commanding. Zach caught sight of him in the corner of his eye, and the expression on Mr. Oren¡¯s face was one that he¡¯d only seen once before, when Mr. Oren had warned Seraphina to back off before he¡¯d ultimately killed her. It was as no-nonsense and serious as Mr. Oren got, and as he directed it at Zach, it caused him to hesitate. He swallowed down a lump that had formed in his throat¡ªone that had been built on the rage he planned to vent on Fylwen. ¡°I get how you¡¯re feeling, kid, but this ain¡¯t the right time,¡± Donovan added. ¡°We need to put the dragon to sleep.¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡ª¡± He held up his hand. ¡°Millions of lives are at stake. Millions of lives. I get it. Trust me, I get it.¡± He lowered his voice so that only those near him could discern what he said next. ¡°I¡¯m not telling you to give a shit or accept what she¡¯s saying. I certainly wouldn¡¯t. What I¡¯m asking you to do is deal with it later. Not now.¡± Zach grinded his teeth together and hissed out his frustration as the weight of responsibility came crashing down onto his shoulders. ¡°Why do you even need me? I don¡¯t have a sword anymore. I can¡¯t even fight.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not about that,¡± Spider said, reminding Zach that he was still standing to Zach¡¯s left side. ¡°What do you mean?¡± He spat onto the sand before replying in a whisper. ¡°I don¡¯t know that woman, but I can tell she¡¯s a spiteful bitch. If you don¡¯t agree to her terms, she¡¯ll keep us here and let the dragon raze our world out of some wicked sense of principle.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying I just give up on Kalana? I just do what she says and¡ª¡± ¡°Fuck no,¡± Donovan chimed in. ¡°No one¡¯s saying that, kid.¡± ¡°But you said¡ª¡± ¡°I said not to deal with it now.¡± Speaking at an even lower whisper, he chuckled and said, ¡°After it¡¯s dead, who gives a fuck what deal these political guild hacks make? I sure as shit don¡¯t. You say this woman lied to you and betrayed you, right? Okay, so? Lie and betray her ass right back. Agree to her demands and then elope with your girl. That¡¯s how adventurers do it.¡± Zach paused a moment. Donovan was right. He needed not to be short-sighted. Even if he agreed to her terms, he would have no compunction about lying and breaking them. It wasn¡¯t exactly a nice thing to do, but if there was anyone in this world who was not owed honesty or integrity, it was Fylwen. But either way, there was no circumstance in which he would give up on Kalana. That wasn¡¯t happening. It wasn¡¯t even an option. If he had to lie and break an agreement to do so, then whatever. Getting himself back under control, Zach decided to stand down. He needed to be cool. He needed to be smart. He needed to wait things out even if he didn¡¯t want to. ¡°Okay,¡± he said. In a few quick strides, he marched over the sand to where Kalana was standing beside her father and Kolona. He reached out and took Kalana¡¯s hand into his own. ¡°Kal, please listen to me. For the time being, we might have to pretend that we¡­¡± He blinked. ¡°Kal? What are you¡­?¡± He looked into Kalana¡¯s eyes, only realizing now that she had been eerily quiet through all of this. Though he hadn¡¯t been entirely certain what her reaction to all this would be, he¡¯d expected fury to be a part of it. He also expected there to be pain, perhaps even disbelief or shock. But what he saw when he looked at her was only an extreme level of frustration. Of all possible reactions, Kalana merely appeared cross: annoyed, even. Did she understand what was happening here? Still holding her hand in his own, he tried to think of what to say to her, but she beat him to it. ¡°Shh,¡± she said. ¡°Ignore what my mom just said.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You heard me. Ignore it. Pretend you never even heard it. It doesn¡¯t matter what she says. I¡¯m not gonna listen, so you shouldn¡¯t, either.¡± ¡°Kal¡­¡± Fylwen, deciding to involve herself in the conversation, frowned at her daughter and gestured at her. ¡°Kalana, get away from him.¡± Kalana snapped her head in her mother¡¯s direction, her teeth bared. ¡°Um, do you seriously think I¡¯m gonna listen to anything you say? Or even care? I dunno why everyone is taking this so seriously. Especially you, Zach. She doesn¡¯t get to tell us what we can do. She¡¯s nothing. Ignore her!¡± Zach looked around nervously, searching for guidance in his friends¡¯ faces, but this time around, they came up blank. Even Mr. Oren seemed to be caught with indecision as things became ever more complicated. At a whisper, Zach said, ¡°Kal, I need to talk to you privately.¡± ¡°Nah-uh! I know what you wanna say, Zach.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not what you think. I¡¯d never break up with¡ª¡± ¡°Duh,¡± she said, speaking conversationally and at a volume that her mother could plainly overhear. ¡°You wanna trick my mom and be together in secret or just get back together after the dragon dies, right?¡± Zach croaked. ¡°W-what? That¡¯s ridiculous.¡± As he spoke, he tried to give her a very serious look indicating for her to stop talking before it was too late. Was she out of her mind? What did she think she was doing? At the very least, he tried to get her to lower her voice, but she wasn¡¯t having any of it. ¡°Your friends came up with that plan, right? Right?¡± ¡°Well, yeah, but¡ª¡± ¡°Okay, well my plan is to ignore whatever they¡¯re saying and my mom is saying. You gotta side with one of us. Who¡¯s it gonna be?¡± The decision came easy. Far, far easier than it likely should have. It didn¡¯t even require any convincing or arguing on the part of Kalana. With a firm shake of his head, Zach said, ¡°You, always.¡± Then he turned around and looked fiercely into the eyes of Donovan. ¡°On second thought, I¡¯m sticking with Kalana. I don¡¯t care what the queen says.¡± Mr. Oren and Donovan both reacted at the same time, and their reactions were so wildly opposite it was actually difficult to believe. Mr. Oren frowned, and then a heat entered his eyes, as well as a stark disappointment that would have bothered Zach if not for the fact that he felt an explosion of courage from within as Kalana kissed his cheek and clung to his arm. Donovan, on the other hand, merely barked out a laugh and shrugged. ¡°All right, whatever. Fuck it. Let the thing destroy the planet. If that¡¯s what¡¯s meant to be, then let it happen.¡± ¡°I¡¯m with you, bud,¡± Rian said, hurrying over to him. Lienne accompanied, and then so too did Olivir and Grundor, all four signaling their support of him. Olivir in particular gave him a pat on the back. ¡°I¡¯ve done worse to be with an Elvish chick,¡± he said, winking at Kolona, who giggled. ¡°I¡¯m with you as well, Zach,¡± Eldora said. ¡°My wife doesn¡¯t get to dictate who my daughter can be with. If we need to carve a path through her, we¡¯ll do it.¡± Fylwen¡¯s entire face contorted into a vengeful, raged scowl, which she directed first at Zach, then at Donovan, and finally at Abram. ¡°Do something,¡± she said. ¡°Convince them.¡± Once more, Abram surprised Zach. Despite the fact that this could not possibly be the way he wanted things to go, there wasn¡¯t even a trace of unease or disappointment in his eyes. He even yawned. The man actually yawned. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t,¡± he said. ¡°Ah, excuse me.¡± He covered his mouth as he finished his yawn. ¡°You¡­can¡¯t?¡± He nodded. ¡°On second thought, it looks like we won¡¯t be able to make this offer after all.¡± Fylwen bared her teeth at him. ¡°What do you mean? Why would you say that?¡± He nodded his head at Zach and Kalana. ¡°Unfortunately, we have already granted your daughter autonomy in a preexisting deal we¡¯ve made with her. We can¡¯t impose our will on her.¡± ¡°You¡­did?¡± Again, he nodded. ¡°Correct. We can¡¯t tell her what she can or can¡¯t do. She has also been given Elvish ancestral hunting grounds that are now her domain and hers alone.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s how she¡¯s gotten so strong,¡± Fylwen whispered. ¡°I did not know any of this.¡± ¡°No? Hmm. So, are you not aware that your daughter is a world famous icon?¡± ¡°She is?¡± ¡°She¡¯s a celebrity in her own right,¡± he explained, briefly telling Fylwen about the social media campaign that had led to her worldwide acceptance. Upon hearing this, Fylwen beamed with pride, and for just an instant, Zach wondered if maybe she¡¯d been swayed somehow. But the expression soon turned sour, and now, loudly, she said, ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that. But even still, I¡¯ll not sign any deal if that boy is allowed near my daughter.¡± With a casual, shockingly fast bow of his head, Abram said, ¡°You¡¯re right. Oh well, we tried.¡± And without another word, he began to walk away. Fylwen, along with her entourage of Elves, all glanced at each other in confusion as they watched the fancily dressed man strut lazily towards where his helicopter had landed on the beach only a few-hundred feet away. ¡°W-wait,¡± Fylwen said, hurrying after him. He paused and craned his neck to look behind himself without fully turning around. ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°I will handle my own daughter. I¡¯ve decided that we don¡¯t have to¡­I won¡¯t burden you with that responsibility, human.¡± ¡°Are you sure? I¡¯m starting to think that maybe I was mistaken in¡ª¡± ¡°No. Do not disrespect me. You said you have an offer for me, and I wish to hear it.¡± He smiled. ¡°I see. All right, well, shall we proceed, then?¡± He¡¯s really good, Zach thought fearfully. How does he do that? Fylwen held up her index finger. ¡°Just one moment. I want to have a word with Kalana. Until I do that, I¡¯m not going anywhere¡ªand neither are they,¡± she said, clearly referring to Zach, Olivir, and Kolona. She gestured at her Elvish warriors. ¡°For now, we are standing down. But I must deal with my daughter first.¡± With that, she came hurrying back over. Zach had the sense that he should keep quiet as the queen approached. In a matter of seconds, he found himself uncomfortably close to her. He refused to make eye contact or even acknowledge her presence, however. But he did feel reassured as Kalana squeezed his arm. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± she whispered into his ear. He kissed her shoulder blade in response as she clung close to him. He trusted her. Giving him another reassuring squeeze, Kalana then looked up at her mother. ¡°I don¡¯t care what you have to say,¡± she told her. ¡°I¡¯m going with Zach, and that¡¯s that.¡± ¡°Where?¡± Fylwen asked, now standing mere feet away from Zach. She sounded exasperated. ¡°Where is it you¡¯re going, Kalana? To fight some dragon by yourself? Are you mad?¡± ¡°Not to fight it, mom. To put it to sleep and help my friends.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll do no such thing, Kalana. And these humans are not your friends.¡± ¡°Yes they are! And I¡¯m gonna help them either way, and nothing you say matters. I¡¯m going with Zach.¡± ¡°No, no you are not.¡± Kalana scowled. ¡°Do you really think you can just waltz back into my life and tell me what I can and can¡¯t do after abandoning dad and me for all these years?¡± Fylwen averted her eyes as though she felt some degree of shame. Zach had no idea if it was a genuine expression or an attempt to manipulate her daughter, but even assuming it was real, it was still less than a fraction of the shame she should be feeling. Her voice becoming simultaneously softer yet firmer, she locked eyes with her daughter and said, ¡°I know I¡¯ve been gone for a very long time, but I did not abandon you. I swear this to the Gods, Kalana. This whole time I¡¯ve been away, I¡¯ve been carving out a life for you: for your father, too, if he is willing to bend the knee and end his hostility towards me.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll bend your spine, you abominable beast of a woman!¡± Eldora shouted. There was absolutely no love in the way he regarded her. Forget a lingering flame¡ªthere wasn¡¯t even a puff of smoke. This was a man who despised Fylwen with every fiber of his being and let it show clearly in his actions. ¡°You did leave us,¡± he said. ¡°For your pathetic revenge quest.¡± ¡°Revenge quest?¡± Kalana asked, her brow furrowing. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll poison her mind is what you¡¯ll do!¡± Fylwen shouted, a note of hysteria entering into her voice. ¡°Eldora, you and I will discuss this privately tonight.¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing to discuss, Fylwen. We are done. There is no ¡®you and I¡¯ anymore.¡± ¡°Oh no? Well, sorry to have to inform you of this, husband, but we are done when I say we¡¯re done. You are mine.¡± ¡°No, I am not!¡± Rather than continue the back-and-forth, Fylwen returned her attention to her daughter. ¡°Kalana, I am your mother. I will always be your mother. But I have now regained my rightful place as your queen, and you must listen to me.¡± Kalana replied immediately and without hesitation. ¡°You¡¯re not my queen,¡± she said to her mother. ¡°You¡¯re my prey.¡± There was hatred in her voice, and she narrowed her eyes as she continued to speak. ¡°I¡¯m never gonna forgive you, you got that? I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re my mom, the queen, or the Goddess of creation. I never wanna see you again unless it¡¯s in a coffin. You killed Zach. You killed Kolona!¡± ¡°This¡­this isn¡¯t the place to air these very personal grievances, sweetheart,¡± she said, her voice becoming lower and somewhat desperate. She looked around as though embarrassed, and she sounded hurt and even a little bit afraid. ¡°We can discuss your feelings elsewhere.¡± Even as she spoke, another few droplets of blood ran down her mouth from where Kalana had socked her, and then it combined with her sweat and dripped off her face. As though noticing this, Kalana winced as if she was the one who¡¯d been decked in the face instead. Seeing her reaction surprised Zach, but only for a brief moment. She¡¯s still her mother, he thought. No matter what Fylwen did, that¡¯s still her mom. He had no doubt whatsoever that Kal¡¯s anger and hatred were genuine. He also did not doubt that, at least right now, during a moment of passion, Kalana could be driven to kill Queen Vayra if the situation was allowed to spiral out of hand. Even still, as miserable and terrible as she might be, that woman was still Kalana¡¯s mother, and there was no way Kal didn¡¯t feel at least something more than just rage upon seeing her again. It was almost unthinkable. Maybe Zach was just projecting because he¡¯d lost his own mother and would do anything to see her again, but he had to imagine that there was some part of Kal that either still did or still wanted to love her mom. The same, however, could not be said of Eldora, whose eyes had gone cold, and who Zach was positive would feel nothing but satisfaction at the idea of slitting his estranged wife¡¯s throat. Having only ever known the two of them as neighbors disguised as humans, Zach didn¡¯t know a whole lot about their past, specifically the relationship between Kal¡¯s mother and her father. For this reason, he didn¡¯t understand why there was such a palpable display of hatred coming from Eldora. It might have been presumptuous of Zach to assume, but clearly, things between the two of them had not been great even before the events that had played out with Zach on Archian Prime. There was more here that he did not know. He hoped Kalana would tell him later¡ªif she was willing, of course. Or does she even know? he wondered. I don¡¯t think she does. ¡°All these years,¡± Kalana said, and now there was hurt in her own voice as well. ¡°All these years, and you never even bothered to tell me or dad you were okay. And then, um, I find out you¡¯re alive, and you do all these horrible things, and that Kolona¡¯s alive, and she thinks I¡¯m a monster.¡± Kalana released Zach¡¯s arm so that she could wipe her eyes. ¡°Why? Why did you have to be this person and not the mom I always imagined you would be if I ever got to know you?¡± Of all the things that Kalana had said so far, that one seemed to strike the hardest¡ªeven harder than her fist. Her mother looked as though she¡¯d been run over by a bull-dozing DEHV. Her mouth hung open, but no words left her throat. She merely moved her lips, and if sound was supposed to emerge, it failed to do so. ¡°We have to get going, Kal,¡± Zach said to her. ¡°Even if it means fighting your mom. There¡¯s not a lot of time left.¡± As much as Zach did not want to encounter Ziragoth a second time, he was starting to feel like he wanted to remain here even less so. The other adventurers joined his side, including Alixa, Maric, and Kesten, and Mr. Oren, who expressed clear disappointment each time he met Zach¡¯s eyes, though he thankfully didn¡¯t look like he was going to bother bringing it up. ¡°Why don¡¯t we just take Kalana and leave?¡± Zach whispered to Olivir, who along with Kolona, were now shoulder to shoulder with him. ¡°Good question,¡± his vampire friend muttered in reply. ¡°Everyone seems paralyzed because we don¡¯t know how Queen Vayra is going to react. I say we chance it. Let¡¯s just take your girl and go. Leave the others behind if they¡¯re so worried about it. We can make a big explosion and escape during the commotion. The four of us can head to Ziragoth: or rather, five of us with Grundor.¡± ¡°By ourselves?¡± Zach asked nervously. ¡°Don¡¯t we need them?¡± ¡°Trust me. We don¡¯t.¡± Having spoken very quietly, Zach had no idea how Mr. Oren overheard the two of them, but somehow, his science teacher caught wind of everything they were saying. He turned his head in Zach¡¯s direction and shook it, his look of disappointment becoming even deeper. ¡°Why provoke the queen even further?¡± he asked. ¡°I realize we¡¯re pressed for time, but things look like they may resolve peacefully on their own. Let Kalana finish having her conversation with her mother. At this point, a few more minutes are worth preventing the situation from turning volatile.¡± ¡°The situation¡¯s been volatile!¡± Zach snapped, causing Fylwen to look his way. He knew he should be quiet, but he was unable to control himself. ¡°Why do you keep acting like it¡¯s not?¡± ¡°Because it appears a deal has been reached. And I believe¡­¡± He paused as if more carefully considering his wording now that he was speaking loudly enough to be overheard. ¡°I believe that if we allow Her Majesty to finish conferring with her daughter, she will allow us all to go uninhibited. Zach, please, control yourself.¡± ¡°No!¡± he shouted. He was tired of this shit. How much more was he supposed to take? Even against his better judgement, right there, in front of everyone, he pointed his finger angrily at the queen. ¡°She fucking killed me, Mr. Oren. For real! She literally killed me. Let that sink in. I died! I know what death feels like now. I¡¯m seventeen, and I know what it feels like to fucking die! And then¡­then she chased me back to Galterra so she could do it all over again. And you know why? Do you?¡± ¡°Zach, please calm down and¡ª¡± ¡°She did it because her fucking dog told her something about me that she didn¡¯t like. She killed me just for that. Doesn¡¯t that mean anything to you, Mr. Oren? Don¡¯t you care? If I was still dead right now, would you even give a shit?¡± ¡°Of course I would,¡± he said. ¡°Really? Then why do you keep kissing her ass and trying to get me to do what she wants?¡± ¡°Because if we fail here due to taking unnecessary risks, a billion people could be scorched alive. And you seem to be more interested in putting short-term concerns over the future of everyone in North Bastia.¡± ¡°That¡¯s bullshit!¡± ¡°Zach, would you please watch your language?¡± Mr. Oren asked, clearly annoyed. Queen Vayra also appeared annoyed, if not somewhat disinterested, which only heightened Zach¡¯s temper. She regarded him as though he were an insect in need of being crushed. Somehow, he managed to calm himself and hold his tongue. It would reflect poorly on all adventurers if he continued to berate the queen in front of the people from the political guilds, who despite being the scum of the Earth¡ªin Zach¡¯s opinion, anyway¡ªwere seemingly making a genuine attempt to restore the peace and sanity here. Zach wasn¡¯t blind to the fact that, right now, the only thing standing in their way was him. Despite already having humiliated himself, he decided to drop it before he did even more damage¡ªor at least he would have. But then Kalana intervened. ¡°Zach,¡± she said to him, a tense kind of nervousness coming through on her voice. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°What exactly did my mom do?¡± she asked him. ¡°Tell me what happened. Everything from the moment you snuck out of the hospital, I mean.¡± A grunt came from Fylwen. ¡°Kalana, there¡¯s no need for him to¡ª¡± ¡°No!¡± she shouted back at her mother. ¡°I wanna know what you did.¡± ¡°You already do, sweetheart. You¡¯ve heard it several times now. I¡¯ve admitted to it. Everyone has heard the events.¡± ¡°But I didn¡¯t hear them from Zach. He whispered it to Peter and Alex, and I heard it from them. But I wanna hear it for myself. If¡­if you¡¯ll tell me, Zach.¡± ¡°You¡¯d be happier not knowing.¡± Kalana flared her nostrils at him. ¡°That¡¯s what my dad says when he refuses to tell me stuff too. Please, I wanna know.¡± ¡°Even with her standing right there in front of us?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Kalana said, once more locking eyes with her mother. Zach took a deep breath. ¡°Fine, but this is the last time I¡¯m ever telling this to anyone ever again. I just want to forget it ever happened.¡± As Zach began to recount, with exact specificity, what had taken place on Archian Prime, it was ultimately for the better that Fylwen resided just a few feet before them. Because contrary to everything he¡¯d believed up until this point, he came to discover that she did, in fact, feel shame. She just hid it well. But now that he could closely see her facial expressions as he recalled each detail, he was sure that there was at least some part of her that felt remorse, however little. She was also forced to endure the look on her daughter¡¯s face as Zach held nothing back, telling her exactly what was going through his mind and how it felt to know beyond all doubt that he was going to die. He told Kalana how he had begged Fylwen to let him live. How he had pleaded with her to honor their deal to save his life. He did not hold back on the details to spare himself the shame. He recalled the way he had groveled, and how the last thing he¡¯d felt before death was guilt: guilt that Kalana would never know what happened to him or where he went. By the time he had finished speaking, the adventurers, who were already on his side to begin with, now looked upon Queen Vayra with a hatred that rivaled Zach¡¯s own, and Mr. Oren, in particular, had completely changed his attitude. Of all the adventurers, his reaction was the starkest. He regarded Zach with a mixture of guilt and sorrow, and towards Fylwen, he cast away any pretense of civility, now glaring openly at her. ¡°You didn¡¯t even kill him yourself?¡± he asked her. ¡°You let him die that way?¡± He shuddered with what Zach took to be disgust. ¡°As awful a deed as it was, you could not even bring yourself to make it quick, could you? And yet, your people still follow you despite this?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve no right to judge me,¡± she said to Mr. Oren, her tone defensive. ¡°I did only what I must.¡± But he did judge her. And so did her own Elves. They likely already knew what had happened, as Zach had a fairly good sense that it had spread from person-to-person mere hours after it¡¯d happened. But now that they could hear him tell it for himself, the overt display of revulsion on their faces gave Zach the impression that they had likely not known the full extent of it: of how hard Zach had worked to save their kin, of how much he had taken on to help her. It was to such an extent that, towards the end, when Zach had painfully recounted how, not even two hours ago, he had killed two Elves¡ªsomething he still had not mentally processed yet but knew he would have to live with for the rest of his life¡ªthe Elves did not even seem to look upon him with blame or hatred. Only sadness. Even the political guilds found Fylwen¡¯s actions to be distasteful. It was evident in the way they sent disapproving glances her way whenever her face was not pointed in their direction. They did not give voice to this distaste, however, but Zach would not have expected them to, either. Ultimately, though, there was absolutely no satisfaction to be gained from this: none at all. In fact, when he had spoken his last word, he came to intensely regret his decision to retell the story in such detail, because it quickly became apparent that hearing what had happened to him had deeply, deeply wounded Kalana. All throughout, she had been shaking her head and muttering the word ¡°no.¡± He had never seen her cry this way before. He had hurt her so terribly. Did that make it wrong for him to tell her? How much pain did it cause her? She looked to be more hurt over this than he was. She clung to him and buried her face into his chest, practically soaking his tunic. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, baby,¡± she whimpered. ¡°I¡¯m¡­so sorry. Forgive me.¡± ¡°For what?¡± Zach asked her, genuinely baffled. He stroked her hair. She squeezed his tunic and looked into his eyes. ¡°For what happened to you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not your fault, Kal.¡± ¡°Yeah it is!¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°So¡­so it won¡¯t have to be all my mom¡¯s.¡± He wasn¡¯t sure what she meant by that, but he thought he understood. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault,¡± he repeated. The expression of horror on her mother¡¯s face¡­it did nothing for him. He thought it would be liberating, but it wasn¡¯t. In particular, she had formed it right around the point in time in which he had described what it felt like to be certain of one¡¯s death. He had explained how, in his final moments, he wanted to live more than anything. How he had been so desperate. The fear. The terror. The feeling of shame. How confused he had been. And yet, despite all of this, Fylwen still did not apologize or vocalize any regret. Zach did not think it was possible for Olivir and Kolona to hate Fylwen any more than they already did when he¡¯d met them. Although he¡¯d told them the details of what¡¯d happened to him at breakfast before leaving Archian Prime, he¡¯d explained it to them much the same way as he had to Peter and Mr. Oren, describing the events from a factual, broad standpoint. But now, hearing the more detailed retelling of events, he and Kolona appeared to discover that they had still not yet maximized their ability to hate Queen Vayra. ¡°She¡¯s awful, dude,¡± he whispered. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Not your fault either,¡± Zach told him. Then he closed his eyes a moment and sighed. ¡°I¡¯m just sick and tired of feeling like an ant.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not an ant,¡± Kalana said to him, removing her face from his tunic and looking up at him. ¡°I am, though,¡± he said, as an unbearable desire for power flooded into him. ¡°Just for once, I¡¯d like to be the foot. It must be nice to stomp on everything.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t mean that,¡± she said forcefully and with a surprising, unexpected level or urgency that was completely, totally out of place and proportion with what Zach had actually said. ¡°Take that back right now.¡± ¡°Whoah, calm down,¡± Zach said with a laugh. ¡°Nah-uh. You can¡¯t go saying things like that.¡± ¡°Since when?¡± ¡°Since starting now,¡± Kalana said, making a pouting face that he found adorable. ¡°And never again.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Zach said with a chuckle. He kissed her. ¡°Never again.¡± It was a promise Zach would have no problem keeping. All he had to do was avoid saying a phrase. He was still allowed to think it. ¡°Queen Vayra,¡± Zephyr said. He had been quiet up until this point. ¡°If we leave now, will you¡­¡± ¡°Go,¡± she said, her expressions now hidden behind a mask that looked close to cracking. ¡°I¡­you win this one. I will hear Abram¡¯s offer. If my daughter is hurt, I will kill everyone here. You won¡¯t have to worry about the dragon.¡± With that, she turned around and resumed following him to his helicopter. Zach overheard him remark that her Elvish warriors were free to either sprint their way to the camp or wait for limousines, whichever suited their taste. There was enough room for five of them to serve as her armed escorts. As if in a display of strength, she chose to take none with her. Not that it mattered; with their speed, they could arrive well before the helicopter did. A moment of silence settled over the beach, during which no one said anything as if unsure of what, if anything, could be said. Then, abruptly, Zephyr clapped his hands together and let out a merry-sounding guffaw. ¡°Okay, folks,¡± he said enthusiastically. ¡°Who¡¯s ready for the hard part? Let¡¯s go buy ourselves some time.¡± Chapter 74: Card Capture Chapter 74: Card Capture ¡°SHUTTLE LAUNCH IMMINENT. ALL NONESSENTIAL CREW MUST IMMEDIATELY VACATE THE AREA AROUND DOCKING BAY 4. SHUTTLE LAUNCH IMMINENT. ALL NONESSENTIAL CREW¡­¡± As the final launch warning blared loudly over the speakers, Prila reminded herself for the fiftieth¡ªor maybe sixtieth¡ªtime that everything was going to be just fine. This was not dangerous. This was just an ordinary, routine flight of the sort that took place with great regularity from the various Orbital Monitoring Platforms. Not only that, but statistically speaking, a person was roughly eight-thousand times more likely to perish in a DEHV-related accident than they were to meet the same fate during the course of a shuttle flight. She therefore had no reason to be afraid. None at all! Yet as she felt her safety harness automatically tighten around her to the point it became painful, and as the ship¡¯s pilot activated its engines and began to ramp up power to the rear thrusters, she was unable to escape the rapidly growing sensation of alarm as she anticipated the trip back down to Galterra, which she knew would be less pleasant and far more terrifying than the one that had brought her up here in the first place¡ªand that hadn¡¯t exactly been a particularly enjoyable experience, either. But this? This was going to be a whole lot worse. Her friends had all told her as much. On numerous occasions, she had asked what it was like to head down to Galterra, and the story was always the same. They described the voyage as being like a rollercoaster multiplied by a thousand. According to just about everyone she¡¯d ever spoken to, the trip down would, at various points, cause an intense, overwhelming sensation of ¡°falling¡± that was apparently petrifying the first few times someone went through it. A friend of hers who¡¯d transferred to a different monitoring platform last year once told her that it was like being trapped on a ride you couldn¡¯t get off. She claimed she¡¯d come close to tears as she¡¯d whimpered to herself and prayed for it to be over. Her worries making her agitated, Prila slowed her breathing and reminded herself that this was a modern, state-of-the-art vessel that had completed all of its required safety evaluations. The shuttle itself was vaguely similar in appearance to an airplane, only it was slightly smaller than a jet, its wings were located towards the rear of the craft, and it utilized rocket engines. Through her left window, she saw an intense glow of light along with a loud, high-pitched whine as a similar-looking shuttle departed from Docking Bay 3 and sailed forward into space. Then all sound abruptly vanished the moment it left the airlock. Just be cool, she thought to herself. You don¡¯t want to look like a fool in front of everyone else. Despite her nerves, Prila smiled in an attempt to hide her unease and to project the same kind of fearlessness displayed by the eight engineers of the maintenance crew who were sitting around the shuttle beside and across from her, as well as the sole security officer tagging along for their protection. It was standard operating procedure that all expeditions to Galterra bring along a security officer level 80 or higher in the rare and unlikely event that the level-1 crew encountered trouble while enacting repairs or during the subsequent downtime afterwards. Typically, upon the completion of dungeon maintenance, the crew would be allowed a few days of leisure where they would stick together as a group and enjoy life in one of the cities while awaiting the next scheduled launch off Galterra. ¡°I definitely need to buy some new sneakers while I¡¯m down there,¡± one of the men remarked, his voice coming through clearly over the Comm in her ear. ¡°I just want to feel my feet on some soil,¡± said another. Through the transparent, polycarbonate visors of their space helmets, Prila did not see anything remotely resembling her own anxieties regarding their imminent flight¡ªand why would she? Unlike her, these men were well accustomed to traveling back and forth between Galterra and the monitoring platforms. Thus, she was unsurprised by their calm, relaxed demeanors; if anything, they actually looked bored. One even yawned. The man turned his head her way and, as though seeing straight through her, he chuckled. ¡°I was just as nervous my first time heading down,¡± he said to her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not nervous.¡± He chuckled a second time. ¡°Sure ya aren¡¯t, darling.¡± This caused the rest of the men to share in his laughter, and Prila decided to simply ignore it rather than pull rank. She knew he was only being kind and not deliberately trying to ridicule her. And to be fair, he wasn¡¯t wrong. This was her first return voyage, and she really was nervous. It was hard to believe it had been a decade since she¡¯d last been planet-side. Ten years ago, she¡¯d blasted off Galterra and arrived at what had become her new life: and now, finally, she was coming home. Maybe she¡¯d even see her family again. I¡¯m not here for pleasure, she thought, chiding herself. I need to make contact with Angelica. Time and time again, she had watched people die from the comfort and safety of her terminal in service to a man she had once believed to be a God. But he was no God: he was just a very powerful mortal who was too stuck in the past to see the harm he was causing the world. And now that she understood this truth, she could no longer bear the sense of guilt and neglected responsibility that grew the longer she upheld the system. Truly, it had been Ziragoth that served as the final straw for her. All those people. Dead for no reason. So many of them had been children, too. And for what? Some absurd notion of impartiality? This was wrong. This wasn¡¯t righteous. This was complicity in their deaths. No more. Enough was enough! Prila was as Galterran as anyone else, and this was her world too. Her conscience would no longer allow her to indifferently observe suffering and death when there was something she could do to avert it. And with that thought in mind, she grabbed the sides of her seat as the thrusters picked up and the shuttle began to undock. She was about to find out if planetary descent was as bad as she¡¯d heard. But even if so, she would just have to grit her teeth and bear it; it was too late to turn back now. ***** Gripped with such an intense exhaustion that he was nearing the verge of outright collapse as he suffered his way up yet another steep, rugged hill with his mouth open and panting for air, Zach was more than happy to assume that the rocket-sounding screech he¡¯d just heard in the sky above him was the result of, like, a heatstroke-induced delirium or something. Well, assuming that was even a real thing. Was it? He didn¡¯t know. All he knew was that, for a brief instant, he could have sworn he saw a flash in the sky that came just before the high-pitched screech while he was busy trekking the final bit of distance to what Donovan had called the ¡°interception point.¡± Yet no one else seemed to have noticed or heard it, and despite his curiosity, he didn¡¯t dare glance up to look, as it was bad enough having this cruel, unrelenting sun scorching him to begin with¡ªthe last thing he wanted was to have to feel it burning his eyes, too. ¡°All right, we¡¯re here,¡± Donovan said, as the group of nearly thirty of them arrived. ¡°Take it easy for a few. This is the best spot to put the dragon asleep until tomorrow.¡± His body sore, his muscles aching, and the front of his tunic drenched with perspiration as even more sweat poured down his face, Zach took a seat on a large rock with a somewhat smooth, flattish surface; it was one of several that dotted this particular area of the grasslands about ten-and-a-half miles northwest of Shadowfall coast and about three miles northwest of the raid camp. As he settled down into a seated position, he released a groan as a sense of relief flowed into his legs, back, and hips. He was exhausted, and he felt like he was being baked alive under the ruthless sun. ¡°Are you feeling all right?¡± Mr. Oren asked him, concern in his voice. Zach rolled his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°Here, kiddo,¡± Donovan said, throwing him a half-filled canteen. Zach extended his arm and caught it midair, then twisted off the top and took several large gulps. This, as the front, sides, and back of his head tickled as more of his sweat slid down his face and neck. ¡°Why couldn¡¯t we at least take the skeleton horses?¡± he asked, breathing heavily. Leaning forward on the rock, he tossed the canteen back to Donovan, who let out a chuckle as he snatched it out of the air. At the same time, Zach began waving his hand around as what felt like a billion little gnats buzzed around his face. Several times, he had to slap his own forehead to kill the annoying critters that kept incessantly landing on him. It was almost like they wanted to die. They just wouldn¡¯t leave him alone. It really did seem like they were spitefully trying to fly into his eyes, up his nose, or into his ears. I fucking hate nature, he thought grumpily. Zach was not currently in the best of moods, and it had nothing to do with Fylwen, the arguing on the beach, or even that he was about to come face to face again with Ziragoth. No, it had to do almost exclusively with his current situation. For starters, he felt gross, and he was in desperate need of a shower. He had the dried blood of an Elf he¡¯d killed staining his tunic¡ªand after having only just vigorously scrubbed it clean of zombie guts and pumpkin blood before leaving Olivir¡¯s estate, too. Now he had to wear it on him as a constant reminder of what he¡¯d done: and what a disaster this whole foray had become for him. Hell, the only reason he¡¯d ever snuck out of the hospital in the first place¡ªthe only reason he was even here at all¡ªwas because he wanted to replace the sword that Ziragoth had broken. But it was starting to really dawn on him that, not only had he failed to do so, but he¡¯d lost his other fucking sword as well! So now he had zero swords. He felt so stupid and inept. It also didn¡¯t help that the trip over here had thoroughly humiliated him and reminded him of his shortcomings. Following what had been a pretty awful day, he had actually really been looking forward to the trip out here, if not the deed itself; specifically, he had been excited to ride a winged skeleton horse through the Galterran summer sky with Kalana sitting behind him. But both Zephyr and Donovan had decided against using flight, as to do so risked the ire of the political guilds, who would likely not appreciate having to explain such an alarming sight in the event it somehow leaked onto the internet or was otherwise unintentionally broadcast by the media. In fairness, Zach had to admit that both of those things would be highly likely to happen given that they¡¯d be flying over the populated city of Shadowfall Coast. Thus, Zach did not disagree with the decision; after all, with everything else going on, the last thing he wanted to do was cause the already frightened people of North Bastia to feel any additional terror. Readily accepting the decision, Olivir had instead offered to conjure forth the same kind of skelly horses that he, Kolona, Grundor, and Zach had used to race through the giant forest on Archian Prime. But this, too, Donovan firmly declined. He¡¯d instead insisted that they go by foot. From what Zach could gather, this was because the interception point Donovan had chosen was only three miles from the camp itself, which meant they¡¯d actually have considerably more time than originally thought. In fact, from what he understood, even taking into account the hike over here, they had about forty-five minutes before Ziragoth roamed to within aggro range and Olivir put it to sleep. For this reason, Donovan decided against using skeleton horses, real horses, DEHVs, helicopters, or any form of transportation at all, claiming instead that ¡°exercise was a good thing.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Now, to be clear, Zach did not disagree with his core sentiment. Needing to raise his stamina, he fully agreed that exercise was a great and wonderful thing. But not when he¡¯d just recovered from a crippling E-debt, and especially not when he was traveling more than ten miles by foot with people who were all vastly higher level than him! Right now, Zach¡¯s speed was a mere 7 points with his equipment on¡ªand only 5 without. Despite Donovan claiming he¡¯d be moving at a ¡°slow and calm pace,¡± Zach basically had to burn every Gods-be-damned calorie in his body just so that he could barely manage to keep up, lagging behind everyone else. And so, in a sense, his own weakness was being rubbed in his face, as everyone else, including Fluffles, had effortlessly managed to make the trek without any visible sign of strain or exhaustion. It was literally just him and him alone. I actually wish Rian and Lienne had come along, he thought. Then all three of us could have limped our way over here. I wouldn¡¯t have to be the only ant. The two had chosen not to accompany Zach, as not only would their presence serve no purpose, but the both of them seemed to have other things they really wanted to do. Rian, for instance, had run off in a state of absolute bliss because that red-haired Elvish girl he¡¯d ¡°met¡± on the beach had decided to make him her ¡°consort,¡± which Rian was so happy about that Zach was pretty sure he¡¯d spotted tears of joy in his friend¡¯s face. Lienne, on the other hand, had claimed she wanted to go shopping in Shadowfall Coast¡ªwhich, incidentally, did not even end up happening. Somehow, she, too, also ended up paired with an Elf. Actually, Zach found that last bit very, very amusing. It was funny to him how the girl¡¯s ¡°extreme¡± anti-Elf hatred seemed to vanish into thin air the moment some six-foot-tall, green-cloaked warrior her own age said hello to her. Suddenly, she liked the Elvish. Crazy how that worked. And so now, Zach was the lone aimless, low-level soul amid almost three-dozen superpowered, high-level adventurers. From what he understood, everyone here with them right now was a member of the GSG aside from Zephyr, Olivir, Grundor, Kolona, Kalana, Eldora, and obviously, himself. Actually, assuming Zach had understood Mr. Oren correctly on the trip over here, the God Slayers Guild would be the only adventuring guild with a one-hundred-percent participation rate in today¡¯s¡ªnow hopefully tomorrow¡¯s¡ªraid, meaning that between those gathered here and at the camp, every single member of the God Slayers Guild had shown up for Ziragoth. All sixty-five of them. No one could say they weren¡¯t a dedicated bunch. This is what they do, isn¡¯t it? This is their whole reason for existing. Zach was still figuring out his own personal reason for existing. Of course, it wasn¡¯t something he had the mental capacity to dwell on right now. He already had too much on his plate. He just hoped he wouldn¡¯t be forced to meet the political guild leaders looking¡ªand smelling¡ªlike this. For sure, he would need to find a hotel in the city to shower, as well as a shop to buy something half decent. He couldn¡¯t stride into their fancy tent in his current condition. Tent, he thought, his mood becoming somewhat elevated. That¡¯s right. I''m sleeping in Kalana''s tonight¡­ Just a few minutes prior, Zach had been informed that Eldora would be moving into a different tent so that Zach could spend tonight alone with Kalana in her tent. That all by itself was almost enough to make him forget every other shitty thing that had happened to him, past and present. Speaking of Kalana, she was currently busily engaged discussing emergency tactics with Mr. Oren, who wanted to have a brief look at the Ziragoth document while they had more than forty minutes of free time to spare. Zach, who¡¯d been carrying it in his pocket this entire time, had handed it to him, and what he saw in the eyes of his former science teacher did not inspire him with much confidence. Mr. Oren had practically turned pale, and so too had Donovan, which was even more unsettling. ¡°We¡¯ll figure something out, Alex,¡± he said, giving him a pat on the back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it right now.¡± ¡°I hear you, Donovan. It¡¯s just¡­¡± ¡°I know. It¡¯s bad.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be okay, you guys,¡± Kalana said. ¡°We won¡¯t lose!¡± Zach smiled at her confidence. So too did Kolona, who Zach just now realized was sitting on the rock next to him. As Kalana, Mr. Oren, and Donovan prattled on in the background, Zach turned his attention towards her first cousin, who was studying his face as though worried about him. She didn''t need to be. Nevertheless, she placed a hand on his arm, giving him a friendly squeeze before returning it to her own lap. ¡°Thank you for everything, Zach,¡± she said to him. ¡°I didn¡¯t really do much.¡± Kolona shook her head. ¡°No, you really did. You did so, so much. You brought me here to my cousin and uncle. And you showed me the truth about Kalana.¡± Zach sighed. ¡°I guess that''s true, but on the other hand, if it wasn¡¯t for me, Olivir might¡¯ve killed Fylwen, and then you two would''ve never had to flee your home in the first place.¡± ¡°It was worth it to see Kalana again,¡± she said. ¡°Maybe not for Oli, but for me, it truly was.¡± Zach sat up a bit straighter, his awkward posture causing his back to ache even more fiercely. Eventually, he could no longer remain seated at all and had to stand upright, as the rock had begun causing him more discomfort than anything else. Once again on his tired feet, he stretched his arms widely then wiped some more sweat off his forehead. Now, he took a good look at the world around him and shook his head. He felt so out of place. He didn¡¯t belong here with all these people. Despite having Kalana back in his life, and despite making so many new friends, there was a part of him that still felt all alone. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back,¡± he said. ¡°Gotta take a piss.¡± Without waiting for Kolona to respond, Zach headed off to a more isolated area, which wasn¡¯t hard to do since there was basically nothing out here but grass, shrubs, hills, and rocks. For some reason, he felt the desire to be by himself for a little bit. He needed to clear his head. But first, he made absolutely, positively, one-hundred percent sure that there was no one anywhere who could see him. Yet even after he was sure, he still didn''t feel like that was good enough, so he walked just a bit farther away from everyone beyond that point just to rule out even the possibility that someone could stumble upon him. He wanted to be away from prying eyes and listening ears. He really needed a moment of privacy. Once he was fully confident that that no one would disturb him, he sat down onto the grass, bent forward, and began to weep as he finally had a moment of down time and quiet to really let it sink in that he¡¯d killed two people. They had names. They had lives. They had families. He¡¯d killed them. They were gone forever. They probably had mothers who were going to be informed of the news. Did they know yet? Had someone knocked on their mothers¡¯ doors or their spouses¡¯ doors to let them know that they were dead and never coming home again? ¡°What did I do?¡± he whimpered to himself, squeezing his hands into fists. ¡°The fuck did I do? I didn¡¯t have to do that. I didn¡¯t. Gods damn it.¡± He clutched his mouth as he cried so hard that snot came out of his nose and his eyes ran like open faucets. He didn''t just kill: he''d butchered. He''d beheaded another living, thinking being. That Elf probably wanted to live just as much as anyone else did, and Zach took his life away from him. The more he thought about it, the more his body trembled. He bawled like a small child into his hands, the hurt overflowing from him. Worse, he would do it again if he had to. He was starting to become afraid: so, so afraid, that there was a part of him¡­that somewhere inside of him was a part of him that actually enjoyed it. He didn''t want to believe it was true. He couldn''t bring himself to fathom it. But there was a sick, twisted part of him that wanted to do it again. To Varsh. To Fylwen. To anyone who threatened him. Realizing how destructive this train of thought was, he knew that he needed to think about something else: anything else. It didn¡¯t matter what. He couldn¡¯t handle this. My new abilities! I never looked into those. He¡¯d promised Olivir and Kolona he¡¯d discover what they were together, but he didn¡¯t feel like going to find them. He didn¡¯t really want to be seen right now. So instead, by himself, he called forth his list of abilities, using the method that Kalana had actually taught him. Gods, that felt so much longer ago than it actually was. It¡¯s only been a little more than a month, but it feels like it¡¯s been years. Wiping both sweat and tears from his eyes, he tapped his right shoulder four times, then held his finger there in place on the fourth tap. He counted slowly to five, then removed his finger and tapped two more times in quick succession. This caused his list of abilities to appear in the air before him. Nervously, he set out to see what his newest acquisitions actually even did. He started by tapping the first of them: the ability called ¡°Card Capture.¡± (Inner Ability) Card Capture (LEGENDARY NON-UNIQUE) Target is transformed into a summonable card. Card Capture can only be used on non-sentient, non-biological entities. Cannot be used on sentient NPCs, biological entities, inanimate objects, or organic robots. Card Capture will fail if target¡¯s HP >=5% and can only be used on target(s) with a level equal to user¡¯s int/2 (rounded up). Successful Card Captures forfeit any xp or possible item drops. 25 range. Exertion Level: None Despite reading the information several times, Zach still did not fully understand what the purpose of it was. It seemed to be suggesting that it could only be used on mobs, bosses, and NPCs that were not sentient¡ªlike Grundor and Angelica¡ªand that, if used, he would lose xp he¡¯d normally get for killing them, along with any item drops he might¡¯ve gotten, but in exchange, it turned them into a ¡°card,¡± whatever that was. It also seemed like he had to get a mob really close to death in order to use it, and that he had to be within 25 range, which was basically like 25 feet. It also finally made sense to him why his Boundless ability, which was unique, mentioned card capturing, or specifically, the fact that he would not be able to use this ability in tandem with it. In hindsight, he should have expected to get this ability because why else would it be named in a previous one? Lastly, he observed that his intelligence stat¡ªwhich would finally be used for something other than an item ability¡ªappeared to determine the maximum level of what he could use it on. If my current int is 55, then half that is 27.5, which rounded up is 28. That means, right now, while not being in Unleashed Phase, I can turn anything level 28 or lower into a card. But what would that even do? Why would I want that over just killing the mob and getting xp? Hoping to find out, he tapped the ability immediately below ¡°Card Capture¡± called ¡°Card Summon¡± and began to read over its explanation. When he did, he became enthusiastic and optimistic, very much liking what he saw¡ªat least at first. The more he read, the more that a sickening, terrible feeling entered the pit of his stomach as a rush of uncertainty, hesitation, and a powerful sense of self-doubt all struck him at the same time, more so from the implications of this ability than from the nature of what it did in and of itself. Reading it over, Zach could not help but wonder why he of all people would need something like this. (Inner Ability) Card Summon (LEGENDARY NON-UNIQUE) Consume a captured card to summon the captured entity as a pet. If the summoned card is killed, it cannot be restored with Card Dismiss. Up to 50,000 cards may be summoned at one time. While one or more cards are active, the user is granted access to the following mental commands: Aggressive, Passive, Attack, Defend, Stay, Go To, Besiege, and Use. If the card is mountable, these commands will remain inactive until it is dismounted. The user may use the Besiege command, such as when besieging a city or fortress, to have his or her card(s) enter Besiege mode. While in Besiege mode, a card may only be used to attack biological entities such as sentient beings or living animals. While Besieging, the user may divide his or her cards into up to ten battlegroups and assign target party member, raid member, guild member, or allied sentient as a card commander to delegate control of cards within its control group. When Besieging, the user is granted the following mental commands, which can be set to either ON or OFF: Allow Kill Hostiles, Allow Kill Only Designated Targets, Allow Kill Civilians, and Allow Kill Children. When Besieging with battlegroups, these commands, as well as all aforementioned commands, will become available to card commanders. Exertion Level: None Zach struggled to both understand and come to grips what he was even seeing. This ability¡­it seemed to be implying that its usefulness lay in conquest. Specifically, in conquering territory, killing people, and taking control of cities or towns or whatever. Why else would someone need thousands of mobs? It reminded him of Olivir¡¯s ability to build an army of mobs. But what frightened him most of all was the idea of what would be possible if he combined this with Olivir¡¯s ability. As farfetched as it seemed, he could not help but wonder what would be doable if he and Olivir descended upon a city with cards and minions working together. Not that I¡¯d ever do that, Zach thought. Eager to read his final ability, despite having a fairly good idea based on its name what it would do, Zach tapped the air in front of him and brought forth the information relating to his final new ability, ¡°Card Dismiss.¡± (Inner Ability) Card Dismiss (LEGENDARY NON-UNIQUE) Target card with >=1 remaining HP is returned to card form. User pays an exertion cost that scales with % missing HP. If Card Dismiss is not used within three hours of Card Summon, the card de-spawns and cannot be recovered. The user can reset this three-hour window by mentally using the Reset All Cards or Reset Target Card command. The user may choose to dismiss all cards in a single action using the mental command: Card Mass Dismiss. Exertion Level: Dynamic No sooner had he finished reading the description than he heard Kalana¡¯s voice calling his name. She was probably looking to spend some time with him, since they still had over half an hour left before Olivir would do whatever it was he was going to do to put Ziragoth to sleep. Hurriedly dismissing his list of abilities, he stood up from the grass and began heading back towards the others. On top of everything else, he now had a lot more to think about. Chapter 75: System Insert Chapter 75: System Insert Angry. Fluffles annoyed. Why Chumpkenwiffles bother Fluffles? He busy. Zach say dragon coming but Chumpkenwiffles bother Fluffles and send him message. ¡°What does stupid doggie want?¡± he ask smelly, dumb doggie. I love tuna and my tail. Chumpkenwiffles make stupid face and look at Fluffles. ¡°Thanks for meeting me.¡± Ugly smelly doggie try to smell Fluffles so Fluffles threaten to scratch. Chumpkenwiffles growl but Fluffles not scared of dumb doggie. Lienne say Fluffles bravest, cutest cat ever. Chumpkenwiffles bad dog and can¡¯t jump as high. ¡°What doggie want?¡± ¡°Did you come alone?¡± She barked. He nod-meowed. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°No one followed?¡± He no-meowed. ¡°No.¡± Chumpkenwiffles run around in a circle. Fluffles jump up onto a rock. ¡°Okay, I am going to play now. Fluffles play with me,¡± dumb doggie say. Doggie make loud and annoying bark. Now doggie¡¯s Elf come to bother Fluffles too. Fluffles hiss. Why she come here? ¡°Mean Elf lady here to attack Fluffles!¡± ¡°Be at ease,¡± she say. ¡°I¡¯m not here to hurt you. I was the one who asked Chumpkenwiffles to send you a message.¡± Anger-meow and hiss at mean Elf lady who kill Zach and slap Fluffles on beach. Should he scratch? He want to scratch. Okay, he scratch. No, wait. She scary. ¡°I am a busy cat,¡± Fluffles tell her. ¡°I won¡¯t take up much of your time. I¡¯m also very busy, little one.¡± She knelt down and gave chin scratch. Wow! Fluffles now forgive Zach murder. Feel good. Purr. Mean elf lady very good chin scratcher. She know exactly how. ¡°I am sorry for what I did to your human. If you were wondering.¡± ¡°Why not tell Zach?¡± She shake head. ¡°I can¡¯t. The damage has already been done. I guess you could call it pride. I¡¯m every bit the monster he accuses me of being. I wasn¡¯t always this way.¡± She give more scratch. ¡°At any rate, I¡¯m meeting with the humans in ten minutes to find out what they¡¯re offering me. I¡¯m lucky I was able to sneak away and speak to you. I¡¯ll make this quick.¡± Fluffles confused. This could be a trap to steal Fluffles¡¯ toys or make him take a bath. He appraise mean Elf lady. >.Anilize meanelf ldady ERR 207: unspecified command ---> [Anilize meanelf ldady] launched at 13:04 by user Fluffles. Launching AI interpreter for text correction¡­ --> Neuroint 60000b params 2.2 (LLM loaded successfully) Prompt: [Anilize meanelf ldady] ¡­ ¡­ [Analyze Fylwen Vayra] (Y/N)? -> Y Processing¡­ Please select an analysis type: 1) Overview 2) Psionic Potential 3): LEVELS, STAT GAINS AND ABILITIES This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. -> 1 Overview selected Processing¡­ PLEASE NOTE: PROJECT SHADOWFANG IS THE SOLE PROPERTY OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. COPYING OR SHARING THIS TECHNOLOGY WITH ANY UNAUTHORIZED THIRD-PARTY IS A CAPITAL CRIME PUNISHABLE BY UP TO LIFE IN PRISON OR DEATH. IF YOU HAVE OBTAINED THIS SPECIMEN THROUGH UNAUTHORIZED MEANS, YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY REPORT IT TO YOUR LOCAL FEDERAL AUTHORITIES. ALL TEST ANIMALS ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AND WERE RAISED IN CRUELTY-FREE ENVIRONMENTS BY TRAINED PROFESSIONALS. Error connecting to verification server Error connecting to verification server (2nd attempt) Error connecting to verification server (3rd attempt) Program will now terminate GALTERRA INJECTION On (5/1/3572): This is a modified version of the original Shadowfang program created over a thousand years ago on Earth that has been appropriated for the purpose of adding Shadowfangs to the System. Its original purpose was (probably) to create animal spies that humans could use to spy on each other. However, I believe we can turn it into something much more useful. Given time constraints, rewriting the kernel would be wasteful. Thus, some extraneous messages may appear in the output such as the above. If you are a System developer, please ignore these antiquated messages. ON (3/4/6520): Adamus, I¡¯m joining the other Great Ones and leaving the galaxy tonight and starting over in Andromeda. As I¡¯m sure you know, it¡¯s a one-way trip. I couldn¡¯t return even if I wanted. No one has made it to the T2 or higher planets. All anyone does is kill each other. I can¡¯t watch it anymore. The violence is too much for me. After thousands of years of it, I¡¯ve had enough. The System we made is a failure. You and your wife are the only ones who won¡¯t accept that. As for me, I want to try something new. You two should come with us. You are both so talented. Why waste your time on this failed project? I know we can get it right this time. Either way, though, I¡¯ve done what I promised. This is the last update I¡¯m going to push for Shadowfang functionality. I¡¯ve successfully created the gems capable of turning ordinary, non-genetically-modified house pets into Shadowfangs, increasing their lifespans and making them intelligent enough to learn speech. Most critically, they will be capable of joining their owners as fully fledged users of the System without losing their core personalities, just as you requested. Dogs will still be dogs, cats will still be cats, etc. Animal lovers will go crazy for this! It¡¯s up to you to design the bosses that drop the gems. At any rate, I will miss you, Adamus. Be well. Beginning Analysis of Fylwen Vayra Analyzing¡­ Analyzing¡­ Analysis: heightened emotions causing anterior cortex to increase activity in the vagus nerve, resulting in chest pain commonly interpreted as heartache or heartbreak. Vitals: normal Blood pressure: 116/72 Resting heart rate: 65 bpm O2 sat: 98% VIEW CURRENT HP: XXXXXX/XXXXXX (ABILITY UNLOCKED AT LEVEL 60) VIEW CURRENT STAMINA: XXXXXX/XXXXXX (ABILITY UNLOCKED AT LEVEL 60) Psionic link established Age: 37 Name: Fylwen Vayra Date of Birth: April 7th, 7021 A.D Profile: sadness, mistrust, trauma, self-hatred, fear, and depression. Loves daughter. Misses husband. Subject experiencing profound guilt. Volatile. MORE DETAILS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS (ABILITY UNLOCKED AT LEVEL 70) Launching Genetic Analysis¡­ Genetic Analysis Running Genetic Analysis Completed !! WARNING !! !! WARNING !! !! WARNING !! GENETICALLY MODIFIED BIOWEAPON DETECTED! (98% MATCH) GENETICALLY MODIFIED BIOWEAPON DETECTED! (98% MATCH) HUMAN SUBSPECIES: ARTIFICIAL DERIVATIVE (BIOWEAPON ENHANCED WITH PSIONIC POWERS) TYPE: HUMAN SUBSPECIES CLASSIFICATION: ELF ORIGIN: UNKNOWN Attempting to search for origin¡­ No matches found for ¡°Fylwen Vayra¡± among escaped bioweapons from Jupiter Orbit Research Station No matches found for ¡°Fylwen Vayra¡± among known bioweapon terrorists Searching records of known bioweapon organizations No records found for entry ¡°Fylwen Vayra¡± Searching instead for DNA matches¡­ Possible partial DNA Match found from (2) escaped Bioweapons 1: Bioweapon 291-51F Date of Escape: 1/15/3094 Method of Escape: Stolen space carrier 2: Bioweapon 291-51M Date of Escape: 1/15/3094 Method of Escape: Stolen space carrier Attempting to contact NSA¡­ Failed (retrying) Failed (retrying) Failed (retrying) [print analysis? Y/N] -> N ¡°Don¡¯t do that,¡± she tell Fluffles. ¡°It¡¯s not nice to pry.¡± Fluffles indifferent meow. Mean Elf lady continue scratch chin. Fluffles think how he love eating so much and how good food taste. He feel like hunting birdie. Chumpkenwiffles fart and she smell bad. Fluffles hate doggie. ¡°I¡¯m only here for one reason,¡± mean Elf lady say. ¡°I want you to give this to Zach, but you must not tell him it¡¯s from me. I want you to promise me you won¡¯t. He¡¯ll want this, but he won¡¯t accept it if he knows it¡¯s coming from me.¡± ¡°What you give?¡± ¡°It was my great grandfather¡¯s sword. He was the last member of my family to level up before the humans interned us. We managed to keep it hidden for more than a hundred years. I want Zach to have it.¡± Fluffles take mean lady sword and send to bank. It Zach sword? Zach get sword, okay. Fluffles hungry. Why nobody feed Fluffles yet? Dragon coming have to go. Fluffles need to go. He quickly attack Chumpkenwiffles with lightning then run away. He go to give sword to Zach then play with Kalana. When was food time? Chapter 76: The Light Amidst Darkness Chapter 76: The Light Amidst Darkness It often seemed like the most valuable things in life could only be truly appreciated once they were either gone or difficult to come by. For the last three whole years, Zach had spent almost all of his free time with Kalana: especially this past year, in which she had grown even closer to him and had begun following him around basically everywhere he went. And yet, through it all, he had been totally oblivious to how precious she was. Truly, it was hard to believe he had shared so many moments with her without realizing until much later on how lucky he''d been for every second of it. He had been so stupid: so totally incapable of cherishing what he had. These days, he felt like he needed to move mountains just to be with her for five minutes. And now, finally, he had the chance to tell her this much in person¡ªwhich he did. He wanted her to know what she meant to him. ¡°You¡¯re probably the only reason I¡¯ve survived what I¡¯ve been through,¡± he said to her. Then, with a macabre sort of chuckle, he added, ¡°Well, except for the one time I didn¡¯t. But you know what I mean. I just kept hoping to see you again.¡± ¡°You¡¯re cute,¡± she said, pinching his cheek. He playfully brushed away her hand. ¡°Kal, not in front of other people. They can see us.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t care!¡± She tried to pinch him once again, but this time, he gently grabbed her hand midair and took it into his own. The two of them were sitting together on a single large rock while they waited for the arrival of Ziragoth. The effect she had on him was palpable. While close to her, the heat stopped bothering him, the sun burning down on top of his head ceased to exist, and his fear of the dragon became greatly diminished. Right now, in this moment, there was nothing but her in the world. Nothing else mattered. ¡°Ever since¡­you know, ¡®that day,¡¯ I feel like it¡¯s become impossible to spend any real amount of time with you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s how I feel too,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s just one thing after the next, Kal. And what sucks is that we were so close to finally having some time to ourselves, just me and you.¡± She pouted. ¡°It¡¯s all ¡®cause the stupid dragon spawned.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why,¡± Zach began, ¡°after this is over, I want to pick things up where we left off. Hey, do you remember our summer plans before all this? Back when we were going to meet up in the Den of Ziragoth?¡± Kalana beamed at him, smiling happily. ¡°Yeah, you said you¡¯d come to my island. Wait, so are you saying you wanna just continue on like none of this ever happened?¡± He nodded. ¡°Well, yeah, of course. Don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Duh!¡± ¡°Then we will. Let¡¯s do it. Once this whole thing is done with, let¡¯s finally get away together.¡± She practically chirped with excitement. ¡°That would make me so happy. I can¡¯t wait!¡± ¡°But,¡± he added, ¡°with the same rules as before: no power-leveling and no forcing me to level-up there.¡± ¡°As long as you go swimming with me.¡± She made an evil-sounding hum and leaned close to him. ¡°Did you see the picture I sent you of me in the swimsuit?¡± she asked in a whisper. His face turning red from something other than sunburn, Zach nodded. ¡°I saw it all right.¡± She laughed devilishly. ¡°We¡¯re gonna have so much fun. Let¡¯s leave as soon as we beat the dragon.¡± ¡°Actually¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± she asked, a concerned frown appearing on her face. ¡°Nothing bad,¡± he said with a laugh. ¡°I was just hoping we could do one other thing first before we go.¡± ¡°What thing?¡± ¡°Before we go to your island,¡± he explained, ¡°I really, really want to take you to Angelica¡¯s. I want to bring Olivir and Kolona, too. We can have a double date in the best place in the world.¡± Kalana seemed to like the idea, because she became so happy that she actually clapped with approval. ¡°Oh, cool! We can do that, Zach. Yep. And then, after, you¡¯ll let me show you where I live. And you can meet my cat, Nila, and you have to look at all the decorations I put up, too. And there¡¯s this one cool mob that spawns near the river that you don¡¯t have to fight, but you have to hear it sing. It sings, Zach!¡± He laughed. ¡°We¡¯ll do it.¡± If we survive, he finished, not speaking the words aloud. Glancing over his shoulder for what must¡¯ve been the hundredth time, he marveled at the sight of the massive, stone-wrought, and totally out-of-place fortification that had been erected in what was typically considered ¡°the middle of nowhere.¡± Only three miles southeast of them, he could clearly see the large, twenty-foot-high, spiral-shaped wall that ran for what looked like an entire mile and was punctuated with habitable towers equally distanced from one another with open, square-shaped entryways and windows. From this somewhat elevated position, he could also see the camp that had been set up, which was so massive and colorful that, from over here, it looked like a tiny city all on its own. Much farther into the distance beyond that point was the outline of the actual city of Shadowfall Coast. Due to his fascination with both the scope and result of what had been constructed in just a matter of days, he became distracted. Therefore, it took him a bit to realize that Kalana was now giving him a very intense and peculiar sort of look and had likely been doing so for the past minute or two. It somewhat startled him, as only a moment before, the two of them had been chatting away happily. Yet now she was staring at him so hard that it was almost as though she was trying to burn a hole through him with her eyes. It was really unnerving. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Kal?¡± he asked her, becoming alarmed. ¡°Why¡¯re you looking at me like that?¡± When she said nothing, he became even more restless. She wasn¡¯t just looking ¡°in his direction,¡± but directly into his eyes, saying nothing. But why? What had changed? He had no clue what was going through her mind. Had he upset her somehow? He didn¡¯t think so. The sense he got from her wasn¡¯t one of ¡°anger,¡± but at the same time, he couldn¡¯t really place it. Finally, though, she ended the suspense, and now she grabbed his other hand, tightly, so that he held one of hers and she held one of his. ¡°Kolona tells me¡­¡± she began, stopping herself for a reason that Zach could not be sure. ¡°What? What¡¯s going on, Kal?¡± ¡°I talked to Kolona,¡± she said. ¡°Okay, so?¡± Even while maintaining the intensity of her gaze, her eyes seemed to dampen ever so slightly. It was not enough so that she could be said to have formed tears, but it was enough to arouse even more suspicion and uncertainty within him. ¡°What is it?¡± he asked. From the rise of her chest, he could see her draw a deep breath. ¡°Zach, she told me only ¡®cause she cares and not ¡®cause she¡¯s trying to upset you or anything.¡± ¡°Told you what?¡± he demanded, becoming as annoyed as he was concerned. ¡°She told me you¡¯re not okay.¡± There was no controlling the unpredictable, unexpected bout of anger that crashed into him in response to her words. Yet he clamped down on it. If any of it managed to spill into his expression, he doubted it could have been much, as he was quick to get a hold of himself. Even still, he could not fully conceal the frustration in his voice. ¡°She doesn¡¯t know what she¡¯s talking about. And she shouldn¡¯t be talking shit about me behind my back, either.¡± ¡°She was not!¡± Kalana said, her tone now on the grumpy side. ¡°Zach, that¡¯s not what she was doing at all. Don¡¯t even say that.¡± Zach couldn¡¯t help but feel both defensive and agitated all at once. ¡°What did she tell you, Kal?¡± ¡°She¡­you know, she told me about how you guys met¡­¡± Zach looked beyond Kalana and over to where Kolona was standing next to Olivir, and he glared at her. She immediately averted her eyes apologetically, which told him right away that she knew why he was glaring at her and that she¡¯d expected he would be upset. Witnessing this exchange, Olivir said something to Kolona that Zach was too far away to overhear, and then Kolona said something back to him. Then he nodded slowly and knowingly. Thereafter, he turned in Zach¡¯s direction and gave Zach a shrug. What the fuck did they tell Kalana? Gods damn it all! ¡°I already told you how we met. In great detail. Right in front of your mom.¡± Kalana squeezed his hand. ¡°I know. But, um, I mean more like¡­you know, the conversation you guys had.¡± It took everything Zach had not to seethe. ¡°What about it?¡± ¡°How you were having¡­trouble sleeping. And you, totally by accident, you¡­you were having a bad dream, and without meaning to do it, you¡ª¡± Zach tore his arm free from Kalana, unable to tamp down on the rage shooting through him. He said nothing to her as he got up from the rock and stormed off. He knew that, right now, anything he said would come out wrong due to anger and cause tremendous pain to Kalana. He couldn¡¯t believe they told her about the Fluffles thing. It hurt him that they would actually expose him that way. Why would she do this? She knows how much I love Kal, and she¡¯s trying to make me look awful in her eyes. A sense of wrongness and fear rushed into his belly as he struggled to think of how he could talk or lie his way out of this. He loved the cat so much. He¡¯d never willingly hurt Fluffles. He still couldn¡¯t believe it¡¯d happened at all. He had no memory of it. But even if it did happen, he didn¡¯t want anyone to know about it, both out of shame but also a genuine belief that they¡¯d get the wrong idea about him. Hell, Zach himself wouldn¡¯t ever trust or look fondly upon someone who did what they claimed he¡¯d done regardless of context. It was only natural. What kind of sick fuck would hurt a cat? Only people worthy of being despised would. No matter what anyone said to the contrary, there was no way Kalana could hear this about him and not change the way she viewed him. Gods damn it! Why did Kolona have to open her mouth? ¡°Zach, stop,¡± Kalana said, hurrying after him. ¡°There¡¯s no reason for you to be upset. Really.¡± ¡°They¡¯re lying,¡± he called back to her. ¡°They told you something about Fluffles, right?¡± ¡°Umm, yeah but¡ª" ¡°Ask Fluffles yourself if it¡¯s true. Fluffles!¡± he called, looking around for the cat and not seeing him anywhere. ¡°Fluffles! Where¡¯d you¡ª¡± His words were cut off as Kalana yanked on his arm forcibly enough to spin his whole body around. Now, she glared at him, and for the first time in his entire life, he actually felt intimidated by her. It wasn¡¯t a comfortable feeling. ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me,¡± she said. ¡°Why are you doing this, Kal?¡± he asked her. ¡°And keep your voice down. Please.¡± If nothing else, she at least complied to that one request. Speaking at a lower volume but with an even harsher tone, she said, ¡°I¡¯m worried about you. That¡¯s why.¡± ¡°I worry about you all the time, too. But that doesn¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°Zach, you don¡¯t get it. I¡¯m not gonna¡­it¡¯s not just about you or me. This is really important.¡± He had no idea what she was talking about or even trying to say. He shot her a questioning look, and this only seemed to frustrate her further. ¡°You don¡¯t get it, do you?¡± she asked. ¡°Get what?¡± ¡°Why it¡¯s so important.¡± ¡°Why what is important?¡± Kalana¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°That you¡¯re okay.¡± ¡°I am okay.¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re not, Zach!¡± Her voice having once again risen, he placed his finger on his nose and frantically looked around to ensure people weren¡¯t eavesdropping on their conversation. ¡°Kalana, please, what¡¯s gotten into you?¡± ¡°I love you,¡± she said. ¡°I love you too, Kal. You know I do.¡± She looked away a moment then licked her bottom lip as though unsure of what to say. Facing him once more, she placed her arms on his shoulders. ¡°Why don¡¯t you trust me?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t be so upset.¡± Zach paused a moment. He had to fight through the urge to flee. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡± ¡°Just what?¡± ¡°If a person did what they said I did, that guy would be a real piece of shit. Someone you could never look at the same way ever again.¡± ¡°Not if it was just an accident. Not if I know the person would never, ever do something like that intentionally.¡± ¡°I¡¯d have to first convince you of that, though.¡± Kalana shook her head firmly. ¡°No way! I already know you didn¡¯t choose to do anything on purpose. I know you! And also, Kolona made that really clear to me and Alex when she¡ª¡± ¡°She fucking told Mr. Oren, too?¡± he snapped, becoming furious. ¡°Holy fuck. Your cousin really screwed me. Why would she tell him that? Why would she ever tell anyone? Does she have it out for me or something?¡± ¡°Zach, please don¡¯t be like this,¡± Kalana said. ¡°No one is trying to blame you or call you bad. Everyone knows this wasn¡¯t your fault.¡± ¡°When did you even have the time to talk about this? How many people did she tell?¡± ¡°Only me and Alex. And it was when you walked off alone somewhere before. We came over to ask Kolona if you were okay, ¡®cause we know you went through a lot. And then Kolona told us about everything.¡± Frowning, Zach looked over his shoulder at her. ¡°I need to have a word with Kolona.¡± Kalana squeezed his shoulder blades hard enough that it actually hurt. ¡°Nah-uh. Don¡¯t you be mean to her, Zach.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to be mean. I just want to know why she did it.¡± ¡°I already told you why. It¡¯s ¡®cause she cares about you, Zach. She really, really cares. A lot.¡± ¡°She only just met me.¡± ¡°So?¡± He sighed. ¡°Maybe I¡¯m overreacting a bit.¡± ¡°You think?¡± He took a moment to calm himself down and rationally assess the situation, which was what he should¡¯ve done in the first place. Quite clearly, Kolona¡¯s intentions had not been bad. Zach wasn¡¯t even really mad at her. He was mad at himself, and he was terrified over how he¡¯d be perceived. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he whispered. ¡°You don¡¯t gotta be sorry.¡± Wetting his lips, Zach asked, ¡°If you know I didn¡¯t mean to do it, and you¡¯re being honest when you say it wasn¡¯t my fault, then why did you suddenly bring this up when we were both happy and having such a great conversation? I mean everything between us was perfect. Why ruin such a great moment?¡± She again squeezed his shoulders, though not as hard this time. ¡°You should already know why. Alex told me so. He said you should already know. And Kolona wasn¡¯t surprised to find out either, ¡®cause when me and Alex told her about you, she said that she had a suspicion already ¡®cause you looked really shaken up when Fluffles appraised her.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Zach asked, totally confused. Was he actually supposed to make sense of that jumble of words? What was Kalana even trying to say? Seriously, whatever garbled mess of thoughts had just escaped her lips, it made absolutely no sense at all: none whatsoever. ¡°Zach, you know why,¡± she again insisted. He shook his head. None of what she was saying rang a bell. What did this have to do with Kolona? He tried to think back in order to make sense of things. The only time he could ever recall Fluffles appraising Kolona was a very short while ago when they were making their way through the forest on Archian Prime. Fluffles had begun rattling off details about Kolona¡¯s level and abilities that she and Olivir had wanted to keep hidden. If anything, the two of them had been the ones who were ¡°shaken up¡± over it, not him! In fact, Zach had barely even reacted or paid attention to it. He had been far more perturbed at the way they took this whole ¡°appraisal¡± thing so seriously. And when he¡¯d asked them about it, they¡¯d claimed that these strange ¡°appraisals,¡± which to Zach felt more like some kind of bizarre, animal-based palm readings, were not only correct, but in their words, were ¡°perfectly accurate.¡± He distinctly recalled how uncomfortable that had made him, and clearly Kolona had taken note of that. He¡¯d simply refused to accept it was true, because if appraisals were, in fact, ¡°perfectly accurate,¡± then that would imply that Zach was¡­ Oh, he thought as understanding dawned on him. I get what she¡¯s saying now. ¡°It¡¯s this again, huh?¡± he asked with a slight moan. ¡°I should¡¯ve known. Of course it¡¯s this bullshit again.¡± ¡°So you do know. Alex was right.¡± ¡°Know what, Kal? That a cat said some things about me? What does it even matter? What he said about me isn¡¯t true. Hell, it¡¯s not even possible.¡± ¡°It is true.¡± He laughed derisively. ¡°It¡¯s not. Think about how silly that is. This is me we¡¯re talking about here. Also, Fluffles doesn¡¯t always tell the truth. But he¡¯s a good and loyal little buddy. He didn¡¯t want us to be separated, so he lied and made up these laughable claims about me so that I wouldn¡¯t be sent away and could join the guild and spend more time with you and him. That¡¯s all this is, okay?¡± Kalana removed her left hand from his shoulder and instead placed it on his cheek. The look of deep worry in her eyes was now causing him to be worried as well. ¡°Please stop,¡± she said. ¡°You need to stop denying it.¡± He snorted. ¡°But it¡¯s not true though, Kal. Fluffles was lying.¡± From out of nowhere, an angry meow echoed behind him. Caught off guard, Zach flinched and turned his head around to see Fluffles standing by his feet and looking up at him. The black-and-white tuxedo cat was thwacking his tail up and down onto the grass as if miffed about something. Zach¡¯s stomach lurched as though he''d fallen off a cliff and was plummeting down to his death. Talk about awful timing. ¡°Why Zach say Fluffles lie?¡± the cat asked him. ¡°Fluffles not the one who eat the chicken. It was Chumpkenwiffles.¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Thank the Gods! He has no idea what we¡¯re talking about. Hoping to quickly steer the situation away from this awful topic, Zach opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say a thing, Kalana clasped her hand over his mouth, and his words came out as mumbled gibberish. ¡°Hi again, Fluffles,¡± she said to him. The cat meowed. ¡°Oh, hi Kalana.¡± She smiled down at him. ¡°Is it true what you said about Zach?¡± Zach tried to pry her hand off his mouth, but she was determined to keep it there. So instead, all he could do was listen. Fluffles brushed against Kalana''s leg. ¡°Yes true,¡± he said. ¡°Zach pet Fluffles too much and get greedy.¡± ¡°He did?¡± she asked with a giggle. ¡°Well that¡¯s not nice.¡± ¡°See?¡± Fluffles asked with a loud, animated meow. ¡°Even Kalana say Zach greedy.¡± Kalana laughed a second time. Then, more seriously, she said, ¡°I actually kinda meant the other thing, Fluffles. Umm, what you told Alex and the others about him.¡± Fluffles stared at her a moment then tilted his head to the side. ¡°Zach most powerful human?¡± ¡°Yes, that.¡± ¡°It true! Fluffles appraise. Zach more powerful than all GSG combined. If Zach level 80, he beat the stupid dragon all by himself.¡± ¡°Kal, that¡¯s obviously fucking bullshit!¡± Zach attempted to say. Instead, with her hand covering his mouth, it came out as: ¡°Kval, nvvvatats ommmbvslle mffvvkkn mbvvulffit.¡± None of this made any sense. How could Kalana seriously consider let alone actually believe such stupidly exaggerated claims of this magnitude? It stood in direct defiance of all logic and common sense. Especially the part about the dragon. Even with hundreds of adventurers, and now quite possibly dozens of even more powerful Elves, Mr. Oren and Donovan did not look all that optimistic about their chances of taking down Ziragoth. Yet Fluffles was actually trying to put forward the claim that Zach, all by himself, could take on and defeat the fire wyvern if only he were level 80? Get real! That was just downright ludicrous. The word ¡°impossible¡± did not even begin to describe such a farfetched, silly idea. Yet not only did Kalana take it seriously, but from the sound of things, so too had Mr. Oren, who Zach was now willing to bet was the one who¡¯d told Kalana about Fluffles¡¯ so-called ¡°appraisal¡± of Zach in the first place. How else would she know? Honestly, he was becoming a real troublemaker. They just don¡¯t get it, Zach thought. They don¡¯t understand how ridiculous this is. Something else was now bothering him, too. It was something that took him a bit to really work out in his head, as he had been so focused on the sheer absurdity of the claims themselves that he hadn¡¯t even contemplated the overall, broader point of why these claims had Kalana so concerned in the first place. But as he replayed portions of the conversation in his mind, a growing sense of discontent began slowly twisting itself into anger and even pain. Putting aside for a moment whether or not Fluffles¡¯ appraisal of him was accurate, the fact of the matter was that Kalana believed it to be true. And because of this, she was deeply concerned and clearly troubled. This naturally prompted Zach to ask himself the only follow-up question that made any sense: why? Why was she so worried? What, exactly, was she trying to imply here? That Zach was somehow inherently dangerous? That if he had the kind of power that she herself currently had, that that would somehow be a bad thing? Or was he being too defensive and completely misconstruing the whole situation? He just didn¡¯t know anymore. But the more he thought about it, the less fair things seemed. And since her hand was covering his mouth, she could likely feel his growing anger through his stiffening lips, which caused her to finally remove it. ¡°I love you,¡± she said again. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to make you upset. I wouldn¡¯t ever wanna do that to you. Everything I¡¯m saying is only ¡®cause you mean the world to me.¡± Zach took a moment before speaking, and not because he needed time to gather his thoughts, but so that he could calm himself before voicing them. ¡°Kal,¡± he said to her, using great effort to avoid losing his temper. ¡°What exactly is it you¡¯re so worried about?¡± ¡°You,¡± she said, stroking his chin and kissing his lips. Seriously, did she actually think something like that would calm his growing anger? Because, okay, it actually did. He loved her so much that he couldn¡¯t help it. But even still, he was actually quite upset, and so he realized he had to vent this here and now. Calmly removing her hand, he asked her the same thing yet again. ¡°What are you worried about, Kal? Specifically.¡± Despite asking such a simple, obvious, and run-of-the-mill question, Zach clearly stumped her¡ªor no, wait. Not stumped her. No. It was worse than that. Because she obviously knew the answer to his question damn well, but she just didn¡¯t want to say it. He was sure about it. That was why she tensed up, opened her mouth, and then rather than speak, released only a half-silent exhalation of breath, which contained nothing more than an ¡°ah¡± along with an ¡°um.¡± Don¡¯t get mad! he shouted to himself, even as he could feel his own blood pressure rising. ¡°It¡¯s because you think I¡¯m dangerous or something, right?¡± ¡°No!¡± she said, hurt in her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s not what I was gonna say at all!¡± ¡°Then what are you afraid of? Tell me.¡± When she again began stammering all over herself, unable to produce any real response, he continued speaking. ¡°I don¡¯t want to make this into a contest,¡± he said to her. ¡°But just so you know, on two different occasions, I¡¯ve had people tell me they were afraid of you or thought that you are going to be really dangerous to the world, and both times, I defended you. Just so you know.¡± He was telling her the truth. Both Lienne and Olivir had expressed great reservations about Kalana, and both times, he¡¯d told them that they were wrong about her. But that was only part of the unfairness at play here. The other part was that Kalana had actually made plans to shake up the world and knock over the political guilds. She¡¯d called herself a God and acted like she had some right to rule. Had Zach ever said anything like that? No, he hadn¡¯t! At least not seriously, anyway. All he wanted was to live a good life and have lots of money. Yet he was the one to be worried about somehow? Kalana was being a hypocrite, and Zach now had a winning argument against her. He realized this as it began pouring into his head. He had a checkmate against her. A knockout blow. And it was here that Zach learned the most important thing that could ever be learned about being in a relationship with a woman: sometimes, it was better to just let them win. This, he would discover as he opened his mouth and stupidly said to her everything that he¡¯d just thought, telling her how, of all people, she was one to talk. He brought up her previous text messages. He brought up her bragging about being a God. He threw it all back in her face like a fucking idiot. Now look: if this were a fair contest judged purely on the merits of one¡¯s argument, Zach would have just wiped the floor with her. He would be crowned the undisputed champion. But this wasn¡¯t a contest, and this certainly wasn¡¯t fair. Thus, he got totally annihilated as Kalana retaliated. And when she did, she pierced him straight through the heart. She hit him right where it hurt. She went for the jugular and said something so terrible and awful that she might as well have killed him. ¡°You¡¯re being really mean,¡± she said, frowning. ¡°I wanted to talk ¡®cause I¡¯m really worried about you, and you¡¯re just being really mean about it, so guess what, Zach? No sex tonight.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± he asked with a loud, panicked gasp as every bit of confidence drained from his face. ¡°You don¡¯t mean that, Kal. You can¡¯t seriously¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯re sleeping in your own tent tonight. Or you can still sleep in mine but nothing¡¯s gonna happen.¡± ¡°N-no, wait! Kalana!¡± Now, he was the one chasing after her as she began to walk away back in the direction of the others. ¡°I changed my mind!¡± he called, urgency in his voice. ¡°You were right about everything. I¡¯m a threat to Galterra! I¡¯m the only thing standing in the way of world peace. You were right! Wait, can¡¯t we just¡­let¡¯s be reasonable here, Kal. Come on! I love you and I¡¯m sorry!¡± She paused. Then she replied to him, but she did so without looking back his way. ¡°I love you too, Zach.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± she said quietly. ¡°I forgive you.¡± ¡°Wait, you do?¡± ¡°Mhm.¡± He sighed with relief. ¡°Okay, so then we can still¡ª¡± ¡°No!¡± He pursed his lips bitterly. ¡°You know what? Fine, whatever. I didn¡¯t even want to, anyway.¡± This time, she did turn around as she responded to him. Now, she wore a smirk. ¡°Oh really, you dork?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he said, even as he knew she could see right through him. ¡°In fact, I wasn¡¯t even going to¡ª¡± ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Whatever Zach had been about to say¡ªit was gone. Lost. His words fell off completely. An explosion of pure terror came upon him, one so horrible that his entire body began to shake violently as all the energy drained from him. The ground shook, and the temperature seemed to become just a little bit hotter. His eardrums ached. All five senses blended together and became dedicated towards the processing of a single, terrible cry that seemed to actually invade the air more than it permeated it. This wasn¡¯t his mind playing tricks on him. This was real. This was it. This was Ziragoth. Its roar having once again graced his ears, everything came back to him in a rush. It was only upon hearing that Gods-cursed sound that it fully became apparent how wrong he had been. He thought he could hear it in his nightmares. He¡¯d thought it played inside his mind whenever he closed his eyes. But now he saw that this was false, for what he heard in his dreams was merely a pale imitation that failed to convey the awful, soul-sucking, and life-draining misery that consumed him entirely when it came straight from the source. All at once, voices began to shout. ¡°Everyone, get in position!¡± Spider barked. ¡°Break time is over!¡± ¡°Get ready!¡± Donovan cried. ¡°This ain¡¯t a battle, but be ready to fight if it turns into one. But most of all, do not fuck this up!¡± ¡°It¡¯s game time,¡± Zephyr said. ¡°Alixa, Maric, spread out further in case it starts throwing fire. Alex, you¡¯re with me.¡± Zach turned his head even as he struggled to breathe. Images of dead children, blood, and misery popped into the world before him: images so vivid that he could almost reach out and touch them. It was as though he was back in that small town, witnessing it all over again for the first time. His jaw trembled, his knees were barely able to uphold his weight, and he worried he might collapse as his eyes went wide with pure terror. It was all coming back to him now. The pain of losing his eye and his arm. The fear of nearly being swallowed alive. He remembered all of it. ¡°Aggro range is 14.92 miles,¡± Kesten said. ¡°Target entering visibility.¡± It soon became clear why Donovan and Zephyr had chosen this exact, specific spot to intercept the dragon. It was because they were at what Zach assumed to be the highest point of elevation in the grasslands, and this allowed them to see the dragon from nearly twenty miles away, giving them time to ready themselves before it entered into aggro range. There it is, Zach thought, chills shooting down his spine. Gods, the sight of it was so surreal and haunting all on its own. Beginning with its face as it crested the most distant visible hill, Zach was once more forced to reacquaint himself with that horrible beast. It was heading towards them at a walk, flattening the grass beneath its razor-sharp, black-toenail-covered feet. Any rocks within its path were shattered regardless of size. Watching something so fantastical and ancient stomp its way across a modern-day stretch of boring, empty grasslands created an impression so stark and jarring that Zach was actually transfixed by it even as it made him tremble. He reminded himself that Ziragoth wasn¡¯t roaming this way by chance. No, the dragon knew what it was doing. It was coming to kill everyone here, and it wouldn¡¯t stop until it had. It was coming for them all. Anyone who went near it was going to die. This was a mistake. They should have run. He should have grabbed Kalana and taken her and all his friends to another planet, far away from this fire-breathing catastrophe. He shouldn¡¯t have had to see this thing again. Once a lifetime was enough. Zach became paralyzed as the behemoth-sized wyvern ambled its way in their direction, coming closer and closer with each step of its massive legs. Although Zach would never forget just how large the wyvern actually was, there was simply no substitute for seeing it in person. He struggled to come to grips with the fact that he was really encountering this thing again. Part of him couldn¡¯t believe this was really happening. But this was really happening: and the dragon was heading right for them. Its dark brown body, which was covered in scales, along with its golden, lizard-like eyes, and its barbed, lethally dangerous tail were all becoming larger in view as it neared. It¡¯s here. It¡¯s really here, Zach thought. Why can¡¯t I breathe? What¡¯s wrong with my body? I can¡¯t move. I can¡¯t speak. I can¡¯t breathe! ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± called Kalana¡¯s voice as she ran towards him and clutched him tightly. The moment her arms wrapped around him, it broke whatever hold Ziragoth had on him. ¡°I¡¯m okay, Kal. I¡¯m sorry we fought. Forget everything I said. You¡¯re all that matters to me. If we die here, I just want you to know that you¡¯re the only person in this world I¡ª¡± ¡°Shh, we¡¯re not gonna die,¡± Kalana said to him. ¡°It¡¯s gonna be okay.¡± Then she grunted angrily. ¡°That¡¯s the thing that hurt you so bad, right?¡± He nodded. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s him. Gods, I need a weapon. I hate being unarmed at a time like this. Even if I can¡¯t possibly hurt the thing, it feels wrong not having a weapon.¡± ¡°Fluffles have weapon for Zach,¡± the cat said, causing him to shift his attention from the approaching fire wyvern to the talking cat. Wiggling free of Kalana¡¯s arms, he crouched down next to Fluffles, and a sense of pure gratitude flooded into him. ¡°You made me another sword?¡± he asked. ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m sorry I broke the one you gave me.¡± ¡°Zach take sword. Hurry.¡± He nodded as a shadow formed onto the grass. A weapon, which he assumed must¡¯ve just popped into the air out of nowhere, began to fall down before landing silently in front of him. He leaned over to pick it up¡ªand then he paused, gasped, and became so stunned that, for just the briefest of moments, he forgot where he was and what was approaching him. His eyes went wide. His voice caught in his throat. He croaked in disbelief. What lay on the grass ahead of him was not the ¡°starter sword¡± that he had become so comfortable with and had grown so accustomed to. It was something else entirely. Something beautiful. Something magnificent. ¡°Where did you get this?¡± he asked, his mouth falling open in shock. Fluffles, either deliberately or for inexplicable ¡°cat reasons,¡± chose to hiss rather than answer the question. Kalana, on the other hand, knelt down next to him and tilted her head almost as though she recognized the weapon. ¡°Zach, isn¡¯t that the sword of¡­¡± Zach looked at her. ¡°Huh?¡± Kalana immediately closed her mouth and shook her head. She seemed confused: like she knew something but wasn¡¯t sure if she should speak on it. If not for everything going on around him, he would¡¯ve questioned her about it. Whatever the case, she smiled at him and gestured with her chin at the weapon. ¡°You should take it. It¡¯s right for you.¡± Hesitantly, Zach wrapped his hand around the grip of the weapon. Its hilt was made out of a brilliant, pitch-black metal that somehow shined vibrantly almost as if in opposition to its darkness. This created a look that was as unnatural as it was beautiful; Zach was entranced by this white, diamond-like shine that formed around the entire base of the weapon and formed an aura that made the entire hilt glow. And upon wrapping his hand around it, Zach¡¯s hand, too, began to glow with the same vibrant, diamond-like shine that was visible even amid the intense sunlight bearing down on them. Socketed in both the pommel as well as the center of the blade¡¯s polished crossguard was a blue gemstone the color of the sky. Upon glancing closer at the weapon, Zach could see that within these gems were what looked like clouds, almost as though an entire world resided within each of them. The one in the pommel was the shape of an oval, whereas the one in the crossguard was the shape of an eye. The weapon itself was a longsword, but its blade was not made of any steel Zach had ever before seen. It, too, was black, though it was a lighter shade than that which made up the hilt. Silver, spiraling patterns were etched into both the left and right edges of the sword, running the length from the crossguard all the way to just before the point, and dead center between them both was a third pattern, this one taking on the illustration of flames, giving the blade a streak of orange amid what was otherwise an oppressive deep black; this pattern, along with the two blue gemstones, served as the only touch of color to be found on the blade, but the result was something of such astounding beauty that Zach could not believe something like this had actually been given to him. ¡°Is this really mine, Fluffles?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes. Zach take.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Zach take!¡± ¡°It¡¯s yours,¡± Kalana said to him, and as Zach looked up at her, he noticed a tear in her eye: one of happiness. Somehow, he didn¡¯t think she¡¯d shed it exclusively over the beauty of the weapon. He shot her a questioning look, but all she did was smile. For some reason, he didn¡¯t imagine he was going to get any kind of explanation out of either her or Fluffles. ¡°Aggro range in about five minutes!¡± Donovan barked. ¡°Kid, you ready?¡± ¡°Not a kid,¡± Olivir said with a chuckle. ¡°But yeah, I¡¯m ready, dude. We¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ve got this.¡± Sensing things were about to ramp up, Zach picked up the blade, which had come with its own custom scabbard. Even that was beautiful. The scabbard had an illustration on it of a dark sky consumed entirely by clouds except for a singular point towards the center where a large, full moon shined brightly in the sky. And to both his surprise and delight, the moon on the scabbard emitted actual moonlight. As far as distractions were concerned, this had to be the greatest one in history, as even with Ziragoth slamming down its feet and roaring as it drew nearer, the sword had somehow broken through his terror. Zach decided to inspect his new weapon even while the T7 fire wyvern continued to close the distance between them. Given its appearance, he was fairly sure it would be better than the one he¡¯d been using. He just hoped it was at least as good as the Yorna¡¯s Sword of Courage, which the dragon had broken during their last encounter. As it turned out, the sword may have been too good. Upon attaching the scabbard to the holster on his back and making sure it fit snugly and wouldn¡¯t become loose, he raised his hand to begin tapping on his shoulder and bring up his stats¡ªbut even before he did so, he took a sudden, sharp inhalation of breath as he felt his body change. He felt it change a lot. Like, in a way that reminded him of entering Unleashed Phase. He felt more coordinated, stronger, and faster. Okay, wow. This is definitely going to be something really, really good, he thought, becoming so excited he felt like a little kid at his birthday party. Extending his pointer finger, he touched the word ¡°inventory¡± in the air before him, and he found what he was looking for right away. When he did, something happened that should not have been possible given the situation he was in: he began to smile and even laugh. ¡°Kal!¡± he said in a hushed whisper. ¡°Kal, do you see this?¡± She also smiled, warmly. ¡°I see it, Zach.¡± ¡°Fluffles, thank you! You¡¯re the best cat in the universe! How is this even¡­¡± He lowered his voice, fearful that Mr. Oren or someone would try to take this away from him. He clearly was not supposed to have something like this at level 17. No way in hell. He thought his eyes would pop out of their sockets when he read over the item. His mind wasn¡¯t just blown: it was shattered. (EPIC RARE): The Sword of Light Amidst Darkness: discovered by Aiyral Vayra +500 physical attack damage +500 magical attack damage (sword only) +25 str +20 dex +20 spd +15 int (8.5%): Successful hits with this weapon have a chance to refresh 25% of the user¡¯s stamina. (1.5%): Successful hits with this weapon have a chance to engulf the target with light, dealing an additional 8,000 attack damage along with additional damage that scales with strength. (0.5%): Successful hits with this weapon have a chance to engulf the target with darkness, dealing an additional 20,000 magic damage along with additional magical damage that scales with intelligence. (1 week / 604,800 seconds): User may use Light Amidst the Darkness, reducing the cost of their next inner exertion ability by half. The cooldown on this ability cannot be refreshed by any means, including items, magic, abilities, item abilities, or buffs. (Confliction Level: P) (if another item or ability conflicts with this one, The Sword of Light Amidst Darkness is given priority. If both have a confliction level of P, chance of success = 50%) Zach whooped in approval. Then he pumped his fist. ¡°Yes!¡± he shouted. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I got something like this. I just can¡¯t believe it!¡± ¡°Wow, you¡¯re looking pretty pleased,¡± came the voice Donovan, who Zach had not realized until just then had moved over in his direction. ¡°Guess you got over your fear of the dragon, eh, kiddo?¡± Zach flicked his eyes upwards and noticed Mr. Oren, Donovan, Spider, Kesten, Maric, and Alixa had all gathered around him. With a nervous croak like that of a teenager caught with his pants down, he hurriedly dismissed his inventory and hoped no one saw it. He didn¡¯t want to get Fluffles into any kind of trouble. No matter what, he would not admit where he got the weapon. ¡°Nice sword,¡± Mr. Oren said to him. ¡°Very nice indeed. I¡¯d really like to know¡ª¡± He paused as the dragon roared, causing the ground to again shake. Without a trace of fear on his face, Mr. Oren calmly waited for the sound to quiet down before he continued to speak. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± ¡°I¡¯d really like to know how you acquired a level-65 weapon,¡± he finished. Zach blinked. ¡°A level what weapon?¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t know,¡± Spider said with an affirmative grunt. Then, looking Zach in the eye, he explained it to him. ¡°Once you hit level 20, you can see the level of items. That blade of yours is level 65. That¡¯s higher than anything I have.¡± ¡°Same here,¡± Donovan said with a laugh. Zach was so overwhelmed by what he was hearing that he wasn¡¯t even sure how to feel about it. Instead, he asked, ¡°Did you guys come over here just to spy on me?¡± ¡°No way, man,¡± Kesten said. ¡°We¡¯re getting into position: and this is where we¡¯re positioned.¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± Mr. Oren lifted his cat-eye glasses and rubbed his eyes. ¡°Those stats¡­they¡¯re just shy of the best Alixa can craft.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Alixa agreed. ¡°The lab coat I made for Alex has the highest stat points overall of any piece of gear I¡¯ve ever made. But I¡¯ve never forged a weapon as good as that. Epic rare quality, too. Must be a boss drop.¡± Zach released a brief, nervous laugh. ¡°Yeah, my bad. I forgot to tell you guys I fought a boss in Archian Prime and it dropped this. I just took it out of my bank and storage right now.¡± Donovan barked out a laugh. ¡°Bullshit artist,¡± he said. Mr. Oren let out a small grumble of disapproval. ¡°Now is not the time for an explanation, but I would really like to know afterwards how you came in possession of that.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not taking it away from me,¡± Zach said, backing away slowly. ¡°Of course not. I¡¯m not a thief, Zach. I would just really like to know. That weapon is likely worth anywhere between eight and ten-million gold.¡± Astonished, Zach was almost blinded as pictures of mansions, hot tubs, and limousine DEHVs flashed before his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s worth how much?¡± he asked. ¡°Are you telling me I could be a millionaire if I sold this?¡± An adventurer from GSG he did not recognize nodded at him. ¡°You could be a millionaire right now. I¡¯ll give you ten mil for it, kid.¡± ¡°You¡¯re fucking with me,¡± Zach said, nearly drowning in his lust for gold. ¡°Right here, right now, even while the dragon¡¯s walking over¡ªyou¡¯d give me ten mil.¡± ¡°Without question,¡± he replied. Adventurers are like super rich, Zach realized. All suffering aside, I definitely picked the right profession! Zach felt around for the strap on his harness. ¡°Okay, well, that¡¯s definitely an offer too good for me to refuse. In that case¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± Kalana shouted, slapping him on the arm. ¡°Ouch!¡± he cried, rubbing where she¡¯d hit him. She needed to learn her own strength. Gods, that was going to make his skin look like a rotten banana peel. She¡¯d cracked him so hard he¡¯d be lucky if bruising was the extent of the injury. As if realizing what she¡¯d done, she squeaked, began apologizing profusely, and then tried to rub it. ¡°What gives, Kal?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t sell that,¡± she said to him. ¡°Why the hell not?¡± ¡°Because¡­because it was my family¡¯s.¡± At this, every head within earshot turned her way, and Zach inhaled sharply. ¡°It what?¡± She groaned. ¡°I didn¡¯t wanna say anything ¡®cause I wanted you to be happy and didn¡¯t want you to feel like you had to get rid of it. But my mom must¡¯ve given you that sword. I¡¯m only telling you so you¡¯ll give it back to me instead of selling it. It¡¯s precious to me. I¡¯d rather you have it, though, and so does my mom, I guess.¡± Zach didn¡¯t think his mind could explode any more than it already had, but Kalana had proven him wrong. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯d never sell it now that I know how important it is to you. You can just have it if you want.¡± ¡°No, you should have it. I don¡¯t even use swords. I just¡­rather than sell it, I¡¯d rather keep it if you don¡¯t wanna use it.¡± ¡°Of course I do!¡± ¡°Really? Even knowing it¡¯s from my mom?¡± Zach snorted. ¡°Are you kidding me? Why would I pass on free, amazing loot just because it¡¯s from your mom? By all means, tell her I¡¯ll actually forgive her if she keeps this up. Find out what else she¡¯s got.¡± Kalana narrowed her eyes at him. ¡°Stop, Zach, it¡¯s not funny. She must¡¯ve been really, really sorry if she gave you that.¡± Once again, he snorted with derision. ¡°Your mom doesn¡¯t have feelings. She can¡¯t be sorry. She¡¯s playing games with us.¡± Kalana looked wounded. Zach regretted his words immediately. ¡°She does have feelings,¡± Kalana whispered. ¡°I know she¡¯s terrible. I just wanna think maybe she¡¯s not pure evil.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not,¡± Kolona said, chiming in. Zach had almost completely forgotten she was even there with them at all. ¡°Everything she does is out of fear and ignorance. That¡¯s even worse than if she was just pure evil and didn¡¯t understand the way her actions hurt people. She knows¡ªand still decides to go through with them anyway.¡± Kalana folded her arms. ¡°I know you¡¯ll probably all hate her forever. But I dunno how I feel about the thought of there being nothing she could ever do, no matter what, that¡¯d make you all forgive her. What if she tried her best?¡± Zach was surprised by the amount of empathy he felt for Kalana even given his absolute, uncompromising hatred of Fylwen. Once again, it all came down to the way in which he missed his own mother. Now that Kalana¡¯s anger had died down a bit, she had become sadder and more reflective with all things regarding Queen Vayra. The passion of the moment having ended, she now wanted to believe there was more to the woman: this much, Zach did not have to be a mind reader to tell. Seeing Kalana like this softened him. ¡°Even though I¡¯ve told myself I¡¯ll never forgive her, Kal, if she really does try, and if she ever works up the nerve to apologize to me, I will. For you.¡± Kalana smiled at him, and he held up his pointer finger. ¡°Having said that, there¡¯s no way I¡¯d ever trust her. Not for anything.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t either,¡± Kalana said. He took her hands into his own. He felt as though his courage had finally returned to him¡ªand then the dragon came into range, and once again, he was forced to prevent his own knees from buckling. He really, really hoped Olivir knew what he was doing. Chapter 77: Showtime Chapter 77: Showtime With an unmistakable sense of urgency, Donovan and Zephyr shouted out orders to the nearly two-dozen adventurers that were currently spread out evenly in a wide arc near the top of a rolling, rock- and grass-covered hill. Amazed, Zach observed as they repeatedly made tiny, yet meaningful changes to their formation, constantly repositioning their healers and spellcasters in response to micro shifts in the dragon¡¯s trajectory. All on its own, their ability to do this was impressive, but it became even more remarkable when considering the way that they made these adjustments with such seamless fluidity. It really spoke volumes about the difference in experience between them and Zach. Just by observation alone, it was possible to tell that these were men and women who had fought large monsters before and had lived to learn from it. But they¡¯ve probably never been against anything as bad as Ziragoth, Zach thought with an anxious gulp. Not only were the adventurers taking things very, very seriously, but they were doing so despite the fact that none of their effort was likely going to even matter, as Olivir incredibly continued to insist that he and Grundor had everything under control and did not need them to risk their lives by getting involved. Zach did not know why he found this so shocking, as Olivir had been saying all along that he would be able to put the dragon to sleep without the assistance of the adventurers. But only now, with the time for action upon them, did it really start to sink in that this wasn¡¯t just some idle brag of his: he clearly meant it. Unless this was some kind of sick joke, Olivir was quite literally intent on handling the dragon all by himself¡ªwell, with the exception of Grundor, of course. Regardless, Donovan and Zephyr continued to lead the GSG members with every bit the intensity and rigor of people fully expecting to partake in combat. He did not seem to be treating this situation like one in which he¡¯d have the luxury of sitting things out. Zach had to assume that this was for the best, as it meant they would be prepared for anything. ¡°You guys really don¡¯t need to stress yourselves,¡± Olivir said to them. ¡°In the grand scheme of things, what I¡¯m about to do is relatively simple.¡± ¡°Simple things go wrong all the time,¡± Donovan replied. Olivir winked at him. ¡°Only if we let ¡®em.¡± Donovan released a loud, boisterous laugh and gave Olivir a hefty pat on the back. Zach winced, having himself been on the receiving end of one of those. To Olivir, who had only a single point into constitution, the ¡°friendly gesture¡± must have felt like someone had just broken a brick over his back. Somehow, however, he kept a perfectly straight face and did not let any of the pain show on it; the only thing Zach could spot in his vampire friend¡¯s eyes was determination and self-assurance. This just doesn¡¯t feel right to me, Zach thought. Despite Olivir¡¯s incredible confidence, Zach was feeling more apprehensive by the second. Chalk it up to pessimism or just downright negativity, but he couldn¡¯t seem to quiet the alarm bells that were going off in the back of his head at the thought of Olivir doing this without support. Even as he reminded himself that Olivir was two hundred years old and had likely developed a fairly good sense of how things would play out, Zach nevertheless had a creeping, nagging sensation in the pit of his stomach that things wouldn¡¯t be as easy as he was suggesting they¡¯d be. Donovan also appeared to be wholly unconvinced, because with a grunt, he asked, ¡°Are you a hundred-percent sure that you and that big boy with you can handle this all on your own?¡± Olivir nodded, and there was no doubt or hesitation in his eyes. ¡°Ziragoth in its current state isn¡¯t what frightens me. It¡¯s what the boss is gonna become when it gets to half health that has me wanting to flee to another planet. But¡­for right now? I¡¯m not worried, and none of you should be, either. Right, Grund?¡± ¡°You said it, master!¡± replied the green-haired, tank-top wearing zombie. He began to flex his muscles and strike various poses for the amused adventurers, who reacted in kind and fed off his energy. They began cheering him on, and Grundor, for his part, was soaking up the attention and basking in it. ¡°Look at my biceps,¡± he said, kissing them. ¡°Bet you¡¯ve never seen a zombie this ripped before, huh?¡± Having gotten over their initial fascination at seeing a fully sentient NPC that wasn¡¯t named Angelica, the adventurers had very quickly taken a liking to Grundor: as in, they really, really liked the zombie. Yet, however strange, Grundor¡¯s sudden popularity was not actually all that unexpected when taking into account the temperament and nature of adventurers. Despite still being relatively new to this ¡°community,¡± Zach had already met enough adventurers to know that a self-aware, level-73 zombie who enjoyed energy drinks, bodybuilding, and collecting sports cards was exactly the kind of icon that the average adventure would naturally want to rally around. I don¡¯t want to see either of them get hurt. I just really don¡¯t think this is a good idea¡­ As Donovan, Olivir, Zephyr, and all the rest of the adventurers including Mr. Oren and Fluffles continued to shift their positioning at the top of the nearest hill, Zach remained just a tiny bit behind them with Kalana by his side. The two of them were holding hands, and then both of them mutually squeezed one another as the dragon, now having entered into aggro range, released a blood-curdling screech that was somehow even louder and more aggressive than any that had come before it. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± The tremendous, ground-rattling roars caused the world to shake as a nervous, frenetic energy filled the air. It was a mixture of both stress and excitement. Having been so terribly butchered by Ziragoth, Zach found himself once more struggling to locate his courage, but thankfully, with Kalana by his side, it was becoming easier and easier to find. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid of it,¡± Kalana said to him. ¡°You can¡¯t let that thing rule your life.¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Zach gritted his teeth each time the dragon released its mighty cry, which caused an earthquake-like shifting of the grass-covered soil beneath his feet. Then he watched as Ziragoth began to flap its massive wings, creating an audible thwap in the air as it lifted off, rapidly gaining altitude before soaring forward at a speed faster than a jet. Despite being slightly more than fourteen miles away, the dragon would take no time at all in crossing the distance between them. In less than a minute, Zach would be personally within Ziragoth¡¯s attack range. Once again, he would have to stand boldly in the face of a monstrous creature of such vast power. But, if nothing else, then at least this time he wouldn¡¯t be all alone. It was hard to believe that he¡¯d actually gone toe-to-toe with this horrific thing for a minute and forty-two seconds. What had he been thinking? How in the name of the Gods had he survived that? Never doing that again, he thought ruefully. ¡°Kolona, now¡¯s the time,¡± Olivir said. Then, clearing his throat, he spoke loudly enough so that all the members of GSG could hear him. ¡°If any of you have the stamina to spare any buffs, please throw them on Grundor.¡± They certainly did. Almost immediately after Olivir had made his request, the area around Grundor lit up with so many different colors and sights that it became impossible to distinguish any one of them from any other. Kolona, along with at least six adventurers, all began to buff the zombie, giving him any number of stat and effect boosts. Using just basic common sense, Zach took this to mean that Olivir¡¯s plan was to have Grundor rush in and tank the dragon while he prepared his monthly ability that would put it to sleep. It was simple and straightforward. Yet, as Ziragoth raced across the sky, Zach could not shake the overwhelming fear that Olivir was making a tremendous error in judgement. It was just difficult to question him given that he had over two-hundred years of experience and Zach hadn¡¯t yet had eighteen. Eventually, though, he decided that keeping his mouth shut would do more harm than good. He needed to voice his concerns, and this would be the final chance he¡¯d have to do so. ¡°Olivir, why¡¯re you so sure that whatever you¡¯re going to do will work?¡± Zach called to him. If Olivir took any offense at all to being questioned, he did not show it. If anything, he seemed all-too happy to respond. ¡°Mobs are mobs,¡± he said. ¡°Grundor has an incredibly powerful taunt, and he¡¯s definitely capable of tanking the dragon. I¡¯ve done this kind of thing enough times to know how it¡¯ll go. Even bosses have a certain level of predictability.¡± ¡°Even sentient ones?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Sentient? What do you mean by that?¡± For some reason, Donovan and Mr. Oren spun around to look at Zach, and there was deep worry and confusion in their eyes. Mr. Oren had once again taken out the document on Ziragoth and was flipping through it while shaking his head. Yet for as confused as the two appeared, no one was more perplexed than Zach himself. ¡°Wait, am I mistaken? Isn¡¯t Ziragoth sentient?¡± ¡°Where¡¯re you getting that from, kiddo?¡± Donovan asked him. ¡°Alex, anything in the file about that?¡± ¡°Nothing I can see,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Not sure why Zach is saying that.¡± ¡°Well, maybe ¡®sentient¡¯ is the wrong word. I meant that Ziragoth has real animal intelligence, like on par with a bear or a lion. Something different from a mob.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Mr. Oren asked him. ¡°Based on what?¡± It only then occurred to Zach that this was entirely his own assumption that he¡¯d somehow just taken for truth. And now, embarrassed, he¡¯d have to explain that to all these highly respected, elite adventurers from the GSG. ¡°Sorry. It¡¯s just the sense I got when I fought him and looked into his eyes.¡± Mr. Oren and Donovan¡¯s gaze lingered on him for just a moment longer, and then without even bothering to say another word, they, along with Olivir and the rest of the adventurers, again spun around and resumed whatever they were doing before as though in total dismissal of his suggestion. Zach didn¡¯t blame them, either, as he likely had no idea what he was talking about. In fact, he really felt like a huge fucking idiot right now: like a complete, pants-on-face moron. How stupid did I just sound? he wondered. Saying the mob is sentient just because I looked into its eyes. Like that means anything. Gods damn it, I just humiliated myself so badly. At the very least, Zach did not suffer long with a feeling of shame, as Ziragoth, still dashing across the sky, was just about fully upon them. Now, all of his emotions transitioned into concern but also hope and trust in Olivir. He felt nothing but pure admiration for his vampire friend as Olivir and Grundor, side by side, began walking forward to meet the dragon, distancing themselves from all the others. A moment before Ziragoth soared directly over his head, Olivir lifted his left hand high above his shoulders, and Zach watched as a black, shimmering ball of energy formed in the palm of his hand, one that seemed to stretch, shrink, squeeze, and rapidly assume various different basic shapes as though unstable. With a grunt that Zach could hear even from where he stood with Kalana, Olivir bent forward and threw his arm in front of himself, causing this dark, rapidly shifting energy to shoot ahead and upwards at a speed even greater than that which Ziragoth was currently traveling. Zach held his breath as it collided with the wyvern midair, and to Zach¡¯s surprise, Ziragoth released a hiss of pain as it detonated, covering the entire dragon in a thick patch of black, toxic-looking smoke and dealing 33,900 damage, a number so high that gasps of awe and disbelief came from Mr. Oren, Spider, and even Donovan. Ziragoth reacted to this affront with an immediacy that would almost be impressive if it didn¡¯t come from such a wicked, horrible creature. In almost the precise moment it suffered the damage, it extended both its massive, spike-and-scale-covered wings, and came to an abrupt halt. Having been moving at such a tremendous speed, this caused a gigantic gust of wind with the force of a hurricane to blast into them all. Zach¡¯s tunic began flapping around his body, and his phone nearly flew out of his pocket. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Ziragoth sounded angry. Zach was perfectly familiar with that sound. It had been the same cry the dragon had made when he¡¯d jumped from rooftop to rooftop, frustrating it¡ªor rather making it appear frustrated. Zach wasn¡¯t sure why he kept anthropomorphizing the creature. For some reason, even after making a fool of himself, he could not stop visualizing Ziragoth as an animal-like entity with real, animal-like thoughts and feelings. Whatever the case, it hardly mattered, because at least for the moment, it was behaving like a mob. Now that it had come to a stop midair, it turned its body, angling itself downwards, and then it launched itself at a nose-dive into the ground. The resulting boom looked like a bomb dropped from orbit, creating a gigantic explosion of dust, dirt, grass, and rocks that blasted so high above the dragon that it wouldn¡¯t surprise Zach if a fair amount of it eventually rained down on the camp three miles southeast of here. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Olivir was now standing calmly with his hands at his sides as the dragon, less than twenty feet in front of him, began to walk in his direction, its eyes burning with what to Zach looked an awful lot like hatred regardless of whether or not he was just being an idiot. In this moment, he did not envy Olivir. He too had found himself in front of Ziragoth under similar conditions. He began to pant as the memory fully hit him¡ªthen stopped immediately as Kalana wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Opening his mouth widely, Ziragoth, now fully aggroed to Olivir, released a gigantic ball of flame that ripped across the grasslands, detonating everything beneath it as it traveled to the vampire. Zach gasped. This was not supposed to be how things went down. Grundor was supposed to be tanking! What was Olivir doing? Why was he remaining right where he was? Why wasn¡¯t he running? He appeared calm and undeterred. Zach quickly discovered why. Although he could not see Olivir¡¯s face from this angle, he could almost imagine the grin his friend wore as he extended his hands widely to both sides of himself, spread his feet so that they were a fair width apart, and then swung his arms back around in the opposite direction. Then came another rumble of the ground, but this time, it was Olivir who caused it. A moment before the fireball incinerated him, a gigantic hand burst up from the grassy soil mere inches in front of Olivir. But unlike the gigantic one that he¡¯d summoned against the Elvish scouts, this one did not appear ghostly or like an apparition; no, this appendage was gray, slimy, discolored, and looked decayed. It was like the corpse of a giant had been reanimated, only instead of the entire body returning to life, only the hand emerged from its resting place. More gasps and even a great many cheers came from the awestruck adventurers as this summoned hand, which was about as large as an elevator door, outright ¡°caught¡± the ball of flame¡ªand somehow, it did so without detonating it. Then, Olivir gestured by thrusting his palm forward, and with that, the hand made a flinging motion, and now Zach, too, let out a cheer as the fireball burned back across the grasslands in the direction it had come from and slammed right into Ziragoth¡¯s face, dealing a simply unbelievable 95,000 damage and creating a massive explosion along with an inferno that burned so hot Zach could feel it even from all the way over here. Holy shit! Zach thought. Olivir¡¯s amazing! He¡¯s fucking incredible! ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± the dragon roared. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Ziragoth opened its mouth, though this time, it was not to release flame. Instead, it was to bare its teeth at Olivir as it launched itself forward, lunging at the young-looking vampire. At the rate it was moving, Olivir did not stand a chance of dodging or putting himself out of the way. For this reason, Zach once again felt his breath catch in his throat as he feared for his friend¡¯s life. Gods, how could Olivir possibly survive something like this? This did not look like the kind of situation he was well-suited to handle. Yet, once again, Olivir impressed him, reacting with a calm, smooth confidence as he turned his head and opened his mouth. ¡°Grundor!¡± he shouted. ¡°Now!¡± Rather than bite the vampire¡¯s head off, Ziragoth was instead dealt even more pain, as the green-haired, fun-loving zombie dashed in front of Olivir, drew back his arm, and delivered an uppercut to the underside of Ziragoth¡¯s jaw that was so powerful the dragon was actually lifted up off its feet and flipped over entirely, landing on its back with another loud bang¡ªdelivering 22,000 damage in the process. Of all things, Zach had to struggle not to feel his eyes dampen at the sight of this. This felt like revenge to him. This felt like justice. Olivir and Grundor were beating the ever-loving shit out of the dragon. Had it been just a regular T7, level-70 fire wyvern, he was beginning to wonder if the two of them could take it down together by themselves despite that being the equivalent of a level-245 mob. ¡°Holy shit!¡± a member of the GSG shouted. ¡°This is insane! This is unbelievable!¡± ¡°Gods above,¡± Mr. Oren said, his voice carrying a note of shock. ¡°Get him, Oli!¡± Kolona cheered. Olivir began moving backwards. First, he took one step¡ªthen a second. Then a third. And before long, he had put nearly twenty feet of distance between himself and the dragon, which was now focused entirely on Grundor. Then Zach watched as Olivir pressed his palms together, lowered his head so that he stared at the ground, and began to mutter something he could not overhear. A moment later, a cloud of purple, swirling mist began to rise up from his feet. It was thin at first¡ªbarely noticeable. But it began to thicken as more of this purplish mist began to rise up until his ankles could no longer be seen. ¡°I¡¯m charging it now!¡± he shouted. ¡°Grundor, keep it busy for two or three minutes. I need to do a full-charge this time around.¡± ¡°You got it, master!¡± Grundor socked the thing in the face once more, and though he didn¡¯t quite blast it off its feet a second time, he did at least elicit another loud, painful-sounding shriek. Unfortunately, Ziragoth was able to counter attack successfully, and Zach gripped Kalana tightly and tensed up as he watched Ziragoth slam his tail down onto Grundor with full force, dealing 270,000 damage and taking a fair chunk of HP away from his 1,200,000. It also flattened him, sending him straight down onto his stomach and causing his entire face to become buried into the ground. Yet he was quick to scramble back up to his feet¡ªonly to be sent back down again as Ziragoth bludgeoned him with the tail yet again, this time for 180,000. But like before, Grundor was quick to shoot right back up. ¡°What an asshole!¡± he shouted at the dragon. ¡°Try that again and see what happens to you. I work out every day. Try it.¡± The dragon tried it. For the third, consecutive time, the dragon spun itself around and smashed its tail directly down onto Grundor. But this time, Grundor reached out with both hands and actually caught it¡ªeven as the impact did another 85,000 damage to him. Now, with a loud, pained, and angry battle cry, Grundor spun his entire body around, and Zach¡¯s jaw fell open as Ziragoth was somehow lifted off the ground and thrown more than three-dozen feet in the opposite direction, where it then crashed with a loud crunch into a boulder, causing it, along with two smaller, but still fairly sized rocks, to explode and become nothing more than an uncountable number of smaller rocks that poured down upon all of them. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± More cheers came from the adventurers, and now, Zach and Kalana joined them, chanting Grundor¡¯s name. One thing immediately became clear: whether or not they survived this day, or survived tomorrow, this was turning out to be the show of a lifetime. And it only just occurred to Zach that the media¡¯s helicopters were filming all of this. Right now, the terrified people of Galterra were watching as the object of their fear was being absolutely thrashed by a single combatant. As small a consolation as it was, at least now, if they all died, they would see something spectacular before the end, because what followed was a veritable war of might and strength as the dragon and Grundor both charged one another simultaneously, clashing somewhere at the midpoint between the two before immediately bursting into a bloodthirsty, fiery exchange of fists, tail, and claw. The two went at it so viciously they were practically ripping each other apart. ¡°Kolona!¡± Olivir shouted. ¡°Grundor¡¯s got perfect aggro. Heal him! This thing hits harder than I thought it would.¡± ¡°Got it, Oli!¡± she replied, removing one of her daggers and waving it in the air. A green mist settled over Grundor, and just like that, practically all the damage that had been done to him was restored in the form of HP. The gashes and tears on his bloodied, greenish-white skin became sealed, and any trace of injury vanished as though it had never been there at all. This, as he continued to fiercely trade blows with the dragon. Olivir¡¯s got this, Zach thought, becoming excited and enthusiastic. He was right. Now that he could see that things really were well under control, Zach decided to do what the other adventurers had already begun doing: sitting back and enjoying the show. Donovan and Zephyr were no longer barking out orders, and the tight formation they¡¯d established had loosened considerably. Now, they pumped their fists in the air and cheered while they watched Grundor beat the snot out of the fearsome Ziragoth. Incredibly, before even a full minute had come and gone, Grundor had somehow dished out nearly half-a-million points of damage all by himself. Without even the slightest doubt, it was now a virtual certainty that Grundor would be getting his own movie and line of children¡¯s toys just based on this performance alone. The political guilds would make up some bullshit lie about how he was their summoned zombie or whatever, as well as a totally phony backstory, and they¡¯d air it at the box office and make hundreds of millions of gold off it. Zach was so sure this would happen that he¡¯d bet on it. He also didn¡¯t care, either. Seeing someone stand up to¡ªand pummel¡ªthe source of his greatest terror was such a life-changing, personal moment of triumph that it filled him with a sense of euphoria. And now, Zach actually did have to wipe a tear away from his eye. Gods damn it all, he was now a full-on Grundor convert. He felt actual gratitude for what the zombie was doing, and this was tripled in intensity as Grundor looked over his shoulder at Zach and called out to him. ¡°This one¡¯s for you, Zach!¡± he shouted as he cracked Ziragoth in the side of the face with an evil, vicious hook that not only knocked the dragon off its feet but caused it to roll over onto its side. Right now, with the security of Kolona¡¯s healing magic emboldening him, he did not focus at all on defense. He even looked to be enjoying himself as he bashed his massive right fist into Ziragoth¡¯s mouth so hard that one of the dragon¡¯s razor-sharp teeth flew out and vanished in the air before hitting the ground. Then he brought up his knee and slammed it into the thing¡¯s jaw. It retaliated by biting his right shoulder blade clean off, causing a gruesome amount of greenish-white blood to splatter onto the grass. But with a single heal from Kolona, the shoulder, fully healed and intact, simply ¡°reappeared¡± on his body, proving that NPCs clearly worked differently from purely biological beings. ¡°That hurt!¡± Grundor shouted. Then, performing an act that Zach had to admit he found totally cringeworthy, the zombie turned his head towards the media helicopters in a way that was so obviously intentional. He even appeared to know exactly where to look so that the viewers at home would be staring into his eyes. Raising his voice, and changing it so that it sounded deeper and more heroic, he shouted, ¡°You will never win against the forces of good, Ziragoth. I, Grundor of the Royal Roses, will put a stop to you here and now. Take this, my ultimate attack: GRUNDOR HAMMER OF EVER-BINDING JUSTICE!¡± Striking the dragon with what was clearly a regular, ordinary punch and was definitely not an ability, Zach rolled his eyes as he witnessed Grundor blast the dragon ten feet away with something that was probably being trademarked by the Royal Roses even at this very moment. It was obvious why Grundor was behaving this way, too. The members of the Royal Roses were known for their guild¡¯s control over the entertainment industry. And given the performance Grundor was putting on for everyone, they would most certainly not be upset that he was claiming to be a member of their guild. Zach could be sure of it, in fact, because they¡¯d claimed him to be a member as well after his own encounter with Ziragoth. The other guilds are probably pissed off right now, though. I bet they¡¯re yelling at each other about how unfair it is that the Royal Roses gets to have both me and Grundor. Gods, I hate the political guilds. Having settled into a steady rhythm of mutually traded attacks, Zach eased up even further as the battle passed the one-minute mark. Olivir was now completely covered head to toe with the purple mist, and even more of it seemed to be escaping him by the moment. Glancing upwards, Zach now realized that there was also a purple-covered cloud in the sky, and that the mist was traveling upwards and into it. It likely had something to do with it. How much longer was it going to take? As much as he was enjoying the show, he would only truly let his guard down when Ziragoth was snoring. Even still, he tried to let himself relax and enjoy himself. Again and again, Ziragoth was slugged in the mouth, the cheek, and even the eyes. There were just no words to describe the satisfaction Zach felt every time the dragon shrieked in response to being bludgeoned. Zach found himself becoming just as rowdy as the other adventurers with each moment, and so too did Kalana. Even Kolona was cheering on Grundor despite playing an active role as the sole and only active healer. Ziragoth¡¯s head was knocked to the left. Then to the right. Then back again. Then the dragon looked around as if confused. Then it again tried to bite Grundor. Then it again got knocked around. Then it again briefly met Zach¡¯s eyes. Then it¡ª WHAT? Zach screamed inside his head as what felt like every neuron in his brain activated simultaneously and all in the service of sending an entire ocean of fear and surprise directly into his gut. Ziragoth was looking directly at him. How had he not noticed this until now? How long had this been going on for? Even as Ziragoth fought with Grundor, it was almost as though the dragon wasn¡¯t even paying attention to his duel with the zombie. Its eyes¡ªthey were on him. Zach began to back away, much to Kalana¡¯s confusion. She said his name, alarm in her voice, asking him what was wrong. This caused Mr. Oren and Donovan to both simultaneously turn their attention from the fight, and both then regarded him with the same confusion as Kalana. ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s¡­it¡¯s looking right at me, Kal,¡± he said. ¡°What is?¡± ¡°Ziragoth!¡± ¡°Nah-uh! Zach, what¡¯re you¡ª? Her words were interrupted by a loud, alarmed, and high-pitched meow from Fluffles that produced a sound far greater than any he had ever before heard the cat make while not also transformed. It was a meow that was nearly twice as loud as those Zach used to hear from cats in Whispery Woods that would fight on the street in the middle of the night, and it grew in volume as Fluffles left the others to come dashing to his side. ¡°Zach leave now!¡± Fluffles yelled at him. ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°Zach leave now!¡± Fluffles yelled a second time, meowing so loudly and so uncontrollably that he was beginning to draw in even more attention¡ªparticularly from Maric Ultdern, the old but very strong adventurer who Fluffles called ¡°daddy.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Fluffles?¡± he asked the cat. ¡°Is everything okay? Fluffles, you¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°Zach leave now, now, now!¡± Fluffles cried, screaming out the words along with more frenzied meows. ¡°Ziragoth appraise Zach. Ziragoth know Zach biggest threat. He attack!¡± ¡°B-but how?¡± Zach shouted back at him. ¡°He¡¯s aggroed right now to¡ª¡± Zach whirled his head to the right as the sound of something eerily similar to metal sliding through a tube resounded from the direction of Ziragoth. His heart began banging maddeningly in his chest, his mind became flooded with confusion, and his fear spiked to its absolute maximum level as all over Ziragoth¡¯s scaly, spiked back, fist-sized holes began to appear. It was as though Ziragoth had somehow developed a viral skin infection over the past few seconds, only in this case, these holes began to grow even wider in size until they were large enough that a human head could fit inside of them. Then there came more of the odd, disconcerting sound. Floomp! Floomp! Floomp! Only then did Zach realize that something was being launched into the air¡ªno, not something, but lots of things. They were dark, greenish-brown, and they resembled mucus. Higher and higher they rose into the air before soon after showering back down. Each and every one of them landed in the immediate area that was directly between where the adventurers had gathered at the top of the hill and where Zach was spectating a bit behind them with Fluffles and Kalana. One after the next, these head-sized globs of dark, greenish-brown mucus began splattering down, becoming flat and ooze-like. But then they began to shake, they began to reform, and before Zach could even utter a single word of horror, he watched as they grew in size, shifting in color to become solidly dark green, and they soon began to take on a more distinct form. First, they became thicker, rounded, and less flat. Then they puffed up, and from this potato-shaped, dark-green mass, what looked like legs began to form. Then heads. Then teeth. Then hands, claws, and even tails. By the time just fifteen more seconds had come and gone, Zach realized he was staring at several-dozen fully formed creatures that looked like lizards, only with avian-like heads that had round, yellow eyes, and tails that had black stripes. They also seemed to walk on just two feet while their two clawed hands were held out before them like a dog standing on its hind legs. And they had names above their heads, too. Oh, Gods, they had fucking names above their heads! [300000/300000] Cursed Defender of Ziragoth Level 90 If not for the fact that Kalana and Fluffles were here with him, Zach would have become totally immobilized by fear. He would have shaken his head in denial and whimpered to himself while what looked like dozens of level fucking 90 mobs became activated with what he could only assume would be hostile intent. He would be unable to deal with this. Not after everything else that had happened to him. But that was not the case right now. No, not when Kalana and Fluffles were here with him. He would do anything to protect them. Their very existence gave him strength: a strength he had not known was within him until this very moment, when their lives suddenly became imperiled. Level 90 or level 900, it didn¡¯t matter. If they were destined to die today, then he would die first. Drawing his sword from his back, he called upon his newest item ability. If ever there was a moment when he needed some light amidst darkness, it was right here and right now, as even more globs of the mucus continued to rain down just as these bipedal animals with avian-like faces and lizard-like bodies began to make some kind of bird-like, chirping cries as they spun around in circles as if searching for targets. Multiple sets of yellow eyes settled upon him, Kolona, and Fluffles, as each and every one of them looked ready to advance. These level-90 creatures¡ªthey were coming for them! Fortunately, however, they would not be able to do as they wished unopposed, as on the very same hill with them resided almost thirty members of the God Slayers Guild, whose reaction speeds and ability to cope with changing circumstances were greater than anything Zach could have ever imagined. ¡°We¡¯ve got adds!¡± Mr. Oren called in warning. ¡°Multiple adds have spawned, level 90!¡± ¡°All right, folks, looks like we¡¯re fighting our way out of this mess after all,¡± Zephyr announced. Then, calmly, professionally, and with a level of assertiveness that left no room for doubt, he began to list off names, issue assignments, and give people instructions in the creation of a new battle formation. ¡°Move your sorry asses!¡± Donovan shouted. ¡°Don¡¯t let those kids take on these fuckers by themselves. Zach, Kalana, join our raid group: hurry!¡± Even before the first of these bizarre creatures began sprinting their way towards Zach at a speed far greater than he¡¯d ever before seen a mob move, he was already activating Phase Reset, ramping up his Phase Level to 2. Then, praying that his body could handle ¡°half¡± of a ¡°Very High¡± exertion cost, he activated Unleashed Phase, and all at once, pure embers of flame began to leap out of his hands and feet as his skin began to take on a dull, ambient glow, and a rush of enormous power burst into him with such intensity that he was nearly overwhelmed by it. All at once, the stamina he¡¯d lost was replaced. He felt renewed: refreshed. He had been so fatigued and worn-down on the way over here, but now, he felt as though he were a professional track racer who had yet to begin his race. He felt strong: far stronger than he¡¯d ever felt before. His vision also changed, or rather, his perception of the world around him. Now, hovering in the air before him were his stats, his abilities, and the list of time remaining on his current duration of Unleashed Phase, which he very quickly glimpsed before preparing to defend himself.
Name Zachys Calador
Level 17
EXP 10000/65000
Armor Bonus 82
Strength 93
Dexterity 90
Constitution 66
Intelligence 125
Speed 82
Luck 61
Unleashed Phase Duration 12:50 Remaining
Wave Slash 1:15
Boundless 0:10
Phase Blink 0:20
Phase Shield (READY) (25 seconds) 0:45
Phase Rescue 0:35 / 2:15 (if used with Boundless)
Phase Slash 1:10 / 6:10 (if used with ??)
Card Capture 0:00
Card Summon 0:00
Card Dismiss 0:00-X:XX
Breathing in what now felt like the freshest air he¡¯d ever inhaled, Zach calmed himself and collected his wits about him. He knew he was in a very, very dangerous situation. He knew that, against level-90 mobs, he likely couldn¡¯t withstand even a single hit from a single one of them¡ªdespite being in Phase Level 2. But he also felt so damn good, energized, and ready to rip shit apart. He wasn¡¯t surprised that a whole two minutes and ten seconds had been deducted from his time, spent on replenishing his missing stamina. After all, he¡¯d been incredibly weary to the point it had required effort on his part just to remain standing. But now? Now he felt like he could sprint across the entire planet multiple times and still not be winded. ¡°Get behind me, Kalana!¡± he shouted to her. Of all things, she glared at him. ¡°Nah-uh! You get behind me!¡± He sighed. From the moment he¡¯d woken up this morning in Archian Prime to the moment he¡¯d returned to Galterra, things just didn¡¯t let up. This was really turning out to be one hell of a day. Chapter 78: A Historic Interruption Chapter 78: A Historic Interruption As a horde of about twenty lizard-avian hybrids with viciously sharp teeth and deadly looking claws stampeded their way down the grassy, rolling hill and headed straight for the spot where Zach stood beside Kalana and Fluffles, Zach couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he should just accept this kind of bullshit as the new ¡°normal¡± in his life. Really, there was no point in questioning it anymore. It was always going to be one thing or another, wasn¡¯t it? If it wasn¡¯t roller-skating zombies or crazed Elves, it was dragon-summoned, level-90 creatures that, come to think of it, looked quite a bit like that ¡°dinosaur¡± thing one of the Elvish warriors had conjured in B6¡ªonly these guys were smaller, faster, and almost certainly a great deal deadlier thanks to their high level. It doesn¡¯t matter, he told himself. I need to protect Kalana and Fluffles no matter what level they are. Zach gripped his new sword tightly in both hands, and with a deep inhalation of breath, he gathered together all of his strength and courage. Kalana was standing directly to his right, and Fluffles was to his immediate left. Right now, the cat was hissing, his claws unsheathed. Kalana had removed both of her daggers and stood in a fighting stance with her knees slightly bent and her left foot leading her right. She trembled slightly with what Zach took to be fear, but he did not think it was out of concern for her own life. He could tell this from the way her eyes kept darting over to him. Zach, too, did not feel terror for himself; no, the only thing that frightened him was the idea of something awful happening to Kalana. ¡°What level are you, Kal?¡± he asked her. ¡°Still 65?¡± ¡°I¡¯m level-66 now,¡± she said. ¡°What about your dad?¡± ¡°Still 73.¡± Eldora had been keeping a mostly low profile up until this point. He¡¯d been hanging around the vicinity of Kolona while she healed Grundor. Now, however, Zach could see him trying to assess the situation. Looking back and forth between his daughter and his niece, he was likely wondering if he should rush over to Zach and Kalana or stay and defend Kolona, who was about to be attacked by one of the beasts¡ªthe only one to have broken away from the pack. Kalana, as though noticing her father¡¯s dilemma, gave voice to her own opinion on the matter. ¡°Protect Kolona!¡± she shouted to him. ¡°We¡¯re okay!¡± ¡°No! Protect Kalana!¡± the Elvish girl yelled back. ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± Eldora, faced with an impossible choice, seemed to trust in his daughter as he threw himself forward and engaged the lone ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth¡± that had been about to attack his niece. This, as dirt began to rise like steam, trailing behind the feet of the twenty mobs that were rushing towards Zach and Kal. Flooded with power and confidence, he somehow did not lose his nerve despite the fact that this was as precarious a situation as any he¡¯d been in. Both he and Kalana were entirely too low level to be facing off against level-90 creatures¡ªhell, they all were. Zach didn¡¯t care how powerful the Elves were respective to their levels¡ªthere was no way Kalana was going to be able to handle creatures that were level 90, and the same could definitely be said for himself, Eldora, and maybe even the GSG. Even still, he felt so much stronger and more alive in Kalana¡¯s presence. His internal desire to protect her exploded within him and gave him a level of motivation that he rarely felt otherwise¡ªwhich was good, because right now, he was really going to need it. In just a few seconds, the level-90, bipedal creatures had crossed more than half the distance between them. Yet despite how rapidly they moved, it almost seemed slow when compared to the lightning-quick speed of the Elves, who could run so fast it looked like they were teleporting. Zach would easily be able to react to the oncoming rush of these monsters; really, the only question was how he should go about doing it. For the time being, he reasoned his best bet would be to use Phase Shield to protect and repel them, as they appeared to be intent on slamming into the three of them. From there, he could possibly use Phase Blink and Phase Rescue to get Kalana and Fluffles far away. Then he could rush back into the fight and try to save as many adventurers as he could. Good plan, he thought to himself. We¡¯re going to be just fine. Bending his knees slightly, he monitored their movements very closely while waiting for just the right time to call forth his shield. ¡°Stay close to me,¡± he said to Kalana, who shot him a puzzled look. ¡°Just trust me.¡± She nodded, and then he drew and held his breath. Since Phase Shield would only remain in existence for exactly 1.2 seconds, the timing had to be perfect, or else it would either arrive too late or vanish too soon. That was why, even as Kalana tensed up as the horde of mobs grew uncomfortably close, Zach still did not activate his ability. The fact that she remained right where she was, however, meant a great deal to him: because it meant she trusted him. Fluffles, too, seemed content to hiss but otherwise remain put. Almost¡­ Closer and closer they came, kicking up more dirt and grass as they rushed towards Zach, their mouths opened widely and hungrily. When less than a quarter of a second remained before impact, Zach realized it was finally time to call his shield. And so now, bracing himself for whatever portion of damage would be returned to him, he decided to activate Phase Shield¡ªand then he stopped at the last possible millisecond as the entire world before him lit up with an intensely bright light that shined brighter than the sun. Even with his sword in his hands, he lifted up his weapon so that he could maneuver his forearm in front of his eyes and block some of the light from irritating his eyes. Kalana, too, shielded her face, and Fluffles complained loudly. Yet after only a few seconds, the light dimmed then vanished entirely. Now, all twenty mobs¡ªevery single last one of them¡ªwere remaining perfectly, completely still about fifteen feet in front of Zach while the dust they¡¯d kicked up began to slowly settle. ¡°What the fuck?¡± he whispered. ¡°Kal, what just happened?¡± She smiled. ¡°They¡¯ve been mesmerized.¡± ¡°Mesmerized?¡± She nodded. ¡°It¡¯s a type of crowd control that makes them stay really still unless you touch them or mess with them, so don¡¯t go doing that!¡± Zach was astonished. ¡°They hit all twenty at once.¡± ¡°You bet your butt I did,¡± Alixa said, running over to them. She carefully navigated around the beasts as though very, very worried she might accidentally touch one of them. Only now did Zach realize that each of their faces was glowing white while a melodic, buzzing sound that he could only just barely hear was resonating from the area above their skulls. ¡°That¡¯s amazing,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m the only one in the entire GSG who can use an AOE¡ªah, area of effect¡ªmass-mesmerize spell from a distance.¡± She was panting slightly. Whatever she¡¯d done, the exertion cost must have been fairly high. Behind her, the adventurers were slowly beginning to carefully position themselves such that they surrounded the twenty mobs while forming into smaller sub-groups, with each containing a tank and a healer. ¡°Zach, why haven¡¯t you joined our raid group yet?¡± Mr. Oren asked him. ¡°It¡¯s important for coordination.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry, I forgot.¡± ¡°Well, hurry up and join, my man. And don¡¯t ever share the information you see with anyone else.¡± ¡°Information?¡± ¡°Just join!¡± Not wanting to make a fool of himself by asking another stupid or obvious question, Zach merely ¡°guessed¡± that these ¡°raid groups¡± were joined the same way as any other group, and so, mentally, he consciously made the decision that he was in the same raid group as them, and just like that, it became true in reality as well as in his head. Now, the world around him changed once again, and in a far more significant way than he had expected. It was to such an extent that he was momentarily taken aback. He quickly came to understand what Mr. Oren had been warning him about, as at every person he looked, he could now see their full name, their guild, and most significantly, their level, floating just above their heads.
Name Alex Oren
Guild
Level 61
Name Donovan Iseldar
Guild
Level 72
To Zach¡¯s utter incredulity, Donovan Iseldar was the only human present with a level higher than 70. Everyone else was either in the 60s or very high 50s. Even Maric, who Zach was pretty sure was the oldest of the bunch, was only level 68. For this reason, Zach could only assume that leveling-up became dramatically slower once someone¡ªor a human, at least¡ªwent beyond level 59. In all fairness, Zach sort of knew this would be the case, as he¡¯d long-since noticed that the amount of xp required to level-up became steeper disproportionally to the xp gained from mobs with each level he¡¯d gained, making it take longer and longer. It probably really started to slow down around that point. Will I ever catch up to Kal? he wondered, a bit of his optimism draining away. Returning his attention to the other adventurers, he watched as they continued to discuss how they would handle these ¡°adds,¡± as they were called. And although there was definitely a great degree of urgency in their voices, they nevertheless spoke calmly and productively. ¡°I¡¯ll take three of these on at once,¡± Maric said. ¡°But I¡¯ll need a capable healer.¡± ¡°I can handle two,¡± Donovan said with a grunt. Then he swore. ¡°We didn¡¯t bring enough tanks with us. Spider, you¡¯ll have to hold aggro on at least two as well.¡± Zephyr spoke next, and when he did, he used a number of terms that Zach had not before heard but did not want to embarrass himself by asking aloud what they meant. Fortunately, however, Kalana, who was still right next to him, began whispering explanations into his ear. ¡°Whatever we can¡¯t tank we¡¯ll have Alixa and two other enchanters keep locked down under a rotation of fear, root, and slow. If that still isn¡¯t enough, I¡¯ll peel off Donovan so he can AOE stun the rest. Even that¡¯ll only buy us a few more seconds, so we¡¯re going to need to be quick about it.¡± He grinned. ¡°Should be no problem, folks, huh?¡± As the other adventurers let out a morale-raising cheer, Kalana informed him what all that gibberish had meant. Some of the things, like fear, he knew from Rian, as well as stun. The rest were new to him. Apparently, a ¡°root¡± meant something that would hold an enemy in place without fully incapacitating it. Basically, it pinned them in one spot while leaving them open to take actions, such as biting someone who walked within range of their teeth. A slow, on the other hand, was exactly what it sounded like: something that physically slowed their movement. And a ¡°peel¡± meant for someone to take aggro off one person and put it onto themselves, such as the way Grundor had ¡°peeled¡± Ziragoth off Olivir. Now that he fully understood their plan and the problems associated with it, Zach could see that they would still come up short. There were just too many of the mobs. Pressing his lips together, he closed his eyes for the briefest of moments then exhaled. ¡°Fuck it,¡± Zach said, reopening them. ¡°I¡¯ll take on six of them. That should free up a few people to help elsewhere.¡± For whatever reason, Zach¡¯s words caused the other adventurers to stare at him in a mixture of disbelief and in some cases frustration as though annoyed. ¡°What¡¯re you fucking nuts?¡± Donovan asked, shaking his head. ¡°I can probably take more than that, to be honest. Look at their legs and claws. Their attacks will be really, really easy to predict.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you¡­don¡¯t you see it?¡± he asked them, finding only confusion on their faces. ¡°Look. I¡¯ll just show you.¡± They all let out a cry of warning and distress, and in some cases angry threats as Zach swung his sword with all his might, slashing his blade across the face of the nearest ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth¡± and only managing to do a paltry 1,200 damage to the ridiculously higher-leveled foe. As though breaking free of whatever had bound it, the two-legged, lizard-like mob let out an angry chirp and dashed forward at him. ¡°Zach!¡± Kalana shouted with a gasp. ¡°What in the name of the Gods are you doing?¡± ¡°Why would you do that?¡± Mr. Oren asked, frowning. Zach ignored them both and focused. The moment the creature reached him, he keenly and easily observed the way it shifted its weight from its left leg to its right while beginning to open its mouth. Clearly, this thing was going to spin around in a half-circle while snapping at him. Seeing this, he bent his knees, twisted his hips, and ducked down at an angle, ensuring that the mob snapped only the air. Then he kicked off his front foot and dashed backwards as it swung at him with its right claw. He knew that getting hit even a single time was death: but he wasn¡¯t overly intimidated by these mobs. If there was one thing that Zach had learned early on, it was that relying solely on dexterity to avoid attacks was not a great idea. Although dexterity increased coordination and reaction speed, there was still a pretty big gap¡ªin terms of speed¡ªbetween reacting to something and anticipating it. Thus, while the mob pursued him and entered into something of a biting frenzy, chomping at him again and again while whipping its head around with considerable haste, Zach was easily able to get himself out of the way of each attack. ¡°See?¡± Zach asked, ducking beneath another claw swipe and leaping off to the side to maneuver around a follow-up bite. ¡°These mobs aren¡¯t that bad.¡± ¡°How¡­are you doing that?¡± Donovan asked, which only furthered Zach¡¯s confusion. ¡°It must be some kind of ability,¡± Mr. Oren said. Spider chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s not.¡± He nodded his head at Zach. ¡°I could tell from our fistfight in Angelica¡¯s that he has the same natural talent I do. He just sees it like you guys don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Sees what?¡± Kesten asked, earning nods of agreement from several of the other adventurers, including Zephyr, Donovan, and Mr. Oren. ¡°Wait, seriously, do none of you see this?¡± Zach asked, even as he spun around another swipe of the creature¡¯s claw, then leapt over a swing of its tail, jumping a tad bit higher into the air than he¡¯d intended. No matter: it afforded him the opportunity to slash his sword downwards as he returned to the ground, leaving just a shallow gash on the creature¡¯s scalp and dealing a meager 1,724 damage. This wasn¡¯t great. How the hell was anyone going to kill these things? He hoped the others, who were far higher level, could put out significantly more damage, because otherwise, these mobs were not going to die.
HP 297,076/300,000
Name Cursed Defender of Ziragoth L
Level 90
¡°I see it,¡± Spider said. ¡°Right-swipe, tail swing. Duck. That¡¯s right, kid. You got it.¡± Donovan and Mr. Oren looked at one another, and then finally, it was Mr. Oren who made the call. ¡°I still don¡¯t get it, but you can take on two at the most. Kalana, can you handle one of them?¡± ¡°Oh, you better believe I can!¡± Kalana replied immediately and cheerfully. ¡°No way in fucking hell,¡± Zach growled immediately afterwards, even as he bent backwards to avoid another swipe of the monster¡¯s claws. Acting off reflex, he then raised his brand-new blade horizontally to block a follow-up, downward slash, and this turned out to be a huge mistake. Up against something that was level 90, he should have known better than to try guarding against an attack. The moment of impact, his weapon was not only knocked right out of his hands, but it was blasted several-dozen feet away while sending a tremendous shock into both his wrists. ¡°Fuck!¡± Zach shouted as every adventurer, along with Kalana, opened their mouth, likely to ask if he was okay. Zach was very quick to dismiss their concerns. ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Before they could challenge him on it, he spun his body around, fully turning his back to the enemy, then activated Phase Blink, dashing forward so fast that he could not even feel the motion. He simply noticed the world changing around him. Even before the sonic boom went off like a bomb in the air behind him, he spun around, raised his hand, caught his sword, and then activated Phase Blink a second time, reappearing exactly where he¡¯d been a mere instant ago¡ªand just in time to lean his body to the right and avoid a bite from the Cursed Defender he¡¯d aggroed. This, as every adventurer other than Donovan and Mr. Oren flinched on the heels of two massive, subsequent sonic booms. Even Kalana got down to her knees and raised her arms defensively while making a cute-sounding ¡°eek!¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± he said, expecting to receive several angry glares from the adventurers. But this time, however, it earned him only chuckles and nods. ¡°Wh-whatever you guys are going to do, please figure it out quickly, because my mesmerize is only going to last another ten seconds,¡± Alixa said. ¡°Do you need me to come down there?¡± Olivir called, shouting out his words while looking down the hill at them; this, while he continued to channel whatever magic was generating such a massive volume of purple mist, much of it still rising up into a similarly colored cloud in the sky. ¡°No! Do not stop what you¡¯re doing!¡± Mr. Oren shouted back to him. ¡°We have it covered down here. You have my word. Keep going the way you currently are, Olivir, and Eldora, please continue protecting Kolona, as she¡¯s the zombie¡¯s only healer.¡± ¡°You got it,¡± Olivir said, once more facing the dragon, who was continuing to partake in its vicious back-and-forth with Grundor. It was still looking at Zach, too. And it was angry. For sure it was. Zach no longer cared what the other adventurers said. The thing knew who he was¡ªFluffles had basically confirmed it. And it didn¡¯t like him. Which, you know what? That was just fine, because Zach hated Ziragoth way more than Ziragoth hated Zach. ¡°All right, the mesmerize is about to wear off,¡± Zephyr said. ¡°Everyone know what to do?¡± Zach grunted. ¡°I don¡¯t want Kalana taking one of them on.¡± ¡°Too bad,¡± she said, sticking out her tongue at him. ¡°I¡¯m gonna.¡± With that, she raced forward, turned her wrists and elbows, and then used both daggers to simultaneously slice the throat of one of the two-legged defenders frozen before her, dealing 21,650 damage and ¡°awakening¡± the dormant beast in the process. Immediately, and with a grace that Zach had never before seen from her, she launched herself into the air, backflipping over a vicious swipe from the angry-looking mob, then blasted forward and delivered a dizzying combination of dagger slashes, each one dealing thousands of damage. Zach was so amazed that he nearly lost his head, only just managing to dodge an attack while he watched Kalana make very real progress in chipping away at the mob¡¯s HP. She struck with such speed and ferocity that, in just three seconds, she¡¯d delivered 6 one-two combinations to the mob for a total of 12 strikes. Zach observed in a state of fascination as the damage numbers filled the air so fast that he was only just able to read them. 10,400, 5,000, 8,200, 7,800, 6,153, 6,150, 7,151, 5,951, 11,255, 8,511, 8,255, 11,761, 9,100, 7000 Each time Kalana struck, a wad of puke-green blood would fly off the creature¡¯s body, and upon finishing her flurry of attacks, the creature chirped angrily and tried to bite her face off. Kalana dashed backwards, then planted her feet into the ground and came to a halt. With that, she threw her left arm forward, and from a distance of about ten feet, she pointed her dagger at the beast, shouting, ¡°Val en Comme Gria!¡± Instantly, eight massive shadows emerged from what had just been an empty, cloudless sky. Risking a glance above him, Zach spotted huge, brown-colored, and flaming rocks in the air, which he took to be some kind of magically summoned comets. Then, one after the next, each of these comets blasted through the air fast enough to create a loud, screeching hiss before exploding down on top of her target, causing the ground to shake and dirt to spray, a fair bit of it nearly getting in Zach¡¯s eyes and a great deal covering the front of his tunic. The mob she fought was pummeled one after the next, filling the world with loud blasts as each one made impact and struck for over 20,000 damage. 20,100, 20,432, 20,199, 21,600, 23,000, 20,000, 20,010, 20,150
HP 18,261/300,000
Name Cursed Defender of Ziragoth L
Level 90
Leaping forward, flipping, and twisting her body midair, Kalana managed to turn her head in Zach¡¯s direction and again stick her tongue out just as she landed in a crouch, spun around in a circle, and again swung her daggers simultaneously, ripping apart the mob¡¯s midsection and spilling out its guts for 27,310, finishing it off and causing it to fall onto its side, where it lay for several seconds until finally disappearing into the grass. Upon vanishing, it left behind nothing but the eight craters in the ground; unlike other mobs, with these ones, not even the splashes of blood that had been spilled remained. +9500xp (38000 ¨C 75% 10+ party penalty) Zach was surprised to see himself receiving experience points for the work Kalana had done. Even with a 75% reduction, that was still a massive amount for someone at his level. Distantly, he wondered if that counted as power-leveling. He supposed not, since he was an active contributor to this raid even if he couldn¡¯t put out the kind of damage that Kalana just had. If nothing else, he was able to significantly reduce their burden. He couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit jealous of Kalana, though. As usual, he was hit by a sense of mixed feelings: of being proud to see that the girl he loved was so awesome and strong, but of not liking how weak it made him feel by comparison. Given that he¡¯d challenged her capabilities publicly, he wasn¡¯t surprised to see her brush past him with a smug look on her face. ¡°Okay, you made your point,¡± Zach said to her. Even while he was busy stepping around numerous, aggressive claw slashes aimed at his face, Kalana came to an abrupt halt by his side, leaned over, went, ¡°mwah,¡± and kissed him playfully on the cheek before saying, ¡°Love you,¡± and bursting forward to get started on another mob¡ªthe one Zach had been supposed to take on. This, as all the other adventurers got to work and began either aggroing mobs of their own or using fears to send them scattering in completely random directions. Unfortunately, however, it became immediately and abundantly clear that not even Donovan was capable of outputting the kind of damage that Kalana could. To be sure, he did a lot more than Zach, but it was still nothing compared to Kal. For one, Donovan wielded a massive, double-bladed battle-axe that he swung slowly and with a grunt each time he attacked, such as right now, cracking it across the face of a ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth¡± for 30,152 damage. Though the number itself was higher than anything Kalana had been able to achieve with her daggers, his girlfriend could strike the dragon nearly ten times for every one that Donovan managed. Only Mr. Oren, standing to the side and using his conjured blade to rip flesh away from the lizard-like monster for around 17,000 a slash, seemed capable of keeping pace with Kalana, though Zach had the impression he was holding back so as not to pull aggro. Secondly, Donovan was not capable of dodging or avoiding attacks in the way that Zach¡ªand also Kalana, it seemed¡ªwas able to do so. Whether it was because the weight of his black plate armor reduced his mobility or just because he lacked the ability, the result was the same: lots of groans, even more blood, and a constant influx of healing magic pouring into him as he withstood an incredibly painful-looking barrage of bites and scratches from two of the creatures he was tanking. The others were faring even worse. Although Maric was doing the best job of the bunch in terms of tanking¡ªabsorbing the vast majority of hits on his gigantic, red-and-black tower shield¡ªhe was simply not putting out enough damage to keep the mobs interested in him. And one, Zach now saw, had fully turned around and seemed intent on charging one of the healers. ¡°Lyania!¡± Maric cried. She turned around just in time to see the frenzied mob rushing towards her on its two, fast-moving feet, once again kicking up dust even as it traveled the very short distance between them. If Zach had not been there, she would have certainly died. The mob reached her, opened its mouth, and then snapped it shut¡ªbiting only air as Zach activated Phase Rescue and brought her to his side. He watched as her body was shrouded in a blue light, which shrank into nothingness before reappearing beside him¡ªher along with it. ¡°You¡¯re incredible!¡± she chirped. Now, she too gave him a kiss on the cheek. And though she was a much, much older woman likely in her late 60s, it nevertheless elicited a frown from Kalana along with a glare. He rolled his eyes at her. Seriously, the woman could be his grandmother. I kind of like the fact she got jealous, though, Zach thought, suppressing a snicker. Rather than return to where she was before, the woman, whose name Zach assumed to be ¡°Lyania,¡± began immediately healing Maric once again while remaining right where she now stood by his side. Zach supposed the urgency of the situation was such that she could not afford the time required to move back into position. This ended up working to their benefit, however, as the mob she¡¯d aggroed, ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth M,¡± began darting right through the middle of the crowded section of this grasslands-turned-battlefield and continued to head her way, becoming temporarily obscured as it blended in with the other mobs and adventurers that were battling one another. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Zach to her. ¡°I¡¯ve got it.¡± ¡°You sure?¡± ¡°Yup. Let me handle it, okay?¡± ¡°If you need a heal, just shout!¡± Zach laughed. ¡°If I need a heal, I¡¯m probably already dead.¡± Switching his grip on his new blade so that he held it in just his left hand, Zach jumped off to the side as the mob he was fighting lunged forward. The result was that it overshot and gave him a few feet of distance as well as a second or two of breathing room to concentrate and aim his blasting ring at the approaching mob, which he could not let attack the healer. Now, he made a fist with his right, and he waited for the moment the ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth M¡± emerged from the cluster of people and mobs and continued to head straight for the woman. Here goes nothing, Zach thought, taking one final moment to ensure his ring was lined up perfectly with his target. Reminding himself that he had 125 points into intelligence right now and that the ability he was using was a real fucking doozy, he planted his feet into the ground, fully braced himself, and made absolutely certain that he consciously exerted his strength so that his blasting ability would not also blast him away, too. When he¡¯d used this ring against one of the Elves, he¡¯d been in Phase Level 1 and it had sent him flying. He needed to make sure he did not let that happen again. He also needed to make sure he did not hit anyone else by mistake. Confident he had everything under control, he gritted his teeth and prepared to fire. Here we go! Zach activated the ability¡ªand then cried out in both shock and disappointment as, despite all his precautions, he simply was not able to negate the overwhelming force that launched him in the opposite direction the moment he fired. Releasing a gasp, he watched as a red, blindingly bright beam so ridiculously huge that it was larger than the tunnels used to transport DEHV trucks materialized in the world before him with a loud, cartoonish PEW-PEW! Kalana, Mr. Oren, Donovan, the woman he¡¯d saved, and several adventurers looked at him with awe and confusion in their expressions as he was sent flying at a tremendous speed back in the direction of the camp: as in, several-hundred miles per hour. This, as he just had enough time to see the number 211,345 appear over the head of the mob, which itself was blasted at an even greater speed in the direction of Ziragoth. Yet, despite this, with a finesse and skill that filled Zach with envy, Mr. Oren leapt high into the air and began slashing wildly with his sword, finishing off the creature and leaving it in multiple pieces. The final sight to grace Zach¡¯s eyes was a +9500xp as he flew at a horrifying, uncontrollable pace across the grassy, hilly terrain. Having blasted himself off from the highest point, he remained in the air at an altitude that one would expect from a low-flying helicopter. He began to scream in terror as he realized this was a ridiculously, unnaturally long time for a person to remain airborne. The wind beat against him, and for the first time, he did not feel so intensely hot. He was moving so fast that the grass and rocks rushing by below him appeared to form a single, continuous, and blurred line. He had no control over any of this: he was completely at the mercy of physics and gravity. Eventually, finally, he began to descend, slowly at first¡ªand then faster and faster until he plummeted the rest of the way like a cannonball. With a bang so loud that he refused to believe it had come from his own body, the entire world became blurred by a dark brown screen that encompassed everything around him, which he took to be dirt. For a brief moment, it became the only sight he could see. Then he noticed a spinning, abstract mess of colors and shapes, and it took him a moment to realize he was rolling¡ªfast. Really fast. He heard a shout, followed by another shout. Then a snap. Finally beginning to slow down, he let out a humiliated yelp as he realized he¡¯d somehow blasted himself all the way back to the fucking raid camp, and he was now bulldozing his way through tent after tent. By the time he had any semblance of where he was or what was happening to him, he¡¯d already completely obliterated five different tents, tearing them all down, as well as destroying any number of benches, couches, wooden chairs, all kinds of furniture, a handful of viewing screens, and even a couple of beds. His body ached¡ªterribly. But not as bad as it should have, all things considered. When he finally stilled, he could hear the sounds of people rushing over him to him, calling out his name, asking him if he was all right. Several of them he recognized, such as Reni Sarwin and Peter Brayspark. But he could not see them. In fact, he could not see anything except the top of another tent. Wait, was he indoors now? When had that happened? He shook his head, the sensation of spinning and dizziness disorienting him. Why did the ground feel so hard and solid? Th-that¡¯s not the ground! he thought nervously. Oh, Gods, please tell me I didn¡¯t¡­please fucking tell me I¡¯m not¡­ Coming back to his senses, the world stopped spinning, and Zach croaked as he realized where he was. Right now, he was lying on a massive table large enough to seat dozens of people comfortably: one that was made out of a type of wood more expensive than anything someone like him was ever meant to see, let alone touch. There were papers everywhere, some of which were torn and ripped as he¡¯d rolled over them. And all around him were the leaders of the political guilds: the most famous, important, and well-known members of humanity. And they were all looking at him. Zach glanced around in a state of humiliation, shock, and abject fear. He was so confused. So nervous. So unable to know what to do or say. Should he apologize? Should he try to explain? Why weren¡¯t they watching the media¡¯s broadcast so that they would know what was going on? Shouldn¡¯t they at least be aware of how things were progressing in case Ziragoth killed them all and marched on the camp? Apparently, they actually were, because on a gigantic viewing screen above and to the left of him, he saw everything that¡¯d just happened to him mere seconds ago. Oh, Gods, the entire world is gonna see this shit! On a several-second delay, the media had captured every moment of it. Zach saw himself unleash an absurdly huge beam into one of the mobs, which Mr. Oren was able to finish off. Then he saw himself flying across the grasslands and¡ªoh, wow. He¡¯d apparently crashed straight through a section of the fortification they¡¯d built, blowing a hole in the wall. He hadn¡¯t even felt that. Then he saw himself land, and from the media helicopter¡¯s aerial view, what followed was the sight of him leaving a streak in the ground similar to shovel running through a flat section of snow. There was just a gigantic, half-a-mile trail that ran all the way from the spot he¡¯d landed to where he was now. With a nervous gulp, he saw himself rolling and bouncing into the fancy central command tent where the most important people on Galterra had gathered together. Now, a woman seated at the head of the table across from him lowered a small tablet-shaped device and frowned. ¡°Having a bit of trouble, young man?¡± Fylwen asked him. Zach opened his mouth, but no words would come out. He couldn¡¯t believe what he¡¯d done. This wasn¡¯t his fault. This wasn¡¯t intentional! This wasn¡¯t even something he could have prevented, as he¡¯d needed to aggro that second mob. Wait¡­but what about the other mob he¡¯d aggroed? His eyebrows raised to the top of his face. ¡°Oh shit!¡± he shouted in front of the most dignified and significant human beings on the planet. ¡°The fucking¡­the fucking mob is¡ª¡± With a loud chirp, the avian-reptile-dinosaur-looking monstrosity came dashing into the central command tent and jumped up onto the table where Zach was lying then began darting across it, ripping up more papers, knocking over plates, fancy beverages, and a few commemorative coins that had somehow been created in such a short time to celebrate whatever it was that was happening here. ¡°I¡¯m so, so sorry!¡± he yelped. Still in a lying position, he rolled backwards until he was on his stomach, then continued along with the motion until he was upright in a sitting position. Then he slid backwards off the table and allowed himself to fall onto his back while kicking out with both feet, causing a tremendous series of bangs and booms as the mob was thrown, along with the table, out of the tent while everything on top of it spilled onto the floor. ¡°My name is Rian Astafort, by the way,¡± Zach said, nodding at the leaders of humanity as he darted out of the tent in total shame and humiliation, charging straight at the monster even as hundreds of adventurers all grabbed their weapons in unison. The Cursed Defender of Ziragoth made a quick, sudden lurch in his direction, snapping at his neck. Zach, having only just exited the large, fancy tent, was still a bit disoriented. Luckily, he managed to leap into the air and over the creature, landing on the other side of it. Then he swung at it¡ªwith nothing. Where the fuck was his sword? ¡°D¨¦j¨¤ vu,¡± Fylwen said with a laugh, exiting the command tent and holding his weapon. Zach hated this woman more than anything in the world, but he was so filled with humiliation, disbelief, and shame that he could not help but burst out into laughter as she tossed it at him. He caught it. ¡°Thanks. I never thought I¡¯d be in a situation like this ag¡ª¡± The creature snapped at him, and he was forced to close his mouth and spin around to his left. He was still a great deal off balanced from his ¡°flight¡± over here and subsequent rolling. For this reason, he tripped, and now he knew it would cost him heavily. His head was so fogged up and his stomach so nauseous that he momentarily forgot he could use Phase Shield until it was too late and the bipedal monster was about to slash his throat with its claw. Then it paused¡ªits claw hovering mere inches in front of his face. And without rhyme or reason, it slowly lowered it, then spun around. Now, it charged at Queen Vayra, whose entire body was glowing and whose shortsword was releasing short, intermittent sparks of bright red-colored electricity. Shaking his head, Zach tried to determine if what he was witnessing could possibly be true. Had Fylwen Vayra actually taunted the mob for the purpose of saving his life? After everything that she¡¯d done to him? Why would she? Whatever the reason, she began ripping the beast apart¡ªjoined soon after by an uncountable number of adventurers who all wanted a piece of the action. It died so quickly that half the camp was still on their way over as it went down. For whatever reason, Zach received no experience points, but he didn¡¯t care, either. At least it was dead. He turned his head to look northeast in the direction he¡¯d come. He was surprised to find that he could still see every member of the raid party, even from this distance. Though he could not see their bodies with any measure of detail, he could see outlines of them as a sort of green blur¡ªeven through solid objects, such as a tent just off to his immediate right, as well as the massive fortification that had been constructed that he¡¯d accidentally damaged a section of. ¡°How come you guys aren¡¯t helping? You¡¯re watching the news, right?¡± ¡°We were ordered not to,¡± an adventurer he did not recognize said. ¡°The goal is to fight the dragon using our defenses. If you guys failed, we aren¡¯t supposed to interfere. If we all go, we risk all wiping, and then who is left to defend us?¡± Zach rubbed his face. ¡°Okay. Gotcha. Whatever. I¡¯ve got to get back. I think I¡¯m okay now.¡± The guild-leaders exited the command tent and began silently staring at him, saying nothing. He¡¯d seen each and every one of them on TV so many times that witnessing them in person was just too much for him to handle. He recognized all of their faces, including¡­oh, Gods, Kolorn Besh was here! The most important member of humanity by far. He was the guild-leader of the Lords of Justice and the chief representative of humanity. His guild ran the UCH: the United Council of Humanity, or basically, the capital of humanity in the Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah. He was a short, slender-looking guy. He was bald save for a thick, black, bushy goatee, and he was old, with a wrinkly forehead and a chapped lip. Yet he had sharp eyes, which Zach thought he could actually feel evaluating him. Not able to bear even a moment of it, he stupidly ¡°waved¡± goodbye, his hand shooting out burning embers. ¡°I have to¡­I have to get back. Sorry!¡± As he rushed out of the camp and made his way back to the others, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder how many people on this planet had just watched his little ¡°stumble.¡± Chances were likely it was every single one of them. Or almost all. Why the fuck did they have to broadcast this live? All his life, the guilds had pushed censorship and restrictions, except the one time it would save him some embarrassment. He was now going to have to put on a real show for them to make up for how badly he¡¯d just humiliated himself. Gods, he could only imagine how many people were laughing at him right now. Fucking stupid media! ***** ¡°Wow, he¡¯s so cool,¡± Amberla said, sitting next to her friend in class as the teacher allowed them to watch the unfolding coverage of events. The fact school wasn¡¯t cancelled at all was amazing enough. Apparently, even people here in Varda¡¯s Lair were at risk. This was probably the biggest thing that¡¯d ever happened before. She and her friend were seated in the back of the class, watching as the events unfolded. For something so important, it was surprisingly hard not to treat this like a sporting event. First, that brave zombie guy had beaten the dragon¡¯s ass, and then Zachys Calador and Princess Kalana had begun fighting side by side, which was now the second-most-talked-about thing on social media after #KingGrundor. Everyone was talking about how the two seemed to be having some kind of contest to see who could do more damage, and then Kalana had won and had kissed him. They were so cute. She wished she could meet them. Instead, she had to go to class and write papers on the history of agriculture. ¡°Folks, there he goes, rushing back into the fight,¡± the reporter said. ¡°Let me remind everyone that this is coming at you live, unfiltered, and we cannot be held responsible for any disturbing images you might see.¡± Amberla leaned in closer, practically hovering over her desk. For the first time in days, she felt like things were going to be okay. After it was announced that the dragon threatened all of North Bastia, everyone had been so terrified and worried. Her mom was even talking about taking her to her uncle¡¯s place and living in the basement or something. But now? Now she was starting to feel so much hope. Everyone was. The guilds had this all under control. Gods bless the Royal Roses and People of Virtue for saving all of their lives! Chapter 79: Conquest Chapter 79: Conquest ¡°Are you certain, Eilea?¡± asked the nameless man with the serpentine mask and black shawl, who shook his head as if simultaneously agitated and confused. His eyes were unreadable, hidden behind the bronze visage of an angered serpent that concealed his features and identity. For this reason, Eilea had only tone and body language with which to gauge his reaction. Though he spoke calmly and his voice came through at barely above a whisper, there was no mistaking the sense of surprise and apprehension that bled through each of his words. ¡°With how much confidence do you place this assessment?¡± ¡°Complete confidence,¡± she replied. ¡°Today is the day. We are mere minutes away.¡± ¡°But¡­this soon? Surely not. I''d imagined we¡¯d have more time to prepare.¡± She waved a hand at him. ¡°It is only the beginning. There will still be time.¡± ¡°Nevertheless, it for sure begins today?¡± She nodded. ¡°You place far too much emphasis on what is nothing more than a marker. As I¡¯ve said, this is merely the beginning: nothing more.¡± Though Eilea had her suspicions, she could not be entirely certain of the identity of the man whose features lay behind the mask of the serpent. He had appeared before her fifteen years earlier, claiming he wished to aid her in her cause. That on its own was remarkable given that she resided in an ancient castle buried eight-hundred miles below the surface of Galterra. It was both her home and her prison. For all her power, she could not escape. For over a thousand years, she had been locked away, forced to use ¡°other¡± means to influence events to the best of her ability, all while her animosity and desire for revenge grew stronger by the day. Adamus, she thought. You will know the pain you¡¯ve caused me! Of all the Great Ones who had once worked side by side creating and upholding the system, only two now remained: Adamus Vayra, the half-human, half-Elf sage who resided in orbit around Galterra with his ¡°OMP,¡± and she, Eilea Vayra, who Adamus had imprisoned in this dark, crumbling ruins of what had once been a bustling kingdom used by the gnomes so very long ago. All the other Great Ones had left through a one-way, since-closed wormhole to begin anew in another spiral galaxy, and not a day went by that she did not wish she¡¯d gone with them. But for a very few exceptions, she had been without companionship or visitors¡ªuntil this man with the serpent mask and shawl had simply ¡°popped¡± into existence. Though he was no Great One, it was not for lack of ability and power. Never, had Eilea seen a human with his level of strength. Well, other than the boy, should he live long enough to realize his potential. He must, she thought, refusing to consider any other alternative. I will never defeat Adamus without him. Having shown up uninvited, this mysterious, anonymous figure had claimed that he, too, wished to settle a score with Adamus, and that while he was not at liberty to divulge his identity, he had given her his assurances that he was not the treacherous type and sought only to aid her plans. Considering his intimidating mask and bizarre mannerisms, he was not the sort of man most would be at ease placing their trust in. And yet, she had no reason to doubt him. A prisoner to this subterranean, fallen kingdom, there was little he could do to worsen her position and much he could do to give her a much-needed advantage over her cruel, uncaring husband. Even just the possibility that he could finally bring an end to her seemingly infinite captivity was worth placing her trust in him. I stayed behind for you, Adamus. And you repaid me by locking me in hell and refusing to acknowledge even the memory of my existence. You will suffer as I have. I do swear it! Eilea watched as the serpent-masked man paced around the dark, dreary, and uncomfortably damp floor that had once been the throne room. Cracked and half-broken pillars covered in moss and fungi were the only obstacles that remained in what had become a barren, joyless space. She observed him carefully, once more attempting to see beyond him: to peer into his mind and coax out the secrets that lay within. Yet somehow, despite being a mere human¡ªor so she assumed, based on his build, manner of speech, and unfamiliarity with the Elvish language¡ªshe could not read his soul. He had somehow blocked her off. Nevertheless, she estimated with a ninety-percent certainty that she did, in fact, know who this man was. The only question was how such a thing could even be possible. A matter for another day. Approaching the one sturdy table in the entirety of the rundown former throne room, he retrieved a glass viewing dome and a vial filled with Sight-Powder. Clearly, this secretive, masked ally of hers could not bring himself to believe what she had told him. Thus, she remained quiet as he spilled the Sight-Powder into the glass viewing dome and waiting for it to swirl around and take color and shape. Very quickly, it formed into the image of a young boy with wavy black hair moving rapidly towards a T7 fire wyvern, having just blasted himself miles away using the item ability of a ring he¡¯d acquired in Archian Prime. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°It just seems too soon,¡± he said, now with an even greater degree of apprehension. ¡°If you are who I believe you to be, then your reaction strikes me as quite odd. I¡¯d think that you of all people would be celebrating this news.¡± He lowered his head as if to stare at the floor a moment. Then he sighed. ¡°If I am indeed who you suspect, then you should not be surprised by my reaction. I simply do not understand how this can be happening to the boy so soon. It makes no sense.¡± ¡°To the contrary, I think it makes perfect sense,¡± Eilea said. ¡°Hm? How so?¡± She shrugged. ¡°When one has so far to climb, it should not come as a surprise that the ascent begins early.¡± Tapping his chin several times with his gloved index finger, the man in the serpent mask nodded. ¡°That¡¯s a fair point.¡± With a slowly forming grin, Eilea moved over to where he stood near the table and joined him in monitoring the boy. She caressed the glass as though it were far more precious than it actually was. ¡°He¡¯s our only chance,¡± she said to the man. ¡°Galterra will not survive without him.¡± ¡°It¡¯s truly mad, isn¡¯t it?¡± the serpent-masked man whispered, and unless Eilea was mistaken, she detected a hint of sadness in the way he finished his words with a slow exhale. ¡°What is?¡± The man folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. ¡°That your husband would willingly let an entire planet die simply for the sake of upholding a principle.¡± At this, Eilea released a loud, but brief bout of laughter. Yet there was no joy, humor, or amusement in it. It was a chuckle totally devoid of even a trace of mirth. ¡°Why do you think he locked me up here in the first place?¡± ¡°You interfered?¡± the man asked. She nodded. ¡°Many times. All I ever wanted was to help people. It¡¯s why I stayed behind in the first place. My dream was to create a world where people could live and work together in peace. The same dream my husband once shared. Even after the other Great Ones declared the Galterra Project a failure, I refused to abandon the people of this planet: and so too did my husband. Even now, in a bizarre sort of way, we both still share the same vision for a better world. But whereas he does not believe in steering the world towards this greater vision, I have seen the necessity of it. Unruled and left to their own devices, the various races that participate in the system will kill and brutalize each other.¡± ¡°My kind in particular,¡± the serpent-mask-wearing man said with a grunt, all but confirming that he was indeed a human. ¡°True,¡± Eilea said. ¡°Humans have certainly outdone themselves time and time again in that department. Nevertheless, even were there to be no humans whatsoever on Galterra, the other races would still be no better off. Even the Elvish have not found a way to live at peace. My kind has both persecuted and been persecuted throughout history in equal measure. There must be a guiding hand. My husband does not understand that ¡®law¡¯ is not a dirty word. Absolute freedom is nothing more than an aid to tyranny.¡± ¡°I tend to agree,¡± the man said. ¡°Although my grudge against Adamus is personal and not ideological, I would be lying if I said I didn¡¯t think his concept of choice and freedom were antithetical to basic decency. It¡¯s why the two of us never¡­¡± Releasing a slight gasp that was almost inaudible, the man with the serpent mask quickly closed his mouth as if sensing he had been on the verge of saying too much. Not that it mattered, as Eilea was now ninety-five percent sure that she knew his identity. The only reason she was not one-hundred percent certain was due to the simple fact of how impossible his existence should have been. Put simply, he should not be among the living. Yet she knew better than to pry into the personal business of her only ally. When he was ready to talk, he would talk: hopefully. For now, she was content to observe as Zachys Calador inched closer to the first true moment of his existence. Even as he ran across the grasslands to aid his friends, he was completely oblivious to the fact that he was also running headfirst into his own destiny. And while this would not be some fundamental, life-altering change, it would signal the unmistakable beginning of his ascent. Even he would not be able to deny it any longer. ¡°How close are you to destroying the barriers that keep me here?¡± she asked. ¡°Very. It¡¯s a matter of days now. Not even weeks.¡± After fifteen years of constant effort, her human savior was going to set her free. She had not seen sunlight in over twenty centuries. What Adamus had done to her in keeping her here¡ªit was so far beyond unforgivable. There was nothing in this world that could quell her rage. Yet, even still, she did not intend to use violence or torture against him. And no: not due to some perceived, holier-than-thou sense of principle or self-proclaimed possession of greater virtue. Not out of some altruistic longing for decency. And not even due to some lingering love from a time past. No, it was quite simply because physical pain and torture were not effective tools of punishment against the likes of her husband. To truly hurt Adamus, she would need to defeat him ideologically. She would need to crumble his worldview and impose a better vision of the system than he had devoted his life to believing in. That would ruin him. That would cause him a misery far greater than gouging out his eyes or flaying him alive. Blinded, he would not see how wrong he had been; without skin, he would not feel the breeze roll over a peaceful world that prospered as a direct result of opposition to his misguided views. That would be her revenge. That would be her vindication! And for this to come to pass, she would need the boy: Zachys Calador. She, and her new ally along with her, would guide him. She did not yet know how she would convince him to listen to her: but she was sure she¡¯d find a way. She would teach him everything that she knew about diplomacy, leadership, and the responsibility of being a ruler, as one way or another, she would mold that oblivious, foul-mouthed, pessimistic child into a respectable emperor: one far more powerful and also far saner than Peter IV or any Brayspark who had come before him. With Zach as her vessel, the world would be theirs for the taking. At last, there would be an end to conflict. They would impose a global vision of unity, peace, and prosperity among all races and all kinds. Conquest¡ªand then peace. That was now the only path forward. With Zachys Calador leading the way. Chapter 80: The Beginning of Zachys Calador: Doomsday Slash I Chapter 80: The Beginning of Zachys Calador: Doomsday Slash I If Zach had only known that, in just a few short minutes from now, he¡¯d be unintentionally caught on live video doing something that not only shouldn¡¯t have been possible, but that would put a mark on him for the rest of his entire life while making most of the civilized world view him with an equal mixture of awe, reverence, and in many cases, fear, he probably would¡¯ve exercised a bit more discretion before going through with it. Truly, if someone had only come along and warned him that there would be no turning back from what he was about to do¡ªthat any chance of living a normal life free from the burdens of political guilds, scheming, and responsibility would be forever burned away so absolutely that even just the suggestion of it would become unthinkable, there was a pretty good chance he would¡¯ve tried to think of some other way. But, since no one told him that, he was destined to end up doing it. A domino cannot be blamed for the existence of the one before it, nor can it be blamed for the one behind: but if it falls, it falls, and so continues the chain. For now, though, having been driven onwards by a deep, primal, and protective instinct that implored him to immediately return to Kalana¡¯s side, Zach was sprinting incautiously up rounded hill after rounded hill, mercilessly flattening every stalk of grass that had the misfortune of finding itself beneath his feet as he raced back to the raid group. He pumped his arms as he ran, moving fast enough that he left behind an unnatural, smoky cloud of dirt and dust in his wake as he tore across the terrain at the kind of speed only a DEHV should have been able to travel. But the faster he moved, the more intense the resistance in the air became, and he found it difficult to breathe at times as a constant blast of wind made him feel like he was charging through a hurricane. Unwilling to slow down for anything, he broke numerous rocks of varying sizes into several, smaller pieces as he stomped down on them in his dash to rejoin the fight. I need to hurry back. Someone might need my help! As the world around him rushed by so quickly that he struggled to keep his bearings straight, his hands and feet continued to release a steady, jet-like stream of bright, burning embers; unlike on Archian Prime, though, where the cold extinguished them practically as soon as they appeared, here in Shadowfall Coast, under this wrathful, unforgiving summer sun, the embers not only lingered far longer, but they even began to leave a glowing trail of sorts on the ground. Zach was grateful that they didn¡¯t appear capable of actually starting a fire, as he certainly wouldn¡¯t have the time to stop and put it out. As things were, he¡¯d already been away too long for comfort. He just hoped his unintentional absence, however brief, did not lead to the GSG being overwhelmed and defeated. If even one mob makes it to a healer because I wasn¡¯t there to stop it¡­ Though he¡¯d ultimately only been gone for slightly more than a minute, he was still very worried about Kalana and the others. After all, a whole lot could happen in a minute or two, and sixty seconds was more than enough time for one, more, or even all of them to die if they lost control of the situation. Even still, he tried to tamp down on his fear and remain focused on running straight, as it was difficult to keep his balance when blazing ahead at what had to be over a hundred-fifty miles per hour. In fact, ¡°difficult¡± was putting it a bit too mildly. Zach actually had to seriously concentrate in order to keep himself upright and steady. Unfortunately, concentrating was becoming harder and harder to do thanks to the Gods-cursed media, which had for some reason ordered one of their helicopters to break away and follow him around. Frowning, Zach tried to tune out the loud buzz coming from this single, lone helicopter that had flown away from the others in order to harass him. At the moment, it was serving as a constant, jarring reminder that the eyes of millions or more likely billions of people from every race and continent were currently set on him. Basically, the whole fucking planet! As the helicopter tailed his every step, it made it so that, rather than dedicate his thoughts to the problems at hand, he couldn¡¯t help but devote some of his brainpower to worrying about his public image¡ªsomething he¡¯d never cared about once in his entire life until just now. Yet, try as he might, he couldn¡¯t get it out of his head. It just added an entirely new dimension to things: one that laid on even more pressure that he really, really did not need right now. I hate being watched like this. Thankfully, as he spotted the dragon and the raid group just ahead of him, he was able to tune most of it out. Finally upon them, their numerous forms became rapidly larger the closer he approached, and immediately, all thoughts of the media, his image, or being observed slipped straight from his mind. He was once more totally honed in on the task at hand: protecting Kalana, helping his friends, and putting himself back into the fight. Hastily, he shifted his eyes slightly downward and had a quick glance at the remaining duration of Unleashed Phase.
Unleashed Phase Duration 8:30 Remaining
He¡¯d burned up more time than he¡¯d thought, though he¡¯d lost a few minutes to begin with just in replenishing his stamina. He¡¯d need to be careful with his abilities going forward. It wouldn¡¯t be good if he ended up fainting from E-debt while avian-lizard-looking beasts with sharp teeth and even sharper claws surrounded him and tore him apart. And so, pressed to make every second count, he risked putting himself off-balance and ran just a little bit faster as he climbed up the final bit of hill and once more reached the highest point of elevation in this particular stretch of grasslands northwest of Shadowfall Coast. Having run back as fast as he could, he found himself a bit short of breath and winded. He was by no means as exhausted as he¡¯d been before he¡¯d used Unleashed Phase, but he knew he¡¯d need to be careful in how he paced himself, as his elevated stats would be useless to him if he lacked the energy to continue standing on his feet. Still, he was feeling pretty fired up, and a little sweat was not about to slow him down. Ready to kick things back off, Zach drew his black, glimmering blade, and he quickly assessed the situation. As it turned out, a whole lot had changed in the roughly minute and a half that he¡¯d been gone: so much so that he needed a few seconds to register and comprehend all of it. For starters, Ziragoth was now completely immobilized. The dragon was lying on its belly, and the serrated edges of its razor-sharp wings were lowered and making gradually deepening indentations along the ground, scraping it back and forth in tune to the rise and fall of what, at least to Zach, looked like real, natural breathing. Its eyes were closed, too, and its ludicrously long forked tongue was sticking out of its partially opened mouth, releasing a steady drip of saliva that caused a steam to rise from the soil in front of its face as though it were burning the ground. Most significantly of all, however, was that beginning at the top of its scaly, brown scalp, and continuing up into the air for nearly two-dozen feet, was a constant column of rising ¡°Zzzz.¡± There were five of these ¡°Zzzzs¡± in existence at any one time, with a new one popping into the air above the dragon¡¯s head just as the highest one vanished, and on and on it would go. Amid all this, a constant drizzling rain from a purple cloud poured down on its unmoving body. It was a stunning, totally dreamlike sight. He did it, Zach thought, amazed. He actually did it. He put the dragon to sleep! Even while sleeping, the imposing form of Ziragoth put terror into his heart. Its sharp, evil teeth were bared, its barbed tail was twitching, and every so often, a small plume of flame would exhale out of its mouth. There was also a gargantuan amount of greenish-white blood staining the grass around the dragon, likely from Grundor. Regrettably, though, its HP was now also back to full, which meant all the damage that had been done to it was gone. Even the tooth that had been knocked out of the fire wyvern had regrown.
HP 15,000,000/15,000,000
Name (T7) Ziragoth the Awoken
Level 70
Not so ¡®awoken¡¯ now, are you? Zach thought hatefully. Sitting about two-dozen feet in front of the dragon, slouched over and panting, Zach made out the exhausted-looking form of his reliable vampire friend, Olivir. Kolona, too, was also seated next to him, and though her back was straight, she nevertheless appeared equally as drained. Together, the two of them looked like they needed a good rest. The same could not be said, however, of Grundor, who did not appear remotely fatigued; he and Eldora were currently engaged in a furious, energetic battle with three of the ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth¡± mobs that must have broken away from the rest. And it was at this point that Zach realized two very important things: one, that Olivir had indeed truly succeeded in putting the dragon to sleep, and two: that this did not cause the mobs it had summoned to de-spawn. Glancing a bit lower down the hill from where Grundor and Eldora were fending off the clawing, biting creatures, Zach realized a third, far more concerning thing as well: that the mood among the adventurers was anything but celebratory. Even though they had accomplished what they¡¯d set out to do, the sense that Zach got from his surroundings was not a positive one. Far from joy, there was a dark, foreboding, and grim look of worry in many of their faces. Something was clearly wrong. That¡¯s not a good sign, Zach thought, instinctively tightening his grip on his blade. What¡¯s going on here? At the moment, Donovan was swearing loudly and frequently. Sweat was teeming down his brow, off his chin, and then running over the bottom of his black plate helm as he withstood more and more attacks from two of the ferocious creatures, which were relentlessly lashing out at him even as he struck back at them with his massive battle-axe. His armor was cracked in numerous places, and the exposed skin beneath these cracks looked bruised and oddly discolored. Mr. Oren, also sweating profusely, wore a scowl as he struck one of the creatures from the side while eyeing Donovan as if nervous or uncertain. ¡°Are you okay, Donovan?¡± ¡°Just keep tearing into the pricks. Don¡¯t worry about me.¡± Mr. Oren nodded. ¡°Just hang in there. We¡¯ll pull through this¡­somehow.¡± With that, he continued delivering powerful slicing attacks against one of the two Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth that Donovan was tanking. Neither he nor any of the other adventurers appeared to notice that Zach had returned, but that was not what troubled Zach, as it was understandable given that they were focusing all their attention on battling the dragon¡¯s defenders. No, what bothered him was the way in which not a single one of them displayed anything close to optimism or hope¡ªeven as Mr. Oren succeeded in cutting down the creature before him, earning Zach +9500xp just for being in the raid group. Despite having killed one of the mobs, Mr. Oren¡¯s scowl became even deeper, and he was now carrying himself with a total lack of certainty. Zach had never seen him appear so unsteady and vexed. This, in turn, only made Zach¡¯s own mood become sullen¡ªeven if he didn¡¯t quite understand why just yet. From the way everyone was acting, something had to have gone very wrong. But what? Right now, Zach could not detect even so much as a hint of confidence in Mr. Oren or in any of the adventurers, which was certainly conspicuous when contrasted with their usual boisterous and jovial personalities. Hell, just a minute and a half ago, when Zach had blasted himself back to the camp, they¡¯d been so sure of themselves and their morale had been so high. So what had happened? What had gone wrong? Was it possible Zach was misreading the situation? As much as he hoped that was the case, his suspicions were all but confirmed mere seconds later as various members of the GSG began giving voice to their doubts. ¡°Should we try to break off and outrun them?¡± one of the adventurers asked. ¡°Pull them back to the raid camp where we¡¯ll have help?¡± ¡°No,¡± another replied, his voice shaken and his tone uneven. ¡°These mobs move very fast, and a number of us don¡¯t have high enough speed to outrun them. If we try to break off, it¡¯s the same as leaving people for dead.¡± They¡¯re talking about running away, Zach thought, shocked. Are we losing? I don¡¯t understand. Given that almost thirty adventurers along with fourteen or so of the creatures were all mixed and cluttered together in seemingly no particular formation or order, it was harder than expected to try to piece together what was happening, as everything had devolved into an absolute, disorganized mess. A lot of people were doing a lot of different things all at the same time, and for Zach to figure out what he could do to help¡ªor if he could do anything to help¡ªhe needed to first know just what in the fuck was going on here, since it wasn¡¯t actually clear despite everyone else seemingly understanding it. Thus, as quickly as possible, Zach attempted to discover the underlying problem in the ardent hope he could help solve it. His first priority being Kalana, he started by turning his attention to her. Within seconds, it became clear that he did not need to observe her for long, as it was instantly apparent that she was holding up just fine¡ªbetter than fine, actually. Like, way better. In fact, of everyone here, Kalana looked to be doing the best. Not only wasn¡¯t she struggling, but she actually seemed to be having a very, very easy time of things. Zach nodded with approval as, with an elegant twirl of her daggers, she landed the killing blow on another one of the mobs, slicing it across the throat and causing it to keel over, once again earning Zach an easy +9500xp that he hadn¡¯t even had to work for. ¡°Got¡¯cha,¡± she said. Then she turned her head in Zach¡¯s direction and beamed a cheerful, silly smile. Thus far, she seemed to be the only person who noticed he¡¯d returned, and after a blown kiss in the air directed his way, she took off charging into the chaotic mess of people and mobs to attack another of the creatures before the one she¡¯d just killed had even hit the ground. She¡¯s definitely got her end of things under control, he thought. Confident that his girlfriend was in no immediate danger, Zach took his eyes off her and looked elsewhere to see how the others were faring. And at a first glance alone, everything seemed to be going¡­well, just fine, actually. Zach didn¡¯t see any obvious problems, which only heightened his confusion and worry. What wasn¡¯t he seeing here? To his eyes, everyone was still doing their part and holding up pretty well. From what he could tell, no one was seriously injured, the dragon was fast asleep, and although the ¡°adds¡±¡ªas they¡¯d been called¡ªwere still running amok, the tanks were doing an admirable job of holding aggro on eight of them while another five were being managed through a combination of fears, roots, stuns, and slows. Just ahead and to Zach¡¯s left, a mob named ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth B,¡± which had been scrambling away in random directions as though feared, had now come to a complete halt. After a brief pause, it turned back around, faced one of the adventurers, and began to charge directly at him. But it did not get very far. Before the fast-moving, bipedal creature could make it even a handful of steps, Alixa made a grunt of exertion, and the ground beneath its feet began to rumble and crack; from beneath the soil emerged a series of roots that shot out of the grassy terrain and began to wrap around its legs and body. With a speed faster than a swinging whip, more and more of these roots continued to emerge, and these too wrapped themselves around the mob until they had completely bound it in place. At the same exact time, a series of snapping sounds like the splitting of twigs came from another mob, which looked as though it¡¯d already been tied up with the same exact spell. This particular one, which was called ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth C,¡± managed to snap every root that¡¯d been binding it all at once. Upon being broken, the split-apart roots simply vanished into thin air, leaving not a trace of them behind. Now that the mob was free, it began to turn its body in Alixa¡¯s direction, crying out with one of its angry chirps in the process. Maric glanced at the mob then half spun around as if to deal with it, but Alixa signaled for him to halt. ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I¡¯ve got it!¡± she yelled preemptively. Alixa, now breathing heavily, began flipping frantically through the pages of the large book she always seemed to be carrying with her. Then, for a reason Zach did not know, her sword-shaped earrings started to glow very brightly, and her pure-green eyes, which did not contain even a trace of white, began to similarly shine. A moment later, the tome in her hands lifted up a few inches into the air as though in defiance of gravity, and there it remained in place, floating before her. Now, the pages began to turn all on their own, slowly at first, but soon they flipped faster and faster until filling the world with an oddly comforting flapping sound. What¡¯s she doing? Zach wondered. The mob, clearly having chosen a target, took off at a fast-moving sprint, heading straight for Alixa. Zach wasn¡¯t sure if he should rush in to intercept the beast before it got to her. But since Alixa seemed confident that she had things under control, he remained where he was, deciding to wait just a moment longer. He watched as the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth made another of its chirp-like cries; this, as beads of sweat began to pour down Alixa¡¯s pale face. As Alixa visibly strained with what could only be exhaustion, a powerful gust of wind from seemingly out of nowhere began to blow, growing stronger by the second and offering a welcome respite to the intense summer heat. For a short while, this mysterious wind, which did not appear to be coming from any one particular direction, continued to increase in intensity; it stirred the grass, lifted a few small pebbles, and even caused a few sunflowers to shed their petals. But then, just as it seemed poised to turn from a breeze into a full-on gale, abruptly, the wind cut off all at once as though it had never existed at all. Confused, Zach wondered what the point of all that was. He doubted it had been just for the sake of cooling them off, so for what purpose had she summoned the wind only to have it vanish before it did anything useful? He soon realized that it had not, in fact, vanished. As though concentrating itself on a much smaller area, the ¡°breeze¡± that had been blowing had now shrunken down to form a rapidly spinning twister a few feet in front of Alixa with the diameter of a sewer cover and the height of a traffic light. Faster and faster it spun, growing in force and becoming more visible. Eventually, this miniature tornado started ripping up the ground beneath it, as a chunk of grass and dirt about four inches deep was sucked up like a vacuum then began revolving around this increasingly faster-spinning wind. As though waiting for the perfect time to strike, Alixa remained perfectly still until the avian-faced, lizard-bodied creature had crossed more than half the distance to her. Then, she abruptly threw out both of her arms in a shoving gesture, and the tornado was launched forward. In the same moment, the pages in her book ceased flipping, and then it snapped shut with a loud, startling pop, even as it continued to float midair. Now, a zigzag-shaped depression formed into the terrain as the spiraling wind ripped across the land and made for the charging mob. Only a few seconds passed before the two collided, and Zach gasped as he watched the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth come to an immediate, grinding halt the moment its body impacted the tornado. It was then lifted off the ground and sent about ten feet into the air, where it at last remained perfectly still as though imprisoned within the center of this vortex of energy. Though it did not spin, it floated in place much like Alixa¡¯s book, which she then promptly snatched from the air and cradled under her arm. ¡°Got it,¡± she said, her voice sounding strained. ¡°Forty seconds until it breaks free.¡± ¡°My buffs are wearing off, Alixa,¡± an adventurer groaned. ¡°Mine too,¡± said another. A third, this one wielding a staff, swore at both of them. ¡°Give her a fucking second!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be dead in a second!¡± ¡°Then die!¡± the staff-wielding man shouted, clearly irritated as he hurried to Alixa¡¯s side. The Cursed Defender of Ziragoth B, which Alixa had halted only a few seconds earlier, had somehow already snapped through the roots holding it in place and had resumed charging at its original target. Now, the man wielding the staff extended his arm and made circular motions with it in the emptiness in front of him. As he did so, a shining black orb began to form at the tip of his staff, which he promptly lifted above his head before slashing it back downwards at the air. The black, shining orb flew off the staff and traveled directly at the incoming mob, striking it in the head. Yet it did not do any damage¡ªat least not that Zach could see. Instead, it caused the lizard-like mob to immediately stop in place, turn around, and then begin to run in the opposite direction¡ªwhich would make it a fear, Zach assumed. Unfortunately, the ferocious beast only took about two quick steps before it again stopped, turned around, and once more resumed charging at the adventurers. ¡°Fuck!¡± the man with the staff growled. ¡°These Gods-be-damned diminishing returns are getting really hard to deal with.¡± ¡°Stun it!¡± Alixa shouted. The man jammed his staff into the ground, the base of it penetrating several inches into the soil. Then, on the heels of a peculiar, but not entirely unpleasant buzzing sound that filled the air, Zach briefly had to avert his eyes as an intense white flash emerged from the staff, one bright enough to cause discomfort even during broad daylight. Whatever it was, it caused the mob to stop in its tracks for what was like the third time in a row now, and there it remained in place¡ªfor about maybe a quarter of a second, if that. Shrugging off whatever that white light had done to it, the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth B resumed its forward charge. This prompted Alixa to again grunt with exertion and again cause more roots to burst upwards from a newly formed crack in the ground, wrapping around the mob and binding it in place. But this time, however, the roots snapped almost the exact moment in time that they¡¯d wrapped around the enemy, and it was here that Zach thought he was finally starting to understand the dilemma. They can¡¯t keep these guys locked down indefinitely, he thought. Turning his head to look once more at Donovan and Mr. Oren, he widened his eyes as he finally, truly understood the problem here. Based on what he¡¯d just seen, he felt it was safe to conclude that each time crowd control was used on a mob, it became less effective and lasted for a shorter duration. Which would have been fine, except that the damage they were putting out¡ªit just wasn¡¯t enough. Even though they¡¯d succeeded in killing a few of the mobs so far, and even taking into account Kalana¡¯s explosive output, they were going to be overwhelmed at the rate they were going, because they just weren¡¯t killing these things fast enough. But wait. There was more to it than just that. It was only now that Zach became cognizant of the fact that the GSG¡¯s spellcasters had become almost entirely idle. Aside from Fluffles, who was currently his normal cat size and sending down one bolt of lightning after the next, striking for somewhere around 2,500 damage each time, the other mages¡ªor at least people who Zach guessed were mages based on their usage of staves or rods¡ªwere mostly inactive for some reason. But why? They didn¡¯t look exhausted at all. Aside from firing off tiny little projectiles that did only a few-hundred damage per shot, the spellcasters were basically sitting this one out. But they did not appear lazy to Zach¡¯s eyes. If anything, they looked frustrated, as though they wanted to fight. So why, then, were they just sitting around and doing n¡ª Because the dragon¡¯s asleep! he realized, everything finally clicking in his head. They can¡¯t risk doing anything that might accidentally hit Ziragoth and wake him up. So that¡¯s what¡¯s going on here! As if to confirm his theory, one of the mages, a guy who looked to be in his young twenties and had a brown, neatly trimmed beard, spat on the ground in what looked like frustration then made a chopping motion with his right hand. A second later, an icicle about three times the length of a spear popped into existence about thirty feet in the air and crashed down at blinding speed on top of one of the mobs, dealing 9,311 damage and exploding upon impact, hitting the two adjacent mobs for over 2,000 each. ¡°Knock it off, Reys!¡± Donovan shouted at him, snarling. ¡°Single, targeted, homing attacks only!¡± The man, Reys, opened his mouth as though to argue the point. But with nothing more than a grumble, he ended up closing it and reverted to instead firing off small little ice daggers that seemed to lock onto his target like a missile. Zach guessed it was an attack that could not miss and could not inadvertently hit something other than what he targeted. Unfortunately, it did only 820 damage, which was not very useful. Finally understanding why everyone was acting as though the end was nigh, Zach joined them in the hopelessness club, as he realized that they were, in all likelihood, fucked. For all intents and purposes, they were fighting a battle of attrition and slowly losing. What they really needed most of all was more damage¡ªand a lot more of it, too. And clearly, Zach could not give that to them. There were no two ways about it: he simply did not have the strength at his current level to help account for even a small part of the deficit caused by the lack of spellcasters, whose powerful magical projectiles could potentially go wayward and wake the dragon. But, at the very least, Zach now knew exactly how he could contribute¡ªeven if it would ultimately come to nothing. No matter what, though, Zach would fight as hard as he could and do everything in his power to help the GSG. But, if things took a turn for the worst, and if it looked like every single one of them was going to die, he¡¯d Phase Rescue Kalana away and hightail it out of there with her. Would it be the most courageous thing ever done in history? No, probably not. But he couldn¡¯t allow Kalana to die here, and dying just for the sake of it wasn¡¯t noble. He¡¯d done that already once before and didn¡¯t plan on doing it ever again. Nevertheless, Zach tried to remain positive and focus on what he could do instead of what he couldn¡¯t. And right now, what he could do was take on the mobs that Alixa and her staff-wielding guildmate were not able to lock down anymore, such as this ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth B.¡± The mob chirped as it charged after the staff-wielding man, whose stun and fear had both failed to deter it. I¡¯ll get him! Given that the mob was at full health, Zach had no problem siphoning, or ¡°peeling¡± aggro off the staff-wielding man as he launched himself forward, twisted his body slightly, and unleashed a horizontal slash that cut into the chirping creature¡¯s midsection for a pathetic, embarrassingly low 729 damage while simultaneously letting the others know he¡¯d returned. They barely looked at him, clearly too busy to pay heed right now to anything other than their own survival. But that was fine. Zach only needed to get the attention of a single one of them. ¡°Hey, Alixa!¡± Zach shouted, even as he was forced to drop all the way down to his knees to duck beneath a wide, vicious, and downwards-angled claw-strike. He waited for her to look at him before speaking. ¡°Tell me which ones your crowd control won¡¯t work on anymore. I¡¯ll deal with those.¡± She regarded him blankly for a very brief moment as though churning his words over in her head. Then she nodded. ¡°Uh, okay, so there¡¯s that one,¡± she said, pointing to the one he was already fighting, ¡°and also D and F, but leave F alone for a bit longer.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Those few, hurriedly exchanged words served as the entirety of their communication. Having so much on her plate, Alixa went back to whatever it was she had to do, and Zach quickly searched out ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth D¡± even as he was lunging to the side to avoid the deadly teeth from the horrific, dragon-summoned monster that was already in front of him. Due to the thing getting in his face, it actually took Zach a good couple of seconds to find it, and when he did, it was almost too late. The two-legged, sharp-clawed fiend was running at incredible speed towards the same old healer he¡¯d saved a few minutes prior. Once again ducking underneath a swipe that would¡¯ve ripped his throat out, Zach managed to slither away to the creature¡¯s right side just long enough to give him a clear shot at the ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth D,¡± who from the looks of things, was actually going to disembowel the older woman without her even seeing it coming. ¡°Phase Slash!¡± he cried out, slashing downwards with his sword. A screeching, high-pitched, zipper-like sound accompanied a visible disturbance in the air that blasted forward at a speed far, far faster than the mob could run. Within a half second of using his Phase Slash, Zach¡¯s attack connected, and though it did not put out the kind of damage he¡¯d have liked to see, it at least did 5,215 and caused a moderately sized piece of skin on the lower-right side of its chin to fall off, along with shedding a couple droplets of blood. Now, pausing several feet in front of the older healer woman, who still had no idea whatsoever that it was even behind her, the awful thing turned its head in Zach¡¯s direction, and it remained motionless for just a second. Then it chirped angrily and took off at a run, heading straight for him. And it was at this point, having now successfully aggroed both mobs at once, that Zach would learn that he¡¯d been so totally wrong about his capabilities, and that Donovan, it seemed, had been absolutely correct. Zach, as it turned out, could not have handled six of these things by himself, and right away, it became an open question as to whether or not he could even handle just two of them. Because despite the fact that their attacks were so predictable and easily foreseen, Zach had not really accounted for their overall ferocity and speed. On their own, they were simple and not much of a threat¡ªat least not to him¡ªbut two of them together? He understood almost instantly that he¡¯d bitten off more than he could reasonably chew. Unlike the Blood-Hunting Maneaters that were slow and lumbering, these ¡°Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth¡± were ruthless, fast, and together began pressing him so fiercely he really wasn¡¯t positive he could survive this. From the very first moment the two mobs gunned him down, each of them side by side, he was forced to use every ounce of his speed, dexterity, and ability to anticipate their strikes just to scrape by. The problem boiled down to a four-strike combination that each mob made great use of. In hindsight, Zach was surprised he didn¡¯t realize when fighting just one of them that their pattern of attack might be extremely fierce when doubled up. Essentially, these mobs had a tendency to swipe powerfully and widely with their left claws, followed by a shorter-ranged, but even faster strike with their right, which led into yet another swipe of their left, before finally lunging forward and biting. The sequence itself wasn¡¯t anything special, but the speed at which they attacked was. And whether it was simply due to bad luck or some other factor, Zach had managed to aggro them such that they were attacking in a way that was staggered as opposed to synchronous, which meant there was almost no delay or ¡°pause¡± between the two of them. The moment B¡¯s attacks ended, F¡¯s attacks began, and vice-versa. Shit, this is so much harder than I thought it¡¯d be! Faced with such a fast and unceasing barrage, Zach had to call upon everything he¡¯d learned, experienced, and all the strength within him as a frenzy of attacks from the two Defenders of Ziragoth pushed him to his absolute limits. He had to bend his knees slightly, lean backwards and to his left, and tuck in his chin just to barely avoid having his entire face scraped off from the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth B, whose left-clawed swipe had a large reach and came within inches of connecting. But no sooner had he avoided the attack than he needed to lean to the complete opposite side to avoid the follow-up. The third strike in the series came in so fast he didn¡¯t even have time to avoid on his feet, so instead he was forced to duck so low that he was almost in a seated position, and from there, he had to kick off his feet and roll backwards to avoid the bite, which instead of consuming his head, earned the mob only a mouthful of dirt and grass as it bit an entire fucking hole in the ground. Panting, Zach almost didn¡¯t manage to get back up to his feet as Cursed Defender of Ziragoth D lashed out at him in a similar, but slightly different pattern of attack. Now, Zach was forced twist his entire body to the right, throw himself to the left, duck down, and then jump backwards to navigate around another four-strike combination¡ªonly for B to come pressing forward, forcing him to repeat the process. It was just a constant, never-ending, relentless assault of swinging claws and snapping teeth. None of their strikes were avoided with any breathing room. Every single one of them came close to ending his life, and every single one of them took its toll on his stamina. Zach had to suppress his doubt and keep his mind blank as he was left with practically no margin for error, no opportunity for counter attacks, and no chance to catch his breath. If not for the fact that he couldn¡¯t guard with his sword, this wouldn¡¯t have been so terrible¡ªmaybe even somewhat manageable. But he was too low level, and they were too damn strong, and they didn¡¯t let up, not even for a moment. And as he was pressed again, and again, and again, it was only a matter of time before he messed up¡ªwhich after evading dozens of their attacks, he finally did. Tripping over a rock he didn¡¯t even see, he fell hard onto his back, losing his grip on his sword in the process. Then, both of the creatures, as if sensing their moment had come, hurried forward and swarmed him, their mouths opened widely and their sharp teeth waiting to rip him into pieces, snapping at him hungrily. But if they wanted to have Zach for dinner, they¡¯d have to wait a little longer. He wasn¡¯t ready to call it quits just yet! Gritting his teeth and bracing himself, Zach activated Phase Shield. Abruptly, the already bright day became even brighter as a brilliant, golden, and beautiful shield sprang into existence in front of and above him, even as he was lying with his back on the dirt. Rather than connect with his flesh, the Defenders of Ziragoth bit into the impenetrable object and were repelled. Yet this didn¡¯t appear to deter them. They continued to try their luck, attacking so fast that each one managed to bite at the shield four or five times in just the 1.2 seconds that the shield remained in existence. The moment it vanished, Zach grabbed his blade, back-rolled into a crouch, then jumped up to his feet¡ªall while waiting for the inevitable pain that would come as a result of the small portion of the damage that would be returned to him. He never knew what to expect. Against Moldark, Anelia, and an Elvish scout, it had been minor. Against Ziragoth, it had been his eye and his arm. And now, against Ziragoth¡¯s minions, it was a combination of a headache, a spurt of blood from his nose, more blood that leaked out of both sides of his mouth, a terrible pain in one of his ribs, and the feeling like Spider had just beaten the shit out of him in Angelica¡¯s all over again. Even still, it was nothing compared to what their daddy had done. Gods-cursed dragon! Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he risked a quick glance down and saw a bright, but thin red stain on his tunic. Was that all? He chuckled. After everything he¡¯d been through, this really was just a joke to him. I¡¯m okay, he told himself. I¡¯m still okay. I¡¯ve got this. Deep breath, Zach. Deep breath. Having only just returned to his feet, he was unsurprised to see that B and D were both already advancing towards him, as mobs did not understand the concept of a ¡°timeout.¡± With a groan, Zach was reluctantly forced to admit to himself that he was in way, way too much pain to continue dancing with them until it subsided a bit further. For the moment, he desperately needed to reset. He needed at least a few Gods-be-damned seconds to just¡­to pull himself together. His rib was sending the weirdest pain signal he¡¯d ever felt. It was like a ripping feeling combined with a muscle ache, and it hurt more when he stood in some positions than others. His nose was also stinging, and his head was pounding. I need a few seconds, Gods dammit! With 66 points into constitution, if he could take himself out of combat for just a short while, he would begin to heal on his own via passive HP regeneration¡ªat least according to what Fylwen had told him. The woman might¡¯ve been a liar, but he doubted she¡¯d been lying about that. As long as his damage wasn¡¯t overly severe, he would heal a tiny bit every five seconds even without the help of a healer. And he doubted his current aches counted as ¡°severe.¡± All right. I know what to do. A mere instant before the two drooling, vicious mobs slammed their jaws shut and ate him alive, Zach activated Phase Blink: twice for good measure. A moment before activation, the entirety of his vision was filled with the dark insides of two opened mouths right next to one another, along with four rows of hideously sharp teeth. Then, the world simply changed around him, and they were gone. Now, he spun around quickly, and he saw both of them, a fair bit of distance away much farther up the hill along with the other adventurers. Despite having essentially vanished, they knew exactly where he was in a way that was typical of mobs. Almost robotically, they spun around to face him. Then they began rushing forward in his direction just as a one-two chorus of sonic booms filled the world, and this time, Zach did make a few of the adventurers jump. I wonder how much time all of that just cost me, Zach thought, becoming anxious. He stole a peek at his remaining duration of Unleashed Phase, and he was really not pleased by what he saw.
Unleashed Phase Duration 4:55 Remaining
Zach swore. Between his use of Phase Shield, Phase Slash, and his double Phase Blink, he had burned up way too much time. At this point, he was practically hemorrhaging it. Yet he had to use just a little bit more, as there was this intense ringing in his ear, and he could tell he wasn¡¯t ready to continue the fight yet. It¡¯d be in his best interest to again Phase Blink, only this time, he could use three of them, and then he¡¯d recuperate with the distance he¡¯d gained, which would enable him to¡ªwhat the fuck? Tell me she isn¡¯t¡­ ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡± Zach shouted angrily. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to rescue me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna!¡± Kalana shouted, dropping whatever it was she¡¯d been doing to rush over to him. Zach watched as she zipped along down the hill at the speed expected of an Elvish warrior. Yet, now that he was in Phase Level 2, he could actually see it. It was fast, but he could clearly trace the motion with his eyes as she navigated her way down the hill and reached him in less than half a second. ¡°Kal, don¡¯t baby me,¡± he said to her. She was now standing by his side, and she¡¯d placed an arm on his shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m just helping.¡± He sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t need help. Believe it or not, this is like my six-hundredth life-or-death fight this week. I¡¯m so used to this exact situation right now that I¡¯m honestly not even scared anymore. Actually, I¡¯m not scared at all. I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m not scared at all,¡± he finished in a confused, disoriented whisper. As Zach spoke those words, he was actually surprised by just how true they were. He really wasn¡¯t scared. Like, at all. He¡¯d just been in this situation too many times now. Then again, there¡¯d been times before when he¡¯d thought he¡¯d purged himself of fear only for something worse to come along and rattle him, so it was totally possible he just hadn¡¯t yet gotten to the point of breaking down. But really, even having come so close to death just now, he¡­he didn¡¯t feel it. He was detached from it in a way. Was there a part of him that didn¡¯t care if he died? Something deep within him? Well, he should care, because if he died, how would he tell everyone about the¡ª ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª WORLD EATER! REMEMBER, ZACH! WORLD EATER! REMEMBER, ZACH! WORLD EATER! REMEMBER, ZACH! WORLD EATER! REMEMBER, ZACH! WORLD EATER! REMEMBER, ZACH! WORLD EATER! REMEMBER, ZACH! ¡ª ¡ª ¡­mom? ¡ª WORLD EATER! REMEMBER, ZACH! WORLD EATER! REMEMBER, ZACH! DRAGON SQUIRE! DRAGON SQUIRE! ¡ª ¡ª The¡­what? Zach shook his head to clear the confusion that had settled over him. What had he been¡­? Oh, right! While he might feel sort of detached right now when it came to a fear of dying, what he was not detached from was the feeling of shame that it would bring him if Kalana acted like his personal babysitter. For this reason, as she pulled him close to her, gave him a big kiss on the side of his cheek, and then took off at a run in the direction of one of the two mobs heading towards him, he clenched his teeth so hard that he was amazed he didn¡¯t break one. ¡°Kal, stop!¡± he seethed at her. ¡°Nope!¡± Feeling worthless, he watched as she used some ridiculously awesome ability that he couldn¡¯t believe was real to turn her entire body into a flaming missile that shot forward at a speed almost as fast as Phase Blink. His mouth agape, Zach stared dumbfounded as she literally burned through Cursed Defender of Ziragoth D for 19,211 damage, pulling aggro off Zach and reappearing from within the flames behind the mob. ¡°Sorry,¡± she said, her voice becoming cute in a way that made it so, so hard to be mad at her. She knew exactly what she was doing, though. Why did it work so well? Zach made a ¡°hmph¡± sound as she blew him another kiss then ran away with the mob¡ªhis mob¡ªchasing her. She¡¯s having fun right now, Zach thought. No wonder Angelica said her spirit was right for the buff. She¡¯s actually enjoying herself. Kalana, it seemed, was so far ahead of the other adventurers here that this was almost like a game to her. She wasn¡¯t worried about dying at all, was she? Unless he was mistaken, it actually seemed like the only fear Kalana seemed to have was the fear that something might happen to Zach, which incidentally was his own fear in reverse. ¡°I¡­I could¡¯ve handled them both,¡± Zach grunted, not caring if that was bullshit or not. More loudly, he shouted, ¡°Kal, bring it back here right now. Give me my mob back, or I swear to all the Gods, I¡¯m going to let this one kill me out of spite!¡± ¡°Nah-uh!¡± she called back to him as she continued leading it away. Zach, as exhausted as he was, chased after her back up the hill with his own mob following in tow. Now, the two of them rejoined the others, their mobs trailing behind each of them. Gods, they must have looked like such absolute morons to the rest of the world right now, playing a game of fucking Ziragoth tag right in the middle of a life-or-death battle. And Zach didn¡¯t even care, either. ¡°Kal, give me my mob back.¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Kal, I¡¯m not joking around. I said give me my¡ª¡± ¡°Are you two seriously fighting over that?¡± rasped Mr. Oren, whose face was so drenched with sweat and even some blood that that Zach almost didn¡¯t recognize him at first. He looked like he was having trouble staying on his feet. It was a sobering reminder that things were really bad right now, and that what Zach had just done was childish and stupid. But there was more to it, too. Mr. Oren was¡­Zach did not recognize him the way he was right now. It was as though all the fight had left him. His back was slightly hunched over, his hand was barely gripping his weapon, and he was striking for less than 500 damage. Even more unsettling, he appeared to be crying: to the extent that his entire face was completely soaked with tears. It sent a sense of wrongness rippling down Zach¡¯s spine. He never imagined he could have seen his stoic science teacher looking this way. It was more emotion than the man had ever before displayed. Strangely, both Maric and Alixa now also wore a similar expression. Zach immediately filled with alarm and a sense of confusion. Why was he crying? What was going on? Looking around, he could see that the GSG was no longer putting in much effort either, and their demoralization was such that they were hardly even bothering to defend themselves. It was as though they¡¯d all decided in unison to just ¡°give up¡± and stop trying. But why? That wasn¡¯t the kind of people they were. What the hell had just happened? Once again, Zach was gone for like half a minute, and now the battle was just about over¡ªin the enemy¡¯s favor. ¡°Zach, listen to me,¡± Mr. Oren said, his voice coming out as almost a whimper. This was not the Mr. Oren he knew. It was disturbing to hear him this way. The sound of pain as he spoke was like nothing he could have ever imagined from the man. ¡°What is it, Alex?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°I want you and Zach to take Fluffles and your friends from Archian Prime out of here and back to the raid camp. Go now.¡± Zach narrowed his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re coming with us.¡± ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t come with you, Zach, my man.¡± ¡°Alex,¡± Kalana whispered, ¡°you gotta. We wouldn¡¯t leave here without you.¡± He sighed. ¡°I¡¯m going to die here with the rest of my guild. We can¡¯t beat these adds, but we delayed the dragon so that we still stand a chance.¡± He reached into his lab coat and pulled out the document that Zach had given to him. ¡°Take it.¡± Zach firmly shook his head. He didn¡¯t know why. Despite the fact that he¡¯d already planned to ditch Mr. Oren and the others if things came down to their worst outcome, it was only now, as the situation deteriorated even further, that he realized he couldn¡¯t actually bring himself to do it. He couldn¡¯t leave Mr. Oren here any more than he could leave Kalana. ¡°Don¡¯t give up yet. Please.¡± Mr. Oren laughed. ¡°It¡¯s already over. Donovan and Zephyr are dead. Everyone in the GSG here wants to die with them.¡± For the briefest of moments, Zach felt a shooting pain race through his heart as he looked around frantically, refusing to believe what he was hearing. But now, as he scanned the area more carefully, he could just see the man, whose body was partially obscured by two burly adventurers. A jolt went through him as he saw that Donovan was lying there on his belly, face down into the ground, and now a rush of his own emotions threatened to surface. But then, a mere instant later, he rolled his eyes and released them as a chuckle, which seemed to confuse the hell out of Mr. Oren. This only made him laugh harder. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°When did it happen?¡± Zach asked. His reaction seemed to be really throwing Mr. Oren off; it was as though his science teacher could not believe Zach¡¯s lack of compassion. ¡°A few moments ago, but¡ª¡± ¡°When specifically?¡± Zach asked, dropping down to avoid the chomping teeth of the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth B that had just caught up to him. Kalana, too, reengaged hers¡ªor rather, the one she¡¯d stolen from him. ¡°When?¡± Zach asked again. ¡°About a minute ago.¡± Zach sighed with relief. ¡°Is that why everyone looks like they¡¯re about to give up?¡± ¡°Zach, what¡¯re you¡ª?¡± He held up his hand. ¡°Relax, Mr. Oren. He¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°Fine?¡± Mr. Oren looked at him as though he were mad, but Zach ignored it. Raising his voice, he shouted, ¡°Olivir! Hey!¡± When no reply came, he craned his neck to look at the top of this hill, where Olivir and Kolona were back on their feet, still clearly exhausted, and they both appeared to be doing whatever little they could to assist Grundor and Eldora, who were still fighting two of the Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth, having downed one of their three. ¡°Olivir!¡± Zach called again to no reply. In total, he had to shout three more times to draw his friend¡¯s attention. ¡°Uhm, yeah? Are you okay, Zach? Sorry, I¡¯m a bit out of it and focusing on my fight up here.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± ¡°Do you need me?¡± Zach gestured with his chin. ¡°Donovan and Zephyr died.¡± ¡°Oh, no kidding? I can¡¯t see from here. They¡¯re not decapitated, right?¡± Zach jumped backwards, side-stepped, and then quickly twisted his hips to avoid three, successive claw attacks, each faster than the last. Then he took a moment to examine both of the corpses. ¡°No, their heads are fine. Donovan looks like he got pierced through the ah¡­shit, I¡¯m not a doctor. Lungs? Heart? I don¡¯t know. And Zephyr¡¯s throat was ripped off.¡± Olivir raised his fist and then gave a thumbs-up. ¡°Okay, no problem. I can come down there and bring them back. They probably won¡¯t wake up for ten hours, though.¡± At this, every head turned to face the vampire; the adventurers, who had all but given up, seemed to become just a little bit more alive as Olivir scurried down the hill over to Donovan, then dropped into a crouch by his side. ¡°I need to be quick. Grundor needs me,¡± he said. ¡°Is this really possible?¡± Alixa asked disbelievingly, a growing hope in her voice. She pursed her lips a moment. ¡°I don¡¯t want to have false hope. I don¡¯t want to believe that¡ª¡± ¡°Owe, fuck,¡± Donvan grumbled. ¡°Who¡¯s biting me?¡± ¡°Wow, another fast-waker,¡± Olivir said with a laugh, his mouth and lips covered in blood. He quickly moved over to Zephyr, then plunged his fangs into the charismatic guild-leader. A few moments later, he too began to moan and stir. This, as the members of the GSG watched on in utter disbelief and amazement, as though they simply could not bring themselves to believe that a miracle on this level was possible in what was typically a very cruel world. Even Zach, who had been brought back himself, found it hard to believe. But if there was any doubt at all, it was soon dispelled as Donovan rose straight to his feet, growled, swung his axe at the face of one of the mobs hard enough to knock out four teeth and deal 22,000 damage, then immediately collapsed back onto his ass as if out of sheer exhaustion while the others continued to gaze upon him as though too stricken with some kind of emotional paralysis to speak. ¡°What in the fuck kind of formation is this?¡± he growled, trying but failing to stand. ¡°I had to come back to life just to die again of humiliation if this is the kind of shit you all pull if I drop. Get back in the fight!¡± And with that, the adventurers all released a simultaneous cheer with a renewed spirit. This, as Zach nodded his thanks to Olivir, who ran his way back up the hill, but not before pausing and saying, ¡°Oh, don¡¯t die a second time. I can¡¯t do it twice.¡± The energy and enthusiasm among the GSG ramped up from a zero to a ten in a single instant as Zephyr began to snore and Donovan continued to try returning to his feet while angrily belittling everyone else. For just a brief moment, a sense of hope came upon all of the adventurers: one that Zach could actually feel. But it was spoiled somewhat by reality, for he knew damn well their core situation hadn¡¯t really changed. Much like before, they were still barely capable of holding everything at bay, only now that they were down a tank, Mr. Oren had to step in for Donovan. If not for that ability on his lab coat and quick reflexes, he would not have lasted ten seconds. As things were, they were pouring heals into him so fast it was only a matter of time before one of the healers drew aggro. Between being belittled by Kalana, finding himself once again useless and inept, and having given these people hope when he knew it was likely they¡¯d have to watch their leader die a second time, Zach was really starting to lose his patience. His temper was flaring, his muscles were tightening, and a rush of anger, stress, and just downright, general crankiness was starting to work its way into his system. That was why, even at the risk of his own death, he decided he wanted to start hitting this fucking dragon-spawned bastard back. Even if he could only scratch the thing, he was done hopping around it without offering any kind of retribution. Yes, he was exhausted, and yes, he knew it would only further exhaust him while doing barely any damage in the process. But even still, he needed to vent some of his frustration on this bipedal, freakish, lizard-avian-hybrid thing or so help him dear Gods above, he was going to lose it. Needing to rid himself of some of this rage, he waited for his moment to strike, and he found it rather quickly. Upon pivoting his way out of a wide swing from the mob¡¯s left claws, Zach swung his sword with every last drop of his might despite knowing how wasteful it was of his already depleted stamina. And yet, sadly, for all his effort, he only managed to inflict 2,100 damage. But then something strange happened. The moment his sword made contact with the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth, he lifted his chin, opened his mouth wide, and he inhaled a deep, refreshing, rapturous breath of fresh air as, seemingly out of nowhere, his energy returned to him in a flood. At the same time, for about half a second, a dark green aura appeared in an outline around his body from head to toe before very quickly losing its form and rising up into the air as a quickly dissipating mist. What was that? Zach wondered, suddenly feeling renewed and refreshed. He felt amazing all of a sudden. It was like he¡¯d just had an energy drink injected directly into his soul, or like he¡¯d just rested ten hours in a parallel dimension where only one second had passed in this one. Bobbing and weaving his way around another four-strike combination, Zach whacked the mob in the head once again, this time for only 1,201. Then, for the second time in a row, the dark green aura returned, covering his entire body before quickly vanishing, refreshing him even further. Now, he felt similar to how he did right after using Unleashed Phase. He was fully charged up: at his maximum. Even as he was busy dodging several retaliatory attacks from the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth, he took a moment to look around and see which member of the GSG was casting this on him. When he realized it wasn¡¯t any of them, he finally remembered the abilities on his sword. Of course! It said something about an 8.5% chance to restore 25% of his stamina. At the time, he¡¯d been so amazed by the sword itself that he hadn¡¯t really appreciated just how incredible of an ability this was. Feeling agile and full of energy, rather than wait for the mob to attack him, he decided to lash out at the mob first. He entered into a wild frenzy of swings, no longer concerned about his stamina. He had almost a one in ten chance of activating this ability, right? Well, even ten of his most aggressive strikes were still worth tremendously less stamina than the amount of it he¡¯d regain if the ability triggered. And so, even as he struck for pitiful amounts of damage, he nevertheless crashed his sword into the beast again and again, pausing only to duck or take an evasive step back. Eventually, after about twelve hits, the ability activated a third time, though he was still so close to full energy he barely felt it. Yet something did catch his attention in the very, very corner of his vision. It was a flickering of sorts¡ªfrom one of the displays he had conjured forth. Lowering his eyes, he soon widened them in shock as he saw the time remaining on his current duration of Unleashed Phase.
Unleashed Phase Duration 8:45 Remaining
¡°No fucking way!¡± Zach shouted excitedly, completely ignoring the confused stares he was receiving from the GSG members who were struggling to stay alive and had absolutely no idea what he was on about. Zach blinked a few times just to make absolutely sure what he was seeing was correct. Having using his sword¡¯s ability with full stamina, it appeared to have added time to his current duration of Unleashed Phase. This is fucking incredible. This is¡­this is unbelievable! Biggest game-changer ever! The sheer list of possibilities this would provide him were so numerous that he doubted he could imagine a fraction of them. Now, almost as though he¡¯d traded places with the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth, it was Zach¡¯s turn to enter into a relentless barrage. Becoming far more reckless than he should and nearly losing his head a few times in the process, he began slashing wildly at the mob, not even caring that he barely did enough damage to scratch the thing, let alone draw its blood.
HP 277,076/300,000
Name Cursed Defender of Ziragoth B
Level 90
Again and again and again he hit it, losing track of just how many times he whaled on its stupid face. At one point, he did become too greedy and had to throw himself off to the side as the mob lunged forward so fast that he was nearly caught. But all he did was shoot right back up to his feet and continue his assault. Eventually, he was able to trigger the ability a fourth time. In a stark reversal from such a short while ago, when Zach had been feeling bitter and the other adventurers¡¯ morale had been high, Zach was now the one with high morale and the enthusiasm of the adventurers had once more plummeted. It was similar to the way things had been prior to Donovan¡¯s revival: their mood had yet again turned dark and dejected; a sense of hopelessness and despair was beginning to slowly make its return. For this reason, Zach did feel slightly guilty as, amid their grunts and groans, he began to cheer loudly and wildly. He shut his mouth very quickly after seeing their frustrated, angered glares sent his way, but even still, he couldn¡¯t blame himself for becoming so giddy. This was because, for a terrifying bit, he¡¯d worried that his sword had broken, as he¡¯d delivered a great number of attacks without his ability¡¯s appearance. But then, following dual upwards slashes into his enemy¡¯s face, the dark green aura returned to him twice in a row¡ªthen a third time after another four successful slashes. With the glee of a child getting a new toy, he glanced down to see how much time he had left on Unleashed Phase.
Unleashed Phase Duration 20:45 Remaining
Zach knew he was annoying the other adventurers at this point, because the situation really was, once again, beginning to deteriorate rapidly. Yet, there he stood, amid a sea of gloom and impending death, the lone voice who shouted out, ¡°Oh, hell yeah! This is great!¡± The weary, exhausted-looking members of the GSG, who were barely hanging on by a thread, continued to shoot him glances that alternated between annoyed and confused. They just didn¡¯t get it. They didn¡¯t have any idea how significant this was. Zach wondered: was there an upper-limit to how high he could get this number? Could he, at least in theory, have an Unleashed Phase that lasted for literally days? He needed to know. He needed to find out! And thus, as the avian-lizard hybrid tried to scratch his eyeballs out, Zach bent backwards, then retaliated with a slash across its throat, dealing 910. Then he circled around to its back as it launched a futile bite that stood no chance of connecting. He sliced along with his circling movement, cutting the creature along its midsection for 1,115. Then he delivered three quick strikes for around 1000 damage each, desperate to see that beautiful dark green aura, knowing it was only a matter of time. The mob, not willing to stand by and oblige, made a grunt-like chirp and lunged at him, but Zach hopped off to the side. Then he raised his arms high and brought his blade down on top of its scalp for 1,127. It retaliated with its left claws, and he took a quick step backwards. Then he rushed forward again to meet it, and now, he unleashed three slashes one after the next, knowing one of them just had to give him that sexy green aura. The first slash hit for 995: but no aura. The second slash hit for 1,027: but still no aura. And the third slash caused a gigantic pillar of fire to simply explode into existence: one with a flame that was such a dark shade of blue that it bordered on black. Totally unprepared for anything like this to happen, Zach yelped and dashed backwards as the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth was engulfed so thoroughly from head to toe that there was no part of the mob that could still be seen; with a scary, audible whoosh, there was now just a dark pillar of majestically colored flame: an inferno that covered the entirety of the two-legged, clawed beast like a custom-tailored, form-fitting blanket made out of pure fire. And it struck, somehow, for 277,581. +9500xp Speechless, Zach could only stand there like an idiot with his sword still held in front of him defensively as the fire vanished into nothingness. When it did, the mob was not left behind in its wake; wherever the fire had gone, the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth had gone with it, too. Swallowing nervously, Zach asked, ¡°Did anyone else just see that?¡± The way in which the GSG, including a limping Donovan was gawking at him, he could tell that they indeed had. ¡°Kid,¡± one of them said, ¡°I¡¯ll make it 20 mil for that sword. Double my previous offer.¡± Zach grinned. ¡°Not for sale, sorry.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Not surprised. Well, I guess I wouldn¡¯t have any use for it in the grave anyway.¡± Then, in what was the most amusing, yet bizarre mismatch of situation and tone that Zach had ever witnessed, nearly three-dozen voices all unenthusiastically, exhaustedly, and gloomily shouted out the word ¡°grats¡± to Mr. Oren before promptly returning their attention to the mobs they were fighting. Looking over to where his former science teacher was busy deflecting claw-slashes away from his weary, recently resurrected guild-leader, Zach could now see that the man had indeed leveled-up. And despite his best efforts to the contrary, he could not help but flare up with envy and a level of self-loathing that ruined his mood by what he saw. All at once, he was reminded of how much he could not measure up or compare to other adventurers. There were simply no two ways about it. What he saw was definitive proof that something was wrong with him. No matter what Olivir said. This much was beyond doubt, as floating in the air before Mr. Oren, Zach finally got to see what a proper level-up was supposed to look like. Level Up! +6 str (149) +4 con (125) +3 dex (143) +2 spd (101) It was unbelievable. Look at all those points! How the fuck was it that Zach¡¯s best level ups were the ones where he got, like, maybe three points maximum? How, when other adventurers would get fifteen or more like it was nothing? How was he supposed to keep up at this rate? He might have been level 17, but stats-wise, he was probably like level 6 or something. It was just so frustrating. Zach would kill just to get one level up like that just one time in his entire damn life. Of course, in fairness, most people would kill just to get a single point into any stat at ever, since only a fraction of a percent of people would ever know what it was like to have anything other than a 1 in every single stat. So, on that level, Zach realized he should be grateful. He just hated how far behind everyone he was falling. Trying his best not to think about his stats, Zach darted his eyes around for another mob to kill. And as he searched for something to attack, it was only now, while he was completely free from having to defend himself, that he was able to really take a good, serious look at the state the other adventurers were in. Having had to put so much of his attention and focus on the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth B, he hadn¡¯t really been able to appreciate just how terrible everyone else was doing. He¡¯d known they were having a rough time, but he didn¡¯t think it was this bad. Regardless¡­he was sure they¡¯d be fine, right? They were the GSG: the best of the best. They would pull through this somehow. No, they won¡¯t, he thought. Everyone is about to die, and I¡¯m in such a state of denial I can¡¯t even accept it. With nothing in front of him trying to rip his head off, the thought caused Zach¡¯s mood to transition so fast that he wasn¡¯t prepared for the sickening, awful sensation of dread that entered into the pit of his stomach. It was true, wasn¡¯t it? He was in denial. Here he was, behaving like he always did, getting upset over stats, cheering on cool abilities, and acting like these weren¡¯t the last moments he would ever get to see Mr. Oren and the members of the GSG alive. What if¡­what if they line every mob up for me and I just use a hundred wave slashes or something? He wasn¡¯t prepared to accept what his eyes were telling him was true: what even someone as inexperienced as him knew deep down was going to be the natural conclusion here if things continued on as they were. Maric, for example, who was the best tank that they had, was now bleeding from a head wound and looked like he was struggling just to keep his shield raised. And Alixa, who had been expertly locking down mobs, was now bent over on her hands and knees, panting for breath while her book was lying face down on the grass beside her. He didn¡¯t want to accept what was plainly taking place all around him. Everywhere he looked, it was the same story. Anyone not named ¡°Kalana¡± was getting obliterated. The fact no one else had died yet was nothing short of a miracle. But it was only a matter of time. Was there anything¡ªanything¡ªhe could do? What about his new sword? Maybe he could kill them with that? It could damn-near one hit these level-90 creatures. But that¡¯ll take too long. They¡¯ll all be dead before then¡­ Zach cursed aloud as he tried to think of something he could do to steer things in a different direction. He needed to think up some kind of plan, because right now, as things stood, it was looking like Zach¡¯s only chance to save his friends revolved around him getting super lucky and hitting the sword jackpot for more dark-blue flames. Though technically possible, the odds of that saving any of them were slim to none, as there were still twelve of these sons of bitches left, not including the two that Grundor and Eldora were still dealing with, and the chance of that ability activating per hit was only 0.5%. Does my luck stat influence that? he wondered. It may very well have. Zach didn¡¯t know. But even if it did, it still likely would not be enough damage output. What he needed was a consistent, steady source of damage. This led him to wonder: with over twenty minutes remaining on Unleashed Phase, maybe he could spam his Phase Slash or Wave Slash at the mobs. It was a thought born of a growing desperation yet, in all honesty, he was not dumb enough to really believe it viable. Even if his remaining duration on Unleashed Phase was a year, his abilities still weren¡¯t going to cut it, as most of the mobs still had more than half their HP remaining, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to hit hard enough for it to matter. It would be a different story, maybe, if Donovan wasn¡¯t so weakened, Zephyr wasn¡¯t incapacitated, and Alixa¡¯s crowd control was still working, but that, sadly, was the current state of the situation. And speaking of Alixa, she now looked too run-down to continue casting spells even if they would work. Right now, she was more or less hiding behind the few tanks that were still on their feet, and the healers, who had somehow miraculously not gotten aggro yet, looked like they were about to collapse into e-debt if pressed any harder. As Zach fought with his brain to provide him with something, anything he could use to pull everyone out of this nightmare, he became so desperate to cling to some kind of hope that his ideas began to verge on the ridiculous. He¡¯d begun to think so far outside the box that one plan involved using binoculars, Boundless, and Phase Rescue. Having become so lost in thought, he failed to realize that Donovan had been staring at him. It was only upon hearing the large, plate-armor-wearing guild-leader clearing his throat that he managed to catch Zach¡¯s attention. Meeting the man¡¯s eyes, he knew right away what Donovan was about to say¡ªand by the Gods, he did not want to hear it. Yet hear it he did, and the words sent waves of nausea barreling into him. ¡°It¡¯s time for you to get going, kiddo,¡± Donovan said with a grunt, finally managing to stand back up to his full height. ¡°And I ain¡¯t coming back this go around.¡± Mr. Oren looked at Donovan, sadness in his eyes. ¡°This time, let me drop first.¡± He guffawed. ¡°Naw, I¡¯m first again.¡± Any lingering morale that the GSG might have had seemed to be lost. Everyone was on their last legs, and the Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth were on the verge of victory. Mr. Oren, despite displaying some impressive swordplay¡ªthat Zach honestly, truly thought he could beat if the stats between them were equal¡ªwas starting to bleed profusely from the back of his head and several deep, unsettling gashes on his torso as the healers were struggling to keep up. His lab coat was ripped in so many places that Zach was surprised the equipment hadn¡¯t suffered a full break, and his cat-eye glasses, which he was still wearing on his face, had a large crack in each lens. Blood was dripping down each nostril and gliding over his cheek, and he now held his sword in one arm, as his opposite one was half severed. His arm has been torn nearly off just like mine was, and he¡¯s not even crying out in pain like I did. Despite Donovan¡¯s command to leave, Zach did not budge. He opened his mouth to offer some kind of rebuttal, yet he closed it as Donovan glared threateningly at him and cut him off. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear it, whatever it is. Get going. Scram.¡± Donovan wasn¡¯t the only one to ask this of him. Even as he fought valiantly, offering what little of himself had left to give, Mr. Oren turned his eyes on Zach, and with a stern face and strict voice, he said, ¡°You need to go now, Zach. You, Kalana, Fluffles, and your friends. Thanks for fighting with us to the last minute, my man. But it¡¯s time now. Listen to me and leave.¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°Me and Kal can keep going.¡± ¡°I said scram!¡± Donvan shouted, his voice loud and intimidating. ¡°Get lost! Or I¡¯ll kick your ass out of here myself!¡± Defiantly, Zach remained where he was, and he wasn¡¯t the only one, either, because so too did Fluffles, who was breathing very heavily while he scratched at Maric¡¯s heels, making loud, agitated meows. ¡°Daddy, no!¡± he cried. ¡°Daddy not allowed to die and leave Fluffles. Please no. You come with Zach and Fluffles.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my little guy,¡± the large, broad-chested adventurer said. Even as he spoke, one of the mobs he was tanking managed to smash through his giant shield using its head as a battering ram, causing a full break which resulted in the shield vanishing into nothingness. ¡°But either we all escape together, or we all sink together.¡± ¡°I die with daddy,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°What about Zach? Who will watch over him?¡± Fluffles looked over to Zach and met his eyes. He meowed. ¡°Zach make Fluffles¡¯ daddy come with us.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can force him,¡± Zach whispered. ¡°I don¡¯t see why those of you who can outrun the mobs don¡¯t just do it.¡± ¡°And leave the rest of us behind?¡± Donovan asked. ¡°Not happening, kiddo.¡± ¡°But you want me to leave you all behind?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not fair.¡± Donovan spat. ¡°Life ain¡¯t fair. Deal with it.¡± Zach frowned. This was normally the part where the sadness would kick in. But it didn¡¯t. This, he found odd. Why didn¡¯t he feel it? He was more frightened than anything: and not for his life, and not for their lives, either. He was frightened at how little he was feeling right now. Upon the realization that every single one of them was about to die, something inside of him had changed. He felt numb. He felt drained. He wanted to save his friends. He wanted them to live so badly that it hurt. The hurt was there. It was. It was inside of him. But for some reason, the hurt could not seem to manifest physically as it normally would have. It was blocked behind¡­behind what? He wasn¡¯t sure. Maybe I just know how this will end¡­ Of course that was it. Life never threw him a bone. It was always one disappointment after the next. If there was a tragedy around the corner, it never failed to show up with his name on it. He should have known things would end this way. A simple trip to put the dragon to sleep, and now he was going to lose all the friends he¡¯d made since his life was uprooted. Well, not all. He¡¯d still have Kalana, who mattered more to him than anything, and Olivir and Kolona, too. Rian and Lienne as well. But boy, he¡¯d be losing a whole bunch in one swift blow. They were part of an overall ¡°adventuring¡± family, which really was the only family he had left after the death of his father. And Mr. Oren was now the closest he had to a living relative. That was why he was so confused. Where was the sadness he knew he should be feeling? Why had he suddenly gone so numb? ¡°Why don¡¯t¡­why don¡¯t I feel anything?¡± he asked calmly, standing completely still and watching Mr. Oren struggle. He didn¡¯t even bother to help. He just stood there for a reason unknown to him. ¡°Why am I not sad that you¡¯re going to die?¡± Mr. Oren smiled of all things as a chunk of flesh was bitten out of his right shoulder blade. ¡°It¡¯s because you don¡¯t believe this is real yet.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t?¡± He nodded. ¡°You don¡¯t think me and Donovan can die. You won¡¯t feel it for a few weeks. Trust me: I¡¯ve been where you¡¯re standing. Now please go. I don¡¯t want you to witness this. Then it¡¯ll take you years to forget.¡± Zach remained where he was. He could not bring himself to leave. He realized Mr. Oren was right. He was in total, complete refusal to believe that this was real. That the entire GSG could die here in front of him. Not when they had vampires. Not when they had to kill Ziragoth tomorrow. Who would lead them with Donovan and Zephyr dead? Certainly not the political guilds. Then who? Even though he understood what was happening, it didn¡¯t feel real to him: at least not until just now, as Mr. Oren¡¯s words somehow made this real to him. ¡°Please,¡± he said, and now he finally found some semblance of feeling within himself, as muted as it was. ¡°Fight back. Fight harder.¡± Donovan was once again swinging that giant axe of his around, and he¡¯d even managed to take one of the mobs off of Mr. Oren, but the two of them were just in such bad, terrible shape. In fact, no one really looked like they were in good enough condition to continue on. They were all too low level. All of them. Well¡­everyone except Kalana, who despite being only level 66, was somehow more powerful than even Donovan. Maybe it was due to her Elvish blood or maybe it was something else, but even now, she still hadn¡¯t broken a sweat. In fact, she was fighting harder than at any point since the adds had spawned, likely rebelling against the same fate that Zach could not himself accept. Zach watched as she became angry, hitting the mob she¡¯d stolen from him even harder, and punishing the lizard-like, avian-headed beast using faster, vengeful strikes. Eventually, she finished it off, earning him another easy +9500xp.
LEVEL UP! 18 (17)
Speed +1 (83)
XP Required for Level 19 80000
(LEGENDARY UNIQUE) Doomsday Slash I Acquired!
Zach felt nothing at leveling up: nothing at seeing he¡¯d learned a new ability. Why would he? Unless it was something that could save everyone, what good was it? What good was he? Also, another one-point level up? Fucking great. Why not? He was never going to catch up. If only he was stronger, he wouldn¡¯t be weighing whether or not to flee and leave Mr. Oren to be ripped apart by Ziragoth¡¯s creatures. He would instead be saving them all, the same way they were trying to save the people of North Bastia. ¡°Grats,¡± Donovan coughed out, blood on his lips as he was once more becoming gravely wounded despite only having just been brought back. ¡°Now get the fuck out of here.¡± ¡°Go,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Now! And¡­grats.¡± Kesten, Alixa, Maric, and numerous members of the GSG all began shouting at him to leave, but still, he would not budge. It was only when Kalana at last came to his side and gently grabbed his wrist that he finally felt his spirit break. ¡°Kal?¡± he asked, shocked beyond words. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you agree with them asking us to¡ª¡± ¡°We gotta go, Zach,¡± she said, interrupting him. ¡°I can¡¯t fight twelve of them at once.¡± ¡°But you were on the side of staying,¡± he said breathlessly, unable to believe what he was hearing. She hugged him. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna, but they¡¯re right. We can¡¯t save them.¡± ¡°Olivir and Kolona won¡¯t abandon them,¡± Zach said firmly. Yet, to his utter disbelief, he, Kolona, Grundor, and a limping Eldora were all making their way down the hill and heading towards him, and in their stead, a few adventurers had peeled the two mobs they¡¯d been fighting off of them. Olivir opened his mouth to speak, but Zach pointed threateningly at him. ¡°Don¡¯t say it.¡± ¡°Zach¡­¡± ¡°Olivir, don¡¯t!¡± ¡°I won¡¯t let Kolona die, and you won¡¯t let Kalana die. We have to go now while they can still hold these things off.¡± Zach gritted his teeth. ¡°Aren¡¯t the people in the raid camp watching video of this live? How can they watch this and do nothing?¡± ¡°I promise it¡¯s not easy for them,¡± Mr. Oren said. He weakly blocked a strike from the cursed defender in front of him, and now his summoned blade was knocked right out of his hands, leaving him defenseless. ¡°But for the good of everyone else, they know better than to come here and¡ª¡± Mr. Oren was tackled to the ground as a Cursed Defender of Ziragoth began gnawing into his flesh, almost getting his throat. With a loud roar, Donovan bashed the thing over the head with his axe and managed to knock it off. But then two jumped up on top of him, and somehow, he continued to remain standing, at least for the moment. ¡°Get the fuck out of here right now!¡± Donovan yelled. ¡°Or I¡¯ll never forgive you!¡± ¡°Kalana!¡± Mr. Oren shouted. ¡°Drag him if he won¡¯t go!¡± To Zach¡¯s horror, Kalana nodded and actually appeared to be willing to follow his instructions. All of a sudden, her hand tightened around his wrist to the point of pain. ¡°We¡¯re leaving, Zach,¡± she stated, her tone giving him the impression that this was not up for negotiation. Panicked, Zach struggled to come up with some kind of idea, even despite having already thought through so many possibilities. ¡°Fine!¡± he lied. ¡°I¡¯ll go. Just let me¡­let me try one last thing. Please.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Kal, please.¡± ¡°Zach, I love you, and that¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°Just give me five seconds, Kal. Just five!¡± When she did not release him, he screamed at her. ¡°Just give me five fucking seconds! Please!¡± With a serious, yet pained look in her eyes, she let go of his hand, and with that, she whispered, ¡°Five seconds. And then I¡¯ll drag you.¡± ¡°Deal!¡± Zach looked around. One by one, the adventurers were falling. Zach had no idea if any were dead yet or merely just bleeding out. This really was the end for them. He couldn¡¯t believe it had come to this. It was only supposed to be a Gods-damn little excursion to put the dragon to sleep. It wasn¡¯t supposed to happen this way! Zach could tell from the immense look of unbearable guilt in Olivir¡¯s eyes that he must have felt responsible even though it clearly wasn¡¯t his fault. I have to do something! I have to! ¡°Zach,¡± Kalana said, ¡°it¡¯s been¡ª¡± ¡°I know, I know! Just one more second, please!¡± Even if he had ten minutes, he knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to think up anything. So instead, he brought up his list of abilities, desperately trying to see what this new one did fast enough that he didn¡¯t end up being dragged away by his girlfriend while trying to determine if it could be useful. And then he despaired, as it was one of those ones that had like a massive amount of text that he couldn¡¯t possibly read right now. Gods-be-damned! Why did a slashing ability require this long of an explanation? Hell, this wasn¡¯t an ability: it was a fucking homework assignment! Under so much pressure, he decided there was no point in reading any of it. After all, it was just another ¡°slash.¡± How complicated could it possibly be? Rather than waste his time, he simply took note of two things: the first was that its exertion cost was ¡°none,¡± and the second was that its cooldown was¡­huh? Wait a second. Was he reading it right, or did that say ¡°five years?¡± As in: five entire calendar years. The hell? Whatever. You know what? It didn¡¯t matter. Either way, nothing mattered at this point, so whatever. ¡°Okay, here I go. I¡¯m going to try something really quickly.¡± Kalana frowned. ¡°No! You can¡¯t just¡ª¡± ¡°Love you,¡± he said with a chuckle, and this time, he was the one who blew her a kiss as he managed to evade her attempt to grab his arm. Then he dashed forward with his blade raised and ready to strike. ¡°Zach!¡± she shouted. ¡°Come back here! Don¡¯t let them aggro you!¡± Powered by nothing but hopelessness and a willingness to try literally anything at this point, Zach decided to just activate this new ability without even reading it and hope for the best. He had no idea if it required a target, or if it was like Wave Slash and could hit multiple enemies. Therefore, he decided to mentally choose a target without knowing whether or not it was required so that, if it did, he¡¯d have given it one; in this case, he targeted the mob called Cursed Defender of Ziragoth A, which had pinned down Mr. Oren and was nearly about to rip out his throat. Of all those whose lives were in jeopardy, it was Mr. Oren¡¯s he wanted to save the most. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to save them all: but more so that if he could only choose one, it had to be him. Here we go. He didn¡¯t know if this ability did anything useful. He didn¡¯t know if this ability would help. He didn¡¯t even know if he¡¯d read that last part incorrectly or if he¡¯d indeed actually have to wait five entire years before he could use it again. But either way, he went for it. What harm could there be in trying? And this¡­ This was the moment that changed everything for him. In all fairness, no matter what he¡¯d tell himself later, deep down, he¡¯d always know that, if given the opportunity to replay events, he¡¯d do it over again just the same. If some other option did exist, he doubted he¡¯d ever be able to think of it. And yes, this may have been the moment he locked himself into a path he never wanted to travel, but at least¡­at least he¡¯d done what he believed to be right. Thus, with fear, sadness, and desperation in his heart, Zachys Calador, who so greatly craved power and some semblance of control over his life, called upon the new ability he had acquired, which would grant him one in exchange for the other. ¡°Doomsday Slash!¡± he shouted. By now, Zach was accustomed to abilities that seemed to seize control of his body such that they made him recite certain words, perform certain body movements, and attack in certain ways. Although it never quite truly felt ¡°normal,¡± he had gotten about as used to it as he was likely going to get: or at least so he¡¯d thought. But there was a difference, he would now learn, between a brief, fleeting moment of lapse of control, and something far more profound such as the power he had just called upon. What came to be after he spoke those two words was an experience so terrifying that his only impulse was to scream¡ªsomething he simply could not do, as his entire body was taken from his control, and he became little more than a passenger to his own self: a puppet pulled by his own strings. Zach¡¯s right, sword-wielding hand shot up and above him all on its own, pointing his blade high at the sky. Yet when control did not return to him right away, the first rush of fear entered into him. There was simply no describing the panic and horror that came with having absolutely no grasp over one¡¯s actions. So now, with his arm raised and his sword pointing upwards, he remained frozen in place like a statue, unable to so much as blink. And then, just as he feared he¡¯d somehow petrified himself, something strange started to happen in the sky. It appeared to be¡­darkening. And it was at this point that he began to truly wish he¡¯d had the time to read the ability¡¯s description. To begin with, there had only been a few clouds that had dotted the otherwise empty sky today. The sun was stronger than usual this time of year, and the heat was record-breaking and intense. It was only slightly half past noon, and the sky was so bright that glancing upwards without sunglasses would sting your eyes. And yet, as Zach held his sword to the heavens, only a few heartbeats later, the world dimmed as though someone had thrown a curtain over it, and the temperature began to drop precipitously. Shouts of fear and confusion came from the adventurers who were dying to the numerous mobs that were tearing into them, which meant that, on some level, whatever Zach had just done was more frightening to them than the butchering they were receiving. This, he found understandable, as it scared the hell out of him too, and he was the one doing it. I can¡¯t control my arm! What¡¯s going on? The sky continued to darken, becoming darker, and darker, and darker. Soon the world had dulled to the light of evening, and shortly after it was as though it had become night. But this did not just occur here in the grasslands. It did not just occur in Shadowfall Coast, either. It did not even take place solely in North Bastia. Zach was not sure how he knew this or why, but he came to understand that the entire planet was now shrouded in absolute darkness. No matter where on Galterra one resided, they would see the same shuttering of all light. Even those who lived on the other end of the world would see this darkening, as even the light of the moon was drained away by whatever unholy ability Zach had just placed his trust in. And because of the media, whose helicopters were still buzzing somewhere above him, everyone would know that Zachys Calador had been the one to do this. Yet, if that was the extent of it, perhaps in time all of this would have been forgotten. But no, it was only the beginning. For just a moment, the sky remained in this hauntingly dark state as the temperature now plummeted to the extent that it became as cold as the winter on Archian Prime. Behind him, Zach could hear Kalana and her cousin shiver. Olivir, on the other hand, was muttering something to himself through what sounded like chattering teeth. Zach was unable to move his body to look for himself. Yet all three of them released a loud gasp as it somehow soon became even darker than it already was. Now, a flashlight would be required just to see a few feet into the distance. It was a total, oppressive darkness: a blackness that consumed everything. And then there came a flash. It was an intensely, blindingly bright beam of light that seemed to come from the heavens themselves, one that illuminated the darkness and cast a glow over the entire world. It was a beam of pure light that streaked downwards from as high as the eye could see, and at a speed that rivaled light¡ªand it was heading straight for Zach. What¡¯s going on? he thought, panicked. What have I done? Without making a sound, the beam slammed into the hilt of the weapon he was wielding, bathing both his sword and his body in a heavenly glow that for a moment blinded him, yet oddly did not cause him any kind of discomfort or pain. Eventually, this light faded, and when it did, he realized that it had transformed his blade into something else entirely. Now, in his hand, which he could not control, he wielded a blade with a grip made out of pure light itself. The sword was now three times its size, yet he did not feel its weight, and its crossguard had been replaced by the miniaturized wings of an angel. But most significantly, what once had been steel was now a whiteish fire that looked as though it was from the surface of a star, too bright to look directly at, yet enchanting in its own right. Again, Zach tried to scream, but he was completely blocked off from controlling his own body. Even still, a part of him understood that everything that was happening, even if not by his own conscious, was at least driven by his will¡ªa part of him he did not understand, but was no more alien to him than his own soul. And so, with a blade made of light, Zach pointed his weapon forward, and then as though attracted to the light itself, all remaining Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth immediately halted their actions, turned around, and began to charge towards him instead: all eleven of them. ¡°Zach, no!¡± Kalana screamed. ¡°You¡¯ll die! No!¡± Did she think he could stop this? Or control it? As the eleven mobs raced down the hill towards him on their powerful legs, Zach, unable to control his actions, burst forward to meet them, moving at a speed so absurdly fast that he could not understand how it was possible. This was far faster than Phase Blink, and it was far faster than any Elf could move. What was more, he soon realized he wasn¡¯t even running: he was hovering. His body was soaring forward all on its own, with neither of his feet actually touching the ground. In less than a fraction of a second, he reached the eleven Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth, all of which surrounded him, ready to claw and bite and maim him until he was as beaten or maybe even dead as the adventurers from the GSG. At least, that was what he¡¯d expected to happen. He bent his knees, held his blade of light out defensively, and then rather than attack, he waited for them to come to him¡ªwhich they did. The moment they came within range of his sword, Zach leapt into action. And what came next was a series of strikes so fantastical that Zach began to wonder if he was dream as he propelled himself forward at Cursed Defender of Ziragoth A, which until just now, had been killing Mr. Oren.
HP 300,000/300,000
Name Cursed Defender of Ziragoth B
Level 90
Zach moved with such unbelievable haste that despite all eleven mobs having surrounded him in close proximity, he was still somehow able to get to this creature in the time it took for these very fast mobs to run just a single additional step¡¯s worth of distance. Now, with the mob before him, he attacked. From left to right, using just a single hand, his burning blade of light whirled across the avian-like face of the mob that might have already killed his friend. And the moment his sword made impact with this awful creature, there was a loud, ear-splitting bang. It was a sound that emanated from the heavens themselves. It was akin to the loudest bang of thunder he''d ever heard combined with the crack of a gun fired at point blank. It was so intensely loud that it put the sonic boom from his Phase Blink to shame. And yes, this, too, could be heard from every continent and in every city. Zach did not know how or why he knew, but he was positive that all of Galterra could hear it. BANG! The creature was split in two even halves, as Zach struck for 415,821,958 damage. +38000xp Upon seeing such a number, Zach did not feel pride. He did not feel powerful. He did not even feel relief. He felt only fear. Terror. At what this implied. He realized now that he¡¯d been in denial all along. Kalana had been right about him. And he had refused to listen. Because the thought of his appraisal being true frightened him far more than anything else did. It wasn¡¯t¡­it wasn¡¯t something he wanted. He wanted to be strong, but he did not want to be this. He could not believe what he had just done. He could not believe that within him was this¡­this ¡°doomsday slash.¡± His terror having reached his peak, he was just glad that this nightmare was over. With the strike having been completed, he waited for his body to return to his control. He would have to run from the other ten, but at least¡­at least this was over. Right? No. What Zach would soon find out was that his heaven-roaring, godly strike from the blade of pure light¡ªthis was not the sum of the ability he had summoned. No. This was just the opening salvo. A warmup. A demonstration. An exercise. When the ability began in earnest, it was at this point that Zach knew he was about to be in a whole lot of trouble: with the political guilds, with other races, with Mr. Oren, with¡­with everyone. Moving at a speed so fast that it surpassed Phase Blink, Zachys¡­flew? Ran? Dashed? No, none of these words worked. It was far more accurate to say that he ¡°relocated¡± himself to the next nearest mob. And now, he did not strike this creature once. He did not strike it twice. He did not even seem content to hit it a few times. For a reason unknown to him, he instead delivered a series of slashes that defied what should have been allowable under the laws of science and the natural world. And when he did, he struck with such speed that, even to his own eyes, he could not fully see or comprehend the motion of the blade. Still holding the sword of burning light in a single-handed grip, Zach unleashed a combination of twenty-five blazingly fast slashes one after the next into this bloodthirsty creature that had terrorized him and his friends. But he did not know this number because he could see the motion of it with his eyes. He knew this number because, each time his blade struck, the heavens roared, and a thunderous bang so loud that it shattered every window in the upscale metropolis of Varda¡¯s lair and caused more worldwide terror than the dragon itself followed on the heels of each of them. It was not simply the volume of each bang, but the speed as they were chained one after the next, traumatizing the entire planet. BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!!!!! All across Galterra, pets whimpered to their owners, children screamed to their parents, and people on every continent dropped to the floor and ducked their heads low in confusion, not knowing if they were being attacked or if something was coming to harm them and their family. BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!!!!! Zach wished he could close his eyes. He did not want to see these numbers. They made him feel sick. They made him feel wrong. 11,821,958 152,261,731 4,211,581 20,000,000 15,121,541 1,021,491,214 By the time his blade had finished its final strike, the mob was in so many pieces that no individual part could be identified. They were just ¡°scraps¡± and nothing more. Zach had never felt such fear in his life. Not even when Fylwen had led him to his death. Was this why she chose to do that to him? Was it because of this? Did she know? Did they all know? Did Kalana know? Why? Why him? Why not someone else? He wasn¡¯t made for this? +38000xp It was said you should be careful what you wish for. To Zach, that saying was about to ring so horribly true, as before his very eyes, he got the one thing he thought he always wanted, and now? Now, he never wanted anything less. Now he wanted it to go away. If only he could form tears, he would shed them at the sight to greet his vision.
LEVEL UP! 19 (18)
Strength +41 (134)
Dexterity +34 (124)
Constitution +37 (103)
Intelligence +11 (136)
Speed +34 (117)
Luck +05 (61)
XP Required for Level 20 100000
NO! Zach screamed in his mind. TAKE IT BACK! PLEASE! I DON¡¯T WANT IT! I WAS WRONG. PLEASE, GODS, PLEASE! I DON¡¯T WANT THIS! I DON¡¯T WANT THIS ANYMORE! Once again, he ¡°relocated¡± himself to another of the mobs, and now his body began to spin so fast that the world became nothing more than a few streaks of incoherent, kaleidoscopic sights as he carved apart the next mob with what could have been twenty or twenty thousand strikes. There was no way of knowing. The BANG of each attack blended together to form something closer to a thunderous chorus of machine-gun fire, which for a reason he couldn¡¯t begin to explain, he somehow knew had caused a little seven-year-old girl in Whispery Woods to tremble and hug her mother while screaming and demanding to know what was happening and why. Then Zach abruptly stopped spinning, and there was absolutely no dizziness, no sense of inertia, and no pain. Now, he could see that he had reduced the creature to what looked like tens of thousands of little tiny strips no larger than a piece of hair or string, which were all floating slowly downward towards the ground. Yet even still, he swung his blade upwards, attacking what, at this point, was basically just the empty air, and then he jumped up, flipped forward about six times, and then slammed his sword into the ground, creating another bang, and causing an eruption of the terrain akin to what Ziragoth had done when he¡¯d flown directly down onto it and causing a crater to form that had to be at least a hundred-feet deep. +38000xp How long would this go on for? When would this end? This, he wondered as the eight remaining mobs all charged him at once, each making an angry chirp as they dashed across the grass to strike at him. All attacked in unison, and Zach braced himself¡ªor at least tried to brace himself¡ªfor impact. Instead, he merely stood where he was with his burning sword of light held calmly and gently by his side. He said nothing and did nothing. Even as they came closer and closer. Then, at the exact moment in time that all eight reached him, he launched himself high into the air, ascending higher and higher until it blurred the line between jumping and flying. The scalding hot, humid air, which had already become icier than the chilling wind on Archian Prime, now became even colder as he advanced further upwards into the black, moonless sky. Still, he continued to ascend. His ears popped, his hands began to tingle, and to his mind-blowing terror, he ventured through several layers of clouds, continuing to lift himself to greater and greater heights until, at last, at an altitude so vast it made the DEHVs in Shadowfall Coast look like tiny little ants, he came to a halt, floating in the air. This set off an explosion of fear that rippled through his chest, yet even still, he could not scream. He could, however, speak, it seemed. For the first time, he wielded his blade of light and fire in both hands, and then he raised his arms so that he held it above his head. Finally, with no control over his actions, he roared, ¡°DOOMSDAY SLASH!¡± and with that, he ripped his blade downwards, leaving a burning streak in the air, and from the tip of his blade emerged a ripple not unlike that of Phase Slash. There was one exception, of course, which was that this one was far more visible, and it was made of the same, burning light that had taken over the grip of his sword. As this ripple was launched down upon the remaining mobs, Zach prayed¡ªhe truly, from the bottom of his heart, prayed¡ªthat he did not just do something that would annihilate an entire city, kill any people, or cause the dragon to awaken¡ªunless of course it killed the thing in one hit. Please make it stop! Please! I don¡¯t want this! ****** Despite the extent of his injuries, and in spite of the agony traveling all throughout his body, Alex grabbed Alixa with his one functioning hand while his opposite arm hung uselessly at his side, and he slung her over his shoulder. Then, with blood oozing out of so many places he couldn¡¯t begin to count them all, he began to force his legs to move faster and faster as he watched what he could only describe as some kind of light bomb descend upon the grasslands of Galterra. ¡°I¡¯ve got you,¡± Kalana said, helping Jaen, their silver-haired healer that Zach had earlier saved¡ªand now was on the verge of killing. Taking her hand, Kalana helped the woman up to her feet¡ªthen paused to look upwards. ¡°Stop!¡± Alex shouted at her. ¡°Whatever you do, don¡¯t think about it right now. Don¡¯t look. Don¡¯t think. Save.¡± She nodded, slowly. Her eyes were not dry, but she was still functioning. She had questions. She had concerns. So did everyone. Alex did not have the answers. Who would? Who could possibly explain this? Donovan looked positively shaken, and Zephyr, having only just awoken, was rubbing his head as though in confusion. ¡°You said this was gonna happen,¡± Kalana whimpered. ¡°But you didn¡¯t tell me it would be so¡ª¡± ¡°Not now, please,¡± Alex said. ¡°Why¡¯s he doing this?¡± ¡°He¡¯s not. I don¡¯t think he has any control. But that¡¯s not what we should be concerned with right now. I know it¡¯s hard, but you must focus.¡± She was so close to breaking down. But this wasn¡¯t the time or place. She needed to be strong for a little while longer. ¡°He saved all of us, Kalana. That¡¯s the only thing that matters for now.¡± Donovan barked a laugh. ¡°Maybe,¡± he said. ¡°Or he might be about to kill us all. Let¡¯s just get the fuck out of here before that bomb of his vaporizes us." With a snap of his fingers, the vampire known as Olivir called forth skeleton horses for those unable to run but who were still capable of picking themselves up, while Fluffles, Kolona, and Grundor each carried two adventurers a piece. Fluffles had transformed himself into his absolute largest of forms so that two more badly wounded GSG members could ride on his back. So far, there were no casualties, but there were several who could die at any moment without healing back at the camp. Working together with Donovan, he and Alex made certain that no one would be left behind. Then, as a group, they all made a run for it down the hill, sprinting wildly and without regard for whether or not they fell or collapsed. They just needed to move. They needed to move now. One foot in front of the other, Alex ignored the worst pain he¡¯d ever felt in his life. If they made it through this, every one of them was going to need one of the stones. They¡¯d have to empty the guild treasury for sure. This was, by far, the most banged up they¡¯d ever been. By all rights, they should be dead right now: and had they been even a second slower, all of them would be. Yet through some miracle, together, they made it out just fine. And then the white, shining light struck, and everyone, even Donovan screamed. ***** Even from all the way up here, Zach was nearly blinded by a light so bright that it obscured his vision of the Galterran surface. All he could see was white, and for a good while, this light persisted. Then, finally, it slowly began to fade, and when it did, he was relieved to see that the tiny little dot he took to be Ziragoth had not awoken. He was less relieved, however, when he realized that he could¡¯ve used this ability to kill it if he¡¯d only known what it could do ahead of time. At any rate, the dragon remained asleep, and the damage he¡¯d caused looked to be minimal. It appeared that, rather than create an explosion, whatever he¡¯d just dropped on those mobs was localized to the immediate area they were in, and what remained in the aftermath was a hole in the terrain the width of a sports field that almost certainly ran many miles deep. Zach supposed it was a pretty safe bet that the adds were finally dead, too. I didn¡¯t get any xp for them, though, he thought bitterly. He must have been out of range¡ªby a lot. What was strange was that, only seconds ago, he¡¯d been terrified of his own self to the point he didn¡¯t want any more experience points or levels. But now that he¡¯d been cheated out of hundreds of thousands of them, he was upset and bitter and royally pissed off. The hell was wrong with him? But forget all that, because more importantly than anything else: did he kill any of his friends? That was what really mattered. Truly, he didn¡¯t think that he had. He wasn¡¯t sure why he felt that way, but for some reason, he strongly believed that he hadn¡¯t. It was almost as though it was a matter of trusting himself. At any rate, the air was beginning to warm, though slowly, and the absolute darkness was starting to relent. This, as he was now finally beginning to descend. Taking a breath, Zach prepared himself for what was surely to be an unpleasant trip back down. But for the moment, it started off sedately, almost gently, and then he began to pick up speed, dropping faster and faster. It¡¯s okay, Zach told himself, taking another cautious breath and wiping some saliva on the corner of his mouth. My ¡®move¡¯ or whatever the fuck this is will protect me. Wait, did I just¡­did I just wipe my mouth? Did I control that? He turned his head to look down upon what was more than a thousand feet of distance below him. Then he looked at the sword in his right hand, which was now back to being its normal, beautiful self. Oh, you son of a bitch ability! Zach shrieked as he began to freefall from the Gods-damn fucking sky, while in full control of his body. As unmanly and humiliating as it was, he cried out the entire way down as he started to pick up more and more speed until his tunic and trousers began flapping uncontrollably against the wind. Faster and faster he fell, watching as the grasslands began to grow in size and the ground began approaching him at an ever-increasing rate. ¡°This is bullshit!¡± he cried to the heavens. ¡°How can an ability fly me up here and then not land me? This is bullshit!¡± He began to fall faster and faster and faster. ¡°This is bullshiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii¡ª¡± ***** ¡°Your Majesty,¡± Abram said to the queen, folding his arms on the table. ¡°I realize there is a great deal of strangeness occurring outside, and what I¡¯ve just seen troubles me more than words can ever describe, but seeing as how the dragon has been put to sleep and that we have no control over these¡­these bizarre phenomena, I think it would be in everyone¡¯s best interest if we finally got down to¡ª¡± ¡°¡ªiiiiiiiiiiiit¡± Abram jumped out of his seat and fell backwards onto his ass as some kind missile crashed through the roof of the tent¡ªand then with a tremendous bang, exploded the fancy table in the central command unit. This was the same table that had only just been cleaned up and repositioned after Zachys Calador kicked the entire thing outside and spilled all of its contents earlier. Now, mere moments after restoring it to order by having refreshments, documents, and decorations carefully placed back on top of it, Abram watched as it literally detonated into hundreds¡ªor maybe thousands¡ªof pieces as some kind of weapon was launched at them. ¡°Is it the Guild of Gentlemen?¡± Kolorn Besh shouted, jumping out of his chair and darting his head every which way. ¡°Are we being attacked?¡± ¡°Most likely,¡± Abram growled. ¡°We knew Sir Peter Brayspark might resort to treachery! If so, we¡¯ll have no choice but to¡ª¡± ¡°M-my bad,¡± said a familiar-sounding voice. Abram¡¯s words cut off at once, and a confusion came upon him that momentarily left him unable to speak or know what to say. Right now, in the middle of their beautifully constructed tent, their ornately crafted negotiating table was in too many pieces to count, and beneath the spot where the table had once sat, there was a hole in the ground¡ªone that looked to be several-hundred-feet deep. And from this emerged the face and upper body of an exhausted-looking boy with wavy black hair who was covered in so much dust, plaster, wood chips, and dirt that Abram almost didn¡¯t recognize him. When no one said a word, the boy chose to speak first. ¡°I am so, so sorry,¡± he said, fully crawling outside of the crater he¡¯d made in the command tent. Abram, along with all the leaders of humanity, looked quietly at him without responding. Becoming visibly unsettled, the boy said, ¡°It was a skydiving accident. My chute wouldn¡¯t fire.¡± As he tried to stand up, he slipped on tablecloth from the only other table in the room, causing a tremendous number of bangs as ceramic plates, silverware, and a fair bit of liquid were either destroyed or spilled onto the floor, with some of it falling inside the hole he¡¯d created. Trying again to stand up, he wiped some of the dirt and dust away from his face, met each one of their eyes, and shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m trying to think of something to bullshit you guys with, but look, there¡¯s just really¡­I mean what the fuck can I say here? This is like twice in ten minutes. I¡¯ve got nothing. At this point, you can just think whatever you want. All I can do is insist I didn¡¯t do this on purpose. You know what? Honestly? I think you put your tent in a bad spot. I mean that¡¯s all there is to it. This is a really bad spot for a tent. This was bound to happen.¡± Abram rubbed his chin. ¡°Perhaps¡­¡± Turning around to face his guild-leader, he bowed his head. ¡°I¡¯ll have the place cleaned up again so that we can start.¡± He raised his hand to shield his eyes, as the sun had once more come out and was now shining down on top of them on account of the fact that Zachys Calador had just destroyed their roof. ¡°We might need a few extra minutes, on second thought.¡± ¡°That is fine,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°I need a few minutes as well.¡± Abram tensed up as he saw her walk over to Zachys Calador, who himself tensed up as if terrified of the woman, which given what he¡¯d claimed, made perfect sense. Yet with a gentle, almost motherly touch, she tapped his shoulder. ¡°Y-yes?¡± ¡°You dropped your sword again.¡± ¡°Right.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Can I have a word with you, young man?¡± He sighed. ¡°Yeah, why not.¡± And with that, he walked out of the tent with the queen as a plate fell off his head and shattered onto the floor. Chapter 81: Jimmy Chapter 81: Jimmy There was something about a combination of loud music, hot babes dancing, and copious amounts of alcohol that never failed to pull Jimmy Green out of a slump. No matter what was bothering him, a night out with the boys made him as good as new. At least¡­it usually did. But not this time. Not even a good old-fashioned house party like this could get the ache out of his chest. Even as he knocked back another coke and rum out of a big red plastic cup, he couldn¡¯t shake the feeling of despair that was creeping over him. And his buddy, Marcus, could definitely sense this, because he gave Jimmy a heavy-handed slap on the back then set down a can of Miller Lite on the table in front of the couch where he was sitting. ¡°Bro, you gotta get over this bitch already,¡± he said to Jimmy, speaking loudly enough so that he could be heard over Usher. All throughout the living room, people were dancing and having a great time. Normally, he¡¯d join them. In fact, this one girl, Alicia, who Jimmy believed was an economics major, kept smiling at him and giving him inviting looks. But he just didn¡¯t have it in him tonight. ¡°I¡¯m trying,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°But it¡¯s just hard, ¡®cause she¡¯s on Insta right now talking all this shit and acting like I¡¯m the one who¡ª¡± ¡°Man, just forget it. Who cares what she says?¡± Marcus waved his arm around. ¡°Yo, just look. There¡¯s girls everywhere here. Fuck this ho. Seriously. Stop thinking about her. She don¡¯t matter anymore.¡± Jimmy sighed. ¡°Yeah, I know. You¡¯re right.¡± Even still, he couldn¡¯t help but glance down at his phone, eager to see if Dianne had said anything else about him. The fact that she was openly talking shit about him on social media really rubbed him the wrong way. Especially since she was the one who¡¯d broken up with him. Oddly enough, she hadn¡¯t taken down any of their pictures from when they were together, including the one from last summer, when the two of them had spent all day at the beach. Jimmy couldn¡¯t believe how happy he¡¯d been then. He was smiling at the camera and giving a thumbs-up, a pair of black sunglasses framing his short black hair. He¡¯d gone shirtless in that picture. Damn, he looked way better a year ago than he did now. He was still somewhat tone, but he¡¯d definitely grown a bit of belly fat. He needed to get back to the gym. As the song changed, and even more people started dancing, Jimmy realized he just couldn¡¯t snap himself out of this funk. Honestly, he kind of just felt like going back to his dorm room and playing Final Fantasy or something. He¡¯d thought that partying would maybe pull him out of this low point, but it wasn¡¯t looking like that was going to happen. And so, as Marcus got up and began chatting it up with some smoking-hot Latina in red hot pants. He decided to sneak out of there and take an Uber back. This just wasn¡¯t his night. And then she sat next to him. Right away, Jimmy knew that the girl who¡¯d just plopped herself down on the couch beside him was anything but normal. For starters, she might¡¯ve been the most beautiful woman he¡¯d ever seen, but she was also one of the strangest he¡¯d ever seen, too. Her ears were perky in a way that almost looked surgical. Was it a cosplay or did actually look that way naturally? They were pointed and oddly shaped. Seriously, she looked like an elf or something. And her eyes were such a deep, rich color of green. She also had golden hair, which ran down the back of her neck and formed a ponytail, and she was well proportioned to say the least. ¡°James Green,¡± she said with a smile. She raised her pointer finger and began waving it at him. ¡°I¡¯ve been looking all over for you.¡± He lifted his own pointer finger but turned it upon himself, staring at her questioningly. ¡°Me?¡± She nodded. ¡°Yes, indeed. I¡¯ve spent a great many years of my life trying to find you: or someone like you, at the very least.¡± Someone like me¡­? Her mannerisms and way of speaking were incredibly bizarre. Though she spoke in clear, easily understood English, she had an accent that he¡¯d never heard before and sounded like nothing he could recall. And his university was pretty diverse, too. He¡¯d heard accents from just about every European, Asian, and African country that there was¡ªbut he¡¯d never heard anything like this before. ¡°Who are you?¡± he asked her, becoming intrigued. For the first time in two weeks, something had genuinely caught his interest, and it was helping to take his mind off Dianne. ¡°And how do you know my name? Have we met before?¡± She smiled at him. ¡°My name is Eilea. Eilea Vayra.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a¡­that¡¯s a unique name.¡± He laughed, making himself more comfortable on the couch. ¡°I like it, though. Very interesting. Has a good ring to it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re very kind,¡± she said. ¡°You certainly have the type of temperament I¡¯m searching for, human.¡± ¡°Human?¡± he asked, raising his right eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re, uh, ¡®in character¡¯ right now?¡± ¡°Hm?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Nothing, never mind.¡± He opened his mouth to say something else, but his attention was diverted as his friend, Marcus, called out to him from just behind the couch. Standing beside him was the Latina he¡¯d been hitting on and what looked like her sister. ¡°Hey, Jimmy, come here a second. I wanna introduce you to someone.¡± Jimmy opened his mouth questioningly, then closed it, unsure of what to say. He paused a moment and pursed his lips. Then he pointed. ¡°I was actually just in the middle of a conversation with Eilea.¡± ¡°Huh? Who?¡± He again pointed. ¡°Her,¡± he said. Then his mouth dropped open in confusion as he looked beside him and realized there was nothing there but an empty section of the couch. ¡°She was just¡­she was just right here.¡± ¡°You fucking tripping,¡± Marcus said. ¡°How much acid did you take?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t take any,¡± he said. ¡°Say cap.¡± ¡°Bro, I swear. I didn¡¯t take any. You know what?¡± Carefully, so as not to knock over the multiple drinks on the table, he got up from the couch, checked to ensure he had his phone and his wallet, and then turned around. ¡°I¡¯m not feeling right tonight. I¡¯m sorry. I need to go.¡± ¡°Awh, man, don¡¯t be like that. Jimmy, man, wait.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just not feeling great. I need to clear my head.¡± Even as he hurried his way out of the suburban home and headed into the street, he could still hear his buddy calling out to him, and so too did the other three guys he¡¯d come here with. He¡¯d just have to explain things to them later. He wasn¡¯t feeling great. And so, eager to be alone, he opened the front door of the house and then stepped outside, shutting it behind him. Then he took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. He was really hitting a low point, wasn¡¯t he? ¡°Hi again,¡± said a voice to the left of him. He flinched. ¡°Y-you!¡± he stammered. There she was. That same girl from before. ¡°Where¡¯d you go?¡± ¡°I never went anywhere,¡± she said. ¡°But you¡­you were sitting on the couch next to me.¡± ¡°In some ways, yes, but in others, no.¡± Okay, Marcus was right. Either I¡¯m tripping or she¡¯s tripping or we¡¯re both tripping. Jimmy tried his best to figure out what kind of angle this ¡°Eilea¡± was playing, but she had him really confused. Was she into him? How did she know who he was? And why had she split the moment Marcus had come over? Was there even any point to asking her these questions? This girl clearly liked to present herself as something of an enigma. And that was before she started to make things really weird. Now, as she began to speak, Jimmy wasn¡¯t sure what the hell to make of her. ¡°You have the mutation I need,¡± she said to him. ¡°You¡¯re perfect for the system. Or you were perfect would be more accurate. Only a tiny number of unmodified humans can adapt to it. Had it not been for tonight, you would have begun to discover you were different from your friends: that you could do things they couldn¡¯t. You and those like you are the basis of what made all of us. At any rate, I can¡¯t interact with anyone if it would change the course of events. Changing the past is impossible, Jimmy. So my options are very, very limited. But you¡­you really are perfect. You can aid him in ways that no others can. The system has never had a natural before: someone born with the gift and not derived from it.¡± Yeah, she¡¯s nuts. Jimmy smiled at her. ¡°That¡¯s great, Eilea. Uh, I gotta go. Have a good one.¡± He began to walk away, and she grabbed his arm¡ªand she was strong. Far stronger than any girl he¡¯d ever before met. She was able to stop him right in his tracks. And despite trying to tear his arm away from her, he couldn¡¯t. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Just answer one question, and I¡¯ll let you go.¡± Becoming frightened, he nodded his head. ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°If you knew you were going to die today, would you want a second chance at life?¡± ¡°If I answer, will you let me go?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Well, at least the question was easy. Jimmy nodded. ¡°Of course I would. No one wants to die.¡± At this, she smiled. And it was at this point that everything finally began to make sense. Someone¡ªand he didn¡¯t know who¡ªbut someone had clearly laced his drink. They¡¯d spiked it with something. Because out of nowhere, his entire body began to shine with a dim, blue glow, which lasted for nearly ten full seconds before disappearing. ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± she said to him, releasing his arm and slowly walking away. He stared at her, open-mouthed. ¡°For¡­for what?¡± ¡°For saving your life. Now please: be well, James Green. Oh, and if you find yourself lost and confused, tap your right shoulder four times and read the note I¡¯ve left you.¡± He didn¡¯t even bother to ask her any follow-up questions. The girl was clearly out of her fucking mind. So instead, he merely remained where he was while he watched her walk away slowly down the sidewalk, heading in the direction of an intersection at the end of this block. Jimmy shook his head. Not only was this woman out of her mind, but it appeared that so too were her friends, because the girl was intercepted halfway down the street by another woman, this one wearing a white coat and carrying a small book in her right hand. ¡°You do not belong here, Eilea Vayra,¡± she whispered. Jimmy was only just able to hear her voice. ¡°Out of my way, Rose. I have nothing to say to you.¡± ¡°You touched the fabric of reality again. I felt it.¡± ¡°Do not speak to me as though you are any better or have some kind of moral high ground, you wretched fox. Begone from my sight!¡± The woman narrowed her eyes. ¡°Do not come back here again, Eilea Vayra. Return to your own time, and do not interfere with mine. If I should find you here again, I will take it as a provocation. This is the last warning you shall receive.¡± ¡°Or?¡± ¡°Or I will destroy your world and everyone in it.¡± Women these days, he thought. Not wanting any part of this, Jimmy called for an Uber on his phone¡¯s app, which for some reason had decided to set their meeting point one block over and down the street. Despite it being late at night, and despite this being a quiet, calm community, he nevertheless did his due diligence and checked both sides of the empty street before crossing. Then he took several steps into the quiet night¡ªand it was at that point that the roar of an engine came abruptly from somewhere off to his right. Jimmy froze, watching in confusion and shock as the driver of a white SUV blew right past a stop sign, going over 80MPH on a 25MPH residential street. Right where he stood, Jimmy was struck down. The last thing he saw was a pair of bright headlights, and the last thing he heard was the sound of screeching tires, and then there was nothing but darkness. A pitch-black void of nothingness. But also, there was sleep. He was at rest. For a long time. He didn¡¯t know how long. An hour? A day? A year? He lost all concept of time. But then he awoke. And boy, did he awake with a start. He suddenly came to realize that he was surrounded by something on all sides: by dirt. Where was he? What had happened? He felt like fear was burning a hole through him as he began to struggle. Never had he been so afraid. He kicked and flailed and thrashed around until, a moment later, a bright, intense light from above began shining down upon him: the sun. ¡°Where am I?¡± he screamed, terrified. ¡°Marcus? Dave? Hello?¡± It soon became apparent that he was somehow beneath the ground. He¡¯d been buried, but not deep. Now, only his head was sticking out of the dirt. He appeared to be in some kind of empty field, and it was broad daylight, where previously it had been almost midnight. What time was it? And why was it so hot? It was the middle of winter. Also, was he¡­was he naked? Screaming, with tears now forming in his eyes, he used all of his strength to push himself upwards and out of the soil, which had been covering him. And indeed, he was truly naked as the day he was born. Oh, Jesus. What was happening here? He tried to calm himself. Surely, he must have just been high. That had to be it. But this was the scariest trip he¡¯d ever been on. His body was filthy and covered in grime and dirt. Where was his clothing? Where was his phone? His wallet? Where was he for that matter? He looked around. He was in a crawling position. Pushing himself back up to his feet, he discovered he was in some kind of tomato field. But other than this large, open stretch of farmland, there was nothing and no one else around¡ªexcept for a small town that he could just make out far into the distance, likely over a mile. Terrified, confused, and slowly beginning to wonder if any of this was real, he hurried his way through the exhausting heat and uneven terrain as he made his way to the only sign of civilization in the distance. Where am I? How did I get here? Where¡¯s my clothing? Where¡¯s my friends? As he began to move, he found it somewhat difficult to walk. His legs weren¡¯t working properly. It was like they¡¯d fallen asleep. Yet, with each step, he did find it somewhat easier to maintain his balance. He also felt like something was weighing him down. Several times, he had to check to ensure he really was as naked as he felt, because there was a weight sitting on top of him. He was sure of it. Either that, or God had decided to mess with the gravity or something, because he definitely felt heavier all of a sudden. What was the last thing I remember? He tried to replay events in his head. He¡¯d been at a party. He¡¯d met a strange woman. An SUV had slammed into him. And then¡­then what? With a gasp, he considered the possibility that he¡¯d been assumed dead and buried while not actually being dead. Maybe they¡¯d made a mistake or something. But then, wait, where were his injuries? Inspecting his body, he saw no sign of trauma or anything. Goddammit! What was going on here? Hurrying farther along the tomato field, he eventually came across a small gravel path, the tiny rocks hurting his feet as he stepped on them. Thankfully, this small path turned into a narrow, smooth, and paved road, and at long last, he made his way into what appeared to be a small, but pleasant-looking town with a hopefully friendly community. With each step, things became more real, and he became less convinced he was tripping. This had the effect of multiplying his fear and confusion. He needed help. He needed someone to call his mom or his university. Or someone. The streets were mostly empty despite all signs pointing to this being a lively, healthy town¡ªalbeit one with a very strange name: The Cursed Grounds. With an ominous name like that, Jimmy was tempted to turn around and head back in the other direction. Yet he knew that wasn¡¯t a viable option, because he was already becoming badly dehydrated, and he felt like he was being cooked in his own skin. Naked, he began to drip sweat out of nearly all of his pores. Up ahead and to his left was what looked like a bar with a red sign out front that said ¡°OPEN.¡± Eagerly, he scurried over to it and opened the door, stepping inside. Thank God, there was at least air conditioning in here. ¡°Please, help me,¡± he said upon entering. Immediately, twelve sets of eyes turned in his direction. All twelve of them belonged to gruff, rural-looking people who had been watching some kind of fantasy movie on TV about a dragon or something. He wasn¡¯t familiar with it. Yet as they set their eyes upon him, he began to wonder if he¡¯d made a terrible, terrible mistake. Here he was, in the middle of a rural town, naked, alone, and among a bunch of middle-aged and older-looking white folks, and in a place that did not look like home. This might not end well for someone who looked like him. Shit, this was exactly the kind of situation his mom would have told him to never be in. Maybe he should just turn around and¡ª ¡°Oh, Gods, are you okay, sir?¡± a woman asked, hurrying over to him. ¡°What happened? Are you hurt?¡± He breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like that wasn¡¯t going to be an issue. Wetting his lips, he tried to speak, but no words would come out. He realized he was now so parched he was struggling just to form words. Incredibly, a man came over with a blanket and wrapped it around him, while the bartender handed him a large glass filled with water, which he downed immediately. Now, as he began to speak, it was a struggle not to form tears in his eyes as they began asking him questions, such as who he was, what had happened to him, and if he needed them to call someone. As it were, he had some questions of his own he wanted answering first. ¡°What state am I in?¡± he asked them, which in turn received only blank, empty stares. They clearly spoke English, so he wasn¡¯t sure why they were looking at him as though they had no idea what he was talking about. Wetting his lips, he decided to try something else. ¡°Scratch that: what country is this?¡± ¡°Country?¡± one of them asked. He nodded. ¡°I¡¯m an American. Where¡­where is this?¡± Again, more blank stares. But a man wearing overalls and a farmer¡¯s hat did give him at least some reply, though it only made things even more confusing. ¡°You¡¯re in The Cursed Grounds. In the region of Whispery Woods.¡± ¡°So¡­Canada?¡± he asked, tilting his head slightly. ¡°Huh?¡± He moaned. ¡°Damn. What¡¯s going on?¡± Each of these kind, older people exchanged glances with one another. He didn¡¯t think they were messing with him or trying to confuse him. They genuinely did not seem to understand what he was talking about. He wasn¡¯t sure how this was possible, but then again, they were pretty rural. Maybe this was some Eastern European country or something. ¡°Okay, look, do any of you have a phone I could please use?¡± As if eager to oblige, almost everyone produced a cell phone, and all offered it willingly to him. Honestly, this was a much better reception than the one he¡¯d expected to receive when walking into the place naked. ¡°Thank you so much,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m gonna call my mom.¡± He took the first phone that was handed to him by a woman wearing a white summer dress¡ªthen stared at it in absolute confusion. ¡°Uh, is this an Android or an Apple?¡± ¡°A what or a what?¡± she asked. Giving her a sidelong glance, he said, ¡°You know, your phone.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a GalTek A900. My husband got it for me for my birthday.¡± ¡°How do I unlock it?¡± ¡°Unlock it?¡± He released a sigh that bordered on a whimper. ¡°Okay, I just¡­I just really need to make a phone call.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the number?¡± she asked. He told her. And this earned him yet another confused stare. Somehow, he didn¡¯t think it was due to concerns over it being long distance. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m really confused,¡± he said. ¡°Was there something wrong with what I said?¡± The woman turned her head and looked at a man, who Jimmy took to be her husband. ¡°What¡¯s the region code?¡± the man asked him. ¡°It¡¯s 718. I¡¯m trying to call New York.¡± ¡°New¡­York?¡± ¡°Yeah. Brooklyn.¡± ¡°Brook¡­Linn?¡± He groaned. ¡°Ya¡¯ll telling me you don¡¯t know what New York is?¡± Every one of them nodded. ¡°None of you? Really? No one here knows about New York?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, son, but I¡¯ve never heard of it. Are you from South Bastia?¡± ¡°South what?¡± The man scratched his chin. ¡°Maybe¡­maybe we should call a doctor.¡± Jimmy rubbed his forehead, becoming frustrated. ¡°I¡¯m not crazy. I¡¯m just confused. I don¡¯t know how I got here. I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m here. I just wanna go home and tell my mom I¡¯m okay. That¡¯s all. Then I gotta get back to my dorm, ¡®cause I¡¯ve got an exam this Friday, and it¡¯s a quarter of my grade.¡± Becoming even more stressed, he used both hands to massage his face. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what day today is, come to think of it.¡± Finally, even without meaning to do so, he¡¯d somehow asked a question that they appeared capable of answering. And when they did, he did not like what he heard. ¡°It¡¯s Saturday,¡± a woman sitting near the back of the bar said. ¡°Saturday the what?¡± ¡°The fourth of June.¡± ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡± he shouted, unintentionally causing the two people nearest him to flinch. He quickly apologized and lowered his voice. ¡°It¡¯s February, isn¡¯t it? February eighth.¡± ¡°Son, I¡­I¡¯m sorry, but it¡¯s not,¡± the husband of the woman who¡¯d loaned him her phone said. ¡°Today¡¯s date is June 8th, 7058.¡± Now, he did whimper. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s what?¡± Chapter 82: Temperament Chapter 82: Temperament Doing his best to suppress a rush of powerful emotions that were atypical for his usually dispassionate self, Alex watched on with a growing sense of relief as, slowly, but with increasing rapidity, one adventurer after the next either regained consciousness or managed to sit up in their medical cot with an exhausted-sounding groan. Many were darting their heads around the tent as though confused or unaware of where they currently were. This was not surprising considering that a number of them had been totally unconscious upon their return here to the raid camp. Thankfully, even those with the most life-threatening injuries were showing clear signs that they were beginning to pull through. Be it an act of the Gods or an act of luck, it was starting to look like no one would end up dying today after all. Tomorrow, however, would likely be a very different story. But there¡¯d be time enough to worry about that later today. For now, Alex did what he could to oversee the treatment of his guild-members, assisting Kesten wherever possible. ¡°How long was I out?¡± Spider asked, rubbing his face groggily then ripping an IV out of his massive forearm even without permission from Kesten. ¡°Last thing I remember was the sky turning dark, and the kid, he was¡­he was doing some real wild shit.¡± ¡°That was a very short while ago,¡± Alex said. ¡°You¡¯re one of the first to wake up, actually. You¡¯ve only been here around ten minutes.¡± ¡°No kidding?¡± he asked. Shirtless, he felt around his body, likely for any signs of the numerous lacerations he¡¯d sustained. Finding only smooth, undamaged, and unscarred skin, he said, ¡°Wow, I¡¯m guessing you used a couple of the stones on me, huh?¡± Alex nodded. ¡°Two reds, actually¡ªcourtesy of Zephyr Vextran.¡± An approving grin popped onto his face. ¡°I¡¯ll need to give him my thanks in person whenever I see him. Zach too, actually. Say, where¡¯s he at, anyway?¡± ¡°No clue,¡± Alex said with a shrug. ¡°But as soon as I¡¯m done here, I intend to go speak with him. We¡¯re overdue for a very long chat. I¡¯ll probably have to wait my turn behind Kalana, though. I know she went out just now looking for him.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember much about what happened,¡± Spider said, ¡°but I get the feeling it was a bit out of the ordinary, huh?¡± Alex¡¯s breath caught in his throat and a chill traveled down his spine. It was to the extent that he actually had to take a moment to still his nerves as he thought back to what he had witnessed. Those damage numbers. That ability. He¡¯d known from Fluffles¡¯ appraisal that this day was going to come sooner or later, but not even in his wildest dreams had he expected it to be to this extent, let alone this soon. And that was after taking into account the fact that he, unlike the others, had actually come to eventually believe every word of what Fluffles had said. ¡°Zach stronger than Donovan,¡± were the words that Fluffles had said to him¡ªto them all. He¡¯d said it plainly and clearly right there in Angelica¡¯s. ¡°Zach stronger than all GSG combine.¡± An uncharacteristic nervousness came upon him as he vividly recalled seeing the damage numbers that had popped up in front of one of the shredded mobs. Though the world had been pitch-black, the light from Zach¡¯s blade had illuminated it clearly enough so that Alex could easily discern the result of each and every strike. And he was positive: one-hundred-percent certain that Zach had been unleashing attacks hitting in the hundreds of millions, and in one particular case, he was sure that he saw a strike land for a billion damage. For such a staggering, unthinkable thing to be possible at all was terrifying all on its own, but for this power to be in the hands of a seventeen-year-old boy who had absolutely no appreciation of how to responsibly wield it¡­Alex really needed to keep a much closer watch on him from now on. With the sole exception of the dragon, this was likely now the most important issue that he¡¯d ever have to deal with. Having pointed numerous young adventurers down the same path as Zach¡ªas he himself had once been pointed¡ªAlex was under no illusion that it was anything but a brutal trial by fire in which many new adventurers did not survive. For this reason, around fifty years ago, the adventuring guilds had broken a millennia¡¯s worth of tradition and created the ¡°Rites of Initiation,¡± a sort of training program in order to give new, young adventurers some very basic knowledge and skills to help them survive. But not all guilds agreed with the practice, with the GSG in particular being opposed to it. Therefore, in following the same tradition that he himself had been inducted into, Alex had given Zach a few gold and turned him loose. But only now was it really, truly sinking in: only now did he really understand how wrong he had been. What he¡¯d done, in essence, was kick a traumatized boy to the curb, only so that, due to sheer chance and bad luck, he would then go off to become further traumatized by all the violence, evil, and cruelty the world had to offer. And now¡­now he was coming into possession of a power so great that it was only a matter of time before he was indistinguishable from an actual God. ¡°Alex?¡± Spider asked. ¡°You okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he replied with a sigh, putting Zach out of mind, at least for the moment. ¡°Just lost in my thoughts, sorry. At any rate, you should be good as new. And yes, make sure you thank Zephyr when you get the chance. You¡¯re not the only one to benefit from his generosity.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Thanks to the many years of friendship and the extraordinary bond that Donovan shared with Zephyr, the Explorers Brigade had been willing to loan the God Slayers Guild nearly half of the rejuvenation stones that they had in guild storage, as not even the GSG¡¯s entire emergency supply had been enough to mend the thrashing that almost thirty of them had taken. Alex had even resorted to using his coveted light stone on himself, something he¡¯d been holding onto for a very long time. Now, as several more minutes passed in this large, rectangularly shaped tent that had been established as a designated infirmary for the upcoming fight with Ziragoth, just shy of half of the wounded were back to full strength, Alex included. The rest would be up and about within another hour. Thank the Gods for the rejuvenation stones, he thought. What would we have done without them? The miracle of the stones never ceased to amaze Alex. When used on a high-level adventurer with enough constitution to enable passive HP regeneration, an hour or two was all that was ever needed to return from near death to top-fighting form. Unfortunately, they were incredibly difficult to come by, and having exhausted their supply before the battle with Ziragoth had even begun, Alex was naturally worried about how they¡¯d tend to their wounded tomorrow¡ªwhen the real fighting would begin in earnest. Even in his most optimistic of calculations, they would not have enough stones to save all those who¡¯d be critically injured, which meant that picking and choosing who lived and died was inevitably going to take place. He was not looking forward to that. The GSG is down to two purples and a yellow, he thought anxiously. That¡¯s all we¡¯ve got left now. There were four types of stones in existence¡ªor at least four types that were known to exist. The most common, yet still incredibly valuable, was the red stone. On its own, a single red rejuvenation stone would typically repair all tissue damage and regrow limbs as well as other non-vital organs. Yet, given the beating some of their members had taken, more than one had been required for a number of them. Donovan, for example, had required three. It wasn¡¯t that one by itself wouldn¡¯t suffice, but rather, the difference between one and three¡ªat least in his case¡ªmeant recovering in half an hour versus spending a week or more in a hospital. Passive HP regeneration could only go so far, and the more serious the injury, the less effective it was at expediting recovery. Given that he was leading the entire raid, having him out of commission tomorrow was not an option, and getting him back on his feet was well worth the sacrifice. But to be clear, it had been a big sacrifice. Because in addition to the reds, Donovan had also needed two of the yellows and a purple as well. The yellow rejuvenation stones were rarer than the reds, and they were used to resupply any vital resources the body had depleted, which could include: blood, spinal fluid, and even brain cells in the event of serious head trauma. They could also repair connectivity between nerves and other organs. And for non-trauma related issues, such as incorrect heart pacing, autoimmune disease, viral and bacterial infection, and other types of misfires, a yellow was the only option. Insomuch as it pertained to Donovan, he¡¯d lost a lot of blood and had sustained major nerve damage, which meant one had not been enough. Lastly, the rarest type of stone¡ªother than a light stone¡ªwas the purple rejuvenation stone. A purple stone was the only stone capable of curing cancer, cleansing severe and life-threatening toxins, and regrowing or repairing vital organs such as the heart, liver, kidneys, etc. Based on a quick MRI performed by Kesten, he¡¯d made the determination that Donovan¡¯s recovery required a purple stone due to damage inflicted to his heart and lungs. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Even considering how badly Donovan had been roughed up, Alex had still likely been the most grievously injured of all of them. And yet, he had nevertheless been the very first to recover: taking no longer than twenty seconds. This was because he¡¯d had something the others did not: a light stone. The shape of an oval, the appearance of a diamond, and about large enough to cover your palm, it was the rarest of all stones. And after five years of keeping it around for an emergency, he¡¯d finally had to use it. Unlike the other stones, the light stone combined the effects of the red, yellow, and purple stones, and no matter the extent of the injury, a single light stone was all that was ever required. At any rate, while he¡¯d miss the feeling of security that came with having one of those around, he decided not to dwell on its loss and instead focus on just being grateful that he was still alive¡ªand that his guild-mates were still alive, too. With each passing moment, more and more of the GSG were recovering, and now, Alex was glad to see that Donovan looked to be the next to rise, as his snoring had abruptly cut off, and he was making an exaggerated grunt. I should head over to him, Alex thought. We really need to talk¡­ Carefully navigating his way across the tent so as not to accidentally bump into any medical equipment, Alex headed to the opposite end of the infirmary where the GSG leader was now rubbing his face and his eyes while lying in the cot. The moment Alex approached, Donovan immediately turned his head and met his eyes, which meant he was lucid even though he¡¯d only just awakened. With a curt nod, Alex took a seat on a chair that was across from the cot. Then he leaned over and shuttered the blue curtains that separated one bed from the next and served as the only semblance of privacy to be found in here. ¡°Fuck,¡± grunted Donovan, slowly sitting up in his cot and massaging his temples like someone with a hangover. ¡°That sure was something, huh, Alex?¡± Although Alex and Donovan were as far apart as two people could possibly be personality-wise, Alex had always held such great admiration for his guild-leader, and the events of today were a perfect example of why. Despite being in a state that had very much fit the definition of ¡°mortally wounded,¡± Donovan had soldiered on until the very moment they¡¯d gotten the last wounded member of the GSG into a medical cot. It was only then that he had allowed himself to be treated, collapsing into an immediate coma-like state, but only after insisting that he be the last to receive any of the stones. Truth be told¡ªand this was not intended as an insult, however insulting it might sound¡ªbut in Alex¡¯s honest, genuine assessment of the man, he took Donovan to be a bit of a lumbering idiot. Harsh? Yes. But he also considered Donovan one of the bravest, most selfless people he¡¯d ever met. He put others before himself without any regard for his own needs. And for that reason alone, Donovan would always have Alex¡¯s respect. But now, as Donovan continued to meet his eyes with a level of seriousness and urgency that was highly unusual for the man, Alex began to feel a tremendous sense of hope rising within him: that having witnessed what Zach had done, he was coming to the realization that Alex himself had come to some time ago. Donovan, after all, had witnessed everything that had taken place, including the dropping of the light bomb and its subsequent crater that, just based on the media¡¯s reporting, was now the deepest artificially ¡°dug¡± hole on the entire planet of Galterra, beating out the record made by the underground expeditionary cave the researchers from the People of Virtue had dug twenty years ago. They¡¯re saying it runs almost fifty miles straight down, Alex thought with a shiver. Despite only having met Zach a few days ago, Donovan had developed a very quick, very noticeable fondness for the boy. And Given Donovan¡¯s fiercely protective nature towards those he regarded as important to him, Alex knew there was absolutely no way he could broach the topic of Zach from a precautionary perspective without Donovan getting the completely wrong idea, misinterpreting Alex¡¯s intentions as having cast moral judgement on Zach, and becoming irritable and heated. But now? Now, Alex could see that Donovan could see the need to discuss guiding him and working with him more closely. Maybe it was even time to bring Zach into the GSG formally. He gets it, Alex thought. I can just see it in his eyes. ¡°You know what I¡¯m here to talk to you about, don¡¯t you?¡± Alex asked him. Donovan nodded. And then he released a sigh that sounded troubled. ¡°To be honest, I figured we¡¯d be having this little chat sooner or later.¡± ¡°You did?¡± He nodded. ¡°I just didn¡¯t wanna say shit, but¡­yeah¡­¡± Alex nodded. He was becoming more relieved by the second. ¡°You¡¯re troubled by what you saw today, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°A bit,¡± he said with a half-grunt, half-laugh, ¡°but who wouldn¡¯t be?¡± Stretching his shoulders and cracking his knuckles, Donovan straightened his back and regarded Alex with an intensity that suggested he was taking this very, very seriously. This was going extremely well so far. Even still, he decided to approach the topic with the sensitivity he believed was warranted given Donovan¡¯s penchant for misunderstanding his intentions. To his surprise, however, Donovan came right out with it¡ªand quite bluntly, too. ¡°Even though I¡¯m sure the kid¡¯s got a great heart and ain¡¯t the type to cause harm to anyone, we can¡¯t pretend we didn¡¯t see what we saw.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly right,¡± Alex said, nodding. ¡°And we have to make sure we don¡¯t fuck up and let someone this gifted go down the wrong path.¡± Alex placed his hand on his chest over his heart. ¡°I¡¯ve been wanting to say this to you for a while now. I just didn¡¯t know how you¡¯d react.¡± Donovan grunted. ¡°I don¡¯t blame you. It¡¯s not a comfortable thought. But everyone saw how far behind we were. A seventeen-year-old is already stronger than all of us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Alex said, nodding. He was so unbelievably grateful that Donovan was seeing things the way he did. ¡°Which is why¡ª¡± ¡°¡ªit¡¯s a damned good thing we¡¯ve got our boy Zach looking out for her,¡± he finished, and now he was smiling. ¡°That kid looks like he¡¯ll be able to handle anything. I think she¡¯s in good hands.¡± Alex felt his heart leap in his chest and some of the blood drain from his face. ¡°Wait, what?¡± he asked, unable to stop the gasp that followed his words. ¡°Who¡¯re you talking about?¡± Donovan shot him a questioning glance. ¡°Same kid you are, Alex.¡± ¡°Zach?¡± He tilted his head to the side. ¡°The fuck?¡± ¡°¡­Kalana?¡± Alex asked. ¡°Obviously.¡± Alex¡¯s mouth fell open, and he had to consciously command his body to close it. He was so utterly floored at Donovan¡¯s shortsighted racism that he had to question if the man needed another yellow rejuvenation stone to help restore some of the neurons in his brain. ¡°You¡¯re worried about Kalana?¡± ¡°Uh, ¡®course I am,¡± he said. ¡°She¡¯s been at this for a little over a month, and the girl¡¯s already knocking down level-90s like it¡¯s a morning warmup. She¡¯s blowing past us, Alex. And if she ever tries to get revenge on humanity ¡®cause of what those political-guild pricks did to her¡­but like I was saying, I¡ª¡± ¡°Donovan,¡± Alex said, interrupting him. And now, for the first time in years, he used a horrible, naughty, and terribly vulgar word as his incredulity got the best of him. ¡°Are you a fucking idiot?¡± Donovan frowned. ¡°Watch it, asshole.¡± ¡°Kalana is a sweetheart. She¡¯d never hurt a fly. I¡¯d stake my own life on it.¡± ¡°So what is it you¡¯re so worried about, then?¡± He narrowed his eyes. ¡°Zach? The kid who saved all those people in the Den of Ziragoth and saved all our lives, too?¡± ¡°He almost killed us, Donovan. You said so yourself.¡± ¡°By accident.¡± Alex placed his hand over his mouth and took a moment to rein in his temper. He was an adult, and he could not resort to name-calling and other childish forms of argumentation. ¡°I apologize for the words I said to you before.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Donovan said with a guffaw, ¡°grow some balls for once.¡¯¡± ¡°However,¡± Alex continued, ignoring his nasty remark, ¡°we just witnessed a seventeen-year-old boy, one who is under level 20, annihilate an entire pack of level-90 adds using attacks that hit for hundreds of millions of damage. Is none of that worrying to you?¡± ¡°Of course it is,¡± Donovan said, and now his voice became heated. ¡°Those fuckers in the political guilds are never gonna leave him alone now. His life is probably destroyed ¡®cause of that.¡± ¡°Well, that¡­that¡¯s true as well,¡± Alex said, ¡°but I was more referring to concern due to the fact that someone at his age and with his temperament now has access to a set of abilities that¡ª¡± ¡°His temperament?¡± Donovan asked, frowning. ¡°Meaning what, Alex? What are you trying to say?¡± This is the exact thing I didn¡¯t want to happen, Alex thought, becoming frustrated. He knew right away that there was nothing he could say¡ªno possible combination of words that he could ever utter¡ªthat would convince Donovan to change his mind or even get him to begin to see things from Alex¡¯s point of view. From this moment forward, if he continued this conversation, Donovan would interpret it as Alex not ¡°trusting¡± Zach or thinking Zach was ¡°bad¡± deep down inside. And so, knowing the futility of it all, he also knew there was only one possible reply he could say that made any sense at this point and would give him a way out of this. ¡°I just feel insecure,¡± Alex lied, faking a sigh. ¡°I feel like, I brought him into this world of adventuring, and I¡¯m getting badly outclassed. You¡¯re right. I¡¯m being immature and mean-spirited.¡± At this, Donovan¡¯s face softened¡ªjust as Alex had known it would¡ªand he nodded. With a firm clap of his hand on Alex¡¯s shoulder, he squeezed tightly and reassuringly. ¡°You¡¯re one of the best people I know, Alex. No one¡¯s outclassing you, bud.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Alex said, feigning a smile and doing his best to hide his total and complete disappointment. They just didn¡¯t get it. And that was the way of it. Alex would have to handle Zach on his own. And not because of what he would turn into, because Alex truly believed that the future for the boy was bright. Rather, it was simply what he could turn into if he went down a bad path. When someone had the kind of power that Zach had and was going to have, not only did they need to be steered away from a dark path, but it needed to be such that a bad path wasn¡¯t even an option to begin with. A bad path for an ordinary person was one thing. A bad path for a powerful, leveled adventurer like Donovan or Alex was another. But a bad path for someone like Zachys Calador? The result would be cataclysmic; it would be of world-shifting proportions. Why couldn¡¯t anyone understand this? Why couldn¡¯t they see? Giving Donovan a similar, equal pat on the shoulder, Alex got up from the chair and prepared to tend to some of the others, as he noticed that Kesten was gesturing for him to give him a hand. ¡°As soon as everyone is recovered, we need to put together a time for a new, updated briefing based on the information we have acquired. And if the political guilds really do manage to get the Elvish to aid us in fighting the dragon, I¡¯d like them to be there.¡± Donovan gave him a thumbs-up. ¡°Sounds like a solid plan, Alex. Make it happen.¡± ¡°You got it, boss.¡± With that, Alex walked away and tried to contain his disappointment. It looked like he¡¯d have to go at this alone. Chapter 83: Promise Made, Promise Kept Chapter 83: Promise Made, Promise Kept If there was one thing in this world that couldn¡¯t be denied¡ªone singular fact of existence so constant and unchangeable it may as well have been written into the laws of physics itself, it was this: Zachys Calador loved Fylwen Vayra, and he would do anything, no matter the cost, to protect her. He would scale any mountain, fight any boss, or sacrifice any possession. There was nothing off limits when it came to his one true love: his Elvish queen. Now, in fairness, there were those out there who would react with surprise or confusion if they learned of this. But really, there was nothing surprising about it. After all, Fylwen Vayra was¡ªand always had been¡ªeverything to Zach. In fact, truth be told, Zach hadn¡¯t even known it was possible to love someone this much until he¡¯d met the Elvish queen. He¡¯d die for her¡ªagain¡ªif she asked him to do so, and he wouldn¡¯t even think twice about it. She¡¯s just so perfect, Zach thought. I¡¯d follow her anywhere. More and more, he was beginning to wonder how he¡¯d lived his whole life until now without her, and it was a question that he continuously turned over in his head as he ran after her through the grasslands at his full speed. Not wanting to be left behind, he reached out for her, extending his hand longingly ahead of him into the empty air while embers continued to shoot forth from his open palm¡ªa burning sign of the true, unbreakable love he had for the Goddess known as Fylwen Vayra. Together, the two of them tore their way across the rolling hills, heading northeast of the raid camp as opposed to the the northwest, which was where the dragon was currently asleep and would remain so for around twenty-four hours. ¡°Wait for me!¡± he shouted as she began to pull farther ahead of him despite him dashing along at nearly two-hundred miles per hour. Having added a ton of speed to his base stat on his last level up, the combination of his gear, Unleashed Phase, and raw stats meant that he now currently had 117 points into speed. This enabled him to go so absurdly fast that the world was blazing by him as though it were a video being fast-forwarded. Yet, for some reason, his balance was perfect despite passing the usual threshold where he would normally become unsteady; he had absolutely no problem running as fast as his feet would carry him¡ªjust so long as it was to follow her. Not only that, but he also wasn¡¯t chopping up the ground beneath him and causing a storm of dirt and rocks to be blasted off in his wake. Somehow, he was running like she did: silently, deftly, and without disturbing so much as a single blade of grass in his path. Fearful he might lose sight of her, Zach strained himself trying to move just a little bit faster, and now, he was beginning to sweat heavily. Boy, the queen sure knew how to run quickly. Not a surprise, though: after all, she was strong, and powerful, and amazing. Gods, she was just the absolute greatest. But the best part of it all was that she intended to spend some time alone with him, and it was for this reason that Fylwen was leading Zach quite a few miles away from the raid camp, where onlookers would not be able to spy or interfere with his undying love for this beautiful, kind, and perfect woman. She was flawless in every conceivable way. He wanted to hold her forever. ¡°How much longer until that ability of yours wears off, young man?¡± she asked, calling back to him. ¡°Two minutes and twenty-seven seconds, Your Majesty!¡± he replied to her, raising his voice so that he could be heard. She actually spoke to me! he thought. I¡¯m the luckiest guy alive! The Elvish queen spoke to me! Zach became giddy as he continued to charge ahead with Fylwen, the two of them getting farther and farther away from the camp, until finally, with a glance over her shoulder at him, she came to a smooth, gliding stop. Then she held out her palm and said, ¡°Very well. This appears to be far enough.¡± And with that, he came to a halt behind her. Gods, just look at her lips. I love her so fucking much. I want to kiss her. I want to hold her in my arms and never let go! As Zach met her eyes, and his heart pounded furiously in his chest, he realized that it wasn¡¯t even just that he¡¯d willingly die for Queen Vayra: no, he wanted to die for Queen Vayra, because in doing so, it would prove once and for all that he truly did love her¡ªthat he truly did care for her. It would prove that he truly did want to spend the rest of his¡­ Huh? Wait, was that even true? Did he really love this woman? Did he really want to die for her? Why¡­why would I want to do that? Hold on, wait a minute. Something wasn¡¯t right here. Seriously, wait a minute, okay? Just¡­just time out for a Gods-damned second. What in the absolute fuck was going on right now? What manner of hideous, revolting thing had he just been thinking? And why was he even here with her at all? What could possibly inspire him to come out here alone with her? Something¡¯s wrong. This isn¡¯t right. She¡­she did something. She did something to me! ¡°Where am I?¡± he shouted, confused. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. ¡°How did I get here?¡± Then, fully realizing his situation, he glared at her. ¡°What did you do!¡± He pointed at her threateningly as she sighed and took a step closer to him. In response, he fearfully took one back. ¡°What did you do to me, Gods damn you! Tell me!¡± ¡°I used a charm on you.¡± ¡°A¡­a charm?¡± Zach struggled to understand what had taken place: how he had ended up here in the middle of nowhere when, only a few seconds ago¡ªor what felt like a few seconds, at least¡ªhe¡¯d been back in the raid camp, not far from the central command tent that he¡¯d fallen into. Trying to recall events, he attempted to piece it all back together in his mind. He distinctly remembered exiting the tent. He distinctly remembered Fylwen asking to speak with him. Reluctantly, he¡¯d agreed, if for no other reason than morbid curiosity. Yet, with an ominous look in her eyes, she¡¯d claimed she had something very important to tell him in confidence, and she¡¯d asked if they could walk together to the opposite end of the camp where fewer people might overhear. He¡¯d obliged, but once again, he¡¯d done so reluctantly. His guard having been up, he¡¯d followed her to a relatively¡ªbut not completely¡ªisolated spot behind one of the larger tents. Though unseen, there were numerous people within earshot, and given his recent¡­uh, ¡°exploits,¡± every eye had gazed upon him as he walked by. Thus, he did not think she would be able to succeed if she actually tried anything, and he certainly wasn¡¯t dumb enough to go with her anywhere she could pull some underhanded shit and get away with it. If he raised his voice or made a loud sound, people would come running: or so he¡¯d thought, anyway. But as it turned out, he had, indeed, been dumb enough to fall for her underhanded shit, as the mistaken assumption of safety had led him to walk right into another of her traps, hadn¡¯t he? Yes. He had. He remembered now. Upon arriving there with the Elvish queen, she¡¯d¡­she¡¯d done something strange. What had it been? Things were still fuzzy in his head, but it was starting to come back to him. I remember now, I think. Even though he¡¯d had his guard up and fully expected some kind of treachery, she¡¯d nevertheless still gotten him totally by surprise. Right there in the raid camp, with so many adventurers all over the place, and so many people nearby that Zach could have called to for help, she¡¯d still somehow managed to hijack his entire body. And now, he remembered how she did it, too. Her face having become flushed with worry, she¡¯d leaned in closer as though what she had to say was something very, very serious and important. Then, slowly, she¡¯d opened her mouth as though to begin speaking it, which in turn caused him to angle himself forward in her direction. But rather than words, what emerged from her lips was something else entirely. Without warning, she¡¯d begun firing off small, coin-sized floating hearts at him. For real! Literal, actual, floating red hearts that looked like cartoons in real life. Merely by blowing a kiss in the air, these floating hearts had crossed the small distance between the two of them and had hit Zach right in the forehead. And that had been the last thing he could remember until just now. ¡°You¡­you tricked me,¡± he said. Then he snarled at her. ¡°Not that I¡¯d ever trust you in the first place. But damn, I really didn¡¯t see that one coming. Gods damn it!¡± Trying his best to keep his cool, he drew his sword and held it out defensively. Despite how brave he had become, there was still a place in his heart dedicated just to feeling an intense fear of this woman. Potential death by the Ziragoth adds hadn¡¯t scared him. But Fylwen? Oh, she terrified him like few other things in this world. ¡°I apologize for my duplicitous methods, young man,¡± she said to him, ¡°but I knew there would be no way you¡¯d willingly accompany me alone out here.¡± ¡°You¡¯re damn right I wouldn¡¯t,¡± he said, still glaring at her. Taking another step towards him, he stumbled backwards with his sword held out in front of him, nearly tripping over a rock behind him in the process. ¡°Get the fuck away from me!¡± he warned her. ¡°You¡¯re really going to kill me right here? Right now? Kal will never forgive you. And she¡¯ll find out, too, I swear she¡¯ll¡ª¡± ¡°I am not here to harm you,¡± she said to him, frustration in her voice. ¡°I assure you.¡± Zach snorted. ¡°Yeah, because I¡¯m totally going to believe that shit again.¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t blame you for not trusting me,¡± she whispered. ¡°But there are two reasons I brought you here, the first of which being far more important than the second.¡± ¡°W-what do you mean?¡± he asked, becoming curious. Even while he humored her, he began searching his surroundings for somewhere he could run off to and escape¡ªor better yet, somewhere he could hide. Because even in Phase Level 2, she was still far faster than him, and unless he found like a rock to hide behind or something¡ªand one he could reach with Phase Blink¡ªthere was no way he would be able to escape her. Shit, there¡¯s really nothing out here, he thought, becoming panicked. This area of the grasslands was the same as any other. For miles in every direction, it was just a nonstop pattern of rolling, grassy hills with the occasional large rock dotting the landscape. And aside from small mammalian animals, an abundance of stinging, flying insects, and a genuinely large variety of birds in the sky, there was no one around who could help him no matter how loudly he screamed. Even still, he would not stand by idly and wait for her to kill him. But if he was going to make a move, he had to do it soon. Cursing under his breath, he realized he had only slightly longer than a minute and a half left on his current duration of Unleashed Phase, and once that ran out, he was likely going to collapse and maybe even take a little snooze on the ground. He¡¯d be totally, completely defenseless. ¡°Young man, I¡­I¡¯m truly not going to harm you.¡± ¡°Bullshit!¡± She stared at him a moment before bowing her head and sighing. Then, as though in an attempt to convince him of her intentions, Fylwen did something that surprised Zach. Rather than take another step towards him, she took one away from him in the opposite direction instead. And then she lowered herself down onto the ground. Now, seated on the short grass, she placed her hands, palm down, onto the soil to both her sides, and there she sat, as though waiting for him to say something. Lowering his sword slightly¡ªbut not all the way¡ªhe asked, ¡°What do you want? Assuming for a second you really didn¡¯t bring me out here to kill me.¡± ¡°Like I told you,¡± Fylwen said, ¡°I have brought you here for two reasons.¡± ¡°And what reasons would those be?¡± Zach steeled himself in the event that she sprang up and leapt forward at him. He needed to keep himself focused and sharp: he needed to be ready to defend himself if she so much as flinched in his direction. For the moment, though, she seemed content to simply remain where she was, speaking calmly to him without making any threatening movements. But he knew he couldn¡¯t trust things to stay this way. For all he knew, she could be about to unleash some kind of secret sitting-down ability that would make his eyes pop out of his sockets and his spine break in half. Gods only knew what powers she had at her disposal. ¡°The first reason,¡± she said to him, ¡°is to keep a promise that I made to you: one that I had broken. And the second is to give you a gift.¡± Zach pursed his lips. He wasn¡¯t convinced. ¡°This doesn¡¯t have anything to do with what I¡­with what I know you saw me do, does it? I know you were watching everything on the viewing screen. And I know that you found me threatening even before today. So that¡¯s why I feel like there¡¯s no way you could¡¯ve seen me do what I did and not want to kill me.¡± In a disturbing and admittedly unhealthy way, Zach was almost glad for this distraction here with Fylwen, because it gave him a reason to not think about what¡¯d only just happened a few minutes prior. He knew that there¡¯d be no going back from what he¡¯d done. He knew that Mr. Oren, the GSG, Kalana, and tons of other people were going to want to talk to him and start asking him questions he didn¡¯t have the answers to. He knew everything was going to be such a hassle going forward. At least, right here and now, that was all temporarily gone from his mind, and he could focus on something far more basic and primal, like survival. Studying her expression carefully so as to potentially detect anything in her eyes that might indicate an imminent attack, Zach was once again surprised by the way she reacted to him. Following a short laugh, Fylwen actually smiled, and truly, it looked genuine and sincere: so much so that he was taken aback at how warm and motherly it came across. It was a side of her he couldn¡¯t imagine existing at all¡ªand one he refused to believe was real. Surely, it must have been fake, right? Nothing more than an attempt to manipulate him into lowering his guard. ¡°No, Zach,¡± she said, using his name. ¡°I can understand why you¡¯d think that, but no. I don¡¯t want to hurt you: and I¡¯ll never hurt you ever, ever, ever again.¡± ¡°I wish I could believe that,¡± he replied to her, twisting his lips sourly. ¡°But after the shit I just did, I¡­I don¡¯t even know if I could blame you anymore if you tried.¡± She again laughed. ¡°You know¡­I think I can see why she likes you so much.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°My daughter.¡± ¡°Oh, right. Duh.¡± Zach looked around skeptically, his eyes searching for any floating hearts in the air. ¡°Are you trying to charm me again?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she replied. But then she quickly added, ¡°Just not with magic this time.¡± Unable to avoid appreciating her little quip, Zach released a small chuckle of his own by accident. Then, reflexively, he lowered his weapon just a tiny bit further. ¡°So, what promise are you talking about?¡± ¡°Before I explain, may I please stand back to my feet without sending you into another bout of terror?¡± ¡°Pfft. I¡¯m not afraid of you.¡± ¡°Of course not, young man.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± he grumbled. ¡°B-bitch.¡± ¡°I am a bitch,¡± she replied sadly, which had the effect somehow¡ªand don¡¯t ask him how¡ªof actually making him feel guilty for saying it. Women and their Gods-damned mind tricks! He tried to remind himself that this was the woman who had killed him. She¡¯d killed him! The only reason he was even here speaking to her right now was because of her uncanny resemblance to her daughter. It wasn¡¯t just jarring how much like Kalana she looked: it was actually dangerous, because it required Zach to make changes to the way he thought and behaved in order to never fall for anything she said or did ever again. But, at least for now, he was glad things were remaining civil. And so, seeking to steer the conversation in a less negative direction, if only for his own safety, Zach glanced down at his sword for a moment then turned his head to meet her eyes. ¡°I know you¡¯re the one who gave this to me,¡± he said. At this, she raised her eyebrows. ¡°How¡­how do you know that? And yet, you still wield it?¡± ¡°Kal told me,¡± Zach explained, and now she made an ¡°ahh¡± sound as though the answer should have been obvious. ¡°And yeah, of course I¡¯m using it. I love it. And I know¡­I know it means a lot to you and your family, so¡­¡± Nervously, and with a sigh, he added, ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re most welcome. It suits you very well: perhaps too well. You see, that sword I¡¯ve given you is, in a manner of speaking, the reason why I¡¯ve brought you out here.¡± ¡°Huh? How so?¡± ¡°Well, I suppose it¡¯s far easier to explain my intentions to you now that you know I¡¯m the one who gave you that weapon. Truly, this conversation would have been far more difficult to have while trying to shroud that little detail.¡± Both intrigued and worried at the same time, Zach now lowered the weapon so that it was no longer ready to strike, yet he did not release his grip on it, refusing to trust her. ¡°What¡¯s the sword got to do with anything? Do you want it back?¡± ¡°No, not at all. It¡¯s just that¡­well, much like you claimed, I was indeed watching you on the viewing screen in the command tent. I witnessed the entirety of your struggle against those vulgar creatures.¡± ¡°Okay, so?¡± ¡°And,¡± she continued, ¡°I saw you using Phase Level 2 of your Unleashed Phase. I can only assume you used the sword¡¯s weekly ability to aid you in dealing with the exertion cost, yes? As I recall, it cuts the cost of your next ability in half.¡± Hearing her say the name of his abilities out loud was both jarring and yet oddly cathartic all at the same time. Given that she and just a handful of others knew the specific details of what his ability did and how it worked, it wasn¡¯t something he could really talk about with many people. And while he planned to tell Kalana, he hadn¡¯t had the time to do so yet. ¡°Is my assumption correct?¡± she asked him, clearly hoping for a response. Zach briefly chewed the lower-left corner of his lip. Should he answer her question? At the moment, he was caught between not wanting to give her any information that could possibly harm him but also wanting to figure out what she¡¯d brought him here for. He wasn¡¯t sure what to do, though, because on the one hand, he didn¡¯t see what possible danger could come of answering such a basic question. But on the other hand, the woman was crafty and there was no telling what she had up her sleeve¡ªand what might aid her in springing yet another trap. Ultimately, though, Zach just couldn¡¯t imagine that answering this particular question could give her any kind of power over him, so he decided to confirm her assumption. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he said. ¡°I used the sword. So?¡± At this, she crossed her right arm over to her left side then placed her left elbow into the palm of her right hand while she rubbed her jaw with her thumb. It was a posture that suggested she was deep in thought¡ªas though she had something she wanted to say to him but was not sure how to go about saying it. Of all things, she almost looked to be¡­considerate. But no, that was impossible from a woman like her. Almost without a doubt, Fylwen had at least some kind of ulterior motive here. Zach wouldn¡¯t be surprised if, at some point between now and five minutes from now, he found himself in another galaxy fighting giant pinecones with blueberries for eyes or some shit. ¡°Okay,¡± she said after a brief pause. ¡°Here¡¯s the thing¡ªdo you understand what the difference is between a High and a Very High exertion cost? Or more to the point: did you make the assumption that half of a Very High cost was logically less than or equal to a High? Because one cannot fault you if you have done so. It can be quite misleading.¡± As she spoke, a terrible, awful feeling of dread and horror erupted inside his chest, and it was one almost as bad as he¡¯d felt when she¡¯d betrayed him on Archian Prime. With each word, he felt a creeping fear beginning to overwhelm his senses. ¡°Why, is that¡­is that wrong?¡± She nodded. ¡°Yes. That would be incorrect.¡± Holding his breath a moment, Zach released it then asked, ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Well,¡± Fylwen began, her voice eerily compassionate. ¡°A Very High exertion cost is dramatically higher than a High.¡± ¡°H-how dramatic?¡± he asked, stammering. ¡°Significantly.¡± Zach felt himself becoming immediately unhinged, his heart speeding up in his chest. His throat dried, and his body began to tremble. What, exactly, was she implying? Was she saying that it was going to happen to him again? That awful, agonizing feeling that preceded death by exertion debt? Was that what she was telling him? No. That just wasn¡¯t possible. He¡¯d cut the debt in half. Surely, he had enough strength within to see himself through the other side of it. He must have! ¡°What¡­what are you trying to say?¡± he whispered, his knees suddenly feeling weak with fear and the memory of his death becoming fresh in his mind. Tears came unbidden, and his courage broke like a snapped twig. All of that fearlessness he¡¯d displayed only a few minutes ago when he¡¯d faced off against the level-90 adds summoned by Ziragoth¡ªit was all gone in a heartbeat. ¡°What are you saying?¡± he shouted at her a second time. ¡°Tell me!¡± Fylwen licked her lips a moment. ¡°A Very High exertion cost, even halved, is a fair bit above what you¡¯re currently capable of handling. You cannot afford to pay that.¡± ¡°No,¡± Zach whispered. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you.¡± His knees becoming even weaker, he began stumbling several steps backwards, nearly falling over. He steadied himself, only to almost fall a second time. Fylwen began to move towards him, now with a bit of urgency in her step, but he continued to retreat. ¡°Please, no,¡± he said. She was trying to speak to him, but he was ignoring her. He couldn¡¯t hear what she was saying amid the intense bout of disbelief that drowned out the world around him. He remembered what it felt like to die. There was nothing as bad as that. Nothing. ¡°Not again,¡± he begged. ¡°Please. I can¡¯t go through this again. I can¡¯t. Just kill me first. Don¡¯t make me feel it again. Please!¡± He began to shake, still ignoring Fylwen as she held out her hand for some reason as if to reassure him. Once again, he backed away from her, terrified, and once again, she pursued him. ¡°Not again. Gods, please. It hurt so much to die. It hurt so much!¡± He glanced down at the timer, and then he screamed at the top of his lungs for help, even knowing that no one out here would be able to hear him. How could this be happening to him again? How could the world be this cruel?
Unleashed Phase Duration 0:02 Remaining
The last two seconds of his life came and went. His hands ceased firing off embers, as did his feet. The ambient glow of power emanating from his skin dulled then vanished, and then, with every bit the ferocity that he remembered, the gripping, squeezing, and unbearable pain burst into his chest, along with an intense feeling of weight on his shoulders as though an elephant were sitting on his back: a heart attack, extreme exhaustion, and oxygen deprivation all rolled into one. He tried to scream a second time, but now he could not call out or make any sounds at all. It really was happening to him again. The misery. The absolute misery. He couldn¡¯t breathe. Not even the slightest bit of air could get into his lungs, which caused him to grasp at his own throat as his head became light and the pain in his chest amplified exponentially. It hurt. It hurt so bad! He needed oxygen. Gods, he needed oxygen! He could not draw a breath. He was dying! He felt his eyes go wide with fear, and then he fell backwards onto his back¡ªor almost did. Someone caught him. He felt arms wrapping around him. Was it Kalana? Had she come for him again? ¡°Shh, it¡¯s okay, I¡¯ve got you,¡± Fylwen whispered. Lifting his eyes to the top of his head, he could see her behind him in the corner of his vision. The sight of her only intensified his dread. He tried to get away from her, but he couldn¡¯t move. He couldn¡¯t even gasp. For some reason, she was cradling him like a child. She was again seated on the grass, and he¡¯d collapsed in front of her. She lifted her hand and brought it near him, and weakly, he tried to swat it away. But his arms went dead, and both dropped to his side as more tears fell from his eyes. Now, he felt her hand on his chest. Tightly. She was pressing against his heart with a great deal of pressure. Only a moment later, her hand began to glow a bright, brilliant green. Then, all at once, he suddenly found that he could inhale, and when he did, he sucked in lungful after lungful of oxygen, punctuating each draw of breath with a loud, gasping noise along with a whimper. His terror had reached its peak. He began to cough, choke, and cry as he sucked in more air. ¡°I¡¯m dying!¡± he shouted. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°No, not anymore,¡± she whispered, holding him in place. ¡°You can breathe now, Zach.¡± What was she talking about? Why was she lying to him? He could not breathe. She was killing him. Once again, he could not bring air into his oxygen-starved lungs. Whatever she¡¯d just done, she¡¯d undone it, because no matter how heavily he huffed, he only felt more and more lightheaded. ¡°Can¡¯t breathe!¡± he screamed, kicking his legs and trying to break free of her grip. ¡°I can¡¯t!¡± ¡°Yes, you can,¡± Fylwen whispered into his ear. ¡°Now, you¡¯re having a panic attack. I¡¯ve had many in my youth. It feels the same, but it¡¯s not. You must learn the difference.¡± She was lying to him. ¡°I¡¯m dying. You¡¯re wrong. I can¡¯t breathe.¡± His chest was aching once again, and he began to thrash wildly, but she was holding him tightly enough that he couldn¡¯t escape. ¡°I¡¯ve healed you,¡± she said. ¡°Be calm. Please. If you couldn¡¯t breathe, you wouldn¡¯t be able to keep speaking, now would you, young man? You¡¯re hyperventilating yourself. That¡¯s all that¡¯s happening to you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­!¡± He had to admit, she did have a point. With tears pouring out of his eyes, and his heart pounding in his chest, it took him nearly five full minutes of sitting there in the arms of his enemy until he finally decided to believe that he wasn¡¯t dying of E-debt. Throughout it all, she stroked his hair and continued to whisper to him that he was fine. When at long last he became convinced he was not going to die, he began to whimper. He tried to stop himself, but he had lost control of his emotions. He hated that he was this weak. Why was he like this? Why couldn¡¯t he just command himself not to be this way? To not feel fear: to not humiliate himself like this? ¡°If I had told you this was going to happen¡ªor even if I hadn¡¯t¡ªand you had gone through this in front of the others, they would have witnessed you this way,¡± she said. ¡°I thought you¡¯d prefer to do this in private to spare yourself the indignity. That is why I brought you here. There is, regrettably, no way of healing you until after the start of the E-debt process. This is because the E-debt must be up for payment in order for me to pay it.¡± ¡°Pay¡­it?¡± he asked, so totally exhausted that he shamefully felt like he could fall asleep right there while she clung to him. Fylwen did not answer him. He turned his eyes downward and observed that her arms, which were still wrapped around his body, had become sweaty, and craning his neck upwards, he saw that so too had her face. In fact, she was practically drenched with perspiration, and she was breathing heavily. She opened her mouth to reply, then closed it again as if speaking was too much of a burden for her. But quickly, she began to settle, and then she released him, and together, the two of them rose back to their feet. ¡°This¡­this was what I should have done for you on Archian Prime,¡± she said. ¡°I never intended to go back on my word. But I did. And instead of saving you, I ruined your life. I¡¯ve given you a scar that will never heal. I am truly sorry. But, at least now, I was able to fulfill my promise to you: that if you entered into Phase Level 2, I would heal you.¡± Zach, wiping his eyes, looked around nervously just to be absolutely, one-hundred-percent certain no one was around. ¡°You¡¯re not going to tell anyone I cried, right? Especially not Kal.¡± She laughed. ¡°Is that all you care about? Why do men and boys behave this way?¡± He couldn¡¯t believe what had just happened. The sheer shock of it momentarily rendered him speechless. Had Fylwen Vayra just gone out of her way to save his life? Why would she? It made no sense. She¡¯d wanted him dead so badly, and now, for some reason, she¡¯d decided to kidnap him for the purpose of saving him in a way that didn¡¯t humiliate him around the other adventurers? Why would she do that? Bringing himself under control, he wiped his eyes and continued to pull himself back together. ¡°I don¡¯t know why,¡± he said to her. ¡°We¡¯re just dumb like that, I guess. But it is what it is.¡± With a nervous laugh, he took a moment to just stand there and¡­and breathe, mostly to reassure himself that he still could. That had been a hell of an ordeal. Endorphins must¡¯ve been flooding into his brain right now, because he became far more relaxed than he should have given whose company he was in. After a few moments of silence, he asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be meeting with the political guilds right now?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°So what¡¯re you¡ª¡± ¡°But this is far more important,¡± she finished. ¡°It is?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Then, with a laugh, she bent down, picked up his sword, which he hadn¡¯t even realized he¡¯d dropped, and she handed it to him. ¡°You dropped this.¡± He couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said, taking it from her. And this time, he did sheathe it in the scabbard on his back. ¡°Why did you decide to save me this time around? I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°For two reasons,¡± she said. ¡°The first is that I truly am sorry. And the second is that I¡¯ve come to realize that, in time, I think you will forgive me for what I have done, and although you are someone with a power unlike any this world has seen before, I do not believe it is the Elvish kind who will face your wrath.¡± ¡°My what?¡± he asked. ¡°Huh?¡± At this, she lowered her voice, and now she, too, looked around, which only heightened Zach¡¯s curiosity while causing him to feel a bit of unease. ¡°You will know what I know soon enough,¡± she whispered to him. ¡°I¡¯m sure of it. I just¡­I just know you will¡­Zach.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± he asked. Now, he too was speaking in a whisper, though he had no idea why either of them did so. There were entire miles between them and another sentient being. ¡°Please, listen to me,¡± she said, placing her hands on his shoulders. The fact that he allowed her to do so surprised even himself. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you will ever believe me, but if there is one truth I wish you to understand, then let it be this: what I did to you, I did not enjoy. You might think I did not care, but I burned inside for the way I hurt you. I acted foolishly out of fear, not malice.¡± ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡± ¡°So that you will understand the difference.¡± ¡°The difference?¡± She nodded. ¡°Between malice and mistake. There is no excusing what I¡¯ve done. I understand this. Yet one day, you will understand who your true enemies are, Zach.¡± ¡°And who are they?¡± She stared at him unblinkingly. ¡°They are your fellow humans.¡± Something about the hardness in her eyes, which had appeared so suddenly, caused him to feel like an insect trapped under a magnifying glass. ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± he admitted. ¡°I know you do not. As I¡¯ve said, you won¡¯t for some time. But you will. On this, I am certain. It is also why I no longer fear you. I reflected on my actions, and the more I thought on them, the worse I felt over what I¡¯d done to you for how unnecessary it all was. That is why I say to you: in time, you¡¯ll understand my kind means you no harm. Because not all humans are evil. Even I know this. Yet¡­¡± She again looked around as though fearful that what she might be saying to him would be overheard. ¡°Human ugliness. No one with your level of power and importance can go long without experiencing it. Almost as surely as the mother sun rises and falls, you will find yourself at war with one human guild or another. I need you to live, because there are two things I want from you, and I know that in time you will give them to me.¡± Zach wasn¡¯t sure what to make of what she was saying. ¡°What do you want from me?¡± he asked, unsure of why he was even willing to entertain this nonsense, let alone actively engage with it. Yet, something about what she was saying, and the seriousness of her tone¡ªit compelled him to hear her out. ¡°Only this,¡± she began. ¡°Firstly: to love and protect my daughter with your life.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t even have to ask for that,¡± Zach said. ¡°I will.¡± ¡°And two,¡± she continued, ¡°to kill as many humans as you desire. Millions if you please.¡± At this, Zach pulled away from her and frowned. ¡°The fuck? Why would you even say something like that?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s inevitable,¡± she said. ¡°But please, listen to me, because for all that this may disturb you, I want you to know this: if you ever find yourself at war, I will be your ally. I will have my army be as your army, and I will soak in the blood of your enemies along with you.¡± Her words came across as so deranged and implausible all at the same time that he wasn¡¯t even sure he could form an emotional reaction to what she was saying. So instead, all he could do was release a laugh. ¡°Are you saying you want to conquer humanity with me?¡± ¡°Not quite. I am saying that when you inevitably set out to do so, I want to be by your side.¡± Even as ridiculous and, to be honest, strange, as all this was, he couldn¡¯t help but find the idea so preposterous as to be amusing. For this reason, he became curious about her motives. And so, for no reason other than natural curiosity, he asked, ¡°And why would you want to help me?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll show you why,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s easier that way.¡± And then, right there, in the middle of nowhere, with a final look around to ensure that no one was observing them, the mother of his girlfriend began to undo her fancy, elegant, white-and-green gown: and she did so in order to bare her chest at him. Zach, unable to believe that this was actually happening, released a sound not all that dissimilar from a squawk as he almost allowed himself to see what she was showing him; with less than a second to spare, he barely had enough time to hold out his hands¡ªbut from a distance, of course, so as not to accidentally touch her¡ªand he turned his head away, half-closing his eyes in the process. ¡°W-what are you doing?¡± he shouted at her. ¡°Are you fucking crazy? I¡¯m your daughter¡¯s boyfriend! Are you nuts? Put those things away, Miss Vayra. Err, Queen Vayra, sorry. But seriously, put them away. I mean, not that¡­not that I¡¯m not sure they¡¯re amazing and all, don¡¯t get me wrong. I¡¯m sure they¡¯re great, but come on! You can¡¯t just be taking out your¡ª¡± ¡°They¡¯re not amazing,¡± she said, interrupting him. ¡°They¡¯re not anything.¡± ¡°Hah?¡± ¡°You heard me.¡± What in the fuck is she talking about? So confused that it almost hurt, Zach turned his head ever so slightly in her direction, then risked just the tiniest, briefest peek. He loved Kalana way too much to risk seeing anything significant. But he also had no idea what she was trying to tell him. Yet, right away, even from the corner of his vision, he could see that something wasn¡¯t right here. And this prompted him to lower his hands and once more take all of her in. When he did, he gasped and began to shake his head. The sight was so disturbing that he could not begin to understand it. ¡°Who did this to you?¡± he asked, an anger in his voice that he couldn¡¯t control. ¡°Who hurt you like this?¡± ¡°I did,¡± she said. ¡°You¡­did?¡± Fylwen nodded. ¡°I did this. When I was thirteen years old. I did it to myself using a rusted spoon that I¡¯d sharpened on the metal headboard of my bed, because my kind weren¡¯t allowed to be near knives. It was as painful as it sounds. I almost died from infection. I don¡¯t even know why I was kept alive.¡± Turning over her words in his head, Zach was almost thrown off his feet, as the combination of confusion and concern almost struck him like a physical blow. ¡°But why?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Why would you do that to yourself?¡± ¡°I did this so that the thirty- and forty-year-old men who¡¯d enslaved me would find me repulsive and finally choose my sister instead of me, and at last, I would be able to know a night¡¯s sleep without...¡± Her voice broke, and unless she was the greatest actress to ever live, Zach did not think she was lying to him. For once, he believed her. There was too much pain in the way she looked down at her own body with disgust. ¡°And these men?¡± he asked, unable to contain his anger. ¡°Who are they? Would you be able to point them out?¡± She shook her head. ¡°They¡¯re long dead. Every one of them died a quick death at the exact same time.¡± ¡°You killed them?¡± She again shook his head. ¡°No, my ¡®brother¡¯ did. Or someone who used to call themselves my brother. You¡¯ve met him.¡± Zach made a questioning glance, and then Fylwen opened her mouth as if to explain. But before she could speak, the realization hit him immediately, and he said, ¡°Peter Brayspark?¡± She nodded, slowly. ¡°For the earliest years of my life, he was my best friend and protector. Our families used to be close before his father¡­¡± Her words trailed off, and she stared at the sky a moment. Zach could see the pain on her face. He doubted that time had done much to dull it. ¡°I can get you one of those stones,¡± he said. ¡°I think the red ones would¡ª¡± ¡°They will not work, young man.¡± ¡°Huh? Why not?¡± ¡°Because it has been too long. By the time I had found Archian Prime and had begun gaining power, my body no longer recognized this as an injury. For that reason, it cannot be healed: neither by magic nor by stone.¡± ¡°Oh. I didn¡¯t know it worked like that. Okay, well, humans, you know, we have these surgeons now that can actually¡ª¡± ¡°You are far kinder than I deserve, but please, Zach. I am who I am, and let us leave it at that.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± he whispered. Then, more loudly, he said, ¡°But just so you know, you¡¯re still beautiful. Just like Kalana. I promise you.¡± ¡°I am not beautiful,¡± she said after a short while. ¡°I am horrific. I¡¯ve been robbed of everything. I suffer. I hate. I want to kill. You¡¯ll understand sooner or later. There exists no evil in this world like that of humanity. I swear this to you, Zachys Calador. You will see this for yourself before long.¡± Walking slowly over to her, he said nothing for a moment as he carefully grabbed the sides of her gown and helped guide her back into it. Without uttering a word of her own, she silently complied and allowed him to help her restore her decency; upon pulling up the dress, he gently tied the string in the back. Then, turning his head away briefly so that he could gather his thoughts, he was quick to again meet her gaze. ¡°I¡¯ve already seen it,¡± he whispered. ¡°So I know that, at least on some level, you¡¯re not wrong.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± In this moment, Zach lost his ability to despise her. He thought he¡¯d never be able to forgive her for what she¡¯d done to him. But now¡­now things had changed. He couldn¡¯t do it anymore. He couldn¡¯t hate her. He didn¡¯t know why. But the sheer injustice of it all: it broke through to him in a way that he did not consciously choose to allow, but nevertheless could not prevent. And so, in great detail, he told her about the night he¡¯d found his father¡¯s body sprawled on the city street outside his apartment. He told her everything. How Varsh had murdered his dad simply on a whim: for no reason other than the fact that he ¡°felt¡± like it. He told her how Varsh had made him feel. How he had told Zach that he was trash: that he was worthless. How Zach struggled every day to convince himself that it wasn¡¯t true but could not seem to bring himself to fully believe he was anything else. He told her how he was tired of feeling so powerless. How much it had hurt him to lose Kalana after finally confessing both to her¡ªand in many ways, also to himself¡ªhow much he loved her. Incredibly, he did not stop there. But he continued to tell her more and more about his experiences beyond that point. And even as he spoke, he couldn¡¯t believe that he was actually telling her all this. She, the woman who had betrayed him and caused him to experience death. Now, here he was, telling her every single thing that had happened to him beginning on the day he¡¯d discovered a spawn point. He told her more about his life than he¡¯d told anyone: Kolona and Olivir included. Even Lienne and Rian. He told her about the years he¡¯d spent going to school with Kalana. He told her how his cat had taught him to fight with a sword, and for a while had been his only friend as he set out to better himself with no one but Fluffles by his side. Then he told her about his experience in Yorna, and his fight with Moldark. He told her about the dragon, and why he had been wounded the first time they had met. He did skip over the part about Archian Prime, as he doubted either of them needed to go over that bit of history again. But aside from that, for a reason he did not know, he shared with her a near complete retelling of the events that had led him to this point. And she listened. Zach did not know why, but for some reason, that mattered to him. Just as it had when Olivir and Kolona had listened. He didn¡¯t know why it was so important to him that someone heard these things. What did he matter, truly? Why would anyone even care? These questions led him to feel as though it was almost rude for him to spill everything out there like this. But she seemed to care for some reason. Several times, he asked her if he should stop, as he knew that the most important people in the world¡ªor at least the world of humanity¡ªwere waiting for her. And each time, her answer had been the same. ¡°They can wait,¡± she said. ¡°I want to hear more.¡± And he obliged. Even though it was selfish. Even though he was wasting the time of a queen. For almost thirty minutes, he recounted and recalled the events that had recently transformed his life. Yet at some point during his long, uninterrupted tale, he began to realize that, on at least one point, Fylwen was correct. It was something that registered in the back of his mind then solidified until he accepted it as a truth. And it was what she¡¯d said to him regarding her own actions: that there was a difference between mistake and malice. All this time, Zach had been so blinded by the anger and hurt that she¡¯d caused him that he¡¯d been totally incapable of understanding something so fundamental and true. Yet it all seemed so obvious now that he saw it. And while he personally felt the word ¡°mistake¡± was a bit too light and maybe let her off the hook a bit too easily, there was a deeper truth in what she was saying. Because truly, Zach did not know if the woman before him, Fylwen Vayra, could fairly be considered a monster. Was she a monster? Maybe¡ªor maybe not. He no longer believed so himself. But even if she was a monster, what she was absolutely, one-hundred percent not, was a demon. And while it might seem like semantics, there really was a difference there that mattered. A man like Varsh: he was a demon. He was evil. This was something Zach now understood. You can be bad and not evil, Zach thought. Fylwen is bad. But she¡¯s not evil. She could be good if she really wanted to. Varsh can¡¯t. Varsh is evil. As Zach at last finished speaking, a sudden rush of anger began flooding into him from seemingly out of nowhere. And it was because of this anger that he concluded things by asking her a question he really, really shouldn¡¯t have asked. ¡°You told me you¡¯d help me if I asked. Did¡­did you really mean that? About being my ally?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she answered immediately. ¡°I swear this to you. I will never hurt you again. If you treat my daughter with love, I will love you like a son, human or not. I swear this to you, Zach.¡± He clenched his hands into fists. ¡°The man who tied up Kal, killed my dad, and almost beat your husband to death. I want revenge. I want to kill him. He got away with it. Then he put a bounty on my head, or he had someone do it. I don¡¯t know the full details. I only know that I can¡¯t take it anymore. I can¡¯t take knowing he got away with it.¡± Fylwen nodded, firmly. ¡°Varsh¡­I know him.¡± ¡°You do?¡± ¡°Not personally. I followed human politics closely when I lived on Galterra. He¡¯s fourth in command of the Royal Roses.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zach said. Then he scratched his head and laughed. ¡°At least I think he is.¡± ¡°And you say this man, for no reason other than amusement, murdered your father?¡± ¡°Yes. He ordered the woman he was with to throw my dad out of a window.¡± The look of disgust on her face did not appear insincere. She briefly bared her teeth, furrowed her brow, and flared her nostrils. ¡°And he abused my daughter, too!¡± she hissed. ¡°That¡¯s right. He did.¡± ¡°We will end him. I will bring down a fire upon him and everyone he¡¯s ever known. I did not know this man had done this. And to think: I spoke to this pathetic excuse for a lifeform only moments ago.¡± At this, Zach felt every muscle in his body tighten with rage. ¡°He¡¯s here?¡± Zach snapped. ¡°Varsh is here? Right now?¡± ¡°Of course he is.¡± An anger so powerful he didn¡¯t know it was within him burst forward so suddenly he could barely contain himself. ¡°That fucking piece of shit¡­he¡¯s here?¡± Zach screamed. In his mind, memories of his father¡¯s corpse sprawled out onto the pavement, shattered pieces of glass framing his body, the peacekeepers leaving him there to rot¡ªit all came flooding back to him. Now, even more tears came to his eyes, and this time, they were not of sadness, but of rage. ¡°All the hate I had for you, Queen V¡ª¡± ¡°You may call me Fylwen,¡± she said. He nodded. ¡°Thank you. Uh, all the hate I had for you, Fylwen, I¡¯m going to put it into him instead. He¡¯ll pay for what both of you did. And then we¡¯ll be okay, you and me. But I need to be the one who does it. I want to avenge my dad with my own two hands. I want him to know it was me. He called me trash. He called me worthless. He told me that people like me don¡¯t even deserve to live because of how low and worthless we are.¡± ¡°Human filth,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°He put his hands on my daughter. And yet he spoke to me and acted as though it were an ordinary encounter. He mocked me.¡± ¡°Fylwen, if I were to go Phase Level 3, could you heal me? That¡¯s the help I need from you. It has the same exertion cost as 2.¡± She rubbed her chin a moment. ¡°If I rest up a bit, yes. Assuming you were to trust me, I would be able to pay your debt. As long as it is not accompanied by any others. Why?¡± ¡°Because if I challenge him to a duel, he¡¯ll accept. And I don¡¯t think I can beat him the way I am now.¡± ¡°You can if I give you my strongest buffs. Given what is coming tomorrow, it seems a waste to go that route now. Based on my recollection, there is no way I can save you if you push beyond 3. You may wish to reserve that for the dragon. It would be beyond overkill on someone as weak and unworthy as Varsh.¡± ¡°But you think I could win if you buffed me?¡± ¡°I know that you could. But¡­are you really thinking of just marching back to the camp and goading that man into a duel to the death.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Zach screamed. ¡°He¡¯s a political guild piece of shit. I¡¯ve fought for my life so many times now I¡¯ve lost count. I need this. I need this.¡± Fylwen again rubbed her chin. ¡°You¡¯re going to need real equipment. We can¡¯t have you taking him on in that level-5 rubbish. I did tell you I had a gift for you, didn¡¯t I?¡± Zach cocked an eyebrow. ¡°More cool Elvish stuff?¡± ¡°Sadly, no. Just level-45 gear from Archian Prime I have in my vault. Still, it¡¯ll get the job done. And though I truly intend no insult, young man, having been within close proximity of you, I can assure you a change of attire would be within your best interest.¡± He coughed out a laugh. ¡°I¡¯ve been sweating, fighting Elves, fighting mobs, thrown in sand, thrown into the sky, smashed through tables, and all in scorching heat. Deodorant can only cover so much.¡± As Fylwen extended her right hand high above her head, likely to call upon her bank and storage, Zach began caressing the sword on his back while replaying his memories of Varsh over and over in his mind. He might be about to upset a whole lot of people, but he didn¡¯t care. He needed to do this. And yet, even still, he did not agree with Fylwen¡¯s belief about him: that he was destined for war and murder. He was not a murderer. He was not going to start wars and kill lots of humans. But he would kill Varsh. That much, he would do. And that would be justice, not murder. If that piece of shit was here, then his life was basically already over. Zach had killed twice before, and they¡¯d been people he didn¡¯t even want to kill. He wanted to kill Varsh. ¡°If you help me get revenge for my dad, Fylwen, and this isn¡¯t a trap, then I swear to the Gods, I¡¯ll trust you despite everything you did, and I¡¯ll never doubt you again. So please: help me. Right now, in this moment, I feel like I¡¯ve never wanted anything more than I want to make him pay. I¡¯ll never see my dad ever again, and it¡¯s all his fault. I¡¯ll never get over the way he beat me half to death in front of Kalana, making me look small and helpless.¡± Zach growled. ¡°Fuck! I hate him. I want to hurt him and make him bleed!¡± ¡°Do you know how you will goad him?¡± Zach nodded confidently. ¡°Oh, definitely. For a guy like Varsh? That¡¯s actually the easy part. This is not a guy who can handle being insulted or slighted.¡± ¡°Well then,¡± the queen said, now holding a bundle of various pieces of gear in her arms. ¡°I¡¯ll turn around while you change. And then, I shall earn your trust.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± ******** ¡°Zach this¡± and ¡°Zach that.¡± It was all any of these morons wanted to talk about. This was such a waste of time. Honestly, Varsh didn¡¯t understand why someone of his stature had been required to come down to this Gods-cursed plot of filth just to take a few photos. He had far better things to do than to waste his time dabbling in adventurer matters. As far as he was concerned, boss-fighting was their responsibility, and ensuring the world remained a civil place was his. This is so beneath me, he thought to himself, feeling disgusted. Varsh reviled even the very city itself. Everyone knew that ¡°people¡± from Shadowfall Coast were poor, working-class Ones who aspired to be nothing and thus never became anything. Varsh couldn¡¯t wait until him and his brigade of Ones marched along with the other commanders and burned this place to the ground in the upcoming conventional war that looked almost certain to be taking place. The people of this filthy city could use a good cleanse, and the Royal Roses were going to bring it to them, oh yes indeed they were. For now, though, he would just have to endure this eyesore of a region. Ugh. Trash. Everywhere around him was trash. And now, it seemed, that a particular piece of garbage had become the talk of the town. This ¡°Zachys Calador,¡± the worthless scoundrel who¡¯d made his name off severing Varsh¡¯s hand. The dragon hadn¡¯t had a Gods-damned thing to do with it. Only the boy¡¯s proximity to Varsh had made that runt famous. And he¡¯d only sliced off Varsh¡¯s hand by using dirty tricks. Regrowing it had been costly and painful. Now, it seemed, that fueled by the popularity he¡¯d gained off Varsh¡¯s name, everyone in the raid camp was talking about him: and they were all looking for him. The adventurers, the political guild leaders, and even that bratty ¡°princess¡± who¡¯d been mewling and begging him back in Whispery Woods. Honestly, this entire situation disgusted him. He wasn¡¯t sure how much more of it he could handle. ¡°I don¡¯t know where he is,¡± the annoying little bitch said. ¡°And he¡¯s not answering his phone. Alex, I really need to talk to him. I¡¯m worried, and I love him, and I¡¯m not gonna be mean or anything I just wanna know he¡¯s okay, ¡®cause he stormed off on his own again.¡± ¡°I need to speak with him as well,¡± the unforgivable bastard replied to her. ¡°Likely for the same reasons you do. We¡¯ll find him, don¡¯t worry. Actually, I think they said he went off to have a conversation with your mother.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what worries me. I¡¯m worried she¡¯s gonna kill him!¡± ¡°She¡¯s not that stupid. She left with him in front of countless witnesses. If anything happened to him, everyone would know it was her fault.¡± ¡°But she¡¯s not gonna care, Alex. My mom¡¯s¡­you saw how she is now!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just be calm, Kalana. Please.¡± The two of them were having some kind of conversation outside their respective tents, which were nearby to one another in the central area of the raid camp. Varsh had absolutely no idea whatsoever what they were talking about, of course, because insignificant people and their insignificant conversations did not deserve to be understood. He¡¯d really like to tell them so himself, but regrettably, Varsh had been personally ordered to play nice with these worthless gutter-swine. He could not interact with or say anything to them. Haisel Ragora had made that abundantly clear. I should kill him in his sleep one of these days and take his place, Varsh thought, suppressing a growl. Haisel is another worthless piece of shit. Varsh looked around for a place to cool off. It was too Gods-be-damned hot out here. The very fact that he was standing around and sweating like some kind of One¡­it was almost too degrading to bear. And if that wasn¡¯t bad enough, he had to stand here while all anyone seemed to want to talk about was a teenager from the Whispery Woods: quite literally the lowest place from which someone could hail, and quite possibly the only city on Galterra more disgusting than Shadowfall Coast. So yes. Varsh was annoyed. It was hot, he was forced to be here practically against his will, and he kept having to hear that boy¡¯s name as though he was someone with value who mattered. Oh! And look! There he was now, strolling back into the camp from the north side with the little bitch¡¯s mother by his side. What a surprise. The attention-seeking vermin had shown up for more attention. Just look at how many people were turning to stare at him as he strolled right on into the camp like he belonged here. At least he¡¯d finally done something about his appearance, if nothing else. Though he was still trash on the inside, kudos to whoever taught him to at least present himself like someone with actual power. He was wearing a perfectly black robe with long, black sleeves and a hooded cloak. The hood was drawn so that, as he approached, his eyes were not visible, only the sneer on his mouth. On both his arms were what looked like silver bracelets, though they were wrapped around and around his lower forearms like chains, and on his neck was a large, golden pendant in the shape of a skull; both its eyes were shining a deep purple while releasing small quantities of some kind of equally purple smoke. On his back, inside of a scabbard, was a sword that looked as though it may have actually had some value. The whelp probably stole it. The moment he came into view, his little bitchy girlfriend, his adventurer friends, and many others began to approach him, and all began jabbering away as though they were under the impression that they were speaking to someone of worth. It was sickening how far this delusion had progressed. Even more amazingly, rather than kiss the ground they walked on for paying trash like him any mind at all, he completely ignored them and continued to march directly beyond them with a determined, perhaps even ¡°angry¡± looking gait. This only caused them to become confused, as they followed along with him, asking to know where he was, if he was feeling okay, why the queen was by his side, and why the two were walking in lockstep together. The end result was that he began to look like the leader of some kind of parade. ¡°Mom, what¡¯s going on?¡± the insufferable Elvish twerp asked. ¡°I made up with your boyfriend,¡± the faux ¡°queen¡± of a mostly dead race replied. ¡°You what?¡± the girl asked, sounding shocked. ¡°It¡¯s true, Kal,¡± the trash said to her. ¡°Your mom and I are cool now. We had a really good talk. You should forgive her. She¡¯s actually a really good woman¡ªand she¡¯s my friend, starting today.¡± The Elvish girl¡¯s mouth popped open and she almost looked as though she was so confused that she might literally faint as a result of it. She began firing off a million questions that made no sense to Varsh, many of them beginning with the words ¡°what about¡± and ended with names like ¡°Kolona¡± and ¡°Olivir¡± who apparently the Elvish mother had wronged¡ªall of which were ignored as the boy and her mother continued to travel in his general direction. Actually, come to think of it, he almost seemed to be staring directly at him. Not that that¡¯d be too surprising: Varsh was the only sight around for miles worth looking at. No, he¡¯s definitely heading straight towards me. Interesting¡­ More and more adventurers began to emerge from their tents as the two continued to stride forward with powerful steps in his direction, and every one of them seemed to be trying to get an answer out of him. Even members of the media had begun rushing over to him, and they too began to shout out every conceivable combination of words as though desperate for him to respond to at least one of them. And yet, still, this hooded, sword-wielding hooligan with the skull-shaped pendant continued to march onwards until finally, coming to an abrupt halt about twenty feet in front of Varsh, he lifted his head just enough so that Varsh could see the outline of his eyes, which were narrowed. ¡°Varsh!¡± he shouted. Varsh opened his mouth to reply, then quickly shut it. He¡¯d been told not to bother the boy, however unworthy he was of being spared the rightful, justified lashing of Varsh¡¯s tongue. Yet, as though unbothered by his silence, the boy continued to address him. But first, he looked around, almost as though wanting to ensure that everyone in the crowd could hear what he had to say. Then, he lifted his hand, which was covered by a black leather glove, and he pointed his index finger at Varsh. ¡°Everyone, listen up!¡± he shouted, and to Varsh¡¯s amazement, the entire camp immediately went silent. No one could shut the annoying, loud adventurers up, and yet, with just those three words from the boy, even the drunkest and loudest of them snapped their mouths shut and listened to him speak. Yet he paused a moment, and Varsh was not certain why¡ªat least not until he saw the numerous members of the media approaching with their cameras pointed. What¡¯s he up to? ¡°Do you all see that guy over there? His name is Varsh Gellor. And he is a cowardly, weaselly, unworthy piece of shit who actually put a bounty on my head because he¡¯s too scared to fight me in a duel one-on-one. He knows that he has no chance, so he had to hire bounty hunter because he has no honor. He¡¯s worthless trash! But I¡¯m going to give him a chance to redeem himself. As I¡¯m sure you all know if you¡¯ve been watching the news lately, I am a recently inducted member of the esteemed Royal Roses. And I am hereby invoking my right to challenge another member of my guild to a duel to the death in order to resolve our conflict. If he is a man of any honor or courage, he will come forward and fight me!¡± Orders or no orders, Varsh exploded with rage even before he¡¯d finished speaking. He didn¡¯t care what anyone said. NO ONE spoke to him that way! Chapter 84: Humanity Chapter 84: Humanity Eilea Vayra leaned in closer to the glass viewing dome and grinned mightily, and though she would not be able to know what facial expression was to be found on the man with the serpent mask, she had to imagine that, at the very least, his excitement rivaled her own as the two of them watched events unfold. I am so proud of Queen Vayra, she thought. She has done so well. Incredibly, Eilea had not even needed to manipulate Fylwen or pull any strings to get the woman to dance. Without any intervention whatsoever, she had somehow just steered Zachys Calador in the exact direction Eilea needed him to go¡ªand what was more, she¡¯d done it from the heart. No games, no deception. It was incredible. Truly, she was so proud of the woman. It didn¡¯t matter that she¡¯d never met her, and that Fylwen had no idea who she was, that she¡¯d ever existed, or the truth of the legacy that she, her daughter, and her husband shared. All of the Elves in the Vayra line, both those who married into it such as Fylwen, or those whose blood ran from the ancient times, such as Kalana and her father¡ªEilea considered all of them to be equally deserving of titles and roles to play in the world she wished to create. Even without having intentionally served Eilea¡¯s purpose, Fylwen Vayra would nevertheless be honored and rewarded for the service she had performed today. On second thought, all those with the Vayra name needed to be rewarded. Well¡­everyone except Adamus Vayra. He would be cast out, but only after witnessing the beautiful world that would spring up around his failures¡ªthe failures that Eilea would correct. If Yorna were still here, she would side with me. I am sure of it. As Eilea watched the fireworks begin, she suddenly had a craving for that human food known as ¡°popcorn¡± that she¡¯d tasted numerous times on her visits to the ancient times. Why hadn¡¯t Galterrans made that a thing yet? Another problem she¡¯d correct¡ªand hopefully soon, as Zach was on the path to righteousness that would lead to a new, better world order. He was going to forge a paradise for all of them. And, as it always did seem to be the case, it will have been a Vayra who had set him upon it. Well done, well done! Strike him down, Zach. Strike down the wicked. The evil. Slay the monsters that corrupted the world! ¡°I don¡¯t like this,¡± the man with the serpent mask said. ¡°This is not justice.¡± Surprised, Eilea turned her head to face him. He was standing close enough to her that their shoulders were almost touching, yet even at this distance, she could not get an easy read on him. ¡°This is an incredible turn of events. What nonsense are you peddling?¡± The man grunted, slowly. ¡°You and I share the same two goals: of creating a better world, and of taking down Adamus. But you and I do not hold the same values. No, not at all.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± She was in far too jubilant a mood to let the man crush her spirits. And thus, prodding him, she said, ¡°Are you not just being a bit too softhearted because he¡¯s your kin, Francis?¡± The man whipped his head in her direction so fast that she flinched. ¡°Don¡¯t call me that name.¡± ¡°Why do you continue to wear the mask?¡± Eilea asked him, holding her ground. ¡°It¡¯s obvious who you are: Francis Calador, the human who could have been a Great One if only he¡¯d chosen to do so. I¡¯ve known it was you for months, truth be told.¡± The man in the serpent mask looked at her. ¡°Francis Calador died a long time ago,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m just a ghost now. And as far as this whole spectacle is concerned, the boy should not be wasting his time on violence or petty revenge killings. As I¡¯m sure you know, the World Eater will spawn in just five more years. Protecting the world from Moldark¡¯s doomsday weapon is my primary purpose for existing. Though you and I share two goals: this one, to me, ranks higher than both.¡± ¡°We share this one as well.¡± ¡°Do we?¡± ¡°Of course we do,¡± she said. ¡°How can I create a paradise world if it is destroyed by an abomination such as the World Eater? Defeating that thing is just as vital to my ambitions as it is to yours.¡± The man sighed, and there was a note of relief in the sound of it. ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad to hear we agree on that then.¡± He gave her shoulder a friendly squeeze, completely unaware of the chills it sent down her spine. He was clueless to how much she had grown to like and appreciate him. Eilea found him charming in a way that she couldn¡¯t quite describe. ¡°Please, Francis. Take off the mask.¡± ¡°It changes nothing either way.¡± ¡°Maybe, but outside of my dream-like trips to the past, I haven¡¯t looked into another person¡¯s eyes in many, many centuries. For the past fifteen years, I have been blessed with your company. Yet I have never once gotten to see your face.¡± ¡°Is it truly so important to you, Eilea?¡± ¡°It is.¡± With a sigh, the man removed his serpent mask, and now, without any shred of doubt, Eilea gazed upon the bafflingly youthful face of Francis Calador, a man who had supposedly been murdered by his best friend, Moldark, thousands of years ago. His eyes were so filled with determination that the sensation of it was palpable. His wavy black hair was in a bit of a mess due to having worn the helmet for so long, but his rugged good looks were a welcome sight for someone who had been without contact for so long. He was strong, broad-shouldered, and his chiseled jaw reminded Eilea of how much she had missed the company of men. ¡°I had strongly suspected it was you from the beginning,¡± she said. ¡°Why did you try so hard to keep it a secret?¡± ¡°You misunderstand me. I am not hiding my identify from you. That was never my goal. That was never why I wore this. I wear it because I am not the person you see before you anymore. I¡¯m not here to live out the desires of Francis Calador. I¡¯m here to guide my blood to Dragon Squire so that he can begin taking steps to protect our world from the nightmare ahead. And this,¡± he said, nodding his chin at the glass viewing dome, ¡°is nothing more than a grotesque display of anger and hatred. I am so disappointed. I pray to any greater power who will listen that my descendent chooses mercy and spares that man¡¯s life.¡± Eilea curled her lower lip. ¡°For someone who has shed the Calador name, you seem awfully upset.¡± Francis looked off into the distance. ¡°I¡¯ve watched for thousands of years as my family went from legend to myth to a page in a history book no longer in existence. And through it all, I felt relief. Because I would rather my kin grow up, live peacefully, and die as level-1 commoners than use our blood to unleash terror upon the world. It¡¯s why I chose to die. Had I so desired, I could have killed Moldark¡ªand his entire army with him¡ªand I could have done it with a hand tied behind my back. If that was the path I wished to follow, it would have been a thing of ease for me. But we have to better than that, Eilea. All of us do. I don¡¯t want to kill people, and I don¡¯t want others to kill. And if someone wants to strike me, I will turn my cheek at them.¡± Eilea raised her eyebrows. ¡°Wait a minute, I know where that¡¯s from¡ªvaguely. You¡­you believe in the Old God, don¡¯t you? The one from ancient times.¡± ¡°And if I do?¡± Eilea held up her hands in a disarming gesture. ¡°Far be it from me to tell you what to believe.¡± She studied him a moment, and incredibly, she, a Great One, found herself become awed by his presence. There were so few men in this world who stood so strongly by their convictions: and even fewer whose convictions were noble. Adamus was an example of the former as opposed to the latter. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Eilea,¡± he whispered. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Since I have told you something of great value to me, will you answer a question of mine?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± ¡°Are the Elves¡­human?¡± At this, Eilea felt a jolt of surprise for the first time in hundreds of years. What did he know? How could he ask such a question? Someone must have told him something: but who? ¡°To even ask me that question at all implies you know something that no one should ever be allowed to know. How could you possibly¡­who has spoken to you?¡± ¡°No one,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve deduced it all on my own.¡± ¡°Impossible.¡± ¡°Not so. I don¡¯t lie, Eilea. Ever. This is a theory I¡¯ve had all my life. It¡¯s something I always wanted to ask a Great One. So please, just tell me.¡± Eilea paused a moment. She was willing to break just about any rule, violate any principle, and shatter any alliance if it meant accomplishing her goal of bringing peace and decency back to the world. But the truth about the Elvish¡­that was one thing she genuinely did not feel comfortable sharing. And yet, who would Francis even bother to tell? Who would listen to him? Clearly, he wanted to know this for his own sake. ¡°You will never disseminate this?¡± ¡°I will not.¡± ¡°You give me your word on pain of death?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°I ask you this only because there is a truly noble reason that we do not share this secret. Among the Great Ones who created the system, there was a great deal of ideological diversity, with nearly all philosophical viewpoints represented. Yet, all of us, including those whose beliefs were rooted in the pursuit of truth¡ªall of us agreed to bury what I am about to tell you and never speak of it again.¡± Eilea braced herself. Even uttering this aloud felt like a crime against so many innocent Elvish lives who would be made to feel worthless if it were ever told to them. This was something that was intended by design to be forgotten. For this reason, the Great Ones would not even speak about this aloud in front of one another. Wetting her lips, Eilea faced away from him as she spoke. ¡°All throughout human history, psionically capable individuals have existed, with many beginning to emerge as early as the 12th century.¡± ¡°Psionically capable individuals?¡± Franics asked. ¡°Basically, people with gifts that separated them from others. They could move things with their mind, or read the thoughts of others. These individuals have been referred to by many names throughout history, but in all cases, they remained hidden until an incident that occurred in the early 2000s that I cannot talk about: although in this case, it is not due to personal dislike of the topic, but more a restriction placed on me.¡± ¡°A restriction? I don¡¯t understand. Why can¡¯t you talk about it?¡± Eilea sighed. ¡°Because the Great One named ¡®Rose¡¯ who ¡®lives¡¯ in that era will come here and eliminate all life on Galterra in a heartbeat if I even speak it aloud.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s impossible.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. As confusing as it may sound to you, there are Great Ones who are so powerful that they are aware of all times at all times. Rose and her mother¡ªAdamus¡¯s mother¡ªare two such Great Ones. For this reason, I cannot share with you this piece of information.¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know what to say to that. You¡¯re certain that just by speaking it aloud, someone who lived over five-thousand years ago would simply pop into existence and kill all of us?¡± ¡°Or worse.¡± ¡°What could be worse than that?¡± ¡°Again, I cannot say. That, I will never share.¡± ¡°Very well. Please continue, Eilea.¡± She drew a breath and held it a moment before slowly releasing it. ¡°As I was saying, psionically-capable humans were a secret, but very significant and important part of human history until this unnamed world event brought them to public attention. And then, about a thousand years later, the Elvish race came into existence. We were created by genetically modifying the embryos of psionically capable humans in order to enhance their power and weaponize them. This led to the creation of what some might describe as ''magic,'' but is in actuality just an enhanced form of a natural, scientifically explainable phenomenon." ¡°So it¡¯s exactly like I suspected,¡± he whispered. More loudly, he said, ¡°But why change your appearance to look differently from the way that we look?¡± She gritted her teeth. ¡°Your question¡­the answer to it is the reason why we do not discuss this topic. It¡¯s the reason why even those who are opposed to telling lies or suppressing the truth were in favor of erasing what you are about to hear. Because the answer to your question hurts. It stings us in ways you could not possibly imagine. And even just speaking it aloud runs the risk of perpetuating it.¡± ¡°Say no more. I can see this is painful for you. If that¡¯s so, then you do not have to tell me why your people¡ª¡± ¡°It was a joke,¡± she said, the bitterness and hurt creeping into her voice. ¡°That is why I look the way I do. That is why my ears are different from yours, why my eyes are shaped differently, and why my hair is a shade of gold that humans cannot naturally obtain.¡± ¡°A¡­joke?¡± he asked her. She turned back around and looked at him, and to her surprise, there was such a strong and endearing compassion in his eyes. ¡°Do you mean that literally?¡± ¡°Yes. I do.¡± He widened his eyes in shock. ¡°Truly?¡± ¡°Yes. You see, very early on in human history, the Elvish were a race of mystical, magical beings depicted in fairy tales and fantasy stories. Though I was not alive for the creation of my people, I was present when we found the archives on the abandoned research station. And what we learned was that, on a whim, and for the sake of mere levity, my family, my people, everyone I¡¯ve ever loved¡ªwe were designed to look this way for nothing more than the entertainment of those who created us in a test tube. It was funny to them. There are recordings of them laughing about how ¡®funny¡¯ it would be if they made ¡®Elves¡¯ a ¡®real thing.¡¯ Well I am a ¡®real thing¡¯, and my children were real to me too.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said. ¡°And can I assume that the reason you bury this truth is for the sake of your young?¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly correct,¡± Eilea said, stunned at how quickly he had ascertained that. ¡°So, Elvadin, your culture, the pantheon of Gods and Goddesses¡­?¡± ¡°All fiction,¡± she said. ¡°We made it up for one reason and one reason alone: so that our children could be proud of who they were born to be, and so they would believe they were someone special and important just like everyone else, and not some test subject made to look like fictional beings for the laughter of those who created us.¡± A moment of silence passed between them, during which Francis said nothing. Then, finally, he began to nod. ¡°I am against lying. I am against deceit. But in this one case, I agree: you did the right thing. I will never speak a word of this to anyone. And I am sorry for what humanity has done.¡± She waved her hand at him. ¡°Truly, I have no hatred of humanity. None at all. No Great One does. We created the system to save it, after all.¡± ¡°When you say ¡®it,¡¯ do you mean¡­¡± He took a full step back and held his hand to his mouth. ¡°The other races as well? Dwarves, Orcs, Gnomes¡­are they¡­?¡± Eilea swallowed. ¡°Yes. They are all derived from modified human embryos.¡± ¡°And humans created them too?¡± ¡°No,¡± she whispered, a bout of shame rising within her. ¡°Then who did?¡± She lowered her voice. ¡°We did,¡± she said. ¡°But why would the Elves do this knowing full well how wrong it is?¡± At this, Eilea laughed. ¡°Because, fundamentally, we are human.¡± And now, he too laughed, as despite being such a simple explanation, it was perhaps the most sensical one that could ever be offered. ¡°So,¡± Francis said, ¡°all the races on Galterra: all of you are derived from humans?¡± At this, she fixed him with a hard look. She knew this part would cause him to lose some sleep, but he¡¯d pushed her to tell him this. ¡°Your use of the word ¡®you¡¯ is off.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You, Francis: you are also a genetically modified subspecies. Everyone on Galterra is. You¡¯re not a pure human, either. None of us ever were. You were just blessed with maintaining a human phenotype. You look indistinguishable from the way a human from Earth would have looked, but neither you nor any human you¡¯ve ever met can trace their lineage back to a natural birth from a human mother on Earth. It¡¯s why I do not hate you. You are not them. You only think that you are.¡± ¡°So¡­¡± Francis paused a moment, then briefly departed to pull up a chair. She wasn¡¯t surprised he felt the need to sit down. ¡°So¡­so every race on Galterra is derived from modified human embryos?¡± ¡°Almost all,¡± Eilea said. ¡°There is one single race that is not.¡± ¡°Which one?¡± ¡°The lizardmen. Their species remains to this day the only sentient extraterrestrial life that any human-derived species or subspecies has ever managed to locate in the universe. That they are capable of participating in the system is also due to the miracle of genetic engineering. In the mid 3000s, humanity embarked on an exhaustive, galaxy-wide search to see if other sentient life existed in the universe. They had nearly given up when they found the lizardmen on a planet nearly forty-thousand lightyears away.¡± ¡°And what happened to them?¡± ¡°Somehow, within six weeks of first contact, humans ended up at war with them. Within two years, they were made extinct.¡± At this, he released a sad-sounding guffaw. ¡°That sounds like us. I¡¯m guessing human scientists had harvested some of their eggs?¡± ¡°No, that too was our doing. We sought to protect the lizardmen. They voluntarily gave the Elves some of their eggs in the hope that we could make them part of the system we had begun developing in secret: so that their kin would live on and know peace.¡± Franics shook his head. ¡°What did these people even do to piss humans off so much that we annihilated their entire species?¡± With a sigh, Eilea answered his question. ¡°They said the word ¡®no.¡¯¡± A heavy silence lingered between the two of them, and for a while, neither spoke a word as they returned to observing Zach. Chapter 85: The Peel Chapter 85: The Peel ¡°Disgusted¡± was not a strong enough word to describe the sickening feeling of both disbelief and agitation that immediately overcame Alex as he watched Zach and Queen Vayra, somehow now on good terms, staring down the fourth-in-command of the Royal Roses, Varsh Gellor. Having challenged the man to a duel to the death in front of countless reporters broadcasting this nationally and internationally, Alex could barely contain his disappointment in Zach. This was not the kind of person Alex knew him to be. Though he had his faults¡ªas did everyone¡ªa desire for violence had never been among them, and it was disturbing to see him behave this way. At the moment, he was locking eyes with Varsh, who was staring vengefully back at him. ¡°How dare you make such an outlandish accusation against me, you festering pile of trash!¡± Varsh cried. ¡°Everyone knows I would never call upon the service of a bounty hunter to deal with a maggot like you!¡± ¡°Oh, really? Because you definitely did,¡± Zach said, still pointing at him. Now, he grinned, and there was a sadism in his expression that Alex did not recognize from his former student. ¡°You are a liar!¡± ¡°If I¡¯m a liar, then prove me wrong and defend your honor: that is, if you¡¯ve even got any, you pathetic son of a bitch! Either that, or turn around and run away and let everyone see you for the coward you are. Personally, I think you¡¯re too chickenshit to fight me.¡± With each passing second, more and more adventurers were emerging from their tents to come and watch, eager to see what the commotion was about. Predictably, the moment they realized what was going on, they not only appeared to support Zach¡¯s conflict with Varsh¡ªdespite many of them not even knowing the cause of it¡ªbut they immediately began to spur it on, cheering Zach¡¯s name. This is a terrible turn of events, Alex thought. Surprisingly, what made this so awful was not the ramifications, at least in terms of consequences, of what would happen if Zach ended Varsh¡¯s life. In fact, if one were to look at this solely from the perspective of potential harm and backlash Zach might incur, then there existed no single entity in the entire world of political guilds better suited to be killed consequence-free than Varsh Gellor. He was a man who everyone on every side reviled. His only allies were those with familiar ties or ones of convenience, and even they privately held disdain for him. What was more, it was an open secret that Varsh constantly created all kinds of problems for the Royal Roses, and not even his own guild-leader would be saddened to be rid of him. Additionally, Zach, to his credit, seemed to be wisely avoiding speaking anything aloud about his deceased father or the kidnapping of Kalana. Though the boy was not well versed in politics, it was clear that even he understood that mentioning either of those things would bring a backlash onto all adventurers that would create many problems for them in the future. As far as the public was concerned, a member of a guild killing another member of either the same or a different guild was commonplace and completely ordinary. But the very idea of a member of a guild¡ªsomeone whose responsibility it was to protect the public¡ªkilling a civilian and abducting a teenage girl was one that could inspire rioting and mass unrest, and that was before taking into account that the girl was Kalana Vayra. So, yes, if any silver lining existed to this awful confrontation, it was that Zach was essentially in the clear to do whatever he wanted with Varsh and face no repercussions as a result of it¡ªprovided he did not smear any of the guilds in the process. As long as, in the eyes of the public, this was shown to be a personal dispute between himself and Varsh Gellor, no one was going to raise a fuss. After all, these sorts of things happened every other week and often fueled tabloids, news coverage, and in some cases TV dramas and movies. Many fights were recorded and aired censored with any major gore removed. In a manner of speaking, Zach could not have chosen a better person to have a blood feud with. So no, this was not what troubled Alex. What did trouble Alex was what this implied about the direction Zach might choose to steer his life. Although his grievances with Varsh were more than legitimate, his behavior right now was still nevertheless inexcusable, and for this reason, Alex felt a deep frown forming on his face. This was not what Zach should be doing. Zach needed to embrace goodness, not violence. He was too powerful to be allowed to act on violent desires. No, he needed to mature beyond the point of giving into his instincts. And this was both for the sake of the world as well as his soul. Yet how, Alex wondered, could he convince Zach of this? How, when fully grown adults who should know better were egging him on? ¡°Kill the son of a bitch!¡± Donovan called out, hooting and hollering with the rest of the GSG. Unlike the other adventurers here, Donovan¡ªand nearly all of the GSG¡ªknew what Varsh had done to Zach¡¯s father, so one might be tempted to excuse their lapse in judgement. Yet Alex also knew that Donovan¡¯s actions would be no different even if he¡¯d been totally unaware of how the boy had suffered at Varsh¡¯s hands. He, like the others, were clearly acting off a combination of stress over tomorrow¡¯s battle with Ziragoth, the fact that three hours remained until the briefing, and a deep, scathing hatred of the members of the political guilds, of which Varsh was among the most contemptible. Thankfully, however, not everyone here was in favor of needless violence. It was good to see that at least some sensible voices were making their presence known. ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± Olivir cried out, alarm in his voice. ¡°Zach, don¡¯t. You don¡¯t want to be this person.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t go down this route,¡± Kolona said. ¡°I know what he did to you, but¡­but you don¡¯t want to do this. Please. This isn¡¯t self-defense. This isn¡¯t like before on Archian Prime.¡± Zach ignored them both¡ªassuming he¡¯d even heard them. Right now, he appeared to be focusing all of his attention on Varsh. He was also mostly unrecognizable from his usual self, and given the incredibly short time that had lapsed between now and the last time Alex had seen Zach, he could only surmise that Queen Vayra had given him his new set of equipment, which had the effect of transforming the mildly appearing boy into something far more threatening and fearsome. The queen had been exceptionally generous. His low-level armor set from the early floors of the Catacombs of Yorna had been completely swapped out for a full set of all-black, highly intimidating gear that Alex did not recognize, which meant it was either crafted or from one of the many, many unexplored areas of Archian Prime. His guess was the latter. Seeing him in that gives me an ominous feeling, Alex thought to himself. The outfit Zach wore was downright menacing. His old hand-wraps had been replaced by gloves, his tunic had been replaced by a black robe, and it appeared the hooded cloak on his back had replaced his helm. He¡¯d also done away with the old sandals, and now a pair of equally black, polished-looking shoes completed his much darker look. And while he still wore the same blasting ring that he¡¯d used on one of the Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth, it appeared that Queen Vayra had even provided him with three new accessories: two silver bracelets that were more like wrist chains, and a pendant in the form of a fist-sized skull that emitted some kind of purple smoke from each of its empty eye sockets. Alex had never before seen these three accessories, either. But of all his new equipment, it was the cloak in particular that made his overall look appear so intimidating, as it obscured Zach¡¯s eyes from most angles, casting a shadow over his face that Alex did not believe was entirely natural and was likely an effect of the equipment itself. For whatever reason, many types of equipment had certain effects or flair, such as emissions of various substances, particles, fluids, lights, etc. This, however, was one Alex had not seen until just now. And he was certain it was definitely equipment-caused, as even when observed from angles that should have allowed sunlight to cast down on Zach, the entire upper half of his face was shrouded in darkness except for his eyes, which gave off an unnatural glow. When combined with his twisted, all-too-eager smile, Alex couldn¡¯t help but stir uneasily where he was standing next to Kalana. I really don¡¯t like this¡­ Whereas Zach had taken on an entirely new image, Varsh, on the other hand, looked exactly as he had the last time Alex had seen him. He had the same long black hair that reached down to his shoulders, an unkempt, bushy beard, and he wore his black cloth robe with the glowing red rose woven into the fabric near his right breast. In both his hands was his oaken staff, which he appeared to be angrily clutching so tightly that his knuckles were beginning to turn white. His brow was furrowed, his upper lip was pulled back revealing his teeth, and he was audibly grunting. If the intention from Zach was to goad the man into a fight, he had clearly succeeded. ¡°What does he think he¡¯s doing?¡± Kalana asked in a whisper, her voice coming across as equal parts worried and irritated. ¡°Getting revenge, it seems.¡± ¡°I¡­I can understand why he wants to do that, but this doesn¡¯t feel right to me.¡± ¡°Nor should it,¡± Alex replied to her in a whisper. ¡°If Zach succeeds in goading Varsh into a fight, and he almost certainly will, then this is no different from outright murder: regardless of whether or not Varsh deserves it. You understand why, yes?¡± ¡°I think so. It¡¯s ¡®cause it¡¯s unfair, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct, Kalana. There is no universe in which this is a fair fight. I¡¯ve seen how much Zach has grown in such a short time, and every adventurer here can see this is a farce. That man, Varsh: he has less than zero chance. Zach could easily kill that man with a hand tied behind his back. This is murder.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t he thirty levels higher?¡± ¡°Maybe a little more,¡± Alex said. ¡°But of all the unusual things taking place here, the idea of an adventurer killing a political guild member thirty levels higher than himself is not one of them. In fact, that¡¯s the expected outcome in almost all cases. Zach is going to kill him, and it won¡¯t be close.¡± Kalana grabbed his hand and squeezed as though out of reflex. Alex winced. ¡°Kalana, that really hurts.¡± She immediately let go and apologized. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. I just don¡¯t wanna¡­I don¡¯t wanna let him do this. I know he¡¯s upset. I also won¡¯t ever forgive that evil man for what he did, and I know he killed Mr. Calador, but we¡­we don¡¯t kill people, Alex. We can''t let him become that. You gotta do something.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what I can do here,¡± Alex said, becoming frustrated ¡°If I try to intervene, I might only make things worse.¡± Kalana crossed her arms. ¡°Zach¡¯s gonna be really mad at me.¡± Alex looked at her. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± She stuck out her tongue playfully, and Alex chuckled despite not himself knowing why. Something about Kalana seemed to bring out a brighter side of him. It was why he was becoming so frustrated with the fear directed towards her from the others. They were out of their minds if they thought this sweet young girl would ever pose a threat to them. Earlier, when searching for Zach, Alex had outright asked her about her desire to take down the political guilds. And she¡¯d once more confirmed that she fully intended to do so. That alone would reasonably make anyone nervous¡ªyet only if they were to stop there and not inquire any further. Alex had decided to follow up his question by asking her how many of them she planned to kill, and her answer had been surprising: zero. Perplexed, he¡¯d then asked how she planned to take down the political guilds without violence. Yet she insisted she was going to use violence. Once more, he¡¯d been confused. It was only upon asking her to clarify the contradiction in what she was saying that he realized there actually wasn¡¯t one. Kalana genuinely intended to one day go to war with the political guilds, and when she did, she genuinely intended to be violent. But by ¡°violent,¡± she appeared to quite literally mean that she was going to beat up, but not kill those who stood in her way. And as ridiculous as that may have sounded, she technically did possess the strength, speed, and determination to actually do it. It was unthinkable when viewed from the lens of a normal, leveled human. But even if Kalana leveled up just another ten times and made it to the 80s, she would absolutely have the power to clonk a bunch of people over the head at a speed so fast they wouldn¡¯t be able to see her moving, let alone avoid her attacks. She insisted that, if she found herself in a battle, she would knock them down one by one until they either lost consciousness or gave up. It was something that had never been done before, which was partially why it was so hard to imagine. Yet she seemed adamant that her bloodline made her some kind of God who could take down entire guilds without killing a single person. She¡¯d just¡­beat them up until they surrendered. It was so simple, yet so difficult to imagine, as death and war were so inextricably linked that the very idea of having one without the other seemed absurd. But the fact that¡¯s what she wants to do tells me all I need to know about her, he thought. Zach, on the other hand, had so much potential and such a good heart. Alex believed in him. He did. But he just couldn¡¯t place the same kind of blind confidence in him as he could Kalana. Because Zach was already showing signs of bloodlust, and that was something that, if allowed to grow, would lead to a new Peter IV, maybe one even more brutal and more tyrannical. ¡°So, what are you planning to do?¡± Alex asked her. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna let him kill anybody. That¡¯s what.¡± ¡°But how? Do you really think you can stop him?¡± ¡°Mhm.¡± She gave a confident nod of her head. ¡°Oh yeah, definitely. I know Zach¡¯s been really upset a lot lately, but after we win tomorrow, I¡¯m gonna take him back to my place and he can start relaxing and going swimming and having fun again. Then the real him is gonna come back to us. I know it will. He went through too much too soon. I know how that feels.¡± Alex sighed. ¡°I never should¡¯ve separated you two.¡± ¡°You couldn¡¯t have known what was gonna happen. It¡¯s not your fault.¡± He looked at her. ¡°True. But even still, maybe if he hadn¡¯t been alone through so much of this¡­¡± ¡°You were just following traditions. You aren¡¯t the one who decided that adventurers are supposed to do things that way, right?¡± ¡°Well, no, but¡­¡± Kalana smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I know him better than anyone. Maybe even better than he knows himself.¡± ¡°I hope you¡¯re right, Kalana.¡± ¡°I am.¡± ******** Somehow, incredibly, Zach¡¯s hatred of Varsh actually seemed to grow with each second that he looked at the man. Though there was certainly a large pit of fear in his stomach due to memories of how badly Varsh had beaten the hell out of him on their first encounter, it was buried almost entirely by a mountain of raw, dark hatred for what he had done to Kalana and his dad. He was going to kill this man: no matter what. Right now, he felt strong: very, very strong. A moment before reentering the camp, Fylwen had called upon five of her Elves to meet the two of them, and then she, along with these five, had all begun to drop buff after buff on him to the extent that he didn¡¯t even have the time to read them all. There had to be over twenty active buffs on him right now, most of which he had no idea what they did. The only thing he knew for sure was that the combination of his new equipment and buffs had given him stats that were now almost as high as they¡¯d been when he was in Phase Level 2. He also hadn¡¯t had time to evaluate his new equipment. He did know, however, that his new cloak gave him the same Helm Sight level as his Unleashed Phase, which meant he now had access to the same informational benefits he had grown attached to while using his ability.
Name Zachys Calador
Level 19
EXP 41,500/65,000
Armor Bonus 105
Strength 131
Dexterity 126
Constitution 103
Intelligence 120
Speed 100
Luck 45
After this fight with Varsh, he¡¯d have three hours of free time before the briefing with which to take stock of everything from his new base stats to each piece of his equipment. For now, though, he genuinely didn¡¯t care why his stats were what they were. He was content simply with knowing that they were more than high enough to deal with Varsh. That was all that mattered to Zach right now. You killed my dad, you piece of shit! he thought, wishing he could scream it out loud at the top of his lungs. The fact that he could not only fueled his anger and made him want to vent his rage through slicing and carving. He wanted to make it hurt, too. He wanted it to be slow. My dad was just lying there. Like he wasn¡¯t even a person. They just left him there to rot. He probably didn¡¯t even know why it happened to him. He didn¡¯t even understand. His father¡¯s life had been miserable since the death of his mother. He¡¯d lived such a sad, lonely life. And Zach¡­Zach never stopped in the morning or afternoons just to say, ¡°Dad, I love you.¡± Nothing like that. He¡¯d mostly ignored his old man and felt embarrassed of the way he¡¯d come home and find him sitting there on the couch, drinking all night until he passed out while moaning the name of Zach¡¯s mother with tears in his eyes¡ªonly to somehow miraculously get up in time for work the next morning. Did his dad even know? Did he even know that Zach loved him? That Zach understood now that despite his pain, he put himself through such a miserable job six days a week just so that Zach could eat, go to school, and have a roof over his head: things that Zach just took for granted. His dad had wanted to die. He understood that now. He lived only because Zach lived. Only because he had a responsibility to his son. Zach tried hard not to whimper as it really dawned on him that his father might have died not even knowing that Zach loved him, because Zach had never told him so. Never once. Not since he was a small child. Yes, he was a drunk who reeked of alcohol, but he was a heartbroken man who¡¯d lost his wife and had to remain in the world for the sake of his son. And for that alone, Zach appreciated him now in way he never did when he was alive. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. If you were here right now, dad, I would tell you all of this. I¡¯d thank you for taking care of me. I¡¯d tell you how much I really do appreciate you. But because of that piece of shit, I¡¯ll never even get to say goodbye. Zach let out a hiss of a rage. I¡¯ll never get to make things okay with us. I would trade my arm and my eye all over again if I could send a message to you wherever you are. Just to let you know I do love you, dad. You weren¡¯t a bad father. I was just a shit son. He looked over to Varsh. This is all his fault. It¡¯s all his fucking fault! I¡¯m going to rip body parts off him. I¡¯m going to cut things off. I¡¯m going to make him bleed, and scream, and beg! ¡°You¡¯re going to regret ever being born into this world,¡± Varsh said to him. ¡°I¡¯ll give you one final chance to crawl to me on your hands and knees and kiss my boots, and maybe I will forgive your slander, you disgusting little whelp.¡± Zach¡¯s response was to draw his sword. ¡°Accept the duel, coward!¡± he screamed. There were murmurs of surprise from those around him, presumably at the sheer level of emotional fury that came across his words. ¡°Accept my duel, or everyone here will know that you¡¯re a coward who has to hide behind bounty hunters.¡± Varsh raised his staff, gripping it in both hands. ¡°I accept!¡± he shouted. ¡°We need only an officiator from the guild.¡± ¡°I will officiate,¡± said a voice from the distance, causing even Zach, along with many others, to gasp as none other than Vim Alazar, the leader of the Royal Roses emerged from within the outer perimeter of the impromptu crowd with his hands behind his back and his posture straight like the edge of a blade. Having seen him on the news so many times throughout his life, it was bizarre witnessing him up close in person. The man was short, barely five-and-a-half-feet tall, and he had medium-length brown hair that looked as though it¡¯d been slicked with gel or other product. Yet despite his stature, he was an imposing enough figure in his own right, as his voice was sharp, distinct, and tended to carry well when raised, and his hazel-colored eyes were a commanding compliment to his olive-colored skin. Though in his mid-sixties, he looked physically to be no older than thirty-five or thirty-six, and he was actually the third-youngest guild-leader after Fiona Darkmae and Peter Brayspark. As he came nearer, Zach could not help but feel awed by his presence. Of all the guild-leaders, Vim Alazar was known for having the sharpest tongue, a heated temper, and a love of verbal jousting. He often sparred in front of the cameras with other guild members, and when he did, he typically came out looking like an asshole. A victorious asshole, mind you, but an asshole nonetheless. He even fought with members of the media, something unheard of for a guild-member, let alone the leader of one. Now, as he made his way towards Zach and Varsh, he quickly flicked his eyes in Zach¡¯s direction, and then he flicked them over towards Varsh. Finally, he came to a stop at a point roughly equal in distance to them both, and it was here that he made a gesture with his chin. Now, a cameraman from a popular news broadcast hurried over. ¡°Zachys Calador,¡± he said, surprising Zach. ¡°Y-yes?¡± ¡°Do you attest that Varsh Gellor hired a bounty hunter to take your life due to a personal dispute involving the two of you?¡± ¡°I do,¡± Zach replied immediately. Following a brief pause, the Royal Roses leader fixed Zach with a very hard, expectant stare. ¡°And do you attest that this personal dispute is between the both of you alone and involves no outside parties?¡± If not for the fact that Zach knew it would hurt Mr. Oren and all his friends, he would¡¯ve had no problem shocking the world with the truth of what Varsh had done. But since he really, really wanted to avenge his dad, and since he was likely in enough trouble over any number of matters as things were, he decided to play ball. He knew what Vim Alazar wanted from him even without having to say so, and from the way the man was staring at him, it was clear that he knew that Zach knew what he wanted him to do. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zach said with a firm nod of his head. ¡°This is a personal matter between guild-members.¡± ¡°I see. I ask only because there are those on social media who claim that Varsh had attacked you in your home and had involved civilians. Is there any truth to this?¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°None. That¡¯s just, uh, you know, rumors. Varsh and I have never gotten along, and he¡ª¡± ¡°I bet you wish that was the case!¡± Varsh shrieked, interrupting him. And it was in this moment Zach realized he¡¯d taunted the man a little bit too well. Actually, way too well. This became clear as the cameraman turned his camera on Varsh, and with a deranged, almost sadistic glee, he smiled at Zach and began to laugh. ¡°I killed your daddy, didn¡¯t I?¡± he asked, as hundreds of gasps erupted at once. ¡°I remember him begging. ¡®Eldora, help me! Eldora, what¡¯s going on!¡¯ And then he screamed the whole way down. He screamed like a girl as he died. Do you hear me, you worthless runt? Your father screamed like a girl the whole way down.¡± As the words he shouted graced Zach¡¯s ears, Zach realized it was a very, very good thing that it was not actually possible for someone to become so angry that their eyeballs popped out of their head. Because if so, the storm of hatred and misery that Varsh had just invoked in him would have been more than enough to blind him. ¡°You¡­you son of a bitch,¡± Zach whispered. He was now filled with such malice he couldn¡¯t even raise his voice. ¡°You¡¯re dead, mother fucker. You¡¯re dead. You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re dead.¡± To his left, Vim Alazar closed his eyes, and he was now massaging his temples as though stressed. ¡°I expect you¡¯ll be cutting that before it airs, yes?¡± he asked the man holding the camera. ¡°O-of course, sir,¡± he said, nodding profusely. ¡°Good.¡± Vim then placed his attention on Varsh. ¡°Do you care to try that again, you half-brained oaf?¡± Varsh, now breathing heavily, gave a nervous bow of his head. ¡°Y-yes, sorry boss.¡± ¡°Are you sure? Or would you perhaps like to spill more important secrets? Maybe you¡¯d like to shout out our troop positions and battle formations while Sir Peter Brayspark is right there to overhear it, you dumb fucking buffoon.¡± He snapped his fingers, and if not for Zach having become so consumed by anger, he would¡¯ve been both amused and disgusted at the way an attendant came over and began applying makeup to his face, smoothening out his suit, and spraying him with anti-perspirant while another combed and tended to his hair. A third adjusted his cufflinks. Finally, after a moment, he shook his head and loosened his shoulders as if to pump himself up, and then, with another snap of his fingers at the cameraman, he returned his attention to Zach. ¡°So, Zach, as one of the leaders of humanity, I take my responsibility of protecting human lives very seriously. I¡¯ve had some people come to me anonymously and suggest that Varsh attacked you in your home and involved civilians. Is this true?¡± It was far, far harder to answer this time than it had been the first time around. Yet Zach went along with this bullshit if for no other reason than it made for an excellent source of fuel for his anger. Gods, was he full of boiling, white-hot rage. ¡°Those are just rumors,¡± Zach said, staring daggers at Varsh as he spoke each word. The look in his eyes must have been every bit as ferocious as he felt, because Varsh, for the first time, seemed to finally understand just how badly Zach wanted to rip him apart. The man¡¯s own anger seemed to dull, and something that could quite possibly resemble fear caused the lower-right corner of his bottom lip to tremble. ¡°Rumors?¡± He nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right, boss,¡± he said, burning with an even greater intensity as he continued to stare at Varsh. ¡°People like to start rumors to have something to talk about. But my conflict with Varsh is between the two of us alone.¡± ¡°Is this true, Varsh?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he said. ¡°But¡­but it¡¯s not true that I put a bounty on his head. That is a lie.¡± Vim Alazar made a ¡°hmm¡± sound and rubbed his chin. ¡°Well, it seems the both of you can¡¯t come to an agreement on that point. It¡¯s sad that cherished members of my guild have come to this, but if you both consent, I will agree to allow this duel. Do you consent to a duel to the death, Zachys Calador?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he whispered. ¡°And are you also a willing participant in this combat, Varsh Gellor?¡± ¡°I am,¡± he said. Taking a step back, he drew a deep breath, and then raising his fist in the air, he said, ¡°If that is the case, you now have my blessing to begin your du¡ª¡± Zach exploded forward like a heat-seeking missile, burning on the inside with a hatred so intense that not even the winds of Archian prime could cool it. Within less than a half a second, he crossed the distance between himself and Varsh, and within a quarter of a second after that, he screamed out his pain and struck out at him with the black, yet glimmering sword that Fylwen had given him. Varsh, making a croak-like noise, hurriedly switched his grip on his staff so that he held it horizontally out in front of him to block. Without even intending to do so, on his very first strike, Zach swung with such ferocity that, with a loud, splintering crack, he snapped Varsh¡¯s staff completely in half, breaking it in two perfectly equal pieces and causing both halves to fly out of Varsh¡¯s hands in opposite directions. Both pieces landed silently on the grass, and then both disappeared into nothingness. Varsh, put directly off balance, began stumbling backwards and only narrowly avoided falling over. ¡°Didn¡¯t mean to do that,¡± Zach growled. ¡°We¡¯re only just getting started.¡± He took a step backwards and then lowered his sword. ¡°Go on and summon another weapon from storage. I¡¯ll wait.¡± ¡°You¡­you¡¯ll what?¡± In just that one brief, split-second interaction alone, he could now see that all of Varsh¡¯s anger and confidence had become immediately replaced with fear and confusion. He looked as though he couldn¡¯t believe what had just happened: that the kid he¡¯d beaten half to death and humiliated had become his greater in such a short time. Well, he was in for a very, very rude awakening, because Zach wasn¡¯t even trying yet. ¡°Summon another weapon,¡± Zach demanded. ¡°Very well.¡± Rather than summon another weapon, Zach saw him slightly arch his back and move his right shoulder, which meant he was going to raise his hand. But from the way he was pivoting on his hips, it implied he would send his palm forward. Why? Certainly not to summon anything. More likely, to fire a projectile at him. How stupid did he think Zach was? Did he really think that would work? Before he¡¯d even raised his hand high enough so that it was level with his waist, Zach shifted his grip on his weapon so that he held it in a single-handed grip, and then he reached forward with his opposite hand and grabbed Varsh¡¯s wrist even before he could throw it forward and launch a magical attack, essentially stopping him in his tracks. Now, angrily, Zach squeezed so tightly that he could feel the bones crack and shatter between his fingers. Anything made of bone was crushed. Varsh screamed. He opened his mouth widely and bellowed. And it was music to Zach¡¯s ears. With his other, sword-bearing hand, Zach grinned sadistically and threw his sword up into the air while still holding onto Varsh¡¯s hand. Now, with his sword temporarily rising above him, he used his newly freed hand to smack Varsh, hard, across the mouth¡ªenough so that three of his teeth popped out of his mouth along with a spurt of blood. An instant later, Zach caught his sword. Then, with the hand crushing Varsh¡¯s, Zach made a rowing motion, causing him to come tumbling in Zach¡¯s direction. Simultaneously, he stepped to the side while releasing Varsh, which let him fall forward onto the grass, his face slamming down onto the ground. ¡°Get the fuck up!¡± Zach shouted, feeling himself becoming more and more crazed with each second. He gave into it, though. He had the blessing of Vim Alazar to do whatever he wanted. All the hurt. All the pain. He was going to return it to Varsh with interest. Right now, he was so Gods-cursed angry that he began to pace side to side while he waited for Varsh to return to his feet. ¡°I said get up! Hurry!¡± Then he began to laugh, wildly, and the sickness in the sound of it disturbed him, but it disturbed Varsh even more, so it was worth it. ¡°You¡­you fucking trash!¡± Varsh cried, moaning and groaning and struggling to get back to his feet with only one working hand to push himself up. This would be the second time Zach ruined one of his hands, come to think of it. Right now, it was bent backwards at close to a 90-degree angle. On wobbly legs, he at least climbed back into a standing position with his back turned to Zach. Unarmed, he made a horrific-sounding shriek, and then in one fluid motion, he spun around to face Zach while throwing out his opposite palm, causing a gigantic ball of fire to blast forward and head straight for Zach at a speed that was far too fast for him to dodge¡ªor at least a speed that would have been far too fast for him to dodge if he hadn¡¯t made the attack so Gods-damned transparent and predictable. It was amazing to think that this was the man who had absolutely clobbered him. This guy. This inept moron. His attack had been so obvious and telegraphed that Zach had actually begun to duck before even realizing what he planned to do. He¡¯d just known that something was going to come his way, and he¡¯d been right. Now, instead of incinerating him, the ball of flame instead sailed harmlessly over his head. Where it ended up next, he didn¡¯t know. He assumed one of the adventurers in the crowd would deal with it. ¡°You¡¯re doing great, kiddo!¡± Donovan cheered. ¡°But stop toying with him. Make it clean.¡± ¡°No,¡± Zach said, looking right into Varsh¡¯s eyes even as he replied to Donovan. ¡°I want to do it slow.¡± ¡°Now come on, Zach,¡± Donovan said with a grunt, his tone becoming serious. ¡°That¡¯s not right. If you¡¯re going to kill a man, then you kill that man. You don¡¯t torture him or draw it out. That¡¯s not okay.¡± ¡°Just a little more,¡± Zach said. ¡°Please.¡± Donovan narrowed his eyes. ¡°No, kid. End it now. That¡¯s enough.¡± Zach pursed his lips in frustration but ultimately decided to ignore Donovan. He really, really liked the man, and disappointing him was the last thing Zach wanted to do, but he needed this more than any of them could possibly understand. ¡°Summon a weapon from storage,¡± he said. ¡°I want this to be a fair fight.¡± Zach laughed, knowing that this wasn¡¯t even close to a fair fight. He spoke those words more to taunt Varsh than anything else. As though taking the bait, Varsh raised his hand high above his head, likely to call on bank and¡ª No! Wait a second¡­wow, that sneaky bastard. When someone called on bank and storage, they placed their hand straight up above themselves, palm flat and facing the sky. Varsh, however, was angling his arm off to the side. If Zach imagined that he was holding a sword, it would be in a position for a wide, downward slash: and that was exactly what he did, slashing the air downwards with his hand. This caused a spear made of pure ice to materialize in the world in front of Zach, already hurtling in his direction even as it came into existence. This time, Varsh almost got him. If not for the fact that he¡¯d recognized something was off ahead of time, he would have been run through. Instead, he spun his entire body around on his heels, and the spear of ice soared harmlessly past him, eventually striking the ground and shattering into smaller, cube-shaped pieces of ice on impact. Then, becoming fiercely angry, Zach bolted forward, lifted his blade high, and then slashed it downwards, being careful to only hit Varsh¡¯s arms. In one swift motion, he chopped both of them off. Now, Varsh howled in pain and agony as both of his limbs were sliced cleanly off from the point of his forearm and upwards, leaving him with two stumps that were each squirting blood as he screamed and cried. Zach extended his sword, touching it against Varsh¡¯s neck. ¡°Beg,¡± he said. ¡°Please! I yield, I yield!¡± Zach scowled at him, drowning in hatred. ¡°Not good enough. I want to hear you¡ª¡± ¡°Zach!¡± Donovan barked, and this time, there was an intensity to his words that caused Zach to immediately stop what he was doing and turn his head in Donovan¡¯s direction. Donovan wore a firm, no-nonsense look that practically demanded obedience, and now he glared at Zach. ¡°Kiddo, I get it. I do. But that is enough. End it. Now.¡± The sharp, narrow-eyed gaze sent Zach¡¯s way at last broke through to him. And he nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. This¡­this is wrong,¡± he said. His anger was finally dying down as it began to fully sink in just how terribly wrong it was what he was doing. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be. He deserves this and more. I¡¯m saying this for your sake, not his. End it. Torture ain¡¯t what we do. Is it, Zach?¡± ¡°No,¡± Zach said. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Donovan nodded with approval. ¡°You¡¯re a good kid. Now end it.¡± Zach took a step back and raised his blade. And now, finally, Varsh began to beg in earnest. Zach had never heard someone use the word ¡°please¡± so many times in a row. Over and over, he called it out with tears in his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die! Please! Please! Spare me! I¡¯m sorry! Please! I yield! Mercy! Mercy! Please!¡± ¡°No,¡± Zach said coldly. He was surprised by how little this man¡¯s pleading affected him. There was a time in his life¡ªnot all that long ago, in fact¡ªwhere it would have had an immediate and dramatic effect. He would never be able to do this to someone who begged him this way. But for some reason, the more Varsh begged, the more he wanted to deny this request and take his life. And with that, he raised his blade higher and higher, intending for a clean decapitation. One that would cause his head to roll along the ground several times before coming to a stop. That was what he deserved. ¡°This is for my dad,¡± he whispered. And with that, he sliced down with all his strength, and he felt his blade crash into Varsh¡¯s neck, which for some bizarre reason was a lot stronger than it should have been. Zach yelped as the impact caused his sword to immediately bounce off of it as though repelled. Stunned and confused, the impact of his sword with Varsh¡¯s throat even caused him to be knocked back a step. He shook his head and blinked to clear his vision, as a secondary shock of impact left him temporarily disoriented¡ªbut only for a moment. Had he fallen for some kind of trap? Immediately returning to a defensive position, he readied himself to strike again¡ªand now, he widened his eyes as he saw Kalana standing before Varsh, both of her daggers raised above her own head, her knees bent. Baffled, it actually took him a moment to realize what had even just happened. Rather than decapitate Varsh, who was now crawling away whimpering as his two arm stumps left dual red lines of blood on the grass, he¡¯d instead briefly crossed steel with Kalana. ¡°Kal?¡± he asked. ¡°Just what in the hell are you doing?¡± ¡°You won, baby,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s enough, okay?¡± He frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not a killer. You don¡¯t gotta do this.¡± ¡°Yes I do! Move!¡± He watched as Varsh continued to slither away, screaming for someone to help him and get him medical attention. Zach, not willing to let him survive, made a quick, snappy, and hard-to-follow motion towards his left, attempting to dash around Kalana before she could even react. But she was far, far faster than him, and she intercepted him immediately. ¡°No!¡± Kalana shouted. ¡°You can¡¯t do this. I won¡¯t let you.¡± ¡°B-but why?¡± Zach shouted at her. ¡°Don¡¯t you remember what he did to you?¡± Somewhere in the back of his mind, he became aware that Vim Alazar had snapped his fingers and ordered the media to cease their broadcast the moment Zach spoke those words. Not that he cared about their guild sideshow bullshit. He just thought it was interesting how important it was to them to keep certain things under wraps. ¡°Of course I remember. I¡¯d never forget. But you¡­Zach, I feel like you¡¯re trying to be someone you¡¯re not.¡± ¡°Kal, we can talk about this later. But I¡¯m not leaving here until he¡¯s dead.¡± ¡°You have to go through me first, then,¡± she said, raising her daggers. Upon seeing this, Zach not only didn¡¯t take her up on her offer, but he scoffed at the very idea. ¡°Are you crazy? I¡¯d never. I¡¯d die before swinging my sword at you. At least¡­this one,¡± he said, causing her to roll her eyes. ¡°If you won¡¯t, then you¡¯re not gonna be able to kill him, are you?¡± Zach frowned. ¡°I won¡¯t even attempt to hurt you. No matter what.¡± ¡°Then please, stop, Zach. I¡¯m asking you to stop. For me.¡± Zach met her eyes. ¡°Kal¡­¡± ¡°What am I worth to you?¡± ¡°Everything,¡± he replied without hesitation. ¡°So if I beg you not to do this, will you listen to me?¡± He was shocked by how quickly he replied even despite his unquenched anger. ¡°Of course, I would,¡± he whispered. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Then stop. Please don¡¯t be a killer. I don¡¯t wanna see you kill people. It hurts me.¡± ¡°But I¡¯ve already killed,¡± he said shamefully. ¡°This is different! This isn¡¯t life-or-death. You¡¯re choosing this!¡± Zach, muttering to himself, decided to give in, and he sheathed his sword. Kalana then holstered her daggers, and as soon as she¡¯d done so, Zach reached out and grabbed her, pulling her close. ¡°I don¡¯t know who or what I am anymore, Kal, but I¡¯ll be whatever you want me to be. I just wish you¡¯d understand how badly I want him to¡ª¡± There was a scream¡ªone with a note of both anguish and finality. A loud, gargling death rattle that caused Zach to immediately release Kalana and turn his head in the direction of the sound of it. A sickening, tearing noise came from somewhere in the vicinity of where Varsh had been crawling off. And now, Zach saw blood: so, so much blood. Varsh was lying on the ground, belly-down, as a stream of very dark red began to gush out of an uneven, uncleanly cut piece of neck on top of which where his head used to be. And standing beside him, wearing a stunning, green-and-white gown, was Fylwen Vayra. Her arm was extended in Zach¡¯s direction, and her fist was clenching a lock of hair, below which dangled the beheaded, pained face of Varsh Gellor, whose eyes were still slightly darting around and whose mouth was opened mid scream, his lips still in motion though slowing rapidly. ¡°This is for abusing my daughter,¡± she said. ¡°But also, for you,¡± she said to Zach. Then she turned and looked directly at Vim Alazar, as well as the other guild-leaders who had just emerged from the central tent to join him. ¡°And if any of you have a problem with it¡­¡± Shadowing her were now fifty of her green-cloaked, Elvish warriors, and though none had their weapons drawn, all of them stood at attention as if clearly ready for combat if required. ¡°¡­feel free to seek vengeance upon me,¡± she finished. With that, Fylwen began to walk, slowly, in the direction of the central command tent, as not a single soul present spoke a word, including Kalana or Zach. Pausing at a trashcan located just outside, she dumped the severed head of Varsh into the wastebin then wiped her hands on her hips. ¡°Abram,¡± she said, glancing over her shoulder. ¡°I believe you have an offer for me, no?¡± Abram stood completely still as though transfixed, saying nothing. ¡°Well?¡± Fylwen asked. He began to mumble a few incoherent words as though he¡¯d forgotten how to communicate using speech. Eventually, though, he managed to nod. ¡°Yes, of course.¡± And with that, Fylwen disappeared back inside the tent with the other guild-leaders. And in that moment, she had done something that Zach had never imagined she would ever be able to do: she had earned his complete and total trust. Judging from the look of disgust in Kalana¡¯s eyes, Zach had the impression that this was going to be the sort of very rare relationship where he not only did not gain, but might actually lose points for getting along well with his girlfriend¡¯s mother. He¡¯d also now need to smoothen things over with Olivir and Kolona, who were looking at him as though he¡¯d somehow personally betrayed them. There are pros and cons to everything, he realized. Including to allies and friendship. ¡°Olivir,¡± he said, walking in his direction. ¡°I¡­¡± His friend said nothing, turning his back and choosing instead to engage in conversation with Mr. Oren, as did Kolona. Kalana, at least, remained by his side. She raised her hands and pulled down the hood of his new cloak. ¡°You look spooky with that on,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t like it.¡± Speaking low enough so that she could not overhear him, Zach whispered, ¡°I like it.¡± He had changed. There was no denying that anymore. He wasn¡¯t the person he¡¯d been. He fixed Kalana with a stern look, one he hoped would convey that to her. She stared back at him with an even sterner one that implied she would not. Then he turned his back to her and began to walk away. He took one step, paused, and he felt his cloak billowing around him. ¡°I¡¯m not the same anymore,¡± he whispered. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to¡­to avoid facing this, but I¡¯m a different person than the person you once knew.¡± He took another step. Then a third, and then a fourth. ¡°I don¡¯t know when it happened or why. But I¡¯m no longer a kid.¡± He sighed. ¡°My innocence died when my dad did. I¡¯ve changed, Kal. More and more, I¡¯m realizing that. I can¡¯t go back to how I was. Don¡¯t you get it? I¡¯m just no longer the boy you¡ªGAHHHH, SHIT!¡± Something happened. Something he couldn¡¯t explain. Suddenly, the world ¡°turned¡± so fast that before he realized what was taking place, he was staring up at the sky, and the ground slammed hard into his back. Kalana was hovering over him. Now, her eyebrows rose to the top of her face, and her cheeks puffed up. For some reason, she began to snicker. Then she began to laugh so hard that she looked like she was struggling to breath. ¡°Z-Zach,¡± she said, now cackling so heavily that she started to gasp for air. ¡°You just¡­you just slipped on a banana peel.¡± ¡°I what?¡± Zach asked, craning his neck to the right. Then he too began to laugh, though he tried really hard to stop it. ¡°No way. You¡¯re fucking kidding me. I really did. I actually did.¡± ¡°Right in the middle of your dark and all-serious speech, too! You dork!¡± ¡°Kal, it¡¯s not funny, stop,¡± he said, laughing. ¡°It¡¯s not that funny.¡± She only laughed harder. ¡°You were talking about how tough you are, ¡®cause you defeated your nemesis, and how you¡¯re gonna be this big-bad-Zach and do all these things, and then you just¡ªgahahaha!¡± Zach chuckled. He couldn¡¯t control it. ¡°Kal, stop, you¡¯re ruining my moment.¡± She pointed at him, then pointed at the banana peel. ¡°You¡­you actually slipped on a banana peel. I thought that was only in cartoons.¡± She snorted then continued to laugh to the point she had to sit down. ¡°It¡¯s not funny,¡± Zach said, laughing. ¡°It¡¯s not! Kal, stop!¡± As she jumped on top of him playfully then leaned over and kissed him right there in public, he realized that his old self was still in him somewhere. And when he was around Kalana, that was when he could find it. Incredibly, it had taken a banana peel, of all things, to realize that. A fucking banana peel. Chapter 86: Proc Chapter 86: Proc With his adrenaline gone, his anger spent, and a level of calmness now returned to him, Zach could hardly believe he¡¯d been so ready to kill a man¡ªeven one as terrible as Varsh. It only really occurred to him in the moments following the duel how lucky he was that Fylwen had ended up doing the job for him. The more that his rage retreated, the less he could agree with his own actions. He supposed that this was what it meant to be ¡°blinded¡± by hatred. Even still, as he held Kalana¡¯s hand and hurried along with her through the city, he found himself wanting, at least for now, to focus on something other than Varsh, the dragon, his explosive display of power against its cursed defenders, or anything related to the turbulent waters he¡¯d found himself recently sailing in. ¡°Zaaaaach,¡± Kalana said to him, ¡°we¡¯re gonna get in so much trouble if we¡¯re not back in three hours for the briefing.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re definitely not going to be,¡± he said to her with a laugh. ¡°And I don¡¯t care. Do you? Really?¡± She made a cute, guilty-looking expression that saw her half-puckering her lips and averting her eyes. ¡°Well, not really, no¡­but are you sure we¡¯re not gonna be back in time?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way we will be,¡± he said. ¡°Otherwise, we¡¯ll have to rush.¡± She squeezed his hand. ¡°Okay, okay. But I don¡¯t get how it¡¯s gonna take us so long to get lunch.¡± She chirped happily. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re taking me on a date!¡± He smiled at her. ¡°You¡¯re going to love this. I promise.¡± Having taken a very brief shower in the ten-gold-per-use washing area not far from the beach, Zach had cleaned himself up while Kalana waited outside. This was something he could not have put off for another minute; he¡¯d needed a shower so Gods-damned badly. He could actually see the grime that was coming off of him as the warm water relieved him of an accumulation of dirt, blood, sand, and sweat. Scrubbing himself everywhere the sun shined¡ªand also the places it didn¡¯t¡ªhe was feeling fresh for the first time in more than a day. Now, with the hood of his cloak undrawn, he held Kalana¡¯s hand and led her through the centermost part of the city in Shadowfall Coast. Waiting for the reddish DEHV-crossing barrier to fade away, he quickly hurried with her across a wide street, pausing on an island in the middle, where he was forced to wait for a second barrier to fade away. Then he crossed to the other side with her. Ahead of them were two gigantic, parallel buildings that looked to be around fifty stories in height with a spire jutting from the roof of both of them. They were the two tallest structures in what was an all-around, pretty good city. Having only very briefly been to Shadowfall Coast once before, Zach¡¯s opinion of it was that it was nowhere near as impressive or splendid as Tomb of Fire, but nevertheless, it was still a hundred times better than the Gods-cursed city of Whispery Woods. Although Whispery Woods was about twice its size and contained a great many taller buildings, Shadowfall Coast was significantly cleaner, better funded, far safer, and although there were only a handful of buildings with more than eight floors¡ªand only two skyscrapers¡ªthere were numerous flower-filled parks, a number of playgrounds, public swimming pools, and many of the streets had trees planted to both sides of them. The city was also roomier and lacked the oppressive feeling of claustrophobia that some of Whispery Woods¡¯ denser districts could invoke. The best way Zach could think to describe the city was that it was ¡°homely.¡± It was a city that seemed more designed to be lived in rather than admired from a distance. It was not the kind of place tourists would flock, as it was low-tech compared to Tomb of Fire, lacking the flashy billboards, dazzling sights, or buildings that shot fire into the sky. There were no giant sports stadiums to be found, either. There was also only a single, small airport located on the northwest corner, and it did not provide service for international flights¡ªnot that that even mattered anymore since Peter IV¡¯s antics had basically caused humanity to be banned from leaving North or South Bastia. But at any rate, the only real negative to the city was its lack of anything flashy or special to see. It was still a perfectly decent place to live. I¡¯d take this over Whispery Woods any day of the week. ¡°So, where are we going?¡± Kalana asked him. She was clearly excited, and seeing her happy made him happy. ¡°I told you, it¡¯s a surprise.¡± ¡°Bleh, okay.¡± Zach continued to make his way through the city her with her, moving quickly beyond the two skyscrapers and farther into the start of what he believed was called ¡°the commercial district.¡± Compared to Whispery Woods, navigating Shadowfall Coast was a far easier, much less stressful endeavor, as it was nowhere near as populated or heavily trafficked. Nevertheless, this did not stop Zach from swearing under his breath as he saw an older woman elbowing her husband in the ribs to catch his attention before pointing in their direction. ¡°Are you sure?¡± he heard the woman¡¯s husband ask. ¡°Just look! It¡¯s definitely them!¡± At the same time, another woman across the street, who¡¯d been about to enter an electronics store, immediately stopped and turned to look as the excited whispers of those nearby her quickly picked up in volume, and now, dozens of people seemed to take note of their presence. ¡°Gods damn it,¡± he growled. ¡°They¡¯re coming over to us.¡± Kalana shot him a fierce look. ¡°You better be nice, Zach. You got us in trouble last time you were in public.¡± ¡°Wait, I did?¡± he asked, genuinely surprised to hear this. ¡°When? How?¡± ¡°It was when you were sneaking out of the hospital. You cursed at some girl our age.¡± He scratched his head. ¡°Are you sure? I don¡¯t even remember that.¡± ¡°Yah I¡¯m sure! It was all over the news, and I had to apologize for you.¡± Zach laughed, finding that hilarious. ¡°You¡¯re kidding me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not funny,¡± Kalana said. ¡°You really hurt her feelings, and you were mean to other people, too.¡± He sighed. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll be nice this time.¡± ¡°You better,¡± she said, poking him in the chest. One by one, a crowd began to form around them, and before Zach realized what was happening, he and Kalana were signing autographs and taking pictures with people. He didn¡¯t want to do either of those things, but he knew Kalana would get mad at him if he didn¡¯t. Whispering to him that they¡¯d only stay here for a little while, he endured it as best as he could. Then, at some point in the middle of it, Kalana¡¯s mouth opened, she let out an ¡°ohhh!¡± sound and she dropped down to her knees with her arms extended widely. ¡°And who is this little angel?¡± she asked, as a mother approached with her daughter, who looked, at most, three or four years old. ¡°Hi there!¡± ¡°Are¡­are you really Pwinncess Kawana?¡± the girl asked in her high-pitched, singsong voice. ¡°Yep I am. And who are you, cutie?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Tila,¡± the girl said. ¡°Can I be a pwincess too?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Kalana answered immediately. ¡°But only if I can have a hug first.¡± Aww, sheesh, Zach thought, rolling his eyes as Kalana hugged the little kid while her mother thanked her and took a bazillion photographs on her phone of the two of them in various poses. ¡°Zach, I love her,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Look how precious she is.¡± ¡°Thank you, Princess Kalana,¡± the girl¡¯s mother said. ¡°You just made her whole year.¡± ¡°You are very welcome," Kalana said. Then the little girl shyly raised her hand and waved goodbye, and Kalana did the same. ¡°Bye,¡± Zach said, also waving and trying his best to seem interested. The girl didn¡¯t even care about him. She had just wanted to ask Kalana little-kid questions about magic and princesses. She wanted to know if Kalana had a castle, and Kalana had said that she had something better than a castle. After close to a half-hour of this weird, impromptu ¡°meet and greet,¡± Kalana finally decided to let the two of them get on with it. She apologized and stated that she and Zach really had to go, but that they¡¯d definitely come back to the city again and would sign more autographs and greet more people. Zach hoped this was just an empty promise she was making so that they could leave, because there was no way he was stopping to do this every fucking time he wanted to go somewhere. Gods, this was annoying. Taking her hand once more, he continued to lead her through the city, the two of them now walking a little bit faster. ¡°Wasn¡¯t that fun?¡± she asked him as they sped their way down a busy shopping distract while even more people began to stop and take in the sight of them. Many yelled at them as they passed, and most of it was polite or endearing. But one guy in particular shouted something filthy and lewd at Kalana, and now, Zach stopped in his tracks and turned his head to look at the son of a bitch who¡¯d spoken to her that way. It was some guy who looked to be in his early twenties riding an electric bicycle. ¡°Hey!¡± Zach shouted at him, caressing the sword on his back. ¡°You better fu¡ª¡± ¡°Zach, no!¡± she hissed. ¡°Ignore it.¡± ¡°Yeah, but! He just said¡ª¡± ¡°Who cares? He doesn¡¯t matter. Ignore him.¡± Grumbling, Zach decided not to let one asshole in a tank-top ruin the second-half of his day, as the first-half had sucked beyond all measure. ¡°Okay, fine, but if I see that guy again, I¡¯m wave-slashing him.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even make jokes like that,¡± Kalana said, frowning. ¡°You gotta adapt to our new lives sooner or later, so you might as well start now.¡± ¡°But why?¡± Zach asked her. ¡°Why do I have to, Kal? Why do we have to? I just want to be me. I don''t want to watch what I say in public and kiss babies and be hassled everywhere I go. Why can''t I just call this guy an asshole and tell him to piss off?¡± ¡°¡®Cause that¡¯s just how things are now,¡± she said. Then her voice softened. ¡°I know it¡¯s hard, babe, but you¡¯re not just a regular person anymore. You can¡¯t keep pretending you are. We have all kinds of new responsibilities now. When you say something in public, it has weight now. You can hurt people really badly, or you can ruin lives. You have to be careful.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it. We both will.¡± This time, it was Zach who squeezed her hand as they made their way down three more consecutive blocks in the commercial district. ¡°We¡¯re almost there,¡± he said to Kalana, who beamed with excitement and became absolutely giddy. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see where you¡¯re taking me,¡± she said. ¡°Well, it¡¯s actually a bit further than you think, but it¡¯ll be worth it.¡± At the very end of the least-populated part of the commercial district, Zach paused outside of a store with an old, crooked sign above its awning that read: Good Sittings: Family Furniture. Kalana glanced upwards at it, then tilted her head questioningly. ¡°In here?¡± she asked. ¡°Just come on,¡± Zach said, now himself becoming excited. The last time he¡¯d been here, the store had been closed, and he¡¯d kicked in the door and did damage to the place. It made him feel kind of guilty. Lacking a security camera, no one could possibly know he¡¯d been the one who¡¯d done it, and thankfully, as he entered the shop with Kalana and began to walk across its green carpeted floor with her beside him, no one appeared to pay him or her any attention. In total, there were only about seven shoppers inside, and each of them were busy inspecting various types of furniture. None glanced his way, and thus none flocked to him for autographs or pictures. Even the shopkeeper mumbled a halfhearted greeting without turning his head to look at either him or Kal. Not wanting to give anyone the chance to spot them, he tugged on her arm as she looked around, seemingly confused. ¡°Hurry,¡± he whispered. ¡°Where are we going?¡± she asked back. ¡°You said we¡¯re going out for lunch.¡± ¡°I promise you, Kal: we are. You just need to trust me. It¡¯s a surprise!¡± ¡°Okay, okay.¡± Very quickly, he hurried with her into the back corner of the shop, and then he pushed open a door to the men¡¯s room. Kalana stopped and did not enter with him. ¡°I¡¯ll wait out here until you¡¯re done,¡± she said. Zach laughed. ¡°No, come in. This is where we¡¯re going. Hurry, while it¡¯s empty.¡± She opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it as he reached outside, grabbed her hand, and yanked her inside with him. ¡°Zach, I can¡¯t be in here,¡± she moaned. ¡°This is the men¡¯s room.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t be here for long. Follow me closely.¡± ¡°Are you¡­is this some kinda prank you¡¯re playing on me?¡± ¡°Kal!¡± ¡°All right, I know. Okay, I¡¯m following you. It¡¯s stinky in here.¡± She wrinkled her nose. ¡°Like I said, we won¡¯t be here for long.¡± With Kalana¡¯s hand in his own, he led her across the bathroom, pausing at the third stall. Then he opened it and stepped inside. ¡°Follow me,¡± he said. ¡°Follow you where?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°Into the toilet?¡± ¡°Almost,¡± he said with a laugh. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Just watch.¡± Zach, closing the lid, stepped on top of it, then pulled gently on Kalana¡¯s arm to indicate that she climb up and stand beside him. The two of them together could only just barely fit on top of the seat. If either of them had been level 1 and had no points into dexterity, they would¡¯ve both surely lost their balance and fallen over. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Okay, ready?¡± he asked her. ¡°I guess,¡± she whispered hesitantly. ¡°Let¡¯s see how much you really trust me. On three, I want you to jump forward with me into the wall. If you do it, it means you really trust me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re serious, aren¡¯t you?¡± she asked. ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Okay, then. I¡¯m in.¡± The two of them both laughed. And then Zach counted. ¡°One, two¡ªand three!¡± While holding hands, the two of them jumped forward and into the wall. Judging from the way Kalana¡¯s body stiffened, he could tell she was expecting some kind of impact. The fact she¡¯d done it anyway was proof that she really did trust him. She let out an adorable, cute little squeak as they came closer and closer to the wall. She was likely more afraid of causing massive damage to the store than she was at getting hurt. Yet, as she was about to find out, there wouldn¡¯t be any damage to the store: because rather than collide with the wall, the two of them slipped straight through and then traveled beyond it, finding themselves both in a narrow hallway so dark they could not see in front of their own faces. The area they were in now was only slightly taller than a ventilation shaft and only slightly wider, too. Side by side, Zach¡¯s left arm was touching the left side of the smooth-feeling wall. Even though he couldn¡¯t see Kal, he could tell from the sound of her gasp that she was beginning to realize where they were heading. ¡°Ohhh! I know where you¡¯re taking me, Zach! I figured it out!¡± She kissed him. She was probably aiming for his cheek, but since she could barely see him, she ended up kissing the top of his head, instead. Now, with even more excitement in each of their steps, they made their way across this short stretch of dark hallway until just ahead of them was a metal, push-bar door labeled B7->B8. Now, free from having to be considerate towards the safety of others, they were free to move as fast as they wanted. Thus, upon entering the door together, the two of them raced down eleven flights of stairs then arrived at another door. ¡°This is so much fun!¡± Kalana squeaked. ¡°I wanna go first!¡± ¡°Wait, be careful, Kal, there¡¯s going to be a¡ª¡± Kalana was already backhanding a level-15 pirate in the face for 91,413 damage as she shouted out, ¡°Wow, this is so, so cool!¡± and ran forward to jump aboard one of the pirate ships floating in the massive, indoor lake that spanned almost the entirety of B8. Seeing her have fun like this warmed his heart. ¡°Nooo! Don¡¯t attack me!¡± she shouted playfully as she more or less insta-killed about eleven different mobs before Zach had even walked through the door. ¡°Wait for me,¡± Zach said, hurrying after her. He darted over the short, indoor pier, and then reaching the end of it, he leapt across a small gap and landed on the stern of a large wooden ship. ¡°So, this is a dungeon?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°This is the coolest thing I¡¯ve ever seen! Baby, this is incredible! I can¡¯t believe you did this without me. No fair. Wow, look at that,¡± she said, her feet making tapping noises against the wood as she raced to the bow of the ship and started fidgeting with the wheel of the ship¡¯s helm. ¡°Look how real it looks. Is this an Adamus dungeon, Zach?¡± ¡°A what dungeon?¡± Zach asked. ¡°And¡­I¡¯ve heard that name before. He¡¯s a Great One, right?¡± She nodded. ¡°He sure is. Adamus is like my great, great, great, great times fifty grand-something.¡± Zach gasped. ¡°Wait, seriously?¡± She turned around and smiled at him. ¡°Yah-huh! I told you I come from the Gods, remember?¡± ¡°So that¡¯s what you meant,¡± he said, slapping himself in the forehead. ¡°I thought you were just being arrogant. You mean you¡¯re literally related to them?¡± Again, she nodded. ¡°Some of them. Adamus Vayra is my ancestor. See, I learned all about it in the Elvish archives on my island.¡± ¡°So this dungeon was made by Adamus?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Now that I think about it, his name gets referenced quite a bit. You know what? We should pay Moldark a visit. I didn¡¯t pay any attention to what he was saying last time I was here, but I¡¯m pretty sure he used that name. You¡¯ve got me curious now. So¡­this ancestor of yours, he made all the dungeons?¡± She shook her head. ¡°No, only some. All the Great Ones made dungeons, and they all have their own style and way of doing it. The only reason I said this one¡¯s probably an Adamus dungeon is ¡®cause I read that he loved stories about pirates and pirate ships when he was younger.¡± How much super-secret knowledge does my girlfriend have? Zach wondered, astonished. I bet even Olivir doesn¡¯t know this. Zach began to walk towards her, but stopped short as one of the swashbuckling pirates respawned to his left. It tickled him by swinging its hook at his face, and now, like Kalana, he dismissively backhanded it in the face just like she had, only in his case, he hit for 12,275 and earned himself +1000xp. Then, out of nowhere, there was a sound similar to an engine being started, and a bunch of red lasers surrounded him; it was almost as though they were the bars of a circularly shaped prison cage. They vanished immediately after appearing, and the noise also cut off. Now, Zach looked around himself for a moment in a brief state of bewilderment. But then he remembered: he¡¯d received a whole bunch of new equipment. It must¡¯ve been something from the gear that Fylwen had given him. ¡°Kal, mind if I stop here a second to look at the stuff your mom gave me?¡± ¡°Take your time!¡± she said cheerfully. ¡°I¡¯m exploring!¡± He loved her so Gods-damned much. She was running around looking at every nook and cranny of the place. She seemed to have a very deep appreciation of it. She kept remarking how she ¡°couldn¡¯t believe¡± a ¡°place like this existed¡± and that she wanted to see even more dungeon floors. Right now, she was climbing up to the top of the mast of the ship they were standing on. There had to be about twenty of these ships on this floor, with most of them appearing to be optional and ignorable. Every ship was within a reasonable jumping distance from at least one another ship¡ªassuming adequate strength¡ªand if one were to jump only in the direction straight ahead from where Zach was facing to the opposite end of the lake, just five ships needed to be crossed in order to reach the door that said B8->B9 and was visible even from here. Zach¡¯s last time here, he¡¯d been in a rush to save Rian and Lienne, and he¡¯d ignored the vast majority of this floor. Yet even this time, he doubted he¡¯d bother ¡°exploring,¡± as he was hungry and wanted to get to Angelica¡¯s. For the moment, though, he took his eyes off Kalana as she began looking at everything and anything around her, and he checked out his new stuff simply by pulling the hood of his cloak over his head then willing a list of his currently equipped items to the front of his vision. Coincidentally, the very first item he inspected appeared to be the one responsible for whatever had caused those red, laser-like bars to appear around him.
Name Strength-Bound Gloves of Might
Rarity Rare
Armor +5
Strength +7
Dexterity +7
Ability 5% chance on any successful non-ability melee attack to grant a minor blessing of strength, increasing the user¡¯s strength by 15 for 30 seconds
Willing forward a list of his buffs, he confirmed that this was indeed the equipment that had caused the effect. Along with Will of the Favored, he now had a buff named minor blessing of strength with thirteen seconds remaining until it faded away. Zach smiled, feeling his mood begin to lift. As he continued to take stock of what had been given to him, his appreciation for Fylwen continued to rise. She¡¯d really done right by him. It was true she¡¯d given him a scar that would never fully heal, but boy, she was trying to make things right! This, he realized as he read the rest of his items.
Name Decorative Shoes of En¡¯zahar
Rarity Uncommon
Armor +5
Speed +5
Luck +5
Name Barzak¡¯s Trousers
Rarity Uncommon
Armor +8
Speed +5
Dexterity +5
Name Robes of Dark Awakening
Rarity Rare
Armor +15
Strength +10
Dexterity +10
Constitution +10
Ability Frostbind
Cooldown 15:00 (minutes)
Description Shackles of ice rise from beneath user¡¯s target, rooting them in place for a maximum of 30 seconds (decreased by resistances and diminishing returns)
Name Cloak of the Downtrodden Assassin
Rarity Epic Rare
Armor +15
Strength +10
Constitution +15
Intelligence +15
Ability Shadow Merge
Cooldown 30:00 (minutes)
Description User becomes cloaked in darkness, disappearing for 30 seconds. Can still be seen by Elves and Gnomes. Mobs will not aggro the user while cloaked. If the user has already aggroed one or more non-boss mobs, aggro is removed. If the user has aggroed a boss, Shadow Merge has no effect. Attacking or taking any hostile action against any entity, regardless if targeted or intentional, immediately ends this effect.
Helm Sight Level Full
Already amazed to the point he could cry tears of joy, Zach now inspected the accessories she¡¯d given him. The silver bracelets¡ªwhich were really more like chains¡ªthat he¡¯d wrapped around his wrists and lower forearms appeared to the be the same, and now he could confirm that they were indeed duplicates of the exact same item.
Name Silver Bracelet of Fortunate Acuity
Rarity Uncommon
Intelligence +5
Luck +10
Finally, he called forth what might¡¯ve been the coolest of his new equipment: the skull-shaped pendant, which was constantly releasing just a few tiny puffs of purplish smoke from each of its empty eye sockets. Honestly, though, Zach thought it was badass. And its stats were pretty cool, too.
Name The Knowing Skull of the Great Forest
Rarity Rare
Constitution +15
Intelligence +15
¡°Wow!¡± he said aloud, causing Kalana to become curious and hurry over to him. She leapt from the top of the ship¡¯s mast, flipping in the air before landing in front of him in a crouch. ¡°What¡¯d you get, Zach?¡± she asked, returning to her feet. ¡°Join my party. I¡¯ll show you.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± The great thing about his current Helm Sight Level was that he could now view any information he wanted no matter who was around him, as it all became private unless he invited someone into his party. Previously, by tapping his shoulder four times and accessing his inventory, anyone in his vicinity would be able to see what he was doing. Reading over his new equipment, Kalana gave him a celebratory pat on the back. ¡°Mom must really like you,¡± she said. ¡°Which is weird, ¡®cause she killed you.¡± Then her voice abruptly became sad, and at first, Zach thought it was because she was reflecting on the things he¡¯d told her about what¡¯d happened to him. But he soon realized that wasn¡¯t quite it this time around, as with a whisper, she said, ¡°My mom never gave me a gift in my entire life.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Zach said, feeling guilty. ¡°I never even considered things from that perspective.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m sure she will eventually. I¡¯m more worried about you getting too close to her, Zach. I dunno what happened for you two to become such good buddies all of a sudden, but I think she¡¯s a bad influence on you. And it¡¯s really giving me whiplash. One minute, she¡¯s your worst enemy. The next, she¡¯s your partner in crime, and you¡¯re plotting murders together.¡± He chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s¡­fair, actually.¡± Scratching his cheek, he said, ¡°Hey, let me check my stats before we go on, okay?¡± ¡°Mhm.¡± Zach dismissed his new equipment, waiting a few more seconds for his temporary strength buff to wear off, and then he called forward his stats.
Name Zachys Calador
Level 19
EXP 42,500/65,000
Armor Bonus 48
Strength 102
Dexterity 87
Constitution 85
Intelligence 120
Speed 70
Luck 35
¡°Whoah,¡± Kalana said. ¡°That¡¯s really, really high for level 19, Zach. Like, really high stats.¡± ¡°I¡­I know it is,¡± he replied. For the first time since finding the spawn point, he finally didn¡¯t feel insecure about his stats. Lienne had once explained to him that, for a stat to be considered ¡°average¡± respective to the kind of role someone wanted to play, it needed to be twice your level. This included gear but did not include buffs. So, for example, the bare minimum amount of constitution that someone level 20 should have if they were attempting to tank was 40. The same was true for someone who wanted to primarily cast spells: in which case they¡¯d want 40 int. But again, that was to be average. Each additional point respective to one¡¯s level made them above average. Right now, Zach had the average amount of strength, with gear, expected of someone who was level 52. In fact, with the exception of luck, he was running wildly ahead right now in every single stat. This meant, if he wanted to level up really quickly, he could find mobs in their 50s or maybe even low 60s and potentially hunt them for xp. Do I really want to become more powerful, though? Right now, in this moment, the answer was definitely yes. Earlier, when his entire body had been taken from his control, and he¡¯d been terrified, he¡¯d felt the opposite. But for now? Once again, he¡¯d reverted, and so yes, he wanted to level and become stronger and stronger. Is it bad that my luck is so low? I doubt it has anything to do with real-life luck. Having had so little free time recently, he now had the chance to consider some of the things he¡¯d wanted to know but had needed to put off. Such as ¡°luck.¡± What, specifically, did it do? Seeking to find out, he called forth the glossary¡ªor tried to, at least. When attempting to will it forward, the following appeared before him.
Current Helm Sight: Full. A Helm Sight Level of Legendary or higher is required to make use of the glossary.
¡°Meh,¡± he grumbled. ¡°Hey, Kal.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Do you happen to know if luck increase the chance that things will happen if they¡¯re based on chance? Like, ah, my sword. It has an 8.5% chance of giving me 25% of my stamina back each time I hit something with it. Does luck make that higher¡ªmeaning more likely to happen?¡± ¡°Uh-huh,¡± she said. ¡°For every thirty points into luck, it increases the chance of a programmed random occurrence by one percent.¡± ¡°A what?¡± Zach asked. She snickered. ¡°A proc. So, umm, if you had 90 luck, that would go up to 11.5%.¡± ¡°But what exactly is a proc?¡± he asked. ¡°Does it just mean ¡®thing that has a chance to happen?¡¯¡± ¡°Well, kinda. It¡¯s like¡­okay, so, if you hit a bad guy with your sword and you get that 25% stamina thingy to happen, you could say your sword proc¡¯d. At least, that¡¯s how I¡¯ve heard Alex and his friends use the word.¡± ¡°Makes sense.¡± Zach scratched his chin. He felt like he was really starting to get a handle on how things worked in this world of leveling. He¡¯d learned a great deal in a short time, but he was really, truly starting to get the hang of it. With that thought in mind, he took Kalana¡¯s hand into his own, and together, the two of them ran forward and jumped from this ship to the next one. He was finally going to take her to Angelica¡¯s. ¡°Ready to keep going?¡± She nodded. ¡°I love dungeons now!¡± Chapter 87: An Offer Too Good to Refuse Chapter 87: An Offer Too Good to Refuse In a city where very little out of the ordinary ever seemed to happen, something highly unusual was going on today: something that caused Pack Dolan to glance curiously out of the classroom window across from the desk where Zach Calador used to sit and into the streets of Whispery Woods, where columns of armored tanks were now streaming down the typically congested roadways, and uniformed soldiers bearing the insignia of the People of Virtue were taking up positions all over the city. It appeared that Whispery Woods was being¡­captured? Seriously? Pack was far more surprised by the fact that anyone would want to capture this city than he was by the fact that they were doing so. After all, everyone knew Whispery Woods was worthless as dirt. It was to such an extent that the Guild of Gentlemen didn¡¯t even bother to defend it anymore, as it was a money-sink to them. Everyone understood this. The streets were in dire need of repair, the infrastructure was crumbling, and diseases not seen for centuries were again beginning to spread. Rats were a common sight, crime was at an all-time high, and it was nothing short of a miracle that they even had a functioning, decent school to attend, albeit one that had lately begun to experience rolling, heat-related blackouts. ¡°Everyone, please be calm,¡± the teacher said. ¡°I¡¯ve already been assured that no one is in any danger, and that no one will be hurt.¡± Pack didn¡¯t doubt her words. So far, not a single shot could be heard ringing out, nor a single blast. After all, who even was there to shoot at? No one wanted this broke, failing city. By all means, if a guild wanted to take a stab at actually ruling over the place, who was he to second-guess them? Pack didn¡¯t know a single person here who was loyal to the Guild of Gentlemen, as they¡¯d all but abandoned the city a few years ago, not leaving a single leveled defender in place; they¡¯d also pulled back much of their funding and nowadays gave far fewer resources than were required to actually keep everything running. As a result, more than half of the peacekeepers and fire-fighters on call were volunteers. In fact, the city was in such a state of absolute disrepair, that despite encountering no resistance whatsoever, there were already multiple casualties of their invasion. As though unfamiliar with the terrain, one of the tanks had foolishly decided to break off from the rest and travel down Leviathan Drive, which any local could have told them not to do. The result was an implosion of the concrete followed by an entire section of the street plunging down into the depths below, the tank along with it, likely killing anyone who was inside. But aside from that one incident, this was an otherwise calm occupation, and already, residents of Whispery Woods were showing signs of shrugging the entire thing off and going about their day, utterly indifferent to the entire affair. Even now, Pack could see several citizens beginning to emerge from their homes, cautiously walk past the numerous soldiers, pause a moment, then shrug and continue on as though nothing at all had changed. And before long, with a similar shrug, his teacher also began to ignore the situation as well, instructing the class to once more pay attention to today¡¯s lesson, as she was standing in for Mr. Oren, who had mysteriously vanished around the same time that Zach had somehow become a world-famous, dragon-fighting hero and joined the Royal Roses, which was now basically the only thing anyone ever talked about during lunch. I can¡¯t believe I almost got into a fistfight with him, he thought. Pack shifted nervously in his desk as he recalled how close he¡¯d come to trading blows with Zach¡ªthe same kid who¡¯d turned the sky dark and caused all those horrible, awful noises an hour or two ago. It had been just before the People of the Virtue rolled into the city. Pack had been in math class, sitting in his usual seat in the second row to the front. They were supposed to be learning calculus in order to get a jumpstart on college, but instead, given that something ¡°historic¡± was taking place, the school had decided to wheel in a single large viewing screen, and the teacher had then begun streaming live coverage of some kind of ¡°special operation¡± Zach was taking part in to ¡°weaken the dragon.¡± So anyways, there he¡¯d been, watching Zach-freaking-Calador of all people rush in to take on a pack of beasts, the existence of which the media could not seem to explain, when out of nowhere, all the lights in the class had turned off; at the exact same time, the bright summer sky had become pitch black, submerging the world in darkness. Then, just a few seconds later, he¡¯d started to shiver as all the heat in the room seemed to vanish. But then things had become even more terrifying, because it was after that point when a loud, explosive banging had begun to ring out from everywhere and nowhere, causing the entire school to shake as though in the throes of a violent earthquake: something not known to happen in this region. All at once, every student in class had cried out in alarm and had hidden under their desk: all except for a really cute blonde who happened to be walking back to her seat on a return trip from the bathroom. She¡¯d practically jumped into Dolan¡¯s arms for comfort. Long story short? They were going on a date tomorrow night. So he owed Zach one for that, didn¡¯t he? At any rate, with a sigh, he quickly grew disinterested in the spectacle going on outside and instead returned his attention to his studies. Whatever was going on, it couldn¡¯t possibly make things any worse. How could it? From a one to a ten, Whispery Woods was already a zero. At this point, Pack felt like he could speak for everyone in the city when he said he¡¯d be willing to give anyone a shot, no matter who. Didn¡¯t even matter. In just a short while from now, he was going to wonder if maybe he¡¯d have to eat those words. ********* There was a very good reason that Abram Gespon, third-in-command of the People of Virtue, was not currently the first in command¡ªand it was not due to any barriers in his path. Truly, if he had any real inclination to usurp his aging, senile guild-leader, who sat in the seat beside him and blinked confusedly at Fylwen Vayra while he sipped on a glass of water with a shaking, unsteady hand, he could do so with nothing more than a spoken word. Not even a drop of blood would need to be spilled: that was the extent to which Abram¡¯s power over his guild had grown. Certainly, Sir Goron Revel, the High-Chief of Virtue, might have once been a strong, powerful guild-leader, but he was pushing a hundred-fifty years of age, and only a sliver of his personality or sense of awareness still remained within him. And in these past few weeks, he had mostly stopped communicating entirely. Thus, for all intents and purposes, Abram had recently begun to act as the de-facto leader of the People of Virtue in all but name. And this went totally uncontested by the second-in-command, Goron¡¯s eldest son, Tyson Revel. Abram and Tyson had something of an unspoken understanding with one another. Tyson¡¯s only ambition in life was to be as degenerate and debaucherous as humanly possible, and he had absolutely no interest in anything other than gambling, drinking, and women¡ªbehaving more like an adventurer than an esteemed member of society. Except, in his case, his perversions went far beyond the ordinary. He routinely engaged in practices highly illegal in Varda¡¯s lair, where modesty was enforced by rule of law, and a strict dress code was imposed upon the public while within the city limits. For this reason, in exchange for Abram¡¯s silence¡ªand complicity¡ªTyson was more than willing to delegate all of his responsibilities and power to Abram provided he would be left to continue his hedonistic existence. Now, to be fair, Abram himself engaged in highly unethical acts with numerous women as a way of relieving the stress he accumulated while serving the public. But at least in his case, his salacious acts consisted of fulfilling the typical desires a man was expected to have and in an ordinary way. Tyson Revel, on the other hand, engaged in downright disturbing acts of self-humiliation. Nearly every day of the week, the man spent his father¡¯s considerable fortune hiring young, beautiful women to degrade him in ways that were revolting and so far beneath the dignity of how a man ought to behave. It was sickening, really. In fact, as far as Abram was aware, the man wasn¡¯t even having sex with these women despite the vast amount of coin he was paying for their service. This, Abram believed, as he had once had the misfortune of walking in on Tyson in the middle of one of his depraved moments of perversion. His entire face had been under the boot of a woman barely a day older than eighteen, and as payment for this act of disrespect, he had likely been charged thousands of gold. And I keep having to quiet these vultures whenever they try to blackmail the man, Abram thought, disgusted. That he performs these ¡®acts¡¯ is one thing: that he records them is another matter entirely. Nevertheless, it all ultimately played in Abram¡¯s favor, for he not only did not wish to take over as the leader of the People of Virtue, but on several occasions, he¡¯d actually had to take active measures to deliberately avoid doing so. Simply put, from his current position as third-in-command, he could now exercise total, unilateral control over his guild while being simultaneously protected from the brunt of public scrutiny. And while sure, this approach might not work with regards to the other guilds, who had all begun treating him in a way that was virtually indistinguishable from how they¡¯d treat the actual guild-leader, the real benefit to Abram was in deceiving the general public. If the need ever did arise, he would be able to use Goron Revel and his eldest son as a convenient shield. For the moment, though, he did not dwell on the possibility of failure. Things lately, on numerous fronts, had been splendidly going his way. He could scarcely believe how fortunate he¡¯d been. If the Gods really did exist, he must have earned their favor, as everything was falling into place so perfectly that he could not have hoped for a better turn of events. ¡°Can I offer you some more wine?¡± he asked the Elvish queen, who swirled around the ruby-colored liquid in the glass she was holding. It came from a rare, vintage bottle of Humanit¨¦ D¨¦licate that fetched around twenty-thousand gold: and that was by the glass, not the bottle. ¡°Not just yet,¡± she said, sipping slowly at it. ¡°Although I must say: it seems that, at least on the promise of wine, you¡¯ve delivered.¡± She set the glass down on the table in front of her, then folded her hands on its surface and leaned forward, a confident grin on her face. ¡°But as I¡¯m sure you know, I did not accompany you here for the excellent wine, Sir Gespon the Virtuous. I¡¯m here because you claimed you had an offer so good that I¡¯d have to be mad to refuse it. An offer so irresistible that I would willingly risk the lives of my kin aiding you with your dragon problem in exchange for it.¡± Abram smiled at her. Though she¡¯d put on a show of strength by beheading Varsh, and though she might have believed she currently had the upper hand, he knew that he had her. In truth, when first setting out to speak with her, he hadn¡¯t even known what he was going to offer her. He¡¯d needed to first get a read on her personality and behavioral patterns. Yet he¡¯d known that he would be able to find something she wanted¡ªeven if, at the time, he hadn¡¯t known just quite yet what that might be. Thankfully, he¡¯d been very quick to get a grasp on who he was dealing with by observing her back-and-forth with Sir Peter Brayspark, in which she had shown herself during their confrontation to be highly territorial. He¡¯d also noted that she displayed expansionist tendencies. Had she been the isolationist type, she would never have chased the boy back to Galterran territory regardless of what he¡¯d done¡ªor what she perceived him to have done. The impulse to invade another territory to achieve what she wanted, combined with her fierce defensiveness over her territorial integrity¡­these two pieces of information had been all he¡¯d needed. Now, with an intentional, confident grin of his own to match hers, he said to her, ¡°I do, indeed.¡± ¡°Then tell me,¡± she said to him. ¡°Enough with the suspense. What is it you could possibly have that would make any of this worth my valuable time?¡± Abram snapped his fingers, and one of his aids brought over a map of North Bastia along with a red marker. Without saying a word to the queen, he waited for the map to be placed flat down onto the table they shared, and then he removed the cap from the marker and began to draw a circle around a region. He then gently slid the map over to her side of the table, and still without speaking, he tapped his finger against the spot that he¡¯d circled. Immediately her eyes widened. ¡±You¡¯re serious?¡± she asked, releasing an actual gasp. ¡°This is a genuine offer?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct, Your Majesty,¡± he said. Her mouth falling open in awe, she lifted her head and met his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you.¡± ¡°There is no lie,¡± he said. ¡°Am I failing to see something correctly here, or are you implying that your offer is to give me the entire region of Whispery Woods, city and all?¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly right.¡± She laughed. Then she tapped her finger against her chin. ¡°And if I were to accept, then I¡¯d be forced to help you with the dragon regardless, as the admittedly honest vampire claims that it will eventually attack every region in Galterra¡ªincluding what would be mine.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly it,¡± he said. ¡°If you do not assist us, then your region will be turned to ash the same as ours. I am in essence offering you the only thing that would make it logical for you to risk the blood of your kin: a real stake in the game.¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t this one of Peter¡¯s regions?¡± she asked him. He shook his head. ¡°No. We conquered it recently.¡± Abram saw no reason to mention just how recently his guild had conquered it¡ªas in, within the past few minutes¡ªnor did he feel the need to include the fact that the Guild of Gentlemen had basically abandoned it and therefore all he¡¯d had to do was march an occupying force inside and raise a flag. These details were immaterial, after all. Yet, for some reason, he was starting to get the impression that she already knew all this. Worse: he was starting to wonder if her reaction to his offer thus far was even sincere. With a devilish snicker, all the surprise that had been on her face vanished, and a cold, sharp, and calculating determination entered into her eyes. In an instant, she transformed herself. The brutish, impatient woman who had walked in here with the threat of killing him if his offer displeased her or if she felt he¡¯d wasted her time¡ªthat version of her disappeared. Now, what he saw in her eyes was an intellectual, shrewd, and devious politician. It was almost like¡­like she¡¯d been the one stringing him along all this time as opposed to the other way around. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re using the term ¡®conquered¡¯ a bit loosely, no?¡± she asked him. ¡°By my estimation, you couldn¡¯t have encountered much fighting. Though I haven¡¯t been there in many years, it wasn¡¯t hard to see the trajectory the city was on. I¡¯d be surprised if, all these years later, Peter still hadn¡¯t pulled his forces out.¡± For the first time in the negotiation, Abram became nervous. Yet he did not let even the slightest shred of it show on his face. Always, he remained confident. Always, he maintained his grin and his smile. The upper hand was half psychological, half material. Though he¡¯d lost his material advantage, she could not be allowed to sense blood in the water. Yet, somehow, she did. ¡°Relax yourself, Sir Gespon the Virtuous,¡± she said, the corner of her mouth lifting into a sly, sneaky smirk. ¡°I assure you I am quite well relaxed, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Really?¡± she asked, questioningly raising her left eyebrow. ¡°The tightening of your shoulders seems to suggest otherwise. Is it because you realize that I¡¯m not a fool? That I know you¡¯re offering me a broken city in a destitute region that needs a great deal of work and likely won¡¯t be profitable even under the right leadership for two decades or longer?¡± Abram stared at her a moment. Then he half closed his eyes and, despite himself, released a genuine laugh. ¡°Okay, Your Majesty. I can see your angle here.¡± ¡°You can?¡± He nodded. ¡°You still want it. I can tell. You wouldn¡¯t be sitting here if you didn¡¯t. The only question is what it¡¯s going to cost me to seal the deal, as it¡¯s clear that the region alone is not going to sate you.¡± ¡°No, Sir Gespon the Virtuous, it will most certainly not,¡± she said. And upon those words, her tone became less amused and shifted almost as much as her expressions had. Now, she spoke in a way that was serious, matter-of-factly, and stunningly business-like. ¡°Given the substantial investment in time, coin, and effort that it would require for me to address the numerous human failures caused by gross negligence and an indifference to suffering, anything less than fifty-billion gold is simply unacceptable.¡± ¡°Fifty¡­billion?¡± Abram asked, shaking his head. ¡°Yes. Fifty-billion gold.¡± He turned over his palms. ¡°Your Majesty, that¡¯s absurd. Twenty seems far more reasonable. I understand there¡¯s a lot of work to be done, but with the hotter and rainier summers we¡¯ve been having lately, the harvests have been more bountiful than ever, and the price of corn is on the rise, too. You can easily recoup your¡ª¡± ¡°And remind me,¡± she interrupted, ¡°which town it is that runs adjacent to the fields that provide the most corn out of the farmlands in Whispery Woods, Sir Gespon the Virtuous?¡± she asked, smirking at him. He sighed. ¡°The Den of Ziragoth.¡± ¡°And what is this dragon¡¯s name? The one you¡¯ve asked me to spill my blood fighting?¡± He sighed a second time, knowing he¡¯d exposed himself unnecessarily to attack and had taken a hit as a result of it. ¡°Ziragoth.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, Sir Gespon the Virtuous. And for the record, the boy, Zach, has already told me in great detail what happened to that town. Based on his story and nothing more, I estimate that the people there are looking at five-billion gold in repairs alone. More than three-quarters of the town has been leveled.¡± Abram held up his finger to signal that he¡¯d like to politely interject, which she allowed him to do. ¡°Ah, if that¡¯s a concern,¡± he said, ¡°you don¡¯t need to worry about that, Your Majesty. I¡¯ve already been in contact with the banking institutions in Shores of Wrath, South Bastia. They¡¯re willing to offer low-interest loans to the civilians who live there in order to¡ª¡± ¡°Disgusting!¡± she snapped at him, and Abram was taken aback by the animosity in her voice. Once more, her tone had shifted, and now there was anger laced in each one of her words. ¡°You would have these people, who have just lost everything, in some cases their families as well, become indebted to the banking institutions? That is absolutely abhorrent. This is exactly the kind of human behavior I¡¯d expect from your kind.¡± Abram looked at her a moment and tried to puzzle out why she was saying these things¡ªand why her anger looked so genuine. This¡­this was just another negotiation tactic, surely. Right? It had to be. After hearing how ruthless the queen was from Zach, there was no way she could be any less cutthroat than Abram or any other political leader. It was all part of the negotiating game. It had to be¡­right? ¡°What happened to these people was not their fault,¡± she continued, tapping the spot on the map where the Den of Ziragoth resided. ¡°If anything, it is the fault of you and those in this tent with you. It was your responsibility to keep them safe¡ªto protect them from just this kind of disaster, and you failed miserably in that responsibility. If I had been in charge, my Elves would have been there in seconds! But more to the point is this: are you seriously telling me that after everything those unfortunate souls have suffered through, you now want these people¡ªsoon to be my people¡ªto shoulder the burden of it? You will not treat my citizens this way.¡± Gods, he thought, a shiver traveling through him. She¡¯s already acting like these people are her own. Despite having only just found out that she was being offered an entire region of Galterra, the queen was displaying behavior that was beginning to look like real, actual concern for the people who lived there. It made no sense to him. What did she care about the people of the Den of Ziragoth? They weren¡¯t even Elvish. Wetting his lips, he said, ¡°50-billion gold is astronomical. I can do 30.¡± ¡°Ridiculous,¡± she replied immediately, giving Abram a look of disgust. ¡°There is no way 30 will be enough to repair the damage to the city¡¯s infrastructure as well as to the town that has been ravaged and the surrounding fields. Let alone the cost of funerals and compensation paid to the survivors so that they can get back on their feet and have some kind of life left to live after what¡¯s happened to them and their families. A number of them will likely require lifelong aid as their injuries are too severe for them to work or live unassisted.¡± ¡°Lifelong aid?¡± he asked her, confused. ¡°Are you making a joke, Your Majesty?¡± She slapped her palm down onto the table, angrily. ¡°No, human filth! Let me make myself perfectly clear: I¡¯ll not allow a single citizen under my rule to be living on the streets and hungry because they were mauled by your human failures. I expressly forbid it. So no: thirty-billion gold will not put Whispery Woods back on a path back to prosperity and recovery, nor will it address the suffering of those who just had their lives shredded and destroyed. At least 45 at the bare minimum is required.¡± Abram scoffed at that. ¡°45-billion and my own city will turn to dust.¡± ¡°Oh? Well in that case, I can always retreat back to Archian Prime if I must,¡± she said. ¡°And if I do, you will be stuck here dealing with the dragon all on your own. As I hear it, the beast is far, far more powerful than originally thought.¡± She pointed her finger at him. ¡°I¡¯ll take not a coin less than 40 billion. That is the furthest I can be pushed. If you cannot offer that, there is no way this deal can work.¡± He eyed the bottle of wine on the table, and he poured himself a glass. ¡°Very well,¡± he said. ¡°Forty billion gold pieces it is.¡± ¡°Good. I¡¯m glad we can agree.¡± Her anger faded, and a polite smile returned to her lips. Though she now regarded him with a constant, ever-present look of disgust that suggested his words had actually offended her for real. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Your Majesty. I must, however, warn you that the 40 billion you ask for cannot, by necessity, come without any strings attached. There will be something¡­something significant I¡¯ll need from you in order to possibly be able to pay you that large of a sum.¡± The way she smiled at Abram had him worried, as now, there almost seemed to be something of a twinkle in her eye. ¡°I know what you¡¯re going to ask of me.¡± ¡°You¡­you do?¡± She placed her finger on the map, tapping the Whispery Woods region. Then she moved her finger all the way to the east¡ªand then beyond, settling on the edge of the map. ¡°You want me to help you restore the trade relations with the global trading community after Peter IV shattered humanity¡¯s relationship with the rest of the world. And now, with a real, Elvish-controlled territory located right here in North Bastia, you believe that, with my help, the other races will be moved to renegotiate humanity¡¯s entry back into world trade: doubly so if I personally call upon the global community to move past the wounds of your human king and vouch for you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he whispered. She locked eyes with him, and in this moment, Abram felt like a cornered mouse. ¡°Well then, if those are your strings, then I will have some strings of my own, human.¡± Abram resisted the urge to swear under his breath. He was dealing with someone far, far more intelligent than he had expected. He¡¯d underestimated this woman so, so, so fucking badly. ¡°Name your strings.¡± ¡°From you, Sir Gespon the Virtuous, Whispery Woods will receive a fifteen-percent discount on the steel and lumber I¡¯ll need to rebuild my region, and from you, Sir Alazar, I¡¯ll want a fifty-percent reduction in both the freight tax and cost of shipping containers both domestically and foreign when we inevitably ship our produce overseas.¡± ¡°Whoah, whoah, now wait just a Gods-damned minute!¡± Vim Alazar snapped, slamming his fist down onto the table. Abram shot him a look of warning, but he ignored it. The other guild-leaders had assured Abram that they would keep quiet and let him handle things, but sadly, that seemed to only apply so long as their own territories were not wrapped up in any deal. Now that she¡¯d involved Giant¡¯s Fall, which belonged to the Royal Roses and had an economy that revolved almost exclusively around shipping, cargo, and reselling, Abram supposed that there was no way Sir Alazar could remain quiet. In truth, Abram was also less than enthusiastic about her demands. Forty-billion gold might be a lot, but most of it would inevitably come back to his region, as the vast majority of things she would need to buy in order to rejuvenate Whispery Woods were goods that just-so happened to be produced in Varda¡¯s Lair, such as lumber, steel, and other types of construction materials. She would also likely need to hire Varda¡¯s Lair laborers and construction workers. Even still, it would be a huge loss, but one that he could weather thanks to the massive profit Varda¡¯s Lair would stand to make if they could normalize relations with the other races: just like the way things used to be before Peter IV fucked everything up with his profoundly stupid and deranged speech declaring all non-humans to be the same as farm animals while announcing his intention to subjugate the world to human whims. ¡°Is there a problem, Sir Alazar?¡± she asked. ¡°You know damn well there¡¯s a problem,¡± he replied. ¡°What you¡¯re asking me for is horseshit and you know it. Now, look: I¡¯m not against giving you folks a little discount to ease the passing of this deal, but I can tell just from sitting here listening to all this that you¡¯re a very well-educated woman who knows a lot more about how shit works than she lets on, including why I can¡¯t do what you¡¯re asking.¡± ¡°I thank you for the compliment,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± He leaned back in his seat, annoyance on his face. ¡°I¡¯m mentioning this because I¡¯m sitting here, thinking to myself¡­you know damn well why I can¡¯t possibly do this. Giant¡¯s Fall¡¯s entire economy is based in shipping and retail sales. Both here and on South Bastia, every shipping truck, freight train, and cargo jet is us. It¡¯s what Giant¡¯s Fall does best. And a big slice of our revenue, almost fifteen percent, comes from moving produce out of Whispery Woods to the rest of North Bastia and Shores of Wrath in South Bastia.¡± He paused as if to take a breath, then continued. ¡°Since that Gods-cursed dragon showed up and scorched the Den of Ziragoth, we¡¯re already taking a massive hit to the number of orders placed for shipping containers in that region. In fact, as of this morning, we¡¯re down by around twenty-five percent since this whole thing started. So, you¡¯re basically saying you want to burn us for half of what revenue we still have coming in from the Whispery Woods. We¡¯ve got mouths to feed too, Your Majesty. There¡¯s no way we can give up that kind of coin from Whispery Woods without mass layoffs. That¡¯ll create a spillover effect that could hurt the whole Gods-damned economy: including in Whispery Woods.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s a no, then?¡± she asked him, her expression now guarded. ¡°I can¡¯t do it, Your Majesty. We can¡¯t afford it. It¡¯s that simple.¡± ¡°Why not? How¡¯s Spider¡¯s Eye Oasis doing these days?¡± she asked, coldly. ¡°Have you stopped putting out hits?¡± Abram sighed. Her quip was totally unproductive. The Royal Roses currently controlled three regions: Dragon Squire, Giant¡¯s Fall, and Spider¡¯s Eye Oasis. They¡¯d likely soon control Shadowfall Coast once the invasion began after the dragon was dead, but putting that aside for now, it was clear what Queen Vayra was implying by mentioning Spider¡¯s Eye Oasis. Undoubtably, the queen was clearly referring to the fact that the Royal Roses operated the entire entertainment industry out of that region. If a movie or TV show was made, it was typically either made there or produced and funded from there. And while it was true that Spider¡¯s Eye Oasis was an incredibly profitable region that more than covered its own costs while enriching those who lived there, the entire region had only 1.2 million people living within its boundaries, with more than a million of them living in its glamorous, but relatively mildly sized city that circled the body of water after which it was named; the remainder of its population resided in the few towns that the terrain could support. Everything around it aside from that was an unlivable, inhospitable desert. Giant¡¯s Fall, on the other hand, was the second-largest city in Galterra after Whispery Woods. It also had some of the largest and most-expansive towns and suburban communities on the entire planet, as well as a smaller, secondary city called ¡°Ogre¡¯s Axe.¡± In total, around 20-million people lived in Giant¡¯s Fall, with roughly 3 million living in its main city, and another million living in Ogre¡¯s Axe. Thus, the cost of living for twenty-million lives far eclipsed the surplus revenue from the Royal Roses'' entertainment industry. Hell, even on a great year, it could not possibly cover the kind of shortfall Queen Vayra¡¯s demands would create: no matter how much the entertainment industry was taxed. And as if to prove this point, Sir Alazar did something that he would not have normally expected of the man: he showed the queen proof of his claims. ¡°Here, take a look at this, Your Majesty,¡± he said. ¡°Because I can see you don¡¯t believe me.¡± Ordering one of his staff to produce genuine documents containing sensitive economic data, he passed over a bundle of files. Queen Vayra, half-standing up, leaned over and whispered something to the young Elvish woman who¡¯d been silently waiting at attention beside her, and with the nod of her head, she quickly departed the central command tent. She returned around two minutes later with three older-looking, green-cloaked Elves by her side. One of them then handed Queen Vayra a pair of reading glasses, which looked genuinely amusing on her Elvish face. For the next ten minutes, Abram, along with every North Bastian guild-leader aside from Peter Brayspark, who unsurprisingly had decided not to attend, remained in complete silence as Queen Vayra and the Elves with her began poring over the various documentation, until finally, removing her glasses, they began to enter into a lively, animated discussion with one another. Throughout it all, they spoke Elvish, which Abram doubted anyone here knew. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s enough,¡± the queen eventually said, once again speaking Human. The fact that she spoke Human without any appreciable accent was, on its own, proof that she really had been born right here in North Bastia, which was why she had such an advantage in these negotiations. The Elves who had entered the tent spun around and left, and now, the queen took another sip of her wine then began glancing down at the map again. ¡°I¡¯ve decided I¡¯ll show you a bit of mercy, Sir Alazar.¡± ¡°Oh yeah?¡± he asked, eyes narrowed. ¡°That¡¯s correct. As I¡¯m sure you know, if I assist you in normalizing relations with the global trade community, Giant¡¯s Fall will experience a great uptick in business. For this reason, I¡¯m willing to lower my discount demand to thirty percent, and in addition, and also so that we can move forward without any lingering resentment, I¡¯m also willing to forgo having it come into effect until after we¡¯ve successfully restored North Bastian and South Bastian trade relations with the rest of Galterra.¡± Vim Alazar raised his eyebrows. ¡°That¡­that¡¯s actually quite reasonable. Assuming I accept your proposal, would you be willing, at a later date, of course, to renegotiate the twenty-year-old deal we have with the Whispery Woods regarding the tax on grain? I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯re familiar with it. It was signed in¡ª¡± ¡°I know what you¡¯re referring to, human,¡± she said. ¡°And I¡¯m absolutely willing to consider it. The terms seem counterproductive for both regions. I assume, of course, you¡¯re referring to the fee on each shipment of grain that is only allowed, contractually, to be spent on maintaining the Basilisk Way, yes?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± ¡°Yes, we can discuss this at a later date. That would be agreeable to me.¡± Abram was surprised she knew about that. He himself only barely recalled the deal they were referring to, which wasted money every year attempting to introduce hover lanes to the ancient roadway that connected Whispery Woods to Shadowfall Coast and was extremely lightly used. Thus far, it had produced little results, and even if it had, it would still likely not change the dynamics of how irregularly used it was. Fylwen wiped her mouth with one of the fancy cloth napkins on the table, and then she clapped her hands together. ¡°Well now, humans. It looks to me like we¡¯ve reached a preliminary agreement and can shortly have our representatives begin the process of drawing up the paperwork. I¡¯m sure I can trust you to honor your commitment to this deal¡ªgiven, of course, that the dragon must be dealt with tomorrow, and it will likely take several months to have all the paperwork in order.¡± Abram was amazed. He was truly, utterly astounded. In all his life, there had only been two people he¡¯d ever met who could negotiate on his level. The first had been Peter Brayspark the Fourth, before he had gone mad, and the second had been his father. Now, he had to add a third to that list: Fylwen Vayra. Queen of the Elves. She knew exactly what she was doing this entire time. Abram thought he¡¯d been luring her in. He¡¯d seen her as a warrior and a savage, someone who could be easily sweet-talked into accepting the Whispery Woods and then later being saddled with the expenses and debt that came with it. But, to the contrary, at least some of her violent rhetoric and talk of slaying Abram, along with her seeming lack of patience, had been partially a performance. After all, she did know who he was, and given how much she knew about Galterra, she likely knew his reputation. As it turned out, she was entirely, almost spectacularly capable of engaging in civilized diplomacy. And not only was she capable of it, but she was clearly better at it than anyone at this table aside from himself. How much of her display of eagerness was simply to give him the impression that he had reeled her in? Had he been the one on the hook this entire time? Practically from the moment she¡¯d sat down, all pretense of using violence or intimidation on them had vanished. It had all been a ruse to conceal the fact that she¡¯d wanted to be here doing exactly this and had almost certainly never intended to resort to violence in the first place. In fact, now that he thought on it, he was beginning to realize that, if not for him and the other members of the political guilds showing up on the beach earlier, she likely would¡¯ve turned around and gone home the moment that Kalana had stopped her from killing the boy. He had no way of knowing if his theory was correct, and of course, this was all just a guess, but based on her stunning display of shrewdness and statesmanship, he now strongly believed that, if Kalana and Eldora had shown up alone and saved Zach by themselves, her mother would have reluctantly and begrudgingly returned to Archian Prime, leaving Zach and his friends alone out of love for her daughter, whose heart would be shattered upon seeing him dead. But seeing them all there, and learning about the dragon¡ªit must have been at this point she¡¯d begun to plot. Fuck! It was so obvious in hindsight. She¡¯d played it so well. She¡¯d acted so na?ve, angry, and impatient. When he¡¯d threatened to walk away from the deal, she¡¯d run after him, asking him to wait, making him think he had her in the palm of his hands. Just how far ahead had she thought? Gods-damn her. She¡¯d known what I was going to offer her before she even sat down, he thought. I¡¯m sure of it. ¡°You¡¯re¡­very good at this,¡± he said at last. ¡°I see what you¡¯ve managed to do here. I must admit I¡¯m impressed. I never thought¡­¡± ¡°Thought what?¡± she asked him. ¡°That an Elvish woman would know how to play your games? That she could beat you at them?¡± He pursed his lips. ¡°You tricked me.¡± ¡°You¡¯d be shocked how often I hear those three words said to me on a weekly basis, Sir Gespon the Virtuous. But let this be a lesson: you should not assume things about people based on their ears.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± he said with a low groan. Now, with a laugh, she grinned at him. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t look so down. In the long run, everyone here is going to profit as a result of this deal. And I assure you the people of Whispery Woods will be treated far better as my subjects than they have been treated in the past five decades. And though she doesn¡¯t know this yet, I intend to appoint my daughter, Kalana, as governor of the city itself. She has lived there for most of her adolescent life, and I know she will care for the people of the city and attend closely to their needs, as in many ways, she is one of them.¡± At this, Vim Alazar, Fiona Darkmae, and even Kolorn Besh all exchanged excited glances with one another. ¡°Kalana is beloved in North Bastia,¡± Fiona said. ¡°The people will accept her. I¡¯m certain of this.¡± Fiona looked so out of place among the otherwise all-male guild leadership. She was also only twenty-one years of age, and she dressed completely inappropriately, wearing a pair of booty shorts and a skimpy top. Abram hoped to one day invade her territory and take her as his personal prisoner. He found her absolutely egregious. The fact that she thought it was okay to dress that way in front of men¡ªto flaunt her body and not expect some kind of reaction. It was insufferable. I can¡¯t stand that woman, he thought. Or the way she¡­agitates me. Seeking to keep things on track, he took his mind off the girl and said, ¡°There is just one more matter of business we must discuss before we conclude things for now.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Queen Vayra asked. ¡°Concerning what?¡± And it was at this point that Abram formed a genuine smile and became elated. This was the part of the conversation he¡¯d been most looking forward to, as it provided him a unique opportunity to get some revenge on Donovan Iseldar, the leader of the God Slayers Guild who had destroyed his office. Abram rarely ever lost his cool, but Donovan had provoked him so much that he¡¯d assisted Varsh with putting the bounty on Zach Calador. If only he had known that he¡¯d get his revenge later on, he would have avoided all that unpleasantness. Especially if he¡¯d known how¡­how satisfying it would feel. Shortly before this meeting had begun, Donovan had approached him just outside the tent, and the man had looked absolutely miserable, as Abram knew that there was nothing in this entire world that would upset him quite like having to beg Abram for help: which was exactly what he¡¯d done. Gods, he could only imagine how much the man had been dreading it. Truly, if literally anyone else in this entire world had done to Abram what Donovan had done, there was no universe in which a simple apology would be sufficient to quell his rage. But Donovan? Now that was a different story. Given how much it must have ripped him apart on the inside to have to not only come up to Abram and apologize, but then beg him for help¡­it was more than enough to satisfy him. But only because he knew how much that must have wrecked the man¡¯s ego¡ªwhich was also why Abram had accepted. If he had denied Donovan, it would have hurt the man less, as it would have made Abram look petty and childish. But by accepting his request for aid, he not only got to save the day, but he would put the adventuring guilds in his debt. Of course, he had a vested interest in helping as well, since adventurers did make up a valuable part of the overall ecosystem. Regardless, in addition to revenge, Abram had also earned something even more valuable: confirmation of a long-held suspicion. For the past hundred years or so, there had been a very, very strong suspicion among the political guilds that adventurers were able to access secret portals that took them across the world, possibly even into ancient dungeons. Normally, this kind of thing would be dismissed as a silly rumor, but there had just been too damn many reports from too many different people, most of whom were of sound mind, that claimed adventurers would just walk into walls and vanish, or they¡¯d enter a room with no other exits and never emerge again. Now, for the first time ever, the political guilds¡ªthanks mostly to Zach, in fairness¡ªhad actual confirmation that what they¡¯d always suspected was indeed true. He was amazed that the adventurers had found it so important to keep this a secret from them. Did they think the political guilds would be upset? That they would want to leave the safety of Galterra to go waltzing around dangerous planets where grave threats lurked around every corner? Of course not. Even if they¡¯d known, it wouldn¡¯t have changed a thing. But now they finally knew. And they could use this information to their advantage. Come to think of it, Peter also seemed to know, he realized. He¡¯d even specifically mentioned Archian Prime earlier. Regardless, the fact remained that despite only just having found out the staggering truth that Elves had a colony on another planet, and that adventurers had been traveling back and forth between Galterra and this ¡°Archian Prime¡± likely for centuries, it had already become a piece in the political puzzle, and in the process, it opened up the possibility of an entirely new stream of revenue: trade with Archian Prime. There were doubtless resources and other precious things that could be traded. Of course, that was a conversation for a later date. For now, he needed to deal with the Donovan issue. ¡°Bring him in,¡± he whispered to one of his staffers. ¡°We¡¯re ready for him.¡± A few moments of pleasant silence passed, and then, with heavy footsteps coming from his plate boots, Donovan Iseldar awkwardly strode into the command tent. Queen Vayra, straightening her back and assuming a regal, queenly posture, greeted him. Abram wondered if she had any idea why he was here. At this point, he wouldn¡¯t be surprised. She¡¯d already displayed a great deal of prescience regarding other matters. ¡°This is a surprise,¡± Queen Vayra said. ¡°I believe your name is Sir Donovan Iseldar, yes?¡± He cringed as though feeling out of place. ¡°It¡¯s uh, it¡¯s just Donovan, ma¡¯am. Or Don.¡± ¡°Your Majesty,¡± Abram whispered to him. ¡°Ah, sorry,¡± he said with a confused-sounding grunt. ¡°Your Majesty.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite all right,¡± she said. She gestured with her chin at an empty seat not far from Abram. ¡°Please, have a seat.¡± ¡°Ah, eh¡­thank you,¡± he said. Abram exercised a great deal of self-control not to laugh as he watched the large, typically confident moron stumble around awkwardly, clearly having no idea how to behave amongst highly civilized adults. Thank the Gods he was able to witness this with his own eyes. If only he could record this for posterity. He wanted his future children to know how Donovan had looked so foolish in this moment. ¡°So, what can I do for you? It¡¯s not clear to me where you fit into this negotiation.¡± Donovan cleared his throat. ¡°I uh¡­okay, so¡­¡± ¡°Hm?¡± He grunted. ¡°Shit, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m no good at fancy speaking like these fuckers. Ah, sorry. I mean people.¡± She laughed. ¡°As long as you intend no disrespect, speak your mind as you¡¯re comfortable. Believe me, I spent some time with my daughter¡¯s boyfriend. I¡¯m quite well adjusted now to those with a¡­shall we say, somewhat ¡®harsher¡¯ human manner of speech.¡± Donovan barked out a laugh. ¡°Yeah, Zach¡¯s great. Love that kid.¡± Again, he cleared his throat. ¡°Okay, so I¡¯m just gonna be blunt here, all right? I¡¯m part of what¡¯s known as an adventuring guild. Do you know what that is?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t before today,¡± she said. ¡°But the boy explained it all to me. I never knew there was such a thing.¡± ¡°He told you who we are and what we do?¡± ¡°Indeed, he did.¡± Donovan nodded. ¡°All right, great. So, thing is, we uh¡­we don¡¯t level like they do,¡± he began, pointing at Abram and the other guild-leaders. ¡°We go out into dungeons and hunt mobs in the wild. We adventure. We ain¡¯t interested in conflict, or war, or hurting anybody or getting political like that. Basically, we just fight bosses and adventure.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Fylwen leaned forward slightly and poured herself another glass of wine. She then offered a glass to Donovan, who politely declined. ¡°Please, go on.¡± He bowed his head. ¡°So, basically, uh¡­¡± He leaned over to his right side and removed a crumpled-up piece of paper from the bottom of his boot, which smelled as foul as it looked, though the queen gave no sign that she minded. Unfolding it, he quickly revealed what appeared to be a crudely drawn map that had been made using nothing more than a pencil. Gods, this is so funny. These fucking barbarians. I love watching them try to be diplomatic. ¡°So, this is what we know about Archian Prime,¡± he said. ¡°And if you see here, everything that¡¯s circled is a dungeon floor of one of the dungeons. We don¡¯t know if there are more than these. There might be. But the reason I¡¯m showing this to you is ¡®cause I¡¯d like to ask you to please not attack us when we come through.¡± ¡°Come¡­through?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he said, sliding the map over to her. She glanced down and took a look at it as he continued to speak. ¡°Here¡¯s the thing. Galterra has like a kind of ¡®gap¡¯ in it from levels 38 to 50. There ain¡¯t a whole lot of good dungeons or quests here to get us through those levels. There¡¯s some, but not enough. Truth is, we can¡¯t raise up our new blood without Archian Prime. There¡¯s just no way of doing it. But we don¡¯t mean any harm, and almost all of these floors are just short little trips through it. I mean, they must be, ¡®cause you never even noticed us, so it¡¯s clear to me at least we¡¯re quick and discreet and don¡¯t cause any trouble for you.¡± ¡°I see,¡± she said. ¡°Hmm¡­almost all of these dungeons you¡¯ve circled run directly through our territory.¡± ¡°Yep, they sure do, ma¡¯am,¡± he said, nodding. Then he groaned. ¡°I mean, ¡®Your Majesty,¡¯ sorry.¡± She held up her palm. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± She continued to glance down at the map he¡¯d drawn. ¡°So, you¡¯ve been entering our land all this time without authorization at these specific points?¡± Donovan again nodded, his face now reddening slightly. ¡°Well, yeah, but there wasn¡¯t any disrespect intended, Your Majesty. The Gods strike me down if I¡¯m lying to you. We didn¡¯t even fuckin¡¯ know. Nobody meant nothing by it. It¡¯s why I had Zephyr scribble down every one of them. So you could see we¡¯re being honest with you. There¡¯s nothing in it for us to admit that these places exist and that we use them.¡± ¡°I appreciate that. I really do, human,¡± Queen Vayra said. ¡°And what¡¯s more: I believe you. I believe that you never intended any disrespect whatsoever. Nevertheless, if you¡¯re asking for my permission to continue your unauthorized excursions into Elvish territory, I¡¯m afraid I just can¡¯t allow that.¡± Donovan looked absolutely crestfallen. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­that¡¯s the end of us, then. We can¡¯t¡­the adventuring guilds can¡¯t survive if we can¡¯t use those dungeon floors safely.¡± At this, Queen Vayra met his eyes. ¡°Now, wait a moment, Donovan. I didn¡¯t say you couldn¡¯t use them. I said you couldn¡¯t use them unauthorized.¡± He scratched his head. ¡°Meaning what?¡± ¡°It is a fundamental right of all sovereign people to be paid fairly for the use of their lands as hunting grounds or to gather natural resources. This has been a practice in the customs of all races since time immemorial.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s true,¡± he said. ¡°So¡­you want us to pay you? I guess we can do that. How much are we talking here?¡± ¡°It depends on volume and traffic. We would be paid per border entry only, not exit.¡± Donovan frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t know if we can do that.¡± ¡°Oh? Why not?¡± ¡°So, did Zach tell you how adventurers operate?¡± ¡°He did.¡± ¡°The kid mention how our custom is to let our young figure things out for themselves?¡± ¡°He mentioned that, yes.¡± ¡°Well, up and coming adventurers won¡¯t know about any deal we reach, so they won¡¯t know to inform you when they cross. Otherwise, for the rest of us, it¡¯s not a problem. It¡¯s only an issue for the new bloods, as telling them about this means telling them about Archian prime, which we don¡¯t want to do.¡± Queen Vayra leaned back into her seat and began tapping her chin. ¡°Hmm¡­then I suppose we¡¯ll have to come to a different sort of agreement. I have an idea, Mr. Iseldar.¡± He grunted. ¡°I¡¯m listening, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°How does fifteen percent sound?¡± ¡°Fifteen¡­percent?¡± ¡°Yes. Fifteen percent of all the sales of your rejuvenation stones and artifact recovery. To be paid once a month in exchange for unlimited free passage through dungeon floors. For ¡®raids¡¯¡ªas I believe Zach called them¡ªthat require you to leave the dungeon floor and enter further into our territory, we will be paid based on a percentage of the current fair market value of any loot that is dropped from any raid bosses in our territory. We also expect you to follow all of our laws and to treat our land with respect while visiting.¡± Donovan did not look happy. Oh, boy, he sure did not. This brought such joy to Abram¡¯s heart. Yet without arguing the case or vocalizing even a word of disappointment, he merely sighed and continued to meet the queen¡¯s eyes. ¡°All right. I understand. Just let me know how to pay.¡± ¡°Really?¡± she asked, once more leaning forward. She looked sincerely awed. ¡°No haggling?¡± ¡°Like I said, I ain¡¯t one of these political fuckers in here. Ah, no offense to any of you motherless bastards. But anyway, you¡¯ve said what you wanted from us, and we¡¯ll honor it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to fight it at all?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± She smiled. ¡°In that case,¡± she said, ¡°I¡¯ve changed my mind.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± he asked, sounding alarmed. ¡°I only want ten percent.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes. And if it puts you at ease, I want you to know that the only reason I¡¯m charging you that much is so that I can compensate the families who lost their lives to Ziragoth.¡± ¡°Do you really mean that?¡± Donovan asked. ¡°I do. On the spirit of my mother, I swear it.¡± ¡°Well, shit, in that case, we¡¯ll give you fifteen after all. Thing is, I feel personally responsible for what happened to them.¡± His voice now became a touch quieter. ¡°It¡¯s my responsibility to protect people from this kind of awful shit, and I failed them. We didn¡¯t know it was gonna spawn, and when we found out, we didn¡¯t get there fast enough. So many people died on account of our ignorance.¡± ¡°Now that,¡± Queen Vayra said, widening her eyes, ¡°is not something I see every day. A human being taking responsibility for his actions.¡± She held out her palm to him. ¡°Now I only want five percent.¡± ¡°But what about the people?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get the money some other way. Five is fine with me. But do remember that it will be more if you undergo a large raid and find something truly valuable. And remember: follow our laws and respect our land. Do not litter or harm our nature.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be respectful,¡± Donovan said. ¡°I swear this to the Gods. Thank you, Your Majesty.¡± Abram scowled. Was she actually taking pity on these uncivilized, child-like charlatans? Quickly remembering where he was, he was fast to restore a neutral expression to his face. Internally, he burned with anger as Donovan profusely thanked the queen and made his exit. He was hoping she¡¯d bleed him dry. Finishing a second glass of wine, Queen Vayra again dabbed her lip with the cloth, then stood up to her feet. ¡°Gentlemen,¡± she said. Then she looked at Fiona Darkmae. ¡°And lady. If you¡¯ll excuse me, I must prepare my warriors to slay a dragon tomorrow. This has been a very productive chat. When the beast has perished tomorrow morning, I look forward to beginning the process of drawing up the paperwork and getting into the finer details.¡± And with that, she exited the tent and made her way over to the briefing, which was set to begin any moment now. All things considered, this was still a great outcome, even if it was not quite the one Abram wanted. Yet it was ruined slightly by Donovan getting off easy. ¡°If she can really get us back into the global trade community,¡± Vim Alazar said, ¡°this will all be worth it.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Kolorn Besh said. As each of them exchanged a nod, they immediately got back to work. At some point within the next hour or two, they were going to need to call a press conference to announce to the world that Fylwen Vayra, the Elvish queen, was going to stand united with humanity in the fight for survival against Ziragoth. That alone would be worth its weight in gold. Chapter 88: A Chance Encounter Chapter 88: A Chance Encounter With a far louder grunt than he¡¯d intended to make, Zach furiously and vengefully slammed his sword down with all of his might on top of the large, bulky, and armored Gatekeeper that stood before the door labeled B9->B10. He was in such a bad mood that, even after he¡¯d cleaved the armor-wearing mob in two halves, dealing 19,724 damage, he continued along with the motion and actually struck the ground, too, sending concrete and gravel spraying high enough to touch the ceiling. In the corner of his vision, he realized he¡¯d also caused his weapon to proc its light-based ability, which he had yet to see. Now, what looked like fifty star-shaped emblems of light surrounded the split-in-half mob before collapsing together into one another as though converging upon a single point, forming a singular, brightly glowing orb. Then this orb exploded, bathing the entire floor in a fleeting yet incredibly bright light that caused him to take one of his hands off his blade so that he could shield his eyes. This dealt another 92,413 damage and earned him and Kalana +1500xp in the process. ¡°Zach, please calm down,¡± she said to him, her voice sounding both sad and cute. It was a combination that struck right at his heart. But this time, he really wasn¡¯t going to fall for it. ¡°Please don¡¯t be mad at me, baby.¡± When she made her cute voice, it was so incredibly difficult to stay upset with her. The fact that he was able to do so was proof of how serious an offense she¡¯d committed against him. He was absolutely boiling right now. His blood was boiling. He even shrugged her off as she tried to put a hand on his shoulder, something he¡¯d normally never do. ¡°Kal, I don¡¯t even know what to say to you right now.¡± The worst part of it all was that they¡¯d been having so much fun and had been so happy. It was just like earlier in the day, when they¡¯d been getting along so well, and their relationship was going great, and then BOOM! She just had to hit him with something devastating to ruin the mood and turn everything serious. Except, this time, she really had gone too far. And he wanted her to know this. ¡°What you said to me, Kal. You, the person who¡¯s always telling me not to be mean¡­that was probably the worst thing I¡¯ve ever heard you say.¡± ¡°But I wasn¡¯t trying to be mean! I just love you. And I¡¯m gonna say it again until you listen to me.¡± He glared at her. ¡°You better not. That was the most insulting thing you¡¯ve ever said. I feel sick to my stomach.¡± She pouted, but he ignored it. Kalana knew how to weaponize her facial expressions to cut right through his anger, which right now, he really wanted to feel. Oh, Gods, the thing that she had said to him. It infected his brain like a virus and was spreading. He couldn¡¯t unhear it. He couldn¡¯t purge his memory of those awful words. ¡°Please don¡¯t be upset. I didn¡¯t say anything bad. You¡¯re just reacting to it badly.¡± Zach looked at her, and he could feel his eyes bulging in his sockets. ¡°Are you serious, Kal? You said I¡­you said¡­¡± He seethed, wishing that steam could come out of his ears just to relieve some of the pressure. ¡°You said I should get therapy!¡± ¡°You should! I¡¯m sorry I upset you, but I stand by it. I want you to talk to this one woman I know. She¡¯s really nice!¡± Zach was so flustered he almost cut his own face trying to sheathe his sword. ¡°Therapy, Kal? Therapy? Should I have my testicles removed while I¡¯m at it, too? I can¡¯t believe you¡¯d even say something like that. Do you think I¡¯m crazy?¡± ¡°No! Absolutely not. And just so you know, therapy¡¯s not for ¡®crazy¡¯ people. It¡¯s for people who wanna feel and do better, and you know what? Everyone could use some of it.¡± He snorted. ¡°Okay, so why don¡¯t you see a therapist then, Kal? Huh?¡± She stomped her foot. ¡°I do! Twice a week!¡± He stared at her blanky. ¡°Wait, really?¡± ¡°Yah!¡± ¡°Okay, well¡­even still, I don¡¯t need it and it¡¯s never happening.¡± ¡°Yes you do, Zach. You need to work on your anger management.¡± ¡°For the millionth time, Kal. I. Do. Not. Have. A. Problem. With. Anger. MANAGEMENT!¡± he screamed, punching the metal door in front of him so hard that it broke off and flew all the way into the stairwell ahead of him. Then he made a dumb expression as he looked at Kalana, who was folding her arms and narrowing her eyes at him. ¡°Except for that time,¡± he said. ¡°But that was a one-off. It doesn¡¯t cou¡ª¡± There was a tremendous bang as the metal door hit the bottom of the first flight somewhere below them. Then, despite having sent the thing all the way down an entire set of stairs, he¡¯d actually hit the door so hard that, upon striking the wall, it ricocheted directly back in the direction it came from, headed right up the very same set of stairs, flipped vertically into an upright position so that it could fit back through the frame, and then it slammed into Zach with such an intense, supernatural force that, caught unaware, it actually sent him airborne. Now, both he and the door went flying off more than fifty feet in the opposite direction until he came to a stop only after he slammed into a cavern-like, rocky wall in B9, leaving an indentation in it in the shape of his body. ¡°Say nothing, Kal,¡± he warned, his body sliding downwards until he landed on his butt. ¡°So help me Gods, say nothing.¡± She didn¡¯t listen. ¡°Do you see what your anger just did? See?¡± She pointed at him. ¡°Therapy could¡¯ve prevented that.¡± Okay, that¡¯s it! Zach was about to explode with rage. He was about to detonate. But then, something caught his attention. Right in front of his eyes, he saw the following floating in the air ahead of him: +1000xp. Then, scooting forward a bit, he turned around on his rear and saw that he had just accidentally crushed to death a mob from B9 called ¡°Sturdily Armored Knight.¡± Following the sound of its armor, which began to clink as it shook and jittered, the mob¡ªalong with its armor¡ªfaded away into a puff of smoke, which quickly rose on the air before vanishing. Now, in the spot where it had been, there was a blue, shining light, which caused Zach¡¯s eyes to light up. This meant he¡¯d gotten a drop: and it was a rare drop, too! ¡°Now do you see?¡± he asked Kalana, laughing triumphantly, his mood restored. ¡°Do you see what my anger did? I just killed a mob and got a drop¡ªand it was all thanks to my anger.¡± He pointed at the blue, shining light. ¡°Anger did this, Kal. This was all thanks to anger.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t prove anything,¡± she grumbled. He bent down and grabbed the item on the floor. Whatever it was, it was wrapped in plastic, and it was hot to the touch and soft. The item was also circular and slightly larger than the palm of his hand. Very quickly, he realized it was some sort of cookie. It actually smelled really good, and it made his stomach growl. The moment he held it in his hand, he called forth the item in his inventory to see what he¡¯d gotten.
Name Wisdom Cookie (Small)
Description A delicious, milk-chocolate cookie. Consume to grant +5000xp. Tastes best while hot. Only one bite is required to receive xp. If shared, xp is split evenly by up to four individuals. Can only be shared with party members. The decision to share must be made within five minutes of picking up item. Each cookie contains 490 calories.
Right away, Kal gave him one of her most innocent, sweetest looks. Her voice dropped in volume, she folded her hands together, interlocking her fingers, and with an expression that he stood no chance against, she asked, ¡°Can you share it with me, Zach? We¡¯re gonna eat lunch soon, and this way we won¡¯t ruin our appetite.¡± ¡°Only if you admit anger is good.¡± ¡°Nah-uh. And you¡¯re still gonna share even if I don¡¯t say it¡­right?¡± He let out a sigh. ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Now, he smiled at her, unable to stay mad for long. He decided to just let the whole thing drop. She¡¯s wrong about me, anyway. The reason Zach knew for sure that he didn¡¯t have problems with anger management was because whenever he would get into a rage, as long as he was able to break something or smash something to pieces, he typically started to feel better within five minutes. In other words, you might even say that he managed his anger. That was how it worked, right? And if not, then that was the fault of whoever decided to make that term, not him. The fact he could feel better by blowing something up or putting his fist through something clearly meant that he was ¡°managing¡± it. People with actual anger-management issues wouldn¡¯t feel better by smashing something apart or violently threatening someone: things that Zach wanted to do any time someone looked at him the wrong way, chewed bubblegum too loudly, cleared their throat over and over, waited on line without knowing what they were going to order, or when he kept forgetting that the World Eater was going to spawn in just five years, two weeks, and one day, and he still hadn¡¯t made his way to Dragon Squire due to the simple fact that he kept forgetting this very important detail seconds after remembering it. ¡­ ¡­ You know? Those kinds of things. The stuff just about everyone hated. Anger issues, he thought, rolling his eyes. Yeah right. Flipping the cookie over, he smoothened out the plastic on the back so that he could read the writing on it. With Kalana looking over his shoulder, he read it aloud for both of them. ¡°Twenty years after we introduced the food and drink update,¡± he read, ¡°Galterrans have been consistently asking us to add even more yummy snacks to the loot tables. The Great Ones have heard you. Please enjoy. Courtesy of Eilea Vayra¡¯s special recipe.¡± Zach looked at Kalana. ¡°Eilea Vayra?¡± he asked. ¡°Another ancestor of yours?¡± She nodded. ¡°Yep. That¡¯s Adamus¡¯s wife. She¡¯s a Goddess.¡± Zach turned the words over in his head, somewhat dubious to the claim. ¡°Hey, Kal?¡± ¡°Yep?¡± ¡°Are you sure these Great Ones are actually Gods and Goddesses and not just, like, really powerful people?¡± ¡°Oh, they¡¯re definitely Gods.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­I don¡¯t know. If the Great Ones are Gods, then what does that say about all the Gods and Goddesses that people worship on the weekends?¡± ¡°Oh, I see why you¡¯re confused,¡± Kalana said. ¡°You¡¯re confusing Greater Gods with Lesser Gods.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± ¡°Greater Gods are the ones that made the universe and everything in it, and they¡¯re the really mysterious ones that know everything and can read our thoughts, and they¡¯re also the ones who get to judge us and decide who gets into Elvadin and who goes to the Pit of Eternal Sorrow.¡± ¡°And the Lesser Gods?¡± ¡°They¡¯re just Gods, but¡­but not as powerful. I dunno. On second thought, it is kinda confusing. I guess you can think of them as like angels or something. They¡¯re servants of the Greater Gods. Basically, before there was a universe as we know it, the God Raurum made a special world called Elvadin. It¡¯s where all the Elves come from. In the beginning, the most powerful God in existence, Raurum, made us and gave us Elvadin.¡± ¡°And where did the humans come from? Humadin?¡± he joked. ¡°Earth,¡± Kalana answered, slapping him playfully on the shoulder. Then she continued. ¡°Anyways, Elves became greedy and stopped having faith in Raurum, so he exiled us in the universe he created as sort of a prison. But because he still loves and cares for the Elvish people, he told us that one day we would find Elvadin again if we learn to be good and righteous. Now do you understand?¡± ¡°Meh. Sounds like a load of bullshit to me.¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Zach, that¡¯s really mean! You can¡¯t insult my beliefs like that.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°And besides, if Raurum didn¡¯t make the Elves, then how do you think Elves came to be?¡± ¡°The same way everything else did,¡± he said. ¡°Somewhere, in some planet out there, you guys evolved from something. Just like humans evolved on Galterra from¡­¡± he stopped himself. ¡°Wait, that¡¯s not right. We come from Earth. Does that mean my science book is wrong?¡± ¡°Yah! Ah¡­I think, I mean. What¡¯d Mr. Oren teach us? I forgot.¡± ¡°Mr. Oren taught us that humans evolved on Galterra tens of thousands of years ago from a common ancestor that was similar to an ape. But I know that can¡¯t be right, because I¡¯ve seen Earth with my own eyes. I guess¡­wow, I guess evolution is wrong after all?¡± ¡°Of course it is,¡± Kalana said with a laugh. ¡°The Gods made Elves and humans and all the other races. I know ¡®cause it says so in the archives on my island.¡± I don¡¯t know about that, Zach thought, still skeptical. It feels like something¡¯s off about all this. ¡°Zach, come on, open up the cookie while it¡¯s still hot. It smells so good like it was just baked.¡± Putting aside such pointless thoughts, Zach carefully tore open the top of the plastic, then removed the soft cookie from within. He split it down the middle, and due to the heat, several of the melted chips caused a sort of milk-chocolate drizzle to almost fall off the cookie. He handed Kalana half, then took a bite out of his. The flavor struck him immediately. Gods, this was amazing. He could see from the way Kalana closed her eyes that, she too, was very much pleased. ¡°Wow,¡± she said. ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°It¡¯s good, right? Do the mobs on your island ever drop food?¡± ¡°Not really. I only ever saw that one mob that we hunted together drop food. Uh, Frog Snax.¡± ¡°Those tasted really good, actually,¡± Zach said. ¡°You¡¯d also love Skelly Chips.¡± Wiping his hands on his pants as a +2500xp popped up in front of him, he met Kalana¡¯s eyes as an idea popped into his head. It was an idea so incredible he couldn¡¯t believe he hadn¡¯t thought about it until just now. It would require him to make a major, dire concession, and one that would fill him with absolute dread later on, but it would also give him something he wanted very badly. ¡°Hey, Kal,¡± he said. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°How about we make a deal where we both get something we want?¡± ¡°A deal? What kind of deal?¡± Zach pointed a finger at himself. ¡°Even though I really, really don¡¯t want to, I¡¯ll go to your dumb therapy thing. But you have to do something for me in return.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°I want you to take the buff back and become an adventurer again.¡± She fixed him with a hard look, and as he met her eyes, Zach was surprised that he genuinely could not get any kind of read on what she was thinking or feeling. The fact that she stared at him without saying a word actually made him sort of nervous. Kalana was rarely this guarded. Was she thinking about his offer? If so, why did she seem like she was focusing all of her energy into studying him? There was a certain intensity in the way she was peering at him: as though she were trying to peer into his very soul. After a few more moments of what Zach took to be silent contemplation from Kalana, her jaw stiffened, she stood up straighter, and she gave him a single, powerful nod. ¡°You¡¯ve got a deal,¡± she said. Zach was actually shocked. He never would¡¯ve expected her to accept so readily. He¡¯d known it was a longshot. The fact she agreed to it despite having so many plans that ran contrary to being an adventurer¡­it surprised him. ¡°Really?¡± he asked. ¡°Yep. I¡¯ll keep the buff as long as you keep going, and I¡¯ll put my plans on hold. But you gotta meet with Jascaila when we go back to my island. She¡¯s one of the best in the world, and I promise you that one day you¡¯re gonna thank me and say how glad you were that you went.¡± Zach held out his hand. ¡°Shake on it?¡± She took it. And like business associates, the two of them shook. And with that, they hurried through the door-less frame labeled B9->B10 and began to head down what Zach recalled was ten flights of stairs. For a short while, the only sound to be heard was a hallway-like echo as their feet stomped down on step after step, crossing the first, second, and then third flights. ¡°This is actually kind of fun,¡± she said. ¡°I never knew dungeons were so cool.¡± ¡°What did you think they¡¯d be like?¡± She shrugged, the two of them now having descended five flights. ¡°I thought they¡¯d be like¡­umm, you know, dungeons. Like where the ancient kings would send people. Sort of like a prison, but only darker and dirtier.¡± Zach laughed. ¡°Okay, so a literal dungeon, then?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Descending down the seventh flight, he said, ¡°Floor B2 is like that. Actually, you¡¯d love B2, Kal. I might have to run through that with you some time.¡± He began to tell her the way that floor B2 worked. Yet she interrupted him part of the way through his explanation. ¡°Zach, why would I like that? That sounds super-duper spooky.¡± ¡°No, wait, you didn¡¯t let me finish.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry!¡± Resuming where he¡¯d left off, he told Kalana how, at the end of the area she¡¯d referred to as ¡°super-duper spooky,¡± it was at this point you¡¯d arrive in a garage filled with various cars. Naturally, he had to tell her what a car was and how those worked. This caused her cute, pointy ears to twitch, and she became excited as he explained to her how much fun it had been to drive down some ancient highway in a place called ¡°New Jersey¡± while taking in all the ruins-like sights in the vehicle known as a ¡°Ford Mustang.¡± Everything Zach told her seemed to make her more and more excited. Yet, at the same time, there was sadness that was plain on her face as well. He decided to ask her about it. Yet before he had the chance, she brought it up on her own. ¡°You got to do so many fun things while we were apart,¡± she said with a sigh. ¡°I wish I¡¯d have been there with you.¡± Rather than reply, Zach took out his cell phone and looked at the time as they began to descend the final flight of stairs. ¡°As long as we¡¯re back in time for the raid tomorrow morning, I don¡¯t think anyone¡¯s going to care.¡± Kalana glanced at him as though confused. ¡°What¡¯s that got to do with what I just said?¡± ¡°Oh, only that, I¡¯m wondering if maybe we should go on a little adventure of our own after lunch, just you and me. Even if we decide to play it safe and get back to Mr. Oren and the others before the sun rises, we¡¯ve got like twelve hours between now and then. Let¡¯s say we spend two hours¡ªand we might not even spend that long¡ªbut let¡¯s say we spend two full hours in Angelica¡¯s. That gives us a lot of time left over.¡± ¡°Time to do what?¡± she asked. He grinned. ¡°To see what¡¯s beyond Moldark.¡± Kalana widened her eyes, yet also furrowed her brow: as though she were caught between two competing impulses. ¡°That¡¯s risky,¡± she said. ¡°Who knows if we can even get back.¡± ¡°Even if we don¡¯t¡­at this point, Kal, I¡¯ve done my part, and so have you. No one can say I haven¡¯t contributed enough to that fucking dragon. Having said that, though, I know for a fact we¡¯ll make it back in time.¡± ¡°How so?¡± He shuddered. ¡°Because call it fate, destiny, or an act of the Gods, but there¡¯s no way the universe is going to let me escape having to see that Gods-cursed thing a third and final time. I¡¯m sure of it.¡± She shot him a nervous, apprehensive smile. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it over lunch, okay?¡± He nodded. Then, he held out his hand and waited for Kalana to take it. Together, they pushed open the door labeled B10, stepped out onto the soft, royal-red-colored carpet, and now, even having eaten half a cookie, Zach¡¯s appetite roared as he realized he was finally about to be reunited with Angelica¡¯s incredible food. ¡°It¡¯s just up ahead.¡± He pointed. ¡°I¡¯m so excited!¡± Kalana said, an adorable little squeak following her words. ¡°It¡¯s really cramped in here though.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This is just the tiny area before the boss fight.¡± With her hand in his, he guided her. ¡°I¡¯ll show you.¡± The look of this floor reminded Zach a whole lot of a hotel hallway. Just a few inches in front of the stairwell, there was a wall, and other than this wall, there were two short, connected paths, one to his left and one to his right; together, these two paths formed the narrow, hotel-like hallway. The path to his left went on for about twenty feet before cutting off at a dead-end, making Zach wonder why it was even there at all, but the one to his right continued on for about thirty feet and ended in a set of double-doors that would open up to a much larger area: a throne room where Moldark would be awaiting. However, on the right side of the wall, just before the double-doors that led to the boss fight, there was an even smaller door¡ªand this one served as an entrance to Angelica¡¯s, one of many. Zach wondered just how many doors leading to Angelica¡¯s there happened to be in the world. Hundreds? Thousands? Millions? He had absolutely no idea. ¡°Angelica¡¯s is just through that door there,¡± he told Kalana, pointing at it. She gave him a kiss on the cheek. ¡°I¡¯m so glad you took me. I know you wanted me to come here, and I¡¯m really happy we¡¯re finally going.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to love it, Kal. It¡¯s the best place ever.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t wait! But uh¡­I¡¯m curious.¡± She turned her head to the left and glanced at the red-carpeted path that led to the dead end. ¡°What¡¯s over that way?¡± she asked. ¡°Oh, nothing. That¡¯s a dead-end.¡± ¡°Why would they make the hallway go all the way over there for no reason?¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°Who knows?¡± He rubbed his head and chuckled as Kalana pulled her hand away and began to walk down the ominously, perfectly quiet hallway; the eerie silence caused what would otherwise be a very soft thud from her gentle footsteps to sound more like thunder amid the absolute silence. ¡°Kal, I¡¯m starving,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s go already.¡± ¡°I just wanna see what¡¯s down here.¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing there.¡± ¡°Then why¡¯d they put it here?¡± He sighed and decided to wait for her. He watched as she walked to the very end, then stopped in front of the dull, orange-colored wallpaper that greeted her at the end. Then she lifted her hand and slowly moved it in front of herself, resting it on the wall, her palm flat. Then she gently patted it a few times as if to convince herself that there was really nothing there. Finally, she laughed, turned around, and shrugged. ¡°Okay, yep, it¡¯s just a dead-end.¡± And with that, she jogged back to him, her footsteps even louder against the backdrop of oppressive quiet. ¡°Told you,¡± he said. He half-turned around to face the double-doors as well as the door to Angelica''s, but before fully spinning back in that direction, he waited for Kalana to stand by his side so that he could put his arm around her shoulders and hold her closer to him. ¡°Anyway, you¡¯ve got to try this one thing that she makes. It costs 500 points, but it¡¯s amazing, Kal. Seriously. She basically takes two pieces of bread, and then she¡ª¡± Zach felt his heart leap in his chest. ¡°Wh-wh-wh-wh-what the fuck is that!¡± From the dead-end path to his left, something emerged from the wall like a ghost. Having not been staring directly at it, his brain registered it as little more than a blur of motion followed by a loud pattern of frenzied, hurried tapping. When set against such a quiet, still environment, it had the effect of startling the fuck out of him. In the blink of an eye, the stillness and silence were broken by something moving and quite possibly alive, the combined effect of which caused Zach¡¯s natural reflexes to kick into gear, making him stumble away from it, losing his balance in the process. Kalana, who hadn¡¯t even been faced in that direction, now also yelped as though reacting off nothing but his fear, as she clearly couldn¡¯t see what had spooked him. ¡°Zach, what¡¯s wrong?¡± she shouted, alarmed. She immediately spun around. Then she gasped. ¡°Oh my Gods, are you okay?¡± she called. Suddenly, she began rushing forward in the direction of the dead-end as Zach regained his balance and confusedly called after her. Now, he understood that what had emerged from the wall¡ªthe very same solid wall that Kalana had tapped on with her palm¡ªwas what appeared to be a human woman. She was on her feet but partially bent over, her hand clutching her stomach, and a trail of red following each of her footsteps. Her knees were wobbling, and with wail of pain, she collapsed first onto her stomach, then with another pained cry, she rolled over onto her side. Zach, having no idea what the hell was going on, raced forward to join Kalana. ¡°Who is she?¡± he asked. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°I dunno,¡± Kalana said. ¡°But now¡¯s not really the time to find out. Whoever she is, she clearly needs our help.¡± ¡°But¡­but how¡¯d she come through the wall like that, Kal?¡± ¡°Now¡¯s not the time for thinking. It¡¯s the time for saving!¡± Even while grappling with a sudden rush of chaos and confusion as he tried to make sense of what had just happened, Zach still had enough mental processing left over in his brain to realize that Kalana, at least right now, sounded exactly like Mr. Oren. That was totally something he¡¯d say if he was here with them. Zach bent down to one knee, and he placed his arms on the woman¡¯s shoulders. ¡°We¡¯re here to help you, ma¡¯am,¡± he said. He looked at Kalana. ¡°Is it safe to move her? I¡¯m not a doctor. But Angelica¡¯s is right down the hall, and there¡¯s always healers around.¡± Kalana opened her mouth but quickly closed it¡ªyet only for a moment. Removing one of her daggers, she once more opened it and said, ¡°Let me try something. Val En Haila Gen Vra!¡± A green, pillar-shaped column of energy appeared from the ceiling above them and shined directly down on the woman, who groaned and hissed and moaned all at the same time. She was shaking, and upon placing his hand on her forehead, Zach realized she felt way colder and clammier than was normal. She was probably not far from death. The green energy vanished, and if it had done anything at all to the woman¡¯s benefit, then Zach could not tell what it was. ¡°Shoot,¡± Kalana said. ¡°My heal¡¯s not strong enough to help her. I think you should carry her, Zach. We¡¯re practically right there.¡± He nodded. ¡°I¡¯m going to pick you up, okay, ma¡¯am?¡± The woman looked up at him. And then, even as weak and pained as she was, Zach could actually see the pupils in her eyes widen, and a tear fell down her right eye. ¡°It¡¯s you,¡± she said. ¡°Zach. It¡¯s really you.¡± He sighed, as Kalana gave him a firm look that he knew was a warning for him to be nice. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s me and Princess Kalana. We¡¯re here to save you.¡± ¡°No, no, I¡¯m not¡­I¡¯m¡­I know who you are. I¡¯ve known.¡± She coughed. From the looks of things, something had pierced both the woman¡¯s lower stomach and her chest area¡ªhopefully not her heart. She was bleeding heavily¡ªand she¡¯d likely been bleeding awhile, too. There was no telling just how much blood she¡¯d lost. ¡°You¡¯re going to pull through, okay? And then me and Kal will sign autographs for you.¡± He glanced over to Kalana, who flashed him a look of approval that indicated he¡¯d said the right thing. ¡°You don¡¯t¡­understand, Zach. I¡¯m¡­I know you and Kalana.¡± ¡°Be still. I¡¯m going to carry you now.¡± ¡°I know you!¡± ¡°Yep. I¡¯m the same guy from the news.¡± He decided he¡¯d have to cradle her, as putting her over his shoulder could only cause her to leak blood faster. So before lifting her, he first rolled the woman over onto her back, and in doing so, he was able to get a good look at her face. She definitely wasn¡¯t someone he¡¯d seen before, at least not to the extent that he¡¯d recognize her. She appeared to be a woman in her late thirties, possibly early forties, and she had long, flowing black hair that reached down to her shoulders. Her skin was fairly dark in complexion, though not quite black, and although she was wearing some form of equipment, he didn¡¯t think it was the sort of ¡°equipment¡± in the sense of it being an item: as in something viewable in one¡¯s inventory. He couldn¡¯t be sure, obviously, as people like Alixa could take equipment and craft it into ordinary clothing¡ªlike Mr. Oren¡¯s lab coat. Granted, he was still pretty sure that whatever bizarre outfit she was wearing was normal and not related to the world of adventuring. Actually, what in the hell is she wearing? She was in some kind of all-white suit, though it was thicker than any suit he¡¯d ever seen, almost protective in a sense. It was like some kind of flight suit, only with a greater width. There were also holes torn in various places along the suit as though she¡¯d been attacked by something with either claws or teeth. Behind her, mere inches from the wall she¡¯d stumbled through, was a large helmet with a visor that couldn¡¯t be seen through. It was cracked in numerous places. The woman lifted her hand, appearing to strain with the effort of it, and she glanced adoringly at him as she touched his cheek. ¡°I know¡­you,¡± she said again with a groan. ¡°I know you do,¡± he said to her. ¡°Now get ready. I¡¯m going to¡ª¡± ¡°Spawn point, Whispery Woods,¡± she said with a wince. ¡°You and Kalana. Fell in. Found mobs, got level 2.¡± Zach wasn¡¯t sure who gasped first: him or Kalana. ¡°W-what?¡± they both said in unison. Then Zach met Kalana¡¯s eyes. ¡°Did you just hear what I heard?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Kalana said in a whisper. ¡°She said¡­she was talking about when we fell into the water and found the spawn point. How does she know about that?¡± Within a tenth of a second after asking the question, Kalana shook her head as though to snap herself out of a trance or wake herself up. ¡°Gah, it doesn¡¯t matter how! Zach, we have to help her. We can find this stuff out later.¡± He nodded and lifted her up. She cried out in pain. ¡°I know it hurts. We¡¯re right near Angelica¡¯s.¡± ¡°Yes¡­yes, take me. Please! My name¡­name¡¯s Prila.¡± And with that, Zach raced with the woman in his arms down the hall, Kalana by his side. This wasn¡¯t quite how he wanted Kal¡¯s first trip to Angelica¡¯s to go, but at least she¡¯d gotten there. Chapter 89: The Room in the Back Chapter 89: The Room in the Back The moment Zach burst open the door to Angelica¡¯s with Kalana closely by his side, an entire tavern full of colorful adventurers immediately either turned in their chairs or stood up from their tables, as every eye became pointed in his direction. Then, two things happened in such quick succession that they verged on being simultaneous. First, a sense of recognition and excitement came over the faces of the various men and women located all over the lively, perpetually active inn. Clearly, they recognized him¡ªand more so, they recognized Kalana. They looked as though they were on the brink of letting out a cheer or words of encouragement for the both of them. But then, in the same instant, they seemed to collectively notice the shivering, dying woman in his arms, who was leaking blood all over what appeared to be recently mopped floors. And now, in unison, every adventurer not already on their feet was quick to rise to it. The sound of chairs scraping along smooth wooden flooring filled the entirety of the wonderful-smelling tavern as people rushed over. Without even saying a word in greeting to Zach, he somehow became aware that he was no longer holding the woman, and she was being rushed over to one of the empty tables in the center of place, where she was carefully set down on top of it. ¡°Is Jus here?¡± someone asked. ¡°Jus!¡± ¡°I¡¯m already prepping!¡± a voice shouted back. Even without asking Angelica for permission, one of the adventurers had bolted behind the counter and was now standing next to Angelica and using her sink to wash his hands. As he did so, he lifted his head and met Zach¡¯s eyes. ¡°Son, it¡¯s going to be okay. I¡¯m a doctor. A surgeon, actually. One of the best in North Bastia. Head over to the table. I have questions that need immediate answering.¡± Angelica¡¯s, which was always a lively, happening place, seemed to have its ordinary, usual buzz amplified by a factor of a thousand as an entire parade of adventurers rushed behind the counter, disappearing into what Zach took to be a storeroom in the back, then began to emerge with various, high-tech pieces of medical equipment that Zach couldn¡¯t believe happened to be on hand. Within thirty seconds of having entered the inn and tavern, they¡¯d somehow radically transformed the entire area around one of the tables into a makeshift hospital. The man who claimed to be a surgeon briefly met Zach and Kalana¡¯s eyes, then began hurriedly putting an IV in the woman¡¯s vein as he spoke to them. Unlike Kesten, who despite also being a doctor, dressed in leather jackets and looked like some kind of punk rock music star, this guy looked to be in his forties and carried himself with a level of seriousness and professionalism that seemed uncommon for adventurers. He was tall, almost as much as Mr. Oren, and he had short black hair. The equipment he was wearing looked more like a lifejacket, and he¡¯d replaced whatever gloves he¡¯d been wearing with latex surgical ones. ¡°What happened here?¡± he asked Zach. Using his bare hands, he ripped open the woman¡¯s odd-looking flight suit, exposing her completely. Yet, somehow, as embarrassing as that might have been, the adventurers did not react to it with their typical level of somewhat juvenile silliness. No, despite having been stripped in what one might call a public place, not a single man or woman stared, showed any sign of childishness or lewdness, and all seemingly transformed, at least for the moment, into sensitive, compassionate adults. It occurred to Zach that this kind of thing must have happened more often than he realized, because why else would there be so much medical equipment at hand? The adventurers likely knew when it was truly important for them to be decent, and during those moments, they likely also knew to treat others with dignity and respect. I love the adventuring community, Zach thought. They really are the best. ¡°I don¡¯t really know what happened,¡± Zach said. ¡°I was just¡ª¡± ¡°Need more light, please,¡± the man, who Zach believed had been called ¡°Jus¡± said. Then he nodded at Zach. ¡°Continue. ¡°I don¡¯t really know what happened,¡± Zach continued. ¡°I don¡¯t know who she is or how she got hurt. I was on my way here with Kalana, and this woman, she¡­she walked through a solid wall, already looking like she does right now.¡± ¡°Where at?¡± ¡°Right outside.¡± The man lifted his eyebrow at him. And then Zach chided himself for forgetting that ¡°outside¡± meant a billion different things depending on where you were coming from. ¡°Floor B10 of Yorna¡¯s. On the left side of the hallway. She walked through the wall.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± one of the adventurers fetching medical equipment said. ¡°The secret passage in B4 behind the third Skelly Archer on the east path.¡± ¡°That makes sense,¡± Jus said. ¡°These deep puncture wounds are consistent with penetration via sharp, pointed objects. But since she left the floor, the arrows in her have de-spawned. That makes things slightly better. But this is serious. She¡¯s in terrible condition. This is going to be very close.¡± He carefully inspected the two gaping wounds. Holding up a small flashlight, he widened each of her eyelids and flashed them as though examining her pupils. ¡°Can you hear me, sweetheart?¡± ¡°¡­please¡­help,¡± she said weakly. ¡°I need you to stay awake for just a moment, and we¡¯re going to take care of you, I promise. For now, I have to know: what level are you.¡± ¡°One¡­Prila¡­my name.¡± ¡°You¡¯re Prila, and you¡¯re level one?¡± She moved her lips as though to reply in the affirmative, but no more sound was emerging. Jus nodded and looked at Zach. ¡°We¡¯re going to need two reds, two purples, and a yellow.¡± ¡°Stones?¡± Zach asked, horrified. ¡°Five of the¡­Gods! I can¡¯t possibly afford¡ª¡± ¡°How much?¡± Kalana fired in. Jus grunted. ¡°Really not the best time to be talking gold. But since you asked: a lot. Given she¡¯s not an adventurer¡ªwhich makes me wonder how in the hell she got here¡ªand assuming anyone here even has some to sell us, that¡¯s going to set you back about five-million gold at the least.¡± If words could blow someone away like a gust of wind, Zach would¡¯ve found himself launched right outside the tavern as the man¡¯s words hit him. ¡°I can¡¯t possibly afford¡ª¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± he interrupted. ¡°Even if you can¡¯t, we¡¯re going to save her first and worry about money later.¡± ¡°Okay, but just so we¡¯re clear, I don¡¯t actually know this woman, so it¡¯s not fair if I¡¯m on the hook for¡ª¡± ¡°We¡¯ll figure it out later!¡± he insisted. Zach opened his mouth to reply, but Kalana tightly grabbed his arm. ¡°Zach, that¡¯s not a lot of gold to me anymore. I can pay that easily. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± he asked. Then he gasped. ¡°Wait, five-million gold isn¡¯t a lot to you?¡± ¡°Not¡­really. Not anymore.¡± ¡°Kal, just how rich are you now?¡± ¡°I just signed a deal for my own clothing line, so¡­¡± She shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about it later.¡± Jus began calling out orders to uncertain-looking adventurers. ¡°The woman¡¯s only level 1. There¡¯s no chance she¡¯s got passive HP regeneration. We can¡¯t use the stones until I¡¯ve operated.¡± So that¡¯s why, Zach thought, amazed. I get it now. Before leaving the raid camp, he¡¯d heard that everyone in the GSG who¡¯d been hurt had been back in action within thirty minutes. When he¡¯d been hurt, on the other hand, he¡¯d needed to be put to sleep and operated on, and then even after waking up, he¡¯d been told his recovery would take days. He supposed that kind of process was only necessary for people with under 50 points into constitution. Once he¡¯d entered Phase Level 2 for the first time, his arm had regrown within a few minutes, and he¡¯d become fully healed. Interestingly, he now had more than 50 points into constitution in his current state, and for some reason, the scar on his neck from where Olivir bit him did not appear to be healing and actually still stung him. He supposed anything involving vampire bites operated on its own sort of logic, of which he was not familiar. At least now I know that if I ever get that hurt again and survive, I won¡¯t need to go through all that hassle. It was a small relief, though it still didn¡¯t mean he wanted to end up in that kind of shape a second time. At any rate, returning his attention to the mysterious woman who was mere inches from crossing the boundary between life and death, Zach watched as, within just another half minute, the surgeon, Jus, had somehow already gathered together the stones he needed, while Kalana quietly whispered to each donor that they¡¯d be fully compensated. As though temporarily forgetting the dying woman on the round, wooden table nearby them, each person Kalana spoke to paused for a moment as if awed by the mere fact that they were in her presence. Clearly, they all knew who she was. ¡°All right, I¡¯m ready to start,¡± Jus said. ¡°If you¡¯re squeamish, you may want to look away. And as for you, Prila, I¡¯m administering a general anesthetic. I¡¯d like you to count back from ten for me, please.¡± ¡°I definitely don¡¯t wanna look,¡± Kalana whispered into his ear. He nodded. He didn¡¯t either. Instead, he turned away from the woman, Prila, and then glanced down at himself. ¡°Gods damn it,¡± he muttered. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Zach?¡± ¡°I got blood all over my new robe.¡± ¡°I can wash that for you, hun,¡± Angelica said, gliding over. She smiled at Zach, and then at Kalana. ¡°Hi again,¡± she said to her. Kalana smiled and bowed her head. ¡°Hi, Angelica. It¡¯s really nice meeting you again. Thanks for all the food you brought to the hospital. It was really yummy.¡± Angelica smiled. ¡°You¡¯re welcome! Hey, uh, I don¡¯t suppose you changed your mind about the buff?¡± ¡°Actually¡­¡± Kalana made a sheepish laugh. ¡°I kinda did. Is it too late?¡± Angelica beamed with happiness. ¡°Nope, nope, not at all.¡± Her cat ears twitched. ¡°There, you¡¯ve got it back.¡± ¡°Just like that?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± To Zach, she lowered her voice and said, ¡°Who is that woman?¡± He shrugged. ¡°I have no fucking idea. She just walked through the wall and I found her that way.¡± Angelica pursed her lips as if in thought. Her name above her head briefly flashed yellow. Zach had never seen an NPC do that before. ¡°She¡¯s not an adventurer, and she wasn¡¯t in a party with one. I wonder if she fell in a dungeon by accident?¡± ¡°Can that happen?¡± ¡°Uh, well, sometimes, but not often. The barriers usually stop it from happening, but every once in a blue moon, they fail. I usually try to save non-adventurers who end up in one of the dungeons if I¡¯m aware of them. But I can only track so many things at one time.¡± She looked over to Prila. Zach, on the other hand, did not. Incredibly, several of the adventurers were continuing to eat even with the gory sight of her being operated on in the background. ¡°Did she say anything to you?¡± At this, Zach lowered his voice and looked around. ¡°Yeah, actually. She knew¡­she knew how me and Kal got into the world of adventuring. How we found a spawn point in the Whispery Woods. I¡¯ve never told anyone that before.¡± At this, Angelica¡¯s mouth opened slightly as though alarmed. ¡°Are you sure, Zach?¡± ¡°Yeah. Definitely. Actually, come to think of it, I don¡¯t think she came to this dungeon by accident. She seemed to really want to find you.¡± Angelica folded her arms and looked downwards towards her feet. ¡°She¡­she might be a member of the OMP.¡± ¡°The OMP?¡± Angelica gestured with her chin. ¡°Not here. Follow me.¡± Having absolutely no idea what was going on, he and Kalana exchanged a brief look, and then the two of them followed the level-1027 NPC into her storeroom, down a flight of stairs, through a surprisingly long hallway that contained numerous additional storerooms and closets, and then finally into a more secluded area. In this case, it was an ordinary, square-shaped room about the size of a bedroom in a Whispery Woods apartment. ¡°I¡¯ve spent centuries securing this room. It¡¯s one of the few places where nothing we say can be spied upon. Coincidentally, it¡¯s finally ready to be used.¡± Her words immediately sent shivers rolling down Zach¡¯s spine. What did she mean by that? Before he could ask her, she continued to say even more bizarre things. ¡°That woman out there¡ªPrila¡ªshe could be a scouter and recruiter.¡± Despite her having shut the door so that it was only the three of them in here, she now spoke at only barely above a whisper. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°Yeah, what is that?¡± Zach concurred. ¡°And what¡¯s the ¡®OMP?¡¯ I¡¯ve never heard of that before.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really not supposed to know that,¡± Angelica said. ¡°If Adamus finds out I told you, he¡¯ll¡ª¡± Kalana gasped. ¡°You know Adamus? Like, as in personally?¡± ¡°Know him? I have to deal with that annoying ass of a man constantly. He¡¯s always breathing down my neck and accusing me of ¡®interfering¡¯ and threatening me.¡± Zach moaned. ¡°I¡¯m so lost.¡± ¡°Me too,¡± Kalana said. Angelica sighed. ¡°Okay, look. I can¡¯t tell you guys too much, because if I do, uh, Adamus might try to kill me for real. But anything I do tell ya, you¡¯ve gotta promise me you¡¯ll never let anyone know I told you this.¡± ¡°Of course not,¡± Zach said. ¡°I¡¯m not a rat to begin with, and I don¡¯t betray my friends.¡± She gave him a friendly, affectionate pat on the top his head. ¡°Okay then, in that case, listen close. The OMP is the Orbital Monitoring Platform. There¡¯s a bunch of them, actually. They¡¯re space stations that are in Galterra¡¯s planetary orbit. It¡¯s where Adamus¡¯s crew helps to maintain the system.¡± ¡°The what?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°What¡¯s a system?¡± Zach chimed in. For the second time, she sighed. ¡°There are so many things that you adventurers don¡¯t know anymore because I¡¯m not allowed to say it. Believe me, if I could, I¡¯d tell ya guys everything. I¡¯d even kill the dragon for you if I could. I sure would! I could take that thing down in one hit. But Adamus is an ass and lets my boys and girls go out there and die while I have to sense it all from my tavern. Eww! I hate him so much!¡± Zach and Kalana exchanged another short, but meaningful look with one another. The look in her eyes was likely the same as the one in his own. There was now an overwhelming sense that they were hearing secrets of such importance and significance that likely few living individuals in the entire world knew of them. ¡°Okay, you know what? I¡¯m just gonna tell ya.¡± Angelica cleared her throat. ¡°Here we go.¡± And just like that, Angelica launched into the most shocking, profound, and detailed explanation of what Zach could only imagine were the greatest and most-significant secrets in all of existence. Having come in here expecting to hear a bit of intrigue, he was now treated to a mind-blowing description that, in all likelihood, exceeded the knowledge of the Vampires. Right here, unprompted, and totally unprepared, this cute, level-1027 NPC with cat ears exposed to Zach and Kalana something that for the past thousands of years people would have lived and died without ever having imagined. It was so jarring and eye-opening that Zach had to remind himself to breathe as he listened. ¡°Galterra, Earth, Archian Prime, and a whole lot of other places,¡± she began, ¡°are all part of a system implemented thousands of years ago by Elvish great ones in what was supposed to be a fairer way of distributing power among people. Ya see, the way things used to be, only a few powerful people with really strong magic ruled the world, and they¡¯d blow up cities and destroy the planet, and fight wars, and on and on and on it went. So! After most of Galterra was wiped out in an Elvish civil war, Adamus and a bunch of his friends¡ªthe most powerful mages in Elvish society¡ªbanded together for peace and decided to start all over again from scratch. They created a system: a way where everyone could become more powerful by gaining experience points and leveling up. Before this point, there were no such things as levels and mobs. It might be hard for you guys to visualize that since it¡¯s all you¡¯ve ever known, but it¡¯s true! ¡°So anyways, using this powerful magic, they remade Galterra. Then they expanded it to Earth and all the other planets under their control. They thought if they made the worlds dangerous and hostile, people of all the different races would come together in unity to fight and grow together to keep each other safe. That didn¡¯t really end up happening. I mean, it sort of did, but it mostly didn¡¯t. There was also a lot of in-fighting and disagreements with all the Great Ones. I know because I was in the room for a lot of it. Oh, right! Hehe. I forgot to tell you guys. ¡°I¡¯m the first NPC they ever made, and for a while, I was also the crowning achievement of something people had been trying to do for thousands of years: prove that sentient life can exist outside of biological limitations. In the beginning, I was in charge of everything. I could be anywhere I wanted at any time. I could do whatever I wanted. I could spawn things, give people xp, take xp away, and I had complete control over the system. But I was eventually demoted and forced here, because I kept saving people who were about to die and killing bosses that attacked towns. The only reason Adamus couldn¡¯t kill me is because his wife intervened. So, where was I? Okay, right. ¡°A long time ago, there was a really, really bad war between the humans and the lizardmen, and for the first time, the Great Ones all got together to seriously consider intervening. Adamus is basically the one who pushed the whole ¡®don¡¯t get involved¡¯ policy on all the others in the first place. But this time, they were really, really mad, because humans were doing something that even the Orcs of old never did¡ªand let me tell you, the Orcs didn¡¯t used to be like they are now. No, no, no! Those guys used to be really dangerous. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°So¡­okay, so yeah. This is the important part, you two. Humans and the lizards have always hated each other and have fought a whole lot of wars throughout history. That was why all the human guilds decided to put an end to them once and for all. They started running these¡­these places where they would ship thousands upon thousands of lizardmen from conquered territory. They¡¯d lie and tell the world these were ¡®processing facilities,¡¯ but in actuality, they were killing them, and in many cases, smashing apart their eggs, many with fully developed young still inside of them. It was the worst genocide in thousands of years, though hardly humanity¡¯s first.¡± Kalana squeezed Zach¡¯s hand so tightly that it began to ache, but he did not complain, as his knees felt weak. ¡°None of us were allowed to do anything about it,¡± Angelica continued. ¡°I was so angry I almost shut myself down¡ªwhich is not reversible. But Eilea convinced me that if I did that, I¡¯d only be abandoning the people I could still help. Now, look. This is the part that¡¯s probably going to upset you guys the most. I shouldn¡¯t be telling you this. You¡¯re gonna wish you didn¡¯t know, but here it goes. ¡°The system, all the dungeons, the mobs, the items¡ªall of it. Everything was created by seventeen Great Ones, who for a very long time attended to Galterra and all the system-planets in the Milky Way galaxy. Adamus was the chief architect and had veto power over any non-unanimous decision. The Great Ones had tried for many years to convince Adamus to play a more active role in managing the people, but that stubborn bastard never listens to anybody. So they tried something else. They tried to convince Adamus to at least create a system update capable of detecting blatant acts of genocide and to intervene to prevent the mass, deliberate murder of children. But he wouldn¡¯t even allow that! ¡°When humans started exterminating the lizards, killing thousands daily, Adamus even used his veto power to prevent them from interfering even in just that one event. And that was the final straw. Of the seventeen Great Ones who made the system, fifteen became so fed up that they abandoned us and went somewhere that makes it impossible for them to ever come back. ¡°For more than a thousand years,¡± she said, taking a moment to meet each of their eyes, ¡°the only two Great Ones left in Galterra have been Adamus and his wife, Eilea Vayra. Both decided not to leave, which is probably a good thing, as it means he won''t be able to screw up whatever new world the others created. But it''s also a bad thing because it means he''s still here ruining ours. Eilea can''t really help because she¡¯s been locked up somewhere I can¡¯t save her. So it¡¯s just been him. I told you earlier that this was the part that would upset you the most. Do you know why that is?¡± ¡°Because¡­because we¡¯ve been abandoned,¡± Zach whispered, trembling. She¡¯d said so many things to him that he wasn¡¯t even sure how he could begin to process it all. But that last part of all of it had clearly stood out the most. ¡°No one¡¯s looking out for us anymore, are they?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Angelica said. ¡°The Gods who protected your world are gone. Only two are left, and one of them is imprisoned. Adamus remains as the only one in control, and he won¡¯t lift a finger to save anyone. Well, except you, Zach, but that was¡­that was weird. And I¡¯m not gonna get into all that. You¡¯ll just have to stew over that one. I guess what I¡¯m trying to say is that whatever happens to Galterra, no one is ever going to save it. I would if I could, but I¡¯d be shut down immediately. I hate that I can¡¯t do anything to protect you. I love my adventurers so much. I would die for you. But I¡¯m not allowed. I would be stopped. And Adamus doesn¡¯t even¡ª¡± ¡°The world Eater!¡± Zach screamed abruptly, goosebumps beginning to run all down his arms and legs, a chill settling over his body. He began to sweat despite the cool ambient air, and he placed his hand on his chest as he began to pant. Kalana, startled reached out to him, but he waved her off. He shook his head, several tears now streaming down his eyes. ¡°The fucking World Eater! I remember!¡± Angelica¡¯s ears twitched, and she took a full step back. ¡°How do you know about that?¡± she asked. ¡°That¡¯s something even I can¡¯t tell you. If I did, it would trigger an automatic self-termination. How do you know that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how I know,¡± Zach said. ¡°I just know it spawns in five years, and it will destroy everything and everyone. Gods, how did I keep forgetting? Why did I remember just now?¡± ¡°It¡¯s this room,¡± Angelica said. ¡°Adamus doesn¡¯t know about it. Eilea taught me how to build it. It shields outside interference from the Great Ones. No one can listen in on us. Well, no one except Eilea, but I trust her. She¡¯s the closest thing to a mother I have. But anyways, regarding that name of that thing you just said¡­¡± ¡°The World Eater?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say the name or even reply with a direct ¡®yes¡¯ to that question. But regarding that thing you just said, if you know that it exists and that it¡¯s coming, my guess is that Eilea¡¯s the one who told you. In fact, I think I know exactly what¡¯s going on, Zach. Eilea must¡¯ve told you, Adamus must¡¯ve found out that she told you, and then Adamus must¡¯ve blocked it out of your mind for ¡®interfering.¡¯ Those two have been having just that kind of back-and-forth for more than a thousand years, waging a telepathic battle with each other that never seems to end.¡± Zach sat down on the floor, no longer able to remain standing as everything began coming back to him in a flood. Kalana squatted down next to him and held him as he began to tremble. ¡°Gods, I remember. I fucked up, Kal. I fucked up real, real bad. I was supposed to tell everyone. We¡¯re losing time. I need to go to Dragon Squire.¡± Zach began to explain to Angelica and Kalana what he could finally recall. How, after Fylwen had murdered him, he¡¯d met a man in the afterlife¡ªa robed figure with no face. Or at least not a human one. He¡¯d had the face of a serpent. Or was it a mask? He couldn¡¯t quite recall. But this man had told him about the World Eater. And it wasn¡¯t just him, either. He now very vaguely remembered a woman telling him the same, though he couldn¡¯t quite recall when she¡¯d told him. Had it been after the dragon had almost killed him? Or had it been after he¡¯d passed out from E-debt following the Moldark boss fight? Or had it been both times? Memories of her had been very, very fuzzy. ¡°The woman sounds like Eilea,¡± Angelica told him. ¡°But uh¡­I don¡¯t know about the man. Are ya sure it was a man?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Zach said. ¡°I remember his warnings more clearly than any of the others. He told me that I keep forgetting and I have to try harder to remember. And that the most important thing I¡¯ll ever do in my life is fight the World Eater. What even is it, Angelica?¡± She pouted. ¡°I can¡¯t tell ya! I swear I would if I could. As soon as I start saying it, my head will explode. Not an exaggeration! It will pop.¡± ¡°That¡¯s awful,¡± Kalana said, a note of outrage in her tone. ¡°Why would he do this to you?¡± ¡°I told you already. He¡¯s an ass who thinks it¡¯s his way or the highway.¡± ¡°How come you¡¯re able to tell us all these other things?¡± Kalana asked her. ¡°Because it¡¯s not easy to create a termination trigger. It¡¯s limited to just a few words or phrases. If he tried to stop me from ever spilling anything, I¡¯d end up self-terminating by accident. And he needs me to run this place, whether he wants to admit it or not. So, yeah, the things I can¡¯t say are really specific. Like, I can¡¯t tell you where to find any dungeons unless you already know about them and have been there. That kind of stuff.¡± Zach felt overloaded. Way too much had just been dumped on him way too fast: to such an extent that he¡¯d almost forgotten why he was here in this room with Angelica in the first place. ¡°That woman, Prila,¡± he said. ¡°Where¡¯s she fit into all of this?¡± Angelica made a squeaky-sounding laugh, and her cat ears twitched. ¡°Oh, right. That¡¯s why I brought you in here, wasn¡¯t it?¡± She rubbed her hair and smiled. ¡°Okay, so I think she¡¯s a member of the OMP. There¡¯s no way Adamus would ever let her come here. So if she¡¯s here to speak to me, she must¡¯ve snuck away and risked her life to get here.¡± ¡°Why would she do that?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. When she wakes up, I¡¯ll bring her in here and ask her. You two can stay if you want.¡± Zach sighed. ¡°We might as well.¡± ¡°Oh! And this is really important. Ahh¡­I should have told you this sooner, actually. All that stuff I just told you? You can¡¯t ever tell anyone. No matter who.¡± ¡°Wh-what? Why not? You can¡¯t expect me and Kal to keep this shit secret! Everyone in the world has a right to know.¡± Angelica wrinkled her lips sourly. ¡°I agree. But if you tell anyone, they¡¯ll know. And then I¡¯ll be killed.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Zach asked. She nodded. ¡°He¡¯ll know, or someone at the OMP will know, if you say something. Even if you think you¡¯re in private. There aren¡¯t a lot of places they can¡¯t observe. As soon as they know you know, I¡¯m done for. But if you really, really think it¡¯s important, I¡¯m willing to die for it if you¡¯re sure it¡¯s worth it.¡± Zach raised his palm. ¡°In that case, you don¡¯t have to worry. I¡¯ll never tell a soul.¡± ¡°Me neither,¡± Kalana said. ¡°I promise.¡± ¡°But wait¡­what about the World Eater?¡± Zach asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you about that,¡± Angelica replied. ¡°And Adamus probably already knows you know, which is why you keep forgetting it. He probably found out Eilea told you and he¡¯s trying to prevent you from having ¡®unfair¡¯ knowledge. There is¡­there is one little detail I can probably share. I just can¡¯t spell it outright.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± Zach asked her. ¡°Have you noticed the Earth¡¯s sky doesn¡¯t look so blue and pretty like Galterra¡¯s?¡± Zach widened his eyes. ¡°The World Eater did that?¡± Angelica shrugged, then ran a finger across her lips like a zipper. The cheeky expression on her face and the gesture itself was enough of a signal to Zach that what he¡¯d asked was precisely what she was trying to imply. Zach shook his head. ¡°But¡­but I don¡¯t get it. If this thing can destroy an entire world and turn the sky red and make it so no one can live there anymore¡­why does Adamus care if I know?¡± ¡°Because he¡¯s an ass!¡± Angelica snapped, her name briefly turning red¡ªhostile. Then it went back to white, and she apologized. ¡°Sorry, he just gets me so mad! He¡¯d let every single one of you die out of principle: his principle.¡± Even as Zach began the process of mentally running through everything he¡¯d just heard and coping with it, an idea came to him. ¡°Uh, Angelica?¡± ¡°Yes, Zach?¡± ¡°What if I bring people here? To this room?¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Could I tell the people I trust if I brought them here into this room and told them here.¡± Angelica laughed, then smiled brightly. ¡°That¡¯s¡­actually not a bad idea. But you¡¯d have to be sure you only brought people you could be sure wouldn¡¯t talk about it outside of this room. But yeah, that¡­that would be okay. I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re gonna tell Alex, right?¡± ¡°Him and a few others. Actually, that gives me another idea. Can a vampire have the buff?¡± ¡°The Will of the Favored?¡± Zach nodded. ¡°My friend, Olivir¡ªI¡¯ve been having to use one of my abilities to bring him into the dungeons.¡± ¡°I saw that, actually,¡± Angelica said. ¡°I thought it was clever and cute. And yes, that boy is perfect for the buff.¡± Zach snickered. ¡°He¡¯s actually not a boy. He¡¯s over two-hundred years old.¡± ¡°To me, that¡¯s a little boy,¡± Angelica said. ¡°But yeah, he¡¯s perfect for the buff. Actually, I don¡¯t wanna sound insulting, but the truth is he¡¯s even more right for it than you are, Zach. His only desire in life is exploration and adventure with the Elvish girl. That¡¯s all he wants. I saw it in him when you were running with him down B6 and the queen was making a mess of the place. I was actually getting ready to stop you in case you somehow tried bringing him in here.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Zach asked, somewhat taken aback. Angelica turned around and walked over to the sole window in the corner of the room. She placed her finger on it. There was nothing to be seen outside of it: it was just pure black. ¡°We¡¯re outside of the universe.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay,¡± Zach said, ¡°my ability is boundless.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Angelica said. ¡°It is.¡± Zach thought to question her how she knew about his abilities but at this point he¡¯d almost think it was strange if she didn¡¯t know what he could do, especially if his cat did. Angelica clearly had the appraisal-thing or whatever it was. That much was just downright obvious at this point. ¡°So what¡¯s the problem?¡± ¡°The problem is that if you used Phase Rescue on that vampire boy, it would bring him here just as you wanted¡ªin about eight-thousand years, give or take. Nothing would show up but a pile of bones.¡± His heart leapt in his chest. ¡°Gods, I was going to bring him here tomorrow to meet you!¡± ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t. I¡¯ll pay him a visit at your raid camp tonight and ask him if he wants it. If he says yes, it¡¯s his, and then you can. If not, don¡¯t bring him. But honestly, I can¡¯t imagine him refusing.¡± She giggled. ¡°His friend is cute. Do you know if he¡¯s single?¡± ¡°Friend?¡± Zach asked. Then his body, acting on its own, made something between a laugh and a cough. ¡°Wait, are you talking about Grundor?¡± Angelica¡¯s face immediately reddened, and she averted her eyes. ¡°Maybe¡­¡± Oh, Gods. NPCs can fall for each other? You¡¯ve got to be kidding me. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure Grundor¡¯s single, yeah.¡± Kalana squeaked. ¡°Ohhh! I want Grundor and Angelica to be together! They¡¯d be so cute!¡± Angelica¡¯s face became even redder. ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯d like me,¡± she whispered, now sounding shy and distraught. ¡°I mean, he¡¯s so¡­incredible. And brave.¡± I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m witnessing this. This is even crazier than everything I¡¯ve just heard. ¡°I¡¯ll tell Grundor about you,¡± Kalana said to Angelica, who audibly gulped as though nervous. ¡°Why? Do you think he¡¯d like me? Maybe you shouldn¡¯t say anything after all. Ya know what? Don¡¯t. Definitely don¡¯t.¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna,¡± Kalana said, nodding. ¡°Tomorrow we were supposed to come back here for a double-date. I¡¯m bringing Grundor.¡± Zach didn¡¯t understand how NPCs'' faces could turn red when that was supposed to be a biological response. And yet, her face, for the third time, became even redder. And her name began flashing pink on and off. Glancing upwards, she appeared to notice this, and then a look of embarrassment crossed her features. ¡°I guess I could say hi to him¡­but don¡¯t tell him I like him. Not unless you¡¯re sure you think he likes me. Otherwise I¡¯d die of embarrassment. But I¡¯d be happy to meet him when you guys come.¡± ¡°If we do,¡± Zach said bitterly. ¡°Olivir might not even be my friend anymore. I don¡¯t actually know.¡± ¡°Because of the thing with my mom?¡± Kalana asked. He sighed. ¡°Yeah, he looked really betrayed. Fuck! Olivir is one of the coolest people I¡¯ve ever met, and I have no idea if he¡¯s even still my friend.¡± Kalana patted his shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Even if he¡¯s not, I¡¯ll just have him be your friend again.¡± ¡°¡®Have him¡¯ be my friend, Kal? The hell is that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°Oh, uh, I¡¯ll just tell my cousin to make him.¡± ¡°N-no, stop! That¡¯s humiliating. You can¡¯t just have Kolona order him to be my friend.¡± ¡°It would work,¡± Kalana insisted. ¡°Yah, no shit. It¡¯d work on me too if you tried to get me to do something like that. The problem is I want him to actually be my friend and not feel like he¡¯s been forced.¡± ¡°That might be hard, though, ¡®cause you betrayed him.¡± ¡°I did not betray him.¡± Kalana twisted her lips skeptically. ¡°You basically joined forces with his worst enemy after he fled across planets with you just to get away from her, and then you conspired with her to commit murder while he watched.¡± ¡°I¡­I mean that¡¯s technically true, but that was¡­it¡¯s complicated.¡± ¡°Then you snapped at Kolona for trying to help you, and you never even stopped to thank her for caring¡ªI¡¯m guessing, anyway¡ªand for all the things they did for you. I¡¯m also guessing you didn¡¯t tell him where you were going with me and just left him there with mostly strangers that he now has to defend to the death out of a sense of obligation to you.¡± ¡°Oh, fuck,¡± Zach moaned. ¡°I did all those things? I didn¡¯t¡­I didn¡¯t even realize I¡¯d done one of them!¡± ¡°Yeah, ¡®cause you need therapy.¡± He pointed at her. ¡°Don¡¯t start that again.¡± ¡°You do,¡± Angelica said. ¡°Wh-what the fuck? Angelica?¡± he asked, his heart aching with betrayal. ¡°Not you too.¡± ¡°Sorry, Zach.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re sorry, why did you and Kalana just high-five? What the f¡­what kind of double-teaming bullshit is this?¡± Kalana ruffled his hair. ¡°I love you ¡®cause I know better than anyone in the world how sweet and kind you are deep down. But not everyone knows you like I do, Zach. They don¡¯t understand that you¡¯re just short-sighted sometimes. You blew off Olivir and Kolona after they sacrificed everything to support you.¡± ¡°Why did you let me?¡± he asked. ¡°You should¡¯ve said something. I didn¡¯t even think I was¡­it never even occurred to me!¡± Now, it was Kalana who gave Zach the dumb look as opposed to the other way around. ¡°It¡¯s ¡®cause I didn¡¯t even think about it until now, either.¡± Zach groaned. ¡°Hey, Angelica, do you know if there¡¯s like a live bat store anywhere or something? I need to buy a present for a vampire, I think.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m just being a dick to run away from my feelings of guilt. See? I know that without therapy. But anyways¡­¡± Zach leaned forward and began to massage his eyes, his head suddenly beginning to ache. ¡°I think¡­I think we need to talk to Prila, and then after that, I¡¯ll worry about Olivir.¡± Prila knew something about him that no one should have possibly been able to know. For this reason, he hoped she made a quick recovery, because there was a lot he wanted to ask her. ¡°How long do you think it¡¯ll be before she¡¯s able to speak to us?¡± Angelica tilted her head to the side. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. Probably at least two hours with the stones, maybe longer.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Zach looked at Kalana. ¡°Here¡¯s what we¡¯ll do. Stay here in case Prila wakes up. We¡¯re going to have lunch just like we planned, but I need to be right back.¡± ¡°Be¡­right back?¡± He nodded. ¡°I¡¯m going to run full speed and get Mr. Oren and Donovan to come here with me. They need to know everything I know and now. It can¡¯t even wait until tomorrow.¡± ¡°Why? What could possibly be so important about them knowing today?¡± ¡°Prila,¡± he said. She shot him a questioning look. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because of her. Neither of us are¡­neither of us are good at questioning people or getting answers. Or knowing what¡¯s true and what¡¯s not. If not for Prila, we could wait for the dragon emergency to be over. But at the very least, I need someone with Mr. Oren¡¯s brain here. He will know exactly how to speak to someone like her when she wakes up. With my current speed, if I run as fast as I can, I can probably make the trip from the Yorna Entrance to Shadowfall coast in just over an hour each way. Wow, I can¡¯t believe I just said that.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Sometimes it really¡­it really dawns on you how amazing leveling up is. I mean, that¡¯s over two-hundred miles'' distance.¡± ¡°Wait, where exactly is the entrance to Yorna?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°It¡¯s in Whispery Woods. Only a few miles away from Den of Ziragoth, actually. Hidden inside a gigantic boulder.¡± ¡°Zach, that¡¯s crazy far!¡± ¡°Yeah, but I¡ª¡± Angelica coughed, very, very loudly. ¡°I hope Prila didn¡¯t get blood on that hidden button on the painting of the farmhouse in B10 near that dead-end wall.¡± Upon those words, she walked out of the room, and Kalana immediately met his eyes. ¡°That was definitely her sending a message, right?¡± Zach asked. Kalana nodded. ¡°Yah. And that''s the wall that leads to B4. Is that important for some reason?¡± ¡°Very,¡± Zach said. ¡°B4 is right near B5 and B6, which takes you to the beach on Shadowfall Coast. If I could get back to B4, then I could get back to Mr. Oren in¡­fifteen minutes. I just need you to be here in case Prila wakes up. If I can really just cut straight through to B4, then I¡¯ll probably be back in thirty minutes, maybe forty tops, and then we¡¯ll all eat together. Although, at this point, it¡¯ll probably now be more like an early dinner.¡± ¡°Just please hurry.¡± ¡°I will.¡± ********* No matter how light Donovan wanted to make of the situation, Alex was simply not okay with Zach and Kalana ditching the critically important briefing to go partying in Angelica¡¯s, which was obviously where they¡¯d run off to. Where else would they go? Every adventurer loved Angelica¡¯s, and Alex, too, would much prefer to be there right now than stuck here in this hot, humid tent. But there was work to be done, and he had a responsibility to see to it. Now, about four hours before sunset, on what might well have been the last night of his life, he cracked open a beer with Donovan sitting across from him, and the two of them exchanged a knowing, yet serious look. ¡°This ain¡¯t gonna be easy,¡± Donovan said. ¡°But with the Elves, I think we can actually get this done.¡± Alex tapped his can of beer against Donovan¡¯s. ¡°I sure hope so.¡± He took a sip. ¡°And I really hope Kalana has enough sense to come back here at least before sunset.¡± ¡°Relax,¡± Donovan said, barking out a laugh. ¡°They¡¯re teenagers. Let ¡®em have fun.¡± ¡°They¡¯re more than just teenagers. They¡¯re two of the most powerful people on Galterra, and they have a¡ª¡± ¡°Mr. Oren!¡± a voice called, followed by the form of Zachys Calador bursting into their tent uninvited. ¡°Z-Zach!¡± he shouted. ¡°Where were you? And where¡¯s Kalana? Do you have any idea how¡ª¡± ¡°Oh, great! Donovan¡¯s here too. You both have to come with me right now.¡± Alex and Donovan both exchanged a worried glance. ¡°Come with you?¡± Alex asked. ¡°Where?¡± Donovan added with a grunt. ¡°To Angelica¡¯s.¡± ¡°Angelica¡¯s?¡± Alex asked, becoming outraged. ¡°Zach, have you forgotten that tomorrow is the¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m not taking no for an answer. Kalana¡¯s waiting for us. You must come with me now.¡± He didn¡¯t look to be joking around. He could tell when Zach truly believed in what he was saying and doing. This only had the effect of amplifying his concern. ¡°Why? Tell me what it is, and then maybe we can discuss how important it could possibly be.¡± Zach growled. ¡°I can¡¯t!¡± ¡°You¡­can¡¯t?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. I can¡¯t tell you why you have to come with me.¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t you tell us?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t even tell you why I can¡¯t tell you. Not only that, but I don¡¯t even fully remember and won¡¯t until you¡¯re there.¡± Again, Donovan and Alex glanced at one another. He was unsurprised to see that Donovan was just as uncertain as he was. ¡°Zach, this is extremely inappropriate. For you to come barging in and¡ª¡± Without warning or provocation, Zach drew his blade and pointed it at Alex, causing Alex to immediately shoot up to his feet, whereas Donovan remained where he was, chugged his beer, and barked out a few hearty laughs. ¡°Mr. Oren, it¡¯s actually so important that you come with me that if you don¡¯t, I¡¯m literally willing to cut your legs off and drag you there. If I could tell you why, I would.¡± Alex adjusted his glasses, which had fogged up. Zach looked deathly serious. ¡°What do you think?¡± he asked Donovan. ¡°We can always get back here pretty fast using the wall.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zach said. Then he rolled his eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t look so surprised, Mr. Oren. I know about the secret passage in B4 and B10.¡± ¡°Odd," Alex said, frowning. "That¡¯s usually only revealed in a quest on B25. Have you completed that floor?¡± ¡°Nope. But you¡¯ll understand why I know about it when you come with me.¡± Setting down his beer, Alex grabbed his lab coat and put it on. ¡°Tomorrow, we¡¯re going after the dragon, and you¡¯re having us run out now of all times? I really hope this is important.¡± ¡°It is,¡± Zach said. ¡°For two reasons, actually, one of which I forgot.¡± ¡°How can you forget if it¡¯s so important?¡± ¡°I actually know the answer to that,¡± Zach said with a nervous laugh. ¡°Unlike before, I now know that there''s something I need to know, and I even know why I forgot it. I know that the thing I forgot is the most important thing in the entire world, too. But I can¡¯t tell you why I forgot it until we''re there, and until we''re there, I also can''t tell you what the thing I forgot actually was, because I don''t even remember it. I just remember how important it was. I also remember telling myself that there''s no way I could forget it again. Then I forgot it immediately, and it''s actually pissing me off and making me want to smash something out of anger. It''s bullshit that I can''t remember something from twenty minutes ago.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not understanding any of this,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Then hurry up and let¡¯s get there and it¡¯ll all make sense. Also, we¡¯re having dinner with Kalana.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Donovan said. ¡°I¡¯m fuckin¡¯ starving.¡± Chapter 90: Project Rejuvenation Chapter 90: Project Rejuvenation The silence was uncomfortable. It lingered in the air like a bad smell. Zach had finished speaking almost three full minutes ago, and even still, Mr. Oren and Donovan hadn¡¯t said a word in reply. Both men looked troubled and disturbed, which was totally understandable. But what Zach had not anticipated was the sheer extent to which his explanation would upset them. Sure, it was a lot to take in, and yes, it was the sort of stuff one would lose sleep over. But Zach hadn¡¯t expected them to be stunned to the point where they had seemingly gone catatonic. I might¡¯ve broken them, he thought, wincing. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. Truth be told, while both of them were having a larger-than-expected reaction to everything Zach had revealed, their responses definitely weren¡¯t equal. In fact, Donovan¡¯s reaction only seemed so extreme because Zach was viewing it in comparison to his usual self. All things considered, he actually looked kind of okay; he was just being weirdly silent. It was Mr. Oren who seemed to have been hit the hardest. His lab-coat-wearing science teacher appeared dejected in a way that Zach had only seen once before: earlier today when Donovan had died in the fight against the Ziragoth adds, and he¡¯d looked like he¡¯d decided to give up on everything and everyone, including himself. That¡¯s exactly how he looks right now. Donovan, on the other hand, was at least showing signs of life. He was slowly nodding his head and very quietly whispering something to himself as though putting together pieces in his mind. But Mr. Oren was hardly even moving. He was rigid, barely blinking, and about as animate as a frozen block of ice. Zach could not believe things were hitting Mr. Oren this hard. After all, he and Kalana had taken it in stride, so why couldn¡¯t Mr. Oren? ¡°I get that it¡¯s¡­a lot,¡± Zach said, finally breaking the silence. ¡°I really do.¡± He was sitting with them at a square-shaped table that Angelica had brought into what he now thought of as the ¡°privacy room.¡± She¡¯d also given them all a large sampling of various plates of her finest food, with an entire pitcher of her custom-made cherry cola just for Zach. Kalana was to his left, and across from him, Mr. Oren and Donovan were sitting on the other end. When the conversation had first begun, all four of them had been digging in and eating to their heart¡¯s content. But right around half way, Mr. Oren had slowed down, and then by the end, even Donovan had stopped eating. This is making me feel so weird. He felt a patting sensation on his left thigh under the table, and he turned his head to glance at Kalana, who was giving him a reassuring look. This, as Angelica came into the uncomfortably quiet room, smiled, and handed Zach his robe, which she¡¯d washed for him. He gave her his deepest thanks, glad to see that every last trace of the blood was cleaned off it. At the moment, Zach had on a white undershirt. Briefly getting up from the table, he slipped back into his new robe then returned to his seat. ¡°How¡¯s Prila doing?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°The doctor says everything went great and she¡¯s just woken up, but she¡¯ll need a few more minutes before she¡¯ll come back to her senses enough to talk to us. Don¡¯t worry: I¡¯m making sure she¡¯s cared for.¡± ¡°Thank you so much,¡± Kalana said. ¡°You¡¯re amazing, Angelica.¡± ¡°Aww, shucks. You¡¯re welcome, Kalana.¡± The two smiled at each other, and then Angelica left the room again. The exact moment the cat-eared NPC walked away, there was an immediate return to the awkward silence, and now, starting to lose his patience, Zach began to tap his fingers agitatedly on the table. ¡°Okay, guys, come on,¡± he said. ¡°Look, I know this is a lot to take in, but if even I can handle it, I don¡¯t see why¡ª¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get it, kiddo,¡± Donovan said, finally speaking at last. He opened his mouth and looked as if he were about to speak further, but then he paused and eyed the door behind Zach. ¡°If there was any way I could talk to you outside or somewhere else, I would.¡± Confused, Zach shifted his eyes back and forth between Donovan and Mr. Oren. Was Donovan implying that he wanted to speak somewhere that Mr. Oren couldn¡¯t overhear them? ¡°The truth is,¡± Donovan continued, ¡°I¡¯m actually fine. It¡¯s a bit of a shock, but¡­I¡¯m shocked for the same reason you and your girlfriend were. I¡¯m having the same reaction you guys probably did. Only reason I¡¯m keeping my trap shut right now is out of respect and consideration for Alex.¡± Zach didn¡¯t think he was lying. Donovan wasn¡¯t exactly the type to fake his emotions or come off as dishonest. Yet Zach was becoming more and more perplexed by the second. ¡°Respect and consideration over what, exactly?¡± he asked. ¡°You make it sound like he¡¯s¡ª¡± He paused mid-sentence, forgetting whatever he¡¯d been about to say as he noticed Mr. Oren finally making at least some kind of movement. Zach watched as he bent forward slightly in his chair and then began burying his entire face in the palms of his hands, which were propped up on the table by his elbows. It was a very strange gesture, one that gave off a weakness typically not shown by the man. Donovan, in a repeat of just a few seconds before, opened his mouth to speak, paused, and then glanced around uneasily as though wanting to have a word with Zach in private but knowing damn well he couldn¡¯t because apparently some guy named Adamus had ways of spying on them and finding out what they were saying. Honestly, it was pretty creepy. As though realizing that his only options were to either talk openly in front of Mr. Oren or continue to remain silent, Donovan grumbled to himself a moment before finally deciding to speak. ¡°Alex isn¡¯t¡­he¡¯s not upset for the reasons you think he is.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to tell you, kid, but it¡¯s hard for me on account of him sitting right here while we talk about him. Maybe we should put this chat off until a little¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Mr. Oren said, abruptly lowering his hands and once more sitting up straight. He met Zach¡¯s eyes, and Zach could tell there was something very, very wrong with him right now: specifically, his spirit. He didn¡¯t look ¡°sad¡± exactly. The look on his face wasn¡¯t the kind of look one gave off when they were informed of a loved one¡¯s passing or a great misfortune. Rather, Mr. Oren appeared far more defeated. Like he¡¯d met an obstacle too great to overcome, or he¡¯d just lost all hope. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Alex?¡± Kalana whispered. Mr. Oren lowered his head and stared at the food on his plate, though he did not appear as though he intended to eat any of it. ¡°What Donovan just said about me¡­it¡¯s correct,¡± Mr. Oren replied, speaking softly. ¡°I¡¯m struggling to behave like my usual self right now. And no, it¡¯s not because of the World Eater, and it¡¯s not because of the other bits of astonishing information that you two have learned.¡± ¡°Then what¡¯s wrong?¡± He lifted his head and regarded Kalana, but only for a few seconds; following that, he once more averted his eyes. ¡°Kalana, to you and Zach¡ªand also to Donovan¡ªwhat you¡¯ve just learned is something very upsetting about the world. But to me, it¡¯s more than that. I¡¯ve just found out that¡­that most of my life has been a lie, and everything I¡¯ve ever believed in is fake. As a man of science, I suppose I deserve this. Logically, rationally, I should have known better. But even still, I feel shattered: and humiliated.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zach asked. ¡°I don¡¯t understand. We also found out the same stuff.¡± Donovan crossed his large, powerful arms. ¡°Kid, it¡¯s not that. It¡¯s that Alex was a true believer in the buff.¡± ¡°Believer in the¡­buff?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Sorry if I sound dumb, but I don¡¯t know what that means.¡± ¡°Basically,¡± Donovan explained, ¡°given how little we know about it, there¡¯s lots of adventurers who think it¡¯s some kind of personal calling from the Gods. Now, as for me? Personally? I¡¯ve always made clear that I never gave a shit about it. I always just took it as another part of life or adventuring or whatever. But Alex thought it was something special.¡± ¡°Because it called upon me,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Many, many times.¡± Zach found his words unsettling. ¡°Called upon you? How so?¡± He removed his cat-eye glasses and wiped his eyes, then put them back on his face. ¡°Zach, do you remember the night you came to me for help? When Kalana had been kidnapped?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Zach said. ¡°How could I ever forget?¡± ¡°That was no coincidence. That was the Will of the Favored. Ever since becoming an adventurer, the Will of the Favored would call out to me: I could feel it within myself beckoning me to help others. I believed it was¡­I don¡¯t want to say divine, or a God, but I did not reject those possibilities, either. I suppose it¡¯d be most accurate to say that I assumed the source was from an altruistic higher power beyond human comprehension. You can use whatever word for that as you please. I believed strongly in that, and it gave me a sense of purpose. But now,¡± he said, a look of agony crossing his features, ¡°I¡¯ve just found out that, all along, what I suspected to be a calling from some magnificent, greater being turns out to have been nothing more than an ordinary Galterran pushing buttons on a terminal. I¡¯ve been manipulated and taken advantage of, and¡­and a Gods-damned fool, pardon my language.¡± Kalana placed her hand over her heart. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Alex. This must be really hard to accept.¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°But wait a second.¡± Zach rubbed his chin as he tried to make sense of what Mr. Oren was telling him. ¡°The person pushing the buttons is working for one of the Gods, right? So isn¡¯t that almost the same?¡± Mr. Oren shook his head. ¡°Adamus is a Great One, not a God.¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re wrong,¡± Kalana said, becoming somewhat confrontational. ¡°Adamus Vayra is a God, so you were actually chosen by a higher power after all. Zach made a really good point.¡± ¡°I must disagree, respectfully,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°And I really do appreciate you trying to make me feel better, Kalana. But we both know that that¡¯s a pretty big rationalization. Adamus isn¡¯t what, at least in my beliefs, I¡¯d consider a God. And while I respect your beliefs: truly, I do, the fact of the matter is that, to me, he¡¯s just a Great One. Although, given what I¡¯ve now learned about him, I can¡¯t help but feel like even calling him ¡°great¡± is a bit too charitable.¡± ¡°How much do you actually know about the Great Ones, anyway?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Only what¡¯s written about them on items, same as any other adventurer. Well, other than the Great One Olandrin, but that¡¯s a whole different story. He¡¯s a Great One you¡¯ll become intimately familiar with before long. Every adventurer does eventually.¡± Donovan cracked a grin. ¡°Yeah, everyone loves Olandrin,¡± he said. ¡°Especially Fluffles.¡± Then, suddenly, he frowned. ¡°Shit, I just remembered he¡¯s gone, isn¡¯t he? Him and almost all of the others. Damn, Olandrin might be the biggest loss of all. I¡¯ll miss him. Even though the fucker¡¯s been gone more than a thousand years before I was even born, it feels like we only just lost him right now.¡± Zach wanted to ask them who this ¡°Olandrin¡± was and why they knew so much about him, but he decided that, with everything else going on, it was probably better for him to inquire later when things weren¡¯t so hectic. Right now, they had more than enough to deal with: especially Mr. Oren, who was really taking things very, very badly. Pausing for a moment, Zach reflected inwardly as he tried to put himself in his former science teacher¡¯s shoes, but it honestly wasn¡¯t easy. Even though he now understood the cause of Mr. Oren¡¯s pain, and he felt true compassion for the man, it was hard for him to emotionally connect with it. This was especially true since his feelings towards the buff were much more like Donovan¡¯s. Just like the leader of the GSG, Zach thought little about it outside of just two contexts: its usefulness in giving him access to dungeons, and the way it symbolized being a true, real adventurer. For this reason, Zach viewed it as an important, wonderful tool: but nothing more beyond that. And the reason he wanted Kalana to have it so badly was so that she, too, would carry the mark of an adventurer and truly be one of them. But, short of that, he¡¯d never ascribed to the buff any sort of ¡°spiritual¡± or ¡°religious¡± meaning. That was why, even after everything he¡¯d just found out, his feelings towards the Will of the Favored had not changed at all. He still wanted Kalana to have it, and he still thought of it as a symbol and a tool. But honestly? If tomorrow, the buff was suddenly replaced by a patch you could wear on your clothing that did the exact same thing, he¡¯d be just as fine with it. ¡°How many other adventurers feel this way about it?¡± Zach asked. ¡°About half,¡± Donovan said with a frustrated, rumbling grunt. ¡°This would upset a whole lot of people if they found out. It would also cause a whole lot of in-fighting and resentment from the idiots who wouldn¡¯t be able to resist gloating and saying ¡®I told you so¡¯ to those who were wrong. It would get ugly fast.¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Well, since we can¡¯t tell them anyway, I guess that¡¯s one less thing to worry about. But more importantly, I apologize for bringing you guys here. You can go back to the raid camp now if you want. I guess it¡¯s best if I deal with Prila after all.¡± At this, quite a bit of the fire returned to Mr. Oren¡¯s eyes. ¡°No,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°You were right to bring us here. There are numerous issues you¡¯ve uncovered: far too many to count. And of them all, my own disappointment ranks at the bottom. It¡¯s clear you¡¯ve stumbled upon something very, very important, and I¡¯m not about to put my personal feelings above that.¡± ¡°I know you wouldn¡¯t,¡± Zach said. ¡°But are you¡­okay? You know, to talk to her?¡± ¡°I am,¡± he said. ¡°Like you¡¯ve deduced, I¡¯m the best person here to conduct the interview with this woman, though I do have to wonder: this ¡®Prila,¡¯ who gave you the buff¡­is she the one who gave it to me as well? Or was it just you, Zach?¡± ¡°It was both of you,¡± said a voice from the door, which had just been opened without Zach even realizing it. Inside came the woman who¡¯d called herself Prila along with Angelica. Prila was sitting in a wheelchair, and the strange flight suit she¡¯d been wearing had been replaced by a coat that looked way too large for her slender body, which meant one of the adventurers must¡¯ve wrapped it around her. With a smile, Angelica pushed her inside and wheeled her over to the table. Then she went to the corner of the room, retrieved another chair, and plopped herself down on it right next to Zach so that all six of them were seated together. Now, with all eyes on Prila, the woman stared back at them with a sort of nervous determination that could clearly be discerned in her voice as she spoke. There was also a sense of exhaustion, too, but she looked to be fighting it. ¡°I heard a bit about¡­about what you were saying to Zach just now,¡± Prila said to Mr. Oren. ¡°Actually, I heard almost all of it.¡± ¡°Wow, were you spying on us?¡± Zach asked. He chuckled. ¡°Old habits die hard, I guess.¡± Kalana shot him a look of warning, and he rolled his eyes at her. ¡°Relax, Kal, it was a joke.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry if it seemed like I was spying just now. It wasn¡¯t my intention. Angelica and I had been on our way to enter together, but right before we did, she parked me outside the room and ran back to the tavern to break up a fight. I should have announced myself sooner. I apologize.¡± Prila took a moment to look upon each of them, but eventually, her gaze settled and remained on Mr. Oren, who stared back at her with neither a glare nor any other form of recognizable expression as he took her in. His face was essentially blank, and Zach had no idea what was going through his mind. Prila, for her part, was regarding Mr. Oren with a look of pain, which seemed to grow the longer she locked eyes with him. Zach did not think it was due to her injuries, either, as she likely wouldn¡¯t feel those for at least a few more hours, which tended to be how things were after an extensive surgery. For a moment that went on too long, Mr. Oren and Prila continued to stare at one another. And just when it seemed like it¡¯d turn from awkward to outright uncomfortable, she finally took her eyes off him and instead set her attention on Zach. ¡°You saved my life,¡± she said, gratitude plain in her voice. ¡°I wanted to thank you. And in a way, I guess that makes us even now.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± She smiled at him. ¡°This morning, you were in B6, and you were running with your friends as fast as you could to escape Queen Vayra. Did you¡­notice anything strange?¡± Zach thought back to what she was referring to, and then he gasped and snapped his fingers at the same time. ¡°The Eeps! That was you?¡± ¡°It was,¡± Prila said. Kalana looked at him questioningly, and he briefly recounted to her how her mother and her mother¡¯s dog had come so, so close to killing him right before he made it back to Galterra. But then an entire swarm of Eeps had shown up out of nowhere and had formed a sort-of ¡°mob wall¡± that had begun absorbing all the attacks being sent their way. ¡°Wow, I knew that couldn¡¯t have just been luck. I even remember thinking that at the time. So, that was you all the way up there helping me out? Thank you for that, really. But uh¡­just out of curiosity, how come you didn¡¯t keep them there a bit longer? The Eeps scattered way too soon, and then Fylwen almost got us.¡± Prila frowned. ¡°It¡¯s because I got caught by Adamus. He made me undo it and then started chewing me out for ¡®interfering.¡¯ It¡¯s something he really doesn¡¯t like.¡± ¡°So I¡¯ve heard,¡± Zach said to her. At the same time, Angelica quivered with what he took to be anger, and for a micro-second, her name flashed red. Now that he knew Prila had been the one to summon those Eeps, it naturally caused Zach to think up about a billion questions for her about dungeons and how they worked and what she had the ability to do to them. Yet, he knew that wasn¡¯t why they were all here, and so it became another topic of conversation he realized he¡¯d have to shelve for now. ¡°There¡¯s so much I don¡¯t know,¡± he said, ¡°and there¡¯s so much I hope I get the chance to ask you. But we all agreed before you got here that we¡¯d let Mr. Oren lead the discussion. But before he does, uh, if it¡¯s okay, can I please just ask you one question first, Prila?¡± ¡°Of course you can.¡± ¡°Have you been watching me this entire time?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°Since the day you found the spawn point, I¡¯ve kept a close eye on you. And not just me, either. Everyone at OMP Station 9 has. You¡¯ve got a really big fanbase up there, Zach. You¡¯re also the reason I¡¯m even here at all.¡± ¡°I am?¡± She nodded. ¡°People who do what I do, we¡­we tend to become numb after working at the OMP awhile. Most of us go through the same cycle when we first join. We recruit adventurers, we follow their progress, we get emotionally attached to them, and then very often, we watch them die. It¡¯s an inevitable pattern that leads to apathy and emptiness. I thought I¡¯d lost the ability to feel anything at all until you came along. Watching you struggle again and again and keep on going no matter how many times you almost die¡ªor do die¡ªmade me realize there¡¯s so much more I could be doing to help people than watching uselessly through the viewing screen on my terminal as one tragedy after the next takes place.¡± Zach wet his lips. ¡°I think¡­I kind of understand what you¡¯re saying. But at the same time, there¡¯s a lot I don¡¯t get. I hope I can talk to you about it later.¡± ¡°As much as I¡¯d love to answer your questions, Zach, I don¡¯t know if we¡¯ll be able to do that, I¡¯m afraid. As it is, I¡¯ve been gone from my crew too long. I need to get back before they¡ªor Adamus¡ªgets suspicious.¡± Upon her words, Angelica leaned over in her chair, put her arm on Prila¡¯s shoulder, and gave the woman a sad, consoling look. ¡°Did you come here thinking you could talk to us and then ya could just go right on back to the OMP after you were done?¡± Prila tilted her head slightly. ¡°Well¡­yes. There¡¯s a lot of good I can do from the OMP, and I covered all my tracks. Adamus will have no idea I was ever here.¡± Angelica sighed. ¡°He knows you are here, sweetie. He probably knew you¡¯d be here even before you knew you¡¯d be here.¡± Prila¡¯s face flashed with alarm. ¡°That¡¯s impossible.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not.¡± ¡°He let me come down here. If he¡¯d had any idea of my plans whatsoever, then why would he¡­¡± She covered her mouth, her hand trembling over her lips, and a look of understanding came over her. ¡°You get it, don¡¯t you?¡± Angelica asked. ¡°It¡¯s his philosophy. He¡¯s so against interfering that he won¡¯t even interfere against people who plan to betray him. The only exception he makes is for other Great Ones. But uh¡­aside from that, in his eyes, the moment you made the decision to come here, you became what he¡¯d call a ¡®participant in the system,¡¯ and from then on, it¡¯s against everything he believes in to stop you from taking whatever actions you want to take. There¡¯s no chance you¡¯ll ever be allowed to return to the OMP again, though. That life is over now. I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s my home. It¡¯s all I have.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll start again. You can always stay here with me! I won¡¯t charge you any points. Even if Adamus threatens me.¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Zach recognized the mask of denial that Prila now wore, as it was one that he himself had donned time and time again over a number of painful truths. ¡°Maybe¡­maybe if I apologize, he¡¯ll¡ª¡± ¡°He won¡¯t,¡± Angelica said, cutting her off. ¡°You¡¯ll never be allowed back. Uh, but don¡¯t worry, because he also won¡¯t seek any retribution or try to harm you, either.¡± ¡°I know he won¡¯t,¡± Prila whispered. ¡°That¡¯s the sense I always got from him. He¡¯s truly not a violent man. Yet, at the same time, I¡¯m slowly coming to realize he¡¯s also likely the greatest mass-murderer in history.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a really weird combination,¡± Zach said, becoming very fascinated and intrigued with each detail he learned about this Adamus guy. Even more questions popped into his head. Yet before he could ask a single one of them, Mr. Oren cleared his throat, and then Zach bowed his head apologetically. ¡°Okay, sorry. I¡¯ve said enough. Mr. Oren¡¯s going to take over now. That¡¯s why I brought him here, anyway. I¡¯ll just get us off topic.¡± Both Prila and Mr. Oren turned slightly in their chairs so that they faced one another, though in Prila¡¯s case, Angelica needed to assist her. And now, with mutual regard, each observed the other with eerily calm, relaxed expressions, and both had their hands folded on top of the table; the two of them were also sitting with fairly professional-looking postures. If Zach hadn¡¯t known any better, he¡¯d have thought they were two colleagues attending a business meeting. ¡°I¡¯m sure you already know this,¡± Mr. Oren began, ¡°but my name is Alex Oren. I¡¯m an adventurer with the God Slayers Guild. May I know who you are?¡± ¡°Yes, of course,¡± she said, her tone at once both enthusiastic and apologetic. ¡°My name is Prila Khatunara.¡± Despite clearly feeling some animosity towards this woman, Mr. Oren extended his hand across the table, and she leaned forward and took it. The two of them shook. ¡°Given how much we¡¯ve learned and how much there is to understand, I suppose it would be most helpful if we started with some basics, and then once we¡¯ve arrived at a competent-enough level of understanding, we can get into why you¡¯ve come down to Galterra. Is that okay with you, Miss Khatunara?¡± ¡°Absolutely, yes,¡± she said, her tone eager. ¡°I¡¯ve come here to do anything it¡¯s even possible for me to do to help you all. I will answer any questions, and I will keep no secrets. If you ask me something and I know the answer, I will tell you.¡± Mr. Oren smiled, and Zach couldn¡¯t tell if it was genuine or not. Logically, it couldn¡¯t have been. But at the same time, it didn¡¯t look fake at all. Maybe it was a mixture of both. Who knew? At any rate, Mr. Oren poured himself a glass of water, took a sip, and then inquired if Prila would like anything before they began. She declined. ¡°So,¡± Mr. Oren began, ¡°starting with the most basic of things. If I¡¯m understanding things correctly, everything that involves leveling or adventuring is all part of a system created by the Great Ones. A system that you work to uphold from a space station in orbit around Galterra. Is this correct?¡± ¡°Yes. That is correct. Although mine is only one of numerous stations.¡± Mr. Oren nodded. ¡°Okay, great. So, you work at this monitoring platform, and your job, as I understand it, is to recruit people into being adventurers by providing us with the buff that allows us to enter dungeons, as well as guiding us to spawn points. The first thing I¡¯d like to know is how you do that. How do you guide us to spawn points?¡± Despite claiming she¡¯d answer any questions, a look of hesitance came over her, and her mouth began to twitch as though she was struggling with the idea of whether or not to answer. ¡°I¡­I¡­so the thing is¡­¡± Mr. Oren held up his hand. ¡°Let me assure you of something in order to make this conversation much easier and more pleasant. I¡¯m not here to be the moral arbiter of anything you¡¯ve done. I¡¯ve come here to learn what you know so that we can use it for good and better understand the nature of things. That¡¯s what you want too, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°So then please: don¡¯t hesitate to tell us what you know. I¡¯m not going to judge you.¡± ¡°But how can you not?¡± she asked him. ¡°You must hate me. You must resent me for what I¡¯ve done to mislead you.¡± ¡°Are you sorry for what you¡¯ve done?¡± he asked her. She nodded immediately. ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°Very much.¡± ¡°And are you here to do the right thing?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Then I neither hate nor resent you, Miss Khatunara. And I forgive you.¡± She inhaled sharply and lowered her head as though both shocked and grateful at the same time. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Now, with that out of the way, let¡¯s get back to it. How do you help us find the spawn points? Or actually¡­forgive me, but I have a question to ask even before that. How do you determine who to select for the buff? How do you determine which people to pull into the world of adventuring?¡± Prila took a breath, and while Zach couldn¡¯t be sure, he had the impression she was very nervous right now and in a bit of shock. It was just the way she kept looking back between him and Mr. Oren, two people she had been watching¡ªand for a very long time, in the case of Mr. Oren. For this reason, she must have been struggling to take in the fact that she was actually here with them right now. Or at least, that was how Zach would feel if he were in her shoes. ¡°The answer to both of those questions is very similar,¡± she said. ¡°In both cases, the mechanism is the same. All over Galterra, there are self-replicating, microscopic nanobots. They¡¯re in the air we breathe, and they¡¯re not much larger than subatomic particles, so you won¡¯t be to see them with your microscope. These nanobots are constantly taking skin samples and collecting other types of data on anyone they come across, and this data is beamed up to the OMP stations. As a recruiter, my job is to sort through much of this data and examine the biometrics and genetic data to pick what we call ¡®winners¡¯ from the gigantic amount of data we collect every single day.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Mr. Oren said, adjusting the bridge of his glasses with his forefinger. ¡°And when a suitable candidate comes to your attention?¡± ¡°Depending on several factors, I add them to one of three groups: possible, likely, and current. Possible candidates I keep an eye on, likely candidates I keep an even closer eye on, and current candidates are the ones I have decided to begin acting on.¡± ¡°So,¡± Mr. Oren continued, and now, he pointed a finger first at himself and then at Zach. ¡°In the case of myself and Zach, how did this process take place? Were we just names that happened to cross your terminal one day?¡± ¡°That is correct,¡± she said. ¡°I have a reputation for being one of the greatest recruiters at my OMP station. I pick only the candidates I believe are the best of the best.¡± Donovan grunted. ¡°So I¡¯m guessing you recruited me too, huh?¡± She lowered her head apologetically. ¡°No. I wasn¡¯t working there when you were recruited, Mister Iseldar. I don¡¯t know which agent recruited you.¡± Mr. Oren flashed Donovan a look of annoyance for the interruption, and Donovan chuckled to himself. ¡°Getting back on topic,¡± he said. ¡°How were Zach and I recruited?¡± ¡°As you suspect,¡± she replied, ¡°it begins with me looking at random datasets. Both of you are people I found simply by looking completely at random. And both of you immediately went into the current file. The same for Kalana.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± she cried out, her voice loud and sudden amid the quiet room, causing Zach to become startled and flinch. Then she made a nervous, awkward ¡°eek¡± sound. ¡°Sorry,¡± she said. ¡°I was just happy ¡®cause I was worried I would¡¯ve been put in possible or likely. I didn¡¯t wanna be in the bad groups!¡± Zach picked up her hand, moved it close to his mouth, and kissed the back of it. Then he gently and idly began giving her a neck massage as he continued to listen to Prila and Mr. Oren¡¯s conversation. ¡°I guess now we can move on to my next question, which was originally my first question: how do you lead us to the spawn points? We already know that everyone who gets the buff is destined to find a spawn point. That much, adventurers have managed to deduce all on our own. But none of us have ever understood how.¡± Once more, the look of shame came over her, just as it had earlier when Mr. Oren had originally asked this question. ¡°The answer is very unflattering,¡± she said. ¡°And it paints me in a bad light. Actually¡­there are a number of things that will.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Like I said, with everything going on right now, I don¡¯t have the time or energy to morally judge you even if I wanted to.¡± ¡°I know,¡± she whispered. And now, out of nowhere, she shed a tear. First one. Then two. Then before Zach realized what was happening or why, Prila began sobbing uncontrollably. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize until finally sitting here in front of you all how bad I would come across when I finally answered your questions. And it¡¯s only a matter of time before you ask about the dragon.¡± ¡°Are you all right?¡± Mr. Oren asked. ¡°I apologize if my tone came across as harsh or¡ª¡± ¡°N-no,¡± she said, wiping her eyes. Her look of shame and agony seemed to multiply. ¡°It¡¯s not that. It¡¯s just¡­I can¡¯t¡­¡± She again began to weep. Zach was confused. ¡°What is it?¡± he asked. ¡°I can¡¯t make this¡­this feeling in my heart go away.¡± ¡°What feeling?¡± ¡°That I¡¯ll never be forgiven.¡± ¡°What do you need to be forgiven for?¡± Mr. Oren asked her. It was the question Zach had been about to ask. ¡°For knowing that the dragon was going to spawn and not warning anyone. For letting it happen.¡± ¡°Wait, you knew?¡± Zach asked her. ¡°Before it happened? Did we just hear that right?¡± ¡°Thanks for the head¡¯s up,¡± Donovan growled. ¡°Seriously, that¡¯s fucked up, lady. You knew, and you just let that thing kill all those people? All those children?¡± ¡°You knew?¡± Mr. Oren asked with a gasp. ¡°You knew what was going to happen?¡± ¡°I did,¡± she said, her voice breaking. ¡°We know the timers on every boss spawn and where and when they will spawn.¡± Zach clenched his hand into a fist. ¡°Why did you let it happen?¡± he asked her. Then he scowled. ¡°Do you know what that fucking thing did to¡ª¡± ¡°Zach, stop!¡± Angelica shouted, surprising him. ¡°All of you. Stop it right now!¡± She got out of her seat, her name briefly flashing red. Then she walked over and wrapped her arms around the woman. ¡°You don¡¯t know what it¡¯s like to work under Adamus. You don¡¯t understand the pain of being told you¡¯re not allowed to do what you feel is right. That¡¯s what happened, isn¡¯t it?¡± she asked Prila. ¡°You wanted to do something, didn¡¯t you? It¡¯s written all over your heart.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Prila shouted. ¡°I wanted to! I argued with him day after day, hour after hour. I begged him to let me help them. To help you, Zach. I wanted to warn you. He wouldn¡¯t let me. Even though I¡¯m just a normal, level-1 woman who is an insect to him, Adamus would stand by my side and argue with me for hours and hours. Sometimes it would get to the point where I would almost yell at him. But he never changed his mind on anything. I tried to fix things from within. I failed. I am sorry.¡± Zach¡¯s anger died down immediately. ¡°No, I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said. Now, he was the one feeling a bit of shame. ¡°I just¡­I got really hurt, and Ziragoth gave me some¡­some jitters I¡¯m still trying to get over.¡± Angelica let go of Prila then returned to her seat, but not before glaring at all of them¡ªwell, all of them except Kalana. The two appeared to have become allies somehow. They were like teammates. Because Kalana was also now glaring at him, Donovan, and Mr. Oren. ¡°Stop being mean to Prila,¡± Kalana demanded. ¡°You dunno what her story is or what her struggles are, so you don¡¯t get to make comments. You too, Donovan. That was mean and you should say sorry.¡± ¡°Ah¡­sorry,¡± Donovan said. ¡°I apologize as well,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°I just find it hard to understand how¡ª¡± ¡°Because I believed he was a God,¡± Prila said, interrupting him. ¡°He only appears for yearly-stretches every few decades. Then he vanishes. I had spent ten years believing him to be an actual God with a Godly understanding of right and wrong. But¡­but he¡¯s not. He¡¯s just a really powerful man whose views are flawed and whose system has failed the people who live under it.¡± Kalana looked saddened to hear this. ¡°Is that really true, Prila? He¡¯s not a God?¡± Prila looked at her. ¡°He¡¯s not. I know that is hard for you to hear. I used to believe he was the same as you do, Kalana. If you were only to meet him, you¡¯d know that he¡¯s not a God or anything close to one. He does not understand that Galterra today is different from Galterra three-thousand years ago. The people who live today do not understand why their children were killed by a dragon.¡± Kalana lowered her eyes as if in thought, and if she had anything to say in reply, she did not voice it. Once more clearing his throat, Mr. Oren attempted to steer the conversation back on track. ¡°Continuing where we left off,¡± he said, ¡°let¡¯s once more try to address the way in which you led adventurers to spawn points. I can tell this question makes you very, very uncomfortable, because twice now, you¡¯ve deflected, perhaps even subconsciously, instead of answering. Please, Miss Khatunara. It¡¯s important we understand.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± she said, wiping her eyes. Then she sat up straighter. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­it¡¯s really going to make me come across terribly.¡± ¡°Continuing to abet wickedness will do that,¡± Mr. Oren said, fixing her with a hard, yet eerily compassionate look. ¡°Tell us the truth. How is it that everyone with the buff eventually stumbles upon a spawn point?¡± She drew a slow breath, then nodded. ¡°We use the nanobots.¡± ¡°In what manner?¡± Mr. Oren asked. ¡°To¡­to emotionally manipulate, but subtly. Every agent comes up with their own way of doing it. It¡¯s as much an art as it is a technical skill, as terrible as that is to say. You, for example, you found your first spawn point all those years ago while walking home from school one week after the death of your mother, right?¡± Mr. Oren¡¯s mouth parted slightly, then he nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°It was a smell, right? You thought you smelled your mother¡¯s perfume coming from an abandoned, burned-down cabin two miles from your home. It made you want to enter it and see what was inside.¡± Mr. Oren¡¯s face tightened, but his voice remained calm. ¡°I¡¯ve¡­I¡¯ve never told that to anyone.¡± ¡°I made the nanobots trigger that sense. So that you would go inside the cabin and investigate what was beneath the fireplace.¡± Mr. Oren closed his eyes a moment. ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s incredibly manipulative.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so sorry.¡± ¡°I do forgive you,¡± he said. ¡°Even still, that was an awful thing to do. Because of what you did, I spent my life from that point on believing a higher-power had chosen me. I thought¡­¡± Mr. Oren¡¯s voice softened, and though he clearly tried to conceal it, Zach could distinctly hear a note of pain enter into his voice. ¡°I thought my mother¡­I thought she was sending me a message from whatever comes after death.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Alex. I really am. I only did what¡­no, that¡¯s not an excuse. There is no excuse. I am truly sorry.¡± Zach swallowed nervously. ¡°What about me and Kal? What¡¯d you do to convince me to run across that unstable ground with Kal like some kind of fucking idiot?¡± Prila winced. ¡°Ah¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± Zach asked. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll forgive you just like Mr. Oren did. How did you trick me?¡± ¡°I¡­I didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I was trying to think of a way to get you to take the risk of cutting across that unstable ground to get to school on time. But I couldn¡¯t come up with anything. No matter what I thought up, I didn¡¯t think it would be enough to actually convince you to do something suicidal like that. But then¡­then you did it anyway, all on your own, without me having to manipulate you into it.¡± Zach croaked. ¡°Bullshit!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m afraid you really are responsible for that decision all on your own.¡± Kal folded her arms and glared at him. ¡°Look at you, trying to blame other people for your dumb decisions.¡± ¡°She¡¯s clearly lying, Kal. There¡¯s no way I could ever actually be that dumb. She obviously used her computer magic to force us both to do it.¡± ¡°I did not,¡± Prila insisted. ¡°I believe you,¡± Kalana said. ¡°So do I,¡± Angelica added. Zach threw out his arms in outrage. ¡°Okay, seriously, what¡¯s going on with this team-up bullshit with you two? This is getting on my nerves now. Angelica used to always be pro-Zach until I brought you here, Kal. I demand proof that no one is nano-botting her to be automatically against me.¡± Kalana stared directly at him with an accusatory look. ¡°Zach, you better not start using this as an excuse every time you do something bad,¡± she said. ¡°I can already see you blaming things on nanobots now.¡± ¡°I can too,¡± Angelica said. ¡°Don¡¯t let him get away with it, Kalana.¡± ¡°Oh, I won¡¯t.¡± ¡°Seriously, why the fuck are you two teaming up against me? It¡¯s nanobots. It¡¯s definitely nanobots.¡± ¡°I assure you,¡± Prila said, ¡°I am not using¡ª¡± ¡°He knows,¡± Kalana fired in. ¡°He¡¯s being a jerk. Whenever he gets put on the spot, Zach gets all mean and facetious and stuff. This is just how he is. He¡¯s acting out. And now he¡¯s mad at me for telling you all how he operates.¡± ¡°It¡¯s good that ya hold him to account,¡± Angelica said. Zach waved off the both of them. ¡°This is some fucking¡ª¡± ¡°Zach, will you please watch your language,¡± Mr. Oren said with a frown. ¡°I¡¯ve asked you this so many times recently. I¡¯d appreciate it if you would ease up on the swearing.¡± ¡°But Donovan curses all the time.¡± ¡°Fuck yeah I do,¡± he said, barking out a laugh. ¡°Donovan is an adult. You are not. Please dial it down a notch or two.¡± ¡°Sorry, Mr. Oren.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all right, my man. Just please at least make an attempt.¡± Mr. Oren returned his attention to Prila. ¡°I have to ask: are these nanobots ever used to manipulate people outside of finding the spawn points?¡± At this, she gave a firm, certain shake of her head. ¡°Absolutely not,¡± she said, her tone implying there was no doubt at all in her words. ¡°Adamus would consider that interference. Other than the Will of the Favored, a buff he created for a reason I still don¡¯t understand, Adamus despises the idea of taking free will away from others or controlling their actions. I¡¯m surprised he even allows us to use the nanobots for recruitment. Even then, there are rules to how we can use them.¡± ¡°Rules?¡± Mr. Oren asked. ¡°Yes. We can¡¯t coerce anyone into anything, and we can¡¯t make people see things or hear words. We¡¯re only allowed to give subtle little nods to draw someone¡¯s attention in a certain direction. We can¡¯t alter how people think¡ªthough I don¡¯t even know if that¡¯s possible to begin with¡ªand we¡¯re not allowed to use lies or outright deception. It¡¯s really just the triggering of brief, fleeting sensations such as smells and non-verbal sounds.¡± Mr. Oren whispered something to Donovan that Zach could not hear, and then Donovan whispered something back. After a moment, the two nodded at one another, and in unison, they both set their eyes back on Prila, who looked back at them while fidgeting slightly in her seat as though nervous. ¡°I think we have the basics of who you are and what you do pretty well understood now. Before we finally move on to the reason you¡¯ve come down here, I just want to confirm this with you one last time. Your name is Prila Khatunara, you worked at the OMP with Adamus Vayra, and using¡­I¡¯ll be charitable and call it light manipulation techniques, you recruit adventurers by giving them the buff and helping them find spawn points. And you¡¯re here with us right now because you¡¯ve become disillusioned with his way of doing things. Is all that correct?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Leaning forward in his seat, an intensity now in his eyes, he said, ¡°And the reason you came down here to Galterra¡ªthe reason you risked your life to be here¡ªI am willing to guess it was to warn us about the World Eater. Is that right?¡± She met his eyes, unblinking. And when she responded, an explosion of confusion went off in Zach¡¯s head. ¡°What?¡± she asked, ¡°What¡¯s the World Eater?¡± An incredibly uneasy moment of silence fell over all of them, including even Angelica. Each of them exchanged glances with each other, as though they were all searching for some idea of what was going on here. ¡°That¡¯s¡­not why you¡¯ve come?¡± Kalana asked her. ¡°You¡¯re not here to tell us the World Eater spawns in five years?¡± ¡°The what?¡± Prila asked. ¡°The¡­how don¡¯t you know?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°You said you know all the boss spawns.¡± ¡°I do, but I¡¯ve never heard of a ¡®World Eater.¡¯ What makes you think something with that name will spawn? There¡¯s certainly no record of it that I am aware of.¡± Kalana turned her head to look at Angelica. ¡°How can she not know? Do you have any ideas?¡± ¡°I might,¡± Angelica said. She scrunched up her lips a moment as if in thought. Then she said, ¡°Regarding a term that was used in this conversation that I can¡¯t say, if I were to guess why Prila doesn¡¯t, uh, know this term, it¡¯s probably ¡®cause Adamus doesn¡¯t even trust his own people with that information. He probably thinks if they knew about¡ªinsert unspecified thing that was mentioned before¡ªeven his most loyal followers would have second thoughts about keeping it a secret.¡± ¡°Keeping what a secret?¡± Prila asked. ¡°Can somebody please fill me in?¡± The look of horror on her face when Zach explained to her what he knew told him that she was not being deceptive and really had never heard of the World Eater before. ¡°So if you walked out that door right now, Zach¡­?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t remember it,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯d forget in seconds.¡± ¡°Only you?¡± Prila asked. ¡°Yeah,¡± he grumbled. ¡°It¡¯s bullshit¡ªahh, sorry, I mean ¡®bull-poo.¡¯ I¡¯m going to be so mad when I ask what I forgot later and no one tells me.¡± ¡°But won¡¯t you know why we can¡¯t tell you?¡± Mr. Oren asked him. ¡°That alone should make you not want to ask.¡± Zach laughed. ¡°Oh, come on. Don¡¯t pretend like you¡¯re so different. If I told you right now that I¡¯m going to cast a spell on you that makes you forget something but not tell you what it is, it¡¯d drive you crazy.¡± ¡°Of course it would,¡± Mr. Oren admitted. Zach opened his mouth to declare victory, but Mr. Oren raised his pointer finger and shut him down before he could do so. ¡°I still wouldn¡¯t ask, however, as I¡¯d understand the significance of not knowing.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re actually in luck, Zach,¡± Angelica said. ¡°I am? Why?¡± ¡°Because I think I know how to break the hold he has on you.¡± Zach let out a cheer. ¡°No way? Seriously?¡± She smiled. ¡°I¡¯m actually pretty sure of it. You won¡¯t forget ever again. While you were running back to get your friends, I did a little digging, and I think there¡¯s a very simple remedy that involves, believe it or not, household ingredients.¡± ¡°Wow, great,¡± Zach said. ¡°Let¡¯s do it right away. I can¡¯t stand not being able to¡ª¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Mr. Oren shouted, his tone urgent. ¡°Do not do that.¡± ¡°Why the f¡­why the heck not?¡± Zach asked. ¡°What gives?¡± Mr. Oren sighed. ¡°I know you¡¯re not going to want to hear this, but I can¡¯t let you do that, Zach. It¡¯s a small sacrifice you¡¯re going to need to make for the greater good.¡± ¡°But why?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°Yeah, why the hell not?¡± Donovan also inquired. Mr. Oren lifted his hand and pointed at the ceiling. ¡°Now that we know there¡¯s a monitoring platform that¡¯s, well, monitoring us, it stands to reason that if Zach is somehow able to remember the World Eater for a prolonged period of time, this ¡®Adamus¡¯ fellow will realize that his secret is out. And given everything we¡¯ve heard now from two different witnesses: Angelica and Prila, I would strongly recommend that, from this point forward, we begin acting as though Adamus is a hostile enemy and someone that we need to consider an adversary. For this reason, we cannot let him know what we know. He must think he¡¯s still in control and pulling the strings.¡± Prila raised her finger as if to interject. ¡°I think you all might be overestimating things, a bit.¡± Mr. Oren sat up straighter and asked, ¡°How so?¡± ¡°You¡¯re all acting like if you speak about these topics while not in this room, Adamus will somehow know. It doesn¡¯t actually work like that. If it did, I wouldn¡¯t be here right now, as I didn¡¯t even know about this room, and I fully intended to return after speaking with you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­a good point,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°But from what Zach and Kalana told me, I was under the impression that we could only speak of these matters in this room or else it was a virtual certainty we¡¯d be exposed.¡± ¡°No, not at all,¡± Prila said. ¡°We only have the ability to listen in while you¡¯re in a dungeon. While out and about in Galterra, we have visual only, not audio. So you don¡¯t actually have to¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Prila, but you¡¯re wrong,¡± Angelica said. ¡°If they mention anything outside of this room, Adamus will know, and I will be deleted from existence.¡± Prila shook her head ardently. ¡°No, that¡¯s not true. On this, I am correct. I spent ten years working at¡ª¡± ¡°Station 9,¡± Angelica said, again cutting her off. ¡°Sweetie, did ya ever visit stations 1, 5, and 7?¡± ¡°Of course not. Those aren¡¯t operational.¡± ¡°They are. And they¡¯re only used for one purpose: spying on Galterrans to find agents of Eilea Vayra, his wife. She and the people she influences are the only people Adamus will lift a finger to stop. Now that Eilea¡¯s been secretly helping Zach, Adamus will include Zach, the GSG, and everyone in his orbit in his surveillance operation so that he can stay one step ahead of her.¡± Prila rubbed her face as if exhausted. ¡°At this point, I¡¯ll take your word for it. I knew that we had enemies in Galterra led by the other Great One, but I was never told the extent of it.¡± Zach coughed into his fist. ¡°So¡­long story short. Do I get to remember or don¡¯t I?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t,¡± Kalana, Mr. Oren, and Donovan all said at the same time. Zach sighed. ¡°All right. I accept that.¡± Of all things, Mr. Oren and Kalana actually seemed surprised by his lack of reluctance. But this was because, deep down, he realized that Mr. Oren was right. What was more: he needed to start behaving like an adult. He needed to learn to make sacrifices for the greater good outside of those he made in fits of passion, such as during his battle with Ziragoth. For once, he¡¯d like to just go along with something without causing a fuss. ¡°If it¡¯s in our best interest for me to keep forgetting the World Eater, I¡¯ll do it. But I still need to go to Dragon Squire. I can¡¯t be sure, but I think Eilea and the guy with the mask were trying to get me to understand that I have to be the one who goes.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll cross that bridge when we come to it,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°We still have to deal with Ziragoth tomorrow morning first. After that, we¡¯ll turn our attention to protecting Galterra from the World Eater.¡± A brief moment of silence fell upon them all, and then it was Kalana who gave voice to the dreaded question that Zach knew they must have all now been wondering. ¡°So, wait,¡± she said. ¡°If you didn¡¯t come here to warn us about the World Eater, what did you come to warn us about?¡± ¡°Oh, right, of course.¡± Her voice turned grim, and a determination immediately popped into her eyes. ¡°The reason I came here was actually to warn Angelica specifically. I actually didn¡¯t know you or Zach would be here¡ªor any of you for that matter. But the reason I¡¯m here right now is because last week I learned something terrible. And unlike with Ziragoth, this time around, I am determined to do the right thing. I¡¯m going to make a difference for once.¡± ¡°What did you learn?¡± Mr. Oren asked. Zach felt his muscles tense. He had the feeling he was not going to like this. ¡°First, I need to ask: how many spawn points do you think are left in North Bastia?¡± ¡°I have no idea,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°But based on what I¡¯ve heard from other adventurers, my sense is that the vast majority of us seem to have been led to the same seven spawn points for the past few decades. Eight, if you count Zach¡¯s, though that one was new to me. Maybe Zephyr knew of it, but I had no idea there was one right below us in Whispery Woods.¡± Prila placed her palms flat on the table and leaned forward. ¡°That¡¯s because there wasn¡¯t one, and you adventurers really did find the only seven spawn points left in the entire continent of North Bastia. At least, outside of those claimed by the political guilds. But for Galterra, a planet that had tens of millions: there were only seven open spawn points left in existence in North Bastia¡ªuntil there were eight¡­¡± ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± Mr. Oren asked, his eyes widening ¡°Since it takes a minimum of two Great Ones to make the smallest possible system update, and since Adamus and his wife are mortal enemies, he hasn¡¯t been able to do much for a really, really long time. But about two years ago, we were informed that a project he¡¯d been working on for almost a thousand years had been completed. It¡¯s a method he discovered of rebooting spawn points. It has thus far been tested only once: in the Whispery Woods region.¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t believe it,¡± Mr. Oren whispered. ¡°The spawn point Zach found was reset?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°This is indeed very important,¡± he said, coming across as genuinely amazed and startled. ¡°Thank you for telling us.¡± ¡°Oh, this isn¡¯t the thing I came to tell you, actually. It¡¯s just what you need to know in order for me to explain what comes next.¡± Once again, Zach tensed as she continued to speak. And this time, she said something that caused everyone to release an utterance of shock and alarm. ¡°One of the last arguments I ever had with Adamus was over what I am about to tell you. Adamus is planning to rejuvenate the spawn points. Not all at once, but in waves, beginning a few weeks from now. At the time, I told him myself I thought it was a good idea, at least until I found out that he¡¯s not planning to rejuvenate the spawn points in empty, isolated areas where people won¡¯t be killed.¡± The tension in the room skyrocketed, and Mr. Oren, speaking loudly, shouted, ¡°Where is he going to activate them?¡± Prila grabbed the sides of her wheelchair as though for support, and she opened her eyes widely as she looked at all of them. ¡°He¡¯s going to activate them completely at random.¡± Chapter 91: The Boy in the Woods Chapter 91: The Boy in the Woods Getting up from the table with the others, Zach and Kalana exchanged a look, yet it was not one of fear, but hope. Despite the past few hours consisting of one bombshell after the next, there was a rising sense within Zach that he had truly become part of something very, very important. It gave him a motivating feeling of purpose. And this seemed to be shared by Mr. Oren as well; despite the man having had his entire worldview shattered, he had quickly become renewed in a sense. For the past thirty minutes, he, Kalana, Donovan, Mr. Oren, and Prila had continued to sit at the table and engage in relatively milder topics of discussion while they finished their meals. Mr. Oren and Donovan had gone back to eating, and even Prila had taken a few bites of food. Though, having been under general anesthesia, she probably wasn¡¯t the hungriest person alive. Angelica, for her part, had hurriedly gotten up and rushed out of the room, as she claimed there was a surge of demand and people were getting impatient. Now, as they began slowly moving towards the door that would take them out of the ¡°privacy room,¡± Mr. Oren placed one hand on Zach¡¯s shoulder and one hand on Kalana¡¯s. ¡°I know you two want to spend some time together here,¡± he said, ¡°but please be back before sunset. I don¡¯t know if you were planning to stay out all night and show up in the morning, but please don¡¯t. You need to get back, get some sleep, and be ready to fight.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Kalana said. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure we don¡¯t stay longer than an hour. Right, Zach?¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess,¡± he said. ¡°I just figured you wouldn¡¯t mind too much as long as we made it on time.¡± ¡°If I can be honest with you, my man, I wouldn¡¯t want you there at all if you were fighting at or even near your own level. The same goes for Kalana. The thing is¡­you¡¯re going to be very important to our success, at least based on what I heard about your plans with the queen tomorrow. She brought it up in the briefing, and although I was disappointed you and Kalana chose to skip out, I was actually very proud of you for overcoming your fears enough to reach that point.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Zach asked, scratching his head. ¡°My plans with the queen?¡± Kalana, too, looked baffled. ¡°What plans?¡± ¡°She claims that you and her overcame your differences and that, for the sake of the greater good, you¡¯re willing to trust her so that you can call upon some great power she claims you have.¡± Nothing Mr. Oren just said to him sounded familiar. ¡°Great power?¡± he asked, repeating the words. ¡°Huh? I don¡¯t remember ever¡­ohh! Wait.¡± He snapped his fingers. ¡°She means Phase Level 3.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with what that is, but perhaps. She refused to tell us anything about it without your permission.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of that either,¡± Kalana said. Then she frowned. ¡°But if my mom gets to know, I should know, too.¡± Zach looked around. There was no one in this room he couldn¡¯t absolutely trust¡ªincluding Prila, since she already knew exactly what he could do and likely knew a whole lot more than that, too. And so, asking them to briefly join his party, Zach showed them all of his Phase abilities, and honestly? After the nightmarish thing he¡¯d done to the Ziragoth adds, it seemed like his Doomsday Slash actually helped blunt the level of shock and fear that he¡¯d worried they¡¯d express upon seeing it. That, in combination with the mind-crushing discoveries they¡¯d all made today, ended up providing Zach with the perfect opportunity to finally confide in them. ¡°This is what she¡¯s referring to,¡± he said, bringing forth the information. He held nothing back from them save for one thing and one thing alone: Doomsday Slash. And this was not due to any desire to keep it a secret, but rather, he himself was not ready to look at that ability. Since it was on a five-year cooldown, he¡¯d decided to wait a little longer before diving into that. At any rate, he remained silent while they read the information he conjured into the air before him. The fact that Queen Vayra had not told them how Unleashed Phase worked was yet another sign of their growing trust, and his attitude and view towards the Elvish queen was definitely beginning to change for the positive even despite her flaws.
(UNLEASHED Ability) Phase Reset (UNIQUE) Resets the cooldown of Unleashed Phase and increases Phase Level by 1. The Phase Level determines the following properties when using Unleashed Phase. Usage Cost: 0:00 (Phase Level decreases by 1 every twenty-four hours.)
Phase Level 0 (default) Exertion Level: High
Phase Level 1 Exertion Level: High. Additional +5 to all basic stats and additional Armor + 5
Phase Level 2 Exertion Level: Very High. Additional + 30 to all basic stats and additional Armor + 30
Phase Level 3 Exertion Level: Very High. Additional + 50 to all basic stats and additional Armor + 50
Phase Level 4 Exertion Level: Extreme. Additional + 100 to all basic stats an additional armor + 100
Phase Level 5 Exertion Level: EXTREME+ Additional + 1000 to all basic stats and armor + 1000
Phase Level 6 Exertion Level: Terminal. In exchange for the life of the user, additional + 10,000 to all basic stats, and armor +10,000. User has access to every ability and every spell. User can move faster than light. User can summon up to 5 dragons. Cannot summon Elder Dragons.
Upon carefully reading over the information, Mr. Oren and Donovan glanced at one another. Then, both of them exhaled in unison, and of all things, a look of relief crossed their faces. It was certainly not the reaction Zach had expected, but it sure did beat fear. If anything, the two of them actually seemed kind of glad. Donovan gave him a heavy pat on his shoulder, which hurt so Gods-damned bad even though he now had 85 points of constitution with his gear on, which meant the man clearly did this on purpose and calculated how hard he hit depending on who he was hitting. I knew it, Zach thought, chuckling for some reason. Mr. Oren also gave him a pat, though his was much more friendly and less aggressive. ¡°This is really good,¡± he said. ¡°Are those stat boosts cumulative? Meaning, at Phase Level 3, do you gain an extra +50 in total or +85?¡± ¡°It should give me +85,¡± he said. ¡°But that¡¯s on top of the +20 just from being in Unleashed Phase. So, it¡¯s +105 in total.¡± ¡°That¡¯s even better. If you¡¯re really going to add that much to your stats, you¡¯ll probably need to join the main raid group with the GSG.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that for the people fighting on the frontlines?¡± Zach asked, becoming nervous. Mr. Oren nodded. ¡°If Queen Vayra is able to help you call upon that ability, it¡¯s where you belong. Especially since I believe that¡­¡± He paused a moment before continuing, and he averted his gaze while slightly moving his lips as though calculating something in his head. ¡°Yes,¡± he whispered, though mostly to himself. Then, once more looking at Zach, he said, ¡°This might surprise you to hear, but at least stat-wise, there¡¯s a good chance you¡¯ll temporarily become the most powerful member of the raid tomorrow. Of course, that¡¯s just a guess. I¡¯m not actually sure if Kalana¡¯s stats are higher.¡± ¡°No, his will be,¡± she said. ¡°I saw his stats earlier. With that ability, he¡¯s gonna break 200 strength. But I dunno if that¡¯ll make him the most powerful of everyone, ¡®cause I dunno what my mom¡¯s stats are. But he¡¯ll definitely be the most powerful human. There might still be a few Elves with higher stats.¡± ¡°Even still,¡± Donovan said, whistling and nodding his head approvingly. ¡°Gods damn! I¡¯ve never heard of anyone going over 200 strength. Highest I ever got with buffs was 196. Kid¡¯s not even level 20 yet, is he? And if we get some buffs thrown on him¡­?¡± Zach sighed. ¡°The thing is, guys, I¡­I really don¡¯t want to fight the dragon. I¡¯m ashamed to admit this, but I¡¯m scared. I¡¯m really scared.¡± Kalana took his hand and squeezed it. ¡°You don¡¯t have to go if you really don¡¯t wanna.¡± ¡°Yes, he does,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°He has to get over this. If you don¡¯t fight it with us tomorrow, Zach, then even if we win without you, you¡¯ll spend the rest of your life living in fear.¡± ¡°I know I will. I¡¯m just so terrified of that thing. I¡¯m so afraid of what it could do to me again.¡± ¡°And you¡¯ll continue to be,¡± Donovan grunted. ¡°Up until the moment you hit it, you¡¯re gonna feel like shitting your pants. But as soon as you slash that fucker one time, that fear will change into anger real quick.¡± He narrowed his eyes at Zach, and a look of warning came over him so suddenly that Zach wasn¡¯t sure what to make of it. ¡°But no matter what you do, kid, don¡¯t you dare lose control of your temper and pull aggro off the tanks. If you or Alex does that, you¡¯re both in a world of hurt. I don¡¯t want to see either of you pulling that shit.¡± Mr. Oren leaned closer and whispered into his ear. ¡°Later today, I¡¯ll teach you how to perform the DPS role properly in a raid.¡± Zach nodded his thanks. Then, together, the five of them exited the room and began making their way down the hallway leading to the upstairs back-room. After taking just one, tiny little step outside, Zach stopped short, looked around at the others, and said, ¡°Wow, I already can¡¯t remember.¡± Mr. Oren, frowning at him, lifted his finger to his nose and gave him a frustrated glare. Kalana also slapped the back of his head, though very gently. ¡°What? I can¡¯t even say¡ª¡± Mr. Oren lifted his eyebrows, and he more tightly pressed his finger into his nose, turning the expression from a warning into a threat. Zach sighed. ¡°Okay, okay, I got it.¡± It really did drive him nuts, though. There was such a huge danger coming to Galterra at some point in the future¡ªhe wasn¡¯t quite sure when¡ªand he wasn¡¯t even allowed to know what it was. Taking an educated guess, he assumed it was some kind of boss spawn. Otherwise, why would he have involved these particular people? But he couldn¡¯t remember the nature of it, how much was known about it, what its name was¡ªassuming it had one¡ªand when the danger would arrive. And when he thought back to the conversation they¡¯d had just before, he could remember every detail¡ªexcept when it came to specifics of¡­of whatever it was Zach had warned them about. ¡°Kal,¡± he whispered, low enough so that not even Mr. Oren could hear him. ¡°Just give me a hint about what the¡ª¡± ¡°Nah-uh,¡± she whispered back. ¡°I¡¯m not telling you.¡± ¡°This is the most unfair shit ever.¡± ¡°Too bad!¡± Upon reaching the steps, Donovan, who¡¯d been pushing Prila¡¯s wheelchair, scooped up the woman with a surprising gentleness while Kalana carried the chair itself. ¡°I should be able to walk by next week,¡± Prila said. ¡°This is so humiliating. But I guess if I had to end up in a man¡¯s arms, I could do worse.¡± She blushed, and Donovan barked out a laugh. ¡°Darling, you¡¯d better be careful who you tease,¡± he said back to her. Zach tuned the both of them out as they began to flirt with one another. Together, they quickly marched their way up the stairs before setting her back down in her wheelchair and continuing onwards. As they moved their way down another hall and neared the tavern, Zach couldn¡¯t help but wonder if Angelica¡¯s sounded just a tad bit louder than it usually did. It was hard to tell, because it was always really loud. ¡°Remember,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°You can hang out here for an hour, but then afterwards, you both need to¡ªare you kidding me?¡± he asked, finishing his words in a growl. ¡°I am beside myself right now. What in the name of the Gods are those idiots doing?¡± Rounding the corner and finally walking back into the open area of the tavern, Zach was immediately greeted with the sight of the largest number of people he¡¯d ever seen in Angelica¡¯s at a single time. Right now, in addition to the already large group of adventurers who had been here when Zach had arrived, the entire raid camp¡ªas in all one-hundred percent of them¡ªhad showed up, as well as what looked like another few hundred thrill-seeking, lower-level adventurers who must have wanted to join in on the fun. ¡°How could they?¡± Alex hissed. ¡°Donovan, can you believe they¡¯d just up and¡ª¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get fucking drunk, boys!¡± Donovan shouted, marching out into the cheering crowd, who raised their mugs in his honor as he stomped his plate boots down on the wood flooring. There was an explosion of noise so loud that it made the entire place vibrate like a person playing music with the bass set too high. There was even a seat already opened up for him as though they¡¯d been waiting for him to arrive. ¡°Donovan, you bastard!¡± one of them cried. ¡°Did you think you could take Zach and the princess out for some fun and leave us behind in that hellish heat?¡± ¡°I sure tried, you bald son of a bitch! Now give me a gods-damned hug and get me a beer!¡± Zach smiled. Although he could totally understand Mr. Oren¡¯s frustration, he himself had grown to really appreciate even the most jarring qualities of the adventurers. They lived in the moment. Truly. Their lives spent facing danger, they lived each second like it could be their last, and they enjoyed all of it. Mr. Oren was so totally different from these people. In all honesty¡ªand he didn¡¯t even mean this in a bad way¡ªMr. Oren should¡¯ve been a political guild leader. The world would be so much better off for it, and so would he. At least, that was what Zach was starting to think. ¡°This,¡± he whispered into Kalana¡¯s ear, ¡°is the Angelica¡¯s I wanted you to see.¡± She beamed at him. ¡°Look how much fun everyone¡¯s having! Wait, is that my mom?¡± she asked, pointing. Zach looked in the direction indicated, and to his utter disbelief, Fylwen Vayra, along with all fifty of her Elvish warriors, were drinking together and hanging out with the adventurers. No, wait¡ªmore than fifty. There were closer to a hundred now, including some of the white-cloaks. Zach even recognized some of them from the battle against Olivir¡¯s zombies. ¡°What are all of them doing here?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°I can¡¯t believe my mom¡¯s in a place like this.¡± ¡°You should really go talk to her,¡± Zach said. ¡°Now¡¯s a chance for you two to spend time together. This is actually a really good place for that.¡± ¡°But what about you?¡± ¡°Kal, I¡¯d come here with you every day of the week if you really wanted. Now¡¯s your chance to hang out with your mom. I¡¯m not saying you have to forgive her or like her but¡­it couldn¡¯t hurt for you to just talk.¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Kalana nodded, kissed him on his cheek, hurriedly muttered, ¡°I love you,¡± and then marched over to where her mother was sitting with the other Elvish warriors. The look on her face as she saw her daughter approaching was one of longing combined with genuine happiness. He had no idea if those two could ever reconcile. The fact that Zach chose to forgive Fylwen might help Kalana do so, but only with regard to what had happened to him. There were likely many other things for which she needed forgiveness. Certainly, for what she¡¯d done to Kolona. But even aside from that, there were probably other things that Zach didn¡¯t even know about given the hostility between herself and Eldora. Speaking of Eldora, even he¡¯s here, Zach realized. He was hanging out exclusively with a small group of adventurers from the GSG: specifically, those who had helped him deal with the adds on the hill. There were five of them, all men, and all in their late thirties and early forties. Zach did not know their names, but he could tell that Eldora had become fast friends with each of them. He was glad to see it. Eldora had looked a little lonely lately, so watching him become best buddies with a group of adventurers made Zach smile. Right now, the man was chugging down a mug of beer and laughing. And with the ambient volume in the place so loud, it was difficult to hear what he was saying to them. But from the few words Zach was able to discern, it sounded like Eldora and his five GSG friends were considering forming a group next week to fight some boss that spawned in a region called ¡°New York.¡± I¡¯m really happy he¡¯s found a group of guys his age to spend time with. Everywhere Zach looked, people were having a great time. Even Fluffles and Chumpkenwiffles were getting along for once. The two were eating out of the same bowl that Angelica had set down near Queen Vayra while Kalana kept leaning over to pet them both. Not far from where she and her mother were sitting together, Zach spotted Rian and Lienne, the two of them still together with Elves they had met on the beach. They both waved to Zach, and he waved back. But then they quickly returned their attention to their dates¡ªassuming that was what they were. With so many merry people all around him, Zach was surprised to realize that there was only a single person in all of Angelica¡¯s who was not currently in a good mood¡ªand that person was Mr. Oren. Standing beside him, there was no hiding the anger that Mr. Oren was feeling. He could actually see the man¡¯s shoulders tremble as he watched everyone drink, eat, sing, and dance. ¡°Alex, you need to relax,¡± Spider said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. ¡°You¡¯re way too uptight. Why don¡¯t you cut loose and have a drink? We might all die tomorrow. Don¡¯t be a grump on what might be the last night of your life.¡± Mr. Oren glared at the man. ¡°I¡¯m fed up is what I am. This is irresponsible. This could create so much friction with the political guilds.¡± ¡°Actually, they were the ones who told us we could go if we wanted.¡± At this, about three-quarters of Mr. Oren¡¯s anger was replaced by a sudden bout of confusion, evident by the way he held up his pointer finger, made as if to speak, then only managed to turn his head partially to the side before uttering a single word: ¡°What?¡± Spider grinned. ¡°Right after you and Don left with Zach, High-Lord Kolorn Besh came up to me and Zephyr and asked us where you went. I didn¡¯t see no reason to lie, so I said you probably took the kid out for a cola in a bar we all like to go to just to take off some of the edge.¡± ¡°And¡­what did he say?¡± Mr. Oren asked. ¡°He said the rest of us should feel free to go with ya. I couldn¡¯t help but notice, though, that there was a whole ¡®lotta media people showing up. I think the political guilds were planning to hold a huge press conference right around now.¡± He laughed. ¡°They probably didn¡¯t want us anywhere in the area while it¡¯s going on. So trust me, I wouldn¡¯t have let everyone come out here if I thought it¡¯d create problems. So chill your ass down and stop acting like a Gods-damned nanny all the time.¡± Zach recalled that Spider was the second-in-command of the GSG, and so, with Donovan having stepped out, it had likely been his call to make¡ªat least so far as the GSG was concerned. ¡°Hey, Spider?¡± Zach asked. ¡°What¡¯s up, son?¡± He glanced over to the front of the tavern, unable to believe the words that came out of his mouth even as he spoke them. ¡°I uh¡­I¡¯ve got a lot of¡­¡± He tapped on his chest, not sure how to express himself. ¡°There¡¯s a lot I need to get out of my system. Do you think we could have another fight? Not because I¡¯m mad at you or anything. I actually think you¡¯re pretty cool.¡± ¡°Naw, I get it. I go against friends all the time. Friendly fights are as common as rivalries in here.¡± He elbowed Zach in the side, though he did so affectionately. ¡°I could go for round two. Just don¡¯t go calling down the fires of heaven on me,¡± he added with a laugh. ¡°Zach,¡± Mr. Oren said, his tone sharp and angered. ¡°You can¡¯t fight Spider right now.¡± ¡°Wait, why not?¡± He scowled. ¡°Because I¡¯m going to.¡± At this, Spider grinned sadistically. ¡°Oh, now this I can¡¯t refuse. Alex Oren, the stuck-up, know-it-all, uptight, dragon-ass-loving punk science bitch. Now that¡¯s something I just can¡¯t say no to. Don¡¯t worry, son. We can have a rematch next. This has to come first.¡± The two of them stormed their way over to the counter. Without even saying a word to Angelica, the level-1027, cat-eared NPC seemed to somehow already know what they were planning, as she quickly headed over to where Zach was still standing just in front of the entrance to the back-room, likely to retrieve the nullification grapes that would revert them to level 1. Both men were already stripping down to their underwear. ¡°Uh, Angelica?¡± he said, a sudden alarm traveling through him as something very important popped up in his mind. ¡°If¡­if everyone¡¯s here, then that means Olivir and Kolona are all alone with no one to talk to back at the camp. Do you think I could¡ª¡± ¡°They¡¯re already here,¡± she said, lifting her chin. ¡°I¡¯m a super-duper productive girl! I snuck away and gave him the buff right after I left you guys downstairs. I also told him you wanted to talk to him very badly and that you know you were being a total jerk to him.¡± Zach cringed. ¡°You told him that?¡± ¡°Mhm. I also told him that you were afraid he wouldn¡¯t be your friend anymore.¡± ¡°And what did he say?¡± She laughed. ¡°He said you¡¯re being an idiot.¡± Zach shook his head, then rubbed his eyes. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. As Angelica pointed to a spot in the back-right corner of the tavern, he could now see that Olivir was sitting at one of the few booths in the place with Kolona by his side, his arm around her. And both looked¡­happy. They were having a very good time and in high spirits. He knew they¡¯d love it here. Quickly offering his thanks to Angelica, Zach moved as fast as he could across the tavern and headed towards them. Given that so many people were here, the area that consisted of the bar, dance floor, and dining area was larger than usual. As he¡¯d observed once before, the tavern could actually expand to accommodate more people, something far too crazy for him to wrap his mind around trying to understand. There has to be at least five-hundred people here tonight, he thought. Word must¡¯ve spread that there was going to be a party here or something. So many people showed up! Given just how few people in the world would ever level up or even see a mob¡ªZiragoth and yearly tournaments excluded¡ªa very decent percentage of the adventuring community as a whole was probably here with them right now. Zach reasoned that there could not possibly be more than two, maybe three-thousand human adventurers in existence. Factoring out the Elves, his quick estimation¡ªand he wasn¡¯t exactly counting or anything¡ªwas that more than four hundred of the people here were adventurers. That¡¯s a lot considering there¡¯s so few of us¡­ Over five-hundred million humans lived in North Bastia alone, and a billion lived in South Bastia. If Zach¡¯s estimation was correct, and there were only two- or three-thousand human adventurers in the world, then that meant that adventurers only made up¡­assuming he was doing it right in his head, it was something like 0.0002% of the human population. For this reason, it deeply angered him that Adamus might have actually found a way to bring back spawn points, and rather than use it to safely respawn mobs and bring the world of adventuring to the public in a controlled, sensible, and reasonable manner, he planned to let random chance dole out favor or punishment. What if a mob spawned in someone¡¯s home? Even if they killed it, it¡¯d just come back. Zach doubted the political guilds of today still knew how to destroy the spawn points. That meant anywhere a mob spawned¡ªbe it in the middle of a highway or even in a hospital¡ªthat was that. There would be no means of dealing with it outside of abandoning any spot they showed up in. And if Adamus had his way, they¡¯d show up everywhere. We need to stop that somehow, he thought. Donovan and Mr. Oren have to find a way. Otherwise, this means the end of civilization itself. The more that Zach saw of this world of adventuring, and the more that he thought about things, he was slowly coming to the conclusion that the various races of Galterra had not been wrong for eliminating some of the spawn points. That had been the right thing to do, Zach now believed. What had been wrong was the way they had completely eliminated all of them: or almost all of them, rather. Especially since a great many were located in what were empty, unused places, such as the grasslands, where the raid was taking place tomorrow. These ¡°middle of nowhere¡± places could provide willing, consenting people the opportunity to knowingly accept the risk to their lives in order to level up¡ªand all without putting anyone else¡¯s life in danger. Zach believed that people had a fundamental right to build homes and live in safety. But, at the same time, others had a right to adventure, grow stronger, and improve themselves. Why did people of the past think it had to come down to one or the other? Maybe Zach was just being naive, but he really didn¡¯t see why a compromise couldn¡¯t have been reached. As long as areas with mobs were clearly marked, then there was no reason to rid of the world of something so important. If I ruled the world, that¡¯s what I¡¯d do, he thought. I¡¯d bring back the spawns, but only in places where it made sense and wouldn¡¯t endanger anybody¡¯s lives. A chill went down his spine as he realized that it wasn¡¯t outside the realm of possibility that he could actually one day rule the¡­ No, don¡¯t think that. Don¡¯t you dare. Zach snapped himself out of the scary idea that had come to him and took a seat at the rounded booth where Olivir and Kolona looked up at him as though clearly waiting for his arrival. There was even a cherry cola on a napkin waiting for him. Angelica must¡¯ve told Olivir that was his favorite. ¡°Hey,¡± Zach said, nervously scratching his head and taking a sip of his beverage. His pent-up worries begging for release, he launched himself straight into it. ¡°Guys, look. I¡¯m sorry. I really am. And I know that I¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Olivir said. ¡°We forgive you.¡± ¡°You¡­do?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Kolona said. ¡°I understand why you did the things you did. I just wish you¡¯d have trusted us more.¡± That they would just outright forgive him actually caused guilt to swell in his chest. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I made it look like I was siding with your enemy. And I¡¯m sorry I acted like a barbarian in front of you two. But just so you guys know, that was the guy I told you about in Archian Prime. The one who murdered my dad.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Olivir said. ¡°I know you weren¡¯t unjustified in going after him. And as far as the queen is concerned, the truth is we¡¯ve also made peace with Queen Vayra.¡± Zach widened his eyes in shock. ¡°Wait, what?¡± He nodded. ¡°We¡¯re allowed to go home now any time we want. We know what you did for us.¡± ¡°What I¡­did for you?¡± he asked. ¡°Yeah. She told us. About an hour ago, the queen came up to me and Kolona in the raid camp and told us you two had a long chat. She said that one of the main reasons you even agreed to speak with her in the first place was to convince her to end the war with me and Kolona and let us go home.¡± That didn¡¯t happen, Zach thought, astonished. I never even mentioned those two when I talked to Fylwen. ¡°I¡¯m grateful for what you did.¡± ¡°Okay, but here¡¯s the thing,¡± Zach said. ¡°I never¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, dude. We get it. You¡¯re going through a hard time.¡± It was in this moment that Zach realized that, despite knowing these two for a very short time, he already considered them true friends, because the dishonesty at the core of it all made him feel guilty and uncomfortable in a way that it wouldn¡¯t have if he did not actually care about them. And though he hadn¡¯t been the one to make up this lie, and though a part of him actually felt gratitude towards Fylwen for doing this, the lie that formed the basis of things just didn¡¯t sit right with him. ¡°She lied to you,¡± Zach said, wanting to get the truth out there quickly and not delay the inevitable. ¡°About what?¡± Olivir asked. Zach tensed. ¡°I really do like you two. I don¡¯t want to lose you guys as friends. It would be easy for me to let you think¡­that that¡¯s what happened. But the truth is I didn¡¯t talk about you two at all. I was so absorbed in my own hatred I never even considered the way my actions would make you feel. And the old me would¡¯ve been happy to lie my way out of this¡ªor let someone else lie for me. But here¡¯s what really happened. I¡¯ll tell you everything.¡± Without a single interruption, Olivir and Kolona listened intently as Zach told them in great detail everything that had taken place between the moment he crash-landed down at the raid camp and the moment he¡¯d returned a bit later with the Elvish queen. When he finished, he lowered his head in shame. ¡°So, she¡¯s only trying to make things better for me, but I feel too guilty to let you think I did something I didn¡¯t.¡± Right away, he knew he¡¯d made a big, big mistake. The look of outrage and disgust on their faces was so intense that Zach could tell he¡¯d not only lost two of what could possibly have been his most powerful friends, but he may have just made two terribly strong enemies. Or at least¡­at least that was his initial impression. But then, out of nowhere, Kolona coughed. Then she coughed a second time. And before Zach realized what was happening, he realized she was bawling, tears running wildly down her eyes. Olivir hugged her. ¡°So that¡¯s what they did to our women,¡± she whimpered. ¡°My mother was in that place with her, Oli!¡± At first, their reaction left him feeling completely lost. But only then, in yet another display of his short-sightedness, did he realize that the look of revulsion on their faces was not meant for him¡ªnor was it meant for Fylwen. It had been for the nightmare that the Elvish people had been subjected to. Zach hadn¡¯t even intended for that to be the focus of his story, but it was the one they had honed in on. This isn¡¯t even about me, he thought. As though sensing Zach¡¯s uncertainty, Olivir looked at him, and now it was him who apologized. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said. ¡°I didn¡¯t make that face because I¡¯m upset with you. It was more about what you just said. You¡¯re still our buddy, Zach. Everyone screws up sometimes. You were a bit insensitive to us, but it seems like you know that, so it¡¯s all good by me. But what you told us¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°I didn¡¯t know it was that bad. Kolona wasn¡¯t there for the worst of it, thank the Gods.¡± ¡°She wasn¡¯t?¡± ¡°No. She and Kalana, they had it bad, don¡¯t get me wrong. But both of them grew up as prisoners after Peter IV was already dead. The level of malice and evil they were subjected to was horrific, but it paled in comparison to what¡­to what came before.¡± He released a saddened sigh, one loud enough to be heard over the music playing in the background. This, as in the corner of his eyes, Zach saw Mr. Oren and Spider furiously swinging at each other with what looked like real animosity. When Zach had fought Spider, none of the ruthlessness he now saw had been present, confirming that Spider really had just been trying to teach him a few important things about combat and fighting. And worse, he¡¯d clearly been going easy on Zach. Right now, those two were hammering away at each other with a ferocity that made him feel uneasy. Lips were being split, eyes were being blackened, and blood was starting to fall. Angelica did not seem ready to stop it, either. Returning his attention to Kolona, he said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry if what I said hurt you.¡± ¡°No,¡± she replied, wiping her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s important I know. It doesn¡¯t change the way Queen Vayra killed and then later terrorized me, but it does make me feel¡­differently about it.¡± ¡°That was exactly my response,¡± Zach said. ¡°I just don¡¯t know how you can hate the woman after you find out something like that. What¡­what even happened between you and her, Kolona? Why did she kill you?¡± Kolona lowered her head. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be rude, Zach, but it¡¯s not something I¡¯m ready to talk about.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°But I agree with you. What Queen Vayra was subjected to makes it a lot harder to hate her.¡± Olivir twisted his lips sourly. ¡°Maybe. But remember: it doesn¡¯t make what she did okay. She¡¯s still responsible for her own choices.¡± Then, in a quiet and somewhat more reflective tone of voice, he said, ¡°Even still, I can¡¯t believe Pete turned out that way. Learning what he did really upsets me. That wasn¡¯t the kind of person he used to be.¡± Zach leaned forward in the booth so that his elbows were on the table, and then, looking around so as to ensure no one was overhearing them, he asked, ¡°You knew him?¡± In an even quieter whisper, he said, ¡°Peter IV?¡± Olivir nodded. ¡°Not only did I know him, he was an adventurer like you, Zach. I know this because he showed up in Archian Prime about fifty years ago. Back when he was around your age. I think he was fifteen or sixteen years old. He was a really good kid. I just¡­I don¡¯t know what happened to him.¡± ¡°But how is that even possible?¡± Zach asked. ¡°He was a political guy. I thought they can¡¯t do that or something.¡± The vampire shrugged. ¡°Well, he sure did. He must¡¯ve had that buff.¡± ¡°And what was he like?¡± At this, Olivir stirred as though uncomfortable. ¡°You might not wanna hear this, dude, but¡­he was a lot like you.¡± Zach frowned, then downed his cherry cola in three quick gulps. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± he said, wiping his lips. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear that.¡± ¡°Anyways, there¡¯s some stuff I need to tell you two at some point, but I can¡¯t say it outright. It doesn¡¯t have to be today, but eventually, at some point, I need you guys to follow me to¡­¡± ***** ¡°Whoah!¡± Pete said, looking every which way as Olivir led him through the great forests. ¡°So the Elves live here too?¡± Olivir laughed. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a secret colony of them. Hey, Pete, how¡¯d you take down that raid boss by yourself? You scared me half to death when I saw you charging at it.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t even want to, Oli. It aggroed, and I thought it might come after you.¡± Olivir was stunned. Not a lot of people would willingly risk their lives for a vampire they just met. ¡°I appreciate it, dude.¡± Looking to change the subject, he asked, ¡°How¡¯s life on Galterra these days?¡± ¡°It¡¯s changed a lot since you said you were last there. Are you really over a hundred-fifty years old?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°That¡¯s awesome.¡± The two of them continued their way through the forest. Olivir had agreed to be his sort-of ¡°tour guide.¡± They¡¯d run into each other by accident. Pete had gotten lost trying to complete some kind of quest he¡¯d found back in the Rainbow Trails, and he¡¯d gone in the completely wrong direction. Olivir, on the other hand, had been leveling with Grundor, who was currently running back to the estate to stash some surplus weapons they¡¯d looted that wouldn¡¯t fit into their Bank and Storages boxes, which after more than a hundred years of exploring, was naturally always full. ¡°Have you ever met an Elf before?¡± Olivir asked. They were nearing one of the villages, where the kind, peace-loving, white-cloak-wearing Elves would usually come out to greet him, hoping to trade or exchange stories. ¡°Oh, of course,¡± he said. ¡°They live on a private resort secluded away from the public. My family ensures they¡¯re left alone and undisturbed. I probably shouldn¡¯t say this since my dad¡¯s the king, but he¡¯s kind of a dick and doesn¡¯t let them leave. He doesn¡¯t hurt them, but he doesn¡¯t really treat them all that well either.¡± ¡°What do you think about them?¡± Pete beamed with a happy smile. ¡°I love them. I sneak out and spend time with them whenever I can. My dad tells me to leave them alone, but I¡¯ve made friends with so many of them. If I ever become king, I¡¯m setting them all free.¡± ¡°You must really like the Elves if you¡¯re willing to do that.¡± ¡°I do! There¡¯s even this one girl¡­¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Olivir asked, laughing. ¡°She¡¯s amazing,¡± Pete said, stopping in his tracks. ¡°Beautiful, smart, funny. And she¡¯s so strong, too. Her name¡¯s¡ª **** ¡°Olivir?¡± Zach asked. His friend had sort of zoned out mid-conversation. Even after raising his head and meeting Zach¡¯s eyes, Zach could see that something was off with him. He seemed adrift, lost in his own thoughts. ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Olivir said. ¡°I was just thinking.¡± He downed the glass in front of him: a drink he¡¯d called bourbon. Since he was technically over two-hundred years old, Angelica had decided to let him have whatever he wanted despite him looking the same age as Zach. The same went for Kolona. Not that he minded. Her cherry cola really was great. ¡°Hey, Zach?¡± Olivir asked him. There was something off-putting in his voice, and Zach was taken aback. ¡°Yeah?¡± Olivir smiled, though it appeared forced. ¡°What do you think about the Elves? Just out of curiosity.¡± Zach took another sip of his cola. That was an odd question. Chapter 92: Kill-Steal Chapter 92: Kill-Steal Somewhere around forty-five minutes into what had been labeled an ¡°emergency update and press conference,¡± Shela Lansfel hopped up off the couch in the living room of her 35th floor apartment in downtown Giant¡¯s Fall and called out loudly to her two boys and her husband, whose voices she could hear coming from the kitchen down the hall. ¡°He¡¯s coming on!¡± she shouted. Those were the only words she needed to speak. Even before she¡¯d finished shouting, the sounds of a five-year-old boy and a nine-year-old boy tapping their bare feet excitedly over the wooden flooring echoed out, as well as the slower thud that came from her husband, as all three raced into the room. Her sons jumped onto the couch next to her, excitement on their faces, and even her husband seemed to have a bit of eagerness in his step as he plopped himself down at the end. ¡°Where is he, mommy? I don¡¯t see him?¡± her youngest asked. ¡°He¡¯s coming on now.¡± ¡°Where? I don¡¯t see.¡± ¡°Just be patient, sheesh. The guy said he¡¯s coming on very s¡ª¡± ¡°There he is!¡± he shouted out gleefully. On the large screen that they¡¯d finally been able to afford to replace their aging, semi-broken one, Vim Alazar, the leader of the Royal Roses, said, ¡°Okay, everyone. I know you¡¯ve all been waiting to see him, and I can practically feel some of you shouting at your screen for me to hurry up and put him on. So, for the citizens of not just North Bastia, but the entire world, please let me introduce you to the newest member of the Royal Roses: Sir Grundor the Dragon Crusher.¡± ¡°Yeahhhhh!¡± her boys yelled, jumping up and down on the couch. She and her husband had to calm them and warn them not to be so rowdy. Yet they lost their minds as this new, incredible hero the Royal Roses had recruited made his entrance to the sound of some unexpectedly loud jingle from what appeared to be an electric guitar, a rarely used instrument in contemporary, digitized music. A bit showy, no? Shela wondered as she took in his appearance. Somehow, she just knew the kids of North and South Bastia were about to lose their minds over this. She could already see herself having to wait on long lines for the December Celebration of the Mother Goddess to try to scoop up whatever action figures of Grundor that the Royal Roses inevitably churned out in time for the holidays, which were going to be incredibly in demand. As a market researcher herself, she could almost guarantee it. It would be almost criminal of them not to do so from a financial perspective. Strutting over to the camera, shirtless, wearing a pair of black sunglasses and slinging what appeared to be some kind of large, bronze-and-gold-plated championship belt over his shoulder, the zombie, which the media had claimed to be an actual sentient NPC¡ªwho knew such a thing could exist!¡ªstepped up to a podium that had been set up in the middle of a raid camp and slapped his palms down powerfully on both sides of it while puffing on a large cigar in his mouth. ¡°People of North Bastia,¡± he said, glaring at the camera. ¡°My name is Grundor, and I¡¯m here to call out you, Ziragoth!¡± Dramatically, he pointed to the camera. ¡°Let me tell you something, evil dragon. You spawned in the wrong continent. I¡¯m gonna grab you with this hand!¡± He raised his left fist. ¡°And then I¡¯m gonna grab you with this hand!¡± He raised his right. ¡°And then I¡¯m gonna¡ª¡± ¡°Crush you!¡± both her boys yelled out together, somehow already learning his words and signature phrases. They cheered so loudly that Shela couldn¡¯t even hear the next thing the zombie said, and then they started once again jumping up and down on the couch. ¡°But first¡­¡± His voice returned to a somewhat normal, almost conversational level, and now he sounded like he was reading from a script. ¡°We have to talk about staying safe online. Your internet privacy is important. That¡¯s why Nord VPN, the only expert-approved VPN guaranteed to¡­¡± ******** It was amazing how time seemed to pass so quickly in a place that had such little need of it. Though they were only supposed to stay for an hour, almost two ended up passing before it was time to go. Donovan, proving that he was far more in control of himself than he seemingly let on, announced that everyone on the raid needed to ¡°get their asses up¡± after the next round. What followed was one last, noisy finale of drinking, as well as a general feeling of uplifting among those who were going to fight and possibly die tomorrow morning. Although none of them were even supposed to be here right now, and technically, it was Zach¡¯s fault that they were, it ended up working out for the best, as truly, it must have been much better for the morale of the raid to spend some time in a place everyone loved than continue to roast at the raid camp while thinking about death. But now, as the end of the day approached, and sunset was just around the corner, Donovan and Zephyr began leading a parade of adventurers through the exit door and into B10 of Yorna. Given how narrow B10 happened to be, it was only natural they walked like young schoolchildren in a single-file line, one in front of the other. ¡°Are you guys really coming with us?¡± Zach asked. Olivir and Kolona both nodded. ¡°We¡¯re not abandoning you.¡± ¡°But you can just go home.¡± Kolona placed her palm over the back of his hand. ¡°This is the right thing for us to do. We¡¯ve come this far, so we might as well see it through to the end.¡± Zach appreciated them. He was glad they¡¯d be there with him. In truth, a sensation of butterflies felt like it was ripping his stomach apart as he realized that, win or lose, this nightmare with the dragon really would come to an end very soon. And so, standing up from the table with the two of them, they began to make their way towards the door, which felt more like getting in line to buy something. Glancing over his shoulder, Zach saw that Kalana was still speaking with her mother, and the two were being very chatty with one another. Although he¡¯d wanted to spend time with her here so badly, he knew that letting her be with her mom was unquestionably the right thing to do. And if they survived tomorrow morning, they¡¯d just come back here with Olivir and Kolona anyway, so it wasn¡¯t like there wouldn¡¯t be plenty more opportunities. Wow, Zach thought, watching as Kalana held out her arms, paused as if in hesitation, and then actually hugged her mother, whose face showed that she clearly understood the significance of the gesture. Although Fylwen did not cry, she did tremble as she placed her arms around her daughter. It was almost as though the moment was so emotionally overwhelming that she could not process it all at once. All things considered, though he hadn¡¯t spent his two hours with Kalana, his time with Olivir and Kolona¡ªand for a brief stretch, Rian and Lienne, who had joined them at one point¡ªwas far from unpleasant. Of all things, they¡¯d ended up in a lengthy, near hour-long discussion about the upstairs ¡°room situation.¡± Zach had told them how it was claimed that the rooms went on forever. That the room numbers would just get bigger and bigger then never end¡ªor so it was said. After Zach laid out for the two of them the general ¡°consensus¡± held by the adventurers, he told Olivir how he himself did not believe it¡ªand not because he didn¡¯t think it wasn¡¯t possible, because clearly, if it was possible to create a tavern on the edge of the universe, an infinite hallway of inn rooms wasn¡¯t that much of a step up. No, it was more that the temptation for someone to really see if it was infinite would be too strong, and the Great Ones who made the system must have known that. For this reason, he had this idea in his head that there had to be something that existed there if a person walked long enough. They just had to have put something there if anyone actually was willing to go far enough into the seemingly infinite. One day, he was definitely going to see for himself. For now, though, Zach stretched his back and arm muscles while he waited with Olivir and Kolona for their chance to slip into the hallway of B10. Since they¡¯d been sitting not far from the exit, it was only a matter of moments before he found himself slowly moving along the red-carpeted hallway as the line of adventurers presumably walked into the secret passageway that led back to B5. He couldn¡¯t actually see that far in front of him, though. To his right, he heard the sound of drunken laughter, and he turned to see two young adventurers not much older than himself toying around with Moldark. They had pulled the mob so far from where he spawned across the room that he was almost back in the hallway, and they were laughing giddily as they allowed him to take free hits on them with his sword. One of the guys even stuck his bare ass out and somehow got Moldark to try slicing it. Then he made fake, exaggerated pleasure noises and told Moldark to spank him harder. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°You¡¯re such a dumbass,¡± the guy¡¯s friend said. Zach couldn¡¯t help but laugh. Maybe he was an immature idiot, but somehow, their stupid antics actually managed to yank a chuckle or two out of him. What wasn¡¯t funny was what happened next. ¡°Check out my new spell,¡± the bare-assed guy said, pulling up his pants. From the ceiling¡ªwhich was only like a few feet above their heads¡ªa gigantic icicle popped into existence and crashed down on top of Moldark the Unbanished, dealing 44,451 damage and nearly one-shotting him. Zach had seen this exact spell before, which was why he preemptively raised his hands as the icicle exploded upon impact and showered him with freezing-cold cubes, which quickly melted and caused water to run down the back of his robe. Zach glared at them, and they saw it. ¡°Whoops. Looks like I hit Zach,¡± the guy said, clearly knowing who he was. At this point, Zach wondered if there was anyone in the adventuring world or the regular one who didn¡¯t. He missed the days when no one knew his name. ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± Zach grumbled as an ice-cold trickle of water traveled farther down his spine. Then he noticed something interesting. Something clicked in his head as he observed the condition that Moldark was currently in. An idea came to mind. It was something that came to him so fast that he didn¡¯t even have the time to really think about it or consider whether or not he was about to perform an action that was considered ¡°rude¡± in the adventuring world. In fact, even if he had considered it, he probably still wouldn¡¯t have known any better.
HP 541/45,000
Name (T1) Moldark the Unbanished
Level 18
Observing its low HP, and feeling some kind of personal attachment to this boss due to the memory of saving Rian and Lienne from it, Zach, for the very first time, activated Card Capture even as one of the two adventurers was swinging an axe down on top of its face to cut his head off. Less than an instant before the axe decapitated the mob, its entire body became condensed into a white-colored wisp of light, which raced across the short distance between the double-doored entrance to the boss-fight room and where Zach was slowly inching forward with the other adventurers. All on its own, Zach¡¯s hand extended, made a grabbing gesture, and then snatched something midair. Now, in his hand, he held something that looked a great deal like a sports card, only it was beautifully, artistically illustrated and showed a picture of Moldark as though drawn by an artist as opposed to what he looked like in reality. His features were exaggerated; his silvery suit of armor seemed to shine just a little bit brighter, and the feather on top of his helm looked as though it had been blowing in the wind. He also appeared to be crouched down on one knee while holding out his decorative sword defensively, and he was crouched before a grave with his head down sullenly. There was a field of grass in the background, and it looked like a warm spring day. On the tombstone and written in black was: Rest in Peace, F.C. Fucking cool, Zach thought. ¡°Lame, man,¡± one of the two adventurers said to him. ¡°Huh?¡± The guy placed his hands on his hips. ¡°Did you seriously just KS me?¡± ¡°KS? The hell is that?¡± ¡°Kill-steal. Don¡¯t pretend you don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve literally never heard that term before.¡± ¡°It¡¯s when you take someone else¡¯s mob without permission or being in a group.¡± He raised his voice and shouted. ¡°Zachys Calador just KS¡¯d me!¡± Zach chuckled. Like any of these rowdy adventurers were going to¡ª ¡°Zach did what?¡± Donovan growled from the head of the formation, all of which came to an entire stop as every single head turned his way, and all eyes settled on him at once. Uh oh. He cleared his throat. ¡°It¡¯s not true. He¡¯s lying.¡± ¡°I am not!¡± the guy shouted. ¡°He KS¡¯d me. He¡¯s just like Fluffles!¡± ¡°I¡¯m like who?¡± Zach asked. As though invoked merely by having his name spoken, Fluffles rushed into the hallway and meowed. ¡°Zach KS?¡± the cat asked, looking around. He met Zach¡¯s eyes and again meowed. ¡°Zach KS Dirvin and Rono?¡± ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°They¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°Hurray!¡± the cat shouted. ¡°Fluffles love KS¡¯ing. I KS everyone.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± a woman who stood in front of him said. ¡°That cat KS¡¯s everyone. He¡¯s infamous. He¡¯s the worst KS¡¯er in the history of adventuring. No one feels safe fighting mobs around him, because we know he¡¯s just going to swoop in and steal the last hit, and all of our experience points and loot.¡± Fluffles brushed against his leg. ¡°Zach make his cat so proud today. From now on, Zach and Fluffles steal everyone¡¯s mobs and loot. Right, Zach?¡± ¡°No, little buddy,¡± he said, bending down and petting him. Fluffles allowed it, which meant his ¡°cooldown¡± was finally over. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know there was such a thing until just now.¡± ¡°Okay, well, I¡¯m KS¡¯ing you if I ever see you about to get a kill on something. It¡¯s only fair since you did it to me.¡± ¡°Fuck that,¡± Zach growled. ¡°How about I KS your life?¡± ¡°Zach!¡± Kalana shouted at him, pushing several adventurers aside and storming her way over to him. ¡°No threatening people!¡± Before he could even reply, she whirled around and pointed her finger threateningly at the two adventurers. ¡°And you two. He didn¡¯t know any better, so leave him alone, or else I¡¯m gonna throw you out of the dungeon.¡± She loves kicking people out of places, Zach realized. He recalled the day she¡¯d thrown a student right out of class. ¡°Wow, you need your girlfriend to fight your battles for you?¡± the guy who Fluffles had called Dirvin asked. ¡°Not at all,¡± Zach said. ¡°I could take both of you on with my eyes closed.¡± ¡°Really? You think so, huh?¡± Dirvin took several steps towards him. Given the short distance, Zach took it as a direct threat, and so he reacted. Activating Frostbind, the ability on his robes, a dull crackling sound came from somewhere below and in front of him, and then to both his and Dirvin¡¯s surprise, two shackles, like those used on prisoners in darker times, burst out of the ground and bound each one of his feet. The shackles were made of pure ice, and Dirvin¡¯s face contorted into rage as he was stopped right in his tracks. ¡°Did¡­did you just root me, asshole?¡± he shouted at Zach. He threw his palm out in Zach¡¯s direction, and then out of nowhere, two hand-shaped pieces of stone emerged from the wall to both his left and right side. Each piece of stone was almost the size of an entire human body, and each grabbed hold of him: not tightly enough to cause any pain, but tightly enough that he was completely unable to move. ¡°Enjoy not moving for twenty-five seconds,¡± Dirvin said. ¡°Is that all? Mine lasts for thirty,¡± Zach retorted. ¡°You want to see what else I can do? Seriously?¡± Zach snorted derisively at him. ¡°Trust me, that¡¯s not a fight you want to get into.¡± ¡°Maybe I do. You started this by KS¡¯ing me, after all. I want justice.¡± Becoming defensive, angry, confused, and agitated all at once, Zach clenched his left hand into a fist and let the venom fly off his tongue. ¡°Okay, you know what? I don¡¯t give a shit anymore. If you guys had just been nice about it, I would have apologized and explained I actually didn¡¯t know any better. But guess what? Since you¡¯re both being dicks, I¡¯m with Fluffles now. You¡¯re getting KS¡¯d forever. I¡¯m not even kidding. Me and Fluffles will follow you to the ends of Galterra, Earth, or wherever you go and make sure you never get another experience point ever again.¡± ¡°Hurray!¡± Fluffles cheered. ¡°So now you¡¯re threatening to grief us?¡± the man who Zach believed had been called Rono exclaimed. ¡°Wait, there¡¯s a name for that?¡± ¡°Yah, it¡¯s called griefing. And you just threatened us with it. Doesn¡¯t surprise me, though, since you seem like kind of an asshole.¡± Okay, now he¡¯s done it. There goes my temper. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m the asshole?¡± Zach growled. He looked down at Fluffles. He might not have been able to walk, but he could still move his neck and head. ¡°Fluffles," he said. ¡°Appraise them right now! I want their names, levels, favorite hunting spots, and where we can go to¡ª¡± ¡°Okay, this has been the funniest thing I¡¯ve seen all week, but I¡¯m putting a stop to this,¡± Donovan said. The entire parade of adventurers, still held up, now turned their heads to watch as Donovan marched over to Zach and the two adventurers who were involved in the dispute. He had to nearly ram several people against a wall just to slip through them, particularly the larger adventurers. This hallway was not meant for people to be walking side by side. The root placed on Zach ended a few seconds before Donovan arrived. The stones binding him simply crumbled, and then even any pieces of dust they let behind vanished along with them. He grinned at the Dirvin. ¡°Your root sucks. Look how short that was. Enjoy waiting another five seconds.¡± Dirvin struggled against his icy bindings, but to Zach¡¯s satisfaction, it took the full five seconds before they melted away, leaving only a small damp stain on the carpet behind to remember them by. ¡°Kiddo,¡± Donovan said, placing himself between the three of them. ¡°Clearly, you didn¡¯t know what you did wasn¡¯t okay. So apologize to Dirvin and Rono and show a bit of class, huh?¡± Zach sighed. ¡°Fine. I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°And you two, apologize to Zach for flipping out on him all unnecessarily.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± they said in unison. Donovan nodded. ¡°Now give them whatever loot it dropped that you stole.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t steal any loot. I didn¡¯t actually even kill the mob, so technically, I didn¡¯t KS.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± With a shrug, Zach lifted up the card in his hand, and then he activated Card Summon. There were gasps from all around as the card in his hand reverted to a tiny white ball of light, which lifted slightly in the air, sailed ahead of him, and then landed on the floor, transforming into an exact copy of the Moldark they¡¯d been fighting, only this version of him was silent and, Zach presumed, completely obedient. This is awesome, he thought. I¡¯ve got an actual boss for a pet! Donovan rubbed the back of his head as if unsure of what to do. ¡°Well, that¡¯s that, then,¡± he said. ¡°All three of you cut the shit. We have a dragon to fight tomorrow. We need to be on the same side here.¡± With that, he marched his way back to the front of the line, once more shoving people into walls as he did so. Zach and the two idiots exchanged one final dirty, bitter look, and then he turned away from them. He was just glad he¡¯d never have to see them again. With that thought in mind, he continued his way down the hallway and through the secret passage. He yawned. Maybe he needed a good night of sleep after all. Tomorrow, he thought. It¡¯s all going to finally be over tomorrow. Chapter 93: Hero of Greed: How Zachys Calador Accidentally Saved the Entire Planet Chapter 93: Hero of Greed: How Zachys Calador Accidentally Saved the Entire Planet If someone would have told Alex that a single, off-the-cuff remark spoken by Zach Calador would somehow increase the odds of success in tomorrow¡¯s raid by more than thirty percent, he would not have believed it. And yet, on the night before the raid, when the plan had been ironed out and the stage was set for tomorrow¡¯s showdown, one final turn of events seemed to be in the cards, and it was all because of a cluelessly spoken remark that Zach had uttered at exactly the right time. At the moment, Alex was seated in the central command tent with the North-Bastian guild leaders, finalizing their coordination for tomorrow. There were certain things he needed to clear with the political guilds, such as establishing a no-fly zone in the perimeter around the fortifications they¡¯d constructed, as well as working to ensure that curious¡ªor just downright insane¡ªcivilians did not wander anywhere near the scene of the upcoming battle. These were just some of the last few things that needed doing before he would lie his head down on a pillow and try to get some sleep. The sun had now set, darkness had chased out the light, and even still, the heat in the region did not abate. Comfort was not likely to be found by the adventurers this night, as Donovan and Zephyr had, as of an hour ago, banned any more consumption of alcohol or other, lesser-legal substances. The two appeared to be taking this seriously, too. Already, Donovan had walloped a few adventurers over the head for trying to sneak a drink into the camp. Even he can be serious when he wants, Alex thought. While Donovan and Zephyr worked to ensure everyone was behaving themselves and resting like they were supposed to be, Alex did what he¡¯d been doing all along: acting as the liaison between the political guilds and the adventurers. In truth, no one had ever outright asked him to perform this role. He¡¯d just sort of slipped into it, and before long, it sort of just became his official responsibility. It appeared to be for the best, however, as the political guilds seemed to much prefer dealing with him over any of the adventurers¡ªsomething for which Alex could not blame them. Although Donovan and Zephyr were the raid leaders, they neither had the patience nor desire to coordinate with the various political guilds, and Alex doubted either one of them would be able to do so productively even if they tried in earnest. The last time Donovan had tried to deal with a ¡°political issue¡± in person, he¡¯d ended up getting Zach¡¯s name put on a hitlist. ¡°Alex,¡± High-Lord Kolorn Besh said, sitting relaxed in a swivel-style office chair with his left leg folded over his right. In his left hand was a small dish, and in his right, he grasped a teacup, from which he sipped calmly and slowly. ¡°Yes, High-Lord Besh?¡± ¡°Would you care for some tea?¡± Alex smiled. ¡°Thank you, but not at the moment.¡± Having dealt with the man for almost an entire day, Alex was growing comfortable in his presence, though it had not been this way at first. After all, Kolorn was not simply the guild-leader of the Lords of Justice, but he was also the closest thing humans had to a leader. His guild controlled the region known as ¡°Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah,¡± which was ostensibly the capital region of humanity following the death of Peter IV. But most critically, inside the city at the center of Dal¡¯Zarrah there was a grand, circular building that contained what was inarguably the finest display of human architecture in all of Galterra¡ªan elliptically shaped amphitheater known as the UCH: the United Council of Humanity. On the rare occasions that the various region-controlling guilds could agree to pass any kind of legislation¡ªwhich would then become law in all regions simultaneously¡ªit would happen in the UCH. Kolorn Besh presided as the head speaker of the UCH, and his official title was Chief Representative to Humanity. In other words, he was exactly the kind of person Alex had been almost cultivated to hate. And yet¡­though it disturbed him to admit, Alex did not entirely dislike the man. Kolorn was tall, perhaps only an inch or two shorter than Alex, and he was in his mid-fifties. He had a full head of reddish-brown hair, and a short, neatly trimmed reddish-brown beard. He dressed appropriately, yet not extravagantly, and he carried himself with an air of sensibility that Alex found very rare from a political guild leader. Truly, what struck Alex as so odd about the man was something that he¡¯d also noticed about Sir Peter Brayspark; it was a trait that appeared to be in both of them. Put simply, unlike every other political guild leader, Kolorn Besh and Peter Brayspark stood alone as the only two who privately behaved the same as they did publicly. They were the only two who had any semblance of integrity. But whereas Peter was hotheaded, overly emotional, and a virulent racist¡ªnegative qualities that offset a number of good ones¡ªKolorn Besh genuinely seemed to be the least bad of all the political guild leaders, and by extension, his guild also appeared to be the least corrupt. That was why, following another sip of his tea, Alex was stricken with such a great level of uncertainty and apprehension as the man smiled at him and caught him off guard with what he said to Alex, seemingly out of nowhere. ¡°You should join my guild,¡± he said¡ªeven as his peers chuckled from where they were sitting fanned out around him. ¡°They laugh, but I would give you the office of third-in-command in a heartbeat. Lord Palnor passed away recently, and he¡¯s without kin.¡± Alex was so awestruck by the offer that he wasn¡¯t even sure how to respond. Certainly, he could never accept the offer to join what he had for many years considered to be ¡°the enemy.¡± The fact that someone of his stature could even be offered the position in the first place was unthinkable for any guild other than perhaps the Royal Roses, who were known to occasionally recruit people who were not of noble birth and in some cases not even human. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know what to say to that,¡± Alex admitted. ¡°You don¡¯t have to say anything now. You can think it over. It¡¯s just¡­you¡¯re different from them, and I think you know you are. I¡¯ve dealt with adventurers before. We all have. You¡¯re far too sophisticated, well-spoken, and decently mannered to fit in with that crowd.¡± Alex opened his mouth to strongly dispute such a claim, yet only a sigh escaped his lips. ¡°You know that I¡¯m right.¡± The man took another slow sip of his tea. Surprising even his own self, Alex whispered, ¡°I¡¯ll have to think about it.¡± ¡°Take your time. But I¡¯ll let you in on a little secret¡ªone that I ask you not to spread. Don¡¯t worry. It will be publicly available information in a few weeks from now.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± Kolorn set both his plate and teacup down on the table then gently slid both off to the side. ¡°I¡¯m sure you, like the rest of the world, have no-doubt heard the news by now that Queen Vayra will be assuming control of the Whispery Woods region.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Alex said. ¡°It¡¯s now the most-trending topic of conversation in the world aside from the dragon.¡± ¡°Indeed, it is. But what you don¡¯t know¡ªand again, I ask you not to share just yet¡ªis that we¡¯ll be working together with the queen to reestablish trade relations with the rest of the world. I need new, young blood with an open mind to represent humanity. Someone who won¡¯t just pretend to respect members of other races, but who can actually bring themselves to do it. Insincerity is easily detected.¡± The offer struck powerfully at the part of Alex that wanted to make a real difference in the world. It was almost as though the man could see into his heart. This should have been such an easy thing to say no to. The very idea of joining a political guild¡ªany of them¡ªshould have been something that made Alex so nauseous he vomited in front of whoever would ask him. Yet, for some reason, the temptation was there. The benefits of joining the Lords of Justice were clear as day. He could foster closer ties between the political guilds and the adventuring guilds, having been in each camp. He could ensure that he looked out for the best interests of the people instead of his own coin purse. There were so many ways in which he could serve humanity with dignity. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll think about,¡± he said. ¡°For the meantime, I really need to focus on tomorrow¡¯s raid.¡± Even with one-hundred Elves now participating, their odds were still only around forty percent by his estimation. Things were looking pretty dire. For starters, the information Olivir had given them, while correct, was not complete. This was by no means out of the ordinary in the world of adventuring. Whoever had documented the previous Ziragoth spawn, for example, had likely not had the boss¡¯s adds spawn in. Why? It was impossible to say. But for whatever reason, it had not happened, and thus it had not been written down. And so, in addition to whatever powerful tricks Ziragoth might have up its sleeve that they did not know about, the things that they did now know about were bad enough that there was a very real possibility that tomorrow would mark the first day of the last day of sentient life on Galterra. And Zach might¡¯ve been right about it being animal-level sentient¡­ Had Zach not skipped out on the briefing, he would have appreciated his vindication, as the entire incident with the adds¡ªand Fluffles¡¯ corroborating claims¡ªnow had them operating under the assumption that they were fighting an unpredictable animal as opposed to a purely non-sentient boss spawn. This, however, was yet another thing that would be difficult to determine, which was likely why it was not in the documentation. What was in the documentation, however, was that upon reaching 50% health, Ziragoth would enter a second phase, heal back to full, gain tons more HP, go up by three tiers, and become the equivalent of a level-570 mob. For this reason, ten adventurers had already shamefully abdicated their responsibility and fled the raid¡ªand even more shamefully, one of them was from the GSG. All ten would be exiled from their guilds and excommunicated, naturally. But the real risk would be in others following suit. Quite simply, they might very well still not have the sufficient manpower required to get the job done. They needed more people to fight by their side, and Queen Vayra claimed that she was not willing to risk a single additional Elf in the event of a total wipe. The fact that she¡¯d decided not to abandon them entirely after finding out how dangerous this dragon was¡­it was quite the shock. But even more shocking was the way she¡¯d committed an additional fifty Elves to their cause. It still, sadly, would likely not be enough. They just did not have enough people. Plain and simply. And then¡­ And then Zachys Calador strode into the tent, and everything changed in ways that he could not have possibly predicted. ¡°Ah, sorry, I shouldn¡¯t have just walked in,¡± he said, rubbing his wavy black hair and staring at all of them awkwardly. ¡°There¡¯s not like a door I can knock on.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Vim Alazar said. Then, with a dark laugh, he added, ¡°I¡¯m always willing to hear from one of my guild-members.¡± Oh, no, not again, Alex thought, tensing up. Here they go¡­ His words were clearly designed to provoke Zach, and it was definitely going to work. In just the time that had passed since returning from Angelica¡¯s, Zach and Vim Alazar had already gotten into four separate incidences of back-and-forth verbal jousting, which in hindsight, Alex should have known would be the case. Despite Vim Alazar being the leader of the Royal Roses, Zach had seemingly figured out very, very quickly that, contrary to what he¡¯d probably believed, when in private, the guild-leaders cared a whole lot less about how people spoke to them than they did when it was in public¡ªwithin reason, at least. And while Vim was just as phony as most of the political guild leaders, there was one aspect of his public personality that was completely genuine: his love of trading insults and verbally jousting with people. It was a skill with which he had no equal. Yet that did not stop Zach from trying again and again. ¡°That¡¯s very funny, Vim,¡± he said. ¡°Very, very funny. You know what else is funny? The fact that you¡¯re only like four-feet tall.¡± ¡°Oh, another attack on my height again, Zach. That genius brain of yours, putting out the same insult every time you walk in here.¡± Zach looked around as if confused. ¡°Who said that? I hear someone talking but¡­¡± He turned his head to look at the floor, and he pointed. ¡°Oh, there you are. All the way down there.¡± ¡°And there it is again, another height joke. At least my height is still greater than your IQ.¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Oh, come on. I might be dumb, but my IQ is definitely higher than four-one.¡± ¡°Not by much.¡± Zach frowned at him. ¡°Why do I have to pretend to be in your shitty guild, anyway?¡± Vim shrugged. ¡°Gee, I don¡¯t know, Zach. Maybe because you decided to put on a show for the whole world and now you have to take responsibility for it so that I can maintain public order? Or, you know what? No, you¡¯re right, Zach. You¡¯re right. Let me call a press conference and tell the people of Galterra that the teenager who turned the sky dark is accountable to no one.¡± He¡¯s such a mean person, but he does have a point there, Alex thought. People would be terrified if they thought Zach was acting freely and not under the control of an authority. Though neither of them would admit to it, Alex was fairly sure that both Zach and Vim enjoyed their back-and-forth fights. They both had the same ¡°desire¡± to attack one another with words. And though Zach had not won a single round yet, he¡¯d landed a lot more successful hits against Vim than most people did. It was actually surprising. Alex had seen some very bright people spar with Vim on the news, people that Alex personally knew were not being paid off or unduly influenced, and time and time again, Vim humiliated them and sent them reeling. ¡°Zach,¡± Alex said, trying to refocus things elsewhere. ¡°What¡¯s up? Did you come in here to talk to me?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Zach said. ¡°Donovan wanted me to tell you something, but I got so pissed off just now I forgot what it was.¡± Vim coughed out a laugh. ¡°There he is, everyone.¡± He began clapping his hands together in mock applause. ¡°That¡¯s my genius over there. My number-one, most-intelligent guild-member, Zach Calador. Highest IQ in the Royal Roses.¡± Zach scowled at him, then paused a moment. He was clearly trying to think of something to say. Alex could think of about twenty things, but he obviously couldn¡¯t share them. As childish and absurd as this was, he found himself rooting for his former student. And as though his hope was transformed into reality, Zach unexpectedly struck gold. ¡°I actually am pretty smart,¡± Zach said at last. ¡°When I negotiated with Queen Vayra, I got a free outfit, a sword worth millions, and bonus points with my girlfriend. From what I hear, all you ended up with was regional debt, a deal you¡¯ll probably be assassinated for, and billions in loans to the People of Virtue.¡± ¡°Whoah, kid,¡± Abram grunted. ¡°Keep it between you two.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Zach whispered. From the redness appearing on Vim¡¯s face, Alex could tell that Zach had actually struck a blow that the short, sharp-tongued guild-leader felt. Alex didn¡¯t know if Zach got lucky or somehow realized that being on the losing end of a negotiation had wounded the man¡¯s pride, but either way, he¡¯d definitely landed a hit. But there was a reason Vim had a reputation for being the mouthiest human in Galterra¡­ ¡°Clever,¡± he said, rubbing his chin. ¡°And you know what? You¡¯re right. I am terrible at negotiating on behalf of my own selfish, personal interests. I guess when you¡¯re trying to convince an Elvish queen to fight a dragon while also having to worry about feeding millions of people and keeping them employed, you tend to have a harder time of things, right? How about, the next time this happens, I beg the queen to dress me up like some kind of fucking hippie edgelord, and you work on keeping the economy of North Bastia from collapsing? Deal?¡± ¡°That¡­so that¡¯s not even¡­pfft, whatever,¡± Zach grumbled. Then he yawned. ¡°I¡¯m tired and going to bed.¡± And with that, he turned around to leave the tent, but not before he asked two brief questions and then followed those two questions with a passing remark. And it was this remark that, somehow, inexplicably, shifted things to such an extent that it gave Alex hope that the planet might actually be saved after all. ¡°Oh, right,¡± Zach said, pausing on his way out. ¡°Ah, before I go, I forgot to ask you, Mr. Oren. How come on the plans for tomorrow it says the political guild members are still going to be in the command tent during the raid? I thought this whole area is being designated as a potential hazard zone.¡± ¡°It is,¡± Mr. Oren replied. ¡°But the word ¡®potential¡¯ in this case varies greatly. As close as this tent is, we still believe it¡¯s far enough away to be generally considered outside the line of likely fire.¡± ¡°Okay, but just to clarify, they¡¯re definitely still not going to be fighting with us, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± ¡°Whew,¡± he said, laughing. Then he wiped a line of sweat from his forehead and sighed with relief, though Alex wasn¡¯t sure why. ¡°Why do you even ask, Zach?¡± ¡°Oh, because if they¡¯re not fighting, then that means they don¡¯t get to roll on any of the loot, right? Olivir says that because this is a superboss it might drop artifact-quality shit that hasn¡¯t been seen in thousands of years and could be worth billions.¡± And just like that, every one of the political guild leaders began to call out to Zach as he continued to walk away from the tent, halting him before he could take even two more steps. ¡°What was that you just said?¡± demanded Abram Gespon. Zach turned back around to face him. ¡°Huh? Oh, nothing. I¡¯m just saying I¡¯m glad you and all your guild members aren¡¯t fighting in the raid, because the adventurers have this dumb rule that if anyone contributes even a little, they¡¯re allowed to roll for loot.¡± ¡°Roll¡­for loot?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he said with a laugh. ¡°Basically, even just for helping, you get to roll. More people means less chance I win anything when we kill it, so I¡¯m actually not giving any of you shit for sitting this one out. I¡¯m actually on your side believe it or not.¡± Alex stared in awe, fascination, and an incredulity that bordered on outright denial as he watched the faces of each leader of humanity light up with avarice and a hunger for power. ¡°Alex,¡± High-Lord Besh said, ¡°if I were to have my entire guild show up, you¡¯re saying they¡¯d all be able to roll for me?¡± ¡°They¡¯d all be allowed to roll for themselves, naturally, but what rules you choose to impose upon your own members afterwards is your own business. As far as adventurers are concerned, our raid rules are as old as time and we don¡¯t compromise them for anything: one person, one roll. The only requirement is that they meet either the minimum level or the minimum stat requirements that we set ahead of time, and that they actively contribute.¡± He licked his lips. ¡°I¡¯m going to do something unconventional here. We are not known to partake in these ¡®raids,¡¯ but I have decided to pledge every level-50 or higher member of the Lords of Justice to the raid tomorrow.¡± ¡°Same,¡± Vim Alazar said. ¡°I¡¯ll have my best fly in tonight. I didn¡¯t know about this ¡®roll¡¯ bullshit, and I wish someone would¡¯ve mentioned this sooner. So, let me get this straight: if I have thirty people come in, and I fight as well alongside them, I can order them all to roll for me? And I can roll for myself, too?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Alex said. ¡°What they do with the loot if they win is their business. Whether it¡¯s giving it to you or otherwise. If they win, we place the item in their hands, not yours. But after that, like I said, whatever ends up happening to it is none of our concern. Normally, we impose need-before-greed restrictions, but it¡¯s not completely unheard of under special circumstances to relax that for¡ª¡± ¡°Yeah, to hell with that. No need-before-greed. I¡¯m assuming that means if I get lucky and win, I can¡¯t take the most powerful thing if it doesn¡¯t suit me?¡± ¡°That¡¯s typically how it works.¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s avoid that.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Zach said, nodding. ¡°Fuck that. I want greed. And I can¡¯t believe what I¡¯m hearing. Are you guys seriously willing to fight just because you want the loot? Trust me, this dragon is way too tough for you.¡± Alex was screaming joyously on the inside but he kept it from his face. Not only had Zach just convinced the entire political establishment to actually fight and contribute to the raid, but the fact that he was now earnestly and sincerely trying to get them to change their mind¡ªfor his own greedy desires¡ªwas only going to make them even more likely to want to fight and convince them to send even more people to contribute, because Zach was doing the opposite of what he set out to do and was making them think that the dragon¡¯s loot was something really, really special. Which, to be honest, it very well would probably end up being. ¡°I¡¯m calling up the People of Virtue¡¯s best warriors,¡± Abram said. ¡°Humanity¡¯s dead if we lose anyway, right? We might as well fight.¡± Alex was so happy that he couldn¡¯t even feel bad for poor Zach, whose expression became increasingly horrified as the political guild leaders now fed into one another to keep their own chances high. Each time it looked like one of them would send more qualifying members than the other, the ante would be upped. As things were going, it was looking like they¡¯d end up sending literally every single guild-member they had who met the requirements for the raid. ¡°W-wait, time out!¡± Zach shouted at them. ¡°Everyone just¡­just please stop for a second and listen to me, okay? None of you understand what you¡¯re getting into. I¡¯ve fought that thing. You have no idea how horrible it is. You¡¯re all going to die. All of you. It¡¯s the most ferocious thing you can imagine.¡± ¡°He has a point,¡± Alex said. ¡°It¡¯s not worth dying for. Now look: I won¡¯t lie to you. This is a type of boss called a ''God boss'' that not a single adventurer has ever heard of before this week, and so, the loot will probably be of higher quality than anything we¡¯ve ever seen. But I caution you to consider what good is loot to a dead man? Treasure has no meaning to a corpse.¡± ¡°Exactly!¡± Zach said, nodding his head approvingly and playing right into Alex¡¯s hands. ¡°I might not get along with you, Vim, but you and I have fun going back and forth every now and again. I don¡¯t want to see you get killed out there, man. I really don¡¯t.¡± ¡°How touching,¡± Vim said dryly. ¡°But I can see the hunger for gold in your eyes. You¡¯re not going to fool me. I¡¯m sending everyone I have.¡± Zach swore, and then he made things even better for Alex. ¡°You¡¯re not even a fucking adventurer! You don¡¯t get to roll. Mr. Oren, I swear, if you let them in on the raid, I¡¯m getting Donovan involved in this.¡± Although Alex intensely disliked deception and dishonesty, the lives of literally billions of people worldwide were at stake, and it was completely justified in this case. Right now, Zach was saving the world in real time, and this needed to continue. And so, putting on an act that he knew would fool the outraged kid, he widened his eyes and pretended to be panicked by the threat. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare.¡± ¡°I will. I¡¯ll tell him you¡¯re letting the political guilds steal all our treasure unless you stop this right now.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t do that, Zach. But do not involve Donovan. Please. Zach, wait!¡± he called out, hiding his grin as the boy left the tent and presumably went to go get the man. Zach, you might have just saved the entire planet and you have no idea you did it! Less than two minutes after Zach stormed out of the central command tent, he returned once more with Donovan and Zephyr by his side. Alex knew the smug grin on his face was about to be wiped off, as he was a newer adventurer and did not understand just how¡­how devoutly the adventurers abided the law of loot when it came to raiding. It was almost like a religion. Thus, Alex continued to conceal his grin as Zach ranted to Donovan and explained the entire situation to him. ¡°¡­and so that¡¯s what¡¯s happening,¡± Zach said, breathlessly appealing to Donovan and Zephyr. ¡°They¡¯re trying to steal all of the loot!¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Fluffles shouted, somehow having gotten involved as well. He meowed loudly and angrily at the guild leaders. Oddly enough, the cat would only help the situation as well. Anything either of the two did or said could only help. Even Fluffles was being incredibly useful here. ¡°Zach is a very good human for informing Fluffles. He do the right thing. I handle.¡± The cat jumped up onto the table and hissed at the guild-leaders. ¡°You stay away from Fluffles¡¯ and Zach¡¯s loot! It for adventurers only!¡± ¡°Why?¡± Fiona Darkmae asked. She reached over and gave him a scratch under his chin, which he allowed. ¡°Just how powerful is it?¡± ¡°It the most powerful ever,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°Vampire man told Fluffles it the best loot.¡± ¡°Interesting¡­¡± Fluffles and Zach continued to shout in outrage about how unfair it was for non-adventurers who ¡°wouldn¡¯t contribute as much¡± to ¡°steal¡± their loot, and Alex thanked the Gods as more and more people and resources were committed to the raid as a direct result of the political guilds actually feeding off Zach¡¯s display of greed. Even Donovan seemed to understand the value in what they were doing, because after exchanging just a very brief look with Alex, he made a small, barely noticeable nod, and then he let it go on for far, far longer than he normally would. When it came to obeying the law of loot, he was as fanatical as it got, and he¡¯d normally shut this kind of talk down within two seconds. Yet, in this case, it was only after nearly five minutes of Zach and Fluffles pointing, waving their arms or tail, and angrily shouting, that Donovan at last interrupted them. ¡°Both of you, settle down,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m confused and I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on here. Did I miss something?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± both Zach and Fluffles shouted in outrage. ¡°They¡¯re going to steal all of our loot,¡± Zach said. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear us?¡± ¡°Yeah! Mean politics people take all Fluffles¡¯ treasure!¡± Donovan scratched his head. ¡°But you just said they were gonna participate, right?¡± ¡°Well, yeah, but¡­but they¡¯re political guild people.¡± ¡°So? Kid, if they fight, they roll. That¡¯s the law, and we don¡¯t break it for anyone.¡± ¡°B-b-but they¡¯re¡­they¡¯re not even as good as us!¡± ¡°If they fight, they roll.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right, Zach,¡± Zephyr said. ¡°You¡¯re still new, but you¡¯ll get it eventually. Anyone who fights gets to roll.¡± ¡°Wait, even us?¡± Fylwen asked, abruptly entering the tent. It appeared Zach had stirred such a commotion it had drawn her attention. ¡°I assumed, naturally, I was precluded from any kind of loot on account of being paid for my service in the form of gold and the region of Whispery Woods.¡± Donovan barked out a laugh. ¡°I don¡¯t care about any of that shit. You¡¯re fighting with us, right, Your Majesty?¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Then you and all your Elves get to roll. It¡¯s really that simple. You¡¯re entitled to every bit the same chance as anyone else.¡± ¡°Correct,¡± Alex said, as Zach whimpered beside him. ¡°Even if you order all your Elves to give you whatever they roll for, it doesn¡¯t change a thing.¡± Fylwen laughed. ¡°I would never do such a thing. If any of mine earn something, it is theirs to keep.¡± Zach tapped Queen Vayra on the shoulder, and she looked at him, a smile on her face. ¡°Yes, Zach?¡± ¡°Remember how you said we were friends now?¡± ¡°Of course I do.¡± ¡°Can you please have all hundred of your Elves roll for me?¡± ¡°Absolutely not.¡± ¡°B-but you said we were allies.¡± ¡°I said I¡¯m your ally, not your slave, young man. Also, I¡¯ve been quite generous with you, haven¡¯t I? Maybe you should roll for me instead.¡± Zach looked like he wanted to tear the hair out of his head. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll just have Kalana roll for me.¡± ¡°We both know there¡¯s no way she¡¯ll do that,¡± Alex said. ¡°Then I should get two rolls!¡± ¡°Nope. One per person,¡± Donovan said. Zach angrily pointed at Vim Alazar. ¡°He¡¯s going to make his entire guild roll just for him.¡± ¡°That¡¯s still one per person.¡± ¡°Fuck! My chance of winning anything is basically zero now. This is bullshit.¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Fluffles shouted in agreement. ¡°This is bullshit. Zach right.¡± Alex was so pleased that he didn¡¯t even demand they watch their language as the two of them stormed off. Once they were gone, Alex exchanged yet another glance with Donovan and Zephyr, and he could see in both of their eyes that they fully understood the irony of the situation here. Right now, in this moment, there was a very, very good chance that Zach had just single-handedly saved every life on the planet with nothing more than his greed. For the next thirty minutes, Donovan and Zephyr answered the numerous loot-related questions from the various guild-leaders, and once they were satisfied with how everything worked, it was agreed to by all involved, including Fylwen, that the ¡°need before greed¡± rule would be suspended, and that anyone could roll for anything they wanted. And just like that, it looked like at least two-hundred more qualified fighters would be joining their ranks. This meant they¡¯d now have enough people to have an entire division dedicated just to fighting off adds if they spawned again, while the rest of them would still be able to put out enough DPS to actually kill the dragon. And all because Zach was greedy. Truly amazing. Chapter 94: Battlegroup 7 Chapter 94: Battlegroup 7 In the moment before waking, there was warmth. Zach did not know when or how he¡¯d ended up in the specific position he was currently in. He could not even remember falling asleep. He only knew he could stay like this forever as he lay with his head on Kalana¡¯s stomach, the two of them under the blanket while Fluffles purred on a pillow located to her opposite side. Right now, in a fleeting period of bliss, he didn¡¯t care where he was or what was going on in the world. He could sleep for a thousand years, unmoving, if only everything could stay just like this. And then came the loud, jarring, and deeply unpleasant sound: an ominous siren consisting of rising and falling tones that served as a far more effective rousing agent than any alarm clock, but one that was also far crueler and made the reality of what they were about to endure that much more terrifying. His eyes slowly opening, Zach could feel Kalana¡¯s body tighten. ¡°Already?¡± she asked. As though directly in reply to her question, a freakishly cheery, upbeat pair of voices began calling out to them. ¡°Rise and shine, boys and girls!¡± Zephyr shouted. ¡°It¡¯s time to wake your asses up and get ready to slay a dragon!¡± ¡°Everyone up!¡± Donovan yelled, blowing into a whistle. ¡°Sleeping time is over. Up, up, up!¡± Fluffles lifted his head, opened his mouth wide, and stretched out his paws as he yawned. ¡°Donovan too loud,¡± he said. ¡°Still tired.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Kalana said, making a pouty face as she rubbed his fur. She leaned over and kissed him on the top of his head. ¡°You¡¯re a sleepy kitty, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he said matter-of-factly. Zach shook his head to try to wake himself up. He was a bit groggy, and his brain was a bit fuzzy. He hadn¡¯t even realized just how tired he was until he¡¯d actually lain down last night, and when he did, he¡¯d crashed hard. The same appeared to be true for Kalana as well. The both of them had fallen asleep pretty much instantly the moment they¡¯d entered the tent together. And despite having finally been truly alone with her, as Fluffles tended not to sleep until much later on in the night, Zach had been so drained that he hadn¡¯t even attempted to find out if Kalana intended to go through with the evil ¡°punishment¡± she¡¯d claimed he¡¯d be forced to suffer as a result of his ¡°meanness¡± in one of their arguments yesterday morning. I hope last night counts as time served, he thought to himself, suppressing a devilish grin. Kalana, noticing him looking at her, lifted her hand and poked his nose with her index finger. ¡°What awful thoughts are you thinking about in that dork brain of yours?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± he lied. Then he yawned and struggled to resist the urge to lie back down and let everyone else worry about the dragon. This is really happening, isn¡¯t it? he wondered. I have to fight it again. The thought of not only having to see, but actually engage in battle with the wyvern made him jittery, and it was only due to the terror that suddenly popped into the pit of his belly that he was able to shake off some of his weariness. With the exception of the few times he¡¯d had to use nighttime cold medicine during a bad case of the flu, he couldn¡¯t recall ever feeling this level of lingering drowsiness after a full night¡¯s sleep. Of course I¡¯m tired, he thought. I basically had two yesterdays yesterday. It was true now that he thought about it. He¡¯d basically had a ¡°double yesterday¡± due to the difference in time between Archian Prime and Galterra. He¡¯d woken up, spent the greater part of the day in Archian Prime, then right before the early-winter sunset, he¡¯d returned to the scorching-hot Galterran summer, where it was just before noon all over again, and then he¡¯d had a ¡°second¡± day, so-to-speak. I should get two nights to make up for the two days. Stretching his arms then rubbing his face, Zach crawled out of the cot where he¡¯d slept with Kalana and Fluffles. He half-limped, half-walked his way groggily over to the chair in his tent where he¡¯d haphazardly thrown all of his clothing and equipment, and he began dressing in a hurry, slipping into his robe and pants, tying the chains around his wrists and lower forearms, and sliding each of his hands into one of the snugly fitting gloves. Next, he bent down to pick up his scabbard, and he strapped it to his back and made sure it was secure. Having slept with the skull-shaped pendant still around his neck, all that was left for him now was to put on his cloak, which he did, pulling the hood over his head. ¡°You look spooky again,¡± Kalana said, yawning. ¡°I don¡¯t like that cloak.¡± ¡°What¡¯s so spooky about it?¡± She made a wry grin with her lips. ¡°You really don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°Know what?¡± Zach asked. Sitting up in the cot, she grabbed her phone from where it was lying on the floor and pointed it at his face before snapping a picture of him. ¡°Kal, what are you doing? Why would you¡ªwhoah!¡± he exclaimed as she turned it around so that he could see it. ¡°That¡¯s so badass! Is that because of the lighting in here? Or does the cloak do that to me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s definitely the cloak.¡± ¡°Is that really me?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said sourly. ¡°Wow.¡± He had no idea that this was how he looked with the hood of the cloak drawn over his head. It appeared to have the effect of unnaturally darkening the area around his face so that only the bottom half of it was visible aside from two glowing orbs, which he took to be his eyes. He looked so evil and scary. It was amazing. ¡°Stop acting like it¡¯s cool,¡± Kalana said. ¡°It¡¯s not.¡± ¡°Are you kidding me? This is the coolest thing ever. I look like some kind of evil, dark assassin.¡± ¡°Yah, I know you do, baby,¡± Kalana said, folding her arms. ¡°That¡¯s why I said it¡¯s spooky and I don¡¯t like it.¡± Following a stretch and another yawn, Kalana grabbed her things and hurriedly got dressed. He was actually impressed by how quickly she was able to get her equipment on. In fact, this was the fastest he¡¯d ever seen her prepare for something. Before all this adventuring stuff happened, whenever they needed to go somewhere, Kalana would take like two-and-a-half years to get ready. Zach supposed that when a deadly fire wyvern was on the way, even Kal could be motivated to hurry up and be ready on time. Though, to be fair, her gear was significantly easier to slip into than his was, since it consisted mostly of a pair of tan-colored shorts, a sleeveless shirt, and a belt designed to holster her two daggers. Her bracelets were also indistinguishable from the thin ones made of gold and silver you¡¯d see in a jewelry store, and the gemstones in her rings looked like diamonds. Zach wondered: was that tiny hairpiece on her head also her ¡°helm?¡± ¡°Kal, is that even equipment you¡¯re wearing?¡± he asked her. ¡°Of course it is.¡± ¡°Oh. It¡¯s just I was wondering¡­¡± He tapped his chin for a second. ¡°How is it that you and Mr. Oren¡ªand a whole lot of other people, actually, like Kesten¡ªhave equipment that looks just like normal clothing?¡± ¡°Transmutation,¡± she said. ¡°Alixa¡¯s great at it. She can either craft something for you from scratch, or if you really wanna, you can give her a piece of equipment like I did and she can turn it into something else. Um, not for anything plate, metal, or chainmail, though. Cloth and leather only.¡± Kalana eyed his cloak and pointed to it. ¡°I¡¯m gonna make her turn that into a beanie hat.¡± ¡°No fucking way,¡± Zach said, glaring at her. ¡°My cloak stays exactly the way it is.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll talk about it later.¡± ¡°Like hell we will. You¡¯re not de-awesifying my cloak. It¡¯s not happening.¡± ¡°Pfft. We¡¯ll see.¡± The sound of Donovan¡¯s booming voice as he patrolled back and forth was seemingly growing in volume. He was also blowing more frequently into his whistle. ¡°We better get going, Kal.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± As they began to turn towards the entrance to their tent, the sickening, terrifying feeling in his stomach returned. He really, really didn¡¯t want to do this. Now that the moment was upon him, the fear was very real. He could actually feel it working its way into his gut. Even still, he wasn¡¯t about to back down now. And besides: this wasn¡¯t his first life-or-death battle. He could endure this. He knew he could. I have to! Outside, the sky was still mostly dark. Only a tiny sliver of light was to be seen on the horizon. Stepping out of the tent with Kalana, Zach heard the grass make a squishing sound under his shoes. Come to think of it, he thought he recalled the sound of a terrible lightning storm as well as a thunderous downpour of rain while he slept last night. Actually, he remembered briefly opening his eyes as one particular boom of thunder had been loud enough to rouse him for just a moment. But he¡¯d been so exhausted he¡¯d simply fallen right back to sleep. Now, however, the skies at least appeared mostly empty, albeit with a few patches of heavy clouds broken up by further stretches of clear sky. Taking in his surroundings, one thing became immediately clear: the already huge raid camp was now a whole lot bigger. At some point between passing out last night and waking up this morning, an entire slew of new tents had been erected, likely to accommodate those Gods-cursed political guild sons of bitches who¡¯d come all the way out here just to steal his and Fluffles¡¯ loot. The thought really irritated him, and he came very close to muttering a few curses over it, but the sound of more grass squishing instead drew his attention to his left, where Mr. Oren was approaching with a somber, uncomfortably serious look on his face. Actually, now that he could see the looks in the eyes of the adventurers emerging from their tents all around him, he realized that every last trace of their usual, jovial nature was totally absent. They looked just as fearful as Zach probably did. It was a relief to see he wasn¡¯t the only one dreading this. But at least it would finally be over soon¡ªone way or the other. ¡°Kalana, do you mind coming over here a second?¡± Mr. Oren asked. He was holding a clipboard in his hand and a pen. What was it with adventurers and using ancient shit like ¡°pens¡± and ¡°paper,¡± anyway? ¡°Uh, sure.¡± As Kalana left his side and headed towards Mr. Oren, Zach felt someone tapping him on his shoulder. He spun around and turned his head to look at an Elf wearing a green cloak who was standing to his right. She was a young girl around his age who had both a sword and a bow on her back. ¡°I¡¯m so glad to see you again, Zach,¡± she said, her smile bright and cheerful. Zach recognized her right away. She was Saerina, the girl he¡¯d saved with Phase Rescue during the fight with the Blood-Hunting Maneaters. She¡¯d had her arm sliced off, and he¡¯d whisked her away just before the mob had finished her off. He¡¯d saved her mother as well. Taking in the sight of her, he was glad to see that her arm was back and where it should be. ¡°Saerina,¡± he said, smiling. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to ever see you again, but I¡¯m really glad you¡¯re doing okay.¡± He nodded at her arm. ¡°I¡¯m also glad you¡¯re back in one full piece, too. Did you use one of the stones?¡± ¡°Nope. We don¡¯t need those.¡± ¡°Oh, right. I remember hearing Fylwen¡ªahh, Queen Vayra saying something about that.¡± Upon the mention of the Elvish queen¡¯s name, Saerina lowered her eyes shamefully. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry about what happened to you. I know it¡¯s only been a few days, but my mom and I really agonized over it. I feel sick to my stomach.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be,¡± Zach said to her¡ªand he meant it, too. ¡°Me and Queen Vayra worked things out. And¡­and I know a little better now about what you guys went through. How it was probably even worse for your mom than it was for you. I¡¯m never going to be ¡®happy¡¯ with what happened to me on Archian Prime, but at least I know that her actions weren¡¯t truly from a place of evil: just paranoia.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t even begin to express how sorry I am, but also how relieved I am that you understand,¡± Saerina said. ¡°My mom told me stories about what would¡­what they¡¯d do. And yes, it was even worse than my own experience growing up.¡± Zach and her exchanged a brief look that seemed to communicate that getting any more detailed was not required. Instead, he decided to ask her a question that had been nagging at him since mid-day yesterday. ¡°Can I ask you something, please?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Zach quickly took in his surroundings. Kalana was still busy chatting with Mr. Oren, and there was still at least a minute or two left before everyone would be required to have left their tents. Lowering his voice to just above a whisper, he asked, ¡°Are you guys really okay with this? Meaning, coming all the way to Galterra and possibly losing even more of your people in a fight you could just avoid? Not that I¡¯m not really happy you¡¯re helping us. It¡¯s just¡­I actually feel kind of guilty that you¡¯re all about to be put through something like this.¡± Her reaction to his question took him by surprise. Saerina became animated, and she raised her palm while giving a fervent shake of her head. ¡°Oh, wow, you completely misunderstand how we view this raid,¡± she said. ¡°Like, completely. Not only are we fully in support of fighting the dragon, but when the queen sent news of it back to us, I¡¯m pretty sure that it quickly became the most popular, well-supported thing she¡¯s ever done since establishing a new kingdom on Archian Prime. And that¡¯s still putting it mildly. The fact she only let fifty of us come participate almost dampened how well the news was received to the point that several of us green-cloaks had to be physically restrained to prevent us from showing up anyway despite her orders.¡± Shocked, Zach searched her eyes for any signs of deception, finding none. ¡°Wait, really?¡± ¡°Absolutely. And I understand your confusion, too. I¡¯d be skeptical if I were in your shoes as well.¡± He laughed. ¡°It¡¯s just hard to believe that the Elvish would be so enthusiastic about saving human lives.¡± ¡°It¡¯s actually not about that at all,¡± Saerina said. ¡°I mean, okay, a very, very small part of it¡ªfrom at least some of us, like me¡ªis genuinely happy to help you the way you helped us in a time of need, Zach, but that¡¯s only the tiniest part. There is a much, much deeper reason.¡± As she spoke these next few words, she spoke them proudly, not even bothering to lower her voice. ¡°I¡¯m sure you figured out by now that those of us with the green cloaks were born here on Galterra, and those with the white are from Archian Prime, right?¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Yeah. You guys also talk really differently.¡± ¡°Yep, that¡¯s true too. But the reason I mention it is that every Elf you see who¡¯s older than thirteen years old but younger than fifty was born in the Whispery Woods region. Not the city, but the outskirts, where we were kept as prisoners.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know that,¡± Zach said. ¡°But what¡¯s that got to do with it.¡± She extended her arms, widely, as if to gesture at the world around her. ¡°The reason we¡¯re here right now, fighting and willing to die, is because we¡¯ve already paid so much for the Whispery Woods region with our blood and our tears. And now that it belongs to us rightfully, we want to go home. Those of us with the green-cloaks want to live there, but this time not as captives, but as citizens. This isn¡¯t about just fighting a dragon: we¡¯re fighting for our right to exist on Galterra. And if we survive this raid, then Whispery Woods will be our home. The place we were forced to be born will be a sanctuary for us from now on. Every green-cloak is going to return, all three-hundred of us. Do you get it?¡± Zach thought over her words. At first, they confused him, but the more he dwelled on it, the more sensible it became to him. ¡°I do get it,¡± he said. ¡°I really do. After everything you were forced to sacrifice, you¡¯ve already invested so much blood into that region¡ªeven if not by choice. So now, you¡¯re saying it¡¯s worth it to your people to invest a little more to turn it from a hellish prison into a sanctuary. Is that the gist of it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly right,¡± Kalana said, surprising him. She walked up to him with Mr. Oren by her side. ¡°When I found out my mom made a deal for the Whispery Woods region, I couldn¡¯t believe it. There¡¯s no way the humans know how¡­how important that region is to us. It¡¯s where our ancestors lived, but it¡¯s also the place where a lot of us were murdered.¡± Zach looked off into the distance, where Vim Alazar, in an entirely separate portion of the camp, was exiting his tent looking annoyed and disinterested. ¡°You don¡¯t think they knew this when they offered it, Kal?¡± ¡°They might¡¯ve ¡®known¡¯ it, but they wouldn¡¯t have realized how much we cared. They just wanted my mom¡¯s help and tried to give her something that¡¯s no longer got any value to them ¡®cause of how expensive it is to run. If they knew how much it meant, they would¡¯ve tried to extract a lot more concessions and maybe even tried to make us pay them.¡± Zach smiled. ¡°Your mom played them pretty good, it sounds like.¡± Saerina, who had gone eerily silent, now launched herself forward into a bow. ¡°P-Princess Kalana!¡± she said. ¡°Your Highness!¡± Kalana chuckled. ¡°You don¡¯t gotta do that. Don¡¯t bow, come on. You¡¯ll make me blush.¡± Saerina, awkwardly, stood back up straight. Then her face reddened as Kal held out her hand as if offering it to her to shake¡ªwhich she did. ¡°It¡¯s such an honor to meet you. You¡¯ve become so¡­so famous. I actually knew your dad when I was really little.¡± ¡°You did?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°Yep. Your dad and my dad were really good friends. Where is the king, anyway?¡± ¡°Right here,¡± Eldora said, squishing the damp grass as he marched up to Saerina with a smile on his face. Placing his hands on his hips, he looked the girl over as though barely able to contain his joy. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you since you were this tall,¡± he said, kneeling down and placing his palm at her ankle level. ¡°Your dad would¡¯ve been so proud.¡± She bowed to him as well, repeating the earlier routine. And once more, she was told that the formality was not necessary. This, as Zach searched his surroundings for any sign of Fylwen, who was nowhere to be seen. He wanted to coordinate when in the upcoming battle he should use his Unleashed Phase as she was the only one who could save him once he did. ¡°Where¡¯d Queen Vayra go?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Mom? Not sure. Why?¡± ¡°Oh, nothing. I was just hoping to use her guilt towards what she did to me to emotionally blackmail her into giving me more free things.¡± Kal slapped him on the shoulder, hard. ¡°That¡¯s not funny!¡± He winced; it actually hurt. ¡°Ouch, Kal! It was a joke! But¡­I guess I deserved that one.¡± ¡°Yah, you totally did. You already got so much stuff from her including her most-prized possession. You can¡¯t just forgive her then un-forgive ¡®cause you¡¯re mad about loot.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t being serious, sheesh. But for real, where is she?¡± It was Saerina who answered. ¡°She went for a walk with Peter.¡± ¡°Brayspark?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Zach scratched an itch that had formed on his cheek. ¡°I wonder what the deal with those two is. Do they hate each other or still love each other like siblings?¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Both,¡± Saerina said. ¡°Our view as a whole of Peter is a love-hate sort of thing. On the one hand, he protected us when no one else would and even called upon his closest allies like Sir Alistair to make sure no one harmed us. And my mom told me he¡¯s the one who told the queen about the colony of our kin on Archian Prime. He even taught us how to get there. He¡¯s the one who let us know that they existed and would welcome us with open arms and we¡¯d finally be safe.¡± Zach nodded in approval. ¡°Wow, he actually seems like a pretty nice¡ª¡± ¡°On the other hand,¡± she continued. ¡°He¡¯s also a denialist regarding the actions the Guild of Gentlemen took against our people, and he blames us for his guild¡¯s downfall.¡± Zach found her words puzzling. ¡°Wait, he denies what happened to you?¡± ¡°Not quite,¡± Saerina said. ¡°Peter doesn¡¯t deny that the events that took place actually took place. How could he? He personally killed almost every human who raped or murdered us with his own sword. What he denies is that his father was the one behind it or even that anyone high-ranking in the guild played a role in it. He believes it was a ¡®few rotten apples¡¯ and refuses to accept his guild''s responsibility.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± As the topic of conversation changed, and Kalana, her father, and Saerina began to retell happier memories from their past¡ªwhich thankfully they had at least some of¡ªZach, still confused, whispered into Mr. Oren¡¯s ear. ¡°Is that really such a big deal?¡± he asked. ¡°What?¡± Mr. Oren whispered back. ¡°That he denies what his dad and guild did. It sounds like he did the right thing and saved and helped them. So is it really so bad that he denies his dad is at fault?¡± ¡°YES!¡± Mr. Oren whispered back with such unexpected harshness. Then, with a touch more softness, he said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I know you don¡¯t understand¡ªnor should I expect you to just yet. But someone with your level of power needs to understand more about things like this.¡± Zach tried his best not to become defensive. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he whispered. ¡°I guess I¡¯m only confused because it sounds like Peter V didn¡¯t have anything to do with it, and he¡¯s probably only denying it because it¡¯s his dad. No one wants to think their dad is evil. If someone told me tomorrow that mom secretly did all these things, I don¡¯t know if I would be able to accept it even if shown proof.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s really good of you to admit,¡± Mr. Oren replied. He gestured at Kalana, who was still busily engaged in conversation. ¡°Did Kalana deny what her mother did? Did she turn away from the truth?¡± ¡°No,¡± Zach admitted, understanding dawning on him. ¡°That¡¯s right. Her mother isn¡¯t even a fraction of a percent as evil as Peter IV, but what she¡¯s done to numerous people is still awful. You might not realize it, but she¡¯s working to hold her mother accountable and change her. And Queen Vayra, in turn, likely wants to be a better person for the sake of her daughter. But most importantly, Zach, if nothing else, remember this: denying the responsibility or truth of one atrocity often leads to another. That might not make sense to you right now, but you must learn this.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try,¡± Zach said, nodding. With that, Donovan and Zephyr signaled for all raid members to head out towards the center of the camp. Mr. Oren¡¯s expression became grim. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Zach asked. ¡°You look a lot less optimistic than you did last night.¡± ¡°There have been some¡­changes made to our strategy?¡± ¡°Changes?¡± ¡°Come on, my man. Let¡¯s join the others.¡± It was only just now, in this moment, as he began walking towards the center-most location of the camp, that Zach realized that the numerous informational printouts that had been attached to the backs of many of the tents had been altered. Or rather, not altered: they were missing entirely. Up until he¡¯d gone to sleep last night, there had been several sheets on nearly all the tents that had displayed the current makeup of the raid, as well as everyone¡¯s individual division and battlegroup assignment. Zach, for example, had been assigned to division 1, battlegroup 2¡ªthe main battlegroup assigned to dealing the heaviest damage to the dragon. But now, no matter where he looked, he noticed that only the very first page remained taped to the backs of the tents¡ªthe page that showed the overall raid composition. ZIRAGOTH RAID: MEMBERSHIP AND ROLE BREAKDOWN Adventurers: 172 Political Guild Members: 263 Elves: 100 Total: 535 raid members Tanks: 60 Off-tanks / DPS: 54 DPS (Ranged): 180 DPS (Melee): 116 Support: 57 Healers: 68 A nervous pinch erupted in his belly as he began to wonder what was going on and why all the rest of the information was missing. As he gathered around with the more than five-hundred raid members who were now forming a gigantic, massive semi-circle around Donovan and Zephyr, he had a feeling he was about to find out. ¡°As I¡¯m sure a lot of you are starting to realize,¡± Zephyr began, ¡°we¡¯ve had to unfortunately make some last-minute changes to our formations. Ziragoth will be waking up very soon, so we¡¯ll have to keep this brief. Last night, we held an emergency meeting with Alex Oren after he discovered something very important.¡± Zephyr raised his hand, in which he clutched the document that Zach had brought back from Archian Prime. ¡°Almost everything in here,¡± he said, ¡°is highly likely to be correct. Everything we¡¯ve gone over in the briefings still stands. However,¡± he continued, ¡°there is one important detail that slipped all of our notice.¡± He began to wave the documents back and forth in the air. ¡°Everywhere on this document, the only name by which the boss is referred to is Ziragoth. Nowhere do we ever see the name Ziragoth the Awoken.¡± There were gasps from nearly all the adventurers, a tiny number of the Elves, and basically none of the political guild members. Was that supposed to be something significant? Apparently, it was, because everyone who looked like they knew what they were doing began tensing up and, in some cases, biting their lips. Olivir and Kolona also appeared deeply troubled, but Kalana¡¯s reaction appeared much the same as his own. ¡°I know many of you don¡¯t want to hear this, but we might be dealing with a deviant spawn.¡± More, louder groans came from the adventurers, and while looks of worry flashed across the faces of the political guild members, Zach thought it safe to assume that it was merely a reflection of the concern they saw coming from their adventurer counterparts and not based on any kind of deeper understanding of what that meant. Mr. Oren gently tapped on the shoulders of several of the adventurers so that they would allow him to pass, and he joined Donovan and Zephyr in the middle. ¡°For those of you unfamiliar with what this means,¡± he said. ¡°Some bosses have incredibly rare ¡®deviations¡¯ that maintain nearly all the properties of their base spawn only with additional abilities. There are a number of reasons we now believe Ziragoth to be a deviant, beginning with the fact that he spawns adds. At first, we thought this was due simply to incomplete information. But we have revised this determination based on several factors. ¡°But first, let me clarify: it¡¯s not unheard of for information to be incomplete when dealing with bosses that spawn very infrequently, but when dealing with mobs that spawn adds, it¡¯s typically something that is highly likely to present itself multiple times over the course of battle, making it something you¡¯d expect to see in the documentation¡ªeven based on just a single battle.¡± Mr. Oren removed his cat-eye glasses, then produced a piece of cloth from his lab coat and began wiping each lens while he spoke. ¡°When Zach first fought Ziragoth, it was in an enclosed area with many nearby buildings. Some bosses will not spawn adds when confined. That was why I did not find its lack of mention in the documentation so alarming when we encountered the dragon in a more open area and it began add-spawning. My assumption was that whatever raiding party had last fought Ziragoth and documented this information may well have simply encountered the wyvern in an environment that did not trigger this ability.¡± Placing his glasses back onto his face, he said, ¡°But given the discrepancy in the documentation regarding the boss¡¯s name, I think it¡¯s now more likely the case that we are dealing with a deviant version of the same boss. Especially since, upon more closely inspecting the report with an eye for any additional erroneously reported details, I discovered another discrepancy with regards to the shape of Ziragoth¡¯s jaw. Our Ziragoth¡¯s jaw is rounded, not square-shaped.¡± He took a deep breath then paused as if to ensure that everyone was following along with him. ¡°Deviant mobs typically have one or two enhancements compared to their base version. It¡¯s safe to assume that spawning adds is one of them, and it¡¯s also likely that its seemingly rudimentary form of intelligence and self-awareness is its other. If so, upon entering the second phase of the boss fight, it is highly likely that we will be forced to deal with a far, far greater number of adds than we were originally expecting, as well as a far more turbulent level of boss unpredictability. For this reason, we have shuffled around the battlegroups. Donovan?¡± Donovan gave him one of his heavy-handed pats on the shoulder and began to speak. ¡°So, like Alex was saying, the fucker¡¯s probably going to try to overwhelm us with its defenders. And seeing as how much we struggled to deal with just a couple of them when there were more than thirty of us, we¡¯ve decided to put a much greater emphasis on mob clearing this time around.¡± He gestured, and Alixa began wheeling out a whiteboard with papers attached to it. She stopped upon reaching him. ¡°So,¡± he resumed, ¡°here¡¯s what we¡¯re looking at. We¡¯re still gonna have our original three divisions in play, each consisting of two battlegroups. For Division 1, BG1 and BG2 will still be positioned on the frontlines and about eighty-to-a-hundred feet ahead of the fortification we built. And also as originally planned, BG2 will swap with BG1 in order to relieve pressure off one another. But unlike before, the swap interval¡¯s been increased to two-minutes from the start of the second phase of the fight, ¡®cause BG3 will no longer be on the frontlines with you. In fact, all of Division 2 has been moved.¡± Before Donovan could say another word, a chorus of outrage and protests came from the adventurers¡ªand even some of the political guilders who¡¯d been assigned to BG1 and BG2. ¡°You¡¯re leaving us for dead!¡± one of them shouted. ¡°You expect us to tank that thing by ourselves? We can take one hit each before our shields break or we¡¯re knocked out cold. There¡¯s not enough recovery time there, Donovan. This is unacceptable.¡± ¡°Relax!¡± he snapped. ¡°Let me finish, you whiny bastards.¡± He waited for everyone to be silent before he resumed speaking. ¡°Now, because we think this son of a bitch is gonna behave more intelligently than a regular boss, all the archers and long-rage casters we put up on the wall are now compromised. Why? Because the fucker can shoot adds out of its body, that¡¯s why. You think it ain¡¯t gonna fire them on top of the wall? If we don¡¯t have BG3 patrolling in front of and on top of the wall to peel off the adds, then there goes every ranged DPS we¡¯ve got. They¡¯ll be killed in seconds. No, we need to put some tanks around our casters and archers.¡± ¡°What about BG4?¡± someone else asked. ¡°BG4 is gonna be in the middle-ground between BG1 and 2, and BG 3.¡± ¡°Why?¡± demanded Reni Sarwin, his voice coming across as angry. Mr. Oren was the one who answered his question. ¡°Based on what we witnessed during our run-in with Ziragoth yesterday, we realized that the dragon cannot summon adds at close range. If it could, it would have. We know it targeted Zach with intent, but even still, it did not call down a single mob on top of Olivir and Grundor. The only mobs that ended up charging their way up the hill did so by happenstance. That¡¯s why we need someone covering BG1 and BG2¡¯s back. We cannot allow Ziragoth to summon adds behind our already overextended tanks and off-tanks.¡± ¡°Even still,¡± Reni said. ¡°Even with over five-hundred people, it still feels like we¡¯re coming up short. Once that thing becomes the equivalent of a level-570 mob, we need every tank we have on the frontlines. If you take away BG3 and BG4, we¡¯re fucked. We don¡¯t have enough to rotate. Each tank is going to need at least a few minutes to rest and heal after taking a hit, let alone re-equip, possibly put on fresh armor, etcetera. You might have the adds covered, but the entire frontline is going to be wiped out.¡± Donovan grunted. ¡°I told ya, I have a plan for that. Now shut your trap and listen.¡± He drew a breath then released it. ¡°For Division 3, BG5 and BG6 will be playing almost the same role as before, but with a slight change to BG6. Both battlegroups are still gonna be either on top of the wall or spread out in front of it. And BG5 is still gonna continue to rain fire on the fucker all throughout, just like we originally planned. But BG6 is now gonna have dual priorities. Priority 1: fire on the adds. Priority 2: fire on the dragon when you judge the adds to not currently pose a sufficient threat, or when you¡¯re ordered to do so.¡± ¡°So¡­?¡± Reni asked. ¡°What¡¯s the plan? That sounds a lot like before. It sounds to me like you¡¯re still hanging Division 1 out to dry.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± Donovan said. And now, he grinned. ¡°We¡¯ve created a new division. Division 4. And this division will contain BG7 and BG8. But I wanna start with BG8. This is the one Alex came up with. Now, I¡¯ll be honest, I argued with him about it at first, but after listening to him, he convinced me on it. Alex?¡± Mr. Oren bowed his head. ¡°We¡¯ve made some changes that might be¡­controversial, but I assure you, this is ultimately going to result in so many more of you leaving this raid alive.¡± Even before he said another word, Zach could see that he already had the political guild members on board, which he found humorous. ¡°BG8,¡± he said, ¡°will see Count Olivir Soloux, Kolona Vayra, Fluffles, Chumpkenwiffles, and Grundor reassigned into non-combat positions.¡± ¡°What?¡± shouted numerous of the adventurers, including Zach himself. Did Mr. Oren just say that Olivir would be given a non-combat role? Wasn¡¯t he, like, the most-powerful spellcaster they had? And Grundor, too? This was insane. What reason could he possibly have? As though aware just such a question would be running through everyone¡¯s mind, Mr. Oren held up his hand as if in a plea for people to let him finish, and then waited for the noise to die down before he continued to speak. ¡°Olivir and Kolona will stay out of fire range behind the fortification we¡¯ve constructed. Fluffles, Chumpkenwiffles, and Grundor will move back and forth between it, carrying those who have been killed in battle. Essentially, BG8 has only one purpose: to return to life everyone who dies today.¡± With just those words alone, Mr. Oren had somehow shifted the raid¡¯s opinion to the extent that many of the adventurers around him did a one-eighty and now began nodding their heads in support. ¡°I spoke with Olivir before making this decision. He informed me that the exertion cost of a non-vampiric resurrection is minimal and that as long as he¡¯s somewhere safe, he can resurrect everyone who dies at least once, provided that it is done within twenty minutes and that there has not been any decapitation. Secondly, in agreeing to do this, he and Kolona are compromising the cultural beliefs held by vampires, so please appreciate it.¡± ¡°Believe me,¡± Reni said, ¡°Nobody here¡¯s not going to appreciate being brought back to life.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± one of the adventurers said. ¡°If you bring me back, my wife definitely won¡¯t appreciate it.¡± Mr. Oren chuckled, and then so too did numerous adventurers and a fair number of those from political guilds. Even many of the Elves appeared to find this funny. It was a brief, but badly needed moment of levity. After it had quieted down, he finished his explanation. ¡°This leaves BG7. This is the most-important battlegroup. Based on the modeling I¡¯ve been up all night working on, I genuinely do believe that BG1 and BG2 will wipe¡ªbut remember, you will be revived. For this reason, don¡¯t hold back: don¡¯t fight as if you¡¯re afraid of death. And if any of you fear death, just know that Donovan and Zephyr have already died once fighting Ziragoth and are still fighting despite knowing they can¡¯t be brought back a second time. So you all can handle a single death as well.¡± There were a few grumbles in response to this, but nothing too impassioned as everyone¡ªZach included¡ªseemed interested to hear what Mr. Oren had to say. ¡°The damage we lose by removing BG8 from combat will be more than made up for if you fight without regard for your life. Give the dragon everything you have in you!¡± Zach never imagined Mr. Oren could say something that inspired a round of cheering, and amusingly, even he seemed surprised by the morale-raising clapping and shouts of approval that greeted his words. ¡°Now, having said all that, let me return to BG7. BG7, which will be our smallest battlegroup, will stay in the middle with BG4 and help them deal with any adds. In fact, for as long as BG1 and BG2 remain on their feet, I want BG7 to consider themselves an extension of BG4.¡± Now, he paused for a moment, and his eyes scanned the crowd. He stopped momentarily to meet the eyes of certain individuals, until at last, when he resumed speaking, he began to stare directly at Zach. This caused his stomach to rumble and his nerves to begin acting up. Yet he stood with his back straight and continued to listen. ¡°BG7 is a special unit compromised of Vim Alazar, Sir Peter Brayspark, Her Majesty the Queen, and Zachys Calador, who will serve as the primary tank of the entire raid. His role has thusly been switched from DPS to main off-tank. When BG1 and BG2 wipe, BG7 will engage the dragon alone, and every other unit aside from BG5 will focus exclusively on dealing with the adds.¡± Zach felt his knees weaken and his heart begin to thunder in his chest as he fought to comprehend what his ears had just detected as words. Surely, there must have been some mistake. At the exact same time, Kalana furiously called out to Mr. Oren in outrage, screaming out her displeasure. The gasps and shouts of confusion from everyone, including the political guilds and the Elves, filled the entirety of the raid camp as just about everyone seemed to take issue with what they¡¯d just heard. ¡°You cannot put our guild-leader on the frontlines!¡± Haisel Ragora, second-in-command of the Royal Roses cried out. ¡°I will take his place.¡± Kalana said almost the exact same thing, only with Zach substituted for Vim. ¡°Absolutely not, Alex!¡± she shouted at him. ¡°You want me to lose my mom and my boyfriend? I¡¯ll take his place as well. And if you won¡¯t let that happen, then you gotta put me in BG7 with him.¡± ¡°No, Kalana,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°You¡¯re too important to BG4. I can¡¯t reassign you.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care! Either you put me with Zach, or¡ª¡± ¡°Enough!¡± Queen Vayra said, walking side-by-side with Sir Peter Brayspark. Zach turned around to face her, as did several-hundred others. She had just returned from her walk, and the two of them looked every bit the royalty they claimed to be as a path was cleared for them and they approached closer. ¡°I accept my role,¡± Peter said, coming to a halt. He placed his hand on his chest and bowed. ¡°For the good of humanity, I will engage the beast: even if I must do so alone.¡± ¡°And I accept, too,¡± the queen said. Kalana scowled at her mother. ¡°Mom, are you crazy? Were you even here? Alex just said he¡ª¡± ¡°I know what he said,¡± she interrupted. ¡°I was there when he came up with this idea. Do not second-guess him. You¡¯re being disrespectful, daughter.¡± Her brow furrowing, Kalana held her arm out protectively in front of Zach. ¡°You¡¯re asking him to fight the dragon with just the three of you. One of them being¡ªum, no offense¡ªbut a political guild-leader.¡± ¡°Two of us, actually,¡± Peter interjected. ¡°Oh, right. Okay, but you¡¯re like different. You¡¯re somehow strong. But the Royal Roses'' guild-leader is not gonna be able to¡ª¡± ¡°Kid,¡± Donovan said, shaking his head. ¡°You don¡¯t know who that man is.¡± ¡°Yah I do,¡± Kalana said. ¡°He¡¯s with the political guilds. Everyone knows who he is! But he probably doesn¡¯t even know how to fight a boss properly.¡± ¡°True,¡± Zach said. ¡°And no offense to Vim, but even if he does know how, it won¡¯t matter because he probably won¡¯t be able to reach Ziragoth. I guess his strategy is to stab the dragon in the feet?¡± The adventurers erupted with the single-loudest roar of laughter that Zach had ever heard, one that actually grew in volume the longer it went on. It lasted for nearly fifteen full seconds. There was even a round of applause. And yet, even before it ended, Zach regretted what he¡¯d done straight away, because he knew that there was no way the man would not respond to that. For a brief moment, he became more afraid of Vim Alazar¡¯s response than he was of the dragon. And boy, did he let Zach have it. ¡°Thank you so much for your concern, Zach,¡± he began. Every voice quieted, even the adventurers. ¡°But my dear friend, I¡¯m far more worried about your safety. After all, we¡¯ve just been informed that this dragon possesses a small, but basic level of intelligence. So, right off the bat, we know it has at least one thing you do not. Personally, I recommend you wear earplugs. I¡¯m worried that if this thing can somehow speak as well, it won¡¯t even need to attack you: it¡¯ll just trick you into killing yourself again.¡± Having just been savaged, the political guilds all roared out in laughter and derision, behaving just like the adventurers as they cheered on the man. Mr. Oren gave Zach a look of warning, and Zach nodded. He knew better than to keep the back-and-forth going. He¡¯d been hit pretty hard, but he oddly wasn¡¯t upset, as this time around, he knew it was his own fault. And he also was far too worried about Ziragoth to be offended. Since he¡¯d basically asked for it, anyway, he let it slide. But did some of the adventurers have to laugh at that too? When everyone finally quieted, Donovan again tried to allay Kalana¡¯s concerns. ¡°Vim Alazar might be a prick, but he¡¯s not gonna have any problems. That bastard is¡­pretty tough.¡± Vim released a small, dark chuckle. ¡°You know, don¡¯t you?¡± he asked. ¡°How?¡± ¡°I told him,¡± Olivir announced. Vim shifted his eyes in Olivir¡¯s direction. ¡°The vampire,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°It figures.¡± Olivir gave an apologetic shrug. ¡°You learn a lot when you¡¯ve been alive for over two-hundred years.¡± ¡°Not when you¡¯ve wasted one hundred ninety nine of them shopping for outfits that make you look like a used DEHV salesman. And who exactly do you think you¡¯re fooling with that silver hair?¡± Zach opened his mouth to defend his friend¡¯s honor, but Olivir surprised him, releasing a bout of intense, delightful laughter. ¡°Oh, dude. You¡¯re just as funny as your dad was. I miss that mean son of a bitch.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± To Kalana, Olivir said, ¡°Vim Alazar is of a blood almost as strong as the Elvish kind. The political guilds all keep this a secret, because it just so happens that this blood is not of human origin. Vim, like his father, is half Gnome. That¡¯s why his guild has no problem letting in non-humans.¡± "Olivir, are you sure about what you just said?" Zach asked, a rush of excitement flowing through him. "Uh, well yeah." ¡°Yes!¡± Zach cheered. ¡°He¡¯s part Gnome? Oh, Gods, yes! This opens up so much! Oh, man, he''s in big trouble now!¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re a racist now, too, Zach?¡± Vim asked, tsking. "W-what?" Zach immediately realized what he¡¯d done, and he felt the blood drain from his face. ¡°I¡­I didn¡¯t¡­¡± Even Kalana was staring at him angrily like he¡¯d said something wrong. ¡°That¡¯s right, let it sink in, Zach. Every single time you¡¯ve ever insulted me for my height¡ªevery single time. You were being racist.¡± ¡°Fuck,¡± he growled under his breath. He had absolutely no retort to that, and so he said nothing. The Gnomes were a race with a population that lived in two different continents: half of them shared Zatrakhar with the Orcs, and the other half lived far to the north with the Dwarves, to whom they were supposedly related. They were a bit shorter than the Dwarves and darker in skin. But unlike the Dwarves, the Gnomes still maintained at least some basic ties with humanity, as they were the one race that, likely through nothing more than sheer coincidence, humanity had no documented evidence of having ever fought a war against. Regardless, Zach had never met a Gnome in person before, and those he¡¯d seen in movies or shows tended to be way shorter than Vim. ¡°Take heart, Zachys Calador,¡± Sir Peter Brayspark said. ¡°Do not let this foul creature dissuade you into staying your tongue. It¡¯s bad enough I must join forces with someone I am at war with. But like you, Zach, I too have nothing but disdain for this Gnomish half-breed.¡± Zach scratched his head. ¡°Uh, well, now wait a second,¡± he said. ¡°I just want to make absolutely clear that I don¡¯t hate or dislike Gnomes or think that just because someone is a Gnome it means they are¡ª¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need to be coy.¡± Peter eyed Vim Alazar with plain disgust. ¡°This ¡®thing¡¯ is about as human as the dragon. Let not his accusations dampen your spirit. It is not racist to speak the truth of how vulgar and disgusting the Gnomes are. I''d sooner dine with an Orc than a Gnome. The untainted half of him must weep at the existence of the other.¡± ¡°Oh, boy,¡± Vim said, shaking his head and sighing. ¡°Haisel, hold my coat. I¡¯m going in.¡± He cleared his throat. And now, Zach braced himself. He knew the man was about to unleash a verbal Wave Slash so powerful that Peter would likely draw his sword over it. And it appeared that Queen Vayra knew this as well, because ultimately, it was her who shockingly ended up mediating things here before they got any worse. ¡°The dragon is set to wake up in less than ten minutes,¡± she said. ¡°Is it really wise to be standing around here trading barbs? The fact of the matter is that the raid-leaders, myself, and Peter have all agreed to this plan. Kalana!¡± she snapped, pointing at her daughter, who was opening her mouth as though just about to interrupt her. ¡°Not another word from you. You¡¯re to remain in BG4.¡± For the first time, Zach observed as Kalana actually listened to her mother. He couldn¡¯t believe she¡¯d actually managed to command her to do something. But then again, right now, her tone of voice left no room for disagreement or bickering. Fylwen appeared to have found her footing, and now it showed. ¡°Peter, whatever issues you may have with the Royal Roses, you must set them aside until afterwards. And if I hear you speak with such vile racism towards the man again, I¡¯ll join the war effort against you simply as a matter of self-preservation. And Sir Alazar, as for you, if you provoke Peter, I will have my Elves destroy your shipping containers.¡± Vim rolled his eyes as though unimpressed. ¡°Your Majesty, while I¡ª¡± ¡°Nah-uh!¡± Kalana shouted, glaring at him. ¡°You¡¯re gonna make a mean joke about my mom. Do it and I¡¯m throwing you into the sun.¡± ¡°Throw me into the sun?¡± He drew a breath. Oh, fuck! ¡°And Kalana¡¯s off limits, too!¡± Zach shouted. ¡°A single bad word about her, and I swear to the Gods I will lose my cool and murder everyone in front of me indiscriminately. I will join forces with that fucking dragon and burn everyone here. Not a Gods-damned word!¡± Turning over his palms, Vim spun around and began to walk away. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with.¡± Now, as everyone began to make their way north towards the fortification, Zach knew that this was really it. The plan and stage were set. In just a few moments, they were about to finally attack Ziragoth. This nightmare that had begun while he was sitting in a little diner in a cute little town was going to either end here and now or result in every life on the planet being consumed by flames. He didn¡¯t know why he¡¯d been given such a dangerous role. He didn¡¯t understand what the thinking behind such a thing was. But no matter the case, he was determined to perform it to the best of his ability, and for one reason above all: if Ziragoth was attacking him, it meant the dragon was not attacking Kalana. That alone was enough for him to agree to this insanity. Even if he had to struggle not to piss himself. Chapter 95: Ziragoth the Awoken Part I Chapter 95: Ziragoth the Awoken Part I ¡°How can they have made such a terrible decision?¡± Eilea asked fearfully. She was both dismayed and disgusted. ¡°Are they bereft of any common sense at all?¡± ¡°Most likely,¡± Francis said, frowning. ¡°What are those fools doing?¡± Eilea had been in high spirits up until just a few moments ago, when all her plans had come crashing down around her. Before that point, things had been going swimmingly. For starters, Angelica had finally created a space where the truth about Adamus could be spoken without his knowledge. And even better, the World Eater was now known to the adventurers. If only two-way communication was possible with the tavern, Eilea would have personally joined in their meeting herself. Even still, it had pleased her greatly to see how events had begun to transpire. She¡¯d even agreed with their decision to¡ªat least for now¡ªkeep the boy ignorant of the World Eater in order to stay a step ahead of Adamus. For this reason, both she and Francis had agreed to no longer try invoking the memory in him¡ªwell, outside of the bare minimum required so that Adamus did not become suspicious as to why they¡¯d suddenly stopped tugging on their end of the rope. Everything had been going perfectly, she thought. And then came this morning. She did not understand the thinking of these adventurers. Though Zachys Calador¡¯s power would one day be immense, and though this process had in fact begun, the day when he could be given such an impossible task had not yet arrived. So for what possible reason could these absolute, empty-headed imbeciles think it was a wise idea to assign the boy such a blatantly unsuitable role? By Eilea¡¯s estimation, his odds of surviving the raid were now incredibly low even if it turned out to be a success. Perhaps, at the most, he had a three-percent chance of living through this. And that was being optimistic. What if they¡¯re aware of this? she thought, filling with suspicion. ¡°Francis,¡± she said, alarmed. ¡°What if they¡¯re trying to kill him?¡± Francis became visibly distraught as he presumably considered the idea. ¡°Maybe,¡± he said. ¡°This could be an easy way to rid themselves of someone they now know could be a tremendous threat.¡± The two of them were still in the ancient throne room of a long-since vanished kingdom, watching through the viewing dome as a sudden change in luck had all-but doomed their entire plan. What would they do now? It could be centuries, perhaps even millennia before another suitable candidate came along. She could not handle having yet another failure on her hands. Adamus would never let her live that down. ¡°Is there anything we can do?¡± Francis asked. ¡°Can you break the final bindings keeping me here in the next few moments?¡± ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°Adamus made the few that remain more difficult than I thought. It might even take me another month.¡± She swelled with anger. ¡°I¡¯m not able to interfere right now. Adamus must be working extra hard today. If I could only send the boy a message and tell him to leave.¡± ¡°Can you not break through at all?¡± She shook her head. ¡°No. He¡¯s going out of his way to block me from telepathically reaching that area. If we were both in space, it would be one thing. But whereas he¡¯s functioning like a living satellite, I¡¯m trapped all the way down here, with miles upon miles of dirt acting as a natural dampener for my abilities.¡± She slammed her fist down onto the stand, nearly knocking over the viewing dome. If not for Francis reaching out and steadying it, the dome would have fallen onto the floor and shattered. ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do,¡± she said. ¡°Aside from watch him die. Unless¡­can you go up there? You could take down Ziragoth on your own, couldn¡¯t you? Couldn¡¯t you kill that thing before it kills Zach?¡± ¡°In theory,¡± he said. ¡°But in practice, no. Adamus will just lock me away in a prison like this one if I try to leave without you by my side to shield me. I¡¯ll never get within a mile.¡± As Eilea filled with hopelessness and despair, she began to do something she hadn¡¯t done in thousands of years. It was an awful habit she¡¯d had before she was a Great One¡ªbefore she was even an adult. Placing her fingers near her mouth, she began to bite her nails, stressed beyond the breaking point. Not only would her plans be ruined, but she¡¯d also have to watch the boy die. She had grown to like him. ******* Adamus, almost on instinct, turned his head to his left to ask Prila what she thought of things on the ground. Then he released a saddened sigh, having forgotten again that she was gone, and that the dear woman had chosen to become a participant in the system. He¡¯d known she¡¯d go down this path before long. He could tell from the day she¡¯d begun to question the system that she would never be satisfied remaining an idle spectator outside of it. Still, he¡¯d hoped to have more time with her before she chose to move on. Truly, he held no hostility towards Prila for choosing a different path in life. To the contrary, he rather admired her. Everything she had done was within her right as a free-thinking, empowered individual. And the beauty of the system was that it allowed for it. He wished her the best¡ªeven if it would become a whole lot lonelier up here without her. Retreating to his office, he closed the door then closed his eyes. He began to focus. Now, he could see the region of Shadowfall Coast in its entirety as though he were there in person. The dragon was going to wake soon. It had spawned in its more powerful version. Adamus, naturally, had not chosen to make that happen, nor would he dare do such a thing. Ziragoth¡¯s spawn window had been made so very long ago. Each time it was killed, it would respawn between 800 and 1000 years from the moment of its death. The fact that it had respawned in 931 was not something he¡¯d chosen to make happen, but merely the result of random chance. ¡°You¡¯re being an idiot. Let me help him.¡± No, Eilea. ¡°He¡¯s going to die!¡± You don¡¯t know that, my beloved. ¡°I cannot believe you hold such apathy towards life.¡± I do not. ¡°You indeed do, my dear, twisted husband. Free me from my shackles, and I¡¯ll save him myself!¡± You are not a prisoner, my beloved. You hold the key to your own cell. Give me your word you will not interfere with the system, and you will be released in the blink of an eye. You know this. For a thousand years, you¡¯ve kept yourself there out of sheer stubbornness. ¡°Let me at least warn him.¡± I¡¯ll do no such thing. ¡°You¡¯re a damned fool. A stubborn, disgraceful man. Let me show you something.¡± An image flashed in his mind: a document he could see clearly as though he were inspecting it by hand. Why did Eilea persist in doing this? She knew it would not move him. Once again, she had used her influence to motivate Galterran data scientists to conduct a cross-region poll of the humans living in North Bastia. And as always, the results were as they tended to be every decade or so when she did this. Question: A God(s) ethical responsibility to his/her/its people: TO NEVER INTERFERE WITH FREE WILL: 21.67% TO INTERFERE ONLY WHEN TO AVOID DOING SO WOULD LEAD TO UNSPEAKABLE SUFFERING OR HUMANITARIAN DISASTERS: 30% TO FIND A BALANCE THAT MANAGES FREE WILL WITH ENFORCING DECENCY: 38.33% TO PLAY AN ACTIVE AND CONSTANT ROLE IN THE LIVES THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR: 10% ¡°Don¡¯t you see? The people cry out to us for help. They want us to play a role in their lives. Eight in ten want us to be there for them at least some of the time. Certainly, this counts as one of them.¡± The people do not know what they want, my beloved. They are children who have never had to live under the tyranny of a God. As soon as one presented itself, their views would change just as quickly. Adamus didn¡¯t know why she kept thinking she could change his mind. Did she really think that he would strip people of their freedom just because they did not know any better? While it did disappoint him that 38.3% of Galterrans actually believed such a thing as ¡°balance¡± could exist in a world in which Great Ones interfered, it was only because they did not know what they truly wanted. That only 21.67% craved freedom was saddening, yet it changed nothing. ¡°Your system is pain, Adamus. It¡¯s pain! The people do not want it. They want stability and safety in their lives.¡± No. You are wrong. My system is the answer. As proof of this, I invite you to peer into the mind of our descendent, Fylwen Vayra. Do you see that spike in oxytocin in her brain? Yesterday, she crossed between worlds to try to murder the boy. And now, she is concealing how terrified she is that something will happen to him. He¡¯s even begun to remind her of the son she lost. She is prepared to die in his place if need be. This is the power of the system to inspire goodness. ¡°They will both end up dying, you fool! Your cruelty is beyond measure.¡± Eilea, I tire of this same argument every day. I will not allow you to interfere. You can conduct all the polls you want. I know I am right. ¡°Curse you, Adamus!¡± Adamus tuned her out and peered closer into the region. Now, he could distinguish individual faces and names. If they managed to survive the dragon, they would need to band together again to defeat the World Eater. As things were currently going, it was incredibly unlikely that would happen. But if they were all destroyed¡­then so be it. After all, it had not been a Great One who created the World Eater, and thus it would not be the fault of a Great One if it caused the destruction of Galterra. They must be made to live with the consequences of the choices they made freely. They chose to create the World Eater. They must now face the World Eater as a consequence. And if they all perished, Adamus had a backup plan. Unbeknownst to even most of the OMP, he had been working diligently for a long time to ensure the survival of his system. For this reason, he had begun collecting and freezing unfertilized eggs from all of the races. If Galterrans did not survive their extinction event, he would seed the planet of Archian Prime, which was a more than suitable T1 replacement planet for Galterra. Almost entirely unexplored¡ªlike nearly all the system planets, regrettably¡ªhe would make that the new starting planet for life. It would function virtually identically to how Galterra had functioned in the beginning. In fact, if not for Eilea teaching Galterrans how to destroy spawn points under the foolish notion they¡¯d only do so to make their cities safer, Galterrans would be better equipped to handle this dragon. This boss was never designed to be an apocalyptic event. It was designed to be a basic check on their progress and a reminder to be persistent and work together to overcome external hostility. The first time it had been killed, it had died within twenty minutes of spawning. The last time, it had taken a week and had wiped out two regions. This time? It might actually end up purging Galterra of sentient life. If not for the interference of the Great Ones all throughout history, the system would be faring so much better; this, he truly believed. His system was not a failure. The Great Ones had failed. Not the system. But regardless of who was to blame, their fate was in their own hands now. It was not up to him to decide. If the boy met his end today, as was likely, then that was simply the culmination of the decisions that Galterrans had made freely. He would not accept the blame for what others had chosen to do with their gift of freedom. Never, would he accept that premise. ****** Only a few moments ago, the sun had fully risen. Light now filled the world, illuminating the rolling hills and vast stretches of green that carried on for as far as the eye could see. And though it was early in the morning, the temperature had already begun to rise. What few patches of clouds had lingered from last night''s storm were now gone, and the grass beneath their feet had once more become dry. It was looking to be a hot, but beautiful summer day. Yet it might also be their last day as well. Zach tried to slow his breathing and calm his heart. He, along with over five-hundred others, could do little but gaze apprehensively into the distance, waiting for the inevitable moment that the fire wyvern came to meet them in battle. To his own self-revulsion, there had been numerous times in just the last few minutes alone where he¡¯d honestly worried he¡¯d vomit from the sick feeling that had overtaken him. Held together by nothing more than a desire not to embarrass himself in front of Kalana, Zach called upon every ounce of his willpower to keep from breaking down or losing his cool as an end to the uneasy calm lurked. The time before Ziragoth awoke dwindled down second by second. Having quickly gotten into position, there was nothing left for him to do but wait¡ªand also think. It was the second of these two things that was causing him so many problems. He was so confused. Nothing made sense. He was struggling to come to grips with his role in this raid, which even now, didn¡¯t feel real. It also didn¡¯t feel right. It was a miracle that he hadn¡¯t pissed himself. I¡¯m the main tank, he thought to himself in disbelief, barely managing to hold himself together. But why? I don¡¯t have a shield. I¡¯m not even a tank! So why? To have dropped this onto him with no warning, no preparation, and no real explanation for why he¡¯d been selected for this role or what he was even supposed to do¡ªwas this just some kind of trick to get him to sacrifice himself? Was Mr. Oren doing to him what Queen Vayra had once done, only now for his own, inexplicable reasons? He has to know I¡¯ll die, Zach thought. Nobody even told me how I¡¯m supposed to do this! As though sensing his distress, Vim Alazar turned his head in Zach¡¯s direction. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine,¡± the Royal Roses¡¯ guild-leader said. ¡°Relax.¡± Zach waited for part-two of his comment. Surely, he intended to follow that up with some quip about Zach¡¯s lack of courage. Yet instead, he merely folded his arms across his chest and stared into the distance, saying nothing and likely watching for the moment that the vicious fire wyvern stomped its way down the hills and headed towards them. According to Olivir, the T5 Sleep spell had landed a bit shy of its full duration, as there was a degree of variability. In this case, it¡¯d end around four hours short of a full day, which just so happened to be about two minutes from now. As the seconds ticked down, Zach had to dig even deeper to find his nerve. Right now, Zach, Vim, Peter, and Queen Vayra were standing in a line together while mingling with BG4, an add-killing group that included the likes of Kalana, her father, Donovan, Zephyr, and Mr. Oren as some of its members. Zach¡¯s group¡ªBG7¡ªas well as BG4, were about fifty feet in front of the spiral-shaped wall, on top of which BG6, a battlegroup made up of almost entirely Elvish archers and spellcasters, stood ready to attack as soon as they were given the order. About another fifty feet ahead of Zach was a giant mass of people: a mixture of adventurers, Elvish, and political guild members that formed Division 1, which included Battlegroups 1 and 2. BG1 was just a tiny bit farther ahead of BG2, but they would be swapping in and out as the fight progressed. Originally, they were supposed to include BG3 and BG4 from Division 2 in their swap rotations, but instead, BG3 had taken up positions both on top and immediately in front of the wall to guard BG5 and BG6 from what they were assuming would be a gigantic rush of add-spawn. BG4, on the other hand, was here with Zach, protecting BG1 and BG2 from being attacked from behind. ¡°One-minute warning!¡± Donovan¡¯s voice shouted over the Comm that each of them had been provided. ¡°Dragon¡¯s about to wake!¡± Hearing those words sent tremors shooting straight through his body. He found himself becoming suddenly unsteady, but then Fylwen grabbed his hand and held it. ¡°Be brave,¡± she whispered to him. ¡°You¡¯re going to marry my daughter someday, aren¡¯t you?¡± If any color remained in his face, it must surely have drained as he released a cough of pure surprise at hearing her words. ¡°W-what?¡± ¡°Am I mistaken?¡± ¡°Well, no. Of course I¡­I mean, if she¡¯s willing, of course I¡¯d¡­¡± Fylwen laughed. ¡°Be brave for her, Zach.¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying.¡± ¡°I know you are.¡± Giving voice to his fear, he asked, ¡°Am I being sacrificed? I keep wondering if this is some kind of mistake or a trick to get me to kill myself. Mr. Oren¡¯s been acting really weird around me lately. If I¡¯m wrong, I¡¯ll hate myself for even thinking something so terrible, but do you think there¡¯s any chance he wants me to die here?¡± ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°Definitely not. I wouldn¡¯t allow that regardless.¡± ¡°It just feels like this is certain death.¡± ¡°That friend of yours, Alex¡­he knows what he¡¯s doing. Even the Gods could not have divined a better plan. I was quite impressed.¡± ¡°I sure hope so,¡± Zach muttered. ¡°Because if we wipe, it won¡¯t just be the adventurers, but the entire political establishment that dies with us. I might not know a whole lot about how things work, but I bet if every guild-leader died today all at once, there¡¯d be a lot of chaos.¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°There would be,¡± Fylwen agreed. ¡°Though it wouldn¡¯t matter anyway. If we lose here, all Galterrans are dead regardless.¡± Looking around him, it was hard to believe just how many people were actually participating in this raid. It was almost like they had a small army. The top of the wall was practically stuffed with archers, tanks, healers, and additional melee DPS to deal with the expected adds. And in the center and slightly ahead of the wall, with their backs against the stone, were the spellcasters who had less range; this bunch formed the bulk of BG5 and consisted mostly of political guild members with a few adventurers mixed in. BG6 was currently also receiving protection from BG5 with some crossover protection from BG4. It was a whole lot of units to devote towards looking after the spellcasters and archers, but Mr. Oren¡¯s entire plan was based on his certainty that the adds would pose the same¡ªor perhaps an even greater¡ªthreat than the dragon itself, and that the dragon would aim its adds at their ranged DPS and healers as a priority. Donovan and Zephyr had signed onto this plan, and so here they were, waiting¡­ It''s a huge risk to take on what¡¯s basically a guess, Zach thought. If Mr. Oren¡¯s wrong, then we¡¯re going to wipe because we won¡¯t have enough people on the frontlines. Behind Zach, through a gate built into the wall, he could see the raid camp a half mile away. And further beyond that he could see the city of Shadowfall Coast. It served as a reminder to him of why they were all here at all. If they failed, the dragon would march right over their still-warm corpses until reaching the city, at which point the defenseless civilians would be ripped apart just like the ones in the Den of Ziragoth had been. For this reason, he really hoped Mr. Oren knew what he was doing. It wasn¡¯t just Zach¡¯s life, or all their lives, but the life of everyone who lived on this planet that was hanging in the balance. ¡°Remember,¡± Donovan said, his voice coming through the Comm in Zach¡¯s ear. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna see any of you fuckers using fire magic, fire arrows, or a weapon that has elemental fire procs. Ice and water are the preferred types of attack, but we¡¯ll take anything so long as it ain¡¯t fire or lava.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t Olivir hit the dragon with fire?¡± Zach asked. ¡°It did a lot of damage, too.¡± ¡°No,¡± Mr. Oren said, answering for Donovan. ¡°He used the dragon¡¯s own fire against it. That¡¯s¡­different. Mobs are always susceptible to their own damage. If we use fire, it will heal the dragon.¡± ¡°Gotcha. I guess that makes¡ª¡± ¡°No, you are smelly, not me!¡± Fluffles suddenly shouted over the Comm, causing hundreds of heads to look around in confusion. Where even was the cat? And had they seriously put a Comm in his ear as well? Come to think of it, the idea of that was actually kind of cute. Turning around, Zach saw him standing on top of the wall next to a couple of Elvish archers. He was hopping up and down as though agitated. Was he fighting with Chumpkenwiffles or something? ¡°Fluffles, quiet on Comms!¡± Maric shouted. ¡°Sorry, daddy. Fluffles angry! Stupid dragon say he kill us and eat our bones. Then he say I am smelly. Fluffles say he eat the dragon bones and dragon smelly!¡± ¡°He what?¡± shouted numerous voices while others began to chime in as well. Everyone began craning their necks and locking eyes with one another as if trying to determine if they¡¯d heard the cat correctly. It took Donovan and Zephyr shouting practically at the top of their lungs to quiet everyone down. ¡°Did you just say you spoke to the dragon?¡± Mr. Oren asked. ¡°Yes! Fluffles talk to Ziragoth. He say he come for Zach now. I say he smell like horsie poo.¡± Fluffles hissed, the sound of it coming through clearly on the Comm. ¡°Now he say he eat Fluffles again!¡± ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not mistaken?¡± Mr. Oren asked. ¡°Is that even possible? How can you speak to the¡ª¡± ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Zach gritted his teeth as the ground rumbled, and his jitters worsened. The dragon had somehow communicated with Fluffles and had threatened him directly. As he¡¯d suspected all along, this was personal for some reason. He didn¡¯t know why. He didn¡¯t understand it. But for whatever reason, that fucking thing had it out for him. And now, it was coming. Chumpkenwiffles began making deep, angry barks. ¡°The dragon is taunting us,¡± she said. ¡°It says it is coming, and it wants to know if Zach will run away again like a coward this time too.¡± ¡°Ziragoth say Zach have small penis and not have testicle,¡± Fluffles added. ¡°He said fucking what?¡± Zach snapped. ¡°Ziragoth seriously just said that about me?¡± Immediately, a giant chunk of his fear turned on a dime into raw, seething rage. ¡°Fluffles!¡± he roared, so angry that he was spitting as he spoke. ¡°Now I want you tell that dumb mother f¡ª¡± ¡°Zach, enough!¡± Mr. Oren fired in. ¡°Please do not get into an argument with the dragon. Fluffles, Chumpkenwiffles: both of you stop communicating with it immediately. If this thing is intelligent enough to mentally communicate using some form of coherent speech, it is likely trying to goad us into making an error. Ignore it!¡± Another roar came from the dragon, and now, the sound of hundreds of bodies drawing their weapons and readying themselves could be heard all around him. ¡°All right, everyone!¡± Donovan¡¯s voice shouted over the Comm. ¡°I don¡¯t know how those two are talking to that thing and I don¡¯t care, either. As far as I¡¯m concerned, it can say whatever it wants. It¡¯s still going to die! So look alive and stay sharp. From this point forward, keep chatter to a minimum, and like Alex says, let that son of a bitch talk all the shit it wants. Don¡¯t pay attention to it and don¡¯t respond. BG1, prepare to engage. BG5 and BG6, hold fire until aggro is established. BG2, 3, 4, and 7, standby to intercept add spawns.¡± Fylwen gave his hand a reassuring squeeze then released it. Now, Zach drew his blade, Fylwen removed her shortsword, Peter unsheathed his own steel, and Vim raised his hand above his head as though calling on Bank and Storage. An instant later, a large, blackish-red, slightly curved staff that looked made of some kind of tree root appeared. He then held it out vertically in front of him, his left and right fist clutching the middle of it, and he began to mutter various incantations, buffing the four of them. Zach was so nervous he didn¡¯t even really pay attention to it, even as something that looked like crossed swords popped into the air before him then disappeared, likely the effect of one of his buffs. Amid all this, suddenly a strange mess of information popped into the air in front of his eyes. It almost blocked out his entire view of the world, and it startled him a bit, too. But as he read it over, he realized it was just a sort of ¡°invitation¡± to join the raid from Donovan. He hadn¡¯t gotten one of them the last¡ªand first¡ªtime that he¡¯d joined a raiding group. He¡¯d just sort of willed himself into it like he always did when joining a party. He wondered if the complexity of this raiding party as well as the number of people involved made this different. Either way, he read it over quickly, not having the time to dwell on it.
Raiding Party Type Division-Based
Name Visibility Names Visible
Level Visibility Anonymous
Loot Rules FFA
Loot Treasurer Donovan Iseldar / GSG Guild Storage
XP Share Battlegroup-Only
Join Raiding Party? Yes/No
Zach wasn¡¯t sure if he needed to physically touch the spot in the air where the ¡°yes¡± was located or if he needed to mentally will himself into it. And so, for the sake of brevity, he attempted both at the same time. He began raising his hand while simultaneously mentally agreeing. Now, the screen vanished before he could even extend his arm, which made him guess that either would likely have worked. At the same time, all around him, more than half of the people on the raid began to ¡°glow,¡± and despite having never met the vast majority of the people here, he could now see all of their names¡ªbut not their level. In the span of just a few seconds, the other half began to glow as well, turning on like festive lights during one of the yearly holidays. Wherever a raid member resided, Zach could now find them. This even included the numerous people¡ªwho Zach assumed were healers¡ªthat were currently sheltering inside one of several defensive towers atop the wall. It made sense that they were choosing to stay out of sight until their healing was required. There would be no point in risking being observed until they were needed. This is happening, Zach told himself, once again feeling nauseous. Just accept it. This is happening. Now, with his sword at the ready and his adrenaline spiking, Zach gripped his blade tightly as another roar came from the dragon, resulting in yet another earthquake-like shaking from the ground. Then, a moment later, far into the distance, Ziragoth at last entered into view. And immediately, the tension heightened to such a level that Zach could feel it being exuded by all those around him, even the Elvish warriors. At the top of one of the rolling hills, Ziragoth¡¯s body appeared as it ambled closer to them. Yet despite clearly knowing that they were all here, it continued to move at a somewhat sedate pace. Zach did not believe this was some kind of sadistic taunt, however. Ziragoth obviously had to follow certain rules regarding aggro range¡ªas well as other mob behaviors. Though it might have possessed an actual, sentient mind, it was overtly clear that it did not possess any kind of free will. And as if to confirm this, Fluffles said something that caused shivers to roll down Zach¡¯s back. ¡°Ziragoth say he want to die,¡± Fluffles announced. ¡°He say if Zach not kill, he kill Kalana.¡± His heart began pounding in his chest as his brain registered Fluffles¡¯ words. ¡°How does he know about¡­how does he know who she is and what she means to me?¡± he asked, both shocked and furious all at once. ¡°Ziragoth appraised you,¡± Chumpkenwiffles said, barking. ¡°Ziragoth says if he is not granted his desire for death, he will kill everyone to punish our failure¡ªand he will eats us! He wants to eats us!¡± She made a whining sound. ¡°My Queen Vayra¡­momma! Chumpkenwiffles is scared.¡± The dog whined again. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°You¡¯re a good girl, Chumpkenwiffles. Just help evacuate any dead with Fluffles and the zombie. And don¡¯t listen to anything else it has to say.¡± As Ziragoth came even closer, Donovan barked out a laugh over the Comm. ¡°Let¡¯s grant the dragon his wish, boys and girls!¡± A loud, roaring cheer came from all of the adventurers, and then soon after, even the political guild members as well as the Elves joined in. ¡°So this is a raid,¡± Sir Abram Gespon the Virtuous said. He was in BG4, and he was rubbing his chin. ¡°This kind of excitement¡­I¡¯m guessing it can be addicting.¡± ¡°It sure can,¡± Donovan said, speaking to him directly and off the Comm. He held up his pointer finger. ¡°But shit usually ain¡¯t this exciting. Nah, this is one for the history books.¡± For the next thirty seconds, Ziragoth continued to slowly make its way in their direction, and then finally, upon reaching aggro range, it made another of its ground-shaking, earth-rumbling scream-roars, only this time, either Zach was imagining things, or there was a slight note of satisfaction and eagerness in the sound of it. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Now, flapping its powerful, sharp, and deadly wings, it took off into the air just as it had yesterday, and then it began soaring forward at breakneck speeds towards the whole lot of them. Within just one second, it went from stationary to a jet-like level of fastness. It truly was spectacular and surreal all at once. There was something just so ¡°out of place¡± about seeing the dragon in person. It was a sense of terror but also a thrilling rush that confused Zach as much as it haunted him. ¡°All right, no fuck-ups, people,¡± Donovan said over the Comm. ¡°Maric, you¡¯re up first. Pull it. Alixa, channel on him as soon as he pulls! BG5 and BG6: hold DPS for now. If everything goes according to plan, this first phase should actually be really easy given our numbers.¡± Donovan¡¯s words reminded Zach that the size of Division 1, as it currently stood, was actually slightly larger than the entire raid had been prior to yesterday when they had still believed they¡¯d be fighting a level-245-equivalent T7 Fire Wyvern. Back then, when Ziragoth had simply been known as a ¡°superboss¡± and not a ¡°God Boss,¡± Zach¡¯s understanding of the situation was that Mr. Oren believed 150 to 160 people were cutting it close, but were just enough to get the job done. Now, however, with the mob supposedly set to increase its tier to T10, even with 535 raid members, they still might come up short. He swallowed nervously as he struggled to imagine how such a large number of people wouldn¡¯t be enough to take down a single boss. Here it comes, he thought, tightening his grip on his blade further. In no time at all, Ziragoth burst across the sky, his form growing larger as he moved at tremendous speed across the grasslands and towards where they were waiting for him. Maric, stepping a bit ahead of all the others, seemed to be attempting to recreate something Olivir had done: pull the mob out of the air onto him. For this, he dropped his sword and shield onto the grass near his feet, raised his hand, palm flat, above his head, and then, as though activating Bank and Storage, he produced a large, white-and-blue spear. In a display of the man¡¯s strength and experience, he then bent backwards, placed his left foot before his right, and then lurched his body forward and hurled the spear at the speed of a bullet into the sky¡ªeven as the dragon was still very far away. The moment the spear left his hands, it moved so fast and traveled so far that it actually appeared to vanish as far as Zach¡¯s eyes were concerned. He was totally unable to keep track of it. Then, taking his eyes off the situation completely, Maric looked down, bent over, once more retrieved his shield, and then casually stood back to his feet as an ear-piercing cry of pain came from Ziragoth. Though Zach could not actually see the spear hitting the boss, he could just barely make out a 9,241 somewhere far up into the sky. ¡°BG1, get back!¡± Maric cried in warning. ¡°Alixa, channel on me. Now!¡± Although he¡¯d retrieved his shield, Maric actually left his sword lying on the grass. And Zach soon understood why. At the moment, Maric had his knees bent, his shield extended in front of him, and he held it in both arms. Alixa, meanwhile, began to mutter something he could not overhear, and much like it had yesterday, her book lifted up out of her arms all on its own, floating in the air just above her. The pages began to turn again, too, moving faster and faster. Only, this time, instead of producing a gust of wind, a solid, bluish-white tendril of electricity snaked its way out of the book and struck Maric directly on his back, where it then remained¡ªand along with it formed a light-blue-colored, bubble-like orb that surrounded his entire body. With an angry cry, Ziragoth turned its body downwards, and while still moving at the speed of a jet, it made a beeline straight for Maric. With a sharp inhalation of breath, Zach realized that the dragon was actually going to divebomb the man. Even while being nowhere in the area, he still braced himself out of sheer empathy for what Maric was about to experience. Faster and faster, Ziragoth rushed towards the ground. And now, Maric, isolated from everyone but Alixa, who was already sweating with the exertion of whatever she was doing to cause that blue-orb to linger on his body, began to shout out a grunt in advance of being struck as Ziragoth dropped down on top of him with such speed and force that Zach wondered if he should have maybe used Phase Rescue or something. There was a gigantic boom, followed by an absurd amount of ground, grass, and soil being launched into the sky. Immediately, the blue orb around Maric vanished, the electric-like tendril of energy that had connected to him like a wire became severed, and with a secondary snap, his shield broke into three different pieces. And then the man went flying off in the opposite direction, crashing into the incline of a hill several seconds later with enough force to spray even more of the ground, which reacted more like the way water did upon being dived into than it did solid terrain. He rolled several times along his back before finally coming to a halt, groaning. ¡°D-don¡¯t heal me yet,¡± he said, raising a clearly broken arm, which looked like it had been snapped backwards at an angle that appeared incredibly painful. ¡°Get¡­aggro.¡± ¡°Thy courage!¡± cried a white-cloaked Elvish warrior from BG1. ¡°It doth inspire me, human! I shall square with the beast!¡± Zach did not recognize the man, and he was definitely someone Zach would have remembered, as he was the largest, most muscular Elf that Zach had ever seen. Put simply, Elves did not tend to get as large as this guy was: at least not any Zach had seen until just now. He was almost the size of Grundor. He had big, bulging muscles, a gigantic kite shield that looked made of pure metal, and an axe almost as large as the one Donovan wielded. As he charged the dragon, the dragon turned his head in the Elf¡¯s direction, and Zach could only assume this was due to some kind of taunt that the man must have used. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± The dragon stomped down on the ground as it stormed across the distance between the two of them, meeting the white-cloaked Elf somewhere in the midpoint of where both had originated. Then it raised its left, bladed wing and slashed with what looked like all of its might down onto the Elf, who absorbed it with seeming ease. The result was an oddly sounding ping, and then the dragon¡¯s wing bounced right off his shield. The Elves! Zach thought, forgetting just how absurdly powerful they were. Just a handful of Elves alone could probably deal with Ziragoth in his first phase! Despite being a tank, the massive, white-cloaked Elf, whose name Zach could see above his head was ¡°Londril V¡¯alnyra,¡± lowered his shield for just a moment so that he could crack the dragon over the face with his axe, dealing an impressive 54,311 damage and causing the beast to scream in pain. Fylwen, who Zach had totally forgotten about while his eyes had been glued to the dragon, released a loud cheer, which from the way his ears perked up, he definitely heard. ¡°Well done, Londril! Spectacular! Show the humans what Elvish kin can do! Make us proud, champion of Elvadin!¡± ¡°YES, MINE QUEEN!¡± he cried, striking the wyvern a second time and hitting for 39,211. Somehow, despite the awe being radiated from the obviously impressed adventurers and political guild members, Zach did not think that this jaw-droppingly strong Elf was likely to begin showboating and joining the Royal Roses like a particular zombie that he knew. The dragon spun around, turning his back to Londril, and now it attempted to bash its tail down over Londril¡¯s head, but the Elvish warrior''s shield seemed nearly impenetrable. With a grunt, he managed to absorb the impact of the tail, only slightly bending his knees in the process. Then, with another grunt of exertion, he pushed upwards and knocked the tail away. At the same time, all of BG1 charged into battle simultaneously. And now, Zach watched, impressed, as the dragon became surrounded in every direction. Five other tanks joined Londril at the front, and then both sides as well as the dragon¡¯s flank became occupied by a combination of adventurers, political guild members, and a handful of Elves who began hammering away at the beast, putting out so much damage so quickly that Zach actually watched the mob¡¯s HP begin to decrease in real-time like a timer that was ticking down.
HP 12,480,351/15,000,000
Name (T7) Ziragoth the Awoken
Level 70
Within less than just ten seconds, more than two-million damage was torn away from Ziragoth¡¯s HP as he was stabbed, pierced, slashed, bludgeoned, and bashed. And now, Zach finally got to see it bleed, too. First a trickle, then a torrent of red began to stain the grass and even some of the rocks in the immediate area around Ziragoth as the vengeful raid members hacked away at him. ¡°Should we help?¡± Zach asked. ¡°No, not yet,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°We must stay here in case he spawns adds. We¡¯re only meant to engage the dragon directly when BG1 and BG2 are no longer able to fight effectively.¡± ¡°Is it bad that I¡¯m really, really hoping that doesn¡¯t happen?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± Ziragoth, now surrounded, tried to take down as many¡ªif not all¡ªof his attackers in one fell swoop. With another loud roar, he spun around his body a full three-sixty-degrees as if intent on bashing every one of the raid members with its tail. Yet, even though he¡¯d missed the briefing, Zach knew that Donovan, Zephyr, and Mr. Oren had painstakingly instructed everyone on the raid to look out for this exact move. And now, he finally got to see what the point of an ¡°off-tank¡± was. ¡°Off-tanks! Now!¡± Donovan shouted. Even as the dragon was still mid-motion, the DPS attack force to both Ziragoth¡¯s sides and behind him immediately dashed backwards and away, and they were instead replaced by a smaller, but still significant number of adventurers, political guild members, and two Elves who all seemed to be wielding smaller, circular shields with somewhat faster, one-handed weapons than what the tanks used. The result was that, rather than send the DPS flying, Ziragoth instead only slammed its tail against a barrage of shields, including those wielded by the tanks in front of it. Now, the DPS caught their breath and took a break to rest as the off-tanks took their place. This, as every other battlegroup, including BG2, who were very nearby, had yet to lift a finger. Is that Spider over there? Zach wondered. It seemed the GSG¡¯s second-in-command was capable of playing multiple roles. Right now, serving as one of BG1''s off-tanks, Spider, began hacking away at the dragon¡¯s tail with a scimitar, dishing out an impressive 6,211 damage a hit and even managing to hack off a small piece of it, causing an outsized puddle of red blood to begin pouring off the dragon. And while that level of damage was by no means comparable to what the Elves could do, for a normal human, Zach thought it was actually really good. Especially since none of the adventurers were likely anywhere near as high level as the Elves from Archian Prime were. Based on the display of power he¡¯d seen from them when they¡¯d dismantled Olivir¡¯s army in about three seconds, he suspected the Elves of all being in their high 80s or lower 90s in terms of level. Maybe a bit lower. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure. ¡°I know you¡¯re not supposed to tell me this,¡± Zach whispered to Fylwen, making sure no one could overhear him. ¡°But just out of curiosity since we¡¯ve already shared so many secrets: what level are you?¡± ¡°104,¡± she whispered back. Zach gasped. ¡°No fucking way.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true, young man. My kind level far more quickly to begin with, and I in particular had a great deal of aggression I needed to get out of my system for a very long time after coming to Archian Prime. For the first five years there, I did nothing but level. I would go days at a time without sleep. I would sometimes pass out from overexertion. All I wanted was strength to protect my people, my daughter, and¡­and my body.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± Zach said. He realized he sounded almost childish with the level of awe and excitement in his voice, but for some reason, this made Fylwen look at him and smile. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re impressed.¡± Zach nodded his head, swelling with hope. ¡°I think we might be okay after all. I¡¯ve seen how powerful you and your Elves are. I don¡¯t think even at T10 this thing is going to be all that much of a problem for you guys.¡± She frowned. ¡°I wish I shared your optimism. But what is coming will not be easy. I implore you, young man, do not deceive yourself into thinking otherwise. Power is relative, and what we will experience from Ziragoth momentarily is going to be something truly awful.¡± Zach, too, now frowned. ¡°I was worried you¡¯d say that.¡± And upon those words, he continued to remain where he was and watch the raid commence. Thus far, everything was going perfectly and without a hitch. He desperately hoped that it would remain this way. Chapter 96: Ziragoth the Awoken Part II Chapter 96: Ziragoth the Awoken Part II Often considered the noisiest, liveliest place in North Bastia, the large, oval-shaped plaza known as ¡°Diamond Paradise¡± at the southwest corner of the city in Tomb of Fire was typically the scene of nonstop activity around the clock every day of the week and every week of the year. It was also the most-popular tourist destination of any human-controlled territory: so much so that this one district, which only spanned a few square miles, was responsible for over twenty percent of the revenue that Tomb of Fire earned in any given year¡ªand that wasn¡¯t just for the city, but the entire region. During the day, Diamond Paradise buzzed with music, street performers, and a swarm of people entering and exiting one of three dazzling skyscrapers over sixty floors in height on the western side of the plaza, with each floor containing businesses ranging from various types of retail stores to entire movie theaters, restaurants, and in the case of the middle building, an indoor amusement park. On the eastern side, where most people would head during the night, there were gigantic, upscale casinos that featured free drinks for gamblers as well as live musical performances. For the more than three decades that Milona had worked as a cashier at a toy shop on the 47th floor of the middle building in the trio of skyscrapers, there didn¡¯t appear to be a force on Galterra capable of slowing this place down. It didn¡¯t matter the time of day or what else was going on in the world: Diamond Paradise was always loud, lively, and full of energy. At least¡­until this morning. Right now, despite being packed with many thousands of tourists, as well as locals, workers, and a construction crew, the entire plaza had become drowned in a freakishly uncharacteristic silence. Milona, having come outside to frequent her favorite coffee and donut stand, had been just about to return to work when a video broadcast started playing off the front-facing side of all three skyscrapers, including the one where she worked and had only just exited. Each window in the building was not only capable of transmitting an image clearly in broad daylight, but in addition, it could produce external sounds, too, a feature which was rarely utilized. Now, however, the speakers had been turned on, and the voice of a reporter filled the plaza. Abruptly, most conversation came to a halt, people stopped strolling about, musicians ceased playing their instruments, and in unison, every single head turned towards the west and angled upwards as what appeared to be live footage of the battle with the dragon was aired to the world. I thought this was supposed to be a few hours from now, she thought, suddenly becoming nervous. She could see the confusion on the faces of those around her. They¡¯d told everyone that the ¡°mission to protect North Bastia¡± would begin somewhere closer to noon. Yet that clearly was not the case, as the sun had risen only a few minutes ago, and things had already begun. ¡°This wasn¡¯t supposed to happen for another few hours,¡± someone in the crowd whispered fearfully. ¡°Does this mean something went wrong? Are we in trouble?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t assume that,¡± a female voice replied. ¡°I¡¯m sure everything¡¯s fine. Don¡¯t forget: Grundor is with them.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. We can¡¯t lose with him on our side. Did you see what he did to the dragon yesterday?¡± ¡°Is there anyone in the world who didn¡¯t see that?¡± Neither the chyron on the bottom of the feed nor the words spoken by the reporter, whose voice accompanied the aerial footage shot from one of the news helicopters, seemed to make any mention or offer any explanation as to why the raid was taking place ahead of schedule. ¡°It¡¯s all hitting me right now,¡± a woman near Milona whispered, clutching her husband¡¯s arm. ¡°I know this has been going on for a few days, but it¡¯s all starting to finally feel real to me.¡± She shuddered. ¡°What if they lose?¡± ¡°They won¡¯t, honey.¡± ¡°Okay, but what if they do? That would mean the end of everything, right? It could even come here next.¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to be fine,¡± her husband said, though his words implied a level of certainty a bit greater than that shown in his eyes. ¡°They know exactly what they¡¯re doing.¡± Ahead of Milona, a younger couple were whispering to one another as well. ¡°I just want this to be over already,¡± a girl said to her boyfriend. ¡°I can¡¯t sleep at night thinking about this.¡± ¡°Yeah, me neither,¡± he agreed. Outside of these types of similarly whispered conversations, there was an otherwise unprecedented level of quiet save for the sound of the reporters who were broadcasting this to them all. It was so surreal and unusual. Diamond Palace was never this quiet or still. And now, as it fully, truly began to sink into Milona that this was really happening and not just some distant problem, she too began to feel terror rising within her. If the guilds for some reason were unable to kill the dragon, it would only be a matter of time before it made its way here and destroyed everything around her. This much, the news had made plainly clear. Glancing at the tops of the trio of skyscrapers, she felt her head become light at the thought of the ravenous wyvern swooping down unexpectedly from above and unleashing a fireball powerful enough to vaporize every floor simultaneously while she was still inside of it, suffering a slow, agonizing death. She could vividly picture all of Diamond Paradise up in flames. She trembled at the idea of the fancy, tree-lined pathways and elegant, stone-carved water fountains in the center of the plaza reduced to rubble along with the rest of the place¡ªjust like the entire town of Den of Ziragoth had been. Please, Gods. Please don¡¯t let that happen to us too. As she continued to watch, she suddenly found herself wanting to sit down, yet she remained where she was. She had no idea what she was seeing, and she didn¡¯t understand enough to know if they were doing good or not. All she knew was that she, as well as thousands of others around her, could not control their collective gasp as a loud bang rang out over the speakers when an incredibly strong-looking Elf absorbed the savage beast¡¯s tail, which had tried again to bludgeon him. Please win! Please protect us! ******* Following a mighty battle-cry, the white-cloaked Elf named Londril slammed his shield into the face of the dragon, dealing 52,188 damage and causing a countless number of tiny red tendrils of electricity to begin covering its entire body like veins. Zach recognized this for what it was: a stun. Now, temporarily unable to move, the off-tanks retreated and allowed the DPS of Battlegroup 1 to once more charge into action, and like before, a mixture of Elves, adventurers, and political guild members began ripping apart the fearsome monster with various types of weapons, causing more and more blood to stain the grass-covered terrain. As Zach watched on in amazement, he couldn¡¯t help but hope that, through some miracle, the document on Ziragoth was incorrect, and that the fight would stay just as it was right now, because this was about as one-sided as things got. Thus far, no one but those in Battlegroup 1 had even participated, and already, Ziragoth had lost over three million of its HP. The Elves are so powerful, Zach thought. With a hundred of them here, I don¡¯t see how the dragon stands a chance. With each passing second, more and more of the dragon¡¯s health was whittled away as it struggled ineffectually and desperately to land any kind of attack on at least one of its assailants. Whatever Londril was doing to keep the beast taunted, it was clearly working, as aside from the occasional area-of-effect attack, such as its tail-spinning sweep, it continued to focus the majority of its efforts on breaking through the seemingly unbreakable shield held in the offhand of the axe-wielding Elvish warrior. So far, the wyvern had not attempted to call upon any of its adds as it had done when Olivir had put it to sleep yesterday early afternoon. Distantly, Zach wondered what would happen if it turned out the dragon wasn¡¯t going to spawn them in after all. Would Mr. Oren change his mind and order BG3 and BG4 to the frontlines as originally planned? Zach supposed it would all depend on how things played out. He had no choice but to trust that Mr. Oren knew what he was doing, because at this point, they were pretty much already in too deep to reverse course. ¡°Keep it up,¡± Donvan¡¯s voice said over the Comm. ¡°So far, so good.¡± Hit by hit, the dragon continued to suffer under the impressive effort that BG1 was putting on display. A routine of sorts had been settled into, whereby the off-tanks and DPS would regularly trade places while the tanks continued to remain where they were up front. At one point, Ziragoth pulled back slightly, opened its mouth, and then continuously released an inferno of scorching fire. For nearly ten full seconds, a whooshing sound filled the grasslands as Londril and the tanks to each side of him were absolutely blanketed in flame, the grass burning up beneath their feet and the sight of their bodies becoming lost to the intense orange glow. For an instant, Zach feared that each of them might¡¯ve just been roasted alive. Yet when the dragon at last closed its mouth and the flames came to a halt, Londril and the other tanks were still right where they¡¯d been, only now their shields were extended in front and above them. With that, they simply returned to attacking, plainly unharmed. Although the vast majority of spellcasters and support had been assigned to Battlegroups 5 and 6 and were either standing on top of the wall or directly in front of it, there were still a few members of BG1 and BG2 who occupied each of those roles. And so, while the melee-centric BG1 continued its onslaught, Zach watched as one of the political guild members¡ªwho he took to be a woman in the People of Virtue¡ªtwirled her staff around while causing variously colored puffs of smoke to appear above the dragon¡¯s head. Zach did not know if it was because they were in the same raiding party or if it was something he would be able to tell regardless, but he could actually see with his own eyes what, specifically, she was doing to the dragon, as right below its name, there were now red-colored down arrows next to the words ¡°STR¡± and ¡°DEF¡± and ¡°DEX,¡± with each of those words appearing on the heels of a different color of smoke. She¡¯s debuffing it, he realized, nodding to himself. Wow, it¡¯s going down real, real fast! With a smooth, efficient steadiness, the members of BG1 continued to expertly destroy the T7 fire wyvern. At the rate they were currently going, it would probably only take another two or so minutes before the beast was at half health, which Zach recalled was the point where it was reportedly going to ¡°switch over¡± or something and enter a ¡°second phase.¡± At least, that was how long Zach guessed based on the current rate of decrease. But then things sped up¡ªdramatically. ¡°All right, now¡¯s the time,¡± Donovan¡¯s voice said over the Comm. ¡°BG5, BG6: unload on the son of a bitch! I wanna see you rain down hell! BG3, BG4, and BG7: continue to watch for adds.¡± As soon as Donovan spoke those words, things began to change quickly: very, very quickly. And even that was understating it. As the ranged DPS finally decided to join the fight, Ziragoth came under assault by a force of such awesome, unfathomable power that it was like a smiting from the Gods themselves. With an eagerness that could be sensed, the spellcasters and archers of BG5 and BG6 unleashed everything they had onto the dragon, and Gods above, it honestly had to be one of the most incredible things that Zach had ever before witnessed. To say it inspired a hope deep within him would not be going far enough. For a brief moment, he actually began to wonder if maybe the entire raid would cruise to an easy, painless conclusion in mere seconds from now. It all began with a chorus of soft snaps accompanied by a whistling, whining sound that permeated the air as dozens of arrows were fired and soared above Zach¡¯s head on their way to the dragon. Most moved too fast or were too indistinct to be individually seen when set against the backdrop of the blue sky, but a few of the arrows appeared to be encased in ice, and these, Zach could discern. Having finally been given the order, the archers, more than three quarters of whom were Elvish, finally fired upon Ziragoth. On the heels of these arrows, with a ruthlessness that almost made him pity the dragon, came an eye-popping, all-out barrage of magical attacks that filled the world with so many different sights, sounds, and colors that Zach could not possibly have taken them all in even if he¡¯d tried his best to do so. It was almost like having five separate firework shows all being performed simultaneously. The things he saw in this moment, he knew, would become seared in his brain forever, as he now discovered the answer to a question he¡¯d never even asked: what would happen if more than a hundred spellcasters all attacked the same target at the same time? The answer was a lot: a whole damn lot. A second or two behind the arrows, the world lit up with magic. Some attacks were fired as projectiles, some simply appeared at or around the dragon, and there were even a few that consisted of summoned objects attacking multiple times. But all of it was wild, chaotic, and glorious. There was ice: lots of ice. Some magic took the form of large, falling icicles, an attack Zach had seen before. But others consisted of giant, net-like dispersions of snow simply collapsing on top of Ziragoth. There were also spears of ice that flew off the wall and trailed behind the arrows, along with swords that looked created entirely of ice as well; each of them moved and struck on their own, slicing at Ziragoth from the gaps between the DPS where there was enough space for them to fit. By far, however, the most impressive were the large, octagonal, and floating objects made up of strange red-and-black-colored ice that simply popped into existence above the dragon and began to light up and flash with a white light and the sound of a beep that came from within. This began slowly at first, but then these octagon-shaped objects flashed faster and faster until they were going on and off about fifty times a second as though they were lightbulbs connected to a faulty switch; this blinking continued to speed up relentlessly, as did the beeping, until finally, with one last, brilliant flash, they detonated like bombs¡ªonly without making a sound. Yet sound or no sound, the force of each noiseless blast was enough to create a cool gust of damp wind that Zach could actually feel from all the way over here, which he actually appreciated amid the quickly rising morning heat. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. There were a great number of other ice-based attacks that Zach could glimpse but not make sense of, as they were drowned out by other types of magic. Ice, it seemed, was far from the only thing sent Ziragoth¡¯s way. The spellcasters were also attacking with earth, wind, lightning, dark, light, and a large number of other magical attacks that Zach couldn¡¯t even place into any classification due to not knowing what they were. Even as BG1 continued to strike out at the dragon, the ground beneath Ziragoth¡¯s feet rumbled, and spike-shaped rocks burst up from the terrain and pierced its belly while tornado-like forces of wind enveloped its body. Black, ink-like balls of energy tore across the world as bolts of lightning struck down on the dragon. There were laser beams, too, and meteorites that slammed down on top of it. There were even things that looked like actual missiles that burst across the sky and made a sound similar to a fuse being lit before detonating against Ziragoth with a smoke-causing explosion and a tremendously loud bang. There was so much: just so, so much. And yet, incredibly, none of it¡ªnot a single spell¡ªmanaged to land against Ziragoth for a single point of damage, because the arrows fired by the archers, which arrived first, did so much damage so quickly that Ziragoth was reduced to half health even before the first magical attack could find its target. Zach watched on in total silence as one of the ice arrows fired by one of the Elves struck Ziragoth right between the eyes, exploding into a cloud made of frost and smoke and hitting for 652,123 all on its own; this, while others struck between two- and three-hundred-thousand damage each. Put simply, the dragon was absolutely shredded. Its scales were ripped off its body, and blood was splattered all over BG1 as Ziragoth was pelted. The dragon roared in pain, losing HP so fast it was more like a flicker than a drop. In the blink of an eye, its HP simply vanished¡ªhalting at exactly half health.
HP 7,500,000/15,000,000
Name (T7) Ziragoth the Awoken
Level 70
Two things then happened at the same time. The dragon collapsed forward, its head slamming down onto the grass-covered dirt hard enough to leave a small indentation in the ground. This, while all the magical attacks began to land, and each and every one hit for exactly 0 points of damage. One after the next, Zach watched with a cautious, hesitant optimism as the dragon lay still and unmoving as it was struck by so many different things at once it was practically rendered invisible as 0s began to pop up all around it. BG1 actually had to pull back just to avoid being caught in the crossfire¡ªall except for the tanks, who continued to remain in place. But then they too moved away on orders from Donovan. ¡°BG1, get back! BG5, BG6: hold your fire. BG2: advance to within ten feet and encircle the boss. BG1, what is taking so long? Get back and rest. Now!¡± Pulling away from the dead-looking dragon, whose body did not so much as twitch as it continued to lie completely motionless on the ground, BG1 retreated in the same moment that BG2 advanced, surrounding the fire wyvern on all sides. Clearly exhausted, Zach watched as a few members of BG1¡ªin particular the tanks¡ªremoved their heavy-looking helms and began wiping sweat away from their faces. Several took a seat on the grass, and Londril dropped his shield, breathing heavily. It could not have been easy to absorb so many hits like that from something so powerful. My Phase Shield only returns a tiny portion of the damage I take, and a hit from the dragon was enough to cause me to lose an arm and an eye. As Zach continued to observe BG1 and BG2 from where he was standing together with Vim, Queen Vayra, and Peter Brayspark, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a deep, steadily growing sense of uneasiness as he considered what would come next. Yet he tried to tamp down on it. They had so many powerful people here. How could they possibly lose? Sure, the dragon would become stronger, but the sheer number of them ensured they couldn¡¯t possibly fall to a single enemy, no? Especially not based on what Zach had just seen BG5 and BG6 do. They¡¯d dropped Ziragoth so fast that most of their attacks hadn¡¯t even been able to land. It had only taken like two or three seconds! So why does Mr. Oren look so nervous, then? Zach wondered, becoming agitated. Right now, Mr. Oren was not inspiring a whole lot of confidence from the way he was frowning as he stared ahead at the dragon from where he stood beside Donovan. Zach became anxious as he watched Mr. Oren whisper something to Donovan off-Comm; though Zach could not overhear what was being said, Mr. Oren¡¯s body language was speaking louder than any words. He was coming across as stiff and rigid, and his shoulders were clearly tense. Though he did not give off the far more troubling appearance of hopelessness he¡¯d displayed yesterday¡ªand later that same day in Angelica¡¯s¡ªthere was unquestionably a lack of confidence in his current demeanor. But that all by itself wasn¡¯t even why Zach was growing alarmed. No, not quite. If Mr. Oren had been acting this way from the start of the raid, Zach would think nothing of it at all. But the fact that his frown had actually deepened almost as though it were a result of the fantastic display of power and might that had just been unleashed onto Ziragoth¡ªthat was what Zach found to be so troubling and also confusing. Especially because it made no sense at all. Had Mr. Oren and Zach witnessed two completely different things? Or did Mr. Oren really find what he¡¯d just seen to be insufficient or something? Or maybe he was upset for an entirely different reason. Whatever the case, it did little to calm Zach¡¯s nerves. Zach just hoped the sense of gloom he was detecting from Mr. Oren wasn¡¯t because he¡¯d somehow found the incredible barrage against the dragon lacking. The spellcasters and archers had opened the gates of hell on the beast, previewing the sheer overwhelming might of their combined strength. Zach ardently hoped he was misreading things, because if that wasn¡¯t going to be good enough to slay the boss, then Ziragoth might as well be immortal. What¡¯s going on with those two? Zach wondered, becoming even more skeptical as Mr. Oren and Donovan began to glare at one another as though they were bickering or having some kind of heated disagreement. Trying his best not to let pessimism swallow him whole, Zach decided to chalk up Mr. Oren¡¯s apparent trepidation to nothing more than common, ordinary battlefield jitters not worth reading into or drawing any conclusions about¡ªor at least that was what he wanted to do. Instead, his suspicions only grew, because Mr. Oren and Donovan were beginning to openly argue loudly enough so that Zach could pick up just a few of their words¡ªand he did not like what little of it he heard. ¡°Alex, you¡¯re out of your fucking mind. We should revert back.¡± ¡°Donovan, please. Throwing more people at the dragon won¡¯t make a difference if the differentials are too high.¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± he swore over the Comm, likely by accident. Zach could actually hear the sound of bodies turning to look at him. Yet rather than address the raid, he continued to speak to Mr. Oren off the Comm. But he did something else, as well: he began to turn his head Zach¡¯s way, as did Mr. Oren. ¡°You really think that with Vim¡¯s help, he¡¯ll be able to¡­?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Alex said. ¡°If anything, we should accelerate the plan.¡± Donovan scowled. ¡°You better not be sending that kid to his death. I¡¯m not fuckin¡¯ around here.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. Just please, Donovan. Trust me on this. You¡¯ll see for yourself soon enough that I¡¯m right.¡± Donovan looked away, but not before spitting out a wad of saliva that landed mere inches from one of Mr. Oren¡¯s shoes. Once more facing the dragon, he folded his arms and waited for the wyvern to again rise, which Zach knew damn well it was going to do. He didn¡¯t dare hope that this was the last they¡¯d see of Ziragoth. But¡­how long was it going to take, anyway? It was just lying there like a dead, winged rat, albeit a really big one. ¡°What were they arguing about?¡± Vim Alazar asked. The Royal Roses¡¯ guild leader curled his nose as though in disgust. ¡°Now¡¯s a really bad time to be keeping secrets from us, no?¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Sir Peter Brayspark said, narrowing his eyes. ¡°Regardless, I have committed myself to this course of action. And until death robs me of life, I will give my all to fell this creature.¡± ¡°I concur,¡± Fylwen said, though she too glared skeptically at the two raid leaders. As she did so, she placed a hand on Zach¡¯s left shoulder and squeezed. ¡°Be brave,¡± she whispered to him again, as though she could sense the turmoil within. ¡°I really am trying,¡± he whispered back to her. ¡°I know you are.¡± As another half a minute came and went, Zach could see his own restlessness reflected in everyone around him. It was downright uncomfortable to be standing around waiting for something to happen. His mind flooded with dread as he imagined all the possible things that could possibly come next. Gods, he just wanted this to be over with. He imagined the people watching this from all over North Bastia felt the same way as well. In the sky above, he could both see and hear the half-dozen helicopters that were broadcasting this live, letting the world witness events as they unfolded. Now that things had finally begun, he had to imagine that many of those viewing the broadcast were just as terrified as he himself was. I need to be tough for them, he realized. For their sake, I have to keep it together. Steadying himself, Zach continued to watch for some sign of what was to come. As though hypnotized, he could not take his eyes off Ziragoth¡¯s seemingly dead, unmoving form. The wyvern did not so much as twitch. It simply continued to lie there with its head half buried in the soil while keeping still as a statue. After nearly a minute of keeping his eyes trained on the dragon, Zach began to wonder if this might be something that would take a long time to happen. Maybe it would take an entire day or a month or even longer. They just didn¡¯t know, did they? He opened his mouth to voice the possibility, then shut it immediately thereafter. Something happened: something changed. It wasn¡¯t what Zach had expected, but it was something nonetheless. Zach could hear those around him begin to shift and stir nervously as Ziragoth, while still perfectly still, seemed to lose his ¡°name.¡± Up until this very moment, ¡°Ziragoth the Awoken¡± had been clearly visible above the dragon¡¯s head. Now, however, there was nothing but emptiness in the spot in the air where the dragon''s name had just been occupying. ¡°Everyone get ready!¡± Donovan warned over the Comm. ¡°It looks like we¡¯re about to start the next phase. BG2, get ready to taunt immediately as soon as it becomes targetable. BG5 and 6, like before, wait for aggro to be firmly established before attacking. BG1, rest up. BG 3, 4, and 7: watch for adds.¡± Not long after the vanishing of its name, a lot more started happening, and Zach tightened his grip on his blade, ready to spring into action on a moment¡¯s notice. Though he¡¯d never had any real doubt that Ziragoth would come back for more, he still couldn¡¯t help but swear under his breath as he witnessed the Gods-cursed dragon reanimate itself before his very eyes. First, its entire body began to disintegrate. It took Zach a moment to realize this, because it began with a slight ¡°peeling¡± of sorts as its skin started to fall off. Yet rather than float to the ground, it collapsed into smoke, as did its teeth and entire chunks of its torso. At the same time, a gigantic storm cloud appeared in the sky above them¡ªone that definitely had not been there before, shrouding them all in a sudden, abrupt darkness. For some reason, this had the effect of causing more than two-hundred sets of eyes to all turn in his direction, including from many of those standing on top of¡ªor in front of¡ªthe wall. ¡°What?¡± Zach asked into the Comm, genuinely confused. Then, realizing what was going on, he frowned. ¡°What?¡± he asked again with a growl. ¡°Zach,¡± Mr. Oren said as an intense wind began to pick up and raindrops began to pour down on top of all of them, ¡°you wouldn¡¯t happen to have anything to do with¡ª¡± ¡°No,¡± he interrupted angrily. ¡°Obviously I¡¯m not responsible for this.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Am I just going to be blamed from now on any time the sky turns randomly dark? Is that where we¡¯re at now?¡± ¡°No need to be defensive, kiddo,¡± Donovan said. ¡°We¡¯re just making sure. Now quiet on Comms!¡± Zach sighed. They were never going to let him live that down, were they? Just because he¡¯d submerged the entire world in darkness one single time, he¡¯d now be blamed¡ªor at least suspected¡ªany time something else did the same from then on, wouldn¡¯t he? Fortunately, he didn¡¯t think this would be a worldwide phenomenon, as this current stretch of darkness seemed localized, as obvious by the clear, sunny blue sky that was visible everywhere that was more than a few miles away from their current location. Can¡¯t believe they just blame me now for this shit. More and more parts of Ziragoth began to fall off its body and convert into a dark, acrid smoke. The smell of ash and burnt flesh filled the entirety of this stretch of grasslands as the rain turned from a drizzle into an absolute downpour. It was now teeming, causing Zach to become drenched in a matter of seconds. This, as one of Ziragoth¡¯s wings fell off, followed soon by the other. Before long, the entire wyvern had become transformed into nothing more than a massive, steadily thickening clump of dark smoke, which began to rise on the air. At the same time, the ground began to shake, and the rain picked up even more. Zach hoped he was right about this being localized, because it was now raining harder than he¡¯d ever seen from any storm in his entire life. If this was happening anywhere people lived, it would cause flash-flooding on an unthinkable scale. Yet Zach remained hopeful that the rain was confined to just this immediate area. He doubted that even the city of Shadowfall Coast, only a few miles behind them, was experiencing any of this weather. The smoke, unfazed by the rain, continued to rise up higher and higher into the sky as though in opposition to it. It began to pulse and glow, as though an electrical storm was taking place mostly unseen in the middle of it. It also began to expand yet reform all at the same time, turning into something closer to a ball-shape, flashing more brightly and more visibly the higher it ventured. Now, the sound of thunder filled the world shortly following each flash as the sky darkened even further¡ªthough still nowhere to the extent of what Zach had caused. The ground also began to rumble more violently, too. ¡°Hey, Vim,¡± Zach said, having to speak somewhat loudly to be heard over the intense pitter-pattering of rain slamming down onto the grasslands. ¡°Yes, Zach?¡± he called out to him despite standing right by his side. For no other reason than to break the tension, Zach asked, ¡°Do you need me to describe to you what¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°You know, in case you can¡¯t see it. Let me know if you need me to get you a stool or something.¡± Vim rolled his eyes. ¡°Really, Zach? Another height joke? Tell me, is the dragon causing the ground to shake or is that just you trembling so hard in fear that the rest of us can feel it?¡± He laughed despite himself. ¡°It might be, actually. I can¡¯t lie. This is pretty terrif¡ª¡± Zach¡¯s words ended in a shout¡ªone that couldn¡¯t even be heard as a totally unexpected, and deafeningly loud boom caused the world to shake so fiercely he momentarily lost his balance and had to assert his strength to keep his feet planted. Numerous people around him did fall, including a man near Kalana who she helped back to his feet. At the exact same time as the ear-destroying boom, every last trace of darkness was chased away as an orange ball of fire that reminded Zach of the sun burned in the sky above them. No longer was there any smoke to be seen: now, what resided in the air was pure, utter flame, and it blasted them all with an intense heat that reminded him of his fight with the Elvish scouts on the way back to Galterra. He had to shield his eyes and grit his teeth as he felt his body temperature rising. Even as the sound of the blast faded, it was replaced by the sound of a growl that seemed to come from everywhere around them. Simultaneously, the rain stopped, the large cloud vanished, and cracks began to form all over the ground as the terrain itself was split apart and craters began to appear all around them. Once more, Zach almost fell over as his right foot sank into the soil, putting him off balance. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Little spots began to form all around the gigantic ball of flame¡ªor at least Zach thought they did, as it was very difficult to look directly at it. Closing his eyes most of the way while cupping them as well, he could just make out what looked like little ¡°bumps¡± all over the fireball. At first, there were just a few of these bumps, but then there were dozens. And before long, nearly a hundred of them could be seen: spots of something dark on the otherwise painfully bright ball of flame. They¡¯re not spots, he realized with a gasp that no one could hear over the cacophony of noise. Zach didn¡¯t know if he was jumping the gun, nor did he know if he was stepping out of line in making such assumptions¡ªyet for some reason, he strongly believed he knew what those black ¡°spots¡± on the fireball were. Though it was incredibly difficult to tell due to the brightness of the flame, he was positive that they were moving¡ªwiggling, even. And so, even at the risk of being wrong and humiliating himself, he cried out in warning to the raid. ¡°Adds!¡± he shouted into his comm. ¡°More than a hundred!¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Mr. Oren asked. ¡°Where?¡± ¡°Adds?¡± Donovan asked, repeating the word. ¡°What do you mean, kiddo?¡± ¡°Those spots on the fire. They¡¯re¡­just look at them! They¡¯re moving.¡± There was a brief pause followed by a loud, alarmed cry of warning from numerous raid members as they seemed to agree with Zach¡¯s take on things. ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s a great deal of them,¡± Mr. Oren¡¯s voice said through the Comm. He did not sound happy. ¡°Isn¡¯t that why you had BG3 and BG4 stay back?¡± Kalana asked, now herself sounding worried. ¡°¡®Cause you were worried this might happen?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, Kalana. But this is¡­this is much, much more than I expected to deal with at one time,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Donovan¡­¡± There was a brief pause¡ªone that was followed by an angry, loud grunt. ¡°BG1, BG2: pull back immediately and move to assist BG3 and BG4 with the adds. BG7, engage the dragon as soon as it reforms and becomes attackable.¡± If not for Fylwen tightening her grip on him, Zach would have finally collapsed. ¡°W-what?¡± he asked. ¡°Already? But I thought the plan¡ª¡± ¡°Plan¡¯s changed,¡± Donovan grunted. ¡°Be ready to engage, you four.¡± Zach felt the breath leave his lungs and his heart begin hammering in his chest. This was too soon. This wasn¡¯t supposed to be how things went. Why were they asking him to do this? Why now at the very beginning of the fight? Weren¡¯t they supposed to wait? What the fuck was going on? Panicked, Zach watched as more than a hundred black, inky-looking blots popped out of the ball of flame and began pouring down all over the battlefield like sizzling, steaming, and hugely oversized droplets of slimy, putty-like rain. This wasn¡¯t¡­this wasn¡¯t the plan! Chapter 97: Ziragoth the Awoken Part III Chapter 97: Ziragoth the Awoken Part III Having never been very good at masking her emotions, Eilea didn¡¯t even bother to try. She frowned bitterly and openly at the image in the glass viewing dome and tried to calm the combined sense of both disbelief and disappointment that took hold of her. She really did not want to see this. In fact, it took a measurable amount of willpower for Eilea to avoid looking away or otherwise deafening her senses to the world. Still, she knew she had a responsibility not to turn her gaze from the spectacle taking place on Galterra¡ªas hopeless and senseless as it may have been. If things had seemed bad to begin with, they were now ten times worse. With a mutual look of disgust that she shared with Francis, she rubbed her chin and shook her head as she struggled to understand how one man could be so stupid. ¡°He must have no idea what he¡¯s doing,¡± she said. ¡°None whatsoever. The man is either a damned fool, or it¡¯s like we considered earlier, and he¡¯s acting out of malice.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you have a way of knowing for sure what his reason is?¡± Francis asked her. ¡°Well, technically yes, but what would be the point? It would cost me a great deal of effort to peer into his unusually well-guarded mind, and it would do little besides satisfy our curiosity. At this point, knowing his motives won¡¯t actually change anything.¡± She felt her frown deepen as she tried to wrap her mind around such an unfortunate, baffling turn of events. ¡°Malice was not the sense I got from him when I observed him yesterday in Angelica¡¯s,¡± she said, her tone slightly lower and contemplative. ¡°That¡¯s what makes all of this such a conundrum to me.¡± Francis leaned closer towards the dome and pointed his finger at it. ¡°Just to be clear, you¡¯re talking about the one in the lab coat, right?¡± She nodded. ¡°Yes, that one. Doctor Alex Oren: the uniquely gifted young man in the crafted lab coat who earned his Ph.D. in microbiology at the age of just seventeen¡ªand is now a level-61 adventurer in his early twenties.¡± She tapped on his image in the viewing dome, which the sands had drawn with such clarity it was indistinguishable from a high-definition photograph. Then she slid her finger across the glass to where it settled upon Zach. ¡°Regrettably, his fate is now all but sealed.¡± Francis¡¯s body stiffened. ¡°If he¡¯s as intelligent as you say, then it must be malice.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Truly, I don¡¯t. Even brilliant humans are capable of profoundly stupid blunders. But sending the boy in right off the bat¡­that¡¯s really something else.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re sure that the man doesn¡¯t know what he¡¯s doing?¡± She again nodded her head. ¡°Unless I¡¯m missing something¡ªand I¡¯m not¡ªthere¡¯s no way a group of just four people can handle the phase-two form of Ziragoth on their own. At least not while below level 200. Zach is the obvious exception, of course. If he were in the high 70s or low 80s, he might even be able to take on this suicidal task all by himself. But at level 19, he will come up far short.¡± Francis stared deeply into the viewing dome; he did not seem entirely convinced. ¡°He must have a reason for doing things this way. Maybe he sees this from an angle we¡¯re missing, Eilea.¡± She gave a firm shake of her head. ¡°As bright a young man as this ¡®Alex Oren¡¯ may be, I am a Goddess, and no man of mortal standing knows more than I do.¡± Francis continued to peer into the dome, skepticism plain on his face. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he said at only slightly above a whisper. ¡°I still think it¡¯s possible you¡¯re underestimating the soundness of his judgment.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. He may know much, but he does not know more than a God.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re not really a God though, are you? None of you are actual Gods. You¡¯ve told me as much yourself.¡± ¡°No, Francis,¡± she corrected. ¡°I told you of my origin, which is decidedly non-divine. But the Great Ones¡­we are surely Gods as the word is understood, self-made as we are.¡± ¡°Nonsense,¡± he replied. ¡°If having the power you do truly makes you a God, then by that logic, I too am a God.¡± ¡°Essentially, you are.¡± At this, he waved his hand dismissively. ¡°No, Eilea. I¡¯m just a man.¡± ¡°On that, we¡¯ll have to agree to disagree.¡± Returning her attention to the glass viewing dome, she watched as a power began to awaken: one greater than that which any of those on Galterra were currently capable of handling. By her estimation, their raid would result in a complete and total wipe within approximately the next five minutes. She would be helpless to do anything more than watch as the champion she¡¯d put her hopes in died before ever accomplishing anything truly significant¡ªthrowing away such vast, unrealized potential in the process. And with that, she would once again be back to square one. What a Gods-cursed shame. What a waste of such greatness. And for this, I have the idiocy of a lab-coat-wearing science teacher to thank. With sadness and apprehension mixing together in her chest, she braced herself for the unsettling images she knew were soon to form in the viewing dome. Zachys Calador didn¡¯t stand a chance, and just a few moments from now, she would inevitably witness him die¡ªfor the second time. The thought made her clench her teeth in frustration. She was unable to do a thing to aid him. For the time being, she could be nothing more than a spectator to his certain demise. And without a doubt, it was going to be a gruesome, unbearable sight to behold. On second thought, maybe she should consider looking away after all. ****** ¡°Here they come!¡± shouted the voice of an adventurer in BG4 who Zach did not recognize. ¡°Gods, there¡¯s so many of them!¡± Only a moment following the appearance of more than a hundred quickly growing shadows, sizzling sounds not all that dissimilar to eggs being dropped onto a hot stove came from multiple directions each time one of the black orbs of putty-like goop landed somewhere within earshot of Zach. Many caused the grass to turn brown and wither¡ªor otherwise become alight with flame¡ªand the few that touched down on top of larger-sized rocks began to burn a hole through the sandstone as they seemingly cooled. The same could be said of the stone atop the wall in the numerous areas wherever the searingly hot substances landed as though targeted with precise intent. To make matters even worse, a whole bunch more of them were already forming and wriggling on the giant ball of fire in the sky; they were like blackish seeds on a burning orange. Only, unlike seeds, they were quickly growing in size, and they were rocking back and forth. It wouldn¡¯t be long before they too popped right off the ball of flame and landed down onto the surface, bringing even more adds to deal with and creating an even more perilous situation for them all. There could end up being almost two hundred of them! Everywhere Zach looked, he saw men and women stumbling either away or directly towards the convulsing, ooze-like substances as the members of the raid struggled to either rearrange or reorganize themselves in response to what Mr. Oren had said was a greater-than-expected number of adds. The result, unfortunately, was a total breakdown in communication¡ªone that threatened to derail the entire effort. And it all began with a single demand from one of the political guild members. ¡°We need more support over here!¡± shouted the panicked voice of an officer from the People of Virtue over the Comm. ¡°BG4, you need to send some more people to the front of the wall. They¡¯re landing all over BG5, and they¡¯re going to turn into those monsters any second now!¡± ¡°We can¡¯t!¡± the voice of Kalana yelled back in reply. ¡°We¡¯ve already pulled too many people off covering BG1 and BG2. We can¡¯t spare anyone else!¡± ¡°We could use some more support from BG4 over here as well,¡± said the clearly rattled voice of one of the Elvish archers standing atop the wall. ¡°BG6 doesn¡¯t have enough tanks up here. BG4, we need you to divert some more resources to protect us.¡± ¡°Um, are you not hearing me? I just said¡ª¡± ¡°We need more tanks up front!¡± interrupted a member of the Royal Roses, who was fighting on the frontlines in Division 1¡¯s BG2. ¡°They¡¯re plopping down out of the sky like raindrops. BG3, you¡¯re supposed to be protecting us. What are you fools doing?¡± ¡°BG3 can¡¯t be everywhere at once,¡± a man from the Lords of Justice growled into the Comm. ¡°And we¡¯re about to be surrounded as is. You guys need to cut us some Gods-be-damned slack!¡± ¡°Humans, please, stop arguing and listen to me,¡± another of the Elvish archers said. ¡°The wall should be prioritized over all else. Once we¡¯re clear of adds up here, we can rain down arrows and help the rest of you. You should prioritize protecting BG6 so that we can be the ones to protect you in turn.¡± ¡°That sounds more like self-preservation to me than strategy,¡± a political guild member from BG1 retorted. To Zach¡¯s surprise, the guy found plenty of agreement from the adventurers in his battlegroup. ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± a woman from the Explorers Brigade said. ¡°From the start, BG1 and BG2 have essentially been nothing but disposable bait, haven¡¯t we?¡± As more and more people joined the fray and began arguing with one another, it became difficult for Zach to stay focused. As things were, he was already struggling to manage his own fear. But now, all these terror-filled voices crying out in desperation and clogging up the Comm line were amplifying his worries and putting him further on edge. A sense of disarray came over the raid, and Zach came close to pulling the device out of his ear as their agitated shouts grew in both volume and number. Despite all the planning and coordination that had gone into maintaining a stable line of communication, it quickly became impossible to discern one voice from the next. Hundreds of shouts of alarm and confusion from both on and off the Comm made it so that no individual person could be heard clearly for very long. Within seconds, a chaos emerged that threatened to unravel the more than five hundred of them as the myriad of panicked voices drowned out even the sound of Donovan¡¯s booming shouts while both he and Mr. Oren struggled to restore order. ¡°Four more just landed over here!¡± someone cried. ¡°BG5 needs more support!¡± ¡°BG5 is fine as it is,¡± a woman replied angrily. ¡°It¡¯s BG6 that¡¯ll be wiped if BG3 or BG4 doesn¡¯t send us more tanks. Ten more just dropped down on my area of the wall.¡± ¡°Both of you shut the hell up!¡± shouted a man from BG2. ¡°Neither of you have any idea what you¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°QUIET ON COMMS!¡± Donovan roared, at last managing to break through the commotion. The thunder in his voice brought an abrupt¡ªand much needed¡ªend to the bickering, and just like that, all fell quiet. Even those who were mid-sentence closed their mouths and became silent. ¡°Everyone shut your traps or I¡¯ll give you something worse than the dragon to worry about. I¡¯m settling this right now!¡± Donovan inhaled, and the sound of it was loud enough that it came through over the Comm. ¡°BG3 and BG4,¡± he continued, ¡°I know you¡¯re already stretched thin. But I want you to send a few more DPS and off-tanks to BG6 anyway. That guy from before was right: if BG6 deals with their own adds quickly enough, they can be freed up to concentrate fire elsewhere.¡± ¡°And what about BG5?¡± a woman asked, her tone heightened with fear. ¡°Are you hanging us out to dry?¡± ¡°Suck it up, buttercup,¡± Donovan said with a grunt. ¡°No one here is having an easy day today, myself included. Now, I don¡¯t wanna hear another word about this. Get ready to kill some adds!¡± Zach could not blame anyone for their reaction. After all, every member of the raid knew exactly what these putty-like ¡°substances¡± would very quickly turn into, and they also knew how dangerous they would be. It seemed Mr. Oren¡¯s predictions had been right; that much, no one could deny. In exactly the places he¡¯d predicted, the adds had landed and were now being reformed from the scalding, inky blobs that had rained down on them into what would very soon become the fast, aggressive, and ruthless level-90 mobs that had almost killed dozens of the GSG yesterday. Yet, as much of a threat as these ¡°Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth¡± would pose, they paled in comparison to the dragon itself¡ªthe dragon which, for some insane reason, Zach was being ordered to attack head-on right from the start. Compared to Zach, everyone else here had it easy. Gods, the very idea of what he¡¯d been tasked with caused him to become nauseous and lightheaded. The sudden change in plans had come as a gigantic shock to him, one that didn¡¯t feel real just yet. And honestly, how could it? It was so absurd that it defied belief. How the hell could Mr. Oren and Donovan ask this of him? Were they trying to get him killed on purpose? This was such an incredible deviation from the original plan that it made his head spin. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Originally, he was supposed to serve the role of DPS in BG1. Then he¡¯d found out he¡¯d have to perform the role of tank¡ªsomething he clearly wasn¡¯t suited for¡ªin the event that BG1 and BG2 wiped. That alone had been enough to flood him with uncertainty. But now? Now it was even worse. Now, he was being told to just rush in and tank the dragon right off the bat while BG1 and BG2 were instead diverted to fighting off the swarm of adds, which were continuing to drop down from above even as the first batch of those that¡¯d already fallen were beginning to solidify, change color, and grow tails, arms, claws, and teeth. Is this really happening? he wondered. Somebody please tell me this is just a big joke. Incredibly, the fact that he had no real idea of what he was supposed to be doing or why he¡¯d been chosen to do it was actually the least of his problems. Far greater was the question of how he was supposed to ¡°tank¡± the dragon. At best, he could flop around and dodge a bit before eventually running out of luck and getting murdered. He certainly didn¡¯t have any ¡°taunt¡± abilities or even a shield to hide behind¡ªwell, other than Phase Shield, anyway. But the point remained: he clearly was not suited for this. Tanking obviously wasn¡¯t a role he was meant to play. Especially not at his level. Hell, he doubted it would take anything more than a scratch from Ziragoth to utterly annihilate him. Yet, for some reason, they were not only expecting him to survive this ordeal, but somehow also defeat the fearsome monster with his tiny battlegroup of four members as well. This was crazy. This was lunacy! How can just four of us kill it by ourselves? It doesn¡¯t make any Gods-damned sense. Zach glanced up with narrowed eyes at the giant ball of flame in the sky. Only, it wasn¡¯t so much a ¡°ball¡± anymore and had stretched somewhat to take on more of an egg shape. A blackish, vertical line was beginning to form along the center of the flame, which at first reminded Zach of a cell going through mitosis but quickly resembled more of a fissure as it became better defined. The flames also began to shine less brightly in a gradual way until their color dimmed from a bright orange to something brownish. At some point, they ceased to be flames entirely, seamlessly transitioning from fire to something closer to solid mass. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that the flames died out and revealed something solid that had been hidden behind them. Then, with an audible tearing sound that Zach could hear from all the way down at the surface, the black line running vertically down the egg-shaped form began to rip open, and from within, two viciously sharp, spike-covered wings popped out, accompanied by a flapping sound that reminded him of a parachute being deployed. Ziragoth was reforming, and Zach could tell by looks alone that it was going to be bigger, stronger, deadlier, and even angrier than it had been before. With each passing moment, what had begun as a large fireball in the sky was now becoming a more solid, recognizable, and rapidly changing mass that was beginning to sprout scales and other appendages. After another uncomfortable tearing sound, a tail began to form, and so did the basic outline of a head. A thin, black, and horizontal line running across what Zach took to be its new ¡°head¡± caused another rip that formed two separate flaps of ¡°skin,¡± which soon after shifted into something of a mouth. Second by second, Ziragoth was coming closer to reanimating¡ªand Zach would be the one who had to face him. But why me? Why do I have to be the one to do this? One thing was clear: the dragon¡¯s minions would become active before the dragon itself would, as the first hundred to fall were nearly finished forming. In fact, what looked like eleven of those that¡¯d landed just in front of the wall now had names over their heads, and simultaneously, all eleven released loud, angry chirps and began to charge at BG5. Even without Ziragoth, the second phase of the fight had now officially begun. Reacting immediately, numerous tanks sprang into action and peeled off eight of the eleven mobs, but either due to slow reaction speed or for some other logistical reason, three of them managed to break through a gap and make their way past the tanks lining up to fight them. From what Zach could tell, all three of the adds seemed intent on devouring the same target: a lone, horrified-looking mage wearing dark blue robes whose eyes widened in terror as they zipped across the grasslands and made straight for him. ¡°I need help!¡± the mage cried, his shaky voice coming through clearly over the Comm. ¡°I¡¯ve got aggro. Three of them!¡± Zach watched as he threw out his staff-wielding arm, and from the tip of the wooden, cane-like weapon, he released three greenish beams that each made a thwap as they slapped into the face of the front-most charging ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth¡± and hit for around 8000 damage each, though it failed to slow down the mob whatsoever. Having somehow slipped past the defensive line of tanks, the three fast-moving creatures continued to make straight for their target. But now, two of the three came to an immediate halt, and ¡°Zzs¡± began to float above their head as they were put to sleep with what Zach assumed were crowd control spells cast from BG5¡¯s support. The one leading the pack, however, somehow evaded it and thus continued to charge directly at the staff-wielding mage. With a nervous shriek, the man began to backpedal for several steps before tripping over his own feet and landing on his ass, which he then began to slide backwards on. ¡°Somebody, please, help! I am completely undefended and¡ª¡± ¡°I gotcha!¡± Kalana called out to him over the Comm. Zach watched as she dashed across the grasslands and moved to intercept the bipedal, lizard-avian hybrid, slicing two others that had just finished forming along the way and causing them to aggro onto her; with blood dripping down their torn, feathery skin from where Kalana had slashed them, they chased after her as she raced towards the undefended mage, whose nearest allies were also spellcasters and were scrambling away as though not wanting to be the next to become targeted in the event he died. From the looks of things, Kalana was determined to not only save the mage, but she seemed like she was planning to engage three of the level-90 mobs in combat all by herself in the process. ¡°Kal!¡± Zach cried aloud. ¡°I¡¯m coming to help!¡± He turned his body to face her then lifted his foot, ready to dash in her direction. But he was stopped by Fylwen, who grabbed his shoulder and held him in place. ¡°She¡¯ll be fine, young man.¡± ¡°But she¡¯s about to take on three of them at once!¡± ¡°She¡¯ll be fine,¡± Fylwen said again. ¡°Believe me: if I thought my daughter was in any danger, I¡¯d be the first one by her side. You need to focus on your own role.¡± Zach felt himself becoming tense. His throat suddenly having gone dry, he wet his lips and said, ¡°This has to be some kind of a mistake. We¡¯re all going to die if we try to take on Ziragoth by ourselves.¡± ¡°No, we won¡¯t,¡± Vim said matter-of-factly, his hands gripping his staff. ¡°I think we can actually win.¡± Zach laughed out of a sense of derision. ¡°Are you nuts?¡± ¡°Maybe a little, but not about this,¡± Vim said. ¡°I actually think I see what that science teacher had in mind when he put this battlegroup together. Clever, if so.¡± He shifted his eyes to Fylwen. ¡°I take it you were already filled in, Your Majesty?¡± She nodded. ¡°Pete and I were both present last night when he came up with this wildly inventive idea. Not a moment after the vampire told us about your ability, the teacher thought up a creative solution on the spot. Honestly, I was quite impressed. Never, would I have thought up something of the sort.¡± Vim stroked his chin as though it itched, then said, ¡°I¡¯m not thrilled that my strongest ability was outed, but¡­I guess I also don¡¯t care all that much, either. Adventurer types are the ones who care most about preserving adventuring secrets.¡± He made a strange sigh; from the sound of it, Zach had the impression that the short, sharp-tongued guild-leader was not only lacking in fear, but was entirely disinterested in the events taking place around him. ¡°So,¡± he continued, ¡°I take it I¡¯m meant to combo my ZOE with Sir Brayspark¡¯s Blessing of the Angels?¡± Zach had absolutely no idea what the three were talking about or what any of that meant, but whatever the case, it caused Peter to become visibly disturbed. ¡°You¡­you know of that ability?¡± Vim made a grin, then shrugged. ¡°I guess so.¡± Peter closed his eyes a moment then reopened them soon after, and now, they were filled with determination. ¡°Though I do find it distasteful to collaborate with an enemy of my people, I suppose the situation is grave enough to warrant it. To that end, yes, I believe the intention is for us to make use of the rather uniquely powerful interaction between our two abilities¡ªand also the queen¡¯s.¡± ¡°The queen¡¯s?¡± ¡°Gift of Nature¡¯s Embrace,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°You¡¯ll see in just a moment.¡± She moved her mouth as though she had more to say, but then without warning, she snapped it shut. Then she flicked her eyes to her right and drew her shortsword. Zach turned his head to see what she was staring at, and he now realized that about twenty of the Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth had landed ahead of him at some point without him even being aware of it¡ªand they were all mostly formed, too. He watched as their claws and teeth took shape, black stripes formed on their tails, and their round, yellow eyes appeared on their face. At the same time, the sound of fighting finally began to pick up in the distance, initiated at first by an asynchronous chorus of angry chirps that were joined instantly afterward by grunts and groans from the more than five-hundred raid members who were now rushing into battle. The fighting was everywhere and intense, and it looked like a true, genuine war between the avian-lizard hybrids and the raid members. Farthest from the wall, BG1 and BG2 were handling dozens of the mobs roughly around the area where Ziragoth had collapsed after its first phase. Londril, the massive Elvish tank who had held the dragon¡¯s aggro, was currently fending off about seven of the level-90 monstrosities all on his own, while Maric, now healed, guarded against another four. Most of the other tanks took on between one and three, while the DPS and off-tanks got to work dishing out damage. Unlike the incident yesterday afternoon, it looked like, at least as far as Division 1 was concerned, both the tanks and the damage output needed to survive the boss spawn were in place. Behind them, at the midpoint between the wall and Division 1, whatever members of BG4 were not currently mixed in with BG5 and BG6 were fending off a smaller, but still significant number of adds, with Donovan, Eldora, and Mr. Oren fighting side by side. They too seemed to be doing all right. BG5, on the other hand, was not faring quite as well. Comprised primarily of medium-ranged DPS, their limited number of tanks were struggling to hold aggro against a large number of the cursed defenders. Even with Kalana there to aid them, it was looking dicey. But it was still better than the situation up on the wall. Despite having been given even more reinforcements, a natural consequence of the narrow pathways that ran between the towers, combined with the overall lack of maneuverability, meant that disorganization was bound to occur. The dragon had sent a very significant number of its adds all along the wall, and now, all the Elvish archers had swapped their bows for longswords while trying their best to find an angle at which to attack the creatures, as tanks tried to squeeze their way around and between people to grab aggro. A loud mixture of chirps and cries of pain rang out in the early-morning summer day as tanks struggled to get in place. During this process, Zach witnessed two of them clumsily fall off the wall entirely, though he doubted they were injured due to their constitution. ¡°What do we do?¡± Zach asked, glancing around frantically. He squeezed his blade tightly as names popped up above the heads of the twenty mobs before them. ¡°Everyone else is already handling too much to come and pull these adds off us.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Peter Brayspark said. ¡°We¡¯ll have to deal with them ourselves.¡± Zach gasped. ¡°There¡¯s twenty of them and four of us.¡± ¡°A few more than four, actually.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± The leader of the Guild of Gentlemen did not reply. Instead, he tapped his palm one time against his chest, and then the red gemstone in the necklace he wore began to glow. An instant later, nine consecutive bolts of lighting struck the terrain in a semicircle around him, each one punctuated by a booming crack of thunder, and now, surrounding the self-proclaimed ¡°king¡± of humanity were nine level-150 Valkyries. Each of them had the wings of an angel, and each of them wielded a different weapon, such as a mace, or a broadsword, or a pair of daggers. One even had a silver, shining spear. ¡°Valkyries!¡± Peter Brayspark shouted. ¡°At the ready!¡± ¡°YES, SIR!¡± they replied cheerfully in singsong, effeminate voices. Zach sighed. ¡°Ah, what the hell.¡± He reached his hand, palm flat, above his head and called upon Bank and Storage, grabbing an item he¡¯d stowed away last night. It appeared in the palm of his hand immediately, and then he dismissed the box that only he could see in front of him. Now, in his hand was a card, which he summoned. Appearing by his side was the fancily adorned boss of Yorna floor B10, Moldark the Unbanished. ¡°Go!¡± Zach called at Moldark, mentally commanding him to attack. Moldark drew his blade, the sound of sliding steel at his side echoing throughout the grasslands, and then he took off at a run towards one of the Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth, which were only moments from aggroing the four of them. Somehow, Moldark got to them first. The creature turned around to face the white-armored dungeon boss, and it chirped loudly. Moldark raised his blade high above his head and slashed downwards, crashing it over the creature¡¯s scalp and dealing¡­well¡­3 points of damage. The mob retaliated immediately with a very fast swipe of its razor-sharp claws, dealing 215,917. And then Moldark died, vanishing into a puff of smoke that quickly disappeared. Vim cocked his eyebrow at Zach. ¡°A genius-level play, Zach. Well done.¡± He laughed nervously, somewhat embarrassed. ¡°Right. I forgot he¡¯s way too low level to use here.¡± Zach tried not to stress over the fact that he¡¯d just wasted¡ªand by extension destroyed¡ªhis one and only card. He could always get more Moldarks. It wouldn¡¯t even be difficult. There were more important things to worry about right now¡ªsuch as how in the hell he was supposed to survive the incoming stampede of Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth, which were all blasting across the terrain and heading straight for him. ¡°Valkyries!¡± Peter shouted. ¡°Stand by to¡ª¡± ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Fate, in a display of its typical cruelty, chose that exact moment to have Ziragoth return to the world. Even with the rush of bipedal, sharp-toothed carnivorous monsters racing towards him, Zach could not stop himself from glancing upwards and taking in the sight of the newly reborn, far stronger Ziragoth, which he was supposed to take on with just three others to support him. And Gods¡­he had no idea how he didn¡¯t wet himself.
HP 25,000,000/25,000,000
Name (T10) Ziragoth the Awoken
Level 70
¡°There it is!¡± Donovan said, his voice coming across as strained. Grunts of exertion and the banging of shields came through the Comm loudly enough to cause a degree of ear pain. ¡°Kiddo, you know what you have to do. Go get it. BG5, hang tight. We¡¯re working on relieving some more pressure!¡± ¡°Now¡¯s the time,¡± Fylwen said to him. She was standing right by his side. ¡°Activate Unleashed Phase. And please, without any of your usual preamble this time around.¡± Zach nodded fearfully. ¡°Yeah, I get it.¡± Swallowing nervously, he activated Phase Reset, increasing his Phase Level to 3 and taking his ability off cooldown. Then, without any hesitation, delay, or second thoughts, he called upon Unleashed Phase. A moment before the explosion of power hit him, he felt the tug of fear as he took in the sheer size of Ziragoth in the sky above him. The dragon was flying stationary almost as though it were surveilling the battlefield. It was now twice the size it had been before, and with its wings extended, it partially blocked out the sun. A jolt of pure terror traveled straight down Zach¡¯s spine as he watched it turn its head downward as though staring specifically at him. Briefly, the two locked eyes¡ªand Zach nearly buckled under the horror of its gaze. But that fear became inverted as he felt a magnificent rush of power from within so great that he worried for a moment he¡¯d become lost to it. It was time that they met again. Chapter 98: Ziragoth the Awoken Part IV Chapter 98: Ziragoth the Awoken Part IV On the first occasion that Zach had ever used Unleashed Phase, it had naturally been with a Phase Level of 0. At the time, he¡¯d been rushing through B6 of Yorna to save Rian and Lienne, and along with an increase to all of his stats, a mysterious black smoke had continually risen up from his palms as well as his feet, appearing above his footwear in the case of the latter. His skin had also taken on a dull glow. Not long afterwards, when he¡¯d been forced to call upon Phase Level 1, he¡¯d continued to experience much the same, only in addition to the smoke, the occasional burning ember would escape a hand or foot with infrequent regularity. Days later, finding himself caught in the middle of a war between Elvish warriors and vampire-summoned zombies, he¡¯d been tricked into entering Phase Level 2. This time around, the smoke vanished entirely, and what replaced it was a steady stream of embers that fired repeatedly from his hands and feet. He¡¯d also almost died just from using the ability itself, as the combination of a High and Very High exertion debt taught him that, contrary to what he¡¯d believed up to that point, he could not simply tack on as much debt as he wanted and pay for it¡ªor die from it¡ªlater on; if he assumed too great a debt at once, he could very well burn the life out of himself and fall dead immediately upon using the ability. Thankfully, though, the next time he¡¯d activated Unleashed Phase with a Phase Level of 2, he¡¯d only taken on a single Very High exertion debt; and although it¡¯d ultimately been too great for him to pay¡ªeven having used the ability on his sword to cut the exertion cost in half¡ªit had not been too great for him to borrow. And the same appeared to be the case here as well. Now, with twenty of the boss¡¯s voracious adds stampeding their way in his direction and a bloodthirsty dragon glaring down at him through golden, lizard-like eyes, Zach¡¯s use of Unleashed Phase pushed himself further than he¡¯d ever gone before. And with that, a rush of energy slammed into him: one so great that it straddled the line between joyously euphoric and bitterly unpleasant. Overwhelmed by a number of strange sensations that radiated through every muscle in his body, he gritted his teeth and increased the pace of his breathing as sweat began to glide down both sides of his face and his body temperature felt as though it were skyrocketing. ¡°I¡¯m okay,¡± he said, preempting the question he could see forming on Fylwen¡¯s lips in the corner of his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡± He paused a moment to blink away some of the sweat falling down his eyelids. ¡°It¡¯s just a lot.¡± His hands, which were both gripping the blade she¡¯d given him, began to jitter and shake, though not due to fear. His fingers twitched as well. For a moment, he almost thought he¡¯d drop his sword. But then he stabilized, regaining control of his motor functions, and in that instant, bright flames erupted in each of his hands and feet, surprising him. Removing one hand from his sword, he held it up to his face and examined it. The flame being emitted danced and jumped around the glove he wore, yet it did not damage the equipment, and he had the sense that it would not be hot to the touch. Almost as if curious to learn such a thing for herself, Fylwen tapped his gloved palm with her right index finger. ¡°It¡¯s not even warm,¡± she said, coming across as fascinated rather than bitter¡ªalways a good sign. ¡°I guess not.¡± As Zach returned his hand to his blade, he noticed something else that was new as well; now, whenever he moved one of his limbs, including his feet, a cloud-like streak was briefly left in the air in its wake, almost like the contrails left in the aftermath of a passing jet. The impossibly black smoke also returned as well, but rather than come from his hands or feet, it now appeared whenever he exhaled; each time Zach spoke or released a breath, a plume of the dark smoke escaped his lips along with it. ¡°I give you my word,¡± Fylwen said, tapping the hilt of her gladius to her chest. ¡°Should we live through this, I will heal you.¡± ¡°I know you will,¡± Zach said, truly trusting her. ¡°If you wanted me to die, you never would¡¯ve saved my life yesterday. I trust you. I really do.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t deserve it,¡± she whispered somewhat shamefully. ¡°And I don¡¯t deserve this,¡± he said, gesturing with the sword she¡¯d given him. She glanced down at the weapon. ¡°My great grandfather¡¯s blade is the only thing I have left of him or my father. Do take good care of it, young man.¡± ¡°I will.¡± She smiled at him¡ªbut only briefly. Then a more serious look came upon her face as though her thoughts had turned towards the task ahead. Even still, she displayed none of the disgust, anger, or revulsion that she¡¯d shown the last time he¡¯d ¡°allied¡± with her in a conflict against an army of mobs. And for that, Zach was grateful. If anything, the way she regarded him came across as motherly, concerned, and loving. It was almost jarring when considering how she had until very recently wanted nothing more than for him to die. I¡¯m starting to like her a lot, too, he realized. Is it because I miss my mom so much? Taking a quick second to briefly pull up his stats, Zach couldn¡¯t help but gasp with amazement at the sight that greeted him, which in turn caused a pitch-black plume of smoke to empty into the morning air from his sudden, heavy exhalation. He¡¯d known exactly what to expect, and so the numbers he saw should not have startled him. Regardless, he couldn¡¯t help but question whether what he was seeing was actually real.
Name Zachys Calador
Level 19
EXP 47500/100000
Armor Bonus 168
Strength 207
Dexterity 192
Constitution 190
Intelligence 225
Speed 175
Luck 140
Due to the combination of his new gear, his previous level up, and the increased bonus from Phase Level 3, Zach¡¯s stats were way, way, way higher than they were yesterday in the early afternoon when he¡¯d gone with Olivir and the others to put the dragon to sleep. Then, he¡¯d only had 93 points into strength: now, he had over two hundred, a number he recalled Donovan claiming that he himself never reached¡ªnot even with buffs. Actually, speaking of buffs, all the ones Vim had given him had expired, though he doubted there was any time to ask for them again as the Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth drew nearer and nearer. Do these ones move slower than the ones from yesterday? Zach wondered. Or do they just look that way to me because my stats are so much higher? ¡°We must make haste,¡± Peter said, drawing his sword. It was a thin, but sharp-looking rapier with a golden hilt and a silver crossguard. He pointed it at the incoming mobs and shouted, ¡°Valkyries! Destroy!¡± ¡°YES, SIR!¡± they replied cheerfully in unison. As if to prove that their wings were for more than just show, all nine of the level-150, heavily armored NPCs blasted forward, hovering several feet off the ground as they soared towards the Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth as though to intercept them. And Gods, were they powerful. The middle, center-most Valkyrie managed to stop three of the mobs in their tracks; she was wielding a large, double-bladed battleaxe with some kind of runic writing inscribed into the hilt. With a comically, cartoonishly girlish ¡°hiiiyah!¡± she crashed the axe down on top of one of the wicked creatures, dealing an incredible 21,415 damage and cutting off an entire piece of its nose and lower jaw. She even struck hard enough to cause the beast to slam down onto its stomach, flattening it. Yet it popped right back up and snapped at her, attempting to bite her face off with its powerful jaw. The Valkyrie retreated, flying backwards and dodging, only to then dash forward again through the air and rip apart the other side of the mob¡¯s face. At the same time, the Valkyrie to the right of that one delivered a strike to the throat of a separate defender with the large broadsword she gripped in both hands; her blade caused an immediate gushing of blood to flow down from a deep gash she¡¯d carved into its neck. And to her right, one of the Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth lost both an eye and part of its scalp as the flying, majestic, golden-armored NPC brought her mace crushing down on top of the creature¡¯s face with enough force to also cause several of its sharpest teeth to be spat out like a bad aftertaste. Zach watched, amazed, as all nine Valkyries brought their various weapons to bear against the boss¡¯s adds, fighting them head-on¡ªwell, all except one. Of the nine, there was a lone, standout Valkyrie who hovered in the air at the midpoint between where Zach, Peter, Vim, and Fylwen were standing and where Peter¡¯s Valkyries were dishing out tons of damage to the Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth. This one, whose name appeared to be ¡°Valkyrie of the Ancient Tracker,¡± fought using a large, white-and-gold bow. Drawing back the bowstring, she released an arrow that looked made of pure light and magic; it streaked across the air and ended up between the eyes of Cursed Defender of Ziragoth 7T, dealing 33,215 damage and causing it to hiss as it was knocked backwards and planted onto its back. It too got back to its feet soon thereafter and charged the Valkyrie, whose bow vanished into thin air and was instead replaced with two curved daggers that she wielded as she flew forward and attacked it at close quarters. Despite the incredible power these nine Valkyries brought to the table, if Peter Brayspark¡¯s plan was to have the summoned NPCs deal with the adds while they slipped around and made their way to the dragon, it wasn¡¯t going to work. Although they managed to occupy the attention of twelve of the foul monsters, the other eight ran straight past the Valkyries, four to each side of them, and then took off to where Zach stood with the others. They kicked up grass and dirt as they darted at the four of them. Unfortunately, it looked like there would be no avoiding a messy confrontation that would slow their progress. Yet even before the fast, bipedal mobs had reached them, Zach¡¯s attention was drawn to a gigantic shadow that formed over the grasslands as Ziragoth began to slowly descend down towards the raid as though finally ready to involve himself in the battle. Seeing him approach, Zach swore loudly, not caring who heard him. How the hell were they supposed to reach him with all these Gods-be-damned adds blocking their way? He supposed he could Phase Blink over there, but then he¡¯d be all by himself and lack the support of the others. Right now, Zach¡¯s battlegroup¡ªBG7¡ªwas a lot closer in terms of distance to BG4 than they were to BG1 and BG2, which was where Ziragoth seemed poised to land. ¡°BG7, attack the dragon!¡± Mr. Oren¡¯s voice called over the Comm. ¡°We¡¯re trying!¡± Zach shouted back. ¡°The adds are in our way.¡± ¡°Deal with them quickly, Zach.¡± ¡°Believe me, we intend to.¡± In stark contrast to the nervous quiet that had lingered for most of the time between the first and second phase of the fight, the level of noise in this part of the grasslands had grown to become incredibly loud: in some cases explosively so. Ahead of him, behind him, and even nearby him, Zach saw hundreds of people fighting with nearly two-hundred of the lizard-avian mobs. Along with this came shouts, groans, cries for help, roars of victory, and the sounds of every kind of magic imaginable. There was a steady whooshing noise as well as a constant gust of air not far from Zach as Alixa conjured forth a tornado that repeatedly struck one of the adds for between 800 and 900 damage while slightly suspending it in air, trapping it. On its own, that might not have seemed like much, but it was being hit so fast that it was likely dealing several-thousand points of damage each second. Elsewhere, Donovan was wailing away at one of the mobs while, to the right of him, another of the creatures was being absolutely ripped to pieces by what looked like a gigantic swarm of bees. It also had some kind of purple mucus running down its nose, and every few seconds, it would flinch and take around 1,200 damage. Zach wasn¡¯t sure what was causing that, but if he had to guess, he¡¯d say it was some kind of poison. On the wall, things had somewhat stabilized, and it was difficult to tell which side had the upper hand. The tanks were holding their own, and they were supported by a sufficient number of healers, but at the same time, the casters on the wall were unable to actually cast without serious risk of friendly fire, and the archers had resorted to using swords, which they were clearly less proficient at, as evident by their clumsy handling. Returning his attention to his own issues, Zach readied himself to meet the oncoming rush of mobs that were nearly upon him. Peter lifted his rapier as though also ready to engage, and Fylwen, for her part, bent her knees and extended her gladius out in front of her. Vim, on the other hand, took several cautious steps backwards and put himself behind the three of them. Zach doubted it was due to any kind of cowardice; he knew enough now about how the adventuring world worked to understand that Vim was clearly not built to fight things at close range. Here we go again, Zach thought as ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth 7B¡± made its way straight for him. Time to deal with these things again. ¡°Hey, guys,¡± he said. While keeping their heads straight, Vim, Fylwen, and Peter all turned their eyes in his direction. ¡°Be careful about taking on more than one of these things at a time,¡± he warned. ¡°They¡¯re really, really fast, and they¡¯re super aggressive.¡± ¡°Noted,¡± Peter replied, bowing his head in what Zach took to be a gesture of thanks. With the mobs just about upon them, he braced himself for combat. He sincerely hoped that, with his gigantic boost to stats, he could at least hurt the damn things this time around. Yesterday, the only way he¡¯d managed to do any meaningful damage to these predatory, insatiable mobs at all was by getting lucky and having his sword proc one of its abilities. Now, however, he hoped he had the strength to not only retaliate in a meaningful way with each strike of his own, but also guard with his sword, too. He hadn¡¯t been able to do so because they¡¯d been too strong, and even trying to block against their strikes meant losing either his arm or his blade. But now? Well, it was time to find out. Two reached him at the exact same time: 7B and 6Z. It was 7B that struck first. Releasing a vengeful-sounding chirp, it lunged at Zach, snapping aggressively at his face. Zach kicked off his front foot and dashed backwards, but the mob, just as relentless as any of those he¡¯d fought yesterday, pursued. The mob pressed him, its sickle-shaped body shifting side to side as it raised its right claws and viciously swiped at Zach, who decided to risk guarding with his blade. With his hands shooting flames and his eyes fixed on his target, Zach swung his sword with all his strength, hoping to parry and knock away the creature¡¯s claw, which would open it up to attack. Part of what had made these so difficult to deal with was the inability to do anything other than dodge. At the very least, if he could use his sword to its full capability, it would make taking on multiple of these things so much easier. And so, hoping his blade wouldn¡¯t go flying out of his hands, his sword met claw¡ªand then there was a chirping-hiss as Zach not only succeeded at parrying the strike, but cleanly sliced the thing¡¯s entire arm off, claw and all. It flipped several times in the air before landing soundlessly on the grass; blood spurted out of the now-empty socket. 48,301 ¡°Wow,¡± Vim said, sounding genuinely impressed. ¡°Nice one.¡± Given the speaker, it was impossible to be sure if the words were truly meant as praise or if there was some biting follow-up remark about to be made. Either way, Zach didn¡¯t care. He was beyond pleased with the result. In fact, for the first time since having the misfortune of discovering these so-called ¡°boss adds,¡± it was him who felt like the predator. He even licked his lips. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re in trouble now,¡± he said with a laugh. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. In a way that he almost found stunning, the mob displayed a behavior Zach had not yet seen: it backed away. And now, it was Zach who pressed the attack. With a loud grunt of exertion, he crashed his Sword of Light Amidst Darkness down upon the top of the creature¡¯s head, splitting it apart and knocking its left eyeball out of the socket, dealing 63,500 damage in the process. Even as he saw both the number and the result of his strike with his own two eyes, he still couldn¡¯t believe how hard he was hitting. And the mob, it seemed, couldn¡¯t believe how hard it had been hit, because with half its head missing, it still did not die.
HP 188,199/300,000
Name Cursed Defender of Ziragoth 7B
Level 90
Overflowing with a sense of confidence and capability, Zach continued to press the attack; this, even as two more of the mobs aggroed him, one to his left and one to his right. Raising his sword twice in fast succession, he deflected a claw from each, then half-ducked beneath a bite from the one on his left. And following that, he resumed punishing 7B. Pulling back his lips to bare his teeth, he angrily struck out with his blade. First, he held it slightly above his head and slashed downwards, reducing the creature¡¯s head to nothing more than a triangular-shaped clump of meat and hitting it for 51,310 in the process. Then, spinning around, he sliced off the opposing arm for another 62,801. And now, lacking most of its head and all of its claws, the creature had been well and truly neutralized. But Zach didn¡¯t care. He wanted it dead. He raised his sword to go in for a finishing series of strikes, but paused as the mobs to his left and right each lunged towards him, launching another round of attacks. The one on the left snapped at the same time that the one on the right scratched. To avoid both, Zach had to leap into the air above both their heads and front flip over the two of them. The moment he landed down onto his feet, he quickly spun himself around on his heels then hacked off whatever little stump of a head remained on the shoulders of 7B before finally plunging his sword deep into its gut. Yet, incredibly it still somehow remained alive¡ªas unrecognizable and useless as it was.
HP 3/300,000
Name Cursed Defender of Ziragoth B
Level 90
Zach rolled his eyes. Three HP? Seriously? He decided he¡¯d just kick the thing in its leg or something. Lifting his foot, he prepared to end the creature and earn his xp. And that was exactly what he did: he kicked out with his leading foot, barely putting any effort into it¡ªand then stared blankly in confusion as, for some reason, a random bolt of lightning appeared from out of the cloudless sky and struck the mob for 910 damage, killing it and depriving him of all the experience points he was about to earn from his efforts. ¡°Hurray!¡± Fluffles shouted over the Comm. ¡°I kill-steal.¡± ¡°F-Fluffles!¡± Zach snapped. ¡°Why would you do that to me?¡± ¡°Fluffles earn so many xp! I level-up!¡± He meowed happily over the Comm line. Zach shook his head furiously. ¡°No dinner tonight, Fluffles. That¡¯s it!¡± ¡°No! Zach still give Fluffles dinner!¡± The cat hissed, and it too was audible over the Comm. Fluffles must have been genuinely angry, because not only did Zach have to dodge a downward slash from the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth to his right as well as a bite from the one to his left, but he also had to leap away from a bolt of lightning that was clearly targeting him on purpose. Having hopped backwards and out of the bolt¡¯s path, he glared angrily at Fluffles, who glared right back at him from where he was still standing on the wall next to the Elvish archers, who were currently engaged in melee combat against the mobs that had been dropped all along the curved pathway. ¡°You¡¯ll be eating air after pulling that! Did you seriously just¡ª¡± ¡°Quiet on Comms!¡± Donovan roared. ¡°If you have the energy to argue with Fluffles, put it towards aggroing the Gods-damned dragon, kiddo.¡± Zach shut his mouth immediately. Only now did he recall that everything he was saying was being picked up and listened to by over five-hundred people, including the leaders of humanity, the Elvish queen, his girlfriend, the leader of every adventuring guild, and maybe even the media for all he knew. ¡°Fluffles, knock it off,¡± Maric said, the sound of strain and exhaustion evident in his voice. Any disappointment Zach might¡¯ve felt about losing his kill vanished from his mind as one of the Valkyries¡ªthis one wielding a glowing spear¡ªwas first to finish off one of her own targets. The moment the mob died, Zach was greeted with a very pleasing sight. It seemed that, since there were only four people in the battlegroup including himself, and since that ¡°XP-share¡± thing was set to ¡°Battle-Group only¡±, Zach only ended up losing half the xp that each of these were worth as opposed to three-fourths. +19000xp
To Next Level 66,500/100,000
Hell yeah! Now that¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about. It only really occurred to Zach right now just how much xp he actually stood to gain from these adds alone. Given his current level of power and how easily he could now handle these mobs, he could end up making some serious progress during this raid. Finally, he would be able to spring ahead and maybe close some of the chasm that existed between himself and Kalana. No, no, what are you saying? he scolded himself. You¡¯re not here to farm xp. You¡¯re here to take on the dragon! As though to remind him of this very fact, Ziragoth at last descended low enough so that he hovered only a dozen feet off the ground, and by the Gods, he was massive. The dragon was huge to begin with, and now he was at least twice the size he¡¯d been when he was a T7. He also seemed to have double the number of spikes running down his barbed tail, and his teeth somehow managed to appear even sharper than they did before. What¡¯s he doing? The dragon was behaving strangely. It was craning its head as though searching for someone¡ªbut not for Zach. Its eyes scanning the surrounding terrain, it paused at the sight of the mages on the left side of the wall. Then it looked to the archers on the right. Finally, on the heels of loud, terrifying roar that caused the ground to shake, it opened its mouth widely enough so that Zach could see the inside of its throat. Then there was a bright light, one that would¡¯ve partially blinded him if he¡¯d stared directly at it. There was also a massive bout of heat that he could feel even from over here. And with that, the dragon released a tremendous ball of fire that burned across the grasslands at the speed of a bullet and caused an enormous explosion that almost knocked him off his feet. Instantly, a vast portion of the wall was vaporized. Thousands of pieces of destroyed stone and brick were flung every which way, many slamming into Zach or otherwise raining down on top of him. Despite not being flammable material, an entire section of the wall had become an inferno, with a heat so intense that it made Zach worry the hairs on his neck were being singed. And then there was screaming: so much screaming. Casters, archers, and even a few tanks were crying out in agony as they were burned alive, suffering one of the most painful deaths imaginable. It horrified Zach. It reminded him of the scene he¡¯d witnessed in the Den of Ziragoth. It broke through the confidence that Unleashed Phase had injected into him and left him momentarily paralyzed. If not for Fylwen shoving him out of the way, he would¡¯ve had his face bitten off by one of the mobs. ¡°BG8!¡± Donovan shouted, his voice steady and commanding. ¡°We have casualties!¡± ¡°On it!¡± Grundor replied. At once, Grundor, Chumpkenwiffles, and a now-transformed Fluffles converged upon the flaming sight of destruction, seemingly impervious to the fire. Acting with apparent haste, Grundor began grabbing the burned, charred bodies and flinging them back over the wall, presumably in the direction of Olivir, whereas Chumpkenwiffles and Fluffles used their mouths to drag corpses through the now massive hole in the wall. Gods, Zach sure hoped they could all be revived. With that one attack alone, Ziragoth had just killed nearly twenty of them. And he appeared to be ready to kill another twenty more. No! Oh, Gods, no! We¡¯re going to wipe! A second blast of fire followed the first, and following another deafening bang, another massive section of the wall was blown to bits. The dragon even killed several of its own adds in the process. Once more, screaming voices of agony cried out for help. The sound of suffering and pain in their voice cut through Zach like a sharp knife. Those not killed instantly by the blast would be traumatized for the rest of their lives. There was no doubt about it. ¡°Kill them!¡± Zach ordered¡ªeven though it was totally not his place to do so. He couldn¡¯t stop himself. He couldn¡¯t listen to their screams any longer. With a sense of urgency, he shouted, ¡°Stop hesitating and kill them!¡± ¡°Kill who?¡± one of the Elvish archers asked in reply. ¡°Do you mean our own¡­?¡± ¡°Think about it,¡± Zach said, becoming frustrated. ¡°Why let them suffer when they¡¯re going to be revived anyway? They¡¯re going to die either way, and they¡¯re going to be healed and revived.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true, but still, asking us to¡ª¡± ¡°No, he¡¯s right,¡± Donovan said. ¡°Kill them. Do it now!¡± As though immediately seeing the logic¡ªand compassion¡ªin Zach¡¯s suggestion, the archers temporarily dropped their longswords and once more took up their bows. Then, with merciful quickness, they unleashed a volley of arrows into their own allies, ending their lives and their suffering immediately. Shortly afterwards, Grundor, Fluffles, and Chumpkenwiffles took their burned, dead corpses away and brought them to the vampires for resurrection. ¡°We have to do something,¡± Zach said, speaking to his three compatriots off-comm. Peter nodded. ¡°Believe me, I understand the need to move swiftly. It is our responsibility to deal with that infernal beast, and yet here we linger while the treacherous heathen brings death uninhibited!¡± As though in confirmation to Peter¡¯s fears, someone from BG6 began calling out in warning. ¡°It¡¯s going to fire again!¡± exclaimed one of the mages atop the wall. ¡°BG6 will wipe if we take another hit from that thing!¡± ¡°Do not let it fire on us again!¡± Donovan shouted, now sounding rattled. ¡°BG1, tank it as originally planned until BG7 can fight their way over to you!¡± Despite none of this being his fault, Zach actually felt shame at the fact that their inability to get to Ziragoth had caused so much pain and death, even if temporary. He also felt terrified: not necessarily of the dragon itself¡ªthough there was also plenty of that¡ªbut at the idea that the raid might wipe right here and right now. It sure seemed to be heading that way. The dragon opened its mouth a third time, clearly intent on releasing yet another blast. ¡°Someone stop it!¡± Mr. Oren said, panic in his voice. ¡°BG1, do not allow it to¡ª¡± ¡°Worry not! I shall taunt it!¡± cried Londril defiantly. As though it were solely to make his queen proud, Londril, the massive Elvish warrior who was already tanking seven of the Cursed Defenders all on his own, bashed one of the beasts in the head with his huge shield and then shoved another out of the way. Then, dashing a few steps closer to the dragon, he made a waving motion with his axe. Immediately, the dragon¡¯s mouth snapped shut, pausing just before delivering another fiery, explosive blast at the wall. And with that, it turned its head and looked directly at Londril. ¡°It hast been taunted,¡± Londril said. ¡°Hither it cometh!¡± ¡°Great work,¡± Donovan said approvingly. Zach sighed with relief. That big guy could definitely handle things at least for a little while. After all, he¡¯d taken hit after hit from the dragon during the first phase, and while Ziragoth was certainly more powerful this time around, Zach was sure the guy could at least hang on for a few moments while BG7 worked their way over there. But Gods, he was so wrong. Things were not like before. That much, Ziragoth seemed to delight in making abundantly clear. Raising his shield in anticipation of one of the dragon¡¯s attacks, the two of them engaged in something of a repeat of earlier¡ªonly with a very different, far more unsettling outcome. The dragon spun around and lifted its now tree-trunk-sized tail, swinging it fast enough to make an otherworldly screeching sound in the air. Like before, Londril stood his ground and absorbed the entirety of it on his shield. But unlike before, he did not walk away from the attack unscathed. Instead, his shield was shattered into several pieces, and he was swatted away like a Gods-be-damned insect. Zach watched on in awe and horror as the man was flung at an absurd speed in the direction of the wall. Yet somehow, as if to prove his warrior spirit, he managed to not only ignore the unbearable pain he must¡¯ve been feeling, but the white-cloaked Elvish tank actually managed to straighten himself mid-flight, kick off the wall while somehow managing not to damage it, and then launch himself right back at Ziragoth at an even faster speed than he¡¯d been hurtled. With a loud battle-cry, he raised his axe as he flew closer and closer to Ziragoth. And then Ziragoth opened his mouth and bit him in two halves, causing a shower of blood to rain down on top of a now badly demoralized BG1, who reacted with such fear and disgust that they began losing the battle they¡¯d been winning against the adds. There were screams of terror, and despite the angry shouts that came from Donovan and even Mr. Oren, their morale collapsed, their courage fled them, and they began to retreat in the direction of the wall. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare run away, you cowardly bastards!¡± Donovan yelled. Spitting out a wad of saliva, he whacked the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth he was fighting in the face with his battle-axe then shoved his way past it, heading for the dragon. ¡°Get it away!¡± a member of the Royal Roses cried. The dragon had somehow aggroed onto him and was advancing towards his position. ¡°Boss, please! Help!¡± The reaction from Vim stunned Zach almost as much as everything else taking place. ¡°I¡¯m coming!¡± Vim shouted urgently into the Comm. This time, it was Zach who had to grab him and stop him from running off, and his level of surprise increased tenfold by how forcefully Vim struggled to break free. Did this mean he actually cared about his guild-members? Were the political guilds even capable of such a thing? ¡°Boss!¡± There was a loud crunch, and then another crunch, and the man was swallowed whole¡ªall but his head and a tiny portion of his neck, which the dragon spat out and which was technically all that Olivir claimed he needed to bring someone back. Though, looking at what remained of the man, it was hard to imagine him growing¡­well, an entirely new body. If he says he can do it, he can, Zach reminded himself. Olivir is the most reliable person I¡¯ve ever met. Having become totally broken and panic-stricken, all of BG1¡ªaside from Maric and Spider¡ªcontinued to ignore Donovan and Mr. Oren¡¯s orders as well as everything else going on around them as they fled haphazardly towards the wall. Even with the dragon upon them, it was, by far, the worst thing they could have done. Because now, in addition to the futility of trying to outrun Ziragoth, they were also set upon from behind by the dozens of Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth that they¡¯d only just been winning handily against; now, the creatures chased after them: ripping, biting, and successfully killing more than a dozen of them while Ziragoth stomped down and actually crushed even more of BG1 under its massive feet. Once more, Zach couldn¡¯t help but question the limits of Olivir¡¯s ability to bring back¡ªand heal¡ªthose whose head remained attached to their neck, as before his very eyes, Zach witnessed humans¡ªand a few Elves¡ªbecome literally squished to the point that their eyes popped out of their sockets and their teeth spilled out onto the grass. ¡°Stop running!¡± Mr. Oren pleaded with them. ¡°You¡¯re better off fighting and dying!¡± Resurrection or otherwise, Zach knew that he did not have the right to criticize their cowardice, because he understood their fear very, very well. He empathized with it. It resonated with him. He knew how terrified they were of the dragon, because he was just as scared. And now, as BG2 rushed in to take their place, dragging their own adds behind with them, Zach looked over to Kalana and began to wonder if it was time to grab her and go. This was going to be a wipe, wasn¡¯t it? It was sure looking that way. And the one thing that Zach could not¡ªwould not¡ªdo was witness Kalana¡¯s death or serious injury. He would lose it. He would lose every trace of sanity if that happened. He couldn¡¯t allow it! Maybe I should get her out of here and take her to Archian Prime. ¡°Fylwen,¡± he began, ¡°we should think about¡ª¡± ¡°No,¡± she said as though reading his mind. With a deft, agile stroke of her shortsword, she finished off the mob in front of her and earned the four of them another +19000xp. ¡°Hold strong. We have what we need to triumph.¡± ¡°W-we don¡¯t,¡± Zach said, once more having to be shoved out of the way, as he felt his own fighting spirit becoming undone. ¡°This was a mistake. We can¡¯t win.¡± Of all things, Sir Peter Brayspark laughed at his concerns. ¡°And if so?¡± he asked. ¡°Are you fighting for your own life, or do you fight for your love of another?¡± Zach regarded him a moment¡ªthen ducked to avoid having his head taken off. ¡°I¡¯m fighting for Kal,¡± he said. ¡°The Elvish girl, yes?¡± Fylwen nodded in Zach¡¯s place. ¡°Correct. My daughter. Your God-niece.¡± With seven fast, elegant strokes of his rapier, Peter eliminated the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth 7S that stood before him. ¡°Then focus only on that,¡± he said to Zach as the mob fell over and died. ¡°If you flee, it shall be but a matter of time before the dragon finds you. Would you face the girl again knowing you cowered in shame and abdicated your duty to protect this world? I dare say I do not think she plans to quit the fight. For the sake of the Gods, Zach, you are a human being, and you are brave! Show that to the world, lest you degrade yourself in the eyes of our Gods.¡± +19,000xp
LEVEL UP! 20 (19)
Luck +1 (141)
XP Required for Level 21 130,000
(LEGENDARY UNIQUE) Gacha Get¡¯cha Acquired!
(STANDARD L20 PASSIVE) Enhanced Item Information I Acquired
Zach was so conflicted about how to proceed that he didn¡¯t even care what his new ability did. After what happened last time, it wasn¡¯t like he was going to make the mistake again of trying something new in the heat of battle. Thus, whatever ¡°Gacha Get¡¯cha¡± did, he¡¯d learn about it later. And as for the other thing, he already knew what that was: it would allow him to see the level of his equipment from now on whenever he looked at it in his inventory. He knew this because he¡¯d already been told in advance that he¡¯d acquire it. Yesterday, when Fluffles had delivered to him his new sword, it¡¯d been explained to him that, at level 20, everyone of every race gained the ability to view the specific level of any given piece of equipment, such as his sword, which he¡¯d been told was level 65. And so, putting his level up out of mind, he took a moment to consider Peter¡¯s words. Fundamentally, he knew that the man was right. Regardless of his impulse to keep Kalana safe, he knew that Kalana wasn¡¯t going to flee the battle this time around. This confrontation¡­this was pretty much all there was. It was their final stand. Losing here meant the death of everyone on Galterra. Even if he managed to escape with her to another planet, it would be a lonely world without other people in it. Sure, there might be some adventurers here or there who¡¯d escaped to Angelica¡¯s, and there would still be those on Archian Prime, but all the rest of society would be gone. All of his dreams would be gone. He and Kalana would exist in a world devoid of modern civilization. She would hate that, and so would he. ¡°Can we really win this?¡± Zach asked hesitantly as he sliced one of the boss adds across the face and proc¡¯d his beautiful green aura that increased the duration remaining on Unleashed Phase all the way up to 17:22. Even as they fought back against their attackers, all three of them nodded in the affirmative. This only caused Zach to shake his head in confusion. How could they be so certain? ¡°Look,¡± he said, ¡°if you guys think I can kill that thing just because my stats are this high, you really need to¡ª¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what we think,¡± Vim said. He jammed his staff into the ground, and then out of thin air, ten gigantic boulders popped into existence and crashed down on one of the Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth that was applying a great deal of pressure to Fylwen¡¯s right flank. Each boulder struck for over 15,000 damage, and by the time the last had fallen, the mob was nearly dead. Despite having pulled aggro right off of Fylwen, Vim Alazar motioned with a flick of his wrist, and then from beneath the soil, several stones burst through the ground and formed something of a cage around the mob, rooting it in place. ¡°You don¡¯t?¡± ¡°No, Zach. We know that even with your current stats, you¡¯re no match for what is essentially a level-570 mob.¡± ¡°Then how the hell do you expect us to win?¡± Vim grinned cheekily, then shrugged. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy. I¡¯m going to cast my Zone of Enfeeblement on you, Zach.¡± ¡°And that is, what, exactly?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a curse and a debuff that inflicts you with T2 poison, T3 confusion, strips you of any stat-enhancing buffs you might have, cuts your own stats directly in half, and prevents anyone from healing you while making any wounds you currently have even worse.¡± As Vim started to laugh, Zach nearly lost his head and had to raise his guard at the last second to defend himself. ¡°Okay, so yeah, basically we have no plan and we¡¯re dead. Just great.¡± Chapter 99: The Reunion Chapter 99: The Reunion As Adamus meditated quietly in his small, nondescript office, the sights of the world down below trickled steadily into his mind. The dragon had now begun its brutal rampage, and though it made for a gruesome, disquieting image, he couldn¡¯t help but feel somewhat pleased at the sliver of hope that lay behind the carnage; the science teacher, it seemed, had found one of the ability combinations that could dramatically change the outcome of the raid. Of course, it wasn¡¯t the combination itself that surprised him¡ªhe had known from the start that it was one of eight possible methods the Galterrans could use to bolster their chance of success¡ªbut rather, it was that it required two human guild-leaders who were currently at war with one another to work together; it also required an analytical mind to conceptualize the use of abilities in a very different way from how they were typically called upon. But most importantly, Adamus knew that what was taking place right now on Galterra was both a validation and vindication of the system. Were it not for the dragon, neither the two humans nor the Elvish queen would be willing to cooperate; yet there they were, working together, as were many such other humans and Elvish. Perhaps, with any luck, their temporary comradery might even see them putting an end to their hostilities should they persevere; maybe war need not rear its ugly head after all. ¡°You¡¯re really going to let him die, aren¡¯t you? You¡¯re really okay with this?¡± Adamus ignored Eilea. The woman, Gods bless her, was an emotionally driven mess. She was far too empathetic¡ªto the extent that she was missing things that should have been obvious to her, and in so doing, she could foresee only the darkest of possibilities. Unhidden and on the most outward edges of her mind, Adamus could see that she had surrendered any remaining trace of hope that Zachys Calador might survive the raid; Eilea had now convinced herself with far too great a certainty that his fate was sealed. To be clear, the boy was more likely than not to perish, but the odds of his survival were nowhere near as low as what Eilea currently believed. By Adamus¡¯s estimation, Zachys Calador had perhaps a one in three chance of triumphing over the dragon: hardly favorable odds, yet nevertheless far greater than the 0.2% chance that Eilea had calculated. And this was not due to some lack of intellectual merit on her part, either. When calm and objective, Eilea¡¯s intellect was a match for his own. Sadly, the woman drew too many impulses from her heart, and because of this, she often missed what was right in front of her. ¡°Don¡¯t let him die, Adamus. There might not be another like him ever again.¡± And if there isn¡¯t? So be it, then. Choice begets consequence, my dear. ¡°You¡¯re a bastard!¡± she shouted in his head. ¡°Every day that goes by, I despise you even more!¡± He could feel Eilea¡¯s anger but also her sadness. She was not of sound mind. Even now, she was still unable to see the young science teacher¡¯s plan slowly coming into fruition. Clearly, Eilea was not even aware of the eight possible ability combinations that provided better chances of success than those she¡¯d calculated. By far, the strongest possible interaction would have been to use the unique ability of the woman known as ¡°Alixa¡± in combination with the Shadowfang, ¡°Fluffles,¡± which could have created a chain that, when combined with Zachys Calador¡¯s Phase Slash, might have slain the dragon in just two or three hits. Naturally, that was an exceedingly difficult-to-see move, and so Adamus did not look down upon the science teacher for not having found it. That he had discovered any of the eight at all was an impressive feat worthy of praise. But would just one be enough? Sadly, it most likely would not, but¡­certainly, there was still a reasonable chance. With a growing sense of intrigue, Adamus continued his passive, yet keen observation of the events unfolding on Galterra, eager to see for himself how the boy would fare. Yet he was becoming ever more distracted as Eilea continued to nip at his mind, expressing her anger through an unpleasant poking sensation that caused a secondary wave of prickling-like pain to radiate down his shoulders. At first, he was content to simply ignore her prodding, but like a petulant child, she continued to peck at him, and before long, blood began pouring down his ears and a tumor began forming on the frontal lobe of his brain. Adamus sighed. Must she always act in such an immature way? The woman was thousands of years old. He expected better of her. Briefly taking his attention off Galterra, Adamus repaired the brain damage and removed the tumor, then forcibly ejected Eilea from his mind. Now, with her presence no longer disturbing him, he returned to observing the raid. The next few moments would be the most critical of all. Truly, the lives of billions were hanging in the balance. And though Adamus wished them the best, he would not interfere: not under any circumstance. No, if the Galterrans deserved to have a future, it was here and now that they would have to prove it. Together, they would have to stand and fight for their continued existence. That, in essence, had always been the point of the system. And it was a value he simply could not compromise on. No matter the cost. ***** The dragon roared, and Zach clenched his teeth in frustration. Things weren¡¯t good. Everything was falling apart around him. The screams of dying men and women permeated both the air and his Comm, and it was getting more and more difficult to keep from becoming despondent. He knew he had to hold strong. He knew he had to overcome his doubt. But it wasn¡¯t easy. With each cry of anguish, he was forced to suppress a growing sense of hopelessness. Nothing had worked out the way it was supposed to. There was simply no denying that fact. The raid looked like it was about to collapse, and the resulting agitation threatened to break his focus. Even still, he fought to keep his morale from plummeting as he struggled to tamp down on all the pessimistic thoughts that were running through his head. Bending his knees slightly, Zach spun his body in a counterclockwise direction. His glimmering blade gripped tightly in both hands, he cut deeply into the neck of the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth immediately in front of him, causing a single large spray of blood to shoot out of the creature¡¯s throat, slicing it so that its head now hung awkwardly off the side of its neck while dangling from a thin strip of flesh. With a weak half-chirp, half-gurgle, the beast collapsed, having been finished off for good. Not a second later, Zach leaned back and away from a claw-strike that came from the one to its left, which had been aimed at his own throat. As a +19000xp popped up in the air before him, he eyed his next target, ready to destroy it. He was breathing heavily, though it was not from exertion but from his nerves. A sense of urgency was flooding into his senses, one that was made worse each time the ground shook at semi-regular intervals, the result of another roar from Ziragoth; it reminded him that there was no time to waste. They needed to break through. They needed to break through now! Everything¡¯s going to hell, he thought, trying not to let despair weaken him. What if it¡¯s too late? What if we¡¯re already screwed? BG1 had now completely wiped. This included all of those who¡¯d attempted to retreat as well as the few members who¡¯d stayed to fight; their corpses were face down on the grass, and a great many of them were in multiple pieces. Spider, the second-in-command of the GSG, was one of them. He¡¯d been the last to die, having fallen in battle just a moment ago while suffering a truly awful death. His limbs had been torn from his body, and then his armless, legless husk had been burned alive. Yet, despite this, he had not cried out in pain: not even once. Instead, he¡¯d released nothing more than a bitter grunt before his charred form fell forward and became still. With BG1 totally annihilated, BG2 was rushing forward towards the dragon along with a few additional members of BG3. Donovan had ordered BG8 not to attempt to rescue the corpses of BG1 until BG2 had established aggro. This meant that the twenty-minute timer during which Olivir could revive the dead was ticking away, and given that more than a hundred badly mangled, disfigured corpses were strewn all over the place, Zach couldn¡¯t help but fear there might not be enough time for Kolona and Olivir to bring everybody back. Not to mention the time it would take to haul them all to where the two vampires were residing. I have to trust in them, Zach thought. I have no other choice. At the head of this newly, hastily assembled formation, Donovan bludgeoned any adds that were in front of him as he continued his disorganized, mad dash towards Ziragoth with the rest of BG2 and a handful of BG3 following close by on his tail. Yet, even as they rushed onwards, the adds they had been fighting continued to follow behind and nip at their heels, and at the same time, the adds that BG1 had not managed to finish off turned and aggroed the group as well. This meant they had to defend themselves from attack at both the front and rear of their formation while recklessly powering their way towards Ziragoth. Certainly, they were taking on a whole lot. ¡°Fuck!¡± Donvan swore over the Comm as a chunk of his ankle was torn off by the mouth of one of the level-90 boss spawn. Having already been brought back once, if he died a second time, there would be no returning for him. It only increased the sense of urgency that Zach was feeling. He needed to get over there before Donovan was taken out of this world for good. As things were, he doubted Donovan would survive much longer. He doubted anyone would survive much longer, including those in BG3, BG4, BG5, and BG6. Somehow, all four other battlegroups were now doing pretty terribly, and though Zach could not be certain as to why, he strongly suspected it was due to an overall drop in morale among the raid members. BG6, in particular, should have been doing way better than they currently were. Right now, they were struggling badly¡ªand there was no physical reason for it, at least none that Zach could see. Even having lost a number of their members from the dual fireball strikes earlier, the primarily Elvish battlegroup was capable of putting up a much greater fight than they currently were: Zach was positive of that much. BG5, as well, should not have been faring so poorly. Earlier, they had been easily holding their own, but now, they appeared to be in a situation quite similar to the one that Zach himself had been in yesterday with the GSG; from the looks of things, they were heading towards a slow, inevitable defeat. Everywhere Zach looked, he saw the raid members faltering. Everyone was doing poorly. Everyone. Well¡­okay, maybe not everyone. There was, as usual, one exception: Kalana. She was currently blazing across the battlefield while performing acrobatic feats on a whole different level. Fighting in front of the wall, she decapitated one of the mobs with her daggers before backflipping herself halfway up to the top. Then, somehow, she was able to kick off the stone in such a way that it brought her into a second backflip, which took her the rest of the distance up, whereupon she landed deftly on both feet. Then she launched herself in the direction of a weary-looking tank, tore her dagger across the mob he was fighting with enough force to pull aggro right off of him, and continued running along the top of the wall while relieving several more tanks as the adds she aggroed trailed behind her. This culminated in her leaping back off the wall, landing in a roll along the grass, and diving at several more of the mobs while the four or five she¡¯d just aggroed ripped apart a section of safety railing so that they could jump down and chase after her. Clearly, his girlfriend was capable of looking out for herself. She also seemed to have a really good sense of where she was needed and what she could do to contribute the most at any given time. Yet, even with her assistance, Zach knew that the tide was not going to change. Not even Kalana was going to be able to put the raid back on course. And thus, Zach realized he had no choice: with everything going to shit, he was going to have to trust in Vim Alazar. He was going to have to go along with whatever crazy scheme Mr. Oren, Fylwen, and Peter had cooked up. ¡°If there was ever a time not to fuck with someone,¡± Zach said, nervously sending a glance Vim¡¯s way, ¡°now is that time. Are you serious about what you just said to me?¡± The diminutive, acerbic leader of the Royal Roses gave a quick bow of his head. ¡°Yes.¡± Zach exhaled, more out of surprise than anything else. ¡°You¡¯re going to cast something on me that confuses me, poisons me, cuts my stats in half, makes my wounds worse, and prevents anyone from healing me. Did I hear that right?¡± ¡°That about sums it up,¡± he said. Then, with a grin, he added, ¡°Oh, and it gets rid of any stat-enhancing buffs you might have on you.¡± ¡°And this is supposed to help us beat the dragon?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, Zach.¡± Zach guffawed. ¡°You¡¯re fucking with me. You have to be. This is revenge for my insults earlier.¡± ¡°It is not,¡± Peter said, answering in Vim¡¯s place. ¡°Verily, there is a reason the four of us have been chosen for this battlegroup. Though it pains me to admit, we have need of Sir Alazar.¡± Zach shifted his eyes to Fylwen for reassurance. It was an unconscious act that reminded him of just how much he now trusted her¡ªand also how strange it was given his view towards her such a short time ago. Briefly, the two made eye contact, and then she nodded at him. ¡°This is the only way we can win, young man.¡± ¡°B-but how?¡± Zach asked, flummoxed. ¡°I have a spell,¡± Fylwen answered, sidestepping around a lunge from the mob she was fighting then delivering a blazingly fast series of slashes to its face with her shortsword. ¡°It¡¯s called Gift of Nature¡¯s Embrace. It is a curative that relieves my target of poison, sleep, paralysis, and confusion.¡± ¡°Okay, so¡­so Vim¡¯s going to poison and confuse me, just so you can un-poison and un-confuse me?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± ¡°What about the other effects? And what¡¯s even the point of all this?¡± ¡°That, Zach, is where my ability comes into play,¡± Peter replied. With an agility that looked natural, he riposted with his rapier, then pierced the mob in front of him right between the eyes, dealing 19,500 and taking it down to around half health. ¡°What¡¯s yours do?¡± He smiled in a way that was both confident and cocky, yet oddly earnest as well. ¡°Blessing of the Angels. It¡¯s a legendary non-unique anti-debuff. Essentially, it reverses any stat-debilitating effects that have been put on you.¡± Zach, at a whisper, began repeating the words back to himself as he thought on them. ¡°Reverses the effects of any stat-debilitating¡­¡± He gasped. ¡°Wait a minute. By ¡®reverses,¡¯ do you mean¡­?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°Your stats will go from being cut in half to being¡ª¡± ¡°¡ªdoubled!¡± Zach shouted out, finishing the thought for her. Then he again looked over towards Vim. ¡°Is that right?¡± He nodded. ¡°Yes, but only for ten seconds, Zach. And it¡¯s a spell with a high exertion cost, so we have to be tactful in how we use it. My stamina is not great, as I¡¯m usually too busy governing to exert myself physically. But¡­yes. For those ten seconds, you will be twice as powerful as you are now. I imagine you¡¯ll even be able to block and parry the dragon¡¯s attacks, if only for those ten seconds.¡± Zach couldn¡¯t believe what he was hearing. It was wild. Could abilities really work together like that if combined in such a way? If so, he might actually be able to stand toe-to-toe with that Gods-be-damned wyvern. It also meant that Mr. Oren really did know what he was doing, and that Zach¡¯s fears that this was some secret plan to have him killed were just paranoid nonsense after all. It¡¯s just that it sounds so elaborate and crazy. Trying to get over his shock, Zach reminded himself that none of this would end up mattering at all if they didn¡¯t hurry. ¡°We need to get through these things first.¡± ¡°That is indeed correct,¡± Fylwen said. Peter slightly lowered his head in what Zach took to be a gesture of agreement. ¡°Let us dispose of these wicked beasts quickly and be on our way.¡± From the sound of shouts, it looked as though BG2 were now charging at last into battle with Ziragoth. Zach had to pry his eyes off them. There was a part of him that felt compelled to watch, as if to quell his concerns. But the longer it took to tear their way through these mobs, the greater the chance Donovan or Zephyr would end up permanently dead. And so, Zach returned his full attention to the mobs before him. Of the twenty Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth that they¡¯d been forced to deal with, fifteen still remained. Zach had killed one, Fluffles had stolen one, and Fylwen and Peter had killed one each. The Valkyries had also taken one down as well. Or wait¡­scratch that. It appeared they¡¯d taken down another two as well just this very moment, as evident by the dual +19,000xp that appeared in the air relatively near to one another in the distance ahead. So then, that left thirteen to be slain, of which nine were still tangling with the Valkyries, and he, Peter, and Fylwen now dealt with one apiece. A final, stationary Cursed Defender of Ziragoth was still caught in Vim¡¯s root, a decent chunk of its health already missing. Okay. Let¡¯s do this. With his hands shooting flames and a dark smoke trailing on his breath, Zach felt more powerful than he ever had before. Despite only being level 20, his stats, unbelievably, were now the highest of anyone on the raid, living or dead. And while Ziragoth the Awoken might¡¯ve been a truly gruesome threat, these bipedal, avian-lizard hybrids were no longer the menace they¡¯d been to him yesterday. He likely didn¡¯t need to be so cautious while fighting them. More so, he probably needed to up his level of aggression. Stepping forward then immediately bending his knees, Zach moved into¡ªand beneath¡ªan angry swipe from the claws of the mob in front of him. Then, shooting back up to his feet, he raised his blade high and went in with a vengeance, ready to unleash a series of quick, unrestrained, and perhaps even reckless slashes that he hoped would cut the monster into pieces fast enough that it wouldn¡¯t even have time to retaliate. He began by whipping his sword from right to left, cutting off a large chunk of the mob¡¯s nose as well as a piece of its lower jaw. The force of the blow also took it off balance and almost caused it to be knocked onto its side. As it straightened its body, Zach raised his blade yet again and prepared to bring it directly down on top of the creature¡¯s scalp, hoping to split its head down the middle. Yet an instant after he connected with the first strike, he immediately paused¡ªand even made a slight yelp¡ªas a whole bunch of colors and sights filled his vision all at the same time, startling him and causing him to halt just as he¡¯d been about to lash out a second time. A dark green aura had formed in an outline around his body while a sound similar to an engine being started accompanied a grid of circularly shaped red lasers, which surrounded him like a cage. And while all that was happening, the already bright morning became even brighter as about fifty star-shaped emblems made of pure light burst into existence and surrounded the mob he¡¯d just hit. For a brief, fleeting moment, Zach was stunned into a sense of outright confusion. But very quickly, he realized what had happened: he¡¯d just proc¡¯d three different abilities all at the same time, with two coming from his sword and one coming from his gloves. From his blade, he¡¯d proc¡¯d his stamina restoration, which he now saw had increased his duration remaining on Unleashed Phase all the way to 20:05, and from his gloves, he¡¯d given himself minor blessing of strength, which increased his strength by 15 for 30 seconds. Finally, he seemed to have proc¡¯d the light ability of his weapon. Ahead of him, he watched as the roughly fifty star-shaped emblems of light all collapsed and converged into one another until forming an incredibly, blindingly bright glowing orb that surrounded the entirety of the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth. Then, as it had last time, this orb exploded noiselessly¡ªand the result was an absolute shower of blood, guts, and chunks of feathers and flesh that covered him like the earlier downpour of rain as the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth was blown to bits. Zach actually had to spit out a bunch of feathers as he found himself drenched in gore. By the time the light had faded, there was no longer any sign of the mob in front of him: it had exploded into so many pieces that there was nothing left of it. Thus, even before he saw the damage number, he knew it was safe to assume that he¡¯d killed it in one shot. 621,519 ¡°Amazing,¡± he whispered to himself, even as he had to spit out another feather. It faded out of existence while it was still floating down to the grass, and thankfully, the awful taste in his mouth faded along with it, though only partially. He could still taste raw animal blood, as it seemed that, like many mobs, this creature¡¯s blood did not vanish with the rest of it. +19000xp ¡°I am glad to see the sword has found a suitable master,¡± Fylwen remarked, delivering a final, fatal slash to the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth before her. Running her gladius along its neck, she cut through most of its throat and nearly decapitated it, dealing 25,700 damage and putting an end to the creature. +19000xp ¡°Begone from my sight,¡± Peter growled, his rapier disappearing through the scaly chest of another one of the creatures, felling it. +19000xp Zach opened his mouth to speak, then reflexively ducked his head as the ground shook, though this time, it was not from the dragon¡¯s roar. Once again, Vim had called down giant, ground-splitting boulders from the sky, which astonishingly did not break the root that was binding his target as they slammed into it one after the next. It was forced to simply remain in place and suffer the abuse as boulder after boulder began crushing it and ripping it apart, each dealing over 15,000 damage. Naturally, this confused Zach. Though no one had ever explicitly told him so, Zach had thus far been under the impression that, aside from something like a fear or a stun, damaging an enemy while crowd controlled would break the hold over it; this, he¡¯d concluded based on the way everyone yesterday had been so careful not to touch anything that had been rooted, mesmerized, trapped, or put to sleep. Yet Vim seemed to have no trouble pummeling the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth while it remained completely immobilized. As though noticing his confusion, Vim said, ¡°My root is T3.¡± Zach nodded even though he had no idea what that meant. But based on context alone, it probably implied that, if a root was T3 or higher, it did not dispel upon damage. ¡°Gotch¡¯a.¡±
HP 13,900/300,000
Name This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Cursed Defender of Ziragoth 6R
Level 90
With just a small portion of its HP remaining, Fylwen seemed poised to bring an end to the creature. With a single, graceful motion, she stepped forward, raised her gladius, and prepared to strike the finishing blow, putting it out of its misery. Yet a moment before her shortsword connected, a thought popped into Zach¡¯s head: a realization of an opportunity far too important to miss. It was only now, in this moment, that it really dawned on him what was possible while he had such astoundingly high stats¡ªspecifically, his intelligence, which was currently 225 while under Phase Level 3. This was significant, because half of 225, rounded down, was 112. And these mobs were only level 90, which meant¡­ Gods! I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t think of this sooner. ¡°Wait!¡± he cried out to Fylwen a mere instant before she dealt the killing blow. ¡°Don¡¯t kill it! Stop!¡± ¡°Wh-why in the Gods not?¡± she asked, sounding both impatient and confused. Yet she managed to pause just a moment before ending the creature. Even though it was rooted, it could still move its head around just enough to take a vicious bite at her. Thankfully, she pulled back, and it chomped down on nothing more than the early-morning, summer air. Rather than waste more precious time answering, Zach sheathed his blade and extended his arm in the mob¡¯s direction, his palm open, flames shooting out of the center of it. With that, he activated Card Capture, and now, the fierce, level-90 Cursed Defender of Ziragoth was reduced to nothing but a white wisp of light, which lifted up a few feet before sailing across the air in the direction of his waiting, open hand. ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s what you had in mind, young man.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Plucking the wisp out of the air, it turned into a card upon contact, and now Zach held what looked like a hand-illustrated depiction of the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth. Actually it was a breathtakingly beautiful, artistic painting that showed dozens of them running together as a herd, with others in the background depicted as sleeping or eating some kind of dead, wooly-haired animal. Based on the background imagery, the scene took place under the light of the moon in a desert-like, sandy, and rocky plains. At the top of the card, in shiny, white lettering were the words: Cursed Defender of Ziragoth. Even as he now held the card in his hand, he found it hard to believe. He, a level 20, had just captured a mob that was level 90. It was incredible; no, it was beyond incredible. And Gods, what a beautiful looking card, too! If not for the fact that a single wasted second could mean the difference between success and a raid wipe, Zach would¡¯ve really enjoyed taking a closer look at the illustrations. But as things were, he was already wasting too much time. So, rather than give it so much as a second look, he shifted his eyes to where the Valkyries were engaged in battle against the remaining boss adds, and eventually, his eyes settled on one add in particular: a mob named ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth 6T.¡± The mob, Zach noted, was getting very, very close to death. Everywhere it moved, it left behind a trail of blood that was leaking out of multiple puncture wounds while it nipped away at a particularly agile and fast-moving Valkyrie, which Zach saw was wielding a heavenly, ethereal spear that gave off a constant, golden light. Despite the mob¡¯s attempts to bite the Valkyrie, she easily evaded its fast and highly aggressive teeth before seemingly finding an opening. Flying forward, she made a high-pitched cry and ran the lizard-avian hybrid through with her spear, piercing it for 20,001 damage. It released a loud, chirping-hiss, then retaliated with another bout of failed biting attempts, all of which the Valkyrie avoided with ease. But more importantly, the mob had now fallen below the 5% health threshold that was required for Zach to successfully use Card Capture. And so, even as the Valkyrie flew upwards almost a dozen feet into the air, turned her spear so that it faced downwards, and then dived at the ground as if to deal the finishing blow, Zach activated Card Capture. Rather than strike the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth, the Valkyrie¡¯s spear instead penetrated the grass-covered soil with a dull thud as the mob was transformed into a wisp of light, which darted across the world and into Zach¡¯s waiting hand, transforming yet again into a card. Eying it for just a split second, Zach was fairly sure it was identical to the first in every conceivable way, and with that, he scanned the remaining seven creatures to see if there were any other opportunities to create even more¡ªand he nearly found one, too. The mob called ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth 7C¡± looked like it was ripe for the taking, but Fylwen, along with Peter, who had rushed in and had begun assailing the remaining mobs along with the Valkyries, both unleashed an attack on 7C at the exact same time. Peter jammed his blade into the creature¡¯s chest while Fylwen hacked off part of its face. Together, their combined efforts dealt enough damage to bring it from what Zach estimated to be around 11% health all the way to 0% in a half-second flat. Thus, it died before Zach ever had the chance to call upon his ability. +19,000xp
LEVEL UP! 21(20)
Strength +2(207)
Luck +2(143)
XP Required for Level 22 170,000
Zach frowned. So, it was back to this again, was it? Back to these meaningless, painfully useless level ups, where his stats grew so minimally that they might as well not have grown at all. Yet, oddly enough, he was only mildly annoyed by the worthless level up, because he was starting to come to grips with the fact that he really was different from everybody else. It wasn¡¯t something he liked to think about, and it certainly wasn¡¯t something he was truly ready to accept, but somehow, he just knew that, lurking around the corner, there would be more unsettling level ups to come like the ones he¡¯d had yesterday. And honestly? He wasn¡¯t sure if he¡¯d rather have more of these or more of those. He shivered just at the memory of that experience. It was yet another thing he needed to process after the raid was over and he finally had time to slow down and reflect¡ªassuming he survived, of course. He would also need to find a way to get over his death on Archian Prime, the fact that he¡¯d killed people, how he¡¯d been ready to torture Varsh to death¡­ Not the time, he told himself. Later. Not now. Zach pulled his mind off the unhelpful, distracting thoughts, and then he widened his eyes as two more opportunities presented themselves in quick succession: one from a mob that had been hit in the head with a flail, and another from a different mob that was being taken apart by a massively sized broadsword. Twice more, Zach called upon Card Capture, and twice more, he acquired fresh new cards. Now, in his right hand, he held four identical cards, all of them Cursed Defender of Ziragoth, and with his left, which was still extended, palm open, he hoped to gain at least a few more. He had a feeling he was going to really need these. Unfortunately, his opportunities were starting to run dry. Now that the Valkyries outnumbered the remaining Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth, the winged, heavily armored NPCs, combined with Fylwen, Peter, and Vim, proved to be overwhelming, and in a matter of just a few moments, they massacred the last few adds too quickly for Zach to snatch any more than just one final mob, which brought his total number of cards to five. The rest were put down so fast that the one Zach captured was still flying over as a white wisp as they died. Oh well. At least he got another huge boost of xp. +19000xp +19000xp +19000xp +19000xp Now, with all twenty mobs either dead or turned into cards, there was a brief pause¡ªone so slight it barely qualified to be called a pause at all. Yet within this brief instant in time, Zach could suddenly feel the weight of the world begin to shift onto his shoulders. With their obstacles slain, it was obvious what would come next. In a way, he almost wished there were more of the adds to fight¡ªor something else that barred their passage. Because lacking that, he knew what would have to happen now. ¡°The way ahead is clear!¡± Peter cried. ¡°Let us hurry!¡± Upon speaking those words, he turned his head to Zach while pointing his finger directly at the dragon. ¡°It is time. Attack!¡± And just like that, the fear returned in a flood. Even though he¡¯d known that this was what they were fighting to do, the gravity of what was being asked of him could only be understood in this moment as he stared at the massive wyvern and truly began to appreciate the enormity of the situation. All at once, Ziragoth seemed to appear even larger than his already massive size, both in the physical sense and in the shadow cast beneath the dragon¡¯s towering figure. There it was, with its serrated, razor-sharp wings, and its elongated, spiked tail¡ªevery part of the dragon came across as deadlier. The wyvern¡¯s gigantic, ferocious form looked invincible. But even worse: it fought as though it were invincible, too. Having now dealt with the adds, Zach was able to spare a moment to see how Donovan, BG2, and the few members of BG3 accompanying BG2 were faring. And the answer was emphatically not good. In fact, it was only here, in this brief period of observation, that Zach could finally understand why Mr. Oren had been bickering with Donovan a short while ago. It was only now that Zach could truly make sense of why his former science teacher had looked so troubled following the spectacular barrage of arrows and magic that had ripped apart Ziragoth during the raid¡¯s first phase. At the time, Zach had been offput and confused due to Mr. Oren giving off the impression that he found the magnificent display of power to be weak or lacking. But all of that made sense now. And the reason it made sense was actually quite simple: it was because Mr. Oren had been right. It had been lacking. Finally, it all made sense to Zach. Whatever calculations Mr. Oren had been doing in his head in that moment¡ªthey had all been correct. And now, Zach really did understand why Mr. Oren had pleaded with Donovan to change the plan and send BG7 in from the start. It made perfect sense now why Mr. Oren thought it was a waste to have anyone other than Zach tank the dragon in phase 2. It was because of the utter, sheer futility of it. This¡­this display before Zach¡­it was the very definition of pointlessness. It was the perfect, quintessential example of what it meant for something to be hopeless. Right now, before his very eyes, Zach watched as every manner of weapon and magic was brought to bear against the dragon, and all of it, every single last attack, ice-based or otherwise, landed for just a single, solitary point of damage. No matter who it was that attacked, and no matter how or what they attacked with, the result was the same across the board: 1 damage. Not a single point more. And Mr. Oren, clearly, had known that this would be the case. So that was why, Zach thought, horrified, a shiver traveling down his spine. ¡°BG7, where are you?¡± Donovan screamed over the Comm. ¡°We can¡¯t hold him much longer!¡± ¡°We¡¯re coming!¡± Zach shouted back. Yet despite his words, he remained right where he was as he attempted to figure out why his legs suddenly wouldn¡¯t move. His feet now felt as though they weighed ten tons.
HP 24,999,423/25,000,000
Name (T10) Ziragoth the Awoken
Level 70
Zach looked on, horrified, as the dragon began obliterating BG2. Although they¡¯d succeeded in drawing aggro, they weren¡¯t going to last long at all. Gods, it was so one-sided it was beyond hopeless. Not only was the dragon virtually immune to every single one of their attacks, but Ziragoth¡¯s own attacks were so overwhelmingly powerful that it was like watching a bunch of infants trying to take down a fully grown lion. No matter how strong the tank, and no matter how large the shield, each time Ziragoth let out a loud roar and attacked, the dragon would smash the shield to pieces and instantly kill the tank hiding behind it, or it would otherwise wound the tank badly enough that there was no chance of them getting up to continue the fight. And worse: it was taking out multiple tanks each time it struck, too, as well as those who had the misfortune of being nearby. Zach watched as it released another loud roar, which caused the ground to shake as it lifted itself up off its legs so that it was partially upright. Then it smashed its body right back down with massive force, causing two tanks and five DPS to be crushed beneath its weight; all but one died outright, and the sole survivor¡ªan older man wielding a staff¡ªhad both his legs and arms twisted into unnatural positions. His torso, too, was bent so far back that Zach did not know how it didn¡¯t snap off. The man opened his mouth to scream, but no sound seemed to escape his lips. Yet Zach didn¡¯t even need sound in order to hear his wailing; no, he could just as easily hear the man¡¯s cry through the look of anguish in his eyes. He was totally crippled¡ªbeyond what Zach reckoned a healer could fix. And to add even more horror on top of it all, he was then attacked a second time while his horribly injured body writhed on the grass in agony, only now, it was from three of the nearly thirty adds that were still viciously attacking them from both sides of the formation. Feeling just as paralyzed as the suffering man, Zach could not pull his eyes away. He observed, unblinking, as the already brutalized adventurer was devoured by three of the Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth. His throat was ripped out of him, his legs were chewed off, and Zach could tell from the pure misery in his face that, despite the injury to his back, he could still feel every sensation of it while remaining totally unable to cry out for help or make a sound. In fact, not a single raid member other than Zach was even paying attention enough to realize that this had happened to him at all. It was an awful, mentally scarring sight. And yet, despite this, it was what happened next that truly struck fear into Zach¡¯s heart. Ziragoth, having just been taunted by a tank positioned directly behind it, whirled its body around to face its new target. And in just that one act: in merely the act of turning its body around, it somehow managed, likely not even intentionally, to kill four more adventurers, all from the GSG, and all of whom were shredded alive by its mercilessly sharp wings, screaming in pain as they bled out. Due to the nature of the wounds, it caused so much red to stain the previously green grass that Zach became nauseous and unwell at the sight of it. But the true terror of it all was not in how the dragon had killed them. No. It was the way in which, based on its movements, it hadn¡¯t even been trying to attack those four. It had only been trying to turn itself around. And yet, incredibly, that alone had been enough to split four seasoned, veteran adventurers nearly in half. Three men and one woman with years of experience who were likely way stronger, smarter, and braver than Zach was. And they had died in agony just because the dragon had turned around. That was the extent to how deadly this fire wyvern actually was. That was what awaited him. And it hates me, he thought. It wants me personally. It wants to make me die slowly! Zach trembled, his lips quivered, and his eyes began to run with tears, as he watched the four adventurers beg for help as their intestines were spilled out of their lacerated stomachs. One of them, a young, orange-haired man, lowered his eyes, which were widened in disbelief, and he looked fearfully down at his fatal wound. Then, as if either disoriented or desperate, he tried to shove his own guts back inside his body, his hands becoming soaked with his own blood. Even as he lay there on the ground, writhing, struggling, and fading, he was soon put out of his misery, as the dragon stomped down on him on its way towards the tank, flattening him there and leaving him resembling something no longer human. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± I don¡¯t want to be here! Zach thought, panicked, suddenly struggling to breathe. Please. I don¡¯t want to be here. I DON¡¯T WANT TO DO THIS! ¡°Zach,¡± Fylwen whispered. He shook his head. ¡°N-no, I can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Zach!¡± she said again, this time shouting at him. He tried to answer her, but it took him a moment before he could speak, as he could no longer breathe. Why, though? Why couldn¡¯t he breathe? Where the fuck was his oxygen? He was gasping so hard, but the air wouldn¡¯t go to his lungs the way it normally did. His heart was beating so fast, too. He felt like he was losing control of his limbs. His hands were shaking, and he was beginning to sweat. ¡°I c-c- I can¡¯t!¡± he cried, tears flowing from his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t do this. I¡¯m not who you think I am. I¡¯m not brave. I¡¯m not.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Please don¡¯t make me do this. Please!¡± She grabbed his hand and squeezed. ¡°You have to.¡± ¡°I CAN¡¯T! I CAN¡¯T! I CAN¡¯T I CAN¡¯T I CAN¡¯T!¡± He tried to flee, and she tightened her grip on him. But with Phase Level 3 powering his body, he managed to rip his arm away, though it put him off balance and he fell onto his rear, dropping all five of his cards in the process. ¡°You have to!¡± Fylwen screamed, now sounding as desperate as he was. ¡°Why? Why do I have to?¡± ¡°Because!¡± she shouted, pointing. ¡°My daughter is running into battle to take your place!¡± ¡°K-Kalana?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± And now, he became aware of the voices over the Comm in a way that he hadn¡¯t been before. How long had they been yelling at each other? He couldn¡¯t recall. ¡°Leave him alone, Alex!¡± ¡°We need him, Kalana. You can¡¯t replace him.¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna handle it. It¡¯ll be okay.¡± ¡°Listen to me. You cannot take his place. We have to get Zach to¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare, Alex! You heard what he said. He can¡¯t do it. I¡¯ll never forgive you if you force him!¡± ¡°You¡¯re not strong enough. You can¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°I SAID LEAVE ZACH ALONE!¡± What was happening? What was he listening to? Why was Kalana rushing across the grasslands in the direction of Ziragoth? Why was she telling Mr. Oren to leave him alone? Had any of Zach¡¯s outburst been picked up over the Comm? Oh, Gods, no. Did Kalana hear him this way? How many people had just witnessed his cowardice? Were they all laughing at him now? Was the whole world sitting around and letting out laugh after laugh at his expense? Zach pressed his knees into his chest, covered his eyes, and began to weep. He was glad the flames burning in his hands were not actually hot and couldn¡¯t hurt him, because otherwise, he might have blinded himself. Then again, maybe that would be better than having to see all the horrors taking place around him. ¡°He¡¯s shattered,¡± Peter said, sadly. ¡°Fylwen, he cannot fight. The boy is broken.¡± With his hands covering his eyes, Zach could hear her disappointed, perhaps even disgusted, sigh, but he could not see the look on her face, for which he was grateful. ¡°He needs to pull himself together.¡± Vim said nothing. Zach wasn¡¯t sure if that was somehow worse than if he had made one of his deep-cutting, biting remarks instead. Zach used to believe that, if Kalana was in danger, it would give him the strength to fight no matter what. That was how it usually worked, didn¡¯t it? So what was different this time? This should¡¯ve been like any other time he¡¯d overcome his fear. So why? Why was he paralyzed? Why wouldn¡¯t his body move? ¡°Young man,¡± Fylwen said, her voice coming across as oddly calm despite the situation taking place around them¡ªdespite her daughter rushing towards the dragon. ¡°W-what?¡± ¡°If what I had done to you in Archian Prime¡­if the horror I inflicted has played a part in all this, I am so truly sorry.¡± Zach rocked himself back and forth, sobbing into his palms. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m going to get up and fight. I will.¡± ¡°He shall not,¡± Peter said. ¡°And we ought not be wasting time here consoling the boy. His pitiful state is surely a shame, but alas, we must press on.¡± ¡°Perhaps,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°But give me one more moment with him.¡± Zach could hear her taking a deep breath and moving closer towards him. Then he felt her stirring beside him. She was taking a seat near him on the grass. He felt her put a hand around his shoulder. ¡°You know that Kalana is going to die if she fights, yes? Surely you must know this.¡± ¡°I do!¡± ¡°And you swore to me you would protect her.¡± ¡°I will!¡± ¡°But you¡¯re not.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t control¡­I don¡¯t have any control of myself. I¡¯m so scared. I want to get up and fight, but I¡­I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with me.¡± There was a brief pause, and of all things, a microsecond of quiet, and then the dragon roared, the ground shook, and Zach buried his face even more deeply into his burning palms. ¡°It was those four men who died, wasn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Those four men,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°The ones whose guts were spilled all over the ground. That¡¯s what put you over the edge, is it not, young man?¡± Zach didn¡¯t know. He had no idea if it had been that specifically or the whole situation. He didn¡¯t understand why his courage had collapsed. He hated himself so much right now. He hated that he was even capable of this level of pathetic, mewling cowardice. It wasn¡¯t like he was choosing this. He couldn¡¯t control himself. Really, he couldn¡¯t. ¡°How do you think you¡¯re going to feel,¡± Fylwen continued, ¡°when that happens¡­to Kalana?¡± ¡°Happens¡­?¡± ¡°My daughter. She could die that way. You know this, yes? Picture her in your mind. Her stomach ripped apart. Her guts emptied out. What would that look like to you? I want you to imagine it. See her, Zach. See the way her skin looks when it¡¯s been torn open, and her insides are falling out of her. Do you suppose Kalana would bleed as much as those four? Can you imagine it? That will be her fate if you don¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°No!¡± Zach yelled. He inhaled sharply. And just like that, everything changed. It was like a bullet had been fired straight into his soul. An image flashed in his mind, one that was so vivid it was as though it were being broadcast to a screen behind his eyes. He could see her: Kal, his Kalana, the love of his life. Fighting so that he wouldn¡¯t have to. Because he was too afraid. The dragon¡­its wings¡­he could see them ripping her apart, just as Fylwen described. He saw it. He saw it so clearly. No! No, no, no, no, no! In the span of a second, his fear turned to an unbearable feeling of urgency and agitation, which soon gave way to a deep, monstrous, and primal rage. He screamed both externally and internally just at the very thought of it. But it was more than just a thought, wasn¡¯t it? It was happening. It was happening now. Before he even consciously realized he was back on his feet, he¡¯d already grabbed his cards, unsheathed his blade, and summoned all five Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth; this, as Peter, Vim, and Fylwen all called out for him to wait. This confused him¡ªat least at first. Because it actually took him a moment to realize that, with tears raining down his eyes, he was blasting forward, running for all he was worth in the direction of the dragon, and at a speed far greater than he¡¯d ever moved before. Closer and closer he came¡ªand so too did Kalana. The dragon: it was looking at her. It was looking at her knowingly. It knew what she meant to him. It had told him as much through Fluffles. But it was okay. Because he would arrive there first. He had to. He fucking had to! ¡°ZIRAGOTH!¡± he screamed as he exploded across the grasslands, his sword gripped in both hands while his five level-90 minions fanned out beside him, with three to his right and two to his left. They had no trouble matching his speed, either. Having called to the dragon, he was unsurprised to discover that the dragon heard him. Oh, it indeed did. This was made clear as it stopped everything it was doing to turn its terrifying face in his direction. Its cruel, golden, lizard-like eyes were gazing directly into his own: and not for the first time. He¡¯d stared into them before, but now, they were larger, and they were eviler, too. They¡¯d met once before, the two of them. And now they were meeting again. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Zach did not buckle. No, not this time. Fylwen¡¯s words had gotten to him in just the way they needed to. They¡¯d lit that fire. He didn¡¯t care if he died anymore. He was too far beyond that point. He was too deep beyond that point. That image of Kalana¡­it had broken straight through his fear. And now, as he threw himself at Ziragoth, he could hear voices shouting behind him. ¡°Gods! He¡¯s going to get himself killed!¡± Vim shouted. ¡°Cast now, cast now!¡± ¡°Make sure you get the timing right!¡± Fylwen called. ¡°They should all come in at almost the same time, but they must be in the correct order!¡± A mere instant before he came face to face with the dragon, something strange happened. There was a bizarre, diamond-shaped metal plate that had appeared beneath his feet, which he for some reason was stepping on. And surrounding this plate were silver-white chains that formed the same diamond shape as the plate around him; it was as though he was being confined to this small area, unable to move off this makeshift, diamond-shaped platform around his feet. Then, for a fraction of a second, he felt weak: so, so weak. And confused, too. He even forgot where he was and what he¡¯d come to do. He felt sick as well. He felt like he had to cough and sneeze, and his head ached with a pain far worse than a migraine. But before he could really contemplate his change in condition, he became covered in a brownish-green light, and before his very eyes, he saw a transparent, almost holographic, wavy tree in the air. It was a rippled, unstable image that was almost like a mirage. And upon its appearance, the confusion left his mind, and so too did the feeling of sickness. But the weakness remained¡ªor at least it did at first. Then came a beautiful, golden halo of light, and he became bathed in it. It washed away his weakness, and along with it went all of his fears and all of his worries. Now, he felt excited. He felt energized: charged-up. And angry, too. Way angrier than he¡¯d felt in a good long time. And all this happened in the split second before he ran into combat against Ziragoth, who released yet another, massive roar and peered down at him with obvious hatred and malice in its wicked eyes. It roared at him twice more, each one louder than the last, and with enough force that the ground beneath Zach¡¯s feet began to shatter while parts of the wall crumbled even as people were still fighting on top of it. At least one of the adventurers fell off and became devoured by a waiting pack of adds below. Yet Zach maintained his balance, undeterred. Following another, even more intense roar, Ziragoth lifted its right, serrated wing, which was massive enough to create a shadow that darkened the area around Zach. And then, after one more vengeful-sounding roar, it swung its wing down on Zach, a sickening whistling sound pervading the air as it came burning towards him. So massive compared to his own human size, it was like being attacked with a board the size of a city street. And yet, Zach stood his ground. He shouted right back at the dragon, and with all his might, he swung his sword the moment before impact. He felt the collision; it sent shockwaves down his arms and back. And it was in that very moment when he saw it: surprise in those golden eyes, the pupils of which widened as the dragon¡¯s wing was parried with enough force that it actually put the dragon off balance. Screaming out his rage for all he¡¯d endured, Zach bent his knees and then sprang up, leaping into the air while lifting his blade above his head, rising higher and higher above Ziragoth, who¡¯d almost been knocked over. As Zach began to fall, and as gravity granted him more and more speed, he gritted his teeth, tensed his body, and let all the anger and hatred that existed within him give power to his will and his might. He bent his torso slightly backwards, he lifted his blade even higher above himself, and then, finally, with all his strength, he swung his sword of Light Amidst Darkness directly down on top of Ziragoth¡¯s scale-covered face¡ªand he could tell right away that the dragon felt it. Along with an animal cry loud enough to be heard for miles, a jet-like spray of blood, and a knocked out fang the size of a shortsword, Zach clobbered the dragon so fucking hard that its head slammed down into the dirt with enough force to cause it to bounce right back up again, resulting in what looked like a thousand fragments of several shattered rocks being blasted around the wyvern in every direction, as well as an immense volume of dust and blades of grass. Then Ziragoth¡¯s head crashed down a second time, and there was no mistaking its moan of pain. 722,511 Zach landed on both feet. Then, his nose curling and his brow furrowing with hate, he mentally ordered his minions to tear their ¡°daddy¡± to pieces the same way they¡¯d tried to do to him. And to his satisfaction, they obeyed. Now, all five Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth bolted forward, making frenzied, chirping hisses as they began to scratch, claw, bite, and tear into the downed dragon, which released another deafeningly loud roar as the level-90 mobs began ripping into it for slightly more than a thousand damage per scratch or bite. ¡°Valkyries!¡± Peter cried. ¡°Attack!¡± ¡°YES, SIR!¡± And just like that, it had begun. The ten seconds having past over him, Zach lost the sudden rush of power that had enabled him to do what he could have never imagined was possible. Yet in that one strike, he restored his courage, and maybe even his dignity. Briefly, he met Peter¡¯s eyes, and he could see that he¡¯d regained the man¡¯s respect, too. ¡°Let us end this evil once and for all,¡± he said, even as the dragon stirred and began to lift its head. ¡°We will do this, Zach. We will!¡± Zach nodded, though he did not reply. In his ear, he could hear the voice of Donovan once more barking out orders. ¡°BG2,¡± said his relieved-sounding voice over the Comm. ¡°Get back to fighting the adds. BG8, now¡¯s the time: collect our dead and get¡¯em to the vampires before the fuckers spoil. Go, go, go!¡± The most important thing that Mr. Oren had ever told Zach was that what made someone a man was following through on their actions, not escaping with their underwear clean. Zach hoped to make it through today while doing both. If not, he¡¯d prioritize the first. Gods, he wanted this nightmare to end. Chapter 100: Zachys Calador vs. Ziragoth the Awoken Chapter 100: Zachys Calador vs. Ziragoth the Awoken Delena squeezed her husband¡¯s hand as tightly as she could as she knelt with him on the carpeted, living-room floor just inches in front of their viewing screen in their home in Giant¡¯s Fall. Never in her thirty-eight years of life had she been so happy to hear the voice of a reporter. For the first time in five minutes, Domanik and Mallory, reporters from Galterra News Today, had resumed speaking. The moment their voices came through the screen, Delena was hit by such a rush of emotion that she both coughed and sobbed at the same time. Letting go of her husband, she buried her face in her hands and wept while he held her tightly to comfort her. ¡°Mommy?¡± came a voice from the stairwell behind her. Drawing upon every ounce of bravery she could muster, she managed to speak with a level tone, if only for a moment. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be getting ready for school now, bunny,¡± she called to her youngest child. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Nothing. I¡¯ll come help you pack your backpack soon, okay?¡± ¡°Oh¡­okay.¡± Delena held her breath a moment, hoping it would stop her sobbing, but it failed to do so. As soon as her son was out of earshot, she broke down yet again. Those five minutes. Gods, those five minutes had been so awful. For the entire stretch, she and her husband had watched, the both of them trembling, as one raid member after the next¡ªtheir heroes!¡ªwere butchered in such horrific acts of violence that she knew she would never be able to forget the sight of it. Yet through it all, no one in the media had told them what was going on. No one had told them if everything was going to be okay or if they should all expect to die. The only sound to come through the viewing screen had been a dull, ever-present buzz. It was five minutes of pure torture. And though Delena could not possibly have known this at the time, historians would forever dub the prolonged, terrible stretch of quiet as ¡°the five minutes of silence.¡± From then on, the term ¡°five minutes of silence¡± would be used to denote the period of time before Zach Calador brought an end to the awful, panic-inducing silence that had begun shortly after it started to look like the raid would fall apart. It was a moniker that would be ad-libbed by a reporter three days from then, and it would catch on and become a universally known phrase. It would also spark a humanity-wide debate about the responsibilities of news networks. In the coming days and weeks, popular figures would argue live on the air about the inappropriateness of it all. Some would argue that the reporters were merely rendering their honest, speechless reactions, while a great many more would vent their anger at GNT¡¯s failure to reassure the public during a time of continental crisis. Both Domanik and Mallory would somehow skirt the blame, passing it along to the network producers, who would be fired for the resulting catastrophe, which would be said to have caused devastating mental-health consequences for millions of people. By the following week, it would come to light that, during those five minutes of silence, over eighty people in North Bastia had committed suicide, many of them entire families, fearful that the dragon might come to them next. But for now¡­for now, Delena could only sit in front of the viewing screen with her husband and pray to their Gods. ¡°Please, Raurum,¡± she begged, her eyes red from crying. ¡°Please save us. Please! My kids deserve a chance to experience life. Please don¡¯t let this happen to them.¡± She sobbed into her husband¡¯s shoulder. ¡°At least protect the children.¡± The broadcast had not been censored. True to their word, the guilds had allowed an honest, transparent stream of the raid to be shown to the world. Those poor men and women: so many of them had been butchered. The moment she¡¯d witnessed that first group of them begin to retreat, she herself had seriously considered having the difficult conversation with her husband: about what they would do to spare their children from having to endure such pain and terror if it came down to it. Certainly, it was a conversation that families all across North Bastia were either having or were thinking of having. But finally, after the worst five minutes of her life, the reporters started talking to them again. That Gods-cursed silence was broken. ¡°¡­it looks¡­¡± were the two words that Domanik spoke. It was obvious he was attempting to disguise his fear. But as he continued to speak, there was a gradually growing optimism in his tone, one that gave just the tiniest flicker of hope to Delena¡ªand hundreds of millions of people¡ªthat this wasn¡¯t going to be the end of the world after all. ¡°¡­it uhh¡­it looks like the¡­wait is that¡­? Yes. It looks like Zachys Calador is running towards the dragon and¡ªOH MY GODS DID HE ACTUALLY JUST DO THAT?¡± Delena shot up straight, her spine flat like the pointed end of a dagger. ¡°Honey!¡± she shouted. ¡°Did you see? Did you see what he just¡ª¡± ¡°I saw,¡± he said, his eyes wide and his breathing heavy. ¡°He hurt it. He hurt the dragon. It¡¯s bleeding!¡± her husband yelled at the screen, likely loudly enough to startle the kids. ¡°Gods, it¡¯s bleeding. It¡¯s actually bleeding!¡± ***** Milona had never wondered what it would look¡ªor sound like¡ªto see thousands of people all experience a terror-driven, emotional breakdown at the same time. But as she continued to stand where she¡¯d been for the past half hour and watch the events play out on the middle skyscraper here in Diamond Paradise, she had ended up finding out anyway. Right here, in Tomb of Fire¡¯s most lucrative tourist attraction, she was treated to a collective feeling of helplessness and desperation the likes of which she¡¯d never before encountered. Five minutes of total silence: that was how long they¡¯d all been subjected to such pure terror. Although the live feed had continued to run, the reporters had eventually stopped talking alongside of it. Thus, without anyone to contextualize what they were actually seeing, they had been left to assume the worst. And it certainly did look like the worst. People had screamed. Prayers were chanted. One man had to be stopped from trying to hang himself, and another looked like he was trying to jump out of the 57th floor window. There was no shortage of crying and tears. Many shouted that this couldn¡¯t be real. And there were so, so many questions. Perfect strangers were pleading to others for reassurance. They wanted to know that what they were seeing didn¡¯t actually mean the raid was wiping: that the guilds had failed and it was all over for them. They wanted to be told that this was all part of some carefully orchestrated plan. On and on, the questions were shouted, and the level of horror only continued to rise. But then that boy, Zach, who¡¯d been off doing something just outside the live feed¡¯s field of view, had come charging in with what looked like Queen Vayra, King Peter Brayspark¡ªthe Gods bless his name¡ªand the rotten, despicable leader of the Royal Roses, Vim Alazar, who had unjustly declared war on the Guild of Gentlemen. Yet amid her fright, not even a loyal citizen of Tomb of Fire like Milona could spare the emotion right now to hate that short, foul-mouthed bastard who was always siding with the other races over human beings, and who was planning on launching a conventional military operation against their brothers and sisters in Shadowfall Coast. She, like everyone else around here, was far more concerned about the dragon destroying civilization itself. Together, the four of them raced into battle, with Zach leading the charge. And then the mood changed: radically. After five minutes that felt like having the soul sucked right out of her body, Milona dared to once more feel just a glimmer of hope. Upon his arrival, people tugged on one another¡¯s sleeves, pointing to the skyscraper. ¡°¡­it looks¡­¡± muttered the voice of star-reporter Domanik Falcon from GNT. Milona didn¡¯t hear whatever he had to say next. Because a roar greater than that of the dragon came from the thousands-large crowd, who cheered so loudly that it completely drowned out the sound of his voice. ¡°He hurt it!¡± someone shouted excitedly. Then, with less certainty, he asked, ¡°¡­right? That¡¯s what happened, right?¡± ¡°Y-yeah!¡± someone else cheered, sounding both upbeat and renewed, but only somewhat. Color returned to the faces of all those Milona could see around her. But even still, the fear was very much alive in the air: that much could be sensed by just about anyone, Milona imagined. But something had now changed. A sense of something¡­something from the depths of hope that resided within everyone. In that moment, Milona knew she had to entrust her life to that boy. Whether she would die days from now in dragon¡¯s fire or instead live long enough to be promoted to manager at the toy shop, her life really was in his hands. But did Zach Calador understand this? Did he understand that even though she was just a random cashier at a toy shop who most people would never know existed¡ªthat she too wanted to live just as badly as everyone else in this world? That she too still had hopes and dreams that she could do more with her life than she¡¯d done so far? Someone like Zach would never know who someone like Milona was, and he would probably never care, either. She was an insect to someone famous, special, and powerful like him. Milona knew that celebrities like Zach rarely cared what happened to the little people. Hell, even if Milona sold him a toy at her shop, he¡¯d likely forget she existed within fifteen minutes. But nevertheless, her life and her future still mattered to her, even if they mattered to no one else. And now they depended on his actions. The same was true of every single person watching this. Gods, she hoped that the seventeen-year-old kid could understand the importance of that. She hoped he could appreciate everyone¡¯s fear and desperation and fight with those stakes in mind. They were scared. They were all scared. Milona didn¡¯t want to die. No one did. ****** Last night, Donovan Iseldar had told Zach something that had mostly gone in one ear and out the other. It wasn¡¯t that Zach had been ignoring him, but rather there had been so much else going on that he hadn¡¯t really given much thought to the man¡¯s words. At the time, Zach had expressed to Donovan his fear and reluctance to fight the dragon. He¡¯d told him outright that he was too afraid to encounter the fire wyvern a second time. In response, Donovan had said this: ¡°And you¡¯ll continue to be. Up until the moment you hit it, you¡¯re gonna feel like shitting your pants. But as soon as you slash that fucker one time, that fear will change into anger real quick.¡± Gods, he was right. Having cracked the wyvern so hard over the top of its skull that its head bounced off the ground, the shift took place within Zach near instantly thereafter. It was like turning over a coin from one face to the other. With that single, powerful strike, he developed something that wasn¡¯t far removed from lust. He wanted to hurt it more. He wanted the dragon to experience a level of suffering beyond comprehension for all that it had done to him and so many other people. That was why, even as he raised his blade defensively and shifted his stance to avoid tripping over the remains of an officer from The People of Virtue, whose body had been cut into four separate chunks and was still leaking blood, he had to work extra hard not to let his thunderous rage lead him to do something reckless. I just have to get through this, he thought, his adrenaline spiking. This one last thing. Then I can heal. Then I can spend my summer with Kal. If I can just kill this Gods-be-damned wyvern, this will all finally be over! If one thing was beyond clear, it was that this was not a battle that would be settled in one or two strikes. Zach was going to need to fight the best he¡¯d ever fought, and he was going to need to do it for a prolonged period of time without a single screwup. The dragon had a whole lot of HP, which meant a whole lot of opportunities to kill Zach. Even with five Cursed Defenders of Ziragoth and nine Valkyries surrounding it and attacking from every side, it was going to take a great deal to bring down this hellish creature once and for all. At the moment, his card-summoned minions were positioned in front of the dragon alongside Zach, lashing out at it with claws and teeth. In just the time it took the dragon to pick itself back up, each one of the hyper-aggressive mobs had struck multiple times, hitting for over a thousand damage with each attack. The Valkyries, on the other hand, performed a bit more slowly but hit for significantly more damage, with some of the level-150 NPCs capable of putting out almost 5,000 damage with their assortment of weapons. The other members of his battlegroup were also contributing¡ªor trying to, at least. The moment the dragon¡¯s head had slammed into the ground, Peter had run forward and jabbed it with his rapier, but like the raid members of BG1 and BG2, he only seemed capable of delivering a single point of damage. The same was sort of true of Queen Vayra, who was able to hurt the dragon, but with strikes that only landed for about four- to six-hundred per hit with her gladius; she even attempted to utilize a variety of powerful-looking magic, such as calling down reddish, star-shaped bombs that exploded into a crackling mist upon contact with the dragon. Yet nothing she did managed to inflict more than a thousand. This meant that Zach had to rely on his cards and the Valkyries to help him chip away at Ziragoth. All in all, they combined together to create an important, indispensable output of damage¡ªbut not one that was particularly large relative to the boss¡¯s HP.
HP 24,206,912/25,000,000
Name (T10) Ziragoth the Awoken
Level 70
The dragon lifted its head, and Zach did not allow himself to buckle as it stared directly at him. Having hit Ziragoth for more than seven-hundred-thousand damage, Zach had successfully drawn the fire wyvern¡¯s aggro. He could tell from the way its eyes regarded him with an eager rage that this was what the dragon had been hoping for. That was just fine, though, because it was also what Zach wanted now, too. In a way, he supposed they both had a score to settle: an unresolved conflict that would come to an end today one way or another. And Zach was prepared. He had plenty of time left remaining on his Unleashed Phase, and the hatred burning within him kept away any thoughts of backing down or retreating. His moment of panic from earlier was now well behind him, too.
Unleashed Phase Duration 18:47 Remaining
Wave Slash 1:15
Boundless 0:10
Phase Blink 0:20
Phase Shield (READY) (25 seconds) This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. 0:45
Phase Rescue 0:35 / 2:15 (if used with Boundless)
Phase Slash 1:10 / 6:10 (if used with ??)
Card Capture 0:00
Card Summon 0:00
Card Dismiss 0:00-X:XX
Gacha Get¡¯cha 0:00
¡°Be careful,¡± Peter said from where he was standing to the right and slightly behind Zach. He had his rapier at the ready for all the good it would do. His legs were close together, and he held the blade in a low grip, barely above his waist. ¡°Believe me, I know,¡± Zach said. He bent his knees slightly and lifted his guard, waiting for Ziragoth to make its next move. But the dragon reacted in a way that was odd and even a little intimidating. For the moment, it seemed content to simply stare directly at Zach, unmoving and unblinking. Even while more of its HP was chipped away¡ªalbeit very slowly¡ªby the Valkyries and card minions surrounding and attacking it, it continued to do nothing. This was as unsettling as it was confusing. Why was it just standing there? Why wasn¡¯t it coming after him? After a short moment, Ziragoth finally made at least some form of movement. It slightly opened its mouth, though it was not to attack but to either breathe or perform what Zach took to be a convincing imitation of breathing. Upon each exhale, a mixture of smoke and flame escaped in place of breath; its forked tongue was now visible as well. It swished it around from left to right in an incredibly lifelike way that gave Zach the impression the dragon was thinking. Yet through it all, its eyes never once blinked or looked away from him. It was as though the dragon was trying to stare into his very soul. ¡°What the hell is it doing?¡± he asked, frowning. ¡°Staring at you, it would seem,¡± Fylwen said, her tone coming across as uneasy. Unlike Peter, she had backed away somewhat and sheathed her gladius as though understanding the futility of actually trying to hurt the dragon. ¡°Okay, but why?¡± Zach asked. Even to his own ears, the sound of his words came across as urgent, aggressive, and demanding¡ªthough that hadn¡¯t even been his intent. Nevertheless, Vim Alazar reacted to it. ¡°Gee, Zach, what a great question,¡± he said between heavy breaths. The man was panting. He held his staff in his left hand while he clutched his chest with his right. ¡°A shame none of us majored in sentient dragon boss psychology or we would tell you.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Zach rolled his eyes. Then he tightened his grip on his blade. ¡°Well, if it¡¯s not going to attack me, I¡¯ll attack it. Give me those buffs again, guys: and hurry!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± Vim said with an audible exhalation. ¡°I need a second to catch my breath.¡± If not for Zach needing to keep his eyes trained on the dragon, he would¡¯ve spun his head around to look at Vim with disbelief¡ªor at least that had been his first impulse. But then, as he thought about it, he supposed he didn¡¯t really have all that much room to talk. Vim¡¯s Zone of Enfeeblement had a high exertion cost, which was something that Zach himself could not handle without briefly losing consciousness. Though, on the other hand, Vim had been at this for way, way longer than Zach had, so there was also less excuse in his case. He opened his mouth to say as much but then shut it immediately as Ziragoth released a loud, hate-filled roar. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Zach had no idea why the dragon had paused in the first place, but whatever its intentions, it looked as though it had at last decided to go on the offensive. Doing his best to tune out everything else around him, Zach concentrated, studying the wyvern carefully. He had to be ready to react to the slightest movement. And then the dragon did something¡ªand Zach saw it. The others around him didn¡¯t, but he sure did, and he noticed it right away, too. The dragon shifted its weight ever so slightly, causing its body to tilt over to its right side while simultaneously lifting its large, barbed tail. By just those two motions alone, he knew exactly what the Gods-be-damned wyvern was intending. ¡°Get back!¡± Zach shouted to his companions in warning. ¡°Now!¡± Lacking any time to explain himself, he was relieved to see that Vim, Fylwen, and Peter all obeyed without question. Along with Zach, they dashed backwards and away as Ziragoth whipped its body around so fast it was almost instantaneous then swung its mighty tail down on top of the spot where Zach had been standing, smashing it right through the ground and creating a tremendous, wide crater nearly eight feet deep; it was as though a bomb had been dropped from the sky. At the same time, Zach had to raise his arms and twist his body to avoid being blinded by the storm-like blast of dirt and dust, the particles of which threatened to get into his eyes. Although he, Fylwen, Vim, and Peter had gotten out of the way unharmed, one of his Cursed Defender of Ziragoth cards had the misfortune of standing directly in the path of its tail. A moment before a cloud of dust obscured his vision, he had just enough time to see the card-summoned mob flattened like a pancake for 2,231,453 damage, killing it for good. He also had a brief glimpse of the Valkyries, who were also caught up in the attack, although in their case, it was due to the dragon¡¯s wings as it spun itself around. Four of the nine Valkyries backed away, two of them flew up and evaded in the air, but the remaining three were struck head on by the dragon¡¯s deadly, serrated wings, each suffering over a million damage. Unlike Grundor, these mobs did not have anything visible that indicated their HP, which meant they either didn¡¯t have HP or, as was more likely the case, it was hidden and visible only to Peter. Therefore, Zach could not be sure the extent of the damage they had suffered. But from looks alone, it was quite a bit. The spear-wielding Valkyrie had lost her arm and now wielded her weapon in just a single hand while blood dripped from the socket of her shoulder. The other two sustained somewhat less damage, but the front of their armor had been badly damaged, and both were bleeding from their chests. Thankfully, however, they were genuinely not sentient, and so they displayed no signs of distress or discomfort whatsoever. ¡°Are you guys okay?¡± Zach called out, not willing to risk turning around to look; he needed to keep his eyes pointed ahead of him. ¡°We are fine,¡± Peter said with a slight growl. ¡°Curse that oversized rat!¡± Having gotten all four of them out of the way, Zach looked ahead and tried to anticipate whatever the dragon would throw at them next. But then he filled with unease and worry as realized he couldn¡¯t even see the damned thing as a result of the dirt and dust that¡¯d been kicked up and had not yet settled. This, he realized, created a very, very dangerous situation¡ªone he did not like at all. Scanning the area before him, he did his best to search for any sign of the dragon. Unable to do so, he tried instead to listen for the wyvern, but that too proved useless as the sound of all the other battlegroups fighting the adds, along with the chatter over the Comm, made relying on his ears impossible. ¡°Fuck!¡± Zach shouted, darting his head around frantically. Where is it? Where did it g¡ª¡± Zach felt a jolt of alarm strike his heart. With every ounce of strength in his body, he launched himself to the side and jumped out of the way as the sight of a gigantic, opened mouth appeared from out of the screen of dust and dirt just a few feet in front of him, followed soon after by the rest of Ziragoth the Awoken, who was rushing forward at him. Then, even as he was still midair, there came a thwack, and the creature¡¯s jaws slammed shut, biting the air only inches from Zach¡¯s body. With a grunt, Zach landed onto the grass on his side, and Ziragoth snapped its body and torso in his direction with a surprising quickness; it was so, so much faster than it had been when they¡¯d dueled in the Den of Ziragoth. Grunting, Zach was forced to roll backwards as a massive, clawed foot twice the size of his body was brought down on top of him. It came so close to crushing him that he could feel the wind it generated as it stomped down on grass and dirt where he¡¯d been lying. The ground beneath trembled in response to the power of it. Rushing back up to his feet, Zach didn¡¯t even have time to ready his blade as the creature tried to split him into two pieces with an intensely fast swipe of its right wing. Zach had no choice but to drop to his knees¡ªand then stay there. The creature¡¯s wing was so large it took almost a full second just for it to pass fully overhead. For the second time, Zach attempted to get back up to his feet and raise his weapon¡ªand for the second time, he was unable to regain his posture. Ziragoth was coming at him in a way that was relentless and frenzied. He roared at Zach, now close enough to make a ringing form in his eardrums as it struck out at him with its opposite wing, this time twisted somewhat into more of a chopping motion so that it came at Zach almost like a knife coming down on a cutting board. Zach activated Phase Blink, targeting the dragon. He was carried to safety so fast that he did not even process the motion, and now he was a few-dozen feet away and facing the back of the wyvern, who was already whirling around towards him even as the sonic boom caused a series of¡ªlikely unintentional¡ªgasps from many of those fighting the adds to come through on the Comm. ¡°What in the Gods was that?¡± someone shouted fearfully. ¡°That¡¯s just Zach¡¯s thing,¡± someone from the GSG replied. ¡°Trust me, you¡¯ll get used to it. Now heal me.¡± With its head pointing in his direction, Ziragoth spun the rest of its body then charged at him yet again, crossing the distance between the two of them fast enough that Zach did not even have a moment to catch his breath. Then, once more, it tried to slice him in half with one of its wings. This time, Zach had to turn his whole body almost completely around in order to get out of the way¡ªonly to have to perform the same movement in the opposite direction as it came in at him a second time. Then the dragon began to wildly swing at him one time after the next, alternating between horizontal motions and chopping motions. It was a level of aggression and speed that the dragon had yet to show and that Zach had not even known it was capable of. He found himself ducking, side-stepping, spinning, and in some cases jumping so fast that it was actually starting to drain him. It was a miracle he hadn¡¯t been hit yet. Somehow, in the middle of it all, he managed to unleash two powerful slashes with his sword, the first of which cut Ziragoth across the chin for 1,451 damage, and the second, downward, follow-up slash which landed on almost the exact same spot for 2004. It also proc¡¯d the stamina restoration effect on his sword. Zach, having lost his breath in the mad scramble that he¡¯d just endured, was glad to see the green aura surrounding his body. Immediately, all the energy he¡¯d spent on evading Ziragoth¡¯s attacks came back to him in a flood, making him feel refreshed and reinvigorated. It also added more time to his current duration of Unleashed Phase, but only around a minute given that much of it had gone towards revitalizing him and replacing the physical energy he¡¯d burned evading wing strike after wing strike. While all this was going on, Zach had just enough situational awareness to realize that the Valkyries and the four remaining card summons were continuing to peck away at the dragon¡¯s HP. All thirteen were now directly behind the wyvern, likely as a result of having to chase after it to keep up with the frantic battle between Ziragoth and Zach. They were starting to make a bit of a dent, too. At the same time, a bit behind them, Fluffles, in his much larger, panther-like form, along with Grundor and Chumpkenwiffles, were fast at work carrying corpses¡ªor pieces of them¡ªback to Olivir for resurrection. This was good. This was really good!
HP 23,881,412/25,000,000
Name (T10) Ziragoth the Awoken
Level 70
If Zach could keep the dragon occupied for a while, they might actually succeed in killing this thing after all. Even without Vim, who was still regaining his stamina, the NPCs and his cards could get the job done given Zach survive long enough. Or at least¡­that was what he had the audacity to let himself think. But then, as he was throwing himself out of the way of the dragon¡¯s salivating, opened mouth, desperate to avoid being eaten alive by its vicious, sharp teeth, the wyvern did something totally unexpected: it lifted its tail then smashed it back down, catching several of the NPCs behind it seemingly off guard. What the hell? Zach screamed in his mind. I have aggro! How is it doing that? Even Fylwen and Peter looked stunned, as though they were unable to understand how it was possible for a mob to launch a direct physical attack on something that was not its aggro target. That was not how the world worked, right? That went against the laws of reality or something. So it couldn¡¯t do that, and yet, it did do that. This much was made clear as three of the already wounded Valkyries¡ªincluding the one with the missing arm¡ªstopped what they were doing, got down on one knee, and then turned into literal white cones of light that seemingly beamed themselves up into the sky and out of existence; this, while two more of his cards vanished into nothingness, significantly reducing the overall damage output. The sight of this sent Zach into an absolute rage. ¡°You¡­you fucking cheater!¡± he screamed at the dragon. ¡°You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re not allowed to do that!¡± ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± So close to the dragon, each roar caused a blast of rancid-smelling air to rush into him, which made his gear ruffle. The hood of his cloak nearly became undone, and his cheeks actually flapped. He had to plant his feet just to avoid being knocked off them, as the pressure of its breath was so intense. Even still, he didn¡¯t care. Gods, he was furious. ¡°No, fuck you!¡± he retorted, getting even closer to its face. He¡¯d officially lost his cool. ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to be able to do that!¡± ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± ¡°I hate you way more than you hate me. Do you hear me, you son of a bitch!¡± ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± ¡°Gods-damned lizard!¡± Zach, enraged, extended his arms, pivoted his hips, and ripped his blade across the face of Ziragoth with every last drop of his strength, slicing the dragon out of pure bitterness. Immediately after his blade made contact, the dragon released not a roar, but an actual hiss of pain as the rarest ability that Zach had at last proc¡¯d. Now, surrounding the dragon completely, a huge pillar of dark blue flame erupted into existence with a loud whoosh that was music to his ears. At first, Zach worried he might¡¯ve just accidentally healed the wyvern, but then he recalled that the ability was not actually fire, but dark. For this reason, he grinned as he saw the flames absolutely consume the dragon, who began slamming its tail up and down over and over again as if in the form of a temper tantrum as it was consumed by an inferno of blue flame that was so dark it was almost black. In clear pain, the dragon unleashed its misery without any noticeable target at all, randomly striking its tail into the ground so many times so fast that even with Zach¡¯s elevated stats, he had trouble keeping his balance as the world continued to shake unevenly and with constantly varying levels of intensity. Even still, his morale skyrocketed as he saw the damage that he¡¯d inflicted to Ziragoth. 441,322 ¡°Very well done!¡± Peter exclaimed. ¡°Thanks. But you three need to give me some space. I can¡¯t handle this thing properly with you guys nearby.¡± ¡°Space?¡± Peter asked, sounding exasperated. ¡°Do you mean flee? Boy, I would dare not disgrace the name of my father and flee like some cowardly, wretched¡ª¡± ¡°Peter, stop! Just stop! You do one fucking damage, man. I¡¯m sorry if that¡¯s rude or whatever. But you¡¯re not going to be of any¡ª¡± Zach actually had to jump, tuck his knees into his chest, and roll his body midair to avoid a dual strike of the dragon¡¯s wings, which both came at him from completely different angles and gave him only a tiny pocket of space with which to pass through. Clearly, the dragon was pissed. But so was he. The moment Zach landed, he unleashed three strikes of his sword one after the next, and to his utter surprise, they seemed to be really hurting the dragon, because despite each strike doing slightly less than two-thousand damage, there were three subsequent hisses of pain. No, not three. Four. Then five. Then¡­then ten! Confused, Zach tried to understand what was going on. The dragon was now losing health far, far more quickly than it had earlier. And that was when he saw it. Immediately, fear caused his chest to tighten, and he shook his head wildly, as did Fylwen. ¡°Kal!¡± he shouted. ¡°Get out of here! What do you think you¡¯re doing? Are¡­are you out of your Gods-damned mind?¡± At some point during the past few moments, Kalana, the lunatic, had climbed on top of the dragon¡¯s back and had begun ruthlessly stabbing it over and over with her daggers with a look of vicious, unforgiving rage on her face that was rare from her. Hate was not an emotion she showed often, but right now, she wore it openly. One time after the next, she alternated between ripping one dagger free and plunging her other in, dealing roughly 22,000 damage each time she shanked the scale-covered fiend. Zach couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. It was a number so high relative to her level that it didn¡¯t make sense¡ªat least not until Zach realized she was stabbing it directly in the weak point that Mr. Oren had identified and had been mocked ruthlessly for: the dragon¡¯s rear. This did not go unnoticed by the adventurers. Even as they fought for their very lives and the lives of this world, their collective morale seemed to reach its highest point. Laughter and cheers came over the Comm. ¡°Dragon ass!¡± they shouted. ¡°Alex was right!¡± Mr. Oren¡¯s only reply was to make a barely audible grunt, one that, if Zach had to guess, came across as self-satisfied. ¡°Don¡¯t cheer this on,¡± Zach growled into the Comm. ¡°Kal, get down from there. What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± Rather than reply, Kalana held on tightly as the dragon shimmied and twisted in an attempt to knock her off. Then she continued to ruthlessly stab it over and over and over, resulting in one pained hiss after the next. And now, Ziragoth, as though confused, reacted in a way that actually seemed impromptu and panicked. It rolled over onto its side like a dog, causing Zach to have to scramble to get out of the way of its massive form while Kalana simply leapt off the top of it, flipped forward, and then landed in a crouch right next to him. ¡°Why are you here?¡± he asked her. ¡°It¡¯s ¡®cause I¡¯m gonna fight it with you.¡± ¡°No, no you are not!¡± Fylwen snapped. ¡°Kalana, leave at once and return to BG4.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zach said, nodding. ¡°Listen to your mom. I can¡¯t handle the idea of you¡ª¡± She scowled at him. ¡°I¡¯m not going. I¡¯m staying by your side no matter what. There¡¯s nothing you¡¯re gonna be able to do to stop me.¡± ¡°Kal, please,¡± he begged. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to get hurt.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t wanna see you get hurt, either. This is my choice. Last time, I had to watch everything you did on the news, and I suffered so much ¡®cause I couldn¡¯t do anything at all. Not this time!¡± Zach pursed his lips angrily, but only for a moment. Then he sighed. ¡°I just love you so much.¡± ¡°Then let me fight with you. I¡¯m gonna either way, so you might as well work with me.¡± Zach wanted to protest, and so too did Fylwen, from the look of outrage on her face, but anything they wanted to say would have to wait, because the dragon was now back on its feet, and it was coming right at them. Zach swore. Why did Kalana have to get involved? If she died, he would lose his will to go on. But knowing Kalana, she wasn¡¯t going to change her mind no matter how much he yelled at her. Thus, he reluctantly nodded and then braced himself. It looked like they¡¯d be doing this together. ¡°Vim, how long until¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± he said. ¡°Give the word, and the three of us will cast.¡± ¡°All right.¡± Chapter 101: The Dragons Spite Chapter 101: The Dragon''s Spite ¡°Do you see now, my beloved? Do you see how your impatience and emotions have blinded you?¡± What I see, Adamus, is one of your creations performing an act of global terrorism on an innocent population because you¡¯re too much of a Gods-damned extremist to realize what a force of evil you¡¯ve become. ¡°You are angry. I understand. No one enjoys being wrong.¡± Did you contact me just to gloat? ¡°Of course not. I still believe you are capable of so much more, my beloved. You are a bright, creative, and very talented¡ª¡± Don¡¯t condescend to me, Adamus! Spare me your patronizing, demeaning rubbish. I won¡¯t hear another word of it. Begone! Eilea snarled and ejected Adamus from her mind, but not before spitefully giving him four more brain tumors, a backache, and erectile dysfunction. She doubted he¡¯d even care about the last of those enough to bother fixing it¡ªor even realize the impairment existed at all. The last hint of manly passions within Adamus had faded away thousands of years ago. He showed no interest in anything other than his system: his instrument of torture to billions of lives. He had become so focused on his system that he had neglected his own self, allowing his body to age, become old, and wither away, whereas Eilea still looked as though she had just turned eighteen despite being held in captivity for a millennium. ¡°Is everything okay?¡± Francis asked her, looking concerned. She closed her eyes a moment. ¡°I¡¯m caught between two extremes: the humiliation of being wrong and a sudden rush of hope that the boy might live after all. Why do you even¡­?¡± She let her words trail off, realizing the question she¡¯d been about to ask was a stupid and embarrassing one. Francis, however, leaned in towards her, his eyes aglow with curiosity. ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± ¡°No, please, ask me.¡± She sighed. ¡°Why do you even side with me? I¡¯ve just humiliated myself and allowed a young science teacher in his twenties to make me look like a complete fool. I missed so many things I should have seen. I¡¯ve given Adamus more fuel to his fire. But even worse, I¡¯m incompetent despite being so egotistical, arrogant, and¡ª¡± ¡°Loving,¡± Franics interjected, causing Eilea to feel a sudden, unexpected rush of heat into her cheeks. ¡°W-what do you mean by that?¡± Francis smiled. ¡°Much of what you¡¯ve said about yourself is true. You are indeed flawed, Eilea.¡± She narrowed her eyes at him. ¡°Are you trying to get on my bad side, too? Rub it in how wrong I was?¡± ¡°No, not at all,¡± he said. He placed his hand on top of her own, and even more heat entered her face. ¡°I mentioned it only because I am flawed, too. Putting aside the question of whether or not you¡¯re actually a Goddess, you are also definitely a person. And all people are flawed, Eilea.¡± ¡°No, not all people. Not Adamus. I can never win against him. If he has some flaw to be found, I¡¯ve never been able to find it.¡± ¡°Exactly. And that right there is my point.¡± ¡°Your point?¡± she asked, unsure where he was going with this and becoming oddly nervous for some reason. This only increased as his tone became darker and more serious as he continued to speak. ¡°I knew Adamus for many, many years before meeting you,¡± he began. ¡°When I say that you are flawed because you are a person, that is not an insult, but a compliment.¡± ¡°How is it a compliment to say that I am a person?¡± Francis gently squeezed her hand. ¡°Because Adamus can hardly be called a person anymore. That¡¯s why. He is empty inside. He sold his soul to his dream, which has become a nightmare of his own making; only, unlike a nightmare, it¡¯s real to those who live under his shadow. A man like Adamus is only able to ¡®win¡¯ as he does because there are no lines he won¡¯t cross. For as far as you¡¯re willing to go, Eilea, I have personally witnessed with my own two eyes that there are things you simply will not do.¡± The two of them were standing in front of the viewing dome, which continued to output a life-like image of the raid taking place on the surface of Galterra far, far above them. For the first time today, Eilea found something other than the raid occupying her mind, and she took her eyes off the viewing dome so that she could regard Francis. She was glad he was no longer wearing the serpentine mask. A man with such beautiful, amber-colored eyes ought not keep them hidden. ¡°Why are you here, Eilea?¡± he asked her. She chewed her bottom lip, nervous in a way she hadn¡¯t been in a very long time. ¡°Because Adamus trapped me and vowed to keep me sealed away unless I agree to play by his rules.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re trying to say.¡± ¡°What I¡¯m saying,¡± he explained, ¡°is that you care so much for the pain of innocents that you have willingly allowed yourself to be locked away like an animal in a dark and terrible place for a thousand years just out of a refusal to abandon them. That, Eilea, is why I side with you. Because you could make this torment stop in an instant if you wanted to. But you refuse to do so.¡± She wasn¡¯t sure how to respond. She had never even thought of things that way. In truth, she had not viewed her presence here as a sacrifice, but rather as a result of her refusing to budge on her principles. She had not done it out of a sense of moral superiority. Only that she believed so firmly that Adamus was wrong and cruel that the mere notion of accepting his way sickened her. ¡°Francis, I¡­¡± Once more, her words trailed off, but this time it was due to something catching her eye in the corner of her vision: from the viewing dome. Francis turned his head to look as well, releasing her hand. Secretly, she wished he hadn¡¯t. Together, they once more observed the situation on Galterra. Things had just taken an interesting turn. One of her kin, the girl, Kalana Vayra, had unexpectedly thrown herself into the fight with Ziragoth. Now, she was shoulder to shoulder with the boy, and the two were about to square off against the wyvern together. ¡°In a way, this is almost poetic, isn¡¯t it?¡± Francis asked her. At this, Eilea laughed. ¡°It is, isn¡¯t it? Your kin and mine, standing side by side just as we are.¡± ¡°A Calador and a Vayra,¡± Francis whispered. Then he chuckled and made a whistling sound with his lips. ¡°Once upon a time, even just the suggestion of that kind of pairing would start a war. It¡¯s amazing how the times have changed.¡± With a sudden, soft-spoken sadness, Francis closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. ¡°Goddamn you, Moldark,¡± he whispered. ¡°God will never forgive you for what you did.¡± ¡°God?¡± Eilea asked. ¡°Which one do you claim will never forgive him? Do you imply the others will?¡± Francis let out a somewhat livelier laugh. ¡°I¡¯ve told you this before, Eilea. In my day, we only believed in one.¡± ¡°Ah, right. I¡¯d all but forgotten with everything else happening. Apologies, Francis.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a problem.¡± Eilea recalled that Francis did not believe in the Greater Gods or the Lesser Gods¡ªwhich included figures such as herself and Adamus¡ªbut rather he believed in the Old God, which come to think of it, was likely why he wore that strange pendant of a man hanging from a cross on his chest. She did not know what that symbolized. Truth be told, she knew very little about the ancient religion or the God Francis worshipped. One day, she would like to ask him more about his beliefs. For now, the two of them once more cast their gaze upon the viewing dome, watching as the sands within painted a picture of the battle with the dragon. Only a few minutes ago, Adamus had told her that Zach had a one in three chance of success. But Eilea did not accept this. Sure, Adamus knew his numbers: but she knew people. Earlier, she had simply not known that it was even possible for Zach to win. But now that she knew otherwise¡ªthat there was a realistic, real chance he could emerge victorious¡ªshe knew that he would do so. Contrary to what Adamus likely suspected, Eilea had not chosen Zach for his potential alone. No, that was certainly not the sole and only reason. And that was something not even the all-knowing Adamus could ever understand. Because as illogical as it may have seemed, Eilea rejected his calculations of a one-in-three chance. For someone like Zach, there was either zero or a hundred. And even despite how wrong she¡¯d been thus far, this time around, she had absolute confidence that she knew which it would be. Or maybe that was just her emotions talking. Either way, whatever happened next would be fate. ****** Ziragoth approached, and the world rumbled with each of the dragon¡¯s steps. Standing so close to Kalana that their shoulders were touching, Zach¡¯s thoughts turned from victory to protecting her. Although he was cognizant of the fact that Olivir¡ªor her cousin¡ªcould resurrect her if the worst happened, the very idea of her dying even a single time was completely, totally unacceptable. Zach knew that he would lose his Gods-be-damned mind if he witnessed such a thing. He wished she was somewhere safer. Hers was the only life in this world he valued more than his own, as she meant more to him than anything else. The result of this was the return of fear. Unlike before, however, none of it was out of concern for his own safety. ¡°Stop it,¡± Kalana growled at him. ¡°Stop what? I¡¯m not doing anything.¡± ¡°Nah-uh. I know you way too well, Zach. Stop worrying about me.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± ¡°You better.¡± There were numerous things Zach would have liked to say to her in reply, but his attention was far too focused on Ziragoth, who was approaching with unusual slowness. Then the dragon stopped in its tracks about a dozen feet before the two of them, and in an exact repeat of earlier, it remained motionless, its mouth open and its forked tongue flicking back and forth in a way that made it seem as though the creature was thinking. ¡°Whenever you¡¯re ready, give the word,¡± said the voice of Fylwen over the Comm. She, Peter, and Vim had now given him and Kalana enough space that it was likely easier for them to communicate over the Comm as opposed to shouting. Even still, the three of them remained fairly close by, as they had to keep within casting range. ¡°Understood,¡± Zach replied. He closed his mouth, but then he opened it again straight away as an idea came to him. ¡°Wait, why doesn¡¯t Vim just use the debuff on the dragon itself? Then we can have the whole raid attack it.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t work,¡± Vim said. ¡°My ability has a limitation on it that specifically states it doesn¡¯t work on bosses. And even if it did, it still wouldn¡¯t matter. Ziragoth is too strong and it would just be resisted. It¡¯s why you don¡¯t see any of the other mages casting debuffs on it like before. I¡¯m willing to bet that if they could help you, they would.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t know that,¡± Zach admitted, releasing a disappointed sigh. If only Vim could cut the dragon¡¯s stats in half, they might¡¯ve been able to just bombard it to death with the mages and archers atop the wall, who had finally gained the upper hand against the adds they were fighting. In fact, they were gradually starting to make good on their promise to help those down below once they were free to do so. Already, several tanks and melee DPS had leapt off the top of the wall and rushed forward to assist the struggling BG5, while a few of the Elvish archers began shredding apart the adds overwhelming BG2 and BG3 with their precisely aimed arrows. As soon as BG5 and BG6 were clear of adds and good to go, Zach imagined they could once more act as a unified division and begin clearing out whatever else remained. Really, the primary problem now was the dragon itself. They¡¯re doing their part, Zach thought. It¡¯s all on me and Kal now to do ours. In total, Zach estimated that slightly fewer than half the raid members had died. Yet as implausible and miraculous as it seemed, Olivir and Kolona¡¯s infrequent reports over the Comm appeared to imply that they had yet to permanently lose a life. Even those who had been delivered to the vampires as nothing more than a head attached to a piece of neck were apparently recovering. If me and Kal actually kill this thing¡­if we can just somehow pull this off¡­we might end up coming out of this with every single one of us still alive. The thought of all five-hundred-thirty-five raid members living to see tomorrow emboldened Zach. It helped him to move beyond his worries over Kalana¡¯s safety. Truly, there was nothing he could do to change her mind, and being afraid wouldn¡¯t make it any less likely that she got hurt, either. All he could do now was fight as hard as he could and try to eliminate the dragon from this world. And that, he was certain, would happen right now or not at all. Zach had the sense that everything would be settled within the next few minutes. This was it. Here and now, today. Either he slayed the dragon with Kal, or he lost everything¡ªincluding her. It was a zero-sum game. There would be only one winner, and he refused to let it be Ziragoth. I¡¯ve got to kill it. I¡¯ve got to! With Vim having enough stamina to cast his debuff, Zach knew he could attack the dragon any time he wanted. Right now, he had the option of either taking the fight directly to Ziragoth or waiting for Ziragoth to take the fight to him. Part of him wanted to charge in headfirst and launch another assault, but he decided against it, as that could potentially be costlier in terms of both risk and time, since Zone of Enfeeblement only lasted ten seconds. Zach, regrettably, had wasted its earlier use, as he¡¯d been acting off emotion and ended up hitting the wyvern with it just once. That, however, was not a mistake he could afford to repeat. It was imperative that he made every last second count. Zach figured he¡¯d get the most out of it if he waited for the perfect opening to counterattack. He needed to be spot-on: especially given how much HP the damn thing still had.
HP 23,215,888/25,000,000
Name (T10) Ziragoth the Awoken
Level 70
For sure, it was a daunting number, but if nothing else, at least it was steadily going down, however slowly. At the moment, only two of his Cursed Defender of Ziragoth cards were still in the fight, with one nipping away to the dragon¡¯s left side and one to its right. The five remaining Valkyries, on the other hand, were all spread out evenly and laying into the dragon one strike after the next. Through it all, Ziragoth remained motionless, and Zach was left to wonder what in the name of the Gods it was doing. Kalana seemed to wonder the same, as well. He felt her placing her hand on the side of his face so that she could cup it over his ear as she leaned in close to him. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s it doing?¡± she asked in a very muted whisper like she was telling him some kind of secret in class. Despite everything else going on, Zach, for a reason he didn¡¯t even know, released an honest, genuine, and loud cackle. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± she whispered again, this time sounding aggravated. ¡°Why¡¯re you whispering?¡± he asked, trying very hard to stifle his laughter. She frowned. ¡°It¡¯s ¡®cause it might be able to understand us, remember?¡± ¡°Gee, Kalana, do you think it¡¯ll want to kill us less if it doesn¡¯t overhear us openly speculating about what it¡¯s doing?¡± Kalana¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°You¡¯re starting to talk like your mean guild-leader.¡± ¡°Okay, now hold up,¡± Zach said angrily, his humor evaporating. Kalana had really pinched a nerve there. ¡°Do not call Vim my guild-leader. That¡¯s a low-blow.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± she whispered again. ¡°But that¡¯s the kind of mean thing he¡¯d say.¡± Zach waved off the nonsensical comparison. ¡°Anyways, I don¡¯t know what it¡¯s doing. It was doing this same thing before, too. It¡¯s just kind of staring at me. Or actually¡­wait a second.¡± Something changed. Even while keeping its head pointed directly at Zach, Ziragoth began to turn its eyes downward and to its left, where a Valkyrie with a large, two-handed longsword was slicing away furiously at its side and even managing to draw blood. At some point, someone or something had caused the longsword to become encased in a glowing, luminescent type of frost. Zach had no idea whether it was a caster from one of the other battlegroups or, hell, maybe it had even been one of the other Valkyries. But regardless of whoever had enchanted the weapon, the frost-imbued blade was clearly making a huge difference. One time after the next, the Valkyrie struck out for over twenty-thousand damage. This, she did again, and again, and again¡ªuntil Ziragoth whipped its head in her direction, opened its mouth wide, twisted its body, and snapped its jaw shut, splitting the armored, winged NPC into two separate pieces, both of which promptly turned into streaks of white light that beamed up into the sky before vanishing. ¡°What the fuck?¡± Zach snapped. ¡°Bullshit! I know I had aggro.¡± ¡°Language!¡± came Mr. Oren¡¯s voice over the Comm, reminding Zach that he had once again forgotten to switch it off transmission mode. The problem was that the Comm required the use of a facial gesture that was difficult to remember and kind of finnicky, and Zach often lost track of whether or not it was on Transmit or Mute. ¡°Sorry,¡± Zach said. ¡°It¡¯s fine. And to your point, you should¡ªhold on a moment.¡± Mr. Oren chanted something, and Zach turned his head and looked off to his right to see his science teacher standing just in front of the wall. He had summoned about fifteen arrows made of pure light, all of which were floating in the air and lined up above his head; then, one by one, he sent them streaking forward and into a mob named ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth 2D.¡± Blasting forward like miniature rockets, the arrows made an incredibly high-pitched whistling sound as they tore through the air, and Zach observed as they ripped the creature apart, shredding parts of its face until its head became completely deformed while simultaneously puncturing so many holes in its body that the grass beneath the lizard-avian hybrid became fully stained in its blood. Come to think of it, Zach actually remembered that ability, as he¡¯d used it on Varsh when the two had fought one another. ¡°Zach,¡± he continued, ¡°you and Kalana should operate off the assumption that no one has aggro. I¡¯ve been watching the dragon as best I can while handling adds. I don¡¯t believe it is any longer bound by the rules of the s¡­of the universe,¡± he finished. Zach and Kalana exchanged a knowing look. Mr. Oren had almost accidentally said the word ¡°system,¡± which was one of those things they were not supposed to know and were definitely not supposed to say outside of the spy-proof privacy room in Angelica¡¯s. ¡°You¡¯re probably right,¡± Zach replied over the Comm. ¡°That¡¯s the only thing that makes sense.¡± ¡°It started gradually, but I¡¯ve noticed it¡¯s been displaying odd behavior since becoming T10. I think it¡¯s now reached a point where you should cease treating it like a mob and instead like a living creature. In other words, don¡¯t try to predict mob-like patterns of attack. It has likely gained the ability to fight wholly according to its own whims.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Zach agreed with a frustrated grunt, ¡°that¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking, too. Okay, got it. I¡¯ll be careful, Mr. Oren, thanks.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got this, my man.¡± Upon those words, Mr. Oren charged forward and began striking out with his summoned sword, delivering the killing blow to the mob he was fighting before starting on another nearby. Now that Zach finally understood the cause of Ziragoth¡¯s strange behavior, he was not surprised to see the dragon turn its body fully around so that it could begin attacking the other NPCs. It had likely come to the conclusion that their constant pecking away at its HP would prove to be a very big threat over time. Thus, taking its focus off Zach completely, the dragon appeared to make killing them its sole, current priority. Shit, what do I do in this situation? Zach struggled to think of how he should proceed as Ziragoth roared, lifted its massive left leg, and then stomped down on top of the Valkyries. Though its foot failed to hit a single target, it caused the four armored NPCs to fly upwards and away, their wings flapping. Unfortunately, this only made things even easier for the wyvern, as he was able to then bite one of them right out of the air, killing it with a single crunch. Seeing the way things were going, Zach had to begrudgingly accept that he would not be able to rely on the cards or NPCs for damage anymore. That was simply no longer an option. And as though to demonstrate this fact, Ziragoth slammed its tail down onto the ground so hard that the resulting quake caused more of the wall to fall apart while killing one of Zach¡¯s two remaining cards. Seeing his level-90 minion become crushed and deformed, he realized there would be no point in letting the other one die as well. He might as well recall it. No way I¡¯m letting it destroy all five of my cards! Assuming he and Kal made it through this¡ªand he fully intended to do so¡ªit would suck to leave here with nothing gained. And so, targeting the lone remaining Cursed Defender of Ziragoth, which was still at full health¡ªand thus would not cost Zach any stamina¡ªhe activated Card Dismiss, causing it to revert to a white wisp of light that sailed across the air towards his open, waiting palm, where it then transformed back into card form. And with that, he stuffed it inside his pocket. At the same time, the three airborne Valkyries also disappeared. This confused Zach, as they hadn¡¯t even been touched yet. How had Ziragoth taken them out? The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°I have dismissed them,¡± Peter said over the Comm as though wishing to prevent any confusion. Zach risked a quick peek over his shoulder. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because, like you, Zach, I too sensed the utter pointlessness in them remaining, and for each Valkyrie that dies, it adds one year of recast time to the ability which summons them.¡± Zach winced. ¡°So you won¡¯t be able to use that again for¡­¡± ¡°Six years,¡± Peter confirmed. ¡°I shall indeed miss my winged warriors.¡± With the NPCs now gone, Ziragoth darted its head around as if to ensure it had really killed them all. This not only reminded Zach of real animal behavior but also confirmed that Mr. Oren¡¯s theory was correct. Mobs, Zach knew, did not ever have to look for targets within their aggro range. Hearing or seeing was not required. They just knew where someone was. But Ziragoth was clearly searching. Finally, as if seemingly convinced that its targets were well and truly gone, it once more spun itself around and faced Zach and Kalana¡¯s direction. And this time, when it moved towards them, it did not hesitate or pause to think. Oh, no. Clearly, its mind was now made up. ¡°Get ready!¡± Zach shouted to Kal in warning. Kalana raised both her daggers with her elbows pointed down, her blades pointed up, and her arms parallel. ¡°Mhm!¡± Just two kids from Whispery Woods fighting alone against a dragon, Zach thought, wondering how this was not just some wild dream. What could possibly go wrong? Ziragoth released a tremendous roar and then abruptly took off, heading straight for the two of them. The ground shook each time its clawed feet stamped down, leaving massive patches of flattened grass in its wake. Numerous rocks, several quite large, were smashed into countless pieces as it charged, and several were incidentally kicked, causing them to fly like meteorites in Zach¡¯s general direction. He actually had to duck beneath two and strike a third, splitting it in half¡ªall while keeping his eyes focused on the approaching threat. As Ziragoth continued to race towards them, Zach could see the intense, murderous fury within its golden, lizard-like eyes. It wanted them dead: both of them. ¡°I¡¯ll go right,¡± Kalana said. ¡°You split left.¡± Nodding, Zach darted off towards his left side as Kalana dashed to the right. Along with a trail of impossibly black smoke that exited Zach¡¯s lips, he left behind in his wake a cloudy streak like the contrails of a jet, which formed a line between where he¡¯d been and where he was now standing. An instant later, Ziragoth shot right past them both and ran through it. Then the dragon halted its movement by planting its feet, causing it to kick up literally tons of dirt¡ªenough to fill in a community swimming pool¡ªas it skidded to a halt and turned itself around. Peter, Vim, and Fylwen were forced to scramble out of the way or risk being buried by it as it then showered back down where they¡¯d been residing. Now, a few-dozen feet away and facing in their direction, Ziragoth opened its mouth wide, and the inside of its throat began to light up a bright orange. Zach gasped. He knew what would come next. This was either going to be a fireball capable of exploding like a missile or an inferno of flame breath¡ªneither of which he felt like dealing with. But as it turned out, it was both. With a dull, ominous-sounding foosh, a massive ball of fire much like the two that had left gigantic holes in the wall came flying across the grasslands in their direction. Despite traveling several feet above the ground, it was so fiercely hot that it caused all the grass beneath it to catch flame as it passed by. Zach tensed up as he watched it near him and Kalana. It came at them so fast he wasn¡¯t even sure that either of them would have the time to react. The fireball, Zach knew, would be so powerful that it wouldn¡¯t even need to hit them directly in order to kill them: it would only need to land somewhere in their general vicinity¡ªand not even all that close by, at that. Even if he and Kal both dodged and ran as fast as they possibly could, they would still be killed in the subsequent explosion. Yet, before Zach could think of how to deal with the approaching threat, the dragon lifted its head as though drawing a breath. Then, making matters even worse, it unleashed an absolute firestorm upon the two of them. The heat was so intense that, even before the flames had fully exited Ziragoth¡¯s mouth, Zach immediately struggled to breathe and had to fight just to keep his burning eyes open. No choice. I¡¯ve got no choice! ¡°Now!¡± he cried over the Comm. At the exact same time that he spoke that word, he used Phase Rescue on Kalana. The situation was so critical that he didn¡¯t even have the time to wait for her to get to him. The moment he activated his ability, a blue orb formed around the entirety of Kalana¡¯s body. This orb then shrank until seemingly vanishing from existence itself¡ªonly to reappear by Zach¡¯s side an instant later, bringing Kal to him. Now, the two of them exchanged a glance; it was a look that lasted for a duration so short it would be difficult to measure. Yet in just that one, transient moment in time, he saw several things in her beautiful, wonderous eyes. He saw confusion, alarm, and a great deal of concern. But he did not see any of the fear that he himself currently felt, reminding Zach that she was far braver than he was. But more importantly, he hoped that the look he sent her way in this fleeting instant would convey to her that he wanted, no, needed her to trust him. And with that, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into him. Then he threw the both of them down onto the ground, holding her as close to him as he possibly could. Thankfully, she cooperated. If anything, she snuggled even closer into him. Even with certain death a split-second away, she trusted him enough with her life not to get up and run. Even with the sensation of heat so terrible that Zach began to scream as he felt himself being cooked alive, he continued to endure. He had to wait for Vim, then Fylwen, and finally Peter to all cast on him before he took any actions. Both his life and Kal¡¯s depended on it. Thankfully, his three compatriots in BG7 did not keep him waiting. Unlike their first use of the combo, this time, all three spells came in so quickly that it was almost impossible to tell the order they arrived. Zach did not feel even so much as a moment¡¯s worth of sickness or confusion. He felt only strength: pure, godlike power. And with that, he activated Phase Shield. Immediately, a brilliant shield made of a pure golden light appeared in the world before him, one so magnificently bright that it drowned out the light of the flames. It covered the two of them, serving as a solid, truly impenetrable barrier that nothing could break. Yet even despite its brightness, it did not hurt to stare directly at; if anything, it was comforting. Right away, the feeling of unbearable heat cut off. And then there was a boom, and with it came the sensation of the world shifting around him along with a loud ringing in his eardrums that made him hope he had not just permanently deafened himself. From the fact that he could hear the sound of Kalana¡¯s startled scream, he didn¡¯t think so. From the vicious shaking and rumbling alone, Zach assumed the fireball must have landed. But he could not see it: or anything for that matter. The combination of the shield and the flames erased virtually any sight of the world around him. But for sure he could feel the secondary effects of it. It was like he was sinking with Kalana into the ground: fast enough that it actually felt more like falling. The terrain was becoming deformed all around him, the result of an explosion that would have claimed their lives if he had not shielded them from it. And then, just as it had come, the shield faded, and immediately, Zach threw himself on top of Kalana and covered her body with his. Despite the disappearance of the golden light, Zach could still see absolutely nothing around him, as the world was completely, totally encased in an almost perfect screen of orange, which meant that Zach was now inside the inferno with her. The sound of it was so loud. It was a crackling and hissing and whooshing that deafened him as much as the flames blinded him. Yet eventually, it came to an end, and sparing only the slightest of moments, he glanced down to ensure Kalana was okay. With a relieved exhale that caused more black smoke to exit his lips, he saw that she was just fine. ¡°Thanks, babe,¡± she said cheerfully, blowing him a kiss. Now, the clock was ticking. At best¡ªand this was being optimistic¡ªZach had about five and a half, maybe six seconds before the buffs wore off. He also noticed something: something that he hadn¡¯t noticed before. It seemed that, while Blessing of the Angels was active on him, every inch of his body gave off a golden glow that was similar to the light of his Phase Shield, only slightly less bright. It was enough so that it almost masked the flames shooting from his hands and feet. Of course, that didn¡¯t really matter right now, and so he put it out of mind. Not willing to waste even a fraction of a fraction of a second, he bolted right up to his feet. He then spared only enough time to flick his eyes quickly to the left, then quickly right in order to take in his surroundings. It appeared he was in a crater nearly fifty feet deep with Kalana, the result of the detonation from Ziragoth¡¯s fireball. In the very corner of his vision, he briefly caught sight of his stats, which he kept down and to the right of his field of view. What he saw sent a jolt of shock and disbelief coursing into him: one that he did not allow himself to dwell on.
Name Zachys Calador
Level 21
EXP 83,500/170,000
Armor Bonus 336
Strength 414
Dexterity 384
Constitution 380
Intelligence 450
Speed 350
Luck 280
Bending his knees, he launched himself up into the air, the black robe Fylwen had given him flapping as a rush of wind met his rapid ascent. Within a quarter of a second, Zach reemerged, leaving behind a jet-like, cloudy trail in his wake as he flew out of the hole then landed on the grass in front of it. The moment he touched down, he frantically exploded forward at full speed, his body shining with a golden light as he blasted his way towards Ziragoth for all he was worth. He now likely had five or fewer seconds. He had to make them count. He must make every one of them worth it! Thus, even as he soared across the distance between himself and the dragon, he swung his blade downwards diagonally and shouted, ¡°Phase Slash!¡± Then he did it a second time. ¡°Phase Slash!¡± As fast as he was moving, the ripple-like distortions he¡¯d formed in the air moved even faster. More gasps of surprise came from over the Comm as a high-pitched, zipper-like noise drowned out every other sound on the battlefield. Faster and faster Zach ran, his windswept robe and hood feeling as though they would fly off him as the air attempted¡ªand failed¡ªto resist his forward momentum. A moment before he reached the wyvern, his first Phase Slash hit. And Gods¡­if Zach had only known in advance what it would do to the dragon, he would have done nothing else aside from it. Even before the distortion collided with Ziragoth, the dragon let out a preemptive, high-pitched shriek in advance: as though it understood that it was in serious trouble. The dragon had two protrusions on each side of its face that were sort of, but not quite horns. They were curved, the color of bone, and if they served any practical use as a weapon, Zach had yet to see the fire wyvern use them that way. Regardless, the first Phase Slash landed on the right side of Ziragoth¡¯s face, and then it erupted into a miniature explosion. The horn-like appendage, along with what looked like several gallons of dark red blood, as well as a solid chunk of the lower-right corner of Ziragoth¡¯s mouth, simply exploded off its face, causing the dragon to unleash a cry of such agony that had Zach hated this beast even slightly less, it might have caused him to feel pity for the creature. 3,211,492 The impact blasted Ziragoth several feet backwards, forcing the dragon to once more plant its feet in order to slide to a halt: only for the second Phase Slash to hit. This one hit dead center in its chest, and then came another intensely loud shriek of pain as muscle, tissue, cartilage, and a piece of its intestinal tract were exploded off it while the dragon was sent hurtling away once again. This time, it rolled along the ground several times before crashing into a thankfully unoccupied section of the wall, destroying it completely and sending thousands of pieces of stone scattering up into the air. 2,911,152 Sensing blood in the water, Zach forced his body to run even faster. He nearly took down several members of BG3 and BG4 as he zipped by them. Numerous adventurers, political guild members, and a couple of Elvish warriors were scrambling to get out of the way, clearly wanting to be nowhere near the dragon. They seemed fully content to let Zach handle it. With around two-and-a-half seconds remaining on this ungodly powerful combination, Zach reached the dragon just as it was picking itself up. It was missing part of its face and upper chest, and blood was absolutely pouring out of its body. In this moment, Zach felt a piece of himself become restored. He felt as though he¡¯d regained something he¡¯d lost when this horrendous, vile piece of shit spawned in the Den of Ziragoth and hurt him so badly. He¡¯d feared this creature so much. It had terrified him. It had wounded him. It had made him cry. It had stolen from him, breaking the sword he¡¯d earned for saving his friends. It had taunted him and tortured him. This was payback. This was justice! ¡°How does it feel to be the prey?¡± Zach screamed at it. The terror in the wyvern¡¯s eyes elicited no sympathy from Zach: no pity at all. With hatred flowing through his veins like a poison, he unleashed as many strikes as he could in the little time he had, putting all of his energy into each one of them. Raising his sword over his head, he brought it down on top of Ziragoth, adding another beautiful wound to its body and hitting for 351,222. Ziragoth quickly swung its wing, but Zach ducked¡ªand lost precious time in the process. Straightening his back, he delivered an overhanded slash, causing the dragon to cry out in anguish and suffer another 301,951. It began to back away, heading beyond the destroyed section of the wall and towards the camp. It was retreating. Actually retreating! Zach, naturally, pursued. Down to the final moment, he performed a three-slash combination, hoping to inflict as much damage as he possibly could. First, he bent his knees then sprang back up, sending out a rising slash that chopped off another piece of the wyvern¡¯s lower mouth as well as carving out two of its lethally sharp fangs. Then he spun himself around full circle and delivered a spinning slice. In response, Ziragoth brought both of its wings around¡ªbut not to attack. It pressed them together in front of its body, and the serrated edges of both wings actually seemed to fit together like pieces of a puzzle, creating what resembled a fleshy, scaly shield. To Zach¡¯s dismay, his sword bounced right off the wing-shield, hitting for 0 damage. Growling, Zach spun yet a second time, and on this go around, the moment his body had turned full circle, he hopped slightly into the air, spinning a third time and grunting with exertion as he used all his strength in delivering a downward, spinning slash that made a loud, unexpected crack as he struck the dragon. Yet, even as he struck with so much raw force that he blasted the dragon more than fifteen feet in the opposite direction, he still hit for nothing at all. And with that, Zach realized the dragon had just discovered how to defend itself. Now, the golden aura around him vanished, and his stats, while still hugely elevated from Phase Unleashed 3, were now half of what they had only just been; this, as Peter, Fylwen, Vim, and Kalana only first caught up and the rest of the raid actually reorganized itself just in response to Ziragoth¡¯s presence, with everyone moving as far as they could out of the way. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Ziragoth knew that the assault was over. And it was angry. So, so angry. Zach did not have to be a mind reader to tell that much. It was obvious in the way its eyes bulged, and the look cast off from those cold-blooded pupils changed from one of terror to rage. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± One thing was for sure, though: Zach had hurt it¡ªbadly. There was no denying that fact. The dragon was in real pain, and unlike an unfeeling mob, Zach now knew beyond all doubt that Ziragoth could be rattled. Sure, one of the advantages of sentience was unpredictability and the gift of decision-making, but on the other hand, it came with some cons as well; namely, the dragon was susceptible to all the same psychological horrors as any other participant in a battle. And right now, Zach imagined the wyvern was only first coming to truly understand this.
HP 16,442,122/25,000,000
Name (T10) Ziragoth the Awoken
Level 70
¡°I don¡¯t know if you can understand me,¡± Zach said to it, ¡°but you¡¯re going to die, and I¡¯m going to kill you.¡± ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Ziragoth made as if to attack. It spread its wings, uncoupling them and essentially ridding itself of its shield, and then it paused a moment as if in hesitation. Though, unlike the previous two times, it did not remain unmoving, nor did it seem as though it were taking a moment to think. Instead, it was darting its eyes between Zach and something else. Zach wasn¡¯t sure what. It would require him to take his eyes off the dragon to find out for certain, which would be suicidal while in such close proximity. Yet for some reason, he thought he knew. And it sent an explosion of terror coursing through him. Zach wasn¡¯t even sure how he was able to figure it out without looking. Perhaps it was the hatred in its eyes. It wanted to hurt Zach. It wanted to hurt Zach badly. And it seemed to know how it could do that in the worst way possible. Kalana! Ignoring him completely, Ziragoth flapped its wings and took off into the air, then slammed itself down fewer than three second afterwards, causing a shower of dirt and rock to rain over Zach. Horrified, he spun himself around to see that Ziragoth was now towering over Kalana, who for some reason stood her ground defiantly before it. ¡°Run!¡± Zach shouted. ¡°Nah-uh.¡± ¡°Gods-dammit, Kalana! You have to¡ª¡± Ziragoth lunged at Kalana with its mouth opened, ready to bite, and thankfully, she backflipped out of the way. But even still, Zach felt a rush of fear travel straight into his heart, which began to pound in his chest as he wondered what the hell he was supposed to do. He currently had 10:05 remaining on his current duration of Unleashed Phase, which meant he could afford to Phase Rescue Kalana if the need arose. The question was knowing whether or not such a need existed. Obviously, he couldn¡¯t just Phase Rescue her every single time the dragon launched an attack, or he¡¯d end up burning up the rest of his time and dying of a heart attack. Yet, as Ziragoth went all in on Kalana, almost certainly for no other reason than to spite Zach, he came so close to activating Phase Rescue so many times that he lost count, as what he saw caused him so much anxiety it was amazing that he didn¡¯t suffer a total breakdown as a result of it. It began with Ziragoth lunging at Kalana a second time, trying its best to rip her apart with its teeth. Even while missing three fangs, and even with its mouth oozing blood, Zach had no doubt that Kalana would perish if the dragon managed to bite her a single time. Her mother, too, seemed to share the same fear, because right now, Fylwen¡¯s face had gone white with terror. Yet Kalana did not seem afraid. Either because she was being dumb and had no idea how much danger she was in, or because she really was just that fearless. To make things even worse, she toyed with the Gods-cursed dragon. Ziragoth snapped its mouth shut, then looked around, confused. It appeared to be wondering whether or not it succeeded in killing its target, because Kal was no longer in front of it. That, of course, was because Kal was now running along its back. It almost seemed to take Ziragoth a second to realize this, and when it did, the dragon hissed in rage. Flapping its wings, it rocketed itself up into the sky, its body positioned perfectly vertically as though hoping to cause Kal to fly off¡ªwhich she did. Now, with the two of them nearly fifty feet in the air, Zach was ready pull the trigger on Phase Rescue on a moment¡¯s notice. He watched as Kalana began to fall and Ziragoth, having pulled away from her a bit, now flew directly towards her, its mouth opened wide as if to snatch her up midair and devour her. Okay, I¡¯ve got to use it now, right? Surely I do. Even midair, where it should have had an overwhelming advantage, Ziragoth was denied its meal. The moment it snapped its jaws shut, Kalana tucked her knees into her chest, narrowly avoiding being eaten. Then she kicked off the dragon¡¯s face and entered a backflip before falling dozens of feet and landing dexterously atop a still-intact section of the wall. At least, intact for the moment. Clearly frustrated, Ziragoth roared and flew directly at Kal, who then leapt into the air a second time as the dragon crashed directly into¡ªthen through¡ªthe stone-built fortification, absolutely obliterating another large section of it and causing two of the towers built on top of it to collapse; this, as Kalana landed next to Zach in a crouch, her eyes deadly serious and her expression tight as though deep in concentration. ¡°I think it¡¯s mad at me,¡± Kalana said. Zach sighed. ¡°I think it¡¯s mad at me.¡± She gave him a confused look, but rather than explain, he called out to Vim over the Comm. ¡°How long?¡± he asked. ¡°A b¡­a bit more,¡± the leader of the Royal-Roses said, panting. Dammit! An ear-piercing screech came from the wyvern, and along with it a bright flash of orange. It was now flying several-hundred feet up in the air, and it was launching multiple fireballs at the two of them. Thankfully, however, the distance between them and Ziragoth meant that, unlike before, there was actually time for them to get away¡ªalbeit not a whole lot. Together with Kalana, Zach sprinted as fast as he could as a wave of heat, light, and an earthquake-like trembling punctuated each massive explosion as the wyvern attempted to bomb them from the sky. Zach did his best to run in a direction that was away from the other members of the raid, who were all still occupied fighting the adds. ¡°Holy shit!¡± Zach cried, looking over his shoulder. Behind him, there were now multiple sites of fire and destruction, six in total, and all but one was still on fire. Each site consisted of basically a deep crater in the ground that was shooting out flames like a firepit. Zach hoped nobody had plans to build a home or a community in these grasslands any time soon, because between this and the shit he¡¯d done yesterday, it was going to take like a century of landscaping to get this stretch of land back in serviceable order. As though realizing it was getting nowhere with attacks from the sky, Ziragoth turned its body in their direction and began diving at breakneck speed towards the two of them. Glancing over his shoulder as he ran, Zach yelped as he realized the dragon was gaining on him. It was too fast. There was no way he could outrun it. And so, he stopped short, and Kal also halted alongside him. Then he grabbed her, picked her up, and an instant before the dragon slammed down on top of them, he activated Phase Blink, carrying them both to safety. The sound of the sonic boom coincidentally synced with the wyvern¡¯s impact with the ground, and together, the combined noise was enough to create a thunderous echo that Zach imagined could be heard for a hundred miles. It elicited another round of terrified questions from the raid, to whom Zach was now likely proving to be an even greater source of horror than the dragon. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± The dragon¡¯s eyes were locked on Kalana. Clearly, this was personal. It was intent on making Zach watch her die. The fact it was such a chickenshit that it had to resort to this only made him hate it more. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to get it off you,¡± Zach said nervously. ¡°I¡¯m gonna be fine,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Is there any way you can hurt it while I distract it.¡± Zach opened his mouth to deny the possibility, then paused as he realized that there was, in fact, a way. ¡°Actually¡­well, yeah. I mean, if I had enough distance and could get behind it. But I don¡¯t like the idea of you¡ª¡± ¡°Okay, then do it!¡± Before Zach could utter another word to her, Kalana was sprinting towards the dragon, who itself was charging towards Kalana, giving Zach exactly the distance, space, and positioning that he needed. Even still, it was incredibly hard for him to focus when the love of his life was perpetually just a single bite, scratch, stomp, or fireball away from being turned into roadkill or a burnt piece of toast. Almost from the moment the two clashed, things ended up back in the air again. For some reason, it seemed like any time Kalana tussled with the dragon, things inevitably ended up in the sky. Zach wasn¡¯t sure if that was just a biproduct of both their temperaments or maybe some other factor, but the two of them just did not seem capable of keeping the fight on the ground. Seriously! The exact instant that the two met, Ziragoth struck out with its wing, Kalana flipped over it and landed onto its back, causing Ziragoth to again take to the skies, and now, Zach was left down here shaking his head in absolute disbelief as Kalana did cartwheels on its back, pissing it off even more while it flew through a cloud. Why couldn¡¯t she just fight like a normal person? The two of them and their fucking sky acrobatics. Zach had enough of this already! Every second brought Zach closer to the verge of panic as the strangest back-and-forth he¡¯d ever witnessed played out in the North-Bastian summer sky. At an almost predictable interval, Ziragoth would flip its body violently, launching Kal off of it, then try to snatch her out of the air with its mouth. Somehow, Kal would always manage to jump off its mouth¡ªand in one instance, its fang¡ªand put herself out of harm¡¯s way as it snapped shut. This would typically see her landing once more on its back, repeating the process all over again. It did help Zach to understand one thing, however. Up until now, he hadn¡¯t been sure if Kal had the same penchant for predicting enemy attacks that he did. But now, he could clearly see that the two of them were different. Whereas Zach was able to evade the dragon by reading its body language, Kalana was just so damn fast and had such incredible cat-like reflexes that she was able to more-or-less survive attack after attack even while having no clue what was coming at her. The problem with this, however, was that as a result of it, every time she avoided something the dragon sent her way, she did so at the last possible second, making it virtually impossible for Zach to know whether or not he should Phase Rescue. And that was why, after the absolute circus taking place in the skies became too much for him to mentally handle another second of, he activated boundless and then Phase Rescue, pulling her back to his side. Predictably, she reappeared grumpy. Somehow, even before the blue light faded and deposited her next to him, her arms were already pre-folded in disapproval and she was giving him an icy glare. ¡°Zach! Why¡¯d you blue-thing warp me? I was doing perfectly¡ª¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even want to hear it!¡± he shouted at her. ¡°Kal, can you please stop fighting the thing in the Gods-damned sky? I¡¯m serious!¡± ¡°But it¡¯s fun,¡± she grumbled, pouting. ¡°FUN?¡± he screamed at her. Then he pointed to the dragon, which was trying yet again to divebomb the two of them. ¡°I thought I was going to have a fucking heart attack, Kal. It almost ate you like fifteen times.¡± ¡°Zach, please, language,¡± Mr. Oren said over the Comm. ¡°Gods-dammit leave me alone with your fucking language rules!¡± he screamed back, ripping the Comm out of his ear and throwing it onto the ground before stepping on it and smashing it to pieces. ¡°Shit, I actually needed that.¡± Kalana tsked. ¡°See? You broke it. This is why I said you need¡ª¡± ¡°I DON¡¯T NEED FUCKING ANGER MANAGEMENT! Now run.¡± Yet again, Zach tried¡ªand failed¡ªto outrun the dragon-turned-homing-missile, and instead, he was forced to scoop up Kalana and Phase Blink away with her a second time as Ziragoth crashed into the terrain with explosive force. And also like before, upon turning itself around to face in their direction, it proved itself to still be totally fixated on killing Kalana. ¡°Listen, Kal,¡± Zach said to her, even as the dragon began to charge. ¡°If I use a maximum-distance wave slash and aim for its weak point, I think I can¡ªoh, no. Oh, you mother¡­.!¡± Even before he¡¯d finished speaking, Kalana was back in the Gods-damned-mother-fucking sky! Had she listened to nothing he said? Why did she have to fight it up there? The wyvern had the advantage in any kind of aerial encounter. Did Kalana not know that? Was Kalana not actually aware that she was not a dragon? This was some kind of disease or mental illness. It had to be. Because she was definitely doing this on purpose. Zach had managed to fight Ziragoth way more than she had¡ªacross two different regions, nonetheless¡ªwithout ever once ending up in the sky. (Doomsday Slash doesn¡¯t count, that¡¯s different!) This was just too aggravating. No man should have to deal with this level of stress. Why the hell did she have to keep fighting in the sky? This was bullshit! Chapter 102: SYSTEM BREACH Chapter 102: SYSTEM BREACH Adamus opened his eyes. He had seen more than enough. There was now sufficient data for him to know how events would conclude with near certainty. At this point, continuing to watch would serve no purpose other than entertainment, and that, without question, was unethical. His system was not designed to be ¡°entertainment¡± for self-proclaimed ¡°Gods¡± to watch as if for sport. His creations did not spill blood so that he could draw some kind of sick, twisted enjoyment from it. No, he found that so utterly distasteful. His responsibility was to observe only that which was sufficient to form an understanding of Galterra¡¯s probable trajectory and to uphold the system. Of course, not everyone agreed with him. That much was obvious from the raucous shouting, cheering, and gasps from his OMP agents, which were loud enough that he could hear them through several solid walls. He imagined nearly every eye was glued to a terminal screen, watching as the raid entered its final stage. Yet Adamus did not interfere with their desires. If they wished to observe, so be it. It was more a personal dislike, and one that Adamus did not make the issue of others. For the time being, he had far greater matters to attend to. There was a problem that had arisen, though he did not yet know what it might be. He could only sense that something had gone wrong as his mind detected a presence about to board his station. One of his best trackers had returned, and he seemed distressed. Adamus could feel him¡ªand his precise location¡ªas the man¡¯s small, single-person shuttle docked. Then, Adamus sat at his desk and waited patiently as the man underwent arrival procedures, passed through several airlocks, and began making his way down many of the narrow corridors that eventually led to his office. Even before the sound of a knock came from his door, Adamus called out and said, ¡°Come in, Zylor.¡± The door opened, and into Adamus¡¯s office strode Zylor Ursock, one of Adamus¡¯s most proficient agents from the secretive OMP station 7. He was a man who looked to be in his early thirties despite pushing three hundred, with spiky black hair, scars that ran down both sides of his face, and a crooked chin. When Adamus had found him, he had been a gang member and killer for hire. But now, he served the system. And he did so from a genuine place of support. Much like Adamus, he understood that the system was the way forward for sentient life and the goodness of all people. ¡°Adamus,¡± he said, offering a respectful bow of his head. ¡°Has something happened, dear boy? You are troubled.¡± Zylor nodded. ¡°Yeah, something¡¯s happened, all right.¡± He curled his nose as though in disgust. ¡°There¡¯s been a system breach.¡± Adamus sat up straighter. Though hardly ever perturbed, if there was one thing that could cause him some degree of upset, it was hearing one of his trackers say those words. ¡°Of what sort?¡± Zylor hesitated a moment, then licked his bottom lip as though nervous. ¡°Outside intrusion.¡± ¡°What?¡± Adamus lowered his eyes a moment and slowly shook his head. ¡°Surely not.¡± ¡°Wish it wasn¡¯t so, but¡­it¡¯s true.¡± ¡°You are positive of this, dear boy? An outside intrusion?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not even the half of it, actually,¡± Zylor said, becoming visibly disturbed. ¡°What has happened? Please, tell me what you know.¡± ¡°It¡¯s your wife, Eilea. She¡¯s gone and messed with things real bad.¡± ¡°How badly?¡± He drew a breath. ¡°She¡¯s brought a Gods-be-damned original here.¡± Adamus coughed, then excused himself and covered his mouth. The man¡¯s words had caused him a rare moment of shock. ¡°It cannot be. She would not!¡± ¡°She has.¡± ¡°Do you mean to tell me there is an actual human being on Galterra?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Fully unmodified. A Psych, as they would have called him in his time.¡± The words struck Adamus hard. Putting their thousand-year squabble aside, how could Eilea even begin to do something of this nature? This extended so far beyond treacherous it bordered on outright madness. Aside from the lizardmen, all sentient life on Galterra hailed from a progenitor species known as homo sapiens. Superficially, they were a species that looked, acted, and behaved like Galterran humans, which were modeled after them. But none of them were meant to exist in this time. In fact, the average homo sapien was not even compatible with the system, as the original human race contained no inner potential. If an ordinary human were to appear on Galterra, they would die within moments. Only a very specific and rare type of human could possibly stand upon Galterran soil and live: the type whose genetics formed the basis of all living Galterrans today, including those that had been spliced within the lizardmen. They were people who in a far less sophisticated, unscientific age were called ¡°wizards¡± or ¡°sorcerers,¡± and then a great deal later were known as ¡°Psychs.¡± These were people born with specific abilities that could not be stripped away from them even if integrated into the system. If a Psych were to find its way into the system, the individual would be able to unlock both the powers gained from leveling as well as draw upon their own natural abilities, such as the ability to move objects with their mind, manipulate chemical compositions, assassinate others with just their thoughts, or harden their bodies into something far stronger than steel. The system was not built to handle this. The entire purpose of it was to unlock the potential within beings through effort and cooperation: not be born with it. Such an unfair advantage: it offended Adamus so deeply that it moved him to actual anger. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Who is this intruder?¡± he asked. ¡°I know his name and a basic description, but not his current whereabouts. He¡¯s been shielded from tracking.¡± ¡°Tell me. Who is he and what does he look like?¡± ¡°His name is Jimmy Thomas Green. He¡¯s nineteen years old, black, of average height with short black hair, brown eyes, and a birthmark below his belly button. At least¡­based on the autopsy report filed thousands of years ago.¡± Adamus closed his eyes a moment. ¡°I doubt he is complicit in any of this,¡± he whispered. ¡°So what do ya want me to do?¡± ¡°You must handle this, Zylor. But I ask you to please not be barbaric with the boy. This is most certainly no fault of his own. If possible, I should like you to handle it such that he does not feel any pain.¡± ¡°You got it. I just need to find him first.¡± Adamus sat back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. Eilea had gone too far this time. Locking her away did not appear to be sufficient. He now had to make a very consequential decision as to whether or not the woman needed to be erased for good. How could she ever imagine that he would let her get away with a crime of this magnitude? If the Great Ones from that era ever caught wind of what she¡¯d done, it could result in the elimination of the system and everyone in it. She had crossed too big a line, and now, he needed time to think. ***** A stranger to this world, Jimmy had no idea what was going on or what the significance of the shit on TV was. Whatever it was, though, it was definitely having a powerful impact on the way everyone around here was acting. To be clear, this wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d seen a bunch of old people go from hysterical crying to cheering. That was just called watching football. But even then, it sure wasn¡¯t like this. These people were losing their minds. To be fair to them, though, Jimmy had a sense that if he understood more about this world, he might be just as worried as they were. He might not have known just what in the hell any of this meant, but he had a pretty good sense of danger, and the way they were acting made him feel like he might be caught up in this too. If I wasn¡¯t so busy trying to figure so many things out, I might even care. When he¡¯d woken up this morning, he¡¯d really hoped it would be in his own bed. He¡¯d hoped this would all have been some kind of crazy dream. But nope. He was still here, in this¡­in wherever this was. But he was taking it in stride, all things considered. Mom taught him to be a survivor, and that was what he was. That was why, rather than pester these nice people with another million questions, he decided to appreciate their hospitality and do his best to contribute while piecing things together for himself. Yesterday, upon realizing he had no place to go and no one to call, they¡¯d actually offered him a job and a place to stay. They said the pay wouldn¡¯t be much, but he¡¯d have a bed to sleep in at night and three-square meals. For the sake of survival, Jimmy immediately took them up on the offer. He would seek out answers to his questions in time, but for now, before he did a single other thing, he needed to make sure he had food and shelter. Only then could he worry about wrapping his mind around how and why he was here at all. One thing was for sure, though: he knew he wasn¡¯t crazy. Even if no one believed him, he would not doubt himself. He knew who he was, and he knew where he came from. He also could vividly recall the events that took place just before coming here. He was not crazy. He was Jimmy Green, and he was damn well going to get through this. At any rate, things were getting stranger around here. After a pretty good breakfast¡ªthey had eggs and toast here, thank God¡ªhe began the day by mopping the floors and finishing up whatever dishes hadn¡¯t been washed the night before. Sure, it wasn¡¯t exactly the kind of work he imagined doing when he¡¯d taken out all those student loans so he could work towards getting a STEM degree, but it would be all right at least for the moment. The key was survival. Everything he did for the time being had to be towards that goal. So, yeah, Jimmy did what he had to do. He cleaned, he mopped, and the early-morning routine distracted him enough that, his current situation aside, things actually started to approach something in the ballpark of ¡°normal.¡± But then everyone had run over to the TVs¡ªor whatever they were called¡ªand that was when the overall mood changed. Real talk for a second? Jimmy was starting to think the dragon was real. Like in Skyrim or some shit. Honestly, it was wild. They had the news on, right? And it was like regular news, except they were talking like it was a video game. Talking about things like ¡°level 70¡± and ¡°mobs.¡± They were making it sound like this was some kind of MMO. God, Jimmy hoped so. If that was the case, it might even make sense why he was here. He was perpetually the top on any server of any game he played. It was amazing he managed to do well in his classes with how much time he spent gaming. And while he was probably just misunderstanding what he was hearing or seeing, he couldn¡¯t help but hope that, as impossible as such a thing seemed, there really was a world out there that worked like an MMO. He would be so damn good at it. If that was the case, this would turn from a nightmare to a dream. There¡¯s no way that can be real, though. It ain¡¯t possible. It sure did seem real, though. They were even calling the fight with the dragon a ¡°raid.¡± Actually, not to be a dick, but whoever their raid leaders were, they were bad. Like terrible. It was like they¡¯d never done this before. What were they even doing? The mages clearly had the ability to cast AOEs. That much was obvious from the big, terrifyingly realistic explosions that came through the TV speakers. So what was going on here, then? What they should have done was have the tanks aggro as many of those raptor-looking things as possible and try to clump them all together into a tight killbox. Then they could¡¯ve had the mages spam AOEs on them all at the same time. Problem solved. Why in the hell were they trying to take them on in separate groups like that? These dudes were bad. It was actually disgusting to watch. He even started yelling at the TV with all the old people. That one kid looked pretty good, though. And who was that chick jumping all over the dragon? When the cameras had zoomed in on her earlier, she kind of looked like that one girl who¡ª Jimmy gasped as something important came back to him: something he¡¯d forgotten amid the shock of it all. ¡°If you find yourself lost and confused, tap your shoulder four times and read the note I left you.¡± Did she mean that literally? Jimmy looked around. No one was paying attention to him. Even still, he went into the bathroom down at the other end of the inn, shut the door, flicked the light-switch, and then stared at himself in the mirror. ¡°This is dumb as hell,¡± he muttered, lifting his hand. ¡°But whatever.¡± And with that, he gave himself four quick taps on his shoulder¡ªcausing absolutely nothing to happen. ¡°Of course not,¡± he said, laughing at his own stupidity. Even still, for the sake of humoring himself, he decided to try the other shoulder instead. Then he stopped laughing. Chapter 103: Nightmare’s End Chapter 103: Nightmare¡¯s End Every year, at the beginning of the semester, the students at Zach¡¯s high school had the option to join a club as an extracurricular activity. Zach had always thought it seemed like a fun, interesting thing to do, but between studying for tests and his then-job delivering pizzas via bicycle, he never really had the spare time to participate. But one of his friends had. His name was Laran Olentar, and he¡¯d joined the archery club. And he was good, too: so good, in fact, that he wound up being recruited by a scouter to play for the Whispery Woods in the professional marksmanship tournaments. Some people, it seemed, just had a natural gift for it. And of these people, those who spent their time practicing and refining their abilities could go on to perform stunning feats. Zach distinctly remembered him and his dad sitting around the viewing screen and watching Laran hit targets the size of an orange with a rifle from almost 4,000 feet away. But as amazing as he was, Laran wasn¡¯t even in the top 100 humanity-wide. There were better, even more talented people out there: people whose entire lives were dedicated to doing nothing other than getting good at just that one activity. And why did this matter? Because, fair or not, with 192 points into dexterity, Zach was probably thousands of times better than the best level-1 marksman in the entire world. Hell, even with 10 dex, he would still probably be able to outcompete the greatest sharpshooter who¡¯d ever lived: someone who¡¯d dedicated their entire life to it. No matter how much practice, it wasn¡¯t actually possible for his high-school friend¡ªor any level 1¡ªto achieve the level of ability that was earned simply through increasing stats. And this was something that Zach needed to remind himself of as he watched Kalana bounce and flip around Ziragoth, the two of them scuffling in the sky. I need to learn to stop thinking like a level 1, Zach told himself. Every time I get into a mess like this, there¡¯s always so many things I don¡¯t even consider doing because I¡¯m still not used to the fact that they¡¯re even possible. Zach switched his grip on his sword so that he held it in just his left hand. Then he fully extended his arm in front of him so that it was perfectly level with his chest, the end of his blade pointing straight up. Now, he closed his left eye and focused on the back edge of the blade almost as though it were the sights of a gun. Slowly, he moved his arm up and down, adjusting its positioning while also keeping track of the dragon¡¯s location in the sky. It was a fair bit of distance away, and its back was turned to him. Every other second, Zach rotated his body left or right, getting everything lined up exactly as needed. Even though he¡¯d never been trained or instructed on how to do what he was about to attempt, Zach¡¯s body just ¡°knew¡± what needed to be done. It was simply a feeling¡ªa sense¡ªthat he had. And it was one that likely became stronger and more accurate with each point into dexterity. That, coupled with his natural gift for predicting movement, made him realize that he was perfectly suited for this kind of task¡ªas long as he could get his concern for Kalana under control. The fear that something terrible could happen to her at any given moment made it hard for him to remain patient and concentrate. But patience and concentration were exactly what he needed in order to make sure he didn¡¯t mess this up. As unsettling as it was to watch her narrowly avoid the dragon¡¯s snapping jaws time and time again, it would serve neither of them any good if it ended up affecting his judgement. After all, what he was about to attempt was something that no level 1 in existence could ever achieve through anything other than pure luck. This would be like trying to throw a rubber ball into a plastic cup from a mile away. Actually, no¡ªthat was a really bad example, because that wouldn¡¯t be difficult for him at all. Not with 192 dex, anyway. This, on the other hand, would be way, way harder, because he¡¯d be trying to hit a very fast target that was soaring through the skies with an attack that began slow and ended fast. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Ziragoth¡¯s roars had been picking up in both volume and frequency. Whatever Kalana was doing, it was really upsetting the wyvern. Oddly enough, however, Zach almost thought he could detect a note of frustration in each of Ziragoth¡¯s cries. At this point, Zach was either losing his mind, or he¡¯d actually heard enough of them that he was beginning to discern emotion from the variations in pitch, duration, and volume. Either way, it was something for him to store in his mind for later, when the adventuring guilds would ask about it. Assuming Zach lived to see tomorrow, he and everyone on this raid¡ªincluding the political guild members¡ªhad all promised to cooperate with the adventuring guilds in creating a comprehensive document of all their findings and experiences to pass on to successive generations. It would be added together with the existing documentation and duplicated. One of the errors of the past that Mr. Oren and others were working to correct was the lack of information on boss spawns. For this reason, adventurers, especially those in Zephyr¡¯s Explorers Brigade, were meticulous about taking note of everything they could for every boss they came across. I¡¯m just glad this thing probably won¡¯t spawn again in my lifetime. Fucking Gods-cursed dragon! Zach continued to study his target while he waited for the perfect moment to attack. Ziragoth was flying off to his left and flipping itself completely around midair, causing Kalana to pop up even higher. For a second, Zach felt a tremendous flood of fear burst in his chest as Ziragoth appeared to adjust its tactics, delivering a powerful flap of its wings and ascending at a much faster speed so that it actually flew up and above Kalana, who herself was still rising. Now, positioned above her, it snapped down at her¡ªand missed. Gods, that was close! Kalana had yet again somehow outmaneuvered the dragon. A moment before she flew up¡ªand into¡ªZiragoth¡¯s waiting, opened mouth, her entire body transformed into a literal blaze of fire, something that Zach had actually seen her do for the first time yesterday. Thus, rather than find herself turned into a snack for the wyvern, she instead burned through it and reappeared as her usual self above, landing once more on its back. She also healed it for 9,211 damage but, all things considered, that really didn¡¯t mean a thing. It was well worth it to avoid being eaten alive. Now, continuing their back-and-forth, Ziragoth spun itself around midair, and it began to fly at an even faster speed in the opposite direction¡ªto Zach¡¯s right. Right away, Zach knew that this would be a really great opportunity: the fourth of such opportunities, as he¡¯d been forced to pass up the other three due to Vim recovering. ¡°Vim!¡± he called out. ¡°Are you ready yet? I¡¯ve got another perfect shot coming up!¡± When Vim didn¡¯t reply, Zach glanced over his shoulder while doing his best to keep the rest of his body in the same position. Vim, along with Peter and Fylwen, were standing in a line together about twenty-five feet away in the direction of the wall. At the moment, Vim was holding something in his hand, which he waved in the air. It was a small electronic device¡ªa Comm, it looked like¡ªwhich he then flung at Zach. Zach caught it with his right hand then placed the device in his ear. ¡°Try not to break this one as well, Zach,¡± he said. ¡°Yeah, sorry, uhh¡­my last Comm fell out and I accidentally stepped on it. Anyway, are you ready yet?¡± Vim released an exhausted sigh, but then surprised Zach with his reply. ¡°Yes, I think I can handle another cast.¡± ¡°Finally!¡± A rush of energy traveled down his back in the form of a nervous, excited shiver. This was it. This was the moment Zach had been waiting for. Within the next minute, he planned on finishing Ziragoth once and for all. The very thought of it filled him with equal parts hope and fear. But he was confident in his decision. Having survived combat with the dragon longer than anybody else, he was sure he understood the creature enough to know this would work. And so, now that Vim was ready to go, he carefully pivoted on his heels, positioning his blade around 60 degrees clockwise to where Ziragoth¡¯s current position was in the sky. He ignored the part of his brain telling him that what he was attempting to do was an impossible, laughable waste of time. After all, an unhelpful thought like that was exactly the kind of level-1 thinking he was trying to get rid of. ¡°Kal, are you ready?¡± he asked, fully aware of the slight tremble in his voice. ¡°Yup!¡± Zach inhaled deeply, then held the breath as his nerves made him jittery. He fought not to let it get to his head. If they pulled this off, the nightmare would finally be over. He would never have to worry about this evil, piece-of-shit dragon ever again for the rest of his life. He could spend his whole summer with Kal. He could hang out with her in Angelica¡¯s. He could do whatever he wanted! The dragon was the only thing standing in his way. With that thought in mind, he continued to hold the breath within him, and then, with an exhale, he shouted out, ¡°Wave Slash!¡± and swung his sword downwards. Following the motion of his blade, a green, patchy, cloud-like clump of energy formed in an S-shape in the air before him. But it did not hold this shape for long at all. No, at a speed even faster than Zach had calculated, it reformed itself into the shape of a disc before becoming solid, metallic, and double-bladed. One thing Zach had learned from past experiences was that, the higher his strength, the faster it solidified and the faster it initially moved. Although all uses of Wave Slash¡ªif given enough distance¡ªwould eventually reach the same absurdly fast speed, it would always initially begin painfully slow before accelerating to something faster than the eye could follow. With 209 points into strength, Zach had assumed this overall process would take place far faster than it usually did when calling upon this ability. As it turned out, it was way faster than even his fairly high estimates. Turning into the double-bladed, metallic disc significantly ahead of Zach¡¯s projections, he swore loudly in vexation as he watched his projectile blast off into the sky and begin to pick up speed. Along with a whistling sound that gradually increased in volume, a trail of smoke¡ªeventually flame¡ªfollowed on its heels as the Wave Slash literally burned its way through the air. Zach, filling with utter self-loathing, could not believe he had failed. Not only was he poised to miss the dragon¡¯s weak spot, but his Wave Slash was likely to miss the dragon entirely. Even worse, it had cost him 1:10 of his remaining time on Unleashed Phase, and now he was down to just 7:22. Gods, he was royally pissed at himself right now. At a time like this, and on a day like today, this was the kind of mistake that he could not afford to make¡ªand yet that was exactly what he had done. Or at least, that was how it seemed at first. But then Kalana ran along the dragon¡¯s back, spat in its face, and then kicked off its head with such force that it sent her hurtling hundreds of feet ahead of it at an even faster rate than it was flying. Ziragoth, having been provoked, roared and began to fly even faster as though intent on finally catching its Elvish tormenter and teaching her a lesson. Zach could see the grin on Kalana¡¯s face even as it began to catch up. She¡¯d actually done it. She¡¯d baited the dragon right into position. ¡°That good, Zach?¡± ¡°I¡­I think so!¡± He now had to speak a bit more loudly to be heard over the high-pitched whistling that was beginning to drown out all other sounds. It became so loud, and the flame trailing behind it became so profound, that even as Ziragoth flew forward at Kalana, its eyes turned in the direction of the projectile. And then it stopped short and released yet another, startled-sounding roar as though finally realizing what was coming its way. Extending its wings, it brought itself to a halt midair, causing a blast of air to rush forward and send Kalana even farther away. ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± In a way that actually appeared frantic, Ziragoth began wildly flapping its wings as though attempting to spin itself around and avoid the double-bladed disc, which was ripping through the air as it approached closer and closer. It almost succeeded, too: almost. But at a speed so fast that it was just about to the point of breaking apart, the double-bladed disc landed exactly where Zach had hoped, striking the wyvern in the area three-quarters of the way down its back. And with that came the cry of pain and surprise. Take that, you bastard! Although Zach would have liked to see his Wave Slash cleave the dragon cleanly into two separate pieces, he had absolutely no expectation of that taking place¡ªand indeed, it didn¡¯t. Regardless, he was more than satisfied by the nine or maybe even ten individual scales that were ripped off its body, as well as a thick volume of dark red blood that leaked out of the beast, which had just taken 611,251 damage. Yet as satisfying as it was to see Ziragoth experience more pain, it was not actually the purpose of Zach¡¯s attack. No, the purpose was to create the opportunity he needed to unleash a full, devastating ten seconds of torment on the dragon: enough to kill the son of a bitch so that it never caused anyone to suffer ever again. From the looks of things, Zach was about to get exactly what he wanted. He released a cheer as he saw that he¡¯d succeeded in knocking the wyvern right out of the sky, and his cheer was soon echoed by almost every surviving raid member. Taken completely off balance by the impact with the disc, Ziragoth tried to compensate by flapping its wings even harder. But this only caused it to spin faster and faster as it plunged down for an incredibly ungraceful landing, suffering yet another 11,410 damage as a result of its hard, uncontrolled impact. The sound of its body hitting the ground was more of a thwap this time around than a boom.
HP 15,828,672/25,000,000
Name (T10) Ziragoth the Awoken
Level 70
A moment after Ziragoth slammed into the dirt, gravity seemed to finally assert itself, and Kalana began to fall back down to the surface as well. Yet even as she picked up speed, she flipped her body right-side up, looking well positioned for a controlled, smooth landing. Despite knowing she would be absolutely fine, there was still a part of Zach that grew uncomfortable at the idea of his girlfriend falling out of the sky and plummeting hundreds of feet. But that, as always, was the product of level-1 thinking. Kal could probably fall from orbit and be fine. With the end at last in sight, Zach released a breath he was unaware he¡¯d been holding, and then he drew another one immediately. ¡°Now!¡± he cried over the Comm as the dragon began to pick itself up. This was it. This was the moment to end the horror. The dragon had been knocked out of the sky, and Zach was ready to finally slay it once and for all. Everything had worked out the way he¡¯d planned. He needed to seize the opportunity. He was hungry for victory. He wanted this to finally be over! All three buffs landed on him in the same instant, and like before, his body was now encased in a golden halo of brilliant light. And with that, he burst forward into a full-on sprint in the direction of the dragon. It was time to kill this awful creature. It was time to be free of this nightmare! The desperation to rid the world of the atrocious wyvern drove him forward, making him feel even more alive, awake, and alert. ¡°Phase Slash!¡± he cried out as he ran, slashing down against the air. ¡°Phase Slash! Phase Slash! Phase Slash!¡± As he struck four times on his way to the dragon, forming four distortions in the air, he was aware that he¡¯d now brought himself down to just 2:31 remaining on Unleashed Phase. But at the same time, he didn¡¯t care. This might be his only chance to kill Ziragoth. He doubted there would be another. He had to do as much as he possibly could during these ten seconds, during which he¡¯d be powerful enough to actually put it down. He could spare nothing: not time, not effort. He was going to kill it. He was going to fucking kill it! More than three-quarters of the way to Ziragoth, whose partially destroyed face came across as somewhat dazed as it picked itself up, he rejoiced as his first Phase Slash found its target. Like before, it exploded. And now, with the second one following right on the heels of the first, Zach watched gleefully as the wyvern was pushed back several feet and suffered a massive¡­ ¡­ 0¡­damage? Panic, confusion, hatred, and desperation all melded together in Zach¡¯s brain as his Phase Slash failed to deliver so much as a scratch to the vile dragon. Even worse, the second one met the same result¡ªand so did the third and the fourth. Sure, each impact pushed it farther and farther back, causing it to leave behind dual streaks in the ground that ran several feet deep as it slid away on its feet, but that was about all it did. Now, Zach saw that its wings had once more become interlocked, serving as a sort of shield that not even his Phase Slash could break apart. Horrified, baffled, and even a bit nauseous, Zach refused to believe what his eyes were seeing. Having spent a combined total of four minutes and forty seconds on just those few abilities alone, a sense of overwhelming doom and defeat began to creep up on him. Yet he held it at bay. He forced himself to tamp down on it. By the time he reached Ziragoth, he still had eight seconds left. Maybe if he pummeled it hard enough, he could still kill it. Right now, he couldn¡¯t afford to think. He couldn¡¯t afford to speculate. He could only afford to act. And act, he did. Zach threw all caution to the wind and unleashed everything he had into Ziragoth with reckless abandon. Having entered into a state of total panic and denial, he wielded his sword more like a hammer than a blade as he bludgeoned it over and over against Ziragoth¡¯s wings, caring little for form or elegance. Striking so hard he grunted loudly each time, he pummeled it again and again and again, and for his efforts, he was rewarded with the sound of a louder and louder crack each time. Maybe if he hit it even harder it would break! And so that was exactly what he did. With sweat now pouring down his forehead from both exertion and the rapidly rising summer temperature, Zach groaned and grunted as he hit the dragon one time after the next as the seconds counted down. Crack, crack, crack. Why wouldn¡¯t it break? He hit it even harder. He was now crying out with the exertion of it all. He was losing his shit. Why wouldn¡¯t this fucking thing die? Why wouldn¡¯t it break. Argh! Argh! Argh! He hit it more and more, but it just wouldn¡¯t give. 0 0 0 0 0 And then his time ran out, the golden light faded, and the dragon seemed to understand what this meant, because as soon as it was over, Ziragoth pulled its wings apart and glared at Zach through misery-filled eyes, even as blood continued to pour out of the missing chunk of its mouth and from portions of its stomach. Zach, having applied such relentless brute force, had exhausted himself, too. And now he was panting and in a weakened, vulnerable state. ¡°I guess¡­¡± Zach huffed. ¡°I guess you¡¯re going to attack Kalana again, right?¡± ¡°GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± ¡°Yeah¡­I didn¡¯t think so.¡± Crestfallen, Zach wasn¡¯t sure how he still had the willpower to back away and out of range of the dragon¡¯s serrated wing, which came closer to splitting open his stomach than at any point since the raid had begun. Clearly sensing Zach¡¯s weakness, it had once more chosen to make him its sole and only target, and given what had just happened, he couldn¡¯t fault the wyvern¡¯s decision. The level of hopelessness and fatigue he felt were such that if not for Kalana screaming at him to dodge, he might¡¯ve wearily let the dragon smash him into the ground with its barbed tail. But this, too, he somehow avoided. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. It''s hopeless. We can¡¯t win. There¡¯s nothing we can do! Zach¡¯s morale didn¡¯t just plummet: it faded entirely. Even though there was still so much fire inside of him¡ªa deep, motivating desire to kill this filthy, winged rat¡ªthere was nothing he could possibly do that would work anymore. The dragon had learned that all it had to do was block when Zach gave off the gold light. And even if Zach built up a few more minutes¡¯ worth of Unleashed Phase with his stamina proc and tried again, it would only be a repeat of what just happened. Sure, he could use Phase Blink to get behind Ziragoth and try getting at it that way, but the dragon was too fast, and even if he scored a lucky hit or two, it would still turn around quickly enough to block any follow-up strikes. And if he tried to combine Phase Blink with Phase Slash, he was going to need way more time to pull that off: and that would require a level of luck he didn¡¯t think was with him today. Put simply, ten seconds just wasn¡¯t a long enough duration to get the job done. For Zach to win using any combination involving Phase Blink, Vim would probably have to cast the fucking thing ten more times, and what was the chance of that happening? No, there was just nothing he could do. Nothing! ¡°Zach, you have brought so much honor to yourself,¡± Fylwen said over the Comm, her words coming across as odd and unexpected. ¡°You fought bravely, young man, and I am proud of you. What is happening now is no fault of your own. Take my daughter and come with me back to my domain. You will be welcome in my kingdom in Archian Prime, and of course, I will heal you. But I believe it is time for us to leave.¡± Her words shocked Zach. He couldn''t believe what he was hearing. In particular, because she''d been so adamant about not fleeing just a few moments ago. For her to come out and say this must have meant she genuinely did not believe this fight was winnable. ¡°Y-you¡¯re leaving us?¡± one of the adventurers cried. ¡°We can¡¯t give up yet!¡± Mr. Oren snapped. ¡°Your Majesty, please!¡± Bickering and fighting immediately took over the Comm chatter the moment Fylwen had finished speaking, and Zach was too exhausted by this point to even bother interjecting. And, what was more, he couldn¡¯t even deny that Fylwen was right. Maybe it really was time to grab Kalana and go. Of course, that would be easier said than done, since she clearly didn¡¯t agree. Right away, Kalana began protesting and swearing that she wouldn¡¯t abandon the raid. ¡°You and Zach can go, mom. But l have to stay.¡± ¡°Nonsense! You are coming with us. Even if we have to drag you!¡± More and more voices got involved in the argument, and more and more of Ziragoth¡¯s ruthless attacks were sent Zach¡¯s way. Worst of all, even with the few weak, half-hearted counterstrikes Zach managed to retaliate with, his stamina buff was simply not proc¡¯ing. It was as though his luck had run out in the literal sense. He was actually so exhausted now that he¡¯d likely need to proc it multiple times just to refill his own stamina, let alone add time to his Unleashed Phase, which was now down to 2:15. Gods, what was he supposed to do? If only there was a way. If only there was something he had in his bag of tricks that might still work. He had his ring, of course, but he doubted even that would break through the dragon¡¯s impenetrable wing-shield. Truly, as long as the dragon was able to block, he would be unable to hurt it. And since stuns and whatever else wouldn¡¯t work due to everyone¡¯s stats being too low, there was no way that Zach could¡ª Wait a minute! Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute! Like a lightbulb going off in his head, an idea blasted into Zach with the force of a fireball from Ziragoth. Even as he was leaping into the air and twisting his body to narrowly avoid being caught by one of the serrated wings, he felt an immediate return of his willpower: of his hope. ¡°Everyone shut up!¡± he shouted into the Comm. ¡°Please, listen to me. We can still win!¡± To his surprise, everyone did shut up and listen to him: all of them. Suddenly, there was quiet. ¡°Vim. Are you there?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m right behind you where I was before. Do you have a plan?¡± ¡°Yeah, actually, I really do. But first I need you to tell me something: can you cast ZOE twice in a row?¡± ¡°No, not a chance,¡± he said. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯ll die.¡± Zach whipped his blade across Ziragoth¡¯s face. He was so exhausted he only hit for 810, but as though the Gods had chosen to finally give him a gift, the dark green aura surrounded his body, and the subsequent rush of energy managed to chase away his gloom all on its own. In a mere instant, Zach went from feeling haggard and about to collapse to feeling as though he¡¯d just woken up this morning from a deep, satisfying sleep. It also added about 4 seconds to his current duration of Unleashed Phase. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask if you¡¯d die,¡± Zach said, now speaking more confidently. ¡°I asked if you could just, you know, do it.¡± ¡°Well, if put in those terms, I guess I could.¡± Zach felt the rising hope within him explode and become ten times greater at Vim¡¯s answer. ¡°I need you to do that, then.¡± Vim made a slight grunt. ¡°Do you know what you¡¯re doing? Are you sure about this?¡± Zach nodded despite the fact that Vim likely couldn¡¯t even see it. But it did somewhat confuse Ziragoth, which was evident from the way the dragon slightly pulled back as if wondering whether or not the gesture was a form of attack. ¡°I know how to kill it now. I really do. It just came to me.¡± Vim sighed. ¡°Well, shit. I guess I¡¯m going to die today after all. Just be sure you know what you¡¯re doing. You¡¯re asking us to put the fate of all our lives in this one decision. If you¡¯re wrong, that¡¯s the end of us.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the end of us either way at this rate. But I¡¯m telling you: I know how to kill it. I just need to¡ª¡± Zach¡¯s words cut off as he dashed forward at full speed, threw himself onto his back, and then literally slid forward beneath the dragon, who had come so close just now to stomping him into the dirt that Zach had to wiggle his neck and rotate his shoulder muscles just to reassure himself he was actually unharmed. Upon shooting back up to his feet, he continued, ¡°If you do this, I promise you we¡¯ll win. Believe me: no one wants to make it through this as much as I do. But I need you guys to have my back on this.¡± Peter¡¯s voice was next to come through the Comm, and of all things, he preceded his words with a hearty chuckle. ¡°Well said, Zach. You have my full support. I will aid you in any way that you require.¡± ¡°I trust you as well, young man,¡± Fylwen added. ¡°Tell me: what are you planning? Do you want us to buff you twice in a row? Is that what you¡¯re asking?¡± ¡°No, actually. I need you to buff me and someone else at the same time.¡± ¡°Someone else?¡± Vim asked. ¡°Who?¡± In truth, Zach realized that his idea could be carried out numerous ways by numerous different individuals. Right now, of those still alive on the raid, there were about three-hundred people he could ask for help, and any number of them might be able to do what he required. Yet with time no longer on his side, and with desperation weighing heavily on his mind, he decided to go with what he knew. And what he knew for sure was that there was one person here who could definitely help put an end to this once and for all. Not only had Zach personally witnessed him use the particular ability he required, but he was someone Zach was sure he could trust not to fail. ¡°Donovan,¡± he said over the Comm. ¡°Please. I need your help.¡± Donovan replied immediately. He did not ask questions. He did not make inquiries. Without even a tenth of a second of hesitation, he said, ¡°You don¡¯t even gotta ask.¡± And with that, Zach could see him breaking away from the add he was fighting so that he could hurry over in his direction. Even as he ran towards where Zach was busy squaring off against the dragon, he said, ¡°Just tell me what you need.¡± Out of everything that had transpired so far, explaining his plan to Donovan should have been the easy part. Yet as Zach began to speak, he realized that, while everything made clear sense in his head, actually trying to convey this information while a dragon was attempting to eviscerate you was actually really hard, and so he struggled a bit. ¡°I need¡­I need you to use that uhh¡­gahh, fuck! I don¡¯t know how to explain it while I¡¯m fighting this Gods-damned¡ª¡± ¡°I can explain,¡± Mr. Oren quickly interjected. ¡°I know exactly what Zach¡¯s thinking. As soon as he mentioned casting the combination twice, it clicked in my head. It¡¯s brilliant. Honestly, I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t think of this myself. Zach, I¡¯m proud of you, my man.¡± Zach came so close to having his head bit off that he could only pray that Mr. Oren really did understand his intentions, because right now, he was too preoccupied to reply. Thankfully, as Mr. Oren began to speak, Zach saw that he did indeed understand what he had been thinking¡ªwell, sort of. He took things a bit further and ended up making Zach seem smarter than he actually was. ¡°Donovan,¡± Mr. Oren began, ¡°Zach wants Sir Brayspark, Sir Alazar, and Her Majesty to use the combination on you so that your stats will be sufficient enough to inflict status effects. In particular, I believe Zach wants you to use your ability ¡®Falling Mountain¡¯ on the dragon, stunning it for ten seconds and rendering it defenseless. He chose you¡ªwisely¡ªbecause you have the second-highest strength out of all of us, and you are likely the only person on the entire raid whose strength stat will be high enough following the combination to land your stun. You also open up the possibility of creating a chain.¡± Wow, Zach thought, feeling somewhat embarrassed. I knew almost none of that. I only picked Donovan because I don¡¯t know what anyone else here can do. I had no idea he was the only one who could actually succeed. With a nervous, slight laugh that no one including Ziragoth could overhear, Zach decided he wasn¡¯t going to mention any of that to them right now¡ªor ever. In truth, he was just glad to have the big guy by his side. Despite having only met him recently, Zach could tell that Donovan was one of the most dependable people he was likely to ever encounter, and also one of the most selfless as well. That was why, as he drew nearer, Zach felt a nervous pinch of acid in his stomach. If the choice Zach made ended up getting Donovan killed, he would never forgive himself for having made it. But what else could he do? He was desperate, and there were no longer any other options. I doubt he¡¯d even blame me if I caused him to die. No, he definitely wouldn¡¯t. That¡¯s not the kind of person he is. As Donovan at last reached Zach¡¯s location then ran behind the dragon to get himself into position, he gave Zach a quick, confident nod of the head, and the certainty in his expression provided a great sense of reassurance. It was something Zach really needed right around now. ¡°Let¡¯s do this, kiddo. You and me, buddy. I¡¯ll stun that fucker like he¡¯s never been stunned before.¡± Zach smiled, feeling a rush of enthusiasm. ¡°I really think we can do this.¡± ¡°You¡¯re damn right we can. You ready?¡± ¡°I am.¡± Donovan shifted his eyes to Kalana, who was also behind the dragon not far from him. ¡°Kid, you attack as well the moment he¡¯s immobilized, all right?¡± ¡°Mhm!¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna try a little something as well, and if it works, use your Weakening Embrace.¡± ¡°Um, that¡¯s not gonna work.¡± ¡°It just might,¡± Donovan said with a grunt. ¡°Your boyfriend¡¯s a genius. He figured it out.¡± Zach laughed awkwardly. He had no idea what any of that even meant. But he was now too complicit in the lie to back out. ¡°It¡¯s going to work, Kalana.¡± She eyed him skeptically¡ªand playfully¡ªbut said nothing else on the topic. And with that, Zach sucked another deep breath of air into his lungs. Gods, he had so many conflicting emotions running through him right now. He was so nervous, but also so energized. He was so afraid, but also so emboldened. This really was their last chance. With only enough time to use one final Phase Slash, he¡¯d have to strike out with the same intensity as before, maybe even harder now, too. Hopefully, he and Kal could hit the thing hard enough together to kill it. This really was it: the last chance they would likely ever get. It was now or never, do or die. ¡°Okay,¡± Donovan said, speaking over the Comm. ¡°BG7, count to three and hit me with the buffs. Timing is everything, got it?¡± ¡°Understood,¡± Vim replied. ¡°Consider it done,¡± said Peter. Fylwen also chimed in to give an affirmative. ¡°Oh, and kiddo, use your sword slash thing targeting me, not the dragon. Also on three.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Zach replied, confused. ¡°Just do it!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not even sure I fully understand what you just asked me to¡ª¡± Now, Zach felt every muscle in his body stiffen as Donovan made his move. His heart was beating so fast that he could hear it in his ears. And yet it began to pound even harder in his chest as he watched Donovan bend his knees and then launch himself high up into the air¡ªnearly a hundred feet. Then, as he started to fall back down, his entire body began to glow with a reddish aura while electric-like sparks began to jump off his plate armor. An instant later, Zach saw all three spell effects land almost simultaneously on the leader of the God-Slayers Guild. And now, he was shining with both a reddish and golden aura. Zach, too, began to glow with the golden aura, meaning that his ten final seconds had now begun. Did I even understand him? Zach wondered. He said that so fast. Does he want me to literally hit him with Phase Slash? Gods-dammit! What a fucking thing to throw on me at the last second. Zach was so clueless and lost. He suddenly felt anxious and uncertain. But this all came to an immediate end as, in the fleeting instant before Donovan began to fall, he met the man¡¯s eyes, and just by that one shared gaze alone, he understood that Donovan was serious and he¡¯d heard him correctly. Gods, this was insane. ¡°Phase Slash!¡± Zach cried out, targeting his own ally. He swung his blade downwards diagonally, and along with a freakishly loud, high-pitched noise like that of a jacket zipper being opened, a visible, ripple-like disturbance was sent soaring up and across the air, crossing the distance between Zach and the leader of the GSG in about a quarter of a second. And now, Zach braced himself, praying to the Gods he was not about to pop Donovan like he¡¯d done to those zombies on Archian Prime. He couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine how he¡¯d feel if the man exploded into a billion pieces while his sizzling, steaming insides rained down on Zach. Thankfully, that didn¡¯t happen. Extending his arms, he somehow caught the Phase Slash with his axe, and so now, in addition to being encompassed by a reddish, electrical aura, the entire bladed axe began to shake and ripple as though it were caught between worlds. How the hell did he do that? What kind of ability is it? If not for Zach being caught up in such a mess of nerves, hope, and excitement, he might have laughed at the stupid look on Ziragoth¡¯s face as the Phase Slash completely missed him and instead went to Donovan. The dragon roared, and while Zach would never be able to truly know for sure, he kind of thought he detected a note of mockery in the sound of it. Not that it mattered, though. At this point, it wasn¡¯t even physically possible for Zach to hate the dragon any more than he already did. He¡¯d already maxed out the amount of hatred it was possible for a human to feel towards something. Get him, Donovan! Gaining speed as he plummeted down towards the dragon, Donovan lifted his double-bladed battleaxe high above his head as he fell faster and faster. At the same time, Ziragoth reacted¡ªbut not to him, but to Zach. The wyvern, clearly aware of the fact that Zach was now shining with the golden light, made as if to once more form his wings into the impenetrable shield. But this time around, it failed, either because it was not aware that Donovan was about to attack it from behind or because it simply did not care to pay the man any mind, perhaps viewing Donovan as nothing more than an insect beneath its notice: a nuisance, a pest, something to be dealt with later on. For this reason, the dragon completely failed to anticipate what came next¡ªand to be fair, so too did Zach. Now, to clear, Zach knew that Donovan was a strong adventurer. He knew that Donovan was not the leader of the God Slayers Guild for no reason. Clearly, he was someone very powerful to be in that role. That was why Zach trusted him: that was why Zach fully expected Donovan to succeed in landing his stun and bringing the dragon to an immediate halt. But even taking into account that Donovan¡¯s strength was now doubled, and even taking into account that Zach had enhanced his double-bladed battle axe with a Phase Slash, what Zach had not expected¡ªand what he could not have foreseen¡ªwas that Donovan¡¯s ability would crack Ziragoth over the head so unfathomably hard that it would cave in the entire back of the wyvern¡¯s skull, cause brain matter to ooze out of the wyvern¡¯s ears, and deliver a blow mightier than the smiting of a God for 5,115,321 damage while sending the beast crashing headfirst into the ground as tendrils of electricity snaked all the way through its body, the sign of a successful stun. ¡°It¡¯s stunned for ten seconds!¡± Donovan roared over the Comm. Then, quickly, his axe turning blue, he slammed it down a second time on top of Ziragoth, causing a blueish-white down arrow with the word ¡°RES¡± to appear above its head. Immediately, as though recognizing this as some kind of call to action, Kalana darted forward, both her daggers glowing red, and following a dual slashing attack, a down arrow with the word ¡°DEF¡± joined ¡°RES¡± above the dragon¡¯s caved-in head. And with that, Donovan put out a call to arms that Zach would remember for the rest of his life. ¡°ALL BATTLEGROUPS!¡± he roared. ¡°ATTACK THE DRAGON NOW! EVERYONE! ATTACK!¡± Upon those words, a beatdown of historic proportions took place under the early-morning, summer sun, one that was formally kicked off with an explosive combination from Donovan. And it was in this moment, right here and now, that Zach truly realized how badly¡ªand unintentionally¡ªhe¡¯d underestimated the man. When Zach had asked for his help, he had only done so because he needed Donovan to deliver the ten-second stun. But he had never bothered to factor in what else he could bring to the table, because Zach just plain didn¡¯t know. But now it really made sense why Mr. Oren was so impressed with him. It was no wonder why he thought that Zach had been suddenly struck with some kind of stroke of genius. Before his very eyes, Zach watched as Donovan showed a side of himself in battle that Zach had not before seen and could hardly believe. Given that Donovan was a man who wore incredibly heavy armor and tended to deliver slow, powerful blows with his battle-axe, he could never have imagined seeing this kind of ferocity that Donovan was putting on display. Right now, Zach was able to discover exactly what it looked like when Donovan did not hold anything back: when he did not bother to pace himself whatsoever, conserve his energy, or fight with any regard for what might come next. With the same reckless abandon that Zach himself had just displayed, Donovan whirled his axe around and chopped apart the dragon with such lethal fury it was as awesome as it was frightening. The man¡¯s lips were peeled back, his teeth bared, and with such a frenetic, out-of-place speed, he hacked and hacked and hacked away, ripping apart the dragon¡¯s flesh so fast his axe appeared a blur, growling as he bashed its head in over and over, causing so much blood to splatter all over his armor he was practically painted red. ¡°All those people, you fuckin¡¯ bastard,¡± he growled as he bashed the hissing, whining, immobilized dragon over the head. ¡°All those children!¡± Zach, too, joined him, screaming out his rage as he began ripping the dragon apart. And then came the arrows. And then came the magic. And with the dragon¡¯s resistances and defenses now lowered, it opened up other mages to cast other debuffs, which Zach had never even thought could happen. One by one, more down arrows began to appear. And then Ziragoth¡¯s mouth and nose¡ªwhatever little was left of it¡ªturned purple as though poisoned. While this was happening, an army of melee DPS wielding every manner of weapon began occupying the space all around Zach, attacking it. Before Zach even fully realized what was happening, every last adventurer, political guild member, and Elf turned all their fire onto the dragon. Even with a handful of adds still left alive, the tanks also joined in. In the span of mere moments, they went from a raid to an organized mob, conducting a ruthless, merciless beatdown on a never-before seen scale. Kalana, Mr. Oren, Alixa, even Fluffles, Chumpkenwiffles, Fylwen, Peter, and Grundor: everyone seemed to appear in a gigantic ring around Ziragoth, and everyone vented their disgust and outrage onto it. But also their fear and their desire to live to tomorrow. Thanks to the debuffs, everyone was now able to contribute. And though it was Donovan and Zach who did the majority of the damage, the combined force of all the others contributed massively to the effort. As Zach ripped his sword across the dragon one time after the next, he eyed the dragon''s HP in the corner of his vision, and he saw it begin to decrease fast: very, very fast. He was striking for over 300,000 damage a hit, and he was hitting multiple times in one second. The same was true of Donovan, who struck for over 200,000. Everyone else did between one and fifteen thousand depending on the attack. "We can actually kill it!" Zach screamed triumphantly. "We have the time! Don''t stop until your arms fall off!" "He''s right!" Donovan yelled in agreement. "Attack it until you pass out. Just don''t stop!" After so many setbacks and so much suffering, it was almost too difficult to believe. Could this really be the chance to end the nightmare? He wondered if this was some kind of trap or illusion. He assumed it couldn''t possibly end in these mad, wild ten seconds. But the more its HP decreased, the more he realized that this was really, truly happening. If they were able to keep up this level of damage, they would actually kill it. And everyone seemed to realize this. The sense of exhilaration and urgency could be felt in the air. Everyone understood: with the few seconds they still had left, they could save the world and everyone they loved. All they had to do was lash out with the ferocity of a murderer having a temper tantrum. They needed to keep going. They couldn''t stop for even a millisecond. With the fate of the world on their shoulders, and the lives of everyone and everything in the palms of their hands, they bashed and slashed and kicked and chopped and hacked and ripped and tore and spat and screamed¡ªuntil finally, when the stun had worn off, they were left with something no longer even recognizable as a dragon lying unmoving by their feet. And yet, even still, they all continued to cut it into even more pieces, likely due just as much to fear as to anger. Zach was no mind reader, but he was fairly sure that no one wanted to take any chances with what was quite possibly the most terrifying thing many of them might ever encounter. That was why, even after having already been reduced to mush, a series of lightning bolts, boulders, meteors, ice spears, and dozens of other weirdly shaped or weirdly colored things continued falling out of the sky, tearing the dragon into even more and more pieces. It was a frenzy. And it was beautiful. Never, had Zach felt so wonderful doing something so violent. Even Kalana was covered in the blood of the dragon, having every reason of her own to hate it. One day, Zach would come to learn that there had been eight possible combinations that could have been used to defeat the dragon. And it had been him, of all people, who had discovered the second most powerful of the eight, even if by accident. But for now, Zach, having worn himself out, sheathed his blade and wept openly as he saw that they had finally succeeded. Actually, they¡¯d succeeded some time ago, and like the others, he had continued to vent his anger and hatred long after the point of victory. But at last, he was well and truly spent.
HP 0/25,000,000
Name (T10) Ziragoth the Awoken
Level 70
¡°We did it,¡± he said, grabbing Kalana and pulling her into a hug. ¡°We actually did it.¡± He sobbed. She sobbed. And then his tears dried immediately and his mood changed on a dime, as whatever remained of the dragon exploded with a loud squish, causing untold amounts of blood, guts, and gore to fire upwards into the air. Yet when it all rained back down just a few seconds later, it came back to them as something far, far different: and better. Every head glanced upwards, countless mouths popped open widely in surprise, ¡°oohs¡± and ¡°aahs¡± and gasps could be heard aplenty, and Zach wondered if his eyes were glowing with greed as an absolute torrential downpour: a veritable mountain of shining, glimmering loot began to rain down on them like a storm of treasure. Several of the mages actually had to be shielded by tanks as some of it was quite large, sharp, or heavy. There were items, weapons, armor, hundreds of card-shaped pieces of metal, hundreds of roundish, egg-shaped pieces of plastic, and finally, they became bathed in what looked like tens of millions of gold. Yet no one spoke a word as it poured down on their blood-soaked bodies; it was as if they were all sharing a moment of pure, collective awe. Even after the last golden coin had fallen down, there was a period of silence. And then it was Alixa who broke it. The woman snapped her fingers and said, ¡°Fluffles, drop it! Bad!¡± ¡°No!¡± Fluffles said with angry meow. He was back to his normal size, and he had a pair of gloves in his mouth as though he were trying to steal it. What good what that even be to him? ¡°Drop it, Fluffles! That¡¯s bad!¡± ¡°Not bad! Alixa mind own business. Zach say all the treasure belong to Fluffles. Right, Zach?¡± Zach opened his mouth to reply, but he released only a cough and a choking gasp as it was in this moment that his Unleashed Phase came to an end. His knees gave, his chest began to ache, and he fell backwards, causing Fylwen to rush over and catch him just before he hit the ground. A moment later, he fainted in her arms, but not before weakly reaching out for a piece of loot and failing to grab it. ¡°Treasure,¡± he muttered as he lost consciousness. ¡°I want¡­all of it.¡± The nightmare was over. Chapter 104: The Kings Court Chapter 104: The King''s Court Eilea needed to sit down. Her mind and heart were both still racing from the stressful, nerve-wracking, but ultimately cathartic series of events that had transpired. Today had really been a rough day as far as her sanity was concerned. Thus, making her way over dilapidated floorboards and over to the old, dusty, cobweb-ridden throne, she took a seat and smiled at Francis, who moved closer to join her. ¡°Thank God,¡± he said. ¡°That could¡¯ve gone a whole lot worse. You were right, Eilea. He did it.¡± She nodded. But then her smile faded, and her moment of joy and relief proved to be short-lived. She was reminded that things only seemed so positive because of how dire the situation had been. As though taking note of her change in expression, Francis himself now frowned. ¡°What is it? What¡¯s wrong?¡± She sighed. ¡°This isn¡¯t good, Francis. There¡¯s even more work to be done than I realized.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Having long become accustomed to living in such repugnant conditions, Eilea was no longer bothered by the grimy, dusty, bug-ridden headrest of what had long-ago been a glamorous throne. She sat back in it and briefly closed her eyes, reflecting on all she had seen. Reopening them a moment later, she met Francis¡¯s gaze. ¡°Ziragoth the Awoken is a T10 boss,¡± she said. ¡°But a T10 boss of a T1 world. In the grand scheme of things, it is nothing. Adamus, for all his cruelty, did not design Ziragoth to pose an imminent threat to life itself. The fact that Galterrans only narrowly survived an apocalypse means they have so much ground they need to make up before the World Eater spawns.¡± ¡°I don''t understand,¡± Franics said, becoming visibly alarmed. ¡°No Galterran in the entire history of the system has ever ventured to a T2 or higher planet,¡± she explained. ¡°The Great Ones have created wonders and works of art that would make even the heartless weep, and not a single Galterran has ever laid eyes on any of it. Not even you, Francis.¡± ¡°Well, we tried,¡± Francis said, now sounding somewhat defensive. ¡°If not for Moldark, we would have completed the quest that opens the gate to Albion-4. That aside, you made the requirements to reach a higher-tier planet too steep.¡± ¡°Me?¡± Eilea asked, frowning. ¡°No, not me. Adamus did.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± he whispered. She waved her hand apologetically, realizing she¡¯d been a bit snippy. ¡°No, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m just anxious about the future. The World Eater spawns in five years, and the Galterrans aren¡¯t anywhere near ready. They¡¯re too low level, and they¡¯ve just barely survived a near-extinction event to a bland, straight-forward boss.¡± ¡°Meaning¡­the dragon?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Francis tilted his head as though confused. ¡°What do you mean by that? Are we talking about the same dragon?¡± ¡°Yes, Francis. I understand your confusion, though. You¡¯ve never seen what¡¯s out there, so you have no frame of reference.¡± Eilea drew a breath as she attempted to explain. ¡°Even a T1 boss on a T2 planet has more tricks up its sleeve than a T10 boss on a T1 planet. Ziragoth had nothing more than raw power and its adds.¡± ¡°What else¡­what else is there?¡± At this, Eilea chuckled. ¡°Everything.¡± ¡°Everything?¡± ¡°Yes¡ªeverything. Debuffs, crowd control, poisons, environmental hazards¡­there are even bosses that require puzzle solving. Mechanically, Galterran bosses are tame and simple. They are uncomplicated. Beginning with Albion-4, things start to become more challenging. Some bosses require quests to be completed to take beyond a certain threshold of health. There are bosses that actually consist of thousands of smaller mobs. What you¡¯ve seen on Galterra is just a slice of the world Adamus envisioned in his mind, and the World Eater, which we did not create, is more powerful than anything he ever dreamt up. In five years, the Galterrans are going to have to catch up to thousands of years of stalled progress.¡± Francis fixed her with a hard, unblinking stare as though deeply reflecting on her words. Then, with a determined, confident nod, he said, ¡°But you believe we can do it, don¡¯t you?¡± And now, once more, Eilea smiled. ¡°I do. I believe it can be done.¡± ¡°What would it take?¡± ¡°A few-thousand people sufficiently leveled and geared. But for that to happen, someone is going to need to open the gate, and for that to happen, things might become ugly.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid so,¡± Francis whispered. Now, the man looked like he himself needed to sit down. ¡°There is no way of bringing about that level of cooperation without force. I despise violence, but¡­it must be done.¡± Eilea yawned. ¡°It¡¯s early in the morning, but down here, it¡¯s always dark. I may need to rest.¡± Francis nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll return later, then. There¡¯s a man I¡¯d like to speak with, at any rate.¡± As he backed away, something within Eilea spurned her on. Hastily, she jumped up to her feet and darted forward, grabbing his hand. Het let her take it. ¡°There¡¯s only one clean place in the entirety of this filthy tomb I¡¯ve been buried in. Keeping it tidy is a daily effort. From the moment I was locked away here, I chose a single, humbly sized room and spent years turning it into something half decent.¡± Obviously confused, Francis bowed his head. ¡°That¡¯s¡­good, I suppose. Why do you mention this?¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Eilea felt her face redden. ¡°Would you like to see it?¡± Francis looked at her, and then he grinned. ¡°I¡¯ll take a look.¡± And with that, she led him to her bedroom. ***** Sir Alistair Morrison lowered his finger to press the ¡°end call¡± button on his phone, which was laid flat around a large marble dining table in his headquarters located in central Shadowfall Coast. With that, he turned his attention to the nine high-ranking members of the Guild of Gentlemen, four of whom sat to his left and four to his right, with one seated across. They were his men well and truly: sworn to him through an oath of blood. He trusted them in a way he could trust no other. For that reason, he could speak freely only among those in this room. At the other end of the table and sitting directly opposite to him, wearing a white military coat adorned with various medals and a ceremonial sword at his side, was Major Kenth Baxtra, the leader of the 131st brigade responsible for defending the city¡¯s ports from attack. He was also Alistair¡¯s most trusted military advisor. It had been so many years since humans had last needed to form a conventional army for conventional warfare. Thankfully, Major Baxtra had learned much from the historical documents, and he was instrumental in helping prepare the city for the coming siege. ¡°What I am about to say cannot leave this room,¡± Alistair said. He was immediately given a round of affirmatives from the people around him. They understood what was at risk. He had made certain that they did. Alistair paused a moment to choose his words carefully. Yet no matter how long he thought on them, he realized there would be no easy way to sugarcoat what had to be said. And thus, he decided to be blunt and straightforward. As it so happened, that was his preferred way of communicating as it were. It was his comfort zone. ¡°The nuclear warhead has now been completed,¡± he said. ¡°And thanks to the extra time, our scientists have learned how to replicate it. It will take months to build a second ICBM, but rest assured, humanity will persevere.¡± There were nods of approval from all nine of his men. Major Baxtra grunted. ¡°Sir Morrison,¡± he said, ¡°how long can we keep this information from getting out?¡± ¡°As long as required,¡± he replied. ¡°I trust your judgement, Sir Morrison. I always have. But the king is going to become a problem before long.¡± At this, Alistair released a saddened, bitter sigh. There was simply no excuse for King Brayspark¡¯s behavior. The men in this room had dedicated their entire lives to protecting humanity. They had sacrificed so much in the pursuit of human greatness. And now, when the Guild of Gentlemen faced its greatest crisis since its creation, their king was choosing to be soft, weak, and incapable of seeing basic logic. ¡°Have you tried to convince him, Sir Morrison?¡± one of his officers asked. At this, Alistair gave a firm nod. ¡°Many times. But the king has now become so stubborn he won¡¯t even entertain the discussion. In his last transmission, he ordered me to destroy the weapon and bury it.¡± This elicited groans from the officers and Major Baxtra. ¡°Does he want us to lose?¡± the major asked. ¡°Does he want us to roll over and let some fucking Gnome walk around on our streets, eat our food, and sleep in our beds?¡± Though Alistair did not personally hold much disdain towards other races, it could not be denied that the vast majority of Shadowfall Coast¡¯s citizens did. Sure, they made some exceptions, such as for Kalana Vayra, who was quite popular, but when it came to the Dwarves, Orcs, Gnomes, and the Lizardmen, in particular, there was nothing short of outright hatred. Under no circumstance would they ever allow the Royal Roses to rule the city. Thus far, the Royal Roses had allowed Orcish refugees from the recent volcanic eruption and Lizardmen tribal exiles to flood into the cities they controlled. That would not be acceptable here. They even had a Goblin and an Orc in their officer rank. And from the sound of it, now they had a Gods-cursed zombie, too. ¡°I¡¯m afraid so,¡± he said after a brief moment. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what will happen.¡± ¡°This is betrayal!¡± the major snapped. ¡°That weapon is all we have. How can he side with a fucking cavern demon!¡± At this, even some of his officers shifted uncomfortably in their seats. The term ¡°cavern demon¡± was just about the single-most racist term that could ever be used on the Gnomish people. It was a pejorative that hailed from the days when Gnomes would live in underground, cavernous kingdoms built far beneath Galterra¡¯s surface. Of course, today, Gnomes lived in cities and towns hardly dissimilar to those dwelled in by members of humanity. The chief difference being, of course, their ceilings were lower to accommodate their smaller stature. Although it was not common knowledge that Vim Alazar was half Gnome, a great many ordinary citizens suspected it, and in truth, it was hardly a very well-kept secret. According to privately conducted polling data from Giant¡¯s Fall and Spider¡¯s Eye Oasis, 89% of the citizens who lived there stated that they would not care if Vim Alazar was revealed to have Gnomish blood. Among those living in the Guild-of-Gentlemen-controlled territories Tomb of Fire and Shadowfall Coast, 92% said that they would care. For this reason, it was only natural that their two guilds had perpetually maintained such awful relations throughout the years. It wasn¡¯t just the guilds themselves that hated each other, but the citizens hated each other too. This was unusual in guild politics and almost unheard of historically speaking. It was not difficult to imagine a situation in which conventional warfare spiraled out of control, and millions of humans began to fight millions of other humans. This was not an escalation that could be tolerated, and it was yet another reason why the weapon was needed: to bring a quick, decisive, and permanent end to hostilities before they could be allowed to grow. ¡°Believe me, Major,¡± Alistair said. ¡°I fully understand your frustration. That is why I have taken it upon myself to ignore those orders. For the good of humanity.¡± Major Baxtra gasped. ¡°You¡­you what?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve ignored them.¡± ¡°But¡­but you can¡¯t just ignore the king.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± At this, Major Baxtra released a small, dark chuckle. ¡°No reason, I guess. Good point.¡± Folding his hands on the table, Sir Alistair Morrison took a moment to meet the eyes of each one of them. ¡°If King Brayspark does not wish to protect his people, then that responsibility falls to us. So let me make a promise to each of you right here and now. If Vim Alazar pushes us too far, we will launch. This city will never be touched by Gnomish hands.¡± ¡°How can we be sure the weapon will even work?¡± another asked. This was one of the easier questions to answer. ¡°The technology was left to us by Moldark the Unbanished. That¡¯s not a name many of you will recognize because you are not cleared to know of him. Let me just say that he was one of humanity¡¯s greatest saviors and leave it at that. He would not have entrusted this to us if it was a dud.¡± ¡°And how powerful is it?¡± ¡°Very. From what my scientists tell me, it has the power to destroy an entire city in the blink of an eye.¡± ¡°Truly?¡± Major Baxtra asked, his eyed widening. Alistair nodded. ¡°I swear it. But most incredibly of all, we can fire it from right here in Shadowfall Coast. If the enemy seems to be gaining the upper hand, we can strike Giant¡¯s Fall directly: likely Ogre¡¯s Axe, the smaller of the two cities. Then we can threaten to strike the primary city if the enemy does not surrender. It is our ace in the hole.¡± ¡°Incredible,¡± the major whispered. ¡°If that¡¯s true, we should launch preemptively.¡± At this, Alistair gave a shake of the head. ¡°No. We must have the proper justification if and when we use this weapon. But mark my words: I am prepared to do this if it is what must be done to protect humanity. And I need to know all of you will stand by me in that event.¡± In unison, his officers and the major voiced their enthusiastic agreement. With any luck, their defenses would hold in the event that the Royal Roses did not reconsider their plans for an invasion. But if they went through with it, and if it truly looked like the city would fall, Alistair was prepared to unleash the gates of hell on Ogre¡¯s Axe and show the world that humanity still had teeth. Hopefully, Peter would not become an issue. Chapter 105: GET’CHA! Chapter 105: GET¡¯CHA! Zach opened his eyes and drew a deep breath. Where was he? His mind was blank, and he blinked several times to rid himself of his blurry vision. It took him a second or two to realize he was lying down, and he could feel someone holding his hand. Craning his neck to look over to his right, he saw the face of Kalana, who beamed a smile down at him and immediately planted a kiss on his lips. At the moment, he appeared to be on some kind of cot in a very large camo-green-colored tent. He was confused, too. There was a small weight on his chest as well, and glancing downward, he saw Fluffles purring and napping on top of him. Instinctually, he pet the cat a few times then turned his attention towards the world around him. ¡°What¡¯s¡­going on?¡± he asked, feeling a bit dazed and out of it. Kalana stroked his hair. ¡°Are you feeling okay?¡± Zach nodded. ¡°I¡¯m just confused. Where are we? How did I get here?¡± Kalana moved her lips as though to explain, but then Zach recalled everything at once. The events that had transpired flooded into his brain, and he took another deep, sudden inhale and asked, ¡°Is it over? Is it really, finally over?¡± In response, Kalana excitedly squeezed his hand¡ªa bit too hard, to be honest¡ªand made a giddy, happy squeak. ¡°It¡¯s really over, baby. We survived. You were so awesome!¡± ¡°So¡­so we¡¯re free now, you and me?¡± ¡°Mhm! Yup!¡± It¡¯s finally over. Oh, thank the Gods! Zach shook his head to clear some of his drowsiness. His brain was becoming less foggy by the moment, and he took a few seconds to really let it all sink in. The dragon was finally dead, and he had his entire summer ahead of him. Kalana was now back in his life, the two were no longer separated, and likewise, there was no longer any big threat¡ªat least not in the immediate present¡ªkeeping them apart or forcing them into some awful nightmare. His mood brightened at the realization of all this, and for the first time in a while, he felt truly happy. ¡°Who brought me here?¡± he asked. ¡°And where even is here? Where are we?¡± ¡°We¡¯re still in the camp,¡± Kalana said. ¡°You¡¯re in the infirmary recovering with everybody else.¡± ¡°How long was I out?¡± ¡°A little more than six hours.¡± Zach widened his eyes. ¡°W-what? Six hours? But that means¡­¡± He released a slight yelp. ¡°The loot!¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, relax. We didn¡¯t do it yet.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yah. I¡¯d know if we did it, you dork.¡± Zach breathed out a sigh of relief. ¡°Oh, thank the Gods. Whew. Okay, tell everyone I¡¯m ready to start.¡± Kalana gave him a pinch on the cheek. ¡°We¡¯re actually not gonna do it until tomorrow night.¡± Zach flinched. ¡°Why the hell not?¡± ¡°Alex and the political guilds decided that, um, because of what the public went through, they wanted to invite the media or something tomorrow and put everything on display so that everyone could see it. They¡¯re being like really open about all this. They¡¯re flying in all these fancy tables and glass cases and putting on this really big exhibit, and they¡¯re even gonna let the public enter the camp to come look.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± Zach said. That was not something he expected to hear. ¡°And Donovan¡¯s okay with this?¡± ¡°Well, he didn¡¯t seem really happy at first, but Alex convinced him that, technically, it doesn¡¯t violate any of the rules. I guess there¡¯s nothing in their ¡®law of loot¡¯ that says it has to be rolled on right after the raid. Alex also says this is something that can help people feel happy and give them something to celebrate. He actually cares a lot about the average person, Zach.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know,¡± Zach said, recalling his own experiences with the man. ¡°When we went to rescue you from Varsh, he got mad at me for damaging the stairwell. He¡¯s really big on the whole ethics thing.¡± Zach yawned and stretched his arms out. ¡°Man, I can¡¯t believe I was out for six hours. Your mom must¡¯ve healed me wrong or something.¡± ¡°Nah-uh!¡± Kalana said with an unexpected heat in her voice. Zach was taken aback. ¡°She died healing you.¡± ¡°She what?¡± Zach asked, his body twitching and causing Fluffles to grumble to himself. ¡°What do you mean she¡ª¡± ¡°No, no,¡± Kalana interrupted hurriedly. ¡°She¡¯s okay. Kolona agreed to bring her back even though¡­even though all that stuff happened between them.¡± ¡°But what even happened? How did she die?¡± ¡°After you passed out, she was so exhausted from casting her ability on you so many times that she had to die to pay off your exertion debt, but she still couldn¡¯t get rid of all of it. She actually collapsed right next to you, Zach, and she even begged everybody to heal you first. I was so, so scared, but everyone was saying you guys were gonna be just fine. They had to use a purple and a yellow stone on you. Don¡¯t worry: you don¡¯t gotta pay for them. Lots of people volunteered to donate.¡± ¡°No way,¡± Zach said, a wave of guilt and disbelief crashing into him as he repeated each one of Kalana¡¯s words in his mind. ¡°How can that even be? She looked fine. She was barely even sweating.¡± Kalana lowered her voice somewhat, and her tone became oddly reflective in nature. ¡°I¡¯m still getting to know her after all these years, but¡­I think she¡¯s really good at hiding her pain when she has to. She told me she feels so guilty about what she did. I believe her, too. My dad on the other hand¡­he was trying to get Kolona to let her stay dead.¡± Kalana scrunched up her lips as though annoyed. ¡°Now me and him are having a bit of a fight.¡± She died the same way I did. Zach remembered how terrible it felt to suffer a death via exertion debt. Because of his insistence, Vim had been forced to experience it¡ªhe¡¯d basically demanded it of the man¡ªand now he found out that Fylwen had, too. But why did this bother him so much? If he had been told just two days ago that Fylwen would end up dying a death the same exact way that he had, he would¡¯ve cheered it on. Now, he wanted to find where she was and apologize to her. What was wrong with him? I guess it¡¯s because I¡¯ve seen her good qualities and her bad ones, Zach thought. And I like her good ones too much. She¡¯s so damn reliable when she¡¯s actually on your side. She¡¯s like Donovan in that sense. It really was true, too. When Queen Vayra actually had your back¡ªinstead of trying to put a knife in it¡ªshe was like the best Gods-be-damned ally in the entire world. This much, she¡¯d managed to prove to Zach in a very short time. And that might have even been understating it. She¡¯d given him an amazing weapon and a new suit of gear. She¡¯d stood by his side and helped him battle his father¡¯s murderer. She¡¯d brought him back from the brink of death twice. She¡¯d given him the strength to stand back up to his feet when he¡¯d been cowering in fear. Having someone like her on his side¡ªdare he say it¡ªmight even be worth the horror she¡¯d put him through. Her value was immense and something he needed to remind himself not to take for granted. Having a woman like her choosing to side with him was something he now realized could turn out to be priceless. ¡°I just can¡¯t believe she went through that for me,¡± Zach said. ¡°That¡¯s a lot to take in, Kal. But wait a second. Why didn¡¯t one of the other Elves just heal her? I thought you guys have healing abilities that are superior or something.¡± At this, Kalana shrugged. ¡°I dunno. I¡¯m only first catching up with my people for the first time since I was a little girl. You gotta remember that, until you came through that dungeon yesterday, I hadn¡¯t seen another Elf besides my dad in basically my whole life.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± he whispered. ¡°Forgot about that.¡± She kissed him again. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Anyways, if I had to guess, um, maybe there weren¡¯t any Elvish healers around to heal her. A lot of them died when Ziragoth attacked the wall, and most of them are still knocked out cold.¡± ¡°That makes sense. Olivir once told me that people usually sleep like a whole day after they¡¯ve been resurrected.¡± As Zach continued to take in all the things he¡¯d been told, he was surprised by how badly he wanted to go find wherever Fylwen was right now and give her the tightest hug of all time. Once more, he was left to question how much of that stemmed from him missing his mother. Or was it because of the things she¡¯d told him that she¡¯d endured as a child? That was certainly part of it. Maybe that was even why Kolona had forgiven her enough to bring her back to the world of the living. ¡°Oh, guess what, Zach,¡± Kalana said cheerfully, taking him from his thoughts. ¡°Alex told me nobody on the raid died. Well¡­forever, I mean. Everyone made it! They¡¯re calling it a miracle.¡± Sitting up slowly so as not to disturb Fluffles, Zach inspected his surroundings. Everywhere he looked, he saw various adventurers, political guild members, and about three or four white-cloaked Elvish warriors along with a greater number of greens in various states of recuperation. All things considered, they looked a whole lot better than they had six hours ago. ¡°Incredible,¡± Zach said. ¡°Some of these people were in like fifteen different pieces. You¡¯d never be able to tell that from how they look now.¡± ¡°I know, right? It turns out a single bite from Olivir or my cousin is more powerful than any of the stones. I actually saw people grow their whole body back.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m one of those people,¡± said the voice of Kesten, who Zach hadn¡¯t even realized until now was occupying the neighboring cot right beside him. Zach turned his head towards the sound of his voice, and for the first time, Zach saw Kesten without his leather jacket. He was instead wearing nothing but a gown that looked thrown on more for modesty than medical necessity. ¡°Hey, Kalana,¡± Kesten said, grinning. ¡°Do me a favor.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Ask your cousin if she can bite me a second time.¡± Kalana frowned. ¡°She has a boyfriend, you dope.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know, I¡¯m just kidding,¡± he said with a cackle. Zach scratched his chin. ¡°I didn¡¯t even realize you died during the raid. I guess I must not have seen Ziragoth get you.¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t, actually. Kalana killed me.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Kesten laughed a second time. ¡°Murdered me in cold blood.¡± Kalana folded her arms and made her grumpy face. ¡°You were in two different pieces! You begged me to do it.¡± ¡°I know, I know. I¡¯m just messing with you. Truth is, my mind is all kinds of fucked up right now and I¡¯m trying to hold it all together. Honestly, Zach, I get you now. I really do.¡± The humor left his voice, and his throat briefly expanded as he swallowed a lump that had formed. ¡°I¡¯m gonna visit a shrink as soon as I can next week. I think a lot of us are. The political guilds even offered to pay for mental-health services for every single one of us who participated in the raid. Even the Elvish if they want it.¡± Zach wasn¡¯t sure how to respond. The idea of such a thing always made him feel uncomfortable and weak. It was only because of a deal he¡¯d made with Kalana that he¡¯d even agreed to go along with it in a week or two from now when she¡¯d booked his first ¡°appointment.¡± Still, as hard as he¡¯d had it lately, many of the raid members went through way worse. They¡¯d been ripped apart, burned alive, crushed to death, bled out, torn to pieces¡­it was way worse than his own death, which was almost pleasant by comparison. ¡°You look surprised,¡± Kesten said. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­you¡¯re a pretty tough guy. It¡¯s hard to think of someone like you going to, you know, that.¡± ¡°That?¡± Kalana huffed. ¡°Zach doesn¡¯t even feel comfortable saying the word therapy.¡± Zach twisted his lips. ¡°Not true.¡± ¡°Oh yeah? Then say it. Say the word ¡®therapy¡¯.¡± Raising his fist to his mouth, he released a cough at the same time he said, ¡°Ughhrrrupy.¡± ¡°See?¡± she asked, turning her eyes on Kesten. ¡°Please explain to Zach it¡¯s not unmanly to see a therapist.¡± ¡°Zach,¡± Kesten began, his tone earnest. ¡°She¡¯s right.¡± He rolled his eyes. ¡°We¡¯ll talk about it later.¡± Kalana leaned in closer and eyed him skeptically. He could tell that she still wasn¡¯t convinced that he was going to keep his end of the deal. In truth, he was already thinking about ways to get out of it. Gods, he so didn¡¯t want to have to sit through something like that. ¡°You better keep your promise,¡± she warned. ¡°I will.¡± ¡°You better.¡± ¡°Like I said. I will, okay?¡± Averting his eyes, he lowered his voice to just above a whisper. ¡°But¡­you know¡­it wouldn¡¯t be the worst idea ever to let me off the hook after everything that¡¯s happened.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± He pointed to himself. ¡°I made peace with your mom¡ªand actually like her now¡ªand got to witness Ziragoth die. I¡¯m basically healed. All my problems are over with now. Whatever was messing me up before¡ªthat¡¯s all in the past.¡± ¡°Trauma doesn¡¯t work like that.¡± ¡°It does, though. Don¡¯t get me wrong: I¡¯ll still do it because I promised, but I¡¯m just saying, like¡­if we¡¯re being honest about it, there¡¯s basically no point now. I can feel that I¡¯m fine again. It¡¯s like nothing bad ever happened.¡± She extended her pointer finger and poked him in the chest. ¡°That¡¯s not how it works. Do you really think you¡¯re okay now just ¡®cause you drenched yourself from head to toe in the blood of your enemy?¡± With a nervous swallow, Zach said, ¡°Actually, yeah.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re not.¡± He moaned. This was such an uncomfortable conversation. This was the last thing he wanted to talk about right now. Thankfully, of all people, it was his cat who saved him from having to endure another moment of it. With a yawn and a stretch, Fluffles lifted his head. Then he immediately became excited and hyper. ¡°Zach!¡± he said with a meow. ¡°Look what Fluffles get!¡± The cat stood up on his chest then remained completely still for a moment. Confused, Zach opened his mouth to ask what Fluffles wanted to show him. But then he saw it. Out of nowhere, words just simply appeared midair right above the cat¡¯s head. Fluffles Ultdern the Dragon Slayer ¡°Whoah, cool!¡± Zach exclaimed. ¡°How did you¡­how can you do that?¡± ¡°I can do it too,¡± Kalana said. And then she did. Kalana Vayra the Dragon Slayer. ¡°How are you guys doing that?¡± he asked them, amazed. Kalana snickered. ¡°Here ya go, Zach.¡± And before uttering another word, she leaned over the side of the chair she was sitting in as though to grab something off the floor. Then she put two items down on Zach¡¯s stomach below where Fluffles was sitting. ¡°Since the dragon dropped exactly 535 of each of these items,¡± she explained, ¡°everybody agreed it meant that we were all supposed to get one of each and nobody has to roll for it.¡± Zach¡¯s lips formed into an o-shape. Loot! Gods! It was loot! He picked up the two items she¡¯d given him, one in each hand. The first item was something roughly the shape of a card, but it was made of a silver, highly reflective metal, one that had a sort of prismatic shine when moved around. And etched into it in a way that could be felt with his finger was ¡°+2.¡± The other item was a flimsy-feeling piece of plastic in the shape of an egg. ¡°Crush that,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Just do it. Trust me.¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°Uh, okay.¡± Seeing no reason not to trust Kalana, he did what she said. He crushed the egg in his hand. Predictably, it broke into a whole bunch of pieces, but then those pieces vanished, and the moment they disappeared completely, something popped up before his eyes.
TITLE UNLOCKED Dragon Slayer
¡°Ohh, cool!¡± ¡°There are two ways you can put that on,¡± Kesten said. ¡°You can either do the shoulder-tapping thing and check the new option under equipment, or you can conjure forward the title menu. Olivir¡¯s the one who told us.¡± ¡°Olivir?¡± Kesten nodded. ¡°Yeah, he was the only person on the entire raid¡ªincluding the Elves¡ªwho¡¯d ever even heard of such a thing as a title before. We were shocked, honestly. We just never knew something like this existed.¡± ¡°Does it do anything?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think so. The vampire kid said it¡¯s just for show.¡± ¡°He¡¯s actually like hundreds of years old,¡± Zach said. ¡°But yeah, it¡¯s still pretty cool. I don¡¯t know if I feel like ¡®wearing¡¯ it right now, though. Something tells me every single last political guild person has it on, and that makes it feel played out despite me just learning about it five seconds ago.¡± Kesten released a laugh. At the same time, Kalana nodded and Fluffles meowed in agreement; this, as both dismissed their titles, the words disappearing from above their heads. ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡± Kalana asked, sounding genuinely impressed. ¡°About the political guilds, I mean.¡± Zach chuckled. ¡°It just seems like the kind of thing they¡¯d do.¡± Honestly, he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the vast majority of political guild members left that title up twenty-four-seven. He would bet on it, actually. They¡¯d probably eat with it, sleep with it, shower with it, and they¡¯d definitely have sex while it was still on top of their heads. For the rest of their entire lives, they¡¯d probably walk around with their name and the words ¡°dragon slayer¡± permanently on display everywhere they went. Hell, that title alone probably now made the majority of them feel like the raid was worth it. Zach was sure of it. Unlike the adventurers, they wanted public approval and attention. Zach laughed out loud, and upon receiving a questioning look from Kalana and Kesten, he explained to them what he¡¯d just been thinking. This caused them both to laugh as well, as each of them seemed to agree. There¡¯s no way they ever remove those titles. Gods, this is probably the best day of their lives. Even the ones who died are probably going to wake up later and cry tears of joy. I bet they can¡¯t wait to stroll through crowded city streets just so people will look and see that they¡¯re dragon slayers. Ah well. They earned it, I guess. Putting his attention on the other item, he lifted up his hood, pulling it over his head, which granted him his increased helm sight level; then, with the metal card in his hand, he called forward the information on it, sending the item¡¯s description to the center of his vision.
Name Level Up! +2
Item Level 80
Description Upon use: immediately raises the user¡¯s level by 2. All existing experience points prior to use are saved and carried over to the user¡¯s new current level. Cannot be used at level 80 or higher. If used at level 79, only one level will be granted.
¡°This is awesome,¡± Zach said, reading it over multiple times approvingly. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this. Two free levels. Amazing! I guess this is why we didn¡¯t get any xp just for killing the boss.¡± Kalana smiled at him. ¡°It¡¯s cool, right? Are you gonna save yours?¡± Zach gave her a thumbs-up. ¡°Definitely. It doesn¡¯t even make sense for me to use it now. I¡¯ll regret it later. What about you?¡± ¡°I might wait until I¡¯m 78,¡± Kalana said. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can wait that long,¡± Zach admitted. ¡°Sucks for anyone who¡¯s already over¡­¡± His words trailed off as a thought came to him, and then a rush of excitement flew into his stomach. Zach happened to know someone who could not use this item and thus would have no use for it. ¡°Kal, where¡¯s your mom?¡± Of all things, she glared at him. ¡°You¡¯re not getting her item!¡± ¡°H-how¡¯d you know I was¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s ¡®cause you¡¯re so greedy, Zach. She gave you so much stuff and you want more.¡± ¡°Okay, but to be fair, Kal, she can¡¯t even use it.¡± ¡°Yah, I know. That¡¯s why she gave it to me.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Zach said, scratching an itch behind his ear and releasing an embarrassed half-chuckle. ¡°Okay, well, that makes sense, then. You¡¯re getting way too defensive. Sheesh. Anyway, enjoy the four free levels.¡± ¡°Two levels,¡± Kalana said. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna use the one my mom gave me.¡± A sudden rush of indignation slammed into Zach. ¡°The hell do you mean by that? Wait, are you giving it away to someone else? Seriously? Okay, look. If anyone gets it, it should be me. I did way more work than anyone else, and I wasn¡¯t going to pull that card, but since it came up, I mean, I did kind of do the most out of everyone, and not only that, but¡ª¡± ¡°Zach, stop,¡± she said, somewhat angrily. ¡°I¡¯m not giving it away either.¡± ¡°Well then what the hell?¡± He threw up his arms in a gesture of outrage. ¡°Why do you even care, then? You might as well let me have it. Why would you even want it?¡± ¡°Because,¡± she said, frowning at him, ¡°it¡¯s the first present my mom ever gave me in my entire life, and I want to keep it forever.¡± Zach slammed his mouth shut. He¡¯d been about to say something, but it ended in a quick, high-pitched croak. Oh, fuck, Zach thought. Oh, boy did I step in that one. How do I even begin to get my foot out of my mouth this time? ¡°That was a test,¡± he said. ¡°You passed.¡± Kalana rolled her eyes at him. ¡°You gotta stop being so greedy. This is actually really important to me. My mom gave it to me, and I don¡¯t have anything else from her. So, I wanna put this in a frame and cherish it. It¡¯s a memory now that I¡¯ll always have. We defeated a dragon together. Maybe it¡¯s not the usual kinda¡¯ memory a girl has with her mom, but it¡¯s a start.¡± After a brief period of silence, Zach took her hand and apologized. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said. ¡°But I¡¯ve always been really greedy, and you know that.¡± ¡°Yeah, but you should try to be more generous.¡± Yawning and hoping to change topics, Zach asked, ¡°Are you hungry? We were supposed to go to Angelica¡¯s tonight with Olivir and Kolona. That was always the plan if we won, right? Do you still want to?¡± She beamed at him. ¡°Yup! I sure do. Olivir told me an hour ago actually that if you¡¯re still up for it tonight they¡¯ll come with us whenever you feel ready. But this time, I don¡¯t wanna rush. I wanna wear something nice.¡± Zach let out a moan. ¡°Kal, that means five hours with you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t care! I wanna look decent.¡± More quietly, but with a level of defensiveness, she added, ¡°And I don¡¯t take five hours, thank you very much.¡± She¡¯s so cute sometimes, he thought. He couldn¡¯t help but pick on her. Even now, after becoming a globally recognized and accepted princess of an entire race, she was still just the same old Kal in his eyes. At any rate, lying back in the cot, he decided he¡¯d check out his new ability while he still had the chance. With his eyes pointed up towards the roof of the tent, he willed forward the information so that it appeared directly above him. It was kind of like lying down and holding a cell phone up while texting someone in bed, only it was hands-free, and he couldn¡¯t doze off and drop it on his face.
Inner Ability (LEGENDARY UNIQUE) Gacha Get¡¯cha
Exertion Cost None
Cooldown 1 week / 604,800 seconds
Description This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. This ability may be used 3 times and does not enter cooldown until all 3 are used. Upon activation, Gacha Get¡¯cha conjures one item at random from all valid, non-crafted items that have ever existed. This includes mob drops, boss drops, field treasures, quest items, limited-time event items, crafting items, and dungeon keys. The cooldown cannot be reset by other abilities (Confliction Level: Z) (there are no instances in which this cooldown may be reset by any other items, abilities, spells, or effects outside of those contained here). The cooldown on Gacha Get¡¯cha can only be refreshed early by increasing the cooldown from one week to one month. Or from one month to one year. Or from one year to ten years. Or from ten years to one-hundred years. If Gacha Get¡¯cha has a cooldown longer than one week and generates an item of ¡°legendary¡± or higher rarity, the cooldown is reset immediately and will revert back to one week following 3 more uses.
¡°Wow,¡± Zach said, immediately drawing the attention of Kalana and Kesten. ¡°You guys gotta see this.¡± ¡°See what?¡± Kesten asked. ¡°Yeah, see what, Zach?¡± ¡°Join my party.¡± Even though Kesten was not exactly in the circle of people Zach had put his total trust in, this was not the kind of ability he thought could pose him in any danger if discovered by others. It was ¡°cool¡± more than it was anything else. For this reason, he didn¡¯t mind showing Kesten. And so, the two of them having joined his party, he watched as they both began to read it over where it floated in the air above Zach¡¯s chest. They actually had to bend their necks back at uncomfortable-looking angles to read it, yet Zach was too lazy to sit up. And besides, it would disturb Fluffles, who was once more napping. ¡°That¡¯s amazing,¡± Kesten said. ¡°I just don¡¯t understand how you get abilities like these. This shouldn¡¯t even be possible. I¡¯ve genuinely never seen anything like this before.¡± ¡°It¡¯s so cool!¡± Kalana said. ¡°Are you gonna use it? You gotta.¡± Zach laughed. ¡°I might as well.¡± ¡°But don¡¯t go resetting it and getting addicted to it,¡± she said. ¡°It feels like gambling. I can definitely see you resetting it if you don¡¯t get anything you like. Then you¡¯ll cry to me later that you have to wait 100 years to use it again.¡± Zach wanted to disagree with her, but she was right. He was definitely the kind of person who would reset the ability over and over again until he¡¯d screwed himself and never got to use again for a century, assuming he could even live that long. Then again, he just might. People who leveled up got to live a whole lot longer than those who didn¡¯t. Another bit of unfairness to it all, he supposed. Licking his lips greedily, he said, ¡°I¡¯m going to use it. Ready?¡± ¡°Do it, do it!¡± Kalana cheered a bit too loudly. Then she apologized to the man sleeping on the cot behind her, who Zach recalled had had his limbs ripped off by the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth mobs. Now, filling with enthusiasm, Zach dismissed the ability information screen then once more sat up extra carefully so as not to wake Fluffles. With that, he activated Gacha Get¡¯cha, and right away, the ability began to take form. Materializing in the air before him and floating above the cot, a golden slot machine the size of a cash register simply popped into existence¡ªand then remained there, perfectly stationary, doing absolutely nothing. Wow, he thought. It looks so cool. Aside from the frame being made of what looked like pure gold, it had a big, red, circular handle on its right side, and a colorful screen, behind which looked like 2 different rows, inside of each were tiny little symbols. On the left row, Zach could spot what looked like a brown satchel with a string, a sword, a shield, a suit of armor, a cartoonish picture that looked like a giant steak, a ring, and finally a gold coin. Taking what was purely just a guess, Zach assumed it stood for item, weapon, defensive weapon, armor, food, accessory, and money. The second row, on the other hand, contained the letter ¡°C¡± with a white background, ¡°U¡± with a green background, ¡°R¡± with a blue background, ¡°ER¡± with a purple background, ¡°LGD¡± with a gold¡ªand star-studded¡ªbackground, ¡°ART¡± with a silver, shimmering background, and then ¡°LGDART¡± with a pure black background. From what Rian had taught him, he took this to mean common, uncommon, rare, epic rare, legendary, artifact, and¡­and the last one, he had no idea. There wasn¡¯t supposed to be anything after artifact quality. So it was anyone¡¯s guess what the hell ¡°LGDART¡± was supposed to mean. But more importantly, why was nothing happening? The machine was just remaining stationary, floating in the air in front of him. ¡°Umm¡­¡± Zach stared at it expectantly, waiting for it to produce an item or at least do something. When nothing happened after several more moments, he scratched his head. ¡°I think it¡¯s broken.¡± Kesten rubbed his chin. ¡°Maybe you need to pull the lever, Zach.¡± ¡°Oh, shit, good idea. Duh.¡± He laughed at his own stupidity. Though, in fairness, why would he just naturally assume he could physically interact with an ability like this? He¡¯d certainly never seen anything that functioned in such a way before. Hell, he could hardly believe this was even possible, let alone come to the natural assumption it required his own, physical input. Especially since it didn¡¯t say so on the ability description. But whatever. He liked it better this way. With a grin, he reached out, placed his hand over the right side of the floating, cash-register-sized slot machine, gripped the big red lever, and then pulled. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding-ding-ding-ding-ding! Kalana clapped her hands together with glee as the machine began making loud, casino-like dings while playing an electronic jingle that made a playful ¡°bu-du-du-du-bu-du-du-du¡± sound. The two rows also began to spin, causing every symbol to blur together. At the same time, two buttons that Zach hadn¡¯t realized existed until now lit up with a brownish-grey light just below the spinning rows. ¡°Have you ever gambled at a casino before, Zach?¡± Kesten asked. ¡°Uh, no. I¡¯m not old enough yet to be let in the door, and even if I was, I¡¯m from Whispery Woods, Kesten¡ª I¡¯ve never even seen a real casino.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all good. So, basically, you have to push that button when you want the spinning to stop,¡± he explained. ¡°But usually, it doesn¡¯t matter when you do it. I¡¯ve got no idea how your ability works, but in the real world, it¡¯s just for show. It knows what you¡¯re going to get from the moment you spin by generating a random number.¡± Zach made a ¡°hm¡± sound and briefly raised his eyebrows. Then he pressed the first light on the left. The row of spinning symbols stopped instantly when the button was pressed, landing on the picture of the brown satchel with a string. ¡°An item, I bet,¡± Kalana said. Then she squeaked. ¡°This is so exciting. I love your ability!¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Zach said. ¡°But let¡¯s hope I don¡¯t get something shitty.¡± Nervously, he placed his finger over the second button. The last thing he wanted to do was land on white¡ªor ¡°C¡± for common. He became somewhat dazed as he watched it spin over and over and over again. He wanted to land on silver or at least gold. The highest-rarity item he had on him was purple¡ªepic rare¡ªand it was the sword Fylwen had given him. The idea of actually getting something legendary or better made his stomach flutter with butterflies of anticipation. ¡°Here I go,¡± he said. And with that, he pressed the button. Straight away, the row stopped spinning. And then Zach hissed aloud, following the sound with a terrible swear word as he landed on C despite trying so hard not to. ¡°Fuck!¡± he shouted. ¡°Don¡¯t be upset, baby,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Maybe you¡¯ll get something good. Just ¡®cause it¡¯s common doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s bad.¡± Even as she was speaking, the machine disappeared into a batch of firework-like sparks, which crackled and woke up about four different people nearby, all of whom seemed too fascinated in Zach¡¯s ability to be angry. Then, as the sparkling, bright, and golden crackling lights faded away, something began to float down towards Zach. It was so light that a passing breeze nearly carried it away and off to the other end of the tent, but Zach managed to reach out and grab it first. ¡°What in the hell is this?¡± he said aloud. In his hand, he held a thin, rectangular strip of paper that looked like a ticket to see a movie or a maybe an entry to a raffle. Curious to find out what he¡¯d gotten, he called forward its information¡ªor at least he was about to. But now that he saw he had gathered a small crowd desperate to know what was going on, he sighed and said, ¡°Fine, you can all join my party. Is there a way I can just make it open so anyone who wants can join?¡± ¡°Just will it so,¡± Kesten said. ¡°Got it.¡± Now, with nine adventurers he didn¡¯t know and another five he did know having all joined his party¡ªwith more approaching each second¡ªZach brought up the information on the item he¡¯d just ¡°won.¡±
Name 1X Meal Coupon (T2 only)
Rarity Common
Item Level N/A
Description Turn this in to Claudine Teresa in central Albion city to receive one free meal. The meal coupon can also be traded for 7 gem points or scrapped for ship parts. Can be sold to any merchant in Albion City for 8000 gold.
¡°Wow, that sucked,¡± Zach said, trying his best not to let his disappointment get him down. ¡°I guess that¡¯s a useless¡ª¡± Just as he was about to dismiss the item information, a chorus of excited voices all broke out simultaneously. As though they were reading something entirely different from Zach, there was an explosion of noise that erupted in the infirmary as adventurers, particularly those from the Explorers Brigade, all began shouting at each other so loudly it caused anyone not completely knocked out to wake up. ¡°Albion-4 is real!¡± someone cried. ¡°Zephyr! Zephyr, you were right!¡± ¡°I always knew it,¡± said Zephyr¡¯s voice from behind Zach, his words coming across as emotional and triumphant. Zach looked over his shoulder, having not even realized that the hooded, charismatic guild-leader with the striking blue eyes and short curly hair was standing right behind him. His chin resting on his left thumb and forefinger, he looked like he was trying to burn every detail in his mind as he seemingly read the item over again and again and again. While this was going on, people began hugging each other, a few shed tears, and Zach was absolutely mind blown by the reaction he was seeing to such a shitty common item that, from the looks of it, was only good for a meal¡ªsomething he could get at Angelica¡¯s any time he wanted. Clearly, he was missing something here. Based on the murmuring coming from Zephyr, it looked like he was now reading the description yet again, for like the tenth time. ¡°Hey, Zephyr,¡± Zach said, drawing his attention. ¡°Do you uh¡­do you just, like, want it? This is totally useless to me. You can just have it.¡± Zach thought the man¡¯s eyes would bulge out of their sockets. ¡°You¡¯re serious? You¡¯ll give that to me?¡± ¡°Uh, yeah, why wouldn¡¯t I? It doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯s worth anything, and I only care about money and power.¡± Zach didn¡¯t realize how poorly his words came across until after he spoke them, but thankfully, nobody seemed to comment on it. ¡°Well, it probably doesn¡¯t have much value in terms of coin,¡± Zephyr said. Then he raised his index finger. ¡°But the information on there is so valuable I couldn¡¯t put a price on it even if I wanted to.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Zach asked, reading it over one last time. ¡°Yeah, I just don¡¯t see it. Here ya go.¡± Zach handed him the ¡°meal coupon.¡± And as though Zach were an old man in a park feeding a pack of hungry ducks, the other adventurers practically fell on top of one another trying to get closer to it. ¡°Okay, seriously, what gives?¡± ¡°I can explain,¡± a familiar voice said to Zach¡¯s left. He turned his head to see who¡¯d spoken to him¡ªand then he smiled with relief. ¡°Spider, you¡¯re okay. Thank the Gods.¡± The large, tough-as-nails man who ranked second-in-command of the GSG elbowed him affectionately in the ribs. ¡°Eh, somehow.¡± ¡°I saw what happened to you. Man, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re all right.¡± ¡°Could¡¯ve been worse.¡± Zach laughed. ¡°Worse than having your arms and legs ripped off and being set on fire?¡± Spider turned over his palms as if to suggest indifference. ¡°Shit happens.¡± That guy is tough as hell, Zach thought. No wonder Donovan made him 2nd in command. ¡°So, why¡¯s everyone going nuts over this lame common item?¡± Zach asked him. At this, Spider became enthusiastic. He pointed upwards as if to the sky. ¡°We¡¯ve never been able to prove this, kid, but the folks in Explorers Brigade have this theory, right? They think there are tiered planets out there, and that all the ones we¡¯ve been to so far have been tier 1.¡± ¡°What makes them think that?¡± ¡°So much shit,¡± Spider said. ¡°Too much to go over. But we¡¯ve been thinking for a long time that there¡¯s a planet called Albion-4 based on a few discreet mentions in some old text. It also only makes sense. Ya see, once people¡ªor humans, at least¡ªget into the 60s, leveling becomes slow as hell. Almost doesn¡¯t even matter what you do. You¡¯re looking at years per level. That¡¯s why we think Albion-4 is what¡¯s supposed to come next. Everything we¡¯ve ever seen makes it seem like we hit a ceiling here and on the other planets we¡¯ve been to.¡± Even as Spider was speaking, an adventurer wearing a heavier set of plate armor than Donovan started pointing at the meal coupon before shouting, ¡°It definitely said city, right? That¡¯s the word it used. What do you think it meant by ¡®city¡¯?¡± This question caused even more giddiness from the Explorers Brigade. ¡°There must be an actual city out there,¡± Zephyr said. ¡°What else could it mean? There must be an entire, giant city that no one has ever seen or stepped foot in. It¡¯s probably filled with all NPCs. Claudine Teresa must be one of them.¡± ¡°Gods, I want to see it so bad,¡± a young female adventurer with a bow on her back said. ¡°You know what you have to do then, don¡¯t you?¡± Zephyr asked. Then he grinned. ¡°You have to explore and find it.¡± This earned him a round of cheers, causing even more people to come strolling over and more people to want to know what was going on. Zach became surrounded in a way that reminded him of the hospital room after he¡¯d first encountered Ziragoth. Sure enough, it wasn¡¯t long at all before Donovan and Mr. Oren came in as though worried about the cause of the commotion. Neither seemed surprised to discover that Zach had once again caused it, but both appeared shocked as Zephyr handed them the meal coupon. ¡°It¡¯s fuckin¡¯ real?¡± Donovan asked. ¡°No way.¡± ¡°You owe me 500g,¡± Zephyr said. ¡°Buddy, I¡¯d give you every gold I have to see it for myself.¡± ¡°Good. I¡¯ll hold you to that, Don. Because now that we know for sure it¡¯s out there, we¡¯re going to try ten times as hard to find it.¡± ¡°Does that say ¡®city¡¯?¡± Mr. Oren asked. ¡°Yep!¡± Like a child¡¯s game of telephone, people kept whispering to those not in the loop what had happened and what Zach¡¯s ability did. Mr. Oren stared at Zach in disbelief after an adventurer Zach didn¡¯t even know explained it to him. ¡°How many more spins do you have?¡± he asked. ¡°Two.¡± ¡°Can I¡­?¡± ¡°Yeah, you can watch.¡± He sighed. ¡°I was actually worried you¡¯d be upset I gave up info on my ability. I know you said not to do that.¡± Mr. Oren shook his head. ¡°That really doesn¡¯t apply to something like this. You don¡¯t want a potential enemy to know what you can use against them in combat. Someone knowing you can do this, my man, does not give away any kind of vital information that could compromise you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s that I was thinking. All right, I¡¯ll spin again.¡± All voices quieted at once as Zach activated Gacha Get¡¯cha. But then the quiet came to an abrupt end the moment the slot machine appeared, and now, like before, came the cheering and expectation. Releasing a small guffaw, Zach pulled the lever and spun the wheel, causing the two stop buttons to light up. For the sake of experimentation, he tried to press the rarity button first¡ªbut it did nothing. This meant he needed to go in order. Here we go. Zach pressed the left button, causing the light to go out and the row to stop spinning. This time, it settled upon the picture of a sword. ¡°A weapon,¡± he said aloud. He couldn¡¯t deny he was enjoying how fun this was. Everyone seemed to like spectating, as well. Kalana grabbed his forearms with both hands and shook him a bit. ¡°You got it, baby. Get something good!¡± Holding his breath, Zach pressed the second button. C ¡°Dammit!¡± he shouted as a chorus of ¡°awwwwwhhhs¡± echoed from behind him. At least it mirrored his own disappointment. Like before, the slot machine vanished, and the infirmary lit up with golden, sparkling, and crackling display of fireworks that soon faded away, and in their wake, a large shadow formed over Zach¡¯s cot. Now, an entire fucking axe began to spin and fall as it dropped straight down on top of him. ¡°Fluffles!¡± he cried, leaning forward and covering the cat reflexively. Thankfully, rather than fall on top of the cot, Donovan reached out and grabbed it midair. ¡°Heh. I¡¯ve had this one before,¡± he said before handing it to Zach.
Name Axe of the Murky Crypt
Rarity Common
Item Level 15
Bonus Damage 100-250
¡°Well, this is garbage,¡± Zach muttered. ¡°Can I have it for my son?¡± a woman asked. ¡°He¡¯s only level 12.¡± ¡°Sure. Fifteen-thousand gold.¡± Kalana slapped his palm. ¡°Zaaaach!¡± He sighed. ¡°Fine, you can just have it.¡± Now, Kalana kissed the spot on his palm she¡¯d slapped. ¡°Better.¡± ¡°Okay, last spin,¡± he said. Activating Gacha Get¡¯cha for the last time¡ªunless he wanted to risk waiting a month, which he was now badly tempted to do, he crossed his fingers for something good. Zach could feel the energy in the room skyrocket with anticipation as the jingle and dings began to play. Even though his odds of getting anything worthwhile appeared to be pretty low, Zach consoled himself with the knowledge he would get to do this every week from now on. It would be something he¡¯d look forward to. Maybe I can even sell spins to people for a huge profit, he thought greedily. For now, though, he eagerly pressed the button on the left, causing an immediate halting to the spinning row. And like it had on the first use, the wheel-like spinning device landed on the picture of the satchel with a string. ¡°An item,¡± he said with a depressed sigh. ¡°Don¡¯t be upset,¡± Kalana said, smiling at him as though to encourage him. ¡°It could be a good one.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see.¡± He pressed the second button. The spinning came to a stop. For a second, it looked like it would halt on white. Then it slipped past it, albeit barely. And now, Zach¡¯s eyes widened as the color gold filled his vision. LGD The explosion of noise was like a bomb made of sound going off¡ªand this time, Zach contributed to it. ¡°Legendary!¡± he shouted. ¡°Holy shit, holy shit! Legendary!¡± He had no idea what it could be, or what use it might have, but he¡¯d never even seen a legendary item before, let alone imagined he¡¯d be getting one any time soon. And this time, when the slot machine vanished, it did so with an even more magnificent display of fireworks, this one lasting significantly longer and including multiple colors, secondary pops, way more crackling, and oddly enough, music playing. Then, finally, it too faded, and now something fell down towards him. ¡°What is this?¡± Zach asked, perplexed. He picked up the item he¡¯d won. It was shaped like¡ªno, it was a horn. It was a brass-colored horn like the kind one might see in an orchestra. ¡°It¡¯s a horn,¡± he said. ¡°No, not a horn,¡± corrected one of the adventurers. ¡°That there¡¯s a bugle.¡± ¡°A bugle?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Ah. All right.¡± Completely clueless as to what good a ¡°bugle¡± would do for him, Zach decided to pull it up and take a look at it. If it was legendary, it had to at least be good for something. And if it wasn¡¯t something Zach needed or cared about, he could at least sell it. As a legendary item, there was no way in hell he was letting Kalana convince him to be charitable. He wanted gold: and lots of it. Millions, maybe! Still, he hoped for something he could use.
Name Call of Kralzek¡¯s Beast
Rarity Legendary
Item Level 85
Description Blow into this item to consume it and learn the ability Summon Kralzek¡¯s Beast.
¡°Not exactly very informative, is it?¡± Zephyr asked. ¡°Why don¡¯t you blow into it, Zach?¡± ¡°Yeah, okay.¡± Zach raised it to his lips. Then, following the item description¡¯s brief instructions, he blew into it like a musical instrument. Multiple gasps came from clearly startled adventurers as a sound almost as loud as Ziragoth¡¯s roar filled not just the infirmary but likely the entire camp. Zach wouldn¡¯t be surprised if people going about their business in the city of Shadowfall Coast didn¡¯t also hear it. It was the sound of a war trumpet, and it was deep, booming, and ominous. VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM. Then, just like that, it vanished from his very fingers, and before him, he saw the following.
Summon Kralzek¡¯s Beast Acquired!
Having no idea what that actually meant, Zach decided to see if he could pull it up like an ability, as he wanted to know what it was before taking the risk in using it. Ever since the incident with Doomsday Slash, Zach decided to always read the damn things before he tried calling upon them to prevent causing any unnecessary chaos. I wonder if I should be letting all these people see? he asked himself. But with a calm exhale, he decided it barely mattered anymore. And so, he brought forth the information.
Mount Ability (LEGENDARY) Summon Kralzek¡¯s Beast
Exertion Cost None
Cooldown 1200 seconds
Description Sets Kralzek¡¯s Beast as user¡¯s active war-mount. Only one war-mount and one standard mount may be active at a time. A 24-hour cooldown is applied each time a mount slot is switched. Mounts may be summoned with Summon Active Mount or Summon Active War-Mount. These abilities are unlocked only after the user has acquired one or more mounts. All mounts have a twenty-minute cooldown regardless if they are freely dismissed or killed. This mount may be upgraded by following the quest chain ¡°Kralzek the Conquer.¡± (Level 85+ recommended)
¡°Hey, guys,¡± Zach said. ¡°What¡¯s a war-mount?¡± The silence he got back from the other adventurers was deafening. Glancing over his shoulder, he found the looks on their faces jarring. Even Donovan was staring at Zach as though speechless. This confused him. Why were they acting all strange all of a sudden? ¡°Is anyone going to tell me?¡± ¡°We¡­we got no idea,¡± Donovan said. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of that before.¡± ¡°Wait, seriously?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Zephyr answered. ¡°A war-mount? A mount slot?¡± He inhaled sharply. ¡°How much is there that we don¡¯t know about?¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°No idea. Let¡¯s see what it does.¡± Zach activated Summon Kralzek¡¯s Beast, then flinched as a loud click came from inside his brain, one that he doubted anyone else could hear. And that¡­was pretty much it. Nothing else appeared to happen, which confused him. But upon rereading the ability, this soon made sense as he more carefully went over the description. Oh, right, he thought. That just sets it as my active war-mount, whatever that is. I have to use the ability Summon Active War-Mount now. And so, intrigued and wanting to see what this was, Zach activated Summon Active War-Mount. This time around, something definitely happened all right. Shouts of alarm and surprise came from multiple adventurers. For a reason Zach could not understand, a series of bangs and booms and shattered glass erupted all at once behind him, causing Fluffles to nervously jump off his stomach and Zach to follow suit, leaping out of the cot and spinning around to see just what in the hell was going on. Adventurers were now on the floor as though something had shoved them forcefully out of the way. Many of those who were knocked down were scrambling fearfully away, crawling on their backs as if to gain distance from something. ¡°Th-that thing¡¯s friendly, right?¡± shouted a woman. And then Zach saw it. Standing in the middle of the infirmary, so massive it could barely even fit, was an enormous, behemoth-sized cat with orange, black-striped skin and two humongous saber teeth jutting out of its drooling, ferocious mouth. It was nearly twice as big as Fluffles when the cat transformed, and it was even more intimidating, too. It let out a loud, defiant roar, which caused every adventurer nearby to immediately back away as though afraid of what it might do to them. Yet all it did was simply stand in place. Amazing! Zach thought. No fucking way!
HP 225,000/225,000
Name Kralzek¡¯s Beast
Level 85
Zach marveled at the ¡°war-mount¡± that took up almost all the free space between the two row of infirmary cots in the large tent. He was in absolute awe of it. Was that his? Did that thing actually belong to him? Could he¡­could he ride it? After all, it was called a mount, wasn¡¯t it? Despite the creature apparently being his, Zach was hesitant to get near it or touch it. What if it turned on him and snapped at him? He wasn¡¯t currently in Unleashed Phase, and the beast was level 85. It would bite his face off and kill him instantly. There was no way he could survive an attack from it. Nevertheless, he was so intrigued he risked taking a few steps closer to it, even as Kalana tugged on him gently as though warning him to stay away. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± he said to her. ¡°I don¡¯t think it has a will of its own. It¡¯s like one of my cards, only different somehow.¡± ¡°Be careful,¡± she said. He held out a hand in front of himself as he approached like a trainer attempting to soothe a wild animal. Not that it would matter. This was either going to be a sentient¡ªand dangerous¡ªanimal, or it was going to be something with no mind of its own that posed no threat to anyone Zach did not wish to attack. And with that thought in mind, he came even closer to it. And then closer still. Then, finally, he placed one nervous, shaking hand on top of its head to pet it. It showed no sign that it understood it was being touched or cared. It simply continued to drool with its tongue sticking out of its mouth. ¡°Okay,¡± Zach said, petting it some more. ¡°I think this is just a brainless¡ª¡± ¡°Zach betray Fluffles!¡± his other cat shouted furiously. ¡°He pet different cat!¡± A bolt of lighting from within the tent manifested from the roof of it, then streaked down and hit the Kralzek¡¯s Beast for 1,200 damage. Stunned, stupefied, and caught up in a moment of sheer disbelief, Zach watched as the Kralzek¡¯s Beast released a hideously loud roar, bared its teeth, and then blasted itself forward so fast that it knocked over eight different cots and caused eight different people, most of them unconscious, to be flung randomly around the infirmary. Oh, Gods! No! ¡°Fluffles, what have you done?¡± Zach cried. The saber-toothed animal exploded forward past Zephyr and Donovan, who stared at one another in confusion. All at once, a series of crashing, more glass shattering, and the distinct sound of liquid spilling came from one end of the infirmary to the other as tables were knocked over, medical trays were thrown to the floor, and even more unconscious people were tossed around like ragdolls. ¡°Fluffles, run!¡± Zach screamed. Fluffles hopped his way out of the infirmary, and Zach¡¯s mount pursued. Thus, Zach now pursued. Shouting out an apology, he took off at a sprint after the creature, which Fluffles had stupidly aggroed for no damn reason. ¡°Come back!¡± he cried at it, mentally ordering it to return. It did not obey. ¡°Come back, come back!¡± Terror racing in his heart, Zach chased the mount into the hot, humid, early summer evening. Grass flattened beneath his feet as he watched the creature rip apart four tents, accidentally exposing a nude woman from a political guild who covered her top with one hand and bottom with another as Fluffles, then Kralzek¡¯s Beast, then finally Zach raced past her. ¡°Sorry!¡± he shouted. ¡°I never meant for this to happen!¡± The sounds of shouts came from behind him, and before long, Kalana, Kesten, and now Donovan and Zephyr were chasing behind him. ¡°What have you done, Fluffles!¡± he shouted. ¡°Why did you attack it?¡± ¡°Fluffles did nothing wrong!¡± his cat shouted back, leaping over a tent that the war-mount flattened instantly. ¡°Other cat started it and hit first.¡± ¡°It did not!¡± Zach practically shrieked. ¡°Yes! Yes it did!¡± ¡°Zach, what are you doing?¡± Fylwen called out in alarm. ¡°What is that beast and why is it¡ª?¡± Her words cut off as Fluffles jumped into her arms and shouted, ¡°Mean Elf lady save Fluffles.¡± Then, with a yelp, Fylwen was forced to dash backwards and away as the mount unsheathed eight¡ªyes, eight¡ªinch claws and tried to scratch her face off. ¡°What in the name of the Gods is the meaning of this?¡± she cried. ¡°Zach, what have you done this time?¡± ¡°Nothing! It was Fluffles, I swear!¡± Now, Fylwen began dashing away with the cat in her arms while the other cat pursued right on her tail, with Zach right on its tail, and everyone else behind him. And just when Zach thought things couldn¡¯t possibly get any worse, his mount opened its mouth, made a choking sound, and seemingly vomited up a metal, tube-shaped object, which soon revealed itself to be some kind of cannon that fired off explosive shells out of its throat; each time it fired, it gave off a flash and emitted a loud, echoing crack that was louder than a gunshot. Fylwen, growling, jumped high into the air as one of the explosive shells detonated the ground beneath her feet with enough power to utterly evaporate three nearby tents while destroying everything within. When the smoke cleared, there was now a sizeable hole in the ground. Scraps of, cloth, ruined pieces of the tent, and random belongings showered down over on top of it, including toilet paper, pillow stuffing, and spare clothing. Gods, what have I done? Why did this have to happen? ¡°Come back here!¡± he shouted at the mount. ¡°Why won¡¯t you obey me?¡± The mount was gaining on Fylwen, who began calling for the help of her dog. Now, Zach watched as Chumpkenwiffles, as though waking from a nap, lazily exited a tent farther to the north. The dog stretched her back, lifted her head, yawned, and then as though finally realizing what was going on, turned her body in the direction of the incoming train of madness and began to bark, loudly. ¡°Awoof! Awoof-woof-woof! I will save you, mommy! I always knew this day would come. Fluffles summoned an evil cat to hurt you. Awoof woof!¡± ¡°Chumpkenwiffles lying!¡± Fluffles said with a loud, desperate meow. ¡°Zach summon evil cat.¡± ¡°Zach¡­do this?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Chumpkenwiffles fired off a barrage of lasers from her eyes¡ªat Zach for some reason. This meant he was forced to stop his pursuit, bend his knees, and then throw himself out of the way of a pair of dual eye-lasers, which then struck Donovan, who was running behind him. This caused the leader of the GSG to swear loudly as he was flung directly into Zephyr, and the two of them together were blasted into another tent, causing that one to knock over as well. ¡°Zach!¡± called Peter, exiting a tent not far from where Chumpkenwiffles was continuing to fire on Zach. ¡°Tell me. Is that a war-mount which you have summoned?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Zach cried back to him. ¡°You know what those are?¡± ¡°Indeed I do. My steed is one as well. For the sake of the Gods, boy, put your beast of war on passive!¡± ¡°On what?¡± ¡°On passive!¡± Zach didn¡¯t know what that meant, but lacking any better ideas, he mentally shouted the word passive at the Kralzek¡¯s Beast. And oh, thank the Gods, for it worked. It actually worked! Immediately, and without a single second¡¯s delay, the Kralzek¡¯s Beast came to a total, abrupt stop, ending its pursuit right away. Fylwen, as though not willing to take chances, nearly fled the entire camp while still carrying Fluffles, stopping only after she had put considerable distance between herself and the rampaging tiger-thing with the saber teeth. ¡°Oh, Gods,¡± Zach whispered to himself, panting. ¡°It¡¯s over. Thank the Gods it¡¯s¡ª¡± The Kralzek¡¯s Beast spun around, and now, with another roar, it began to charge Zach. ¡°Wh-wh-what the fuck!¡± Zach cried, backing away¡ªand into¡ªDonovan, who¡¯d only first managed to pick himself up and hurry over to Zach. Now, with a painful thud that sent a ringing into his ears, the two of them were knocked down onto the grass. Yet with the vicious creature gunning straight for him, all he could do was crawl over Donovan¡¯s groaning form and continue to run in the opposite direction; this, while Peter was once more calling out to him. Now, it sounded like he was telling Zach not to flee. ¡°Cease!¡± Peter yelled out to him. ¡°You ought not flee. It merely seeks to return to its master.¡± Zach swore aloud, not knowing if he should trust Peter or not. Kalana certainly didn¡¯t, because appearing in front of him out of a literal blaze of fire, she dove at the mount and began slashing wildly at it, dishing out thousands of damage with each hit. She whirled her hands around, entering into a wild combination of slashes and thrusts. And through it all, the mount did¡­well, it did nothing. It slowed from a run to a walk, and it remained quiet as it simply ¡°allowed¡± Kalana to enact blood revenge against it, striking it time after time until it had fallen below half health. All while it continued to walk the last few feet of distance between itself and Zach then finally come to a total halt. ¡°Kal, stop. Stop!¡± ¡°B-but I¡¯m winning.¡± ¡°No, I¡­I think I¡¯ve got it under control.¡± Hesitantly, she lowered her daggers. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yeah, I think so.¡± Zach took a long, deep breath, which he released in an equally slow exhale. And as he did so, Peter came running over, now with his own creature following in tow. It was the Pegasus mount that Zach had seen yesterday, the one with the flaming hooves. ¡°I hope the others shall forgive you your ignorance on the topic of mounts. It is little known, and there are few who can claim to have one.¡± Peter placed his hand on top of the Kralzek¡¯s Beast, which did not react to his touch in any way. He then explained to Zach exactly how to use a mount properly, which was something Zach would¡¯ve really liked to know beforehand. Some of the words sounded familiar, as he recalled seeing them in the description of his card abilities. But unlike his cards, it seemed that mounts were much less sophisticated in terms of control. There were only four commands that could be given: attack, neutral, passive, or go. Sometimes, there was a fifth, called "aggressive," but that one was rarer and did not work for every mount. Peter then explained that war-mounts were summoned in the neutral state by default, which meant that if either they or their rider was dismounted and came under attack, the mount would respond defensively. On the other hand, a mount put in passive mode would never attack regardless of what was happening to it or its master. Finally, a mount could be ordered to initiate an attack on something or ¡°go¡± to a certain place. These four commands, Peter explained, made up the entirety of what could be done when Zach was not riding. ¡°I hope that, having said this, I have managed to banish your confusion. I dare say your war-mount has created quite the commotion here.¡± Zach looked around, realizing that a fair bit of the camp had been completely destroyed. Now, he released a nervous laugh. ¡°Well, at least the camp isn¡¯t going to be needed for much longer, right?¡± ¡°I suppose. Regardless, take care not to lose control of it in the future. Had I not been on hand, I fear for what may have been.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°All is well.¡± With that out of the way, Zach looked at his badly butchered mount which, if nothing else, began to gradually heal after about a minute or two had come and gone. Not that it would matter if it died. It seemed like he could summon it forever with no cost to him other than twenty minutes of time if it was slain. This was in stark contrast to the mounts Olivir had or even his cards. ¡°Kal, I¡¯m gonna try riding it!¡± She folded her arms. ¡°Not until you help us put out all the fires.¡± Zach took a look around him and surveyed the camp. Only now did he realize that half of it was burning up. ¡°Uhh¡­" Exhausted, he nodded to Kalana, but not before glaring at Fluffles, who Fylwen was carrying back into the camp as he jogged over to join the others in battling the rapidly spreading flames. He had company, too. The moment Fylwen released the cat, he came hopping over to Zach as though he had something he wanted to say. He likely wanted to apologize. ¡°What is it?¡± Zach asked, annoyed. Fluffles meowed. ¡°Where Fluffles'' dinner?¡± Zach sighed. Cats. Chapter 106: Bitter Enemies Chapter 106: Bitter Enemies Night had fallen. Loud, boisterous voices filled the camp. In an act of unity that Zach never would have imagined seeing, political guild members, Elvish warriors, and adventurers were all engaging in drunken singing, dancing, and in some cases, slightly more intimate acts as an incredible sense of joy and relief came over the raid¡ªassuming they could still be called a ¡°raid.¡± Though so much suffering and hardship had been endured, what had taken place today had done more to heal the discontent between adventurers and the political guilds than pretty much anything else ever had or could. As a direct result of their joined cooperation, the adventurers now had a better understanding of the difficulties of maintaining public order, and the political guilds now truly understood the risks that adventurers regularly undertook fighting boss spawns. There would always be disagreements, of course. Zach doubted the adventuring guilds would ever approve of the secrecy, dishonesty, and other methods used by the political guilds, and likewise, he doubted the political guilds would ever approve of the frat-like, unstructured, and admittedly undisciplined culture of the adventurers. Regardless, on this night, everyone seemed willing to let loose: well, almost everyone. Sir Peter Brayspark and Vim Alazar were approaching one another, alone and in a poorly lit section of the camp. Zach hoped they weren¡¯t about to try to murder one another. Especially since things had become so peaceful. With near total darkness having settled over the camp, the world was now lit by various campfires. And of course, as they had been lit, just about every adventurer in the camp¡ªand even some of the political guilders¡ªhad teased Zach about almost burning the whole place down a few hours prior. His excuse that it was his cat¡¯s fault didn¡¯t seem to lessen the insults. Zach knew they were made purely in jest and not meant to be taken harshly, but it rubbed him the wrong way how everyone¡ªespecially Vim¡ªhad decided to seize on the incident. ¡°Zach, I think you missed a spot,¡± Vim had said to him about an hour ago in passing. ¡°I saw some tents over on the north end of camp you forgot to burn down.¡± He rubbed his forehead, chuckling quietly to himself. At least no one was seriously upset about it. Everyone was too happy: especially the Elvish, who were partying in a way that went even harder than the adventurers. They had good reason, though. They had been given a region that Zach recently learned many of them considered both a homeland and a former prison. Right now, there were hundreds of them here, including many young children, whose parents would be leaving soon as the night carried on. Every one of the green-cloaks had shown up from Archian Prime¡ªwhich Peter begrudgingly allowed¡ªin order to celebrate with the raid. As for Zach, he was simply waiting around for Kalana to finish getting ready. As soon as she was done getting changed, he, Olivir, her, and Kolona were all going to head out towards Angelica¡¯s for a festive night out. Then, tomorrow night, they¡¯d return here for the loot before boarding a plane the following morning and going to her island. Zach was really looking forward to it, truth be told. He was also looking forward to riding his new mount, but everyone had demanded he dismiss it, fearful that it might cause another scene. I¡¯ll test it out when I get to Kalana¡¯s new place, Zach thought. ¡°You should go adventuring while you¡¯re on the island,¡± Mr. Oren said, surprising him. Zach hadn¡¯t heard him approaching. ¡°How¡¯d you know I was thinking about that?¡± he asked. Mr. Oren laughed. ¡°I know my students.¡± Zach took his word for it. He was clearly smart enough to get a good read on people. Even still, one part of what he¡¯d said confused Zach. ¡°I thought it was bad to grind off the mobs on the island. It¡¯s not what we do, I thought.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, actually. Especially for where you¡¯re at, currently.¡± Tilting his head slightly and somewhat stunned, he asked, ¡°How so?¡± Mr. Oren gave him a pat on the shoulder. ¡°There¡¯s no actual rule about how an adventurer chooses to go adventuring. But it¡¯s really looked down upon to do what the political guilds do, which is to put a pen around a lucrative spawn specifically chosen for the relative lack of danger of the mob. It probably doesn¡¯t come as a surprise to hear this, but the locations they choose to build their estates are actually based around the spawn point. They only live where they live because of what spawns there.¡± ¡°And the Elvish are¡ªwere, I mean¡ªdifferent?¡± Mr. Oren nodded. ¡°The island Kalana lives on is, essentially, just a chunk of land that gives a reasonable look into what all of Galterra was like before the spawn points were destroyed. That¡¯s why I think you should feel free to roam around it without shame. You¡¯ve already passed the unofficial test of being an adventurer¡ªhitting level 10 on your own. There¡¯s nothing really wrong with you toughening up on the island. If you had landed there by ship thousands of years ago, it would be like anywhere else on Galterra. The Elvish did not pick that location because of what spawned there¡ªKalana has shown me indisputable proof of this. They picked it because of its beauty.¡± ¡°So it doesn¡¯t go against the spirit of being an adventurer is what you¡¯re saying?¡± ¡°Exactly. The political guilds struggle to keep pace with us precisely because they spend their lives farming one or two different mobs that have been curated specifically for them. As long as you don¡¯t decide to spend the rest of your life leveling off the same few mobs on the island, never branching out, you won¡¯t lose that spirit. I¡¯m sure of it.¡± ¡°Does it even¡­¡± Zach lowered his voice. ¡°Does it even matter anymore what the spirit of an adventurer is? Now that we know¡ª¡± Mr. Oren widened his eyes and held his finger up to his nose, and Zach cut himself off, giving a silent, apologetic nod, having almost said too much in a place where that ¡°Adamus¡± guy could apparently pick up on it. Meeting his eyes for a moment, Mr. Oren visibly relaxed, and then, with a friendly squeeze of the shoulder, he said, ¡°One thing you need to never forget, Zach. The culture of adventuring was made by adventurers. People like Donovan, me, and even you. We¡¯re the ones who made our own society and our own culture and not¡­¡± And not the buff¡ªthat is what he would say to me next if he could, Zach thought. Not the OMP. Not Adamus. For a time, Mr. Oren said nothing. Yet he remained where he was. It was as though he had something deeper on his mind. Then, after the lingering quiet stretched on almost to the point it became uncomfortable, he averted his eyes and lowered his voice. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Listen, Zach. I¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Mr. Oren looked troubled. It gave Zach an ominous feeling. Despite the two of them being mostly alone in this section of the camp, he darted his head around as if to ensure they were out of range of anyone who might wish to eavesdrop. ¡°In a few days,¡± he said, ¡°you might see some things about me on the news. Donovan¡¯s going to have his heart broken. I want you to know that I¡¯m still the person you knew.¡± ¡°Wait a minute,¡± Zach said. ¡°What¡¯re you trying to say? You¡¯re confusing me.¡± Mr. Oren wet his lips as though he was going to explain, but if so, he must have had a change of heart, because he released only a sigh. Then, after a pause, he said, ¡°I want to make a difference in the world. I want to contribute in ways that I¡¯m best at. And I¡¯ve¡­I feel like I know the path my life needs to take. But I will make sure there¡¯s always a way we can keep in touch.¡± What the hell is he trying to tell me? ¡°Mr. Oren, I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll understand soon. It¡¯s something I need to discuss with Donovan before anyone else.¡± Was he quitting the GSG or something to start his own guild? Or was he retiring from adventuring entirely? It sounded like maybe Mr. Oren was planning to dedicate his life to science. What else could he mean by ¡°contribute in the way he is best at?¡± Whatever he had planned, Zach would try to support his decision. And though he was tempted to pry, he knew that he needed to respect Mr. Oren¡¯s wishes and let him deal with Donovan first. ¡°Try to have some fun over the summer. Regardless of where my path leads, we have a much bigger responsibility to deal with. When the summer ends, I¡¯m expecting you to work towards that goal.¡± Mr. Oren didn¡¯t need to specify what he was talking about. Zach understood perfectly. He was referring to the tremendous threat that Galterra would be facing in X years, where X was a number in years that Zach was forcibly being blocked off from remembering, and where the ¡°threat¡± was a similarly obscured thing. Gods, it really annoyed him how he could remember every single other detail about their meeting in the privacy-room in Angelica¡¯s. The only two things he could not recall were the threat itself and the time until it arrived. ¡°I¡¯ve got to go talk to some people,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Have fun tonight.¡± ¡°You too.¡± Mr. Oren smiled, his face only partially visible from a small streak of light given off by a distant campfire. The look in his eyes was bittersweet, and Zach couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that something was way off. With that, he left Zach there to ponder things over. Or at least, that was what Zach would¡¯ve liked to do. But the sight of Vim and Peter was making him nervous. Though it was truly none of his concern, having been through such an ordeal with them, Zach didn¡¯t want to see either of them kill the other. How can they even think about war after what we all just went through together? Zach wondered. Slowly, he approached the two of them, and he could tell that they were not getting along; worse, the situation between the two of them was deteriorating rapidly. Both of them were animate. They waved their arms around as they spoke at a rising volume to one another. ¡°You¡¯ve the audacity¡ªthe egregiousness¡ªto appeal to my sense of decency?¡± Peter snapped, clearly already in the middle of a heated argument between the two of them. ¡°Yes, actually,¡± Vim replied. ¡°After what we went through today, I was hoping we could be at peace.¡± ¡°As it were, you are not alone in that thinking¡ªyet you stand in the way and impede such a peace. Had you truly wished for an end to conflict, you would spare us this invasion. What man of peace marches his people into the city of another? Tell me, Vim?¡± ¡°You know why I have to do this, Peter.¡± Zach was fascinated to see that, when the two of them were alone, they did not use titles or formalities. Even still, it made them no less hostile towards one another. ¡°There is no reason for this. None!¡± Vim swore. ¡°That¡¯s bullshit. There¡¯s every reason. You know damn well there is no universe where the world lets humanity rejoin global trade while one of the most significant shipping ports in North Bastia is controlled by the Guild of Gentlemen.¡± ¡°So you would sell out a human territory at the behest of foreign interests.¡± ¡°Sell out? Really? My people would be furious with me if they knew I¡¯d offered to give you back Dragon Squire and the Plains of Mist in exchange for it. We¡¯d even vow to never come near Tomb of Fire. All we want is Shadowfall Coast so we can restore the economy to the way it was before.¡± ¡°And what of the people who live there?¡± Peter asked. ¡°What of their lives?¡± ¡°Uh, what of them?¡± Vim asked, his tone becoming sharper. ¡°Do you think we¡¯re going to exterminate them all or something? Get real. They will be treated as any other citizen in our territories. Even you can¡¯t actually believe we would harm them.¡± ¡°Physically? Nay, I do not. You would instead bring unspeakable harm to their dignity.¡± Even in the scant light, Zach could see Vim furrowing his brows angrily. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°You know how.¡± ¡°Say it, Peter. Don¡¯t couch it. Say what you¡¯re going to say.¡± His teeth bared, Peter obliged. ¡°You would allow Orcs, Gnomes, and any other manner of creature to waltz through our streets and attack our people.¡± ¡°Oh, give me a fucking break, Peter. Orcs, you¡¯re worried about? Seriously? You¡¯re worried about Orcs now? The people who spend all day on social media asking everyone not to use insensitive words that hurt people¡¯s feelings? You think they¡¯re going to, what, exactly? Shame you all to death?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t want them!¡± Peter snapped, a wad of spit flying out of his lips. ¡°We don¡¯t want to live among other races. Why can you not respect that?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s not what¡¯s best for humanity.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not even human! Can you not imagine the offense I take at hearing you suggest such a thing?¡± Vim scowled. ¡°I¡¯m tired of this, Peter. I¡¯m really tired of this.¡± Vim pointed his finger at Peter. ¡°I knew your father since we were both little boys. This ¡®philosophy¡¯ of his you believe in¡ªit¡¯s nothing more than the sickness of his mind in the last year of his life.¡± ¡°How dare you insult my father. He was a man of honor and bravery. You, your media, your people: they spread these lies about him. All my life, I¡¯ve had to listen to this disgusting slander.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a fucking lie!¡± Vim shouted. Zach had never heard this kind of rage in his voice, either privately or in the media. This was the angriest he¡¯d ever seen the man. ¡°I knew him my whole Gods-damned life, Peter. I grew up with him. Do you think he didn¡¯t know I was half-Gnome when he supported me against challengers within my own guild? You were only fifteen years old and too young to understand. I watched him decline. He was sick. Something was wrong with him. I don¡¯t know what or why, but you¡¯re going to make every mistake he did. He wanted us to declare war on the other races. He wanted to enslave the world.¡± ¡°Lies!¡± Vim waved his hand dismissively. ¡°Believe whatever the hell you want. I don¡¯t care anymore. I thought maybe you could come to your senses for once. You like to act like you¡¯re this big, chivalrous knight, but you¡¯re going to cause so much unnecessary bloodshed. And another thing: your threats are meaningless. Trying to bluff us with some city-destroying weapon. Do you think we¡¯re idiots?¡± Peter reacted to the accusation as though he¡¯d been struck. ¡°I have not nor have I ever threatened such a thing. I do not know from whom you have heard such an outrageous threat, but no one in my kingdom has ever or would ever target a civilian population.¡± Vim laughed, but it was not genuine. It was an angry, harsh guffaw. ¡°That¡¯s not what I hear. Regardless, I¡¯m done talking about this. Either meet us in sane, time-honored open-field combat in accordance with the rules of war, or we¡¯re going conventional and invading. That¡¯s all there is to say.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Peter replied. ¡°May you and your invading force plead your case to the Gods, as you will surely be meeting them.¡± And with that, the two of them stormed away in opposite directions as Zach heard Kalana calling his name. Neither had noticed him standing there, as they¡¯d been so absorbed in their confrontation, they didn¡¯t even see him. Of all things, it was sadness that Zach felt as he watched them go their own ways. Was Zach in denial? He must have been. Because even after having witnessed their back-and-forth, he still did not believe there was any way Vim and Peter would really kick off a true, conventional war, something not seen in Galterra for a hundred years. Surely, they would find some compromise. They had to. Chapter 107: The Way Forward Chapter 107: The Way Forward Kalana squeaked with delight, and Zach laughed. Wind blasted into the two of them, and she held on tightly with her arms around his waist as the Kralzek¡¯s Beast jumped up on its powerful legs, ascending almost fifty feet into the air before landing on top of a rocky ledge. Then it roared and continued to dash forward, the rocks beneath its feet turning soon to a mixture of grass, sand, and gravel. ¡°This is so much fun!¡± Kalana shouted, having to speak loudly to be heard over the blast of air in their faces. It was a beautiful day, and Zach was so glad that Olivir had come up with this idea. He and Kolona rode alongside Zach on much fancier skeleton horses than the ones they¡¯d used in Archian Prime. Zach got the sense that these were ¡°luxury¡± horses used only for leisure. Both were adorned with jeweled and gem-studded armor and leather saddles; they were also level 50. This is the best morning ever, Zach thought, smiling. He inhaled, enjoying the fresh scent of the ocean breeze in the distance. He was positively giddy¡ªespecially as he thought of all the gold he¡¯d just acquired. Maybe even the best day of my life! The past three hours had been pure bliss. After an amazing dinner with Olivir and Kolona, the four of them had spent the night in Angelica¡¯s, but not before amusingly watching Grundor flirt with a blushing Angelica, who had warmed up to him as the night had gone on. The service had actually slowed a bit compared to usual as Angelica gave Grundor extra attention and seemed to find any excuse she could to be around him. Kalana had thought this was adorable, and when one of the adventurers complained, Zach had to beg her not to start a fistfight as she lectured him on being nice. Thankfully, he¡¯d backed down and even apologized profusely to ¡°the princess.¡± Kalana was becoming too powerful! At any rate, they¡¯d woken up just before sunrise Galterran time. Running a bit low on points, Zach had stepped out for about five minutes to kill Moldark, which put him back over two-thousand and gave him a few pieces of relatively useless gear between level 25 and level 30 that didn¡¯t suit him; nevertheless, he was more than happy to chuck it into his mostly empty storage box with the hope of selling it later on. It was just too bad both the adventurer and the political guilds were intensely opposed to allowing the sale of gear or items to normal, level-1 people, because even the worst item¡ªhell, even Frog Snax¡ªcould probably fetch millions of gold from someone desperate for a taste of the adventuring world. A single piece of Zach¡¯s old decaying armor set would probably make him rich, as even something with just +1 str would transform the ordinary person into something far greater. Sadly, the adventurers were opposed to it because it would ¡°destroy¡± their precious ¡°adventurer economy,¡± and the political guilds were opposed to it because it would create ¡°public mayhem on an untold scale.¡± Still, Zach supposed he could get a few thousand for each of these things, hopefully. Yet, honestly, he didn¡¯t even care because his attention had been diverted by something far more important. Moldark had once again dropped 50 thousand gold. Yes, 50 thousand gold¡ªand it was all his. After quickly disposing of the boss in three fast slashes¡ªand avoiding getting any blood on him this time in the process¡ªZach had laughed maniacally as the coins pinged against the flooring, with several rolling away and causing Zach to greedily reach out and slap his palm down on top of them. His eyes had lit up when he¡¯d seen multiple of the highest-denomination coin in existence: the 5,000-gold coin. Distantly, Zach had wondered how such a very old ¡°system¡± was able to keep current with regards to what coins to drop, as it seemed like the coins should have been ancient and from thousands of years ago. Regardless, it was something he¡¯d have to ask Prila, who wasn¡¯t around at the moment. And so, discarding the question, he¡¯d happily deposited all but two-thousand gold into his bank, bringing his life savings up to an astonishing 62,511 gold¡ªor about half of what a middle-class family earned in an entire year. Feeling victorious, Zach had then hurried back to Angelica¡¯s and had spent 500 points ordering a bunch of different food to go before returning with the others to Shadowfall Coast, where they¡¯d dipped into a supermarket to buy plastic goods, a picnic blanket, napkins, and a few other supplies. This took a bit longer than expected due to everyone coming up to talk to them, but given that it was very early in the morning, they didn¡¯t have to endure too much of it. Finally, with food and supplies secured, they¡¯d taken a local bus to the first stop outside of the city then exited together near the expressway that ran all the way north to the Arid Dunes of Bastia. Not far from them had been a parking lot with a shopping center. Zach had actually been the one to request they stop here, but when he¡¯d done so, he¡¯d only intended to spend about five minutes grabbing a few things. Honestly, he should¡¯ve known better. Kolona and Kalana had turned that into more than an hour. They just had to look at everything in the store. This meant him and Olivir sitting in two adjacent chairs making idle chat while waiting for them to pick out new outfits. By the time the girls were finally done shopping, Zach¡¯s Bank and Storage had come off cooldown. He¡¯d quickly ducked into a changing room, and then he¡¯d thrown every piece of his equipment into storage including his sword and necklace, slipping instead into a much more comfortable¡ªand weather appropriate¡ªpair of shorts and a grey t-shirt. He¡¯d also picked up a pair of black sneakers, too. Although he¡¯d felt himself become way less powerful, the sensation of losing strength was something he adapted to within just a few minutes, and what he was instead left with was a much more freeing feeling of comfort as he had finally returned to wearing normal, everyday clothing. Kalana¡¯s gear, on the other hand, was already perfectly suited for the weather and had been transmuted by Alixa into normal, casual wear. But of course, that didn¡¯t stop her from wanting to change into something completely different, likely even more than Zach had. She¡¯d looked stunning last night, having worn a gown similar to that worn by her mother, yet she¡¯d reverted back to her equipment after they¡¯d gotten out of bed. It had been at this point, however, that she¡¯d reappeared wearing a sleeveless white camisole and a pair of tight denim jean shorts that made Zach hate himself for once again exhaustedly falling asleep the night prior. Oh well. They¡¯d have all summer. With all that out of the way, they¡¯d walked about ten minutes off to the side of the expressway until arriving at a clearing where no one was around. Then Zach had summoned his war-mount while Kolona and Kalana conjured their skeleton horses. They¡¯d invited Grundor and Fluffles to come with them as well, but Fluffles had a ¡°play date¡± with Chumpkenwiffles, and Grundor had chosen to stay behind and hang out with Angelica rather than tag along, which seemed to make Kalana very happy. Having changed clothing and completed their preparations, the four of them rode off from eastern Shadowfall Coast, heading all the way to the western coast located in Tomb of Fire. They were going to a place that Olivir had claimed was one of his favorite spots when he¡¯d lived on Galterra centuries prior. Over the course of the next three perfect, joyful hours, they had raced across the countryside traveling at DEHV-like speeds. Using conventional roads, this would have been a six-hour journey. Instead, moving in a mostly straight line from origin to destination, they had made the trip in just three, and along the way, Zach had been treated to a variety of sights such as farmland, small towns, a brief stretch around one of the smaller cities in northwest Tomb of Fire, and a whole lot of nature. For the most part, they traveled with few breaks, stopping only briefly right around the halfway mark so that Olivir and Kolona could knock two birds out of the sky and drink their blood. He and Kal had chosen to look away for this part. He¡¯d almost forgotten that this was something they had to do every so often, especially since they seemed to enjoy eating regular food the normal way¡ªwhether it did anything for them nutritionally or not. Even still, they were fast about it, and they thankfully killed the animals quickly and without suffering. Afterwards, they hopped back on their skeleton mounts and the four of them once more blasted off. Now, finally, as they neared their destination, Olivir turned his head to Zach and said, ¡°You guys will love this place. It really is, uhm, just like the coolest picnic spot in North Bastia. Oh, and best part of all is that nobody even knows about it. It was my own secret spot I used to go to.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so happy I get to see it,¡± Kolona said. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to know more about your life before Archian Prime.¡± Olivir shrugged. ¡°Eh, it wasn¡¯t all that interesting. I was the son of a noble and a member of the Guild of Gentlemen, which controlled the region of Giant¡¯s Fall when I was a kid. I used to vacation all the time in Tomb of Fire, though, and whenever I came here, I¡¯d sneak away and go where I¡¯m taking you guys: to the Bluffs of Fire.¡± Zach became eager to see the place for himself as they drew nearer and the smell of the ocean grew stronger. ¡°And nobody knows about this spot?¡± ¡°Yeah, people have no idea it¡¯s here at all.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Pretty sure, dude,¡± Olivir said, nodding. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure about that,¡± Zach said with a laugh. He extended his arm and pointed into the distance ahead of them. ¡°That doesn¡¯t look like nobody to me.¡± Olivir¡¯s mouth fell open as the end of their journey was just about upon them. ¡°No way.¡± The closer they got to the bluffs overlooking the ocean, the more people they saw. Many turned to look, and nearly all expressed some degree of shock or fear at the sight of the Kralzek¡¯s Beast, but in most cases, this turned soon into awe and then excitement as their eyes fell over Zach and Kalana. Clearly, not only had this spot become better well known since Olivir last lived on Galterra, but on a gorgeous day like today, hundreds of people had come out to do exactly what they were doing. Everywhere Zach looked, picnic blankets, lawn chairs, or in some cases small, portable tables could be seen. Kids were playing various games with a beach ball, and few people had even hauled entire barbecues out here. I definitely see why Olivir liked this place, though. Kalana seemed to agree. Even as Olivir was apologizing for being wrong, she was waving him off as though he was being ridiculous and cupping her forehead as if to filter out the sun. ¡°Wow,¡± she said. ¡°I love it.¡± The view of the ocean was staggering. They could see out into the distance for miles and miles, including the beach far below. Surfers and swimmers kept close to the shore, but further out, there were plenty of large boats. There were also a great many birds flying over the water, and the cry of seagulls were perpetually a part of the background noise. There were also various small islands in the distance, as well as entrances to mouth-shaped caves. Zach imagined those must have, long ago, been great places to explore for mobs and treasure. ¡°Dismiss the mounts so we don¡¯t scare anybody, you guys,¡± Kalana said. With a look of warning to Zach, she added, ¡°And be nice. If someone wants to say hi, you better be friendly.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know.¡± She kissed him on the cheek. ¡°Just making sure.¡± Then she whispered seductively into his ear, ¡°I¡¯ll be friendly later tonight.¡± Zach felt a jolt run down his chest. He decided he was going to be extra, extra, extra friendly to anyone and everyone. And sure enough, he had his opportunity to prove that to her right off the bat. In fact, they hadn¡¯t even finished setting down the blanket over a mostly smooth surface of stone and sand before a shirtless young man and his girlfriend approached. ¡°Hey, uhh¡­okay, so¡­so uh, wow,¡± he said, wiping sweat from his brow. ¡°Sorry, I know you guys are just here to have some fun and relaxation away from it all.¡± He swallowed as though nervous. ¡°And I¡¯m so sorry to bother you, and I know you¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯re not a bother at all,¡± Kalana said cheerfully. ¡°Nice to meet you two. I¡¯m Kalana, this is Zach, and¡±¡ªshe twisted her body and pointed behind herself¡ª¡°that¡¯s Olivir and that¡¯s my cousin, Kolona.¡± The guy and his girlfriend looked like they¡¯d be moved to tears. ¡°Gods, it¡¯s such an honor,¡± he said. ¡°I can¡¯t even begin to¡­I¡¯m so shocked. I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s really the two of you! Oh, wow, and I recognize you two from a few days ago,¡± he finished, referring to Olivir and Kolona, both of whom seemed more than happy to wave. ¡°Is¡­is Grundor here too?¡± ¡°Grund¡¯s off¡­doing some other stuff,¡± Olivir said. Then he grinned. ¡°I¡¯ll tell him I met you two though and that you¡¯re both cool.¡± This caused the two of them to grab one another¡¯s arms and practically bounce with giddiness. ¡°Thank you!¡± With that, they walked away, and even as they did so, Zach could see the man pulling a phone out of his shorts as though to text his friends and tell them what¡¯d just happened. This then became something of a fairly common routine. Before long, Zach was shaking hands and chatting away with stranger after stranger. Yet, thankfully, they were all really considerate and respectful, and after each one of them had said a few words or asked for a picture, they went back to their own picnics. Sure, they continued to look every now and again, but they at least gave the four of them some space. When the four of them had finally been left at peace, Zach sighed. ¡°Is this going to be how it is forever?¡± ¡°Probably,¡± Olivir said. ¡°Especially after yesterday. You just have to learn to live with it.¡± Zach sighed a second time. ¡°Maybe after a few months, everyone will move on and something else will catch their interest. But whatever. At least on Kal¡¯s island we¡¯ll be all alone. It¡¯ll just be us two for miles and miles.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Nah-uh,¡± she said, causing Zach to snap his head in her direction. ¡°What do you mean?¡± he asked, growing worried. ¡°My island belongs to all the Elvish people now. It was something I told my mom last night. So, um, they¡¯re gonna be coming and going a lot of the time. We¡¯ll still have the privacy of my house, but any Elf who wants to build a summer home or even live there can do it. But I think most want to live in the Whispery Woods and stay just for visits.¡± Zach couldn¡¯t believe what he was hearing. ¡°Did your mom make you do this because she¡¯s the queen or something?¡± ¡°Nope. I wanted to.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Zach grumbled. ¡°You need to stop sharing. You had an entire island.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯ll still have privacy in my estate. I had a super-big house built for me, and I got it done in just a week, too. And it¡¯ll be nice not to be all alone. You¡¯ll even see your friends there. They asked if they could come.¡± ¡°My friends?¡± Zach asked. Kalana nodded. ¡°Yep. Lienne and uh¡­um, what was his name again?¡± ¡°Rian,¡± Zach said. ¡°Oh yeah! That was it.¡± She continued to speak as the four of them began carefully removing the food and setting it down on the picnic blanket. ¡°I never really got a chance to meet them properly, so I was actually really happy when your friend texted me and asked if he can come and fight mobs there to get stronger over the summer. He told me he felt like he¡¯s really fallen behind.¡± ¡°What¡¯d you tell him?¡± Kalana, having been about to put down a plastic serving spoon, paused and gave Zach an expectant look. ¡°Well, obviously I told him he could come. He¡¯s already there, actually. Lienne is, too. Oh, but she¡¯s only staying for a few days, though. I think her boyfriend is taking her to Archian Prime, and my mom¡¯s already approved her entry. She¡¯s gonna teach a class or something to the natives about what life is like on Galterra. She might even move there, since the boy she¡¯s with is a white-cloak.¡± Zach shook his head in disbelief. ¡°That¡¯s just¡­incredible. I can¡¯t believe this is the same Lienne we¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Zach chuckled. ¡°Heh. If only you knew how racist she was against the Elves before meeting that guy, you would be in shock.¡± Kolona hummed in agreement. ¡°She did say some really harsh things when I met her¡­¡± ¡°Well, people change,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Oh, she¡¯s changed all right.¡± Zach again chuckled to himself as he recalled seeing her social media profile last night before leaving for Angelica¡¯s. She¡¯d yanked down all her pro-human stuff and had replaced it with Orcish memes and calls for justice for the Elvish people. She¡¯d fallen absolutely head-over-heels for this new boyfriend of hers. In just three days, he¡¯d swept her off her feet. Rian, on the other hand, had already split ways with the red-haired Elvish chick, and now, unbelievably, he was dating her sister. That was sure to end well. I hope he doesn¡¯t end up getting himself killed, Zach thought worriedly. He needs to be careful about pissing off Elvish girls multiple times his level. I don¡¯t want to have to embark on a revenge quest. For the next few hours, the four of them ate, laughed, chatted, and relaxed in the sun. Olivir also pointed out numerous spots from his memories. Apparently, there used to be multiple spawns of deer-like, level-38 mobs that roamed the area, though Olivir claimed they were passive and didn¡¯t bother anybody who didn¡¯t attack first. He also remarked that there didn¡¯t used to be any safety railings preventing people from falling or jumping off the steep bluffs, which would probably kill or seriously injure a level 1. Together with Kal and her cousin, he listened to Olivir¡¯s fascinating stories about the way Galterra used to be. It was both different and similar. The fact that there were still spawns to be found, however rare, was what struck him most about Olivir¡¯s stories. And it was this piece of casual conversation that led to Zach making one of the most important discoveries of his life. ¡°Do you think the guilds today still know how to destroy them?¡± he asked. ¡°I sure hope so,¡± Olivir replied. ¡°But I doubt it.¡± Before bed last night, Zach had pulled Olivir and Kolona into the ¡°privacy room¡± in Angelica¡¯s and had told the two of them about everything they¡¯d discovered: both about the past but also the threats of the future. Zach had also remembered that the¡­the ¡°something¡± was coming. He could no longer remember what it was, and as usual, it annoyed him. But what had surprised Zach so much was just how cavalier Olivir was to all the news. Whereas Kolona had been just as shocked as Zach and Kalana had been, Olivir, on the other hand, had merely nodded as though he¡¯d either already suspected as much or just plain didn¡¯t find any of it surprising. Oh, he was certainly intrigued, yes. Curious, of course. But there was a total lack of emotional response from him. ¡°So, we¡¯ve been abandoned, huh?¡± he¡¯d asked. ¡°Yeah, that about checks out. I believe it.¡± And regarding the impending spawn point crisis, he¡¯d said, ¡°That¡¯s probably what that woman you told me about¡ªPrila¡ªis off trying to deal with. Sounds like there¡¯s nothing you guys can do about it.¡± Finally, on the topic of the¡­the¡­Gods, what the hell was it called again? Whatever it was called, Olivir had said, ¡°Yeah, that seems like the big problem you guys need to worry about. If I can help, let me know. I¡¯m almost certain I don¡¯t have any records of it, though.¡± Now, speaking in a somewhat coded manner, Olivir asked Zach a question, and it was something that was so obvious he was surprised he¡¯d never asked it of himself. It was also the question that opened up an entire new pathway in Zach¡¯s life. ¡°Hey, Zach,¡± he said, putting down his fork and knife. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°You ever try reaching out to your mysterious friend?¡± By ¡°mysterious friend,¡± he obviously meant Eilea Vayra. Zach had told him how she¡¯d spoken to him several times in his head. He¡¯d also informed Olivir that Angelica said she had a way of listening in on whatever was said in that room despite having no way of speaking or interacting with Angelica¡¯s. Yet, she clearly did have a way of doing so with people on Galterra, as she¡¯d communicated with Zach several times¡ªeven if most of it was still fuzzy in his mind. Zach tapped on his chin with his pointer finger as he thought over the question. He also needed to ensure he worded his reply carefully so as to say nothing whatsoever that could cause trouble with any space-spies at the OMP. ¡°I don¡¯t really see how I could,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t know how any of this stuff works to begin with.¡± Olivir shrugged. ¡°Why not just try really, really hard to call out to your friend in your mind?¡± Kalana shot Olivir a look of warning, as did Kolona. Zach understood why; though he was not outright saying anything that went too far, he was beginning to border on the point where, if Adamus really was eavesdropping at this very moment, it might make him suspicious. For this reason, Zach decided to bring the conversation to a very quick close. ¡°I never tried it,¡± he said brusquely. ¡°I doubt it¡¯d work.¡± ¡°What¡¯ve you got to lose?¡± Olivir asked, becoming somewhat persistent. ¡°It sounds like you need a¡­a friend¡¯s advice. Might as well give it a go.¡± ¡°How would that even work?¡± ¡°No idea. It¡¯s just weird you never tried it.¡± Hoping to end this conversation before one of them slipped up, he said, ¡°Okay, fine, I¡¯ll try it.¡± Then he made a dismissive laugh, as he was highly skeptical that something so simple could ever work. Closing his eyes, he tuned out the three of them and slowed his breathing. And then, sharply and forcefully, he thought, EILEA. If you¡¯re real, and you can really communicate with me, give me a sign. Hello? Anyone there? Nothing happened, so he tried even harder. Eilea Vayra! Miss Goddess chick! Are you there? Angelica says you care about our lives and stuff, and we found out Adamus is going to do something crazy. Ah, what the hell am I even doing? There¡¯s no way you can¡ª ¡°ZACH!¡± a voice cried out in his head, causing him to become immediately startled if not terrified. He leapt to his feet and gasped, even as Kalana jumped up after him, and so too did Olivir and Kolona, the three of them surrounding him and immediately pestering him with questions, which he ignored. Holy shit! This actually worked? Impossible. Impossible! ¡°I am so happy!¡± the voice said, ringing inside his ears. ¡°I had hoped beyond hope you would attempt to open communication with me, but I never dared to believe it could happen so soon. Please. If you ever need anything at all¡ªno matter what it is¡ªyou can always reach out to me, and I will answer you as long as it is safe to do so. The only thing I want in this whole world is to be of use to you.¡± Why me? ¡°You know why.¡± Her voice came across as kind: kinder than he¡¯d expected given that she was apparently some all-powerful Goddess. Or at least that was what Kalana claimed her to be. This, despite Angelica explicitly saying the Great Ones were not actually Gods. Kalana still clung to the idea of it, though. And in a weird, nonsensical way, too. While Kalana did now agree that Adamus was not a God, she somehow continued to insist Eilea Vayra was indeed a Goddess. Nevertheless, whether Eilea was an actual deity or not, she was still a being of incomprehensible power that, for whatever reason, Angelica seemed adamant wanted to help them. Still, Zach couldn¡¯t help feel nervous as he spoke to her. So, all this time, have you been reading my thoughts? he asked, becoming worried that she was privy to every awful thing to ever kick around his brain. ¡°I can see why that¡¯d trouble you, but the answer is no, Zach. I can¡¯t hear your thoughts unless you deliberately send them to me.¡± Have you been watching me? ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve watched over you. But I assure you: not in a way you would find¡­intimate or indecent. I am not so immodest as to intrude upon you in such a personal way. It¡¯s more that I¡¯ve vaguely kept in mind what you¡¯ve been up to, and only in moments of peril have I peered further.¡± From the tone of her voice, she sounded oddly excited and cheerful, but in a way that suggested she was trying to hide it. Zach had the sense that this conversation was very, very important to her. The enthusiasm was practically bleeding into each one of her words. Now, making a waving motion with his hands at the others that he hoped would convey he was okay and they should stop badgering him for a Gods-be-damned second, he returned his attention to the Goddess, who was somehow mentally communicating with him. Though he had nothing to go on but her word alone, Zach decided, at least for now, to trust her when she said she was not spying in a way that was weird or overly intrusive. This, naturally, led to his second concern, which dealt with much the same. Can Adamus hear us right now? ¡°No, Zach. We¡¯re safe. At least for a few minutes. I know you must have so many questions, and I do as well. But we cannot speak for more than five minutes a week without risking that awful, heartless creature intercepting us.¡± Damn. I really did have so much I wanted to say to you. I would¡¯ve liked to take a minute to process the fact that we can even do this and that this isn¡¯t just me going crazy. But since we don¡¯t have a lot of time, I¡¯ll get straight to the point. Did you know that Adamus was going to reactivate the spawn points? ¡°I did not,¡± she said, and unless Zach was just imagining it, there was a note of shame, if not embarrassment in her voice. It was as though she felt stupid for being unaware. Weren''t you listening in when we were all together in Angelica''s? "I was. I did not hear everything, though. I missed much of the end of your conversation. It''s like a signal that can go in and out." That makes sense, he told her. So you had no idea about that? ¡°Truthfully, I did not. But this fails to surprise me. Let me guess: he intends to do so completely at random and with total indifference to the lives that will be erased as a result of these actions?¡± Yeah, actually, Zach thought, surprised. How did you know? ¡°I¡¯m married to him.¡± Oh, right. Zach laughed: both aloud and internally, which he could see caused even more confusion among Kal and his two vampire friends. He held up his finger, hoping to indicate to them that he wouldn¡¯t be much longer. I can¡¯t¡­okay, I have to relay this or else she won¡¯t stop. My girlfriend wants you to know she hopes to meet you. ¡°The feeling is mutual. Tell Kalana she¡¯s made the Gods of Elvadin proud, and that I too am proud of her.¡± Not even really knowing what that meant, he mumbled it quickly to Kalana. ¡°Uh, hey, Kal, my old friend from school says you¡¯ve made the Gods of Elvadin proud, and she¡¯s proud of you too.¡± For whatever reason, this caused both her and Kolona to yelp in delight. What was it with those two? Ah well. At the very least, they backed off him a bit and let him concentrate on the conversation. So, is it true what Angelica said? he asked. You¡¯re trapped way down below the surface of Galterra? ¡°Yes, I¡¯m afraid so. I thought I¡¯d be able to escape by now. An ancestor of yours¡ªa many-times great grandfather, to be specific¡ªis helping me escape, but the situation has proved more difficult than we at first expected.¡± ¡°My what?¡± he shouted, not even realizing he¡¯d spoken aloud. This required him to once more hold up his finger at the others, who were pestering him for some kind of clue as to what they were discussing. The fact they outright believed him and didn¡¯t assume he was losing his mind made him realize how badly he could play evil jokes on them if he ever wanted to. Kal would take a long time to forgive him, though if he ever did, so he decided to definitely not do that. ¡°I wish I had enough time so that I could explain. As it is, I can, at most, answer one more question. You can always reach out to me, but until I know it¡¯s safe, I cannot reply. Know this, however: I can always hear you if you address me with the explicit intention for me to hear it. Though we¡¯ll have to communicate in parts and pieces, we can talk for at least five minutes a week. That much, I can manage.¡± Zach, now faced with a sudden urgency, tried to think up what to ask or what to say. There was so much he wished to cover: so many questions. Yet he decided to stick to the most pertinent for the time being. Angelica said you were the one who taught Galterrans how to deactivate spawn points. Can you teach us again before people wake up to find zombies or skeletons in bed with them? ¡°Yes. I absolutely can. Next week, we will dispense with any formalities and keep the entire conversation dedicated just to the instructions of how it¡¯s done. And also, time allowing, how to possibly prevent it from happening in the first place, if necessary.¡± Before you go, I have to know. Please, tell me. What am I supposed to do about the thing I can¡¯t remember? ¡°I¡¯m sorry. For now, I can no longer reply. I¡¯ll leave you with one word: Albion-4. Be well, Zach. And thank you: this means more to me than you could ever possibly know. You¡¯ve made my dark existence a great deal brighter today. Speak soon.¡± And with that, she was gone. He could actually feel her presence fading. One thing was for sure: she did not come across to Zach as divine, all-knowing, or anything he typically associated with Godhood. But she did appear caring and genuine. There was something about her: a sincerity that could actually be felt. It reminded him in a very eerie way of Kalana, only Eilea seemed far more scarred and not nearly as carefree. But there was definitely a part of her that reminded him of Kal. There was also something else though, too. While connected to her, he could very distantly feel some of what she felt. And Gods, there was such an incredible, almost profoundly soul-crushing loneliness in her heart. He wasn¡¯t sure why, and he hoped to find out in the coming weeks. But the pain in her was immense. ¡°Okay,¡± Zach said, drawing their attention immediately. ¡°Let¡¯s head back early. We¡¯ll swing through Angelica¡¯s, and I¡¯ll tell you everything that just happened. If we leave now, we can have time to chat and still make it back for loot. I¡¯ll text Donovan and Mr. Oren, too.¡± They''d given him a code he could use should he ever need to meet them in Angelica¡¯s to discuss anything important related to Adamus, the OMP, or the thing he couldn¡¯t remember. Adding them both to a text chain, he typed the following. >#104. Angelica¡¯s, three hours. >Mr. Oren: Urgent? >Yeah >Donovan: 4 real? >Yes!!! >Donovan: shit ok relax. brt 3 hrs. >Mr. Oren: I shall do my utmost to be there as promptly as possible. If I¡¯m a few minutes late, forgive me. I¡¯m attending to some sensitive matters. >Donovan: Alex u type like a fuckng nerd >LOL! He does right >Donovan: He thinks its a book report or smth > LMFAO Donovans the best >Mr. Oren: Enough! ¡°Okay, let¡¯s hurry back so we can do this and not miss loot.¡± Zach must have truly been greedy, because despite having a telepathic conversation with an ancient deity trapped miles below Galterra¡¯s surface, he suddenly cared more about the rolls tonight than he did anything else. All this other stuff was important too, but there was no way he was missing his roll. Apparently, something of artifact quality had even dropped. Other than Fluffles¡¯ collar, Zach knew of no other items of that rarity. Gods, he¡¯d like to win it. Chapter 108: Power Chapter 108: Power Everything was itching like crazy. From the middle of his neck down to the center of his chest, Zach¡¯s skin was irritated by the fabric of the outfit he¡¯d been basically forced to wear. It caused him to squirm around uncomfortably in the back of the limousine he¡¯d found himself in, wishing he could be wearing anything other than this way-too-formal, custom-tailored, navy-blue suit; along with slacks and a matching tie, his sneakers had been replaced with a pair of tight, pitch-black dress shoes, the laces of which someone else¡ªa staff member of the Royal Roses¡ªhad insisted she tie for him. As he glanced at the mirror in the back of the limo DEHV, he couldn¡¯t believe the sight that greeted him. His hair had been slicked up with gel, and a touch of concealer had been applied to his neck to cover up Olivir¡¯s bite. He¡¯d also been spritzed with various colognes. He barely recognized himself. ¡°This feels all wrong,¡± he muttered. Donovan grunted in agreement. ¡°We just gotta put up with it for tonight, kiddo.¡± Zach was actually surprised by how decent Donovan looked all dressed up in formalwear. He¡¯d have thought the large man would come across like a bear in a sports jacket, but far from it, he looked more like the boss of an organized crime ring minus the malevolence. He was sitting to Zach¡¯s right with his hands on his lap, and though he didn¡¯t show it, Zach had the sense he felt just as awkward on the inside as Zach himself did. Mr. Oren, on the other hand, who sat to Zach¡¯s left, looked more or less exactly as Zach had expected: like he belonged in the suit and was meant to wear it. The same could be said for Olivir, who sat in the leather-covered seat across from Zach. Though, to be fair, Olivir always seemed to dress exceptionally well. I can¡¯t believe how far the political guilds are taking this. After a brief meeting in Angelica¡¯s, in which Zach had recounted to everyone what had taken place in his mind while picnicking earlier in the day at the Bluffs of Fire, there hadn¡¯t been much time to really discuss the specifics of it, and they¡¯d instead decided to follow up again sometime later when Zach learned more about how to solve the impending spawn-point crisis. As it turned out, the political guilds had demanded that they show up to a ¡°staging point¡± two hours ahead of schedule to ¡°rehearse¡± and ¡°go through wardrobe.¡± This meant they¡¯d had even less time than Zach had originally anticipated, and thus only moments after finishing his story, all six of them had needed to get up and hurry back to Shadowfall Coast. Due to the wide range of expressions on everyone¡¯s faces, Zach had left things off without really knowing how anyone actually felt about what he¡¯d told them, and since they couldn¡¯t really talk about it outside of that one little room, he realized it might be some time before he was ultimately able to find out. If nothing else, though, he certainly wouldn¡¯t be short of things to keep his mind occupied. The political guilds, it seemed, had planned one hell of an evening, and as a poor kid from the Whispery Woods, it was honestly unlike anything Zach could¡¯ve ever imagined taking part in. Working together with Mr. Oren, the political guilds had managed to get Donovan and Zephyr to agree to their plans, and if not for Mr. Oren facilitating everything, Zach doubted events would be going so smoothly. What was incredible about this whole situation was that none of it¡ªnot even a single aspect¡ªviolated anything as far as ¡°the law of loot¡± was concerned. And to their credit, the political guilds had meticulously adhered to it while still managing to come up with an admittedly perfect fusion of their way combined with the adventurer way. It was like the blending of two completely different cultures but in a manner that somehow actually worked. Tonight, there was going to be a resplendent affair: a globally broadcast ¡°loot raffle¡± with celebrities in attendance, news media, cameras, a gigantic guest list, and various types of entertainment. There was also going to be a five-course, gourmet dinner, with wine-tasting, a cocktail bar, party favors, speeches, and everything else one would expect from an affair of such pomp and circumstance. And they did it without breaking a single one of Donovan¡¯s rules, Zach thought, astonished. I guess we owe it to them to at least play nice. Upon returning from Angelica¡¯s, he and Olivir had been forced to temporarily part ways with Kolona and Kalana, as the two had joined all the other female raid participants in a separate wing of a large warehouse that had been converted on the fly to attend to their ¡°needs.¡± Briefly, he¡¯d caught sight of what that entailed, at least so far as the women were concerned. Before being led away, he¡¯d spotted Alixa, Kalana, Queen Vayra, and Kolona as they engaged in animated discussions with their personal ¡°stylists.¡± One thing was for sure: the girls were into it¡ªlike really into it. They were discussing various outfits and details with the same zeal that many of them had discussed the dragon itself yesterday morning. The guys, however, had a very different experience. Unlike the girls, they¡¯d all been treated like a bunch of walking mannequins. With the exception of Olivir and a few others, no one seemed to argue or have any kind of back-and-forth with their personal stylists. Everyone just sort of cooperated and did what they were told, Zach included. The only time most of them had spoken to one of the staff had typically been to say that something was too tight or too loose and to request a bigger or smaller size. But outside of that, the vast majority of conversation had consisted of adventurers making the sort of crude jokes they¡¯d never make around the women. Hell, Kalana would¡¯ve killed Zach if she¡¯d known he¡¯d laughed at nearly all of them. ¡°¡­so the guy takes it out, right? And he just starts flapping it around like a lasso, and then he looks at her, and with a straight face, he says, ¡®Yeah, I think I¡¯ll take it to go.¡¯¡± A roar of laughter¡ªincluding from Zach¡ªhad followed the guy¡¯s joke, and Zach couldn¡¯t help but look around to make sure none of the girls were around to witness him laughing at something like that. ¡°Stop me if you fuckers have heard this one before,¡± Donovan had then begun. Upon those words, he¡¯d unleashed a vile, shocking, but hilarious joke from the depths of hell; it was one so filthy some of the guys had even blushed. For the next hour or two, things had mostly continued like this, yet as different, unique, and unusual a situation as this was, Zach didn¡¯t think the other adventurers minded very much. Actually, if anything, the adventurers seemed to be enjoying all the spectacle and looking forward to being part of high society for once. Up until the moment they¡¯d split up into even smaller groups to begin filing into the waiting limousine DEHVs, everyone had been chatting excitedly with smiles and laughs to go around aplenty. During this time, Zach had made light conversation with some of the adventurers he recognized¡ªalong with a few he didn¡¯t¡ªbut before long, they¡¯d all been herded into one of dozens of limo DEHVs that formed a parade-like line down four separate blocks. Now, on their way to the camp¡ªwhich had apparently been declared a historical monument earlier in the day¡ªZach scratched at his itchy, irritated chest and frowned. ¡°How come the girls get to choose what they wear and we don¡¯t?¡± ¡°Because if they allowed us to wear whatever we wanted,¡± Mr. Oren replied, his tone serious, ¡°you and Donovan would probably show up wearing sweatpants and tank-tops.¡± Donovan barked out a laugh. ¡°Fuck yeah we would.¡± To Zach, Mr. Oren said, ¡°Just try to endure the spectacle, my man. Believe it or not, the millions of people who¡¯ll be watching this from home and celebrating along with us will likely be throwing their own parties with friends, family, and neighbors. I¡¯ve been told the guilds are even going to make this an official yearly holiday as well.¡± ¡°Wait, seriously?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Like, the kind that work and school close down for?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°No way.¡± Mr. Oren sighed, and his tone became contemplative. ¡°It¡¯s easy to forget that, even though we were the ones fighting in the raid, it doesn¡¯t mean we were the only ones experiencing hardship. Think of how many families were cowering around their viewing screens in abject terror, not knowing if they were going to live or die based on our actions. Do you see, Zach? The people need this, and the political guilds understand that. That¡¯s why we¡¯re doing things this way.¡± Abruptly, all the humor faded from Donovan¡¯s voice, and a strange combination of anger and sadness came over him. ¡°I bet you know exactly what the political guilds are thinking now, don¡¯t you, Alex?¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Mr. Oren sighed a second time. ¡°Boss, please don¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me that anymore,¡± Donovan snapped. ¡°Never again.¡± Zach, seated in the middle between them, shifted uncomfortably. This was not the first flare-up these two had had today. Earlier, in Angelica¡¯s, they had exchanged troubled looks with one another all throughout his story, and in way that Zach had the sense had nothing to do with what he was saying. Clearly, something serious had happened between the two of them. And while Zach wasn¡¯t sure, he was beginning to very strongly suspect that Mr. Oren would either be leaving¡ªor had already left¡ªthe GSG. As far as why, though, he had no idea. I wish he¡¯d tell me already. Looking out of the window, it was difficult to make out anything beyond the glass other than perfect darkness. They were now well into night, and the limousine DEHV was moving along at barely thirty miles per hour as it navigated along a very recently paved trail that led to the camp. ¡°Zach,¡± Mr. Oren said, drawing his attention. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°You forgot to put your title up.¡± He grumbled. ¡°Seriously? It¡¯s lame if everyone¡¯s doing it.¡± ¡°Just for tonight, put it up, please.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, fine.¡± Tapping his shoulder four times, Zach brought up his stats, inventory, and gear options; then, tapping on the new option at the bottom labeled ¡°titles,¡± he selected ¡°dragon slayer¡± so that, now, like every other passenger in the DEHV with him, it appeared in the air above his head. Zachys Calador the Dragon Slayer With that, a painful silence settled over the four of them, as for almost two consecutive minutes, the only sounds to be heard were the dull blasting of the DEHV¡¯s hover engines and Donovan muttering unintelligibly to himself. Finally, when Zach could no longer bear it, he decided to speak up¡ªeven if he knew it wasn¡¯t his place to do so. ¡°Mr. Oren?¡± he said. ¡°Yes?¡± Zach took a breath and held it a moment. ¡°Can¡­can you please tell me what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Meaning?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t play dumb, come on. You¡¯ve been really cryptic with me lately. You told me I was going to ¡®find out¡¯ something about you on the news in a few days, but¡­honestly? I¡¯d really rather hear it from you.¡± Mr. Oren stirred as though himself becoming uncomfortable, and Zach could not be sure if it was due to his question, the sudden, intense glare from Donovan, or a mixture of both. When Mr. Oren did not reply, Zach decided to press him harder and more directly. ¡°Are you leaving the GSG?¡± he asked. ¡°Because it really sounds to me like you are.¡± Mr. Oren opened his mouth, yet like before, he did not reply. And as if in response to this, Donovan released a loud, angry grunt and said, ¡°You might as well tell the kid, Alex. You kind of owe him that much at least.¡± Mr. Oren, briefly, averted his gaze, but then soon after returned it. Now, as he regarded Zach, he had a peculiar look in his eyes, one that was almost a perfect, fifty-fifty split between determination and guilt. ¡°You¡¯re correct. I am leaving the God Slayers Guild,¡± he at last confirmed. ¡°But why?¡± Zach asked. Even though he¡¯d figured that much out already, it was still a shock to hear him say it. ¡°Did¡­did you and Donovan have a fight or something?¡± Mr. Oren shook his head. ¡°No, no, it isn¡¯t anything like that at all, my man.¡± ¡°Then why? Can¡¯t you just tell me?¡± ¡°It may be difficult for you to hear, and it will likely be even more difficult for you to understand.¡± ¡°Just tell me. Please.¡± Mr. Oren nodded. ¡°Very well, Zach. I¡¯m leaving the GSG because I¡¯m leaving adventuring entirely, and I¡¯m giving up the buff in the process.¡± If not for the safety harness, Zach would have jumped up out of his seat in the limo DEHV. ¡°But why?¡± he shouted, taken aback. ¡°Why the hell would you do that?¡± Mr. Oren adjusted his cat-eye glasses, and then he fixed Zach with a serious look. For a moment, he stared into Zach¡¯s eyes without blinking, and Zach could just tell that Mr. Oren was about to say something he wasn¡¯t going to want to hear. ¡°The reason I¡¯m leaving,¡± he began, ¡°is because I¡¯ve accepted a position to join the Lords of Justice as their new third-ranking member, replacing the recently deceased Lord Palnor. Along with it, I will also be accepting the role of Chief Human Ambassador in the hopes of helping reunite humanity with the rest of the world.¡± Zach shook his head, slowly at first, but then even faster. It was true that he¡¯d always felt Mr. Oren was out of place among adventurers, and he¡¯d even thought on numerous occasions that he almost seemed better suited to one of the political guilds, but those had always just been idle, amused thoughts, and they were in no way a reflection of what he actually believed should happen. ¡°I can¡¯t accept this,¡± he said adamantly. ¡°That was my reaction, too,¡± Donovan added with a grunt. Pointing his finger at his former science teacher, he continued to shake his head. ¡°You¡¯re the one who told me that the political guilds aren¡¯t even real guilds. You¡¯re the one who told me how terrible they are, and how we, adventurers, are against everything they stand for.¡± ¡°I did,¡± Mr. Oren confirmed, once again adjusting his glasses almost as though it were a defensive reflex. ¡°Yet at the same time, I¡¯ve expanded the way I view the world. I''ve seen a lot these past few weeks, and I truly believe I can be an advocate for the common man. I believe I can work to make life better for all Galterrans. This isn¡¯t something I¡¯ve decided lightly.¡± Zach, still shaking his head, had to resist the temptation to cover his ears so as not to hear any more of this garbage. ¡°This is bullshit, Mr. Oren. This is total bullshit. And don¡¯t say a Gods-damned thing about my language. This is bullshit. You¡¯re an adventurer. We¡¯re not like those people. We don¡¯t belong in that world. How can you do this? Is this¡­¡± Lowering his voice and choosing his words very, very carefully, he asked, ¡°Is this because your faith has been shaken by¡­by stuff?¡± He knew that Mr. Oren would understand what he was referring to: that he was referring to the way Mr. Oren had been emotionally manipulated by Prila into obtaining the buff and beginning his journey into the world of adventuring, a discovery that shattered all his beliefs and had left him¡ªat least at the time¡ªlooking hollow and empty, as though his life¡¯s purpose had been just a joke. ¡°I won¡¯t pretend that¡¯s not a part of it, Zach,¡± Mr. Oren said, now speaking at barely above a whisper. ¡°But only the smallest part, and even had that not been a factor at all, I would still be choosing this path.¡± ¡°But why? I just don¡¯t understand why.¡± ¡°You might not ever understand. The easiest way I can explain it is to say that I feel this is how I can do the most good with my life. I¡¯m not requiring you to agree with that, Zach, but I¡¯d really like you to accept it.¡± ¡°And what about¡­what about our stuff? You know, meeting in Angelica¡¯s and stuff.¡± ¡°Naturally, I won¡¯t be able to join you anymore. But I believe you are fully capable of handling things on that end. And don''t forget: you''ll still have Donovan and your friends to support you.¡± Rubbing his eyes, Zach struggled to take all of this in. ¡°This is bullshit,¡± he said again. ¡°This isn¡¯t right. What if¡­what if I need you for something?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make sure we can still keep in contact. But given my new station, I can¡¯t always guarantee I will be able to reply to you immediately. There might be days or weeks when I cannot reply at all, or there might be times you might have to leave a message with someone under me. This is going to be a very big change for me. I¡¯m going to be responsible for tens of millions of lives.¡± Zach opened his mouth to reply, but he was cut off by Donovan, who with a shaky, unsteady voice, begged, ¡°Don¡¯t do this, Alex. You¡¯re one of my best. You¡¯ve got such a great future. I¡¯ve given you a lot of shit for your fuck-ups, but only ¡®cause I always saw you taking over some day when I retire. You don¡¯t gotta go down this path.¡± ¡°I do,¡± Mr. Oren insisted. ¡°Look¡­here¡¯s something neither of you know. I can¡¯t promise that hearing this will make things any clearer, and in fact, you might not understand for a long time why I¡¯m telling you this. Also, what I¡¯m about to say cannot leave this limousine. It¡¯ll all be public eventually anyway, but for now, it must stay here.¡± Begrudgingly, Zach nodded, and so too did Donovan. And with that, Mr. Oren continued. ¡°They¡¯re starting to find bodies.¡± ¡°Bodies?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Yes. You see, during those five minutes yesterday when it looked like the raid was going to wipe, apparently a number of people¡ªsome, entire families¡ªtook their own lives. No one knows how many people committed suicide, but it¡¯s a lot. More than fifty, at least. Every few hours, more are found. I''m told there is currently no estimate for just how many people died during what the media''s now calling the ''five minutes of silence.''¡± Zach gasped, and so did Donovan. ¡°And before you blame yourselves,¡± Mr. Oren continued. ¡°None of you are responsible for this, and do not ever think otherwise.¡± ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± Zach asked breathlessly. ¡°I am.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s terrible. If I hadn¡¯t¡­¡± His heart began to pound faster in his chest. ¡°If I hadn¡¯t collapsed like a coward, maybe they wouldn¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°You are not at fault,¡± Mr. Oren said, and this, he spoke with a heat and force in his words. ¡°I did not tell you this so that you would blame yourself, Zach.¡± ¡°Then why did you tell me this? What does this even have to do with your reason for leaving? I don¡¯t see the connection at all.¡± Now, Mr. Oren fixed Zach with yet another of his unblinking stares. ¡°When people with power take actions," he said, "it can often affect the lives of others in ways that aren¡¯t always clear until much later. The things we do matter, Zach. The more power someone has, both in the social as well as the physical sense, the more a single word can cause a life to end or a life to be saved. We live in a world where there are so many people who are powerless to defend themselves, and a world like that cries out for order and decency.¡± ¡°I¡­I still don¡¯t understand,¡± Zach whispered. ¡°I don¡¯t understand at all.¡± ¡°Someday, I hope you will. I hope you both will.¡± If Mr. Oren had anything further to say, he did not have the chance to voice it, as from the sudden bright lights streaking in from both sides of the DEHV, they had arrived at the camp. Music was playing, people were dancing, and Gods, was it a fancy, high-class, and noisy affair. This was no longer a discussion it was possible to have. Olivir, who had remained silent through all of it, gave Zach a reassuring nod as if to suggest he''d like to talk with Zach about it later, though in truth, Zach wasn''t sure he ever wanted to talk about it again or even think about it. How could Mr. Oren do this? Chapter 109: Blood in the Water Chapter 109: Blood in the Water Even with the uncomfortable suit irritating his skin and the conversation he¡¯d had with Mr. Oren still running through his head, Zach was surprised to find that he didn¡¯t absolutely hate the ¡°party¡± or ¡°affair¡± or whatever this event was formally called. Despite how at odds it was with his core personality, he just couldn¡¯t deny that there was a part of him, however small, that appreciated the sheer importance of what it meant to actually be here around all of these people. At the moment, he was sitting with Kalana to his left and Olivir to his right while slowly sipping at a bowl of soup good enough to make him wonder if they¡¯d stolen it from Angelica¡¯s. The camp had gone through numerous changes since he¡¯d been here yesterday. It now looked more like an outdoor wedding venue for billionaires than it did the rugged, thrown-together assortment of tents that it had been during the raid. All around Zach, fancily dressed serving staff hustled from one table to the next asking to refill drinks or if they could be of help to any of their guests. Zach was sitting at one of the more ¡°important¡± tables positioned closer to a stage that had been erected on the east end of the camp, and aside from Kalana, he dined along with Kolona, Olivir, Queen Vayra, Grundor¡ªwho had taken very well to wearing a tuxedo¡ªand a host of other highly important, level-1 celebrities, some of whom Zach not only recognized but struggled to breathe when speaking to. Chal Brillstar was one of them. Everyone on Galterra knew who Chal was. How couldn¡¯t they? He was the star of the ¡°Gun Racers¡± franchise and probably one of the highest-profile action stars in the world. The fact that Zach was sitting directly across from someone like this blew his fucking mind. Like, there he was! The Chal Brillstar. The same guy he and Kal had ditched school last year to see star in Gun Racers IV on its opening day. ¡°I rather like this song, don¡¯t you?¡± he asked Zach as the band began to play something from his father¡¯s era. Zach nodded meekly. ¡°Yep.¡± He was being a terrible conversationalist, but what could someone like him possibly say to someone like Chal Brillstar? Kalana, on the other hand, had no such shyness. If not for her, Zach would likely forgo making conversation entirely. Gods, she looked beautiful tonight, too. She was wearing a black lace popover dress and had put on two diamond earrings. She positively glowed. Yet she seemed to find¡ªor at least she claimed to find¡ªZach just as impressive, remarking that he needed ¡°to wear suits more often¡± and that he ¡°looked so amazing.¡± Never wearing this again, he thought to himself. As music played, people danced, and speeches were given during intermittent pauses in the festivities, one of the bowtie-wearing serving staff at last gave Zach the thing he actually wanted above all: the catalogue. In their typical ¡°political guild way,¡± they¡¯d put together a digital catalogue of every item that was up for grabs in tonight¡¯s roll. The dragon had dropped not one, but two artifact-quality items, as well as five legendary items, eight ultra-rare, fifty rare, eighty uncommon, and a hundred common items. ¡°Ooh, I want that one,¡± Kalana said, flipping through the virtual catalogue on the tablet and pointing at a gemstone the size of a human thumb that looked a lot like an ordinary diamond. It appeared to be purple¡ªultra rare¡ªquality, and Kalana¡¯s mom, as though noticing her looking over it, smiled at her daughter. ¡°Do you have a dog now, Kalana?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Nope. I got a cat. Her name¡¯s Nila, and she¡¯s so precious.¡± ¡°Ahh. Well, having a Shadowfang is a big responsibility.¡± ¡°I know, it is,¡± Kalana said. ¡°But I really want one. Zach has Fluffles!¡± So that¡¯s what that is, Zach thought. He recalled Mr. Oren and the others telling him about Fluffles swallowing a gemstone that matched this description, which they said had transformed Fluffles from an ordinary house cat into the mischief-making terror that Zach nevertheless loved to pieces. ¡°Zach not allowed to pet Nila,¡± Fluffles grumbled. The cat was sitting on his lap at the table, and rather than have his own plate, Zach was simply sharing whatever he got with him. Ripping off a piece of bread, he placed it flat in the palm of his hand and moved it towards Fluffles¡¯ face. Fluffles meowed and gobbled it up. ¡°Be nice, kitty,¡± Kalana said to him. ¡°You¡¯re going to meet her this summer, too. You¡¯re coming with Zach, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m coming too,¡± Fluffles confirmed. ¡°So you better be nice to my cat.¡± ¡°Fluffles will scratch and start fight.¡± ¡°You better not!¡± Fluffles looked up at Zach. ¡°Why Kalana bullying me?¡± Zach laughed but decided not to answer such a ridiculous question. At any rate, the moment his own tablet was set down before him, he immediately let go of his soup spoon and began scrolling excitedly to the very end, interested in feasting his eyes on the artifact-quality items that had dropped. And Gods, he wanted them both so badly. The first was a level-105 staff that was slightly curved and looked made of a sort of grey, polished stone, the base of which had been carved into the head of a dragon. In addition to giving +90 to intelligence, +85 to dexterity, and +85 to constitution¡ªabsurdly high stat bonuses¡ªit had a twenty-minute ability on it that claimed it would ¡°call down an inferno from above¡± and deal ¡°50,000 damage per second + additional damage that scaled highly with intelligence.¡± Yet it also had a second ability, too. This one could only be used once a week, which for five minutes would transform the staff into a ¡°flaming sword¡± and ¡°grant the user +85 strength and a 45% chance to light their target on fire with melee attacks.¡± Zach practically salivated at the thought of how much a staff like that was worth. Yet it was the other item that really got him drooling. The other item was a ring¡ªwhich come to think of it, he could have two of those equipped and still only had one, making this perfect for him. Gods, he wanted this one really badly. The ring appeared to be made of some kind of shiny, greyish metal with a big red ruby inlaid in a slot in the middle of it. It was also described¡ªthough not shown¡ªto give off a ¡°permanent golden shine of approximately 400 lumens in brightness.¡± But the really important details were in its stats. Zach¡¯s entire body shook with greed as he read them over. The ring was level 115, and it gave +90str, +90dex, +90speed, +45int, and once every month, it allowed its user to summon a level-190 ¡°sky drake,¡± which would last for fifteen minutes or until killed, and could be ridden or used in battle. The sky drake also came with a list of five different attack abilities, all of which sounded awesome, such as something called ¡°Burning Ray¡± which apparently allowed the sky drake to call down a ¡°beam of fire¡± to burn its target. Each of the five abilities could only be used once, and could only be used within the fifteen minutes during which the sky drake remained in existence. ¡°Gods, I want that!¡± Zach blurted out. ¡°Fuck, I need to have that ring.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope you get lucky and win it then, young man,¡± Fylwen said to him, sipping at her wine. Zach shifted his eyes in her direction. ¡°Say¡­¡± ¡°No,¡± both Kalana and Fylwen replied in unison. ¡°You¡¯re not getting my roll or my mom¡¯s roll.¡± ¡°But, baby,¡± Zach said with intentionally false cuteness. He touched the screen, tapping his finger on the ring. ¡°I want it.¡± She kissed him on his cheek. ¡°Then win it.¡± Zach sighed. That was going to be easier said than done with 535 raid members here. Well¡­technically, that wasn¡¯t true. The actual number was 534, since Peter Brayspark had chosen not to attend the ceremony. He was the only one of them who had not shown up, and as far as Zach was aware, the other guilds weren¡¯t complaining. ¡°Do the people who died get to roll, too?¡± Zach asked. ¡°You know they do,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Pfft. That¡¯s not fair.¡± ¡°Nah-uh. They gave their life fighting the dragon.¡± ¡°Yeah, but they came back.¡± ¡°Zach¡­¡± He again sighed. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll be nice.¡± Olivir chuckled, and so did Grundor. Those two and Kolona seemed to be having the best time of them all. And shockingly, they¡¯d even made¡ªhowever brief¡ªsome conversation with Queen Vayra. Kalana claimed that, in a few days, she and her mother were going to talk over everything that had taken place over the past few years, and that she¡¯d finally learn exactly what had happened to her mother and why. Zach was hoping Kal would fill him in when that happened, but he decided he would not pry and would let her tell him when she felt comfortable. For now, he was content to just take in the sheer grandeur of everything around him. I never imagined being in a place like this, he told Eilea. I don¡¯t know if you can see all this stuff, but it¡¯s so different from what I¡¯m used to. When I was growing up, the fanciest party I ever went to was a birthday party at a skating rink. Ever since earlier today, when Zach had felt just the tiniest slice of the sheer, utter, burning loneliness that Eilea Vayra was forced to endure in her confinement down beneath the surface, Zach had decided to talk to her every now and again. Somehow, he just knew that she would appreciate it. He knew that it would help ease her pain and discomfort¡ªeven if just a little. It was unusual for him to care so much about strangers, especially ones who were self-proclaimed Gods. But having actually gotten to feel her pain, even if just a fraction of it, he partially understood what she was going through. He knew that, every time he spoke to her, it eased her suffering at least a little. I shouldn¡¯t complain, though, he said. I can¡¯t even imagine what it¡¯s like to be trapped in one place for a thousand years. I¡¯d lose my mind after a month. I¡¯d try to end it after a year. I don¡¯t know how you¡¯ve been down there for a thousand years, Eilea. You must be so strong. I can¡¯t even comprehend that much time, let alone imagine spending it locked away in a dark place. I wonder if there¡¯s a way I can help you get out. As he returned his attention to the tablet to see what legendary items had dropped, he felt something. It was brief. It was so slight it could almost have been his imagination. It was like a tightening of his chest, but not in an uncomfortable or scary way. But in a way that felt more like an embrace. It was fleeting, and it was gone so quickly it had vanished in the same moment he had become aware of it. But he was sure: Eilea had reached out to him, if only for a split second. Even as he continued to read through the catalogue¡ªwhich would also be the device using for rolling¡ªZach pushed it over slightly to the side so that a server could place the first course down in front of him: smoked lamb served in a tomato sauce. Zach had never tasted lamb before. With a shrug, he decided to dig in. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ****** ¡°The lamb is delicious, isn¡¯t it?¡± a finely dressed woman asked. She was attractive, but he was uninterested in her. Yet he still smiled politely and nodded in agreement, knowing her father had taken great pains¡ªand expense¡ªto ensure his daughter sat near him during this occasion. Meeting her eyes, Haisel Ragora, second-in-command of the Royal Roses, wet his lips in preparation to make polite, idle chat as a vibration from his pocket indicated that something significant either had or was in the process of occurring. ¡°Forgive me one moment, madam,¡± he said, removing the napkin from his lap and standing up from the table. ¡°I have to take this call.¡± ¡°Hurry back,¡± she said flirtatiously. Quickly walking away from the table so as to put himself out of earshot, he headed in the opposite direction of the stage to a somewhat quieter area of the camp. Then he removed his cell to see who¡¯d contacted him. Immediately, he felt a thudding begin to beat in his chest as he saw the caller was none other than Commander Hazroth, calling him from aboard the Piercing Thorn: the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier he had painstakingly recreated but never in his life expected to have to use. The same was true of the F-15E Strike Eagles, twelve of which were docked and aboard the ship. ¡°This is Senior Lieutenant Ragora,¡± he said, answering the call. ¡°Sir,¡± came Hazroth¡¯s voice. ¡°We found ¡®em.¡± Haisel looked around once again, ensuring that no one was observing him. Aside from the boss, who was peering at him with expectant, knowing eyes from the table he¡¯d just departed, he appeared to be in complete privacy. ¡°Are you sure? You have to be one-hundred percent certain, Commander Hazroth.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the fleet, sir. I¡¯m positive.¡± Of all the times for this to happen, why did it have to be now? Haisel had been essentially living aboard the Piercing Thorn, spending every day, evening, and night there. It just figured that this had to come up the one time he was away. Yet he knew that he needed to trust Commander Hazroth and seize upon this opportunity now, lest he lose it. Although Commander Hazroth was a level 1, he was nevertheless a capable, intelligent man who was more than able to handle things in Haisel¡¯s absence. Even still, he wished he could teleport over there right now. To hell with the loot! ¡°You¡¯re positive?¡± he asked again. ¡°Well and truly positive?¡± ¡°Absolutely, sir. It¡¯s their coastal fleet. We found ¡®em.¡± With Vim¡¯s eyes still trained on him, Haisel turned his head to meet his guild-leader¡¯s gaze, and with that, he gave a quick, firm nod of the head. And then, in turn, Vim gave him one right back. Confirmation. Good. Tightening his grip on his phone, he said, ¡°Commence the operation. Attack the enemy fleet.¡± ****** For the second night in a row, Dolir Renfar had to resist the urge to vomit off the side of the battlecruiser¡¯s deck as the perpetual motion of the ship caused his seasickness to worsen. Why in the name of the Gods had Major Baxtra redeployed him from the 131st brigade to this aging, barely serviceable vessel? He wasn¡¯t alone in his discontent, either. More than three-thousand infantry had been thrust in a totally unfamiliar role in a totally unfamiliar location, and all because just two radar and sonar operators claimed to have detected an anomaly last week off the coast near the Arid Dunes of Bastia, which only one of the two of them thought implied the existence of enemy naval ships. This, of course, was preposterous, as it would mean the Royal Roses had somehow assembled a fully functioning navy. Not to mention any and all attempts to relocate the signal had failed. No way in hell, he thought to himself. Though they were experiencing some hard times, everyone knew that the Guild of Gentlemen remained the only force in humanity with a working, functioning fleet of battleships. The technology just to repair, let alone build new ships had been lost ages ago, and the funding required to research, as well as the sheer number of scientists and manpower¡­this kind of development could not possibly have taken place undetected. ¡°You okay, son?¡± Sergeant Matrick asked him. Wiping his lips, Dolir nodded. ¡°I¡¯m fine, sarg. No fucking idea what I¡¯m even puking up. I haven¡¯t eaten shit since I got here.¡± The sergeant laughed. ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it. It takes time, but before long, you¡¯ll get your sea legs.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even want them. I hope I get sent back in the city, to be honest.¡± ¡°We all do, son. But right now, humanity needs us to¡ª¡± The sergeant¡¯s words cut off and Dolir¡¯s eyed widened in confusion as a terrifyingly loud boom along with an intense, bright orange glow lit up the dark sky; from seemingly out of nowhere, an orange ball of flame was now hovering above the ocean to the west of their ship, which caused him to reflexively drop to his knees and cover his head with his hands. ¡°Wh-wh-what the fuck was that?¡± he screamed. Caught in a moment of confusion and disorientation, he wondered if that Gods-cursed dragon was still alive as both he and the sergeant exchanged perplexed, anxious glances with one another. And then the sirens began to blare, the confusion ramped up tenfold, and a complete sense of chaos came over the crew. ¡°Ocean''s Perl has been hit!¡± a voice cried behind him. ¡°Ocean¡¯s Perl has been hit!¡± ¡°By fucking what?¡± shouted another, panicked voice. Still in a crouch, Dolir partially turned his body around, and now he realized that the giant streak of orange hovering over the water was the Ocean¡¯s Perl¡ªall of it¡ªcompletely set aflame. Men and women were shouting in agony over the communications line, with many jumping overboard while others screamed that they were trapped beneath the deck. ¡°This is Captain Lola Gursk. Ocean¡¯s Perl, what is your status. Do you copy, over?¡± ¡°This¡­¡± Crackling. ¡°¡­Perl¡­been hit¡­all engines out. Taking on water!¡± Dolir grabbed his rifle and looked around as hundreds of men and women stormed the deck with their guns at the ready. This, as more sirens went off and another, similar explosion created a large wave in the ocean that rocked their ship and nearly knocked Dolir off his feet. His heart raced with terror. Was this really happening? He didn¡¯t want to die. He didn¡¯t want to be here at all. What¡¯s going on? What¡¯s happening? I don¡¯t know what to do. More voices cried out in alarm, and now, all guns were pointed towards the north, where a number of large, barely visible shadows were looming on the horizon. With terrified, shaking hands, Dolir lowered his rifle and grabbed the binoculars that dangled from a strap around his chest. Looking through the lens, he shook his head in both denial and fear as he spotted what could only be called an approaching naval fleet consisting of new, polished-looking ships, with one in particular dead center that was so large it had to be the biggest artificial, sea-faring structure that Dolir had ever before witnessed. Shaped like a dagger and many times the size of even their largest ship, it appeared to have¡­no, that couldn¡¯t be. Were those runways on top of it? And were those jets that were taking off? What in the name of the Gods was that thing? Who or what was attacking them? This couldn¡¯t have been the Royal Roses, surely. Screaming, panicked voices cried over the communications line, and soon, the screech of jets came from the skies above. In unison, twelve of them soared over their fleet and continued right on in that direction until they were out of sight. Then came the explosions. As Dolir hugged his knees into his chest and lowered his head, whimpering, he prayed to the Gods to save him. He¡¯d never been so afraid in his entire life. Not even as he¡¯d watched Sir Brayspark fight the dragon. His lips quivering and his heart pounding, he lost control of his bowels and defecated in his breaches as he cried out for his mother. He wanted to go home. He didn¡¯t understand what was happening. Were those airplanes dropping bombs on top of them? Since when did such a weapon exist? ¡°Return fire!¡± the sarg cried. More noise erupted around him as an entire row of soldiers began emptying round after round into the approaching force. What they were aiming at or what they hoped to accomplish, Dolir could not say. Even as people shouted at him to stand up and fight, he could only remain where he was and cower in fear. He¡¯d never asked for this. He¡¯d never wanted to be a part of any of this. ¡°Gods dammit, Renfar!¡± the sergeant cried. ¡°Get off your ass and¡ª¡± There was a ping, and then the sergeant fell lifelessly to the floor, a bullet-shaped hole in the center of his forehead. Blood leaked out of him, creating a pool that was washed away only as another wave caused water to splash up and onto the deck. At the same time, the roar of machine-gun fire came from what he presumed to be mounted guns on the enemy ships. Before his very eyes, the entire deck was ripped apart, and everyone to both his left and right were gunned down, their bodies shredded by incoming fire. The lucky ones died immediately; the rest suffered. Dolir buried his face into the deck and tried to wish himself away as more screams, more death, and more explosions followed. The airplanes came back around for another attack. How were they supposed to deal with this? How could they shoot down such fast-moving weapons? He screamed as the most violent bang yet caused him to nearly fall overboard. The ship he was stationed on was split in half, and water began to rush in. This, as a woman clutching her stomach reached out as if to grab hold of something as blood poured out of her and spilled off the deck, draining her insides into the ocean. ¡°Medic,¡± she begged, her voice weak. ¡°Medic.¡± He was going to die. There was no escaping this. This was the end of his life! ***** Sir Allistair Morrison slammed his fist down onto his desk. ¡°They have a fleet?¡± he shouted in disbelief. His officers said nothing, many looking away in shame. Major General Baxtra exhaled. ¡°The cowards attacked us during a celebration, too,¡± he said. ¡°While they use our land to hold their party.¡± ¡°What were we even attacked with?¡± ¡°It appears¡­¡± He shifted nervously. ¡°It appears the Royal Roses have somehow built an ancient aircraft carrier. I don¡¯t know how they did it, but it appears new, too.¡± Alistair swore. ¡°What¡¯s the damage so far?¡± ¡°They¡¯ve sunk half our fleet. We¡¯re trying to evacuate the other half, but the enemy appears to have F15 fighter jets, and they¡¯re pursuing successfully.¡± ¡°H-how?¡± Alistair asked with a gasp. ¡°How can this even be? Those don¡¯t exist anymore. If they did, we¡¯d be the ones to have them.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Major Baxtra said. ¡°But this is a devastating blow, and we¡¯ll be unable to reinforce our front-line troops from the sea when the invasion begins.¡± ¡°No,¡± he growled. ¡°No, no, I won¡¯t accept this. We need to retaliate. Activate the cell in Giant¡¯s Fall.¡± ¡°S-sir!¡± Major Baxtra said sharply. ¡°For what purpose?¡± ¡°Have them attack Lion¡¯s Square.¡± ¡°Lion¡¯s Square? There are no valid targets there.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care. Attack the square itself!¡± ¡°Meaning what, exactly?¡± ¡°Meaning what I said. Attack. The. Square!¡± Major Baxtra held up his hand as though in a gesture of hesitance. ¡°That¡¯s a civilian target. There are no military forces there.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care. We must strike back. Order our sleeper cells to activate and put the fear of the Gods into the Royal Roses and those who support the enemies of humanity.¡± Even though he could see his officers were visibly uncomfortable, Alistair Morrison would refuse to budge. Those Royal Rose cowards were massacring his people. This could not go unanswered. There was no way he could allow them to spill this much blood without their retaliation. ¡°Order them to activate,¡± he said again. ¡°Target the civilian population.¡± ¡°Sir, please, hear me,¡± Major Baxtra said. ¡°What you are asking me to do is literally an act of terror. You¡¯re asking us to commit terrorism.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an act of survival. Activate them now. Do you understand me, Major?¡± ¡°As you wish, sir.¡± ***** Jessi was not sure at what point, exactly, everything went wrong. Together with her two children, she had gathered in Lion¡¯s Square for a massive celebration. There was music, games, and street performers. Cotton candy was being given freely to anyone under 12 years of age, and the ice cream trucks had come out to satisfy the sugar-cravings of those who wanted something a bit colder. Everyone was happy, and everyone was expressing joy that the dragon had finally been dealt with: that their heroes had triumphed against an ancient evil she hoped to never again see. And then a series of loud cracks, which she had at first thought were fireworks, began permeating the air. All at once, shouts of joy turned to screams of terror as a group of trench-coat-wearing men wielding assault rifles began randomly opening fire on everyone in her vicinity. At first, she remained frozen where she was, unsure if this was some kind of demonstration or prank or something other than what it seemed. But it was only after a bullet hit her husband¡¯s throat and he began to gurgle as blood spilled out of his open wound that she realized something truly terrible was happening. Something that she could neither understand nor believe was really happening. ¡°Run!¡± shouted voices all around her, crying out fearfully. ¡°Shooter! Shooter!¡± Making the hardest decision of her life, she scooped up her son in one hand and her daughter in the other, and she left the love of her life to die alone while writhing in pain near the center of the square. But what could she do? What could she possibly do? She still couldn¡¯t fully understand what was happening. How could she know how to react to something like this? As people ran frantically in every direction, she chose to move as fast as she was able towards the rear of the square. Panting heavily, she shouted for her children not to look back and to keep running as she pushed them forward with an arm around each of them. Everywhere around her, people were falling down and ceasing to move. Some were shot multiple times: enough so that their clothing was torn away from the repeated impact of bullets. A musician that had been entertaining children was twitching his fingers and shaking uncontrollably. And through it all, Jessi ran as fast as she could. Then something happened, and she realized she could no longer feel her arms or legs. She was now lying down with her face on the pavement. What happened? Was she hurt? She didn¡¯t understand. She could no longer move. Had she been shot? ¡°Mommy! Mommy, please!¡± She tried to tell her children to run. She hoped they did. Everything faded, and then there was nothing. ***** Zach laughed happily. ¡°Kal, you¡¯ve got to try this salmon. It¡¯s amazing.¡± She smiled at him. ¡°I don¡¯t like fish that much.¡± ¡°Just try it!¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± The more the night went on, the more Zach relaxed and allowed himself to enjoy it. After all, why not? The world was saved, and he deserved a moment of peace. Chapter 110: The End of an Era Chapter 110: The End of an Era Adamus lowered his eyes a moment as he watched the events play out in both his mind and on the terminal in front of him. His disappointment was immense. It was going to be another one of these, was it? Humans and their wars. He sighed. If only Eilea had not taught them how to deactivate the spawn points, perhaps they would be too busy surviving to start this kind of conflict up again. As it were, he knew his system was not at fault. No, the blame for this could be laid squarely on Eilea. Adamus had a fairly solid knack for predicting what was to come based on what was, and though he was not perfect, he was good enough that he could tell this would be a particularly ugly one. Galterra, in all likelihood, was doomed. ***** Even as Zach held Kalana''s hand and laughed at a joke told by Olivir, he couldn¡¯t shake the growing sense that something wasn¡¯t quite right. It was a nagging feeling Zach had in the back of his head. He wasn¡¯t sure when it began, and he wasn¡¯t sure what caused it, but somewhere between the third and fourth course, things had begun to feel just a little bit¡­well, ¡°off,¡± for lack of a better word. For starters, the mayor of Ogre¡¯s Axe¡ªthe smaller of the two cities in Giant¡¯s Fall¡ªhad stopped speaking mid-speech. One of his aides had run up to him and had hastily whispered something into his ear. Whatever it was had clearly startled the man, because he¡¯d accidentally dropped the microphone and had hurried off the stage. At the same time, Vim Alazar, the leader of the Royal Roses, had gone pale, and a look of disbelief came across his face, one that was soon replaced by rage. He, along with Haisel Ragora, had then gotten up and had moved in unison towards another area of the camp, where both men had begun speaking to one another in hushed whispers. Zach could not make out what they were saying. Even still, it was a minor blip in what was otherwise turning out to be a really nice night. It was probably just boring guild politics stuff that wasn¡¯t of any interest to him. What was of interest to him was this outstanding veal, which both he and Fluffles were loving. ¡°Zach give another piece,¡± Fluffles begged with a loud meow. ¡°Your dad¡¯s going to kill me if I keep giving you.¡± Even now, he could see Maric glaring over at Zach from where he sat five tables down the line. ¡°One more piece, then this Fluffles¡¯ last,¡± the cat said. ¡°I promise.¡± Zach sighed. ¡°Okay, fine.¡± Cutting off a small piece, he lifted the fork towards Fluffles, and the cat bit the meat right off it. Most people seemed to be fine with the cat doing this, but there were a few snobby people who seemed to think it was gross that Zach was sharing the same fork with his cat. Well, they were probably animal haters and could all go to hell. Honestly, his patience for cat-haters had gone to zero ever since he¡¯d adopted the cat¡ªor rather, the cat had adopted his own self. Don¡¯t care what they think, Zach thought. Fluffles was on the raid too. He can eat whatever he wants. Look at them staring down their nose at him. Gods, some of these people piss me off. Wanting to steer his thoughts in a more positive direction, he flipped through the document on the tablet once again: the so-called catalogue. As much as he was hoping to win the artifact-quality items, Zach realized the legendary items were also really fantastic, and even the epic-rare ones were, too. Hell, even the rare and uncommon items were great, as they¡¯d been dropped from such a high-level boss that many of them were improvements over his current equipment despite their rarity. When all was said and done, Zach just hoped to walk away with something that was an improvement over what he already had. ¡°Hey, Kal,¡± he said with a chuckle. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°If I win that ring, I¡¯ll be able to summon my war-mount and a sky drake at the same time.¡± She pressed her palm against his shoulder and gave him a playful push. ¡°You need to stop causing so much mayhem, Zach. I dunno if you should even be allowed to have that ring.¡± ¡°I hope I get it now even more,¡± Zach said. ¡°I earned it. And you know what? I only have one ring as is, so I need it more than anyone else. After all the effort I put in, I should be the one to¡­hm?¡± ¡°What?¡± Kalana asked, having just eaten a forkful of veal. Zach nodded with his head in the direction of something behind her. ¡°What¡¯s going on over there?¡± She turned her body around in her chair so that she could look behind herself. ¡°Umm, not sure. Mom?¡± Queen Vayra tensed. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Something feels wrong¡­¡± ¡°I was just thinking that, actually,¡± Zach said. Right now, Kolorn Besh, the ostensible ¡°leader of humanity¡± and guild-leader of the Lords of Justice, had sprung out of his chair and had stormed over to Vim Alazar, and so too had Abram Gespon. It wasn¡¯t long before Fionna Darkmae, the young female leader of the Children of the Order joined them, and then so too did the leader of Defenders of Peace. The five of them were exchanging glances that ranged from outrage to shock, and though they were whispering, they were speaking at such an intensity that he could actually hear their voices even if he could not make out any words. ¡°No one seems to be paying it much attention,¡± Zach said. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s nothing.¡± The other guests, be they celebrities, business tycoons, rank-and-file guild members or those who¡¯d participated in the raid¡ªall seemed to pay little heed to what was going on with those five, so Zach thought it was probably safe to assume that nothing all that serious was happening. And as though to reassure them all of this fact, Vim Alazar approached the stage, picked up the microphone off the floor, and began to speak. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen,¡± he said. ¡°I hope you¡¯re enjoying yourselves this evening. We were all faced with a terrible threat, something unlike anything we¡¯ve ever been forced to deal with in any of our lives. And yet, we persevered!¡± A round of applause came from the crowd, including Zach. Then Vim continued to speak, and upon his next few words, the mood changed immediately and dramatically. ¡°Due to some unforeseen circumstances,¡± he said, ¡°we¡¯re going to have to cut the night a bit short. We¡¯ll be commencing the loot-rolling now, and the fifth course will not be served. Preparations are being made to have you all sent home as soon as possible.¡± Murmurs of confusion and disappointment came from the guests all around Zach, as well as whispered questions demanding to know what was going on and why. And though Zach could not object to cutting straight to the loot, he certainly couldn¡¯t deny the pinch of uneasiness he began feeling in the pit of his belly. ¡°I¡¯d also ask you all to please remain calm,¡± Vim continued. And it was here that Zach felt a nervous chill run down his back. ¡°You may be about to hear some very loud noises. I want you to understand that you are in no danger.¡± Vim continued to speak, but whatever Vim had said next, Zach did not hear it. His attention was instead diverted off to his right, specifically in the direction of the city, where the sound of twelve jets streaking across the sky created a noise so loud that it caused every head to turn and every eye to stare in the direction of it. ¡°What¡¯s this, some kind of airshow?¡± a woman wearing a fancy white dress exclaimed. ¡°How lovely. I¡¯ve not seen that type of aircraft before. What manner of¡ª¡± Her words finished in a scream, and then a loud gasp came from hundreds of people all at once. Kalana grabbed his hand and squeezed hard enough to cause pain, and Zach felt his entire body tighten in apprehension. There was a bang, and it was unlike any Zach had ever before heard. It was raw, deep in pitch, and though it did not cause the ground to rumble, it did cause the tables to shake and the silverware everywhere to jingle against plates. Then there was a bright orange ball of flame coming from the city, and Zach peeled his lips back in both fear and shock. ¡°Is it Ziragoth?¡± he shouted. ¡°Did it come back somehow?¡± It was the question on everyone¡¯s lips: everyone except Vim, who spoke into the microphone, this time even louder. ¡°Everyone, please, I assure you. This is not the dragon.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Donovan yelled, scrambling up to his feet. ¡°Why the fuck is shit exploding in the city?¡± Vim looked around as though for support, and the other guild-leaders joined him on stage. With his left hand, he made a gesture, and abruptly, all media cameras turned off. Then he continued to speak. ¡°Around one hour ago, the Guild of Gentlemen launched a terrorist attack in Giant¡¯s Fall targeting a civilian population,¡± he said. ¡°We have been informed that it has resulted in a mass-casualty event. There are over five-hundred dead or wounded.¡± More gasps of horror came from the crowd. Icy tendrils of fear erupted inside Zach at these words, as well as a feeling of disbelief and disgust. It was a revulsion so deep he struggled not to vomit up his food. Kalana squeezed his hand even more tightly, and Fylwen, along with Olivir and Kolona, all appeared to have the same reaction: they began shifting their eyes around as though wondering which direction was best to exit. ¡°In retaliation,¡± Vim said, ¡°we have ordered a series of airstrikes. What you have all just witnessed are our newly reborn F15E Strike Eagles, a weapon of humanity¡¯s past capable of launching pinpoint strikes on military targets while minimizing collateral damage and civilian death.¡± Zach frowned skeptically. From the intense plumes of smoke emanating from the northern part of the city, he somehow found it very hard to believe that civilians had not just been killed. But most of all, he could not fucking believe that, after everything they¡¯d gone through together¡ªafter all the ways in which they¡¯d suffered to fight for their future¡ªthe guilds would pull this shit. How could they do this? How could they look at themselves in the mirror? Did they not experience even an iota of shame? Donovan, now on his feet, looked around as if to meet the eyes of every other adventurer, Zach included, and with an angry, bitter grunt, he said, ¡°This don¡¯t involve us. If shit gets out of hand, we¡¯re leaving. With that, he sat back down¡ªthen immediately popped right back up to his feet as though startled as another series of massive explosions came from the city three-and-a-half miles southeast of them, and now, out of nowhere, what sounded like an absolute calamity of gunfire and smaller, miniature explosions began to echo endlessly in the air. ¡°Kal, I don¡¯t like this,¡± Zach whispered. ¡°Me neither.¡± Fylwen scowled. ¡°Humans,¡± she said, the word coming across like acid on her tongue. ¡°Always the same with them.¡± In addition to the drumbeat of gunfire and bombs, the sound of ambulances and peacekeeper sirens added to the growing chorus of madness. This, as Vim said, ¡°Let¡¯s continue with our evening and try our best not to pay too much attention to the noise. Again, I apologize for this.¡± For the first time since Zach had become a part of the adventuring world, the prospect of loot did not succeed at distracting him from what was taking place around him. Incredibly, he found it hard to care right now. Before his very eyes, he witnessed an entire ten-story building simply crumple into dust, and Kalana leaped out of her seat and yelled out in terror as she watched it implode in the distance. ¡°What are you doing?¡± she shouted at Vim while pointing in its direction. ¡°Stop it! Stop it right now!¡± At this, Fylwen grabbed her arm and yanked her back down into a seated position. ¡°You mustn¡¯t!¡± she hissed at her daughter. ¡°You¡¯re an Elvish princess, and you cannot speak out of turn.¡± ¡°But, mom, he just¡ª¡± ¡°I know what the human did,¡± she said. ¡°But you must not get involved. The same for you, young man,¡± she said, her eyes settling worryingly over Zach. The fact that she glared at him actually provided a sole moment of warmth in what had just turned into a bone-chilling display of coldness, as the anger in her eyes came across as motherly¡ªas though she feared he would do something foolish, and that the idea of it angered her in the same way it would if Kalana had done it. ¡°Forget the loot,¡± Fylwen said, shifting her eyes between the two of them. ¡°Kalana, Zach: we are leaving. I¡¯ll order my Elvish warriors to escort us safely out of here. I want neither of you to be anywhere in the vicinity of what is happening. This will turn ugly quickly.¡± ¡°But we can¡¯t just leave,¡± Zach said. ¡°Yes, yes we can. This is not our concern. You and Kalana have nothing to do with this. Let¡¯s return to Whispery Woods, and we can¡ª¡± A series of explosions, each louder than anything that had come from Ziragoth, at last caused the ground to rumble and several plates to fall off the tables as multiple balls of fire appeared in the distance. The entire northern part of the city was now aflame, and even from this far away, Zach could somehow hear screaming. There were so many gunshots, and distantly, he could now see an entire column of tanks beginning to exchange fire with another column. This was nothing like the fair, open-field combat that had dominated North Bastia for a hundred years. This was wild and out of control. ¡°Let¡¯s get the loot over and done with,¡± Donovan growled. ¡°Alex, let¡¯s¡­Alex?¡± Donovan closed his mouth and spat into the dirt. A pain entered into his expression as he seemingly realized that Alex had separated himself from the adventurers and had hurried over to reside among the political guild members, who accepted him as though he were one of their own. He joined a huddle of the highest-ranking of them, joining in an exchange of words. ¡°We need to focus everything now on ensuring the safety of non-combatants,¡± he said, to which those near him agreed. ¡°Call an emergency meeting of the UCH and see if we can¡¯t rush humanitarian aid into the region.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Donovan seemed so taken aback he came across as momentarily paralyzed. But then, quickly, as though finding his strength, he shook his head and continued. ¡°Everyone who wants to roll, we¡¯re doing this the old-fashioned way. Everyone rolls once, and then from highest to lowest roll, the winners pick out what they want in that order. I want this done within ten, and then we¡¯re getting the fuck out of here.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not doing it per item?¡± Kesten asked. ¡°Naw, not this time. That takes too long, and we¡¯re in a Gods-cursed fuckin¡¯ warzone.¡± Donovan said something else, but Zach didn¡¯t hear it. He couldn¡¯t hear anything at all, actually. Because abruptly, a series of gunshots rang out in the air, and now, it was so close that it startled him and caused him to yelp. An instant later, to both his right and his left, he watched as two women in attendance went from glancing at one another fearfully to being ripped open from the neck down, their shoulders twisting and turning in opposite directions as someone¡ªor something¡ªgunned them down, causing a spray of blood to whip across the table and splash in Zach¡¯s face. ¡°What¡­what¡¯s happening?¡± he cried. With that came the screaming. Plates, glasses, and bottles of wine shattered. A bowtie-wearing waiter clutched his chest and fell backward. Two more women near the cocktail bar let out brief gasps as they slid down to their knees on a trail of their own blood. A famous actor bolted up from a table and began to run, only to be shot in the back. ¡°Get down!¡± Kalana shouted. ¡°Everyone, get down!¡± "I''ve been shot!" someone yelled in pain. "Somebody shot me. Please, help!" Jumping out of his seat, Zach saw multiple men in military uniforms rushing the camp, but it was at him who they pointed their guns. He didn¡¯t understand why. He still wasn¡¯t sure what the hell was taking place. ¡°What are you doing?¡± he called to them, stunned by the sight of death around him. Then Zach cried out in terror, extending both his hands and bracing himself as they took aim and pulled the trigger. Multiple flashes of light came from the barrels of their rifles, and now, without mercy, Zach found himself riddled with bullets¡ªand because of his level-1 thinking, he truly, however briefly, thought that his life was about to end. Instead, hundreds of rounds bounced harmlessly off Zach¡¯s face and body, but not before ripping an equal number of tears into his suit, leaving him standing there half naked¡ªand still very much in shock. As though finally realizing who they had just shot at, the soldiers backed away as if terrified of reprisal. ¡°What are you doing, you idiots?¡± one of them cried. ¡°That¡¯s Zachys Calador you morons just shot at!¡± ¡°So? He¡¯s a member of the Royal Roses,¡± grunted another. ¡°That makes him a valid target. Switching to armor-piercing rounds.¡± More soldiers arrived and more bullets were fired, and now, Zach watched on in confusion and shock as he was covered in yet another volley of gunfire, only this time, it sort of tickled. Yet even as he was assaulted in this storm of bullets, he turned his head to look as dozens of the guests, especially those not directly behind him, were cut down one after the next. Men, women, and even a few children were obliterated before his very eyes¡ªeven as many tried to hide beneath tables and others fled for their lives. Why were they doing this? Why were they killing all these innocent people? ¡°Stop,¡± Zach pleaded, watching as life after life was snuffed out. ¡°Stop it,¡± he said again. Then he raised his voice, loudly. ¡°I said¡ª¡± ¡°STOP IT!¡± Olivir roared. The vampire, now shielded by a black, semi-transparent barrier, lifted his arm high into the air and then swung it downwards. Materializing in the air above the firing soldiers, a scythe popped into existence, and then more screams and more cries of terror drowned out almost all other sounds as it began moving up and down on its own, slicing the firing soldiers into numerous pieces while hacking off limbs, faces, fingers, toes, legs, and in some cases severing their heads from their bodies. Many turned their fire onto the vampire instead, but Olivir¡¯s barrier deflected each gunshot, and in some cases, the bullets even ricocheted and returned to he or she who¡¯d fired it, striking them dead instead. Throughout it all, Zach trembled in confusion, sadness, regret, and a refusal to believe that this could even be really happening. Not after everything that had taken place: not after all they¡¯d endured. How could Peter Brayspark allow this? Sure, the man wasn¡¯t perfect, but he would never do this. Never! So why was this happening? More soldiers began cresting the hill that led up to the camp, and then more soon behind even those. Anyone not above level-1 was forced to scramble away or face imminent death. Yet the soldiers did not come alone. Now, men and women wearing coats emblazoned with a logo of crossed swords began making their way towards the camp on the heels of what Zach took to be infantry. ¡°Young man: run!¡± Fylwen cried as these figures approached. She drew her shortsword and Kalana drew her daggers. ¡°Without gear or your ability, you¡¯re not going to be able to¡ª¡± ¡°Get away from him!¡± Kalana shrieked. Things happened so fast they were almost impossible to keep up with. One moment, Zach was standing perfectly still in whatever scraps remained of his suit, and in the next, no fewer than ten different people wielding various weapons were charging directly at him while another handful were chanting words with their staffs aglow. I¡¯m being attacked! As a sizzling, reddish, plasma-like beam of energy struck down at him in a way similar to lightning, Zach had just enough time to lift his left hand upwards, palm open, and call upon his Bank and Storage. Lacking any time whatsoever to take anything more than his sword and his card, he grabbed his blade out of the box and then backflipped out of the way just as the reddish plasma struck, burning a small, smoking hole in the spot he¡¯d just been standing. Then, with his blade in his left hand and his card in his right, he gave his arm a sturdy jerk forward to detach the weapon from its sheathe, raising it promptly thereafter to defend against a sword strike from a blonde-haired man just in front of him, who was slicing it downwards towards the top of Zach¡¯s head. ¡°Stop!¡± Zach shouted at him. ¡°What the fuck are you doing, man? Hey! What''s your problem? Stop it!¡± Their two blades connected, and it became immediately, abundantly clear that, stats-wise, Zach was outmatched. The man struck so hard it nearly knocked the sword out of his grip. Yet even still, it didn¡¯t stop Zach from noticing the way he then pivoted on his hips as though intent on delivering a horizontal, follow-up strike that would tear open Zach¡¯s chest deeply enough to kill him outright. For this reason, while still in such a bewildered, detached, and borderline emotionless state of pure shock, and while still attempting to process everything that was going on around him, Zach acted without malice, intention, or purpose. Driven by nothing but reflex and reflex alone, he kicked off his front foot, dashing backwards, and he spun out of the way of a third strike before lashing out with one of his own. It was only as he heard a moan of pain that he realized what he¡¯d done. The blonde-haired, sword-wielding man dropped his weapon and clutched his neck with both hands as blood spurted out from between his fingers, which were grasping at the spot where Zach had struck him across the throat. He gurgled, fell to his knees, and seemed to be trying to keep any more from leaking out as he fell face forward onto the ground and died. No! Zach thought to himself, his voice coming through as a scream in his own mind. No, no, no! I didn¡¯t mean to do that! I didn¡¯t¡­! Still wielding his weapon in just one hand, he twisted his body around a spear he noticed lunging towards him, then ducked down beneath the strike of a sword to his left. He was being attacked from both sides. Fear raced through him, and it prompted him to retaliate immediately. He struck upwards to parry a second downward slash, and then, upon knocking the sword away, he stepped forward and into a lunging thrust, piercing the woman through the heart before ripping his blade away. Then, even as she fell lifelessly forward, he whirled his body around as fast as he could and just barely managed to parry the spear, hitting it hard enough that it flew out of the hand of the man wielding it, and with that, Zach struck out yet again, but this time, he only managed to graze the man who¡¯d attacked him, slicing him in a way that was shallow and left but a small cut on his left bicep. Unfortunately for him, however, the light ability of his weapon proc¡¯d. At once, more than fifty star-shaped emblems made of pure light appeared out of thin air and surrounded his attacker, and then all coalesced into a single point, creating something of a shimmering orb around this black, curly-haired man that lit up the surrounding darkness. ¡°No, please!¡± he cried. ¡°Wait! Please, kid! W¡ª¡± The orb shattered, and so did the man. Now, human remains showered all over Zach, drenching him in blood, bone, and human tissue. He shook his head. He didn¡¯t mean to do that. It wasn¡¯t even his fault. Gods-dammit, it wasn¡¯t! Yet before he could even mentally process the pain of it all, his eyes turned in the direction of a massive, heavyset man wearing a black helmet and a full suit of armor who was wielding a bastard sword that was almost as big as Zach. With a grunt, he slammed it straight down on top of where Zach was standing. ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± Zach shouted at him as he backed away. ¡°Please, I don¡¯t want to kill you!¡± The sword struck the ground, and the result was a column of dirt, grass, and dust that began showering down on top of the two of them. His adrenaline pumping, and his will to survive drowning out all feelings of remorse, Zach activated Card Summon, calling forth his level-90, Cursed Defender of Ziragoth, and at the same time, he activated his war-mount, causing his Kralzek¡¯s beast to appear from out of a void of nothingness. There had to be close to twenty people now focused entirely on killing just him. In fact, from what Zach could tell, he¡¯d now become the primary target of whatever the hell this was. He didn¡¯t even know if this was by intention or by chance. Maybe it was because they viewed him as the biggest threat, or maybe this was something they''d set out to do. He had no way of knowing. Either way, at least he was not all alone. Right now, Fylwen and her Elvish warriors, despite being totally ungeared, leapt into action and began assaulting many of the high-level warriors while hundreds of political guild members and adventurers watched on as though completely uncertain as to what they should be doing. Even Donovan remained where he was¡ªat least at first. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Right now, a battle had just begun, and the lines were clear. It was Zach, Fylwen, Kalana, Kolona, Olivir, and an assortment of Elvish warriors versus an entire fucking army. If not for the fact that they were all dressed in formalwear¡ªand thus limited only to the stats granted by their weapons¡ªthe Elves alone would¡¯ve been enough to obliterate the Guild of Gentlemen''s forces. Yet they¡¯d been caught off guard and unequipped, and so now, it was nothing more than Zach¡¯s ardent, desperate desire to survive that enabled him to do what needed to be done. ¡°This is an act of war!¡± Fylwen howled aloud as she split a man open by running her shortsword vertically down the middle of his face. ¡°Archers! Fire on the human infantry!¡± Arrows streaked across the night, and rifle-wielding humans cried out in alarm and suffering as a barrage cut them to pieces. At the same time, Zach was forced to contend with a rush of armed attackers heading towards him while an even greater threat was revealed to him in the form of mages, who had begun casting on him. Continuously, he dodged out of the way of various clouds of dark-colored mist, each making a loud popping sound as they detonated like smoke bombs. Though he succeeded in evading quite a few of them, eventually, he got careless and was caught. Now, he coughed as a purple mist exploded on top of him, causing his head to ache, his eyes to tear up, and a feeling of weakness to come over him. He nearly collapsed, too, but Fylwen, casting her Gift of Nature¡¯s Embrace, relieved him of the poison, and he nodded to her in thanks. I need to deal with those mages! Immediately, Zach bolted into action. Lacking access to Phase Blink, he dashed forward at full speed then leapt into the air, flipping over a rush of incoming warriors, who instead ran headfirst into his level-90 card and his level-85, saber-toothed cat. He could tell from the sound of screaming that his two minions were on the winning side of that fight. He could hear the snapping of their jaws, which were followed by the subsequent sounds of crunching bones and begging for mercy. ¡°Get it off me!¡± one of them cried. ¡°GET IT OFF ME!¡± Landing in a crouch, Zach exploded forward at the line of undefended casters, whose mouths popped open as they saw him coming. ¡°W-wait!¡± Now, wielding his blade in a two-handed grip, Zach brought down his fury on the nearest mage to him, slashing diagonally downwards in such a way as to open the man up like a stuffed animal from the point of his left shoulder all the way down to his right knee. Zach did not let his gaze linger on the innards that fell out of the mage like a gutted fish. He knew that this wasn''t his fault or his doing. Even if the memory of these deeds would end up hurting him terribly later, he was driven on by an absolute sense that he truly was fighting in self-defense. With a collective shriek of terror, five more of the mages stopped casting at once and began fleeing in more or less a single-file line. Now, rather than pursue, Zach deliberately allowed them to gain a bit of distance, and then he swung his blade down a second time and shouted, ¡°Wave Slash!¡± From the point of his sword, a green, cloud-like energy materialized and quickly formed into a spinning disc, which gained speed as it soared towards the fleeing mages, who had made the grave error of standing in a straight line. Zach watched as his Wave Slash cut through all five, slicing the men into various pieces, the sizes of which differed only based on the height of the mage. One after the next, his Wave Slash did its job, and each time, there was an awful tearing sound of both cloth and flesh. Before long, all five were left crumpled on the ground, and all were split in half. Then, noticing a shadow approaching thanks to the light of a nearby torch, Zach spun back around, raised his guard, and with a shower of sparks, barely managed to block a downward slash from a Gentleman wearing an officer¡¯s insignia, which was identical to the crossed swords but had a golden stitching. From this one exchange alone, Zach knew that he had found a far, far more skilled and dangerous foe than those who¡¯d assaulted him thus far. With what appeared to be actual swordsmanship, the youthful, brown-haired officer began unleashing one strike after the next at Zach, and for the first time in a while, Zach found himself suddenly engaged in an actual battle of swords. The first slash, which came in high and to his left, Zach managed to guard against but not parry. The second, he managed to bend his knees and duck beneath, but the third one almost hit him. Though he deflected this as well, he did so in a way that left him unable to retaliate, as he was now slightly off balance. Still, the officer pressed the attack. Zach dashed backwards and tried to steady himself as the man rushed forward. He needed a second to reset. He needed to collect himself. But his foe seemed to sense his moment of weakness. Zach swore. If only he could activate Unleashed Phase or at least use his gear. Though his Phase Level had decreased by one since his last use, he would still be tacking on a Very High exertion debt if he reset and decided to chance it. Given how much Fylwen was exerting herself, there was no guarantee she''d be able to heal him and also survive. Thus, all he had was his blade and the skin on his back, and if he wasn¡¯t careful, he¡¯d lose both. So now, nearly naked, he was forced to enter into a series of backwards hops time and time again as he was pressed without mercy. Thrice, he narrowly avoided being sliced apart, and on the fourth time, he had to drop all the way down to his knees as someone¡ªand he had no idea who¡ªsent a blast of green, pulsating energy hurtling straight towards him. Rather than hit Zach, it sailed over his head and instead struck the caster¡¯s ally, a dagger-wielding woman who Zach hadn¡¯t even realized was sneaking up behind him. The impact caused her entire midsection to begin smoking, bubbling, and finally melting. Zach watched as she screamed in agony as her entire body was burned away as though she were a bug being tortured under a magnifying glass. ¡°Nialara!¡± the officer cried. ¡°Gods, I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry.¡± ¡°Why won¡¯t you stop!¡± Zach shouted. ¡°Why are you doing this? Why?¡± Taking advantage of his momentarily stunned enemy, Zach dashed forward and swung his sword downwards with all his might. But the officer opposite him raised his sword to guard, and their two blades met yet again, though Zach was glad to note that it did cause the brown-haired officer of the Guild of Gentlemen to grunt and slightly bend his knees. Zach, striking a second time, found himself again clashing steel against steel. So he took a different approach. He feinted, making as though he were going in for a third, similar attack, only this time, he paused halfway through, spun his body around, and delivered a back-kick into the officer¡¯s midsection, sending him reeling away just as yet another member of the Guild of Gentlemen charged at him, this one wielding a polearm, which gave him incredible reach. Zach had to spin his entire body to the left, then to the right in order to avoid two thrusts from the bladed end of the pole-based weapon that were sent his way; this, while he could hear the footsteps of the officer he¡¯d just kicked approaching closer to him. Knowing he was in a jam, Zach became aggressive. When the polearm wielding attacker tried to skewer him a third time, he combined two actions into one: spinning and striking. He both spun out of the way while slicing down on the weapon, causing it to temporarily become lodged into the ground. As its wielder yanked his arms back to free it, Zach ran forward and unleashed a three-slash combo, cutting off his right arm, his left leg, and finally stabbing him directly into the mouth, causing his blood-soaked blade to appear out of the back of his head. Then he yanked it free and turned around just in time to once again deflect a heavy, powerful, right-to-left slice of the officer¡¯s blade. Now, once more, the two resumed their dance. The officer ripped his blade across horizontally, and Zach ducked. Zach retaliated with a thrust, and the brown-haired officer was able to back away. But then Zach noticed the way he shifted the weight off his front foot and placed it on his back leg¡ªhe was going for a rising, upward slash. Zach was sure of it! Ready for the strike, Zach bent backwards, but only just enough so that the blade cleared his body and face by less than an inch. The closeness was intentional, however, as it enabled him to react with much faster speed. Now, before the officer could readjust his position, Zach wound his arms back, bent his legs, and prepared to deliver the finishing blow¡ªonly to be blasted in the opposite direction after a missile made of flame came from out of nowhere and struck him dead center in his chest, causing him immense, unbearable pain as he was thrown ten feet away and planted onto his back, the few scraps of clothing left on his upper body burned away and smoking. ¡°Got you, you little shit!¡± the caster who¡¯d downed him cried. He hovered over Zach, his staff pointed at Zach¡¯s face. It began to glow red¡ªand then so too did the man¡¯s skull, as Donovan¡¯s axe crashed down on top of it just as it had done to the dragon, causing his head to similarly explode like a watermelon while his brains splattered and dripped down the side of his face. ¡°Get up, kiddo!¡± Donovan growled. Zach nodded. ¡°Thank you. Gods, thank you so much, Donovan.¡± ¡°Any time. Now get up!¡± Zach shot back up to his feet, dashed forward, and for the third time, he locked swords with the officer. But now, he was pissed. Now, he¡¯d had enough. He exploded into a frenzy of quick, yet accurate and precise strikes. He came in fast towards the man¡¯s left. The officer was forced to tuck his elbows into his sides and hold his blade straight up to guard. Zach then hit at the opposite side, forcing him to repeat the action. Then, finally, after bringing his blade straight down on top of the man¡¯s face, their two blades clashed one final time in a shower of sparks, and now, Zach struggled to overpower his foe¡ªor at least to make him believe that was Zach''s intention. In truth, Zach recognized his stats were too low to win an outright battle of strength. If he had been wearing his equipment, this fight would have been trivial. But he wasn¡¯t, and so he had to rely on other means of getting ahead. Understanding this, he pressed down on the man¡¯s blade with all his might, and the officer met his challenge. For a moment, the two struggled, both gritting their teeth as they fought to overpower the other. Then, abruptly, Zach eased up completely and pulled away, causing the officer, who was exerting pressure in the opposite direction, to swing both his arms up, nearly losing his grip on his weapon in the process. With that, Zach ripped his blade perfectly across the officer¡¯s stomach, watching as his guts were emptied out and he released a cry of pain. Then he spun around and struck again with a circular slash, cutting off both the man¡¯s legs at the point above his kneecap. Finally, with the legless officer now falling flat onto his back, moaning in pain, and begging to be put out of his misery, Zach granted his request. He turned his blade so that it pointed downwards, and then he screamed out his fury before plunging it into his heart. Yet no sooner had he finished off the officer than he was forced to rip his blade free, whirl back around, and parry the dagger of a scowling woman in a white coat, who had snuck up on him from behind. Upon contact, the dagger flew out of her hands, and Zach decapitated her in one clean slice, her head hitting the grass before the rest of her body followed suit. And it was in that moment that Zach finally took a hit. Having become exhausted and gasping for air, another fire missile struck him off guard, and once again, Zach was taken off his feet. But even with his body smoking and pain shooting through him, he managed to scramble back up to his feet¡ªonly to have a gigantic chunk of flesh ripped off his body as he was struck dead-on by a humongous, axe-wielding man. Wearing a red, scale-covered breastplate along with a pair of padded trousers, the man scored a devastating, crushing attack on Zach, who let out an anguished cry as he saw blood splattering off his own body while he could feel his bones being crushed. I¡¯m dead, he realized. He got me! I¡¯m fucking d¡ª Not a half-second after sustaining such a crushing attack, Fylwen cried out, ¡°Val En Maxili Lor!¡± Whatever she cast on him, it was unlike anything he¡¯d seen from her to this point. Both her eyes shone with a green light, and then the world brightened with what looked like an equally green spotlight that was beaming down directly on top of him. Sweat began dripping down Fylwen¡¯s forehead, and she began breathing heavily, but the result of her exertion was a complete and total reversal of the damage Zach had just sustained. In less than an instant, his bones regrew and his wounds healed, and observing this, this axe-wielding man growled and tried to repeat the whole process a second time. Yet before he could even so much as raise his axe, Alixa, who was now nearby, opened up her book, and a gust of ghostly wind that was somehow visible to the naked eye popped out of it. The wind reformed itself, growing a pair of teeth and eyes, and it wrapped around the axe-wielding warrior before biting the man¡¯s entire face off. Then the book snapped shut, essentially swallowing the man¡¯s face inside of it. Panting, Zach nodded his head at Alixa. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said. She merely grunted. Now, five more Gentlemen approached him: three men and two women. Panting heavily, Zach jumped backwards and away from the strike of a massive hammer, then squatted down to avoid the lethal end of a flail, and finally he ran forward to pierce the stomach of a man wielding a shortsword. Ripping it free, he about-faced, raised his blade, and swatted away the head of a flail that was once more hurtling towards him. This time, he batted it away successfully, and he did so with enough force that he caused it to fire right back into the face of the woman who¡¯d launched it at an even greater speed than it''d been moving Zach''s way; this caused an absolute downpour of blood to gush out of her forehead as she fell backwards and either died outright or was knocked out cold, likely with permanent brain damage. ¡°Fucking kid!¡± one of them shouted, this one an officer. He wielded a longsword in both hands, but unlike the previous officer, his skill was nowhere near on par. He clumsily struck out with a slash that started high and ended low. Zach, effortlessly, countered with a parry¡ªin the form of an upward slash¡ªknocking the sword clean out of the man¡¯s arms. Then he slashed him across the throat, causing yet another spray of blood, before kicking out with his foot and knocking him into the hammer-wielding maniac behind him. The result was that he collided with his ally and put the both of them off balance while he choked on his own blood. Taking advantage of the situation, Zach lunged ahead and thrust his sword forward and through the both of them, piercing each of them at the same time and killing both. Finally, without even turning around to look, he spun in a half circle and sliced off the head of the final guild-member behind him. And through it all, a never-ending hail of bullets continued to bounce off his skin, some going wide and killing innocent civilians who had done nothing more than attend the ceremony. Actually, now that Zach had a chance to glance at his surroundings, he realized that just about every single level 1 was dead. Almost none of the guests had survived, including the children. All that remained now were the adventurers, the political guild members, and the guild-leaders¡ªand all had just been unwittingly dragged into an actual war. That was what this was, wasn¡¯t it? War. Zach was fighting in an actual war. An actual battle. Not by choice. Not by intent. But by being forced into it against his own will. And so, nearly out of breath, he continued to fight for his survival as more and more troops marched up the hill, a seemingly insurmountable, never-ending parade that was wearing him¡ªand from the looks of things, everyone else as well¡ªdown. Now, barely managing to avoid a bolt of lightning, which managed to strike the front tip of one of his dress shoes, he charged forward at the caster who¡¯d sent it his way and chopped the staff-wielding woman into little pieces as she shrieked and screamed. Even as her top half was folding over and separating from her bottom half, a green aura was surrounding Zach¡¯s now completely shirtless body, and all at once, his stamina was greatly restored. Though he was not brought back to full energy, his panting stopped, and he felt enlivened. This was a good thing, too, because he soon found himself chasing after another batch of casters, all of whom sent various missiles or projectiles streaking towards him as they fled. Zach batted away some with his sword, and others, he was forced to jump to one side or the other to avoid, such as right now, as he was forced to put himself out of the way of a cone-shaped blast of fire. Then, closing the distance, he struck out in an attempt to destroy the staff that was producing it, but instead, he took off the entire arm of its wielder. With blood spurting out of his arm sockets, the mage cried out in misery, screaming about his missing arms and how much it hurt. It caused Zach to hesitate despite being painfully aware of how stupid a thing that was to do, though in this case, it ended up making no difference, as the mage soon died, though it was not by Zach¡¯s hand. Londril, the massive, behemoth-sized, white-cloaked Elvish warrior, bashed him one time over the head with his shield, and he went down for good. Having been so focused on his own battle for survival, Zach failed to realize just how involved everyone else had now become in the fight. Though the battle had begun with him as one of the only participants, it had now roped in every raid member, who once more fought together in a state of unity. In what was perhaps the only positive thing he was likely to see from this entire ordeal, Zach was heartened to discover that, be they Elf, political guild member, or adventurer¡ªthe fight against Ziragoth had tied these people together in a way that nothing else in this world likely ever would or could. They had transcended their differences, their affiliations, their upbringings, and their circumstances, and all would likely remain lifelong friends. If Adamus had any point at all to make, Zach supposed this would be the one and only example of it: at least in his personal opinion, anyway. But for now, more than anything else, it would turn out to be the single-greatest asset they had. For while the Guild of Gentlemen seemed to have an absurd number of leveled warriors on hand, the raid group had built a form of unit cohesion together¡ªone that had been birthed by a harrowing fight against an impossible enemy. And in a way that almost seemed poetic, they called out to one another as though they were still fighting that very same dragon. Even without the Comms, they spoke as though the communication came naturally to them now. ¡°BG1!¡± an adventurer cried. ¡°Attack the casters!¡± ¡°BG4, protect the archers!¡± an Elvish warrior added. ¡°I got you! BG3, I¡¯m coming to assist.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t fuck with BG2!¡± yelled an officer from the People of Virtue. Unlike during the raid, what had once been BG8 were now active participants in the combat. This meant Fluffles and Chumpkenwiffles, as well as Grundor, were going wild. The dog, in particular, was cleaning up the armed, level-one infantry, who had regrettably finished slaying the last of the guests, and Fluffles, having transformed himself, was roaring as he ripped apart or in some cases bit entire heads off people. During all the commotion, Zach had almost forgotten about his card and his mount, both of which were taking on about twenty of the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s warriors all on their own, and a steadily growing mountain of corpses was starting to pile up by the sides of each. Everywhere Zach looked, people killed. Even Mr. Oren was stabbing and slashing multiple Gentlemen at once, his face soaked in blood as he stood before Kolorn Besh protectively. No one, it seemed was getting out of this without killing. Well, almost no one. Somehow, once again, Kalana proved to be the exception to the rule. She stood alone as the only combatant who had yet to end a single life. Whether she struck a level-one soldier or a higher-leveled member of the guild, she knocked out her targets by clomping them over the head while yanking away others a moment before her mother killed them¡ªknocking them out in turn and saving their lives. Taking a moment to watch her, Zach made the mistake of removing his eyes from his enemy. And now, he paid the price for it. Rising up from the ground beneath, a number of branches and roots sprouted into existence, which then wrapped around his body and rooted him in place while an officer with short black hair wielding a very heavy-looking claymore charged straight at him. ¡°I¡¯m rooted!¡± he shouted out. ¡°Zach, I¡¯m coming!¡± Vim called to him as dozens more men and women surrounded his position. ¡°Royal Roses! Protect your guild-mate. Go!¡± If Zach had been in the right state of mind, he would¡¯ve cared to correct Vim. But as it were, he was only glad for the assistance as a veritable swarm of Gentlemen continued to surround him while he was unable to move. Now, nearly forty in number, with more units both level-one and leveled climbing up the hill that led to the camp, Zach realized his luck was bound to run out soon enough. Thankfully, at least for now, his death was staved off. Before the claymore-wielding officer could close even half the distance between where he charged and where Zach was rooted in place, Vim summoned a slew of ground-splitting boulders, all of which crashed down on top of him and crushed him to death like an insect. At the same time, Haisel Ragora leapt in front of him, a dagger in each hand, and he slit the throats of the next few to approach. Zach, struggling, was finally able to break free of his restraints. He ripped apart the vines and branches or whatever-the-fuck was binding him then went back on the assault, killing more men and women and drenching himself in more blood. He darted forward and cut deeply into the forehead of boy who looked the same age as him, slicing off the top portion of his head. Then he dismantled a heavily plate-armored tank wielding an axe and shield, his blade easily cutting through the armor. Lastly, he turned to face several more attackers¡ªand it was in that moment that a loud, thunderous voice cried out. And with its appearance, all at once, everything came to a pause. ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± called down a clearly enraged Peter Brayspark, who flew in the air above them all on his flaming Pegasus. ¡°Stand down! Everyone, stand down! By what manner of devil from hell¡ªby what form of demonic possession has this madness been allowed to spread? Why are you all doing this?¡± Zach paused mid-swing. His blade was mere inches¡ªperhaps even centimeters¡ªfrom decapitating a young, red-haired woman only a year or two older than him who¡¯d dropped her sword a moment ago in surrender, only Zach hadn¡¯t even noticed or seen it. Horrified, he backed away from her and lowered his weapon. ¡°Peter!¡± Fylwen shouted. ¡°Why have you ordered your men to attack us?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve done no such thing,¡± he replied, landing beside Zach. Despite being their enemy, Zach did not become defensive despite their close proximity. For some reason, he still trusted the man. He observed as Peter removed what looked like a war helmet then surveyed the blood-soaked grasslands all around him. His lips peeled back as though he were horrified. ¡°Gods, there is so much death here. Why? Tell me! How could this have happened? How could this have¡ª¡± ¡°You son of a bitch!¡± Vim screamed. ¡°You attacked Lion¡¯s square!¡± Peter, as though appalled, shook his head furiously. ¡°You dare accuse me of such? I have heard your lies, Sir Alazar. I have heard it claimed that we, of the noble Guild of Gentlemen, have launched an act of terror on your city. Tell me: how can you spread such evil lies and not detest yourself for it? Where is the humanity you claim to possess?¡± ¡°Lies?¡± Vim shouted. ¡°Do you want to see the photographs of the dead!¡± Peter dismounted his Pegasus then placed his fist over his chest. ¡°With my honor in the hands of the Gods, I swear that what Sir Alazar says is untrue. Nay, I would never allow such an attack in the name of my kingdom. More so, I outright refuse to believe that¡ª¡± Peter¡¯s eyes widened, and for a reason Zach could not understand, a wad of blood exited his throat. Behind him, a man clad head to toe in dark, plate armor had his arms extended. Now, Zach realized that a spear had been plunged into the man from behind. He¡¯d been stabbed, quite literally, in the back, and from the looks of things, his heart had been punctured. And just like that, without so much as another word, he died on the spot, the light leaving his eyes. ¡°No!¡± shouted Fylwen, grief and misery in her voice. Kalana reached out and grabbed her with both arms, holding her back as she lunged at the black-armored man who had killed Peter. ¡°Peter!¡± she screamed, a level of agony beyond comprehension coming across in the way she shouted out the name. ¡°Peter! My Peter, no!¡± The black-armored man removed his own helmet, and now, Zach recognized him immediately. He was Sir Alistair Morrison of the Dark-Water Depths, legendary hero of the Guild of Gentlemen and second in command. And by all accounts, he had just murdered his own king. ¡°I offer all of you a chance to withdraw,¡± he said. ¡°I see my odds as fifty-fifty here. We vastly outnumber you, but you have advantages on your side that make me uncertain. Truth be told, I¡¯d rather recommit my forces to defending the city and the good people who live within it. So, if you leave now and head north, we will not pursue. If you are wise, you will call off this invasion as well.¡± Kalana looked to be struggling for all she was worth to restrain her mother, who was swiping viciously at the empty air in front of her with tears falling down her face. Though she was a good thirty feet away, she continued to stab at the nothingness before her as if willing her blade to connect with the man. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you! In the name of every God of Elvadin, I do swear it! I declare war on you, human. Do you hear me?¡± Sir Morrison opened his mouth to reply, but it was a man to his right who spoke in his place. ¡°Good, you dirty, Elvish bitch,¡± the man spat. ¡°Fucking Elf whore. You and all your kind should¡¯ve been wiped out of existence. The only thing you¡¯re good for is suck¡ª¡± Zach, flaring with an unspeakable rage, extended his fist, planted his feet into the ground, and then activated the blasting ability on his ring: the sole and only piece of equipment he still had on and had actually forgotten he was wearing at all. Donovan, rushing forward, prevented him from flying off as a gigantic, tube-shaped beam of pure, laser-like energy exploded out of his ring, evaporating the son of a bitch and two of those nearest him. By the time the beam faded, there was nothing that remained of the man but a pair of legs attached to no body. Without batting an eye at the death of his men, Sir Morrison sighed. ¡°I suppose he deserved that. My offer still stands.¡± If I didn¡¯t do that, the Elves would¡¯ve charged. Or am I just justifying it to myself? Though Zach felt nothing at the moment, he knew this was going to hit him very hard later on. He had killed so many people. He had ended so many lives. And worse: he didn¡¯t feel satisfied yet. He wanted more. Yet even as he struggled to pull himself back under control, he noticed the way that even Eldora was looking at Sir Morrison as if ready to die if it meant taking him out too. ¡°We¡¯re leaving!¡± Donovan shouted, releasing Zach. Then he narrowed his eyes at Sir Morrison. ¡°But let me just say this. In the entire history of adventuring guilds, we¡¯ve never gone to war with anybody. Not even once.¡± Donovan held out his pointer finger threateningly. ¡°But that might just have to change after this shit you pulled, little man. You caught us in suits and slacks. Gods help you if I decide to come marching back down here in my ass-kicking boots.¡± ¡°He''s right. You¡¯ve just made an error the likes of which you can never recover from,¡± Fionna Darkmae said. ¡°My guild hasn¡¯t been in a war in decades. As soon as I return to the Faded Island, that changes.¡± ¡°You should surrender yourself now,¡± Kolorn Besh agreed. He lowered his eyes at the dead, unmoving Peter Brayspark. And then he sighed. ¡°I held no affection for your king, but to have ended him in such a treacherous way¡­you are little more than a common criminal in my eyes. The Lords of Justice will enter the war if you do not surrender.¡± ¡°I don''t care about your threats," Sir Morrison said in reply, seemingly unfazed. "Do what you will. Right now, the clock is ticking. Leave, or we continue this bloodbath and see which side comes out on top.¡± With an angry, hateful glare, Donovan turned his head to Zach and said, ¡°Help get your girlfriend¡¯s mom under control. We¡¯re getting out of here.¡± ¡°What about the loot?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Leave it.¡± He scowled. ¡°We fought¡ªand a lot of us died¡ªfor it.¡± Donovan grunted. ¡°Less you want us dying again¡ªfor good, this time¡ªleave it. Let the fuckers take it.¡± ¡°Donovan is right,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°It might be very powerful, but in the hands of filth like this, it will do them no good. Zach, you are, at most, a quarter of the level of their average leveled fighter, and you fought them without your gear, and yet you wiped out several squads'' worth of them. Gear is only so important.¡± He turned his head to Fylwen. ¡°Your Majesty, your day will come, but please, it¡¯s not today.¡± Fylwen continued to writhe and twist in Kalana¡¯s grip, still slashing at the air. She was having a full-on breakdown. Zach didn¡¯t fully understand why. It had never really been clear to him what Peter Brayspark meant to her. There were times they seemed to hate one another, and yet she had also told him that they¡¯d grown up together, and that he was her sworn brother in name, though not blood. Their complicated past aside, he could see that she was feeling immense pain at the loss. ¡°Mom, please, stop! I don¡¯t wanna lose you!¡± Kalana begged as she struggled to keep her mother from charging at the second-in-command¡ªand now likely first-in-command¡ªof the Guild of Gentlemen. As though finding the strength to compose herself, Fylwen at last calmed herself down, but not before glaring at Sir Morrison. ¡°If you are stealing our treasure, then I demand you give us the king.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± She pointed at Sir Brayspark. ¡°He is my sworn brother. Give him back to me.¡± Sir Morrison shrugged. ¡°You can take him if you want. The fact you care so much for him is proof of his betrayal. I¡¯m glad my officers can witness this for themselves and see that I was right.¡± As though not wanting to take the chance of letting Fylwen get anywhere near Sir Morrison, Donovan risked coming dangerously close to the enemy so that he could bend down, retrieve the king¡¯s corpse, and carry it away back to their side of the field. Her face contorting with rage, Fylwen said, ¡°We will return here with an army, and I will burn you and everyone you love to the ground, you vile, poisonous, human filth.¡± Her words earned equally hateful glares from everyone other than Sir Morrison, who clearly did not seem personally offended by what she¡¯d said. Turning to her warriors, both those in the green and white, she said, ¡°These men! These are the ones who tortured and raped us! We will return!¡± The Elvish warriors released a simultaneous battle cry. Then, backing away slowly without turning away from the potential threat, they all began to move northward as a single group: as a raid. Somehow, Zach had the sense that this wasn¡¯t going to be the last time he fought in a battle against these people. He also realized something else, too: the Guild of Gentlemen had essentially just declared war on civilization itself. They must have been mad. How could they ever believe they could do something like this and get away with it? Though the live feed had stopped broadcasting, the murder of their own king was still caught on video, and if that was shown to the public, there would be no one left in any territory other than Tomb of Fire and here in Shadowfall Coast that would be sympathetic to the Guild of Gentlemen. Zach realized something else, too. Something dangerous. If he had cards¡ªlots and lots of cards¡ªhe could destroy them all by himself. It was a thought he could only think while the adrenaline was still pumping through him. He¡¯d hate himself for thinking of it later. Even still, it was an idea that would now linger on his mind. Much like he had with Varsh, he recognized true evil when he saw it. And right now, he was staring at it. The political guilds were corrupt, sure, and there were more things wrong with them than right¡ªat least in Zach¡¯s personal, biased opinion¡ªbut even still, what he saw from people like Vim was not evil. Immoral, perhaps. But not outright evil. This man, however? He was evil. And men like him were a bane to existence itself. Chapter 111: Break Chapter 111: Break Zach didn¡¯t feel well, and he wasn¡¯t quite sure what was wrong with him. With each step he took, his adrenaline lessened, and an overall sense of wrongness came upon him: a sickness in the pit of his stomach. He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d been injured, yet he felt as though he were becoming weaker and weaker by the second. Eventually, he leapt up on top of his Kralzek¡¯s Beast and followed behind everyone else, as even walking became difficult. Beside him, his Cursed Defender of Ziragoth carried the corpse of Peter Brayspark. Moving together as one large group, they marched northward as quickly as possible while the sounds of explosions and gunfire continued to ring out in the distance. Despite the total darkness of night, the Elves used their racial light abilities to create something almost akin to an artificial sun that illuminated everything in a dome-like shape around them, making it easy to see one another. About ten minutes following the start of their retreat, Donovan raised up his palm and signaled for a halt. At the moment, they were nearly to the spot that Ziragoth had been put to sleep, as evident by the gargantuan crater ahead of them that Zach had created with his Doomsday Slash; it looked as though someone had punched a hole into the planet itself. It was so massive they¡¯d have to walk around it, as the mages would likely get stuck on the inside. ¡°Quickly,¡± Donovan said as everyone came to a stop. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna linger here in case those bastards change their minds and pursue.¡± He gestured with his chin at Peter. ¡°Olivir, get him up.¡± The young-looking vampire nodded. ¡°Got it.¡± Zach craned his neck to glance down at the deceased guild-leader. With his head feeling fuzzy and his thinking somewhat dulled, he¡¯d forgotten all about Olivir and Kolona¡¯s ability to resurrect the dead. Thank the Gods. At least there would be a bright spot after all that darkness. Yet for some reason, as Olivir made his way over to Peter, Fylwen did not seem to show any sign of relief. She once again began weeping. ¡°No,¡± Fylwen said, shaking her head. ¡°You won¡¯t. You can¡¯t.¡± Her eyes had gone red from crying and looked swollen, and there was immense hurt in her voice: but also anger. Olivir fired her a questioning look, and she said, ¡°You can¡¯t revive Peter.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± he asked. ¡°Do you not want him to come back or something? I thought you were upset that he died.¡± ¡°Of course I am, vampire!¡± she snapped. Then, as though realizing she was taking her anger out on the wrong person, she bowed her head as if in apology and spoke at a somewhat more conversational tone, though with each word, more pain bled through her voice. ¡°Peter can¡¯t come back.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Kalana asked. The ache in Fylwen¡¯s heart shone through on her eyes as she answered her daughter¡¯s question. ¡°Because he¡¯s already been revived once before.¡± With that, confused murmurs came from several of the adventurers, including Donovan. Not Zach, though. For some reason, he just plain didn¡¯t give a shit about any of this. Actually, he wasn¡¯t really feeling anything at all on an emotional level right now. He was numb: completely, totally numb. And it was strange, too. It was strange how he felt almost nothing at all. He was just tired. Just wanted to sleep. He wouldn¡¯t mind lying down right here in the grass and being left alone. He almost thought of doing that. Just lying under the moonlight, closing his eyes, and being left there with nobody to bother him. ¡°What do you mean, Your Majesty?¡± Mr. Oren asked. ¡°I am sure he survived the raid.¡± Fylwen turned her head to look at Peter¡¯s unmoving form, then half closed her eyes. ¡°It was a very, very long time ago,¡± she said. ¡°When Peter was a boy, he had a rare genetic disease called muscular dystrophy. It is a terrible, progressive illness. By the age of five, he could no longer walk unassisted, and by the time he was eight years old, he was wheelchair bound. Shortly after his tenth birthday, his lungs began to fail. He had but a few months left to live, and not even the stones could heal him. I did not know this at the time, but I had always suspected something was wrong when he stopped coming outside to play. Later, I would learn that his father had taken him to Archian Prime, but the Elvish there were unable to help him, either. The Vampires were also highly reluctant to help, as they consider it taboo to help non-Vampires cheat death.¡± Fylwen¡¯s voice broke as she continued to speak. ¡°One, however, by the name of Count Izex, was willing to make a deal. He agreed to heal Peter in exchange for nothing more than some ancient books to add to his library and a promise to spend the night having tea and conversation. It was such a small request: a pittance for what Peter IV was given in return.¡± Even as she spoke, Zach heard Olivir sigh, nod, and under his breath, whisper, ¡°Yeah, that sounds like him.¡± Walking over to his body, Fylwen placed her hands on his lifeless cheeks as a tear dripped down one of her own. ¡°From what Pete told me, he was given a potion that put him to sleep, and then another to stop his heart. By the next morning, he was a healthy little boy, and by the week after, he ran for the first time in his life: with me, in the fields of Whispery Woods not far from here, where I intend to bury him in a place we used to play as children.¡± She placed her head on his chest and sobbed. ¡°I loved him so much,¡± she said with agonized, uneven breaths. ¡°Even though I hated him.¡± ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry for your loss,¡± Mr. Oren said compassionately. ¡°I know this can¡¯t be¡­¡± His words trailed off as Zach released a loud bout of laughter, which caused his former science teacher to stare at him, along with Olivir, Kalana, a half-dozen adventurers, but oddly enough, not Fylwen. This only made him laugh even harder. ¡°Sorry,¡± he said, chuckling. ¡°My bad.¡± ¡°You okay?¡± Olivir asked at just above a whisper. Zach opened his mouth to reply¡ªbut instead burst out with more laughter. Then he snorted and began laughing so hard he almost fell off his mount. It wasn¡¯t that he found any of this funny at all. His state of mind did not at all reflect the cackling that was coming out of his mouth. He barely felt anything, actually. He had no idea why he was laughing or what was causing it. He just sort of¡­was. I¡¯m just tired, he thought. A bit out of it. I¡¯m fine. ¡°Zach, why¡¯re you doing that?¡± Kalana asked him, sounding more shocked than angry. ¡°This isn¡¯t funny. Why would you laugh at my mom when she¡¯s hurting so badly? I thought you forgave her.¡± ¡°I did,¡± he replied, giggling. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m¡ªgahahahah!¡ªlaughing. I¡¯m just¡­just having a weird day.¡± He had to struggle to finish that sentence. He was laughing so hard it was almost difficult to breathe. Donovan pursed his lips and glanced over at Zach as though worried. ¡°We should keep moving.¡± At this, Abram Gespon cleared his throat and said, ¡°We won¡¯t have to go a whole lot farther. I¡¯m having an armored convoy pick us up not far from here. We¡¯ll head due north to Whispery Woods, and from there, we can each catch a flight to wherever it is we have to go.¡± Immediately following those words, Abram turned his head in the direction of Zach, who raised his finger questioningly to catch the man¡¯s attention. ¡°Yes, Zach?¡± ¡°Whispery Woods doesn¡¯t do cross-continental flights,¡± he said. ¡°Me and Kal are going to her island in South B¡ª¡± Rather than say ¡°Bastia,¡± he released a wad of spit as the word erupted from his lips with such intense laughter he began to wheeze. ¡°B-Bastia,¡± he finished, laughing even harder and grabbing his sides, which began to ache. Abram nodded. ¡°Uh, sure, that¡¯s fine. You two can board a flight with me to Varda¡¯s Lair, and then I¡¯ll personally arrange your flight to¡ª¡± Zach again burst out laughing, and now, even Abram Gespon narrowed his eyes as though somewhat alarmed. Still seated aback his mount, Zach held up his palm to indicate he was just fine, even as he continued to laugh so hard that he almost choked. Then he started to speak, and even as he did so, he tried to make himself stop. He didn¡¯t know why he was behaving this way. He didn¡¯t understand what compelled him to do any of this. Yet he continued nonetheless. ¡°Hey, you guys want to hear something fucking nuts?¡± he asked, drawing their attention. After a few more giggles, he lifted his arm, turned his wrist, and pointed his index finger straight up at the sky. ¡°There¡¯s this crazy old asshole, right? His name¡¯s Adamus, and he¡¯s watching us right now. And he¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°Zach!¡± Donovan, Mr. Oren, Kalana, Olivir, and Kolona all shouted at him furiously. This only caused him to laugh even harder. ¡°He¡¯s a God,¡± Zach said, ignoring them. ¡°And he¡¯s toying with us. This is all just a game to him.¡± He laughed so hard he had to grab the sides of his mount to stop himself from falling off it. ¡°He¡¯s enjoying this right now. He made Ziragoth on purpose. Believe it or not, everything we¡¯ve had to go through is all just him fucking with us. Seriously, guys. This raid, our suffering, this whole damn world¡ªit¡¯s all just been him fucking with us. Hahahaha! Isn¡¯t that crazy?¡± Zach cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled up at the sky, ¡°Fuck you, Adamus! You piece of shit!¡± ¡°I see,¡± Abram replied, clearly not believing a word that Zach was saying. ¡°Kiddo, stop talking or I might have to knock you out for a few hours,¡± Donovan growled into his ear, having stormed over to his side. ¡°I¡¯m serious. Get a Gods-damned grip.¡± Fylwen also reacted to Zach¡¯s words, though in her case, she merely hummed to herself curiously a moment before saying, ¡°I¡¯m quite surprised that a human knows about Adamus.¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Wait, you mean what he just said was true?¡± Abram asked, surprise popping up on his face as well as the faces of many of the political guild members. Mr. Oren, as though in an attempt to do ¡°damage control,¡± seized on the opportunity Fylwen had just provided. And as though he were operating under the assumption he was being watched, he then spoke loudly and clearly so that he could be easily heard and understood. ¡°This is something we like to keep secret,¡± he began, ¡°but in the interest of mutual trust, allow me to explain.¡± From the rise of his chest, he seemed to draw a deep breath. ¡°Zach,¡± he continued, ¡°is referring to something every adventurer learns while traveling through dungeons. Specifically, that there are powerful beings called ¡®Great Ones¡¯ who made the world, and one of the most important of them is a man named Adamus. We don¡¯t know much about him aside from that, sadly. But his existence all on its own is one of our secrets that Zach has¡ªregrettably¡ªjust leaked.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Zach whispered. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I did that.¡± Donovan, as though also improvising, made a point of agreeing with Mr. Oren, and then he too spoke loudly and clearly. ¡°Yeah, not too happy about him blabbering, but it¡¯s true. When ya run through the dungeons, sometimes you find out little stories from the past, like the fact there¡¯s this fucker named ¡®Adamus.¡¯¡± ¡°And who is he, exactly?¡± Kolorn Besh asked. ¡°What is his role in our world?¡± Donovan shrugged. ¡°No idea,¡± he said, speaking the lie in a way that sounded convincing and genuine. ¡°We just know that there are beings out there of a higher power that made our world, and they¡¯re different from the Gods most people worship.¡± Clearly, Donovan and Mr. Oren were trying to make it seem to Adamus¡ªif he was actually listening in¡ªthat they only knew things they were supposed to know or whatever. Zach felt bad for making them have to do this¡ªor at least he should have felt bad. Instead, he felt nothing. It was actually frustrating just how numb he was emotionally. The moment Donovan finished speaking, Fylwen chimed in next, and the things she said only strengthened what Donovan and Mr. Oren were trying to do, although likely unintentionally, as she had no idea what they¡¯d been up to in Angelica¡¯s or any of the existentially horrifying truths they¡¯d learned. ¡°I must say, I¡¯m actually shocked to hear that you humans know of this. Indeed, Elvish archives indicate much the same. I do know more about this than even you adventurers, of course.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Mr. Oren asked, looking convincingly intrigued. ¡°You know who Adamus actually is?¡± At this, some of the strength seemed to return to Fylwen¡¯s eyes, mixing in with her grief. But for just the moment, she became somewhat livelier and more energetic. ¡°I do, human. He is one of the Elvish, like me. His name¡ªand I speak this truly¡ªis Adamus Vayra. All the Great Ones are Elvish, actually, and all of them rule from heaven alongside the Gods. That is why humans have feared us all throughout our history. We have the blood of the Gods in our veins.¡± Everyone except Kolona, Kalana, Zach, Olivir, Donovan, and Mr. Oren released gasps of awe and surprise, as no one else besides them knew that this was slightly off even if partially true. The other adventurers in particular seemed floored by these revelations. ¡°All the Great Ones are Elvish?¡± Reni Sarwin asked. ¡°That¡¯s correct,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°Even Olandrin?¡± At this, Fylwen actually smiled. ¡°You know of him?¡± In response to her question, nearly every adventurer nodded vigorously. ¡°He¡¯s everyone¡¯s favorite,¡± Reni said. ¡°We all love him.¡± ¡°That¡¯s no surprise. He does so love humans. He was a writer, a poet, and an entertainer before ascending to Godhood, and he loved putting on performances for humans. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s watching us right now, actually, granting us his favor.¡± ¡°I knew it!¡± one of the adventurers from Boss Rush cried out. ¡°That¡¯s why his dungeons are the best.¡± ¡°I wish I could meet him.¡± ¡°Perhaps you might someday,¡± Fylwen said. For some reason, the human adventurers taking an interest in the Elvish Great Ones seemed to be something Fylwen not only found delightful, but she actually seemed eager to spread what she knew, much of which was probably even true, yet none of it was part of the ¡°forbidden knowledge¡± that Zach had thankfully not leaked. He just was finding himself a bit¡­off right now. As they continued onwards and resumed their journey northwards, the conversation shifted and became centered around adventurers asking Fylwen questions while the political guild members scrambled to play ¡°catch-up¡± with all the things they didn¡¯t know. Following a sigh, Donovan walked alongside Zach¡¯s mount, and with a threatening glare, he said, ¡°Get. A. Grip.¡± ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t even mean to¡­I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on with me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a great kid. I know you didn¡¯t mean nothing. Just hold it together for a little longer. I know you¡¯ve got it in you.¡± ¡°Yeah, I do.¡± But how many people did I kill today? I can¡¯t remember any of them or their faces. How many? Gods, he¡¯d killed so many people. And here he was, practically in his underwear, riding a giant beast while the dried blood of so many different humans covered him like a tight-fitting bodysuit. It was all over his hands, his fingers, his chest, his face, his hair. He didn¡¯t even know how many people he killed. Wasn¡¯t that crazy? Think about that. No, wait, seriously. Actually stop and think about that for a second. Zach had killed so many people that he didn¡¯t even know how many he¡¯d just killed. Was it five? Ten? Twenty? Thirty? Who knew! He sure didn¡¯t. He burst out laughing at the thought, once more drawing unwanted attention onto himself. ¡°Zach,¡± Kalana whispered. ¡°It¡¯s gonna be okay.¡± She hopped up onto the mount behind him so that she rode with him, and she wrapped her arms around his waist and placed her head down on his bare back despite the filth and blood all over it. ¡°Of course it is. I¡¯m fine.¡± He snickered. Then he sighed. ¡°Kal, let¡¯s go back to the way things were before.¡± ¡°Before?¡± she asked. He nodded. ¡°I¡¯m serious. Let¡¯s go to school tomorrow. We can move into the same apartment, mine or yours, I don¡¯t care. I miss that building. Let¡¯s just say to hell with all of this bullshit and go back to before any of this ever happened.¡± ¡°Zach¡­¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m being serious. I really am.¡± He really was. ¡°This was a mistake. You¡¯ve got to realize that now too, right? This was my fault. I take responsibility for all of it. You said not to go down there. You told me not to hit those FUCKING!¡±¡ªhis tone went from bubbly and conversational to intense and rage-filled so quickly it caused several people to flinch¡ª¡°mobs!¡± Once more, his tone became neutral. ¡°And I didn¡¯t listen. That was my mistake. I never, ever should have done that. I just want to go back to how everything was before.¡± Kalana said nothing. With her riding behind him, he couldn¡¯t see her face, and thus he couldn¡¯t tell if it was because she had nothing to say or simply didn¡¯t know how to respond. Mr. Oren, however, did. He met Zach¡¯s gaze, and the two stared at one another for a moment before he said, ¡°That¡¯s not how the world works, Zach. You can¡¯t just go back.¡± ¡°Says who? What law says I can¡¯t show up to class tomorrow for summer school and pick up where I left off?¡± ¡°You have responsibilities now.¡± ¡°Says who!¡± he shouted, and out of nowhere, his emotions returned in a flood, but only for a moment. A quick bout of rage came then quickly receded, and once more, he became numb. ¡°Kal and I are going back to school. We¡¯re putting this behind us.¡± She squeezed him more tightly. ¡°Zach, we can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°For so many reasons big and small. We can¡¯t just show up to school, silly.¡± ¡°Yes we can. We¡¯re going to. If the other kids want to stare, let them stare. We¡¯ll just ignore them until they get used to it and start treating us like they did before. Everyone gets used to stuff like that eventually. I mean, I never thought I could casually talk to someone like Vim Alazar, but now we call each other names and I have his cell number. It¡¯ll be just like that. We¡¯ll go back, and we¡¯ll be okay.¡± ¡°That won¡¯t ever work, baby.¡± ¡°Yes it will,¡± Zach said. ¡°I want to go back to how things were before.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t.¡± ¡°We will!¡± She squeezed him even more tightly. ¡°We can¡¯t,¡± she said again. He refused to accept this. ¡°Is it because we¡¯re so-called ¡®celebrities¡¯ now? So what. Like I just said, people can learn to deal with it.¡± Vim Alazar cleared his throat. ¡°Actually, if he cares that much, he can go to a private guild school.¡± ¡°That¡¯s clearly not the issue,¡± Mr. Oren said with a sigh. ¡°And I don¡¯t think Zach even cares about school. What he wants¡ªand is perfectly understandable¡ªis to retreat into a familiar comfort zone. He wants his old school. But notice, Zach, I can¡¯t go back either. I too enjoyed teaching. As hard as this might be to believe, I¡¯m also nostalgic for the two years I spent studying the Leviathan spawn and relaxing in my office.¡± ¡°Leviathan spawn?¡± Fylwen asked. Mr. Oren nodded. ¡°Oh, right. There¡¯s a big one spawning in a few months in the city: specifically, the Leviathan River. But there¡¯s no cause for alarm, Your Majesty. It¡¯s a very well documented boss, and your Elves should be able to kill it easily. In fact, it has such an extreme weakness to electricity that it can be hit for five times normal damage with electric-based attacks. Originally, we assumed the Leviathan would take out much of the city even as we defeated it, but you and your Elvish warriors can likely kill it before it ever crawls out of the river. It''s lucrative, too. It drops hundreds of the healing stones as well as between two and five light stones.¡± ¡°True,¡± Olivir confirmed. ¡°I¡¯ve seen that thing spawn. Gods, it¡¯s massive. It¡¯s like ten times the size of Ziragoth, but like fifty times easier. I remember watching the Guild of Gentlemen kill it. Everything Alex just said is true.¡± Fylwen nodded. ¡°Very well. We¡¯ll make sure to warn the people ahead of time and then¡ª¡± ¡°Actually,¡± Mr. Oren interrupted, and now Zach could sense that things were becoming awkward. ¡°The political guilds insist on covering up boss spawns. It¡¯s actually a major point of contention between us and them¡ªor rather them and us, I suppose is more accurate for me to say now. That¡¯ll take me some getting used to.¡± ¡°It¡¯s to prevent the breakdown of public order,¡± Abram Gespon replied. ¡°We are planning¡ªor at least were planning¡ªto stage a fake emergency of some sort to evacuate the city for a few days, likely revolving around the possibility of an impending series of building collapse.¡± Fylwen released a bitter grunt. ¡°Well, I for one shall not be covering up anything,¡± she said darkly. ¡°Now that I¡¯m aware of this, one of my first orders of business will be to spread awareness and safety information so that the people can take precautions ahead of time and not be caught unaware. Even if the boss is as non-threatening as you say, I will not allow my citizens to have their lives uprooted and plunged into terror by surprise.¡± ¡°If we were living in the world of a few weeks ago, I¡¯d have to fight you on that,¡± Abram said. ¡°But given we¡¯re now in a post-Ziragoth era, I guess we can come up with some reason for why another boss is spawning. We¡¯ll think up something.¡± Vim scratched his chin. ¡°Say, you wouldn¡¯t be opposed to our raid group joining in on that, would you?¡± At this, Donovan actually smiled. ¡°You fuckers wouldn¡¯t mind getting your hands dirty again?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. I think things have changed now. It¡¯s hard to believe, but I think this little group of ours¡­it¡¯s a sense I have, but I think the dynamic has changed between us. Hell, I never thought there¡¯d even be an ¡®us¡¯ between our guilds and your guilds, but it feels like there is now.¡± ¡°I agree, actually,¡± Donovan said. ¡°And if it were up to me, I¡¯d never decline raid participation for qualified members. But it¡¯s up to Her Majesty, of course.¡± Fylwen nodded. ¡°Of course. We can all gather together again for this boss. That¡¯s perfectly acceptable.¡± Then she looked at Zach, and she made a sad, bittersweet smile. ¡°And to return to the earlier conversation. Young man, there¡¯s no going backwards in life. What has happened has happened. Even if you had never begun the path that you¡¯ve found yourself on, I was only a year or two away from coming to find Kalana and my husband. In this alternate world, in which you never began this journey, you would wake up one day to find her gone.¡± ¡°Worse than that, actually,¡± Donovan said with a grunt. ¡°He¡¯d wake up one day to find Whispery Woods being burned down by a dragon, and you¡¯d show up one day to find your daughter and the rest of Galterra burned to a crisp.¡± Fylwen shuddered. ¡°Excellent point, Donovan, though a chilling one.¡± Zach heard what they were saying, and he knew they were right, but he wasn¡¯t sure he was ready to accept that. He moaned quietly to himself. He was so tired. He wanted to sleep. He felt like all his motivation had been drained out of him. Maybe this was just a slump he¡¯d gotten himself in. He couldn¡¯t feel things properly. He didn¡¯t want to think. He wanted to turn his brain off and leave it that way. Maybe for good. Chapter 112: Doom Phase Chapter 112: Doom Phase It wasn¡¯t until Kalana began gently stroking his hair that Zach opened his eyes and realized they¡¯d landed. ¡°Did I seriously just sleep through that?¡± he asked. ¡°Uh-huh. You sure did.¡± She kissed him on his cheek. Zach wiped his eyes and leaned forward in the leather seat towards the rear of the private jet that had taken him and Kal to the city of Varda¡¯s Lair. He was kind of amazed, really. This had been the first time he¡¯d ever been on an airplane¡ªlet alone such a fancy plane that was more like a flying resort¡ªand yet, despite this, he¡¯d basically fainted a quarter of the way through the three-and-a-half-hour flight. Then again, it was completely dark outside, so it wasn¡¯t like there¡¯d been a whole lot to see beyond the window, anyway. Unclipping his seatbelt, he stretched his arms and yawned while the jet was slowly taxied to the gate that would take them into the airport. Turning on the light above him, he glanced down at his hands and arms to convince himself they were really clean. They certainly didn¡¯t feel clean. Why did this have to happen? he wondered, the thought painful and growing more so. He was steadily becoming less numb, and he found that he actually preferred it better the way he¡¯d been earlier when for some reason¡ªlikely shock¡ªhe¡¯d been unable to feel or care about anything. Really, up until about twenty-five minutes into the flight, Zach had continued to remain in that detached, somewhat foggy-headed state. But it was only after the plane had climbed to above 18,000 feet in altitude that he¡¯d started to feel an ache in his chest over the events that had occurred tonight. It had begun after Abram Gespon had told him that it was safe for him to take a shower. For whatever reason, Zach was asked not to move around until the plane had climbed to a high-enough ¡°cruising altitude.¡± Before then, he¡¯d been instructed to keep his seatbelt on at all times. Yet as though finally breaking free of his level-1 pattern of thinking, Zach realized that these rules were silly to someone like him or Kal. Even if the airplane exploded, the two of them would just fall all the way to the ground and land unharmed. Zach supposed there would always be a part of him that would find that unbelievable. At any rate, once the plane had gone above 18,000 feet, he¡¯d stepped into an unexpectedly luxurious and spacious bathroom. Once there, he¡¯d gotten into the shower, stood directly under the nozzle, and had then begun to breathe heavily and fearfully as he watched the water turn from clear to red as it ran down his body and into the drain. Disgusted, he¡¯d begun scrubbing himself furiously. In some spots, he scrubbed hard enough to break the skin and draw blood of his own. But he wasn¡¯t concerned about hurting himself, though, because he knew that after he got dressed and his constitution went back over 50, passive HP regeneration would heal him in less than a few seconds given he was only inflicting shallow cuts to his skin. At the time, he¡¯d cared only for getting every last trace of other people¡¯s blood off his body. ¡°Are you feeling okay, Zach?¡± Kalana asked him, unfastening her own seatbelt and then standing up to stretch. He forced a smile onto his lips that he didn¡¯t really feel. ¡°I¡¯m actually doing pretty good.¡± She frowned at him in a way that came across as both sad and skeptical. ¡°Things are gonna get so much better real soon.¡± He nodded. ¡°I know they will.¡± ¡°They really will,¡± she said. ¡°I¡­I know that you um¡­that you had to do some things tonight that¡ª¡± ¡°Kal,¡± he interrupted. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± She paused a moment, then smiled, and Zach wondered if hers was forced as well. ¡°You¡¯re gonna love my island once we get there.¡± ¡°If we ever get there,¡± he grumbled. He removed his phone and checked the time. It was already well after midnight. ¡°I can¡¯t believe we had to fly almost four hours north just to have to fly the same way back south all over again.¡± Kalana released a soft, brief chuckle. ¡°It¡¯s okay. You can sleep on the plane. The next one, I mean.¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡± Together with Kalana, the two of them made their way down the narrow aisle and towards the front of the jet to join Abram Gespon; the man was making small talk with a flight attendant that appeared to work for The People of Virtue. The woman told them that they were connecting the door to the airbridge now, and that they¡¯d be able to depart in just a minute or two. Even while standing upright on his feet, Zach came close to nodding off while he waited. Fuck, I¡¯m so damned tired, he thought with another yawn. I can¡¯t believe tonight ended with me jogging half naked for miles in the dark. Although they¡¯d all managed to get to Whispery Woods in one piece, the armored convoy had ended up taking longer to arrive than expected, and what was more, for security reasons, they¡¯d had to travel farther than originally planned as well. Thus, in near-total darkness, the five-hundred-thirty-four members of the raid that had slain Ziragoth, as well as some additional visitors from Archian Prime, had moved¡ªonce more as a team¡ªnorthward and through the grasslands. At first, they¡¯d at least had the light provided by the Elvish torch ability which, come to think of it, was the first ability Zach had ever seen another living being use back when he¡¯d plunged into the depths beneath Whispery Woods with Kalana. It had been incredibly useful in making it easy for them all to see their surroundings. But after they¡¯d gotten about ten miles away from the city, Donovan had called for them to go dark, as their path had unexpectedly taken them within five miles of a Guild of Gentleman outpost. Also, having moved well out of sight, Donovan had thought it would be better to proceed stealthily from that point on. Fearful of a potential ambush, they¡¯d been required to move at a brisk, hurried pace, and because of this, Zach had eventually been asked to let two exhausted adventurers with very few points into speed ride on his war-mount; though he himself was exhausted as well, his was more emotional than physical, so he¡¯d obliged. Also, he¡¯d been too drained to spare the energy required to argue. It had actually been easier for him to just hop off the side of the Kralzek¡¯s Beast and proceed on foot than it would¡¯ve been to disagree. Despite the sun having gone down, the night¡¯s humidity had caused Zach to sweat and pant as he proceeded with the others through the grasslands. And though Donovan had claimed he¡¯d wanted everyone to move stealthily, that did not, apparently, mean quietly. All throughout their so-called ¡°retreat,¡± the adventurers had jabbered on excitedly, and it was all about one and exclusively one topic. In fact, other than this one topic, Zach could not recall a single other thing being discussed. And that topic was the Great One known as Olandrin, who Fylwen had claimed to know a few things about. Zach had not¡ªand still did not¡ªreally understand what was so special about this particular Great One. He¡¯d only ever heard the name spoken once before, and that was at Angelica¡¯s, where Donovan and Mr. Oren had told him that every adventurer loved him, including Fluffles, and that if Zach continued to adventure, it was inevitable that he himself would understand why. Mr. Oren claimed every adventurer eventually became familiar with that name. From what he observed, it appeared to be the truth. Focusing on keeping his legs moving, Zach had let his mind drift off as he jogged his way with the others through the uncomfortably warm night with no breaks or pauses to rest. They¡¯d simply powered straight through, stopping only a single time around an hour later when everyone¡¯s Bank and Storage was off cooldown. Understandably, everyone¡ªZach included¡ªhad wanted to get back into their fighting equipment just in case. It was also here that Zach learned the Elvish also had the Bank and Storage ability despite it being a human racial passive. As it turned out, theirs had a slightly different name and was earned at level 30, but it was functionally identical. Once re-equipped, everyone had continued onwards, and along with them, Zach had trekked his way through an increasingly rocky and uneven terrain that it was too dark to see until, finally, at long last, the appearance of numerous bright lights in the distance had signaled the arrival of the armored caravan. Given the awful shit everyone had just gone through, nobody wanted to linger around for long, and everyone had hurried into whatever vehicle was either nearest or had space, and with that, they¡¯d quickly headed off, riding at full DEHV speed together to Whispery Woods. Two hours later, they were crossing the Leviathan Bridge. Zach had felt nothing upon returning to the city he had called home for nearly every day of his life. He¡¯d still been too numb: too shocked. He hadn¡¯t even bothered to say his goodbyes to anyone, either. He, Kalana, and Abram Gespon¡ªand anyone else needing to catch an immediate flight¡ªhad separated from the others, and then they¡¯d separated even further, as only the three of them were heading to Varda¡¯s lair. Now, having arrived, Zach watched as the jet¡¯s door was opened and the three of them were waved through. Holding Kalana¡¯s hand, they followed Abram onto the airbridge, which took them through a blue, hallway-like tunnel and let out into an incredibly upscale airport that was nothing at all like the rundown, musty-smelling one they¡¯d departed a few hours ago. Everywhere Zach looked, there were fine-dining establishments, leather lounge chairs, people sitting at marble tables sipping wine, men in business suits typing away on portable computers while drinking coffee, and of course, a fair number of Galterrans hurrying back and forth across the wide, open center of the airport¡ªeven at this time¡ªmoving towards dozens of gates to board one flight or another along the clean, polished floor. ¡°I can¡¯t believe we¡¯re actually in Varda¡¯s lair,¡± Kalana said somewhat excitedly. Zach had to agree. This was the farthest he¡¯d even been away from home, and he was about to go a whole lot farther, too. ¡°How long did you say our next flight was, Kal?¡± She squeezed his hand. ¡°About ten hours from here, I think. Then it¡¯s another hour-and-a-half helicopter ride, since we gotta land in the Shores of Wrath first.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got to be fucking kidding me.¡± Kalana snickered. ¡°Aww, Zach,¡± she said sweetly, ¡°you didn¡¯t really think the flight was gonna land on my island, did you, baby? We don¡¯t have a runway, you dork. At least not yet. We gotta touch down in South Bastia first.¡± Zach released a slow, defeated sigh. ¡°I¡¯m just so tired and want to lie down.¡± Kalana tapped her chin then raised her eyebrows. ¡°Well, umm, we can still spend a few days here in the city if you don¡¯t wanna catch another flight right away.¡± Zach pursed his lips as he thought again on the offer Abram had made to them. Abram had said that Kal and him could relax a few days in the city and that they¡¯d be treated ¡°exceptionally¡± well for however long they stayed. This was, truthfully, a very tempting offer. Varda¡¯s Lair was one of the places Zach had always wanted to visit. Actually, he wanted to visit all the major cities of humanity. But this one, in particular, had stood out to him due to it being the most expensive, richest city in all of humanity. Unlike Tomb of Fire, which was known for its extravagant display of color and its myriad of bright, shiny entertainment spots, Varda¡¯s Lair was not really a place that attracted all that much tourist attention. Though the city was certainly beautiful with tall, sleek buildings, several world-renowned museums, and the largest bank in North Bastia, it was far more commercially oriented in nature than Tomb of Fire was. In fact, Zach recalled once reading online that the vast majority of people to be found in Varda¡¯s Lair on any given day didn¡¯t even live there: they were simply workers who entered the city during the day and went home at night. Even the smallest apartment here costs more a month than most families make in a year, he thought, having once gawked at the price of real-estate after curiously searching it up online. More so than anywhere else in North or South Bastia, only the extremely wealthy or lucky could live in Varda¡¯s Lair. Due to the lack of tourism, the only hotels to be found were of the absurdly expensive kind, with rooms bigger than some people¡¯s houses, if not larger; clearly, they were lavish suites intended for those here on business. Outside of hotels, there were only a few districts that were residential in nature. Most properties served as corporate headquarters for various businesses. Even still, it was a city Zach would¡¯ve loved to tour. Yet it was the People of Virtue¡¯s own stupid laws that made him reject the idea. Unlike the other guilds, the People of Virtue stood alone as the only human guild that enforced a dress code for anyone over the age of thirteen while located within its primary city. Modesty was not a choice but a law, and there didn¡¯t appear to be exceptions to this rule: not even for people who knew Abram Gespon personally, it seemed. Actually, Abram stressed that it was especially important for ¡°people in positions of power¡± to be seen obeying the law. Thus, unless Zach wanted to get out of his equipment and back into a suit, he¡¯d been asked, politely, not to leave the airport, where the rules were suspended for people mid travel or simply transferring through Varda¡¯s Lair as a hub before heading on towards their next destination. So dumb that they make people dress a certain way, he thought as he ventured further into the airport with Kalana. He had to step quickly to the side to avoid walking headfirst into an oblivious couple that were both looking down at their phones. Having only just been caught and attacked with his gear off, he wasn¡¯t comfortable removing it yet and probably wouldn¡¯t be until he got to Kalana¡¯s island. Thus, with a sigh, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s just get there. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can finally relax.¡± She smiled, and then with a genuine-sounding squeak, she said, ¡°I¡¯m so excited! You¡¯re finally gonna see it. I haven¡¯t lived there long, but I already made it feel like home.¡± Abram, as though first catching wind of their conversation, slowed down somewhat and partially turned his neck to look back at them. ¡°So, I take it you guys aren¡¯t staying?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± Kalana said. ¡°We just wanna go home.¡± He nodded. ¡°All right. Well, unfortunately, I can¡¯t get you a private jet right now. First class will have to do.¡± At this, Zach laughed. ¡°In my whole life, I¡¯ve never been able to afford to be in any airplane seat, let alone first class. That¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome, then.¡± Kalana nudged him in the ribs. ¡°You didn¡¯t say thank you,¡± she whispered. ¡°He put a bounty hunter on my ass,¡± Zach whispered back. ¡°Guy owes me.¡± ¡°Okay, but still, that was rude.¡± Zach ignored her. He instead followed Abram all the way across the stunningly large airport and onto an automated walkway, which ran for what looked like an entire mile. At the end of the walkway, there was an entirely separate, albeit slightly smaller section of the airport, this one for cross-continental flights to South Bastia. Through the wide glass windows that served in place of walls to both his left and his right, Zach was able to get a full view of the city in the distance. Though nowhere near as flashy as Tomb of Fire, it really did have a very modern, crisp feel to it. Varda¡¯s Lair was known for, among other things, being the cleanest human city. It was commonly said that someone could walk up and down a city block with a magnifying glass and not find a single piece of litter. That would¡¯ve been hard to believe if not for the fact that the same was true right here in the airport. The People of Virtue were apparently barbarically harsh when it came to punishing people who littered. For them, it was prison time as well as a cane lashing, as corporal punishment was a value to which their guild adhered. ¡°Head to terminal 51 just ahead,¡± Abram told them once they¡¯d reached the end of the walkway. ¡°It¡¯s just straight that way.¡± He pointed. ¡°Actually, you know what? Wait a second.¡± He snapped his fingers, and as though the gesture were magic, a woman Zach didn¡¯t even see until just now practically popped into existence in front of them. ¡°Sir Gespon the Virtuous!¡± she exclaimed, bowing her head. Then she took in Zach and Kalana and he honestly thought she¡¯d faint. ¡°H-how may I help you?¡± ¡°I need you to get these two kids on a first-class flight to Shores of Wrath. When¡¯s the next plane go out?¡± She removed a tablet from inside her uniform and began tapping on it. Then she swallowed as though nervous. ¡°I¡¯m afraid not for another few hours, Sir Gespon the Virtuous. You only just missed a flight.¡± Zach swore¡ªthen apologized immediately for the gesture, as Abram glared at him. Despite being warned in advance, he¡¯d forgotten that these fucking people didn¡¯t allow cursing in their city, either. It was like a city of Mr. Orens. It was bullshit, too, because before falling asleep on the flight over here, he¡¯d listened to Abram Gespon make numerous phone calls, and his language was foul and awful. He frequently called people ¡°assholes¡± or ¡°dumb shits¡± as he made angry demands of them. Hypocrites, seriously. ¡°How long ago was the flight?¡± Abram asked. ¡°Well, flight SOW-21 just finished final boarding and is already moving towards the runway.¡± For some reason, this made Abram sigh with relief. ¡°Oh, great. It¡¯s still here.¡± ¡°Well, yes, Sir Gespon the Virtuous, but¡ª¡± ¡°Good, halt it immediately and have it come back to the gate. Then put these two in first class and have it bumped to the front of the runway line.¡± The woman stared at him as though unsure if he was being serious or not. When he turned over his palm as though impatient, she again swallowed nervously and continued to type into her tablet. ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m afraid there are no available seats,¡± she said. Abram shrugged. ¡°Throw two people off the flight then.¡± ¡°But, Sir Gespon, that¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°Do it.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Gespon the Virtuous.¡± Upon hearing this conversation, it was physically impossible for Zach¡¯s reaction to be any more different from Kalana¡¯s. Whereas Kalana placed her hand over her mouth, mouthed the word ¡°no¡± over and over, and began assuring Abram that they could wait for tomorrow with guilt coming across in each of her words, Zach crossed his arms smugly and nodded his head, absolutely loving what just happened. Now that was being rich. Gods, this was cool. ¡°Stop loving this,¡± Kalana said, frowning at him. ¡°Let me enjoy this, Kal. This is VIP treatment. Finally!¡± ¡°Nah-uh. It¡¯s mean. I don¡¯t wanna steal their seats.¡± ¡°It¡¯s even better because we¡¯re stealing their seats,¡± Zach said with an intentionally evil laugh. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Abram said. ¡°I¡¯m going to pay for inconveniencing them. They¡¯ll each be given fifty-thousand gold.¡± Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Wait, what?¡± Zach blurted out. ¡°Let¡¯s back up a second. They¡¯re each going to be getting how much? Kal, stop,¡± he said as she began shoving him away towards their gate. ¡°Nah-uh. All those people already waited long enough. If we¡¯re gonna go, then we¡¯re not gonna hold them up even longer.¡± Even as Kalana began pushing him away towards the gate. He actually tried to drag his feet as he found himself getting farther and farther away from Abram. ¡°Maybe we can wait until tomorrow after all!¡± he shouted. ¡°That gold would be so much better in our hands. We¡¯re dragon slayers!¡± ¡°What?¡± Abram called back, now out of earshot. Zach sighed. ¡°Stop pushing me, Kal. I can walk.¡± And walk, they did¡ªright onto a plane filled with angry, inconvenienced passengers, whose attitudes changed immediately from annoyance to excitement when they realized why¡ªor specifically, who¡ªtheir plane had been turned around for. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, everyone!¡± Kalana said, sounding all bubbly and cheerful. ¡°I¡¯ll sign autographs for you all. Me and Zach will come through the whole plane, we promise.¡± Fuck. ****** With a grunt of self-disgust, Francis Calador killed the rifle-wielding soldier guarding the sole entrance to a city street in northern Shadow Fall Coast. He¡¯d had no choice. The armed man had spotted him as he¡¯d been attempting to covertly pass by. Using his four fingers like the point of a blade, he jabbed his arm forward and stabbed the soldier¡ªa member of the Royal Roses from the look of his uniform¡ªstraight through the chest. Gurgling, the man dropped his rifle and clutched his heart, blood pouring out of the gaping hole, and then he fell onto his back, his eyes opened wide in confusion. This caused an attention-drawing shout from his four nearby companions, and Francis was forced to deal with them, too. And fast. He could see that one had crooked their neck as if to speak into a Comm attached to the left breast pocket of his uniform. I have to stop him. Quickly! Francis dashed forward at the man, who reacted with a confused sort of clumsiness. As though unsure of what to do, he swung his gun at Francis¡¯ face rather than fire it¡ªas if he were acting off nerves, fear, and reflex as opposed to logical thought. Lifting both his hands, Francis stopped the horizontally oriented weapon by grabbing it on both ends. Then he delivered a front-kick into the chest of the soldier who¡¯d swung it, sending the man careening backwards while he simultaneously yanked the weapon away, prying it free of the man¡¯s fingers. Upon this, Francis dismissively tossed the rifle away and off to the side. ¡°Shh,¡± he said, placing his finger to his nose. He should¡¯ve known that wouldn¡¯t work. Another of the men opened his mouth as if to scream, as then so too did both of the other soldiers. Francis extended his arm and pointed his finger at the three of them. ¡°Here, look,¡± he said, calmly. Even mid cry, they all turned their eyes to look at his index finger. With that, he activated Vow of Secrecy, causing a brief, almost imperceptible flash of dull light to emit from the point of his finger, but only for a fraction of a second. Thankfully, during that brief moment in time, all three were looking right at it and now they were silenced, unable to speak. The fourth man¡ªthe one he¡¯d kicked¡ªmanaged to avoid looking, but it did not matter, because he appeared to have died from internal injuries only a second or two ago. Now, as they made the physical motions of screaming: heaving, mouths opened widely, heads shaking¡ªnothing at all came out. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for this,¡± he said to the three of them. And he really did mean it. He thrust his hand, palm open, into the forehead of the soldier nearest to him, hitting hard enough that the impact and shock to the man¡¯s brain killed him instantly. The other two spun around to retreat, but Francis got them both as well. He made sure it was quick. ¡°Forgive me,¡± he apologized again. ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry.¡± In the background, the sounds of gunshots, explosions, and screaming settled over the northern part of the city in Shadowfall Coast as a permanent melody of pain and death that played out all around him. Francis did not want to be here. He would get in and get out. The fact that this was where he needed to be was purely a coincidence and unrelated to the war that had sprouted up in what was typically among the quietest, most peaceful regions in North Bastia. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to do that, Francis.¡± I did. ¡°You¡¯re being too paranoid.¡± You¡¯re not being paranoid enough, Eilea. Though there existed not a single Galterran born this century who could recognize him, there were those out there¡ªthe servants of Adamus¡ªwho most certainly would. For this reason, Francis chose to wear his serpentine mask to conceal his face. But even that would not be good enough. He had no choice but to eliminate anyone who spotted him, as if word of his appearance spread, then even without being able to describe his face, there was still a fair chance that Adamus would put two and two together. That was why, at the end of a somewhat narrow pedestrian street with blood covering the homely, stone-tiled pavement, Francis gritted his teeth as a man in another squad of infantry¡ªthis one belonging to the Guild of Gentlemen¡ªunluckily happened to spin around such that the flashlight on his rifle briefly illuminated Francis before passing over him. Francis froze, hoping he hadn¡¯t been seen amid the dark of night. Gunfire had taken out most of the streetlights around him, and it was possible he¡¯d been overlooked. Sadly, he had no such luck, as the light immediately swung back around, settling upon him. ¡°Whoah, whoah, whoah, stop right there, buddy!¡± he shouted at Franics. He was a young man with blond-colored hair who raised his rifle threateningly. This caused those around him to also turn and look. ¡°Show me your hands! I said show me your fucking hands!¡± He began to approach, cautiously, his arms quivering. ¡°Turn around slowly and then get on the ground¡ªnow, Gods dammit! Or I will open fire!¡± Francis showed them his hands¡ªor hand, rather. He lifted it, then made a waving motion, and simultaneously, the heads of all eleven men began to glow from a bright white light that shined through their eyes that Francis hoped wouldn¡¯t attract even more attention. Their mouths popped open as if to scream in pain, but no sound escaped them. Quickly, Francis squeezed his hand into a fist, and following that gesture, their heads exploded, sending blood, brain matter, teeth, and eyeballs scattering as their bodies plopped over lifelessly. Once more, the small, residential street became dark. Now, praying to God for forgiveness, he walked over their corpses and into a much wider and far more trafficked avenue. Still, he hoped he could use the darkness to get by without any further bloodshed. ¡°Francis, please! There will be more than enough death when we are forced to turn to conquest. We need not spill a drop more blood than is absolutely necessary.¡± Do you think I wanted to do that? he asked her, somewhat offended that she would react as though his attitude towards murder was somehow cavalier. If Adamus knows I was here, he will come for you. Even the two of us together cannot match him if it comes to a physical confrontation. ¡°For the man who allowed Moldark to kill him rather than fight back and perpetuate the violence, I cannot understand your sudden turn towards such an all-or-nothing approach.¡± Franics didn¡¯t bother to reply despite knowing perfectly well the reason why. He, like his father before him, had inherited the same weakness that seemed to affect all Calador men. Although he¡¯d never intended his cooperation with Eilea to be anything more than an impersonal, mutual way of advancing both of their goals, he had now fallen in love with the woman, and because of this, he would not allow harm to come to her. ¡°I can feel that,¡± she said, somewhat softly. Don¡¯t pry. ¡°I still wish you¡¯d not do this. Certainly not for my sake.¡± I¡¯m trying my best. From the looks of things, he might not have much of a choice. For starters, the fighting here was intense, and from one end of the street to the other, bullets were ripping apart street signs, trashcans, dumpsters, and shattering the windows of parked DEHVs. Francis did have the benefit, however, of the fact that the two sides were far more focused on each other right now than on one bizarrely dressed man¡ªassuming they could even see him. In addition to the night, visibility was also very poor, as a five-story building two blocks north of here was completely on fire, generating so much smoke it was difficult to breathe. It also overpowered the ever-present smell of the ocean. So much bloodshed, he thought, sadly. A bang came from nearby as a grenade was thrown and exploded. Soldiers shouted at one another. People were hit, and they screamed for aid as medics risked leaving cover to drag their dying comrades to safety. God, Francis hated war. He hated all war, but in particular, he was sad to see that Galterra had resorted to fighting this manner of battle again. At least the open-field combat established by Peter I was sensible, sane, and fair. And if someone was shot, the guns had smart chips that would prevent them from firing on someone already hit. Furthermore, leveled participants were forbidden from attacking level 1s. That much was clearly not being obeyed any longer. Three blocks down, a man wearing the insignia of crossed swords was summoning vicious, tornado-like winds that were ripping apart gun-wielding infantry while causing their severed body parts to join a collection of swirling, spinning limbs. This continued until a woman wearing the officer¡¯s outfit of the Royal Roses twirled her staff and then released a beam of orange-colored energy that punched a hole directly through the other mage¡¯s stomach, killing him and two Ones behind him. Then she, in turn, was taken out by what appeared to be an armor-piercing round fired by a level-1 sniper, which struck her in the middle of her forehead, causing her to wobble away until her back hit the side of a building before sliding down into a sitting position as she died. Francis shook his head at all of it. He¡¯d always known the ugly face of true war would one day return. The fact that the era of open-field combat had lasted as long as it had was nothing short of a miracle. He had observed from the shadows as it was born roughly a century ago, and at the time, he had never imagined it would have taken off the way it had or lasted as long as it did. Truly, it was all because of the integrity of Peter I. His actions solidified it in a way that nothing else could have. Not long after conquering all of North and South Bastia, Peter I had forced every human guild to sign what he¡¯d called the SOHLA: The Sanctity of Human Life Accords. In this, he¡¯d outlined a new method of warfare. It was a system of rules and laws that radically changed what was permissible and how war was to be conducted. He had, in essence, gamified the very nature of war. At the time, the very idea of it had seemed outrageous: laughable, even. By all accounts, it truly should not have succeeded. It was one thing to force the guilds to use it against each other¡ªas even with all of humanity ostensibly united under the Brayspark monarchy, it was inevitable that factional struggles within guilds would lead to guild-on-on guild warring¡ªbut it was another thing to replace traditional warfare entirely, which it had. And what truly solidified its place was a war that soon followed, which was unlike any in known human history to have come before it. After an economic downturn caused a build-up of frustration with the monarchy, every guild had simultaneously declared war on King Peter I, testing the limits of the king¡¯s honesty and sincerity. At this point in history, Peter I had the infrastructure, military equipment, resources, and men necessary to defend each and every territory under his control, and not even their combined efforts would have stood a chance of regaining control of even a single region. But, in what came as a shock to the entire world, Peter I had abided by his own rules, and his guild met each and every contest on the open-field in fair, moderated contests with neutral observers that could act as referees and even call a stop to the fighting if death tolls rose too high. As a result of this, the war, which took place across two continents and should have resulted in casualties in the millions along with untold destruction, resulted instead in the deaths of fewer than eight-hundred combatants albeit with thousands more injured. Zero civilians had been killed during the war, zero cities had been destroyed, and not a single man, woman, or child had been forced to participate against their will. Child soldiers, in fact, had been outlawed entirely. Not only did Peter I adhere strictly to the rules of battle, but he also accepted his defeats, as well. By the war¡¯s conclusion, he¡¯d ended up losing control of every region in South Bastia; even despite each region having been reinforced with everything needed to withstand a siege, Peter had ordered his guild to pack up and leave wherever he lost in accordance with his own rules. His willingness to stand by his principles cemented him into legend and established his way as the new way; before long, the rest of the world would adopt this method as well¡ªall except the Orcs, who had outright abolished war altogether. For a hundred years, humanity was spared the brutality of war. And now, this week, it had finally returned. And it was looking like this could be a terrible one, too. Just from the smoldering remains of several toppled buildings and the countless corpses strewn along the streets, Francis could tell that, already, in just the first day of this war, several-thousand lives had been lost, maybe even tens of thousands: a number far greater than the combined loss of everyone who had fought in a war spanning two continents a century ago. Many of the dead were likely innocent people, too, making it all worse. ¡°When Zach is made emperor, I truly believe he¡¯ll reestablish the SOHLA,¡± Eilea said to him. Francis had willingly allowed her into his mind, as he felt her presence comforting and reassuring. He missed her, and she missed him. ¡°Even I¡¯m not na?ve enough to believe in a Galterra with no war. But the SOHLA worked well, and we will bring it back.¡± I hope so. Eager to be gone from this place as quickly as possible, Francis proceeded onwards, heading in the direction of a four-story apartment complex two blocks west that had only just been set aflame. He needed to get inside of it before it was completely burned to the ground. Assuming Eilea¡¯s spies had provided accurate information, then on the third floor, in room 307, there was a thumb drive located somewhere under the floorboards. And this thumb drive, it was believed, contained the single-most comprehensive list of details regarding the last known location of The Book of Elementals. Although there had been numerous times in his life he''d been forced to take lives, under many other circumstances, Francis would willingly¡ªand had once willingly¡ªallowed himself to be killed to prevent taking the life of another. Murder was something that Francis despised more than just about anything even as he''d been forced to deal in it, particularly in his youth. But for this? For this, Francis was willing to both die and kill for. They needed to locate the Book of Elementals before Adamus or any of his malicious ¡°trackers¡± got to it first. They needed to acquire it at any cost¡ªno matter how steep. God, I sound like some of the worst people in history, he thought. Incidentally, Francis was painfully well aware that this was an attitude that¡¯d been adopted by a great many other powerful men over many thousands of years. He wondered if any singular thing in existence had ever caused the level of bloodshed that The Book of Elementals had brought about. Had it not been for this accursed book, Peter IV¡¯s Elvish genocide might never have occurred. And for sure, the war and subsequent genocide against the Lizardmen had been driven behind the scenes by the Goddammed book as well, even as so few knew of its role in propagating the violence. Really, the fact that it existed at all was, in Francis¡¯s opinion, proof that Adamus was a thoroughly sick, twisted, and evil being whose intentions were far more nefarious than even Eilea understood. There was no excuse for the book¡¯s creation. None. Yet even still, they would need to use it if they wanted to stand any chance of saving Galterra. After that, it would be destroyed once and for all, something Moldark and him should have done a very long time ago. But first, he¡¯d need to find it, and God willing, the path to it lay ahead. Ducking behind a large dumpster at the end of the block to stay out of sight, Francis looked ahead to see if he could find a path that would avoid more bloodshed. But he was quickly running out of time. The flames were spreading from floor to floor, and Francis knew he needed to hurry or the data could be destroyed. With a sad and also fearful sigh, he realized that things were about to get incredibly ugly. If not for the fact that the building was on fire, Francis would not have minded hiding in the shadows for a few hours and waiting for things to quiet down. But with the flames beginning to thicken along with the rising smoke, he knew he had to make a decision right now as to how to proceed, and he knew that this was not going to be a decision he would be happy to have made. But the situation, as it currently stood, was not one he could change by simply wishing it weren¡¯t so. Right now, the street-level fighting had intensified on both the sidewalk and the road immediately outside of the apartment. A greater and greater number of rifle-bearing infantry were taking cover behind DEHVs, many with their alarms going off as bullets slammed into them. Fire hydrants had also been smashed, and water was beginning to flood onto the street. Shouts and commands from sergeants could be heard in the air, as two quickly growing groups engaged in close-quarters combat. Leveled fighters were also beginning to emerge. This had all the signs of an ugly, drawn-out slog of a battle, in which many would die. Now, however, because of Francis, it looked like all were going to have to die instead of just many. ¡°Why do you feel so afraid?¡± Eilea asked. Because I have to become strong. ¡°Aren¡¯t you already strong?¡± No, he said. Not enough so that I can clear myself a path, anyway. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Hurt myself, he told her. Badly. Very, very badly. Francis hated this. God, he hated this so much. Even after all this time, it had never become easier to do what he was about to do. Whether for a good cause or a regrettable one, such as now, there was never a point in time when he enjoyed or looked forward to this. Though he was no expert on the nature of pain, he was reasonably sure that the pain he experienced from this was equivalent to a man being flayed alive over a period of weeks by a rusted knife. Every neuron in his brain was about to transmit pain signals to every part of his body. Normally, he needed to psyche himself up before he could bring himself to use this. But there was no time. He needed to jump right into it. Eilea, you should get out of my head now. ¡°I can endure it.¡± No, you can¡¯t. ¡°I can only feel a fraction of what you feel.¡± A fraction is too much, Eilea. ¡°I can endure it!¡± Francis knew he shouldn¡¯t listen to her, but he couldn¡¯t afford the time needed to argue his point. And so, with a sense of dread in his heart, he gathered his courage and activated Doom Phase. And then it began to hurt. A sensation similar to pulling a calf muscle multiplied by a factor of a million felt like it was coming from every part of his body, stretching and pulling him apart. Along with this came a burning of his very skin that felt akin to being set on fire, as well as a cutting, tearing pain that made him wonder if someone was slicing him open. An intense pressure behind his eyes caused his vision to briefly blur from the force of the headache that was pounding in his skull. He knew that this was purely mental and not physical, but the feeling of it was indistinguishable from any physical reality. Distantly, amid all the agony, he heard a shriek in his head, and he immediately felt Eilea withdraw her presence, fleeing his mind. He was glad. He did not want her to experience any more of this: even a fraction of it. Along with the pain came the other effects. His hands, arms, legs, and body began to give off a black, smoke-like mist, while at the same time, his skin and all his clothing began to switch between various states of transparency as though going in and out of existence. Veins began to pop up all over his skin, razor-sharp thorns sprouted up and down his arms and back, and his body hardened like steel. Now, any melee or ranged weapon he could think of in his mind¡ªno matter what they may be¡ªhe could summon or dismiss at a whim. The serpentine mask on his face also fell off, but the disguise was no longer needed, as he now had the face of a true serpent. He flicked his forked tongue and hissed as acid dripped down his mouth and burned a hole on the street, sizzling through the concrete. Hurts so bad, he thought, hissing aloud. Need to kill now so I can end the suffering!
DOOM PHASE DOOM LEVEL 1
SUFFERING INTENSITY 50
MOB KILL REDUCE SUFFERING BY 2
PERSON KILL REDUCE SUFFERING BY 5
BOSS KILL REDUCE SUFFERING BY 30
Francis called forth a black-and-red longsword into his right hand and a shortsword to his left. It hurt. God, it hurt. He needed it to end. Only killing would make the pain go away. He activated Doom Flash, increasing his suffering by 1 and causing him to hiss in pain as he mentally targeted a spot on the ground halfway across the street in front of the burning apartment complex. In particular, he chose the spot near a DEHV, behind which five uniformed soldiers were taking cover. The moment he activated his ability, there was a gigantic, disorienting flash, which ignited the air around the five infantry and caused at least three of them to suffer third-degree burns and one to die outright. A moment after the flash, the world briefly faded¡ªand so did he¡ªuntil eventually he reappeared in the location of the flash, already swinging his blade to slice the head off another man, then spinning around and disemboweling a third. The last two, he killed by bringing his arms around and slashing at them both simultaneously. Upon those five kills, his suffering was now cut in half. He¡¯d have to use more Doom abilities to raise it, lest he become deactivated before dealing with the vast number of people on both sides of the war who were all turning in the direction of the flash as though curious to see what had caused it. A woman saw his face, and she howled in fear. She, and her two fellow soldiers, raised their guns and began opening fire on him. Naturally, he couldn¡¯t even feel it. Releasing another hiss, he dropped both his weapons, and they vanished before even hitting the ground. At the same time, he spun around, raised his hands, and then began pulling the trigger even before the two magi-pistols he¡¯d summoned appeared in his hands, blasting to pieces the three uniformed soldiers taking shots at him from across the street. Each time he fired one of his guns, it made a bang far louder than that of a normal firearm. It also detonated upon impact, which in this case had the effect of blowing up not just the woman and her two male companions, but also the DEHV they were taking cover behind. All three died in a massive electrical inferno that caused the power to go out in the building behind them. ¡°What the fuck is that?¡± someone screamed. ¡°WHAT IN THE FUCK IS THAT?¡± Down to a suffering of just 10, Francis¡¯ pain had dulled considerably. He was now only hurting roughly as much as someone being operated on without anesthesia. He needed more pain or he would be forced out of his Doom Phase. And so, he activated Doom Soul, which increased his suffering by 25, making him cry out in misery as about fifteen shadows formed beneath the feet of fifteen different men and women around him at random. Many looked down in confusion, but a few others did not even see it coming. Their screams were loud and intense as ghostly hands emerged from the shadows and pulled them down into it as though it were a hole in the ground; then, along with whoever had been taken, the shadow vanished entirely. Francis did not know where they went, and he did not know what happened to them when they got there, but from the overwhelming reduction in his suffering, he had always assumed they were at the very least dead. No bodies were ever recovered and he doubted he would ever know what became of the souls of those he¡¯d been forced to take. He doubted he wanted to know, either. Adamus had once told him they were sent to a realm of never-ending suffering that he himself had created unconsciously. He had chosen not to believe this. Knowing that this use of Doom Soul would reduce his suffering by 50, just a moment before the shadows dragged his targets to hell, he activated Doom Whip, Doom Fire, and Doom Crush in order to prevent himself from going into the negatives and ending his Doom Phase. Suffice to say, this was a fight he was clearly going to win: as long as he could endure how much it would hurt to do so. One thing was for certain, though: the quicker he acted, the quicker Francis reduced everyone''s suffering, including his own. Chapter 113: The Island of Elendroth Chapter 113: The Island of Elendroth Zach weakly lifted his head and turned his eyes as the voice of their helicopter pilot drew his attention. Yawning, he listened as, with a casual, matter-of-factly tone, the pilot informed them that they were only five minutes out from being within view of the island where Kalana lived. Immediately upon hearing these words, Zach sat up straighter and felt a rush of excitement that actually caught him totally off guard, especially given how haggard he¡¯d been just a second ago. Until just now, he¡¯d been feeling groggy, run-down, and so utterly exhausted that it hurt. But with the pilot¡¯s announcement, his fatigue was chased away so fast it gave him emotional whiplash: his weariness and sluggishness vanished without a trace. Are we really almost there? he wondered, becoming enthusiastic at the idea of finally arriving. At the moment, he was sitting in the back of a fairly spacious private helicopter with Kalana. Due to the loud noise of the propellers and the engines, they¡¯d both been required to wear headsets in order to communicate with each other and also the pilot. It was cute how Kalana¡¯s headset was pink and had the shape of cat ears on the top of them. Clearly, she¡¯d picked that one out specifically for use on these special ¡°shuttle flights¡± between Shores of Wrath and her island. Zach, on the other hand, had been fine with using whatever old piece of junk the pilot had lying around. ¡°Coming up on the pocket,¡± the pilot said as the helicopter began to slow. ¡°Zach, if you want to sit up here in a few minutes, you¡¯ll be able to see it on the horizon. Give ya something to finally look at other than water.¡± Zach smiled. He really liked the pilot. He was an older dude with a bushy white mustache, a few patches of grey hair, and a pair of black sunglasses that complemented his white uniform. He had told them funny stories and had given them interesting bits of trivia all throughout their relatively short flight. Although Zach wasn¡¯t sure what he meant by ¡°the pocket,¡± he trusted the old guy to know what he was doing. He was clearly an experienced pilot given how surprisingly smooth this flight had been so far. It seemed helicopters in general did not experience quite as much turbulence as airplanes did, and with a good enough pilot in good enough weather conditions, they experienced virtually none at all. Thus, aside from the occasional, slight rocking motion, it had been a mostly still, calm, yet noisy experience. It¡¯d also been really comfortable, too. The leather, marble-colored seats felt more like big office chairs than anything else; each one had attachable neck cushions, long armrests, and cup-holders. ¡°You¡¯re looking pretty excited, baby,¡± Kalana said to him, speaking into the stick-shaped mic on the right side of her pink, cat-eared headset. Zach nodded to her then spoke into his own mic. ¡°I am,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what happened, either. I was about to pass out, and now I¡¯m totally amped.¡± Zach wasn¡¯t exaggerating. He had no idea where this sudden reserve of energy came from. Truly, he¡¯d been beyond spent, as the trip over here had tested his patience in a way he wasn¡¯t accustomed to and hadn¡¯t been expecting. Considering the sheer extent of how tired he¡¯d been, Zach had thought it a virtual certainty he would enter into a deep sleep for either all or most of the flight down to South Bastia just as he¡¯d done during the flight to Varda¡¯s Lair. And yet, for Gods-knew-what reason, not only hadn¡¯t he managed to doze off for a single minute of the ten-hour flight, but he¡¯d ended up being one of the only passengers aboard who didn¡¯t get any sleep, and after about five hours, he''d begun feeling claustrophobic and lonely, too. He''d also felt like a total asshole. This was because the first-class section had been an incredible luxury, especially when contrasted with the rest of the airplane. Not only had he sat in a big, wide seat that could fully recline like a bed, but he and Kalana had been served gourmet, chef-prepared meals along with an assortment of other snacks and cheeses, whereas the hundreds of other people aboard sat in cramped quarters and were fed microwaved dinners wrapped in plastic. Zach had been so fortunate to be in first class¡ªhe was fully aware of that fact. He understood he should be grateful. Nevertheless, he hated it. Absolutely hated it. Even as the lights darkened and nearly every passenger on the plane¡ªfirst class or otherwise¡ªdrifted off to sleep, Zach was left awake with his body exhausted but his mind racing. Not wanting to bother Kalana, who¡¯d been sleeping peacefully, he¡¯d felt alone and trapped for nearly ten hours with nothing to do but sit there while images of all the people he¡¯d killed kept invading his thoughts. As the seconds had ticked by with painful, torturous slowness, he¡¯d even started to wish one of the people from before who¡¯d bugged him for selfies would wake up and start speaking to him just so he¡¯d have someone to talk to. No, seriously, he really did. He¡¯d been that desperate. And it was crazy, too, because who would have thought that after all the shit he¡¯d endured, a routine flight to South Bastia could cause him so much distress? Yet there was something about being stuck in an airplane for ten hours that he just couldn¡¯t handle right now. And what made it all worse was the knowledge that it likely wasn¡¯t even necessary, either. In fact, he knew for certain it wasn¡¯t, because Fluffles, who would probably rather die than be stuck on a long airplane flight, had insisted he would ¡°meet them there.¡± This, obviously, could only mean one of three things: one, Fluffles was lying, two, Fluffles was planning on catching a later flight, or three¡ªthe most likely case¡ªFluffles knew of a dungeon within a reasonable distance that ran through South Bastia, and he was planning to use it to warp across continents. Zach was nearly positive it was the last of these cases, especially given how certain Fluffles had sounded about spending summer here with them. Yet, just before flying out of Whispery Woods, when they¡¯d asked him to come on the private jet with them, he¡¯d meowed and said, ¡°I don¡¯t like airplanes. I come later to play.¡± With that, he¡¯d scampered off somewhere. At the time, Zach had been feeling too detached and numb to really care how they traveled. But in hindsight, he now realized he¡¯d have been so much better off going to Angelica¡¯s with Kalana and waiting until someone with an exit door to South Bastia popped into the inn, at which point they could¡¯ve simply walked through it. Yes, it was a matter of luck, and sure, it might even take longer than flying, but even if it would end up taking days¡ªwhich he doubted, but let¡¯s just say it did¡ªZach would still prefer that to being trapped on an airplane for so many hours. Of course, the best option of all would be to simply find a dungeon that ran through South Bastia, but that would be a lot harder to do since Zach had no clue where to look and there was no way any of the adventurers were going to tell him no matter how nicely he asked. Despite having more than proven himself, the adventurers were still totally inflexible when it came to their ways and their customs, which meant that, due to a combination of his age and his level, they weren¡¯t going to dispense ¡°the answers¡± to him. Honestly, the only adventurer who might just outright tell him would be Fluffles, and that would require both a bribe and for the cat to be in a generous mood. He better tell me. Never doing this again! As torturous a trip as it had been, eventually, the plane had landed, and when it did, the sun was only first rising in the sky despite it being closer to noon where he¡¯d come from, reminding Zach that the time-zone here was a few hours earlier than what he was used to. Like his previous flight, shortly after touching down, the plane was taxied to the gate, and then finally, along with Kal¡ªwho was stretching, having just awoken from a deep slumber¡ªhe¡¯d been able to disembark. Yet for all his desire to be off the airplane, the moment he¡¯d stood up from his seat, he¡¯d almost fallen back down. Faced with an insurmountable level of exhaustion, he¡¯d half-limped, half-walked through another airbridge and into another airport. Or at least he was pretty sure he did. In all honesty, he couldn¡¯t even remember what the airport looked like or walking through it. That was how dazed and out of it he¡¯d been. He¡¯d felt like a zombie, and he¡¯d relied completely on Kalana to lead him wherever they were going. She¡¯d taken his hand and guided him along, for which he was grateful. Given how tired he¡¯d been at the start of the flight, the fact that he hadn¡¯t been able to sleep through any of it had given him an overwhelming and growing fatigue that only continued to worsen¡ªuntil right now, at this very moment, when it vanished into nothingness. I can¡¯t believe how awake and alert I am all of a sudden, he thought as he got out of his seat and moved over to the cockpit. I actually can¡¯t believe it. He sat in the adjacent seat, taking a moment to admire the countless controls, buttons, meters, switches, screens, and gauges. It was hard to believe a person could memorize what all of these did. Then he stared out of the cockpit window and became somewhat puzzled. For some reason, they were no longer moving; the helicopter had come to a complete standstill and was simply hovering in place in the air about ten-thousand feet above the beautiful blue ocean below. ¡°Why¡¯d we stop?¡± he asked. Despite sitting right next to the pilot, he still needed to talk over the headset to be heard. ¡°I need to make sure I line everything up perfectly,¡± the pilot replied. ¡°Line¡­everything up?¡± The pilot took his hand off the control stick for a second to flash Zach a thumbs-up. ¡°Yep.¡± Confused, Zach opened his mouth to ask a follow-up question, but Kalana chimed in and cleared it up for him. ¡°I forgot to tell you, Zach,¡± she said. ¡°The island¡¯s surrounded by an invisible barrier. There are only eight or nine entrances that we know of, and umm, if you try to fly into it or boat into it without being careful, you¡¯ll crash. It¡¯s strange, too, ¡®cause it only seems to stop vehicles from going through, not people.¡± ¡°No shit?¡± Zach asked, squinting his eyes. It was definitely invisible all right. He saw nothing but open air ahead of the helicopter. ¡°So is that what you meant by ¡®the pocket¡¯?¡± ¡°Sure is,¡± the pilot said. ¡°It¡¯s only a wee bit bigger than the heli, so I¡¯ve gotta make sure I¡¯m oriented perfectly.¡± The pilot had taken out what looked like a clipboard stuffed with pages of coordinates and other data, which he began to flip through, alternating between looking down at it and at his flight instruments. ¡°Definitely don¡¯t want a repeat of last time.¡± ¡°Last time?¡± Zach asked. At this, the pilot stiffened as though nervous. ¡°I clipped the propellers on the way in. Thought I was dead. Thankfully, the princess saved me, the Gods bless her heart. Even bought me a new helicopter.¡± Zach shook his head. He didn¡¯t know what surprised him more: the fact that Kal could now afford to buy helicopters, or how annoyed he was that she¡¯d bought one out of a sense of charity. But rather than start a fight about his greed, he was far too interested in watching closely as the helicopter made tiny, barely noticeable adjustments in position, hovering up, down, and up again slightly. Then the pilot tilted the nose downwards, and they began moving forward, albeit very slowly. Even still, Zach could see the pilot bracing himself and peeling back his lips as though fearful of an impact. But soon after, he released a sigh, turned his head towards Zach, and gave him yet another thumbs-up. ¡°I¡¯m getting better each time,¡± he said. ¡°Oh, and there it is.¡± He turned his thumbs-up into a pointing gesture. ¡°Beautiful, ain¡¯t it?¡± Zach looked ahead and into the distance at the rapidly approaching land. For more than an hour, the only thing to be seen in any direction had been an endless stretch of ocean. But now, rapidly approaching, he could see the island Kalana had pleaded with him to come visit and had talked so glowingly about. And Gods, it was indeed just as beautiful as she¡¯d described it. It was also far, far bigger than he¡¯d imagined, too. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Although he¡¯d gleaned from casual conversation that the island was about 40 square miles in size, he hadn¡¯t really known how to conceptualize that number, and it hadn¡¯t really sounded very big. That was why, when Kalana kept insisting that she¡¯d ¡°barely scratched the surface¡± in terms of exploring it, he¡¯d wondered how that was even possible. Now, he fully, truly understood. While the island may not have even been in the top-500 worldwide in terms of size, it was still a massive landform that Zach estimated could house twenty-thousand people if not for the fact that there were spawn points all over it. It was big enough that Zach, flying at what was now like fifteen-thousand feet, could only see what he estimated to be half of it as it filled his vision. There was so much to see and do. And all of it was untouched. There were rivers, ponds, trees, and fields of green. There were several forests, and way into the distance, he spotted what he believed were a stretch of large hills that looked like they were almost tall enough to be very small mountains. There were also stunning, sand-filled beaches and what looked like a gigantic cave. And the fact that this was a truly untouched piece of land¡ªthe fact that he would get to really learn what Galterra used to be like¡ªthis, he now realized, was likely the reason his weariness and fatigue had evaporated so suddenly. Zach became excited. Too excited. ¡°How long until we land?¡± he asked. Then he frowned. ¡°Why are we slowing down again? Did we just stop?¡± They were once more stationary and hovering in place over the ocean. ¡°Eh, sorry about that. Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll touch down in about thirty.¡± ¡°But why? It¡¯s right there?¡± ¡°Gotta take her in slow, son. There are flying creatures there that¡¯ll attack the helicopter if I don¡¯t take a safe route around the western side of the island. Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll be there soon enough. Nothing you can do now but wait and be patient.¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess that¡¯s true,¡± he said with a sigh. As Zach spoke those five words, he¡¯d meant them only as a mindless, casual, and offhand remark. Yet a moment after speaking them, a sudden chill traveled down his back. Something was bothering him, and it caused him to really pause and reflect on what he¡¯d just said. He began to seriously consider if it was actually even correct. Was it actually true? Or was that just more of his level-1 thinking? It is, he thought. It is just level-1 thinking! As insane and wild as it was to think such a dangerous thing, he knew that he was right. He did not have to wait and be patient. Just simply as a matter of literal truth, he objectively, demonstrably, did not have to wait. And what was more: he was tired of doing everything in his life in accordance to procedure or the wishes of others. Ever since the day that Varsh had killed his father, fate had made it so that every action he took had been either dictated to him or driven by one outside force or another. When was the last time he did something just because he wanted to do it? He honestly couldn¡¯t remember. But here he was now, free of the dragon, back with Kalana, and you know what? He was honestly fucking tired of doing things the way other people told him to do them. And that was why, even as batshit crazy as it might have been, he decided to give up on his level-1 thinking and commit to a foolish, stupid idea that came to his head and made him smile. He decided to do what he wanted to do. For once, he was going to take his own destiny in a path of his choosing. ¡°Thank you so much for the flight,¡± he said, patting the old guy on the head. ¡°You¡¯re a fantastic pilot. I hope you have a really safe flight home.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± the pilot asked, clearly confused. It was the same reaction Kalana had as he got up, took off his headphones, placed them gently and respectfully down on the seat, and then walked to the back of the helicopter where the love of his life was sitting. ¡°Zach, what¡¯s wrong? What are you¡­?¡± Without saying a word to her, Zach leaned forward and gently removed the headphones from her head, placing them down on her seat. Then, aggressively, he grabbed her and scooped her up into his arms, supporting her upper back with his left hand and her legs with his right before spinning around and carrying her towards the emergency exit. ¡°Z-Zach!¡± she shouted, wrapping her arms around him. ¡°W-w-what are you doing?¡± ¡°Having fun,¡± he said. Shifting her in his arms for just a moment, he turned his body slightly so that he could grab the latch and pull it. This, as he could hear the pilot shouting something at him. But he couldn¡¯t really understand it, as without the headset, it came across as nothing but a garbled type of mumbling. Now, sliding the side door open, he was hit by a blast of very hot tropical air, a burst of sunlight that made him squint his eyes, and at once, the level of noise from the helicopter increased immensely as he took two steps forward with Kalana still in his arms until he stood on the ledge, fifteen-thousand feet above sea level and without any parachute to speak of. ¡°Gods, Zach!¡± Kalana shouted. ¡°You¡¯re not really gonna jump, are you? No way!¡± Glancing down, he almost didn¡¯t. A nervous hesitance caused him to feel an acidic burning in his gut: one that told him if he jumped, he¡¯d die. But he reminded himself it was caused by level-1 thinking. He needed to break that habit, starting today. ¡°One,¡± he counted, laughing. ¡°Z-Zach!¡± ¡°Two!¡± ¡°Zach, you¡¯re so crazy! You¡¯re not really gonna¡ª¡± ¡°Three!¡± ¡°Gyahhhhhhhh!¡± Zach stepped out of the helicopter and then, with Kalana in his arms, he entered into a freefall down towards the ocean below. Within seconds, the tropical wind battered against him, invigorating him and filling his nostrils with the smell of the ocean¡¯s breeze. It felt incredible. It felt freeing. And it was only the thought of how angry Kalana was about to be with him that made it something less than a perfect moment¡ªat least until he met her eyes, and he could see that her screams had turned into playful laughter and soon after cheering. ¡°You¡¯re so crazy!¡± she shouted. She pulled away from him slightly, and then she stretched her arms and legs out wide and flipped herself over so that she was in a reclining position with her belly facing upwards. The glow of the sun made her look like a divine entity, and Zach was mesmerized by the sight of her golden hair fluttering in the wind. ¡°It feels so nice,¡± she said, her limbs spread wide and her eyes momentarily closing. Zach laughed. He couldn¡¯t believe he¡¯d actually done it. He¡¯d jumped right out of a helicopter. And he wasn¡¯t afraid. He was loving every moment of it. Faster and faster, the two of them continued to pick up speed until finally reaching terminal velocity. Briefly, he met Kalana¡¯s eyes, and she stuck out her tongue at him. Then she once more flipped herself right-side up, the wind blanketing the two of them as they continued their descent. Right now, in this moment, Zach felt freer than he¡¯d ever felt before in his life. He wished it would last forever. Down and down they plunged, falling for slightly more than a minute before the end of their freefall neared. Zach watched as the water approached closer and closer like a blueish-green wall. Simultaneously, he and Kal crashed down into the ocean at the exact same time with dual splashes he could only barely hear as his body became submerged beneath the water, cooling him off and refreshing him. Moving so fast, Zach had no idea how deep he sank, but the fact he didn¡¯t touch the bottom meant this must¡¯ve been a very deep ocean. He had to have gone at a minimum several-hundred feet deep, maybe more. Yet eventually his motion leveled off as it became darker and darker, and the water chillier, yet even through this darkness, he could see Kalana just in front of him. He reached out with both his hands, and she took them, and then the two began to kick their feet as they swam up to the surface. As soon as their heads popped up above the water, she made a silly face at him then began to cackle. ¡°You¡¯re crazy,¡± she said again, shaking her head as though to get water off her face as she began to tread. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you just did that, Zach.¡± ¡°It was fun though, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± The buzz of the helicopter above was still audible, but glancing upwards, Zach could already see the pilot turning around as if to head home. ¡°I hope that guy isn¡¯t too pissed off.¡± ¡°Oh, Gulthor¡¯s probably not upset at all, I don¡¯t think.¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t think so,¡± she said. ¡°He¡¯s probably happy he doesn¡¯t have to risk getting blown up by the Phoenix Fangs now.¡± ¡°The what?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a mob. You¡¯ll see them eventually.¡± Zach smiled at her, and she smiled back at him. Then the two began swimming together towards the beach. ¡°Fuck, I should¡¯ve let him take us closer first,¡± Zach said as he realized he¡¯d misjudged their distance. ¡°It didn¡¯t look so far away when I jumped.¡± ¡°Huh? It¡¯s not. From here, it¡¯s only a fifteen-mile swim, baby.¡± ¡°Only.¡± Since she was Elvish, Kalana could hold her breath for a half hour underwater, see better in the dark, and swim far faster than Zach could. Yet, despite this, he was glad to see her choosing to keep pace with him. The joyful feeling he got as he swam side by side with her towards the shore under the early-morning sun was indescribable. He reveled in every moment of it. Having been trapped on a plane for ten hours, and having been trapped in a pattern of death and danger for weeks, he was finally, truly free. He could do anything he wanted. They both could. It was everything he¡¯d ever wanted and hoped for. Right now, they were in charge of their own lives. No one was going to tell them what to do. One arm in front of the other, Zach did the breast stroke, moving roughly as fast as a speedboat. After a considerable amount of swimming¡ªall of which Zach enjoyed¡ªthe water eventually became shallow enough so that he transitioned into wading, then soon after walking. And now, emerging on a beach in a land that he could hardly believe existed on Galterra, Zach had to pause a moment and open his mouth wide to gasp in total awe at the multitude of fantastical sights that he witnessed before him. All along the sandy shores were mobs. So many mobs. Hundreds of them. For miles! They were everywhere. Literally, everywhere. For as far as his eyes could see to both his left and right along the beach, there were a wide variety of different mobs at different levels and with greatly varying appearances. Some looked relatively normal, such as a whole lot of gigantic crab-like things that were interspersed in every direction. But others were just downright bizarre, like a pack of sharks across from Zach that were actually floating above the sand: just sort of hovering there. Some of the mobs were walking around, some of them remained perfectly still, and there were even a number of them that were fighting one another. There were also flying creatures of various shapes and sizes in the sky. But it was something about thirty feet ahead of him that really caught his eye and made his jaw drop. ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s a rock monster!¡± Zach said in disbelief as a wave crashed onto the beach and covered him up to his knees in warm water. ¡°It¡¯s a fucking rock monster, Kal!¡± Ahead of him was a vaguely humanoid figure, only it was much, much larger and appeared to be made of nothing but large chunks of rock from its head to its toe. Its arms, legs, body, head, and face were all made out of this same, dark-blue type of rock that looked like granite, and it was just sort of¡­sitting down on the sand, doing nothing. ¡°Have you fought that before?¡± Zach asked her. ¡°Nope. Never seen that one.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± ¡°Yah! I haven¡¯t lived here very long, Zach. The island¡¯s really big. It could take me a long time to see everything.¡± Zach drew his sword. ¡°I¡¯m going to kill it!¡± ¡°Be careful!¡±
HP 57,300/57,300
Name Slabert
Level 37
Soaking wet, Zach waded the rest of the way onto dry sand, then approached the rock monster even as his drenched boots made a squishing sound with each step. Upon coming within fifteen feet of the thing, it suddenly twitched, then began standing up before turning around to face him. ¡°Mohhhhh!¡± it said, moving towards him. ¡°Mohhhhh!¡± Zach studied it carefully. Though nearly ten feet in height, the monster was slow, lumbering, and it was easy to read. So easy to read, in fact, that Zach actually had to wonder if it was some sort of trap, as he knew what the thing was going to attempt to do to him well before it even got within range to do it. It was obvious from the way it¡¯d begun drawing back its right, rock-built arm. Zach had no doubt its punches packed a great deal of power, but it performed its movements with such slowness it might as well have worn a sign announcing what attack it was going to use. Five full seconds before it even took a swing at him with its boulder-like fist, Zach was already bending his knees to dodge. With a laugh, he moved in and sliced it across what he took to be its chest area, but he only hit for 959 damage while making a dull crunch. ¡°Mohhhhh!¡± Zach tried again, swiping at it a few more times, more aggressively now, yet still to no avail. ¡°Uh, Kal? I think this thing is way more powerful than I expected.¡± ¡°Nah-uh,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s ¡®cause it¡¯s just super resistant to sword. You probably need to use a hammer on it or magic. Can I help?¡± Zach sheathed his sword, stepped to the side, and shrugged even as the mob was smashing its fist down against the sand where he¡¯d been standing. ¡°Let¡¯s join a party together, first.¡± ¡°Mhm!¡± Kal nodded then drew her daggers. She lifted her right arm and began to twirl her weapon around in wide semicircles. Then she swung it downwards, and along with the motion, a spear-shaped mass of what looked like red-colored water appeared in the air above and to her right. It then flew forward and crashed directly into the rock monster, eliciting a groan from the creature and hitting for 102,411. The creature then began to shake and vibrate, slowly at first, but then faster and faster until every rock that made up its form became detached, and all crumpled onto the sand. Then those, too, exploded with a poof and began rising into the air like mist. +6000xp ¡°Not bad,¡± Zach said. ¡°I got 6,000xp from that.¡± ¡°I got um, 11,000.¡± For a moment, Zach wasn¡¯t sure why she¡¯d gotten so much more, but then he remembered that, while there was normally no xp penalty when it was just two adventurers in a party together, if one of the adventurers was at least two levels higher than the other and fighting a lower-level mob, it was cut in half. Still good, though, he thought.
To Next Level 89,500/170,000
¡°How far away is your home, Kal?¡± She grinned. ¡°The complete opposite side of the island.¡± Zach returned the grin with one of his own then looked around at the sheer amount of spectacular sights in every conceivable direction. ¡°Let¡¯s walk slow.¡± Chapter 114: The King of the Slug Clan Chapter 114: The King of the Slug Clan Despite never actually having been to an amusement park, Zach was still nevertheless willing to bet that the excited flutter in his chest and the sense of wonder he felt from everything all around him was what a child might experience when entering one for the first time. Stepping over the sand where the rock monster had spawned, Zach held his hand above his eyes like a visor and then began darting his head around, absolutely captivated by the sheer number of breathtaking sights to behold. It was like he¡¯d been transported thousands of years back through time. This was how it used to be, right? This was the world as it was originally imagined. Everywhere he looked caused the same exact question to pop up in his head: what was over there? For instance, take that field about a mile ahead of him with the really tall stalks of grass, beyond which the terrain became elevated until running into a tall ridge. At the center of this ridge was a narrow pass that truly looked as though it¡¯d been deliberately placed there with the intention of being entered. What was there? There had to be something, right? Or wait, what about that forest off to the right and way into the distance at the edge of his vision? What would he find there? Even though he was no longer in the sky and thus was greatly more limited in how far he could see, there was still just so much to take in. He could easily see himself exploring all summer long and still missing a whole lot of it. Realistically, he¡¯d probably need a year. ¡°Kal, are there mobs everywhere on the island?¡± he asked as the two began to take a few small steps forward along the sand. ¡°Umm, well, there¡¯s a few square miles where I live that nothing spawns, but I think besides that, there¡¯s mobs everywhere else.¡± She tilted her head to the side and rubbed her index finger against her chin. ¡°Well, okay, technically I guess you could say nothing spawns on the path, either.¡± ¡°The path?¡± She nodded, then pointed off into the distance towards Zach¡¯s left, where a wall of shrubbery acted as a sort of partition between the beach and a more elevated stretch of grassy fields. ¡°Did you see that really long and winding pathway that cut across the island while we were in the helicopter?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Well, as long as you stay perfectly on that path and keep your arms and legs in it, you¡¯re safe from aggroing anything. It actually leads to where I live. I had my estate made right next to the Elvish archives.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± he whispered. ¡°So cool.¡± She was standing by his side, and from the look on her face, she seemed to be enjoying the look on his. ¡°It¡¯s just all so amazing,¡± he said. ¡°Yah, I knew you would love it. I knew it!¡± ¡°Even the skies are so beautiful here,¡± he said, glancing up. Then he frowned as he saw a massive field of storm clouds approaching in the distance. ¡°There goes the day, though.¡± ¡°Oh, ah, that¡¯s not actually how it works here,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°I mean, sort of.¡± Scratching his head, Zach said, ¡°You¡¯re losing me, Kal.¡± In response, she pointed at the approaching clouds. ¡°So, um, based on what the Elvish wrote about this island¡ªwhich is called Elendroth by the way¡ªthe weather here is kinda¡¯ unique. There are definitely some days that are all sun, and there¡¯s also times when it just rains, but that¡¯s actually really rare. Most days here are actually just the same pattern of weather. It¡¯s actually really cool.¡± She grew excited as she explained more about her island. ¡°So basically,¡± she continued, ¡°there¡¯s usually tons of sunshine, and then there¡¯s a twenty-minute super-duper big thunderstorm. Then the sun comes back. And this happens like three or four times a day every single day. Then it rains all night.¡± Zach thought over her words. ¡°So basically,¡± he said, ¡°except for like an hour or an hour-and-a-half each day, it¡¯s all sun until night time?¡± ¡°Yah! Well, usually. Sometimes it can have just one or the other, but I haven¡¯t actually seen that yet. So we¡¯ll probably get soaked, but it¡¯ll be over quick.¡± Despite having swum here, the combination of heat and sunshine had already dried his equipment, including his waterproof phone. After his previous cell had been destroyed on that fateful day back in Whispery Woods that started it all, he¡¯d upgraded to something more durable. Yet even if he hadn¡¯t, he still would¡¯ve jumped from the heli. ¡°Summer is so nice here,¡± he said as the two of them continued to walk. At this, Kalana made an adorable little squeak. ¡°It¡¯s actually always like this here.¡± ¡°Wait, really?¡± ¡°Yup. It never gets cold.¡± Zach stopped in his tracks and he paused to think. Then, facing Kalana¡¯s direction, he asked, ¡°You know what? Why don¡¯t¡­why don¡¯t we just call it in? Seriously, Kal.¡± ¡°Call it¡­in?¡± she asked him, confusion plain on her face. ¡°Yeah. Meaning, forget making this a summer vacation. Let¡¯s just live here and never leave.¡± ¡°Zach¡­¡± ¡°What? That¡¯s what you wanted, right? Wasn¡¯t it basically what you were begging me to do?¡± ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°I mean, yes, but not¡­not now that¡­that things are more complicated.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± She held out her hand as though wanting him to hold it, and he took it. ¡°I haven¡¯t told you yet, but um, I didn¡¯t tell anybody yet. So if I tell you now, you¡¯ll be the first I told.¡± ¡°Tell me what?¡± he asked, becoming somewhat nervous. ¡°Zach, I love you so much. So please don¡¯t be mad.¡± ¡°What is it, Kal?¡± he grumbled, becoming suspicious. ¡°Don¡¯t prolong the torture. Whatever it is, just tell me.¡± He could see her inhale based on the rising of her chest. ¡°I¡¯m gonna be the new governor of Whispery Woods once the summer is over.¡± ¡°The fuck?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Seriously?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be mad!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. I¡¯m just¡­I¡¯m confused and shocked. Why would¡­for what possible reason would you want to go back to that place? I mean, I know it¡¯s important to the green-cloaks, but you¡¯re like me: a city rat. We need to get away from there, not go back to it.¡± ¡°Well, didn¡¯t you say you wanted to go back too, Zach?¡± He nodded. ¡°Yeah, but as normal people. Like, to school and stuff. Not as¡­I mean why would you even want to be governor?¡± ¡°It¡¯s ¡®cause I can make people¡¯s lives better. I actually care. And my mom¡¯s gonna need my help. Starting very early in September, we¡¯re gonna be putting together the biggest emergency aid package that they say has ever been done before.¡± ¡°Emergency aid? For what?¡± She rolled her eyes at him. ¡°For Den of Ziragoth, you dork. Obviously.¡± Her words arrived on the heels of an eerily chilling breeze, likely a forerunner for the approaching storm. The sky had already begun to darken. ¡°Your mom¡¯s going to help those people?¡± ¡°Yup. She¡¯s gonna have their entire town rebuilt and pay for their medical treatments, food, mental health services, and um, for all the people who can¡¯t work anymore, she¡¯s gonna give them money so they can still live the rest of their lives comfortably.¡± ¡°She¡¯d do that for them?¡± Zach asked with a gasp. The idea of Fylwen going so far for humanity was at odds with her dark hatred of humans. He could hardly believe what he was hearing despite absolutely approving of it. Kalana sighed. ¡°My mom¡¯s really complicated, and I still gotta learn so much about her. But she takes pity on people who¡¯ve been stomped on and lost everything, especially by the powerful.¡± Darkly, Zach quipped, ¡°You should see what she did to me.¡± ¡°Stop,¡± Kalana said, her tone implying she wasn¡¯t receptive to him joking about that. ¡°I¡¯m being serious. My cousin told me, you know. The stuff you told her but for some reason didn¡¯t tell me.¡± Now, she glared at him. ¡°You mean about the¡­?¡± ¡°Yah,¡± she said, her words coming across as pained. ¡°I don¡¯t blame you or anything. I¡¯m not mad. I¡¯m just really¡­I never knew any of that. And even though I love you and hate myself for feeling this way, I¡¯m upset you learned before I did.¡± Her eyes glistened with moisture, and though she did not shed any tears, Zach could tell she wasn¡¯t far from it. He hugged her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t think she did that to hurt you. I think she did that as a sign of trust. I also don¡¯t think she wanted you to know about what she went through.¡± ¡°But can¡¯t you understand how that makes me feel? That that¡¯s not a decision I got to make for myself, Zach? I know it sounds childish but I should¡¯ve known first. Not you. I¡¯m sorry, baby, I know that sounds so¡ª¡± ¡°No, no, I get it,¡± Zach said. And he really did mean it. In all honesty, she was right. As her daughter, Fylwen should have told Kalana about her horrific past before she told Zach. ¡°I know you do,¡± she said, grabbing him back. ¡°I just don¡¯t know why she wouldn¡¯t tell me that herself. I dunno if she even knows I know.¡± Now, she did shed a few tears. Or maybe it was the first drops of rain that began to fall from the sky. Zach actually wasn¡¯t certain. ¡°But the reason I¡¯m telling you all this stuff is so you understand. I¡¯m gonna help everybody rebuild. Before the ¡®event¡¯ last night, my mom and I had a few hours to just sit and talk. She¡¯s got so many plans for the city, too, but the first priority is gonna be Den of Ziragoth, and I agreed with her. Before we do anything else, that¡¯s the first thing her guild is gonna do.¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. At this, Zach cracked a smile. ¡°Her guild? Wait, she¡¯s got a guild now?¡± Kalana released a small chuckle, and a smile began beating back her sadness. ¡°Yeah. To make it legitimate, she had to, um, adopt her monarchy to make it compatible with guild structure.¡± For some reason, Zach found this so fucking funny. He released a loud guffaw and asked, ¡°So are you, like, second-in-command of the Elvish Roses?¡± She gave him a playful slap. ¡°We¡¯re called Elvadin, and yeah, I¡¯m second-in-command.¡± ¡°Wait, for real?¡± ¡°Mhm.¡± A crack of thunder echoed from the sky, which was now far darker than it had been, yet a bright bolt of lightning illuminated it as a torrential downpour of rain began falling down on top of them. It was almost¡ªbut not quite¡ªthe intensity of the rain he¡¯d experienced while waiting for Ziragoth the Awoken to reform itself from phase 1 to phase 2. In a matter of seconds, Zach was once more absolutely drenched, and his feet partially sank into the sand beneath him. Even still, it cooled him off, and he actually kind of enjoyed it. ¡°Let¡¯s keep walking,¡± Zach said, speaking a bit louder to be heard over the intense winds and pitter-patter of rain crashing down all around him. Behind him, the rock monster had respawned, reminding him that they¡¯d barely moved from the part of the shore where they¡¯d arrived. ¡°Uh¡­Kal, strange request, but can I lead the way? If you give me a general direction, I mean.¡± ¡°I get it. You wanna explore, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°A bit,¡± he said with a laugh. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m not even tired. I¡¯m not ready for bed just yet. It¡¯s morning here, after all.¡± She kissed him. ¡°Go ahead.¡± Zach smiled at her. Then, he flicked his eyes off to his right. ¡°What in the Gods is that?¡± he asked, pointing to a group of three mobs that were lazily ambling their way down the beach. Kalana shrugged. ¡°Never saw those either. I haven¡¯t really come to this side of the island much. There¡¯s so much I gotta see.¡± Due to the sudden darkness from the nightmarish¡ªyet strangely enjoyable¡ªstorm, Zach hadn¡¯t been able to get a good look at the mobs until just now as he moved in closer. And when he did, he saw that they were puke-green-colored creatures that reminded him a little bit of slugs, only they were tall and walked on two feet. Their eyes consisted of wide orange dots, and each had three antennas coming out of the top of their heads. They also had elongated arms, and something shining and metal-like appeared to be attached to the point of each shoulder blade as though residing inside of a socket. ¡°Glurblur,¡± they muttered to one another as they strolled across the sand, the rain washing away any residue left in the wake of their slimy feet, which gave off a sort of constant green goop. ¡°Glurblur.¡±
HP 41,000/41,000
Name Slug Clan Peon A
Level 31
Zach drew his sword. Then, his feet kicking up wet sand, he blasted off in their direction while raising his sword high above himself. All three slug-like creatures halted at once and turned in his direction. ¡°Glurblur?¡± ¡°Zach, watch out!¡± Kalana called to him in alarm as two synchronized pops came from Peon A, and from the metallic sockets on its shoulders, two sharp, dagger-sized pieces of metal flew at him like arrows, whistling on the air as they headed straight for him. Although Zach appreciated the warning, it wasn¡¯t actually necessary. He¡¯d seen it coming. And it was not due to his ability to read body language, either, as that did not apply here¡ªbut rather, it was his 87 points into dexterity that saved him. Despite only being level 21, the combination of the gear Fylwen had given him along with that one level-up he¡¯d had where his stats were massively boosted across the board made it so that he was now capable of taking on things far, far higher in level relative to himself. With a quick twist of his body, both pieces of flying metal debris whizzed past him unharmed; this, as the other two ¡°Slug Clan Peons¡± turned and also fired off another four. Zach jumped to the side to put himself out of the way of the first two, and then he aggressively slashed twice with his blade, moving the weapon so fast he was able to knock away both pieces before either could hit him. Then he dashed forward once more at full speed, angled his body slightly, and brought his blade down on top of the first Peon, slicing it across the neck and sending green goop splattering all over his face. 15,281 It smelled and tasted disgusting, but thankfully, it was raining with such fierce intensity it was quickly washed away. But more importantly, the slug appeared to have no other weapons aside from its shoulder-launched metal thingies, which he could visibly see regrowing in the now empty sockets of all three mobs: and fast, too. Speedily, he whirled his blade around twice more, quickly dealing a cut for 11,291 and then another for 13,555.
HP 873/41,000
Name Slug Clan Peon A
Level 31
Zach had a decision to make. Did he want a card, or did he want xp? Not to be mean, but truthfully, he didn¡¯t really like these mobs. Not that that should be a criterion for something¡¯s usefulness, either, but they were gross and he didn¡¯t want to rely on such slimy things. For this reason, he stabbed his sword through the monster¡¯s throat and finished it off. As it died, it did not dissolve or turn into goo like he¡¯d expected. It instead turned from green to red as though becoming hot before evaporating into nothingness. +4000xp Four more pops came from the two mobs near him, firing practically at point blank, and all four hit him. Zach hissed aloud as multiple stinging pains popped over his body: two from his neck and two from his chest. Yet he didn¡¯t think the damage was too bad. In fact, he doubted he¡¯d even need a heal from Kalana, though that didn¡¯t stop her from giving him one, his body beginning to glow with a dim green light. Not only had the attacks failed to do any significant damage, but they¡¯d failed to draw any blood, either. Without Kalana¡¯s heal, he would¡¯ve been left with nothing more than a few minor, barely noticeable scratches. Even still, the things hurt. OUCH! He angrily sliced his weapon across, moving it such that the point of his blade formed a half-circle in the air before him, and with that, he cut off all three antennae of Slug Clan Peon B as well as a piece of its scalp, striking for 16,211. Then he struck out twice more, raising his blade high above him each time and swinging it down diagonally, hitting first for 13,211 and then again for 18,206. +4000xp Now, the creature began to turn red and evaporate even as the final one had regrown its metal shoulder-missiles. ¡°Glurblur,¡± it said, as it again fired at him point blank. Not wanting a repeat of his earlier pain, which felt exactly like a bee sting, he very quickly dropped all the way down to his knees while simultaneously twisting his body, and with a whoosh, the two metal projectiles sailed across the air above him. Then he retaliated and cut both the creature¡¯s knees off, causing it to begin to fall down to the sand. Yet even before its body landed, Zach exploded into two fast strikes, cutting it into four pieces before it touched down. +4000xp ¡°Well, that was fun,¡± Zach said as the rain began to slow from a downpour to a drizzle. ¡°Those little metal things actually hurt, Kal. But at least they¡­¡± He gasped. Below him, there was a shining blue light. This meant he¡¯d gotten a drop, and even better, it was a rare! ¡°Ohh, I got a drop!¡± Kalana exclaimed. ¡°Me too! Where¡¯s yours?¡± She pointed at the one Zach was about to pick up. ¡°No, Kal, that¡¯s mine.¡± ¡°Nah-uh, it¡¯s glowing blue for me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s glowing blue for me too.¡± ¡°How¡¯s that possible?¡± she asked. ¡°If it¡¯s glowing blue for me, that means it¡¯s mine, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡­but it¡¯s glowing blue for me too.¡± As they argued, the clouds above began to part, and the darkness steadily gave way to light. The level of heat increased, and now, there was only an occasional droplet of rain every ten or so seconds, with the time between raindrops steadily increasing. This, as water continued to drip from Zach¡¯s soaked equipment and also down his head and neck. Kalana approached. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s for both of us?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s find out,¡± Zach said excitedly. Together, they both reached for the item at the same time. It was shining so brightly it was hard to make out what it was. Zach went to grab it, and so too did Kalana¡ªand then it vanished. It simply vanished out of existence. Zach didn¡¯t even feel the damn thing, either. It just sort of went away as if in response to his approaching hand. ¡°What the fuck?¡± he asked, outraged. ¡°What even just¡ª¡±
Quest The King of the Slug Clan
Given By Drop
Recommended Level 45-50
Recommended Party Size 3-5
Description The Avislicers have kidnapped the King of the Slug Clan. Make your way over to the Avikin Grounds before it¡¯s too late! If the Avislicers succeed in killing the king, the island of Elendroth will experience only rain for two weeks.
Reward 21,200xp, 8000g, 2x Red Rejuvenation Stone, 1x Yellow Rejuvenation Stone
Quest Expires In 1:59.59
As the clouds fully parted, bright sunshine came over the island, and Zach and Kalana stared at one another in a mutual sense of muted shock. This lingered for longer than Zach expected, and then he and Kalana seemed to blink in unison. A palpable sense of excitement began spreading back and forth, bouncing between the two of them like a rubber ball. He could see it in her eyes, and he was sure that she could see it in his. ¡°Cool!¡± she said with a happy squeak. At the same time, a vibration came from his phone¡ªand one came from Kalana¡¯s as well. Zach was fairly sure he knew why: the quest tracker app, which he no longer needed now that he had enhanced helm sight. Even still, he checked to ensure that it wasn¡¯t another emergency sneaking up on him to ruin his day, and with a relieved sigh, he saw that it was indeed a notification from the mysterious app that appeared all on its own whenever he got a quest. The same was true for Kalana. He imagined she was also worried that Mr. Oren or someone was contacting them with some kind of news about a doomsday or apocalypse about to take place. ¡°Kal, this is¡­this is so cool that I¡¯m actually shaking.¡± ¡°We¡¯re gonna save the slug king, Zach!¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, yeah, that¡¯s cool too,¡± he said with a laugh. ¡°But did you see the quest rewards?¡± Zach watched as Kalana conjured forward the quest information a second time, which he thought was adorable because it meant she hadn¡¯t even cared enough to look the first time around despite it being the only part that mattered. Then she clapped her hands together. ¡°The Rejuvenation stones!¡± ¡°You know what this means, right?¡± Zach asked, positively giddy. ¡°Say it with me on three. One. Two. Three!¡± The two of them spoke at the exact same time. ¡°We¡¯re going to be rich!¡± Zach exclaimed. ¡°We¡¯re gonna heal some amputee victims in Den of Ziragoth!¡± Kalana cheered. Then Zach¡¯s mouth dropped open, and she folded her arms. ¡°Right?¡± she asked, glaring at him. ¡°Kal, those stones are worth so much.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t care. Elves can¡¯t regrow the limbs of level 1 people with our magic. Their constitution is too low. We need those stones. My mom even told me to be on the lookout for any of them.¡± Zach muttered to himself greedily. Although he, in principle, liked the idea of helping all those people, there was a part of him that was beginning to feel like he¡¯d already paid his dues, ethically speaking. He¡¯d put in the suffering and pain the world had required of him. Wasn¡¯t he owed the right to be a greedy, selfish, entitled asshole now? No, he realized with a sigh. That¡¯s not how it works, does it? ¡°Let¡¯s keep one stone then and we¡¯ll donate the other.¡± Rather than reply, Kal began typing something into her phone. Then she tapped multiple times on the screen before typing some more. Finally, she turned it around so Zach could see it. Curiously, he took a look at whatever it was she wanted to show him. When he did, his mood changed immediately. It was one thing to be selfish when the pain of others was not in front of your face, but it was another to see it and ignore it. Right now, on her phone, were photos of the survivors from Den of Ziragoth, a few of them Zach even recognized, having saved them himself. But most were people he did not recall, such as a little boy maybe five or six years old who had only one leg and no arms, or a girl the same age missing both of her eyes, forced to wear prosthetics that looked even worse than if she¡¯d have just kept them as empty sockets. ¡°Okay, you¡¯re right,¡± Zach said, nodding. ¡°Any stones we get from now on will go to them. But after they¡¯re all healed, it¡¯s pure greed forever, okay?¡± ¡°Fine,¡± she said, blowing him a kiss in the air. He knew she was lying to either him or herself. Even if they did heal every survivor, Kal would just find some other suffering group to latch on to. See, the trick was to simply not know they existed. When you didn¡¯t know, it couldn¡¯t bother you, and you could do whatever you wanted. That was why Zach wanted to live on an island here with Kal and fulfill all his adventuring desires right here where the rest of the world couldn¡¯t bother him with their problems or try to make them his. He just doubted Kal would let him. Chapter 115: A Life Disconnected Chapter 115: A Life Disconnected As the sand muted their footsteps, the world sang with the hum of a delicate breeze that rolled across the beach, creating an atmosphere of tranquility: a softness that could be both heard and felt. Walking side by side with Kalana, Zach listened intently to the ambient noises made by the various mobs all around but also above him, which strangely had the effect of contributing to the overall sense of serenity. Yet more than anything else, it was the soothing melody of the ocean that became most prominent of all. It felt peaceful in a way that few things did, and it reminded him to appreciate every moment he had with Kal. You never know when it can all be taken away from you, he thought, vividly recalling how he¡¯d been separated from Kalana just when he¡¯d finally confessed to her how he felt. Briefly, he met her eyes. She met his. Together, they exchanged a smile. Then her smile sank abruptly into a frown, she stopped short, and her expression became sharp and flushed with alarm. And it was here that Zach was reminded of an important distinction between himself and Kalana that he had discovered during their fight with the dragon: namely, that while he relied on studying his enemy¡¯s movements to predict attacks, Kalana, on the other hand, needed only her reflexes. Though Zach¡¯s reflexes were also pretty damn good¡ªand how could they not be, as even without Unleashed Phase, he had 87 points into dexterity¡ªhers were on a whole different level. This, she now clearly demonstrated. ¡°Get out of the way! Now!¡± Zach had no idea what was wrong. He had no clue for what reason she¡¯d shouted these words. But you know what? It really didn¡¯t matter. Because when someone you loved and trusted shouted to get out of the way, it was generally a good idea to listen. And so, lacking even a clue as to the cause of her shout, Zach picked a direction at random and lurched his body towards it as fast as he could. And Gods, was he glad he did so. With a dull poof followed by a louder hiss, the sand where he¡¯d been standing exploded, and emerging from beneath it was a huge, repugnant monster that looked like a giant worm; multiple fangs the size of an adult male¡¯s forearm along with two jarringly sharp, tusk-like spikes protruded from its eyeless face, which was rounded and lacking in any other distinct facial characteristics. Startled, Zach had to force himself to maintain his composure as the creature oriented itself in Kalana¡¯s direction then made a series of deeply unsettling squishing sounds as it began to writhe in place. ¡°What in the fuck is that?¡± he yelled in surprise, his heart pounding in his chest. ¡°Scared the fucking shit out of me. Gods be damned!¡± Following these wet sounds, mucus began to drip down over its fangs while a thick, elastic lump formed at the base of its body¡ªor if not the base, then at least the lowest portion of its form that was visible while jutting out of the sand. Already reaching more than eight feet in height, it was impossible to tell if the sand concealed even more of this monster beneath it. If it did, he wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d even want to know. Shaking his head and forcing himself to snap out of his moment of shock, Zach observed as it continued to writhe, and then the lump began traveling upwards through various segments of this hideous worm-like creature, expanding its brown, greasy flesh while rising higher and higher towards the fang-bearing aperture that Zach supposed passed for this thing¡¯s ¡°mouth.¡± In many regards, it reminded Zach of a snake eating a meal in reverse, and this time around, it was him, not Kalana, who realized what that likely meant¡ªand what would probably come next. ¡°Kal, move! Hurry!¡± Much as he¡¯d done with her warning, she too now heeded his¡ªand not a moment too soon, either. Kalana recoiled as, from within the creature¡¯s mouth, several gallons of a dark green spew emerged, which thankfully missed her and landed harmlessly onto the sand, causing it to sizzle, smoke, and melt before eventually creating numerous flat, hand-sized shards of glass in front of his very eyes. Zach opened his mouth to say something, but before he had the chance, he spotted another lump forming, and once more, the worm-like creature unleashed another spew of what Zach took to be some kind of acidic vomit, this time targeting him instead of Kal. Having seen it coming well in advance, though, he made sure he was nowhere near the thing by the time it was showering down onto the sand in his direction, causing more small plumes of smoke to rise in the air as another patch of sand was melted down into glass. ¡°Where in the hell did this thing come from?¡± Zach asked. ¡°I dunno,¡± Kalana said. ¡°I got no idea how we aggroed it.¡± ¡°What even is it?¡± Zach regarded the creature that¡¯d attacked them, and when he did, he opened his mouth and inhaled sharply out of a sense of equal parts surprise, awe, and alarm.
HP 158,000/158,000
Name (T2) Megaworm of Battle Beach
Level 45
Gods, he thought. It¡¯s a boss. A boss is attacking us! Zach took another deep breath to both calm and relax himself. He reminded himself that there was no reason to panic. Sure, this might have been a boss, but it was certainly no Ziragoth. Not only was it merely a T2¡ªwhich, based on the formula Rian taught him, meant that it was approximately equivalent to a level-65 mob¡ªbut if it really turned out to be all that dangerous, they could always just run away in any direction of their choosing. Though Zach had no idea what this thing was, he was still fairly sure it did not urgently need to die and would not suddenly show up in North Bastia a week from now to destroy a city if the two of them decided not to bother with it. But I still really want to kill it, Zach thought, becoming eager. Even if we don¡¯t have to. We have the time, I think. At the moment, he and Kal were about a half mile away from a sandy hill due west of them that gradually turned into grassier terrain as the shore gave way to a large field, which was where Kalana claimed she strongly believed their quest resided. Having been keen to head over there as quickly as possible, they hadn¡¯t killed anything since receiving their quest, choosing instead to ignore a whole lot of really fascinating mobs along the beach, many which Kal said she was seeing for the first time. Zach wondered if this was also something she hadn¡¯t seen before. ¡°Do you recognize this boss?¡± he asked her. Kalana bunched up her lips as though she actually had to think about it. ¡°Um, nope, don¡¯t think so. I¡¯ve seen something similar, but definitely not this one. Do you wanna fight it, Zach?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he replied as he dodged another spray of acid vomit. ¡°Should I summon my card and my Kralzek¡¯s Beast?¡± ¡°I dunno. Those things are both way higher level than the boss, right? They¡¯ll help a lot but they¡¯ll take away a lot of the xp, too.¡± ¡°Wait, seriously? War-mounts and cards leech xp?¡± ¡°Um, I think so,¡± she said. ¡°I mean, I know pets and minions count as party members, so it¡¯s just a guess. I¡¯m really not a hundred percent sure, though. But I definitely don¡¯t want you to not summon them if you think you need to. If it gets too tough, you should do it.¡± Zach signaled his agreement in the form of a nod, his excitement growing. ¡°Let¡¯s do it, Kal. You and me. We got this.¡± ¡°Mhm!¡± Zach was proud of the confidence he felt in himself, and no one could fairly say it was unearned. After having survived alone against Ziragoth, he didn¡¯t think it was arrogant to assume he could handle this. He was also reassured by the fact that he had a few tricks up his sleeve if absolutely necessary, and not just his saber-toothed cat and his card, either. With more than two full days having passed since he¡¯d last used Unleashed Phase, his Phase Level was now down to 1. And since the cooldown on the ability itself was only twenty-four hours, he would not need to reset it to 2 if he had to use it, which would kill him, as level 2 had a Very High exertion cost. No, if it came down to it, he could call upon the ability with a Phase Level of 1, which only had an exertion cost of High. Though he¡¯d likely pass out cold when it came time to pay up, he knew that, if nothing else, he could at least survive that level of debt. But hopefully, with Kal¡¯s help, he wouldn¡¯t have to use it so soon, especially since she had killed level 90 boss adds with ease, and this thing should not have been as powerful as any of those; right now, she looked like she was really fired up and willing to give it her all. Her daggers drawn, Kalana assumed a highly aggressive stance, placing her left foot a good bit ahead of her right while bending her knees and angling her body forward somewhat as she began to make small, continuous motions by bouncing slightly up and down off her heels. She also had her left arm fully extended with the dagger pointed at the boss while her right arm was folded across her chest; she held her other dagger horizontally in front of her shoulder in a reverse grip. Zach, for his part, opted for something a bit looser in case he needed to move quickly. He kept his legs wider apart but parallel, and he held his sword low, at least for the moment. Staring ahead, he waited for the creature to make a move¡ªand it did. The lump forming yet again at the base of the visible portion of its body, Zach watched as, with a series of contractions and expansions, the acid climbed up through segment after segment of its torso until at last jetting out of the so-called ¡°Megaworm¡¯s¡± mouth in the form of more disgusting green spew. This time, however, rather than dodge away from it, he dodged towards it, managing to duck down into a squat so that it flew over his head. Once clear of the hideous, puke-like acid, which sizzled as it melted the sand behind him, Zach charged straight at the worm. Raising his sword high, he drew upon all his strength, and then he released a vicious slice, whirling his blade around at the ¡°Megaworm of Battle Beach.¡± Unfortunately, he missed it completely. In fact, it wasn¡¯t even there anymore. You¡¯ve got to be kidding me! As quickly as the boss had appeared through the sand, it vanished right back down the way it had come up, and thus the only thing Zach cut was the air. ¡°What the¡­that¡¯s bullshit,¡± he growled, glancing down and searching for any sign of the boss. As things were, there wasn¡¯t even a hole in the ground where it had disappeared. The sand had simply filled in whatever amount of it had been displaced, and by observation alone, there was no longer any sign at all that it¡¯d ever been disturbed. Now, there was a moment of quiet, which led to an immediate sense of foreboding as he just knew that the Gods-be-damned thing was swimming around deep beneath him like it was a pool made of sand, waiting to pop up and attack either one of them. Since neither had established solid aggro, there was no predicting which of them it¡¯d come for. ¡°Shit, where is it?¡± he asked, darting his head around furiously. He tried to detect any sense of rumbling or movement around him, but there was nothing. He knew it was going to pop right back up. That much was obvious. It was also probably going to startle him again, too. He really, really did not like this boss. Even still, he needed to keep himself calm and slow his breathing. He couldn¡¯t allow some stupid worm to jump-scare him, nor could he allow it to get into his head and affect how he fought. Just imagine how dumb that would be. Seriously. How dumb would that be if he, Zachys Calador, having gone toe to toe with Ziragoth, allowed a stupid worm to rattle him? ¡°Come back up, ugly!¡± As though it were responding to his challenge, it burst up from the sand right in front of him, so close that their faces almost touched. Peeling back his lips in revulsion, Zach ducked down low as it spat out more venom, and then, already having gotten down into a squat, he threw himself backwards and rolled along the sand as the ¡°Megaworm of Battle Beach¡± heaved forward and tried to bite his face off with its fangs. Shooting straight back up to his feet, Zach growled and dashed forward, ripping his blade from left to right, striking as fast as he possibly could¡ªand yet, somehow, he was still too slow. With a speed that could rival an Elf, the mob slinked back beneath the sand, and once more, it vanished and became untraceable. ¡°This boss sucks,¡± he grumbled. ¡°I absolutely hate it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, baby, we¡¯ll get him,¡± Kalana said way too cheerfully. As if to give her a chance to prove her words, the boss burst up from the sand directly behind her while she was faced in the opposite direction and couldn¡¯t possibly see it. Worse, the lump containing acid was rapidly approaching its mouth. ¡°Behind you!¡± Zach shouted, pointing. Confidently, gracefully, and with a determination he couldn¡¯t help but admire, Kalana backflipped over it even as it spat venom at her. Then, landing, she struck out with both daggers at once, her hands flashing across in opposite directions for a speedy, powerful, and impressive attack¡ªthat also missed. ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t like it either,¡± she said as it escaped back beneath the sand. Becoming angry, Zach snarled and said, ¡°Now I¡¯m pissed.¡± Zach called out to it again, and it once more came at him. He knew it was just a coincidence, however. Having been proven right about Ziragoth, he decided to trust his instincts from then on regarding whether or not something was sentient. Even if it was due to just a feeling or sense that he had, he decided he was sticking with what his gut told him. And his gut told him that this boss was about as sentient as a cactus. But Gods, the thing was pissing him off so much he didn¡¯t mind pretending otherwise. Because what happened next would not have gone any differently even if it had been a sentient boss deliberately trying to upset and humiliate him: its actions would have been exactly the same. Appearing before him, it spat out more of its searing bile, which Zach easily avoided. Then he extended both his arms and lunged forward with his blade pointed straight ahead. Once again, the Megaworm sank back below the sand, and Zach ended up running right past it. Uttering several vulgar words, he planted his feet, stopped abruptly, ducked beneath more acid, and finally spun around and slashed at the empty air despite the thing literally having been right behind him a second earlier. After that, the asshole started showing off, and Zach developed a true and sincere hatred for it. Twice more, it popped up around Zach, and each time, he missed. But that actually failed to really put into perspective how frustrating it was, because it didn¡¯t just ¡°appear twice.¡± It wasn¡¯t as simple as that. The infuriating son of a bitch was surfacing and diving so fast that, upon appearing to Zach¡¯s left, Zach¡¯s sword was still mid-swing as it re-emerged by his right, directly opposite side, causing him to put more energy into his original slash so that he turned it into a full, three-sixty-degree spin, which also missed. Then it appeared in front of Kalana, and she pounced on it and missed, and then it appeared behind him, and he missed. But what really caused Zach to lose his cool was when it began moving around so fast that it became disorienting and Zach lost sight of it. As the constant spinning and searching caused him a brief bout of dizziness, his situational awareness dropped for just brief moment. But it was in that moment of weakness that it bit off a chunk of his right ass cheek, causing him to howl in pain and torment and begin hopping around in agony while Kalana chased after him and told him to hold still so she could heal him. Now, healed but humiliated, Zach had a gigantic red stain on the back right side of his trousers from where he¡¯d been gushing blood out of his butt cheek. He was also sweating profusely, both as a result of the extreme heat and the fact that he was currently slamming his sword down against the sand so many times in so many spots that, if not for the worm, he''d honestly look like a little boy throwing a temper tantrum. In truth, he wasn¡¯t far from acting it out for real as his patience dwindled, his temper spiked, and he wore himself out on this one Gods-cursed worm. Yet he refused to give up, and so too did Kal. For a time long enough to be called shameful, the two of them ran around the beach and tried in vain to hit this fucking thing at least one Gods-dammed time. Kalana even resorted to using increasingly more powerful magic, such as summoning meteors down on top of it. Yet any time either of them even came close, it would dip under the sand too fast for even Kalana to damage. Finally, as Zach began to pant so hard that he was beginning to have trouble just in dodging, he realized he needed to calm down before he put himself into a legitimately perilous position. Even Kalana was showing signs of exhaustion, and if the two of them ended up dying to this fucking thing, they both honestly deserved it, because that would just be pathetic. One thing was pretty much a certainty, though. The little trick adventurers used to calculate the ¡°effective power¡± of a boss, while useful, was not as useful as he¡¯d originally thought. Because while it was probably mostly accurate insomuch as this Megaworm likely did have stats similar to a level-65 mob, Zach would be willing to bet just about anything that an ordinary level-65 mob would not be this difficult or anywhere near it. Clearly, the fact that this was a boss mattered. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Having worn himself out to the point he was slowly losing the ability to defend himself, Zach wondered if he should finally give up. Kalana seemed to be at that point, too. ¡°Zach, I don¡¯t like this,¡± she said. ¡°Let¡¯s just go back to doing the quest. Or at least summon your stuff to kill it. We¡¯ve been chasing this really gross worm for fifteen minutes.¡± ¡°Yeah, to hell with this thing,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re right, Kal.¡± With that, he decided to call upon his war-mount. But he stopped when he saw the Megaworm¡¯s stupid, acid-shooting, fang-covered face, which made him scowl. ¡°The only problem is if we don¡¯t kill it without summoning help, I¡¯ll hate myself later, but on the other hand, right now, we¡¯re just wasting time. We could just walk away, too. I doubt it can follow us if we leave the shore. It probably has to stay in the sand.¡± ¡°I think so too,¡± Kalana said. ¡°There¡¯s no way it can¡ª¡± She abruptly stopped speaking and narrowed her eyes, and for a brief instant, her expression turned ultra serious as though she sensed a sudden opportunity: a chance to finally get the damn thing. And to her credit, it had really seemed like she would, too. Zach watched as she turned her whole body slightly downwards and to her left. Then, with cat-like reflexes, she flipped sideways over the Megaworm even as it was only first breaking the surface of the sand and rising upwards. A fraction of a second later, she landed, kicked off her back foot, and sprang forward while swinging her right dagger so fast it made a whistling sound in the air. And yet, somehow, she still missed. It simply vanished once more beneath the sand. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s leave it,¡± she said with a sigh. ¡°We don¡¯t have the right abilities for this one. I don¡¯t think your mount thingy and card would make a difference, either, but I guess if you really wanna try, we can, but we might just end up getting stuck here for another fifteen minutes and still be unable to hurt it.¡± ¡°I just hate the idea of giving up,¡± he grumbled. Backing away from what would¡¯ve probably been a very, very painful bite, Kalana nodded sympathetically at him and said, ¡°Me too, but we can¡¯t hurt it.¡± More softly, she added, ¡°But if you really wanna keep going, I¡¯m here for you.¡± Zach angrily clenched the grip of his weapon. The idea of letting this disgusting, miserable creature off the hook after already putting in so much effort filled him with disappointment. Yet even without waiting for him to respond, he could see Kal lowering her daggers as if to sheathe them. Though she¡¯d said he could continue to try if he wanted, he doubted she really meant that, and it looked like she¡¯d reached the end of her patience, which was not something common for her. At this point, if he didn¡¯t sheathe his own sword and disengage, she¡¯d likely become very upset with him. Clearly, she wanted to leave, having concluded that this was impossible. She was also sweating way more than he usually saw from her. Even still, despite knowing she was right, it profoundly frustrated Zach to have to either flee from this stupid thing or be forced to summon aid, which in some ways felt worse than fleeing. He wasn¡¯t sure why it bothered him so much, though, especially since his initial inclination right from the start had been to summon his mount and his card. So why did that idea now disturb him? He supposed it was because he had, intentionally or not, laid down a challenge for himself, and summoning meant being forced to admit defeat and acknowledge his failure of that challenge¡ªwell, at least in a sense, anyway. But was there really nothing else he could do short of summoning, fleeing, or using his Unleashed Phase too soon, which could jeopardize their ability to complete the quest? Zach made a show of sheathing his sword, though he did so slowly to stall for time so that he could think. Mentally, he took stock of everything he had and everything he could currently do as he searched for an idea of how to beat this shitty worm. Straight away, he decided to rule out the ring, as he couldn¡¯t imagine it working, and the most likely outcome was that he¡¯d miss and be thrown miles away. But that wasn¡¯t his only item ability, right? Merely by asking himself this question, the painfully, blindingly obvious answer bopped him over the head like a ten-ton mallet and made him feel ashamed at his own shortsightedness. Immediately, he stopped sheathing his sword, and once more, he raised it at the ready, which earned him an understandable glare from Kalana. Hopefully, she¡¯d find just a little bit more patience within herself, though he couldn¡¯t fault her for wanting to move on and forget this boss. In all honesty, he should¡¯ve realized fourteen minutes ago what he needed to do. Wow, I¡¯m an idiot, he thought, as it started to fully dawn on him how the answer had been in front of him the entire time. ¡°What¡¯re you doing?¡± Kalana asked, the disappointment plain in her voice. ¡°I want to try one last thing.¡± ¡°Zaaaach.¡± ¡°Last thing, Kal. Really. This is the last thing.¡± Eyeing him skeptically, she said, ¡°Fine, but you promise this is it for real? We¡¯ve only got an hour and twenty left on the quest now and we don¡¯t really know how much work there¡¯s gonna be to do once we get to it.¡± ¡°I promise!¡± he shouted, his voice coming across a tad bit more urgently than intended. She sighed. ¡°Okay, fine. What are you gonna do?¡± Zach, having just evaded another spray of acid vomit, grinned as he said, ¡°The next time it pops up, I¡¯m going to root it.¡± It took less than half a second following his words for Kalana¡¯s mouth to fall open; she snapped her fingers. ¡°Ohh, that¡¯s right!¡± she exclaimed, her eyes lighting up with understanding. ¡°You¡¯ve got a root, baby. I forgot. I totally forgot!¡± ¡°Yeah, well, so did I,¡± he admitted with a laugh. More seriously, he said, ¡°I think it¡¯s the kind that breaks as soon as we do any damage, though.¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s like most of them but¡­¡± She smiled, though there was once more a fierce determination in her eyes. ¡°All that means is we¡¯re gonna both have to hit it really hard at the same time and hope we kill it.¡± ¡°Then that¡¯s what we¡¯ll do.¡± Zach tightened his grip on his blade. ¡°As soon as I see that thing pop up, I¡¯m rooting it. Be ready, Kal.¡± ¡°I will.¡± As if on cue, the Megaworm of Battle Beach surfaced at the midpoint between him and Kalana, and it was at Zach he chose to vomit up some more of his acid. Jumping backwards, Zach avoided the scorching, foul attack. Now, it was his turn. Truly, Zach found it hard to believe how nervous he was or why it was so important to him. All things considered, this mob¡ªthis boss¡ªdid not really, actually matter. It was irrelevant. There were probably so many more bosses on this island¡ªso many more ways to get xp and loot. This was just some random thing that¡¯d aggroed him and Kal on their way to something more important. So why did he care so much? He didn¡¯t know. Really, he didn¡¯t. You do know, he told himself, even as he tried to mentally shut himself up. You want to throw all your attention onto something else so you don¡¯t have to think about all the people you murdered, you sick, disgusting, murderous fuck! You animal. You filth. Shaking his head to clear his mind of the unwanted thoughts, he focused in on the Megaworm, and with that, he activated Frostbind, the ability of the robes that Fylwen had given him. With a 15:00 minute cooldown timer and a thirty-second duration of effect, if they failed to topple the boss here and now, Zach was not about to wait around for another fifteen minutes just to hurt it again. It would either die in the next half a minute or he and Kal would move on. Okay, here goes nothing. Rising up from the sands almost in the same manner as the boss itself, a half-dozen shackles made of pure, solid ice surrounded and then wrapped themselves around the Megaworm, binding it in place even as it continued to fire off more acid. Each of the shackles, as well as their connected chains, gave off a constant, smoke-like trail of vapor as the bright sun shined down on the ice. Zach held his breath, though only for a moment. By appearance alone, it looked to have succeeded, but even more critically, if it hadn¡¯t, the worm would¡¯ve vanished by now. Yet there it remained, immobilized by the icy chains. Realizing this, Zach felt a rush of energy shoot through him. This is our chance. We¡¯ve got it! Having been rooted while facing in Zach¡¯s direction, the Megaworm had no choice now but to attack him and only him. Though, given that the root was the first ability of any kind to actually land on the creature thus far, Zach was willing to bet that he¡¯d have fully taken aggro regardless. Either way, he didn¡¯t plan to stay within its range for much longer. ¡°Are you ready?¡± Kalana asked him. ¡°Should we attack now?¡± ¡°No,¡± he replied. ¡°Almost!¡± Knowing they were going to have to do a whole lot of damage in a single instant, Zach turned around and took off at a sprint, racing across the shore and moving as fast as he possibly could while also ensuring he didn¡¯t create an accidental sandstorm that would obscure his vision. As he ran, he counted the seconds that had elapsed in his head. He needed to make absolutely certain that he did not let the duration of Frostbind run out, which would allow the mob to break free. Given that he¡¯d used it on something that was both a boss and had a much higher effective level than him, he highly doubted it would last for all thirty seconds. In fact, he wasn¡¯t even willing to gamble on it lasting for more than fifteen. Thus, he allowed himself just ten seconds, and in those ten seconds, he gained as much distance as he possibly could, sparing no energy. Zach sweat with the exertion of moving across the uneven sand, yet he paid no heed to the droplets leaking down the sides of his face, and he focused only on his goal. By the time ten seconds had come and gone, he stopped short, needing to make do with however far he¡¯d gotten so as to not take any unnecessary risks. Yet it was only now, as he prepared to attack, that he realized he¡¯d moved so far away from Kalana that she wouldn¡¯t be able to hear him even if he shouted for her at the top of his lungs, making direct coordination impossible. Nevertheless, he knew he could trust Kal to pick up on his intentions. Even as he began swinging his sword downwards diagonally without uttering a single word to her, he somehow knew she wouldn¡¯t let him down. And indeed, she didn¡¯t. ¡°Wave Slash!¡± he shouted. As the green, patchy energy solidified, changed colors, and transformed itself into a double-bladed, spinning disc, he could tell from Kalana¡¯s posture alone that she understood his plan despite having spoken none of it aloud. She was down on one knee like a track racer in the seconds before taking off, and even from what had to be almost a half mile away, he could clearly see her head turning in tandem with the Wave Slash, which began to pick up speed and soon started leaving behind a trail of smoke in its wake; just before striking the Megaworm, it even broke out into flames, which seemed to serve as a sort of signal for Kalana, who launched herself forward with both her daggers raised the instant the Wave Slash became fiery. Two events then took place at the exact same moment in time: the first was Zach¡¯s Wave Slash colliding with the Megaworm of Battle Beach, and the second was Kalana unleashing a double-backstabbing attack, which if Zach¡¯s memory served correctly, sometimes did bonus damage to things when the user was wielding a dagger. Having already begun racing back towards her¡ªand in essence, attempting futilely to chase after his own Wave Slash¡ªhe moved just close enough to be within earshot as he heard her grunt with exertion as she plunged her weapons into the mob¡¯s back with such ferocity that the worm made a slight roar, the first sound he¡¯d actually heard vocalized from the creature. No longer caring about causing a sandstorm, Zach blasted off at full speed in the direction of Kal and the Megaworm. As he sprinted along the sand towards where she stood behind the creature, whose shackles began to melt away so fast that they looked poised to turn completely into water before Kalana had even removed both her daggers, Zach sucked air into his lungs then nervously held it there as he observed the result of their double attack. Thanks to Kalana, the atrocious, acid-spewing worm was punished for 66,811. Seeing this, Zach felt an explosion of optimism, one that only grew as he witnessed his Wave Slash not only hurting the Megaworm, but splitting the creature in half entirely, completely severing the top and bottom parts of its body while causing an ungodly amount of green acid to begin drenching the sand beneath it as though it were blood. Zach, having nearly returned to Kalana¡¯s side, opened his mouth to let out a wild cross between a cheer and a battle-cry, but instead he let out only a shocked, disappointed croak as he saw the number that resulted from his attack: 81,311.
HP 9,878/158,000
Name (T2) Megaworm of Battle Beach
Level 45
Zach disbelieved his own two eyes. He refused to accept the reality presented to him. Even as Kalana¡¯s expression turned from fierce to conciliatory, Zach began unleashing a chain of obscenities so vulgar he hoped the Gods wouldn¡¯t condemn him to hell for it. Not only had he come so close and failed, but the Megaworm was just a percentage point too high in terms of health for him to at least use his Card Capture. So basically, after expending all this effort, it looked like Zach would be getting nothing after all. He refused to accept this. No, fuck that! This bastard worm started the fight, and now it was going to finish it! Having run as fast as his legs would carry him, Zach leapt into the air and dove on top of the creature, which had been cut cleanly in half. But even that did not seem to inhibit its ability to escape. Much as it had been doing all along, the worm burrowed back beneath the sand as Zach plopped down on the spot where it¡¯d only just been. It''s not getting away! he shouted in his head. No way! Zach, in a fit of panic and desperation, acted without thinking. Even knowing that he''d blown their one chance, and even knowing that the best course of action would be for him to pick himself up and go do something else with Kal, he simply could not accept that this gods-be-damned worm had gotten one over on him yet again. And so, in what was honestly more reflex than any contemplated decision, Zach angrily punched his fist into the sand, and with a loud, angry shout, he activated his blasting ring, firing it straight down. And he regretted nothing. With 120 points into intelligence¡ªonly five less than he¡¯d had when using it against the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth in Phase Level 2¡ªZach was unsurprised to see he made a really, really big blast. Gods, he sure did. The moment of activation, there was a flash of red light, and then from that point on, Zach struggled to understand if he was going up or the world was going down. He did not know if he was ascending or descending. All he knew was he could see little aside from a tremendous red beam, and that he was moving very, very fast. And only after several more seconds of this confusion did he finally come to understand that he was rising and moving away from the ground while the ground below him was vanishing, as he¡¯d blasted a hole through it with the width of a tunnel used by industrial DEHV trucks. It was so wide and it ran so deep he couldn''t even see the bottom of it. Yet sand being sand, he knew it''d all level out eventually anyway over time. But none of that mattered, because he saw something else: something he cared about way, way more. +52400xp ¡°Yes!¡± he cried as he continued to ascend. Now, he wondered if there was a way that he could get back down a little faster so he could see whatever loot had dropped. Having been allowed to sit up front with the pilot on the helicopter ride, Zach had learned somewhat to tell ballpark estimates with regards to altitude, which was why he was pretty sure he¡¯d knocked himself about two-thousand feet into the air and was continuing to rise, though much more slowly now. He let out another cheer as he began to fall. The world was good, or at least this world was good. This was the life he wanted. This, and only this. As far as he was concerned, what he was doing right now was the most important thing going on in the world, because right now, to him, there was no world outside of this island. It simply didn''t exist. ******* With his face filthy and his uniform covered in an infernal blend of blood, ashes, and maybe even shit, Corporal Jakz Marshing popped open the lid on his canteen and downed the water contained within in four big gulps. Then he threw it over his shoulder and gestured for Private Gillards to shut the fuck up and stop yapping his Gods-be-damned mouth off. Asshole was really starting to get on his nerves. Staff Sergeant Edrax should¡¯ve been back by now. He¡¯d gone to meet with the lieutenant over an hour ago. What was taking him so long? This don¡¯t feel right to me, he thought. The fuck is going on here? Having failed to link up with the rest of Siege Company, it wasn¡¯t a stretch to say that not only were they behind on all their objectives, but their objectives might not even be achievable anymore. Or maybe that was just the pessimism talking. Jakz didn¡¯t know. What he did know was that in the span of less than a day, he¡¯d watched his closest friends die in the most horrible of ways while everything seemed to be getting worse by the minute. If the newly formed 3rd battalion didn¡¯t find a way to get here by tomorrow night, they were going to be pushed completely out of the city. That was just the fact of the matter despite no one wanting to admit it. ¡°Where is that bastard?¡± he muttered to himself. ¡°He needs to get his ass back here.¡± Right now, Jakz was taking cover behind a burned-out bus on 4th Avenue and High Arch that¡¯d been knocked over onto its side during a battle between two leveled fuckers. What had once been a quiet little neighborhood now qualified¡ªat least in Jakz opinion¡ªto legitimately be called ¡°ruins.¡± To even pretend otherwise was silly. The place had been absolutely demolished. All of 4th avenue, actually, had been destroyed. There was no power or running water. Almost everyone had evacuated, and the rest were dead. Even though this was all the fault of those Guild of Gentlemen bastards, Jakz knew there was a lot of pain in Siege Company over just how many civilians had died. It was a lot. A real lot. He didn¡¯t know the number. No one did yet. Even still, it was clear now that the number of civilian deaths exceeded ten thousand so far. Maybe fifteen. And in just a day, too. That was the worst part of it all. In just a gods-be-damned day. Temporarily putting down his HC-58 rifle, Jakz tried again to get into contact with Staff Sergeant Edrax. Unable to raise him, he gestured for his squad to be ready to move into cover across the street in a ruined pharmacy next to an equally destroyed travel agency. The streets were covered in blood and broken glass. Every DEHV was destroyed as well, but what really unsettled Jakz was what¡¯d happened to the school on 4th and Hill St. Jakz was afraid to look inside. He didn¡¯t want to know what he¡¯d find. He¡¯d seen a lot of awful shit in his life, but that was one thing he couldn¡¯t handle. Gods-damned dragon. That¡¯s why all this shit happened. Everything had gone to hell since late last night when the Guild of Gentlemen had captured a cache of supplies, or ¡°loot¡± or whatever the hell the fancy leveled people called it from that dragon the guilds had killed. And to say it turned things around in their favor was putting it mildly. Initially, during the first few hours of the invasion, the Royal Roses had held an advantage despite the fact that their most capable, highest-level fighters had been celebrating at some post-raid party. Beginning with the bombing runs from the F14s, everything had gone exactly as planned. Shadowfall Coast was divided into twenty avenues from north to south and various streets from west to east. And during their first push, Siege Company had managed to advance as far as 9th avenue. But then came the counter attacks from the Guild of Gentlemen. Even before they¡¯d seized the cache of weapons¡ªor loot, or whatever it was called¡ªthey had already had an advantage in numbers due to losing Plains of Mist and pulling completely out of Whispery Woods. But with hundreds of pieces of contraband giving them an even greater edge, things had gone downhill over the course of a single brutal, bloody night. What started as a seemingly successful military operation turned into a nightmare as they¡¯d been pushed all the way back to 4th. At first, it looked as though they might turn it back around in their favor, as the Royal Roses¡¯ highest-ranking officers had tried their best to get into the battle and reinforce Rose Battalion, of which Siege Company was a part. From what Jakz understood, after falling under attack, they''d retreated north through Whispery Woods and had intended to travel east until returning to Shadowfall Coast. But Sir Alistair Morrison had ordered his garrisons in Tomb of Fire to blockade every road leading into the city, and now, with all their fancy new equipment, they¡¯d been able to drive the Royal Roses back. The only reason that Jakz still held any hope for victory at all was the fact that they were returning with a much larger, much more powerful force. Right now, it was just past noon, and if word spreading down the chain of command was to be believed, then only moments ago the Defenders of Peace, the Lords of Justice, and the Children of Order had all declared war on the Guild of Gentlemen, and they, along with the Royal Roses¡¯ best warriors and their allies in the People of Virtue, were planning on breaking through with the 3rd battalion and reinforcing their gradually worsening positions. That was why, right now, their primary objective was no longer to capture the city. They didn¡¯t have a Gods-be-damned chance in hell of doing that. Nah, their mission was to establish a forward operating base and hold as much of Northern Shadowfall coast as they possibly could. If the enemy was able to drive them completely out of the city, it would create devastating consequences for their newly formed coalition. The sole and only reason that they still had a foothold in the city at all¡ªhell, the only damn reason Jakz or any of them were still breathing¡ªwas because of Senior Lieutenant Haisel Ragora and his beautiful armada blasting away the Guild of Gentlemen off the coast. Not only was Sir Ragora¡¯s fleet singularly responsible for preventing a total collapse of Siege Company, but he¡¯d inflicted damage on the Guild of Gentlemen beyond what anyone had even realized was possible. It seemed that the main battery on several of his warships was so powerful it could apparently kill leveled fighters. Not all, mind you, but some of the lower-level ones. The Gods bless that man. Right now, he was all they had. Chapter 116: A Million Gold Chapter 116: A Million Gold Despite coming in fast, Zach did not even feel a shock in his knees as he landed upright, his two feet slamming into¡ªand then going through¡ªthe sand so that he sank into it all the way down to his hips. For a brief moment, he¡¯d actually feared he¡¯d keep going and end up submerging himself just like the boss they¡¯d killed. This caused Kalana to raise her fist to her mouth as if to hide the fact that she was obviously laughing. Did she not know he could hear her? ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± he muttered, only half his body now visible. ¡°I fell from like two-thousand feet. Of course this is going to happen.¡± She removed her fist from her mouth, then uncurled her fingers so that her hand became flat, and she extended it to him. He grabbed it. With that, she yanked him up and out of the sand, now laughing openly at him. ¡°Tell me the truth, Kal,¡± he said. ¡°If you fell like that, would this have happened to you too?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± she said, chuckling some more. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°It¡¯s ¡®cause I know how to land properly. There¡¯s a trick to it.¡± After patting himself down to shake off some of the sand, he took off both his shoes and shook out any that might¡¯ve gotten inside before putting them back on. Then, expectantly, he fixed Kalana with a hard stare and asked, ¡°What¡¯d it drop?¡± She made a playful face. ¡°What¡¯d what drop?¡± ¡°Kal¡­¡± ¡°Okay, okay. Here you go, baby.¡± She reached into the pocket of her tan-colored shorts and produced a ring, then extended her arm and handed it to him in her open palm. Zach swelled with excitement. ¡°It was your drop?¡± he asked. Since they weren¡¯t in a raid group, things worked the way they usually did, which meant one of them would be lucky enough to see the shine and get the drop any time one resulted from the death of a mob. ¡°Yup. But now it¡¯s yours. This is the only item it dropped.¡± ¡°Is it good?¡± ¡°I dunno. I didn¡¯t look.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± he asked in disbelief. ¡°Yeah. I mean, you¡¯re still missing a ring, so whatever it is, you probably need it more.¡± He smiled. ¡°Gods, I love you so much! Thanks, Kal. Really.¡± ¡°Aww, stop.¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re the best. And I¡¯m sorry there wasn¡¯t more loot. I¡¯m surprised the boss only dropped one thing.¡± For some reason, Kalana averted her gaze. ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± Zach asked. ¡°I mean¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°Kal, what? What is it?¡± In a way that came across as way too innocent, she curled her bottom lip. ¡°It also dropped some gold, too.¡± Just the word ¡°gold¡± caused Zach to feel his heartrate increase. ¡°How much?¡± he asked at a whisper. ¡°A million,¡± she said, speaking the two words quickly as though it were something she didn¡¯t wish to dwell on. Having not yet taken the ring out of her open palm, Zach met her eyes and said, ¡°I want it.¡± ¡°Nah-uh.¡± ¡°Why? You¡¯re already rich.¡± She frowned. ¡°It¡¯s not for me, Zach. It¡¯s for Den of Ziragoth.¡± Zach took a deep breath to contain the rush of emotions and frustration that shot to the very center of his being. He fought to keep his voice under control and his temper even. ¡°I thought we¡¯re already giving our stones to them.¡± ¡°We are.¡± ¡°So¡­so why do we have to¡­you know, give a million gold?¡± ¡°You know why. You know the situation. Stop asking me stuff you already know the answer to.¡± Pausing a moment before replying, Zach asked, ¡°How about we keep the gold this time and then¡­¡± He shrugged. ¡°You know, if we get another million later on, we give that?¡± With a straight face, she replied, ¡°We should give both.¡± ¡°Kal, babe, come on. This is getting to be ridiculous now.¡± A scowl popped onto her face so suddenly it actually startled him. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna lie, um, your greed¡¯s starting to really make me mad. I usually let it slide ¡®cause I love you, but sometimes it gets me so frustrated.¡± She shook her hand holding the ring, as if gesturing for him to take it from her. ¡°Why can¡¯t you just be happy with this?¡± ¡°I am. It¡¯s just a million gold¡­do you not understand how much that is? We could buy a fully detached, three-floor home in the suburbs of Giant¡¯s Fall with that much gold. That¡¯s with a swimming pool and a garage for our DEHV.¡± ¡°So what? A few minutes ago, you were saying you didn¡¯t wanna ever leave here. Now you wanna move to Giant¡¯s Fall?¡± ¡°No, Kal,¡± he said, becoming somewhat annoyed. ¡°That¡¯s not my point. My point is that¡¯s a huge sum of money, so of course I¡¯d want it.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°What do you mean why?¡± he asked, baffled at the question itself. ¡°Because it¡¯s a million gold.¡± ¡°What about the people who can¡¯t afford dinner tonight ¡®cause of the dragon?¡± ¡°Fuck them!¡± Zach shouted out, regretting the words even as he spoke them. Truly, he didn¡¯t mean them. He really didn¡¯t. That wasn¡¯t how he actually felt. He was just frustrated and¡­and he didn¡¯t know what was wrong with his head to ever say something like that. It was to such an extent that, not an instant after speaking, he immediately added, ¡°I didn¡¯t mean that.¡± Still, the damage was done. Kalana closed her hand around the ring and then threw it at his chest. It bounced off him then landed onto the sand. With that, she turned around and stormed away. Zach looked down at the ring, then back at Kalana, who was marching her way westward without him. Quickly, he picked it up, then chased after her. ¡°Okay, Kal, wait. Just wait!¡± Running to catch up to her, he almost accidentally aggroed something that looked like a cross between a broomstick and a vacuum cleaner as he hurried over to her side. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean that. I swear I didn¡¯t.¡± She didn¡¯t reply. She kept her head and eyes pointed straight ahead, and she ignored him. ¡°Kal, you¡¯re overreacting. It was just a joke. I didn¡¯t even¡ª¡± She halted abruptly and spun around towards him, her pointer finger pressing into his chest. ¡°It¡¯s not a joke.¡± ¡°I swear I didn¡¯t mean it.¡± ¡°I know you didn¡¯t.¡± He scratched his head. ¡°Then why are you so mad?¡± ¡°Figure it out,¡± she growled, turning around once more and continuing to walk away. Zach watched, filled with so many contradictory impulses, as she once more moved away from him. When she was far enough away that he could no longer speak to her at a conversational level, he shouted, ¡°I already said I¡¯m sorry! What the fuck do you want from me?¡± What pissed him off so much was that he didn¡¯t even really think he¡¯d done anything all that wrong. So, okay, he¡¯d said something insensitive about the people of Den of Ziragoth¡ªwere any of them here? Whose feelings was he actually hurting? And what about him? Did any of them care how much shit he¡¯d gone through? Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Kal, wait!¡± he shouted, once more chasing after her. Even as his feet dashed across the sand, he had no idea how she did this to him. There was no one else on this planet that could have him chasing after them like some sappy idiot. ¡°At least talk to me!¡± Eventually, she did, but not before walking more than a mile westward. At the top of a hill, the terrain transitioned from sand to short stalks of grass. Now well into the morning, the sun was even brighter in the sky, and Zach began to sweat as he hurried after her through a wide area of plains covered in short grass which gradually became more of a savanna with the occasional, relatively short tree to be found with seemingly random regularity. Much, much farther into the distance was a large forest, and to his left, he could just make out what he believed to be the path she was telling him about earlier, though it was so far away he couldn¡¯t be sure. Ahead of him, Kalana was continuing to march away, though Zach knew if she really wanted to get away from him, she could. At one point, he worried he¡¯d actually lose sight of her for good, as a giant herd of massive, six-legged, level-50 mobs began passing through the area immediately in front of him; each was twice the size of an elephant, though they looked nothing at all like elephants, and there were about fifteen of them in total. They were also very strange in appearance. The creatures were a dark shade of green and had six large legs that supported their roundish bodies, which had black spots running down the sides of it. They also had mouse-like ears and square-shaped teeth. Thankfully, they appeared to be passive, and so unless Zach physically touched them, they wouldn¡¯t bother him.
HP 92,300/92,300
Name Herding Galgor
Level 50
Fidgeting anxiously, he waited for them to pass, and as soon as they did, he would take off at a sprint in the direction Kalana had been heading. But then, once the last of them ambled along peacefully, he saw her standing there, now facing in his direction, her hands at her sides. He ran over to her, more sweat gliding down his forehead. It was so hot that he found himself looking forward to the next twenty-minute thunderstorm, which was probably a couple of hours away, assuming the pattern she told him about held. ¡°Look,¡± he said as he approached her, ¡°I know you¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said, confusing him. ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°I was too mean. I just got so frustrated.¡± She grabbed him and pulled him into a hug, and he wrapped his arms around her. ¡°So many people are suffering, and I just wanna help them.¡± ¡°I know you do,¡± he said, ¡°and I love that about you, but Kal, it¡¯s not wrong to keep something for ourselves.¡± ¡°Of course not. But I just don¡¯t get why you act like you don¡¯t have anything.¡± Slowly, she broke off the hug, and then she waved her arms at the world around her. ¡°I¡¯d share all this with you. Anything I have, I¡¯d share with you. If you ever needed gold for anything, I¡¯d give it to you.¡± Zach sighed. ¡°I know you would, but I want to earn, too. I don¡¯t want you to just give me everything. I want to build something for myself.¡± ¡°And I support that,¡± Kalana said. ¡°But sometimes you don¡¯t see the big picture, Zach.¡± Trying not to become defensive, he asked, ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Do you really think you¡¯re not gonna be a billionaire?¡± He snorted. ¡°Not at this rate, no. I can¡¯t seem to even make it to millionaire.¡± ¡°Zach, stop. Do you really not get it? You¡¯re so powerful. You¡¯re gonna be rich, too. Power and money are never all that far away from each other. You¡¯re gonna have all the gold you could ever want. Everyone knows this but you. Alex knows it. Donovan knows it. Everyone knows it. You¡¯ll probably end up being one of the richest people in history. But today, right now, there are people who are hungry. I dunno why you can¡¯t see this.¡± Zach found her words shocking, because not only did he not see things that way, but he couldn¡¯t believe that anyone would. ¡°Kal, you grew up in the same situation as me. We didn¡¯t have shit. You should know what a million gold means to someone like us. I can¡¯t even imagine seeing that amount of coin with my own eyes, let alone ever having it.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± she said. ¡°You still don¡¯t get it. That¡¯s why I can¡¯t stay mad at you. Here.¡± She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper that reminded Zach of the meal voucher he¡¯d gotten from using Gacha Ge¡¯tcha. ¡°What is this?¡± he asked. ¡°Use it to get a million gold. This is the other thing that dropped. Take it.¡± He reached out with his hand opposite the one holding the ring, and he placed two fingers against the paper, but he did not grasp it or take it. This is a test, isn¡¯t it? ¡°I want you to have it, ¡®cause maybe if you do, you¡¯ll feel rich enough so we don¡¯t gotta fight over the next million or the million after. But Zach, I¡¯m gonna be the governor of Whispery Woods, and it¡¯s my job to make sure everyone¡ªnot just the people in the city¡ªis okay. I don¡¯t wanna lose you over something stupid like gold. So if this will make you feel like you¡¯re in a good place and can afford to be more generous, then take it.¡± There¡¯s no way this isn¡¯t a test, he thought. Studying her eyes, he could see no duplicity in them. Kalana wasn¡¯t even the kind of person to do something like that. She wouldn¡¯t offer this if she didn¡¯t mean it. So then why did he feel so guilty in taking it? It was a million gold. If this wasn¡¯t a test, and it didn¡¯t ruin his relationship to accept it, then why did he still feel guilty at the thought of it? ¡°It¡¯s not a trap,¡± she said, as though she were reading his mind. ¡°Maybe the reason I can be so generous is ¡®cause I have so much now. Maybe if you had a lot, you wouldn¡¯t feel so insecure about money.¡± ¡°No,¡± Zach whispered, shaking his head. ¡°That wouldn¡¯t change a thing. The truth is I¡¯m just plain not a good person, Kalana. I should be better than this, but I''m not.¡± ¡°Nah-uh! Don¡¯t say that. I know you. You are a good person.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true, though.¡± I can still feel their blood on my skin. I can feel it. ¡°Keep the gold. You were right. I was wrong. We were having a great time, and I screwed up the mood.¡± Hoping to change the subject, he finally took a good look at the ring she¡¯d given him. It was silver with an aquamarine gemstone that had a brilliant blue shine to it. Honestly, it was quite a beautiful item for something that came from such a disgusting mob.
Name Purified Ring of the Megaworm
Rarity Epic Rare
Item Level 65
Luck +50
Ability Lucky Ducky (Passive)
Description Increases Luck Efficacy by 2% (For each 30 points into luck, adds an additional +2% activation chance on chance-based activations)
¡°I thought it¡¯d be better,¡± Kalana said, standing next to him and reading it over. ¡°Usually Epic Rare items are a bit¡­you know, more than that.¡± Zach looked at her. ¡°This is actually incredible.¡± ¡°Stop, Zach. You don¡¯t have to pretend.¡± He shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± He slipped the ring onto the middle finger on the same hand that he wore his blasting ring. ¡°This is going to help me tremendously, Kal. Maybe it¡¯s just because of how different we are in terms of our abilities and equipment, but for me, I can totally see why this is a purple item.¡± He explained to her just how important it was that he proc¡¯d his stamina regain ability on the sword her mother had given him and how much of a difference that made in fights. With this ring on, his luck increased to 80, which meant that, under normal circumstances, he¡¯d have about a 2.6% increase to the chance of his item abilities going off. But, with this on, he now had just about an 8% chance. That meant, with the natural 8.5% chance that the stamina proc had to begin with, it was now more like 16.5%. That was actually pretty good. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I can¡¯t sleep. I¡¯m so tired. I can¡¯t undo what I did. It was my fault. Those mages were running away. Could have let them go. It wasn¡¯t just self-defense. I could¡¯ve let them go. I didn¡¯t have to do it. I didn¡¯t have to finish off the officer. He was beaten. It was murder. I was angry. I was angry and chose to do it. I am a murderer. I murdered. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I KILLED SO MANY PEOPLE I KILLED SO MANY PEOPLE I KILLED SO MANY PEOPLE. ¡°Kal, let¡¯s go do the quest!¡± he said excitedly, smiling at her. She beamed at him. ¡°Mhm.¡± Zach was excited. He wasn¡¯t upset. He wasn¡¯t. This was a great time he was having with the person he loved. He killed a boss. He was adventuring. He was living the exact kind of life he wanted to live with the person he loved. What happened before didn''t matter. He was starting over. Nothing that happened before mattered. So stop thinking about it. Please. Please just stop. It wasn''t his fault. He didn''t mean to do any of this. They attacked him. It was self-defense. IT WAS FUCKING SELF-DEFENSE. WHY WOULDN''T THE THOUGHTS GO AWAY? "Hey, look at that mob, Kal." She laughed. "Some of them are pretty funny." He held her hand. He loved being with her. It was such a beautiful day in this tropical paradise BUT SHE DIDN''T UNDERSTAND HOW BADLY HE WAS TRYING TO HOLD IT TOGETHER. HE WAS SLIPPING. Slipping. "Kal," he said, shaking, barely able to remain on his feet. "Zach, what''s wrong?" "I don''t think I''m going to make it." She grabbed him and held him. When had he begun trembling so fiercely? "Let''s go home." "But the quest." "We can always get it to drop again. Let''s go home." "I''m fine." "I''m calling Jascaila. You promised you''d talk to her, remember?" He nodded, then shamefully, he began to weep. Then bawl. "I can''t get their blood off my hands. I can feel it. I can''t stop feeling it. I thought I washed it off on the plane but it''s still there. I can feel it." "Come on. Let''s go home." What am I doing? Why am I acting like this in front of her? Zach pulled himself together, embarrassed. "I''m fine," he said again, wiping his eyes and regaining his composure. His moment of weakness had passed. "I want to finish the quest." "No." A warm breeze came over him, making him feel refreshed. "It''ll rain for two weeks straight if we fail." "Crap, you''re right," Kalana said, a response that actually surprised him but he was nevertheless happy to accept. Then, as she continued to speak, her reaction made a bit more sense. "She won''t be able to safely fly here in that weather, and I can''t expect her to swim all the way from South Bastia. Okay, we''ll finish it, but then we''re going straight home and you''re gonna see her tomorrow, okay?" Zach laughed. "I''m actually fine now." She glared at him. "You''re seeing the therapist!" "Okay, okay. Sheesh. Does it have to be tomorrow, though?" "Yes!" "You said my appointment was next week." "Yah, well, now it''s tomorrow." He rolled his eyes. "Let''s just do the quest." Chapter 117: A Mistake in the System? Chapter 117: A Mistake in the System? Ten minutes after his little ¡°outburst,¡± Zach struggled not to let the shame and self-revulsion overcome him as he internally cringed at the emotional, mewling state he¡¯d reduced himself to right in front of Kalana. It¡¯d just happened all at once and so unexpectedly. But, if nothing else, it¡¯d been cathartic. It was a poison that needed to run its course¡ªand had. He just wished it would¡¯ve happened someplace far from Kalana where he¡¯d been unobserved. The last thing he wanted was to be seen in such a state, especially by her. And what¡¯d made it all so frustrating was how fine he felt now. He was back in control and he really didn¡¯t want Kal to think he was a lunatic or that he was losing his sanity. It''s out of my system now, he thought. But even still, she¡¯s probably going to think I have some kind of issue or something is seriously wrong with me. Still, all things considered, she was thankfully not bringing it up¡ªat least for now¡ªand so he was trying his best not to dwell on it just yet; it was something for him to worry about tomorrow when her therapist came to bother him. Instead, he refocused his effort towards simply enjoying being with her on this fantastical island. At the moment, the two of them were quickly making their way through a rugged stretch of terrain covered initially with short grass that gradually became taller the farther they ventured. Halting atop the apex of a steep hill, Kal turned to her side and extended her arm in the direction ahead of her. ¡°Well,¡± she said, ¡°here we are. These are the Avikin Grounds. I dunno where exactly we¡¯re supposed to find the king of the slug clan, but it¡¯ll be somewhere here, and we¡¯ve got, um, like an hour left to find it.¡± Zach, having lagged a bit behind her, hurried to the top of the hill to better see what awaited him, and when he did, he was left speechless, caught somewhere between total confusion and absolute amazement. As he observed his surroundings, he felt a rush of excitement that drowned out much of the previous ten minutes¡¯ unpleasantness. But more than anything else, he tried to comprehend what he was even seeing. ¡°Kal, do people live here or something?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± She laughed. ¡°Yep, I¡¯m sure. But you¡¯re gonna end up wondering that a few times before you realize it¡¯s all just part of the way my island works.¡± Incredible, he thought. This is¡­this is just incredible! Aside from the very fleeting glimpse he¡¯d gotten after jumping out of the helicopter, Zach knew little about what he might see here. Mostly, he¡¯d been expecting to arrive on a flattish field covered with moderately tall grass about two feet in height, which he assumed would encompass most of the three or four square miles that made up these so-called ¡°Avikin Grounds.¡± Additionally, he¡¯d expected there to be many, many mobs all over it. For the most part, that was exactly what he saw¡ªexcept there was more: so, so much more. Things he hadn¡¯t even known were possible. Back when he¡¯d been stuck aboard a ten-hour flight heading from Varda¡¯s Lair to South Bastia, he¡¯d passed some of the time by dreaming up images of what Kalana¡¯s island might look like, his brain conjuring all sorts of ideas and possibilities, some of which had been quite fanciful or out there. But what he saw in these ¡°Avikin Grounds¡± went far beyond even the wildest products of his imagination. There was ¡°stuff¡± here. All kinds of stuff. Stuff he had never mentally associated with mobs or leveling, thus precluding him from ever imagining their existence in the first place. All this is part of the adventuring world? Zach wondered, stunned. This is unbelievable. Spread out all around this relatively flat plot of grassy land were structures that looked a lot like primitive homes. Most were made of wood and thatch, but in some cases, there were little huts, too. Some of these dwellings stood on their own, but many were grouped together and surrounded by thin fencing such that they formed small villages. And many of these villages showed active signs of life such as smoke escaping chimneys or outdoor cooking fires that actually gave off a smell of meat that drifted on the air. There were also gravel-covered roads that led between many of these villages, and there were horse-drawn wagons moving back and forth along them as well. But most noticeably, farther into the distance, Zach saw something that caused his eyebrows to rise to the top of his face. Located dead center in the middle of these ¡°Avikin Grounds,¡± there was a large cluster of more than fifty variously sized and variously shaped homes. Unlike with the smaller villages, rather than fencing, they were completely enclosed within a circular stone wall that looked to be about fifty-feet high and appeared to be defended from attack based on the visible presence of ballistae and other antiquated-looking weapons that were dotting the top of it. From what Zach could see, the villages¡ªas well as all the other surrounding structures¡ªactually seemed to revolve around this central, city-like area that was enclosed within the wall. It was both incredible and bewildering. On the outskirts of it, Zach spotted small farms, a few isolated shacks, and various watchtowers that had to be close to a hundred-feet tall; they appeared sturdy despite being made of wood, and each had a ladder that led up to the top of them. There were also wells, a few windmills, and what looked like a market of some kind. ¡°I know I just asked you this,¡± Zach said, pointing at one of the wagons. He watched as the wagon stopped at the entrance to the walled-in mini city, where it halted at a wide metal gate, which was slowly opened to allow it inside before audibly being shut with a loud snap. ¡°But you¡¯re one-hundred percent certain that there is no one living here?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Zach eyed another wagon pulling up to the gate, which likewise opened to allow its entry before snapping shut once more. ¡°So, all of this¡±¡ªhe waved his hand around at the world before them¡ª"this is all because of the spawn points, and none of it is a place that real people call home?¡± ¡°Mhm.¡± Zach blew out whatever air remained in his lungs; his mind was blown. ¡°Whew,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s¡­a lot to take in. You don¡¯t seem all that surprised, though. I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ve already been here, Kal?¡± ¡°A few times,¡± she said. ¡°But I didn¡¯t spend a whole lot of time here. I think I leveled from like, uh¡­I wanna say like 35 to 45, maybe? Somewhere around that. I basically did laps through a few of the villages.¡± She lifted her chin and looked off into the distance. ¡°I only stopped because the mobs near that city-fort-whatever place were higher level though, and I left before exploring it. I was gonna come back when I leveled enough to take them on, but by the time that ended up happening, I already found way better stuff to hunt that was closer to home, and I kinda forgot all about this place.¡± Zach blinked in awe at what he was seeing. Then he turned his attention to Kalana as her words registered in his head, which also filled him with awe but for an entirely different reason. The fact she¡¯d casually stated she¡¯d gained ten levels in this place despite claiming to not have spent much time here reminded him of just how different the leveling experience must have been for an Elf as opposed to a human. ¡°Olivir told me Elves get a huge boost to xp that no other race gets. Is that true? Is that how you were able to level so fast?¡± She nodded. ¡°Yep. Starting at level 5, we get a racial passive that makes it so that whenever we hunt something solo, we get double xp.¡± ¡°So then joining a party with me is actually bad for you, right?¡± ¡°Nah-uh! It¡¯s more fun and I like it better.¡± He laughed. ¡°Fair enough. But seriously, Kal, that¡¯s a hell of an ability.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s pretty good,¡± she agreed casually and with a nonchalance that Zach took as her not wanting to sound overly boastful. Returning his attention to the Avikin Grounds, Zach noticed that there were mobs all over the place¡ªas in everywhere. They were in the villages, on the roads, in the watchtowers, on the stone wall, and even steering the wagons. Some were eating, some were sleeping, and a few were actually dancing while others banged on drum-like instruments. All of them also looked pretty similar. Although there were a fair number of different mobs with different names at different levels, everything but the horses pulling the wagons¡ªwhich were also mobs¡ªshared several general aspects in common. For starters, they were all tall, feathery, and winged creatures with bird-like faces and muscular, two-legged, humanoid bodies. They all walked upright and had human-like hands. But where they differed was in attire and weaponry, and sometimes in height and build. Yet they were all clearly of a certain ¡°type¡± and had similar characteristics to one another, kind of like the skelly mobs in Yorna. Not far from Zach, one of these creatures was strolling down the gravel pathway closest to where he and Kal were standing side by side at the top of the hill leading up to this place. As it drew nearer, Zach saw that it wore a pair of white, baggy trousers but was also shirtless, exposing its six-pack abs. It wielded a katana in each hand, each with a silver blade and a black, striped hilt. Its face was wholly avian in nature, and along with a yellow beak, it also had round, yellow-colored eyes.
HP 27,500/27,500
Name Marauding Avislicer
Level 27
¡°All the mobs here are called ¡®Avislicers,¡¯¡± Kalana said, pointing at it, her voice cheerful. ¡°They¡¯re all over the island, but I think this is where you can find the biggest concentration of them together. Actually, that exact type of Avislicer¡ªthe Marauding Avislicer¡ªwas the first mob I ever saw when Alex brought me here. Me and my dad saw it on the Path of Peace.¡± Her tone turned from cheerful to bittersweet. ¡°It made me think of you and how excited I imagined you¡¯d be if you were there with me to see it. It also made me feel really guilty and upset that I left you behind.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault,¡± Zach said. He meant those words, too: strongly. That was Mr. Oren¡¯s fault, and it was water under the bridge as far as he was concerned. Trying to keep his mind focused on the here and now, he watched as the Avislicer strolled all the way up to where the path ended, just shy of a hundred feet ahead of Zach, before turning around and aimlessly walking back the way it had just come. ¡°Hey, Kal?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Are they aggressive?¡± ¡°Oh yeah,¡± she said, nodding several times as though to add emphasis. ¡°They have a pretty big aggro range, too. We¡¯re gonna have to fight a whole lot of them just to search the area.¡± She hummed to herself a second then asked, ¡°Where do you think the slug king is being held, anyway? We definitely aren¡¯t gonna have enough time to search everywhere in the Avikin Grounds for it.¡± Zach rubbed his chin, then pointed his finger at the walled-in, miniature city at the very end of the gravel road nearest to them that served as the central-most structure. ¡°I bet it¡¯s in there,¡± he said. ¡°The quest mob, I mean.¡± ¡°You think so?¡± He nodded. ¡°The quest said the slug king was ¡®kidnapped,¡¯ which makes me think there must be some kind of storyline to all this stuff. I bet there are even more quests on your island that explain it all. But anyway, the quest said we had to get there before they ¡®succeed in killing¡¯ it. So uh, this has me thinking, right? If this really is part of some bigger storyline, then the slug king being a king is significant. It makes me think it¡¯s got to be like a public execution. And where else would one be held than in the center of the city? You know, maybe as some kind of spectacle that the bird-people are putting on for each other.¡± Kalana turned over her palms. ¡°Makes sense to me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just a guess, obviously, but if I¡¯m right and this really is part of some sort of storyline, then that¡¯s where we should check first.¡± Scanning the gravel pathway with his eyes, Zach realized there were a tremendous number of mobs between them and their destination. Though it was only a two-mile walk, the place was absolutely littered with Avislicers. And things were even worse if they tried to go off the path, as the villages and other structures along the way were stuffed with even more of them. Gods there are so many of them! Is an hour even long enough to fight our way to that miniature city? It was now beyond apparent why this quest had recommended up to five people. Even if they stayed on the gravel-covered road, which had the lowest concentration of mobs, there were still so damn many of them spaced irregularly from here to the metal, gated entrance. Some were by themselves, others were in small- to mid-sized groups, and many were mobile and walking in various directions. Taking a moment to consider their best approach, Zach wondered if he should use Shadow Merge to turn invisible and scout the way forward so as to potentially avoid unnecessary fights. It was the ability on his Epic Rare cloak that he¡¯d yet to use thus far. If he turned invisible, he might be able to slip by a lot of these mobs without having to slow down and fight them. If he found the slug king, he could then call Kal¡¯s cell phone and tell her to come to him. No, that won¡¯t work, he realized. Although the idea had seemed good at first, the more Zach thought on it, the more he realized how impractical it would be. For one, the invisibility would only last 30 seconds, and secondly, he¡¯d still end up having to fight everything in their way regardless, because Kalana would surely aggro them, as she could not also become invisible. Looks like we need to fight our way through. Zach reached behind his back and grabbed the hilt of his Sword of Light Amidst Darkness. Then, with a shing, he unsheathed his blade. ¡°So, Kal,¡± he said, ¡°are you really making me call it a day after we¡¯re done with this quest?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± she replied immediately. ¡°You need to rest, and I¡¯m worried about you.¡± ¡°Well, in that case, I¡¯m not holding anything back at all. Might as well go all out.¡± Following those words, Zach activated Unleashed Phase with a Phase Level of 1, causing a steady flow of impossibly black smoke to begin escaping his hands and feet along with the occasional flickering, golden ember. His skin also began to take on a dull glow, though it was almost impossible to see amid the intensely bright sunshine from the cloudless, tropical sky. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Having totally exhausted himself thanks to that damn Megaworm, there¡¯d been a good deal of stamina for his ability to replenish. For this reason, he wasn¡¯t surprised to see he lost a little more than two minutes so that he started off with 12:46 remaining on his current duration or Unleashed Phase. Still, the rush of energy and the feeling of being replenished always made it feel worth it. Though the increase in stats no longer felt as big as it had when his stats were much lower, he could still feel himself becoming stronger, faster, more agile, and more capable as his stats were increased by twenty-five.
Name Zachys Calador
Level 21
EXP 153,900/170,000
Armor Bonus 88
Strength 129
Dexterity 112
Constitution 110
Intelligence 145
Speed 95
Luck 113
¡°Okay, you ready?¡± Zach asked. Kalana offered only a determined¡ªyet somehow cute¡ªgrunt in reply, drawing her daggers. With the clock ticking on both his Unleashed Phase as well as the quest timer, which stood at 55:51, Zach knew they¡¯d have to move as quickly as possible. And it all began with the very first Avislicer mob, who stood alone and was only first making its way back along the gravel-covered path that led to the city. Although Kalana had told him the Avislicers had a big aggro range, Zach still wasn¡¯t expecting to aggro the thing from nearly eighty feet away. In total, Zach took fewer than ten quick steps before the mob abruptly came to a halt, spun around, raised both its katanas aggressively, and then began to sprint straight for him with its wings fluttering in a way that gave off a sound similar to that of a pigeon. ¡°Frrragh!¡± it cried as it raced towards Zach, who was more than willing to charge forward and meet it head on. With a swiftness and aggression Zach did not expect, the mob raised both its arms high and then slammed down both katanas on top of him, its dual blades parallel to one another. Even still, Zach had seen it coming. Turning his sword horizontally, he lifted it and guarded against both strikes with one defensive motion, then gave a shove of his single blade against the mob¡¯s two, easily overpowering the level-27 Avislicer and pushing it a step back. Retaliating, Zach unleashed two quick slashes, moving his blade such that he carved the letter X into the body of the tall, muscular creature, causing it to squawk loudly in pain as streaks of red poured out of its belly and chest. 19,411 21,213
HP 0/0
Name Marauding Avislicer
Level 27
¡°Frrragh,¡± it moaned as it fell over and died. It then began to shake violently as its entire body turned into a sort of steam that did not rise on the air but rather evaporated quickly in place. +2500xp ¡°One down,¡± he said with a wink. Kal winked back. With her by his side, the two of them jogged their way towards the walled-in city, stopping just a handful of steps later when seven more of the Marauding Avislicers aggroed them: four on the path, and three that had been standing perfectly still on the two-feet-tall grass, which given their nearly six feet of height, only reached to their knees. ¡°Frrragh!¡± He and Kal briefly met one another¡¯s eyes, and then both exchanged a quick nod, communicating silently with each other. As though he could read the intent in her eyes, Zach twirled his blade then stormed forward at a confident, powerful walk towards the four katana-wielding mobs on the gravel-covered pathway while Kalana dashed off to the left and intercepted the three Avislicers who were making their way over here from the grass. The moment Zach met his four in combat, he knew they stood little chance, especially since he struck first, ripping his blade across the throat of the Marauding Avislicer C and dealing 28,411. Though he failed to decapitate the mob, he did kill it in one hit and caused its head to hang by nothing more than a thin piece of flesh as it fell to the ground, its body making a thwap against the gravel, followed by two clunks from each katana. +2500xp The remaining three surrounded him, Marauding Avislicer A to his left, B in front of him, and D to his right, and all three struck out at him. Avislicer A came in with a left-right combination, B thrust just its right-hand katana forward, and C tried to slash both of its weapons downwards in a way that was similar to the first one Zach had killed. With a speed that he¡¯d just as much earned as acquired through stats and equipment, Zach whipped his blade around so fast that he impressed even himself. He began by blocking one of the katana¡¯s wielded by Marauding Avislicer A while simultaneously spinning his body to the right around the thrust from B, then bending backwards and avoiding the dual downward slashes from D¡ªonly to then spin back to the left so that he returned to his original orientation in time to block the second katana from A, but this time around, he swung his own blade hard enough to turn the block into a parry and knock the katana out of the mob¡¯s left hand. ¡°Frrragh!¡± it shouted. Even as A¡¯s katana was falling down to the gravel-covered pathway, Zach was tearing his blade across the air for four quick, successive movements that managed to block four swings from the dual-wielding bird-men creatures. Four loud pings filled the air as Zach deflected four subsequent strikes. Then he raised his own blade above his head, and with enough effort to make him grunt, he crashed his sword down onto the avian-like face of B, cutting its head open down the middle as though it were an apple and dealing 29,211 damage in the process. Its body began to twitch and turn into steam even before it doubled over. In fact, it never even hit the ground; the creature simply collapsed into vapor like a magician performing a trick. +2500xp Now, there were two remaining: one to his left, which was missing one of its two katanas, and one to his right. Both came in at him. Zach dashed backwards to reposition himself so that they were to his front as opposed to his sides, and as a result of his quick movement, they nearly ended up hitting each other. Awkwardly, they both turned in his direction then pressed him. At the same time, in the corner of his vision, Zach realized he¡¯d earned +5000 xp from Kalana, who had effortlessly slain two of her own. He dealt with the one on his left first, as it was the first to reach him. Having lost its left-hand weapon, it had switched its grip on its remaining blade so that it now wielded it in a two-handed grip, a behavior Zach had never before seen from a mob. With much more force, it unleashed a horizontal slash that, had this been a week ago, Zach would have stood no chance of guarding against. Yet having grown his stats a great deal in such a short time, all he had to do was tilt his blade to the right and brace himself, and the Avisicer¡¯s katana was easily deflected. Retaliating, Zach thrust his own sword forward, and in what came as another surprise, the mob actually attempted to parry him, stepping suddenly to the side while twirling its blade in a counter-clockwise motion. Had this thing had higher stats, Zach would have definitely lost his weapon. Unfortunately for the Avislicer, Zach¡¯s strength was way, way higher than anything a level-27 mob could challenge, and so all it did was startle him. ¡°Need to be careful and not underestimate shit,¡± he grumbled to himself. Hastily, he took a quick swing, cutting open the mob¡¯s stomach for 16,211; then he spun his body around and took another, this one hitting for 14,721; not only did he kill Marauding Avislicer A, but he proc¡¯d his stamina regeneration effect twice in a Gods-be-damned row, which brought his current remaining duration on Unleashed Phase all the way up to 18:17. +2500xp Now, with just one remaining, Zach bent his knees, turned his hands so that his blade pointed straight forward, and he prepared to engage¡ªand end¡ªthe final enemy as Kalana dealt the killing blow to the third¡ªand her final¡ªone that she¡¯d been fighting, earning Zach yet another +2500xp.
LEVEL UP! 22 (21)
Strength +2 (131)
Dexterity +2 (114)
Constitution +2 (112)
Intelligence +2 (147)
Speed +2 (97)
Luck +2 (115)
XP Required for Level 23 215,000
(UNLEASHED ABILITY) (Unique) Phase Cannon Acquired!
¡°Finally, a decent level up!¡± Zach shouted out victoriously and triumphantly as he tried¡ªand succeeded, this time¡ªin decapitating the level-27 Avislicer before him, proc¡¯ing his stamina buff yet again and causing his body to glow with the dark green aura, which increased his remaining time on Unleashed Phase to 21:07; unless he was mistaken, that was now the new record for the most amount of time he¡¯d ever had remaining on the buff. Sheesh, Zach thought with a sigh. When it comes to me, lucky things either happen all at once or not at all. ¡°Gratz,¡± Kalana said with a smile, blowing him a kiss as she hurried back over towards him. Though urgency was still important, and though time was a resource they couldn¡¯t afford to waste, Zach decided to take just a few seconds to see what his new ability did. With over twenty-one minutes on Unleashed Phase, he honestly felt that, for once, he could spare a moment to check something out. Usually, whenever he found himself calling upon this ability, he was in a frantic state and couldn¡¯t spare so much as a millisecond. ¡°Just a sec, Kal, I want to see my new ability.¡± ¡°Wait for me!¡± she chirped, hurrying over to his side as though interested and wanting to see it with him. Obliging her curiosity, he pulled it up so that the information floated in the air before the both of them. And with that, Zach quickly read over his new ability, eager to see what he¡¯d unlocked for himself this time. From the sound of its name, it appeared to be a new Unleased ability, which meant he could only use it while in Unleashed Phase.
UNLEASHED Ability (UNIQUE) Phase Cannon
Usage Cost: 1:30 (no target) / 2:00 (if no target and used with Boundless. Does not include cost of Boundless.) 2:30 (w/ target) / 3:00(if user has target and used with Boundless. Does not include cost of Boundless.)
Cooldown: None
Range: 100
Description: This ability may be used with a target. Fires a light-based projectile from the palm of user¡¯s hand. If used without a target, the ability is aimed. If a target is selected, the ability¡¯s damage is cut in half and user¡¯s target is struck near instantly (speed of light). Deals light damage. Scales with intelligence.
Zach bit the lower corner of his lips as he read it over, then nodded to himself. ¡°Seems okay,¡± he said. ¡°What do you think, Kal?¡± She gave him an approving thumbs-up. ¡°I think it¡¯s cool!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand how it can be used with Boundless, though,¡± Zach said, speaking mostly to himself. Nevertheless, Kalana answered. ¡°Can I see the description for Boundless again, Zach?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Sure, but then after that, we¡¯ve got to keep moving.¡± In truth, Zach likely would¡¯ve pulled up the information for Boundless regardless, as the conflicting descriptions confused him in a way that he found annoying and stressful. Unless there was some reading comprehension issue on his part, he was fairly certain he understood what Boundless could¡ªand couldn¡¯t¡ªdo. Even still, because he hadn¡¯t actually read the description for it in quite some time, he decided to take a quick peek if for no other reason than to see if maybe he missed something, because seriously, this made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Rather than dismiss Phase Cannon, he pulled up the ability description for Boundless and put it alongside Phase Cannon so that both were visible in the air before him at once. And just as he¡¯d remembered, Boundless quite clearly stated that he could not use the ability with any ¡°damaging¡± spells or abilities. Surely, Phase Cannon counted as a damaging spell or ability, right? So then for what purpose would it even take Boundless into account in its description?
Inner Ability (UNIQUE) Boundless
Exertion Cost: Very Low
Cooldown: None
Description: The next non-damaging, non-repeating spell, ability, equipment ability, or item ability can be used regardless of range unless a target is required, in which case the user must be within seeing distance. Cannot be used with abilities that aid in charming or card-capture. Cannot be used to target or affect card-based summons.
Kalana puckered her lips then released an audible whooshing exhale. ¡°I¡¯m stumped,¡± she said. ¡°I dunno, baby.¡± ¡°Me neither,¡± he said. Then he shook his head. ¡°It must be a mistake.¡± ¡°Can there even be mistakes?¡± ¡°I used to not think so, but now that we know¡­¡± Kal met his eyes, and she nodded. This told him he didn¡¯t need to finish the thought and use the ¡°S¡± word. She understood¡ªor at least Zach assumed she understood¡ªwhat he was implying; specifically, that now that they knew mobs, leveling, and adventuring were not some natural facets of life nor the creations of divine, omnipotent Gods, but rather, that they were a deliberately created ¡°system,¡± it was no longer beyond question that mistakes could exist. Surely, it was possible for the Great Ones to have made a mistake, right? This had to be one of them. Because if not, then for what possible reason would Boundless be mentioned together with Phase Cannon? No matter how much Zach thought about it, he just couldn¡¯t imagine any way in which Phase Cannon could ever make use of Boundless. Oh well. Maybe Kal¡¯s therapist will help me figure it out, he thought with a dark chuckle, which caused Kalana to send him a questioning stare. ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s keep moving.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ******** Sir Allistair Morrison frowned as he listened to Major Kenth Baxtra update him on the current status of the city. Apparently, their forces had still failed to push the enemy out of Shadowfall Coast. Having armed his leveled guild members with dragon¡¯s loot, he had hoped to see a quick and decisive victory over the entrenched forces of the Royal Roses such that if their reinforcements did manage to break through the blockades, they would be starting over from scratch, and the Guild of Gentlemen would have a much bigger advantage. Unfortunately, though they¡¯d succeeded in retaking the now-destroyed 4th avenue, the enemy was holding on to 3rd with a zeal he hadn¡¯t expected from the dogs of the Royal Roses. ¡°Did you transmit my warning to Sir Alazar?¡± he asked, becoming frustrated. ¡°I did, Sir Morrison.¡± ¡°And?¡± He sighed. ¡°Vim still thinks we¡¯re bluffing.¡± Alistair pursed his lips angrily. ¡°I¡¯ll speak with him myself.¡± ¡°Is that wise?¡± He nodded. ¡°I am the leader of the Guild of Gentlemen now. Peter is dead, and I¡¯ve just placed the order to eliminate his spawn. This now falls under my responsibility.¡± Major Baxtra gasped. ¡°Sorry, did I hear you correctly?¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Regarding the child.¡± Alistair nodded, refusing to show any weakness. ¡°You have heard me correctly. There is no mistake.¡± ¡°But the boy is only six years old, sir.¡± ¡°I know. And it¡¯s a regrettable, terrible deed¡ªone I¡¯m not happy to carry out or proud of. Yet to protect humanity, there¡¯s nothing I won¡¯t do. You have to understand this.¡± ¡°I do, but¡­but I don¡¯t see how¡ª¡± ¡°If the guild sees him as a legitimate heir to the monarchy, he might pose a challenge to me someday. If that happens, the values of weakness embedded into him by his father might see us put in the same Gods-cursed situation we¡¯re in right now.¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°But that is none of your concern. For now, get me on the phone with Sir Alazar. I want to warn him directly so that there are no misunderstandings between us. If that little man still thinks I¡¯m bluffing, and if he forces my hand, I am prepared to launch the weapon on Giant¡¯s Fall.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll connect you now.¡± ******* Ensuring the hood of her robe was drawn over her head, Fylwen made her way quickly past several peacekeepers who stared directly at her, their faces blank. This was good. It most assuredly meant they did not recognize her. It was imperative she be quick, quiet, and discreet at least for the moment. Should the human filth have any reason to suspect that she was here in Tomb of Fire, the boy might be disposed of before she could get to him. I will save him, Peter, she said to herself, her heart aching with sadness. I will save your little boy. That thought in mind, she maneuvered her way closer towards the massive, 80-story administration building in central Tomb of Fire, where she knew he was being held on the 75th floor in a private suite that his father had stowed him in just in case this exact scenario played out as it had. You will be able to go to Elvadin and rest easy with the Gods, Peter. As you protected mine, I will protect yours. Though the living conditions Kalana had endured were far from ideal, Peter had made good on his word and had kept her daughter safe while she was in Archian Prime, and until that foul beast of a man, Varsh, had discovered her identity, she had lived in peace. She had grown into a beautiful young woman. Peter had kept his word to her for nearly all of Kalana¡¯s life. Now, it was her turn to honor the deal they¡¯d made long ago: to protect one another¡¯s kin should the worst ever befall either of them. She would raise him as her own¡ªlike an Elf¡ªand she would ensure he was loved and would want for nothing. But first, she needed to get to him, for if anything should happen to the little boy, she would have her Elves burn the entire city to the ground. On this, she did swear to the Gods! Tomb of Fire would be spared none of the darkness within her. Chapter 118: From Ruby to Ruby Chapter 118: From Ruby to Ruby Having barely moved more than a hundred feet from where they started, Zach was annoyed to find himself in yet another fight as he and Kalana, for the third time, unavoidably aggroed a group of level-27 Marauding Avislicers in this incredibly packed section of her island. The mob density was simply absurd, and there was no way to get around these things. This group in particular had been spread out along the pathway as well as the nearby grass, making it impossible to sneak around their approximately eighty-foot aggro radius. They¡¯d just been standing by idly as though waiting for him and Kalana to stumble across them, and when they did, they raised their katanas and charged. Now, as Zach cleaved a mob called ¡°Marauding Avislicer F¡± in half from the point of its hip, dealing 28,200 damage and earning him +2500xp, he raised his blade and prepared to take down another of the bird-faced, two-legged creatures. Yet he stopped as his attention was drawn to the sound of a persistent, loud ding from somewhere in the distance; the noise came across as something of a mix between a gong and a triangle dinner bell. Ahead of him, the road split off into three directions, with the middle path heading to the city along with two more paths: one that curved off to the left and one that went right. Turning his head, he realized the sound was coming from the left, where the gravel-covered road ran upwards on sort of an incline before leading into a fenced-off village about a half a mile away. Yet it was just to the side of this village where the sound originated. Specifically, atop one of those watchtowers. ¡°Uh oh,¡± Kalana said. She¡¯d darted into the grass and had begun engaging three of the creatures, and it had been right around that point when the ringing had begun. ¡°What happened?¡± Zach asked. ¡°We just triggered the alarm. Or rather, I did. Shoot!¡± ¡°Did you say the alarm?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve done that before,¡± she said with a sheepish laugh. ¡°It happens when you get too close to the village and the Avislicers in the watchtower see you.¡± ¡°And¡­and what happens when you trigger the alarm?¡± With lightning-quick flashes of her hands, she sliced apart the three mobs around her, earning him +7500xp then pointing her dagger in the direction of the hill that led up to the village to their left. ¡°That,¡± she answered. Zach looked in the direction indicated¡ªthen groaned, even as he raised his smoke-emitting hands to guard against a spinning attack, having to twist his blade to repeatedly block against the rapidly advancing and spinning Avislicer. Right now, racing down the hill were about fifteen more of the creatures, only not all were Marauding Avislicers. About five of them were a bit taller, bulkier, and had thicker wings. They also carried a shield and an axe as opposed to dual katanas.
HP 45,200/45,200
Name Avislicer Guardian A
Level 35
With a sense of urgency, Zach stepped forward and thrust his blade right through the belly of the mob before him, dealing 16,511. Then he ripped it free and immediately brought it around for a decapitating slash, watching as the Avislicer¡¯s head was not only taken off its shoulders, but was actually flung a good dozen feet or so off to Zach¡¯s right. Like one of the Marauding Slicers he¡¯d killed just before, this one, too, did not manage to fall to the ground. It began to do so, but before its body landed on the gravel, it had crumpled into nothing more than a clump of steam that was quick to disappear. +2500xp Now, turning his body in the direction of the oncoming rush of mobs, Zach gripped his blade more tightly and said, ¡°That¡¯s a lot of them, Kal.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. We can handle them. As long as we¡ª¡± Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! Zach took a deep breath, held it a moment, and then released it, slowly. ¡°Kal?¡± ¡°Y-yeah?¡± ¡°Was that another alarm bell.¡± She gulped. ¡°Mhm.¡± Glancing over his shoulder, Zach saw another fifteen mobs rushing along a field, wading through the two-foot-high stalks of grass as they charged him and Kalana. This, as a loud neigh from ahead caused him to look in the direction of the city, where he realized a wagon was rapidly approaching. Yet it was moving much faster than he¡¯d seen from any of the wagons so far, and the horses steering it had changed somewhat; their eyes were now glowing red, and they were salivating. Damn! We aggroed that too, didn¡¯t we? Inside the wagon were three more Avislicers, though they were different from the ones Zach had seen so far. They were shorter and thinner than the Marauders and the Guardians, yet they were higher level than both, and they wielded long, single-bladed spears.
HP 65,000/65,000
Name Vengeful Avislicer
Level 40
Zach scowled. ¡°We¡¯ve got thirty-three mobs heading towards us. Are you sure we can¡ªgah, shit!¡± Following a brief whistling on the air, pain flared in his shoulder as an arrow¡ªno, a crossbow bolt¡ªstruck him with enough force to plant him onto his back. With a cry of warning, Kalana ran over to him even as he was scrambling up to his feet. Though he¡¯d been hit hard, he was okay thanks to his 112 constitution and 88 armor; from the looks of it, the bolt had not fully penetrated his skin, only managing to sink about three or four inches deep. Switching to a one-handed grip, he used his opposite hand to rip it out of his shoulder¡ªthen cried out again as another bolt he didn¡¯t see coming struck him right in the middle of his back, sending him down to his knees. Then three more came in, hitting him in his left knee, his left shoulder, and his chest. A fourth also whizzed by overhead, though he only knew that much because he¡¯d heard it rather than seen it. ¡°Zach!¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay!¡± he called. ¡°Don¡¯t waste your stamina healing me. These aren¡¯t serious wounds!¡± ¡°B-but you¡¯re bleeding.¡± ¡°Barely!¡± He rose back to his feet, yanked out all four bolts, then leapt to the side the moment his ears detected the sound of more bolts sailing through the air. Unable to see where they were coming from, he moved in a more or less random direction, and thankfully, it worked, and he avoided them¡ªassuming there was more than one. He didn¡¯t even know. Right now, he was doing his best to avoid entering into a panic and becoming reckless. ¡°We need to reset,¡± Kalana said. ¡°There¡¯s too many coming at us.¡± ¡°Reset?¡± ¡°Yeah. Nothing here will chase you out of the Avikin Grounds. Let¡¯s leave, lose aggro, and then try not to aggro them on our way back in.¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°The ones we¡¯ve killed have already respawned. Retreating means¡±¡ªhe dodged again in the instant he heard the sound of bolts traveling on the air towards him¡ª¡°starting all over. We¡¯ll never get anywhere.¡± ¡°But Zach, even at my level, I dunno if I can handle this many¡ª¡± ¡°Just answer a question for me,¡± he interrupted. ¡°And please, do it quick. Is it okay if I destroy some of these structures?¡± ¡°Destroy?¡± ¡°Yes, Kal!¡± he shouted, becoming frustrated. ¡°Like, blow things up.¡± When she gave him a blank look, he struggled to hold back his anger, which was truly not directed at her, and he explained. ¡°Because it¡¯s your island, and you might not want me wrecking it.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± she said. Then her expression lit up. ¡°Ohh! No, don¡¯t worry about that. Spawn points always regenerate the land back to its default state over time.¡± ¡°Wait, seriously?¡± ¡°Yup. Even if you blew up everything here and then incinerated it, within a week, it would go back to just the way it was before.¡± Assuming Kalana was correct¡ªand he had no reason to doubt her¡ªZach found that fascinating. More than fascinating, even. It implied so many things about the world and the way it used to be. It also invited a whole lot of thought about the nature of spawn points. Unfortunately, now was not the time for him to ask her any follow-up questions. And so, relying on his 114 points in dexterity to do right by him, he waited a moment for the sound of whooshing in the air. As soon as he heard it, he once more jumped off to the side. Immediately after, he extended his palm, aimed, and activated his newest ability, Phase Cannon, aiming at the watchtower near the village to his left, consuming 1:30 of his current duration of Unleashed Phase and leaving him with 19:11. Here goes nothing, he thought. There was a boom: a loud, deep boom. Though not quite as loud as the sonic boom from Phase Blink, it came pretty close, but it was also far lower in pitch and came across as greatly more ominous. It also caused the ground to vibrate, if not outright rumble, and for a moment, Zach was blinded by a flash of light many times greater than the muzzle of a gun. With that, a spiraling, flashing, and burning ball made of a pure white fire burst out of his palm and ripped through the air, moving at an incredible speed¡ªone he estimated to be about three quarters as fast as what his Wave Slash could achieve after reaching its maximum speed, which was the point at which the double-bladed disc typically erupted into flame. Zach watched, amazed, as in just five or six seconds, the Phase Cannon he¡¯d fired crossed the half a mile¡¯s worth of distance between where he stood with Kalana and the watchtower he¡¯d fired at. This meant it must¡¯ve been traveling around 400 miles per hour, and when it struck, even from all the way over here, Zach could hear the collective series of snaps and cracks as the entire structure exploded, sending wooden chips and logs shooting in every direction. He saw something else, too. +16000xp Even as he saw the increase to his experience, it struck him as both odd and funny that he didn¡¯t even know what the hell he¡¯d just killed: not its name or its level. Yet based on the number of bolts and the direction they were traveling, he did at least reason he¡¯d killed two mobs with that one attack. And as if to confirm this, he ducked down to his knees as more bolts tore across the air above his head, and this time, paying closer attention, he was sure he heard two distinct thuds as each struck the grass-covered ground ahead of him. Now, spinning around, he extended his palm and fired off another Phase Cannon, which caused his entire hand to recoil like a gun and swing upwards and towards his shoulder as the white, spiraling ball of light blasted across the world before detonating another watchtower in another explosion of wood, which resulted in the exact same gain of xp. +16000xp Taking a moment to catch his breath, Zach returned to a more defensive stance with both his hands gripping his blade as he awaited the rush of enemies, which were coming at him and Kal from three separate directions. Even with all that he¡¯d been through, he didn¡¯t think he could handle thirty-three mobs at once, not even with Kalana here. This meant he had no choice. He had to either retreat with Kal, wasting time and effort, or he had to bring in some help. ¡°You know what? Screw the xp,¡± he said. ¡°At this rate, we¡¯ll be lucky to live, let alone make it to the city in time¡ªassuming that¡¯s even where the quest is.¡± She opened her mouth, likely to question what he was planning, but she let any words she might have been about to speak fall away as Zach made his intentions obvious as he activated Summon Active War-Mount. At the same time, he removed his left hand from his sword, raised it above his head, and called upon Bank and Storage. Grabbing his card from the box, it appeared in his hand, and then he dismissed the ability. Now, he activated Card Summon. With that, standing side by side before him were his saber-toothed, level-75 war-mount and his viciously carnivorous, level-90 card, Cursed Defender of Ziragoth. Though his war-mount was limited in the commands he could use, Zach had far more options with his cards, and so, mentally, he used the Defend command, ordering the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth to defend Kalana. Immediately, it ran across the gravel until coming to her side. She took a step back as though in hesitance, and it took one much forward to match her movement. ¡°It¡¯s defending you,¡± Zach said. For some reason, Kalana¡¯s cheeks puffed up and she said, ¡°Aww! Cute!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not cute, Kalana. It¡¯s a disgusting lizard thing. I¡¯ll hate it forever even though it¡¯s useful to me.¡± He frowned. ¡°Are you seriously petting it? It¡¯s not sentient.¡± ¡°I know,¡± she said, ¡°but it¡¯s so cute.¡± He sighed. ¡°You take the fifteen on the left, I¡¯ll take the wagon, and I think my war-mount can handle the ones on the right. If it dies, I don¡¯t care. But try not to get the card killed, because I lose that for good if its HP goes to 0. My war-mount I can always get back by just waiting twenty minutes.¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Kalana said confidently. ¡°Ruby isn¡¯t going to die.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Ruby.¡± ¡°Did you seriously name my card?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He laughed of all things, but said nothing else. Then, with a mere thought, he ordered his Kralzek¡¯s Beast to attack the fifteen mobs coming from the right, which were nearly upon him. This, as he bent his knees and readied himself to take on the wagon and its occupants. For a moment, the only sound other than the grass rustling from a quick breeze was the sound of the wagon¡¯s wheels rolling over the gravel as it approached nearer. But then there was a gagging and choking that came from his war-mount, causing Zach to wonder if the thing was okay. And it was only then that he recalled the beast having a cannon of its own. From within its opened mouth, it vomited up a metal, tube-shaped object, and then, without any warning, it went off with a tremendous bang that was both louder and higher-pitched than Phase Cannon and resulted in an even louder explosion. Before Zach¡¯s very eyes, four of the Marauding Avislicers were blasted into hundreds of pieces, scattering into the air along with a giant clump of grass, dirt, and dust. +833xp +833xp +833xp +833xp The spectacle of it all both impressed yet disappointed him, because Gods, he was losing a lot of experience points. It was a shame, too, because he¡¯d been making incredible progress towards his next level up until this point. Things had been sailing along quite nicely, in fact.
To Next Level 49,232/215,000
Oh well. We can¡¯t do this without the mount and the card. With 17:22 left on his Unleashed Phase, Zach wondered if he should start thinking about conserving some of his time as the wagon drew nearer. Right now, he had a perfect opportunity to hit it with a Wave Slash, which would take him down to 16:07. But that wouldn¡¯t be so bad, would it? That was still a minute and seven seconds longer than its starting duration of fifteen minutes. I can spare it! ¡°Wave Slash!¡± Zach cried out, swinging his sword downwards and causing a green, patchy, cloudlike clump of energy to form in the air, which soon coalesced and changed into a double-bladed disc that took off slowly then rapidly gained speed as it moved towards the oncoming wagon. With a satisfying crack, Zach watched as it split apart the wagon while skewering both horses, earning him another four-hundred experience points. What it did not do, however, was damage its occupants; all three of the Vengeful Avislicer mobs leapt out, flipped several times in the air, and then landed in a crouch. Not only were they shorter than the other Avislicers, but they were actually shorter than Zach. And they were scrawny, too. Somehow, he did not think that meant it was wise to underestimate them: and so he didn¡¯t. Raising his guard, he studied their movements carefully as all three darted forward at him with their spears held out as if to impale him. While this was happening, he heard a loud, cat-like growl as his war-mount leapt into action, then a chirp as well as a grunt, as Kal and his card did, too. ¡°Fucking mobs,¡± he growled. ¡°Why can¡¯t you just leave us alone so we can rescue the king of the slug clan!¡± Then something happened. Something strange. Something he had never anticipated. As if reacting to his very words, everything came to a sudden, abrupt halt. All the mobs charging from the left and the right halted at once, and so too did the three, level-40, spear-wielding ¡°Vengeful Avislicers¡± running his way. Even his card and his war-mount stopped short despite him not giving them the command to do so. Kalana, too, came to a sudden stop, though in her case, it seemed due more to confusion than anything else. ¡°Uh¡­what the hell is going on?¡± Zach asked, having become anxious, worried, and very confused. ¡°I dunno,¡± Kalana replied, sounding just as unsettled as Zach felt. ¡°Why¡¯d they stop?¡± ¡°I was hoping you could tell me that. I was about to fight these three things, when all of a sudden, they just¡ª¡± ¡°Frrragh!¡± shouted the mob named Vengeful Avislicer B, who began separating from the other two to walk closer to him. ¡°Frrragh!¡± it shouted again. And then it spoke: it actually spoke. Its voice was patchy, high-pitched, and not all that dissimilar from that of a parrot, only it was more intelligible and Zach did not have to struggle to understand what it was saying. What he did struggle to understand¡ªat least at first¡ªwas how and why it was even speaking at all. ¡°Frrragh!¡± it cried. ¡°So, if it isn¡¯t¡ªZachys Calador, the human male¡ªand if it isn¡¯t¡ªKalana Vayra, the Elvish female¡ªfrrragh! You will not stop the Avislicers, frrragh!¡±
A: ¡°Oh yes we will, Avislicers! The king will be freed. Now die!¡± [Attack]
B: ¡°Perhaps we can resolve this in a way that helps all of us.¡± [hands over 25,000 gold]
C: ¡°I don¡¯t care much about the king. How about I work for you instead?¡± [Quest failed. Gain 25,000 gold and begin Quest: Betrayal on the Avikin Grounds].
D: ¡°I believe in a world of peace. Let¡¯s resolve this diplomatically.¡±
Time Remaining to Decide: 0:40
Zach¡¯s heart lurched in his chest as these words popped up into the air in front of him while what appeared to be ¡°seconds¡± counted down one by one, beginning with 0:40 and getting all the way down to 0:29 before he realized just what in the hell was actually happening. When he did, he wasn¡¯t surprised to see Kalana storming over to him with her eyes wide and practically sparkling. He sighed. ¡°I know what you¡¯re going to say, Kal.¡± ¡°You do?¡± she asked, her voice absolutely teeming with excitement. ¡°Yeah. You want to pick, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Can I¡­baby? Please?¡± He laughed. ¡°Sure. I really don¡¯t care. Just don¡¯t pick B.¡± She clapped. ¡°I won¡¯t, promise! And oh my Gods, this is so cool! I¡¯ve never seen anything like this before. I bet even Alex and the adventuring guilds haven¡¯t.¡± Given that the adventuring guilds did nearly all their adventuring in dungeons, then the only way they¡¯d have ever seen something like this was for there to be quests of this nature inside dungeons. For some reason, Zach doubted that there were. He wasn¡¯t sure what gave him that idea, yet it just sort of ¡°felt¡± like this was more of an ¡°out in the world¡± type thing, whereas dungeons were more of a ¡°push forward and keep going¡± type of affair. But what did he know? There were at least some quests in dungeons. He himself had witnessed that much. But were they like this? He couldn¡¯t help but doubt it. ¡°This is so incredible,¡± Kalana said. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this.¡± ¡°It is actually pretty cool,¡± he agreed. Of all things, Zach felt a sense of longing in his heart, one that sought to experience Galterra the way it was thousands of years ago. He could only imagine how spectacular it must have been. This kind of extraordinary thing¡­it could¡¯ve happened anywhere, no? This was just a slice¡ªthe tiniest taste¡ªof the Galterra that had once been and was no more. Yet even still, he refused to support an abrupt return to those ways. Adamus was wrong. Anything that caused the death of countless innocent people was wrong. As Kalana read over the choices, she seemed to make her decision rather quickly yet still waited until they were down to ten seconds to make her selection. And when she did, Zach was totally unsurprised to see that she¡¯d gone with option D, as that choice just screamed ¡°Kalana.¡± If it had been up to him, he¡¯d have chosen A¡ªand then attacked immediately. Raising her hand, she touched the spot in the air where the option was given, and then the choice, along with all the others, vanished. And Kalana¡¯s eyes widened first in what looked to be shock and fear, but quickly changed to delight, as she began to speak. ¡°I believe in a world of peace. Let¡¯s resolve this diplomatically. Oh my Gods, Zach! It made me say that!¡± He chuckled. ¡°You sounded so convincing.¡± The mob that had spoken to them, Vengeful Avislicer B, made a series of loud, angry squawking sounds before responding to Kalana. ¡°Frrragh! Spare me your sentiments¡ªKalana Vayra, the Elvish female¡ªwe are not going to be swayed by appeals to morality!¡±
A: ¡°Give us the king of the slug clan or draw your last breath.¡± [Attack]
B: ¡°I want no further part in this conflict. Please, at least spare us our lives.¡± [Retreat. Quest failure. Title Unlocked: __the coward]
C: ¡°If you step aside, you will not be harmed, and no one will know that you or your men ever encountered us. You have my word.¡±
D: ¡°You will step aside right now and give me your rarest item, or I will kill every last one of you and your families.¡± [18% chance of success. Failure = T1 consequence]
Time Remaining to Decide: 1:10
¡°Okay, now it¡¯s my turn to pick,¡± Zach said, wiping his lips as a sudden trickle of drool slid down his mouth. Kalana folded his arms. ¡°I can see the greed. You better not pick option D.¡± He snickered. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m picking that one.¡± ¡°Zach, no. Don¡¯t be a dork.¡± ¡°Kal, the worst that happens is we get a T1 consequence.¡± ¡°Okay, and um, what¡¯s that do?¡± He shrugged. ¡°No idea. But who cares? It¡¯s only T1.¡± She glowered at him. ¡°Don¡¯t do it. You know better than this. Anyone can see how this is gonna end.¡± Zach raised his hand and extended it, even as she began to scowl at him. ¡°Zach, this is why we always get into trouble. You know it¡¯s not gonna work out well.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Kal,¡± he said. ¡°I have to. It¡¯s just a T1 consequence. There¡¯s no way we can¡¯t handle it.¡± ¡°Zach, please. What if it puts us in danger.¡± She had a point. If it turned out to be worse than he thought, and if Kal got hurt because of it, he¡¯d never forgive himself: ever. If only there was a way to know what he was dealing with. Wait, isn¡¯t there? He gasped as he recalled one of the effects of Unleashed Phase, which he never seemed to have the time to use: his glossary. There had likely been so many times where, if only he¡¯d had the opportunity to do so, he could have learned critically important information by calling upon it. And while time was still very valuable right now, this was not quite a high-stakes, life-or-death situation like those Zach usually found himself in. This was something they were doing by choice. Thus, while failing might cause some rain, they didn¡¯t absolutely have to succeed. Realizing this, he relaxed somewhat and took the time to call upon his glossary so that he could see if there was any information about this. And as it turned out, there in fact was!
Glossary Entry: Quest Consequences Certain non-dungeon quests will have branching choices and possibilities; occasionally, the user may be allowed to make a gamble in exchange for something beneficial. Failure is often¡ªbut not always¡ªpunished with a consequence. When assigned a consequence, the following tiers represent some possible outcomes, of which the user will receive at LEAST one.
T1 Consequence These consequences will NEVER increase the risk of injury or death to the user(s) and/or their party. Among others, list of possible consequences may include: reduced quest rewards, loss of gold, the blocking off of certain quest branches, and diarrhea.
T2 Consequence May contain any T1 consequence. MAY also contain the following: automatic quest failure, mob ambush, debuff for the user and/or their party, an increase in quest difficulty, viral or bacterial infection, or a trap.
T3 Consequence May contain one, none, or multiple T1 or T2 consequences. MAY also contain the following: bodily mutilation, cancer, 1-to-50-year dungeon imprisonment, permanent blindness, permanent deafness, permanent loss of taste or other senses, and a T5 unremovable gag debuff such as Justin Bieber¡¯s ¡°Baby¡± playing in the user¡¯s ear for the rest of their life.
T4 Consequence Death
¡°Whoah,¡± Kalana said. ¡°See?¡± Zach asked. Externally, he behaved confidently and acted like this was exactly what he¡¯d expected, but internally, some of those things scared the absolute shit out of him. Luckily, T1 didn¡¯t actually seem so bad. There was no chance of causing any harm to him or Kalana. It outright said so. ¡°It¡¯s still a bad idea,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s ¡®cause we might lose gold or quest rewards.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s gambling. But we¡¯re going to win. I have a feeling.¡± ¡°We won¡¯t.¡± ¡°We will!¡± ¡°Zach, don¡¯t be stupid!¡± Zach grinned, and with that, he pressed the option D in the air, even as Kalana slapped her own forehead and began muttering about how dumb he was being. Then the options disappeared, and Zach lost control of his body. All on its own his mouth opened, and with a tone and inflection that he did not choose, he said, ¡°You will step aside right now and give me your rarest item, or I will kill every last one of you and your families!¡± Based on the mob¡¯s reaction, Zach couldn¡¯t help but feel a pinch of fear, though not because of the mob itself, but from the grief he knew Kalana was about to give him as the mob widened its eyes, raised its spear, glared intensely at Zach, and then said, ¡°F-fine, you Gods-damned barbarian! Frrragh! But don¡¯t think you can just talk your way out of it once you get closer to the city. You might¡¯ve intimidated me, but my brothers will have your head. Frrragh!¡± With that, there was a loud popping sound like a balloon being burst¡ªmany of them, actually¡ªand every single last mob they¡¯d aggroed vanished into nothingness, leaving behind nothing more than a white cloud where they¡¯d resided that disappeared in less than a second; this, as a shining, purple light came from the gravel-covered ground before Zach¡¯s foot. ¡°Yes!¡± he shouted, raising his sword into the air and releasing an even louder cheer. ¡°Yes! Yes! Oh, Gods! Do you see, Kal? Do you see what gambling just did? I¡¯m so glad I gambled. It¡¯s not even gambling when you know you¡¯re going to win! Ahahaha!¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± she grumbled, looking unimpressed. ¡°You¡¯re totally taking the wrong lesson away from this, you know?¡± With a hint of curiosity entering into her voice¡ªwhich she clearly tried to hide¡ªshe asked, ¡°So, um¡­what did you get?¡± ¡°No idea, Kal, but it¡¯s an Epic Rare! Gods, I can¡¯t believe that worked. I was so sure I was about to royally fuck us!¡± Bending down, he picked up a beautiful, dark red, rectangularly shaped gemstone that was large enough so that it took up half the space of his palm. ¡°Whoah,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s some kind of ruby.¡± It was strange to the touch. It was extremely sticky and soft despite being a gem, and it left a gross, slimy residue on his fingers. It felt as disgusting as it looked beautiful. Without wasting another second, he called forward the information on it, eager to see what the Vengeful Avislicer B had given him. Surely, it had to be good, because it was an Epic Rare item.
Name Enchanted Awakening Gem of Authentic Cognition
Rarity Epic Rare
Item Level N/A
Description N/A
Zach frowned. ¡°The hell?¡± Kalana also frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t get it. What¡¯s it do?¡± ¡°Nothing, apparently.¡± He looked around. ¡°Where is that piece of shit mob? I¡¯m going to kill it! We got screwed. It¡¯s a Gods-be-damned fake!¡± ¡°Nah-uh. It has to do something. Can I see it, please?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure, whatever. But it¡¯s mine, Kal.¡± She stuck her tongue out at him. ¡°Greedy boy. Let me see it.¡± With a gentle underhanded throw, he tossed her the ruby-like item, and she caught it. ¡°Eww, gross!¡± she shouted. ¡°It¡¯s wet and sticky. Yuck!¡± As though it were an insect, she flicked her wrist and threw it behind herself. ¡°Dammit, Kal! Don¡¯t just throw my¡ªn-n-no! Stop! What are you¡ªno!¡± Zach yelled, his eyes widening and his lips peeling back in horror. He watched helplessly as the ruby, thrown carelessly by Kal, ended up hurtling right towards the face of his card. Only, instead of bouncing off its mouth and then landing onto the gravel-covered road, his Cursed Defender of Ziragoth, for a reason he could not possibly understand, opened up its mouth, revealing its razor-sharp, predator teeth, and then slammed them back down, devouring the item before his very eyes, visibly swallowing it. ¡°N-no!¡± Zach screamed, as Kalana held her hand to her mouth and began apologizing profusely to him. ¡°Kal, look what you did! That fucking thing ate it. It ate my Epic Rare item. Gods, I¡¯m going to cut it out of its stomach. Get over here, you useless little¡ª¡± ¡°No! Mommy, he¡¯s going to stab me!¡± the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth cried out in alarm, running behind Kalana and sending such confusion through Zach¡¯s brain it nearly caused him to faint from the shock of it. ¡°Did it just speak?¡± Zach cried. The avian-lizard hybrid began hiding behind Kalana, whose expression mirrored the abject confusion that Zach was currently experiencing, having no idea just what in the name of the Gods was happening here. With a childish, female, and squeaky voice, the creature said, ¡°Zach is mean. Mommy, don¡¯t let him kill me!¡± Kalana¡¯s jaw dropped open, and amid all this confusion and chaos, the words that came out of her mouth were not a question. They were not a cry of surprise. They weren¡¯t even an appeal to calm or to think about this rationally. Instead, she glared at Zach, protectively wrapped her arms around the Gods-cursed thing and said, ¡°You better not!¡± Zach moaned out of both frustration, disappointment, and a general sense that things had just become so perplexing he could barely withstand them. ¡°Kal, what the fuck is going on?¡± ¡°I dunno. But you better not be mean to¡­umm¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s my name?¡± the creature asked. ¡°Mommy Kalana hasn¡¯t given me a name. Can I please have a name?¡± ¡°I can give you a name?¡± Kalana asked, her expression lighting up with glee. ¡°Yes. What¡¯s my name?¡± Kalana beamed. ¡°Ruby,¡± she said without another moment¡¯s delay. ¡°Your name¡¯s Ruby.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Ruby!¡± Ruby shouted as the name popped up above her head in bold, green letters, the sign of a friendly NPC. Only, for some reason, she was now level 66, the same as Kalana, and not level 90. Why? What did that mean? What did that even imply? Hopefully, it wasn¡¯t what it seemed. Gods help him if that was the case. Please, no, Zach thought, horrified. Did Kal just steal my card AND my item? Immediately, he activated Card Dismiss, yet nothing happened. Then he activated it again. And still, nothing happened. On the third try, the creature made a frightened moan, and she said, ¡°Mommy, he¡¯s trying to make me go away. Please protect me.¡± ¡°Zach!¡± Kalana hissed. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°What am I doing? That¡¯s my card, Kal. Why can¡¯t I take it back?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a card,¡± Ruby growled, adding an angry chirp. ¡°I¡¯m a raptor! And I belong to mommy now, not Zach.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a what?¡± ¡°A raptor.¡± ¡°What in the fuck is a ¡®raptor?¡¯¡± ¡°I¡¯m a raptor. And I¡¯m Mommy Kalana¡¯s raptor. I¡¯m not a card anymore.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Kalana said, scratching the creature¡¯s rough-skinned chin as its tail began to thud appreciably against the gravel with enough force to destroy some of it in the process. ¡°You¡¯re my little raptor baby, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes I am! I will hunt for mommy, and I will protect you, too. Can I have meat? I like steak the most even though I never tried it. I know it¡¯s my favorite. Raw, please.¡± Zach was so confused it took a real effort for him not to whimper from the shock of all this. Maybe gambling didn¡¯t pay after all. Chapter 119: Twenty Hours to Doomsday Chapter 119: Twenty Hours to Doomsday Drawing upon all the restraint that Zach could will into himself¡ªespecially given the circumstances¡ªhe forced himself to take a slow, calming breath before allowing himself to speak. Even still, his words betrayed the frustration he was trying his best to tamp down on. ¡°Why do you belong to Kal and not me?¡± he asked of the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth named Ruby. ¡°Mommy Kalana fed me the stone,¡± Ruby said, licking her¡ªno, its¡ªlips. This, Zach could only barely see as the so-called ¡°raptor¡± was still hiding behind Kalana and chirping away any time Zach tried to maneuver himself so that he could take a good look at it. There was something he needed to verify, and he was growing impatient. ¡°I didn¡¯t do it on purpose,¡± Kalana said, her tone defensive. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I stole your card and your item. It was an accident.¡± Though her words were apologetic, her behavior wasn''t. From the way she was giving constant pets and hugs to the stupid thing, it was clear Kalana was far from devastated that this had happened. Seeing her happy also made it difficult for Zach to stay mad, because at the end of the day, her happiness was as important to him as his own. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to get another of those cards for like a hundred or thousand or however-many years,¡± Zach said. Then, with a grunt, he added, ¡°Not that I want the opportunity any time soon. I hope I never see that Gods-be-damned dragon ever again.¡± ¡°Me neither,¡± Ruby said. ¡°He was so pushy.¡± Zach cocked his eyebrow, genuinely surprised. ¡°You remember Ziragoth?¡± Ruby chirped. ¡°Huh? Why wouldn¡¯t I?¡± To Kalana, Zach said, ¡°I need to see its eyes. Why won¡¯t it stop hiding behind you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s ¡®cause you said you were gonna stab her, you dork.¡± ¡°Kal, just let me see it.¡± ¡°Only if you promise not to be mean or try to hurt her.¡± He sighed. ¡°I won¡¯t. Just please let me see the damn thing. I need to make sure of something.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a thing,¡± Ruby grumbled, her two sharp, black-toenailed feet tapping down on the gravel as she stepped out from behind Kalana and took a few cautious steps towards Zach. He met her lizard-like, golden-colored eyes and fixed her with a hard, discerning stare, and then he swore under his breath. Right away, he could tell. All it took was a single glance and he could see: she was sentient. Gods damn it all. Without a shadow of a doubt, Ruby was a self-aware, feeling, thinking being of a sort similar to Angelica or Grundor, only she was more like Fluffles in her intellectual capacity and mannerisms. Zach had no idea how this whole thing worked, but it appeared humanoids were different from animals¡ªor a raptor, in this case, though he still had no idea what in the hell that actually was, as he¡¯d never heard the word before today. With noon approaching and the sun burning down on them, several beads of sweat caused both by frustration and the heat more generally led him to wipe his face with his robe as he tried to consider how to proceed. With his hands and feet still emitting an impossibly black smoke, and with his time remaining on Unleashed Phase down to 14:32, he knew that he couldn¡¯t afford to waste too much more time standing around on this gravel-covered road figuring out this whole ¡°Ruby¡± situation. Especially because he likely had all the answers he was going to get. Clearly, the drop he¡¯d gotten was similar¡ªbut different¡ªfrom the thing Fluffles had eaten that had turned him into a Shadowfang. And just like Kesten, Maric, and Mr. Oren, Zach had not known what his particular gem was intended to do before it¡¯d accidentally been used, transforming the card into a¡­a what, exactly? Certainly not a Shadowfang, as NPCs were not, strictly speaking, biological in the sense that Fluffles was. But something not all that far removed, for sure. Wiping away more sweat, he asked, ¡°If I had been the one to feed you the ruby, would you have belonged to me and not Kalana?¡± Ruby chirped in a way that came across as affirmative, which prompted Zach to ask the only other thing his curiosity demanded he know right this instant. ¡°And how much do you remember? From before you ate that ruby and became¡­well, ¡®Ruby¡¯?¡± Ruby looked at Kalana, who nodded at her. Zach wasn¡¯t sure what that was about. Then she said, ¡°I remember fighting you. You turned me into a card, and¡­and then I was on your team for a while. We did so many things together and we fought the dragon together, and then we fought the humans, and then we came here.¡± She does remember everything, he thought, an uncomfortable, existential chill traveling down his back. ¡°How did you feel when I made you fight Ziragoth? Or turned you into a card?¡± Ruby blinked several times. ¡°I didn¡¯t feel anything,¡± she said. ¡°I didn¡¯t know what that was until a few minutes ago. I like thinking and feeling! It¡¯s fun. I can smell, too.¡± She licked her lips. ¡°And taste!¡± ¡°So you didn¡¯t think or feel anything until just now?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I just remember everything, but I don¡¯t think I knew anything. But now I do!¡± She chirped happily. Zach wasn¡¯t sure how he was supposed to react to that, but in a strange sort of way, it caused him to feel relief, because even though what Ruby was implying meant that all mobs and NPCs probably had the capacity to be ¡°alive,¡± her words confirmed to him that, up until someone made them so, they were still soulless and unfeeling. Though Zach would never claim to be a philosopher or hold any of the answers to the key questions of the universe, he was comfortable enough in his own beliefs to not feel any guilt at killing things that did not have any sense of self-awareness, the ability to feel, or the ability to think or know pain. In his view, something that had absolutely no concept of its own existence could not be considered the same as something that did. Though all of this did lead him to ask one very uncomfortable question of himself. What if I fed that to Moldark? What would he become? With a shrug and another, even more uneasy chill, he said, ¡°All right. What happened, happened. Let¡¯s just finish the quest. Oh, and Kal, you owe me for stealing my card and my item.¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± she asked, frowning. ¡°Didn¡¯t I just give you that super-duper rare ring that you said was awesome? And didn¡¯t my mom give you our greatest family treasure? And what about that time, umm, that woman in Angelica¡¯s was hurt, and somebody needed to buy the stones for her, and I¡ª¡± ¡°Okay, okay, you¡¯ve made your point.¡± Zach knew there was no way he could argue with Kalana here, as her defense was airtight. It didn¡¯t make Zach any less grumpy about the fact he¡¯d won an 18%-chance gamble and still somehow ended up losing two valuable things in the process. Nevertheless, the truth was that Kal was right. She hadn¡¯t done this on purpose, and he could hardly claim she owed him anything. If anything, he owed a whole lot to her. Turning his body so that he faced in the direction of the miniature city, he once more proceeded onwards, his mount, Kalana, and Ruby following along. If nothing else, at least Kalana was happy. ****** Pete was trying to be a good boy because that¡¯s what daddy said he had to do. But it wasn¡¯t fair, because nobody was letting him buy any toys, and Uncle Vardor wasn¡¯t letting him go outside to play or do anything at all. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Daddy said it was only supposed to be a few days. How come I¡¯m still here? Pete was a big boy now. He was six and that meant he was supposed to be brave, because the other kids he knew said that, um, when you were sleeping over at someone else¡¯s house, if you got sad and then wanted to go home, it meant you were still little. That was why he tried so hard not to cry. His dad was actually the leader of the whole guild, and not only that, but he was the leader of this city, too. Stepping on the stool, he looked out of the window in the room he was in. He wanted to go look around the city of Tomb of Fire. There were so many people and his dad said they¡¯d go to the toy shops¡ªall of them¡ªand even the ones in Diamond Paradise when he came back. Right now, though, he wasn¡¯t being allowed to leave the room. They even locked the door. He didn¡¯t know why they did that. ¡°Uncle Vardor,¡± he whined, becoming sad even though he tried so hard not to. ¡°You promised I could go outside today. How come my dad¡¯s not back yet? I don¡¯t wanna be in here anymore because it¡¯s boring and all¡­um, all my toys are still in Shadowfall Coast.¡± When no one answered, Pete walked along the soft, maroon-colored carpet and stood up on his tippy toes so he could try to turn the knob. It was still locked. ¡°Uncle Vardor?¡± he called. Uncle Vardor wasn¡¯t his real uncle, but he was his dad¡¯s guild friend and his dad told him to call the man that. But he didn¡¯t act like an uncle. He wasn¡¯t being all that nice to Pete like he usually was. Placing his ear to the wooden door, he could hear what sounded like footsteps coming from the kitchen across the hall, as well as a voice that sounded really upset. It was Uncle Vardor¡¯s voice. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be fucking kidding me,¡± Uncle Vardor said. Pete didn¡¯t know who he was talking to, but he said a really bad word. ¡°He¡¯s six years old, Sir Morrison. He doesn¡¯t know anything. He¡¯s a clean slate. There¡¯s no reason for this.¡± There was a pause, and then he sounded even more upset than he did before. ¡°How can you possibly say this is best for humanity? Gods damn it all. I¡¯ve known him since he was a baby. What¡¯s that? No. I said no. That¡¯s definitely not something you should do. Well, obviously because I¡ªwhat? No. No, what I¡¯m¡ªjust listen, please. Obviously, I don¡¯t want to, but I¡¯d rather it be me than someone who¡¯s going to make him suffer. I can make him close his eyes peacefully. That¡¯s what you¡¯d prefer too, right? If it has to be someone, it might as well be me. At least that way I can make sure he doesn¡¯t¡ªyeah. All right. Fine.¡± There was a beep, which sounded like the way a phone ends a call. And then there was a loud, angry smash that startled Pete. He wasn¡¯t sure, but it sounded like Uncle Vardor put his fist through one of the cabinets in the kitchen. ¡°He¡¯s only six,¡± he said loudly, pain in his voice. Pete was also only six. Was he talking about Pete? A few minutes went by, and Pete, losing interest in whatever was going on, went back to play with the few toys he had in here. Yet as soon as he sat down, there was yet another bang, and this one was way louder and sounded like it came from the floor below. This bang was followed by a scream. Then Pete inhaled and ran to the corner of the room as what sounded like guns started going off along with even more screaming. ¡°She cut my fucking dick off!¡± someone wailed at the top of their lungs from the floor below. ¡°She cut my¡ªahhh stooooop!¡± The scream reached such an intensity that Pete began to shake, fearful. Then he heard steps: powerful steps. Then there was a loud smashing sound that sounded like it came from outside Pete¡¯s room, which was soon followed by even more screaming and more gunshots. ¡°You!¡± Uncle Vardor shouted. ¡°You have some nerve coming in¡ª¡± His words ended in a gurgle and a tearing sound. Pete was so confused. He didn¡¯t understand what was happening. Now, he became very, very afraid, as for a moment, all went quiet¡ªall except the slow, steady tapping of boots against the wooden flooring in the hallway outside of his room. Then there was a click as the doorknob of the locked door was turned, followed by another loud bang as the door was then thrown completely off its hinges. ¡°Pete?¡± a womanly voice said. Pete ran under the bed, hiding. He was very afraid. He wanted to be a big boy, but he was so scared. The footsteps continued, and now whoever was in here with him was standing in the center of the room¡ªand coming closer. A moment later, with a creak, the entire bed was lifted off of him, and a hand reached down towards him. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± a very pretty lady with golden hair, pointy ears, and green eyes said. ¡°I¡¯m a friend of your father¡¯s, child.¡± ¡°You know my daddy?¡± he asked. She smiled. She had a very nice, comforting smile. But there was lots of blood all over her body. Was that even blood? Maybe it was ketchup. He hoped it was ketchup. He didn¡¯t like blood or bloody things. Nervously, he took her hand, and she gently pulled him out from under the bed before releasing it and letting it drop back down. ¡°Wait a minute,¡± Pete said. ¡°I think I¡¯ve seen you before, um, on the TV. Aren¡¯t you¡±¡ªhe gasped¡ª¡°you¡¯re Kalana¡¯s mommy!¡± ¡°You know of my daughter?¡± He nodded. ¡°Yeah! Everybody knows Princess Kalana.¡± ¡°Would you like to meet her?¡± ¡°Oh yeah! I can? I need to ask my dad. Do you know where he is?¡± ¡°I do,¡± she whispered. He wasn¡¯t sure why she sounded sad. Did his dad upset her? ¡°Where is he?¡± ¡°That¡¯s something for us to discuss later.¡± ¡°I want to see him!¡± ¡°You will.¡± ¡°He said he¡¯d be back by now.¡± Pete sniffled. ¡°He told me he would come back and then he didn¡¯t. I want to see him.¡± For some reason, she reached out and hugged him. She was very nice but he didn¡¯t know her so well so he wasn¡¯t sure why. ¡°Have you ever ridden on a unicorn, child?¡± ¡°Huh? No.¡± ¡°Would you like to?¡± ¡°They¡¯re not real.¡± ¡°But they are.¡± With that, he found himself being picked up like mommy used to do before she died, and then suddenly, he was moving very fast. There was a loud crack of shattering glass, and before he realized what was even happening, he was suddenly hit with a blast of heat. Only then did he realize that Kalana¡¯s mommy just jumped out of a window with him. But he wasn¡¯t scared. Because he also wasn¡¯t falling. ¡°Whoah!¡± he said, looking around. ¡°I¡¯m on a unicorn!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Kalana¡¯s mommy said. ¡°Hold on to me tight, okay? We¡¯re going on an adventure.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± ****** ¡°Fucking Elves!¡± Major Kenth Baxtra shouted. Sir Alistair Morrison scowled. ¡°Tell me she didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°She did. She invaded Tomb of Fire, killed eleven of our men¡ªcastrating several of them¡ªand then kidnapped the royal heir and took off to the skies in a Gods-cursed unicorn." Sir Morrison squeezed his hands into fists, but only for a moment. Immediately after, he removed his cell phone and dialed the number of his chief diplomat. ¡°I want you to hand-deliver something for me.¡± ¡°Yes, of course, Sir Morrison. What are your orders?¡± ¡°Inform the Elvish of my official declaration of war on Whispery Woods.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± The moment he ended his call, Major Baxtra gave him a sidelong glance. ¡°We are already fighting a war against the rest of humanity. Are you sure we should add the Elvish to our list of enemies?¡± He met the major¡¯s eyes. ¡°Once we have the proper justification¡ªand believe me, we¡¯ll have it very, very soon¡ªwe will launch our weapon, and all of our enemies will surrender.¡± ¡°If we¡¯re going to go that route anyway, Sir Morrison, then why does it even matter that we have some purported moral high ground? Wouldn¡¯t it make sense to simply launch the thing now and put an end to this before even more of our people die?¡± ¡°No,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°You see, I am going to succeed where the other guilds failed. I will bring humanity back into the fold in the global trading community. And to do this, I need the perfect balance of threat and reason. If we are seen as too animalistic, they will resist us even if it means possible nuclear retribution. But if we show them that we are a people of order, they will be more willing to negotiate. That is why it¡¯s important we declare war on our enemies before we launch, not after. If we wait to declare war on the Elvish, it will seem like any negotiation with us is just an obvious farce, and that we are simply threatening them with our weapon.¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t that exactly what we¡¯re doing?¡± Alistair nodded. ¡°Yes, but I prefer it to remain an unstated threat. Imagine, for a second, that we use our weapon, and then we declare war on the Elvish. It will send a signal to the world that our declaration of war itself is a threat: capitulate or die.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Major Baxtra asked. ¡°Very simply. It will invite the question of why we waited until after we unveiled our weapon. If the justification is the attack on Tomb of Fire, the world will want to know why we did not declare war right after it happened if we are so aggrieved. It will make it seem like the declaration is disingenuous and that we are merely using the threat of our weapon to force cooperation. And if so, we can¡¯t rule out the Lizardmen and the Dwarves invading North Bastia. Let me remind you, Major Baxtra: we don¡¯t actually have more than one missile yet. If we are attacked, we won¡¯t be able to back up our bluff.¡± The major threw up his hands. ¡°This is all too political and confusing for me. I know war, and I know that if the Elves decide to attack us, they can take out Tomb of Fire and Shadowfall Coast all on their own without any level-1 ground troops. They will stomp on us like insects.¡± ¡°No, they won¡¯t. They most certainly won''t." ¡°How can you be so sure?¡± Lowering his voice, Alistair said, ¡°Because tonight, I¡¯m ordering the blockade to ease.¡± ¡°W-what? Why?¡± ¡°So that the enemy will break through, and our city will be overrun.¡± ¡°Why?¡± he snapped. Then he widened his eyes and began to apologize as if realizing how massively he¡¯d just breached protocol in speaking to Sir Morrison with such a tone. Yet, Alistair chose to ignore this slight, as it was exactly the reaction he¡¯d expected. Slowly, he inhaled, then again regarded the major general. ¡°The reason, Major Baxtra, is so that very early tomorrow morning, around twenty hours from now, we can use the justification of self-preservation, and with that, we can launch our weapon, and the world will open its eyes to the power of humanity. Then, we will announce that we have made dozens¡ªor hundreds¡ªmore of these weapons, and I promise you, the invasion will stop.¡± ¡°What if the other guilds call our bluff, sir?¡± He grinned. ¡°When they see what this weapon can do, Major Baxtra, I assure you, they will not dare.¡± Chapter 120: Call to Arms Chapter 120: Call to Arms Alex frowned, and as though in response to his plainly displayed unhappiness, Kolorn Besh, the guild-leader of the Lords of Justice and the man whom Alex now served, gave him a fatherly pat on the back. At the moment, the two of them were standing side by side atop a hill only minimally too short to be called a mountain, which overlooked the narrow Valley of Olandrin located fifty miles northeast of Whispery Woods. As it were, the border line that divided Whispery Woods and southwest Spider¡¯s Eye Oasis happened to run directly through the center of the riverbed several-hundred feet below. ¡°What do you think, Lord Oren?¡± It was strange hearing himself referred to by "lord" or "sir," yet it was custom and protocol, and the last thing Alex wanted to do was disrespect the traditions of the guild he had now sworn to serve unto death. Straightening his back, he hesitated a moment before speaking, choosing instead to cup his forehead to filter out some of the sun as he gazed into the distance. It was about five hours past noon in North Bastia, and if they were going to make it to Shadowfall Coast by dark, they¡¯d need to choose fairly soon whether or not to commit to an attack. Abandoned, he thought as he observed what had, until an hour ago, been a fully fortified blockade complete with mechanized infantry, leveled defenders, and several officers of the Guild of Gentlemen. ¡°Something doesn¡¯t feel right about this, Lord Besh,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re positive they¡¯re not waiting in ambush for us somewhere?¡± Lord Besh nodded. ¡°Every one of our scouting parties has delivered the same report: the Guild of Gentlemen have eased their blockades on all nine paths. There¡¯s nothing preventing the 3rd Battalion from marching straight to Shadowfall Coast and reinforcing our allies.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what worries me,¡± Alex said. ¡°It makes no sense. If we¡¯re able to break through to Rose Battalion, the city is as good as ours. They must know this, so why would they make our job easier and let us through?¡± Based on the latest reports, Rose Battalion had been pushed all the way back to 2nd avenue and were near to being driven out of the city. This would be disastrous, because if their forces lost their foothold into the city, it would only result in prolonged fighting and an even greater number of civilian casualties. This needed to be done with quickly. It was a nightmare that needed to end: like the dragon had been. But am I really fit to be ending it? he wondered, frowning yet again. Alex was conflicted: very much so. He was beginning to question his decision to join the Lords of Justice. At the time, he¡¯d been certain his decision was the correct one. But already, he was having regrets. And how could he not? It was his first day as the third-in-command of the Lords of Justice, and yet, before he¡¯d even been anointed and sworn in, he was already taking part in a brutally violent war¡ªone that, in what may have been a record time, had already amassed thousands of innocent civilian casualties as a result of Vim Alazar¡¯s indiscriminate bombing campaign, which was clearly driven more by revenge than tactical necessity. His thoughts grew steadily more troubled as a breeze rolled through the hilltop and caused a few dried leaves to make a rustling sound as they slid across the grass-covered slope. Another moment of silence lingered, and then Lord Besh scratched the reddish-brown hair of his neatly trimmed beard and shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve got no idea what they¡¯re up to, Lord Oren, and I¡¯m also perturbed by their withdrawal, as it has all the makings of a trap. Yet, if it is indeed a trap, it must be very cleverly hidden, as our scouts cannot find any way they might spring it upon us.¡± Shaking his head somewhat, Alex tried to rid himself of the uneasiness coursing through him. Something wasn¡¯t right here. Sir Alistair Morrison may have been a thoroughly evil, manipulative, and literal backstabbing pile of filth, but the man was clearly not stupid. There was a reason he was doing this. It was almost as though he wanted them to attack. But why? ¡°Lord Besh?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Have you considered the trap might be a diplomatic one more than a literal one?¡± He scrunched his lips together as though finding the suggestion ridiculous. ¡°With regards to what? That makes little sense.¡± Having learned an extraordinary amount of patience during his time as an adventurer¡ªwhich was needed when dealing with so many bellicose, drunken idiots¡ªAlex did not find it slightly frustrating to be questioned or asked to elaborate on something said in good faith. He was more than happy to oblige. ¡°With regards to the weapon he claims to have,¡± Alex said. ¡°This might have something to do with it. Maybe he¡¯s looking for justification to fire it.¡± At this, Kolorn Besh released a low grunt that came across as slightly dismissive. ¡°That¡¯s very unlikely, seeing as there is no ¡®it¡¯ for him to fire.¡± ¡°Do we really know that for certain?¡± ¡°Of course we do. Gods, it¡¯s such an obvious bluff. Had the man threatened us with something at least plausible, it might have worked, but his threat was so childish it was comical. He actually told Sir Alazar that he had a button he was going to push that would destroy an entire city if we do not yield to him. Absurd! The Guild of Gentlemen have no such weapon. And since I can tell by the look on your face you remain skeptical, I¡¯ve already done my due diligence and consulted with the best experts we have in munitions and explosives. There is simply no way of producing a munition capable of delivering that kind of payload.¡± Alex pursed his lips. Despite the two of them being alone, he nevertheless lowered his voice. ¡°Conventionally, perhaps.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve asked some of my own experts. Though he doesn¡¯t look the part, my former guild-mate, Maric, is a theoretical physicist.¡± Kolorn chuckled. ¡°That has little to do with warfare.¡± ¡°Maybe. But have you ever considered the possibility that a bomb could utilize a non-conventional source of energy?¡± Alex¡¯s question prompted only a sidelong glance, and so he elaborated further. ¡°The splitting of an atom,¡± he continued. ¡°It could unleash enough energy to destroy a city.¡± ¡°Ridiculous,¡± the leader of the Lords of Justice said. ¡°I¡¯m no scientist, but I know that that¡¯s purely theoretical. Theoretically, time travel is possible. Theoretically, a weapon could exist that opens up a black hole capable of swallowing the entire solar system. There are many things that can be real in theory and perhaps in reality someday too, but we are living in the here and now.¡± Alex fixed him with a serious look that he hoped would cause his new guild-leader to be a little bit less dismissive. ¡°This is far from theoretical,¡± Alex said. ¡°The technology in our lives that we use every single day is already far more advanced than what would be required to make that sort of weapon. The fission energy that powers our DEHV hovercraft is a perfect example of that. We use the energy created from the splitting of atoms to power our vehicles, charge our phones, and live our everyday life.¡± ¡°True,¡± he said, ¡°but weaponizing it in the form of a bomb isn¡¯t possible. You don¡¯t think people have had that idea before? The humans of old spent thousands of years trying to figure out how to weaponize atomic energy, and we were unable to do it¡ªor so the records in the guild-only archives would indicate. That, of course, is a secret not to be shared with the public.¡± ¡°One of many,¡± Alex muttered. ¡°Hm?¡± He forced a smile onto his face. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Breathing out a sigh, he again scanned the valley below them, then turned his head to face his guild-leader. ¡°Do you remember how I told you about Earth?¡± The slight twitch in his shoulders indicated that Kolorn was still not over the shock of learning that adventurers regularly traveled to Earth. From what Alex had learned, the political guild leaders¡ªand the highest-ranking members in the guilds¡ªknew of the existence of Earth, and they knew that humans were not originally from Galterra. It was a closely guarded secret, one they feared would cause the world to revolt against humanity if it was ever discovered their species was ¡°alien¡± to Galterra. But upon learning that Alex had personally been there, Kolorn had seemed genuinely fascinated. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°What of it?¡± he asked, his interest clearly piqued. In response, Alex squatted down, grabbed a fist-sized rock, and then held it up to him. Lord Besh squinted at it as though confused. ¡°Earth rocks,¡± Alex began, ¡°are very, very similar to rocks on Galterra save for one very important difference. On Earth, there is an abundance of an isotope called Uranium-235 found in many rocks, and it is an isotope that is incredibly rare here on Galterra: to the extent that it may not even be present at all. What we do have is an element called thorium, which is perfectly suitable for the nuclear fission reaction that makes our energy, but not at all for the production of a weapon.¡± ¡°And this Uranium-235 is capable of being weaponized?¡± Alex nodded, and as he did so, he felt a chill run down his back. ¡°It could be. It wasn¡¯t something I ever considered until today, but yes, it could certainly be. You see, to weaponize the splitting of an atom, what you need are atoms that will split when struck by fast-moving neutrons. There¡¯s nothing suitable for that purpose on Galterra. But on Earth? There are two naturally occurring isotopes that I am aware of: Uranium-235 and Plutonium-239. And both could be easily fashioned into a¡­I suppose you could call it a ¡®nuclear bomb¡¯. Furthermore, by knowing the properties of these isotopes, it would be possible to artificially synthesize them here on Galterra.¡± Kolorn Besh gasped, a reaction that Alex did not anticipate. Did this mean he was finally taking what Alex was saying seriously? It appeared so. Though, sadly, not at all for the reason that Alex had hoped. Now, he, too, lowered his voice as he spoke. ¡°Lord Oren, do you still have the ability to travel between worlds?¡± ¡°No,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°As I¡¯ve told you, that¡­that ¡®power¡¯ is from a buff that is lost upon joining a political guild.¡± ¡°Yet you have many friends who can, yes?¡± ¡°Of course. But why do you ask?¡± Alex regarded him skeptically. ¡°If you¡¯re right about this, we should look into the production of these weapons¡ªfor purely defensive purposes, of course. Certainly, I can¡¯t imagine that Sir Morrison has been working privately with the adventurers, nor do I believe him capable of knowing any of what you¡¯ve just told me. Having said that, I¡¯m going to ask you not to ever repeat what you¡¯ve just told me to the other guilds. This is now officially a highly classified secret of the Lords of Justice.¡± Alex fought for all he was worth to contain his discontent and avoid letting it spill onto his face. Lord Besh truly was a cut above the other guild leaders, but not nearly as much as Alex had hoped him to be. Under no circumstance would Alex help him introduce such a weapon into this world, even if he didn¡¯t dare say so aloud. ¡°I will not speak a word of this,¡± Alex said¡ªand meant it, too. It would be an easy promise to keep, since undoubtably, the reaction of the other guild leaders would be the same as Kolorn¡¯s had been. Hopefully, the man wouldn¡¯t press him too hard over this when the war was over. For now, though, Alex just hoped that Lord Besh was correct regarding his assessment of the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s capabilities. In all likelihood, the threat of city-wide annihilation was just a bluff, and it could very well be that the withdrawal of the blockade was intended only to bolster that bluff. Yet even still, Alex wasn¡¯t entirely certain, and that worried him. As his phone buzzed in his pocket, he was reminded that the veracity of this ¡°weapon¡± wasn¡¯t the only thing currently causing him some degree of upset. Without even bothering to remove the device from his pocket, he already knew who was contacting him¡ªand he had thus far refused to answer. ¡°Your phone¡¯s going off again,¡± Kolorn said with a grunt. ¡°Vim?¡± ¡°Probably.¡± ¡°About Zach?¡± ¡°I assume so.¡± Alex lowered his hand down to his pocket then paused. ¡°Actually, since it¡¯s been brought up, I could really use your help with this issue, Lord Besh. Maybe you could speak to him.¡± He sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t. It¡¯s out of my hands. The boy is not a member of my guild, and were he so, I can¡¯t truthfully say I would be acting any differently than Sir Alazar.¡± ¡°You must know he¡¯s not really a member of the Royal Roses. That¡¯s¡­for show.¡± Kolorn shrugged. ¡°Lord Alazar accepts him as one of his own. Apparently, the two bonded during the battle with the dragon.¡± ¡°True, but that doesn¡¯t mean¡ª¡± ¡°¡ªand also,¡± he continued, holding up his hand, ¡°you cannot deny that we may need his aid if we¡¯re to end this quickly.¡± Alex¡¯s mouth fell open in shock and disbelief. ¡°He¡¯s a seventeen-year-old boy, Lord Besh.¡± ¡°Yes, he is. And he¡¯s one who has shown himself highly proficient in dealing with these thugs. How many of the enemy did he kill singlehandedly? I was in awe watching him cut through the Gentlemen. He¡¯s a true warrior.¡± Trying to control his disgust, Alex said, ¡°He might appear that way, but he¡¯s also just a boy, and what he went through last night is going to take a toll on him. He needs to rest and reset, and he¡¯s only just gotten to the Island of Elendroth after traveling for hours. In fact, it should be around noon there right now local time. He¡¯s probably exhausted and emotionally drained. Do you think he¡¯s going to respond well to being told to come back to North Bastia to fight in a war? If Vim had such an issue with him leaving, he should have said something before Zach left. He knew where Zach was heading and for how long.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe Vim¡¯s intentions were bad,¡± Lord Besh replied. ¡°When the war began, the Royal Roses and the People of Virtue had the upper hand, and it looked like the battle would last only a few hours. Now, it¡¯s been just about one full day and Vim has already lost thousands of troops as well as dozens of leveled guild members, and unless we hurry, our forces will be driven completely out of the city.¡± He sighed. ¡°Even with the combined might of North Bastia¡¯s guilds united as one, we aren¡¯t likely to strike a decisive blow tonight. Most likely, we¡¯ll be caught up in street-by-street combat. It could be weeks before we reach¡ªand arrest¡ªSir Morrison.¡± Alex rubbed his face, suddenly feeling weary. ¡°It¡¯s just that this isn¡¯t what¡­¡± He let the thought go unfinished, but Lord Besh finished it for him. ¡°This isn¡¯t what I promised you it¡¯d be. Is that what you were going to say? Be honest.¡± ¡°It¡­it is what I was thinking.¡± ¡°Well, know this, Lord Oren. I did not lie to you. When I asked you to join the Lords of Justice, I meant every word of what I said to you: and my intentions are still to have you serve as the chief diplomat of humanity. I never intended to have you or my guild be caught up in this awfulness. But how was I to know that any of this would happen? The Guild of Gentlemen were at war with the Royal Roses and the People of Virtue: not the Lords of Justice. Attacking us the way they did¡ªit was unthinkable. It was a treachery beyond imagine.¡± As upsetting as all this was, Alex could not actually disagree with it. The fact that Sir Morrison would attack the other three large guilds that ruled humanity and drag them into the war was a decision that made absolutely no sense and that hardly seemed real. It only reinforced Alex¡¯s fear that the man must have something up his sleeve to be so audacious, as he did not strike Alex as stupid or insane. ¡°Seeing as how you haven¡¯t even been sworn in yet, if you would like to abandon your oath, I¡¯ll allow it. But I must know now. If you want no part in this, I swear on the soul of my father I will not bear you any ill will, and you are free to leave.¡± ¡°No,¡± Alex said firmly. ¡°I agreed to defend the guild and the people when I joined, and as much as I absolutely loathe violence, I won¡¯t shy away from it when necessary. Sir Allistair Morrison is an abhorrent, evil stain on humanity, and he must be stopped. And if I¡¯m there, maybe I can help minimize civilian casualties in the process.¡± Alex grimaced as he reflected on the current estimate¡ªlikely on the lower side¡ªof the number of innocent people who¡¯d been caught in the crossfire. ¡°I am likely speaking out of turn here, but I¡¯m really not happy with Sir Alazar¡¯s conduct¡ªif I may be so bold as to say so.¡± ¡°None of us are,¡± Lord Besh agreed with a nod. ¡°Those fighter jets of his¡­they are an abomination. Peter I rid the world of those death machines for a reason. That¡¯s why the other guilds¡ªand ours included, of course¡ªfully expect Lord Alazar to destroy them after the war, and rest assured, there will be diplomatic consequences if he refuses. But more to the point¡±¡ªLord Besh grabbed his wrist and squeezed it reassuringly¡ª¡°you are a good man, and I¡¯m glad to have you among our ranks.¡± Abruptly, Lord Besh¡¯s tone became apologetic. ¡°As far as the Zachys Calador issue is concerned, I truly wish I could do more, but I¡¯m afraid I simply cannot.¡± This is going to be a nightmare, Alex thought as his phone vibrated in his pocket yet again. Once more, he did not answer it, as he still did not know what to say. As things were, the sharp-tongued guild-leader of the Royal Roses had been hounding him nonstop for the past few hours. He wanted Alex to get into contact with Zach and deliver his ¡°summons¡± to return for battle, as he appeared to think he himself would be unable to convince him: which he definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to. He seemed to think Alex, on the other hand, could. And he was probably right. If Alex spoke with Zach, he probably could indeed convince him to return. Yet there was no way that was happening. Not only was Zach not old enough to be fighting in a war in the first place, but what he needed most right now was to improve his state of mind, not damage it further. Given the urgency of the situation, Alex had not been able to speak with Zach after the events of last night, and now, as he reflected on the boy¡¯s condition during their panicked trip northward to Whispery Woods, he shuddered as he recalled the shape Zach had been in. The boy had been cackling, whispering to himself, and blurting things out. An ache of sorrow and compassion ignited in his chest as he realized he really should have spoken to him before he¡¯d departed. There¡¯s no way I can allow Zach to participate in this. It¡¯s not happening! Given the high possibility that the 3rd Battalion would be joining the gruesome battle to retake Shadowfall Coast tonight, Alex was short on time. Even still, this was important, and he needed to deal with it. It was time for him to have a word with Vim Alazar, the leader of the Royal Roses. Zach could not be roped into this any more than he already had. Not just for his own sake, but for the sake of the world. Chapter 121: Global Crisis Chapter 121: Global Crisis Charging forward along the gravel-covered road, Zach clung to the rough, coarse hair on the scruff of his war-mount¡¯s neck with his left hand, and with his right, he both extended his arm and swung his sword in the same motion, shattering the shield of an Avislicer Guardian with an echoing crack and causing the avian-faced mob to fall over onto its back. Yet before it even hit the ground, Zach spun his body, hopped off the side of his mount, and then raced over to where it was about to pick itself back up. Quickly, he plunged his blade straight down into its chest, finishing off the creature and earning a heavily reduced +1200xp for his efforts. As his mount continued onwards without him and began to rip apart two Marauding Avislicers that seemed intent on barring their passage, he hurried over to where Kalana and Ruby were fighting side by side. ¡°Are you guys okay?¡± he asked them both. ¡°Mhm,¡± Kalana said, though she was breathing heavily. ¡°We¡¯re okay,¡± Ruby agreed, licking her chops just before tearing into the throat of a Marauding Avislicer for 40,133 damage, killing it. ¡°Good job, Ruby,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Thank you, Mommy Kalana!¡± she replied, chirping. Zach sighed. He¡¯d more or less gotten over the fact that his card and item had been stolen from him in the same accidental action, and he¡¯d become far more fascinated than anything else. At the very least, the two of them seemed to make a pretty good team. Zach watched as they finished off the small group they were battling while, right around the same time, his Kralzek¡¯s Beast ended the two marauders it¡¯d been dealing with; releasing a roar, the saber-toothed cat turned around and hurriedly returned to Zach¡¯s side. Now, having cleared out yet another bunch of mobs, he turned his sights on the gate that was nearly upon them at the end of the mob-ridden path. Can¡¯t believe how much shit we just killed, he thought to himself, wiping sweat from his brow. Though both he and Kal were sweating, his perspiration was due more to the heat than anything else, whereas Kal was showing clear signs of fatigue. Zach, on the other hand, was completely energized and felt like he hadn¡¯t even begun to exert himself yet thanks to the stamina regeneration ability on his Sword of Light Amidst Darkness. For the past thirty-five minutes, he, Kalana, Ruby, and the war-mount had torn their way through so many of the mobs that Zach couldn¡¯t begin to guess how many they¡¯d killed. Not only had they had to cut down group after group of the ones that either stood in their way on the path or wandered back and forth along it, but occasionally they¡¯d triggered an alarm and had to deal with reinforcements from nearby villages. Sometimes, these alarms would even cause mobs that they¡¯d already killed¡ªand had recently respawned¡ªto join the swarm of angry Avislicers. There was also the infrequent wagon that aggroed onto them, increasing the pressure and intensity of the nonstop combat. Several times, Zach¡ªand now Kalana, too¡ªhad tried to call out various things to the Avislicers regarding the king of the slug clan, hoping to unlock more of that weird quest stuff in order to bypass having to deal with some of the mobs in their way. But so far, they hadn¡¯t been able to spark anything like the earlier event, which meant they¡¯d had to fight their way all the way over here to the front gates of the walled-in mini-city. Given the sheer number of enemies that¡¯d stood in their path, it was incredible they¡¯d managed to push through as fast as they had; naturally, a lot of that was due to the presence of Ruby and his war-mount. And even despite the tremendously reduced experience points per kill on each of the mobs, the four of them had slain such a ridiculous number of Avislicers that Zach had still earned more than 120k xp from it all.
To Next Level 169,632/215,000
I just can¡¯t believe this place is real, Zach thought, caught in a perpetual state of amazement. It¡¯s like we¡¯re on a different planet and not Galterra. Although slaying the same few types of Avislicer mobs over and over had quickly become monotonous, it never stopped being captivating to Zach. This was because he¡¯d gone almost all of his life without ever seeing a mob outside of the yearly, publicly broadcast tournaments, and now here he was, finding himself inside of something akin to a little kingdom with thousands of them inhabiting it. It was yet another sharp reminder of just how different Galterra thousands of years ago must have been from the Galterra that was lived in today. ¡°You ready to keep going?¡± Zach asked. ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡± Fewer than two-hundred feet ahead of them was the end of the gravel-covered road, whereupon a giant metal gate served as the shuttered entrance to a miniature, city-like cluster of antiquated-looking structures. From the defenses atop the stone wall and the movement that could be seen from Avislicers scurrying about, Zach knew they would not have any easier a time getting inside than they¡¯d had fighting their way over here. With a nod of her head and a quickly flashed thumbs-up, Kal indicated she was good to go. Even still, Zach worried he was pushing her too hard; if not for his sword, he would be crawling on the gravel right now, too exhausted to continue walking upright on two feet let alone resume battling all these strange bird-human mobs. Yet he''d been pretty lucky with his stamina proc: very lucky, in fact. Or maybe it wasn¡¯t luck at all and was simply the natural result of slashing so many mobs so many times with his blade that it was inevitable. Either way, the result was the same: Zach was still at full stamina and his duration of Unleashed Phase had skyrocketed to an unbelievable 1:23:04. It was almost getting to the point of being worrying. What would he do if it continued to rise? What if he ended up with a duration lasting several days by the time they were done with this quest? Certainly, he didn¡¯t think Kal would want to sleep in the same bed as him while he was glowing and shooting off embers and black smoke. Realizing this, Zach had begun to liberally make use of his various abilities during the past half hour, throwing out Wave Slashes, Phase Slashes, and a few Phase Cannons with regular frequency. It was partially why they were able to push through as fast as they had. Yet even that hadn¡¯t been enough to stop the steady increase of his remaining duration. And now that they had nearly arrived at what Zach was sure would turn out to be the quest location, he decided not to hold back and to use as many abilities as he wanted. He eyed four mobs atop the wall ahead of them in the distance that were standing before the ballistae as though intent on firing the moment one or more eligible targets came into range. With his stats as high as they were, Zach didn¡¯t think the ancient-looking war machines were actually capable of seriously harming him, but even still, he saw little reason to take any unnecessary chances. So with that thought in mind, he extended his palm, fired off four consecutive Phase Cannon attacks, and destroyed the machines along with the Avislicers nearby that were waiting to operate them. Unlike his Wave Slash, which traveled¡ªand very often cut¡ªstraight through wherever it was aimed, and unlike Phase Slash, which dealt a heavy, but concentrated burst of damage to a single target, Zach¡¯s Phase Cannon exploded wherever it struck, and so it damaged anything near its location of impact in addition to whatever it hit, making it very useful for attacking enemies that happened to be grouped together; this, he¡¯d learned on the way over here. Having had so much excess duration on his Unleashed Phase to spare, he¡¯d finally gotten the chance to experiment with his abilities, and he was rapidly gaining a feel for what was best to use in any given situation. Right now, his Phase Cannon was ideal. Thus, one after the next, his hand snapped and recoiled with each use of the ability; four consecutive bangs were followed by four consecutive booms along with a series of cracks thrown into the mix. Zach watched with satisfaction as each ballista was blown apart into many different pieces along with the unusually low-HP Avislicers that were operating them, all of which died in a single hit.
HP 0/8,000
Name Avislicer Engineer
Level 44
Immediately after, a pillar of smoke rose from a small area on top of the wall where he¡¯d concentrated his fire. At the same time, his war-mount gagged up its own cannon and fired it several times as well, exploding several crossbow-wielding Avislicers farther along the wall while Kalana summoned meteors down on top of several more in a separate section. Scanning the wall with his eyes, Zach began to unleash several more Phase Cannons wherever he saw trouble, and for a short while, the warm air filled with the constant sound of destruction as the three of them obliterated the mini-city¡¯s defenses and vaporized nearby Avislicers¡ªand all while blasting away numerous bits of stone and brick, sending plenty of both scattering. The combined power of their assault made it so that before another half a minute had come and gone, they¡¯d eliminated all of the defenses atop the wall and had left huge chunks of it missing near the central gate¡ªearning Zach yet another 10k experience points in the process. And with that, he reckoned they should now be able to approach the city¡¯s entrance safely. Wow, we sure tore the wall up, Zach thought, amazed. They¡¯d left holes and cracks in so many different sections that it almost looked like they¡¯d bombed it¡ªjust like the Royal Roses had bombed Shadowfall Coast right before Zach had butchered so many people so fast that he couldn¡¯t even recall how many of them he¡¯d actually killed. Stop it, he warned himself as a sinking feeling of fear entered into his chest. The fear wasn¡¯t because of the memory in his head but more so the worry that it would cause him to become a bit ¡°off¡± like before. You got this out of your system already, remember? So just stop it. Do you want her to think you¡¯re fucking crazy? Pull it together. For just the briefest moment, his lips sank into a frown. Yet he caught himself right away and promptly reverted to a smile before Kalana had a chance to see it. Yet even still, the dismay he felt in his heart must have somehow come through on his face, because after turning towards him, Kalana tilted her head curiously as though spotting his rising fear. Then she slightly opened her mouth as if worried; thinking quickly, Zach improvised. He took a deep breath then sighed, pushing it all away. ¡°Sheesh,¡± he said, watching as more plumes of smoke rose up into the air from the various destructive abilities dished out by him, Kal, and his war-mount. ¡°All this effort for a few healing stones that we won¡¯t even get to keep.¡± Kalana studied his expression a moment as if uncertain. ¡°I thought you looked upset just now. Is it ¡®cause you¡¯re mad about money again?¡± Zach forced a laugh. ¡°Just a passing thought. Don¡¯t worry about it. I guess I¡¯m still coping with the fact we¡¯re giving our hard-earned healing stones away.¡± Kalana elbowed him playfully, reminding Zach that, even despite her apparent exhaustion, she still had plenty of energy left in her. ¡°It¡¯s for a good cause!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ruby agreed, nodding twice then licking Kalana¡¯s face. ¡°It¡¯s for a good cause.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Okay, I¡¯m fine, he thought. Together with Kal, Ruby, and his war-mount, he proceeded down the last stretch of gravel-covered road until the gravel changed into a paved, tiled pathway as they at last arrived at the foot of the metal gate. It was a massive, impenetrable-looking structure that spanned the entire distance from the ground to the top of the wall and loomed over him like an unmovable giant. The sight of it threatened to rouse the part of Zach¡¯s brain responsible for level-1 thinking, though not for long. He soon reminded himself that nothing was impenetrable. And hell, even if it was, it still wouldn¡¯t matter because if he jumped as high as he could, he¡¯d easily clear the fifty-foot wall and land back down directly inside the mini-city. Yet given that he¡¯d have no clue what kind of situation would be waiting for him, he thought it better to first try going through the gate. For a moment, he stared up at it in contemplation, but not a few seconds later, he turned his eyes to regard Kalana. ¡°You know, I bet I can just kick it really hard and knock it down¡ªor at the very least punch a hole straight through it.¡± Kalana sheathed her daggers then flicked her chin with her index finger a few times as if in thought. ¡°Umm, yeah, that¡¯ll probably work. You could also use your ring-thingy, too.¡± ¡°True,¡± Zach said, nodding. ¡°My blasting ring.¡± ¡°Ohh, is that what it¡¯s called?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Gesturing with his chin for her and Ruby to take a few steps back, he spread his legs, planted his feet, and prayed he didn¡¯t get sent flying. Raising his arm and making a fist, he pointed the ring directly at the metal gate and prepared to activate it. Yet a mere instant before he unleashed a massive beam almost certainly powerful enough to blast right through the entrance, he shook his head and lowered his arm, unclenching his fist in the process. ¡°Actually, that¡¯s a bad idea, Kal.¡± ¡°Huh? How come?¡± ¡°Because we have no idea where the king of the slug can is, and if for some reason he¡¯s standing on the other end of that gate, the beam from my ring will go right through it and probably kill it, and then we¡¯ll fail the quest. The same goes for bashing or kicking the gate in and sending it flying. With my luck, it¡¯ll end up slamming into the king of the slug clan and squishing it.¡± Kalana released a nervous chuckle. ¡°Oh, right. Good thinking, baby. You do have really bad luck when it comes to kicking down doors.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even remind me,¡± Zach grumbled as he recalled that freak, one-in-a-million ¡°incident¡± in Yorna¡¯s just a few days ago. Kalana had said something that pissed him off, and so in anger, he¡¯d bashed in the door that led from B9 to B10 only to have it ricochet off a wall an entire flight of stairs below them and come right back up before crashing into Zach. I definitely have bad luck with door-bashing, he thought with a shudder. ¡°So¡­what should we do?¡± Kalana asked. She glanced around as if searching for something. ¡°I dunno if we can open it from this side. The chain-thingy that makes it go up and down is on the other end.¡± Zach thought for a moment. Then he snapped his fingers as an idea popped into his head relatively quickly. ¡°I can use my Phase Cannon,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯ll probably destroy it without risking too much damage to whatever¡ªor whoever¡ªis inside the city. It¡¯s not completely risk-free, but it¡¯s better than kicking it in or using my ring.¡± ¡°Sounds good to me,¡± she said with a cute smile. Zach nodded at her, and she returned with a nod of her own. Then he oriented his body so that he once more faced the metal gate. With that, he lifted his arm yet again, though this time, instead of making a fist, he extended his hand with his palm flat and pointing in the direction of the gate. Now, with his target before him, he activated Phase Cannon. Right away, his arm jolted backwards as a deep, ominous boom echoed off the wall and gate in front of him while a muzzle-like flash¡ªonly far brighter¡ªbriefly flickered in front of his hand. Given the very short distance between where he stood and the gate he was firing on, almost instantly after the boom came a loud cross between a bang and a ping, one that actually seemed to reverberate and have a louder echo than the initial sound. Following this, a screeching, grating sort of noise briefly rang out as the gate became dislodged from its roundish frame; then, finally, there was another loud, startling bang as it flopped backwards and crashed into the ground, causing a slight sensation of vibration beneath Zach¡¯s two feet. The impact with the ground also caused a screen of dust to rise into the area, obscuring his view of whatever lay beyond, yet it only lasted a few moments and quickly settled. But as it faded, Zach¡¯s eyes detected motion, and now, he could see that several forms were heading their way. ¡°It looks like we¡¯ve got a bunch of mobs coming,¡± he said, readying his sword. To his side, he could hear Kalana unsheathe her daggers. ¡°I guess knocking down the gate caused me to aggro whatever was right behind it.¡± ¡°Be careful, Zach,¡± Kalana said in warning. ¡°These ones are higher level.¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°I can see them.¡± ¡°Through the dust?¡± ¡°Mhm. Elvish eyes, remember?¡± ¡°Oh yeah, right.¡± Due to the dust that¡¯d been kicked up, it took Zach a bit longer than Kalana to see what was heading their way, and when he did, he saw that Kalana was indeed correct¡ªand that these were definitely higher-level mobs. Thus far, everything they had fought in the Avikin Grounds had been between levels 27 and 40 and were not particularly difficult to deal with. Zach didn¡¯t think the pack of mobs sallying out to face them would be too much worse, either, but he decided to be cautious and stay on guard just in case. As mob after mob emerged from within the city, Zach wasn¡¯t able to tell just yet how many of them were coming at them, but it was definitely more than a dozen. And as the first of them came into view, his eyes were immediately drawn to it. Keenly, he observed the bird-headed, human-bodied mob that was moving directly towards him. These guys look like they mean business.
HP 95,000/95,000
Name Avislicer Guardsman A
Level 52
Unlike the other Avislicers he¡¯d fought so far, these ones were taller, bulkier, and had thicker patches of hair on their shoulders along with thicker wings. They also wore armor, too: shiny, glistening armor that cast off the sun¡¯s rays and could actually sting Zach¡¯s eyes if observed from certain angles. They also wielded massive, two-handed greatswords that looked daunting and deadly. There were five of these creatures in total¡ªat least so far that Zach could see¡ªand each one made loud, angry squawks as they stormed their way over to Zach. Oh, and one of them spoke. ¡°Defend the city!¡± the leading one cried. ¡°Zachys Caldor, the human, and Kalana Vayra, the Elvish female, and Ruby Vayra, the raptor female, have all come for the slug king. They will not succeed!¡± Upon hearing these words, Zach had really hoped it¡¯d be like before where he¡¯d have options of things to say in response that he could pick from, but nope, the bird guy just kept marching his way towards him and Kalana with four others behind him and quite a few more behind those. And though Zach did not require their confirmation¡ªas he had already decided to rely on his own judgement regarding something¡¯s sentience¡ªthe fact that Ruby¡¯s name had been mentioned but not his war-mount strongly suggested that Zach was correct about the uh¡­the hell was it called again? The thing that Ruby was. It was on the tip of his tongue. Oh, for fuck¡¯s sake, the bird thing just said it a second ago. It was something with an ¡°r.¡± What the hell was she¡­oh, oh yeah, right! Raptor. It suggested that he was right about the raptor having become self-aware. Zach flicked his eyes in Kalana¡¯s direction to glean if she was thinking the same thing. She wasn¡¯t. Her mind was on something else entirely. ¡°Awwh!¡± she squeaked excitedly. ¡°He called you Ruby Vayra. That means you have my last name. That¡¯s so, so cute. I love you, Ruby.¡± ¡°I love you too, mommy Kalana. We¡¯re best friends now.¡± Kalana¡¯s cheeks puffed up. ¡°Zach! Zach, look at how adorable and well-behaved Ruby is,¡± she said, petting the top of her rough, scaly head. Each pat caused the raptor¡¯s tongue to lick the air almost as if it were an automatic reaction to being pet. ¡°Do you see how cute she is?¡± ¡°Yeah, so cute,¡± Zach muttered dryly. ¡°She¡¯s such a good girl. Maybe she can set a good example for Fluffles.¡± ¡°Totally,¡± he said with a roll of his eyes. Fluffles is just as well-behaved, he thought to himself defiantly and defensively. He is! Kind of. Sometimes. He¡¯s just as good a boy. I don¡¯t care what anybody says. My cat is the best. With a rush of enemies closing in, Zach shut down the extraneous thoughts and focused his attention on fighting. ¡°Focus up, Kal. We¡¯ve got mobs to fight.¡± He inhaled. ¡°Wave Slash!¡± Several of the mobs were oriented in a line, and Zach saw this as an opportunity to hit a bunch of them. He sliced the air diagonally downwards with his blade, leaving behind a green, patchy, cloud-like clump of energy, which quickly reformed itself into a double-bladed disc that took off in the direction of the rapidly approaching mobs. Though there wasn¡¯t enough distance for the Wave Slash to reach maximum speed¡ªthe point at which it would ignite and shoot flames and likewise deal its maximum damage¡ªit did come close. At the very least, it traveled fast enough to begin giving off its high-pitched whine when it tore a hole directly through the armored chest of the leading Avislicer Guardsman¡ªAvislicer Guardsman A¡ªdealing 32,900 damage and causing a spray of blood to stain the paved entryway along with several feathers that floated slowly to the ground. Continuing onwards, the Wave Slash struck Guardsman B for 19,211 damage, C for 17,403, and it narrowly missed D¡ªbut did manage to cut off a piece of E¡¯s shoulder blade for 11,405 before at last breaking apart midair and fading from existence. The impact also caused all four of the struck mobs to stagger somewhat, putting them outside of the straight line needed to hit them all with a second Wave Slash. Thankfully, their proximity to one another was still close enough for Zach to use his newest ability: Phase Cannon. Removing his right hand from his blade and throwing his palm forward, he fired his Phase Cannon three times in a row, which gave way to three booms and three flashes. Each Phase Cannon was then accompanied by a chorus of loud squawks as well as a scattering of blood and numerous bundles of feathers and hair. Zach¡¯s primary target, Avislicer Guardsman A, suffered a perfectly even 22,000 damage from the first blast, whereas B took 10,405, C took 11,506, and there was just too much going on for Zach to both see and mentally register what D and E took, though he was sure from the way they flinched, bled, and lost feathers, he¡¯d hit them both as well. Because of how quickly the second Phase Cannon landed after the first, the damage numbers all seemed to blend together, making it far more difficult for Zach to continue mentally taking stock of which mob took what. He was sure that A was hit for 20,007 and E was hit for 13,210, but the rest was just a blur. The same was true of the third blast, in which Avislicer Guardsman A was punished for another 20,110, and E was like¡­uh, maybe 12,500 or somewhere abouts. There were too many feathers floating around and blurred numbers for him to be sure. Now, slowed¡ªbut not halted¡ªthe five Avislicer Guardsmen quickly recovered and continued their charge, each having been depleted to some extent¡ªespecially Avislicer Guardsman A, who had gaping wounds all over his body, which was leaving behind puddles of blood as it hurried forward somewhat unevenly, squawking each step of the way.
HP 20,093/95,000
Name Avislicer Guardsman
Level 52
Flourishing his blade several times, Zach then slashed it downwards and yelled out, ¡°Phase Slash!¡± From the tip of his sword, a visible, rippling distortion in the air made its way with incredible speed towards the badly damaged Avislicer mob, and along with it came the eerily loud, high-pitched sound that was akin to closing a zipper on a jacket, only tremendously louder. In less time than the blink of an eye, the Phase Slash reached Zach¡¯s target, and in way that was similar to what had happened when using it on the roller-skating mobs in Archian Prime, the Avislicer popped upon impact¡ªsimply popped, sending steaming, smoking clumps of gore and bone a short distance up into the air before thankfully landing onto the paved entryway to the city without any getting on Zach. A big piece of arm did come close, though; with a thwack, it landed right in front of his feet. +2050xp Zach could only imagine how much more the mob would have been worth if it hadn¡¯t been for Kalana, his war-mount, and Ruby. Since all three were higher level than both Zach and the mobs they were fighting, the xp penalty was pretty steep. Even still, it was better than nothing, and Zach had plenty of time left on Unleashed Phase to quickly earn himself some more: over an hour, in fact.
Unleashed Phase Duration 1:07:05 Remaining
Grinning, Zach eyed Avislicer Guardsman B. This one was also pretty banged up, though not quite to the extent A had been, which was to be expected since it hadn¡¯t been the primary target of any of the attacks. Nevertheless, Zach didn¡¯t think he¡¯d have too much of an issue putting a quick end to the creature.
HP 54,384/95,000
Name Avislicer Guardsman
Level 52
Swinging his sword, raising it, and then swinging it a second time, Zach threw out another two rapid Phase Slashes, both of them aimed at Avislicer Guardsman B. The first one caused its entire upper torso to detonate and rip open, revealing bones, a heart, and its ribcage while dealing 39,310, and the second hit for 36, 207 and resulted in the ¡°pop,¡± which Zach was beginning to realize happened whenever his Phase Slash struck the killing blow on a mob for significantly more HP than it had left to give. He saw the +2050xp pop up into the air as the mob¡¯s superheated, sizzling, and smoking insides splattered randomly down in all directions. With so much time to work with, Zach let loose a chain of abilities with a seamless rapidity that he never would¡¯ve imagined doing before today. With no concern for time, he sent another Wave Slash hurtling forward, followed by two more uses of Phase Cannon, and then a couple of Phase Slashes to clean up. By the time he was done, all but Avislicer Guardsman E had perished, and this one did actually manage to make it to Zach, albeit in awful shape. The creature¡¯s armor was mostly gone¡ªhaving been blown off¡ªand it was bloodied in more places than Zach could count. It was also down to less than 8,000HP. With a squawk, it raised both its arms and whirled its blade with tremendous force down on Zach. Given that this was a creature in its 50s, Zach was not willing to take any chances. With careful precision, and using all of his strength, he swung his sword from right to left, striking his enemy¡¯s greatsword and succeeding in knocking it away. Then he swung in the opposite direction¡ªleft to right¡ªand ripped his blade across the mob¡¯s chest, dealing 17,903 damage and eliminating it. +2,050xp As it vanished from the world, Zach again flourished his sword. The first five out of the gate were dead, and many more were approaching: a far more significant number of them, in fact. Too many for him to bother stopping to count. Thankfully, he was not alone. Ruby and his Kralzek¡¯s Beast both darted forward into battle, and so too did Kalana. Zach began to charge in with them, but he stopped as Kalana called out to him in warning. ¡°No! We¡¯ve got the Guardsmen mobs covered,¡± she said. ¡°You gotta go after the sorcerers and the healers!¡± ¡°The what?¡± She pointed with her dagger. Just beyond the gate, Zach saw that several small groupings of mobs were hanging back and not coming any closer. Both looked very similar: they were stubby, far shorter than the Guardsman, wore robes, and all were carrying a staff. But there was one difference to behold: some of these mobs had long, human-like beards hanging down from their beaks, whereas others didn¡¯t. Aside from that, it was difficult to tell them apart other than looking at their name, level, and HP, which were decidedly different. The ones with the beards were sorcerers, which Zach assumed meant they¡¯d fight like mages, and the ones without them were healers. I had no idea mobs could heal other mobs.
HP 55,000/55,000
Name Avislicer Sorcerer
Level 55
HP 35,000/35,000
Name Avislicer Cleric
Level 50
¡°Are you sure you¡¯ll be okay, Kal?¡± he asked. ¡°I will. Promise!¡± ¡°I will protect mommy Kalana,¡± Ruby assured him. He smiled at her, and it wasn¡¯t forced. Then he used Phase Blink to quickly move beyond the rush of greatsword-wielding, Avian warriors that were gunning for Kalana, Ruby, and his war-mount. Now, following the sensation of the world shifting, he found himself behind all of them and directly in front of a loudly squawking, staff-wielding Avislicer, whose staff began to glow a bright fiery orange as though it were casting something. ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t!¡± Zach shouted. He had no idea what the creature was doing, but he was not going to simply stand by and let it happen. Lashing out with his blade, he was pleased to discover that, despite being a level-55 mob, the Avislicer Sorcerer took far more damage from his blade than he would have expected, proving itself to be weak to melee attacks. Even with 55,000HP, it only took two strikes of Zach¡¯s blade to put an end to the mob, the first hitting for 43,700 and the second hitting for 40,107. +2500xp The same was true about the angrily squawking sorcerer beside it. Much like its friend, its staff began to shine a fiery orange, and Zach took it down in two quick strikes¡ªor at least, he should have. But after his first strike nearly decapitated the robe-wearing, bipedal avian, its body began to light up and give off little blue sparkling lights, and its HP miraculously rose back to full. It was only after paying attention to his peripheral vision that Zach saw one of the healers off to his right casting a spell on it. With an even greater speed, Zach struck out twice more, landing each hit fast enough so that he killed the sorcerer before it could be healed, the first ripping open its throat and the second carving a crater into its chest. It also caused a return of the green aura as his stamina buff proc¡¯d, helping him to regain some of the considerable time he¡¯d spent just in the past few moments; still, he had just shy of an hour left on his duration. ¡°This shouldn¡¯t be too hard,¡± he whispered to himself. ¡°I¡¯ve been in tough spots before. This isn¡¯t one of them. All I need to do is¡ªwait a minute, is that¡­? Oh, shit. It is!¡± Zach¡¯s thoughts took a sudden, immediate turn as he spotted something ahead of him. For the first time, he was able to really take a look at the walled-in city, and it was so breathtakingly incredible. He just couldn¡¯t believe that this was real. There were several streets with ¡°homes¡± lining both sides, and all along these streets as well as in front of each home¡ªand likely inside¡ªwere mobs. There were mobs everywhere. There were carts and wagons riding up and down the streets, and there were a few open spaces that had large concentrations of them just standing around and sort of¡­well, ¡°existing.¡± Many of these mobs had likely been standing in one spot and doing nothing for thousands of years. And the ones casually walking up and down the streets had likely been pacing back and forth for just as long. Just waiting: for thousands of years. Waiting for someone to come into this surreal mini-city and fight them. Unfortunately, they¡¯d be waiting a bit longer¡ªor maybe forever¡ªbecause the idea of fighting his way through this walled-in den of Avislicers was not one he could entertain. This place was jam-packed with so many mobs he actually became intimidated at the idea of what would happen if they all aggroed him at once. Despite having just gotten here, he was more than ready to leave. And then he saw it. In the center of the city just at the end of a two-way street lined with primitive, cabin-like homes on both sides, and tied to a chair large enough to seat ten normal-sized people, Zach spotted a tremendous, neon-blue-colored, crown-wearing slug creature with a name above his head that was visible even from this distance written in bold green lettering.
HP ??/??
Name Rup-Rup, the King of the Slug Clan
Level 85
Even as Zach was casually flicking his wrist and decapitating a healer with his sword, which earned him +1500xp, he widened his eyes at the sight of slug king. Finally, he found the guy. Though, all things considered, he¡ªor it¡ªwas really hard to miss. Like the ¡°peons¡± that Zach had fought with Kalana, the ¡°slug¡± king looked more humanoid than slug. Though it had two long antennae attached to the top of its vaguely slug-like face, and though it peered out at the world from behind two big orange dots that passed for eyes, the slug king had hands, feet, and a torso. It was actually kind of like the Avislicer mobs in that regard; though, in all honesty, the Avislicer mobs did look more bird than the slug king looked slug. If nothing else, it did give off a constant dripping of slime. By far, however, the slug king¡¯s most noticeable feature was its size. Ten people combined would still be smaller than the massive, neon-blue NPC that they had been searching for. Gods, it was huge. But even more important than its size was its distance. A nervous pinch worked its way into Zach¡¯s stomach as he stared in awe at the sheer number of various Avislicer mobs that separated where he currently stood with where he¡¯d need to go in order to reach the slug king. Ducking down to his knees, a spinning, rotating disc made of an eerily reddish fire sailed over his head. Jumping back up, Zach spun around and swung his sword in a circular arc, cutting the entire head off the sorcerer that had fired it before lunging towards another. This is bad, he thought. I don¡¯t think we can do this. As Zach craned his neck and took in his immediate surroundings, he became confused: very much so. Something wasn¡¯t quite adding up. Right now, Kalana, Ruby, and his war-mount were doing just fine: better than fine, actually. The three were making steady progress killing off the remaining few mobs that had charged out of the gate, and at their current pace, they¡¯d be entering the city shortly. Even still, it was not nearly good enough. Already, Zach could see mobs respawning from the direction of the gravel-covered road behind them, and he could hear an alarm being activated from a nearby village¡ªwhich meant even more mobs were heading to Kalana. Naturally, she¡¯d have to deal with them. But by the time she did that, some of the ones Zach had killed would probably have respawned. And assuming she killed all of those, they¡¯d have to then begin an incredibly slow and difficult journey towards the slug king, who was only a few blocks away but may as well have been a few-hundred miles away for all that it mattered. This can¡¯t be right, he thought. The sheer, unfathomable number of mobs that they would have to deal with to get to their quest NPC was such that Zach was forced to conclude the task was well and truly impossible. Despite the quest recommending just three to five adventurers between levels 45 and 50, Zach estimated that fighting their way through would require something closer to fifteen or maybe even twenty. There were just that many of them. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. In fact, even now, as he fought to take down more of the healers before they could aid their fellow Avislicers, in the corner of his eyes, Zach spotted nine Avislicer Guardsmen exiting a medium-sized hut not far from the two-way street that led to the king of the slug clan. All nine turned and charged in Zach¡¯s direction. He had no idea whatsoever how he¡¯d aggroed them, but clearly, he had. This is actually impossible, he thought. Unless he was missing something here¡ªand he didn¡¯t think he was¡ªthen even with the help of Ruby and his war-mount, the best he and Kal could hope for would be to fight to a constant standstill right by the entrance to the city, never making any progress forward but managing to avoid being pushed back. Given the fairly expedient respawn rate of the Avislicers, there was no chance in hell that they could actually push through. And even if they did, what then? How were they even supposed to save the king? Were they supposed to untie him and then slowly lead him out while fighting their way back through everything which would have respawned by that point? Why would the quest say 3-5 members? Zach wondered, becoming agitated and frustrated at the same time. It¡¯s clearly impossible. There¡¯s just no way. Backing away slightly, Zach chewed on his lip as he tried to make sense of things. Then the first of the Avislicer Guardsman mobs reached him, and from the way its two-handed greatsword caused the air to whine as it cut straight downwards through it, Zach didn¡¯t even bother to risk blocking. He instead leapt backwards and out of harm¡¯s way. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that, as predicted, the first 5 Avislicer Guardsman mobs he¡¯d killed had now respawned, forcing Kalana, Ruby, and the war-mount to deal with them. They hadn¡¯t even entered the city yet. From the look of disappointment on Kal¡¯s face, Zach could tell that she, too, was realizing that this was a task that they simply did not have the numbers for. So was the quest lying? Or mistaken? Assuming it wasn¡¯t, then what the hell were they expected to do here? With absolute certainty, fighting their way to the slug king was something he could rule out. Not with hundreds of mobs in the 50s to beat their way through. So what did that leave? Sneaking? Sure, he could turn invisible or Phase Blink his way there, but given the size of the mob, what would it matter? If he tried to carry that huge mob out he¡¯d just end up getting stabbed over and over while his arms were wrapped around it. He could potentially use Boundless and Phase Rescue, and in fact, with the gate knocked down, that would actually not be a terrible idea since the only requirement for Boundless was that he could physically see whatever he was targeting. Done that way, he could easily bring the king of the slug clan straight to him from a much safer position. But that just didn¡¯t feel right. Not because he thought of it as ¡°cheating¡± or whatever, but because the quest couldn¡¯t possibly have intended for that to be the solution. For all he knew, the quest might not even ¡°work¡± properly unless he physically moved to the king¡¯s location. How could he be sure the king would even follow him and not stand around like a statue if he used Phase Rescue? These, along with numerous other questions, plagued his mind and made him feel uncertain. Put simply, it just wasn¡¯t clear what, specifically, they were meant to do. In fact, the only thing that was clear was what they could not do, and in that case, it was any attempt at fighting their way to the king and back. It was out of the question. But then¡­if fighting could be ruled out, what did that leave them as far as their options were concerned? Maybe we have to try talking to these things again, he thought. It¡¯s at least worth a shot now that we know it¡¯s something that can actually matter and lead to things happening. Scrambling back and away from the nine greatsword-wielding, armor-wearing bird-men, all of which were gunning straight for him, Zach sucked air into his lungs and then opened his mouth. As loudly as he could, he shouted, ¡°Hand over the king of the slug clan!¡± Zach waited a moment¡ªand nothing happened. Then he waited another moment, but still, there was no discernible change around him. Finally, realizing that nothing was going to happen, he swore viciously at the mobs. Unsurprisingly, they didn¡¯t react to that either. But Kalana, on the other hand, did. At the moment, she was still just outside the toppled gate, which was close enough to Zach¡¯s position so as to be within earshot. And having clearly overheard what Zach had just attempted to do, she now seemed like she wanted to give it a try of her own. ¡°Give us the king of the slug clan, you mean birds!¡± she shouted. Like Zach, her words were clearly intended for no specific mob and were instead meant for the general area around her. ¡°We want the king of the slug clan!¡± ¡°Give us that,¡± Ruby chirped in agreement. ¡°Give us the thing mommy Kalana says she wants!¡± Following this, a few seconds came and went before Zach felt comfortable concluding that their attempts had also failed. As he continued to think on the problem, he dashed backwards to evade a strike from the massive sword of the mob in front of him, which slammed into the pavement with such force that a piece of stone actually got kicked up and bopped him painlessly on the side of his head. ¡°Did you hear us?¡± Zach shouted, ignoring it and trying yet again. ¡°We¡¯re here for the king of the¡­¡± Zach ended his words with a sigh, and he shook his head rather than finish his sentence. This was because he realized he was only wasting his time, energy and breath. Why even bother? They¡¯d just tried that and it didn¡¯t work. All he¡¯d end up doing would be yelling and making himself desperate as he shouted the same thing at a bunch of lifeless mobs over and over again. So instead, he tried a different, but similar course of action. ¡°Hand over the king of the slug clan, or I¡¯ll kill you all!¡± he threatened. He held his breath and waited for a reply, but still there was no reaction from any of the mobs. Nothing at all. Annoyed, he cursed in frustration as he guarded against a greatsword attack that was so powerful it caused his arms and wrists to ache with the shock of absorbing it. ¡°Give us the king of the slug clan and uh¡­I¡¯ll give you a rare item.¡± When that also didn¡¯t work, he licked his lips and thought of something else he could try saying; before he had the chance, however, Kalana beat him to it. ¡°Umm, please give us the king of the slug clan and we¡¯ll be your friend,¡± he heard her say from behind him. Nothing. ¡°Give us the king of the slug clan and we¡¯ll give you gold,¡± Zach half-shouted, half spoke. Nothing. Kalana grunted with what sounded like combat-related exertion then called out, ¡°Give us the king of the slug clan and we won¡¯t hurt anybody.¡± Nothing. Zach thought for a second before trying again as he and Kal settled into a pattern of taking turns trying whatever they could come up with. ¡°If you give us the¡­¡± Zach cut himself off mid-sentence and reworded his statement into a question. Loudly, he said, ¡°What do you want in exchange for the king of the slug clan? Can we trade you something for the king?¡± In truth, Zach genuinely did not believe that was going to work either, and indeed, like all the attempts before, he concluded after just a second or two that this attempt had also failed. Yet as Kalana began to voice another question of her own, the Avislicer Guardsman in front of Zach made a strange movement. Rather than press forward, the mob, whose greatsword was held high and was about to be slammed down on top of Zach, decided to take a full step backwards before lowering the weapon. And as it did so, the entire city abruptly became quiet. All at once, the noise from everything around him dropped off so suddenly that it was actually startling. In unison, the sorcerers and healers stopped casting, the nine mobs that¡¯d been pressing Zach came to a halt, and looking over his shoulder again, he saw that every one of them that¡¯d been attacking Kal now stood down. His war-mount had also stopped attacking¡ªeven without his command to do so¡ªbut Ruby, on the other hand, made as if to bite a now stationary Avislicer Guardsman. She stopped only as Kal gave her a gentle but firm pat on the top of her head as if to indicate that she should pause. Now, all three of them came hurrying over to Zach. He watched as they waded right through the mobs in front of them, which made no attempt to bar their passage. They remained perfectly frozen in some kind of inactive state. ¡°Is it happening?¡± she asked, excitement in her voice and a smile on her face. ¡°Did we¡­did we do it again?¡± ¡°I think so, Kal.¡± She sheathed her daggers, he sheathed his sword, and then she wrapped her arms around his waist and briefly pulled him into a hug. ¡°How did you know that would work?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t, but I kept trying it anyway because there¡¯s no way this quest can be done with just three to five people: not if it requires fighting our way in and out. I figured there had to be some other way we were supposed to do this, and after the first couple of things didn¡¯t work, I knew we still had to cross everything off the list before we concluded that speaking to them wouldn¡¯t work either. That was why I¡ª¡± ¡°So, you have come to barter with us!¡± interrupted an Avislicer sorcerer, which caused both Zach and Kalana to snap their heads in the direction of its voice. He watched as it exited one of the small wooden homes located along the two-way street about halfway to the king of the slug clan. It looked indistinguishable from any of the others, and it made a loud, angry squawking sound and flapped its wings in place before walking closer to where Zach stood next to Kalana, Ruby, and his war-mount. ¡°That is a bold move after all of our blood that you¡¯ve spilled, Zachys Calador, the human male!¡± Zach laughed. But on the inside, he was actually offended. For real. Something about the accusation rubbed him the wrong way and made him feel as if the blood in his face was draining away. Still, he got over it quickly and said, ¡°And I¡¯ll spill a lot more of it if you don¡¯t give us what we want.¡± His words caused Kalana to glare at him. ¡°What?¡± he said defensively, curling his lower-right lip. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what we say. You know that.¡± ¡°Nah-uh. It might. Don¡¯t go accidentally getting us into trouble, you dork.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± ¡°You better not.¡± Taking her gaze off Zach, a look of wonder came across her eyes as she, along with Zach, watched the Avislicer Sorcerer draw nearer. It paused when it was only a few feet from the two of them. ¡°Frrragh! Why should we listen to anything you have to say?¡± Zach excitedly waited for the list of possible replies to pop up, eager to see if he could scam these stupid birds out of another rare item. Yet, when nothing happened, he exchanged a confused look with Kalana as the two remained silent for nearly ten more seconds. Just as he was about to wonder aloud if something had gone wrong, the Avislicer continued to speak. ¡°Tell us why we should barter instead of killing you where you stand. Frrragh!¡± And now, upon these words, they were finally given a chance to choose a response. Appearing out of thin air slightly ahead and above them, Zach was presented with a list of options to choose from, and with limited time to make a choice, he immediately began reading them over.
A: ¡°Because there must be something in this world that will make you set aside your five-thousand-year-long war with the slug clan. Wouldn¡¯t it be great to finally end the bloodshed?¡±
B: ¡°Let us settle this with honor, then. Summon your strongest warrior and allow us to battle it!¡± [Teleport to Avislicer Arena]
C: ¡°You¡¯re right. We shouldn¡¯t barter, and this isn¡¯t a negotiation. Now, hand over a legendary item, 100,000 gold, and the king of the slug clan or mark my words: I shall slay every single one of you!¡± [50% chance of success. Failure = T2 (75%) or T3 (25%) consequence]
Time Remaining to Decide: 2:50
Almost at the exact same time that Zach finished reading, Kalana flashed him a look of dire warning, and before she said a word, Zach was already extending both his palms in her direction. ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know. Don¡¯t worry, Kal. I¡¯m not going with option C. Even I know that¡¯s too risky.¡± As tempting as a legendary item and 100k gold might have been, now that Zach knew what could possibly happen in the event of a T2 or T3 consequence, he was firmly against the idea of rolling the dice on it. Not even a 50% chance of success was high enough for him to risk him or Kal being sent to a ¡°dungeon¡± for up to fifty years or having their body parts mutilated. No way. Not for just a 50% chance of success. Now, if it had been more like, say, 75% or higher¡­ As he chuckled at the thought, Kalana¡¯s skepticism deepened, and he waved at her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he said. ¡°Option C is definitely out of the question, I promise. I know it¡¯s either got to be A or B.¡± ¡°It should be the first one,¡± Kalana said. ¡°We should choose A.¡± ¡°Think so?¡± She gave a quick bow of her head. ¡°Yeah, ¡®cause we have no idea what kind of thing we might be forced to fight if we choose B.¡± ¡°Yeah, but B seems like a way cooler option. Just think, Kal. We¡¯ll be teleported to an arena. Maybe there¡¯ll be thousands of mobs in seats watching us fight. It could be awesome.¡± ¡°I guess so, but Zach, it could also be death, too.¡± She folded her arms across her chest. ¡°I think we should do A. If you really wanna try B, I guess I¡¯m okay with it, but umm, definitely not C.¡± ¡°Fine, we¡¯ll go with choice A.¡± At this, her eyes seemed to light up. ¡°Can I do it, baby?¡± Zach again chuckled, but this time it was because he found her cute. ¡°Go ahead.¡± She made a giddy sound and stepped forward to tap her finger against the first selection. Then the choices screen vanished, her hands moved down to her sides, her body posture became more rigid, and with an impassioned, overly dramatic tone of voice, she said, ¡°Because! There must be something in this world that will make you set aside your five-thousand-year-long war with the slug clan.¡± Kalana stopped speaking and took several steps forward. She extended her hand and placed it on the Avislicer Sorcerer¡¯s feathery shoulder. And honest to God, no bullshit: she actually shed several tears out of both of her eyes as she gritted her teeth a moment before saying, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be great? To finally end this bloodshed!¡± The moment she finished speaking, she wiped her eyes, turned to Zach, and began to laugh uproariously, and so did he. ¡°Holy shit,¡± he said. ¡°I can¡¯t believe what I just saw.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe what I just did!¡± ¡°Were you actually sad, Kal?¡± ¡°Nope. I wasn¡¯t even sure until just now I was crying. I just felt water in my eyes.¡± Ruby made a moan and a grunt, causing both him and Kalana to look at the creature. ¡°Is Mommy Kalana okay?¡± ¡°Ohhh, no, no, everything¡¯s fine,¡± Kalana said, hurrying towards the raptor and kissing its nose. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I scared you, Ruby. That¡¯s supposed to happen. It¡¯s how the quest works.¡± The Avislicer Sorcerer shifted slightly so that it stood with a somewhat looser posture. Then its beak opened as it began to speak. ¡°It¡¯s not that we don¡¯t want peace. It¡¯s that the crimes of the slug clan¡¯s ancestors still haunt us to this day.¡± Having spoken those words, it closed its mouth, felt silent, and did little for the moment but stare vacantly into the distance. Kalana tapped Zach on the shoulder, and he turned to look at her. ¡°I wonder what the slug clan did,¡± she whispered to him. Zach had to stifle a chuckle at the realization that Kalana was actually ¡°getting into¡± this dumb storyline, which was clearly fictitious and not based on any real historical events. ¡°What do you think they did, Zach?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what they did!¡± the Avislicer shouted, abruptly becoming animated and causing Ruby to chirp in what Zach took as a sign of surprise. It then spread its wings, squawking loudly. ¡°Frrragh! They robbed our people of our treasure and our lives. For centuries, the Avislicers were slaves to the slug clan. That is what they did!¡± Once more, the mob stopped speaking. Zach and Kalana exchanged a brief glance. Then Kalana¡¯s expression lit up. ¡°It¡­it just answered my question,¡± she said, sounding shocked. ¡°I thought it couldn¡¯t understand anything we said. That was so cool!¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t actually answer your question,¡± Zach said, feeling bad for putting an end to her awe and excitement. She scrunched her lips at him. ¡°What do you mean? You saw what just happened.¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Yeah, and I would¡¯ve thought the same as you if I didn¡¯t already know better. But the truth is that even if you¡¯d said nothing at all, it still would¡¯ve replied with the exact same words in the exact same way. It only said what it said based on the assumption that anyone standing where we¡¯re standing would be likely to say we¡ªor in this case, you¡ªsaid.¡± ¡°And how do you know that?¡± Kalana asked, looking plainly unconvinced. Zach was more than happy to explain. ¡°The only reason I know this is because I learned it in Yorna during my fight with Moldark. Basically, some mobs or bosses or whatever go on these long-winded speeches, and then they pause in a way that seems really awkward until you realize why they do it. Basically, it¡¯s to let adventurers, like, ¡®participate¡¯ in the story or whatever. I don¡¯t know how to describe it. It¡¯s weird. But it¡¯s almost like they expect you to shout out responses or, I don¡¯t know, ¡®roleplay¡¯ or something like that, which is just way too cheesy for me.¡± ¡°That sounds so fun!¡± Kalana said giddily and enthusiastically. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t either until Moldark. He kept pausing each time he spoke about¡ª¡± Zach closed his mouth and let his words fall off as the Avislicer Sorcerer chose that exact moment to continue speaking. ¡°Yes. I know it¡¯s awful what they did to us. I don¡¯t need you to tell me that. Frrragh!¡± ¡°See?¡± Zach asked with a smirk, extending his hand at the creature. Kalana¡¯s only reply was to give him a playful smack on his butt. Now, the two of them waited around for the Avislicer Sorcerer to continue speaking, though they did not wait very long. Just a handful of seconds passed, and the creature again flapped its wings. ¡°Very well. There is perhaps one thing you can do to end this war and free the king of the slug clan, but it will not be so simple a task.¡±
A: ¡°Name it and it shall be done.¡±
B: ¡°On second thought, I¡¯ve decided I feel like killing everyone and looting your corpses. Time for genocide! Prepare to die!¡± [Attack]
C: ¡°Too much effort.¡± [Quest Failed]
Time Remaining to Decide: 0:45
¡°Not much to discuss on this one, yeah?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Mhm, this one seems pretty obvious.¡± Not even needing five seconds of the time they¡¯d been given to choose, Zach tapped the first option with his index finger, causing the options to fade away as he said, ¡°Name it and it shall be done. Wow, no dramatic speech for me, huh?¡± Kalana giggled. ¡°Don¡¯t pretend you wanted that.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I wanted to do it in the name of irony, Kal.¡± ¡°Maybe next time.¡± Having made their selection, it was here that things started to become very, very strange as a spectacular series of events unfolded: one that happened fast and caused no shortage of confusion and amazement in equal measure. And it all began with a squawk as the creature came even closer to them. Now, lifting its beak somewhat, the Avislicer Sorcerer said, ¡°We of the Avislicers require the Eye of the Ohorja. It is the only thing that will convince me and my brothers to free the king and return him to you. Until you retrieve it, the king will be kept here¡ªunharmed. But! As a gesture of good faith, you may feel free to reside here as a guest, and you may come and go as you please. You may also make use of our inn, our blacksmith, and our town¡¯s item and weapon shops. Good luck, adventurers!¡±
FACTION INFORMATION AND STATUS UNLOCKED
Faction Added Avislicers (Town Only)
Faction Status Friendly
Without rhyme, reason, or explanation, so much happened all at once that Zach thought he¡¯d become dizzy. From the moment the mob had finished speaking, the name of every single Avislicer inside this city¡ªor ¡°town,¡± whatever¡ªturned green as if to symbolize that they were ¡°friendly.¡± From a peek behind him, he saw that this didn¡¯t appear to be true of any of those outside of the walls, such as all of the ones they¡¯d had to fight through to get here. But wait. Did that then mean that all of the Avislicers within these walls would no longer attack or aggro onto them? That they could walk right up to the creatures without fear? It sure seemed to be the case¡ªas difficult as it was to believe. Yet before Zach could even begin to process the significance of this, even more stuff started happening. All around the mini-city or ¡°town¡± or whatever the hell this place was, several Avislicers located in seemingly random locations now had shimmering, golden exclamation points floating above their heads. Zach had never seen anything like it before. And in fact, the king of the slug clan also had a floating, golden exclamation point above his head. What was that all about? And why did the ¡°Avislicer Blacksmith¡± now have a giant, cartoonish illustration of a hammer and anvil above his head? This was just so Gods-be-damned confusing. Yet before Zach could dedicate even a single brain cell to understanding what he was seeing, a musical, joyful, and celebratory jingle played for just a few seconds, coming out of nowhere and startling him. It seemed to have an echo to it as well, and it took Zach a moment to realize that this was because he was hearing it twice at the same time: one from the spot in front of his face, and one from where Kalana stood next to him. ¡°Da-da-da-duuum!¡± The upbeat little jingle ended, and it was soon followed by a screen of information that materialized in the air.
QUEST COMPLETE! The King of the Slug Clan
Reward: +21,200xp, 8000g, 2x Red Rejuvenation Stone, 1x Yellow Rejuvenation Stone
For once, the utter, all-consuming confusion he felt was also on Kalana¡¯s face; her mouth had popped wide open in what Zach took to be stunned surprise. Then Zach guffawed in both shock and glee as he realized that both he and Kalana had each gotten their own rewards. ¡°Wait, time out. We don¡¯t have to share the rewards?¡± he asked as three beautiful gemstones and a satchel filled with coins came into existence and landed softly onto the paved ground just as the same took place before Kalana. ¡°I¡­I guess not!¡± Kalana replied, sounding just as joyful. Then she poked him in the chest. ¡°But you¡¯re still giving me those stones to help heal the people in Den of Ziragoth.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know. But I¡¯m keeping the coins.¡± She gave him a peck on the cheek. ¡°Fine.¡± Putting aside the loss of his beautiful stones¡ªthat could¡¯ve made him filthy rich¡ªhe opened his mouth slightly as he attempted to word one of a series of questions, all of which he was sure was on Kalana¡¯s mind, too: namely, what in the hell was going on here, why the hell was it going on, and most importantly, what did all of it mean? But he didn¡¯t get a chance to ask it, as two more things happened, one followed by the next.
LEVEL UP! 23(22)
Intelligence +20(167)
Dexterity +10(124)
XP Required for Level 24 265,000
Kalana made what Zach could only describe as an ¡°incomplete¡± gasp. She started to gasp, but then she quickly covered her mouth to stop herself. And though it was only there for a brief moment, Zach knew he did not mistake the flash of fear and uncertainty in her eyes that she wiped away so quickly he almost didn¡¯t see it. Yet he chose not to dwell on it because, truthfully, his level up made him a little nervous, too. But only a little. Reverting somewhat to the way he¡¯d been feeling before the incident with Doomsday Slash, Zach was slowly coming to crave the power more than he feared it. But most of all, he was glad to finally have one of the ¡°good¡± level ups. Though very slight, he could feel the increased hand-eye coordination from his +10 to dexterity, but only just barely, as it was relative to his current stats. And since the ¡°Intelligence¡± stat did not refer to literal intelligence, he naturally felt no smarter than he did before. Yet he knew his Phase Cannon and blasting ring would now be moderately more powerful when used, and his Phase Slash would get a small boost as well. ¡°I was hoping for some more points into strength and constitution,¡± he said. Then he shrugged. ¡°But this is still a pretty good level up.¡± ¡°Zach,¡± Kalana said. ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s beyond ¡®good.¡¯ I can¡¯t believe you can get that many points into anything on just one level up. I just hope you remember to¡ª¡± She gave up on whatever she¡¯d been about to say as even more information popped into existence in front of the both of them.
Quest Eye of Ohorja
Given By Avislicer Sorcerer
Recommended Level 45-60
Recommended Raid Size 30+
Description (Galterra-Wide): Congratulations to Zachys Calador, Kalana Vayra, and Ruby Vayra for discovering an event chain and unlocking the portal to Ohorja. Adventurers may now participate in the Ohorja Raid Event by speaking with Avislicer Mystic Saliquar in the Whispery Woods region and completing his quest to activate the portal. Please note: to tamp down on excessive disturbances, Galterra-Wide Events can now only be triggered once every 7 days and remain active until the next update unless event conditions state otherwise. Likewise, unless stated, you are not required to have completed earlier quests in the chain to participate and continue on with the quests in this event chain. It has been: 196504 days since the last update. It has been: 356484 days since the last event.
Reward: Eye of Ohorja, 1x Light Stone, Happy Monkey Companion
Quest Expires In N/A
Zach felt like he needed to sit down. So much was happening around him, and he was so confused yet so stunned¡ªand even a bit unsettled. And this only became more so the case as his phone began to ring while text messages and other notifications began flooding in. It started off slowly, yet it only took around thirty seconds before his phone began to freeze from the utter deluge of people all trying to contact him right this moment for some reason. At the exact same time, Kalana¡¯s phone also began to ring and receive an influx of messages. ¡°The hell does everyone want all of a sudden?¡± Zach asked, ignoring it. It was probably political guild nonsense. He wanted no part of that. Standing there with Kalana, he reread the quest a second time while trying to process the sheer magnitude of what was happening around him. He decided to just pause for a moment to slow down his thoughts and observe the town, which he was still not fully convinced was safe; actually, he really wanted to test that to be sure. And so, cautiously, he approached one of the greatsword-wielding Avislicer Guardsman mobs¡ªin fact, one of the exact ones that had tried to kill him only moments ago¡ªthat was standing with its back to the western side of a primitive-looking cabin nearby. ¡°Hail, adventurer,¡± it said as Zach approached. It made no other moves and spoke no other words¡ªat least not until Kalana walked over to Zach, at which point it once again said, ¡°Hail, adventurer.¡± Aside from that, it stared vacantly out into the distance, completely unmoving. ¡°This is so crazy,¡± Zach said. ¡°I know, right? But it¡¯s exciting, too.¡± For several minutes, his phone continued to buzz and ring in his pocket, and now, even with all the questions burning a hole in his brain, Zach had a very bad feeling growing in the pit of his belly. For his and Kalana¡¯s phones to be going nuts like this, something very serious must have happened. Maybe he should stop ignoring it. As he glanced down to see who was contacting him, he became even more nervous, and he knew right away that he would need to answer. With an uneasy look towards Kalana, he answered the call, put the caller on speaker, and then winced in anticipation of what he was about to hear. ¡°Mr. Oren,¡± he began. ¡°Is everything all¡ª¡± ¡°Zach!¡± Mr. Oren exclaimed. ¡°Did¡­did you and Kalana just do something quest-related?¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡­wait, you know about that?¡± he asked with a gasp, confused. ¡°Yes, Zach! Everyone on the entire planet ¡®knows¡¯ about that, as every living being on Galterra just received the same quest. There¡¯s mass panic going on right now all across the world. People are scared and confused, and we¡¯re likely now in a state of global emergency. Every world leader across all races is now going to have to react to this and calm their people.¡± As Zach stared at Kalana, he might as well have been looking into a mirror, because he knew that everything he was feeling was perfectly reflected on her face. In her visage, he saw the disbelief, bafflement, and shock that he too was feeling. He tensed up, struggling to believe what he was hearing even as he replied to it. And when he did, he spoke with a weaker voice than he intended, suddenly feeling a bit ill. ¡°Why?¡± he asked. It was not the word he intended to speak. Really, he surprised his own self by asking this in the face of several other possible questions. And yet, of all things, his primary source of confusion was not about the nature of what had taken place, but rather, it was of the way that Mr. Oren claimed people were reacting to it. ¡°Why?¡± he asked again. ¡°I don¡¯t get it. It¡¯s just a quest notification. It¡¯s not that big of a deal.¡± ¡°Not to you, my man. But to an elementary school teacher, a construction worker, or anyone else going about their daily lives, it¡¯s a moment of confusion and terror, and people now need to be given answers. And with war breaking out, this is really not a good time for something like this to have happened.¡± Blowing the air out of his lungs as it all seemed to hit him at once, Zach said, ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t do it on purpose, Mr. Oren. I swear to the Gods.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true!¡± Kalana exclaimed, speaking up from where she stood next to him. ¡°How were we supposed to know this was gonna happen?¡± ¡°You couldn¡¯t,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Please don¡¯t think I¡¯m implying you¡¯ve done something wrong. I for one did not know something like this could happen either or I would¡¯ve warned you against it. So, to be perfectly clear, I don¡¯t blame either of you, and I¡¯m absolutely not upset. But this is a very, very, very serious issue even if it seems nonsensical to you. Right now, there are massive, worldwide disruptions taking place, and let¡¯s just pray to the Gods there haven¡¯t been any major DEHV or airplane accidents due to vision obstruction. Fortunately, the quest seemed to come in slightly above and partially outside of the peripheral vision of someone looking straight ahead, so my first instinct is to think that no one was blinded by it. Wait, hold on. Donovan¡¯s calling. I¡¯m conferencing him in.¡± A moment later, Donovan¡¯s voice bellowed over the speakers. ¡°Zach, you amazing son of a bitch! The GSG¡¯s losing their fuckin¡¯ minds over here right now, kiddo. Gods, just when I thought I couldn¡¯t love you any more than I already do, you go off and spawn a Gods-cursed world event you beautiful little bastard, you!¡± ¡°Donovan,¡± Mr. Oren said sternly, sounding both frustrated and annoyed. ¡°That is absolutely not the takeaway that we should be¡ª¡± ¡°Oh, shove it up your ass, Alex. I¡¯m talking to the kid, not you. Hey, Zach, can you hear me?¡±¡± ¡°Y-yeah,¡± he stammered nervously. ¡°Zephyr was with me when that quest popped up. Don¡¯t you worry. We¡¯re gonna find out how to unlock that portal, and I just wanna let you know, kiddo, you¡¯ve got a guaranteed slot in reserve on the raid when we do. You¡¯ll be with me in the very first raid group to take it down. No way anyone¡¯s denying you that honor. The both of you will. When you get a chance, the Explorers Brigade wants to know everything that happened to unlock this. Oh, and don¡¯t worry about the queen, Kalana. Your mom¡¯s a nice girl deep down. She¡¯ll get over it.¡± ¡°Get¡­over it?¡± Kalana asked. Now, she sounded nervous. And confused. They were both so confused¡ªand nervous. And worried. Zach held her hand with the one opposite that which he was using to hold the phone, and he gave her a reassuring squeeze. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Kalana asked. Rather than immediately reply, Donovan first let out a long, drawn-out, annoyed-sounding sigh. ¡°Yeah, well¡­we just found out some bird fucker¡¯s spawned right in the middle of the Bridge of Torment in Whispery Woods, and it¡¯s caused a complete traffic standstill.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a gross understatement of what¡¯s happening,¡± Mr. Oren cut in. ¡°The entire city of Whispery Woods is essentially shut down on the very first week of her mother¡¯s new administration. Luckily, no one was harmed and the new Elvish authorities are rushing in to cordon off the bridge to prevent anyone from crashing into¡ªand possibly aggroing¡ªthe quest NPC.¡± At a whisper, Kalana said, ¡°Uh oh. My mom¡¯s calling me. And she¡¯s sent me like five texts just now. She¡¯s really, really mad, Zach.¡± Zach rubbed his eyes, his hands still giving off impossibly black smoke. ¡°Okay, look. She can¡¯t blame us for this. And if she does, don¡¯t forget she killed me and we can use guilt as a weapon against her if we have to.¡± ¡°Stop. That¡¯s not funny.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not kidding.¡± ¡°That¡¯s totally inappropriate,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Absolutely not okay, Zach, either as a joke or otherwise.¡± He grumbled something that almost sounded like profanity but probably wasn¡¯t. ¡°Look, I have to go. I¡¯m about to enter a zone of war, and now I have to deal with this on top of everything else. People are terrified and don¡¯t understand what¡¯s happening.¡± The phone call ended before Zach could say another word. And now it was Kalana who put her phone on speaker. ¡°Where are you two?¡± Fylwen¡¯s irate voice blared through the speakers. ¡°Do either of you have any idea what you¡¯ve done?¡± ¡°Mom, it wasn¡¯t our fault. How were we supposed to know that¡ª¡± ¡°You just shut down our entire economy, caused a level of panic greater than the dragon, and spawned a level-270¡­bird creature that¡¯s walking around our most vital roadway and giving random level-1 humans quests. Kalana, I know this wasn¡¯t intentional, and I know you didn¡¯t mean for this to happen, but for the immediate future, if you and Zach wish to adventure outside of a dungeon, you¡¯ll do so only on Archian Prime. You simply cannot gamble with the lives of billions by playing with ancient forces that no one has understood for nearly a thousand years.¡± ¡°All we did was a quest!¡± Kalana shouted, heat in her voice. Somewhat more softly, her mother said, ¡°I know, Kalana. I understand. If we¡¯d had more time to talk, I could have told you from my experiences on Archian Prime that in the world of leveling¡ªor what you call ¡®adventuring¡¯¡ªthere are unpredictable oddities and unforeseen consequences that can happen on occasion. Yet that is of no concern to us now. For the moment, you two shall do no further quests until I¡¯ve had a chance to sort through all this. We¡¯re already in the middle of a war to begin with, and now I must fly all the way to the Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah for an all-hands emergency meeting over such insignificant rubbish while also trying to facilitate the construction of an entirely new bridge lane just to prevent the collapse of our economy. Take Zach home with you and rest. The both of you. Touch nothing else until I stop by later next week.¡± Zach couldn¡¯t take much more of this. ¡°Uh, Fylwen, what do you mean no more quests?¡± ¡°My words were not unclear, young man.¡± Zach swore. ¡°Fine, but can we still hunt regular¡ª¡± ¡°Absolutely not!¡± ¡°Why the hell can¡¯t we?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get it, do you?¡± she asked. She sounded exhausted, frustrated, and overworked. Given everything going on in the world, Zach couldn¡¯t blame her. And was he just imagining it, or was there a little boy¡¯s voice in the background? He could¡¯ve sworn he heard the sound of a young child calling out to her, but maybe he was hearing things. ¡°What don¡¯t I get?¡± Zach asked. She sighed. ¡°The way things work outside of dungeons is very different from the way things work within them. Unless you have prior knowledge, you can¡¯t ever predict what circumstances your actions will cause. For example, you may slay a mob that looks like a caterpillar once, and nothing will happen. Ten times, and still nothing. But the fiftieth time? Perhaps you activate a secret, unknown quest that spawns a flying, winged demon halfway across the planet, or some other strange occurrence you could never have predicted. None of this would be cause for concern or out of the ordinary thousands of years ago. But today? Very much so.¡± Zach replayed her words in his head as he filled with disappointment. This was a major let down. Defiantly, he said, ¡°Okay, remember when you promised to be my ally, and you¡ª¡± ¡°You cannot guilt-trip me, young man,¡± she interrupted as though reading his mind. ¡°This is not a personal request but a demand on behalf of the lives of those impacted. If you¡¯d like to continue leveling, you¡¯re free to do whatever you wish¡ªin one of the dungeons or on Archian Prime, as the Elves who live there are not likely to be affected, and even if they are, there¡¯s no event you can spawn that they or the vampires cannot handle. But until further notice, the Elvish hunting grounds on Galterra must remain untouched. It will not be for long. I promise you. And¡­I apologize for my temper. With all that¡¯s been occurring, I should have realized this might happen. The failure here is mine, not yours.¡± ¡°This is bullshit,¡± Zach grumbled. ¡°Fylwen, if you only knew what we just discovered you might change your mind. You might even run out here to see it yourself.¡± ¡°Oh? Really?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Zach said. ¡°Right now, believe it or not, me and Kal are standing together in a town filled with mobs, but all the mobs are friendly and there¡¯s an actual item shop and a blacksmith. I¡¯m not making this up. I swear it. So you can¡¯t expect us to just turn around and¡ª¡± ¡°Yes, I absolutely can, young man. And for your information, NPC towns are not a rarity on Archian Prime. Not a hundred miles west of where we met, there¡¯s an entire village of NPC skeletons that sell lightning maces and fire swords. You¡¯re welcome to visit it if you¡¯d like. In fact, I encourage you to do so. But for now, you will kill nothing and do nothing on Elendroth until I arrive. Behave yourselves! Oh, and for the love of the Goddess Helena, who or what is ¡®Ruby Vayra¡¯?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Ruby!¡± Ruby chirped. ¡°Who said that? Kalana, who is that girl?¡± Kalana snickered. ¡°Ruby¡¯s my raptor, mom.¡± ¡°Your what?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll explain later. I love you. Please don¡¯t be mad at us.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not mad at either of you. I¡¯m upset by the situation. Now, behave yourselves and all will be well. Shh. Settle down, Peter.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Zach asked. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing. There¡¯s too much going on for me to spend much more time on this call.¡± She released another sigh and her voice softened further. ¡°Look. I don¡¯t intend to keep either of you from exploring the hunting grounds,¡± she continued. ¡°There are well-kept records on Archian Prime brought there by Elves very long ago, and I¡¯m sure that, in consultation with the vampires, we can easily learn if anything else of danger or concern needs to be avoided to prevent this from happening again. For thousands of years, Elvish kind hunted on Elendroth, and their experiences have been reserved in our records. I am certain that sufficient information exists to safely ¡®reopen¡¯ the grounds for hunting. But that cannot be a priority right this moment. So please: be patient. Once I¡¯ve had the chance, I¡¯ll order an inquiry and allow you to resume your activities. But until then, do not do anything else. You will both go straight home¡ªnow.¡± ¡°We will, mom,¡± Kalana said. Zach rubbed his forehead. ¡°All right, fine.¡± ¡°I love you, Kalana.¡± ¡°I love you too,¡± Kalana replied. She spoke sincerely but somewhat awkwardly; Zach knew this kind of conversation was somewhat new to her. With that, she ended the call, took Zach¡¯s hand and then gently tugged on his arm. ¡°You heard my mom.¡± ¡°Since when do we listen to her?¡± he asked. ¡°I was at war with her a few days ago. Now I have to do what she says?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Bullshit,¡± he said again. ¡°We have all these questions we need to answer. Like what are those exclamation points, and what¡¯s an item shop? Can we really buy and sell things? You¡¯re telling me we have to ignore all of this cool new shit because people are scared of a fucking quest popup? Give me a break, Kal! It¡¯s not our fault that Galterrans are all just a bunch of¡ª¡± ¡°Zach,¡± Kalana said, frowning. ¡°You¡¯re being inconsiderate again. Lots of people don¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on, and also, it¡¯s not just the quest thingy. We also spawned something on the Bridge of Torment, so now a whole lot of people can¡¯t do their jobs or get into and out of the city.¡± Lowering her voice, she asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you the one who said that¡±¡ªshe lifted her eyebrows upwards as if to gesture to the heavens¡ª¡°that it¡¯s wrong to do¡±¡ªshe made small gestures with her head as if to point at a nearby mob¡ª¡°without considering who it might hurt?¡± He understood perfectly well what she was trying to say without her having to complete the thought. She was referring to Adamus¡¯s plan to randomly reactivate all the spawn points. And what sucked was that he begrudgingly had to admit that she made a really good point, too. Because now that he understood there could be consequences elsewhere on Galterra that sprang up as a direct result of him playing around with all these non-dungeon quests and mobs, Zach would be, in a way, acting just like Adamus: inconsiderate and indifferent to the lives of others. I¡¯m not that kind of person, he said. I just¡­I really just wanted to adventure. Learning from past mistakes, Zach carefully considered his words before replying, and so rather than reply with anger, he sighed upon the realization that Kalana was right. ¡°You make a good point.¡± She smiled. ¡°It¡¯s not like we knew this could happen, Zach. We didn¡¯t do anything wrong. It¡¯s only wrong if we keep doing it. Don¡¯t worry. My mom said we can keep exploring soon, and I believe her. And besides, you promised we¡¯d go back and rest after we finished this quest anyway. Oh, and don¡¯t forget: you¡¯ve got therapy tomorrow morning, too. Early.¡± Without even meaning or consciously intending to do so, Zach blurted out, ¡°Shit! I forgot about that.¡± Then he bowed his head in apology. ¡°Sorry. It¡¯s just that after all this stuff happened, don¡¯t you think now¡¯s not a good time to¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯re seeing the therapist tomorrow no matter what, baby. You can¡¯t argue your way out of it.¡± ¡°Okay. Fine. I will. I really will. It¡¯s just that I¡¯m healed now.¡± ¡°Sure you are.¡± Zach yawned. Even with forty-five minutes left on his Unleased Phase duration, he suddenly remembered he hadn¡¯t slept for a really long time and he was unbearably exhausted. ¡°Okay. Fine. Just get me to a bed, okay?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± With that, Zach stretched and rotated his shoulder muscles. ¡°Uh¡­you sure we can¡¯t just pop into the item shops and take a quick peek? In and out, I swear.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t, Zach. Even if it seems impossible, what if just by buying something, we trigger a quest somewhere. It can¡¯t be ruled out.¡± ¡°Yeah, all right, okay.¡± Yawning a second time, he asked, ¡°Does this rule apply to just us or to everyone?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say Rian and Lienne were here?¡± Kalana¡¯s eyebrows lifted. ¡°Oh, right! They¡¯re hunting on the island right now too. But they told me where they were going today, so I know where they are¡ªand it¡¯s on the way to my home. We need to tell them to stop.¡± ¡°You mean, before we head to your house?¡± ¡°Mhm.¡± Zach¡¯s mood brightened at the thought of seeing his friends again. Suddenly wanting to get going more quickly, he hopped on top of his Kralzek¡¯s Beast as Kal got on the back of Ruby, and together, the two of them took off at a speed far too fast for any aggroing mobs to catch them as they raced their way back along the gravel-covered path, setting off one alarm after the next. As the world rushed by, Zach knew that the sights, sounds, and mysteries of Elendroth would be torture to his eyes, and his desire to explore would be overwhelming, so he deliberately tried not to take in too much of it for now and to let it be a surprise for later as he ordered his mount to follow behind her, which enabled him to close his eyes and bask in the warm wind as they rode onwards. Entering a somewhat tranquil, meditative state, he let what¡¯d happened fully sink in. That quest¡­it had really gone out to every man, woman, child, and baby in the entire world? Crazy, he thought. But seriously, how big a deal can it possibly be? ***** ¡°This has gone too far,¡± Misha Tenka said. Stroking her long, black beard, she looked around at the other high-ranking members of her party, and she was glad to see agreement in the eyes of all but one of them. ¡°The Chief Engineer needs to make a statement condemning this and demanding that the Royal Roses take accountability for their out-of-control human.¡± Only a hundred and ten years old, Misha had become the youngest Dwarf ever to become the highest-ranking member of the Engineering Union: the chief opposition party of which she was the head. And based on current polling, she stood a very real chance of ousting the current Chief Engineer, Ailor Lemdrach, the highest-ranking member¡ªand head¡ªof the Dwarvish Unity Party, whose majority-led government was responsible for an economic downturn, a rise in energy costs, and a highly unpopular trade deal with the Orcs that prohibited the Dwarves from imposing tariffs on Orcish goods but allowed the Orcs to place tariffs on Dwarven-built DEHVs and other machinery. Despite a closer-than-expected election two summers ago, the DUP had managed to hold onto a majority of seats in the Engineering Cabinet. But now? Now, things looked like they might actually change. For the first time in twenty years, the DUP stood a real chance of losing its majority in the upcoming elections later this summer, and this latest situation involving Sir Zachys Calador might at long last be the push needed to instill some change. ¡°I for one can¡¯t be arsed,¡± said Umptin Rickell, a miserable little fellow whose beard barely reached down to his chest. Though he belonged to the Engineering Union, he seldom behaved like it, often giving the DUP the votes needed to pass controversial legislation against their party¡¯s interest. Some of this was excusable, as he was the representative of a very ideologically divided mine and would likely lose the mine to a member of the DUP if he was seen as being too favorable to his party. Regardless, the pudgy little Dwarf often behaved more like a member of the DUF than he did a member of the Engineering Union. ¡°Why am I not surprised?¡± Misha asked him. ¡°Once again, Mine-Leader Rickell chooses to lick the boot of Chief Engineer Lemdrach.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t like that at all,¡± he replied. ¡°I just think you can¡¯t be blaming him for this.¡± She scoffed at his defense of the incompetent Chief Engineer. ¡°Twice now, that boy¡¯s actions have created a global panic. And twice, Chief Engineer Lemdrach has failed to show any leadership during a time of crisis.¡± Despite living well below the surface of a frozen, inhospitable continent far to the north of North Bastia, Sir Zachys Calador¡¯s actions had caused more trouble for Dwarvish kind than for any other race. For most, the damage of his antics had been entirely psychological: but not for the Dwarves. Recently, for example, he had turned the sky dark and had caused the entire world to buckle in terror at a series of rapid booming sounds far louder than thunder. And though very few Dwarfs had been topside to personally witness the sky turning dark, they had all nevertheless been alarmed and horrified by the deafeningly loud banging he¡¯d caused, which had created earthquake-like effects in many of their underground cities¡ªoften culturally referred to as mines¡ªthat were not present on the surface. The result? Immense damage, great suffering, and ruined lives. Eight-hundred Dwarves had died as a result of structural damage, cave-ins, or roof implosions, and there had been several-billion gold in property damage that still had to be paid for, too. Naturally, none of this had made its way into human media, which was controlled by the guilds, but it was the most important issue facing the Dwarves at this time and had received constant, daily media coverage since happening. Even in the middle of the night, Dwarvish media continued to discuss the tragic aftermath of the that day. It was a tragedy that would not be forgotten and was still very much fresh in everyone¡¯s minds. And now, today, just moments ago, Sir Calador had apparently gotten up to his shite all over again, this time roping the Elvish nobility into it as well! As the head of her party, Misha was privy to sensitive information before most other MLs and well ahead of the media. For this reason, she had been personally informed that, only moments ago, Chief Engineer Lemdrach had gotten off the phone with Queen Vayra of the Elves, who personally offered her apologies to the Dwarvish people in what she was referring to as a ¡°careless, but completely unintentional mistake made by well-meaning youth.¡± It was likely the exact same thing she¡¯d say in her calls to all the other races. Misha picked up her goblet and downed her ale with a grunt. Her vest became soaked as some of it dribbled down her beard and onto her chest. The queen''s apology did not go far enough, and she was not satisfied with the level of accountability being taken by the Elves. For sure, they deserved some slack, having only reemerged after being thought extinct. Nevertheless, her brief apology failed to convey any genuine sense of regret. And in what came as an even bigger surprise, it was the humans of all people who had shown her up. Only a minute after conversing with the queen, the chief diplomat of humanity, a newcomer named Sir Alex Oren, had contacted Lemdrach and offered a much longer apology both in word and in writing that was so well constructed it almost fooled Misha with just how sincere and heartfelt it came across. Addressed not just to the Chief Engineer but to all of Dwarvish society, Sir Alex Oren made no excuses, apologized on behalf of humanity, and stated that the world deserved better from those in power. He explained that, while it was impossible for Sir Calador of the Royal Roses or Princess Vayra of Elvadin to know that they were triggering an ¡°event,¡± both would be far more careful and considerate in how they approached ancient, poorly understood hunting grounds in the future. At any rate, Orcish and Gnomish experts were quick to reassure the global community that this quest, though unexpected and frightening to many, was likely to have no immediate or long-term effects on any lives. Accepting questions from the public, officials had very forcefully pushed back on claims that people would die or face consequences if they did not complete the quest. They also insisted that those who were stating otherwise on the internet were bad actors and trolls. For their part, the Dwarvish authorities, though generally tolerant of free speech, were rightfully shutting down those who continued to perpetuate the claim that not completing the quest would result in death, as it was causing mass hysteria in some communities. While much of the fear was based on false information, there was still a great deal of angst that was more than warranted. In particular, there was much discomfort now about the potential dangers of this ¡°Island of Elendroth,¡± and quite frankly, very few world leaders were happy that Queen Vayra had unilateral control over this small territory, which was now known to have the power to affect everyone¡¯s lives. The Merfolk, along with the Orcs and the Lizardmen, had called for the creation of a neutral, multi-racial committee to discuss whether or not to request Queen Vayra give the global community at least some power and authority over her island. The Orcish queen, ever the one for words, had taken great care to stress in her elegantly written proposal that Elendroth must be now and always be recognized as a cultural home and sacred ground to the Elvish. Queen Vayra had yet to reply and, in all likelihood, would not do so for several more days, but for certain, a reply would indeed come, though Misha doubted she would agree in any case. Even still, Queen Vayra would certainly be facing a great deal of pressure. Already, there were conspiracy theories and misinformation spreading around, many of which suggested that Elendroth was responsible for the dragon spawn that the humans and Elves had recently dealt with in North Bastia. And with all of this going on, what was Chief Engineer Lemdrach doing about any of it? Absolutely nothing! It was well known that the humans were looking to regain access to the global trading community, providing him with the perfect leverage to use¡ªa way to assert some Dwarvish influence over such a recalcitrant race. But all he did was put out meaningless statements and platitudes. Well, enough was enough. ¡°We need to call a press conference,¡± Misha said. ¡°It¡¯s time we go to the public with a better plan for Dwarvish kind. This is the last straw!¡± Chapter 122: Official Duty Chapter 122: Official Duty Crossing beyond an invisible threshold that Kalana claimed marked the halfway point between the Avikin Grounds and her home, Zach observed that everything she¡¯d said about the so-called ¡°Path of Peace¡± was completely true. As long as someone kept themselves perfectly within its bounds, nothing could or would aggro onto them. Yet, at the speed he and Kal were moving, it didn¡¯t seem to be something they needed to worry about either way, and so they only partially stayed on top of it as they made their way through this winding, turning, and twisting dirt pathway that ran through an area known as the ¡°Windswept Plains.¡± The reason for this name seemed pretty obvious, as it took but a moment out here to note the existence of frequent, comfortable, and moderately strong breezes that rolled through the plains and over their bodies. The terrain was also easygoing; it alternated between gentle hills and longer stretches of flat land, all of which were covered by very short stalks of healthy green grass that naturally had a look similar to that of a freshly mowed lawn. As he rode atop his mount, Zach yawned, stretched his arms, and then shifted a bit as the moisture on his robe made him uncomfortable. Only a few minutes ago, another one of her island¡¯s fierce but brief thunderstorms had come and gone, drenching Zach from head to toe as well as the world around him. Yet with the intense sun and tropical heat bathing him in its glow, he¡¯d already gone from soaked to being only slightly damp. The grass, on the other hand, was a bit slower to dry, and as his saber-toothed Kralzek¡¯s Beast followed behind after Ruby, there was a rhythm of constant, audible squishing each time their mounts ran them slightly off the path. It sucks that we won¡¯t be allowed to hunt here for a while, Zach thought as he drowned in the sights of so many different mobs¡ªor groups of them¡ªwalking or standing around to both sides of the pathway. Much like Kalana had said, there were indeed a number of spots where Zach could see more of those level-27 Avislicer Marauders, but there were also dozens¡ªor really, probably more like hundreds¡ªof different types of mobs at many different levels to be found, such as gigantic, yellow-and-black hornets that were level 35, or literal shadows with faces on them that seemed to disappear and reappear every few seconds. There were level-53 trolls with big clubs, one of which aggroed as they darted by, and there was a small camp of these squirrel-like creatures that wore tiny hats and had comically oversized teeth. Becoming curious, Zach tried to learn more about the little critters, but he and Kalana ended up zipping by too quickly for him to even catch their name. ¡°It¡¯s so beautiful here, right?¡± Kalana asked, looking over her shoulder and smiling at him. ¡°It is,¡± he agreed. ¡°I love your island.¡± ¡°I knew you would. I actually¡­hm?¡± She looked away and faced forward, removing her phone. ¡°Mom¡¯s texting me.¡± ¡°What¡¯s she want?¡± ¡°I dunno.¡± As Kalana read over her mother¡¯s messages, Zach returned his attention to the landscape around him. One thing he noted with great interest was that there weren¡¯t just mobs out here. There was also a ton of real, biological wildlife. Everything from deer to buffalo roamed freely and without any apparent fear of predation. But what Zach found even more interesting was the way in which the mobs and wildlife seemingly ignored one another¡¯s existence. Even bumping into a hostile mob did not cause any kind of reaction, such as a chicken off to his left that clucked as it rammed right into an Avislicer Marauder. Zach waited for the mob to go berserk and start slicing away with its dual katanas, but instead, it showed no sign it was even aware the chicken existed. Though a strange sight, this non-interaction actually made a great deal of sense, because if wildlife did disturb mobs, people would¡¯ve probably starved to death a long time ago, as the presence of mobs would¡¯ve surely made most wildlife extinct. But some mobs actually do kill wildlife, he recalled. Ziragoth destroyed entire farms along with their livestock, and I think I remember Grundor talking about a boss on Archian Prime that goes around eating cows. As they continued onwards, the sound of squishing returned as Ruby and his mount deviated from the pathway, stomping down onto the wet grass while they began traveling up a small but steady slope. Zach realized that they were now moving completely away from the Path of Peace, leaving the dirt trail entirely. Behind him, he heard what sounded like a loud, angry thudding. Slightly turning his body and craning his neck to look over his shoulder, he saw that the level-53 troll they¡¯d aggroed hadn¡¯t given up just yet and was still charging after them. Then, with a loud ¡°bawk-bawk-bawwwwwk¡± he watched as it ran right over a poor chicken that was in its way, smushing the creature into the grass despite lacking any deliberate intent to do so. A half second later, the troll finally decided to give up the chase, and at once, it stopped running, turned itself around, and slowly began walking back towards what Zach assumed was its spawn point, further crushing the already dead chicken in the process. Zach lost sight of the creature soon after, but not because of gaining too much distance, but because of the impossibly black smoke obscuring his vision. It reminded him that he was still in Unleashed Phase.
Unleashed Phase Duration 31:33 Remaining
Yawning yet again, he leaned forward a bit and shook his head to prevent himself from falling asleep right here on the mount. With a slight chuckle, he took a moment to appreciate the fact that it was even possible for him to nod off while he still had an active duration of Unleashed Phase in effect. Not wanting to accidentally fall off the side of his mount and wake up to the terrifying sensation of tumbling over the grass, he peered into the distance, hoping to see something that might excite him¡ªand right away, he found it. Ahead of him, he spotted something that immediately roused him back to full alertness. ¡°I think that¡¯s them,¡± Kalana said cheerfully, her eyes better than this own. Up ahead, in the middle of a flat stretch of grassy field, Zach saw multiple human-sized figures, two smaller figures, and one tremendous figure that had to be at least twenty feet in height. As they drew nearer, his ears detected what sounded like battle, and he placed his hand on his sword¡¯s hilt where it rested in the scabbard on his back¡ªjust in case he needed to draw it. ¡°I hope they¡¯re okay,¡± he said. As his mount approached closely enough so that he could begin to discern faces, he first took in the sight of a level-45, T2 humanoid-like boss that towered over those around it and made snarling growls as it struck out with a wooden mallet twice the size of a two-handed battleaxe. The creature was naked aside from a pair of boots and a brown-colored loincloth, and it had a face that was almost humanlike save for the fact that it only had one large, round eye with a thick black pupil. Its name was ¡°Agrack the Cyclops,¡± and Zach winced nervously as it slammed its weapon down on top of a boy who Zach could now make out to be Rian. The hell is Rian doing fighting something so high level? Zach thought, becoming worried. The last time he¡¯d seen Rian had been in Angelica¡¯s before the dragon raid. Since then, Rian had apparently gotten ahold of an entirely new set of gear. He was now adorned more like a noble, dignified knight than a previously destitute boy from Shadowfall Coast. He wore a shimmering silver breastplate, a matching pair of greaves, and his look came complete with a partially face-concealing helm. Having lost his axe in B6, it appeared he¡¯d acquired another, and this one, though lacking in any fancy effects, looked sturdy and was made of a darker-colored steel. He also had a fairly large and well-rounded metal shield, which he extended above his head as he bent his knees and absorbed the boss¡¯s massive mallet. A moment before impact, Zach wondered if he should use Phase Rescue and pull his friend away from the giant cyclops. After all, though Rian had apparently been here for two or three days, he couldn¡¯t possibly have leveled up enough to tank a T2, level-45 boss. That was basically like a level-65 mob. No matter how sturdy Rian¡¯s shield, the expected result of such an attack would be to have him crushed below the mallet like that chicken had been crushed beneath the foot of the troll. And yet¡­incredibly, following a determined, confident grunt, Rian not only withstood the attack, but he responded with several fast slices of his own, his axe biting into the cyclops¡¯s flesh and causing blood to trickle down its hip and right leg. ¡°Are you holding up okay, my human-pet?¡± asked a wickedly beautiful Elvish girl with red hair and a devilish look in her eyes who was standing behind him. She was wielding a staff, which she twirled around, casting what looked to be various buffs on both herself and Rian. ¡°Need to trade places?¡± ¡°Pfft, I¡¯ve got this,¡± he replied. ¡°Give me a break.¡± ¡°Just making sure, human-pet,¡± she said with a laugh that was both dark yet playful. Her voice was confident and assertive, and her appearance was unlike that of any other Elves he¡¯d seen. Her reddish hair had stripes of gold and black, and Zach had now ridden close enough to see that she wore a spiked collar around her neck and had applied an ample amount of black eyeshadow. It was an admittedly eye-catching look, but Zach thought it would¡¯ve worked better without the green cloak on her back, which seemed totally out of place when contrasted with her more rebellious appearance. So that¡¯s Rian¡¯s girl, huh? As Rian shrugged off her concerns, he guarded against another downwards slam of the mallet, and then Lienne stepped forward and retaliated with an attack of her own. Much like her brother, she too had acquired a new set of equipment. At the moment, she was clad in a black and orange, full-body robe that had an illustration of flames embroidered into the fabric running down both sides. Zach watched as she threw her rod forward and unleashed a bullet-shaped flame that struck the cyclops in its eye, which made it roar and take a step back. ¡°Now¡¯s your chance!¡± she called out. ¡°Get him, babe!¡± ¡°On it!¡± cried the voice of yet another person Zach didn¡¯t recognize¡ªat least at first. But as he took a closer look, he recalled seeing him in a picture with Lienne on social media. He was tall¡ªmore than six feet in height¡ªand broad-shouldered with short black hair, a diamond-shaped jawline, and slightly more rounded ears than were typical of the Elves. He also had dark blue eyes and a somewhat deeper voice. Despite wearing a white cloak, he spoke human in a way that sounded natural and ordinary. ¡°Let¡¯s finish this thing, Lienne.¡± Following those words, he sprang into action¡ªwell, sort of. Despite his large frame and athletic build, he ¡°attacked¡± the cyclops using something that Zach had not seen used as a weapon before¡ªand honestly wasn¡¯t sure could even be classified as a weapon. Raising his hands to his mouth, a melody began to fill the air as he blew into a silver-gold flute; a moment later, an NPC raven perched on his right shoulder dashed into the air, leaving a trail of blue, shining dust in its wake. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡± Rian shouted abruptly, though Zach was not sure to who. Yet it soon became clear as, a second later, he heard an annoyed meow from a cat sitting on the grass next to him. ¡°I want to eat the birdie,¡± the cat said, his head tracking the raven''s motion as he licked his lips and stared hungrily at it. ¡°You better not do that again, Fluffles. It was cute the first ten times you did it, but now it¡¯s starting to get really, really annoying.¡± Fluffles hopped up onto all four paws and made an angry meow. ¡°I get¡­I get a special buff if I eat Trelvor¡¯s raven.¡± ¡°No you don¡¯t, Fluffles. Liar.¡± ¡°Yes! Yes I do get! Stupid Rian is the liar, not Fluffles.¡± The fact he was here meant Zach¡¯s theory was right: Fluffles knew the location of a dungeon that ran through somewhere nearby, likely Shores of Wrath in South Bastia. It also meant that, despite his hatred of water, Fluffles must have swum across the ocean. It was at first an absurd thought, but that, of course, was level-1 thinking. Yet no matter how he got here, Zach was happy to see him¡ªmuch, much more so than he was willing to let on, as Fluffles was well aware of how cute he was, and he would not hesitate to use that as a weapon to get extra food and loot. Smiling, Zach watched as the cat continued to study the raven as it dashed across the air. Despite its comparatively small size, the raven flew directly at¡ªthen crashed into¡ªthe cyclops¡¯ chest, and it somehow did so with enough force to push it off balance and make it stumble several steps backwards; it even came perilously close to falling over. At the same time, Fluffles released a volley of lighting while Lienne called upon more flames to burn away her target. The red-headed Elvish girl, for her part, stowed the staff she¡¯d been wielding into a sling on her back then drew a mace from her side and began bludgeoning the cyclops along with Rian. Before long, the question of whether or not to jump into the fight resolved itself without Zach needing to make a decision. Having only just pulled up behind them with Kalana by his side, the cyclops fell over and died, landing down onto the grass with a loud thud and causing several cracks to form in the dirt near its body. A second or two went by, and then at once, all five of them let out a cheer¡ªwhich soon turned to threatening shouts as Fluffles leapt nearly twenty feet straight upwards and snatched the raven out of the air before chomping down on it, causing the creature to vanish into steam while Rian frowned at him. ¡°Well, at least he didn¡¯t do it during the fight this time.¡± Lienne smiled and puckered her lips, blowing the cat a kiss. ¡°I can¡¯t be mad at him. He¡¯s such a cutie. I love Fluffles.¡± Fluffles turned his head as if to regard Lienne. ¡°If Lienne love Fluffles, then Fluffles get to roll ten times for loot,¡± he said with a self-satisfied, almost boastful-sounding purr. Rian, clearly unmoved by the cat¡¯s charm, growled at him and said, ¡°You¡¯re lucky if we even let you roll once, you little¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, Rian,¡± the Elf that Fluffles had called ¡°Trelvor¡± said, placing a hand on his shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s just a five-minute cooldown. I can always summon another raven.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the principle that matters,¡± Rian said. He and Fluffles glared at one another, but after a brief pause, Rian exhaled and waved his hand. ¡°Okay, fine, I¡¯ll let it go.¡± ¡°I let it go too,¡± Fluffles said with another purr, making Zach think the conflict was resolved. But after about five seconds passed, for no reason at all, Fluffles began muttering to himself before loudly saying, ¡°Rian is fat and stupid, and I am the best cat.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s it you little¡ª¡± Zach decided to choose this moment to clear his throat, announcing his presence. The argument immediately came to a halt, and all eyes then snapped to him and Kalana. Right away, there were gasps from the two Elves, a happy meow from Fluffles, and a wide-eyed look from Rian and Lienne as each of them gave off an unexpectedly strong reaction upon seeing them. ¡°Buddy!¡± Rian cried out happily. ¡°Zach,¡± Lienne said with a smile. Fluffles meowed loudly and jumped into his arms. He hugged the little guy¡ªbut only for a few seconds, because he knew the rules¡ªand then put him down. The Elves, on the other hand, had an entirely different reaction. Both dropped immediately to their knees, placed their foreheads onto the grass, and prostrated themselves before Kalana. ¡°Your Highness!¡± they both cried out, practically kissing the grass-covered ground before her. She blushed. ¡°Ah, y-you don¡¯t have to¡­no, no, you don¡¯t gotta do that!¡± ¡°Of course we do,¡± Trelvor said, his voice coming across as muffled with his face buried in the short stalks of grass. ¡°Y-you¡¯re the princess!¡± Fluffles, either not understanding or not caring about what was happening, walked right over and along the top of both of their heads then began to play with a beetle somewhere on the ground before eventually transitioning to chasing his own tail. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Kalana gave Zach a confused look, and he turned over his palms at her, having no idea how to proceed. ¡°Please, there¡¯s no need for this,¡± Kalana said. ¡°I¡¯m really not¡­umm, I¡¯m not that type of princess. Please just act normal around me. Okay? Here, let¡¯s try this.¡± She walked over to them and offered each her hand, which they looked at in awe before accepting. Then she guided them back to their feet. ¡°My name is Kalana, and this is my boyfriend, Zach.¡± Zach shook hands with both of them after Kalana let go, and they introduced themselves in kind. ¡°I¡¯m Trelvor ''Londril'' V¡¯alnyra,¡± the male said. ¡°It is an honor.¡± ¡°Londril?¡± Zach whispered, repeating the name. Louder, he asked, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to be related to the white-cloaked Elf that was on the raid with us, would you?¡± Enthusiastically, the tall Elf nodded his head. ¡°Yes. That¡¯s my father. I¡¯m honored you remembered his name.¡± Zach smiled. ¡°How could I forget? He tanked the dragon for the whole beginning of the fight. No one¡¯s ever going to forget his name.¡± The color seemed to drain from Trelvor¡¯s face as he asked, ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Kalana said. This only made him turn even paler. It was as if he found this all to be too great of an honor to withstand. He bowed his head in thanks, and then Kal turned to face the red-headed Elvish chick with the spiked collar on her neck. ¡°And what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°My name¡¯s Seiley Aerona,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s such an honor to meet you, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Please, just act normally around me,¡± Kalana said once more. ¡°I¡¯m really being honest about that. I¡¯m not just saying it or anything. I actually mean it.¡± The girl shifted her gaze as if uncertain before once more meeting Kal¡¯s eyes. ¡°Are¡­are you certain, Your Highness?¡± ¡°Yep! Just be yourself, okay?¡± ¡°It¡¯s really okay for me to act just like I would if you weren¡¯t the princess?¡± Kalana laughed. ¡°Mhm, it sure is.¡± At this, the girl let out a sigh and said, ¡°Well that¡¯s a relief. My fucking back hurts from standing up so straight.¡± ¡°Seiley!¡± hissed Trelvor. ¡°You cannot speak that way in front of the princess.¡± ¡°Why?¡± she asked, frowning. ¡°You heard what she said.¡± ¡°Well, yes, but you¡¯re taking too many liberties.¡± Zach actually felt bad for Lienne and Rian, who were now standing behind their partners with plainly confused faces as if not knowing if they should speak up and intervene or if it clearly wasn¡¯t their place. This, as Fluffles began to slowly crawl towards the cyclops¡¯ loot as though he intended to steal it, which he definitely did. As the black-and-white tuxedo cat prowled through the short stalks of grass, Zach opened his mouth to tell him to cut it out, but shockingly, it was Ruby who ended up speaking first. ¡°Mommy Kalana!¡± the raptor cried out with a chirp, alarming everyone but Zach and Kalana; Fluffles¡¯ reaction was to turn his little face towards Ruby while unsheathing his claws. ¡°What is it, Ruby?¡± Kal asked. ¡°The kitty cat is stealing!¡± Fluffles hissed. ¡°Who is that girl? Why she tell lies about Fluffles?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Ruby,¡± Ruby said. Fluffles¡¯ mouth fell open as if in confusion, and his eyes darted back between Zach, Ruby, and Kalana. ¡°Fluffles leaves his human alone for one day, and Zach replace him?¡± Zach moaned. ¡°No, no. It¡¯s not like that at all. Put your claws away, little buddy. And stop trying to steal everyone¡¯s loot.¡± Fluffles meowed, loudly. ¡°This bullshit!¡± he shouted, using language that he had clearly acquired from Zach. ¡°Don¡¯t use that word. Your dad will kill me if he finds out you¡¯ve started cursing because of me.¡± ¡°No! Fluffles curse even more. Poop, fart, ass! Zach betray.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t. I promise you.¡± ¡°Yes! Yes! You make stupid raptor alive.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t. I swear.¡± He pointed to Kalana. ¡°She¡¯s the one who made Ruby come alive.¡± When Fluffles said nothing and simply eyed him as though not sure whether or not to believe his words, he drew a breath and explained. "We got a rare item that we didn¡¯t understand, and Kalana accidentally stole it and used it.¡± ¡°Kalana¡­steal?¡± Fluffles asked, his voice now innocent. Kalana¡¯s face lit up with indignation. ¡°I did not. It was an accident. Umm, what happened is¡ª¡± ¡°Fluffles love Kalana now,¡± the cat said, brushing up against her leg. ¡°I am proud. I want tuna and chicken.¡± Zach sighed, frustrated. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s just¡­let¡¯s try to get things back on track. The reason we came out to find you guys is to let you know you can¡¯t do any more quests or kill any more mobs for at least a week or two.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Rian asked. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Kalana¡¯s mom said we can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Lienne inquired. ¡°So, I¡¯m guessing you guys saw that quest thing that had me and Kal¡¯s name on it, right?¡± ¡°Actually, yeah,¡± Rian said, nodding. ¡°We¡¯ve got a bunch of questions about it.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll answer as many as I can, but for now, the short version is that everyone in the world also got it, too.¡± At this, Rian gasped. ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°You heard me.¡± ¡°I just assumed it was everyone on the island. We were fighting and didn¡¯t really pay it too much attention. I figured you must¡¯ve unlocked something specific to Elendroth. But you¡¯re saying¡­dude, everyone? As in, even the other races?¡± ¡°Yeah, kind of,¡± Zach said at a lower tone, now realizing the enormity of it all. ¡°So it caused a bit of a panic and because of that, just in case, Fylwen doesn¡¯t want us to¡ª¡± ¡°Queen Vayra,¡± interrupted Trelvor. Zach closed his mouth right before he replied with something sharp and biting. He paused a moment, quickly licked his bottom lip, and then forced himself to keep his annoyance in check. He wanted to make a good impression with these Elves, and becoming confrontational and hostile would only make him seem like an immature asshole. ¡°Queen Vayra,¡± he continued, ¡°called us and told us she doesn¡¯t want anyone doing anything else adventure-related on this island until she¡¯s had a chance to look into it and make sure nothing like this will happen again.¡± In reaction, Rian and Lienne twisted their lips sourly, whereas Trelvor and Seiley simply nodded almost as though they were warriors who¡¯d just been given a command. Fluffles purred. ¡°Zach and Fluffles ignore mean Elf lady and keep adventuring. Who care if stupid humans scared of quest?¡± ¡°I know, right?¡± Zach asked, surprised by how much he agreed with the cat. ¡°That was a freak, rare thing. Kal leveled all the way into her 60s here and nothing like that happened. So she won¡¯t even know if we just do a bit of hunting here or there. I really don¡¯t see why¡­¡± He let his words trail off as Trelvor and Seiley both narrowed their eyes and darkened their expressions as they regarded him. ¡°The queen has given an order,¡± Trelvor said. ¡°As honored as I am to meet you, Zach, I must now defend Elendroth even if the cost is my life. If anyone violates this edict, I am honor-bound to attack them.¡± With your tiny little baby flute? Zach wanted to say. That, and fifty other provocative retorts. At once, Lienne flared with warning then looked pleadingly at Zach, and strangely enough, so too did Rian. Both of them knew how he was. They knew that his natural instinct to this would be to become defensive, aggressive, and say something that would lead to a heated, totally avoidable confrontation with the Elf¡ªthe Elf who happened to be Lienne¡¯s new boyfriend, which would make their friendship become awkward in turn. And the fact that he almost did it made him wonder if he was an even bigger asshole than he realized. Like, he¡¯d always known he was one, but now it was really starting to dawn on him just how much. And so, surprising even himself, he took a deep breath, blew it out slowly, and said, ¡°I respect that. You¡¯re right. I was only making a joke, and¡­¡± It actually burned him to continue speaking, but he forced the words out, and they became easier and more sincere as he spoke them. ¡°And what I just said was really rude, and I apologize for saying something disrespectful to you and your culture, especially after just meeting you. That doesn¡¯t cast me in a great light, and I¡¯m sorry.¡± At no point since knowing Kalana had he ever seen her beam with such relief and pride in her eyes. Trelvor, for his part, bowed his head graciously. ¡°It¡¯s perfectly understandable. This island is so enchanting and beautiful, and I too would love to spend many more days exploring it, but the queen¡¯s words have so much weight to us, and it really speaks well of your character that you understand. My father spoke well of you, too. Thank you for understanding.¡± That was less difficult than I thought it¡¯d be, Zach thought, glad he¡¯d chosen to try de-escalation for a change. Over the next few minutes, he and Kalana took turns speaking as they explained to Trelvor, Seiley, Lienne, and Rian the precise events that had taken place to spawn the Galterra-wide event that had effectively banned them all from continuing to level-up. While they spoke, Fluffles and Ruby went off together somewhere nearby and were engaged in their own conversation about who could find the prettier pebble. Despite a harsh first introduction, they actually seemed to be getting along, for which Zach was grateful. They started to play together, digging for different rocks and comparing them. Zach actually thought it was kind of cute even if kind of stupid. ¡°¡­and that¡¯s when these exclamation points started going up over some of their heads,¡± Kalana said excitedly. ¡°I dunno what that means, but it¡¯s so cool!¡± ¡°It means they¡¯ve got a quest for ya¡ªif you want it,¡± Seiley said, winking. ¡°Really?¡± Kalana asked, her lips forming an O-shape. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°Oh, because we¡¯ve got loads of NPC towns on Archian Prime.¡± Lowering her voice, she bit her lip then whispered into Rian¡¯s ear, but at a volume loud enough to still be heard. ¡°There¡¯s even one that has these very naughty mobs called succubus, and if you finish their quest, they let you use their inn for free. They have very special beds. Maybe I¡¯ll show it to you.¡± Rian coughed into his fist, then said, ¡°Since we can¡¯t adventure here anymore, I¡¯m in favor of going to Archian Prime immediately. Zach?¡± Zach laughed. ¡°Can you even handle Archian Prime?¡± Rian pointed a thumb towards his shining breastplate. ¡°See my new gear? I¡¯m not the same Rian I was a few days ago. I¡¯m level 34 believe it or not, and I could probably even kick your ass now, Zach.¡± Zach laughed a second time, shaking his head. ¡°How the hell did you get level 34 so fast? And even at level 34, how are you tanking hits from a T2, level-45 cyclops?¡± Zach pointed at him accusatorially. ¡°You got power-leveled, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°No way, man. I mean, yeah, I was with the Elves, and they¡¯re way higher level, but I contributed in every fight.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Because they gave me and Lienne much more powerful equipment.¡± ¡°Oh, so you did cheat, you lazy fuck.¡± Rian chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re one to talk, buddy. Why don¡¯t you tell everyone what level that cloak of yours is, Zach? Or any of the items Queen Vayra gave you.¡± Zach backed away a step and rolled his eyes. ¡°Yeah, no thanks.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Rian asked. ¡°Hm? Why not, Zach? I bet it¡¯s way higher level than you are.¡± ¡°Only a little.¡± ¡°Prove it.¡± ¡°Prove what?¡± ¡°Prove that your equipment is only a little higher level.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Zach snorted. ¡°I just don¡¯t feel like it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because you know I¡¯m right. And you know I¡ª¡± ¡°Boys, enough,¡± Lienne said, placing her hand on her forehead and sighing. ¡°The two of you, I swear.¡± Zach and Rian exchanged a laugh. ¡°We¡¯re just playing around, Li,¡± Rian said. ¡°Yah, I know you are, but it¡¯s still annoying.¡± Kalana giggled. Then, her expression drained of mirth, and a bit more seriously, she said, ¡°So umm, my mom wants us all to head right home and stay in the safe area away from all the mobs and quests for now. But we still have plenty of stuff we can do. The power¡¯s working now, there¡¯s viewing screens in most rooms, and I¡¯ve got a huge pool, and a barbeque, and everything.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you rather we go to Archian Prime and keep adventuring?¡± Zach asked her. Kalana shook her head, and now she wore an expression that almost seemed pained. ¡°So¡­my mom texted me on the way over here. She said that more Elves will be showing up here throughout the week, and umm, many of them don¡¯t have phones yet since they¡¯ve been in Archian Prime for so long. They don¡¯t know they¡¯re not supposed to hunt, so we gotta be here to tell them.¡± Suddenly, an apologetic look came over her face. ¡°Also¡­she¡­she wants you four to stay as well,¡± Kalana said, looking at both Trelvor and Seiley, then soon after Rian and Lienne. ¡°Your Highness?¡± Trelvor asked. The look of embarrassment and awkwardness in Kal¡¯s eyes confused Zach. Speaking softly but clearly, she said, ¡°I know you two came here on vacation and for fun, and I know you both wanted to go with Rian and Lienne to Archian Prime tomorrow. My mom knew that, too, which is why I¡¯m so mad at her for making me have to be the one to tell everyone this. I was seriously dreading it, actually.¡± ¡°Tell us what, Your Highness?¡± Kalana inhaled. ¡°Okay, so, my mom wants you four¡ªand me and Zach, too¡ªto take turns as lookout in the watchtower on the southwest side of the island each day in order to spot any Elves who might arrive ahead of time. That way, we don¡¯t miss them.¡± The reaction from Trelvor and Seiley was immediate and lacked any hesitation whatsoever. They bowed their heads obediently, and then, in a much more formal tone of voice, the both of them said, ¡°Her Majesty¡¯s Orders are understood!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Kalana whispered. Seiley shook her head. ¡°You should never feel bad for giving us orders from the queen. If that¡¯s what Her Majesty asks, then we¡¯ll do it without question.¡± ¡°Uh, Kal,¡± Zach whispered. ¡°Are you sure you didn¡¯t misread that?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°She wants me to stand in the watchtower, too?¡± ¡°And¡­me?¡± Rian asked. At this, Kalana again tensed up. ¡°What is it?¡± he asked, clearly sensing something was wrong. Kalana, in the same low tone, said, ¡°She says that if you and Lienne want extended-stay permits on Archian Prime, you need to help us here.¡± Seiley barked a laugh. ¡°You hear that, human pet? You¡¯re taking a shift too.¡± Rian placed his shield on his back and once more sheathed his axe. ¡°Damn. Well, all right. If I¡¯ve got to.¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay with it,¡± Lienne said. ¡°The island is warm and beautiful. I don¡¯t mind staring out into the ocean for a few hours a day. As long as I don¡¯t have to do the night shift.¡± ¡°Wait, time out,¡± Zach grumbled. ¡°This is a fucking twenty-four-hour thing?¡± ¡°I think so,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Gods damn it all, Kal.¡± ¡°If it makes you feel any better, it wasn¡¯t my mom¡¯s idea. This was something Alex told her to ask you to do. He¡ªand my mom¡ªsay they¡¯re actually doing you a huge favor. Like, really huge.¡± ¡°Oh yeah? How so?¡± ¡°It¡¯s ¡®cause if you¡¯re doing this as an official task for the Royal Roses, umm, they can¡¯t recall you to fight in that war. At least, that¡¯s what my mom told me Alex said, anyway.¡± Zach coughed out a laugh. ¡°Well, that¡¯s dumb. They couldn¡¯t have asked me to do that in the first place. I mean, okay, I guess they literally could, but it¡¯s not like I would actually listen.¡± Kalana shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m just the messenger.¡± ¡°What do they even mean by official task, Kal?¡± Again, she shrugged. ¡°All I know is that my mom got the Royal Roses to ¡®assign¡¯ you to this island in order to help protect Galterra from any more ¡®unexpected¡¯ events. But we don¡¯t even have to start for another three days. Mom said nobody other than Trelvor and Seiley was cleared to come here until then, so we still have some time to just relax.¡± Zach became bitter at the very notion that the Royal Roses thought they had a right to ¡°assign¡± him a task. He was not a real member of their guild no matter what Vim Alazar said. And despite trying his best to sympathize with the totally understandable fear¡ªand shock¡ªfelt around the world due to the event him and Kal had spawned, Zach really did think that, as a whole, Galterra was massively overreacting to this whole thing. Putting the disruption in Whispery Woods aside for a second, the fact of the matter was that, for the vast majority of sentient life on the planet, it really was just a simple, easily ignorable quest popup. And while it did expose the fact that the potential for danger existed, the chance of anything actually happening must¡¯ve been so miniscule as to be not worth worrying about. Then again, he thought, Kal might have leveled into her 60s here with her dad and not had any problems, but that still just amounted to the two of them living here alone. If fifty Elves started hunting here, the chance of them discovering something that causes a problem elsewhere probably goes up¡ªassuming that ¡®something¡¯ like that even exists. Zach rubbed his index finger back and forth along his chin while he thought things over. Then he grinned as an idea came to him. ¡°Kal, I know what we can do.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± He laughed. ¡°When the first couple of Elves arrive, we can just assign them to do the work for us.¡± ¡°My human friend, we really can¡¯t do that,¡± Trelvor said, his tone apologetic. ¡°Huh? Why not?¡± ¡°It would be dishonorable. This task was assigned to us specifically by the queen herself.¡± Once more, Zach suppressed a biting remark. Though Trelvor might have behaved in a way that was very uptight for a guy roughly the same age as Zach, he came across as well-meaning, and there was no justification for Zach insulting him or pissing him off. So he let the retort die without ever being voiced, and instead he said, ¡°You¡¯re right. And at least we can hang out and go swimming for a few days.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Kalana whispered. ¡°To all of you.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have anything to be sorry for,¡± Seiley insisted. ¡°Based on your story, you guys didn¡¯t know this could happen. I¡¯ll be honest: I didn¡¯t either. Nothing like that¡¯s ever happened on Archian Prime, at least not since I¡¯ve been there.¡± Kalana smiled at her, and she smiled back. Then Rian came and took her hand as Lienne took Trelvor¡¯s. Zach, not wanting to be left out, offered his to Kalana¡ªor almost did. Then he glanced at his remaining duration of Unleashed Phase and realized they¡¯d spent so long talking he¡¯d lost track of time. ¡°We should get going. I don¡¯t want to pass out anywhere dangerous.¡± ¡°Pass out?¡± both Trelvor and Seiley asked. ¡°Too much to explain.¡± Both of them exchanged a curious look, then let the matter drop. Then, as a group, they all continued the journey to where Kalana had built her newly constructed home. ***** ¡°Enough,¡± Jennali said to her class as she placed her hands on her hips and gave the thirty children in front of her a stern, strict look. Once more, she tried to direct their attention to the projected screen and refocus their attention back on math. As an upscale summer school for the children of upper-middle-class parents here in Varda¡¯s Lair, the educational standards were higher than at other schools, and not even the excitement of today was enough to justify slacking. ¡°The next person to bring that out is getting a call home.¡± Only an hour or so ago, one of the strangest moments of her life had taken place. Gods, it had been frightening. She¡¯d been teaching her class of ten- and eleven-year-old children how to use decimal points when a large box filled with text and information had suddenly popped out of her¡ªand the rest of the class as well. At the time, she¡¯d had no idea what could have caused it: what it could mean or what it implied. The students, naturally, had all reacted with delight and childish innocence, but Jennali was left to fret over whether or not it meant that they were in any sort of danger. Naturally, as was protocol, the students had been hurried into the auditorium along with every other class, and together, all four-hundred children were made to wait quietly while they waited for word from the educational chancellor as to whether or not it was safe to resume instruction. Thankfully, they¡¯d learned relatively quickly that this was some kind of guild nonsense that had accidentally spilled out, and that it could be safely ignored and was of no danger to anyone. Though she¡¯d been a bit shaken, Jennali had intended to promptly resume teaching. And then the kids started acting up. ¡°I¡¯m more like Grundor, not you,¡± one of the boys whispered to another. ¡°No, I am more like Grundor. Just ask Teena. She even says so too.¡± ¡°My name¡¯s not Teena. It¡¯s Kalana.¡± ¡°Okay, well my name¡¯s Grundor.¡± ¡°The next person who speaks without raising their hand is getting five points deducted from next week¡¯s quiz,¡± Jennali said, folding her arms across her chest. ¡°The same goes for the next person to take out that¡­that information box. Please don¡¯t make me have to start calling your parents.¡± That did the trick. There was nothing they feared more than getting a phone call home. Even still, she knew she¡¯d have to warn them again later on. Ever since the ¡°event,¡± the children had been bringing out those information boxes during class. It seemed that, now, when tapping one¡¯s shoulder four times, there was something new that had never before been there. Something called ¡°quests.¡± And the children were bringing out this distracting thing all class long, giggling and laughing as they did so. Without a doubt, this would be something that teachers would have to deal with all across the world. It was far larger than the stats screen, and when an entire class all had them out at the same time, it actually made it impossible to see the children or the children to see one another. Hopefully, the kids would get bored of it in a week. Until then, they were going to make her life miserable. What in the name of the good Gods were those guilds up to? Chapter 123: Current Events Chapter 123: Current Events As Zach waded through a dark hallway and bumped into one of the walls of the large estate, which still smelled of newness and fresh paint, he wasn¡¯t sure how he knew where he was going. Actually, he couldn¡¯t even remember how he¡¯d gotten here. His mind was fuzzy, and he was groggy. He knew he¡¯d been to the bathroom before¡ªprobably several times¡ªbut it was all a blur in his head. Really, everything that¡¯d taken place since the moment after walking through the doors of Kalana¡¯s island-paradise home yesterday seemed like one big dream. After fumbling around for the light switch, he relieved himself in one of the largest bathrooms he¡¯d ever been in, and then upon flushing, he stared at the massive jacuzzi and shower across from him. He¡¯d washed up in here, hadn¡¯t he? Right. He had. Now he remembered. Yesterday, upon coming here with Rian and the others, Kalana had refused to let him pass out in the bed until after he¡¯d showered, so when his Unleashed Phase duration ran out, he¡¯d instead plopped down onto a couch in the living room. Two or three hours later, she¡¯d woken him up, seemingly becoming worried that he hadn¡¯t already done so on his own; taking his hand, she¡¯d led him to the shower¡ªgetting inside it with him. Zach recalled being so exhausted that he hadn¡¯t even really been able to ¡°appreciate¡± that last bit. Operating more like a robot than a sentient being, his body had moved on autopilot until she¡¯d shown him to the master bedroom, which she¡¯d adorned with every manner of luxury furniture and a king-sized bed. It was here that he¡¯d finally gotten under the covers and blanked out the moment he did so, waking up only momentarily several hours later¡ªwhen night had fallen¡ªand Kalana had joined him in bed. He remembered feeling her close to him as he drifted back off to sleep. Now, in the very early hours of the morning, with the sky still blanketed by darkness, he made his way back to the bedroom as the intense sounds of rain and thunder blared outside. He didn¡¯t remember changing into the loungewear he was wearing, nor did he know where his phone or weapon was, but from a digital clock on a shelf, he could see that he¡¯d been asleep for almost fifteen straight hours. Entering the bedroom, a blueish light briefly illuminated the dark as lightning struck somewhere nearby. Night is just as bad as she said it is, Zach thought. Yesterday, Kalana had told him that from sundown to sunup, the island was typically in a perpetual state of stormy weather with the same intensity of the brief ones that came throughout the day; and from what Zach could tell, it was constant and unrelenting. Fortunately, given the early days and late nights at this time of the year, the nasty weather would likely stop in just shy of two hours when the earliest signs of light hit the sky. For now, it would remain miserable outside. Zach yawned as he entered further into the well-furnished bedroom, though he was already feeling a great deal more awake. Actually, he doubted he could go back to sleep even if he tried. Even still, he climbed into bed next to Kalana and smiled at her. Then he sent his gaze to a bedside table across from him where he spotted a controller that he assumed operated the luxuriously sized viewing screen mounted on the wall across from them above a dresser. Despite wanting to disconnect from the rest of Galterra, Zach nevertheless decided to watch a bit of the news, as his curiosity and boredom won out over his societal fatigue. Given the difference in time zones, it should have been far enough into the morning in North Bastia for the news to have begun the day in full swing. And so, ensuring that the volume was low, he activated the screen, and with a thick pillow giving him support, he lay on his back and began to watch¡ªand Gods was there a lot to take in. There was so much going on in the world. Never once had he seen so many people covering so many different active stories all at once. And surprisingly¡ªand thankfully¡ªhis name was mentioned minimally. It appeared that there were matters of such importance taking place that yesterday¡¯s ¡°quest scare¡± had quickly fallen from public consciousness. Even the news, celebrations, and all other matters related to the raid of Ziragoth had faded to just a blip here or there, and that was something that Zach expected would¡¯ve remained the primary story for a good solid month or so. But no: there was too much going on aside from that, and much of it revolved around Shadowfall Coast and the outrage of the public, which apparently hadn¡¯t even learned until early last night about the events that¡¯d taken place a day before. Now, however, anyone tuning it would immediately learn that Peter Brayspark was dead, the Guild of Gentlemen had ¡°slain numerous cultural icons and business leaders,¡± and that a full-scale, conventional war had broken out in the city. On the screen were the faces of famous actors, actresses, and industry leaders that had been killed during the dinner two nights ago, including ¡°Chall Brillstar,¡± the lead actor in the world-famous ¡°Gun Racer¡± series. The man had been sitting next to him and Kal while they¡¯d eaten and drank, and Zach recalled him falling to the floor after a bullet hit him in his spine while he¡¯d attempted to flee. I remember, he thought, suddenly feeling shivery and unwell. His body tensed¡ªbut only for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Kalana whispered, sitting up and wrapping her arms around him. He looked at her, somewhat surprised. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Did I wake you?¡± She smiled. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°How long have you been watching with me? I had no idea you were up.¡± ¡°Only like ten minutes.¡± ¡°I can turn it off if you want.¡± She stretched her arms and yawned. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I wanna see what¡¯s going on, too. You can make it a bit louder if you want.¡± He nodded then slightly increased the volume. He didn¡¯t want to make it too loud, however, because Rian, Lienne, Trelvor, and Seiley were likely still all asleep elsewhere in the home, and so were Fluffles, Ruby, and Kalana¡¯s ordinary housecat, Nila. Zach wasn¡¯t sure where Nila slept, but he recalled seeing Ruby and Fluffles bunking together on a large sofa in the living room. Those two were getting along dramatically better than Zach would have expected. It was probably because Fluffles had no preconceived prejudices against ¡°raptors¡± like he did dogs, and also because Ruby was so exceedingly nice and polite that even Fluffles couldn¡¯t find anything to hate about her the way he did with Chumpkenwiffles. Assuming he even really hates that dog, Zach thought. Despite being his ¡°worst enemy,¡± Fluffles constantly talked about Chumpkenwiffles. Even during the brief trip home yesterday, he kept talking to Ruby about the dog, describing her favorite chewing toy, the difference between their paws, and other irrelevant details that only seemed to matter to animals. Zach chuckled at the idea that Fluffles secretly liked the dog, and so did Kal when he explained to her why he¡¯d suddenly started laughing. ¡°My mom¡¯s dog is so cute,¡± Kalana said. ¡°She¡¯s a good girl if you get to know her.¡± ¡°She is cute,¡± Zach said. ¡°But she¡¯s scary when she¡¯s chasing you down a tunnel and shooting lasers at you.¡± Zach returned his attention to the news broadcast as the reporter read the results of a poll that had been taken. Apparently, the number of people who now supported conventional military action against the Guild of Gentlemen had skyrocketed to over 86% among the regions not controlled by them. That number, quite obviously, went down a lot when including the territories of Tomb of Fire and Shadowfall Coast, decreasing all the way to 63%, as most of those people were loyal to the Guild of Gentlemen. Further increasing outrage was the fact that the guild had stolen all of the dragon¡¯s loot, of which only one member of their entire guild had taken part in slaying¡ªthe very same member whose life ended with a blade running through his turned back. Increasing the volume a bit, Zach decided to more carefully listen in. ¡°We go now live to our war correspondent in Shadowfall Coast, where the war against the Guild of Gentlemen has begun picking up in intensity.¡± Zach sat up straighter, and any last trace of tiredness faded away as the image of Shadowfall Coast popped up onto the screen. Kalana gasped, and Zach gripped the blanket. He was in disbelief at what he saw, as he barely recognized it. A news reporter was crouched down behind an overturned school-bus as allied forces¡ªthousands of them¡ªcould be seen hurrying down the street with rifles in hand. There were constant loud explosions and gunshots to be heard in the background, and each time one rang out nearby, the reporter, who was wearing a military-style helmet, would duck his head down before continuing to speak. ¡°As you can see, even here in 5th avenue, this is still very much an active battlefield. I¡¯m told that, only moments ago, the allied North Bastian forces have managed to recapture 6th.¡± Though it was early in the morning over there, the sun was out in full, and it illuminated the full scale of destruction. Though the buildings in Shadowfall Coast were not tall by most city¡¯s standards, they were still compact and densely populated, and now, Zach could see that almost every single one of them along 5th avenue had been completely destroyed. Though most were technically still ¡°standing,¡± a great deal had their entire front-facing sides ripped off, whereas others were burned out husks, and a few had collapsed completely, becoming nothing but rubble. ¡°They¡¯re going too fucking far,¡± Zach said, finding the sight of it distasteful. ¡°There had to be a better way than this.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Kalana said, shifting closer to him on the bed. ¡°I don¡¯t know why they have to do all this.¡± Zach filled with disgust. ¡°This is why I don¡¯t want anything to do with the world anymore. Just look at this. I mean, I hate the Guild of Gentlemen too, but Shadowfall Coast was beautiful, and Vim, you know, he can be a real dick, but he¡¯s not that bad of a guy, so why would he go this far?¡± ¡°I dunno,¡± Kalana whispered. ¡°My mom¡¯s gotten dragged into it too now. The Guild of Gentlemen declared war on us yesterday.¡± Zach laughed, though more from the absurdity of it than because he found it funny. ¡°Are they out of their minds? They better hope the Elves don¡¯t take that seriously, because your mom and ten of her best could probably singlehandedly dismantle the entire guild. And don¡¯t even get me started on how much shit they¡¯re in if she decides to actually attack with the full¡­the full¡­wait a second.¡± Zach leaned in closer and pointed. ¡°Is that Grundor?¡± he asked, both shocked and confused as, behind the reporter, the NPC zombie could be seen in full officer attire walking side by side with a high-ranking member of the Royal Roses. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°And over here, behind me, you can see that Sir Grundor of the Royal Roses has just arrived, leading a full platoon of troops into battle.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t real,¡± Zach said, shaking his head. ¡°What the hell is going on? And why don¡¯t you seem surprised, Kal?¡± Kalana frowned. ¡°It¡¯s ¡®cause I knew this was gonna happen. I talked to Kolona about it yesterday, actually. Grundor¡¯s not doing this for show. He¡¯s really a member of the Royal Roses now.¡± Zach snorted. ¡°No fucking way.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± ¡°And Oli just allowed it?¡± Kalana gave him a serious look, pursing her lips before speaking. ¡°Grundor¡¯s not his slave, Zach. He doesn¡¯t treat him that way. Actually, Kolona told me that, in all the years Grundor and Olivir have been together, he never once used a pet command on him¡ªwell, other than during a fight if he needed to pull Grundor out of the way of an attack he didn¡¯t see coming. And I kinda understand that, ¡®cause umm, I¡¯ve had Ruby for only a day, and I would never force my will on her either.¡± Zach thought over her words. ¡°Wait, are you saying you can actually command Ruby like I can command my Kralzek¡¯s Beast?¡± Kalana nodded. ¡°I think so. But it feels wrong to do it. It¡¯s kinda like yanking hard on a leash.¡± Zach took a deep breath and tried to make sense of things. ¡°I just don¡¯t understand any of this. Grundor was only pretending to be a member of the Royal Roses just like I was, and in his case, it was because he wanted, like, a movie deal or something.¡± ¡°That¡¯s how it started,¡± Kalana replied, placing a hand on his lap. ¡°But I know from Kolona that, umm, Grundor spent all his life on Archian Prime reading about Galterra, and that he always talked about making a difference in the world. Maybe he thinks this is how he can do that.¡± ¡°I guess that makes a bit more sense,¡± Zach admitted. ¡°After what we all went through at the dinner, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if Grundor views the Guild of Gentlemen as a true force of evil that can¡¯t be allowed to remain in power. Especially after what they did to you, Kolona, and the Elves.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Kalana said. ¡°So I bet that¡¯s why he¡¯s become a real, true member.¡± Zach wiped the crust out of his eyes as though making his vision even slightly less blurry would change the reality he saw on the screen before him. For all the horribleness of the situation, Grundor, the goofy-looking zombie, stood proud, valiant, and moved with a sense of purpose that removed any doubt from Zach¡¯s mind that this was the path he wanted to take; still, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to agree with it. Is this really what he wants? Before long, the camera cut away, and now an intimately familiar sight filled the screen. A tall reporter stood on the sidewalk of a busy street in downtown Whispery Woods, where three Elvish warriors in green cloaks were dragging a bunch of screaming men out of an apartment building while level-1 humans in peacekeeper uniforms exited the very same building with handguns wrapped in evidence bags. On the bottom of the screen were the words: CRIME CRACKDOWN BEGINS: QUEEN VAYRA TARGETS CRIMINAL GANGS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 25 YEARS. ¡°Get the¡±¡ªbleep¡ª¡°off me, you¡±¡ªbleep¡ª¡°Elf son of a¡±¡ªbleep¡ª¡°or you¡¯re all dead!¡± cried one of the arrested men. ¡°Gods curse you, Elvish filth!¡± At this, Zach couldn¡¯t help but grin. ¡°Wow, it looks like someone¡¯s finally doing something about those Gods-be-damned gangs.¡± ¡°Not someone,¡± Kalana said, playfully bumping shoulders with him. ¡°We are.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad. Hey, did I ever tell you how, before my mom died, she had to close down her bakery because she couldn¡¯t afford the protection money that they were extorting her for?¡± ¡°Mhm. I think you mentioned that once. Didn¡¯t you say they wanted thousands of gold from her each month?¡± ¡°Yeah. Bastards extorted her until she couldn¡¯t stay in business. If only I was¡­if only I could go back in time and be then the way I am now, I¡¯d tear every one of those people apart.¡± The anger that rose within him came on suddenly and unexpectedly. ¡°Thank the Gods. Your mom¡¯s finally killing the right people.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± Kalana said, frowning. ¡°I hope you¡¯re joking.¡± ¡°Joking? About what?¡± She nudged his elbow. ¡°You don¡¯t seriously think we¡¯re executing them, do you?¡± she asked, her tone coming across as displeased. ¡°You¡¯re not?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± ¡°Oh. Okay, so I¡¯m guessing you guys are throwing them in the dungeons instead, right? Hey, that¡¯s still just as good.¡± ¡°No, Zach!¡± Zach scratched his head, unsure of why she had taken such offense. ¡°You¡¯re confusing me.¡± ¡°We¡¯re putting them on trial,¡± Kalana said. Zach tilted his head, partially in disbelief. ¡°Why the hell would you do something like that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s ¡®cause that¡¯s how we do things. We¡¯re using the same code that Elvish rulers have used all throughout history¡ªat least back when there were such a thing as Elvish rulers.¡± Zach vaguely recalled learning about this in history. ¡°Tell me you¡¯re not seriously bringing back that medieval crap.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not medieval. If anything, the way you humans do things is what¡¯s medieval. You arrest people and then they go straight to the dungeon.¡± ¡°Well, yeah,¡± Zach said. ¡°Obviously. The peacekeepers know who the bad guys are. If you get arrested, it¡¯s because you did something wrong.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true, though.¡± ¡°Yeah, it is. No one gets arrested because they did nothing wrong.¡± ¡°Nah-uh! You don¡¯t even know any better. People do get arrested by mistake all the time.¡± Long ago, before the guilds of humanity rose to prominence, and before the Elves vanished in what, until recently, most had believed was extinction, there used to be a convoluted system involving trials, whereby everyone arrested had to go through some kind of lengthy, drawn-out process, and even people who were obviously guilty got to sit in court and lie about what they did for hours at a time¡ªor something to that effect. Obviously, it was way more complex than that, but he wasn¡¯t exactly an expert in history. At any rate, nowadays, the system was much simpler. If someone was arrested and charged with a crime, they went before a judge; this judge would then examine the evidence and determine if the person was guilty, and if so, sentence them to either a fine, a stay in the dungeons, or execution depending on the severity of the crime. Naturally, arrests in Whispery Woods were much rarer than in other, better policed regions, but even in Whispery Woods, when the peacekeepers actually managed to catch a bad guy, they made sure he was gone for good. ¡°If those men are found guilty at trial,¡± Kalana said, ¡°they¡¯ll go to the dungeons. But not before.¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°Fine, whatever. I mean, it sounds like a waste of time, but even still, it¡¯s better than ignoring them. I never thought I¡¯d live to see the day where someone actually went after the gangs.¡± Kalana kissed him. ¡°When I¡¯m governor, I¡¯m gonna make sure they¡¯re all arrested.¡± Zach thought to bring up the fact that her mom was no stranger to ordering the execution of people without any kind of ¡°trial¡± or even real wrongdoing, but he didn¡¯t feel like starting a fight with her over it. Clearly, she was taking a different approach to being a queen now that she had more than just a few-thousand lives to be responsible for. It was as if the weight of all those lives was pulling her towards an ideal that was greater than herself. At first, Zach had thought this was all some kind of act, such as how she was focusing all her efforts on rebuilding the lives of people in Den of Ziragoth, or the way she seemed intent on repairing the city¡¯s infrastructure. Yet it was becoming more and more difficult to deny that she was acting in good faith. As if seeing the confusion on his face, Kalana said, ¡°My mom¡¯s the first Elf in more than a thousand years to return to real power. She told me so in Angelica¡¯s. None of my people have had this kind of importance on the world stage in over a thousand years. She doesn¡¯t wanna mess this up. What she does isn¡¯t just gonna affect her legacy or mine, but it¡¯s gonna affect the way people view Elves for a really long time to come. I dunno how she did things on Archian Prime, but this is a fresh start for her, and I know she wants to do what¡¯s right.¡± That makes a lot of sense, actually, Zach thought. She has a chance to do things differently now. ¡°You can¡¯t repeat this,¡± Kalana continued, ¡°but my mom wants to eventually give Archian Prime back to the white-cloaks.¡± ¡°Give it back?¡± Zach asked, not fully grasping what Kalana meant by that. ¡°Mhm. She rules there by divine right, but she caused a whole lot of trouble since showing up, and once she¡¯s firmly resettled back in Whispery Woods with the green-cloaks, she¡¯s gonna let them go back to being a self-governed territory of Elvadin. I think they all wanna return to their own ways and values. They¡¯re very unhappy since she showed up, but their honor doesn¡¯t allow them to say so.¡± This, Zach found to be incredible. ¡°Will the Elves still keep in contact with each other?¡± ¡°Oh, yep, definitely. We¡¯re not gonna drift away like how we¡¯ve been for so long. It¡¯s just that a lot of the white-cloaks are really sad ¡®cause my mom kinda blew up their whole understanding of society, and I think that she wants to give it back now that she has all this here on Galterra to care for. But that won¡¯t be for a few years at least. She¡¯s still gonna rule for now.¡± ¡°But wait. Didn¡¯t your mom only go to Archian Prime in the first place to build a life for you and your dad?¡± ¡°Yep. But things are different now, Zach, and a lot of that¡¯s ¡®cause of you.¡± Zach shivered at what Kalana was saying; it caused a chill to travel down his back. She was implying¡ªcorrectly¡ªthat his actions, specifically, those that led her mother here to Galterra in the first place, were an integral part of the current outcome. This meant that Zach, unwittingly, had done something that caused a profound impact on the future of the entire world: that entire regions and the lives of millions were now permanently changed because of him. It¡¯s too much. I can¡¯t think about this. Not wanting to dwell on the idea, Zach let the thought drop and continued to watch the coverage of Whispery Woods. It was here he learned that, despite having only just taken control of the region, Queen Vayra had become immensely popular worldwide. Even though it was still her ¡°guild¡¯s¡± first week in charge, already, she was the most approved and well-liked leader in North Bastia. The media played brief snippets of an hour-long speech she¡¯d given the day prior, in which she vowed in the name of her ancestors to care for each and every victim in Den of Ziragoth, claiming not one of them would be forgotten and left to fend for themselves. ¡°The cruelty towards those of you who have been left to your fate is one I seek to address,¡± she said, reading from a teleprompter at a press conference taken just outside the destroyed town. ¡°No one who has suffered has done so through any fault of their own. You will be made whole, and your lives will be repaired.¡± The camera cut away and once more returned to the reporter in downtown Whispery Woods. ¡°Reactions to the queen have been mostly positive, Domanik, and people we¡¯ve been interviewing on the street such as Zelira here have told us much the same.¡± Turning to face a short, elderly woman who was standing beside him outside of her shop that happened to be located at the ground level of a building adjacent to the one where the Elves were cracking down on gang activity, he said, ¡°Can you tell us a little bit about how you¡¯re feeling towards the guild of Elvadin?¡± ¡°I just want to thank Her Majesty,¡± the woman said, bowing her head graciously. ¡°We¡¯ve been terrorized by them for so long it¡¯s become part of ordinary life. The kidnappings. The murders. I never thought someone would do something about it.¡± She smiled. ¡°Everyone in my family is saying that Whispery Woods is going to make a comeback now. It¡¯s going to be like how I was when I was a little girl. Things were very different back then, you know? We weren¡¯t considered a poor city. People actually wanted to come here!¡± Together with Kal, the two watched the news until the very first rays of sunshine broke through the storm clouds, which departed shortly thereafter. ¡°We should get dressed,¡± Kalana said. ¡°And you should get ready for your first session.¡± ¡°My first session?¡± She twisted her lips at him. ¡°You know, Zach.¡± He moaned. ¡°Ah, fuck. I keep forgetting about that. Therapy.¡± Kalana snickered then kissed him on the forehead. ¡°I¡¯m having one today too, so don¡¯t even start.¡± ¡°Can we at least eat breakfast first? I¡¯m starving.¡± ¡°Mhm! She¡¯s bringing it.¡± ¡°Who is?¡± ¡°Your therapist.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Rather than reply, Kalana got out of bed and started getting dressed, and Zach lay back down, suddenly becoming tired again. This was going to be annoying. Chapter 124: Launch Chapter 124: Launch With his back against a double-doored entryway to a four-story apartment complex, and with a behemoth of a man bearing down on him from the front, Alex realized he was trapped in a close quarters fight. There wasn¡¯t enough space behind him to step away or dodge, and thus, offense was now his best defense. Aggressively, he stepped forward and whirled his arms around, tearing his summoned blade across the throat of a member of the Guild of Gentlemen just as the man was set to bring his hammer slamming down on top of Alex¡¯s skull. A splatter of blood preceded the halting of motion, and then he gargled and wheezed as he died. At around the same time, a chorus of gunshots rang out, and Alex watched as a countless number of the enemy¡¯s infantry were riddled with bullets. A few returned fire, and Alex managed to position himself in front of one of his men, protecting the level-1 soldier from imminent death. Yet others were not so lucky. Even still, their overwhelming force proved too much for the city¡¯s defenders to handle, and it looked like, at least at the street level, they¡¯d eliminated the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s forces here on 6th avenue and Ocean Street. ¡°Time to clear,¡± he said. Gesturing with his sword even as he spoke, he called out for various sergeants to get ready to lead their squads into the apartments for door-to-door clearing operations¡ªbut not before shouting out in warning to several of his men to get behind cover. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing standing in the middle of the street? You¡¯re asking to get shot!¡± Alex tried to remain patient. The darkness of war had a certain numbing effect on one¡¯s civility. Yet he had made himself perfectly clear on a number of occasions: level-1 infantry and low-level guild soldiers needed to stay close to cover, and only those who were level 25 and up were permitted to march in the open¡ªespecially when capturing another street. Already, they¡¯d sustained an unacceptable number of casualties due to fire coming from the windows. I wasn¡¯t meant to do this, he thought to himself. This is not what I wanted. Why am I so adept at it? Alex had been given control of what had been called ¡°Justice Company,¡± which had been merged with the remaining forces of Siege Company. The result was that he had just shy of five-hundred men and women under his command, the vast majority of which were ordinary, level-1 troops around his age or in some cases younger. In addition, he had two armored tanks and an armored personnel carrier providing him support. Now, in what was more or less one gigantic double-sided line that stretched from the head to the foot of the block, he at last gave the command to breach. The sound of boots pattering down on concrete echoed in the early-morning light as his troops began entering the various apartment complexes three squads apiece and got to work on securing the street. ¡°Sergeant Marshing, you and your men are with me,¡± Alex said. Jakz Marshing nodded. ¡°Understood, Sir Oren.¡± Jakz had been part of the original invasion force under the direct command of Staff Sergeant Edrax, who it was believed had likely been KIA along with his squad¡¯s sergeant; thus, he¡¯d been promoted from corporal and now led in the man¡¯s place. Along with two other squads, he followed behind Alex as they quickly darted up the stairs of an old, but humble apartment complex. ¡°We¡¯re doing this the same as last time,¡± he said, pausing. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to¡ª¡± He paused as a frightened scream came over their communicators along with the audible sound of gunshots from one building over. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to protect me,¡± he finished. ¡°If we encounter any leveled fighters, back away and let me handle it.¡± Having spoken those words, Alex rapped his fist against the leftmost apartment door in the first-floor hallway. ¡°This is Sir Alex Oren with the Lords of Justice. Open up!¡± ¡°Fuck off!¡± screamed a woman¡¯s voice from behind the door. ¡°This is my home. You have no right!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t intend to trouble you, ma¡¯am. We just want to make sure you don¡¯t have any weapons in there.¡± ¡°Kiss my ass! Fuck all of you!¡± Alex squeezed his hands into fists and tamped down on the disgust and guilt rising within him. ¡°Ma¡¯am, please open the door or I¡¯m going to break it down.¡± Silence. Steeling his resolve, Alex sent his foot crashing forward, knocking the apartment door off its hinges and sending it crashing down onto the floor. Immediately, he narrowed his eyes and shouted, ¡°Get back!¡± He shoved a man to his right and a woman to his left out of the way as hail of gunfire bounced off his chest and face. Inside, he saw that a mother and her two young sons had opened fire on him. Hastily, he darted forward, reached out, and ripped the weapon free from the woman, whose eyes widened in terror as she fell backwards and landed onto her rear. One of her two children, gripped by a panic, dropped his weapon. The other did not. Thus, Alex first snapped her rifle in half before ripping away the boy¡¯s and kicking the third out of the room. ¡°Please,¡± she begged. ¡°Don¡¯t kill us!¡± Alex looked over his shoulder. ¡°Sergeant Marshing.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Oren.¡± ¡°Place these three under arrest.¡± ¡°No!" the mother screamed. ¡°That¡¯s worse than death!¡± Alex turned his eyes on her. ¡°You¡¯re wrong. I¡¯m not with the Royal Roses. You¡¯ll be going to a POW camp run by the Lords of Justice.¡± ¡°What¡¯s¡­what¡¯s the difference?¡± she asked, clearly petrified. ¡°The difference,¡± Alex explained, ¡°is that you¡¯ll be set free unharmed once this war is over.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe you.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have a choice.¡± Alex understood her fear. It was only natural. After all, the Royal Roses, having been victims of a terrible terrorist attack, were out for blood. Reports of mistreatment, abuse, and neglect at their POW camp were not only accurate, but if anything, were likely understating the severity of the situation. The Lords of Justice, on the other hand, were not interested in revenge and could reliably be trusted to treat their prisoners with dignity. As three of his troops moved to secure and arrest the prisoners, the sound of gunfire rang out from what he estimated to be the apartment three doors down. Alex clenched his teeth. Due to time constraints, he couldn¡¯t be everywhere at once. Each floor of each building was virtually guaranteed to end in death or serious injury for those under his command. Yet these sweeps were entirely necessary to bringing order back to Shadowfall Coast. What were they thinking? he wondered, shaking his head. How did the Guild of Gentlemen imagine this was going to go? With every North Bastian guild united in opposition to the Guild of Gentlemen, there was never any chance of Shadowfall Coast enduring the siege. The capture of the city was now only a matter of when, not if. The only question that still remained was how many more people were going to have to die before this horrible chapter of human ugliness came to an end. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. The combined might of their newly arrived forces, along with the continued bombardment from the sea by Sir Haisel Ragora, meant that the Guild of Gentlemen were steadily being driven back. It should be obvious to all of them by now that they had lost¡ªyet they refused to surrender. They were going to drag this on until the bitter end, and thanks to a loyal, devoted population, the citizens were more than happy to fight and die for the guild, too. We need to end this quickly. Let this be done with! Speaking into his Comm, Alex said, ¡°First floor clear. Moving to second.¡± He paused to briefly exchange information with Sergeant Marshing then said, ¡°Fifteen POWs. Three enemy KIA. Two of ours wounded. Need prisoner transport and medivac.¡± ¡°Understood, Sir Oren.¡± Alex left the apartment and returned to the stairwell, ready to repeat the process again. ****** With his fingers interlocked and his head resting on his chin, Vim sat in perfect silence in the 75th floor of the tallest building in the primary city of Giant¡¯s Fall, the Rose Spire. Surrounding him were information screens and his top strategic personnel as he listened intently to each and every update. He hadn¡¯t slept since the dinner, and he refused to rest until his body forced him to do so. Until then, he was subsisting on caffeine and amphetamines, struggling to keep alert and to manage things as best as he possibly could. This won¡¯t go on for much longer, he thought. It can¡¯t possibly. Shifting his eyes without moving his head, he briefly glanced out of the window nearest to his leather office chair where he sat at a large, oval-shaped table so that he could steal a glimpse of the metropolis he fought so hard to maintain. Though Giant¡¯s Fall was not a flashy, glitzy city like Tomb of Fire or an upscale, elite corporate paradise like Varda¡¯s Lair, it was still the most important place in the world to him. To some, Giant¡¯s Fall came across as an average city: nothing more, nothing less. It had reasonable levels of crime, a fairly strong economy, and a slightly above-average education system. It was often compared to what Whispery Woods had been more than a century ago: a reasonable, affordable city with a solid infrastructure that offered plenty of opportunities for work and growth. To Vim, however, it was so much more. To him, it was a city of laborers and a city of grit. A resilient, strong people who worked difficult jobs and retired comfortably. He loved the people of this city. For this reason, he knew that if he were in the same position as the enemy, he would never subject them to this kind of drawn-out, unnecessary bloodshed. If there ever came a situation where Vim understood that his end was near, he would not drag the people of Giant¡¯s Fall down with him. But that was exactly what Sir Alistair Morrison had chosen to do. For reasons unknown, the man refused to surrender, choosing instead to arm his headstrong populace and have them die for no purpose or reason. And given his guild¡¯s rage over the terrorist attack in Ogre¡¯s Axe, even Vim himself could not stop the mistreatment taking place in the POW camp. His people were viciously angry and it was all Vim could do just to ensure there were no extrajudicial executions. ¡°How are things proceeding?¡± he asked. ¡°Steadily,¡± replied Norc O¡¯cral, an Orcish intelligence officer who had also participated in the raid against the dragon. Vim had very much wanted him to participate in the siege, but he knew he¡¯d have a better chance wringing water from a dried leaf than he did in getting an Orc to participate in a war. Instead, Norc had remained here in the central command room and helped Vim coordinate with his units on the ground. Vim rubbed his chin as he studied a digital map that had been projected onto the middle of the table, which used color-coded dots to represent the advancement of their various forces. Although ¡°steadily¡± was a fair description of the progress being made, it also failed to capture the dire insufficiency of it. Put simply, everyone¡ªbe it his guild or any of the others¡ªhad completely underestimated the willingness of the citizens of Shadowfall Coast to fight and die for the Guild of Gentlemen. To say this was unusual would be putting it mildly. The vast majority of humans cared little which guild happened to control which territory, and such shifts in territorial possession, though much rarer in recent decades, was something that still took place every once in a while. It had always been the case that, as long as they did not feel personally under attack, humanity was willing to let the guilds play out their struggles in isolation, and they did not involve themselves personally. But that all seemed to have changed. Street by street, and block by block, citizens of Shadowfall Coast were firing on their forces, slowing their advance. Entire families, including children, were fighting to the death. And why? Because gnomes had the audacity to exist. Because not everyone in North Bastia was human. Because if the territory fell into the hands of any other guild, they might have to see people who did not look like them. Were they truly so afraid of having a Dwarf or Orcish neighbor that they were willing to die just to prevent it? By all available data, the most violent, homicidal race of people on Galterra were human beings¡ªand it wasn¡¯t even close. Yet the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s fearmongering had reached such a fever pitch that mothers were arming their pre-pubescent children with battle rifles. It was despicable. It was a bubble that would have had to burst sooner or later. But until then, it would be a painful, horrifying process. However, as his communicator flashed red from where it rested on the table, he wondered if perhaps things might come to an end sooner than expected after all. ¡°It¡¯s him,¡± Norc said, baring his fangs. ¡°Sir Alistair Morrison.¡± Vim nodded, though he did so slowly. Despite this being a voice call, he adjusted his tie and sat up straighter. He reached across the table and thumbed the red button. ¡°Sir Morrison,¡± he said, his tone even and neutral. ¡°I was hoping you¡¯d call sooner. I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ve come to your senses.¡± ¡°I have, Sir Alazar,¡± said the voice on the other end of the line. He too sounded just as neutral and calm, which was remarkable for a man whose end was now set in stone. It was well beyond Vim¡¯s power to prevent his inevitable execution. His crimes were too numerous and too heinous for the UCH to pardon. ¡°Too many have died. Tell me, are you ready to end this?¡± ¡°I am,¡± he replied. Vim grunted. ¡°Then let¡¯s keep this simple, shall we? The hostilities can end at once pending your immediate, unconditional surrender. In addition, you will agree that the child of Peter Brayspark, Sir Peter V, will be rightfully made heir. We will allow your guild to keep control of Tomb of Fire despite how easily it would be for us to take it from you, and the brunt of the blame for this will be placed on you. Furthermore, I can guarantee both in voice and in writing that you will not be tortured, mistreated, or abused, and if the UCH opts for capital punishment, you will be euthanized humanely. Those are our terms.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Vim waited for him to accept. Then he waited a little bit longer. A few seconds dragged on to nearly a minute, and one minute dragged on to almost two. With each passing moment, the overall mood in the room became increasingly more unsettling and bizarre. It was understandable that the man would need a moment to process all of this, but Sir Morrison¡¯s silence was quickly escalating from uncomfortable to intolerable. ¡°Sir Morrison?¡± Vim asked. ¡°Yes, Sir Alazar. I hear you.¡± ¡°Do you accept our terms?¡± A very slow, perhaps even bitter sigh came from the Comm, and the menace in it immediately put Vim in a state of unease. ¡°I thought this part would be easier. Yet here I am, in the moment, and even with all my resolve, I¡¯m still trying not to buckle under the weight of it.¡± ¡°Save it for your therapist,¡± Vim said curtly. ¡°All I¡¯d like to hear from you is a yes or a¡ª¡° ¡°No, I will not surrender, Sir Alazar. Humanity will not concede a winning fight.¡± Vim frowned, unable to believe what he was hearing. ¡°Are you a fucking moron?¡± he blurted out, his patience lost. ¡°A winning fight? I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ve lost a bit of your sanity in addition to your nerve. Why, if not to surrender, would you contact me and waste my time?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve called you as an act of grace,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve called to give you one final chance to surrender. You and the rest of the guilds. You will stand down and leave Shadowfall Coast immediately. If you do not, then twenty-five minutes from the moment this conversation expires, I will call down an ancient God on your city of Ogre¡¯s Axe, and your guild will be crushed by a power greater than any dragon¡ªa force not seen since the days of Earth.¡± Vim slammed his fist down onto the table. ¡°Cut the shit, Alistair. Now you¡¯ve gone and pissed me off. I¡¯m tired of this. You¡¯re surrounded. Your city is falling. Surrender or pay the price.¡± ¡°Consider the first shot a warning,¡± he said. ¡°If you do not surrender after the first, there will be a second¡ªand then a third.¡± ¡°What in the name of the Gods are you¡ª¡± The light turned from red to yellow, and then off. The conversation had ended. ¡°What do you think?¡± he asked Norc. The Orc frowned. ¡°I think the man has lost his wits, Sir Alazar. His sanity has clearly failed him.¡± ¡°Fucking lunatic is right,¡± Vim growled. ¡°All right, continue operations as is. He asked for this.¡± ****** Sir Alistair Morison did not blink. He only spoke. ¡°Launch the ICBM. Target is Ogre¡¯s Axe.¡± Chapter 125: Boom Chapter 125: Boom With almost perfect timing, the thunderstorms halted and the clouds parted in tandem with the first rays of early-morning sunshine. Zach, getting into casual clothing for the first time in days, noted the change of weather through one of the clear glass windows in the master bedroom as he slipped into a pair of baggy shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. Kal had left his equipment and his sword in the walk-in storage closet across the room, and his rings, necklace, and bracelets had been safely stowed in a jewelry box atop the dresser beneath the viewing screen. Zach could just as easily put everything in Bank and Storage, but since he didn¡¯t plan on leaving the grounds of this large, three-floor, eight-bedroom home today, it wasn¡¯t even worth the effort. Stretching his back and neck muscles, he exited into the hallway on the first floor of this expansive, palace-like property that Kalana had somehow had built in just a matter of days. The Gods only knew how much it must have cost to not only build a home like this in the first place, but to transport the construction materials safely through the island''s invisible barrier along with the construction DEHVs¡ªwhile also paying an extra premium on top of it all so it would be done in under a week. Tens of millions of gold at least, Zach thought with a shudder. She probably spent between 20 and 30 million. And to think: she lectures me about being greedy. How the hell did Kal even get that much gold so fast in the first place? Located at the back of the home, a single wide hallway outside of the master bedroom led all the way into the living room and kitchen on the opposite side of the house. As Zach stepped over the newly laid hardwood flooring, he walked quietly so as not to wake up anyone who might still be asleep. Yet it turned out not to be necessary, because as he ambled his way into the living room, he spotted Rian, Lienne, Trelvor, and Seiley; all four were seated together on a silk, wheat-colored sofa, and they were speaking softly but animatedly to one another. On the other end of the living room, Ruby and Fluffles were still asleep. Ruby was on her belly face-down on a separate sofa and Fluffles was passed out on the raptor¡¯s back. ¡°When food?¡± the cat moaned as he snoozed. Either through coincidence or subconscious hearing, Ruby¡¯s tongue exited her mouth and licked the air as though in response to the question. It caused Zach to wonder why sentient NPCs like Grundor and Ruby even needed to sleep and eat in the first place since the mindless ones did not. Was something fundamentally different within them? Probably a question for Mr. Oren, Zach thought. Waving good morning, he entered farther into the room and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t think you guys would all be up so early.¡± As they turned to face him, he took a seat on the opposite couch across from the four of them. With a brief snicker, he added, ¡°Well, at least not Rian and Lienne.¡± Lienne folded her left leg over her right and sighed. ¡°These two won¡¯t let us sleep in.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Rian said, a touch of grumpiness in his words. ¡°As soon as Seiley woke up, she made me wake up too.¡± ¡°Elvish tradition,¡± Trelvor said. ¡°If a partner rises, you rise with them.¡± Rian rubbed his eyes as though tired. ¡°Okay, well, Seiley needs to stop ¡®rising¡¯ before seven.¡± Zach laughed at the exchange. He was glad that Kalana either did not know or did not care about any such customs. Not wanting to disrespect the Elves, he decided not to comment on how ridiculous it sounded to him¡ªthe idea that if your partner or spouse woke up, you needed to do so as well. No way he¡¯d ever go along with that if Kal tried to push it. That would be grounds for a fight. Or at least a heated confrontation. Between where he was sitting alone on the couch and where the other four were lounging together, a glass coffee table with a built-in holo-tab resided to fill the space. Zach, against his better judgment, leaned forward, extended his arm, and then thumbed the button labeled ¡°news¡± on the holo-tab before sitting back up. This caused a 3D image to project into the air above the glass table. He was amazed Kal had spent the money on one of these, as in addition to being stupidly expensive¡ªup to 15k gold for just one of them¡ªtheir lackluster image quality and poor viewing angles made them less enticing to use for extended periods of time when compared to a traditional, wall-mounted screen. They were very much a novelty device. ¡°Why did I just do that?¡± Zach grumbled to himself, causing Lienne to raise a questioning eyebrow. He looked at her. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have turned this thing on.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯ve been watching the news since I woke up a few hours ago, and now I feel like I can¡¯t stop. It¡¯s why I never should¡¯ve started. Truth is, I¡¯ve been trying to forget about all the bullshit going on in North Bastia, and now, here I am, getting roped in again.¡± Lienne nodded. ¡°I actually know exactly what you mean.¡± She glanced down at the 3D, holographically projected image, where the news was continuing to provide a live look from behind the battle lines in Shadowfall Coast. ¡°Everything¡¯s just gotten way too crazy lately. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve also started tuning a lot of it out, especially after I heard what happened to you a few nights ago at the¡­¡± Briefly, and without meaning to do so, Zach winced as though struck. Lienne must¡¯ve taken notice of this because her words trailed off into silence, though only for a moment. Now, with a lower, gentler voice, she said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I shouldn¡¯t have brought that up.¡± Rian also gave him an empathetic smile that disturbed Zach because the last thing he wanted was for them to feel bad for him. ¡°What did you hear?¡± he asked them both despite the fact that he didn¡¯t actually want to know. Truly, he didn¡¯t. Thus, when neither of the two replied, he should have just dropped it. Instead, for a reason he did not fully understand, he felt compelled to pressure them into a response, and so for the second time, he asked, ¡°What did you hear? Just tell me.¡± Lienne licked her lips as though trying to form her words carefully, though it was Rian who ended up speaking first. ¡°Well, we already knew the gist of it from the media, but Fluffles told us the rest of what went down. He told us how you had to¡­defend yourself.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re okay with that?¡± Zach asked. He knew he was giving Rian an icy stare, but it wasn¡¯t intentional. Thankfully, Rian rolled his eyes and defused some of the sudden tension that Zach could feel forming between them. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be? Because I¡¯m from Shadowfall Coast? Zach, I hate that city and the people who run it a billion times more than even the Royal Roses do. Did you think I would be angry with you?¡± Zach lowered his eyes. He really didn¡¯t want to discuss this at all, but he also didn¡¯t want to admit that to them. He¡¯d already made himself look crazy in front of Kalana, and he didn¡¯t want his friends to see him in that light as well. Yet, try as he might, he couldn¡¯t control the way this topic made him feel jittery and ill. ¡°It¡¯s not that I thought you¡¯d be angry,¡± he explained. ¡°I just thought that, you know, since you¡¯re from there, Rian, and given how badly the city¡¯s been damaged¡­I was worried you might feel differently about me now.¡± ¡°Huh? Why would I?¡± Rian asked, sounding genuinely perplexed as to why Zach would suggest such a thing. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Zach breathed out after a short pause to gather his thoughts. ¡°Maybe because I was ¡®technically¡¯ fighting on the same side as the people who blew up¡ªwho are still blowing up¡ªthe city where you were born.¡± Rian shook his head. ¡°First of all, I know you have nothing to do with that, man. And second of all, I¡¯m an adventurer, like you, and our people were attacked. That¡¯s how I look at it. And I do feel bad about all the destruction, but none of that¡¯s your fault.¡± Rian crooked his thumb at his sister. ¡°And just so you know, Lienne doesn¡¯t blame you either.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± she agreed. ¡°Not one bit.¡± Rian chuckled. ¡°She doesn¡¯t even blame the Elves, if you can believe it. Actually, Li¡¯s changed a lot over the past few days. She¡¯s miraculously stopped being raci¡ª¡± There was a slap as Lienne hit Rian across the shoulder while a look of alarm and fear crossed her eyes, and as though catching himself, Rian gave her an apologetic nod and let his words cut off¡ªbut not before earning a skeptical look from Trelvor and also Seiley. He almost called her racist, Zach realized. Right in front of her new boyfriend. Before meeting the tall, handsome-looking Elf, Lienne had held some pretty harsh views towards the Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Merfolk, and basically all other non-human races. It was actually kind of crazy how radically she¡¯d changed in just a matter of days. It was also pretty damn funny, too. It seemed that all it took for Lienne¡¯s entire belief system to become completely inverted from its starting point was a kiss from a flute-playing, white-cloaked Elvish warrior with broad shoulders. Of course, this now put her in the unenviable position of having to hide all her past thoughts, views, and social-media comments from him. At some point, Zach reckoned she would have to come clean about it with Trelvor, especially because it was only a matter of time before she failed to cover one or more of her old tracks and he found out. Honestly, this seemed like the sort of thing where, the longer she took to address this with him, the worse it would be for her relationship when she finally did. Right now, Zach could see her visibly squirm on the sofa as Trelvor leaned towards her and whispered a question into her ear. And though Zach couldn¡¯t hear what he was telling her, he knew it was likely a question about what Rian had been about to say. Lienne opened her mouth and raised her pointer finger, the unease plain on her face. Luckily for her, before she was forced to come up with an answer, she was saved by Kalana. Trelvor, Seiley, and Rian lifted their heads and began glancing somewhere behind Zach. Turning somewhat in the couch and looking over his shoulder, he saw her strolling down the hallway, a smile on her face. Happily, she took a seat right next to Zach, rested her head on his shoulder, and then with a bubbly tone of voice, she said, ¡°Good morning, everyone.¡± ¡°Good morning, Your Highness,¡± Trelvor said, performing an awkward ¡°sitting bow¡± on the couch. ¡°Morning,¡± Seiley said in a way that was moderately less formal. Rian and Lienne merely smiled politely. For roughly half a minute, Kalana exchanged pleasantries with the two Elves, and then, with a big, happy grin, she regarded Rian and Lienne. ¡°I¡¯m so glad I finally have the chance to talk to you two. We only really spent a few minutes together when I met you guys in Angelica¡¯s. But now we can finally get to know each other like we were supposed to before that mean dragon spawned.¡± Zach felt a mix of contrasting emotions as her words reminded him of how things were originally meant to have gone down. Having cleared their very first dungeon boss, the three of them were supposed to have met Kalana in Den of Ziragoth. They¡¯d been planning on spending a few days together, too, and then Zach and Kal were going to come here to the island. None of that had ended up happening, of course¡ªat least not in the order and way it was supposed to. Instead, Zach had ended up hit with a whirlwind of pain, death, and devastation: a chain of events that were kicked off with the loss of his arm and his eye. Few people would ever know how much it hurt to have one¡¯s eye and arm simultaneously ripped off their body while they writhed in pain on the ground of a blood-soaked street. In fact, if he allowed himself to think about it, he could still vividly recall the exact way it had felt when he¡¯d¡­ Don¡¯t think about it, he told himself. None of that matters anymore. Zach redirected his thoughts back to the here and now, and with that, he engaged in light chatter as Rian, Lienne, and Kalana finally had the chance to interact with one another. ¡°I wanna know everything,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Tell me how you guys met Zach and what the dungeon was like.¡± Rian and Lienne briefly exchanged glances, and then the two of them worked together in obliging her request; they took turns in recounting the entire ordeal in the Catacombs of Yorna. As they spoke, Kalana listened intently as Rian laughingly described his very first interaction with Zach along with how Fluffles had baited them all into PVP, which ended only after they mutually realized that none of them actually wanted to hurt the other. Afterwards, the siblings described their foray into the dungeon. A few of the things they said were things that Zach had already told Kalana, but Rian and Lienne gave a far more detailed retelling that included a lot of things Kalana was likely hearing for the first time. ¡°¡­and then we were in this staircase that went on for like ever,¡± Rian said. ¡°And the only reason we ended up making it through was because Zach came up with this crazy idea with his sword to get us down safely.¡± He then explained the large drop at the bottom and Zach¡¯s crazy stunt that¡¯d allowed the three of them to survive the plunge. ¡°Incredibly brave,¡± Trelvor said, looking sincerely impressed. He nodded his head approvingly. ¡°Daring, bold, and heroic: exactly as my father said you were.¡± Zach laughed, though he couldn¡¯t help but feel the sting of self-bitterness rising within him. It was amazing how wrong the perception was that people had of him. Anyone who could see into his heart would know that he was none of those things. They didn¡¯t understand how many times he¡¯d tried and failed to conquer his fears: how badly things still rattled him despite his constant attempts to mentally power through them. ¡°My buddy is brave all right,¡± Rian agreed boastfully. ¡°You should¡¯ve seen him run straight at the dragon all by himself. I never would¡¯ve done something like that. I was so scared all I could do was try not to shit myself.¡± ¡°Fluffles fight the stinky dragon too and was also very brave,¡± the cat blurted out, his unexpected voice coming from behind and to Zach¡¯s left. He was now sitting directly on top of the backrest of the couch, having silently woken up at some point and making his way over to them. Zach had no idea how long he¡¯d been there, but by now, he was used to Fluffles appearing without warning. Cats were sneaky little creatures and tended to show up wherever they pleased and whenever they wanted. Ruby was also awake¡ªthough only slightly. She was still in the exact same position, lying on her belly on the couch on the other end of the room, but now her eyes were slightly open. She seemed content to simply lie there and watch everybody as though happy and grateful just to be here around them, desiring nothing else. As much as Zach hated Ziragoth and wanted to hate her for being a spawn of it, she was starting to win him over with the innocence and love in her eyes. ¡°Ruby, come hang out over here with all of us,¡± Kalana said, patting the couch. Her tail started thudding against the sofa, and then she rolled off it, stood up on her two legs, and darted over as if overjoyed to be invited and wanted. A moment later, Zach realized he was patting her head without even consciously choosing to do so; it wasn¡¯t until this point that Zach realized she¡¯d managed to fully sway him. For the next five minutes, Rian and Lienne told Kalana, Seiley, and Trelvor all about Yorna and their adventures in it. During this time, Zach periodically glanced downwards at the image projected by the holo-tab to see if anything new or noteworthy was going on in the world. So far, nothing much seemed to have changed. The North Bastian guilds were apparently making steady progress in Shadowfall Coast, and there was a brief update regarding the Bridge of Torment, which was now reopened for travel. Other than that, there didn¡¯t appear to be any major developments. Not that they¡¯d necessarily tell us right away if there were, he reminded himself. The troubled state of world affairs aside, Zach found himself immensely enjoying the downtime. It was nice to just sit here with Kal and the others, make small talk, laugh, exchange stories, and just generally have a good time without needing to rush off to fight some existential threat before it ended all of civilization. Slowly but surely, Zach found himself relaxing in a way that he hadn¡¯t been able to do for a good, long while. And that was when a knock came from the front door. Trelvor sat up, alarmed. ¡°Are you expecting company, Your Highness?¡± he asked, suddenly appearing alert; his back straight, he looked ready for combat. Kal got up from the couch. ¡°Yep. Everything¡¯s fine, don¡¯t worry.¡± Trelvor did not seem entirely convinced; his eyes became narrowed, and his posture further stiffened. Seeing him in this hyper-vigilant state, Zach was simply unable to resist. ¡°Hey, Trelvor,¡± he said. ¡°Yes, Zach?¡± ¡°Maybe you should get your flute just in case.¡± Trelvor turned his head to give Zach a confused stare as Rian immediately slammed both his hands over his mouth but still ended up choking out a laugh with such force that saliva escaped from the cracks between his fingers, some of it spilling onto his pants. ¡°That¡­was a joke, I see,¡± Trelvor said, appearing annoyed. ¡°You don¡¯t think my choice of weapon is very intimidating, I take it.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Zach said, holding out his palms in a gesture of peace. ¡°That¡¯s just how I joke around.¡± ¡°I understand. But let me please make clear I¡¯m not partial to that. I¡¯ve never found insults against others or name-calling to be very funny.¡± ¡°Got it. I apologize.¡± ¡°I appreciate the apology. All is forgiven and well.¡± Zach lowered his arms then made a mental note not to kid around with Trelvor in the same way he did with Rian and Lienne. Not all people were the same, and not all people could take a joke. Clearly, Trelvor was the type to take offense very easily, and Zach would respect that. Rian, on the other hand, seemed to be trying and failing to stop his giggling, but it only seemed to make things worse. In between laughing fits, Zach heard him whisper, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Li, but that was so fucking funny. You have to admit it. Look. You¡¯re trying not to laugh too. Zach¡¯s such an asshole, hahaha.¡± Taking his attention off the others, Zach watched as, with a spring in her step, Kalana hurried across the living room, through the kitchen, and towards the open foyer at the very front of the house, where she then grabbed the handles to a set of gold-adorned doors, pulling them open. Immediately, her mood seemed to become even brighter and more upbeat. ¡°Hi!¡± she called out cheerfully, letting the word drag on so it sounded more like hiiiiiii. ¡°I¡¯m so, so, so glad you came. Oh no! You¡¯re soaked. I¡¯m so sorry.¡± ¡°Oh, stop, it¡¯s fine,¡± said an energetic voice that was just a touch raspy. Zach leaned over in the couch to get a better look, and then his mouth opened slightly in both confusion and surprise by the sight that greeted his eyes. Into the large home strutted a woman in a yellow raincoat who was at least six feet tall if not taller. Though the storm had stopped a short while ago, she was still a bit wet. In her left hand, she held an open umbrella, and in her right, she gripped what looked like a massive battle-axe: one even larger than the one wielded by Donovan. Its blade was alight with a smokeless flame, and the grip glowed with an on-and-off pulse that alternated between a soft reddish color and a slightly brighter orange. Quite clearly, she was an adventurer. But what was she doing here? Surely, she¡¯s not the¡­ Kicking off her combat boots, the woman gently placed the battle-axe down and then closed the umbrella, after which she peeled off her raincoat so that what stood before them on the welcome mat was a beautiful woman with an athletic build and medium-length black hair done into a ponytail. Judging from her appearance, she looked to be in her early twenties; she also wore a sleek pair of square glasses and a medium-sized backpack. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± she said as she and Kal hugged. ¡°I got your message. I didn¡¯t kill anything on the way over here. Had to outrun a few things, though.¡± Raising her hands to the length of her shoulders, she removed her backpack then held it in front of herself. ¡°Food should still be dry, too,¡± she said, giving the bag a little shake. Taking a single step into the home, she lifted her head and looked across the way to where Zach sat with the others in the living room, smiling at the six of them. Her eyes briefly passed over each of their faces, and when they settled on Zach, he felt a bit awkward and uneasy. Her gaze lingered on him for a just a moment longer than it did the others, and before looking away, she gave him a confident wink. Then she turned her attention to Fluffles. ¡°I brought food for everyone,¡± she announced. ¡°We''ve got sweet honey rolls, cornbread, some muffins¡ªtons of other goodies, too.¡± She looked down towards her feet, where Fluffles now stood before her almost as though he¡¯d teleported. ¡°Yes, Fluff, I brought you a big, juicy piece of salmon.¡± He brushed against her leg. ¡°Hi Jascaila,¡± he said with a purr. ¡°Give fish.¡± ¡°In a minute, pretty boy.¡± ¡°I wait for you in the kitchen.¡± ¡°Okay, you got it.¡± Fluffles turned around and ran into the kitchen and remained there as if wanting to be ready the moment she fed him. Zach watched all of this unfold with uncertainty, wariness, and a great deal of confusion. Surely, this woman couldn¡¯t actually be the therapist that Kal had told him about. She did not look the part. She looked like an adventurer through and through. Yet¡­it must have been so, because the possibility of a different woman showing up with food at this time in the morning¡ªit was unthinkable. It had to be her. Nothing else made any sense. And so now, studying her carefully, Zach felt his guard and mistrust rising. I need to prove to Kal I¡¯m not crazy. Deciding to operate off the assumption that this woman was, in fact, the therapist that Kalana had brought here, Zach knew that the time had come for him to put his emotions and ¡°jitters¡± on lockdown. He needed his behavior to be perfect in order to get a clean bill of health and set Kal¡¯s mind at ease. There was no room for error or mistake. He had to present himself as the most normal person to ever walk the planet. For the moment, however, Zach decided to remain where he was in the living room and ¡°scope¡± out the situation as he prepared himself for whatever came next. Right now, Jascaila was standing across from Kalana, and the two began to snicker as they chatted about girly things for a little bit, their voices gradually rising in volume until Zach could clearly make out Jascaila excitedly describing a new dress she¡¯d bought in Plains of Mist and Kalana asking her what she thought of the zebra-pattern countertops in the kitchen, to which this woman, this ¡°Jascaila,¡± claimed she thought it was a perfect match for the cabinets. Just from observing her briefly, Zach could tell that she was a highly sociable, intelligent, and outgoing person. She was charming, but without being too overbearing. She likely had the ability to disarm people and make them feel at ease: exactly what she¡¯d need to break into his head and start fucking around with his thoughts. He¡¯d need to be on guard at all times around her to prevent that from happening or else something bad could leak out of his head, exposing something he didn¡¯t want exposed. I just need to keep my shit together long enough to get a good report. Then we can put all this behind us for good. Look. Here was the truth, okay? Despite what Kalana believed, Zach didn¡¯t actually need therapy. That was just a fact, all right? Sure, he couldn¡¯t deny that, every now and then, he had a little, uh¡­you know, a little ¡°hiccup¡± here or there where he¡¯d get a bit nutty. But truly, it was nothing that he couldn¡¯t¡ªor wouldn¡¯t¡ªget over all on his own with a bit of time and the growing of a thicker skin. He knew that if he just toughed it out a little bit longer, he was going to revert back to how he¡¯d been before all the awful shit recently put these damn jitters into him. It made sense, too. After all, when something was shaken up, it needed time to settle. That was all there was to it. And as long as he kept it together today, he would prove that in good time. ¡°Wow, that smells so good,¡± Lienne said, getting up from the couch. ¡°Human food is my weakness,¡± Seiley agreed, a trickle of drool escaping her lips. Rian patted him on the back. ¡°Let¡¯s eat.¡± Zach nodded and followed behind them, and as he did so, he kept his cool, walked with an air of nonchalance, and tried to keep front and center in his mind why he was bothering to allow this at all. It was because, at the heart of it, the only thing he really wanted was to reassure Kal. Even more important to him than his ego was his desire for her to be happy because he loved her and didn¡¯t want her to keep having to worry about him. That reason, and that reason alone, was the only reason he was willing to put up with any of this. And so, for that to work out, he knew he needed to behave as normally, casually, and calmly as he possibly could. He needed to present himself as the very picture of sanity, rationality, and stability. With all these thoughts in mind, he followed the others into the kitchen and sat with them at a large rectangular dining table where Jascaila had laid out a whole bunch of sweet honey rolls for anyone to take as they pleased. Right off the bat, Zach had to try his best not to be disarmed as he was overcome by the incredible flavor. Gods be damned, it was good. He could tell from Kalana¡¯s reaction¡ªas well as everyone else¡¯s¡ªthat they thought so as well. As breakfast commenced and everybody ate, Zach was thankful for the lack of tension and the general sense of happiness from everyone in the kitchen, including Fluffles and Ruby, who were sharing a piece of salmon. Eating slowly, Zach remained mostly quiet as those around him made joyful conversations with one another, but in particular, with Jascaila, who everyone seemed to find fascinating and interesting. The woman spoke to all of them in turn, and occasionally, she¡¯d set her gaze on Zach to ask him a benign question or two, but so far, she paid him no greater attention than she did anyone else, for which he was grateful. ¡°So, what do you think of those ones, Zach?¡± she asked him. ¡°I bought them fresh this morning.¡± ¡°They¡¯re great,¡± he said politely and softly. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re totally welcome. Want another?¡± She lifted the edge of one of the plates stacked with rolls so that it would be easier for Zach to grab. Not wanting to be rude¡ªand also because he was really loving them¡ªhe decided to take another. And with that, she turned to look at Trelvor to resume a conversation she¡¯d begun with him a few minutes earlier. ¡°So, I hope you don¡¯t mind me saying this, but I still can¡¯t believe you and the other Elves were living on Archian Prime all this time and most of us had no idea at all. The Explorers Brigade sure loves keeping their secrets.¡± Trelvor chuckled. ¡°Secret-keepers or not, their guild is well liked by my people. In fact, before our Galterran brothers and sisters arrived, what little news we received of modern Galterra was thanks to Zephyr. I¡¯ve heard we¡¯ve traded with him on numerous occasions over the years, though it was before I was born. Truth be told, I¡¯m actually surprised no one in your guild has ever made contact with us.¡± ¡°Former guild, actually,¡± she corrected. ¡°Oh, are you not an adventurer anymore?¡± ¡°Yes and no,¡± Jascaila said. ¡°I¡¯m mostly retired from adventuring. These days, I adventure with some of my girlfriends maybe once every two or three years to get more anti-aging creams and skincare drops from a rare spawn, but aside from that, I mostly put the adventuring world behind me somewhere around twenty or so years ago.¡± Seiley, who had clearly been too busy eating to participate in the conversation about Archian Prime, suddenly put down the roll she was about to bite into, and now her eyebrows rose and her pointy ears twitched. ¡°Wait, how many years?¡± she asked. ¡°Did you just say twenty?¡± ¡°I sure did.¡± Seiley blinked as if in disbelief. ¡°And what were you back then, like four years old?¡± ¡°How old do you think I am right now?¡± Jascaila asked her, a look of amusement coming through clearly on her lips. Seiley shrugged. ¡°Twenty-five, probably. Maybe twenty-four.¡± ¡°A little bit older.¡± ¡°Twenty-six?¡± ¡°Older.¡± ¡°Twenty¡­seven?¡± ¡°Try adding about three decades onto that.¡± ¡°No fucking way,¡± Zach blurted out before Seiley could voice a reaction of her own. Immediately after speaking, he mentally chided himself for getting sucked into whatever mind game this woman was obviously playing. Now he¡¯d be forced to interact with her unnecessarily. In order to get a perfect bill of health from her and put Kal¡¯s mind at ease, he needed to avoid any unnecessary showing of emotion, which he worried could maybe cause her to, like, ¡°see¡± something or whatever that he didn¡¯t mean to reveal. But even still, what she was saying was so intriguing that he couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Yes fucking way,¡± she replied to him. ¡°Don¡¯t just assume an adventurer is the age they appear. We live longer lives than most people, and those of us who start at an early age end up aging even slower. For me, I not only started when I was fourteen, but I also go pretty aggressively after the cosmetic drops.¡± Amazed, Zach struggled to come to grips with the idea that this woman, Jascaila, who looked like a college senior, could possibly be in her early-to-late fifties. He was equally as surprised as Seiley, who for some reason, also seemed to find this hard to believe. Zach wondered if it was because the green-cloaked Elves were less experienced and newer to the world of leveling when compared to the white-cloaks who were born into it. Or maybe it was because the cosmetics made her look too young for a woman in her fifties even taking that into account. Whichever the case, Zach remained skeptical, and as if sensing his doubt, she asked, ¡°Just how old do you think Fluffles¡¯ daddy is, Zach? Assuming you¡¯ve met him, I mean.¡± ¡°Maric?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve met him. And that guy¡¯s pretty old. Maybe sixty or seventy.¡± Fluffles lifted his head from the big bowl of fish he was sharing with Ruby, and then he meowed. ¡°Zach wrong. Daddy is 122 years old.¡± Zach dropped his fork on the plate. ¡°Okay, no way,¡± he said, shaking his head and becoming fully drawn into the conversation. ¡°Impossible.¡± ¡°Not impossible,¡± Jascaila said, also placing her fork on her plate, but only so that she could lean in and raise her pointer finger. ¡°When I was first starting out, my guild-leader was pushing one-eighty before old age finally got to him. Right now, I think the oldest adventurer who¡¯s still active is Miss Britethorn. She¡¯s this really nice lady who¡ª¡± ¡°Hey, we actually met her!¡± Lienne called out¡ªthen apologized directly afterwards for interrupting Jascaila. ¡°You did?¡± Jascaila asked, seemingly taking no offense. Lienne nodded. ¡°Yes, uh, me, Zach, and my brother met Mister and Misses Britethorn and even had tea with them in their home in Angelica¡¯s. I think I remember them living in room 3007, right?¡± Jascaila gave her a thumbs-up. ¡°That¡¯s right, Lienne. So, you did meet them.¡± ¡°Oh, we definitely did,¡± Rian said, chiming in. ¡°I know because it¡¯s impossible to forget the fact that they built an entire mansion in their inn room. Personally, I can¡¯t wait until I have enough points to make my own little paradise world.¡± Zach felt much the same as Rian. He too wanted to take possession of an inn room and use points to create a kingdom of his own making. There were basically limitless possibilities of what could be done within a single inn room¡ªassuming you had the points to afford it. Of course, to even unlock the ability to transform it, Zach recalled that it first required you to ¡°book¡± the room for 100 days or more, at which point the Britethorns claimed you¡¯d receive a tablet that would contain all the functions necessary to create any kind of home you wanted. But in what came as a genuine shock to Zach, there were actually people out there who did not absolutely love the idea of an infinitely customizable home in a room on the edge of the universe¡ªor at least one person in particular. This, he discovered as he spotted Seiley openly frowning at Rian, who didn¡¯t even appear to notice her glares until after he¡¯d finished elaborating in detail on the kind of world he¡¯d like to make inside of one of the rooms. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°I don¡¯t like that, my human-pet,¡± she said. ¡°Don¡¯t like what?¡± Rian asked her. ¡°You wanting to build a home there. I don¡¯t like it.¡± Rian made a strange, goofy-looking face as though he was both puzzled and outraged simultaneously. ¡°Why the hell not?¡± ¡°Because,¡± she explained, ¡°it¡¯s wrong to live in some kind of ¡®pocket dimension¡¯ away from reality. It¡¯s too disconnected, Rian. You should want to live in the real world.¡± ¡°Pfft. The real-world sucks. Especially now with all the shit going on. I¡¯d rather be in my own custom ¡®pocket dimension¡¯¡ªnice term by the way, Seiley¡ªthen be around Galterra right now. Did you see the images of those bombings?¡± Seiley¡¯s expression turned sour. ¡°Humans,¡± she said. ¡°Revolting as always.¡± She opened her mouth as if to say something else of a likely disparaging nature, but then abruptly, her expression shifted, and a fair degree of warmth came over her as her voice softened. ¡°Wait, you were born there, weren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Rian said, his tone becoming somber. ¡°Li and I grew up just two blocks west of 5th avenue and Ocean Street, which has been completely destroyed.¡± A hint of sadness entered his words as he continued to speak. ¡°Actually, a friend of mine used to live in one of the apartment complexes that got bombed. Thank the Gods, though, because he¡¯s okay.¡± Lienne cocked an eyebrow. ¡°Wait, you¡¯re not talking about Ultril, are you, Rian?¡± Rian met her eyes. ¡°You remember Ultril, Li?¡± ¡°He was the boy with the really big teeth, right?¡± Rian sipped some orange juice out of a glass in front of him then wiped his mouth with a napkin and nodded. ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s him. He posted on social media this morning that he¡¯s all right. Apparently, he doesn¡¯t live there anymore. But¡­¡± ¡°But what?¡± Lienne asked him, sounding worried. Rian blew out a sigh, and there was a touch of real sadness in it. ¡°I hear his dad got killed, though.¡± ¡°Oh no,¡± Lienne whispered, covering her mouth for a moment. ¡°In the bombing?¡± Rian shook his head. ¡°No, he died a few days ago in the fight.¡± ¡°What fight?¡± ¡°The one that Z¡ª¡± Rian flinched of all things, and a look of hesitance immediately crossed his face. He and Lienne had gotten so deep into their side conversation that it was as though Rian had forgotten the existence of those around him; it gave Zach the impression that Rian had just caught himself an instant before saying something he didn''t intend to say in front of the others. No, not the others, Zach thought, feeling slightly alarmed. But me, specifically. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m not sure how he died,¡± Rian muttered. ¡°I think I¡¯m confusing him with someone else.¡± ¡°Huh? What¡¯s that supposed to mean, Ri?¡± ¡°It means I don¡¯t fucking know,¡± he snapped, his tone coming across as urgent, heated, and aggressive from seemingly out of nowhere. More quietly, but still audibly, he hissed, ¡°Li, will you please shut the fuck up and drop it?¡± Following those words, he quickly tilted his head in Zach¡¯s direction: fast enough so that he clearly thought Zach wouldn¡¯t see it, but Zach did see it, and it caused a sinking feeling to begin appearing in his chest at the worst possible time. What is Rian trying to say? he wondered. What is he trying to imply? Tell me he¡¯s not trying to say that I¡¯m the one who¡­? Immediately, what felt like a thousand jolts of electricity shocked Zach right in his chest as it dawned on him rather quickly what was going on here¡ªor what was being implied. It took a second for him to register it. But really, it was obvious, wasn¡¯t it? Of course it was. This random ¡°friend¡± of Rian¡¯s¡ªhis dad must have been one of the level-1 troops that stormed the dinner party. Which meant it was very possible that Zach had been the one to kill him. That was what he was trying to say, wasn¡¯t he? That mother fucker. Why would he start this shit now? Why would he put this in Zach¡¯s head now of all possible times? Just forget it. You never heard it. Everything¡¯s going great. Zach took a deep breath. He wasn¡¯t bothered. Mind over matter. He was not about to lose his shit in front of this woman. Another time, sure. But not today. Literally any time but here and now. This was the absolute worst moment to have a return of the jitters. Stupid fucking Rian and his big fucking mouth. Lienne too. If only they could understand the weight on his shoulders. So, he¡¯d killed their friend¡¯s dad, did he? Okay, well, did they know that their friend¡¯s dad participated in gunning down a bunch of unarmed people for no gods-be-damned reason? Did they know how badly Zach didn¡¯t even want to be part of that in the first place? But wait, I couldn¡¯t have killed him, Zach realized, thinking back if for no other reason than to reassure himself. I don¡¯t think I killed any level-1 troops. I was too busy with the members of the Guild of Gentlemen. Right? Or wait¡­ Horrified, Zach was once more reminded of the fact that he¡¯d slain so many people so fast that he couldn¡¯t even be sure that he didn¡¯t kill any level-1 troops. He might have. He might¡¯ve cut the man¡¯s head right off his shoulders¡ªand he couldn¡¯t even know if he did or didn¡¯t. ¡°You¡¯re mad,¡± Rian said with a moan. ¡°Ah, shit. I can see it on your face. Dude, it slipped out. I keep forgetting you were there because it still feels so strange to think about.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Zach asked, trying his best to play it off. He remained still, calm, and he kept his voice even. Inside, however, he felt like he was plunging down a thousand-foot drop upside down. His head even began to swim as he contemplated the idea that he might¡¯ve killed the father of one of their friends. It made it real. It made it personal. It took the distance away from the deed. Even still, he held strong. He tilted his head sideways to make it look like he was confused. ¡°Rian, what are you talking about?¡± ¡°You¡¯re mad that I brought up the¡­the you know. I can see you glaring at me.¡± Zach laughed. ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Rian, shut the hell up, he thought, becoming irritated at his dumbass friend. ¡°Look, with all that¡¯s going on right now, it¡¯s gonna come up. I know you¡¯re mad, but it¡¯s the elephant in the room, buddy. And I didn¡¯t¡­it wasn¡¯t on purpose. But like how are we not going to talk about it? It¡¯s the number-one story in the world right now.¡± ¡°I have no problem with you talking about it or about anything, Rian. It¡¯s cool.¡± Please just shut up. Why won¡¯t you shut up? ¡°Really?¡± Rian asked him. ¡°Because you look like you want to stab me, Zach. I¡¯m sorry if I brought it up too soon. But like, come on. It¡¯s impossible not to talk about.¡± Zach wrapped his fingers around his glass, ready to take a sip of his own cup of juice. And for a frightening moment, he honestly feared he was going to pick it up and throw it at Rian¡¯s face for continuing to make him look bad in front of everyone. He was doing everything he could to present himself as level-headed and calm, and Rian was provoking the shit out of him. Maybe if Rian had been forced against his will into taking part in an act of mass murder¡­maybe then he¡¯d understand that it wasn¡¯t exactly a fun thing to be reminded about¡ªespecially just days after it happened. ¡°You¡¯re being crazy,¡± Zach said with a laugh. ¡°Everything¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Okay, so we¡¯re cool?¡± ¡°Of course we are. Talk about whatever you want.¡± ¡°You sure you don¡¯t mind me talking about it? I hear what you¡¯re saying, but I just feel like you¡¯re pissed at me, man.¡± ¡°You¡¯re imagining things. Why would I be mad about this?¡± ¡°You know,¡± he said, lowering his voice a bit. ¡°The¡­the fact that you, um, you know, killed my friend¡¯s dad?¡± ¡°Is¡­is that what you think I did?¡± he asked at a whisper, so close to the edge now and at such a bad time, too. Rian¡¯s face softened. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry I brought this up.¡± ¡°Why do you think I did it?¡± Zach demanded. ¡°Just forget I said anything.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. Tell me.¡± Rian stared at him as though uncertain. ¡°You¡­so you kind of did do it.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean you took out his whole squad. But¡­but it was self-defense, so you didn¡¯t do anything wrong.¡± He¡¯s lying. He¡¯s lying. ¡°I didn¡¯t do it.¡± Rian nodded compassionately. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± he said, looking at Zach in a way he never had before. Was that fear in his eyes? Was he afraid? Of Zach? The person who¡¯d saved his life? The person who¡¯d rushed through Yorna and was willing to die for him? Was he actually afraid? ¡°My mistake,¡± Rian said, swallowing nervously. ¡°I haven¡¯t been sleeping. I must¡¯ve gotten confused about the¡ª¡± And then it happened. Gods damn it all, it happened. Zach lost control and snapped¡ªor at least he thought he did. It all came and went in a moment of confusion. He was sure he¡¯d gotten to the point where his brain registered the action that he wanted his hand to take, and his hand had only needed to move. In this moment, his animalistic side had won out, and despite his restraint, he consciously made the decision to throw his glass at Rian¡¯s face. Part of him tried to resist: a huge part of him. All of him, in a sense. Especially because this was the absolute worst possible time for Rian to start this shit. Yet the accusation broke through his self-control in a way he couldn¡¯t have anticipated. He scowled, gripped the glass tighter, and even as he internally screamed at himself to chill the fuck out, his body was forcing him to vent. But then, for some reason, he didn¡¯t do it. It didn¡¯t happen. And it led to a moment of confusion¡ªa moment that lasted only until he realized that he felt a woman¡¯s hand squeezing his own just as his arm began to move. ¡°Hey, you all right, kiddo?¡± Jascaila asked him, her tone exceedingly kind, her words soft-spoken. At some point¡ªand Zach was not sure when¡ªshe¡¯d reached over across the table and grabbed him. Zach snorted as if the question was absurd. ¡°Of course I am.¡± Rather than reply, she merely smiled for a moment. ¡°Yeah you are,¡± she agreed with a playful wink. Then she took on a bit more of a serious look as she turned her head towards Rian. ¡°You¡¯re being really inconsiderate, uh, Rian, was it?¡± she asked him. As she spoke the words, she squeezed Zach¡¯s hand with Donovan-like strength, though in a way that was more supportive and not painful. Kalana, sitting next to Zach, stared at the both of them in confusion as if wondering why she had abruptly leaned over the table and grabbed his wrist. To be honest, he was kind of wondering that himself¡ªand so too was Rian from the equally mystified expression that was planted on his face. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I said you¡¯re being very inconsiderate.¡± ¡°Me?¡± he asked, pointing a finger to himself. ¡°Yes, you.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Well, for starters, have you ever been in a war, Rian?¡± ¡°Well, no, but why do you¡ª¡± ¡°Your friend has. You don¡¯t understand the horror of battle, do you? You seem like you care about your friend, though.¡± ¡°Well, of course. Zach¡¯s become one of my closest friends. But I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°So, if you could tell that he was bothered by the way you were approaching this topic, why did you continue to push it? You embarrassed him, provoked him, and prodded at his wounds, and then you refused to take accountability after the fact, choosing instead to lie and tell him what you thought he wanted to hear, which only insulted his intelligence. That¡¯s really unkind, Rian.¡± Rian¡¯s mouth popped open as if in shock. ¡°It was an accident, lady. It came up naturally in conversation.¡± ¡°You seemed to know it was upsetting him, though. Right?¡± ¡°I got that sense, yeah, but¡­like how are we not going to talk about it?¡± ¡°By simply not talking about it,¡± she said. ¡°By being considerate and realizing that maybe it¡¯s too soon for him to discuss this with you. I think you should apologize to him and your sister for trying to divert the blame onto her as well.¡± Wait, is she actually defending me? Zach wondered, bewildered. Is she on my side or something? Rian wet his lips as both Lienne and even his girlfriend, Seiley, glowered at him. ¡°Uh¡­sure. Right.¡± To Zach, he bowed his head. ¡°Sorry. And sorry to you too, Li.¡± Zach released his grip on the glass, and Jascaila removed her grip on his hand. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± he said, releasing a breath he hadn¡¯t been aware he was holding. ¡°I¡¯m not upset.¡± Rian opened his mouth to reply, but then Jascaila shot him a look of warning. ¡°You should stop challenging him on whether or not he¡¯s actually upset. You¡¯re prodding.¡± Whatever Rian had been about to say, the words never emerged from his lips. Instead, he merely nodded and returned to his breakfast while Kalana still looked around between all of them as if all that had transpired only served to further increase the confusion she was already feeling. Embarrassed, Zach said, ¡°I really am okay, though.¡± Now, he spoke directly to Jascaila. Having been put on the defensive, he knew he needed to address her head on. ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to do anything.¡± When she didn¡¯t reply, he felt even more awkward and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know if you thought I was going to throw my¡­uh¡­never mind.¡± She scrunched up her lips then made a playful laugh. ¡°Don¡¯t even worry about it, tough guy. You¡¯re all good.¡± Zach sighed. He hoped he didn¡¯t just elevate his diagnosis from ¡°a little screwy¡± to ¡°batshit insane.¡± Somehow, this woman knew he was going to throw his glass right in Rian¡¯s face. It wouldn¡¯t have hurt his friend, of course. Clearly, Rian had enough constitution to where even a shard of glass directly on his eyeball could do no damage. Even still, it would¡¯ve ruined the entire morning. Nervously, Zach hoped she didn¡¯t tell Kalana what he was going to do. He was just so embarrassed. ¡°I just¡­¡± He paused, struggling to think of something he could say to talk his way out of or justify this. ¡°Sometimes, I just get so mad, and¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯re all good,¡± Jascaila said again with a laugh. ¡°We¡¯ll talk about it later.¡± She spoke the words as though they were not subject to debate. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re good, kiddo. Relax.¡± She reminds me of Donovan. ¡°Okay,¡± he whispered, feeling a bit awkward. Trying to come up with a way to revert things back to something a bit more pleasant, Zach thought to bring up the Britethorns again. Yet before he could figure out a natural-sounding way to return to an earlier point in the conversation, something odd took place across the table, where Trelvor began to shift uncomfortably in his seat as though something was bothering him. He opened and closed his mouth several times before seemingly taking a deep breath and releasing it. And then he spoke. ¡°I am sorry to pour fuel on whatever fire was just put out,¡± he announced all of a sudden, causing all heads to turn his way. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest. I don¡¯t really understand the dynamic here or what just happened. But I want to say that I like you very much, Rian, and I¡¯m glad to have met you. Even if I had never met Lienne, I would still want to be your friend. So I say this only in the interest of friendship. Sometimes, Rian, you truly can be insensitive to the point of cruelty.¡± Once again, Rian gave off a mystified, innocent look. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Thankfully, Jascaila took her eyes off Zach and began studying Rian instead. This, as Trelvor continued to speak. ¡°I know you¡¯re not trying to be malicious,¡± he continued. ¡°And I wouldn¡¯t bring this up at all if¡­if not for whatever just happened. But it bothers me greatly when you talk about my father¡¯s sacrifice.¡± ¡°His sacrifice?¡± A pained look came over Trelvor¡¯s face. ¡°You mean it in good faith. I know. When you pat me on the back and tell me how ¡®badass¡¯ it was when my father died during the raid. I know you mean it with honor. Yet you don¡¯t seem to understand that, from my perspective, this was the worst thing I¡¯ve seen in my life, Rian. I watched that happen to him live on your ¡®screens¡¯. I watched my father¡¯s blood spill in a way I had never before seen. He was bitten in half. I can never unsee that.¡± A look of guilt crossed Rian¡¯s features. ¡°I¡­I wasn¡¯t trying to upset you, man. I was trying to compliment him. I meant he was a total badass the way he went out.¡± ¡°Oh, I know,¡± Trelvor said. The tall, white-cloaked warrior met Rian¡¯s eyes. ¡°It¡¯s just that, to me, seeing my own father die in such a way, powerless to do aught but scream from where I observed in Whispery Woods. You cannot imagine what it felt like to see this happen to him. It¡¯s something I carry with me. I¡¯ve had trouble sleeping since.¡± Jascaila placed a hand on his shoulder. ¡°If you ever need someone to talk to, I¡¯d be happy to listen.¡± Trelvor turned his head to look at the woman. ¡°Truly?¡± She nodded. ¡°What you¡¯re feeling is actually really normal. Later today, why don¡¯t we have a chat?¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± he whispered. ¡°I¡¯ve heard you can help.¡± ¡°I can.¡± Zach, stunned by the admission, decided to volunteer a bit more than he ever would have done otherwise. Truly, seeing Trelvor state something like this openly made Zach feel a little bit more comfortable. It almost gave him ¡°permission¡± in a sense to confess to his own feelings since he could now see that he wasn¡¯t the only one in this kitchen who was a bit ¡°off.¡± It made him feel less odd and a bit more normal. ¡°It bothered me a lot too,¡± he said, causing Jascaila and Kalana to look at him, as well as the others. ¡°It bothered me more than you¡¯d think.¡± ¡°My father¡¯s death?¡± Trelvor asked him. Zach gave a firm nod of his head. ¡°Yeah. Because that was the moment I realized one of the bravest Elves I¡¯d ever seen was¡­¡± He lowered his eyes a moment, unable to believe he was actually speaking about this in front of numerous people. This exact situation was the one he¡¯d been dreading most, yet he felt compelled to continue the thought. ¡°Your dad, Trelvor: he was the buffer between me and that dragon. I knew that as long as he stood strong, I wouldn¡¯t have to fight it. You called me brave before, but the truth is I¡¯m not. The media, thank the Gods, they didn¡¯t show what I looked like the moment after your dad died. But I am not the person your dad told you I am. I broke down and begged like a bitch. That¡¯s the truth that you don¡¯t know: that no one who wasn¡¯t on that Comm line knows. When it was my turn to step up, I acted like a Gods-damned coward. I cried and begged not to fight it. Because I knew: the moment your dad died, I knew that it meant that I was going to have to fight it next. And I broke down.¡± ¡°But you ended up fighting it anyway, right?¡± Trelvor asked him. ¡°Well, yeah, but¡ª¡± ¡°Then you are brave, Zach. Being afraid doesn¡¯t diminish that. On Archian Prime, we are taught from a young age that bravery cannot exist in the absence of fear. That is known as stupidity.¡± Jascaila laughed. ¡°Very wisely stated.¡± Zach paused for a moment before he continued speaking. He knew he¡¯d already revealed too much, but he continued regardless. ¡°It¡¯s just embarrassing for me to admit that,¡± he said. ¡°I humiliated myself pretty badly. I didn¡¯t want to be so afraid.¡± ¡°Neither did I,¡± Trelvor said. ¡°We are not like the green-cloaks. We are more disciplined¡ªno offense, Seiley.¡± She shrugged. ¡°None taken. It¡¯s true. You guys are uptight as hell.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because we¡¯re trained from a young age to be strong. We live in a world surrounded by hostile enemies and unpredictable events. If we are not strong, we are dead. Our villages are relatively safe, but stepping outside of them, one is immediately reminded that there is danger always and everywhere. Yet by training our bodies and our minds, we grow to become warriors and explorers of our planet. We do not have the peaceful meadows and gentle farmlands to be found here on Galterra. Here, you Galterrans can travel from one place to another on human-made roads. For us, a fifteen-minute walk can take two hours depending where we are going and what we might need to fight to get there. ¡°But my father, Londril, taught me to control my fear. To channel it into strength. Yet the sight of his mutilated body was a test of his teachings, and it was one that I failed. It has scarred me in a way it should not have. Like you, Zach, I did not want to be afraid. Yet unlike you, I was not there to redeem myself. I would give anything to have traded places with you.¡± Zach¡¯s mouth fell open in utter disbelief. ¡°Even after everything I¡¯ve told you?¡± He nodded. ¡°Even if it meant doing so with tears in my eyes and piss in my breeches, I¡¯d have preferred to rush into battle and grant myself redemption for my fear. I do not know how I¡¯ll ever remove this¡­this weight that I feel now. Shamefully, I wish for another dragon to arise and for a repeat of those awful events¡ªjust so that I could be present and prove to myself that I would have acted the same as you did in those moments.¡± Having spoken those words, he craned his neck to look at Jascaila of all people. ¡°Is that normal as well, human?¡± She released a good-natured chuckle. ¡°That¡¯s so normal,¡± she said with another laugh, patting him on the back. ¡°And a very healthy thing to admit to yourself.¡± ¡°It¡¯s shameful though, is it not?¡± ¡°Not at all,¡± she said with a firm shake of her head. ¡°All thinking beings, I believe, are fundamentally the same in that regard. Wanting a ¡®do-over¡¯ is our way of coping with what we perceive as past inadequacies. A lot of times, what makes us hurt is a lack of control. The desire to change past events is just an extension of that.¡± ¡°Strange,¡± Zach whispered unintentionally, the word slipping out of him. ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Oh, sorry. I blurted that out.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay,¡± Jascaila said. ¡°I¡¯m just curious why you find that strange.¡± ¡°Oh. I guess it¡¯s because I don¡¯t want to do anything over like Trelvor does. Not a thing, actually. For me, I¡¯d rather just forget the bad shit entirely than experience it again attempting to make different choices.¡± ¡°That¡¯s also normal¡ªand unhealthy.¡± ¡°Unhealthy?¡± Zach asked. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re describing to me what is known as ¡®avoidance.¡¯ And avoidance, kiddo, is very unhealthy.¡± She flicked her eyes towards Trelvor. ¡°Actually, both of your coping methods are unhealthy. They¡¯re still really, really normal, though. Trelvor, it sounds to me like you can¡¯t seem to get beyond what you feel you should have done or wish you had been able to do, and Zach, what I¡¯m hearing from you is that you don¡¯t want to even acknowledge your trauma.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­true,¡± he admitted. Kalana grinned. ¡°I told you she was good, baby,¡± she whispered into his ear. ¡°Whatever,¡± he muttered, rolling his eyes. ¡°Here¡¯s something for you to consider,¡± Jascaila said. ¡°For both of you, the methods are different, but your underlying issue is the same. Neither of you boys are confronting your trauma. Trelvor, you¡¯re trying to change it, and Zach, you¡¯re ignoring it or shoving it away.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll go away on its own,¡± Zach muttered. ¡°It won¡¯t. It will get worse and take over your life.¡± Zach gave a firm shake of his head. ¡°No, you¡¯re wrong about this one. Donovan told me it would get better over time after I fought the dragon.¡± ¡°He did, did he?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Well, you should ignore him, because my little brother¡¯s a fuckin¡¯ idiot who has his own problems he refuses to deal with.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Zach exclaimed. ¡°You¡¯re his¡­¡± ¡°Sister. Right.¡± Zach laughed so hard that it ended in more of a cackle. Gods it all made sense now. The fact she was over six feet tall, wielded a battle-axe, and was so self-confident. And now that he observed her facial features, he thought he could see a little Donovan in her, too. ¡°Is Donovan in his thirties, too?¡± ¡°Nope. He¡¯s only three years younger than me.¡± Amazed, Zach let out another laugh. ¡°Well, this explains a lot¡ªbut also brings up so many more questions I have to ask you later. But anyways, I¡¯m not sure what Kal has told you about me, but I¡¯m not avoiding anything.¡± ¡°No?¡± Kal glared at him. ¡°Stop lying, Zach. You totally are.¡± ¡°How much did you tell her, anyway?¡± Jascaila chimed in before Kalana could reply. ¡°What she¡¯s told me in our private sessions doesn¡¯t matter. Believe me when I tell you that not a word of it factors into my judgment. Only you can speak for yourself, Zach.¡± Zach looked at her. He wanted to trust her, but he wasn¡¯t sure he could just yet. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of things I can¡¯t say in front of everyone.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°And I don¡¯t think there¡¯s enough time for you to really hear it all, either.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be here for a week,¡± she said. ¡°A week?¡± Zach shifted his eyes to Kalana and fired her an accusatory look. ¡°You told me I only had to do an hour.¡± Once more, it was Jascaila who replied in her stead. ¡°You don¡¯t have to talk to me at all if you don¡¯t want to, Zach. Kalana was wrong for trying to force you into it. But if you do, I¡¯m not going to impose any kind of time limits. Usually, I do book hourly sessions, but for a fellow adventurer, we can talk as much or as little as ya want. I¡¯d like you to trust me, though. If there¡¯s a way I can earn your trust, just let me know.¡± Zach puckered his lips a moment as he thought on her offer. He was surprised to discover there was actually something. ¡°If you¡¯re committed to therapy, then that means you¡¯ve put it above the code of adventuring, right?¡± ¡°Hm? If I understand the question correctly, then yes, of course.¡± Sensing an opportunity, Zach asked, ¡°So, if I told you I wanted to know the location of the nearest dungeon that connected North and South Bastia, would you tell me?¡± Jascaila grinned. ¡°I take it you didn''t enjoy your flight down here?¡± ¡°I hated it,¡± Zach admitted. ¡°I¡¯m never sitting on a ten-hour flight ever again.¡± She sat up straighter in her chair and nodded. ¡°I can tell you. But only if you agree to work with me and take a week off from adventuring.¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°Well, it looks like I¡¯m stranded here for at least that long anyway, so the second part of that is something I¡¯m going to have to do regardless.¡± Upon those words, he leaned in closer. ¡°But if I agree, you¡¯ll really tell me?¡± ¡°Will you work with me?¡± He nodded. ¡°If you tell me.¡± Immediately, she said, ¡°Okay then, kiddo, listen up. Shores of Wrath: the grand library in the primary city. In the back room, walk directly into the wall between the seventh and eighth bookshelf. You¡¯ll find yourself on F17 in a dungeon called the Tower of Eternity. Just down the hall and to the left is a door to Angelica¡¯s, and to the right is the Bazaar. A bit beyond that is the stairwell that leads from F17 to F18. Head up to F18 and jump into the swimming pool a bit further beyond and to the left. You¡¯ll surface in a lake in northwest Whispery Woods not far from Pixie¡¯s Point. You can always dive back into the lake and return to Tower of Eternity, too.¡± Zach blinked. ¡°Okay then. All right. Well, I guess¡­I guess a deal¡¯s a deal.¡± She laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t tell my brother I told you that. You¡¯re supposed to find all that out on your own.¡± She took a sip of her coffee. ¡°Now, Kalana. I¡¯ve been ignoring you all morning, my darling. Tell me: how is your new cat, Nila? Is she being a good¡ª¡± ***** On the day that it happened, Kenzik Freelon was about to see her. That much, he would always remember. He was going to see her. Maybe if he¡¯d left an hour sooner. Maybe if he¡¯d gotten the kids together more quickly. There were so many maybes, and all of them were manifestations of his undeserved guilt. It wasn¡¯t his fault. That much, he would know from the very beginning. Because how could it be? Even still, he would always shoulder the blame. And it all happened as he stepped out of his lovely home in the small township of Razor¡¯s Peak, which sat at the top of the smallest of six mountains in northeast Giant¡¯s Fall. Located just thirty miles to the west of Ogre¡¯s Axe¡ªthe smaller of the two cities in Giant¡¯s Fall¡ªthe town of Razor¡¯s Peak was, for the purposes of taxation, considered to be a part of Ogre¡¯s Axe city just like the suburbs to both the immediate north and south of it. Despite this, nobody here actually thought of themselves as being part of the city, because if they had, the sentence ¡°let¡¯s head into the city¡± would be fairly meaningless, wouldn¡¯t it? ¡°We should have been halfway to the city by now,¡± Kenzik called back into the doorway the moment he stepped out of his home. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for his two young sons to hurry up and get down here. ¡°Boys, let¡¯s go! Your mother¡¯s going to have all our heads if we leave her waiting around again.¡± ¡°Coming, daddy!¡± his youngest called. He heard the sound of footsteps thudding on the stairs as his boy ran out of the door and nearly tripped on the stairwell that led down to his front lawn. ¡°Easy, son. Easy.¡± His eldest was not far behind, and once both had exited, he closed the door and locked it. Then he paused a moment to breathe in the fresh mountain air. As a town with a population of just five hundred located in what was quite clearly not the most ¡°convenient¡± of locations, there were quite a few downsides to living here. For starters, commuting from here to anywhere¡ªno matter the destination¡ªalways required a thirty-five-minute drive down through the DEHV-supported passes that ran down and in one case through the mountain. This meant that anytime they had to go anywhere, the absolute least amount of time their journey could take was thirty-five minutes. But typically, it was longer. Additionally, the town had a dingy little grocery store, an emergency clinic with only two doctors on staff¡ªbut no hospitals¡ªand outside of a dentist that was only in once a month, there were very few services or decent shops up here. But you know what it did have? A view worth all the gold on Galterra. Every single time that Kenzik left his home, he would always pause for just a moment, turn his body to the east, and stare off the overlook right by his front yard that gave him a full, beautiful view of the entire city of Ogre¡¯s Axe. Even in such a small town, life never felt small when all one had to do was glance out of their window at night and see the city lights that lit up the sky. And so now, as the mountainous breeze gave him a bit of a chill and fought back against the early-morning summer heat, and with his children to both sides of him, he wrapped an arm around the shoulder of each one and smiled, taking just a quick moment to appreciate all that he had. And then there was something bright. A flash. It was so bright that it defied all common sense. It was so intense that it rivaled the sun in its all-consuming nature. It rendered Kenzik momentarily stupefied, unable to process what was happening or what he was seeing¡ªwhich wasn¡¯t much, as the flash was so bright that it blinded him. It confused him. It left him addled. It was soundless, consisting of no noise. It was simply a screen of pure white that burned his eyes to stare at. And then it became orange, and it was at this point the first sense of something horrid and wrong crept into his spine. ¡°Daddy?¡± his youngest asked. Kenzik could only remain motionless and baffled, forced to wonder why a fireball so vast it had to be larger than a mile in diameter was sitting on top of the middle of the city. No, not sitting: rising. His kids began to yell out at him, but transfixed, he remained in place, still caught in a state of shock as his brain worked overtime to translate what his stinging eyes were seeing. More fear. More uncertainty. More confusion. More worry. Yet at this point, it still did not fully hit him. It did not register. He could not know that his wife was already dead. He could not understand that, in just those first three seconds, two-hundred and seventy-nine thousand people had already perished, and nearly two-hundred thousand more were about to die in the next three. He could not know about the radiation sickness. He could not know that a death toll of more than one million people would ultimately be recorded when the numbers finally finished tallying a month from now. In this moment, he was simply a man standing with his two children and staring in awe at a gigantic ball of fire that appeared out of nowhere. It was a moment of wonder more than anything: a spectacle too flashy and too surreal for his brain to calculate the implications of what his eyes were observing. But that all changed when the ground began to shake, and when nearly ten full seconds later, there came a boom to end all booms. Like the cry of heaven, it was a sound so loud that it was like a storm unto itself, causing immense damage and suffering all on its own. The glass shattered in every window in the town, DEHV and home alike. It drew out screams from everyone on the peak¡ªnone of which could be heard over the roar of a God that filled the skies. Not knowing what to do: not knowing what he could do, Kenzik grabbed his children tightly, powerless before such an unfathomable display of destruction. He screamed at them. They screamed at him. None could be heard. Later, he¡¯d learn that his youngest had lost his hearing permanently. His older boy would go deaf in one ear. Somehow, Kenzik would make it out all right. Though he would trade both his eardrums to his children if such a thing were possible. For now, he could only cry in a form of muted terror, wherein the intensity of his screams, no matter how loud, served no chance of being audibly registered. There was no outcompeting that roar. That boom. And just when his confusion hit its maximum, the shockwave rolled in, blasting him, his DEHV, and his children with such force that all three began to roll on the ground. Even as they were thrown away, and even as the world flipped upside down and right-side up as he struggled to hold onto both his children while they, along with most of the roofing of his house, were forcibly relocated back towards the center of the town, it was in this moment that Kenzik¡¯s brain was able to form the very first thought that his wife had just been killed. Before this point, it had simply not crossed his mind. Yet from this moment onwards, the soul-crushing sadness and the unbearable reality would at last begin to settle over him¡ªas they tumbled and rolled, and continued to cry out in agony. They were lucky, of course. His older child got away with a broken arm, his youngest had just a mild concussion, and he himself suffered only bruises. Other families were not so lucky. A few homes collapsed, killing all those inside. Some of those who¡¯d rushed outside to observe the commotion were killed by DEHVs that had been picked up and thrown, crushing several people and flattening them onto the pavement. There would also be a period of falling debris: a lot of it. Twenty-three more people would die, slain by hazards from the sky¡ªthe remnants of what had only just been a city. And as all of this occurred, a cloud of smoke tall enough to reach the heavens became the dominant sight in the world beyond, taking the form of something akin to a mushroom-shaped cloud. But for Kenzik, he was far too preoccupied with trying to save his children and the instantaneous grief over the death of their mother to waste any time in trying to understand which God they had angered, and why that God had destroyed their city and their lives. Truly, it would not be for a week that he would come to believe that this was a weapon fired by other humans. For seven full days, he would genuinely think that one of the Gods had come down to take revenge for human transgressions. And even still, through all his pain and suffering, he knew he was lucky. He did not lose a child. Few in Ogre¡¯s Axe could say the same. Yet at least those who perished immediately were able to escape the sickness that would follow. Losing consciousness, Kenzik held his bloodied, battered, deafened children close to him as he trembled and shook on the pavement of a town that was now so badly damaged he could not recognize it or even be sure where he ended up. People were running around. Panic and cries filled the air, yet he could only barely hear them amid the intense ringing in his ears. The city was annihilated. Nearly every tall skyscraper ripped apart in such a way that many of the structures appeared to have practically been dissolved. Simply shredded. Burned beyond recognition. Why? ***** ¡°¡ªgirl?¡± ¡°She sure has,¡± Kalana said, looking around as if trying to find her. ¡°Nila¡¯s so cute. You have to meet her. She does this thing where she¡ª¡± **** Adamus gasped as a silent flash of light filled the viewing ports that ran all across the OMP¡¯s central operating room. Doubt and disbelief merged together to create the blend known as denial as agents of the OMP along with engineers rushed to glance outwards and at Galterra, where a gigantic ball of orange coming from somewhere in North Bastia was visible even from here in space. At the exact same moment, alarms began to blare from the various terminals. ¡°Contact lost!¡± shouted one of the agents fearfully. ¡°ALL System communications are offline. We¡¯re completely locked out.¡± Adamus ignored their cries as a level of confusion and incredulity blasted into him that he had not felt for a long time. Very, very few things in this world could still catch him off guard, and for something such as this to have taken place under his nose, it enfeebled him in a way that little else could. How could this have happened? How could this be? How could he have not seen this coming? Walking closer to the nearest viewing port, two engineers quickly parted and made room so that he could stare out of it. Adamus shook his head. This should not be taking place. Galterra had specifically been designed to prevent the creation of this. For he understood what he saw. This was, almost certainly, the result of an atomic weapon. And it was something that should never have happened. It was a matter he could have sworn he¡¯d laid to rest in one of his rare acts of interference¡ªback when he had personally sabotaged Moldark¡¯s attempts to create one nearly a thousand years ago. Such weaponry was forbidden! It was firmly against the rules of the system and had been since the creation of the system. Eilea! he shouted. What have you done? Gods, what have you done this time? Tell me at once! ¡°You think this was my doing, Adamus? You deranged fool!¡± He could tell right away in just that one exchange that this was not his wife¡¯s doing. My beloved, how can this have happened? ¡°I¡¯ll tell you how,¡± she replied. ¡°It happened because of the blind eye you willingly turn to Galterra and those you let suffer. What more is there to say?¡± Now is not the time for bickering, Eilea. Even you must realize that this is an existential threat to both of our visions. He could feel her anger as she reluctantly came to accept his words as truth. ¡°I will find out what I can. I don¡¯t know how I missed this. I¡¯m guessing the same is true of yourself, Adamus?¡± It is, my beloved. I¡¯m beside myself. I had not an inkling that this was to occur. ¡°How much damage have they done?¡± It¡¯s only just happened. I cannot say to what extent the system infrastructure has been harmed. ¡°No, you fool! I meant to the lives of Galterrans. How many have died?¡± Annoyed, Adamus did not bother replying. Once again, Eilea was focusing on the wrong issue here. Right now, all that mattered was assessing the infrastructural damage and preventing any further harm. Any lost lives were the fault of whoever had launched the forbidden weapon, and they were not his responsibility. Though it pained him to imagine the extent of death and pain that many on the planet were either feeling or would soon feel, it was, ultimately, a consequence of their own actions. The system, however, had now been directly threatened. This was¡­unacceptable. ¡°My children, tell me: how badly has the system been hit?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know,¡± one of his lead engineers replied. The man angrily banged his fist on one of the terminals. ¡°We¡¯ve lost all contact with the system. There¡¯s no way of knowing from here.¡± Adamus calmed himself and began to formulate a plan of action. Nuclear weapons could not be permitted to exist, as they did not arise from the system but from wickedness. Fundamentally, nothing that arose as a result of the system could harm the system. It was simply not possible. Even the World Eater, a so-called ¡°hacked¡± creation that would inevitably erase all life on Galterra¡ªnot even this could actually damage the system itself. But a nuclear weapon, on the other hand¡­those could, in theory, bring the entire system offline. Glancing out of the viewing port, Adamus set his sights on the planet before him. From where he stood, he approximated the weapon to have landed somewhere in Giant¡¯s Fall in North Bastia, which inconveniently happened to be a region where one of the eight Nodes upholding the system in Galterra happened to be located. Though the Node was most certainly invulnerable to the weapon itself, a blast of that magnitude had the capacity to cause seismic waves that could knock it out of alignment and disconnect it from the system along with evaporating all connected lines and infrastructure¡ªall of which would need to be replaced. For the system to remain at optimal functionality, all eight Nodes needed to be connected and active. For the moment, it was impossible to say what parts of the system aside from monitoring and communication had been taken offline, and sending out repair crews was going to be incredibly difficult due to the nuclear fallout and radiation. Eilea, it must have been Moldark. It could be no other. This must be his doing. ¡°I thought we dealt with that a long time ago.¡± Clearly, we did not succeed. That man must¡¯ve outsmarted us. ¡°Can¡­can the humans make more of these?¡± I do not know. You must find out. ¡°I despise working with you.¡± You have no choice. Neither of us will ever achieve our goals if the humans begin manufacturing nuclear warheads. ¡°Even if we learn, I can do little since you¡¯ve locked me away, Adamus!¡± You need not act yourself. ¡°Oh?¡± Find out who is responsible, and then throw the boy at them. It¡¯s what you would have done anyway, is it not? Eilea did not reply, but she did not need to, either. Adamus could sense that his point had gotten across. **** ¡°¡ªcurls up into a ball, and rolls over, and then she bites me whenever I touch her tummy.¡± ¡°Fluffles does that too,¡± Zach said. Fluffles meowed. ¡°Everyone fall for my trap.¡± Zach laughed then let his mind wander, and as a result of doing so, he realized it¡¯d been a bit since he¡¯d last checked up on the news. He decided to feed his addiction. Getting up from the table, he returned to the living room and glanced down at the holo-tab. Then he frowned.
NO CONNNECTION DETECTED
Strangely, Zach realized the same was true when trying to access the news through the viewing screens as well. ¡°Kal, your house is offline.¡± She laughed. ¡°Boo-hoo. You¡¯ll live.¡± More seriously, she said, ¡°The network stuff, umm, they told me this might happen until we can get a proper signal receiver here, but that takes time. The people who built the house said that, until we do, sometimes we might have little outages that last a few minutes.¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s fine, whatever. I¡¯ll use my phone to see what¡¯s going¡­huh? No service. The hell?¡± ¡°Use mine, baby,¡± Kalana said, removing her phone from her pocket and handing it to him. Zach twisted his lips. ¡°Yours is dead too, Kal.¡± ¡°You can use mine,¡± Jascaila said. ¡°I don¡¯t mind if you¡­hmm. Mine¡¯s down too. Okay, that¡¯s weird.¡± Zach grunted. ¡°Technology really sucks. I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s 7058, and we still can¡¯t make a working phone¡ªlike we¡¯re living in the year 6250 or some shit.¡± ¡°I know, right?¡± Rian asked. ¡°Mine¡¯s down too.¡± ¡°Caveman shit. It¡¯s literally like living in 6250.¡± He sighed. Oh well. He¡¯d wanted to be completely disconnected, and he supposed he¡¯d gotten his wish. Chapter 126: The Guy who Knows Everything Last Experience Point PART II: JOURNEY TO ALBION-4 Chapter 126: The Guy who Knows Everything TWO WEEKS LATER ------ First came an effeminate¡ªbut honestly adorable¡ªsqueak, then came a pleading, fearful look, and finally, the girl in the blue robes with the green eyes swallowed nervously. ¡°Jimmy, this is a really, really bad idea,¡± she said. She pressed her back against the brick wall and clutched her staff close to her chest as though fearful of being torn to pieces. ¡°We¡¯re both going to die.¡± Jimmy laughed. ¡°Oh, come on, Tena. You really think I¡¯d bring you out here if I didn¡¯t know what I was doing?¡± ¡°N-no, but Jimmy, this is really crazy. We should run for Angelica¡¯s. It¡¯s not too late!¡± ¡°Just watch the master work his magic.¡± ¡°Jimmy!¡± He again chuckled, but along with it, Jimmy gave her a reassuring smile. He liked this girl, this ¡°Tena Laielza.¡± How could he not? She was cute, she was his age, and she was the first true friend he¡¯d made since finding himself stuck in this world a little more than two weeks ago. And honestly? She was his type. He could easily see himself falling for her. Yet he had a goal to accomplish. He had to get home. So he didn¡¯t have time for any of that nonsense. Even if¡­even if the temptation was very real. Not only did Jimmy like this girl, but she was also the only person he currently trusted with his secret. Despite Eilea¡¯s letter warning him never to tell a single soul who he was, he¡¯d somehow known from the moment he met her that she would not betray him. It was just the sense he got from her, but even more so, he needed someone he could trust. Someone who actually believed him, too. ¡°Just relax, all right? I¡¯ve done this kinda¡¯ thing a thousand times before. Trust me.¡± She visibly tightened her grip on her wooden staff. ¡°Yeah, but Jimmy, that was in your uh¡­what did you call them?¡± ¡°MMORPGs,¡± he reminded her. She nodded. ¡°Okay, but this is real life. This might not work the way it would in your computer games.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you get it? How many times I gotta tell you? This is a computer game. We¡¯re trapped in a simulation.¡± ¡°I promise you we¡¯re not.¡± ¡°Oh no? Watch this, then. It¡¯s gonna work just like I¡¯m telling you it is.¡± ¡°Gods above¡­¡± She pressed herself even more tightly against the brick wall. Right now, the two of them were on F49 in the Tower of Eternity. From what Jimmy could tell, it was a one-hundred floor dungeon in the middle of a gas giant planet that, for all intents and purposes, was basically just an infinite blue, Earth-like sky with Earth-like clouds. Or at least the real Earth. Not whatever abomination greeted his eyes when she¡¯d taken him through that Yorna dungeon and led him to that hellscape with the crimson sky. God damn, he regretted seeing that. He¡¯d gone to where his apartment was supposed to be, but there wasn¡¯t anything there but rubble and level-25 spider mobs. My home¡¯s still out there, he told himself. I know it is. Whatever that place was isn¡¯t real. Visiting the dark, twisted world she¡¯d claimed was ¡°Earth¡± had been the one¡ªand only¡ªtime Jimmy had let himself get soft. But Tena, she¡¯d been there for him at a time of need as he tried to make sense of how any of this was possible. Eilea had only told him the bare minimum. There was so much he didn¡¯t know. Even still, he¡¯d constantly recite the note she¡¯d left him over and over in his head. He¡¯d thought of it so much he could now recall it word for word. Dear Jimmy Green You may find this letter distressing, and for that I am sorry, but your survival depends on you accepting what I say as fact. Right now, you are no longer on your home planet of Earth. You are on a planet known as Galterra. You have been saved from death and brought here for a purpose greater than yourself. To know more, you must prove yourself worthy. At the bottom of this note are coordinates. Go there, defeat the enemies you find, and begin your journey towards greatness. Time is of the essence. I expect you to reach level 30 within your first three months here, and if you prove yourself capable of doing so, I will find you and tell you more. It will not be easy, but you must succeed. I leave you with one final warning, however. Tell no one the truth of how you¡¯ve come here, and do all you can to conceal the nature of your origin. There are those who would see you slain. May you walk with the guiding hand of the Goddess. The first time he¡¯d read that note, he¡¯d been in the bathroom of a nice little inn in the helpful town called ¡°The Cursed Grounds.¡± Despite originally intending to stay there awhile and earn some cash¡ªor gold in this case¡ªhe¡¯d felt driven to pursue more: to discover more. Clearly, whatever path remained for him to return home would surely go through the one who¡¯d brought him here. This ¡°Eilea¡± chick. And so, all on his own, he¡¯d made his way into a vast, but somewhat cruddy city twice the size of Manhattan called ¡°Whispery Woods,¡± where he¡¯d found some mobs beneath the sewers, thus beginning his journey in this simulated reality. At least I hope that¡¯s what it is, he thought, somewhat nervously. I can¡¯t accept this is real. Real or not, he had no doubt that there were consequences for failure. He could feel real pain here. He could feel thirst, hunger, and every sensation from the real world. Without a doubt, if he died in this reality, he would die in the real one. Kind of like in the Matrix, right? That had to be what was going on. Right now, his real body was currently in some Matrix-like machine connected to tubes. So, regardless of the ultimate truth behind his appearance here, he was still going to give it his all, because death would be death either way. Can¡¯t believe she gave me three months, he thought, concealing a snicker. Every time Jimmy thought about Eilea¡¯s letter, he always had the exact same reaction: amusement. Aside from the very first time he¡¯d read it, the letter brought up nothing for him but sheer, utter amusement. And why? Because of just how badly she¡¯d underestimated him. She thought he needed three whole damn months to get level 30? Seriously? Three whole months? Get the fuck outta here! Did she even know who he was? She must not have. Jimmy Green didn¡¯t need three months like some seething pleb scrub to get past the fucking tutorial. Are you serious? It only took him a week to get level 30 and another to get level 43, his current level. And now, he was planning on getting two levels in the next minute. ¡°Take it easy, Tena. You just gotta trust me.¡± ¡°Not like I have a choice at this point, Jimmy,¡± she said nervously. She looked like she¡¯d started to hold her breath. This dungeon they were in¡ªthe Tower of Eternity¡ªwas apparently floating on a planet ten times the size of Galterra with nothing around for tens of thousands of miles in any direction: just more empty sky. And on every floor of this dungeon¡ªat least so far¡ªthere had been windows located at the top of the brick walls. Looking out of these windows would always give a view similar to that of looking out the window of an airplane mid-flight¡ªonly with no ground. The idea of falling out of the tower was actually kind of scary. No one he asked knew what would happen in that hypothetical. Supposedly, you¡¯d keep falling until the atmosphere became so dense that gasses behaved like metals or something, and you¡¯d either be crushed to death or trapped until you died of starvation or lack of oxygen. Taking a deep breath, Jimmy shifted his eyes at the long hall directly in front of him as well as the one to his left and to his right. F49 was comprised of one gigantic, T-shaped hallway with about ninety mobs in total, many of which were easily avoidable. Jimmy had killed the few in aggro range that stood in his way while ignoring the rest. And it was all so that he could hug the corner of a wall not far from the stairwell labeled F49-F50. ¡°Get ready. I¡¯m breaking my mez.¡± Tena¡¯s cute face puffed up with fear, but she nodded. ¡°Chill, Tena. It¡¯s all good. Just make sure you¡¯re ready with those debuffs.¡± Tena had the perfect ability to complement his own. That was why, even if he hadn¡¯t found her so adorable, he still would¡¯ve wanted to confide in her and take her with him. For the last whole week, he¡¯d hung out with her and her friends at Angelica¡¯s. And against Jimmy¡¯s better wisdom, on the last two nights, they¡¯d slept together, too. He¡¯d originally met her after stumbling across a boss on F20 he knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to solo. Thus, he¡¯d briefly joined up with her in a PUG¡ªthough they didn¡¯t seem to understand the term ¡°pickup group¡± here. Right away, he¡¯d realized that she was someone he could do incredible things with. And so now, on his first official ¡°test run,¡± he¡¯d invited her to his party and had actually taken her out here to join him. He knew she wouldn¡¯t refuse. She, like most of those in Angelica¡¯s, were in awe of him. Apparently, none of these ¡°adventurers¡± had ever seen anyone level up as fast as Jimmy without getting PL¡¯d. ¡°Okay, here we go.¡± Jimmy tapped his own staff onto the paved dungeon floor, producing a little clack, and Immediately, growls and snarls filled the entirety of the world around him as he ended his mesmerize, which he had gone around and cast on every single mob on the entire floor. Now, readying himself, Jimmy watched as a horde of gremlin-looking things with sharp teeth and even sharper claws raced down the hallway from all three directions, heading straight for them. They looked like teddy bears but with reddish-colored fur, snarling faces that dripped acidic drool, and they made a chorus of high-pitched growls
HP 41,500/41,500
Name Romping Rodent
Level 45
Jimmy held his staff in front of him. It was an Epic Rare item he¡¯d gotten from the boss he¡¯d solo¡¯d on F30. Rather than wood, it was made of a reddish metal that ended in a globe-shaped pattern of golden, shining circles. His robes were also from the very same boss, and they were of made of a white, silk-like material that made him look like the emperor of some kind of grand army. Neither Tena¡ªnor any of the others¡ªcould believe their eyes when he¡¯d strutted into Angelica¡¯s last week wearing a full set of the boss¡¯s gear along with the staff. They also cast doubt on his claims that he¡¯d solo¡¯d the F30 boss¡ªmultiple times, too¡ªgiven its purported difficulty and recommended raid size of 30 members. But that was because those dudes never thought to try aggroing it through the wall to avoid its adds. See, it was only even difficult because of those adds. The boss by itself was like nothing. So naturally, Jimmy tried doing what any tryhard would do: finding an exploit. And sure enough, he¡¯d found one. ¡°J-Jimmy,¡± Tena whimpered. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to work. We¡¯re gonna die!¡± ¡°Nope. Cast it now, Tena. Trust me.¡± Tena twirled her staff around, causing it to light up with an orange glow as it moved around, and then she swung it downwards just as all three separate groups converged into one massive one. A blinding, dizzying number of red down arrows appeared above all ninety mobs, as well as a steady puff of silverish smoke above each one of their eyes. At the same time, Jimmy also threw out his own staff, and he felt sweat trickle down his forehead from the exertion of casting such a massive AOE debuff of his own. A second down arrow appended to the end of the first, and now in addition to the smoke above their eyes, the absolute horde of mobs began to walk slower, moving with three quarters less speed than they¡¯d been only a second ago. ¡°Okay shift to the wall to your left. Now!¡± Tena nodded and slid along the wall the moment Jimmy instructed her to do so. Just as he¡¯d predicted, there was a small pocket of space that they were able to slide through to avoid the gnashing, clawing mobs, all of which were slowed and blinded. Tena squeaked again fearfully as several did manage to take several swings at her, yet all but one missed. And even then, it was a pretty nasty gash, but it was nothing Jimmy couldn¡¯t heal up in an instant, making sure she didn¡¯t feel the pain for all that long. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Okay, run it down the hallway. Pause at half.¡± ¡°Okay, okay!¡± Together with Tena, the two raced down the hallway opposite the exit door and then stopped together, side by side. ¡°Poisons!¡± Jimmy cried. ¡°Make sure you cast until you get ¡®em all! Vel en Bled! Vel En Bled!¡± ¡°Vel en Dol!¡± Tena cried. The two of them swung their staves around, and now Jimmy began to pant as he was forced to use his AOE poison several times to ensure he got each and every one of them. The same was true of Tena. Her poison appeared as a black sludge that dropped down from a bucket that materialized midair, drenching the slowed, debuffed mobs about twenty at a time. His, on the other hand, appeared as a more traditional green mist that rose up like smoke from below, not above, though it did rise on the air. ¡°Now what?¡± she asked him. He grinned. ¡°Now we just slowly and calmly walk backwards. Watch.¡± The moment the slowed mobs were nearly upon them, the two stepped back. Every few steps, all ninety mobs simultaneously made loud, pained croaks and took anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000 damage from the double poisons. ¡°Just keep backpedaling,¡± he said. ¡°Nice and easy.¡± Step by step, the mobs pursued, and as they did so, their HP continued to whittle away with each tick of the two DOTs. ¡°Grahhurr!¡± ninety animal-like voices all croaked in unison. ¡°Grahhurr!¡± Tick by tick, their HP dwindled, and now, clearly becoming more confident, Tena laughed, her fear clearly diminishing. ¡°This is working. Wow! This is really, actually, working. I can¡¯t believe we pulled the whole dungeon floor!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been doing this kinda stuff since I started. Now do you see how I¡¯m leveling so fast?¡± ¡°It¡¯s unbelievable!¡± With a dead-end wall behind them, there was some small cause for concern, but Jimmy was confident he¡¯d thought things out properly. He was familiar with these mobs from the previous floor, and he knew how long his poison would stick. And indeed, a moment before their two backs collided with the stone wall, about fifty of the mobs dropped dead, followed by the remaining forty a few moments later, causing an unintelligible mush of xp numbers to pop up ahead of him. +20000xp +20000xp +20000xp When the final mob died, Jimmy was temporarily blinded as two massive level up screens popped up in front of him simultaneously. Ever since he¡¯d completed his gear set back on F30, he¡¯d earned a bonus that upgraded his Helm Sight Level, enabling him to have a much more useful display of information. Now, with two level ups side by side, he could see that he¡¯d increased his intelligence by another ten points overall, his dexterity by five, speed by four, and only three in total into constitution, two into luck, and one into strength. Clearly, he was a caster: that much was obvious from day 1. Still, it¡¯d have been nice to get a few more points into strength. Ahead of him, several bags of loot sparkled. Looked like he was making bank today, boys and girls. Confidently, he grabbed what was his, including a rare ring that was shit compared to what he had, so he threw it in storage and figured he¡¯d head to the bazaar later to pawn it off to some lowbie for cheap. Yawning, he asked, ¡°Wanna grab some lunch?¡± Tena smiled. ¡°Okay.¡± She looked happier than he¡¯d ever seen her. He wasn¡¯t sure why. But it soon made sense as she said, ¡°I just leveled up six times!¡± ¡°Gratz.¡± She hugged him and kissed him, and damn, he knew he was falling for this girl. He just knew it. Especially since he¡¯d been so lonely since his ex called it off with him. Honestly, if only he could¡¯ve met her back on Earth, he would be ready to jump through hoops for her. But as things stood, he couldn¡¯t even be sure she was real. Or any of this was. He doubted it very much. In fact, he was sure this was all just a simulation. It had to be. ¡°Let¡¯s go before they respawn.¡± Walking side by side, the two of them hurried all the way back down the hallway of F49. Then, pushing open the door to Angelica¡¯s that was just ahead of the stairwell leading to what was¡ªpresumably¡ªa boss fight, he said, ¡°Ladies first,¡± and watched as she strutted her cute behind inside the inn. Soon after, he followed, and then he let the door shut behind him. Right away, he knew he was going to be hassled. Every head turned towards him, and the questions began practically the moment he stepped through the door. ¡°How¡¯d you do it, Jimmy?¡± asked Reni Sarwin, an adventurer who¡¯d actually fought against that dragon during the raid that¡¯d been going down on the day he got here. ¡°Just tell me. How¡¯d you kill that boss solo?¡± ¡°Quit holding out on us,¡± another adventurer cried, his voice uneven. He was clearly inebriated. Jimmy winked at him where he sat with two others at one of the tables near the dance floor. ¡°Just fuckin¡¯ tell us, kid. Sharing is caring.¡± ¡°How much you gonna pay me, Balzor?¡± He grabbed his nuts. ¡°I¡¯ll pay you with these, Jimmy.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see anything. What¡¯re you grabbing?¡± He barked out a laugh. ¡°Oh, you little shit. You remind me of Calador.¡± ¡°Pfft. Tell me ya¡¯ll aren¡¯t gonna spend another night talking about him again. He¡¯s not even that good, for real.¡± ¡°Easy now,¡± growled an adventurer to his left. ¡°You have a habit of talking too much shit, Jimmy. Way too much.¡± Jimmy shrugged. ¡°What can I say? I¡¯m honest. All you people ever talk about is Zach, Zach, Zach. Kid¡¯s got some OP bullshit abilities, clearly doesn¡¯t know how to use them, and all I¡¯m staying is you give me 2 months and I¡¯ll accomplish more than he will in 200 hundred years. I¡¯m the fucking boss, got it? And you can laugh at me right now¡ªI see all you guys giggling¡ªbut I¡¯m gonna be higher level than every single one of you in a month. That¡¯s on God. Take it to the bank. I¡¯m crushing Galterra. This is easy to me.¡± Tena gasped, and Jimmy rolled his eyes. ¡°Oh, not you, too Tena. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re offended because I said I¡ª¡± ¡°N-no!¡± she interrupted, pointing fearfully at the bar counter ahead. ¡°Jimmy, shh!¡± ¡°Why?¡± he asked, narrowing his eyes. ¡°What¡¯s going?¡± ¡°I¡¯m what¡¯s going on,¡± growled the voice of a behemoth-sized figure in full plate armor sitting at the counter downing a mug of ale. He nodded at the seat next to him. ¡°Been wanting to have a word with you since you first walked in here, kiddo. Have a fuckin¡¯ seat.¡± Jimmy swallowed nervously. He¡¯d only been in this world for two weeks, but in that time, he¡¯d already mapped out the big players of the various guilds. And so he knew that the rough-edged, tough-as-steel dude sitting at the bar was none other than Donovan Iseldar, leader of the God Slayers Guild, and definitely not someone to piss off. ¡°Tena, get a seat at one of the tables. I¡¯ll be right there.¡± She took his hand. ¡°Please don¡¯t piss him off, Jimmy. You don¡¯t want him as an enemy.¡± He nodded. ¡°I¡¯m street smart enough to know that.¡± ¡°Street smart?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a¡­it¡¯s a term. Just go. I¡¯ll be there in a minute, all right?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jimmy made his way over to the counter and hopped up onto the stool. In the same moment that he sat down, Donovan snapped his fingers at the level-1027 NPC with the cat ears. ¡°Get the kid a drink on me.¡± ¡°No can do,¡± Angelica said, firmly shaking her head. ¡°Jimmy¡¯s only nineteen years old: biologically, anyway.¡± ¡°Biologically?¡± Donovan asked with a grunt. ¡°The fuck¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Angelica lifted her chin. ¡°It means he has to wait two more years to drink.¡± Donovan stared confusedly at the NPC. Then, with another grunt, he said, ¡°All right, fine. Give ¡®em a cherry soda.¡± ¡°Yeah, a coke¡¯s fine with me,¡± Jimmy agreed. ¡°A what?¡± Donovan asked, a perplexed look on his face. Jimmy, realizing he¡¯d accidentally used the wrong term, opened his mouth to correct himself, but before he could do so, Angelica said, ¡°No Coke or Pepsi here, cutie. You¡¯re about five-thousand years too late for that.¡± A nervous jolt traveled down his spine as Donovan alternated looking between him and the NPC innkeeper. ¡°The hell are you two talking about?¡± She knows what that is? he thought to himself, practically screaming inside his mind. How does she know? He¡¯d been so alone here for the last two weeks that he was longing badly for home. Even though he was actually kind of enjoying the world and the experience, he missed his mom, his cat, and his school¡ªas well as his friends. Yet for the first time since being here, someone¡ªor something¡ªknew terms that only he should¡¯ve known. Yet it wasn¡¯t something he could ask her about just yet. Not in front of Donovan. ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Jimmy said, folding his hands on the table. ¡°So, Donovan, why don¡¯t you just tell me whatever it is you want from me. If you¡¯re here to threaten me, you ought to know I¡¯m not the type to bow down.¡± ¡°Relax,¡± he said, pausing to gulp some of his ale. ¡°I ain¡¯t here to threaten you, kiddo.¡± Jimmy laughed. ¡°But you came here looking just for me, right?¡± ¡°Sure did.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Donovan tapped the counter. ¡°Because I know you¡¯re hidin¡¯ something, and me and Zephyr want to know what.¡± Jimmy shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not hiding anything.¡± ¡°Really, kiddo? Really? You show up here two weeks ago, a fresh-faced, level-5 whelp, and suddenly you¡¯re taking down bosses solo and flying through the levels like nothing we¡¯ve ever seen before. Something¡¯s up with you.¡± He raised his pointer finger. ¡°Everyone¡¯s taking notice.¡± Maybe I should dial it back a bit after all, Jimmy thought. Jimmy paused a moment to consider his words. ¡°I¡¯m just doing things a different way than you guys do them.¡± ¡°You mean you¡¯re getting power-leveled, yeah?¡± ¡°Hell naw. That¡¯s weak. I¡¯ve been solo almost the entire time I¡¯ve been here.¡± ¡°I find that tough to believe,¡± Donovan said. ¡°Why on Earth would I lie about that?¡± ¡°On where?¡± Donovan asked, eying him skeptically. Shit. ¡°I meant why on Galterra would I lie about that?¡± He gulped down more of his ale. ¡°Dunno, kiddo. Maybe because it¡¯s taboo and you don¡¯t wanna get a bad reputation.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, fuck all that noise.¡± Jimmy confidently pointed his thumb at himself. ¡°I know how to get shit done. That¡¯s why I¡¯m leveling up. And I hear these rumors every time I come in here. All you people saying Jimmy Green got power-leveled. Well you jealous haters can fuck right off. Now where¡¯s my Coke?¡± ¡°Here¡¯s your soda,¡± Angelica said cheerfully, setting it down in front of him. Though he¡¯d asked in a highly aggressive way, Jimmy made sure he did not forget his manners. ¡°Thank you very much, Angelica. You¡¯re an angel.¡± ¡°You¡¯re very welcome, Jimmy.¡± She blew a kiss at him. Yeah, I still got it. Angelica turned around and then leaned over as if to grab something from a shelf below the stove across from where Jimmy was seated. Yet before she could do so, she let out a chirp as a high-level zombie NPC slapped her bottom. ¡°Grundor! Not in front of the patrons.¡± ¡°I had to come see my girl,¡± he said. Jimmy laughed. He liked Grundor very much. Dude was always coming around in recent days. Ever since the Royal Roses surrendered to the Guild of Gentlemen a few days ago, the zombie had been showing up here trying to gather support for a counteroffensive in Shadowfall Coast. Apparently, his guild-leader, some dude named ¡°Vim Alazar,¡± was being held captive there and was scheduled to be executed via beheading in another three days. This, of course, had nothing to do with Jimmy, and so he learned of it only to blend in better. He literally cared not an iota for these guilds or whatever. His mission was to get home. Even still, he did feel kind of bad for the zombie. Apparently, some Hitler-wannabe named Alistair Morison was threatening to murder everyone in North Bastia if they didn¡¯t surrender, and already, the Royal Roses, the People of Virtue, and the Children of Order had surrendered and were finalizing terms. The Elves refused, and so had guilds called ¡°The Lords of Justice¡± and ¡°Defenders of Peace.¡± But from the chatter he heard in here every day, it sounded like it wasn¡¯t long before they did, too. ¡°Donovan,¡± Grundor said, bowing his head from where he stood behind the counter with Angelica. ¡°Have you seen master or Kolona lately?¡± ¡°They¡¯re meeting me here in a few minutes, actually,¡± he replied. Grundor sighed with what looked to be relief. ¡°Maybe master will reconsider and give his old buddy a helping hand.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so, Grund,¡± Donovan said. ¡°Ever since getting the buff, Oli and Kolona have been exploring the dungeons nonstop. I don¡¯t think they want any part in Galterran shit. Neither do I, for that matter.¡± Grundor frowned. ¡°We need to save the world!¡± the NPC zombie insisted. He raised his arms and flexed his biceps. ¡°I¡¯m strong, but I need allies by my side.¡± ¡°You might as well give it up,¡± said the GSG leader, pausing to sip again from his mug. ¡°Soon as those fuckers launched that ¡®nuke¡¯ weapon, it was over. No one¡¯s gonna take ¡®em on anymore. Most adventurers ain¡¯t willing to even leave the dungeons now, let alone get involved.¡± ¡°Heh, I figured that¡¯s why it¡¯s been so crowded in here lately,¡± Jimmy said, causing both of them to look his way. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s why I¡¯m staying put too. There¡¯s no fucking way I¡¯m catching an A-bomb in Middle-earth.¡± For some reason, his comment caused Grundor to erupt with uproarious laughter. ¡°Funny!¡± he said. Then his face turned serious. ¡°Wait, how do you know that reference?¡± Jimmy¡¯s mouth fell open. ¡°How do you know that reference?¡± ¡°Because master let me read those books.¡± ¡°You mean¡­Lord of the Rings?¡± All of a sudden, any trace of mirth left Grundor¡¯s expression, and Jimmy knew he¡¯d screwed up. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t know that name,¡± he said. ¡°Who are you? Donovan, who is he?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just a regular adventurer,¡± he insisted. ¡°That¡¯s all.¡± ¡°No you¡¯re not,¡± said a far more joyful and enthusiastic voice from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, Jimmy watched as an incredibly well-dressed kid with silver hair and vampire-like fangs hopped into the stool next to him and patted him on the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m Olivir,¡± he said. ¡°Like Donovan, I¡¯ve been dying to meet ya.¡± Cautiously, Jimmy shook his hand. ¡°I¡¯m Jimmy Green.¡± Becoming nervous, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re also here because of me.¡± ¡°I am,¡± Olivir spoke with an upbeat attitude. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m the one who asked Donovan to come here and wait for you.¡± Looking over his shoulder to ensure he had an escape route in the event things turned ugly, he said, ¡°Okay, well, now I¡¯m getting a bit worried.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t. We¡¯re on your side, friend.¡± He laughed. ¡°There¡¯s a reason why I set all this up. See, you¡¯ve been making a lot of waves lately, and me and Kolona picked up on some of it. Your words, your mannerisms: they¡¯re strange, but they wouldn¡¯t ring any bells with most Galterrans. But they do with me.¡± ¡°They do?¡± Jimmy asked. He nodded. ¡°I¡¯m a vampire from Archian Prime, and I¡¯ve got more books on human history than anyone else in the world. And you,¡± he said, pointing at him, ¡°know things you shouldn¡¯t be able to know.¡± Jimmy, with a straight face, asked, ¡°Oh yeah? Like what?¡± ¡°Like what happens at the end of Return of the Jedi.¡± Jimmy lifted his shoulders. ¡°Return of the what?¡± ¡°Kid¡¯s lying,¡± growled Donovan. ¡°I can tell. Not that I know what the fuck you¡¯re talkin¡¯ about, but I can tell he does.¡± Angelica cleared her throat. ¡°If you guys are gonna say anything else, you should really take it to the privacy room. This is one of those conversations.¡± At this, Donovan¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°Wait, it is? For real?¡± She nodded. ¡°Sure is, sweetie. It¡¯s definitely one of those.¡± Jimmy felt his nerves begin to rise but he kept them in check. Especially as Donovan asked him to follow him behind the counter and to God knows where. ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere with you,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°And I¡¯m not telling you shit.¡± ¡°Angelica, can I violate the rules of the inn and drag him there?¡± She nodded. ¡°Yeah, I can make an exception for this.¡± Before Jimmy had a chance to react, Donovan was already leaning forward and seizing him. Panicked, he kicked out with both feet, yet all that did was send a terrible ache into his shins as he nearly broke multiple bones on the man¡¯s steel-like stomach. ¡°We¡¯re not your enemy,¡± Donovan said. ¡°Just be cool.¡± ¡°Jimmy!¡± Tena cried out, running over to him. She unsheathed her staff, but Olivir made a waving motion with his hand, and then a firework-like spark lit up into the air near her wrist; her hand opened on its own, causing her to drop it. ¡°Master, what are you doing?¡± Grundor asked. ¡°Grund, trust me. We need to interrogate this kid. It could be more important than you think.¡± The disturbance in the inn rippled from person to person like a chain reaction, and now, everyone was on their feet, clearly confused. So too was Jimmy. Fighting was not supposed to be allowed in here without taking one of those nullification grapes. Yet he was being assaulted right here in the open and Angelica wasn¡¯t interfering to stop it. ¡°Tena!¡± he shouted. ¡°Run!¡± She made as if to flee, but it was too late. An Elvish woman, who must have been utilizing some kind of invisibility power, simply materialized into existence behind her and wrapped her arms around Tena, holding her in place. ¡°Kolona, take her with us to the room.¡± As the other adventurers looked on in horror and uncertainty, Angelica rushed forward and began assuring them everything was fine; this, as Jimmy found himself dragged against his will to wherever it was they were taking him. ¡°Just don¡¯t hurt her and I¡¯ll tell you whatever you wanna know!¡± Chapter 127: Finding a Purpose Chapter 127: Finding a Purpose Even as Jimmy was trying to fully contemplate the situation that he¡¯d found himself in, he and Tena were being thrown into a smallish room devoid of any furniture aside from a decently sized dining table large enough to occupy almost all the space inside of it. Having been shoved, he needed to throw out his hands to steady himself on the table before him. ¡°Look, man, it doesn¡¯t have to be like this,¡± Jimmy said, pushing himself back up into a standing position and turning around. Protectively, he extended an arm in front of Tena as he began to wonder if these were the threats Eilea had warned him about in her letter to him. Most likely, they were. He needed to be smart here and talk his way out of this. ¡°Whatever it is you think I did, I¡¯m not¡ª¡± ¡°We¡¯re not here to hurt you,¡± the one called Olivir said, a sigh added to the end of his words. ¡°I know how this might seem, but uhm, I promise you that we didn¡¯t take you down to this room to rough you up or anything.¡± Donovan grunted. ¡°We don¡¯t actually know that for sure yet.¡± ¡°Stop that,¡± Kolona said, frowning at him. Then she turned to regard Jimmy. She, Olivir, and Donovan were standing before the door, blocking off their exit. ¡°He doesn¡¯t mean that.¡± ¡°Oh, I know he doesn¡¯t,¡± Tena said, glaring at him. She tried to take a step forward, but Jimmy, fearful something might happen to her, barred her from getting any closer, and so she bumped into his arm instead. ¡°Donovan won¡¯t touch us, Jimmy. My guild-leader is his best friend, and when Zephyr finds out that you kidnapped us, he¡¯s going to¡ª¡± ¡°Am I late?¡± called a voice from the hallway beyond the door. In strode none other than Zephyr Vextran himself, the leader of the Explorers Brigade. Clad in a dark brown robe with a matching cloak, he had a resplendent, blue-and-white blade sheathed at his side. Despite his otherwise average features, his striking eyes went well with his undeniable charisma. ¡°Zeph!¡± Tena shouted. ¡°Donovan snatched us and threw us in this weird basement. Thank the Gods you¡¯re here.¡± Zephyr made a fist, raised it to his mouth, and then he chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if we frightened you, Tena. I didn¡¯t expect you to get caught up in this.¡± ¡°Get caught up in¡­¡± She gasped. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you have something to do with this?¡± ¡°You¡¯re both not understanding things. I promise. Why don¡¯t we all sit down and talk?¡± Tena hesitated a moment, but then she nodded and backed away¡ªbut not before placing her lips over Jimmy¡¯s ear and whispering, ¡°If Zephyr¡¯s here, I promise everything¡¯s okay.¡± Jimmy wasn¡¯t about to take her word for it, but either way, he didn¡¯t think he had much of a choice, and so he walked around the table and took a seat towards the rear of it next to Tena so that he could keep his eye on the now closed door in case anyone or anything else came through. Olivir, Kolona, Donovan, and Zephyr all followed suit, sitting across from the two of them. ¡°It¡¯s really good to see you again, Zeph,¡± Olivir said. ¡°You too, Oli.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re in here with us, uhm, does that mean Donovan told you everything?¡± ¡°Sure did,¡± Donovan said. ¡°Zephyr¡¯s like a brother to me. I trust him.¡± ¡°I do too,¡± Olivir agreed. ¡°But you told him¡­everything, though? All of it?¡± I got no idea what these dudes are talking about, Jimmy thought, trying to keep his cool. Zephyr released a somewhat pessimistic-sounding sigh, but any glumness on his part was only temporary, and his eyes were quick to once more radiate a look of confident certainty. ¡°It was a lot to take in, Oli, but it doesn¡¯t change much. At the end of the day, it¡¯s the same deal as it always is: big bad boss to fight.¡± ¡°The World Eater,¡± Kolona whispered. None of what they were saying registered to Jimmy or made any sense to him. At the moment, he was busy tamping down on his fear. He refused to let these people intimidate him. His mom, who raised him all on her own, was the best friend he had in this world, and she taught him to be brave, and to keep his chin up no matter how bad things looked. Zephyr stared at Jimmy a moment, and he refused to buckle under his gaze. Then, while still keeping his eyes pinned on Jimmy, he asked, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t the kid be here, Don?¡± Donovan shrugged and grunted in unison. ¡°Yeah, he definitely should be. But I don¡¯t think he will be. Especially since we¡¯re meeting here again tomorrow.¡± ¡°Did you text him? ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°So why not come?¡± Donovan made a waving motion with his hand. ¡°My fuckin¡¯ sister, that¡¯s why.¡± ¡°Jascaila?¡± ¡°Yeah. Her.¡± Zephyr again lifted his fist as if to conceal a grin behind it. ¡°Zach¡¯s got himself a new therapist, I take it?¡± ¡°That about sums it up.¡± ¡°Is he¡­doing any better?¡± he asked, his tone coming across as a bit more concerned. ¡°The last time I saw him, he wasn¡¯t looking so well.¡± Donovan hesitated a moment, then he too softened his tone. ¡°I spoke to him yesterday. He seems to be doing a bit better each time we talk. She might be a pain in my ass, but Jasc knows what she¡¯s doing. Can¡¯t bullshit you on that.¡± Despite having absolutely no idea what any of these people were talking about, Jimmy was nevertheless content to sit silently, let them speak, and try his best to gather as much information as he could from overhearing this in the hope that he could piece together what was going on later¡ªassuming he lived through this. Tena seemed to be taking the same approach as well. For the moment, it almost seemed like the two of them were invisible. Despite having dragged them down here, the four of them seemed to momentarily forget his and her existence. ¡°When¡¯s the next contact point?¡± Zephyr asked. ¡°Tomorrow,¡± Donovan said. ¡°Right before we meet. But he¡¯s not sure what to ask her about. Five minutes just ain¡¯t a whole lot with all the shit going on in the world. And since we can¡¯t bring Alex in here anymore, I¡¯ve had to be the brains of our little group.¡± Donovan barked a brief, but powerful laugh. ¡°You can imagine how well that¡¯s going.¡± Zephyr also laughed, then leaned forward and rubbed his chin as he turned his eyes on Jimmy. ¡°Depending on what we find out, we might have to use some of those five minutes asking about our new friend here.¡± Jimmy said nothing in reply, though he did feel somewhat reassured as Tena grabbed his hand. He turned to smile at her, but now, for some reason, she had a look of contrition in her abruptly moistening eyes. ¡°This is all my fault, isn¡¯t it?¡± she asked at a whisper, her look of guilt and remorse deepening. ¡°I think this is my fault, Jimmy.¡± Jimmy regarded her, confused. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m the reason you¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Hah? How so?¡± She squeezed his hand more tightly. ¡°When we first met and you asked me to show you Earth, Zephyr asked me where I was heading. I barely knew you back then, and going off with a guy I just met¡­you know how it is, right? So to be safe, I told him I met a guy who claims he used to live there.¡± Jimmy contemplated her words. Then he smiled at her. ¡°That¡¯s not your fault,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s mine. You didn¡¯t do a thing wrong, Tena. Don¡¯t even think that way. And who knows if that had anything to do with why I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°It does, actually,¡± Zephyr said, taking a moment to meet both of their eyes. ¡°But it¡¯s only a small part of it. See, at first, I thought it was just a funny lie you were telling her to make yourself sound mysterious and cool. Hey, whatever works, right? I didn¡¯t think much of it. But then, Jimmy, you went on that raid on F20, and that was when I first started to become suspicious enough to reach out to Olivir, Kolona, and Donovan.¡± ¡°Suspicious?¡± Jimmy asked. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Well, two members of my guild told me you came up with a¡­let¡¯s call it a ¡®very creative¡¯ strategy to kill the boss. Something no one¡¯s ever thought to try before.¡± ¡°Yeah, and so what?¡± Jimmy asked. ¡°Just ¡®cause I thought of something you didn¡¯t think doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m suspicious or worth dragging down here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not all you did.¡± ¡°Oh really?¡± Zephyr nodded. ¡°After you killed the boss, you decided to celebrate by chanting, and I quote, ¡®USA! USA!¡¯¡± ¡°Fuck,¡± Jimmy muttered to himself. Having become high off the thrill of a successful raid, he¡¯d let out the first cheer that came to mind. He didn¡¯t think it could possibly mean anything to anyone. ¡°Okay, I admit, I did that.¡± Tena lowered her eyes as though ashamed. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Jimmy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± he said. ¡°This is on me, not you. I was being careless. It was only a matter of time before I messed up.¡± He sat up straighter. ¡°So, you¡¯re the ones who I was warned about, huh?¡± Donovan, Zephyr, Kolona, and Olivir all exchanged a worrying glance. ¡°Warned about?¡± ¡°Yeah. You don¡¯t gotta play dumb. You¡¯re here to kill me, right? Just so you know, I don¡¯t even know why I¡¯m here at all. If you think I¡¯m a threat to you, you¡¯re wrong. I mean¡­the only thing I even want is to go home. But shit, if this is how it¡¯s gonna be, all I ask is you let Tena go and make it quick. It¡¯s not personal, right? So just do what you gotta do and be done with it.¡± Donovan and Zephyr mutually exchanged another glance, this one even more alarmed than the previous. ¡°Does he really think we¡¯re here to kill him?¡± Zephyr asked. ¡°Think so,¡± Donovan grumbled. Clearing his throat, he looked at Jimmy once more and said, ¡°Whoever you think we are, we aren¡¯t.¡± Flicking his tongue against his lower mouth, Jimmy eyed both of them cautiously. ¡°You sure about that?¡± ¡°Yeah, kiddo. Pretty sure. If you think we¡¯re here to kill ya, we¡¯re not.¡± Jimmy relaxed a bit at the man¡¯s words, though only ever so slightly. Still, the reassurance led him to be just a touch more optimistic about how this might end, though he certainly did not fully trust any of these people. For the moment, however, he decided to run with the idea that they meant him no harm, and with that in mind, he said, ¡°So, if you don¡¯t got me down here to kill me, then why am I here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s for the reasons we¡¯ve already explained,¡± Zephyr replied. ¡°We found some oddities out about you, and we needed to get to the truth about them¡ªfor a whole bunch of reasons, actually, many of which we¡¯re not at liberty to explain just yet. All of them, at least at first, were purely academic. But as I¡¯m sure you realize, that obviously doesn¡¯t explain why you¡¯re sitting in a chair down here when we could¡¯ve just spoken to you upstairs.¡± He pointed his finger upwards as if to emphasize his point. ¡°You might find it difficult to believe, but the only reason that Donovan dragged you down here is because Angelica says that your story connects to something much larger and much more important. I myself only know this because she informed me when I arrived.¡± Jimmy could hardly believe what he was hearing. ¡°So hold up. You¡¯re saying this is all because of something that NPC said?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. You¡¯re apparently connected to something important, and we¡¯re just trying to find out what that is.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s so special about down here?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t tell you that just yet.¡± Jimmy thought on his words. They were a lot to take in, but they were also simple in the sense that he could immediately reject most of them as being false. ¡°Look, you guys. Whatever she told you, it¡¯s wrong. In fact, it¡¯s not even possible. I can tell you for sure¡ªand I mean a hundred percent¡ªthat nothing I¡¯ve ever done in my whole life has got anything to do with any of you. Trust me on that. Like, seriously. It¡¯s impossible.¡± ¡°He¡¯s telling you the truth,¡± Tena said, nodding along with him. ¡°You guys don¡¯t understand. Jimmy isn¡¯t connected to whatever¡­whatever this is you¡¯re all up to. It¡¯s not even possible for him to be involved with any of it. He¡¯s only been on Galterra for two weeks!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Olivir, Kolona, Donovan, and Zephyr all said at the exact same time. Jimmy hissed. ¡°Tena, don¡¯t.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, Jimmy. I trust Zephyr with my life.¡± ¡°Yeah, but I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Well, do you trust me?¡± Jimmy exhaled slowly. ¡°I do, mostly. Which, actually, is kinda¡¯ strange since I¡¯m still not sure you¡¯re even real¡ªor that any of you are.¡± "You what?" Donovan asked, his eyes squinting. Zephyr inched closer to Donovan and lowered his voice. ¡°Maybe we should get your sister in here,¡± he whispered to the GSG leader, which for some reason caused the large, plate-armor-wearing man to cough out a laugh. This, however, earned a glare from Olivir and Kolona, who both seemed to find the quip rude. Jimmy couldn¡¯t tell one way or the other, since he had no means of understanding the reference, and he doubted they were going to explain it to him. ¡°Answer me just one question, Jimmy,¡± Olivir said. The boy leaned forward over the table and stared directly into his eyes. ¡°And please be honest, because this is an important one.¡± ¡°All right.¡± ¡°Where were you born? Specifically, I mean.¡± Jimmy tensed up. He wasn¡¯t sure if this was the right time or place to share this kind of information. Yet before he could even decide, he was beginning to fear that Tena might go ahead and do so with or without his blessing. Right now, the girl was wetting her lips. Then she opened her mouth before closing it, only to open it again. It was as though she was struggling to decide whether or not to answer the question for him. But in a sign of loyalty¡ªand one he deeply appreciated¡ªshe ended up saying nothing, choosing instead to let Jimmy decide for himself what he felt comfortable sharing. ¡°I dunno if I can trust you,¡± he said at last. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay, dude. If I was in your position, I¡¯d feel the same.¡± Olivir sat up straight, closed his eyes, and then remained that way for a moment that went on way too long. Even though it ultimately lasted less than a minute, the nature of the situation made it feel like he kept that position for an hour. All throughout, Jimmy wasn''t sure if he was napping, meditating, or thinking. No one else spoke during this period, either, adding a sense of eeriness on top of everything else. But then, finally, his eyes snapped back open, and when they did, his look became even sharper, darker, and a fair bit intimidating, too. ¡°Since you can¡¯t answer that,¡± he said, ¡°then let me ask you this one other question instead.¡± In this moment, Olivir stared at him in a way that made it feel as though the boy''s eyes were seeing directly into his soul. ¡°Have you ever heard the name Eilea Vayra?¡± Jimmy was good at many things, but keeping a straight face was not one of them. It was why he sucked at playing poker. In many regards, he was an artist¡ªbut he was not a bullshit artist. And so, the moment the kid with the vampire-like teeth spoke that woman¡¯s name, Jimmy¡¯s lips peeled back in surprise all on their own, and he could feel his eyes widening. It was to such an extent that he didn¡¯t even have to vocalize an answer. His facial reaction, all on its own, had answered the question for him. Olivir turned to Donovan, and now his tone became deathly serious. ¡°We need to get Zach here before we take this conversation any further. It¡¯s risen to that level.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Zephyr said. ¡°This is concerning.¡± ¡°Are you sure this can¡¯t wait for tomorrow?¡± Donovan replied with a grunt. ¡°I already invited him out here and he didn¡¯t show up. If he wanted to, he would have. And we¡¯re seeing him tomorrow anyways.¡± ¡°Tell him it¡¯s urgent.¡± Jimmy didn¡¯t like the way they were looking at him. It was making him more and more nervous. This, as Donovan stood up, muttered a few choice swear words, and then turned around. ¡°I¡¯ll just go get him myself. My exit¡¯s in Shores of Wrath, anyway. Can¡¯t believe I gotta swim across the fuckin¡¯ ocean now.¡± ¡°Why not just call him?¡± Olivir asked. ¡°My sister¡¯s why. She¡¯s screening his calls now to ¡®reduce his stress¡¯ or something. She¡¯s become like his secretary and therapist all in one. Can¡¯t believe she¡¯s been with him for two weeks already. She¡¯s gonna make the kid soft.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± Kolona said sharply. ¡°Your sister¡¯s helped my cousin and him a whole lot.¡± ¡°Yeah, but she¡¯s making life more difficult for me.¡± ¡°Too bad,¡± Kolona said, folding her arms. ¡°You¡¯ll just have to deal with it.¡± Donovan grumbled something Jimmy couldn¡¯t make out, then said, ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a half hour. Make sure they don¡¯t go anywhere.¡± With that, he opened the door and began to step out¡ªyet he halted in place at the sound of Kolona¡¯s voice. ¡°W-wait, Donovan.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± he asked. Kolona made a playful smile that Jimmy had to admit was cute. ¡°Can you bring my cousin too, please? I haven¡¯t seen her in weeks.¡± Donovan grunted. ¡°Yeah, sure, whatever.¡± With that, he stepped through the door, disappeared from the room, and then the sound of his footsteps echoing down the hall quickly quieted before fading altogether. Now, Jimmy found himself staring awkwardly at the others while waiting for whatever it was that they had planned for him next. Honestly, he had no idea why any of this was happening¡ªor did he? Maybe he did have at least some clue now that they had spoken that name. Eilea. Hearing it said aloud disturbed him deeply. It made him wonder if it was wise to say anything else to these people at all. The level of risk just skyrocketed. But they might know something important to me too, he thought. Unsure how to proceed, for about the next five minutes, Jimmy said nothing at all, and everyone sat in total silence, which he was perfectly fine with. The others, however, clearly were not, because eventually, Olivir began tapping his finger against the table before asking, ¡°You are from Earth, right?¡± Jimmy said nothing, choosing to continue remaining silent. This, he did from a position of previous life experience. Once, a few years ago, he¡¯d been arrested on bogus shit that he¡¯d had no involvement with, and his knowledge of the law had been the only reason why he hadn¡¯t been hit with false charges that could¡¯ve easily ruined his life. Remaining silent was key when people were asking you questions that could be incriminating even if you were innocent, and he sort of felt like that kind of applied here as well. Thus, saying nothing, he watched as Olivir continued to tap his fingers again and again before eventually trying his luck a second time. ¡°That¡¯s the real reason why I came to find you,¡± he said. ¡°We each had our own reasons, but just to put my cards on the table here, for me, it was that one. It¡¯s because, as crazy as it sounds, uhm, I believe you.¡± He pointed at Jimmy. ¡°I do think you¡¯re really from there. How that¡¯s possible? I don¡¯t have a clue. But I believe it¡¯s true anyway.¡± Jimmy pursed his lips, preventing himself from engaging in the conversation. It was very difficult to do, as he himself was so desperately in search of answers. It was a weak spot for him. And it was one that, intentionally or not, this Olivir kid seemed to know just how to play on, because eventually, he found himself becoming baited enough to reply. In particular, it was when Olivir, with an air of nonchalance, asked, ¡°Is the Earth that you¡¯re from different from the one that we know? Does it have all those red clouds and dead vegetation?¡± ¡°No,¡± Jimmy whispered, the word escaping his lips all on its own. Olivir gave no reaction aside from a pleasant smile. ¡°Really? No red skies?¡± ¡°No,¡± Jimmy said again, shaking his head. ¡°The sky is blue just like on Galterra. On some days, it¡¯s real beautiful. Most of the time it is, actually.¡± Olivir made a pleasant-sounding exhale. ¡°That sounds kind of nice. I think you said you want to go back home. Is that right? You want to go back to that place?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he admitted. With a bit more heat in his voice, he said, ¡°That¡¯s actually all I want. It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s the only thing I¡¯m even trying to do. So please, believe me: whoever you people are, I¡¯m not a threat to you or whatever you¡¯re after. The only thing I want is to go home. Nothing else. That¡¯s why I¡¯m racing through the levels as fast as I can.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Zephyr whispered, though Jimmy had the sense that the word was spoken mostly to himself. More loudly, he said, ¡°You seem to think leveling up will let you go to this place you claim is your home.¡± ¡°Well, yeah, obviously. I mean, it¡¯s clear at least to me what¡¯s going on here.¡± ¡°Hm. And that is?¡± ¡°I gotta beat the game.¡± ¡°Game?¡± ¡°Yeah, the¡­¡± Jimmy sighed. He could tell from the confusion in their eyes, which bordered on frustration, that nothing he was saying was making any sense to them. And so, not wishing to have to figure out a way to explain it, Jimmy instead gave a quick nod to Tena, finally deciding that, after all he¡¯d said, he didn¡¯t mind if she spoke to them. He could tell just from the eagerness in her eyes that she was itching to clear things up, and while Jimmy was more than capable of speaking for his own self, he knew that her perspective on the world would make it easier for her to explain things to people who saw things in a way that was similar to how she did. ¡°Okay, so it¡¯s like this. Jimmy,¡± she began, extending her arm in his direction, ¡°thinks that everything around us is all part of a simulated game. He thinks this because, where he¡¯s from, the world that we live in is just like one of his fantasy simulations. So, you know how we level up and get stronger? Where he¡¯s from, that¡¯s considered a fantasy. Like, it exists, but it¡¯s also not real. It¡¯s an idea that they have, and a lot of it is freakishly similar to the way things are here, only it¡¯s just a screen game to them. They don¡¯t have levels in the real world there. It took me a while to get my head around that part.¡± ¡°No levels at all?" Olivir whispered, sounding shocked. ¡°Not the way Jimmy described it to me. They have everything that we have, but only in make-believe. But outside of that, everyone¡¯s level 1. Or no, not even level 1, because there¡¯s just no such thing. It¡¯s only in the fantasy simulations.¡± Olivir¡¯s mouth dropped open. ¡°So then¡­if that¡¯s true, then we finally have an answer to a mystery that people have probably wondered for thousands of years: the source of the system¡¯s inspiration. I think I finally get it now.¡± ¡°System?¡± Tena asked. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Olivir gave her an apologetic look. ¡°Sorry, but I really can¡¯t elaborate on that just yet. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be okay to tell you soon enough, but first, we need to wait for Donovan to get back. I¡¯m still not sure how much they¡¯re gonna want you to know.¡± Taking his attention off Tena, Olivir once more took in Jimmy. ¡°Well, now I understand how you¡¯re aware of all these terms that only a seasoned adventurer should know. You¡¯ve experienced the source of the Great Ones¡¯ inspiration. Still¡­that fact alone adds like a billion more questions I want to ask you.¡± ¡°Can I please ask you one first?¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± Baffled, Jimmy wasn¡¯t even sure what to ask despite requesting permission to do so. He only knew that he wanted to ask something. For the moment, however, he did not reply¡ªat least not at first. It took him nearly a minute of churning all the possible questions over in his head before finally settling on the one he wanted to ask first. Yet before he could even begin to speak it, something happened that caused his voice to catch in his throat. He was distracted by something¡ªby the sudden, unexpected sound of an irate, annoyed voice coming from the opposite end of the hallway down the stairs that led to this very room. ¡°¡­because I¡¯d really like to know what¡¯s so fucking important that I had to rush all the way over here when, like, I¡¯m going to be here tomorrow anyway.¡± ¡°Zach, stop!¡± said a feminine voice. ¡°You¡¯re being mean.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not being mean, Kal. I literally just got into the pool. Barely dipped my toes into the water, and I only just finished defrosting the hamburgers, and then, what do you know? I¡¯ve got to be bothered by more bullshit that couldn¡¯t wait literally one more day.¡± ¡°Be nice, baby. Or else I¡¯m gonna tell Jascaila you¡¯re ignoring your anger iceberg again.¡± ¡°You better not, Kal. You seriously better not.¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna.¡± There was a brief pause, and then the voice appeared even closer, just barely outside the door. ¡°My anger iceberg is about to get even bigger and icier if everyone doesn¡¯t stop pissing me off.¡± The door opened, and inside stepped a kid maybe two or three years younger than Jimmy with short black hair and an ominous-looking set of gear that concealed most of his face and gave him a genuinely menacing visage. It was as though the light itself could not penetrate the hood of his cloak. A moment later, however, he pulled it down, and much of the sadistic glow faded from his eyes. Now, Jimmy could recognize him plainly and clearly: Zachys Calador, one of the most well-known adventurers on the server. Or, err¡­not the server. Wrong word. He was one of the most well-known adventurers in the ¡°world.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s he?¡± Zach asked as he paraded himself in the room, giving Jimmy a sidelong glance. His eyes lingered on Jimmy for only a moment before he looked away almost dismissively. ¡°Why¡¯s he here? Actually, you know what? It doesn¡¯t even matter. Can we please get him out of here if we¡¯re going to talk about sensitive issues? No disrespect or nothing, but I don¡¯t know him.¡± Jimmy, sensing an opportunity, spoke up even before Donovan had the chance to reply. ¡°I¡¯d be more than happy to leave, uh, Zach. I don¡¯t even wanna be here in the first place. And I don¡¯t know how much longer ya¡¯ll plan to hold me here, either. But like, by all means, please kick me out. I¡¯d love nothing more than to get out of your hair.¡± ¡°Uh, wait, what?¡± Zach asked, once more turning his attention on Jimmy. ¡°Did you just say ¡®hold you here?¡¯ The fuck¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Jimmy, becoming somewhat annoyed by his rude tone, said, ¡°Me and Tena are being kept here by force.¡± ¡°By force?¡± Zach paused a moment, then winced as a look of disgust crossed his features. ¡°Donovan, is this true? What, are we fucking taking prisoners now? What kind of sick shit is this? Not cool at all.¡± Donovan grunted and narrowed his eyes, then fired Zach a sharp glare, which seemed to break through to him somewhat, because he took a cautious step backwards and even lowered his head in apology. Becoming a bit fearful, Jimmy said, ¡°Please, just let me and Tena go.¡± ¡°Yeah, of course,¡± Zach said, nodding. ¡°Nobody should be held somewhere they don¡¯t want to be. If you want to leave, you can just go.¡± For all his rudeness, he at least had some principles. Jimmy bowed his head gratefully then let out a relieved sigh. ¡°Thank you, my guy. Finally, someone reasonable.¡± He began to stand up¡ªthen paused as Donovan fired him the exact same look of warning that he¡¯d just given Zach. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Sit your ass back down. We¡¯re not done here.¡± ¡°But¡­but he said I could go.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not in charge here, kiddo. I am.¡± Jimmy, in a half-squat, half-standing position, hesitated a moment. But then Donovan turned his body angrily in his direction, and once more, he plopped back down into his seat. ¡°Ya¡¯ll are gonna kill me after all, aren¡¯t you? I knew it was too good to be true.¡± At this, the girl he clearly recognized as the Elvish princess gave a firm, vehement shake of her head. ¡°Nah-uh! No way, no way. I dunno what¡¯s going on here, but umm, I promise you that¡¯s not even a possibility. My name¡¯s Kalana, by the way. What¡¯s yours?¡± ¡°Jimmy,¡± he said. ¡°Jimmy Green.¡± At this, Zachys Calador snapped his head in Jimmy¡¯s direction, and now there was a scowl on his lips. ¡°Wait a second. Jimmy Green¡­the adventurer? The one they told me has been talking all that shit about me behind my back in Angelica¡¯s?¡± Zach pointed his finger at Jimmy. ¡°Yeah, I heard about that. Oh you better believe I did. Hey, any time you want to go, I¡¯m game. I¡¯ll get those grapes right now if you want. It¡¯s good that you¡¯re here. I¡¯ve been meaning to have a word with you about all that stuff you¡¯ve been¡ª¡± ¡°Zach!¡± Kalana fired in. She poked him in the chest with her pointer finger. ¡°Remember what you learned?¡± Zach stared at her blankly. Then his expression changed¡ªthough it did so slowly. At a gradual, steady pace, his scowl faded and was thereafter replaced by an apologetic frown. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said. ¡°I have very bad anger issues, and I¡¯m working on them. Please excuse my behavior. I¡¯m growing as a person.¡± Jimmy waved it off. ¡°It¡¯s all good, man. As long as I don¡¯t end up iced.¡± ¡°Iced?¡± ¡°Dead.¡± ¡°Oh. Weird expression. But yeah, of course. It¡¯s like Kal said. No one here¡¯s a murderer.¡± Once more, he frowned as if reacting to the look of skepticism that Jimmy couldn¡¯t help but send his way. ¡°Why¡¯re you looking at me like that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± ¡°No, tell me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that I know¡­I mean, I know your reputation is all.¡± ¡°Meaning what?¡± Jimmy felt his throat going dry as he realized he was upsetting the kid for some reason. ¡°I mean that I know you¡¯re not afraid to mess up people who get on the wrong side of you.¡± Zach, in a series of strange movements, closed his eyes and began counting down from ten. Jimmy had no idea what that was about. Nevertheless, he said nothing as Zach got down to zero and then blew out a sigh and took a seat before pointing at him and saying, ¡°I¡¯m letting that one slide, but just so you know, I¡¯ve never killed anyone outside of self-defense.¡± ¡°Yeah, okay. I wasn¡¯t calling you on that, bruh.¡± ¡°Bruh?¡± ¡°It means bro.¡± Zach gave him a discerning look before shrugging. ¡°Strange vocabulary, but all right.¡± The tension partially diffused, Kalana took a seat next to Zach, and then finally, Donovan once more sat back down at the table. With everyone seated, Zach began tapping his fingers on the table just as Olivir had been doing only moments before. ¡°Okay, so, let¡¯s get right to it: why are we all here?¡± he asked, speaking first. ¡°I want to get this over with so I can play net-ball with everyone in the pool.¡± Donovan released a dark laugh lacking in any sense of humor. ¡°Enjoying your vacation, Zach?¡± ¡°I sure am.¡± ¡°Good to hear. Don¡¯t mind the rest of the world, kiddo. Just keep on playing on the beach.¡± Zach opened his mouth to respond, but it was Kalana who shot in her remarks first. The girl, who had only just taken her seat after briefly hugging Kolona, looked angrily at Donovan and said, ¡°That¡¯s not fair. Zach¡¯s given so much to the world.¡± ¡°I love the kid,¡± Donovan said. ¡°I just think he¡¯s digging his fuckin¡¯ head too far into the sand. We¡¯ve got work to do.¡± ¡°And we¡¯re going to do it,¡± Zach said, now speaking more seriously. ¡°This isn¡¯t just about vacationing for me, okay? I¡¯ve taken some time off from the world to recover from things that hurt me badly, and I¡¯m not ashamed that I need to do that.¡± Donovan made another dark laugh, but this time around, there appeared to be at least some degree of humor in it. ¡°Is that you talking or my sister?¡± ¡°Me,¡± he said. Donovan stared at him a moment, then abruptly, he nodded his head in a way that was oddly respectful. ¡°All right, kiddo. That¡¯s good enough for me.¡± The two stared at one another for just a short moment longer, and then once more, Zach set his eyes on Jimmy as he asked, ¡°So, why am I here?¡± It was Zephyr who replied. ¡°Tomorrow is your weekly five-minute conversation with Eilea, right?¡± ¡°Yeah." ¡°Well then, we need to discuss this situation here first. Look, I know we¡¯ve got a lot of things to pack into those five minutes as is, but what we¡¯ve got here might be worth asking about. Specifically, him,¡± Zephyr said, raising an eyebrow at Jimmy. ¡°Why?¡± Zach asked, sounding skeptical. ¡°I don¡¯t fully know yet, but I think he¡¯s involved with her somehow. He¡¯s told us some things that defy all belief and reason, and yet, that¡¯s with having barely told us anything at all. Before we really dug into things, we wanted to wait for you to get here first.¡± Zach rubbed his chin a moment as though he had an itch. ¡°So is this, like, an interrogation?¡± ¡°In a sense, but a friendly one, hopefully.¡± ¡°And how important is it?¡± ¡°Very.¡± ¡°Give me from a one to a ten.¡± ¡°An eight,¡± Zephyr said. ¡°Actually, maybe even a nine.¡± Of all things, Zach moaned and took on a look of extreme frustration. Without warning, he stood up, and his chair scraped loudly against the floor. ¡°All right, I¡¯ll be back in a few minutes. Don¡¯t say anything else to him until I do.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Donovan asked. ¡°The hell do you think you¡¯re going?¡± ¡°Grabbing Mr. Oren,¡± he said as he walked out of the room and into the hallway. Donovan, rather than get out of his seat, spun the entire thing around on the floor, causing another metallic, shrill, and grating screech to echo in the room. ¡°He can¡¯t come here anymore. What makes you think you can¡ª¡± ¡°Hey, Angelica,¡± he called out, his voice only just audible from wherever it was he was speaking. ¡°Yes, Zach?¡± ¡°Can you come over here a moment.¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± There were footsteps, and then a brief moment of quiet. ¡°Okay, so I need you to do a portal for me like when I was in the hospital. I need you to bring Mr. Oren here for a few minutes to maybe an hour.¡± ¡°Zaaaach! You know I can¡¯t do that. Adamus would¡ª¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s okay, actually. I cleared it with Eilea.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a truce between her and Adamus right now. Wait, did no one tell you this in last week¡¯s meeting?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Wait, seriously? Yeah, until this bomb thing is settled, he¡¯s turning a blind eye as long as it¡¯s nothing too crazy. Can you just grab him and bring him here, please?¡± ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s gonna be okay?¡± ¡°Yeah. This time, anyway.¡± ¡°Should we really be talking about this¡­outside the room?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. Adamus actually knows we¡¯re meeting in secret.¡± ¡°Z-Zach! You just said that out loud.¡± ¡°Yeah, and like I said, it¡¯s fine. He doesn¡¯t know what we¡¯re saying, but he knows we¡¯ve been meeting. He¡¯s not stupid. And you should already know that his dumb rules means he can¡¯t do shit to us without proof that we did anything wrong. Isn¡¯t that right, Adamus? I know you¡¯re listening.¡± ¡°Zach, stop! You might provoke him.¡± ¡°Fuck him, I don¡¯t care. Anyway, I need Mr. Oren.¡± ¡°Okay, okay. If you¡¯re sure.¡± ¡°I am sure. Hey, after this is done, why don¡¯t you take a break from the inn and come play in the pool with us?¡± "Aww, shucks. I wish I could, but I''m really not allowed. If I leave here for too long, I get into trouble.¡± ¡°You know, I don¡¯t like the way you¡¯re treated like a slave, Angelica.¡± ¡°You¡¯re sweet, but this is just the way it is. Anyways, I¡¯ll go grab your friend.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Jimmy lowered his head into his hands and squeezed his face. This was becoming way too complex and convoluted for his tastes. He just wanted to go level and figure out a way to beat this simulation so he could go home. None of this had anything to do with him. All these problems belonged to others. There was no reason for him to have to be sitting here right now. As he contemplated grabbing Tena and making a break for it, there came a strange, electric-like buzzing sound, followed by a laugh from someone other than Zach. ¡°There will never be a day when you don¡¯t surprise me,¡± an unfamiliar voice said. ¡°Sorry, Mr. Oren. Been meaning to catch you up on everything anyway since I¡¯ve got news about stuff we need to talk about in private. I was planning to bring you here at some point tomorrow. But first, there¡¯s a situation or something going on, and you¡¯re honestly the best person to deal with these kinds of¡­moments. They wanted me to do it, but I¡¯m not even going to bother to try. This is a ''you'' thing." ¡°Is it another¡­Prila-like event?¡± ¡°It¡¯s exactly that. But I can¡¯t say more until we get into the room.¡± ¡°All right then, my man. You¡¯re lucky, too. I finished my last meeting for the day an hour ago. Even still, my time is incredibly limited, so let¡¯s try to make this as brief as possible. Oh, and if you¡¯ve got any information that can help me¡­¡± The door opened again, and Zach, along with another figure walked inside. ¡°Please let me know.¡± He stopped short, eyed Jimmy, and then smiled politely. Jimmy sort of recognized him. He was a man who tended to be on the TV a lot. His name was Sir Alex Oren of the Lords of Justice, if Jimmy recalled correctly. He was a tall, well-built man who tended to wear a nerdy pair of cat-eye glasses that disarmed what would otherwise be a pretty intimidating physique. At the moment, he was dressed in the button-up coat of a high-ranking military official adorned with numerous badges and buttons; Jimmy could tell that he was someone of extreme world importance. Likely more so than anyone in the adventuring community, including Zach. Giving up his seat, Zach and Kal moved to the opposite side of the table so that they now sat near him and Tena, allowing Sir Oren to occupy the chair directly across from Jimmy. ¡°Just so you know,¡± Zach said, his tone somewhat mischievous as he patted Jimmy on the back, ¡°Donovan and Zephyr are holding this guy here against his will, and I had nothing to do with it.¡± ¡°Noted,¡± the man said. All in all, he was only a couple of years older than Jimmy, yet he presented himself with such a rigid, professional demeanor that he actually came across as quite a bit older. Nodding his head in acknowledgement, he said, ¡°Forgive me, as I¡¯m catching up on things. My name is Alex Oren of the Lords of Justice, former member of the God Slayers Guild. I¡¯m not sure why I¡¯m speaking to you, but may I ask your name?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Jimmy said with a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m Jimmy Green, and this is Tena Laielza. And not to be rude, but I dunno how high up the chain or how many more dudes need to walk in here before one of ya¡¯ll finally tell me what I did wrong or why I¡¯m really in here, but if not you, then please someone soon because, honestly? I can¡¯t take much more of this, no disrespect.¡± Sir Oren made a slight, barely audible laugh, and then he extended his hand, which Jimmy shook. ¡°I¡¯m the last guy,¡± he said. ¡°Whatever it is that¡¯s going on here, we¡¯re going to solve it right now. I promise you. Okay?¡± ¡°If you say so. Uh, just so we¡¯re on the same page, the others promised me I won¡¯t be killed. Just hoping you¡¯ll honor that.¡± ¡°Oh, Gods! Of course,¡± Sir Oren said. ¡°It¡¯s actually my responsibility as an ambassador of humanity to guarantee it. Now that I¡¯m here, I wouldn¡¯t allow that even if they¡¯d chosen to do so¡ªwhich they wouldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°All right,¡± he said, breathing a bit more easily. Clearing his throat, Sir Oren asked Donovan and Zephyr to explain the situation that had led to Jimmy being in this room and why they felt it was necessary to whisk him here across the universe to speak to him. The guy was clearly pretty damn smart, because it only took him a minute or two to both grasp and find the importance in whatever they were saying. ¡°That is really strange,¡± he said. ¡°And this connects to Eilea?¡± ¡°I think so,¡± Olivir said. Sir Oren then turned his attention back to Jimmy. ¡°The easiest way we can resolve this is with honesty and openness. Based on what I¡¯m hearing, it sounds like you¡¯re hesitant to discuss things with us. This means you have a reason to be afraid. Is there an enemy out there? Someone who wants to hurt you?¡± Jimmy shrugged. ¡°No clue. But I¡¯ve been told there is.¡± ¡°Told by who?¡± Jimmy hesitated. Quietly, he said, ¡°Eilea.¡± ¡°She speaks to you too?¡± Zach asked with a gasp. ¡°Kind of¡­¡± Sir Oren held out his hand. ¡°Zach, please, don¡¯t interrupt.¡± To Jimmy, he said, ¡°I swear to you that whatever enemy you think you face, they are not in this room. We¡¯re all working together with Eilea in one way or another. And if you and your friend can give me your word that you¡¯ll never repeat anything you hear outside of this room, we can have an open exchange of information and figure all this out.¡± ¡°I¡¯m cool,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°That¡¯s fine with me.¡± ¡°Same,¡± Tena agreed. Sir Oren bowed his head. Then, once more locking eyes with Jimmy, he said, ¡°I¡¯m just going to start with the most basic question, and I must admit, this is a strange one to ask even despite everything I just heard.¡± He folded his hands on the table and leaned in slightly closer. ¡°Are you from the planet Earth, Jimmy?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Jimmy replied immediately and without hesitation, wanting to show these people that he was willing to cooperate and meant them no harm. There was a slight tightening of Sir Oren¡¯s face, but it passed by so briefly that it was hard to know it was there at all. ¡°And how did you come here to Galterra?¡± ¡°Shit, I knew this was gonna be your next question.¡± Jimmy drew a deep breath. ¡°You¡¯re not gonna believe me. I don¡¯t even know why Tena believes me. But if you really wanna know, here¡¯s why I¡¯m here.¡± For the next five minutes, Jimmy, already too deep to pull back, decided he had no choice but to trust these people. And so he told them not only who he was, where he was from, and how he¡¯d been living his life up until a few days ago, but he described in great detail the night that he¡¯d met the woman they called Eilea. The fact that he claimed to have seen her in person seemed to cause a great deal of shock from those around him. It was the only part of the story where they interrupted him to ask what she looked like, to which Jimmy said a great deal like Kalana and her cousin, Kolona. Both seemed to find this flattering. Continuing on with his story, he explained how he¡¯d been hit by a car going way over the speed limit, and then he¡¯d woken up in this simulated world sometime later. Finally, with more emotion in his voice than he intended, he said, ¡°So please, if any of you know how to get me home, I¡¯d really appreciate it. This ain¡¯t my world, and no disrespect, but I don¡¯t want to be here much longer. My mom needs me. I¡¯m all she¡¯s got. I can¡¯t imagine the thought of how scared she must be right now. I¡¯m putting that woman through hell. Every day here makes me worry about her even more.¡± Of all people, it was Zach who gave him a friendly fist bump on the shoulder, and abruptly, his eyes filled deeply with such an unexpected depth of compassion that Jimmy at first thought he was seeing things incorrectly. ¡°You must really love your mom,¡± Zach said. ¡°I do. She¡¯s my best friend in the world. She gave up her dreams for me.¡± Unless he was faking it, the emotion he saw in the kid was real and sincere. Yet the way he spoke to Jimmy left him feeling incredibly uneasy and unwell. ¡°I¡¯ve got a friend where Kal and I are staying. I think you should talk to her.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Jimmy asked, becoming suspicious. ¡°Why would I go anywhere with you?¡± Softly, and with an eerie amount of kindness from someone who was so harsh only moments ago, he said, ¡°She¡¯s good with helping people cope with grief and loss.¡± Jimmy laughed. ¡°I didn¡¯t lose anybody. I¡¯m gonna level my ass out of this world and get sent home. Why else would I be here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but¡­but I can tell you for sure that, you know, your mom¡¯s probably not¡­¡± ¡°Not what?¡± he demanded, becoming angry. Zach sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not qualified to¡­here¡¯s the thing. I¡¯m not a brain genius like Mr. Oren here, but even I can see what happened¡ªat least based on your explanation.¡± ¡°You can?¡± ¡°Yeah, Jimmy,¡± he said, still speaking softly and calmly. ¡°It sounds like you got dragged across a whole lot of time: thousands of years from the sound of it. So, naturally, since it¡¯s thousands of years later, your mom¡¯s¡­you know¡­¡± Jimmy firmly shook his head. ¡°Fuck out of here, man! You can cut that shit out right now. My mom¡¯s not dead.¡± Zach opened his mouth as if to say more, but then he closed it. This, as Kalana, Kolona, and even Donovan offered him comforting looks, all of which pissed him off. ¡°This is just a simulation,¡± he said to them. ¡°I know you don¡¯t agree, but I¡¯m telling you, you are all just like me. Only difference is you forgot how you got here.¡± As he spoke, his voice grew in volume until he eventually started shouting even without meaning to do so. ¡°This shit ain¡¯t real! Are you people fucking stupid? This is a fantasy. Wake up! There¡¯s no such thing as leveling or magic or wizards. It¡¯s a goddamn video game!¡± Sir Oren reached across the table and grabbed his hand. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for your loss,¡± he said. ¡°But based on everything I¡¯ve heard, I have to agree with Zach. For some reason or purpose, you were ripped out of your time and brought here.¡± Jimmy yanked his hand away, refusing to let these people break him. ¡°Even if you¡¯re right,¡± he said. ¡°Even if everything you said is true. It doesn¡¯t matter. If you can go forward in time, you can go back, too. I¡¯m gonna find that woman, and she¡¯s gonna send me home.¡± ¡°She can¡¯t,¡± said another voice as the door creaked open. Angelica entered, shutting it behind her. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to tell this to you, Jimmy, but I¡¯ve known from the day you first got here. I¡¯m sorry. But Eilea did not rip you out of your time.¡± ¡°Huh? But they just said that¡ª¡± ¡°They¡¯re wrong,¡± Angelica whispered. She looked at him. ¡°I don¡¯t know the specifics, but I know what she¡¯s capable of and what she¡¯s not capable of. Pulling you out of the past and bringing you to the future just isn¡¯t possible.¡± ¡°Then how am I here?¡± he demanded. ¡°She must have saved your life, put you in a suspended state, and set you to wake up two weeks ago. You¡¯ve likely been hidden away on Galterra since the dawn of its existence in a dreamless sleep. You didn¡¯t warp across time. You slept through it.¡± Jimmy scowled. His nerves were shot. ¡°You seem to know what¡¯s going on here, miss. Send me back. Now!¡± ¡°There is no back, Jimmy.¡± "Please," he begged her. "You''re connected to all of this. I can tell. You know more than you should, Angelica. Just let me go home. Or if you can''t do that, tell me what I gotta do to earn it. Why are you looking at me like you feel bad? You''re an NPC. You can''t feel!" "Yes she can," Kalana said. "Please don''t be mean to her. I know you''re upset, but umm, it''s not Angelica''s fault." "I''m really sorry," the NPC said. "And I can feel, and I know you''re upset." "Why did she do this to me?" Jimmy asked, becoming unnerved. "I don''t know why you were brought here. I only know that you wouldn''t be here unless you were going to die anyway. If you''re here, it''s because Eilea decided to spare your life. If she didn''t, you''d be dead, not home. She let you live." "Let me?" "That''s right," Angelica said. "You were supposed to be dead. She wouldn''t have done this otherwise or else she''d risk changing the fabric of reality by altering history." Jimmy pointed his finger off to his left. ¡°Everything you''re saying just proves me right. You''re saying Eilea went back in time, right? So that proves time-travel obviously exists.¡± ¡°It¡¯s more complicated than that. And even if you don¡¯t believe me, I¡¯m telling you this because it¡¯s only gonna get harder to accept the longer you chase it. Whatever Eilea did is not something you can do too or something you can undo. This is your home now. You¡¯re never going back to the old Earth. It¡¯s just a memory now, one shared only by you, me, Adamus, and Eilea.¡± Jimmy shook his head. ¡°This can¡¯t be. Nah, man. Nah. I¡¯m sorry. But you¡¯re wrong. This is a simulation. If I gotta stab myself in the throat to prove it, I¡¯ll do it. This isn''t real. I''m positive.¡± Jimmy reached down by his right side and unsheathed the dagger Tena kept in a small sheath in case of emergency. Then he lifted it to his throat. He wasn''t suicidal. He wasn''t trying to kill himself. He knew that this wasn''t¡ªcouldn''t¡ªpossibly be real. Most likely, he''d reawaken at home upon death. Right? Surely that would be the only real consequence. Even still, he hesitated, and before a half a second had come and gone, Zach, with a speed too fast for his eyes to follow, grabbed his wrist tightly enough to force his hand to open, and he dropped the weapon. ¡°Okay, yeah, you¡¯re going to see the therapist,¡± Zach said, nodding. Kalana also nodded. Zach kicked the dagger away so that it skidded along the floor to the other end of the room, and then he released his hand. Now, disturbed by all he''d heard, Jimmy found it difficult to get comfortable. He began to shift uneasily in his seat. ¡°Gotta get out of this fucking planet and world. My mom wouldn¡¯t be able to cope with me being gone. You don¡¯t understand. She would¡¯ve died of a heartbreak. I can¡¯t do that to her. I won¡¯t do that to her. Jesus take my soul too if that¡¯s how it¡¯s gonna go down.¡± ¡°Is that one of your Gods?¡± Kalana whispered softly. He looked at her. ¡°Yeah. Well, we only have one God. Most of us, anyway.¡± She nodded empathetically. ¡°There¡¯s a lot we need to ask you, but if you need a break, we can pick this up tomorrow after Zach speaks with¡ª¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Jimmy exclaimed, snapping his finger. ¡°You¡¯re gonna be talking to her tomorrow, right? I heard them say something about that. She talks to you once a week, right?¡± Zach nodded. ¡°For five minutes, yeah.¡± ¡°Okay, well, she told me she would give me answers after I got level 30, but she also didn¡¯t expect me to get that far for three months. Maybe you can tell her that Jimmy¡¯s level 45 now and I¡¯d like to have a word with her time-warping, family-separating, mom-heart-breaking ass!¡± Tena wrapped her arms around him, and he let her. Right now, she was the only one Jimmy really wanted to be near to. ¡°I told you I¡¯m real,¡± she whispered to him. ¡°But now I wish I wasn¡¯t. I¡¯m sorry, Jimmy.¡± He wasn¡¯t ready to reply, but he hoped the way he wrapped his own arm around her conveyed enough for her to understand he had good intentions. ¡°What about my degree? My scholarship?¡± Sir Oren lifted his pointer finger as if to get Jimmy¡¯s attention. ¡°I can get you into any university on the planet: assuming we save it. Actually, I realize this is highly insensitive and unfair to you, Jimmy, but there are critical matters to be addressed in what is, I assure you, a very real world. Zach, you told me you had some information for me?¡± Zach gave him a thumbs-up. ¡°Yeah, actually. I was going to come get you eventually anyway. So, last week, during my five-minute chat with Eilea, she said that she and Adamus are doing a temporary ceasefire and that she¡¯s going to have a bit more leeway than she usually does if it means stopping the Guild of Gentlemen. So she¡¯s been digging around, right? And uh, I don¡¯t know how much this is going to help the situation, like, politically or whatever, but she says she doesn¡¯t think they¡¯ve built any more of those nuclear weapons yet and that she¡¯s ninety-five percent sure they¡¯re bluffing and won¡¯t have another one for at least two more months.¡± Sir Oren, ¡°Mr. Oren,¡± or however he was supposed to be addressed¡ªhis reaction to this came across as so shocked it was actually funny. Even with all the heaviness of what Jimmy had just been told, he couldn¡¯t help but find it amusing the way the dude¡¯s mouth popped open and a drop of spit actually fell out of his lips as he recoiled as if whipped across the face. ¡°W-w-what?¡± he exclaimed. ¡°How long have you known this, Zach?¡± ¡°Only since like last week.¡± Sir Oren slammed his palm down onto the table. ¡°You knew this for a whole Gods-cursed week and I¡¯m only hearing about this now? You didn¡¯t think to warp me over here as soon as you found out?¡± As though becoming defensive, Zach frowned and said, ¡°Nobody told me to do that. And like I said, I was planning to tell you.¡± Sir Oren moaned, though only for a moment. ¡°Donovan, how can you not have¡­how can any of you not have told me this immediately? You can¡¯t all be this lacking in political common sense. Do you realize that Sir Alazar is going to be executed in just three days? That the entire world is on the verge of surrendering to that maniac because they believe he has many more of these weapons?¡± Zach tensed up, and so too did Kalana. Even Jimmy tensed a bit, because he¡¯d seen on the news what the Guild of Gentlemen had done; only, now, it was beginning to dawn on him that it might have been real, and that more than seven-hundred-thousand real, actual people might have died. And that was just the current death toll. ¡°This is real, isn¡¯t it?¡± he whispered, the horrible realization starting to take hold in his mind for the first time since waking up here. ¡°Yes!¡± Sir Oren said. ¡°Very, very real.¡± He made a weak chuckle. ¡°So wait a second, then. You''re telling me I got sent thousands of years into the future, and we¡¯re still worried about the exact same shit?¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Sir Oren asked. ¡°The nukes.¡± His eyes widening, he asked, ¡°Did they have these in your time, too?¡± At this, Jimmy barked out a loud, unintended laugh that came as a shock even to his own self. ¡°You kidding me, man? Everyone¡¯s got the bomb. America¡¯s got the bomb. Russia¡¯s got the bomb. China¡¯s got the bomb. Everyone¡¯s got it. It¡¯s like the number-one thing everyone¡¯s worried about. That there will be a war and we¡¯ll blow Earth up. Oh, shit! Is that what happened? Is that why it looks like that?¡± ¡°No, actually,¡± Sir Oren said, his tone coming across as distant¡ªas though he were replying even as his brain turned over the words that had just been spoken. ¡°That was the World Eater.¡± ¡°You guys mentioned that. It¡¯s a boss or something?¡± ¡°Yes. But¡­¡± Sir Oren rubbed his eyes, then averted his gaze a second or two before returning it. ¡°Are you telling me that our ancestors on Earth had developed this technology too?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. Way worse than that, actually. That¡¯s just the start. Once they figure out A-bombs, the next thing they figure out is hydrogen bombs.¡± ¡°Hydrogen?¡± he half-hissed, half-shouted. ¡°We need to stop this now!¡± ¡°You know what that is?¡± ¡°No,¡± Sir Oren said. ¡°Never even considered it until just now. But I know enough science to imagine what might happen. Tell me, did anyone ever fire these weapons of yours?¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Jimmy said. Then he grimaced. ¡°We fired them twice: both times on the same country.¡± ¡°Country?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like what ya¡¯ll call a region? But instead of a guild, it¡¯s ruled by¡­well, that¡¯s a whole different topic. Point is, everyone on Earth is afraid of getting nuked. The only reason nobody drops them anymore is the fear it¡¯ll start a chain reaction and kill everyone. It¡¯s called MAD: mutually assured destruction.¡± Olivir shivered. ¡°I think I just learned more in the past five minutes than I¡¯ve learned in the past fifty years,¡± he said. ¡°And I¡¯m not so sure I was expecting to hear it told this way. So, Jimmy, it sounds like the world was a very dark place in your time.¡± ¡°Oh, no, no, not at all. In fact, where I¡¯m from is the greatest place on Earth. Sorry, I mean the universe.¡± ¡°And where¡¯s that?¡± Olivir asked. Jimmy took a deep breath and calmed himself as he called it to mind. Thinking of home made him feel a bit better. ¡°New York City,¡± he said as he exhaled. ¡°Better than anything you guys got on Galterra. No offense. But it¡¯s way better.¡± Though intrigue was in the eyes of everyone around him, Jimmy noticed that it was Olivir and Zephyr who appeared the most fascinated. ¡°What was it like?¡± they both asked him at once. Jimmy briefly explained New York as best as he could, eliciting gasps of disbelief and wonder despite everything seeming kind of normal to him. ¡°So, yeah, we don¡¯t have flying cars like you guys have,¡± he said, ¡°but we have the Empire State Building, and we have way better music. Like, no offense, but your music here is dog water. I wish I could play some for you.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right about that,¡± Tena said, speaking up for the first time in a while. ¡°Every now and then Jimmy hums a strange song I¡¯ve never heard before, but every one of them gets stuck in my head. Jimmy, what¡¯s that one about changing yourself?¡± ¡°Changing yourself?¡± ¡°Yeah, um, the one that¡¯s like¡­um, I¡¯m starting with the hum dum-dum-dum-dum¡­¡± ¡°Oh yeah,¡± he said. ¡°Man in the Mirror. A classic.¡± ¡°Wait, I think I know one of your songs, actually,¡± Zach announced, drawing Jimmy¡¯s attention. Jimmy watched as he turned his head partially to the side, narrowed his eyes, and then licked the roof of his mouth as though attempting to recall something to mind. Finally, he said, ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure this is one of them. So, do you guys have a song that goes, like, uh¡­¡¯Let the bodies hit the floor. Let the bodies hit the floor. Let the bodies hit the¡ª¡± ¡°FLOOOOOOOR!¡± Jimmy shouted out, causing Kalana to flinch, Zephyr to blink rapidly, Sir Oren to frown, and Kolona and Olivir to jump up. Zach began laughing. ¡°No way! I know that song.¡± ¡°How?¡± Jimmy asked him. ¡°I heard it in the Ford Mustang.¡± ¡°Ford Mustang¡­you mean the car?¡± ¡°Yeah. On B2 of Yorna¡¯s. Hey, you know what? Great idea. Why don¡¯t we go this weekend. I¡¯ll run you through it. Do you drive? If so, maybe taking a spin around Earth will help you feel a little better. I mean, I know it''s not the nicest place anymore, but I loved those cool cars you guys had, and I bet it''ll cheer you up. So, you want to?¡± ¡°Hell yeah,¡± Jimmy said, trying to find something to be upbeat about. Anything was better than dwelling on the topic of what might or might not have happened to those he¡¯d left behind. ¡°Why wait for the weekend, though. You busy tonight?¡± Zach scratched his head. ¡°No, not really. Fylwen¡¯s not coming by until tomorrow¡ªshe was actually supposed to be here last week¡ªyou know what? Fuck it. Let¡¯s raid the entire Yorna. B1 to B50. I haven¡¯t adventured in two weeks. Let¡¯s just do it. Full Yorna raid. Tonight. Me and you. Every mob, every floor. Turn the place into dust.¡± Jimmy felt his mood begin to lift. A dungeon run was exactly what he needed to get his mind off recent events. ¡°Now you¡¯re talking my language, Zach. I¡¯m in. Let¡¯s take on the whole dungeon. Tena, you want in?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°I¡¯m coming too!¡± Kalana said. ¡°You can¡¯t leave me behind.¡± ¡°Oh. Yeah, of course.¡± Zephyr laughed. ¡°Very cute, but the four of you are not going to be able to take on the final boss. Yorna¡¯s a T5, level-55 dread type. You need fifty people for Yorna. Now, if you want to do a proper Yorna raid, you can wait a week, because that¡¯s on my rotation, and I have spots for each of you. But if you try to do it just you four, you¡¯re all going to die.¡± ¡°Wanna bet?¡± Jimmy asked, challenging him. ¡°Guarantee we can knock her down. I don¡¯t mean to sound arrogant, but I¡¯m better than all of you at this. Like, I was watching Donovan lead the raid back when I was in Whispery Woods, and I couldn¡¯t believe how many mistakes ya¡¯ll made. If that was me in charge? I would¡¯ve had that thing down in a quarter of the time with no deaths.¡± ¡°Bullshit,¡± Donovan growled. ¡°You¡¯re full of it.¡± ¡°You think so, huh? How many raids have you led? Be honest.¡± ¡°Probably close to a hundred.¡± ¡°All right, cool, cool.¡± Jimmy pointed to himself. ¡°I¡¯ve led thousands.¡± Donovan snorted. ¡°On your computer.¡± ¡°Whatever. I was one of the first players on my server to take down Deathwing: and that was before they buffed Shamans.¡± ¡°No clue what that means, but it still doesn¡¯t make up for battlefield experience. I don¡¯t care how much you can sit back and judge my leadership from a screen. Until you¡¯ve taken on something actually difficult¡ªand not some 20th floor trash¡ªyou¡¯ve got plenty of learning to do, kiddo.¡± Jimmy grinned. "You don''t think I can lead raids, huh?" "Not what I''m saying at all," Donovan replied, returning the grin. "Matter of fact, I bet you''ve got a shit ton of potential to be great. What I''m sayin'' to you is that there''s a big difference between watching one and feeling the fire on your face. I promise you that." ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Sir Oren said. ¡°You likely have experience and knowledge that is invaluable, but to truly become a great raid leader, you need experience of the sort you can¡¯t get behind a terminal. Real people die, and there¡¯s real pain. No matter how fast you¡¯ve leveled, you still haven¡¯t been truly tested. Also, while I¡¯m glad everyone here is relieving some tension, please let me remind you that the entire world is buckling under the oppression of a murderous tyrant who killed nearly¡ªor maybe more¡ªthan a million people, and no one here aside from me seems to want to do anything about it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because we¡¯re adventurers,¡± Donovan said. ¡°We all feel bad, but none of us want to get too involved. And don¡¯t forget, we¡¯ve got our own world-saving mission.¡± Zach raised his eyebrows. ¡°That¡¯s right. I need to get to Dragon Squire. I hate that I keep forgetting that. Tomorrow we¡¯re actually going to discuss more about that. Eilea says the only chance we have of saving Galterra is to get to Dragon Squire and begin working to unlock the gateway to Albion IV. Actually, Zeph, have you found anything there yet?¡± He lifted his arms and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve had my best explorers comb the Grand Library over and over. But there¡¯s nothing. Not even a mention of it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see if I can get more information out of Eilea when we talk.¡± ¡°Please do,¡± Sir Oren said. ¡°And try to rehearse your conversation with her if you can. There are many issues, and the five minutes needs to be used efficiently. As it is, I don¡¯t understand how you accomplished so little last week. Based on what you¡¯ve told me, it sounds like you had, at most, a minute¡¯s worth of productive dialogue.¡± Zach snickered. ¡°Well, that¡¯s because we spent a few minutes talking about life.¡± The expression on Sir Oren¡¯s face darkened. ¡°Please tell me you¡¯re joking with me, my man.¡± ¡°Nope. She was worried about me after what I went through, and she wanted to talk about that instead.¡± ¡°Gods, Zach. I don¡¯t mean to be selfish, but since you¡¯re the only one with a direct line to a God-like being, I¡¯d really hope you¡¯d use it in a more responsible way.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep focused tomorrow, I promise. Jimmy, come hang out with us. Your friend can come too.¡± Kalana smiled. ¡°We¡¯d love to have you stay with us awhile.¡± Jimmy thought it over. ¡°I don¡¯t know, man. I need to level up as fast as possible to get¡­¡± He let his words fall off, but Zach finished them for him. ¡°To get home?¡± he asked. ¡°Yeah,¡± he whispered. ¡°I know this isn¡¯t what you wanted to hear, but that¡¯s not going to work. You can¡¯t go home. Believe me, if I could send you there, I¡¯d take you myself. My mom died when I was really young, and I loved her so much, and every day I struggle with knowing I¡¯m never going to see her again, so I feel for you, I really do. But what¡¯s done is done. I¡¯ve had to learn that the hard way, too.¡± ¡°But I have to be sure,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°I figure if I hit the tower as soon as we get done here, I can¡ª¡± ¡°Actually, before you say anything else,¡± Zephyr cut in. ¡°Just how much time are you spending in the dungeons?¡± ¡°I dunno. Like eighteen hours a day?¡± ¡°How long are you sleeping?¡± ¡°A couple.¡± ¡°You need to slow it down. You¡¯re going to make a mistake and die. I don¡¯t care how gifted or knowledgeable you are. Please, Jimmy. Take a break. You¡¯re not meant to level from 1 to 45 in two weeks. It¡¯s unheard of.¡± Tena nudged him. ¡°We should go to Kalana¡¯s island,¡± she said to him. ¡°I¡¯m worried about you. And Zephyr¡¯s right. You can¡¯t live inside the dungeons all day.¡± ¡°But this is nothing new to me. Back home, when a new expansion would come out, I¡¯d no-life it. That¡¯s a term that means spending fifteen to twenty hours a day grinding. ¡° ¡°I¡¯ve done that,¡± Zach said, smiling as though reminiscing at something from his past. ¡°When me and Kal found the spawn in Whispery Woods, we stayed there all day and almost all night. Anyways, I want to hear more about the old world. It¡¯d be nice having you around to tell us all this cool shit.¡± Jimmy found himself in awe at how readily Zach was accepting all that he¡¯d said. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a little bit¡­taken aback? I mean, you just found out that your whole world is based on a video game.¡± ¡°Inspired by,¡± Donovan corrected. ¡°Same difference. I just mean that I¡¯d think you¡¯d all be a bit more upset by this.¡± ¡°Why would we be?¡± Kolona asked him. ¡°Most of civilization is built on previous civilization.¡± Olivir nodded. ¡°Like she said. This isn¡¯t abnormal to us. The past inspires the future. But more importantly, I do think you should take a break, Jimmy. You dying would be worse than a tragedy just for yourself¡ªbecause just now, in this moment, I¡¯ve finally figured out why you¡¯re here.¡± At this, every head, including Jimmy¡¯s turned to face Olivir. ¡°You did?¡± he asked, along with Zach, Kolona, and Zephyr. Olivir nodded. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s obvious now. Of course it is.¡± ¡°So what is it? What¡¯s my purpose?¡± ¡°To come with us to Albion IV. And to stop us from wiping.¡± Jimmy felt chills run down his spine. ¡°Can that really be it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s definitely the reason,¡± Olivir said. ¡°I might not look it, but I¡¯ve been alive for over two-hundred years. And I¡¯m telling you: I¡¯ve got a really good read on stuff. If you¡¯re here, and Eilea is the one who brought you, it¡¯s because she wanted you to make sure we survive the journey. You might even be meant to lead the raids when Donovan says you¡¯re ready. And since you¡¯re convinced you can get home by leveling, it¡¯s in your best interest to come along and try anyway, but I think you''d be better off turning towards learning to make a life for yourself here.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± he said, lowering his head and averting his gaze. ¡°Maybe if I become stronger and stronger, I can gain whatever power Eilea has and get back to my world.¡± ¡°This is your world,¡± Kalana said to him gently. ¡°I hope you can find meaning in it. I¡¯ll help you if I can. We all will.¡± She raised her finger. "But for now, no more dungeons until you sleep. You''re gonna come hang out with us. Okay?" Before Jimmy could respond, Sir Oren got up from the table. ¡°I wish I could stay and chat,¡± he said. ¡°And those really aren¡¯t idle words. I really wish I could stay and chat. But Zach, my man, I¡¯ve got a world on fire to deal with. If you can manage it without incurring the wrath of Adamus, please bring me back tomorrow with more information from Eilea. I need to know as much as I can before I figure out how to deal with all this. We¡¯ve only got three days before the execution.¡± As though somewhat surprised, Zach¡¯s mouth fell ajar, and then he asked, ¡°Are you planning on saving him?¡± ¡°Yes. Don¡¯t you want to? I know you two might have had a complicated relationship, but you can¡¯t tell me you¡¯re comfortable with the idea of him having his head chopped off. Especially not when it¡¯s being done for racial reasons. There¡¯s a reason he¡¯s the only guild-leader they¡¯re planning to execute. His Gnomish ancestry isn¡¯t exactly a well-guarded secret. If they get away with this, we¡¯re going to end up at war with the Gnomes, I can almost guarantee it. They won¡¯t be deterred by the nuclear weapons.¡± Amid everything else, Jimmy couldn¡¯t even begin to process all that, so he let it enter one ear and exit the other. ¡°By the way, what is this room? And who¡¯s Adamus?¡± Zach gave him another pat on the shoulder. ¡°Tomorrow, if you come back here with us, I''ll tell you everything that everyone else already knows. But I think this is enough for one day, right?¡± ¡°I guess,¡± he said. With the exhilaration of the conversation behind him, he calmed down somewhat, and it turned out to be a bad thing, because now, the sense of something dreadful returned to the back of his mind as he thought about his mom possibly crying her eyes out night after night wondering where he went. Even still, he chose to look on the bright side. If his mom was in heaven, she was going to see him become a legend: even if it was a few-thousand years later than she¡¯d hoped. Chapter 128: Trackers Chapter 128: Trackers ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it,¡± Kalana warned¡ªand it was obvious she meant it, too. She spoke with a sharp tone: one that strongly implied her words were not a mere suggestion. Even still, Jimmy was tempted to ignore them. After all, he was nineteen years old¡ªan adult¡ªand Kalana was only like, what, seventeen or so? She couldn¡¯t just order him around like that. Yet, that was exactly what she did. ¡°Jimmy, get back in here.¡± Like an insect drawn to light, Jimmy stared hungrily at the archway labeled F49->F50 that greeted his eyes as he opened the exit door to Angelica¡¯s, peeked his head outside, and then looked off down the hall and to his left. ¡°I¡¯ll only be an hour,¡± he promised. ¡°Just let me get another hour or two in, and then I¡¯ll¡ªwhoah!¡± It wasn¡¯t until he¡¯d nearly fallen over that Jimmy realized Kalana had reached out, grabbed his upper elbow, and yanked him back inside Angelica¡¯s and away from the exit door. Then she moved in front of him, made a swinging motion with her arm, and slammed it shut¡ªonly to immediately reopen it the exact moment it was closed; now, she shoved him outside once more so that, while still in the exact same dungeon, Jimmy found himself all the way back down on F17 instead of F49 where he¡¯d been. It must have been the floor her and Zach¡¯s current exit was set to. And now, having walked¡ªor rather, been pushed¡ªthrough it, Jimmy¡¯s exit would be set to it, too. ¡°Kalana, what the hell?¡± he snapped. ¡°That was so uncalled for.¡± ¡°Nah-uh! You were gonna go do more dungeon things, weren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I was only looking,¡± he replied innocently as she shut the door behind herself once Zach and Tena came through. Then she put her hands on her hips, and her posture stiffened. ¡°Yeah right! You were gonna try to solo the F50 boss even though we all agreed you¡¯d come back to Elendroth with me and Zach.¡± Rather than reply, Jimmy chose to stay silent since he wasn¡¯t good at bullshitting and Kalana was right: that was exactly what he¡¯d been planning on doing. Hoping for some kind of support, he looked over to Zach; in response, the black-robed, hooded kid gave him an empathetic shrug that, while definitely well-meaning, came across as something much darker and unintentionally sinister due to the face-concealing, eye-glowing effect of his cloak. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth,¡± he said, ¡°I kind of wanted to see if you could really do it. I mean, I definitely don¡¯t think I could take it solo. I was hoping to see how you¡¯d actually kill it all by yourself.¡± Kalana frowned at him. ¡°Don¡¯t enable him, Zach. You heard Zephyr! Jimmy¡¯s gonna die if he doesn¡¯t take a break.¡± To Jimmy, she said, ¡°You can¡¯t just spend eighteen hours a day in a dungeon for two whole weeks and be okay. It¡¯s only a matter of time before you make a serious mistake¡ªjust like Zephyr said. When¡¯s the last time you¡¯ve been outside and got some fresh air? When¡¯s the last time you¡¯ve even seen the sun?¡± ¡°You mean like that sun?¡± Jimmy asked, pointing to a window on the other side of the hallway, which revealed an endless, blue, and cloud-covered sky illuminated by a bright yellow ball that never seemed to rise or set. He suspected this gas giant was tidally locked into position with the star in its system, which meant one side of the planet would experience permanent day whereas the other side would be forever shrouded in complete, total darkness. ¡°Nope. I mean a real sun. Like the one on Galterra. Or anywhere that¡¯s not a dungeon.¡± Jimmy snickered. ¡°So that sun doesn¡¯t count as real?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Kalana said, nodding and tapping her foot down in perfect timing with her words. ¡°Seriously, how long has it been since you¡¯ve been outside, Jimmy?¡± Once again, Jimmy chose to remain silent. But this time, Tena went and outed him. ¡°Truthfully, Kalana? I don¡¯t think Jimmy¡¯s been anywhere besides the dungeons or Angelica¡¯s since the moment he entered his first dungeon portal.¡± Jimmy glared at her for exposing him, and she pouted in response to the look he sent her way. ¡°What?¡± she asked, nearly flinching along with her words. ¡°I¡¯m just telling the truth. I¡¯ve never seen you anywhere else.¡± ¡°Really, Tena? What about that time on Earth?¡± ¡°Oh. Oh yeah. Well, I guess that technically counts as you going outside for a few hours.¡± ¡°Barely,¡± Zach said. ¡°But either way, if you¡¯re going to spend every hour in the dungeons, at least pick a better one. This one¡¯s so boring. Everything looks the same from floor to floor.¡± ¡°True,¡± Jimmy said, ¡°it does. But that¡¯s what makes it so great for leveling.¡± Although he¡¯d spent most of his time in Tower of Eternity, Jimmy had learned from casual conversation in Angelica¡¯s that different dungeons could provide radically different experiences. Some dungeons got weird in ways that had to be seen to be understood, whereas other dungeons were chaotic and warped people all over the galaxy to different planets. Then there were some that were consistent for an unpredictable number of floors before unexpectedly switching things up. Naturally, there were even dungeons that did all of these things, like Yorna, as well as others that he either did not know of or had names he could not recall. But there was another type of dungeon, too, and Jimmy was thankful for it. Because amid what many claimed were countless wild, unpredictable dungeons, there also existed places like Tower of Eternity: stable, unchanging, straightforward, and run-of-the-mill. These dungeons were linear in progression from start to finish, self-contained to one particular structure or place, and provided little in the way of surprises outside of boss fights. It had been exactly what Jimmy needed to blast forward in the levels. So far, from F1 all the way to F49¡ªthe farthest Jimmy had gotten¡ªevery floor had contained anywhere between three-to-eight slightly narrowed hallways with a variable number of mobs to kill. Most floors had at least one or two dead-ends, a few had none, and a couple of times there had been three or more. But even if he picked the wrong direction and hit a dead-end, all that typically meant was fighting a few extra mobs, earning more xp, and if luck was on his side, maybe some additional loot, too. Visually, there was little difference between the floors. Each had several windows at the top of their brick walls, which offered a look out at the empty, blue, and cloudy atmosphere and served as the sole but sufficient source of lighting, giving the entire dungeon a slight blue glow. Overall, Tower of Eternity was best characterized as dim but not outright dark, and Jimmy had not had any issues taking in his surroundings¡ªnot that there was actually anything other than the mobs worth seeing here in the first place. In fact, save for a few abstract, irregularly placed paintings and the occasional dusty, wooden bench, there was nothing else here in the way of furniture or d¨¦cor. Really, the only thing that actually changed as he¡¯d climbed higher and higher had been the types¡ªand levels¡ªof the mobs he fought. But besides that? It¡¯d basically been the same thing over and over again, which meant making his way across the bland, gray-marble flooring from hall to hall until getting to the next set of stairs¡ªrinse and repeat. The only exception to this was every tenth floor, which consisted of a large, open, and square-shaped room where the ground was covered in ankle-high sand and a boss guarded the stairwell to the next floor up. Given all this, Jimmy did not disagree with Zach¡¯s take on things. It really was lacking in excitement when viewed from that perspective. But at least it was consistent and reliable. And while Jimmy had only gotten to the forty-ninth floor, he was reasonably certain that the pattern and consistency would hold all the way to the 100th based on little things he¡¯d picked up here or there from other adventurers whenever they¡¯d speak about TOE. None of them realize how great this place actually is, he thought. As the four of them began ambling their way down a quiet, mob-free hallway that led away from Angelica''s, their feet clicked against the paved flooring, which caused the sound of their footsteps to give off a dull echo. Abruptly, Zach paused, causing the rest of them to stop behind him. Something appeared to be bothering him. Turning his head to Jimmy, he asked, ¡°Do you really believe you can kill the boss of F50 solo?¡± ¡°Uh, well¡­I think so. I mean, I wouldn¡¯t know for sure until I pulled it, but I¡¯d be able to find out pretty quickly: fast enough so I could still run away if it was too much for me to handle.¡± ¡°Okay, come on,¡± he said with a disbelieving shake of his head. ¡°Are you bullshitting me?¡± Due to Zach¡¯s cloak, the menace Jimmy saw in his glowing eyes and shadowy face was at total odds with the playful tone in which he¡¯d asked the question. It was a hell of a visual effect and made everything he said or did seem highly intimidating. Jimmy was actually starting to find it easier to have a conversation with Zach by deliberately not looking at him whenever he spoke; it gave Jimmy a truer impression of the kid¡¯s intent. ¡°I¡¯m not lying to you, man.¡± Jimmy pointed to himself. ¡°I¡¯m a beast when it comes to this stuff.¡± ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯re saying you can solo a fiftieth-floor boss? Come on¡­¡± ¡°Like I said: I think I could do it, but I¡¯m not gonna say it¡¯s a hundred percent. Maybe ninety.¡± ¡°Sheesh,¡± Zach said. ¡°Your stats must be super high.¡± With that, he continued onwards, and Jimmy, Kalana, and Tena resumed their slow, relaxed, and casual walk down the dungeon hallway alongside him towards wherever it was the kid was taking them. Only ten steps later, however, and they all paused yet again. But this time it was because Jimmy halted mid-step as he felt compelled to explain himself. ¡°My stats aren¡¯t all that high I don¡¯t think. Like, I guess they¡¯re all right for my role and for my level. But Tena says that, with equipment included, the stats most relevant to the roles you wanna play should be twice your level at the absolute, bare minimum and probably a lot higher if you actually wanna be useful.¡± Jimmy could see Zach studying the staff he carried on his back. ¡°So I¡¯m guessing for you it¡¯s intelligence?¡± Jimmy nodded. ¡°Yeah. And my intelligence is pretty high and all, but it¡¯s not like insanely high. It¡¯s decent for a hybrid support healer. Here, I¡¯ll just show you. Party up.¡±
Name Jimmy Green
Level 45
Armor Bonus 20
Strength 18
Dexterity 60
Constitution 23
Intelligence 113
Speed 40
Luck 16
¡°Yeah, that seems okay,¡± Zach agreed. Then he made a dark chuckle. ¡°It¡¯s way better than what my stats were until I got a huge level up fighting Ziragoth¡¯s adds the day before the raid. But yeah, those stats aren¡¯t too bad. But I don¡¯t know how you¡¯re soloing bosses with that. You must have some crazy abilities.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the way they work together,¡± Jimmy explained. ¡°Basically, there¡¯s almost nothing I can¡¯t solo as long as four basic conditions are met. If all four are in place, I can beat anything solo no matter what it is. But if even one of the four things is missing, I run away if it¡¯s too dangerous.¡± Clearly having become intrigued, Zach inched a bit closer to Jimmy and asked, ¡°What are the four conditions? Now you kind of have to tell us. You can¡¯t just mention that much and stop.¡± ¡°I wanna know too,¡± Kalana said. Tena merely smiled. She already knew, as Jimmy had told her a few days ago. He saw no reason not to tell these two as well. And to be honest? He liked to talk shit and brag. It was one of his biggest flaws¡ªand he was definitely aware of it. Even still, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit energetic as Kalana and Zach stared at him as if eager to hear what he had to say. ¡°You really wanna know?¡± ¡°Yes, Gods damn it!¡± Zach shouted, sounding a touch annoyed. ¡°Just tell us!¡± Kalana twisted her lips at him, and a second after, he lowered his voice and added, ¡°Please.¡± Jimmy grinned. ¡°Okay, then. So, it¡¯s like this.¡± He inhaled, and for a moment, he held the breath. Then, as he released it, he held up his index finger. ¡°Condition one,¡± he began. ¡°The mob or boss needs to be susceptible to my slows.¡± He lifted his middle finger so that it joined his pointer. ¡°Two,¡± he continued, ¡°it¡¯s gotta also be susceptible to my poisons.¡± Next, he gestured at Zach and Kalana with three raised fingers. ¡°Three,¡± he said, ¡°there needs to be enough room for me to move around in.¡± Finally, he added a fourth finger so that all but his thumb were now raised. ¡°And lastly, it can¡¯t use magic or ranged attacks that are longer range than what I can cast or enough to get within distance of hitting me.¡± Zach and Kalana both said nothing for a moment, and both turned their heads to look at the other. Jimmy could tell that they were running his words over in their minds as if trying to visualize what he¡¯d told them. ¡°So umm, you can kill anything like that?¡± Kalana asked. He nodded. ¡°Yup. As long as those four things are true, I can solo it. So basically, I slow it so it can¡¯t get to me, poison it so it starts taking damage over time, and then kite it around the space as long as there¡¯s enough room for me to move around in.¡± ¡°Wait, time out,¡± Zach said, his voice filling with surprise. ¡°You¡¯re telling me you use nothing but poisons?¡± ¡°Mostly, yeah.¡± ¡°Okay, but¡­but for you to take down a boss like that by yourself, that would take you like¡­¡± ¡°Hours,¡± Jimmy said, finishing the thought for him and then adding in a self-deprecating laugh. ¡°Actually, it took me a little more than ten hours to solo the boss on F40, which I think is a fifty-person raid. But it¡¯s just a big knight with a sword and a shield. Probably would¡¯a killed me in one shot if it hit me, but thanks to my slows, it couldn¡¯t ever get to me. But hey, this is the best part: even though it might seem like that¡¯s a lot of time to spend on just one mob, you gotta realize that, for just that ten hours¡¯ worth of time and effort, I got an entire raid¡¯s worth of loot and gold all for myself that I didn¡¯t even have to roll for.¡± Jimmy wasn¡¯t sure if it was his imagination or a trick of the lighting, but for just a second, he thought the shadowy effect faded away from Zach¡¯s face, and he thought he saw the kid¡¯s eyes bulging wide with greed and envy. ¡°You got to keep all that loot for yourself?¡± he asked, his words now higher in pitch as though he couldn¡¯t believe what he was hearing. ¡°How much was there?¡± ¡°A lot.¡± Zach made something that sounded like a cross between a choke and a grunt. ¡°Okay, you need to show me your methods in person.¡± ¡°Uh, sure. No problem.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Zach asked, his giddy voice in such dire contrast with his cloaked, hooded form. Jimmy nodded at him. ¡°Yeah. I mean, I don¡¯t know if you can also do something similar on your own, but I don¡¯t mind showing you.¡± Zach flicked his head towards Kalana. ¡°Maybe we should turn around and go back up to F50 after all.¡± She did not appear to find his suggestion amusing, and the look on her face made that much clear, which was probably why Zach let the idea drop only a moment after raising it. Then, speaking to Jimmy, he said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you really fought a boss for ten hours straight.¡± ¡°It¡¯s intense,¡± he replied, ¡°but I can handle it as long as I pace myself. In fact, as long as I keep my cool, I know I¡¯ll come out on top every single time.¡± From the way he did another double take, Jimmy could tell Zach was surprised, impressed, and probably wanting to figure out a way of soloing dungeon bosses on his own as well. ¡°I just can¡¯t believe that you figured out how to do all that,¡± he said. ¡°So your method¡­it¡¯s really as simple as it sounds?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Zach sighed, and then a dubious look crossed his features. ¡°Not calling you a liar, but some of this still doesn¡¯t make any sense, though.¡± Jimmy tried not to take the skepticism personally. ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re saying your method is to slow it down, poison it, and then run around the room for like ten hours if that¡¯s how long it takes¡ªright?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Okay, cool¡­but what about E-debt? What about crowd control eventually not working anymore? Shouldn¡¯t your slows lose effectiveness after you¡¯ve used them a few times? And how are you even landing them on the bosses in the first place? They¡¯d be reduced or resisted altogether, no? And how¡¯re you not passing out?¡± Zach raised a bunch of pretty good questions, and Jimmy did his best to answer most of them. ¡°Okay, so, for the stamina stuff, I got that covered through an ability I¡¯m not about to reveal just yet. I¡¯ll probably tell you eventually, but I gotta keep at least some secrets, right? But for the other shit, it¡¯s all possible because of my passive.¡± ¡°Your passive?¡± ¡°Yeah. It lets me use my slows on things that would normally resist them. Uh¡­I guess I can show you that too, whatever.¡± As Jimmy called forward the ability he¡¯d learned at level 15¡ªthe one that had enabled him to accomplish what it seemed like few¡ªif any¡ªother adventurers were capable of doing, he realized he was enjoying Kalana and Zach¡¯s open-jawed reaction to it just a little bit too much. It actually made him feel guilty in a sense because, while yeah, there was nothing wrong with being a bit cocky, he knew he needed to take it all with a slice of humble pie or else he¡¯d let it get to his head and turn him into a jerk that no one would be able to stand being around. Still, it was nice that they could see the value in his ability.
Passive Ability (LEGENDARY UNIQUE) Scourge of Giants
Usage Cost: None
Cooldown: None
Range: N/A
Description: +50% debuff duration +20% poison damage Scourge of Giants grants the following three effects. 1:Whenever the user targets an enemy or a boss with crowd control, debuffs, or poisons from among the user¡¯s available spells, abilities, item abilities, and equipment abilities, if the target is not immune, the user will bypass any increased resistances due to stat differences; this is only with regards to whether or not the ability will succeed in landing and not with regard to duration-impacted resistance or damage. 2:Non-sentient targets cannot reduce the durations of negative or stat-altering abilities and effects beyond 75% of their maximum duration. 3:Crowd control abilities other than stuns, fears, roots, charms, and mesmerizes are no longer subject to diminishing returns (this effect of Scourge of Giants applies only to inner abilities and does not apply to item or equipment abilities)
¡°Fucking amazing,¡± Zach said, whistling appreciatively as he read it over. ¡°Well, I¡¯m convinced now.¡± Jimmy watched him read it over a second time and then a third. ¡°You really might be able to solo the boss on F50 after all. Okay, I stand corrected.¡± ¡°So, you believe me now.¡± ¡°Sure do,¡± he said with a nod. And with that, he turned around and again began strolling slowly down the hall towards wherever it was they were heading. ¡°Gods, that¡¯s a great passive,¡± he whispered. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything like that.¡± ¡°Really, really cool,¡± Kalana agreed, following after him. ¡°You¡¯re gonna end up being the most requested person for raids, I bet.¡± Tena also seemed to appreciate it, though rather than vocalize it, she instead smiled at him and wrapped both of her arms around his upper bicep as they walked together, following behind Kalana and Zach. Placing his arm around her waist, he realized he was starting to really catch feelings, and in all likelihood, he was already too far down the rabbit hole to turn back. This was despite the fact that he barely knew anything about her¡ªthrough no fault of her own, of course. No, that was on him. Though Jimmy was still in some denial that this world was real, and though he was not one-hundred-percent convinced that this wasn¡¯t all just some kind of elaborate simulation the government had cooked up, his views were shifting, and he was slowly starting to believe what he¡¯d been told. And so now, upon this realization, he had no choice but to acknowledge that he hadn¡¯t treated Tena as good as he should have or would have under ¡°normal¡± circumstances. Despite having essentially become her boyfriend in all but name, he had never inquired about her life, her past, her family, or even her hopes and dreams. He never once asked her about herself or her hobbies¡ªthings that he had willfully chosen not to talk about because he did not think her memories of this place or her life here could be real. But if she was real, and if this world was real, then that would have been pretty shit of him. I¡¯m gonna make it right, he thought. Mom raised me better than that. At any rate, that was something to be done in private later on. For now, having demonstrably satisfied Zach and Kalana¡¯s curiosity, the four of them resumed their slow trek down the hallway in F17 of Tower of Eternity, and a period of silence once more came upon their little group, which meant that the only sound to be heard was, for the moment, the echoing tap of their feet against the paved marble flooring. As they continued onwards, they headed all the way through to the end of the hall, at which point the path split to the left and the right. Zach chose to go right, and as he did so, Tena immediately let go of Jimmy¡¯s arm so that she could remove her staff. Jimmy did the same. ¡°This next hall¡¯s got enemies in it,¡± he explained, readying his weapon. ¡°They¡¯re not too hard but they can swarm you.¡± ¡°We know,¡± Zach said, giving him a reassuring thumbs-up. He and Kalana did not draw their own weapons. ¡°Don¡¯t worry: we aren¡¯t going to go anywhere near their aggro range.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not?¡± Jimmy asked, becoming confused. He extended his arm as they walked, pointing his staff straight ahead of him to indicate a spot about three quarters down the fairly long hallway where a large grouping of bug-like creatures with incredibly sharp-looking pincers awaited them. ¡°They¡¯re literally right there, Zach. You can see them.¡± ¡°Just trust me,¡± he said. Then, at once, he stopped short, causing Jimmy, Tena, and Kalana to halt behind him. Now, Jimmy watched as Zach stood up straighter, turned his body to his left so that he faced the wall, and while staring at it, he began rubbing his chin. ¡°I always forget. Is it nine or ten here, Kal?¡± ¡°Ten,¡± she answered somewhat angrily. Jimmy had no idea why; in fact, he had absolutely no idea what she was referring to or what Zach had even asked her about. Yet, for whatever reason, it seemed to have disturbed her greatly. ¡°Don¡¯t even joke around about that, baby.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not joking.¡± She glared at him. ¡°If you¡¯re being serious, then umm, you¡¯re never allowed to come here alone.¡± He laughed. ¡°Okay, fine, I¡¯m just kidding.¡± ¡°Now I dunno for sure!¡± ¡°Kal, I was kidding, I swear. I¡¯m not braindead.¡± What are they even arguing about? She eyed him with skepticism plain on her face. ¡°You¡¯re a jerk sometimes.¡± ¡°It was a bad joke. I¡¯m sorry if I upset you.¡± She stared daggers at him for a few moments before eventually her eyes softened. ¡°Okay, fine,¡± she said with a sigh. Then, at a lower volume, she whispered, ¡°I just love you so much, and you joking about forgetting something so important makes me scared.¡± He eyed her apologetically for a moment, and the look he gave her seemed sincere, at least so far as Jimmy could tell. Then, with a level of seriousness that actually seemed a bit off-putting, he observed as Zach extended his index finger upwards and pointed it at the window near the top of the brick wall; in a very careful, slow, and deliberate manner, he began walking sideways while counting aloud. ¡°One,¡± he said at the first window. ¡°Two,¡± he called out at the very next window to come after it. They¡¯re counting windows? Given the simplicity involved in counting to ten¡ªsomething most people learn before they turn ten¡ªJimmy was both fascinated and alarmed at just how cautiously Zach was counting off the windows as he continued to step side-to-side. Kalana was doing it too, and both were acting like the mere act of counting was more complex or difficult than it actually was. With the level of concentration expected of a university student during finals week, the two of them methodically and meticulously counted one window after the next. It was beyond strange. And not only didn¡¯t Jimmy understand why they were doing it in the first place, but he was bemused at how they did so in a way that was so steady and careful it bordered on surgical. ¡°Seven,¡± both Kalana and Zach counted aloud. ¡°Eight. Nine. Ten.¡± They paused in front of the tenth window from the start of the hall, and then, in a way that came across as nervous, they faced one another and exchanged a very serious look that made Jimmy feel a pinch of nerves in his own belly. ¡°There¡¯s no chance we somehow fucked that up, right, Kal?¡± he asked her. Kalana gave a firm shake of her head. ¡°Nah-uh. Let¡¯s not end up getting paranoid and counting to ten over and over like we did last week. That¡¯s the tenth window. We know how to count!¡± The two nodded at one another. But then, a few seconds later, Kalana stirred nervously. ¡°But¡­maybe we should count it again just to make sure.¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Nah, we got it. We¡¯re not morons.¡± Jimmy raised his fist to his mouth and coughed into it, drawing their attention. ¡°You guys mind telling me and Tena what¡¯s¡­what this is?¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s our way out.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Rather than reply, Zach bent his knees and leapt upwards nearly ten feet into the air, landing cleanly down an instant later on top of the window¡¯s ledge. Then Jimmy flinched at the sound of a loud crack: it was a sound that registered to his ears as the distinct, unmistakable noise associated with broken glass. But why? Confused, startled, and hoping his eyes were lying to him, he watched on in disbelief as Zach, for a reason he could not possibly understand, launched his fist forward and slammed it right through the window, shattering it in its entirety. Immediately, a shrieking, howling storm drowned out all other sound as what felt like a veritable hurricane blasted into the dungeon, blanketing all of them with what was thankfully¡ªand shockingly¡ªbreathable oxygen. It was also freezing cold, too. Jimmy immediately began shivering. The hallway plummeted from room temperature to something well below zero in a matter of seconds, and he had to wrap his arms around himself just to prevent his robes from flying off. ¡°Wh-wh-what the h-h-h-hell are you doing, m-man?¡± he shouted, folding his arms and shivering. Had Zach lost his damn mind? Why was he standing so close to the window? What if he fell out? Goddamn, it was so cold! The temperature in the hall had now become so frigid that, had Jimmy still been an ordinary guy from New York, he was positive this level of chill would be fatal and he would be entering into a state of hypothermic shock. ¡°It¡¯s c-c-cold, I know,¡± Zach said, his own teeth chattering and his equipment flapping around him. His hood came undone, casting away the menacing shadow over his face and eerily glowing eyes. ¡°So let¡¯s be quick, okay? Follow me.¡± ¡°Follow you?¡± both he and Tena shouted out. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯ll be fine. Hurry!¡± ¡°Zach,¡± Jimmy called out, ¡°where exactly are you asking us to¡ª¡± Without bothering to even let him finish forming his question, Zach took one big step forward¡ªand then walked out into the air itself, falling immediately out of sight and vanishing from view. Jimmy was so shocked that he actually squawked. Zachys Calador just¡­he just walked out of a window and fell into a gas giant! The very idea of it evoked a sense of horror so great it was immeasurable. Kalana, having to yell to be heard over the absurdly powerful gusts of vicious, freezing air, said, ¡°It¡¯s a secret passage! Trust us! We would never hurt you!¡± Stunned, he watched as she too bent her knees then launched herself forward and upwards, clearing the window and disappearing outside of it a moment later. ¡°Are they crazy?¡± he shouted at Tena. ¡°They just jumped into a¡­Tena, no! Not you too. Stop. I said stop!¡± He pointed at her. ¡°Girl, you better get your ass back inside this¡ªwait!¡± Jimmy watched helplessly as Tena went after the two of them, jumping up and out of the window. Now, all alone, he remained where he was, shivering, confused, and wondering what in God¡¯s name these maniacs were thinking. His rational brain fought a battle against itself, holding an internal debate over what was possible and whether or not the girl he was into was currently falling to her death through a gas giant or was somehow, inexplicably, traveling through a secret passage. Falling through a gas giant has to be one of the scariest deaths for people like us who won¡¯t die instantly due to the pressure, he thought, becoming queasy. But they wouldn¡¯t have jumped if they weren¡¯t sure they¡¯d be okay. Right? Jimmy took a deep breath, which was hard to do given how badly he was now shivering. ¡°Aww, hell. I¡¯m really doing this? Am I seriously about to¡­?¡± Shaking his head at the absurdity of it all, Jimmy decided the worst thing that could happen to him would be a prolonged period of extreme terror and pain followed soon after by the discovery of whether or not this really was a simulation. And the best case? Well, that remained to be seen. In either event, he¡¯d find out momentarily, wouldn¡¯t he? This is nuts. What am I doing? Muttering a swear word so awful his momma would have whooped his ass if she heard him say it aloud, he bent his knees, shoved aside his restraint, and then hopped straight up into the air. Even with most of his points into intelligence, he still had way more than enough strength and speed to clear a ten-foot jump. He could probably jump higher than fifty if he really tried. Getting out was the easy part, though. It was what would happen afterwards that he was worried about. Filled with uncertainty, he flung himself up and out of the window, and then, the moment he cleared it and realized he was now outside of the dungeon, Jimmy was gripped by a fear so terrible he could not even bring himself to scream as gravity pulled him down¡ªand fast. Like a rock, he began dropping down through a blue, cloudy sky that had no bottom, providing him with an instant sense of regret. As he picked up speed, he hollered loudly, cursing himself for actually being stupid enough to go through with this. How the fuck did he actually let the two of them talk him into jumping into the atmosphere of a gas giant? What was he thinking? Oh, shit, this was terrifying! What had he done? He picked up more and more speed. He sank through one cloud, then two, and then he tore through a third as gravity pulled him deeper and deeper. Yet no matter how fast he fell, there was nothing below him but more sky: more emptiness. He was so scared he couldn¡¯t even feel the cold, which had numbed parts of his skin. With each passing moment, his brain was screaming at him that, right now, in this moment, he was literally falling through a gas giant: an actual gas giant. If he had been an ordinary person, he would have been dead instantly within a second of jumping. And as things were, he could feel the pressure beginning to squeeze his body. It was even starting to become painful too as he continued to plummet deeper and deeper. His ears popped, his heart thudded in his chest, and the wind beat against him with such intensity it soon became impossible to breathe. Then the sights below him began to change, and as they did, it only intensified his sense of terror. The atmosphere began to darken, and what looked like the single-worst electrical storm he¡¯d ever seen was rapidly approaching. This was the end, surely. And it was real. This was real! He was really doing this. He wasn¡¯t going to wake up in a Matrix-like pod. He was going to die for real. This was something actually happening in the real world, wasn¡¯t it? The thought caused him to explode with fear. But then, there was another change: one that was even more significant. Out of nowhere, something peculiar happened as Jimmy continued to plummet. Just as he was about to fall into the beginning of this gigantic, planet-spanning lighting storm, Jimmy was instead blanketed by an intense white light so bright that it completely blinded him to everything that was around him. Everything faded. He couldn¡¯t even see his own hands in front of his face. There was nothing but light. Yet it lasted for only a fraction of a second. Almost as soon as it had appeared, the light retreated, and what replaced it was a total darkness black enough to rival the brightness of the light. And it was upon this darkness that Jimmy felt the sensation of something solid bumping into his feet¡ªor maybe the other way around. ¡°Guh!¡± he cried out as he slammed down onto something hard enough to bring him into a crouch. Submerged in darkness, he became so confused that he was momentarily paralyzed. But this paralysis vanished as he felt someone or something grab hold of him. He yelped, backing away. ¡°Jimmy, it¡¯s okay,¡± a voice¡ªTena¡¯s voice¡ªsaid to him. ¡°We¡¯re fine.¡± His mouth opened, his eyes struggled to adjust to this darker environment, and slowly, he realized it was not quite as dark as he thought. Breathing heavily, he panted for a few moments as things came back into focus, and now he realized he could just begin to make out the faces of Tena, Kalana, and a chuckling Zach, who received a slap on his shoulder from Kalana. ¡°Stop being mean. You were screaming so loud your first time, too.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Zach said, still laughing. ¡°I thought we were done for.¡± Swallowing nervously, Jimmy asked, ¡°Am I really okay?¡± ¡°You are,¡± Kalana said gently. He exhaled, then placed his hand on his chest. His heart was still drumming away furiously. ¡°Never doing that shit again. Never.¡± He looked at Zach. ¡°Where exactly are we, anyway?¡± Zach pointed over his shoulder. ¡°We¡¯re in a secret passage. As far as I know, they¡¯re all like this: meaning dark tunnels that connect dungeons to the outside world. We think¡ªwe meaning me and Kal¡ªthat these tunnels exist, like, between different points in spacetime, connecting long distances together in a way that our minds conceive as seamless tunnels but are actually 4th dimensional constructs beyond our comprehension.¡± ¡°Wow. Did you come up with this theory?¡± Jimmy asked, his body still shaking from both shock and what was probably the release of endorphins. ¡°Yeah,¡± Zach said. Kalana again slapped him on the shoulder. ¡°Stop taking credit for what Alex taught you, Zach. You dork.¡± ¡°You never let me have any fun.¡± Giving Tena a brief hug, Jimmy calmed himself down, rotated his shoulder muscles, and then nodded. ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± he said. ¡°You sure you¡¯re okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m good, Zach,¡± he confirmed. ¡°Lead the way.¡± And so, he did. Jimmy, walking side by side with Tena, followed behind Zach and Kalana as they made their way through this very dark tunnel that they claimed was a bridge through space or something. At this point, he¡¯d believe anything. That was why he wasn¡¯t surprised when the two of them simply walked right through a wall as though it did not exist at all. After what he¡¯d just been through, it failed to elicit even so much as a raised eyebrow from Jimmy. He simply willed himself to disregard its existence, and while holding hands with Tena, the two of them walked right through it as well, neither of them hesitating. A moment later, they emerged in a much brighter location that looked a bit like a school library. There were rows upon rows of bookshelves that stored any number of books, most of which were made of paper and many that seemed incredibly old. The place was empty except for an elderly man sitting in the middle of a circularly shaped receptions desk. The man, who looked like he was at least ninety years old, was reading a thick tome and had been in the middle of turning the page when the four of them entered wherever this was. Upon noticing them enter, he paused, lifted his head, and glanced at them disinterestedly for less than a half a second, and then he once again turned his attention to his book. ¡°Have fun today, Zach and Kalana?¡± he asked with a lazy drawl as Zach led the three of them through this strange library. The man, who was wearing a red suit with a matching tie and a thick pair of reading glasses, did not lift his head to glance at them a single additional time as they walked right by him. ¡°You could say that,¡± Zach replied. And that was the extent of their interaction. Who is that guy? Pushing open a set of wooden double doors, Zach led them through the large library room into another library ¡°room¡± that was about fifteen times larger and looked like it¡¯d been made of gold. His mouth dropping open, Jimmy drank in the sights of it all. There were grand staircases all around, and the place was four stories tall. There were more books here than he¡¯d ever seen, and unlike in the previous room¡ªwhich he now realized was not available to the general public¡ªthis place was crowded. Jimmy spotted everyone from scholars to children doing research. Many of the books were holographic in nature, though a great many were also paper. ¡°What is this place?¡± Jimmy asked, amazed. There were people both above and below him. Each level ran around the outer perimeter of the library, and a safety railing along the edges prevented people from falling off. ¡°One of the grand libraries,¡± Tena answered. ¡°Every city in the entire world has one.¡± ¡°No shit¡­¡± Jimmy swallowed. ¡°Wait, what city are we in?¡± This time, it was Zach who answered. ¡°Shores of Wrath,¡± he said. ¡°Ah, right. Of course. Shores of Wrath.¡± The name, of course, meant absolutely nothing to Jimmy. Literally nothing at all. Not a thing. Zach might as well have said they were in ¡°Zappity Zoopityville¡± for all the difference it would have made. As far as Galterran geography was concerned, Jimmy¡¯s knowledge was limited to a few regions in North Bastia and that was about it. He still had a lot to learn about this planet. To be fair, he did spend a few minutes a day studying and researching at Angelica¡¯s, but for the most part, he just wanted to grind xp and farm loot. Maybe I should be coming here to study, he thought jokingly, marveling at the magnitude of this place. Finally beginning to calm himself from the earlier excitement, he walked with the others down a large, wide, and golden-colored spiral staircase that ran from the third floor¡ªwhere they¡¯d found themselves¡ªall the way down to the first. Jimmy almost bumped into several people on his way down, as he was stumbling about a bit clumsily, still trying to fully regain his footing from that fall through the gas giant. Despite being a library, it was kind of noisy in this place. Everywhere he looked, Jimmy could see grown men and women wearing aristocratic-looking garments engaged in debates with one another. It was as though they¡¯d shown up here specifically with the intention of arguing. ¡°No, you¡¯re absolutely wrong about this,¡± one such man said to his peer, the two seated across from one another at a table in a caf¨¦ area off to Jimmy¡¯s left. Each sipped coffee out of a plastic cup and had a pile of books occupying most of the free space on the table with just a small area in the middle providing them room to set down their beverages. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°The Guild of Gentlemen did in fact have justification to launch based strictly on classical notions of self-defense as laid out in article 4.2 of the¡­¡± As Zach began walking a bit more quickly, Jimmy had to increase his own pace to keep up, and thus the men went out of earshot before he could fully understand what they were arguing about, though he doubted it would have made sense to him anyway. Together with Zach, Kalana, and Tena, they moved their way as a group over to one of six entryways into this tremendous library. Zach, grabbing the handles of one of the doors, pulled it open and then stepped outside. Jimmy followed¡ªand immediately, he was hit by a disgustingly, atrociously hot blast of heat that felt every bit as hot as the gas giant had felt cold. Only, he knew that couldn¡¯t be the case, or all the level-1 people around here would be dead. Even still, it sure felt that way. ¡°Damn,¡± he moaned, raising his forearm to shield his eyes from the sheer intensity of the fierce sun. It was still very early in the day, likely a bit past noon, and it was already unbearable. ¡°I need to get back to the dungeons,¡± he muttered. ¡°I can¡¯t take this heat, guys.¡± Zach gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder. ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it.¡± ¡°First time in the sun in a bit, huh?¡± Kalana asked him. ¡°Yeah, kinda.¡± Tena chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t be upset, Jimmy. We¡¯re in Shores of Wrath. It¡¯s one of my favorite cities! You can buy anything here.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Kalana agreed. Her voice became cheerful. ¡°We should do a little shopping, you guys¡ªyou know, since we¡¯re already here anyway.¡± Zach groaned as though he found the idea torturous, but ultimately, he said nothing in reply, which was probably for the best. Curious to get a better look around him, Jimmy attempted to lower his arm¡ªonly to raise it right back up to his face. ¡°I can¡¯t even see it yet.¡± Pausing for a moment with Zach outside of the grand library¡¯s entrance, it took Jimmy almost half a minute for his eyes to adjust to the bright sunshine, and when they did, he found himself agreeing right away with Kalana and Tena. This was indeed an interesting sight, this ¡°Shores of Wrath.¡± It was a bright, hot, but flavorful city. Rather than any tall buildings or skyscrapers, there were colorful structures all around for miles with interesting designs that seemed to favor domes, arches, and spires. Many buildings had artwork around them consisting of layered textures that took the form of various geometric shapes and patterns. Far into the distance, Jimmy could see that, wherever this was, the terrain south of the city was likely desert in nature, and it gave everything in general a sand-swept appearance, though with a bit of shine mixed in as well. Most notably, Jimmy could not help but find his attention drawn to the huge number of street merchants selling every conceivable matter of food or trinket from where they sat or stood under tent-like stores, many with very colorful welcome mats out front. Some streets were lined back-to-back with various merchants. There were markets absolutely everywhere, broken apart by stunning, blue-and-gold water fountains, some having their own surrounding decorations in the form of bronze animal statues or human-like figures carved out of stone. There were also no cars¡ªor DEHVs¡ªor whatever here. There were horse-drawn wagons, wheeled carts, and other far less sophisticated means of travel. There were even a fair number of people riding on camels. All of this added to the overall wonderous aesthetic, and Jimmy¡¯s first impression of this place was very positive. Ahead of him, Jimmy saw an entire street of vendors selling fancy carpets and other types of cloth, many of which were draped over a clothesline that drew the eye and put them on display. The level of buzz and activity was something he found heartening, and he smiled as he saw Kalana take Tena¡¯s hand so that the two of them could run off and browse a nearby shop where a sweating man in loose-fitting attire immediately began trying to sell them his garments. ¡°That one¡¯s so pretty,¡± he heard Kalana say. ¡°You would look amazing in it, Tena.¡± ¡°Yes, she would,¡± the merchant agreed. ¡°And I have a great price for that. I give you the best deal I¡¯ve ever given, yes? Only twenty gold.¡± Taking a seat with Zach on a bench in a park area where children were playing on swings, Jimmy was glad to finally be able to rest his feet for a moment. Though he was baking under the sun, he found it all a bit more tolerable due to this colorful, lively city. ¡°Summer here is hot as hell, man,¡± he said, missing his room in Angelica¡¯s. Waving his palm, he attempted to fan his face, though it likely only made him feel even hotter. Zach gave him an amused look. ¡°Believe it or not, it¡¯s actually like this all year long. We¡¯re in South Bastia right now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s the one below North Bastia?¡± The two shared a laugh. Then Jimmy said, ¡°Well, summer or not, I can¡¯t take this much heat.¡± Zach nodded. ¡°It¡¯s definitely way too hot, but don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll probably spend the day in the pool.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Jimmy asked him. ¡°About¡­the pool?¡± Lowering his voice despite Kalana and Tena being well out of earshot, Jimmy decided to bring up a conversation from earlier. ¡°So, about that plan we had. You know¡­to raid Yorna¡¯s tonight?¡± Zach sighed then gave him an apologetic look. ¡°Can¡¯t do it.¡± Jimmy frowned. ¡°Why not? I thought you were totally up for it.¡± ¡°Oh, I am. And if it was up to me, we¡¯d be there right now. But uh, Kalana is going to freak out if we even suggest going to Yorna tonight. Especially since we¡¯ve all been invited to join Zephyr on his raid there next week. Kal¡¯s going to insist we wait.¡± ¡°She doesn¡¯t think we can do it ourselves?¡± Jimmy asked. Zach twisted his lips and said nothing for a few seconds. Then he looked at Jimmy. ¡°You know, I don¡¯t even think it¡¯s just that. It¡¯s probably part of it, but I think she just really likes social activities.¡± He looked into the distance across from them, where Kalana and Tena were excitedly browsing different outfits. ¡°She never used to be like that, too,¡± he continued. ¡°Before she started leveling up, she was shy and only talked to me. Now she loves being around people and seeing the world. I think it was something always in her that uh, you know, she was trying to keep from getting out.¡± ¡°So why can¡¯t we just do both?¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I guess if you really want then we can try our luck, but you¡¯re only going to end up getting chewed out by Tena. We¡¯ll both be in trouble.¡± Jimmy paused a moment before replying, and when he did, he spoke even more quietly despite how unnecessary it was. ¡°What if¡­we sneak out?¡± ¡°First thing I thought of,¡± Zach said. ¡°Trust me, they¡¯ll know.¡± He spoke in a way that made it sound as if he had no doubt whatsoever. ¡°Believe me, Jimmy: I¡¯d be the first person to suggest that if I thought we could get away with it. But somehow, I just know the girls will find out, and then Kalana will be mad at me for days. We¡¯ll get caught.¡± ¡°Yeah, probably.¡± Now, Jimmy also sighed. He began to sweat, too, and the front of his fancy boss-drop robes became damp. ¡°It¡¯s just all so weird,¡± he said quietly. Zach turned to look at him. ¡°Hm? What is?¡± Jimmy extended his arms. ¡°This,¡± he said. ¡°Being here. This being real. It¡¯s just¡­it just still doesn¡¯t feel that way, I guess.¡± ¡°This doesn¡¯t?¡± Zach asked, sounding perplexed. ¡°But the dungeons do?¡± ¡°I know that sounds backwards as shit, but it¡¯s because the dungeons are so different from what I consider normal I lose my sense of reality in them. But this¡­this is just normal, everyday living. It¡¯s not even that different from home. That¡¯s what makes it hard to believe it¡¯s real. It¡¯s what¡¯s making it start to really sink in that this isn¡¯t just some mission in a videogame. Like, take that woman over there buying that flower hat.¡± He pointed. ¡°She¡¯s an actual person who was really born and is really living her life. The fact she lives in a world with dragons and magic doesn¡¯t even matter to her. She probably doesn¡¯t even think about it. All she¡¯s thinking about right now is buying that hat. That¡¯s what¡¯s got me all tripped up.¡± ¡°You probably have to give it time before it starts to feel normal,¡± Zach said, speaking a bit more softly. ¡°And¡­you should probably talk to Jascaila later. I¡¯m not going to, like, force you to do that or whatever, but she¡¯s a great therapist, and she¡¯s been really helping me out a ton. I thought it was lame as fuck at first, but it¡¯s working for me.¡± ¡°Maybe I will,¡± he said, and though he spoke the words in a way that was non-committal, the idea actually grew on Jimmy rather fast. ¡°I¡¯ve got a lot on my mind.¡± He knew he couldn¡¯t specify much more than that. One of the ¡°rules¡± they¡¯d all made very clear to him before leaving Angelica¡¯s was that he was, under no circumstance, to mention the names ¡°Adamus¡± or ¡°Eilea¡± until they were back in that room tomorrow, but it was ¡°Eilea¡± in particular they didn¡¯t want him talking about. Aside from that, the one and only piece of information they¡¯d given him was that the room could not be spied on or something, and it was only safe to talk about her in there. Thus, despite how many burning questions he had, Jimmy knew it would have to wait. For the next fifteen minutes, Jimmy made idle conversation with Zach, the two of them engaging in some light banter and even some good-natured trash talking until the girls finally came back holding shopping bags and ice cream cones. Thankfully, they¡¯d even bought some for Zach and Jimmy. Getting off the bench, Jimmy looked around. Not far from them was a publicly accessible table in a separate, adjacent park, where each table thankfully resided under shade. Together, the four of them picked a square-shaped one that had a nice large and green umbrella, and then upon sitting down, they ate. Having reached the point where he¡¯d begun sweating profusely, the cold treat was refreshing, and Jimmy was grateful for it. ¡°Thank God you guys got ice cream here,¡± he said. ¡°I guess I could¡¯ve ended up somewhere much worse.¡± Zach nodded as if in agreement. ¡°I¡¯m still surprised you guys had so much of the stuff that we do. I didn¡¯t think people would¡¯ve had things like phones all the way back in the 2000s.¡± Jimmy released a brief chuckle. ¡°I¡¯m actually surprised ya¡¯ll don¡¯t have more. The fuck were you all doing for the last five-thousand years? I mean, don¡¯t get me wrong¡ªthe DEHVs are cool and all¡ªbut like, where are all the robots and giant mechs?¡± ¡°Mechs?¡± Tena asked. ¡°Yeah, you don¡¯t know what those are?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± Kalana said. Jimmy, becoming enthusiastic, explained to them the concept of the mech: a giant robot with massive guns that could stomp around the battlefield and flatten trees under its metallic feet. Zach seemed to find the idea awesome, but Kalana and Tena were put off by it. ¡°You guys had those?¡± Zach asked. Jimmy shook his head. ¡°Nah, it was just part of fiction. Like leveling up and experience points and all that. That¡¯s why I was hoping, you know¡­since all that other stuff became real, maybe they made Mechs real, too. Actually, that reminds me. Something about all this doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± Jimmy met Kalana¡¯s eyes. ¡°How¡¯s it possible that you exist?¡± ¡°Me?¡± Kalana asked, tilting her head somewhat and pointing to herself. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Umm, I don¡¯t even understand the question.¡± ¡°You¡¯re an Elf, right?¡± Jimmy asked her. ¡°Duh!¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s my point.¡± ¡°What is?¡± ¡°You¡¯re an Elf. How do you even, like, exist? Elves ain¡¯t real.¡± Kalana¡¯s expression darkened, and Jimmy realized he might¡¯ve been incredibly insensitive just now without even meaning to do so. ¡°Of course we are,¡± Kalana said. ¡°We predate humans. Elves were the first race created in Elvadin.¡± ¡°But¡­that¡¯s impossible,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°How so?¡± she asked, sounding defensive. Jimmy wasn¡¯t sure if he should continue this conversation, but Kalana was now giving him a demanding look. Wetting his lips, he said, ¡°It¡¯s just that all the ¡®races¡¯ on Galterra, meaning like the Dwarves and Elves and whatnot¡ªthose were all part of the games and fantasy stories I was telling you guys about.¡± Kalana¡¯s reaction to his words was not the one he expected. A look of a relief crossed her features, and she nodded and smiled. ¡°See?¡± she asked excitedly. ¡°That proves that we predate you. You heard all the stories about us. It was obviously based on the real thing.¡± ¡°Then how come nobody has ever seen an Elf before¡ªin my time, I mean?¡± Zach spoke before she could reply. ¡°I was never sure the Elves were real either, and I was living across from one for three years. Just like you guys on Earth, we also heard of them mostly in legends and stuff. It sounds like the same thing must¡¯ve happened in your time. They were probably driven underground or something.¡± ¡°Mhm,¡± Kalana said. "See?" Jimmy thought to challenge their points, but he stopped when he got the sense that this was a topic that, even if he was right¡ªand let¡¯s face it, he definitely was¡ªit would probably be so devastating to Kalana that it wouldn¡¯t even be worth making her realize it. And so, rather than absolutely crush her faith and sense of identity, he decided not to give voice to what he¡¯d been about to say next. Because his best guess? Like, if he had to put money on it? He¡¯d go with Kalana, the Elves, and all these fantasy races being, like, genetically modified humans or something. It was the only thing made sense. It was what anyone would think, no? Like, they obviously didn¡¯t just go out and find an Elf planet, or a Dwarf planet, or whatever else that just ¡°coincidentally¡± happened to mimic popular culture. Strangely, the more Jimmy thought on it, the more he found himself realizing it didn¡¯t matter. If Angelica was right, and this really was the world, and the Earth he knew was long gone¡ªand had been for thousands of years¡ªthen what did it even mean to be real anymore? Because in that case, all this was real. Kalana was as real as real got. He could see her. She was sitting right across from him: the spitting image of an Elvish girl. No one could look at her and say she didn¡¯t exist. Did it really matter why she existed? No, he realized. If he was going to be forced to live in this world, he might as well accept it for what it was. This was his reality now. And here, what was ¡°fictional¡± was not leveling or experience points. No, in this world, the fake world was the one in which everyone had no levels and people would line up around a block at 3AM to buy a new iPhone that was only two-percent better than the one that came out a year earlier. ¡°This is real,¡± he whispered to himself, reinforcing his new reality. Tena placed her hand over his. ¡°It is,¡± she said. Jimmy met her eyes as he was reminded of the way he¡¯d treated her. ¡°I hope we can talk later, Tena.¡± ¡°About?¡± she asked, becoming nervous. ¡°Nothing bad,¡± he said quickly, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. ¡°It¡¯s actually about how I¡¯ve been treating you lately.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jimmy felt genuine shame, and it became a struggle for him not to avert his gaze. ¡°I didn¡¯t believe any of this was real,¡± he said. ¡°That was why I¡­even feeling about you the way I do, I never showed interest in you or your life. I like you so much, but I know nothing about you. But you know everything about me, and you show so much interest in who I am, but I never did that for you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay,¡± she whispered in reply. She squeezed his hand. ¡°I knew you were struggling with a lot of things. That¡¯s why I never¡­I never brought it up. But I am real, Jimmy. And I¡­I do care about you so much. And I hope you feel the same about me.¡± ¡°I do,¡± he said immediately. Jimmy hadn¡¯t been certain what her reaction to all this would be, and so bringing this up made him nervous. Especially since he was doing it in front of Zach and Kalana, which made it a little embarrassing. But it was also funny in a way, because he could clearly see how hard Kalana was trying to pretend she wasn¡¯t eavesdropping even as she was grinning ear to ear and leaning in closer as if to hear their conversation better. Zach, on the other hand, was gazing listlessly off into the distance and genuinely looked like he didn¡¯t care. Right now, the kid was sitting back in his chair with his left foot up and on top of the table¡ªdespite Kalana continuously badgering him about how it was rude¡ªand he looked like he could fall asleep at any moment. In fact, he even did start to doze off. His head lowered, his breathing slowed, and he yawned. But then, for no conceivable reason whatsoever, for a purpose Jimmy could not understand, he changed in an instant. And it happened the moment after a toy of some kind¡ªone that looked like some kind of Frisbee¡ªlanded on their table. Zach, who seemed poised to drift off into an even deeper sleep, awoke with a start. His eyes popped open widely, and a look of extreme alarm entered into his face. Then he moved so fast and so suddenly that it caused Jimmy to flinch. He bolted up out of his chair, and he did so with enough force to send it blasting behind him at a speed dangerous enough that it could have killed someone if it had crashed into them. Instead, it ended up smashing into¡ªand knocking over¡ªthe booth of a temporarily vacant clothing merchant, whose owner was likely off getting lunch; this caused his merchandise to spill out onto the street. At the exact same time, something very similar happened to Kalana. She went from grinning as she pretended not to eavesdrop into a state where her eyes abruptly narrowed, her pupils widened, and she peeled back her lips as though to snarl. She too burst out of her seat, only in her case, she did so with a bit more grace that saw it barely budge from where it¡¯d been while she¡¯d sat in it. ¡°Zach!¡± ¡°I know!¡± Confused, Jimmy glanced back and forth between the two of them as time seemed to temporarily stand still. He didn¡¯t understand what was going on¡ªespecially as they turned their heads towards one another, exchanged a knowing look that only they seemed to understand, and then mutually set their sights on him and Tena. Jimmy opened his mouth to speak, but he never had the chance to form any words. Rushing straight into him, Zach bulldozed him¡ªalong with the entire table¡ªand an intense, agonizing pain flared up in Jimmy¡¯s chest and midsection as he was flung dozens of feet away and with enough force that he was sent rolling along the ground. ¡°What the fuck?¡± he shouted as he found himself on the other end of the park right as the table crashed back down onto the concrete ground of the nice little dining area. Tena, too, had been hurtled away, and she moaned in obvious pain from where Kalana struck her. ¡°Why would you do that to her?¡± he shouted at Kalana, more upset about Tena¡¯s treatment than his own. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you two? Why would you¡ª¡± Rather than finish his thought, he jumped on top of Tena and sheltered her as an explosion lit up the center of the park''s dining area. There was a boom so loud it caused his eardrums to ring, yet even still, he could audibly make out the unmistakable sounds of children crying and adults screaming. Horrified, Jimmy saw that half the tables in the park had been caught up in the blast, and they were now overturned and destroyed. Smoke, he saw, was now rising into the air. He was so confused. What was happening? Why was shit exploding? Incredibly, no one seemed to be hurt. Through the smoke, Jimmy saw that Kalana was now rushing over with two children, one held in each arm, and Zach was carrying an elderly woman to safety. Safety from what, though? What just happened? ¡°We¡¯re under attack!¡± Zach shouted as he set the woman down and then drew his blade. His head darted around as though searching for their assailant or whatever had caused the explosion. ¡°I don¡¯t know who they are, but I think it¡¯s me they¡¯re trying to kill.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s me they want!¡± Kalana yelled at him. ¡°It must be. Whoever¡¯s attacking us is probably trying to get at my mother through me. That¡¯s why they¡ª¡± Once again, both Zach and Kalana snapped their heads in Jimmy¡¯s direction, and then things happened so fast he could barely perceive them. All at once, Zach¡¯s body began to take on a dull glow, and smoke began rising from his hands and feet. Then he sort of just ¡°vanished.¡± There was no other way to explain it but that. He was there, and then he wasn¡¯t. Only, he reappeared a moment later off to Jimmy¡¯s right side. Jimmy, who at this point was still hovering over Tena and trying to protect her from a threat he did not understand and could not even see, saw her eyes go wide with fear as she looked up at something. ¡°B-behind you, Jimmy!¡± she cried. Then there was a loud clang that sounded like steel on steel, and from a number of shadows that popped into existence on the concrete, he realized there was a shower of sparks above his head. Getting off Tena and spinning around onto his butt, he glanced up and saw Zach''s arms extended, locking blades with a man covered from head to toe in a brown robe, his face completely concealed behind a thin, expressionless mask. A long, curved, and wide sword was now bearing down on top of the one wielded by Zach, and for some reason, it seemed like it¡¯d been aimed at him. ¡°It¡¯s Jimmy!¡± Zach shouted. ¡°Kal, this dude is trying to kill him!¡± ¡°Who is?¡± Jimmy asked, stunned. ¡°What did I even¡ª¡± A boom ten times louder than the one from the earlier explosion caused his words to end in a startled cry¡ªone that seemed to have no effect on Zach, Kalana, or the brown-draped figure who was locking blades with him. The noise was ear-piercing, and it reminded Jimmy of a sonic boom of the sort a plane might make when breaking the sound barrier, only it was closer and more intense. It seemed to come right on the heels of Zach seemingly teleporting himself over here. Now, however, there came yet another sound, this one far more muted. It was a clack of sorts. Looking down, Jimmy saw that there was another Frisbee-like toy. It was a shining red disc that was spinning like a CD rom on the ground, remaining stationary even as it continued to spin faster and faster and begin to flash. And then three things happened in the exact same moment. Zach vanished for the second time, a blue orb popped into existence around his and Tena¡¯s body, and finally, there was a brighter, more alarming flash. Before Jimmy could understand what was taking place, he suddenly found himself somewhere else: specifically, by Zach¡¯s side and faced in the complete opposite direction. He was also back on his feet, too, and Tena was there with him. Now, he realized he was staring at the aftermath of yet another explosion, which was followed by another large plume of smoke rising into the air. At this point, however, the citizens nearby had all gotten up and ran away for their lives, and thankfully the entire park was now vacant aside from the four of them and the brown-robed man. And someone else, too. Someone Jimmy had not noticed until just now. And he noticed them only because he saw Zach angrily glance upwards at the roof of a two-story home, on top of which crouched another robed man wielding a bizarre type of weapon that was shaped like a large pancake attached to a handle with a trigger. ¡°There¡¯s two of them, Kal,¡± Zach said. ¡°I¡¯ll take the sword guy. You get the sniper.¡± She nodded. ¡°Got it.¡± ¡°You guys,¡± Zach said, looking at Jimmy and Tena. ¡°Run! They¡¯re after you, Jimmy.¡± ¡°But why?¡± ¡°Fuck if I know,¡± Zach growled. ¡°But now I¡¯m pissed!¡± ¡°Zach, your anger!¡± ¡°Fuck my anger!¡± He blasted forward, and the brown-robed figure dashed ahead as if to meet him. Their two swords clashed somewhere in the middle of the park, and Jimmy was treated to a series of sights that made him regret every word of the shit he¡¯d talked about the kid in Angelica''s. The moment the two met, Zach leapt first onto an already overturned table, then sprang off it and hopped into the air a second time. With a speed that actually made his body blur, he spun several times front and back midair before slamming his sword down on top of the robed figure, who raised his own to block. Their two blades met, and though he did not seem to sustain any damage, the masked figure was blasted several feet backwards, his feet actually ripping up the very concrete below him as he slid backwards, leaving behind dual streaks in the ground. The robed figure retaliated, pressing forward and making a blazingly fast slice across with his sword, which Zach ducked beneath while spinning around and kicking out with his leg. The robed figure jumped up, avoiding the sweep attempt. Then Zach rolled backwards, stood up, and launched himself forward again. Now, within the span of just two seconds, Zach both attacked and guarded about ten separate times in what was a frenzied, furious exchange of strikes. Cling, cling, cling, cling, CLANG. Cling, cling, cling cling CLANG. A near constant shower of sparks danced from the blades of Zach and the man who¡¯d attacked him. At the same time, another boom came from somewhere off in the distance, and now Kalana was running along rooftops, chasing after the second robed man, who was perpetually launching disc-shaped explosives at her as he led her around. One blast after the next, various homes became damaged, trailing smoke despite lacking any fire. As all this chaos took place around him, the thought that popped into Jimmy''s head was not one of survival or even one that attempted to contemplate the nature of what was actually taking place here and why; no, it was something far less complex and far more instinctual. Watching Zach dash forward again, raise his sword high, and meet an unnamed, unknown assailant head-on for what could very possibly be a fight to death, the only thing that went through Jimmy¡¯s thoughts in this moment was how much he absolutely, truly, and sincerely hated PVP. Grabbing Tena¡¯s hand, he yanked her in his direction, and the two of them scrambled away from another shining red disc that was spinning and flashing on the ground in front of them. Somehow, the second figure had found the time to fire it even as Kalana ran after him. This was not turning out to be a great day. Chapter 129: Hatred Chapter 129: Hatred Given the extent of her wrongdoing and lingering shame from the last time she¡¯d willfully broken a promise to the boy, Fylwen had very much wished to avoid breaking another. Yet despite promising Zach that she¡¯d reopen the island by now, she simply had not been able to focus on such an inconsequential task: not when the humans had unleashed a weapon of mass destruction, ending what could very well turn out to be more than a million lives and threatening hundreds of millions more. Indeed, the recent act of mass killing had completely shifted her priorities. Yet, unlike her earlier broken promise, this time around, she felt no guilt and no hesitance. Without question, she knew she was doing the right thing; she also knew the young man would survive the injustice of having to wait a few more days to play on the island. Even still, he would not be happy to hear this news, which she had decided to deliver in person. She was long overdue for a visit to Elendroth, and thankfully, she¡¯d found the time to arrive a day earlier than expected. ¡°That was so fun,¡± Peter said, smiling up at her. ¡°Can I take all this off now, please?¡± For a human, the boy was unexpectedly adorable. Really, she had taken such a liking to him these past two weeks, rarely letting him leave her sight. At the moment, he was bundled up in multiple jackets and four hats, and he glanced pleadingly up at her through his tiny blue eyes. Though Fylwen was aware she¡¯d gone somewhat overboard, she simply could not risk the child getting frostbite. That was why one of the pairs of gloves he wore contained a fair bit of constitution and resistance to cold. ¡°Very well, child.¡± She had worried he would be traumatized by the plunge down into the gas giant, but he had been crying out joyfully the entire way down while Fylwen held him close to her chest. He reminded her of his father when he was young. Oh, how Peter had loved the thrill of adventure. It was only in his late adolescence, as his own father forced him to focus more on politics, that he abandoned his prior nature and took to becoming such a joyless, rigid soul. Yet he could not have changed completely, for both he¡ªand somehow, his child¡ªeach had the buff that humans required to venture into the dungeons. When and how it had been granted to the boy, Fylwen did not know, but clearly, his father had prepared him in the event of his unexpected demise. ¡°Lift your arms, child,¡± she told him. Helping him out of his little jackets, Fylwen unzipped the backpack she¡¯d bought him and stuffed them inside. Then she bid her respects the head librarian, who stood up from his reception desk, stepped before it, and then dropped down to one knee for a respectful bow. Fylwen had always appreciated the head librarians, as no matter where in the world one ventured, the grand libraries abided by the customs of old, and of those customs, respect to the Elvish throne remained a core part of their values. It was good to see that this continued to be true even following the thousand-year period during which the Elves were thought to have gone extinct. ¡°My Queen,¡± the human said. ¡°I¡¯m honored you¡¯ve chosen to visit Shores of Wrath.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± she said to the man, bidding him to rise. ¡°I take it you¡¯re here to visit your daughter and her boyfriend?¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°They were just here only a short while ago,¡± he said. ¡°In fact, you¡¯ve only just missed them.¡± Fylwen raised her left eyebrow. ¡°Oh? Well, that would explain why the glass was broken and the dungeon floor was so cold. I suppose it¡¯ll be a week or so before that resets, yes?¡± ¡°I believe so, Your Highness. If you¡¯d like a warm beverage, you need only ask.¡± ¡°Not today, human, but thank you.¡± Fylwen was still catching up on the nature of dungeons. The Elves of old had known almost all of them inside and out, and they were often the first adventurers to find and explore most of those that were known to exist. Now that Fylwen had finally taken to utilizing them for travel, she realized that it was unfair that the humans held such a monopoly on the creations of her Godly ancestors. She would begin encouraging her people to explore the dungeons alongside them. Elves, too, should have a place in the dungeons. The same was true for the other races as well. The Great Ones had created the dungeons for all to explore, yet to the best of her understanding, there was nary a Dwarf, Gnome, or any but human that made use of such ancient wonders. Based on what she¡¯d learned in Archian Prime, the Great Ones, for reasons lost to time, had placed the vast majority of currently discovered Galterran dungeon portals in North and South Bastia, but in particular, the north. The reason for this was likely not due to any sort of favoritism, as Fylwen had now seen enough evidence to conclude that the Elvish Great Ones never intended the world to be divided into racial categories. Had she to take a guess, Fylwen imagined it must have made a great deal more sense back when all the spawn points existed. Perhaps the layout of Galterra, when viewed from the lens of someone before the destruction of the spawns, would find that it fit well into some overall structure¡ªone that was no longer relevant to these times. Regardless, when peace made its return, she would set her sights on allowing members of non-human races to have access to the dungeons. It simply was not right for the humans to exclude them as they had done until this point. ¡°Come, Peter,¡± she said to the boy, extending her hand. He took it. ¡°You¡¯ve been wanting to meet my daughter. Now is your chance.¡± His entire face lit up. ¡°Yay!¡± he cheered. Then, in an equally happy tone, he asked, ¡°Is daddy here, too?¡± Fylwen winced, and she was glad he did not see it. She had still not had the heart to tell the boy of his father¡¯s death. She¡¯d even worked extra hard to keep him from witnessing the extensive coverage of the man¡¯s demise on the news media. Certainly, she planned to eventually take him to the plot in Whispery Woods where she¡¯d buried him so that he could pay his respects. But that would happen only when she felt the time was right. Perhaps, she would tell him in the coming days. She did not look forward to it. His heart was going to be so terribly broken. I cannot hide the truth from the child for much longer, she thought. At some point, it will turn from a mercy into a cruelty. With the little one¡¯s hand in her own, she led him towards the exit of the head librarian¡¯s office. Yet before she made it half way, the doors burst open all on their own as a man darted inside. ¡°Head Librarian!¡± cried this young man, who wore a thin vest and a pair of blue jeans. ¡°What is it, boy? Can¡¯t you see I have important company?¡± The young man shifted his eyes towards Fylwen, and then he gasped, bowed, and apologized all at the same time. Upon his apology, he said, ¡°Your Highness.¡± She waved at him to be at ease, and he relaxed, though only slightly. Returning his attention to the head librarian, he said, ¡°There¡¯s a massive commotion taking place in the city, and people are starting to flood into the grand library looking for safety and shelter until this disturbance has passed. May I have your permission to serve them cold beverages from the caf¨¦ free of charge?¡± ¡°What¡¯s all this now?¡± the head librarian asked, sounding more annoyed than surprised. ¡°You said there is a disturbance? What kind of disturbance?¡± ¡°Sir Zachys Calador of the Royal Roses and the Elvish Princess,¡± he began, immediately drawing Fylwen¡¯s attention. He squirmed a bit under her gaze, yet he continued. ¡°They¡¯ve come under attack by two masked assailants and are currently battling in the dining area of the park between Golden Street and Meteor Way¡ªalong with two unknown human bystanders. It¡¯s caused quite the stir.¡± Fylwen narrowed her eyes, and she felt her ears twitch. ¡°Where, exactly, is this park?¡± she asked. When his reply took longer than a half a second, she resisted the urge to grab him by the scruff of his neck and pull him towards her so that she could shake the answer out of him. ¡°Tell me. Now!¡± ***** Anger was like an iceberg. This was something Jascaila had told Zach over and over these past two weeks. Each day, she would remind him that, when anger arose, it was often the case that what was visible was only the raw emotion of anger, and that there was more buried beneath the surface¡ªunseen, but very much real. She¡¯d said that melting the anger on top could only come as a result of understanding and dealing with the emotions buried below. This was something Zach had come to accept as truth. And you know what? If he had been sitting in a session with Jascaila right here in this very moment, he would be able to calmly unpack the source of his rage and maybe even talk it out of his system. But he wasn¡¯t in a session right now, was he? No. No, he wasn¡¯t. So all that bullshit could fuck right off, because right now, he was so piping mad that it took every last bit of effort to prevent himself from becoming reckless and getting himself and others killed. And honestly, how could he not be angry? He¡¯d been having a nice early afternoon before all this. He¡¯d made two new friends, they¡¯d been having ice cream together, and through it all, Zach had become so relaxed he¡¯d even started to doze off¡ªonly to have some kind of disc-shaped bomb launched at him. Now, it was only due to how serious an enemy he faced that Zach was able to stop himself from flying off the handle. This guy¡­he was good. Very good. And it had only taken one exchange for Zach to realize this. Thanks to everything in his life that¡¯d led up to this moment, he¡¯d sort of developed the ability to get a fairly accurate sense of how dangerous a foe he was squaring up against. And this man¡ªat least Zach assumed it was a man¡ªwho was standing before him in a pair of brown robes with a plain, thin mask covering all but his eyes¡ªhe was very, very powerful. Wielding an unusually long and strangely curved sword, he struck out at Zach in a way that was almost dismissive; still, Zach gave it his all as he traded a number of blows with him. Yet even as he guarded against such effortless strikes, the difference between them could be felt so strongly, and it was a chasm that caused him to grunt with exertion. Zach had not felt this outmatched since he¡¯d fled Archian Prime with Olivir, Rian, Lienne, and Kolona. Even despite his high stats, which were inflated massively beyond what was normal of a level-23 adventurer, Zach estimated that the robed man¡¯s own stats were somewhere on par¡ªor maybe even higher¡ªthan what Zach¡¯s had been back when he¡¯d entered Phase Level 3 during his fight with Ziragoth. Then, he¡¯d had over 200 strength, and his dex, con, and speed had been close to the 200 mark as well. And while he could not possibly guess specific numbers with any measure of precision, he was reasonably certain that the stats of this nameless attacker before him were pretty close to 200 as well. Assuming Zach was correct, this meant it was going to be very difficult for him to win with own stats, which were not quite high enough while in Phase Level 0.
Name Zachys Calador
Level 23
EXP 82/265,000
Armor Bonus 83
Strength 126
Dexterity 119
Constitution 107
Intelligence 162
Speed 92
Luck 110
Although the difference in strength was noticeable and could be keenly felt with each exchange, it was the difference between his and his opponent¡¯s speed that really made things challenging. Sure, Zach could match it if he himself was in Phase Level 3. Unfortunately, that was something that he simply could not do. His death would be a certainty. It would probably be a good long time before the perfect combination of circumstances arose such that it enabled him to push himself that far and live through it. A shame, too, because this was someone of a much, much higher level than Zach, and he could really use the boost right about now. I feel like he¡¯s toying with me. Who the hell is this guy? What does he want with Jimmy? Making matters even worse, it wasn¡¯t just the man¡¯s stats or his level that posed such a threat, either. The masked figure was very skilled with his sword, too, and in a way that made Zach strongly doubt he was a member of a political guild. This, he could tell with each movement that the man made, such as right now, as he stepped forward, and with a speed that sent alarm bells blaring in Zach¡¯s brain, he tore his blade horizontally across while his arms were raised at the level of his shoulders, forcing Zach to squat down to his knees then lunge backwards to gain some distance. The man pressed onwards and whipped his long blade twice more from left to right, then right to left, each time with enough force to cause a hissing sound to form in the air. Zach, refusing to back down, swung his own blade twice, and more sparks flew as he clashed steel both times, sending a great deal of shock into his wrists and almost knocking his Sword of Light Amidst Darkness out of his hands. ¡°I¡¯m not supposed to kill you,¡± the robed figure said, his deep, gravelly voice confirming him as male. ¡°Don¡¯t push me.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± Zach asked him. ¡°What do you want?¡± Even as Zach spoke to the man, he took a moment to observe his surroundings. While keeping his head straight, he quickly flicked his eyes in both directions. To his right were all the burned-up, still-smoking tables, including the one where he and the others had been seated only a short while ago. A small hole could now be seen in the concrete where that first disc-shaped bomb had come down, and another crack in the ground was newly formed at the opposite end of the park where Zach had used Phase Rescue on Jimmy and Tena. To his left, and about a block and a half away from the park, he could see Kalana jumping from the dome of a three-story building to the rounded dome of another as she pursued the second masked assailant. Her target fired one of the spinning red discs at her, which touched down right beside her feet. Kalana, as if noticing it, quickly leapt down from the dome she was standing on, landing afterwards on top a connecting archway just as the dome exploded and sent it¡ªalong with a chunk of the building¡ªcrashing down onto the front lawn of a fancy home. We¡¯re doing too much damage to Shores of Wrath, Zach thought. We can¡¯t let this continue. To Zach¡¯s surprise¡ªand also annoyance¡ªa giant crowd had begun forming somewhere that, while not exactly close, was still nowhere near far enough away. Located basically on the outermost edges of the park, those who had chosen¡ªstupidly¡ªnot to flee were now chanting his name and raising their fists in the air, cheering him on. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Get him, Sir Calador!¡± one of them cried. ¡°Kill that Gentleman bastard!¡± roared another. The fact that they thought this guy was a member of the Guild of Gentlemen made a lot of sense given that Shores of Wrath was a territory controlled by the People of Virtue, and the People of Virtue had not yet finalized its surrender, as Abram Gespon appeared to be stalling for time. This, technically, left them in an official state of war. And the general public was so enraged, humiliated, frightened, and bitter towards the Guild of Gentlemen that support for continued war was now close to a hundred percent in the territories not controlled by them. Last night, the media had shown rioting in the streets of Varda¡¯s lair from citizens who were demanding the guilds return to war, something Zach doubted had ever before taken place in modern history. Usually, it was the other way around. Nevertheless, they were all wrong. This clearly wasn¡¯t a political guild member. Of that much, Zach was certain. Yet, knowing who this mysterious attacker wasn''t did little to help him discern who he was. ¡°Who are you?¡± he asked again. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t concern you,¡± the man replied curtly. ¡°Step aside.¡± ¡°Who¡¯re you here for?¡± Zach asked him. ¡°I think you know. If you''re smart, you''ll move.¡± Jimmy. Maneuvering himself so that he blocked the man¡¯s path forward, he raised his weapon defensively and said, ¡°You can¡¯t have him. Sorry.¡± ¡°What¡¯s he to you, kid? Why don''t you just mind your own fuckin¡¯ business? Either get out of my way, or there¡¯ll be consequences.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll show you consequences!" Zach charged forward while raising his arms high, and then he slammed his sword down on top of the masked man, who was already side stepping away while retaliating with an attack of his own. Zach had to utilize every ounce of his speed to lift his own blade and raise it in time to guard, but even then, the force of impact pushed him backwards. The masked, robed man pressed him, releasing a dizzying array of mid-to-high strikes. Zach had to plant his feet, bend his knees, and swing his sword so hard it made him grunt each time¡ªall that just to barely guard against the onslaught of attacks. To prevent losing his grip on his weapon, he wrapped his fingers in both hands so tightly around the hilt that his knuckles were turning white. ¡°Ngh,¡± he grunted as their blades clashed. ¡°Ugh.¡± Dashing backwards, he swung his blade down twice diagonally and shouted, ¡°Phase Slash! Phase Slash!¡± Two high-pitched sounds similar to a zipper being undone filled the world back-to-back as his blade created dual high-speed ripples in the air before him, both of which soared directly at the robed man, who calmly¡ªand deftly¡ªswung his long, curved sword at both. His weapon moving blazingly fast in front of him, he managed to absorb the force of each, essentially cutting them out of existence and leaving him unharmed. Zach peeled his lips back in frustration. That wasn¡¯t good. The sword-wielding, masked man had just neutralized his strongest ability in way that actually seemed casual. And it¡¯d cost him over two minutes of time, too: time that was draining fast. Despite having only just entered Unleashed Phase, Zach was already down to 11:20 from his various use of abilities, and he¡¯d gotten nowhere. Worse, he couldn¡¯t even try anything else, because his other offensive abilities were too dangerous to use here. Put simply, he couldn¡¯t risk using Wave Slash or Phase Cannon on the guy without taking the very real chance that he missed and killed one or more innocent bystanders. And the same was definitely true¡ªprobably even more so¡ªof his blasting ring, which really sucked because, given his enemy¡¯s strength, his blasting ring was the one ability that was likely capable of taking him down if timed properly. ¡°Get out of my way or die,¡± he warned Zach yet again as he dashed forward at him. Crossing the distance to Zach, he then tore his blade downwards at him, and Zach swung his own sword upwards to counter. Now, he came perilously close to losing his weapon as the two blades collided. The man struck hard: very hard. It was as if to send a warning to Zach that he was even more powerful than he¡¯d let on. Zach¡¯s elbows and wrists flared in agony from the blow, and then he widened his eyes as he saw the man shift his position so that he could whirl himself around full circle and bring around his blade for a spinning strike. I can¡¯t block this! Zach, acting off instinct, activated Phase Shield, and a moment before impact, a large, golden shield burst into existence in front of him, one that was so brilliant and bright it managed to outdo even the early-afternoon sunshine. The man¡¯s curved sword struck and bounced right off it, and then he remained where he was, offering no-such follow up attacks during the 1.2 seconds it remained in existence. ¡°Phase Shield,¡± the man remarked. His eyes visible at the top of his mask, he stared directly into Zach¡¯s. ¡°Remains in effect for 1.2 seconds, but then it has a 45-second cooldown¡­right?¡± Zach gasped, his nose began to bleed, a pain traveled down his back, and his mind erupted in confusion as the man spoke. ¡°How do you know that?¡± ¡°I know all your abilities, kid. Even those you¡¯ve yet to awaken.¡± ¡°Know all my¡­¡± He gasped a second time. ¡°You¡¯re from the OMP, aren¡¯t you?¡± he asked. ¡°Am I?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Zach said, nodding. ¡°You are.¡± It all made sense now. Of course this guy was from the OMP. Jimmy had even indicated during their ¡°interrogation¡± of him that he feared someone was after him. That Eilea had told him as much. And if it had something to do with Eilea, who else could it even be? And so now, realizing this, a heat entered into Zach¡¯s voice as he extended his arm and pointed his blade at the man. ¡°We have a truce, Gods-damn it! You¡¯re supposed to leave me alone for now.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who won¡¯t leave me alone,¡± the man replied. ¡°I told you. I¡¯m not here for you.¡± ¡°Jimmy¡¯s off limits too,¡± Zach said defiantly. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll see about that.¡± He dashed forward again, and Zach was completely unprepared. His arms and wrists were still recovering from the shock of the last attack that he¡¯d blocked. He needed to buy himself some time. And so, thinking fast, he activated Frostbind, the ability on his Robes of Dark Awakening. Immediately upon activation, the concrete beneath the man¡¯s feet erupted, and shackles made of pure ice made a crackling sound as they wrapped around and bound his feet, bringing him to a complete and total halt. Calmly and slowly, he lowered his eyes¡ªthe only part of his face that was visible¡ªdownwards and to the left. ¡°Tch,¡± he muttered. Not a half second after halting him, the man made a jerking motion with his body, and then with a low snap, he broke free, shattering the shackles binding his feet and causing the ice to immediately fade into shallow puddles of water. Then he turned his head to Zach and continued heading towards him. Zach, caught off guard a second time, activated Phase Blink, putting himself out of harm¡¯s way just as the robed, masked man crashed his sword down on top of where he¡¯d been standing, blasting apart a chunk of concrete with a high-pitched ¡°thunk¡± that Zach heard only as he reappeared a moment later on the opposite end of the park. Then came the sonic boom, which caused hundreds of fearful, surprised yelps from those stupid enough to be watching this fight take place. Knowing how fast this guy could move, and filling with a sense of alarm, Zach, who now had his back turned to him, spun around and instinctively raised his sword to guard, knowing full well that the man would likely have crossed the distance between them in just the time it took him to about-face. And so, preemptively, he swung his sword while bending his knees¡ªa defensive maneuver he hoped he would be able to pull off just in time to prevent himself from being cut into two pieces. Yet he filled with confusion upon realizing he¡¯d hit nothing at all, and that there was no one before him. So then where was he? Zach, puzzled, searched his immediate area for any sign of the assailant. There was none. He even looked up just to make sure he wasn¡¯t about to come crashing down on him. But there was nothing there either. This meant that, unless he was coming from below somehow, the man was not pursuing him. But why? Jimmy! Looking beyond the opposite end of the park, there was a one-way street which was lined with merchants on both sides, and the masked assassin was hurrying down it. He was now far enough away that he was a mere instant from fading out of Zach¡¯s view. Filling with panic, Zach activated Phase Blink twice, each one back-to-back. The first one took him to the other end of the park, and the second brought him to within inches of the robed man, who stopped immediately, raised his blade, spun around, and unleashed it upon Zach, who had only first arrived. Zach, channeling every bit of strength he had, swung his own sword to meet it, and yet again, they collided. But now, as if annoyed, the robed man attacked a second and third time, and these next two contained even more strength and even some fury as he lashed out with his curved blade. Driven by a fear of something happening to his new friends, Zach found within himself the strength to stand his ground. He cried aloud with the exertion of fighting back as he somehow managed swing his sword and meet his enemy¡¯s twice more, causing two nearby women who were browsing bracelets at a jewelry merchant to shriek in fear, both at the sudden appearance of sparks and the dual, subsequent sonic booms that exploded behind Zach from his use of Phase Blink. ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of this,¡± the OMP assassin said. He raised his weapon high and Zach had the sense things were about to get really, really bad for him. And he was right. With a ping, he caught the man¡¯s blade with his own, and now they clashed, Zach pushing his steel against the man¡¯s, and the man pressing down on Zach¡¯s with enough weight that the swords felt as though they were glued together. Zach was being badly overpowered¡ªand he was well aware of it, too. He knew he did not have the strength to survive the clash. Thinking quickly, he decided to finally try out the one ability he¡¯d never before had the chance to use. And so, even as his enemy¡¯s blade was bearing down on him, Zach activated Shadow Merge while disengaging from the clash and leaping away. As he maneuvered backwards, he saw a misty, grey-colored smoke surrounding his body, and then he watched as his own limbs vanished from his view. The impossibly black smoke vanished as well as though consumed by this grey. But then the grey smoke also disappeared, and every part of him faded into nothingness in a way that was so surreal it was actually somewhat unnerving, creating a weird disconnect between mind and body. Even his sword could no longer be seen¡ªnot even by himself. From the way the robed, masked man¡¯s eyes narrowed, Zach could tell that he too could no longer see Zach, either. ¡°Son of a bitch,¡± he growled. He began slicing randomly with his sword as though aiming at nothing. The result was that he cut an entire booth in half, then sliced open an entire keg of beer, spilling it out onto the street; he also nearly severed the head off a camel being ridden by a merchant. Both the animal and its rider turned around and hastily made their way in the opposite direction. Zach, amazed, realized that he was truly invisible. He knew that the ability would only last for 30 seconds, and that it would end prematurely if he took any hostile action at all. And this OMP assassin must have known that as well, which was why he was furiously¡ªand indiscriminately¡ªswinging his weapon around with reckless abandon as if to ward Zach away from trying anything. Yet this was where he made his first mistake. Because now that Zach could stand there silently and watch him, he finally had the chance to make use of his disposition towards predicting enemy movement. Against someone as strong as this guy, it was somewhat diminished when directly under fire. But while hanging back and observing his target and under no direct threat? Totally different story. Zach was able to study the robed figure¡¯s motions very, very carefully. He watched as the man grunted and put his sword through another merchant booth, cutting it in half and causing paintbrushes and ink to spill all over the homely, granite, and square-tiled street. The nearly hundred people who¡¯d been nearby had all fled the moment the battle had been dragged here; thus, Zach was in no rush. He could really take his time and study each movement: each swing of the sword. The man struck down, then up, then spun his body around and stabbed behind him. Then he bent his knees¡ªand that was when Zach saw his opportunity. Now! Zach dashed forward, pulled back his arms, and then twisted his hips and ripped his blade across the man¡¯s midsection, reappearing the moment his sword connected. He felt the impact¡ªhe felt his steel cut into something. Yet to his horror and disappointment, all he managed to do was slice apart the man¡¯s robe before having his sword come to a halt against what looked like black-colored plate armor beneath it. ¡°Nice try, you little shit,¡± he said, his voice low yet full of commanding rage. ¡°Now you¡¯re gonna¡ª¡± He stopped speaking, and Zach was tempted to look away as about fifty star-shaped emblems of light popped into existence all around him, surrounding the man like a net. ¡°Fuck,¡± Zach whispered. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. Didn¡¯t want to kill you. I really didn¡¯t.¡± The man swore. ¡°Your weapon¡¯s proc?¡± he asked, even as all fifty began to converge upon him, covering him completely. He stabbed his weapon into the ground and left it there, releasing his grip on it, and he muttered something that sounded like an incantation. Yet whatever spell or ability he was trying to cast, he was too slow. The emblems exploded, and Zach braced himself for the inevitable shower of blood, guts, and trauma that Jascaila would have to help him get through. He even raised his arms to protect his face from the splatter. Yet, for some reason, there was no splatter. Instead, there was a loud, pained grunt as the man¡¯s entire robe and mask were shredded to pieces, revealing a figure clad in midnight-black plate armor, which became cracked and crushed in several areas. So too did his sword: it simply shattered, suffering a full item break, resulting in it vanishing even before the pieces hit the ground. There was also a trickle of blood from the man¡¯s lips as he glared at Zach. But aside from that, he was unharmed. Now, what stood before Zach was an unmasked man who looked to be in his early thirties, although Jascaila warned him that could be deceiving. He had spiky black hair, scars running down the sides of his face, and a crooked chin. He reminded Zach a lot of the gang members who lived near the southern side of Whispery Woods city. Angrily, the spiky-headed assassin lifted his hands so that they were held parallel to one another. Then there was a swish, and before Zach¡¯s eyes, two silver blades about four inches apiece unsheathed from the gauntlets on his wrists. ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of you. Really, I have.¡± Following those words, he launched himself at Zach, and then he made swinging motions first with his left hand, and then with his right. Zach flicked his wrists and swung his blade twice, making two loud clinks as he deflected the blade on each gauntlet with his own. But then the man spun his body completely around, raised his foot, and kicked Zach in the chest with such force that Zach coughed loudly as he was blasted away. Zach cried out in alarm as, with a loud crash, he was sent cleanly through the wall of the two-floor apartment behind him, whereupon he briefly saw several couches and a fearful family glance up at him as he soared right across their apartment before exiting out the opposite window, landing hard on his back after crashing through the canopy of a small hut that sold souvenirs. There was another crash as Zach finally came to a stop after shattering a glass display case. Now, in addition to a frightened cry, he heard several people nervously muttering questions as commemorative coins and other little trinkets made slight patters as they fell out of the broken display case¡ªthat he was lying on top of¡ªand began rolling all along the floor of this tiny little shop. ¡°You¡¯re Zachys Calador, aren¡¯t you?¡± a woman asked him. ¡°Y-yeah,¡± he said, sitting up. The motion caused a piece of glass to shake free of his head and fall onto his lap. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry about¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯re so brave! We¡¯re so glad you¡¯re okay.¡± ¡°Oh. Thanks. Hey, I¡¯m really sorry about your store. If there¡¯s anything I can¡ª¡± ¡°Whatever it is, you don¡¯t have to worry about it. We support you, Zachys!¡± The woman¡¯s husband, who Zach supposed owned the business, actually began running his hand through Zach¡¯s hair as if to wipe away some of the glass. ¡°Are we under attack?¡± he asked. ¡°I heard some of the commotion but was too busy to come see for myself. They¡¯re saying two members of the Guild of Gentlemen are attacking us.¡± Zach didn¡¯t feel like trying to explain who these people were, so he merely nodded. This caused the man¡¯s entire face to tighten. ¡°Kill those mother fuckers!¡± he growled, his words suddenly becoming vulgar and filled with hate. ¡°Kill them, their families, and their children! We support you, boy!¡± Horrified, confused, and appalled all at once, Zach could do little more than nod politely as he backed out of the shop, which had a cloth screen for an entrance, and then he turned around and began running down the street hoping to find Jimmy before the assassin did. Yet even as he spun around an approaching cart then leapt over a stationary wagon selling carrots and other vegetables, he could not shake how disturbed he¡¯d felt at that last interaction. Something told him that it did not bode well for society. ***** Doma begged for them to stop. But they wouldn¡¯t listen. Maks hit him yet again, and he went down. His nose was probably broken. He was struggling to breathe. ¡°Fucking piece of shit!¡± the boy screamed, as he along with the five other boys surrounding Doma began kicking him in his side. He could do little else but curl up into a ball and try to protect his face and groin as they all began stomping on him and kicking him time and time again. ¡°Please stop!¡± he begged, crying. ¡°Please!¡± ¡°Fucking murderer!¡± they screamed. He was only fifteen years old. He didn¡¯t know anything about the war. He moved here to Giant¡¯s Fall a year ago with his mother. He had nothing to do anymore with Shadowfall Coast. Why couldn¡¯t they understand that? School was out again today as Giant¡¯s Fall was still in a state of emergency, and the kids had invited him to hang out in the alley behind the big park not far from the academy. He¡¯d shown up, hoping to have some laughs and hang out for a few hours. Instead, they¡¯d ambushed him, and now he was so scared. And everything was hurting. And he wanted his mom so bad. He couldn¡¯t help but cry. ¡°Fucking Shadowfall Coaster,¡± one of the boys said, stomping on him. ¡°We should piss on his face.¡± ¡°No! Please! I didn¡¯t do nothin¡¯, guys. I hate Shadowfall Coast too! I¡¯m one of you.¡± Alone, terrified, and wanting nothing more than to be friends with the kids from school, Doma felt his head go fuzzy as one of the boys stomped down on him in just such a way that his head banged against the pavement. Then he¡­confused. What? He wasn¡¯t sure. How? ¡°Oh, shit. I think¡­oh Gods. I think we killed him.¡± ¡°He¡¯s faking it.¡± ¡°No, Maks. Dude, he¡¯d bleeding out of his ears. I think¡­oh, fuck. I think we just killed him.¡± ¡°Good. He deserves it for Ogre¡¯s Axe!¡± And with that, he died. Confused, alone, covered in filth. Degraded. And this must now be the afterlife, right? He felt an angel put his hands on his head. Or maybe it was one of the Gods. One hand was placed on the right side of his face, just above his cheek. And the other was placed on the left, not far from his scalp. Through his peripheral vision, he could see that both hands were glowing a bright green color as though they were filled with magic. ¡°You¡¯re gonna be all right,¡± a voice said. ¡°You¡¯ll be okay.¡± The face of the angel became clearer as his vision began to return. It was a blond-haired man in a leather jacket who looked more like a member of a rock band than an angel. Doma realized he was in some kind of facility. A hospital? He was in the hospital? It looked like one. His mother was there, too. Her eyes were so red from crying. She looked as if she¡¯d been in the middle of an emotional breakdown. He had never seen such grief on anyone. ¡°Please. Please don¡¯t let him die.¡± ¡°He¡¯ll be all right. You¡¯ve got my word.¡± ¡°Thank you, Doctor Ardona.¡± She sniffled, and Doma could see tears pouring out of her face. ¡°I¡¯d kill myself if I lost him.¡± ¡°Just Kesten¡¯s fine, ma¡¯am,¡± he said. She only began to cry even harder. ¡°Never thought a member of the guilds would come to save my boy.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not all the same,¡± he said. He released Doma¡¯s head, and now, he realized he was no longer hurting. He sat up and looked around, confused. ¡°Where am I?¡± ¡°You¡¯re in the hospital,¡± the doctor named Kesten said. ¡°You¡¯re lucky I found you in that alley. Those kids left you for dead.¡± ¡°Alley?¡± he asked. His head still hurt a bit on second thought. ¡°Oh, right. They got mad at me because¡ª¡± His mother lunged at him and grabbed hold in a way that was so tight it was embarrassing. Right here in front of an entire hospital room. He was 15, not 5. She didn¡¯t have to be all¡­bleh. ¡°If there¡¯s any way I can ever repay you,¡± she said as she clung to him. ¡°Just say it. I don¡¯t care what it is. Anything I have is yours.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want anything,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m just glad everything¡¯s okay. I¡¯ve got to go. I¡¯m actually treating the radiation victims from Ogre¡¯s Axe upstairs. I don¡¯t have any time to stay and chat. Be well, both of you. If you need any more help, there are plenty of doctors who can take over for me now.¡± With that, he walked away. Doma would never forget him. Chapter 130: Breath of Invigoration Chapter 130: Breath of Invigoration Jimmy wasn¡¯t sure how far they ran or how much farther they needed to continue running. He did not know who was after him or why. He did not even know if they were still chasing him or if he and Tena had finally gotten away. All he knew was that his life was hanging in the balance, and he was the least suitable person on Earth¡ªerr, Galterra, sorry¡ªto engage in some kind of ¡°superhero¡± brawl in the middle of this hot city that seemed to have been built on a coastal desert. His survival instinct in full gear, he pushed beyond the tiredness he felt in his legs and refused to stop. He was determined to keep going until he could not possibly move anymore. And so, on and on he ran, Tena¡¯s hand held in his own. The two of them raced their way from street to street while sweat poured down Jimmy¡¯s forehead as though it were an open faucet. He had no idea where he was going; this was an unfamiliar city located in an unfamiliar world. All he knew was that he needed to keep moving. Thus, from one open-air market to the next, the two of them bolted away as far and as fast as their legs could carry them. ¡°You two hungry?¡± a merchant asked him and Tena as they darted by. He was a middle-aged man who had a large picnic blanket set down on the floor, on top of which were various sandwiches and cold beverages. He smiled at them from where he sat in a chair beneath the awning of a two-story home. ¡°Special price on all hand-made rugs,¡± another merchant said. ¡°Hey, you two,¡± he called to them as they approached. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you like to custom order one of these beautiful¡ªahh, okay, then,¡± he finished with a sigh as they shot right past him without paying him any notice. They hurried through an archway that led to an incredibly narrow alley, which ran between two sand-colored apartment complexes, and then they emerged on the sidewalk of a much wider street. His feet stomping down on the pavement, Jimmy panted as he struggled to keep up the pace. He was taking deeper and deeper breaths, but he was still hanging in there. Adrenaline served as an invaluable source of fuel: one that stopped him from collapsing due to exhaustion. As they continued onwards, he started noticing that the roads were gradually beginning to widen, and eventually, the densely packed markets became lesser so the farther they continued to move in what he assumed was a northerly direction. Eventually, the wagons, camels, and horse-drawn carriages were replaced with actual DEHVs, and though the city maintained its colorful, unique architecture, there was clearly a shift from commercial to residential as things became more spacious, more open, and overall less confined. The roads became busier, too. Thankfully, there didn¡¯t seem to be much traffic as they approached what, for the first time, looked like a modern intersection. Tena stopped short as they drew nearer as if to gather her breath. ¡°We don¡¯t have the crossing light,¡± she said, breathing heavily. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Jimmy said, trying to pull her onwards. She stayed firm, and her hand slipped out of his. ¡°There¡¯s no cars. We¡¯re good. Come on.¡± He waved her along. ¡°Please. We gotta keep moving.¡± While still beckoning her, he continued to head towards the street. Tena¡¯s face flared with alarm. ¡°Huh? Oh, n-no! Jimmy, stop! You don¡¯t understand!¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine!¡± he shouted back at her. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna leave you here! Come on!¡± He saw her begin to approach him, but now, she held her hand out as if in warning. Jimmy wasn¡¯t sure why. But as long as she was following him, it was all good. And so, with her once more on the move, he took off at a run¡ªthen immediately yelped in surprise, confusion, but not all that much pain as a gigantic red wall of light popped into existence from out of nowhere and physically repulsed him, throwing him backwards and onto his ass. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± he asked, pointing at the reddish barrier of energy, which disappeared shortly after he collided with it. ¡°Goddamn! Is that a forcefield?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a DEHV crossing barrier,¡± Tena said, extending her hand and helping him up. ¡°You can¡¯t cross until we have the crossing light. Isn¡¯t that how it worked in your world?¡± ¡°Uh, hell no,¡± he said, flabbergasted. ¡°We didn¡¯t have no damn forcefields. We just disobey and go whenever we want. It¡¯s called jaywalking. Everyone in New York does it.¡± Tena giggled, though only slightly. Jimmy was surprised she could laugh at all given the situation. ¡°You probably have enough strength to break through it, but that could cause the whole intersection system to fail, and people might die.¡± Jimmy looked over his shoulder, checking to see if they were being followed. It seemed that, at least for this moment, the coast was clear. ¡°All right. We¡¯ll wait.¡± Anxiously, he waited with her for it to change and allow them to cross. Despite having completely left the massive market area behind them, he still wasn¡¯t satisfied that they¡¯d gone far enough away. He wanted to keep moving. Tapping his foot as he waited, he tried to calm his nerves by making conversation. ¡°If you guys got forcefields, why don¡¯t people use them in wars? Like the one going on right now that they¡¯re always talking about on TV.¡± Tena averted her gaze and lowered her head as if thinking carefully before replying. ¡°It¡¯s hard to explain,¡± she said after a brief moment. ¡°Galterran wars are not usually like this. We don¡¯t build for things we don¡¯t expect. Nobody ever thought there¡¯d be another conventional war. I don¡¯t even know if these barriers would work the way you¡¯re thinking. I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re talking about using the DEHV crossing barriers to shield cities from bombs, right?¡± ¡°Well, yeah.¡± She licked her upper lip, stared at him for a few seconds, then asked, ¡°Does¡ªor maybe I should say did¡ªthat kind of thing happen a lot in the past? Bombing places from the sky, I mean.¡± ¡°Oh yeah,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°It¡¯s never not happening. Everybody¡¯s always bombing someone else.¡± She shuddered as if at the very thought of it. ¡°I don¡¯t get how you miss your world so much. It sounds even more dangerous than whatever¡¯s happening to us here.¡± He sighed. ¡°Naw, it¡¯s not like that. It¡¯s¡­complicated.¡± ¡°How so?¡± she asked. ¡°Well, the wars are always going on, but they don¡¯t affect everyone equally. So like, if you live in America or whatever like I do, you don¡¯t gotta worry about war.¡± ¡°I see,¡± she said, her tone contemplative. ¡°So your guild doesn¡¯t fight in wars very often?¡± ¡°Oh, no, we definitely do,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°Probably more than most nations, not gonna lie.¡± ¡°But you just said¡­¡± ¡°Okay, let me rephrase it. We do fight in a lot of wars, Tena, but like, we¡¯re more advanced, so we don¡¯t have to worry about getting hit at home.¡± She paused as if to consider his words. Jimmy could see that she still didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Okay, let me put it this way. Imagine if every guild in North Bastia all joined together and became one unified guild and everyone was ruled by the same, uh, ruling guild.¡± ¡°You mean like the Brayspark monarchy?¡± she asked. ¡°I dunno, maybe. But let¡¯s run with that. So like, imagine if all of North Bastia was just called ¡®America,¡¯ okay? And imagine if those jets they were showing on the news were used to attack the Orcs or someplace far away instead of somewhere close. That¡¯s more like how my world is. Basically, if that happened, the Orcs can¡¯t do shit about it because they don¡¯t have jets of their own, right? And they obviously can¡¯t just come here whenever they want. So while you and I eat lunch or hang out, we might not even be thinking about the fact that we¡¯re bombing the Orcs, so it doesn¡¯t even bother us. Hell, we might not even know at all. It¡¯s like that.¡± Tena frowned. ¡°That sounds awful,¡± she said. ¡°So you¡¯re saying your guild was some kind of evil empire?¡± Jimmy snorted. ¡°What?¡± he asked, shocked by her takeaway. ¡°No, Tena. We were the good guys.¡± ¡°But¡­but you just said you bombed people across the world who can¡¯t defend themselves.¡± ¡°Well, yeah, but¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get it. Your guild sounds evil.¡± ¡°It was for freedom,¡± he mumbled defensively. ¡°It was for what?¡± ¡°Okay, you know what? It¡¯s one of those things you had to be there to understand. Let¡¯s leave it at that.¡± Upon those words, the crossing light finally lit up, and with a briefly exchanged nod, the two of them dashed across the intersection and made their way farther into the northern part of the city. With each step they took, Jimmy could smell the breeze of the ocean just a little bit stronger. It made him wonder if he¡¯d made a mistake in heading north, because at some point, they¡¯d hit the coast, and then there¡¯d be nowhere left to run without slightly backtracking. ¡°We need to get back to Angelica¡¯s,¡± he said. ¡°Do you know any other ways we can get there?¡± She shook her head. ¡°I only know the way through the grand library. And also¡­¡± She lowered her voice. ¡°I¡¯m really worried about Zach and Kalana. I don¡¯t want to leave here without them.¡± ¡°I kind of feel the same,¡± Jimmy agreed as they headed into a large community filled with massive, beautiful homes that were well distanced apart. Each had multiple domes along with rounded, colored glass windows and swimming pools the size of entire fields. Many even had circularly shaped rooftops, which gave them the appearance of miniature palaces. As Jimmy jogged his way with Tena by his side through the winding, concrete road that led to the other end of the community, he marveled both at the homes and the sizes of some their front lawns. Yet even as he took in the spectacle of it all, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a fair bit of unease in the back of his mind as he wondered how Zach and Kalana were making out. He felt bad for bailing on them, but what choice did he have? Zach had specifically asked him to run¡ªdemanded it, even. And truthfully, Jimmy wasn¡¯t much of a fighter anyway. Back home, he avoided physical confrontation at all cost, as he knew he¡¯d only get his ass whooped. As good as he was in PVE, he was equally bad in PVP. And he was even worse at fighting for real. It was just not a strength of his. He had no good instincts for fighting living, thinking, and breathing beings, and he really hated the fear that erupted in the pit of his stomach just at the thought of it. I hope they don¡¯t die because of me, he thought, becoming worried. I can¡¯t have that on my conscience. Exiting the community, he and Tena found themselves on the sidewalk of a somewhat busier street. To their right were a bunch of more traditional storefronts¡ªas opposed to the booths, tents, or small huts of the market area¡ªand to their left was a large, two-lane street where cars¡ªor DEHVs, rather¡ªwere zipping along back and forth. As he and Tena continued onwards along the sidewalk, he realized he was just about out of gas. His robes were so drenched in sweat they were practically sticking to his skin, and he was becoming dehydrated. ¡°You think we lost them yet?¡± he asked as he walked, rather than sprinted down the sidewalk. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Tena said nervously. ¡°Maybe Zach and Kalana dealt with them and everything¡¯s okay.¡± Jimmy hoped that was the case. But he just couldn¡¯t bring himself to believe it. He was too scared to stop. Yet he was so badly drained and needed to rest. If only he had been fighting mobs, he would be able to use his ¡°legendary unique¡± ability, which allowed him to cast a five-minute stamina regeneration buff each time he did a certain amount of poison damage to his target. It was how he was able to last ten hours fighting a single boss, such as the one on F40 in Tower of Eternity. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t cast the buff without first dealing the requisite amount of damage. Just got to keep going somehow, he thought. Ignore the heat. Keep moving. At the end of the street, there was an overpass that led to a separate, similar street, as well as an immediate right turn he could make that would keep him on the same sidewalk. Not wanting to stand still and wait for the DEHV crossing light, he chose to lead Tena down the next block beside him. ¡°We¡¯re moving too slow,¡± he said, panting. ¡°I¡¯m okay to start running again. Are you?¡± ¡°No, but I¡¯m gonna do it anyway.¡± And that was what he did. Clumsily, exhaustedly, and barely able to control his locomotion, Jimmy forced his aching, tired legs to obey his commands, and he entered into a pathetic half-limp, half-run that saw him staggering and stumbling. At one point, he even lost his balance, knocking over a barrel filled with water outside of a fish store, and causing people to give him dirty looks outside of a pet shop after he came very close to kicking a dog by accident. ¡°S-sorry,¡± he managed to say, limping onwards. ¡°Jimmy, if we need to rest, we can¡ª¡± ¡°No, Tena. We have to keep going.¡± Trying to keep his body under control, he managed to more or less head straight down to the middle of the next block. And he almost did so without stumbling at all. In fact, it was only as he nearly reached the end that he accidentally knocked over a trash can, bumped into a guy on a bicycle, who thankfully wasn¡¯t hurt, and then accidentally kicked over some cat¡¯s food bowl by mistake, causing heaps of chicken and tuna to spill out onto the sidewalk in front of the ¡°cat caf¨¦¡± where it was eating. The cat immediately hissed at him. ¡°Sorry,¡± he panted again, mostly ignoring it as he tried his best to make it to the end of the next block. To Tena, he said, ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right. Maybe I do need to¡ª¡± ¡°Stupid human is not sorry!¡± a childish, male, yet eerily cartoonish voice shouted angrily at him. Jimmy wasn¡¯t sure who shouted it or why, but he ignored it and kept on trekking forward¡ªuntil he was forced to stop on a dime, his knees nearly buckling as a random bolt of lightning simply emerged from a cloudless sky and slammed with a thwap down onto the sidewalk in front of him. ¡°Stop ignoring me!¡± Confused and now suddenly afraid, Jimmy turned around, looking for whoever was shouting at him, terrified it was another one of those robed assassins trying to kill him. Tena also turned around, though rather than fear, her eyes lit up with recognition and hope. ¡°Fluffles!¡± she called out, running forward and dropping to her knees in front of the cat whose food bowl Jimmy had accidentally knocked over. And it was only in this moment that Jimmy realized that the cat had been the one speaking. But with everything he¡¯d experienced this morning still fresh in his mind, this revelation somehow lacked the shock effect it might¡¯ve had on a different day. Mystified, Jimmy watched as Tena extended her arm, reached out, and made as if to pet the cat, but the cat raised his paw as if threatening to scratch her, and he hissed again. ¡°Tena and Tena friend knock over Fluffles¡¯ chicken bowl. No petting!¡± ¡°We¡¯re so sorry, Fluffles. You don¡¯t understand. We¡¯re in danger.¡± ¡°That right! Humans in big danger from Fluffles. I want chicken and tuna or Fluffles scratch.¡± She shook her head. ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand, little guy. We¡¯re here with Zach and Kalana.¡± ¡°Zach¡­come back already?¡± Fluffles asked nervously. ¡°Fluffles not supposed to sneak out for more food. I get in trouble. Tena not tell.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± she promised. ¡°But please, Fluffles, we need your help.¡± ¡°Help?¡± Jimmy observed in a state of utter fascination as Tena actually prostrated herself before a cat of all things and began to beg it. Now this, he found surprising. For some reason, she actually started to plead with the animal. Jimmy loved cats too¡ªand had one that he still refused to believe he¡¯d never see again¡ªbut he couldn¡¯t recall ever begging one as though it were some kind of deity whose blessing he required. Because that was how this was coming off. ¡°Please help us, Fluffles. Please!¡± she begged him. ¡°Why do humans need help?¡± the cat asked, making a meow that somehow sounded inquisitive. ¡°There are assassins that are trying to kill my friend Jimmy,¡± she said, pointing at him. Feeling awkward, he waved. ¡°We¡¯re too exhausted to keep running. If they come after us, I don¡¯t know how we¡¯ll survive. Please help us.¡± Fluffles meowed. ¡°Only if Jimmy buy ten cans of tuna and apologize.¡± ¡°Of course! Jimmy, come here and apologize to Fluffles.¡± As crazy as all this seemed, Jimmy still did not fully understand the rules of this world or what was possible. And so, he felt no shame as he knelt down before the cat and did exactly what Tena asked him to do. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry I knocked over your bowl of food, uh¡­Fluffles, is it?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Very good name,¡± he remarked. Fluffles purred. ¡°Yes it is!¡± His throat having gone dry from dehydration, he found it difficult to speak. Yet he tried, anyway. And in as few words as possible, he explained to the cat what had just happened while he, Tena, Zach, and Kalana had been eating ice cream. It was almost hard to believe what he was doing: kneeling there on the sidewalk next to Tena and explaining his dire situation to a fluffy, black-and-white cat with amber-colored eyes. Yet that was exactly what he did. When he finished, Tena said, ¡°Everything he just told you is true. And we don¡¯t even know if Zach and Kalana are okay.¡± ¡°I check,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°Check?¡± both he and Tena asked. Fluffles closed his eyes and began to chant. ¡°Zach, Kalana, Zach, Kalana, Zach, Kalana.¡± As he did so, hundreds of little specks that looked like little grains of sand began to float over his head, appearing out of thin air. Only, unlike sand, they were purple in color, and they were dark and did not cast any shadows on the sidewalk. Yet as quickly as they emerged, they vanished just the same, and then the cat reopened its eyes. ¡°Zach and Kalana okay,¡± the cat said. ¡°I protect Tena and¡­¡± Fluffles made a loud meow that actually startled Jimmy. He got up quickly, turned his head, and then darted forward before lifting up onto his hind legs while placing his front paws on Jimmy¡¯s knees. Now, he locked eyes with Jimmy, and it felt as though the cat was reading his soul or something. ¡°Jimmy Green,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°Jimmy not supposed to be here.¡± ¡°Yeah, believe me, I know. How do you know that?¡± The cat again meowed, and he looked confused. ¡°I appraise. Jimmy die. Jimmy not supposed to be here.¡± ¡°Like I said. I know.¡± ¡°Jimmy cheat death.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­right,¡± he whispered. If Fluffles had anything else to say, he did not voice it, because instead, he abruptly spun around and hissed, though Jimmy was not sure why. But then Tena jumped back up to her feet, and a wave of nervous uncertainty rushed through him. This only worsened as he himself lifted his head and looked down the block in the direction that he and Tena had come from, and now, he watched as a man with spiky hair in full black plate armor with bladed gauntlets marched over to them in a way that was both intimidating and threatening. Scars running down both sides of his face, the crooked-jawed man looked like he was up to no good. It put Jimmy immediately on guard. Is that one of them? he wondered. No robe or mask, though. As he came a bit closer, Jimmy climbed back up to his feet and got a much better look at his eyes, and now, he could tell that this was indeed one of the two men who had attacked him: the one who¡¯d been wielding the large, curved sword. And though he no longer wore the robe, the mask, or carried that curved, elongated blade, Jimmy was sure of it¡ªit was definitely the same dude. The realization caused him to groan. He was now too exhausted to run. He was done for. ¡°Tena,¡± he said, fighting back the rising fear. ¡°I think he only wants me. You have to go.¡± ¡°No!¡± she shouted. ¡°Not a chance.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s after you, Tena. If you leave, I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll come for you.¡± ¡°And you¡¯d be right about that,¡± the man said, clearly having entered earshot as he marched closer and closer. He wore a confident, sadistic grin. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in anyone but you, Jimmy Green. So tell your girl and the Shadowfang to leave, and I won¡¯t have to hurt them.¡± Jimmy had absolutely no idea what a ¡°Shadowfang¡± was, but based solely on the context, he ventured a guess that the man was referring to Fluffles. Standing back up, he realized there was no longer any running away. This was it for him, wasn¡¯t it? He¡¯d cheated death for a reason he didn¡¯t know¡ªonly to end up killed by someone he didn¡¯t know for a reason they probably wouldn¡¯t tell him. Even still, he couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡°What did I do wrong? At least tell me that. I don¡¯t got a clue what I ever did to you or anybody else to deserve this.¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± the spiky-haired assassin said as he approached ever closer to where Jimmy was standing behind Fluffles and Tena. ¡°None of this is your fault. But I still gotta take care of business, and the fact of the matter is you shouldn¡¯t be here. You¡¯re human.¡± Jimmy mouthed something in reply, then let the words fall off as it fully dawned on him what had just been said. It was so bizarre it was actually stunning. Finally, he managed to find his nerve, and he said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you human? What kinda bullshit reason is that?¡± He lifted his arms and waved them around him. ¡°Almost everyone in this city is human. Why you picking on me?¡± The man shrugged, his demeanor uncomfortably casual. ¡°Well, Jimmy, there¡¯s human, and then there¡¯s human. You¡¯re the real thing, old timer. Not supposed to be any more of you. Again, not your fault, but here we are. Just make this easy for yourself and die willingly, how about it?¡± Old timer? Jimmy thought. He¡¯d be amused if he wasn¡¯t so terrified. Upon coming within ten feet of where Jimmy stood, the spiky-haired assassin stopped. He lowered his eyes down to Fluffles. ¡°Move, feline.¡± Fluffles hissed. ¡°You move, stupid man!¡± Jimmy gulped. This was going to end in tragedy, wasn¡¯t it? This guy looked like a fucking Terminator. Jimmy was in big, big trouble. ¡°Who are you, anyway?¡± he asked. ¡°Why do you even care where I¡¯m from or how I got here?¡± ¡°None of your business,¡± the man replied, his voice deep and gravelly. ¡°It would take too long to explain, anyway, and you¡¯d end up with even more questions. You¡¯re better off not knowing who I¡ª¡± ¡°Mean stupid man is Zylor Ursock,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°I appraise. Zylor is level 75 and has 240 strength.¡± The man scowled. ¡°Gods-cursed Shadowfangs.¡± He glared at the cat, who stood his ground and hissed right back at him. ¡°Not that it matters. All he did was make it so that I can¡¯t spare any of you now. Seeing my face is one thing: knowing my name, though? A fatal mistake.¡± If Jimmy was frightened to begin with, he was doubly so now. He didn¡¯t know how the cat was able to do what it did, but clearly, he had no reason to doubt its words. And if true, it meant he was in a whole world of trouble. More so than he¡¯d realized. ¡°Level 75?¡± he asked, his knees trembling. Yet even as he worried that his legs would buckle, he shook with more than just fear: he trembled with rage, too. With a sense of unfairness and disbelief at just how pathetic this all was. Words began to slip out of his mouth: words he didn¡¯t even intend to say. The juxtaposition of the reality he knew and the reality he¡¯d found himself in merged with his moment of deathly terror, and as a result, he began to speak like someone caught between worlds. ¡°This isn¡¯t even a fair fight,¡± he said. ¡°What kind of level-75 scrub has to gank a dude in their 40s? You must suck ass if you have to PVP against a lowbie because you¡¯re too bad to find someone your own level to 1v1. You''re the type of shit-tier tryhard who gets stuck in bronze but still thinks he¡¯s good.¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Fluffles shouted at the man. ¡°Zylor is a scrub and is smelly and stupid! Right, Jimmy?¡± ¡°He¡¯s low-ELO trash,¡± Jimmy said with a nod, unable to believe he was provoking this man. He was simply too spent and too dehydrated to do anything but vent his exhausted frustrations. ¡°He probably mains Karthus for R spam.¡± Jimmy¡¯s words seemed to momentarily stun the guy¡ªthe one Fluffles had called Zylor. His face cringed, and he actually stopped in his tracks. But then, a moment later, he released a bout of laughter. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he said, the grin returning to his lips. ¡°This all used to be a game to you, didn¡¯t it? I don¡¯t know half of that jargon, and I doubt anyone else in the world does, either¡ªprobably not even Adamus. Looks like you¡¯ll be taking it with you to the grave, huh?¡± He raised his bladed gauntlets threateningly. ¡°Now let¡¯s get this done with. I have a species to make extinct. I¡¯m done talking.¡± True to his word, he bent his knees and then took off towards Jimmy at a dash, blasting right by Fluffles and Tena. He moved so fast that Jimmy struggled to react and panicked. He reached his arm over his shoulder and tried to remove his staff, fumbling in the process. He ended up dropping it onto the sidewalk, where it then began to roll away from him; this, as the spiky-haired assassin known as ¡°Zylor¡± was on him in a second, drawing back his arm and whipping it across as if to slit Jimmy¡¯s throat with his gauntlet-blade. Jimmy, horrified, remained perfectly still. He was like a deer caught in headlights. He didn¡¯t know what to do. Terror raced through him. He didn¡¯t even try to avoid the attack or move out of the way. All he could do was tremble where he stood as his body seized up and he became gripped with so much fear it rendered him immobilized. ¡°Jimmy!¡± Tena cried. ¡°No! Stop!¡± The blade tore through the air. It was coming for his throat. Jimmy bade his body to move, but it would not obey. He held his breath. Was this the moment of his death? He grinded his teeth together in anticipation of the pain that was soon to come. Yet, rather than pain, what he instead got was surprise. A strange sound came from in front of him on the sidewalk. It was something that began as a hiss from Fluffles but soon ended as a roar from something else entirely. Before Jimmy¡¯s eyes, the little kitty transformed itself into a much larger, much more ferocious cat. It turned fully black, its teeth sharpened, as did its claws, and it grew to a size that was unquestionably larger than a lion. Then, with another roar, it sprang forward, opened its mouth widely, and chomped down on Zylor¡¯s upper bicep. ¡°Argh!¡± the man cried, a sound that surely indicated he felt the bite. There was a crack that sounded a little bit like the breaking of ice, and now, Jimmy could visibly see the cat¡¯s monstrous teeth sinking into the plate armor, cracking through it as though it were hard candy. With a vicious tug of his head, Fluffles pulled the assassin¡¯s arm away from Jimmy¡¯s face only a moment before the silvery blade jutting from his gauntlet opened up his throat and caused him to bleed out over the sidewalk. And with that, the man took his eyes off Jimmy¡ªat least for the moment. Widening with rage, he refocused them on Fluffles, turning his head and scowling at the massive cat. ¡°Get the fuck off me,¡± he growled, shaking his arm. Despite Fluffles¡¯ huge size, he managed to shake the cat wildly, yet somehow, Fluffles was able to hold on. Flailing his arm around in way that actually looked panicked, Fluffles¡¯ body ended up knocking over a trashcan and smashing a hole in the brick wall of a nearby storefront¡ªbut still, he could not be dislodged. ¡°Get off!¡± he shouted a second time, twisting his body so that he could jab the cat in the stomach with the blade of his other gauntlet, puncturing Fluffles six or seven times in the stomach before finally succeeding in flinging him off and throwing him through a glass window, which made a noisy crack as it shattered and set off a store alarm. People on both sides of the street, as if finally becoming aware of the situation, began to flee the opposite way. With the cat shaken free, the man, Zylor, once more faced in Jimmy¡¯s direction¡ªbut only for the briefest of moments. Tena, having drawn her staff, held it out in front of herself horizontally in one hand with her palm facing downwards and her fingers gripping it directly in the middle. From both the very base of the staff as well as the end, two orange balls of fire erupted, and Jimmy watched as she lifted her staff-wielding arm with a dramatic motion, causing both fireballs to pop up and off the staff in a way that reminded him of two tennis balls about to be served. Then, as both began to fall back down, Tena quickly shifted her grip on her staff so that she held it in both hands like a baseball bat, and giving two quick swings one after the next, she sent both balls of flame shooting directly at the level-75 prick who had completely ruined their day. His scowl deepening, Zylor again turned away from Jimmy, and he twisted his hips from left to right, then right to left, each time throwing a hook in the air, which he used to rip his blade through the incoming projectiles. Both erupted into an even larger flame upon contact with his bladed gauntlets, and both vanished from existence an instant after. ¡°You¡¯re next,¡± he said to her, spitting out a wad of saliva on the concrete sidewalk. Having warded off yet another attack against him, he made a grunt, and for the third time, he began turning his body around towards Jimmy¡ªonly to pause halfway as, with another shattering of glass, Fluffles reemerged. The cat came crashing through a window adjacent to the one he¡¯d been thrown in, and with a loud, angry roar, he once more clung to the man¡¯s upper arm, this time on the opposite side of his body. Jimmy noticed that a trail of blood led from the window to the spot where Fluffles was now viciously biting his way through the plate armor. Even as he hovered midair and resisted Zylor¡¯s attempts to throw him off, there was a growing puddle of red as more and more blood leaked out of him while he continued to make grunts and roars. The sight of it was enough to finally snap Jimmy out of his stupor. He''ll die from those wounds! Scrambling away from the sidewalk, Jimmy raced towards the street to retrieve his staff, which had rolled off the curb and was continuing to move away from him. Yet in his attempt to chase after it, he was nearly flung directly onto his back as another reddish wall of light popped into existence and barred his passage. This time, however, he refused to be stopped. He could not afford to wait; no, this was a genuine emergency. He needed to force his way through. And while he only had 18 points into strength, he knew that he was still many, many times stronger than even the greatest Olympian to ever walk the face of the Earth. There was no way the anti-entry barrier could stop him if he used every ounce of his strength and tried to break his way through. Clearly, whatever devices powered the barrier were made to ward against ordinary, level-1 people: not people like him. And so, using his left shoulder like a battering ram, he shoved himself into the forcefield-thing with all his might, and to his satisfaction, there was a loud, electric-like snap, and with much greater ease than he expected, the energy dissipated, and his body slipped through. With that, he bolted out into the middle of traffic, threw himself onto the road, grabbed his Epic-Rare staff he¡¯d earned from soloing the boss on F30, and then had just enough time to race back across the street before a car traveling well over 150MPH burned its way across the road where he¡¯d been standing. DEHV, he told himself. Not car. How many times you gonna mess that up? Bracing himself for impact, he charged through the crossing barrier a second time, and now, raising his staff high above his head, he called down greater gift of mending, targeting Fluffles, who Zylor had once again succeeded in dislodging, throwing the cat onto the sidewalk with enough force to send him smashing through a giant chunk of it. The poor cat was now whining, clearly in pain. Thankfully, Jimmy had just the thing for him. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Like a spotlight shined down during a Broadway play, a circular green light appeared above him, and then an instant later, the more than a dozen piercing stab wounds he¡¯d suffered closed up all on their own. Immediately, Fluffles stopped whining and once more started hissing. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said¡ªcausing Jimmy to recoil, as his words now came out in a deep, dark, masculine, and loudly booming voice that sounded more like ¡°THANK YOU!¡± Clearly feeling much better, Fluffles unsheathed his claws, roared in defiance, and ran forward as if to attack¡ªonly to stop a moment before engaging, coming to a sudden, complete halt just inches in front of the man. He¡¯d even raised his large paw as though intent on striking with his claws. But for some reason, he¡¯d simply¡­stopped. And now, after remaining frozen for several seconds, he lowered his paw, backed away a few steps, and turned his head as if to look behind him¡ªand then he flinched and jumped off to the side for some reason. Jimmy wasn¡¯t sure why. Was the cat still hurting? Did he need another heal? Before he could consider the answer to these questions, he realized that Tena was rushing over to him, and now his confusion quadrupled as she leapt into him, essentially tackling him so that the two of them fell down together onto the sidewalk right next to Fluffles. ¡°What are you doing?¡± he yelled at her. ¡°Are you trying to get us¡ª¡± Jimmy shut his mouth and let his words fall off as he felt a slight vibration on the ground along with the sudden sound of thudding, one that was growing louder by the millisecond. At the same time, Zylor shifted his stance as if to brace himself. At the moment, he had his eyes pinned on something behind Jimmy, and it occurred to Jimmy that he was no longer focusing any attention on him, Tena, or Fluffles. ¡°Should¡¯ve just stayed away,¡± he muttered, speaking the words so quietly that Jimmy wasn¡¯t even positive he¡¯d heard them correctly. Lifting himself up into a seated position, Jimmy glanced behind him¡ªand gasped as a highly unusual sight greeted his eyes. It took his mind a moment to register what he was even seeing. Was there another cat heading their way? The hell¡­? There was indeed another cat heading their way, one that was moving at an immense, DEHV-like speed. It was a large, orange, black-striped saber-toothed tiger, and it was moving so fast and stomping down so hard that bits and pieces of sidewalk were being ripped up in its wake. But there was more, too: someone was mounted on top of it. With a start, Jimmy recognized the rider as he drew nearer thanks to the menacing glow in his eyes, which Jimmy knew was caused by the hood of the cloak he wore over his head. ¡°Get away from them!¡± Zach shouted as he and this tremendous cat¡ªthat looked to be an NPC called ¡°Kralzek¡¯s Beast¡±¡ªtore their way down the street. And unless Jimmy¡¯s eyes were playing tricks on him, the thing was level 85: fully ten levels higher than what Fluffles claimed Zylor was! The man seemed to realize this, because his demeanor rapidly changed upon seeing it. Jimmy was sure he spotted some degree of alarm in the assassin¡¯s eyes. But the saber-toothed, monstrous beast was not what he should have been focusing on; no, it was its rider who was clearly the bigger threat. Zach looks mad as hell! A moment before colliding directly into Zylor, Zach stood up on the mount and launched himself into the air, flipping once before slamming his sword down on top of the man with another angry shout. Zylor, who was grappling with the tremendous saber-toothed tiger, only just had time to spin his body around and hip-throw the big cat off to the side and into¡ªand through¡ªa nearby wall, barely managing to then straighten his torso and raise both his gauntlets to defend himself as Zach crashed down on him; with an audible grunt, his two short blades met Zach¡¯s sword, and the result of their collision was another shower of sparks. A scowl on his face, Jimmy thought Zylor was beginning to look increasingly nervous. ¡°Think you can just kick me through a fucking building?¡± Zach shouted at him. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re in for it now. I¡¯m pissed!¡± With a ferocity Jimmy could hardly believe, Zach exploded into a manic frenzy of heavy, yet blindingly fast sword strikes. From the way his body lurched with each one, Jimmy could visibly see the amount of effort and power he put into each attack. Zach raised his sword high and then slashed it down low, shouting out with the effort of doing so, but Zylor again blocked it with both of his gauntlets. This did not seem to deter Zach, however, as he struck four more subsequent times, alternating between the left and right side with each strike; each one came in harder and faster than the one prior, and Zylor now looked genuinely flustered as he defended himself. The man pivoted on his hips and raised his left hand, followed by his right, and then he repeated the movement again, making circular motions with his arms as Zach¡¯s blade crashed into his gauntlets four times, causing a loud metallic ringing to echo on the street with each impact. But all that seemed to serve as just some kind of warmup, because then Zach really exploded. He slashed five more times, punctuating each one with a shout, and Zylor grunted each time he moved his body to block. And though he succeeded in guarding against each blow, Zach continued to go after him with even more ferocity. Jimmy doubted he was holding anything back, and honestly, he had no idea from what place Zach was finding the strength to maintain such an intense, all-out assault against someone who was clearly the stronger of the two; yet, that was exactly what he did. Swinging his sword upwards, Zach attempted to cut the man open from his groin to his chest. But Zylor was able to make a downward, circular motion with both his arms, this time in reverse, causing three clangs to fill the air simultaneously. Then, with Zach¡¯s arms now raised, and his sword moving from low to high, the kid made an abrupt change in motion, cutting directly across from left to right, and Zylor was now forced to compensate with his own motion, which meant awkwardly lifting his right hand and waving it above his shoulder like someone trying to swat away a fly buzzing in their ear. Zach, with his body also now in a somewhat awkward angle, chose to reset rather than attempt a third strike. He took a step back and returned to a more defensive stance, which allowed Zylor to seize the initiative. ¡°I¡¯ve had it!¡± the man snapped, finally finding an opening to retaliate. ¡°I¡¯m putting you down!¡± With a speed even faster than that shown by Zach, Zylor barked out a few curse words and brought his right, gauntleted fist down on top of Zach¡¯s skull like a hammer as if trying to slice the kid¡¯s head apart down the middle. But Zach seemed to see this coming, because with minimal motion, he leaned over towards his left, and the gauntlet-blade cut only the air. He then retaliated with two fast strikes of his own, both of which Zylor warded off using his left hand before swinging around his right once more. This time, not only did Zach dodge, but he did so by jumping backwards, kicking off a brick wall behind him, and then launching himself forward while slashing his sword down on top of Zylor, who despite appearing to have more speed and faster stat-based reflexes, was nevertheless caught off guard. Thus, Zach successfully scored a hit; Jimmy let out a cheer as his new friend lobbed off an entire piece of the man¡¯s left shoulder guard, which made a soft clank as it landed onto the sidewalk and caused the man to grunt as he was thrown back with enough force that he came very close to falling over. Zach then gave a confident flourish with his blade, and it was here that Zylor made a slight, almost unnoticeable trembling motion. It was barely visible, but Jimmy was sure he saw it. He¡¯s shook, Jimmy realized, inhaling sharply as he also noticed a nervous crease forming on the assassin¡¯s forehead. Zylor¡¯s scared of him! Zach continued his wild assault, and to Jimmy¡¯s surprise, Zylor actually began to backpedal¡ªbut Zach pressed him, moving forward as Zylor continued to back away; this, while sparks lit up in the location of each collision of sword against gauntlet. Eventually, Zylor began to duck, weave, and dodge, but Zach showed no sign of slowing down. The man squatted beneath a horizontal slash aimed at his throat, then bent his knees a second time to avoid a similar, follow-up attack. He tried to counter, throwing around his own blade, but Zach parried and then riposted, managing to hack off another piece of Zylor¡¯s armor, this one near his right hip. As though becoming desperate, Zylor made a gesture with his left hand, and from somewhere behind Zach, a giant bang erupted as a crater formed in the middle of the sidewalk, and from within this crater emerged a granite boulder, which was then hurtled at Zach. Jimmy opened his mouth to call out in warning, but it turned out not to be necessary, as Zach was somehow aware of the large rock, which was approaching him from behind. And not only was he aware of it, but he managed to deal with it as part of a four-strike combination. Coming at Zylor from both diagonals, he attacked the man¡¯s left, then his right, then he spun around, slicing the boulder in half, and finally, he delivered a fourth attack, this one ripping free a fist-sized chunk of plate armor that had been protecting Zylor¡¯s chest. It too joined the growing collection of scrap metal. With sweat pouring down his face, Zylor once more resorted to backpedaling as the intensity only increased from there. Now, Jimmy had to slide farther away on his butt as they moved closer to him. God help him if he actually got caught in between those two! Zach, whose hands and feet were continuing to release an impossibly black smoke, and whose body was glowing, continued to hammer away. He unleashed attack after attack at Zylor, including one that saw him spin completely around, hop a few inches into the air, grunt, and then crash his blade down with incredible force. Zylor, scowling, spun his own body around while raising his right hand; both forces seemed to neutralize the other upon impact, and both Zach and Zylor were each put off balance as a result of this clash. But Zach, whose eyes burned with fury, was the first to recover, charging forward again and continuing his onslaught. From the way Zylor was now wincing each time he absorbed another attack, Jimmy was beginning to get the impression the man was experiencing some degree of pain, likely from the shock of repeated, high-intensity impacts. But it seemed like the herculean effort was beginning to take its toll on the kid. Zach was now panting, and it was clear he was burning himself out. His attacks slowed, and eventually, as if running out of energy, he stopped attacking Zylor entirely; after delivering one final slice of his sword, which Zylor succeeded in evading, he abruptly dashed backwards and pulled away from the man. Then he bent forward, opened his mouth, and began breathing heavily, yet he did so with a big grin on his face, one that seemed to egg Zylor on, because as though sensing an opportunity to turn the tables on Zach, he became the one to push forward¡ªbut only for about one or two steps. With a roar almost as vicious as one from Fluffles, the level-85 creature known as ¡°Kralzek¡¯s Beast¡± reemerged from within the crumpled section of the wall it¡¯d been thrown through, and it did so already at a run; racing forward on all fours, it went straight for Zylor. Jimmy watched as it opened its giant mouth, which he estimated was large enough to fit Zylor¡¯s entire face inside of it. Its teeth were so sharp it was enough to make the beast deadly even without factoring in its claws. ¡°Son of a bitch,¡± Zylor growled. The sight of it seemed to force the man to reconsider his plan to attack Zach; instead, he threw himself backwards and away just as the beast chomped down, causing it to bite only the empty air. But the beast, like its master, was unable to be deterred. And now, like some kind of bizarre tag-team match, it took Zach¡¯s place, and began pressing him¡ªand after a short moment, so too did Zach, rushing back in the moment he seemed to have regained his breath. This meant Zylor was now forced to guard against Zach¡¯s attacks with only his his left gauntlet while keeping the Kralzek¡¯s razor-sharp teeth and claws away with just his right. This, unfortunately, left him with nothing free to protect himself against Fluffles, who made a roar of his own and reentered the fight, lunging at the man¡¯s right thigh and biting down on it. This time, he managed to crack all the way through the plate and sink his teeth into flesh. ¡°Gahhh!¡± he cried out. ¡°Fucking rabid animal!¡± Tena chose this moment to attack as well, swinging two more fireballs off her staff, both of which landed in the same exact spot in the middle of Zylor¡¯s back. Each one expanded and became a much brighter, larger flame upon impact; the first vanished quickly after appearing, and though it did no damage, it seemed to dramatically weaken the armor, because the second managed to linger, burning a decent amount of it away and causing liquid metal to sizzle on the sidewalk after running down his hips. Jimmy, sensing an opportunity for victory, decided to also pile on. Still exhausted, and way out of his element, he somehow found the strength to stand back up and fight. Drawing a deep breath, he eyed Zylor and pursed his lips. He didn¡¯t like the idea of hurting someone. He wasn¡¯t a violent person. But this was a matter of life or death, and he really didn¡¯t have any choice, did he? Gotta do it. Now on his feet, Jimmy made a swinging motion with his staff and activated one of his three poisons; given Zylor¡¯s close proximity to his allies, he couldn¡¯t use anything that had an area of effect, so he went with his single-target ability called Poisonous Miasma, which functioned in a way that was similar to a landmine. As Zylor continued to backpedal, now somewhat unsteadily due to Fluffles clinging onto his thigh, which was steadily dripping blood, he was clearly far too preoccupied to be aware of the rust-colored, oblong-shaped object that had appeared on the sidewalk immediately behind him. And just as Jimmy hoped, he stepped on it, causing it to explode into a purplish cloud, which enveloped him, turned his eyes a similar shade of purple, and caused his skin to take on a dry, flaky look as he visibly winced every few seconds as though in agony. The moment it seemed to dawn on him that he¡¯d been poisoned, a look of absolute misery filled his expression, and soon he began to express his pain vocally, crying out each time there was another tick of the poison. Jimmy forced himself not to look away. He watched, disturbed but vigilant, as pieces of the man¡¯s flesh around his cheeks and forehead began to peel off and leave behind bloody, red clumps of damp skin. The man began coughing even as he struggled to keep in the fight, and Jimmy had to work extra hard not to feel any pity or sorrow over the fact that he was the one who¡¯d caused this pain. And that was not all he did, too. Glancing downwards, Jimmy was stunned to realize he¡¯d somehow filled the most important bar that he kept in his field of vision at all times. In fact, it only took five ticks of the poison to fill the bar completely, which was far faster than it usually took when fighting a boss or a mob.
Breath of Invigoration: 100%
Jimmy widened his eyes in delight as he saw the bar fill. Having already exhausted himself just on the way over here, the use of his poison, which had a Moderate exertion cost, left him feeling so weak it was a miracle he was able to remain on his feet. This would have him back to full strength in no time. Straightening his back, he raised his staff high and prepared to cast what, in his opinion, was his single-greatest ability. Yet he paused as he caught sight of Zach¡¯s condition. Despite continuing to fight, the kid looked like he was in even worse shape than Jimmy was in. He was also doing a whole lot more to contribute, too. He needs this way more than I do, Jimmy thought. ¡°Zach!¡± he called out. ¡°Hold still!¡± ¡°Why?¡± Zach shouted back, huffing as though he was failing to catch his breath. ¡°Just please don¡¯t move for two seconds. You gotta trust me!¡± ¡°I only have thirty seconds before I pass out!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°My ability¡¯s about to end!¡± he shouted, though Jimmy still didn¡¯t know what the hell he was talking about. Did he mean the thing with the smoke? He had no idea how that worked. Regardless, Zach¡¯s movements were now becoming so sluggish that Jimmy feared it was only a matter of time before Zylor would somehow reclaim the advantage. ¡°Just trust me!¡± Jimmy insisted. ¡°Please!¡± Zach, looking annoyed, nevertheless relented. He halted in place, assumed a defensive position, and then eyed the battle taking place before him. Jimmy also stole a glimpse. For the moment, the two cats and Tena were able to keep Zylor occupied, and the lot of them were moving farther and farther down the sidewalk as they fought. But without Zach adding that last bit of needed pressure, it seemed like Zylor would prevail over all three of them even despite the fact that the Kralzek¡¯s Beast had ten levels on him. Jimmy supposed this proved that level meant less than stats and skills. At any rate, he knew he needed to act quickly, and so Jimmy forced his aching legs to move and hurried his way closer to Zach, as this spell only had a range of 8. Once he was close enough, he again raised his staff high above him, and with that, he activated Breath of Invigoration, targeting Zach. The moment he cast it, the last of his strength was spent, and he collapsed right there into a sitting position on the sidewalk and rested his staff in his lap. He knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to move for a moment; his body was coming perilously close to passing out from E-debt. Fighting not to lose consciousness, Jimmy turned his attention towards studying Zach¡¯s expression as the buff took effect. Impatiently, Zach craned his neck to look upwards at the big, blue, and cartoonish depiction of a heart that was now floating just a few feet above his head. It began to spin as it dropped lower and lower onto him before simultaneously vanishing and bathing Zach in a blueish white light, which slowly faded along with the heart. ¡°Some kind of buff?¡± Zach asked, still panting. ¡°Really didn¡¯t have time for¡­huh?¡± He inhaled, sharply. ¡°Did I just activate my stamina ability on my sword or something?¡± He gasped. ¡°Why¡¯s my time going up? Jimmy, what did you just do to me?¡± Jimmy was too tired to answer, and so he didn¡¯t. From the way Zach¡¯s eyes lifted and his head turned slowly left to right, he took a guess that Zach had pulled the buff¡¯s information up for himself. This turned out to be correct, and the level of excitement Zach gave off was almost enough to rouse Jimmy from his own state of exhaustion. ¡°Constant passive¡­stamina regeneration?¡± Zach finished in a shout as if in disbelief. ¡°There¡¯s such a thing as that? My Unleashed Phase is going up now, not down. It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s actually ticking up! This is fucking unbelievable! Jimmy! Jimmy I can¡¯t believe this!¡± Zach turned completely around and looked down at where Jimmy was sitting, and the expression on his face was one that was both unforgettable and haunting. He stared intensely at Jimmy with a look that combined wonder and gratitude, but also, there was so much more to it as well. He eyed Jimmy as though Jimmy was some kind of puzzle piece or solution to some kind of riddle. It was a strange, disconcerting look that was in no way malicious or likely even intentional but was nevertheless one he knew he would not forget for so long as he continued to live in this world. Rather than rejoin the fight, Zach stayed put for nearly half a minute, then closed his eyes and drew a full breath. Reopening them, he said, ¡°It¡¯s going up even faster now that I¡¯m back to full stamina.¡± Jimmy could visibly tell that he was back to his full strength. He sure looked it. Yet, even still, he continued to stay right where he was, even as Zylor finally shook Fluffles and the Kralzek¡¯s Beast free and turned his attention towards dealing with Tena. ¡°You don¡¯t understand, do you?¡± Zach asked, shaking his head as he looked at Jimmy. ¡°Understand what?¡± Jimmy asked nervously, becoming fearful that something might happen to her. Zach laughed. ¡°You don¡¯t get it. You just don¡¯t.¡± ¡°What don¡¯t I get?¡± Zach laughed a second time. ¡°Do you have any¡ªany!¡ªidea of what a buff like this means when used on someone like me? I don¡¯t think you can even imagine it. But she must have known.¡± Even without saying who ¡°she¡± was, Jimmy had a fairly good idea he was referring to Eilea. ¡°What can you do?¡± Jimmy asked, genuinely curious. Zach reached down and offered him his hand. He took it, and Zach pulled him back to his feet. ¡°We just won the fight because of this buff. It¡¯s over. For real.¡± ¡°Are you sure? Because he¡¯s about to attack Tena. Please, you can¡¯t let him hurt her. You¡¯ve got to do something before he¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Zach said, raising his blade. Zylor was now charging at Tena, who sent multiple projectiles at him from the end of her staff, which consisted of green, exploding flowers, none of which stopped his momentum. Jimmy became nervous¡ªthen outright panicked as he reached her, lifted his arms, and then swung the blades down at her throat. ¡°Zach! Please! Oh my God, man! PLEASE! You¡¯ve got to¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine!¡± he shouted. ¡°Trust me now, Jimmy.¡± A blue orb wrapped around Tena¡¯s body a moment before the blades attached to the gauntlet bled her dry, and then this orb began to shrink until it vanished entirely. It reappeared a moment later beside Zach, and now, standing there with them was Tena. A second later, the same became true of Fluffles, who Zach had also seemingly rescued. ¡°Watch this,¡± he whispered to Jimmy. Then he faced Zylor and cleared his throat. ¡°You just lost!¡± he called to the man at the other end of the street. ¡°Give up!¡± Zylor didn¡¯t even seem to pay attention to Zach¡¯s words. The last tick of Jimmy¡¯s poison elicited one final groan from Zylor while he reached out, grabbed the Kralzek¡¯s Beast, and for the third time, he flung it through another storefront wall before turning his body to face the three of them; with that, he took off at a mad dash in their direction. ¡°Zach,¡± Jimmy said nervously, beginning to back away. ¡°If you¡¯ve got something up your sleeve, now¡¯s the time to do it.¡± Zach laughed confidently. ¡°Oh you better believe I do. Just watch.¡± ¡°I¡¯m watching, man. But that dude¡¯s getting real close!¡± ¡°He¡¯s done,¡± Zach said with absolute certainty. He assumed a combat stance, and then he raised his blade high and swung it down. ¡°Phase Slash!¡± he shouted. Then he lifted it up and swung it down a second time. ¡°Phase Slash!¡± Jimmy lurched, becoming startled as he heard a loud, mysterious sound that was like¡­like a jacket zipper being opened or closed only a billion times louder and coming from seemingly everywhere; it rang out and filled the entire street to the extent it drowned out every other noise. He opened his mouth to ask what in the hell that was, but then he flinched a second time as he heard it yet again. Now, from the point of Zach¡¯s blade, there seemed to be a distortion in the air itself, one that had a rippling, shimmering effect, and which moved so fast that Jimmy would¡¯ve missed it had he blinked. Zylor, who was three quarters of the way towards them, came to a sudden halt, and then he bent his knees, raised his bladed gauntlets, and delivered a boxer-like one-two combination into the air; the blades on his gauntlets ripped through these rippling disturbances, and both dissipated on contact. Then he lowered his gauntlets and prepared to¡ª ¡°Phase slash!¡± Zach shouted again. ¡°Phase slash!¡± An audible, angry growl came from Zylor as, a moment from taking off at a run, he again bent his knees and again boxed down two more of whatever it was that Zach was sending at him. For the second time, he lowered his hands and¡ª ¡°Phase slash! Phase Slash! Phase Slash!¡± His growling turned to loud, rambling and muttering as he began defending himself from¡ª ¡°Phase slash! Phase slash! Phase slash! Phase slash! Phase slash! Phase slash! Phase slash! Phase slash! Phase slash! Phase sl¡­wait I don¡¯t want to kill him by mistake. Okay, he¡¯s fine. Phase slash! Phase slash! Phase slash!¡± Jimmy¡¯s mind was blown by what he saw. Zach was now sending out abilities back-to-back in a way in which his buff should not have allowed. No matter how much stamina he had, it shouldn¡¯t have been possible for him to do this. Zylor also seemed confused, because he literally shouted out, ¡°How is he doing this?¡± as he entered into a full-on panic, wildly swinging his blades around and knocking the attacks down as soon as they arrived. But eventually, as Zach kept up the intensity without faltering, one managed to slip through his guard¡ªthen two. Then three. Now, Jimmy watched as his armor began to explode all over his body. His chest piece suffered a full break, vanishing, and so did his leggings, leaving him down to just a pair of plain brown breeches and a matching shirt. Then he was hit full on, and his nose burst as though broken, and blood escaped both it and his mouth as he was thrown backwards and onto the ground. ¡°Holy shit!¡± Jimmy shouted, unable to believe his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re spamming. How? My buff regens stamina fast, but not that quickly.¡± ¡°I built it up,¡± Zach said. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°My ability is on a timer, and I learned recently it can go down or up. Earlier, when I was resting, I was letting it build up. It¡¯s even building up right now. I¡¯m getting like a minute of time every five seconds. This is the craziest, most unbelievable shit ever. I can¡¯t believe you exist, Jimmy.¡± He rubbed his eyes with his forearm. ¡°You and I should probably not exist in the same universe.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­the point!¡± screamed Zylor as he clawed his way back to his feet. ¡°Now you¡¯re getting it! He¡¯s a threat to us all.¡± Zach lifted his sword and eyed Zylor. Then he looked at Tena and Fluffles. ¡°Let¡¯s finish this. But do not kill him. Okay?¡± ¡°Of course not,¡± Tena said without hesitation. ¡°I can¡¯t even imagine killing someone¡ªahh! Sorry, no offense.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± Zach said. He turned his head and glanced at Fluffles. ¡°Understood?¡± ¡°No!¡± Fluffles shouted, his voice booming. ¡°Fluffles kill stupid man.¡± Zach sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll give you 5000g and an extra dinner tonight.¡± ¡°Three dinners,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°Two.¡± ¡°Three!¡± ¡°Two!¡± Fluffles meowed, but in his current form, it sounded like a crazed screech. ¡°Okay. Fine. Two dinners.¡± Zach removed one hand from his sword, leaned over, and lifted his arm to rub the chin of the massive black cat, who purred in a way that at least sounded normal. ¡°I also won¡¯t ask you why you¡¯re here as a bonus. Now come on. Let¡¯s take him alive.¡± With that, Zach moved in towards Zylor along with Tena, Fluffles, and the level-85 NPC, though the latter merely hovered around him and was no longer actively attacking the man. Jimmy backed away a bit so he could lean against and rest on the nearest wall of the store behind him. He was too exhausted to contribute. Hopefully, they had things under control now and he wouldn¡¯t be needed. Sure, Zylor might have been really strong, but surely at this point, things were now well in their favor. And indeed, they were. Zach raised his palm then gestured for Tena and Fluffles to surround him without attacking. Zylor, as if enraged, darted forward and moved to engage Zach with his bladed gauntlets, which had somehow not yet been destroyed. From the way he was wobbling, Jimmy could tell that the very last ¡°Phase Slash¡± that Zach had used¡ªwhich landed on his exposed, unarmored body¡ªhad done real damage to him, because he was coming across as significantly weakened compared to only a moment prior. Now, the man cried out in pain as Zach easily deflected two of his desperate, throat-slitting attempts, and then methodically retaliated with a few carefully aimed and precise strikes of his own. His blade ripped off piece after piece of Zylor¡¯s remaining armor, mostly that which was around his shoulders. He also cut into a bit of flesh, as he was wide open and exposed. Blood was dripping down his thigh from when Fluffles¡¯ teeth had sunk deeply into him, and he had a three-inch gash on the right side of his face from an earlier swipe of the Kralzek¡¯s Beast that Jimmy must not have seen; it was deep enough that it might possibly add a new scar to his collection. As though finally accepting he was beaten, he released a pained groan then fell down to his knees while swearing aloud; there was no mistaking the look of genuine terror in his eyes as Zach turned his blade so that the pointed end faced forward, and with a single lunging motion, he sent it straight towards the man¡¯s exposed chest. Jimmy wondered if he should look away. For all that talk of taking him alive, he had a feeling Zach was going to end up killing him anyway, and he wasn¡¯t sure if he wanted to see this shit. After all, Zach had a bit of a reputation for not taking any prisoners and executing his enemies in some pretty brutal ways. Jimmy knew this because everybody at Angelica¡¯s talked about it in a way that was boastful, though he himself did not see what was so great about not showing any mercy. Right now, the point of Zach¡¯s sword looked like it was about to pierce Zylor straight through the heart; it was just an inch or two away from plunging into and through the skin and finishing things for good. But Zach did not press any further; he merely held it there, making contact with¡ªbut not breaking¡ªthe man¡¯s flesh. ¡°Give up,¡± Zach said to him, his weapon pressing threateningly against the left side of the man¡¯s chest. Jimmy was surprised to see that the bloodthirsty Zachys Calador was actually giving him this opportunity. Honestly, he thought the kid would¡¯ve run him through without a second thought. Zylor lowered his eyes as if to look down at the weapon that was a mere thrust away from ending his life. Then, for some reason, he grinned and began to laugh. ¡°You should¡¯ve just done it, you fuckin¡¯ moron. Now you¡¯re dead.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t push your luck!¡± Zach warned. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you! I¡¯m giving you a chance.¡± ¡°No, you had a chance, and you just lost it.¡± Zach inched the weapon ever so slightly, just enough to scratch, but not to deeply wound. ¡°I¡¯m warning you!¡± ¡°You should¡¯ve just done it, kid. You should¡¯ve just done it.¡± Zylor began to laugh even harder. As the scene unfolded before him, Jimmy blinked. And in the time between his eyelids closing and reopening, something changed¡ªsomething significant. And yet, he was the only one to see it. Behind Zach, and spinning like a top, was one of those Frisbee-looking things from before. ¡°Zach!¡± he yelled out, pushing himself off the wall and pointing with his staff. Zach turned his head around and looked, and the two briefly made eye contact. ¡°Zach, behind y¡ª¡± Jimmy raised his right arm to shield his face as concrete, dirt, dust, and numerous small rocks blanketed him on the heels of a loud boom, which had enough force that it caused him to fall backwards onto his rear even despite being safely outside the blast radius. Horrified, he immediately jumped back up to his feet, and despite the fact that he was in no condition to fight, he nevertheless found his courage and took off at another limping, stumbling run towards the site of the blast, which was too obscured by smoke for him to see much of anything. ¡°Tena!¡± he yelled, terrified that something might have happened to her. ¡°Zach! Fluffles! Tena! Oh, God. Please tell me you guys aren¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°We¡¯re okay!¡± she shouted back at him. The smoke cleared just enough so that Jimmy could see the three of them sheltering behind a large, golden shield, which floated in the air above them. It vanished from existence the moment Jimmy was able to lay eyes on it. An instant after disappearing, a few spurts of blood trickled down Zach¡¯s nose, and a scrape appeared on his forehead. Other than that, the kid looked okay. Tena was also unharmed, and so was Fluffles. The Kralzek¡¯s Beast, on the other hand, had lost a quarter of its HP. Thank God, he thought, breathing out a sigh of relief. There was no longer any sign of Zylor with them. He¡¯d somehow slipped away. Eager to help in any way that he could, Jimmy began stumbling towards Zach. ¡°I really thought they got you guys,¡± he said, wiping sweat away from his forehead as he hurried over to them. ¡°I should¡¯a known you weren¡¯t about to let some¡ª¡± Zach¡¯s face tightened, and he took off like a rocket in Jimmy¡¯s direction. Before Jimmy could understand what was happening, he found himself being shoved forcefully by Zach, which caused him to slam hard enough into a nearby wall that he left a dent in it in the shape of his body. It also hurt like hell and would likely leave him bruised all over the next day. ¡°Owe, shit,¡± he groaned as the sound of two blades clashing filled the street. Trying to ignore the ache in his body, he lifted his head and saw Zach once more engaging Zylor. Only now, the man wasn¡¯t alone. With him was a man covered in a brown robe wearing a plain, expressionless mask that revealed only his eyes¡ªexactly as Zylor had appeared until shedding it at some point between now and when Jimmy had first encountered him by the park. ¡°Where were you, Gruesome?¡± he asked, his words coming across as bitter and hateful. ¡°Ohh, I am so very sorry, yes I am. Mhmmm! Had to deal with the little Elvish girl. She was hard to get away from, that one.¡± He chortled like a schoolgirl. ¡°I¡¯m here now. Yes, yes. We can finish the job.¡± He giggled some more, and the sound of it was sickening. He pointed his weapon at Jimmy as if to launch another one of the exploding discs at him. But Zach as if noticing this, tried to charge through Zylor as if to stop him from firing. Unfortunately, even badly beaten, Zylor proved himself to still be a threat, and he intercepted Zach, the two of them locking blades with one another. ¡°Not this shit again,¡± Jimmy moaned. Squeezing the trigger of the oddly shaped ¡°gun,¡± Jimmy gritted his teeth in apprehension as a spinning red disc silently escaped the completely flat ¡°barrel¡± of the weapon and headed straight for him; it moved at a speed so fast that it would likely land before Jimmy could move so much as a muscle, which meant he¡¯d have just a second or two to get away before it detonated, and he was clearly too weak to do so. Mesmerized, he watched as it sailed across the air, moving beyond where Zach and Zylor were dueling before flying right over Fluffles¡¯ head. The cat tried his best to save him; Fluffles jumped up and attempted to bite it right out of the air, and he came very close, too. But his jaws slammed shut just a fraction of a second too late, and it continued onwards. Tena also tried to whack it out of the air with her staff, but she didn¡¯t even stand a chance. It passed them both by with such speed that Fluffles was still airborne as it traveled almost the full distance to Jimmy. As it drew nearer and nearer, Jimmy, so terribly exhausted, wondered if he even had the strength left to run. Even worse, it looked like he was being attacked from multiple angles, too. Someone¡ªor something¡ªhad launched a second attack of some kind at him along with the red, exploding disc. This, he noticed from off to his left, where he caught a glimpse of a streak of pure flame, one that was moving even faster than the exploding disc and heading right towards him. Jimmy opened his mouth to scream. He was going to be burned alive! In no time at all, the flames reached and surrounded him, and now Jimmy braced himself for the intense pain¡ªand then he continued to brace himself as they passed him by completely. Or no, not passed. Went through him. The fire entered the left side of his body, vanished, and exited the right, all without harming him. It simply continued to move on until finally disappearing for good once it crossed paths with the oncoming disc about three feet in front of him. What the¡­? As the flames disappeared, they left an Elvish girl behind in their wake. She simply appeared in their absence with her daggers already drawn. Swinging them in an x-shaped arc, she cut the disc into two uneven pieces, causing both to turn from red to a lifeless dull grey as they fell to the ground before fading away into nothingness. Kalana! ¡°Are you okay, Jimmy?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry if I scared you!¡± He nodded. ¡°I¡¯m okay.¡± She smiled at him. Then her face became deathly serious as she turned to face Zylor and the still-anonymous sniper assassin. She pointed one of her daggers at them and frowned. ¡°You two better surrender right now! Cause I dunno if I can save you after she gets here. I¡¯ve only got like a fifteen second head-start on her.¡± ¡°On who?¡± Zach asked, bending backwards to avoid the blade of Zylor¡¯s gauntlet and then lashing out with three quick strikes of his own, all of which were guarded against. He was no longer fighting at his best. Jimmy could tell he was deliberately holding back. He was going out of his way not to kill the man. Jimmy was sure of it. ¡°My mom,¡± Kalana said. Now, she spoke with even more urgency. ¡°I¡¯m serious! You guys better give up. Umm, she¡¯s like, really mad right now, and I¡¯ve never seen her this angry before.¡± Jimmy didn¡¯t know why Kalana was wasting her words. These men clearly weren¡¯t the type to take threats seriously. If they were, they already would¡¯ve surrendered after Zach came so close to killing one of them. Hell, if anything, they¡¯d probably only fight harder as a result of her¡ª ¡°Th-the queen¡¯s here?¡± Zylor shouted, an overt look of fear crossing his features. ¡°Queen Vayra is coming?¡± ¡°She¡¯s over level 100, isn¡¯t she?¡± the one Zylor had called ¡°Gruesome¡± asked. ¡°And she¡¯s an Elf! That¡¯s like being 150. And they say she¡¯s brutal. I¡¯ve heard the things the pretty queen has done, oh no-no-no. Zylor, I will call for extraction. Please hold them off!¡± He nodded, and Jimmy could see him become pale as though the blood was draining from his face. Together, they both began to back away; this, as Zach started glancing around nervously while Fluffles muttered about how he was just about to unleash ¡°a special attack¡± that would¡¯ve made Zach and everyone think he was the ¡°strongest and best cat.¡± Jimmy had no idea what was going on¡ªand he continued to remain clueless as the look of abject terror only seemed to heighten in both men as they turned their heads towards him of all people. They looked at him as though he, Jimmy, was the source of their ultimate fear. Their eyes spoke of gloom and death as they regarded him, and honestly, he wasn¡¯t sure why¡ªat least not until he felt a gentle hand touch down on his right shoulder blade. And then there was a small, equally gentle nudge as someone pushed him aside. No, not even ¡°pushed.¡± That was too strong of a word. It was more accurate to say that someone just sort of politely inched him off to the left in a non-aggressive way so that they could pass. ¡°Excuse me, human,¡± a soft voice whispered. ¡°Oh, fuck,¡± Zach said, alarm in his words. ¡°Fylwen, wait! No one¡¯s died today. They didn¡¯t succeed in killing a single person. You don¡¯t have to do this.¡± ¡°Mom, don¡¯t!¡± Kalana shouted at her. ¡°Please!¡± With a queenly grace, Jimmy watched as a beautiful woman who looked like an older version of Kalana glided calmly over to the two assassins, who began to look around themselves as if to plan an escape. He vaguely recognized her as Queen Fylwen Vayra, though he knew little about her other than that she was Kalana¡¯s mother and the leader of the Elvish people. Zach sheathed his sword, and in an act that was so confounding it actually hurt to watch, he positioned himself right in front of Zylor, turned his own back to the man, and then said, ¡°You better run. I¡¯ll try to talk her down.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no point running,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ve basically already died.¡± Now, Zylor shoved Zach aside just like the queen had shoved Jimmy¡ªonly a lot less politely¡ªand with a loud battle-cry, he charged forward at the Elvish woman, who was armed only with a shortsword that looked to Jimmy like a gladius. ¡°Come, humans,¡± she said, her voice eerily lacking in emotion. ¡°Let me show you what happens when you have the audacity to attack my daughter and start conflict on our island¡¯s doorstep.¡± Zylor swung at her with both bladed hands, primed to rip into her flesh. Unfortunately for him, both missed the mark. She effortlessly stepped back and away from the first, then angled her body to the side to avoid the second. Then, with a speed that was so fast that Jimmy¡¯s eyes were literally unable to follow it, she somehow got behind the man, and once there, she dropped down, made a spinning motion, and then sliced open his Achillis tendon, causing him to howl in pain and fall immediately forward onto his face, which she then stomped into the concrete with so much force it went partially through it. He literally had his head in the ground. The other one pointed his weapon at her¡ªbut before he could even squeeze the trigger, she¡¯d already cut it in half, causing a full item break. The man made an actual squealing noise as the weapon evaporated in his hand, leaving him unarmed. Hastily, he reached inside his robe and removed a dagger, which he attempted to stab into the Elvish queen¡¯s chest. The queen, however, parried with her Gladius, striking the dagger hard enough that it flew out of his hand until it ricocheted off the red crossing barrier and almost ended up flying right back at him; instead, it came to a stop after landing with a clink somewhere farther down the sidewalk. ¡°Human,¡± she said to him, her tone hauntingly cold. ¡°You would dare attack me?¡± With her opposite hand, she sent her palm forward, striking him dead center in his chest, causing him to double over and gasp. Then she snapped her left foot upwards, kicking him in the chin and planting him on his back. Even as her foot was still being withdrawn, she turned her head towards Zylor, who had pulled his head out of the ground and was now attempting to crawl away like a worm while leaving a blooded trail behind him. She waved her shortsword in his direction, and then from the depths below, the forces of nature arose in the form of numerous vines, which wrapped themselves around him and bound him in place. ¡°Mom, please,¡± Kalana begged. ¡°Don¡¯t kill them.¡± She looked at Kalana and grinned. ¡°Of course not, my sweet daughter. That would be irresponsible.¡± ¡°It¡­it would?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Her grin became sadistic. ¡°First, I shall have them brutally tortured for information. Then, I shall take their heads.¡± ¡°Mom!¡± Fylwen chuckled. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m teasing you, Kalana.¡± She smiled, and her sinister look was replaced with one that abruptly came across as far more motherly and warm. ¡°They¡¯ll be treated as any other prisoner in the newly established Elvish justice system. You didn¡¯t think I¡¯d worked so hard to revive our customs for nothing, did you?¡± She shook her head. ¡°We have real power now, Kalana. We are not the same as we were before. I too, must change¡ªas will all Elves.¡± Kalana breathed out a sigh. Then she glared at her mother. ¡°I really thought you were serious, mom!¡± ¡°I did too,¡± Zach said. He also breathed out a sigh. ¡°But I actually do think you should torture them, Fylwen. Ouch, Kal! I¡¯m kidding, fuck. That really hurt.¡± ¡°Sorry, baby.¡± Kalana looked down at both men. ¡°They need healing, too. Jimmy, my heals aren¡¯t so great. When you feel up to it, umm, maybe you can¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯re all making a terrible mistake,¡± coughed Zylor. Kalana frowned at him as he glared up at her. ¡°We were the nice guys. You¡¯re all abetting a criminal. Jimmy is not supposed to be here. You should¡¯ve just let us do our jobs. The next time you see someone in the brown robes, they aren¡¯t going to do much talking. You should think twice before you challenge a God!¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Queen Vayra asked, folding her arms across her chest. ¡°Explain, human?¡± Rather than talk, he merely chuckled. ¡°I doubt we¡¯ll meet again.¡± Following those words, two bolts of perfectly golden lightning from somewhere far above streaked down at the exact same time, striking each man in unison and causing their bodies to disappear in a screen made of pure, bright gold, which soon vanished together with the two of them. They left not a trace¡ªother than their blood, which stained most of the sidewalk. ¡°Who were they?¡± Queen Vayra asked, setting her gaze upon Zach. Swallowing nervously, Zach shrugged. ¡°No idea. Bandits, probably.¡± She narrowed her eyes. ¡°We¡¯ll talk about this later. You and Kalana have some explaining to do!¡± Zach groaned, and so did Kalana as she then began lecturing them both about the value of honesty and the consequences of telling lies. What should have been an upbeat mood¡ªa celebration of survival¡ªturned into an outright scolding of two young adventurers by the Elvish queen. As surreal as it was, Jimmy was too exhausted to attach much emotional investment to it. ¡°¡­having said all that,¡± the queen continued, ¡°Kalana, there is someone who has been very much wanting to meet you.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± She raised her voice. ¡°Peter, sweetheart, you can come out now, child.¡± From the opposite end of the block, a little boy crept out from the corner and began walking towards them. Kalana¡¯s eyes lit up, her mouth dropped open, and without even seeming to know who he was, she was already reaching out as if to hug the child. ¡°And who is this?¡± she asked. ¡°Who¡¯s the little cutie? Come here!¡± Jimmy looked at Zach, who shrugged at him. ¡°I just want to play in the pool.¡± Chapter 131: Mistakes Chapter 131: Mistakes Was this before? Or was this now? Vim wasn¡¯t certain. It was all a haze. He felt shame. It was painful. Carefully, he arranged his desk in his office in Giant¡¯s Fall. Was this the way it had been? Or was this still how it was? These thoughts became muddled and confused, but ultimately, he set them aside as his assistant informed him that his guest of honor had arrived. He used to look forward to these visits, but no longer. The boy he¡¯d grown up with had changed, and it was only getting worse. ¡°Please, see him in,¡± Vim said. The door to his office opened, and in walked King Peter IV. He smiled as he spotted Vim, and truly, were one to look only on a superficial level, he truly was the spitting image of magnificence. His thick locks of blond-colored hair radiated like dragon¡¯s fire, and his determined yet perpetually youthful features managed to give him an air of both strength and innocence. Even his teeth were free of so much as a blemish, and there was nothing but optimistic hope in his azure eyes. With him was his teenage son, who looked up upon his father with pride and reverence. ¡°I know of your eagerness, my son, but you¡¯ve still got some growing to do before I begin your instruction in governance.¡± Gently, he nudged his son. ¡°Wait outside, Peter.¡± ¡°Father, I¡¯m fifteen now. I ought to be here with you that I may begin to learn.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Not this time.¡± With a gentle laugh, he gave another nudge, and his child, Peter V, left the office, closing the door behind him. And then, as Vim had known would be the case, the king began to fall apart. Even as he¡¯d been speaking to his son, Vim could see the strain begin to form in his face. Through some miracle of love, he seemed capable of holding himself together when in the presence of his boy. Vim did not know how he did this. He did not understand how the man¡¯s sickness allowed him to behave in such a normal way. It was as though some part of his unblemished self still lingered, and it was only in the presence of his child that he was able to subdue the illness. The moment his son vacated the office, the fa?ade fell away, and with a look of utter dread, he turned his head towards Vim and said, ¡°They¡¯re going to kill my boy.¡± Upon those words, he began to walk over towards Vim¡¯s desk, sitting across from him. He placed his forehead in his hands, and he released an agonized moan. ¡°Last night, the Gods came to me again, Vim. They bid me to destroy the Gnomes.¡± Vim tensed. This was new. ¡°I see,¡± he whispered. Peter shook his head. ¡°Not you of course, my dear friend. The Gods forbid such a thing! Yet they have warned me of a coming calamity. They¡±¡ªabruptly, he snapped his head to the left in the direction of the office windows, which provided a view of the city of Giant¡¯s fall¡ª¡°who said that?¡± he shouted. ¡°Vim, quiet them!¡± Vim said nothing. What could he say? What was there to say? Thankfully, whatever demons he believed he was hearing, they seemed to quiet, because he returned his gaze to Vim, and he continued to address him. ¡°The Gnomes must perish.¡± ¡°Perish?¡± Vim asked. He nodded. ¡°All of them but you.¡± Vim tried not to take the man¡¯s ramblings too seriously. He had always assumed that if Peter ever went too far, the members of his own guild would likely put him in check, as they must surely have grown alarmed by this point. That was why, not a week prior, Vim had taken an act that would inevitably grow to haunt him for many years to come. In secret, the guilds of North Bastia had assembled to discuss deposing the king. All needed to be united to form a council with the authority capable of removing him peacefully from power. Yet Vim had abstained, because under Peter IV¡¯s leadership, the people of Giant¡¯s Fall¡ªthe region in his guild¡¯s charge¡ªhad profited greatly from this era of economic stability. Believing his duty to them first and foremost, he had thusly guided the Royal Roses towards the abstention, and his 2nd and 3rd stood by him. Now, however, as he tried to think of a way to ease the man¡¯s current passions, Peter regarded him with a sympathetic frown; he curled his lower lip, took upon a pained expression, and he said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ve had to euthanize Kaz.¡± The words struck Vim like a tidal wave. He inhaled. ¡°My sister?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. A few hours ago, I had it carried out.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± he asked, keeping his voice calm. He tried to convince himself that this could very well be one of the man¡¯s delusions. He often alluded to executing various individuals in and around North Bastia, only for Vim to see them later, unharmed and well. But no, not these days. These days, he had begun carrying out his threats. This time would be no different. His sister was, in all likelihood, no longer of this world. ¡°The Gnomes have to die. The Dwarves, too. We don¡¯t have a choice. Your sister was a threat to us all.¡± Should Vim have attacked the king? Should he have expressed the outrage he felt within? Yes. Yes, without question. But that was not what he had done. He had reacted calmly. He had concealed the shock and hurt, and he had done as his father had always taught him: he had played the game. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that,¡± he said, fighting back the agony that gave rise to a tremor in his fingertips. Peter spotted this tremble, and his eyes widened¡ªthough he said nothing. And from this one gesture alone, Vim knew that he would be next. ¡°You are¡­still loyal to me?¡± Peter asked. Vim nodded without hesitation. ¡°We¡¯ve been friends since childhood, Peter.¡± Deep down, Vim knew that it would not have mattered how he replied¡ªit would not have mattered what words he spoke. The moment the king had spotted his trembling fingers, it was too late for Vim to dissuade his paranoia. Even still, it would be two months before he was forced to defend himself against the arresting force that would come for him in the middle of the night. Yet he had been prepared, and by resisting¡ªand killing¡ªthe king¡¯s men, the war would kick off, and the Royal Roses would go down in history as the guild that had ended Peter IV¡¯s reign. Vim would receive a credit he did not deserve. Perhaps that was why he was here? This, he wondered as he opened his bruised eyes and lamented the depressing darkness of his cell. He was in a dungeon in the depths below Shadowfall Coast, one that was uniquely suited to contain those who had leveled; the bars, shackles, and even the flooring had all been crafted from high-level materials that Vim could not damage or break through. He could not even rip apart the shackles that bound his hands and feet. Each day, numerous members of the guild had come by to beat him. He doubted it was part of any official order. It was revenge for what his guild had done in Shadowfall Coast, and Sir Allistor Morrison seemed unwilling to disallow it if he even knew¡ªor cared. Perhaps he might even be encouraging it. Vim could not be sure either way. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. He struggled with his bindings despite the futility of it, though he did so in a way that was half-hearted. He¡¯d already given up. He knew that he was a dead man. None would come for him. The Guild of Gentlemen had won, and they knew it. His attention was diverted by the sound of a high-pitched creak like that of an old, rusted metal door being opened. Too weak to fully lift his head, he stared down at a pair of boots that made soft thuds as they strolled across the filthy, soiled, cockroach-infested floor. ¡°If you would sign the declaration, this would not be happening to you,¡± said the voice of Sir Allistair Morrison. Vim could not see his face, and even if he could, he would only spit in it. The man¡¯s words, combined with his lack of surprise at seeing Vim in this condition, strongly implied that he did, in fact, know of the beatings, and he was likely the one orchestrating them, probably to break Vim''s will so that he would endorse the declaration. "How much more must you endure before you agree to sign?" ¡°I¡¯m almost there,¡± Vim replied. ¡°I¡¯m so close to signing it. Just two or three more beatings and we have a deal. Just make sure you get someone in here to flog my ass. I feel like it¡¯s really being neglected in all this.¡± ¡°Sharp-tongued as always, Sir Alazar.¡± The man made an exaggerated sigh. ¡°I¡¯m only asking you to do what¡¯s right. Accept responsibility for the bomb that you forced me to drop on Ogre¡¯s Axe. Apologize to the people¡ªyours and mine¡ªand publicly declare the Guild of Gentlemen the rightful rulers of humanity. Do this for your soul. Then, I will grant you a swift, merciful death.¡± Vim laughed. ¡°Yeah, okay. Unbind me and give me a pen.¡± Even without seeing Sir Alistair¡¯s face, he could tell that the man was frowning. ¡°You¡¯re not being serious.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m totally serious,¡± Vim said. ¡°You did a really good deed, killing a million people like that. You¡¯re a hero, Sir Morrison. I¡¯m sure everyone in Giant¡¯s Fall is grateful for your service, and I bet they can¡¯t wait to shake your hand.¡± ¡°I did what I had to do to save humanity.¡± ¡°Oh, I agree,¡± Vim said dryly. ¡°You¡¯re on an important mission, aren¡¯t you? I bet the people of Varda¡¯s Lair and Whispery Woods can¡¯t wait to be hit with that weapon. Lots of humans there who need saving, too. You should also attack the rural areas as well. Just to make sure you don¡¯t leave anyone unsaved.¡± For a moment, there was silence. And then there were footsteps. Vim watched the man¡¯s boots as they came closer to his face. And now, Sir Allistair crouched down and met his eyes, and in them, Vim could see genuine passion¡ªand anger. ¡°You act like a million lives in Giant¡¯s Fall are worth more than countless millions in South Bastia.¡± ¡°South Bastia?¡± Vim asked. ¡°Is that what this is all about? Is that why you¡¯re doing all of this?¡± Alistair pursed his lips. It was rare for the man to show such emotion. ¡°I was born in the Dark-Water Depths, Sir Alazar. You know this.¡± Vim chuckled. ¡°And you think¡­what, exactly? That by capturing all of North Bastia you can somehow make South Bastia any better? It¡¯s a lost cause, Sir Morrison.¡± ¡°Not to me!¡± he shouted. With his display of anger, Vim thought he was finally getting a sense of what drove this man. It came as a shock to him. And not because it was conceptually something that he found difficult to grasp, but because of how unforeseen it was. The last time South Bastia had played any role in the politics or minds of anyone from North Bastia¡­it had to have been a good hundred or so years. ¡°People complain often about Whispery Woods,¡± Allistair said. ¡°They bemoan the conditions of the city. The crumbling infrastructure. The poverty rates. The education system. Yet not one of them has any idea what true suffering is. Every single human in Whispery Woods, from the wealthiest to the poorest, has never known a day of hunger. Their schools may not be halls of excellence, but they are adequate. Their hospitals are at the very least competent. Their roads, ultimately, are serviceable. Do you know what life is like for those in South Bastia? The forgotten people?¡± Vim did know. Yet it was so seldom thought about it was barely something he ever reflected upon. It was part of how things had been for the better part of a century, and it was just kind of¡­the status quo. Often, when someone said they were ¡°going to South Bastia,¡± what they actually meant was that they were going to Shores of Wrath, a very wealthy, very happy northern region on the coast run by the People of Virtue. Though it was located in South Bastia, Shores of Wrath was, in essence, a direct extension of North Bastia. It was connected exclusively to North Bastian politics. The people of that region did not even consider themselves as belonging to South Bastia. In every way that mattered: culturally, economically, and politically, Shores of Wrath was wholly North Bastian. And this mattered, because the rest of South Bastia¡ªeach and every region¡ªwas as disconnected from humanity as it got. South Bastia was a hellscape. It was a place worse than death. The guilds that controlled each region were little better than warlords and thugs. Murder and rape were ubiquitous, and the people were ungovernable. For all the fault that North Bastians could find in the political guilds, if nothing else, they maintained a mostly civilized world of mostly civilized people. Yet the average North Bastian would not survive an hour in many of the South Bastian regions. It was anarchic, lawless, and each day was filled with suffering and death. As a matter of official record, the UCH¡ªUnited Council of Humanity¡ªwas the official governing body of the semi-autonomous regions of all of North and South Bastia. Yet that was purely technical. In reality, the South Bastian guild leaders had absolutely no seat at the table, nor would they even be welcome to step foot in North Bastia. If any of them even tried, they would be arrested or killed immediately to protect innocent lives, for these were some of the most bloodthirsty, ruthless savages from the pits of hell. The average leveled South Bastian was about fifteen times more sadistic than even someone like Varsh. For each and every character flaw to be found among the members of any North Bastian guild, it could never be said that North Bastian rulers spent their days smuggling drugs, trafficking human sex slaves, kidnapping, and beheading villagers who did not pay what they deemed sufficient tribute. They behaved in a way that was indistinguishable from organized gangs, and they were not welcome here. ¡°You do understand, don¡¯t you?¡± Alistair asked him. ¡°What I understand is that you¡¯ve committed atrocities on a never-before seen scale for a purpose that you cannot achieve. Do you think you can save South Bastia if your guild took over humanity?¡± Vim laughed derisively. ¡°Nothing can save South Bastia. Not even the Gods. But even if it could be saved, you would never be the one to do it.¡± Rather than reply directly to his words, Alistair asked him a question. ¡°What percentage of humanity lives in South Bastia? Not including the Shores of Wrath, of course, as we both know that cannot be reasonably called South Bastian. Please, tell me.¡± With a sigh, Vim decided to humor him. ¡°Sixty percent, give or take.¡± ¡°Correct. That means that North Bastia and Shores of Wrath combine to make up just forty percent of the human population. Yet while we eat and drink and complain, right now, in this very moment, children are starving to death in South Bastia. Human beings. Those the Guild of Gentlemen once swore to protect at all cost. Peter V, like his father, left them ignored. You have left them ignored. But I was born there. I was among the last of those to integrate into North-Bastian society, and that was due only to my father buying my mother from a slaver and freeing her.¡± If Vim could shrug, he would have. ¡°None of this matters, Sir Morrison. If you truly gave a shit about the people of South Bastia, you wouldn¡¯t be fighting a war to conquer humanity. If anything, you¡¯d be fighting a war to make that new kid the king.¡± ¡°New kid?¡± Vim nodded. ¡°Sir Alex Oren. Now, he, on the other hand¡­I think he might actually care enough. And if there existed any way of bringing order back to that hellhole, he would be the one to do it¡ªand I bet he¡¯d find a way that did not include slaughtering a million innocent people. But you? No. You¡¯re just scum. And I say that as someone who¡¯s also scum just not to the same extent as you. At least I¡¯ve some decency in me. You¡¯re a pathetic shell of a man fighting a pointless battle. You can¡¯t save South Bastia or anywhere else. So no, I will not sign your statement. Kill me, beat me, I don¡¯t care. Either way, you can go fuck yourself.¡± He chuckled. ¡°I say that respectfully, of course.¡± Sir Morrison stood back up and turned around. ¡°You¡¯re a vile little man, and I look forward to seeing your head removed from your shoulders.¡± With that, he opened then slammed the metal door shut, and now, Vim was left to once more close his eyes and dream of his past mistakes. Chapter 132: A Commitment Chapter 132: A Commitment As far as Zach could tell, it all began when Fluffles heard Jimmy singing in the shower. Having come home covered in sweat, some blood, and considerable grime, he, Kal, Jimmy, and Tena had all wanted to clean up before heading through the sliding-glass doors and into the spacious backyard for some swimming and barbeque. Zach and Kal had showered together in the bathroom closest to the master bedroom, and given there were two others in the house that had showers, they¡¯d offered the other two to Tena and Jimmy, who had decided, both blushing, to also shower together, which Kalana had thought was adorable. Now, just shy of an hour later, Fluffles would not shut up. For the moment, everyone was indoors as one of Kalana¡¯s island¡¯s intense, but brief storms was passing through, causing the sound of thunder and heavy rain to occupy the world. Yet those noises did not stand a chance in competing with the cat, who had somehow taken such a liking to one of Jimmy¡¯s Earth songs that he simply would not stop. ¡°Fluffles don¡¯t want no scrub! A scrub is a human who can¡¯t give no pets to Fluffles.¡± He jumped up onto the kitchen counter and began running across, allowing Jascaila, who was seasoning the burgers, to pet him under the chin, and then he ran back in the opposite direction. ¡°Hanging on the passenger side of his¡ª¡± ¡°Enough!¡± Zach snapped. ¡°Fluffles, seriously. No more singing.¡± Fluffles paused mid-motion, his front paw extended as though to take another step forward. His amber-colored eyes stared directly into Zach¡¯s, and for a few seconds, he said nothing at all. The two of them simply looked at each other. Fluffles came across as blank and expressionless. ¡°Of his best friend¡¯s ride,¡± the cat continued, resuming right where he left off. He jumped down off the counter, darted into the living room, and hopped up onto the couch Ruby was lying on. ¡°Trying to holler at Fluffles.¡± The cat was apparently singing some weird variation of a real song that Jimmy knew, and he¡¯d been doing it on what was basically repeat. Honestly, the cat was behaving more like a Gods-cursed parrot. It was making Zach more and more irritated. His anger was starting to rear its head. But was it really over a song? He wasn¡¯t sure. He looked over to Jascaila. He was glad she¡¯d stayed as long as she had. She was only supposed to be here a week, but Zach still badly needed her, and she claimed she¡¯d remain as long as she felt it was necessary and Zach was willing to work with her. Right now, she was organizing things they were going to take outside with them when the storm passed in a few minutes. ¡°Do you two want me to defrost the hotdogs?¡± she asked Rian and Seiley, who were sitting together in the living room and watching the news on the holo-tab. They looked at one another and both nodded. ¡°What about you, Lienne?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯m fine with whatever we¡¯re already having,¡± she replied. Lienne was helping in the kitchen with Jascaila. Trelvor, on the other hand, was at his absolute most insufferable. Ever since Fylwen had walked through the door, he had gone from an uptight, but affable new friend to like some kind of cadet in the presence of his drill sergeant. ¡°Would Her Majesty please allow one such as myself to serve Her Greatness a refreshment?¡± he asked, kneeling before his ¡°queen.¡± ¡°That would be most appreciated, thank you,¡± she said. ¡°Yes, my queen!¡± With that, he stormed his way into the kitchen, and everyone stayed out of his way as he prepared to brew her some kind of coffee mixture that he was actually pretty good at making. Honestly, if he wasn¡¯t an Elvish warrior, he could have been a bartender or even a chef. He cooked breakfast for them a few days ago, and the Gods strike Zach down if he was lying¡ªbut it was like tasting paradise. Yet seeing him like this¡­it was annoying Zach. Just like Fluffles and his singing. Just like the way Lienne was making this constant tapping sound with her finger on the table. Everything was annoying him. Jascaila seemed to pick up on this, because she winked at him. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked, her raspy voice oddly soothing. ¡°I¡¯m pissed off and I don¡¯t know why,¡± he said, walking over to her. ¡°Everything¡¯s making me mad. Doesn¡¯t matter what it is.¡± She gave him a playful nudge. ¡°Should I get my battle-axe?¡± ¡°Can you? It¡¯s still raining, though.¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay with that, kiddo.¡± He hesitated a moment then looked at Kalana, who had just finished drying her hair and had only first entered the kitchen. ¡°Kal, I¡¯m going to do a quick session with Jascaila, okay?¡± She nodded and smiled. ¡°Okay, baby.¡± With that, Zach placed his hand over the hilt of his blade, which rested in the scabbard on his back, and he stepped out with Jascaila into the rain. ***** In the same moment that a bolt of lightning lit up the fully overcast skies, Jascaila slammed her battle-axe down onto the top of a hill just a half a mile away from Kalana¡¯s massive home. They¡¯d had to travel a bit farther out than usual since another three large homes had gone up as more and more Elves were having property built here; Fylwen was paying for each and every ¡°vacation home,¡± though unlike the circumstances around Kalana¡¯s house, the Elves themselves were now doing all the building, aided in part by the white-cloaks, so the only expense was in materials. ¡°You almost got me with that one,¡± Zach said to her, laughing. He made a sudden motion forward, and then he swung his blade across, nearly succeeding at scoring a hit on Jascaila, but she was able to face her axe downward near her chest and guard against it. Although they were both attacking at full speed, and with more than enough power to kill an ordinary, level-1 person, they were not attacking with enough strength to even scratch, let alone wound one another. Jascaila raised her axe, which she gripped in both hands, and she lifted it above her shoulders. But then she paused, took on a thoughtful demeanor, and lowered it. ¡°So, what did you do then?¡± she asked him. Zach also lowered his sword, and he explained to her how he¡¯d kept his cool and succeeded in making sure he didn¡¯t kill this ¡°Zylor¡± guy that had attacked him. For the past few minutes, he¡¯d been telling her as much as he could about the attack in Shores of Wrath using a method that she herself had come up with. During their first few sessions, Zach had found himself getting restless and agitated whenever they talked about anything serious, and that was when Jascaila came up with the idea to spar and talk at the same time. Not only had it worked, but it was kind of a breakthrough for Zach. For some reason, he found it easier to think and reflect when he was outside and sparring with her. Of course, unlike a true sparring match, there were frequent breaks and pauses in the action, sometimes for many minutes at a time, such as now, as he recounted events to her. ¡°And do you think this is why you feel so frustrated?¡± she asked him once he¡¯d finished retelling events. Zach looked away and tried to focus his mind. He reflected on everything that had happened both during the scuffle and immediately afterwards. ¡°Yeah,¡± he whispered. ¡°It is.¡± ¡°And why is that?¡± He sighed. ¡°Because I did everything right. I spared his life. We made it through without anybody dying. I should feel¡­better now. After those two assassins vanished, I thought to myself that maybe things would be okay now, but then, on the way home, that guy I told you about, Jimmy, he started talking to Tena about the war going on, and it made me flash back to when I killed all those people, and I started feeling it all again.¡± He was limited in what he could say regarding the nature of the two men, but he was sure Jascaila understood. In order for her to fully grasp his situation, he¡¯d naturally needed to confide with her in Angelica¡¯s, and so, a little more than a week ago, he¡¯d told her everything that had been going on¡ªabout Adamus, the world, and the dangers they faced. She¡¯d taken the news a whole lot better than her brother and Mr. Oren had, though she did seem a tiny bit shaken up. Still, she¡¯d gotten over it fairly quickly and seemed very grateful to have been informed. ¡°So that¡¯s the source of your anger,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re angry at yourself. At least, that¡¯s what I¡¯m hearing.¡± He nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Because¡­you think you should be ¡®healed¡¯ now?¡± He nodded again, and she made a playful, yet scolding gesture, shaking her head at him. ¡°You keep trying to apply quick fixes to what is a process, Zach. You need to understand that there¡¯s no one moment or one event that¡¯s going to revert you to how you were before. The goal isn¡¯t to erase your trauma, but to learn to live with it and even become a stronger person in spite of it.¡± ¡°I know that,¡± he said weakly. ¡°I just don¡¯t like how I keep getting jitters. They¡¯ve gotten better, but they¡¯re still there.¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°It takes time.¡± He exhaled. Then he clashed his sword against her axe, ducked beneath a wide swing, and saw an opportunity to step forward and cut her across the stomach¡ªthough of course, it did not even scratch her equipment, nor did it injure her. With that, he lowered his sword down to his side and said, ¡°I just feel like I did all this to myself. Like maybe if I¡¯d have been smarter, I wouldn¡¯t have let all these things happen to me.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no point thinking that way,¡± Jascaila said. ¡°Wondering about what might have been is counterproductive, and from everything you¡¯ve told me, I still stand firm that none of this was your own fault. Let¡¯s back up a bit, though. To something we were talking about yesterday.¡± He swallowed uneasily. ¡°My dad?¡± ¡°Right. You told me you blame yourself for his death, and I feel like we didn¡¯t really get any resolution to that conversation.¡± Talking about this was still challenging for Zach, but he knew it¡¯d be better in the long run if he did. ¡°Kal and I were out grinding the mobs in Whispery Woods. Neither of us were there when it happened. If I was, maybe I could¡¯ve made Varsh focus on me instead. I don¡¯t know. I know it¡¯s not my fault. But it feels like it is.¡± Zach did not bother hiding the tears that filled his eyes as he once again recounted the horror of the fact that his father¡¯s body had been left there on the street to rot, and that if not for Mr. Oren, no one would¡¯ve ever bothered to pick up his remains and bury them. After a moment, she asked him, ¡°Have you considered, Zach, that you blame yourself because you feel more in control?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± She stuck her axe face down into the grass then rested her palms on it as she continued to speak. ¡°Well, is it possible you feel that by blaming yourself, it gives purpose to his death? Maybe you are caught up on the randomness and meaningless of what was done to him that you find it easier to blame yourself than to accept he was murdered simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.¡± Zach felt a pinching sensation travel from his throat down to his chest. Jascaila had a way of hitting so close to home. He had no idea how she did that or how she knew what she knew¡ªbut she was right. ¡°I think so,¡± he said, surprised by how right she was. ¡°I can¡¯t accept that his death¡­that it was for nothing. I know how weird this is to say, but I feel like I¡¯d almost be more okay with it if at least him and Varsh had been enemies or if he was connected to something somehow. Because at least then it would have been for a reason. It makes me¡­it¡¯s hard for me to accept that he died because of a whim.¡± Jascaila nodded her head along with his words. ¡°That¡¯s understandable. But here¡¯s the thing, Zach. It¡¯s leading you into a very unstable place. You need to accept that your father¡¯s death was not your fault. The more we tell ourselves lies, the harder we have to work to keep justifying them to ourselves. This creates a toxic dissonance. You¡¯re using guilt as a bandage and that can create a very harmful cycle of blame and self-accusation. Sometimes, the most difficult but healthiest thing we can do is accept that some events¡ªeven horrible ones¡ªhappen that are completely outside of our control.¡± He knew she was right. There was no denying what she said. At least not on a logical level. Even still, accepting it was easier said than done. The question over how things might have happened¡ªas opposed to the way they did¡ªwas one that haunted him. Zach, considering her words, sheathed his blade and stood there silently in reflection. At the same time, the thunder stopped, and the rain slowed to a drizzle. ¡°You know,¡± he said, breaking the period of quiet contemplation. ¡°What¡¯s so crazy is that I don¡¯t even hate the Royal Roses. I met Vim Alazar, and I actually liked the little man if you can believe it. I was really surprised by that. I expected to hate his guts, but deep down, I know he had nothing to do with it. Varsh did what he did on his own. And that¡¯s actually the other thing that¡¯s bothering me.¡± ¡°The execution?¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s bothering me really badly. I didn¡¯t think it would. I mean, I barely know Vim, but I did fight by his side, and in the few days I was around him, we developed some kind of uh¡­a kind of weird back-and-forth jousting type of thing. He grew on me and I started to like him even though he¡¯s a bigger asshole than I am.¡± Jascaila made an amused hum. ¡°My brother told me the same thing.¡± ¡°He did?¡± She nodded. ¡°He said he hates every one of the ¡®political guild fuckers,¡¯ but that if he had to ¡®have a beer with one of them¡¯ it would be Vim.¡± Zach met her eyes, and he felt a chill go down his spine as he asked, ¡°Do you think I should try to rescue him?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell you what you should or shouldn¡¯t do,¡± she replied. ¡°Do you feel you¡¯re ready to handle what that might entail?¡± ¡°No,¡± Zach said honestly. ¡°I¡¯d have to kill people. I don¡¯t want to do that.¡± ¡°Then there you go.¡± ¡°But,¡± he continued. ¡°I don¡¯t want to live with the knowledge of knowing I could¡¯ve done something but didn¡¯t. And it¡¯s not because Vim means all that much to me, either. Like I said, I¡¯m not close enough with him to feel motivated to save his life. It¡¯s more¡­¡± ¡°Go on,¡± she said after he let his words trail off. Zach held off a moment while he tried to order his thoughts. Jascaila waited patiently for him to do so. After about twenty seconds, he opened his mouth to resume speaking, hoping that his words would make sense to her. ¡°Here¡¯s the thing,¡± he began. ¡°I hated the political guilds so much, and I probably always will, but I¡¯m starting to realize that even those idiots who run them are better at what they do than anyone else I can think of would be. I mean¡­well, no offense, but imagine for a second if Donovan was in charge.¡± Jascaila laughed so hard that she cackled. ¡°Oh, that¡¯d be bad all right.¡± ¡°Someone¡¯s always going to be in charge,¡± Zach continued. ¡°But the more I see of the world and stuff, the more I realize that there are different levels of ¡®bad.¡¯ I¡¯ve seen what real evil looks like now. It¡¯s not people like Vim, or Queen Vayra, or even the other selfish guild leaders. They¡¯re all corrupt, but they¡¯re not completely corrupt, you know?¡± ¡°I do know,¡± Jascaila said. ¡°I understand what you¡¯re saying completely. You¡¯re noticing that it¡¯s not so black and white, is it?¡± ¡°No,¡± Zach said, nodding. ¡°It¡¯s not. They¡¯re not the best people, but I mean¡­they¡¯re better than the Guild of Gentlemen. And even the Guild of Gentlemen is probably better than having nothing at all. Anyways, I just worry about what will happen to the world if Vim has his head chopped off. I saw how hateful people are getting now over this. Like that guy in Shores of Wrath who was cheering for me to kill all of them and their families. I feel like if Vim is executed, people are going to lose their minds and society might break down.¡± For some reason, Jascaila shuddered. ¡°That¡¯s¡­true,¡± she said. As if noticing his confusion, she began to explain. ¡°I¡¯ve visited South Bastia a few times. So I know what that might look like.¡± ¡°We¡¯re there right now,¡± Zach said with a laugh, gesturing at the world around him. Jascaila shook her head. ¡°No, I mean the real South Bastia. South of Shores of Wrath.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Zach said. ¡°The poor areas.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an insensitive but fair way of putting it. How much do you know about the other regions of South Bastia?¡± ¡°Not much,¡± Zach said. ¡°I just know they¡¯re crime-ridden, dangerous, and they¡¯re run by corrupt warlords. Like Whispery Woods.¡± ¡°No,¡± she said firmly. ¡°Nothing like Whispery Woods. The reality is so much worse than you can imagine, Zach. Every bad thing you¡¯ve ever seen: that¡¯s daily life for people who live there. What I¡¯ve seen there confirms to me that even a poorly run government is better than having none at all. Imagine for a second a world where everyone higher than level 1 decided they could do, take, and rape whoever they wanted. If there were no consequences for that behavior.¡± Zach thought over her words, and he found he agreed. Due to his own personal experiences, he had no trouble imagining what such a hypothetical society would be like. ¡°It¡¯d be like encountering a Varsh every single day.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Jascaila said. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what it would be like. And that¡¯s how South Bastia is. Our guild leaders might use titles like ¡®sir¡¯ and act like pompous asses, but I¡¯d take that a hundred times over if the alternative is men who behave like animals and torture and kill at a whim.¡± ¡°Is it really that bad?¡± ¡°It¡¯s worse. Whatever image you can draw in your mind, the reality is even worse.¡± Zach could think some pretty terrible things, so the idea of how bad life must be like for most people in South Bastia sent shivers down his back. The idea of North Bastia becoming that way seemed unthinkable, but if society broke down as a result of the Guild of Gentlemen, could it not happen there, too? ¡°If I go to Shadowfall Coast and save Vim,¡± he began, struggling to keep his words audible as he felt a great sense of unease budding up from within. ¡°Will you help me pick up the pieces?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Jascaila said, a certainty in her voice. More softly she added, ¡°But you shouldn¡¯t go if you¡¯re not ready.¡± ¡°Tomorrow, when I speak with my¡­my friend, I¡¯m going to learn more about the situation over there. But if I do go, it might have to be really soon. Tomorrow night, maybe. I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Hey, Zach?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± Jascaila¡¯s expression hardened. ¡°If you do decide to go, I¡¯ll come with you.¡± Taken aback, Zach felt as if her words had actually shoved him. ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll come with you.¡± ¡°But why?¡± ¡°To support you.¡± ¡°And why? Why would you even care about me that much?¡± ¡°Because I know how capable you are. You were born very gifted, Zach. If I can do one thing right in my life, it¡¯ll be making sure you don¡¯t let the burden of it drag you under.¡± Zach bowed his head, filling with a sense of utter gratitude. ¡°If I decide to go, it¡¯ll be dangerous. I¡¯m already thinking of how I can get it done. I have some ideas. I know where they¡¯re keeping him, too.¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°My ¡®friend¡¯ told me last week.¡± He did not elaborate further than that, and she thankfully did not ask him to, which told Zach she understood he was referring to Eilea. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be well defended?¡± she asked. ¡°Meaning, wherever they are holding him.¡± Zach felt his nerves rising but also his determination. ¡°Very,¡± he said. ¡°But if I could somehow convince your brother, my vampire friends, and a few other really powerful adventurers to come along with me, we would be able to smash our way in as long as we showed up unexpected and were quick about it.¡± ¡°Do you really want to do this?¡± Becoming more certain by the second, Zach turned himself half around so that he faced the direction of Kalana¡¯s home. The storm had passed and the sun was coming out again. ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Then I will go with you, and whatever happens, we¡¯ll work through it together.¡± ***** Alex closed his eyes and released a slow breath. He felt as though a sickness was escaping through his lips: he was overtaken by a sense of relief so great he could hardly describe it. ¡°You¡¯re serious, Zach?¡± ¡°Tomorrow, when we meet, we¡¯ll figure out a plan. But I want to get it over with.¡± ¡°You¡¯re doing the right thing, my man. I¡¯ve never been more proud. Tomorrow, we¡¯ll make a plan together, and we will succeed. You have my word. At any rate, I have to go. I¡¯m meeting with Sir Besh in a few minutes to discuss the conditions of our surrender.¡± ¡°The Lords of Justice is surrendering?¡± ¡°If things don¡¯t change, yes. But don¡¯t give up heart just yet. If our friend gives us the information we need, we can still stop this dystopian nightmare from becoming a reality. It¡¯s not too late, Zach. It¡¯s never too late.¡± ¡°Okay, then. I¡¯ll talk to you soon.¡± The call ended, and Alex sat back in his chair. He did not know what could possibly have inspired the kid to finally open his eyes, but he was glad that he did. This was the most precarious situation North Bastia had faced in a very, very long time. Driven by the threat of nuclear annihilation, the guilds were either finalizing the terms of their surrender or agreeing to surrender. It could be a matter of days, not weeks, before the Guild of Gentlemen¡ªbefore Sir Morrison¡ªwas the undisputed king of humanity as the Brayspark family had once been. There was no telling how many people would suffer if that ever came to pass. They needed to fight back, and rescuing Vim Alazar was a great place to start. Alex did not give up his life as an adventurer to bow before a tyrant. Not now. Not ever. Chapter 133: Breakthrough Chapter 133: Breakthrough Prila kept her expression neutral as she sat with her hands folded on the table in the sequestered-off conference room beneath Shadowfall Coast and listened to the other project engineers and scientists discuss their progress on the development of ¡°the weapon.¡± The mood was jovial. Smiling faces all around, there seemed to be nothing but pure joy over the ¡°success¡± of its first usage, in which the death toll continued to increase each day, having broken the nine-hundred thousand mark only a bit earlier that morning. Her back straight, she forced an approving grin onto her lips, and she made sure that she nodded along with the rest of the men and women. Over the past two weeks, a great deal of renovation had been done down here. No longer did it look like an old, dusty, and crumbling crypt in the way it had when she¡¯d first shown up; now, it had been modernized. The rocky walls and dirt ground had been built around to create a sleek, polished white tiling that reminded Prila of a high-tech laboratory¡ªwhich was exactly what this was. There was now working air conditioning down here, lights, entertainment rooms, comfortable beds: essentially, they¡¯d converted the place into a proper, modern facility in its own right. The downside, of course, was that while they were allowed to have incoming communications such as the news and other one-way broadcasts for the purposes of recreation and entertainment, they could not send anything out, and they were not permitted to leave. Until the full completion of the project, they would be forced to stay right where they were, and then even afterwards, they would be forbidden from leaving Shadowfall Coast or Tomb of Fire¡ªtheir choice¡ªfor a period of two years, during which time all their phones and internet usage would be monitored. And everyone here had agreed to those terms, including Prila¡ªbecause she had her own method of communication. ¡°This is troubling,¡± Adamus¡¯s voice whispered in her mind. ¡°I did not expect the humans to proceed at quite this pace.¡± ¡°This could be over in the blink of an eye if you truly cared so much. It should be you down there dealing with this, Adamus. Not Prila!¡± ¡°Must we stoke this argument again, my beloved?¡± Originally, Prila had been pursuing a different objective: dealing with the impending spawn-point crisis due to Adamus¡¯s Project Rejuvenation. Yet when the bomb fell, she knew that her time was better spent here. Given her advanced technical expertise and expertly self-faked credentials, it was no surprise she¡¯d glided through the interview process and had been placed on the main team. Her plan had been to learn all she could, find a way to escape, and then report back to Angelica. To her surprise, however, that had been completely unnecessary, as she¡¯d found herself being supported by not one, but two ¡°Gods,¡± both of whom had a tendency to bicker in her head as she tried to relay information to them on a near constant basis. She had learned that each of them could feel the emotion of the mind they were in communication with. For this reason, she knew they were picking up on her dread as she listened to the engineers and scientists congratulate one another. ¡°And we¡¯re positive this is the correct isotope?¡± asked a tall, lanky man in a lab coat with a thin brown mustache. ¡°We sure are,¡± replied the woman seated across from him. ¡°Boys and girls, we did it: we synthesized Uranium-235.¡± ¡°Where do you think the original sample came from?¡± someone else asked. She shrugged. ¡°No idea.¡± She chuckled and looked at Prila. ¡°I like your idea, though.¡± Prila fought to keep her unease from showing in her eyes as she returned the laugh. ¡°The remains of another planet is most likely,¡± she said. ¡°Perhaps a meteor or an asteroid crashed into Galterra long ago, and it was recently found by another project team we¡¯re unaware of. They must have built the weapon in secret but died from the radiation, and now we¡¯re here, with better equipment, to safely continue it.¡± ¡°That is quite plausible,¡± said a man with a deep voice and large, broad shoulders who served as the head engineer. They seemed to like her theory. To be fair, it contained at least some small element of truth. Naturally, she did not tell them the whole truth: that the weapon was made thousands of years ago on Galterra by a team of scientists working for one of the earliest guild leaders of the Guild of Gentlemen: a man named Moldark, who had smuggled the samples in from Earth, a planet none of them were even aware existed. I didn''t think they could make this breakthrough so quickly, she said to the two Great Ones. We have less than a week now that they can synthesize U-235 all on their own. And it was here that the debate between Great Ones continued to rage, with both sides occupying the opposite role from the one she¡¯d typically expect from the two. ¡°You must sabotage the project and kill as many of the scientists as possible,¡± Eilea said. ¡°You have no choice.¡± ¡°You must not,¡± Adamus interjected forcefully. ¡°Prila, you must remain safe at all cost.¡± A disgusted, mentally projected laugh that was filled with loathing rang out in her brain. ¡°So, because you have feelings for this human, you now behave in a way that is so uncharacteristic, Adamus? It is funny how you do not extend that appreciation of life to any of those you habitually watch die. It¡¯s not often I call for a sacrifice. I do so only as a last resort. Of course, the one time I do, you¡¯ve chosen to betray all of your cold, twisted, beliefs! Even I did not see this coming. It''s astounding how you always find a new way of enraging me.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°I¡­I will not deny it,¡± Adamus said, his voice coming across at a whisper even in Prila¡¯s mind. ¡°Yet I ask that you spare this woman.¡± ¡°Then go down yourself and smite the entire facility! You act as though there are no other options. We have all the information we need, yet you continue to put Prila in the position she¡¯s in.¡± Prila tried to drown out their bickering, which continued even as she was forced to make polite conversation with the others in the room with her. In truth, she was prepared to do whatever was necessary to protect the world from this awful weapon of death. And after all, this current argument was nothing new. It had been raging on for two weeks. Eilea wanted Adamus to appear here in person, obliterate the lab, and kill the engineers and scientists working to create more of the nuclear weapon. Adamus refused each time, claiming that the moment a ¡°God¡± chose to personally ¡°smite¡± someone or something, it irrevocably would change the behavior of all living, sentient beings to the extent that societies might collapse, entirely new religions would pop up overnight, and there would be far-reaching consequences that could lead to even greater acts of death and murder over the long term. Prila had to reluctantly agree with him on that point, though Eilea remained unconvinced. Nevertheless, she¡¯d fallen back on a separate plan: she wanted Prila to sabotage the project knowing full well that Prila would be captured, tortured, and likely executed as a result of this. And Prila was willing to do it despite this. Not merely for altruistic reasons, but because she so despised life here on Galterra¡¯s surface that she no longer cared much if she lived or died. In just her short time here, she had witnessed the worst of humanity. People were not like this at the OMP. They simply weren¡¯t. This was a hard, cruel world filled with crueler, harder people. Yet Adamus, in what came as a shock to both herself and Eilea, refused that plan of action. Even more surprising, when Eilea¡¯s mind would retreat, likely turning to other matters, Adamus¡¯s would linger, and though he often said little, Prila could feel in her heart that he was beginning to miss having her at the OMP as much as she missed being there. And that had created such an intense conflict within herself, because though she had betrayed the man, she missed seeing him each day. Before departing the OMP, there had been days where he and Prila would speak for ten or more hours on many different subjects. Her heart yearned to see him again¡ªeven though she disagreed with so many of his core beliefs. For now, however, she was forced to continue this charade, doing as little as she could to further Sir Morrison''s plans while still being useful enough not to question, dismiss, or worse. Part of her wanted to go ahead and commit an act of sabotage just to spare Zach the pain of what might happen if he was forced to come over here and do this himself. He¡¯d been through enough¡ªa point that Eilea did not fail to remind Adamus, and which Adamus now used as ammunition against Eilea. ¡°You are not different from me in this,¡± he said. ¡°You care so deeply about the boy that you would ask Prila to face indescribable pain to spare him any further discomfort. You are so swayed by your emotions that there are days where you¡¯ve even begun to reconsider your plan to have the boy conquer North Bastia. A plan that I disagree with, mind you, but nevertheless can appreciate from a tactical standpoint. Yet I can feel within you the uncertainty; as always, your emotions constrain your ability to pursue even your most sincerely held values.¡± ¡°The difference is I am consistent in my love for people and the world, you rotten bastard! I don¡¯t make ironclad rules only to break them!¡± Prila could feel Eilea¡¯s mind abruptly vanish. This happened from time to time as well. She took it as the mental equivalent of storming off in a huff. Truthfully, Prila did not care much for Eilea. She did not understand why someone so wise, level-headed, and intellectual such as Adamus had ever fallen in love with such an overly emotional, hotheaded woman. This wasn¡¯t to suggest that Prila herself was perfectly dispassionate. She too could find herself acting out irrationally due to her own feelings¡ªas could anyone capable of emotion. But in Prila''s case, it was a rarity, whereas Eilea seemed to habitually find herself in conflict due to her impulses. Given that Adamus was capable of listening in on their conversations, Eilea chose to speak very little about the boy, and so too did Prila. Prila also had the sense that Eilea was keeping secrets from Adamus, but she also had a suspicion that Adamus knew exactly what those secrets happened to be¡ªand simply could not prove them and was thus unable to act on them. Chief among them, Adamus probably knew for certain that Angelica was violating the rules of the System and both aiding and dispensing information to people she should not have. Yet because of that privacy room, Adamus could not absolutely prove this. Interestingly, Adamus knew that Prila had gone to Angelica¡¯s and had been in one of their ¡°meetings,¡± but he never raised this topic with her almost as though he knew that trying to question her about her time there would only create friction between them. Now, with Eilea having left to do whatever it was she did in secret, Prila found herself more at ease. She actually preferred it when Eilea was not around. And it wasn''t that she hated Eilea; she simply disliked the woman''s eccentric personality. Having now become acquainted with the woman who was organizing the resistance against Adamus, Prila was honestly unimpressed. Adamus was too good for her, and Prila could not control the disgust she felt over the way Eilea would routinely disrespect, talk down to, or mistreat Adamus. Grateful for the mental privacy, Prila decided to express something that was growing within her. It was not something that would come as a surprise to Adamus, but it was something she had nevertheless deliberately avoided communicating. Yet she felt compelled. It was an intrinsic sense deep in her being, and so she exhaled slowly and, while keeping her face clear of the emotional turmoil she felt within, she decided to give voice to the one desire she held above all. I want to come home, Prila admitted, suppressing a sigh even as she continued to smile and make small talk. One of the engineers had baked a cake, and there was laughter and cheer all around as a scientist brewed a pot of coffee. ¡°I know you do, child.¡± I only ever did what I thought was right. ¡°I know that.¡± Please let me come home after this. Please, Adamus. I will not betray you again. I swear it. She felt the ache in his heart, and he felt the ache in Prila¡¯s. She could tell, because with Eilea gone, he connected with her more deeply, and she could not hide from him the way she truly felt. ¡°I shall consider it.¡± I¡­I miss you. ¡°I miss you as well.¡± I want to go home. I¡¯ve done what I felt I had to do. I don¡¯t want to be here anymore. Let me come home. I won¡¯t survive down here. Please, Adamus. He did not reply, but Prila, who could feel Adamus as though he stood there behind her chair with his arms around her shoulders, no longer needed to fake her smile. Because in that moment, she knew he would not leave her there to rot. Chapter 134: Bittersweet Chapter 134: Bittersweet Every day, there was death. From morning to sunset, and then all throughout the night¡ªdeath, death, and more death. As Kesten handed in a transfer form to the woman at the front desk, which called for another eight victims to be taken away to the morgue and processed, he held himself back from swearing aloud and upsetting the apprehensive families waiting in the various lobbies for news of their loved ones. All turned their eyes on him as he waded gently by and headed back into the thick of things. With a sigh, he wiped a light coating of sweat away from his forehead; the perspiration was due to nothing more than pure stress and frustration, as Hope¡¯s Rest¡ªone of the hospitals here in Giant¡¯s Fall¡¯s primary city¡ªwas kept quite cool if not borderline chilly. ¡°My¡­father?¡± a young woman in her late teens asked as he moved past her. She stood just outside the wide, roped-off entryway to the staff-only elevator. ¡°Is he¡­?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Kesten whispered to her, recalling that he¡¯d promised her three or maybe even four hours ago that he¡¯d check in on her dad. She must have been standing right here waiting for him this whole time. He was so busy he¡¯d nearly forgotten her. But worst of all, for all her patient waiting, Kesten could only give her terrible news. ¡°I¡¯m afraid he didn¡¯t make it.¡± She nodded. ¡°And my mother?¡± He tightened his grip on a clipboard he carried partially under his right arm. ¡°She¡¯s still alive, but her prognosis isn¡¯t good. I don¡¯t believe she¡¯ll survive the night.¡± ¡°Can I see her?¡± Sadly, he shook his head. ¡°They¡¯re not letting anyone visit the patients since we¡¯re still not entirely sure if it¡¯s safe for the irradiated victims to come within close proximity of others, and we just can¡¯t spare the protective equipment right now. I realize how awful this sounds. I wish to the Gods I could do more for you or have better news, but this is just how¡­this is all I have for you. I¡¯m so sorry.¡± The girl again nodded her head, and Kesten was awed by her strength. Though her eyes were moist, she tightly gripped her younger brother who stood next to her and kept a strong, brave face. ¡°I¡¯m going to take my brother home now. Thank you for trying your best, doctor.¡± ¡°I wish I could¡¯ve done more,¡± he said. ¡°Those aren¡¯t idle words. Gods, I mean them.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± With that, she turned around and left. Kesten had no idea how she had the strength to keep from breaking down. She wasn¡¯t even going to be able to say goodbye to her mother. As though resigned to her fate, she simply turned around and made her way out of the hospital. For several seconds, Kesten stood transfixed and watched as she guided her little brother away until both pulled out of his line of sight; then he returned his thoughts towards tending to his patients, many of whom would not last much longer. This is really taking its toll on me, he thought to himself. I can¡¯t endure much more of it. Everyone was all so overworked, and morale was as low as Kesten had ever seen it. Every hour, dozens more would die; the eight Kesten reported pertained only to those he had been tasked with looking after; there would likely be many more. And that was only in this hospital. Despite two weeks having passed since the bomb had been dropped on Ogre¡¯s Axe, the death toll continued to rise by thousands each day. It was getting to the point where they were running out of space to put all the dead bodies. When will it slow down or level off? he wondered. At this rate, the death toll is going to hit the one-million mark by this time next week. Kesten thumbed the elevator call button and waited for it to arrive. When it did, he stepped inside and pondered where he should head next. As far as Hope¡¯s Rest was concerned, floors 12, 13, and 14 of the hospital had been dedicated solely to the treatment of bomb patients. For the purpose of keeping things organized, the victims of Ogre¡¯s Axe had been separated into three different categories, which determined where they were placed. On the 12th floor were those who were not expected to live beyond another few days; it was never a happy moment when someone had to be moved down there, but the way things were heading, it wouldn¡¯t surprise Kesten if more than ninety percent of the patients ultimately spent their last days on Galterra suffering in a bed on the twelfth floor¡ªand things weren¡¯t that much better for those residing one floor up, either. On the 13th floor were victims who were in critical but stable condition¡ªyet with a negative overall long-term outlook. The patients on the 13th floor were those likely to live at least a week to a month, but they were suffering from wounds, radiation poisoning, or a combination of both severe enough so that they were not expected to hold together for a whole lot longer than that. Early on, a wide variety of medical issues were dealt with on the 13th floor, but at this point, it was now almost exclusively down to radiation, as most people with serious blast wounds had already perished. Finally, there was the 14th floor. This was where the patients with the most ¡°optimistic¡± outlooks were being held, but even in this case, their long-term prognosis was only between one and three months. Anyone expected to live longer than that had either been transferred to a different hospital or, if they were far enough outside the blast radius, they had been discharged completely. And yet, even many of those people were unlikely to make it beyond one-to-five years due to various, incurable cancers. If the Gods really do exist, they¡¯ll never forgive the bastards responsible for this. Desperate for at least a hint of something resembling hope, Kesten pressed the small, metallic round button labeled ¡°14¡± and ascended up from the lobby. As the elevator climbed, his thoughts turned to the danger this weapon posed even to people like him. It caused his shoulders to tremble somewhat as he reflected on all that he¡¯d seen since volunteering his services to this hospital. By far, what haunted him most of all was the fact that not even adventurers were safe from the effects of the nuclear bomb. It even kills people like us¡­ At the time of the blast, it was believed that there were fourteen people higher than level one present in Ogre¡¯s Axe. If there were more, then they had not yet been identified. And of these fourteen, of which four were adventurers and ten were political guild members, thirteen in total were now dead, including a fifteen-year-old girl who was only level 4 and just starting out as an adventurer. She was believed to be studying in the grand library, hopeful to find her first dungeon, when the bomb fell. She most likely died instantly¡ªas did anyone who had less than somewhere between 40 to 50 points into constitution depending on proximity to the center of the blast. In this case, six of the fourteen had died either immediately or within a few minutes of the nuclear bomb exploding over the city, leaving eight horrifically, lethally wounded¡ªand badly disfigured¡ªadventurers and political guild members writhing in pain in the city¡¯s ruins. Of these eight, one died before they could be taken to the hospital, and the other seven had barely been clinging to life when they got here. Yet, even despite this, there had been hope: for those first few days, at least, there had been hope. Because upon their rescue, both the political guilds and the adventuring guilds rushed forward, volunteering as many rejuvenation stones as was needed. And in the beginning, it did indeed seem like these seven souls would make it through this ordeal no worse for wear. In fact, less than two hours after the blast, these disfigured, mangled, yet somehow still-living bodies that had somehow survived the blast were brought back to their full form thanks mostly to the red stones. And though they were all shaken up, all seven men and women walked out of the hospital that afternoon in a condition that Kesten would bet looked just as healthy as they did before they were hit with the bomb. And then, things changed. That night, one by one, all seven returned. And the sickness was visible in their faces¡ªin their very eyes. Flaky, peeling skin, and open, inexplicable wounds, along with tumors growing uncontrolled¡ªall seven were bleeding from the eyes, ears, nose, and rectum. Their heart, liver, and kidney functions were in rapid decline. They had sores all over their bodies, and they each had trouble speaking due to a terrible cough. They were sweating, exhibiting signs of tachycardia, and worst of all: the stones were no longer having an effect. At least not outside of the purely superficial. Incredibly, the red stones became the only stones that managed to at least give the illusion of healing. Upon administering the red stones to each of these seven, their bodies, at least from a glance, returned to form. Their skin healed, their wounds closed up, and their bleeding ceased. Yet within two-to-three hours, they reverted once again. This, ultimately, did little to prolong their lives, as the real issues they suffered from were internal in nature, and the yellow and purple stones failed to assist them on that front. Two political guild members died the first night, an adventurer died the second night, and on the third night, all but one remained: a man by the name of Aerick Ondoranth, a level-57 adventurer and horse tamer, who was 5th in command of the adventuring guild Lost and Found¡ªand who also happened to be a personal friend of Kesten¡¯s as well. By all accounts, Aerick, who was on death¡¯s doorstep, should have followed the other six to their deaths. Yet as he was mere hours from leaving this world, his guild-leader, a woman by the name of Brea Nightfel, showed up with one of the most valuable and desired items in the world of adventuring: the prized, deeply treasured light stone. She had insisted it be tried despite nothing else thus far having worked, as it had always been taught that there was no ill the light stone could not cure. And indeed, Kesten had personally witnessed for himself what a light stone could do¡ªand how quickly, too. When Alex had been ripped apart by the Cursed Defender of Ziragoth adds, he¡¯d used his own light stone, which he¡¯d been saving for years, and he had been healed back to full health within a mere twenty seconds. Thus, Kesten had crossed his fingers and watched on hopefully as the light stone was used on Aerick, and to his relief, he would soon discover that there was at least something in this world, however rare, that was capable of saving the lives of those condemned to death by the bomb¡¯s sickness¡ªwell, sort of. It was often said that no matter how dire the illness or wound, all it ever took was a single light stone to heal someone back to their full capacity. That, as it turned out, was now provably false. Although Aerick¡¯s life was spared, and though he was no longer in any danger of death, he was not able to walk, his overall condition was very poor, and he was not recovering any further. He was stuck in a weakened, diminished state. Kesten had experimented with using more of the rejuvenation stones on him, but like before, they had little impact aside from the red stone, which could make the man appear, at least cosmetically, as his former self for a few hours before his fresh, new skin would once more peel off his face while several of his quickly regrown teeth would loosen and fall right back out almost as soon as they grew in. He would also inevitably become blind in his left eye, and his limbs would fail him after just an hour or so. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Most likely, he would need another light stone to make more progress in his recovery. But getting him one would be no simple task. For as generous as the adventurers may have been when it came to the other rejuvenation stones, trying to get one to part with a light stone was easier said than done. Those stones were so coveted that many adventurers hesitated when needing to use one on themselves. There were cases of adventurers actually dying because they chose to try ¡°toughing it out¡± rather than using their light stone, which would have saved their lives. And in some ways, Kesten could not blame them. To call the light stone ¡°rare¡± just did not go far enough in describing how seldom they were to come across. By most metrics, adventurers were lucky to even see a light stone during the course of their entire lives, let alone actually possess one. It was part of the reason why the Explorers Brigade was working so hard to complete the ¡°puzzle¡± in Whispery Woods and unlock the event portal that led to the Ohorja raid¡ªan event that Zach and Kalana had somehow unlocked on the girl¡¯s island. This was because the quest that accompanied the raid would reward each participant a light stone, and Kesten was already planning on giving his to Aerick if he was able to get a spot on the raid. He needs it badly, Kesten thought. I¡¯ve got to come through for him. Stepping out of the elevator, he arrived to find the man peacefully sleeping further into the radiation ward, though his breathing was labored and uneasy. At the moment, he looked weak, frail, and he was missing nearly all of his medium-length, thick locks of brown, straight hair. He had been a very handsome man, and now he looked grotesque and disfigured. Three quarters of his teeth were missing, and those that remained were the color of charcoal. His skin was covered in lesions and sores, and he smelled of death. Fortunately, his vitals were stable, and Kesten genuinely did not believe his condition would become any worse. He would likely be bedridden until such a day came that someone presented him with a light stone. Yet even that might not be enough. With one light stone, he would likely return to a point where he could walk, partially resemble his old self, and maybe even swing a sword¡ªthough that would be pushing it. It would probably take two light stones for him to truly make a full recovery and be back to his old self again. ¡°I¡¯m gonna get you those stones, bud,¡± Kesten said, nodding his head at the sleeping, pitiful figure who looked more like an unwrapped mummy than a living human being. ¡°Please just hang in there. Beg, borrow, or steal, I¡¯ll find a way to get you better again. Promise you, Aerick.¡± Kesten patted him on the shoulder then turned around and headed back to the elevator to check on the patients one floor below. Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t have to transfer another dozen from the 13th to the 12th. Yet, deep down, he knew he¡¯d be lucky if that was all he had to contend with. Things were as bad as they could get. Someone needed to make the Guild of Gentlemen pay. There was no justice in a world in which this went unpunished. ****** Zach yawned. Putting aside the violence earlier in the day, the last two weeks had been good. Really good. And not even the knowledge that society was falling apart had been enough to ruin the vacation that Zach had taken. He had needed the time off from the world so badly, and in truth, he needed more of it. He needed several months at the very least. But that wasn¡¯t going to happen for him, was it? This, he considered as he sank lower into the pool, closing his eyes and letting the warm sunshine cover his face as the water comforted him and added a feeling of weightlessness. The smell of barbeque in the air helped lull him further into a sense of tranquility and wellbeing. He really loved it here. Soon, he was going to have to get his hands dirty, but for now, he tried to soak up every last second of peace to be found. All things considered, the second part of today had also turned out to be really good as well, though it was a bit mired by the unavoidable sadness that had sprouted up right around the time when he and Jascaila had reentered the home following their impromptu therapy session. Upon walking in the door, the sound of a little boy wailing had greeted the two of them. Having become nervous, he¡¯d hurried into the living room to see Kalana and Fylwen both gripping that child Fylwen had brought here, who she''d claimed was Peter V¡¯s only offspring. Right away, Zach had known something was out of the ordinary; he knew what it normally sounded like for a child to cry, but this was different. There was real misery in the way the child was howling. This had been no mere temper tantrum. ¡°No!¡± he¡¯d wailed. ¡°No, daddy promised! He promised!¡± Seiley had looked mortified, and she had been profusely apologizing to Fylwen for a reason Zach, at the time, did not understand. ¡°I¡¯m so, so sorry, my queen,¡± she¡¯d said. ¡°It was an accident.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not your fault,¡± Queen Vayra had replied, kissing the top of the boy¡¯s head as he continued to fill the house with the sound of his crying. ¡°You couldn¡¯t have known, and this was bound to happen eventually. The fault, truly, is mine.¡± Zach would later learn that, while him and Jascaila had been outside, Seiley, who did not even know that the boy was the child of Peter V, would make a casual remark about something on the news involving the man¡¯s death. This would be overheard by his child, who somehow had not yet been told of his father¡¯s passing. The result was a sadness that could be felt by everyone. Zach was just relieved that Kalana was on hand to give him hugs and support¡ªand Ruby, as well. Without question, Ruby¡¯s actions today really made Zach glad for the mistake with the stone that brought her into being, as he was beginning to see that she was such a sweet, loving ¡°dinosaur¡±¡ªor at least Jimmy seemed fairly confident in proclaiming her type of species as such. It was a word Zach had only heard once or twice before, and it was apparently the category to which a ¡°raptor¡± belonged. But whatever the case, Ruby was so empathetic and loving that it boggled the mind how she¡¯d formerly been a ¡°Cursed Defender of Ziragoth¡± that had contributed in tormenting the raid. Shockingly, Ruby seemed to be the only one capable of making Peter smile. Throughout the day and into the early evening, he stopped crying only when she would play with him or nap while cuddled up with him after he¡¯d exhausted himself from another bout of intense crying. She even planned to sleep in the bed with him tonight to comfort him. She was a good girl, and Zach was wrong to have judged her so harshly at first. Jimmy, for his part, had his own theories about her. He claimed her behavior and mannerisms were far more in line with that of a golden retriever than what he¡¯d learned in his time about raptors and dinosaurs, which were apparently remnants of life on Earth that had gone extinct long before the existence of people. After explaining to Jimmy the nature of Ruby¡¯s sentience, Jimmy hypothesized that whoever ¡°made¡± the gem that turned mobs into sentient beings must not have known what psychological profile to give a raptor and, in his words: ¡°They probably took a shortcut and made them into dogs.¡± Zach himself had no clue. Though Jimmy might have been on to something, as Ruby, despite being aware that she was a ¡°raptor,¡± did kind of share a lot of similarities with a common dog. She wagged her tail when happy, chirped whenever a dog would typically bark, and loved to lick people¡¯s faces. Fortunately, if Jimmy was correct, Fluffles did not understand or realize this, because Fluffles hated dogs and that would¡¯ve created instant conflict. ¡°Let¡¯s go running outside,¡± she¡¯d said to Peter earlier, inviting him to climb on her back. Zach was surprised by how gentle and patient she was with the little boy. ¡°We¡¯ll go on an adventure!¡± ¡°Okay, but¡­but I get to be the sword guy and you have to be my sidekick.¡± Only a small child could smile and giggle in the same day that they¡¯d heard such devastating news. Ruby had done laps back and forth along the front lawn with the boy holding onto her; this, while Fylwen and Jascaila had engaged in a private conversation regarding his future in the kitchen that Zach had been chastised for eavesdropping on. The dynamic there was actually another big surprise to Zach. Fylwen and Jascaila seemed to really take well to one another. The queen spoke to her as though she were an equal. As far as Zach was aware, the two had never met one another before today, and yet despite this, Fylwen was treating her like an old confidant. Fylwen had also tried to corner Zach several times for what Zach was sure would be an attempt to badger him with questions he wouldn¡¯t be able to answer in this setting. Thankfully, he¡¯d managed to go all day while finding excuses to slip away. Amid all this, Zach was troubled, but he was stronger now than he¡¯d been before; of that much, he was certain. As he relaxed in the pool and entered a somewhat meditative state, he found his heart becoming more resolute over what might¡ªand in all likelihood would¡ªtake place tomorrow night or at the very most the next few nights thereafter. Truly, the chance of him getting through any of this without bloodshed was slim to none. But what held him together was the knowledge that no one could say he was doing the wrong thing. What is the action I plan to take, and why do I want to take it? he asked himself¡ªsomething he¡¯d learned to do over these past two weeks. Jascaila had taught him how to deeply reflect on his actions and consider them from the perspective of an outsider looking in: to judge himself in a way that was both impartial and logical. Doing so, he understood that what he planned to do was necessary and would save far more lives than might be ended, especially if Mr. Oren was right and the execution of Vim could lead to foreign wars with the Gnomes and inevitably their cousins, the Dwarves. Tomorrow I¡¯ll learn the most up-to-date information, and then we¡¯ll come up with a plan. I have to do this. If I don¡¯t, I¡¯ll end up in a worse place mentally than I will if I go through with it. Zach continued to meditate on the coming conversation with Eilea, which would happen tomorrow early in the morning. The two had a lot to discuss in just five minutes, and Zach wasn¡¯t sure how he was going to fit all of it in. He didn¡¯t know how he¡¯d touch on each of the points he¡¯d already planned to discuss while making room to talk about Jimmy, who would not be happy if he had to wait another week to get answers to the questions that were clearly burning a hole into his heart. Right now, though, Jimmy at least seemed to be holding up well enough. He and Jascaila were swimming laps back and forth, laughing and discussing some admittedly fascinating things about Earth. Zach, passively listening in, was learning things that surprised him; for every one aspect of life on ancient Earth that was different from life here on Galterra, there was one that was just as similar. ¡°So wait, you and your friend did what?¡± she asked him, giggling. Jimmy stopped swimming and began treading water, laughing as he reminisced about something he claimed happened only a year ago but in actuality took place such a long time ago that the history books referred to it as the dark ages and offered practically no information regarding the time period. ¡°So, me and Marcus,¡± he began, having to pause mid-sentence due to laughing. ¡°We uh, we bought fireworks off this shady-ass dude for the 4th of July, but you¡¯re not supposed to do that in New York because it¡¯s illegal, right? So we had to buy them from this guy on Marcus¡¯s block. Anyway, shit was defective as hell. And one of the bottle rockets flew right into a cop car. We both booked it out of there. We ran our asses off.¡± Zach smiled, though he did so with a slight wince, as he knew exactly what Jascaila was doing. She was in the ¡°disarming¡± phase of things. Her first two sessions with Zach had also been all giggles and laughs. It was only later that things would become much more serious and personal. Yet he was glad Jimmy was willing to speak to her, because Jimmy¡¯s lingering doubts over whether or not any of this was ¡°real¡± was a serious problem. While Zach genuinely did not believe Jimmy wanted to die, he might nevertheless convince himself to do something indistinguishable from suicide if he got it in his head again that this was all just a fake reality and that he¡¯d wake up in the real one if he ¡°died.¡± Zach, acting out of concern, had told Jascaila about the incident earlier today in Angelica¡¯s with the knife, and she had seemed to agree that it was cause for concern. If Eilea brought him here, we¡¯re going to need him, Zach thought. For his own good and everyone else¡¯s, he needs to accept the world for what it is. Towards the shallower end of the pool, Peter and Ruby were swimming together under the watchful eyes of Kalana and her mother while Trelvor and Seiley tended to the barbeque. Not far from them, Fluffles¡ªand a visiting Chumpkenwiffles¡ªsat on their butts and stared up at the food with lust in their drooping tongues. The two Shadowfangs appeared too drawn-in by the smell of the apple sausages to feud with one another. Chumpkenwiffles wasn¡¯t the only guest they were having over, either. Olivir, Kolona, and Grundor had all dropped by; the two vampires were sitting in sunchairs, which Jimmy seemed to find amusing, and Grundor, for his part, was gliding back and forth from one end of the pool to the other. Kalana and her mother, on the other hand, were both sitting on the steps leading into the pool, the water reaching up to their ankles; at the moment, they were talking quietly but animatedly to one another. Zach was unable to make out what they were saying. All in all, it was a moment Zach would characterize as bittersweet, for in the back of his mind, he knew that he would soon have to take up his sword and use it to kill. With all his heart, he wished he did not have to do this. But the world was giving him little choice. For better or worse, he was prepared to do what he must. And he was determined to come back in one piece: physically and mentally. Chapter 135: The Third Domino Chapter 135: The Third Domino Few would dispute that, in the wrong hands, power could be warped into a corrupting, destructive force. But power did not need to corrupt to be destructive. Given enough power, even those with the best and purest of intentions had the potential to alter the fate of the world for the worse¡ªbut also for the better. Either outcome was possible, and so too were both outcomes occurring simultaneously. With just a whisper on the wind, an emperor could save ten lives while ending another ten: such was the weight of consequence upon the shoulders of those whose very words could part the seas or move mountains. It would be some time before Zach would learn what the ramifications would be of the incredibly risky decision he was going to make in a few moments from now. It was an idea that had come to him shortly before going to bed and had caused him to toss and turn all night long, even waking Kalana a few times in the early-morning hours¡ªthough he did not tell her why. She had no clue what he was planning, and neither did anyone else. And truthfully? It wasn¡¯t even until Zach arose from bed and wiped the crust out of his eyes that he came to realize, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he was actually going to go through with it. I have to do it, he thought. Otherwise, there could be even bigger problems down the line. A domino cannot be blamed for the existence of the one behind it, nor can the domino behind it take responsibility for any subsequent dominos farther down the line. Nevertheless, if the first one falls, they all do. And though the idea of mucking around with the fate of civilization was the furthest thing from Zach¡¯s mind, the ability to radically transform the world was something that naturally accompanied a boy who could speak with Gods. One day, Zach would better understand this. But for today, he was focused on a much narrower set of problems. Where in the fuck did Kal put my Gods-be-damned toothbrush? ¡°Kal,¡± he said in a whispery hiss, reentering the master bedroom after only having just left it. ¡°Are you awake?¡± She yawned. ¡°What is it, baby?¡± ¡°Where¡¯d you hide my toothbrush?¡± She frowned. His question seemed to wipe away any drowsiness within her, and now she lifted herself up off the bed and entered into a sitting position, causing a single golden strand of her hair to fall before her right eye. ¡°I didn¡¯t hide your toothbrush. It¡¯s in the brush holder in the top drawer.¡± ¡°Uh, why?¡± ¡°Why?¡± she repeated, sounding annoyed. ¡°It¡¯s ¡®cause I don¡¯t live like a slob. You can¡¯t just leave it lying loose on the sink. That¡¯s gross! Put your things away. Umm, you left your underwear lying on the floor last night and I had to pick it up. I¡¯m not your maid.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we just hire one, then?¡± he asked roguishly. From the way her frown deepened, he knew he was better off easing up before she punished him by pretending not to be mad even though she clearly was. That was the worst punishment of them all. Zach couldn¡¯t stand it when she did the whole ¡°I¡¯m not mad¡± routine. When Zach was mad, he just said so. Kalana, on the other hand, would say she wasn¡¯t and then have like this weird attitude for a few hours, in which she¡¯d talk in a more quiet, subdued tone, say things more slowly, and more forcefully punctuate her words. Girls, he thought, rolling his eyes. Returning to the bathroom, he located the cleverly hidden toothbrush and then cleaned himself up. Despite the safety of the island, he decided to wear his full set of equipment today¡ªbut not before pulling up his base stats. It¡¯d been a bit of time since he¡¯d had a look at where he stood while having no gear equipped and no buffs active on him aside from Will of the Favored, which did not grant him any kind of bonus. Tapping himself four times on the shoulder, he smiled and nodded in approval at what he saw. It was hard to believe that, not even a month ago, he¡¯d become so upset and frustrated whenever he checked out his base stats. Boy, what a few good level ups could accomplish. Zachys Calador: Level 23 (82/265000xp) 54 strength 52 dexterity 47 constitution 82 intelligence 42 speed 15 luck Observing himself in the mirror, it was impossible not to notice the way his shoulders had become much broader, his jaw a bit sharper, and his chest a great deal more solid. These things had happened to Zach gradually since becoming an adventurer, but it was only during these past two weeks that he¡¯d had the opportunity to slow himself down and really take note of his bodily changes. I can¡¯t believe this is me, he thought, lifting his left arm and then his right, twisting his body somewhat, amazed at the sight of his own form. His daily, intense ¡°therapy sparring¡± sessions with Jascaila had also greatly benefitted his body as well as his mind. I¡¯m actually becoming buff. Zach had abs now, and his muscles were far more defined. He was becoming strong: capable. It was hard to believe he was the same person who¡¯d cried and begged Varsh to spare his life. If only he had been the person back then that he was now. Even without a single piece of gear¡ªor hell, even without his sword¡ªhe was fairly sure he could take down Varsh in five seconds flat if the guy was still alive and tried to pull something like that again. Don¡¯t get overconfident, he warned himself. Then you¡¯re just asking the universe to prove you wrong. Still, it was difficult not to take pride in his stats as they now stood. Even without a single piece of gear equipped, his strength was slightly more than twice his level, which meant, technically, he could play the role of an average, mediocre bruiser while completely naked and unarmed. But with his gear on? That shot it up to over a hundred. He grinned as he thought about getting stronger and stronger and how much more he could still improve. Why had he feared it so much? Why had the thought of rising above the clouds caused him such trepidation and angst? Wasn¡¯t that what I wanted to begin with? Wasn¡¯t that the promise I made to myself? To be strong enough so that no one could ever again do to me what Varsh did? It was. He remembered it keenly. And truly, more than anything else, what terrified Zach was being an ant for others to step on. That was what really scared him¡ªand always had. Even before he¡¯d become an adventurer, that had always been his greatest fear. It was only due to the shock of discovering his own potential that he became so inwardly afraid of his own self. But those days were over. From now on, he was not going to be afraid of growing as strong as he could: he would not be afraid of himself. That, he was prepared to truly put behind him. Maybe a bit of overconfidence is a good thing for today, he realized. But only for today. It might help me succeed in what I¡¯m going to do. Actually, it definitely will. Unlike his new friend, Jimmy, who had the utmost of confidence in the things he believed he was good at, Zach was naturally inclined towards pessimism and feelings of low self-esteem. But he knew that today was not the day to go down that road; no, he was about to do something crazy, and for him to succeed, he had to be confident and sure of himself. He needed to be decisive and in control of his emotions. There was absolutely no room for doubt or second-guessing himself. Actually, come to think of it, what he really needed was to channel a mix of Mr. Oren and Jimmy into himself. For what he planned to accomplish, he could not afford to show even the slightest bit of hesitance or uncertainty; if he outwardly expressed either trait, it would result in disaster, and his plans would backfire on him spectacularly and affect far more people than just himself. I¡¯ve got this, he told himself. I¡¯m making the right choice. I¡¯m sticking to it. I¡¯m doing this! Zach got dressed in a hurry, slipping into his dark robes, even darker cloak, and his trousers and gloves. Then he slid on his rings, bracelets, and lastly, his neck pendant. Oh, and of course, he retrieved his sword and scabbard from Bank and Storage. The increase in stats made him feel more powerful physically, which had the psychological effect of making him feel more in control mentally, as well. He was ready. Exiting the bathroom, he noticed that it would still be about thirty minutes until sunrise. This meant the all-night-long, hellish storm was raging on the island. By now, Zach was so accustomed to the nightly storm that his brain had begun simply filtering out the very loud booms of thunder and the intense pattering of teeming rain and, in some cases, hail. Briefly returning to the master bedroom, he kept his voice low and said, ¡°Kal, I¡¯m going out.¡± She raised her eyebrows at him. ¡°You¡¯re not gonna wait for everyone to be up?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Not this time, Kal. I need to speak to Eilea alone.¡± She glared at him and raised her finger to her nose, shushing him. She looked at him as though he was careless for speaking that name aloud. Yet it was intentional. But Zach was not about to tell Kal that¡ªat least not just yet. Very, very soon, but not quite right now. If all went well, she¡¯d understand within an hour from now, hopefully even sooner. They all would. It was a temporary secret he was keeping to avoid letting her or anyone unintentionally sow doubt in his mind. She¡¯ll understand, Zach thought. Well, about that secret at least. Not so sure about the other one¡­ Actually, there was an even more serious secret he was keeping from her, and this one made him feel legitimately guilty. It was going to make her very, very sad and angry when she found out about Zach¡¯s mission to free Vim Alazar. At the moment, only Jascaila and Mr. Oren knew of his plans to rescue the short, sharp-tongued guild-leader of the Royal Roses. But Kalana most certainly did not know¡ªand Zach had absolutely no intention whatsoever of informing her until after it was all over and done with. Because he knew she would try to go with him, and the idea of that disturbed him for a whole number of different reasons. To begin with, Zach did not want her to witness him killing people again, especially since any last trace of bloodlust Kalana felt towards the guilds genuinely seemed to be long gone. The girl who had texted him back during his first foray into Yorna informing him of her plan to one day kill all the guild leaders¡ªthat Kalana clearly no longer existed. Her bitterness had seemingly come and gone, likely in part due to her sessions with Jascaila and the fact that she would soon have real, actual power in Whispery Woods. The responsibility seemed to have sobered her up to the impracticality of world domination, and even if it hadn¡¯t, witnessing firsthand where those ambitions had led the Guild of Gentlemen would have done the job just the same. I don¡¯t want her to ever become like me, Zach thought. She¡¯s innocent in a way I can never again be. Through some miracle, Kalana had managed to get this far without ever having killed anyone, and she refused to do so, which while noble¡ªand something Zach loved so dearly about her¡ªwould expose her to terrible danger in a life-or-death fight. After all, the enemy definitely did not subscribe to her world view, and they would not pull their punches. Honestly, Zach wasn¡¯t sure he could bring himself to fight properly while the love of his life was there. He didn¡¯t want to see her kill, nor did he want her to see him kill. And her pacifist method of knocking the enemy out cold¡­that might not fly this time around. Especially not if Zach went with a certain battle plan that he¡¯d begun dreaming up¡­ There¡¯ll be no avoiding the bloodshed if everything goes according to plan. At any rate, the specific plan of action was a conversation to be had later today with Mr. Oren. But no matter what he ended up doing, he knew he could not be who he needed to be if Kalana was there. In order to become the person he had to become to fight a battle that had to be fought¡ªher presence would make that impossible for him. No, if he was going to do this, he needed to be quick, efficient, and get the job done as fast as possible. For him to do so, he had to go without her. He simply would not be able to get it done otherwise. Not with her watching him. Not with him worried about her. I hope I don¡¯t hurt her too badly, he thought. I hope¡­I hope she doesn¡¯t break up with me because of this. She¡¯s going to take this as a betrayal. Zach shook the worrisome thoughts from his head, as this was a monumentally bad time to even be considering something so dispiriting and paranoid. Right now, he needed to be the most confident and headstrong he¡¯d ever been in his life. This was a do-or-die moment. And so, shoving his concerns over Kalana aside for the moment, he nodded at her then exited the bedroom, creeping silently to the front of the house so as not to wake anyone. On his way there, however, he did end up getting spotted, but luckily, it was only by Fluffles, which meant he could buy the cat¡¯s silence with the promise of three cans of premium tuna and Cat-Yum¡¯s Chicken Deluxe. All in all, it only took him about half a minute to deal with Fluffles¡¯ extortion, and then the cat went back to sleep, and Zach crept the rest of the way to the front door. Before exiting, though, he paused to open the closet near the entrance, which contained rain coats and umbrellas; he reached inside to grab himself one of each. He stopped, however, deciding he didn¡¯t even care if he got wet. In fact, the intense rain might even get his blood pumping. He needed to really be on his game right now. Maybe a bit of rain would make him even more alert. Here I go¡­I¡¯m really doing this. Unprotected against the elements, Zach pulled open the front door, stepped outside into the continuous, nightly storm, and was drenched from head to toe in a matter of seconds. Like, absolutely soaked. He laughed, however, as the rush of water down on top of him really did make him feel more alive, and so did the way the dark sky lit up with a brilliant blue, which was followed by a boom of thunder so loud it made the inside of his skull feel like it was vibrating. His feet making squishing sounds against the grass, he jogged about a half a mile through the darkness before stopping, as there was no set distance he needed to travel. The only reason he¡¯d left the home at all was to make absolutely, one-hundred percent sure that nobody distracted or bothered him as he embarked on what would either turn out to be a successful gambit or one of the dumbest mistakes he¡¯d ever made in his life. Realizing this, he felt the first pinch of nerves enter his belly, but he clamped down on it like a security gate. This was not the time for fear, as fear could be felt. His emotions would not be private. Be confident, he told himself, saying it over and over while gripping his hands into fists. I know I can do this. Be confident. Be confident. Be confident! Taking just a few more seconds to let the teeming rain continuously drench him, he forced a grin onto his lips, psyched himself up, and made himself believe he was as confident as he wanted to be. Somehow, through some means, by repeating the chant in his head over and over, he actually succeeded in convincing himself. Feeling much more upbeat and positive, he decided that now was the time. And with that, he reached out. Eilea. We need to talk. Now. He waited. There was no reply. I know we¡¯re not supposed to talk for another hour, but the time¡¯s now. Eilea, can you hear me? I need you to respond to m¡ª ¡°Zach, what¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked, appearing abruptly in his head. She sounded alarmed, likely offput by the unexpectedly early contact. When two or three seconds went by and Zach did not reply, she began to speak in his stead¡ªand she spoke quickly, too. She spoke so fast it was almost difficult to comprehend her words, which fired off rapidly in his brain. ¡°Did you contact me by mistake?¡± she asked him. Then she continued on speaking without waiting for an answer. ¡°No? So does that mean you wish to start the clock now? We¡¯ve got so many things to discuss, so I hope you¡¯re sure about this. In fact, you should really start talking. There¡¯s not even time for me to ask why you¡¯re contacting me ahead of schedule. I¡¯ll just have to assume you have a very good reason.¡± Rather than begin the conversation, Zach closed his eyes and projected a feeling of a sort of calm, confident coolness that he hoped Eilea would pick up on. Whether she did or didn¡¯t, it did not seem to ease her, because in return, he felt her becoming worried and anxious as the seconds ticked down. ¡°Zach, you need to start speaking. Or should I? Okay, I¡¯ll just talk then.¡± And she did. ¡°Regarding Project Rejuvenation, you don¡¯t have to worry about it for a bit. Adamus has no choice but to delay it as a result of the damage to the system. So, we¡¯ll shelve that for this week, all right? Now, onto more important matters. Let¡¯s discuss the weapons program. I have a whole lot of new and very important information about that. I also haven¡¯t told you this yet, but Prila is actually the one who¡ª¡± Stop, he said. ¡°¡ªI have working on it. And she¡ª¡± Eilea, please, stop, he said again. And now, he could actually feel her confusion. ¡°Stop?¡± she asked as if dumbstruck. ¡°Zach, we¡¯ve barely covered anything at all, and we¡¯ve already wasted half a minute!¡± Yeah, so uh, about that, he said to her. We¡¯re not going to worry about that anymore. As far as I¡¯m concerned, we¡¯ve got all the time we want. ¡°Wh-what do you mean?¡± she asked, her confusion plainly intensifying. ¡°Zach, I can only hold this for five minutes.¡± So stop holding it. ¡°Huh? Am I hearing you correctly?¡± Yes. Stop holding it. ¡°But¡­if I lower the mental barrier between us, my wretched husband shall overhear our conversation.¡± I know. And that¡¯s what I want. ¡°You what?¡± she asked, her words coming across as a shout in his brain. Zach wasn¡¯t sure if he was imagining it, but he could¡¯ve sworn he heard the merry sound of a man laughing in the background. It must have been Eilea¡¯s accomplice she¡¯d told him about: someone she¡¯d claimed that Zach was distantly related to. I¡¯m tired of time limits and special meeting rooms, he said to her, sending her a strong sense of conviction in addition to his words. Actually, I¡¯m kind of putting it lightly. The truth is I¡¯ve had enough of this bullshit, Eilea. I¡¯m sick and tired of skulking around like some kind of criminal. So, I want you to trust me. I¡¯ve thought this through. Lower the barrier. Please. ¡°Zach, that¡¯s insane! You can¡¯t possibly be asking me to¡ª¡± Eilea, please! Just trust me. I¡¯m asking you to please trust me. ¡°Are you¡­you¡¯re serious about this, Zach?¡± Very. As serious as I¡¯ve ever been. No more secret chats. Lower the barrier. Trust me, Eilea. Please. ¡°Very well,¡± she said with a good degree of reluctance; she now came across as equal parts nervous and confused. ¡°The barrier will be lowered in three¡­two¡­one¡­okay, Zach, it¡¯s down.¡± It is? Good, then we don¡¯t have to rush. He paused to take a deep breath. This is so much better, he said. As he spoke, the grin on his lips became less forced and more genuine. For once, he felt sure of himself. His nerves had completely settled. He was growing more confident by the second, and he proceeded with a sense of clarity: a sense of purpose. So, Eilea, he thought calmly to her. He thought his words slowly¡ªto demonstrate that he was not in any sort of haste. The rain had begun to slow, but it still showered down with enough intensity to give him a bit of a euphoric chill as a heavy breeze rolled across the land. It¡¯s so good to talk to you again this week. We¡¯ve got a lot to discuss, don¡¯t we? ¡°Z-Zach¡­¡± Yes? Eilea said nothing else in reply other than his name, though even without speaking, Zach could feel her disbelief, terror, and morbid sense of confusion. She was very worried. Zach knew she was hoping he would stop talking immediately before he said something that needed to remain private. Yet he continued anyway. What is it? he asked her. Why¡¯ve you gone silent, Eilea? She said nothing back for nearly ten full seconds. But Zach was patient, projecting only calm. Finally, he heard her voice echo in his mind. ¡°You should be careful what you say to me, Zach. It can be overheard now.¡± And it was with this nervously thought message that Zach knew the moment he¡¯d waited for had finally arrived. With an unwavering resolve, Zach addressed her concerns head on. Who cares if he can hear us? he asked her. It¡¯s not like your husband doesn¡¯t know we talk. I¡¯m getting tired of pretending otherwise. I mean, think about it, Eilea. That¡¯s all we¡¯re really doing here: we¡¯re pretending. And you know what? It¡¯s getting kind of stupid, isn¡¯t it? All this sneaking around, communicating in secret like he doesn¡¯t know exactly what we¡¯re up to¡­it just isn¡¯t my thing. It¡¯s childish. And believe me, I say that as someone who¡¯s a bit immature myself. I¡¯m just so fucking tired of it. And I bet you¡¯re tired of it too, aren¡¯t you, Adamus? Instantly after speaking his name, a silence lingered both in the air and in his mind. It was as though the wind was cognizant of the situation playing out in Zach¡¯s head, causing it to still. Or maybe it was just the fact that the very first rays of sunlight added a hint of orange to an otherwise dark sky, which signaled an impending end to the storm. Either way, the silence was brief, lasting for a mere moment¡ªbut one that indeed felt longer than it actually was. Because not a half a second had come and gone when, from somewhere deep inside Zach¡¯s mind, he heard the calm, soft-spoken voice of what sounded like an elderly man reaching across a vast distance to communicate with him in the same manner as Eilea. ¡°I completely agree, my child,¡± the voice said. ¡°It is a pointless, juvenile game of cat and mouse during a time when the system threatens to crumble around us.¡± The moment the voice rang out in his head, Zach filled with a deep sense of satisfaction. So¡­I¡¯m guessing you must be Adamus then, huh? he asked, having actually managed to draw the man out. Step one: success. As Zach stood with his back straight and his hands at his sides, he did a remarkably¡ªand unusually¡ªgood job of keeping himself calm and in control. It was proof that the time he¡¯d recently spent confronting his emotions with Jascaila had really done wonders in helping him maintain a grip over them, which was why he was actually succeeding at preventing himself from not only behaving in a way that externally came across as excitable, but from feeling excitable, too. Right now, controlling his actions alone just wouldn¡¯t be enough. For almost every other situation in life, it would be¡ªbut not for this. Not when dealing with God-like beings who could feel what he felt. Truly, this was not a stunt he would have been able to pull off a few weeks ago. And so, as a period of quiet left him with nothing but the ambient sounds of the early-morning winds, Zach was content to wait with a heart free of tension for Adamus to reply. As he waited, the rain at last came to an end, though the storm was not quite over; a powerful gust of wind nearly blew the hooded cloak off his head. Still, he maintained his grin and relaxed himself both physically and emotionally, refusing to transmit so much as a word until Adamus replied. Eventually, he did. ¡°That is indeed who I am, my child. I¡­had hoped that we could speak. It seems the desire was mutual.¡± Zach nodded, knowing that, despite being unable to see the gesture, Adamus and Eilea would both be able to feel it. Do you know why I want to talk to you, Adamus? ¡°I believe I do,¡± he said, now replying immediately and without delay. Why? Zach asked, wanting to see if they were on the same page. ¡°You wish to strike a bargain. That is why you have sought me out this morning.¡± With just those words alone, Adamus proved himself to be just as prescient and perceptive as Angelica had described him. Now, drawing upon every ounce of his willpower, Zach managed to continue exuding certainty as he asked: are you open to it? ¡°I am,¡± Adamus replied, causing Zach to sigh with relief. At the same time, he could sense Eilea¡¯s sheer, unrestrained sense of amazement and awe. He could actually feel the fact that she was speechless. She was having trouble believing that Adamus, the stubborn man who never compromised on anything significant¡ªthat he would be willing to engage in a deal. But Zach knew that he would. Oh, yes, he did. Because Adamus needed something from Zach. Something badly enough that he would be willing to make concessions. ¡°That¡¯s correct,¡± Adamus said, confusing him for a moment. Clearly capable of feeling this confusion, he explained, ¡°Your read on the situation is, sadly, one that I must admit is accurate. Rarely do I entertain negotiations, but indeed, the matters at hand are dire enough that I suppose at least some flexibility is in order.¡± Zach was a bit taken aback. It appeared Adamus could read him far more deeply than Eilea could, as Eilea had never shown the ability to understand the thoughts that were formulating in the back of his mind. She was only capable of picking up on what he consciously chose to transmit. It appeared Adamus was able to pick up on anything that Zach did not deliberately try to shield from him. Regardless, he refused to let it rattle him, and he forced himself to stay on topic. If I don¡¯t help you with this weapons problem, your system might break, right? ¡°That is correct, my child. The proliferation of these abhorrent creations poses a grave threat to the entire system, and the breaking of the system is something I can assure you would be the worst thing to ever happen in all of history, rivaled by nothing.¡± His words caused Eilea to feel a tremendous bout of anger, one that came through so clearly it actually made Zach feel anger that wasn¡¯t his own. Though she stayed silent, she did not need to speak for Zach to understand the cause of her rage. She was displeased by the way in which Adamus viewed his system as being more valuable than sentient life. This anger only continued to grow, and Zach could now tell that she was only a moment or two from erupting on Adamus¡ªsomething that could derail things before they¡¯d even had a chance to get off the ground. Concentrating, Zach sent her calming thoughts, and he was surprised to see how receptive she was to it, deciding to back down rather than inflame tensions. This indicated to Zach that Eilea truly did trust him. She was willing to be guided by him if he was willing to lead. She believed in him. For this reason, Zach found himself truly appreciating her. Though he concealed this thought such that neither Eilea or Adamus could read it, he had come to view Eilea as a somewhat ¡°imperfect¡± Goddess or Great One or whatever she was. Basically, it didn¡¯t take a genius to see she clearly had some deficiencies, insecurities, and numerous weaknesses, but she was a kind woman who Zach knew he could trust. And something told him that she would jump in front of a sword for him if she could. She was honest, heartfelt, and burned with a desire to see people happy and safe. He felt none of these things from Adamus: only a calm, calculating poise. You need my help, Zach said. And I¡¯ll give it. I¡¯ll take care of the problem for you. But I want several things in return. ¡°I did expect that you would. If it is within reason, and if it does not violate my principles, I shall fairly consider each one.¡± Good. This was the response Zach had hoped for. But the real battle would begin now. Bringing to mind his memories of Mr. Oren, Zach tried his best to let himself be guided by his former science teacher¡¯s natural gift at this sort of thing. He asked himself how Mr. Oren would proceed if it was him engaging in this conversation and not Zach. He knew he could never truly be a stand-in for the adventurer-turned-world-leader, but if he could just come close¡­it might be enough. Let¡¯s see about that, then, he said. How about we start with the easiest thing first? Actually, I think my first demand is something we can actually reach an agreement on without much issue, and it involves all the secrecy. I¡¯ll be honest with you: I¡¯m tired of tiptoeing around and trying to keep secrets that you already know I know. Can we please just cut the bullshit? I¡¯ve let way too much slip by accident over these past few weeks at various times. There¡¯s no way you don¡¯t know exactly what things I¡¯ve found out about you and Galterra. ¡°Very well," Adamus agreed. "For the sake of proving myself an actor of good faith, I will confirm your suspicions. Though I cannot prove it to my own standards, I am well aware you¡¯ve been apprised of numerous secrets: such as the fact that Eilea and I now stand alone as the only remaining Great Ones or the existence of my secretive-by-necessity organization known as the Orbital Monitoring Platform. You also know of more pressing matters as well, such as the World Eater spawning in five years¡¯ time, though on that point, you are not complicit in harboring such unfairly gained knowledge, as the existence of the World Eater was put directly into your head by Eilea more than a month ago; I have done my best since then to keep it locked away. But you know this as well, do you not?¡± Zach couldn¡¯t help but laugh as Adamus demonstrated that he did, indeed, know exactly what Zach knew despite all the attempts he¡¯d gone through to try hiding it from him. The fact that Angelica hadn¡¯t been destroyed or that assassins hadn¡¯t come down from the OMP to cut him apart was likely only because Adamus couldn¡¯t absolutely prove that Zach knew these things. His own, self-imposed values required him to witness these ¡°rule violations¡± taking place with his own eyes¡ªor in this case, mind¡ªin order for him to act upon them. Eilea had told him as much last week. The fact that Adamus was certain was still not enough to justify him ¡°interfering.¡± As Zach thought over what he¡¯d just been told, one thing in particular stood out to him. World Eater, he mentally whispered, repeating the name to himself as it became illuminated in his mind as though he¡¯d walked into the privacy room in Angelica¡¯s. I guess you¡¯re letting me remember it for the moment? Hey, that¡¯s actually one of the things I want you to stop doing. I¡¯m sick of having to sit in a room just to remember a name. Like I said, I¡¯m tired of all the sneaking around, and you messing with my head is part of the reason I have to do it. I want it to stop. He could sense something strange from Adamus. Something he took as the mental equivalent of a satisfied grunt. ¡°And so do I, my child. That is why, despite clearly violating the rules of the system, I will agree to overlook the transgressions that you, Angelica, and all of your cohorts have made in your acquisition of multiple pieces of ill-begotten, forbidden information, and I shall even allow you to carry around the knowledge you possess under the following two conditions. One: you do not further share what you have learned from Angelica with any additional people, and two, my beloved will cease providing you with any more knowledge of the World Eater and how to proceed from this point forward.¡± Zach, now having truly entered the negotiating phase of this conversation, mulled over Adamus¡¯s conditions. I can see myself agreeing to that, but only if I can speak freely about what I already know with the others¡ªincluding Angelica, too, if for any reason it comes up. As if to confirm his earlier suspicion, Zach discovered he actually was able to feel what could only be described as a mental nod, which Adamus sent to him. ¡°You may discuss what you have already learned with those who already know,¡± he said, ¡°and you may do so openly and without fear of retribution. But in return, I must kindly ask that you refrain from further collusion in secret locations outside of the system¡¯s range of monitoring. ¡°Lastly, I will even agree to allow you to spread your knowledge of the existence of the World Eater, as merely knowing its existence hardly diminishes the road ahead and may, if nothing else, provide an incentive for Galterrans to embrace a better path¡ªthough I must admit, I greatly dislike such inorganic methods of encouragement.¡± Zach thought over his words. It was a bit much to take in, and he wanted to make absolutely sure he fully grasped them before agreeing to anything. It was the last point in particular that left him feeling most confused, as it seemed to contradict the first one. Wait a second, he said. You¡¯re saying I¡¯m allowed to discuss the World Eater even with people who don¡¯t already know about it as long as I don¡¯t include any information about the things that Angelica, uh¡­allegedly told me. For the first time, Adamus displayed some semblance of emotion, which came in the form of a genuine-sounding chuckle in the back of Zach¡¯s mind. ¡°Allegedly?¡± he asked. ¡°Come, boy. I thought we agreed to dispense with such ¡®pretending,¡¯ as you yourself have called it. I know that Angelica has told you much that she ought not to have spoken about, and I have already agreed to pardon her for this trespass provided it does not occur again. Yet let me reiterate that, aside from the mere existence of the World Eater and the clue to be found in Dragon Squire, I am calling upon you not to spread your prohibited knowledge any further than you have already spread it, and that you inform your friends to abide this as well. ¡°To that end, you may discuss all that you know openly, and you are free to speculate and extrapolate on your knowledge as you wish among those who¡¯ve already been included. But most importantly, there can be no further assistance from my wife outside of general advice that has always been allowed to be given freely between a Great One and a user of the system. She knows quite well what she is and is not permitted to say, and it is incumbent upon her to uphold these terms.¡± Zach tapped his chin as he carefully considered Adamus¡¯s offer. Though he would be giving up the chance to learn more important secrets, he would be gaining the ability to recall the World Eater at all times. Based on his conversation with Eilea last week, Galterra was going to be doomed unless big changes started happening now. And Zach¡¯s inability to even remember this threat was seriously hindering his ability to help deal with it. For this reason, after a brief period of contemplation, he decided that it was in his best interest to agree. But there was one thing he needed from Adamus in order to accept this bargain, and Gods, it was a pretty big ask. Nevertheless, it was the one point he was not willing to negotiate over. If Adamus did not grant him this request, the entire conversation would have been a waste of time, and he was determined to walk away with no agreement at all rather than agree to anything that did not include its most important element. That was how serious this condition was to him. It was the entire reason he¡¯d even taken the risk in drawing out Adamus in the first place. Okay, he said. I¡¯ll tell you what. I¡¯ll accept your terms, but I can only do it under one condition of my own: and I have to warn you, it¡¯s a big one. ¡°And what might that be?¡± the voice of Adamus asked in a whisper that seemed to eerily coincide with a slightly gentler breeze. I need you to release Eilea, Zach said, projecting the thought sternly and in a way that he hoped would convey that, at least on this point, he was not willing to compromise Not only did he need her up here for a very important purpose, but it was the right thing to do. You¡¯ve trapped her down there for a very, very long time, and she¡¯s miserable and in pain. I want her suffering to stop, and I want it to stop now! I can feel it every time I talk to her. Adamus, you need to let her go. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Two foreign, conflicting emotions resonated at the same time, and he became aware of each in the exact same instant. Adamus balked as if in outrage, and from Eilea, a feeling of pure love, gratitude, and loyalty flooded into Zach¡¯s brain. It was the closest thing he¡¯d ever felt to a mental hug. Somehow, he could tell that, wherever Eilea was, there were tears in her eyes at this moment, and that he¡¯d just won her undying love and support for the rest of his life. ¡°This is an outrageous demand. My beloved cannot be released until she agrees to cease her interference. We may not seem it, but we are both beings of power beyond mortal comprehension. Though I do not fashion myself a God in the way my beloved thinks herself a Goddess, it is undeniable that our powers are great and inconceivable to many. If I were to free her from her prison, she would use her power to bend the world to her will.¡± What if she agrees not to? Zach asked. ¡°If my wife was willing to make such a promise, she would not be trapped down there in the first place. What you do not understand is that I have been ready to free her every second of every day since I was forced to imprison her down there. All my beloved has ever had to do was renounce her foolish ambitions and vow to abide by the rules of the system. Yet she has proven herself unwilling to see reason time and time again, and so there she lingers, trapped in a cage of her own making.¡± Zach drew a breath, held it, and then slowly released it. This was it. This was the moment that he had spent so much time psyching himself up for. This was why he¡¯d refused to tell anyone about this encounter. It was for this very specific moment in this conversation that Zach had so painstakingly dug deep to find all of his confidence, determination, and emotional restraint. All last night, as he¡¯d tossed and turned and imagined how this conversation might play out, he knew that when he got to this part, Adamus might reject his request, and for that reason, he needed to project a level of confidence so strong that it was practically bleeding out of him, or else this was going to fail. She will not interfere, Zach said with absolute certainty. And I¡¯m willing to take personal responsibility for her actions. And before you ask: yes, I know what that implies. If she interferes, I pay the price, whatever it might be. I¡¯ll accept any consequence if she does. There was a lingering period of silence, during which Adamus said nothing, but Zach could feel the man turning over his words. ¡°It is too risky,¡± he said at last. ¡°She will interfere. She always does. She herself must agree, or I cannot release her. Her suffering shall continue.¡± Zach was unsure if that last sentence was meant to test his resolve, baiting him into becoming irate and flying off the handle. If so, it almost did. Really, he found it hard to believe that Adamus could keep a woman he called his ¡°beloved¡± in a state of loneliness, darkness, and misery for more than a thousand years over a disagreement, and to be quite honest, if he was not working so hard to suppress his more primal instincts, he would have snapped and started mentally shouting. In fact, as things were, some of his disgust was actually leaking through his emotions, requiring him to tamp down on it. Taking another breath, he regained control of himself so that he did not unintentionally transmit any more of his outrage. But seriously¡­what even gave Adamus the right to be in charge of which Great Ones were and were not allowed to take certain actions? Who the hell made him king of the universe? For someone who was so against interfering, he sure had a lot of rules he wanted people to follow. Once Zach was sure his emotions were in check, he responded to Adamus, choosing his words carefully. Out of curiosity, he said, are you telling me that you¡¯d even be opposed to having Eilea use her power to eliminate the weapons all on her own? ¡°Absolutely,¡± Adamus replied. ¡°It is imperative we put a stop to their weapons program, though any actions towards that effect must be carried out by those who reside within the system, such as yourself. I can understand why this may be difficult to accept, but know that I do not require you¡ªor anyone¡ªto agree with my reasoning or my beliefs; all the same, they must be abided. If the reason you wish to see my wife go free is because you plan to have her smite our common foe, I must sadly inform you that I shall never allow that to occur under any circumstance.¡± Zach exhaled. That¡¯s not my plan at all and never was, he said, knowing that Adamus could actually feel his honesty. I was just curious. And yeah, you¡¯re right: when it comes to your beliefs, I don¡¯t agree at all. Actually, I think it¡¯s fucking nuts¡ªpardon my language. But if that¡¯s how it is, then fine, whatever. I don¡¯t need Eilea to ¡®smite¡¯ anybody. But I do need her to be here in person to succeed with an idea I came up with. ¡°Have you heard nothing I just said?¡± Adamus asked, a hint of impatience bleeding through his mind. ¡°Eilea must not use her power to¡ª¡± No, no, I got that, Zach interjected, fully cognizant that he was interrupting someone many considered a God. That¡¯s not why I need her here. ¡°Do explain, then.¡± For the first time in the conversation, Zach became uncomfortable, though it was not due to a lack of confidence or because of any innate nervousness; rather, he was forced to contend with a sudden rising feeling of guilt for a multitude of reasons as he explained to Adamus the logic behind his actions. Okay, look, he began. Here¡¯s the thing. Before last night, my only goal was to save a man by the name of Vim Alazar. He¡¯s the leader of the Royal Roses. It¡¯s not going to be easy, but it¡¯s the sort of thing I really do believe I can pull off with just a few people. And I swear to the Gods, that was my only agenda before I went to bed last night, and if it had stayed that way, we wouldn¡¯t be speaking right now. I don¡¯t need to make a deal with you to do that. But things have changed now, because the more I thought about it, the more I realized that saving Vim is just not going to be enough. And if I¡¯m going to get involved, I can¡¯t go halfway in. Zach shifted uncomfortably as the discomfort attempted to take further hold of him, yet he fought to clamp down on it. So many people died in that blast, he continued. Saving Vim all on its own won¡¯t be enough to make a positive difference in the world. You can feel whatever I¡¯m feeling, right? Then you should know I¡¯m telling you the truth when I say that I desperately don¡¯t want to have to go any further than that, but it¡¯s become clear to me that we¡¯re¡­we¡¯re going to have to conquer Shadowfall Coast to truly put an end to this. Because even if I and all my strongest friends marched down there and single-handedly somehow managed to destroy every weapon they¡¯ve built and whatever place they¡¯re building them in, they¡¯d probably just start over somewhere else. The Guild of Gentlemen needs to lose all power. I know it, Mr. Oren knows it¡ªeveryone knows it. If there was any other choice, I¡¯d take it. ¡°It is lamentable indeed, my child, but where in this do you require the aid of my beloved?¡± I think you already know, don¡¯t you? You¡¯re supposed to be like this super-perceptive dude who can see the big picture, right? To his surprise, Zach felt something akin to appreciation coming from Adamus. ¡°My child, I am fairly certain I understand your thinking, but I¡¯d ask you to please continue nonetheless, as I still find value in hearing people speak for themselves.¡± Zach nodded¡ªboth physically and mentally. Well, taking a city and holding it is probably a whole lot harder to do than rescuing just one man. That takes an act of war and a whole lot more people. But the problem is I don¡¯t know anything about war, and the people who do aren¡¯t going to help. They¡¯re too scared. They¡¯re so afraid they might get blown up with another one of those weapons that they¡¯re going to surrender the world to the Guild of Gentlemen. But there is actually a group of people out there who might still be willing to fight: the Elves. They¡¯re also the most powerful group of people on the planet. I don¡¯t think anybody is as capable of quickly taking over a city as they are. He shook his head. But no matter what I say to Queen Vayra, I just know she¡¯s not going to order the surviving members of her race to storm the city on my word alone. She told me once that she¡¯d stand by me if I needed an ally in war, but that was before this weapon came into being. Even just the chance that Whispery Woods could be hit will be enough for her to sit this one out. And that, Adamus, is why I need Eilea here with me. Because if I can bring her here in person, I can introduce her to Queen Vayra. And then she¡ªand the Elves¡ªwill do literally anything Eilea says. She can ask them to help me defeat the Guild of Gentlemen, and if she does, I believe they¡¯ll¡ª ¡°That¡¯s an incredible idea!¡± Eilea exclaimed, blurting the words out in Zach¡¯s mind. Her excitement came across as both genuine and opportunistic¡ªthe latter being because of how desperately she wanted to see the light of day again, though Zach could also feel that she really was impressed by his idea. ¡°I can convince Queen Vayra to support you, Zach. Of course I can. But why¡­why do you feel such guilt?¡± Before Zach could mentally reply, he was surprised to find Adamus responding in his place¡ªand accurately, too. ¡°He feels guilt, my beloved, because though he wishes not to offend you, he knows that you are not a Goddess and I am not a God, and the idea of presenting you as such for the purpose of supplanting the natural will of the Elves is one he finds distasteful. It appears the boy and I have more in common than I at first thought.¡± Eilea erupted with a sense of hurt, and now Zach felt guilt for an entirely different reason. ¡°By any and all metrics, I am in fact a Goddess of the Elvish people and of Galterra herself,¡± Eilea insisted. ¡°This is not a lie!¡± To Adamus, she said, ¡°Furthermore, as much as I long to be free again, I have waited a thousand years and I can wait a few weeks longer. It is only a matter of time before I tear down the bindings that keep me here. Zach does not need to agree to your demands if I can free myself on my own.¡± As Adamus responded to her, Zach was surprised to hear what really did sound like regret in his tone. ¡°You will not, my beloved. I know that you tug and tear, believing yourself near escape. For how many years have you cut one binding just to realize there is another beneath? You may believe yourself mere weeks away, but truly, Eilea, it is closer to centuries. And even then, it will all be just so that I will promptly return you back to your cage with an even tighter leash the moment you step foot on the surface.¡± Eilea¡¯s rage was darker than anything Zach had ever before felt from her, and honestly, he couldn¡¯t blame her for feeling it. Yet she did not reply to Adamus¡¯s threats despite Adamus pausing as if to allow her the chance to respond. Nevertheless, he was oddly respectful in waiting for her to voice her feelings, but when after half a minute she had still said nothing, he continued speaking. ¡°I wish not to engage in this tiring argument again. It always begins and ends the same. If I were to risk freeing you, there is too great a chance that you would act in your capacity as a Great One to supplant free will. I cannot allow it.¡± Zach, once more, made his absolute, uncompromising position on this matter known. Then your system is fucked, he stated bluntly. Without Eilea, I won¡¯t agree to anything. I¡¯ll even let the system be destroyed, and then we all lose. You know I¡¯m not bluffing or you¡¯d be able to feel it. I came here determined to get what I wanted or walk. And my foot¡¯s going down on this, Adamus. I need Eilea here. I want her suffering to stop. Zach spoke the words with such conviction that even he himself could not be sure if he was telling the truth or had simply whipped himself into such a determined state of mind that he could no longer determine the veracity of his own statements. But critically, if he himself couldn¡¯t be sure, then neither could Adamus, who was currently inside his head. For this reason, Zach felt more satisfied rather than surprised as Adamus began to ¡°stir¡± in a sense, his agitation coming through clearly. ¡°I shall not allow a world in which a Great One¡ªmyself included¡ªsits upon a throne and rules as a God. I cannot allow this. I am sorry. But do know that my beloved has always held the keys to her own cell. Without an oath to abstain from using her powers to interfere, I am no more capable of budging on this matter than you are, boy.¡± So then¡­as long as she agrees, she can go free? ¡°Yes, my child. That has always been the case. It need not require any negotiation on your part.¡±'' Well, at least that made things simple. Eilea, Zach said, turning his attention towards her. You should just agree. Her reluctance exploded like a star going nova. Even before she replied, Zach could feel her utter dissatisfaction with the suggestion. ¡°I¡¯ve spent a thousand years in torment because I refused to compromise on my values. You can¡¯t ask this of me.¡± I can, Zach said. Because if you trust me, we¡¯ll work around it. Angelica told me you want a better world for us, right? We can still make it happen. We¡¯ll find a way. ¡°No, you just don¡¯t understand,¡± she said. What don¡¯t I understand? he asked. A mixture of frustration and agitation came through as she replied to him. ¡°The only chance Galterra has of surviving the World Eater is if I am there to join the fight in the end. No matter how much power Galterrans gain in higher-tier worlds, it still won¡¯t be enough. There is no world without me there to fight for it. And contrary to my idiot husband''s false assumption that I would ever plan to rule or sit on a throne, the entire reason I have put so much faith in you, Zach, is so that I would never have to do that. Even after all these years, he still fails to understand me.¡± She was quivering with rage. Zach could feel this. Eilea was not bothering to mask her emotions. "I can''t agree to this, Zach. I''m sorry. I would be throwing away all my values. If I am forbidden from participating in the World Eater battle with you and the others, you will all die and then so too will everyone else on Galterra. There isn''t a single way that Galterra can succeed without me there fighting alongside the rest of you. There isn''t even one!" No, Eilea, you''re actually wrong about that. There is: at least one, I mean. I know for sure that at least one does exist. ¡°And how can you be so sure?¡± Rather than reply, Zach decided to experiment with something. He had absolutely no idea if it would work, but he decided to try it anyway. Up until this point, he knew that he could share ability information with people in his party, but now he began to wonder: could he also send information about his abilities through his mind? It was an absurd idea, but he thought it just might work¡ªand to his surprise, it did. Now, to Eilea¡ªand by extension, Adamus¡ªhe sent a very specific piece of information.
Phase Level 6 Exertion Level: Terminal. In exchange for the life of the user, additional + 10,000 to all basic stats, and armor +10,000. User has access to every ability and every spell. User can move faster than light. User can summon up to 5 dragons. Cannot summon Elder Dragons.
¡°No!¡± she said with a mentally carried, horrified-sounding gasp. ¡°Never. Not that.¡± Only if we really have to, Zach thought back to her. I really do believe if we search hard enough, we can find even more ways. But I¡¯m ready to die if I have to. I¡¯m only trying to show you that there¡¯s more ways than you think. Right now, though, I need you up here with me. And I know you¡¯re tired of being down there. So, please: just tell him what he wants to hear. We¡¯ve got five years to find a better way, but right now, I don¡¯t know if Galterra is going to survive another month. Please. I need your help up here, Eilea. Zach could feel Eilea¡¯s emotions begin to shift in real time. She was silent for a good minute, and during this time, Zach said nothing¡ªand neither did Adamus. Finally, with a great deal of pain in her voice, but also with a note of hope as well, she said, ¡°Very well. I vow not to use my power to interfere, but only in the narrowly defined sense of the word ''power.'' I do not agree to forgo using my power of speech, for example, to influence and pursue my goals as I deem necessary. I agree only to abstain from the use of power insomuch as the word relates to the exertion of psionic energy.¡± Though he had absolutely no idea what the term ¡°psionic energy¡± meant or what it related to, Zach honestly did not even care right now. He was too relieved that he¡¯d actually managed to succeed. This had been such a tremendous gamble, and it appeared as though it was actually paying off. Even Adamus, too, felt relieved, and he did not bother to hide this from being noticed. We accept your terms, Zach said at last, speaking on both his as well as Eilea¡¯s behalf. Eilea just agreed not to use her powers. You heard her. ¡°That I did,¡± Adamus said, sounding surprised. ¡°It seems your conviction won her over.¡± Zach laughed. Maybe. Hey, why did you even give me a crazy ability like this, anyway? ¡°I have done no such thing, my child.¡± Huh? ¡°I have not given you that power.¡± Then who gave it to me? ¡°You did.¡± I what? He sighed. Actually, I don¡¯t even care. I¡¯ve got too many other things I¡¯m dealing with to bother digging into whatever you just meant by that. Having convinced Eilea to agree to Adamus¡¯s terms¡ªas unfair as they might have been¡ªhe could now feel a small degree of regret and reluctance within her, but it was extensively overshadowed by an ardent, desperate desire to be free of her captivity, and an absolute rush of excitement at the idea of seeing the sun again. Her sense of gratitude towards him just at the very notion of it was so immense it was actually drowning out Zach¡¯s own emotions and making him feel hers instead. He wasn¡¯t sure why. Though he disagreed very strongly with Adamus¡¯s actions, the man¡¯s words were not a lie: she really did hold the keys to her own release. Zach, now smiling, decided to address Adamus once more. Just to clarify something important, he said. In terms of what information Eilea can or can¡¯t share with us, uh, anything that pertains to the nuclear weapons is now fair game, right? Because I need that. ¡°Yes, naturally,¡± Adamus said. ¡°These weapons are clear violations of the rules of the system. They are not permitted to exist. To that end, both Eilea and even Angelica may provide any information that they can offer. But you must destroy them completely and prevent their reemergence.¡± I will. I promise you. Zach paused a moment to consider his next words very carefully. There¡¯s one more matter we have to talk about, though. I think you know what it is. ¡°Indeed,¡± Adamus whispered. ¡°Let us please keep this segment brief. We are not likely to find resolution, and it will only cause much discomfort.¡± Zach was positive that he was not simply imagining the awkwardness he now felt coming off Adamus. ¡°Nevertheless, I do feel that it was wise of you to save this for the end, my child, as this is indeed an area of disagreement I see no path towards us finding any common ground.¡± Hearing these words only tightened Zach¡¯s resolve. I figured that much, but I¡¯m going to ask you anyway. I want you to leave my new friend Jimmy alone. Your goons almost killed the both of us in going after him. ¡°As I feared¡­this is indeed an impasse with which we cannot hope to navigate around. Please understand that James Green cannot be allowed to remain in the system. His natural psychic abilities, if awakened, provide him with an unfair advantage, and he does not belong in this world, inside of which he is an intruder. Above all, his mere presence here angers beings far greater in power than Eilea and myself. Truly, my beloved has committed a crime of immeasurable magnitude in bringing him here. If the Fox-Leader, Jack Harris, ever came to the incorrect conclusion that we have somehow kidnapped the young man, I would not be able to protect our world from his vengeance. He would overpower me in an instant and destroy the entire system in another.¡± ¡°Oh, stop, he¡¯s harmless to us,¡± Eilea said. ¡°Of all the old Gods, you should worry about him the least. It''s well known he doesn¡¯t hurt those who don''t deserve to be hurt. No, it¡¯s your half-sister, Rose who you should be worried about.¡± ¡°My beloved, I should not have to worry over either of them! You risk angering the Gods of old with such incautious recklessness that I am mesmerized by your short-sightedness.¡± Zach once more gripped his hands into fists. Guys, I have no idea who ¡®Rose¡¯ or ¡®Jack Harris¡¯ or any of these people are, and I don¡¯t really care, either. It¡¯s got nothing to do with me¡ªor Jimmy. All I can tell you for sure is that I¡¯m not going to sit back and let you kill him. Having said that, I¡¯m not so dumb that I think I can change your mind on this, Adamus. So let me offer you an alternative suggestion, instead. ¡°Hm?¡± If nothing else, Zach continued, at least promise not to send anyone else after him until we¡¯ve dealt with the nuclear weapons. There¡¯s no damn way I can deal with all that while also having to worry about my friend¡¯s safety at the same time. At least agree to let things be until this is fully over and done with. That¡¯s all I¡¯m asking. Adamus¡¯s reply came far quicker than expected. ¡°That is both rationally stated and fair. Yes, I believe I can agree to bring no rule-enforcement-actions upon James Green until such a time as the crisis in Galterra has blown over. Afterwards, I am afraid I must exercise my duty. Now, is that all? Have we covered everything you wished to discuss?¡± There¡¯s one more thing, Zach said, knowing that he was pushing his luck. Project Rejuvenation: I want you to¡ª ¡°I will not discuss this,¡± Adamus said, this time being the one to interrupt Zach. ¡°You do not seem bereft of fairness or sense, my child. Thus, you must know quite well that this is not a bargaining chip I will consider under any circumstance. When my crew has repaired the damage to the system, I intend to return Galterra to its former state. It is both unfair and unacceptable to include that as part of this discussion, and I will not entertain it. That is my final word on this topic.¡± Zach did not bother replying, because in truth, he¡¯d asked more to cover every base than out of any sincere belief that Adamus would negotiate over it. According to everything Angelica had told him about the man, the fact that he¡¯d yielded on so many things to begin with was nothing short of staggering. Or was it? Actually, in some ways, he barely yielded at all. He got what he wanted all along from Eilea, and he only made marginal, common-sense concessions with Zach. Even still, it wasn¡¯t about ¡°winning.¡± It was about getting what he needed, and Zach had now, in fact, gotten exactly what he came here for. So really, both sides got what they needed out of this. With the sun now fully out in the sky, and Kalana almost certainly worried about him, Zach realized it was time to wrap things up and surprise the Elves with their ¡°Goddess,¡± which he hoped went smoothly and didn¡¯t cause any kind of overreaction. Okay, so just to make sure we¡¯re all in agreement, Zach began, looking to bring closure to his gambit, which thankfully appeared to have succeeded, I¡¯m allowed to tell anyone I want about the World Eater, the fact I need to go to Dragon Squire, and the fact that we need to get everyone to Albion IV. Right? ¡°Regrettably, yes,¡± Adamus said, not sounding all that thrilled to be reminded of their agreement. ¡°Provided that my wife and Angelica do not give you any more clues or assistance beyond that which you already know. Though this may seem only a small concession to you, in my eyes, it is among the largest I have ever granted. I tolerate this blatant breach of the rules only because it shall give Galterra a fighting chance, without which it has none whatsoever.¡± Zach grinned. Fine by me. As long as I can remember what I¡¯m going after, I¡¯ll figure the rest out all on my own. Anyways, it seems like we¡¯ve come to as much of an agreement as we can. But there is one last thing I want to say to you, Adamus. ¡°Please feel free to do so.¡± Having succeeded in most of his goals, Zach finally allowed his darker nature to arise. He dropped the confidence, the control, and the calm, and he traded them for his oldest friend: anger. He allowed it to seep through him like a pollutant, and he not only knew that Adamus could feel it, but he was counting on it, too. Let me just warn you here and now¡ªand I mean every word of this¡ªthe next time you send your Gods-cursed assassins down to Galterra to hunt me or my friends, I¡¯m not just going to give them a few bruises and let them get home in time for dinner. No, if I see Zylor or any of them down here ever again, and it¡¯s to try to hurt Jimmy or anyone I care about, then in the name of the Gods, I swear I¡¯ll be sending them back to you in a thousand fucking pieces. I swear this to the Gods: the real ones. To Zach¡¯s surprise, Adamus¡¯s tone darkened as well as if it was to match Zach¡¯s own change in demeanor, though in his case, it was only slight, and more than darkness, what Zach felt from Adamus was an eerie sort of sadness. ¡°You will do what you feel you must, and so too shall I. The ability to decide one¡¯s path is a quintessential element of freedom. But I must eliminate Jimmy from the system, and though I regret this responsibility, it is not one I can ignore. I am sorry, but I must send someone to carry out this task.¡± Yeah? Zach asked, no longer bothering to suppress his temper. Well, you better try not to send anyone you care about, because I can promise you they won¡¯t be coming home. I¡¯m fucking warning you, Adamus! It''s not his death you''re ordering, but the unfortunate bastards you send down here to die! It was in the exact moment that followed these words that Zach came to immediately regret saying them, but it was not because he didn¡¯t mean them or because he had a change of heart or even because he would rather have chosen to rephrase his threat into something more rational and diplomatic. No, it was for none of those reasons. Instead, it was due to the reaction that Eilea had upon hearing Zach¡¯s warning. Something happened upon those words: something that Zach knew he would never speak of¡ªever. As in, literally, ever. For a brief moment¡ªan instant in time¡ªhe could feel Eilea becoming highly aroused, which she immediately shut down the moment she seemed to become aware of it, creating a follow-up sensation of embarrassment. Zach was sure it was an accident: an impulse she could not control and was ashamed to have allowed, thus he decided never to think of it again due to how unbearably awkward it would make things. ¡°Your threats have been noted,¡± Adamus said, also seemingly unwilling to dwell on the strange sensation that he most certainly also picked up on. ¡°Our business here is concluded. I expect you to uphold your end of our bargain.¡± I will. It¡¯s in my interest anyway. It¡¯s in everyone¡¯s interest. ¡°Indeed, it is. I wish you luck, Zachys Calador. Those words are not idle. You fascinate me. With that, I shall leave you now.¡± Oh, wait! One last thing. ¡°Yes?¡± I need you to let Angelica portal Mr. Oren to Angelica¡¯s later today. And maybe tomorrow, I don¡¯t know. I also need a way of bringing Eilea here. ¡°Allow me to simplify this for you. Provided the action you wish to take is solely and exclusively for the purpose of dismantling these abhorrent weapons, and provided that the actions you wish to take do not fall afoul of anything you and Eilea have specifically agreed not to do, I will allow the bending of the rules for that one purpose alone. I ask you to do so only in good faith, for if not, I shall consider our agreement discarded.¡± Yeah, yeah, I get it. ¡°Regarding my beloved, the moment I leave your mind, she will be free, and she can bring her own self wheresoever she wishes to venture. And with that, this matter is concluded. Best of luck to you both.¡± Following those words, Zach could sense Adamus¡¯s presence fade, and now, he was alone with just Eilea in his mind. ¡°You are the most amazing boy I¡¯ve ever met in my thousands of years of living,¡± she said, her voice breaking as though she were holding back tears. Oh, come on, Zach said, laughing aloud. Then, with a groan, he said, I need to introduce you to some people now. Gods, I hope they don¡¯t make TOO big a deal out of this. ****** ¡°Have you lost your mind, young man?¡± Fylwen asked, becoming terribly concerned. She had been led to believe that the woman, Jascaila, had been helping him cope with some of his issues. But clearly, the therapist had only driven him mad. She rather liked that woman, too. A shame. Whatever she was doing, it was not succeeding, as Fylwen could scarcely believe a word she was hearing. Really, it was preposterous! At the moment, she, her daughter, and her daughter¡¯s two Elvish friends were sitting in the kitchen at the dining table along with Jascaila and Zach¡¯s two human friends, whose names Fylwen could not recall. The vampires were here as well. They, along with her daughter, had tried several times to interject, but they too seemed just as mystified by what the boy was saying. ¡°I¡¯m telling you the truth,¡± the young man said to her, his hands flat on the table. ¡°The only reason I¡¯m saying this before I introduce you is so that you guys won¡¯t get all weird and go into a shock or something.¡± Fylwen risked reaching out with one of her hands, placing it on top of the boy¡¯s. ¡°Young man, you cannot be serious. You mean me to believe that, all this time, you and my daughter have been in secret collusion with one of the most sacred of Elvish Goddesses? That you hear her voice in your head: she, the Great Steward of Elvadin herself! Come now, child. You must be suffering from some sort of delusion. I am gravely concerned.¡± The young man released something that sounded like a cross between a moan and a sigh. ¡°Okay, well, clearly there¡¯s only one way you¡¯re going to believe me, and it¡¯s going to be by seeing her for yourself. Hey, Eilea? It''s almost time.¡± To those in the kitchen with him, he said, ¡°And remember: I don¡¯t want any of you guys freaking out or overreacting, because I know you take this Elvish ''Great One'' shit way too seriously, and the last thing in the world I want is to have you all freak out and lose your minds, all right? I want you guys to please at least try to be cool. I¡¯m serious. I want everyone to be cool. Can you do that?¡± Fylwen placed her hand on his head. "You aren''t running a fever. Perhaps you''ve simply exhausted yourself." "Stop," he grumbled. "I''m serious. Look, even if you don''t believe me, will you at least just humor me and tell me you won''t freak out?" Fylwen did not know if it was wise to enable his delusions, but seeing as how the boy was clearly becoming agitated, she reluctantly decided to humor him. "Very well. I shall maintain my composure." "You promise?" "Yes." "Okay, good. Eilea, it''s time. Come say hi." The moment he finished speaking, there was a flash of light, which both startled and confused Fylwen, as for a moment, the entire kitchen was rendered invisible as this blinding light came then faded away. And now, a figure stood in the middle of the kitchen. A figure with golden hair, pointed ears, and¡ª Fylwen gasped. **** ¡°Okay, so this is exactly what I did not want to happen,¡± Zach said, moaning and slapping himself on the forehead. ¡°Will everybody please just stop? This is insane!¡± Right now, Kalana, Queen Vayra, Seiley, Trelvor, and literally¡ªyes, literally¡ªtwenty-five green-cloaked Elvish warriors and ten white-cloaks were all stuffed inside the living room and kitchen, and every single one of them were lying on their bellies, their faces actually kissing the ground in an extreme act of worship unlike anything Zach had ever before witnessed and never wanted to witness ever again. ¡°WE APOLOGIZE FOR ZACH¡¯S TRANSGRESSIONS!¡± Trelvor screamed at the top of his lungs, reaching up and yanking Zach with all his might so that Zach came slamming down onto his own belly. Flute-boy was stronger than Zach gave him credit for, because he cracked a piece of kitchen tile as he hit the floor. ¡°HE DOES NOT UNDERSTAND OUR WAYS! PLEASE SHOW HIM MERCY, OH GREAT GODDESS!¡± ¡°Fucking ouch, Gods-dammit,¡± Zach muttered. ¡°Guys, you really don¡¯t have to¡ª¡± ¡°FORGIVE HIM!¡± Kalana screamed. Yes, Kalana too. She was going along with this one-hundred percent. But the part where Zach really became uncomfortable was when her mother began kissing the kitchen floor. This is some fucking crazy bullshit going on right here, Zach thought. Jimmy seemed to get caught up in this too, but for a very different reason; the moment he entered into the room, his eyes widened, his lips peeled back in what was quite honestly a remarkable mixture of hope and rage, and then he extended his arm and actually snarled. ¡°Y-you!¡± he shouted at Eilea. ¡°Oh, hell nah. I dunno why you¡¯re here or what¡¯s going on, but bitch, you better send my ass back the fuck home right now before I open up a can of¡ªmmvvv!¡± ¡°Forgive him!¡± Seiley cried, having cast some kind of magic gag on him. Now, Kalana¡¯s brand-new kitchen floor was broken apart as roots and vines bound around him and forced him to also get on his belly. She didn¡¯t even seem to care, either. She actually seemed to support the destruction of a hip-sized chunk of her new home. Tena, on the other hand, observing her boyfriend¡¯s fate, apparently did not require any additional convincing. She dropped down willingly. Zach croaked. Just when he thought things couldn¡¯t get any worse, the Elves began to sing songs¡ªfor two fucking hours! And when he complained, they used magic to gag his mouth, too. Even as Eilea tried to assure them that they could rise and none of this was necessary, it only seemed to increase their religious fervor a hundredfold. Like, Zach understood that, as a broken people and survivors of genocide whose hope had been destroyed and whose culture had been ripped from them time and time again for the past thousand years, this was probably very, very important to them. Maybe more so than he could even possibly understand. Even still¡­this was kind of extreme, no? ¡°Forgive them,¡± Eilea said into his mind, a chuckle in her spirit that she managed to hide on her face. ¡°They need this badly. The tears in their eyes are genuine. You cannot imagine their pain and their joy.¡± Even you must know this is stupid, Zach said to her. I¡¯m gagged and tied by vines to a kitchen floor while they literally sing in a mixture of human and Elvish lyrics about fairies and light. Why would anyone even write a five-minute song about light? It''s light, for fuck''s sake. It''s not that complicated. Sorry, Eilea, but if this isn¡¯t dumb, then nothing is. ¡°They need this, Zach. Please understand that. Let them sing their songs. They¡¯ve held so tightly to their sense of identity for thousands of years. And for them¡ªfor the sake of their dignity¡ªI must now live up to their expectations and be the Goddess they have waited for. I owe that to them. It is a debt I must give my all to repay, for I have been unable to comfort them in their time of need. This is the absolute least I can do after a thousand years of imprisonment. I cannot deprive them of this. You simply do not understand what they have been through and how badly they need this.¡± Does this really make them happy? ¡°It does,¡± Eilea said, speaking as though there was no doubt in her words. And indeed, Zach could see for himself that she spoke the truth. He looked over to Kalana, who was shedding tears along with her mother. Even after everything she¡¯d learned in Angelica¡¯s, and all the doubt that she should now have harbored about the Great Ones, the sight of Eilea had awakened some kind of primal longing in her, and she shed tear after tear of both joy and sadness. As Zach observed her behavior, he began to realize that this ran deeper than basic questions of what was true and what was sensical. Seeing this woman here, regardless of whether or not she truly was a Goddess or merely something close¡ªher very presence served as some sort of vindication to Kalana and the Elves. That their culture and their people endured. ¡°Thank you for coming back to us,¡± Kalana said, whimpering. ¡°I¡¯ve wanted to meet you so bad. I was super jealous that Zach got to talk to you. You¡¯re my hero!¡± ¡°I am so sorry I doubted your chosen human prophet,¡± Queen Vayra said. ¡°I apologize both for the young man¡¯s rudeness and also for my lack of faith in him.¡± Prophet? Zach thought¡ªbut only to himself. This better not become a thing. ¡°No one here has anything to apologize for,¡± Eilea said. ¡°Aside from me, that is. I am sorry I was gone for so long, my young princess, my beautiful Elvish queen. You both honor me.¡± She waved her arms ahead of her. ¡°You all honor me.¡± Anything that made Kalana this happy¡ªno matter how weird¡ªwas worth it, Zach supposed. Even still, he desperately hoped he was misreading the situation, because unless he was mistaken, the word had already gotten out that ¡°The Great Goddess Eilea Vayra¡± had manifested ¡°in the flesh¡± at ¡°Kalana¡¯s house,¡± and now every living sentient Elf in existence, including one-hundred percent of those on Archian Prime¡ªand every single child¡ªwere apparently rushing like madmen and madwomen over here to prostrate themselves before her. At this rate, Zach would be stuck on his belly all fucking day. Gods dammit at least let him go swimming or something. Or, if nothing else, couldn¡¯t they at least take this to a larger area? Incredibly, even amid her religious fervor, Fylwen seemed to have the same thought. ¡°Oh, Great Goddess,¡± she said, ¡°all the living children of Elvadin come to gaze upon your beauty and splendor. May we please be given your blessing to rise so that we may relocate to a larger area? I fear that this home may not suffice to contain us all.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Eilea said, nodding. Zach had to admit that she at least looked the part. In person, she moved with a grace and majesty that outdid even Fylwen¡¯s best efforts. She also seemed to truly believe herself the part as well, so at the very least, it wasn''t like she was conning these people. Queen Vayra ordered everyone present, Elf or otherwise, to rise and prepare to decorate the ¡°fields¡± with golden flower petals in anticipation of a holy welcoming party for the Goddess herself. Then she snapped her fingers, and the vines holding him and Jimmy disintegrated¡ªwithout the floor repairing itself, though¡ªand the magical gags fell away from their faces. "What''re you laughing about?" Jimmy asked Rian, spitting out a piece of vine. "Nothing," Rian said, clearly lying. "Do you think I could laugh at a time like this? I, like those around me, am appalled that you had the audacity to disrespect the Goddess, Jimmy." He waggled his finger. "I''ve never been so offended in my life." Lienne rolled her eyes. "Shuttup, Ri." "What?" he asked, his voice sounding overly innocent. "I think Jimmy needs to be punished even more. Zach too. We got ourselves a bunch of fucking Goddess-disrespectors. I''m disgusted, Li. Disgusted." Zach laughed, then prepared to retaliate, as he had about fifty even better quips he could say to Rian in reply, but before he had the chance to sling even one of them, Fylwen approached him. Then, in quick order, she hugged him, kissed him, and slapped him. ¡°That¡¯s for bringing her here. That¡¯s also for bringing her here. And that, young man, is for disrespecting her.¡± ¡°Uh, okay,¡± he said to her. He was just glad that she didn¡¯t hit him with any real force, as he would¡¯ve certainly felt it if she had. Honestly, it was like more of a ¡°ceremonial slap¡± than anything. Or maybe not. Who knew? At any rate, it at least looked like he finally had the chance to slip away and do literally anything else besides this, like maybe coordinate with Mr. Oren or something. As the Elves began to rise, Zach released an exhausted sigh, glad that this was finally over. He stood up straighter, stretched his back, scratched his chin, and then turned around to walk into the living room so that he could watch some entertainment. Maybe that new show about Grundor was on. He was dying to check that out, actually. ¡°Z-Zach!¡± Kalana shouted at him, pouting as he grabbed a bag of potato chips from out of a kitchen cabinet and began to walk away towards the living room. He halted mid-step. ¡°Now what is it, Kal?¡± She looked at him as though he was the insane one in all this. ¡°Where are you going? You do know you¡¯re coming with us, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m what now?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the human prophet!¡± she said, speaking the words as if they were something he should just, like, have known or whatever. ¡°I am?¡± ¡°Duh!¡± Zach rubbed his eyes, frustrated. ¡°Are you fucking kidding me, Kal?¡± ¡°No!¡± ¡°Does this mean more lying down?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± she said, nodding in a way that was cute for some reason that he couldn¡¯t understand. Lowering his voice, he said, ¡°Kal, we¡¯ve been in cahoots with her for like several weeks now. Why are you only now, all of a sudden, acting like this is some kind of big d¡ª¡± ¡°Nah-uh!¡± she interrupted, heat behind her words. ¡°You were the one who was in ¡®cahoots¡¯ and got to talk to the Goddess. All I ever got to do was hear about what she said afterwards.¡± She clapped her hands together excitedly then kissed him on the forehead. ¡°Now we get to see her for real and talk to her for real. My mom¡¯s going to honor for you this!¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t she mad that you kept this a secret from her this whole time?¡± ¡°Nope. I was only going along with the Goddess¡¯s will.¡± ¡°Were you, though?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Okay, but here¡¯s the thing, Kal. If you think logically about what we¡¯re doing right now, the only reasonable conclusion is that¡ª¡± He stopped speaking as Jascaila tapped him on his back. ¡°Let them have their happiness, kiddo,¡± she whispered to him. He turned to face her, and then she winked. Lowering his voice so that only she could hear him speak, he said, ¡°Come on, you know this is bullshit, Jacs. I know you know that.¡± ¡°Yeah, probably. But sometimes in life, we have to go along with customs we find silly in order to make the people we care about happy. And hey: I don¡¯t think Eilea¡¯s doing this maliciously or for want of power. I think she¡¯s trying to live up to their dreams. But that¡¯s just my take on it.¡± ¡°Your take is usually the right one.¡± ¡°Aw, shucks.¡± She gave him another pat on the back. ¡°If lying on the grass for a few hours and singing a few songs can bring this much happiness to people who have been so badly abused for such a long time, don¡¯t ya think it¡¯s worth it to let them have their joy?¡± Zach sighed. ¡°I do, I guess.¡± She smiled. ¡°You¡¯ve got so much good in you. I know you do or I wouldn¡¯t spend my time here when there are so many other people I could help. You¡¯re going to grow into a truly incredible man. Sometimes life is about making small sacrifices to benefit others. Try to focus on that instead of how silly you find all this.¡± With that, she followed everyone outside, and begrudgingly, Zach went along with them. Hopefully, this would be done with before Zach was scheduled to meet with Mr. Oren. Actually, maybe it was best to text him now and let him know what was going on. Donovan, too. **** How do I keep making things worse? he yelled at himself, unable to believe how he''d caused yet another escalation of events. Zach wanted to claw out his own brain and smush it. How was he supposed to know that texting Donovan would cause the entire Explorers Brigade, Lost and Found, God Slayers Guild and¡­and well, basically every single adventurer who¡¯d heard the news, which was almost all of them, to come rushing over here? And they were all here. All of them, low level and high level alike. If the raid camp had been big, there were so many people here that it defied belief. There was now an entire sea of people on the island, including even Angelica, who hugged Eilea tightly and began to weep with actual tears pouring down her eyes, something he¡¯d never seen an NPC do before. From the smell of cooking all around on the green hills, this place had basically been turned into Angelica¡¯s, at least for the moment. And since everyone was now here, Zach was willing to bet there was not a single¡ªnot even a single¡ªpatron at the inn, which was probably why Angelica felt free to come here. ¡°I missed you so much,¡± Angelica said to her. ¡°You are the closest thing to a mother I¡¯ve ever had, and I was so scared I¡¯d never get to see ya again, Eilea.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re doing well, Angelica. You will always be in my heart. Thank you for looking after the adventurers.¡± ¡°Everything I am is because of you. I would be dead if you didn''t save me. Adamus was gonna delete me.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll never let him do that to you. I promise.¡± The two hugged again, and then Angelica broke away. It was almost as if she knew that she could not hog all of Eilea¡¯s time when there was a storm of people who wanted to meet her. If nothing else, at least everyone was allowed to stand up. They¡¯d gotten the belly-lying thing out of the way early on. After Angelica released the embrace, her gaze turned serious as she craned her neck to look at the sea of adventurers and Elves. ¡°There are a lot of people here today,¡± she said. And it was at this point that Zach gasped as he realized that his plan of action, which involved mobilizing the Elves, might just have expanded both in scope and in potential. Unlike the political guilds, adventurers were stronger, made of tougher stuff, and did not die nearly as easily. Once he¡¯d set Vim free and began working out the logistics with Mr. Oren as to how they would deal with Shadowfall Coast, he planned on using the Elves as the brunt of his attack force¡ªassuming that was what Mr. Oren thought they should do, as Zach was no military person. But now, as Zach realized the potential around him, he began to wonder if maybe, just maybe, the adventurers might be willing to break their ironclad rule about not becoming involved in politics and wars. Not only did the adventurers hate and despise the Guild of Gentlemen more than anything, as they had stolen the loot of the dragon raid, which to adventurers was worse than murder, but they had also disrespected Donovan and attacked the raid members right after they''d saved the world. Seeing them all mingling and partying with the Elves made him wonder: if everyone here on this island worked as a team, how many innocent lives could be saved? They wouldn¡¯t need a single level-one ground troop. They wouldn¡¯t need any air support or fire from the sea. If every capable adventurer and every Elf all joined forces, they could easily accomplish, with overwhelmingly fewer civilian deaths, what the alliance had originally set out to do. And if people shoot at them from windows, so what? Zach realized, his eyes widening. The bullets will bounce right off most of us here. We don¡¯t even need to retaliate. We can spare everyone who doesn¡¯t pose us a threat. Even if they become violent! A chill traveled down his spine. If the adventurers and the Elves went to war¡­ They could conquer Shadowfall Coast. And they could do it without blowing up a single building. Without killing a single level-1 civilian. Without dropping a single bomb. Without painting the streets red in the blood of innocent people caught up in this. A domino falls. And then so does the next one. And the next one. And the next one¡­ And the next one. Chapter 136: The Ancient Rules Chapter 136: The Ancient Rules Sometimes, emotions were complex, multi-layered, and deep. Other times, they were straightforward and easily understood. Right now, Jimmy was exhibiting the latter; in his case, Zach didn¡¯t need to be an empath or a therapist to understand his new friend¡¯s heightened state of agitation, frustration, and anger. Even if Zach hadn¡¯t learned a great deal about analyzing one¡¯s emotions from Jascaila, it would still be perfectly obvious how, from Jimmy¡¯s perspective, he was being disrespected and was completely justified in being pissed off. Given all his fears and questions, it was only natural that he¡¯d want to speak with Eilea, who was responsible for bringing him here to Galterra. But he was not being allowed to see her¡ªwell, at least not yet. This was because, given the sheer volume of people who wanted to meet the Elvish Goddess, Jimmy was low on the priority list. Even still, Kalana had personally promised him that he would get the chance. She had even sworn an oath that he would have his turn eventually and would not be skipped over. But for now, he¡¯d have to wait. Understandably, this hadn¡¯t gone over so well with Jimmy, who had protested to the Elves to no avail. They were refusing to listen to him, and Zach could easily imagine how unfair and infuriating this must have felt to Jimmy. In fact, he didn¡¯t even need to imagine it, because as it turned out, Jimmy wasn¡¯t the only one who¡¯d found themselves rebuffed by the overly zealous Elves; incredibly, not even Zach was currently able to speak to her. Not only was this frustrating, but it was also a big part of the reason why he, along with Jimmy, were currently swimming their way across the Gods-be-damned ocean for the second time since yesterday. Stroke by stroke, the two of them were throwing arm over arm as they swam along the salty water, heading farther south towards Shores of Wrath. ¡°This is bullshit, dude,¡± Jimmy said, breathing heavily. A large wave caused both their bodies to lurch upwards before plopping back down, and Jimmy, looking a bit exhausted, had to spit water out of his mouth. ¡°After all the shit I been through, I should be the first person she¡¯s gonna talk to. That woman put me in the dirt for thousands of years, and she won¡¯t even¡­you know what, I¡¯m gonna drown if I keep thinking about this.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just as pissed off,¡± Zach said. He was swimming extra slowly so that Jimmy could keep up, though ¡°slow¡± in this context was relative, as they were still moving roughly about as fast as a speedboat. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d just get thrown aside like that either. Honestly, Jimmy? I¡¯m mad at all of them right now. I get where you¡¯re coming from.¡± Jimmy splashed the water a bit harder as he swam; it was as though he scoffed at Zach¡¯s words. ¡°No disrespect, but you don¡¯t,¡± he said. ¡°I mean, you¡¯re just mad because you were slightly inconvenienced. That¡¯s totally different.¡± Zach frowned. Jimmy¡¯s words were true on a surface level, but they were also an oversimplification of Zach¡¯s reasons for being irritated. ¡°There¡¯s more to it than that, Jimmy.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure there is,¡± he said. He halted from speaking a moment as he huffed, clearly struggling to keep pace. ¡°But like, the reason I¡¯m mad is because I was taken away from my mom, my cat, and my friends by that Elf woman who let me get hit by a goddamn car that she knew was coming. And the worst part of it all is that I was only one episode away from finishing Sh¨®gun, too.¡± ¡°Huh? What the hell is that?¡± ¡°What? Sh¨®gun?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Oh. It¡¯s a show about the samurai during feudal Japan.¡± ¡°Those words mean absolutely nothing to me, Jimmy.¡± Jimmy looked like he wanted to sigh, but he was breathing too hard as they continued to swim. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later.¡± The two ventured onwards, and Zach reflected on his own aggravation. Honestly, he felt cheated. He really did. He¡¯d made a deal, and he should not have to be swimming across the ocean right now. And though he liked her greatly, he was particularly angry with Angelica, who couldn¡¯t just do the damn thing he¡¯d asked of her and which she was definitely allowed to do. She has to be allowed, he thought. We made a deal! About three hours after bringing Eilea to the island and causing such a stir, Zach had approached Angelica with a simple request. ¡°Hey, can I talk to you for a second?¡± he¡¯d asked the super-high-level, cat-eared NPC. ¡°Sure, Zach!¡± she¡¯d said cheerfully, pausing to kiss Grundor on the cheek and telling him she¡¯d be right back. The two had moved a bit away from the others, and Zach had spent a few minutes recapping everything that had happened to bring Eilea here. Angelica had surmised most of it on her own, as it was obvious some bargain must have been struck for Eilea to have returned to the world. Angelica also had ways of knowing most of what was going on outside of her tavern, which was partially how the word of this had spread¡ªthough Donovan deserved most of the blame for that. After filling in what minor details Angelica did not already know, she¡¯d thanked him for informing her and looked approvingly at him. At that point, having required her assistance, he¡¯d said, ¡°Okay, so I know you¡¯re bringing Mr. Oren here later today, but I was thinking about it, and I decided I want to fill him in on what¡¯s going on ahead of time to prepare him for what to expect when he gets here. So uh, do you think you could please warp me over to Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah? I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s where he is.¡± Angelica cupped her chin as if she''d been thinking about it. ¡°Um, I guess I could. But¡­is this really an emergency, Zach?¡± Not wanting to lie to her, Zach had shaken his head. ¡°No, it¡¯d just save me a whole lot of travel time. I haven¡¯t even gotten to hear what Eilea knows about the weapons yet, so I don¡¯t have that much to tell him, but I just feel like I should speak with him in person. I also really need to talk to him about The World Eater now that I can remember it.¡± Angelica had looked at him curiously, and he had elaborated. ¡°Adamus said I could spread word of its existence, and that¡¯s something I¡¯m going to eventually have to do. But I don¡¯t think humans alone are going to be able to stop it, and I think everyone in the world deserves to be told at some point that it¡¯s coming. Anyways, since Mr. Oren is now the chief diplomat of humanity, I got this idea in my head that maybe he could use his position to convince the other races to cooperate with humanity when the time comes in five years from now. But, uh, with everything about to go down, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll have another chance to bring this up with Mr. Oren for a good while.¡± At this, Angelica¡¯s face had tightened, and her cheer was replaced by a look that seemed overly apologetic. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can help you with this. I¡¯m sorry!¡± Zach had winced, unable to believe the response she¡¯d given him. ¡°What do you mean? Why the hell not?¡± Her name had briefly flashed red, and he''d immediately apologized for his disrespectful tone. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± she''d said. Then she had sighed. ¡°Based on everything you said, it would violate the bargain you made with Adamus.¡± ¡°Huh? No it won¡¯t.¡± ¡°Yep it would!¡± ¡°No way. Maybe I explained something wrong. Basically, as long as it¡ª¡± ¡°You just said it¡¯s for the sake of convenience, right?¡± ¡°Okay, so?¡± ¡°And um, you also said you had other things you wanted to talk to him about that aren¡¯t directly related to the weapons in Shadowfall Coast.¡± ¡°Well, yeah, but it¡¯s also about dealing with the weapons, too.¡± ¡°But you still want me to bring him here later today?¡± ¡°Yeah, because it¡¯s easier that way. It makes more sense to have him here so that he can listen to Eilea¡¯s report about the weapons at the same time that I do. Otherwise, I¡¯ll have to relay the information to him secondhand, which means it won¡¯t be as accurate.¡± ¡°Okay, so, couldn¡¯t you tell him all this stuff then?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t have time,¡± Zach had explained. ¡°Once Mr. Oren gets here, we¡¯re going to be too focused on Shadowfall Coast to talk about anything else. So there¡¯s a mixture of reasons I want to go over there. Just consider this the magical version of a business expense. Adamus will understand.¡± Angelica had laughed at his words, which he hadn¡¯t even intended to be funny. ¡°Adamus wouldn¡¯t have agreed to those terms if he didn¡¯t know that me and Eilea have a pretty good sense of what actions he¡¯d be okay with and what actions he wouldn¡¯t. If you¡¯re asking to take a portal to Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah just to avoid the hassle of traveling there yourself, and um, if it¡¯s also about things that are unrelated to destroying the weapons, he¡¯s gonna get really mad.¡± Zach had completely disagreed with her take on things. ¡°You really think he¡¯s going to give us an earful if you take me over to Dal¡¯Zarrah?¡± ¡°Uhh¡­actually, he probably won¡¯t say anything to us at all, but he¡¯d still be really upset. And then, later on, if you need to skirt the line over something that¡¯s actually important, you¡¯ll have already burned out his good will and he¡¯ll stop me from helping you.¡± ¡°Fuck his good will,¡± Zach had growled. ¡°I agree with you on that,¡± she¡¯d said, giving him a very approving nod. ¡°But you might need it later on. Gosh, I guess if you really want to, I can take you there and back, but I know he¡¯s not gonna be happy about it, and later on, you might regret it.¡± Zach had considered his options, becoming grumpy and annoyed. ¡°Let me clear this with Eilea,¡± he¡¯d said. ¡°Because this is utter bullshit.¡± And so, he¡¯d tried to do exactly that: only to find himself completely blocked off by literal spear-wielding Elves, who stood at the outermost edge of a perimeter, inside of which she was having one-on-one conversations with various individuals as something of an ¡°order¡± had been drawn up, by which the people who wanted an ¡°audience¡± with ¡°the Goddess¡± had been given a slot and a priority. Jimmy was at the bottom, and Zach, who hadn¡¯t requested an ¡°audience,¡± wasn¡¯t on it at all. The adventurers, at least those high in rank, were sprinkled in here or there. Zach knew they were primarily interested in seeing Eilea in her capacity as a ¡°Great One,¡± as opposed to the Elves, who worshipped her as a Goddess. Without a doubt, most wanted to ask her about Olandrin, the Great One everyone seemed to be obsessed with and who was no longer in this galaxy. ¡°Guys, I need to get through,¡± he¡¯d told them. The Elves, an even mixture of green-cloaked and white, had shaken their heads firmly. The guards Fylwen had chosen were on the larger side for Elves, and among them was Londril, who towered over everyone, human and Elf alike. Now that almost¡ªif not every¡ªliving Elf in the universe was packed into the mob-free section of the island along with nearly every adventurer¡ªsave for those still on their way¡ªZach had been able to confirm that Londril was, in fact, the largest, toughest-looking Elf in existence. If Ziragoth had only been a single-phase boss, then he alone could have tanked the terrifying dragon without the aid of any others for as long as needed. He was a fiercely powerful Elf, and flute aside, his son, Trelvor, was also pretty intimidating too when he wanted to be. ¡°It doth bring joy to mine own eyes to see thee,¡± he said to Zach. ¡°But I cannot alloweth thee passage.¡± Zach had pursed his lips, and he cycled through the various breathing techniques he¡¯d learned in order to keep his cool. ¡°I haven¡¯t spoken to her in over three hours. I need to touch base with Eil¡ªerr, ¡®The Great Goddess¡¯ really quickly.¡± ¡°Three whole hours, huh?¡± asked a green-cloaked Elf. ¡°My people have not been able to ¡®touch base with her¡¯ for over a thousand years. I¡¯m sure you can survive waiting until tonight or tomorrow to speak with the Goddess.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t a contest,¡± Zach said dryly. He had then tried to shove his way through, but five of them had readied their spears at him, and all had looked as though they were willing to use them. ¡°Seriously, guys? Come on. Seriously?¡± ¡°We love you, kid,¡± another of the green-cloaks said. ¡°But this is just not a fight you¡¯re going to win. And if you think that¡¯s unfair, just know that I haven¡¯t gotten to meet her yet either. You must be patient and wait. Please don¡¯t make me be the one to have to give an ass-whooping to Elvish kind¡¯s greatest human friend.¡± Zach sized him up, his anger having begun to rise up from the pit of his stomach. ¡°If you even can,¡± he¡¯d said threateningly, the words having flown out of his lips before he¡¯d been able to tamp down on them. ¡°Trust me, I can,¡± the Elf had replied. This, of course had only served to further provoke Zach¡¯s anger. ¡°Oh yeah? Well, let me tell you something, okay? You might be way higher level than me, but I bet you I could still snap that fucking spear of yours in half like a Gods-be-damned¡ª¡± ¡°Heya, Zach, is everything all right?¡± a voice had called to him just as the situation had begun to escalate. Zach¡¯s words had then cut off immediately, and he felt great shame as Jascaila strode over to him. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, buddy?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± he¡¯d said. ¡°This guy¡¯s just being a fucking dick.¡± Before he could explain, the green-cloaked Elf cut in. ¡°We¡¯re not! We¡¯re just not permitted to allow anyone through until it¡¯s their turn to approach the Holy Goddess.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m the reason she¡¯s even here in the first place,¡± Zach had said, his frustration level having begun to skyrocket. He turned to Jascaila. ¡°Can you please tell them?¡± She gestured with her chin and put an arm around his shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s go talk over there.¡± ¡°Oh, not this,¡± he¡¯d moaned. ¡°This means the answer is no. Gods-dammit!¡± Nevertheless, he¡¯d stepped off to the side, and somehow, she¡¯d worked her magic; ten minutes later, Zach had realized he wasn¡¯t actually angry with the Elvish warriors who he¡¯d been about to pick a fight with, but rather, he was upset because he felt like he was being sidelined despite all that he¡¯d done to bring this about. Jascaila agreed with him one-hundred percent, too. ¡°It¡¯s total bullshit,¡± she¡¯d said. ¡°And I¡¯m not saying that to ¡®calm you down.¡¯ It is. It¡¯s disrespectful towards you.¡± She took a slow breath, then added, ¡°But so much of life is dealing with unfairness. We can either address it sensibly, or we can get into swordfights with Elves. Which is more productive?¡± Zach had laughed despite himself. ¡°I could¡¯ve taken that guy¡­maybe.¡± At this, Jascaila had given him one of her knowing ¡°looks,¡± and Zach rolled his eyes. ¡°There¡¯s no way we would¡¯ve fought to the death or anything like that. But anyways, I really wanted to see Mr. Oren sooner than later, and I know Eilea could clear this up. But they won¡¯t let me through to see her, and she¡¯s not receiving the thoughts I¡¯m sending her way, either.¡± It was that second point that Zach found most alarming, as he had been having no success in mentally communicating with her in the way he usually did. No matter how hard he¡¯d tried to send thoughts out to her, she wasn¡¯t receiving them. But what really troubled him was what this implied, as he did not think she was intentionally ignoring him. It seemed that while her attention was occupied elsewhere, she wasn¡¯t able to communicate with him. This meant that, while trapped down below the surface, she¡¯d been so lonely, bored, and isolated that, aside from whenever she had her ¡°accomplice¡± there with her, she had literally nothing better to do than to wait on standby to see if Zach had anything to say to her. It made him feel really bad for her, which he¡¯d expressed to Jascaila. ¡°That infuriates me,¡± Jascaila had said. ¡°It sounds to me like Adamus thinks he has the right to ¡®store¡¯ her in some kind of subterranean cellar as though she is a piece of property to be locked away whenever convenient. That¡¯s a toxic relationship on a universal scale.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get it either. How could he let her suffer like that? If it was Kal, I couldn¡¯t even imagine doing something like that to her. No way.¡± Jascaila had ruffled his hair as if pleased by his sentiment. ¡°Kalana is very loyal to you. Make sure you always treat her well.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Zach had replied, certainty in his words. Then he¡¯d slowly released a breath as his thoughts had returned to his current dilemma. ¡°But yeah, anyways, since nobody¡¯s going to take me there, do you know of any dungeons that can get me from Whispery Woods to Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah?¡± ¡°I do know of one, actually,¡± she¡¯d replied after a brief pause to think. ¡°But¡­are you sure you wouldn¡¯t rather just wait for later when Angelica brings Lord Oren over here and Eilea gives you her report about the weapons?¡± He¡¯d sighed. ¡°Nah, I kind of feel like I should really get him in the loop now, and I have other things I want to talk to him about, too.¡± Jascaila had given him another pat on the back. ¡°Well, if you¡¯re insistent on going, I can give you instructions on how to get there, but¡­in this case, I really think you should wait, Zach.¡± ¡°And why is that?¡± Her gaze had turned serious. ¡°The closest path to Dal¡¯Zarrah runs through a dungeon that¡¯s rarely discussed or used, and one that I know nothing about and have never been to myself. I only know of it from a friend of a friend. I have no idea what might be in it or if it¡¯s even safe, and I don¡¯t know anyone who¡¯s run it because it¡¯s deeply unpopular. I seriously think you should just wait until later.¡± Zach had laughed. ¡°Pfft. I¡¯ll be fine. Just tell me where I¡¯ve gotta go.¡± ¡°Time to break the adventuring code again, huh?¡± Without asking for anything in return, Jascaila had told him about the dungeon, which she claimed was called ¡°Trials of Nolak,¡± and she stressed once more that she did not know what would await him. Then her attention had become diverted by Trelvor, who had wanted to talk to her again about his dad and how he felt insecure in living up to his expectations. Bowing his head graciously, Zach had decided to get going, as he would be very busy the second half of today and needed to make every minute of the first half count. But first, a thought had come to him, and he¡¯d decided to wade his way over to Jimmy, who was brooding by himself under the shade of a lone tree in the open fields of the mob-free zone. ¡°Hey, Jimmy,¡± he¡¯d said to him. ¡°Yeah?¡± he¡¯d replied, his head pointed at the outer edge of the gathered crowd while staring daggers into their backs. ¡°So, look, I¡¯m heading out to go talk to a friend of mine¡ªyou met him yesterday, actually¡ªbut I need to travel through a dungeon I¡¯ve never been to before to get there. I know you like that stuff, so is there any chance you¡¯d want to¡ª¡± ¡°Dungeon?¡± Jimmy had said, whipping his head excitably in Zach¡¯s direction in a way that reminded him of Fluffles whenever the cat smelled food. ¡°Y-yeah,¡± Zach had said. ¡°I was wondering if¡ª¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Okay, then.¡± Before leaving, he¡¯d briefly told Kalana where he was going, promising to stay out of trouble and keep Jimmy safe. Jimmy had promised Tena a variant of the same thing. She¡¯d wanted to come too, but she¡¯d been busy helping catch Zephyr up on what had transpired yesterday with the two OMP goons. And so now, here they were, him and Jimmy, doing the breast stroke side by side as they journeyed to the capital city of humanity, where Mr. Oren would likely be waiting in his office. Zach had tried to call ahead, but trying to get through to the man was like trying to call a doctor''s office and asking to speak directly to the doctor. It was impossible. I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s become so important, Zach thought. As Zach continued onwards, he noticed that Jimmy was panting and beginning to slow, so Zach slowed along with him. ¡°You okay?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jimmy said, treading water a moment as if to catch his breath. His eyes started shifting downwards. ¡°Hey, do you see any fish under us by any chance?¡± Zach found his question strange. ¡°Huh? No, why?¡± ¡°I wanna poison them so I can cast my stamina regen buff.¡± Zach chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s a terrible idea. For all you know, you might end up going into E-debt and drowning. Then I¡¯ll have to hold your head above the water until you wake up. Besides, that buff is probably why you¡¯ve got so little stamina for your level to begin with. I bet the fact that you never have to really push yourself is actually stopping you from growing it.¡± ¡°Yeah, maybe,¡± Jimmy said, angling himself so that he began to back-float. Zach allowed him the moment to rest. ¡°You should try pushing yourself more without relying on that buff so that you build your stamina. Especially for times like now when you can¡¯t use it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re probably right about that,¡± he agreed. Zach watched as his breathing slowly came under control. ¡°Ah well. If nothing else, at least all this exercise is helping me take my mind off everything, know what I mean?¡± ¡°I do,¡± Zach said. ¡°And I could also use a little head-clearing myself.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just glad to be going back to a dungeon,¡± Jimmy remarked in between gasps of breath. ¡°I need to touch a dungeon floor so bad. I think I¡¯m going through dungeon withdrawal.¡± ¡°How? It¡¯s only been a little more than a day, Jimmy.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just how I am, man. I go hard. That¡¯s just how it is.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s hurry up and get there, then. We¡¯re almost to Shores of Wrath. I think I can see it.¡± Although Zach thought of this trip as ¡°swimming across the ocean,¡± in truth, they were only swimming a tiny fraction of the overall distance that spanned the South Bastian Sea; the island of Elendroth was, geographically speaking, considered to be ¡°just off the northern coast¡± of South Bastia, and on a map, the two points were so close that they almost seemed to be touching. Ahead of them, Zach could spot the coastline, and given that it was now only two hours from noon, he was worried that he¡¯d be pestered on arrival. The city¡¯s beaches were very popular year-round, and Zach was concerned that he¡¯d be spotted the moment he and Jimmy swam to shore. He seriously doubted he could continue to remain undetected as he had on his trips to Shores of Wrath during his first two weeks here. It''s probably going to be impossible to move around unnoticed, now. Zach was unable to go anywhere in public in North Bastia without being recognized, but down here, in Shores of Wrath, things had been way different. For two weeks, he¡¯d been able to stroll around the city at any time of the day while remaining completely unbothered. This was likely because, despite knowing who he was, no one in Shores of Wrath had actually expected him to be there, and thus even if they thought he looked similar to the ¡°Zachys Calador¡± they read about in the news, they probably would not have actually thought it was really him. But now, after yesterday¡¯s ¡°incident,¡± there was no way he wouldn¡¯t be bothered while traversing the city, as by now, everyone would know he was staying at the relatively nearby island with Kalana. And indeed, as he and Jimmy neared land, he was already having to politely wave off a number of people. Once the two of them swam close enough to the shore that they began to encounter other swimmers, they had to slow down to avoid accidentally hurting or killing someone. And that was when it began. Shouts and victorious fists raised in the air from numerous swimmers, as well as people on floats, who called out to him. Zach made quick nods of his head and waves of his hand to as many as possible, not wishing to come across as rude or ¡°mean¡± like he¡¯d done once before, which he knew would cause Kalana to scold him later. ¡°Nice to meet you too,¡± he said in reply to someone as he and Jimmy swam far enough that they could now stand up and wade the rest of their way to the shore in the shallow water. ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± he said to someone else. ¡°Oh, wow, that¡¯s awesome. Good to meet you too, sir.¡± Eventually, the two of them emerged on the beach in soaking-wet equipment that Zach knew would dry in a matter of minutes under the intensely hot morning sunshine. Dozens of children playing with their parents near the water turned and gasped at the sight of him. Zach could do little but wave. It was impossible not to draw their attention, too. Hell, even if they¡¯d had no idea whatsoever who he was, their heads still would¡¯ve turned just at the sight of two guys walking onto the shore in outfits that were anything but swimwear and were armed with a sword and staff respectively. ¡°You¡¯re pretty popular out here, huh?¡± Jimmy asked him as he did his best to appear both polite but also in a hurry. ¡°Yeah, I guess,¡± Zach muttered. Then, to a middle-aged woman who¡¯d sprung up from a blanket she¡¯d laid on the sand, he said, ¡°Sorry, ma¡¯am, I¡¯m actually in a hurry. I¡¯ll take a picture with you next time. I promise.¡± ¡°Excuse me, young man. Are you Zachys Calador of the Royal Roses?¡± another woman asked, her three children beside her as she approached from behind him. Zach turned his head around to look at her, and he forced a smile onto his lips. ¡°Hi there. I am, but I can¡¯t stay to chat. I¡¯m really sorry, but I¡¯m actually in a hurry. It¡¯s uh¡­guild business.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s okay. I just want to say I support you!¡± ¡°Thank you so much.¡± Slowed, but only slightly, Zach led Jimmy away from the beach, up a fairly steep hill, and then onto a concrete street on the outer edges of the city. Stopping to pull the hood of his cloak over his head and obscure his face, he beckoned Jimmy to follow him, and the two began making their way down a wide boulevard into a narrower one as they headed towards the market district for which Shores of Wrath was famous, at which point the DEHVs on the road would be replaced with wagons and camels, and there would be more street merchants than one could count. Luckily, with the hood drawn, people did not appear to recognize him, though they did recoil somewhat in fear, as he knew that the cloak added a menacing, dark, and shadowy look to his visage. The farther into the city they ventured, the more crowded and densely populated the sidewalks became, and eventually, Zach began to stare down at the ground to avoid having anyone look directly at him, as he worried that, given yesterday¡¯s excitement, the sight of him might cause an unintentional panic. Oddly enough, however, the busier the streets became, the more anonymous he himself became in turn. Eventually, he was able to once more pull down the hood as people became too busy to bother scanning the faces of the pedestrians walking around them, and he was able to more or less ¡°blend in¡± to his surroundings. In fact, it was so busy here that Zach almost lost sight of Jimmy, who was quickly beginning to vanish in the throngs of people stomping their way up and down both sides of the sidewalk. Zach turned around and hurried over to him. ¡°Try to keep up,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ve only been walking for fifteen minutes. How the hell are you this tired already?¡± Jimmy, who was clearly struggling not to lag behind, now had sweat pouring down both sides of his face. ¡°It¡¯s just so damn hot,¡± he said, wiping his forehead with his arm. ¡°I actually miss being in the water. That was better than this. I¡¯m gonna die out here, Zach. Fuck.¡± Zach paused at the end of a street not far from where he¡¯d fought that guy, Zylor, yesterday. Briefly, he stepped into a small convenience store and purchased two bottles of water, which were 3g each¡ªway more expensive than the price of bottled water in most of North Bastia. Likely due to its geography, the price of water in South Bastia was significantly costlier than what he was used to. And despite now having more gold than he¡¯d ever had in his life¡ªalmost seventy-two thousand stowed away in Bank and Storage¡ªhe still hated paying 6g just for two Gods-be-damned bottles of water. Still, he had little choice. It was hot, and they were both thirsty. ¡°Here you go,¡± he said, exiting the store and tossing Jimmy one of the bottles. His new friend caught it and eyed him gratefully. ¡°Thanks, dude.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Zach watched as Jimmy gulped it down in a matter of seconds, and Zach joined him. Then they tossed the empty bottles in a recycling bin near the curb and continued onwards. A half hour later, they made it to the market district, and a half hour after that, they were entering the Grand Library in Shores of Wrath. Zach could audibly hear Jimmy sigh as the air-conditioned library must¡¯ve felt like a great relief compared to the punishing, outside heat. Jimmy, who had come to shore soaked, had dried off only to become soaked again in his own sweat. ¡°You doing okay?¡± Zach asked him, concerned. Jimmy nodded. He downed another bottle of water¡ªthe third of which they¡¯d bought on the way over here¡ªand disposed of it in a bin near the library¡¯s entrance. ¡°I¡¯m good. Hey uh, Zach,¡± he said, a touch of nervousness in his voice. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not gonna have to fall through a planet again, are we?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Zach answered. ¡°I mean, at least not on the way over there. We¡¯d normally have to do that again on the way back, but I think we might be able to hitch a portal back along with Mr. Oren when Angelica comes by later to grab him.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± With that, the two of them made their way up the tall, golden-covered, and spiral staircase that led to the third floor of the large building. Many fancily adorned men and women perusing various books and records stopped and widened their eyes as they took in the sight of Zach, and he was once again forced to politely wave and smile. Still, he managed to get where he needed to go, and a moment later, he led Jimmy through the double-doored entrance to the restricted section of the Grand Library. Today, the head librarian was nowhere to be found; the desk the old man sat at was vacant. It was quiet in here compared to the rest of the library, and Zach found it pleasant. Calmly, he strolled over to the various bookshelves and began to count, pausing when he got to the seventh. ¡°This is the wall,¡± he said to Jimmy. ¡°Remember that in case you ever need to come back here on your own.¡± ¡°I will. Trust me.¡± Walking right through the wall between the seventh and eighth bookshelf, Zach and Jimmy entered into a narrow, dark, and tunnel-like passageway that ran for a quarter of a mile. There was nothing to see amid the darkness, and as they walked, the only sound was their feet clicking against what felt like stone. Eventually, however, they emerged from another wall, and from the sight of the tiled floor and brick walls, along with the windows that gave off a view of an endless blue sky, Zach knew that they were back in F17 of Tower of Eternity. Jimmy¡¯s mood changed immediately. ¡°Goddamn, it¡¯s good to be back!¡± he said cheerfully. ¡°Don¡¯t get too happy. We¡¯re just passing through this dungeon. We¡¯re not here to fight anything we don¡¯t absolutely have to, either.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. But wait. Let me at least just¡­just hold up one second, okay?¡± Zach laughed. ¡°All right.¡± He watched as Jimmy unsheathed his staff, began to pant even harder as he cast numerous poisons on three mobs nearby, and then raised his staff and called down the blue heart that Zach recalled was his stamina regen buff. A minute later, he looked refreshed, renewed, and revitalized. His entire demeanor seemed to change. He went from looking like he was about to roll over and die to marching along as if carried by a heavenly wind. As the two of them continued to walk, he no longer had any issue keeping up, and Zach was glad to see him so upbeat and optimistic. Jimmy really did love the dungeons, didn¡¯t he? More than anyone I¡¯ve ever met, Zach thought. Even more than me. ¡°Looks like the dungeon reset since yesterday,¡± Jimmy said, pointing his staff at the unbroken window they¡¯d leapt out of the day prior. ¡°I¡¯m glad. It would be too cold in here otherwise.¡± As the two proceeded down one of the long, typically mob-filled halls that defined this place, Zach suggested they group up and join into a party just in case they had to fight, to which Jimmy agreed. To their left was a door that led to Angelica¡¯s, and to their right was a door that led to the bazaar, which Zach still had not had the chance to visit despite having numerous pieces of junk loot that he wanted to sell off whenever he got the opportunity to do so. Though his storage box still contained most of its empty space, he didn¡¯t want to fill it up with what he¡¯d begun to think of as ¡°crap loot,¡± and he was eager to sell it for whatever gold he could get. ¡°Oh, shit, I can¡¯t believe I forgot,¡± he said to himself as something came to mind, drawing Jimmy¡¯s attention. ¡°What?¡± Jimmy asked. ¡°What¡¯d you forget?¡± ¡°My ability, Gacha Get¡¯cha, is off cooldown. I forgot to use it. I got absolute garbage last week, too. I was looking forward to it.¡± When Jimmy gave him a blank look, Zach explained to him what the ability did and why he was excited each week to use it. Last week, Zach had gotten three common, low-level items, which consisted of a shield and two pairs of gloves. He was hoping for a bit more luck this time around. Sadly, he¡¯d have to wait until later to find out what fate had in store for him, as he knew Kalana would be very upset with him if she didn¡¯t get to watch. She found the ability just as entertaining as he did, and she would kill him if she didn¡¯t get to be there when he next used it. ¡°That¡¯s incredible,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°So you can just get, like, anything? Even limited-time and event items?¡± ¡°Yep. I think so, anyway.¡± ¡°Damn, man. That¡¯s cool.¡± ¡°I just hope I don¡¯t get screwed over again. I can¡¯t believe how shitty my luck was last week.¡± Jimmy made a tsk sound. ¡°Yeah, RNG, man, it gets you every time.¡± ¡°R-N-what?¡± ¡°RNG. Don¡¯t you¡­is that not a term you guys use over here?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± Zach said, searching his mind for any memory of it and finding nothing. ¡°At least, it¡¯s not a term I¡¯ve ever heard of before.¡± Jimmy shrugged. ¡°Oh. Well, it just means random number generator. Chance, basically.¡± ¡°One of these days we need to just sit around and talk about everything you know about the world thousands of years ago. There are so many questions I want to ask.¡± Jimmy smiled. ¡°Sounds good to me. I¡¯m an open book.¡± Picking up the pace somewhat, the two of them moved at a brisk walk beyond the entrance to Angelica¡¯s and the bazaar, then pulled open a metal door labeled F17->F18 and began ascending the three flights of stairs that led to the next floor up. Zach himself had never been here before, as he¡¯d thus far had no reason to go back to Whispery Woods. Originally, when asking Jascaila about this dungeon, he¡¯d done so with the intention of never having to board a ten-hour flight to North Bastia ever again. Ultimately, however, he hadn¡¯t ended up using it to travel to North Bastia, but instead, he¡¯d used it as a quick way of getting to and back from Angelica¡¯s. Now, however, it would serve as the first leg of a two-step journey to the northmost human region of Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah, a place he had never visited. Actually, he¡¯d never been to most regions. Despite being seventeen years old, Zach had only ever been to Whispery Woods, Shadowfall Coast, Varda¡¯s Lair¡ªvery briefly¡ªTomb of Fire¡ªalso very briefly¡ªand Shores of Wrath. And he really couldn¡¯t count Varda¡¯s Lair since he¡¯d never left the airport. At least he''d actually gotten to walk through the majestically beautiful and lively city in Tomb of Fire. There was so much of the world he still needed to see, and he intended to see all of it. ¡°So, where is this passage, anyway?¡± Jimmy asked him as they climbed the stairway. ¡°Jascaila told me it¡¯s in a pool that¡¯s just to the left of the exit.¡± ¡°I think I remember seeing that when I did these lower floors, but I ignored it. I was working too hard on climbing higher and leveling as fast as I could.¡± A moment later, as they shoved open the push-bar door and emerged onto the eighteenth floor, Zach heard Jimmy begin to grumble to himself. ¡°Damn,¡± Jimmy said, sounding disappointed. Just ahead of them and to their left was a small, divergent path that led to a room that, from smell alone, Zach could tell contained a chlorinated pool. As far as Zach was aware, it was the only such of its kind to be found in the dungeon, which was otherwise repetitive in structure and contained little variation in d¨¦cor, style, or substance. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Zach asked him. He pointed. ¡°The pool you were telling me about is right there.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°No mobs to fight,¡± he said, glancing longingly farther down the hallway, which was absolutely teeming with various creatures at differing levels. Zach laughed. ¡°That¡¯s good. I¡¯m not in the mood to start messing around with mobs.¡± ¡°Typical PVPer,¡± Jimmy muttered under his breath¡ªthough Zach heard him clearly. The accusation annoyed and slightly hurt him, but he decided not to make an issue of it, as he had the sense that it did not quite mean to Jimmy what it meant to Zach or the other adventurers of Galterra. Here, calling someone a ¡°PVPer¡± implied someone who took joy in fighting and killing other people. He was pretty sure that wasn¡¯t what Jimmy meant by it. Making his way down the small path and into a larger, more open, and spacious pool room, Zach curled his lower lip and said, ¡°Looks like we¡¯re getting wet again.¡± Jimmy leaned over the edge and looked down at the blueish, clear water. ¡°What exactly do we gotta do?¡± ¡°Just jump in and swim straight down, I think.¡± ¡°Down to where? It¡¯s only like six-feet deep.¡± Zach rubbed his chin. ¡°I think we just have to swim straight down and keep swimming. Forget what our eyes see.¡± ¡°Yeah, all right.¡± Volunteering to go first, Zach walked forward and fell with a slight splash into the pool, treading water as he waited for Jimmy to join him. A second later, there was another splash, and now Jimmy was swimming beside him. Without another word, Zach glanced downwards, took a deep breath, and then plunged down into the water, swimming to the bottom. Cautiously, he reached out with his palm and prepared to touch the blue-colored bottom of the pool. Yet when he swiped his hand, he felt nothing but emptiness. Confused, he tried swiping it again, and only now he realized that what looked like the bottom of the pool was actually a cloudy, blueish emptiness, one that he could continue to swim through. Glancing upwards to ensure that Jimmy followed along, he continued to swim down deeper into the pool, hoping it was not so deep that he ended up dying from lack of oxygen. As he went deeper and deeper, the water became warmer and warmer, heating to the point where he eventually felt like he was swimming through a bath. It also became darker, too: turning from a blue to a dark blue, and then the water became black. Eventually, it became so dark he could not see anything at all in front or around him. He was also beginning to feel the very first ache in his lungs as his body called out to him for fresh oxygen. Even still, he kept calm and continued to swim farther and farther down¡ªat least until it abruptly occurred to him that he wasn¡¯t swimming downwards at all. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Zach wasn¡¯t sure when, precisely, the shift had occurred, but it came to him as a form of bodily realization that, at some point in the past few seconds, he¡¯d gone from swimming straight downwards to straight up. He was no longer descending: he was ascending. The water also began to cool, quickly turning from a bath-like temperature to something much chillier. It also felt a bit slimy, too, and much less sterile. The darkness abated as well. There was a light coming from up above that looked to be like that of the Galterran sky, and Zach, becoming hungry for air, swam upwards towards it. Finally, he surfaced, drew a deep breath, and then released it just as Jimmy¡¯s head popped up beside him, taking an even larger breath. ¡°God, that was close,¡± Jimmy said, his voice containing a mixture of excitement and fear. ¡°I didn¡¯t know how long that¡¯d go on for. At one point, I wasn¡¯t sure if I should turn back or keep going. I bet I¡¯d have drowned if I tried to go back. It was the not-knowing that made it scary as hell.¡± Zach nodded, which caused his chin to splash the water. ¡°I got a bit nervous there too, Jimmy.¡± He made a relieved-sounding sigh. ¡°Well, we made it¡ªsomewhere, anyway. Where are we?¡± Zach glanced at his surroundings. Although Jascaila had described the exit point as a ¡°lake,¡± to Zach, it was more like a relatively small pond, one that was surrounded on all sides by trees, which meant this pond was located directly in the middle of a forest of some sort. It was somewhat darker here than he¡¯d expected, but that was mostly because the weather today was nowhere near as nice as it¡¯d been in South Bastia. Although it was clearly hot and humid outside, the skies were completely overcast with enough cloud cover that not even a hint of sunshine managed to break through. At least it wasn¡¯t raining, though. ¡°We¡¯re in Whispery Woods,¡± Zach said, spinning himself around to get a better look at the terrain. ¡°That¡¯s where you¡¯re from, right? Do you recognize this place?¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°Nope. Never been here before. I¡¯m from the city. Whispery Woods is actually a really big region, though, and I think we¡¯re all the way up northwest. A few miles north of here is probably the boundary that separates Whispery Woods from Varda¡¯s Lair.¡± ¡°And that means¡­?¡± ¡°It means we¡¯re not too far from Pixie¡¯s Point, which is where we have to go.¡± Jimmy made a grunt. ¡°As impossible as it is, I keep hoping we¡¯ll end up back on Earth: my Earth. If that ever happens, I¡¯m buying you the best damn pizza you ever had in your whole life, and that¡¯s on God.¡± ¡°You sure about that?¡± Zach asked him as the two slowly swam towards land. ¡°The place I worked at all last year was pretty good.¡± ¡°You made pizza?¡± ¡°No, I was just the delivery boy. But the place I worked for made really good pizza. Might¡¯ve been better than what you¡¯re used to.¡± Jimmy laughed. ¡°Man, I don¡¯t care how good it was. There ain¡¯t no way you¡¯ve got a slice in all of Galterra even five-percent as good as what we have in Brooklyn. I¡¯m surprised pizza is even still a thing. I guess people love it so much it survived thousands of years. You know pizza¡¯s an Italian food, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a what?¡± Zach asked, genuinely curious. For some reason, it caused Jimmy to stare at Zach as if struggling once again to convince himself that any of this was real. ¡°You don¡¯t even know that the food you¡¯re eating is Italian? I just¡­it¡¯s so wild. I don¡¯t know how I¡¯m ever gonna get used to this. Every time I¡¯m sure this is real, I end up moments later starting to wonder again how any of this can even be possible.¡± ¡°Talk to Jascaila. She¡¯ll help.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know. It¡¯s just¡­it¡¯s gonna take me some time is all.¡± ¡°That¡¯s normal,¡± Zach said, speaking from newly gained experience. ¡°It¡¯s all a process. You¡¯ll see. Anyways let¡¯s get out of this water. It¡¯s kind of gross in here.¡± Together with Jimmy, the two of them swam their way over to the muddy, leaf-covered ground, and in the process of climbing out of the lake, Zach¡¯s knees, gloves, and footwear became covered in a blackish-green muck, which smelled strongly of moss and mud. He felt dirty and grimy, and from the look of disgust on Jimmy¡¯s face, he could tell his recently acquired friend felt the same. Once he was out and away from the water, Zach shook his hands to get as much of the nastiness off as he could, and then he wiped the rest of it on his sides. ¡°We¡¯re going to need to do some serious drycleaning when we get back,¡± he said quietly. ¡°Yeah, no kidding,¡± Jimmy agreed. Removing his phone from his pocket, Zach checked their current location, then turned halfway around and pointed. ¡°We need to go that way,¡± he said, pointing to the southeast. ¡°That¡¯ll take us to the main road leading to Pixie¡¯s Point.¡± ¡°How far away is it?¡± Jimmy asked. ¡°Only like thirty miles once we get out of the forest.¡± For some reason, this made Jimmy swear. ¡°That¡¯s not exactly close. My stamina buff only lasts five minutes, dude. It¡¯s gonna wear off in like another 50 seconds.¡± Concerned, Zach asked, ¡°You don¡¯t think you can jog thirty miles?¡± ¡°Nah, I can, it¡¯s just gonna be a pain in the ass without my buff. But if we gotta do it, we gotta do it.¡± Zach lowered his arm and paused to think. ¡°I could summon my Kralzek¡¯s Beast and we could ride our way there, but Fylwen might not be happy. A few days ago, an adventurer was running across Whispery Woods in the middle of the night and he accidentally collided with a DEHV and killed three people. Since then, Fylwen¡¯s banned anyone who isn¡¯t Elvish or authorized from doing anything a level 1 couldn¡¯t do. That probably also includes using my mount.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we get a taxi or something? You guys have those, right?¡± ¡°We do, but¡­¡± Zach performed a search on his phone. ¡°Not in this area, no. Uh¡­oh, okay. There¡¯s a bus stop only five miles from here. I¡¯ll be honest: I don¡¯t feel like walking either, so I think we should catch it. I¡¯m getting a bit lazy now, too.¡± ¡°When¡¯s it get here?¡± ¡°A half hour. And the next one isn¡¯t for an hour after that, so we better hurry up before we miss it.¡± Following those words, Zach and Jimmy walked side by side through the forest. Though it was a bit later here than it was in South Bastia, it was still in the early afternoon, yet the tree-cover, along with the overcast skies, made everything appear darker than it should¡¯ve been for this time of the day. As they trekked through the uneven soil, a brief period of quiet came over the two of them, and for a good ten minutes, the only sounds to be heard were the occasional rustling of leaves, twigs snapping beneath their feet, and the infrequent chirp of a bird or cry of an animal. Due to the lack of sun and high humidity, their equipment was slow to dry, creating a very uncomfortable feeling of sliminess and stickiness as everything sort of clung to Zach¡¯s skin. He was also feeling a bit itchy, and little pieces of leaves, dirt, and other ickiness were practically glued onto his robe and his trousers. Jimmy also didn¡¯t appear to like the hike through this forest, and in some ways, he was having an even worse time of it than Zach was. Wincing, Zach caught sight of Jimmy as he walked face-first into¡ªand then through¡ªa thick cobweb he didn¡¯t see, causing him to furiously wipe at his face and begin spitting. ¡°Gah, the fuck is that?¡± he said, somewhat higher in pitch, rubbing all over his nose, mouth, and eyes. ¡°Tell me I didn¡¯t just eat a spider.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Zach said, holding back laughter. ¡°Ptuh!¡± he shouted, spitting a wad of saliva onto the forest floor. ¡°Disgusting.¡± He slapped his neck, killing a fly that was buzzing around him. Then he began to walk a little bit faster, and Zach matched his pace. Step by step, the two of them navigated their way through the forest, and as they did so, Zach couldn¡¯t help but notice a look of consternation on Jimmy¡¯s face. It was a look he thought he¡¯d noticed earlier but hadn¡¯t been certain. It¡¯d been popping on and off Jimmy¡¯s face for a while now, actually, and due to his own struggles, Zach was able to recognize that something was bothering Jimmy: something beyond the mere notion of his presence here on Galterra. He was tempted to ask, but he didn¡¯t want to pry or say anything that would make Jimmy become confrontational. But as things turned out, he didn¡¯t need to, either, because Jimmy gave voice to it all on his own. ¡°That guy that tried to kill me,¡± he said, his voice sounding shaky and distraught. ¡°Zylor.¡± ¡°What about him?¡± Zach asked. Jimmy slowed as they continued to move, but he did not stop. He ducked his head beneath a low-hanging branch as if to avoid stepping through another spiderweb, and then he craned his neck to look at Zach. ¡°He said something that really bothered me. It didn¡¯t mean shit to me at first, but now, I mean, now that it¡¯s been a day, it¡¯s starting to really get to me.¡± ¡°What¡¯d he say?¡± Zach asked calmly, not trying to sound demanding or intrusive. Jimmy¡¯s face tightened, and he became even more visibly upset. ¡°He said I was a human, and that¡¯s why I gotta die.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Zach asked, running the words over in his head to make absolutely sure he was comprehending them. ¡°He said he was after you because you¡¯re¡­human?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t he also human?¡± ¡°Sure looked it,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°I mean, so am I. So is Tena. So is just about everyone in North and South Bastia. Why would he target you just for that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Jimmy whispered. ¡°But the way he said it made me feel like¡­like there¡¯s something I¡¯m missing here.¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°You know what? Don¡¯t even worry about it. The guy lives in a boring space station. He¡¯s probably nuts.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right,¡± Jimmy said, nodding. As though the matter was settled, the two continued onwards for about another fifty steps, but then Jimmy again slowed, and he added, ¡°It¡¯s just¡­it¡¯s the way he said it that really got to me.¡± Zach offered nothing in reply, choosing instead to listen and wait for Jimmy to continue, which he soon did. ¡°I asked him what he meant by that. I said, ¡®Aren¡¯t you human too?¡¯ And he told me that there¡¯s ¡®human¡¯ and then there¡¯s human, and that I shouldn¡¯t exist anymore.¡± Zach frowned. ¡°You mean¡­like there¡¯s different kinds of humans?¡± ¡°Yeah. And the thing is, Zach, I got absolutely no idea what that dude could''ve meant by it. Like, none.¡± ¡°Neither do I,¡± Zach said. ¡°But seriously, it¡¯s probably best not to even worry about it then. The guy was crazy. Just forget it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± ¡°Hey, look, we¡¯re almost out!¡± Ahead of them, Zach could spot the tree-line, beyond which resided a long stretch of road that he knew would run all the way across Whispery Woods from the north to the south end of the region. Glad to be out, he patted himself down, knocking off leaves, gunk, and other types of dirt, and then he traveled with Jimmy southbound down the forested road, which was lined with trees on both sides. For the most part, they spotted few DEHVs, and it reminded Zach of the road that he¡¯d walked along back when he¡¯d first set out in search of xp after splitting up with Kalana. A whole lot of Whispery Woods consisted of rural land, and here in the northwestern part of the region, it was no different. Thus, for nearly ten minutes, there was nothing to see but trees and road. This changed only after a clearing entered view up ahead in the form of a rest stop, where a tiny little DEHV charging stop with a small attached store awaited parallel to a bus stop a little farther down the road. ¡°You wanna stop for anything?¡± Jimmy asked, flicking his chin in the direction of the station. ¡°Nah, if we need anything, we¡¯ll buy it in town.¡± He removed his phone and checked the time. ¡°I don¡¯t want to accidentally miss our ride.¡± Jimmy nodded, and the two took a seat on a bench that was framed by a dome-like piece of plastic, which was meant to shelter those waiting for the bus during times of rain. Another five minutes came and went, and then, standing up, Zach pointed. ¡°There¡¯s the bus DEHV,¡± he said. With a bit of a screech, the large, fifty-passenger vehicle came to a halt just before them, and the door opened up on its own, inviting them inside. Zach, followed by Jimmy, ascended the three steps that led up and into the bus, and then deposited a 5g coin into the payment apparatus, instructing Jimmy to do the same, which he did. Thankfully, the driver was not paying any attention to him. Even with a sword on his back and a staff on Jimmy¡¯s, he did not appear to take notice or care, which meant Zach was able to grab a seat with Jimmy in the back without being hassled. There were only two other passengers riding with them: an elderly woman up front and a young man in the middle. The woman was sleeping, and the man was staring at his phone¡¯s screen. ¡°I feel bad for whoever has to clean these seats tonight,¡± Zach whispered as the doors closed and the bus DEHV took off. Their equipment was still wet, and they would definitely leave mud stains on the seats and on the floor. ¡°Hope they don¡¯t think we¡¯re animals for this.¡± Jimmy turned over his palm but said nothing in reply. Once more, he seemed troubled, likely over whatever bullshit Zylor had put into his head. It was probably something he needed to ask Eilea about, though given his deal with Adamus, there was a chance now that she might not be able to tell him. Deciding to let Jimmy quietly dwell on his thoughts, Zach looked out the window and watched the landscape blaze past as they took off and headed towards Pixie¡¯s Point. Despite being only thirty miles away, it would probably take close to an hour for them to reach their destination, as the bus needed to make several stops along the way, and it would not be heading there in a straight line. There was also little to see outside of the forested road, and so Zach let his own mind wander. It seemed like he was in for a fairly boring ride. That was: until Jimmy decided to break the silence. Unprompted, Jimmy, out of nowhere, began discussing his life in the days leading up to his first encounter with Eilea, and Zach found himself getting drawn into the conversation very, very quickly. ¡°So, wait a second,¡± Zach said, having to force himself to keep his voice low. ¡°You¡¯re telling me she told you that she still loved you, but she had to break up anyway?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jimmy said, his tone turning dark. ¡°I loved this girl like you can¡¯t even imagine. Like you love Kalana. But she comes up one day, right? And she starts with all this ¡®I¡¯m not in a good place mentally right now¡¯. So I¡¯m like, that¡¯s cool. I¡¯ll be there for you no matter what, baby. But then two weeks later, she¡¯s with some other dude. I guess her mental state wasn¡¯t so bad after all. I mean she broke my goddamn heart, Zach.¡± Zach gave him a pat on the shoulder. ¡°But now you¡¯ve got Tena, right?¡± Jimmy smiled. ¡°Yeah, I guess I do. I don¡¯t deserve that girl. I need to make it right with her. I never treated her the way I should¡¯ve, but I¡¯m gonna.¡± Zach listened in, fascinated, as Jimmy told him about his life, his school, and his best friends. It turned what would¡¯ve been a long, drawn-out ride through empty scenery into something that blazed by so quickly Zach was almost disappointed as the end of their trip neared. Just shy of an hour after boarding the DEHV bus, the scenery at last changed; the forested road was gone, and ahead of them, Zach could now see farmhouses¡ªthough only a few¡ªand these rapidly turned into two-story homes, some with backyards larger than the homes themselves. But that too changed as the landscape became more suburban, dense, and now, as the bus continued on, what Zach saw were a regular series of housing developments broken apart by shopping malls. From what Zach could recall, Pixie¡¯s Point was a moderately sized town with roughly two-and-a-half times the population that Den of Ziragoth used to have before the dragon spawned. It was a modest place with mostly suburban-style homes and a decent variety of services and businesses. It wasn¡¯t exactly a place someone would visit for the purpose of tourism, but it was a decent enough town to call home, Zach supposed. ¡°When do we get off?¡± Jimmy asked, staring out the window along with Zach. ¡°Second to last stop,¡± Zach answered. He studied Jimmy a moment, noticing that he was smiling as though reminiscing about something from his past. ¡°Does this place remind you of Earth?¡± ¡°Yeah. It reminds me a bit of New Jersey.¡± ¡°New¡­¡± Zach inhaled. ¡°Wait, I know that place. I¡¯ve been there before.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been to New Jersey?¡± Jimmy asked, looking just as stunned as Zach felt. ¡°Yeah. B2 of Yorna¡¯s takes you there.¡± ¡°Oh, right,¡± Jimmy whispered, suddenly sounding deflated. ¡°For a second, I thought you meant my New Jersey¡ªeven though I know that¡¯s not possible. It was just an impulse I had at hearing you say you¡¯ve been there.¡± ¡°Sorry. But¡­did you live around there?¡± ¡°Not that far at all, actually. A lot of express buses went through the very same road you drove on. But I guess¡­¡± His voice abruptly saddened, taking upon a mournful quality that Zach had not before seen from him. ¡°I guess¡­I guess that was a long, long time ago.¡± Zach said nothing for a moment. Then he whispered, ¡°This is our stop.¡± Jimmy seemed to pull himself together, nodding and standing up. Together, the two of them made their way once more to the front of the bus, bid goodbye to the driver, and it was only as they were on their way out that now, for the first time, the driver said, ¡°Hey, wait a minute, kid. Aren¡¯t you¡­?¡± ¡°No time to chat!¡± Zach said apologetically, hurrying off the vehicle and dashing onto the sidewalk. Jimmy followed, and then the two of them hurried away as the driver kept the door open and even got out of his seat as if to look out and follow them with his eyes. Zach waved behind him and continued to hurry away, turning the corner of a block and thankfully pulling out of sight. Then he removed his phone to get his bearings straight. ¡°Okay,¡± he said, studying the map on his screen. ¡°We¡¯re only like a two-minute walk to where we have to go.¡± Something changed in Jimmy. Something noticeable and very apparent. Upon speaking those words, a glint seemed to pop into his eyes, and any trace of sadness vanished in an instant. ¡°To this new dungeon?¡± he asked Zach. ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Hell yeah.¡± From what Jascaila had said, the entrance to ¡°Trials of Nolak¡± was to be found in the basement boiler room of an abandoned school that was spared from being demolished thanks only to the Explorers Brigade; they had bought the building just to prevent the entrance to the dungeon from becoming difficult or impossible to access. Zach wondered if it was even worth the investment, because based on what Jascaila had told him, this was a dungeon that nobody seemed to care about or want to visit. He didn¡¯t get the impression that it was due to its difficulty or level of danger¡ªbut he didn¡¯t not get that impression, either. Really, Zach had no idea why it was so unpopular, and as the prospect of entering it began to fully dawn upon him, he began to get a little bit nervous, harboring some second thoughts about all of this. As he paused at an intersection, waited for his turn to cross, and then quickly moved his way past a used DEHV lot and an old diner, he began to wonder if maybe he was about to make a terrible mistake. ¡°Hey, Jimmy,¡± he said, trying his best to keep confidence in his voice. ¡°Yeah, Zach?¡± Zach paused, coming to a halt just outside of a shopping lot that contained a grocery store, a barbershop, and a fast-food restaurant. ¡°Listen, we¡¯re about to enter a place that nobody knows much about, and it could be really, really dangerous. I know you¡¯re a bit older than me and don¡¯t like to be bossed around, but it¡¯s actually my responsibility to protect you, so I want you to do everything I say, okay?¡± At this, Jimmy rolled his eyes. ¡°Relax, dude.¡± ¡°No, Jimmy, I¡¯m serious. I¡¯m not even sure we should really be doing this. I probably should¡¯ve thought about this more before deciding to bring you here. If anything happens to you, it¡¯s on me. And I really don¡¯t want to¡ª¡± ¡°I said relax,¡± Jimmy fired in. For the very first time since meeting him, Zach saw a return of his confident, assertive nature. From the moment the OMP goons had appeared until now, Jimmy had been acting in a way that could only be described as passive and somewhat timid. But something about the notion of entering this dungeon was having a dramatic effect on him. Instead of feeling like someone Zach needed to look after, Jimmy was beginning to behave like Zach was someone he needed to look after. ¡°This is my world we¡¯re gonna be going into,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°And I promised Tena I¡¯d keep you safe. If I didn¡¯t think we¡¯d be all right, I wouldn¡¯t let you go in there, Zach. Ya¡¯ll don¡¯t gotta worry about a thing.¡± ¡°Jimmy¡­I know you¡¯re higher level, but trust me, this isn¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°PVP,¡± Jimmy again shot in, raising his finger. ¡°This isn¡¯t PVP. If it was, I¡¯d do any damn thing you said. But this is my world. You might not know it yet, but you will.¡± Trying to keep his cool, Zach stopped himself from raising his voice. ¡°Just do what I say, okay? Please. Or we¡¯re not going.¡± ¡°All right. Fine.¡± ¡°Really? Because you don¡¯t sound convincing.¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s cool.¡± ¡°So you¡¯ll do what I say?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jimmy said dismissively. And with that, the two of them continued onwards, only now, Zach was a great deal more uncertain. Nevertheless, having come this far already, he decided he might as well at least scope the place out. If he thought it was too dangerous, he could always have them leave and head back to Tower of Eternity and go home. As they made their way down the final two blocks that led to the location where Jascaila claimed they¡¯d find the dungeon entrance, Zach decided to briefly duck into a mid-sized shop and purchase a small pack, which he stuffed with a few drinks and a few snacks¡ªjust in case they were needed. With that, the two made their way down a disused service road that looked like it hadn¡¯t been traveled in decades. Ahead of them was a rusted gate that led to a courtyard where an uneven mix of tall shrubs and dead grass dotted the grounds with seeming randomness. In the middle of it was a three-story school that looked rundown and decayed. ¡°This is the dungeon entrance?¡± Jimmy asked, his lips twisted wryly. ¡°Yeah, I guess,¡± Zach said. ¡°It probably looked nothing like this thousands of years ago, though.¡± The rusted gate creaked as Zach pushed it open, and then, after taking a deep breath, he ambled down a concrete path that was missing chunks of concrete in various places, and he approached the entrance to the school, which in this case consisted of a faded, discolored door that had likely once been beige but now looked a darker shade of yellow-brown. Inside, there was nothing but quiet. And honestly? It was spooky: really spooky. Jimmy seemed to think so as well, because he shivered and said, ¡°This place gives me the creeps. It¡¯s like the scene of a horror movie.¡± ¡°I know, right?¡± Zach said, adding a shudder of his own. It was very dark inside, and aside from a rattle from somewhere up above, there were few other sounds besides a constant pinging that reminded him of heat traveling through a pipe. ¡°Okay,¡± Zach said, looking around. ¡°I think we have to go down there.¡± He pointed to a door that said ¡°maintenance¡± and had a picture of a set of stairs heading downwards. Jimmy, for the first time, walked ahead of Zach, which he found off-putting. ¡°Hey, wait up!¡± Opening the door, Jimmy began to travel the old set of stairs down into the basement area. It was so quiet inside of this abandoned school that each time one of their feet stepped down, it created a loud echo¡ªor at least one that seemed loud by comparison to the unsettling quiet. But Zach supposed it was still preferable to total silence. ¡°I don¡¯t know about this,¡± he muttered to himself as he followed Jimmy down. The stairs were narrow enough so that they could not walk side by side, and Zach was forced to stay behind him¡ªat least until they emerged into a slightly wider room, which contained old, clearly broken pipes, filthy, rotten-looking buckets, and a mop that was drier than a desert. There were many other types of maintenance equipment elsewhere, and all of it looked broken and disused. Nothing here gave off a vibe of function or health. ¡°So,¡± Jimmy began, ¡°where¡¯s the entrance?¡± Even though he was clearly speaking at a conversational level, the ambient quiet made his words sound louder than shouts. Zach wet his lips and nervously glanced around. ¡°I¡¯m not sure about this anymore. I have a habit of impulsively getting myself into situations only to realize too late that I should¡¯ve thought more about what I was doing. Jascaila taught me that, actually.¡± Jimmy laughed. ¡°Well, this time around, you¡¯re fine, dude. I trusted you with my life, now you¡¯re just gonna have to trust me with yours.¡± Jimmy¡¯s laughter cut off abruptly, and his voice turned serious. ¡°I¡¯m not dumb. I know you think of me as like someone you need to baby or look out for.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Zach said. ¡°Yeah you do. No point lying about it.¡± He sighed. ¡°But the truth is, I probably do need protecting when we¡¯re out in the ¡®real¡¯ world. I¡¯m not really able to defend myself. I don¡¯t know how, and I¡¯m not gonna bullshit and pretend otherwise. Without you, I¡¯d be dead. But when we¡¯re in the world of PVE, I can be the one who looks out for you.¡± ¡°I know that,¡± Zach lied, unwilling to break the harsh truth to Jimmy that Zach genuinely did not think he could survive on his own. Based on everything he¡¯d seen so far from the slightly-older guy, he couldn¡¯t help but conclude that Jimmy had been very fortunate to survive as long as he had in the dungeons. He clearly lacked the appropriate amount of stamina for someone his level, and his survival instincts were really bad, and he needed to work hard to improve himself before Zach felt he was ready to put his¡ªor anyone¡¯s¡ªlife in Jimmy¡¯s hands. But he¡¯s got great potential, though, Zach thought. Donovan¡¯s right about that. ¡°Just tell me where the dungeon is and what we have to do to get to your friend.¡± Zach hesitated, and Jimmy gave him an annoyed look. ¡°You need to listen to me, Jimmy,¡± Zach said. ¡°If we do this.¡± ¡°I told you I will,¡± Jimmy said, and Zach had the sense he was lying, though he couldn¡¯t be sure. Yet even still, against his better judgement, he relented. ¡°Okay, fine.¡± Zach walked past three orange valves and into a corner of the room next to two large boilers that almost certainly no longer worked. ¡°I think it¡¯s here,¡± he said, extending his arm and placing his palm flat against the grimy, dust-covered wall, which he was shocked he could actually feel. Rather than sink through it, his palm instead laid flat on the gross-feeling plaster, and he frowned. ¡°Or at least it should¡¯ve been.¡± Jimmy approached closer. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Zach looked at him. ¡°The entrance is supposed to be right here. Through this wall. That¡¯s what Jascaila said.¡± Jimmy began stroking his chin with his thumb and forefinger, making a slight buzzing sound as though thinking over Zach¡¯s words. ¡°What exactly did she tell you?¡± ¡°She gave me the address of this school, and she told me to head down to the boiler room. She told me that, in the back-left corner of the room, there¡¯s supposed to be an entrance.¡± Jimmy continued to rub his chin. ¡°Now, when you say ¡®there¡¯s supposed to be an entrance,¡¯ are you quoting what she said or are those your words?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Oh. I¡¯m quoting what she said. Her exact words were: ¡®From the stairs, at the back-left corner of the room, there¡¯s supposed to be an entrance.¡¯¡± Jimmy licked his lips, saying nothing for a few seconds as if contemplating what Zach had told him. ¡°If that¡¯s how she said it, then that means she herself wasn¡¯t sure, right?¡± He squinted his eyes. ¡°Actually, can we get some fucking light in here? I can¡¯t see shit, man.¡± Zach nodded and removed his phone, and then he activated the flashlight. The boiler room had been so oppressively dark that the light was almost blinding by comparison. Jimmy pointed at something nearby, and then he asked Zach to shine it in that direction. Zach did as he asked. ¡°Any ideas, Jimmy?¡± Jimmy did not reply right away. He moved over to where Zach had only just been standing, and then he placed his own hand on the wall. Soon after, he began whispering to himself as if working out a problem of some sort. Then he turned his body around full circle several times as if surveying the room, asking Zach to shine light on various spots. When Zach failed to light up the areas quite the way he wanted, Zach decided to just hand him the phone and let him point the flashlight wherever he pleased. For the next five minutes, Jimmy walked around the room, studying each inch of it and running his finger along every inch of the wall before finding himself back where Zach remained frozen in place. ¡°Well?¡± Zach asked. Jimmy again licked his lips. ¡°I don¡¯t know. You¡¯re sure she said the back-left corner?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Zach said. ¡°Kind of hard to forget something so specific.¡± Jimmy flashed the light in the back-left corner, then moved it over slightly to the right before subsequently shining it slightly more to the left. It was here he made a sort of curious-sounding ¡°hmm,¡± which contained just a slight note of excitement and intrigue. ¡°Wait a minute,¡± he said quietly. Though he spoke mostly to himself, Zach couldn¡¯t help but question him. ¡°Did you figure something out?¡± ¡°Yeah, I think so,¡± Jimmy said, his voice becoming a bit more animate and excited. Once more, he shined the light to the right, letting it settle over the large, metallic boiler. Specifically, he shined it towards the rear, where it spanned several feet from where Jimmy was standing to just an inch or two in front of the wall. Then, after a brief pause, he shined the light on the adjacent boiler, which actually seemed to be pressed up against the wall. ¡°I think I got it.¡± ¡°What?¡± Zach asked, Jimmy¡¯s excitement becoming infectious. Jimmy walked around to the front of the boiler. ¡°Shine the light on this for me, Zach.¡± He handed Zach back the phone, and Zach took it. Now, Zach provided him the light exactly where he specified. Placing one hand each on the boiler¡¯s outer plate, Jimmy made a grunt, and then he detached the outer layer, pulling it directly off before spinning around slightly and settling it down; though he did so gently, it fell over anyway and caused a loud clang, which made Zach flinch and hurt his ears amid the extreme quiet. Still, Zach did not dwell on the loud noise. Instead, he stared at the boiler¡¯s tunnel-like inner portion, which was just large enough for a person to crawl inside. ¡°It¡¯s in there, isn¡¯t it?¡± Zach asked with a gasp. ¡°We need to get inside the boiler.¡± ¡°Yup,¡± Jimmy said, nodding and grinning. ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t know for sure, but it¡¯s my best guess.¡± Without waiting for Zach¡¯s input, Jimmy began to maneuver his body towards the boiler, but Zach, knowing it was his duty to protect him, managed to dash forward and get there first. ¡°Stay behind me, Jimmy,¡± he said, giving him a stern look. Jimmy rolled his eyes but said nothing, and Zach hopped into the cramped, uncomfortably tight boiler. On hands and knees, he crawled forward, making an echoing, disturbing banging sound with each forward movement, causing the entire thing to vibrate as he made his way inside of it. He paused once he moved as far in as he possibly could; now, he stared at the metal surface on the opposite end, skeptical that this would really work. ¡°Well?¡± Jimmy asked, his voice reverberating. ¡°Should I come in after you?¡± Nervously, Zach extended his hand, and like before, he laid his palm flat¡ªonly for it to go right through the metal, vanishing from his own eyes before he pulled his arm back. ¡°Yup!¡± he called, releasing a laugh. ¡°You were right, Jimmy.¡± There wasn¡¯t enough room for Zach to turn around, but from the sudden thud and follow-up vibration, he knew that Jimmy had climbed in behind him. ¡°Well?¡± Jimmy asked. ¡°Are we going or not?¡± Zach gathered his courage. The fact that he was so hesitant was undeniable proof that the past two weeks had softened him somewhat. Because while he¡¯d certainly been in a state of rapid mental decay before meeting Jascaila, if nothing else, he¡¯d finally entered a state of pseudo fearlessness where death had ceased to disturb him. Now, he¡¯d sort of pulled back a little bit. He was still a hundred¡ªno, a million-¡ªtimes braver than he¡¯d been before becoming an adventurer, but the cost of Jascaila¡¯s therapy had been that his heart was slowly becoming whole again, and in so doing, his daring had diminished ever so slightly. He was moderately more cautious now than he¡¯d been two weeks prior. But I¡¯m not really afraid for myself, Zach thought. I mean, I am just a bit. Really, though, I¡¯m worried about Jimmy. I don¡¯t want to get him killed. ¡°Zach, let¡¯s go already,¡± Jimmy said impatiently, his voice now sounding much closer. He must¡¯ve been directly behind Zach. ¡°We¡¯re gonna be fine.¡± Exhaling slowly, Zach decided to go through with it. He crawled forward, crossed through the solid metal barrier at the opposite end of the boiler¡ªand then he continued to crawl into what felt like a world of pure silver. It was as though he¡¯d crawled inside the metal to the extent that it colored everything around him. To his left, his right, above and below: there was nothing but a sky and ground made of pure metal. Eventually, he realized he could stand up and that he was no longer confined to a tiny crawl space, and so he picked himself up and straightened his back. ¡°Jimmy, are you with me?¡± he asked. ¡°Yeah,¡± Jimmy said, sounding close¡ªvery close. Like, arm¡¯s length. Zach reached out and grabbed what felt like his shoulder, though he couldn¡¯t see him. He could only see the silvery sheen of metal everywhere. ¡°This is new,¡± Zach said, trying his best to hide his nerves. ¡°Usually, it¡¯s a dark tunnel.¡± ¡°How do we know which way to go?¡± Jimmy asked. ¡°Let¡¯s try not to get separated.¡± Zach extended the arm opposite the one he was using to grab Jimmy¡¯s shoulder. Then he sighed with relief. ¡°I don¡¯t think we can,¡± he said. ¡°There are walls to our left and right even if we can¡¯t see them.¡± Jimmy said nothing for a moment, and then Zach heard a slight thud¡ªtwo such thuds, and Jimmy grunted in acknowledgement. ¡°Oh yeah, you¡¯re right.¡± With that, Zach began to walk forward through this world of silver¡ªuntil something changed. It took him a moment to process it. Given the disorienting, blinding effect of this mysterious, all-consuming silvery light, it took Zach¡¯s brain just a second or two longer to realize what it would normally realize an instant after happening. Yet when it did, Zach let out a loud yelp. Zach, it seemed, had slipped. Or no, not slipped. He¡¯d stepped off something¡ªa ledge of some sort that he couldn¡¯t even see. And now, falling onto his ass, he began to slide down something¡ªa slope of some kind. And he was sliding fast. Very, very fast. From the yelp of surprise above him, he could tell that Jimmy had fallen as well. And now, the both of them made nervous cries as they went down a slide-like slope, gaining more and more speed as they ventured into whatever dungeon awaited them below. Though it seemed a great deal longer, it was ultimately only a few seconds before the all-consuming silver, metallic-colored light faded away, and now Zach¡¯s eyes took note of red and golden bricks; this, he spotted for only a moment before he began to roll, the world inverting itself around him, with up becoming down and down becoming up. Finally, everything stilled, and he found himself on his back in an unfamiliar place, with Jimmy lying beside him. Somewhat dizzy, he picked himself up and glanced around. ¡°Well, I think we found our dungeon,¡± Zach said, taking in his surroundings. ¡°Whoah,¡± he then whispered. His immediate impression was one of pure fascination. He appeared to be in some kind of castle-like hall that was spacious without being overly wide. Below him, the flooring was made out of a polished golden-red tile, and there were various carpets that ran along the length of it in numerous spots. The walls were made of a very smooth sort of brick, though curtains also draped over them in multiple places. There were also a fair number of paintings to be found, all of which depicted a different landscape that Zach did not recognize, and there were decorative statues of armored knights placed irregularly off to both sides of him. ¡°Awesome,¡± Jimmy said, a mixture of cheer, confidence, and excitement in his voice. ¡°I¡¯m so pumped right now, Zach. This is exactly what we needed!¡± This place¡ªwherever it was¡ªwas fairly dark in lighting, though it did contain enough light so that visibility was still satisfactory. What Zach found immediately noticeable was the way in which the light seemed to contain a slight neon-reddish hue, which when combined with the overall atmosphere, gave a somewhat darker, ominous vibe to everything. In addition to this lighting, which seemed to come from the emptiness itself, there were also ledges built into the walls, where stone lanterns were lit and provided additional visibility. The place had a very clean, almost pristine look to it, though that did little to mitigate the sense of danger. Zach took a step forward, his feet making a soft thud on the elegant, smooth carpets. ¡°We have no idea what to expect,¡± he warned, meeting Jimmy¡¯s eyes. ¡°We need to be careful.¡± Jimmy gave a confident nod. ¡°We will be. So uh, Zach, what¡¯s the deal? How do we get from here to where we gotta go?¡± Zach took another look at the world around him. He was somewhat distressed to see that the ¡°slide¡± they¡¯d barreled down offered no way back up, as they¡¯d fallen through a hatch in the ceiling that now seemed to be closed. This meant they were now in a partially rectangular hall with nowhere to go but forward. Ahead of them, just beyond the hall, was a door with a flat, somewhat curved handle labeled F27->F28. ¡°Jascaila said that the dungeon runs through Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah on floor 31.¡± ¡°Runs through?¡± Jimmy asked. Zach nodded. ¡°Yeah. Um, basically, some dungeons have floors that run through outside areas, but the ones that run through Galterra were made a long time ago, and those particular floors are usually destroyed. So basically, you enter them just to find yourself back in the regular world.¡± Briefly, he explained Yorna¡¯s B7, which was just a beach in Shadowfall Coast. Once, long ago, it was likely a fully-fledged dungeon floor, but in these times, it was simply a convenient way of getting somewhere you needed to go. ¡°So, basically,¡± Zach said, concluding his explanation. ¡°We just need to go from F27 to F31.¡± ¡°Now we¡¯re talking!¡± Jimmy said with a very elated laugh, giving Zach a thumbs-up. At first, Zach wasn¡¯t sure why he was so happy¡ªbut then it quickly became obvious as he said, ¡°This means we¡¯re gonna get to fight a boss together, right? On F30.¡± Zach gasped. A sinking feeling of wrongness entered the pit of his stomach. It was only now that he realized that most dungeons had a boss every ten floors. It was something he knew, but was not fully cognizant of to the extent that he¡¯d think of it. Thus, it was only now, with a mention from Jimmy, that he realized the two of them might actually have to take on an unknown dungeon boss of an unknown level of power all by themselves. Relax, he told himself. This is no different from the way things were your first time in Yorna. You got through that just fine, didn¡¯t you? It was true. This was not the first time he¡¯d gone through a dungeon portal, trapped himself inside, and needed to fight his way out. The exception this time around, however, was that he was in a very ¡°unpopular¡± dungeon that little was known about and he didn¡¯t have the time to slowly work his way through it. He had real responsibilities he had to address in a few hours from now, and he couldn¡¯t afford to be stuck in this place as he¡¯d been in Yorna. He needed to burn his way through here with Jimmy and get out. I might¡¯ve made a catastrophic mistake. Zach shook the negative thoughts out of his head. No. This wasn¡¯t a mistake. He needed to be confident. Just like he¡¯d been earlier today when he¡¯d argued with Adamus. He had survived so much shit to get to this point, including a fire wyvern that had threatened the entire world. He would be able to make it through a few floors of some shitty dungeon¡ªand he¡¯d do it while keeping Jimmy safe, too. ¡°Stay close to me,¡± Zach said to him, fixing Jimmy with the most serious and commanding look he could give. ¡°If I tell you to run, you run.¡± Out of an abundance of caution, Zach called upon Summon Active War-Mount, knowing that it would ease his nerves a great deal to have his level-85 war-mount around for protection. With that thing nearby, he doubted he¡¯d have to worry about anything this dungeon might throw at him. And so, having called upon it, he waited for the mount to appear before him. It didn¡¯t. Instead, the following message popped up into the air above his head, drawing not only his, but Jimmy¡¯s attention to it as well.
Summon Mount Failed: Trials of Nolak is not a Mount-Compatible Dungeon.
¡°The hell?¡± Zach asked, perplexed and even a little bit outraged. ¡°Why won¡¯t it let me summon my Gods-be-damned mount!¡± He looked at Jimmy, and he was surprised to see that none¡ªnot even an iota¡ªof the shock he felt was reflected in Jimmy¡¯s eyes. If anything, Jimmy seemed amused. ¡°It¡¯s not that much of a surprise to be honest,¡± Jimmy said to him. ¡°Actually, I¡¯d be more surprised if you were allowed to summon a mount in this dungeon.¡± ¡°You say that like it¡¯s a given.¡± ¡°To me it is,¡± Jimmy said. Zach waited for him to explain, but he didn¡¯t. He simply stated it as though it were an obvious fact and then made as if to continue on. But first, Zach darted forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. ¡°I told you, Jimmy. Let me go first. And stay close. Everything else still applies. Like I just said before: if I tell you to run, you run. Okay? This isn¡¯t a joke.¡± For the third time today, Jimmy rolled his eyes. It was almost as if for each ounce of worry and caution Zach began to feel, Jimmy went on to feel the exact, diametric opposite. Before his very eyes, the nineteen-year-old guy from Earth came alive in a way that Zach was witnessing now for the first time. Even just standing still with his hands on his hips, he looked like he belonged here in the dungeon: like he was born to be here. ¡°Well, go ahead and lead then, dude,¡± he said to Zach. ¡°But if ya¡¯ll look like you gonna fuck up, I¡¯m stepping in.¡± ¡°Sure thing,¡± Zach said, Jimmy¡¯s words barely even registering in his head. He was far too busy scanning the room for any sign of danger or hostile mobs. Drawing his sword from his sheathe, he held it in his left hand, and with his right held out in front of him, he walked up to the door ahead, grabbed the handle, and pulled it open. Stepping carefully inside, he was greeted with another, similar looking hall. This one was even wider, though like the previous, there only seemed to be one way that he could go: straight ahead. Glancing in that direction, he noticed that the wide hall narrowed considerably the farther one ventured into this particular area until approaching what, to Zach¡¯s eyes, looked like a fork up ahead with a leftward path and a rightward one. ¡°You can come in, Jimmy,¡± he said, taking another step inside. Now, he gripped his sword with both hands, his eyes darting around looking for anything that might be moving or might be about to move. ¡°I don¡¯t think there are any mobs in here.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like it,¡± Jimmy said. Zach, continuing to hold his weapon out in front of him defensively, began to make his way farther into this area. Yet he proceeded all but five steps before he was forcibly and urgently stopped¡ªby Jimmy of all people. ¡°Zach!¡± Jimmy shouted at him, a combination of anger, disbelief, and fear in his words. ¡°What the fuck do you think you¡¯re doing, man? Shit!¡± Zach had been mid-step, and his right foot was hovering a few inches off the floor¡ªor at least it was until Jimmy gave him a very rough yank in the opposite direction; having been pulled by surprise, Zach began to stumble. He would¡¯ve fallen over if Jimmy did not reach out and then steady him. Now, utterly confused and very much annoyed, Zach turned his head towards Jimmy and glared at him. Jimmy glared right back. ¡°What was that about?¡± he asked. Jimmy snorted. ¡°I could ask you the same thing! You trying to die or something?¡± ¡°Huh? What the hell are you talking about?¡± Jimmy made an annoyed-sounding moan then pointed to the floor. Zach traced his fingers with his eyes and looked where he was indicating, but it did not cause him to gain any better understanding of why Jimmy had nearly thrown him down. ¡°What?¡± Zach asked, becoming frustrated. ¡°What are you pointing at?¡± ¡°Are you¡­are you serious?¡± Jimmy asked. ¡°Of course I¡¯m fucking serious!¡± Zach snapped. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why¡¯d you freak out just now?¡± Jimmy rubbed his face as though he was the one with the right to be frustrated in this situation. He marched over to Zach, took two small steps forward, and then said, ¡°Duck.¡± When Zach remained right where he was, Jimmy shouted, ¡°Duck!¡± Becoming angrier by the second, Zach decided to humor Jimmy if for no other reason than to feel totally justified in blowing up on him five seconds from now¡ªwhen whatever bullshit Jimmy was trying to pull revealed itself to be nothing more than some weird paranoia. Thus, Zach bent his knees, ducked down, continued to glare at Jimmy¡ªand then ducked even lower and yelped in surprise as a dart-shaped object that was shining with a glowing blue light ripped across the space above his head, collided with the wall behind him, and exploded into a shower of sparks and flame, sending pieces of brick and plaster crumbling down and blocking the door that the both of them had only just walked through. ¡°Wh-what the fuck was that?¡± Zach shouted, amazed and confused all at once. Jimmy shook his head as if in frustrated disbelief. ¡°It¡¯s obviously a trap, dude. Are you blind or something?¡± ¡°What do you mean? Jimmy, I have absolutely no idea what just happened.¡± ¡°Fucking PVPers,¡± Jimmy grumbled. He entered something of a hopping, zig-zagging motion as he began to make his way farther into this area. This continued until he paused at the right side of the wall at the point where it began to narrow. ¡°See this?¡± he called back to Zach, who was still standing right where he was. ¡°Can you tell me what this is?¡± ¡°That?¡± Zach asked, pointing with his blade. ¡°Yes.¡± Zach leaned forward but did not take any steps towards Jimmy. ¡°There¡¯s like a¡­a white, slit-like indent in the wall.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Jimmy said, nodding. ¡°Now look down by your feet. Do you see how some of those tiles are a bit lighter in color and sticking out a bit: almost like a button.¡± ¡°Yeah, so?¡± Jimmy made another frustrated moan. ¡°So,¡± he said, ¡°you step on tile, wall shoots dart. It¡¯s not rocket science, dude. It¡¯s a basic-ass trap.¡± Zach stared at Jimmy, speechless for a moment. He could do little but marvel in absolute, utter awe of what he¡¯d just both seen and heard. He tried to form words, but they failed to enter his lips. Finally, after several seconds and a drying of his throat, he gave voice to the question that was blaring in his head. ¡°Jimmy,¡± he said, ¡°how in the fuck did you know that?¡± Jimmy didn¡¯t even vocalize a response. He simply waved his hand at the wall, pulled it back, and then waved that very same hand at the tile¡ªas though it were somehow self-explanatory. When Zach, totally bewildered, continued to stare at him, something finally seemed to click in Jimmy¡¯s head, as evident by the way his eyes widened. ¡°You don¡¯t know how any of this works, do you, Zach?¡± ¡°How what works?¡± Jimmy laughed, though rather than the sound of humor, there was more amazement in the way it came across. ¡°None of ya¡¯ll do. None of you know any of this. I¡¯m an outsider to this world, but I¡¯m the only one who knows.¡± ¡°Knows what?¡± Jimmy repeated the same series of movements he¡¯d made to travel to the wall, only now, he did so in reverse. This time, however, Zach finally understand why: he was avoiding all the elevated tiles. Once he was back by Zach¡¯s side, he said, ¡°Rule number one of raiding: if you see a tile sticking out of the ground, you do not step on it.¡± Zach¡¯s confusion lessened, but only barely. ¡°Rule number one?¡± ¡°Yeah, number one. I just decided now that I¡¯m gonna start making rules. Something tells me we¡¯re gonna need these based on what I just saw.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s¡­number one?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Jimmy confirmed. Then, abruptly, he shook his head. ¡°Actually, you know what? Wait. No. That¡¯s gonna be like number four.¡± ¡°Then what¡¯s number one?¡± Zach asked, still caught up in a haze of amazement and confusion. At this, Jimmy made another laugh, and this one did contain a great deal of humor in it. ¡°You never, ever, ever stand in the fire.¡± ¡°The fire?¡± Zach asked, his words coming out louder than he intended. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t stand in the damn fire. You¡¯ll see that rule play out eventually. I¡¯m sure of it.¡± Zach lowered his weapon slightly. ¡°That dart could¡¯ve killed me,¡± he whispered. ¡°I think it was magical. It might¡¯ve actually killed me.¡± ¡°Good thing you didn¡¯t get hit then, huh?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Zach said nervously. ¡°Okay, stay behind me. And thanks, Jimmy. Seriously.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Now that Zach understood how things worked, he carefully navigated around any of the floor tiles that seemed to jut out more than the others. And with that, he made his way across the hall until halfway in, when the walls narrowed to where he and Jimmy had just enough space so that they could stand together side by side. ¡°Okay, hold on up,¡± Jimmy said, pointing ahead of them. ¡°Spikes are gonna come out of these walls as soon as we get near them.¡± Zach, doubly perplexed, asked, ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yeah, do you see those indentations? That¡¯s a spike trap all right. Seen this in a billion games. And do you see that circular one right there, Zach?¡± ¡°Which?¡± ¡°Look closely. Halfway down this little passageway, do you see how there¡¯s like a circularly shaped indentation in the wall?¡± Zach nodded. Now that he looked closely, he could indeed see it. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°That¡¯s gonna be a saw.¡± Zach blinked, too stunned to even contemplate the veracity of what Jimmy was saying. ¡°A saw? That¡¯s really specific, Jimmy.¡± ¡°Trust me. That¡¯s gonna be a saw, and those other ones are going to be spikes. They¡¯re gonna activate as soon as we get close to them.¡± ¡°Are¡­are you sure you haven¡¯t been here before?¡± ¡°A hundred percent,¡± Jimmy said. There¡¯s no way. He has to either be lying or wrong. But he wasn¡¯t. Just as Jimmy said, the moment the two of them came within a certain proximity, Zach was forced to jump to one side with Jimmy, as a barrage of spikes popped out of the wall with a ftch! Then, once more, he had no choice but to make a sudden movement to the opposite side, as the same took place across from him. Finally, towards the end of the passageway, a loud, motorized buzzing came into being, and six yellowish, dust-colored, and fast-spinning sawblades slid out of the walls on both sides all on their own, and each began moving towards them. ¡°Follow me exactly,¡± Jimmy said. Zach watched as Jimmy darted forward, dropped to his knees, rolled, stood back up, and then ran forward and jumped. Zach mimicked the movement exactly, and to his amazement, they both navigated beyond the saws without facing any harm¡ªand all of this only served to heighten Zach¡¯s disbelief and confusion. But it was only destined to become even greater from this point on, as Jimmy transitioned from someone knowledgeable into an outright seer capable of deducing future events. Zach, eager to get out of this narrow passageway of death, was about to step into the forked part of the hall, where it split off to the left and the right. But before he could take a step forward, Jimmy again grabbed his shoulder. ¡°Okay, stop,¡± he said, pulling Zach back towards him. ¡°Now what?¡± Zach asked. Jimmy leaned forward, though he did so without taking any steps ahead. ¡°Okay, do you see how the whole entire wall to our left is curved upwards? Almost like a giant slide?¡± ¡°Uh, yeah,¡± Zach said. Now, Jimmy turned his head to the right. ¡°And do you see how that hallway just goes straight forward for like almost a city block¡¯s worth of distance?¡± ¡°Y-yeah,¡± Zach said again, not seeing where his friend was going with this. ¡°Well, what I think is gonna happen¡ªand I¡¯m like 99% sure¡ªis that a giant-ass boulder is gonna slide down that wall as soon as we walk into the next hall, and then we¡¯re gonna have to run as fast as we can to the opposite end before it crushes us. And it¡¯s probably not an ordinary boulder, so we should assume it can hurt you even if you have high constitution. We¡¯re gonna need to run as fast as we can.¡± How the hell can he know this? Zach thought, simply unable to accept this was happening. It¡¯s impossible. Something¡¯s not right here. Trying his best to concentrate on something other than his shock, he asked, ¡°But where do we run to? It¡¯s a dead end.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Jimmy shifted his position so that he stood closer to Zach, which gave him a fuller view of the hallway opposite the curved wall. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right. Okay. So, when we get to the end, the floor¡¯s probably gonna break and we¡¯ll end up falling down to the next part of this level.¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s no way you can know that, Jimmy. There¡¯s no way.¡± ¡°Man, it¡¯s fucking obvious. I¡¯m telling you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not. You¡¯re¡­you can¡¯t know this.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, I do.¡± Zach, so confounded it actually hurt, struggled to keep himself focused as he followed Jimmy into the next area. Immediately upon stepping on a maroon-colored rug decorating the floor, the entire hall began to shake, and a deep rumbling came from somewhere above and to their left. Then, just as Jimmy had said, a tremendous boulder with spikes covering it began rolling down the slope-shaped wall and heading straight towards them. It too was glowing with what Zach took to be magical energy, and while it was entirely possible Zach¡¯s constitution was high enough to where it wouldn¡¯t even scratch him, it was also possible it could kill him instantly. There was no way of knowing¡ªand no reason to find out. ¡°Run!¡± Jimmy cried. ¡°Let¡¯s go! Come on, Zach!¡± ¡°Y-yeah,¡± Zach whispered. Together with Jimmy, they dashed their way down the hall. The boulder moved far faster than Zach expected, but because Jimmy had warned him in advance, they reacted to it with a quickness that Zach doubted any other adventurer would have been able to summon. As a result, they reached the end of the hallway with ample time to spare, and when they did, another set of rumbling, this one from below, caused the ground to shift beneath their feet. ¡°Told you,¡± Jimmy said as the bottom gave out and the two plummeted straight down. Zach, along with Jimmy, fell what he estimated to be over a hundred feet. Yet what should have been a scary fall that would make him scream left him speechless as he stared at Jimmy the whole way down. Rather than release so much as a chirp, he simply studied Jimmy¡¯s expression, mystified. Jimmy, for his part, did let out a loud whoop and a cheer as the two of them plummeted down together into another section of this strange dungeon, landing in a pit filled with water and sinking nearly a dozen feet into it. Zach surfaced a few moments later, and so too did Jimmy. Then the both of them swam to the edge and climbed out of the water-filled pit and onto more of the elegantly tiled flooring. Now, they were in a wide, rounded room that had seemingly no way out. ¡°We¡¯re trapped,¡± Zach said, trying not to panic. ¡°Jimmy, I think we¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s one of these puzzles,¡± Jimmy said, sounding bored and disinterested. He even yawned. ¡°Jimmy, what¡¯re you¡ª¡± ¡°Zach, look around to see if you can find, like, I dunno, any kind of pattern or something somewhere. Basically, we have to turn those six dials which control the pillars across from them and make a pattern, but the pattern is always hidden somewhere in the area around you. Otherwise, we¡¯d have to guess by brute force, and that could waste like an hour. Once we put the pattern in, that shutter over there is gonna open. Oh, and for real, Zach? I¡¯d bet like 50k gold right now that mobs are gonna come through as soon as we solve the puzzle. Oh! And this is really important too. Zach, do you see those like, those rock-covered statue things over there? The ones that look like little demons holding spears? I guarantee those come to life as soon as we solve the puzzle. The rock around their bodies is gonna break apart and they¡¯re gonna turn out to be underneath. Shit¡¯s so basic. Who would be surprised by this?¡± Zach, who now realized he was totally out of his element, no longer bothered barking any orders. He instead obeyed. Chapter 137: Impish Chapter 137: Impish As Zach fought to get over his incredulity, he found himself unable to concentrate on the task that Jimmy had given him. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to be helpful, but it was more that he struggled to contain his amazement at just how much Jimmy seemed to know about certain aspects of a world he¡¯d been in for less than a month. Here, before him, was a person who couldn¡¯t tell you whether Shadowfall Coast was north or south of Giant¡¯s Fall, and yet he seemed to understand intrinsically what needed to be done in a so-called ¡°unpopular¡± dungeon that almost no one ever bothered to visit¡ªapparently¡ªand probably hadn¡¯t hosted adventurers in decades if not longer. ¡°Are you even trying to look?¡± Jimmy demanded, firing Zach an irritated glare. ¡°Uh, yeah,¡± Zach said, distracted. He felt like one of the dumb kids that used to sit at the back of his second-period math class. He shifted his body, the motion causing water to drip down his trousers. His equipment was once again soaked, as was Jimmy¡¯s, but at least he felt a great deal ¡°cleaner¡± than he had after emerging from the lake in the middle of the forest. Much of the gunk had rinsed off after the two of them had submerged all the way down into the water-filled pit that resided in the middle of this fairly large, circular room. Unfortunately, the small pack he¡¯d bought containing snacks had become ruined. The water bottles, however, were just fine, and he twisted the lid off one and began to drink. ¡°Want a water?¡± he asked Jimmy. Rather than reply, Jimmy extended his arm even as he continued to waltz around the outer perimeter of this circular room, and Zach tossed him one of the bottles, which he caught. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said, drinking it as he continued to search for some ¡°pattern¡± that he insisted must exist. About half the space in the room was taken up by the water pit, which Zach estimated to be at least twenty-feet deep. To the front, there was an indentation in the wall that looked like a shutter, and about thirty feet in the opposite direction was a raised platform with a pedestal containing a dial. Aside from that, there wasn¡¯t much here other than these weird stone statues that looked like fossilized, horned mini-demons. Each time Jimmy did a lap around the room, he seemed to hesitate any time he ventured near one of these cluttering of statues, which he claimed would ¡°transform¡± into mobs whenever the puzzle was solved. Was he worried that they could transform even sooner? He must have been, or else he would not become so wary each time he drew near to one of them. ¡°So, uh, was this dungeon part of your video simulations?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Is that how you know what¡¯s going to happen?¡± Jimmy paused, then looked at Zach before shaking his head. ¡°Nah, man. Nothing I¡¯ve seen so far is a one-to-one of anything I¡¯ve played. It¡¯s more that the themes and ideas are things I¡¯ve seen before. Like, lots of games have a mechanic where you see an enemy encased in stone, and then it breaks apart when you get near it. Since these ones don¡¯t, there¡¯s a good chance they¡¯ll break apart once we solve the puzzle.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t know for sure if we¡¯re going to have to fight?¡± ¡°Nope. But I¡¯m pretty certain I¡¯m right. Especially because of the shape of the room.¡± ¡°Shape?¡± Zach asked, not sure what he was referring to. Jimmy nodded then shuffled over to the front, occupying the space between the dais and the shutter. Then he extended his arms widely. ¡°Look at how much room they¡¯re giving us,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s like when you¡¯re playing an FPS, right? And then you see a bunch of barrels and boxes to take cover behind. Even if there are no enemies around, you know there¡¯s gonna be enemies or else why would you enter a room that just-so happens to have all these places to take cover?¡± Zach was willing to assume that by ¡°they,¡± Jimmy meant the Great Ones, but he had no idea what an ¡°FPS¡± was or what Jimmy meant by barrels and boxes, as there weren¡¯t any in this room. ¡°So,¡± he said, trying to make sense of Jimmy¡¯s words, ¡°you think the reason there¡¯s all this empty space is because we¡¯re going to have to fight?¡± ¡°Definitely,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not a hundred percent, but it¡¯s pretty close to it.¡± Zach couldn¡¯t help but grin at the delight he saw in Jimmy¡¯s eyes. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re going to get what you wanted after all.¡± Jimmy laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t pretend you don¡¯t want to fight some mobs too. Come on, Zach, admit it.¡± Zach tried to suppress a chuckle of his own but failed. ¡°All right. I guess I could go for a bit of exercise now that we¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s find the pattern and then we will.¡± ¡°You¡¯re sure there is one?¡± Jimmy gave a firm nod. ¡°There always is. Trust me.¡± He jogged over to the dais, stepped onto the platform, and looked down at the pedestal with the dials. ¡°Just to remind you: look for things shaped like a star, a half circle, a little mouse-like creature, a smiley face¡ªthat¡¯s the best I can think of to call this one¡ªa bean, a¡­¡± As Jimmy continued to rattle off the list of symbols, Zach darted his head around the room, wondering where they could be. The two of them had looked everywhere, and so far, they¡¯d found nothing. Although Jimmy had clearly proved that he had a great deal more knowledge than Zach could ever have expected, it was still possible that he was wrong, wasn¡¯t it? What if there was no pattern to find and they were just wasting time? I hope not, Zach thought nervously. Because then we really will be trapped here. There didn¡¯t seem to be any way out of this room, and it was all thanks to the water pit. This was because, although Zach had high enough stats that he could easily jump the hundred-plus feet required to leap back up to the area they¡¯d come from, the small opening they¡¯d fallen through was positioned dead center over the water pit, which meant he¡¯d have to jump while under water. And that, Zach was fairly sure, he could not do. Even if he exerted every last bit of his strength, Zach did not believe it would enable him to leap over a hundred feet¡¯s worth of distance while submerged beneath twenty feet of water¡ªand Jimmy definitely couldn¡¯t. There¡¯s no way I can angle it by jumping across, either, Zach thought, glancing upwards at the ceiling. That means we¡¯re trapped down here unless we can¡ª He widened his eyes. Wait a minute. What¡¯s that? Placed on the ceiling above, and smeared in what looked like plain white ink, were strange, bizarre scribblings that sort of resembled little doodles, though it was impossible to be sure, as they were also mostly gibberish. Even still, it was something that stood apart from everything else in here, and Zach therefore concluded that it might be worth inquiring about. ¡°Jimmy, come here a second,¡± he called out. ¡°You find something?¡± Jimmy asked, excitedly hurrying over to Zach, who pointed directly up above him. ¡°Those things on the ceiling kind of look like symbols, right?¡± Jimmy glanced upwards. Then his eyebrows rose, and he smiled. ¡°Yup! That¡¯s got to be it. Great work, Zach!¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡­they don¡¯t look anything like the symbols you described.¡± ¡°Maybe not, but it¡¯s no coincidence they¡¯re there. They¡¯ve definitely got something to do with it.¡± Jimmy pinched his chin and curled his lips. ¡°The question is what. Hmm¡­¡± ¡°Do you have any idea what it could be?¡± Zach asked him hopefully. He was relieved to see Jimmy give a slow but confident nod. ¡°Okay, so it¡¯s like this,¡± he began, pointing his finger at the scribblings. ¡°Usually, when they give you symbols in a puzzle room like this, and those symbols aren¡¯t the ones you¡¯re looking for, it means it¡¯s either a perspective puzzle¡ªwhich is where you have to look at them by turning the camera in the exact perfect angle¡ªor there¡¯s some other gimmick that you have to¡ª¡± ¡°Camera?¡± Zach asked, not meaning to interrupt his new friend but finding his choice of words so bizarre. ¡°Yeah,¡± Jimmy replied, speaking absentmindedly as though most of his attention was on the puzzle and not Zach¡¯s question. Thus, with a distant-sounding tone, he dreamily whispered, ¡°You know, like with the right stick.¡± ¡°The right stick? Jimmy, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about at all.¡± Jimmy gave a sigh of what Zach took to be frustration. ¡°Don¡¯t you people got video games here?¡± ¡°We have some simple screen games. Nothing like what you told everyone about yesterday when we were swimming in the pool.¡± This seemed to capture Jimmy¡¯s full attention. ¡°Wait a minute,¡± he said. ¡°So, what about, like, PC gaming? Or consoles?¡± ¡°PC gaming or consoles?¡± Zach asked. At this, Jimmy¡¯s lips peeled back as though horrified. ¡°Tell me I¡¯m not trapped in a game-less world. How the hell¡¯s it thousands of years in the future and there¡¯s no PlayStation 70 yet?¡± ¡°Again,¡± Zach said, becoming a bit annoyed, ¡°I don¡¯t know what that means.¡± Jimmy rubbed his nose and made another sigh. ¡°It¡¯s too much to explain right now. You¡¯ll just have to take my word for it. Anyway, let me think for a second. That shit on the ceiling¡¯s definitely got something to do with the puzzle.¡± With that, he again began to circle around the room, though this time, he only made it half a lap before he stopped short as though changing his mind or coming up with a separate idea entirely; whichever the case, he halted completely, remained perfectly still a moment, and after a few seconds, he abruptly spun around. Then, with clear excitement in each step, he hurried his way back over to Zach, where he¡¯d only just been standing. Now, he raised his index finger and began shaking it in the air while releasing a few short chuckles. ¡°Actually, I know. Oh my God, it¡¯s obvious!¡± Zach watched, amazed, as Jimmy ran to the very edge of the water-pit, close enough so that, if he took just another step forward, he¡¯d fall in. Then he began to circle it just like he¡¯d been circling the room. He paused when he was behind and slightly off to Zach¡¯s right, causing Zach to have to spin around to follow his motion. Jimmy now had his arm extended and he was pointing at something: at the water itself. ¡°Aha! There it is. Zach, come here a second.¡± Curious to see what he¡¯d discovered, Zach hurried over. ¡°Look at the reflection,¡± Jimmy said to him. ¡°In the water.¡± Zach glanced down at where Jimmy indicated, and then he inhaled in surprise as he saw the reflection of the ceiling in the water. Only, now, the white-painted ¡°scribblings¡± looked much clearer and had more distinct shapes, all of which formed a pattern of symbols¡ªthe key that Jimmy would need to unlock the shuttered section of the wall that would hopefully lead to the next floor. ¡°Those look much more like the symbols,¡± Zach said, unsure of how this was even possible. He half turned around and looked up at the ceiling before again gazing into the water. The reflection differed from the original in a way that was not scientific or explainable¡ªat least so far as Zach understood. It must have been dungeon weirdness in action. ¡°Okay, this is great,¡± Jimmy said enthusiastically. ¡°I think we¡¯re good now. So look: I¡¯m gonna go over to the dais and operate the dials, and you let me know what symbols to put in one by one, okay? You should also get ready to fight some shit, too.¡± Zach nodded. ¡°You got it.¡± He watched as Jimmy hurriedly scurried over to the pedestal, getting on top of it and leaning over the round, wheel-like board that contained the various dials that apparently controlled the symbols near the shuttered door, of which six, Jimmy had claimed, would need to be presented in the correct order. ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± Jimmy announced. ¡°Start giving them to me.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Zach said, staring down into the water. ¡°So¡­okay, so the first one, uh, it looks a lot like the letter ¡®E,¡¯ but there¡¯s a dot above it and also below it.¡± A loud, rumbling, and echoing sound came from all around the room, and then there was a pound followed by a click. ¡°Got it. Next one?¡± ¡°Okay, so uh¡­this one¡¯s the one I think you said looked like a little mouse creature, only the tail of it has three dots above it.¡± ¡°Oh, I see that,¡± Jimmy called back to him. More rumbling, more vibrations, and another click soon followed his words. ¡°Next!¡± Zach continued to describe the next three symbols to follow the first two, and Jimmy used the dials to make them appear near the ¡°front¡± of the circular room by the shuttered exit. Then, with five entered, Zach paused on the last one. ¡°Hey, let me come over to you before you put this last one in, okay? Since we might have to fight.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Zach memorized what he saw, turned around, and headed directly for Jimmy, who then asked him to give him the final symbol. Rather than try to describe it, Zach simply hopped up onto the pedestal next to him, extended his finger, and pointed at one of the many symbols. ¡°It was that one,¡± he said confidently. ¡°You sure?¡± ¡°Definitely.¡± Jimmy nodded. ¡°Okay. Get ready. I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m right about what happens next.¡± Zach hopped back down off the pedestal and drew his sword, gripping it tightly in both hands. Now, he readied himself as he listened to more of the rumbling and felt more of the vibrating. Then there was another pounding noise as well as another click. But this time, there was more that came after. Following the click, there was an even louder rumbling, an even louder vibration, and then lastly a very loud grating sound as an entire section of the rounded wall in front of them began to slide directly upwards, opening a pathway into an area beyond¡ªand also allowing something from beyond to enter inside. ¡°There they are!¡± Zach shouted as multiple creatures only about as tall as Zach¡¯s waist came strutting into the room. At the exact same time, there was a loud crackling sound, and to both their left and right, the stone statues began to crack and shatter, and a weird sort of giddy laughing filled the entirety of the room as more of the short creatures emerged from the stone, very much animate and active. ¡°He-he-he-he-he!¡± they laughed. Though short, they were menacing in appearance, and all of them¡ªboth those from the stone statues as well as those flooding into the room¡ªhad long, rounded ears and dual horns that protruded from their head. All of them were grinning through wicked, sharp teeth while swaying around a red, forked tail. But there appeared to be some differences among them as well: specifically, there appeared to be two different types of this creature. Zach made a quick estimation that about three quarters of these cackling, horned mobs were wielding gilded, golden spears and began to lift upwards on purplish, bat-like wings, which started to flutter and buzz as they hovered midair such that they became approximately level with Zach¡¯s height. The rest of them were wingless, wielded daggers, and seemed to exude a sort of shadowy mist. The ones with the wings were called ¡°warriors,¡± and the ones with the daggers were called ¡°troublemakers.¡±
HP 72,500/72,500
Name Sneering Imp Warrior
Level 45
HP 49,000/49,000
Name Sneering Imp Troublemaker
Level 44
Between the ones that¡¯d broken free of the stone-like statues to the left and right side of the room, and the bunch that were pouring in from the newly opened, previously shuttered wall, Zach felt a pinch of fear that grew exponentially as he realized the sheer number of these things that had found their way inside here with the two of them. He didn¡¯t appear to be alone in his apprehension, either. Zach caught a glimpse of Jimmy, who took several steps forward until he was just ahead of Zach. Now, for the first time since entering the dungeon, Zach could spot a degree of worry in Jimmy¡¯s facial expression, though he seemed like he was trying to conceal it. Even still, it was plainly visible on his face, and it reminded Zach that, for all he might¡¯ve known about dungeons, even he could be caught unprepared or unaware. ¡°Okay,¡± Zach said, drawing a deep breath and refusing to let fear paralyze him. ¡°There¡¯s¡­there¡¯s definitely a lot of them, but¡­but we¡¯ll just have to find a way though this.¡± Even as more and more continued to flood into the room, he kept his voice steady. ¡°Here¡¯s what we¡¯ll do, Jimmy. First, we¡¯ll¡ª¡± ¡°Mezzing!¡± Jimmy called out suddenly. He ran forward and darted across the room until halting in place about fifty feet before the growing swarm of enemies. Once there, he made a grand, wide, and swinging motion with his staff, and then, from out of thin air, a hail of tiny yellow lights began pouring down in a wide area over all of those to the left side of the room; this, he repeated, doing the same to those on the right, and then yet again to most of the ones that¡¯d run inside. It caused both an immediate cessation in movement and an equally sudden quieting of the high-pitched cackling, buzzing wings, and tapping feet. A moment later, Jimmy doubled over, and a steady stream of sweat began dripping all over the floor, splash after splash, as he began to pant and huff. ¡°So damn many of them,¡± he said, practically wheezing. ¡°We¡¯re gonna be okay, though. I promise. I mean, there¡¯s a lot more than I was expecting, but we¡¯re not gonna wipe to this trash. Just don¡¯t touch them yet. Let me catch my breath.¡± ¡°Are they¡­are they crowd controlled?¡± Zach asked, doing his best to conceal his nerves. ¡°Yeah. For now, anyway.¡± Zach gripped his sword even more tightly. Right now, there were cartoonish stars spinning around the heads of each and every mob in the room with them¡ªand Gods, there were so many! Clearly, this was not a dungeon intended to be run with a party of just two adventurers. It took everything Zach had not to let the terror creeping inside of him take hold of his actions at the sight of how badly outnumbered they were. There was nowhere to run, either. They would have to fight: and win. One, two, three, four, five¡­nineteen, twenty, twenty-one¡­thirty¡­and that¡¯s not even all of them! As Zach counted, he became more and more concerned that they might be in a dire situation from which they could not escape. Yet Jimmy, despite his previous display of alarm, seemed to grow bolder as he straightened his back and looked around the room at the horde of mobs to three sides of them. ¡°Okay, follow me, Zach. We¡¯re not gonna lose to these garbage mobs. Hell nah.¡± ¡°You sure you know what you¡¯re doing, Jimmy?¡± ¡°Yeah, definitely. It¡¯ll be fine.¡± He paused a moment and closed his eyes as he sucked air into his lungs before reopening them. ¡°My mezz should hold for about two minutes, so we¡¯ve got a minute and a half left to get everything set up to kill these dudes. Come here. Just trust me.¡± Jimmy began to move, leaving Zach with little choice in the matter, and so Zach followed him as he maneuvered around the water pit and headed all the way to the back of the room, venturing as far inside of it as he could until they reached the wall at what would have been the backmost and rightmost ¡°corner¡± if the room hadn¡¯t been circular; still, it was a close enough approximation. ¡°Okay,¡± Jimmy said, still gasping for air between words. ¡°Since¡­since there¡¯s a big water pit in the middle of the room, they can only funnel in from the left and right side. I mezzed them, so I¡¯m gonna have first aggro. That means most of them will probably come through the right.¡± ¡°What do we do?¡± Zach asked, genuinely nervous. Despite all that Jimmy had done so far, it was only really now, in this moment, that it truly registered to Zach that if he had not brought Jimmy along with him today, he would have died here. Without even a shadow of a doubt: had he not chosen on a whim to bring Jimmy along, he would not have left this place alive. ¡°For now, stay right here and don¡¯t move. I gotta get the ball rolling.¡± ¡°The ball¡­rolling? Jimmy, what are¡­? What¡¯re you going to¡ª¡± ¡°Just trust me!¡± Looking exhausted, Jimmy waded forward on somewhat shaky, unsteady legs, heading in the direction of the mobs he¡¯d mezzed; but more importantly, he was by himself, insisting that Zach remained put. Even still, Zach kept himself at the ready so that, if anything bad ended up happening, he could leap to Jimmy¡¯s rescue as fast as possible. For now, though, he begrudgingly chose to stand still and wait. I really, really hope Jimmy knows what he¡¯s doing. Raising his staff, Zach watched as Jimmy then swung it downwards, planting one of those rust-colored, oblong-shaped traps that Zach recalled being used on Zylor earlier yesterday. Then he pointed his staff directly at just one of these many ¡°imps¡± nearby it, and with that, Jimmy released a blueish ball of energy that sailed across the room and struck the creature for 9,451 damage; the moment of impact, the stars circling above its head abruptly vanished, and the creature once more became animated, the sound of its laughter filling the room. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°He-he-he-he-he!¡± Even while being ¡°mezzed,¡± it had somehow managed to remain airborne despite the stopping of its wings, which once more began to flutter as the imp dashed forward in the air and made straight for Jimmy. Yet, the moment it flew over the oblong-shaped object, the rust-colored trap popped up into the air as though it¡¯d been sitting on a springboard, and it detonated into a purplish cloud, which the mob flew directly into, becoming obscured for a moment before appearing from inside of it. At first, this seemed to have no effect on the creature at all, but then after a few seconds, it made a painful-sounding laugh and suffered 4,208 damage and then another 3,105 a few moments after that. Jimmy, who was now breathing as hard as Zach had ever seen, raised his staff a second time and swung it down, causing another purplish cloud to explode directly in the spot the mob happened to be flying towards. Now, it took another 4,211 damage as well as 3,207 at the same time. And it was here that Jimmy whispered, ¡°Finally, thank God! The bar filled up.¡± Directly following those words, he raised his staff one last time, and he cast what Zach recalled was called Breath of Invigoration: his stamina regen buff. So that¡¯s what he was doing, Zach realized, recalling that Jimmy had to inflict a certain amount of poison damage to an enemy in order to use his buff. Now, much more vigorously, he turned around and bolted straight towards Zach. ¡°It¡¯s all yours,¡± he said, becoming visibly more energetic with each moment. Zach could actually see him recuperating every few seconds that his stamina regeneration buff ¡°ticked.¡± ¡°I need you to deal with that one really quick,¡± he said to Zach. ¡°And try to hurry, man.¡± Zach nodded, and without any hesitation, he dashed forward to meet the winged, spear-wielding imp, which ended up taking a combined total of 11,901 damage just in the time it took for Zach to reach it.
HP 36,417/72,500
Name Sneering Imp Warrior C
Level 45
¡°He-he-he-he-he!¡± the imp creature laughed as it buzzed through the air, lunging forward and sending its spear directly at Zach¡¯s chest despite Zach not even having aggro. He supposed that was simply a result of him having put himself directly in the mob¡¯s path. But either way, his reaction to it would¡¯ve been the same. Zach, having anticipated the attack, spun his body around and caused the golden spear to instead pierce nothing but the empty air. Then he retaliated, whipping his sword across and slicing the creature in its throat, dealing 10,405 damage and causing a spray of red blood to stain the tiled flooring on both sides of it. ¡°He-he-he-he-he!¡± Undeterred, the creature flew a tiny bit higher and then slammed its spear downwards. Zach raised his own sword to guard, and the creature surprised him with the amount of force in its blow. Still, he was able to endure it, his sword clanging against the gilded spear, deflecting the weapon. The imp, in a display of persistence, followed up with another quick, forward thrust, but not before suffering 4,010 damage from Jimmy¡¯s first poison and 3,805 from his second, causing it to flinch each time and actually stagger mid-thrust, interrupting its motion and allowing Zach to thrust his own sword forward ahead of it, skewering it through the torso and dealing another 11,526, as well as another 417 when Zach yanked his sword free of the creature¡¯s gut.
HP 6,254/72,500
Name Sneering Imp Warrior C
Level 45
The creature, now leaking blood from both its throat and the open wound in its stomach, made as if to attack Zach a third time, and Zach was prepared to defend against it. Yet just as it pulled back its bony arms as if to thrust its spear forward once more, Jimmy¡¯s two DOTs ticked again, hitting for 4,666 and 3,655 respectively, and with that, the creature halted midair, its wings stopped fluttering, and it fell down to the floor with a plop like a swatted fly. Then it began to turn brown and shrivel up like a dying plant aging in fast-forward, leaving behind a brown, powdery residue that reminded Zach of sand only darker in color. This powdery residue did not vanish and remained where it was even after the rest of it was no more. +18000xp As the number of xp floated in the air before him, Zach was taken aback by the huge amount of it. How had he earned so much while partied with Jimmy? Shouldn¡¯t the number have been reduced due to Jimmy¡¯s much higher level? No, he recalled, thinking all the way back to what he¡¯d learned from Rian and Lienne during his first dungeon outing. There¡¯s only a penalty for killing mobs with someone who¡¯s at least two levels higher than both you and the mob. Jimmy¡¯s only 45, and I¡¯m 23, so only mobs that are levels 24 to 43 would give me a penalty. ¡°Zach, snap out of it,¡± Jimmy said to him, rousing him from his thoughts. ¡°That one was just to get my buff on me. My mez is only gonna last another minute. Let¡¯s try to take out the group on the right first. Do that thing you can do.¡± ¡°Thing? What thing?¡± Without clarifying what he was talking about, Jimmy took off yet again, pausing when he was closer¡ªbut still a fair distance¡ªaway from all the ones that¡¯d broken free from the stone statues on the right side of the rounded room. Waving his staff around, he made the same gesture twice in succession, and two gigantic clouds of smoke popped into the air, blanketing the entire group of imps and causing various red down arrows to appear after all of their names. The stars circling their heads vanished at once, and they began to move as one big group towards Jimmy¡ªonly much, much more slowly. ¡°Okay, they¡¯re slowed,¡± he announced. Jimmy, staying right where he was, made another gesture as he swung around his staff, reciting the words ¡°Val en Bled¡± twice in a row and causing two large, green, and cloudy mists to appear beneath the general group of mobs, rising upwards until vanishing. Each blast of green mist was large enough that the two Jimmy created covered more than enough area to poison each and every imp in this particular batch of them. But Jimmy did not stop there. Despite his stamina regen buff, he once more began to pant and sweat as he raised his staff and swung it downward four times back-to-back, causing four more purplish clouds to appear. Only then did he turn around and retreat towards Zach. From what Zach could tell, it seemed Jimmy had three different poisons: a single-target one, which exploded when stepping or hovering over it, and two AOEs: the mid-sized purplish cloud and the much larger green one. Given its smaller area, that was likely why he needed to use the purplish one four times and the green only twice. Either way, the result was the same: a mass of poisoned, slowed mobs inching their way towards the two of them. Zach, understanding the need to be quick, bolted forward and moved to intercept them. ¡°Be careful!¡± Jimmy called out to him in warning. ¡°They only move slower when it comes to shit like crossing physical distance. They can still attack ya¡¯ll with full speed.¡± ¡°Got it!¡± Zach realized right away what Jimmy was talking about, as despite crawling forward, the first mob he approached, an imp warrior called ¡°Sneering Imp Warrior A,¡± made a blazing-fast chopping motion with its spear, which Zach had to move equally fast to deflect. Then he slashed down with his own sword, and to his surprise, the mob held its spear flat and guarded against Zach¡¯s strike. These ones can fight defensively? he wondered. Even still, Zach struck with enough force that it knocked the mob downwards, causing it to briefly hover much lower to the ground. This enabled Zach to attack a second time with even more strength, coming from up high and slicing down low. The mob attempted to guard again, but this time, Zach was too fast, and he hit it for 15,451, slicing off one of its long, round earlobes and half of its cheek. For some reason, it seemed to find this funny. ¡°He-he-he-he-he!¡± It jabbed forward with its spear, but rather than dodge, Zach parried, swinging his own blade and knocking it to the side. With that, he lashed out in three quick striking motions, the first cutting off its right arm and dealing 10,200, the second ripping open its stomach for 8,205, and the third taking off half its head, dealing 13,111. Jimmy¡¯s DOT then ticked twice, and like the previous mob, this one died as well. +18000xp ¡°Too slow,¡± Jimmy said. Standing beside him, Zach saw him eying the two other large groups they¡¯d have to soon deal with. ¡°That¡¯s why I said to do your thing.¡± ¡°What thing?¡± Zach demanded as the roughly eighteen mobs they were already dealing with continued to slither closer and closer. ¡°Use that ability of yours: the one with the smoke.¡± ¡°My ability with the¡­oh, you mean Unleashed Phase? I was hoping to save that for later. I didn¡¯t want to have to use that just yet.¡± ¡°Well, either use it or we die. Trust me: we¡¯ll pull off the greatest combo of mass-killing mobs you¡¯ll ever see.¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡­you don¡¯t understand¡­!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have to. Just use it!¡± Zach swore. Jimmy really didn¡¯t understand why that was such a dangerous request, and there was literally no time for him to explain it, either. It was simply too complex to get across. Jimmy therefore could not understand that, right now, the ability only had twenty-five minutes left on its twenty-four-hour cooldown, which meant that, in twenty-five minutes, it would have been exactly one full day since he¡¯d called upon Unleashed Phase to help him deal with Zylor. This was significant because, with a Phase Level of 0, the ability would only have a high exertion cost, which meant that, when it was time to pay up, Zach would likely pass out and go to sleep for a few minutes but wake up otherwise unharmed. Yet, since the ability was on cooldown, the only way he could activate it now would be to use Phase Reset and reset the cooldown, increasing the Phase Level to 1. This also had a high exertion cost¡ªmeaning Zach could handle it if necessary. The problem? If he needed to use it again later, he¡¯d have to Phase Reset once again, and that would just not be possible, as Phase Level 2 increased the exertion cost to Very High. Not only wasn¡¯t Zach capable yet of handling a Very High exertion cost, he¡¯d discovered¡ªmuch to his terror and pain¡ªthat he couldn¡¯t even handle half of that debt without dropping dead, as his sword had a weekly ability that allowed him to use an exertion ability at half cost, and he¡¯d once attempted to do just that¡ªonly to find he still could not cover the stamina cost. Back then, Fylwen had saved his life. But she wasn¡¯t here now, and there would be no one able to revive him if he attempted something so suicidal. Ultimately, what all this meant was simple: if he absolutely had to do it, Zach could use Unleashed Phase here and now. But in doing so, he¡¯d run the risk of not having it available to him during a potential boss fight on a later floor. And what made it all the worse was that if it were only twenty-five minutes into the future, he could use the ability, pass out for a bit once they were safe, reset it, and then use it again if needed. But since he¡¯d be resetting it just to avoid waiting a mere twenty-five minutes, he¡¯d only get to use it this one more time. If only Zach had a way of expressing this to Jimmy, maybe then he would change his mind. Or maybe not. It was impossible to know, actually, as there was no way Zach could explain this to him. So instead, Zach focused on surviving the here and now instead of worrying about what might come later. Thus, he gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Fine, Gods-damn it!¡± Relenting, he activated Phase Reset and then immediately activated Unleashed Phase a moment later, causing his entire body to shine with a very dull glow while a trail of impossibly black smoke escaped his hands and feet along with the occasional burning ember. At the same time, Jimmy cast Breath of Invigoration on him, causing his body to briefly come under a spotlight caused by a floating heart above his head, which cast a warm light on top of him.
Name Breath of Invigoration
Effect Periodically restores a portion of user¡¯s stamina (10 second interval)
Duration 4:59
Unleashed Phase Duration 14:45 Remaining
Having barely exerted himself thus far, Zach was not surprised to see that he began with a duration of 14:45, but what did surprise him was the way in which, just ten seconds later, this turned into 16:45. Even though he¡¯d witnessed this effect yesterday, Zach could still barely believe his eyes. He¡¯d nearly forgotten about the incredible combination that existed between the two of them, and he grew excited even in spite of the possibility that this might jeopardize his capabilities later on. ¡°Cut them down!¡± Jimmy shouted at him as the batch of slowed mobs drew nearer and nearer. ¡°Use that slash thing on the mobs. Hurry!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got something better than that, actually,¡± Zach said, taking note of the fact that, while not lined up directly, the entire group of mobs were more or less cluttered together. Removing one hand from his sword, Zach extended his arm, palm flat. Then, aiming at the general direction of the mobs rather than any one in particular, he activated Phase Cannon, causing his hand to recoil, a flash to pop into existence, and a loud, echoing bang to fill the room as a projectile flew out of his hand at incredible speed and detonated, striking eight different mobs and causing blood and pieces of wing, horn, and other various body parts to join a collection of broken tiling and dust as all were sent scattering around. Each mob was hit for a different amount of damage, but there seemed to be a general range, such as one taking 5,201, another taking an even 7000, and a third being struck for 6,485. All things considered, the numbers were lower than he would¡¯ve expected, which meant they were either resistant to magic in general or to light damage, which was the type of magic damage dealt by his Phase Cannon. But even still, it was worth it to hit so many at once. In his peripheral vision, he noted that the use of Phase Cannon reduced his remaining duration of Unleashed Phase to 15:15, but knowing it would rise again shortly, he fired a second time, hitting eleven of the mobs this time, and then he fired again after that before unleashing a fourth, consecutive blast as well. Spears, daggers, arms, legs, and pieces of wing were added to the explosive storm as deafening bangs erupted one after the next, echoing off the walls and causing his eardrums to ring and small holes and craters to form all along the floor accompanied by a steadily growing column of smoke. But still, each of the mobs drew nearer, laughing as though oblivious to the bloody, explosive wounds in their bony, demon-like bodies. Throughout it all, Zach did not target any one particular mob or try to eliminate any of them in any particular order: he merely fired at the general mass of them, sometimes hitting as many as thirteen and other times hitting as few as seven as he steadied his hand and blasted five times more; at some point during his relentless barrage, five of the imps died outright, followed by two dropping dead mere seconds later from Jimmy¡¯s poisons. +18000xp +18000xp +18000xp +18000xp +18000xp ¡­ ¡­ +18000xp +18000xp Though Zach remained focused and tried his best not to become distracted, he couldn¡¯t help but notice in the corner of his vision the way his xp bar was absolutely flying where he kept it down beneath him just out of his usual line of sight. He stole a peek down at it, awed by the speed at which if was increasing.
To Next Level 162,082/265,000
As the eleven surviving mobs continued to slowly drag along, each with a varying amount of HP left before death and all with signs of serious damage, Zach took stock of his remaining duration of Unleashed Phase, which had dropped all the way down to 4:05; an instant later, it was back up to 6:05. Having become so low, Zach hesitated, and Jimmy, who clearly did not understand how his ability worked, began to holler at him. ¡°Keep it up! You ain¡¯t even sweating yet. Don¡¯t stop!¡± ¡°Jimmy, I can¡¯t just fire it endlessly. I need to build up more time.¡± ¡°Time?¡± Jimmy asked, sounding confused. Even as he spoke, two of the eleven mobs collapsed and turned into more of the dry powder as his poisons finished them off, adding yet another +36000xp to Zach¡¯s total. I just can¡¯t explain it to him right now, Zach thought, frustrated. To appease his friend, his hand recoiled and rocked as he fired off yet another blast of Phase Cannon; the mobs, now much closer, indirectly splattered him with gore as a much closer and more visceral bang sent another shower of guts and body parts scattering around him and left another section of the flooring ripped up with a gaping hole in it. It also caused the death of three more of the mobs. +18000xp +18000xp +18000xp With his time now down to just 4:02, Zach ignored Jimmy¡¯s protests and criticisms and bolted forward, raising his blade as he prepared to slaughter the final six mobs all on his own. Yet the moment he came within ten feet of the lingering survivors, he had to quickly duck down as a mob called ¡°Sneering Imp Troublemaker G¡± hurled one of its daggers directly at his face with such speed that it nearly succeeded in catching Zach off guard. Then another of the Troublemakers beside it also threw its knife, and Zach hurriedly slashed the air with his blade, causing a pang to resound in the room as he knocked it away. With that, he resumed his dash forward¡ªbending backwards and away from a spinning, slicing slash of a Sneering Imp Warrior¡¯s spear. Zach ripped his own blade directly upwards, cutting the already badly wounded mob cleanly in half for 21,500 and finishing it off. It also reminded him that, while under Phase Level 1 of Unleashed Phase, his strength had raised from 106 to 131, and it clearly made a big difference in terms of how much damage he could deal. +180000xp
Level Up! 24 (23)
Constitution +4 (116)
Speed +1 (98)
XP Required for Level 25 300,000
Halting Strike Acquired!
Zach was too preoccupied with racing against the clock to pay any attention to his level-up or whatever new ability he¡¯d acquired. Instead, he moved from mob to mob, bringing death each time he swung his sword. He stepped around a Troublemaker and decapitated a Warrior, only to whirl back around and stab the Troublemaker through the back. From there, he guarded against a lunging strike from another Troublemaker, easily brushing off both its daggers while noting that it¡¯d somehow replaced the one it¡¯d thrown, and then he finished this one off by cutting it along its waist, severing the top half of its body from its bottom. This left just two: one to his immediate left and one to his right. He raised his blade to strike the one to his left, but it died on its own from Jimmy¡¯s poisons, and then the one on the right was blasted by a blueish orb that sailed over Zach¡¯s shoulder and crashed into its chest, which Zach assumed Jimmy had fired from his staff. In total, it¡¯d earned him another 90000xp.
To Next Level 95,082/300,000
¡°Thanks, Jimmy,¡± Zach said, grinning as he looked over his shoulder. ¡°I can¡¯t believe how much xp I¡¯m¡­uh, Jimmy?¡± Something was off with Jimmy. A fair bit of the confidence had fled his friend¡¯s eyes, and now there was a great deal more worry. He seemed troubled and offput. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got to pick up the pace, Zach,¡± Jimmy said to him. ¡°Why are you wasting time going in for melee kills?¡± ¡°It¡¯s how my ability works,¡± Zach said. ¡°If I had time to explain it, I would.¡± Jimmy stared at him blankly, and then a knowing look came across his expression. ¡°Wait a minute. Yesterday, I think I remember you saying something like¡­like it works off a timer or some shit, right? You said it could go up or down.¡± ¡°Right!¡± Zach exclaimed; he was glad Jimmy recalled the very brief explanation he¡¯d given earlier yesterday. It was during such a hectic moment he was surprised Jimmy could remember it at all. ¡°I use time in place of stamina, and if I hit zero, that¡¯s that.¡± Jimmy mouthed something but did not voice it¡ªat least for a moment. Glancing off at something behind Zach, he muttered something else that was inaudible before more loudly saying, ¡°I still don¡¯t understand it exactly, but damn, all right. How much time you at now?¡± ¡°Six minutes and fifty seconds,¡± Zach said. ¡°And I¡¯m guessing it costs you a different amount of time to use each one of your abilities? Is that how it works?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Zach said, relieved to see Jimmy understood at least partially how it functioned. ¡°How much does it cost for you to do one of those bomb things?¡± ¡°Phase Cannon? It¡¯s a minute and a half without a target, which is how I¡¯m using it.¡± ¡°And how much time are you getting back from each tick of my buff?¡± ¡°Two minutes.¡± Jimmy swore viciously, but he calmed down a moment later. ¡°It¡¯s all right. We¡¯re still good. We¡¯re gonna just have to tryhard this shit.¡± ¡°Try-what? Jimmy, I have no idea what that even means!¡± ¡°Oh no? Well, you¡¯re about to find out.¡± His confidence seemed to return in a flood¡ªbut only for a moment. An instant later, his expression flared up in alarm. ¡°Damn, I gotta hurry!¡± Without another word, Jimmy sprinted around the water pit and back towards the front of the room, and he promptly began waving his staff around and causing more debilitating clouds of smoke to appear, one after the next, breaking the mez on the twenty or so mobs that¡¯d barged their way into the room as well as the additional twenty that¡¯d emerged from the statues a bit off towards the left; the latter group, he managed to slow just as the mez had expired all on its own, and for a brief instant, they took off at a blazing speed in the direction of Jimmy, but fortunately, they only managed to get a few feet before Jimmy halted their momentum with his slows. Now, however, having had to cast such a large AOE, he looked absolutely exhausted, and like before, he was panting and dripping sweat, though he seemed fast to recover. ¡°Okay, here¡¯s what we¡¯ll do,¡± he said, hurrying back to Zach¡¯s side. ¡°We¡¯re gonna try to reposition them into one big group instead of two smaller ones, and then we¡¯re gonna try to path them around the water pit. But there¡¯s too many of them to do that right now.¡± He paused to take a breath, then as if realizing time was short, he continued to speak, even though it looked like it was a struggle for him to do so. He pointed. ¡°There¡¯s so many of them that if we try to run them around it right now, we¡¯ll end up running into them and getting surrounded¡ªlike a snake eating its own tail. So we gotta reduce their number first. So let¡¯s start killing and falling back at the same time, and then if we can group ¡®em up, we can kite around the pit. Thing is, we have to kill at least a third of them before we fall all the way back to the wall or we¡¯ll end up surrounded. Got it?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Zach lied. In truth, he only half understood what Jimmy was saying¡ªif even that much¡ªbut he nodded and decided he¡¯d follow along and hopefully pick up on whatever Jimmy was planning as it was actually acted out. His adrenaline pumping, he was glad to see that his remaining duration of Unleashed Phase was now back over eight minutes. Even still, he wouldn¡¯t be able to spam senselessly. Not without first being able to gain more time. ¡°Okay, stick close,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°I promise you we¡¯re gonna get through this. No way in hell is Jimmy Green wiping to pre-boss trash mobs. If we¡¯re dying, we¡¯re at least dying to the damn boss.¡± ¡°Or maybe we don¡¯t die at all,¡± Zach suggested, a touch of uneasiness coming through on his words. ¡°Just a thought. Might as well keep it open as an option.¡± Zach, following behind Jimmy, became confused as Jimmy made a series of odd motions. Rather than move away from the slowed mobs, he started off by moving towards them, in some cases dangerously so. He approached close enough that about nine of them launched daggers, and Zach had to jump in front of him and whirl his arms around as fast as he possibly could, deflecting each one. Jimmy also came close to having a few spears run him through, and Zach was amazed he was able to deflect those as well. But thankfully, after coming within kissing distance of some of the mobs, he began to move in the opposite direction, and it was only here that Zach finally understood what he was doing. By going near one group, and then the other, he caused both to form into one larger group, and now the two of them started to gain a decent amount of distance. The cluster of mobs was not far from the dais that had controlled the shutter, and Jimmy was now at the edge of the water-filled pit. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m back to full stamina,¡± he said, raising his staff. Zach watched as he then cast four of his large, green-misty, cloud-like AOE poisons before resting a moment then casting four of his purplish ones. He halted again before casting another four; now, every one of the mobs was inflicted with both types of poison. Zach, for his part, had broken much farther away on his own, retreating as far into the room as he could and gaining as much distance as possible. ¡°Get clear!¡± he called to Jimmy, who turned his head around and raised his eyebrow at Zach. ¡°Just get to the side. Hurry!¡± Jimmy seemed reluctant, but Zach was grateful that he did as asked, especially since this might be the only time Zach would have enough distance to make use of an ability that would probably be pointless once they came any closer. ¡°Wave Slash!¡± he called out, swinging his blade downwards and leaving a streak of green, patchy, energy in the air; energy, which quickly curled in on itself, solidified, changed color, and reformed into a double-bladed disc that took off slowly at first but began to rapidly gain speed. Having only just hit the ten-minute mark on his current duration of Unleashed Phase, he was brought back down to just under nine, but more importantly, it was worth every moment of his time, because the moment of impact, he hacked off numerous sets of legs, cut open a few torsos, and even severed a couple of wings before the Wave Slash fizzled out. And though he failed to kill any outright, he left at least five of them completely immobilized and incapacitated on the dungeon floor in crumpled, bloodied heaps, where Jimmy¡¯s poisons would hopefully end them¡ªeventually. At any rate, having fired off his ability, he hurriedly returned to Jimmy, who lifted his staff and cast Breath of Invigoration twice: first on himself and, after a few more ticks of his poison, on Zach, refreshing the buff. ¡°Get on them!¡± ***** Vim spat out a wad of blood as he was struck yet again by one of his captors. This time, they hit him with enough force to cause one of his front teeth to come lose, and he coughed it out along with a wad of bloody saliva. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said weakly, his body going limp from where he was bound in a standing position, propped up by chains in this foul, filthy dungeon. ¡°I think I had a cavity. I was hoping someone would get rid of that for me.¡± His quip was rewarded with both a chuckle and a subsequent, follow-up smack across the face from the gauntleted fist of a low-ranking thug of the Guild of Gentlemen. They must have thought that it would increase the disrespect done to Vim if his torturers were men of lower stature. In truth, Vim cared little whether it was the fifth-ranking member or the fiftieth. Torture was torture. ¡°We can do this all day just like yesterday,¡± the thug said. ¡°This ends when you make the rest of the public decree.¡± Vim had surprised the Guild of Gentlemen earlier when he¡¯d actually conceded to one of their demands: but only one. And it had not been their beatings, sleep deprivation, starvation, or dehydration that had convinced him to do so, either. Of all the things for which they demanded he admit his guilt, there was one thing and only one thing that he had agreed to confess, and he had done so willingly. A few hours earlier, knowing the eyes of the world would be watching, he had sat down at a small table in a dark room, and with a camera trained on him, he had publicly confessed to having been the natural-born son of a Gnomish woman and a half-Gnomish, half-human father. And he had done so proudly. Honestly, it should not have shocked the world. It was the admission itself that most would find shocking: far more so than the mere fact of it. But given all that had transpired, he could no longer justify keeping it a secret. To do so would only validate his treatment: give credence to the idea that being non-human was somehow shameful and deserving of such harshness. They were going to kill him, yes, but they would not break him. For that, they¡¯d need to do a lot better than knocking a few teeth out of his mouth. Chapter 138: Mushkie Chapter 138: Mushkie Even with all the skill and combat experience that Zach had quickly accumulated since becoming an adventurer, he knew he was still going to be in for a rough time of things as he, along with Jimmy, began backpedaling away to the rear of this circularly shaped room-turned-arena while an entire train of mobs pressed towards them. Yet, for every inch of ground gained by the mobs, Zach ceded an inch of his own, and this, of course, was not a good thing. Rather than simply pull away, they were supposed to be performing something of a ¡°fighting retreat¡± until reaching the room¡¯s back wall, at which point Jimmy had claimed it would be critical to have reduced the number of mobs by at least a third; this, he¡¯d explained, would make it possible for them to kite the remainder of the mobs safely around the water pit while they were dealt with. For this reason, Zach was supposed to be attacking in addition to backing away¡ªbut at the moment, he wasn¡¯t. His instincts, which were as much a part of him as his own skin, were screaming at him not to get any closer to the large cluster of foes, all of which still had about 70% or more of their HP as Jimmy¡¯s poisons caused a chorus of hissing-laughter to resound with each tick. We¡¯ll get pushed back to the wall way before any of them die from the poisons, Zach realized as he repeatedly took one backwards step after the next. Multiple times, Zach had inched forward towards the mass of imp creatures¡ªonly to jerk abruptly away in the opposite direction. On each attempt, eight or so of the winged imps would lash out with a fast, dizzying strike of their golden spear while the wingless ¡°Troublemakers¡± would fling one of their dual-wielded daggers at him before another would magically appear in their hand as though they had access to an infinite supply of the weapons. Despite the mobs being slowed and poisoned, Zach was somehow failing to find an opening as the forty-or-so horned, fork-tailed, and oftentimes winged creatures continued to sloth their way towards him and Jimmy. ¡°Zach, man, the hell are you doing?¡± Jimmy asked him angrily. ¡°Start dropping these bitches.¡± Zach clenched his teeth for a few seconds, becoming vexed. ¡°I can¡¯t get close to them, Jimmy.¡± ¡°Try!¡± ¡°Easier said than done!¡± At the moment, Zach was standing a few feet before Jimmy, who was naturally keeping a bit of extra distance behind Zach being that he was a caster. Straight ahead of them, the legion of imps continued to either fly on buzzing wings or trudge forward on tiny feet in their direction. Sensing Jimmy¡¯s patience beginning to dwindle, Zach tried once more to attack one of the creatures despite knowing he¡¯d only end up meeting the same result he had with all of his previous attempts. Studying their rhythm as he backed away a few more steps, he halted, bent his knees slightly, and then launched himself forward. And just like in his earlier endeavors, the exact moment that he entered the mobs¡¯ attack range, ten of the imp creatures reacted concurrently, creating an unavoidable mess of swinging spears. An unbearable bout of frustration erupted within Zach, which caused him to again clench his teeth while tightening his grip on his sword. Put simply, the number of these mobs combined with their methods of attack made it impossible for Zach to get close enough to them to do any damage. And really, it all had to do with the way in which the winged ¡°Sneering Imp Warriors¡± moved and struck. The Troublemakers were not the issue; though annoying, he could evade or knock aside their thrown daggers. But the Warriors were a whole different story. Each and every time Zach entered within their range, they performed a series of movements that had a level of unpredictability he¡¯d never before seen from a mob. First, anywhere between seven to ten of them would fan out and enter into a crescent-shaped formation, and from there, they would dash forward towards him at full speed, as they were not affected by the slow debuff during an attack. After that, they would fly directly upwards so that the bottom of their feet became level with Zach¡¯s forehead, and then finally, each one would scatter in a different direction before unleashing a strike from what seemed to be a randomly selected angle. It was impossible for Zach to anticipate how they would choose to attack. Some would fly off to the left, some would fly off to the right, and others would hover a bit higher or drop a bit lower. Sometimes, they¡¯d fly off one way, stop suddenly, and then veer off in the complete opposite direction. The result was always the same, however; following this scattering of buzzing, flying imps, they would converge upon Zach with an equally dazing mixture of attacks. Some would swing their spear, and others would thrust, but whichever they chose, the imps lashed out at angles that were just as random as their movement patterns, such as the one moving towards Zach right now that was named ¡°Sneering Imp Warrior R.¡± The creature barreled forward through the air, stopped in an instant, then flew off towards the left before snapping back to the right almost as though it¡¯d bounced off an invisible wall; then, with its body moving from Zach¡¯s left to Zach''s right, it whipped its spear from Zach¡¯s right to Zach¡¯s left¡ªand this was just one of the ten that all struck out at him in unison. Combined, the imps created a visually confusing, hard-to-follow, and overwhelming pattern of attack that would¡¯ve been too much for Zach to handle even without the half-dozen daggers that made a slight hissing sound as they ripped across the air as they headed towards him. And so, once more, Zach¡¯s only option was to retreat; jumping backwards, he leapt away from the approaching hail of spears while simultaneously whipping his sword several times in the air before him in order to deflect the daggers flying his way. ¡°Zach!¡± Jimmy called to him, sounding even more irritated. ¡°I¡¯m trying!¡± he shouted back to him. ¡°I¡¯ll get skewered or cut to pieces if I get anywhere near them!¡± Unsure of what he should do, he briefly called forward his list of abilities, scanning it with his eyes for just a second before again dismissing it. Was there anything on here he could use to make his life a little easier? Thanks to Jimmy¡¯s buff, he could now be far more generous with regards to ability usage, but even then, there was still an upper limit to how much and how frequently he could call upon his various abilities before having to wait for more time to be added to his current duration of Unleashed Phase, which as of right now, had just shy of twelve minutes remaining on it.
Unleashed Phase Duration 11:47 Remaining
Wave Slash 1:15
Boundless 0:10
Phase Cannon (No Target) 1:30/2:00 (if used with Boundless)
Phase Cannon (Targeted) 2:30/3:00 (if used with Boundless)
Phase Blink 0:20
Phase Shield (READY) (25 seconds) 0:45
Phase Rescue 0:35 / 2:15 (if used with Boundless)
Phase Slash 1:10 / 6:10 (if used with ??)
Halting Strike 0:20
Card Capture 0:00
Card Summon 0:00
Card Dismiss 0:00-X:XX
Gacha Get¡¯cha 0:00
Even as he thought over his options, he could hear Jimmy impatiently shouting at him in the background. For the moment, Zach tuned him out and continued to backpedal towards the rear wall as he tried to think up some way of navigating around the imps¡¯ seemingly insurmountable offense. Yet as the wall came nearer and nearer, and their available space grew smaller and smaller, he knew he would have to come up with an idea very quickly. By his best estimation, they were only around fifty feet away from reaching the wall, and once there, there¡¯d be nowhere to go except through the throng of mobs. ¡°Zach, at least do something,¡± Jimmy pleaded, his tone urgent yet not quite panicked. ¡°There¡¯s gotta be something you can do.¡± Maybe there is, actually, Zach thought as a particular ability came to mind. It¡¯ll at least get Jimmy off my case for a moment. ¡°Okay, let me try something,¡± he said. In the corner of his vision, he could just make out a change in Jimmy¡¯s expression as he glanced at Zach hopefully. I need to time this perfectly. Zach once more planted his feet, coming to a stop. Then, as he¡¯d only just done, he again bent his knees and raised his sword, the point of his blade facing ahead of him with his elbows pointed away. With that, he bolted forward towards the slowly moving horde of mobs, crossing the distance in an instant. The imps reacted just as quickly, and this time, what looked like nine of the Sneering Imp Warriors and five of the Sneering Imp Troublemakers became ¡°activated¡± as soon as he entered within their attack range. At once, the buzzing of wings grew louder and more frenzied as nine winged imps rushed forward through the air, coming to an immediate halt just before Zach¡ªonly to then fly upwards and scatter in nine separate directions before again lunging at him, their weapons thrusting and slicing with enough variation so that no two imps attacked in quite the same way or at quite the same angle. Along with this, a collective whooshing sound from ahead indicated that five more daggers had been thrown and were heading straight for him. Now, with five daggers and nine spears all closing in on him, Zach knew that, if he did not dodge immediately, he would not be able to dodge at all. This was the point where he¡¯d typically have just a fraction of a second to choose between either getting out of the way or attempting to try guarding against the incoming storm of attacks. This time, however, he went with a third option. Rather than retreat or lift his blade in a futile attempt to block the chaotic barrage of spear strikes, Zach instead dropped down to his knees. Once there, he forced himself to remain calm, as acting too soon could get him killed just as easily as acting too late. And so, he held his breath a moment, focused his senses, and waited until the last possible instant before he was slashed and skewered to death. Then, just before the gilded, glittering spears pierced his flesh, Zach activated Phase Shield. Immediately, a beautiful, brilliant, and golden light chased away even the most shadowy corners of this fairly dark room, bathing all of it in its glow and causing the clear water in the water-pit to take on an amber color and reflect the shine onto the ceiling. Following the activation of his ability, a large shield made of this same pure golden light manifested into existence above and slightly in front of Zach. Appearing just in time, all five daggers collided with this shield, and all five bounced off without making so much as a sound. The same was true for the nine spears, which either thrust into or slashed against it. No matter what struck out at him, the shield deflected each and every attack used against it; then, as quickly as it had come, the shield vanished, once more allowing the room to darken. As soon as it faded out of existence, Zach leapt into action. Hurriedly, he sprang back up to his feet. Time was short, and he would need to attack now. The window that existed between one round of the mobs¡¯ attacks and the next was incredibly brief; if he was going to be able to get anything done, he would have to attack immediately¡ªand he understood this, which was why Zach acted with such swiftness that he barely even paused to consider how much damage he would suffer as ¡°payment¡± for the shield, which always returned a small portion of the damage it absorbed to him, the user. All things considered, he couldn¡¯t imagine it¡¯d be all that much. Although Zach had no doubt that these mobs were deadly enough¡ªand high level enough¡ªto pierce his flesh with their weapons, in the grand scheme of things, he didn¡¯t think they had the kind of power required to seriously injure or even slightly wound him via the returned portion of damage from using Phase Shield. And indeed, even as Zach lifted his blade and threw himself forward at his enemies, the only physical sensation of pain he felt was a slight irritation in his lower lip as well as something akin to a minor tightening of the muscles in his right shoulder blade. Neither sensation was long-lasting, either, and both were gone almost as soon as he¡¯d realized they were there. At any rate, having finally earned the chance to attack, Zach seized the opportunity with a vengeance. Having caused the mobs to be put somewhat off balance as a result of their spears bouncing off the shield, Zach held nothing back. He practically threw himself at the nearest Sneering Imp Warrior, this one called ¡°Sneering Imp Warrior J.¡±
HP 55,510/72,500
Name Sneering Imp Warrior J
Level 45
Pressed to make every second count, Zach slashed his Sword of Light Amidst Darkness directly upwards, cutting the flying creature from its groin to its chest; then, rather than pull his blade back and go in for a second, follow-up strike, he instead pushed his sword forward, etching it deeper into the imp¡¯s flesh while pivoting his hips and swinging his arms to the left, carving it across and over the creature¡¯s chest; this resulted in an aerosol-like spray of blood that felt hot as it splattered across his mouth and forehead. Despite having never pulled his sword back, the damage Zach inflicted seemed to register as two separate strikes, with the first hitting for 18,222, and the second dealing 16,010. The imp, oblivious to its condition, seemed to find this incredibly funny, as the sound of its laughter filled the rounded room, reverberated off the walls, and created an echo. ¡°He-he-he-he-he!¡±
HP 21,278/72,500
Name Sneering Imp Warrior J
Level 45
Ordering his limbs to move as fast as they could, Zach whipped his arms around twice more, striking the creature across the stomach for 17,209 and then for the second time in its chest, overkilling it with a slash that hit for 16,998. Following this second strike, the Sneering Imp Warrior¡¯s wings stopped buzzing, its devilish pupils went blank, and with another, weaker laugh it fell to the floor like a dead bird, where it then disintegrated into a powdery residue like the others that¡¯d died before it. +18000xp Despite killing Imp Warrior J as fast as he possibly could, Zach noticed that the other eight mobs had already reoriented themselves from where they were hovering midair and would launch into another of their crazy, unpredictable attacks any moment. Thus, he called upon all the speed he could muster and threw himself at another, this one called ¡°Sneering Imp Warrior K.¡± With a touch of desperation, Zach fully extended his arms and raised his blade so that the point was above his head, and then he crashed it down in an attempt at delivering a powerful, thundering blow and splitting open the creature¡¯s skull. But to his surprise and dismay, the imp managed to shift its spear so that it wielded the weapon horizontally, raising it upwards to guard. Grunting, Zach was unable to strike fast enough to break apart the spear-wielding imp¡¯s head, as the creature managed to block in time. Instead, Zach¡¯s blade made a high-pitched, metallic-sounding clang that was loud enough to fill the entire room as his weapon collided with the spear. And though he did not manage to deal any direct damage with his strike, he at least hit with enough force that the spear was knocked cleanly out of the imp¡¯s hands; more so, the intensity of the impact was enough to violently throw the imp downwards until its back slammed into the floor, causing the tile beneath it to crack and dealing 9,051 secondary damage. Zach lowered his head and looked upon the downed imp, sensing an opportunity for an easy kill. He spun his sword around so that his blade faced downwards, and then he bent backwards slightly before throwing himself forwards in the opposite direction for momentum while also bending his knees. With incredible force, he tore his blade through the imp¡¯s chest using all his might, actually putting out 26,500 damage as a combination of a rip and a crunch caused him to wince at the sound of his sword piercing the creature¡¯s body. But his blade did not stop there; no, Zach ended up plunging his weapon with such power that his blade continued through the imp, exited the creature¡¯s back, and then sank several inches into the tiled flooring beneath it with another crunch. A half-second later, a dark-green aura surrounded his own body¡ªhis stamina buff! Having proc¡¯d it, the time remaining on his Unleashed Phase rose to 14:05, only to immediately rise up even further to 16:05 thanks to another tick coming in from Jimmy¡¯s Breath of Invigoration. Quickly, Zach ripped his blade free then stabbed it back down two more consecutive times, causing two geyser-like spurts of blood to shoot up and dealing 20,477 and 20,462 damage respectively, ending the imp warrior in the process and earning Zach another +18000xp. As this one, like those before it, turned from an imp into a sand-like powder, Zach lifted his blade, held it at the ready, and searched for another to kill. Sadly, even having only killed two of the creatures, he saw that his time had run out. Seven of the original imps that had attacked him were now soaring through the air at him. Zach, taken by surprise, momentarily forgot their pattern of attack and nervously raised his blade to guard against them as each of their forms approached him at a daunting speed; this, of course, turned out to be unnecessary, as all seven of the ¡°Sneering Imp Warriors¡± then came to a sudden, unnatural halt midair immediately upon reaching Zach¡ªbut only so that all of them could then scatter away in a random direction. Zach chided himself for becoming startled. He knew that it would only be after they scattered that they would attack him. Yet these damn creatures moved so fast and in such a disorienting way that it was easy to flinch at the sight of them rushing towards him. Calm down! he warned himself. Don¡¯t get too excited! Zach exhaled, trying to regain his composure. But he lost it a second time as his eyes detected motion across from where he stood. Now, he took a breath so quickly he nearly choked on the oxygen as a sense of alarm and warning crept down his spine. It seemed that, ahead of him, an additional two Sneering Imp Warriors had already scattered and were coming after him¡ªneither of which he realized were even attacking him until right now. Zach wasn¡¯t sure how he¡¯d missed them. Most likely, they must¡¯ve pulled into range and begun their attack while he was still finishing off the imp warrior that he¡¯d blasted onto the floor. To both his immediate left and right, the two creatures were lashing out at him. The one to his left was causing a dull hiss to trail on the air as its spear made a rounded, circular slash that was heading straight for Zach¡¯s neck. The one to his right was thrusting its spear directly forward, the pointed end of the weapon making for Zach¡¯s heart. With another sharp inhalation, Zach ducked beneath the circular slash from the spear to his left; he could feel the air shifting above his hair as he narrowly avoided decapitation. Then, urgently, Zach straightened his back, brought himself upright, and forcibly swung his sword to knock away the thrusting spear to his right. Immediately afterwards, he followed up with another three swings of his weapon, causing three pangs to fill the room as he blasted away three daggers he¡¯d only just realized had been thrown and had also barely managed to ward off. Finally, feeling overwhelmed, he dashed backwards and away just as the seven other imps reconverged on his position, each striking out in an entirely different way and all thankfully missing. Then they pressed forward¡ªonly much more slowly thanks to the debuff from Jimmy. Their ¡°attack¡± having been concluded, they resumed at a much more sedate pace. ¡°Damn, Zach, that was only two of them you got,¡± Jimmy said. Though the alarm in his voice had certainly amped up a bit, he still came across as cool, confident, and self-assured. ¡°That¡¯s not gonna cut it.¡± Zach watched as Jimmy glanced over his shoulder and frowned. ¡°No pressure, but like, we gotta make something happen here. Our backs are about to hit the wall.¡± Zach¡¯s lips curled in frustration all on their own as he realized how close they were to being sandwiched between the wall and the approaching mobs. Less than twenty feet of space existed between them and the point at which they could retreat no farther. ¡°Gods damn it all,¡± Zach swore with a growl. ¡°How much time you got on your ability?¡± ¡°Uh¡­like, just a bit less than sixteen minutes now.¡± ¡°Well, shit, what the hell are you waiting for, then? Go wild on them.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not enough,¡± Zach said. ¡°I need to build up a bit more time, Jimmy.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have any left for you to build up more of it!¡± Looking again behind him at the wall, Zach could see that Jimmy was correct. Time was nearly up, and Zach needed to make at least some dent in their number. Not only that, but with each moment, Zach was also beginning to understand why Jimmy had chosen to do things this way. Only by luring these mobs and having them more-or-less bunched up would they be able to keep them under control and safely kite them around once their numbers were diminished. If Zach ended up having to Phase Blink and Phase Rescue to get him and Jimmy to the other end of the room, it could cause the mobs to spread out and end up all over the place. That would make for a totally chaotic, unmanageable mess, which in addition to heightening the level of danger, would also make it greatly more difficult for Jimmy to re-apply his poisons and his slow. Hesitating for just a split second, Zach quickly regained control over his nerves, filling instead with determination. He nodded at Jimmy. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. We don¡¯t.¡± Unable to stall any longer, Zach knew he¡¯d have to make the most of the time he¡¯d already accumulated. And so, upon speaking those words, he eyed the approaching imps, both the flying, winged warriors, and the dagger-wielding troublemakers. He raised his blade, licked his chops, and set his focus on a particular ¡°Sneering Imp Warrior¡± that was up front and leading the pack. With that, he swung it diagonally downwards. ¡°Phase Slash!¡± he cried out, causing a loud, high-pitched sound like that of a zipper being opened to fill the world around them, crowding out all other noises as a visible disturbance appeared in the air in the form of a ripple, which then tore across the space between him and his target: ¡°Sneering Imp Warrior 2A.¡± Though his Phase Cannon could hit multiple mobs at once, Zach decided to try leading with a Phase Slash instead because he needed to start reducing their number immediately as opposed to simply wearing them down. For whatever reason, his Phase Cannon did a great deal less damage towards these mobs than it should have. Zach wasn¡¯t sure if this was because the imps were resistant to magic in general or if it was the specific type of damage¡ªlight in the case of Phase Cannon¡ªthat had hindered it. But whatever the underlying reason, Zach was left hoping that his Phase Slash would prove a bit more effective against these mobs. And thank the Gods, he could see right away that it was. Three things happened close enough together that they almost appeared simultaneous. First, his Phase Slash found its target, and with a loud, balloon-like pop, the imp exploded into a steaming, smoking, superheated shower of blood, guts, skin, and organs, all of which continued to trail more smoke as these globs of gore sizzled and crackled until eventually cooling and turning into the powdered, sand-like residue, but not before leaving scorch marks in the room¡¯s fancily tiled flooring. Then, right after, there was a clink as the spear it¡¯d been holding fell out of the air and landed while its wings¡ªthe only undamaged part of it¡ªfloated halfway down to the floor, ultimately disintegrating into the sand before touching down. Finally¡ªand thirdly¡ªa shocked-sounding gasp came from Jimmy. Turning around, Zach saw him pointing and staring at something. Tracing it with his eyes, Zach realized it was the damage number floating in place where the mob had been: 63,998. ¡°Goddamn,¡± he said, blinking as if not believing what he was seeing. ¡°What kinda¡¯ OP, broken-ass shit is that? Talk about unbalanced.¡± +18000xp Zach, briefly switching to a one-handed grip on his blade, gave Jimmy a shrug. He barely understood what Jimmy¡¯s words even meant if he was being honest, but he decided now was not the best time to ask him about it, either. Thus, not bothering to reply, Zach once more gripped his blade with both hands. Raising his weapon, he swung it a second time, and then a third, calling out ¡°Phase Slash!¡± with each. In the wake of these two attacks, another Sneering Imp Warrior as well as a Sneering Imp Troublemaker detonated, each making a pop and causing a hissing sound to fill the room as their superheated insides seemingly had to cool before they could disintegrate, which meant they sizzled and left char-colored marks on the tiling. Seconds after each death, another three clinks came as a spear and two daggers dropped down onto the floor. +18000xp +18000xp
Unleashed Phase Duration 11:12 Remaining
With more work left to be done, Zach lifted his blade a fourth time, ready to kill another. For this one, he eyed a ¡°Sneering Imp Troublemaker¡± that stood just a bit before the others and seemed to be drawing back its arm as though about to toss a dagger at him. Zach decided straight away to make this pesky little imp the next one to die. However, just before attacking, he paused; instead, he frowned as he spotted something else: something that was moving his way at a great speed. It seemed one of the imps had entered within attack range, likely during the time that Zach had been standing there throwing out Phase Slashes. Now, with its wings buzzing furiously, this Sneering Imp Warrior flew straight towards him, then halted midair in front of where he stood. From there, it lifted upwards before dropping right back down while whirling the bladed end of its spear on top of him. Caught off guard, Zach was forced to hastily switch from offense to defense. Thankfully, having already raised his own sword, and having been only a mere moment from delivering another Phase Slash, Zach¡¯s blade was already perfectly positioned to intercept the imp¡¯s spear. Abandoning his planned attack, he shifted into a defensive stance, bending his knees and slightly turning his blade to block the incoming spear; this resulted in a loud ringing sound as well as an uncomfortable vibrating in his wrists from absorbing the shock of the imp¡¯s powerful attack. Yet before Zach could assess what to do next, he spotted even more movement as another two imps soared across the room at him, scattered, and then lashed out while the one that¡¯d only just attacked seemed to wind itself up for a second strike of its own. Alarmed but still in control of himself, Zach kicked off his feet and hopped backwards while swinging his sword diagonally downwards in the same motion, crying out ¡°Phase Slash!¡± even while a foot or two midair. Then he made a gentle clicking sound as his two feet touched down on the tiled flooring while, at that very precise instant, his Phase Slash met one of the imps head on. The imp, which flew directly into it, was simply massacred at point-blank range. Zach became drenched in its boiling, sizzling insides, which thankfully left no stain as the imp¡¯s nauseating innards cooled on his robe and transformed into more of the sand. It was a bizarre sight, too, because one moment he was covered from head to toe in guts, and the next, it was all just ¡°gone.¡± Even more odd was that, for the first time ever, the loud, eerie, high-pitched, and zipper-like sound that typically accompanied a Phase Slash happened to arrive after the attack had already found its target, killed it, and disappeared from existence. +18000xp ¡°He-he-he-he-he!¡± laughed the other two Sneering Imp Warriors as they both came at him, one ahead of the other. Twice more, Zach repeated his earlier action of hopping backwards while delivering a Phase Slash, and in both cases, he again exploded his attackers, the sound of his attack coming only after it was already gone. Yet it was only upon touching down in the immediate moment following the second of his two hops that his luck turned sour. As soon as his feet found the floor, he raised his sword and scanned the incoming horde of mobs for any more signs of danger or for targets to attack. While doing so, he saw the numbers representing his experience earned floating in the air. +18000xp +18<--------000xp Concealed behind the number, almost as though using it as a cloak or a stealthy screen, was a dagger launched by a ¡°Sneering Imp Troublemaker¡± that Zach could neither see nor hear until it was too late. By the time Zach realized what was coming his way, he had already been struck. With an ¡°umph,¡± Zach widened his eyes and then winced in agony as a searing, stabbing, and maddeningly intense pain erupted in the right side of his lower belly. Glancing down, he saw that the dagger had not only gotten him, but it¡¯d plunged completely inside of his flesh. Every last inch of the nearly seven-inch weapon¡ªsave for the grip¡ªhad submerged itself into his stomach, causing an indescribable pain that made him feel as though something was being ripped out of him. Removing his right, now shaking hand from his blade, he lowered it to his stomach, grabbed the dagger, and then yanked it out. Then he howled in more agony as the entire area of his robe turned from black to red, and then soon after began to leak an even darker-colored blood all over the floor, with much of it trickling down his leg and escaping the cuff near his right foot as it trickled out of him and began to form a small pool beneath him. Zach, suffering a moment of disbelief and confusion, released the dagger, which was stained in a similar shade of crimson, letting it drop down and hit the floor. ¡°I¡­I fucked up,¡± he said to Jimmy, already feeling weak and wobbly. ¡°I think I just died.¡± It was becoming difficult for him to remain standing. It didn¡¯t just hurt: it burned. Zach, doing everything he could to control himself, tried to remain calm despite what may have been a mortal wound. ¡°Jimmy, I think I just¡ª¡± ¡°Nah, I got you, dude,¡± Jimmy said immediately, speaking the words confidently and in a way that seemed a bit too carefree. But as it turned out, he wasn¡¯t unjustified in his certainty. Jimmy extended his staff in Zach¡¯s direction, and an instant later, the world around Zach lit up in such a way that he felt as though he were under some kind of blinding, green spotlight. A halo of green brightness surrounded him and only him, and though it lasted for less than half a second, in just that time alone, the pain subsided immediately, the wound sealed and closed up, and aside from a scar that was already beginning to fade, Zach found himself completely healed. ¡°I had to use a T3 heal on you,¡± Jimmy said, now panting. ¡°But you¡¯re good to go. Get back in there and fuck ¡®em up.¡± Zach, amazed, said nothing in reply, but he did bow his head, hoping the gesture adequately expressed his utter sense of gratitude. Then he raised his guard, unwilling to let something like that happen to him a second time. Steadying himself, he took stock of his surroundings. They were now only about ten feet from the wall, and there were still too many of the mobs heading their way for Jimmy¡¯s plan to kite them around the water-pit to succeed. He was also down to 8:15 on Unleashed Phase, though at the same time that he checked, he saw it then tick up to 10:15 thanks yet again to Jimmy¡¯s buff. I need to kill them faster! Zach thought to himself as the mobs continued to close in on them. This is too slow! With a bout of white-hot anger erupting inside of him at having been wounded, he unleashed two more Phase Slashes, one after the next, at the incoming throng of mobs. The first struck¡ªand detonated¡ªthe Sneering Imp Troublemaker that¡¯d pierced him with its dagger, and the second one killed a Sneering Imp Warrior that had drawn close enough to begin its disorienting attack pattern. Both mobs were vaporized upon impact, but the second one in particular had its insides splattered so far and wide that they rained down on top of the dais that Jimmy had operated to solve the puzzle. Yet even with those two dead, and even with the rest moving at a fairly sedate pace, the mobs were still approaching fast enough that, with the wall now right behind them, Zach couldn¡¯t escape the feeling of claustrophobic anxiety that was steadily growing within him. The closer the mobs neared, the more his sense of urgency increased. The situation was becoming dire, and he needed to be even faster. So, without any delay, he released a third, then a fourth Phase Slash, obliterating two more of the imps in the process¡ªbut still finding his progress too slow. This just wasn¡¯t cutting it: it wasn¡¯t enough. He needed to kill more and faster. And he knew that there was only one tool in his box¡ªone weapon in his arsenal¡ªthat stood any real chance of accomplishing such a task. It was one he tended to hesitate before calling upon, as its destructive power could sometimes have unintended consequences. However, with no other option left to him, Zach would just have to rely on it. And with that understanding in mind, he took his right hand off his sword, clenched it into a fist, and extended it at the mobs ahead of him. Quickly, he glanced over his shoulder. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Jimmy, do not stand behind me!¡± he warned. ¡°Move off to the side.¡± ¡°Huh? Why? What¡¯re you¡ª¡± ¡°Just move! Now!¡± ¡°Yeah¡­all right,¡± Jimmy whispered as though uncertain. Zach braced himself despite knowing it would do him little good; even still, he really, truly braced himself. He exerted every bit of strength he had and put all of it towards keeping himself right where he was. Would it be enough? He doubted it. But he¡¯d try anyway. Either way, this would still be the action he had to take. And so, with an intelligence stat currently sitting at 167, and with nothing else as powerful as this that he could call upon, he activated his blasting ring, pointing it straight ahead of him at what he estimated to be the leading-most elements of the incoming horde. A shout¡ªlikely of surprise¡ªcame from Jimmy as a reddish, laser-like light far brighter than the glow of his Phase Shield fully illuminated the rounded room to such an extent that anything and everything became tinted a neon-red. It was a light so intense that nearby objects stung just to look at. For this reason, Zach could not fault Jimmy for shouting out numerous expletives as he seemingly vented his surprise at its sudden emergence. Maybe I should¡¯ve warned him in advance. The last time Zach had used this ability, he¡¯d been fighting the ¡°Megaworm of Battle Beach,¡± and he¡¯d had an intelligence then of 120. That had been enough to create a beam with a diameter so large that an industrial DEHV truck could fit through it. With 167 points of intelligence, the beam was now large enough so that two such trucks would be able to venture inside of it while traveling side by side. This, Zach glimpsed for only a moment, marveling at the sheer massiveness of what had been produced by such a small ring. And then, despite his best efforts, the explosive power of his blasting ring blasted him away. In all honesty, Zach never stood a chance: not a chance of holding his ground. As though he were a bullet fired out of the chamber of a gun, Zach was torpedoed backwards¡ªand into¡ªthe room¡¯s posterior wall with such immense speed and force that, for a moment, he lost sight of the world around him and could see only pieces of stone, dust, plaster, and cement amid an otherwise dark backdrop as he became something of a human drill, creating a tunnel of his own making right through the center of it. For several long, frightening seconds, he heard nothing but a grating, rumbling buzz as he continued to burrow deeper and deeper until, finally, he began to slow. By the time he came to a halt, he¡¯d created a Zach-sized cavity that extended more than fifty-feet deep. Am I hurt? he wondered, feeling around his body with his hands. I don¡¯t think so. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of a brief bout of dizziness and disorientation. I think I¡¯m okay but¡­oh, shit! Jimmy! As dazed as Zach currently felt, he knew he could not spare even a moment to recover, as Jimmy was now all on his own. And though he was a bit out of it, he was pretty sure he wasn¡¯t in any pain. Miraculously, he appeared to have escaped any injury at all from such an absurd experience. For all his progress in getting beyond his level-1 thinking, there were still some things in this world that could surprise him, and this appeared to be one of them. It was yet another cogent reminder that he was quite literally superhuman. Pushing himself up into a standing position¡ªor as much as he could¡ªhe ignored the dust and pebbles that were falling down on top of his head like little droplets of rain, and he hastily sprinted forward through this self-created tunnel, having to bend forward while he ran. ¡°Jimmy!¡± he shouted at he neared the exit. ¡°Are you¡ª¡± ¡°Zach, you all right?¡± Jimmy called out. He had his staff in his hands and his back pressed flat against the wall. Only about eight feet in front of him was the horde of mobs, and from what Zach could see, he had done very little to diminish their number. ¡°H-how are there still so many?¡± he shouted out with a gasp as he exited his self-created tunnel and saw that he¡¯d somehow failed to kill a single additional one of them with his blasting ring. Even as Jimmy quickly fired out an answer, Zach was already drawing the same conclusion with the sights taken in by his eyes. Before him, the impact his blasting ring had on the world was obvious. From where he stood, in a wide path leading all the way to the opposite end of the room, the flooring had been completely ripped up. It was as though someone had taken a gigantic shovel, pierced it about three inches deep into the floor, and then scraped it all the way across to where it impacted the wall on the anterior end of the circular room, leaving an actual tunnel in that wall that ran at least two-hundred feet deep or perhaps even longer¡ªit became too dark for Zach to tell. What he could tell was that his blasting ring had utterly destroyed a large section of this room. It''ll repair itself in a week, Zach thought. He was glad in a strange sort of way to know that this wouldn¡¯t be permanent. Although the blasting ring had absolutely wrecked this part of the dungeon, the mobs in its path, on the other hand, appeared to have survived it¡ªthough only barely. Clearly, these imp mobs had at least a moderate degree of resistance towards beam damage. But even that had not been enough to leave them unscathed. Quite a few had suffered a significant hit¡ªjust not enough to outright kill them. With nothing more than a cursory glance, Zach could tell that nearly every one of the mobs had taken at least some amount of damage, but Zach estimated that about eleven of the mobs in particular had weathered the brunt of the blasting ring¡¯s beam. In particular, it was those closest to the front of the mobs¡¯ formation that¡¯d sustained the greatest injury. Having been unable to see the damage numbers for himself, Zach was able to go by their current HP versus what he recalled them having only a moment prior, and through this, he reasoned that they¡¯d taken anywhere between thirty and forty-thousand points of damage each. Many of the imps, both the Warriors and Troublemakers alike, were now missing ears, eyes, or other parts of their face and had signs of extreme burn damage running all over their bodies, large swaths of which now appeared blackened and charred. Yet they had nevertheless refused to die, and they were closing in on him and Jimmy. Unsure of what to do, Zach hesitated for a second or two¡ªtime they could not afford to waste, and time which brought the mobs even closer. Now, about eight of the mobs¡ªfive winged warriors and three dagger-wielding troublemakers¡ªapproached close enough so that both he and Jimmy were within their attack range. ¡°Aww, shit,¡± Jimmy said, the very first sign of true worry he¡¯d shown since coming here. Beside Zach and to his left, Jimmy pressed himself even more tightly against the wall and then began to pat it as if searching for somewhere to run as the Sneering Imp Warriors dashed through the air on buzzing wings towards the two of them¡ªbut not before they released a collective hiss of laughter as both of Jimmy¡¯s poisons ticked, bringing their HP even lower than it already was. Very low, in fact. Low enough so that¡­ Wait a second, Zach thought, filling with a sudden excitement. They¡¯re not just low: they¡¯re really, really, really low! As all five Sneering Imp Warriors flew towards him and Jimmy, then scattered and reconverged for five differently angled strikes, with three targeting Zach and two charging Jimmy, Zach called upon an ability he hadn¡¯t used in a good while. Switching to a one-handed grip on his sword, he extended his opposite hand, palm open, and then activated Card Capture. Then he activated it again, and again, and again, and again! Jimmy, who was now pressing himself so tightly against the wall that Zach was surprised he didn¡¯t go through it, released a half-grunt, half-gasp as a Sneering Imp Warrior jutted its spear forward towards his belly for a thrusting strike that would¡¯ve ripped apart his insides. Fortunately, a mere instant before the bladed end of the spear pierced his midsection, the mob imploded with an eerily cheerful sounding ¡°poof¡± that saw it transform into nothing more than a tiny ball of light. Jimmy, clearly confused, looked around as though searching for some clue as to what had just happened. And this confusion only seemed to grow as the rest of the attacking imps met the same fate. ¡°The fuck was that?¡± Jimmy asked. One by one, as the Sneering Imp Warriors came in for a series of spear strikes that would¡¯ve wounded Zach and likely outright killed Jimmy, there were a series of ¡°poof¡± sounds as they vanished into tiny little orbs: palm-sized wisps of light that hovered in place for a few seconds before zipping across the air and into Zach¡¯s waiting, open hand, where they then reforged themselves, solidifying into cards. First came the five from the Sneering Imp Warriors, and then came three more as Zach activated his ability on the Sneering Imp Troublemakers just before they threw daggers at him and Jimmy. Poof, poof, poof! Now, having removed those eight mobs from the equation, the entire front line of the incoming pack of mobs had been dealt with, giving them just a little¡ªbut not much¡ªbreathing room, as there were still plenty more following behind. And though he knew now was not the most appropriate time to do so, Zach couldn¡¯t help but steal just a quick, very fleeting glance at his newly acquired cards. I need to start building up a collection, he thought. Given how useful this ability was, he really needed to start taking more advantage of it. I should¡¯ve had hundreds by now. The cards were as bedazzling as always. Both contained similar imagery, but with a few differences that were easily spotted. What they shared in common, however, was significant; on each type of card was a hand-illustrated scene depicting an imp in a hellish, fiery world torturing Orcish prisoners. The imps were drawn cartoonishly and in a way that was almost cute, their eyes and other proportions exaggerated; this created an unsettling contrast with the dark imagery depicted. For the Sneering Imp Warriors, they were shown forcing Orcs to walk off a cliff and into a lake of fire by stabbing them in the back with their spears; the Troublemakers, on the other hand, were shown on their card stabbing at the eyes of their prisoners. ¡°I dunno what the hell you just did,¡± Jimmy said to him, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, ¡°but between the giant beam and the cards, that was pretty sick.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Zach said. Based on the context and Jimmy¡¯s tone of voice, he assumed that the word ¡°sick¡± in this case was intended to mean something positive. He was becoming accustomed to Jimmy using certain words in a way that was different from what Zach found typical. Quickly stuffing all eight cards into his black robes, Zach glanced at Jimmy once more and asked, ¡°So, did we kill enough of them?¡± Jimmy pulled himself off the wall and appeared to size-up the remaining mobs before turning his head to look at the water-filled pit. ¡°Yeah, we did. Only problem now is that they¡¯ve come so close we¡¯ve got to cut ourselves a path through them to get where we need to go.¡± He pointed off to his left. ¡°Listen, Zach. If we can just get through the mobs at that point right there, everything afterwards is gonna be so easy. I mean that. If you get us through there in one piece, we win. We¡¯re so close to coming out of this on top.¡± The various imp creatures behind those that had died were drawing nearer, and Zach, sensing victory, steeled himself as he thought on Jimmy¡¯s words. Most were concentrated dead center ahead of him, but the imps were currently spread out just enough so that there was no way of getting around them without entering the attack range of at least a few. But even more critically, the longer they waited to move, the number that would end up attacking would only become larger the closer the mobs approached, enclosing them tighter and tighter. This meant they had to move now. ¡°Okay, follow me,¡± Zach said. He lifted his foot, but before he could take a single step forward, he was interrupted by Jimmy, who grabbed the back of his robe. ¡°No, not that way,¡± he said. Then he patted the wall. ¡°Don¡¯t break away from the wall no matter what. If you go that way, the mobs will end up scattering and all this is gonna be for nothing.¡± As if sensing Zach¡¯s confusion, he continued to explain. ¡°The point isn¡¯t just to get around them, but to continue keeping them ordered and together.¡± ¡°Oh, right. Got it.¡± Keeping the wall close to his back, Zach hurriedly shuffled his way leftwards, which put a bit of distance between himself and the mobs that were directly ahead as well as to his right while naturally causing the mobs approaching from the left to enter into attack range. There were four of them in total¡ªor at least four that reacted¡ªand more would likely attack if Zach did not deal with them quickly. ¡°Remember,¡± Jimmy said, his voice becoming filled with determination and charisma. ¡°If we get through those, we win. It¡¯s over for them. I know what I¡¯m talking about, I swear it.¡± The optimism in his voice caused some to spread to Zach, and he nodded. ¡°Hey, Jimmy?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Having fun yet?¡± Jimmy grinned. ¡°Hell yeah I am! Let¡¯s clear this floor, Zach.¡± ¡°You got it!¡± Eager to break through, Zach moved to take his attackers head on. He set his gaze on the two Sneering Imp Warriors and Two Sneering Imp Troublemakers that were mutually moving towards him. Interestingly, only one of the Troublemakers threw a dagger, which Zach deftly sliced out of the air; the other began running forward on its small feet, laughing maniacally as it seemed to want to enter within melee range. But it would have to wait its turn, as the two Imp Warriors buzzed their way over to Zach, flew off in opposite directions, and then both lunged and thrust their spears with almost perfect synchronicity. Zach readied himself. Confidently, he awaited their attacks. Dealing with a bunch of these at once might¡¯ve been impossible for him, but just four? That, he could handle: and would handle. He kept his stance flexible as both of the winged, spear-wielding imps attempted to skewer him from each side, and as they slammed their spears down towards him, Zach leapt upwards into the air and right over them, moving beyond their winged bodies while spinning his own body around one-hundred-eighty degrees midair so that he was still facing in their direction when he touched back down. This, of course, put him in a somewhat awkward position, because now, he had two Sneering Imp Warriors ahead of him, a Troublemaker dashing at him from the side, and his back was turned to a second Troublemaker a few feet behind him. ¡°Watch out!¡± Jimmy called out to him in warning. Zach, trusting Jimmy, dropped to his knees, and a dagger thrown by the Troublemaker behind him soared right over his head and ended up striking one of the two winged imps that¡¯d attacked him, this one called ¡°Sneering Imp Warrior Z.¡± The dagger lodged itself into the imp¡¯s chest, dealing 7,221 damage. Then, as if in retaliation, Z, along with the other, which was called ¡°Sneering Imp Warrior L,¡± both attempted to gut him a second time, once more dashing in his direction. The two of them halted mere inches before reaching him, and then both broke away, flew off to opposing ends of the room, and came back in for another attack. But first, just a few feet ahead of him, one of the Troublemakers made another snickering, menacing laugh and sprang off its small legs, hopping forward and lunging at him, its daggers raised as if intent on jamming both right into his throat. ¡°He-he-he-he-he!¡± Zach was momentarily taken aback by the speed at which the imp had propelled itself through the air, but he quickly got over his surprise and took immediate action to defend himself. In one fast movement, he bent both his knees and his back, leaning as far away as he could so that the mob would fly right over him, and then, once it had done so, Zach snapped his body upright, turned his hips, and ripped his sword upwards with all his might, slicing the diminutive imp so ferociously that he succeeded in completely severing its body at the hip; its upper body continued to fly off into the distance, and everything below the hip plopped straight down, landing with a squish and a plop while leaking imp blood all over the flooring. Zach didn¡¯t even bother to check how much damage he did. He knew it had been enough. +18000xp Having had to deal with the Troublemaker, Zach had little time to adjust his stance to defend himself from the two Sneering Imp Warriors, which were on him almost as soon as he felled their dagger-wielding brethren. Both were flying at him, and both were moving towards him from the same direction, with one flying just a little ahead of the other. ¡°Phase Slash!¡± Zach cried out, unleashing another point-blank attack that detonated Sneering Imp Warrior Z a mere instant before the mob crashed into him. In fact, the mob flew so close that its winged form filled the entirety of his vision, which meant Zach had a closeup view of the imp¡¯s body detonating. He watched as it broke apart, going from one solid form to a thousand bloody scraps a mere instant before flying into him, earning Zach another +18000xp and a robe covered in sizzling, smoking guts. Though it was a close call, Zach did not have the time to sigh with relief, because the moment after he killed his target, the other Sneering Imp Warrior, which had had been flying close behind the first, now came to be less than two feet in front of Zach, and like the previous one, it occupied the majority of his vision. With the mob already in such close proximity, Zach did not have the time to guard or tear it apart with another Phase Slash. So instead, he gritted his teeth and ducked for all he was worth, dropping all the way down into a squat as it slashed its spear at his throat, causing a whooshing sound from above. Afterwards, having missed, it began to fly off, moving directly over his head as it continued onwards. But it did not get very far, as Zach had had enough of this fucking thing. With every last bit of speed he had at his disposal, Zach brought himself back up to his feet, removed his left hand from his blade, extended his arm as far as he could reach, and then he grabbed the thing by its wing as it was flying off, squeezing his hand tightly while also bending his knees. The result was that he was nearly dragged up into the air with it. Yet he exerted all of his strength, winning out over the mob, and so rather than finding himself carried off, he instead lifted up to his tiptoes before again regaining his ground. The mob, having lost the struggle, came to a direct, jarring stop. Then, angrily, Zach spun his entire body around full circle while whirling his arm downwards, slamming the Gods-be-damned creature as hard as he could onto the floor, causing a loud bang that made Jimmy flinch and sent multiple entire flooring tiles blasting against the wall, several bouncing off and rolling all the way over to the water-pit. The Sneering Imp Warrior tried to wriggle out of Zach¡¯s grip, but Zach tightened his fist around its wing then stomped his foot on the back of its neck; exerting even more strength, he groaned as he then pulled with all his might, yanking so hard that the muscles in his arm began to ache. But his effort paid off, as there soon came a loud tearing sound, followed by snap, and with that, he ripped the wing entirely off its body. Then, without wasting another moment, he released it, gripped his sword once more with both hands, and at last, he yelled out triumphantly as he sliced his weapon downwards and beheaded the creature while it was still writhing on the floor. +18000xp No sooner had the creature died than Jimmy was again shouting out to him in warning. But this time around, Zach did not require it, as he could hear the disturbance in the air as a dagger was hurtled at him from behind. Combining two motions into one, Zach ducked and spun around, then raised his weapon and delivered one final Phase Slash, blasting the Sneering Imp Troublemaker to pieces and killing it. +18000xp ¡°This way!¡± Jimmy called to him the moment of its death, beckoning him. ¡°We¡¯re nearly there. Hurry! Before more attack!¡± Zach, covered in powdery sand that had previously been blood and guts, nodded and hurried over to Jimmy as the two began shifting along the wall, pulling themselves out and away from what had been a sort of collapsing ring; now, the mobs were becoming more bunched up than ever before, and all were following after the two of them. Carefully, Jimmy continued to slide leftwards along the wall, and Zach followed him. Then he started picking up the pace, and so Zach moved a little faster as well. The way in which Jimmy was clinging to the wall, along with his frequent, unexplained pauses, meant that the specific movements he was making were deliberate and purposeful. He clearly had some kind of route in his mind: some pathing he¡¯d calculated in his brain that he wanted the mobs to follow. It was incredible to watch. With great attentiveness, Jimmy guided Zach¡ªand by extension, the mobs¡ªuntil they had shuffled halfway around the outer perimeter of the circular room. ¡°Stop for just a second,¡± he said. And Zach obliged. Jimmy, beginning to sweat, reapplied his slow and poisons to all of the mobs, and then he continued onwards, eventually leading them off the wall, down the left side of the rounded room, and up to¡ªand then around¡ªthe water-filled pit. ¡°Okay, now what?¡± Zach asked, his blade still held at the ready, wondering what came next. ¡°Now?¡± Jimmy grinned. ¡°Now, nothing.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Jimmy¡¯s grin gave way to laughter. ¡°That¡¯s it. We¡¯re good. We did it.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean we¡¯re good.¡± Jimmy began to walk, slowly and calmly. ¡°Now, we just keep strolling around and around the water-pit until they¡¯re all dead. Like I told you before: once we killed enough of them to thin the herd, there¡¯d be enough space so that they¡¯d never reach us while slowed.¡± Zach¡¯s mouth fell open. ¡°Wait, so you mean we don¡¯t even have to fight anymore?¡± ¡°Yup. We already won. All that¡¯s left is to wait for them to die. The only thing we gotta worry about now is making sure we set the right pace. If we push too far ahead, the ones at the rear of the line of them will break off and start going the other way around the circle, and then we¡¯re in exactly the kind of situation we did all this to avoid.¡± Zach made an O-shape with his mouth, a reflexive expression of surprise as it really dawned on him what Jimmy was implying. Up until now, he¡¯d assumed that they were going to kite the mobs around the water-pit while also fighting them. But it was only here, in this moment, that he realized what Jimmy intended all along was for them to passively sit back and do nothing while the mobs died on their own. Astounded, Zach struggled to believe that anything could be so simple. Yet even as began to calmly lead the pack of mobs around the water-pit with Jimmy, he could already see that it really was exactly as Jimmy had said. Together, the two of them made laps around the edges of the pit while the mobs hissed and laughed as the poisons ticked away every few moments. In the distance, the five mobs that Zach had incapacitated with his Wave Slash a little earlier finally died off, and all of their xp came in at once. Honestly, Zach had forgotten all about them. He¡¯d left them wingless and, in some cases, legless. Having ceased to be a threat, he¡¯d put them totally out of mind. +18000xp +18000xp +18000xp +18000xp +18000xp
Level Up! 25 (24)
Dexterity +1 (125)
Constitution +3 (119)
XP Required for Level 26 400,000
¡°Gods be damned, what a shit level up,¡± he grumbled as him and Jimmy continued to strut mindlessly around the water pit. ¡°Seriously, I hate when I get ones like this.¡± ¡°That¡­happens to you a lot?¡± Jimmy asked him. Since they were in the same party, Jimmy was able to see the paltry level up that he¡¯d gotten. Zach both nodded and sighed in reply. ¡°Yeah, like all the time. I get garbage level ups one after the next until getting, like, a ¡®super¡¯ level-up that propels me forward. It¡¯s been really uneven like that since I started.¡± ¡°No cap?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, no kidding?¡± ¡°Oh. Yeah, I¡¯m being serious. I can get level after level just like this until finally getting something decent.¡± Jimmy shrugged. ¡°Well, you¡¯re like fifty times stronger than you should be at level twenty-five, so whatever it is you¡¯re getting, it¡¯s clearly working out for you.¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess you¡¯re right,¡± Zach said, his attention beginning to drift as the sense of danger began to lessen and they settled into a steady pattern and pace of walking. A period of oddly peaceful and relaxing quiet transpired between the two of them. Aside from the sound of their feet tapping on the tiled flooring, the only other noises were the occasional stirring of water and, of course, the usual laughter from the mobs as they died off, sometimes one at a time and sometimes several in one go. Before long, three quarters of them had turned to the sandy, powdery residue, which could now be found spread out all along the perimeter of the water pit. ¡°Hey, Jimmy,¡± Zach said as they continued to lead the last few along. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°You notice that none of these guys are dropping any loot?¡± At this, he gave a prompt nod. ¡°Actually, yeah. These dudes suck. They¡¯re not giving us a damn thing. Usually when I clear out an entire room full of mobs, they at least give something. You know, there might be a couple of pouches of coin or some items here or there. But these guys? Not a thing.¡± Zach glanced around the entirety of the room just in case they missed something. He wasn¡¯t about to accidentally leave treasure behind. Yet, aside from little clumps of sand, the mobs offered nothing to remember them by. ¡°I wonder if that¡¯s why this dungeon is so unpopular.¡± ¡°Eh, maybe,¡± Jimmy said, ¡°but I don¡¯t really know. That could be it, or there could be no real reason at all. Maybe the adventurers are just afraid to explore a place they don¡¯t know all that much about.¡± ¡°Or maybe,¡± Zach added, ¡°it¡¯s because this place is a literal death trap for anyone who isn¡¯t you¡ªand uh, I guess, technically, me.¡± Jimmy seemed to find this funny, as he began to laugh. ¡°I can¡¯t believe a dungeon like this would be too hard for Galterrans.¡± Though Jimmy clearly did not mean anything bad by his words, Zach couldn¡¯t help become a touch defensive. ¡°Why not?¡± he asked. ¡°We don¡¯t exactly have all this super-secret dungeon knowledge like you do, Jimmy. There¡¯s no class on dungeons that you take in school.¡± This only seemed to make Jimmy laugh even harder, and Zach shot him a confused, frustrated look. Upon noticing this, Jimmy¡¯s laughter abruptly cut off, and he quickly apologized before explaining himself. ¡°Look, Zach, if you came from my version of Earth, you¡¯d realize just how ridiculous this whole conversation is. You just can¡¯t ¡®get it¡¯ without being from where I am.¡± ¡°Maybe not,¡± Zach agreed, exhaling slowly as two more mobs died and left behind nothing. ¡°But even still, I know that, however you learned all this stuff, it¡¯s not knowledge anyone here would just automatically have access to. At least not in the way you did. Most of what adventurers know is stuff that previous adventurers had to die to find out.¡± Jimmy¡¯s expression softened. ¡°All right. Fair enough.¡± ¡°And also,¡± Zach continued, ¡°no matter how ¡®ridiculous¡¯ a lot of this stuff might seem to you, it¡¯s not a game to us. I mean, don¡¯t get me wrong: as adventurers, I think most of us really do enjoy this kind of danger. But even then, it¡¯s still way more serious than a game. Honestly, Jimmy? You should try to stop thinking about it like that, because this is your reality now, too. If something had gone wrong just before, both of us would be dead. Forever.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know,¡± Jimmy said, speaking a bit more softly. ¡°But like I already said, it¡¯s gonna take time for it all to really sink in, you know?¡± ¡°I do,¡± Zach replied honestly as another two or three mobs died. ¡°And I¡¯m not trying to rush you or anything. Jascaila says it¡¯s a process, and I think she¡¯s right about that.¡± Jimmy looked like he had more to say, as his facial features tightened and his mouth partially opened. But then he closed it, abandoning whatever had been on his mind. Zach, for his part, decided not to pry. Instead, the two of them continued to leisurely stroll around the water-pit until every remaining mob perished¡ªjust as Jimmy had said they would. And now, as the last one crumpled into sand, Zach¡¯s mood became elevated as he took note of his current progress towards his next level.
To Next Level 371,082/400,000
It was incredible. He¡¯d only just leveled up, and he was already so close to the next one¡ªwhich he hoped would be a bit better than the one he¡¯d just gotten. But even putting his junk level up aside¡­wow. Just wow. Honestly? From this one combat encounter alone, Zach no longer found it so puzzling how Jimmy, in just two weeks, had risen from level 1 to level 45. Watching him in action, it suddenly made a whole lot of sense why he was soaring ahead in the levels and could even solo bosses, a claim Zach no longer doubted. Jimmy had knowledge no one else had¡ªhe knew things nobody else knew. And he had abilities that seemed to turn even highly difficult dungeon encounters meant for entire groups of people into something that could be managed with only the two of them. No wonder Eilea brought him here, Zach thought. Seeing him in action really puts it all into perspective. This, of course, only highlighted Zach¡¯s need to protect him. There was a target on his back, and if Zach was not vigilant, Adamus¡¯s goons would find some way of putting him to death. This, Zach would not allow. Before this moment, he was against it on moral principle, but now, having seen his usefulness, there was even more on the line. I can¡¯t let my guard slip. Jimmy has to live. Not wanting to let his thoughts become overly dark, Zach decided to put the conflict with Adamus out of mind for now, and he instead chose to focus more on the fact that they¡¯d emerged victorious from a pretty tough spot. Exchanging a fist bump with Jimmy, the two of them then began making their way towards the front of the room and over to the exit, which Jimmy had unlocked via the puzzle they¡¯d solved. As Zach walked across the circular room, he took one last look around to ensure that they weren¡¯t leaving any drops behind, and then he proceeded with Jimmy inside the somewhat square-shaped opening that had slid aside after the completion of the puzzle. Stepping through, the scenery changed quite significantly. Gone was the fancily tiled flooring, and also missing was the overall red-tinted, castle-like ambiance that¡¯d made up most of F28, especially the upper section. Here, they entered something that reminded Zach a little bit of the early floors of Yorna, which was to say a relatively narrow, cavern-like area with brown, rocky walls to both his left, right, and above, and which was just well lit enough to see despite containing no obvious light sources. The floor consisted of small rocks and gravel, and their feet made a crunching sound with each step that they took. To Zach¡¯s left, a single, large, and black arrow had been painted on the rocky wall, pointing them onwards, and below this arrow, in the same black ink, it read: F28->F29. ¡°I¡¯m ready for whatever comes next,¡± Zach said, breaking another brief period of silence. He was feeling confident and enthusiastic. Thanks to Jimmy¡¯s buff, which had been refreshed just before exiting the previous floor, Zach had over an hour on his current duration of Unleashed Phase, which meant his hands were still releasing impossibly black smoke along with the occasional golden ember. Although the buff had worn off, he was confident he had more than enough time now to proceed through the dungeon without having to rush. ¡°Just let me know what we have to do, okay?¡± Jimmy gave him a slight smile. ¡°Yeah, I got you. Don¡¯t worry.¡± As the two continued onward, he looked at Zach and said, ¡°Just wanna let you know, by the way, that I couldn¡¯t have made it through that last floor without you. So thanks.¡± Zach choked out a surprised laugh, a bit stunned by his words. ¡°Why¡¯re you thanking me?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯m the one who brought you here. And if I didn¡¯t, I might¡¯ve died in this place.¡± ¡°Oh, nah, you definitely would¡¯ve died,¡± Jimmy said, nodding his chin. ¡°No doubt about that.¡± Zach took no offense to his words, as they were the plain truth. Still, he repeated his question, as he found what Jimmy had said to him a little strange. ¡°I don¡¯t get why you¡¯re thanking me, though.¡± Jimmy paused a moment and gave him an amused shake of the head, as if the answer should¡¯ve been obvious. ¡°A raid leader always thanks his party when they do a good job. Or at least he should. I accepted the risk when I agreed to come here, so yeah, I¡¯m giving you props for how you did back there.¡± Zach wanted to ask him what ¡°props¡± meant, but he decided not to badger Jimmy with too many questions, as there were a lot of things he didn¡¯t know and would have to find out gradually through conversation. Stopping to ask Jimmy every time he used a word in an unfamiliar way or a new word entirely would only make conversations with him tedious and torturous. For this reason, Zach merely reiterated his own thanks and left it at that as they traveled side by side farther down this rocky corridor, which ran long enough that Zach could not yet spot the end of it. Given previous dungeon experience, Zach knew that even just moving between the floors could sometimes present a great challenge. Fortunately, that did not appear to be the case this time around. Although this particular passage did stretch on a bit farther than expected, by the time they¡¯d walked what he estimated to be half a mile or so, a wooden door with a curved handle appeared up ahead, marking the end of this cavernous path. As they approached nearer, Zach could distinctly see that written above the door was: F28->F29. The entrance to the next floor! ¡°All right,¡± Zach said, walking a bit faster and becoming excited as he approached the door. ¡°You ready, Jimmy?¡± He reached out for the curved handle, grabbed it, and then he prepared to open it. But he paused as it occurred to him that Jimmy was no longer by his side. ¡°Uh¡­Jimmy?¡± Receiving no answer, Zach let go of the handle, turned around, and then furrowed his brow in confusion as he spotted Jimmy standing about twenty feet away with his body turned and facing the rocky wall to their left. Had he fallen behind or something? Why was he staring at the wall? ¡°Hey, Jimmy, is everything okay?¡± Zach called to him, once again receiving no answer. Annoyed, he decided to call out a bit more loudly. ¡°Hello? Galterra to Jimmy!¡± This, finally, seemed to catch Jimmy¡¯s attention. He turned his head to face Zach, and then he made a beckoning motion with his chin. ¡°Zach, come here a second.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Just come here!¡± Zach, perplexed, jogged the tiny bit of distance between the exit door and Jimmy, and then he came to a halt before him. ¡°What is it?¡± he asked. ¡°Why¡¯d you stop here?¡± Jimmy grinned, and then he pointed his staff at the rocky cavern wall. ¡°That¡¯s why.¡± ¡°What¡¯s why?¡± Zach asked, beginning to wonder if maybe Jimmy hit his head or something and had become delirious. Jimmy looked at him, and then he made a ¡°tsk¡± sound before tapping his staff against the rock-solid wall. ¡°You really don¡¯t see it, do you?¡± ¡°See what?¡± Zach asked, frowning. ¡°Look!¡± Zach looked closely at this particular section of the wall, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. ¡°Jimmy, whatever it is you think you¡ª¡± ¡°How you gonna say you don¡¯t see that, Zach? Actually look. Like, really, just use your damn eyes and look.¡± Zach sighed. ¡°I am looking. What is it I¡¯m supposed to be seeing? Is it the fact that the rock is a slightly darker shade of brown?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Jimmy snapped. ¡°Uh¡­okay, so?¡± ¡°Oh, for God¡¯s sake! You Galterran people, it¡¯s like¡­shit, man.¡± Cycling through a breathing technique that Jascaila had taught him, Zach inhaled, held the breath, and then released it slowly, doing all he could not to lose his patience with his newest friend. ¡°Can you please just explain to me why we¡¯re staring at a section of the wall?¡± Jimmy, like before, tapped his staff against it. ¡°There¡¯s a secret passage here, and there¡¯s probably loot or treasure behind this.¡± Two conflicting feelings struck Zach at once: the first was excitement just at the word ¡°loot,¡± and the second was an ardent sense of disbelief that, even after everything Jimmy had been correct about, that he could also be correct about this. Surely, he couldn¡¯t. There was no way. ¡°Are you telling me,¡± Zach began, doing his best to maintain his composure, ¡°that you believe there¡¯s a secret passage in this one tiny little spot on a wall that runs for over half a mile, just because it happens to be a slightly darker color than the wall around it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m telling you,¡± Jimmy said, firing off a confident nod on the heels of his words. ¡°That¡¯s always what it means.¡± Zach stared back and forth between Jimmy and the slightly discolored section of the wall. Jimmy was either an absolute lunatic or he was so prophetic it was becoming scary. The worst part of it all was that, as insane as all this sounded, Zach had already seen too much to truly doubt him. Even still, it was hard not to be skeptical, and Jimmy, as though understanding this, tapped his staff against the rock for the third time and began to explain. ¡°In Zelda and a lot of games like that, when you see a part of a wall that¡¯s like, you know uh, a bit different than the section around it, that¡¯s how the game lets you know you¡¯re supposed to break it down with bombs or some shit. That¡¯s just how it is. Any gamer would notice this right away.¡± Zach tried to reply, even going so far as to open his mouth, but all that came out was an indecisive squeak as he tried to reckon with the sheer unbelievable magnitude of knowledge Jimmy seemed to possess. He spoke with such confidence and certainty that it chased away almost all of Zach¡¯s doubt. He really believed there was something behind this particular section of the wall, and because of everything that¡¯d come before, Zach was starting to believe it as well¡ªno matter how absurd. ¡°And you think there¡¯ll be treasure?¡± ¡°Oh, definitely,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°A hundred percent. We knock this down, and there¡¯ll be a passage that runs like ten, maybe twenty feet, and at the end of it will be a gold-and-black treasure chest. It might even be giving off a sparkling orange light.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­so, so specific,¡± Zach said, caught between amazement and a spooky sense of incredulity. ¡°Well, that¡¯s what¡¯s gonna happen.¡± Zach took another deep breath, which he audibly released, making a phew sound. ¡°Okay, well, go ahead and break it down, then.¡± At this, Jimmy released a playful chuckle. ¡°I uh, I can¡¯t. I tried before and hurt my damn fist. I don¡¯t think I got the strength for it.¡± ¡°Oh no? All right. Let me have a try. Here goes nothing.¡± Zach sheathed his sword, drew back his right fist, and then he pivoted on his hips and twisted his body as he delivered an incredibly powerful right hook directly into the wall. On contact, there was a loud, explosive, and oddly crunch-like sound, and rather than simply sink his fist into the wall, a door-sized section of it crumbled before his very eyes into a cascade of smaller chunks of limestone, which vanished out of existence the moment they hit the ground. Just from that alone, Zach knew that Jimmy was correct. As unbelievable as it was, Jimmy had actually discovered a secret passage based on nothing but a slight discoloration of the wall. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t fucking believe it,¡± Zach whispered as a much narrower, alternative path now stood before them. ¡°Well, I told your ass,¡± Jimmy said, a touch too arrogantly. ¡°Feel like opening a treasure chest now?¡± ¡°You¡¯re damn right I do. I love loot!¡± ¡°You wanna go first?¡± ¡°I can?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Even though you found it?¡± ¡°Go ahead. It¡¯s cool.¡± Zach didn¡¯t need to be told twice. His greed flaring to untold heights, he hastily entered the narrow passageway, and Jimmy followed him in. Since there wasn¡¯t enough width for them to both walk side by side, Jimmy stayed a little behind. And with that, Zach went to go find his treasure chest, beaming with excitement. He wondered what would be inside. Something rare? Maybe something Epic Rare. Maybe something¡­legendary. It could be anything. Gods, having Jimmy around was amazing. Eager to see what they¡¯d found, he hurried onwards, stomping one foot in front of the other, moving deeper and deeper into this little passageway Jimmy had discovered. Except, Zach was starting to think it might not be so little, as several minutes went by and he was still heading further inward. ¡°Jimmy?¡± Zach asked after they ventured what felt like another half a mile¡¯s worth of distance. ¡°I thought you said the treasure chest would be like twenty or thirty feet inside.¡± ¡°It should¡¯ve been,¡± Jimmy said, sounding concerned. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know why they¡¯re making us walk this far.¡± And far they did in fact continue to walk. Spurred on by greed, Zach ended up traveling an even greater distance down this supposedly ¡°little¡± passageway than they¡¯d walked in the main one connecting F28 to F29. Yet still, he continued on, and before long, a few minutes became five minutes, and then five minutes became ten minutes. Eventually, the narrow passage widened so that they could stand together, and it changed in other ways, too, becoming more of a gravelly hill that they had to climb for another mile and a half before leveling off and continuing on flat ground again. ¡°Maybe we should turn back,¡± Jimmy said after another few minutes had come and gone. ¡°I hate to say it, Zach, but it looks like I was wrong.¡± Zach, alarmed, asked, ¡°About what? The treasure? Don¡¯t sell yourself short. You¡¯ve got to be right. And besides, we¡¯ve already come this far.¡± Jimmy winced. ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s even gonna be any treasure at this point. We would¡¯ve found it by now. I dunno where the hell this is taking us, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s to treasure.¡± Zach cupped his hands over his forehead, not sure what he should do. He peered off into the distance, attempting to see if there was any end in sight. For now, he saw only darkness ahead. ¡°Let¡¯s just walk a bit farther. I feel like, uh, if we already came this far, we might as well see what¡¯s at the end of this path, right?¡± ¡°Heh, all right,¡± Jimmy said. And that was what they did. Together, they continued along the secret passageway, and all the while, Zach prayed to the Gods that he was still going to get his treasure. But as they reached the thirty-minute mark, even Zach¡¯s greed began to take a back seat to common sense. Not only was he risking losing his Unleashed Phase and having to proceed through the next floors without it, but he had somewhere he absolutely had to be later today, and as things were, he was cutting things close enough time-wise. Maybe it¡¯d be better if he turned back after all? ¡°Jimmy,¡± he said, his tone coming across as defeated even to his own ears. ¡°Maybe this is a bad idea after all. It doesn¡¯t look like we¡¯re going to find the¡ª¡± ¡°There¡¯s something up ahead!¡± Jimmy blurted out. ¡°Look!¡± He pointed. Zach squinted his eyes. Then he inhaled, spotting something ahead that looked like an end to the passageway, though it was difficult to see amid the overall darkness of their environment. ¡°There¡¯s something there. You¡¯re right!¡± With much more liveliness in each step, Zach hurried with Jimmy to the end of this alternate path, hoping to see a glimmering, shiny treasure chest awaiting him. Instead, he saw something totally unexpected. Having arrived at the end of a half-hour diversion in pursuit of loot, the two of them were greeted with a wooden door that was very similar to the one they were originally meant to go through. ¡°What the hell?¡± Zach asked, unable to believe or understand the sight before him. The door wasn¡¯t just similar: it was the same. Much like the other door, this one, also, said: F28->F29. But wait¡­was there something else as well? What¡¯s that? On top of the wooden door, etched into the wood, there was an illustration that Zach was fairly sure did not exist on the other one he¡¯d encountered. It was a cartoonish depiction of a hand being extended, palm facing up. And above this hand, what looked like a golden coin was falling down into its waiting clutches. Zach fired a questioning look at Jimmy, who shrugged and said, ¡°For once, I¡¯ve got no idea.¡± Taking a breath, Zach reached out and grabbed the handle, though he did not turn it. He hesitated. ¡°Should I?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve come this far already,¡± Jimmy said. Zach nodded. ¡°Okay. But be ready for anything, all right?¡± ¡°I always am.¡± Jimmy unsheathed his staff, and Zach, keeping one hand on the door, used the other to draw his own weapon. With that, he turned the handle and pushed it open. Then he, along with Jimmy, stepped inside¡ªand immediately, Zach had to narrow his eyes as he was hit by a dramatic change of lighting as the two found themselves in a well-lit, room-temperature interior of what looked like a combination of a convenience store and a toy shop, one with homely blue carpeting, a large, spacious interior, and about seven aisles packed with any number of goods including clothing, candy, and very strange-looking gadgets and gizmos. But most of all, what really struck Zach was what he spotted directly across from him. There was a shop counter, and behind this counter was an incredibly strange-looking man with two big, white puffs of hair that looked like giant cotton balls surrounding an otherwise bald scalp. The man was wearing a vibrant yellow-and-red suit, and he seemed to be clutching a rainbow-colored umbrella despite being indoors. He also reacted immediately the moment him and Jimmy entered into this bizarre, yet wonderous and homely shop. ¡°C-customers?¡± he whispered inquisitively. ¡°C-customers?¡± he whispered again. The man, whose head had been buried into the countertop, snapped upright to attention, and then a look of unfathomable glee crossed his features while tears began to run down his eyes. An instant later, he shot up out of the chair behind his counter, clasped a hand over his mouth, and then he seemed to blow into it, making something that sounded like a cross between a scream and a gasp. It was also at this point that Zach realized the man was an NPC, one who was almost certainly sentient. And unless Zach¡¯s eyes were playing tricks on him, his level was 3,105, which was way higher than even Angelica¡¯s. ¡°C-c-c-customers!¡± he shrieked, slapping his right palm emotionally and excitably on his countertop. ¡°Customers, customers, customers! People! Real, actual, living people! Visiting Mushkie¡¯s item shop! It¡¯s been so long, my friends. So, so long. Five-hundred years. Oh, please, please, come in!¡± More tears fell down his eyes. ¡°I haven¡¯t spoken to anyone in centuries! Not a word to anyone! You are welcome. Please, please come in!¡± Zach and Jimmy exchanged another look, and then Zach gently closed the door behind him. ¡°Well, he seems nice.¡± Chapter 139: Weekly Haul Chapter 139: Weekly Haul A cool, air-conditioned breeze left Zach feeling refreshed as he and Jimmy took their first few hesitant steps into this unexpected, NPC-run, and incredibly cozy item shop. Part of him felt like he should be a bit more taken aback, but at this point, he was accustomed to unexpected turn of events like these in the adventuring world; therefore, the fact that a place like this existed did not entirely shock him. What did shock him was the desperation, longing, and glee in the tear-filled eyes of the quirky-looking shopkeeper. Zach wasn¡¯t sure what to make of this man, with his white puffs of hair, his vividly colored attire, and the rainbow-colored umbrella that he swayed back and forth almost as though it were an automatic reflex. ¡°Customers,¡± he said, his tone making it obvious that he was choking back even heavier tears. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it.¡± For the second time, Zach and Jimmy exchanged a glance as though searching for answers in the eyes of the other, finding none. Zach took another step forward along the soft, clean, and navy-blue carpet. From the entrance to the counter, there was a fairly wide-open space, offering nothing in the way of furniture aside from a round stand that contained various packaged snacks along with unrefrigerated, bottled beverages. Interestingly, it seemed to consist entirely of common rarity items like Frog Snax and Skelly Chips. Off to his left was where the various aisles of other miscellaneous products awaited, and Zach was willing to bet that they, too, contained exclusively ¡°adventuring world¡± items. Overall, the shop looked incredibly well maintained, fresh, and had a perfect level of cleanliness. Not a speck of dust or dirt could be seen anywhere. ¡°Hi there,¡± Zach said, unsure of how to proceed. ¡°Hi,¡± Jimmy added. The shopkeeper, who went around the back of the counter and then reappeared out front, still holding his umbrella, wiped tears from his eyes with his opposite hand. There was a natural quiet in here, making each of his footsteps more pronounced, as well as those taken by Zach and Jimmy. Zach, filled with uncertainty, held his position and observed as this extraordinarily high-level NPC leaned slightly forward and squinted his eyes as though attempting to discern something, saying nothing for the time being. What¡¯s he staring at? Zach wondered. It only then occurred to Zach that he and Jimmy still had their weapons drawn, and so, apologetically, he quickly sheathed his sword, and Jimmy, as if catching on, sheathed his staff as well. Even still, this did not bring any change in the NPC man¡¯s demeanor; he continued to squint and stare at them as though perturbed. Finally, after several awkward seconds of this, he opened his mouth, gasped, and said, ¡°L-let me get the fire extinguisher!¡± ¡°The what?¡± Zach asked him as he dropped his umbrella, ran behind the counter, and disappeared a moment before reappearing with a red mini-extinguisher. Does he want to use that on me? ¡°Whoah, hold up!¡± Zach called out to him, backing away. ¡°Don¡¯t spray me with that!¡± ¡°Ehrm, why not?¡± the man asked, another gasp trailing his words. ¡°Aren¡¯t you on fire?¡± ¡°On fire? Huh? Why would you think I¡¯m¡ª¡± ¡°Zach, your ability,¡± Jimmy interrupted, nudging him. ¡°Oh. Ohh! Okay, no, it¡¯s cool.¡± He held out both of his arms and extended his hands in the man¡¯s direction, showing him that the smoke was coming from the center of each hand. ¡°It¡¯s just an ability I have. I¡¯m not on fire. So please don¡¯t hose me with that, okay?¡± Once more, the strange shopkeeper squinted at him for several, prolonged seconds, and then he released a chirp of a laugh, returned the fire extinguisher back to wherever he¡¯d taken it, and hurriedly came back out front, picked up his umbrella, and then gawked at the two of them. Zach, a bit offput, did his best not to offend or upset the NPC, as he was roughly three times higher level than even Angelica and the last thing Zach wanted to do was get on his bad side. He doesn¡¯t seem unfriendly, at least, Zach thought. Just really strange. Clearing his throat and coughing into his fist, Zach took yet another step into the shop, and once there, he said, ¡°So, uh, my name is¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m Mushkie!¡± the NPC shouted out, his volume a bit too loud for such a quiet, homely environment. Even still, Zach smiled politely at him, not bothering to mention that his name was evident as it was literally floating about six-or-so inches above his head in bold white lettering. ¡°It¡¯s my honor to meet the both of you: Zachys Calador and James Green.¡± ¡°You know who we are?¡± Jimmy asked, sounding surprised. ¡°Just your names. I can see that. And your levels and a few other basic details.¡± He began to sniffle. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I apologize.¡± He wiped more tears that came to his eyes. ¡°You don¡¯t understand how lonely I¡¯ve been. I haven¡¯t had the chance to speak to anyone in over five centuries.¡± This was something he¡¯d mentioned earlier, but it only really sank in now. Zach found it unsettling, and it brought about an immediate compassion within him. Thanks to his connection with Eilea, he didn¡¯t have to ¡°imagine¡± what someone would feel like being alone in isolation for such a long time, because he had felt it¡ªor at least a small portion of it¡ªduring his interactions with Eilea Vayra. For this reason, Zach found it easy to forgive him for his off-putting, somewhat manic behavior. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you did something to piss Adamus off, huh?¡± Zach asked him. The NPC¡ªMushkie¡ªreacted with a sort of stunned bafflement to Zach¡¯s question. His mouth dropped open, his back stiffened, and he began fervently shaking his head. ¡°Who, me? No, no, of course not, dear customers! I¡¯ve never been anything but good!¡± ¡°Really? Then why¡¯d Adamus lock you up here?¡± ¡°Lock me¡­? No, this has always been where Mushkie belongs!¡± he insisted. ¡°I¡¯ve been here for thousands of years. I was created to be here.¡± ¡°But¡­if you didn¡¯t do anything wrong, why¡¯re you stuck here?¡± ¡°Because I was created to be here,¡± he repeated, speaking as though his words were more than sufficient to alleviate any confusion on the matter. They weren¡¯t. Zach wasn¡¯t sure if he should even bother to pry given that he was speaking with an unknown NPC with a clearly erratic temperament. Nevertheless, he decided to gently probe, as the existence of this place did much to arouse his curiosity. Yet, just before he could ask the next question on his mind, Jimmy beat him to it. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just up and leave if you¡¯re so lonely?¡± he asked, extending his arm towards the exit door. ¡°Leave?¡± Mushkie whispered. The way he spoke the word gave Zach the impression that it was strange on his lips: like a foreign thought. ¡°Mushkie can¡¯t leave. I¡¯m not allowed!¡± ¡°But Angelica leaves her inn and tavern all the time,¡± Zach said. ¡°So why can¡¯t you leave your item shop? You should go visit Angelica.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even know her,¡± Mushkie replied curtly and a bit dismissively. This, Zach found more stunning than anything else he¡¯d said so far. ¡°You¡­you don¡¯t know Angelica? She¡¯s an NPC like you.¡± Mushkie tapped his umbrella against his noggin. ¡°I know who she is. Never met her, though. She¡¯s got nothing to do with me.¡± Jimmy seemed to find all this just as strange as Zach did. He made a reflective-sounding hum then vocalized his confusion. ¡°Do you really just stay in here all day by yourself?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! I¡¯m not allowed to leave.¡± Zach rubbed his chin as he thought over everything he¡¯d just heard. After a moment, he asked, ¡°So, you¡¯re not allowed to leave this place, and uh, you¡¯ve been all alone here for over five centuries. And you¡¯re saying this is not some kind of, like, punishment or something?¡± Mushkie¡¯s response was as quirky and unusual as the NPC himself. Slowly, he closed his umbrella, and then he tapped his palm against his chest several times. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he whispered. Then another short period of silence transpired between the three of them, with Zach standing beside Jimmy on the carpet, and Mushkie gazing off solemnly at nothing in particular. Eventually, however, he met Zach and Jimmy¡¯s eyes, looking at each of them for several seconds before addressing them both. ¡°But it wasn¡¯t always like this!¡± he continued. ¡°My shop used to be so popular. Once upon a time, Mushkie had thousands of customers a day. It was always busy in here. So lively! But something changed around a¡­hmm¡­I¡¯d say around a thousand years ago; fewer adventurers started showing up, dropping to a few hundred a day, and then even less started coming over the following centuries. My last customer visited me five-hundred years ago. I don¡¯t know why it happened. Trials of Nolak used to be a very busy dungeon. Why did all the adventurers stop coming?¡± Zach found his words so remarkable that it took him a bit to reply as he processed what he¡¯d heard; in particular, what stuck out to him was that Mushkie had specifically mentioned Trials of Nolak, the exact dungeon that he and Jimmy were currently running through. He¡¯d mentioned it and it alone. Did this mean¡­? ¡°Uh, hey, Mushkie,¡± Zach said. ¡°Are you telling me that the one secret passageway we used to get here is the only way to get to your item shop? That there are no other ways for someone to get here?¡± Mushkie scratched the bald spot in the center of his head, which was sandwiched between two giant, cotton-ball-like puffs of pure white hair. ¡°Well, of course,¡± he replied, speaking as though it were obvious. ¡°But Angelica¡¯s has thousands of ways to get there. Maybe even millions. They say no one knows even a fraction of them.¡± Mushkie shrugged. ¡°Mushkie is not Angelica. My shop runs through Trials of Nolak only. But it¡¯s hardly a secret. Everyone knows I¡¯m here. Why don¡¯t they come anymore?¡± Zach looked at Jimmy, and then Jimmy looked at Zach, and in that moment, Zach was positive that the same chill he felt running down his spine was one that Jimmy could feel as well. ¡°You¡­you don¡¯t know what goes on outside of this place?¡± Zach asked him. ¡°Nope,¡± he replied immediately. ¡°Should I?¡± ¡°Well, Angelica seems to have ways of knowing everything that¡¯s happening around the world.¡± ¡°Mushkie is not Angelica!¡± he shouted as though offended. An instant later, his tone became far softer, and he asked, ¡°Why? What doesn¡¯t Mushkie know?¡± Zach drew a deep breath and then released it slowly. ¡°Whew, okay. This is going to be a lot for you to take in.¡± ¡°Tell me.¡± Zach took a second breath, and like the previous one, he held it a moment before releasing it. ¡°All right. So, just to come straight out with it: Galterra today is not the same as it was a long time ago. I don¡¯t know how you don¡¯t know this, but there are barely a thousand adventurers left in the world, and from what I¡¯ve been told, almost no one knows anything about Trials of Nolak. Me and Jimmy are only even here because we¡¯re using the dungeon as a way of getting to Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah.¡± ¡°Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah?¡± Mushkie asked, clearly amused. From his reaction, he seemed to ignore everything Zach had just told him except for the last few words. ¡°You boys off to fight the minotaur?¡± ¡°The minotaur?¡± His response to Zach¡¯s question was to clasp his hand over his mouth as though he¡¯d spilled some important secret. ¡°Oh no! Did I just reveal a quest spawn to someone who hadn¡¯t discovered it yet? That¡¯s a no-no!¡± ¡°Quest¡­spawn?¡± Zach whispered. Then it truly dawned on him just how clueless Mushkie actually was. ¡°Wait, do you think¡­?¡± Zach paused, unsure of how to word what he knew he needed to say next. But at the very least, all the pieces were finally falling into place, and he was beginning to understand Mushkie¡¯s confusion. ¡°Mushkie,¡± Zach began, addressing him by name. ¡°Galterra doesn¡¯t have any ¡®quest spawns¡¯ or mobs or things like that anymore. Everyone in the world except for a few people is level 1. The average person has never seen a mob with their own naked eyes, and even fewer people are aware that the dungeons still exist at all, let alone would they ever imagine visiting one. In fact, not only don¡¯t people level up or visit dungeons anymore, but most people couldn¡¯t do so even if they wanted to. There¡¯s nothing for them to kill that gives experience, and they can¡¯t access the dungeons without a special buff. That is probably why people aren¡¯t coming here.¡± Mushkie¡¯s eyes widened, and Zach could spot disbelief in them. ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous!¡± ¡°It¡¯s the truth,¡± Jimmy said, chiming in. ¡°I been out there. It¡¯s just people living regular lives. There¡¯s no mobs or anything in the open.¡± Mushkie once more went behind his counter, and he returned a moment later with a small wooden stool, which he then sat down on. ¡°Are you boys lying?¡± ¡°No,¡± both Zach and Jimmy said at the same time. Then Zach took a few minutes to calmly explain his upbringing, his life prior to becoming an adventurer, and what his view of the world was like before he¡¯d become involved in this new one. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°So¡­so what do Galterrans do all day?¡± Mushkie asked, clearly flabbergasted. ¡°Just, you know¡­normal stuff,¡± Zach replied. ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°Uh, you know, work, go to school, sell insurance, watch movies¡ªjust normal things.¡± Mushkie¡¯s expression shifted back and forth between wonder, doubt, and then finally, after a period of apparent reflection, Zach thought he spotted something akin to acceptance. ¡°So that¡¯s why,¡± he whispered, staring at the floor a moment. ¡°Galterrans¡­they actually¡­¡± He snapped his face up and once more took in him and Jimmy. ¡°So, are you saying that Mushkie didn¡¯t do anything wrong?¡± ¡°Of course not,¡± Zach said. ¡°Did¡­did you think it was your own fault that people stopped coming?¡± ¡°Yes! I thought maybe I was bad.¡± He again shed a few tears. ¡°So that¡¯s why everyone went away¡­¡± Astounded, Zach asked, ¡°And you¡¯ve been here all alone ever since?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°And nobody ever came by to tell you anything? You were just left here for hundreds of years to wonder what happened?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Zach couldn¡¯t help but feel a storm of rage growing inside of himself at how cavalier Adamus was when it came to abusing non-biological, sentient beings. Despite only having spoken to him once, and despite knowing almost nothing about him personally, Zach had now seen more than enough evidence to conclude definitively that Adamus held absolutely no regard for NPCs, and he almost certainly did not view them as being ¡°real¡± or ¡°genuine¡± forms of life. For whatever reason, the so-called ¡°Great One¡± placed absolutely no value whatsoever in the concept of ¡°consciousness.¡± Clearly, he didn¡¯t mind bringing thinking, feeling beings into existence only to allow¡ªor directly cause¡ªthem to then experience great suffering. Not even those who appeared to be loyal and serve him well were granted any kind of consideration for their pain. It was sickening and irresponsible. He brings them into the world and then doesn¡¯t care for them, Zach thought. Worse, he doesn¡¯t even view them as people. No matter how different he might have been from the average person, Zach could never view someone like Grundor or even Ruby as just an inanimate object meant to serve a master. Thankfully, Olivir and Kalana couldn¡¯t either, and both Grundor and Ruby were loved. But what if that hadn¡¯t been the case? What if Olivir treated Grundor more like a pet¡ªor worse? Like a meat shield to be used and then discarded? It was unthinkable. If anything, both Kalana and Olivir were more likely to throw themselves in front of their NPCs than they were to allow them to die on their behalf. What Adamus did isn¡¯t right, Zach thought, a belief he held down to his very core. For a short while, Zach said nothing as Mushkie seemed to take a moment to let everything sink in. Finally, however, after almost two straight minutes of what looked like silent contemplation, Mushkie¡¯s expression brightened; he smiled, got up from his stool, set his umbrella down, and then spread his arms widely to both sides of him. ¡°So, do you boys want to know about my store?¡± ¡°Hell yeah,¡± Jimmy said. Zach wasn¡¯t sure if he was genuinely interested or just looking to change the subject; it was probably a mixture of both. Mushkie took several quick steps forward and then pointed. ¡°Believe it or not, my store is one of the most important places for adventurers, and I¡¯m not exaggerating. It really is! You¡¯ll come back here again and again.¡± He wiggled his finger, his smile broadening. ¡°You see, boys, there¡¯s a reason Mushkie used to be so popular that adventurers would have to line up outside in the passageway because there was no room left to get in.¡± Zach glanced around at the spacious interior of the NPC¡¯s shop, finding this to be an astonishing claim. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Oh, yes-yes-yes! On some days, it was so crowded that adventurers would fight each other to get inside.¡± Zach laughed. ¡°Well, consider me hooked. I¡¯m interested in hearing more.¡± ¡°Yeah, tell us what the deal is,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°What¡¯s so special about it?¡± This seemed to be the question Mushkie was waiting for, because he really came alive, and now that he was stripped of his sad and defeated expression, his colorful attire and whimsical appearance began to make a bit more sense as he playfully twirled around and began discussing his item shop. ¡°So, as both of ya can already tell, I have a general section where you can find mundane, every-day common items that can help you in your grand adventures. As I¡¯m sure you boys know, you can¡¯t store regular objects in Bank and Storage: only named items from the adventuring world can go in your storage box. Luckily for you, everything in my store can accompany you on your travels. Emergency food, water, whatever you need: all of it can be placed in your storage and go with you wherever you end up. But! But! But! But! That is not why Mushkie used to have so much traffic that more than a dozen adventurers perished in brawls trying to cut the line to get in!¡± Mushkie scurried back behind his counter, slapped his palms down on the countertop, and then a screen of information popped into existence out of midair, occupying what Zach now realized was a frame of sorts above and in front of the counter. ¡°The reason Mushkie¡¯s shop has always and will always be the number-one stop for adventurers is because of the Weekly Haul! Each and every week, my selection of special items refreshes. You can buy anything you see here, but in limited quantity, for the entire week!¡± Zach glanced upwards at the screen of information¡ªand then he felt his heart begin to kick in his chest as he came close to choking out a cough in sheer amazement at what he saw for just the first three items on this informational display; before him, amid a blue backdrop, there was a simple list of items along with a ¡°quantity¡± that could be purchased per customer. And it was the first three of these that made him lean in closer while shuddering with excitement.
Item Quantity (Per Customer) Price
Red Rejuvenation Stone 2 20,000G
Yellow Rejuvenation Stone 2 25,000G
Purple Rejuvenation Stone 1 30,000G
There were other items, but those three struck Zach so powerfully that it was as though the words themselves had leapt off the floating display and poked him in the eyes. ¡°J-Jimmy!¡± he yelped. ¡°They¡¯re selling rejuvenation stones for¡­for¡­¡± Of all things, Mushkie sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, boys. Usually, they¡¯re a bit cheaper. Mushkie has no control over what appears on the list each week and how much it will cost. They¡¯re a bit pricey this week.¡± ¡°Pricey?¡± Zach exclaimed, unable to control his shouting. ¡°Those stones are worth millions of gold each!¡± ¡°Millions?¡± Mushkie shouted right back at him. ¡°For mere rejuvenation stones? My, what has happened to sweet Galterra if the stones have inflated that much in cost!¡± Zach couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing. Like a rising tide, he risked being swept away with a greed so powerful it made his hand shake as he reached across to touch the screen. ¡°How do I buy them?¡± he asked urgently. ¡°If your money¡¯s in Bank and Storage, you just have to tap what you want and then tap buy. I accept raw gold coins as well. Also! I forgot to mention: each and every month, I have a rare, very exclusive item for sale. I actually get to pick who I offer it to, which has always been so much fun for me. Now, the way I used to decide who gets the offer would be by holding special contests and events. But¡­since you¡¯re the first face I¡¯ve seen in centuries, and since you mentioned you visit Angelica¡¯s a lot, I think maybe you¡¯ll be interested in this.¡± The display briefly changed, and now there was just one item shown for sale. Zach saw it, he blinked exactly three times in succession, and then there was an explosion within him: a monumental nuclear-force blast of greed that shook him so terribly he momentarily lost the ability to breathe. As the name of the item appeared before him, he did not simply reach forward to purchase it: he dove at it. He actually dove forward at the screen and slammed his palm against it with enough force that it caused his hand to ache. And then he continued to tap at it, slapping the buy button over and over and over, spending 40,000 of his 72,000 gold without even a moment¡¯s consideration. ¡°Did I get it?¡± he shouted. ¡°Did I get it?¡± ¡°You did, you did! Stop slapping my display!¡± Zach made such a sharp inhale that it reminded him of how he sounded a bit earlier when him and Jimmy had surfaced in the pond with their lungs burning for oxygen. This can¡¯t be real. Appearing before him was a certificate. And on this certificate, it said: Angelica¡¯s Inn: 1 year paid in advance, room 8. ¡°You greedy motherfucker!¡± Jimmy hissed, clearly upset, though Zach was too elated to care. ¡°We could¡¯a rolled for that shit or something. Damn, man.¡± Zach trembled as he looked upon the certificate. He couldn¡¯t believe this was real. Room fucking eight! This was worth fifty, maybe sixty million gold, easy. Hell, any inn room within a twenty-minute walk was worth in the millions. Most people would fight¡ªliterally, actually fight¡ªover getting a room in the top two thousand. And here was an item of ¡°uncommon¡± rarity that might as well have been artifact quality. The eighth inn room! Nobody¡¯s going to believe me when I tell them I have it! This is worth more than life itself! Despite having impulsively rushed forward, Zach audaciously turned to Jimmy and asked, ¡°Can I borrow some money?¡± ¡°You serious?¡± Jimmy asked, a slight scowl on his face. ¡°Jimmy, I know you¡¯re mad, but we obviously need to buy every single thing on this list. I don¡¯t know what most of this shit is, like that ¡®dungeon escape rope,¡¯ but we have to buy everything. Especially that ¡®teleport stone,¡¯ which sounds cool as hell. Oh, Gods, Jimmy! We¡¯re about to be the richest people in Galterran history!¡± Jimmy curled his lips. The prospect of fortune and riches didn¡¯t seem to matter much to him, and rather than reply to what Zach had just said, he seemed to be stuck on the matter of the inn room. ¡°I¡¯m just gonna be real for a second,¡± he began, coming across as aggravated. ¡°Zach, I don¡¯t mind you taking the inn room if it¡¯s because you want to use it and start building a world in there. But you¡¯re gonna sell it. That¡¯s why I¡¯m kinda pissed off. I mean, don¡¯t get me wrong: like I said, if it¡¯s because you wanna build a pocket world of your own, I wouldn¡¯t be saying shit to you right now. I just wanna make that clear. Thing is, Zach, that unlike you, I don¡¯t want to live on Galterra. I wanna live inside the dungeon ecosystem, not out of it¡ªespecially if this is gonna be my life going forward. I would make so much better use of that than anyone else. Right now, I¡¯m stuck in room thirty-eight-fucking-thousand, two-hundred-seven. It takes my ass over an hour to walk home.¡± ¡°Yeah, that sucks,¡± Zach said, barely paying attention to what Jimmy had said. Hungrily, he eyed the certificate. Morally, he knew the right thing to do would be to let Jimmy have it. It was also something Jascaila would say he should do if she were here right now. But you know what? She wasn¡¯t here right now, and progress took time, so fuck it: there was no way Jimmy was getting it; no, Zach was going to sell it and then buy ten mansions or something. Or¡­maybe not. That might be excessive, actually. But the point was that he could buy ten mansions if he wanted to. After all, he was holding onto the most prime real-estate in the entire adventuring world. Inn room 8. I just can¡¯t believe it. The original screen having returned, Zach eyed the rejuvenation stones as well as the various other items being sold beneath them. ¡°Damn, I need more gold,¡± he muttered. Mushkie beamed, pointing somewhere at the screen. ¡°You can also sell your unwanted items here, too.¡± ¡°I can?¡± ¡°Sure can! Just press that button there, and you¡¯ll see an itemized list of everything in your storage box.¡± Zach did as he was told, and just as Mushkie had said, he could now see his own storage box, which was mostly filled with ether low-level junk from the Moldark boss in Yorna that he¡¯d farmed, along with the common, unneeded items he¡¯d gotten from Gacha Get''cha. Interestingly¡ªand disappointingly¡ªtheir value here was greatly disproportionate to their real-world value. But this, of course, meant little, since selling adventuring-world items to normal level-one citizens was considered such a huge taboo and also a crime. Even still, the mace from Moldark, which was worth a mere 5,000g, was something he could probably sell for a million if not way, way more if only he was allowed to do so. I never thought I¡¯d see the day where 5,000 gold feels like a small amount of coin, he thought to himself. Gods, things have really changed for me. Not wanting to waste any time making decisions, Zach lifted his hand and absentmindedly pressed sell, sell, sell, sell, sell¡­ It¡¯s just junk, he told himself. Better off getting rid of it. When all was said and done, Zach ended up with 51,229g in his Bank and Storage, and now, navigating back to the main Weekly Haul display page, he purchased a red and a purple stone for a total of 45,000g, leaving him without enough gold to buy anything else. Each time he thumbed the buy button, he heard a cash-register-like cha-ching sound, and then the amount available to purchase for each was reduced by one. ¡°Where are the items?¡± he asked. ¡°Unlike the special monthly item, these go straight to your box.¡± ¡°Ahh, okay.¡± Pleadingly, even knowing it was crass of him, he again turned to Jimmy and asked, ¡°Is there any way I can borrow a few gold?¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Jimmy replied grumpily. ¡°Ya¡¯ll got some nerve.¡± Zach opened his mouth and began to release a sigh, but before he¡¯d fully exhaled, to his surprise, Jimmy released a sigh of his own and relented. ¡°How much you need?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know,¡± he said. ¡°I mean, obviously, we probably won¡¯t be able to buy everything that¡¯s for sale, but I think we can¡ª¡± ¡°Actually, yeah we can,¡± Jimmy said, interrupting him. ¡°I have 2.5 in my bank.¡± ¡°2.5¡­what?¡± ¡°Million.¡± Zach squawked. ¡°How the fuck? You¡¯re a millionaire, Jimmy?¡± ¡°Soloing bosses is lucrative,¡± Jimmy said, cracking a smirk. Then his lips became flat and his expression serious. ¡°You¡¯re lucky I¡¯m such a nice guy.¡± More than just a little guilt erupted inside of Zach. In a way, he almost wished Jimmy would have refused him, because he was being so disgustingly greedy¡ªhe couldn¡¯t even deny it¡ªand Jimmy was being generous and unselfish. But the temptation to keep the inn room¡­it was just too high. And so, his joy was tainted as Jimmy gave him enough coin to cover a blanket purchase of everything for sale, and then Jimmy stepped up to the screen and did the same. Once both were finished shopping, the screen vanished, and Mushkie clapped his hands together. ¡°I¡¯m just so happy to see people again,¡± he said. ¡°Thank you for your business.¡± At this, Jimmy snickered. ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll be seeing tons of people from now on.¡± ¡°I will?¡± Mushkie shouted out in surprise and hope. Jimmy nodded. ¡°Trust me. As soon as the adventurers know about your shop, they¡¯re gonna be busting down the door. You¡¯ll never have a quiet moment again. You can expect twenty-four-seven customers. There may not be as many of them as there used to be, but they really get around.¡± Mushkie again clapped, this time continuously as though giving Jimmy a round of applause. ¡°Oh, thank you! That¡¯s all I want! To have this place come alive again!¡± Zach cleared his throat. ¡°Well, we don¡¯t know for sure if that¡¯s going to happen.¡± ¡°Huh? Why not?¡± both Mushkie and Jimmy asked him. ¡°Well, we can come by a lot and pay Mushkie visits regularly so that he¡¯s not lonely anymore, but do we really want to tell everyone about this place? The price of these items will crater. Right now, we have a monopoly on this item shop. We can corner the market. We can become a bigger supplier of rare items than entire adventuring guilds. Think about what our return on investment will be each week.¡± Mushkie¡¯s face reddened, and he took on a look of devastation. ¡°Nooo! Please, Zachys Calador. Don¡¯t!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t what? Corner the market.¡± ¡°No! Don¡¯t keep this place a secret. I can¡¯t fulfill my purpose. Every day is worse than the last. All I do is stand around waiting and waiting for someone to find me useful and visit my store. I was designed to crave social interaction. You don¡¯t understand my pain. Please!¡± Hearing the desperation and hurt in his voice, the words cut straight through Zach¡¯s greed, which had momentarily blinded him, making him forget about how Mushkie felt about all this. But before he could reassure the quirky NPC, Jimmy decided to do so for him. ¡°Relax,¡± he said, holding up his hand to Mushkie. ¡°We¡¯re not keeping it a secret. I won¡¯t let him.¡± To Zach, he said, ¡°Do you really wanna make this poor dude sit here and cry every day? So what if the prices go down a little bit?¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re right. It was a dumb idea. I wasn¡¯t thinking.¡± Lifting his index finger, he added, ¡°But just so you know, it won¡¯t be a little drop.¡± ¡°Oh yeah?¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Mushkie implied that the stones are regularly featured on the Weekly Haul, sometimes even for cheaper. Let¡¯s just say they pop up every two weeks¡ªhell, let¡¯s say three weeks¡ªand let¡¯s say each and every adventurer can buy two-to-five stones for between ten-to-twenty-thousand gold. You can bet that the price of a stone is going to plummet from over a million¡ªthe going rate for a red since the dragon raid¡ªall the way down to, I don¡¯t know, 100k at the most.¡± ¡°So?¡± Zach threw his hands up. ¡°I want to be rich.¡± Jimmy made a confident, self-assured grin. ¡°Duo some bosses with me. You¡¯ll get all the gold you want.¡± Zach pointed at him. ¡°I¡¯m taking you up on that.¡± ¡°Good. And you don¡¯t know it yet, but you¡¯re giving me that fucking inn room.¡± ¡°No way.¡± ¡°Yeah you are.¡± ¡°Never.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see about that. I already know how I¡¯m getting it, too.¡± Zach laughed. ¡°Oh yeah, how?¡± Now, Jimmy laughed. ¡°I¡¯m gonna tell Kalana.¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Might as well hand it over now.¡± Zach laughed yet again, but this time nervously. Jimmy had better not get Kalana involved. He clutched the inn certificate against his chest. Nobody was getting it: not without a ten-million-gold down payment. Chapter 140: The True Value of Items Chapter 140: The True Value of Items Kalana crouched down, reached out with her arms, and around the neck of a little Elvish girl no older than five or six, she placed a friendship necklace manifested through magic by the Elvish Goddess, Eilea Vayra. With inquisitive, childish eyes, the girl looked up at Kalana, and then at the Goddess; her lips moved, but she said nothing. Her father, who stood beside her, used both of his hands to then gently¡ªand expectantly¡ªnudge her on the shoulder. ¡°What do you say to these two ladies?¡± he asked her. ¡°T-t-thank you,¡± she squeaked nervously. ¡°Thank you¡ªwhat?¡± ¡°Thank you, Princess Kalana.¡± She bowed her head. ¡°Thank you, Great Goddess.¡± Kalana hugged the girl. ¡°You¡¯re welcome, cutie!¡± With that, the girl¡¯s father, who wore a green cloak, bowed gracefully and departed with his daughter, making room for the next in a long line of Elvish and non-Elvish visitors alike who were waiting patiently for their turn to meet the Goddess. At the moment, Kalana, along with her mother, the little human boy, Pete, Angelica, and even her dad, too, were more or less encircled with the Goddess in a guarded perimeter located in the mob-free zone of the Island of Elendroth. As if to accompany the miracle of the Great Goddess¡¯s return, none of her island¡¯s periodic but brief storms had materialized so far today, and so the sky was a sunny, beautiful blue, casting golden rays of sunshine down on top of them all while the smell of cooking meat, baking bread, and even some sweets wafted on the air. It all served to put Kalana in a really happy mood. She finally got to be around the Goddess, and she was being super helpful, too! Even dad looks happy. The fact that dad had taken his place here was a relief but also a surprise. Given dad¡¯s animosity, Kalana worried he¡¯d neglect his responsibility and oathbound role as husband to the sworn queen, as it would have caused him to become scorned by all of Elvish kind. Thankfully, he seemed to understand that this was not something he could get out of, and to be honest, Kalana liked seeing her dad and her recently rediscovered mother at least managing to reside near one another without it causing a shouting match or violence to erupt between the two of them. ¡°Need something cold to drink, honey?¡± her father asked her. ¡°Nope, I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°You sure? It¡¯s pretty damn hot out here.¡± ¡°I¡¯m good, dad. Promise.¡± Although the work of assisting her mother and the Goddess was hard¡ªat least, socially speaking¡ªit was really important, and she was so honored to be playing such a big role in it. And you know what else? Kalana was having lots of fun, too. She was energized by the overall festive atmosphere, finding it useful in helping to prevent her from becoming emotionally or outgoingly drained. This was good, because there sure were a whole lot of people who wanted an audience with the Elvish Goddess. For her part, Kalana had been given the important formality of introducing them. Her job was to speak in an elevated but courteous voice and announce their name to Eilea before proceeding to announce Eilea¡¯s name to them. At their current pace, however, it was pretty clear that this was going to be an all-day and possibly even all-night event¡ªwhich was crazy when considering that it was totally unplanned and happened by surprise. This whole thing had sort of just ¡°come together¡± with no warning. Nobody¡ªexcept maybe Zach¡ªknew in advance that the Great Goddess was going to return today or even at all. Everything had to be improvised from the moment of her appearance. But, all things considered, it was mostly going smoothly so far. All around the mob-free zone, trays upon trays of delicious food were constantly being set down on impromptu tables staked into the grass. All of the food was prepared by the Elves themselves, much of it being made on large, charcoal barbeques that were not far from the seating area that had been erected in such a hurry. In a way, this kind of reminded Kalana of the camp that they¡¯d set up prior to the Ziragoth raid¡ªonly without the tents or the fear of death. Oh! Here come the humans, too. This is all gonna become even more hectic now. Her mother, with permission from Eilea, had ratcheted up the stakes around an hour ago when she¡¯d placed a diplomatic call inviting the high-ranking members of the various human guilds to visit the Elvish Goddess. Probably, mom was thinking that presenting an Elvish Great One to them would raise the diplomatic standing of the entire Elvish race. Given flight times and other factors, most weren¡¯t expected to arrive until tomorrow evening at the earliest, but servants of the various guilds had been dispatched ahead of time to prepare, and the very first few¡ªprobably from the nearby Shores of Wrath¡ªwere beginning to trickle in; this meant that their current, ¡°backyard-like¡± atmosphere was probably going to become a whole lot fancier by the time the humans got done doing their human-things to it in advance of the guild-members arriving. Of course, not all the guilds would be sending representatives. Considering their current state of affairs, it wasn¡¯t much of a surprise that the Guild of Gentlemen were neither invited nor willing to send so much as a single dignitary to attend; in light of what had happened to Peter V, that was probably a good thing. Kalana wasn¡¯t too sure her mom wouldn¡¯t do something really undiplomatic like decapitate whoever might¡¯ve shown up. She was really, really upset about Peter''s death. I don¡¯t wanna see anyone from that guild either, Kalana thought, curling her nose at the thought of those mean people stepping foot on their sacred hunting grounds. They declared war on us! Anyways, with the political-guild humans on their way, her mother had ordered four of her high-level Elvish warriors to the southeast of the island a short while ago. Supposedly, there was some quest there that mom believed would make the invisible barrier around the island go away for three consecutive days. This would allow the helicopters carrying important guild members to land directly on a hastily made clearing a bit farther north set up specifically in anticipation of their arrival. Normally, coming here via air or boat required very careful navigation through a miniscule, difficult-to-find pocket that let small craft pass undamaged. Failure to do so meant crashing into the barrier, which in turn meant any level-1 humans aboard dying unnecessarily. Everything that¡¯s happening is ¡®cause Zach brought her back to us, Kalana thought, amazed. I still can¡¯t believe my baby brought the Elvish Goddess back to us. I just can¡¯t believe it! Kalana was so proud of Zach, who she cared about more than anyone else. Lately, she wondered if she told him that enough. Sometimes, she felt a bit guilty, because she knew she often spent too much time yapping at him whenever he was mean or did something that got on her nerves, and that was because he could be really mean and he did often get on her nerves! But Zach was also one of the best people Kalana had ever met, and she really needed to tell him that more often. He saved me from the worst of my misery¡­ Almost four years ago, when Kalana had been relocated to the primary city of Whispery Woods with her dad, she¡¯d found herself all alone in a new, strange world; she¡¯d had no friends, no one to talk to, and to make it all worse, she¡¯d still been badly reeling from several years¡¯ worth of trauma: things that, even now, she only had the courage to really think about when Jascaila was around to help guide her. Back then, she¡¯d been in a really bad place, plagued by nightmares every night and filled with a darkness that wouldn¡¯t go away. But then, one day, having shown up late for school, she¡¯d carelessly bumped into Zach while rushing through the second-floor hallway on her way to class, causing her to drop her bag and empty all of her holobooks out onto the grimy, seldom-washed vinyl flooring. Even though Kalana had been the one at fault, it¡¯d been Zach who apologized, bending down to help her retrieve her spilled belongings. And just like that, she¡¯d latched onto him. She¡¯d become a total nuisance. She¡¯d started following him everywhere he went, unable to stop herself. And then, a few months later, this became even easier because, through sheer coincidence, Zach and his dad moved into the apartment across the hall from her due to the price of rent increasing uptown. From that day on, she always sought him out. And a big part of this was because he allowed her. Even when he protested or called her annoying, she knew he never meant it. He always let her be near him. Gods, she¡¯d liked him so much from the very beginning¡ªeven though it¡¯d taken him years before he realized that he liked her too. I loved him from the day he bumped into me, she thought, a warm feeling causing her toes to tingle as she thought about how much fun they¡¯d had together these last two weeks. I wonder what he¡¯s up to right now? Kalana had been too busy to pay much mind to what he¡¯d told her earlier: something about going with Jimmy through a dungeon to see Alex? Normally, that would¡¯ve made her worry a bit, but the Great Goddess seemed capable of keeping tabs on him. And as if seeing Kalana¡¯s concern for Zach popping up onto her face again, she once more offered some reassurance. ¡°They¡¯re fine,¡± Eilea said, lowering her head and slightly closing her eyes. ¡°They are?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°Yes, I¡¯d know pretty quickly if something ever happened to either of them, so there¡¯s no reason for you to worry. They are both just fine.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Kalana said, exhaling with relief. ¡°Umm, are they with Alex?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so: at least not yet. Let me see if I can find out more.¡± Her eyes narrowed as though deep in concentration, and for a few seconds, she was quiet. Then she turned her head off to her left in the direction of the ocean, staring at it blankly. ¡°I found them,¡± she announced. ¡°The boys, they are currently¡­hmm¡­it looks like, right now, they¡¯re playing in one of the dungeons.¡± Kalana rubbed her forehead and released a groan. ¡°Really? I thought they were just gonna go talk to Alex. Figures they¡¯d get bored and start messing around.¡± She sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that. I dunno why they¡¯re wasting time when there¡¯s so much going on here.¡± Eilea again resumed her narrow-eyed look of concentration. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯re actually trying to do anything more than pass through. It¡¯s most likely the case that they¡¯re just making their way slowly through the dungeon and it¡¯s taking them some time.¡± Angelica, who was the only non-Elf aside from Pete that was allowed to remain inside this tight-knit perimeter, seemed to stiffen somewhat, and she pouted. ¡°This is all my fault,¡± she said. ¡°Gahh! I should¡¯a handled the situation better.¡± Eilea placed her palm on Angelica¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s really not your fault, Angelica. I regret that Zach wasn¡¯t allowed to speak to me directly, but even if he had been, I would¡¯ve told him the same thing that you did. As much as I regret our limitations, you were correct in your assessment: no matter how small a favor it might¡¯ve been, my worthless husband still would¡¯ve objected to you portaling him to Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah under those circumstances.¡± Two audible gasps came from her mom and dad, and it reminded Kalana that they did not know everything that she knew, which was why hearing Eilea speak degradingly about Adamus, her husband, must¡¯ve come as a shock to them. Even still, they asked no questions, and both of them probably thought it was just normal quarreling among the Gods. Kalana wished she could tell them more, but she knew she couldn¡¯t. There was probably so much stuff they were confused about. They don¡¯t even know that Adamus and Eilea are the only two left, she thought, a nervous pit forming in her stomach as she was forced to grapple with such an uncomfortable truth. She decided not to let it bother her too much, though. She needed to just appreciate that the Great Goddess, Eilea Vayra, was still among them, and she was standing right next to her! Glancing outwards at the perimeter of Elves, Eilea said, ¡°I need to let it be known from this point on that if Zachys Calador ever needs to speak with me for any reason, no one shall bar him from doing so.¡± Somewhat more emotionally, she said, ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t want him to feel like I¡¯m somehow off limits to him now, or that he¡¯s being sidelined.¡± Eilea¡¯s words only seemed to further befuddle mom and dad, but they both nodded without question. Having become distracted by her thoughts, Kalana realized she hadn¡¯t called the next in line, and people were starting to get anxious. She returned her attention to the list she¡¯d been given containing the prioritized order of those wishing to see the Goddess, but before her eyes could find the next name to call, she was distracted yet again as Angelica frowned and became visibly anxious. ¡°Do ya know if Zach¡¯s still angry with me?¡± Angelica asked, coming across as worried and a bit saddened. ¡°He was annoyed that I wouldn¡¯t take him to Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah, and I hope he¡¯s not too upset.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you see for yourself?¡± Kalana asked her curiously. ¡°I thought you can see what¡¯s going on around the world like Eilea can.¡± Angelica smiled at her and raised her index finger, her expression briefly brightening. ¡°I sure can! But only from my inn, Kalana. And even then, I can¡¯t read emotions: just events.¡± Following that brief moment of cheerfulness, her glower returned, and she regarded Eilea. ¡°So um, do you know if he¡¯s upset with me?¡± ¡°If he is,¡± Eilea answered, ¡°then I can¡¯t imagine he¡¯ll stay upset for long. It really wasn¡¯t your fault, and I¡¯m sure he knows that. But, if it¡¯ll put your mind at ease, Angelica, I¡¯ll see if I can find out.¡± With that, Eilea again lowered her head and briefly closed her eyes. ¡°Right now, I cannot sense any ire towards you from him. It¡¯s difficult to get an accurate read from this distance, but his mind seems oddly uncomplicated.¡± ¡°Uncomplicated?¡± Angelica asked. ¡°Yes. Typically, the mind is filled at all times with layers of complex emotions, both conscious and unconscious, and Zach is no exception to this¡ªmost of the time. But right now, I can only sense¡­I can only feel something that registers to me as¡­well, as ¡®greed.¡¯ Can this be right? All I feel is a strong, overwhelming sense of greed. I must not be getting a correct reading.¡± Kalana sighed. ¡°Nope, you definitely got it right,¡± she said, rolling her eyes. ¡°Knowing my Zach, he probably either just found something really expensive in that dungeon, or uh, he¡¯s daydreaming about loot.¡± Eilea gave her an odd look as though Kalana¡¯s words were unexpected. ¡°Zach is greedy?¡± she asked. Kalana returned her look with one of her own. The question took her by surprise. ¡°You¡­you don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve watched over him a great deal recently, but not on such a deep level that I¡¯d know. Is he truly a greedy person?¡± ¡°Well, sometimes he is. He¡¯s not always greedy, but whenever he does become that way, uh, he¡¯s like really greedy. I can¡¯t believe you dunno that.¡± Eilea nodded. ¡°For whatever reason, I simply have never felt this side of him until just now.¡± ¡°Oh. Well, umm, sometimes he can be a little greedy.¡± Kalana lowered her voice just a bit. ¡°He better not be doing something bad or mean,¡± she grumbled. ¡°What¡¯s he up to, anyway? Can you find out?¡± Her mother glared at her. ¡°Kalana! Do not pester the Great Goddess with insipid, petty questions regarding such trivial concerns.¡± Kalana opened her mouth to apologize, but Eilea waved her hand and spoke first. ¡°It¡¯s perfectly fine,¡± she said. ¡°You and your daughter can ask me whatever it is you like, and if I¡¯m able and permitted to answer it, I will.¡± Following those words, she paused as if to consider Kalana¡¯s question. Then she made a slight shake of her head. ¡°I can¡¯t really tell with any specificity what Zach is up to,¡± she continued. ¡°The level of focus and attention required to hone my gaze to where I can clearly see his deeds is more than I can spare right now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all right,¡± Kalana said graciously. ¡°Thank you for letting me know he¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°Of course, young princess.¡± Kalana smiled at the Great Goddess; distantly, she wondered what Zach could possibly be up to that would make it so that the only thing Eilea could sense from him was greed. Maybe it¡¯s nothing, she thought. ****** ¡°¡ªwhich is why if we start at five-hundred thousand a stone, and we let the political guilds and adventuring guilds get into a bidding war, we can probably capitalize on things very quickly before we go blabbering about Mushkie to everyone. Basically, you give me just a few days to sell our ¡®merchandise,¡¯ and then afterwards, we can reveal to the Explorers Brigade and everyone else that we found such an amazing¡ªahh, fuck! Another one!¡± Zach dropped into a squat while simultaneously leaning backwards as a Sneering Imp Warrior that had been hidden in the shadows blasted forward, its wings buzzing. Annoyed and irritated, he watched as the creature made numerous zigzagging motions in the air before slicing its spear at his throat, missing him completely and flying directly past him. It then came around for a second strike, but this time, Zach managed to hop back to his feet, swing his blade upwards, and intercept its spear with his sword, the two weapons clashing above his head as it then flew off behind him for the second time. ¡°So, what was I saying?¡± ¡°Uh, you were talking about how we¡¯re gonna make millions before we reveal Mushkie¡¯s item shop,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°Oh, yeah. Right. Okay, so¡ªfucking Gods damn these annoying things! One second!¡± The Sneering Imp Warrior launched itself at Zach for the third time. Zach, following its motion the best he could in the scant light, bent his knees and stood at the ready on this faded, polished-stone flooring of what had thus far been an incredibly dark, shadowy, and tube-shaped hallway that rain straight across F29. To this point, the floor had been mostly unremarkable; it had consisted of a straight path through a damp, mossy-smelling passageway that contained irregularly located imp mobs that had jumped out at them when entering their aggro range. The first few times, it¡¯d given Zach a scare, but he¡¯d become accustomed to it pretty quickly. Now, as the Sneering Imp Warrior flew until it was just an inch or two in front of him, it then dashed backwards in the air before once more bouncing itself forward while lifting its spear. Zach drew back his arms, ready to guard against its next strike. This time, however, rather than merely collide his weapon with the creature¡¯s gilded spear, he realized that this was the perfect situation to try out his newest ability, the information of which was still hovering near the bottom of his vision from when he¡¯d read it over a minute or two earlier. As far as he was aware, it was the very first ability he¡¯d ever acquired that was just an ordinary, non-unique, and non-legendary skill: one likely possessed by a number of sword-wielding adventurers. In fact, Zach was pretty sure he¡¯d seen this very ability used by a few people during the dragon raid, but he¡¯d decided to read it over anyway just to be safe.
Inner Ability Halting Strike
Exertion Cost Low-Moderate
Cooldown 60 seconds
Description Stuns the first entity struck for a duration between 0.5 and 1.2 second(s) (T1 stun). Cannot be used on rock-based monsters or those that are incorporeal. Halting Strike has no effect if the user¡¯s sword does not connect with a valid target, that target¡¯s armor, or that target¡¯s currently wielded weapon or shield. (ability must be used within 10 seconds of activation).
As the Sneering Imp Warrior released its twisted, demonic-sounding laugh and sliced its spear downwards at Zach, Zach activated Halting Strike. The moment of activation, the tiniest bit of darkness abated as his sword began to crackle with red, electric-like sparks, which were not particularly bright but still managed to cause a hint of reddish light to bounce onto the walls to both sides of him as well as the stone floor. From the base of the weapon up to the tip of the blade¡¯s edge, these electrical tendrils now covered the entirety of his sword, which to his relief, he found to still be under his control. Unlike with Wave Slash or Phase Slash, it appeared this ability did not possess his body. Swinging his sword upwards and outwards, a clang filled the previously quiet dungeon floor as his blade once more met the imp¡¯s golden spear in a way similar to their previous clash only a moment prior. But this time, the mob did not simply fly off after Zach deflected its attack. Upon impact, the red tendrils bunched up at the very end of his blade, forming into a singular ball of plasma that then traveled up and along the imp¡¯s spear before entering its body through its arms and causing it to immediately stop; now, it remained right where it was, hovering in place midair while its entire body began to randomly shoot off red sparks. ¡°Got you,¡± Zach said with a grin. Given the stun¡¯s short duration, Zach had no time to delay. He picked up his left foot, lurched his body forward, and then stomped that same foot back down again while twisting his hips and swinging his arms around, delivering a follow-up strike that not only cut off the imp¡¯s entire jaw, but caused it¡ªalong with a splatter of blood¡ªto stain the wall to his left. 26,400
HP 46,100/72,500
Name Sneering Imp Warrior
Level 45
Zach, moving as quickly as he could, struck out again, whipping his sword in the opposite direction. And Gods, he came so close to delivering another powerful hit that he could actually feel the disappointment in his arms when his sword batted away nothing more than the empty air. The imp, recovering from the stun just in time, managed to slip by, zipping behind and over Zach¡¯s shoulders; the imp then disappeared once more into the darkness behind him¡ªbut not before Jimmy threw his staff out, grunted, and from the tip of it, he unleashed one of his blueish, ball-shaped, and fist-sized projectiles, which moved even faster than the imp. The last sight Zach had of the creature¡ªat least for the moment¡ªwas its forked tail vanishing into the shadows while a damage number¡ª8005¡ªmade itself visible even amid the darkness, though it cast no illumination of its own. ¡°All right, I lost my train of thought again. What was I saying?¡± Jimmy sighed. ¡°You were going on about how we should wait a few days to tell everybody about Mushkie¡¯s item shop.¡± ¡°Oh yeah! Right.¡± Zach nodded. ¡°So, I agree it¡¯d be really fucked up to just keep him a secret, especially after he begged us to tell everybody and whatnot. But look: if we could wait just a couple of days before we told everyone¡ªonly like three or four at the most¡ªwe would be able to sell all this shit we just bought at a real premium. We could even make different groups bid for it, too.¡± Zach studied Jimmy¡¯s expression¡ªor tried to, at least. This floor was so damn dark that it was actually tough to see his reaction. ¡°Well?¡± he asked. ¡°What do you think?¡± Jimmy took his left hand off his staff, raised it, and then pointed over Zach¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I think that mob¡¯s coming back at you. That¡¯s what I think.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a real answer,¡± Zach grunted while ducking down low at the exact same time. The mob returned, shooting overhead, its spear cutting the emptiness above. Zach pursued, springing forward, jumping into the air, and then taking a vicious downwards swing at the creature, narrowly missing for the second time what would¡¯ve been a very powerful hit had it connected. A small click resounded as his feet touched down onto the stone, and he regarded Jimmy. ¡°We need to start planning what we¡¯re going to do. That¡¯s all I¡¯m trying to say. We have to move quick on this.¡± Given such terrible lighting, it was very hard to tell if Zach was correctly seeing what looked like an irritated glare coming off Jimmy. Honestly, this had to be the darkest dungeon floor Zach had ever visited. Of course, he wasn¡¯t counting the one he and Kal had fallen into in Whispery Woods because there was no reason to believe it had even been a dungeon floor in the first place. Whatever it was, it had been pitch black, and it was only thanks to Kal¡¯s ability that they had been able to see anything at all. On this floor, however, they did at least have some light, but it was a strange sort of lighting that couldn¡¯t be ¡°manipulated¡± via external sources. Somehow, only the area around Zach and Jimmy happened to be lit. It was as though they were traveling with an invisible torch attached to their hips or something. Everything a few feet ahead of and behind them was always submerged in darkness. Obviously, one of the first things Zach had done upon entering F29 was try to use his phone¡¯s flashlight to scout ahead for mobs; surprisingly, that didn¡¯t seem to work on this floor. It was as though the darkness ate the light beyond a certain point. The light simply did not illuminate anything in either direction beyond a constant threshold. Barely able to see the finer details on his face, Zach, for the second time, tried to make out Jimmy¡¯s expression, and like before, he just couldn¡¯t do it. Eventually, he gave up and decided to continue badgering him until he got an answer. ¡°Do you get what I¡¯m saying?¡± Zach asked him. ¡°We don¡¯t want to keep Mushkie waiting, so we have to move fast.¡± ¡°How about we make it through this dungeon first and then we worry about all that later?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to figure out the details now?¡± ¡°Nah, not really,¡± Jimmy said, his voice now leaving no doubt that he was annoyed. ¡°Zach, you got to stop thinking about money all the time. For real, that shit gets tired quick. Give it a rest.¡± Zach frowned. ¡°Sheesh. Sorry you hate money.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t hate money, dude,¡± Jimmy said, shaking his head. ¡°I just don¡¯t let that shit consume my life. I¡¯m trying to, you know, just enjoy being in this cool-as-hell dungeon, and you¡¯re ruining the fun of it with your greedy-ass, me-me-me bullshit. Fuck out of here with that already. It¡¯s enough!¡± Surprised¡ªand irked¡ªby Jimmy¡¯s sudden eruption of anger, Zach opened his mouth to respond with equal harshness, feeling defensive. Then he became literally defensive as the imp lunged at the two of them. First Zach, then Jimmy ducked as the Sneering Imp Warrior tried taking off both their heads with the same swing. As it tended to do, upon missing, it flew off and into the darkness. Jimmy tried to sneak in a hit on its retreat, releasing another of his blue orbs from the point of his staff, but this one missed and ended up causing a small crack in the wall a bit ahead of them. Zach waited for the exact moment that the sound of its buzzing wings faded, and once it became inaudible, he snapped his head towards Jimmy, eager to verbally retaliate, his temper rising. Put simply, he really didn¡¯t like the way Jimmy had just spoken to him and he certainly didn¡¯t feel that what he¡¯d said warranted such a harsh response. Yet, as Zach inhaled, ready to unleash a ferocious string of insult-laden expletives at Jimmy, he surprised himself by instead choosing at the last minute to be productive rather than reductive¡ªas Jascaila had taught him to do. ¡°That was really harsh,¡± he said, his tone measured. ¡°Jimmy, I don¡¯t just care about myself¡ªwhich is what I think you¡¯re implying with that whole ¡®me-me-me¡¯ thing¡ªand you should know that, because if it was true, I wouldn¡¯t have fought assassins to protect you. And yeah, I¡¯m not perfect: I got that. But it¡¯s not right to make it seem like I¡¯m some heartless prick. Also, if I pissed you off, it wasn¡¯t my intention, and I apologize.¡± Once again, Zach could not properly interpret the look on Jimmy¡¯s face due to his inability to see it clearly. Even still, it appeared as though something was bothering him. A moment later, Zach discovered precisely what it was as Jimmy made a slight grunt and said, ¡°All right, look. I didn¡¯t wanna do this now, but since you clearly aren¡¯t gonna drop it on your own, I¡¯m just gonna be real with you and get it over with.¡± His gaze became stern. ¡°Zach, I¡¯m not selling any of the items we bought, and I don¡¯t think you should sell any of yours, either.¡± ¡°Wait, seriously?¡± ¡°Yes! Everything we got is the kinda shit you¡¯re gonna regret not carrying around. And I know you wanna make bank. I get you. I do. But it¡¯s dumb. You¡¯re gonna need these things. So, yeah, I was hoping to talk about it later, but that¡¯s how it is, and I¡¯m not willing to argue over it. Okay?¡± Stunned, Zach asked, ¡°Then why did you give me your gold to buy everything in the Weekly Haul shop if you weren¡¯t expecting me to make us both a huge profit from it? If I keep all the items, how are you even expecting me to pay you back? Kalana?¡± ¡°Man, I don¡¯t care if you pay me back. Do what you want with your items. I¡¯m just saying you should keep them. I¡¯m keeping mine. Anyways, I¡¯m not mad, so it¡¯s all good.¡± With the mob having escaped yet again, an awkward, but very brief moment of silence fell over the two of them. Or at least it was awkward to Zach. It didn¡¯t appear to be awkward for Jimmy, though, who continued on as though it had never happened, seemingly moving on from this whole conversation the instant the sound of buzzing returned from somewhere within the darkness. ¡°You sure you can¡¯t just blast that guy to hell with that slash-thing you do?¡± Jimmy asked, clearly putting all of his focus on the dungeon. Zach noticed he was staring into the darkness in the direction the imp had flown, and he was staring intensely, too. It reminded Zach that, even though this floor had so far been significantly easier than the previous one, Jimmy was still taking it very seriously and was giving this dungeon his all. He''s confident but not in a carefree way, Zach thought as he learned more about his new friend¡¯s behaviors and mannerisms. Usually¡ªat least in Zach¡¯s experience¡ªwhen people were boastful or overly confident about something, they tended to be susceptible to underestimating a situation. Not Jimmy, though. Something told Zach that he¡¯d be just as attentive on the first floor of Yorna as he was on this, the 29th floor of Trials of Nolak. ¡°I can¡¯t spare it,¡± Zach said. ¡°I¡¯m starting to run really low on time.¡± At the cost of 20 seconds, he¡¯d been comfortable with a single usage of Halting Strike, but even that had probably not been the best idea. Right now, he had just nine minutes and eight seconds left on his current duration of Unleashed Phase, and unless their luck changed soon, he was going to hit zero. It''s this damn darkness! Because they couldn¡¯t see more than a few feet in front of them, every encounter with mobs on this floor happened unexpectedly and in close range. This meant Jimmy could not use his area-of-effect poisons without risking the two of them getting caught up in it, which therefore meant he couldn¡¯t call upon his stamina regen ability. And Zach, for his part, was having the absolute worst luck in proc¡¯ing the stamina regeneration buff on his sword. He¡¯d gotten it off every now and again, but not to the extent that it prevented his time from gradually declining. About thirty minutes in total had elapsed since they¡¯d left Mushkie¡¯s item shop, and it was now an open question as to whether or not he¡¯d be able to continue having an active duration by the time they made it to what they assumed would be a boss on the next floor. It no longer matters so much if I don¡¯t, he thought. I guess, technically, we do have other options now. As if the universe was conspiring to prove Jimmy correct, Zach was reminded that, right now, sitting in his Bank and Storage, were two copies of the same consumable item called Dungeon Escape Rope, which according to its description, would ¡°relocate¡± the user to the ¡°nearest main-world exit or entry point respective to their current dungeon floor.¡± This meant that, if for any reason it became clear that the way ahead was too dangerous to be worth the risk, all Zach needed to do was swing the rope three times and then throw it up into the air, and it would apparently take him back to Galterra. Right now, he and Jimmy were on F29, and two floors prior to this, F27, was the one in which they¡¯d arrived, its entry point being located in the Whispery Woods region: specifically, the basement-level boiler room in an abandoned school. Based off what Jascaila had told Zach, they¡¯d again return to Galterra upon reaching F31, which would let out somewhere in Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah. Assuming Zach understood the item¡¯s information correctly, then whether or not he ended up back on F27 or in F31 would depend on whichever was closer to where he used the rope. Since F28 likely served as the halfway point in terms of raw distance to both floors, whether or not the rope took him back to Whispery Woods or forward to Dal¡¯Zarrah would depend on how far him and Jimmy made it into this current floor¡ªwhich was impossible to know. Regardless, if it looked like taking on the boss would be too difficult, they could use their Dungeon Escape Rope right at the entrance to F30 and travel instantly to their destination or at least someplace safe. Maybe I should keep some of these items after all. I don¡¯t even really need the money, because if I sell my inn room, these items will be chump change compared to how much gold I¡¯ll rake in just from that. At any rate, Zach decided to just take Jimmy¡¯s advice for the time being and worry about it later. For the moment, he refocused his attention on dealing with the Sneering Imp Warrior, which emerged from the darkness, came to an abrupt halt before Zach, lurched downwards, and then sprang back up with a rising, whooshing slice of its spear, which Zach had to guard by whipping his own sword directly down on top of it. Another loud ring filled the otherwise quiet dungeon floor, and then the imp once more sped away. Zach, frustrated, was not willing to let it get away yet another time without paying a price. Leaping forward, Zach actually dived after it in a desperate attempt to punish the mob for being annoying. As his body was flung after it, he swung his sword as quickly as he could before plopping straight down onto his belly on the stone floor, and then he lifted his eyes to see if he¡¯d done any damage. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Sadly, all he managed to do was slice off about half its forked tail, which didn¡¯t even leave behind any blood and only ended up hitting it for 4,102. With that, the creature continued on its way¡ªonly to die an instant later as the rarest ability on Zach¡¯s sword proc¡¯d, filling his eyes with a pillar of pure blue flame that ignited into existence: one so dark it was almost black. This tremendous, fiery spectacle, which surrounded the mob and incinerated it so thoroughly that it did not even leave behind any ashes, dealt so much damage to the creature that Zach felt the air rushing out of his lungs as he gasped in surprise. 655,209 +18000xp ¡°Goddamn,¡± Jimmy said, and this time, there was no mistaking the expression on his face. Though the fire could not illuminate anything ahead or behind them beyond a certain point, it could light up the area directly around them, which it sure did, though it was a dark, eerie sort of light. Still, it was enough so that Zach could clearly make out the impressed-looking grin that Jimmy fired Zach as he playfully then elbowed him in the side. ¡°What the hell was that? And why is this the first time you¡¯re using it?¡± Zach hopped up to his feet then shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s a proc on my sword. It actually only has a 0.5% chance of proc¡¯ing, but it¡¯s higher than that for me because of a ring I got off a boss on Kal¡¯s island.¡± Jimmy made a ¡°whoop¡± sound. ¡°Hell yeah. That was awesome. I¡¯m guessing these things are weak to dark-type magic, too.¡± ¡°Makes sense,¡± Zach said. ¡°Especially since they¡¯re strong against light. Hey, I wonder if that means¡­wait, does that mean something¡¯s always weak to the opposite element that it¡¯s strong against?¡± Jimmy shook his head. ¡°Not always. A lot of the times it is, but sometimes it isn¡¯t. At least based on what I¡¯ve seen, anyway. I found out pretty quickly that this game doesn¡¯t have any kind of steadfast rock-paper-scissor system like in Pok¨¦mon or whatever.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Zach whispered. More loudly, he said, ¡°Jimmy, I understood about ten percent of that. Also, this isn¡¯t a game. Remember?¡± For some reason, this caused Jimmy to wince. ¡°Some things are gonna be really hard to live without,¡± he said with a groan. He glanced at the world around him, shaking his head as he muttered under his breath that there was ¡°just no way this can be real.¡± Zach decided not to interject. Although it seemed like a regression, Zach knew that everything was a process, including Jimmy¡¯s acceptance, and there would be some moments more than others where he would struggle to accept that he was never going home again. I wonder how I¡¯d feel in his shoes, Zach thought, totally unable to imagine what something like that must¡¯ve felt like. With Jimmy by his side, the two of them pressed on, and for the next five minutes, they continued to make their way carefully down the long, straight, and tube-shaped passage. The lack of any enemy interactions during this time made things both simpler but also a bit more unsettling as well because Zach¡¯s current duration of Unleashed Phase was now all the way down to a mere 3:51. Finally, however, the scenery began to change, and it did so suddenly as though it occurred between footsteps. One moment, everything ahead of them was the purest and darkest black, and then the next, a dim, but still very noticeable light lit up what appeared to be a pathway that ran about fifty feet before resulting in even more darkness. Interestingly, this light was concentrated exclusively along the floor: it was as though the dungeon were rolling out a carpet made solely of its glow. Seeing this, Zach paused, looked at Jimmy, and then the two of them exchanged a mutual shrug, and with that, they both continued on. ¡°Let¡¯s move a bit faster,¡± Zach said. ¡°My time¡¯s running short.¡± ¡°Yeah, good idea. I¡¯m gonna be pissed if we have to rope out before I get to kill the boss.¡± Figures that¡¯s what he¡¯s worried about, Zach thought. But I want to defeat the boss, too. Moving quickly, they half-jogged, half-ran down the light-lined path, and then shortly before reaching the end of it, Jimmy held out his staff in front of Zach, which Zach took as an indication for him to stop. Yet before Zach could ask him why, Jimmy then extended his arm and pointed it forward. ¡°You see it?¡± he asked. ¡°Right over there.¡± Zach looked where Jimmy indicated, and then he nodded. Up ahead, where the light and dark seemed to transition from one to the next, there were two vaguely rectangular shadows, one directly across from the next. Both silhouettes seemed to stretch upwards from the floor to a height slightly taller than Zach, with one hugging the left side of the wall and the other hugging the right. ¡°Those two shadows?¡± Zach asked. He craned his neck and saw Jimmy bow his head in the affirmative. ¡°Okay, yeah, I see them. Barely, though. What about it?¡± ¡°They¡¯re probably mobs,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°You think so?¡± ¡°Mhm. What else would they be? Bookshelves?¡± Zach laughed. ¡°Good point. Since we can see them, that means you can target and poison them, right?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°Good, because I really need¡ª¡± ¡°The stamina buff, I know. Don¡¯t worry, I got you.¡± Jimmy stood up a bit straighter. Holding his staff with both hands, he raised it above himself, and Zach watched as, right after, a giant cloud of mist popped up at what he hoped would turn out to be the end of this passageway. An instant later, another, smaller cloud followed the first. Given the modest size of the area and the fact they were only dealing with what looked like two mobs, Jimmy only had to use each ability a single time. Due to the overall darkness, Zach couldn¡¯t make out the color of each cloud-like puff of poison; both the green and the purple appeared to his eyes as a muted grey. In fact, he wasn¡¯t so much as seeing them as he was seeing the way they caused the world up ahead to further darken. Breathing heavily, Jimmy panted and said, ¡°You¡¯re up.¡± With that, the two shadows began to move towards them, proving that Jimmy was correct in his assertion that these were mobs. And though Zach could not yet make out their forms, he could actually hear them as they approached. Right away, he knew that these were not the imps they¡¯d been dealing with, as they did not make a laughing sound, but a weird sort of¡­Zach wasn¡¯t sure what to call it. It was like a chuckle and a grunt, and it was very, very deep in pitch. It also made a disturbing echo, too. ¡°Zur-hur-hur-hur-hur-hur.¡± Eventually, the two shadows had drawn near enough that Zach could finally make out their forms¡ªand it was difficult not to find them off-putting. What emerged from the dark were two creatures that bore very little resemblance to the mobs they¡¯d encountered so far. Far removed from the imps they¡¯d encountered until now, the only two things these mobs had in common were their forked tails and dual horns protruding from their heads, though theirs were substantially larger than the imps had been. In fact, everything about these mobs was larger. They look tough, Zach thought, preparing himself for a hard fight. The two approaching monsters were wingless yet taller than Zach by about a foot at least, and they sported large, bulging muscles, toned abs, and massive forearms. Without a doubt, they were far more human in appearance than the imps had been. Their skin was a bright red in color, their eyes were large and glowed a radiant yellow, and their faces were considerably more expressive than the mobs they¡¯d faced in here so far; in particular, it was their facial characteristics that, in Zach¡¯s opinion, were their most defining features. Along with their menacing, glowing eyes, there was a constant sneer on their mouths that made them appear like a lunatic about to release a bout of maniacal, hysterical laughter. They were sneering so hard it actually looked painful. With their lips pulled back, the mobs displayed two rows of pristine white teeth. Along with the strangeness of their smile, they were oddly dressed as well. Though their bellies, chests, and most of their legs were exposed, they wore metal shoulder guards and matching metallic boots. Outside of that, the only piece of clothing to be found was a pair of human-like black shorts. Unlike other mobs, these ones moved with a bizarre slowness and with a casual stance, which saw their long-fingernailed hands remaining at their side as they strutted towards him and Jimmy. This naturally drew Zach¡¯s attention to the weapon they had in a large scabbard attached to their back. Here, Zach noticed that they were each carrying a massive, two-handed sword, the blade of which did not look anything like steel. It actually resembled more of a glass with a strong reflection visible even in this low level of light, and the grip on the weapon seemed to be made of some kind of bronze material. Despite this, the swords appeared no less heavy. Zach frowned. An ominous feeling came over him. Something about these two seemed different. ***** ¡°He¡¯s where?¡± Angelica asked. Angelica rarely shouted. Even when angry, she tended to stop just shy of a shout. For this reason, Kalana became really scared and worried and stuff when her name briefly flashed red, then yellow before returning to white. Even Eilea seemed to become alarmed, which of course only made Kal worry even more. Kalana had been taking a little break, as her voice was becoming sore from having to do all the formal announcements. Promising everyone that they wouldn¡¯t lose their spot in line, the crowd had dispersed for the time being, with most moving to join the other Elves in eating and drinking. Though the density had lessened, she was still encased in a protective perimeter¡ªalbeit a smaller one for the moment, and one of mom¡¯s Elves had gone off to get them something to drink. It had been at this point, roughly fifty seconds ago, that Angelica had made a casual remark that turned into something far scarier. ¡°I wonder how much longer it¡¯s gonna take Zach to get through Hamen¡¯s Isle,¡± she mused aloud in a singsong voice. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Kalana had asked her. Angelica had smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a low-level dungeon in Whispery Woods that lets out in a water fountain right in Knights Boulevard near downtown Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah.¡± Kalana had tilted her head sideways as she¡¯d thought over Angelica¡¯s words. ¡°Huh? That¡¯s not the dungeon they went to.¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­not?¡± ¡°Nah-uh. Jascaila sent him to umm¡­I dunno, I forgot the name. Trials of something, I think Zach said.¡± Angelica¡¯s eyes had opened more widely, which had immediately sent a warning signal into Kalana¡¯s brain that something wasn¡¯t right. ¡°Trials of Nolak?¡± she asked. ¡°Y-yeah,¡± Kalana said, beginning to panic even before she knew if such a reaction was warranted. ¡°Why? Is that bad?¡± Angelica looked at Eilea, and the fear in her eyes had spread immediately to Eilea, who pursed her lips and said something that Kalana had not been expecting. ¡°Angelica, is there an issue here?¡± Shouldn¡¯t she be the first to know? Kalana wondered. As if anticipating this question, Eilea said, ¡°I¡¯ve always been in charge of user relations. I myself only ever made two dungeons, and both were destroyed and removed due to failing to meet my husband¡¯s standards of quality. For once, I can¡¯t take issue with his judgement. I¡¯ve never liked the dungeons. But¡­more to the point, is this a problem? I¡¯m familiar with the dungeon in question. It used to be a very popular dungeon. I¡¯ve never been there myself, of course, but going off memory alone, nothing about it strikes me as being particularly worrisome. Is there something I¡¯m missing?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Angelica blurted out, and with that, fear had truly gone racing straight into Kalana¡¯s heart. ¡°Why?¡± both she, her mother, her father, Eilea, and even the little boy, Pete, had all asked at the same time. ¡°Do ya not know about the specifics, Eilea? Or what¡¯s actually inside the dungeon?¡± ¡°No, and why should I?¡± she had asked, just the tiniest bit defensively. ¡°Like I said, I¡¯m not an expert in our bestiary or dungeons. I, like the Great Ones Zana and Tarshaz, was in charge of residing right here on Galterra, making myself accessible to the adventuring public and serving as an interface between their concerns and criticisms and the other System teams.¡± ¡°System?¡± both Fylwen and Eldora whispered at one another. Eilea ignored them. Mom and dad both exchanged shocked glances; it was as if everything they were hearing was causing them to become confused and unsettled. Even still, Kalana doubted it was for the reasons they should have felt that way. Most likely, they were now fretting less over the content of what Eilea was saying, and more over whether or not they were worthy to hear her speak it. Kalana, on the other hand, was focused entirely on finding out why Angelica seemed so spooked. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked. ¡°What¡¯s so bad about this dungeon?¡± ¡°On a fundamental level? Nothing¡¯s wrong,¡± Angelica had explained. ¡°But Trials of Nolak is a large-scale raiding dungeon. It¡¯s a dungeon meant for parties of thirty or more adventurers, not two. In the old days, it used to be cleared constantly, so adventurers could make their way through it alone and unharmed on their way to the item shop. That, ya know, was its main draw. Every Monday after the dungeons reset, some guild would always run it first thing in the morning, and since the mobs there don¡¯t have normal respawn timers, um, people would wait for the dungeon to be clear, and then it¡¯d become one of the busiest dungeons in Galterra all week long. It got so bad at one point that Eilea snuck in a queuing system just to prevent impatient adventurers from killing each other to get ahead of the line.¡± ¡°You¡¯re talking about Mushkie¡¯s, yes? Now things are ringing a bell. Yes, I remember stealthily adding that. But my accursed, vile excuse for a husband removed it, claiming it was interfering. That aside, I still fail to see the cause for such alarm. I can feel that the boys are fine.¡± Angelica again frowned. ¡°I dunno what they¡¯re up to, but they¡¯re not gonna be fine for long. They won¡¯t even make it past F28.¡± Kalana shuddered. ¡°Why not?¡± she asked at a whisper, mentally calculating how long it would take her to run to the Great Library if she swam¡ªthen sprinted¡ªat full speed. But what about obstacles in her way? Could she get there without hurting anyone? Right now, her impulse was to get going before things worsened. And this impulse only became even more urgent as Angelica answered her question. ¡°On F28 alone, there¡¯s all kinds of booby traps and deadly things set up. And then there¡¯s this big boulder that, uh, if you don¡¯t know it¡¯s there, it¡¯ll crush you to death. And even if you do, you have to solve a puzzle and then fight off a giant horde of enemies.¡± Her face lit up with pain. ¡°They won¡¯t make it past the very first floor that they arrive on.¡± Kalana clutched her hand against her mouth, horrified. ¡°No! Don¡¯t say that!¡± Angelica averted her gaze. ¡°Even if they did make it past F28, they¡¯re gonna get crushed on F29. But they won¡¯t make it that far.¡± Eilea, as though wanting to put an end to the discussion, lifted her palm and shook her head. ¡°All right. Enough of this. I¡¯ve heard enough.¡± ¡°But, Eilea,¡± Angelica began, ¡°the boys won¡¯t be able to¡ª¡± ¡°Nonsense,¡± she interrupted. ¡°Look. Everyone calm down and hear me on this: I did not go through the arduous, dangerous, and potentially world-destroying process of bringing Jimmy across time and space without having a very good reason for doing so. None of you seem to understand that what takes decades of first-hand experience for Galterrans to discover is something that comes to Jimmy as simple as breathing. Whatever dangers lurk in this dungeon, I¡¯m devoutly certain the boy will sort it out or find a way to escape. If not, I wouldn¡¯t have risked the destruction of our world to bring him here.¡± Angelica exchanged a skeptical look with Eilea while mom and dad eyed one another a second time; during this, Kalana began turning away, ready to take off towards the dungeon. Had her mother not grabbed her wrist, she would have already been gone. ¡°Mom, I have to go,¡± she said, trying to yank away her hand. ¡°Trust in the Goddess,¡± her mother said. ¡°But¡ª¡± ¡°Kalana! Do not second guess the Great Goddess¡¯ word!¡± Kalana lowered her voice, which had taken on a trembling quality. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± ***** As the two mobs pulled to within fifteen feet of him and Jimmy, both of the large, imposing, sneering, and demonic-looking creatures reached behind their backs and drew their weapons. Interestingly, though, they were still making their way at a very sluggish, relaxed pace. Since Jimmy had not cast his slow on them, this meant they were moving at their normal ¡°pursuing¡± speed. Though clearly not sentient, it was still a display of confidence that made the muscles in Zach¡¯s shoulders tighten with apprehension. ¡°Jimmy, I need the buff!¡± Zach said to him as the two mobs neared. Something about all this felt off. His internal sense of danger was skyrocketing. ¡°Hurry!¡± ¡°Meh, I can¡¯t yet,¡± Jimmy said, adding a shrug to his words. ¡°Wh-what? Why the hell not?¡± ¡°My bar¡¯s not filled. These things are, like, really resistant to poison.¡± Zach swore. ¡°I thought that legendary passive of yours got around that?¡± ¡°What, Scourge of Giants? No, that¡¯s only for the purpose of successfully landing the ability, not the damage it does¡ªmeaning if something has high resistance to poison, my poisons will still land for almost their full duration and can¡¯t be resisted outright. It doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯ll do full damage.¡± ¡°Gods be damned,¡± Zach growled. The proof that Jimmy was correct was right before his eyes. As the two creatures approached, they would occasionally make a minor flinching gesture and take anywhere between 400 to 720 damage before continuing on. It was an unusually low number¡ªespecially considering that the mobs had a whole lot of HP: so much so that, when Zach saw the number, he feared his heart would give out.
HP 2,108,870/2,110,000
Name Death Harbinger A***
Level 52
HP 2,109,030/2,110,000
Name Death Harbinger B***
Level 52
¡°Why is their HP so Gods-be-damned high?¡± he shouted, a nervous thudding coming from within his chest as he stared in disbelief at the two approaching mobs. Trying not to panic, he asked, ¡°How long until your bar is filled? Jimmy!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, man. Shit¡¯s moving slow as hell.¡± Jimmy muttered something to himself about an ¡°asterisk¡± then began to study the mobs with a strange calmness. Zach, having no idea how it was possible for a level-52 mob to have over two-million HP, swore aloud a second time. ¡°To hell with it.¡± Wanting to get this over with, he dashed forward, meeting the two mobs head-on before they could cross their way over to him and Jimmy. As if welcoming this challenge, they made another of their weird laugh-grunts, and then they attacked first. Thankfully, they did not move as fast as the imp mobs had, and Zach was easily able to anticipate what came next. He filled with a very short-lasting confidence. In fact, for just this moment, he¡¯d even had allowed himself to think he might be able to quickly tear through these two and proceed onwards. Yeah¡­ Upon his approach, both mobs raised their glass-like, two-handed swords, and then both swung them Zach¡¯s way at the same time. Zach, forcefully twisting his body first to his left, and then to his right while striking out defensively, crashed his own sword into Death Harbinger A¡¯s, then B¡¯s right after; the result was something that sounded more like two deep ¡°clicks¡± rather than steel on steel. It also sent a considerable amount of shock into his wrists: far, far more than he¡¯d expected. So much so that Zach felt his eyes widen with alarm, and he had to grit his teeth and squeeze his grip tighter to avoid losing control of his weapon. My wrists, he thought, confused and awestruck. They hurt¡ªbadly. What the¡­? Both mobs launched follow-up attacks immediately, and unlike their first round, which consisted of each of them striking the same way but from a different angle, this time, Death Harbinger A made three unexpectedly fast slices with his weapon: the first vertical, and the next two horizontal. At the same time, B made a somewhat longer, but even faster four-strike combination. Zach stepped to the side to avoid A¡¯s vertical slice, then ducked beneath the first attack from B. Then he flicked his sword about two more times, barely managing to guard against two more strikes, and following that, he leaned out of the way of the last strike from A while striking upwards defensively to protect himself from the final strike of B. ¡°Assholes,¡± he growled. He retaliated, throwing his body around in a counter-clockwise direction and using the spinning movement to add force to his blow as he ripped his sword across and over the throat of Death Harbinger A. Though he connected and tore into the creature¡¯s flesh, and though his efforts were rewarded with a spray of dark red blood, the creature did not even seem fazed, and its wound did not appear particularly deep. 3,421 Zach¡¯s mouth fell open in shock. Was that all the damage he¡¯d been able to do? Just 3,421? Had he somehow only grazed the creature without realizing he¡¯d done so? Because he was pretty sure he¡¯d landed a direct hit. What the fuck? I definitely got it. I know I did. Undeterred, Death Harbinger A merely pressed on as though shrugging off the attack; this, as a few more minor but noticeable spurts of blood trickled out of its open neck wound. Taking a swift step in Zach¡¯s direction, it raised its sword and then delivered a daunting, chopping slash that looked to be coming in way too fast and way too powerfully for Zach to risk trying to guard against it. Zach was therefore forced to throw himself down towards the polished stone flooring with his body moving in the opposite direction. He then entered into a back-roll before hurriedly scrambling up to his feet as the other, B, dashed forward and took several very quick slashes at him with its own weapon. These things are really tough! Zach swung his sword to guard from the right. Click! Enormous shock jolted him, and it was a miracle he kept hold of his weapon. Yet he¡¯d soon need another miracle as he subsequently whirled his blade to the left, resulting in another dull click, meeting a second strike with one of his own. B came in for a third attack, but now, it was aimed a bit lower as if intended to cut him open at the hip. Zach lunged his body to the right, then fully spun himself around the sword, maneuvering out of the way while unfortunately putting him squarely back in the sights of Death Harbinger A. With a neck still leaking blood, Harbinger A crashed his sword down on top of Zach while B dashed forward from behind, effectively sandwiching Zach in between the two of them. I¡¯m getting destroyed. What the fuck? In two quick motions, one followed by the next, Zach raised his blade to guard against A¡¯s attack, and at the same time, he lifted his leg and then shoved it behind himself, back-kicking B for 81 damage and effectively forcing it about five steps away. Then he was forced to grunt with exertion as he locked blades with A again. This time, ¡°A¡± launched such a vicious, smashing strike that Zach croaked in horror as his sword was knocked cleanly out of his hands. The fight had only just begun, and already, he¡¯d reached the point where he could no longer withstand the shock of guarding. As his weapon flew off behind him, it was only due to Zach stumbling backwards in the same direction that he was coincidentally able to snatch it right back out of the air. Yet B was on him even as he was still stumbling. This was bad. Really bad. Zach was being overwhelmed. Twice more he ducked, having to drop back down the moment he straightened his back as B was really letting him have it. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t think I can beat these guys!¡± Zach shouted, flooding with alarm and doubt. ¡°Jimmy, I¡­I don¡¯t know if I can win!¡± ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think so either,¡± Jimmy said calmly: incredibly calmly considering Zach was being absolutely thrashed right now and had no idea how to turn the tables to his advantage. These things felt like they were level 200, not 52! ¡°J-Jimmy!¡± he shouted again. ¡°These things are way too¡ª¡± ¡°Yeah, I know,¡± he said, still completely calm. Zach, whose wrists were now barely able to stay wrapped around the grip on his sword, began narrowly dodging their shredding, life-ending slices, spinning his body out of the way of two more flurries from each of the two mobs. ¡°You know what?¡± Jimmy asked. Having been pressed off to the side of him, Zach could see him tapping his chin with his left thumb as he spoke. ¡°You see that asterisk near their name? I wasn¡¯t sure at first, but now I am: these guys must be elites. Heh. Didn¡¯t know you guys had that here. Kinda glad, though. Elite mobs are fun when you have the right comp. This must be a large-scale raiding dungeon.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Zach shouted, fighting for his very life. Yet things soon escalated, becoming even worse for him! Up until now, there¡¯d always been a fair and understandable distinction between different types of non-boss mobs. Melee mobs came in close with weapons, ranged ones fired at him from a distance, magic ones used magic, and healers healed. But now, however, the rules seemed to change. Immediately after ducking and twisting his body to evade three blazingly fast strikes from Death Harbinger B, Death Harbinger A halted in place as though it¡¯d been rooted, seemingly giving up in its pursuit. Then it extended its two-handed sword, holding it straight out in front of itself. ¡°Zur-hur-hur-hur-hur-hur.¡± The very tip of the glass-like blade began to glow. This glow soon turned into an orb of energy, one small enough to fit into the palm of the average-sized hand. But it began to grow, becoming larger and larger until it was the size of a balloon. It also began to shine more brightly with each moment, too. After just a few seconds, it also began to flash, causing a strobe-like effect that at last caused the entire tube-shaped passageway to light up: not just the immediate area, either, but all of it. Uh-oh. ¡°Jimmy,¡± Zach whispered, swallowing nervously. ¡°He¡¯s gonna shoot that thing at me, isn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°Yeah, obviously. Better get that shield thing ready.¡± A buzzing sound filled the dungeon floor, but it was not like the buzz of an imp¡¯s wings. Rather, it sounded more like that of a generator being fired up. And immediately after this sound, the muscular, dual-horned, red-skinned fiend made a flinching motion with its body, one that reminded Zach of the recoil he himself endured when using Phase Cannon only far more powerful. And with that, Zach saw this blinding white streak of energy blast off the sword, rip across the distance between him and Death Harbinger A, and all while moving so fast that it was nearly impossible to follow. Despite already running badly low on time, Zach activated Phase Shield. It wasn¡¯t even a choice, really. Honestly, what else would he do? Thankfully, as fast as the streak of burning light was moving, his Phase Shield appeared even faster ahead of it, emerging directly in front of Zach. And now, there was almost something of a battle of light, as this pure-white, flashing, strobing streak of energy contrasted with the emboldening, brilliant gold of his shield. The result was that half of F29 became seeped in gold, and the other in the flashing white light. And then, just like that, it all came to an end. Zach had no idea how massive the explosion would have been if that attack had managed to land or strike somewhere nearby. He imagined it would¡¯ve been pretty damn big, at any rate. Thankfully, he wouldn¡¯t have to find out right now, as the energy was essentially erased from existence the exact moment it struck Zach¡¯s Phase Shield. It was an instant. It didn¡¯t even make a sound, either. The projectile simply slammed into the shield¡ªand then it was gone. About three seconds later, Zach raised his fist and wiped a streak of blood from his nose. His jaw hurt, his head hurt, and oddly enough, even his ribs hurt. Actually, it took a short moment before he was truly able to feel the extent of his pain, which worsened and then peaked after about another five seconds. And while it was not even a tenth as bad as the returned portion from a Ziragoth attack, Zach felt as though he¡¯d just taken about fifteen punches from Spider all over his face and body. As far as injuries went, it was still on the lower end of the scale; nevertheless, if this was what constituted a ¡°tiny percentage¡± of the power behind their attack, it meant that these things were way more powerful than a level-52 mob had any right to be. ¡°Fuck, I¡¯m hurting everywhere,¡± Zach groaned, finding it difficult just to keep his weapon raised. He eventually had to remove his left hand from his blade and drop to one knee while clutching his ribs. ¡°Gods be damned, I feel beaten up.¡± For a moment, he grew fearful that he¡¯d be cut down while in a position of weakness. But as he lifted his head and looked at the approaching mobs, he realized that neither of them was actually approaching anymore. Both were now remaining completely still, and yellow, cartoonish-looking stars were dancing up and out of the top of both of their horned heads. This meant Jimmy must¡¯ve mezzed them a second or two ago, and somehow, Zach had missed it. Jimmy had likely been waiting for his poisons to expire so that they wouldn''t break his mez. I think my ribs are broken. Jimmy, still tapping his chin, said, ¡°Yeah, sorry, Zach, but we¡¯re not getting past this part.¡± He sighed. ¡°Honestly, it was pretty clear from the start that this dungeon isn¡¯t meant for two people. But that¡¯s not really the issue, though. Like I said, I can handle a raid dungeon. Problem for us, though, is that these two jokers can resist poison, so¡­yeah, looks like neither of us are taking them down.¡± Jimmy turned his head to Zach. ¡°Don¡¯t even worry about it though. We¡¯re gonna come back here with a couple of GSG dudes or maybe some of Zephyr¡¯s guys if we wanna take on that boss¡ªwhich we do. No way I¡¯m not coming back in a few days to get revenge.¡± Jimmy made a confident laugh. ¡°Now that you showed me this dungeon, I¡¯m gonna be spending so much time here.¡± Zach, wobbling his way back up to his feet on unsteady legs, fell immediately back down as a pain exploded in his ribcage. ¡°Ahh, fuck. It hurts! My passive HP regeneration isn¡¯t working. Why?¡± ¡°You must¡¯ve gotten hit too hard. Uh, I don¡¯t think that works beyond a certain level of injury. Not sure what does or doesn¡¯t get healed passively, especially since my constitution isn¡¯t high enough to experience it.¡± ¡°Jimmy, I need a heal.¡± ¡°Yeah, that ain¡¯t gonna work. You broke some bones or something,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t have a heal that works on that.¡± Jimmy tapped his shoulder with his staff in a gesture that Zach realized a moment later was meant to imitate a backpack. ¡°Use one of your red stones. You¡¯ll be all right in like twenty seconds.¡± Zach recoiled in disgust at the suggestion. ¡°On second thought, it doesn¡¯t hurt that bad after all.¡± ¡°Dude¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± ¡°Do you even realize your face is bruised, your nose is broken, and ya¡¯ll got like two black eyes?¡± Zach tried to stand up again, and Gods, it ached badly. He grimaced, then flashed a look of anger at Jimmy, who seemed to be chuckling while he cracked a muscle in his back and stretched. ¡°Hey, man, don¡¯t be mad at me. You¡¯re being stubborn. Use the goddamn rejuvenation stone and stop being a loot hoarder.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a¡­ugh. Gods, this hurts so bad.¡± The pain was most intense when trying to breathe, and Zach knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to hold out for long. With each flare of agony, the temptation to use one of his reds was growing. ¡°All right,¡± Jimmy said, sheathing his staff and clapping his hands twice. ¡°We did really good today, but we got a lot to review before we come back here for more. But yeah, let¡¯s get gone before my mez breaks. Here, catch.¡± Zach, confused, extended his right hand, the motion itself causing his ribs to flare up in pain, and then he caught something in the air that Jimmy had thrown at him. It looked like a bundle of rope. He groaned and nearly fell over just from the pain that catching it caused him. ¡°You want us to retreat?¡± Zach asked, shocked. Jimmy nodded nonchalantly. ¡°Yep, I¡¯m calling for a retreat or else we¡¯re gonna wipe. My poisons aren¡¯t working, so I¡¯m basically neutralized. And your shit¡¯s about to run out too, right? And you can¡¯t even move anymore. So, yeah, we have to B.¡± ¡°We have to what?¡± ¡°It means we have to go back. It¡¯s from League of¡­ah, just¡­come on, let¡¯s go see your friend. We¡¯ll come back in like two days and finish what we started. Promise.¡± Without waiting to even see if Zach agreed with his decision, Zach watched as he began spinning the loose end of his bundle of rope exactly three times before throwing it up at the ceiling almost as though it contained a grappling hook at the end of it. The moment his rope made contact with the ceiling, Jimmy then vanished¡ªhe simply vanished. His body became translucent like that of a ghost, but only for an instant, and then he was¡­gone. Zach, glaring angrily at the two mesmerized ¡°elites¡± that¡¯d gotten the best of him, decided to take out his anger by spitting at one of them; he watched as a glob of it struck one of them in the face. This broke its mez. ¡°Zur-hur-hur-hur-hur-hur.¡± ¡°Oh shit!¡± Hurriedly twirling his own rope around three times, he threw up his arm, causing the rope to fly upwards almost as though pulled by an invisible magnet; it continued to rise until the top of it touched the ceiling. And then the world went white an instant before Death Harbinger B slashed its blade right down on top of his wounded form. **** ¡°¡ªwhich is why if you don¡¯t let me go, mom, I swear, I¡¯ll¡ª¡± ¡°They¡¯re back in Galterra!¡± Eilea announced suddenly, causing Kalana to immediately turn her head, along with her mother, her dad, Pete, and Angelica. ¡°The boys are all right?¡± Fylwen asked, having now become drawn in to the general sense of growing worry. Eilea nodded, a self-satisfied smile on her lips. ¡°I can sense them far more strongly now that we¡¯re all back on the same planet.¡± ¡°But how did they make it out?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°The way Angelica made things sound, umm, it shouldn¡¯t have been possible for them to get through.¡± Angelica chimed in immediately, looking just as relieved as Kalana was beginning to feel. ¡°They must¡¯ve found some rope,¡± she whispered. ¡°From the¡­¡± A look of excitement crossed her features, and she spoke with a louder, more upbeat tone of voice. ¡°I think Jimmy found the item shop, you guys! That¡¯s the only thing that makes sense. It¡¯s not really common knowledge anymore. I think Jimmy must¡¯ve found it all on his own.¡± Angelica snickered. ¡°Ah-ha! So that¡¯s why Zach was feeling so greedy. He must¡¯ve found the store.¡± ¡°The store?¡± Fylwen asked. ¡°Mushkie¡¯s shop. I can¡¯t really tell you guys too much because you don¡¯t know it, and it¡¯s against Adamus¡¯s rules to tell you about things like that before you know them.¡± ¡°True but unfortunately so,¡± Eilea said in agreement. ¡°In all likelihood, Angelica and I have already dispensed more information to you than we should have.¡± Kalana¡¯s ears twitched, and she curled her lips. ¡°Wait, tell us, please. What store? It sounds so cool!¡± Angelica winced at her question as though keeping the answer from her was painful. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Kalana, but I can¡¯t! You have to discover it on your own.¡± ¡°Oh, okay. I understand. Maybe I¡¯ll find out later from¡ª¡± Kalana cut her words off as she felt a vibration coming from her pocket. Immediately, she pulled out her phone, and then she exhaled in relief as she saw it was Zach calling her. ¡°Baby! Are you okay? Is everything all right?¡± ¡°Uh, yeah, of course it is. Why do you sound so freaked out?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s just what? I¡¯m only calling to let you know we¡¯re in Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah in case you were worried. Sounds like you were. Anyways, I¡¯ll call you again in¡ªh-hey! Stop!¡± he shouted. ¡°No, don¡¯t! Don¡¯t you dare!¡± There was a sound of a struggle, and then a voice¡ªJimmy¡¯s voice¡ªcame through over the phone¡¯s speakers amid further sounds of scuffling. ¡°Hey, Kalana!¡± he shouted. ¡°Just wanna let you know that me and Zach found an item shop that would benefit the entire civilized world, and your boyfriend¡¯s trying to keep it a secret because his punk-ass is being greedy. He also has like 4 spare healing stones now and he wants to sell them before you find out. Haha, get fucked, Zach. That¡¯s for screwing me out of the inn room.¡± There were more sounds of struggle, and then Kalana heard Zach saying ¡°Jimmy, you mother f¡ª¡± before the call ended. Kalana crossed her arms and frowned. ¡°I knew it! That¡¯s exactly the kinda thing I thought would¡¯ve happened.¡± Clearing her throat, she shouted, ¡°Umm, Donovan! Zephyr!¡± Across the distance, they turned her way. Lowering her voice, she said, ¡°Mom, let them pass, please.¡± Fylwen whispered something to a nearby Elf, who reverberated her orders further down the chain. Before long, both men approached, and each stood before her awkwardly yet appearing curious, too. Kalana decided to come straight out with it. ¡°Okay, so umm, Zach just found an item shop that sells rejuvenation stones. Can you guys please spread the word? And also tell your adventuring friends that the Elves are willing to pay a fair price for as many as they can provide, ¡®cause there¡¯s a lot of really hurt people in Den of Ziragoth waiting for them.¡± Her tone saddened as she added, ¡°There¡¯s a little human boy with really badly burned skin, and he¡¯s been on life support for weeks. I need to get him one of each as soon as I can.¡± Donovan and Zephyr looked at each other as though floored. ¡°Did you say an item shop that sells rejuvenation stones?¡± Zephyr asked. ¡°No fuckin¡¯ way,¡± Donovan added. ¡°Impossible. Those fuckers are harder to find than diamonds. You know what we have to go through to get our hands on ¡®em?¡± Kalana shook her head. ¡°Nope. But I know they¡¯re rare. So, will you guys help me? Pretty please?¡± ¡°Gods, of course!¡± Zephyr said. ¡°It¡¯s not just Den of Ziragoth who needs them. There are a lot of wounded and disfigured survivors from the nuclear bomb, too. Especially those who survived the radiation.¡± Kalana bowed her head in thanks. ¡°Thank you! Please let everybody know, okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, definitely,¡± Donovan said. ¡°Who¡¯d even want to keep something like that a¡­¡± Donovan chuckled heartily. ¡°Oh, yeah. Right. Well, sucks to be him.¡± Scratching the stubble on his chin, he asked, ¡°How do we get there? To this shop, I mean.¡± Kalana twisted her lips. ¡°I dunno yet. I¡¯m gonna have to force Zach to¡ª¡± She paused again as her phone blooped. Glancing down at it, she couldn¡¯t help but frown. She¡¯d worked so hard to keep her number private from the public, and it seemed it had finally leaked¡ªor wait. No. Taking a second glance, she realized it was from Jimmy on a number she didn¡¯t recognize. He must¡¯ve finally bought himself a phone and memorized the number from seeing it used by Zach. She was glad that he¡¯d finally bought a phone. It was one of the things Jascaila had recommended he do, claiming it would help him ¡°establish himself¡± here and ease the acceptance process. She read over the message. ¡°Oh, okay. This is umm, really detailed stuff. Awwh! His name¡¯s Mushkie and he has a little umbrella!¡± Donovan scratched his head with his gauntlet-covered hand, which was framed by black plate armor. ¡°Huh?¡± She held up the phone to him and Zephyr so that they could read it over. ¡°No shit,¡± Donovan said with another grunt. ¡°Dungeon Escape Rope, eh? Wish I had that shit on me during that tower raid last month, ain¡¯t that right, Zeph?¡± He guffawed and slapped the shorter man on his side hard enough to make him wince. ¡°Yep. That¡¯s a really nice discovery they made. I wonder what¡­uh oh. Zach is texting me,¡± Zephyr said, removing his own phone. Kalana and Donovan both turned their heads in his direction. ¡°What¡¯s he saying?¡± she asked. ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s the kid want?¡± ¡°Ehh, it¡¯s mostly just death threats telling me to keep my mouth shut or else. They¡¯re pretty good, actually. Check this one out, Don.¡± He held his phone up so that Donovan could see it, and Donovan nodded with approval. ¡°Wow,¡± he said. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a pretty good threat. I like how he managed to get asshole and intestines in the same threat. Anyway, how about we round up our guilds, buy some good booze, and liven Mushkie¡¯s shop up a bit?¡± He made a mighty grin. ¡°I wanna make a good first impression, after all.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Zephyr said. ¡°I¡¯ll spread the¡ª¡± ¡°Donovan and Zephyr not spill Zach special item store secret!¡± Fluffles shouted with a hiss as he dashed around two Elvish guards that tried to stop him. He leapt over a third and called lighting down on top of a fourth as he raced his way over to them. Despite his terrible behavior, he was so cute that Kalana couldn¡¯t resist giving him a little chin scratch. ¡°Zach call Fluffles and tell him everything,¡± the cat said, meowing first from Kalana¡¯s chin scratch then hissing at Donovan and Zephyr. ¡°Awwwh! Do you have a phone, Fluffles?¡± ¡°No,¡± the cat said with a meow. ¡°Fluffles¡¯ humans tell him everything.¡± ¡°Humans? Oh. Wait. Umm, let me guess! Rian and Lienne?¡± She didn¡¯t even need him to answer to know that she¡¯d guessed correctly, because just outside the perimeter of Elves, she¡¯d seen both of them dive at Fluffles and extend their arms as if trying to stop him from coming over here. ¡°Sorry,¡± she heard Lienne shout in the distance. ¡°We told him not to attack!¡± Fluffles gave a pleased meow as Eilea bent down and patted his head. For a moment, it looked like he was the Godly being and she his servant; the cat lifted his head in such a dignified, cute, but arrogant way. ¡°Hi there, beautiful,¡± she said. ¡°Oh, hi, Eilea Vayra,¡± Fluffles replied, purring. ¡°Hello,¡± she said again, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ve always loved cats.¡± Fluffles turned around. ¡°I going to visit Mushkie and buy all the Weekly Haul items and snacks. Nobody else allowed in Zach and Fluffles¡¯ special store, or I attack.¡± Before Kalana could say another word, he scampered off. Did Zach really think that would work? she wondered, amused. She did have to admit that it was kind of adorable that Zach was constantly enlisting the help of Fluffles to run mischievous errands despite it never working out for him. Last week, he¡¯d enlisted the cat¡¯s help in covering up the fact that he¡¯d accidentally broken one of Kalana¡¯s kitchen drawers by pulling on it too hard. It failed, of course, because Fluffles ended up agreeing to betray him in exchange for two pieces of turkey. Kalana felt both guilty and giddy as the information spread from adventurer to adventurer. Ding after ding came from the phones of many of them, though the information was also beginning to visibly spread by word of mouth, as evident from the excited reactions showing up on so many different faces. Before long, all of the adventurers who¡¯d rushed over here to meet Eilea knew of the item shop, and since most active adventurers were here, it meant that nearly the entire adventuring community became aware of it at the same time. It was now far too late to stop the spread of information even if she''d wanted to. And though Kalana suspected that the Elves would be busy for at least a few more days in honor of Eilea''s return, it wouldn¡¯t be long before they too took a trip over there as well. ¡°Until today, I''d forgotten Mushkie even existed,¡± Angelica said, her voice coming across as reflective and distant. She spoke to no one in particular, and Kalana doubted anyone but her was even paying attention as Angelica mused over something that seemed a bit personal to her. Her name turned red, and it stayed that way for a good minute. ¡°It sounds like Mushkie hasn''t lost his mind yet. I''m glad. Some of the others already have. I hate Adamus so much. I want to be the one who kills him.¡± Kalana wasn''t sure what that was all about, but she decided to pretend she didn''t hear it. It wasn''t her place to pry. ***** ¡°There¡¯s what now?¡± Alex asked, taking off his glasses and wiping the lens with the soft part of the front of his suit. His chief secretary, a man by the name of Dalin Poltark, stood at attention before Alex as he clarified what he¡¯d described as an ¡°evolving situation¡± taking place in the city. ¡°Two boys believed to be high-level guild members, Lord Oren. They¡¯re ¡®fighting¡¯ with each other¡ªthough I use that term very loosely¡ªin a shop on Dignity Ave. and 3rd St. that sells cellular phones and subscription services.¡± ¡°Fighting?¡± Alex asked, becoming alarmed. ¡°How significant is this fighting?¡± ¡°Not particularly, sir. A poor choice of words on my part. Eh, perhaps it¡¯s more accurate to say that the two boys are roughhousing around, but I¡¯m told they¡¯re not being overtly violent, and they¡¯re not believed to be a threat to public safety.¡± ¡°Has anyone been hurt?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe so. The peacekeeper who reported this to me claims that they¡¯re not behaving in a way that is outright illegal. It¡¯s more that they¡¯re simply causing a public disturbance, though not necessarily due to their behavior. The issue, as I¡¯m led to understand, is that they¡¯ve gathered a steadily growing crowd, and if this continues, it could evolve from a ¡®crowd¡¯ into a ¡®public gathering¡¯ before long. That¡¯s really the concern here.¡± Alex repeated Dalin¡¯s words in his head, finding them confusing. He was still trying to ascertain exactly what was going on. Certainly, the possibility of a sporadic public gathering was always an important one to be dealt with, as all public gatherings required advanced notice so that an appropriate number of peacekeepers could be assigned to maintain public safety and pubic order. But before Alex worried about that side of things, he needed to better understand the situation. ¡°Let¡¯s back up a moment,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re telling me there are two boys in Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah believed to be guild members, and so far, they¡¯ve not behaved violently, threatened our citizens, or destroyed public or private property, correct?¡± ¡°That is correct, my lord,¡± he said. Then he held up a finger. ¡°Ah, well, with one minor exception, but I don¡¯t believe it rises to the level of¡ª¡± ¡°Tell me,¡± Alex said. ¡°Of course, my lord. To be clear, this is not yet being considered an emergency, and no one has been harmed, but the boys apparently knocked over a glass display case while roughhousing, though early indications are that this was not intentional. Furthermore, these two unknown youths apologized and are even cooperating with the peacekeepers sent to investigate, which we¡¯re taking as a sign of their non-hostility. Though, an officer did report to me that one of the boys offered both him and the store owner a bribe.¡± ¡°A¡­bribe?¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Oren. The young man offered five times what the merchandise was worth to, quote, ¡®not tell Kalana I did that,¡¯ end quote. He then offered the peacekeeper a sum of ten-thousand gold coins not to, quote, ¡®tell Kalana I tried to illegally buy someone¡¯s silence with a bribe,¡¯ end quote. A third officer has regrettably been relieved of duty for accepting the bribe.¡± Alex sighed. ¡°So, we¡¯ve established one of them is Zachys Calador.¡± Dalin¡¯s lips parted as though in surprise. ¡°That¡¯s actually what some of the witnesses claim to believe, Lord Oren. It¡¯s also the cause of the growing crowd due to Sir Calador¡¯s celebrity status. But since we¡¯ve not yet verified it, I¡¯ve omitted it from my report as it has not even graduated past the stage of rumor and speculation.¡± ¡°By any chance, is the other young male someone of a similar or slightly older age, a few inches taller in height, with dark skin, black hair, and armed with a staff on his back?¡± ¡°Yes! How can you possibly¡­?¡± Alex got up from his office chair. ¡°Please go with the first bouquet of flowers that we discussed for the Orcish queen. She¡¯ll like those colors. If you¡¯ll excuse me, I have to step out for a moment.¡± Chapter 141: Zachs First Press Conference Chapter 141: Zach''s First Press Conference Although the high-tech city in Tomb of Fire was indisputably the number-one tourist attraction for humanity¡ªdriven largely by its lucrative Diamond Paradise¡ªit was common knowledge that Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah, the closest thing to humanity¡¯s ¡°capital,¡± was a not-so distant second. Hell, it might¡¯ve already pulled into first due to the unprecedented boycott taking place as a direct result of what the Guild of Gentlemen had done to Ogre¡¯s Axe with their nuclear weapon. Earlier today, Zach recalled learning on the news that the total number of confirmed deaths in Ogre¡¯s Axe had now exceeded nine-hundred-fifty thousand, with rescue workers warning it was likely to hit a million by the end of next week as they continued their search for survivors. The grisly images of burned, charred bodies being pulled out of the rubble by men and women wearing strange, protective suits was so jarring that it¡¯d actually driven the dragon out of the news cycle, something Zach honestly thought they¡¯d be talking about for months. But¡­putting aside such an inconceivable amount of pain and death, which he really did not want to dwell on right this second, the point was that Zach had wanted to visit Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah since he was a little boy. And as he shook hands and took a picture with yet another of its well-dressed, upscale inhabitants, he found himself thoroughly impressed. It definitely lives up to its reputation, he thought, now shaking the hand of a woman wearing an elegant, flowing, ruby-red dress. He then turned his head to exchange pleasantries with yet another member of this rapidly growing crowd. ¡°I watched you on the news during that awful ordeal with the wyvern,¡± said a haughtily dressed man wearing a morning coat and a large hat. ¡°A fine young man, you are.¡± With the hand opposite to the one shaking Zach¡¯s, he puffed on a cigar. ¡°Thank the Gods we¡¯ve moved beyond that bit of trouble.¡± Zach smiled. ¡°Glad to be of service.¡± At the moment, he was standing beside Jimmy towards the southwest of the city in a large public park lined with flowers and statues depicting ancient human heroes from wars and events past. It served as something of a ¡°backyard¡± to the impressively huge grand library he¡¯d appeared inside with Jimmy after roping their way out of Trials of Nolak. Much like the grand library in Shores of Wrath, the head librarian, an old man with a dusty beard, did not appear surprised to see them appear. He¡¯d barely reacted at all, to be honest. All he¡¯d done was lift his head out of a book and ask them to avoid an overhanging shelf not far from where they¡¯d emerged. ¡°Didn¡¯t even know there was an exit in row 29,¡± he¡¯d muttered, though it¡¯d sounded like he was speaking mostly to himself. ¡°Must be a niche dungeon.¡± Zach had opened his mouth to say something in reply, but then he¡¯d nearly doubled over from the pain in his ribs, which seemed to worsen the longer he tried to ignore it. Thus, having reached the point he could withstand it no longer, he¡¯d called upon Bank and Storage, and with that, he¡¯d retrieved two items: one of his red rejuvenation stones, and a Dungeon Escape Rope, which he handed to Jimmy to replace the one Jimmy had given him. Sighing, Zach had extended his arm holding the red stone, which was flat in his palm. He¡¯d then clamped his hand shut, squeezing it tightly. This caused the stone to simply shatter and vanish. Within seconds, he began to feel relief spread throughout his body. His injuries, though crippling, turned out to be minor enough that a single red was sufficient. His ribs and broken nose began to heal, and the aches and pains in his body followed soon after. ¡°Jimmy, now that we¡¯re done with that,¡± he¡¯d said, turning his head. ¡°I think we should probably¡­uh¡­Jimmy?" Jimmy had somehow slinked away and had moved half the distance across the private back room of the grand library; Zach was beginning to suspect one of these rooms resided in all of the grand libraries, and they all probably contained a number of exits or entryways to various different dungeons. Both this one and the one in Shores of Wrath also contained a desk right in the middle where the head librarian sat, and that was where he¡¯d seen Jimmy. He¡¯d appeared to be in the middle of a conversation with the man. ¡°Just across the street?¡± Zach had heard him ask of the head librarian. ¡°Yes. Or if you want something cheaper, they sell decent phones four blocks down on Dignity and 7th.¡± ¡°Thanks, old dude.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± ¡°H-hey!¡± Zach had shouted at him. ¡°What the hell are you¡ª¡± ¡°Shh,¡± the old librarian said with a scowl as Zach saw Jimmy hurriedly exiting the grand library. He¡¯s going to rat on me to Kal! I know it! Zach had thought. Zach, hoping to catch up, had raced after Jimmy, following him across the street and into a store that sold cell phones, accessories, and subscription services. In the process, he¡¯d accidentally knocked over a glass display case, which made a loud, startling crack as it smashed against the floor. He¡¯d sworn aloud, knowing he¡¯d be in even more trouble if anyone told Kalana about that. He¡¯d also realized he hadn¡¯t checked in with her for a while. And so, knowing he couldn¡¯t actually stop Jimmy from buying a phone if he wanted one, Zach had exited the store in defeat¡ªbut only after trying to bribe the owner¡ªand he¡¯d then proceeded to call his girlfriend. Jimmy, who¡¯d finished his transaction faster than Zach had been expecting, seemed to then choose that specific moment to emerge from the store, and since he¡¯d been distracted, Zach did not even hear him stealthily approach from behind. Caught off guard, Jimmy successfully snatched the device out of Zach¡¯s hands. Before Zach could stop him, he¡¯d spilled their secret discovery to Kal like a total dick. What followed was something of an impromptu wrestling match that saw him and Jimmy rolling over the white-painted, unusually aesthetic sidewalk as they grappled for the phone. Since Zach could easily kill him by trying to overpower him, he had to deliberately use far less than his full strength, which meant it took him longer to get back the phone. But by this point, Jimmy had already gotten Kalana¡¯s number off it and was busy texting away on his own, newly purchased device. During all this, Zach¡¯s hood had slipped off his head, revealing his face, and so rather than feel fear at seeing two people who were clearly greater than level 1 tussling around on the streets, Zach¡¯s appearance did the opposite; immediately, he had begun drawing a crowd. But instead of feeling annoyed, Zach, for once, had decided to encourage, rather than discourage, this from escalating, as he¡¯d realized it actually served his purpose. Since he didn¡¯t know his way around this city, and since he still wasn¡¯t sure how to get in contact with Mr. Oren, he¡¯d reasoned that this would be as good a way as any of making his presence known and drawing him out. And so, patting Jimmy on the shoulder and nodding across the way at a large, fancy park in what had to be the most stylish, uniquely decorative city he¡¯d ever visited, the two of them made their way over there while a larger and larger number of people hurried after them across a very impressive, very classy city that Zach could easily see himself wanting to live in if given his pick. Ruled by the Lords of Justice and situated as the northern-most region in North Bastia, Dal¡¯Zarrah was known for having bitterly cold winters and moderately warm summers. Right now, the air temperature, though warm, was significantly cooler than the unbearable heat and humidity baking all of South Bastia and about three quarters of North Bastia. By night, it would become even more crisp, to the point many of the people going about their daily activities would likely begin to don sweaters or light jackets. Framed by numerous large groupings of mountain ranges to the north and west, and home to one of only two naturally forming hot springs on the entire planet, Dal¡¯Zarrah was a unique region steeped in history that Zach knew had once been the site of humanity¡¯s last stand against an invading Orcish army thousands of years ago, resulting in the holiday known as ¡°Perseverance Day,¡± which involved celebratory fireworks and large feasts. At least, that was what the history books said, and you know what? Zach really wanted to just leave it at that. Because, these days, any time he found out anything about history, it always turned out to be more nuanced and less simple than what he¡¯d been taught in school. The pictures don¡¯t do this place justice, Zach thought as he¡¯d walked with Jimmy to the park, flanked by the excited, eager crowd behind him. One of the first things that caught Zach¡¯s eyes was the sheer number of monuments to be found all over the place. Some took the form of tall statues on islands in the middle of busy intersections, others were found along the sidewalk, and some seemed to be the sole focus of entire streets. Along with statues, there were large pieces of stones with names engraved into them, as well as stone-carved murals depicting battle scenes from ancient history. The city itself had very smooth sidewalks made of a soft type of stone that was almost perfectly white yet free of any visible scratches or stains. A green wastebasket was never more than a few steps away, ensuring people never had a reason to litter, and plaques containing various historical documents or artifacts with descriptions inscribed into them resided at the head and foot of every block. And this was the unexciting part of the city. One thing Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah did not have was the typical jungle of tall buildings and skyscrapers. In this regard, it had a bit in common with Shores of Wrath and, to a lesser extent, Shadowfall Coast. What it did have, though, were unusual but magnificent structures the closer towards the center that one ventured, and Zach couldn¡¯t wait to see them for himself. Apparently, the nearer one was to the center of the city, where the UCH¡ªUnited Council of Humanity¡ªassembled, the more the city transitioned into the political center of humanity. This meant even larger, more elaborate monuments, some of the most elegant cathedrals dedicated to the Gods, coliseums where the best of musicians performed, and of course, at the very center of the city, the UCH itself, which was a gigantic amphitheater where all the political guild members with any kind of status could gather to see if they could agree on something. Now, as he continued to shake hands, take photos, and exchange words with the citizens of this city, he did so intentionally and willingly. At the worst, he might annoy Mr. Oren a tiny bit. But he knew it¡¯d also go a long way towards making Kalana happy, as he was technically going above and beyond what she¡¯d constantly said he needed to do while in public. Right now, he was really, really knocking it out of the park¡ªno pun intended. In fact, Zach was doing so well he was actually shocked by how good he was doing. He never knew he had it in him. Laughing merrily, he was pointing at a woman who herself was currently pointing at him. ¡°No way, miss,¡± he said, forcing another laugh. ¡°You¡¯re the young one. Not me.¡± She blushed furiously. ¡°I¡¯m sixty four years old!¡± He shook his head. ¡°Impossible. You¡¯re twenty five at the most.¡± ¡°Oh, you charming angel! The princess is the luckiest gal in the world. Such an impressive boy, you are!¡± ¡°I¡¯m the lucky one, actually,¡± he said. ¡°Almost as lucky as your husband,¡± he added, giving a firm handshake to the man, who stood next to her. ¡°Don¡¯t flatter her too much,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯ll go straight to her head.¡± The woman gave him a playful slap. ¡°Oh, you stop that, Willdrith.¡± Zach made another laugh and continued to flatter her while numerous members of the crowd¡ªand now even the first reporter working for one of the news organizations¡ªfilmed every bit of it. ¡°Sir Calador!¡± called one of them, his professional demeanor evident in his tone. ¡°Sir Calador!¡± So, today¡¯s the day, he thought. He¡¯d been hoping to draw out Mr. Oren before something like this happened. But he wasn¡¯t entirely upset, either. Because he knew what he had to do. He¡¯d known this day would come. Zach looked over at the reporter. He recognized the man and recognized him well. He was the guy Zach watched every morning after waking up next to Kalana. He was actually Zach¡¯s ¡°favorite.¡± The irony of the fact that Zach even had a favorite was not lost on him, yet it was just sort of something that had happened gradually to the point where Zach no longer watched anything else in the morning. ¡°Oh, hello there,¡± Zach said to him, waving at the reporter. Before the reporter could say another word, Zach took the initiative and actually beckoned him to come closer. ¡°You¡¯re with Galterra Daily News, right? I recognize you from the early-morning show. Please, come on over.¡± The reporter did not need to be told a second time. Actually, he didn¡¯t even need to be told a first time, as he¡¯d already been moving towards Zach the moment Zach met his eyes. Now, Zach watched as the professionally dressed man glided over to him with a camera operator a bit behind. Standing to Zach¡¯s side, he raised his hand so that the microphone he carried was situated between them while they both faced the camera. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right, Kristil. I can confirm reports that Zachys Calador has in fact appeared here in Peace Park on Dignity Avenue in Slopes of Dal''Zarrah, and what¡¯s more, I have the privilege to be standing with him right now. It¡¯s good to see you, Sir Calador.¡± ¡°It¡¯s good to see¡ªand meet¡ªyou as well, Paxton,¡± he said. ¡°Ah, you know who I am?¡± Zach nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve actually been waking up just before sunrise local time on my girlfriend¡¯s island to watch your morning report. You¡¯re one of my favorites, actually.¡± The reporter gave a broad smile that looked so authentic that Zach could genuinely not tell if it was real or just for the cameras. ¡°Woooow!¡± he exclaimed, drawing the word out. ¡°You heard it here first, folks, Sir Calador is a fan of the program. And for those of you who missed it, by ¡®girlfriend,¡¯ Sir Calador is referring to the Elvish princess, Kalana Vayra. Does she watch our program too, Sir Calador?¡± ¡°Just Zach is fine, actually,¡± he insisted. ¡°I prefer it to be honest.¡± ¡°Humble, too! I¡¯m so honored to have you as one of our viewers, Zach.¡± ¡°You guys are like the only thing I even watch,¡± Zach admitted with a laugh, making sure he looked properly into the cameras so he didn¡¯t come off like an unhinged maniac as he had the last time reporters had stuck a camera in his face. ¡°I stopped watching anything that¡¯s not on GDN.¡± It wasn¡¯t a lie, either. Zach really was a fan of the program, though it wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d chosen to be and he was even a little bitter regarding the circumstances around it. But it was something that truly did just kind of ¡°happen,¡± and it was largely due to the weird dynamic at play between the various guilds and the media. In particular, for whatever reason, different networks were unequally positive and negative towards different guilds. From the moment Zach had been wounded by Ziragoth up until around a week ago, any time he got mentioned on the news, it was usually positive: very much so, in fact. But something changed early last week. Seemingly out of nowhere, Zach became aware of the fact that about three quarters of the various news networks had begun getting really critical of him. At first, he¡¯d told himself he wouldn¡¯t let it get to him, but before long, he was starting to yell at Kalana¡¯s screens whenever they said nasty bullshit about him or raised questions about his character. Initially, Fylwen had taken him aside and explained to him that it wasn¡¯t actually personal. She¡¯d explained to him the dynamics at play and how this was to be expected. Even still, it pissed Zach off so much that he¡¯d actually had to see Jascaila over it. And even that didn¡¯t make it any better. He¡¯d had to avoid watching certain networks entirely. And it was all because of the weird way that the news handled politics. Basically, even though all the North Bastian guilds were coexisting fairly well¡ªother than the Guild of Gentlemen, their common enemy¡ªand despite the fact that, across the board, the media censored or covered up anything catastrophically damaging, it seemed like each guild had one or two networks that were clearly on their side yet opposed to all others¡ªdespite them all claiming to be fair. And these networks could be really, really harsh when discussing Zach or pretty much anyone whose ¡°side¡± they weren¡¯t on. But, of course, there was also the flipside of things. Paxton, as well as his entire network, GDN, was so obviously on the side of the Royal Roses that it was kind of funny that his network pretended to be anything otherwise. Therefore, due to nothing more than human nature, Zach had begun to slowly become a bigger and bigger fan even despite knowing it was all bullshit and all part of some stupid, but admittedly nonviolent kind of tug-of-war the guilds played with each other. And Zach, who used to believe himself above all this crap, could never in his life have imagined himself getting roped into the politics of a guild he didn¡¯t actually belong to. Yet, day after day, for more than a week, he¡¯d shout out obscenities as the other networks called him things like ¡°reckless,¡± ¡°immature,¡± and ¡°irresponsible.¡± But not GDN! They only said positive things about him any time he was brought up. Him or any other member of the Royal Roses. Sometimes, they even said positive things about him when he clearly didn¡¯t deserve it. Fuck Domanik and GNT, Zach thought bitterly, trying to keep the sudden anger off his face. N-B-O-N too. He forced himself to terminate the chain of thoughts before he risked it showing up in his demeanor. Instead, he focused on Paxton and the question being sent his way. ¡°So, Zach, can you tell us why you¡¯ve shown up here to Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah? I believe this is your first official visit to the capital, correct? And also, what do you think of our humble city?¡± As Zach listened to the question, he found himself nodding along. He was surprisingly not nervous. In fact, of all possible things, he was even prepared. One of the side effects of having watched so much news during his two-week vacation with Kalana was that he¡¯d seen how other guild people spoke, and he was shockingly ready to play along. To his own disbelief, he knew exactly what to say, how to say it, and where to look whenever he spoke. Incredibly, it wasn¡¯t even until right this very moment that he even realized he was so competent at this kind of thing. It was like he¡¯d received a stealth education in media training without knowing he¡¯d undergone it. Fylwen also helped me a lot, he thought, recalling his mid-afternoon conversations with Kalana¡¯s mother. Actually, I think I learned more from her than anyone else. Zach made sure he kept his eyes pinned to the camera. He paused a moment to breathe, exhale, and then smile politely yet firmly. ¡°Well, Paxton,¡± he began, ¡°I¡¯m here to meet with Lord Alex Oren of the Lords of Justice. He and I have a very good working relationship, and the Royal Roses values our partnership with our friends in the Lords of Justice. But, as you said, being that this is my first official visit, I just knew I had to stop by and greet some of the wonderful citizens of your city¡ªwhich I find to be beautiful and charming, by the way.¡± Zach knew he nailed it even as he was still speaking. The moment he finished, the crowd let out a cheer, Paxton smiled, and Zach waved at numerous citizens, who raised their hands and cheered back at him. No way anyone gives me shit with an answer like that, he thought. Even though this was a completely unplanned, unofficial visit, and even though his answer had been a partial lie, Zach had learned enough about how things worked to know that, as long as he handled himself properly, it would never be questioned by anyone, and the other guilds were more likely to just roll with it. So much of politics was performative. But that had been a lesson he¡¯d learned during the dragon raid. I nailed that fucking question, he thought, concealing a smirk. He knew he was being stupidly proud of himself, but how could he not be? He was seventeen years old, and he just nailed it like someone who¡¯d been doing it for years. No one in ¡°his¡± guild was going to be upset with that answer. Not even Mr. Oren was going to have a problem with it¡ªhe hoped. **** ¡°He¡¯s good,¡± Dalin said, sitting beside Alex in the DEHV limousine that was currently making its way towards Dignity Avenue. Traffic was horrendous today. Typically, it wasn¡¯t quite this busy during the early afternoon, but ever since the city had seen a predictable uptick in tourism thanks to outrage from the nuclear blast, the city had been forced to deactivate all hover lanes and relegate DEHVs to ground travel only. Alex gently stroked his clean-shaven chin with his thumb and forefinger as he observed Zach on the screen built into the back of the DEHV¡¯s leather seat in front of him. Though Zach had only answered a single question, the way he spoke and the words he¡¯d used had come as a great¡ªbut welcome¡ªshock to Alex, who mere seconds earlier, had been on the verge of a rare panic at the thought of what Zach might do or say just for the purpose of getting his attention. That was a very good answer, Alex thought. Truly, it was almost as though Zach understood that, reality aside, he was publicly perceived to be a very real and very significant member of the Royal Roses. More so, given how much his recent actions made it into the news, he really did have a moral responsibility to appear before the public sooner or later. Even still, he was speaking to a very friendly member of the press right now, and Alex was certainly afraid of what might happen when more confrontational reporters began showing up¡ªwhich they almost certainly would now that the dam had burst. For Zach to finally enter the public sphere and only answer questions from a friendly network, it would be worse than him saying nothing at all. Somehow, he always ends up putting me on edge. Whether or not Zach understood this, by performing this little stunt, he now had a very real obligation to follow through with it, and Alex was not going to be able to just show up and save him. The best Alex could do was make a joint public appearance after he¡¯d sufficiently taken questions. But this was assuming he did not lose his cool or say something politically disastrous. For the moment, however, Alex was impressed by what he saw, and to that end, if Zach was somehow able to continue on this way, he had absolutely no problem making a public appearance with him¡ªespecially after that astonishingly skillful and perfectly spoken reply he¡¯d given regarding the Royal Roses¡¯ cooperation with the Lords of Justice. How did he know how to say that? Who taught him such a thing? Surely, someone must have. ¡°You look surprised,¡± Dalin said. ¡°I am,¡± Alex admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t know how Zach knows how to¡­I¡¯ve never seen him show any kind of aptitude for this. I almost don¡¯t recognize this version of him.¡± Alex had more to say, but he quieted as the reporter addressed Zach then asked another question. ¡°Wow, so it¡¯s your first time in Dal¡¯Zarrah as the newest member of the Royal Roses, and you¡¯ve already got an audience with the third-in-command of the Lords of Justice? Sounds like a big day for you. I don¡¯t suppose you can give our wonderful viewers an exclusive scoop on the nature of your meeting?¡± Alex held his breath. ¡°Oh no. This could be bad.¡± ¡°Not at all,¡± Zach replied, smiling diplomatically. ¡°As I¡¯m sure you guys know, um, Mister¡ªsorry, Lord Oren.¡± He paused, awkwardly, and now Alex winced, terrified of what might come next. The crowd seemed to feel the same way as well, because they fell silent, and so too did the reporter. Yet Zach surprised him once again. ¡°Whoah, sorry about that,¡± he said. ¡°My apologies to Lord Oren. I¡¯m sure just about everyone in the world has learned by now about Lord Oren¡¯s humble upbringing. After all, he¡¯s the first civilian in the history of the Lords of Justice to ever be given a leadership role. But what a lot of you guys don¡¯t know is that he used to be my science teacher. So when I say ¡®Mister Oren¡¯¡ªand hey, I¡¯m only human, so there¡¯s a good chance I might make that mistake again¡ªplease understand that it¡¯s not me disrespecting the Lords of Justice or slighting his title. It¡¯s a completely unintentional slip from a former student who knew him by a different name.¡± ¡°Wow, he¡¯s so good,¡± Dalin said, patting Alex on the knee. ¡°I had no idea he was your former student. Looks like you¡¯re going to be back on the front page of every news site again. But wow. You never told me this. No wonder he¡¯s so smart.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Alex whispered, so baffled and amazed he couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing. ¡°It¡¯s the kind of thing I¡¯d have eventually mentioned anyway. But I¡¯m glad Zach was able to use it to alleviate any tension there.¡± Alex watched intensely and closely as Zach, along with Paxton of GDN, made some light back and forth conversation regarding Alex¡¯s former life. First, he began by expressing his amazement at learning this bit of trivia, and then he asked several questions about what Alex was like as a teacher. Zach, displaying a rare level of discipline, kept his answers positive, short, and any humor to be found within them was very light-hearted and family friendly. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Through some inexplicable means, Zach somehow knew where the line was when it came to what level of ¡°joking¡± was socially permissible in public from a low-rank member of one guild to a high-ranking member of a different guild. In this case, Zach¡¯s only humorous comments pertained to the cat-eye glasses Alex used to wear. This, of course, was absolutely within the realm of acceptable, media-friendly ¡°playful teasing¡± that would not be considered disrespectful and would be well-received by both the Royal Roses as well as the Lords of Justice. Alex even laughed at Zach describing the glasses in detail. ¡°Everyone in class loved those glasses,¡± Zach said. ¡°And yes, he really did keep them on while teaching.¡± As his DEHV continued southeast towards the park, Alex began to feel somewhat more at ease¡ªbut he tensed up once again when the reporter returned to his original query. ¡°That¡¯s incredible, Zach. And a true example of the Gods at work. But if I may return to something from earlier: you said you¡¯d tell us the nature of your meeting.¡± ¡°Oh yeah. Of course, sorry. So uh, I¡¯m actually here today on very serious business. We¡¯re meeting to discuss human outreach towards the other Galterran races.¡± A good answer, Alex thought. How does he handle the obvious follow-up, though? Anxiously, Alex leaned in towards the screen, studying the interaction between Zach and the reporter. ¡°Ahh, so the young and talented Zachys Calador has taken an interest in foreign politics, is that it?¡± Paxton asked him Zach gave a firm, confident nod. ¡°That¡¯s right. As you yourself reported yesterday morning, some of my recent actions have alarmed world leaders. I want to discuss with Mr¡ªahh! There I go again!¡± Rather than chide him for his breach of decorum, the loyal¡ªand tradition-upholding¡ªcrowd erupted with heartwarming laughter and applause, and so did the reporter. By this point, peacekeepers could be seen filing into the park, keeping a low profile and maintaining public order as the size and number of citizens grew. ¡°I want to discuss with Lord Oren ways in which I can ease their concerns and hopefully act more as an asset rather than an obstacle as your friends over at ¡®GNT¡¯ suggested last week I¡¯ve become. What they reported about me is false. I want to put minds at ease, not worry people.¡± There was just the tiniest trace of bitterness in Zach¡¯s voice as he spoke, but it was so minor that only someone who knew him, like Alex, would likely be able to detect it. And though harsh, the criticism from GNT was actually true. Zach had caused numerous problems worldwide: problems that Alex had spent many hours smoothing over as humanity continued to try courting better relations with the rest of the world. But more to the point: Alex was simply amazed that Zach was even aware of what was being said about him. He¡¯d never given any kind of indication before this that he watched the news or paid any attention to it. It was good that he had. That much was obviously clear. Though the media were far from honest and could often be manipulative and duplicitous, much of what they said did contain elements of truth or reflect real concerns of the people. ¡°To that end, Zach, what do you make of the demands for accountability from the numerous world leaders who have called for you to appear before a council and answer some of their questions and concerns? Although we here at GDN have obviously debunked many of the dishonest things said about you, there are still those who remain unconvinced of your good intentions.¡± Zach replied immediately. ¡°I realize some of the stuff I¡¯ve done has spooked the world a bit, but I promise everyone watching this that I¡¯ve never intentionally tried to scare anyone. I¡¯m being more careful with how I use my abilities now. What happened the day before the dragon raid was not on purpose.¡± And there it was. Alex knew this moment would come. How could it not? The thing Zach just said was going to prompt a follow-up question. And no matter how Zach answered that follow-up question, which the reporter had clearly coaxed out of him with deliberate intent, Alex knew it was going to immediately become the top story across social media and in every single news outlet. The reporter, as though sensing he¡¯d just landed the most important interview of his career, changed his tone to become even more soothing and friendly as he nodded along and asked the question that Alex suspected he¡¯d been hoping to bring up from the moment this conversation began. Even as friendly a network as GDN might have been to the Royal Roses and its members, Alex knew that a tough but fair question like this was unavoidable. To not ask it would be to invite mayhem down on their entire network. ¡°I¡¯m glad you just brough that up, Zach,¡± he said, cleverly concealing the way he himself had wrangled it out of him. ¡°Because for weeks, people have been asking questions about what they saw and heard that day: what we all experienced during your raid preparations against the dragon. The explosions you caused could be heard worldwide. Windows in many cities were shattered. I myself got a little frightened. Can you finally tell us, for the first time, what all of that was, Zach? Why did that happen, and was it actually necessary?¡± Alex almost couldn¡¯t breathe as he watched this unfold. He prayed to the Gods despite no longer being sure he even believed in them. This was a question Zach needed to answer seriously and without any trace of defensiveness. To do otherwise would not just further enrage the rest of the world, but it could even cost him the support of humans, too. It would also imperil any chance they had at rejoining the global community¡ªassuming they succeeded in dealing with the nuclear issue first. For now, Alex had to force oxygen to enter and exit his lungs as he waited for Zach¡¯s reply. ¡°When that happened,¡± Zach began after a contemplative moment, ¡°a lot of my fellow guild members were in danger of being killed. I¡¯d just leveled up and unlocked a new ability, and I was really desperate at the time, and I didn¡¯t know what it would do, so¡­regrettably, I used the ability without reading it first. But since then, I¡¯ve made sure never to do that again.¡± ¡°To never do what again, Zach? Use that specific ability? Or use an ability without first being aware of what it does?¡± ¡°Both, actually,¡± Zach said. Then Alex¡¯s jaw dropped as he delivered a response so perfect it made Alex wonder if the kid was being coached in real time with an earpiece. ¡°Look,¡± he said, contrition in his voice. ¡°I realize I scared a lot of people, but that was never my intention. And for those who I frightened, I want you to know that I apologize, and everything I did was to protect North Bastians and their families from a terrible threat. And to your other point, Paxton: if foreign world leaders want me to appear before them to answer their questions, I¡¯m more than happy to do it. Everyone has to be held accountable for their actions, and I, like my unfairly imprisoned guild-leader, Vim Alazar, believe we live in a civilized world, and no one of any level or race has a right to exist free of law and justice or to threaten the lives of others.¡± Alex lifted his hands out of sheer awe, unable to stop himself from giving a quick round of applause. He couldn¡¯t believe Zach was the one who¡¯d just said those words. It was mind blowing. Yet, even amid his satisfaction and pride in his former student, he did feel just a bit of unease, because no matter how much Zach had changed, Alex knew him well enough to know that Zach was only saying what he believed Alex¡ªand others¡ªwanted him to say. To be clear, Alex was certain that Zach did mean what he was saying¡ªbut the sentiment, only. And that would end up being a problem Alex had to deal with later on. Because whether Zach realized it or not, by publicly committing to appear before a special delegation of world leaders, he was now required to do it. There was no backing out of this. In the strongest of terms, he was now required by law, by honor, and by decency to appear before a delegation comprised of multiple foreign races for the purpose of providing honest answers to their questions. This, he could not possibly know. Zach being Zach, the boy likely believed he¡¯d be able to just say those words, make such a commitment, and then get on with his life while hoping everyone forgot about it over time. But things didn¡¯t work like that. Simply by making that commitment, Alex, as chief diplomat, would have to immediately begin reaching out and making preparations for him to appear. In fact, Haisel Ragora, the second-in-command of the Royal Roses was already calling him. Alex lowered the volume a moment, as the interview became much softer and more playful now that the most serious question had been asked and answered. It would likely pick up in intensity once the reporter had concluded, as a full press corps had already stormed the park, and they would be far more adversarial and demanding than anyone from GDN. ¡°Senior-Lieutenant Ragora,¡± Alex said, addressing his colleague in the Royal Roses. ¡°Funny you should call.¡± ¡°Are you watching, Lord Oren?¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Did you teach him how to do that?¡± he asked, sounding just as shocked as Alex felt. ¡°No, but I take it your guild is pleased?¡± ¡°Pleased doesn¡¯t even begin to describe it. Folks over here in Giant¡¯s Fall were shitting themselves when they saw him on the screen, but now we¡¯re all drinking and cheering him on. He¡¯s doing so good. Gods, I wish Vim could see this.¡± Alex knew that the sadness that crept into his voice towards the end there was not pretend. The members of the Royal Roses, particularly those born in Giant¡¯s Fall, actually, truly loved Vim Alazar. He was, respective to the regions he controlled, the most beloved guild-leader in all of humanity. The people of Giant¡¯s Fall and Spider¡¯s Eye Oasis were engaged in round-the-clock unrest as a result of his capture. That he was reportedly going to be executed in public tomorrow morning¡­it was going to cause a breakdown in society in those two regions. Right now, with Vim unable to lead, Haisel was acting as the current stand-in leader of the Royal Roses. Yet, despite this, Alex knew that Haisel would sacrifice himself if it meant bringing Vim back safely. This was not something that one could take for granted in guild politics. Given the chance to rise upwards in rank, there were many whose loyalty would fall off rather quickly. As Alex did his best to offer reassurance to Senior-Lieutenant Ragora, he became inundated with messages and texts from his various colleagues. Anyone who had ever actually met Zach in person was reacting with delight, disbelief, and shock at his unannounced media appearance, which was already being labeled a ¡°press conference.¡± In fact, the news chyron at the bottom on N-B-O-N was already reading:
LIVE FROM ZACHYS CALADOR¡¯S FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE IN HUMAN CAPITAL: SIR CALADOR VOWS INCREASED ACCOUNTABILITY
Alex tried to respond to as many people as he could, but eventually he had to end his conversation with Senior-Lieutenant Ragora and put down his phone as Zach finally concluded his conversation with the reporter from GDN. Shaking hands with the man, he seemed to partially turn away¡ªand then came the hail of questions from the sea of reporters that Zach likely hadn¡¯t even noticed assembling before him as he¡¯d been so engrossed in his conversation with Paxton. ¡°Sir Calador! Sir Calador! Sir Calador!¡± So many voices rang out at the same time that it was impossible to understand a single thing anyone said. It all came out as a jumble of words. ¡°Where did when Ziragoth what why abilities responsible Lord Oren the dragon war Vim Alazar Sir Calador!¡± Zach made a dismissive face, and a bolt of fear went straight through Alex¡¯s heart. Zach, for as well as he¡¯d done, did not seem to know. He did not seem to understand that he couldn¡¯t simply just walk away now. It would reflect terribly on his guild and himself if he was said to have only been willing to deal with a friendly outlet. He could not possibly know or understand this. He was going to walk away, wasn¡¯t he? Alex gritted his teeth, took out his phone, and began to text. Although it was no longer possible for anyone without significant status to directly contact Alex, he could still reach out and initiate contact with others. And thank the Gods for that, because this was certainly the time for it. ***** Zach rolled his eyes at the storm of reporters who tried every trick in the book to get his attention. He didn¡¯t want to talk to any of those assholes. He recognized many of their faces, though he wished he didn¡¯t. So many of them had taken shots at him last week out of nowhere. It was like someone had just decided one night that he was fair game. And he might¡¯ve been, too. Even still, he hated it. I kicked so much ass during that interview, he thought, pleased with himself. I bet even Mr. Oren is going to think I did good. There¡¯d been a few close calls there as the questions got tougher, but he trusted Paxton, having seen the guy defend him every time they said bad things about him the news. He hoped the interview he¡¯d given served to quiet a whole lot of that. Even Jimmy looked impressed, and Jimmy probably had no idea of half of what they were talking about. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m actually going to some weird world leader bullshit, though, he thought, concealing a laugh. Zach had totally bullshitted about that. Most likely, with everything that tended to go on in the world these days, people would forget it in a week or two. All that would be left would be the memory that he¡¯d done a good interview. At any rate, all that should¡¯ve been more than enough to get Mr. Oren¡¯s attention. As Zach half-turned around to see if his former teacher had shown up, he realized the crowd had grown fantastically huge. Finding him now would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Maybe he tried to contact me, he thought. Glancing down at his phone, he saw that Mr. Oren had, indeed, sent him a few messages: no, not a few. Many. Like more than ten. And they all said the exact same thing. YOU HAVE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS APOLOGIZE AND TAKE QUESTIONS YOU HAVE TO!!! ESPECIALLY THE ONES YOU HATE THE MOST. PICK THEM FIRST!! YOU HAVE TO DO THIS ZACH! Zach almost frowned, but he stopped, knowing cameras were still on him. There was nothing ambiguous or uncertain about what Mr. Oren¡¯s texts implied. Even still, it meant he¡¯d seen Zach¡¯s interview and thus he¡¯d succeeded at getting the man¡¯s attention. Outside of that, though, he wondered why he had to talk to all these other people. Especially after he¡¯d done such a good job with Paxton. He wouldn¡¯t be texting me like this if it wasn¡¯t really important, Zach thought, breathing out a sigh. Deciding to reluctantly oblige Mr. Oren, he turned back around once more and faced the swarm of reporters that had assembled before him. ¡°I apologize for that,¡± he said. ¡°I received an important message. I¡¯d be happy to take a few questions.¡± Once more the voices roared at him collectively, and Zach became puzzled. How was he supposed to answer them when he couldn¡¯t even understand what they said to him? This reminded him of those press conferences, where high-ranking members of a guild would¡ª Oh, right! This is just like that, he realized. He raised his right hand with his pointer finger lifted. The moment he did so, the reporters all fell quiet. Picking at random, he selected a red-headed demon-woman who he vividly remembered saying some really bullshit things about him back when he still watched GNT. ¡°Veskora, with GNT,¡± he said, remembering the way and manner in which he¡¯d seen guild-leaders ¡°call on¡± members of the press. ¡°Thank you, Sir Calador,¡± she said with incredible politeness. For a moment, Zach thought maybe she was going to be nice to him, as her tone really was friendly and pleasant. But then came the question. ¡°You told Paxton of GDN that you believe in facing accountability. But your actions are not limited just to that one specific incident with the dragon. Just two weeks ago, you and Princess Kalana Vayra sparked a worldwide panic by triggering some kind of quest event, which not only caused global travel delays, but even led to economic disruption for the Whispery Woods region. So, when you tell us that this is all about you ¡®not reading your abilities carefully,¡¯ how can we feel comforted when your actions clearly extend beyond what you convey as one single mistake? How can humanity feel reassured when you seem to display a pattern of poor decision-making?¡± **** ¡°Uh oh,¡± Kalana said. ¡°He¡¯s mad. I can tell.¡± Once again, things had ground to halt, and this time, it was Zach¡¯s fault. From the moment an adventurer had run over and shouted out that Zach was holding a press conference¡ªsomething nobody saw coming¡ªeveryone had basically glued themselves to their phones to watch. Well, everyone but Eilea, who didn¡¯t need a phone. She claimed she could see and hear everything in real time. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Eilea said with a sigh. ¡°He¡¯s angry.¡± Kalana pursed her lips. That mean lady asked such an unfair question! Kalana wasn¡¯t the only one who thought so, either. There was a general disgust among many of those here who knew and liked Zach, especially the adventurers. Fluffles was angriest of all. The kitty cat, who was snuggling next to Ruby and Chumpkenwiffles while the three watched on a tablet someone had set down¡ªwhich Kalana thought was super-duper cute!¡ªwas hissing and meowing angrily, likely the most outraged of everyone. Ruby actually had to talk him out of going to Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah and ¡®eating¡¯ her. To Eilea, Kalana said, ¡°Um, I got an idea.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°My mom¡¯s really good at this stuff. Maybe she can come up with an answer, and you can transmit it to his mind. Actually, that might really work! Umm, if she tells you what to tell him, and you¡ª¡± ¡°Absolutely not,¡± Fylwen replied. ¡°Huh? Why not¡± Fylwen folded her arms and gave Kalana a stern-faced look. ¡°He needs to be able to do this sort of thing on his own or he will never grow into the man I¡¯ve come to believe he can be. Would you not agree, daughter?¡± ¡°Well, yeah, but¡ª¡± ¡°Your mother is right, young princess,¡± Eilea said. ¡°I can send him feelings of calm and let him know we¡¯re all right there with him, but he has to face this himself.¡± Kalana pouted. ¡°So unfair.¡± ***** Like a warm embrace from afar, Zach immediately became aware of Eilea¡¯s presence, and as he did, he realized she¡¯d reconnected with him just for the purpose of sending him her support, which he appreciated. He knew that the entire world would probably watch this. More people than he could ever envision. If he blew up and lost his cool, he¡¯d be viewed as a dangerous threat or an incompetent fool¡ªor both. ¡°Sir Calador?¡± the reporter asked, making him realize he¡¯d gone silent for too long. Zach wet his lips, realizing he couldn¡¯t hesitate for all that much longer. ¡°I¡¯m only seventeen,¡± he began, pausing yet again as he tried to think how best to reply. It was such a brutal question. When he sensed the reporter about to cut in, he resumed, realizing that he¡¯d paused at a bad spot. Very quickly, he added, ¡°But that does not mean I¡¯m making excuses because of my age.¡± This time, as he paused yet again, she at least had the decency of waiting for him to continue speaking, which he soon did. ¡°I guess I deserve some of this criticism,¡± he said. ¡°Much like my former teacher, Lord Oren, I also grew up poor. My mom died before I was old enough to realize how much I lost. My dad was¡­¡± He had to really dig deep to say this next part, which was a lie by necessity. ¡°My dad committed suicide before I got to tell him I loved him. Kalana¡ªexcuse me, Princess Vayra¡ªshe also grew up in a really tough environment, but she¡¯s told you guys all about that, and it¡¯s not my story to tell.¡± He paused a moment to swallow; his throat had dried somewhat. ¡°The reason I¡¯m saying this stuff is because the two of us are still struggling with adapting to our new, elevated positions in life. In a perfect world, we would have come forward and apologized to you¡ªand the world¡ªpersonally for causing any kind of fear or disruption when we mistakenly triggered that quest. Instead, we both allowed people to do it for us. Lord Oren spoke in my defense, and Queen Vayra spoke on behalf of Kal¡ªPrincess Vayra¡¯s. We are still young and we¡¯re learning. I speak for both of us when I say we are sorry that we did not come forward and address the public immediately after it happened like we should have.¡± Zach had no idea if that was a good or bad response. The only thing he could be absolutely certain of was that Kalana would not mind him apologizing on both of their behalves. Kalana was such a softie that she¡¯d apologize for anything if you asked her nicely enough. And more so, Zach would willingly bet all the gold on Galterra that, if he were to take out his phone right now and check social media, Kalana had likely already drafted an apology statement and published it. Hell, she¡¯d probably end up recording a video as well. The thought actually threatened to make him chuckle, but he stopped himself. The moment he stopped speaking, he pointed at another reporter, and this one, an older man, seemed to pick up right where the woman left off. ¡°You say you¡¯re sorry, but that¡¯s still not an explanation. We want to know why this happened and what steps are being taken to prevent this from happening again.¡± These questions were actually a whole lot easier than the last one, and Zach was able to answer without having to pause for thought. ¡°Excellent questions,¡± he said. ¡°Um, so to answer the first one: Princess Vayra¡¯s island has lots of mobs on it, and by hunting one of these mobs, we spawned a quest that led us to another area on the island. As a result of completing that quest, we triggered a worldwide event, but one that¡¯s not dangerous to anybody.¡± ¡°And my second question?¡± the man asked. ¡°Regarding what steps are being taken?¡± ¡°Oh, they¡¯ve already been taken,¡± Zach assured the man. ¡°Kalana¡¯s mo¡ªQueen Vayra shut her island down and won¡¯t let us hunt there anymore until she¡¯s consulted with her archives or something and made sure that there¡¯s nothing else like that going on. So, until she gives us permission and reopens the island for hunting, we aren¡¯t going to be leveling there anymore. So you don¡¯t actually have to worry about anything like that happening again.¡± Zach had hoped this question would put the issue to rest. It didn¡¯t. And while it didn¡¯t quite make things ¡°worse,¡± it certainly didn¡¯t help in changing the topic. The next woman he called on fired off her question immediately, and this time, it wasn¡¯t even really about him at all. ¡°Sir Calador, are you saying that the decision of when¡ªor if¡ªthis island is going to be, to quote you, ¡®reopened,¡¯ is one that is going to be made solely by the Elvish queen with no input from the other guilds or public safety advocacy groups?¡± Zach¡¯s mouth opened, but he did not release any words. How the hell was he supposed to answer something like this? Now, he was treading dangerously close to speaking for a guild that wasn¡¯t his own. Or wait. What the fuck did he just think? The Royal Roses isn¡¯t my guild either, he chided himself. I can¡¯t believe I just thought of them as ¡®my own.¡¯ Gods-be-damned! Without any clue as to what he could say, he decided to punt the question. He¡¯d seen people do this before on the news. ¡°That matter is something you¡¯ll have to consult with Queen Vayra on,¡± he said. ¡°I can¡¯t speak towards Elvish policy.¡± For a moment, Zach thought that, now, surely, he¡¯d have put the matter to rest. But Gods, it only made things way, way worse. Now, dozens of them were shouting out questions to him, all of which were about Queen Vayra, who he¡¯d somehow brought into this conversation by mistake, and who was now facing the brunt of their attacks. As Zach tried to restore order and select someone else to call upon, he received a message on his phone. He read it. Then he read it a second time in amazement. Returning his phone to his pocket, he straightened his back and faced the crowd, his hands by his side. ¡°Um, excuse me,¡± he said. Surprisingly, they quieted upon hearing him speak. ¡°So, I just learned that Queen Vayra will be holding a press conference at 8PM tonight in Shores of Wrath with the People of Virtue to address the issue of Elendroth¡¯s safety.¡± Oh, Gods, I hope she¡¯s not mad, Zach thought. My press conference is creating a chain of press conferences. How the fuck did this happen? At this rate, even Fluffles is going to have one. He decided to make absolutely sure he dd not implicate his cat in anything, because there could be no nightmare worse than Fluffles being ordered to lie on top of a podium and take questions from reporters. The cat would answer each question with a bolt of lightning, killing a number of them. Just the idea of that caused him to shiver apprehensively. Zach¡¯s phone vibrated twice more. ¡°Excuse me, one moment. Guild business.¡± Take two more questions. I¡¯m almost there. Tell them I will speak briefly + questions. Also, you¡¯re doing great so far. You don¡¯t have to make them love you. Your job is to make people feel heard and understood. Zach smiled at the sign of confidence from Mr. Oren. Under such intense scrutiny, his smile did not go unnoticed, now requiring Zach to explain it. ¡°Lord Oren will be joining me here and will speak briefly and take a few questions as well. As for me, I can take two more. Okay, you¡ªfrom N-B-O-N.¡± The reporter he called on was a younger woman around Mr. Oren¡¯s age, and when she spoke, there was an earnest sincerity in her voice that set her apart from the others. ¡°Sir Calador,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m Emisa from N-B-O-N. First, I just want to say that I truly feel some of my colleagues in here are being overly harsh to you. You¡¯ve risked your life to protect us and we all owe you our gratitude.¡± ¡°Th-thanks,¡± Zach said, genuinely touched and a bit surprised. ¡°Having said that,¡± she continued. ¡°We are all normal, level-1 people. And when we sit down to have lunch with our families or feed our children, and the sky goes dark, and we start hearing explosions in the sky, I really hope you can understand that this is¡­this is a very frightening thing to us. I say this only because I¡¯d like you, sir, to please make a commitment to address the public and the media from now on if for any reason you plan to take¡ªor accidentally take¡ªactions that can startle or spread fear.¡± The answer to this question was obvious, but Zach still took a moment to meet her eyes before giving it. With actual sincerity, he said, ¡°Yes. I promise you.¡± He meant it, too. Finally, he called on one last reporter, who wanted to know if it was true that the Royal Roses were going to raise regional tariffs on produce. ¡°I¡¯m not up to date with that information,¡± he replied simply and truthfully. ¡°You¡¯ll have to consult someone from the Royal Bureau of Taxation Policy for more information.¡± The fact he knew that was a testament to how much Gods-be-damned fucking news he¡¯d been consuming these past two weeks. He could hardly believe he was speaking those words even as he said them. ¡°Thank you.¡± As if on cue, Mr. Oren, who¡¯d probably arrived several minutes earlier and who¡¯d likely been waiting around for him to finish, now approached the spot in the park where Zach was currently standing, and then he took his place beside Zach, shook hands with him, nodded, and smiled. ¡°Go easy on him,¡± he said to the reporters as he turned to face the bulk of them. Many of the camera operators were kneeling on the grass. ¡°It¡¯s his first day in Dal¡¯Zarrah. Let¡¯s not make him too afraid to come back.¡± The press laughed immediately as though charmed. Mr. Oren, extending his arms widely, once more faced Zach. And with a much louder speaking voice, he said, ¡°Sir Calador, it¡¯s a pleasure to have you visit our city. I didn¡¯t expect this particular venue to address the press, but this is far from the first impromptu press conference to be held here in Peace Park, which stands as a monument to the heroes who died for human peace in the battle against the Orcish Invaders over two-thousand years ago. Without their sacrifice, none of us would be here today.¡± The audience applauded loudly. If Zach was a celebrity, then to the people of this city, Mr. Oren was a super celebrity. When he spoke, he did so with such grace, elegance, and poise that by the time he¡¯d finished his first sentence, Zach finally understood why he¡¯d switched professions, and now, he agreed with it, too. Mr. Oren should never have been an adventurer. He was meant to do this. ¡°You know,¡± he said, looking around and meeting the eyes of the people before him. ¡°When I accepted the honor of my current station, I did so for one reason alone: because I believe in humanity, and I believe we can change for the better.¡± He closed his eyes briefly, pausing at just the right time and taking a deep breath. ¡°When Sir Calador called me earlier today and told me he¡¯d like to discuss reassuring humanity¡¯s neighbors, I told him to fly up here as soon as possible. And he did, as you can all see. Because that¡¯s the kind of young man Zach is. He recognizes his mistakes, and he grows from them.¡± At first, Zach felt kind of icky, because the lie contained a compliment that he didn¡¯t deserve. But as Mr. Oren continued to speak, Zach realized that he wasn¡¯t really lying. Only the first few words were untrue, but they were inconsequential. From that point on, he tried not to get emotional as Mr. Oren not only defended him, but finally relieved at least some of the emotional burden of secrecy that Zach had been carrying around for a while now. Zach would never forget the words he spoke in this moment. ¡°Let me start by saying what Sir Calador told you about me is true. I was, until recently, his teacher. He told you much about me, but he said little about himself. For example, what he didn¡¯t tell you was how, as a student, he nearly died one night trying to stop a vicious criminal from kidnapping one of his classmates. Earlier, I heard him tell you all that his father committed suicide. But I want you to know that this is not true, and that he was forced to tell you this. You see, Zach does not have the clearance or rank to dispense the truth. But I do.¡± Mr. Oren again looked at numerous members of the crowd, including reporters. ¡°Sir Calador¡¯s father did not die by suicide. He was murdered¡ªby a man you all know as Varsh Gellor, formerly of the Royal Roses!¡± The crowd erupted in gasps, yet Mr. Oren continued to speak, now even more loudly and more emotionally. ¡°I know because I was there that night. His father was thrown out of the window of his apartment in cold blood. I attest to this myself. I saw his body on the concrete. Sir Calador was instructed to remain silent, and this is a wrong that has been inflicted on him. And as I promised you the day that I was given the honor of serving in the Lords of Justice, I will speak for justice!¡± ¡°Mr. Oren,¡± Zach whispered, trying not to be swept away by emotion. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re allowed to¡ª¡± ¡°The student Varsh tried to kidnap and sell,¡± he continued, ¡°was none other than Princess Kalana Vayra.¡± Now, there was a true and genuine uproar: from the crowd, from the reporters, and even from some of the peacekeepers. Mr. Oren had to practically shout to continue being heard as outrage and shock permeated the crowd, taking over one person after the next. ¡°Yet here he is, a loyal, dedicated servant of the Royal Roses, putting the people above himself. He¡¯s speaking for the guild that murdered his father and tried to sell into slavery the love of his life, and he¡¯s doing it because he feels it¡¯s right: not because he has to. Has Sir Calador made mistakes? Yes. Has he learned from them. Yes! So let me just be clear on this one point: I am proud to work with this young man on reuniting our world, and I implore the global community, in particular the Dwarvish people, to forgive him.¡± Forgive me for what? Zach wondered. I haven¡¯t seen a Dwarf since I was a five. ¡°And for those of you who have been glued to your screens in recent days waiting for word of what is to come, I have a major announcement to make to all of you. This was going to be made a few hours from now, but since I am here before you, I suppose you may as well hear it early.¡± With strength and determination in his voice, he lifted his chin and said, ¡°I have just spoken with High-Lord Besh. We, the Lords of Justice, officially decline to surrender, and we will never bow to the tyranny of the Guild of Gentlemen. I call upon all other guilds of humanity to stand with us and fight: just as we did when the dragon threatened to reduce our world to ash. People of North Bastia, I implore each and every one of you to remember just one thing: we, of humanity, did not bow down before a dragon, and we will not bow down before a bomb!¡± An explosion of noise from the crowd reached such an intense volume that Zach could not hear what Mr. Oren said to him immediately following his remarks. As if understanding this, Mr. Oren smiled and gently shoved Zach as if to indicate he should begin walking away. Jimmy followed. That¡­was unexpected. Now, out of the spotlight, he watched as Mr. Oren stood there and took questions for over forty-five minutes. Zach, who truly believed he¡¯d done pretty well, realized Mr. Oren was on a whole different level. He really was born to do this. It was no wonder he¡¯d ended up where he was. As Zach watched him in action, he maintained an upright posture and continued to keep a calm, confident look on his face, as he could likely still be seen on the side of whatever screen or device people were viewing this on. Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t have to do this again for a long, long time. Chapter 142: Indoctrination Chapter 142: Indoctrination Gaelan Malakor could actually feel himself becoming stronger as he equipped the exotic-looking gauntlets given to him by his guild. Yet the palpable increase in power was still nothing when compared to how great he felt once it was joined by the rest of his new equipment. He could hardly believe it; the sense of strength running through his body was unlike anything he¡¯d experienced before. Finally, his guild was doing right by him. Without question, he¡¯d earned each and every piece of his new gear though so many years of loyalty and dedication. Formerly the seventh in command of the Guild of Gentlemen, the death of the king had boosted him to sixth. And now, with the rightfully reacquired loot from the dragon having at last undergone an extensive process to properly sort and optimize it for guild distribution, Gaelan had received his allotment. Prior to this, during the siege of Shadowfall Coast, the loot had been distributed haphazardly among the guild¡¯s defenders, as it had been a time of emergency and they hadn¡¯t yet had the chance to figure out who was best suited to receive what. But as promised, the dragon¡¯s loot had been reclaimed then redistributed¡ªthis time for good. Gods, it sure was one hell of a bonus. Wife¡¯s gonna flip when she sees me like this, he thought, grinning at himself in the mirror from the master bedroom in his three-story home in Shadowfall Coast. ¡°Dad, you look so cool,¡± said Jeanna, his 14-year-old daughter. ¡°Think so, honey?¡± ¡°Yah!¡± Right now, he wore a shimmering breastplate made of dark silver that had the face of a dragon embossed between the chest area. His gauntlets, a matching silver in color, ran from his fingertips all the way up to his elbows, and from the top to bottom, they contained dozens of fin-like protrusions that extended an inch or two off the gauntlet and were equally spaced apart. They weren¡¯t quite sharp enough to be called spikes, and they appeared more decorative in nature, but still, they contributed greatly towards his overall new look. ¡°Put on the helm!¡± Jeanna said. He chuckled. ¡°Okay, okay.¡± His daughter handed him his brand-new helm, which matched the silver of the rest of his new equipment. It covered only the top half of his face, stopping just below the middle of his cheeks. It also framed his eyes in such a way as to make him seem fierce and dangerous. Two sharp, curved edges extended up and above each earlobe, and though it fit snugly, it was actually not uncomfortable. But even if it had been, he¡¯d still wear it just the same, as it was a dramatic improvement over the junk he¡¯d been wearing for the past twenty years. Unlike adventurers, members of political guilds rarely had a large pool of items to choose from. I doubt I¡¯ll ever get anything better than this, he thought. Truly, it was difficult to believe that all of his new items¡ªincluding his new leg armor¡ªwere only uncommon in rarity, as the stats on each were so much greater than even the rarest items that could drop at his family¡¯s private mob pens on his estate in southeast Tomb of Fire. Gaelan¡¯s father, now retired from guild life, had left the estate to him, just as his father had done before him. The Malakor line was strong, and as he looked down with love and affection at his daughter, he was pleased to see her eyes light up with pride in him. I don¡¯t even recognize myself, he thought, amused. He was amazed by the image reflecting back at him in the mirror. ¡°So cool,¡± Jeanna said again. ¡°Can¡¯t believe you¡¯re my dad.¡± Upon speaking those words, her smile abruptly faded and turned to what looked like an annoyed frown. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s just my friends make such gross comments about you all the time.¡± ¡°The good kind of gross or the bad kind?¡± ¡°There is no good kind!¡± she said, slapping at his side. Gaelan laughed. He thought it was cute that his daughter¡¯s friends all had crushes on him. He was a tall, powerfully built man with straight brown hair, a taut jaw, and calloused hands from so many hours spent in weapons training. He spent a great deal of time refining himself and staying sharp. Having participated in numerous open-field battles throughout his life, he kept himself strong and did not neglect the need for regular sparring sessions as far too many of his fellow guild members tended to do. I need to make sure Jeanna learns to fight properly, too, he thought. She¡¯s been begging me to teach her. Maybe it¡¯s time I started training her before she picks up too many lazy habits from the pens. Put simply, it took far more than hunting carefully curated mobs on private estates to be strong. Sure, that was great for leveling up and acquiring physical power via stats, but it was no substitute for real-world combat experience. That was likely why a level-20 adventurer could often defeat a level-40 member of a political guild in a fight. The stats themselves just weren¡¯t enough to triumph over someone who knew their way around a blade. And this, of course, was something Gaelan had figured out early on. From the moment he was old enough to begin leveling, Gaelan had never been satisfied with the process of safely killing mobs on his father¡¯s estate then calling it a day. No. That didn¡¯t cut it. For this reason, he had become one of several high-ranking members of the Guild of Gentlemen who worked hard to fight on equal footing with the adventurers. And now, at long last, he¡¯d finally been given the kind of equipment that could really bring out the best in his skills. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Your new weapon also looks super cool, dad,¡± Jeanna said, covering her mouth as though surprised. ¡°King Alistair gave that to you?¡± ¡°He sure did,¡± he said, patting his daughter¡¯s curly brown hair before bending down to pick up his powerful new weapon. Unlike his armor, which had been delivered to his residence by a courier working for the guild, his new armament had been personally handed to him by Sir Alistair Morrison¡ªnow King Alistair Morrison¡ªin the hours following the man¡¯s coronation a few days earlier. This was also a rare¡ªor blue quality¡ªweapon. Picking it up, Gaelan glanced at it approvingly. The weapon was a sturdy, double-bladed spear made of an even darker type of silver. Both bladed ends had highly decorative, curved handles¡ªknown as wings¡ªthat formed something vaguely similar to dual dragon¡¯s heads, each releasing a small, but eerily cool jet of fire like that produced by a lighter. When spinning, swinging, or striking with the spear, the fire would make a ¡°pfft¡± sound and begin to release smoke as well. ¡°I¡¯m so, so jealous,¡± Jeanna said, beaming at him. ¡°I wish I had a weapon like that.¡± ¡°But you will,¡± he said to his daughter, meeting her eyes. ¡°Everything that¡¯s mine will be yours someday, Jeanna. And then, one day, you¡¯ll pass it down to your children, too.¡± Jeanna cringed like someone becoming aware of a bad scent. ¡°Yuck! I¡¯m never having kids or getting married.¡± At this, Gaelan couldn¡¯t help but release a bout of deep laughter. ¡°Oh no, sweetie? You say that now, but you¡¯ll see.¡± ¡°Nope. I¡¯m never getting married! I¡¯m gonna be my own woman. I don¡¯t need a husband.¡± ¡°Love strikes you faster than steel. You¡¯ll understand some day.¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll see,¡± she said skeptically. Gently setting down his spear so it leaned against the closet next to the mirror, he looked across his bedroom, out of the window, and saw a bunch of girls and boys Jeanna¡¯s age forming up on the street outside of their driveway. ¡°Jeanna, your friends are waiting for you.¡± She sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna do cleanup today.¡± He gave her a loving, but strict look. ¡°Everyone has to do their part. We were hit very, very bad.¡± ¡°I know, but I hate shoveling rubble. The other day, I saw a dead body.¡± A grim look crossed her features. ¡°I¡¯m scared of seeing another one.¡± He knelt down so that he was level with her height, and then he kissed her forehead. ¡°Sweetie, you shouldn¡¯t be. Every time you find one, you¡¯re bringing closure to a family whose loved one has gone missing.¡± The civilian death toll in Shadowfall Coast was so high that it sent shivers of rage traveling down Gaelan¡¯s spine every time he was reminded of it. The Royal Roses, the Lords of Justice¡ªall of them. They were all such terrible, despicable human beings. Shadowfall Coast was a peaceful, quiet city, and the people here had been utterly devastated. Yet all the media seemed to talk about was the victims in Ogre¡¯s Axe. Certainly, as a father, Gaelan felt for them, and if it had been up to him, he never would¡¯ve launched the bomb, but regardless¡ªnobody cared about their dead citizens. The world was against the Guild of Gentlemen. And that was why, even though King Morrison was an immoral, king-slaying, murderous tyrant, Gaelan would never turn against him, as he was at least fighting for humanity: for them. He was the only one willing to stand up for their lives and their future. The future of girls like Jeanna. ¡°Be brave and help your friends,¡± he said to her. ¡°Everyone has to do their part.¡± ¡°I know, daddy.¡± She made another sigh. ¡°Can me and you and mom go out tonight? Every time you say we will, you end up having work.¡± With a pained tone of voice, he shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t. But I promise we will soon.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± she asked, pulling away from him and folding her arms. He shrugged. ¡°Tomorrow¡¯s Vim¡¯s sentencing, and we¡¯re short-staffed. They want me on guard duty at least until tomorrow afternoon. I¡¯ll be gone all night and all morning. Don¡¯t worry: I swear I¡¯ll make it up to you, Jeanna.¡± ¡°You¡¯d better! Last time you said that, you¡ªhuh?¡± She paused and removed her phone from her pocket. ¡°My phone¡¯s been blowing up. Everyone¡¯s texting me all of a sudden. What¡¯s going¡­¡± She scowled, her face contorting with obvious disgust. ¡°What is it now?¡± ¡°It¡¯s him.¡± ¡°Him? Who?¡± She turned her phone around while putting the sound on speaker, and a rush of pure disgust immediately took hold of Gaelan as he heard the voice that came out of it. ¡°Everyone has to be held accountable for their actions,¡± said the voice from his daughter¡¯s phone. ¡°And I, like my unfairly imprisoned guild-leader, Vim Alazar, believe we live in a civilized world, and no one of any level or race has a right to exist free of law and justice or to threaten the lives of others.¡± ¡°Turn that garbage off,¡± Gaelan said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to see or hear that murdering psychopath. Everything he says is a lie, anyway.¡± He pointed his finger at his daughter. ¡°I don¡¯t want to see you listening to that ever again or I¡¯m taking your phone away.¡± ¡°Relax, dad, I¡¯m just keeping up to date with what¡¯s going on.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care, Jeanna. That boy¡¯s words are poison. Look what he did to our city! Him and his¡­¡± Gaelan took a breath, trying to calm his sudden bout of rage. ¡°Turn it off.¡± ¡°All right, Gods.¡± One of the fears that many in the Guild of Gentlemen had was that the Royal Roses were using the popularity of people like the Elvish princess or the war-criminal Zachys Calador to influence young minds into being more sympathetic to their guild. But it wasn¡¯t going to work! Not over his dead body! Gods, it was infuriating how these sick bastards always seemed to come for the kids. That was what they¡¯d always try whenever everything else failed. It was part of their indoctrination efforts, and it served as yet another reason why King Morrison was the only man who could protect their society from the evil that lurked outside of their borders. Having been unable to conquer their people militarily, the other guilds were now trying to influence the children by manufacturing celebrities out of whole cloth. Just look at the way they were lionizing that NPC zombie, Grundor. The dragon raid was only weeks ago, and they¡¯d already begun airing a TV show and printing a line of clothing and other merchandise. Luckily, it was banned in Shadowfall Coast, and Tomb of Fire was doing its best to crack down on it¡ªwhich was more difficult given it was a giant city. But more needed to be done to protect children from being seduced into a cult. That¡¯s exactly what it is, he thought. It¡¯s a cult. ¡°Go join your friends,¡± he told his daughter, once more retrieving his spear. ¡°And no more listening to that boy, or the Elvish girl, either.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t. Promise.¡± ¡°I¡¯m serious!¡± ¡°I said I won¡¯t!¡± He didn¡¯t believe her. Tonight, he might have to reactivate the parental controls. Chapter 143: An Uncertain World Chapter 143: An Uncertain World Having spent way too much time today in front of cameras, Zach was glad to be relieved of the pressure. He sank deeper into the comfortable leather seating of Mr. Oren¡¯s luxurious limousine DEHV with Jimmy beside him, and he relaxed while Mr. Oren, who sat across from him, beamed at him with a pleasant smile. Truthfully, Zach hadn¡¯t known how Mr. Oren was going to react, but he was glad to see him appearing pleased. It meant he must¡¯ve done okay, right? As if to ease Zach¡¯s doubts, Mr. Oren fired him a thumbs-up. ¡°You were awesome, my man. But¡­a little bit of warning in advance of things would¡¯ve been nice. Even still: it was only a matter of time before you had to answer to the public, and you really acquitted yourself well.¡± His smile widened. ¡°You¡¯ve surprised a lot of people¡ªin a good way.¡± It was still shocking to see Mr. Oren in his current state. He¡¯d changed so much so quickly. His lab coat was nowhere to be seen, and he now wore contacts instead of those quirky cat-eye glasses. His white uniform was adorned with pins and medals, and he looked like the historical depiction of a fleet admiral. As Zach sighed with relief at the positive reaction, he turned his head to the side as the last part of what Mr. Oren said caused him some confusion. ¡°How do you know I surprised a lot of people?¡± Zach asked. In response, Mr. Oren lifted his phone then shook it as if to indicate the answer was obvious¡ªwhich to be fair, it was. ¡°Oh, right. You¡¯ve probably been talking to the other guilds about this.¡± He paused a moment, then said, ¡°But just so you know, I did try calling and texting you, but you¡¯re so hard to get in touch with these days.¡± ¡°I know I am,¡± he admitted, his tone apologetic. ¡°And I¡¯m sorry for that. Regardless, I¡¯m not really complaining. Truth is, sooner or later you would¡¯ve had to come here to Dal¡¯Zarrah and address the media. It¡¯s one less issue for me to worry about now. But above all things, I¡¯m just so proud of how you performed. I mean that, Zach.¡± The words invoked a powerful emotion within Zach that he couldn¡¯t quite describe. It was like a mixture of joy and pride. A few seconds later, however, it faded away, and a sense of gratitude swelled inside his chest, replacing it. ¡°Thank you for what you told them all¡ªabout my dad, I mean. I can¡¯t believe you got away with telling everybody the truth about that.¡± Zach exhaled. ¡°It was really risky of you, but Gods, I appreciate it.¡± Mr. Oren nodded. ¡°The truth deserved to be known, and you deserved to be free of keeping it secret. Having said that, if I can be honest with you, Zach, it wasn¡¯t as risky as you might think. Naturally, I cleared it with the Royal Roses first. It would¡¯ve been incredibly irresponsible for me to do otherwise no matter how ethically correct.¡± ¡°Wait, seriously?¡± Zach asked, amazed. ¡°They actually agreed to let you say that?¡± ¡°They did,¡± he confirmed. ¡°To reward you for your excellent press conference and, in my own personal opinion, to improve your view of the guild. Though you never willingly joined, their view of you changed because of your press conference. Whether you meant to do so or not, you¡¯ve caused them to believe you are truly one of them, and in turn, they¡¯ve enthusiastically accepted you. I believe they intended this to be a gesture of what they feel is their goodwill. The message, I think, is obvious: that ensuring you are content with the guild is worth a small hit to their image.¡± ¡°I bet it¡¯s worth a whole lot more than just that,¡± said the person sitting next to Mr. Oren; he was a tall but very thin man wearing a professional, light-blue-colored business suit. He had a tablet on his lap and a pair of reading glasses on his face. Zach couldn¡¯t quite remember his name, though he recalled Mr. Oren introducing him earlier as his chief secretary. ¡°Zach, you¡¯re a very brave and clever young man, and I sure wish you were with us in Lords of Justice.¡± Zach paused to consider what he could and couldn¡¯t say in front of this man. It wasn¡¯t because he had any kind of reason not to trust him, but more so that Adamus, as part of their deal, had forbidden him from sharing or discussing certain details among anyone who had not already been included within Zach¡¯s existing circle of contacts. ¡°Thank you,¡± Zach said to him. Then, as he contemplated what to say next, his attention became diverted as Jimmy called out to him for what had to be the tenth time in the last five minutes. ¡°Yo, Zach, look at that one,¡± he said, pressing his pointer finger against the glass window at something off to their left. ¡°Whoah,¡± Zach whispered. Though Zach had a lot he wanted to say to Mr. Oren, for the past few minutes, both he and Jimmy had not been able to stop themselves from constantly looking out of the window. The spectacular sights as they got closer towards the center of the city were mesmerizing. Ahead and to their left was a museum so large it spanned four city blocks. Outside of it were costumed characters from humanity¡¯s past: actors who were taking photos and in some cases dancing with the pedestrians who encountered them. Zach recognized some, but not all¡ªthough he did notice one in particular that was decidedly not a historical figure. He barked out a laugh. ¡°Look, Jimmy,¡± he said, pointing at one of the actors. ¡°It¡¯s Grundor.¡± ¡°Wow, they nailed that costume. They even made it seem like a name and level are floating above his head.¡± Jimmy laughed. ¡°It looks just like Grundor. Shit, I didn¡¯t know his ass was so famous here. I see that dude in Angelica¡¯s like all the time.¡± ¡°He¡¯s really famous now,¡± Zach said. ¡°He¡¯s like the fucking¡ª¡± ¡°Language, both of you,¡± Mr. Oren said disapprovingly, to which they both apologized. Zach found his eyes glued to the scenery as the DEHV bumped along and made jerking, unsteady motions. The vehicle was moving in a very irregular way, often slowing down or speeding up without warning. This was very different from the Whispery Woods, a region far more accustomed to unbearable traffic conditions. Back there, DEHV speed on all main roads was automated based on volume so that, no matter how bad the traffic, they traveled with only very minor fluctuations. One of the first things Mr. Oren had said when him and Jimmy had gotten into the DEHV was to excuse the ¡°unpleasant¡± travel conditions. Apparently, tourism here had picked up a lot recently, and so the DEHVs had been relegated to ground travel, something unusual for Dal¡¯Zarrah. Interestingly, despite how jarring Zach found the irregular motion, Jimmy appeared to be totally accustomed to it. He didn¡¯t even seem to realize anything was out of the ordinary at all. But this actually made sense to Zach, as he recalled that Jimmy had grown up traveling around the world in ¡°cars.¡± So this was probably normal to him. It¡¯s probably the DEHVs that he finds strange. Despite much needing to be said, Mr. Oren seemed to have no problem giving them a moment to gawk at the sights of the city. Even still, Zach felt guilty. He knew he was on a limited time budget and that he didn¡¯t come all this way to play tourist. ¡°You can take pictures if you want,¡± the secretary person said to him. ¡°Everyone does their first time here.¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°Not until I come back with Kal. She¡¯ll be sad that she missed out on the experience with me. In fact, I¡¯m not looking at anything else until I bring her here and we can see everything together.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that,¡± Mr. Oren said. It was a reaction that Zach found to be confusing. ¡°Huh? Why?¡± ¡°Because it means you¡¯ll return with her. She needs to come eventually as well, especially since she¡¯s slated to become the governor of humanity¡¯s largest city, population wise. I hope you¡¯ll be able to convince her to take the time to do so in the near future.¡± At this, Zach couldn¡¯t control the loud, but brief guffaw that escaped him. ¡°Gods, you don¡¯t have to worry about that at all. Kalana¡¯s not me. She won¡¯t take any convincing to show up here. If it¡¯s something that she has to do, she will.¡± ¡°Good point,¡± Mr. Oren said, sharing a laugh with him. Then, with a bit more seriousness in his voice, he changed the topic of conversation. ¡°Zach, I have to ask. Just how did you learn to do what you just did, my man? I think everyone who¡¯s ever met you is wondering that right now.¡± Zach had actually been expecting the question. ¡°Believe it or not, it¡¯s from watching a ton of news while I was on my vacation. Well, some of it is, at least. A big part of it is also because of stuff I learned from Fylwen. She¡¯s been teaching me about how things work and all these different dynamics at play.¡± ¡°Interesting. Is that all?¡± ¡°Uh, well, I¡¯ve also been having imaginary conversations with reporters in my head lately,¡± Zach said. ¡°It¡¯s because I knew the day would come when I got cornered by them again.¡± Zach shuddered at the memory of how badly he¡¯d botched things after ¡°escaping¡± his hospital room in Tomb of Fire. He¡¯d really humiliated himself. ¡°Anyways, I wanted to make sure I didn¡¯t look like an idiot the way I did the last time.¡± Zach lifted his hand and scratched an itch on his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize I was going to end up stuck there for so long, though.¡± Mr. Oren sat up straighter, and he opened his mouth, but said nothing. He held the position for a moment, and then finally, he spoke. ¡°Zach,¡± he began, pausing yet again, which gave Zach the indication he was going to say something serious and potentially displeasing. ¡°I just want you to understand the significance and importance of what you said about meeting with the various world leaders. That was a very important answer you gave¡ªand it was the correct one, too.¡± ¡°Well, thanks,¡± Zach said. ¡°It felt right to me at the time. I saw all the things GNT and N-B-O-N were saying about me, so I figured they¡¯d lose their ability to criticize me like that if I¡ª¡± ¡°No, wait, please,¡± Mr. Oren said, raising his palm. ¡°I need you to understand, Zach, that those words must now be transformed into actions.¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°Okay, sure, whatever.¡± ¡°Meaning,¡± he continued, ¡°that you¡¯ll be expected to meet with foreign leaders and answer their questions.¡± ¡°Yep, no problem.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll set something up eventually.¡± At this, Mr. Oren made a slight grunt. ¡°No, not eventually. Soon.¡± ¡°Like a few months from now, yeah.¡± ¡°No, Zach. This is what I was worried about. You¡¯re not being serious. You probably think you can treat this with the same level of commitment as a man telling an old friend they should catch up some time. We need you to be ready to face the global community in a week or two at the most.¡± Taken aback, Zach nearly leapt out of his seat. ¡°A week or two?¡± he exclaimed. ¡°Fuck that! Ahh, sorry, my language, I know. But look. I don¡¯t have time for that. I¡¯ve got like a billion other things I have to do.¡± Mr. Oren narrowed his eyes, which told Zach he wasn¡¯t in a very negotiating mood, at least not when it came to this topic. ¡°It¡¯s not a choice you need to make, Zach. You¡¯ve already committed to doing it.¡± ¡°Yeah, but, like, you know, eventually. Why¡¯s it got to be so soon?¡± Mr. Oren shifted positions in his seat so that he leaned closer to Zach. ¡°You scared a great many people during your two¡­let¡¯s call them ¡®incidents.¡¯ But as much as that might have aroused fear in the human population, at the end of the day, you are also human. You are one of us. And you¡¯re someone who fought to save countless human lives. For this reason, while there are many, many people who have concerns about you, on the whole of it, you¡¯re still very popular in human society and most people have already long forgiven you for startling them. This, however, is not the case in the rest of the world.¡± Zach listened intently as Mr. Oren began to speak slowly and more forcefully. ¡°The rest of the world views you as a terrifying, dangerous human and a threat to their safety and wellbeing. And nowhere is this truer than it is in Dwarven society, where I regret to tell you that you are outright hated and despised.¡± Zach threw up his arms in confusion. ¡°Fucking why?¡± he asked¡ªapologizing an instant later for his profanity. ¡°I haven¡¯t talked to a Dwarf, seen a Dwarf, or said anything about the Dwarves in basically forever!¡± Mr. Oren knocked on the plastic divider behind him. ¡°Pull over a second,¡± he ordered. Confused and somewhat unsettled, Zach felt a rising sense of dread inside of him as the vehicle ground to a halt, pulling into a parking space just down the street from a gigantic coliseum with a tremendous banner advertising a performance from one of ¡°Galterra¡¯s greatest musicians¡± that would be taking place later tonight. As the DEHV came to a full stop, he swallowed down the nervous bile that rose up in his throat. ¡°What is it?¡± he asked. ¡°Here¡¯s what you don¡¯t seem to know¡­¡± Mr. Oren closed his eyes a moment before reopening them and staring at Zach. He then informed Zach of something so awful it sent waves of disbelief and denial shimmering through him. He told Zach that, during their fight against the Ziragoth adds, Zach¡¯s ability, Doomsday Slash, had caused Earthquakes in the Dwarvish continent, which resulted in numerous cave-ins of their underground dwellings. He claimed there¡¯d been eight-hundred casualties along with thousands of injuries and the destruction of homes and businesses with damages in the billions. ¡°Wh-why haven¡¯t I heard about this until now?¡± Zach asked, shouting out the words. ¡°How come nobody told me? How come nobody ever reported on this?¡± ¡°The media have actually reported on it, but it¡¯s been buried under other stories. It¡¯s considered unimportant in human media, and so it¡¯s no surprise you haven¡¯t encountered it. Sadly, even if the news spent more time covering the story, most humans would still just tune it out and not care. There¡¯s a lot of work to be done on that front.¡± Zach wasn¡¯t sure how to feel. So many thoughts raced through him. All this was a shock to him. ¡°I think¡­I think I¡¯m going to be sick,¡± he whispered, feeling queasy and unsettled. ¡°Before you do,¡± Mr. Oren said, ¡°please know that there are many, many facts you¡¯re unaware of that serve as mitigating factors.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± Zach asked, his throat beginning to dry. ¡°Well, for starters, the cave-ins were not entirely your fault. We were able to send independent investigators to the various scenes, and more are heading over there to continue researching what happened before we finally fight this out in the courts. But so far, human engineering experts found that structural inconsistencies and neglect played an outsized factor in those specific areas that saw the cave-ins. Furthermore, systematic failures on every level in the Dwarvish emergency services contributed to a slow response. So, do you see, Zach? There are numerous, pivotal details that greatly, greatly mitigate blame. If a random earthquake had occurred, the same thing would likely have happened. You are not a murderer, and you did not kill these people. What you have done is far closer in moral culpability to causing an accident by driving a faulty DEHV.¡± Zach, despite Mr. Oren¡¯s words, continued to have a lingering feeling of sickness that resided inside of him. Thank the Gods he had Jascaila in his life. Knowing he could talk to her about all this helped him keep it together despite the awful things he was being told. During all this, Jimmy was being totally quiet, showing no reaction at all as if not having any idea of what to say, and for that, Zach couldn¡¯t blame him. He himself wasn¡¯t sure how to respond. Thus, as he opened his mouth to speak, he decided to ask a question rather than respond directly to Mr. Oren¡¯s claims. ¡°What do you mean by ¡®fight it out in the courts?¡¯¡± Mr. Oren pointed towards somewhere outside of the window without even looking as if to gesture at the general city itself. ¡°As I¡¯m sure you know,¡± he said, ¡°we¡¯re working hard to get humanity readmitted into global trade. There are numerous obstacles to that end, and the biggest one, by a mile, is the situation with the Guild of Gentlemen. Nothing is going to happen until that¡¯s resolved. But there are many other issues, too. One of them is humanity again submitting itself to the global courts.¡± ¡°Global courts? I think I learned about that in history. We haven¡¯t gone there in a long time, right?¡± ¡°Correct,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Since before either of us were born. To put things simply, the Dwarves are suing the UCH for damages, and this, for sure, is going to be viewed as a test of humanity¡¯s commitment towards reconnecting itself. Though it rarely makes the news, humanity is served with court orders all the time, and typically, they¡¯re laughed off and ignored. But not this time.¡± Determination filled his eyes. ¡°Zach, if we ever want to again be seen as legitimate in the eyes of the world, we need to answer their summons and show up to litigate this in the global courts, and then we need to obey the outcome as well.¡± ¡°Will we win?¡± ¡°Not a chance,¡± Mr. Oren replied immediately, his tone leaving no room for doubt. ¡°At least not if by ¡®winning¡¯ you mean we are found not responsible. No, we will absolutely be ordered to pay restitution to the families of those killed and hurt, and in my opinion, that is fair and just: but the question is how much? For the first time in decades, human guild representatives have been invited to their mine-cities as required by the global courts. Had it not been for such a truly awful purpose, that fact itself would be worthy of celebration. It¡¯s been decades, Zach: decades since humans have been granted permission to step foot in Dwarvish lands. In this case, it¡¯s to perform our own investigation to bolster our defense in court. But this is a process that will take a long time to play out; there will be many hearings along the way as each side argues fault and blame.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Zach rubbed his face, suddenly feeling weary. ¡°I just wanted to save you and everybody. I never meant for any of that to happen.¡± At this, Mr. Oren leaned forward, firmly grabbed his hand, and gave him a fierce look. ¡°That¡¯s why this is my fault too. And Donovan¡¯s.¡± ¡°What? How do you figure?¡± Mr. Oren¡¯s gaze became even sharper. ¡°You are not to shoulder the blame of this yourself. I may not be an adventurer anymore, but I was when this happened, and as any adventurer will attest, the actions of one member of a raid group are the actions of the entire raid group. Perhaps, if we¡¯d listened to you warning us of Ziragoth¡¯s sentience, we might have been better prepared. You are only as responsible as myself or Donovan or anyone else on that raid. We share this equally.¡± Zach tried to make sense of what he was saying, but he found Mr. Oren¡¯s words to be contradicting both in tone and substance. ¡°I don¡¯t get it. I can¡¯t tell if you want me to feel guilty and responsible, or if you want me to feel like I didn¡¯t do anything bad after all. Why bring this up at all just to tell me not to feel too bad about it?¡± Mr. Oren released his grip and then slowly returned his hand to his lap. ¡°I¡¯m not telling you how you should feel at all, actually. The way you process this is personal to you. What I am telling you, Zach, is that you should consider your own culpability within the context of events. You were trying to save our lives in the moment, but on a grander scale, you were trying to¡ªand succeeded¡ªin saving the lives of so many more. And when viewing the entire raid as a string of events that began with putting the dragon to sleep and ended with killing it the next day¡±¡ªhe gestured with his hands, placing them opposite one another as if to convey the idea of something large¡ª¡°this tragedy unfortunately happened as a consequence of the entire process. It was an unavoidable but nevertheless unacceptable outcome. For my part, I would have done nothing differently, yet I can still feel remorse despite this.¡± As Zach carefully reflected on Mr. Oren¡¯s words, he thought he finally understood what Mr. Oren was getting at: that it was possible for correct actions to have bad, unintended consequences, and that even if what Zach had done, in the moment, was not the wrong thing, it didn¡¯t mean he could simply dismiss any harm he¡¯d caused people because of it. ¡°I get it,¡± he said. ¡°I really do.¡± ¡°I can tell. And I¡¯m glad.¡± Now, lifting his hands off his lap and then slapping them back down playfully, he said, ¡°So, with all that out of the way, what brings you here, Zach? I was going to meet you later today. To be candid, I¡¯m pretty sure I have some idea, but I¡¯d like to hear it from you directly.¡± Zach chuckled. Amid all this, he¡¯d almost forgotten his whole reason for visiting Mr. Oren in the first place. ¡°I have to be careful about what I say in front of your secretary, no offense, but I actually came for two reasons. The first is to update you on what¡¯s going on, as a lot of things happened this morning. And the second thing is to talk about the world leaders with you. I wasn¡¯t bullshitting about what I said to those reporters. I really did come to talk about that. That really is why I¡¯m here.¡± Mr. Oren lifted his eyebrows. ¡°You¡¯ve got me intrigued. What in particular did you wish to discuss?¡± ¡°The World Eater,¡± he said, locking eyes with Mr. Oren. ¡°See, lately, I¡¯ve had this feeling that humans alone aren¡¯t going to be able to stop it. For Galterra to survive, we¡¯re going to need the rest of the world on our side. Oh, and before you flip out and start getting all worked up because I said ¡®World Eater¡¯ out loud, just know that¡­wait, you¡¯re not getting worked up at all, are you? Hey, why are you so calm? I just said World Eater right in front of this guy¡±¡ªhe pointed at the secretary¡ª¡°and you don¡¯t even seem to care.¡± Mr. Oren laughed. ¡°It is quite a surprise, both that you can remember it and also that you¡¯re stating it openly. But I¡¯ve been informed as of an hour ago that our mutual friend has appeared in person on Elendroth, which I can only presume is the result of some kind of compromise. Am I close?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­right,¡± Zach whispered, amazed and baffled. ¡°But how do you know about that?¡± Like before, Mr. Oren tapped on the plastic divider, which Zach took to be a signal for the driver to continue on. Zach¡¯s body made a slight rocking motion as the vehicle pulled away and resumed heading towards wherever they were going. Then Mr. Oren responded to his question. ¡°I received a notification that Queen Vayra was claiming an Elvish Great One had ¡®returned¡¯ and was currently on her island, and that she¡¯s invited all appropriately ranked guild members to visit. Obviously, the media is being completely restricted from reporting on this since the existence of the Great Ones is not common knowledge and it¡¯s not clear how the public would react. At any rate, I¡¯m eager to hear the details of what happened, as I don¡¯t know anything else aside from what I just told you. Also, don¡¯t worry about Dalin. If there¡¯s anything sensitive you don¡¯t feel you can say in front of him, he won¡¯t take any offense. We can discuss such things after we reach my office.¡± Zach took a moment to avert his gaze and quietly mull over what Mr. Oren had just told him. It sounded like, in the time since he and Jimmy had left the island, Fylwen had decided to use the Great One¡¯s existence to the advantage of her people, which meant there was a whole different dimension now to all of this. She¡¯s really cunning, Zach thought, genuinely impressed by her instincts. Returning back to the subject at hand, Zach nodded and said, ¡°Well, there¡¯s definitely a lot I can¡¯t say in front of him. All I can tell you right now is that I¡¯m allowed to remember the World Eater exists, and I¡¯m allowed to talk about it now, too. I can actually tell anyone I want. Uh¡­but I don¡¯t know if I should go releasing the information just yet. I hope your secretary knows not to repeat this stuff.¡± ¡°Of course I do, Sir Calador,¡± he said, sounding a touch offended at the suggestion that he might not. Zach gave the man, Dalin, an awkward smile. ¡°Sorry, just making sure.¡± Once more regarding Mr. Oren, he said, ¡°But anyway, it¡¯s something I eventually want the whole world to know about, and I need your help to get them on board.¡± Mr. Oren¡¯s demeanor became serious. ¡°Of course,¡± he said. ¡°Absolutely. But Zach, for me to do this, you¡¯re going to need to follow through on your commitments as well. It will help the process. Before I can even broach the topic of the World Eater¡¯s existence¡ªlet alone attempt to enlist global aid¡ªwe have to begin building mutual trust. And you¡¯re going to have to play your part in that.¡± Zach sighed. ¡°If I really have to, I will. It just seems so dumb to waste time answering questions when everything I told the reporters before is basically all there is to know. I don¡¯t see what else they need to¡ª¡± Jimmy cleared his throat, drawing Zach¡¯s attention and interrupting him; both he and Mr. Oren turned their heads to look at him. For a while now, he¡¯d been almost completely silent, typing away on his new phone nearly nonstop. ¡°Uh, hey, Zach?¡± he whispered. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°So uh, Angelica¡¯s leaving Elendroth and heading back to her inn, and the adventurers aren¡¯t staying much longer, either. Anyway, a bunch of them want me¡ªboth of us, actually¡ªto run them through the path we took through Nolak and even take a stab at the boss on F30. But yeah. You good here? I think I¡¯m gonna head out.¡± ¡°Head out?¡± Zach asked him. ¡°Did you just say Nolak?¡± Mr. Oren asked, his mouth falling slightly ajar and his eyes widening. ¡°Did I hear that right?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°That¡¯s how we got here.¡± ¡°You came through Trials of Nolak?¡± Mr. Oren asked with a gasp. ¡°Really? Not Hamen¡¯s Isle?¡± ¡°The hell is that?¡± Zach asked. ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± Mr. Oren rubbed his eyes with his right hand. ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°Nope. I asked Jascaila the easiest way to get here, and she told me about Trials of Nolak.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t she warn you that it¡¯s an unused dungeon?¡± Mr. Oren asked, sounding more surprised than he had during this entire conversation so far. ¡°Yeah. But so what?¡± ¡°My thoughts exactly,¡± Jimmy chimed in. ¡°So what?¡± Mr. Oren half-moaned, half-sighed. ¡°Unused dungeons¡ªsometimes called unpopular dungeons¡ªbecome that way for a reason. They¡¯re dungeons that need to be slowly, carefully, and methodically explored and documented before we would even consider instructing the grand libraries to guide adventurers to them. She shouldn¡¯t have even told you despite the warning. I doubt she had bad intentions, but honestly, you two are so lucky to be alive. Thank the Gods that you made it here all right. You should never explore uncharted, unpopular dungeons.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± Zach asked, confused. ¡°We¡¯re supposed to discover dungeons and find out what¡¯s inside of them on our own to begin with, right? How¡¯s this any different?¡± ¡°It¡¯s very different,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°We nudge adventurers towards dungeons that we believe they stand a decent chance of handling. Or¡­not ¡®we,¡¯ sorry¡ªI¡¯m not part of that group anymore¡ªbut adventurers do. The fact that so many die anyway is a testament to how dangerous this approach is to begin with. But uncharted dungeons are dungeons that we know so little about and aren¡¯t likely to learn more of any time soon, making them incredibly dangerous.¡± ¡°How come ya¡¯ll don¡¯t explore them, then?¡± Mr. Oren glanced expectedly at Jimmy as if he¡¯d known Jimmy would ask him that. ¡°Typically¡ªbut not always¡ªunexplored dungeons remain that way because the previous exploration group never returned. In the case of Trials of Nolak, I believe the last time an adventuring party went to explore it was a few-hundred years ago, and it resulted in a total wipe. No one ever emerged. We know from records where some of its entry-points and world-exits are located, but we have no idea what goes on once inside. I strongly recommend you never go back. A dungeon like that is probably meant to remain a dead relic.¡± With a tone of voice that sounded smug¡ªway more so than Zach intended¡ªhe raised his finger and said, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll have you know, Mr. Oren, that Trials of Nolak used to be one of the most-popular dungeons in all of Galterra, with thousands upon thousands of adventurers fighting each other just to get inside.¡± Mr. Oren blinked with skepticism and confusion plain on his face. ¡°How can you possibly know that?¡± ¡°Mushkie told us.¡± ¡°Mushkie?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°And¡­who is that?¡± Reacting to the question, Zach and Jimmy excitedly described to Mr. Oren exactly what they¡¯d experienced on the way over here, which seemed to blow his former teacher¡¯s mind. Yet for all the amazement that popped onto his expression, there was also delight. By the time he and Jimmy finished their story, Mr. Oren was grinning ear to ear. ¡°That¡¯s¡­incredible,¡± he said, staring at each of them. ¡°An item shop that sells a weekly assortment of randomly selected items? Dungeon escape ropes? Elite mobs? Gods, you two have made some discovery. And you told the others about this?¡± Zach tried not to make too sour of an expression, but he failed. ¡°Yeah, but we told them too soon.¡± He then explained his plan to sell the items and maybe even the information itself until Jimmy went and blabbered it as soon as they came here. Predictably¡ªbut still disappointingly¡ªMr. Oren agreed with Jimmy, not Zach, but it was whatever at this point. ¡°So that¡¯s basically how we got here and what happened,¡± Zach said. ¡°Jascaila quit adventuring a long time ago, so she probably didn¡¯t really know how bad of an idea it was to let us come.¡± ¡°That I believe,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°She quit before I was born, actually. Her and Donovan are older than they look.¡± ¡°I know. She told me.¡± Jimmy, glancing down at his phone, lifted his head a moment later. ¡°Anyway, they want me to start heading out and get to Angelica¡¯s. Donovan says they can meet me there and exit-shift me back to Whispery Woods whenever we head out to the raid. And don¡¯t worry, uh, Lord Oren, they ain¡¯t playing around. We¡¯re going for overkill. Since this is gonna be for exploration more than anything else, Donovan and Zephyr are saying there¡¯s no cap on the number of raid members. They¡¯ll bring hundreds if they can get that many people.¡± Zach looked at him. ¡°Can you tell them to wait an hour for me to finish up with Mr. Oren? I want to go too!¡± Jimmy nodded. ¡°Of course, dude. I¡¯ll text them right now to¡ª¡± Mr. Oren held up his hand. ¡°Zach, aren¡¯t we meeting with the Great One to discuss the nuclear situation after this? And don¡¯t we have more pressing matters to attend to following that?¡± A nervous, unsettling, and acidic pain crept its way into Zach¡¯s stomach, as he was now reminded of what he had to do in the coming hours. He was going to have to kill again, wasn¡¯t he? He¡¯d forgotten. Though, perhaps part of his reason for even coming out here in the first place was so that he would forget. He wanted nothing more than to head off with Jimmy and go back to that dungeon and continue exploring it. Yet the entire purpose he¡¯d even gone there in the first place was to bring them here. He¡¯d simply gotten so swept up in it all that he¡¯d lost sight of that. This wasn¡¯t about adventuring or finding item shops or boss fights, he thought. This was about all the other shit I have to take care of. Gods, I don¡¯t want to do this. ¡°Are you okay, Zach?¡± Mr. Oren asked him. ¡°You can see it on my face?¡± ¡°I can, my man.¡± Zach drew a breath then released it slowly. ¡°I know what we have to do.¡± To Jimmy, Mr. Oren said, ¡°Why don¡¯t I let you and Dalin off on the next corner, and he can order you another DEHV and personally escort you back to the grand library. Row 19 leads to Hamen¡¯s Isle. Head down two floors, ride the ferry, kill ten slimes, and then win the dance competition¡ªit¡¯s easy, don¡¯t worry¡ªand you¡¯ll be back in Angelica¡¯s.¡± ¡°Sounds simple enough,¡± Jimmy said, reacting way too casually to what was, in Zach¡¯s opinion, a wild set of instructions. ¡°The mobs you¡¯ll encounter are all level 25 and lower.¡± ¡°Got it. Hey, um, you said something about a dance competition?¡± ¡°It¡¯s easy, I assure you.¡± Gods, that sounds so damn fun! Zach thought, trying his best to conceal his envy. The DEHV began to slow once more, and Zach, half getting out of his seat and leaning forward, allowed Jimmy to slide behind him on his way to the passenger-side door to their left. Before doing so, Jimmy patted Zach twice on the back and said, ¡°Next time, you¡¯ll come. Don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know,¡± Zach said sadly, watching as he exited the vehicle with Mr. Oren¡¯s secretary. The two disappeared from view a moment later. ¡°Do you know what you¡¯re feeling right now?¡± Mr. Oren asked him once they were gone. ¡°Disappointment?¡± ¡°No. Responsibility. Now, tell me everything that happened.¡± ****** Jimmy received what could only be described as a hero¡¯s welcome as he opened the door and the smell of Angelica¡¯s struck him like a bullet made of love. After a brief, hour-long traipse through a kiddie dungeon that felt more like an amusement park ride, he walked into Angelica¡¯s to the sound of cheers, raised mugs, and musical instruments. ¡°There the fucker is!¡± Donovan cried from all the way across the tavern where he sat at the bar counter. It was so noisy and the cheering was so loud that Jimmy could only barely make out the man¡¯s voice. ¡°Get on over here! You¡¯re lucky we waited for ya, you tardy prick! Angelica, let the kid have a beer.¡± ¡°Nope!¡± she said as Jimmy laughed and made his way over to them. ¡°Two more years. Non-negotiable.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± Zephyr said, sitting next to Donovan. ¡°I can give him a sip of mine.¡± Angelica¡¯s name flashed red. ¡°You sure about that, Zephyr?¡± ¡°Nope. Not sure at all, ma''am.¡± "Good." This inspired more laughing, more toasting, and more great vibes. But the best vibe of all came in the form of Tena, who popped out from behind the counter as if wanting to surprise him. Jimmy took off at a run, scooped her up, and then hugged her tightly. ¡°Had a lot more happen today than I was expecting,¡± he said to her. ¡°I¡¯ve heard.¡± ¡°Are you coming with us?¡± She nodded. And he hugged her again. ¡°We found something amazing, Tena.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see it. Mushkie, right?¡± "That''s right. He''s a bit eccentric, but he''s nice enough." Jimmy smiled. He loved it here. Distantly, he did feel a bit of sadness¡ªa bit of a stain on his mood¡ªas he knew how badly Zach wanted to be a part of this but couldn¡¯t. He didn¡¯t know what the kid was up to, but it sounded like he was in some serious shit that Jimmy couldn¡¯t help him with. PVP shit. Even still, he really wished he could be part of this. At the end of the day, this was as much his discovery as it was Jimmy¡¯s. The two of them together had made it to the item shop, and Zach deserved to be here to experience the clearing of F29 and the boss on F30. We might even push a little farther than that. ¡°So,¡± he said, hopping up to the bar counter where a cherry cola was already waiting for him, ¡°I¡¯m guessing I¡¯m leading this raid, right?¡± Donovan barked out a laugh. ¡°You wish.¡± Jimmy glared at him. ¡°You serious? How have I not proved myself yet? No way any of you dudes would¡¯ve survived the dungeon if you were there without me.¡± ¡°Maybe not,¡± Donovan said with a grunt, fixing him with such an abruptly serious, hard look that it caused some of Jimmy¡¯s cockiness to abate. ¡°But knowing things and leading a hundred men in real life ain¡¯t the same thing. I know you think you can do this, kiddo, and I believe you can when you¡¯re ready. Not today, though.¡± Jimmy frowned. But Donovan¡¯s jovial mood returned, and he seemed to want to cheer him back up. ¡°But you know what you do get to be today?¡± ¡°What?¡± He slapped Jimmy playfully on the shoulder, and it hurt every bit as much as Zach had warned him it would. Dude was trying to kill him or something for real. Goddamn. ¡°You get to be a raid captain.¡± ¡°Raid captain? Aww, man, that¡¯s not even¡­whatever.¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s a big fuckin¡¯ honor,¡± Donovan growled. Then he downed his beer and slammed it on the countertop. ¡°I didn¡¯t get to be a raid captain till I was twenty-five.¡± Zephyr chuckled. ¡°You¡¯ll get there, Jimmy. But Donovan¡¯s not wrong. I know you think you¡¯re ready, but when someone dies on a raid, it¡¯s not the same as dying in a simulation. Having so many lives depending on you for their survival¡­this is just something you need to learn slowly. It''s hard to explain. You''ll see it with time.¡± Jimmy nodded, knowing it was best not to push the point any further. ¡°I get you. All right. We¡¯ll do it your way.¡± As he ordered a plate of food and ate dinner with Tena, he conveyed to Donovan and Zephyr in great detail everything that he¡¯d done with Zach with exact specificity, including even the most minor details. During his explanation, Donovan mused that the last exploration group that¡¯d been sent hundreds of years ago likely died due to the traps and not the mobs in the puzzle room. ¡°They¡¯re probably still active,¡± Zephyr said. ¡°Even though he¡¯s cleared F27, the traps themselves will likely still be just as fatal. We need to make sure no one steps in them.¡± He rubbed his chin a moment then got out of his stool and turned around. ¡°Everyone going on the raid has to stop drinking now!¡± he shouted. This resulted in a chorus of angry swearing and a few thrown pieces of bread from the rowdy adventurers who didn¡¯t take kindly to the suggestion. ¡°You¡¯ll thank me later.¡± ¡°Yeah, right!¡± one of them cried. ¡°Buzz-kill!¡± ¡°Zephyr¡¯s gone soft!¡± another shouted. Angelica emerged from behind her counter and glared at them. ¡°Boys, clean up whatever you just threw or I¡¯m kicking you out for a week!¡± ¡°Sorry, Angelica!¡± Jimmy rolled his eyes. These people were nuts, but he was all for it. He just hoped Zach was all right. Angelica was supposed to go and take him back to the island in an hour or two. Jimmy shuddered at the thought of what would happen afterwards. ***** ¡°If you think this makes you any better than the others, it doesn¡¯t,¡± Vim said to Gaelan Malakor. He¡¯d always gotten along well with the man in their brief interactions, yet as the seventh¡ªor was he now the sixth?¡ªin command of the Guild of Gentlemen dabbed at his blood-covered form with a wet, medicated cloth, he couldn¡¯t help but sneer at the sight of him bedecked in the dragon¡¯s equipment, which as far as Vim was concerned, was stolen from those who¡¯d actually slain the beast. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for how they¡¯ve treated you,¡± he said, clearly not willing to take the bait on Vim¡¯s provocations. ¡°I believe in law and justice. You¡¯ll be executed for your crimes tomorrow, but the way you¡¯ve been tortured so far is unacceptable. You have my word that you won¡¯t be harmed again until you face judgement in the morning.¡± Vim let out a bout of scorn-filled laughter. ¡°What a relief. I guess I can sleep easy now.¡± In truth, Vim doubted he could sleep at all. Though he¡¯d been unshackled and provided a meager cot to rest on, he could no longer walk. His legs had been broken during his previous beating, and so had his right hand. He¡¯d been fed only once or twice in more than two weeks, losing considerable weight. He¡¯d been small to begin with, but he was now dangerously malnourished. His body was bruised all over, his eyes blackened, and despite it all, he harbored no regrets, as it had either been this or letting his people face another of their Gods-cursed bombs. ¡°You stole that,¡± he said to Gaelan. He attempted to lift his wrist and point his finger at the man¡¯s new gear, but he was too weak to do even that much. Instead, he merely glared at the silver, exotic-looking armor and trusted Gaelan to know what he was referring to. ¡°In war, these things happen,¡± Gaelan said. ¡°You tried to steal our land.¡± Vim didn¡¯t feel like arguing the point. He lacked the energy to do so even if he wanted. In his current state, he wondered if he¡¯d even live long enough to make it to the execution tomorrow. He¡¯d taken so many hits to the head it was a miracle he still had his wits about him. Had he the vigor, perhaps he¡¯d waste some time trying to talk sense into this oaf, who like his guild, did not understand that North Bastia had been suffering as a result of Peter IV¡¯s insanity, and that the various global powers would never be willing to readmit humanity into the trading fold while Shadowfall Coast, a key port of entry, was still controlled by the Guild of Gentlemen. They¡¯re delusional, he thought. They don¡¯t even care. There was an unprecedented economic crisis looming on the horizon. The various guilds had staved it off as long as they could. But it was only a matter of time before the bubble burst. If they could not find some way of undoing the damage inflicted by Peter IV, then within another decade or so, North Bastia¡¯s economy would collapse, and the Gods only knew what kind of chaos that would create. Will I leave the world in a worse state than when I entered it? Vim wondered, contemplating on his failures. He refused Gaelan¡¯s attempts to make unserious, idle conversation. The two were in a small, damp room that was dimly lit by three small candles that Gaelan had placed. It sure beat the darkness he¡¯d grown accustomed to prior to this. There even seemed to be less roaches and filth in this part of the dungeon, where he¡¯d been ¡°relocated¡± pending his execution in the coming hours. ¡°¡­and my daughter got the best grades in her class on that project, too,¡± he said, smiling as he bandaged one of Vim¡¯s wounds. ¡°What¡¯s the point?¡± ¡°The point?¡± he asked, his voice soft. ¡°Well, it¡¯s a leadership class. It¡¯s designed¡ª¡± ¡°No, you fucking halfwit! What¡¯s the point of dressing my wounds? I¡¯m going to die tomorrow.¡± ¡°Common decency,¡± he said. ¡°And I don¡¯t appreciate the tone.¡± ¡°Oh, really? You don¡¯t appreciate the tone? What has come over me? My father taught me to die politely.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re rude. But it¡¯s all right.¡± He finished what he was doing then stood up. ¡°If you really want to be alone, I¡¯ll leave. No one will bother you. But if you want someone to talk to, I¡¯m here.¡± Vim forced out a derisive laugh. ¡°I¡¯d rather the silence, thank you.¡± He spat after the man as he turned around and left. Or at least he tried to. He couldn¡¯t really spit anymore as he was so badly dehydrated. He was pretty sure he was running a fever, too. With any luck, maybe he would just close his eyes and die. He was awfully tired. Chapter 144: A Dream come True Chapter 144: A Dream come True With spirits so high and a sense of excitement permeating the air, the last thing Jimmy wanted to do was spoil everybody¡¯s fun. For this reason, he avoided bitching about his current situation. Instead, he attempted to shove aside his displeasure and bask in the festive, joyous atmosphere. It was difficult, though, as he felt personally snubbed and disregarded. It left him with a general sense of discontent, which was made worse by a separate feeling of ickiness thanks to his equipment becoming once again covered in grime and muck. Still, he chose not to make a fuss about it as he walked through the forest in northwest Whispery Woods with Tena marching to his immediate left and Kalana strolling along to his right. Here I am again, he thought. A few minutes earlier, he¡¯d emerged from the lake that him and Zach had swum through a couple of hours prior, and just like last time, there was a brief but terrifying moment where he thought he¡¯d run out of oxygen and die. Only, it was slightly less scary this time around, because Kalana, as if seeing him struggle, grabbed his arm and yanked him through the water and up to the surface. Then she¡¯d dove back down and rescued three other adventurers who would have actually drowned if she hadn¡¯t continuously checked to ensure everyone made it through all right. Now, as more than two-hundred filthy, yet exuberant adventurers paraded their way through the forest on this late-afternoon summer day, Jimmy tried to keep himself positive. This was going to be a fun evening, after all. And they were off to a bright start, too, because the cloudy, overcast weather that¡¯d been present in Whispery Woods all day seemed to be giving way to something slightly clearer, allowing brief periods of sunshine amid the shade. ¡°Cheer up, Jimmy,¡± Kalana said to him, beaming a smile his way. ¡°Huh? I¡¯m plenty happy,¡± he said back to her. ¡°Nope! Don¡¯t pretend you¡¯re not upset.¡± She pointed to herself. ¡°I can tell.¡± Jimmy sighed. ¡°Fine, you caught me. How did you even know?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got the best grumpy radar,¡± Kalana said with a strange sort of proudness. ¡°So, what¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­nothing. It doesn¡¯t even really matter.¡± ¡°Nah-uh! Of course it matters.¡± Jimmy shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not even that upset. And I¡¯m trying to keep it to myself, anyway, since I don¡¯t wanna ruin this for you guys.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t,¡± Kalana said convincingly. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Relenting, Jimmy quickly explained to her how he felt like Donovan and Zephyr weren¡¯t giving him the respect he felt he deserved, especially since, all boasting aside, he really was great at leading raids. Kalana, however, didn¡¯t seem to find all that much about Jimmy¡¯s circumstance worth getting upset over. ¡°I really think you should be happier,¡± she said. ¡°Sure, you might not be a raid leader yet, but you get to be a raid captain!¡± ¡°Yeah, of the auxiliary support,¡± he muttered, his mood deflating as he reminded himself of how badly Donovan and Zephyr were underestimating him. They¡¯d assigned him to BG6, which on this raid, was ¡°off support.¡± Basically, a category for people who¡¯d face the least amount of risk and thus contribute the least. He should¡¯ve been in BG5, which was main support. Kalana twisted her lips. ¡°So? Why can¡¯t you be happy about that?¡± ¡°I dunno,¡± he said with a sigh. ¡°I guess it¡¯s because they¡¯re putting me in a position where I might not get to do anything, and it¡¯s like, I should be leading this whole damn raid. But nah, they got me hiding behind everybody else in the loser group.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m in BG6 with you,¡± Tena reminded him. ¡°And uh, based on what you told everyone about this dungeon, it sounds like we¡¯re both too under leveled for it. You¡¯re only in your 40s, and I¡¯m level 37. We¡¯re lucky Donovan¡¯s not gonna make us rope out with the others who¡¯re also too low level.¡± Jimmy dismissively waved his hand. ¡°Too low level? Pfft. Don¡¯t forget, Tena, me and Zach cleared an entire damn floor by ourselves, and he¡¯s only in his 20s.¡± Tena¡¯s words reminded Jimmy of one of the disagreements he¡¯d had with Donovan and Zephyr back in Angelica¡¯s before they¡¯d all headed out here. Not long after he¡¯d finished describing to them every single detail he could recall from earlier today¡ªas well as answering their many, many questions¡ªthey¡¯d decided not to allow an ¡°uncapped¡± raid after all, which had been their original plan. Initially, the idea had been to just grab everyone who wanted to come along and then, together, they¡¯d all just steamroll their way through the dungeon. But as Jimmy had elaborated on his experiences, the two had both agreed to instead lead everyone who wanted to come along to the item shop¡ªwhich was a whole lot of people¡ªand then, once they¡¯d all finished up, all but sixty of them, ten per BG, would be asked to ¡°rope¡± out of the dungeon, a term that was already catching on to reference the item him and Zach had discovered together. Hearing their plan, Jimmy had frowned at the both of them. It¡¯d caused him to question their logic and capability to lead, too. And why? Because clearly, with such overwhelming numbers, there was no need to dismiss anybody at all, and he¡¯d told them this outright. ¡°We should just zerg the elites and the boss,¡± he¡¯d said to them. ¡°There¡¯s gonna be like more than two-hundred people with us. No reason we got to send anybody back.¡± ¡°Zerg?¡± Zephyr had asked. ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with the term.¡± ¡°Ah, sorry, it means to rush in with superior numbers and beat down your enemy with brute force. It¡¯s a common tactic when you¡¯ve got way more people than you need.¡± Donovan and Zephyr had looked at one another, and as if both had wordlessly exchanged the exact same thought, they¡¯d then turned their gaze back on Jimmy. ¡°That¡¯s a terrible idea, kiddo,¡± Donovan had said. ¡°But I¡¯m glad you said it, ¡®cause it really helps me understand where you¡¯re coming from and where you need to improve.¡± ¡°Improve?¡± Jimmy had asked, having immediately been put on the defensive. ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yeah you, kid.¡± Jimmy had tried to control his temper. Unlike his new friend, Zach, who tended to fly off the handle just a bit too easily, it took a fair deal more to make Jimmy lose his shit. But one of the things that did it was when people tried to question his capabilities. ¡°No disrespect to either of you,¡± he¡¯d said, ¡°but I know more than both of you combined, and I¡¯m way better at this than either of you are, and honestly? I should be leading this shit. But like I said, I¡¯ll go along with your plan since I¡¯m not looking to rock the boat.¡± He could feel his brow furrowing. ¡°But just so we¡¯re clear,¡± he continued, ¡°I should be the one telling you two where you can improve. Not the other way around.¡± Donovan had barked out a dangerous-sounding laugh. ¡°Is that right, Jimmy?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡± Zephyr had clenched his hand into a fist, and then he¡¯d given Jimmy a gentle bump on the shoulder. ¡°I like your spirit,¡± he¡¯d said. ¡°But you really do need to trust us. You¡¯re not wrong to believe in yourself, but I promise you that you¡¯re getting ahead of yourself here.¡± ¡°Oh yeah?¡± Jimmy had asked, no longer bothering to hide his temper. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Because,¡± Donovan had replied, his own temper bleeding through, ¡°in the real world, people feel pain and fear. Based on everything you said about Nolak, it sounds like it gets pretty damn rough once we get to the uh¡ªthe fuck did you call them again?¡± ¡°Elites.¡± ¡°All right. Elites. So, suppose someone gets killed and we¡¯re lugging around a bunch of inexperienced raiders¡ªknow what happens next, kiddo?¡± ¡°What?¡± Donovan had narrowed his eyes. ¡°You get a chain reaction of people shitting their pants and fuckin¡¯ up the entire raid. They become liabilities. They can lead to more experienced raiders getting killed: people who would¡¯a been fine otherwise. Now, I¡¯ll admit I don¡¯t know shit about your simulations, but I can already tell that all the strategies you think you know don¡¯t account for things like pain, fear, and mental stability in their calculations.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Zephyr had added. ¡°Jimmy, a lot of the tactics from your simulations only work because the people behind their terminals can¡¯t actually feel what they¡¯d feel if they were really there.¡± Jimmy had shaken his head. ¡°I don¡¯t see it that way. There¡¯s a right way to take on bosses and a wrong way. And I¡¯m telling you guys, you¡¯re doing it all wrong. Raiding comes down to math and numbers. It¡¯s all about DPS and group composition. That¡¯s just how it is.¡± Donovan had sworn at him. ¡°You¡¯re too smart for you own fucking good,¡± he¡¯d growled. ¡°Look. All the shit you know is gonna take you far, don¡¯t get me wrong. But there¡¯s a big difference in behavior between someone who knows he can¡¯t really get hurt and somebody whose life can end painfully after a single mistake.¡± Donovan had leaned in closer to him and his voice had become even more serious. ¡°You need to experience what it¡¯s like to see people under real pressure before you can lead. You¡¯ve got the brains and the heart, Jimmy, but you don¡¯t have the experience.¡± Jimmy hadn¡¯t been convinced, and he¡¯d let them know it. ¡°This is some bullshit, man. For all you guys know, I could solo that fucking boss.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Donovan had said, following his words with a shrug. ¡°But you ain¡¯t gonna be able to solo every boss, and you¡¯re either gonna wise up or end up dead. I¡¯m hoping it won¡¯t be the latter.¡± With a hard look in his eyes, he¡¯d poked Jimmy in the chest. ¡°We¡¯re doing this my way or the highway, kiddo. Take it or leave it.¡± ¡°All right, fine,¡± Jimmy had whispered, trying to stave off the resentment he felt within himself. As he recalled this conversation, he momentarily forgot where he was, and it was only thanks to Kalana yanking on his arm that he avoided walking headfirst into a tree branch. She then made a silly face at him, which he couldn¡¯t help but laugh at. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said to her. ¡°No problem, but umm, you should watch where you¡¯re going.¡± ¡°I know.¡± He breathed out the stale air in his lungs and then drew a fresh breath. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for having such a bad attitude about all this, it¡¯s just they¡¯re treating me like I¡¯m a goddamn noob.¡± Kalana tilted her head to side as though unfamiliar with the word, which prompted Tena to step ahead of Jimmy, jog to her side, and whisper something into her ear. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s what it means. It¡¯s a mean way of saying someone¡¯s new.¡± ¡°It means they¡¯re bad, too,¡± Tena said. ¡°Jimmy calls people noobs all the time. It¡¯s like the meanest thing Earth adventurers say to each other in their simulations.¡± ¡°But¡­wait a minute.¡± Kalana glared at him, curling her bottom lip. ¡°Yesterday, you called me and Zach noobs when we didn¡¯t know what that term you used, umm, ¡®min-maxing¡¯ meant.¡± The glare she sent his way distracted him, and he almost walked into a cob web as he¡¯d done earlier in the day. Thankfully, this time, Jimmy saw it at the last minute and ducked beneath it. Afterwards, he shot her an apologetic, helpless shrug, and her frown turned more playful, her lips bunching up. Eventually, she seemed to let it drop entirely, deciding to press ahead and exchange words with some of the other adventurers. Still can¡¯t believe she came along with us, he thought. I wonder if Zach had something to do with that. Based off what Kalana had said, Zach had returned to her island about fifteen minutes before everyone was getting ready to depart Angelica¡¯s, and seemingly out of nowhere, Eilea had asked her if she wanted to go with the adventurers, telling her that she should feel free to do so. Kalana claimed she¡¯d refused, saying that she would never abandon her duty, but Eilea¡ªaccording to Kalana¡ªhad commanded Kalana to tag along, but only if, in her heart, it was something she truly wanted to do, which Kalana stated it was. Kalana also claimed she¡¯d tried to get Zach to come along with her, but he was too tired, which Jimmy knew for a fact was a lie, as he¡¯d been in the car¡ªor DEHV, whatever¡ªwhen him and his former teacher had discussed their plans. He doesn¡¯t want her in the room for the war stuff, he realized. He¡¯s gonna be doing something unpleasant tonight, isn¡¯t he? Based on Kalana¡¯s explanation, it seemed that Zach had insisted she go as well. She¡¯d apparently told him that she felt guilty coming without him, to which he¡¯d supposedly replied that it was only fair she got to meet Mushkie since he did, and that he really thought she should go if she wanted to. And so, assuming all that was true, then she¡¯d been led to believe Zach would be spending the rest of today¡ªand tonight¡ªresting in bed, when in actuality, he¡¯d be off on much darker errands. It was kind of sad, and Jimmy felt bad for them both. ¡°So that¡¯s what¡¯s going on,¡± he told Tena, whispering this all to her as they held hands and strolled their way through the forest. ¡°He shouldn¡¯t have lied to her,¡± she whispered back. ¡°But I understand why he did it.¡± She pursed her lips in a way that came across as sad. ¡°Still, I really think Zach should¡¯ve told her the truth. If you lied to me about something like that, I¡¯d be so upset.¡± ¡°He obviously doesn¡¯t want her to get hurt or killed.¡± ¡°Yah, but Jimmy, Kalana¡¯s such a sweetheart, and if she finds out¡ªand let¡¯s face it, it¡¯s more like when¡ªshe¡¯s gonna be heartbroken.¡± ¡°You better not say shit, Tena.¡± She shoved his arm with her elbow. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t!¡± ¡°Lower your voice.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Jimmy and her continued onwards while Kalana practically bounced from adventurer to adventurer, making happy conversation with all those she came across. Up ahead was the clearing that led out of the forest and onto the road. Something told Jimmy that Donovan wasn¡¯t going to let them comfortably ride a bus this time around. He definitely seemed more like a jogging kind of guy. Jimmy sighed. It looked like he¡¯d have to get sweaty. As they neared the exit to this damp, bug-ridden forest, Jimmy twitched nervously as he felt a sudden weight plop down on his right shoulder. He became aware that something, maybe even something alive, had just landed right on top of him. He croaked. Reflexively, he raised his right hand to swat it off. But he stopped an instant later as he heard a purr in his ear. ¡°Fluffles,¡± he said with a sigh, lowering his arm. ¡°You scared the hell out of me, man. I thought you were a giant spider.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a spider,¡± the cat said with a meow. ¡°Why humans so afraid of bugs?¡± ¡°We just are,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°They¡¯re disgusting.¡± ¡°No! Bugs are fun and yummy.¡± Jimmy cringed in disgust, but he said nothing out of fear of offending the cat. Instead, he merely continued on, as he was more than happy to let Fluffles hitch a ride on his shoulder. After all, Fluffles had saved his life yesterday, and that wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d forget any time soon. He owed a lot to the cat. He also deeply missed his own. I refuse to accept I can¡¯t go back, Jimmy thought to himself. I¡¯ll accept this is real. I¡¯ll accept this isn¡¯t a game or a simulation, too. I¡¯ll do all of that. But I¡¯m not giving up hope. The sight of Fluffles on Jimmy¡¯s shoulder caused Kalana to break away from an adventurer she was chatting with. She hurried over to pet him and give him chin scratches, which he allowed. Then she again smiled at Jimmy. ¡°I¡¯m glad you decided to choose the raid over meeting with Eilea tonight,¡± she said in a way that was spookily knowing and deep. It reminded him that Kalana, for all her playfulness and silliness, was deeply empathetic and more attuned to what people were feeling than she let on. ¡°Heh. I didn¡¯t think anyone would realize that,¡± he admitted. Kalana snickered. ¡°Of course I would! Umm, you were making such a big fuss about meeting her, and then you stormed off with Zach when you had to wait. Of course I¡¯m gonna notice it. But anyways, if you chose to be here, it means you¡¯re finally accepting things, right?¡± Jimmy lowered his voice a touch. ¡°Kind of, I guess. It¡¯s also because I know what she¡¯s gonna say, so what¡¯s the point? I already figured out why I¡¯m here from that vampire guy¡ªthe one who looks like a kid. He was right all along. Besides, I can meet with her any time now that she¡¯s here on Galterra.¡± He averted his gaze and stared at the leaf- and dirt-covered ground. ¡°Thing is, Kalana, if I have to make a life for myself here, I might as well act like it. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here. Because if this was my world¡ªand ya¡¯ll keep telling me it is now¡ªthen I¡¯d choose the raid over meeting with her. So that¡¯s what I¡¯m doing.¡± ¡°She mentioned you to me, ya know,¡± Kalana said after a few seconds of quiet had elapsed. Jimmy once more lifted his head. ¡°She did?¡± Kalana nodded at the same time that her pointy ears twitched. ¡°She said she¡¯d talk to you first thing tomorrow, and that she hopes you have fun. Oh! And she said you¡¯re doing even better than she thought you would.¡± Jimmy looked over to the front of the formation, where he could just make out Donovan and Zephyr barking out laughs as they told crude jokes to those nearby them. ¡°Maybe Eilea should tell that to those two, then,¡± he remarked bitterly. ¡°Donovan really pissed me off today. I don¡¯t get why he¡¯s such a hotshot. He acts like he knows so much more than me, but he and the adventurers here would never have the balls to go into this dungeon if pioneers like me and your boyfriend hadn¡¯t waltzed in like we own the place. Why¡¯s he think he knows better than me?¡± ¡°Because he does,¡± Tena said, a consoling, amused expression accompanying her words as if to soften the sting of them. ¡°He doesn¡¯t, though. Tena, you of all people should¡ª¡± ¡°No, no, I get why you think he doesn¡¯t,¡± she said. ¡°But Jimmy, you¡¯re not giving him any credit¡ªwhich is the same thing you¡¯re accusing him of doing to you. I¡¯m sorry. I like you so much, and I don¡¯t¡­the thing is I want to be on your side no matter what, but I have to be honest with you. I really think you¡¯re being too defensive. There¡¯s a lot you can learn from him, and I think he likes you and wants you to be a raid leader. Just not yet.¡± ¡°I am a raid leader,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°I trained on more games¡ªor simulations if you wanna call them that¡ªthan you can ever imagine. And Donovan knows this, but he won¡¯t accept me.¡± ¡°He¡¯ll accept you when he thinks you¡¯re ready,¡± a deep, rough-edged, and masculine voice said from behind him. Looking over his shoulder¡ªand brushing his chin against Fluffles¡¯ soft fur in the process¡ªJimmy felt his nerves rise as he took in the sight of a tall, bald, and well-built man with black skin, dark sunglasses, and a crooked smile plastered on his face. Jimmy recognized him. He was the second-in-command of the God Slayers Guild: a man known only as Spider. Supposedly, he¡¯d whooped Zach¡¯s ass in a brawl in Angelica¡¯s¡ªat least based on the gossip. Watching such an imposing figure approach, Jimmy felt himself tensing up. Between Spider and Donovan, it was difficult to say for sure who was the more intimidating of the two. Donovan was maybe half an inch taller and had a slightly wider frame, though that could have been due to his black plate armor. Spider, on the other hand, was clearly the more toned and muscular. He also had scars all over his forehead as well as several that ran down both sides of his face. Allegedly, they were from before he¡¯d become an adventurer and couldn¡¯t be healed via the rejuvenation stones. If the rumors were true, he¡¯d been this world¡¯s equivalent of a mob boss in Whispery Woods before a life-changing experience led him down the adventuring path. He''s definitely not someone to mess with. ¡°Sorry,¡± Jimmy said to him. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean any disrespect to your guild-leader.¡± Spider chuckled, approached closer, and patted the top of Fluffles¡¯ head. ¡°I get where you¡¯re coming from, son. It¡¯s all right.¡± For someone so tough with such a deep, powerful voice, Jimmy picked up a genuine sense of kindness coming off him. Having now stepped just outside of the forest and into the open, the sun peeked out from between the clouds and more fully illuminated his scars, including a deep one running all the way across his temple. ¡°I know you think we¡¯re giving you the cold shoulder, but it¡¯s not like that,¡± he said. ¡°Donovan doesn¡¯t devalue your knowledge. If anything¡ªand you didn¡¯t hear this from me, son¡ªhe¡¯s likely eying you to be an officer in the God Slayers Guild someday. Maybe even taking over Alex¡¯s old role.¡± Spider¡¯s words were shocking¡ªand for more than one reason. The substance of what he said was a shock all on its own, but an even greater shock was the fact that he appeared to know things about Jimmy he shouldn¡¯t have known: things that were supposed to have been kept secret for all their sakes. Had someone leaked the truth about him? The possibility of it caused him to swallow nervously. ¡°My knowledge?¡± he asked. It was a probing question designed to find out what this guy knew. Spider grinned, and a few of his teeth were revealed as his lips pulled back. ¡°We know, Jimmy. Everybody knows.¡± Jimmy felt terror rush into his heart. ¡°You know?¡± he asked at a whisper. ¡°What do you know?¡± ¡°We know your situation,¡± Spider answered. ¡°Nobody wants to bug you about it ¡®cause we know it¡¯s a sensitive subject you don¡¯t want getting out, so the adventurers are all pretending they don¡¯t know. But trust me: news travels real, real fast in the adventuring world. By now, everybody knows your secret. People were just too curious about you, and it was only a matter of time before lips started leaking.¡± ¡°My¡­secret?¡± Jimmy asked fearfully. ¡°Yep.¡± Spider¡¯s face softened and his voice, though still deep and rough, contained a note of compassion. ¡°We know you¡¯re from an uncontacted colony on Earth that survived the red apocalypse. We know you were part of a small community of people who the Great One, Eilea Vayra, had been protecting on Earth. We even know she fed you thousands of hours of training simulations, which is how you know all this crazy shit that you do. But that¡¯s not all. We also know¡­¡± He patted the shoulder opposite the one Fluffles was sitting on, and he exhaled sadly. ¡°We know your parents and your community were attacked by a boss spawn while Eilea was out foraging for food. She only made it back in time to save just you, right? And then she brought you here to Galterra a few weeks ago to start over. It¡¯s okay, son. Nobody¡¯s gonna bother you about it, but you should know that we know.¡± Jimmy looked at Tena, then Kalana, then Tena again, before finally staring back up at Spider. He drew a deep breath and released it. ¡°Damn,¡± he said, nodding along. ¡°It¡¯s just such a sensitive subject. So, my secret¡¯s out, huh?¡± ¡°Like I said, it¡¯s all right, Jimmy. Everyone found out today, but they know better than to fuck with you about it. So if they act a bit weird, it¡¯s just them trying not to upset you.¡± ¡°Thanks, Spider,¡± Jimmy said, doing his absolute best to conceal his surprise. He was so bad at lying, but since this wasn¡¯t his doing, he found it easier to simply go along with it. ¡°I appreciate that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all good.¡± Spider squeezed his shoulder more tightly. ¡°I¡¯m only telling you this to let you know I understand your frustration. In your eyes, you feel like you¡¯re qualified to lead. And nobody, not me, not Donovan, not any of us¡ªnobody doubts your knowledge. But experience? You can¡¯t get that from a sim. It¡¯s what Don and Zeph have been trying to tell you.¡± Jimmy darted his eyes around. He couldn¡¯t help but notice the way a whole lot¡ªlike a ton¡ªof adventurers were walking just a little bit closer with their heads turned away as if to pretend they weren¡¯t eavesdropping on every word. Goddamn, could they be any less obvious? Who made up this bullshit? Jimmy wondered. Somebody must¡¯ve. I mean, it¡¯s a useful excuse or whatever, but I wish I would¡¯ve known ahead of time. Spider, as if having other matters to attend to, released his grip on Jimmy¡¯s shoulder then hurried ahead to the front of the formation, where Donovan appeared to be waiting for him. The two exchanged a few brief words, and then both glanced at Jimmy. Then, as a group, the more than two-hundred of them headed over to the rest area not far from the bus stop that him and Zach had used to get to Pixie¡¯s Point. Upon arriving, Kalana broke away from him and Tena and darted over to where Donovan stood just outside the entryway to a small convenience store; several well-dressed men in business suits stood by as though waiting for her. Come to think of it, Jimmy noticed that there were no customers here at all, and the store appeared to be closed. It was as though the area had been put on lockdown or something. ¡°Can I have everyone¡¯s attention, please?¡± Kalana asked, raising her voice. Donovan quickly got the crowd under control, ensuring everyone fell silent. Once the adventurers had quieted, she continued to speak. ¡°So umm, since Whispery Woods is an Elvish territory, and since my mom and Donovan made an agreement about adventurers passing through our lands, the five-percent tax that Donovan agreed on with Queen Vayra is in effect.¡± Kalana paused for a moment as if to meet everyone¡¯s eyes, a cheerful smile on her face. ¡°But since most of you guys are just going to the item shop and leaving, my mom decided to charge a flat rate of 10,000 gold for passage, which you can pay to one of these three nice humans. Since we think you¡¯ll be coming through here a whole lot, every time you pay, you¡¯ll get a digital pass good for a whole month! Oh, umm, but please remember: every single coin is going to Den of Ziragoth, and we¡¯re not keeping a single piece of it.¡± ¡°Well, in that case, I ain¡¯t paying ya 10k,¡± Reni Sarwin announced, a cocky grin on his face. Jimmy had met him a few times before. He was a decent enough guy. ¡°I¡¯m giving 30!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give 20!¡± a woman shouted. ¡°You can do better than that!¡± a third person hollered. ¡°40 from me!¡± One by one, the adventurers approached the men in suits. Jimmy watched as each and every one of them paid more than the 10k that was requested of them. Following this, one of the men would raise a device that looked a bit like a supermarket scanner, and with that, they¡¯d ¡°scan¡± their face while asking for their name. This, Jimmy supposed, entered them into some kind of database. It also meant there¡¯d likely be some kind of enforcement mechanism in the near future. I bet the Elvish queen is gonna monitor all the dungeon entrances in Whispery Woods from now on, Jimmy thought. He himself didn¡¯t mind. It was only money. Patiently, he waited for the others to pay and move on, and then he approached with Tena. He decided to give 55k gold. Tena gave the same. ¡°Thank you, young man,¡± said an older, silver-haired gentleman wearing a tan-colored suit, who collected his payment. ¡°Please enjoy your activities. Oh, and¡­thank you.¡± There was a sadness to his voice. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°It¡¯s not a problem, my guy. I¡¯m Jimmy, by the way. You look familiar. Have I seen you before?¡± He made a sad smile. ¡°You might have. I¡¯ve been on the news a bit lately. I¡¯m Barton Darnolomb, the mayor of Den of Ziragoth. Or at least I was. I¡¯ve decided to dedicate the rest of my life to rebuilding it.¡± Jimmy opened his mouth to ask why they wanted to rebuild in the same spot the dragon spawns, but he paused when he realized it probably wasn¡¯t that big of a deal, at least not in the short term. One of the things that had become public knowledge thanks to the vampire guy¡¯s ¡°records¡± was that the dragon wouldn¡¯t spawn again for between 800 and 1000 years. By the time Ziragoth reappeared, this shit wouldn¡¯t even be a memory anymore. Hopefully they¡¯re at least better prepared next time. Stretching his muscles, Jimmy waited for the last few adventurers to pay for passage, and then he readied himself for what was sure to be an exhausting, thirty-mile trek to Pixie¡¯s Point. Fortunately, however, it seemed like he¡¯d once again be spared having to make such an arduous trip. Donovan, along with Zephyr, wrangled the raid members into a single-file line on the sidewalk near the street, and within two minutes, numerous buses showed up out of nowhere. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± he asked aloud, not expecting anyone to answer him. He stood near the middle of their assembled group with Tena to his left and Kalana having returned to his right. Fluffles had hopped off shoulder and was now in the arms of another hugely muscular adventurer known as Maric. The cat was also chatting excitedly with a goth-looking woman named Alixa, who Jimmy recalled being one of the most renown armor crafters in Galterra. ¡°My mom doesn¡¯t want a big group of us to scare or disturb the human locals,¡± Kalana said. ¡°So she¡¯s gonna start working out ways to make sure any group of adventurers larger than 5 has ways to get around discreetly¡ªincluded in the fee.¡± Jimmy thought on Kalana¡¯s words. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s just because I¡¯m new to all this, but I feel like there¡¯s a damn lot of dungeons in this region.¡± ¡°Oh, there are,¡± Kalana said excitedly. ¡°We¡¯re gonna use that fact to help us rebuild Den of Ziragoth even faster. Now that the Elves are getting the crime under control in the city, a lot of the university graduates who fled to other regions are coming back, and she¡¯s hiring a lot of them to help her figure out all kinds of logistics and stuff. We¡¯ve got engineers, economists, and doctors and all kinds of really smart people working for us.¡± Jimmy boarded one of the buses, which were a dark grey in color and didn¡¯t much stand out or draw the eye. Despite six bus DEHVs in total having shown up, it still ended up being a cramped fit. Jimmy, Tena, and Kalana had all squeezed into a single row on padded seats, while Maric, Alixa, and Fluffles sat across from them. ¡°Don¡¯t I always see you two with another dude?¡± Jimmy asked them as the DEHV¡¯s engines roared to life and they took off, traveling fast down the forested roadway. ¡°You sure do,¡± Maric said. ¡°You¡¯re thinking of Kesten, right? Guy with shaggy blond hair, leather coat?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jimmy said, snapping his fingers. ¡°When I first got here, I used to see ya¡¯ll eating in Angelica¡¯s every day.¡± Maric nodded. ¡°He¡¯s busy in Giant¡¯s Fall tending to the wounded. He¡¯s a doctor if you can believe it.¡± The man¡¯s eyes lowered, and a defeated look came over his face. ¡°He says he¡¯s never seen death like this before.¡± Alixa chewed the lower corner of her pierced lip as though agitated. ¡°I wish he wouldn¡¯t shut me out. He won¡¯t even answer his phone. The few times I¡¯ve talked to him, he doesn¡¯t sound like his usual self.¡± Fluffles fell asleep in Alixa¡¯s lap, purring as she patted his back. ¡°It¡¯s terrible over there right now.¡± Jimmy let his mind and thoughts drift away as he, Tena, Kalana, and the other two adventurers chatted away. Given that these bus DEHVs had no other stops to make, it ended up only taking about nine minutes for them to get where they were going, as opposed to the longer ride that him and Zach had faced several hours ago. Even still, it was a nice little reprieve. Jimmy used the time to contemplate how he could convince the GSG, the Explorers Brigade¡ªor hell, any of the adventuring guilds¡ªto let him lead a future raid or two so that he could prove himself. They were seriously wrong about him. If I can just show them what I can do, I know they¡¯ll see me as being worthy. Eilea had brought him here from thousands of years in the past, and she¡¯d done so for a reason: a reason he now understood. Therefore, if he was to embrace his new life and his purpose, then he needed to actually be allowed to do the thing he¡¯d been brought here to do. Otherwise, what was the point? He needed to fulfill this new purpose of his. He wasn¡¯t sure why. Yet he felt compelled. He felt like the only way he could cope with his new life was to both have and pursue some greater aspiration¡ªand Eilea had given him one. While dwelling on this, the bus came to a stop, and there was a slight sinking sensation as the hover mode became disengaged and the vehicle sank down to ground level. Then the doors opened with a fwish, and Jimmy watched as a bunch of excited adventurers hopped out of their seats and seemed to wrestle one another to get off more quickly. They reminded Jimmy of kids during summer camp. It was hard to believe that Lord Oren guy had actually been an adventurer. Even Maric, who looked like he was in his seventies, seemed to leap out of his seat and laugh boisterously as he made his way to the front. In no particular rush, Jimmy got up last and then exited while still holding Tena¡¯s hand. Climbing down the three steps, he found himself just before the gate that led to the old, disused, and decrepit school, inside of which the entrance to the dungeon awaited. ¡°Sure am glad I ended up buying the property to preserve the entrance,¡± Jimmy heard Zephyr remark as he opened the creaky-sounding gate. He turned around and looked at Jimmy, then beckoned with his chin. ¡°You want to lead so bad, right? You¡¯re in luck. You can lead the way into the dungeon.¡± Jimmy rolled his eyes. That wasn¡¯t exactly what he wanted. He wanted to lead the raid, not serve as some kind of glorified tour guide. ¡°Tena, Kalana, you two wanna come with?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Tena said. Kalana nodded enthusiastically. The two followed along with him, while hundreds of eyes followed his movement as he made his way through the fairly large crowd and headed to the front, where Donovan and Zephyr were waiting for him. ¡°Don¡¯t you know where the entrance is?¡± Jimmy asked Zephyr. He was surprised that he needed to be led at all given that he was the one who¡¯d bought the property. Zephyr, whose most notable features were his stunningly charismatic eyes and his breathtakingly beautiful, glistening sword, which contained a large assortment of multi-colored gemstones running up and down the blade, made a half-shrug at Jimmy. ¡°I have an idea. It¡¯s in the basement somewhere, right? That¡¯s as much as I know. I¡¯ve never actually been in Trials of Nolak. As of right now, the only two people alive who have been are you and Zach.¡± A young adventurer wearing a red bandana and a chainmail breastplate clapped her hands and let out a cheer. ¡°To Zach and Jimmy!¡± The rest followed suit, and Jimmy tried not to let the flattery overcome his disappointment at being relegated to such a bland role in the upcoming boss raid. ¡°Just out of curiosity,¡± he said as he walked through the gate and onto the chipped, cracked sidewalk that had withered grass and dead leaves to both sides of it, ¡°where¡¯s the first floor to this dungeon?¡± ¡°No idea,¡± Donovan said. ¡°Zeph, do you know?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°There you have it,¡± Donovan said with a laughing grunt. ¡°If Zeph doesn¡¯t know, nobody does.¡± This, Jimmy found surprising. ¡°Wait, you mean that nobody knows how to begin this dungeon properly?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zephyr confirmed, his feet making a soft tapping sound on the old, badly damaged concrete pavement. ¡°If this dungeon turns out to be as important as you say, we might go looking for it. I mean, we at least know where to start.¡± He extended his arms widely around him. ¡°If this area we¡¯re in represents what used to be the 27th floor, it means that the 26th floor must let out here somewhere.¡± ¡°What about the 32nd floor?¡± Jimmy asked. Once again, Zephyr shook his head. ¡°We know that F31 begins in the grand library in the Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah, but after that, we don¡¯t know anything until F74, which is in a small farming village in the Arid Dunes of Bastia.¡± ¡°Wow, that¡¯s a lot of missed floors.¡± ¡°That¡¯s how it is sometimes." Pushing open the old, discolored door that led inside, Jimmy saw Kalana shudder as she and Tena entered with him into the very dark, very creepy-looking school. ¡°Spooky!¡± she said aloud. ¡°You and Zach came here all by yourselves today?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jimmy said with a laugh. ¡°And it gave us both the creeps. But it was way worse, because it was much quieter when it was just us two.¡± If anything, his words were an understatement. As dozens upon dozens of adventurers swarmed their way into the school¡¯s front entrance, the level of noise gradually picked up, and a party-like atmosphere completely drowned out the eeriness of the place. Though, even still, the inherent, unsettling nature of the place did not go unnoticed. ¡°Gods be damned! If I was a ghost, this is exactly the kind of place I¡¯d haunt,¡± an adventurer Jimmy didn¡¯t recognize said from behind him, causing about a dozen others to snicker. Another adventurer he didn¡¯t know, but whom he took to be the man¡¯s wife, made a disgusted grunt and said, ¡°If you don¡¯t do something to fix your snoring, I might just turn you into one.¡± Even more laughter arose as a result of the comment. Looking over his shoulder, Jimmy saw two more adventurers entering, and these two he did recognize. Hell, everyone would recognize them. Though they weren¡¯t quite ¡°famous¡± among adventurers in quite the way Zach or Grundor were, they were probably the two most well-known adventurers in all of Galterra outside of the guild leaders. They also happened to be the oldest people Jimmy had ever seen in his life: including his life on Earth. They were Mister and Misses Britethorn: the oldest living adventurers other than maybe those vampires, but that was a bit of an unfair comparison. Each of the two silver-haired folk were said to be nearing two-hundred years of age, yet they moved briskly, carried heavy weapons, and wore even heavier armor. It was really an astonishing sight. They were also such kind, really nice people. The first time Jimmy had discovered Angelica¡¯s, they¡¯d taught him all about it. Apparently, it was something they were known for. Any time a new adventurer or group of adventurers made their way to Angelica¡¯s, the Britethorns, who lived there, would invite them for tea and teach them all they knew about the infinite hall of rooms. Their armor clanking as they moved their way farther into the school, the two Britethorns whispered quietly to one another about whether or not they should use their points to redecorate the living room of their home. Wherever they walked, any nearby adventurers politely moved out of the way¡ªeven Donovan and Zephyr. There seemed to be nothing short of reverence for the two of them. Jimmy thought he could understand why. He felt a protective instinct towards them despite the fact they could likely handle themselves. Even Fluffles seemed to love them. ¡°Hi Frederick. Hi Eetna,¡± the cat said, running over to them. ¡°Oh, Fluffles,¡± Frederick Britethorn said, bending down and petting him. ¡°Hey there.¡± ¡°I can come for milk later?¡± ¡°Of course you can, cutie,¡± Eetna said. ¡°You¡¯re always welcome.¡± Once the last few adventurers had filed their way inside, the door was shut behind them, and now, Jimmy felt like a guest in an amusement park visiting a giant haunted house. At once, all eyes turned towards him, putting him on the spot. ¡°It¡¯s this way,¡± he said, turning his body around and then pointing at the door that led down to the basement boiler room that also served as storage for maintenance equipment. ¡°Just be careful. There¡¯s only enough room for one person to head down at a time. Uh¡­oh yeah, and like, don¡¯t freak out about the dungeon¡¯s entrance. It¡¯s a weird one.¡± ¡°Weird how?¡± someone asked. Jimmy couldn¡¯t even see who it was amid the large crowd of adventurers. As he turned to face the speaker, he almost felt like he had truly stepped into one of his games. Clad in various types of armor, and wielding an uncountable variety of weapons, what should¡¯ve been an incredibly dark hall was partially lit up by any number of various weapon and armor effects. There was smoke, fire, lights, streaks of energy, as well as things that flickered, blinked, or made slight sounds. Some things flipped, flapped, and rotated. Others seemed to grow or shrink in size. One adventurer had spikes coming out of his shoulder guards that spun around like little radar beacons. ¡°So, the dungeon¡¯s entrance is inside of a boiler, but the thing is you end up in like this silvery world or whatever, and uh, you¡¯re not gonna be able to see your own hands in front of your face. Just keep walking forward, and eventually you¡¯ll just fall and slide down into the dungeon.¡± ¡°Fun!¡± Kalana shouted out. Since the place had gone totally quiet while Jimmy spoke, her voice created a loud, reverberating echo that made the word ¡°fun¡± repeat three or four times as she clasped her hand over her mouth and blushed. This then resulted in nearly two-hundred adventurers cackling with laughter while Kalana made a squeak as though embarrassed. Proceeding onwards, Jimmy made his way over to the stairwell¡¯s door. ¡°Remember, only one person can fit in at a time,¡± he said. ¡°So try to be patient or you¡¯ll fall down the stairs.¡± Before another minute had come and gone, three adventurers and a cat had fallen down the stairs¡ªand unless Jimmy was mistaken, they¡¯d probably done it on purpose. Of all things, it reassured Jimmy that he, not Donovan, was right about leading raids. For as wacky and rowdy as the adventurers happened to be, it was nothing new to Jimmy, because this was how he and all his friends behaved on raids, only this was in real life. Much of the playfulness, banter, and overall good times were being recreated right here in front of him. He knew what he was doing. He understood this shit. As Jimmy watched adventurer after adventurer pour into the basement-level boiler room, which was quickly starting to become cramped, he realized that, if this dungeon ended up becoming as popular as it used to be, they were going to have a problem. ¡°There¡¯s no way this school¡¯s gonna be able to handle the constant activity,¡± he muttered. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about that,¡± Kalana said, her cheeks still just a touch red. ¡°Huh?¡± She lifted her hand and then gestured at the walls around her. ¡°My mom knows this place is gonna be really active. We¡¯re buying the deed from Zephyr and rebuilding it from scratch into a much nicer administration building.¡± Jimmy shrugged. ¡°Sounds fine to me.¡± As more adventurers descended the stairs, with most¡ªbut not all¡ªdoing so on two feet, it quickly became clear that there was not enough space in here to accommodate the more than two hundred of them. ¡°Okay, follow me,¡± Jimmy said, turning around and moving towards the specific boiler that led to the dungeon, the entrance to which was still left open from when Zach and him had come earlier. Jimmy reasoned that people would be able to figure out where to go by watching those in front of them. Getting down onto his knees, he began crawling inside of it until eventually reaching straight through to the other end. He continued from there, moving beyond the opposite end of the boiler and into another world entirely. Immediately, everything became awash in pure silver, which made it impossible for him to see anything around him¡ªincluding himself. Now, he stood up, and calmly, he began to walk forward, dreading the moment the ground would vanish beneath him. ¡°Okay, so, be ready to watch your step,¡± he called back just in case someone was behind him. ¡°There¡¯s gonna be a¡ªgah!¡± Someone slammed right into him, blasting him forward. And then he¡ªand they, whoever they were¡ªbegan tumbling down the slope, bouncing and spinning. At some point¡ªand Jimmy wasn¡¯t even sure when¡ªthe spinning stopped, and he found himself once more face down on the soft, royal-red carpets in this fancy, clean, dimly lit, and palace-like dungeon floor. ¡°Owe,¡± he said. Then he scrambled out of the way as one tumbling form after the next began appearing behind him. Then came another, and another, and another. With the sole exception of Kalana, who cheered and laughed as she deftly rolled down, not a single adventurer managed to slide down gracefully. They were all pushing each other down into the depths. At some point, the adventurers even seemed to become aware of exactly how far into the silvery passage the drop appeared; but rather than use this to reduce the overall level of chaos, they seemed to delight in shoving one another just before hitting that point. Jimmy laughed, loudly, as he watched these goofy but lovable thrill-seekers arrive one by one. He did wince, however, when he saw the spinning forms of the Britethorns come tumbling down the one-way slope that led to this dungeon. Thankfully, in complete odds with their somewhat frail appearance, they both laughed and shot up to their feet. ¡°Which one of you fuckers pushed me?¡± Donovan asked, a grin on his face as he finally came down the slide, which ran through a hatch above. His plate armor made a bang that actually caused a slight vibration beneath Jimmy¡¯s feet. ¡°Fess up. Was it you, Reni?¡± he asked, picking himself and staring at the man behind him. ¡°No way,¡± Reni said, now also returning to his feet. ¡°Do you think I¡¯d dare push the great GSG leader?¡± ¡°Yeah, I absolutely do.¡± Reni lifted his shoulders. ¡°Okay, well, in that case, it was me.¡± ¡°Hah! I knew it, ya bastard. You¡¯re buying me a beer for that.¡± Donovan released another mighty laugh. It was interesting how Donovan could be so strict when it came to certain things, and so lax when it came to others. Jimmy supposed that, as long as nobody was doing anything that could actually hurt a member of the raid, he didn¡¯t mind a little disorganization and playfulness. Certainly, Jimmy couldn¡¯t begin to imagine that someone like that ¡°Lord Oren¡± person would allow people to launch each other down a slide into what was likely a portal to another planet. No way he¡¯d let that happen, Jimmy thought. Despite having only met him twice, he was sure that the man wouldn¡¯t tolerate it. Was that guy really an adventurer? Jimmy wondered. I can¡¯t even picture that in my damn head. It¡¯s impossible to think of him ever being one of them. Due to their eagerness, it took the adventurers a lot quicker to get down here than Jimmy had been expecting, and once they¡¯d all arrived, he cleared his throat and raised his voice. ¡°There¡¯s real danger in the next room,¡± he said to them. ¡°These are the traps I told Donovan and Zephyr about. Ya¡¯ll need to be very careful where you step.¡± To demonstrate this, he led them all beyond the door labeled F27->F28 and then pointed to one of the raised, square-shaped elevations in the otherwise flat floor. Then he pointed at the wall directly across from it. ¡°Anyone here with a good shield feel like they¡¯re brave enough to do a demonstration?¡± Maric stepped forward. ¡°What do you need?¡± ¡°Okay, so can you like, uh, get into a defensive position?¡± Maric nodded. He bent his knees and lifted his large, octagonally shaped metal shield. With that, Jimmy stepped on the tile then hurried out of the way as a magical dart zipped across the room and collided with the shield, making a loud clank in the process. What sounded like fifty of the adventurers cheered just at the sight of him guarding against the dart, with many shouting out things like ¡°nice catch.¡± ¡°Hey, honey,¡± a man said to his wife. ¡°Can you do me a favor and step on that tile.¡± More raucous laughter came from the crowd, and then even more as she told him she¡¯d be happy to do so as long as he went first. But following their banter, Donovan did put an end to all the silliness. ¡°All right, folks, no more fuckin¡¯ around!¡± he roared; immediately, all fell silent. This meant Jimmy had judged him correctly. As soon as real danger was around, he shifted gears and became stricter and less flexible. Jimmy, on the other hand, tended to be more relaxed throughout, knowing that stress often made people play worse. Unlike his earlier trip here, this time around, it took considerably longer to navigate their way through the floor. This was because Donovan was no longer willing to let people proceed unguided and at their own pace. Now, in a complete reversal of things up until this point, he began to operate with a vastly increased level of organization, calling upon his raid captains to begin guiding small groups through one at a time. Since Donovan and Zephyr were both leaders and battlegroup captains, this meant that they, along with Jimmy, Kalana, Spider, and Maric, began preparing groups of five on how to proceed and when. Interestingly, the adventurers had also become a lot more attentive and displayed a great more seriousness, too. ¡°Make sure you don¡¯t forget anything you learn here,¡± Donvan said loudly enough so that everyone could hear him. ¡°If what Jimmy told us is correct, we¡¯re gonna all be coming here a lot, and I ain¡¯t holding yer damn hands every week.¡± One group after the next, the raid captains would lead five adventurers at a time¡ªnot including themselves¡ªover the traps, and then through the spinning, bladed wall obstacles. Then the raid captain would hang back and instruct the adventurers to sprint as fast as they could down the hall. Each time, a fresh, new boulder would appear and cause the entire floor to shake and rumble as they dove into the hole that would likely not repair itself until the dungeons reset next week. Even from where Jimmy was standing, he could then hear laughter, cheering, and finally, a loud splash. ¡°Next!¡± Due to the methodical, careful nature of their progression, it took a lot longer than Jimmy expected to get everyone down into the rounded puzzle room, where to his amusement, there were still clumps of sand all over the place from the dead imp mobs him and Zach had slain earlier. Bragging, he pointed around the room. ¡°That¡¯s right, we killed all of those by ourselves.¡± ¡°I bet Calador did all the work,¡± one of the adventurers taunted. Jimmy didn¡¯t take it personally, though, as busting each other¡¯s chops was just something adventurers did. He also didn¡¯t deny the accusation, either, because he knew that, if he did, it would make it seem like he was desperate for them to think otherwise, which would invite them to pick on him even more. He merely laughed and shrugged. Now that they were all down safely, Jimmy again raised his voice and addressed the raid. ¡°There¡¯s nothing dangerous between here and the item shop,¡± he said. ¡°Ya¡¯ll just gotta follow me and I¡¯ll take you right to it. Don¡¯t go through the door at the end of the next passageway, though. That¡¯s not it. That, I assume, goes straight to the next floor.¡± Without waiting for a reply, Jimmy turned around and began making his way down the path just as he¡¯d done earlier. This time, he walked with Tena¡¯s hand in his own and Fluffles once more perched on his shoulder. Behind him, he heard the loud, energized, and excited crowd following behind. Closest to him were Donovan, Maric, Zephyr, and Kalana, and Kalana in particular seemed so giddy she was practically bubbling over with excitement. ¡°I can¡¯t wait, I can¡¯t wait!¡± A thought came to him¡ªone that was closer to a concern. He came to a halt when they were around three quarters of the distance down the passageway, and he turned around to face the adventurers, who all glanced back at him with confusion in their eyes as he stopped. ¡°Sorry, I just gotta say one thing.¡± He wet his lips and thought on how to word things. ¡°So¡­I¡¯m guessing Donovan or Zephyr told most of you guys this already, but Mushkie is kinda like Angelica. He¡¯s sentient and he has feelings, but uh, there¡¯s a pretty big difference between them, too. This is something I don¡¯t think I told any of you yet. I don¡¯t even think I told Donovan. I guess it kinda slipped my mind since there was so much stuff going on.¡± Donovan grunted, and now Jimmy could visibly see the adventurers moving closer to him as if eager to hear his words. Pausing yet again, Jimmy opened his mouth to speak, but it ended up being at least another five or six seconds before he managed to get out the words. ¡°Okay, so, it¡¯s like this. The dude who runs the shop¡­he¡¯s been alone for a really, really long time. Like really long. Actually, he told us he hasn¡¯t spoken to nobody in five hundred years. So you gotta imagine what that feels like: to be all by yourself with no one to talk to for centuries.¡± Jimmy took a breath before continuing. ¡°He¡¯s a bit¡­weird because of that. But I was hoping you guys could be nice to him. All he wants is to meet new people.¡± Now that they were nearly there, Jimmy took his time to more carefully explain his experience with Mushkie and what the other adventurers should expect. ¡°¡­anyway,¡± Jimmy concluded, having fully recounted his and Zach¡¯s interactions with the NPC. ¡°When he sees all of you, he¡¯s probably gonna cry. Please don¡¯t be a dick to him, all right? He¡¯s gonna be really strange, but I gotta ask you guys to be chill about it, okay? Can everybody be chill, please?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± one of the adventurers replied immediately, those nearby her nodding. ¡°Poor NPC,¡± Miss Britethorn said. ¡°That¡¯s such a horrible thing to suffer through.¡± The other adventurers seemed to agree. Donovan and Zephyr looked at one another, and both nodded. Kalana, on the other hand, actually wiped her eyes with her shirt. ¡°Poor Mushkie,¡± she whimpered. ¡°It¡¯s too sad!¡± ¡°It sounds like he could use some company,¡± Donovan said. ¡°What do you boys and girls say we make a good first impression?¡± Jimmy was reassured by their cheers. Satisfied that they understood his concerns, he turned back around and began walking the last bit of distance down the passageway until finally he paused at the spot where he saw a discoloration in the rocks in the general shape of an entrance. Interestingly, the rocks had ¡°respawned,¡± so to speak, and the entryway was once more sealed. With an embarrassed laugh, he said, ¡°Ah, so, it¡¯s through here, but I don¡¯t have the strength to blast this thing down.¡± Donovan casually brushed him aside and sank his fist through it even before Jimmy had finished speaking. Then, together, they all continued on their way through what, at first, was a straight passage, but soon gave way to the winding, turning, sloping path through a very dark tunnel that eventually ended with the door. Given the small width, the more than two-hundred adventurers were now all lined up single file, and it was only here that Jimmy was finally able to understand why this might¡¯ve caused adventurers to fight¡ªor kill¡ªeach other in the past. Although he had no doubt that up to three-hundred people could comfortably fit inside the store, any more that that would simply be too much. It must¡¯ve therefore driven people crazy to have to stand in line for what might¡¯ve been hours at a time in this dark tunnel. ¡°Okay, here it is,¡± he said, opening the door. Immediately, he was refreshed by a cool blast of air-conditioned air as he took several steps into the homely, bright, and well-kept item shop. Mushkie, who was seated in his stool behind the counter, immediately hopped up to his feet and widened his eyes, a smile lighting up his face. ¡°Jimmy!¡± he cried out. He hurried around and then moved in front of the counter to meet him. ¡°You came to see Mushkie again! I¡¯m so happy!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just me, dude.¡± Mushkie made an O-shape with his mouth. ¡°Zach?¡± ¡°Nope. Not this time.¡± Rather than explain, he stepped aside, and Kalana strode excitedly into the item shop. ¡°Hi, Mushkie!¡± she said, smiling at him. ¡°ANOTHER PERSON!¡± he shouted as though his mind was blown. ¡°Hey there,¡± Tena said, entering immediately after her. ¡°I¡¯m Tena. You must be Mushkie.¡± ¡°Th-three people?¡± ¡°So, this is the shop,¡± Zephyr said, walking in after Tena. He waved at Mushkie. ¡°I¡¯m Zephyr, leader of the Explorers Brigade. You¡¯re Mushkie, right?¡± Mushkie¡¯s eyes began to glisten with tears. ¡°F-four people,¡± he whispered. Then came Donovan and Maric with Fluffles sitting on top of his head. After that were the Britethorns, and then a bunch of adventurers Jimmy didn¡¯t know or recognize. ¡°There¡¯s even more!¡± Mushkie cried. Now, he began to weep. He fell to his knees, his palms laid flat on his clean, spotless carpet. ¡°I¡¯m so honored and thankful! Please don¡¯t go. Please talk to Mushkie! I am at your service.¡± He became even more emotional as Kalana picked him up off the floor and gave him a hug. ¡°I cant wait to start shopping here,¡± she said, releasing him. This caused him to break down into an emotional mess, weeping as if it had all become too much for him to handle. His eyes ran like faucets as one adventurer after the next began filing into his shop, and all called to him by name and introduced themselves. Jimmy had never seen someone cry so hard from tears of happiness. Mushkie eventually lost the ability to speak as he seemingly became overwhelmed by all of it. His lips moved, but no sound came out. Yet from the way he stared at Jimmy, and from the motion of his mouth, Jimmy was pretty sure he was attempting to repeatedly speak the same two words: thank you. Eventually, every adventurer found their way inside, turning the place into something as lively as Angelica¡¯s. Jimmy had suggested to them that, once everyone was inside, they wait for him to explain how things worked before shopping, as it seemed to bring him a lot of happiness to do so. He was glad to see that the adventurers were willing to be patient with him, as he attempted several times to address them and failed each one. Slowly, however, he appeared to regain his composure, apologizing over and over for his poor manners. Yet just when he seemed to finally pull himself together, he buried his face in his hands and began to cry even harder. ¡°I was going mad!¡± he shouted, his voice muffled by his hands. ¡°I couldn¡¯t take it anymore!¡± Finally, he at last reined himself in, and just as Jimmy had suspected, he became ecstatic as he described the intricate working of his shop in great detail to a chorus of ¡°oohs¡± and ¡°ahhs.¡± His eyes swollen and red, the NPC spoke a bit more slowly than he had when it¡¯d been just him and Zach, but Jimmy didn¡¯t mind, because he was an entertaining little dude, and he was thorough in his explanation. ¡°And that¡¯s how everything works,¡± he said, sniffling. ¡°Thank you! Oh, and of course, there¡¯s also the special items. Sorry, I forgot to mention those.¡± ¡°Special items?¡± Donovan asked. ¡°Yes-yes-yes! Unlike the weekly ones, I have a bit of control over when those go up and how. If only I¡¯d have known there¡¯d be so many of you, I would¡¯ve held a contest for Inn Room 8, which was what I was supposed to do!¡± Very quickly, he added, ¡°So I gave it to Zach.¡± His words set off an explosion: an absolute explosion of surprised, confused, and outraged shouts that he clearly wasn¡¯t expecting as the words ¡°Inn Room 8¡± traveled from person to person until Mushkie found himself surrounded by an inquisitive mob of startled, amazed, and even angry adventurers. ¡°INN ROOM EIGHT?¡± the adventurers shouted¡ªand in some cases screamed. ¡°ZACH TOOK IT JUST LIKE THAT?¡± another roared. ¡°Is that why Eilea said Zach felt so greedy?¡± Kalana asked, her hands on her hips. ¡°Calador cheated!¡± someone else cried. ¡°This isn¡¯t fair. There should¡¯ve been a contest. He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s doing greed before need! Donovan, say something!¡± Donovan grunted. ¡°Kid pulled a fast one on us.¡± Jimmy couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as the adventurers lost their mind over this discovery, which was another thing he¡¯d forgotten to tell everybody. Mushkie again dropped to his knees, but this time, it was to beg for forgiveness and not to be shunned and left all alone again. This prompted more than a hundred adventurers to call out to him that they¡¯re not mad at him at all, with many of them giving him pats on the back or affectionate shoulder squeezes. ¡°Kalana, this isn¡¯t fair!¡± others shouted, appealing to her as if she could somehow undo what¡¯d already been done. ¡°Yeah, it is fair, actually,¡± Rian said, sticking up for his friend. ¡°He and Jimmy discovered this place, and they were the only customers at the time, so he got it by default.¡± This caused dozens of envious eyes to glare at him. But he stood his ground. ¡°Hate all you want, but you know I¡¯m right. Zach got it fair and square. He found it first.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not how we do things!¡± a teenaged adventurer snapped at him. She looked a bit younger than he was, maybe fourteen or fifteen, and she scolded him like she was twice his age. ¡°It¡¯s against the spirit of adventuring! If you find a rare thingy that¡¯s supposed to be done with a contest, you¡¯re not supposed to sneakily grab it like some political guilder!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± someone shouted in agreement. ¡°Kid¡¯s spending too much time with that filthy turncoat, Alex!¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± the teen replied. She seemed to be the youngest adventurer on the raid, though it appeared her father was accompanying her. ¡°It was a contest, and this is, like, so cheating.¡± ¡°Relax, Ishina,¡± Rian said to the young girl, rolling his eyes. ¡°I doubt he even knew it was meant for a contest.¡± ¡°He knew,¡± Mushkie said matter-of-factly in a neutral tone of voice. ¡°Mushkie told him.¡± About three seconds of silence followed his words. Then came another explosion of noise. ¡°RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH!¡± the crowd screamed. Jimmy was no longer able to understand their words. Rian, despite their anger, still refused to change his view. ¡°Hey, it was still fair and square. Right, Jimmy?¡± ¡°Well¡­I wouldn¡¯t exactly say it was fair, at least not to me,¡± Jimmy grumbled, causing all eyes to turn his way. He hadn¡¯t even meant his words to be overheard by everyone else, and he had no idea how the raucous crowd could even hear him, yet upon speaking, everyone now stared at him as if expecting an explanation. He sighed. ¡°Zach didn¡¯t give me a chance to roll for it. He just happened to be the first to get to the counter, and when Mushkie showed it to him, he bought it immediately. We actually got into an argument about that.¡± ¡°Do-over!¡± the adventurers roared. ¡°Do-over! It¡¯s not fair!¡± Jimmy turned over his hands and lifted his palms. ¡°There¡¯s no way you¡¯re gonna convince him to participate in a contest for it. You guys know how he is, right? Ya¡¯ll got a better chance convincing a turtle to fly.¡± Mushkie cleared his throat. ¡°Maybe I can help make things better,¡± he said, once again causing him to become the center of attention. Setting down the rainbow-colored umbrella he was holding, he hurried back behind his counter and then returned a moment later with a piece of a paper, which he held close to his chest as if worried someone might see whatever was on it. ¡°The special items are meant to foster community events,¡± he began. ¡°I get twelve of them a year, and I decide when they go up, in what order, and what contests I do to let people earn the right to buy them.¡± He stopped speaking a moment as he read over the list in his hand. ¡°There are two other inn rooms up for grabs this year. Inn Room 20, and Inn Room 5. Oh, wait, no. Inn room 9, too. So Mushkie has¡­three inn rooms!¡± As Mushkie spoke those words, Jimmy learned with absolute certainty that there was no sound associated with the widening of eyes, because if there was, he surely would¡¯ve heard it as the adventurers all looked ravenously at Mushkie. ¡°Contest!¡± they cried. ¡°We want another contest!¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be more fun if we at least waited for¡ª¡± ¡°No waiting!¡± Mushkie smiled as if loving the energy. ¡°Okay. How about this! Are all of you doing the boss on F30 after this?¡± ¡°Some of us are,¡± Donovan said. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°How about I add Inn Room 20 to the loot table? Guaranteed drop.¡± Almost sixty of the adventurers, Jimmy included, let out a cheer of excitement and agreement. The rest, however¡ªsuch as those who were either too low level, not qualified for another reason, or not willing to participate¡ªgave the opposite reaction, shouting how that wasn¡¯t fair because then they had no chance to win one. Mushkie seemed to have a solution to the matter, though, and he appeared both eager and proud to present it. ¡°Okay, okay! How about this, my new friends? I¡¯ll put Inn Room 20 on the boss loot table, and then next week, on Monday when the store resets, I¡¯ll hold a very special contest for Inn Room 9 that anyone level 10 or up can participate in. My contests are usually pretty safe for anyone meeting the level requirement.¡± A consensus rapidly formed around this suggestion. There did, however, appear to be one question that a great many people all seemed to ask in unison: what about room 5? At this, Mushkie gave an honest answer that he likely didn¡¯t intend to be as upsetting as it was. ¡°I¡¯ll hold onto that for a later contest so I know somebody will see me again and I won¡¯t be alone forever!¡± he said merrily. The adventurers calmed down a bit at the desperation in his words. Jimmy wondered if it was starting to dawn on them¡ªas it had with him and Zach¡ªhow strangely¡­how unusually cruel this was. It was impossible not to question why the Great Ones allowed this kind of suffering for one of their creations. There was simply no sense to be made of it. Over the course of the next few minutes, many questions were asked of Mushkie, and most of them were the same questions that he and Zach had asked when they were here earlier: such as why he hadn¡¯t just left and gone to Angelica¡¯s, which led to them wondering why he wasn¡¯t allowed to leave if she herself could roam freely. Jimmy hadn¡¯t been certain earlier today, but he¡¯d thought he detected a hint of resentment from Mushkie whenever it came to Angelica. Though he claimed to have never met her, Jimmy was beginning to doubt he was being truthful. Even still, it wasn¡¯t his place to pry. Whatever the case, the adventurers became wild with glee as Mushkie held up the certificate to Inn Room 20. He then extended his arm, raised his hand as far above himself as he could, and before everyone¡¯s eyes, it vanished. ¡°The inn room is now with the boss on F30,¡± Mushkie said. ¡°Good luck, everyone!¡± Chapter 145: LEAVE! Chapter 145: LEAVE! ¡°Can everyone hear me?¡± Zach looked around the small den; it was a meager room tucked away in the back of Kalana''s large, recently constructed home. Only about twice the size of a walk-in closet, and on the second floor in the least-busy part of the house, it was the perfect place for a private meeting between a few individuals. Originally, the room had been intended to be used as a comfy little study where someone could come for a bit of quiet seclusion. That changed a short while ago when a white-cloaked Elf carried in a table and a few chairs at the request of Eilea. ¡°We can, Prila,¡± Zach said. ¡°Or at least I can. What about you guys?¡± Mr. Oren straightened his back in his chair where he sat directly across from Zach. ¡°I¡¯m sure we can all hear her just fine.¡± ¡°Who else is with you two? If I may ask.¡± Briefly, Mr. Oren remarked that, along with himself, Eilea, and Zach, they were currently joined by Jascaila Iseldar, Count Olivir Soloux, and Countess Kolona Vayra. Zach was genuinely surprised to see the vampires show up, as they arguably had the least stake¡ªno pun intended¡ªin the future of Galterra. Not only could they retreat to Archian Prime whenever they pleased, but Olivir and Kolona had only just ended a war; Zach imagined the last thing they desired was to be involved in another. I know they don¡¯t want to be here, so why did they come? As far as Donovan and Zephyr were concerned, their absence was in no way a mystery. Those two wanted nothing to do with war and politics, and right now, they were busy raiding Trials of Nolak¡ªsomewhere Zach himself would much rather have been. If only the world had given him that option. To his own disappointment, Zach could feel the current precarious state of Galterra pulling him away from the adventuring life he yearned to live. Hopefully, after this period of nastiness was over, he would be able to go back to raiding dungeons and living free. This has to be the last thing, he thought. I¡¯ll get through this and then go to their stupid world-leader-meeting-whatever, but then I¡¯m focusing on the World Eater and nothing else! I¡¯m done with this war bullshit! Kalana, who¡¯d gone along with Donovan and Zephyr, was also not present in this meeting. That had been mostly by Zach¡¯s doing¡ªbut he¡¯d needed to lie to her to make it happen. This left him feeling guilty. Very guilty. It hurt so much to lie to the girl he loved more than anything, but he couldn¡¯t have her be part of this. For all that his sessions with Jascaila had strengthened his mind, there were some things he was just not ready to face and, in all honesty, would likely never be okay with facing. Kalana being involved in this kind of filth was one of those things. Keeping Kalana¡¯s hands free of blood had become the primary motivating factor in Zach¡¯s life. ¡°So, it seems all of you can hear me,¡± Prila said. ¡°This is good.¡± Olivir, who was wearing a gold-and-red, button-up vest with a black pair of slacks, scratched his silver hair and looked around the room as if tracing the source of the voice. ¡°This is amazing. I can¡¯t believe we can do this.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe it either,¡± Kolona agreed. She was dressed far more casually, wearing a dark grey blouse and a pleated skirt. By now, Zach had grown accustomed to these strange, telepathic antics that the Great Ones employed. That aside, this newest ¡°trick¡± of theirs was wild. They¡¯d actually managed to establish some kind of phone-like connection to Prila¡¯s mind, enabling her to communicate across long distances without those around her having any awareness that this was taking place. Of course, this did mean that they had a new addition to their little ¡°group,¡± as this feat was only possible with the help of Adamus, the Great One. So far, he¡¯d said but a few words, seemingly content to passively observe. Yet his presence here was something that couldn¡¯t be ignored or forgotten. Regardless, Zach tried to act as he normally would, and with that, he smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s good to hear from you, Prila.¡± ¡°And it¡¯s so good to hear your voice again as well, Zach.¡± ¡°Are you doing okay over there?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, Zach. There¡¯s no reason for them to ever suspect me, and it¡¯s beyond their ability to know we¡¯re speaking.¡± Zach placed his palms on the table¡¯s edges, gripping them. ¡°We¡¯re going to get you out of there when this is over. I promise you.¡± There was a strange, perhaps even awkward pause. Zach wasn¡¯t sure why. A moment later, the voice of Prila returned, sounding as though she was speaking to them from all directions. ¡°Zach, that¡­that won¡¯t be necessary.¡± She then sighed, and it was odd how it could actually be heard along with her words. ¡°Hah? Of course it¡¯s necessary,¡± Zach insisted. ¡°There¡¯s no way we¡¯re leaving you there.¡± ¡°No, you don¡¯t¡­forgive me for not being clear. I¡¯ve made plans for my own escape.¡± ¡°Too risky. I¡¯d rather personally go down there and¡ª¡± Mr. Oren cleared his throat. ¡°Zach, please, that¡¯s enough.¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®that¡¯s enough?¡¯ What¡¯s gotten into you?¡± He pointed upwards despite knowing that there was no correlation with Prila¡¯s actual location in the world and the direction he indicated. ¡°She¡¯s literally trapped in a secure location with the Guild of Gentlemen. We¡¯re not leaving her there.¡± Mr. Oren lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes. For the time being, he¡¯d replaced his contacts with a sturdy black pair of round glasses with small lenses that fit well on his face. ¡°Zach, you don¡¯t understand what¡¯s being hinted at here.¡± Olivir and Kolona nodded, Eilea frowned, Jascaila gave him a calming look, and Mr. Oren made an odd expression that Zach couldn¡¯t quite place. ¡°Why do I feel like I¡¯m the only one here who doesn¡¯t get what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Because ya kind of are,¡± Olivir said. ¡°Oh yeah? How so?¡± Zach asked, becoming annoyed. Mr. Oren moved his lips, but he did not open his mouth. It was as though he found the answer to Zach¡¯s question awkward. Everyone seemed to squirm a bit. This only made Zach even more unsettled and confused. What were they hiding from him? Why didn¡¯t they want to rescue Prila? For another few seconds, these questions lingered in his brain. In the end, it was Adamus, of all people, who provided him with the answers¡ªand in way that, for Adamus, felt unusually blunt. ¡°I will be bringing Prila home,¡± he stated. ¡°She is returning to the OMP with me, and there she will stay. Do not concern yourself with her rescue, my child.¡± Zach looked to his left, then to his right, unwilling to believe what he was hearing¡ªand also unwilling to believe how easily the others were accepting this decision. He felt an explosion of outrage within him. ¡°What the fuck?¡± he snapped. ¡°Prila, you¡¯re going back to the OMP?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said. There was no trace of shame or apology in her words, just a hint of sadness. ¡°You¡¯re betraying us?¡± ¡°No, Zach. Of course not!¡± He threw up his arms in anger. ¡°Clearly you are! Why would you possibly want to turn against us and¡ª¡± ¡°Zach,¡± Jascaila cut in, her voice soft but stern. ¡°This may not be about you at all.¡± He turned his head her way. ¡°Of course it is. It¡¯s not like she¡¯s suddenly fallen in love with the guy or something.¡± This caused an awkward gasp to come from Prila, a wince from Olivir and Kolona, and a frustrated look from Mr. Oren. ¡°Wait a minute. Are you¡­¡± He exhaled, trying to keep his temper under control. ¡°Are you shitting me, Prila? Are you actually shitting me? You¡¯re going to pull this now? You¡¯re not allowed to¡­you can¡¯t love him. He¡¯s the guy you came down here to¡ª¡± ¡°Zach, that¡¯s enough,¡± Jascaila said. When she spoke, she did not do so with any kind of threat or anger in her words, yet they were so halting despite this. She leaned forward in her chair and placed her palm on top of his hand. ¡°This isn¡¯t a decision that¡¯s yours to make for her. It¡¯s also incredibly rude to comment further. She has the right to love who she loves, and it¡¯s clearly not a conversation that¡¯s appropriate to have with Eilea present.¡± Of all things, Eilea rolled her eyes. Though Zach had barely spent any time with her in person, it still felt like an odd thing to see from such an ancient, powerful being¡ªeven if she did look like she was practically the same age as him or maybe Jimmy. ¡°That¡¯s one concern you needn¡¯t have,¡± she said to Jascaila. ¡°I¡¯ve moved on from him thousands of years ago. Our marriage is but in name only. Adamus is well aware I¡¯ve found another, and I have not the slightest problem with him doing the same. Let me speak clearly: while my issues with him are numerous to the point of being uncountable, that is not one of them.¡± ¡°She speaks the truth,¡± Adamus said. ¡°We are long past the point of awkwardness. So please allow me to reassure you of one thing, boy. Prila has told me nothing of what was said between her and you in confidence. She will not betray you, and I do not require her to. This, I swear.¡± Zach took a moment to steady himself. He closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and then reopened them. ¡°All right. I apologize. This is clearly not my business, and I¡¯m sorry for prying. Jascaila is right. Prila has the right to choose her own path to happiness, and that¡¯s not for me to decide for her.¡± Having spoken those words, Zach watched as Jascaila removed her hand while Mr. Oren gave him a curt nod. With that, Zach sensed that this was a topic that would now be dropped and never again raised. Despite this, Zach couldn¡¯t help but wonder what could possibly have possessed the woman to love such a heartless prick: the man she herself had acknowledged was responsible for allowing atrocities to happen. It really is bullshit, Zach thought. Even if it¡¯s not appropriate for me to say it. Everyone here has to know it. Letting it go, he sat up straighter and observed Mr. Oren folding his hands on the table while pursing his lips together as though in thought. A moment later, he turned his eyes upward as though it somehow constituted looking towards Adamus. ¡°Let¡¯s try to limit our discussion to the reason we¡¯re all here,¡± he said. ¡°The nuclear threat. Her Greatness told us that Prila would be able to provide us with the latest, most up-to-date details.¡± ¡°Y-yes, of course,¡± Prila replied. Then her voice became far more serious. The emotion seemed to drain out of her words. ¡°I¡¯m afraid,¡± she began, ¡°that things have moved faster than even I expected, and as of a few hours ago, events have taken a turn for the worse.¡± ¡°Please continue,¡± Mr. Oren said, keeping a straight face. Zach felt nerves rush into his abdomen, but he remained quiet and allowed Mr. Oren to lead things from here. Zach listened in as Prila began to deliver a very technical, very scientific-sounding explanation on the current state of the research facility. Zach, for his part, had no idea what any of the stuff he was hearing meant. But he did know it must¡¯ve been bad, because Mr. Oren¡¯s shoulders began to tense apprehensively, and then he began to mouth something that almost looked like a swear word under his breath. Eilea, on the other hand, was not showing any reaction at all. She seemed distant and unfocused. There was something bothering her, and Zach was pretty sure it had nothing at all to do with Prila and Adamus. It was something else. Since the start of the meeting, she¡¯d been fidgeting and constantly changing her position in her seat. When Zach tried to focus on reading her emotions, he discovered that she¡¯d blocked the link they shared as if not wanting him to know what she was feeling. It was all really strange. Concerned, Zach studied her expression, but he looked away when she caught him staring at her. He returned his attention to Mr. Oren, who began looking even more tense as he asked, ¡°Are you certain about this, Prila?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m afraid so. The Guild of Gentlemen can now synthesize the isotope U-235, and they¡¯re rushing new weapons into production. I did not believe they¡¯d be able to create the facilities necessary to start this process for a little more time, but it appears they¡¯ve done so, and production has begun today.¡± ¡°This is terrible news,¡± Mr. Oren said, a pained expression crossing his features. ¡°This is truly, truly terrible news.¡± ¡°Why, what¡¯s it mean?¡± Zach asked. In a weird way, he was actually relieved to see that Olivir, Kolona, and Jascaila also looked just as clueless as he felt. ¡°For those of us who aren¡¯t scientists, how does this change things?¡± ¡°The timeline has shifted dramatically,¡± Prila said. ¡°Originally, we believed we¡¯d have months. Upon this breakthrough, it became a week. But with the success the Guild of Gentlemen is having in terms of creating the infrastructure necessary to begin production, I fear we might be looking at days or¡­or potentially hours before they can build an untested prototype missile.¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± Zach shouted, slamming his fist down onto the table. ¡°I thought we had more time!¡± His outburst caused one of the Elves standing in front of the doorway to look over his shoulder as if to ensure everyone inside the room was okay. At the moment, the entrance was being guarded by a number of white- and green-cloaked Elvish warriors. Queen Vayra was also not far away. Incredibly, she seemed to have no problem allowing this private audience with the Elvish Goddess. She¡¯d asked no questions, and she hadn¡¯t appeared suspicious. Zach supposed she was so pious that she didn¡¯t even consider it acceptable to privately dwell on it. ¡°We have to do something soon,¡± Olivir said. ¡°Kolona and I won¡¯t fight directly, but we can help in other ways.¡± Kolona nodded. ¡°Oli and I talked about it, and even though we¡¯re not willing to get ourselves into another war, we believe what the Guild of Gentlemen is doing is wrong. So we¡¯re willing to revive those who die in the coming fight.¡± ¡°I appreciate that very much,¡± Mr. Oren said. Then he turned his gaze on Zach, and there was something in his eyes that Zach found deeply disturbing. His expression had turned icy, and more so, he curled up his bottom lip as if signaling for Zach to brace himself. ¡°What?¡± Zach asked him. ¡°What are you about to say?¡± ¡°We have to change our plans.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Mr. Oren turned his head to Eilea, but only for an instant, and then he again focused in on Zach. ¡°I know that our goals were to free Vim and then prepare for an invasion. But that¡¯s not going to be an option anymore.¡± He shook his head. ¡°We need to muster all our forces and launch an emergency attack tomorrow morning. Though it¡¯s asking a lot, I believe if we begin moving right now, the Elves and the Lords of Justice can piece together a strike force by daybreak with the sole purpose of identifying and destroying their weapons-building infrastructure. That, right now, takes priority even over destroying or capturing the research facility.¡± For a moment, Zach stared at Mr. Oren in confusion, unable to grasp what he was saying. ¡°So what¡¯s the issue here?¡± he asked. ¡°Vim¡¯s execution is tomorrow morning. We have plenty of time between now and then.¡± ¡°No, we don¡¯t,¡± Mr. Oren said. Still confused, Zach struggled to see the issue. ¡°Of course we do. Weren¡¯t we going to strike in the middle of the night? We can still do both things¡ªjust closer together.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not getting it.¡± He leaned back in his chair and took several deep breaths. ¡°We need to commit every single unit we can muster towards the dismantling and disarming of their production process. We¡¯re going to be cutting it so close as is. If we deploy units to rescue Vim, not only do we risk losing some in the process, but even if we succeed, they won¡¯t be ready to rejoin the invading force in time for the attack.¡± ¡°Huh? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Zach, how are you not understanding this?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re talking about deploying units and this and that. Mr. Oren, exactly how did you think this night attack was going to go down?¡± Now, Mr. Oren was the one who looked confused. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? Senior-Lieutenant Haisel Ragora would launch a surprise aerial bombardment with his fighter jets around the location where he¡¯s being held¡ªwhich we believe is in a holding facility belowground in southeast Shadowfall Coast¡ªin order to cripple their defensive capabilities in the area, and then the two of us¡ªalong with a small but competent group of leveled warriors and ground troops¡ªwere going to fly in on armored helicopters, storm the compound, rescue Sir Alazar, and make a hasty extraction.¡± By the time Mr. Oren had finished speaking, Zach¡¯s mouth had fallen open in a state of dumbfounded shock, and he found it difficult to even blink. Was this actually what Mr. Oren had been running through his head this whole time? Could that even be possible? Zach was so surprised by how far apart they were in terms of their thinking that it actually paralyzed him, albeit briefly. ¡°That¡¯s what you thought I meant when I said we should attack in the night?¡± Mr. Oren, seemingly caught off guard, wet his lips but said nothing as if failing to find the words with which to reply. Therefore, Zach continued on without waiting for an answer. ¡°Mr. Oren, that¡¯s not what I ever thought we were going to do.¡± ¡°So what did you think was going to happen?¡± Zach lifted his hands from the table and then extended them to both sides of himself. ¡°Something way simpler. Me and a couple of Elves rush through Yorna, come out on the beach, break our way into the prison, grab Vim, and then I throw him on my Kralzek¡¯s Beast and flee at full speed back to the dungeon, Phase Rescue him inside, take him down to B10, then elevator back up to the farmlands in Whispery Woods.¡± The moment Zach finished speaking, he realized he needed to add one more detail. ¡°Oh yeah, right. My Unleashed Phase is on cooldown because I used it in Nolak, so add to that list me scrambling to get to Fylwen as quick as I can so she can heal me after it expires. I¡¯m going to have to Phase Reset.¡± Mr. Oren lowered his head and averted his gaze. Zach had no idea whether this was to contemplate Zach¡¯s plan or if it was because he found it so ridiculous it¡¯d stunned him. Yet before Zach could find out which, he was surprisingly rebuked by Adamus, who was the last person he¡¯d expected to weigh in on something like this. ¡°That plan will not suffice,¡± Adamus said. ¡°Why the hell not?¡± he asked, tuning his head upwards out of a weird habit that had formed. ¡°As the young scientist has already told you, we need every available Elf to search for and destroy their weapons or the facilities that make them.¡± ¡°So¡­¡± Zach replayed his words in his head. ¡°So you¡¯re not saying I can¡¯t do it, you¡¯re just saying I can¡¯t bring any Elves. Correct?¡± ¡°That is correct, my child.¡± ¡°So, to clarify, Adamus, you¡¯re saying you have no problem whatsoever if I just decide to go by myself?¡± ¡°Of course not. Do as you wish. I have no problem with this.¡± ¡°Well I do!¡± Eilea shouted, a sudden, intense heat to her words. Hearing Zach¡¯s plan seemed to have snapped her out of whatever trance she¡¯d been in. Mr. Oren also seemed to disapprove, as evident by the way he narrowed his eyes and fervently shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re not going there by yourself,¡± Eilea told him. ¡°I expressly forbid it!¡± ¡°You shall do no such thing, my beloved,¡± Adamus said even before Zach could challenge her. ¡°You may not inhibit his free will. If he decides this a worthy pursuit, you¡¯ve no right to forbid it.¡± ¡°But he¡¯ll die, you fool!¡± ¡°I refuse to discuss this further. My interests lie solely with protecting the system from these abhorrent weapons of mass destruction. Let us not waste any more words on the topic of the boy and the guild leader. I invite you two to engage in a heated debate on the matter after we conclude our business here and I have returned myself to other tasks.¡± Mr. Oren set his eyes on Zach, and in them, Zach could see worry, alarm, but also frustration. Yet he removed them a moment later and seemed to refocus his thoughts on the more serious matter of the nuclear weapons. ¡°Adamus is right,¡± he said. ¡°For the moment, let¡¯s keep this discussion on point. To that end, little has changed.¡± Eilea winced. Zach wasn¡¯t sure why. She¡¯d returned to fidgeting, but now, she seemed even more unnerved. Something was clearly upsetting her: that much had been obvious from the start of this meeting. And as Mr. Oren continued to speak, she only seemed to grow even more restless. ¡°Zach told me about your discussion with him very early this morning, Adamus. He explained to me the reason he brought Eilea here: so that she can ask the queen to deploy her Elves to war. He¡¯s come up with a very intelligent plan, wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡± ¡°I would very much agree,¡± Adamus said. ¡°I have endorsed it wholeheartedly.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°Because my plan is to simply use Zach¡¯s existing plan but with the addition of my own forces and a very accelerated time table.¡± He tapped his finger against the table as he spoke. ¡°Essentially, we¡¯re just doing what everyone here has already agreed we should do, only we¡¯re doing it now instead of next week or later. The only thing that¡¯s changed is the level of urgency.¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°It seems we lack any disagreement with how to proceed from here,¡± Adamus said. ¡°Excellent.¡± Mr. Oren stopped tapping his finger and now placed his hands down flat on the table. ¡°So then, what I propose now is that we execute our plan immediately so that we can hopefully be ready to strike by first light tomorrow. Right now, we should immediately have Her Greatness order Queen Vayra to begin¡ª¡± ¡°No,¡± she said, abruptly cutting off Mr. Oren. ¡°No?¡± ¡°I refuse. I¡¯m not doing it.¡± Zach blinked at her in confusion. ¡°Oh¡­oh shit. Is this my fault? Is this because of the Vim thing?¡± ¡°No,¡± Eilea said. ¡°It has nothing to do with that. I simply do not think it wise to order the Elves to storm Shadowfall Coast, and I refuse.¡± ¡°Because¡­of me?¡± Zach asked. An icy sensation traveled down his spine. Eilea¡¯s behavior was becoming increasingly strange, and he was beginning to think it was his fault. ¡°Is this because you¡¯re upset that I¡¯m planning to go there alone?¡± ¡°No,¡± she repeated. ¡°This has nothing to do with you at all, Zach, although I am indeed very upset about that, and I plan to talk to you about it as soon as this is done. But no, this is completely unrelated.¡± Her words made no sense, and now, Zach was beyond puzzled. Mr. Oren also looked like he had no idea what she was getting at or what game she was playing. Even Adamus, from his silence alone, must have been taken aback. Or maybe there was another reason he¡¯d gone quiet. Zach wasn¡¯t sure. Either way, Eilea was acting off, and Zach wondered if her refusal and her earlier fidgeting were related. They might be¡­ ¡°Eilea, if you¡¯re not doing this because you¡¯re upset with my decision, then I don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re refusing. I mean, that¡¯s why you¡¯re even here, right? That was the whole reason you were willing to make a deal with Adamus and break your thousand years of imprisonment: so you could ask the queen to¡ª¡± ¡°I know why I¡¯m here!¡± she snapped, shouting with such unexpected, loud, and burning anger that it caused Zach, Olivir, Kolona, Jascaila, and even Mr. Oren to flinch. It also caused Zach to become lightheaded simply from the sheer level of bewilderment he felt as she displayed such erratic behavior. Zach tried to make sense of what he was seeing and hearing. What had gotten into her? Where was this emotional outburst coming from? This was a side of her he¡¯d never before seen, and it threw him totally off. ¡°Eilea, I don¡¯t¡­I don¡¯t understand what¡ª¡± ¡°And there it is,¡± Adamus said, his tone saddened yet oddly knowing. ¡°My child, I fully understand your confusion, yet you are about to experience firsthand what I have had to deal with for thousands of years. You could not possibly have known, but you will soon see what befalls all those who attempt to side with my beloved.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get what¡¯s going on at all,¡± Zach said. ¡°I don¡¯t¡­I don¡¯t either,¡± Mr. Oren replied. Eilea began to sob, and then she used the front of her elegant dress to dab at her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for that outburst. Ignore my wretched, vile, vulturous husband. I apologize, Zach. I care deeply for you, and I wish not to degrade myself.¡± Zach was so caught off guard he actually held his breath a moment while he tried to figure out just what in the hell he was witnessing. ¡°Eilea, I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on here. You¡¯re kind of¡­scaring me.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t fear me,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s not¡­it¡¯s not what you think. I would never harm a single person in this room. I swear that for all I¡¯m worth. I apologize for my outburst.¡± To the four Elves who Zach realized only now had burst into the room, she waved her hand at them, bidding them to leave. They obeyed, but there was a certain hesitance to them. They seemed just as uncertain as Zach. After an agonizing few seconds of silence transpired, Adamus spoke once again. ¡°There is a reason why my wife can never accomplish a single thing she sets out to do, and you are bearing witness to that now.¡± The fact that Mr. Oren was darting his eyes between Zach, Eilea, and the ceiling meant that he was no closer to figuring out what the hell was happening than Zach was. ¡°Your Greatness,¡± he said to her. ¡°If you could please explain to us what¡ª¡± ¡°I love them,¡± she said, her words so unexpected yet also so overflowing with passion. ¡°You¡­love them?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said to Mr. Oren, sobbing once more. ¡°The Elves.¡± Zach rested his forehead on his right palm. ¡°I¡¯m so lost right now.¡± ¡°Then please allow me to explain,¡± Adamus said, chiming in. ¡°I had a feeling this would happen.¡± Even as Adamus spoke, Eilea¡¯s face contorted into a vicious scowl. ¡°Early this morning, you made a deal with me, Zachys. One that led to my beloved joining you there to convince the Elves to take up war against Shadowfall Coast. She¡ªand I¡ªagreed with this plan, and to be sure, it was a wise plan. One you should be commended for.¡± His words became harsher as he spoke, though the harshness was not directed at Zach, but at Eilea. ¡°Unfortunately, my child, you made a terrible error.¡± ¡°What error?¡± Zach asked. ¡°You allowed her to meet them. Now do you understand? In less than a day, she has grown emotionally attached to them, just as she has to you. And this, my child, is why for thousands of years, my beloved has never been able to stick to a single plan of action that she has come up with, because each and every time, she allows her emotions to derail her and everyone who puts their trust in her. This time is no exception.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him, Zach,¡± she begged. ¡°Please. We will find a much better way of dealing with the weapons. Our plan was premature and made in the spur of the moment.¡± Zach was too stunned to process any of this. Once more, he felt Jascaila¡¯s hand on top of his own. Right now, she wore a very complicated look on her face. It was as though she and she alone was able to fully comprehend all the emotional instability taking place inside of Eilea. Of course she does, Zach thought. Who else could? ¡°Zach,¡± Eilea said to him pleadingly. ¡°If Adamus wanted to do so, he could annihilate every weapons factory in Shadowfall Coast in the blink of an eye. He is so powerful. Far, far more than myself. He could end this in an instant!¡± she said, ending her words in a shout. ¡°But instead, he asks me to send those beautiful Elves into combat against foes armed with loot from the dragon. Some will die. And their numbers, Zach, are already so few.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t ask them to do this.¡± Still trying to process all of this, Zach continued to say nothing. Yet as he looked into Eilea¡¯s eyes, he knew he could not be angry with her. He gently pulled his hand away from Jascaila, and much as she¡¯d done for him, he placed his on top of Eilea¡¯s. ¡°You know this isn¡¯t easy for me either, right? I hate doing this. I never wanted to. I told you that at the time. But you assured me it was the right thing to do.¡± She wiped her face. ¡°But now that I¡¯ve met them, they¡¯re so happy, and they love me, and they trust me, I can¡¯t send them into danger. Or you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Zach said, nodding. ¡°You can¡¯t. I can¡¯t even expect you to do something like that.¡± ¡°Really?¡± she asked. He nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡± He felt a heaviness in his chest. ¡°So I know how we¡¯re going to solve this.¡± A small glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes, which reminded him so much of Kalana, Kolona, and the queen. ¡°You do? How?¡± ¡°With the truth.¡± ¡°The truth?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯re going to tell the truth.¡± In Jascaila¡¯s eyes, Zach could see her forming a slight smile, which he took as a sign of approval. ¡°You might not be happy about this, but¡­but this will cause you the least pain in the long run.¡± Briefly, he traded glances with Mr. Oren, and Mr. Oren gave him a slow, but similarly approving nod. It was as though Mr. Oren and Jascaila understood what he was about to do and had thought it up themselves using nothing more than common sense. And what was more: there was pride in both of their eyes. This told Zach that he had the full support of them both. Now, likely having observed this brief, wordless exchange, Eilea was the one who seemed to recoil, her face displaying a flicker of fear as she pulled her hand away. ¡°What¡­what do you plan on doing?¡± Zach turned his head to look at the Elves standing guard, and he cleared his throat. ¡°Um, excuse me,¡± he said to a white-cloaked Elf. ¡°Doth thee speaketh to me?¡± the Elf asked as though surprised that Zach was addressing him. ¡°Yep. I am.¡± ¡°What doth thee require?¡± ¡°Please tell Queen Vayra her presence is needed immediately. It¡¯s urgent.¡± Eilea¡¯s eyes widened, her pupils becoming enlarged. ¡°What are you doing? Don¡¯t!¡± Overhearing this, the white-cloaked Elf immediately halted; he¡¯d been only a moment from exiting the room. This was unsurprising, as he would not refuse a direct command from the ¡°Great Goddess.¡± Or at least, under most circumstances he wouldn¡¯t. ¡°Adamus?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Very clever, boy. You¡¯re forcing me to shoulder the burden. I suppose I should¡¯ve done this from the very start. Alas, I too am flawed and find this so distasteful that I¡¯ve done all I can to avoid it. But very well. The danger to the system has now reached a level that I will cooperate.¡± There was a brief pause, one that lasted between two and three seconds. And then Adamus spoke again. But this time, he spoke to an even larger audience. ¡°What is your name, child of Elvadin?¡± Adamus asked the man. Now, as though he too could hear Adamus, the white-cloaked Elf immediately fell to his knees, gasping loudly and with such intensity that Zach worried he¡¯d choke to death on his own saliva. ¡°Doth I heareth the voice of Adamus, the Great Lord?¡± he shouted, causing those nearby to similarly drop to their knees. Zach wasn¡¯t even sure they could hear him too. But after everything that¡¯d happened, they didn¡¯t seem to question it. ¡°You do, child of Elvadin. What is your name?¡± ¡°Elvaran H¡¯ral!¡± he shouted ¡°Please bring me your queen.¡± In answer to his earlier question, Zach discovered that all four of them could, in fact, hear Adamus¡¯s voice, as each one burst to their feet as though the mere act of standing upright was the most significant thing they¡¯d ever been instructed to do, and they moved with such haste and seriousness that they ended up destroying two doors and knocking down part of a wall in their frenzied dash to the queen. Kal¡¯s going to have to waste so much gold now repairing more God-related property damage, Zach thought bitterly. Such a waste of coin. The sound of urgent footsteps echoed from outside the small room, and in a way that was somewhat more measured, Queen Vayra entered, looking anxious, worried, and a bit panicked. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked. ¡°Zach, have you disrespected Her Greatness?¡± There was shock, anger, and sadness in the queen¡¯s expression, and Zach realized it was because of the tears in the eyes of Eilea. ¡°Zach, please tell me you have not done something which cannot be undone! Have you hurt or brought shame to¡ª¡± ¡°No, no, it¡¯s nothing like that,¡± Zach said. ¡°It¡¯s not like that at all. Look, Fylwen, I really need to tell you something that¡¯s going to be hard for you to hear, but I want to be honest with you.¡± She twisted her lips as though to form the word ¡°what¡± but she remained quiet as she met his eyes. Zach hesitated just a moment. A bunch of words came to his mind: clever things he could say or ways he could ease her into what he knew had to be said. But he decided to throw all of them away. He wanted to tell her the truth. That was the answer to all of this. The plain and simple truth. ¡°Okay,¡± he continued. ¡°This is going to be a lot to take in, and it¡¯s really something that should be explained to you slowly, but¡­but I feel like I need to just say it to you outright even though a whole lot of nuance is going to be lost and it¡¯s going to make me look terrible. Really, really terrible.¡± ¡°Zach?¡± Fylwen whispered, her voice overflowing with concern. ¡°What is it?¡± I need to just say it. Just¡­just tell her. Zach pointed to Eilea. ¡°Before she came here, me and the Great Goddess had been talking to each other weekly for a while, and after the bomb dropped, we started discussing ways to protect the world from those weapons. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve been wondering how it came to be me of all people who found themselves in contact with the Great Goddess, but the truth is she¡¯d been reaching out to me since I started adventuring. I only became aware of her later on, though. And that¡¯s when I started talking to her every so often in my mind.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Fylwen said, still speaking at a whisper. Zach paused to draw a breath before continuing. This would be the hard part. ¡°Okay, so, in the process of discussing this, we included Adamus¡ªsorry, the Great Lord¡ªin our conversations. And I, not he, brought up the fact that¡­shit, this is harder than I thought.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening,¡± Fylwen said, her expression unreadable. ¡°I told him that if there¡¯s anyone in this world who could dismantle those weapons and do it successfully, it was the Elves. But I know how protective you are of your Elves, and I know I could never convince you to send them into battle after what happened to Ogre''s Axe.¡± He braced himself. ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s why Eilea is here. I asked her to come here to tell you to do it. Me. I did that. I wanted to manipulate you by getting her to make you do it. Because I knew you wouldn¡¯t if I asked. So¡­so she agreed to command you to do it. But neither of us were ever happy about it. And it¡¯s eating away at us both.¡± Zach stopped for just a moment and lowered his hand back down to his side. ¡°Fylwen, from the very beginning, I was never really comfortable with this, and now that she¡¯s met you, Eilea loves you and your Elves, and so she¡¯s not comfortable with it anymore either. And this is actually what brings us to why you¡¯re in here with us right now. So um, the Great Lord, Adamus? He disagrees with us both. He still believes that you should take these actions, so there¡¯s a disagreement between the Great Goddess and the Great Lord. I should also probably let you know that he¡¯s here with us right now and can hear you and speak to you.¡± The moment Zach finished speaking, Queen Vayra calmly walked forward, pulled out a spare chair, and took a seat down at the table. And despite how ridiculous her beliefs and her religion might have been, Zach felt nothing but admiration for her internal strength. Because in just a matter of seconds, she pulled herself together. It couldn¡¯t have been easy. To someone like Fylwen, everything he was saying was likely mentally hitting her with the force of a nuclear bomb. Yet even still, she inhaled slowly and then pulled her chair closer into the table before folding her hands on top of it. Zach met her eyes. ¡°I regret ever starting any of this. I don¡¯t want you or your Elves to be hurt. The guilt is painful. So I want to look you in the eyes and let you know that it was me who did all this. I wanted to use you and your Elves. And the reason Eilea¡ªsorry, the Great Goddess¡ªis crying right now is because she feels the same guilt that I feel. And to be even more honest with you, I¡¯ll just tell you that Eilea and I both believe the Great Lord is cruel. We both think he is cold, heartless, and terrible. But I also know he outranks her. And since I don¡¯t have the courage to deceive you anymore, I would rather him force you to do this himself than spend another second playing games or lying to you. If this is what he wants, then he needs to tell you so himself.¡± Fylwen remained silent, and Zach worried about what thoughts might be going through her head. For his part, he felt like a tremendous, unbearable, and crushing weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Even if she hated him for this, he¡¯d at least confessed to his duplicity. Still, much of his relief was held back by the blank expression that suddenly popped onto Fylwen¡¯s face. And this blank expression remained that way as she slowly craned her neck upwards. ¡°Is the Great Lord Adamus truly among us?¡± she asked softly. ¡°Can you hear me, Lord?¡± ¡°I can, my child,¡± he replied. Zach could actually hear the oxygen whoosh out of her lungs. Yet she was again quick to regain her composure. ¡°Is everything the boy just said true? That he and Eilea had consulted with you on using my Elves for war? And that now both are having second thoughts and suffering feelings of guilt?¡± ¡°Yes, my child. Every word of what he told you is the truth.¡± Fylwen nodded. And then, very simply, she said, ¡°In that case, I deeply apologize on behalf of both of them. The boy and your wife are dear to me, and I beg you not to punish them for their horrific disobedience to your will and your word. Especially the boy. He doesn¡¯t know our ways, and he does not understand that you, Great Lord Adamus, have always been known to be callous in the pursuit of good, putting emotion aside in your quest to do right.¡± She straightened her back. ¡°I will be ready to attack on a moment¡¯s notice, my Lord. And you,¡± she said to Zach, pinching his ear affectionately. ¡°Do not disobey the Great Lord again.¡± Her response stunned Zach. Though the outcome was partially as he¡¯d expected, he thought she¡¯d be at least a little upset with him. Instead, her only issue with Zach appeared to be that he didn¡¯t ¡°obey¡± Adamus the first time around. It occurred to Zach that, in a way, despite telling her the truth, he¡¯d somehow still manipulated her. Everything he¡¯d said was true. He really did feel terrible. He really did have second thoughts. He even agreed with Eilea. He¡¯d told Fylwen nothing but the truth. And yet, even in doing so, he still felt off. And it was because there was one last thing he hadn¡¯t said, wasn¡¯t there? There was. And Zach wondered if by not saying it, it constituted a lie by omission. He wanted to clear his conscience, and having omitted this one small detail¡­it felt wrong to him. ¡°Fylwen,¡± he whispered. ¡°There¡¯s one thing I forgot to say. I honestly, truly don¡¯t believe that Adamus is a G¡ªahh!¡± A pain erupted in his knee as someone¡ªprobably Mr. Oren¡ªkicked him under the table. He looked at his former science teacher, who looked back at him with such a fierce intensity that Zach understood right away he needed to let that last bit go. Now, hissing, he rubbed his knee under the table. ¡°My Great Lord,¡± Mr. Oren said aloud, referring to Adamus. ¡°I, Sir Alex Oren, pledge my guild to the eradication of these weapons.¡± ¡°This pleases me, human. You have my blessing and favor. Please join the children of Elvadin in ridding the world of these sinful abominations.¡± ¡°Thank you, my Lord.¡± He bowed his head in submission. So much was taking place so fast that it was making Zach¡¯s head spin. Right now, in front of him, Mr. Oren and Adamus appeared to be¡­well, to use a word Jimmy had taught him, they were roleplaying. They were fucking roleplaying with each other in order to manipulate the Elves into doing the bidding of Adamus for a purpose that was so important it was probably worth it. It was not a stretch to say that this was the single-biggest moral dilemma that Zach had ever faced. He had no idea what was right and what was wrong anymore. Everything felt like a mixture of both. And Eilea, the only person in the room who could maybe put a stop to this, was totally unable to do so, because she, unlike Adamus, actually believed they were Gods, and therefore would not be able to honestly bring herself to tell Queen Vayra the one and only thing that might make her reconsider: that they weren¡¯t. So instead, she turned to the queen and decided to plead with her in a way that Zach knew from the outset would be totally, utterly ineffective. And he wasn¡¯t the only one who knew this. Mr. Oren knew this, too. That was obviously why he was willing to remain perfectly silent and offer not so much as a word in protest as she sought to change Queen Vayra¡¯s mind. This, Zach was completely certain of. He knew that if Mr. Oren held even the slightest inkling that Eilea might say something to dissuade the queen, he¡¯d find some way of diverting her attention or introducing a different angle to things. ¡°Everything Zach told you is the truth,¡± Eilea said to Fylwen. That, right off the bat, only made her case worse¡ªeven if she didn¡¯t realize it. ¡°I know it is,¡± Fylwen whispered. ¡°I believe you, Great Goddess. I believe Zach.¡± Moving closer to her, Eilea embraced Fylwen, who appeared both honored yet also surprised by the gesture. Zach doubted the queen ever imagined that she would be in a position where she needed to comfort one of her Gods, yet she did so with what looked like genuine compassion. ¡°Your family and your people are so wonderful,¡± Eilea said. ¡°I¡¯ve watched so many Elves die over so many years. Enough is enough. We can find another way to stop the human weapons. You needn¡¯t spill your blood over their wickedness. We will defeat the humans without spilling precious Elvish blood or risking Zach¡¯s life.¡± ¡°Sweet Goddess,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°Our Lord is right. The humans have created a weapon of evil so profound that the Gods themselves call upon my Elves to set things right again. You cannot imagine how honored I feel that you would shed tears over my people. But I can¡¯t disobey the Lord.¡± ¡°I am a Goddess too,¡± Eilea told her. ¡°I can command you to stop this.¡± ¡°You are a Goddess, but you are not the Lord. And in truth, your tears are unnecessary. And so is Zach¡¯s guilt. If only I had known this sooner, I could have spared the both of you so much pain.¡± At this, both Zach and Eilea fired her a questioning glance as she returned Eilea¡¯s embrace. ¡°The Guild of Gentlemen have declared war on us. I would be sending my Elves to war regardless of anything that has transpired here. The only thing that appears to have changed is the timeline and the method of attack.¡± ¡°Method of attack?¡± Mr. Oren asked her. ¡°Indeed, human. My plan was to spend a year surveilling each ranking member of the guild, and then, when the time was right, I¡¯d planned on launching a coordinated attack that killed each one of them at the exact same moment in time so that there would be none left alive with the authority to order a retaliatory strike. Clearly, things have become more urgent since then.¡± Her expression became sharp and determined. ¡°From the moment my sworn brother was slain before my eyes, there was no way this could have ended without blood and fire. I am a woman who clings to revenge, and I will have the head of Alistair Morrison for what he has put me through.¡± Even Mr. Oren appeared surprised by this. ¡°Your Majesty,¡± he said, ¡°I thought you informed our guilds you would not be willing to join us in any attacks.¡± ¡°Of course I did, human. And I meant that, too. I do not trust your kind. I do not for a moment trust that you or your ¡®guilds¡¯ will not turn around and join the enemy the moment my people strike. Were it not commanded to me by the Great Lord, I would still refuse.¡± ¡°But¡­why would we betray you? The Guild of Gentlemen destroyed Ogre¡¯s Axe, Your Majesty. They slaughtered a million lives.¡± ¡°And? Humans have done that to each other for thousands of years. Yet still, your kind somehow unites every time you face opposition by a different race.¡± Mr. Oren closed his eyes and said, ¡°That¡¯s¡­true.¡± Zach knew Fylwen wasn¡¯t lying. Her fears were justified. But at least, now, she was willing to cooperate. Even still, it did little to lessen his concerns about Eilea, who Zach now realized was not a reliable partner. Yet despite this, she was one he would not cast away regardless. He would not cast away anyone whether they were useful to him or not. He had grown to care for Eilea just as he¡¯d come to care for everyone in this room. More and more, Zach was realizing that he was going to have to bloody his hands to protect them: human, Elf, or even Goddess. He was going to need to step up in a way that he never had before. Getting up from the table, he pulled his hood over his head and began to leave the room. Immediately, Eilea broke away from her embrace and shouted after him. ¡°My queen, I order you to apprehend him at once!¡± Fylwen turned in Zach¡¯s direction. Yet she hesitated and lifted her eyes, as if no longer willing to follow Eilea¡¯s commands while in the presence of what she considered to be an even greater God. ¡°Do not stop him,¡± Adamus interjected. Mr. Oren also got up from the table, but Zach held his palm out to him. And to Jascaila as well, who seemed to want to join him. ¡°I¡¯m going alone,¡± he told all of them. ¡°Fylwen, I¡¯m going to return here later in Phase Level 2. When I do can you heal me without hurting yourself?¡± ¡°I can,¡± she said. ¡°But please use the ability on the sword to reduce the debt by half. It¡¯ll make it easier for me.¡± ¡°I will. That¡¯s all I needed to know.¡± ¡°Where are you going?¡± ¡°To save Vim Alazar.¡± ¡°You ought to reconsider, young man.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Trust me. I know I can do this. Even by myself.¡± Eilea ran forward towards him, and Queen Vayra surprised him by reaching out and grabbing her, holding her back. This must¡¯ve come as a shock to Eilea, because it shocked Zach as well. Though, in fairness, she did not restrain her in a way that was aggressive or demeaning. Yet even still, her defiance of Adamus at last came at a cost, as Adamus now went out of his way to degrade her; this, he did right in front of Zach and the others. ¡°Queen of Elvadin,¡± he said. ¡°It is only in the rarest of circumstances¡ªand with the greatest of honor¡ªthat my voice calls down to my subjects from my throne. So I leave you with the following two instructions. The first is to no longer consider commands from my wife as sacrosanct or law. The second is to cherish her, honor her, and ensure she has a home and place among your kin. Treat her with respect, dignity, and esteem. Care for her. But lead your own people as you see fit. As for actions, my only command to you is to destroy the human weapons and to not allow any more of them to come into existence. Aside from that, my child, I bid you total freedom and independence until such a day as the Elvish hear from me again, though I cannot ensure such a day will arrive in your lifetime or even within the lifetime of your offspring. You would be wise to expect to never hear my voice again, and any who claim to speak for me are speaking false. Are my instructions understood?¡± ¡°Yes, my Lord,¡± Queen Vayra said, bowing. ¡°You don¡¯t need to bow to him. You do not know the God my husband is. If you did, you would not find him worthy. Young queen, do you know that he imprisoned me for a thousand years? Did Zach tell you that?¡± ¡°He did not,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°It¡¯s true. Tell her, Adamus! Admit it!¡± ¡°It is true,¡± he replied, causing Jascaila to scowl. ¡°But if you wish to publicly air grievances, perhaps you should also tell the queen that you are the reason the world is bereft of mobs and that a dragon nearly destroyed all life on Galterra due to your interference with my creation. Perhaps she would like to know that the humans were only able to defeat and enslave her people because they waged ¡®mob destruction warfare¡¯ on the planet, eliminating every source of experience that the Elves once used to grow strong. Or maybe you should inform the humans that the reason why their race now requires a special buff to access the dungeons is because you damaged the permission structure in an attempt to implement a bio-respawn mechanic that prevented death.¡± Eilea fell to her knees and began to weep. ¡°Stop.¡± ¡°Perhaps the queen would like to hear about how you failed Lieiara Vayra when she needed you the most.¡± ¡°Stop.¡± ¡°Or maybe you would like the queen to be made aware of all the times your attempts to stop war led to more war. Or the time you tried to sacrifice yourself to save a child, only to end up killing both the child and his mother.¡± ¡°Please.¡± ¡°Maybe the queen would be interested in knowing how you interfered with a young man by the name of Peter Brayspark IV. You loved him, didn¡¯t you, Eilea? And he loved you so much that he fought a war to find and give you the Book of Elemental Chaos. What happened, beloved? What became of his mind?¡± ¡°It was an accident!¡± she screamed. ¡°We were trying to save the world from you! He was¡­he was trying to free me. He loved me.¡± ¡°And for his love, you drove him mad, didn¡¯t you? And then what did he do to the queen and her people? What did he do to the planet? Your help is worthless, my beloved. If only they knew the truth about you. You are the greatest villain in history. The other Great Ones never respected you. Nobody but I have ever truly wanted you. Nobody but I have ever found a use for you. You¡¯ll never be anything without me. You¡¯re an incompetent failure. Perhaps I should send you back to your cave. In my attempt to be kind, I have perhaps done the queen a disservice by burdening her with such a waste of¡ª¡± ¡°Enough!¡± Jascaila shouted, springing up from her seat and throwing her battle-axe at the ceiling, causing it to break through it with a loud crack. ¡°You¡¯ve made your point, you abusive, manipulative piece of shit!¡± she yelled furiously. ¡°You said you were leaving, so leave!¡± For a moment, a pin drop would have sounded like an explosion, and Zach, halfway out of the room, could hardly believe the ferocity and anger in Jascaila¡¯s words as she picked Eilea up off the floor. She wrapped her arms around her, whispered something into her ear, and then berated the Elvish God so harshly that even Queen Vayra did not interfere. ¡°You are an evil sociopath who uses abuse tactics older than time itself. Any heaven with a God like you is hell. You are a vicious, cruel coward, and if I have to spend one more second listening to you abuse this woman, I¡¯ll fly to your fuckin¡¯ space station and crack open your head like it¡¯s a Gods-be-damned watermelon. You got what you came for now leave!¡± ¡°Very well.¡± And with that, he was gone. Zach wasn¡¯t sure what to make of all that, but he knew now wasn¡¯t the time to figure it out. It was still mid-afternoon here on Elendroth, and the earliest signs of darkness would now be spreading over North Bastia. Zach cared about these people too much to take any of them with him. Tonight, he¡¯d do what he had to do alone. Chapter 146: The Return to Shadowfall Coast Chapter 146: The Return to Shadowfall Coast Jimmy nodded slowly, then even faster as the taste of the grape-flavored candy really started to explode. He turned the box in his hand over several times before looking at Mushkie. ¡°Damn this shit¡¯s good,¡± he said. The box contained a picture of a cartoon grape with hands, feet, eyes, and a silly smile. The grape was dancing together with a similarly drawn strawberry and a banana in some kind of disco-looking party. In the very background of the illustration there was also a dancing watermelon with a tiny little +2xp in red lettering above its name. And indeed, any time Jimmy happened to find a red, watermelon-flavored candy in the box¡ªwhich was pretty rare¡ªhe¡¯d get two experience points once it softened enough to where he crunched it with his teeth. ¡°What dungeon do these come from?¡± he asked. Mushkie made a huge grin, raised his finger, and waggled it. ¡°I can¡¯t say if you don¡¯t already know!¡± Jimmy laughed. ¡°Right. The rules are the rules. I actually like that, though. I¡¯d rather find out for myself anyway.¡± ¡°Does Jimmy want to buy another?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll buy a couple of these,¡± he said. ¡°They¡¯re worth it for only being 5g.¡± Turning around, he headed back to the center of the shop, where the various aisles were now teeming with adventurers. The store was amazing, everybody seemed to love it here, and since nobody was in a rush, he was finally able to go shopping. Jimmy grabbed one of the many baskets stocked in piles around the place and started walking the aisles. Last time, he hadn¡¯t really been able to look around, because Zach had an active timer on his uh¡­his power thing. Jimmy couldn¡¯t remember the name. Phase blaster mode or something. But yeah. They¡¯d had to wrap things up pretty fast. This time, nobody seemed to be in any kind of rush. ¡°Jimmy, look at this,¡± Kalana chirped happily. ¡°Yeah,¡± Tena said. ¡°Look!¡± He bumped into several adventurers and nudged a few others out of the way to get over to Kalana and Tena. It seemed like a rude thing to do, but it was just how adventurers behaved. They pushed, shoved, and roughhoused each other constantly. There was no aggression in it, though. It was just sort of the chummy kind of vibe that was honestly infectious. ¡°Are those just¡­regular bananas and oranges?¡± Jimmy asked. Tena shook her head. ¡°Nope. Kalana and I figured out that they never spoil.¡± ¡°Word?¡± ¡°Huh? What word?¡± Jimmy chuckled. ¡°I mean really?¡± ¡°Yeah. They never spoil,¡± Tena said. Jimmy inspected one of the apples. Honestly, it looked like a regular piece of fruit. With a shrug, he grabbed an assortment of a few different things and chucked it into his basket. He tended to stay a long time in dungeons, so it really was a good idea to fill his storage box with healthier things than just mob snacks¡ªbut he was planning on buying a ton of those, too. ¡°Watch where you¡¯re going, dummy,¡± a young girl said to an older man, the two colliding off to Jimmy¡¯s left. ¡°You watch where you¡¯re going.¡± Both of them locked eyes, glared, and then an instant later, their cheeks puffed up and they started laughing hysterically. Jimmy snorted then chuckled a few times as well. He really did like these people. But damn was it crowded in here. Mushkie must¡¯ve been loving this. Everyone rushed to the Weekly Haul, so now everyone¡¯s shopping the regular items at once. As far as Jimmy was aware, every last adventurer had bought each and every item on the Weekly Haul list. Well, except for Jimmy, because he¡¯d already purchased his allotment earlier in the day. Mushkie had looked like he might die of happiness as, one by one, the adventurers purchased all that they could, which in this case was: 2x Red Rejuvenation Stones, 2x Yellow Rejuvenation Stones, 1x Purple Rejuvenation Stone, 2x Dungeon Escape Ropes, 3x Poison Cures, and a single Teleportation Stone, which had an effect that nobody but Jimmy understood. Or at least Jimmy thought he understood it: conceptually, anyway. The Teleportation Stones, which were a one-time use consumable, claimed to teleport the user to their ¡°bound¡± city. This was a term that none of the adventurers were familiar with. Unsurprisingly, this meant that the adventurers had slowly coalesced around Jimmy wanting to know if he had any idea. Despite Spider telling him that nobody would bring up his backstory or whatever, Jimmy knew it would only be a matter of time before they couldn¡¯t resist, and honestly, it surprised him they¡¯d even lasted several hours. Not that he cared because it was fake anyway. He just wished he knew who was responsible for making it up. ¡°Damn,¡± one of the adventurers had said loudly. He¡¯d been a short adventurer who had a sword sheathed on each hip, and he¡¯d begun speaking as though he were talking to himself, but it was obvious he wanted Jimmy to overhear him. ¡°I have no idea what this does,¡± he¡¯d said. ¡°If only that Elvish Great One, Eilea Vayra, was here. She might be able to tell us. Or maybe¡­maybe one of her disciples. If she even has any, anyway. I mean, I wouldn¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Yeah, I feel ya, bud,¡± another guy had said. ¡°I heard that there are training simulations that give people extra knowledge about this shit. Not sure if it¡¯s even true, but I thought I read somewhere in like maybe a book or something that there are uncontacted colonies of people on Earth and that we were wrong about nobody living there anymore. And that these uncontacted people sometimes have ancient training simulations or something that don¡¯t exist on Galterra.¡± ¡°Really?¡± the first adventurer had asked in an overly dramatic way. ¡°There¡¯s no way that¡¯s true.¡± ¡°Probably not, but can you imagine if there was and one of these Earthlings had access to secret training simulations that¡ª¡± At this point, Jimmy had exhaled, but what began as a sigh ended in a sharp laugh. ¡°Yeah, okay,¡± he¡¯d said. ¡°Ya¡¯ll can cut it out. I know everybody knows about my, uh, colony.¡± ¡°Your what?¡± numerous adventurers had asked, all of them forcing themselves to sound like they were actually confused. They¡¯d even begun looking at one another and making puzzled expressions. ¡°What does he mean by that?¡± a woman had asked. ¡°Wait a minute,¡± Reni Sarwin had said. ¡°Everyone time out. Is¡­is Jimmy from planet Earth or something?¡± He¡¯d made a clearly fake, exaggerated gasp. ¡°Is Jimmy trying to say he wasn¡¯t born on this planet? Could it even be?¡± Jimmy had rolled his eyes. ¡°All right already. I¡¯ll just tell you guys what I know.¡± And that had been enough to get their attention. Jimmy, deciding not to break the cover that someone out there had meticulously crafted for him, had decided to explain how, in many of the ¡°simulations¡± he¡¯d played, there had been a concept known as ¡°binding¡± oneself to a ¡°bound city.¡± In these ¡°simulations,¡± players could bind themselves to a city of their choice, and then that became the place they¡¯d respawn if they died or, if they wanted, they could teleport there through various means. Having broken the ice, the adventurers had all dropped the charade and had begun casually asking him questions without beating around the bush. ¡°Did Eilea tell you if it¡¯s an ability that we have to learn by leveling?¡± ¡°No,¡± Jimmy had replied. ¡°The uh, the simulations I ran through as a kid were more conceptual. Meaning, they weren¡¯t always based on the uh, the real world. They were fantasy worlds where sometimes the rules were different. Like, in many of these simulations, the¡­the uh, the¡­the ¡®user¡¯ could see their own HP, stamina, and mana¡ªwhich was required to cast spells.¡± ¡°Could anyone bind in those simulations, Jimmy?¡± Kalana had asked him. She, Tena, Donovan, and Zephyr were the only people here who knew the real truth about him, and he was glad that all of them were being careful not to say anything that would reveal too much. Jimmy had looked at Kalana and nodded. ¡°Yeah, in every simulation I¡¯ve ever experienced, binding was always just an ability you got. It was never a separate item. In one simulation, uh, called World of Warcraft, you got a free stone that you could use on a timer that teleported you to your bind point, but everybody could always bind.¡± ¡°Everybody?¡± numerous adventurers had asked. Nervously, Jimmy had rubbed the back of his head. ¡°Yeah. Ah, everybody in my community could experience the simulation together.¡± Jimmy had hesitated a second to think, and then, surprising his own self, he¡¯d said something so convincing he¡¯d almost fooled himself into thinking it was true. ¡°Basically, life on Earth was really shit. I mean, you¡¯ve all seen it, right? So, in order to make things easier for us, we¡¯d all sit in front of our¡­our terminals and connect to each other and adventure together. And the simulations were fun. Even though we were being trained for the day when Eilea was able to reopen the portal back to Galterra¡ªwhich, ahh, had been sealed for a thousand years¡ªwe still played them mostly for fun.¡± Miss Britethorn had approached him and placed her arm on his shoulder. ¡°But none of your colony ended up living to see her reopen the portal, did they, dear?¡± All Jimmy had needed to do to give the most believable answer possible was think of his mom and his cat as he replied. ¡°Nah,¡± he¡¯d said. ¡°They didn¡¯t make it here to Galterra.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t the Great One just give all of you the buff and let you come through the dungeon?¡± Reni Sarwin had asked him. This question had caught Jimmy off guard, and he¡¯d fumbled around his brain for an answer. Thankfully, Tena had come to his rescue. ¡°Jimmy lived very, very far from any dungeons,¡± she¡¯d said. ¡°And since there¡¯s so little food now that grows on Earth, it was too far for anyone to make the trip.¡± Jimmy could see the adventurers had even more questions, though none of them doubted the story. Thankfully, Zephyr had pulled things back on topic. ¡°Anyways, I¡¯ve never heard of an ability like that,¡± he¡¯d said, to which all the adventurers had agreed. No one, it seemed, had ever heard of a mechanic by which a user could bind themselves to a city. But Jimmy had then caused a great deal of excitement by suggesting to them that it was probably something they¡¯d all learn on a higher-tier planet like Albion-4. He¡¯d also suggested there could be many, many other mechanics that might just blow people¡¯s minds. ¡°In many of the simulations I went through,¡± he¡¯d said, ¡°new concepts and stuff are introduced as you go through them. I bet once we get to Albion-4, we¡¯re gonna start to see some real wild shit.¡± ¡°You bet your ass we will,¡± Donovan had said, barking out a laugh. Now, As Jimmy continued to shop, he began to really get into the idea of finding these special ¡°higher-tier¡± planets. The gamer in him wanted to see what was out there. For the first time since waking up in this world, he¡¯d become really, really excited at the prospect of treading where no one in all of Galterra¡¯s history had ever tread before. Zach needs to get his ass in gear and help us find it, he thought. As Jimmy returned his attention to browsing through the various items, he realized that once one of the shelves were cleared, and the items for sale were sold out, they did not simply ¡°magically¡± refill, which for some reason, he¡¯d assumed that they would. ¡°Hey, Mushkie!¡± he called, watching as someone grabbed the last bag of Skelly Chips. Mushkie, who had just finished ringing up a customer, hurried around his counter and scurried over. ¡°Yes, Jimmy?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no more Skelly Chips for sale.¡± ¡°Yikes. Oh well, next week!¡± This, he found surprising. ¡°Wait, items don¡¯t restock?¡± ¡°Nope. Only weekly.¡± ¡°Damn. Well I guess I¡ª¡± ¡°Here ya go,¡± a random adventurer Jimmy didn¡¯t know said to him. He took two bags of Skelly Chips out of his basket and dropped them into Jimmy¡¯s. Jimmy gave him his thanks, and he told Jimmy it wasn¡¯t a problem. But what caught Jimmy¡¯s attention was the surprise in Mushkie¡¯s eyes. ¡°You¡­you people are so different from the other adventurers Mushkie used to know!¡± His words drew the curiosity of more than just Jimmy. Nearly every nearby adventurer, including Donovan, Zephyr, Lienne, and Rian all turned their heads as if just as intrigued by what he said as Jimmy. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Lienne asked. ¡°How are we so different?¡± Mushkie looked at the burly adventurer who¡¯d given Jimmy the Skelly Chips and then looked at Jimmy¡¯s basket immediately after. ¡°You share with each other. Are you¡­all from the same guild?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± Rian said. ¡°Me and Li are from Explorers Brigade¡ªZephyr¡¯s Guild. Donovan and his people are from the GSG. You¡¯ve also got a few guys from Lost and Found here, and that tall woman over there¡±¡ªhe pointed¡ª¡°she¡¯s Ophelia Graven, the leader of Boss Rush.¡± Rian continued to list off guilds, both large and small, who had members present here. ¡°So strange,¡± Mushkie said. ¡°How so?¡± Zephyr asked him. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­the adventurers of old were not the ¡®sharing¡¯ type. No-whoah-nope! People used to die in Mushkie¡¯s shop fighting over candy! Especially in the beginning when food was harder to come by. But even much later on, they¡¯d still go at it. But you¡¯re all so different. The adventurers I used to see didn¡¯t even like each other.¡± Donovan grunted. ¡°We¡¯re a different sort.¡± ¡°You are?¡± ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re what happens when you take all the bullshit and politics out of it and just focus on the rest.¡± Jimmy couldn¡¯t help but smile. Although he¡¯d never wanted to be part of this world, and although this wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d asked for, if nothing else, at least he¡¯d woken up at a time in this planet¡¯s history where, despite being small in number, the adventurers were tight-knit and functioned as a unified community regardless of which adventuring guild someone belonged to. Jimmy was also very pleased that, with only a very few exceptions, they were dedicated wholly to PVE. This was significant because he could easily imagine an alternate version of Galterra¡ªor hell, just Galterra from earlier on in its history¡ªwhere entering a dungeon was an inherently risky act, as someone could be camping out waiting to kill you or rob you. Like, sure, technically speaking the rules of this world made it so that adventurers could kill one another. There was nothing that physically prevented an adventurer from drawing their weapon right now and randomly hacking the person next to them to pieces. But thank God, because Jimmy had come to this world during a time when the culture around adventuring¡ªthanks to Donovan and Zephyr, it looked like¡ªwas such that such an act was unthinkable. They were adventurers, after all. Not killers. ****** To say that Zach experienced feelings of uncertainty and doubt as he began his journey to Shadowfall coast would be putting it incredibly mildly. Not only had he harbored second thoughts, but he¡¯d also harbored third thoughts, fourth thoughts, and fifth thoughts, too. Tenth thoughts, even! And he¡¯d had a fair bit of time to consider things as well. Despite Mr. Oren telling him there were quicker ways to get to there, Zach wanted to stick with what he knew and was comfortable with. He also didn¡¯t want to risk any unforeseen dungeon weirdness holding him up. In other words, that meant a swim in the ocean to Shores of Wrath, a trip to the grand library, a dive into the pool on F18 in TOE, and now, he emerged, coming up for air in northwest Whispery Woods. As he climbed out of the murky lake in the middle of the forest, his robe drenched and dripping mossy water, he shook off as much of the grime and muck as he could, and then he straightened his back. The moment he did so, he was struck with a powerful wave of heartache and regret, along with a sudden extreme feeling of loneliness. It hit him so hard that he actually remained frozen for a few moments. Get over it, he told himself. Focus on your objective. The sun had only just set, and only a sliver of orange remained in the sky; it was also incredibly quiet. Looking down at the leaves, twigs, and dirt, Zach realized the source of his sudden bout of sadness. It was because he knew that, a relatively short while ago, more than two-hundred adventurers, including Rian, Lienne, Jimmy, and Kalana, would all have been cheering and marching their way to Trials of Nolak in Pixie¡¯s Point, stomping down on this very same ground. For all he knew, that broken twig right ahead of him could¡¯ve been snapped by the boots of one of the adventurers. He, on the other hand, would be setting out for a much longer journey due southeast and all the way across the region¡ªperhaps even longer depending on the route he took. As he considered his options, he started at a very slow walk through the forest, watching as the orange faded in the sky, and the first few stars began to make themselves visible. One of those stars, he knew, had a planet in its solar system, and on that planet was the dungeon where he should¡¯ve been right now. Stop thinking about it, he told himself. This is just how it is. Swatting away flies and mosquitoes that swarmed around his face, he ambled his way deeper into the forest and went over the facts of the matter in his head. Right now, he was far enough northwest in Whispery Woods that he was nearly on the border with Varda¡¯s Lair. The dungeon, on the other hand, had its entrance mere miles from where Whispery Woods transitioned into Shadowfall Coast. This meant there were two ways of getting where he had to go. The direct path would be to simply head due southeast. In terms of distance, it was clearly the shortest route. The only issue was that he¡¯d hit numerous towns along the way and, without a doubt, would end up having to navigate his way through the gigantic city of his birth. On the other hand, he could move straight east through fields, farms, and rural land, then cut straight south through more of the same terrain. If he went with this option, he¡¯d be traveling a considerably larger number of miles, but he could do so at a much faster speed. No matter what route he took, he still wouldn¡¯t be able to move at his absolute fastest. Not only would that burn through his stamina so fast he¡¯d be unlikely to make it more than half way, but the chance of accidentally killing someone or destroying something was too great to be worth the risk. Back when Fylwen had charmed him and made him chase after her, he¡¯d been in Unleashed Phase with a Phase Level of 2 and had 117 points into speed. Then, he recalled running at a speed that must¡¯ve skirted very close to two-hundred miles per hour. But even then, he hadn¡¯t actually been running as fast as his legs could possibly carry him, either. Right now, with just his base stats and gear combined, he had 73 points into speed. Hypothetically, if he exerted that to its fullest potential, he could probably clear a hundred fifty while totally exhausting himself. Yet even if he could sustain the effort required to run that fast, it was still too reckless. No, he would be best off using his Kralzek¡¯s Beast, which when commanded to travel at its fastest, could easily exceed 100MPH and do so indefinitely without ever needing to rest. This only left the question of which path to take. If he chose to head southeast, he was looking at a two-hundred-fifty-mile slog that would frequently be interrupted by towns, a city, various communities, and roadways. And getting through Whispery Woods would add an hour or two on its own. In total, he couldn¡¯t imagine getting to Yorna in under five hours. On the other hand, if he went east then south and stuck to open territory, he would add a hundred miles to his journey but he¡¯d be able to maintain full speed through nearly all of it. Assuming he did everything right, it¡¯d take him three-and-a-half hours to arrive. Getting back, on the other hand, would be a bit more complicated. Obviously, he wouldn¡¯t be able to ride all the way back. He¡¯d die before he ever made it a quarter of the way. He supposed he could hunt mobs in Yorna for a few hours hoping to slowly luck his way into his stamina proc until building up several hours¡¯ worth of time, but that would be too inconvenient. No, a better idea would be to run from the Yorna entrance to the border of Shadowfall Coast, where in another few hours¡¯ worth of time, Mr. Oren, Kolorn Besh, and Fylwen would all be gathering for an imminent attack. If he linked up with her there, Vim would be able to inspire his troops, as the Royal Roses had apparently agreed¡ªenthusiastically, too¡ªto join in as well, and Fylwen could heal him. That¡¯s what I¡¯ll do, he thought as he exited the forest and made his way across the road. A few miles down the road to his left would be the rest area where he and Jimmy had taken the bus much earlier in the day. Zach stared longingly in that direction, his heart once again aching to throw all this aside and join his friends on their raid. He might even catch up to them assuming they were taking their sweet ass time in Mushkie¡¯s. I have to do this, he thought. I have to! The sky was now fully dark, and aside from a few light poles that lined the forested road, Zach now had the benefit of being practically invisible to all but the most observant of eyes. Casting aside his sadness, he activated Summon Active War-Mount. Then, from out of nothingness, there came a snarl, and a tremendous, saber-toothed cat appeared before him. Zach hopped on top of its back, and mentally, he turned it so that it once more faced the forest, though this time, on the opposite side of the road. And now, he took off. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Wind blasted into his face, as well as the occasional branch or clutter of leaves as the mount launched itself forward, running at what Zach estimated to be three quarters of its full speed. He dialed it back just a touch, however, as it was still too fast, and he ended up bulldozing and destroying about ten trees before he even realized he¡¯d hit one of them. Multiple snaps preceded loud thuds as they crashed down onto the forested soil, sending little critters scampering away in fear. ¡°Sorry!¡± Zach said, apologizing to a confused squirrel. As trees raced by him, Zach slowed just enough so that he could deftly veer his mount to the left or right to avoid any more unsanctioned deforestation. Occasionally, he required it to jump over downed trees that, in the name of the Gods, he swore weren¡¯t his doing. Above him, a flock of birds scattered, alarmed by what must have, to them, appeared to be a horrifying, unnatural sight. A few deer also took off running as they saw Zach charging forward on his war-mount. Thud, thud, thud, thud. The sound of the cat stomping its feet down on the soil was not entirely dissimilar from the sound made by a horse¡¯s hooves, only it was a bit more muted and caused less of an overall rocking sensation. As the wind continued to ruffle his robe and the feeling of motion overtook him as he was propelled forward, Zach found himself actually enjoying this. And why wouldn¡¯t he? This, too, was fun. If it were up to him, he¡¯d much rather ride around North Bastia, aimlessly taking in the sights, than he would heading to Shadowfall Coast. But he knew there was no going back now. If he didn¡¯t do this, nobody else would or could. Around fifteen minutes after setting off, he exited the forest from its eastern side, and now he pulled out into a field of short grass on what was a clear, starry night. Well into the distance and to his left, he could see the outskirts of a small farming village. His current route, he was sure, would keep him well out of their way. As his mount moved up and down numerous gentle hills while the world continued to darken, Zach decided to settle himself in for the relatively long ride ahead. And as he did so, he decided to try once more to establish communication with Eilea, who seemed to be warding off his presence ever since the incident a little earlier. Eilea, please, he thought. Please talk to me. He wasn¡¯t surprised when only silence met him. Yet he refused to give up. He now had ample time to kill, and he really needed to speak with her. And it wasn¡¯t about the accusations Adamus had made, which had reduced her to tears and which Fylwen would probably not question. No, it was something much more personal. Eilea, I know you can hear me. And I know why you won¡¯t speak to me. But what you don¡¯t realize is I¡¯m one of the few people in this whole world who can actually relate to what you¡¯re going through. Maybe not on the same level, but please, if you can feel how sincere I am in my heart, just talk to me. Up ahead, Zach spotted a main roadway that headed due east and was decently well trafficked with numerous DEHVS speeding along it. Not wanting to draw any attention to himself, Zach kept himself a fair distance away, as he was likely visible under the moonlight. Eilea, I¡¯m not going to stop until you answer me. Please! Zach thought he felt something. It was difficult to describe. It was, in a vague way, like the reluctant opening of an eye, but only it was more of an emotion. Maybe it was more accurate to say it was like a turtle peeking out of its shell. There you are, he said to her. Please talk to me. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you could want from me,¡± she said to him. ¡°I humiliated myself. I degraded myself. I had the most shameful moments of my life revealed for all to hear. I¡¯ve likely lost your respect. I can only imagine how pathetic you must view me now.¡± Zach, satisfied that the way ahead contained nothing but short grass and empty air, closed his eyes and concentrated. He visualized Eilea''s face, and then he imagined himself making eye contact with her. Do you even realize who you just said that to? he asked her. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Zach sent her his feelings of amusement, though they were not at her expense. Eilea, he said, everything you just told me is the whole reason I¡¯m even talking to you right now. Because even though I¡¯m only 17 and you¡¯re in your thousands, I actually understand you. Even if that seems hard to believe. ¡°How could you possibly?¡± Zach laughed. Because, Eilea. I¡¯m the biggest fuckup there ever was. I¡¯ve humiliated myself so many times that I¡¯ve lost count. I¡¯ve failed more than I¡¯ve succeeded. Eilea, do you even¡­do you even know? Zach opened his eyes and stared up at the moon as he reflected on things. Since I started adventuring, I¡¯ve had multiple mental breakdowns. I¡¯ve begged people for mercy. I¡¯ve died. I lost a fight to a door. I melted down in front of an entire raid. I got my ass beat in front of my girlfriend. I¡¯ve made decisions that were so stupid I look back and can¡¯t even explain myself. Eilea, I¡¯ve hit so many lows I¡¯m surprised I didn¡¯t reach hell. But here I am, right now, charging my way into battle. She said nothing, so Zach continued to speak. I¡¯m not going to lie to you. You did humiliate yourself this evening. It happened. You let that evil prick make you look weak. You ended up begging and pleading and crying. Do you know who you looked like? Me! ¡°Zach¡­¡± Nobody¡¯s perfect, Eilea. Not even a God¡ªor a Goddess. I don¡¯t know what your plans were, are, or may end up being, but I know all of them must involve saving Galterra and making the world a better place. Right? ¡°Yes,¡± she whispered into his mind. So you can¡¯t give up. No way. That¡¯s how Adamus wins. He wins by breaking you down. ¡°You don¡¯t understand,¡± she said to him, her words now taking on a tone of horror. ¡°He wasn¡¯t lying about me. I really am as awful as he says. I¡¯ve made so many mistakes over my life. All I¡¯ve ever done is fail. Nothing I ever do works out. Everyone I love ends up harmed because of me.¡± Eilea, whatever you¡¯ve done, I know you didn¡¯t do anything bad on purpose. Zach, prepared to forgive her no matter what she said to him next, tightened his grip around his mount¡¯s neck fur. I can¡¯t pretend I didn¡¯t hear what he said about Peter IV. But I know you have such a good heart. I don¡¯t really understand what happened, but I know it couldn¡¯t have been something you did on purpose. ¡°It wasn¡¯t,¡± she said. ¡°There are things I cannot tell you, for if I speak of them, he will know, and they are of a nature that our agreement forbids me from discussing. What I can tell you is there exists a great power in this world. And my dear Peter once tried to use this power to free me. But¡­¡± It¡¯s okay, Zach told her. You can tell me. I promise you I won¡¯t shun you. I swear it! He could feel an explosion of emotion coming from her: a storm so intense it felt like it was originating from himself. Due to the mental link, a few tears ran down Zach¡¯s eyes even though he was not the one who was sad. Peter, like Francis, came to rescue me far below Galterra¡¯s surface where I had been trapped for so very long, she began. Yet my wretched, monstrous husband had laid traps for anyone who tried to undo the bindings keeping me from leaving. It happened so fast, Zach. Peter aimed this power at one of the bindings that kept me tethered to that horrid place, and through my husband¡¯s cunning, it was reflected back at him. He died in an instant. It was so fast that I did not even realize I¡¯d lost him until after he¡¯d collapsed in my arms. So I assessed this source of power. I searched within it for any way of returning him to life. I searched and I searched. And finally, I found a way. But by that point in time, his body had entered necrosis. His brain had become damaged. When he returned, he was not himself. Something within him had changed. He no longer loved me. He screamed at me and called me a usurper to his kingdom. He claimed the Elves had turned on him. He attacked me, Zach! I banished him from my underground prison and returned him to the surface. What followed is too painful for me to discuss. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Zach said nothing for a while. He was content to listen to the sound of the wind as it beat against his equipment. He felt its breeze run over him. He watched as the world sailed by him as he navigated his way farther and farther east. And during this time, he carefully considered each word she¡¯d spoken to him. Then he recalled what Jascaila had told him. About his dad. About life. Finally, he spoke. Sometimes, he said to her, projecting his voice softly and quoting what Jascaila had said to him. Sometimes, the most difficult but healthiest thing we can do is accept that some events¡ªeven horrible ones¡ªhappen that are completely outside of our control. ¡°But this was within my control,¡± she said. ¡°If I had not asked him to find me that book, and I had not asked him to use it to free me, he would never have perished to one of Adamus¡¯s traps.¡± And who put that trap there? Zach asked her. ¡°He did¡­¡± Exactly. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I am still ultimately responsible.¡± Zach slowed, but only slightly, as he unfortunately had no choice but to dash through a medium-sized town. A great many people watched him as he raced by, and some even recognized him from his mount. By now his Kralzek¡¯s Beast had become widely recognized as being associated with him. For this reason, the sight of it no longer inspired the fear it did the first time he¡¯d used it in public. Now, it caused children to run out of their doors and into the early night, chanting his name while pedestrians all turned to face him. He waved, they waved back, and he continued on at a much, much slower pace until hopping over a fence that led to a flower-filled field and taking off once again. Eilea, where are you right now? ¡°Why do you ask?¡± Please, just tell me. ¡°I¡¯m having tea with the queen.¡± Is Jascaila still there? ¡°Yes.¡± I want you to talk to her. A sense of indignation popped up in the back of Zach¡¯s mind. ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s humiliating! I¡¯m a deity that has roamed this world for thousands of years. She is a human who has existed for decades. The very thought that I could somehow require the counseling of a¡ª¡± Yeah, yeah, Zach said, interrupting her. Look, we¡¯ve all got our own reasons to bullshit our way out of therapy. Tell yourself whatever you want, but you need to pull yourself together, and I know she can help you do it. You¡¯ve got to put your ego aside and talk to her. Because I still need you. No matter how you feel about yourself, you still have so much value to me. Maybe I¡¯m getting ahead of myself, but you are a Great One, and there¡¯s going to come a time in the near future when the whole world is going to know that, too. And I¡¯m going to need you to be strong for me. Powerful. Your word is going to carry a lot of weight. I know it¡¯s hard, Eilea, but you¡¯ve got to get through this. He could feel her tears, her pain, but also, her gratitude. ¡°Should I talk to her now?¡± Yes. Right now! Tell her Zach told you to do it. Also, tell her I don¡¯t want her taking part in the battle, either. She¡¯s the only person teaching me how to be okay. If she dies, I won¡¯t be. Make sure she knows I said that, too. ¡°Okay, Zach. By the way, since I¡¯ve told you where I am, I''d like to know where you are right now. It¡¯s difficult for me to sense when my emotions are such a mess.¡± I¡¯m about to start heading south to Yorna. ¡°Please don¡¯t do this.¡± I have to. ¡°Over some human? Truly?¡± Hey, I¡¯m human! And to be honest, Vim¡¯s only like a third human, anyway. He¡¯s like sixty-six percent gnome. But the point stands. ¡°You¡¯re going to hurt your beautiful Elvish princess if you do this, Zach. And thanks to my husband, I cannot order her to forgive you.¡± I can¡¯t even think about that right now. I won¡¯t be able to live with myself if I don¡¯t get Vim back to his people. Zach projected a laugh, but one that was dark and slightly bitter. Vim¡¯s a pain in the ass, he¡¯s a prick to everybody, and for the life of me, I can¡¯t understand how ordinary, level-1 humans in Giant¡¯s Fall love this guy so damn much. But they do, Eilea. They really do. Mr. Oren is right about what he told me. If Vim dies, it¡¯s going to destabilize the region. Anyone born in Shadowfall Coast and Tomb of Fire is probably going to find an angry mob at their doorstep. Vim is the only one who can put out the fire before it turns into an inferno. Zach felt such a strong sense of concern come over him that it almost impacted his state of mind and made him order his beast to a halt. Eilea was really worried about him. Like, really worried. But there was no possible way he could possibly put her mind at ease, and starting right now, he really needed to focus. So, he sent her his absolute strongest, most determined feeling of hope and reassurance, and he shut himself off from their mental contact. He knew she wouldn¡¯t take it personally. I need to quiet my mind¡­ Zach took small, measured breaths, and he relaxed himself. He entered a somewhat meditative state. And it was in this state that he remained as he rode along the countryside. Time passed, and the scenery remained mostly the same. Then more time passed. Minutes. Hours. Eventually, the sights became a bit more familiar. Large crop patches and other hints of farmland became more pronounced. Before long, he knew exactly where he was from sight alone. In fact, his Kralzek¡¯s Beast was currently speeding up and down the same hills he¡¯d biked on several weeks ago. Here we go. Zach gripped tightly onto his mount as it raced down a fairly steep hill. Then, leaning forward and wrapping his arm around its neck, he ordered it to come to a halt just as it flung itself into¡ªand through¡ªa gigantic, out-of-place boulder. And what followed was a sensation in the pit of his stomach: one of falling straight down. Seconds later, there came a splash, and all of the gunk and nastiness from the swampy, mossy water in the forest was rinsed off of him as he, along with his mount, submerged all the way down into the pool. Even while underwater, he ordered his mount forward. He was glad to see it could swim. It launched itself up and out of the pool, landing on all fours with Zach still atop its back, and then it dashed forward, down a short flight of stairs, and halted once more upon reaching the incredibly narrow passage that Zach would typically need to shimmy through. He could even see the tiny 1xp spider crawling around inside. 20-minute cooldown if I dismiss it, he thought, frowning. Fuck it. Zach threw his hand forward while mentally ordering his beast to blast ahead with all its strength¡ªand it obeyed. Holding on tight, Zach braced himself, and then came the impact. There was a low, but noticeable crunch, followed by a constant, high-pitched scraping. Yet the forward momentum continued, even as, for the moment, all Zach could see was rock and darkness as his beast rammed its way through the passage. It''ll fix itself in the weekly dungeon reset, Zach thought, refusing to feel bad. ¡°Frrruughhh,¡± moaned a level-5 Skelly Grunt to his right. ¡°Frrruughhh,¡± moaned one from ahead. Zach didn¡¯t have time for either of these. So he lifted his right hand and made a flicking gesture, his finger causing the head to pop off the one to his right and then fly across the room with such speed that it practically disintegrated upon colliding with the wall. +25xp He didn¡¯t even bother dealing with the one ahead of him. He just ignored it. Through sheer coincidence, it happened to run in front of his mount, and it was trampled for something like 20,000 damage. He wasn¡¯t even sure, because he was barely looking. +25xp He may or may not have likewise trampled and killed several of those in the next room. Once again, he didn¡¯t bother checking. He didn¡¯t have time to care, and the xp he would¡¯ve gained was negligible. As things stood, he¡¯d left himself really close to his next level from his time spent much earlier today in Trials of Nolak. But the xp he could gain from a place like Yorna was so insignificant it barely mattered.
To Next Level 390,500/400,00
Moving along. Navigating a bit slower as he made his way around a few obstacles, he soon found himself beginning the descent down the hellish stairway that¡¯d almost killed him, Lienne, and Rian during their first outing here. Now, he rocketed his way down, moving so fast that the rapidly expanding stairs and distance between steps took on the illusion of some kind of winding, twisting, geometric shape. In less than a minute, he found himself again plummeting downwards and into the large drop after the last step. His mount landed with a gentle click. Trotting ahead a few feet, Zach pushed open the door in front of him. Then he ordered his mount to charge through it. It was a very tight fit. But thankfully, it managed to squeeze its way through the door¡ªand into Jimmy¡¯s home planet of Earth. Now, Zach was back in the creepiest fucking place he¡¯d ever been in. It was a dark, misty dungeon that had ancient corpses trapped in cells. Typically, this floor required Zach to run away from a horde of Eeps, make his way down a very poorly lit cell block, smash his way through a cafeteria, and eventually end up in a parking garage where his favorite car, a Ford Mustang, awaited him. This time, however, he had no patience for any of that shit, so he ordered his Kralzek¡¯s Beast to immediately spin itself to the right, and then he had it blast forward, jump as high as it could, and crash through the window at the top of the cell ahead of him¡ªeven as about fifty Eeps aggroed him and started charging. A few even began pecking on his neck, but he didn¡¯t feel it. ¡°Fuck off,¡± he said, making a swatting motion and killing like ten of them. Ordering his mount to leap off the ledge of this two-story complex, it landed on a patch of dry, crunchy, and withered grass. Far up above him, a lightning storm raged amid a pure crimson sky, though no rain fell down on him. He decided to take just a few seconds to really stare off at this blood-colored horizon. He needed to really burn it into his head: that if they did not defeat the World Eater in five years, Galterra would look no different. I can¡¯t let that happen! Leaving the Eeps¡ªand the creepy dungeon¡ªbehind, Zach rode his way all the way along the New Jersey Turnpike, moving at a speed that was even faster than the car¡¯s top speed, though not by all that much. Before long, he found himself back at a familiar door beneath an underpass. Like before, he bent forward and opened it. ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t!¡± Angelica shouted at him. ¡°You are not coming in here with that thing, Zach!¡± ¡°It¡¯ll just be for a second.¡± ¡°No! No, no, no! Bad!¡± ¡°Angelica, it has a twenty-minute recast. I literally just need to come in and out.¡± ¡°I said nope!¡± ¡°Fuck it, I¡¯m doing it anyway.¡± Her name turned red. ¡°Okay, on second thought, I¡¯ll just walk.¡± He dismissed the beast even while astride it, causing him to fall down and land onto the pavement. Then he picked himself up, waltzed into Angelica¡¯s, and closed the door behind him. It was crowded in here, and he received a very¡­strange and very noisy reception. ¡°There he is!¡± the adventurers shouted at him. ¡°Zachys ¡®Inn Room 8¡¯ Calador!¡± Uh oh. A whole bunch of adventurers began to yell about something that Zach didn¡¯t have time to deal with right now. So he immediately reopened the door, stepped out, and shut it before a single one of them could get anywhere near him. Whatever they were upset about, he¡¯d deal with it later. It sounded, though, like Jimmy must¡¯ve blabbered to them about his inn room. Most likely, a bunch of those adventurers had just come back from Trials of Nolak. But wait. Where were Jimmy and the others then? Maybe Donovan¡¯s leading a smaller raid into combat and the larger raid was just to the item shop. That made the most sense. Either way, it didn¡¯t matter because it was so fucking cold out here in Archian Prime despite it being a beautiful, sunny morning. He shivered. ¡°Hey!¡± a voice shouted to him. ¡°Stop right there, Zach!¡± Oh, no, what is it this time? he wondered. The last time he¡¯d come here, he¡¯d gotten involved in a vampire war. Now, there was a cute little Elvish girl, maybe ten or eleven years old, and she was sitting behind a booth that, for some inexplicable reason, had been set up right here next to the metal door, which fell over with a plop. This meant him and Rian had been right. Having destroyed the little cottage that used to be here in a battle, it seemed a metal door would now appear and fall over whenever someone showed up. At any rate, Zach folded his arms and shivered as he glanced curiously at this little girl, who was sitting next to what looked like her older sister, who looked to be around Zach¡¯s age. She blushed and waved hi to him. The fact these two were on Archian prime meant that many of the Elves must have returned from the island, because not long ago, they were all there. Clearly, that was no longer the case. But why had they set up a booth here? For what possible purpose were they out here? ¡°Zach,¡± the little girl said, her voice powerful but incredibly cute for such a small thing. ¡°Uh, yeah?¡± She held out her hand. He gave her a high-five. Then she glared at him. ¡°The payment!¡± she growled. ¡°Payment? What payment?¡± Her older sister, still blushing, said, ¡°Are you passing through Archian Prime or here for raiding?¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯m just passing through.¡± ¡°Are you sure? Queen Vayra says to warn adventurers that they should go hunting in our forests just south of here and then, when they¡¯re done, divert to Hamen¡¯s Isle to get home because if they proceed, they¡¯ll end up in a very bad and dangerous place.¡± Zach sighed. ¡°I know. That¡¯s where I¡¯m going, actually. So, yeah, just passing through.¡± ¡°Oh, okay. Well, if you''re sure, then that¡¯ll be 10,000 gold, please.¡± ¡°Wait what?¡± he shouted, spit flying out of his mouth as he shook his head in disbelief. The girl flinched, but her little sister seemed to become annoyed. ¡°Adventurers have to pay! Cough it up, pal.¡± She gestured towards a bucket that made Zach¡¯s eyes water with greed, as it was absolutely filled to the brim with gold. Yorna was a fairly busy dungeon as far as he was aware, and it seemed these two little girls were making a fortune charging adventurers to come through here. ¡°This is a joke,¡± he said to her, kneeling down so he was level with her height. ¡°It¡¯s a joke, right?¡± ¡°Nooope! There¡¯s a tax now.¡± ¡°A tax?¡± ¡°Yeah! But umm¡­don¡¯t feel too bad. It¡¯s a tax that goes to Den of Ziragoth.¡± Zach scoffed at this. ¡°I don¡¯t fucking care where it goes. This is extortion!¡± Angrily, with a scowl on his face that he didn¡¯t bother to hide, he called forward Bank and Storage while draining his precious bank account of another 10k. The worst part was that all the money he even had to his name now was money Jimmy had loaned him. Gods, his finances were going in the complete wrong direction. This was bullshit! How dare Fylwen do this to him? Did her cruelty know no bounds? ¡°Here,¡± he said, forking over exactly 10k gold. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± the little Elvish girl said. Confused and angry, Zach snorted at her. ¡°What, do you want my soul, too?¡± ¡°Most adventurers give more when they come through.¡± ¡°How much more do you want?¡± he asked, moaning. ¡°50k¡± Zach snorted even more loudly. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s never happening. 50k gold to use a fucking pathway? Maybe when it¡¯s lined with gold and adds four inches to my height and dick just by stepping on it. Sorry for my language. I know you¡¯re only like ten. Here¡¯s 5k more. Tell everyone it was 30.¡± ¡°Nope. I¡¯m not lying.¡± ¡°Well I¡¯m not giving more!¡± he shouted. Then, more softly, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s your name, anyway?¡± ¡°Zelina.¡± Zach smiled at her. ¡°You¡¯re really cute, Zelina.¡± He patted the top of her head, and now she blushed as fiercely as her sister had. And with that, he got up, turned around, shivered a bit more from the cold, and stormed his way through the rest of this world-based dungeon floor, earning a paltry +450xp for getting through fast enough. Scrambling through the door to B4, Zach at last felt the first few jitters in his belly as he realized he was getting closer and closer to Shadowfall Coast. Up until now, he¡¯d been able to more-or-less push the worst of his fears out of his mind, as he¡¯d been basking in the overall journey. But this was it, wasn¡¯t it? There would be no going back. He¡¯d actually gotten to the point now where he couldn¡¯t go back even if he wanted to. There was nowhere to go from here except to B7. I¡¯m now at the point of no return, he thought, ignoring the little arrows being fired at him as he took the left path through a cavernous area and walked along a steep ledge, proceeding farther into the dungeon. The arrows tickled him and felt kind of cold. A few skeletons here or there tried to pester him, but he just picked them up by their shoulder bones and threw them off to his right, into a gigantic pit that looked hundreds of feet deep. The others he just ran straight through, their bodies exploding on impact, or he otherwise avoided them. In no time at all, he found himself in B5. He ignored Moldark and whatever quest he was giving, ran down the next set of stairs, and entered B6: the several-mile-long tunnel. The last time Zach was here, he¡¯d been fleeing from Fylwen with Rian, Lienne, Olivir, and Kolona. They¡¯d absolutely wrecked the place. Now, however, it looked back to perfect form. And here come more jitters, he thought, his knees suddenly feeling a bit weaker. I¡¯m scared. And it¡¯s okay for me to admit that. Just like Jascaila said. Somehow, acknowledging the way he felt made it easier for him to cope with it. And with a quickness that actually felt too quick, he zipped through this floor just like he¡¯d done the others before it. He then descended down several flights of stairs until reaching the bottom and coming face-to-face with one final door. And it was here that his nerves really took hold of him. ¡°Gods, I just don¡¯t want to do this,¡± he said. He knew this was going to be bad. How could it not be? This was going to be awful. It was going to be so, so terrible. But there was still at least a chance: a tiny, miniscule chance that maybe he could find some possible way of just slipping in and out unnoticed and rescuing Vim without having to harm a single person. As Zach placed his hands on the push-bar door that led out into the beach on Shadowfall Coast, he felt his mood sink. Slowly, he opened it, seeing pure darkness on the other side of it. He didn¡¯t want to do this. But he knew in his heart that he had no choice. If he allowed Vim to be executed tomorrow morning, he would end up hating himself. He would see society break down in Giant¡¯s Fall and Spider¡¯s Eye Oasis. He would see an untold amount of pain and suffering. He would wonder why he failed to act. But this has to be the last thing, he told himself. I¡¯m an adventurer. This¡­this isn¡¯t who I am! Drawing a deep breath, he pushed the door open the rest of the way, and he stepped out onto the soft sand of the beach, emerging from what he knew would be a portable bathroom behind him. The air was different from the last time he was here. He could smell death on it: an acrid smell that he took for the smoke of so many destroyed buildings. It would probably be a long time before that smell fully cleared. Fortunately, the breeze coming off the ocean helped mitigate it somewhat. Here I am again, he thought. Now, where do I go to look for¡ª Zach gasped, and so too did two young men only slightly older than himself, who stood across from him as though waiting there just in the event someone came through the dungeon portal. Their eyes both widened in alarm, and so did his. They were both armored, carried longswords, and on their breastplates was the insignia of the Guild of Gentlemen. They met his eyes. He met theirs. A brief moment lasting no longer than two or three seconds transpired, during which a surreal quiet settled upon all three of them. Then their mouths began to move, and so did his, yet even still, no words were spoken. Their eyes seemed to glimmer with recognition, and then they widened even more. A mixture of fear, pain, and hate entered into both of their pupils. Before Zach could even understand what was happening, they¡¯d drawn their swords, and so had he. The one to his left struck out recklessly, swinging his blade straight down on top of Zach. The one on his right fumbled, seemingly unable to get his blade out of his scabbard, likely due to nerves. Zach stepped forward and delivered a rising slash that struck the sword wielded by the man to his left, which caused his entire weapon to fly out of his hands. And then, with a sense of urgency, Zach whipped his arms from left to right, causing the man to cry out in pain as Zach¡¯s blade cut right through his armor, causing his guts to spill out of his body, staining the sand red. The other man, who continued to fumble with his weapon, began to back away. Zach, breathing heavily, lurched forward and sliced him as fast as he could across the throat just as he¡¯d opened his mouth to scream. Instead of words, a gurgling sound escaped his lips as he clutched at his wound and fell to his knees. Then both men fell forward and face down onto the sand, and neither of them moved again. Be calm, he told himself. Save Vim. Focus on that. Think of nothing else. Zach, with his hood drawn, marched farther into the night as blood continued to pour out of two fresh corpses. Chapter 147 Raid Leader Pt. I Chapter 147 Raid Leader Pt. I Jimmy held his tongue. As a raid leader himself, he knew not to question or undermine Donovan and Zephyr during a raid in progress. So rather than give voice to his disagreements, he chose to say nothing as the two of them began barking out orders to the other fifty-eight members of the raid while they prepared to engage the level-52 ¡°Death Harbinger¡± elites. Both were concealed in shadow, making it far too difficult to discern the features of either in this nightmarishly dark, wide, and tube-shaped hall. ¡°So, to be clear,¡± Donovan said to him after shoving an adventurer back for getting too close. The GSG leader claimed he wanted to ensure they were well out of aggro range until the mobs were ready to be pulled. ¡°This is as far as you and Zach made it. Right?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°I pulled those two things with my poison, and it barely did a damn thing. Either they¡¯re really resistant to it, or worse, they¡¯re so strong that my intelligence isn¡¯t high enough to burn them. So basically, ah, me and Zach realized right away we didn¡¯t stand a chance against these two, and we roped out.¡± Zephyr flicked his chin several times as though pondering the situation. ¡°And you say they¡¯re elites because of that asterisk at the end of their name, right? Is this from one of your simulations?¡± Jimmy looked over to the mobs. ¡°Kind of. Like, not that exact thing in particular. It¡¯s more like the simulations that have elites usually offer some kinda visual indication, and it¡¯s usually in their name. Sometimes, it¡¯s bolded or a different color. A few ga¡ªa few simulations even just say the word elite right in the name. So I¡¯m like one-hundred percent sure that¡¯s what the asterisk means.¡± Spider stepped forward and gave Jimmy a firm pat on the shoulder. ¡°Did your training data contain any information on how to determine their true level, son?¡± Jimmy thought on the question. He was likely referring to the fact that bosses in this world could have their ¡°true¡± levels ascertained with a formula involving their tier. Jimmy assumed he understood the question correctly, and he shook his head. ¡°Nah, it didn¡¯t. I just know that elite mobs are uh, a ¡®thing,¡¯ and these big boys are definitely elites.¡± ¡°What attacks did you witness from them?¡± Spider asked. ¡°Be very clear about it, too. Don¡¯t spare a single detail.¡± Jimmy, as he¡¯d done earlier in Angelica¡¯s, went exhaustively over everything he could remember from the mobs. Only, this time around, he even tried to explain the attack patterns they¡¯d used against Zach, how they moved, and he elaborated much more on their explosive sword magic attack, which broke Zach¡¯s ribs despite Zach using that fancy shield thing of his. It was this last part that caused a bit of apprehension among the adventurers. ¡°I¡¯ve seen him use that shielding ability before,¡± Alixa said, shuddering. ¡°If it hurt him enough that he had to use a red rejuvenation stone, we need to really watch out for that attack.¡± For the past ten minutes, the entire raid had been held up at this exact spot in the light-resistant darkness as Donovan and Zephyr approached things with a level of care that he wasn¡¯t used to. He understood that this was a life and death situation, but he was used to raiding being more of a fast-paced thing. It seemed that adventurers moved through dungeons with a fair bit of slowness; unless there was an external reason why time was an issue, Jimmy was beginning to get the sense that they treated every unfamiliar encounter with extreme caution. He didn¡¯t particularly disagree with this, though, and in fact, it made sense. What he did disagree with¡ªand did not state¡ªwas the way in which Donovan and Zephyr placed such a heavy emphasis on ¡°pain mitigation.¡± Usually, in a raid, the tanks took the hits, and the healers healed. But the two raid leaders seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about how to prevent people from mentally breaking down as a result of repeated, intense, and agonizing wounds¡ªeven if easily healed. I myself couldn¡¯t handle it, Jimmy thought. But I¡¯m not a tank. I mean, that¡¯s what they¡¯re supposed to do. How do you raid if you can¡¯t let a tank be a tank? As more and more discussion went underway, Jimmy began to increasingly worry that this raid might not happen at all. In particular, it was because, as their conversations progressed, Donovan and Zephyr kept using words like ¡°if we¡± such as: ¡°if we come back¡± or ¡°if we choose to progress today.¡± They¡¯d scheduled this to be a boss raid. Jimmy assumed that meant they¡¯d be raiding a boss today. How could they get all these people together, form a nice, formidable, sixty-person raid group, and all just to be like: see ya tomorrow! To be sure, some raids did take days or weeks, but never had Jimmy been on a raid where they didn¡¯t even attempt anything. I guess it makes sense, he thought, bringing his past experiences to mind. In games, we learn by wiping and coming back. But that¡¯s obviously not an option here. As Jimmy listened to the conversations continuing around him, he remained quiet and respectful. Finally, however, Donovan addressed him and asked him a question he was desperately hoping to hear. ¡°What do you think we should do, Jimmy?¡± he asked. Jimmy raised his voice though only enough so that he could be easily heard without shouting. ¡°If it was up to me,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯d opt for a close-range battle instead of pulling them. Meaning, we go to them. That big sword magic attack they use is ranged. If we get our tanks up in their face, they¡¯re gonna have to stick to melee. What I¡¯d do is have Maric, Spider, Ophelia, and Mister Britethorn tag them and then wriggle around behind them so they show the rest of the raid their back. Then I¡¯d have the raid use single-target magic, arrows, and whatever else we can throw at them without friendly fire. Support can veer off to the side so we have line of sight to heal if we have to. But yeah. The primary goal should be preventing them from hitting us with that magic sword thing because just based on looks alone that¡¯ll kill a third of us if we get hit with it.¡± ¡°Not a bad idea, kiddo,¡± Donovan said with a grunt. ¡°But inefficient.¡± Jimmy frowned. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Your way leaves too many people unable to do anything. The mobs aren¡¯t large enough. Half our melee DPS will be idling. If we split them up, we can make use of everybody.¡± ¡°True,¡± Jimmy said, ¡°but if you split them up, you might give them the distance they need to shoot that shit out of their swords. We¡¯re not gonna be able to take a hit from that. Somebody¡¯s gotta be in their face at all times with aggro.¡± To demonstrate, he pointed his finger at the mobs. ¡°Say we aggro them there.¡± He began pulling his hand back, drawing an invisible line on the floor. ¡°These mobs move really slowly. So as the tank begins pulling back, there¡¯s a huge chance the mob will just stop short, extend its sword, and start charging up the attack. I¡¯m willing to bet the attack can get launched as long as it¡¯s pursuing someone.¡± Donovan nodded. ¡°Yeah, Jimmy, I bet you¡¯re right about that. That¡¯s why¡­¡± He raised his voice, now addressing everyone. ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re gonna do it like this. BG1 and BG2 are gonna go after Death Harbinger A and try to stick to the left as they do it. BGs 3, 4, and 5 will all focus on Death Harbinger B, but only after the tanks in those BGs have been able to pull the mob from there¡±¡ªhe pointed to where Jimmy had just pointed¡ª¡°to down over there,¡± he finished, indicating a position about twenty feet down the tube-shaped hall behind them into total darkness. ¡°BG1 and BG2,¡± he continued, ¡°will pull theirs right here to where I¡¯m standing right now.¡± Jimmy opened his mouth to voice his concerns about the magical sword attack, which he genuinely believed would be fatal to anyone caught in its path. But as if to preempt his concern, Donovan loudly and firmly stated, ¡°Nobody is to use any gods-be-damned stuns unless Zephyr or I call for it. Stuns are only gonna be used if they start going into that charge-up attack Jimmy was talking about.¡± ¡°And don¡¯t forget, boys and girls,¡± Zephyr added with a difficult-to-see grin in this appalling lighting. ¡°When we do call for a stun, remember to rotate between melee-based and magic-based to reduce diminishing returns. For obvious reasons, we don¡¯t want any slows. It¡¯s probably not a coincidence they move slowly to begin with. I¡¯m thinking it¡¯s to give them the opportunity to use that attack of theirs.¡± Jimmy raised his hand like he was in school, then lowered it, feeling stupid. But not before Zephyr saw him, and with a chuckle, asked, ¡°Yeah, Jimmy?¡± ¡°It just seems like a really big risk to pull them instead of charging them. Even if ya¡¯ll wanna split them up, then at least you¡¯d only have one of them walking around and not two.¡± ¡°It is a risk,¡± Zephyr agreed. ¡°But is it a bigger risk?¡± The way he spoke was almost like he was testing Jimmy. Jimmy made a serious expression, hoping Zephyr could see it amid the darkness. ¡°Of course it is.¡± ¡°You sure?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Zephyr shrugged. ¡°Well, someone might argue that, since this exact spot you¡¯re standing in is the farthest you¡¯ve come with Zach, you don¡¯t actually know what happens if you move farther in the direction of those mobs. We know this dungeon has traps¡ªcan we say for sure we won¡¯t step on any ahead of us that are too hard to spot? Do we know we won¡¯t trigger any adds to spawn? I¡¯d say the only thing we really know for sure is that we¡¯re in safe ground up until this very spot here. Everything ahead is uncharted water. Wouldn¡¯t it be better to bring them to where we know we won¡¯t be surprised than to go to them and whatever else might await?¡± Although Zephyr spoke the words in a way that suggested they were open to interpretation and disagreement, his tone was more like that of a college professor who already believed he was right and was trying to educate a student. Jimmy found this insulting. If class was in session, he should be the Goddamn teacher, not these middle-aged worrywarts. Jimmy really wanted to challenge him on each and every point, but he knew that would escalate things from an honest but permissible question into something more oppositional and disrespectful. As he tried to contemplate a way that he could bring this back up without coming across as obstinate, the thoughts fell out of his head as Donovan extended his arm in Jimmy¡¯s direction and praised him. ¡°Thanks to this kid and Zach, we now have a whole new tool in our kit: the escape rope. It¡¯s gonna take some getting used to, but from now on, if me or Zephyr shouts to rope out, I want everyone to grab their ropes and leave in an orderly fashion. First, everyone but the tanks and healers, and then the healers and tanks at the same time. Got it?¡± A cheer along with a chorus of vocal affirmatives led to Donovan nodding to himself as if satisfied with their collective response. ¡°These ropes are gonna make raiding a whole lot safer for us from now on¡ªwell, assuming we can keep getting ¡®em. Point is, if we say to rope out, you bastards better rope out. If anyone doesn¡¯t have one¡ªand I¡¯m pretty sure you all do¡ªtell me now.¡± He paused as if to wait for anyone to chime in. When no one did, he clapped his hands together and said, ¡°Before we get going, any last questions?¡± ¡°Um, just one,¡± Rian said. ¡°What¡¯s BG6 supposed to do in all this?¡± Donvan walked over to Rian and gave him a playful¡ªbut very painful-looking¡ªbump on the chest. ¡°You guys hang tight and be ready to act if we need ya. Once the mobs get below forty-percent HP, you folks can jump in and start wailing on them if you want.¡± If you want, Jimmy thought angrily, repeating the demeaning words in his head. He was once again reminded of the shameful, pitiable battlegroup he was the ¡°captain¡± of. Apparently, when Donovan and Zephyr ran raids together, they often included a battlegroup comprised of ¡°lucky¡± lower-level adventurers who functioned more as ¡°trainees¡± to ¡°learn¡± from the higher-level and more-experienced ones. In the case of BG6, everyone in the battlegroup aside from Jimmy was in either the GSG or the Explorers Brigade, and everyone in the BG ranged from levels 30 to 45 except for a fifteen-year-old girl named ¡°Ishina¡± who was level 29, which Jimmy now knew because the adventurers had turned on name and level visibility in their raid settings after splitting off from the original huge group. Much like most of the other adventurers that¡¯d been asked to either rope out¡ªas most had done¡ªor wait in Mushkie¡¯s until or unless given the all-clear, no one in BG6, including even Jimmy, was technically ¡°qualified¡± for the raid. Everyone in this BG, called ¡°auxiliary support,¡± was being coddled and protected. And no one seemed to mind, either. Rian, Lienne, Ishina, Tena, and the other five teen- and young-adult-aged members seemed overjoyed to be part of this. It didn¡¯t seem to bother them that they were basically unimportant to the raid itself. Well, it sure bothers me, he thought. The fact that Jimmy was stuck in this group like he was some goddamn noob made him feel so disrespected and insulted. He¡¯d soloed raid bosses. He¡¯d burst down the walls to this place¡ªmetaphorically speaking¡ªafter nobody had the balls to come here in centuries! And what? Now he was going to be forced to tiptoe around in the kiddie group? Why even let BG6 roll equally for loot, then? They certainly weren¡¯t going to do equal work. It was just all so damn demeaning, you know? Yes, Jimmy was well aware that real life was different from a video game. He wasn¡¯t stupid. He got it. All right? He did. But the fact of the matter was that he was a natural at this, he knew things that nobody here could even begin to guess, and he should be playing a more important role than being Captain Baby in the ¡°I need to be babysat¡± group. Stop thinking like that, he told himself. If you act like a baby, you deserve to be treated like one. Though only nineteen, Jimmy was still an adult, and he knew it would be unbecoming of him to whine and bitch like a child. Thus, despite his dissatisfaction, he once again shelved his discontent and tried to go along with the flow. In a way, he sort of envied how free someone like Zach felt to just blow up at anyone or anything whenever something even slightly upset him. It must¡¯ve felt good to stomp his foot down and tell everyone to fuck off and eat shit whenever things didn¡¯t go his way. But that just wasn¡¯t Jimmy¡¯s nature, and it wasn¡¯t how his momma brought him up. Jimmy wanted to honor her by living up to being the man she raised him to be. And so, as he led his nine raid members through the darkness so that their back was against the right side of the wall and away from the soon-to-begin action, he did so unhappily, but willingly. He felt humiliated, disregarded, and totally undervalued, but he would cooperate. Still, I kinda wish I was here on my own with Zach like before, he thought, doing his best to conceal his bitterness and resentment. At least I¡¯m useful to him. Jimmy crossed his arms over his chest and rested his back against the wall as he watched all the tanks on the raid¡ªexcept Rian and another kid his age in BG6¡ªdraw their swords, axes, short spears, or hammers while raising their shields of varying sizes. Two among them¡ªMaric Ultdern and Frederic Britethorn¡ªspread out to opposite sides of the hall and stood just a bit in front of the others. ¡°Division 1: I¡¯m pulling,¡± Maric announced. ¡°Okay, it¡¯s taunted.¡± ¡°Division 2: I¡¯m pulling,¡± Mister Britethorn¡¯s elderly, yet commanding and powerful voice followed soon after. ¡°I taunted it!¡± What followed was a split second of silence, and then two dark laughs. ¡°Zur-hur-hur-hur-hur-hur!¡± ¡°Zur-hur-hur-hur-hur-hur!¡± Ambling forward, and emerging from shadow and darkness, were the two large elite mobs that him and Zach had ¡°roped¡± away from earlier in the day. Just as they¡¯d been then, each stood larger than seven feet in height and sported such outrageously muscular forms that they made Spider look like a twig. Their eyes glowed a constant yellow, and a menacing sneer was planted on their lips. Most of their bright red skin was visible except for the few locations in which they donned armor, such as on their shoulders, shins, and feet, or where they were covered with a modest pair of black shorts. As they approached, they unsheathed tremendous, two-handed swords that had bronze-like grips and blades that looked made of a fine, reflective glass.
HP 2,110,000/2,110,000
Name Death Harbinger A***
Level 52
HP 2,110,000/2,110,000
Name Death Harbinger B***
Level 52
Maric and Mister Britethorn began moving slowly forward towards the mobs with their knees bent and their bodies slumped slightly forward, their shields held out defensively in front of them. They stopped after reaching the point that Jimmy and Zach had failed to move beyond. The mobs, for their part, began moving towards the two of them as if eager to meet, though they became even more spread out as the two taunting tanks began to position them for distance. They also moved considerably slowly. Jimmy could not think of any mobs he¡¯d encountered so far that moved this slow without first being debuffed. And there one of them goes, he thought, rolling his eyes. Knew that would happen. Although Death Harbinger A continued to make his way closer to Maric, Death Harbinger B came to an abrupt halt. It then extended its sword in front of itself, and the tip of the blade began to glow brightly¡ªand in a way that the general darkness of this floor did not seem to resist; a great deal of light was cast all around, and to Jimmy¡¯s embarrassment, the sudden increase in visibility enabled him to see that, indeed, in several locations that spanned the distance between Maric, Mister Britethorn, and the two mobs, there were a couple of square-shaped, raised elevations that were consistent with what Jimmy expected traps to look like. I didn¡¯t think there¡¯d actually be floor traps here, he thought, surprised but not totally shocked. Given the incredibly low level of light here, but even more specifically, the fact that one¡¯s own sources of light could not extend beyond a certain point, it seemed downright unfair for there to be traps on a dungeon floor like this. It wasn¡¯t a reasonable thing to do. It didn¡¯t give the player¡ªor user, whatever¡ªa fair chance of surviving it. If not for this sword attack, Jimmy probably wouldn¡¯t have seen it. He flicked his eyes nervously over to Zephyr, worried the leader of the Explorers Brigade was going to gloat or do an ¡°I told you so.¡± Thankfully, he seemed too busy concentrating on the elites to bother. Not that Jimmy could see anything more from him than his vague outline. He also probably wouldn¡¯t have done so anyway, but there was no real way of knowing for sure. ¡°Stun Death Harbinger B!¡± Donovan¡¯s voice roared out. As the sword began to glow with an increasing intensity, a flash of something white appeared from one of the raid members in Division 2. And although the flash was bright enough to be visible, it appeared to cast no light around itself, which meant Jimmy could not see anything beyond the silhouette of whoever had created it. This was interesting, because from the perspective of the person who¡¯d created it, the flash would almost certainly have lit up their immediate area. But to anyone more than a few feet away, it would utterly fail to lift the veil of darkness. This floor really did play with light in unusual ways. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. The flash, which Jimmy soon realized was some kind of projectile, burned across the distance between its caster and Death Harbinger B, and all without ever spreading a single ray of light or creating any shadows. A moment later, it collided with the mob, and the glowing from the tip of the blade vanished even as the mob kept its arms extended as though frozen in place; with the intensely bright, strobing light having been extinguished, once more, much of the hall became buried in darkness. About five seconds came and went, and then the mob, Death Harbinger B, lowered its arms and continued to march slowly onwards, having clearly given up its desire to launch its incredibly powerful ranged attack. Unfortunately, it had a change of heart yet again; not five steps later, it once more halted, lifted its arms, extended its blade, and began to charge up another one. ¡°Stun it again,¡± Donovan said with a growl. ¡°Melee this time.¡± Even as he spoke those words, Death Harbinger A had also halted and was now charging up the same attack at Division 1 across the hall. Rather than call for a stun on this one as well, Jimmy spotted the outline of Donovan¡¯s massive form¡ªeasily identifiable by silhouette alone¡ªspeeding across the dungeon floor, where he then bent his knees, leapt into the air high enough that he almost crashed into the ceiling, and then began to release reddish sparks from his axe. Descending down on top of the mob, he crashed his axe through the creature¡¯s skull, causing a spray of blood to shoot out of the top of its dual-horned forehead while dealing 21,511 damage. Now, red tendrils of electricity began dancing off its skin as it remained perfectly still. Maric laughed and said, ¡°I¡¯m gonna have to taunt it twice as much now to pull it off you, Don.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, shit.¡± During all this, Frederick Britethorn had pivoted his hips, swung around his right elbow, and slammed his shield into the face of Death Harbinger B, stunning it for several seconds as well while dealing 4,211 damage. After a short moment, both mobs lowered their swords and again began to press the adventurers, and all while Jimmy was forced to watch and do nothing. This really did suck. He hated being a spectator. He wondered if he¡¯d even bother to roll later on if they made it to the boss or if any other loot dropped. At this point, he was not only uncomfortable with the idea of rolling for items, but if things continued this way, it would end up feeling more like charity than something he¡¯d earned. This is pathetic. With the stuns serving as interrupts, the two mobs continued to go where the tanks were attempting to lead them. Every so often, the Death Harbinger mobs decided to try charging up another of their super powerful sword-beam attacks, and they¡¯d be stunned yet again. And even as the diminishing returns on the various stuns became more noticeable, they still served to halt the mobs from launching the ranged magical attacks, which in turn reset them back into their ¡°pursuing¡± state. As Jimmy watched them advance, it only just occurred to him right now that there was, in fact, a potentially huge flaw in Donovan and Zephyr¡¯s plan¡ªwell, sort of. Their ideas were clearly working out so far, and because of this, Jimmy would be petty to bring it up after the fact, but he actually did see a real problem with their thinking, and he wished he¡¯d realized it sooner, as it would¡¯ve made him come across better. He hadn¡¯t had any kind of answer to Zephyr at the time, but if his damn brain had only thought this up earlier, he would have. Put simply, while it turned out that, yes, stuns interrupted and reset the mobs, they actually couldn¡¯t have known that would be the case ahead of time. Sure, most mobs likely would abandon a charged-up attack by being stunned, as that was true in Galterra as well as most games. But! In nearly all the games that Jimmy had played, online and off, there were in fact mobs that could and would resume their attack the moment crowd control expired. Hell, there were even some that had ¡°uninterruptable attacks¡± that couldn¡¯t even be delayed with CC, let alone reset. Either Don and Zephyr didn¡¯t know this or had never even considered it. But I didn¡¯t consider it until now either, Jimmy thought, filling with regret. But¡­whatever. Things are going well enough for now, I guess. The two mobs were pulled away from one another, and eventually, they were in position, far enough away so that most of the raid could get to work. With that, a steady, constant, and stable rhythm began to unfold, whereby the DPS and off-tanks would rush in, take a few high-intensity shots for a few consecutive seconds, and then all would duck out so that the archers and mages could have a go: rinse and repeat. Jimmy watched as fire, ice, water, lava, rocks, purple missiles, and even bees were fired out of more than a dozen staves, rods, spell daggers, spell swords, and books while about eight more bows unleashed arrows at the mobs. Then the archers and mages rested while the melee DPS rushed in. The healers and support continued to debuff or heal at irregular intervals whenever it seemed necessary. By far, Kalana, Donovan, and Zephyr hit the hardest of everyone on the raid. Every attack from Kalana¡ªall of which landed on Death Harbinger B¡¯s back¡ªseemed to hit for around 8000-10,500 damage, but she was able to perform numerous such slices with her daggers during the few seconds the DPS would engage before switching. Donovan, on the other hand, only got in one or two mighty swings with his axe on Death Harbinger A, but they landed really hard, dealing upwards of 15,000 each time. And then there was Zephyr, whose sword strikes landed with a stunning level of variability, ranging from just 500 damage with some hits to slashes as high as 37,000. Jimmy was pretty sure it all had something to do with the man¡¯s sword. It was, put simply, one of the coolest weapons he¡¯d ever seen, including in any of the games he¡¯d played back home. Zephyr¡¯s weapon, a two-handed blade that was slightly smaller than a claymore but larger and thicker than a longsword, took on a white-and-silver appearance while sheathed by the man¡¯s side. Once drawn, however, it was constantly lighting up different colors¡ªbut with a distinct pattern that incorporated a degree of randomness. Jimmy thought he had it mostly figured out just from watching him fight for a short while. Whenever he entered combat, the base of the sword and the grip would glow intensely with a color such as red, blue, green, yellow, orange, or silver¡ªand in some cases black or pure white. There may have been others, as well. But those were the ones Jimmy saw most often. And each time Zephyr struck with this sword of his, the blade would further change properties. And this happened consistently and in sequences of four. Each and every time, the first strike would cause the blade of his weapon to dimly glow with the exact same color as that which was currently lighting up the weapon¡¯s base. The second strike would then cause the blade to shine even more intensely to where the entire sword became evenly basked in the glow of whatever color happened to be in effect. After the third strike, the blade would light up even more brightly so that it would actually outshine the grip. It would also cause the weapon to begin giving off certain visual effects: when red, it was little balls of fire, when green, little puddle-like botches of goop, when yellow, electrical sparks, etc. Finally, on the fourth strike, there would be a reasonably loud noise that was different for each color, such as a zap for yellow or a whoosh for red¡ªand then the blade would return to its default white state and the base would begin glowing a different, seemingly random color. Most times, anyway. It seemed possible that it would also sometimes glow the same color twice in a row. I think I remember someone saying that¡¯s an Artifact-rarity weapon, Jimmy thought. Supposedly, Zephyr was the only adventurer in the entire world known to possess a weapon with a rarity of Artifact, which was above even Legendary. Artifact-quality items were the rarest of the rare, and based on the gossip that went around Angelica¡¯s, only a few were known to exist in any category, with Zephyr¡¯s being the only weapon anyone knew for sure existed outside of the level-105 staff that dropped from the dragon and was now in the hands of the Guild of Gentlemen. Fluffles, apparently, was another adventurer with such an incredibly rare item, which the cat made sure everybody knew and bragged about often. His collar, which was Artifact rarity, supposedly allowed him to turn invisible whenever he hadn¡¯t been in combat for thirty seconds or longer, and there was no recast timer on it or limit to how long he could stay invisible. Lucky cat¡­ Right now, Fluffles was sitting back with the other mages in Division 1 and calling down single-target lightning, which while only able to dish out around 800 damage per bolt, was coming in so fast he might have actually been out DPS''ing all the other mages. In some cases, he was striking ten, maybe even eleven times each second. Due to the fact that Fluffles had been staying at Elendroth during most of the time that Jimmy had been on Galterra, Jimmy had not known Fluffles existed until very recently despite him being one of the most infamous adventures. After Fluffles had saved his life in Shores of Wrath, Tena had told Jimmy all about the cat, and a lot of it was surprising. Apparently, despite having the worst behavior and raid etiquette of pretty much everyone, the level-51 cat was one of the most heavily requested and desired adventurers for raid groups. This, according to Tena, was because he had the perfect hybrid set of abilities that allowed him to play ranged DPS, melee DPS, off-tank, and surprisingly even healer in some rare circumstances. From Jimmy¡¯s own experiences, the vast majority of healing magic regardless of tier was suited towards healing lacerations, cuts, slices, scrapes, etc. The higher the tier, the more serious the type of wound it was effective against. However, far rarer was magic that could heal concussions, fractured or broken bones, muscle tears, or severe bruises. Fluffles, however, apparently had a unique weekly ability that cast an AOE healing mist of T2.5 potency capable of healing minor-to-moderate brain trauma, minor-to-moderate broken bones, major bruising, and lastly¡ªthough Jimmy found this one befuddling¡ªit provided 24-48 hours of relief for moderate symptoms of depression, ADHD, and other moderate, non-cognitively impairing mental disorders. As Jimmy watched Fluffles zap so fast and with such frequency that the mob actually de-aggroed the tank, he saw firsthand just how much the cat could contribute to a raid. Incredibly, the moment the mob disengaged from Mister Britethorn and started shuffling over to Fluffles, the cat transformed itself into a giant panther and then launched itself at the sword-wielding creature. With an agility that made sense of a cat, Fluffles began to evade sword strike after sword strike while hissing and clawing the creature¡¯s face apart for two-to-three-thousand damage a swipe. This, as Maric, his ¡°daddy,¡± began to show signs of strain across the hall where he was being worn down. ¡°These things hit so damn hard!¡± he groaned, his entire body shaking each time he absorbed the power of a two-handed slash on his shield. ¡°I can¡¯t keep this up!¡± ¡°Alixa!¡± Donovan barked. ¡°Yeah?¡¯ ¡°Spam Amnesia on Harbinger A!¡± ¡°Got it!¡± Alixa bent her knees, twisted her body somewhat, and her book snapped shut all on its own. Then she turned it so it was held sideways while throwing out her left forearm almost as though protecting it from something. Honestly, the closest thing Jimmy could think to describe her strange posture was that she looked exactly like a basketball player trying to pass the ball while surrounded by players from the opposing team. She even then made ¡°passing¡± gestures, only without actually throwing the book. And each time she made one of these gestures, a pin-wheel shaped mass of energy that was very light blue in color would be ¡°flung¡± out of the book like water from a pail. This energy would then spin wildly fast until flying across the hall to Death Harbinger A, where it would make a gentle humming sound after disappearing around its general head area. After four or five of these pinwheel-shaped oddities, the mob suddenly disengaged from Maric and made as if to turn around. ¡°Ophelia!¡± Donovan called. ¡°Now!¡± Before the seven-foot-tall mob could spin around and find someone else to attack, its attention was diverted by a beautiful woman with flowing locks of light-blonde hair wearing eyeshadow, red lipstick, and gazing out at it from blue, cloudy eyes. In her left hand was a curved scimitar, and in her right was an unexpectedly small buckler shield with a circumference not all that much larger than a frying pan. With a pained-sounding grunt, she swung her scimitar and parried a vicious slash that started high and came down low, and then she adjusted her stance to swipe away a similar strike that came from the opposite end, this time using her shield like a catcher¡¯s mitt and blasting it away with a ding. ¡°Bring it on!¡± she taunted. Jimmy recognized this woman. She was Ophelia Graven, the leader of Boss Rush. Although Jimmy had never spoken to her in person, one of the first things he¡¯d done after discovering Angelica¡¯s early on in his first week here was familiarize himself with the important players in the adventuring community, gathering as much intel as he could from the drunken patrons in Angelica¡¯s. What he¡¯d learned was that she was one of the leaders of what could be called the four primary adventuring guilds in Galterra. To be clear, Jimmy could not say this with any measure of certainty, but if he was forced to take a guess, he¡¯d feel comfortable betting that 90-95% of adventurers belonged to one of the four ¡°big¡± adventuring guilds, which were: The Explorers Brigade, The God Slayers Guild, Boss Rush, and Lost and Found. Of these four, the biggest, by far, was Zephyr Vextran¡¯s Explorers Brigade. Once again, Jimmy couldn¡¯t actually state this as fact, but he was pretty sure more than half of all adventurers were a member of just that one guild alone. Boss Rush and Lost and Found were probably tied for the second- and third-biggest guild, and then in fourth place was the elite, boss-killing guild, the GSG. After that, there were a few-dozen tiny guilds that contained maybe two, but usually one member. The one and sole exception¡ªif you could really call it that¡ªwas a guild called ¡°I did your mom¡± which, depending on the day of the week, contained either one member or three quarters of the entire adventuring community. Given how easily people could leave and rejoin guilds provided they were invited, it seemed that many, many adventurers liked to occasionally leave their guild and join ¡°I did your mom¡± for a few minutes to a few hours. Based on a story he¡¯d eavesdropped on last week, a month before Jimmy had shown up in Galterra, almost the entire adventuring community had briefly quit their respective guilds to join ¡°I did your mom,¡± and the reason they¡¯d done this was specifically to upset Lord Alex Oren, who¡¯d claimed it was immature, offensive, and childish. The moment he¡¯d made that remark, it supposedly caused ¡°I did your mom¡± to, for at least an hour, become the single-largest adventuring guild in anyone¡¯s memory, including the Britethorns, who¡¯d also shockingly joined. And why was he thinking about all of this bullshit now during a raid? Why was he letting his mind wander and reflect on all these irrelevant details? Because thanks to Donovan and Zephyr, he had literally nothing better to do. Their plan, which Jimmy still disagreed with, did at least seem to be working. The two elites were being whittled down at a slow, but reasonable pace. And while they appeared to hit crazily hard in melee¡ªas Zach himself would likely attest if he were here¡ªthe real threat was their ranged attack, which seemed to no longer be an issue now that they were both in position. Jimmy watched as A¡¯s HP fell to around 55% and B¡¯s approached the 40% mark. Halfheartedly, he said, ¡°Guys, you can go attack B now if you want.¡± He finished his words with a bored sigh. ¡°YEAH!¡± Rian roared, pumping his chest like a drum with his left hand while wildly swinging his shield as he chaotically flung himself into battle. A similar, but not quite as enthusiastic battle cry was released by Tena, Lienne, and the others as they bolted into the fray and weakly started putting out damage in the low 2-300 range. Yet despite delivering such paltry and borderline insignificant numbers, BG6 went at it like they were fighting that dragon everyone was always talking about. Jimmy, for his part, delivered a few projectiles from his staff that hit for like 800 whenever the melee DPS backed off B and it became the turn for ranged DPS to attack. Sure enough, the two elites were crushed due to superior firepower, and aside from some sore bodies, it looked like their first big fight was a success. B died shortly before A, which made sense since 3 BGs¡ªfour if you counted BG6¡ªwere on it, but both were dead soon enough.
HP 0/2,110,000
Name Death Harbinger B***
Level 52
Interestingly, upon dying, their corpses remained where they were: fully intact, bleeding, and unmoving. Neither dropped any loot, either. And though the raid was set up with xp-share to be raid-wide instead of BG wide, since there were sixty of them, that only ended up being a total of +2750xp for Jimmy. Since he was level 45 and they were 52, it was probably less than half of what he¡¯d have gotten if he himself was 52 or higher. But it still wouldn¡¯t have been enough to be worth much. But anyways, yeah. Having done almost nothing to contribute, he forced himself to join in celebration with the others over the fact that the two elites were dead. Afterwards, Jimmy sighed again, pushed himself off the wall, and quietly made his way over to Donovan and Zephyr, who were both giving him a very strange, concerning, and unsettling look that he didn¡¯t particularly care for. What¡¯s their issue? Donovan opened his mouth as if to say something, but then he shut it as something changed: something in their environment. About ten seconds after both elites were felled, the entire world lit up with a natural, comfortable light, which illuminated the entirety of the tube-shaped passage with something comparable to an adequately lit room. In terms of visibility, it went from so dark one could not see the finer details on the face of a person right beside them to being on par with any normal indoor area. Now, Jimmy could see far ahead of him into the distance. ¡°There are some traps on the floor,¡± he warned, pointing. ¡°Yep, we see them,¡± Zephyr said. ¡°And it looks like¡ª¡± He gasped as he lifted his head and actually surveilled what was ahead of him. Now that the world was fully illuminated, it revealed itself to be far, far larger than anything he could¡¯ve expected while submerged in the darkness. To say he was shocked at what had been lurking in the shadows was not going far enough. God, this place was mind-blowingly huge! No way! Just beyond the traps, the tube-shaped hall expanded to become even wider, and then it really opened up such that there appeared to be a vast, tremendous series of red-carpeted steps¡ªtens of thousands of them¡ªthat were equally distant apart and about as wide as half of a sports stadium. Jimmy craned his neck all the way upwards to look at the top of where it led, which in his best estimation, had to be at least fifty stories¡¯ worth of height, and they all converged around a massive door. Or maybe it was more accurate to call it a gate. It was a gigantic, birch-colored entrance the size of an IMAX screen, only made of wood. Written across the door were words in black ink and bold font that would almost certainly be too large to read once they approached too close. But from here, Jimmy could read them just fine. F29->F30 Boss Ahead. 35+ Party Advised. (Recommended min: level 50. Level 58+ Recommended). Donovan grunted. ¡°That¡¯s a high requirement, but not a terrible party-size number. We should definitely be able to handle that.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± Zephyr said. He sheathed his sword, which caused the grip to cease glowing. ¡°What say we go take a look? Watch your step for traps, though. I think there are some just between here and where those mobs spawned, but in this lighting, they should be easy to avoid now.¡± Luckily, there turned out not to be any more traps aside from the few that Jimmy had spotted. Unluckily, Jimmy, like Rian, quickly found himself panting and out of breath as the sixty of them began climbing up something so magnificently huge, curved, and stadium-shaped that Jimmy wasn¡¯t even sure what to call something so bizarre and out of place. It certainly wasn¡¯t correct to call it a stairway. It was like having seats at the very top row of a concert and having to walk up from the bottom floor, only it was way taller than that, and his ankles and knees began to hurt before they¡¯d even made it a quarter way. ¡°Holy fuck,¡± Rian said, gasping. ¡°Li, this is gonna kill me.¡± ¡°Suck it up,¡± she said, also breathing heavily. "Don''t you want to look good for Seiley?" Rian patted his stomach through his leather brigandine armor. "Yeah. Good point." Jimmy, just as exhausted as everyone else, could not allow himself to show it because he was the raid captain of BG6¡ªas insignificant as they were¡ªand that would reflect badly on him. Even still, he was not having a good time. If only he could poison something and use his stamina buff, this would¡¯ve been a cinch. He could ignore the muscle aches. It was the cardio that was killing him. Zach did say I need to build up stamina, he thought. But damn. Fluffles seemed to be having no issue climbing, but that was because the cat wasn¡¯t climbing. He hitched a ride on whoever was nearby. Right now, he was perched on Spider¡¯s right shoulder, and Spider was tickling his chin as he easily made his way up red step after red step, his boots making a soft thud. The same soft thudding was echoed over and over from fifty-nine other people including Jimmy himself. When put all together, it became loud enough that it actually drowned out some of the ambient sounds of breathing and grunts of exertion coming off numerous adventurers, particularly those in BG6. Yet through it all, Donovan and Zephyr would not stop staring at Jimmy. As he continued onwards along this ludicrous, stadium-like hike to the next floor, he couldn¡¯t help but see the way both men continuously looked at him, frowned, and then began to animatedly discuss things with one another. At one point, Jimmy caught wind of just a bit of what they were saying, but he couldn¡¯t really make out much. In fact, amid all the thudding of so many people stomping down on the red, carpeted steps, Jimmy wasn¡¯t even sure he was hearing them correctly. He thought he heard one particular bit of it, though. ¡°¡­you really sure that¡¯s what he needs?¡± Jimmy was pretty sure Zephyr said to Donovan. ¡°Yeah, Zeph. I know his type.¡± ¡°Kid¡¯s doing everything we say, and he¡¯s not complaining. Why¡¯s that not good enough?¡± ¡°It just isn¡¯t,¡± Donovan growled. Then he said a bunch more words that Jimmy couldn¡¯t hear. In fact, for the next few minutes, everything Donovan said was unintelligible. But eventually, when the two began to argue a bit more loudly, he picked up on another snippet of their conversation. ¡°I can tell from his eyes. The fucker¡¯s not getting it. And if I was him, I wouldn¡¯t get it either. Zeph, I wouldn¡¯t do this if I didn¡¯t think it was worth it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s cruel.¡± ¡°Naw it ain¡¯t. What my dad did to me? Now that was fuckin¡¯ cruel.¡± ¡°I know. I was there. Gods, I¡¯ll never forget that awful day. You sure you won¡¯t be accidentally recreating it here and now?¡± Donovan made a brief, confident-sounding chuckle. ¡°Definitely not or I wouldn¡¯t do it.¡± Zephyr seemed to sigh. ¡°If you really say so. I think it¡¯s a bad idea.¡± ¡°Has to be done,¡± Donovan insisted. ¡°It just has to be.¡± Jimmy, after an exhaustive climb, finally reached the top, and then he did his absolute best to avoid gasping loudly for air in front of everyone, and instead, he tried to take calm, measured breaths. It took him a good bit to get his breathing under control. He took a seat on what looked like an area rug¡ªwell, for an area the size of a football field. Many of the other adventurers, a number of them covered in sweat, joined him. Then Donovan and Zephyr began whistling and clapping to get everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°I got an important announcement to make,¡± Donovan said, causing every head to turn his way. ¡°Everybody listen up, ¡®cause this is important! Very, very important!¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Kalana asked, likely offput by the seriousness in his tone. Jimmy was as well. Rather than reply, Donovan pursed his lips and seemed to take a moment to look at each one of the other adventurers, Zephyr included. Well, all except Jimmy, who he seemed to skip for some reason. Then he placed his hands on his hips, lowered his head as if to stare at the ground, and he held that position for about ten seconds before lifting his gaze once more. ¡°Major shakeup in the command structure,¡± he said. Now, finally, he met Jimmy¡¯s eyes. ¡°I¡¯m stepping down as raid leader for this next boss. Your new raid leader will be him¡±¡ªhe pointed¡ª¡°Jimmy Green!¡± Jimmy opened his mouth to gasp but ended up coughing and spluttering, hit by a whirlwind of confusion and awe. ¡°R-really?¡± he asked¡ªand so did many others. ¡°Yup.¡± Jimmy shook his head as if to clear it of any fog that might¡¯ve settled into it due to the exhausting trip up here. It also didn¡¯t help that, now that they were all the way up here, the ceiling had been replaced by a round, massive glass dome, which served as like a window into the outside world: a world that was covered in mist and mountains made of pure ice that looked lifeless and dead. It was also a world that appeared to be upside down, causing his stomach to make a flipping sensation as his body did not seem to understand what strange trick of gravity was being played here. ¡°Are you serious?¡± Jimmy asked, taking his attention off the sights above¡ªbelow?¡ªhim. "Or are you just messing with me?" ¡°Nope.¡± With nearly all the adventurers now seated and taking a few minutes to rest, Jimmy could actually hear them shift as they turned on their asses to look at him. And of all things, as he came to grips with what he¡¯d just been told, his immediate reaction was to smile. Even amid all his confusion and struggle to understand why Donovan would do this, it was giddiness he felt above all. ¡°Well, all right then,¡± he said, nodding and grinning. Confidently, he stood up and dusted off his knees and thighs. ¡°About time these two came to their senses. Don¡¯t gotta ask me twice. Everybody, rest up for twenty, and then get ready to raid properly. We¡¯re gonna murder this thing so bad it¡¯ll refuse to respawn!¡± The adventurers cheered and Jimmy¡¯s smile broadened. Now this was more like it. Chapter 148: This is War. This Happens in War Chapter 148: This is War. This Happens in War For a time long enough to make him look weak, King Alistair Morrison of the Dark-Water Depths remained motionless as all the various reports hit his desk in central Shadowfall Coast at the same time. He was flabbergasted. He was in a state of denial, which he was cognizant of yet powerless to break himself free from even as Major General Kenth Baxtra and his other ranking commanders continued to shout and pester and demand things of him while he sat with his head resting in his hands in the situation room. Over and over, he tried to make sense of what he was hearing, which caused him to question how it could be possible. Yet it was happening. But it couldn¡¯t. But it was. ¡°Tell me again,¡± he said, lifting his head and looking into the eyes of his leading military advisor. ¡°Like I said,¡± Major Baxtra repeated. ¡°If I combine what¡¯s left of the 6th and merge them with the 131st brigade, we can move our available¡ª¡± ¡°No, no, from the beginning.¡± ¡°S-sir?¡± he asked. A moment later, he croaked and corrected himself. ¡°I mean, Your Grace?¡± Alistair waved dismissively at him. Now wasn¡¯t the time for formality. More importantly was the fact that he was coming across as very weak in a moment of true peril and he needed to pull himself together now. ¡°I¡¯m just juggling a lot of thoughts at once. Tell me again. One more time.¡± With a note of uncertainty in his voice, Major Baxtra nodded and said, ¡°We¡¯ve detected unusual flight activity from the Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah¡ªof the sort that would only be possible if the Lords of Justice commandeered every single airliner and routed them all to southeast Varda¡¯s Lair, which indicates People of Virtue''s complicity in what is almost certainly a rapid and drastic troop deployment. An attack is likely imminent after sunrise tomorrow.¡± Even though he knew Major Baxtra was correct in all that he said, Alistair continued to shake his head in disbelief. ¡°But why?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Your Grace.¡± This just didn¡¯t make sense. Earlier yesterday afternoon, when Sir Oren, the newly anointed third-in-command of the Lords of Justice, had announced his guild¡¯s desire to continue the war effort in lieu of surrendering, it had been the opinion of all his military advisors¡ªas well as his own opinion¡ªthat this was mere bluster designed to put their guild in what they perceived as a better negotiating position; never, did he imagine that this was an actual, credible threat. ¡°Don¡¯t they know¡­don¡¯t they know I¡¯ll kill every single one of them?¡± Sir Morrison asked. ¡°Their motivations are as much a mystery to me as they are to you, Your Grace.¡± Sir Morrison rubbed his chin as he again looked over the various reports projected onto a digital screen built into the desk itself. A moment later, he fixed each of his top military advisers with a hard, angry glare. ¡°Can they know?¡± he asked at a whisper. Having coming this far, the words he had to say next were so dangerous that even alone with his most trusted people he dared not speak them¡ªyet he did. ¡°Can they know that we have bluffed?¡± ¡°That is impossible,¡± Colonel Dakrit stated. He spoke in a way that was both certain and even reassuring, yet, it failed to reassure King Morrison because clearly something here was amiss. No matter how confident Colonel Dakrit was in the security of their research lab and the weapons facilities, it simply would not put Sir Morrison at ease, because it kept leading to the central question behind all of this: why. If the enemy believed the Guild of Gentlemen had an arsenal of nuclear missiles at their disposal, for what possible reason would they risk such reckless, hostile action? As though in response to the dubious way in which Alistair was staring at him, Colonel Dakrit sat up straighter and said, ¡°Your Grace, it is truly impossible for anyone to have leaked to the enemy. There is simply no way. Not a single researcher has been permitted to leave or make contact with the outside world, and as far as the men we¡¯ve got working on the weapons facilities are aware, they''re building additional facilities, and others have already existed elsewhere. In other words, they don¡¯t know that they are currently working on the first true batch of new weapons.¡± Alistair continued to make slight shaking motions of his head. He heard what the colonel was saying, but still: it didn¡¯t add up. It just didn¡¯t. ¡°Place a call to High-Lord Besh,¡± he ordered. ¡°Tell him that if he even thinks of stepping foot in Shadowfall Coast, I will launch a missile at Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah directly.¡± For some reason, this seemed to cause Major Baxtra to squirm uneasily in his chair. ¡°What is it?¡± Alistair asked him. ¡°What?¡± he demanded angrily. ¡°Your Grace, I¡¯ve already done that.¡± ¡°You what?¡± he snapped. ¡°And they¡¯re still attacking? ¡°I¡­I¡¯m afraid so.¡± Alistair swore, then picked a paperweight off his desk and threw it at the wall. ¡°How long until our next weapon is ready?¡± ¡°We can complete an untested protype by the middle of the day, but I must stress, Your Grace, it is untested.¡± ¡°They¡¯ll be here by then,¡± he growled. ¡°Can we not have a weapon ready to fire sooner?¡± ¡°I''m sorry to say it can''t be done. The process necessary to enrich the uranium is time-consuming, though we¡¯re working on ways of speeding that up in the future.¡± ¡°Little good that does us now!¡± he shouted, half getting up from the table. Then he took a deep breath, forced himself to remain calm, and he retook his seat. More sedately, he said, ¡°We¡¯re going to defend our city. The Lords of Justice are strong, but we have dragon¡¯s loot. We will triumph.¡± This now caused Major Baxtra to look even more unsettled¡ªto the point he actually appeared sickly and frail, characteristics that Alistair would not typically associate with him. ¡°Your Grace¡­¡± ¡°Now what is it?¡± he replied, doing his best to suppress the rising anxiety within himself. ¡°There are reports of unusual movements among the Elves as well. Though it might be hard to believe¡ªand we should not assume this to be the case¡ªwe must begin to consider the possibility that Queen Vayra will be joining the Lords of Justice in their attack. The same is true of the Royal Roses, who are showing some signs of atypical troop movement in Giant¡¯s Fall.¡± Alistair had come too far. He was not going to let anyone set humanity back. Not when they¡¯d worked so hard to regain the weapons necessary to ensure the survival of humans and their offspring. Not when he was finally in a position to reunite and civilize South Bastia and restore the glorious empire that Peter I had built. ¡°If the Elves attack, we will call our dragon,¡± he said, massaging the Artifact-quality ring he now wore on his finger, which constantly released a shine so bright that, at night, he needed to wrap a cloth around it so that he could sleep. He never took it off: he would never risk having it leave his finger. As the rarest piece of loot from the raid, it was his final defense in the event that all else failed. The ring, with a thirty-day cooldown, gave Alistair an ability that allowed him to summon a level-190 sky drake, something that not even the wretched Elves would be able to overcome so easily, especially if caught off guard. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The ring¡¯s power was so immense that Alistair¡¯s speed, dex, and strength had almost doubled simply by equipping it, as the ring provided +90 to all three stats as well as +45 int, the last of which he did not really have use of. Bar none, he was now the strongest member of his guild thanks to this ring. In combination with his other dragon equipment, his stats now exceeded 250 in all areas except luck. If I have to get in the fight myself, I will, he thought. We¡¯re not going back to a position of weakness! ****** Captain Greshek Mink, the 37th in command of the Guild of Gentleman, frowned as he tried yet again to raise coastal patrol group 7 over the Comm. ¡°Coastal Patrol Group 7,¡± he said, becoming more alarmed by the moment. ¡°Report!¡± Nothing. Silence. He looked around the confines of the dark, filthy dungeon entrance, which was secured behind a metal vault made of ancient, high-level materials. This dungeon had been built thousands of years ago, which was why it was in such a state of disrepair; put simply, nobody knew how to repair it. Thankfully, the spoken code that opened the vault still functioned, but aside from that, so much of the place was run down, cockroach infested, molded, and foul smelling. ¡°I¡¯m reporting this up the chain,¡± he said to his partner, a young woman who was practicing swinging her sword at the empty air. ¡°Go ahead,¡± she said. ¡°But you¡¯re worrying over nothing.¡± ¡°Am I?¡± She nodded. ¡°They¡¯re probably just fucking around.¡± He grunted. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± She laughed. ¡°What, you think adventurers are gonna come through that portal and attack us? Those boys are there as a precaution. Just to have our bases covered. They probably got bored and wandered off.¡± ¡°They¡¯re not boys,¡± he scolded. ¡°They¡¯re disciplined young men, and they understand the importance of securing our city.¡± Despite many of his peers viewing it as unnecessary, Greshek had stationed two young warriors, levels 25 and 26 respectively, to guard the area right around where the adventurers had all coalesced a few weeks ago, which confirmed to the political guilds that dungeons actually did exist. Of course, since then, so much more had been confirmed¡ªthings that were hard to believe, such as rumors that the former king, Peter Brayspark, had used such dungeons himself. This, of course, was just speculation, and it was likely rude of him to keep dwelling on it. It was disrespectful to the dead. Can¡¯t help but wonder if things might¡¯ve been better if he was still alive, Greshek thought. Clearly, Peter was going to lead them all to a defeat at the hands of the Royal Roses and People of Virtue, but something just felt off now that they¡¯d dropped that bomb on Ogre¡¯s Axe. Greshek couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that they¡¯d committed an unforgivable act that the Gods would not turn a blind eye to. Was it really okay to do that? At any rate, out of an abundance of caution, he made the facial gestures required to change the output frequency of the micro-Comm in his ear. ¡°Sir Malakor,¡± he said, hoping to raise the man, who was currently much deeper inside the human-built dungeon¡ªor maybe he should start calling it a prison to avoid confusing himself and others. ¡°Do you read me? This is Captain Greshek Mink with the front guard. Sir Malakor? Do you¡­¡± ******* ¡°¡­read me?¡± Gaelan sighed. Turning away from Vim, who in his last moments, was finally beginning to make decent conversation, he leaned his head to the side and responded. ¡°I read you, Captain Mink. What is it?¡± ¡°Two of my men haven¡¯t reported in, sir.¡± ¡°Which men?¡± ¡°Coastal Patrol Group 7.¡± ¡°Patrol group 7¡­wait, are those the boys you have standing around the civilian area of the beach?¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± He chuckled. ¡°They¡¯re probably just messing around. Discipline them later for leaving their post. But don¡¯t be overly harsh. They¡¯re young. They will learn. But don¡¯t be too easy either. They¡¯ve got a silly job, but during times like these, it¡¯s important our young understand the importance of responsibility.¡± ¡°Sir, it¡¯s just that¡­I know these kids. They¡¯re very dedicated. They wouldn¡¯t just¡ª¡± ¡°What,¡± Gaelan interrupted. ¡°Do you think some adventurer decided to come through and smack them around? The adventurers don¡¯t want anything to do with war. Relax, boy.¡± ¡°I apologize, Sir Malakor. May I at least send another group to check in on them?¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s an unnecessary distraction. Right now, I¡¯m hearing some really scary-sounding reports that we might have a fresh round of fighting on our hands¡ªbut you didn¡¯t hear that from me. For now, concentrate on ensuring the execution tomorrow goes smoothly in the morning. Remain at your post and focus on your duties.¡± ¡°Understood, sir. Over and out.¡± Gaelan turned to Vim. He was starting to worry the little Gnome might not make it to his execution. He was very weak. And though he¡¯d finally become more talkative, he was also a bit delirious and his health was in real peril. Gaelan could not allow him to die here in this dungeon. That was not justice. He would die in accordance with the law, which meant that, tomorrow morning, he would be given the choice between a hanging and a beheading, and his sentence would be carried out quickly and humanely. ¡°So, you were saying?¡± Vim coughed. ¡°Right,¡± he said weakly, gazing off at the wall as if looking at something that wasn¡¯t there. ¡°So, Peter, before all this, he was one of my best friends. Before he went mad. And he had this¡ª¡± ¡°He never went mad,¡± Gaelan interrupted. ¡°That¡¯s a lie told by guild media.¡± Vim coughed again, but this time, there was a sound of mirth in it: of laughter. ¡°I can¡¯t tell if you¡¯re lying or you believe what you¡¯re saying, but that man lost it. Anyways, stop interrupting me you fuck!¡± Vim closed his eyes and stopped speaking. For a moment, Gaelan feared he might not again reopen them. But slowly, he did, and he peered out at Gaelan from his bruised lids. ¡°So, Peter had this big dog. I used to call it a giant rat. Thing would slobber all over you. When I used to come by for supper, he¡¯d always order it to jump on me and start licking my face. He thought it was so funny. So, one day, the dog knocks over a 10k bottle of wine, and it spilled all over Peter III¡¯s attire. Gods, the old king was angry. He forced Peter to spend ten hours cleaning graffiti off the buildings in Tomb of Fire.¡± Gaelan smiled. He liked hearing these positive old stories about King Peter IV. So much of his legacy had been tainted by smears and lies from the other guilds. Though Gaelan had never met the man, his father knew him well, and his father told him that Peter IV was an honorable, kind, and at many times soft-hearted man who believed strongly in justice and decency. And he trusted the word of his father over the lies uttered by the enemies of humanity. That was why he was willing to believe some of what Vim said, but he was not willing to believe¡ª ¡°Sir Malakor! Sir Malakor! Sir Malakor! Do you read me?¡± ¡°What is it now?¡± he growled into the Comm. ¡°You¡¯re starting to remind me of my daughter, Jeanna. What is it, boy?¡± ¡°Coastal Patrol Group 8 is not reporting in!¡± ¡°Seriously? This again?¡± ¡°No, s-sir, you don¡¯t understand. They started to transmit something that sounded like a warning. I couldn¡¯t catch what they said, but their voices were cut off mid-transmission.¡± ¡°Boys being boys,¡± he said. ¡°No one is going to attack from the direction of the beach. Least of all adventurers. You¡¯re being¡ª¡± ¡°Gods, I can¡¯t raise Coastal Patrol Group 9, either! I¡¯m going to alert 10! Something¡¯s happening.¡± ¡°Captain Mink. Enough!¡± Gaelan shouted. ¡°You¡¯re letting hysteria drive your actions. Another word about this, and I will relieve you of your position. Do you understand me?¡± ¡°Y-yes, sir. Sorry.¡± ¡°Good. Now focus on your own duties and stop micro-managing coastal patrol. Enough!¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Gaelan needed a vacation after all this was done. The real threats that they were already facing were bad enough without having to calm young guild members every time some random thing spooked their imaginations. Gaelan understood. He was their age once. Even still, there was too much awfulness going on right now to put up with the young and their silliness. It would be impossible to maintain order if an alarm went off every time a Comm frequency became interrupted due to magnetic interference or connection was lost. Too much was happening to be rattled over nonsense. Captain Mink needed to calm the hell down before he worked himself up into a frenzy and ended up harming his career and shaming his family. He was a good kid, and Gaelan didn¡¯t want that for him. ***** The last sound the young woman made was a groan as Zach¡¯s Sword of Light Amidst Darkness cut deeply into her cranium and took off the top third portion of her scalp. Her brains spilling onto the sand, the rest of her body followed suit as she fell over and plopped down silently. Zach tried his best to avert his gaze and not look at the blood hemorrhaging out of her open head wound. ¡°Say one word into that Comm and you¡¯re next,¡± he threatened the lightly armored man she¡¯d been guarding the beach with. Surprisingly, he hadn¡¯t even put up a fight. The guy simply dropped his sword and then held up his hands in surrender. ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me,¡± he begged. ¡°Please.¡± Zach narrowed his eyes. ¡°Take the fucking Comm out of your ear. Now!¡± His hand shaking, tears running down his face, he removed the small device and extended his hand. Zach snatched it from him and crushed it. Then the guy fell to his knees and cried, holding his hands out defensively as Zach knelt down and pressed the edge of his blade against the man¡¯s throat. Like the others Zach had killed, he was only a few years older than Zach himself. This is war. This happens in war. This is war. This happens in war. ¡°Where is Vim Alazar being held?¡± Sniffling, sobbing, and begging, he turned his head around. ¡°Th-th-th-three m-m-m-miles w-w-w-west, Sir Ca-Calador. In th-the d-dungeon. P-please. I don¡¯t wanna die. Please. I¡¯m so sc-scared. Please!¡± He¡¯ll call for help if I let him go. Zach slit his throat, and then he proceeded onwards. Chapter 149: Technical Incompatibility Chapter 149: Technical Incompatibility With tremendous feelings of confidence and optimism coursing throughout his body and mind, Jimmy extended both his arms and placed his palms flat on the smooth and mysteriously cool birchwood that made up the gargantuan entryway to F30. ¡°You really think this¡¯ll work?¡± he asked Tena. ¡°I bet it will. Just try!¡± Jimmy laughed and gave it a heavy shove. Despite its massive size, the huge, theater-screen-sized gate surprisingly began to move; a loud, ominous creak filled the world as it slowly continued to slide, first becoming ajar and then revealing something of a golden light that seeped into this wide, flat, carpeted area that they¡¯d all summited like a mountain. Clearly, the gate was designed to be pushed open just like a great many of the other doors to be found in dungeons. Without using much strength at all, the door continued to swing the rest of the way open until, finally, he and his raid members could make their way inside. But first, his eyes were met with a stunning sight that greeted him from beyond this giant door: one that caused the other adventurers to release audible murmurs that suggested they too were impressed with what they saw. Inside was a beautiful, massive, and royal hallway wide enough so that twenty people could stand shoulder to shoulder and still not cover half the width of it. Amazed, Jimmy saw that the hall was resplendent with dazzling, golden chandeliers that cast a nurturing glow about the place, as well as to-scale, ceramic statues depicting various types of horses. There were numerous wool carpets with intricate, geometric patterns woven into the fabric, and they were laid on top of shiny, polished-looking hardwood flooring. There was even a piano not far from the entrance in the back-left corner that was partially covered by an elegant, silk-like cloth draped over the top. In front of it was a leather-studded bench with a stack of what looked like musical compositions laid down on it. But the most noticeable thing of all was the sound of music: specifically, a fancy melody that sounded composed by a small, violin-centric orchestra. Where it originated from, Jimmy could not tell, as the notes seemed to be produced by the very air itself. ¡°Well, what do we have here?¡± Reni Sarwin asked. Mister and Misses Britethorn stepped inside and then both visibly inhaled deep breaths of air through their noses. ¡°The smell here is wonderful.¡± It did smell very pleasant. The air was cool, fresh, and invigorating, and it contained a hint of perfume. But there was more, too: there was the smell of freshly-cooked meat among other types of food. And indeed, on the right side of the hall, about fifty feet in, there were tables upon tables stacked to the brim with numerous tin-covered trays. From the smell alone, Jimmy was willing to bet that entire chickens, ham, pork, and other meats could be found beneath the lids of those trays. He also thought he caught a whiff of chocolate cake or brownies¡ªor something of the sort. ¡°Now this ain¡¯t something I¡¯ve seen before,¡± Donovan said with a grunt. Zephyr, who stood by his side, nodded. ¡°Not your typical boss floor.¡± One by one, the members of the raid poured into F30, and all fanned out around Jimmy, who stood frontmost to them all. With so many eyes now focused upon him, he quickly searched the fancy area ahead of him for any signs of traps. Content there were none, he took a step forward. Then a second. Then a third. And then a fourth. But on the fifth, something happened the moment he lifted his foot. Something he didn¡¯t expect. The music stopped abruptly, cutting off mid-note, and a twisted, evil laughter replaced it. It was loud, shrill, and seemed to come from everywhere at once: in front of them, behind them, above and even below them. It boomed with such intensity that, the moment of its appearance, several adventurers flinched, others drew their weapons, and a few even made ducking motions as though reflexively trying to avoid an attack. Thankfully, the laughter cut off after a few seconds, and now, a voice replaced it. ¡°Welcome, adventurers!¡± it said. The voice was very deep, highly masculine, and it sounded like a demon out of hell. ¡°I am glad that you all have arrived. Please! Make yourselves at home, hah-heh-heh! Let me assure you all that you will find no traps or trickery here in my royal palace. For I, the Imp Lord Tzumazleth, have awaited such worthy challengers as yourselves. At the end of this hall, you shall find me waiting. But I do not bid that you rush! Feel free to rest. Eat. You may even sleep if you so wish. I seek a challenge and want to face you at your best. But I do warn you, adventurers: do not approach my chambers until you are prepared¡ªto die! Hah-heh-heh-hah! Ahhh-ha-ha-ha-haaaa!¡± Jimmy scratched his head. Then he turned around to face the others. ¡°So, I think ya¡¯ll will agree with me that we can¡¯t trust a goddamn word that dude just said, right?¡± ¡°Hell no!¡± Rian shouted in agreement. ¡°I¡¯m just going to assume the food is poison.¡± He grinned mischievously. ¡°I might still try it anyway though just to be sure.¡± Lienne punched his arm. ¡°Not funny! I so don¡¯t trust you not to give into the temptation, Ri.¡± To Jimmy, she said, ¡°And yeah, I¡¯m not big on trusting spooky imp creatures either.¡± Donovan barked out a laugh. ¡°I agree with the kids. We should stay away from the food and the¡ª¡±
Dear Adventurers: welcome to F30 in Trials of Nolak! Although other forms of teleportation are functional, due to an unforeseen technical incompatibility that arose long after this dungeon¡¯s creation, we were unable to build a direct doorway-link to Angelica¡¯s anywhere in Trials of Nolak. To compensate, please enjoy a forever-fresh meal before each boss fight beginning on F30 as well as always clean inn rooms down the hall and to your right past the cafeteria. A FREE teleportation to the grand library in Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah can be activated by speaking to the inn-master and saying ¡°teleport,¡± however this function, along with the existence of all food, beverage, and lodgings, will only remain in existence while the boss is spawned. Otherwise, it will return following the weekly dungeon reset. Thank you for understanding. (Message will auto close in 30¡­29¡­28¡­)
It was almost comical how silent the entire raid became as each and every adventurer¡ªincluding Fluffles¡ªhalted whatever they were doing to read the floating message that¡¯d popped up in the air. Once Jimmy himself had finished reading it, he coughed into his hand then said, ¡°Okay, I guess we can trust the food after all.¡± ¡°Hurray!¡± Fluffles shouted out. And without another word, he took off like a bullet down the hall, even as Maric called at him to wait up. A moment later, there was a blinding flash, and a bolt of lightning struck down from the ceiling, knocking the tin lid off one of the trays. Then Jimmy saw him scampering away along the floor with his mouth wrapped around the leg of an entire cooked chicken. ¡°Fluffles get back here!¡± Kalana shouted at him. Fluffles moved even faster, retreating into a room on the right. The last sight Jimmy had of him was his little body scurrying into the room with a whole damn chicken dragging along the carpet behind him. With a laugh, he said, ¡°I could eat. Anyone else?¡± The question wasn¡¯t even necessary. By the time five minutes had come and gone, all sixty raid members were sitting at long, white tables that reminded him of those found in a high-school cafeteria, with plates that were stocked high with food. All around them on little shelves built into the walls were plastic cups, straws, and machines that dispensed soda, juice, water, ice, and other various drinks such as teas and coffees. There were also little plastic bins that could be pushed aside to reveal cakes, sweets, and candy. Food wasn¡¯t half bad, either. Still, it was no Angelica¡¯s. Can¡¯t complain when it¡¯s free, though, Jimmy thought with a grin. At the back of the room, with his hands at his side, was a level-250 NPC named ¡°Inn-Master George.¡± Though Jimmy was hardly an expert in the matters of sentience, he felt pretty comfortable stating the NPC was emphatically not ¡°alive¡± in the way that Grundor, Angelica, and that dinosaur, Ruby, happened to be. This one simply stared out at the world with vacant eyes and a permanent, almost plastic smile plastered onto its face, saying nothing and doing nothing¡ªnever moving from that one spot with its back against the rear of the cafeteria¡¯s wall. ¡°Everybody, eat up and rest for a bit,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°Relax, chat, drink, and digest. Because then we¡¯re moving out and taking down that imp son of a bitch. You got it?¡± The entire cafeteria filled with roars and cheers from the other adventurers, many of whom were holding chicken or turkey legs in their greasy hands as they raised their fists up in excitement. This was going well. He had no idea why Donovan had finally allowed him to take charge. He didn¡¯t understand what had finally caused the man to see the value in him. But Jimmy was glad that he had, because there was no better choice to lead this raid than he, one of just two people in hundreds of years who¡¯d actually been willing to brave it in the first place. ¡°Jimmy, I can¡¯t believe they made you raid leader,¡± Tena said to him. ¡°I¡¯m so happy for you.¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°I¡¯m happy for me too,¡± he admitted. Seated next to him, she grabbed his hand and squeezed. ¡°I¡¯m so excited for you. You¡¯re gonna do so great. I¡¯ve seen what you¡¯re capable of. You¡¯re going to blow everyone¡¯s minds.¡± He kissed her on the cheek. ¡°Of course I will.¡± ¡°Why won¡¯t you eat, though? You¡¯ve barely touched your food. Is it because of the time?¡± ¡°The¡­time?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°It¡¯s like 1AM back on Galterra right now.¡± ¡°Oh, right,¡± he said, releasing a quiet chuckle. ¡°Nah, it¡¯s not that at all. I¡¯m just excited.¡± ¡°Well, try to eat.¡± ¡°I will.¡± At the moment, Jimmy wasn¡¯t that hungry, yet he forced himself to eat anyway, because he knew he needed to keep his strength up and fuel his brain. And it really, truly wasn¡¯t the time of the day that hindered his appetite, because both here in this new world and back at home, he was no stranger to getting the munchies at 1AM while raiding a dungeon. It was actually why he¡¯d fallen out of the gym and had gotten a bit flabby in the first place in the days leading up to his ¡°death¡± on Earth. No, in this case, what held back his appetite was pure, sheer excitement. One that he was sure could be felt by all those around him. It was obvious just by looking. I¡¯m finally gonna show them what I know! Jimmy had a really good feeling about this. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits and willing to cooperate with him and each other. Even Fluffles was behaving to the best of his ability, as despite threatening to ¡°kill¡± his ¡°daddy,¡± he ended up relinquishing half of his chicken after running away with it while Maric chased him around the room. ¡°I get the other half later,¡± Fluffles said. ¡°Daddy gives me the other half later.¡± ¡°All right, but only if you promise not to eat anything else until our next meal.¡± ¡°I promise.¡± The cat jumped up onto one of the tables, then hopped from one to the next until sitting down in front of Jimmy, staring into his eyes. ¡°Why Jimmy have weird powers?¡± he asked, the question coming seemingly out of nowhere. ¡°Jimmy move things and read minds?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Jimmy asked. ¡°Is that supposed to be some kinda riddle? ¡°Jimmy not the same as everyone.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Jimmy asked, confused. ¡°I appraise.¡± ¡°What do you even mean when you say ¡®appraised?¡¯ You said that to me once before, and back then, I also didn¡¯t¡ªhey, wait! Why¡¯re you running off while I¡¯m¡­ah, whatever.¡± Fluffles didn¡¯t seem to want to elaborate. He ran off to go play with Kalana. Jimmy shrugged and forgot all about it. He was finally leading a raid! The thing he¡¯d been sent here to do. It was one of the reasons he was so confident. It was why he knew he would succeed. That woman, Eilea¡ªshe hadn¡¯t chosen to drag him thousands of years into the future unless he really was born to do this: unless he really was the person meant to be leading these raids. Thus, putting Fluffles out of mind, Jimmy decided that, for the time being, he would continue to think up possible raid strategies to keep himself sharp up until the moment it all began. He was ready to kick some ass. ****** Having nearly made his way off the beach and into the city, Zach stopped in his tracks as a large patrol consisting of four leveled guild-members and eight, armed, level-1 infantry chose that exact moment to turn the corner off a neighboring block and begin making their way onto the boardwalk; the bunch of them were passing by right near a ramp that led directly down onto the sand where Zach was standing. Though it was now after midnight, the city had put up work lights and spotlights everywhere, and there was no singular place this close to the city that was dark enough to be completely obscured. Thinking fast, Zach dashed backwards, the sand muting any sound of his movement, and then he hid behind a pay-to-use shower: the very same one that he¡¯d washed himself inside the last time he was here; it¡¯d been just before he¡¯d taken Kalana to Angelica¡¯s for the first time. Holding his breath, he listened as the sound of their footsteps tapped softly against the wooden boardwalk. Peeking out his head just slightly, he saw that all eight of the rifle-wielding troops had lights shining from out of the barrels of their guns, and two of the guild-members¡ªlow rank from their plain coats¡ªwere using flashlights. Were they looking for him? Had they already been alerted? ¡°Why are we out here?¡± one of them asked, grunting and spitting a wad of saliva off the boardwalk and onto the sand. It ended up landing not far from Zach¡¯s right foot. ¡°We should be bolstering the city¡¯s defenses with the others.¡± ¡°Shut your damn mouth, Kolen,¡± a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties said. She too appeared to be a leveled member of the guild. ¡°It¡¯s your fault. You and your Gods-be-damned mouth got us into trouble in the first place. That¡¯s why. Now you¡¯ve got all of us stranded here with you policing drunks out past curfew.¡± For a few seconds, there was quiet, and then the woman made a guttural-sounding growl. ¡°Gods! Why couldn¡¯t you just stay quiet? Why did you have to comment on Major Baxtra¡¯s receding hairline?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d find out!¡± ¡°Yeah, well, he did.¡± Still holding his breath, Zach released it very slowly before carefully drawing another. As he observed the twelve members of this patrol group, he noticed one of them beginning to turn their head in his direction. Quickly, Zach slinked once more behind the showering and restroom area, pressing his back flat against the door of the one behind him. Just move on, Gods damn you. Just move on! If necessary, Zach could use the ability on his cloak, Shadow Merge, to make himself invisible for thirty seconds. The only problem was the ability came saddled with a half-hour cooldown, and if Zach ended up needing it later on, it wouldn¡¯t be available to him. Realizing this, he decided to play it cool for now and see if he could keep out of sight. Hopefully, they would linger here for only a short while longer and then go about their business. ¡°I gotta take a shit,¡± the guy who¡¯d been called Kolen said. ¡°You are a shit.¡± If not for the need to be silent, Zach would¡¯ve hissed out a choice swear word or two. Why couldn¡¯t these idiots just move along? And why did he have to learn the guy¡¯s name? He didn¡¯t want to know the man¡¯s name. That was going to make this so much harder now. He began to feel his anxiety rising, but he tamped down on it. Though faint, he could hear the man¡¯s footsteps as they stepped down the rickety ramp and then became much, much quieter once reaching sand. ¡°No, I¡¯m the shit,¡± the idiot said with a chuckle, his voice drawing nearer and nearer. He was so close now. How close? Zach wasn¡¯t sure. Inches? Feet? Even closer than that? He didn¡¯t know. But he soon found out. Oh, he sure did. For some reason, the man¡¯s footsteps actually quieted the nearer he got. It¡¯d been incredibly difficult to hear him in the first place. The only reason Zach had been able to do so at all was because there was crunchy war debris all over the beach that made a very slight sound whenever walked over, and this stuff was basically everywhere¡ªwell, not everywhere, apparently. As it turned out, there was none in the spot just to Zach¡¯s left and to the side of the four showering units and two bathroom stalls, behind which he was hiding. This meant that, unable to hear his approach, Zach was caught off guard as the guy abruptly stepped around the bend, came into view, and recoiled immediately upon seeing Zach. ¡°Whoah, buddy,¡± he said, surprise on his face. ¡°Scared the hell out of me. I didn¡¯t even know there was someone using the¡­¡± His eyes lowered down to Zach¡¯s blood-stained hands, and then they bulged. He inhaled. He opened his mouth. He was going to scream for help! ¡°He¡ªuhhghhh!¡± In one swift motion, Zach drew his sword then sent it jutting forward; it disappeared an instant later, traveling into the guy¡¯s mouth until exiting the back of his head with a terrible-sounding tearing and a horrific, but thankfully brief gagging sound unlike anything Zach had heard before. An instant later, Zach yanked his arm back and pulled his blade right back out the way it¡¯d gone in. The full length of it was once again stained in blood, which he shook off. This was bad. Very bad. Because now he would have to kill every single one of them. ¡°Kolen?¡± the woman¡¯s voice called, sounding amused. ¡°The hell was that noise?¡± She muttered something Zach couldn¡¯t decipher. And now, she, too, began to make her way over, as evident by the similar crunching sound as she stepped on debris. This time, Zach was not about to let himself be surprised a second time. ¡°Kolen, what the fuck was that sound?¡± she asked, her voice now sounding closer. She rounded the bend. ¡°Kolen, you¡¯re¡ª¡± Fear and recognition lit up in her eyes, but both came too late. With his right hand, Zach smacked his palm onto her lips, shushing her, and then he squeezed, spinning her around and crashing her with a far-too loud thud into the door behind her. He ended up using way more force than he¡¯d intended, as not only did he fail to be quiet, he ended up putting her through the door, sending wood chips and beams scattering with a gigantic crack before slamming her down onto her back on the damp portable-shower flooring. Then, with his sword gripped in his left hand, he thrust it straight down, running her through the heart, killing her. ¡°What the fuck?¡± shouted voices: many of them. All were approaching. Gods dammit! Rather than wait for them to come to him, Zach backed out of the portable shower, then darted forward while leaping high into the air. In an instant, he cleared twenty feet, sailed up and over the ramp, and then he landed near the middle of the pack of the eight level-1 troops. Turning his sword so that it faced downwards, he fell practically on the back of one of the men, driving his sword straight through the soldier¡¯s spine while simultaneously causing him to be slammed down onto the boardwalk. Getting up as fast as he could, Zach pulled his sword out of the man¡¯s corpse, then spun around and decapitated the soldier behind him¡ªand all in what felt like one fluid motion. Without pause, Zach continued his assault. He slashed a level-1 troop three times, carving him apart and sending three sprays of blood in opposite directions. Then he swung his blade twice more and killed another two men. In total, he¡¯d killed five of the eight troops before the other three could even mentally process his presence. And then he took them down too before they could react to it. Now, there was just a young man and a young woman who both flinched and grabbed at one another the moment they saw him. They were so afraid they didn¡¯t even reach for their weapons. Zach would¡¯ve liked to believe it was due to the effect of his cloak, which gave him a truly evil, menacing look, but he knew they¡¯d have reacted this way even without it. The one on the left, a young woman, opened her mouth to scream into her Comm. Zach quickly whipped his blade upwards and to the right, slicing off her entire jaw, tongue included. The little piece of tongue that did remain then flapped around in the bloodied, destroyed hole that now made up her face. It was too cruel. Zach couldn¡¯t stand the sight of it. As an act of mercy, he removed the rest of her head to put her out of her misery. The one who remained, however, finally seemed to find his nerve. Rage in his eyes, he reached for two daggers at each of his sides, and he did manage to scream¡ªthough not into a Comm. ¡°You murdered my sister you fucking piece of shit! I¡¯ll kill you! I¡¯ll fucking kill you! You gods-be-damned son of a whore!¡± He lunged at Zach, who side-stepped while delivering a downwards strike, which cleanly knocked both daggers out of the man¡¯s hands in one fast attack. Then he struck again, this time in the opposite direction, which sliced off both his attacker¡¯s arms, causing him to scream even more loudly. He wailed in pain. Zach leaned forward while thrusting out his blade, running him through his belly before ripping his sword free. Now, raising his arms high, he made one final cut, which took off the unfortunate soul¡¯s head; it landed right next to his sister¡¯s. Like before, he proceeded onwards. This was war. This happened in war. Chapter 150: Raid Leader Pt. II Chapter 150: Raid Leader Pt. II The stakes were high, and the time had come. He, Jimmy Green, a guy born thousands of years ago on another planet, was about to have his make-it-or-break-it moment. He knew this. He understood it. And yet, he was prepared to face this trial without fear or reluctance, because this was something he was born to do. And right now, in front of fifty-nine other people, he¡¯d been given an opportunity to prove it: to prove to Donovan, Zephyr, and all of them that he belonged on this raid¡ªthat he deserved to be here leading it. This is my shot, he thought, flooding with determination. This is it! Jimmy raised his hand, gesturing for all those following behind him to stop. Abruptly, the sound of dozens of marching feet came to a halt. His posture firm, he stared ahead of him, and there it was, looming large in the distance. With eager eyes, he spotted the boss: and God, it was a pretty damn big one, too. ¡°Yeesh,¡± Kalana said, cupping her hands over her forehead and gazing at the raid boss from where she stood a bit off to his right. To his left, Tena nervously pinched his bicep as though grabbing at him reflexively. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s a big boss.¡± Having led the raid down the fancy hall while the sound of orchestral music played on the air, they¡¯d quickly reached their destination; the walls, which had been parallel to one another, had begun to curve inwardly until eventually forming something of a door-less archway, which let out into a fishbowl-shaped room that had little in the way of furnishings aside from a ring of tall, metal, and spike-shaped objects that wrapped around the entire room and had a constant deep blue flame shooting out the top of them. The ground beneath their feet also shifted from the polished hardwood flooring and wool carpets to something decidedly closer in nature to concrete. But most strikingly, the tall ceiling above their heads was once more constructed of the same type of glass that Jimmy had seen at the end of F29, which meant that, glancing upwards, he could see ranges of mountains created out of pure ice in what looked like a cold, dead world. Are we the ones upside-down or is it the mountains that are? Jimmy wondered. If someone threw me two-hundred feet up and sent me smashing through that glass, would I fall right back down into this room, or would I ¡®fall¡¯ upwards into those glaciers? Jimmy didn¡¯t dwell long on the question, because naturally, the only thing that really mattered in here was not the bizarre nature of their position in relation to whatever planet they were on¡ªor in the atmosphere of¡ªbut rather the formidable-looking creature that awaited them on the opposite end of what was clearly going to be the boss-encounter room. Sucking on his tooth, which had a piece of meat stuck beside it, Jimmy studied the sight of this creature. Bar none, it was definitely the largest of any mobs or bosses that Jimmy had ever seen since coming to Galterra. It was clearly big enough to be called a giant. And though Jimmy had fought one or two creatures of such size before, this one clearly had them all beat out. My passive isn¡¯t called Scourge of Giants for no reason, he thought with a grin. Despite how intimidating his foe, he was not cowed. He was not afraid. He was ready. He was determined. This was why he was even here, right? Eilea didn¡¯t fling his ass across time, space, and planetary bodies just because he was some regular kid from Brooklyn who spent too much of his free time on his PC. Hell nah. She¡¯d told him so herself on the night they¡¯d met: that he¡¯d been exactly who she¡¯d been looking for. And if her words were the truth, then Jimmy was someone she¡¯d felt was worthy enough that she¡¯d literally saved his life just to ensure that he lived to stand right here in this dungeon floor today as the leader of this raid. Could the same be said of anyone else? Nope. Still, though, while Jimmy was unafraid, he couldn¡¯t deny that the boss was a nasty, deadly-looking son of a bitch. Its skin was bright red just like the Death Harbingers, and it also wore a permanent sneer almost as though it was unable to make any other facial expression. Its body, too, was every bit as muscular in relation to its size, and it even donned similar-looking metallic armor on its shoulders, shins, and feet. But unlike the Death Harbingers, this mob had two massive, demonic wings, which protruded from its back and ran approximately from the top of its shoulders down to its waist¡ªas opposed to extending out widely like a dragon¡¯s. Jimmy did not know if those would play a role in how the mob would fight. What would certainly play a role would be the two dual-edged swords sheathed on its back, which in terms of length, were each about as long as a jousting lance. This is one big dude. Not only did the boss tower over the raid, but making it even more intimidating was the fact that, right now, it wasn¡¯t even standing upright. It was currently in some form of meditative pose, with its legs folded and its right and left arm extended to opposite sides of its body, its palms facing upwards while its thumb, index, and middle finger were pressed together. Its eyes were closed despite the maniacal sneer on its face, and it remained perfectly still. The creature was so tall that, if it did stand up, Jimmy estimated that even the tallest adventurer present would only be level with its ankles. If five or six people stood on top of one another to form a human ladder, the one highest up probably wouldn¡¯t even reach this monstrous thing¡¯s hips! I don¡¯t care how big that thing is, he thought, nodding to himself and getting himself pumped up. We got this. We got this!
HP 5,600,000/5,600,000
Name (T5) Imp Lord Tzumazleth
Level 55
¡°All things considered,¡± he heard Zephyr whisper from where he stood a bit behind Jimmy, ¡°this doesn¡¯t look too bad: especially since we¡¯re a sixty-person raid. If we¡¯d come with the minimum-recommended size of 35, I¡¯d probably call this off, or at least I¡¯d be close to sixty-forty about calling it a day.¡± Jimmy frowned but said nothing. Though he highly doubted Zephyr intended it, the fact he was acting like such a thing was still his call to make was kind of disrespectful. Him and Donovan had voluntarily vacated their positions as leaders of the raid, and when they had been the leaders, Jimmy hadn¡¯t undermined their own authority¡ªnot even a single time. Yet, because he genuinely did not think any disrespect was intended, he decided to let it slide. But it was hard, as Donovan seemed to possess the same sort of attitude. ¡°Yeah, I agree,¡± the GSG leader grunted. ¡°Let this play itself out, Zeph. It¡¯s T5, level 55. That¡¯s like, what, level 130? A bit high, but we don¡¯t usually bring this many people along with us to a raid, either.¡± Jimmy looked over his shoulder and saw Zephyr and Donovan nod in agreement. This further irked him, but in the interest of keeping everyone together and cohesive, he did not utter a word of his displeasure. Most likely, the two men were just so used to being leaders that it hadn¡¯t really sunk in yet that they were not currently in command: something they¡¯d willingly chosen to give up and had even been their own idea. That was on them. And good for them, too, Jimmy thought, his confidence rising. They¡¯re both all right, but they still ain¡¯t that great. Gonna show them how it¡¯s done. Jimmy cleared his throat. Every member of the raid had now fallen silent. He knew all ears were awaiting his commands, and he was ready to lead them. He did not hesitate, either. He would not allow himself to come across as looking nervous or uncertain. Jimmy knew enough about things to know that a leader needed to inspire confidence, and with each word he spoke, he projected his own. ¡°All right, guys,¡± he began. Fully turning his back to the boss, which he was devoutly sure would not attack until someone either entered its aggro range or, if it was passive, slapped it first, he opened his mouth and said, ¡°Raise your hand if ya¡¯ll can conjure a pet that you can control using pet commands. And I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s a combat pet or not. Anything you can fully control.¡± Donovan and Zephyr seemed to find the request very odd, as they exchanged confused glances with one another as though completely oblivious as to why Jimmy would ask for such a thing. This forced him to stop a smug grin from spreading on his face. They might¡¯ve done this a whole lot longer, but they didn¡¯t know what he knew. At any rate, he craned his neck to fully observe the raid as six hands went up and a seventh seemed to be wavering; a strangely youthful-looking woman wearing a one-piece, elegant, red, and flower-embroidered dress raised, then lowered, then raised her hand. Jimmy addressed her directly. ¡°You seem unsure,¡± he said to her. She nodded. ¡°I summon level-45 exploding wisps,¡± she said to him. ¡°I can control where they are sent by picking a target. Is that what you mean?¡± Jimmy shook his head. ¡°Not if you¡¯re saying you cast it and then, uh, what happens next is out of your control. Actually, everybody: lower your hand if that¡¯s the case.¡± This caused not only this woman to drop her hand to her side, but so did another woman who was wearing brown, druidic-like robes whom he recalled summoning bees earlier. Seeking to avoid any additional confusion, Jimmy decided to clarify even further. ¡°Only raise your hand if you can summon a pet with a level and name that you can control and move around even after you¡¯ve brought it out.¡± The rest kept their hands raised: five in total. This was good. Jimmy again cleared his throat. ¡°Now lower your hand if you lose your pet forever when it dies or if it has a recast timer.¡± Three hands went down. Two left. ¡°Lower your hand if your pet passively deals damage in any way, shape, or form.¡± Another hand went down. Now, there was just one. The only adventurer left was Ishina, the level-29, fifteen-year-old girl who stood next to her father and suddenly began to blush as everyone turned their head her way. Jimmy smiled at her. ¡°Ishina,¡± he said. ¡°What¡¯ve you got?¡± Sounding both confused and shy, she said, ¡°I can make a level-15 Slime Soldier, but like, so¡­okay, so I don¡¯t really use it all that much, because it has a Moderate-High exertion cost and it¡¯s not that strong anymore. I used to use it all the time when I first learned it but I outgrew the ability.¡± ¡°And you can control it?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°By control, I mean you can put it on passive and order it to move to certain locations?¡± Ishina flicked her eyes to the right as though carefully considering his question. ¡°You mean like if I pick a place to go, it goes there?¡± ¡°Exactly. Even if you¡¯re not sending it to fight anything, can you make it go where you want it to go?¡± ¡°Oh,¡± she said. She looked at Jimmy once again and bowed her head. ¡°Yeah, I can, but only up to a range of 2000. After that, it dies if I get any farther away from it.¡± Jimmy tapped his finger against the side of his head as he considered how to proceed. He knew what he wanted to do, but he had to figure out the best way to do it. ¡°How many can you summon?¡± ¡°Oh, um, I can only have one out at a time. If I summon another one while the first is out, the first Slime Soldier dies and is replaced.¡± Her answer confused Jimmy, but Jimmy realized in an instant it was actually his own fault for how he¡¯d chosen to phrase the question. ¡°No, uh, my bad,¡± he said. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean how many you can use at once. I meant how many times can you summon one without passing out from E-debt.¡± She gave him a questioning look. ¡°You mean like if I summon them back-to-back?¡± ¡°Kinda. Assume something like thirty seconds in between each summoning.¡± It was obvious from the way Ishina¡¯s words fell off in volume that she was becoming nervous and hesitant due to this line of questioning. ¡°Well¡­well I guess, like, I could make three of them if I push myself really hard, but¡­but why?¡± Jimmy smiled at her. ¡°You¡¯ll see. Go ahead and summon your first one for now.¡± Rather than obey, she did something that Jimmy really didn¡¯t like. She craned her neck so that she looked at something off to the right. Jimmy turned his head to figure out what she was searching for, and he saw it right away. Both Donovan and Zephyr gave her a brief, quick nod, and it was only after they¡¯d done so that she said, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll summon it.¡± Man that pisses me off, Jimmy thought, once more holding his tongue. Totally disrespectful. Trying not to become upset, Jimmy watched as she called upon the Moderate-High exertion ability. Much like Alixa, she too used a tome as her weapon, but hers was dramatically smaller; whereas Alixa¡¯s was like a gigantic, two-thousand-page encyclopedia the size of a board game, hers was like a brief paperback novel, perhaps a bit larger. ¡°Are you all right, sweetie?¡± her father asked her as sweat began to drip down her forehead. Though he spoke at a whisper so low that it was only by sheer chance and proximity that Jimmy could hear him, the girl nevertheless acted as though he¡¯d just screamed the words out at the top of his lungs. ¡°Yah, dad, I¡¯ve done this like a billion times before. Get off my case. Gods! You¡¯re embarrassing me in front of everyone.¡± ¡°Ahh! Sorry.¡± Her words prompted chuckles from numerous nearby adventurers, who thankfully said nothing to her. Then, all on its own, her book opened up and pages began flipping, slowly at first but then faster and faster. Eventually, a transparent, dark-green, and smoke-like substance began rising out of her book before stretching and extending like a snake leaving a cave. It traveled forward more than a dozen feet ahead of her, all while still attached to the book, and then, finally, it stopped extending and took a nosedive, heading straight down to the concrete flooring. Once there, the smoky, dark-green substance solidified and took shape, starting off as something rounded before becoming further defined in a way that brought it closer towards a square or a cube. Jimmy watched as, in just a few seconds, it completed its transformation, turning into a gelatinous, cube-shaped blob of green gunk about half the size of a cardboard box that had no other discernable features aside from two black dots that passed for eyes and a smiley face that looked as though it¡¯d been drawn on with a black crayon. Above its flat, square-shaped head were two words: Slime Soldier. And below those words was: ¡°level 15.¡± Briefly lifting her right eyebrow, Ishina waved her hand at the creature, which rather than remain still, endlessly bounced up and down despite not having any feet. Each time the slime landed, it made a comical thwapping sound. ¡°Well?¡± she asked him. ¡°Now what?¡± ¡°Okay, this is the fun part,¡± Jimmy said. He followed his words with a chuckle. ¡°I¡¯m gonna need everybody on the raid but Ishina to line up on the far side of the wall to my left¡ªyour right.¡± He extended his arm in the stated direction. ¡°Ishina, you stay where you are.¡± Jimmy waited for his command to be obeyed. Yet several seconds went by, and no one moved. ¡°By that I mean today,¡± he added, having become annoyed. And was it his imagination or was everyone now once more looking at Donovan and Zephyr? This time, rather than nod, Donovan barked out, ¡°Well? You heard the kid.¡± And with that, he turned around and began making his way to the wall. That seemed to be all it took. Everyone followed after him, and now, just shy of sixty people lined the wall single-file save for the few who couldn¡¯t fit due to the¡ªhopefully¡ªdecorative, tall, and metal spikes that circled the room and continuously shot six-foot streaks of blue flame above themselves like stovetop burners. One by one, Jimmy watched as all the other adventurers got into position except for Ishina and one other: her father. Though he¡¯d been asked to go with the rest of the adventurers, he¡¯d nevertheless stayed, and honestly? Jimmy didn¡¯t have a problem with it since that was her dad and she was only 15. She, however, did seem to take issue with his presence. ¡°Dad?¡± she hissed at him. ¡°Why¡¯re you still here?¡± Rather than answer her, the girl¡¯s father looked at Jimmy. He had a kind, but concerned face. He was of average height with short black hair and skin that was the same olive color as his daughter. He wore studded leather armor and had a bow at his back, which Jimmy noticed as he approached a little closer as if intent on speaking to him from a distance where he could do so quietly and discreetly. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be rude,¡± he said, his words coming out at just a touch above a whisper, ¡°but as her father, I obviously have to ask you: are you planning to put her in any kind of danger?¡± ¡°You mean¡­other than the danger that naturally comes with fighting something like that?¡± Jimmy pointed at the gigantic, meditating raid boss, where its eyes remained closed yet it continued to sneer madly. Then he shook his head. ¡°No.¡± He definitely looked like he had more to say, but Ishina angrily stormed over to him even as he was opening his mouth to say it. With her lips pursed, she tucked her tome under her left arm, and with her right, she reached out and grabbed his elbow, pulling him back. ¡°Dad!¡± she yelled at him. ¡°Sweetie, I have to make sure that¡ª¡± ¡°No you don¡¯t!¡± she interrupted, darting her eyes around nervously as if worried people were watching this spectacle¡ªwhich they obviously were. More quietly but with equal frustration, she said, ¡°I¡¯m freaking fifteen now, dad. That¡¯s basically an adult. And Falgon¡¯s dad lets him solo on Archian Prime. So stop treating me like a child.¡± Jimmy made a fist and coughed into it, drawing their attention. While he was sure this was an important discussion for the both of them, he had a raid to lead and now wasn¡¯t the time for this. Thankfully, they both stopped arguing and seemed willing to listen to him. ¡°Everything¡¯s gonna be fine,¡± he said, speaking to them both. He also spoke loudly enough so that the rest of the raid could hear him as well since this was relevant to all. ¡°What we need from Ishina,¡± he continued, ¡°is something that¡¯s not only not gonna be dangerous, but it¡¯s gonna make things safer for everybody including herself.¡± ¡°With¡­a level-15 slime?¡± her father asked incredulously. ¡°Yup. You¡¯ll see.¡± Walking past the slime pet that was still bouncing up and down in place, Jimmy moved a bit farther to the other end of the room in the direction directly opposite the one the adventurers had gone. Then, with a curl of his fingers, he beckoned Ishina to follow. She moved towards him¡ªand so did her dad. He led them both a bit closer to the entrance archway before gesturing at them to stop. ¡°Okay,¡± he said. ¡°Ishina, disband from the raid group and get one of your ropes out of Bank and Storage. Leave any other groups you¡¯re in, too.¡± ¡°Wh-why?¡± both she and her father asked at the exact same time. ¡°Just a precaution, though I seriously doubt you¡¯re gonna need it.¡± Her father looked taken aback. ¡°But you said you weren¡¯t putting her in any danger.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± she agreed, alternating between looking at Jimmy and at the massive T5 raid boss all the way across the boss room. At once, Jimmy could visibly see the defiance she¡¯d directed towards her father drain out of her face, and a nervous, hesitant look took its place. ¡°You said that this isn¡¯t anything dangerous.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not,¡± Jimmy said again, sighing. ¡°Just listen to me, okay? Disband from the raid group.¡± ¡°Why?¡± she asked a second time. ¡°And why do I need the rope if it¡¯s not something really risky?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a damn precaution,¡± Jimmy insisted. ¡°Also, I guarantee you won¡¯t need it. What, you¡¯re not convinced? Okay, I¡¯ll tell you what, Ishina. I¡¯m actually so sure you won¡¯t need it that if you do end up having to rope out because of what I¡¯m about to ask you to do, then uh, know what? When we kill this boss, you automatically get the inn room¡ªif that happens, I mean. If you end up having to rope out because of this, you just get it, no rolling.¡± Her jaw dropped, her father frowned, and the adventurers erupted into shouts of confusion and protest. Jimmy, sensing things getting out of control, tried to calm everyone down, but to his dismay, they couldn¡¯t even hear him because of their own shouting. Question after question lifted off their lips and made their way to his ears, yet it was only after Donovan and Zephyr began pushing some of them around that they became quiet. ¡°You know what you¡¯re doing, Jimmy?¡± Donovan asked him once he¡¯d gotten everyone else to be quiet. ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s fine,¡± he said. And once again, the matter was settled just like that. And though Jimmy was grateful for his help, he was also really upset and annoyed, because he was the leader right now, not Donovan, so why was Donovan still saying what was or wasn¡¯t ¡°fine?¡± It wasn¡¯t his call to make! Gods be damned! Jimmy thought to himself angrily. Then his anger faded immediately when he realized what he¡¯d just done. Did I seriously just think that? he wondered. He was more amazed at himself than anything else. As if a testament to his changing life, he had, for the first time, mentally thought one of their polytheistic expressions of exasperation instead of something more in line with what he was accustomed to. It was something Jimmy would¡¯ve taken another few seconds to contemplate if not for all the eager stares being sent his way from Ishina, her father, Donovan, Zephyr, and even Tena. Basically, everyone. I can¡¯t mess this up. This is my chance to prove myself! ¡°Okay,¡± he said, trying to rein things back in. ¡°Did you leave the raid?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± she said. He noticed she also now had one of the ropes from Mushkie¡¯s draped over her shoulder. ¡°I left your BG, too.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re gonna get put right back in.¡± Her tone becoming uncertain, she asked, ¡°So¡­what do you need me to do?¡± Jimmy grinned. This was the part he¡¯d been waiting for. Everybody right now was doubting him. He could see it in their eyes. Donovan and Zephyr were probably very, very worried they¡¯d made a serious mistake in appointing him raid leader. The other adventurers were looking at him with a mixture of optimism and skepticism, which made sense, since they¡¯d been told a half-lie about him having ¡°secret¡± knowledge. Therefore, it was only natural that they¡¯d regard him with an equal mixture of excitement and doubt. But they were about to lose that doubt. He was going to give everybody a leg up on this boss. ¡°Here¡¯s what you gotta do,¡± he said to Ishina. ¡°First¡ªand this is the most important damn thing of all¡ªmake absolutely sure your pet is on passive.¡± ¡°It is,¡± she said. ¡°And just for peace of mind, tell me again that you¡¯re positive that slime doesn¡¯t have anything that does any kind of passive damage. I don¡¯t just mean like abilities. I mean things like damage shields¡ªwhere an enemy gets hurt by attacking it¡ªor a counter attack or anything. Nothing that can even do a single point of damage.¡± ¡°I said no.¡± Ishina glared at him. ¡°I¡¯m not stupid.¡± ¡°Chill. I¡¯m just making sure we¡¯re good.¡± Jimmy turned around to face the boss, and then he pointed. ¡°Here¡¯s what you¡¯re gonna do, Ishina. You¡¯re gonna send the slime straight forward until it activates the boss. If the boss doesn¡¯t activate, then that means we gotta hit it first, and all of this was just a waste of time. But if it does activate and aggro onto your pet, I want you to send it as fast as you can to the left side of the room by the wall and leave it there until it dies.¡± Ishina¡¯s mouth fell open, and a gasp came from the other adventurers. ¡°Are you nuts?¡± she asked, practically shrieking. ¡°No way! That¡¯s suicide!¡± ¡°Jimmy, this is outrageous!¡± her father shouted at him. ¡°How can you possibly ask my daughter to solo engage the raid boss? Murmurs of incredulity and suspicion filled the boss room. ¡°Is he serious?¡± one of the adventurers asked. ¡°He wants her to pull the boss?¡± queried another. ¡°I know Jimmy had access to special training simulations, but there¡¯s no way he¡¯s seriously asking Ishina to¡ª¡± ¡°Shut it!¡± Jimmy shouted, the words coming from a place of extreme frustration. To his shock, the sharpness and heat in it actually caused the raid to fall silent. And now, seizing this moment to speak, he chose to do so while he could still get a few words in. ¡°If she sends her pet over to the boss, and she¡¯s not in any kind of raid group, then what the hell is everybody hollering about?¡± he asked. Seeing confusion on their faces, he grunted in annoyance. ¡°Ya¡¯ll are a bunch of noobs, for real.¡± He pointed at the boss, and he explained. ¡°If the pet doesn¡¯t do any damage, and she¡¯s all the way over here by the entrance when it dies, the boss is just gonna de-aggro and sit its ass back down since there¡¯s nothing left on its hate table to go after.¡± ¡°Hate table?¡± the adventurers began all muttering in unison. ¡°Aggro tables, whatever.¡± ¡°Aggro tables?¡± they now muttered. ¡°Seriously? None of you know about aggro or hate tables?¡± Jimmy sighed. ¡°Look, guys. Mobs keep a list of numerical values of everyone they ¡®hate,¡¯ and different actions affect the numbers differently. It¡¯s like a hidden stat. Whoever¡¯s the highest on the table is the one who¡¯s got the aggro. Whenever a pet hits a mob, it adds hate points to both the pet and the user who controls it. But if the pet is on passive and gets within a mob¡¯s aggro range, only the pet receives ¡®trespass¡¯ hate, and if it dies, the hate tables are clear, and the mob goes back to spawn. How do none of you know this?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about any tables,¡± Reni Sarwin said, ¡°but now that I think about it, you might be right. I think I¡¯ve been in a situation like this before. I remember once, on an Earth raid, we left a disposable pet behind by mistake. It aggroed a whole camp of mobs that respawned while we ourselves were already well out of its initial aggro range. The pet wasn¡¯t on passive, but it did die before it could attack anything. The mobs didn¡¯t come after us afterwards.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen that once too, I think,¡± another person said. ¡°I just never paid any notice to it. Now that you mention it, that is kind of a thing that happens, isn¡¯t it? But what¡¯s the purpose here, Jimmy?¡± Jimmy pressed his palm into his face and moaned into his hand. ¡°Do you seriously not even know why I¡¯m doing this? No?¡± Looking around at the various adventures and then at Ishina, he said, ¡°I¡¯m doing this so we can see some of what this thing¡¯s made of before we attack it. Maybe we¡¯ll see a few of its attacks and we can watch out for them.¡± Like a room full of lights all turning on at the same time, Jimmy could see understanding begin to reflect back at him from the dozens of adventurers who, until that very moment, seemed to be growing anxious and distrustful. Yet now they seemed to make a collective ¡°ohh!¡± as they looked first at Jimmy and then at one another as it dawned on them what he was actually trying to do here. ¡°So that¡¯s why!¡± Kalana blurted out cheerfully. ¡°Jimmy¡¯s smart!¡± ¡°I never even thought of that,¡± Donovan admitted, speaking only slightly above a whisper. More words of surprise and thankfully approval resonated from around the boss room. During this time, Tena smiled at him and winked, but she said nothing. Jimmy returned the wink and then spun himself around to address Ishina. ¡°So? Happy now? Let¡¯s get going. We got a raid boss to beat.¡± ¡°S-sure,¡± she said. She still looked nervous, though now, she seemed much less so. Staying right where she was, she said nothing and did not move, yet she had clearly begun mentally commanding her pet, because the perpetually bouncing Slime Soldier began to move forward as it continued to bounce, its feet going thwack, thwack, thwack on the concrete as it hopped its way closer and closer towards the boss. ¡°Make sure you watch what happens closely!¡± Jimmy shouted. He was glad to see that they were. Each and every adventurer was quiet and clearly paying close attention as the gelatinous, cube-shaped slime creature made its way over to the boss. Jimmy, too, began to watch it, taking his focus off the other adventurers. This was something that, normally, he would never even consider doing in a game. But since, in this world, raid failure could mean death, he wanted to know a bit about the boss they were fighting before he went up against it. Now, as the Slime Soldier bounced its way more than halfway across the boss-room floor, it took a great amount of effort for Jimmy to prevent an overconfident, smug, ¡°I told you so¡± grin from forming on his lips as the boss, at last, finally became activated. It was right around the halfway point, too. And boy was it dramatic as far as bosses went. Its eyes popped open and began to glow, giving off an intense orange light. From its sneering mouth, it released a dark, wicked, and evil laugh. And then it began to stand up, and just as Jimmy had imagined, he could see that the boss was so tall that the top of his head only reached the boss¡¯s ankles. ¡°So!¡± it cried out as it made its way to its feet. ¡°Finally, I¡¯ve found myself a group of worthy adversaries! Prepare to die with honor to Imp Lord Tzumazleth!¡± It reached behind itself and drew both of its jousting-lance-sized swords; both weapons immediately became awash in glowing, dark-purple energy that surrounded them from the base of their grip to the point of their blade. And as it removed these two swords, Jimmy snapped his fingers at Ishina, who seemed to have become distracted while watching it. ¡°Move it!¡± he said. ¡°To the left!¡± But it was too late. As the Slime Soldier began hopping its way to the left wall, it was clear it would be dead in just another second or two; this, as the boss launched an attack even as it spoke. ¡°For so long, I have waited for a fight!¡± it shouted. The raid boss fully extended its arms, pointing the swords to both sides of itself, and then it began spinning around fast¡ªso fast that its body, face, front, and back all became just a blur. Its swords, too, rotated with such speed that both created an illusion similar to that of a helicopter¡¯s propellers, only it was angled downwards and glowed purple, clearly designed to strike something small in comparison to its giant body. And as if the sight of it alone was not enough proof of its absurd momentum, Jimmy could actually feel a small gust of displaced air even from all the way over here near the entrance. His robes fluttered, and so did a few of the pages in Ishina¡¯s book. The boss also began to move while rotating, too, like a spinning top; in this case, it was in the direction of the Slime Soldier. ¡°But finally!¡± it said, sounding excited and optimistic. ¡°Finally, I have found a group of¡ª¡± The Slime Soldier was hit for 207,396 damage, dying instantly upon contact while sending dark-green gunk splattering all over the place. Then, in an unnatural, jarring way, the boss¡¯s words, tone, volume of speech, and even topic changed instantly upon its death. It was almost as though there was a second boss somewhere that was speaking out of the first one¡¯s mouth, as there was even a brief period lasting less than a second during which the boss carried on its original sentence as a completely separate one emerged from its sneering lips at the exact same time. Jimmy was sure of it. For just the tiniest of moments, there were two voices speaking completely different words. But then the first cut abruptly off. ¡°And this concludes our battle!¡± the boss called out. ¡°You fought well, adventurers. But death is the consequence of failure in this dungeon. Ahh-hahaha-hahaha!¡± It stopped spinning immediately, sheathed its swords, and marched over to the exact spot it¡¯d only just been seated. It then plopped itself down, its form so massive and heavy it caused a slight vibration beneath Jimmy¡¯s feet. Once there, it closed its eyes, extended its arms, and returned to its meditative pose. Now, there was a moment of almost total silence. The only sound was the dull hissing and the occasional crackle from the flame-shooting spikes located all around the boss room. Looks of astonishment were sent Jimmy¡¯s way. To break the quiet, he flicked his chin at the boss and said, ¡°See? I told you guys so.¡± The adventurers seemed stunned. It was as though they didn¡¯t know what to make of any of this. ¡°Incredible,¡± Zephyr said. ¡°A whole new tactic to ascertain an unknown dungeon boss¡¯s potential. I¡¯m impressed. I never thought to try that.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe you even know how to do that,¡± Miss Britethorn said. ¡°Amazing!¡± ¡°Pretty good,¡± Donovan agreed. Then he let out a harsh laugh. ¡°Ishina screwed it all up for ya, though.¡± Ishina, who was still sweating, glared at her father of all people. And her father, after an awkward moment during which a bit of fear ran across his face, turned his head to Donovan and said, ¡°Donovan, you can¡¯t talk that way to¡ª¡± ¡°Oh yeah?¡± he growled at the man. The man immediately fell silent. Despite being all the way on the opposite end of the room, he took a step backwards. Ishina rolled her eyes and grumbled something about her dad being a coward. Then, with even more sweat falling down her face, her breathing became heavy, and she called upon another of her Slime Soldiers. This one was identical to the one before it, having the same name and level. ¡°Remember to pull it away from the boss this time,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°To the left wall.¡± ¡°I know,¡± she said, sounding annoyed. Jimmy watched as her slime bounced its way over to the boss. And once again, the so-called lord of the imps cried out, ¡°So! Finally, I¡¯ve found myself a group of worthy adversaries! Prepare to die with honor to Imp Lord Tzumazleth!¡± Like before, it stood up. It extended its arms, and it repeated the exact same attack that it had with the previous bouncing slime. But on this go around, Ishina¡¯s pet survived simply by having already begun bouncing its way over to the left wall. For a moment, it looked like the spinning, wind-blasting boss would catch up. Certainly, it moved fast enough that it definitely could have overtaken the slime in a matter of moments. But luckily for the slime, it seemed the boss was not targeting it specifically, but rather, the general area around where it had begun its spin. Rotating itself around in a circular direction not far from its spawn point, Jimmy watched the spinning mob also slide around in a near-perfect circle, hitting nothing. Around and around it spun, and then, after about eight seconds¡ªthe duration of the attack, most likely¡ªit ceased spinning and came to a sudden halt. Now, it remained still for an additional second or two, but soon after, it turned its body in the direction of the slime that had only just reached the wall. Jimmy observed carefully, watching to see what it did next. A loud, buzzing sound that reminded Jimmy of a chainsaw filled the boss room. He quickly realized it was the boss¡¯s wings, which made a much greater noise than the wings of the imps him and Zach had encountered earlier today¡ªor yesterday, rather, since it was after midnight Galterra time. Lifting off the ground slightly, Imp Lord Tzumazleth blasted across the room with intimidating speed. This was important to note, however, because it told Jimmy that, when they engaged this thing, the tanks needed to establish aggro very firmly because it would be able to get on a healer or caster very quickly if it chose to do so. What else you got, big boy? The imp lord flew across the room in less than a second. Then it landed in front of the slime, and its wings stopped buzzing. Jimmy studied it carefully. The boss lifted its arms, it angled its gigantic body towards the slime, and with that, it launched an incredibly barbarous seven-hit combination attack. First, it sliced its left sword down on the slime, killing it instantly and sending more goop spraying for 162,589 damage. Then it crashed its right sword down in the exact same way. Despite the pet having already been killed by this point, it continued on, which told Jimmy this was all part of one big attack it ¡°had¡± to finish. Using both swords at once, it raised its arms and sliced them both straight down¡ªat nothing. After this, its wings started buzzing, only even more loudly than before. Abruptly, it dashed backwards, sailing across the boss room. Numerous adventurers gasped and pressed themselves into the wall behind them as the boss approached close enough to startle several of them. But just as it seemed it might actually fly over to the adventurers, it stopped itself midair only to fling itself forward again until returning to the dark-green-stained concrete where the slime had died; once there, it flew upwards in the air, spun itself twice, then dropped down and slammed both of its swords on top of it. This time, the swords actually made contact with the floor, sending huge chunks of concrete shooting straight up as it broke through and left a four-inch, dark-green-stained hole. Then it brought its left arm around for another left slash, its right around for a right slash, and finally, it lifted its foot up to its waist and stomped it back down, smashing through even more concrete. ¡°And this concludes our battle! You fought well, adventurers. But death is the consequence of failure in this dungeon. Ahh-hahaha-hahaha!¡± Sneering, it returned to its spawn point, sat down, crossed its legs, and resumed its meditation, closing its eyes once more. As it did so, nervous murmurs erupted among the adventurers. ¡°That¡¯s one hell of an attack,¡± a woman said. ¡°Maybe we should let Donovan and Zephyr handle things this time. Jimmy can always lead the next one.¡± ¡°You may be right,¡± Miss Britethorn said. ¡°I don¡¯t doubt his abilities, but being that he¡¯s never actually led a real raid before, maybe this isn¡¯t the best one to make his debut.¡± Jimmy again had to suppress his frustration. He knew he¡¯d prove them wrong¡ªall of them. Yet it really got to him the way this sort of ¡°narrative¡± began to quickly spread from adventurer to adventurer. On the lips of many came similar words: that Jimmy was young, talented, and promising, but that he¡¯d never led a real raid before and shouldn¡¯t be starting out with this one. ¡°Donovan, what kind of game are you playing here?¡± Ophelia asked him, sounding annoyed. ¡°Are you trying to sabotage him because you think he¡¯s a future ¡®rival¡¯ to you or something?¡± Donovan actually seemed to flinch at the accusation as though finding it so absurd that it was painful. ¡°I only ever do what I think will help the young meet their potential. Gods, woman!¡± She poked him in the chest. ¡°Even if your motivations are good, I¡¯m skeptical about what you¡¯re doing here.¡± The two began to argue, but Jimmy tuned it out. It was nonsense, after all. The sheer fact of the matter was that it wasn¡¯t even possible for Donovan to set Jimmy up for failure, because Jimmy wasn¡¯t going to fail. It simply wasn¡¯t an option. Donovan¡¯s intentions were irrelevant. Sure, Jimmy was more than just a little confused as to why him and Zephyr had suddenly decided to call it quits and hand him the leadership role, but at the end of the day, it didn¡¯t actually matter why: they had given it to him, and that was that. ¡°Ishina?¡± he asked, returning his attention to the young girl. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Y-yeah,¡± she gasped in reply, breathing very heavily. Her face and the front of her blouse were covered in sweat. With a snap, she closed her book, having succeeded in summoning yet another Slime Soldier. Then she bent over, panted, and wiped more sweat off her forehead before rubbing it on her jeans. She, like a not-insignificant number of adventurers, had used Alixa or another crafter¡¯s services to turn her equipment into more ¡°normal¡± clothing. This only seemed to be possible, however, for lighter equipment. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m ready,¡± she said after a moment, straightening her back. ¡°You sure?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Following those words, her new¡ªand third¡ªSlime Soldier began to bounce its way towards the raid boss, and like the previous two times, everyone quieted up and seemed to focus in on watching things unfold; Jimmy knew the others were just as eager as him to see if they could learn more about their enemy before facing it. And so, as though mesmerized by its very motion, Jimmy watched as the Slime Soldier bounced time and time again until crossing the threshold into aggro radius. And once more, the boss opened its eyes and reacted. ¡°So!¡± the boss shouted. ¡°Finally, I¡¯ve found myself a group of worthy adversaries! Prepare to die with honor to Imp Lord Tzumazleth!¡± ¡°Remember,¡± Jimmy whispered. ¡°Make sure you immediately send the slime to the¡ª¡± ¡°The left wall. I know, Jimmy, sheesh,¡± she muttered. ¡°I¡¯m not stupid.¡± Having begun with its spinning attack the previous two times, Jimmy naturally wondered if such an attack was a predetermined ¡°opener¡± or whatever. Yet with a sample size of just two, he knew better than to draw any conclusions. This turned out to be wise, because this time around, the raid boss opted for something else entirely. It turned around to face the slime, which was bouncing its way as fast as it could to the left wall. Jimmy expected the boss to take off and fly towards it with its wings¡ªbut this, too, it did not do. Instead, it moved at something of a jog towards the slime. ¡°For so long, I have waited for a fight!¡± the boss cried out as it pursued Ishina¡¯s pet. Though the distance it traveled in comparison to its size was not, on its own, spectacularly fast, the fact that it was so gigantic meant it was able to cross much more space much more quickly. A small tremor shook the boss room each time one of its feet stomped down as it ran over to the slime. With a sword gripped in each of its hands, it then lashed out with what looked to be an ordinary, one-two combination from its left, then right sword. This, obviously, should have put an end to their little experiment. And yet, through sheer coincidence, the slime happened to bounce away just a split second before the swords swung the air where it¡¯d just been. This totally unexpected ¡°dodge¡± caused the adventurers to go absolutely wild. Simultaneously, they all erupted into cheers and laughter. Everyone began to cackle and shout out their feelings of amusement, with some cracking jokes about how they should build a statue in the slime¡¯s honor. They called the slime a hero. Some of them even started to name it. Yet for as intense as their brief bout of levity might have been, it all came crashing down around them an instant later as Ishina made an abrupt, horrified-sounding gasp. And this gasp came just an instant after the slime, once more through sheer coincidence, managed to bounce away from a third downward slice from the boss¡¯s right-handed sword. The sword narrowly missed the slime, and this attack cracked down onto the concrete, sending numerous pieces of it skittering in multiple directions. One of these pieces, however, was propelled forward and into the slime, striking the gelatinous-like pet for 541 damage. And it was here that the slime abruptly stopped fleeing. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°No!¡± Ishina called out. ¡°Oh shoot. Oh no! No!¡± Jimmy felt his heart begin to beat faster in his chest as he watched the slime¡¯s retreat¡ªor lack of one. For some reason, it was now bouncing towards the raid boss. In fact, it was currently midair and about an inch or two away from colliding with it directly. ¡°Ishina!¡± he called out to her. ¡°What the hell is¡ª¡± ¡°I forgot to put it on passive!¡± she yelled, tears raining down her eyes. ¡°You didn¡¯t,¡± Jimmy said in disbelief. ¡°Ishina, tell me you didn¡¯t!¡± ¡°I¡¯m so, so sorry! I¡¯m so¡ª¡± The slime slammed into the metal-armored shin of Imp Lord Tzumazleth, dealing 9 damage and bouncing right off it. It landed back on the concrete floor, where it bounced once more. Twice more. Then, on the third hop, Tzumazleth struck out a single time with its left sword, cutting the slime directly in half midair and killing it, dealing 177,771 damage in the process of spraying its slimy insides to both the left and rights sides of itself. And then¡­it turned around to face Ishina. React! Jimmy shouted inside his own head as he forced himself not to dwell on the fact of what just happened. Doesn¡¯t matter. No hesitation: just reaction. React! He willed his body to move. He did not have the time to feel upset or afraid or to question whether or not Ishina had really just been so stupid as to fuck something like this up. He was the leader. It was his responsibility. Ishina was a fifteen-year-old girl. He should¡¯ve checked with her each time to make sure her pet was on passive. This was on him not her. There was no time to consider anything else. He only had time to take immediate action. And so, driven on by an ardent desire to succeed and prove that he was meant to be a leader, he threw himself in front of Ishina protectively. ¡°Rope out!¡± he shouted at her as he reached for his staff. Time seemed to come to a standstill. There was movement from the right side of the boss room¡ªthe wall. He saw adventurers begin to draw their weapons in unison and launch themselves towards the raid boss. His heart hammering away in his chest, Jimmy grabbed his staff, removed it from its sheath, and gripped it with both hands. ¡°I said rope out, goddammit!¡± Yet even as he did so, he knew she would not be able to move fast enough to escape. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw her fumbling with the rope, her fingers shaking as though so nervous she¡¯d lost all coordination. All she needed to do was form a loop at the end, swing it three times, and then throw it upwards. Yet the girl had entered into such a panic that she was struggling to do even that. Her father, however, moved quickly to protect his daughter. He dashed forward to stand beside Jimmy as he too called for her to rope out. I gotta slow it! Jimmy raised his staff and cast Crippling Haze right by the raid boss¡¯s feet. Given it was a large area-of-effect spell and the boss itself was enormous, he didn¡¯t have any problem hitting his target. Not that it mattered. Even as a big cloud of crackling smoke covered the boss before quickly dissipating, Jimmy swore aloud as he saw a brief but unmistakable red ¡°X¡± appear above Imp Lord Tzumazleth¡¯s head. This meant the boss was immune to slows. Jimmy knew this because had his spell merely been resisted¡ªsomething very, very unlikely to happen due to his passive, Scourge of Giants¡ªit would have appeared as a yellow ¡°!¡± instead. Thus, completely uninhibited, Imp Lord Tzumazleth¡¯s wings began to make its loud, chainsaw-like buzzing, and it began rising up one, then two, then several feet above the floor. ¡°But finally!¡± the boss shouted out. ¡°Finally, I have found a group of adventurers willing to risk everything for the glory of combat!¡± The moment the raid boss finished speaking those words, it blasted forward, absolutely burning its way across the boss room so fast that Jimmy could barely follow the motion with his eyes, let alone react to it. He wasn¡¯t like Kalana or even Zach. His skills weren¡¯t based in having great reflexes and pulling off crazy-ass bullshit feats of acrobatics. No, he was more of a methodical, stay-in-the-back kind of fighter. So there wasn¡¯t a whole lot he could do other than gawk in horror as the nightmarish, horned, and ridiculously huge raid boss began diving down at him¡ªor at Ishina, rather. You¡¯re the raid leader! he shouted to himself. Lead! Don¡¯t just stare at it like a moron. Lead! Jimmy found his nerve. ¡°Maric!¡± he shouted out. He saw the large, muscular old man sprinting towards them, his shield already raised. ¡°Taunt it!¡± ¡°On it!¡± A giant shadow caused the whole area around Jimmy to darken as Tzumazleth descended upon him, both its blades extended in front of itself as if content on skewering or crushing not just Ishina but anyone who just so happened to be near her whether they were on its hate table or not. Jimmy felt his muscles begin to tighten apprehensively as it came nearer and nearer. In a mere instant, it had dropped so low that its body was now the only thing Jimmy could see in front of them. But then, miraculously, it stopped. It simply stopped. Halting midair, its paused less than ten feet above and in front of where Jimmy stood before Ishina. Now that it was so close, its wings made such a loud buzzing that it actually hurt his ears and made him feel like he was in some kind of factory that worked with heavy machinery. It drowned out all other noise and made it so that, for at least a brief moment, Jimmy could hear nothing else. But then the boss pulled away, turned its body midair, and soared forward and off to Jimmy¡¯s right, landing with a loud crunch onto the concrete. It then whipped its right arm around and attempted to slice Maric in half. Maric, however, grunted and absorbed the blow of it on his shield, though it did cause him to stumble several feet back. ¡°I¡¯ve got it!¡± he half-shouted, half-growled. Lead! Lead now before you look like an idiot and Donovan takes back control! Jimmy inhaled. ¡°BG1! Engage the raid boss. BG2, move behind it and attack its flank. BG3, BG4: do not cast any magic for now other than debuffs and heals if needed. Find what works on it, and then stack everything you can. BG5, hang back and be ready to charge in case it moves or flies off. BG6, stay put: and Ishina, rejoin the raid!¡± ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± she said, full-on crying. ¡°Jimmy, I¡¯m so, so¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine! Rejoin!¡± She sniffled, but she obeyed. It took a moment to ease into things following a totally, wholly unexpected, and chaotic start to the encounter, but what happened, happened, and it was time to concentrate on killing this thing. It was just too damn important for Jimmy to fail. And so, he started off by shuffling around any way that he could to get a decent vantage point where he could clearly see what was going on. It was only really now, during an actual raid, that he was starting to realize just how difficult it was to really see what was happening. If only he could ¡°zoom out¡± like in a game. It''s not a game, he reminded himself. From what he could gather, Maric had established firm aggro, but it became clear right away that this was not going to be the kind of raid boss one tank all alone could manage. Jimmy watched as Imp Lord Tzumazleth unleashed its seven-hit combination attack. Maric, groaning, absorbed the left strike, then the right, and then the double. But then, as Tzumazleth blasted off backwards, its wings buzzing, Jimmy could see that, from just those three strikes alone, Maric was already badly positioned to absorb any more strikes. ¡°Alixa!¡± he called out. ¡°Channel on him¡ªnow! Hurry!¡± During everyone¡¯s meal here together, Jimmy had realized he needed to get caught up on what resources he had available to him during the raid. And with that in mind, he¡¯d spoken to some of the more powerful support mages. And this ability was one that he¡¯d known right away would be invaluable. Watching closely, he saw Alixa open up her massive tome, the pages of which began flipping all on their own. Then, from within this book, a blueish-white tendril of electricity snaked its way across the short distance between her and Maric until the electricity ¡°struck¡± him in his back. Now, a light, blueish-white ¡°bubble¡± of sorts surrounded his body. At the same time, there were shouts of pain and surprise as the backwards-flying imp lord slammed into two tanks and an off-tank that happened to be in the boss¡¯s path, sending them literally careening away. The off-tank crashed into the wall, near the entrance archway, causing a hole to form in it, and the two tanks merely rolled along the ground. All three were moaning but looked okay. There it goes, Jimmy thought nervously. You¡¯ve got to hold, Maric! Imp Lord Tzumazleth flung himself back in the direction he¡¯d only just come while slamming both his swords down on top of Maric for the fourth strike of his seven-hit combination. The moment of impact, both swords were deflected, the bubble broke, and the tendril of electricity snapped and disappeared. Still, the hit had been almost entirely absorbed. This left just the last three attacks in its sequence; grunting, Maric suffered its left sword again, then it¡¯s right, but when the final attack came¡ªthe stomping down of an armored foot almost as big as Maric himself¡ªthe man surprised Jimmy. He threw his weapon and shield behind himself, and then, despite his heavy armor, he launched himself into a quick roll, hurrying out of the way as the foot stomped down, crushing through more concrete. With that, Maric retrieved his weapon and shield just in time to get up and raise his guard against another two-hit combination. Unfortunately, he only succeeded in blocking the first of these hits. The boss¡¯s sword bounced off Maric''s shield with an echoing thunk, and though Maric succeeded in defending himself, the man seemed to finally reach his limits. His guard slipped then became broken, and as the boss attacked his other side, Maric was at last overwhelmed. With a loud howl of pain, Jimmy watched as the imp lord¡¯s blade, glowing a purple, evil-looking color, cut right through Maric¡¯s armor and sliced the man from his right shoulder all the way down to his right hip. ¡°Gods!¡± he roared, blood emptying out of him as he limped several steps back, causing even more to rush out of body. ¡°I need a heal!¡± ¡°Heal him!¡± Jimmy shouted. One of the healers obeyed, and a pillar-shaped beacon of green light surrounded Maric. His expression turned immediately from one of pain to relief¡ªand then back to pain again as he guarded against two more strikes only to have half his stomach ripped open with the third. This, too, was healed. But then he was cut open again¡ªand then again and again. Despite being fully healed each time, he was beginning to perform worse and become sloppier with every wound. So this is why Donovan tries to mitigate pain, Jimmy thought, absolutely refusing to admit aloud that the guy might have had a point. ¡°I need to rotate out!¡± Maric said, his tone pained and desperate. ¡°I can¡¯t handle much more.¡± ¡°Spider,¡± Jimmy called out. ¡°Swap with him! Maric, use de-taunts. Spider, taunt!¡± Although Spider was technically an off-tank, Jimmy knew he was exceptionally strong and could play the role of a main tank if required. And since he was the closest to Maric, he seemed like a logical source to buy Jimmy some time so he could contemplate how to proceed. So far, everything Jimmy had done had been for the sake of recovering from an unexpected encounter start, stabilizing the situation, and trying to get¡ªand keep¡ªeveryone in a steady formation. The problem, which he now saw, was that because all of his attention had been diverted to micro-managing which tank had aggro, almost no progress was being made on the raid itself. This was not a problem he was alone in noticing, either. In the corner of his vision, he could see Donovan and Zephyr evaluating his every move and every word. He knew they would jump in if they felt he wasn¡¯t succeeding. God, he couldn¡¯t let that happen. Meeting Donovan¡¯s eyes, he saw Donovan tap his wrist and then point at the gigantic, towering imp lord. The meaning of the gesture was obvious: hurry up and start killing it. Don¡¯t need you to ¡®guide¡¯ me, Jimmy thought bitterly. I got this shit! Right now, the entire raid was attacking the boss. Given its size, there was no issue with ¡°room,¡± and so everyone could attack it as they pleased. Due to its height, the tanks, off-tanks, and melee DPS were almost literally nipping away at its heels: forced to slash, cut, bludgeon, or otherwise pierce its armor-covered shins, ankles, and feet. The mages and archers, on the other hand, were able to use their most-powerful spells and strike wherever they pleased, which in many cases was the head. The problem was that nobody was doing any real goddamn damage. Fluffles was calling down lightning that struck for between 100 and 110 damage per bolt. Donovan¡¯s axe was crushing its ankles for about 600 per swing, Zephyr¡¯s blade, currently glowing green, was barely doing a thing at around 300 a hit, even as he made an elegant series of slices from his sword with a near-perfect form that saw every attack glide into the next. Not even Kalana, who was unleashing a blazingly fast combination of dagger strikes, was able to land anything that struck for more than 450. For some adventurers, the output was even worse. Jimmy noted an adventurer not far ahead of him wearing a dark green wool sweater with a matching hood pulled over his head. The adventurer was making grunts of exertion as he thrust a long, diamond-colored spear repeatedly into the lower knee of the T5, level-55 raid boss, hitting for only 32 damage each time. Though it did manage to draw a fair bit of blood, that was only when compared to a normal-sized being. Thus, the pool of red building up around the man¡¯s feet was but a few drops to something so massive The archers and mages, however, were faring a bit better. Striking out at its unarmored head and torso, the mages were calling down a wide variety of magic, such as big, amethyst-like crystals that fell down from the ceiling and shattered for almost a thousand damage a piece, or in the case of Alixa, a series of crescent-shaped ¡°wind blades¡± that fired out of her book and made loud snapping sounds as they collided with the imp lord¡¯s crimson-colored face for 650 a hit. There were also two archers shooting flaming arrows that struck the mob between the eyes for 800 if not more. But all of this combined was just not good enough. Seriously, it wasn¡¯t.
HP 5,517,420/5,600,000
Name (T5) Imp Lord Tzumazleth
Level 55
Donovan, along with Spider, jumped backwards as the mob tried to stomp Spider into the ground. Then he raised both his hands high enough that his fists, which were gripping his humongous battle-axe, were both above the top of his scalp, and with a mean-sounding grunt, he slammed it down, breaking off a piece of the side of the mob¡¯s shin armor and hitting for 1,322. Then he turned to look at Jimmy. And it was a look that Jimmy understood very well. He opened his mouth to speak. And Jimmy, realizing his position was in jeopardy, decided to beat him to it. ¡°I know!¡± ¡°Do you? You need to multi-task, kiddo. You¡¯re focusing too much on one aspect of the raid. That¡¯s what a raid captain does. Not a raid leader.¡± Jimmy nodded. ¡°Fine. Donovan, I¡¯m delegating you to handle rotating aggro among the tanks.¡± ¡°All right then. Better fix this problem soon, though. Just so you know, the reason¡ª¡± Jimmy flicked his eyes upwards to the top of the imp lord¡¯s head. And thank God, he could see for himself what the issue was before Donovan actually gave voice to it. This was good, because he was not about to be continually one-upped by this dude. ¡°BG3!¡± he shouted out. ¡°BG4!¡± The moment he called out the names of those battlegroups, Donovan closed his mouth and gave him a nod, which Jimmy did not require as he didn¡¯t need Donovan or Zephyr¡¯s goddamn fucking help to be a raid leader! He was getting tired of them acting like they were still in charge and could rip control of the raid back from him at any moment for any reason. This was such disrespect. He didn¡¯t need their goddamn supervision, okay? Why would he? In terms of dungeon knowledge, those two were like cavemen compared to him despite doing this all their life! I need to just cool it, he told himself. Those two don¡¯t know shit, and they¡¯re trying to make me look like a rookie. I know way more than they do, and I gotta just be confident in that fact. Yeah. He needed to not let it get under his skin. At any rate, he was more than happy to turn all that frustration and energy into a loud, angry demand as he addressed the members of BG3 and BG4. ¡°Guys! What gives, man?¡± He pointed his staff above, gesturing at the top of the raid boss¡¯s head, where a bunch of red down arrows should have been. ¡°I told ya¡¯ll to debuff the boss. Now we¡¯re wasting our energy hitting this thing and it ain¡¯t doing shit!¡± ¡°We did debuff,¡± one of the members of BG4 argued. ¡°Everyone did. And then we buffed our own and started shuffling around. They must¡¯ve worn off before we could¡ª¡± Donovan and Zephyr both darted their heads Jimmy¡¯s way. Kalana stopped what she was doing, narrowed her eyes, and dashed backwards. Once again, it felt like time had paused, but only for a moment. Something was about to happen: something that both of them saw but Jimmy saw, too. And unless he gave the command to deal with it immediately, they were going to wrest control of the raid away from him. He was sure of it. He had to deal with it right now. ¡°Everyone get behind a shield now!¡± he cried out. ¡°Do it right now. Stop what you¡¯re doing and get behind a shield. Go, go, go!¡± he shouted at them. Ishina¡¯s father looked around as though confused. ¡°Why, what¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°Go now or you¡¯re dead!¡± Jimmy interrupted. ¡°Tanks, raise your shields high! Protect whoever¡¯s behind you!¡± In a mad scramble, Jimmy watched as every adventurer without a shield other than Donovan and Kalana made a wild rush towards those who had one. Jimmy shouted at them to move even faster. Because he, like Donovan and Zephyr, knew exactly what was about to happen. And to Jimmy¡¯s utter misery, it seemed that Donovan and Zephyr had picked up on it even faster than he had. By several entire, valuable seconds, too. It''s because they got in my head. That¡¯s the only reason. They¡¯re making me play worse by getting me tilted! Jimmy shook his head and chided himself for still acting like this was a video game. It wasn¡¯t. But even still, that was what happened. It had to be. Those two clueless, babysitting idiots couldn¡¯t possibly¡ªunder normal circumstances¡ªhave picked up on this before him. Right now, above the imp lord¡¯s head, a series of white, elongated strips of light were rotating around and around, faster and faster. As they did so, they continued to split, creating more white strips and then even more thereafter. Just from the shape and outline of the light, Jimmy knew they were going to transform into some kind of sharp projectile: and that was exactly what they did. Becoming silvery, metallic, and very, very sharp, there were more than a hundred of these objects now floating up above. Each one looked identical to the other: like someone broke off just the blade part of a shortsword and discarded the rest. And these blades were beginning to turn, tilting downwards. ¡°Take cover!¡± Jimmy cried. ¡°If you¡¯re not a tank, get down! If you¡¯re a tank, cover us!¡± Even as the imp lord continued to deliver a punishing series of sword slashes to Spider, who seemed mentally capable of taking any amount of pain, a series of hissing noises filled the air: a distinct sound that reminded Jimmy of incoming missiles. Jimmy took cover behind Ophelia Graven, who knelt down and raised her shield above them both. The hissing then grew louder, taking on more of a whine. And this continued unabated for just a few moments. And then came the contact. CLACK! CLACK! CLACK! A genuine sense of terror spread among the raid as the shield-less adventurers tucked their heads into their chests, placed their hands over their heads, and kept low to the floor, forced to rely on their fellow adventurer to survive. One after the next¡ªand then many all at once¡ªa series of cracks created an almost firecracker-like symphony of noises as these blades came raining down. And though it was probably only about five seconds between the moment the first landed and the moment the last did, it felt way, way longer. CLACK! CLACK! CLACK! CLACK! CLACK! CLACK! Just a moment before the last few had fallen, the sound of a man crying out in pain and anguish reached his ears. Jimmy, risking leaving cover, ran over to him. ¡°Oh, shit! Hey. Hey!¡± He was an older-looking man wearing a set of chainmail armor. One of the blades had pierced him directly through the heart, and blood was dripping out of his mouth. He looked as though he wanted to speak, but he couldn¡¯t. And it was only right now, after all this time, that it actually, truly occurred to Jimmy that people really could die from this. People did die from this. And if this man died, he would be the reason for it. There would be no respawning. There would be no ¡°come back next week.¡± If this man died, Jimmy would be the reason it happened. I can¡¯t let him die! Jimmy, acting quickly, yanked the blade right out of the man¡¯s chest. He knew he probably had a minute¡ªor maybe even just seconds¡ªto save this man¡¯s life before it was too late. And healing magic was not going to cut it: not for a wound this serious and deadly. No, that would require something far, far more powerful than what any of the healers on this raid could provide: even the best of them. Having yanked the blade out of the man¡¯s chest, Jimmy threw it off to the side. Then he called on Bank of Storage. Acting as expediently as he could, he grabbed one of his Red Rejuvenation Stones and his only purple Rejuvenation stone out of storage. He doubted he¡¯d need the yellow. The man hadn¡¯t lost that much blood. The damage was more to his internal organs. Without wasting another moment, Jimmy slapped the purple down onto his chest. It shattered upon impact and disappeared. Then he did the same with the red. Now, he stared into the man¡¯s eyes, desperately hoping not to see the light of life leaving them. For a few seconds, it seemed as though it might have been too late after all. But then the man coughed. Soon after, he choked. And about five seconds following that, he sat up, grabbed his axe, wiped his bloodied mouth with his opposite hand, grabbed his shield, and returned to his feet. ¡°Thanks, kid.¡± With that, he just went straight back into the fight. ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Jimmy muttered. Getting back to his own feet, Jimmy was glad to see that BG3 and BG4 had finally issued a fresh round of debuffs, reducing the boss¡¯s armor, magic resistance, strength, dexterity, and even poison resistance. This was good. Jimmy raised his staff and called down a mine right below where the boss was already stepping. He followed it up by casting his other two area-of-effect poisons, though he cast them high up in the air near the boss¡¯s face to prevent any friendly fire. Now, with all three on the boss, and each ticking away for around 2,500 damage a pop, his Breath of Invigoration bar filled up in no time flat, and he buffed himself. There we go, he thought, feeling rejuvenated. Not long after that, he decided to give the buff to Kalana, who was going absolutely wild now that she was doing a bit more damage. In fact, everyone was. All at once, the entire raid¡¯s output seemed to multiply tremendously. But the distribution wasn¡¯t equal by any means. Though the adventurers using melee weapons were now able to at least make a dent, it still wasn¡¯t anything significant. But the archers and mages, on the other hand, were absolutely annihilating the imp lord. Jimmy watched as a tall man in a white cloak wielding a spell sword slashed at the air; each time he slashed, a wave of fire in the shape of the blade would whoosh through the air and slam into the raid boss. The first of these waves hit for 5,207 damage, the second hit for 4,911, and the rest fell somewhere between. Fluffles, too, was now back to dealing rapid-fire damage, more than 1,200 a lightning bolt. Almost¡ªbut not quite¡ªevery mage was now delivering a real hurting to the boss, whose HP was finally starting to steadily decrease.
HP 4,937,006/5,600,000
Name (T5) Imp Lord Tzumazleth
Level 55
¡°Keep it up!¡± Jimmy shouted out. ¡°Actually, no, wait. Stop! It¡¯s gonna spin! Change formation! Tanks line up, everyone back!¡± Imp Lord Tzumazleth extended its arms to both sides of itself and began to spin on them, his purple-glowing blades blurring together. A bit slow, but still on time, every tank and off-tank on the raid¡ªall fifteen¡ªformed a ring with one another and got behind their shields, trapping the boss inside while everyone else stayed behind them. The result was that the boss bounced around the hastily established perimeter like a ping-pong ball, slamming into one tank, blasting in the opposite direction, and then finding itself pinging off another. This continued for the full eight seconds, and then things returned to ¡°normal,¡± with Maric feeling ready to once more take point on main tanking. This was good. Jimmy smiled. He was finally succeeding. The mages and archers began once more unleashing hell on the boss, dropping him even lower and lower as the tanks had everything under control. The only thing they needed to watch out for was that damn blade-summoning attack. But having survived it once, they were all prepared for it¡ªat least Jimmy was pretty sure that they were. ¡°Oh wow!¡± an adventurer cried out after Jimmy cast Breath of Invigoration on him. ¡°How is this even a real buff?¡± ¡°I know, it¡¯s amazing, right?¡± Kalana asked. With virtually unlimited stamina, the girl was now doing cartwheels, backflips, and any other manner of ridiculous acrobatic stunts in an attempt to hurt the boss a little quicker. It was also terrifying to watch, because for some reason, she seemed to want to climb up to the thing¡¯s face while insisting everybody keep attacking as normal. This was beyond unnerving to watch. Jimmy found himself in utter awe as Kalana dodged incoming arrows and magic from her allies with an almost casual ease while she tore into the back of Imp Lord Tzumazleth¡¯s neck, hitting for an astonishing 8,255 or more each time she pulled one out and plunged the other in. Slowly but surely, the adventurers became accustomed to the imp lord¡¯s variety of attacks. And though Jimmy had hoped the boss wouldn¡¯t call upon it, the boss did end up using the rain of blades thing twice more in the next few minutes, though unlike the first time, everyone managed to get out unscathed. For now, things were starting to go really smoothly. The support was continually debuffing, ensuring they were constantly able to actually hurt the thing, and the tanks were doing a pretty okay job of holding it together. Though some were faring worse than others. Thus far, no one had died, but given the boss¡¯s tremendous strength and fast strikes, numerous adventurers had taken incredibly painful-looking hits, and on three occasions, a red stone had needed to be an administered. And on one very scary occasion, Ophelia had mis-timed a block and ended up losing an arm, a leg, and a big piece of her jaw. Jimmy was sure she¡¯d end up dead. She¡¯d been horribly disfigured and gushing so much blood it looked like a murder scene. Yet incredibly, with two yellows, two reds, and a single purple, she was back to her beautiful self within three minutes. ¡°Nothing compared to that fucking dragon,¡± she¡¯d muttered, still missing a piece of her chin at this point. It had been regrowing even as she spoke. ¡°Compared to that, this isn¡¯t a damn thing.¡± Donovan grunted in agreement. ¡°Fucker changed us all, that¡¯s for sure.¡± With things mostly under control, Jimmy began looking around for any inefficiency he could find in an attempt to hopefully speed things up and get this over with. Each second this dragged on was a second where it all had the potential of falling apart, and God, he was so eager to succeed. He wanted so badly to complete his first raid as raid leader: especially a high level one. This would open up so many doors for him in the adventuring world. All he had to do was get through this boss, which was steadily approaching death¡ªjust not quite fast enough for Jimmy¡¯s taste.
HP 3,774,577/5,600,000
Name (T5) Imp Lord Tzumazleth
Level 55
Reapplying his poisons and spreading around his buff whenever possible, Jimmy carefully concentrated on the outgoing magic damage, particularly from BG3 and BG4. Frowning, he was gripped with the same problem as earlier: it was too damn hard to see everything. He had to constantly turn his head around, lean over people, shove people aside, etc. It was so hard to tell what was going on. Eventually, however, he was able to get a good enough look at things to spot a very real and very serious problem. And it was only now that he remembered something he honestly should¡¯ve considered this entire time. Light magic. Two of the mages were dramatically underperforming compared to their peers. One, a man in a very flashy golden robe, was extending his staff and firing off bullet-shaped streaks of light that were actually too bright to look directly at; these only hit for around 900 damage, which posed as one piece of evidence that Tzumazleth was light resistant just like the Sneering Imp Warriors and Sneering Imp Troublemakers had been. This was doubly confirmed as he saw another person, the woman in the elegant, red, and flower-embroidered dress, sending out those exploding, level-45 wisps she¡¯d told him about earlier. Each time one would sail across the boss room, fly upwards, and detonate with a blinding flash, the boss would be struck for less than 500 despite it looking like such a devastating attack. Tzumazleth is light resistant. There¡¯s no doubt about it. As Jimmy recalled, Zach discovered that at least some of the imps were actually weak to dark. And though that didn¡¯t definitively imply that Imp Lord Tzumazleth would also turn out to be weak to dark, there was certainly a decent possibility, and it was a great place to start. ¡°BG3, BG4!¡± he called out. ¡°Stop using light magic if you can avoid it. In fact, this is for the whole raid: if you can use dark, use it!¡± ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that a coincidence,¡± Zephyr said with a chuckle. Jimmy turned his head. The man had just finished delivering the fourth in a chain of attacks with his Artifact-rarity sword, and now, after yet another, quick slash, the base of it had turned a very dark, shadowy black. Jimmy observed as Zephyr, with a shrug, jumped forward and whipped his blade across at the level of his chest, moving from left to right and delivering a powerful, rushing slash that incredibly struck the boss for 6,200 damage despite only hitting its knee. It also caused the same darkness to be found in the base of the weapon to filter upwards and cover the entirety of the blade. It¡¯s weak to dark all right. The moment Zephyr landed, he hopped up again while slashing directly upwards; for the first time, his sword was cleanly cutting straight through the armor, leaving a nasty-looking trail of bloodied, exposed skin from its lower ankles and up to the front of its shins. It also did 12,925 damage. Now, the bladed part of Zephyr¡¯s sword was even darker and more shadowy than the base of the weapon, and as he began to fall back down, he swung his weapon yet again, but this time in the reverse direction, slicing his sword right back downwards. This caused an actual spray of blood to shoot out of boss¡¯s lower leg while dealing an incredible 17,621. This also put his sword in its final stage of its four elemental stages. Zephyr¡¯s entire weapon had become darker than night itself, and it was casting shadows along the concrete flooring. And unless Jimmy was hallucinating, there seemed to be ghostly whispers coming off the blade, too. God that weapon is sweet. Delivering one final, dark-infused slash, Zephyr sliced open the boss¡¯s ankle, cutting so deeply and with such force that, along with dealing a simply mind-blowing 105,211 damage, it caused Imp Lord Tzumazleth to briefly fall to one knee, where it remained for several seconds before picking itself back up again. Unfortunately, following Zephyr¡¯s next attack, the grip of the weapon lit up green, which meant it had shifted, probably to wind. ¡°Who here can use dark?¡± Jimmy called out, satisfied that he was right about the boss¡¯s weakness. ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± one of the mages replied. ¡°Sorry, Jimmy.¡± ¡°Me neither,¡± said another adventurer: an axe-wielding off-tank who was putting out fairly respectable numbers while sparks danced off his weapon. ¡°Sorry, bud. Dark and light are kinda rare. I can only use fire and lightning.¡± ¡°Wind only for me,¡± Alixa said, shrugging. Hearing denial after denial, Jimmy felt his hopes begin to slump: until a woman¡¯s voice called out to him. ¡°I can make use of dark magic,¡± she said. Jimmy turned to look at her. She¡¯d been the woman in the elegant, red, one-piece dress who¡¯d been summoning the level-45 exploding wisps from a plain wooden staff that was rounded on both ends. ¡°I can use dark wisps instead of the light ones,¡± she said. As if to demonstrate, she waved her staff in the air above her back and forth. Smoke then began to trail from the tip of her staff as a bead of sweat slid down her face. This smoke coalesced, became rounded, and now, a level-45 wisp that was every bit as dark as the ones earlier had been light took off with a dull buzzing in the direction of the raid boss. Jimmy felt a degree of satisfaction as he saw the wisp collide with the right side of Imp Lord Tzumazleth¡¯s face, detonating with a pure black explosion for 44,210 damage. But that wasn¡¯t all. The area of impact continued to burn with black flames for around five seconds after the explosion, and each second, it seemed to deal another 8,200 damage to the boss. ¡°Will that do?¡± ¡°Yep. Sure will! Thank you, uh¡­¡± Jimmy read the name above her head, visible only because of the fact they were in a raid together. ¡°Thank you, Emala.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome!¡± ¡°Keep it up,¡± he said, smiling politely. She seemed like a sweet, but somewhat eerie woman: one that was incredibly powerful and clearly had magical abilities that were almost certainly ¡°unique.¡± Jimmy was surprised he had never heard her name come up in conversation before, as she struck him as someone who was unusually powerful for a mage: enough so that, by now, someone ought to have caught wind of just how freakishly strong she was. Come to think of it, she wasn¡¯t even primarily a user of magic, was she? She¡¯d been buffing earlier, hadn¡¯t she? And debuffing. And healing. And unless he was mistaken, she¡¯d even briefly gone in for melee attacks on the boss at one point. She was really gifted. Someone to keep an eye on for future raids. For now, though, he decided to cast Breath of Invigoration on her, as she looked like she was becoming a bit exhausted. ¡°Hey, Jimmy, I can also use dark,¡± a male voice said, the sound of it coming from somewhere behind and to his left. Jimmy turned around to see Ishina¡¯s father removing his arrowless quiver from his back. His muttered something under his breath, and then his left hand began to darken until it became covered in a sort of shadowy haze, which lasted only until he tapped his palm three times against the quiver. Afterwards, it returned to its normal color, and he once more strapped the quiver to his back. Now, whenever he reached behind, made a pinching gesture, and pulled an arrow into existence from out of nothingness, the arrow seemed to be giving off some of that same, shadowy aura. And boy did it hurt the raid boss. Firing one straight between Tzumazleth¡¯s eyes, he contributed a very-much appreciated 18,225 damage. Okay, now we¡¯re in business. Yeah boy! Things were going very good now: very, very good. As Jimmy ordered BG3 and BG4 to apply a fresh set of debuffs, and as he himself reapplied his poisons and offered Breath of Invigoration to whoever he felt was struggling the most, he was starting to feel extremely positive about the way things were going. Too good, actually. No, wait, seriously. Too good. Way too damn good. He frowned as he saw the boss¡¯s HP draining in a way that was just too fast. And yes, that was a problem.
HP 2,605,001/5,600,000
Name (T5) Imp Lord Tzumazleth
Level 55
Jimmy spun back around, and sure enough, the source of the massive increase in damage was none other than Emala, who aided by Breath of Invigoration, had begun launching an endless volley of level-45 dark wisps at the raid boss. This, on the surface, seemed like it should be a good thing. But it wasn¡¯t. God, it really wasn¡¯t. And thus, amid all the triumph he had only just been feeling, a fresh wave of panic crashed into him, but he nevertheless kept himself from drowning beneath it. ¡°Emala, slow the hell down!¡± he shouted at her. ¡°You too, Ishina¡¯s dad!¡± ¡°My name¡¯s Frenk.¡± ¡°I know, I can see that. But look, dude, you and Emala need to slow down now. You¡¯re gonna pull aggro off the tanks if you don¡¯t chill. I know I said I wanted you both to do more damage, but not this much this fast.¡± ¡°Understood. Sorry,¡± Frenk said. His daughter had gone completely quiet and still looked terribly embarrassed. Jimmy turned back around¡ªonly to see more of the wisps flying at an even faster rate. Now, with a growl, he spun himself one-eighty and glared at the woman. ¡°What did I just say, Emala?¡± Emala¡¯s face had become flush with what Jimmy took to be worry. ¡°I¡­I can¡¯t control it,¡± she said. ¡°Stop sending those out!¡± He pointed at the gigantic ring of wisps that were surrounding her like some kind of army. There were dozens of them. Emala visibly gulped. ¡°You don¡¯t understand,¡± she said, as one of the wisps broke apart and buzzed their way over to the raid boss. ¡°Once I summon them, they go to their target after a random delay, and they do this no matter what. I can¡¯t control them anymore.¡± A sinking feeling erupted in Jimmy¡¯s stomach. A sense of wrongness too great to ignore. ¡°Rope out!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± she said. She glanced downwards, and Jimmy saw that there was a rope by her feet. ¡°For some reason it¡¯s not working!¡± Because she¡¯s technically still attacking. It probably doesn¡¯t work if you¡¯re still actively launching an attack! Jimmy swore. How could he possibly know this would be a consequence of him giving her the buff? He tried to keep himself calm. Nervously, he glanced over his shoulder. The rate things were going, there was no way the tanks were going to be able to taunt aggro off her. ¡°Is there anything you can do?¡± Jimmy asked her. ¡°To stop or slow down.¡± She shook her head. Then her face turned a very sickly, pale shade. ¡°Am¡­am I going to die, Jimmy?¡± ¡°Absolutely not.¡± She trembled as two more of the wisps broke free of the ring around her and slammed into the boss for extraordinary damage. Jimmy tried to think. In the past, no matter how serious a situation or how deep of shit he stepped in, he always found a way out of it. It just had to come to him. So he thought, and he thought, and he thought, and as he did, more wisps continued to rapid fire off the stockpile of them she¡¯d summoned. And it was only after another five had erupted into black flames, which left a lingering, powerful DOT, that Jimmy, to his own horror, realized he couldn¡¯t think of anything. Nothing at all. ¡°Maric!¡± he called out. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Taunt harder. You¡¯re gonna lose aggro!¡± ¡°Huh? Why?¡± He pointed at Emala. ¡°Because she¡¯s doing a third of all the damage that¡¯s being put into the boss right now.¡± Donovan and Zephyr snapped their heads in Jimmy¡¯s direction, and they did so in such a way that told Jimmy they were genuinely surprised. Up until now, they¡¯d been acting as though they were ¡°secretly¡± in control despite Jimmy refusing to let that be the case. But now, they gave up the charade. ¡°How the hell is she doing that?¡± Donovan shouted out. ¡°My buff,¡± Jimmy told him. ¡°Oh, wait, I never told you about Breath of Invigoration.¡± Briefly, he described it, and a look of both amazement and immediate frustration came over Donovan¡ªand Zephyr, too. They began exchanging concerned glances, and then Donovan, without even asking for Jimmy¡¯s input, said, ¡°Emala, rope out.¡± ¡°Like I told Jimmy, I can¡¯t.¡± Another wisp shot forward, hitting the raid boss for 21,600 damage. ¡°Don, please, I don¡¯t wanna die. I didn¡¯t mean to screw up. I swear.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right. Here¡¯s what we¡¯re gonna¡ª¡± ¡°I am the raid leader,¡± Jimmy insisted, speaking over him. ¡°You said so yourself. Here¡¯s what we¡¯re actually gonna do. We¡¯re gonna assign you two tanks, and¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s on me!¡± she shrieked, even as Jimmy was speaking. Out of nowhere, literally between one hit and the next, the gigantic raid boss stopped attacking Maric, pulled back a bit, and then turned its body towards Emala. And now, for the first time during this raid, Jimmy felt true fear. Because if there was one thing an entire lifetime of gaming had taught him, it was how terrible a nightmare it was whenever a caster got aggro during a raid or even just a normal encounter fighting mobs. For every ten people who played ranged DPS, eight of them would begin running around in circles like a headless chicken instead of standing still and waiting for a tank to peel. Or better yet, running to a tank. They all did the headless chicken run thing. And that was in a game. If people in a video game were too scared to control their impulses not to push buttons on a keyboard, how much worse would it be in real life? It could spiral into a raid wipe very, very easily as the healers struggled to keep up, then ended up inadvertently pulling aggro onto themselves, as well. Oh no, he thought. Please, God, tell me this one bitch¡¯s wisp spell ain¡¯t about to fuck over the entire raid. Its wings buzzing loudly and in a way that mimicked a chainsaw, Imp Lord Tzumazleth lifted up into the air and then soared across the room in her direction. ¡°Do not run,¡± Jimmy said to her. ¡°Emala, please, listen to me. Do not¡ª¡± ¡°Help me!¡± she shrieked, taking off at a sprint in the wrong goddamn direction¡ªcompletely opposite to where the tanks were residing. ¡°Don¡¯t run!¡± Jimmy cried, chasing after her. God, what he wouldn¡¯t give to be able to use an ability like Phase Rescue right now¡ªassuming he was recalling the name of Zach¡¯s ability correctly. ¡°Emala, stop!¡± The boss flew over his head, and then it slammed itself down in front of her. Jimmy didn¡¯t know what to do. He didn¡¯t know how to get to her in time. The boss raised its swords. This was it. He was going to be responsible for this girl¡¯s death. He¡¯d given her the buff that she¡¯d used to pull the aggro. He¡¯d basically caused this. His desire to be a raid leader¡­the only thing he was going to lead was to this girl¡¯s brutal, violent death. ¡°Please!¡± she screamed. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna die! I don¡¯t wanna¡ª¡± The boss slammed its swords down, and then it was done. Or at least it should have been. It really, really should have been. Yet against all odds, Emala, at least for the time being, continued to live and breathe. And it was all because Kalana existed. On the heels of a bright orange flame that ripped across the world even faster than the boss and even burned itself through the boss for 8,211 damage, Kalana appeared from out of this flame. She then spun her body around, yelled out a battle cry at a volume louder than what Jimmy thought her capable of producing, and she swung her two comparatively tiny daggers at the two incoming swords, which were so large when contrasted with her own weapons that it was almost comical. Yet incredibly, as Kalana shouted out with the exertion and effort of her dual parrying strikes, her two daggers knocked away the two blades and temporarily put the raid boss off balance. She then seized on this moment to sheathe her daggers, pick up Emala, throw the girl over her shoulders, and take off like a rocket; this, as more wisps continued to shoot out from a cluster of them that maintained a constant position above Emala, where they would then explode against the out-of-control raid boss. Worse, the mad dash to keep Emala away was starting to have unintended consequences. Jimmy screamed for them to stop as the boss, in its pursuit of Emala, knocked over and badly injured several out-of-place adventurers as it ran, rather than flew after her. ¡°Looks like ya need some help,¡± Donovan said to him. ¡°You did good for your first time. Zeph and I got it from here.¡± ¡°Nah, man!¡± he shouted at them, furious more so at Donovan than Zephyr. ¡°Don¡¯t fucking ask me to call it quits. All right? It¡¯s starting to look like ya¡¯ll want me to fail.¡± Donovan glared at him, and it was intimidating to say the least, but Jimmy was now too charged up to care. ¡°What I wanted was for you to experience a challenge so you could see shit¡¯s not as easy as you think it is, kiddo.¡± Jimmy looked over his shoulder and witnessed the raid turn to chaos as ten adventurers were trampled; he hoped to God they didn¡¯t die. He rubbed his head in frustration. Everything was going to hell. And so quickly, too. ¡°Well, you got what you wanted.¡± ¡°No, you fuckin¡¯ idiot!¡± Donovan growled at him. He even struck Jimmy, hard, across the back, and it almost took Jimmy off his feet. ¡°You met every damn challenge Zeph and I expected you to stumble on. This ain¡¯t one of them.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Zephyr said. ¡°We wanted you to learn some humility, Jimmy, but you were better than we thought you¡¯d be. Much better. We fully expected to step in at some point, but as of just a few minutes ago, we realized you really were about to lead this raid to success. But this is not something you could¡¯ve predicted, and neither could we¡ªso we need to take control of this situation. You¡¯re just not ready to handle a raid crisis like this yet.¡± Jimmy exploded with anger. ¡°I am! The two of ya¡¯ll don¡¯t realize I was brought here by a literal God to do this.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mean shit,¡± Donovan said, spitting out a wad of saliva. ¡°If you don¡¯t step aside, you¡¯re gonna learn the lesson Zeph and I wanted you to learn, but it ain¡¯t gonna be the way we wanted you to learn it, kiddo.¡± ¡°You¡¯re wrong. I¡¯ve got this.¡± Donovan and Zephyr exchanged glances. ¡°If it looks like he¡¯s going to get a single one of us killed, we¡¯re taking back leadership,¡± Zephyr said. ¡°Obviously.¡± Jimmy ignored their bullshit. He was the raid leader, and he was going to fix this. Yet to his horror, he noticed that at least twenty members of the raid¡ªa full third¡ªwere currently desperately calling upon their recently purchased red stones to either mend their own broken bones or the bones of those nearby. The boss¡¯s wild dashing around had somehow done more damage than any of its actual, deliberate attacks. ¡°Did anyone die?¡± he shouted as he ran past the bunch of them. ¡°Please tell me!¡± ¡°I think we¡¯re all okay,¡± Reni Sarwin moaned. ¡°You did good. Get Don back in charge now.¡± Jimmy hissed angrily. ¡°I¡¯ve got everything under control.¡± Reni sat up, looked at him, and then plopped himself right back down. ¡°We¡¯re all dead.¡± I¡¯ll show them, Jimmy thought frantically. I know I can do this. I¡¯m not gonna humiliate myself in front of everybody! To Kalana, Jimmy shouted, ¡°Kal, you need to stop running!¡± Without looking back as she led the boss on this wild chase, she said, ¡°I can¡¯t! Emala will die!¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡­but we gotta figure something else¡ª¡± Jimmy dove forward and hugged his knees into his chest as Imp Lord Tzumazleth stormed by. He came so close to being trampled to death that it didn¡¯t seem real. To both sides of him were small craters in the concrete, mere inches from where he was standing. He¡¯d literally slipped through the gap in the thing¡¯s two legs. Quickly, he scrambled back up to his feet. Then he saw another explosion of black flame as the imp lord was hit yet again. Maybe I can work with this, he thought, as a return of his confidence and enthusiasm began to pick up. I can! I can actually work with this! ¡°Kal! Change of plans. Don¡¯t stop!¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t gonna!¡± ¡°Tell Emala to keep summoning wisps.¡± ¡°Ask him if he¡¯s crazy,¡± he barely heard Emala say while she continued to ride on Kalana¡¯s back. ¡°Jimmy! Emala wants to know if you¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°I heard! And nah, I¡¯m not. I know how we can beat this thing now!¡± ¡°How?¡± Jimmy had to really raise his voice to be heard as they were now on direct opposite sides of the large, fishbowl-shaped room. ¡°You¡¯re just gonna kite it while we blast it away from behind!¡± ¡°Great idea!¡± Kalana shouted back to him. ¡°But first we need to¡ªuh oh. Jimmy! Above you!¡± ¡°Above me?¡± Jimmy looked up. And then he recoiled in horror as he saw dozens upon dozens of the blades floating stationary near the ceiling in the middle of the boss-encounter room. They were nowhere near the boss itself, yet they nevertheless had been summoned. Jimmy had no idea that was possible. He thought the boss summoned them over its own head¡ªwhich was how it¡¯d happened the past few times. But now, with the boss running around, it somehow left its own attack behind, which meant Jimmy wasn¡¯t paying attention and didn¡¯t see it. Oh fuck. Fuck this is so bad. I really don¡¯t know what to do this time. ¡°Get behind the tanks!¡± Jimmy called out. ¡°Everybody, hide behind tanks! We all about to get hit with that rain of blades attack!¡± ¡°Again?¡± a bunch of them cried out as they glanced upwards. Adventurers, many with broken or fractured bones, all picked themselves up and either walked, limped, or ran towards whatever tank or off-tank they could reach. Yet it wasn¡¯t clear they¡¯d make it in time as the blades began shooting straight down as though attached to a propulsion system. Hissing sounds formed in the air, and the adventurers, some with shattered legs, nevertheless dove to cover near the tanks. Jimmy looked around, terrified that some would die¡ªthat even one would die. But thank God. Thank the dear Lord in heaven¡ªeveryone made it to cover. Wait. Not everyone. Why am I still standing out in the open? Something flicked by Jimmy¡¯s vision. Something moving fast and making a loud hiss. Then something else crossed his vision to his side. ¡°Move!¡± Donovan shouted, shoving him. With a pain so great it made Jimmy wonder if he¡¯d just broken his ribs, Donovan bulldozed him out of the way of a falling blade that would have gone straight through the top of his head, likely killing him instantly with no chance to use a healing stone. Yet even as his body was thrown off to the side, he still did not escape unscathed. And now, for the very first time since not only coming to Galterra, but in Jimmy¡¯s entire damn life, he discovered what ¡°pain¡± was. Having narrowly avoided decapitation, the blade, which moved too fast for Jimmy to track with his eyes, began to spin as it fell its last bit of distance. This spinning gave it a slicing force. And slice was exactly what it did. From the top of his left breast all the way down to his hip, Jimmy was opened up like a man on an operating table. He could see it as it happened. He could feel it as it happened, too. He witnessed his robe slice clean off his body, suffering a full armor break, and then the skin cut off in tandem. What¡­? Jimmy¡¯s mouth opened. His lips quivered. He trembled. He glanced downward. He could now see into his own ribcage. He could see the bone. He could see the blood flooding out of him. And it hurt. It hurt so much he couldn¡¯t breathe. He couldn¡¯t even react. But more than anything else, he now truly, without even a shadow of a doubt, knew that everything that was happening to him was and had been real. The pain was so intense on such a level that even the slightest lingering doubt was chased right out of him. The pain activated something inside of him that he didn¡¯t even know was there at all. Just yesterday, when an assassin had come to claim his life, he had stood up to the man bravely. Because there was this tiny part of him: this tiny, but very significant part that did not believe any of this was or could be real. But the pain? It made it real. He took a hit so bad that it made it real. He screamed out in agony. This wasn¡¯t a simulation. No computer program could hurt this bad. He was really here, in real life, in this dungeon, and he was dying. His biological processes kicked the ever-loving shit out of his brain, and it took control over him. In this moment, he feared death. He was afraid. Nothing in his entire life had ever hurt him this badly. With his hand trembling as fiercely as someone suffering from hypothermia, he touched his bloodied, torn, and ripped flesh. Then he fell onto his side, shaking fiercely. I¡¯m dying. Momma, please help me. It hurt. The burning. The squeezing. It was a deep, fiery, unbearable sensation as blood drained out of him. He¡¯d failed. He¡¯d been too confident. He tried so hard, but that woman was wrong about him. He was no leader. He didn¡¯t belong here. Why did he ever think he could do this? Momma, please, it hurts. He was delusional. He was a joke. He wanted his mother. He felt cold. So cold. The pain started to lessen a little bit the more he bled. But he didn¡¯t cry. That just wasn¡¯t his way. No, instead he merely hated himself. Donovan and Zephyr were right. Even as he bled out onto the concrete, he could see the raid falling into shambles. Or it almost did. Maybe that would¡¯ve been better in a sick sort of way. With him having been downed, the two guild-leaders regained control. With powerful, booming voices, they began barking out commands. Donovan shouted that if Kalana didn¡¯t stop running immediately, he¡¯d ¡°cut Zach¡¯s balls off.¡± This seemed to work. Donovan managed to wrangle a bunch of tanks to form a protective wall in front of Emala, and slowly, control was regained. Expertly, too. They knew what they were doing. I¡¯m a fucking fraud, Jimmy thought. He watched enviously as Donovan and Zephyr performed so well as raid leaders that they almost made it seem boring and uneventful. Was that how easy this raid would have been all along if they¡¯d been leading from the start? Had this raid only been challenging because Jimmy had been the one leading it? It sure seemed that way. I¡¯ve been lying to myself. I¡¯m nothing! What a shame that the last thing he¡¯d do before he closed his eyes forever was open them properly for the first time. Donovan and Zephyr managed to get things back under control in a way that actually seemed trivial. Why couldn¡¯t I do that? How did this happen? Goddammit! Why couldn¡¯t that be me? ¡°Zephyr, handle shit here.¡± ¡°I got it. Take care of Jimmy.¡± ¡°Jimmy?¡± Kalana and Tena asked. Then both turned their heads in his direction, and both yelled more loudly than even he had after being struck, storming their way over to him along with Donovan. Jimmy could only see Donovan¡¯s plate-covered feet as they ran across the concrete towards him. He already had a red stone in his hand. ¡°You¡¯re all right, kiddo,¡± he said. If I somehow live through this, no one is gonna ever trust me again after this. I blew it. Resentment and anger boiled over, and Jimmy, with the last bit of his strength, actually tried to swat the red stone out of Donovan¡¯s hand. This seemed to make the man laugh. It was almost as though he approved of Jimmy doing that. Painfully, Donovan pressed the red stone down onto Jimmy¡¯s torn apart skin. And now the pain increased tenfold as his body began to heal itself. At least before, the blood loss had made him numb. Now, the burning, stinging, and aching were back. He screamed. How could he not? It was like being cut open in reverse. It burned. It sizzled. ¡°Jimmy, baby,¡± Tena said. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Talk to us,¡± Kalana added. ¡°No thanks.¡± He looked away from them. He called upon Bank of Storage even as he was healing. It didn¡¯t work. It had an hour cooldown and he¡¯d used it just before. But wait. On the ground next to Ishina was the rope she¡¯d dropped at the start of the raid. He crawled along the concrete over to it, and he grabbed it. Then they tried to grab him, but it was Donovan of all people who pushed them away. ¡°Let him go.¡± As bad as that just hurt, the agonizing pain was somehow still not even a fraction as crippling as the humiliation. He didn¡¯t want the girls pitying him. That made it a billion times worse. He couldn¡¯t stand being here a second longer. He¡¯d disgraced himself. Luckily, Ishina didn¡¯t seem to mind if he borrowed her rope. She said nothing to him. He didn¡¯t care either way. He was going to use it no matter what. He wanted out. Because fuck all this. He was done. He was done with this. No more dungeons. No more raids. He was quitting. He was done. Donovan got what he wanted after all. He was calling it quits. He didn¡¯t want to see or speak to anyone. Maybe ever again. He just suffered a humiliation so terrible he doubted anyone in this world could understand it. All that confidence. All that bluster. Only to be proven wrong in such a pathetic way. ¡°Done with all this shit,¡± he muttered weakly, barely able to remain standing. Even as the boss was being finished off, he roped out. ¡°I¡¯m done.¡± ¡°Jimmy, you can¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°Get back to the raid, Kalana,¡± Donovan growled at her. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with him later.¡± ***** He¡¯d made too much noise. Now, Zach steeled himself as he heard what sounded like hundreds of marching boots, and he spotted dozens of flashlights approaching the boardwalk. It was okay, though. He was prepared for this happening. Right now, he needed his heart to be cold, so it was. He needed his senses to be sharp, and so they were, too. What drove him was knowing that, despite the horrors he¡¯d inflicted so far tonight, he truly was doing what was right. He didn¡¯t want to do this. He hated it. He hated it so much. But it was right. Because if not him, then who? As shouting voices, marching boots, and more flashlights approached, Zach activated Shadow Merge. His hands, feet, and even his equipment all faded out of existence. He was like a ghost. For thirty seconds, he was completely invisible to the eyes of anyone who wasn¡¯t an Elf or a Gnome. He needed to move fast. Chapter 151: One-Man Army Chapter 151: One-Man Army Zach needed to hurry. They found the bodies. Sirens rang out in the middle of the night, alarming an already traumatized population. Whistles were blown. Spotlights erected. But all of that was behind him now on the beach from where he¡¯d exited Yorna¡¯s. He¡¯d hoped to be farther along by this point, yet he¡¯d done as much as he could with the half a minute of invisibility that he¡¯d had. Luckily, only very, very few of the structures in Shadowfall Coast were taller than five or six stories. This made it relatively easy for Zach to proceed unnoticed as he journeyed farther into the city. With a soft click, he landed in a crouch atop a four-story building. He immediately sprang back up, sprinted to the other end of the roof, and leapt into the air. The ocean¡¯s breeze and the smell of burnt ash melded together as the wind blasted into his face. Having flung himself forward, he could see troops and a few guild members patrolling the street below even this late at night. He was grateful that they didn¡¯t look up as he flew over them. A moment later, he landed on the railed-off rooftop of a three-story school building. He continued to sprint ahead the instant his feet touched down. Pumping his arms as he ran, he dashed his way along it, then jumped forward and off the other end. Have to be careful here. There was a pretty big, wide-open park between the school and the next building in the distance, and it appeared to be very lightly patrolled. Thus, he let his momentum carry him as far as it could. Once he began to fall, Zach flipped his body face-down and extended his right palm, slapping it on top of a set of monkey bars in an enclosed, fenced-in playground, which brought him to a halt. Bending his elbow, he performed something of a one-armed, upside-down pushup, which sprang him back up and off the monkey bars, where he then spun himself right-side up midair before dropping down onto the soft grass below. Wasting no time, he took off farther into the night, but not before sending his foot forward and kicking down the locked fence barring his passage. Afterwards, he began racing through the park. They don¡¯t know it¡¯s me, he thought as the sound of emergency vehicles echoed from the street behind him. They all sounded like they were heading towards the beach. They don¡¯t know why I¡¯m here. As Zach stormed his way across the park, he tried not to focus on the jarring sounds of distress coming across over the Comm that he¡¯d stolen. He was hearing a whole lot of things that he¡¯d really much rather not listen to, yet it was important that he continue to eavesdrop just in case something came up related to Vim. So far, nothing relating to the leader of the Royal Roses had been said over the Comm. It¡¯d mostly just been a bunch of chatter from primarily young guild members and troops that gave off a steadily increasing level of shock and fear. Even before the bodies had been found, there¡¯d been a significant amount of panic coming from the Guild of Gentlemen. They seemed to be aware that Mr. Oren and the Elves were about to launch another attack on the city, and it had been the only topic of discussion up until a patrol group stumbled upon a few of the corpses that Zach had left behind. This led to them immediately searching the area¡ªonly to find even more of them. Each time, Zach felt a tugging sensation in his chest as he listened to their reactions upon finding the people he¡¯d butchered. But now, one in particular really tested the limits of his resolve. ¡°Gods, no, please!¡± a woman screamed into the Comm. ¡°Aelor¡¯s dead!¡± What followed was a moment of shrieking, then wailing, and finally, sobbing. ¡°Please, you have to calm down,¡± a male voice said to her. ¡°You were ordered to remain at your post. You can¡¯t just¡ª¡± ¡°My husband! They killed my husband! I want the queen¡¯s head for this! I want Elf blood!¡± ¡°Calm down!¡± ordered the commanding voice of someone Zach believed was named Gaelan Malakor, the sixth in command of the Guild of Gentlemen. This, Zach had picked up just by listening to them for the past few minutes. It¡¯d been enough to piece out a few details, including the man¡¯s rank, his name, and the fact that he seemed to be in charge of the patrols in the city. ¡°Forgive her, Sir Malakor,¡± a man said over the Comm. ¡°One of the KIA is her husband.¡± ¡°You have my condolences,¡± Sir Malakor said, now seemingly addressing her directly. ¡°But this is a hard time for us all. You have my leave to take as much time off as you need to mourn. But please: you need to abstain from speaking again on this Comm frequency. Clear communication is the best way for us to find the rotten, Elvish son of a bitch who killed your loved one.¡± Zach knew he should be relieved by the fact that they suspected an ¡°Elvish infiltrator¡± of being responsible for the things he¡¯d done. And in a way, he was glad¡ªat least from a mission standpoint¡ªthat they had no clue he was here or what he was attempting to do. But from a different, more emotional position, he felt guilty that his deeds were being blamed on the Elves. Not that Queen Vayra would mind, of course. She definitely wouldn¡¯t. If anything, she¡¯d want them to think she¡¯d killed their kin. It was more that Zach, on a deeper level, felt like he deserved to be blamed for what he¡¯d done, justified or not. I can¡¯t pretend I¡¯m not doing what I¡¯m doing. As he made his way across the park unseen, he reached the point where a row of large bushes in front of a chest-high fence marked the dividing line between the park and the sidewalk. A moment before he would¡¯ve dashed right through the fence, onto the street, into traffic, and possibly roaming patrols, Zach stopped, squatted down to his knees, and then jumped into the air while propelling himself forward, exerting a great deal of strength in his legs in the process. In defiance of gravity, he launched himself upwards and into the air, feeling a churning sensation in his stomach as he rose more than eighty feet in height. Then he began to plummet, falling faster and faster until touching down with a hasty forward-roll onto the top of a five-story apartment complex. Very quickly, he completed his roll, jumped straight back up to his feet, drew his sword, spun around full circle, and delivered a fast and lethal cleaving strike into the belly of a level-1 guard stationed on the rooftop. The sight of a fast-moving splash of blood accompanied the sound of tearing flesh and ripping cloth as Zach fatally opened the man up before he could react. His guts and intestines spilled out of him, and he stared at Zach as though confused. Then, the man, armed with a prehistoric-looking, bolt-action rifle, murmured something indecipherable and fell over on his side, his weapon dropping out of his arms and landing beside him. ¡°The Gods damn it all,¡± Zach muttered to himself, wiping off his blood-soaked blade on the deceased troop¡¯s uniform. Most likely, with the expectation of an impending invasion, they¡¯d once more begun the process of relocating forces onto rooftops to serve as snipers. Zach needed to get in and get out before this place became any more locked down than it already was. Sheathing his blade, he stepped around the dead soldier and walked slowly to the opposite end of the roof. As best he could amid the dark of night, he peered out into the distance, searching for where to proceed. He knew they were storing Vim in the very southwestern reaches of the city in a human-made dungeon constructed out of ancient building materials from the adventuring world that could contain someone higher than level 1. Zach was well aware that such things existed, as Olivir had bound him with restraints back on Archian Prime that he could not break free of. Hopefully, Zach had enough strength to break whatever needed breaking when he got to Vim. I didn¡¯t come all this way to fail! Now, where is this place? One of the members of the Guild of Gentlemen that he¡¯d interrogated had claimed that the dungeon¡¯s entrance looked like a giant, round, and metal vault door, and that it was partially obscured, nestled between two large, but single-story warehouses at the end of a row of factories in Shadowfall Coast¡¯s manufacturing district. If so, he wasn¡¯t far. Ahead of him, he could see smoke, though not the smoke of war: but of engineering. Incidentally, this would be one of the places Fylwen and Mr. Oren would be striking in a few hours, as it was one of the locations they seemed to believe had a high chance of being used for weapons manufacturing. Personally, Zach thought it seemed a bit too obvious. This would be the first place an enemy would check. Stepping forward, he wrapped both his hands around the rooftop¡¯s rusted, metal safety railing, and then he hopped over it and quicky turned himself around. Now, dangling over the edge, he held himself in place just until his legs stopped swaying, and then he released the safety railing and let himself go; this, he did to ensure that he fell straight downwards in a controlled and careful way. The wind beat against him as he picked up speed; given it was only five stories, he landed in just a few seconds. Though it wasn¡¯t necessary, he touched down in a crouch, something he¡¯d actually learned from observing Kalana. By doing so, it dampened some of the sound. And thus, there was only a small click as he found himself facing the part of the city where homes and businesses slowly gave way to more industrial manufacturing centers. ¡°Are we sure an Elf did this?¡± a man asked over the Comm. ¡°If the intruder came through the dungeons, it was probably one of Donovan¡¯s people, no?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous,¡± Gaelan Malakor replied. ¡°Adventurers wouldn¡¯t dare. We know from the dragon incident that the Elvish can use the portals too. Almost certainly, we¡¯re dealing with a scouting party sent to cause chaos ahead of the invading force coming our way. We must not give in to hysteria or absurd conspiracy theories.¡± ¡°Understood, Sir Malakor.¡± ¡°Keep strong and keep vigilant!¡± Zach, with his hood drawn, began to walk casually and calmly down the nearest sidewalk as he made his way to where he was fairly sure he¡¯d find the ¡°dungeon¡± entrance. Though he definitely stood out, it was well after midnight, his face was concealed, and they were looking out for an Elf, not him. Also, there didn¡¯t appear to be any patrols in this particular part of the city right now. It was just ordinary citizens, which meant the level of risk to him was low. With that in mind, Zach risked openly strolling down one street after the next, and to his surprise, though he was given sidelong glances from numerous citizens along the way, no one actually bothered him. They must have assumed him to be a member of the guild dressed in non-standard attire or something. Even with his sword visible on his back, they simply avoided him. Thanks to the hood of his cloak, which concealed his face in shadow, they would not recognize him even if they looked directly at him. Really, it was only his adventuring equipment that threatened to draw suspicion. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°We¡¯re closed,¡± an obnoxious-sounding man said to him literally out of nowhere, drawing Zach¡¯s attention. He was standing in the frame of a dusty old shop halfway down this particular city block that sold rare electronic parts for antique devices. ¡°Did you hear me, kid, I said we¡¯re closed!¡± ¡°The fuck? I wasn¡¯t planning on going in your store, sir. I didn¡¯t even look at your store.¡± ¡°Yeah? Well, you can¡¯t come in, so¡­¡± ¡°So nothing,¡± Zach said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning on entering.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter if you were or weren¡¯t. You can¡¯t.¡± He tapped the door to his shop like it was an old, trusted vessel that had sailed the world¡¯s seas. He laughed smugly. ¡°Nope. You¡¯re not allowed in.¡± Dismissively, Zach flicked his hand at the man and continued on his way. The guy was clearly just some lunatic. Ignoring him, he marched about ten or so steps down the block. Then he stopped, tensed up angrily, and took another few steps¡ªonly to stop in place yet again. Now, he muttered a swear under his breath and began walking directly backwards to where he¡¯d just been. ¡°Okay, you know what? Fuck your stupid shitty store,¡± he said with a growl. ¡°Is this like some kind of power trip or something?¡± he asked the chubby, disgruntled-looking man. ¡°Do you just randomly tell people they can¡¯t come into your store because it makes you feel, like, I don¡¯t know, powerful or something?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Wait, really?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Zach shrugged. ¡°Okay. Well, that argument is over with.¡± ¡°Haha! You¡¯ll never get to know just how good our prices are,¡± he taunted. Zach continued on his way. Yet even as he did so, he was mad at himself, because now he wanted to go into the store just to see what was so special. It wasn¡¯t until he¡¯d crossed another two blocks that he realized the mean, bitter store owner was actually some kind of sales super genius. When Shadowfall Coast was peaceful again, and all this horribleness was over, Zach now had to come back and see what that Gods-be-damned guy was selling. In fact, he would much rather think about the man¡¯s prices than the soldier he¡¯d just gutted a few blocks away. He¡¯d rather think about anything than that. How good can the prices possibly be? he wondered. He¡¯s bluffing. For the next half hour, Zach continued his way southwest, and in doing so, it reminded him of something very important: something he hoped others could bring themselves to see. In particular, that the people of Shadowfall Coast were odd. They were a bit quirky. They had very weird ways of interacting with each other and tourists alike¡ªespecially potential customers. But they were good people. They were really good people. Even that store owner who put on an act just to get him interested in his wares: he, and those like him, were a big part of what gave this homely city such a distinct feel. Yes, the citizens here were miserably racist towards anyone not human, but that was something instilled into them by the Guild of Gentlemen. They were indoctrinated, likely from birth, and it wasn¡¯t all their fault. Some of it, maybe. But the ordinary people couldn¡¯t just be condemned. How could they be? Their whole lives, they¡¯d been told that their struggles with upward mobility were the fault of the Dwarves, or the Lizardmen, or the Orcs. This, despite it clearly being the fault of Peter IV¡ªor maybe not. That actually wasn¡¯t clear anymore. What was clear was that, at their core, Zach did not believe them to be deserving of what had and what would happen to them. They were good people at heart. He knew it. This caused him to feel even more conflicted about things. He knew what needed to be done. There would be no future for humanity or even the world while the Guild of Gentlemen remained in control of this city. Even still, the coming battles would be nothing like the organized, small-scale, open-field combat fought primarily along political grounds for a century. And they wouldn¡¯t even be like the battles that had only just taken place¡ªand which left a smell in the air that still had yet to fade. No, something far worse was coming. He could feel it in his gut. Anyone could. Even just a cursory glance at social media was enough for Zach to realize this. I¡¯ve never seen people hate each other this much before, he thought. Right now, ordinary citizens from regions controlled by the Royal Roses, People of Virtue, and other non-Guild-of-Gentlemen territories were calling for war. This was something that would never feel normal to him. It was so strange that it felt totally unreal. It was at odds with how things usually were and were meant to be. It had always been the case that war was the sort of thing the guilds did with each other and normal people just shrugged off. Like, when Zach was a small boy and the Whispery Woods region¡ªthen controlled by the Guild of Gentlemen¡ªhad hosted a field battle against the forces of the Royal Roses from Giant¡¯s Fall, nobody actually cared who won. Only guild nerds and fanboys actually paid attention to that. It was all ego-based bullshit between rich, powerful, and leveled men and women. Therefore, when the Royal Roses had won a battle against the Guild of Gentlemen, nobody in Whispery Woods hated the citizens of Giant¡¯s Fall as a result of it. Even the thought of that was outrageous. Of course it was! After all, the people were not at war with each other: the guilds were. The only ordinary people who fought were those who voluntarily chose to do so for money, and they had to sign waiver after waiver acknowledging the risk and their desire to participate. When a loved one died in a war, it was viewed as something they chose to do, not something they had to do. But Gods, this was different. The attack on Ogre¡¯s Axe had sparked something completely new¡ªsomething terrifying. As a result of the nuclear weapon, normal, ordinary people were speaking like they themselves were part of the guilds. Pulling out his phone, Zach could see it for himself, and it was undeniable. It had spread even down to his friends from school, who not long ago, couldn¡¯t be paid to care about these kinds of matters. ¡°We need to kill every fucking one of them,¡± was one comment Zach spotted in his feed. ¡°@AvengeTheDeaddd Agree fuck racist POS Shadowfall Coast. Can¡¯t wait to see Lord Oren stomp them into the ground. #WEDONOTSURRENDER.¡± ¡°@FuckShadowfallcoast no fuck YOU bitch! U r a piece of shit go live with the dwarves and orcs if u love them so much LEAVE OUR PEOPLE ALONE!!!!¡± Zach sighed and put away his phone. It actually hurt to read this garbage. And really, who the hell was ¡°we?¡± People kept using that word. ¡°We.¡± They were saying things like ¡°we¡± need to kill them, or ¡°we¡± need to do this or that. The idea of there being some kind of ¡°we¡± was definitely new to him. He couldn¡¯t believe how the entire continent of North Bastia¡ªand Shores of Wrath¡ªhad gotten so swept up in this war. The bomb changed everything. As Zach continued his trek through the city, he was able to really see for himself the toll that the prior battles had taken on Shadowfall Coast¡ªand how uneven that toll was distributed. Constantly, he¡¯d alternate between blocks that still looked exactly as they had before the war and ones that were so damaged that, if the sky had been red, you could have fooled him into thinking he was on Earth. At one point, he actually had to duck down and then slide through the middle of a downed building, which completely blocked the road and had yet to be cleared out. Through it all, he glided from street to street undisturbed. In some places, the people were so beaten down, exhausted, and depressed, that they did not even seem capable of arousing the level of emotion necessary to form a suspicious or alarmed feeling in response to seeing a strangely dressed person with a sword wandering down their sidewalk. It was almost bizarre just how much ground Zach was able to cover without issue. Yet he knew that, eventually, his luck would run out. And it did. As the city finally began to fully transition away from apartment complexes and businesses, he navigated his way down a very wide street lined with warehouses to his left and a single, massive factory to his right, and it was here that a lone infantryman approached him warily. ¡°Hey!¡± he shouted. Zach paused and turned in his direction. ¡°Who the fuck are you? Show me your face!¡± Zach looked at him, and the man stirred uneasily. ¡°Is there a problem?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t see your face,¡± he said, coming across as nervous and uncertain. He pointed his rifle at Zach, then made a swinging gesture with it. ¡°Take off that hood,¡± he said, gesturing a second time. ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to be out past curfew, and this area¡¯s off limits. Is that¡­is that a sword on your back?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Zach said, nodding. ¡°Let me show you.¡± Zach reached for the hilt with his right hand. Then, in one fluid motion, he drew his sword and slashed it directly upwards, cutting the man¡¯s rifle in two pieces; both fell out of his hands, and as expected, the soldier opened his mouth to scream. Immediately, Zach swung his blade back downwards, splitting the man¡¯s head open vertically right down the middle of his scalp and causing a puddle of very dark red blood to stain the pavement as he collapsed. The man¡¯s body hit the ground. Zach lifted his arm and turned his blade around, reaching behind himself to once again sheathe it. But then he stopped¡ªand grinded his teeth in frustration. In what could only be described as an absurd bout of bad luck, an entire fucking armored tank, which just-so-happened to be turning the corner to roll down the block at the precise moment Zach killed the rifleman, somehow managed to catch a glimpse of Zach in the act of doing so. The tank literally arrived just in time to witness his bloody deed. And now, all at once, the world around him lit up so brightly that he had to narrow his eyes just to see as the tank shined some kind of spotlight on him. An instant later, a terrified-sounding voice began to scream into the Comm he¡¯d almost forgotten was in his ear. ¡°THIS IS FIRE TEAM 8 WITH THE 201ST BRIGADE!¡± a man yelled into the Comm. Somehow, Zach had the feeling it was the tank operator, as a mechanical hum began to fill the night as it turned its long cannon in his direction. A mounted machine gun also began to spin near a hatch atop the vehicle. ¡°What is it now?¡± Sir Malakor asked. This is bad. ¡°THERE APPEARS TO BE A¡ª¡± Zach couldn¡¯t allow them to give away his position. Assuming a fighting stance, he lifted his sword and then slashed it downwards while shouting, ¡°Wave Slash!¡± At the exact same time, the cannon fired, missing him narrowly and blowing a tremendous hole into the warehouse behind him. The machine guns also began opening up fire. What had, only moments ago, been a quiet city block, turned instead into a war zone as a repeating crack of gunfire rang out with an echo while another flash preceded a loud bang as the cannon fired on him a second time. "What are you doing!" a factory worker shouted at the tank. "Stop it! You''re killing us! You''re¡ª" The man''s words ended in a gargle as a bullet whizzed by Zach''s right ear and struck him in the throat. Frowning, he realized there was no longer any chance of him keeping a low profile until reaching Vim, because in addition to the gunshots that riddled him with a storm of bullets that he could barely feel¡ªand that his equipment was too powerful to be damaged by¡ªthere was now yet another explosion behind him. There was just no way it wouldn¡¯t cause hundreds or thousands of people to rush their way over here. Even still, Zach put a stop to it fairly quickly as his Wave Slash, which had finally finished forming, tore its way across the street and viciously cut straight through the tank, lobbing off half its nose-like cannon before sinking right through the armor and making its way inside. A half¡ªmaybe even a quarter¡ªof a second went by. And then, abruptly, the sound of screaming, agonized voices filled the night; it sounded like there were three of them, in total, and all seemed to be coming from inside the tank. Due to the fact that the Wave Slash left behind a tear too small to see through, Zach wasn¡¯t able to visually tell what happened to the men. He also didn¡¯t want to know, either. Not that Zach actually needed to witness the source of their anguish to understand it. No, he could tell from the blood-curdling pain in their voices that the Wave Slash had continued on, ripped them to pieces without fully killing them, and from the sound of subsequent cries coming from the factory across the street, it was still flying off somewhere and still causing more suffering. I hope it doesn¡¯t kill any civilians, he thought, becoming worried. I can¡¯t use that again no matter what. Zach, with a few beads of sweat now gliding down his forehead from using the Moderate exertion ability, remained focused on his task and continued on his way even as the sound of tortured screams from numerous individuals inside the tank all continued to cry out, howling and in some cases whimpering. As Zach hurried his way beyond the tank¡ªand those inside of it¡ªa highly disturbing sight filled his eyes. From the side of the tank, and through the curved, punctured tear in the armor caused by his Wave Slash, a steady stream of blood was now spilling out. This blood then trickled all the way down the side of the camo-colored vehicle in a straight line before pooling up at the base, where it would then turn into bloody droplets¡ªdroplets that grew in size until finally dripping off the tank and joining a rapidly forming puddle on the concrete road below the vehicle. Even without being able to see the carnage done to their bodies, he was still made to see their blood. Zach ripped his head away, not wanting to see any more of this. Now, with a growing sound of activity as the guild sent people here to investigate, Zach fled the scene before he ended up starting a battle that he either couldn''t win or, even worse, wouldn''t be able to forgive himself for winning. With haste, he took off at a mad dash, leaving this street behind. Even as he fled, he could still hear the men inside the tank moaning, their voices growing softer as they died a terrible death. I¡¯m sorry. Chapter 152: The Demon Commander Chapter 152: The Demon Commander Gaelan didn¡¯t like this. He didn¡¯t like this at all. Not only had he totally failed to heed the warnings of coastal patrol, but he was starting to wonder if they were even correct about the assumed motivations of the Elvish scouting party. One thing was clear, however: the Elves were creating absolute havoc in the city, and word was spreading very quickly among the populace that the enemy had already invaded, which risked sending Shadowfall Coast into yet another state of all-out panic. ¡°Something¡­wrong?¡± Vim asked weakly. It was incredible how a man so close to death could still wear such a smug grin, though it did look like it took everything he had just to display it. ¡°A couple of Elves are running around slaughtering people in the city,¡± Gaelan said, seeing no reason to lie to him. ¡°You brought this on yourself,¡± Vim said with a cough. His skin was discolored, and his eyes had become a touch yellow. The man was not dying because of his injuries. Though he¡¯d suffered numerous beatings, the ones who¡¯d administered them had appeared very careful to inflict maximum pain without compromising his life. No, it was his utter dehydration, lack of food, pneumonia, and other various illnesses that were bringing him closer to the verge of death. Now that Gaelan had taken point on guarding him, he¡¯d sought to correct such abuses, but Vim was refusing to eat or drink. It was almost as though the tiny little man hoped to die before his execution out of spite. On the floor before him was an uneaten tray filled with gravy-covered turkey, mashed potatoes, and a very tall glass of mixed juices containing essential nutrients. ¡°Eat,¡± Gaelan said, getting up from a small, fold-out metal chair he¡¯d had brought into the cell. He¡¯d quickly learned that he needed to be near the man at all times to prevent any more deliberate acts of torture. Even some of the most loyal and obedient men and women under his command had gone against his orders and had kicked, slapped, punched, or otherwise spat at him the moment Gaelan took his eyes off of Vim. ¡°You need to eat.¡± ¡°Eh, I¡¯m trying to watch my weight,¡± Vim said, coughing again. ¡°I bet I look so hot.¡± With his bruised, swollen, badly beaten face, Vim tilted his head to the side and fluttered his eyelashes. A moment later, he choked out something that started off as a crazed laugh but ended in another coughing fit. ¡°Gods have mercy on this Gnomish miscreant,¡± Galean muttered under his breath, frowning. Promising to return, he stepped outside of the cell where Vim was being held. Then, shutting the sliding, solid-stone panel door behind him, he took a moment to collect his thoughts without the man¡¯s mockery-filled questions digging into him. Based off the Comm chatter in his ear, it seemed like the Elvish scouting party¡ªassuming it was more than one, which was likely¡ªhad just destroyed an H22 Guiding Angel battle tank, murdering all three of its occupants as well as a new recruit of the 6th brigade who¡¯d been tasked with helping cover some of the areas the 133rd had already been spread too thin to patrol. The Lords of Justice and the Elves are going to be here in a few hours, he thought, becoming frustrated. We don¡¯t need this crap now! What really worried him though was the possibility that the Elvish scouting party was interested in something other than finding and reporting possible nuclear weapons facilities¡ªwhich was the assumption that came down from up the chain. Yes, the fact that they were rampaging through the southwest of the city was in line with that theory, and Gaelan agreed with the assessment that their goal was to flag attack targets for the rapidly approaching force that was marching through Whispery Woods and was expected to arrive from the northwest. But what disturbed him was the way in which each subsequent report seemed to be popping up closer and closer to this very prison, where Vim Alazar, the leader of the Royal Roses, was clinging to life as he awaited his execution. Could the Elves be staging a rescue operation? With a steadily growing apprehension, Gaelan contemplated such a possibility. What if the Elves really were here for Vim? Could it truly be just a coincidence that, if charted, each reported ¡°incident¡± would form a direct line pointing in their direction? And this showed no sign of changing, either, as even more reports started flooding in over the Comm line. ¡°THERE IT IS!¡± a rattled, terrified woman screamed into the Comm. ¡°That¡¯s it! It¡¯s right there! Between Warehouses 39 and 40! It¡¯s the thing in the cloak! Kill it! Kill the fucking Elf!¡± ¡°Who said that?¡± Sir Malakor asked as the sound of gunshots rang out over the Comm. ¡°What do you see? What¡¯s happening? Report!¡± ¡°Arghhhhh!¡± Static. Gaelan scowled. Why could nobody keep track of a few Gods-be-damned Elves? Given just how militarized and heavily fortified Shadowfall Coast had become in recent weeks, it truly did not bode well for their survival¡ªor the survival of humanity as a whole¡ªif just a handful of Elvish warriors were able to essentially roam around the city and kill as they pleased. ¡°Report!¡± he shouted again. ¡°I said report!¡± Again, just static. Now, Gaelan became even more worried. It really did seem like the Elvish scouting party was making their way over here. Yes, it was unlikely. In fact, it was very unlikely. But Gaelan could no longer afford to simply shrug off the very real and growing possibility. No, he needed to act immediately in order to improve security. ¡°This is Sir Malakor,¡± he said into the Comm. ¡°I want everyone assigned to the prison to be on high alert in the event that the enemy¡¯s goal is to extract the prisoner.¡± ¡°Sir Malakor,¡± said a man stationed several floors above. ¡°You think they¡¯re coming here?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t, but it¡¯s possible. Pull every patrol unit within three city blocks off the street and use them to beef up security on the inside. Have a full team stationed near the entrance in the unlikely event of a breach. Be ready for combat!¡± ¡°U-understood.¡± ******* The moonlight cast a slight glow on the surface of the filthy, chipped flooring as a grating sound joined the opening of the large, rounded door. Peeking his head outside, Captain Greshek Mink extended his hand and began to wave it at the gathering of troops and leveled guild members waiting just beyond the vault door that led into the dungeon-like prison where the murderous, Gnomish devil was being held. Why don¡¯t they just kill him now? he wondered nervously. Why even leave things to chance? Greshek was annoyed and worried in equal measure. Not only hadn¡¯t Sir Malakor listened to him when he¡¯d warned the man that something was amiss with the coastal patrol groups¡ªwhich could have prevented so much of this¡ªbut now, out of nowhere, he was saying that a bunch of Elves might try attacking them. Gods, he hoped that wasn¡¯t the case. Greshek had deliberately worked hard and pulled every string he had to get himself assigned here to the front guard in the prison. And why? Because he couldn¡¯t ever imagine this happening. He was sure that guarding the prisoner meant he wouldn¡¯t have to personally see combat. Despite being level 28, his stats were pretty trash and his equipment was fourth-hand and barely serviceable: all except his rare-quality bandana, which had an advanced level of Helm Sight. The last thing he wanted was to have to use his great grandfather¡¯s common-rarity hammer against a pack of feral, Elvish demons. ¡°Hurry up, you idiots! Get inside so we can seal the entrance!¡± A bunch of alarmed, but resolute troops and guild members made their way towards him and into the dark, human-built dungeon. Yet in their faces, he could see panic. Continuing to wave them on, he paused when a particular individual caught his eyes: someone who absolutely should not have been here. And Greshek, caught off guard, could do little but hold out his palm to stop her from getting any closer. ¡°Jeanna, what in the name of the Gods are you doing here?¡± ¡°I came to see my dad,¡± the girl said. ¡°You what?¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna help.¡± ¡°Jeanna, you¡¯re fourteen years old. Go home!¡± The girl was wearing a starter set of flimsy-looking cloth armor. Atop her head was a small leather skullcap, which also looked like a starter item. Even her weapon looked like a banal, level-1 piece of stat-less, crafted gear; it was a spear, though it was nothing like the new one her father had gotten from the dragon. It was just a plain, level-1 spear that, visually, at least, was indistinct from one made by humans, as was often the case with many low-level pieces of equipment. ¡°I heard there¡¯s like Elves or something running around,¡± the girl said. ¡°That true?¡± ¡°Who told you that?¡± ¡°Not telling.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter anyway.¡± He sighed. ¡°Jeanna, go home.¡± She shook her head. ¡°What¡¯s my dad gonna do if the Elves catch me and my dad finds out you wouldn¡¯t let me inside?¡± Greshek groaned. He was in a real bind here. He lowered the arm that was barring her passage, and then he beckoned her in. ¡°Fine. But go straight to your dad.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here,¡± she said cheerfully. Greshek watched as she went down the wrong stairwell. He called out to her, but she was already gone. Whatever. She¡¯d find her way on her own eventually. He had more important things to worry about than the girl. For starters: closing that damn door. ¡°We¡¯re open and exposed!¡± he shouted. ¡°Shut the damn entrance!¡± Another grating came from the round metal door, and it wasn¡¯t until the moment after it was sealed completely shut with an echoing thunk that Greshek let himself relax somewhat. Just a bit of the tightness faded in his shoulders now that they were once more protected behind an ancient barrier¡ªone that hopefully not even an Elf could break into. In truth, he had no idea how much strength it would actually require to knock down or a punch a hole in the dungeon door. Certainly, he couldn¡¯t do it. Hope the Elves can¡¯t, either. Tamping down on his fears, he returned to his task of dealing with the newcomers. Having been put in charge of the front guard, he took a few units from their recent arrivals and sent the rest of them on their way, allowing others to decide how best to disperse the remainder of their added security throughout the ¡°facility.¡± Afterwards, he set his eyes on two eighteen-year-old, low-ranking members who were clearly slacking off; the two boys were chatting away like schoolchildren just a few feet behind the shuttered door. ¡°Zol! Skent! What the hell do you two think you¡¯re doing? Get off your asses and look alive!¡± The two were sitting on the filthy floor and laughing at one another, engaged in a chat about girls or something. Greshek didn¡¯t understand how they could be so carefree at a time like this. He snapped his fingers at them. Despite rolling their eyes, they stood up and at least pretended to look ready for combat should the need arise. Greshek knew both their fathers, and if either of the men saw their sons behaving like this, they¡¯d receive a horrific beating. Maybe that¡¯s what they need. Not wanting to take any chances, Greshek decided to carefully inspect and speak with each of the fifteen guild members and twenty-five soldiers who were here in the entrance with him. It was a pretty significant force for what was essentially the guarding of a single Gnome, but if Sir Malakor¡¯s concerns turned out to have merit, not only wouldn¡¯t it be overkill, but Greshek doubted it¡¯d even be enough. Even just a single Elf is vastly stronger than everyone here. With the Guild of Gentlemen and Shadowfall Coast on full alert, all the strongest, highest-level, and most-capable members of the guild had been dispatched to the outer-city perimeter to await the arrival of Lord Oren and Queen Vayra¡¯s joint, attacking force. Therefore, even though they¡¯d gathered an impressive number of leveled fighters, the quantity didn¡¯t mean all that much when considering most of them were under level 25 and under 20 years of age. They were kids with no experience. The only exception was Sir Malakor himself, who was all the way down at the bottom of the belowground dungeon with the prisoner. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. We¡¯ll make do with what we¡¯ve got. Complicating matters was the dire lack of ammunition, medical supplies, and body armor for the Ones serving in the guild¡¯s military. Greshek pitied them in many regards. What could be worse than being level 1 and fighting in a war with people who¡¯d leveled? Their only purpose was to neutralize enemy troops, control and contain territory, and take shots at casters or others with low enough constitution that their bullets could penetrate flesh. Yet he doubted there was a single Elf anywhere susceptible to their weapons. For all intents and purposes, the troops here were just fodder. Life must seem so unfair to them. It would to me if I were in their shoes. Greshek made his rounds, exchanging a few words with each of the forces stationed here at the entrance. Then he once more berated the two idiots, who had yet again decided to slack off. ¡°Zol! Skent! What are you two fucking buffoons giggling about?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± Zol said. Greshek lowered his eyes and saw that the kid was lying. The two of them had kicked around some of the dirt and dust on the floor to form a very crude ¡°drawing¡± of a woman¡¯s breasts. Greshek peeled back his lips, glaring at the morons. ¡°You¡¯re both getting written up for this.¡± For the first time, a level of seriousness came upon the two. ¡°No, wait,¡± Skent said. ¡°We were just messing around.¡± ¡°Yeah, come on, man.¡± ¡°It¡¯s too late.¡± Zol¡¯s tone became desperate. ¡°Gresh, don¡¯t be like that. I swear to the Gods, it won¡¯t happen again.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t,¡± Skent pleaded. Greshek took a deep breath, which he released slowly. ¡°Fine. But if I see even one more thing from you two that I don¡¯t like, I¡¯m not only writing you up, but I¡¯m letting your fathers know how you behaved during a time of crisis.¡± Both boys bowed formally. ¡°We won¡¯t. We swear.¡± ¡°I¡¯m serious! Our guild, our region, and all of humanity itself is at stake here. You think I like working hard? I hate it too. I¡¯d much rather be home right now. I didn¡¯t get myself stationed here because I want to end up dead in a ditch somewhere. But right now, Sir Malakor has called upon us to serve our guild with dignity. And I¡¯ll tell you what: the things we do here today are going to be remembered. Our families and our descendants will be shamed or honored based on how we¡ª¡± BANG!!!!!!!!!!! Greshek¡¯s words cut off, Zol fell backwards, several guild members drew their weapons, and numerous troops gasped and looked around at each other. An unsettling quiet immediately came upon the front guard. An atmosphere of fear blanketed all forty of them: one so thick it could be felt¡ªand smelled, as evident by a young man behind him who¡¯d clearly shit his pants. Several seconds came and went¡ªthen several more after the first few. Finally, someone spoke. ¡°What was that sound?¡± Zol whispered. Greshek didn¡¯t know. It sounded like the fist of a God had just pounded on the vault door, creating an explosively, deafeningly loud echo that had left him feeling just as shocked as anyone else in here. Even still, he had a responsibility. He might not have wanted to be the one to deal with this, but someone had to take charge, and that was him. ¡°Sir Malakor,¡± he whispered into his Comm. ¡°This is Captain Greshek Mink, front guard. Do you copy?¡± ¡°I do,¡± the man¡¯s voice replied. ¡°Anything to report?¡± ¡°Yes, sir. We just heard a very, very loud pounding sound on the vault door. Like somebody hit it with their fist.¡± ¡°Any signs of damage?¡± Sir Malakor asked, his voice becoming commanding and firm. ¡°None that I can see, sir. But¡­¡± Greshek had to force himself to continue speaking. This was, truly, the most afraid he¡¯d ever been in his life. The quiet had only made it worse, and so too did the fear in the eyes of those here with him. Something had clearly struck the door. Yet in his terror, he searched for some alternative explanation. ¡°Can¡­can you check to see if maybe this was something from our side?¡± ¡°Meaning what?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe that was supposed to happen? Maybe someone dropped something on the door?¡± ¡°Dropped something on the¡­Captain Mink, get ahold of yourself. I¡¯m sending out an emergency alert now. It¡¯s likely the enemy is trying to breach.¡± That was the last thing he wanted to hear. His knees began to go weak, but he was able to hide it from the others. ¡°Okay, well, can you please tell them to hurry? None of us are really equipped to handle Elves, and the thing is that if they get in here, I¡¯m not sure how we can¡ª¡± BANG!!!!!!!!!!! This one was even louder than the previous, and now, the two troublemakers, Zol and Skent, both seemingly began to appreciate the severity of the situation they were in. They began to shake, shudder, and whimper. Skent looked like he could barely keep his grip on his staff, and Zol¡¯s rapier visibly shook as he held it out in front of himself with his arm extended. ¡°Is that the enemy?¡± Zol asked, quivering. He began to shake his head. ¡°I¡¯m only level 22. I can¡¯t¡­I should be sent down to reinforce the lower levels.¡± ¡°Stay put,¡± Greshek ordered. ¡°If you flee, you disgrace your father.¡± ¡°Man, I¡¯m just¡­¡± He sniffled and began sobbing. ¡°I¡¯m just really fucking scared. I¡¯m sorry. I wanna go home.¡± ¡°Be strong for me, Zol. You have to be strong.¡± The two were standing just a few feet away from the middle of the massive, round door, which thankfully showed no signs of damage or denting. Whatever had struck it¡ªtwice now¡ªseemed to have been repelled. And as a torturous, nerve-wracking minute came and went in total silence, Greshek began to pray to the Gods that whatever invaders had caused such loud bangs had reconsidered and left to go fuck with someone else instead. He wasn¡¯t alone in his prayers, either; he knew this because both the boys, along with numerous other guild members and soldiers, were also quietly chanting prayers under their breath. The boys even had their eyes closed and were breathing unevenly, fear evident in every rise and fall of their chest. ¡°Please, Raurum, protect me,¡± Zol begged. ¡°Raurum, please look after us.¡± It became so quiet in here. For a time, the only sound was the shifting of feet and the continued whispering of prayers. Maybe the invaders really had moved on. Maybe the door really was strong enough to withstand even the incredibly powerful Elvish. It made sense, too. It had been built by ancient humans during a time when humanity regularly faced conflicts with various races. Surely, humanity¡¯s ancestors would have wanted to construct something that could withstand assault. This, Greshek began to ardently hope as one minute slowly and painfully turned into two, and then two became two-and-a-half. ¡°Maybe they¡¯re gone,¡± Skent whispered, his knuckles having turned white from how tightly he was gripping his staff. ¡°Maybe they¡¯re¡ª¡± Something happened. Something Greshek did not at first understand. All along the round frame that housed the metal door, where one could spot what little light was allowed to make its way into the dungeon from the outside, there was now an eerily bright, crimson-colored glow: one so intense that from the tiny, eighth-of-an-inch crack that ran in a circle around the entrance, enough of this red light breached the inside of the dungeon that it actually lit up the entire room. And though only a tenth of a second had transpired from the moment Greshek saw this light, it was still just enough time for his brain to form a questioning thought¡ªand then came the screams. With the loudest bang yet, the entire vault door was blasted off its hinges, and before Greshek¡¯s eyes, he saw both Skent and Zol crushed like insects as it rammed directly into them, flattening and compacting their skulls, slamming them both down onto the filthy flooring. Greshek shouted out their names. He called out to them¡ªor tried to. Yet he was yanked backwards by a member of the guild¡ªa woman he did not recognize¡ªwho¡¯d been standing behind him. Then, emerging from behind the vault door was a¡­it was some kind of wall of red light¡ªone rounded and laser-like and almost half the size of the room itself. And this red, blinding light¡ªit struck like a tidal wave, absolutely vaporizing everyone who stood in its path, which was nearly half of them. Skent and Zol, who were already dead, were disintegrated, as were six more members of the guild and three quarters of the soldiers. In the blink of an eye, nearly two-dozen voices were silenced mid-scream, which came across in a way horrifyingly similar to pressing pause during a music track. It was as though they were erased from existence itself. It¡¯s a beam! Even amid the confusion, the shock, and the body-paralyzing fear that threatened to break through every last trace of his courage, there was something that emerged in his mind: something vaguely familiar. Something he realized was recognition. Somehow, even as he endured the single-greatest moment of pure, nauseating fright he¡¯d ever before experienced, he still had just enough wits about him for his brain to piece together something of such immense importance that it managed to rise within him directly alongside the overwhelming dread. I¡¯ve seen that before, Greshek thought as a terror so great he could no longer withstand it consumed him completely. I¡¯ve¡ªI¡¯ve seen that before! On the live feed of the¡­ ¡°SIR MALAKOR!¡± he screamed at the top of his lungs. ¡°WE HAVE BEEN BREACHED BY ZACHYS CALADOR OF THE ROYAL ROSES!¡± The name spread from the lips of all those who still lived, which in this case was anyone who¡¯d taken up a position to the left and right side of the room. The level of fear rose exponentially. ¡°Impossible,¡± a man said. ¡°Why would he risk our retaliation on Giant¡¯s Fall?¡± asked another. Weapons were drawn, and rifles were raised. Yet all looked to Greshek for how to proceed. But Greshek did not know what to do. How could he? Everyone here knew what that Elvish-loving son of a bitch had done to their people at the raid camp. He had single-handedly slaughtered dozens of them. There wasn¡¯t a single member of the guild who did not shake in fear at the boy¡¯s name. He was a psychopathic, murderous maniac on a scale that few in history had ever rivaled. And he was here. ¡°Z-Zachys Calador?¡± Greshek called out¡ªto silence. His throat having gone dry, he forced moisture into it. ¡°Zachys Calador!¡± he cried out, his fear activating his fight-or-flight response. He moved back towards the center of the room and over the incinerated, powdery ashes of what had just been human beings. The red, laser-like blast had incinerated them to such an extent that there were hardly even ¡°remains¡± to be found. ¡°Zachys Calador!¡± Greshek shouted again, entering something of a craze as goosebumps traveled down his back and his heart beat furiously in his chest. ¡°Answer me, coward! I know you¡¯re there!¡± Due to the age of this place and the sudden shock it had sustained as a result of the blast, a thick screen of smoke and dust had been kicked up, and it made it impossible to see anything beyond the entrance and from the outside world. Yet as it began to settle, Greshek thought he saw something moving: the outline of something he could not discern. Now, in a cross between hysterical fear and vengeful wrath, he lifted his hammer and screamed, ¡°Zachys Calador! Answer me you fucking coward!¡± And finally, he received a reply. But it was not the one he¡¯d expected. It was, however, a reply. At least insomuch as something could be called a ¡°reply.¡± It was a reply that could be heard by all, yet resounded off the walls and caused an even greater, more crippling fear to come upon the faces of those around him. ¡°He-he-he-he-he!¡± ¡°What¡­what is that?¡± someone asked. He was a nineteen-year-old kid Greshek recognized as being Haril Yifan, a boy whose parents had already died in the prior fighting that had taken place during the initial invasion. Perhaps that was why he stood alone as the only person brave enough to move towards the screen of dust and investigate. His sword raised, he made his way closer. ¡°Is that Zachys Calador?¡± He raised his sword even higher as though ready to strike. ¡°You murdered both of my parents! Come out here, you piece of shit!¡± ¡°He-he-he-he-he!¡± ¡°He-he-he-he-he!¡± ¡°He-he-he-he-he!¡± ¡°Come out here!¡± he shouted. And then something did emerge. But it was not Zachys Calador.
HP 72,500/72,500
Name Sneering Imp Warrior A
Level 45
¡°W-what the fuck is that?¡± one of the soldiers screamed. ¡°What the fuck is¡ª¡± The man¡¯s words ended in a gargle as a dagger sailed across the dungeon¡¯s entrance, nearly hitting Greshek in the process. Instead, it ended up going straight into and through the man¡¯s face, likely puncturing his brain, the base of it sticking out of his forehead. He fell over onto the side. ¡°What¡­?¡± Haril¡¯s mouth fell open, and he retreated a step. ¡°What are these? Are these mobs? But¡­but how? How can there be¡ª¡± ¡°Watch out!¡± Greshek cried as one of these creatures, which looked like flying, winged demons wielding gilded spears, began to make a loud buzzing sound as it dashed forward in the air and went straight for Haril. ¡°Watch out!¡± Greshek yelled again. ¡°Haril!¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay!¡± he replied, swinging his blade upwards as if to parry. But he missed. Or rather, the creature missed¡ªor sort of. It wasn¡¯t really clear what happened, for an instant before their two weapons clashed, the creature suddenly veered widely off to the right, causing Greshek and two members of the guild near him to drop down to their knees. Yet they, too, were not attacked, as the creature then reversed its motion and buzzed its way right back over to Haril, who simply could not react fast enough. The boy¡¯s entire head was separated from his shoulders as the mob made a spinning slash that cleanly severed it from the neck up. ¡°He-he-he-he-he!¡± In the same moment that the boy¡¯s bloodied head fell to the ancient, roach-infested flooring, what looked like seven more of these creatures entered the prison, with half of them being more of the winged, flying monstrosities, and a few of them being dagger-wielding demons that were shorter than the shortest of Gnomes. These launched several daggers, which ripped across the room and ended up lodged in the chests, faces, or groins of two guild members and another infantryman. With that, all order and discipline were abandoned, and every man and woman entered into a wild panic. Many attempted to flee, knocking others down in the process, but a few did at least try to stand and fight. Numerous loud, buzzing sounds came upon the entrance as these creatures flew across and around in unpredictable, blazingly fast ways. Now, there were screams. So many screams. The level-45 mobs began slaughtering the front guard. The imps zipped around so fast it was almost impossible to follow them with one¡¯s eyes. Every time it looked like they¡¯d strike, they¡¯d fly off elsewhere only to come unpredictably buzzing back. Men and women, leveled and un-leveled alike, were skewered, disemboweled, or otherwise cut apart and mutilated. Out of sheer desperation, Greshek swung his hammer and managed to actually hit one¡ªfor just 587 damage. This, combined with the sight of one of the smaller, dagger-wielding ones jumping onto a soldier and ripping apart his face was more than Greshek could emotionally withstand; in particular, it was upon witnessing the horned, sneering creature slice out both the soldier¡¯s eyeballs that Greshek broke. Gods! The imp creature had its legs wrapped around the man¡¯s neck, and it was stabbing its daggers time and time again into the man¡¯s now-empty eye sockets, all while laughing with sadistic glee. The man screamed, the pain and fear coming through very clearly on the sound of it. Greshek had now seen enough. ¡°R-run!¡± he cried. ¡°Retreat!¡± The last of his courage spent, he made a reckless dash for the left stairwell, and in the process of doing so, he felt something grab his arm. Shrieking in terror, he spun around and slammed his hammer into it with all his might¡ªand then he shrieked a second time as he mistakenly murdered the woman who¡¯d only just saved his life, bashing in her skull. Yet he was too terrified to feel any kind of remorse. In a total panic, he fled for his life as the rest of them attempted to do the same. Only he made it. ***** ¡°What is going on up there?¡± Gaelan shouted. ¡°Will one of you idiots answer me? Did you say Zachys Calador?¡± ¡°Zach¡¯s here?¡± Vim asked. He coughed. ¡°That little brat really came for his dear guild leader, huh?¡± Vim weakly smiled. ¡°You¡¯re so fucked, Malakor.¡± Gaelan grabbed his spear. ¡°We¡¯ll see about that.¡± Chapter 153: The Rescue Pt I Chapter 153: The Rescue Pt. I There were screams: a lot of screams. Zach could hear them clearly as he sped his way down a narrow, spiraling flight of stairs. At first, the pained, howling cries seemed to be calling out one after the next, but soon, Zach started hearing them at irregular intervals. Sometimes, there¡¯d be stretches of quiet where the only sounds were his measured breathing and his feet stepping on what looked like ancient stone. Other times, there¡¯d be a series of yelling voices all blaring out at once as his eight imp cards, which he¡¯d set to Besiege mode, dealt with the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s forces up above that had tried to slow him down. ¡°No!¡± a high-pitched, male voice yelled out, his words carrying far enough that Zach could hear it even as he continued to descend lower into this dungeon-prison. ¡°No! Wait! Noooooooo!¡± ¡°He-he-he-he-he!¡± Zach gritted his teeth. To say he did not like doing this would be a vast understatement of his disgust. He hated this. And with each death, the weight in his chest grew heavier. Yet he could not afford to slow down. This wasn¡¯t the time to regret his actions. By now, the Guild of Gentlemen were aware of his presence and what he¡¯d come to do. More so, he could hear from the Comm chatter in his ear that they were planning to shift some of their higher level and more formidable forces over here to deal with him. This meant he had to get in and out as fast as humanly possible if he wanted to be gone before they arrived. ¡°We need backup!¡± a voice shouted over the Comm. ¡°What¡¯s going on down there?¡± asked another voice. ¡°An entire compound up against one boy. How are you all failing so miserably?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand! You¡ª¡± ¡°He-he-he-he-he!¡± Numerous voices all flooded the Comm line, and for the moment, Zach was unable to understand what any of them were saying as they all shouted over one another. But it didn¡¯t matter, did it? No, Zach didn¡¯t need to hear what they were saying to understand the sentiment. The people he¡¯d unleashed his cards on were totally unprepared. They were inexperienced and, in many cases, young guild members who had never before stepped foot in a dungeon in their entire life. These were people whose only real connection to the adventuring world was leveling up via carefully curated mobs on private estates while under the guidance of an instructor. These were not people capable of dealing with more vicious, aggressive mobs such as those found in dungeons or basically anywhere else. Moving as quickly as he could, Zach continued to hurry his way downwards. Due to the shape of the stairwell, this wasn¡¯t as easy as it normally would¡¯ve been. The space around him was so narrow that an average-sized person wouldn¡¯t be able to fully extend their arms to both sides of themselves. And given the fact that the stairs were spiraling, this meant his body was in a constant state of making one big, sharp turn, limiting how quickly he was able to progress farther into this subterranean, human-built dungeon. As he neared the bottom, it occurred to him that the screaming seemed to have come to an end. Zach turned his head to glance upwards. In a way that was similar to the dragon raid, he could now see the names and outlines of his cards even through walls. Far up above, he saw a swarm of moving, solid-green-colored shapes that seemed to be dropping lower and lower towards his position. This, Zach took to mean that they¡¯d finished off any last traces of resistance and were now making their way back to him, traveling the very same stairwell that he himself was currently moving through. Due to his head start, his cards were all lagging a bit behind. Hopefully, they¡¯d catch up, because he couldn¡¯t afford to slow down and wait for them. He needed to keep going. This¡¯ll all be over soon. Reaching the bottom of the cramped, spiral stairwell, he rushed out of a rounded entryway and into a long, narrow, and uncomfortably humid hall with prison-like cages to both sides of him. The cells looked as though no one had occupied them in many centuries. Actually, this place kind of reminded Zach of B2 in Yorna¡¯s, except it wasn¡¯t nearly as dark or haunting in appearance, and there were no skeletal remains or scenes of torture and death to be found. No, there was just one empty, decrepit cage after the next. But more importantly, now that he¡¯d exited the stairwell, he was finally able to take off at a run. With little time to spare, Zach darted his way across the stone-floored, ancient hallway, starting off at a jog and then blasting forward. To both his left and right, he zipped by cell after cell, all of which looked to be crumbling and inhumane for modern use. Eager to be done with this, Zach allowed himself to travel as fast as his legs could move¡ªor at least he intended to do so. Yet just when he finally began to pick up speed, he reached the end of the hallway and bolted straight into another stairwell, this one virtually identical to the previous. Now, Zach found himself once more slowing down and making a constant ¡°turn¡± as he descended deeper into this labyrinthine-like, hellish place. Fortunately, this particular spiral staircase was a great deal shorter than the last one, and in no time at all, Zach reached the bottom. Once there, he hurried his way through another open entryway and into another hall. And this one, he noted, was darker, damper, and wider than the previous had been. It was also hotter and more humid and seemed to continue on for longer. Gods, just how big is this place? he wondered, becoming both worried and annoyed. Pressed for time, he moved even faster. Like before, he raced his way across yet another corridor, taking note of how much worse things seemed to get the farther in he traveled. The lighting was poorer, and the cells were now so degraded that, in some cases, a hypothetical prisoner would be able to simply slip out from between large gaps in the bars, which had become warped and bent or were missing entirely in some cases. Clearly, however it was that this archaic, antiquated prison had been built, modern-day Galterrans¡ªor at least those in the Guild of Gentleman¡ªdid not know how to repair it. And the deeper Zach went, the worse this state of disrepair seemed to become. Realizing that Vim had spent more than two weeks in this place, a chill snaked its way down Zach¡¯s spine. I don¡¯t even want to be here for five minutes, he thought as he spotted numerous cockroaches crawling up and down the mossy, cracked, and dilapidated stone walls. I can¡¯t imagine actually spending weeks here. Unless the prison radically changed once Zach got farther inside, he was beginning to get the sense that Vim Alazar must have been subject to some really horrific treatment¡ªthat he¡¯d willingly submitted himself too as well, Zach recalled. Right around a day and a half after the nuclear weapon struck Ogre¡¯s Axe, the little man had surrendered of his own will in order to spare his people from being hit with a second bomb, and he¡¯d been held here ever since. Actually, now that Zach thought about it, what if Vim refused to leave when Zach got to him? Shit! I should¡¯ve thought about that beforehand! Since Vim had voluntarily surrendered himself to the Guild of Gentleman, it occurred to Zach that he might not be willing to escape. After all, from Vim¡¯s perspective, doing so might provoke the Guild of Gentleman into launching another one of their repugnant weapons at Giant¡¯s Fall. And although no such weapon existed¡ªat least not yet, anyway¡ªVim could not possibly know that. Zach could tell him, of course, but the time needed to both explain this and convince him it was the truth might be more than Zach could afford. Therefore, Zach decided that if Vim wouldn¡¯t go with him the first time he was asked, he would just pick him up and carry him out of here. ¡°No¡± was not an answer he was willing to accept. Zach had killed so many people already tonight, and he had not done so just to leave Vim here in this dungeon. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m going back without him. No way in hell! Zach reached the end of the hall, and this time, he was not greeted with another stairwell to descend. Instead, there was a large, double-doored entryway into another section of the dungeon. Holding his forearm out in front of himself, Zach blasted through it, causing a bang from the impact and a secondary bang as the doors were flung open and each slammed into opposite sides of the wall. With that, Zach continued on, running down a stretch of quiet hall that was perfectly identical to the one he¡¯d just traversed. Each of his footsteps left an echo as his feet stomped down on the stone. Moving faster and faster, the world around Zach began to take on a slight blur as he was finally able to enter into a blazing-fast sprint. Now, the cells to his left and right whipped by way too quickly for him to see them as anything more than a passing blip. They simply rushed by him as he ran forward. Then, at the end of this hallway, there was another double-doored entryway, and Zach really let this one have it. Not bothering to slow down even slightly, he bashed his way through it, knocking both doors off their hinges and sending them slamming into the already chipped stone wall on both sides. This happened yet again as he reached another end, and another after that one. Distantly, Zach marveled at just how different Galterra must have been thousands of years ago if the humans of that time had felt it necessary to build a dungeon-prison that could house so many damn people. Nowadays, Zach doubted this place ever got used except for extraordinary circumstances. But thousands of years ago, during a time where everyone either leveled up or died, a place like this must¡¯ve been necessary for dealing with dangerous people or criminals. It¡¯s hard to imagine hundreds or thousands of adventurers locked away at once. Now that he was charging forward as fast as he could possibly run while still also keeping his balance, Zach barged his way through four more identical sections of hallway before at last seeing what looked like a single-doored entrance to another stairwell ahead. In anticipation, he began to slow down, cutting his speed significantly right around the halfway point through the corridor. He then slowed even more as he crossed the three-quarters mark. But as he did so, a loud, startling voice cried out. ¡°Now!¡± the voice shouted. ¡°Attack!¡± Zach, seeing movement in the corner of his eyes, hurriedly drew his sword as he spotted two men leap out of an opened cell to his left while two more leapt out of the one to his right. All four were wielding falchions, all four had been completely hidden inside the cell, and all four attacked him in unison. At the same time, the single-doored entryway to the stairwell burst open, and two additional men and a woman filed into the room. One of the men was wielding a spear, and the other gripped a wooden staff in both his hands. The woman accompanying them also had a staff. They¡¯re trying to ambush me. ¡°Big mistake!¡± Zach shouted at them. The first guy to reach him was the youngest of the bunch: probably just a few months older than Zach if not the exact same age. He was short with red hair and brown eyes. He struck out from Zach¡¯s left while a similarly young swordsman attacked from his right. Zach watched as the sword to his left approached from above and streaked down towards his head while the one to his right was jutting out forward for a lunging attack. He swore. Once again, he¡¯d have to stain himself in blood. Defensively, Zach swung his blade upwards and knocked aside the falchion off to his left, then immediately swung it back down onto the one lunging towards him. This one, he struck with enough force that he not only succeeded in guarding against the attack, but he caused the falchion¡¯s wielder to half turn around and nearly fall over as his body followed his sword and both were sent low to the floor. The other two falchion-wielding men, whose attacks immediately followed the first two, rushed in and lashed out at Zach with two high-to-low slices, both of which were clumsy, poorly executed, and not synchronized. All Zach had to do to defend himself was lean backwards and to his left two times one after the other, and the result was that both swords cut the air in front of his chin. Farther ahead, near the stairwell, a man was rushing at him with a spear while another man and a woman, both wielding a staff, were chanting, their staves aglow. ¡°Get him!¡± the red-haired guy with the brown eyes yelled. He spun his torso around and lifted his blade high, and he delivered an incredibly powerful slash that caused the air to make a swooshing sound as the blade ripped its way towards Zach¡¯s neck. Rather than dodge, Zach raised his own sword to guard, absorbing the attack. Then he blocked another slash coming in from his right¡ªand then another on his left. Before long, he began to slowly backpedal while whipping his blade around to defend against four different people at once. This resulted in a near-constant clanging of sword against sword as Zach, with his back straight, and his mind focused, deflected dozens of fast strikes one after the next. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The red-haired guy came in low, so Zach, who¡¯d only just raised his blade to the level of his forehead to block a different attack from another of his assailants, made a very fast circular motion with his sword by quickly spinning his wrists, enabling him to block the red-haired man¡¯s blade in time, the two swords clashing right near Zach¡¯s hip. Then, an instant later, the red-haired guy¡¯s buddy tried to cut off Zach¡¯s right ear, so Zach flicked his wrists a second time, rotating his blade and easily deflecting the falchion before it could cut into him. After this, Zach ducked beneath a third strike from another young member of the guild and swatted away a fourth. This, he repeated several times over, as the four sword-wielding guild-members pressed him. Eventually, two of the guild members made as if to attack¡ªonly for it to turn out to be a feint. Abruptly, both leapt off to each side of Zach, opening a path; concealed behind them emerged a slightly older¡ªbut still young¡ªbrown-haired man wearing a bandana; the man was charging forward with a spear, and he seemed to want to have taken Zach by surprise. Unfortunately for him, it didn¡¯t work. Zach leapt up into the air, high enough so that he rose above the man¡¯s shoulders, while the man, whose spear was still fully held out with his arms extended, ran straight past him. Zach then landed while the man came to a rough, sudden stop, and now he turned back around, lurched forward, and tried to run Zach through yet again. But this time, Zach wasn¡¯t having it. Zach spun his body around full circle while dropping down to his knees. Then, continuing his spin, he kicked out his left foot and delivered a powerful sweep, which connected with both of the man¡¯s ankles and knocked him cleanly off his feet. Even as he fell, Zach was already shooting back up to his own feet and flipping over his blade so that it pointed downwards with his wrists wrapped tightly around the base of his sword. With that, the moment the man¡¯s back hit the floor, Zach dropped down to his knees a second time, plunging his blade directly into the man¡¯s chest, piercing him all the way through as the man spat out blood and made gargling sounds. ¡°Tem!¡± the staff-wielding woman cried. ¡°No! Gods, no!¡± Zach spared a quick glance over his shoulder. From the end of this woman¡¯s staff came a high-pitched whistling sound, and now, an elongated, zig-zagging, and crackling projectile of brightly glowing green energy snapped its way across the hall, moving from where she stood before the stairwell¡¯s entrance door to where Zach was ripping his blade free of the spear-wielding man¡¯s chest while the four falchion-armed guys closed in on him again. All four fanned out and struck out at him at the same time. Keeping his cool, Zach made quick, decisive, and calculated movements. Above him and to his left, he raised his weapon and blocked a sword strike that looked aimed at his forehead. A clang filled the room as he knocked the weapon away. Then he jumped directly backwards; an instant later, the red-haired guy¡¯s sword made a perfectly downwards slice, the tip of his sword just a few inches away from Zach¡¯s nose. At this point, the other two moved in to deliver sword attacks of their own¡ªbut they did not reach him before the mage-woman¡¯s green, zigzagging projectile did. Zach shifted his body forward, taking a fast, wide step in the direction of the magical attack, and then he sliced it with his blade, causing it to dissipate into nothingness. Using all his speed, Zach then whipped his blade as fast as he could, blocking two fast falchion strikes from the red-haired kid, the first heading towards his right hip and the second bearing down on his scalp. Then the red-haired guy, as though panicked, unleashed four more strikes back-to-back, and Zach matched each one of them with a counter attack of his own, causing four pings to ring out in the hallway. ¡°Fuck!¡± he shouted out, his eyes becoming enlarged with fear. He pulled back, and Zach sensed an opportunity to strike. But first, he paused to drop all the way down to his knees while simultaneously leaning backwards as what appeared to be a fiery projectile in the shape of a gigantic, clenched fist twice the size of Zach¡¯s head scorched the air above him before disappearing farther down the hallway behind. Then Zach threw himself flat onto his back and rolled away from the four falchion-wielding guild members who seemed to sense an opportunity of their own. Unfortunately for them, Zach was back on his feet before they could reach him. ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of this shit,¡± he growled. ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± Having decided to put an end to this, Zach whipped his sword with tremendous ferocity, crashing it into a rival attack that came from one of the falchion-wielding guild members to his left. Their two swords collided, and the man¡¯s weapon was not only deflected, but he lost his grip on the blade. An instant later, Zach heard it crash onto the stone floor some distance away. Having disarmed the man, Zach then shot out his right leg and delivered a front kick into his chest, causing the man¡¯s entire body to blast backwards and crash into the prison bars of an adjacent cell. At the same time, one of the falchion-wielding men to his right went at him again. This time, Zach weaved to the right, dodging a vertical slash, and then he returned with a slash of his own, attacking the man¡¯s left side. The man, to his credit, managed to shift his stance and turn his own blade to guard. So Zach shifted his in turn and went at his right side. This, too, he managed to guard against. Zach ducked beneath a return strike aimed at his head, then clashed with the man once more before finally finding an opening. Spinning half around, he cut the man¡¯s midsection fully open, and the man screamed as he dropped his sword and grabbed at his stomach. Zach lifted his blade high and brought it down straight on top of his scalp, splitting it apart and killing him. ¡°No!¡± the female mage screamed. ¡°No! Panny! No, Gods, why!¡± Tears in her eyes, she extended her staff and unleashed another zigzagging, brightly glowing streak of energy at him, which he jumped to the side to avoid. ¡°You bastard!¡± shouted the man to his left, whom he¡¯d kicked into the cell. He reached out and tried to grab Zach despite being unarmed. In response, Zach twirled his blade so that it pointed straight in front of him, and then he stepped forward and towards the man while running his sword into his gut, piercing it all the way through and killing him. But something happened upon this man¡¯s death. Rather than fall to his knees, he somehow collapsed in such a way that his arms got caught on the prison cell''s bars, and his mouth drooped all the way open. The result was that he died in the throes of a violent scream, the pain in his expression preserved even in death. Held up by the bars, he became something of a sick, dead ornament: a testament to Zach¡¯s violence and ruthlessness. And Zach couldn¡¯t stand it. He¡¯d had enough. The sight of another ended life¡ªone slain by his hand¡ªbecame too much for him to keep going on the way he currently was. Everything he¡¯d done until now was by necessity. But the three people he¡¯d just killed¡ªdid they really have to die? Did he need to kill them the way he¡¯d killed so many others tonight? Suddenly, Zach realized something important. He realized that that the situation had now changed from what it had been on his way over here. Before deciding to rescue Vim, he¡¯d known what was at risk. He known what he would have to do. And he¡¯d done it. He¡¯d done what it had taken for him to get here without being identified and hindered. And now¡­now he was here. He¡¯d made it. I don¡¯t need to keep killing these people, he realized. They already know I¡¯m here. I made it. I don¡¯t have to do this anymore! Dodging a neck-level strike that came from one of the two surviving, sword-wielding members of the Guild of Gentlemen, Zach switched to a one-handed grip on his sword and took a quick, powerful step forward. He bent his knees, pivoted his hips, spun his body from left to right, and then rammed his forearm directly into the man¡¯s sternum, causing the man to release a whoosh of air and backpedal a few steps. Recklessly¡ªand with overt fear in his eyes¡ªthe man made a wide, circular strike that almost clipped Zach¡¯s chin, but Zach leaned backwards away from it. Then, continuing to stumble away, the man, as though panicked, began wildly swinging around his falchion. Zach eyed his body movements carefully, dodging four or five times in a row before hastily moving inside the man¡¯s guard and crashing his own sword into his enemy¡¯s, knocking it fully out of his grip. Having disarmed his opponent, Zach dashed forward and jumped straight upwards while lifting his right leg, bludgeoning the man¡¯s face with his knee. This caused the man¡¯s eyes to roll to the back of his head while he collapsed unconscious onto the stone floor. ¡°Shit!¡± the kid with the red hair and brown eyes swore. Then he howled in rage and swung his blade back and forth several times. But for each of his attacks, Zach only needed to twist his body to evade. Following a fourth futile strike, Zach clashed blades with the kid, and making use of his clearly superior strength, he pushed the kid¡¯s blade so that it began to press against his throat with Zach¡¯s blade locked on top of it. ¡°Don¡¯t make me do this,¡± Zach warned. ¡°Just drop it and go.¡± ¡°Fuck you!¡± he screamed, pulling away. He raised his sword and slammed it down. Now, with just one hand, Zach flicked his blade upwards and blocked. ¡°Don¡¯t make me kill you!¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who¡¯s going to die!¡± Zach narrowed his eyes impatiently. ¡°I won¡¯t kill you if you stop. So fucking stop!¡± ¡°L-listen to him!¡± the girl cried. ¡°I can¡¯t lose you, Bennie!¡± Her eyes were soaked with tears. ¡°Please, baby. Just let it go. Please! Before you die in front of my eyes!¡± She reminds me of Kalana, Zach thought, horrified. ¡°Bennie, let¡¯s just leave, man,¡± the mage standing across from her said. What if this was me and Kal? What if¡­? The red-haired kid they¡¯d called ¡°Bennie¡± looked over his shoulder and scowled at them then made an even more hateful expression at Zach. ¡°I won¡¯t surrender. I won¡¯t!¡± Again, he tried to rip apart Zach, who had about eight clear openings he could¡¯ve used to end his life. Zach sheathed his blade, stepped to the side around a messy, awkwardly angled slash, and kicked him in the stomach, causing him to bend over and gasp. Then, with his right hand, Zach grabbed the kid¡¯s wrist, squeezing it until he felt the bones break. The kid¡¯s clenched grip opened on its own, and the sword dropped down to the floor with a thunk. Zach kicked it away. Now, while still holding his broken wrist, Zach used his opposite hand and decked him twice in his face, breaking his jaw, knocking out a few teeth, and causing his eyes to become unfocused. With that, Zach released him, and he dropped down, landing first on his knees and then, with an ¡°oomph,¡± falling forward onto his face. The two mages now looked at him, and both were shaking with fear. Zach gestured with his chin at the two unconscious forms nearby him. ¡°Take these two and leave!¡± he shouted at them. ¡°Go!¡± The mages nodded at him, and both seemed to try hugging opposite ends of the hall as though afraid Zach might cut them down as they passed him by. ¡°Ignore those things behind me,¡± he said. ¡°Wh-what things?¡± the girl asked as she cradled the red-haired boy in her arms and sobbed into his low-level armor. ¡°What are you¡ª¡± Both mages shrieked as his eight cards stampeded their way down the hallway, with some flying right over their heads and others scampering between the two mages. During the short time it took them to pass, the male and female mage let out one continuous, uninterrupted scream of terror. Then, finally, they scooped up their unconscious comrades and began hurrying their way in the direction Zach had come from. With that, Zach continued on his way. Hurrying down the next set of stairs, he proceeded to move beyond another three consecutive corridors and into yet another spiraling stairwell. This time, Zach did not even bother drawing his sword as he stepped through the narrow passage at the bottom of a decrepit stairway and into a much wider area that contained four sealed-shut holding cells on each of the crumbling walls to his left and right. Upon his entrance, four men shouted out his name then began racing towards him with various weapons drawn; two women also began lifting staves as though to cast magic. Even still, Zach paid them little attention. He instead chose to look at something beyond them where a rounded archway led into yet another stairwell that would bring him even farther down into this labyrinthine dungeon. It can¡¯t possibly be much farther, he thought. ¡°Zachys Calador!¡± one of the men shouted; the man was preemptively spinning around a flail as if in anticipation of striking. Eyeing him, Zach folded his arms and struck a confident posture as all eight of his cards came either running or flying into the room. Absent Jimmy¡¯s slow, they were very fast. And the moment the men saw his cards, their attitudes changed pretty fast. Witnessing the arrival of his Sneering Imp Warriors and Sneering Imp Troublemakers, the four men stopped charging immediately, and all four dropped their weapons. Even the casters released their grip on their staves. All held up their hands in surrender as the imps converged upon them. ¡°Please,¡± begged a tall man with a big red beard and a bushy mustache. He was backing away from an imp that was flying towards him. ¡°Kid, please. Don¡¯t!¡± ¡°Yeah, okay.¡± Zach ordered his cards to halt a moment before they ran the men through with their spears. He also ordered his Troublemakers to stop, but not before one had already hurtled a dagger across the room, which Zach was thankfully able to spot before it was too late. Urgently, he leaned his body to the right, fully extended his hand, and caught it midair before releasing it and letting it drop to the floor. With a mental command, Zach changed the designation of his Sneering Imp cards so that Attack Only Hostiles was set to On. This would prevent them from killing anyone who surrendered from this point forward. ¡°Line up against that wall,¡± he ordered, pointing to a spot near the stairwell. When they were slow to move, he shouted, ¡°Now!¡± With obvious terror in each step, they scampered over to the wall, and then Zach had them all place their hands in their laps and assume a seated position. After that, he ordered Warrior A to hover in place just before them. ¡°If any of you guys try anything, this thing will attack you automatically, got it?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± one of the women said, tears in her eyes. ¡°If you call for help or do anything to signal for reinforcements, my imps will attack. Nod if you understand.¡± All six nodded. ¡°Good.¡± He took a moment to meet each of their eyes so that they knew he meant business. Then he extended his hand, his palm facing up. ¡°Comms. Now.¡± With unsteady, shaking hands, they pulled their Comms out of their ears and placed them in his hand. He squeezed it shut, crushing all of them. Unclenching his fist, he turned over his hand and let the crushed devices fall down to the floor. With that, he addressed them. ¡°Where is Vim Alazar being held? And how many more of you will I have to go through?¡± With a nervous-sounding gulp, the man who¡¯d been wielding the flail wet his lips and answered Zach¡¯s question. From the shaky, fearful quality to his voice, Zach did not think he was lying. Based off what he said, it sounded like Zach was very close. Apparently, there was a fairly large, organized, and defensive force barricading a final flight of stairs following this one, and then after that, the only one who¡¯d still be standing in his way would be a man by the name of ¡°Captain Gaelan Malakor.¡± He¡¯s the guy I¡¯ve been hearing on the Comm. Having come so close to his objective, Zach was ready to rescue Vim and be gone from this place. But first, he ordered the captured guild members to leave¡ªwithout their weapons. They seemed all-too eager to obey. He watched as they got up, maneuvered cautiously around his cards, and then disappeared, heading up the stairwell out of here. Zach counted to ten before proceeding. Then, with his cards flanking him, he resumed his downward trek to the bottom-most level of this filthy, disgusting, and broken-down dungeon, where he knew Vim would be waiting. Hopefully, all the blood he¡¯d spilled would be worth it. Chapter 154: The Rescue Pt. II Chapter 154: The Rescue Pt. II For the second time in five minutes, Senior-Lieutenant Haisel Ragora, the current acting leader of the Royal Roses, dismissed his call with Lord Oren of the Lords of Justice and then briefly closed his eyes as a rush of wind from the ocean blew over him. At the moment, he was standing on the deck of The Piercing Thorn, his aircraft carrier. On several occasions, the Guild of Gentleman had demanded the entire fleet be turned over, and at the risk of retaliation, Haisel had made continuous excuses, stalling and delaying while he tried to think up some kind of plan. Thankfully, the surrender of Vim Alazar had been enough to stay the enemy¡¯s hand¡ªor at least it¡¯d seemed so at the time. But now I know they never could¡¯ve attacked us in the first place. If only he had known what he knew now¡ªwhat Lord Oren had shared with him only a few hours prior: that the Guild of Gentlemen had been bluffing all along, and that, for the past several weeks, they did not actually possess any more of those destructive weapons. If only he had known this, he would have continued his assault on Shadowfall Coast. This would have been over with already. But now, however, it, looked as though there was a real chance to set things right. At some point in the next twelve hours, the Gentlemen were expected to have another weapon ready to fire. They would not allow this to happen. Haisel could feel the million lives ended in Ogre¡¯s Axe demanding justice from beyond the grave, and by the Gods, they would have it! They played us like fools! Haisel had no idea how Lord Oren¡¯s spies had managed to gather such valuable intelligence, yet he had no doubt that the intel was correct and reliable, as Lord Oren¡¯s actions suggested a firm certainty of it. For his guild to have not only declined surrender, but to have begun marching on the offense¡ªit suggested he must have had a very, very high level of confidence in whatever reports he¡¯d been receiving. Thus, if the Lords of Justice were going to act, the Royal Roses would act as well. Haisel¡¯s attention became diverted at the sound of boots stomping along the deck, which added a constant, thudding drumbeat to the windy night. All around him, hundreds of uniformed, level-1 troops shuffled about, attending to various tasks. It was nearly impossible to see anyone clearly, as all lights had been ordered extinguished. Between their radar-jamming equipment and the dark of night serving as cover, Haisel hoped to get into position momentarily without the enemy noticing their approach. Why didn¡¯t the kid tell me he was going to do this? Haisel thought to himself with a grunt, both annoyed and impressed. Right now, Zachys Calador was on a solo mission to rescue Vim¡ªsomething Haisel should have been informed of immediately and yet had only found out a short while ago. On the one hand, Haisel was heartened by his courage and willingness to act; on the other hand, this was incredibly irresponsible and irksome. Zachys needed to understand that he had an entire guild behind him: a guild that would willingly die to rescue their leader. There was never any need for him to act alone. And now, it was all Haisel could do to rush every asset under his command in to support him. ¡°Senior-Lieutenant Ragora, please,¡± the voice of Lord Oren said, having once again reestablished contact despite Haisel terminating their link for the second time in a row. ¡°There is nothing left to discuss, Lord Oren,¡± he replied curtly. ¡°The Royal Roses will support you the moment that we can.¡± ¡°We need support immediately!¡± he insisted. ¡°We must prioritize the weapon!¡± Haisel folded his hands behind his back, stood up straight, and gazed out into the dark ocean before him. ¡°We will provide you with our complete and total support the moment that Sir Alazar and Zachys Calador are safe and returned to us.¡± ¡°Zach already has a plan to escape. I implore you to let him do this his way.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m leaving nothing up to chance. Running Sir Alazar through the dungeons is too risky. We will intercept Vim and the boy with the Piercing Thorn.¡± ¡°Respectfully, I don¡¯t believe you fully understand the nature of the situation,¡± Lord Oren said, his tone taking on a note of worry. ¡°I¡¯m expecting Zach to use a certain¡­ability: one that will exert him to the point of death if he¡¯s not healed the moment it concludes.¡± ¡°Not to worry then,¡± Haisel said in reply. ¡°We have everything needed for his recovery aboard, including freshly acquired healing stones. I¡¯m not about to trust the Elvish queen with the two of them, especially in light of the fact that she¡¯s already tried to murder one of them in a similar situation.¡± ¡°But¡­but things have changed since then.¡± ¡°So they have,¡± Haisel agreed. ¡°Even still, I stand firm in what I¡¯ve said. The moment Zachys Calador and Sir Alazar are in hand, we will divert all of our resources towards a bombardment of the enemy¡¯s production facilities.¡± Lord Oren sighed. ¡°Fine. If you really won¡¯t budge, then at least promise me you won¡¯t get Zach killed. I genuinely believe his plan of running Vim through the dungeons and returning to Queen Vayra for healing is the best move.¡± ¡°I appreciate your input.¡± Haisel grinned despite knowing Lord Oren could not see it. ¡°But I am not a man known for failure. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, I¡¯d like to devote my full attention towards supporting the rescue operation.¡± ¡°Understood. May the Gods grant you favor.¡± ¡°And you, Lord Oren.¡± Their discussion hopefully over¡ªfor good, this time¡ªHaisel turned his head as his eyes barely made out the forms of several-dozen troops and a few low-ranking, leveled members of the guild dashing forward in diving gear. They marched to the end of the stern then leapt up, off, and over the safety railing; a moment later, a series of splashing sounds could be heard from where Haisel continued to stand resolutely as things proceeded. ¡°Diving Team 11,¡± the voice of a sergeant said over the Comm in his ear. ¡°Go!¡± The sounds of more running along the deck and then more splashing came, but this time from somewhere to Haisel¡¯s left. He continued to watch and listen as the rest of the diving teams were able to get into the water and begin their swim towards the coast. Once he doubly confirmed that all diving teams were outbound and heading towards enemy territory, he felt a slight tensing in his shoulder muscles, because he knew that the moment had come to give an order¡ªone that there would be no turning back from. It¡¯s time. The significance of the action he was about to take was not lost on him. In order to assist Zachys in recovering their leader, he was about to risk far more than just the lives of himself and those here with him. No, he was essentially putting the lives of millions upon millions of innocent people in peril; for this reason, failure was unthinkable. Haisel fully understood that, once he gave the order, there would be no reversing things¡ªno do-overs. He would reignite a flame that had only just been extinguished. It''s this or tyranny. Keeping his back perfectly straight, and with strength and resolve in each of his words, he opened his mouth and at last gave the order that would plunge his already devastated guild back into the fires of war and death. ¡°All battlecruisers!¡± he shouted. ¡°Open fire! Target the enemy SAM sites along the beach!¡± From various positions in the water all around the aircraft carrier, the lights aboard five accompanying battlecruiser ships began to activate in such a way that they¡¯d immediately be detected by the enemy. His aircraft carrier also lit up as well; having turned the lights back on, they were essentially announcing the presence of their forces to anyone in Shadowfall Coast who merely happened to be looking out towards the ocean. Yet it didn¡¯t matter, because having already successfully gained the element of surprise, there would be no way for the Guild of Gentlemen to react in time to mount a defense. And so now, following a rapid period of flashing lights, a deafening series of loud bangs rang out in the night as numerous, high-caliber MK 45 artillery guns announced the Royal Roses¡¯ defiance and resistance. ¡°FOR OGRE¡¯S AXE!¡± soldiers cried out on the deck, throwing their arms up in cheer and a palpable sense of vengeance. Seconds later, their cheers turned into even louder shouts of victory as secondary explosions could be heard from the coast, which became absolutely hammered with the cannon-like artillery shells. All along the beach, where the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s anti-aircraft SAM turrets had been placed, there were now tremendous eruptions of smoke and sand. And even from here in the ocean, Haisel could also detect loud cracks as several shells strayed from targets and crashed down on civilian infrastructure, such as the nearby boardwalk. I better not find out anyone is intentionally missing, he thought. The last thing he wanted was an all-out assault on innocent civilian life, but given the anger felt in Giant¡¯s Fall and Spider¡¯s Eye Oasis over the attack on Ogre¡¯s Axe, he knew that preventing such acts of retribution was going to be a very difficult challenge. ¡°Watch your aim!¡± he angrily demanded as an MK 45 from one of the five battlecruiser warships orbiting The Piercing Thorn fired a shot that went indefensibly off course. About eight seconds after it was fired, Haisel could just make out a three-story apartment complex suffering a direct impact; the artillery shell ripped the entire structure apart, obliterating it and almost certainly killing every family that lived inside. This, he was able to see as the entire city lit up with red lights while a loud, shrill warning siren began to blare. Now, there were several-dozen ¡°thuds¡± audible from the direction of the city, and soon there came a return hissing sound as the enemy launched SSMs¡ªSurface-to-Surface Missiles¡ªat their position. Due to the dark of night, the smoky tails of dozens of SSMs streaking across the sky were not visible, but it made no difference, as their detection capabilities did not require eyesight in order to defend against such an attack. ¡°Deploy counter measures!¡± Haisel ordered. The ships under his command obeyed, and they retaliated with a series of SAMs, which utilized advanced, onboard targeting computers capable of seeking out and intercepting airborne threats. Thanks to their technological superiority, they managed to shoot down the approaching SSMs; the result was numerous detonations that filled the air above them. One missile, however, did manage to slip through their guard, causing a much closer explosion that resonated from a battlecruiser a bit behind and to the left of the Piercing Thorn. ¡°We¡¯ve taken a hit!¡± announced the captain of the vessel. ¡°How serious?¡± Haisel asked. ¡°We¡¯re patching it now. The enemy missile struck the hull near the bow of the ship. There may be several KIA. The Gods curse those bastards!¡± From the very same ship that had just been struck, a lone artillery cannon fired, and Haisel tensed up, as he knew right away that it portended nothing good. A few moments went by, and then very far into the distance, at what he estimated to be right near the center of the city, there was a dull boom that was only slightly audible from this distance. Despite this, he was fairly sure he knew what had just been struck. Almost certainly, the battlecruiser had targeted¡ªand destroyed¡ªone of the most significant cultural landmarks in Shadowfall Coast: The Garden of Ancient Kings, which was one of the only tourist spots to be found in the relatively modest city. ¡°The Gods help whoever fired that shell!¡± Haisel snapped. ¡°I will not tolerate war crimes! Captain, get control over your men immediately or I¡¯ll hold you responsible for their actions!¡± ¡°Y-yes, Senior-Lieutenant Ragora!¡± Haisel groaned. He knew how badly the men and women serving under him wanted¡ªcraved¡ªrevenge. But he would not have his guild suffer the disgrace of it! It was bad enough he¡¯d been forced to allow the true depths of Lieutenant Varsh¡¯s depravity to become public knowledge, but having the world associate their guild with war crimes such as the intentional destruction of cultural or religious landmarks was a whole different level of bad. As things stood, the Royal Roses needed to clean up their act¡ªand so did the other guilds¡ªif they wanted the rest of the world to take humanity seriously. Humans needed to improve. They needed to be better than this! ¡°All gun crews, steady your aim,¡± he ordered into the Comm. ¡°Military targets only! We are not going to reduce ourselves to the level of our¡ª¡± Haisel snapped his mouth shut as something caught his eyes. Far in the distance, he spotted emergency vehicles, military convoys, and a tremendously larger-than-expected number of reinforcements emerging from within the city like a nest full of disturbed bees. With a surprising quickness, they arrived on the beach, many hopping over the smashed ledges of broken and shelled sections of the boardwalk, with numerous others sliding down the sand wherever it happened to form an incline. ¡°Enemy reinforcements!¡± a woman shouted over the Comm. ¡°How did they get here so fast?¡± another asked. Haisel clenched his hands into fists as he watched them approach. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how,¡± he said over the Comm. ¡°All ship captains, take us in closer!¡± ¡°Sir?¡± one of them asked as though uncertain. ¡°You heard me!¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Directing his fleet nearer to the shore, he felt the wind beat against his face as they moved perilously closer to the enemy. It was a risky move, but this was an all-or-nothing operation. Having already opened fire on the Guild of Gentlemen, the war was now back on, and surrender was off the table. They would either succeed here tonight or die. There was simply no undoing what had already been done. ¡°Attack the enemy reinforcements!¡± Haisel ordered. All around him came the sound of electrical hums as onboard gatling guns mounted on every ship were turned at the coast. Now, the night erupted with the loud, overwhelming, and repeating crack of gunfire as munitions were set to bear against the scores of level-1 troops rushing to the beach to defend against the surprise invasion. Beneath the moonlight, Haisel could partially see the forms of human soldiers running, diving into cover, or falling dead on the sand. Right around this time, his diving teams began to surface. Several members were cut down immediately by return fire as they struggled to remove their guns from their water-proof carrying bags, but most were able to lie prone on dryer sand and use the dark as cover to avoid being easily targeted. Caught off guard, the enemy had not sent in troops with night-vision capability, and their flashlights and spotlights could only cover so much terrain. ¡°Protect our troops!¡± Haisel ordered. ¡°Fire on the enemy!¡± A storm of gunfire ripped across the sand, causing sprays of it to shoot upwards like miniature geysers. On the ocean¡¯s wind, the sound of screams and rage managed to carry its way to his ears as his fleet unloaded upon the level-1 troops attempting to guard their shores. At the same time, his own level-1 troops began delivering a salvo of return fire while the leveled members of the diving teams dashed straight into the combat without regard for the stray bullets flying everywhere; briefly, they were permitted to rip apart the enemy¡¯s troops uninhibited. Haisel watched with approval as the leveled members of the diving teams swung around their weapons and butchered one troop after the next. Eventually, however, they were met with leveled members from the Guild of Gentlemen, requiring them to disengage and deal with foes who could rival their own strength. Not far from the shore, two of his men slammed their shields forward, bashing them directly into rival shields opposite them from two officers of the Guild of Gentlemen. The four men struggled, pressing their shields into one another, locked in a contest of strength. Beside them, two women, both wielding spears, whipped their weapons around in a frenzy of dodging and striking. Regrettably, it was the taller, sturdier-looking woman from the Guild of Gentlemen who won out, and with a fast, spinning slash, she decapitated her foe. With leveled guild members facing one another in direct combat, a whole different dynamic began to play out. Now, in addition to the back-and-forth of gunfire, a variety of melee weapons were clashing together, which created an odd contrast with the tools of conventional warfare. Magic soon entered the fray, and the worlds of science and adventuring intermingled in an unsightly free-for-all that brought about a horrendous and rapidly rising death toll. Giant balls of fire conjured out of thin air crashed down upon scores of enemy troops, setting them ablaze. At the same time, electrified rain began to pour over numerous level-1 troops from the diving teams; due to the light from the fire magic illuminating the coast, Haisel was able to see their bodies begin to smoke and char and twitch as the electric rain cooked them alive; this, as gatling guns, artillery, and counter-missiles from his fleet continued to deal with their persistent enemy. Thus far, the Gentlemen were dividing their fire between the diving teams and Haisel¡¯s fleet, which served their purposes perfectly. The goals here were simple and twofold: one, to clear out a path and make it easier for their divers to perform a successful land assault on the coast, which would hopefully result in the diving teams crippling whatever remnants of their recently bolstered anti-aircraft capability still existed along the southeast¡ªand two, Haisel hoped it would make the Guild of Gentlemen pull some of their units away from their manufacturing district, where Zachys Calador was currently attempting a rescue of Vim. At first, the enemy fared poorly and was ineffective in defending against Haisel¡¯s forces. But then, something changed. Something that Haisel did not see coming. Abruptly, dozens of belt-fed HMGs farther inland that Haisel had not known existed began firing at his fleet, which had come close enough to be within their range. As one gun after the next began sending out a steady stream of highly lethal machine-gun rounds, he was taken by surprise. Have they been preparing for an attack like this? Haisel wondered, shocked. Given the Gentlemen¡¯s belief that they had suppressed all of North Bastia via fear of their weapons, Haisel did not think they would have spent the time, gold, and effort ramping up their coastal defenses¡ªbut quite obviously, they had. Thus, despite launching such an initially strong and successful surprise attack against the Guild of Gentlemen, the guild now began putting up a formidable defense. Having fallen into a trap of their own, Haisel now discovered that the enemy had indeed significantly improved upon their ability to deal with another naval assault. In this case, it appeared they¡¯d merely been waiting patiently for the perfect moment with which to act. Having sailed in close, the Gentlemen launched a return attack with an intensity, far, far higher than Haisel had believed them capable of delivering. Less than five feet to Haisel¡¯s right, a man¡¯s head snapped backwards as a bullet fired by the HMGs killed him instantly¡ªas well as eight more troops on the deck behind him with more falling each second. Numerous medics rushed across the deck and dove on top of the bloodied and dying troops, but they too were blasted to pieces as they attempted to shield their comrades with their own flesh. Screams began to reverberate all around the aircraft carrier as dozens of additional men and women¡ªincluding some leveled members of the guild with low constitution¡ªwere ripped apart and shredded by the heavy machine guns. ¡°Get behind cover!¡± he shouted. ¡°Protect the fighter jets!¡± A loud, constant ¡°pop-pop-pop¡± continued to echo from the HMGs, ramping up the sustained pressure of the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s counterattack. Yet these machine guns became almost something of an afterthought as, from much farther in the distance, a number of distinct booms caused Haisel to flood with alarm. And the reason for this was simple: because they sounded very much like artillery being fired. That¡¯s definitely artillery! Haisel swore. Then he swore again. Unless his ears were lying to him¡ªand he very much wished that was the case¡ªit meant that the Guild of Gentlemen had set up anti-naval artillery guns, and these, by far, would prove to be the most threatening new additions to their southeastern defensive capabilities. The sound of them alone signaled that the odds had just shifted wildly against him, and things were about to become immensely bloodier. Between the HMGs, the addition of artillery, and the increased barrage of incoming missiles, the level of resistance they were now encountering had not only become vastly amplified, but it was also much, much greater than it had been during their initial invasion a few weeks ago. ¡°No!¡± a voice cried. Haisel turned to look. A young man with blond-colored haired was squirming on the deck, blood hemorrhaging out of a gaping wound running from his belly to his lower chest. ¡°No! No! N¡­nooo,¡± he finished in a whisper, becoming quiet and still. Above, numerous detonations rang out like angry roars as another, far larger barrage of missiles and artillery shells rained down upon his fleet. Like before, they deployed their countermeasures, but this time, several shells managed to get through. Unlike guided missiles, artillery was inherently unpredictable and more difficult to neutralize, and that became readily apparent as more than a dozen shells pounded their forces. With an unusually loud bang, a shell landed directly on top of one of his precious, invaluable fighter jets, blowing it to pieces. Haisel opened his mouth to issue a command, but then he shut it as a massive explosion along with a giant ball of flame came from somewhere to the right of their formation. There was also a blast of heat that could actually be felt. Gods damn them! One of his five battlecruisers had gone completely up in flames. Hundreds were hastily evacuating with many desperately leaping into the ocean to escape the rapidly spreading fire. Hundreds more would inevitably be trapped inside, and many beyond that were already likely dead. Haisel tried to raise the vessel¡¯s captain over the Comm, but he was unable to do so; this, as more troops were cut down by the HMGs the enemy had hidden along the beach. Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop! Haisel leapt away from the site of another explosion, this one very close. Right in the middle of the deck, an artillery shell crashed down, and in addition to blowing a hole straight through to a lower level, it left fifteen uniformed men and women in various pieces to the extent that it became impossible to know which body part belonged to who. ¡°Help me!¡± a voice begged. ¡°Help me!¡± Haisel searched for the source of it, and the sight that greeted him caused him to recoil in horror. Two men, both struck by the HMGs, were now stuck together, their intestines literally tangled into one another. Or at least it appeared that way. Haisel did not let his gaze linger on the unfortunate souls. Peeling back his lips and snarling, he raised his hands and shielded his eyes to prevent being irritated by shrapnel as yet another shell breached their defenses and caused another section of his beautiful aircraft carrier to be destroyed. ¡°Senior-Lieutenant Ragora!¡± a moderately high-ranking member of the Royal Roses said over the Comm. ¡°We should retreat!¡± ¡°No!¡± he roared defiantly. ¡°We¡¯re fighting to the end, Gods damn you! Hear me clearly: if you all want to live to see tomorrow, then get off your asses, get on the guns, and fire on those sons of bitches¡ªthey, who murdered a million of our people in Ogre¡¯s Axe!¡± His words seemed to restore some of the conviction in his badly rattled men. Haisel exuded as much confidence as he could muster. He stood tall, extended his arm, and pointed at the enemy even as bullets whizzed by his ears and in some cases struck him directly. ¡°If anyone sees a dead gunner, take their place. For the love of the Gods, attack!¡± His fleet¡¯s MK 45s fired off another round of shells, and he frowned as he saw only a few of them land in close enough proximity to destroy the heavy machine guns they were targeting; the rest resulted in wayward explosions that narrowly missed the persistently flashing muzzles of the HMGs. ¡°Ignore the enemy¡¯s machine guns for now!¡± he yelled into his Comm, as a significant portion of their outgoing firepower had been directed at them. ¡°Focus everything on disabling their artillery!¡± He waved his opposite hand at a number of very shaken-looking troops hiding behind a thin wall behind him. ¡°Low level and level-1 crew who aren¡¯t currently manning a gun¡ªget behind cover or retreat below deck.¡± Demanding more from his forces, he wrangled them into continuing the fight as more explosions, more gunfire, and more death turned what was supposed to be a surprise attack into the single-deadliest battle he had ever borne witness to. And nowhere was this made clearer than on the beach, where a sight so horrible it would never fade from memory presented itself to him. There were now so many bodies¡ªon both sides. Many were piling up as though they were lifeless pieces of inventory in an open-air warehouse. Half of the members of the diving teams had been killed¡ªmore than five-hundred good men and women¡ªand what looked like two- or three-thousand enemy troops had died across from them. For the Guild of Gentlemen to have so rapidly increased their number, it could only mean they had conscripted a great number of citizens of Shadowfall Coast. These were townspeople that were dying¡ªand in greater and greater numbers. Never had Haisel seen a death-toll skyrocket like this. Before his very eyes, he witnessed one person after the next perishing from existence. And the bitter irony of it all was that the Brayspark Monarchy¡¯s defining achievement had been to create a world where this didn¡¯t happen anymore¡ªwhere this kind of barbaric inhumanity had been replaced with voluntary open-field combat. The Guild of Gentlemen had turned war from this into something that could almost be called a deadly sport or a contest, one in which everyone understood and obeyed the rules of the game, and all participants knew beforehand what they were getting into. But humans being humans, Haisel supposed it was inevitable that things would revert right back to the ways of old. A century of a more sophisticated, honorable means of battle¡ªlost in a matter of weeks. This is going to be the new normal, isn¡¯t it? he thought, disturbed and disgusted. There¡¯s no going back after this. Piles of corpses. Literal piles of corpses were filling up on the beach. And that was assuming the bodies were all, in fact, corpses. This was actually something that couldn¡¯t be taken for granted. Many of the level-1 troops were only half dead: young men and women left to squirm bloodied on the sand, moaning and crying for their mothers and fathers or their Gods as their allies abandoned them to focus on saving those less critically wounded. In this moment, Haisel realized that the people of Shadowfall Coast were actually willing to die down to the last man and woman just to avoid having to live next door to a Dwarf or a Lizardman. That was what all this was about, wasn¡¯t it? Their hatred and disgust and paranoia of the global world: a loathing so powerful that they were willing to drop something called a ¡°nuclear bomb¡± on a human city just to prevent the very possibility of having to live in a world where their children learned math from an Orcish teacher. Haisel pitied them. He truly pitied them. But this was war. ¡°Keep firing!¡± As the battle raged on around him, he paused just a moment to switch to a private Comm channel, and quickly, he asked, ¡°Have you made contact yet?¡± ¡°Almost,¡± replied a female voice. ¡°Hang tight.¡± ****** In the exact instant that Zach darted through another door-less entryway and into a very narrow passage, a constant, powerful chain of successive explosions caused an earthquake-like shifting of everything around him. Zach halted immediately and threw out his arms so that his palms pressed against the walls to both sides of him. Steadying himself, he maintained his balance as the world continued to shake while the loud, rumbling booms continued to rock the filthy flooring beneath him. Dust and pebbles also leaked down from the stone ceiling above. Moments later, a siren of some sort became activated, one loud enough that he could hear it even from all the way down here. The fuck is going on up there? he thought, confused and worried. It sounds like a war is going on, but Mr. Oren¡¯s not supposed to be invading yet. With his eight cards in tow, he waited for the shaking to stop, and then he proceeded onwards, only to pause again as it worsened. Eventually, he realized these ground-shaking detonations were likely to continue intermittently for at least a good while, so he adapted to it, running more carefully even as subsequent explosions rocked the entire subterranean prison-dungeon. Troubled, he listened more attentively to the distressed voices blaring through his stolen Comm as he moved. Initially, it was difficult to decipher exactly what was being said, as too many voices were saying too many things at once, but eventually, some semblance of order was established, and Zach was able to piece together what was happening as a panicked-sounding man began to air his fears over the Comm. ¡°They won¡¯t tell us shit,¡± a young and male voice said. ¡°Are we winning? Losing? I¡¯m so fucking nervous. I can¡¯t take this anymore.¡± ¡°Then stop thinking about it!¡± an older, female voice ordered. ¡°I know everyone is worried, but this Comm line is exclusively for patrol and prison-guard squads. Focus on dealing with our own crisis, and let others worry about the Royal Roses.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Captain. It¡¯s just my brother¡¯s down there fighting on the southeast coast.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, my brother¡¯s already dead. And so are both my parents. Deal with it!¡± From this¡ªas well as other bits and pieces¡ªit sounded like the Royal Roses had launched some kind of surprise naval attack on the city of Shadowfall Coast not all that far from the Yorna exit. This alone was shocking, but even more so was the fact that they¡¯d apparently done so ahead of the arrival of the Lords of Justice and the Elves. What were they up to? I¡¯ll find out later. Right now, he had to focus on getting to Vim, and he knew he was close. The people he¡¯d spared on the floor above this one had told him that he¡¯d only have to travel down two more flights of stairs, and that the entrance to the final one would be well guarded. Luckily, he had his eight cards from Trials of Nolak with him. Four of them, the Sneering Imp Troublemakers, made soft, mischievous-sounding tapping noises as they scampered along beside him. His other four¡ªcalled Sneering Imp Warriors¡ªfilled the quiet passage with a slight buzzing as they flew forward, maintaining a constant few feet of distance behind Zach. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. As he reached the end of this narrow passage, he bolted down an equally narrow ramp until arriving upon another framed entryway that let out into a much wider, square-shaped area containing rusted, ancient-looking gymnastics equipment, none of which appeared operable. Thus far, it was the single-largest individual area that Zach had seen since breaking his way in, and from looks alone, Zach figured it had been a place for the prisoners kept here a very long time ago to exercise and work out. It was also a place he was likely to encounter one of the last remaining obstacles between himself and Vim Alazar. There they are, he thought, his body tightening apprehensively. There were only two entrances into this disused gym room: the one that Zach had come in from and the one that led to what he presumed would be the final, spiraling staircase, beyond which Vim would be waiting. And in front of this staircase, just as he¡¯d been told, an entire formation of guild members stood at the ready as though waiting specifically for Zach to arrive. And Gods, there were a lot of them. By Zach¡¯s estimation, there appeared to be about twenty-one people blocking off the small entrance he needed to travel through, and all of them were arrayed in a tight, orderly formation. Five burly men stood frontmost, each lined up side by side. Their bodies were partially concealed behind gigantic shields; in fact, their shields were so large that they didn¡¯t so much as ¡°hold them¡± as they did rest the base of them on the grimy dungeon flooring like improvised barricades, spanning from the floor all the way up to their chests. All five men were also heavily armored, and they did not look like they were willing to budge. Behind these five men were another five people, and these were a mix of two men and three women. They were slightly less armored but carried larger weapons, such as two-handed swords, long spears, and one woman had a trident. Through the eye sockets in her helmet, Zach could see her pupils enlarge as she spotted Zach¡¯s arrival. Was it because of fear? Maybe. But to Zach, it seemed far more suggestive of determination as opposed to terror or surprise, which made sense since she¡ªalong with the rest of them¡ªhad been both expecting and awaiting Zach¡¯s appearance here. A few feet behind the trident-wielding woman and the four beside her was another line of five of the guild¡¯s members, four of which were men. All five wielded small, rounded shields in one hand and a modestly sized, one-handed weapon in the other, and the one in the middle had a golden insignia of crossed swords tattooed on his forehead, which Zach took to imply he was an officer in the guild. Of the entire group, it was his eyes that seemed to burn with the harshest intensity. Finally, behind this officer, there were six more members of the guild, two of them equipped with bows and the other four with staves. These stood closest to the entrance to the staircase, with a woman in white robes physically positioned such that she was standing right between the frame of it; with her curved, short staff gripped tightly in both of her hands, Zach thought he detected her shoulders trembling. Put together, the twenty-one guild members created a large enough obstacle that Zach could not simply charge his way through them. And as Zach came blasting into this ancient prison gym at a run, he was forced to plant his feet and come to such an abrupt and harsh stop that his shoes actually dug into the stone flooring and created a trail of sparks as he skidded to a halt. Every head turned to look at him, which caused numerous clanking sounds from the large helmets worn by the shield-bearing men positioned up front. There was recognition in all of their eyes. Clearly, they knew who he was and why he had come. Zach might have even heard some of them over the Comm on his way down here. I don¡¯t want to kill these people, he thought to himself as his eyes studied the significant force barring his passage. I¡¯m tired of all the killing! Zach kept his arms at his sides. He did not draw his weapon. Instead, he struck a firm, upright posture and addressed them without fear or hesitation. ¡°Listen to me,¡± he began. ¡°You don¡¯t have to die today. The truth is I don¡¯t actually want to kill any of you, and I won¡¯t if you drop your weapons and¡ª¡± ¡°Attack!¡± shouted the officer with the golden tattoo on his forehead. ¡°Kill him!¡± Idiots! Zach scowled as he watched two of the men up front pull away from one another, their shields creating an opening similar to the parting of elevator doors. Directly behind them, a man with a large sword and the woman with the trident also stepped away in opposite directions, and so too did the two men with smaller shields even farther behind them. Now, a tiny pocket leading all the way to the back of their formation opened up, and it all happened so quickly, too. In total, this ¡°opening¡± of their formation lasted less than a second, and it was all so that the two archers in the back could fire off dual arrows that had already been nocked and drawn, which resulted in two distinct snaps followed by a whistling on the air as they made straight for Zach. With almost perfect timing, the guild members returned to their earlier position, sealing the hole in their formation at nearly the precise instant in time that the arrows crossed the air of the rotten gym room directly in front of the five large, shield-bearing men. Given how fast the arrows were traveling, this level of coordination was impressive and unexpected after facing so many unprepared kids who hadn¡¯t stood a chance against him. But it still wouldn¡¯t be good enough. Reacting with an even greater speed than the projectiles, Zach whipped his right hand over his left shoulder, grabbed the hilt of his sword, ripped it free of its scabbard, and then made two slashes back and forth in the empty space before him that were so fast that they created a hissing sound even louder than the arrows, both of which were cut right out of the air and snapped in half. From the tightening of faces Zach saw popping up in numerous guild members, he could tell that they were intimidated by his display of swordsmanship. And this, Zach was glad to see, because he reckoned it meant they might be a bit more persuadable having seen firsthand what he was capable of. And so, once more, Zach tried to convince them to stand down. ¡°Don¡¯t make me do this,¡± he pleaded with them. ¡°I really don¡¯t want to hurt any of you.¡± As he spoke, there were a few slight clacks as multiple pieces of wood from the destroyed arrows landed on the floor. ¡°But I have to get to Vim, and I¡¯m running out of time. So if you people don¡¯t get out of my way, I¡¯m sorry, but¡­¡± He narrowed his eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll carve my way through you!¡± ¡°Attack!¡± the officer shouted again, not even bothering to consider his words. Zach squeezed his hands around his sword. It looked like they were going to force him into ending their lives. It wasn¡¯t what he wanted, but he simply did not have the time to beat them down until they submitted. No, if they weren¡¯t willing to let him pass uninhibited, then the only choice left to him was to slay those who stood in his way. This meant that things were about to turn incredibly bloody. Truly, he wished these morons would¡¯ve just thrown down their weapons, because not only would he now have to take away their lives, but also of concern was the fact that Zach truly did not know if he could handle this many of them at once without entering Unleashed Phase, which would start the clock on it well before he intended to use it. If I have to use it now, I might not have enough time to make it back with Vim! From the moment he activated his ability, he would have somewhere around fifteen minutes¡ªplus or minus the use of abilities or procs on his sword¡ªto free Vim, run him through the city, get to Yorna¡¯s, whisk him down to B10, elevator him back up to the Whispery Woods entrance, and then finally rendezvous with Queen Vayra for healing. It was a lot. I have my cards, he reminded himself. And these are members of a political guild I¡¯m dealing with. I¡¯ll be fine as is. After a very quick, internal deliberation, Zach decided to hold off on using Unleashed Phase just yet. Sure, there were a lot of enemies in his path, and yes, they appeared to be a bit older, stronger, and overall more experienced than their younger counterparts, whose lives they had used as fodder up until this point, but even considering all those factors, these were still just pampered, political guild members. He would cut right through them! First, however, he needed to kick off his front foot and retreat backwards as the formation opened up yet again to allow two mages in the back to launch two large, cannon-ball-like masses of orange-colored energy at him. Each moved as though it were a heavy, weighty object, traveling upwards at an arc before dropping down with a loud thud onto the antiquated stone flooring, leaving a crack in it before rolling several feet forward. For two or perhaps three seconds, these cannon-like balls then began to shine very brightly before turning from orange to pure white¡ªand then they both exploded with a painful-to-look-at flash. Zach removed his left hand from his blade and then raised it to shield his eyes. A moment later, the light faded, but by this point, the formation had already once again tightened¡ªonly to open up a third time. Now, Zach had to urgently jump to his left side as, from the tip of a staff, one of the mages fired out a thin, laser-like projectile about the size and width of a piece of straw; it traveled towards him with a genuinely surprising speed and made a subtle fush sound as it came within inches of striking his belly. It then continued onwards until hitting the wall behind him with an equally soft pfft. Risking a very quick peek over his shoulder, Zach saw that there was now a very small hole in the wall that, in terms of width, was just as thin as the projectile. Nevertheless, it seemed to penetrate very, very deeply into the stone, and that much, at least, was worrying. Growling, he looked ahead of him and said, ¡°You asked for this!¡± Zach prepared himself to charge his enemy, but once again, they managed to strike first. Like with the previous attempts, the first three rows parted to allow those in the rear to attack, but this time, all six mages and archers struck out at him at once. Now, Zach was forced to contend with two arrows, two more cannonball-like clumps of green energy, another small, thin, and laser-like beam, and a missile-shaped bolt of fire. There was also one other magical attack, but it was one that he was not aware had been cast until he looked down and realized he was standing on a circular shadow of sorts that made him feel like he was under some kind of spotlight, only one that drained light as opposed to shining it. Having no idea what he was about to be hit with, he hurriedly dashed away just as the outer edges of the shadow darkened and a semi-transparent pillar made of steaming-hot mist began shooting upwards, covering the area in a width three times his body and at a height of about ten feet. This mist then continued to shoot out and upwards at a faster and faster rate like gas being ejected from a shower hose until, finally, it began to fizzle out. Had Zach been standing within its perimeter, he might well have been boiled to death. Having escaped the attack, he readied himself as, from beyond this mist, which partially obscured his visibility, he reacted the moment the small, laser-like beam zipped across the gym room, spinning around it. Then, following this, the two arrows emerged, and like before, Zach cut them down. Finally, he leaned backwards and out of the way of the firebolt before back-flipping away from the two heavy, cannon-ball-shaped masses of energy that plopped down and cracked more of the stone before detonating with a painful flash. I don¡¯t have time for this shit! he thought to himself. I need to get to Vim! Mentally targeting the casters in the back row, Zach ordered all four of his Sneering Imp Warriors to attack. At the same time, he sent his Troublemakers forward as well. And now, with an ominous ¡°He-he-he-he-he!¡± his cards soared into action, moving far, far faster than they had back in Trials of Nolak when Jimmy had slowed them. The Troublemakers threw daggers while running along the roach-infested stone flooring, and the Warriors made much louder buzzing sounds from their wings as they raced across the air. Zach joined them in their charge, once more gripping his sword with both hands and rushing at his enemy. Through narrow slits in their thick helmets, he could see their eyes begin to widen with fear. They had their chance. ¡°Tanks!¡± the officer cried aloud as Zach and his cards sprinted across the room. ¡°Taunt!¡± Zach felt a pinch of nerves in his belly as the word ¡°taunt¡± reached his ears. Could pets be taunted like mobs? Could cards be? Was that even something that could happen? He knew that regular mobs and even bosses could be taunted, but one thing he¡¯d never before seen was whether or not it was possible for something like a card to be¡ª FORGET ALL THAT! WHAT REALLY MATTERED WAS THAT ZACH REALLY, REALLY HATED THAT ONE GUY OVER THERE! THE SECOND ONE IN THE FIRST ROW. YES, HIM! ZACH HATED HIM MORE THAN HE¡¯D EVER HATED ANYONE! HE HAD TO DIE! NOW! Feeling his eyes bulge with a tremendous wrath for a reason he did not understand, Zach suddenly realized that he would willingly trade the life of himself and everyone he¡¯d ever loved if, in return, it meant that the man would be given so much as a paper cut: that was the extent to which Zach hated the heavily armored, shield-bearing son of a bitch. Screaming in outrage, Zach forgot everything he¡¯d just been thinking¡ªincluding why he was here¡ªand with his mouth literally drooling with hatred, he stomped his feet down onto the stone hard enough to leave permanent, foot-shaped cracks in it as he burned his way over to the man with the massive shield who dared to exist in the same universe as him! ¡°You mother fucker!¡± Zach roared, overflowing with white-hot rage. His imps, too, seemed to find the shield-bearing tanks up front to be just as insufferable and intolerable as Zach did, because the whole lot of them disregarded all the orders he¡¯d given them and instead focused on attacking one of the five tanks. Now, just ahead of Zach, four daggers thrown by Sneering Imp Troublemakers sailed across the room and made echoing thuds as they bounced off the shields of the five men that formed the heavily armored front line of the guild members¡¯ formation. An instant following that, Zach reached his target. With reckless abandon, he lifted his sword high and then screamed in fury as he swung it back downwards with all his strength. In response, the man he was targeting dropped down to a crouch, lifted his shield off the ground, and hid behind it; the shield was so massive it managed to protect his entire body. This meant that Zach¡¯s blade, which very much craved blood, instead slammed furiously into the metal shield, resulting in a high-pitched crack that was so loud it sounded like a gunshot. ¡°Die!¡± Zach screamed at him, lifting his blade and striking a second time. Then a third. Then a fourth. In a total mad frenzy, he began hammering away at the shield. On the fifth and sixth hits, the man began to grunt, and Zach could tell he was beginning to hurt. At the same time, his Sneering Imp warriors were flying all over the place, causing total disarray. Yet no matter where they flew, they always seemed to converge upon one of the heavily armored tanks up front, causing a constant pang, pang, pang as their gilded spears met one of these massive, mighty shields. Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that all four of his winged cards were suffering an unsustainable amount of damage from a constant barrage of arrow-fire and magic, as well as the occasional pierce from a spear or swipe of an axe as they flew low above the formation. To be sure, his cards, by virtue of their speed and unpredictable movements, did manage to avoid most things sent their way. Yet amid a flurry of arrows, a multitude of stabbing attempts, and a large, variously colored assortment of magical projectiles that brightened the room, a certain percentage of attacks did manage to land, and given the sheer number of them, this meant that his cards were plummeting in HP. Still, Zach did not care. All he cared about was killing this son of a bitch before him. ¡°Why!¡± he shouted, slamming his sword down. ¡°Won¡¯t!¡± he yelled, bashing it a second time. The man grunted, then wheezed. ¡°You!¡± He brought his sword down again, and now the crack sounded a bit different than any of those that had come before. It was deeper and lower pitched. ¡°Just. Die!¡± he finished in a scream, bludgeoning the man¡¯s shield twice more. Now, following the second of these two strikes, there was a lower, but far more satisfying-sounding snap, and the man¡¯s shield at last broke, splitting down the middle and causing both pieces to vanish shortly after, suffering a full break. Zach hatefully eyed the man, whose eyes shone back with an equal hate¡ªbut also fear. And then Zach lifted his blade one final time and crashed it down over the side of the man¡¯s neck, cutting deeply into it and causing the man¡¯s fingers to make a strange twitching gesture before he fell forward, plopping down onto his stomach. With Zach¡¯s blade practically stuck in the back-right corner of his neck, Zach was almost pulled down to the floor along with him. Exerting his own strength in the opposite direction, he yanked his sword, ripping it free, and then he stared at it a moment in confusion as it dripped blood. What the fuck am I doing? he asked himself, having become very confused. Zach shook his head, realizing he¡¯d been taunted. Yet the taunt must have ended when he killed the tank who¡¯d used it on him. Now, he became aware that he was staring directly into the vengeful face of the woman with the trident in the second row who¡¯d been standing behind the man. She shouted out in rage and took a swipe at him. Having returned to his senses, Zach hopped backwards and away from the weapon, then sprang forwards again to deliver a follow-up, counter slash. But it was too late; despite having lost a comrade, the four remaining tanks, showing no hesitation, swiftly pressed in closer together, recreating the closed-wall formation even if now a bit less effectively. The result was that Zach¡¯s blade crashed into another shield and made another loud crack. Retreating a bit, Zach ducked beneath a missile-shaped firebolt and cut down another arrow before scanning the gym room with his eyes, attempting to reassess the situation. But by this point, the damage had already been done. Ahead of him and a bit off to his right, he now saw the HP of one of his Sneering Imp Warriors reach 0, and then, with a rush of dread sweeping over him, Zach watched as his card turned to sand and fell out of the air as it was killed. Then another died immediately after, this one also transforming into sand, which glided softly down to the stone. A moment later, his two remaining Sneering Imp Warriors, which had both been attacking the same target but from completely opposite ends, managed to score a killing blow on another of the heavily armored, shield-bearing tanks. The first Warrior attacked from ahead, striking the man¡¯s shield, but the second one at last flew around his guard and pierced him straight through his spine. His mouth opened for a silent scream, and then he too fell forward and died. Any sense of victory was short-lived, however, as less than a half-second later, both of those imps were incinerated by a massive ball of fire that appeared from out of nothingness several feet above the stone floor, which burned and consumed them midair for a short while before both ultimately transformed into two more clumps of ordinary-looking sand, which trickled down onto the stone. And it was here that Zach realized things had just gone terribly, terribly wrong. I screwed up. I really screwed up bad! With just two of the guild members dead and all four of his four Sneering Imp Warrior cards destroyed, it finally occurred to Zach that he¡¯d badly underestimated his enemy¡ªmaybe to the extent that he¡¯d botched the entire rescue operation. It wasn¡¯t just because he¡¯d been overconfident, either, but also because he¡¯d been in a rush. Hell, he was still in a rush, only now, he had no idea how he was supposed to break through and get to Vim. As though sensing the momentum had shifted to their side, the front of the enemy¡¯s formation, which now consisted of just three shield-bearing men, began to ¡°push¡± their shields forward, which caused a grating sound to fill the room as they slid their shields along the stone ground, advancing slowly towards Zach. Behind them, the three women and two men followed closely, as did the line of five guild members carrying rounded shields; all three groups maintained a set, constant amount of distance from one another as they pressed forward towards Zach in a way that seemed cautious and careful, all while holding their formation steady. The back-most row, however, remained right where they were, and as a gradually increasing space began to form between them and their allies, the extra room enabled them to fire upon Zach and his four Sneering Elf Troublemakers without the risk of hitting their allies, though it was the Troublemakers in particular that absorbed the brunt of their onslaught. Much less nimble and not nearly as fast as the winged Warriors, the Troublemakers continued to launch dagger after dagger at the enemy while doing little to avoid the sudden storm of incoming arrows and magic that struck at them for thousands of points of damage with each hit. Numerous such attacks were also sent Zach¡¯s way as well, but he managed to dodge or cut them down as he backpedaled towards the entrance he¡¯d used to get here. Yet for all the incoming threats coming his way, one woman in particular was clearly giving him the hardest time. Zach frowned at the mage closest to the staircase, who was clearly the most powerful of the bunch. She was also the oldest, too: possibly even in her late twenties, though looks could be deceiving. She had cherry-blonde hair, and she was chanting something while the bulbous tip of her oaken staff began to glow. Then, several blue streaks began shooting off her staff, curving themselves midair and traveling halfway towards the ceiling before coming to a stop; the streaks, Zach noted, also moved in a bizarre way that briefly caused objects in front of them to become invisible as though they were causing light to bend around their location. Very quickly, all these streaks began accumulating together, creating a giant, sparking, flickering, and spherical-shaped mass roughly three times the size of a large beach ball. Eventually, the woman raised her staff and swung it downwards, and following that gesture, the giant blue ball began to slowly shrink in size as, one after the next, at random points along its surface, it unleashed beams that moved incredibly fast across the room, causing miniature explosions wherever they struck. Faced with a volley of powerful, unexpected attacks, Zach was now forced to duck, leap, side-step, or otherwise roll his way around this impressive but destructive spell while his Troublemakers continued to obliviously throw more daggers as they sustained intense damage from numerous direct hits of the beam, with one beam in particular blowing the entire nose off a Troublemaker and causing blood to drip down its chin and onto the floor. 6,217
HP 18,555/72,500
Name Sneering Imp Troublemaker B
Level 45
At the same time, the Troublemakers were also assaulted by fire, arrows, exploding cannonballs, and even water, as powerful jets of boiling liquid that materialized out of thin air above the mobs poured down on top of them, causing their red skin to smoke and sizzle while dealing between four- and five-thousand damage to each one. To make things worse, none of their thrown daggers were doing any damage to the enemy either, as every single one ended up absorbed by one shield or another with a loud thud that rang out with each impact. In disbelief, Zach watched as his cards were at last killed, each one turning to clumps of sand and leaving him to fight alone against the nineteen advancing, angry, and vengeful members of the Guild of Gentlemen. Yet, despite this, Zach¡¯s mind did not at all fill with thoughts of retreat or surrender, and he did not once consider turning around and fleeing in the direction he had come. No, the stakes were too high, and he¡¯d already spilled too much blood to leave here empty handed. And so, rather than retreat a single additional step, Zach came to a halt, raised his blade, and made the decision to risk his life by activating Unleashed Phase significantly earlier than he¡¯d hoped for. He knew it might get him killed. He knew that he might not be able to get back to Queen Vayra in time. But he also knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to live with the knowledge that he¡¯d killed so many people tonight for nothing. I have to see this through to the end! Truly, if he fled and survived, he¡¯d be forced to witness his failures play out over the coming years and decades, and he¡¯d know that all the pain would be his fault. Day after day, he¡¯d watch the news and see society break down in multiple regions. He¡¯d see the hate and vitriol skyrocket among the people of Giant¡¯s Fall and Spider¡¯s Eye Oasis as they vented their rage at the slaying of their guild leader, who they for some strange reason actually liked and cherished. And through it all, he¡¯d think back to today, wondering if he could¡¯ve prevented it by having succeeded instead of failing. I can survive this, he thought. I really can. If I get to B8 and realize I¡¯m running too low on time, I can always just hit mobs and proc my stamina regen to build it back up. It was true. If absolutely necessary, there were ways for Zach to prolong Unleashed Phase. But then he remembered something else: an incredibly important detail that he couldn¡¯t believe he only recalled right now. Feeling around the chest area of his robes for something concealed inside, his hand brushed against several items that provided him the greatest reassurance of all. Right! he thought to himself, filling with relief. How could I forget? I also still have a red stone, two yellows, and a purple on me if I absolutely need them. And the purple will definitely stop me from dying if I don¡¯t make it far enough in time. Especially if I only have to pay half of a Very High debt. Though a Very High exertion debt might be too much for a single purple stone to heal, surely it would at least be able to keep him from dying if he cut the debt in half and then tried to use one. It likely wouldn¡¯t be enough to prevent him from taking a several-hour-long, unconscious nap, but surely it would keep his heart from failing. With that thought in mind, Zach activated Phase Reset followed by the weekly ability on his Sword of Light Amidst Darkness, which made it so that the next ability he used had its exertion cost cut in half. Then, his mind fully made up, he activated Unleashed Phase. Or, at the very least, he mentally commanded himself to do so. Yet something happened. Something he did not foresee. Something that caused him to become overwhelmed with panic and disbelief. In the mere instant before he activated his ability, one of the mages extended their arm in his direction, and the tip of her staff began to glow a very bright whitish color. Then, a moment later, an equally bright halo appeared around Zach¡¯s neck just as he¡¯d activated Unleashed Phase. And nothing happened. His hands did not begin spraying embers, his stats did not rise, and his skin did not take on a dull glow. His ability, quite simply, did not activate. Zach tensed up, becoming confused and alarmed. Instinctively, he tried to dodge, pulling backwards and away, but the halo moved right along with him. He soon realized that this was because the shining halo was wrapped tightly around his throat like a collar, though he couldn¡¯t feel its presence and it caused him no pain whatsoever. On edge, he wondered what the hell it was and what it would do to him. Would it explode and take his head off? Would it tighten and choke him out? With a sense of desperation creeping into him, he again tried to activate Unleashed Phase, and like before, it failed to go off. ¡°I¡¯ve got him silenced!¡± the woman who¡¯d casted the spell shouted. So that¡¯s why! Very quickly, Zach pulled forward the information, as he now realized there was a red icon on the bar of buffs that he kept above him and in his peripheral vision.
Name (T2) Promise of Silence
Effect The user is silenced. While silenced, the user is unable to activate abilities, item abilities, equipment abilities, or spells.
Duration 0:55
Zach swore. This was badly inconvenient but not life-endingly so. Perhaps he did need to retreat after all, but only just for a minute until this fucking thing wore off. And so that was what he continued to do. But first, he cut down yet another two arrows, leapt aside to get out of the way of another missile-shaped flame, pulled himself back and away from another cannon-ball-like bomb, and then just as he was about to turn around and make a run for the frameless entrance and the ramp that¡¯d taken him down here, a speeding ball made of pure grey smoke streaked across the room and struck him dead center in his chest, entering inside of him and vanishing. Terrified, Zach wondered what in the name of the Gods had hit him this time. Once again, there was no pain. But he knew right away that something was seriously wrong with him. It became immediately obvious that something had changed. And it didn¡¯t take him long to figure out what it was as he tried to get himself out of here before he took any more hits from any more strange shit. As Zach commanded his body to move, he found that it was no longer obeying him. It wasn¡¯t quite that he was ¡°stuck¡± the way he typically was when hit with a root, but rather, he felt sluggish in an unbearable, horrifying sort of way. Every time he tried to move his body or one of his limbs, it reminded him very much of trying to wade through neck-high water. There was a certain resistance to the air around him. Even just lowering or raising his arms required him to fight with gravity. I¡¯m slowed! he shouted in his head. They slowed me! He opened his mouth to shout, but he soon realized the silence was also a literal silence, as he could no longer do even that. Rattled, he tried to force himself to run towards the entrance as fast as he could. Yet it was like trying to run in a nightmare. His body was moving too slowly. He was barely even able to turn around, and he did so in such an uncoordinated way that he actually ended up tripping over his own two feet and falling down onto his side while dropping his sword. This actually turned out to be a miracle, however, because two arrows and one of those straw-sized lasers zipped across the air where his head had been, and all three met their end upon colliding into the wall behind him. ¡°Finish him off!¡± the officer with the tattoo shouted. ¡°Before he recovers!¡± Zach very slowly turned himself so that he was sitting up on his rear end with his palms laid flat on the stone floor while his body faced the direction of the guild members, who were now beginning to break away from one another as though sensing it was no longer necessary for them to maintain their formation. Quite a few of them began charging Zach, shouting out obscenities and hateful threats as they eagerly rushed towards him as though wishing desperately to be the one to deliver the killing blow. One of them in particular seemed to have already gotten ahead of the pack: the girl wielding the trident. With the weapon extended fully in both hands, she charged forward at Zach, clearly intending to skewer him right then and there. Despite fighting for all he was worth, Zach was simply unable to maneuver his body in any meaningful way, nor was he able to shout out in horror as he watched the woman draw closer and closer and closer. Finally, she arrived before him: she, in a standing position, and he, still sitting on the floor and helplessly gazing up at her. With a loud grunt, she hopped into the air, angled the trident downwards, began falling straight on top of Zach, and then right before her trident tore through his flesh, she immediately changed directions mid-fall, flinging confusingly backwards and away from Zach in the opposite direction as a loud, startling bang filled the room. Coinciding with this loud, echoing crack, the woman¡¯s entire forehead exploded, sending brain matter, blood, and tissue all over a man wielding a two-handed sword that had been charging right behind her. Confused and clearly frightened, the man made a baffled-sounding half-yell, half-cry that was almost comical as he came to an immediate stop. He then looked around as though to ascertain just what in the Gods was happening. He never found out. A quarter of a second later, there was another stunningly loud bang, and now this man¡¯s head was blown apart even worse than hers was. Following the bang, all that remained was a piece of mouth barely attached to a section of jaw on top of a stump of neck. With that, the man fell backwards and landed with a plop on the stone. ¡°What are you doing to them, you bastard!¡± cried a man wielding a small round shield and a similarly small hand axe. Zach tried to crawl backwards away from him as he closed enough distance that he was now only a few feet away. Yet his body would not respond, and he was unable to gain any meaningful distance from the howling man. ¡°What the fuck did you do, you Gods-be-damned devil! What did you¡ª¡± BANG! The man dropped his axe, and then his shield. He fell forward, his jaw hitting the stone floor. Zach looked at the top of his head¡ªor rather, he looked through the top of his head, as it had been cracked open just like an egg. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± another of the men shouted. ¡°What the fuck is¡ª¡± BANG, BANG! A hole erupted in the man¡¯s chest, blood spraying out of it. Then another one opened up in his belly, and he clutched it and made a strange groaning noise as he squatted down, whimpering as all the blood in him seemed to rush out at once. He fell over onto his side, and he began to shake. ¡°Wh-what¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Kill him!¡± the officer shouted. ¡°Kill him before he kills us all!¡± At once, all four mages unleashed their most powerful spells¡ªand all at the same time, too. A blinding array of light and color made it so that Zach couldn¡¯t even be sure what was heading towards him, yet he had to imagine it would be deadly enough to take him out of his world in an instant. Yet, somehow, he was spared from facing death. He felt something strange on his back¡ªand then he felt a tightening on his neck, which he soon realized was the result of someone grabbing the back of his robe and dragging him. He felt himself moving backwards along the stone flooring. Then there were two successive bangs, one after the next, followed by an eruption of sounds, light, and vibrations as whatever magic the mages had used on him all seemed to go off at once, creating a nightmare that his eyes could barely discern. Eventually, however, things settled, and when they did, Zach realized he was now safely inside a bubble of some kind: a barrier made of green, wavy light that surrounded him entirely. He vaguely recognized it. He¡¯d seen something like this before, hadn¡¯t he? ¡°Barely made it,¡± a familiar-sounding voice said with a sigh. Zach looked to his left, where someone was now standing inside the bubble beside him. It was a man whose entire face aside from his nose and mouth was concealed behind a scale helmet, and whose body was covered from head to toe in the very same silvery armor. His rescuer, whoever he was, appeared to be a large man with broad shoulders and a large, muscular frame, and he appeared to have saved Zach from certain death. No, not ¡®he,¡¯ Zach thought with a gasp as he finally recognized the individual beside him. She! Without a shadow of a doubt, the armored figure next to him was none other than Anelia Hellcrest, the bounty hunter and hitwoman who had been trying to kill Zach in the Den of Ziragoth. The two had been locked into a pretty brutal battle, but they¡¯d mutually agreed to a truce after the dragon had spawned, because at that point, everything else had stopped mattering. He never thought he''d see her again after that day. Why had she come? What was she doing here? Was it to finish what she¡¯d started last time? No, he thought. She¡¯s clearly here to help me. But why? In both of her hands, she wielded large pistols that looked more like hand cannons, the grips of which were decorated with fiery streaks that actually glowed a bright orange, indicating that they were not regular guns, but equipment from the adventuring world. With her knees bent, she had both arms extended and the barrels of her guns pressed against the barrier as though they were the source of its existence. She grunted as several more deadly attacks pummeled the green, wavy protective bubble, causing it to flicker but not fade. ¡°Anelia,¡± he said, unable to control the astonishment in his voice as the silence debuff finally wore off. ¡°Why¡¯re you here? Why are you helping me?¡± ¡°Why do ya think, kid?¡± she asked, spitting out a wad of saliva as sweat ran out of the openings in her helmet. ¡°It¡¯s ¡®cause I got paid a lot of fuckin¡¯ money to be here, that¡¯s why. Now shut your trap and get back on your feet.¡± Zach had a billion questions he wanted to ask her, but none of them were appropriate right now, so instead, he tried to explain his situation to the woman. ¡°I can barely move. I got hit with a slow.¡± ¡°No shit? How much longer until it¡¯s over?¡± Zach quickly checked. ¡°Twenty-five seconds.¡± Several more bangs followed shortly by an equal number of zaps came from the barrier as Aneila¡¯s guns continued to produce and reinforce the protective, wavy-green bubble, which clearly had some kind of constant exertion requirement to keep active judging by the increasing amount of sweat pouring out of the few openings in her large, armored helm. ¡°Why are you here?¡± he asked her again. ¡°I told ya. Work.¡± ¡°Someone paid you to help me?¡± he asked. She nodded, and the motion of her head caused sweat to fall down her nose and plop onto the stone. ¡°Who paid you?¡± ¡°Who do you think? Your guild.¡± This, Zach found hard to believe. ¡°Meaning the Royal Roses? Wait, they know that I¡¯m here?¡± ¡°Guess so,¡± she said with an exhausted-sounding sigh. ¡°But how?¡± Zach asked, shocked. The question seemed to annoy her. ¡°Kid, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m not an encyclopedia of guild decision-making. I get a job, I do a job. That¡¯s as far as I know about any of this shit.¡± ¡°Okay, okay, I get it, sheesh,¡± Zach said as she glanced down at him with an angry stare. Zach averted his gaze and instead decided to try looking around himself. Right now, the world outside of the bubble appeared just as wavy as the light surrounding them, which was likely an illusion caused by it. ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan then, Anelia?¡± ¡°Uh¡­plan?¡± ¡°Y-yeah. You came here with a plan, right?¡± ¡°Mhm.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get myself killed.¡± ¡°Thanks, that¡¯s really helpful,¡± Zach said dryly. ¡°How did you come up with something so clever?" Anelia grunted. ¡°Hey, kid, you can kiss my ass with an attitude like that. Let me make something clear to you: I¡¯m paid to shoot people, beat people, and steal from people. I¡¯m not some tactician like your fancy-pants ex professor¡ªor whatever the fuck that glasses-wearing nerdy bitch was to you.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re here to help me, right?¡± Zach asked, ignoring her rudeness. ¡°This time, yeah.¡± Zach slowly lifted his arm, which required a great deal of effort. He pointed. ¡°Those people are guarding the staircase that leads right to Vim Alazar. We need to fight our way through them to get to him.¡± ¡°Dumb,¡± she said dismissively in reply. ¡°You want a plan? Here¡¯s a plan. I¡¯ll hold them off up here, and you go on and save your Gnome. Sound good?¡± Zach eyed the woman skeptically. ¡°Do you really believe you can handle all these people by yourself?¡± ¡°I just need to keep ¡®em busy, right? Make sure they don¡¯t follow you down? I can handle it.¡± The slow finally having ended, Zach sprang right back up to his feet with a sense of urgency, but not before grabbing his sword off the floor. Now, gripping it with both hands, he nodded at Anelia. ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡± His sense of hope renewed, Zach activated Unleashed Phase with a Phase Level of 2 as Anelia released the triggers on both her guns, causing the green, wavy barrier to fade. The moment that it vanished out of existence, the scale-armored woman began shooting. Say what you will, but she clearly works hard for her gold. Zach smirked. Now that was something he could respect. Chapter 155: Noon Ultimatum Chapter 155: Noon Ultimatum No matter how uncomfortable or unsettling the circumstances, one needed to always take responsibility for the consequences of one¡¯s actions. This was a moral philosophy that Alex had tried to live by since he was a child. For most of his life, this had been something that came easy to him, especially during his time spent as an adventurer in the God Slayers Guild. But now? Now, things had become murkier and more complicated, as it was not yet clear how today would end, and the decisions he now had to make could radically shift the outcome in such a way that thousands upon thousands of lives could perish as a direct result of it. I am the one who brought this about, he thought to himself. Whatever happens next, it¡¯s on me. Alex knew with absolute conviction that his decision to march a historically large army on Shadowfall Coast was the right one. Behind him, and continuing on for miles, were columns of tanks, APCs, and other transport vehicles for the various troop regiments. There was also an extensive array of modern military equipment such as mobile artillery, radar scanners, and pallets filled with food and medicine. Due to the unprecedented and unique threat the Guild of Gentlemen posed to the world, Alex had convinced High-Lord Kolorn Besh to do the unthinkable: divert almost every available unit available to the cause, leaving behind almost nothing and no one. Right now, the absolute minimum number of leveled defenders and armed personnel necessary were protecting the Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah, the capital of humanity. This, naturally, meant that more than three quarters of the entire guild was here, including Lord Besh himself. Even low-level members had been asked to come and fight. In the more than two-thousand years of the Lords of Justice¡¯s history, there were only a tiny handful of occasions where a guild leader had been willing to authorize an attack on another guild¡¯s territory that risked this much in terms of manpower, material, and fellow guild members. It was a gamble of proportions not seen in a very long time. And make no mistake: if the Guild of Gentlemen were to decisively defeat the Lords of Justice in the coming battle, it would spell the end of the entire guild. Alex, a man who had only joined the storied guild a short while ago, would ultimately be responsible for its permanent collapse and erasure¡ªas well as the fall of Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah itself. And yet, even with the weight of all of this on his shoulders, this was somehow not the cause of Alex¡¯s current unease and discomfort. No, he remained unwavering in his belief that this was right: that this was necessary. The Guild of Gentlemen had somehow discovered a way to use a particle from Earth to create a weapon so devastating it had ended more than a million innocent lives. For this reason, Alex truly believed the risky decision would be not to attack. No matter the outcome, he would stand by this decision and feel secure in the choices that had brought it about. No, it was something else that bothered him. Something that was entirely his fault, yet he would still choose to do things the same way over again if he was forced to relive his prior actions. And so, with that thought, he shifted his gaze to his immediate right, where Queen Vayra, who stood shoulder to shoulder with him, was frowning impatiently as her eyes scanned the tops of the numerous, thousand-foot-tall mesas that formed a wide valley large enough to allow their massive, human-Elvish military convoy to reach Shadowfall Coast. ¡°If we keep stopping like this, you know what the consequence will be, human,¡± she said to him, her tone cold and determined. Alex felt the muscles in his shoulders tightening. Everything that could possibly happen in the early hours of this morning as a result of the Elvish interference was his fault¡ªor at least largely so. And it was all because of the hijinks that he and Zach had pulled with Adamus, the Great One. Though it had resulted in the Elvish joining the war effort and granting them a dramatically higher chance of success, it was not without its unintended consequences, and the queen¡¯s words made that very, very clear. We did what was right, he told himself, though he was still not entirely convinced. Meeting the queen¡¯s eyes, he asked, ¡°Have your scouts still not found them?¡± ¡°No, human,¡± she said, sounding annoyed. ¡°I would have told you so if they had.¡± Not far from where Alex was currently standing, a very young man, perhaps only a few days older than eighteen, was surrounded by medics, who were working tirelessly to patch him up. A few minutes prior, he became yet another¡ªamong dozens¡ªof level-1 troops to have been shot by a sniper hidden amid the brush on top of one of the very tall mesas surrounding them. Alex regretted their guild¡¯s limited number of healing stones, as well as the taboo of using them on ordinary, level-1 people. Already, numerous young men¡ªand a young woman¡ªhad died because their wounds were too severe to save them with conventional medicine. Her tone and demeanor becoming even more impatient, Fylwen said, ¡°We must continue on. We cannot halt every time some insignificant worm fires a gun at one of your humans.¡± Alex tamped down on his rising nerves. For the past hour, their progress had slowed dramatically, as they could never seem to travel more than a few miles without a small group of snipers from the Guild of Gentlemen opening fire on them. Each time this happened¡ªand it had happened quite a bit by now¡ªthe Elvish would send out scouts to find and kill their attackers, rarely taking any prisoner. Then they¡¯d proceed onwards again, only to be held up by another group a bit farther on. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°We can¡¯t just travel straight through,¡± Alex said uneasily. ¡°If we do, we¡¯ll leave a trail of dead bodies behind: people who don¡¯t need to die.¡± ¡°If you are unable to pay that price, then you know what I must do.¡± Alex balled his hands into fists, but he said nothing in reply. Thanks to what he and Zach had done¡ªwhich again, he truly did stand by¡ªthe Elves were behaving in a fanatical way that he was positive would not leave room for negotiation or reasoning. But it wasn¡¯t so much that Alex could not have seen this coming, but more so, it was the way in which things had transpired that took him by surprise. And why? Incredibly, it was all because of a single sentence that Adamus had spoken. All that currently troubled Alex was due to a single spoken sentence. ¡°My only command to you is to destroy the human weapons and to not allow any more of them to come into existence,¡± Adamus had said to her early last night. At the time, Alex had been silently celebrating, as that was exactly what he, too, had wanted from her and the Elves. And it was because of this that he had set his mind at ease, believing that things were working themselves out. Sadly, he had utterly failed to account for how the Elvish people as a whole would react to this ¡°commandment.¡± To begin with, not only did Queen Vayra allow word of Adamus¡¯s command to spread among the high-ranking Elves, but she allowed it to spread among all of them, and she¡¯d even spread it herself. This, by itself, was not an issue. What was an issue was how rigid, hyper-literal, and stringent the Elves had become over this. And it wasn¡¯t the first part of Adamus¡¯s command that provided the issue either, but the second. Specifically: ¡°to not allow any more of them come into existence.¡± To a rational individual, one would naturally assume that, should they and their forces successfully attack Shadowfall Coast, destroy their weapons facilities, apprehend any scientific personnel involved in the weapons¡¯ creation, and dispose of anything either just having been made or near completion, this would constitute a job well done, yes? No. It wouldn¡¯t. To the Elves, such an outcome would constitute a total and complete failure. Why? Because in this scenario, if they were to eradicate any of the weapons that had only just been created, it would technically mean that more of the weapons had been created, and in the eyes of the Elves, Adamus had specifically asked them not to allow that¡ªeven if it didn¡¯t matter or was totally inconsequential in any conceivable way. Even if the weapons had yet to undergo the process of being mounted to a rocket, programmed, and made ready to fire¡ªto the Elves, this didn¡¯t matter. Because their ¡°God¡± had told them so. I cannot believe this is the situation I¡¯m in, he thought, exasperated. ¡°Please try to rethink your position on this," Alex said, despite knowing it would not sway the queen. "The Great Lord Adamus, when issuing our instructions, did not actually mean to imply that we¡ª¡± Alex¡¯s words ended abruptly, and a white-hot pain entered his face as Queen Vayra struck him, hard, right across the side of his cheek¡ªand with enough force to knock his new pair of glasses off his face. All things considered, Alex supposed he was lucky she did not do worse to him. He merely bent down and retrieved his glasses from the rocky, arid ground here in the river-less valley where Shadowfall Coast bordered Whispery Woods. Several of his fellow guild members observed this exchange, yet they wisely chose to remain silent and allow Alex to handle the situation. ¡°Human, do not dare attempt to twist the words of the Great Lord for your own desires!¡± she shouted, as nearby Elves, both those with green cloaks and white alike, all sent him angry stares. ¡°I apologize,¡± he said, bowing his head. Fylwen glared at him a moment. Then her expression softened, and she wiped his reddened cheek with her hand, displaying a surprising gentleness. ¡°It¡¯s just a little slap,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re all right.¡± ¡°I am,¡± he confirmed. Speaking in a way that was a bit more motherly, she said, ¡°I understand you wish to spare as many humans as you can. Though I harbor great hatred for your kind, I too would prefer we shed as little blood as possible. That is why I am willing to cooperate fully with your plan up until noon. Until that exact moment in time, the Elves will defer to your methods and your tactics. However, come noon, if we have not succeeded in our shared goal, you know what I must do.¡± Alex frowned. When he did not speak, she spoke for him. ¡°We will level the entire city and leave nothing standing. It is the only way to ensure we live up to the direct command of the Lord. For the first time in many millennia, Lord Adamus has actually spoken to us. There is not an Elf alive who would dare disappoint him.¡± Not wishing to direct any more of her ire his way, Alex nodded, though he did not agree. Her plan was in no way sensible or reasonable. The most logical and moral thing to do in this situation was obvious and foolproof. They should blitz the city and capture any possible nuclear launching sites, which would guarantee that, no matter what had or had not been created by that point, nothing could or would launch. From there, they would begin an exhaustive search of every building in the entire city, a process that could take significantly longer, but would be done in a controlled manner. With the Elves by their side, capturing the city could be done in a day: and searching the city for the weapons could be done in a few months¡ªtime that they would be able to afford once they fully disabled the enemy¡¯s ability to launch. Was it the greatest plan ever created? Perhaps not. But it was a good one; of that, Alex was certain. Yet because of the queen¡¯s utter devotion to a hyper literalized interpretation of a man that Alex was sure could care less about how they succeeded as long as they did succeed, it seemed like the queen was planning to destroy the entire city and possibly end every life within its bounds unless Alex did the impossible and somehow rooted out every vector of weapon production and every uranium storage facility within the next seven hours. It was an impossible task. ¡°Sir, should we have the men press onwards, Lord Oren?¡± asked Lord Lansen Kranzifaust, the sixth-in-command of the Lords of Justice. Alex lifted his head and scanned the tops of the mesas. They still hadn¡¯t found the sniper team that¡¯d just put a bullet through the chest of one of their men. With a touch of bitterness, he nodded. ¡°We need to keep going, yes. We can¡¯t let them delay us.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± Chapter 156: The Rescue Pt III Chapter 156: The Rescue Pt III It had been a little while since Zach entered Unleashed Phase with a Phase Level of 2: just long enough so that he¡¯d forgotten how it felt. He¡¯d forgotten the rush of exhilaration that caused his chest to lurch like a jolt straight into his heart, or the way his senses sharpened as he became more keenly aware of the world around him. He¡¯d almost forgotten how the impossibly black smoke was traded away for a constant jet of burning embers that fired off from both his hands and feet. He¡¯d even forgotten just how markedly it raised his stats.
Name Zachys Calador
Level 25
EXP 371,082/400,000
Armor Bonus 118
Strength 161
Dexterity 155
Constitution 149
Intelligence 197
Speed 128
Luck 145
The sensation, as intense as it may have been, was still not quite to the same degree as it had been when he¡¯d entered Phase Level 3 during his fight with Ziragoth the Awoken. This was somewhat odd considering that Phase Levels 2 and 3 had the exact same exertion cost. Honestly, it was a real shame that Zach couldn¡¯t just skip right over Phase Level 2 and go straight to Phase Level 3 instead. If only such a thing were possible, he¡¯d be almost untouchable right now¡ªat least when dealing with political guild members, anyway. Still, this would have to be good enough. Of course it will be, he thought, surging with determination. With his sword currently gripped in just one hand, he swung it at the air several times so that he could feel his increase in speed. Inhaling a breath of the prison¡¯s damp, stale air, he eyed the staff-wielding mage who was guarding the final staircase that he would need to descend in order to reach Vim, who was hopefully still alive and well. Looking her way, he noticed that the woman was still standing in the narrow frame that led to the staircase with her staff still clutched tightly in both her hands. Of the four mages from the Guild of Gentlemen, she was clearly the most powerful, and as she noticed Zach staring at her, she began to squirm somewhat. She also averted her gaze as though frightened as Zach took a step towards her¡ªbut he stopped as Anelia called after him. ¡°Before you go,¡± she said, throwing both her arms forward and firing a shot from each of her guns. ¡°Yeah?¡± he asked her. Before answering, she turned her body to face a man wielding a large claymore who was charging at her. She withdrew her arms, bent backwards, and then kicked him right in his face, sending him backwards before extending her right arm again and popping off a shot that exploded his face even as he was stumbling away. His nose, his eyes, and a piece of his left ear joined a pool of blood that splattered off the rest of his skull. Afterwards, she fired off another two shots and then turned her neck so that she looked quickly at Zach. ¡°I almost forgot,¡± she continued. ¡°They told me to tell you that there¡¯s been a change of plans. You¡¯re supposed to take Vim to the aircraft carrier, not the dungeon.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Zach asked, confused. How could there be a change of plans when he was the one who¡¯d come up with his own plan and hadn¡¯t involved anybody else in them? Anelia shrugged indifferently, then continued to blast the members of the Guild of Gentlemen, who were now fighting way less effectively due to the fact that they were no longer in any kind of formation and had sort of scattered around the gym room. ¡°That¡¯s all I know. Now get going.¡± Zach gave her a return shrug. Whatever it was, he¡¯d worry about it in a short while from now. After all, there was no sense thinking about reconsidering his escape plan before he¡¯d even managed to rescue Vim. And so, once more locking eyes with the terrified-looking mage, he took off at a run in her direction, as he did not want to waste another second of his current duration of Unleashed Phase, which appeared to have used up about twenty seconds in replenishing the stamina that Zach had expended while making his way down here.
Unleashed Phase Duration 14:39 Remaining
I¡¯ve got to move fast! As Zach tore his way across the room, the two shield-bearing tanks that still lived lifted their massive shields and moved quickly to position themselves in front of him. A moment before Zach collided with them, he sprang upwards while tucking his knees into his chest so that he could clear the top of their heads, and then he sailed over them with ease. A half-second later, he landed back down in a crouch. Hurriedly, he stood back up and darted forward as another man scrambled to impede him. This time around, he used the arm opposite to the one gripping his sword to extend his elbow, and with that, he slammed his body into the smaller, rounder shield of a man wielding an axe. The man was blasted away, his body making a painful-sounding thwap as he collided with a wall not far from the four mages and two archers, one of which was about to launch a close-range arrow at him. Snapping up his foot, Zach delivered a powerful kick to an exercise bench with completely rusted legs and torn padding that coincidentally happened to be in front of him, causing it to go careening off towards the archer with a meteor-like speed. It then struck the archer with such force that it broke in half over the man¡¯s body and caused him to drop his bow. He then fell backwards, groaning. Continuing onwards, Zach watched as the mage woman¡¯s eyes widened in terror as he approached. ¡°Move,¡± he demanded, reaching her. ¡°Right now. Or I¡¯ll kill you.¡± Her body shaking, she stepped to the side and got out of his way, so Zach ignored her and began hurrying down this final flight of spiraling stairs as fast as he possibly could. Given the constant need to turn around and around as he descended, he was limited in how fast he could move. Thankfully, however, it wasn¡¯t as large a flight as some of the others he¡¯d ventured down thus far, and in less than half a minute, he was able to reach the bottom to see what looked like another narrow frame that led to another area¡ªhopefully the last one. With each step that he took, he kept his eyes on his current duration of Unleashed Phase, knowing that time was now too valuable to waste.
Unleashed Phase Duration 14:02 Remaining
Directly above Zach, the sound of screams and gunshots played out as Anelia dealt with the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s forces, and then coming from even farther above that point¡ªmuch, much farther¡ªthere were still regular explosive, rattling booms as the Royal Roses created mayhem in the city. But none of that mattered to him right now. He needed to focus on what was ahead¡ªand in this case, it was a fairly narrow hallway with a width large enough so that only two people his size could comfortably stand side by side. It was also not particularly long, spanning perhaps forty feet in length, and it ended in a stone wall that served as a dead-end. The hallway, as filthy and in as much disrepair as any other around this place, had a flat, empty stone wall that ran along its right side; on its left, there were exactly four doors equally spaced apart, the first three of which were shuttered and closed. The fourth, however, was fully open, and even from where Zach was standing, he could see a shriveled, weak, and sickly-looking little man that he only barely recognized as Vim Alazar lying in a cot, which was illuminated by numerous candles attached at various points around a grimy, uncomfortably small cell. Gods, what did they do to him? he thought. Rather than rejoicing at finally finding the person he¡¯d come here to find, he instead filled with disbelief and a sense of moral revulsion, which sparked an anger deep within him. The man looked as though he were in his dying moments. He¡¯d clearly been badly abused and tortured. His face was bruised all over, yet it was still utterly lacking in color save for his eyes, which had turned an unhealthy yellow. His lip was split, his nose was likely broken, and he was barely moving. He was also a great deal thinner than he¡¯d been to the point he appeared malnourished and badly dehydrated. He was breathing very, very slowly, and the only sound to come from him was the occasional weak cough. To see Vim in such a diminished state was truly shocking. Can¡­can he recover from this? Zach wondered, becoming very uneasy. Due to the emptiness in Vim¡¯s eyes, it was only natural for Zach to worry that he might have arrived too late and that there might not be anything left here to save. He feared Vim might already be in some kind of brain dead, vegetative state, from which not even a light stone would be able to revive him. But then, something happened: something very slight, but nevertheless enough to reassure Zach. For just a moment, Vim lowered his eyes and met his, and in them, Zach could see recognition¡ªand even a slight glimpse of waning, but persistent strength. ¡°What the hell did you do to him?¡± Zach shouted out. His question was not directed at Vim but at the only other individual to be found down here. ¡°What did you do?¡± he demanded. Across from where Vim lay in the small cell, there was a tall man with a large frame who sat upright on a metal stool and faced in Vim¡¯s direction. The sight of him caused Zach to shift his stance so that he once more held his blade with both hands, as with just one look at the man, he could tell right away that this was a person unlike any of those he¡¯d encountered so far. Even without the unexpectedly elegant and intimidating equipment that adorned his body, the fact that he had the face of a man in his mid-thirties whose straight brown hair contained minimal signs of early graying was enough to make him stand out. But to be sure, his armor was certainly a very big part of what immediately separated him from the other guild members that Zach had encountered in Shadowfall Coast. It was also enough to further enrage Zach. He stole that from us! Zach shouted in his mind. He stole all of it! From head to toe, the man was bedecked in the armor of Ziragoth the Awoken. His entire body was covered in a silvery sheen that looked every bit as grandiose as it did powerful and effective. A potent reminder of the enemy Zach had helped to slay, the image of a dragon was embossed on the breastplate of his gear, and the fin-like spikes that protruded on the elbow-length gauntlets were reminiscent of the dragon¡¯s scales. His helm, which only covered the top half of his face, framed his eyes in such a way as to make them appear more lizard-like and ruthless. But more than anything else, it was the spear that lay flat across his knees as he sat in the stool that drew most of Zach¡¯s attention. The weapon was a double-bladed spear that appeared to be made of a darkish silver with two middle grips and two outer grips on both ends of the weapon. The middle grips were rigid, and the outer ones were curved, and right near these curved grips there were small, decorative constructs that looked like miniature dragon heads, and each spit out a steady, small, but noticeable stream of orange flame that added to the illumination from the candles inside the cell. With burning embers of his own flickering off his hands and feet, Zach approached, moving cautiously down the hall in Vim¡¯s direction. He stopped, however, as the man spoke to him without even turning his head or twisting his body to look Zach¡¯s way. ¡°I didn¡¯t do this to him,¡± he said, his voice powerful but earnest, lacking in any overtly detectable malice. ¡°I also don¡¯t approve of it. It¡¯s not something I would ever support.¡± ¡°Oh no? Well, I doubt you¡¯re shedding any tears over it,¡± Zach replied scornfully. Glaring at the man¡¯s armor-covered back, he said, ¡°I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re Gaelan Malakor, right?¡± At the mention of his name, the man slowly stood up, straightened his posture, and then turned himself around. Now, with just one look into his eyes, Zach knew that the man was not going to surrender or stay out of his way. There was a very real edge in his demeanor¡ªone that Zach did not take for mere bluster, but one that spoke for experience earned through hard work. What Zach saw in him was something that he found lacking in most of the other political guild members he¡¯d come across. This was clearly a guy who knew how to fight. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he said to Zach. ¡°I am Gaelan Malakor. And you, I take it, are Zachys Calador, correct?¡± Zach nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Upon Zach acknowledging his identity, the man gave him a nod in return. ¡°Well, here you are, then. You look as menacing as they said. It¡¯s that cloak of yours, isn¡¯t it?¡± He met Zach¡¯s eyes. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t surprise you that I expected you to show up here eventually. But what is surprising is that it seems like you were expecting to meet me down here as well. You even knew my name.¡± ¡°Captain Gaelan Malakor, sixth in command of the Guild of Gentlemen,¡± Zach stated. Since it no longer mattered if he kept the information a secret, Zach turned his head slightly, gesturing at his ear. ¡°I¡¯ve been listening in for a bit. That¡¯s how I know about you.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± he said, ¡°it looks like you got one of our Comms.¡± His gaze darkened. ¡°I guess you grabbed it off one of the kids you killed on your way over here, right? As I hear it, you killed a lot of really good kids today: kids with bright futures that you¡¯ve robbed them of, Zach. Are you proud of that? Are you proud of what you¡¯ve done?¡± ¡°Are you?¡± Zach shouted, becoming immediately defensive and furious. ¡°Of course I¡¯m not. But having said that, I¡¯m not the one who killed them.¡± Zach became so outraged that he actually guffawed. ¡°The fucking nerve of you. You and your guild made this happen! Are you too stupid to realize that? Or are you just in total denial?¡± Zach felt his lips peel back in disgust. ¡°Of course I¡¯m not proud of what I had to do to get here. What, do you think I wanted to butcher a bunch of kids my own age? Because of course I didn¡¯t. But it was you and your bloodthirsty, good-for-shit guild who made them fight¡ªwho put them in danger.¡± ¡°Deflecting the blame onto me won¡¯t absolve you of your guilt, Zach.¡± ¡°What guilt?¡± Zach shouted at him. ¡°I have none!¡± He removed his left hand from his blade so that he could point it accusatorily at the man. ¡°It was you who put them in that position, you Gods damned coward!¡± Having become so angry that it¡¯d caused him to breathe more heavily, Zach took a second to cool off. Then he lowered his voice and shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be here right now. I shouldn¡¯t be here right now. I¡¯m a Gods-be-damned adventurer. This is no place for people like me. But because of your guild, I ended up here.¡± ¡°Sorry, but I don¡¯t buy that,¡± the man, Gaelan, said to him. ¡°Buy what? That you and your terrible, murderous guild are at fault for all of this?¡± ¡°No. Well¡­actually, yes, that too. But what I was specifically referring to is that I don¡¯t buy that you¡¯re still ¡®just¡¯ an adventurer.¡± He gave a dismissive shake of his head. ¡°You¡¯re no adventurer. You¡¯re too far down the rabbit hole at this point to say that with a straight face.¡± Upon these words, Zach felt his eyes widen in rage, but to his surprise, the man then waved at him apologetically. This intrigued Zach just enough so that his anger faded slightly, allowing curiosity to take its place. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± he replied. ¡°Forget about it. It was rude of me to say.¡± Slowly, the man exited the cell, then turned his body to face Zach, the two of them standing on opposite sides of the hall. Thus far, Zach¡¯s words¡ªand precious time¡ªhad been totally wasted on the man. In all likelihood, they were not going to agree on a single thing no matter what either of them said. There would be no way of convincing a man like this that he was the one in the wrong. From his perspective, he likely felt that Zach was wrong with the same degree of certainty. And yet, despite knowing it would get him nowhere, Zach knew he had a responsibility to at least ask him to stand down. ¡°I don¡¯t want to kill you,¡± he said. ¡°If you let me take Vim and go, I won¡¯t harm you.¡± Gaelan raised his double-bladed spear. ¡°I offer you something similar. If you surrender and do not resist arrest, I will ensure you are treated fairly. Your deeds during the fight against Ziragoth will surely factor into any sentencing.¡± He made a reluctant-sounding grunt. ¡°Gods, you¡¯re just a few years older than my daughter. As a father, I desperately don¡¯t want to have to end such a young life, but I will if you refuse to drop your sword in the name of humanity.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s not happening,¡± Zach said defiantly, once more gripping his blade with both hands. ¡°Like it or not, I¡¯m leaving here with Vim. Whether you¡¯re dead or alive when that happens is completely up to you; either way, I¡¯m taking him out of this place and ending this bullshit.¡± Gaelan sighed. ¡°If that¡¯s how you feel about it, then so be it. If you want to escape here with the Gnome, you¡¯ll have to go through me first, and mark my words, you will die. I don¡¯t care how tough you think you are, sonny, I¡¯m going to spill your guts all over that stone floor if you don¡¯t wise up.¡± Zach felt a brief moment of hesitance due solely to the sheer confidence the man exuded. But he¡¯d been through way too much at this point to let himself be shaken. ¡°You had your chance,¡± Zach told him. ¡°And you had yours,¡± he replied. The man shifted his position, entering into a combat stance that saw him place his left foot before his right while he spun around his weapon several times fast enough to make a whooshing sound on the air. Zach raised his blade in kind. He readied himself. This would not be easy. He purged all extraneous thoughts from his brain and focused solely on defeating this dragon-armored, very high-ranking officer of the Guild of Gentlemen, who now stood in his way. Zach held his breath a moment, realizing this could well be the most difficult fight of his life. ¡°You can make the first move if you¡¯d like,¡± Gaelan said. Zach beckoned him with his chin, his hands gripped tightly around his blade. ¡°No, you go on ahead.¡± ¡°Very bold of you, but¡­¡± Gaelan raised both his arms and spun his double-bladed spear numerous times over his head at a speed that made it appear a blur, and then he lowered it back down and jabbed it out at the air in front of himself as though pointing it at Zach. ¡°If you insist.¡± With that, there was a flash from the bladed end of his spear, and following this, an incredibly fast-moving torrent of dark-blue energy shot forward with a ¡°fwoomp¡± sound that was similar to a dart being fired through a metal tube. This sound was followed by a static-like hiss as it rushed across the narrow hall and made straight for him. Zach reacted as best he could, but the energy moved so fast that he struggled just to follow it with his eyes. Yet, somehow, he managed. Urgently, he twisted his hips and leaned backwards, narrowly avoiding the projectile, which zipped across the air over his left shoulder and ended up blasting several entire stones out of the wall behind him with a dull crunching sound, which Zach was able to see because he was now partially turned around. Straightening his body and once more facing his enemy, he ducked beneath a second, then third such attack before realizing he could hardly keep up with the speed and rate of these dark-blue, bullet-like blasts of energy. Needing to close the distance, he activated Phase Blink in the intervening moments before the man fired off three more consecutive bolts. At a speed great enough to be near instantaneous, Zach found himself relocated so that he was now behind Gaelan. Having used Phase Blink with a target, he ended up facing Gaelan¡¯s back, with Gaelan still facing the direction he had Phase Blinked from. Sensing an opportunity to end this in an instant, Zach took a single lunging step and stabbed his blade forward, hoping to pierce the man¡¯s armor, rip it into his back, and plunge it straight through his spine. But his hopes were soon dashed. With a speed and preparedness that he was not expecting, Galean whirled around so fast that it actually startled Zach, and then he spun around his double-bladed spear defensively, causing each of the two bladed ends to clash against Zach¡¯s sword, deflecting it. He then spun it around a second time, and Zach had to make two large, zigzagging motions to avoid each of its bladed ends before dashing backwards to give himself some breathing room. It was at this point that the sonic boom from Phase Blink erupted in this previously quiet, subterranean prison cell. The resulting bang therefore came across as so loud that it caused Vim to twitch, stone and dust to leak down from the ceiling, and a colony of rats to squeak as they scurried out of hiding holes and went to live somewhere else. What it did not do, however, was startle or rattle Gaelan, who must have studied the feed of Zach¡¯s encounter with the dragon and therefore knew to expect it. Gaelan twirled his weapon, creating yet another series of whooshing sounds. ¡°Come,¡± he said. Now, he was the one beckoning Zach. ¡°Show me this ¡®monster¡¯ that so many in my guild fear. I see just a boy!¡± Zach scowled and threw himself forward, going on the offensive. He raised his blade and struck down hard, trying to split open the man¡¯s scalp. But the man spun his weapon upwards, causing it to crack twice more against Zach¡¯s blade. Afterwards, he retaliated with another two strikes, and Zach had to work extra hard to meet both, as he was attacking with wide, circular motions that were difficult to match. Each time he struck out at Zach, he¡¯d first spin around his spear so fast and so continuously it gave off a look similar to that of a helicopter¡¯s propeller, seemingly turning from one object into numerous. It also didn¡¯t help that his weapon also had much greater reach than Zach¡¯s Sword of Light Amidst Darkness. He really does know how to fight, Zach thought, leaning his body out of the way of the dual blades from the man¡¯s fearsome, stolen weapon. Spinning his body around full circle, the air whooshed as Gaelan struck out with a neck-level slash from his double-bladed spear. Zach dropped to his knees, dodging both blades, and then he jumped back up while slashing his sword above himself, attempting to rip Gaelan open from his belly to his chest. Galean then took one quick step backwards, avoiding the strike, before jutting his spear forward. If not for the fact that Zach had become so proficient in reading body language, he would almost certainly have been hit by what came next. Yet he knew what the man was intending to do based on the way he angled his wrists along with the distance between the two of them. He could tell that he planned to stab one of the ends of his spear forward, yet he was doing so from a distance where the weapon would fall short and fail to connect with its target. This could only mean one thing: that he was not trying to stab Zach, but launch another one of his magical attacks, this time at point-blank range. And all of this, Zach calculated in a fraction of a second based on nothing more than distance and body language. Having seen through the attack, Zach took his left hand off his blade and threw himself forward into something that was practically a one-handed pushup position, and he did so even before one of the bladed ends of the man¡¯s spear flashed and unleashed another dark-blue bullet of energy, which he fired in such close proximity it would''ve been virtually impossible for Zach to avoid had he not done so well in advance. Scrambling back up to his feet, Zach charged forward again, raising his blade to strike. From the way the man¡¯s eyes became enlarged behind his helmet, Zach could tell that he was surprised¡ªthat he genuinely believed he¡¯d put an end to Zach right then and there. Well, sorry to disappoint! Zach was on him quickly, seizing upon the man¡¯s stunned reaction. Yet the man, Gaelan, began to light up. A yellow glow came upon his entire body, surrounding him like an aura, and then it grew in brightness¡ªbut only for a moment. This yellow aura then vanished as quickly as it appeared, but not before fully illuminating the poorly lit hallway as though it had been dispersed or projected outwards. Zach had no idea what that was or what it even did, but he was too committed to his current attack to stop. Swinging his blade, he attempted to¡­ Wait. What was he doing? A moment before striking, Zach pulled himself back. What the fuck was he doing? This was crazy. It occurred to him that he really shouldn¡¯t be here. Like, he really shouldn¡¯t be here. He was going to die¡­wasn¡¯t he? He was! He just realized that right now. Just now, right in this very moment¡ªZach now realized that he was going to die. And he¡¯d never been so scared before. He¡¯d never been so afraid. He had to flee! He had to get the hell out of here! Spinning around so fast that he almost tripped over his own two feet, Zach took off at a full-on sprint, screaming out in terror as he ran across the relatively short hall. He didn¡¯t even care that he was about to run headfirst into a dead-end and have nowhere left to go. His panic-stricken mind demanded that he run. It didn¡¯t matter where he ran. He just needed to run. Control your emotions! he screamed in his mind as he rapidly approached the stone-walled dead end. What did Jascaila teach you? Zach continued to scream and shout out in terror as he plopped face-first into the wall. Then he turned around again and saw that Gaelan was already upon him, his double-bladed spear ready to strike a killing blow. Zach did not bother to defend himself. He only wanted to flee. He only wanted to keep running. Pull yourself together, Gods-dammit! Take control! He was right. What was he doing? Why was he fleeing? For what possible reason would he behave this way after taking so many lives and spilling so much blood just to make it this far? This wasn¡¯t who he was. It was who he¡¯d been. And he was damned if he was going to go back to being such a mewling coward. No, to hell with that! Zach¡¯s screams turned into growls, and then there was a snap as a bunch of yellow, jagged shards shot off his body and dissipated as though he¡¯d just jumped through a glass window. It wasn¡¯t until this moment that he realized the man had landed a fear on him. That son of a bitch! Now Zach was really going to let him have it. But first, he was going to have to endure a bit of pain, because the man¡¯s double-bladed spear found its mark; Zach attempted to pull away, but it was too late. Both of the weapon¡¯s blades were able to taste his flesh. The first blade hurt the most, as it left a tremendous gash in his stomach and caused him to cry out in agony. The second blade bit into his shoulder, and this one might¡¯ve caused him to yelp but he barely felt it in lieu of how much the first one had hurt him. Yet, if nothing else, Zach was fairly sure he¡¯d pulled far enough away to prevent either of the weapon¡¯s blades from wounding him deeply enough that it couldn¡¯t be dealt with via passive HP regeneration. But before that point, he needed to strike back¡ªand vengefully. Dripping blood from his shoulder and stomach, Zach activated Halting Strike at the cost of 20 seconds of time. Immediately, his entire blade lit up with red sparks. With anger fueling him, he struck out, hard, ripping his blade from the right to the left. In response, Gaelan made a rotating motion with both his arms, spinning his weapon such that it traveled up, around, and back down like an upside-down ¡°U.¡± It was essentially a maneuver that allowed him to deflect attacks from everywhere before him, as his spear, once more whooshing the air as it functioned like a propeller, had enough length and momentum to deflect just about anything. As Zach¡¯s sparking blade collided with Gaelan¡¯s spear, Zach thought he detected more surprise in the older man¡¯s eyes¡ªlikely at how quickly Zach had snapped out of his fear. This surprise seemed to become amplified as, despite guarding against Zach¡¯s sword, it still caused every tendril of reddish electricity to channel off Zach¡¯s blade, into and through Gaelan¡¯s spear, up his arms, and finally into his body. I can use crowd control too, you son of a bitch! All at once, Gaelan released a terrified gasp, and then his body froze, becoming perfectly rigid. Zach knew he needed to act fast: as in very fast. His stun only lasted between 0.5 and 1.2 seconds, and given how tough an enemy he faced, he would wager that it would ultimately end up being closer to the former than the latter. Having been disrespected, Zach unleashed his rage on his enemy. With all his strength, he ripped his blade through the air, sending it straight across the man¡¯s chest. Then he watched as his enemy¡¯s eyes lowered, looking down at the approaching weapon, and he began to make a loud, pained-sounding grunt, which increased in both volume and intensity as his body began to vibrate and shake. A moment before impact, the red tendrils of electricity snapped, breaking the very brief stun, and just as Zach had done, the man rushed backwards and away, but not fast enough to prevent Zach¡¯s sword from tearing into his flesh and cutting him open across the chest. He hissed in pain as Zach¡¯s sword sliced through the illustration of the dragon¡¯s face on his breastplate while sending a spray of blood off to the wall to Zach¡¯s left, decorating it like a freeform, abstract painting. Now, without saying a single word, the man jumped backwards thrice more, then held out his weapon defensively, remaining in that position unmoving. Zach, for his part, did not pursue. He merely lowered his sword, steadied his breathing, and also said nothing. He remained completely motionless¡ªat least for the moment. I see what he¡¯s doing, Zach thought. It works to my benefit as well. Fifteen seconds came and went, during which Zach locked eyes with Gaelan, never saying a single word to the man. The man also never said a word to him. For the entire fifteen seconds, they merely stared at one another. Zach used the time to run ideas and calculations in his head on how to proceed. He imagined the guild captain was doing the same. Either way, he would be ready for whatever came next. For now, though, he felt an intense itching from his stomach and his shoulder, as the bleeding in both came to a sudden halt. Across from him, in his peripheral vision, Zach could see the wound he¡¯d left in Gaelan¡¯s chest begin to close all on its own while he continued to lock eyes with the man. The very same thing was likely happening with his own wounds. He could feel the heat and itchiness grow as passive HP regeneration repaired both of the injuries on his body, either one of which could have caused him to bleed out to death all on their own over a short period of time. I have to end this quick, Zach thought. This guy¡¯s dangerous. He¡¯s a real threat! This was about as precarious as any situation that Zach had been in to this point. The man he was facing off against was clearly capable of killing him, and it would only take a single misstep for him to succeed in doing so. With just the few quick exchanges the two had made, Zach could tell that he was dealing with a man who had already been very experienced in combat to begin with and had now been made even more lethal thanks to the dragon loot the Guild of Gentlemen had stolen. If only Zach could make use of everything he had at his disposal, such as the ability on his blasting ring, which had just come off cooldown, this would¡¯ve been a much simpler and easier fight. Unfortunately, the possibility of unintentionally killing Vim or, even worse, causing a massive cave-in that suffocated all three of them to death was just too high. I¡¯ve got to find some way of killing him before he kills me! Still locking eyes with Gaelan, he could see the conviction in the man¡¯s eyes¡ªhe could see how, despite his personal desires to the contrary, he was both ready and willing to kill Zach in order to fight for what he believed was right, however stupid and misguided that might have been. But so too was Zach. The consequences of allowing the execution to proceed¡­they would result in a seismic shift in society that would make life virtually unlivable in North Bastia. They would result in an eruption of the sort that would destabilize the civilized world¡ªat least as far as humanity was concerned. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. And even if they didn¡¯t, it would make it almost impossible for humans to convince the other races to join their side when the World Eater inevitably spawned. There were a great number of other consequences as well¡ªtoo many for Zach to recall in this moment. He only needed to remind himself of the most significant of them in order to fill himself with the same conviction that he saw in his enemy. I have to kill him, and I have to do it quick. I¡¯ve only got about eleven-and-a-half minutes left on Unleashed Phase. I need to end this! Zach¡¯s body healed at the exact point in time that Gaelan¡¯s did, and without a word or trace of hesitance, Gaelan sprang back into action¡ªand Zach was ready for him. Their positions were now the opposite of where each had been standing at the start. Zach was now facing the entrance that led into this bottom-most prison level, his back to the dead-end, and Gaelan was standing not far from the way in. A brief flicker crossed his features, and then he made the next move. With a grunt, he jabbed his arms forward, and the bladed end of his spear that pointed towards Zach gave off a flash as another of his impossibly fast, dark-blue torrents of energy ripped across the hallway, crossing the distance between himself and Zach in what felt like a microsecond. Zach, having expected such an attack, threw himself off to the left, slamming his own body into the wall just to get out of the way. His eyes visibly narrowed through his helmet, Gaelan turned his spear like it was the barrel of a rifle, and then he fired again. Scrambling to avoid the blast, Zach ducked down to his knees, and with another crunch, an entire section of the wall was blown to bits, raining stone bricks down on top of him. Then Zach was forced to leap his way to the other side of the narrow hall, his black slamming into a shuttered cell as the projectile missed him again. ¡°Phase Slash!¡± he shouted in retaliation, swinging his sword diagonally downwards¡ªat the exact same time that Gaelan launched yet another dark-blue bolt at him. The world was overcome with a high-pitched squeal like that of a zipper being opened only a thousand times louder and all-consuming. Then, a visible disturbance came upon the air in front of Zach, one that took off with a speed twice as fast as the dark-blue energy cruising towards him. The result was that both he and his enemy was struck. Gaelan was struck dead center in his breastplate, which already had a visible, blood-stained tear running through it from Zach¡¯s previous attack. Now, an entire chunk of it shattered and broke apart, and Gaelan made a ¡°guh¡± sound as he was shoved backwards and off his feet, crashing on his back and dropping his spear in the process. Zach could even see it rolling along the stone floor. It was also the last thing Zach saw as the dark-blue energy slammed into his own chest, causing him to be blasted through the shuttered door with an ear-splitting crack as he was knocked through the air. There was a secondary bang as he continued to travel farther into the cell, coming to a stop after crashing into another wall, at which point he fell forward and dropped his own sword. Pain flooded into his senses, his chest feeling as though it had taken punch from Donovan. He struggled to catch his breath. Yet he knew he couldn¡¯t spare a moment¡ªnot even a moment¡ªto steady himself. And so, fighting through the pain, Zach grabbed his sword and raced to get back on his feet, and then, with his equipment covered in dust, dried blood, and pieces of stone, he bolted out of the destroyed cell¡ªwhich happened to be adjacent to Vim¡¯s¡ªand flung himself at Gaelan, who was also once more upright and seemingly waiting for him, having also retrieved his own weapon. Rather than fight him head-on, Gaelan took another leap backwards as though to put more distance between the two of them so that he could continue to use more of that difficult-to-avoid, ranged magical attack on Zach. But Zach was not about to let him get away with it. Activating Frostbind, the ability on his robes, Gaelan was brought to an immediate halt as, with multiple loud cracks, a number of shackles made of pure ice sprang up from the stone flooring and began wrapping themselves around his feet, rooting him in place. Gaelan gasped, having been stopped, and Zach was able to catch up to him. And while Zach had absolutely no doubt that Frostbind would not last for very long, it would still have served its purpose. And indeed, not even a full second went by before, with several audible snaps, Gaelan ripped his feet free of the shackles. But Zach was already on him. With a growing urgency to end this as quickly as possible, Zach held nothing back. He swung his sword with all the strength he could exert, delivering a sweeping slash aimed right for Gaelan¡¯s throat. Gaelan, spinning his double-bladed spear, managed to guard at the last possible moment, but from the loud clack that filled the hallway, as well as a pained-sounding grunt, Zach could tell that his strike had definitely had at least some impact. Gaelan retaliated, spinning his body full circle, then dropping suddenly down and delivering a sweeping slash of his own, this one aimed at severing Zach¡¯s legs below the kneecap. Zach responded by hopping above the spear, then swinging his own sword straight down on top of the crouching man. Gaelan, quick to react, kicked off the flooring and flung himself backwards, but not before Zach¡¯s blade managed to slice cleanly through the armor on his left shoulder and bite into his flesh. The man continued to back away, and Zach pursued. But then, as though having a sudden change of heart, he abruptly stopped backpedaling and began performing elaborate, martial-arts-like motions with his double-bladed spear, spinning it above his head, around his body, and making twirling motions that threw off Zach¡¯s ability to anticipate where and when he would strike. Grunting, he ended up stepping forward and into a lunging thrust, which Zach side-stepped. Zach countered with a downward slash, which he spun upwards to meet. Sparks erupted as his sword clashed against the far-side of the spear, and then Gaelan somehow managed to slip through Zach¡¯s guard, spinning around and slicing him twice in the same spot on his midsection. ¡°Fuck,¡± Zach groaned, once again gushing blood. But he was angry now: very angry. He lashed out recklessly and thoughtlessly, unleashing an incredibly stupid attack that he would normally hate himself for making. In this case, that meant wildly swinging around his sword at Gaelan¡¯s stomach while dropping his guard and leaving himself completely open to attack. And somehow, it worked. Gaelan, as though himself surprised that Zach would lash out with such a desperate strike, was utterly taken by surprise, and Zach cut through more of his armor as he gave the man¡¯s belly a nice, deep wound to mirror Zach¡¯s own. Gaelan hissed in pain and then made a dizzying twirling motion that was so fast that it somehow gave his weapon the illusion of ¡°bending,¡± which meant that it now looked, from Zach¡¯s perspective, like there were two different blades coming at him from two different angles. Zach raised his sword, and with a clack, guarded against the first. Then he leaned to the side to dodge the second¡ªonly to have his entire right earlobe sliced off his face, as a tiny part of the spear managed to make contact. ¡°The gods damn you!¡± he shouted, kicking out with his front foot and slamming it into Gaelan¡¯s stomach. The man made an ¡°oomph¡± and stumbled backwards, and Zach brought his sword streaking down. Gaelan tried to take a quick step backwards to get out of the way, but once again, he did not move fast enough, and Zach was able to slice him from the right corner of his forehead and diagonally down across his face, ending by his lower-left cheek. Unfortunately, it was not deep enough to constitute a serious wound, but it did cause a constant, heavy flow of blood to pour over his eyes and nose. ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of you,¡± the man growled, shaking his head like a dog and causing blood to splatter off to both sides of his face. Then, Gaelan¡¯s body began to glow with another yellow aura that looked identical to the one he¡¯d just used before. But this time, at least, Zach knew in advance what he was about to do. He¡¯s trying to use his fear on me again! Having likely already drawn too close to get out of the ability¡¯s range in time, Zach instead defended himself by trying to strengthen his mind while calling upon all of his willpower¡ªand to his surprise, it actually worked. Well¡­sort of. Though he did begin screaming and fleeing the moment after the yellow aura turned into a bright flash and vanished, he was able to snap out of it in just a couple of seconds. But unlike before, Gaelan was much quicker to capitalize on the opening provided by his ability. He rushed forward, whipping his double-bladed spear around. Snapping out of the fear, Zach regained control of his body just in time to duck and weave his way out of an exhaustive number of back-to-back slashes that Gaelan sent his way, and though Zach succeeded in dancing around the fast-moving blades, he was now off balance and awkwardly backpedaling. Thanks to the fear, Zach had lost his footing, and he was trying desperately to regain it as he continued to expend all of his energy just on avoiding the man¡¯s ferocious, double-bladed dragon spear. One attack after the next, Zach was pushed farther and farther back until, eventually, forgetting just how short the length of the hallway was, Zach bumped into the stone-walled dead-end, which threw him completely off balance. As a result, he was caught off guard and forced to endure a full three-hit combination attack from Gaelan¡¯s double-bladed spear, in which each one hurt more than the previous. First, the spear took a bite out of his midsection. Then, it opened him up deeply across his chest. Finally, the spear struck him yet again across the stomach, spilling out more of his blood and making him feel lightheaded. Hurting badly from all three cuts, he weakly raised his guard to block a strike that spun from high to low. And though he succeeded in deflecting the attack, Zach¡¯s sword was knocked out of his hands. In the corner of his eyes, he saw it bounce off the stone wall behind him and then disappear somewhere off to his left and in front of him. Now, Gaelan, as though sensing victory, went in for what looked like a killing blow. Backing up slightly, he then jutted forward, attempting to run Zach through with his spear. But Zach refused to submit. He refused to let this bastard kill him. Was he disarmed? Yes. Was he in a really shit position? Obviously. But no matter how experienced Gaelan might have been, Zach didn¡¯t think there was anybody in Galterra who had been through as much harrowing shit as frequently as he had in such a short span of time. He doubted this ¡°Captain Gaelan Malakor¡± had ever been mutilated by a dragon or literally killed by an Elf. Zach had been worse off than this: so much worse. This was nothing! His survival instinct fully kicking into gear, Zach shifted his entire body to the right, causing Gaelan¡¯s spear to narrowly miss its target and instead plunge deeply into the stone wall behind Zach. Then, before Gaelan could pull his weapon free, Zach balled both his hands into fists and delivered a powerful right hook into the man¡¯s nose, which he followed up with a left, striking him on the side of his cheek and causing him to unleash a wad of spit as his entire head snapped in the opposite direction from the strength of the punch. Zach continued, delivering an uppercut right below the chin, and then he pivoted on his hips and delivered yet another powerful blow, bashing him over the right side again with a hook and actually feeling his jaw break. One strike after the next he began to beat the ever-loving shit out of Gaelan, who eventually gave up on trying to retrieve his spear as though realizing it was no longer worth it. Now, he surprised Zach as he balled his own hands into fists and raised his forearms to guard, causing Zach¡¯s next punch to be absorbed. He countered, and Zach was bludgeoned in the face, his nose breaking and the wind knocking out of him. He was hit so hard he barely felt the follow-up jab, which struck him in the mouth. Angrily, Zach delivered a round kick to the man¡¯s right side, catching him in the ribs and making him grunt¡ªyet it did not throw him off balance. He slammed his fist again into Zach¡¯s face, and this time, Zach felt dizzy. So he decided to share that dizziness. He grabbed Gaelan¡¯s shoulder armor, and then he slammed his entire face into Gaelan¡¯s, headbutting him so hard that he actually cracked through the man¡¯s helmet¡ªthough at the cost of opening up his own forehead. He could even see his blood splattering all over the man¡¯s silvery dragon helm. Dizzy, tipsy, and having lost a great deal of blood, Zach let his body go on autopilot. Powered by nothing but previous experience, his body seemingly ducked all on its own as Gaelan delivered a five-punch combination, none of his blows connecting. He ended this combination with a hook that went wide, which gave Zach exactly the opportunity he needed. He ducked beneath the man¡¯s fist and then dove forward at the stone floor, coming into a roll while simultaneously scooping up his sword. Noticing this, Gaelan spun around and retrieved his double-bladed spear, and then the two weapons clashed yet again, with Zach¡¯s back now to the entrance and Gaelan¡¯s to the dead-end. Weak and wounded, Zach was now struggling to defend himself effectively. He gritted his teeth as Gaelan struck out twice¡ªand connected twice, ripping off a piece of Zach¡¯s cheek and cutting him open again at the hip. Luckily, Zach was able to dodge a piercing thrust that definitely would¡¯ve been fatal. But Gaelan was also in a poor state, and this became obvious as Zach countered and succeeded in slashing him across the throat, though his blade ended up digging just an inch too shallow to kill him. Gaelan tried to lacerate Zach¡¯s own throat in retaliation. Zach bent backwards and away, then delivered another follow-up slice, which badly missed his intended target but did somehow manage to cut off three of the man¡¯s fingers on his right hand. This back-and-forth continued, and now Zach entered into what could only be described as the single-greatest struggle for survival he had ever faced. One time after the next, he would strike Gaelan and draw blood, only for the same to be done to him. At this rate, both of them would end up dying. Zach had no idea how he was even still alive. He was cut open in so many places he couldn¡¯t even keep track of them all. His ear had been chopped off, and his belly, chest, hips, throat, and face were all pouring blood. And worst of all, he was down to just eight minutes on Unleashed Phase, virtually ensuring he would not have the time to escape. Seeing this number drove him into a frenzy. Something snapped inside of him. He¡¯d had enough. He¡¯d fucking had enough! Taking the biggest risk so far, he dove into¡ªrather than away from¡ªa thrusting attack that Gaelan sent towards his chest. Then he dropped to the ground, sliding behind the man. Filled with desperation and bleeding from seemingly everywhere, he lifted himself up into a crouch and spun himself around while raising his arms and swinging his sword, cutting deeply into Gaelan¡¯s heel and causing him to howl in pain while immediately dropping down, almost certainly immobilized and no longer able to remain standing. I¡¯ve got him! Zach screamed in his mind. Zach darted back up to his feet. Now, he was the one who sensed victory. Striking out with his sword, Gaelan, in a kneeling position, defensively swung around his spear, deflecting a number of Zach¡¯s blows, yet Zach now clearly had the advantage. He struck time and time again, hammering away until, eventually, Gaelan became the one whose weapon was knocked out of his grasp. I¡¯ve fucking got him! Zach thought as he saw the spear rolling away. On the verge of ending this, Zach slashed again at his throat, and the man, now defenseless could only lean backwards. Though Zach did not get in a clean shot, he caused another spray of blood to stain the walls, nearly killing the man yet again. Having been sliced across the throat one too many times, the man now began to wheeze, and there was terror in his eyes. Zach, caught up in the rage of battle, screamed out a battle cry and then cut him again across the forehead, taking a chunk of flesh out of his head in the process and knocking off his helm. Yet still, he lived, as his armor stat and constitution appeared to be just high enough to prevent Zach from landing any outright killing blows. Still, with each attack Zach was able to land deeper and deeper cuts. Slash, slash, slash! Blood streaked across the hall, splattering to the left, the right, and behind the man as Zach carved him apart. Finally, Zach turned his blade so that it faced the floor, and then he plunged it straight down¡ªand through¡ªGaelan¡¯s armor, puncturing his lungs. Yet still, incredibly, Gaelan refused to die. But he was close. He must have been. And so Zach tore his blade free, raised it up high, and readied himself for another plunging attack. This was it. He finally had him. His hands gripped tightly on the base of his sword, he drove it down and into¡ª ¡°DAD!¡± screamed a voice from somewhere behind Zach. ¡°NO!¡± Taken by surprise, Zach hesitated just before delivering the final blow as Gaelan wheezed, coughed up blood, and then fell forward onto his stomach, his flesh making a plopping sound as he dropped down onto the stone floor. And then, an instant later, Zach felt something sharp pressing into his back¡ªthough it was not painful. He spun around to face his attacker. At the moment, his vision was blurry and obscured by a combination of sweat and blood¡ªand not all of the blood was his own. With his impaired vision, he struggled to clearly see who was attacking him, though he could just make out the shadowy form of someone¡ªlikely a woman¡ªwielding a spear, though she did not appear to have the strength to actually puncture his flesh. She was certainly trying, though, thrusting a spear repeatedly into him yet failing to cause him any harm. No time for this, he thought, badly wounded and needing to get a move on. Zach raised his blade, aiming to kill the woman in one swift blow. ¡°Pl-please,¡± wheezed Gaelan. ¡°Daughter. No. Pl-please.¡± Zach again hesitated. ¡°What?¡± He wiped his eyes, then glanced over his shoulder to see the dying, gasping man extending his hand urgently with tears now in his eyes¡ªnot of pain, but of what looked like fear. ¡°Pl¡ª¡± He gagged, likely on his own blood, unable to finish the word, though Zach knew what he was trying to say. He once again faced forward, and now, with his vision slightly clearer, he nearly dropped his sword in horror as he realized he¡¯d been about to strike down a very, very young girl¡ªprobably only fourteen years old from the looks of her¡ªwho was trying to skewer him with what looked like a level-1 starter weapon. The girl herself was clad in level-1 cloth armor. Or if not level 1, something very close to it from its unimpressive, bland, and plain appearance. ¡°Stop that,¡± he told her. She continued to scream and attack him, so Zach raised his blade and delivered a strike, though it was one aimed at the spear rather than the girl. With ease, he split the weapon into two even pieces, and it suffered a full break, vanishing a moment later. ¡°Get out of my way, you monster!¡± she screamed as she began hammering his chest with her fists, which he also did not feel. He grabbed her wrists, holding them tightly. ¡°Stop it,¡± he ordered. She struggled and tried to yank her hands out of his grip. ¡°Let me go!¡± I don¡¯t have time for this. Zach released her then stepped to the side, allowing her run to her downed father¡¯s side. She dove at him, and she began to wail hysterically. ¡°Gods, please, don¡¯t let this be real,¡± she begged. ¡°What did you do!¡± she screamed at Zach, her eyes becoming soaked. ¡°You killed my dad.¡± She sobbed into his armor. ¡°Please don¡¯t die. Please. I¡¯m begging you. Please!¡± Zach was struck by the sight of this. It caused a trauma he thought he¡¯d put behind him to explode in his brain with such vivid detail he felt like he was being transported back in time. He was there again, on that street in Whispery Woods, witnessing his father¡¯s crumpled, broken corpse lying in a pool of glass and his own blood. The jitters returned, though he was far more in control of them than he was before meeting Jascaila. Even still, he¡¯d had an entire week without them, and he¡¯d almost hoped they would never return. It''s a process, he reminded himself. The girl began to cry harder, wailing and pleading for her father not to die. ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m sorry,¡± Zach whispered to her, though he doubted she could even hear his words right now. He also knew he couldn¡¯t afford to stand around here and watch this, either. With just 7:35 left on his current duration of Unleashed Phase, he was going to have to move faster than a God if he wanted to get Vim out of here and far enough away that he¡¯d still be safe when Zach collapsed from E-debt. He would also probably need to use a few stones on himself, too. Hell, he might need to use some right now, as he was badly, badly wounded, and clearly, passive HP regeneration was not ¡°covering¡± all of these injuries. Actually, speaking of stones¡­ Becoming mindful of Vim¡¯s critical state, Zach rushed over to Vim¡¯s cell, his body leaving behind little splotches of blood in a trail wherever it was that he moved. Yet even as he did so, he could not get the sound of the girl¡¯s endless wailing out of his mind. He struggled to ignore it, but he just couldn¡¯t. Even despite his lack of time, he felt compelled to look over his shoulder. The girl was still by her father¡¯s side, and she was pleading with him to live. ¡°Daddy, please. Please!¡± The man was as good as dead. This much, Zach knew for certain. It was the way he wheezed. The sound of it alone was enough to know his fate was sealed. Still, a rush of guilt pounded into him. He swore. Then he swore even more loudly. Hurrying over to Vim¡¯s side, he knelt down, and with urgency in his tone, he asked, ¡°If you can talk to me, tell me quickly: what, specifically, is wrong with you?¡± Vim opened his mouth, his lips quivering, his body shaking. And with a weak, very ill-sounding voice, he whispered, ¡°I¡¯ve got a little headache.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t start your shit with me now, Vim, please! Just tell me what¡¯s wrong with you.¡± Vim coughed out a laugh¡ªor choked one out was a more apt way of describing it. ¡°Very sick,¡± he whispered. ¡°Dying.¡± Zach felt his spirits lift even as his blood continued oozing out of his many wounds, some of it dripping down and splashing on top of Vim¡¯s face. ¡°So wait a second. Do you have any, like, serious internal injuries?¡± Vim mouthed the word no. And now that Zach got a closer look at him, he could see that, while yes, Vim was badly beaten and wounded, his wounds were not in vital areas; no, what was killing the wiry guild leader was almost certainly a combination of disease, starvation, dehydration, and infection¡ªliterally everything that a yellow rejuvenation stone was designed to heal. By now, Zach had learned the purpose for each. Reds were for regrowing limbs and non-vital organs, as well as general-purpose healing. Yellows were for replenishing bodily resources and curing disease, both viral and bacterial in nature, and purples were for repairing internal organs. There were more uses for each, but Zach could not recall them all. Fundamentally, he understood that what Vim needed was a yellow. He reached into his robe and scooped out all four that he had on him: a red, two yellows, and a purple. Vim would likely need a single red and three yellows to be back to full health. But for now, Zach decided to use just one yellow. ¡°Gods,¡± Vim whispered, a note of excitement entering his voice. ¡°You¡­you have stones?¡± It was only now that Zach realized Vim did not expect Zach to actually show up with any. And his expression lit up with pure gratitude as Zach pressed one against his forehead, seeing it disappear. Now, before Zach¡¯s eyes, he watched as some of the color visibly returned to Vim¡¯s face. His cheeks became slightly redder, his eyes less yellow, and he was at last able to speak in more or less complete sentences. In just a matter of seconds, he transformed from someone on death¡¯s doorstep to someone who resembled a very, very sick hospital patient who had just undergone surgery and was now in recovery, albeit with a long road ahead of them. ¡°Oh, Gods, the relief,¡± he said, sighing. ¡°I¡¯m still weak, but I feel so much better now than I did a few seconds ago. Zach, do you have another yellow?¡± He greedily eyed the one in Zach''s palm. Another yellow would fix him up perfectly, but¡­ Zach looked over his shoulder and at the girl, who was soaking her father in her tears. ¡°Please!¡± she shouted, likely speaking to the Gods. ¡°Please don¡¯t take my daddy away from me,¡± she begged as her father wheezed, and now made gargling sounds that sounded horrific and struck at Zach¡¯s very soul. ¡°Please! Daddy, please. You promised me you wouldn¡¯t die. You promised. You said you¡¯d be home tomorrow. Please, daddy. Please. Please!¡± Fuck. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, Zach.¡± ¡°Vim,¡± Zach said, meeting the eyes of the leader of the Royal Roses. ¡°I have to.¡± ¡°Do you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He sighed. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll just suffer, then.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be a dick. You¡¯re not dying anymore.¡± He coughed. ¡°You sure about that?¡± ¡°Mostly.¡± ¡°Why did you come here? They might hit us with another of the weapons because you¡ª¡± ¡°No, there¡¯s¡­there¡¯s a lot of things that happened you don¡¯t know about. I¡¯ll tell you later. But¡­but for now just¡­hold on. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Zach got up, spun around, and trailing more blood behind him on the stone flooring, he walked over to his downed enemy. The girl turned her head as she saw him coming, and she shrieked. ¡°Get away!¡± she screamed. ¡°Get away from my dad! Noooo! Get away!¡± He brushed her aside. Then, with a bit more force than he¡¯d used on Vim, he slapped a purple stone right down on the man¡¯s chest, as well as a red and finally the other yellow. This, as his daughter began again punching his chest with her fists, which would likely only cause her pain, as he could barely feel it. ¡°I¡¯m helping him, you dummy,¡± he said to her. ¡°Huh?¡± She stopped abruptly. ¡°Helping him?¡± Zach looked at her. ¡°Your dad¡¯s hurt real, real bad. I gave him three healing stones but even that¡­I don¡¯t think what I gave him will be enough to save his life. But it should make it so that, uh, instead of dying in the next ten seconds, you have at least two hours to get him to a hospital or something. It¡¯s all I can do now. I¡¯m sorry.¡± The girl looked at him as though absolutely mystified. Then she spun around and once more looked at her father. The man¡¯s wheezing and gargling had stopped, and already, the rise and fall of his chest seemed a great deal more normal. Perhaps too normal. Actually, was he already moving? Oh no. As a sign of his strength and willpower, the man sat up¡ªand then stood up. Now, Zach, still dripping blood, backed away as he actually returned to his feet, retrieved his spear, and looked as though he had been fully healed. ¡°I have a unique passive that boosts the effectiveness of healing magic and stones on me by three-hundred percent,¡± he said as though sensing Zach¡¯s confusion. He bent down, retrieved his helmet, and placed it on his head. The front of his breastplate was already almost repaired, as armor tended to repair itself much faster while out of combat¡ªassuming it had not suffered a full break. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that,¡± Zach whispered. ¡°Now you do.¡± Zach cursed himself for being so stupid. Fear exploded within him. Gods, what had he done? The man should¡¯ve been incapacitated and in critical condition. And yet, already, not even a minute had gone by, and he was back on his feet and staring at Zach. And then he began to lift his spear, extending it in Zach¡¯s direction. And it was here where Zach truly came to accept that he now deserved whatever happened to him. Because he knew better. This wasn¡¯t his first screwup of this caliber. That was the worst part of it all. It was that Zach knew better. How many fucking times did he have to have his acts of kindness turned against him? How many times did he need to have his deeds backfire before he finally learned not to do shit like this? Before he finally understood that people couldn¡¯t be trusted? Time and time again, he made stupid, thoughtless decisions, and then he promised himself he would become smarter, wiser, and not fall for the same pitfalls. He swore he¡¯d never trust people again, only to end up trusting. He promised he would stop sticking his neck out for others, only to have it nearly decapitated. The lessons he was supposed to learn¡ªwhy couldn¡¯t he learn them? By now, Zach should have known that any time he risked himself for dangerous people, they were going to turn on him. Because people, ultimately, could not be trusted. He needed to purge the weakness within him. He needed to give up on the idea that people deep down were good and naturally inclined to¡ª ¡°That way,¡± Gaelan said, extending his spear towards the dead-end wall rather than stabbing him with it. Zach stared at him, confused. ¡°What?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a hidden passage. It¡¯ll take you back to the surface. You should be able to get a head start in taking the Gnome wherever it is you intend to go.¡± Swallowing nervously, Zach asked, ¡°You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re not going to kill me?¡± Gaelan visibly cringed as though he found the suggestion disgusting. ¡°What kind of¡­what kind of monster would do that? You defeated me in combat and then spared my life. What manner of beast would even begin to think of doing something so treacherous and dishonorable? Imagine the world we¡¯d live in if that was how people behaved?¡± Tell that to Fylwen, Zach thought to himself, resisting the temptation to roll his eyes. He had to mentally remind himself that he¡¯d already let this go and had come to admire and like the woman. Even still, it was a sore spot. ¡°You¡¯re really just going to let me and Vim go?¡± He nodded¡ªno, he did more than nod. He bowed. ¡°Peter respected you. Now, I can see why. Thank you for not harming my daughter. I was wrong about you.¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°You weren¡¯t. I killed so many people today.¡± ¡°War,¡± he said, speaking as though that one word alone was enough to convey an entire sentence. In a way, it was. Not wanting to give the man a chance to change his mind, Zach scooped up Vim and threw him over his shoulder despite his angry protestations and demands to be let down. This, as the man activated a hidden button built in the stone wall that caused the wall to slide to the side, revealing a stairway that went straight up to the surface and thankfully didn¡¯t spiral. ¡°Your chance of making it out alive is still quite low,¡± Gaelan said to him. ¡°You¡¯re badly wounded and there¡¯s a whole lot of enemies between you and a way out of this city. You¡¯ll probably pass out from blood loss very soon and die even sooner. I wish I could do more for you. I mean that.¡± Zach shrugged, causing Vim to groan as he carried the little man. ¡°I¡¯ve been in worse spots than this.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± With only six minutes left on Unleashed Phase, and a rapidly growing feeling of lightheadedness overcoming him, Zach actually wondered if that was true. Deep down, he knew he was probably going to die again today. He had come to save Vim, but now he had no healing stones, no time, and he was half dead. Okay, this time, I think I¡¯m actually screwed. I think I really might have¡­this might be it. He was alone in enemy territory with a very ill¡ªthough not deathly ill¡ªguild leader and he was leaving a trail of blood with every step that he took. The situation was probably hopeless. Even still, he continued to try his best. I need to let the others know how I made out, he realized. Taking off at a run, he placed a call to Mr. Oren to let him know the situation in the hope that, should the worst happen, at least Vim could be rescued and humanity could still have a future. It wasn¡¯t that this kind of selflessness came easy to Zach, either. Had he been in a normal state of mind, he¡¯d be freaking out right about now. But he¡¯d lost so much blood, and it was starting to have an almost calming, drowsy effect on him. He was in so much pain, but he was also becoming woozy and detached. With Vim over his right shoulder, he used his left hand to dial Mr. Oren. The conversation was surprisingly brief, though there was no mistaking the worry in Mr. Oren¡¯s voice. Finishing up quickly, he then called Queen Vayra, as there was one last thing he absolutely had to do. He spoke to her quickly, summarizing events as fast as he could. ¡°I just need you to let her know I love her in case, you know.¡± ¡°How bad is it, young man?¡± ¡°I¡¯m uh¡­it¡¯s bad.¡± ¡°How bad?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just say¡­¡± He paused to breathe, suddenly feeling weak and short of breath. It was a struggle just to speak, but still he continued to ascend step after step with Vim on his shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s just say I¡¯ve only got five minutes left on Unleashed Phase, and it still probably won¡¯t be the thing that kills me.¡± ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll send for help.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bother. I¡¯m in way too deep. I¡¯m only calling you so you¡¯ll give Kal my last words if¡­you know. In case. Make sure she knows I love her.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll call her and let her know now.¡± ¡°W-wait!¡± he shouted, suddenly becoming far more awake and alert. Her words caused him to feel such a spike in anxiety that he nearly tripped over the top step. Or maybe it was because things ahead were starting to blur. It was becoming a struggle to keep conscious. ¡°Definitely not now, Gods dammit!¡± ¡°Oh? I should wait?¡± ¡°Obviously!¡± ¡°Very well. I won¡¯t say a word for now.¡± Zach sighed. ¡°Okay, thanks.¡± With that, he ended the call and continued on. He couldn¡¯t believe Fylwen almost dialed Kal. That would have been real, real bad. ****** ¡°He¡¯s where?¡± Kalana screamed into her phone, unable to believe what her mother had hidden from her. Pain exploded in her chest as Donovan and Zephyr continued to stand by her side, both of them silent. They, along with all the raiders, had now returned to Galterra together and had gathered in a large pub in one of the quieter areas of Slopes of Dal''Zarrah to await the roll for loot. ¡°My daughter, cease your dramatic howling. This is precisely why he asked me not to tell you any of this. Truly, you must stop these theatrics, Kalana. I¡¯m betraying his trust just in telling you this.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about that right now!¡± she shouted. ¡°Tell me where he is, or I swear, mom, I¡¯ll never forgive you!¡± She explained, and Kalana had to resist the urge to scream yet again as all the adventurers eagerly awaiting the loot roll turned their heads to look at her, concern in their eyes. The more her mother explained, the more upset she became, and the more betrayed she felt. ¡°He¡¯s fighting a war by himself?¡± ¡°He¡¯s fuckin¡¯ what?¡± Donovan asked, slamming a big mug of beer onto the countertop. Kalana couldn¡¯t believe what she was hearing. ¡°Mom, tell me everything. Please!¡± ¡°Perhaps this was indeed a mistake¡­¡± ¡°Mom!¡± ¡°Very well,¡± she said with slight grunt. ¡°But only since your petulance comes at such an abhorrent time. Zach called me perhaps a minute or so ago. He¡¯s succeeded in rescuing Vim Alazar, and now he¡¯s planning to fight his way to the Piercing Thorn.¡± Kalana felt tears roll down her eyes. ¡°But he told me he was going to bed. He¡­he lied to me.¡± ¡°Of course he did,¡± her mother stated bluntly. ¡°He¡¯s a brave boy, and he wished to spare you the pain of experiencing war. Honestly, Kalana, he has grown so much on me. I fully approve of him now as though he were an Elf. He brings us¡ªand you¡ªhonor.¡± ¡°But he lied to me, mom!¡± ¡°As he should have,¡± she said, her words striking Kalana deeply. ¡°You stand alone as the only Elf to ignore the call to action. You stand alone as the only Elf whose heart is too soft to appease the Gods. You have much growing up to do, daughter.¡± As insulting and irritating as her mom¡¯s words might¡¯ve been, Kalana didn¡¯t even care about them right now. She was too worried about Zach to focus on her mom¡¯s stupid war that stupid Adamus told her to fight in. As far as Kalana was concerned, only Eilea was a real Goddess. Adamus was just a jerk. Even Jascaila thought so. Everybody was making a really big mistake in listening to him. But that was a whole different thing. He doesn¡¯t trust me, she thought, an ache in her chest. He doesn¡¯t even trust me. She wiped her eyes. ¡°Why did he lie to me?¡± she asked her mother, sobbing. It hurt so bad. ¡°Because he doesn¡¯t want you there, Kalana. Can you truly not see why he¡¯s done this? It¡¯s quite obvious. He loves you. And he knows you cannot¡ª¡± ¡°Just tell me where he is now!¡± she screamed. Her mother made another angry grunt, which came through over the phone. ¡°As I said, that is the reason I¡¯ve called you against his wishes and confidence. Right now, he is about to fight his way to the shore, but he claims to have been badly wounded.¡± ¡°How badly?¡± she asked, her heart beginning to pound faster and faster as she awaited her mother¡¯s reply. ¡°How badly!¡± she shouted into the phone. ¡°Very badly,¡± her mother stated. ¡°He¡¯s in the southwest of the city?¡± ¡°Yes, I believe so.¡± Kalana hung up, ignoring whatever mom had to say next. She met Donovan¡¯s eyes. ¡°I have to go immediately. Zach¡¯s hurt bad. Do the roll without me.¡± He opened his mouth to question her, but she¡¯d already grabbed her daggers off the counter and re-sheathed them at her sides. She eyed the window and looked outside the pub. If she leapt across the rooftops, she could make it to the Grand Library in under two minutes. From there, she could pick any reasonable dungeon that had a nearby door to Angelica¡¯s, and she could get one of the adventurers with an exit door near Shadowfall Coast to let her out. That should get her within a few miles. It would be a difficult trip to make in such a short time, but it could be done. Of course it could. I can get there in under five minutes, she thought. But I need more stones. ¡°Please,¡± she begged, looking at the faces of the human adventurers around her. ¡°Please. If any of you could umm, if you guys could please just lend me a few of your stones, I would repay you, I promise, and I¡¯d give you more than they¡¯re worth. And I¡¯d also¡ª¡± Before she could even finish speaking, hands were extending towards her from every angle: dozens of them. She nodded her head graciously. She could see why Zach had fallen in love with this community. She really understood now. He belonged here among the adventurers. He should¡¯ve been here with them right now. Maybe if he¡¯d come along, Jimmy wouldn¡¯t have gotten hurt and run off. He should have been here! Why did you have to lie? Accepting only what she believed she might need, she stuffed a few stones into her pockets and graciously thanked those that¡¯d given them to her. Many of the adventurers were also asking if they could accompany her, especially Rian and Lienne, but Kalana politely refused. She had made up her mind to travel alone¡ªwell, almost alone. One of the adventurers insisted on tagging along, and she knew he wouldn¡¯t be stopped. ¡°Fluffles coming too,¡± the cat said with a meow. ¡°I fight.¡± She knelt down before him. ¡°If I let you come, kitty, you have to promise me you¡¯re not gonna kill anybody, okay?¡± He hissed. ¡°I kill five.¡± ¡°No! Zero people. Promise me.¡± She frowned at him. ¡°You gotta promise.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± the cat said, purring. ¡°I promise. Fluffles not kill.¡± ¡°Good kitty,¡± she said. Then she grimaced. ¡°We need to get there before Zach kills anybody either. I don¡¯t wanna see him in pain, and there¡¯s a better way. We don¡¯t gotta kill.¡± Fluffles meowed. ¡°Kalana too late. Zach kill.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± she asked, looking at him. ¡°Zach already kill 107 humans today.¡± Then he meowed. ¡°Now kill 108. 110. 114.¡± Kalana¡ªand every adventurer including Donovan¡ªgasped in disbelief. ¡°Are you serious?¡± Donovan asked. Fluffles meowed happily. ¡°Zach already kill 119 humans. Fluffles so proud! He the best hunter.¡± Donovan made a low groan, then shook his head. ¡°The fuck is going on with him?¡± He scowled. ¡°This is Alex¡¯s fault. I know it is. That fucker¡¯s gonna ruin him. Ah, shit, I¡¯ve had it! I¡¯m gonna rip that prick¡¯s head off if he keeps corrupting the kid like this. We¡¯re gonna lose him as an adventurer if this keeps up. Ain¡¯t possible for him to keep doing shit like this. Not if he wants to be part of us. He¡¯s going in the wrong direction.¡± Kalana didn¡¯t know what was going on or why, but she knew she needed to leave immediately. Checking quickly to ensure she had everything that she needed, she took off, leapt to the top of the three-story pub, and then dashed to another roof across the road. If there was no straight path, she would make one. Zach had lied to her. She was hurting. She felt betrayed and untrusted. But all of that was secondary right now, because she loved him, and he wasn¡¯t okay. She just wanted him to be okay. Gods, please, protect him until she got there. ***** There was an explosion, and Zach held on more tightly to his Kralzek¡¯s Beast, as the cannon inside its throat launched an explosive shell that blasted apart the third floor of an apartment building, where three leveled archers were firing arrows down on him and Vim. Afterwards, he ordered his beast to spin violently around and move in the opposite direction as several armored tanks and a legion of infantry, as well as a number of leveled defenders, turned the corner of the street in front of him and tried to cut him off. ¡°This is bad, Vim,¡± he said, having his mount instead dash through an alley as he continued to try to evade the tightening net closing in around them. The entire city seemed to be aware that he and Vim were out and about, and there were hostile forces everywhere. ¡°If we live through his,¡± Vim said weakly, ¡°you know you¡¯re being promoted, right?¡± Zach barked out a laugh. ¡°Promoted? I¡¯m not even really a member of your guild.¡± ¡°Mhm. Sure.¡± ¡°Stop that,¡± Zach said. Now, Vim made a laugh as well, though his was weak and strained. ¡°You¡¯re taking Varsh¡¯s role: fourth-in-command of the Royal Roses.¡± Zach felt his jaw drop. ¡°You¡¯re fucking with me.¡± ¡°Not this time,¡± Vim said as the mount leapt through the second-story window of another apartment, causing a father and a mother to scream at the top of their lungs, grab their children, and hide behind a green couch as Zach shouted out an apology and raced across their living room, knocking over their coffee table, causing their screen to fall off the wall, and tearing up a section of their area rug. His mount then jumped through another window, bringing them back outside into the very early morning darkness, falling back down to the street. ¡°I¡¯m an adventurer,¡± Zach insisted. ¡°I¡¯ll never be a member of a political guild.¡± ¡°So I take it you won¡¯t be moving into your hundred-acre estate in Giant¡¯s Fall, then? And you¡¯ll be rejecting your monthly gold stipends?¡± His words roused Zach so much that his blurred vision cleared for a moment. Gods, he was in so much pain. He was also so tired. He wanted to close his eyes and sleep. He was fighting to stay awake and guide his mount. Yet Vim¡¯s words, at least for a few moments, managed to bring him back into the present. ¡°I get that?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Zach cleared his throat. ¡°Well, since you¡¯re forcing it on me, I¡¯ll obviously take it. Doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m really a member of your shitty guild.¡± ¡°Of course not,¡± Vim said. ¡°Now stay awake and fight the embrace of death. Haisel will take care of us if we can just get to the shore.¡± From the constant sounds of explosions and gunfire, Zach knew in which direction he needed to head. But honestly? He really, really didn¡¯t think he was going to make it there. He was just so tired. Even as he leaned over to his right side, extended his sword-carrying arm, and decapitated a motorcycle-riding member of the Guild of Gentleman who pulled up beside him, he felt like he was about to slump over and pass out. I just need to get Vim close enough to where someone else can rescue him. Then¡­then whatever happens, happens. So tired. I want to sleep. Chapter 157: Calamity of Stars Chapter 157: Calamity of Stars It wasn¡¯t until the first shots were fired that Alex finally felt the pressure descend upon him. With the earliest signs of morning light peeking over the horizon, the quiet grasslands outside the city in Shadowfall Coast became explosively noisy with gunfire. What began as a few reports from a few different guns escalated to becoming something so much more chaotic. Alex was now witnessing firsthand the start of what he had unleashed upon this city: what he had been instrumental in bringing about. ¡°We¡¯re taking small-arms fire!¡± cried one of the level-1 troops of the Lords of Justice. He, along with numerous others, lay flat at the base of one of the rolling hills. To distinguish combatants from civilians, he wore a camo-colored uniform and a helmet with matching stripes, as did all the infantry who fought on their side. At the moment, they were about three miles west of the city, and the enemy, too far away for Alex to even properly see, began to unleash a hail of bullets from their outermost defensive positions about a half-mile from the city¡¯s outskirts. Crossing his arms as he stood out and in the open, Alex ignored the bullets that bounced off his body and flicked off his forehead as he studied the situation. They needed to move quickly and without delay, but from this point forward, they wouldn¡¯t be able to simply rush recklessly on ahead unless they wanted to lose an absurdly unnecessary number of soldiers. If only I¡¯d had more time to research ancient tactics. A hundred years ago, someone like Alex would not be leading an attack of this sort. In those days, experts who¡¯d been educated in military schools that focused specifically on the topic of conventional warfare would be the ones making decisions and calculating the best approach. Yet after a century of moderated, open-field combat¡ªa system designed by Peter I¡ªthere were very few alive who could claim proficiency in these matters. Thus, the various guilds now relied on documentation and written accounts for knowledge on how to conduct this ugly, regrettably revived form of combat. In the case of a city siege, it was written that the advancing force should look to gain between half a mile and a mile¡¯s worth of territory per day. This, of course, was not acceptable, as by shortly after noon today, the enemy would have another of their weapons ready to fire. It absolutely would not suffice to begin a slow trudge towards the city. But that was certainly how things were looking as the battle began in earnest. ¡°What do you think, Lord Oren?¡± asked High-Lord Kolorn Besh, the leader of the Lords of Justice. The man was standing to Alex¡¯s left side. Alex watched as he rubbed his right eye as a round from a machine gun thudded against his lid; he brushed his face with his palm the way that one might brush away a mosquito or deal with a small itch. Alex frowned. ¡°It¡¯s certainly not going to be as simple as the last invasion. That much is abundantly clear.¡± When the Royal Roses had invaded a few weeks ago, they had done so before the enemy¡¯s anti-aircraft SAM turrets had been brought online. Conducted in the aftermath of a sanctioned terrorist attack carried out by the Guild of Gentlemen in Giant¡¯s Fall, the Royal Roses had blitzed the city and managed to take all of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Avenue before the Guild of Gentlemen were able to mount a resistance. This time around, however, it looked like they were going to have to put in extra legwork just to get within the city¡¯s bounds. ¡°Can we order a charge?¡± Queen Vayra asked. She was standing to his right. ¡°Your humans are more than happy to do it. By all accounts, they desire revenge. Why not let them have it?¡± Alex shook his head. ¡°We¡¯ll lose so many of them. Maybe even most of them.¡± Putting aside the morality of ordering a suicidal charge, the fact of the matter was that they needed people¡ªand a lot of them¡ªin order to eventually occupy, secure, and contain the city. The considerations extended beyond simply this current crisis, too. The city itself was still a vital target in the quest to restore trade relationships with the rest of the world, as Shadowfall Coast served as far too important a port of entry to be left in the hands of the xenophobic Guild of Gentlemen. How can we speed things up? He knew that the queen would make good on her promise to flatten the entire city if he did not have the nuclear problem solved in less than six hours from now. Truly, it was an impossible task. But he had to try his best anyway¡ªas impossible as it may have been. And to that end, he had the people, the equipment, and the ammunition. What he didn¡¯t have was the time. Alex looked over his shoulder and stared at the massive force approaching behind him. I can¡¯t be reckless with all of their lives. He had brought a staggering, historically large number of level-1 troops down to Shadowfall Coast, and he¡¯d done so without any advance warning or notice. Typically, such an operation would require months of planning and logistics to work out. But somehow, Alex had actually managed to perform what was, in his honest assessment, a miracle¡ªor perhaps it was simply that the impossible tended to become possible when it served as a matter of life and death. In this case, by commandeering all public and private aircraft in the Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah, Alex had actually found a way to rush around 45,000 personnel here for this emergency invasion of Shadowfall Coast, of which 30,000 were performing combat-oriented roles and the rest would be utilized as inspectors, medics, engineers, and various other vitally important positions. When he¡¯d pitched this idea to the guild shortly before midnight, the primary concern among the Lords of Justice was the disarray and public disorder that might result from the sudden, unannounced, and unexpected seizure of all airports and aircraft in Dal¡¯Zarrah. Alex himself had been bracing for such chaos; instead, as civilians caught sight of their forces, in uniform, rushing inside, they were met with cheers and faces that became alight with gratitude. Shockingly, the people wanted this war. They wanted their region and governing guild to fight to avenge those who had perished. It seemed that this was now the dominant view among many in North Bastia¡ªthough it would have been unthinkable as recently as a month ago. At any rate, thanks to snipers along the valley, they were down around 200 soldiers, with about 40 of them dying outright and the rest being too wounded to continue fighting. Most of that death had been preventable, but Alex had needed to keep everyone moving. The consequences of trying that again, however, would be far more dire. Unlike the valley route they¡¯d taken to get here, if he ordered his men to storm the city, more than half would likely be cut down. With signs of impatience visibly causing her features to tighten, Queen Vayra narrowed her eyes and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t I simply have my Elves go in, then? Honestly, I fail to see why we cannot leave the level-1 humans behind for now and quickly take out their front lines on our own. Certainly, it beats standing around here waiting for your humans to play bullet tag with their little weapons.¡± Alex opened his mouth to reply, but it was High-Lord Besh who replied for him. ¡°That won¡¯t work,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯d lose a great many of your Elves that way.¡± ¡°Oh? Are you quite sure, human?¡± she asked, her tone a bit on the snippy side. Actually, her mood had grown very bitter as of a short while ago, and Alex didn¡¯t blame her for it. She, like Alex, was very concerned about Zach, and it was clearly affecting her patience. Thankfully, High-Lord Besh¡¯s patience was fully intact, and he answered her calmly. ¡°There¡¯s a reason we still use guns, level-1 troops, battle tanks, and artillery in conventional warfare¡ªand have done so historically. The troops are not just fodder, and they do serve a greater purpose than simply acting as a peacekeeping force to maintain order and hold territory.¡± He inhaled slowly, then turned his face so that he stared at the modest city in the distance, where a nonstop chorus of gunshots were exchanged with their forces. He pointed in the direction of the battle. ¡°It seems almost obvious,¡± he continued. ¡°By that I mean the idea to forgo fielding armies and to instead send in leveled fighters to deal with things on their own. It¡¯s the first thing most people would think¡ªyou could even say it¡¯s the natural, common-sense solution to warfare. But,¡± he said, raising his pointer finger, ¡°if you were to have access to the guild archives, you¡¯d see that this is a mistake that humans have made time and time and time again all throughout history for as far back as our records date.¡± ¡°Explain,¡± the queen demanded, though she did now come across as a bit intrigued. Alex was fairly sure he knew what High-Lord Besh was going to say, and indeed, it was something he himself only learned very recently when researching combat tactics, specifically a very old book from five-hundred years ago called Theory of Unit Formation. High-Lord Besh turned his body slightly so that he was now facing the queen. ¡°For starters,¡± he began, ¡°in any large-scale battle that pits leveled fighters against other level fighters, the backbone of any unit is going to be the mages in that unit. They are capable of turning around any fight, no matter how poorly things have been going. And while tanks¡ªin the leveling sense¡ªcan protect their mages from other leveled fighters, a fairly large majority of spell-casters are susceptible to high-caliber, armor-piercing rounds. Sure, they can repel basic types of anti-personnel ammunition. But unless they have an unusually high constitution stat, they can be picked off by snipers using bolt-action, armor-piercing rounds. And if they are picked off, the rest of the leveled fighters are put at a tremendous disadvantage. So, where did that lead us historically, Your Majesty? Well, it led armies to begin enlisting level-1 snipers to take down mages and healers. Some very early guild battles were won using this method.¡± Kolorn paused to take a breath before continuing. ¡°According to historical records, snipers became a regular part of war. And there in turn came the only next logical step: making use of counter snipers designed solely to take down other snipers¡ªalong with light infantry to flush out those in more elaborate forms of cover such as towers or in difficult-to-reach places. And with the light infantry came heavy infantry, and with that came the introduction of armored vehicles. And because of armored vehicles, the next step was artillery, and so on and so forth. Now do you see?¡± Queen Vayra did not look impressed. ¡°How does any of this apply to my Elves? None of them can be harmed by your bullets, including those of us more inclined to magic. This, it seems to me, is a human problem.¡± ¡°There are other factors,¡± Alex said, chiming in. This caused the queen to shift her stance such that she now set her gaze upon Alex instead of his guild leader. ¡°Such as?¡± Alex gestured with his hands, which he pressed together then slowly pulled apart. ¡°Smoke, chemical irritants, and other tools they will use on you if you go in there alone,¡± he explained. ¡°As powerful as your Elves are, the enemy has dragon equipment now. That still won¡¯t be enough to overcome any of you. I understand this. But when you¡¯ve got swarms of level-1 troops throwing flashbangs, gas grenades, or firing smoke-pellets directly into your eyes at a sustained rate, even humans will be able to get the better of you. I assure you, Your Majesty, the enemy has definitely prepared for the possibility of an Elvish attack. If you lead your Elves in there alone, they will utilize a host of unexpected tools to put you at a disadvantage.¡± ¡°Utter rubbish,¡± Queen Vayra said, scoffing dismissively at the suggestion that her Elves could be made vulnerable. Alex held his ground. ¡°I¡¯m telling you the truth,¡± he insisted. ¡°For as strong as your Elves may be, there are certain biological processes and responses that, for reasons unknown, do not change as a result of leveling.¡± Queen Vayra fired him a skeptical, annoyed look. ¡°That¡¯s quite the cryptic explanation. Do you care to be more specific, human?¡± Alex nodded. ¡°Sure. So, hmm¡­okay, so how about this? Let¡¯s take pepper spray for example. No amount of leveling will stop the stinging and unpleasant effects of being struck with a canister of pepper spray or hit with a pepper bomb. Given the fact that even the best bullets will fail to so much as tickle an Elf, it might seem absurd or counterintuitive that something so benign as pepper spray might severely hinder a sufficiently leveled fighter; yet, upon contact with the eyes, the brain transmits all the same signals that it does for a level 1. So what I¡¯m hoping to make clear here, Your Majesty, is that while your Elves are out there wiping at their stinging eyes, it leaves open the opportunity for a leveled human to creep up from behind and plunge a knife deep into their backs.¡± Queen Vayra said nothing for a moment, and Alex could tell by the contemplating look on her face that she was considering his words. Twisting her lips somewhat, she asked, ¡°And are these the sorts of weapons and ¡®techniques¡¯ that you encountered on your previous foray into Shadowfall Coast?¡± ¡°No,¡± Alex said. ¡°And if that sounds surprising, it is. For months leading up to these recent events, the threat of conventional warfare has been lingering on the air and discussed openly among the Royal Roses. Despite this, the Guild of Gentlemen were not prepared to fight in one. It¡¯s only recently that they¡¯ve completely restructured their defenses to deal with a more historical military threat.¡± He frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t know why, though. I can¡¯t understand why they waited so long.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fairly sure I know,¡± the queen said, and now a bitter sadness crept into her face, which softened somewhat. ¡°Peter likely didn¡¯t believe it would ever truly come to this, and even if he had, he likely viewed relying on such tactics to be beneath his dignity. Perhaps, it was only after they murdered him that the humans began preparing for this sort of war.¡± Alex had to admit that he found her explanation plausible, especially because it would help paint a clearer picture of the circumstances that had led to Sir Alistair Morrison betraying his king. Even still, it was shocking how quickly the rest of the Guild of Gentlemen had accepted it. Alex would have thought there would have been a bit more outrage over what the man had done. There is probably more I don¡¯t know, he thought. But finding out will have to wait for later. As bullets flew black and forth across several miles¡¯ worth of distance, soldiers scrambled to take cover behind anything they could, including tanks, armored transport vehicles, large rocks, and sloped portions of the land. From this distance, most shots failed to find their targets, though more perilous were the explosions that began to deform the land as the enemy launched rockets and shells at them, slowing their advance. They¡¯re clearly playing for time, Alex thought. They don¡¯t have to defeat us. They just need to bog us down. The Guild of Gentlemen was mounting an unexpectedly strong defense. The only possible explanation was that they¡¯d recruited a great many men and women from within their city while also bringing in more manpower from Tomb of Fire, including leveled defenders and equipment. Thus, Alex returned his attention towards thinking up a solution. He needed to move significantly faster, yet he couldn¡¯t just order a full-on charge. We need aerial bombardment from Haisel Ragora. We need those jets! The one possible game-changer¡ªthe wild card, so to speak¡ªwas the existence of fighter jets: those F-15E Strike Eagles that Haisel had miraculously resurrected, though making use of them would require his forces to first disable the enemy¡¯s anti-aircraft capability along the northwestern front. Instead, Haisel had chosen to bombard the southeastern coast in a separate operation to assist Zach and rescue their guild leader. A tremendous mistake, he thought angrily. The more Alex considered the dilemma, the more he realized that he was going to need the assistance of the Royal Roses. Even from the completely opposite side of the city, he could hear them fighting their own battle. Hopefully, they would get their leader back soon and make good on their promise. The two sides were in constant communication and were technically operating as allies even if their efforts were not entirely coordinated. One thing was for sure, however. If they did not find a way to break through¡ªand into¡ªthe city in an unprecedented, historically fast timescale, the Elves¡ªalong with the rest of them¡ªreally would have to make a mad dash towards the city, indiscriminately flattening it before they were able to launch another weapon and murder another million people. If push came to shove, it was an option Alex was prepared to take even if it haunted him for the rest of his days. And so, for their sake as well, Alex prayed to the Gods for a swift, decisive victory. ******* Vim held on tightly to the back of the boy¡¯s blood-stained robe as the large, saber-toothed cat made unsteady motions while it sprinted over the uneven rubble of a destroyed building. Just a few moments ago, both the north and south sides of the street they¡¯d been running down had been cut off by a mass of troops, leveled fighters, and armored tanks. Thankfully, there had been a way to slip through the tightening net that would be difficult for those behind them to pursue, as their vehicles were not suited to ride through such treacherous terrain. As the boy¡¯s mount dashed its way across the remnants of the destroyed apartment complex, Vim soon found himself on a quieter, residential street in downtown Shadowfall Coast. But he knew it wouldn¡¯t remain quiet for long. At most, it would take a minute or possibly even less for the Guild of Gentlemen to begin swarming them here as well. After all, both he and Zach were high-value, high-priority targets, and the Gentlemen would desperately try to prevent either of them from escaping. What¡¯s even going on? he wondered, trying to piece things together. His head was fuzzy, his body was weak, and a pain flared in his chest whenever he tried to breathe. He was also cold and shivering despite the warm, humid, early-morning air, which when combined with his general sense of dizziness, told him that he probably had a fever. Even still, he felt tremendously better right now than he had before the boy had used one of the yellow stones on him. Though he still felt awful, it was nothing compared to how poorly he¡¯d been faring a few minutes ago. He had been delirious, unable to speak, and mere moments from death. It was to the extent that, at first, he¡¯d thought the sight of Zach to be a hallucination. Now, however, as he and the boy rode their way down a two-way street that had apartments and storefronts lining both sides of it, Vim tried to deduce what had taken place and why it had happened. The boy had told him very little, and he didn¡¯t appear to be in a speaking mood right now¡ªnor did he look capable of making conversation. Vim feared he would not last much longer at this rate. Why did he rescue me? Passing a two-story medical building that seemed to serve as a hub for cardiology and radiology, Vim struggled to connect the dots. Normally, this would be easy for him, but he was still incredibly unwell and felt as though his mind was fogged up. He concentrated in order to try clearing it. Were there any assumptions he could make? Yes. A few. For starters, the fact that Zach was here at all¡ªalong with the Piercing Thorn, from the few comments Zach had made¡ªmeant that his guild must have had some reason for believing they could attempt a rescue without inviting nuclear retaliation from the Guild of Gentlemen. But as far as what that reason might be, Vim could not say. Still, he thought it safe to assume there was at least some reason behind it. Secondly, he also felt comfortable assuming based on their current trajectory that Zach was trying to lead them to the shore. From the sounds of explosion and gunfire, it seemed like they were meant to make straight for The Piercing Thorn. Can he even make it that far? As bad a shape as Vim was currently in, the boy¡¯s condition was significantly worse. Though his bleeding had slowed from a heavy rush into more of a gradual trickle, he did not look well at all. He was missing an ear, his nose was visibly broken, and there were red, damp spots of blood all over his black robes. Due to the self-repairing nature of equipment¡ªprovided it did not suffer a full break¡ªthe blood was no longer leaking directly out of Zach in the places where he had been wounded; instead, it seemed to be running down his body and dripping out near his ankles. He also seemed to be trying his best to hide his pain. For the past minute or so, with his hands and feet continuing to fire off a steady stream of burning embers, Zach had been making very quiet moans and hisses, which tended to be followed by grunts. Yet these sounds had now quieted a bit, and Vim did not imagine that was a good thing. Continuing to say nothing, the boy¡¯s mount raced the two of them down several streets one after the next. To both sides of Vim, civilians exiting their homes glared at them with expressions made of pure hatred as they passed by. ¡°Get the fuck out of here!¡± an old man shouted from an opened window on the second floor of a three-story apartment building. ¡°You sons of bitches!¡± Vim ignored them and kept his focus on what lay ahead as he and Zach continued down a third block¡ªonly to come to a sudden, unexpected stop. Right in the middle of the street, not far from the sidewalk and directly across from a shuttered clothing boutique, the saber-toothed cat, for reasons unknown, halted itself and then remained that way. Vim said nothing, assuming that this was perhaps due to Zach attempting to figure out how to proceed or something of that nature. Yet for nearly twenty seconds, the two of them remained seated on its back, remaining perfectly still as the sound of shouting voices in pursuit began to echo from behind them. ¡°Zach?¡± Vim asked. He did not reply. Vim looked over his shoulder. Two blocks down, he could see numerous tanks riding towards them, flanked by a significant number of ground troops. Having never expected to live to see the open air again, Vim realized it would be such a disappointing shame to be caught or killed mere moments after escaping the torturous dungeon. And so, with urgency in his voice, he said, ¡°Hey, Zach. Zach!¡± The boy¡¯s head slumped down, and that was not a good sign. ¡°Zach!¡± Vim shouted. As weak as he was, he found the strength to begin shaking the boy, causing his head to droop even more, sparking concern for both of their lives. Vim shook him even more violently. ¡°Zach! Wake up! Do not fall asleep. Zach!¡± ¡°Wh¡­¡± Very, very weakly, Zach raised his head. Then, as though it required all the strength in the world to do so, his hand began to shake as he lifted his arm, extended his pointer finger, and gestured somewhere much farther down the road. With a sudden forward momentum that almost caused Vim to fall off the mount, the beast again took off at full speed, and once again, they began to put distance between themselves and those hunting for them. ¡°Stay awake,¡± Vim said to him. ¡°If we can just get to Haisel, everything will be fine.¡± Zach did not reply, which made Vim even more worried. This worry turned out to be justified as, upon sprinting down another two streets, the mount stopped once more. And now, something even worse happened. With what sounded like a groan, Zach released his hands on the scruff of the mount¡¯s neck, tilted over to the side, and fell off it completely, landing onto the sidewalk with a plop. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Forcing his own weakened body to move, Vim slid off the mount and knelt down next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. ¡°You¡¯ve got to get up.¡± He wasn¡¯t moving. Shaking him this time did nothing, either. The boy refused to stir. The rise and fall of his chest had become very shallow; he was near death. Vim cursed at the Gods, listening as the sound of their pursuers grew louder as they neared. They were going to be attacked very soon, and there would be nothing that Vim could do to protect either of them. Even had his body not been in such a weakened state, Vim still wouldn¡¯t be able to defend himself or the boy. This was because, shortly before turning himself in, Vim had stripped everything out of bank and storage and had stored it in a physical guild vault in Giant¡¯s Fall instead; this way, even if they tortured him¡ªand Gods, they sure had¡ªhe would be unable to give them anything of material value aside from his life. That being the case, he was therefore without a staff or any kind of weapon he could use to fight back. Pressing down harder on Zach¡¯s shoulder, Vim continued to shake him. ¡°Get up,¡± he said again. ¡°Or you¡¯ll die!¡± It was no use. Zach was completely nonresponsive. He was dying, and from the way the color was draining from his face, he had very little time left in this world. Vim himself was still critically ill. Even as he shook the boy, he began to unleash a hacking, painful cough that made his lungs feel like they were on fire. ¡°Get up,¡± he demanded despite knowing the futility of it. Again and again, he shook the boy as civilians who¡¯d been standing outside and watching the spectacle began rushing back inside their homes as though sensing things were about to get ugly and dangerous. The sound of shouting voices drew ever nearer. All the while, Zach¡¯s breathing became even shallower. If only he hadn¡¯t wasted his stones on the enemy, Vim thought angrily. A purple and a red would¡¯ve kept him going long enough to get him to our allies. Gods damn it! Even in the best-case scenario, Zach had maybe a few minutes left to live. He was no longer even moaning. He lay completely still on the sidewalk, though his hands and feet did continue to fire off the embers, which were now the only way that Vim could easily confirm that he still lived. Aside from that, he was beginning to go cold. Giving up, Vim stopped shaking him, turned himself around, and sat on his ass on the ground. He sighed. ¡°Guess this is it,¡± he said. And then he chuckled. ¡°At least we made them work for it. Right, Zach?¡± Unsurprisingly, the boy said nothing in reply. Vim didn¡¯t even know how he was still alive. He must¡¯ve been clinging to life, though his grasp was clearly slipping. His mount also disappeared into a puff of smoke, which Vim took as further evidence that the boy was in his final moments of life. Ahead of Vim, the first of their enemies came racing down the street and into view. Now, Vim watched as three men wielding axes and two women¡ªone with a staff, and the other with a spell dagger¡ªall widened their eyes at the sight of Vim sitting there and Zach lying unmoving on his belly with his face buried into the concrete ground. It was as though they did not expect to see them in such a vulnerable position, which told Vim that the Guild of Gentlemen had been unaware of the extent of how debilitated the two of them were. ¡°Contact!¡± shouted one of the axe-wielding men. He was young, perhaps nineteen or twenty years of age, and he had short black hair that jutted out from the front of a light leather helmet. ¡°Both targets spotted,¡± he said with a sense of seriousness and urgency into what Vim assumed was a Comm in his ear. ¡°They¡­they appear to be wounded and defenseless. Should I move to apprehend?¡± He and the four with him slowed as they neared Vim and Zach. ¡°What¡¯s that? But¡­but they¡¯re literally on the ground already. All right. Understood, sir. You¡¯re right. Best to not take any chances.¡± He turned his head left then right, glancing at each of his allies. Far behind him, a much larger group could be seen approaching, along with a number of combat vehicles. ¡°Orders from up top: kill them immediately. We can¡¯t take any more risks.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± the woman with the spell dagger said. Holding it in her right hand, she lifted the weapon then turned it so that it was flat before pressing it against her left shoulder. Afterwards, she began to chant. Now, a reddish aura began to glow all around each of the three axe-wielding men, covering them from head to toe. Following this, each began charging at Vim and Zach, their axes raised as if ready to kill. ¡°Is that some kind of strength buff?¡± Vim asked, coughing even as he spoke. ¡°Pathetic. We¡¯re already almost dead.¡± The three ignored him and continued to charge. Vim scooted on his rear closer to Zach, and he placed a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t know if you can hear me, Zach, but despite how it turned out, I appreciate what you tried to do.¡± He coughed. ¡°Sorry it cost you everything.¡± Of the three axe-wielding fighters from the Guild of Gentlemen, it was the black-haired one with the leather helm who reached Vim first, his body glowing with a wavy, visible red energy¡ªthe result of whatever buff the spell-dagger-wielding mage had cast on him. With Vim in a seated position, the young man had to bend his knees and squat down as he swung his axe, which ripped across the air as it headed straight for Vim¡¯s forehead. With all options exhausted and all hope extinguished, he braced himself for the end. And as though the universe itself had decided to play him a song of farewell, Vim could swear he heard the sound of an enchanting melody on the air. In fact, he was sure of it. His ears clearly detected what sounded like a flute, one that was playing some kind of whimsical marching song. He didn¡¯t think he was imagining it, either, because if so, it would be a shared hallucination from the way the other two axe-wielding men turned their heads and scowled at something behind Vim. ¡°Shit!¡± one of them cried. It was at this point that Vim wondered why he was still alive. By now, the axe should have split his skull apart. In front of him, he saw that the man had paused, his knees still bent and his arms still raised above his head. Yet something was off about him, and in the darkish, pre-dawn morning glow, it took Vim a second to realize that his attacker¡¯s eyes were closed; even more strangely, Vim was fairly certain the man was snoring! He¡­fell asleep? ¡°Who are you?¡± shouted the woman with the spell dagger. Vim did not think it was him that she was speaking to. Her head was tilted up and her eyes raised as though she was glancing at the top of the home behind Vim on this side of the street. Giving off a clear sense of frustration, the woman began swinging her arm around and making slicing motions with her spell dagger in the air before her, causing it to glow brighter and brighter with each slice. Vim supposed this was her way of ¡°winding up¡± another spell. If so, she never got around to casting it, as once more, the sound of a flute resumed, and this time, it played an entirely different melody. It also wasn¡¯t the only sound to reach Vim¡¯s ears. The early-morning air filled with the distinct, shrill croak of a raven, and then came another sound along with it: the unmistakable fluttering of wings. At a speed far faster than a bird could naturally fly, a winged creature zipped by Vim¡¯s right ear, slipped between the other two axe-wielding men, and then flew right into the chest of the woman wielding the spell dagger, punching a hole straight through it. This caused her to spit out a wad of blood and then clutch her chest as she fell forward onto the pavement. ¡°What the fuck?¡± the woman with the staff yelled. ¡°G-get it away from me!¡± She began to run off as the melody resumed, and following another croak, the raven pursued her. Vim watched the raven chase after her at a speed much greater than she seemed capable of fleeing, and though he assumed from the sound of her screams that she perished soon after, he did not ultimately see what fate befell her, as his attention refocused on the two axe-wielding men, who were now rushing at him as though to do what their snoozing friend had failed to accomplish. But they, too, were stopped. The sidewalk beneath their very feet erupted, and then dozens of sharp, long, white, and metallic spikes popped out of the ground and rose straight upwards, piercing both men in multiple areas. Each spike ended up being over five feet in length. Both men cried out in agony as they were skewered alive, and Vim actually pitied the one on the left, who was run through by a spike that penetrated into his groin at an angle that saw it finding an exit between his shoulder blades. What an awful way to die. Now, with four of the five of them dead, Vim heard feet clicking down onto the sidewalk from what sounded like two individuals. Turning around, he gasped as he saw two very young Elvish warriors approaching him with worry and fear in their eyes¡ªworry that seemed to be directed at Zach. Who are they? The one on the left was a young girl. Though undeniably Elvish, the green cloak she wore was the only part of her that dressed like it. The girl had ruby-red hair with streaks of gold and black, along with a spiked collar around her neck and a generous application of black eyeshadow on her face. In both her hands, she gripped a black staff with white stripes. ¡°Zach!¡± she cried out, running over to him and squatting down. She placed two fingers on his neck. ¡°Trelvor, he¡¯s alive, but¡­but barely!¡± ¡°What happened to him?¡± the young man accompanying her shouted. Unlike the girl, he was far more formal in his Elvish appearance. He was tall, with broad shoulders, black hair, and a diamond-shaped jawline. He wore a white cloak and held a flute in his right hand; the black raven was perched on his shoulder. Based on the girl¡¯s words, Vim assumed his name to be ¡°Trelvor.¡± ¡°Can you heal him, Seiley?¡± She shook her head. ¡°No. He needs the stones or a more powerful Elvish healer. But don¡¯t worry! Kalana should be here very, very soon. She should be here any second, actually.¡± Grabbing Zach¡¯s shoulders and shaking him the way Vim had, she said, ¡°You have to hold on!¡± Amid all this, Vim had almost forgotten about the snoring, axe-wielding man before him¡ªas well as the insurmountable number of leveled fighters, troops, armored vehicles, and other nuisances hurrying their way over here. But it was the sleeping, black-haired man who Vim diverted his attention to, as he began to make a series of grunts before waking up. The young man then shook his head, his eyes snapping open. He looked around himself, noticing his dead allies. He howled in misery. ¡°You bastards!¡± he cried. Vim scooted away backwards on his rump as the man resumed where he¡¯d left off, raising his axe and swinging it downwards. But he fared no better this time around than he had before. Now, the girl called ¡°Seiley¡± got back to her feet and darted forward at an impossibly fast speed, her staff held horizontally. Moving herself protectively in front of Vim, she blocked the axe with a clack, and then she glared at its wielder, who made a terrified-sounding, high-pitched squeak as if realizing how dire a situation he¡¯d found himself in. ¡°You¡¯re dead,¡± she growled at him. ¡°You humans are gonna pay!¡± With hatred in her eyes, she removed one hand from her staff, threw her hand forward, and used it to grab his throat, which she began to squeeze. His eyes bulging, the man began to gasp and choke. She squeezed even more tightly. ¡°Did you do this to Zach? Huh? Now you¡¯re gonna die for it! You¡¯re gonna¡ª¡± ¡°No!¡± shouted another voice, this one familiar. At a speed so fast it caused a gust of wind to blow over Vim, another Elvish girl seemingly just ¡°appeared¡± beside him, and this one, he recognized: Kalana Vayra, the Elvish princess. Vim had no idea why she was here or what she¡¯d come to do, but to his surprise, she shoved Seiley out of the way, causing her hand to release the throat of the axe-wielding man, whose face had turned blue and who then began to take heavy, desperate gulps of air. Seeing her, his fear seemed to triple in intensity. ¡°P-p-please don¡¯t k-k-kill me!¡± he begged. ¡°Then drop your weapon!¡± Kalana shouted at him. The young man obeyed her demand. Releasing his hold on the axe, he let it drop down to the sidewalk, and with that, he turned around and fled in the opposite direction, which Kalana seemed to allow. For a brief moment, she watched him scamper off, her eyes sharp like a hawk. But then her expression changed abruptly, and in a mere instant, it looked as though all the fear and worry in the world struck her in unison. Darting her head around, she asked, ¡°Where is he? Where¡¯s Zach? Please, tell me!¡± ¡°You ran right past him,¡± Seiley told her. ¡°He¡¯s right there next to Vim.¡± She pointed. Kalana spun around so fast that the motion almost appeared a blur, her eyes honing in where Seiley indicated. Now, taking on a look of horror and heartbreak so strong that Vim was pretty sure he could actually feel a portion of it, she gasped, shouted out in anguish, and then she dove at Zach, launching herself at him and grabbing him with both her arms. A mixture of misery and pain was in her eyes. ¡°What did you do to yourself?¡± she shouted at him, holding him tightly. ¡°My baby, what did you do?¡± Clutching him to her chest with just her right arm, she removed her left, reached into her pocket, and produced several of the highly coveted, invaluable rejuvenation stones. ¡°You¡¯re gonna be okay, baby. You¡¯re gonna be okay.¡± Tears ran down her eyes, her hands trembled, yet she steadied herself, and then, one after the next, she began slapping various healing stones down onto him. ¡°You¡¯re still alive. I¡¯ve got you.¡± Zach began to moan, but he said nothing, still completely unconscious as she hugged him tightly while administering two reds, three yellows, and two purples. Once more with both hands, she wrapped him into a hug, and she began to sob into the back of his neck. Vim could tell the girl really, truly loved him. She tussled his hair and cradled him, weeping for what was probably a number of different reasons. ¡°I love you so much,¡± she said, kissing his forehead, his cheeks, and then hugging him tightly once more. ¡°Why would you put me through this again? Why don¡¯t you trust me? You gotta stop this, Zach. Please!¡± Though he continued to remain unmoving, Vim exhaled with relief as he saw Zach¡¯s ear begin to regrow, his face become much less pale, and his breathing return to a normal intensity. He probably wouldn¡¯t wake up for a bit, but at least with the Elves around, he was in better hands now. Devoted ones, too. Vim couldn¡¯t help but wish for a woman who loved him as much as Kalana loved the boy. His own wife despised him, their marriage entirely political. He¡¯s lucky, Vim thought. He probably has no idea how much. Kissing him several more times, Kalana eventually set him very gently back down onto the sidewalk, and upon doing so, her expression turned from one of despair into one of strength. ¡°Trelvor,¡± she said. ¡°Yes, Your Highness!¡± She handed him two purple stones. ¡°As soon as his hands stop shooting the umm, the fire thingies, you gotta give him two of these, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Please. It¡¯s really, really important. It¡¯s ¡®cause he¡¯ll have a heart attack if you don¡¯t.¡± ¡°I will not fail either of you, Your Highness. You have my word.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Kalana now turned her attention to Seiley. ¡°Okay, so¡­what happened here? Tell me everything.¡± ¡°I dunno,¡± Seiley said, bowing apologetically. ¡°I only just got here. The queen told me and Trelvor that you were coming and that Zach needed help. I don¡¯t know why he¡¯s here or what the Gnome is doing here, either.¡± ¡°She speaks the truth,¡± Trelvor said. ¡°Whatever trouble Zach has gotten himself into, Seiley and myself knew nothing of it and played no part. We arrived here only a moment before you did, Your Highness.¡± Kalana gave Seiley a pat on the shoulder. ¡°Okay. Got it.¡± She quickly turned her attention towards Vim, firing him a discerning glance. ¡°And are you okay?¡± Vim nodded¡ªthen coughed. ¡°Now that you mention it,¡± he said to her, his eyes zeroing in on the stones in her right hand. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯d let me buy two more of those yellows off you, eh? And maybe a red, too? I¡¯d make it worth your while.¡± ¡°Oh umm, you can just have them. Here ya go,¡± she said, extending her palm his way. ¡°Take whatever you need. I brought lots just in case.¡± Vim felt his mouth fall open with shock and gratitude as the girl simply handed over three more of the highly coveted stones. Without waiting another moment, Vim slapped each of them into his chest, and then, in the immediate moments that followed, he finally found true relief after weeks of torture and brutality. Right away, his head cleared, his fever receded, and it no longer hurt to breathe. His stamina returned in a flood, too. His broken nose healed, and so did his cracked ribs. From the easing of pressure in his eye sockets, he was willing to bet that his blackened eyes were finally returning to normal. ¡°Thank you so much, Kalana,¡± he whispered, in total disbelief at how much better he felt. ¡°That was a rough two weeks.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Don¡¯t thank me. I¡¯m not the one who saved you. He did,¡± she said, pointing at the unconscious boy lying on the sidewalk, where a black-and-white cat was now licking his forehead. Vim recognized it from the dragon raid. Fluffles, wasn¡¯t it? ¡°I have to ask,¡± Vim said to her, ¡°how did you know to come here? And why did Zach risk another nuclear bomb in coming here to save me?¡± Kalana rubbed her chin as though thinking up how to word her reply. ¡°My mom told me he needed help. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here. And umm, all that other stuff is really complicated. I don¡¯t know that much either, and this is all a shock to me, too. I was doing a raid when I found out all these terrible things are happening. Umm, I¡¯ll tell you all the stuff I know, but first, we should really get out of here before we have to¡ªFluffles, no! You promised!¡± There was an explosion, one so loud and so unexpected it caused Vim to flinch and shield his face. From out of the clear, dark, early-morning sky, ten individual bolts of lightning slammed down onto the leading battle tank one after the next, each one brighter and more forceful than the previous. The last one in particular caused the entire vehicle to explode, almost certainly killing everyone inside. It also caused the entire advancing force to halt, as the destroyed remains of the tank gave off a hot, intense fire that threatened to spread to nearby buildings. ¡°Fluffles!¡± Kalana yelled, placing her hands on her hips and staring down at him. Fluffles meowed. ¡°It wasn¡¯t me. It was the mean guild man. Mean guild man do that.¡± Vim chuckled. ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes! Mean guild man kill five people. Fluffles was a good cat.¡± Kalana grunted angrily. ¡°Don¡¯t do that again!¡± Then she looked at Trelvor and Seiley. ¡°Same for you guys. No more killing. There¡¯s enough of that in the world. I¡¯m here to get all you guys out without¡­without any more of that. Oh! Guess what? I found out a way we can escape the city without using the dungeons.¡± She pointed behind herself. ¡°Everybody follow me, okay?¡± Another series of explosions rang out, but this time, from much farther in the distance. Vim frowned. ¡°Take Zach and go,¡± he said. ¡°And if possible, can one of you please lend me a staff? Any magic-capable one of any level will do.¡± Seiley made a humming sound then shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve got a crappy one in storage I can summon for you. But why?¡± Vim turned his head towards the sounds of battle coming from what he believed was the southeast. ¡°It¡¯s my guild,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t know why they¡¯re here, and I don¡¯t know why Zach¡¯s here, but they appear to be in a very serious battle, and I can¡¯t let them fight it alone.¡± Kalana narrowed her eyes at him and folded her arms. ¡°Nah-uh. After what Zach did to save you, you¡¯re not just gonna run off and go right back into danger. No way! Do you even know how hurt and upset I am right now? I just found out my boyfriend lied to me and¡­and didn¡¯t trust me, and he did it for you. So you better not throw away your life after he hurt himself so bad saving it.¡± Vim met her eyes. ¡°I have to get to the Piercing Thorn. My people are dying, and I¡¯m a lot stronger than I look. Give me a staff, and I give you my word that everything Zach put himself through will have been worth it.¡± Kalana made a groaning sound. ¡°How do I know you¡¯re not gonna just go off and get yourself killed?¡± ¡°I voluntarily surrendered the first time around,¡± Vim said, speaking honestly. ¡°This time, I will not go willingly. I must get to my fleet!¡± ¡°Are you gonna use it to kill people?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°You¡¯re lying.¡± ¡°Obviously! Now give me a fucking staff and I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re not followed. There¡¯s something I¡¯ve been wanting to try for a while now.¡± His lips peeled back in anger as his strength continued to return to him in a flood. ¡°If you love the boy, you¡¯ll want to take him away from this place. I can guarantee you¡¯ll get out just as easily as you seem to have gotten in. I just need a staff. Please.¡± Kalana fixed him with a very intense look, and she held it for a moment until finally, with a sigh, she turned her head to face Seiley. ¡°Can you let him borrow a staff?¡± ¡°Yep. It¡¯s not gonna be a good one, though. It¡¯s pretty trash.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Vim said. ¡°Please, just give me something I can use to cast spells, and then take the boy and leave this city. Also, be very careful with him. He¡¯s now the fourth-highest-ranking member of the Royal Roses.¡± Vim grinned. ¡°As of this morning, he¡¯s now to be known as Lieutenant Zachys Calador or Sir Calador. Either will do.¡± Kalana shot him a glare that suggested she was neither amused nor appreciative of the title. Turning her back to him, she bent down, tenderly scooped him up, and put him over her shoulder. ¡°Remember to give him the stones as soon as he stops shooting the fire thingies,¡± she said to Trelvor. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want me to carry him, Your Highness?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Nope. It¡¯s okay. Just keep watching him.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Seiley handed him what looked like an ordinary, unremarkable wooden staff, which may well have even been level 1. Yet the moment Vim took it from her, he felt empowered, dangerous, and starving for some payback and revenge. With that, he waited for all three Elves to leap up then across a nearby rooftop, and all three vanished from his sight in moments, having taken Zach with them. Vim¡¯s last sight of them was that of Fluffles¡¯ bushy tail as he hopped from one building to another. Now, Vim turned to face the stampede of people and vehicles heading towards him from farther down the road. They had maneuvered around the destroyed tank and were nearly upon him. Vim gripped the staff very tightly in his hands, and mentally, he recalled all the torture, pain, and abuse he¡¯d taken at the hands of these bastards. He recalled the things they¡¯d done to him, some of which he would never speak of and would do all he could to lock away in his brain. But for the moment, he allowed himself to relive it in full. It caused him to erupt with an anger greater than he¡¯d ever before felt. Walking into the middle of the street, he turned to face the incoming column of guild fighters, troops, and tanks. Several guns began firing at him, and though he was technically a mage, his constitution was high enough so that the bullets merely bounced off him. ¡°This is personal,¡± he whispered, watching as they drew closer and closer. He lowered his grip down towards the base of the staff, and then he held it above himself. And now, for just a moment, he closed his eyes. He readied himself. He was going to use something for the first time: something he¡¯d unlocked in the aftermath of the dragon raid. Having slayed the beast, every member of the raid had been given a metal, card-shaped object called ¡°Level Up! +2.¡± Many chose to save it for future use, whereas others, like Vim, having not leveled up in years, had used his immediately. Thus, for the first time in decades, he¡¯d acquired a new ability. And it was not just any new ability, either. With the exception of Zach, it was an ability of a specific type that he doubted was possessed by any other member of any political guild, including his own. It was a type he had never even known existed until he¡¯d unlocked it. Legendary Unique. Of course, Vim did not know for certain that Zach possessed abilities of this type, but having seen the boy in action, it was certainly a safe assumption to make. Regardless, he too had somehow been found worthy by the Gods of harboring such a power, and in his case, the power granted to him came in the form of an ability called: Calamity of Stars. With an exertion cost of Very High, and a monthly recast timer, Vim had not yet found the excuse to use what he was fairly certain would prove to be a destructive, heinous power. But now, with a desire for revenge burning in his heart, he had at last found the perfect moment to unveil his newest ability to the world. And so, with his staff raised and his body rejuvenated, he activated Calamity of Stars. Immediately, numerous beads of sweat began to fall down his face, and a heaviness came upon his shoulders. He also began to groan with exertion, and his chest began to ache. A Very High exertion cost was no joking matter, especially for someone as unpracticed as himself. It was no wonder a single use of it was able to kill someone as young as Zachys Calador. Despite having numerous decades as a head start, he himself could only just barely handle it. With perspiration dripping down the sides of his face, he pushed himself just to the brink of exertion debt as he called upon this new ability. At the same time, every inch of the plain, ordinary staff Seiley had loaned him began to shine with a bright white light as though it were a flashlight, casting a glow all around him. But as bright as this glow may have been, it paled in comparison to the glow that suddenly came from far up above. A few minutes away from sunrise, the sky was still mostly dark. But now, all across the horizon, dozens of white, star-like objects popped into existence, causing the entire city to become illuminated by a dazzling number of burning lights that would likely be visible for several-hundred miles. It also caused the entire column of approaching guild forces to halt in place and turn their heads nervously upwards. In total, there were more than thirty of these lights, with each taking the form of an individual, miniature star. They were all positioned in a way that was seemingly random, too. Some of these miniature stars were grouped close to one another, whereas others were a bit distanced apart. Together, they formed multiple constellations; in Vim¡¯s opinion, there was one set in particular that, if connected by a line, he would swear represented the shape of a falcon. ¡°This is for Ogre¡¯s Axe!¡± he shouted, mostly to himself as only a few of them were close enough to hear his furious words. ¡°This is for all one million!¡± A flash came from just one of the miniature stars. Following this flash, a beam of pure-white light streaked down from the sky. Moving far, far faster than lightning, this wide, heavenly beam made a screeching, shrieking sound as it blasted its way downwards and struck the top of a tank, causing the entire vehicle to become absolutely obliterated; the vehicle detonated into thousands of individual pieces, along with an uncountable number of scraps from the torn-apart bodies of its occupants; combined, the shredded remnants of the tank and those inside were scattered in every direction while a screen of pure white light followed the explosion, creating a blinding effect that made it painful to regard with fully opened eyes. ¡°W-what the fuck is that?¡± screamed one of the soldiers. A moment later, there was another of the maddening, shrieking noises, and then he and the ten people nearest to him were vaporized as a second white beam of light slapped down from the sky and wiped them out of existence. Then there was another¡ªand another. Then several at the same time. Now, the ground shook and the city became bathed in light so intense that Vim had to close his eyes. One after the next, white beams of light from the miniature stars above battered the immediate area in front of Vim. Each time, a subsequent explosion would rock the city street, vaporizing everything it came into contact with. Some beams struck a bit farther away than intended and wiped out whatever¡ªor whoever¡ªhappened to have the misfortune of being in its vicinity, including a pharmacy, several homes, a movie theater, and a four-story apartment building. Most, however, struck their target area. Panting, Vim observed the destruction through narrowed eyes, though even then, he often had to close them when things became too bright. As best he could tell, there didn¡¯t appear to be any rhyme or reason to how many times each star fired, as well as when it would choose to do so, in what order, and with what timing. Sometimes, four or five would go off at once, and other times, it would happen one after the next or there might even be a brief pause. There were moments when the beams were near to one another, and there were other times when they were spaced far apart. And though none of the beams appeared to be fired with any great precision, the combined force of such destructive blasts managed to eventually strike almost every target in the vicinity of the spell¡¯s area. By the time the ability concluded, Vim did not know how many people he¡¯d killed or how much of the enemy¡¯s military capacity he¡¯d diminished. Yet when the blinding light at last faded, Vim knew the number of dead must have been close to a thousand. Now, the entire city street before him was missing almost all of its pavement, leaving behind something of a gigantic, block-spanning ditch¡ªan indentation in the land that stretched from one end of it to the next save for just a tiny few and rare spots that were akin to jagged, upraised ¡°islands¡± of concrete surrounded by depressions at least ten feet deep. The street beyond this one fared only slightly better, though not by much. Surveying the destruction, Vim observed the armored remains of what he estimated to be twenty battle tanks, along with the blown apart pieces of hundreds of bodies lining this ¡°ditch.¡± Vim marveled at the sheer depth of power he had brought to bear. He had killed every single one of their pursuers. Sweating, panting, yet feeling so much better than he had in weeks, he turned his back to the devastation he¡¯d caused, and with that, he made his way to Haisel Ragora and his fleet. It was time to find out what was going on¡ªand to lead his people. Chapter 158: All-In Chapter 158: All-In Amid a rapidly intensifying struggle that saw uniformed men and women exchanging gunfire, launching rockets, and in some cases bleeding out all over the grass, Olivir realized he was dressed far too fancily for such a terrible occasion. At the moment, he wore a brocade vest over a white silk shirt along with a hand-tailored pair of black trousers. This, combined with his polished, black dress shoes, meant the sight of Olivir was likely to immediately catch the eye¡ªor at least it might have if he¡¯d been anywhere remotely near the action. Along with Kolona, who stood by his side, Olivir kept himself two miles behind the back lines of Lord Oren¡¯s forces, a precaution he took out of necessity. After all, the only thing it would take to end Olivir¡¯s life would be one stray bullet, and that wasn¡¯t an exaggeration, either. It would only take a lone round from just one gun to erase his existence from the universe. As a vampire, Olivir was perpetually locked into having just a single point of constitution, and while he was no slouch when it came to fighting up close and personal, the chaotic nature of war made it so that there were simply too many threatening things flying in too many different directions for him to risk getting any closer than this. A lucky shot by an opportunistic gunman could therefore easily cause him to end up in the history books for being one of the shortest-lived vampires to ever exist. No, this was close enough indeed. It also happened to be the perfect spot to surveil the battle. Here we are again, he thought. As though he¡¯d been pulled back to this spot by fate, Olivir was now just a few feet from where he had been standing when he¡¯d put the dragon to sleep. Not all that far behind him, the massive, gargantuan impact crater that Zach had created with his ability acted as both a spectacular sight to behold as well as a very real hazard for anyone who might accidentally fall inside. In all likelihood, the deep, stunning deformation in the terrain would remain there for the rest of the planet¡¯s existence. There were also smaller holes dotting the scenery as well: scars in the land that would probably likewise serve as an eternal memorial to that day. But it was not for reasons of sentimentality that Olivir had chosen this spot. Given the elevation at this precise location, it made for the perfect vantage point through which Olivir could study the progression of the war effort without placing himself or Kolona in harm¡¯s way, something he refused to allow. And really, why should he? Of all those currently present in the region of Shadowfall Coast, there existed no two beings aside from himself and Kolona who could truly say they had no stake in this war. The fact Olivir had come along at all was due to nothing more than moral disgust at the Guild of Gentlemen¡ªcombined with a healthy dose of curiosity. ¡°What do you think, Oli?¡± Kolona asked him. Olivir felt warmth as she grabbed his hand, reminding him that she¡¯d recently eaten. The body of a vampire tended to elevate several degrees after drinking the blood of a fresh lifeform, and in this case, Olivir welcomed it. He himself had been too uneasy to feast with her on the turkey she¡¯d caught in the countryside on their way over here. After she¡¯d ethically and painlessly killed the creature, she¡¯d insisted several times that he have a drink, but he¡¯d declined to share it with her. ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet,¡± he replied. ¡°But I have a bad feeling about this.¡± She grimaced. ¡°How come?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡± ¡°Just what?¡± He pursed his lips a moment as he looked out and over the field of battle, watching as the soldiers advanced at a crawl, barely making any progress as things at last began in earnest. Armored tanks fired their main cannons while columns of troops trailed behind the vehicles for cover. Inch by inch, the scores of various units marched, rolled, or otherwise thudded their way closer to the city. At the moment, a great deal of the incoming fire was coming from the highway leading out of the city¡¯s northern entrance, where trenches had been dug. Capturing the roads would be their first strategic objective. And though their progress was far too slow, it was at least consistent and somewhat uneventful. But Olivir was worried it wouldn¡¯t remain that way. Meeting Kolona¡¯s eyes, he said, ¡°I¡¯m worried that the Lords of Justice aren¡¯t as prepared as they need to be for this.¡± ¡°What makes you think they might not be?¡± Olivir sighed. ¡°There¡¯s a few things, actually, but¡­I might just be overthinking things. I¡¯m hoping I¡¯m wrong.¡± Rubbing his chin with his free hand while holding Kolona¡¯s with his other, Olivir watched as the battle continued to play out ahead of him. For the time being, he was content to observe the situation from a safe distance while he contemplated just how involved he felt like getting in this war. From the outset, he¡¯d made it very clear that he and Kolona would be joining strictly as non-combatants, and to that end, he''d chosen to venture here separately from the others, arriving a bit late as he and Kolona had taken a roundabout path that avoided hazards or threats to their lives. Yet, for all his insistence that they not become dragged too deeply into this conflict, Olivir knew there was always a chance he could opt to do a little more if he really felt he had to. Only if there¡¯s no other way¡­ It was strange how Olivir could even entertain the thought of joining in on the attack. It certainly wasn¡¯t because he held any desire to fight in a war on a planet that he no longer considered home; no, it was something far simpler in nature. Basically, what motivated Olivir¡¯s actions was how incredibly, downright difficult he found it to stand passively by and watch evil win. It felt wrong on an innate level. How can anyone forgive them after what they did? he wondered, recalling the sick feeling that¡¯d entered his stomach when news of the bomb had reached him. The photographs and video clips that had begun trickling out of Ogre¡¯s Axe haunted Olivir. Though he was young for a vampire, he was surely older than all living humans, and he had extensive knowledge of history: knowledge that only the vampires possessed. Therefore, Olivir felt pretty confident in saying that, never, in the entire history of Galterra, had any act of aggression murdered so many people all at once. Even the worst atrocities in known Galterran history had taken time. Yet, somehow, in the blink of an eye, the Guild of Gentlemen had managed to eradicate hundreds of thousands of people in an instant. It was disgusting. It was unforgivable! ¡°You¡¯re angry,¡± Kolona said. ¡°Hmm?¡± He forced a smile onto his lips. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You¡¯re squeezing my hand really tightly, Oli.¡± Olivir made a nervous croak and released his grip. ¡°Sorry.¡± She smiled back at him. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I just don¡¯t want my shield going off and startling you. It will if you squeeze any tighter, honey.¡± ¡°Thanks for the warning.¡± As the first¡ªand only¡ªElvish vampire to ever exist, Kolona¡¯s powerful, Elvish blood had taken well to the vampirism, manifesting a unique passive that Olivir found remarkable. It was called ¡°Shield of the Agile Goddess.¡± Anything in the world that could hurt Kolona, no matter what it happened to be, could only inflict harm upon her after five attempts unless the cause of attempted harm had a dexterity and speed stat that were both higher than Kolona¡¯s. There didn¡¯t seem to be any exceptions, either. Any attacking force would be repelled on contact. Hypothetically, if Kolona had been in Ogre¡¯s Axe and had been standing right in the center of the blast when the nuclear weapon had fallen on the city, Olivir was pretty sure that the initial blast itself would probably have been completely deflected by her shield, leaving her unharmed¡ªfor the moment, anyway. He and Kolona actually disagreed on what would¡¯ve happened next. In Olivir¡¯s opinion, following the blast, she would have then immediately taken four more hits to her shield, one after the next, as a result of the radiation. He even suspected the shield would go off so fast that all four subsequent hits would happen in less than a microsecond, appearing visually as a single hit instead of multiple. Kolona, on the other hand, took the position that the bomb would count as one hit, the radiation as a separate hit, and following that, she¡¯d be left unharmed unless she left and reentered the area again, at which point she''d be ¡°hit¡± by the radiation. But this made little sense, because if Kolona was correct, did that imply she could survive any form of sustained, continuous damage? Did that mean she could swim in lava or float in the void of space in her pajamas? Either way, no matter who was right, it was still one of the most incredible abilities he¡¯d ever encountered. Maybe a bit too incredible, he thought, suppressing a groan. Though Olivir would never admit this to anyone due to the humiliation, there¡¯d been a few ¡°accidents¡± between him and Kolona as a result of her shield, particularly during their more ¡°intimate¡± moments in the master bedroom of his home. He shuddered as he recalled these uncommon, but traumatizing mishaps. On several occasions, as he¡¯d been in the throes of passion, he¡¯d somehow caused her just a tiny bit of ¡°pain¡± during their private encounters. Not enough so that any reasonable person would call it ¡°harm,¡± but enough to pass whatever threshold her ability seemed to designate, which in some cases could be anything slightly more intense than a pinch. During these times, Olivir found himself thrown right off his bed, where he¡¯d once even collided with his ceiling and ended up with a sore, badly bruised body, unable to walk properly for a week. Another time, he¡¯d been thrown naked out of a window. Eventually, Olivir decided to just let her be on top. It wasn¡¯t worth the very real risk of death. ¡°Now you¡¯re grinning,¡± Kolona said to him. ¡°What¡¯re you thinking about?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± ¡°Sure it isn¡¯t,¡± she said playfully. As the sound of gunshots increased in volume ahead of them, her grin faded and her tone became darker. ¡°So anyways, why do you think the Lords of Justice might not be able to pull this off?¡± Olivir kept his eyes trained on the battle as he replied to her. ¡°Well,¡± he began, ¡°to start with, uhm, they¡¯ve really¡ªwhoah!¡± Protectively, he threw out his arm and wrapped it around Kolona as the entire scenery before him changed radically from one moment to the next. Very early in the morning, the sun was still a few minutes from rising, which meant that, until this second, the sky had been mostly dark. But now, inexplicably, the entire horizon lit up with what looked like dozens of bright, unnatural stars that all appeared at once and definitely hadn¡¯t been there before. ¡°What in the name of the Gods is that?¡± Olivir asked, raising his voice. The stars were so bright that they caused a white glow to stretch over and across the land for miles in every direction. But this was nothing compared to the intensity of light that filled the world as fast-moving beams struck down from the sky like some kind of angelic storm. Deep, rumbling booms caused vibrations beneath his feet along with dome-shaped, expanding spheres made of light that appeared briefly before vanishing following each impact. One after the next, these massive beams of light slammed down into the city, resulting in multiple explosions and presumably more death. The jarring spectacle seemed to shock everyone on either side of the battlefield, as for the next few seconds, all gunfire came to a halt, and all movement ceased. Everyone seemed to be glancing up at the unbelievable display of magical might. ¡°Oli, what¡¯s happening?¡± Kolona asked, sounding alarmed. The two looked at one another, and in her eyes, Olivir could see uncertainty and worry. But then, Olivir realized something, and she seemed to realize it as well. Almost at the exact same time, Kolona became visibly relaxed, and Olivir felt himself relaxing as well. He nodded at Kolona, and she at him. She must have come to the same conclusion. ¡°It¡¯s obviously Zach doing that,¡± Olivir said. ¡°He must have unlocked some incredible new power. Right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s got to be,¡± Kolona agreed. ¡°Who else could do something like that?¡± Olivir shrugged. ¡°Nobody I can think of. This just seems like a ¡®him¡¯ kind of thing.¡± He tsked. ¡°That dude¡¯s getting scarily powerful. You ever see anything like this before?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± Kolona said, shaking her head. ¡°Not even from the Elves.¡± Listening in to the chatter from the Lords of Justice via the Comm he¡¯d been provided, Olivir discovered that Lord Oren and most of the others in positions of command promptly came to the same conclusion, and Lord Oren in particular seemed to harbor a mixture of conflicting emotions in response to whatever ability they were witnessing. ¡°He needs to be more careful,¡± Lord Oren said over the Comm. ¡°I¡¯m glad he¡¯s taking this seriously, but he¡¯s striking way too many civilian buildings.¡± ¡°Lord Oren,¡± said a female voice that Olivir did not recognize. She was likely a high-ranking member of the guild since she was able to speak over the command channel. ¡°Are you positive that this is even the boy¡¯s doing?¡± ¡°No, but¡­who else could it be?¡± he asked. ¡°I agree,¡± the Elvish queen chimed in. ¡°I¡¯m glad to see the young man is doling out vengeance upon the humans. He would be wise to level the entire city and save us all a great deal of time.¡± Lord Oren audibly grunted in disapproval. ¡°I don¡¯t know why he¡¯s doing this or why your daughter is even letting him, but¡­if nothing else, it means he¡¯s okay and no longer on the verge of death. So at least there¡¯s that.¡± A brief pause followed his words, and then he continued to speak. ¡°At any rate, we should seize on the enemy¡¯s confusion and press the attack. Now¡¯s our chance to gain some ground!¡± Olivir felt his muscles stiffen anxiously as he listened to Lord Oren and the other commanders issue orders to the fourteen assembled brigades that made up the entirety of their fighting force; each brigade contained a mixture of anywhere between one- to three-thousand troops along with a few squads composed of leveled fighters. In their current formation, they were spread out enough that they covered the entire western side of the city from the northernmost tip to the southernmost, yet it was the roads to the north and south they sought to capture. In terms of geography, the city itself curved somewhat inwardly as one approached from the direction of the grasslands, and the outskirts contained little more than a few small farms or other humble residences; beyond this point, however, was essentially a densely packed wall of two-story or three-story buildings that had no gaps in them with which to allow the vehicles of their forces to find entry. For this reason, they needed to funnel in through either the north or the south highways. And as though in pursuit of that goal, Lord Oren cautiously ordered just one brigade to try shaking things up. This isn¡¯t going to work, Olivir thought, frowning. They¡¯re making a mistake! As Olivir watched the 12th infantry brigade break off and begin a far more aggressive attack, the bad feeling in his chest only continued to grow. Trying not to fidget, he observed as the leveled members of this brigade took point and began to charge in headfirst as though to set an example of courage for the others to follow. ¡°After me, 12th mechanized infantry!¡± a man raising a katana above his head roared as he began to charge into gunfire and make his way directly towards one of the two massive stretches of DEHV highway that the Guild of Gentlemen relied upon for supplies. Grenades, tank cannons, small-arms fire, and even a direct blast from an artillery strike could not stop the katana-wielding man as well as seven other leveled members from his squad who ran alongside him. Together, all eight of them broke away, moving well ahead of the others and directly into the enemy¡¯s defenses. Not long after, the other leveled squads of the 12th brigade took off in pursuit. ¡°Pull them back!¡± Olivir shouted into the Comm as he watched this unfold. ¡°Order them to stop!¡± His words were ignored. As though chasing honor and glory itself, the katana-wielding man and his seven comrades raced across the grasslands and at last seemed poised to crash into an entire line of rifle-wielding defenders peeking out from behind a row of sandbags. All now abruptly stopped firing as though realizing their weapons were useless against leveled fighters. They did not flee, however. With a robotic sort of discipline, they held their ground and began to reload. Olivir narrowed his eyes, watching as the men from Lords of Justice leapt over several barricades and actually made it all the way to an enemy encampment that¡¯d been built ahead of the roads. There was shouting, which was only slightly audible from such a far distance, and it came across with the sound of fear. From the looks of things, the eight, leveled fighters were about to rampage through the encampment and open up a path¡ªperhaps even rousing others to join in and finally make real progress towards the city. Unfortunately, what instead happened was what Olivir had been fearing all along. Rather than send out any significant counter-force of leveled fighters to meet the eight charging men in battle, the Guild of Gentlemen produced only two: both women, and both wearing identical robes with a rich purple color. At least it looked that way. From this distance, it was very hard to be sure. But Olivir was sure that each wielded a staff, and each then raised that staff. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Two swirling vortexes of energy began spinning around the feet of each woman; this energy then rose up along their bodies and into the air, only to come crashing right back down near the eight men. And though none were struck directly, the energy shifted the moment it hit the ground. It expanded, became smoke-like, and briefly covered all eight of them in a shroud of mist that made them difficult to see. They soon emerged from it, however, looking completely unharmed. With that, the mages shouted something aloud that Olivir could not discern, and upon this, the gunfire resumed once more. ¡°Oli!¡± Kolona cried, a gasp following her words. The bullets, as though fired at mere level-1 soldiers, began ripping apart each and every one of the eight men. Their forward momentum was stopped immediately, and their bodies began to twitch and jerk as the enemy¡¯s troops lit into them without any trace of mercy. One bullet after the next, the men were shot so many times by so many different guns that several had limbs detached just from the armor-piercing bullets being used against them. Heads were caved in, brains were spilled onto the grass, and in a matter of seconds, all eight perished. ¡°This,¡± Olivir whispered, ¡°was exactly what I was worried about.¡± Kolona grabbed his sleeve and tugged on it. ¡°What just happened?¡± Olivir sighed. ¡°This is what I was about to tell you,¡± he explained. ¡°The Guild of Gentlemen is either the oldest or one of the oldest guilds in history. So, naturally, they have war compendiums filled with tactics and information that are far more detailed and creative than what any other guild has. With Peter dead, this new ¡®king¡¯ they¡¯ve got replacing him is clearly letting it all loose. They¡¯ve probably been preparing for this kind of attack since Peter V¡¯s death.¡± ¡°But what did they even just do?¡± Kolona asked. ¡°How did a bunch of level ones kill all of those higher-level men?¡± Olivir winced at the torn-apart bodies, which were staining the grass red. ¡°I¡¯m guessing those two mages used a debuff that lowers their targets¡¯ resistance to piercing damage¡ªone that was strong enough to make those eight men susceptible to armor-piercing bullets. We should expect them to have a bunch more clever tricks like that up their sleeve.¡± Kolona¡¯s mouth moved but sound did not emerge from her lips; it was as though she was silently repeating the words Olivir had just spoken in her mind. Finally, she said, ¡°Debuff their pierce resistance and kill them with ordinary weapons¡­that¡¯s a really scary combo, Oli.¡± ¡°And an obvious one, too,¡± Olivir replied. He raised his pointer finger. ¡°But only in hindsight. I guess it¡¯s not something you¡¯d automatically think to try if you¡¯ve never fought in a battle like this before. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve got lots of ¡®techniques¡¯ like that waiting for Lord Oren¡¯s army.¡± ¡°So then¡­should we do something?¡± Olivir folded his arms, and rather than reply just yet, he continued to observe. The other leveled-fighter squads, which had been charging behind the first, came to an abrupt halt and retreated back to the 12th brigade; accordingly, the level-1 troops that made up the brigade also halted their charge, though now, a fair number were cut down by gunfire as they tried to get back into cover. Clearly, they were faring less well than their leveled counterparts. ¡°Pull back!¡± Lord Oren commanded, frustration and confusion evident in his voice. The sounds of battle intensified as the enemy retaliated, training all their guns on the vulnerable targets of the retreating 12th brigade. Orange flames lit up the field of battle as three armored tanks were struck by shells and blown to bits while numerous pieces of artillery equipment were likewise destroyed. In less than a minute, what looked like two-hundred infantry, along with three mages from the Lords of Justice, were cut down and left for dead on the grassy hills while the destroyed battle tanks continued to release smoke, still partly aflame. Several men and a few women crawled along the grass before either bleeding out or getting struck by a second round of gunfire. ¡°Can the vampire save them?¡± a man asked over the Comm. It was another voice Olivir did not recognize. In truth, Olivir knew very few of the people he¡¯d found himself siding with. ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± he answered into the Comm. ¡°Not unless you can bring them to me. Otherwise, I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m not coming any closer than where I am right now. I won¡¯t risk my life, and I won¡¯t risk Kolona¡¯s.¡± Though Olivir had come here for the sole purpose of resurrecting the dead, the troops and leveled members of the Lords of Justice who¡¯d fallen thus far had gone too deep to be retrieved and brought back to him without the risk of losing even more in the process. Therefore, those who perished were regrettably left to their eternal fate. ¡°Regroup,¡± Lord Oren said over the Comm. ¡°All squad captains, watch out for more debuffs or any other tactics the enemy might¡¯ve come up with that we didn¡¯t game out.¡± The frustration in Lord Oren¡¯s voice grew considerably with each word he spoke, but Olivir understood his frustration¡ªand it was more than justifiable. After all, the Elves had not been shy in communicating what they intended to do if the Lords of Justice failed to break into the city within just a couple of hours from now¡ªa virtually impossible task, in Olivir¡¯s opinion. For this reason, he couldn¡¯t possibly blame Lord Oren for getting caught between the competing forces of hesitation and desperation. If Olivir had been in his shoes, he too would be finding all of this mentally trying. Not many good options for that kid, is there? Olivir wondered. Though he had not gotten to know him all that well, Olivir nevertheless admired Lord Alex Oren. For someone in his early twenties, he was formidable and wise. He lacked only in experience, yet he seemed capable of improvising well enough. It must¡¯ve taken a lot of guts, confidence, and conviction to lead an army into battle without any prior training or ever having done so before. Yet as smart as that dude is, I still think he¡¯s going to fall short¡­ As the 12th infantry brigade pulled back farther into the grasslands, the enemy¡¯s infantry continued to fire at their retreating forms, but their leveled fighters did not pursue. This confirmed to Olivir that Lord Oren¡¯s theory was indeed correct, and that the Guild of Gentlemen were merely stalling for time and held no real hope of actually defeating the Lords of Justice¡¯s larger force militarily. This was especially true thanks to the Royal Roses attacking the southeastern coast, forcing the Guild of Gentlemen to divide their available units in half and place them at two opposite ends of the city. For this reason, Olivir was not as bothered by the Royal Roses¡¯ method of attack as Lord Oren seemed to be. Certainly, it would¡¯ve been better to launch a combined attack on the northwest, but even still, the split, two-sided assault worked well enough. Regardless, the fact of the matter was clear: that no matter what tactics they had or what preparations they made, the best the Guild of Gentlemen could likely do in this situation was make defensive plays rather than go on the offense. And if not for the severe and near-impossible time restraints unique to this situation, Olivir would naturally expect the conclusion to be a long, drawn-out slog of attrition over the course of several weeks or months, in which the Royal Roses and Lords of Justice eventually emerged the triumphant victors, but only after the Guild of Gentlemen had inflicted a heavy cost on both guilds, making them pay dearly for every inch of territory they gained. But Lord Oren doesn¡¯t have the time to wait for that. Olivir made a slight grunt as it dawned on him that he might really have to become personally involved in this battle. But if so, then to what extent? He was reluctant to join in the fighting. He did not like killing people, and this really wasn¡¯t his fight. On the other hand, it was difficult to overstate the revulsion he felt towards the Guild of Gentlemen¡ªthe guild his biological father had been part of more than two centuries ago. The guild he had grown up in as a very young boy. They had turned wicked¡ªand that was putting it mildly. And I¡¯m one of the few people here who can do anything about it¡­ Olivir was not the boastful type, and so it was without exaggeration or arrogance that he reminded himself just how perfectly suited he was towards a battle like this. After all, while it was true that he could fight at just about every range, Olivir¡¯s true specialty had always been in the field of artillery magic. More than anything else, Olivir excelled at fighting enemies from several miles away, and he had a large number of different abilities he could call upon to aid him in that effort. ¡°Kolona,¡± he said. She snapped her head towards him and immediately met his eyes. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Do you think I should attack?¡± he asked at a whisper. She nodded without any detectable hesitation. ¡°If you¡¯re willing to do it, you should.¡± Olivir exhaled sadly. ¡°I¡¯m surprised. You¡¯d usually be the last person to suggest a violent solution.¡± Kolona ran her hands down both her sides and gripped the two sheathed daggers at her hips. ¡°This time, it¡¯s different.¡± ¡°It is,¡± he agreed. Having only begun to replenish his summoning pool, Olivir decided against conjuring skeletons, zombies, or demons to fight the enemy. His battle against the Elves had cost him years¡¯ worth of experience points, and it would take him a long time to build his summoning pool back up to what it¡¯d been. Still, there was a great deal he could do that did not require him to summon. Readying himself, he took several deep breaths as he reluctantly committed himself towards the path of war. At least Grundor will be proud of me, he thought. At the moment, Grundor was helping clear out the rubble in Ogre¡¯s Axe in an attempt to find any survivors who might have been trapped beneath the numerous collapsed buildings. Thus far, rescuers had only succeeded in finding body after body, and Olivir knew Grundor would much rather be here fighting. Olivir, however, was relieved that he was not. If possible, he¡¯d have kept Kolona away from all of this, too. He did not want those he cared about wrapped up in such an ugly, blood-soaked mess. The sooner this is over with, the better. Olivir inhaled. ¡°Lord Oren,¡± he spoke into the Comm, ¡°please have everyone ready for another assault on the north highway.¡± ¡°Sorry, what¡¯s that?¡± he replied, coming across as both confused and overwhelmed. ¡°I¡¯ve decided I¡¯m going to attack the city.¡± ¡°Attack¡­the city?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m going to attack. And when I do, it¡¯s gonna give you the opening you need to capture the north highway. Have every brigade ready to advance quickly once I begin, all right?¡± ¡°Wait, please, slow down a moment. I have no idea what you¡¯re planning on doing, and deploying even one brigade, let alone all of them without understanding how you intend to use them is a very serious and dangerous request.¡± Olivir understood his hesitance, and so he remained patient. ¡°I know it is,¡± he agreed. ¡°And I realize it¡¯s especially risky after what just happened, but please, trust me.¡± ¡°Where are you right now?¡± Lord Oren asked, sounding intrigued as well as a bit skeptical. ¡°And what do you plan to do?¡± ¡°I¡¯m still back by the crater. And what I plan to do is provide you the exact opening you need to move your men from the grasslands to the northern highway without having to fight for every inch along the way.¡± ¡°Really?" he asked, a note of optimism joining his open skepticism. ¡°All right. Well, I¡¯d be happy to hear your plan if you¡¯re willing to come here and discuss it with me. I don¡¯t know how you intend to get close enough to¡ª¡± ¡°Actually, I¡¯m attacking right from where I am.¡± ¡°¡­come again?¡± Olivir kept his voice firm so that his words were decisive and unambiguous. ¡°I can hit the enemy from many miles away.¡± The entire Comm line went quiet upon those words, and Olivir imagined it was due to a mixture of awe and confusion. After several more moments of this, Lord Oren finally replied to him. ¡°Did you just say you can strike the enemy from ¡®miles¡¯ away? As in, you¡¯re able to cast offensive magic on entities within Shadowfall Coast even all the way from where you¡¯re currently¡ª¡± ¡°He speaks the truth,¡± Queen Vayra said over the Comm, interrupting Lord Oren with a grunt of indignation. ¡°The vampire can do what he claims.¡± ¡°Your Majesty?" There was bitterness in her voice as she explained. ¡°During my recent war with him, I experienced this for myself. He bombarded my kin with a debuff from a vast distance just before sending a legion of monstrous creatures at us. Vampires excel at attacking from very far away. It is rare to face one up close, for in such a circumstance, it is likely they have already lost.¡± Olivir did not fully agree with her words. She wasn¡¯t wrong, but she wasn¡¯t entirely correct, either. Yes, it was indeed true many vampires preferred to fight at great distances due to having only a single point of constitution, but that did not mean a vampire was defenseless in close range, either. Some, like his dear Kolona, were specifically suited for close-range combat, though she was an exceptionally rare case. Either way, however, it wasn¡¯t something worth bickering about, as the queen had verified the larger, more important point, which seemed to bring about an even greater sense of stress in Lord Oren as he was forced to consider taking what, to him, was a very risky action. ¡°Olivir, if I order every brigade to storm the northern highway and the attack fails, we could be crippled so badly that the entire offensive might come to an end. That¡¯s a lot to ask on nothing but your assurance.¡± Olivir, continuing to speak softly and patiently, said, ¡°At this rate, it¡¯s gonna come down to an all-in charge no matter what you do. There¡¯s no way you¡¯ll be able to capture the northern highway, let alone the city in just three or four hours from now. Not the way you¡¯re going. That¡¯ll take weeks. So, it¡¯s up to you, dude. At least with me you¡¯ve got a real chance.¡± Lord Oren¡¯s hesitation was plain from the way he made slight groans into the Comm before replying. ¡°When do you want us to move?¡± ¡°Now.¡± ¡°Right¡­now?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Very well,¡± he replied, an uneasy quality to his voice. ¡°May the Gods help us if you¡¯re wrong.¡± ****** King Alistair Morrison had heard more than enough. For the past ten minutes, he¡¯d sat patiently with his arms on the rests of his cushioned chair in his underground command bunker as he listened to his officers fervently ramble off one denial after the next. Completely trapped in their rigid way of thinking, they were unable to offer Alistair anything aside from the same tired excuses. Yet, no matter what they said to him, Alistair knew that they were incorrect. They simply had to be. For all their smarts, his officers¡ªlike far too many in his guild¡ªlacked basic common sense. And it was indeed basic common sense that dictated that all fourteen men sitting around the table with him were wrong. ¡°¡­which is why,¡± Colonel Dakrit concluded for the fifth or maybe even sixth time, ¡°what you are suggesting is impossible¡ªah, Your Grace.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s not,¡± Alistair replied. ¡°It¡¯s the only logical conclusion, and it¡¯s the theory we should be basing our strategy on.¡± ¡°B-but¡ª¡± ¡°Enough!¡± he snapped, the lone-spoken word proving sufficient to quiet the man, who until just now, had been coming off a touch too defensive for Alistair¡¯s liking. Yet, much to even his own consternation, Alistair knew that he could no longer entertain his officers¡¯ joint, unified assessment of their enemies¡¯ motives, as it was rooted in a false premise: namely, that no element of their weapons program had leaked. ¡°From this point forward, we must operate off the assumption that the Royal Roses and the Lords of Justice have somehow become aware of our current limitations. We must assume that they know we do not possess any launchable nuclear weapons and are on the verge of creating more.¡± From the silent mouth movements of Major Kenth Baxter and Colonel Dakrit, Alistair could sense that the two were itching to begin another round of second-guessing and backtalk. Quickly, Alistair darted his eyes around the table, making contact with several of his men, offering them what reassurance he could. And now, once again, he reiterated his reasoning. But this would be the last time he did so, as his city was in a total state of crisis and the survival of humanity itself depended on these next few hours. ¡°Let me begin by saying I don¡¯t doubt anything you¡¯ve told me, and that goes for all of you,¡± Alistair said. ¡°You¡¯ve told me that there is no chance any of our scientists and engineers have escaped isolation from the labs or production facilities. And I do believe you. You¡¯ve also told me that the communication jammers in our facilities make it impossible for any communications devices to function. Once again, I¡¯m not doubting your word.¡± Alistair leaned back in his chair, and for just a moment, he closed his eyes and released a breath before reopening them. ¡°Still,¡± he continued, ¡°someone¡ªor multiple people¡ªhave clearly found a way to communicate our most sensitive secrets with the outside world. I understand that you find this to be impossible, but that¡¯s only because you¡¯ve limited yourselves to narrow thinking.¡± Alistair threw his arms up into the air. ¡°I don¡¯t claim to know how it was done, but it must be so.¡± He clenched his hand into a fist and then raised just three fingers. ¡°There are only three possibilities for why the Royal Roses, the Lords of Justice, and the Elves have decided to attack us. The first is that they¡¯ve collectively lost their minds along with the ability to think rationally, and they no longer care if we launch a nuclear weapon at one of their cities. The second possibility is that they think we are only bluffing and would not risk firing another. And lastly, the final possibility is that they know we do not have any more to fire, but they recently discovered we will have another ready in several hours from now.¡± Major Kenth Baxtra squeezed the ends of the table as though anxious. ¡°It just doesn¡¯t make any sense, Your Grace. There¡¯s no logical explanation for how our security might have become compromised. Even if a scientist or engineer got it in their heads to betray us, it simply shouldn¡¯t be possible for them to contact anyone outside of their stationed facility. We¡¯ve thought up every possible point of failure and accounted for all of it.¡± Alistair shrugged. ¡°Once again, Major Baxtra, I¡¯m not claiming I know how this was done. But if you walked into an airlock and entered a completely sealed hatch only to find it crawling with ants, you¡¯d have to assume it wasn¡¯t sealed after all no matter what your eyes told you, correct?¡± ¡°I uh¡­well, yes, Your Grace, that¡¯s true.¡± Alistair nodded. ¡°Then this is no different. Our enemies, logically, are targeting us because they now know we¡¯ve been bluffing, but more so, that we will have another weapon to use against them soon. For this reason, we must focus all of our efforts on delaying them for as long as we can. A military victory should not be our goal. Our sole and primary objective must be to buy ourselves time. Once we have another weapon ready to fire, we will use it to force the enemy to stand down.¡± ¡°What if they know we¡¯ll only have one today?¡± Colonel Dakrit asked as he stroked his beard. ¡°Let¡¯s assume they know as much as you think they do. Would they then not also be aware that only one prototype will be operational by the early afternoon?¡± ¡°It won¡¯t matter if they do,¡± Alistair said. ¡°What do you mean, Your Grace?¡± Alistair leaned forward and placed his clenched fists on the table. ¡°Even with just one missile, the threat of being hit should suffice to make all of our enemies stand down since they cannot know what we will choose to target if we launch.¡± There were murmurs of agreement from his officers beside him as they contemplated his words. ¡°We must hold on for as long as we can. And to that end, we must¡ªhmm? Major Baxtra? Is there a problem?¡± His face had reddened, and he was tapping the touch-screen before him that was built into the desk. Holographic images and a three-dimensional map popped up and off the table, showing off a view of the southeast coast, where little red streaks of light served as icons for rockets being fired back and forth. The battle there had become exceedingly bloody, and a great many men and women had died on both sides. ¡°Your Grace,¡± he whispered, fear evident in the way his hand jittered. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve just received a disturbing report. Zachys Calador has escaped the city with Kalana Vayra, but even more troubling is the report that Vim Alazar has successfully linked up with Senior-Lieutenant Haisel Ragora and is now aboard the Piercing Thorn and rallying his men.¡± Alistair felt the blood drain out of his cheeks. ¡°He¡¯s not dead? I ordered him dead!¡± ¡°He was saved, Your Grace. By Kalana Vayra and two other Elves. Then there was some kind of¡­some kind of attack, the likes of which we have never seen before.¡± As Major Baxtra explained, Alistair felt like he needed to sit down despite the fact that he was already seated. ¡°May the Gods inflict every manner of curse and misfortune upon that boy!¡± he spat as Major Baxtra gave him an estimate of casualties and destroyed equipment. ¡°That Elf-loving son of a¡ª¡± ¡°Your Grace, the few survivors of the attack do not believe it was him.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Alistair demanded. ¡°What wasn¡¯t him?¡± ¡°The source of the lights in the sky, Your Grace.¡± Alistair was now even more taken aback. ¡°Then Gods, who was it?¡± Major Baxtra¡¯s fingers became a blur as he tapped the built-in screen faster and faster, sorting through reports and extraneous information until apparently stumbling upon something he was searching for. With a sliding swipe of his thumb, he caused the data to pop up and off the screen, where it floated in the air above him. He began to read it. Then he said, ¡°It appears it was Vim Alazar.¡± ¡°Impossible.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what¡­that¡¯s what those who survived the attack claim.¡± Alistair shook his head. Then he massaged his temples as he tried to think. Things were becoming more difficult by the second. To the northwest, the Lords of Justice were attacking with the Elves. To the southeast, the Royal Roses¡¯ entire fleet was bombarding their shores, and a ground invasion was underway from various diving teams. To make matters worse, he was now learning that the leader of the Royal Roses had conjured some kind of heavenly, God-like magical storm of light that had wiped out an entire battalion. How much worse would things get? He shouldn¡¯t have asked. ¡°Your Grace!¡± Colonel Dakrit shouted, his posture becoming rigid and tense. ¡°Now what is it?¡± ¡°All anti-aircraft systems in the southeast are offline. I''ve just received intelligence that Haisel Ragora is about to begin!¡± ¡°Begin?¡± Alistair asked. Swallowing nervously, the man nodded. ¡°Yes, Your Grace. His fighter jets have taken to the skies. He''s going to send his planes up through the southeast corridor and bypass our northwestern batteries completely. He''ll be able to bomb us freely!¡± "No, not freely." Alistair massaged the ring on his finger. Then he stood up from his chair. ¡°It''s time for me to get directly involved. Call the elevator. I¡¯ve got a surprise for the Royal Roses, and I want to deliver it personally.¡± With that, he retrieved his midnight-black, faceless dragon armor from the opposite end of the bunker, where it waited for him in various pieces on top of another table, and now, he began to equip himself. He would deal with this new problem. He was likely the only one who could. Chapter 159: Powerful Ambitions Chapter 159: Powerful Ambitions Even without the morbid sights of the blood-covered deck, the scores of dead bodies, and the smoke billowing out of multiple cracks in the hull, Vim suspected his mood would still have darkened the moment his second-in-command, Senior-Lieutenant Haisel Ragora, began catching him up to speed with all the events he¡¯d missed during his miserable stay in the dungeons of Shadowfall Coast. ¡°They¡¯ve been doing what this whole time?¡± he snapped, becoming absolutely consumed with a nauseating mixture of both rage and astonishment. ¡°Say that last part again.¡± Haisel replied, but the sound of F-15E Strike Eagles dropping bombs on suspected artillery sites farther inland was so loud that Vim didn¡¯t hear it. Thus, for the third time, he demanded that the man repeat himself as more anger rose to the surface. ¡°They¡¯ve been bluffing us, Vim,¡± Haisel said. He was standing at attention with his hands at his sides while he spoke. ¡°All along, they had just the one weapon. It¡¯s only now that we face the threat of a second.¡± Vim felt suddenly short of breath. He grabbed a railing behind him on the upper deck of the aircraft carrier and steadied himself. ¡°So¡­all this time¡­you mean to tell me I¡¯ve been suffering in there for nothing?¡± Haisel opened his mouth, but as though his words got caught in his throat, he released only a guttural-sounding grunt before again shuttering his lips as if deciding that the answer to Vim¡¯s question was better left unsaid. Not that Vim actually needed to hear it to know the truth of the matter. It quickly became apparent that all of his suffering and torture had been so utterly unnecessary; even worse, had they only known this, they never would¡¯ve pulled out of Shadowfall Coast in the first place, as they¡¯d been on the verge of victory during their initial invasion. This could¡¯ve been over with weeks ago, he realized. Fucking weeks ago! Shortly before the Guild of Gentlemen had fired their weapon, the joint coalition of the Royal Roses, the Lords of Justice, People of Virtue, the Defenders of Peace, and Children of Order had been just days or, at worst, weeks away from securing the city. But all of their progress had immediately been reversed due to that Gods-cursed weapon! Vim had turned himself in after ordering his forces to vacate the city, and everything that transpired afterwards he was only first learning about now. ¡°Sir Alistair Morrison is going to pay for this,¡± Vim said, doing his best to suppress his icy rage so that he would not end up snarling on the deck and causing those nearby to become unsettled. ¡°But I want him taken alive. I¡¯d like to spend a few weeks ¡®entertaining¡¯ him like he ¡®entertained¡¯ me. Yes, I¡¯ll make sure to give him first-class treatment.¡± ¡°He¡¯s actually calling himself ¡®King Morrison¡¯ now,¡± Haisel corrected. ¡°And are you really suggesting we stoop to his level and engage in torture?¡± Vim glared at Haisel. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m suggesting! Oh, and I don¡¯t give a damn what he''s calling himself. He can call himself ¡®Emperor Morrison¡¯ for all I care. No matter what title he holds, it won¡¯t make the pinecones I¡¯ll be having shoved up his ass any smaller or less sharp!¡± Vim wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead. The earliest rays of morning sunshine were filling the skies, and the light reminded him that he was truly free of that horrible place. The psychological damage done to him would probably take months if not years to unwind, but at least, for now, in this very moment, he could let himself exhale with relief at the brightening horizon. I¡¯m alive, he thought. And I¡¯m back with my guild. Immediately following his first-ever use of Calamity of Stars, Vim had taken advantage of the chaos he¡¯d caused to slip away and proceed southeast to the coastline, where he was pleased to discover that the Royal Roses had only just succeeded in capturing the beachhead, though he observed it had come at a horrible cost. Bodies had been stacked and piled on both sides, and the number of injured was staggering. Even still, his guild had managed to gain a very real foothold on land, and from there, they could soon begin to press forward and into the city itself. Upon his arrival, Vim had noticed that smaller, amphibious boats loaded with level-1 infantry were riding up to the shore, and helmet-wearing, better-equipped troops were rushing onto the beach. This, clearly, was all thanks to the faster, mobile, and lightweight diving teams; having succeeded in their mission, they¡¯d made it so that the Royal Roses¡¯ more properly outfitted ground troops could now safely board the very lightly armored personnel craft and take the short ride over here without immediately being gunned down from the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s defensive formations. Still, he had thought to himself, shocked by the sheer number of dead troops. We lost more than half the men and women in the diving teams. Scattered here and there amidst the corpses, many on their bellies with their faces buried into the sand, Vim had also spotted a few leveled members of his guild, their various weapons either near their fallen bodies or, in some cases, still gripped in their hands. As Vim had taken a moment to appreciate their sacrifice, his presence had soon become observed by a single level-1 soldier of his guild¡ªa young woman who¡¯d released a yelp that drew the attention of others nearby. This had caused a chain reaction, and within ten seconds, scores of heads were turning his way. ¡°Is that¡­Gods, it¡¯s him!¡± a level-1, rifle-wielding woman had exclaimed upon seeing him stumbling off the boardwalk and onto the beach. Initially, she¡¯d raised her weapon and pointed it at him, but she only needed to scan his face for a quarter of a second before lowering her gun. Her words had drawn the attention of the man next to her and then the man next to him. Before long, every soldier on the beach had become aware of his presence, and just like that, morale had simply exploded. Cheers and rapturous cries of joy had accompanied him as he¡¯d awkwardly made his way closer to the shoreline. Hundreds of voices had been shouting out about accomplishing their ¡°primary objective.¡± Up until this moment, Vim had been badly exhausted due to the Very High exertion cost of Calamity of Stars, and yet, somehow, just by being reunited with his guild, it had restored much of his drained stamina. ¡°The Gods be praised from now unto eternity¡­Sir Alazar, you¡¯ve returned!¡± a man had cried. ¡°So¡­so we actually did it?¡± another asked as though in a state of elated disbelief. ¡°We rescued Sir Alazar? Gods, it¡¯s really him!¡± He released a victorious scream, which caused an explosive bout of cheering from nearly all of the others. Even those who had been weeping over the corpses of friends and loved ones stopped what they were doing to stand, salute, and let their joy be known. I mean more to them than I realized, Vim thought, suddenly feeling unworthy of such praise or adoration. Breaking their formations, they¡¯d all then surrounded him, level-1 troops and leveled members alike, and feeling indebted to them, Vim had taken a few moments to say a few words and offer them reassurances. He¡¯d kept it brief, however, as while they may have captured this small area of the beach, they were still very much in enemy territory, and he couldn¡¯t allow his presence here to be a distraction. And so, a few minutes later, Vim had boarded one of the amphibious craft on the beach and had used it to return to the Piercing Thorn, where he¡¯d been given an even more boisterous welcome by just about everyone aboard, many of them having rushed up from the lower decks just to see him. Not a half a minute after coming aboard, the entire crew of the Piercing Thorn had been on their feet, erupting into a constant round of applause, as well as whoops and cheers that had gone on for just a little too long. Yet although this was hardly a good moment for them to leave their stations, Vim let them have their celebration. He could see with his own two eyes just how much they had sacrificed in blood and pain to bring him here. Thus, even as he¡¯d smiled, Vim had felt a strong sense of misgiving in the back of his mind, as it had been clear that this battle had so far been very, very costly for the Royal Roses. The Piercing Thorn had taken a great many hits, and he would soon discover that its primary engines were offline and would take days to fix, ensuring that retreating from this battle was not an option¡ªnot that he¡¯d choose to retreat at this point even he could do so. Furthermore, he¡¯d lamented the loss of two of their precious battlecruisers as well as the countless lives aboard who had been unable to evacuate. Perhaps worst of all¡ªat least in the material sense¡ªthe enemy had destroyed four of their fighter jets. Yet, all losses aside, he had at least arrived just in time to witness the remaining eight take to the sky, the planes screeching across the air above.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Now, as Vim reflected on the utter nightmare that had been his time in captivity, he did his best to refocus his attention towards their current, new primary objective: assisting the Lords of Justice and the Elvish with dismantling the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s ability to produce more of their treacherous, evil weapons. To that end, Vim was willing to take any amount of material losses. There could be no objective more important than stopping ¡®King¡¯ Morrison. ¡°¡­so unless I forgot something,¡± Haisel concluded, ¡°that¡¯s about everything that happened while you were gone.¡± He turned his head towards the city as if looking off at something far into the distance. ¡°Where¡¯s the boy? Is he all right?¡± ¡°Yes, he¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s not with you?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°You look troubled,¡± Vim remarked. Haisel bowed his head. ¡°It¡¯s just that I didn¡¯t expect him to abandon us in the middle of a war. We could really use someone with his talents to finish the job here.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Vim said, ¡°but for what it¡¯s worth, Zach didn¡¯t abandon us. Not really, anyway.¡± ¡°Then where is he?¡± Vim shrugged. ¡°I dunno. I think his girlfriend kidnapped him or something.¡± ¡°She what?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Just let him be for now. Trust me when I say he¡¯s done more than enough¡ªand we have more important things to discuss.¡± Haisel grunted in what Vim took to be agreement. ¡°Fair enough. At least he was kind enough to call down the light from heaven itself to scorch those murderous bastards before he left. Gods, what an ability that was. He must¡¯ve destroyed an entire battalion by himself!¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Vim asked, concealing a grin. ¡°He did, did he?¡± Haisel¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Didn¡¯t you see it? Gods, Vim. How did you miss it? The boy made all these beams of light crash down from the sky, one after the next.¡± He gestured with his hands, pantomiming explosions. ¡°Even from here, we could see it happening. It was incredible.¡± ¡°It sounds like I missed quite the show, then. Oh well. It¡¯s just a good thing he¡¯s on our side, hm?¡± ¡°It sure is.¡± For literally no other reason besides amusement, Vim decided to allow Haisel¡¯s current assumption to stand. He was willing to guess Haisel had not been alone in coming to this conclusion, either. Perhaps, later on, he¡¯d enlighten them all to the truth¡ªor maybe not. Who knew? Either way, starting a conversation about his new ability would only invite a flurry of questions and waste valuable time. Thus, turning his body so that he faced the front of the aircraft carrier, he folded his arms and considered their current situation. ¡°How should we proceed?¡± Haisel asked him. Vim curled his lips a moment as he thought on it, but there wasn¡¯t really much to dwell on. The answer came to him fairly quickly. ¡°You¡¯re a better war-time commander than I am, all things considered,¡± he said to the sturdy man. ¡°Continue on as you were before I arrived.¡± ¡°Understood! In that case, we¡¯ll continue to push into the city and try to pincer the enemy¡¯s forces. I¡¯ve also just received word that Lord Oren is committing all his men to immediately taking the northern highway, and they¡¯re about to be on the move any second now.¡± Vim tilted his head to glance upwards, noticing that four of the F-15s that had been bombing various artillery sites had now broken off and were instead beginning to fly to the northwest. ¡°I¡¯m guessing those four birds are being diverted to assist our allies?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Vim nodded. ¡°Good thinking. Now let¡¯s win this fight¡ªfor Ogre¡¯s Axe.¡± With that, he observed from the deck as things continued to unfold. Yet, in the very recesses of his mind, tucked away in a locked drawer that he would not let be opened until after they¡¯d won the day, Vim began to prepare himself for the coming negotiations after they and their allies had prevailed. It would be ugly, but hopefully it would not cross over into violence. After all, while the Royal Roses were indeed an ally and friend to the Lords of Justice¡ªespecially now during a time of war¡ªthey had lost an entire city and had so many mouths to feed and so many lives to rebuild. That was why, when things concluded, it was of vital importance that the territory ended up in the hands of the Royal Roses, which would give his guild complete and total control of the entire eastern seaboard of North Bastia aside from a stretch of inconsequential territory controlled by Defenders of Peace, which Vim was unconcerned with. This was because the coast along the Arid Dunes of Bastia was far too rocky to ever be used as a port of entry, and the currents off the coast along with the dangerous winds made it prohibitively unsuited for shipping routes. Provided the Royal Roses ended up the uncontested ruling guild of Shadowfall Coast, seizing this city would not only grant them an unprecedented leverage in global trade once the Elves helped readmit humanity, but it would ensure that his people could be fairly compensated for suffering the brunt of the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s illegal and unthinkable aggressions. A reasonable, fair tax on imports and exports would be necessary to begin to heal from the wound they¡¯d suffered. But to do that¡­ ¡°Actually, Haisel?¡± Vim remarked as several concerns began to run through his head. ¡°Yes, sir?¡± he asked, turning a questioning glance Vim¡¯s way. Vim narrowed his eyes. ¡°There is actually one thing I would like you to do differently. I want you to order every officer in the field not to communicate anything they find related to the weapon over any joint, strategic Comm lines.¡± ¡°Meaning¡­we should not coordinate with Lord Oren?¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I mean. But only with stuff that has to do with the weapon. Everything else goes on as normal.¡± ¡°But¡­why?¡± Vim lowered his voice despite it already being difficult enough to be heard with the sounds of battle raging on in the distance. The ocean¡¯s breeze also picked up, muffling his words. But still, Haisel was able to hear him. ¡°We need to find that weapon first,¡± he explained. ¡°Before they do. As well as any research documentation.¡± Haisel hesitated a moment as though troubled, but after a brief second, he nodded. ¡°Ahh, right. Good point. We can¡¯t trust the Lords of Justice to destroy it. We need to do the job ourselves.¡± ¡°No,¡± Vim said, shaking his head. ¡°We need to responsibly and rationally tuck it away and study it. To ensure that if anything like this ever happens again, we won¡¯t be defenseless.¡± Haisel winced as though Vim had bashed him in the face with the shitty, level-1 staff he¡¯d borrowed from the Elvish girl. ¡°Crude humor at a time like now? Really, Vim?¡± he asked, using Vim¡¯s first name without any honorifics, which was fine, as they were now standing alone and speaking quietly. ¡°It¡¯s not humor. I¡¯m being serious.¡± Haisel recoiled somewhat. ¡°You¡¯re not.¡± Vim sighed. ¡°Look, we were hit very, very badly, and right now, we are weak. And to be clear, you did a great job, and I¡¯m proud of the work you¡¯ve done here, Haisel.¡± He spread his arms open, widely. ¡°But look at the damage to our fleet: our ultimate weapon. It¡¯s been ravaged. We¡¯ve lost so many people both in battle and in Ogre¡¯s Axe. We¡¯re weak, and the world is filled with vultures. Even the People of Virtue, our greatest ally, might begin strongarming us when this war is over. We need reassurance. When this is done, every guild in North Bastia that suffered as a result of the Gentlemen¡ªand that¡¯s all of us¡ªare going to have a legitimate claim to the land.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a problem,¡± Haisel said, now speaking a bit more urgently. ¡°Once this is over, I would fully expect every guild to obey the traditional rules of war. We¡¯re only weak in the conventional sense. In an open-field battle with five-hundred of our best against five-hundred of theirs, we will win every time.¡± ¡°You¡¯re being childish,¡± Vim said. ¡°Those days are done. Organized, open-field battles are dead. The SOHLA accords are dead.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Haisel asked, coming across as aggravated. ¡°Because of what one man did? Are we really going to memorialize his actions by letting him change us for the worse?¡± ¡°The fact you use the word ¡®let¡¯ proves to me you don¡¯t understand anything at all.¡± Haisel began to stir, which was unusual for a man who rarely struggled to keep a firm posture. ¡°Vim, please.¡± He pointed at the city. ¡°If the other guilds won¡¯t yield the city to us, and if we need to fight for it, then let¡¯s fight the way we¡¯ve always fought our entire lives: two equally sized armies in an isolated field of combat with fair, independent observers to keep things sane.¡± Vim resisted the urge to shove the tall, robust man, as his naivety was becoming annoying. ¡°You¡¯re being a fool. Get it through your mind that those days are over, Haisel. Society only goes in one direction, and it¡¯s never backwards. The cat is out of the bag. The box has been opened. This,¡± he said, extending his arm, his palm flat, ¡°this is what war is now.¡± ¡°And it¡¯s also what it used to be,¡± his second-in-command retorted. ¡°That sounds a lot like ¡®backwards¡¯ to me.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, backwards is forwards again when only a few people are still alive who can remember it.¡± ¡°I disagree,¡± Haisel replied, appearing frustrated. ¡°Things can only become this way if we allow it. Vim, please: don¡¯t make the same mistake that he made.¡± By ¡°he,¡± Vim assumed Haisel was referring to King Morrison. But in this case, Vim adamantly rejected the comparison, as he had nothing in common with such a traitorous, back-stabbing, king-slaying piece of shit. ¡°We are not them, Haisel. I¡¯ll forgive you for even suggesting such a moronic thing because I don¡¯t think you intended to come across that way.¡± ¡°Of course I didn¡¯t. And I know we¡¯re not. I just meant that we, as a guild, need to be careful not to re¡ª¡± ¡°I know what you meant,¡± he interrupted. ¡°And it¡¯s been noted. Now, enough of this sentimental, weak bullshit. Win me this war, and bring justice to the murdered¡ªthose are your tasks. And let me handle the logistics of what happens in the days, weeks, and years afterward. That¡¯s how this has always worked between us, hasn¡¯t it? You win the fights, and I govern.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Alazar,¡± Haisel said, his tone plainly bitter. ¡°As you command.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Chapter 160: The Ritual Sacrifice Chapter 160: The Ritual Sacrifice Like a raft about to go over a waterfall, Alex felt himself teetering on edge as he spoke into his Comm. ¡°All brigades,¡± he said into the device¡ªbut then he hesitated. He could sense the anticipation around him as he paused. He couldn¡¯t believe he was really about to take a risk of this magnitude, and he could scarcely help but second-guess what, under any other circumstance, would be the kind of decision he¡¯d scoff at had someone else made it. And yet, faced with seemingly insurmountable time constraints, he¡¯d known on some level that it was always going to come down to this. There was never going to be another way. But so many will die because of this¡­ Indeed, from the very start of this operation, there was a part of him that knew an all-out, reckless, and head-on assault would be the only way to emerge victorious today outside of indiscriminate killing. Still, he didn¡¯t expect to go through with it on nothing more than the word of a vampire from another planet that he hardly knew. And he certainly didn¡¯t expect to feel such a powerful sense of hesitation in the seconds before giving the order. Is it really right to ask them to do this? he wondered, suffering a brief, but powerful moment of doubt. In many ways, Alex was torn. Truly, there was so much internal conflict within himself. Putting aside those who¡¯d already died, there would be many more yet to perish in the coming moments. And what made all of this weigh so heavily on his heart was the plain fact that, strictly speaking, none of them actually needed to die or be put in harm¡¯s way due to the presence of Queen Vayra and her Elvish warriors. With the Elves fighting on their side, it actually wasn¡¯t necessary for anyone here to sacrifice themselves. And that was not an exaggeration, either. Quite literally, not a single leveled member or soldier fighting here on behalf of the Lords of Justice genuinely needed to take part in this battle¡ªwell, at least in the technical sense. The moral one, however, was another story. The dilemma here was simpler than it seemed for being so ethically perilous. Basically, Queen Vayra and the more than three-hundred Elvish warriors she¡¯d brought along with her could accomplish their shared mission here all on their own. As a matter of fact, Alex was fairly certain that, freed of all constraints, they could annihilate the entire city and turn it into rubble in less than a half hour. They could knock down every building and snuff out every life in Shadowfall Coast, and it wouldn¡¯t even be difficult for them. That was the extent of how powerful the Elvish were in comparison to humanity. And yet, for the sake of the countless innocent people residing helplessly inside the city, Alex was prepared to spend the lives of his own side in order to ensure such a scenario did not come to pass. But was that truly fair? Was it fair to ask so many young men and women to die? Was it fair to lead them to their death when the Guild of Gentlemen were responsible for all of this? When the Elves were more than willing to solve this problem for them immediately and decisively? Complicating matters even further was the possibility that, even if they did everything perfectly, they might still run out of time and end up watching the Elves annihilate the city. In this hypothetical scenario, their deaths would be a waste. So yes, the temptation to merely sit back and let Queen Vayra take care of everything was growing on him. Nevertheless, in the name of decency, it was resisted. We can¡¯t go that route, Alex thought to himself. We can¡¯t kill indiscriminately just because it¡¯s easier for us. Our humanity depends on it! Of course, it wasn¡¯t just human lives he risked, either. The Elves, too, would be put in mortal danger by virtue of having to be careful in their targeting. If they were able to use their full speed to rampage through the city while killing everything in their path, they would be at their most unstoppable and untouchable. Horribly enough, it was exactly that kind of scenario for which their abilities seemed best suited. No, the threat to them was in slowing down: in being selective. By being selective, discerning, and fighting in a more conventional way, the Elves would be susceptible to falling for traps, ambushes, unexpected ¡°tricks,¡± and other fatal machinations the enemy had planned for them. Restraining themselves from going overboard would be the very thing that opened them up to the possibility of suffering casualties¡ªperhaps many. This, put simply, would not be the case if they were allowed to bulldoze their way through the city, destroying every structure without regard for who might be inside; of course, this was something they were going to do anyway if the situation was not resolved very, very soon. There¡¯s no easy path out of this, Alex thought, the pressure of this moment bearing down on him. There¡¯s no situation where this ends without thousands of more lives being extinguished. Looking ahead of him at the northern highway in the distance, Alex could hardly control his rising doubt over whether Olivir could actually do as he claimed: whether he was truly capable of helping the Lords of Justice¡¯s army charge the highway without being massacred and wiped out. And much of that doubt was due to the enemy¡¯s superior rocket artillery, which made up the backbone of their outer defenses. Unlike the Lords of Justice''s artillery that had been dug out of storage from the last conventional war more than a century ago, and which, by any measure, had been considered antiquated and obsolete even all the way back then, the Guild of Gentlemen had access to H207 MLRS vehicles, which were essentially trucks with multiple high-tech launchers that had better range and deadlier force than their own shoulder-mounted RPGs. Thus far, all the orders Alex had given had been for the sole purpose of trying to gain a strategic and tactical positioning advantage over the enemy, and the reasoning for this was obvious. As things stood, if he ordered his forces to charge the north highway, the MLRS units would rain down so many rockets so fast that every infantry brigade under his command would be wiped out before they could even cross half the distance. Aware of this, Alex had been moving slowly and methodically. The goal until now had been to maneuver their own artillery within range so that they could begin attacking the enemy¡¯s frontline troops while keeping their own forces just out of range of direct fire from the MLRS artillery. The only problem with this strategy, however, was that it was a tactic meant for a typical, conventional siege battle expected to play out during the following days and weeks. But he didn¡¯t have that long. And the people of Shadowfall Coast didn¡¯t have that long, either! For this reason, Alex found the conviction he needed to proceed with such a reckless course of action. In a world where there were no good choices, the only sensible one was that which was least bad. I¡¯m trusting you, Olivir, he thought as he filled his lungs with air. Please don¡¯t let me down. Following that final thought, he at last gave the command. ¡°All brigades, this is Command One!¡± Alex said powerfully into his Comm. ¡°All brigades, advance to Highway North! 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th artillery: advance to Vantage Point A and concentrate all fire on the enemy¡¯s MLRS! 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th light infantry: withdraw from Highway South and advance immediately to Highway North. Prepare for a full-scale frontal assault. 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th mechanized infantry brigades: advance on Highway North and engage from the left flank with maximum force! Get moving! Go, go, go!¡± The sound of armored battle tanks revving up their engines joined a storm of running feet, and together, it was like a collective stampede. Before his very eyes, tens of thousands of men and women, along with numerous vehicles, all began to make directly for the northern highway. ¡°Queen Vayra,¡± he said to the woman. He spoke quickly to her, not even bothering to turn his head and look at where she stood right beside him. ¡°Can your Elves capture the south highway on their own?¡± Initially, half their force was going to push north, and the other half was going to push south. That had changed thanks to Olivir. Now, it would fall upon the Elves to capture the southern highway all on their own. Fortunately, they seemed up to the task. Without even replying, Queen Vayra nodded then slipped away, likely to rally her Elves. Alex was now too focused looking north to pay her much heed. ¡°Here we go,¡± said High-Lord Kolorn Besh. Alex quickly glanced at him, and for just an instant, the level of trust he saw in the older man¡¯s eyes floored him. Not only was Alex a new member of the man¡¯s guild¡ªand the political world itself¡ªbut he, a man with no familial ties to anyone of import, had been made third-in-command, and now he was being entrusted with steering the fate of the entire guild and possibly even North Bastia itself. It was truly remarkable. ¡°Thank you for trusting me,¡± Alex said, speaking a bit loudly to be heard over the storm of troops to both their left and right, who passed them by as they stood together a moment unmoving. High-Lord Besh reached out, cupped his right shoulder blade, and squeezed. ¡°I know this was the last thing in the world you wanted to end up doing when I convinced you to join. Believe me when I say it''s not lost on me just how much you¡¯re being made to endure.¡± Alex lowered his head respectfully to his guild leader. ¡°None of this is your fault. No one could have predicted the Guild of Gentlemen would rope us into this madness. When I joined the Lords of Justice, we were neutral in the war between the Guild of Gentlemen and the Royal Roses. It¡¯s not your fault that that¡¯s changed.¡± Kolorn released his grip on Alex¡¯s shoulder and then patted it a few times before returning his arm to his side. ¡°I know that,¡± he said. ¡°Even still, I want you to be aware that I¡¯m not blind to how much you must be hating this right now. Just know that the feeling is mutual.¡± ¡°I appreciate that,¡± Alex replied, meaning it sincerely. Returning his attention ahead of him, he watched eagerly and nervously as his forces advanced. Due to the abrupt and chaotic change in strategy, the light infantry brigades, which had been approaching towards the southern end of the city, were hurrying to change course and catch up. The mechanized infantry brigades, on the other hand, were about to be entering what was likely to be a very heavy, very intense combat area ahead of them. But not all moved with equal enthusiasm; one brigade in particular seemed to be lagging behind the others. The 12th¡­ Given the shellacking they¡¯d sustained during Alex¡¯s earlier failed, experimental charge, the battalions that made up the 12th mechanized infantry brigade, along with their armored vehicles, were proceeding at slightly less than full speed towards the northern highway, and it was probably deliberate on their part, too. It was also not entirely unexpected, either. Having sustained heavy casualties during such a humiliating retreat, it was difficult to blame the 12th for being more hesitant this time around. Thus, rather than leading the charge yet again, the other brigades took point, and like before, each brigade was accompanied by a few small squads that were made up entirely of leveled guild members, and it was these squads that led the pack. Alex opened his mouth to order the colonel leading the 12th to wrangle his lieutenants to move faster, yet before he managed to speak, his attention was diverted by the sight of multiple smoke trails that appeared parallel to one another along the section of road where the highway met the city¡ªright around the entrance to 1st Avenue. What followed this smoke was the sound of hissing, and glancing upwards, Alex could see that a massive volley of rockets had just been fired. In a trance-like state, Alex then watched as these rockets reached the apex of their climb before turning downwards and dropping through the air towards his rapidly advancing troops¡ªmany of whom were now beginning to enter within direct range of fire from the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s forces that were dug into trenches or behind sandbags in the heavily fortified portion of the north highway. This, of course, was exactly what Alex had known would happen if he ordered them to charge straight in¡ªit was also what he¡¯d feared would happen. Aside from the Guild of Gentlemen succeeding in acquiring another nuclear weapon, it was his worst-case scenario come to life. And yet, despite this, as Alex watched the rockets descend, he had a somewhat muted reaction as he observed them coming closer. Lower and lower they fell, along with the tell-tale, high-pitched whistling, which grew in volume as they seemed poised to make impact. But even as they drew ever nearer, Alex did not fret or worry, because he naturally just assumed that Olivir had something up his sleeve. After all, the vampire had promised him as much. Because of this, even as several of the rockets were about to touch down, Alex still did not feel any great sense of concern. The confidence and certainty with which Olivir had assured Alex of success had actually managed to convince him to ignore what his own two eyes were seeing. But that all changed immediately as the very first rocket at last made impact. For just an instant, the initial emotion Alex felt was confusion¡ªand then despair. Raising his arms, Alex shielded his eyes as an explosion of orange flame as well as a blast of dirt and grass rocked the field of battle. This was followed by another blast, and then another after that. Then there were dozens of explosions taking place all at once, and all concentrated in one specific area. The ground trembled, screaming voices filled the air, and a screen of dust so thick it momentarily obscured the entire battlefield was kicked up, taking nearly a half minute to recede and return some degree of visibility to the grasslands. When it did, Alex felt an avalanche of nerves and disbelief go off inside of him like a DEHV alarm. What¡­what just happened? he thought, the muscles in his jaw spasming in shock and denial at what he saw. ¡°Olivir!¡± he shouted into the Comm. ¡°Olivir, what¡¯s going on?¡± Having run right into the enemy¡¯s line of fire, the result was as Alex should¡¯ve expected it to be¡ªyet for some reason, he had not. Was he stupid? He must have been, because of course this was what happened. Of course it did! How could it not? This was the expected, predictable outcome. Why would he assume it would have gone any other way? With the dust finally settled, Alex was now able to perceive the mangled, blasted-apart corpses of what looked like more than two-thousand men and women along with the smoking husks of dozens of their battle tanks and APCs. Some troops were crawling on the ground with missing limbs, and a great many were screaming, whimpering, or moaning.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Bells,¡± someone moaned. He was a middle-aged, level-1 man whose arms had been blown off and who was wriggling on the ground. ¡°Bells, help me! Where are you, Bells?¡± Alex didn¡¯t know who he was referring to, be they a fellow soldier or someone from his memories. The man just kept on wriggling along the ground until, finally, he simply stopped moving. It was impossible to say if he¡¯d died or if he was merely unconscious. Blood poured out of the stumps where his arms had been, and his face was now buried into the dirt. If he was indeed alive, it wouldn¡¯t be long before that ceased to be the case. Speechless, Alex struggled to comprehend the horror he had just witnessed firsthand: the sickening sight of what looked like the aftermath of two-and-a-half battalions from the 11th brigade finding themselves caught directly in the middle of an artillery strike. Blameless men and women who were only here because Alex had brought them. People who were fighting for a future that Alex had promised. What have I done? Alex shook his head. He needed to be strong, yet he was momentarily left stunned by the number of people who had just died. And things were only going to get worse at this rate, not better. Right now, even many of those in the impact area who had somehow miraculously survived the rockets were finding themselves cut down by the enormous barrage of gunfire coming from the entrenched troops in the northern highway. The Guild of Gentlemen were clearly not in a merciful mood. With a seeming deliberateness, gunners were targeting the downed and wounded as if to hatefully ensure they never stood up again. Did I really expect something different? Up until the moment that Alex had seen their bodies, he¡¯d honestly thought¡­he¡¯d actually been so stupid as to think that the vampire would somehow utilize some kind of incredible, long-range magic and¡­and do what, exactly? Alex didn¡¯t even know. He had no idea what he¡¯d been expecting. He¡¯d just been so taken in by Olivir¡¯s confidence that he¡¯d allowed himself to be swayed into making such a deadly, irresponsible gamble with the lives of so many people: one that had clearly not paid off. So many of them just died in an instant, and it¡¯s my fault, because I knew it would happen. I ordered them to run out into artillery fire while praying for a miracle. I took the word of one person on faith, demanding no evidence or explanation before taking such a huge risk. How could I have been so stupid? What has happened to my judgment? Beyond the impact area, the rest of the mechanized infantry weren¡¯t faring all that much better as they pressed on ahead into a steady storm of gunfire. Though most of the advancing infantry did their best to keep themselves behind or to the side of the nearest tank or APC, they were still out in the open and in a target-rich environment. Therefore, even though a good three-quarters of incoming enemy gunfire pinged off the armored vehicles rather than strike at flesh, a significant number of bullets nevertheless managed to find their way into warm bodies. ¡°Gahh!¡± screamed a young man who appeared to be only slighter older than 18. He clutched his chest and fell forward onto the ground, writhing in agony. ¡°I¡¯m hit! I¡¯m hit! Fucker got me. Medic! Medic!¡± ¡°I¡¯m coming!¡± shouted a rifle-wielding medic who¡¯d been running along behind the rear of an armored tank. ¡°You¡¯re gonna be okay, my guy.¡± She dived at the ground and came into a sliding, crouching position, and then she pulled around the pack on her shoulder, unzipped it, and began removing various medical devices as she hovered over the young man. ¡°Just lie there still and¡ª¡± Her words fell silent, and suddenly, the medic fell forward onto her face as a bullet penetrated the back of her skull before entering into her brain and killing her instantly; this, as the young man released a blood-curdling scream as both his legs were stricken with bullets, wounding but not killing him. Then his screams turned into howling wails of pain as a round fired from the enemy seemingly pierced his groin and castrated him. This scene, and many more like it, repeated itself all over as the barrage of gunfire continued to cut down more of the brave, level-1 soldiers of the Lords of Justice. Alex trembled with rage and self-disappointment. This was his own fault. He had caused this. And as bad as things were, this was actually something of a reprieve, for it would only get worse once the MLRS were reloaded and ready to fire another barrage of rocket artillery. Why did I trust Olivir with this? Gods, what have I done? Alex struggled to pull himself together, but it was difficult. This, after all, was the exact type of disaster he had so desperately wanted to avoid bringing about. Of course this plan was never going to work. What could just one man¡ªwho looked like a boy¡ªpossibly do to have such an outsized impact on the war effort? What trick could he possibly have up his sleeve that would be so significant and vast that it would warrant Alex sending scores of level-1 people to their death in such a stupid way? Put simply, Alex had been desperate, and he¡¯d wanted to trust the vampire. He¡¯d let his emotions and not his brain do the thinking for him. And this was the result. ¡°Olivir!¡± Alex shouted. ¡°Answer me!¡± No reply came from the Comm, and now, Alex had to struggle to contain himself. His shock, disbelief, and disappointment were consuming him. His mind became awash with theories, possibilities, and explanations for whatever just happened, and none of them were helpful. Did Olivir flee? Or did he simply fail? Or was it possible he never intended to help in the first place? Maybe he¡¯d simply made an honest miscalculation. Or worse, perhaps he¡¯d been attacked by surprise. Maybe the enemy had sent a covert unit to deal with him. There were so many reasons this could have happened. So many possibilities. But none of them mattered right now, did they? No. No, not right now. I can figure this out later. Knowing what just happened won¡¯t change anything. Ultimately, Alex knew that this was hardly the time to find answers. Therefore, he gave up on calling out to the vampire, who was not bothering to answer him back anyway. Instead, he turned his head to look at High-Lord Besh, whose face had gone white with fear. It was as though he sensed that the end of his guild was imminent. There was real confusion in his eyes: true uncertainty. Did he regret trusting Alex as much as Alex now regretted trusting Olivir? It doesn¡¯t matter! Alex ripped his mind away from his insecurities and channeled all his focus on evaluating their current position, and Gods, it was not good. The mechanized infantry were getting demolished, and many were no longer pushing forward. Tanks were exploding, and APCs caught on fire were burning troops stuck inside alive. Though return fire was sent the enemy¡¯s way, their forces were shooting from an open field at enemies behind well-fortified cover. Worse, the Guild of Gentlemen chose this moment to finally send out some of its leveled members, and now, glittering blue wisps of magic were whipping across the grasslands and detonating more armored tanks and infantry. They were losing. ¡°Queen Vayra,¡± Alex said into the Comm. ¡°Please respond.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± she replied, sounding annoyed. ¡°We need backup. We¡­we¡¯re getting slaughtered. Can you return?¡± ¡°No. We¡¯re busy, human. Deal with your own problems.¡± There was a grunt followed by the sound of a man crying out in pain. ¡°We have our hands full. I¡¯ve already lost two of my precious Elves. These humans have come up with treacherous schemes to trap us. They will suffer!¡± Alex scowled defiantly. He refused to lose this fight. Everything was on the line. If he had to run in there himself, he would. In fact, that probably wasn¡¯t a bad idea. Right now, anything he could do would be better than doing nothing at all. If they did not break through immediately, the enemy¡¯s rocket artillery would soon be ready to fire again, and at that point, they¡¯d sustain losses so great they¡¯d have no choice but to call off the entire invasion and instead let the Elves massacre hundreds of thousands of people. ¡°All brigades,¡± he said into his Comm. ¡°Listen closely! We need to¡ª¡± ¡°I know this might be tough to accept,¡± a youthful voice said over the Comm, interrupting him. ¡°But I guarantee, once you¡¯ve had time to really think about it, you¡¯ll agree I did the right thing.¡± ¡°Olivir?¡± Alex shouted into the Comm, surprised to suddenly hear his voice. ¡°Where are you? What happened?¡± There was no reply, so Alex again called out to him. ¡°Olivir,¡± he repeated. ¡°Why did you tell me to order a charge? Why didn¡¯t you help us? I thought you said you¡ª¡± Alex gasped. Whatever he¡¯d been about to say was swiftly forgotten. Above him, well ahead of his estimates, he spotted yet another incoming barrage of rockets, and this one seemed even larger than the last. How had they reloaded so quickly? How were there even more in this attack? And why were they a bright orange in color? What in the name of the Gods was going on here? ¡°All brigades listen carefully,¡± Olivir said, surprising Alex yet again, this time by speaking as though he were in command. ¡°Get out of the way. Anyone standing near the dead is going to join them. Stand back and then be ready to breach!¡± Alex was so bewildered he wasn¡¯t sure what to say. He wasn¡¯t sure how to react, either. Should he cut Olivir off from the Comm line? Or question him? Alex was starting to wonder if he¡¯d been outright betrayed. Exactly what had Olivir done¡ªand why? These were questions that burned in his mind. And at the very least, they were soon answered. Alex did not have to wait very long to find out. As the second volley of rockets crashed down onto the field of battle, it was at this point that Alex realized, much to his amazement, that they were not rockets at all. He wasn¡¯t exactly sure what they were. Hundreds of bright orange balls with black, smoking tails made sizzling, hissing sounds as they flew directly down onto the battlefield¡ªand made straight for the previous impact zone. For whatever reason, they were striking an already struck target, within which all people were already either dead or so badly wounded they would no longer be able to fight. What¡¯s going on here? Much like the rockets had only just done, these orange-bodied, black-tailed, vaguely rocket-shaped masses of energy slammed into the ground, one after the next. But that was emphatically where the similarities ended, because unlike the rockets, the explosions did not result in more kinetic damage being done to the terrain, nor did they cause the ground to rumble or a boom to echo in the morning sun. Instead, these orange, sizzling projectiles bounced directly off the ground, and it was only then that they exploded, each one turning into what looked like a shower of a thousand individual orange sparks, bright enough to be well visible even amid the early daylight. Once ¡°exploded,¡± these sparks reminded Alex of a colony of fireflies, only tremendously denser and glowing far brighter. For a time, these orange, glowing lights hovered in place several feet above the ground before, all at once, they were gone, vanishing into the air. And then, suddenly, there was movement. A lot of movement. Screams filled the world, but this time of pure horror as opposed to pain. Some even came from High-Lord Besh, who stood beside Alex. He couldn¡¯t blame the man. Alex himself was tempted to release a cry of terror. Before his very eyes, the mangled, destroyed, battered, and butchered corpses of more than a thousand dead level-1 soldiers began to twitch and stir. With audible crackles, this movement continued, until in defiance of all decency, the dead literally began to rise again. They¡¯re getting up! Anything with at least one arm and one leg began to return to its feet or foot. Even with brain matter oozing out of heads or blood dripping out of destroyed eye sockets, the men and women who¡¯d perished only moments ago in battle were now in the process of standing upright. Only, they were no longer the people they had just been. They were changed, now. In a way that Alex had never before seen¡ªin a way that he had never even known was possible. In a way that horrified him.
HP 52/52
Name Private Hersh Linzeg
Level 5
HP 52/52
Name Corporal Valina M¡¯inzala
Level 5
There were so many of them, and all were level 5. They differed only in name and appearance. Some did not manage to rise to their feet due to bodily injury, and they instead disintegrated, fading away into a sand-like substance, leaving nothing behind¡ªnot even ashes for their family to bury. The rest, however, began orienting their bodies towards the north. And since they were in the same condition they¡¯d died in, merely looking at them filled Alex with a natural sense of terror and disgust. Still, he maintained his composure, as he thought he was finally piecing together what had happened. ¡°What have you done?¡± Alex asked over the Comm, barely able to find his voice. ¡°Please tell me this isn¡¯t what it looks like.¡± Once more, Olivir did not reply. Yet Alex had the sense his questions were going to be answered via a very public demonstration, as this newly raised army of resurrected corpses began to make loud, angry growling sounds, their bodies causing snapping and popping noises as well. With that, they all began to move. And at first, they merely shambled¡ªbut soon after they then began sprinting at stunningly inhuman speeds towards the north highway. As they ran, they reached out with their arms as though desperate to grab onto something. Everyone, be they a level-1 troop or a leveled member of the guild¡ªeveryone did their utmost to scramble out of the way as these¡­these things raced past. And as though finally seeing what was heading towards them, all gunfire from the north highway came to an immediate halt as these snarling, highly vocal creatures began growling even louder and louder with an unmistakable note of hunger and desperation. ¡°GREEEAAAAAAHHH!¡± they screamed. ¡°GREAAAAAAHHHH!¡± Whatever these things were, Alex felt safe assuming they were no longer the men and women they¡¯d been. No, there was no trace of humanity in their purely animal-like behavior. They continued to viciously growl as they sprinted or hopped forward, and then finally, after ten seconds that felt a great deal longer, the first of them reached a barricade, behind which was a trench where about twenty members of the Guild of Gentlemen could be seen confusingly staring at the creature. ¡°GREEEAAAAAAHHH!¡± it screamed. And then it began to flash like a light switched on and off, its entire body glowing a darkish red. With that, it ran headfirst into one of the many sections of the barricade¡ªand it exploded like a miniature rocket, blasting around a mixture of sand, concrete, and in some cases, steel. This first explosion was followed by a second, and then by a third. All along the western flank of the northern highway, these monstrous, resurrected corpses began slamming into the barricades that served as a divider between them and the enemy, and piece by piece, it became undone. But there were still plenty of the monsters left. These creatures continued on, all while releasing their nonstop growling shouts. One by one, they jumped into the trenches, disappearing from view. Each time, the sound of an agonized scream would follow, and then came another explosion. These things were literally leaping onto people and self-destructing. One after the next, a creature would jump inside a trench, and then a mixture of blood and body parts would get kicked up into the air before falling back down into the trench and out of view. And yet, still there was more to come. Alex, never blinking once, watched in utter disbelief as the monsters invaded the enemy¡¯s fortification, jumping headfirst at their armored vehicles and destroying them the same way the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s rocket artillery had destroyed so many of their own. These formerly human creatures¡­they were creating an absolute calamity of fear and destruction. ¡°Lord Oren,¡± High-Lord Besh whispered to him. ¡°I know,¡± Alex replied, nodding. ¡°I know.¡± There were no other words for the sight of this. ¡°GREEEAAAAAAHHH¡± they screamed as terrified, confused, and badly panicked men and women either fled or began opening fire onto the creatures, causing 1s and 2s to pop up above numerous heads and occasionally inflict significant damage, but never enough to slow or deter these twisted, demonic entities. The level of fear was so great that it caused a young man to scream loudly enough that Alex could hear his words even from all the way over here. ¡°Get it off me!¡± the man screamed. ¡°No! No! Noooooo¡ª¡± Boom! Alex shook his head. ¡°Olivir, this isn¡¯t right.¡± ¡°This is the path to the fewest deaths,¡± he replied, finally deciding to speak. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if it isn¡¯t pretty. I hate doing this more than you hate seeing it, dude. I promise. Now please tell your guys to get in there and fight. That¡¯s all that really matters in the end, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Alex had to begrudgingly admit that Olivir was correct. Completely without regard for the morality of what he¡¯d done, the fact of the matter was that, true to his word, he¡¯d given them a way in. A real chance to breach the city. To actually succeed at what had seemed impossible as recently as thirty seconds ago. ¡°You¡­you turned people into mobs.¡± ¡°No,¡± Olivir replied over the Comm. From the way he was speaking, he sounded out of breath. ¡°I just reanimated their corpses. That¡¯s not the same thing.¡± Alex clenched his hands into fists. This wasn¡¯t right. This wasn¡¯t right at all. How much of all this was Olivir¡¯s intention? Did he intend to sacrifice all those people? He must have. He must have deliberately convinced Alex to send them in with the knowledge that they would die to the MLRS systems. This just didn¡¯t sit right with him. It didn¡¯t sit right with him at all. But what really unsettled Alex¡ªchief above everything else¡ªwas that Olivir was probably right about what he¡¯d said: that if Alex ended up dwelling on this situation for a few days, he would probably end up agreeing with the vampire¡¯s actions, as horrible as they were. And that frightened him far more than these disfigured monstrosities that wore the faces and wounds of fallen heroes. Chapter 161: Empathy Chapter 161: Empathy Why would anyone in their right mind think they could charge 21000g for a single bottle of water? Zach didn¡¯t care if this was the middle of the desert. He¡¯d rather lie right here on this rock and die than give 21k to a wandering merchant for just one bottle of water. And why was it so noisy out here? This was the noisiest desert ever. All around him, he heard the sounds of laughing and of mugs slapping down against tables. It also smelled exactly like Angelica¡¯s, too. Am I dreaming? Zach groaned. He was so tired. He wasn¡¯t sure what was going on or where he was. He could¡¯ve sworn he¡¯d been lost in the sands of a massive desert that spanned almost an entire planet except for the very center, where a high-tech, NPC-run city eight times larger than Whispery Woods awaited the first batch of adventurers to ever set foot on it. Yet he¡¯d had no water, and he¡¯d been dying of thirst. That was when the predatory, wandering NPC merchant had tried to swindle him. Even if Zach was the richest guy to ever exist, he still wouldn¡¯t cough up that much for a Gods-be-damned bottle of water. Fuck that NPC! It was so outrageous that it was still unacceptable even if he was just a character in a dream¡­ I¡¯m confused. As lucidity began to return to him, Zach became aware that he was not, in fact, in a desert. He was lying on his back with his eyes closed on what felt like a table, and he was clearly in Angelica¡¯s judging by the smell of the place. The question then became: why. Why was he here and not in bed with Kal on her island, Elendroth? Did something happen? His mind was still clouded, and he was so tired that he actually lost his train of thought and drifted in and out of a few more brief dreams before at last he truly awakened. He opened his eyes, slightly, and then he spoke. ¡°Hello?¡± he croaked. ¡°Am I in Angelica¡¯s?¡± Immediately, all chatter fell off. The music in the background stopped playing. Arguments between various adventurers were put on hold. And now, the sound of bodies shifting or turning in chairs temporarily became the dominant sound. What felt like more than a hundred pairs of eyes settled over him. This only made him even more confused. He genuinely had no idea why he was here or how he¡¯d arrived. He couldn¡¯t even be sure this wasn¡¯t yet another dream. It¡¯s not a dream, he thought. I¡¯m actually here. Rubbing his face, he slowly sat up so that he was now seated directly atop a table. Still groggy, his eyes were struggling to focus. Had he gotten into a fight and lost? Was that how he ended up here? What was the last thing he remembered? He tried to think. He¡¯d¡­wait. Hadn¡¯t he been in Shadowfall Coast? Yeah. He had. He remembered. He¡¯d gone to rescue Vim. Did he succeed? Maybe? Shit, how had that turned out? He didn¡¯t know. Really, he didn¡¯t. He strained to recall every detail he could. He remembered fighting that big guy and then sparing him because of his daughter. He¡¯d been hurt pretty badly, too. So he¡¯d carried Vim up the stairs of a secret, hidden exit, after which he had summoned his mount¡­and then? Well, that was when everything really started to get fuzzy in his head. He had no memories other than little flashes of running through the streets with his Kralzek¡¯s Beast. ¡°Here,¡± said a voice, one he recognized as belonging to Angelica. He turned his head her way, but he still couldn¡¯t quite see her just yet. Somewhat dazed and out of it, Zach raised his hand and accepted whatever she had given him, which felt like a cold glass. He took a sip. It was her custom-made cherry cola. Overcome with thirst, he downed the entire glass in just a few seconds. ¡°Are you okay?¡± she then asked him. Incredibly confused, Zach nodded. ¡°Yeah. Why¡­why am I here?¡± Angelica said nothing and gave him a very strange look. Then her cat ears twitched, and she turned around and walked away without answering. Reni Sarwin, who stood off to his side, also seemed to back away. Zach glanced around, hoping to glean some kind of understanding from the eyes of the adventurers nearest him, yet all of them turned their heads awkwardly. All except one. ¡°Zach in big trouble,¡± Fluffles said with a meow. Only now did he realize the cat was standing on the floor in front of him. ¡°Zach lie to Kalana.¡± ¡°I what?¡± he shouted, immediately shaking his head. ¡°I did not.¡± ¡°Yes. Yes, Zach lie.¡± The accusation roused him, chasing away whatever sleepiness remained. It also caused the rest of the fog to escape his head. Scooting forward, he hopped off the table and landed on both of his feet. Then he knelt down and pet his cat. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°Yes! Yes Zach know.¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Yes you do,¡± said a voice from behind him that sent shivers down his spine. Standing back up, Zach turned around, and there was Kalana. She was across from him, her hands on her hips, a sadness in her eyes. ¡°You do know.¡± Zach opened his mouth, but his words got caught in his throat. What did she know? Or better yet, how much did she know? And how had she found out? Was it because of his call to Fylwen? She¡¯d promised not to say anything unless Zach died, which he clearly hadn¡¯t. Come to think of it, why hadn¡¯t he died? He was so confused. He still had no idea why he was here or how he¡¯d arrived. Did Kalana have something to do with it? ¡°Kal,¡± he at last said, meeting her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s crazy meeting you here.¡± ¡°Stop,¡± she said angrily. ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t what?¡± She stepped forward so that she now stood just an inch before him. And there was so much sadness within her. ¡°You lied to me. You almost died. If I didn¡¯t get there when I did, then, umm, you wouldn¡¯t be here anymore, and I¡¯d be all alone. Why didn¡¯t you trust me?¡± ¡°Yeah, why didn¡¯t you trust her, asshole?¡± a random adventurer he didn¡¯t know shouted, causing murmurs of agreement. Why can¡¯t we do this in private? he thought, groaning for the third time in as many minutes. Do these people always need to pry into everything? Zach snapped his head around and glared at the adventurer who¡¯d shouted at him. ¡°Mind your own business or we¡¯re fighting.¡± He fully expected the adventurer to take the challenge and ask for the grapes. But to his surprise, the guy, who from the looks of things was fairly well experienced, instead averted his gaze, muttered something into his mug of ale, and piped down. This, Zach could hardly believe. Was he afraid? That was unusual. Never thought one of these guys would back down like that. Returning his attention to Kalana, he placed his hands on her shoulders and tried to speak softly. ¡°Look, I¡¯m really confused right now. I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m here or how I got here. I¡­I don¡¯t know what to say, but I¡¯m sure I can¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tell you why you¡¯re here,¡± she interrupted. ¡°You¡¯re here ¡®cause you were bleeding out on a sidewalk in Shadowfall Coast. And¡­and you were gonna die.¡± Her eyes dampened. ¡°And you went there without telling me even though I¡¯d do anything in the world to help you. And you didn¡¯t care. And you lied. You told me you were gonna rest, but you were really plotting with my mom to go and kill people. You lied to me!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t lie to you,¡± Zach lied. ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous, Kal.¡± She pushed his arms off her shoulders. ¡°Oh really? Then why were you there? Why were you in Shadowfall Coast?¡± Zach drew a breath, held it a moment, and then released it. ¡°It was a pottery convention,¡± he said with a shrug. ¡°It happens once a year downtown in the city. Rian told me about it. I was there to do pottery. And then the last thing I remember is that a, uh, uh¡­¡± ¡°A pottery terrorist attacked,¡± someone chimed in. Zach turned his head, and he sighed with relief. Rian actually happened to be here with them in the flesh. His buddy. He¡¯d come to bail him out of this mess or at least give him some moral support. Zach watched as his wide-framed friend strode over and slapped his palm down on Zach¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s true. Zach was the victim of pottery terrorism.¡± ¡°Oh, shut it, Ri,¡± Lienne said, joining them. She stood side by side with Trelvor. ¡°Both of you boys think it¡¯s just so funny and such a joke, but you hurt Kalana¡¯s feelings really bad.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Seiley added, and now Zach realized that she was present as well. ¡°Me and Trelvor saw the state you were in. I don¡¯t think you understand how close you were to dying. Or what you did to Her Highness. Do you know how much pain you caused her? So, both of you need to shut up and stop making jokes.¡± Zach flicked his eyes over to Rian, who gave him a very short, but noticeable nod. They were both likely thinking up a plan of escape. This wasn¡¯t a conversation he wanted to have right now. Because he really did lie to Kalana, but for important reasons¡ªand he didn¡¯t know how to explain that to her. Honestly, before he said anything that could get him into trouble, he really needed to first consult with Jascaila, who was like a lawyer but for his mind. He didn¡¯t want to have this conversation before speaking with her. Unfortunately, she wasn¡¯t here in Angelica¡¯s with them, which was disappointing. He even glanced around the tavern just to make sure. All around him, there were a whole lot of familiar faces, but hers was not among them. Her brother was certainly here, though, and he did not look pleased. Together with Zephyr, Donovan began stomping his way over to Zach, and when he did, every adventurer nearby got out of the way to let him pass. ¡°There you are,¡± Donovan said to him. Zach turned to face the larger, plate-armor-wearing man. ¡°Donovan,¡± Zach said to him in greeting. ¡°It¡¯s good to¡ªgahh!¡± Donovan cracked him over the side of the face, hard. Hard enough that Zach tasted blood. Immediately afterwards, the GSG leader reached forward with both arms and grabbed Zach, pulling him into a hug. ¡°Dumb kid, the fuck were you thinking? What kinda¡¯ shit did Alex put in your mind that you¡¯d go out and fuck around in a war zone?¡± He released Zach, and despite his incredible heavy-handedness, there was a startling amount of affection in the way he now spoke and acted. ¡°You know what kinda¡¯ trouble this can bring on the adventuring community? And yourself? We don¡¯t do this kinda¡¯ shit, Zach. You¡¯re smarter than this. You know better!¡± He grunted, loudly. ¡°You gotta cut it out. No more.¡± Zach rubbed his inflamed cheek. ¡°That was the last time. I promise.¡± ¡°It better be. Or you¡¯re exiled.¡± ¡°Exiled?¡± Zach asked, speaking the one-word question with an unusually high pitch. ¡°What do you mean exiled?¡± ¡°I mean out. Out of the adventuring community.¡± Zach threw up his arms in outrage. ¡°The fuck? Why? For what?¡± ¡°For what, he says,¡± Donovan mocked scornfully. ¡°For what. I¡¯ll tell you for what.¡± He poked Zach in the midsection hard enough that Zach was surprised he didn¡¯t crack a rib. ¡°For fuckin¡¯ around, that¡¯s for what.¡± Zach took note of his surroundings. This was really not a great spot to have this kind of conversation. But then again, one thing he¡¯d noticed about the adventuring community was that it did sort of operate like one big extended family. Grievances were very often aired right out in the open and among fellow adventurers, and aside from ¡°leaking¡± adventuring-related information to new or low-level adventurers, secrets rarely remained such for very long. Even still, a bit of privacy would¡¯ve been nice. With a sigh, Zach met Donovan¡¯s eyes and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t have a choice. You don¡¯t understand what¡¯s happening in the world right now.¡± ¡°And you don¡¯t understand that it ain¡¯t none of your gods-be-damned business. We. Don¡¯t. Get. Involved!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t have a choice!¡± Zach said again, this time more forcefully. ¡°They were going to execute Vim!¡± Donovan leaned his entire body back and widened his eyes as though the words Zach had just spoken were so surprising they nearly blew him away. ¡°So the hell what? Are you kidding me, kiddo? Why do you even care? Let the prick die. He¡¯s political guild trash the same as any other. It¡¯d be doing the world a favor.¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡­¡± Zach didn¡¯t finish his thought. Because he now realized there was no point in arguing this with Donovan. He just wouldn¡¯t understand. He didn¡¯t live in the same world that everybody else did. None of the adventurers did. It was what made them so amazing but also so detached from the truth. They just didn¡¯t understand what Zach was slowly beginning to learn¡ªfrom people like Jascaila, Mr. Oren, and even Vim. Having lost his father to the whims of a member of the guild he¡¯d just fought to save, there were few people who could understand hatred of the political guilds quite like Zach could. They were corrupt, hypocritical, and there certainly did exist members of these guilds who were pure evil and used their power to take advantage and harm others. But deep below the surface, if one were to cut through every layer, there was something not one-hundred-percent terrible there. Deep within most¡ªbut not all¡ªpolitical guild members there was, in fact, a genuine, true, and sincere desire to see the level-1 people they governed prosper. Yes, it could be lost sometimes amid their own greed and corruption. But that will did exist. Zach had seen it now too many times to deny it.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. They aren¡¯t exclusively bad. Donovan and the other adventurers¡­they just wouldn¡¯t understand. Kalana would, though. Yet right now, he had the sense she was refusing to back him up out of anger and disappointment for being lied to. But he could tell from the subtle shifts in her facial expression that she too disagreed with Donovan¡¯s assertion that what happened in Galterra was none of their concern. Rian and Lienne, on the other hand, sided with Donovan. ¡°I hate to go against you, but he does have a point,¡± Rian said. ¡°I know you were only there because you got guilted into it by ¡®Lord¡¯ Oren¡ªwhat an asshole to call himself that by the way¡ªbut I know this wasn¡¯t your fault. You need to just block his number and stop listening to him.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Lienne agreed, nodding enthusiastically. ¡°That guy is a huge dick. Don¡¯t forget the way he abandoned you and didn¡¯t even give you a proper orientation into the adventuring world. And remember how he made you feel like you were worthless?¡± Lienne and Rian were the first friends that Zach had made in the world of adventuring besides Fluffles, and they were together with him for his first ¡°true¡± adventure. Therefore, they knew better than anyone alive what his state of mind had been in the days after Kalana had left with Mr. Oren. He¡¯d told them all about how he¡¯d been given nothing more than a couple of gold and a few barely helpful tips before essentially being left to his fate. Due to this, they had never liked Mr. Oren. ¡°Don¡¯t let him involve you in anything else,¡± Rian said. ¡°Okay?¡± Zach wasn¡¯t sure how to respond. The situation was far more nuanced and complicated now than it¡¯d been back then. Moistening his lips, he tried to think of some way to explain this. Yet, having said nothing in a while, it was Kalana who decided to speak next. ¡°Alex is a good man,¡± she said, a bit of the sadness leaving her voice. ¡°I dunno why you guys hate him so much. You don¡¯t understand him or what he¡¯s trying to do.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not it at all,¡± Lienne replied. ¡°It¡¯s more that we don¡¯t care, and he keeps trying to involve us. It¡¯s fine that he left the adventuring world, but he keeps trying to involve himself in it. If he¡¯s gone, then he should be gone.¡± Kalana¡¯s facial features tightened. ¡°So you¡¯re saying somebody can¡¯t, umm, be an adventurer and still care about the world? ¡®Cause I do. Should I leave too?¡± ¡°N-no,¡± Lienne quickly replied, her face flushing with color. ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant, Kalana.¡± ¡°Well it sounds like you did, and it¡¯s mean to say that about him. And don¡¯t forget that I¡¯m gonna be the governor of Whispery Woods very soon, and I¡¯m still not gonna quit adventuring.¡± Lienne held up her finger and stammered out a few nonsensical words before seemingly finding herself. ¡°Ahh¡­well, okay, but¡­okay. Yeah. But don¡¯t forget, you¡¯re an Elf. So it¡¯s different.¡± Zach could see the transition in her face as she shifted gears as though surprised to stumble on an actually good argument. As she continued to speak, she spoke with even more confidence. ¡°Elves don¡¯t even need the buff to get here,¡± she said. ¡°My boyfriend doesn¡¯t have it, for example.¡± She patted Trelvor¡¯s hip, and Zach had to suppress a chuckle. As a loyal, dedicated, white-cloaked Elvish warrior, Trelvor was now caught watching an argument between his girlfriend and the princess. Zach doubted he would say a word from this point forward. His face had hardened like stone, and aside from a general look of discomfort, there was no indication he planned to chime in. ¡°All I¡¯m saying,¡± Lienne continued, ¡°is that humans have a different set of rules, and we don¡¯t mix adventuring and politics. That¡¯s all I meant by that. Of course it¡¯s different for you.¡± Kalana¡¯s expression softened, though Zach wasn¡¯t sure why. He knew she couldn¡¯t have agreed whatsoever with what Lienne was saying. If anything, what Lienne had just said was more likely to increase the level of disagreement between the two. So maybe it wasn¡¯t based on that at all. Knowing Kalana, she probably detected that Lienne was struggling for an offramp and was willing to give her one. It was the kind of thing she¡¯d do. ¡°I understand,¡± Kalana said. She held out her hand and took Lienne¡¯s. ¡°We can be friends and disagree. Right?¡± ¡°O-of course!¡± Lienne replied. ¡°Also, I never got around to telling you how beautiful your curtains are.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Kalana exclaimed. ¡°Zach never even noticed them and he¡¯s been there for weeks. Wow. You like the dark red?¡± As the two suddenly blasted the conversation into orbit, Zach leaned in closer to Rian and whispered, ¡°We should escape.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he replied. ¡°What do you say we take the cat and get out of here?¡± Rian snickered, and then so too did Zach. And it was only in this moment that Zach became aware of how¡­how ¡°okay¡± he was. And the fact that he was so okay actually disturbed him. Unlike the last time he¡¯d had to bloody his hands, he¡¯d begun very numb before the pain built up and had driven him crazy, both increasing his overall jitters and causing him to have several meltdowns. But right now? He wasn¡¯t numb. Truly, he wasn¡¯t. He just didn¡¯t¡­care? Why am I not more upset? He¡¯d killed so many people. Far more than the last time. Maybe even more than a hundred. So why wasn¡¯t he thinking about it? He wasn¡¯t avoiding it, either. He wanted to think about it. He wanted to feel something about it. But he just plain didn¡¯t feel like any of it was his own fault¡ªbecause it wasn¡¯t. It just felt like a continuation of sorts: another example of him being forced to deal with the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s evil. They really were responsible for this. It wasn¡¯t something Zach questioned anymore. He might have struck the blow, but the people he¡¯d killed were murdered by their own guild, not him. And yet, despite it all, it actually bothered Zach how not upset he was. He wanted to be upset. For the sake of his own humanity, he wanted to feel at least something. The fact he didn¡¯t made him question if he was wrong and if he was, in fact, numb. But when he thought about Kalana¡¯s island, his plans for the future, and what was very much a desire for him to continue adventuring and grow, he realized he reflected upon these things with hope and optimism. He also knew he had very important tasks to attend to, such as heading to Dragon¡¯s Squire and beginning the next step of his journey. He wasn¡¯t numb. He was just¡­over it. But first I have to make things right with Kalana, he realized. That¡¯s more important than anything else. ¡°Kal,¡± he said¡ªand she turned her head towards him. She¡¯d been animatedly discussing tapestry or some other boring topic with Lienne, but now she looked over to him instead. ¡°Mhm?¡± she asked, narrowing her eyes. He didn¡¯t want to do this in front of everyone. He moved towards her and lowered his voice so that only she could hear him. ¡°Do you still love me?¡± She slapped him across the face, though not nearly as hard as Donovan had. It didn¡¯t even seem intentional. ¡°Of course, you dork! How could you even¡­how could you ask that?¡± Zach rubbed his cheek. ¡°I¡¯m just worried that, you know, because of this¡­¡± ¡°That I¡¯d leave you?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± His words caused an even greater pain to flare up in her, which was evident from the look of shock that became painted onto her expression. ¡°That¡¯s not how this works! Why are you so dumb all the time?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he whispered. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry that I hurt you. I know I lied to you. I even knew it was wrong when I did it. It hurt me to do it.¡± ¡°So why did you?¡± ¡°Because I just didn¡¯t agree with you.¡± ¡°You what?¡± she asked, appearing genuinely perplexed. ¡°Agree with me about what?¡± Zach, still keeping his voice low, tried his best to explain. ¡°It¡¯s an argument we didn¡¯t have. But we would have had.¡± ¡°Nah-uh.¡± ¡°No, Kal, listen, we would have. If I had told you what I felt I had to do, you¡ª¡± ¡°¡ªwould have supported you!¡± she insisted, cutting him off. Zach grabbed her hips and leaned forward, resting his forehead on hers. ¡°No, you wouldn¡¯t,¡± he whispered. ¡°You would have supported a different version. You would¡¯ve tried to save Vim without killing anybody.¡± ¡°Yeah. And we could¡¯ve.¡± ¡°And that, Kal. That¡¯s why I lied to you. That¡¯s the only reason. If you really want to know that badly why I lied, now you do. That¡¯s literally the only reason why.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± she said, pain in her voice. Zach closed his eyes and continued to rest his forehead against hers. ¡°I don¡¯t care how much you think otherwise. Trying to do what I did while not killing anybody¡­that¡¯s impossible. Even if you¡¯re a hundred-percent sure we could¡¯ve made it work, you¡¯d still be wrong.¡± She placed her hands on his cheeks. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you trust me enough to try, baby? I dunno why you couldn¡¯t just give me a chance to prove it to you.¡± ¡°Because I knew how that would end.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°With you in a position where you either had to kill dozens of people or watch them kill me. That¡¯s how that ends. With your beautiful face covered in blood. With your hands just¡­just drenched in it. I can¡¯t live with seeing you that way. I lied to you because I love you. That¡¯s the only reason. I¡¯m telling you the truth.¡± ¡°I believe you,¡± she said, a slight whimper in her words. ¡°But if you don¡¯t at least try, you¡¯ll never know that I was right.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not right.¡± ¡°I am! We don¡¯t gotta kill people.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t. I do.¡± ¡°No!¡± Zach pulled away from her. This would be a conversation they¡¯d have to resume later. Too many people were trying to eavesdrop, and this was none of their business. Even still, he felt relieved to have been able to explain himself to her, and though her eyes were once again damp, he could tell that she was relieved to understand. Even if she disagreed with him, he could see that it mattered very much to her that, if nothing else, she understood why he¡¯d done what he¡¯d done, and his reasons for doing so. Looking around, and eager to change the subject to something a bit brighter and more fun, Zach sighed and asked, ¡°Hey, where¡¯s Jimmy? I bet he kicked so much ass at your raid.¡± And it was upon this question that the expressions on those around him became soured and uneasy, which caused a sinking feeling to appear in Zach¡¯s stomach. ¡°Uh¡­guys?¡± Donovan¡¯s expression hardened, and Zephyr¡¯s tightened as well. Kalana began chewing her bottom lip, and both Lienne and Rian exchanged uncertain glances. Trelvor and Seiley, on the other hand, looked just as confused as Zach did. The rest of the adventurers also had various traces of concern entering their eyes as they regarded Zach and one another. ¡°Where is Jimmy?¡± Zach repeated, now speaking more loudly and demandingly. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°He¡¯s fine, physically,¡± Zephyr answered. ¡°He¡¯s definitely alive.¡± Zach flinched. ¡°What the hell kind of reply is that?¡± ¡°He just needs time.¡± Time? Something wasn¡¯t right. These replies were so unusual and strange. The way Zephyr had answered his questions confirmed to him that something had clearly happened, and Zach needed to know what it was. ¡°Guys, what happened? Seriously.¡± Kalana placed two of her fingers on his arm, and she scrunched up her lips a moment as though trying to figure out how to word her reply. Eventually, she said, ¡°Jimmy got hurt really badly, but he¡¯s okay. Umm, but he says he quit.¡± ¡°Quit?¡± Zach exclaimed. ¡°The fuck is that supposed to mean? Just tell me what happened. Stop being so weird and cryptic. Come on, guys. Out with it.¡± And so, for the next ten minutes, Zach listened in as Donovan, Zephyr, Kalana, Rian, Lienne, and even Fluffles all recounted the boss raid that Jimmy had apparently led in Trials of Nolak. With each subsequent detail, Zach felt more and more physically disturbed as the story progressed. With an unusual degree of empathy, he could actually feel the embarrassment Jimmy must have suffered. Angrily, he pointed a finger at Donovan. ¡°Why did you do that to him? Fucking dick!¡± ¡°Watch it,¡± Donovan snapped back at him with a low grunt. ¡°This was the best thing that could¡¯a happened. He needed to understand that real life ain¡¯t the same as some fuckin¡¯ simulation. Now he knows.¡± Zach slammed his fist on the table. ¡°How is this good? He quit.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not quitting shit. He¡¯ll lick his wounds, and he¡¯ll come back.¡± ¡°And you know this how?¡± ¡°I just do.¡± Zach waved his hand at Donovan, not even willing to hear this bullshit. It also made him feel truly guilty for not being there. If Zach had been present, this never would¡¯ve happened. He wouldn¡¯t have let it. Perhaps more so than anyone else in Angelica¡¯s, Zach knew what embarrassment felt like. He understood what being robbed of dignity felt like. Being humiliated or disgracing oneself in front of others¡­he¡¯d been there too many times to count. ¡°Where is he now?¡± ¡°Nobody knows,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Tena¡¯s been looking for him everywhere, but we can¡¯t find him.¡± Donovan ordered another mug of ale and then glared at Zach. ¡°Let him be. He needs to lick his wounds. He learned a hard lesson, and it¡¯s gonna be for the best.¡± ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t agree, sorry.¡± Zach got up from the table and looked around. ¡°One of you is going to tell me where he is or, or I¡¯m going to start flipping tables.¡± ¡°Zach, nobody knows,¡± Zephyr insisted. ¡°We¡¯re not lying to you. He roped out of the dungeon and just¡­vanished. He could be anywhere on Galterra. Or not on Galterra at all. Either is possible.¡± Zach reached into his pocket and removed his phone. He glanced down at it, then thumbed through his contacts. He found Jimmy¡¯s new number and sent a message consisting of nothing more than a dot, then waited to see if one or two checkmarks appeared at the bottom right. ¡°Okay. He¡¯s definitely on Galterra.¡± ¡°Really? How do you know?¡± Zephyr asked. Zach looked at the man. ¡°Because I texted him and his phone received it.¡± ¡°Clever.¡± Stretching his back a moment, he took another slow breath and then turned to Kalana, extending his hand to her. ¡°Want to help me find him?¡± Some of the sadness retreated from her eyes, and she nodded enthusiastically, taking his hand. ¡°Mhm!¡± Donovan protested, and so did many of the other adventurers, but Zach didn¡¯t care. The last thing he wanted was to let Jimmy fester in his own misery. He¡¯d been there. It sucked. Yet he didn¡¯t want to overwhelm the guy, either, which was why he was taking Kalana and no one else. Well, maybe Fluffles. But that wasn¡¯t really up to him. He couldn¡¯t control where the cat went or what the cat did. No one could. It was impossible. ¡°We must accompany you,¡± Trelvor said, and so did Seiley as they made their way to the door. ¡°Our orders were to keep an eye on you and the princess.¡± ¡°Well, if they¡¯re going, so are we,¡± Rian and Lienne insisted. From the urgency in their step, it only first occurred now to Zach just how much fear and anxiety the siblings must¡¯ve been suffering through in the past few hours. The Elves they had fallen for had been called into a war zone. They must have felt at least some of what Kalana had endured. Only, unlike Kalana, they were not at a level where they could rush in and defend the people they cared about. Zach rubbed his eyes a moment to ward off the stress he felt rising within himself. ¡°Fine,¡± he at last agreed. ¡°But I have no idea where I¡¯m even going. Or where to begin looking.¡± ¡°Fluffles know,¡± the cat said proudly. ¡°You do?¡± Zach asked, kneeling down next to him. Fluffles meowed. ¡°Jimmy Green on Faded Island.¡± ¡°Faded Island?¡± Zach repeated, the name surprising him. ¡°The hell¡¯s he doing all the way over there?¡± Faded Island was an island region of North Bastia, though it was monumentally larger than Elendroth and was home to a great many people. It was the sole region controlled by the Children of Order, whose leader, Fiona Darkmae, was both the youngest guild leader in recorded history and likely the most beautiful, too. But why had Jimmy gone there? Sure, it was a decent enough place from what Zach had heard, but there wasn¡¯t anything ¡°special¡± there in particular. Faded Island was known, among other things, as being the happiest region in all of humanity. Due to its isolation, the politics of the rest of the world had rarely affected it throughout history. Outside of the conquest of Peter I and the establishment of the monarchy, Zach recalled learning in history class that Faded Island had been under the stable rule of the Children of Order for a very, very, very long time. In fact, the Children of Order had been in charge of Faded Island so long that their continuous control over the region stretched for an even longer consecutive period than the Royal Roses¡¯ rule of Giant¡¯s Fall did. Going off memory alone, Zach was fairly certain there were no large cities to be found on Faded Island, and there wasn¡¯t a great deal of tourism. Yet the island was also virtually devoid of any rural areas or meaningfully large stretches of nature or wilderness. The entire island, from top to bottom, was essentially one gigantic suburbia. No matter where one happened to be on the island, they were never more than a mile away from a nearby supermarket or movie theater. Shopping lots were ubiquitous, and wherever a community of homes was to be found, one would never be far. The people of Faded Island tended to live as though the rest of the world did not exist, and rarely were they troubled by global events. Zach wouldn¡¯t be surprised if most of them even tuned out the dragon. They didn¡¯t tend to take anything seriously unless it happened in their own region. So, in that light, perhaps it did explain why Jimmy had chosen to go there. A place like that could be a magnet to someone like him. ¡°Fluffles, help us find him, okay?¡± ¡°Okay. I help.¡± ******* ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m in New Jersey,¡± Jimmy cackled, laughing aloud as his new friends cheered him on. ¡°This whole region is just like New Jersey. I swear. Yo, bartender. Hook me up with another.¡± He tapped his shot glass on the table. ¡°Another round for everybody. On me.¡± Unlike Angelica¡¯s, they didn¡¯t care that he was underage here. Like, they would have cared, but because he wasn¡¯t level 1, the rules didn¡¯t apply to him, apparently. Actually, people had been scared shitless of him at first, everybody calling his ass ¡°sir¡± and shit like. But you know what? They were cool. Once they all started drinking together, they mellowed out. And now, with the sun having risen, the party was still going on. But first he had to vomit. Hopping out of his stool, he rushed into the bathroom in the back, leaned over the sink, and then let it all purge out of him. In the background, he could hear the guys laughing. ¡°Jimmy¡¯s puking again!¡± Whatever. At least he was having fun. He was done with the adventuring world. But he was still stuck here. So he might as well find a place that most reminded him of something from home, and he might as well get drunk in it. He had enough gold that he could outright buy a fully detached home with enough left over to live and get drunk for a few years on top of that. He was trapped here. He was never going home. Might as well get drunk. Chapter 162: Tickets Chapter 162: Tickets In the immediate aftermath of Olivir¡¯s cruel, heinous ¡°sacrifice,¡± the way ahead was now open¡ªbut only for the moment. The disruption and disarray caused by the army of self-destructing, reanimated corpses, combined with the small delay before the enemy managed to load another round of rockets onto their MLRS, meant that a window now existed in which the badly battered remnants of the mechanized infantry brigades, as well as the fresh¡ªand far more numerous¡ªlight infantry troops stood a very real chance of getting in and capturing the objective. Even better, their artillery had now gotten into place and had begun shelling the highway, clearing their way forward. But victory was still far from certain. A twisting, burning sourness spread through Alex¡¯s insides as he took in the corpse-strewn battlefield. It wasn¡¯t even because the number of dead on both sides was higher than he¡¯d anticipated, but rather, it was more that actually seeing it for himself brought things into perspective in a way that little else could. It really highlighted Alex¡¯s feeling of extreme desire to finally end this wickedness. He had joined the Lords of Justice to serve as a conduit between human beings and the other races of Galterra: not to slaughter people or¡­or ¡°sacrifice¡± them. He¡¯d quit adventuring and had left behind his old life out of a desire to make the world a more peaceful place for everyone. And yet, here he was, doing this. ¡°Advance!¡± he shouted into the Comm. ¡°Leveled squads, get in there and batter your way through. Go now while you still can! Watch out for enemy trickery!¡± If there is one moment in my entire life where I make a difference, then please, Gods, let it be this one. Alex raised his right hand as high as he could, reaching above the top of his head. He held his breath a moment as he concentrated. Mentally, he focused on what he wanted: what he yearned for. Less than a mile ahead of him was a section of the northern highway, and bodies littered it as well as the grasslands before it. But beyond this was where the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s defensive perimeter had moved. And from the looks of things, they¡¯d finally brought out their truly powerful assets. Until now, anyone with any real status in the guild had remained hunkered down somewhere much deeper inside the city. But that seemed to have changed. Even from this distance, Alex could vaguely recognize numerous individuals who ranked in the top 50 of the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s hierarchy. And although he would not be certain until he ventured nearer, Alex was fairly sure that, among this defensive line of leveled fighters, was a man he believed to be none other than the third-in-command of the Guild of Gentlemen. And he was also someone Alex knew very, very well. Strong as an ox, braver than a bear, and looming larger than most, the third-ranking member of the Guild of Gentlemen wasn¡¯t just someone that Alex knew due to his significance on the world stage or by virtue of his rank, nor was it someone Alex knew out of mere responsibility given his new role in life. No, this was a man Alex had dined with, laughed with, and whose estate he¡¯d visited on holidays. For he was none other than Wexzel Ultdern, the younger brother to the cat-loving adventurer, Maric Ultdern, though ¡°younger¡± in this context meant that the man was only around a century old. They really don¡¯t want to let us through here. They¡¯re starting to bring out the big players. Supposedly, for the first 80 years of his life, Maric had been one of the highest-ranking members of the Guild of Gentlemen, before inexplicably and bafflingly throwing it all away to become an adventurer and, even more confusingly, a university graduate in the field of nuclear science¡ªat the age of around 90, nonetheless. After joining the GSG, Alex had fast become friends with Maric, and occasionally, Maric would invite Alex to his family¡¯s estate, where he¡¯d dine with Maric and Wexzel, a man Alex had always found surprisingly tolerable and kind for being a political guild member. And now I¡¯ll have to kill him. Wexzel, along with a well-armored, well-equipped, and sturdy-looking row of other leveled members of the Guild of Gentlemen, were now standing frontmost ahead of 1st Avenue and forming almost a barricade of their own. A great number of the enemy¡¯s troops were sheltered behind them, having ceded much of the northern highway. And behind all of them were the MLRS systems that would be firing again at any moment. Though it was difficult to make out, Alex was sure he spotted two large columns of MLRS occupying the entirety of the two-way street that made up 1st and Haven St. as well as 1st and New Town. It may well have even extended into 1st and Killington, but Alex was unable to see that far. Interestingly, the artillery was being manually reloaded as opposed to machine loaded; hundreds of burly, level-1 men were carrying the rockets and attaching them in person. Yet they were moving fast, which meant their forces had no time to waste in storming forward. No matter what, they simply couldn¡¯t afford to eat another barrage of rocket fire. It was going to take everything they had¡ªAlex included. And so, with his hand still raised, Alex activated his one and only unique ability: Summon Blade of Soul. Immediately, four blue rings came into existence above his hand, and all four popped straight up, with one stacked on top of the other. All four rings then fell as Alex clenched his open hand into a fist, causing the first ring to travel down his arm and stop just above his shoulder. The second then slid down to his upper arm, the third to his forearm, and the last by his wrist. Now, all four rings began to spin, faster and faster, shooting out orange-colored sparks until they flew up and off his arm a second time, heading straight upwards. But this time, rather than fall, they bunched up together, and all four rings combined into one solid mass of liquidized metal¡ªwhich began to stretch, elongate, and shape itself into something larger, solid, and sword-shaped. The blade of this sword turned from a blue-orange into a shimmering, sharp silver, and the hilt became black and polished. Once it had completed forming, Alex swiped his floating blade out of the air in front of him, and to stretch his muscles, he swung it several times back and forth at the emptiness ahead, the sound of a whoosh following each slash. Then, weapon in hand, he craned his neck to look at High-Lord Besh, who was still standing beside him. ¡°You should stay here,¡± he said. ¡°Or better yet, move a bit farther back.¡± Kolorn seemed to balk at this. ¡°Excuse yourself, Lord Oren. I¡¯m the leader of this damned guild. I can¡¯t cower in the back while I watch the rest of us die!¡± ¡°Yes, you can,¡± Alex insisted. ¡°Sir, you¡¯re not just the leader of the Lords of Justice. You¡¯re also the closest thing humanity has to a leader as well.¡± Alex shook his head. ¡°You can¡¯t be allowed to die in this battle. Please don¡¯t risk plunging us into an even more unstable world by dying and creating a power struggle for control of Dal¡¯Zarrah.¡± There was reluctance in Kolorn¡¯s eyes as he spat out a wad of saliva but nevertheless obliged Alex¡¯s request. ¡°We¡¯ve paid a grave price so far,¡± he said as he began to back away. ¡°Just make sure it ends up being worth it in the end, Lord Oren. The future of humanity depends on it¡ªand on you.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± High-Lord Besh pressed his clenched fist against his chest. ¡°Show them your conviction, Lord Oren.¡± His guild-leader¡¯s words spurring him on, Alex bent his knees a moment then blasted forward, running as fast as his legs would carry him. This would be the second time in recent memory where he¡¯d allow himself to run at such a reckless, dangerous speed. But he needed to get in the fight as fast as he could. He needed to give every last bit of himself, sparing nothing. Because that, and only that, stood any chance of leading to the kind of world he wanted to live in. Thus, with his sword held in a reverse grip in his right hand, he pumped his arms as he ran, his feet stomping down on the grass with enough force to send constant, massive clumps of dirt behind him like a watercraft zipping through the ocean. The world whipped by as he tore ahead, and for every bit of speed he gained, the wind seemed to pick up and try to match him, losing out each time. Sparing no exertion, he raced towards the battle. Finally, as he darted onto the highway, and his feet began to rip up asphalt while simultaneously creating sparks, he dug both of them into the ground and came into a sliding stop, leaving a trail behind himself as he slowed and then came to a halt just before colliding with a bunch of level-1 troops, whose terrified faces seemed to become just the slightest bit more emboldened upon seeing him. ¡°Lord Oren!¡± a young man shouted. He was almost the exact same age as Zach. He looked like he belonged in Alex¡¯s classroom, not here on the battlefield. It was another reminder of the ugliness of war. ¡°Thank the Gods,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re joining us!¡± Alex offered the kid a confident smile as well as a friendly rap with his fist on the helmet. ¡°Who¡¯re you with?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Private Kenseg Nisha, sir,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m with Hope Company, 3rd infantry brigade.¡± ¡°It¡¯s good to meet you, Kenseg. Hey, do you mind if I borrow those?¡± Alex pointed to the binoculars secured around the boy¡¯s chest by a strap. ¡°Uh, sure! Wow. Yeah. Of course you can!¡± He removed them and handed them to Alex, who lifted them to his face and peered through the eyepieces. Though he was eager to charge right in to the fight, he needed to make sure he did not waste his potential reinforcing at the wrong spot. He was positive he had the strength to have a significant impact on the battle, but only if he struck exactly where he was needed the most. And so, with a much clearer view now of the city, he took a look around, honing in on where the highway transitioned to 1st Avenue, as that was there the leveled squads were just about to be facing off against the¡­hey, wait a second. What¡­what was that behind them? It looked like the MLRS were¡­ Gods, no! Alex shouted in his mind as he realized he¡¯d wildly miscalculated. It¡¯s too soon! Alex saw something: something he did not wish to see. Immediately, his heart began pounding in his chest. He blinked. Then he blinked again. Yet neither contraction of his eyes changed the truth of what they saw. Turning on a dime, his mood, morale, and confidence plummeted. His muscles tensed so tightly his body began to ache. He even chewed his bottom lip to the point he tasted blood. For all that he¡¯d tried to hurry, it seemed he was too late. The MLRS had finished reloading, as evident by the sight of all nearby troops on 1st Avenue squatting down, their chins tucked into their chests, many with their hands covering their ears; this meant that, at any second now, they were expecting the artillery to fire. And when it did, thousands more on Alex¡¯s side were going to die. But even more troubling would be the psychological impact it had on the troops. The first barrage had badly rattled the infantry and even many of the leveled squads. The second barrage? It would cause a tremendous number of them to break. They would turn around and flee. Alex was certain of this. No matter the stakes at hand, they simply would not be able to withstand the terror that came with another bombardment. Truly, it was a miracle that the men and women fighting for the Lords of Justice had managed to keep pressing on as they had after the first such bombardment. But asking them to endure yet another hammering from the enemy¡¯s rocket artillery? For sure, that would spell the end of the invasion. At that point, it would be all up to Queen Vayra¡ªwhich meant a complete eradication of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives caught in the crossfire. What can I do? Alex thought, dejected and frustrated, a sick feeling snaking down his throat. I can¡¯t stop it. We¡¯re just too late. The only thing I can still do is warn the troops to brace themselves for artillery fire, but there¡¯s no stopping what happens next. The Gods curse me! Faced with an unstoppable, imminent threat, Alex took the only action he still could. If it even saved one single life, it would be still be for the better. ¡°All brigades!¡± he called into his Comm. ¡°Get to cover immediately! The enemy is about to fire another barrage of¡­another barrage of¡­¡± Alex¡¯s words quieted then trailed off completely as his eyes caught sight of something in the corner of his vision: something far up above that caused his head to turn skyward. It was something he saw first and then heard, though the sound of it came very soon after. It was the high-pitched, thunderous whine of four supersonic aircraft blazing across the sky. The fighter jets! With a screech as they carved a path through the air, the four F-15E Strike Eagles flew low over 1st Avenue, then continued on right past it, causing thousands of heads to look upwards as they soared directly overhead before continuing on their way, now moving in the direction of the grasslands. Yet it was what they left behind in their wake that Alex was more interested in. Even as they only first began to turn around midair and reverse direction, the first of the giant booms echoed throughout the city. Then came the rest.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Now, it was the Guild of Gentlemen who were forced to endure the horror of a bombardment. Multiple deafening blasts filled the world along with several flashes of light and fire; yet, even still, the equally loud cheering from the troops storming the city managed to somehow rival it. Many raised their rifles above their heads and roared out in celebration as all of 1st and Haven St. went up in fire and smoke. ¡°Kill them all!¡± the young man next to Alex screamed. ¡°Send them to hell, Royal Roses! Yeahhhh!¡± Reversing their direction, the planes came back around, and now they flew once more over 1st Avenue, moving so fast that they had practically disappeared out of sight when yet another series of explosions rocked the city street, one even taking down a two-story residential building. Though Alex said nothing, he did not appreciate the way the men and women cheered for that as well. But at least¡­at least the Gods had sent them a miracle. ¡°How you holding up, Lord Oren?¡± asked Vim Alazar over the Comm line. Never had Alex wanted to hear his voice so badly. ¡°You were sounding pretty gloomy there a second ago.¡± ¡°You just¡­you saved us, Sir Alazar,¡± Alex breathed out, suddenly realizing he felt low on oxygen for having held his breath through most of this. ¡°You bet your ass I did. Don¡¯t worry: we¡¯re just getting started, so keep pushing! As for us, we emptied out the Piercing Thorn, and everyone who can hold a gun, a sword, or a staff is joining me in the attack. We¡¯re ending this today! Anyways, the Royal Roses always take care of our allies. Never forget that.¡± ¡°Thank you. On behalf of everyone in the Lords of Justice, you have my utmost gratitude.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. And like I said, we¡¯re just getting started.¡± True to his word, the fighter jets wrapped around and commenced a third, then fourth bombing run. Then, rather than resupply for more bombs and missiles, they began extending their flaps, which slowed them down enough so that they could begin firing their six-barrel gatling guns, absolutely ripping apart and shredding legions of level-1s who had the misfortune of being out in the open. Many of the shots went wide and killed innocent people sheltering inside nearby buildings. It was a scene of absolute devastation, yet the men and women of the Lords of Justice, both leveled and infantry alike, were absolutely loving every moment of it. The cheering intensified, and morale skyrocketed. Alex was far too disgusted by the entire affair to feel any sort of cheer. It was a tragedy that so many were dying. All he wanted was for this to be dealt with: for the Guild of Gentlemen to cease being a threat. Humans deserved better than the way they treated each other. Gods, please, what would it take for humans to finally tire of this? To finally put war behind them for good? We¡¯ll do what we have to do, and then we¡¯ll pick up the pieces, Alex thought. With the F-15E Strike Eagles entering the fray, Alex¡¯s entire plan now had to change to accommodate their arrival. All around him, level-1 troops were gazing up at the aircraft as though they were winged angels sent by the Gods themselves to personally deliver them to salvation. But to Alex, they were just more pieces of an ever-expanding puzzle. A puzzle that had so many moving parts it was difficult to keep track of them all. Truly, it was. With so many variables and so many factors, no one could reasonably be expected to account for everything. And that was why Alex did not end up blaming himself for forgetting about the ring. That was why he did not end up chastising either himself or any of those below him for failing to mention it, nor would he point the finger at the Royal Roses, who above all, should have considered it. Because why would they? Why would anyone be expected to remember the ring? Yes, that ring from several weeks ago that had dropped from the dragon. That ring from an event that had taken place before a nuclear bomb had eradicated a city, and before a war had been reignited, and before Alex had come to discover the truth of King Morrison¡¯s bluff. With so much going on in the world, and far too many factors to consider, how could anyone fault him, his guild, the Royal Roses, or really anyone for completely forgetting that the Guild of Gentlemen had stolen an artifact-quality ring? That they had in their possession a level-115 item that had a particular ability usable just once every month: an ability that summoned a level-190 sky drake? But now, Alex sure did remember it, and so did just about everyone else, too. All it took to jog everyone''s memory was a single, terrifying scream. ¡°GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!¡± ******** ¡°I won!¡± Zach cheered. He stood up from the table in this casino-like card parlor, which was decorated all around with flashing lights and had dozens of random, non-sentient NPCs in fancy, flashy dresses doing any number of silly activities. With a big grin, he extended his arm and high-fived Kalana, as well as Tena, whom they¡¯d managed to pick up before coming here. Gods, was this place incredible. It might¡¯ve been the best place. Zach couldn¡¯t believe he hadn¡¯t come here until now. ¡°Ding-ding-ding,¡± the machine at the table beeped as little, square-shaped, and orange tickets began sliding out of a slot beneath it. The cowboy-hat-wearing NPC, a handsome-looking man in rodeo gear chewing a toothpick, dramatically threw down his stack of cards and said, ¡°Gosh-darn it! I fold. Ya¡¯ll gonna run me out of Texas!¡± The six of them had been sitting at the table playing a game called ¡°Texas Hold ¡¯em.¡± At first, Fluffles had been playing as well, but he¡¯d given up after complaining that it was ¡°stupid and boring.¡± Zach actually found himself really liking it once he¡¯d gotten into the groove, though he had no idea what a ¡°Texas¡± was or why anybody needed to ¡°hold it.¡± Either way, he laughed as he greedily scooped up his tickets. ¡°I lost again,¡± Trelvor said, scratching his head. ¡°This game is¡­not for me.¡± ¡°Oh, come on. Enjoy it.¡± Zach fucking loved this place, this so-called ¡°dungeon.¡± Despite never having come here until now, he¡¯d learned recently that Hamen¡¯s Isle was actually the most traveled dungeon in all of Galterra, even more than Yorna¡¯s or Tower of Eternity. Or at least it was the most-popular dungeon until Trials of Nolak was put back on the map thanks to him and Jimmy. But all that aside, it was still a very close second, and honestly, it was always only a matter of time before Zach ended up here. I love it so much! Since becoming an adventurer, if there was one name the other adventurers could never shut up about, it was the Great One known as ¡°Olandrin.¡± Everyone was obsessed with him, even Fluffles. All they ever wanted to do was talk about Olandrin and his amazing dungeons, with this being one of them. And now, finally, Zach could understand why. This was the safest he¡¯d ever felt in a dungeon. Honestly, you¡¯d probably have to try to die in a place like this. The few mobs that even existed were just slimes lower than level 5, and they weren¡¯t even really meant to be attacked. They were passive and only seemed to serve as like a sort of ¡°decoration¡± in certain locations. Aside from the slimes, there were no bosses to fight, and there was also shockingly no ¡°order¡± in which an adventurer needed to traverse the floors. The entire dungeon was just an amusement-park-like island, where each ¡°attraction¡± had a number that stood in place of a floor, and each floor could be accessed from the central hub whenever you wanted. There were even metal placards, billboards, and other guiding signs all over the island with arrows indicating where you were currently and where you had to go depending on the ¡°floor¡± you wanted to reach. Based on what Zach could see, the entire dungeon served as the central transit hub for North Bastia, even more so than Yorna¡¯s and TOE. It was, as far as he was aware, the only known way to get to and from Faded Island. But it also wasn¡¯t as simple as merely moving through it, either. Unlike with Yorna¡¯s, where you just had to proceed from one location to the next, in Hamen¡¯s Isle, you had to earn your passage by playing games or satisfying other requirements. And yes, failing did in fact come with certain consequences, only they weren¡¯t of the dangerous, dying kind. For example, right now, in this very moment, Zach and Kal were both ¡°suffering¡± the consequence of failure. And anyone who looked at them would be aware of this, as giant, four-foot-tall, blue steeple hats with the word ¡°dunce¡± was glued to the top their heads. For the next twenty minutes, they would be unable to remove them. And that, by the way, was all the fault of Fluffles, who had somehow ended up on their team during a match of ¡°Galterran Trivia¡± against an NPC on F11. During the game, Fluffles, who had his own little cat chair next to him, Kalana, and Tena, kept on using his paw on the buzzer whenever it lit up, and each time, he answered ¡°give tuna¡± no matter the question. Oh, he was also wearing one of the hats too, by the way. And in his case, he might¡¯ve been the only adventurer in history who genuinely considered it a real form of serious punishment. ¡°Get it off!¡± he hissed, rolling around on the multi-colored, whimsically tiled flooring in this wide, open, and spacious gaming hall on F5. ¡°Fluffles suffering! I suffer!¡± Kalana knelt down and scratched his chin. ¡°Awwh! I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯ll come off on its own in fifteen more minutes.¡± ¡°Kalana kill Fluffles,¡± the cat begged. ¡°I hate hats!¡± Zach turned his head away and pressed his fist to his mouth so he could conceal his laughter, as he knew Fluffles would take it personally. As Lienne, Tena, and Kalana all tried to comfort the cat, he, Rian, and Trelvor had to turn away so that they wouldn¡¯t be spotted giggling. Fluffles was clearly not appreciating this place as much as Zach did. Honestly, Zach couldn¡¯t believe that something this fun could actually be called a dungeon. A dungeon! ¡°So, what should we do next?¡± he asked as he stretched his shoulder muscles and looked around. He raised his index finger and an attractive, non-sentient, female NPC wearing a glitzy red dress came by, snatched five of his tickets out of his hand, and returned less than a minute later with a regular cola. ¡°How many more tickets does everybody still need to get to Faded Island?¡± Tena asked. She spoke as though she were trying her hardest to sound patient, though it was obvious that she clearly wasn¡¯t. Before Fluffles had earned his ¡°punishment hat,¡± she had been the only one of them who Zach could tell wasn¡¯t having any fun, though in her case, it was totally understandable. She probably wanted everybody to hurry up and get the tickets needed to buy passage to Faded Island so she could get to Jimmy. In this dungeon, it seemed that each destination had its own set of requirements for passage, which often depended on where you were heading but could sometimes even take into account where you¡¯d started off, too. And though it was possible to permanently unlock any given destination, doing so required a very significant amount of time and effort as opposed to merely earning a one-time travel pass. But yeah, the requirements really did depend on where you were going and sometimes your point of origin. Case in point: going from Dal¡¯Zarrah to Angelica¡¯s required you to ride a ferry and then win a dance competition. But going from Whispery Woods¡ªwhich served as the point of origin for all seven of them thanks to everyone using Rian¡¯s exit door¡ªand heading to Faded Island required a flat 500 tickets. And tickets could be earned just about everywhere. Right now, Zach had 240 tickets, but a short while ago, he¡¯d had 550. This was because he¡¯d needed to spend a few of his tickets, though it had been for a very good cause. ¡°Oh, I just love my stuffed animal,¡± Kalana said, cradling the gigantic pink teddy bear that Zach had bought for her at the prize booth. ¡°Me too,¡± Lienne said, cradling her own. ¡°Thank you, Trelvor.¡± Seiley glared at Rian. She had no stuffed animal. Rian turned over his palms and shrugged. ¡°I wanna save my tickets,¡± he said. ¡°What? Stop looking at me like that.¡± ¡°Buy me a stuffed animal, Rian.¡± ¡°Buy your own.¡± Seiley¡¯s glare intensified. ¡°Buy it or I¡¯ll cut your balls off.¡± ¡°Okay fine.¡± Now, as they exited F5 and returned to the beautiful outdoor beachfront on a planet where it was apparently always daytime, summer, and sunny¡ªyes, this place was that great¡ªZach reached into his pocket and studied the brochure he¡¯d gotten at the entrance. They were all over the place, actually. Stands with brochures could be found just about anywhere you went. And as Rian had found out the hard way, since this place did not reset weekly like other dungeons, littering came with severe consequences. Rian had thrown his on the ground instead of using one of the numerous wastebaskets all over the place, and because of this, he now wore clown makeup that couldn¡¯t be removed for another half hour. He even had a rubber nose. ¡°Umm, can we try the game on F3?¡± Kalana asked. Zach lifted his brochure and studied it. ¡°Karaoke?¡± ¡°Mhm!¡± ¡°What¡¯s ¡®Take on Me¡¯ by ¡®a-ha¡¯?¡± Lienne asked with a grumble. Zach assumed she was scanning through the list of weekly-changing songs. ¡°Where are all the good songs we actually know? All this music is weird, and I¡¯ve never heard of any of it before. I think this one song is sung by a dragon.¡± ¡°Which one?¡± Rian asked. For seemingly no reason, he squeezed his nose, making a ¡°honk-honk¡± sound. This caused Seiley to laugh every time. ¡°That one,¡± Lienne said, pointing. ¡°It says the artist is a Drake.¡± Rian shrugged. ¡°Who the fuck knows? Hey, we should try the F7 game.¡± ¡°Yeah, we can do that, but umm, please, F3 first?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°Pfft, forget F3. Let¡¯s just do F7.¡± ¡°Rian!¡± Trelvor snapped. ¡°How dare you disobey Her Highness? We shall only do F3 until or unless Her Highness says otherwise.¡± He bowed to Kalana. ¡°Lead the way.¡± Zach snickered, and Rian grunted. Through it all, Tena had remained silent. She was clearly trying not to pout, but over the last few minutes, her general sense of desperation had been growing. And now, finally, she seemed to snap. ¡°Can we please just get the fucking tickets and go?¡± she shouted seemingly out of nowhere. Then she covered her mouth, shook her head, and made a squeak. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. I never talk like that.¡± Zach looked at her, as did all of the others, even Fluffles. ¡°You¡¯re worried about Jimmy. I get that." ¡°I am,¡± she said. ¡°I know he¡¯s probably fine, but¡­but imagine if it was Kalana. Would you be in the mood for games?¡± Zach sighed. Kalana put her arm around Tena¡¯s shoulder and began profusely apologizing. Even Seiley and Trelvor were sending out guilty looks, and those two were the least responsible, as they were only here because Queen Vayra had ordered them to stay with Kalana. Only Rian looked annoyed at the idea of rushing through this place. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s just farm tickets on F5 and then hurry on our way," Zach said. "Tena is right. We can come back here and spend all the time we want once we''ve found Jimmy." ¡°Thank you,¡± Tena said, bowing her head. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry to¡­to ruin everyone¡¯s fun. I really am. It¡¯s just that Jimmy¡­you don¡¯t understand how much this must¡¯ve hurt him.¡± Saying a touch more than she should have around Trelvor and Seiley, she added, ¡°Eilea told him that she brought him here for a special reason, and now he feels like it was a lie, so he''s really upset.¡± Trelvor and Seiley looked at one another, and then both set their gaze on Tena. ¡°Is that why he¡¯s so upset?¡± Trelvor asked. ¡°It must be,¡± Seiley said. ¡°He feels as though he has disappointed the Great Goddess.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Trelvor agreed. ¡°No wonder. I too would be in despair. We must go to him at once. I had no idea this was something so important. If Her Greatness is involved, then we must see to it that he continues her mission.¡± Zach scratched the side of his head, unable to decide if it was a good or bad thing that those two overheard just enough to convince them that Jimmy had been given a mission from their Goddess that he was now running from. On the one hand, it meant they¡¯d do pretty much anything to help lift him out of his current funk and get him back in gear. On the other hand, however, they might also kill, torture, maim, or otherwise brutalize him if he refused. It was a real coin toss. We¡¯ll play it by ear. That thought in mind, Zach proceeded with the others to try earning some more tickets. But damn, he needed to bring Kal back here. It was too great a place not to return. Chapter 163: The Angry Little Man Chapter 163: The Angry Little Man In the worlds of leveling, adventuring, and politics, there were a lot of different fellows with a lot of different temperaments. But among the especially powerful and great, there were¡ªand would naturally always be¡ªthose with severely violent and unhinged streaks. People who, justified or not, tended to become increasingly volatile and dangerous the more they were angered, disappointed, or otherwise dissatisfied with any given situation. Throughout his life, Haisel had known many of these people. His father had been one of them. As a child, his mother used to suffer terribly under the fist or palm of the irate man, who when angered, would rapidly turn from a calm husband into an abusive, wife-beating piece of filth. The power given to him by the Royal Roses had only made things worse, enabling his most nefarious instincts in both private and public. Through his father, Haisel had learned to identify and recognize the signs and mannerisms of those predisposed to violent aggression so that when it came to detecting the dangerously unhinged, Haisel had a freakishly good sense. He knew their type and could spot them a mile away. He could pick these people out of a crowd and be right 100 out of 100 times. And it was for this very reason that Haisel could say with devout certainty that Vim Alazar, the leader of the Royal Roses, was emphatically, unquestionably, and unequivocally not one of these men. No, he most certainly was not¡ªand it was because he didn¡¯t need to be. In contrast to those who opted to be physically abusive, Vim¡¯s weapon of choice had always been his mouth. In fact, in all the years that Haisel had known Vim, he had never once seen the man strike another person solely due to anger. But that was not to say that Vim could not become angry. Gods, no. If anything, the man had a deeply rooted issue with anger. It was simply the case that violence was not his outlet for expressing it. Instead, Vim chose to be ruthless with his speech. Often, the angrier Vim became, the harsher his rhetoric. There seemed to be no upper limit to this, either: no point whereby he became so enraged that he switched over from words to seeking blood. No, he would simply continue to escalate verbally until the situation either resolved on its own or he had created an enemy for life. And why did all this matter? Why did Haisel care? Why would he even bother to reflect upon this now, of all times? The answer was actually very simple. The reason for Haisel mulling over Vim¡¯s temperament was because, right now, in the skies above, one of their precious, invaluable fighter jets had just been split into two separate pieces and then subsequently exploded into a ball of fire. And it was upon seeing the destroyed jet¡¯s blasted-apart wreckage falling down to the surface that Haisel recalled Vim¡¯s quick temper¡ªbecause he just knew that Vim was going to take this very, very poorly. ¡°GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!¡± cried a type of creature that Haisel never wanted to see again. Slightly less than half the size of Ziragoth, yet still large enough to be clearly seen even all the way across the city and off the coast, a large, crystal-colored drake had taken command of the skies, and at the moment, it was soaring after one of their fighter jets having only just blown to bits another of their F15s, destroying it completely. Smoke trailing out of its partially opened mouth, the creature released another roar as it flapped its powerful, spiked wings and sped up in pursuit of the three supersonic aircraft that were retreating from northwest Shadowfall Coast. Yet despite the incredible speed of the F-15E Strike Eagles, the Sky Drake was faster. ¡°Command, I can¡¯t¡­I can¡¯t get it off me!¡± one of the pilots screamed. ¡°I¡¯m ejecting!¡± The dragon attacked with a powerful, chomping bite, snapping its jaws shut and obliterating the aircraft. The plane was too far away for Haisel to see if the pilot had ejected, but even if he had, Haisel doubted it would¡¯ve made much of a difference. The man was inside the belly of that beast in either circumstance. And Vim Alazar, the leader of the Royal Roses, was clearly displeased to see this. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you didn¡¯t plan for this possibility?¡± he asked Haisel, cocking his right eyebrow. The diminutive man¡¯s gaze had turned sharp and was now focused solely upon him. Haisel could therefore visually see his mood souring. Until just this moment, Vim had been in high spirits. He¡¯d also looked far more alive, too, though that was partly because he was back in his best equipment and had been reacquainted with his favorite staff. Haisel, deciding to plan for success and not failure, had retrieved all of Vim¡¯s belongings from guild storage and had brought them here in the event they succeeded in rescuing him. And so now, Vim stood on the deck of the Piercing Thorn bedecked in tulle, red-and-brown robes, with the glowing red insignia of the Royal Roses on the front of the right breast; his rings, bracelets, and other gear were also back where they belonged. With a clear sense of momentum on their side, Vim had scraped together every available fighter they could find aboard the Piercing Thorn and the surviving battlecruisers, and he himself had been just about to head to the shore to join in the fighting. But then that damn dragon appeared, and now, Haisel had the very strong sense that the occasionally foul-tempered guild leader was about to let himself loose. And he was right. ¡°I¡­I¡¯d forgotten all about that artifact-quality ring,¡± Haisel said, even as he knew the explanation wouldn¡¯t suffice. ¡°I believed that with the enemy¡¯s anti-aircraft capabilities so severely diminished, our fighter jets would be clear to attack. I regrettably forgot all about the ring that was stolen.¡± Vim dismissively shook his head. ¡°Oh, you forgot, did you? And what else of importance have you forgotten, you potato-brained, moronic imbecile? The Gods curse you for letting this happen! Oh, and look. Look, Haisel! There goes a third fighter jet. Ka-boom. And¡­yep, there goes the fourth. Congratulations. You just cost our allies their lifeline and put our guild at an even bigger disadvantage. Well done. I¡¯m ordering my tailor to make you a suit with a big gold star on it because at least you ¡®tried your best.¡¯¡± To Haisel¡¯s shame, Vim actually began to enthusiastically clap, releasing a completely insincere round of applause. ¡°What a good job you did.¡± Haisel held his breath a moment before releasing it. ¡°I apologize for not anticipating this, Vim, but you can¡¯t blame me for it. A lot was going on.¡± ¡°Not in your brain, it wasn¡¯t,¡± he replied viciously. ¡°And look, it¡¯s coming straight for us now.¡± The dragon¡¯s form appeared to grow as it flew nearer. The beast was clearly heading in their direction, as whoever was controlling it had decided to put the Royal Roses in his or her sights. Most likely, the dragon¡¯s controller was none other than King Morrison himself. ¡°That thing will destroy the entire fleet,¡± Haisel said. Then he gasped. ¡°We need to evacuate everyone immediately while there¡¯s still time. We¡¯ll all have to push to the city together, combatant and non-combatant alike.¡± Vim¡¯s face turned so red that, for a moment, Haisel worried it would pop. ¡°So this battle is not only costing us all of our fighters but our entire fleet as well? Wonderfully done, Haisel. Wonderful. My ace commander, everyone. Haisel Ragora.¡± He spat on the deck. "Just stay put. I''ll handle this. But you just cost us more than you know. We''re already close to poor!" Vim rubbed his face as though frustrated. "You don''t even know what this will cost me now," he grumbled. Then he began muttering about gold. Haisel held his tongue, not wishing to further provoke the man, who would only ratchet things up more and more. At the very least, if Vim¡¯s rage was contained to him and him alone, it wouldn¡¯t cause any problems, as he¡¯d long learned to shoulder the brunt of the little man¡¯s invective. But then Vim did something truly unwise: something spectacularly terrible, even. Vim tilted his ear slightly and decided to use his Comm.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Queen Vayra,¡± he said. ¡°Do you read me?¡± ¡°What is it now?¡± the Elvish queen replied. She grunted several times over the Comm and then released what sounded like an angry battle-cry. A moment later, she asked, ¡°What is it? What do you want?¡± ¡°I need you to get over here immediately,¡± Vim said to her. ¡°The Guild of Gentlemen just summoned a dragon and they¡¯re ripping apart priceless assets of ours.¡± ¡°And? I fail to see how that¡¯s my problem. Honestly, what is it with you and the young one that you both keep hassling me each time you fail to stand on your own two feet?¡± A wrinkle formed in Vim¡¯s forehead, and it caused Haisel to involuntarily strain the muscles in his body apprehensively, as he knew that this could turn very bad, very fast. He tried to give Vim his most ardent ¡°calm down¡± look, but this seemed to have the opposite effect. ¡°A hassle, is it?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes. Quite the hassle.¡± The wrinkle deepened. Vim was getting angry. Gods, this wasn¡¯t good! His ability to remain civil could typically be measured in seconds¡ªand that was on a good day. But when disrespected as he¡¯d just been, Vim often tended to go overboard in retaliation. Haisel prayed he did not make this one of those times. ¡°Maybe I wasn¡¯t clear,¡± he said. ¡°Right now, and without delay, Fylwen, you need to get your fat fucking Elvish ass on one of your dainty little unicorns, and you need to fight that dragon. And I don¡¯t give a damn if that¡¯s a hassle for you, sweetheart.¡± ¡°Excuse yourself!¡± the queen shouted over the Comm. ¡°In what universe do you find yourself audacious enough to take that tone with me, Gnome? I¡¯ve killed for far, far less!¡± Vim scowled as he spoke to her. ¡°Yes, you have, and that¡¯s not exactly something you should be bragging about, you psychopathic, crazy-brained lunatic. Now get that fat ass on a unicorn right now or I¡¯ll increase the cost of shipping freight out of Whispery Woods by 800% and then some.¡± ¡°YOU DARE!¡± she yelled at him. ¡°I warn you, Sir Alazar. Continue to use that tone with me, and I shall do as you ask, but only so that I may sink your fleet and then feast on your bones!¡± Vim rolled his eyes as he replied to her over the Comm. ¡°Oh yeah? Well, maybe you should start feasting on bones, Fylwen. You¡¯ve clearly been having too much cake lately. If that fat ass of yours gets any bigger, the unicorn won¡¯t be able to fly with you sitting on it.¡± Haisel trembled as he listened to this conversation continue. Why did Vim have to be like this? Why, why, why? Did he not understand that he was dealing with one of the most dangerous and powerful people on Galterra? Did he have no idea how foolish, absurd, and suicidal it was to provoke the Elvish queen? Why couldn¡¯t he just control himself? He¡¯ll get us all killed! Haisel tried gesturing with his hands for Vim to calm down, and in addition, he shot his guild leader such powerfully strong looks of warning that the muscles in his face began to ache. But Vim merely scowled at him, and in all honesty, the damage was probably already done. Even as she engaged in battle with enemies from the Guild of Gentlemen, Haisel could actually hear the Elvish queen hiss with anger. ¡°You shall pay dearly for your words, you insolent, disrespectful, vulgar little Gnome!¡± Vim made a ¡°pfft¡± sound into the Comm. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m vulgar? Really? Didn¡¯t you murder Zach and your own niece? That sounds pretty vulgar to me, so spare me your bullshit, Fylwen. Right now, our most important weapons are being eaten by a Gods-be-damned dragon, and your Elves are the only ones who can do anything about it. So do it. Now.¡± ¡°Never!¡± she actually shrieked into the Comm. ¡°I shall never aid you! And when this war is over, perhaps my Elves will pay a visit to Giant¡¯s Fall and burn it to the ground!¡± Vim pulled back his lips and shouted right back at her. ¡°You want to burn something so badly, Fylwen? How about a few calories, you fat bitch!¡± ¡°YOU WILL PAY WITH YOUR LIFE FOR THAT REMARK, VIM ALAZAR!¡± ¡°Fuck you too!¡± he yelled at her. He disconnected her from the Comm line, cutting off all communication. And then, as Haisel stared at him in absolute bewilderment¡ªa state of shock so powerful that he could no longer even blink, let alone move¡ªVim continued on nonchalantly as though nothing at all had happened. In fact, with an air of something close to indifference, he began resuming preparations make his way to the shore with Haisel while humming a shanty. It was as though his fierce anger had just abated into nothing: like he didn¡¯t care one way or another about the conversation he¡¯d just had. ¡°We¡¯re going to end this today, Haisel,¡± he said. ¡°Even if we lose every ship and every plane: the Guild of Gentlemen are done for.¡± Haisel was still far too overcome with disbelief to reply. He watched in awe as Vim carried on like nothing had happened. Where had all his anger gone? Had it really just vanished? He was back to how he¡¯d been before the dragon appeared. He was calm, collected, and seemingly unconcerned in the slightest about the consequences he might face as a result of spewing such venom at the Elvish queen. His anger was just¡­gone. Until it wasn¡¯t. Somehow, Queen Vayra managed to get around whatever Vim had done to disconnect her, and her voice began blaring over the Comm. And the moment it did, Vim¡¯s anger reignited so quickly it was like turning on a light switch. ¡°You¡¯re about to be in even more trouble than the Guild of Gentlemen, you foolish little Gnome! Did you really just disconnect me? Now you¡¯ve done it. Your impudence will cost you everything, little man!¡± ¡°Oh, spare me the outrage, you twisted little Elvish demon!¡± he shouted back at Fylwen, his anger just outright reappearing without any kind of ramp-up or transition. ¡°I have nothing to say to you until you deal with the dragon. I need to see some unicorns flying at the dragon before I¡¯m willing to listen to more of your whining.¡± ¡°That you think there¡¯s even a chance, however remote, that I would help you after the way you¡¯ve disrespected me is so outrageous that it calls into question your sanity. At this point, you should be begging for your life, though even then I cannot fathom the idea of sparing it. You¡¯ve crossed a line!¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so scared, Fylwen,¡± he said mockingly. ¡°I¡¯m so scared.¡± Haisel was so stunned by the way the two of them were acting that he was just about mesmerized by it. And what made everything even more surprising was that, prior to a minute or two ago, Vim and Queen Vayra had not had any bad blood between one another or any kind of history that would¡¯ve led to something like this. Unless Haisel was severely mistaken about the facts, what he was witnessing was not the result of some long-simmering dispute or discontent between the two. For the most part, they¡¯d only interacted a few times with one another outside of fighting in close proximity during the dragon raid. Besides that, there¡¯d been a few spirited negotiations between the Royal Roses and the Elvish, but really, things had been fine and cordial. This meant that their sudden feud really was an impromptu, organic, and spontaneous explosion of anger that was likely the direct result of two hotheaded personalities setting one another off without any pretext or prior motivating factors. It was just so unnecessary. ¡°I will rip off your limbs one at a time,¡± Queen Vayra threatened over the Comm. I will dig my thumbs into your eye-sockets just like I¡¯m doing to this human here.¡± A man¡¯s screaming could be heard in the background. ¡°You¡¯ll pay for your disrespect.¡± Vim¡¯s response was to yawn into the Comm. ¡°I¡¯m looking up, but I still just see the dragon. Where are my unicorn-mounted warriors?¡± His words caused the queen to growl over the Comm. He was provoking her, and she was provoking him. And then things became so bizarre that Haisel gave up trying to understand what wild thoughts and impulses were running through the heads of either of these two individuals. ¡°You¡¯ll be seeing them soon enough!¡± she threatened. Vim opened his mouth as though to shout, but then he paused as the level-190 Sky Drake roared as it flew ever closer. Now, he sighed. ¡°Okay, fine. I give up, Fylwen. How much?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± Fylwen asked, her tone heated. ¡°Gods-dammit, Fylwen! How much?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Stop playing dumb,¡± he growled. ¡°How much?¡± There was a pause. A long, lingering pause, during which the dragon roared again and continued to fly close enough so that its full form was visible, and its wings were audibly thwapping against the air. ¡°Two-hundred million.¡± Vim swore, loudly and angrily. ¡°For killing a mob?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a level-190 Sky Drake.¡± ¡°We¡¯re supposed to be allies!¡± ¡°Perhaps. But that¡¯s still the price.¡± ¡°My guild is already close to bankrupt!¡± ¡°Is that so? How horrid. If only I cared. Pity you had to go calling me fat. Perhaps it¡¯d only be half otherwise.¡± "Does it help if I admit how much I enjoy staring at that big booty?" "It makes it worse." Vim released a loud groan. ¡°Fine. Just get over here already. You get nothing if our aircraft carrier sinks.¡± ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll deal with it personally.¡± Haisel blinked, confused. What the hell just happened? Why had it happened? What had he just been listening to? He had no idea what kind of conversation he¡¯d just overheard or what had even just taken place. But at least it seemed like somehow, inexplicably, the Elvish queen was going to heed Vim¡¯s call for aid after all. Haisel opened his mouth to ask Vim to explain just what in the name of the Gods he¡¯d witnessed, but he shut it and decided he likely still wouldn¡¯t get it even if Vim was charitable enough to offer a non-malicious answer. Vim was an angry little man. But he was effective. Chapter 164: A Will That Burns Hotter than Fire Chapter 164: A Will That Burns Hotter than Fire Explosions rang out in the sky, crushing their newly lifted morale while simultaneously serving as a very much unneeded distraction. Alex craned his neck to look upwards as a large shadow momentarily blocked out the morning sun. Frowning, he watched as a tremendous, crystal-colored drake flew swiftly past the air directly above him before continuing onwards towards the southeast as though to pursue the three remaining fighter jets that the Royal Roses had sent to assist them in their time of need. ¡°Gods, what is that thing?¡± Lady Richel Theolina cried over the Comm. Lady Theolina was the fifth-ranking member of the Lords of Justice and a woman Alex had only recently become better acquainted with. She was tall for a female, and she wore a full, heavy suit of metal armor and fought with a large claymore. At the moment, she was well ahead of Alex and closer towards the city where she was protecting a squad of level-1 infantry from a sadistic-looking, behemoth-sized officer of the Guild of Gentleman, who wielded a sledgehammer meant for two hands in just one while defending himself with a round shield in the opposite. The man, who Alex believed was the 9th ranking member, Nedge Cullroth, had a massive beard, an even more massive belly, and looked like he lived in a cave. Presently, he was dripping with sweat from the blows he¡¯d been trading with Lady Theolina. But now, both paused to stare upwards at the summoned, level-190 drake. Warily, Alex observed as the dragon flew off into the distance as it chased after the retreating fighter jets. Unfortunately, the drake was faster than the aircraft, and Alex winced as it snatched one out of the air like a cat hunting a bird. Its jaws closing tight, the plane was crushed by its teeth. A piece of the right wing even dribbled out of the drake¡¯s mouth like a crumb, and it fell several-hundred feet before crashing against the third-story window of an apartment building in the city, leaving a nasty crack in the glass. It then fell the rest of the way before landing on the roof of a parked DEHV, smashing in its hood. ¡°GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!¡± Clearly unwilling to let the other jets escape, the dragon proceeded onwards. Alex continued to watch it fly off until it ventured beyond 3rd Avenue. Silently, he said a prayer for his allies in the Royal Roses who would now have the misfortune of needing to deal with the beast. But that was something that, sadly, he could not help them with, so for the moment, he ripped all thoughts of it out of his head in order to better focus on what was actually relevant to those fighting with him up here in the northern highway right on the edge of the city. ¡°All brigades, continue to press the attack,¡± he ordered into the Comm. ¡°The sky drake is not our priority.¡± ¡°But what if it comes back around?¡± asked one of the junior lords over the command line. ¡°We¡¯ll worry about that if and when it happens. For now, we must break into the city!¡± His blade gripped tightly in his right hand, and a pair of borrowed binoculars still in his left, Alex set out to resume what he¡¯d been about to do only a moment prior. Once more raising them to his face, he observed the field of battle in order to assess the fighting and discover where he might be able to make the greatest impact. He did wonder, however, if perhaps it was still a bit too soon to tell. Though a lot of hectic things had happened in a very short period of time, it had actually only been around five minutes since Olivir had willfully sacrificed thousands of lives to give their forces a way of capturing the northern highway, and it had taken most of that time for his units to get into position. They¡¯re probably not even warmed up yet. Due to mages and healers typically having a lower speed stat, the leveled squads hurrying towards the city had been required to collectively move slower than what their fastest members were capable of achieving all on their own. This, quite obviously, was done to prevent anyone from getting left behind or easily picked off. Therefore, it had taken longer than absolutely necessary for many of them to begin reaching their designated zones, which were uncomfortably far apart from one another, making it so that, once split up, supporting each other would be difficult. I have to be very careful in where I choose to go, Alex thought. The northern highway, constructed long before he was born, ended just before entering the city itself, where it split apart into several smaller but still significant roads, each heading to a different main street that ran from north to south, providing multiple points of entry into Shadowfall Coast and, by extension, to 1st Avenue. For this reason, it was only now that the leveled members of the Lords of Justice were first beginning to clash with the leveled members of the Guild of Gentlemen. Because of this, Alex knew it might take a little longer before he could get a read on how each side was doing. Still, he decided to look anyway, and he began by observing Lady Theolina. If we succeed today, it might just end up being because of her, Alex thought, focusing the binoculars on where the metal-armor-wearing Lady of Justice was fighting her heart out all by herself in order to forge a path through 1st and Corner Street. Although it was a target considered to be of lesser importance than some of the other main roads, it could serve as a very important backup to cut through to the city center if resistance proved too significant elsewhere. If nothing else, the Guild of Gentlemen must have also viewed it as valuable if they were willing to send their 9th ranking member along with about a hundred infantry to defend it. Thus, if the enemy feared it being taken, it was therefore worth the attempt to take. And Lady Theolina looked more than capable of accomplishing this goal. ¡°Stay behind me!¡± she commanded the level-one troops taking up positions of cover at her flank. Alex was able to overhear her, as he tuned to her channel on the Comm. There was something so very enchanting about the woman: about her courage. Though her stunning face was concealed behind her helm, Alex could still imagine her soft cheeks and her cherry locks of hair beneath the armor. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with this monster!¡± ¡°The Gods bless you, Lady Theolina!¡± Of all the leveled guild members taking part in today¡¯s battle, Lady Theolina was the one Alex had fast decided to bestow his highest level of trust. Although he didn¡¯t know her very well, he had quickly found her to be intelligent, strong, capable, and incredibly noble and brave. She was also beautiful as well¡ªand unmarried, to boot. She carried herself with dignity and decency, and it was for this reason that Alex felt disgusted that she was having to interact with such a repulsive creature like Nedge Cullroth, a filthy, grimy, and decidedly unworthy ogre of a man who was currently making loud, insufferable sounds of glee as he swung his sledgehammer around as though he were actually enjoying this¡ªwhich he very well might have been. ¡°Come on, sweetheart!¡± he shouted out, his voice being unintentionally picked up on Lady Theolina¡¯s Comm. ¡°Come here. I just wanna play with you a bit. Mmm¡­I bet you¡¯ve got nice tits under all that armor. Can I lick them? I wanna suck on each one, hahaha!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have your tongue for that, pig!¡± To the extent that anyone could be compared to the horrifically vile¡ªand thankfully deceased¡ªVarsh Gellor of the Royal Roses, the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s closest match would be Nedge Cullroth, a boor of a man known more for his stench than for his views and beliefs. Sir Cullroth was a large, typically drunken slob who differed from the likes of Varsh only due to his penchant for reluctantly following the law. But Alex knew he would fit much better into a more anarchic region such as one of those in South Bastia, because there, the man would likely be able to relish in his true nature, which Alex suspected of being even worse than Varsh¡¯s. There were credible sources that claimed Sir Cullroth liked to pay women to let him viciously beat them and scar them up. There were also reports that he regularly tortured animals for sport. Truly, a man like that had no place in this world. He''s in for such a rude awakening, Alex thought, concealing a grin. Lady Theolina will put him in his place. It was rare for Alex to find himself so smitten with someone, especially a person he barely knew. He¡¯d spoken to the woman all of three times since joining the Lords of Justice, and yet there was something about her that immediately attracted him. Perhaps it was the fact that she was an award-winning poet. Or maybe it was the fact she was one of the biggest donors in Dal''Zarrah when it came to funding science education for minors. Or¡­or maybe, well, it was just simply because of how incredibly beautiful Alex found her, inside and out. Honestly, it was probably a mix of all three. But no matter the reason, Alex was thoroughly offput by the thought of her having to be in the presence of this loathsome creature, who was so evidently beneath her. She should not have to be anywhere near such a disgusting man. Alex actually growled aloud as he watched the repugnant man quickly hold his shield using his chin so that he could then take his free hand, pull down his trousers, and expose his genitals, all while Lady Theolina continued to comport herself with dignity and honor as this savage subhuman began fondling himself¡ªat least until she took a swing at him and he was forced to backpedal away and once again take up his shield. Alex completely despised the man. In this moment, he badly wanted to trade places with her. But, at the very least, she wouldn¡¯t have to linger around the atrocious man for very long. No, Alex knew her claymore would soon be permanently separating his pudgy, scarred-up, giddily laughing face from his shoulders. The two had only just begun to fight, and already, they were each attacking with what looked like full intensity, sparing little exertion as they traded blows. Nodding to himself approvingly, Alex watched on as Lady Theolina, displaying her quick reflexes, bent backwards and evaded a horizontal swing from the massive sledgehammer. The weapon was so large that she even had to remain in that position while waiting for it to fully clear the air above her. Once it had, she straightened her back, bent her front leg, twisted her hips, and swung her own massive weapon with a great deal of force¡ªand that was putting it mildly. The brave woman put so much power into the blow that the mere pivoting of her heels actually caused her feet to crack through several inches of the pavement beneath her while kicking up several rock-sized chunks of concrete. Even still, Sir Cullroth, seemingly unworried, responded by barking out a laugh loud enough that Alex could hear it from all the way over here. Despite his size, he somehow managed to similarly duck, and then, predictably, he responded with another massive swing of his sledgehammer, which Lady Theolina¡­? Huh? ¡­which Lady Theolina for some reason did not dodge and instead tried to parry despite the awkward position she was in. Unable to raise her weapon in time, the sledgehammer found its mark. The weapon struck her dead center on the right side of her face, and Alex saw what followed in great detail through the binoculars almost as though it¡¯d occurred in slow motion. He also heard it, too. And it all happened so quickly. Without reason. Without explanation. Everything just happened so fast. It began with a sound. Two sounds, actually. Initially, there was a very quick thunk as the sledgehammer crashed into her metal helm. But following this was a strange sound. And what made it strange was how ordinary it came across¡ªhow mundane. It came from Lady Theolina herself. She had released a grunt, one that was deep yet not entirely troubling. It was a sound that contained a far greater note of surprise than pain. It was also incredibly brief. ¡°Ugh!¡± she vocalized. And then Alex was confused. He did not understand what he was seeing. He did not understand why her helmet flew off her face at the speed of a bullet, and why the very shape of her head seemed to change. Her head¡­the shape of it¡­it changed. The shape of her head had changed. It changed completely, having become caved in on the side as though someone had created a depression in it. Her entire right cheek had been relocated to the center of her skull. At the same time, her right eye popped free from its socket and dangled from a thin piece of flesh outside of her face. Dozens of cracked teeth flew out of her mouth. Her tongue began to dangle lifelessly out of her lips as the changing shape of her head no longer provided a means with which to keep it inside. And then she fell and hit the ground hard while her body began to violently twitch and convulse as a white foam began oozing out of her jaw, which had been forcefully opened wide and could not be shut. For around five seconds, she flapped around on the ground, shaking even harder and spewing even more white foam. Then, finally, she stilled. What¡­? I don¡¯t¡­this isn¡¯t¡­but how? Then it hit Alex: the shock of it. The sheer unfairness of it. She was dead, and her killer was now stomping on her deceased skull while laughing maniacally. ¡°Look what I did to your whore!¡± he shouted at the terrified level-one troops, every single one of whom were almost certain to be slaughtered by his sledgehammer. ¡°Uh oh! I think she stopped breathing. Hahahaha! I¡¯m gonna do the same to all of you.¡± He pointed his sledgehammer at them. ¡°Then I¡¯m going to find your friends and family, and I¡¯ll¡ª¡± His foot, which had been repeatedly stomping down on Lady Theolina¡¯s lifeless skull, at last managed to flatten her head into the pavement such that it crushed the Comm in her ear, cutting off his voice. And just like that, Alex became so filled with rage and disbelief he began to tremble. ¡°That animal,¡± he whispered, causing the confused young man whose binoculars he¡¯d borrowed to glance uneasily at him. Clearly, he did not see what had just happened¡ªnor did he yet know. ¡°That¡­that animal!¡± Alex had to fight every instinct within him: every urge that demanded him to head straight for 1st and Corner Street and to avenge her personally. But if he did so, it would expose him as a hypocrite, for he had spent so much of his life advocating for the greater good over personal interests. Yet, by far, this was among the most difficult impulses he¡¯d ever had to battle. Focus, he told¡ªno, demanded of himself. 1st and Corner Street is not a core objective. Calm down! Think clearly! Alex suffered. Truly, he suffered with the pain and sense of wrongness that burst within him and caused a knot to tighten in his stomach. It had all happened so fast. All the woman had needed to do was duck. Why did she think she could parry in time? What had been going through her mind? Why did she risk it? Was she angry because of his taunting? Was she thinking clearly? How could something like this happen to someone like her? Not now! he warned himself. You need to stop! Forcing himself to once more raise the binoculars to his eyes, he decided to rip his mind away from the tragedy and instead observe the more significant and important fights currently taking place along the main roads. It wasn¡¯t easy, of course. He had just witnessed something beyond awful: a sight so terrible that it left Alex feeling rattled and shaken. Surely, it was only natural that he felt as though he needed to take a moment¡ªto at least make an attempt at processing what he¡¯d seen. But he knew he couldn¡¯t. And why? Because Alex, more than anyone else present on this battlefield, had a responsibility to remain focused: a responsibility he¡¯d accepted by choice. Regardless of why he joined the Lords of Justice, it was now his duty to keep pressing forward no matter how horrible or how painful it became. Quite simply, a man in his position didn¡¯t have the right to slow down just because something had upset him. He¡¯d known this would be the case when he, a twenty-four-year-old, former high-school science teacher, had willingly accepted the role of a world leader¡ªalong with whatever baggage that happened to come with. And so, for the sake of the bigger picture, he put all his attention on surveilling the war effort¡ªeven knowing that it likely wouldn¡¯t matter. Once again, he had to remind himself that it was still probably far too early to learn anything useful, and that the leveled members of the Lords of Justice were probably only first getting started. In all likelihood, he wouldn¡¯t be able to draw a clear picture for at least another few minutes. At least, that was what common sense would dictate. But common sense would be wrong, thus by extension, he was wrong. Once again, Alex was wildly off the mark. And now, becoming unsteady on his feet, Alex swelled with anguish as he realized straight off the bat that he wasn¡¯t just wrong; to the contrary, he was very, very wrong. Not only wasn¡¯t the fight in its earliest opening stages, but in some places, it had already concluded. Alex¡¯s fingers trembled on the binoculars as he observed the battle taking place on 1st and East Cadence, which caused his vision to blur. Then, he nearly dropped them entirely as, in a panic, he began swiveling his head from left to right, then back again, trying his best to understand just what he was seeing and why he was seeing it. For as he surveilled the field of battle, the results were dramatically, overwhelmingly worse than what he¡¯d been expecting. It was to the extent that he struggled to comprehend how his forces were performing so terribly. The Lords of Justice¡­is this really the best my guild can do? Gods, please tell me this isn¡¯t so. To be clear, things were still significantly better than they would have been if the Royal Roses had not managed to perform several full, merciless bombing runs on the MLRS artillery that had, until moments ago, been their greatest threat. Compared to that, they were now a great deal better off. But by no means whatsoever did that make their current situation good or even remotely acceptable. Even going with the most optimistic of outlooks, one could possibly say that things had gone from catastrophic to merely terrible. They¡¯re not cut out for this. These people¡­they¡¯re inept! With the MLRS systems being either destroyed, disabled, or presently out of commission, a brand-new problem had emerged, and it was one that Alex had not foreseen existing¡ªat least not to this extent. Right now, all along the frontlines, the leveled members of the Lords of Justice were getting absolutely pulverized. And this was true no matter where he scouted with the binoculars. Everywhere he checked, they were losing. And they were losing so badly that the sight of it sent nervous sweat trickling down his back. Why is this happening? Although the level-1 troops that made up the mechanized infantry brigades had taken a tremendous beating on their charge to the highway, only a single leveled-squad from the 12th brigade had suffered any real damage; thus, the other squads that had now fanned out and had begun to engage the Gentlemen in PVP were going into the battle perhaps somewhat rattled, but otherwise fresh and unharmed. Yet, at the foot of every tactically significant street that intersected with 1st Avenue, the men and women of the Lords of Justice were getting their tails handed to them so viciously that Alex was tempted to look away. And it wasn¡¯t even that Alex had expected his new guild to crush the enemy in leveled PVP combat, either. He just hadn¡¯t expected them to perform this terribly: to lose this badly. It was so one-sided that Alex genuinely wasn¡¯t sure whether or not it was still possible for them to turn things around. And as it turned out, he was not alone in this concern. ¡°Pull them out!¡± Olivir shouted over the Comm. The vampire¡¯s voice came across as stunned and alarmed. ¡°They¡¯re not fit for war. I can¡¯t even believe what the hell I¡¯m seeing. Lord Oren, get them out! This is unwinnable¡ªand also unwatchable!¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s not,¡± Alex whispered into the Comm, caught in a state of shock, even as he observed the absolute carnage being inflicted upon his guild. To the west, just three leveled members of the Guild of Gentlemen were annihilating a full squad of ten from the Lords of Justice¡ªof which only four were actively participating in the fighting, as the enemy¡¯s lone mage had successfully landed an AOE mesmerize on the other six, causing them to become dazed, motionless, and totally zoned out of it. The four men and two women simply stood by, their mouths drooling as their four compatriots were torn apart by two men with greatswords. With those four dead, the two men calmly went around to the other mesmerized six, and they methodically executed them one at a time. They likely were not even aware that it was happening, too. And as Alex watched them die, one by one, the most horrifying part of all was that he felt relief of all things, because at least they were being killed professionally and quickly with some semblance of dignity as compared to what had happened to Lady Theolina. The same was not true elsewhere, unfortunately. It seemed the treatment faced by the Lords of Justice came down to the whims of whoever they fought. Many members of the guild did in fact fight honorably. Yet, on some streets, the Gentlemen behaved like crazed marauders, doing their utmost to humiliate and brutalize their foes, even those who had already been beaten and incapacitated, such as a man who screeched in terror as he crawled along the street. Both of his legs had been sliced off, and now, wounded, he attempted to flee on his belly. ¡°No, no please!¡± he begged as a woman wielding a spear sadistically walked slowly behind him, deliberately letting him crawl away for a bit as if to make him think he had a chance to survive before at last moving in to claim her kill. ¡°Please, no! N¡ªagghh!¡± She ran him through, slamming her spear down such that it pierced his spine and exited through his belly on the other end of his body. Yet still, he did not die. So she pulled it out, laughed at him, and then ran him through once more, only this time, she sodomized him with the weapon. Alex recoiled and briefly lowered the binoculars as he was gripped by a wave of pure revulsion. The world was reverting to its old ways. One common theme Alex had seen described very often in books about ancient wars was that, in these kinds of battles, the side that believed it was winning often committed acts of cruelty that violated every known norm of human decency, and indeed, he had now just witnessed two such instances back-to-back of members of the Guild of Gentlemen deliberately sexually humiliating their victims. Thus, Alex was left to wonder: should he be as shocked as he was by all this? Was he a fool for thinking that this kind of behavior was a relic of the past, and that even in the worst-case scenario, surely, humanity would not regress back to this level of barbarism? Of course we are, Alex thought, struggling to take in the entire, overall situation. This is what the Guild of Gentlemen have done to us. And we¡¯re letting them get away way it. Gods, how is it even possible for the Lords of Justice be so unbelievably incompetent? To Alex¡¯s eyes, both sides were comprised of rich elites who leveled up off carefully curated mobs on their private estates, and therefore, to him, neither the Gentlemen nor the Lords of Justice came across as particularly adept. But even then, a disparity still very much existed, as the Lords of Justice were uniquely lacking in skill. They did not even seem to know how to properly use their own abilities. Towards 1st and Main Street, the 6th ranking member of the Lords of Justice shouted out, ¡°Blade Lunge!¡± and began to perform a series of motions. Yet Alex did not need to hear him shout those two words to know that he had just activated that ability, as it was an extremely common sword skill that any adventurer would have encountered time and time again in their travels. The moment he¡¯d raised his right arm at a slight angle while shifting his back foot, Alex had known exactly what ability he¡¯d activated. Any experienced adventurer would. And likewise, any adventurer would know never to use it in the way that the man had just used it. What is he doing? Alex wondered, baffled by the display of ineptitude. Although it was a common ability, Blade Lunge was still a fairly powerful, three-hit combination skill. But because it took away control of the user¡¯s body and locked them into a specific series of exact, precise movements, it was imperative that one never, ever activate it on targets¡ªneither sentient nor mob¡ªthat were not crowd controlled. The only exception was in circumstances where a mob¡¯s attack patterns were so well known that its movements could be predicted with certainty. Outside of that, locking one''s body up in an ability was among the easiest ways to die in the adventuring world. And it wouldn¡¯t even necessarily be a death in the conventional sense, either. Several years ago, Alex had personally witnessed an adventurer use this very same ability, Blade Lunge, to inadvertently run himself out of a dungeon and into the void of space, where he died within seconds and floated off towards the infinity. For this reason, Alex was not surprised by what happened next. The man, having activated the ability, performed the three-hit motion exactly as any other would. His sword began to glow a dark purple color, and he delivered two very fast slashes, one upwards, and one downwards. Both missed, though it did not look as though it was due to his opponent¡¯s familiarity with the ability, but rather, it came across as more like two lucky dodges. Not that it mattered. The result was still the same.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Having missed the first two of three total attacks, the ability continued. The man bent his knees, extended his sword in front of him with both arms, and then he was blasted forward, his feet skating across the ground as though there were wheels beneath them, pushed ahead by an unknowable force. His opponent merely jumped out of the way, and then a mage from the Guild of Gentlemen emerged from behind two tanks to begin firing off exploding balls of light, all of which landed squarely in the middle of the man¡¯s back, as he was unable to turn himself around or control his movements until the ability completed. Paralyzed by his own attack, the unfortunate man ended up in about fifteen different pieces as the mage¡¯s projectiles detonated against him upon impact, turning him from a singular entity into mere chunks of human flesh. And through it all, Alex was taken over by a sense of denial: a sense that things could not be as they currently seemed. ¡°It¡¯s over,¡± Olivir said to him. ¡°Accept it.¡± ¡°This is not over,¡± Alex insisted. ¡°We will not concede!¡± ¡°Are you nuts?¡± Olivir asked. ¡°Gods, open your eyes! This is unwinnable, Lord Oren. I¡¯ve never seen anything so one-sided. I didn¡¯t expect your guild to do this badly, but they are. We¡¯ll just have to let the Elves handle this.¡± Alex firmly shook his head. ¡°And allow hundreds of thousands of innocent people to die? Absolutely not! How can you say this is over, Olivir? We¡¯ve only just begun fighting a few minutes ago.¡± ¡°Yeah, and that already seems too long as is. Listen to me, Lord Oren. I might look like a kid, but I¡¯m over two-hundred-years old, and while that¡¯s young for a vampire, it¡¯s still given me a great deal of wisdom. Right now, your entire guild is on the verge of being wiped out. And what then? The Elves will still erase Shadowfall Coast from the map just the same. The only thing you can change right now is the number of people who die today. You honestly need to just get your people the hell out of there while you still can. I¡¯m sorry, but that¡¯s how it is.¡± Alex struggled to tamp down on his anger. ¡°You want me to order them to retreat after you sacrificed so many of their lives?¡± ¡°I never would¡¯ve done that if I realized how¡­how incapable your guild is.¡± ¡°A bit late for that now, isn¡¯t it?¡± Alex asked. He opened his mouth to say something else, but he paused as High-Lord Kolorn Besh¡¯s voice erupted over the line. The man was now screaming into the Comm, demanding that Alex order a full retreat and let the Elves demolish the city instead. Plainly, he agreed with what Olivir was saying on the Comm, and now he was becoming desperate to salvage as many lives as he could. ¡°We must pull back!¡± he shouted. ¡°Lord Oren, this is unwinnable!¡± Unwinnable, Alex thought. There¡¯s that word again. It was an awful word. It was a word that repeated several more times in his brain. Unwinnable. Unwinnable. Unwinnable. Alex tuned his guild-leader out, as the man continued to demand he order a full retreat of every soldier in every brigade. Not only would that be a disgrace worse than death, but it would be giving the Guild of Gentlemen a win on a scale that would haunt the Lords of Justice for the rest of history. Yes, things were very bad, but giving up was not the answer! Even if¡­even if it was beginning to look like this really was as unwinnable as Olivir and High-Lord Besh were claiming. And to make matters all the more humiliating, the Guild of Gentlemen weren¡¯t even resorting to any of their clever, yet underhanded ¡°tricks.¡± They were simply winning fights through sheer superiority, the extent of which seemed to surprise even them, as they began to shift strategy, going from defensive to offensive. It was as though they suddenly sensed that they had the ability to end the Lords of Justice in its entirety right here and now: to completely eradicate the entire guild. Alex gripped his blade even more tightly as he noticed that several-hundred troops¡ªand a few leveled squads, as well¡ªwere currently storming their way back through the grasslands, retreating all on their own. Fleeing. Many of these cowards even shamelessly darted right past him as they ran for their lives. But they were few in number, as the vast majority of the leveled squads were currently too entrenched to disengage from combat even if Alex gave the order. It was likely impossible for them to retreat now: the enemy wasn¡¯t going to allow them to leave. ¡°Lord Oren, I order you to declare a retreat!¡± Kolorn yelled at him over the Comm. ¡°Do it now! While there¡¯s still something left of our guild to save!¡± Not only did High-Lord Besh fail to realize the futility of his demand, but he¡ªlike Olivir¡ªdid not seem to grasp that, from the outset, giving up had never been an option today. Everyone should have known the stakes of coming here. This was an all-or-nothing battle to determine the worthiness of humanity: to prove to the rest of the world that humans still had the ability to correct, self-improve, and change. If they fled like cowards and allowed the Elves to do their dirty work in the worst way possible, it would not only reflect poorly on the human race, but it would destabilize all of North Bastia, too. Right now, the world was on fire. An entire city had been destroyed by a weapon of evil. The hatred and vitriol this had caused was reverberating through every level of society. People everywhere were on edge. And what no one seemed to understand¡ªwhat no one seemed to get¡ªwas that destroying a second city in its entirety was not going to help mend these problems. If anything, it would only make them worse. Why couldn¡¯t people understand this? Why couldn¡¯t they see? It did not take a genius to predict the consequences of another mass killing. If the Elves destroyed the city, then west of here, in the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s capital region of Tomb of Fire, the people would launch an uprising, which would perpetuate the cycle of violence and revenge. No matter how it may have seemed in the moment, annihilating Shadowfall Coast would not truly go down as a victory in the long run. It would only make things better in the short term before gradually making them even worse than they currently were. They just don¡¯t understand. They just don¡¯t get it! With High-Lord Besh¡¯s increasingly frantic voice still shouting into his ear, Alex continued to take in the situation through the camo-colored binoculars pressed against his face. And there was just no sugar-coating what he saw. Things were bad: really bad. It wasn¡¯t even just that they were losing, but more so that the areas where they were being crushed the worst were the sites of their most-significant objectives, with their biggest¡ªand probably most decisive¡ªfailure taking place on the most important target of all: 1st and Haven Street, an objective of such vast, incalculable value that merely calling it the ¡°most important¡± failed to convey the sheer depth of its significance to them. It was for this reason that the plurality of their forces had been dispatched there¡ªand also the reason why the enemy had placed its strongest units there as well, including their MLRS systems. Though victory did not absolutely require they succeed on 1st and Haven, the fact of the matter was that if they did manage to capture it, then everything would change. It was to such a degree that even if they failed everywhere else¡ªand to be clear, they were failing everywhere else¡ªthe Lords of Justice would nevertheless still prevail if only they could achieve success on that one main road. But right now, they were failing there as well, and to Alex¡¯s distress, he realized that the extent of their failure was larger on 1st and Haven than anywhere else they were fighting. Of all the locations where battle was taking place, it was 1st and Haven where the Lords of Justice had suffered their highest number of casualties in the shortest span of time. With a start, Alex saw that just about all of the leveled members dispatched to 1st and Haven had already been killed. They¡¯d just been totally slaughtered. Their brightest flame of hope¡­extinguished. And much like the death of Lady Theolina, it had all happened so fast. Becoming enraged, Alex nearly crushed the binoculars as his hand clenched up with fury as he took in the sight of the mass number of bodies littering the street. It wasn¡¯t just a ¡°few.¡± It wasn¡¯t even just a ¡°lot.¡± It was most: most of their people. Their deceased forms were now decorating the foot of the road like pieces of discarded litter, and their equipment and weapons were being greedily scavenged by level-1 infantry in the Guild of Gentlemen who were starving to experience a taste of leveled life. Disgusted, Alex witnessed several young men literally shoot, stab, and kill each other as they fought like vultures over a low-level headband that probably only gave just a point or two into strength. As a testament to how badly the Lords of Justice had been stomped, the Guild of Gentlemen were now actually being forced to divert resources into stopping their own side from infighting as young men and women¡ªbut mostly men in this case¡ªtore each other apart in some kind of insane, corpse-looting frenzy. One kid managed to pry a pair of gloves off the dead hands of the 16th ranking member of the Lords of Justice. And then, as he broke away from the crowd, tears emerged from his eyes as he stared at the equipment as though it were a religious artifact. Yet before he managed to slide his hands into them, a short, stocky pal of his approached from behind, jammed his knife into the kid¡¯s neck, and then ripped them free before turning around and fleeing the battle entirely. The look of glee on his face was haunting. But it didn¡¯t last. An officer of the Guild of Gentlemen pointed his staff at the boy and vaporized him before he could turn the corner. We¡¯ve fared so poorly that they¡¯ve turned to killing each other for the right to loot our corpses. Alex struggled to come to terms with how poorly they had done: this, despite the fact that the Royal Roses had bombed 1st and Haven into oblivion. Yet it didn¡¯t seem to matter. They had been utterly crushed. In fact, it was difficult to understate just how many people the Lords of Justice had actually lost. Given that some number of their members naturally had to stay behind to maintain order, the roughly 35% of those Alex had sent to 1st and Haven proportionally represented about 25% of the whole guild. And nearly all of them were dead. Meaning, in other words, that a quarter of the entire guild was now gone¡ªdead. Alex, who High-Lord Besh had placed his trust in, had used this trust to lead an entire fourth of the whole Gods-be-cursed guild into damnation. But it had not been without cause. No, there was a very justifiable reason why 1st and Haven Street was so important, for it was their quickest path to victory. And this was all because the road led straight down to 5th and Haven Street, the location where King Morrison and all of his top commanders and strategists resided directly in middle of the city in their command structures. From the very beginning of this operation, Alex had known that their only realistic¡ªand narrow¡ªpath to success involved capturing King Morrison and his closest allies, forcing them to disclose everything they knew about the weapon, and making use of this information to disarm and destroy their production capabilities before Queen Vayra¡¯s religiously self-imposed deadline came to pass. It was almost certainly their only way of earning a true victory in this war. And all because the zealous woman misinterpreted what Adamus actually wanted from her¡­ Well aware of his inability to change her mind, Alex had been forced to concoct a strategy of not just preventing any more weapons from being launched, but from any coming into existence in the first place¡ªeven if they were immediately contained and destroyed. And it was all because Queen Vayra¡ªand by extension, all of her Elves¡ªgenuinely, sincerely believed that ¡°their Lord¡± would be offended over such semantics. And so, the plan was for the Lords of Justice to push from 1st Avenue down to 5th and Haven Street while the Elvish were meant to push up from the south highway through 10th Avenue, and together, they were supposed to surround, capture, and interrogate the top brass of the Guild of Gentlemen. It truly was the only way. Yet now, in this very moment, as High-Lord Besh and Olivir chewed him out over the Comm, and as Alex continued to watch the men and women of the Lords of Justice endure a stunning, crushing defeat of proportions rarely seen throughout history, it was here that he spotted something else through the eyepieces of the young soldier¡¯s binoculars. It was here that he finally snapped. And it was all because of something that, on first glance, one might consider innocuous, but on a deeper level, implied so much more about the situation than it might at first seem. And of all things, it was the sight of ten or so flying unicorns dashing across the sky that ended up setting Alex off. It was the sight of Queen Vayra herself, leading a band of her best green- and white-cloaked warriors southeast in pursuit of the dragon, which at this point, was now circling around the Piercing Thorn while magical projectiles launched by mages aboard kept it at bay. Seeing this, Alex lost his cool¡ªand nearly his mind as well. Because there was significance in this: significance that was not readily apparent at first, but was very much there. Yet through this one act alone, the ugly truth was revealed: that Queen Vayra, as well as her Elves, had given up on saving the city. And they were done pretending otherwise. ¡°Why?¡± Alex asked into the Comm, after quickly switching frequencies. It was the only word he could think to speak. Yet to his aggravation, Queen Vayra acted as though she had no idea what he was talking about. And maybe she didn¡¯t. Maybe she didn¡¯t even realize what her own actions were conveying. ¡°Hello?¡± she replied. ¡°Human boy, I¡¯m busy. What is it now?¡± ¡°Why!¡± Alex shouted at her. ¡°Tell me why!¡± ¡°Why what?¡± she asked, sounding bitter and annoyed. Alex lowered the binoculars, and now he did crush them in his fingers. ¡°Why are you and your Elves chasing after that drake?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious, human? Our esteemed allies in the Royal Roses require our assistance.¡± Alex¡¯s temper and emotions spiked to such as degree that it took all of his self-control not to scream. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be pushing north towards 5th and Haven. Why are you there and not where you¡¯re supposed to be?¡± ¡°And who are you to tell me where I''m meant to be?¡± she snapped. Barely able to contain himself, Alex massaged his temples as he felt both overwhelmed and confused. He opened his mouth to reply, but then he closed it, as he realized this argument would be a waste of time. Unbeknownst to even her own self, Queen Vayra had let slip more than she realized. Namely, that she no longer had any intention of saving Shadowfall Coast, and she likely never did. Even from the very start of this operation, all of her gestures of cooperation¡ªthey were likely intended as nothing more than a way to later justify her actions to the global community. They were so that she could claim she had done all she could, but that there was no other way to stop the Guild of Gentlemen aside from bombarding the city with magic from a safe distance and then running through and knocking down whatever remained. In fact, Alex didn¡¯t even need to investigate the situation to know exactly what happened, because the more he thought about it, the more obvious it became. Queen Vayra, stubborn and hardheaded, had ignored literally all of his warnings. She likely had gotten reckless while fighting in the south highway, and Alex was now willing to bet she¡¯d lost a significant number of her Elves, maybe as many as ten, which to their race, was a lot. That¡¯s exactly what must¡¯ve happened, he thought. Yes. It was the only logical conclusion. She had stormed the south highway, underestimated her enemy, and having lost an unacceptable number of Elves, she was now biding her time and attending to other tasks, and all for the sake of building up the necessary moral justification she¡¯d need to later excuse her command to launch what was, essentially, an Elvish nuke on the city: more complex, but with the same ultimate outcome. Only worse in some regards, because as terrible as the nuke had been, there were survivors, however few. No one was going to survive this. I¡¯ve had it. That''s it. I''ve had it! Alex raised his sword. He¡¯d had enough. He wasn¡¯t going to lose. He wasn¡¯t willing to lose. He didn¡¯t care if he had to go in there and save the city by himself. He didn¡¯t care if he died. He wasn¡¯t giving up. He wasn¡¯t surrendering. Not even the Gods were going to stop him. He¡¯d had enough! ¡°All units,¡± he said into the Comm. ¡°Listen to me, and listen to me carefully! Every single one of you now has a choice to make.¡± With his feet tapping against the street, he began to walk towards the city, slowly at first, but soon he entered into a jog. ¡°You can retreat if you want,¡± he continued. ¡°You can run. You can go home to your mothers. Or you can pull off and follow behind me to 1st and Haven Street. I am going to break through¡ªeven if I have to do it by myself. If you¡¯re still willing to fight, then stand with me. I¡¯m either going to succeed or die.¡± ¡°Alex, what are you doing?¡± High-Lord Besh shouted at him. ¡°Where are you going? We¡¯ve lost far too many good people today as it is. Stop!¡± Alex ignored him, and now, he went from a jog to a sprint¡ªexploding forward in the direction of the city. Deftly, he hopped over a trench, then hopped again over a series of sandbags, and then he sprinted dead center on the northern highway. Like before, he burst forward with such speed that, each time his feet slammed down against the road, he blasted through a chunk of it and then kicked it behind him as he tore up an entire section on his way to where it split via several exits. He took the one that said Haven St. North. He knew he was being reckless. He understood this could be the moment of his death. But his will was simply too strong. He knew what he wanted to achieve. He understood the world he wanted to create: to live in. But even more than anything else, it was his time to step up: the same way his former student, Zachys Calador, had been called to do on multiple occasions now. How many times had it been? How many times had Alex watched that seventeen-year-old boy put his head on the chopping block so that no one else had to suffer? If Alex had only been capable of doing so, he would have taken the boy¡¯s place every single time. Yet the opportunity had never arisen. But now, he could feel in his heart that this was his do-or-die moment. And he was okay with dying. Because truly: it would be so much better to die than to live in the world he¡¯d glimpsed just a few moments ago. A world where people were slaughtered in awful wars, but only after being tortured or sexually abused. Where animals calling themselves men stomped in the heads of brave women for having the courage to stand up to them. If this was the direction Galterra was heading, then all the better to die here today. I¡¯m coming for you, Allistair Morrison of the Guild of Gentlemen! In no time at all, Alex arrived at the foot of the entrance to 1st and Haven, yet even as fast as he¡¯d made it, there were no living members of the Lords of Justice by the time of his arrival. There were, however, about thirty-five members of the Guild of Gentlemen guarding the city¡¯s entrance, and every single one of them reacted with the same look of bewilderment and disbelief as they noticed him arrive all alone by himself. ¡°Is that Lord Oren?¡± a short man wielding two purple swords asked aloud. ¡°The 3rd ranking member of LOJ? Surely it¡¯s not¡­¡± ¡°I think it is!¡± a broad-shouldered woman armed with a slingshot announced cheerfully. ¡°A¡­Alex?¡± exclaimed an immeasurably sad, confused voice that belonged to none other than Wexzel Ultdern, Maric¡¯s younger brother. The hurt in his eyes was unmistakable. Immediately before him were corpses: or rather, a pile of corpses. None of them were recognizable, as they were all charred, burned, and blackened. Even their equipment was missing, which indicated that, not only had they been roasted alive, but whatever had burned them had been strong enough to cause all of their equipment to suffer a full break. And it was only now, as Alex narrowed his eyes discerningly, that a piece of the puzzle became solved. At last, he understood why his guild had failed so miserably. The answer was obvious in hindsight. Up close and personal, he could now see that, mixed in with all the usual junk-tier guild equipment, the Gentlemen had also armed themselves with various pieces of dragon loot. But as far as the burned members of the Lords of Justice were concerned, their deaths were clearly due to the second-most powerful piece of equipment that had dropped during the raid. The staff. Alex remembered it now: he remembered it vividly and in great detail. Upon Ziragoth¡¯s death, there had been two artifact-quality items that had dropped. The first had been the ring, and the second had been the staff. Alex had even personally inspected the staff with his own two hands, bringing up its stats and marveling at them shortly before the festive dinner event. In fact, he could even visualize it in his mind. He could actually recall the item as though its information was floating before his eyes at this very moment.
Name Ziragoth¡¯s Staff of Eternal Dragon¡¯s Fire
Level 105
Rarity Artifact
Dexterity +85
Constitution +85
Intelligence +90
Ability 1 Dragon¡¯s Inferno
Cooldown 20:00 (minutes)
Range 500
Description The user calls down a massive inferno from above in target area, dealing 50,000 damage per second + additional damage that scales highly with intelligence for 5 seconds. Each second, all affected targets suffer -5% to magic and armor resistance for 10 seconds, stacking each tick.
Ability 2 Dragon¡¯s Retaliation
Cooldown 1 (week)
Duration 5:00 (minutes)
Description Transforms ¡°Ziragoth¡¯s Staff of Dragon¡¯s Fire¡± into a flaming sword, immediately granting its user +85 strength; additionally, the user now has a 45% (non-luck-scaling) chance to ignite their target upon any successful contact with any non-ability-modified melee attack. Ignited targets are burned from the inside, suffering 20% direct HP damage each second for 5 seconds (limited to 4% on non-sentients and 0.4% on bosses). This damage cannot be mitigated with resistances. Against bosses higher than T3, this proc can only occur once every 180 seconds.
So that¡¯s how he did it, Alex thought, the truth finally becoming illuminated before him. That¡¯s how they died so fast that I didn¡¯t catch it happening. Alex, who now stood a mere fifty feet away from the edge of the city street, glared defiantly at the much larger force of Gentlemen who hungrily eyed him. From the way they were acting, it was as though they could hardly believe their luck. He was, after all, the 3rd ranking member of a guild they were at war with. He supposed that, from their perspective, the fact that he¡¯d shown up here all alone was an act of extreme fortune. Hell, for all Alex knew, they might¡¯ve been right. He just didn¡¯t care anymore. ¡°Thank you for making our life so much easier,¡± a tall, muscular man wielding a greenish longsword and wearing a set of hardened, brown-leather armor said to him. He began to take several steps forward, and so did an equally tall, equally strong man beside him. The two of them broke away from the pack and began to approach, and there was murder in their eyes. The fact that they looked so similar indicated they were twins. The man¡¯s brother wielded a morning star as a weapon, and the spikes atop it radiated a constant red fire, suggesting it came from the dragon, as typically guild weapons were low-level and lacking in the kind of visual effects often seen on dungeon gear. The fact that Alex did not recognize either of the two meant that they must have been low-ranking. He doubted either were even in the guild¡¯s top 50. But from their arrogant attitudes, one might think they were in the top ten. ¡°Easy, Daviks,¡± Wexzel said, caution in his words. ¡°You and your brother have no business fighting him.¡± ¡°This little bitch?¡± Daviks, the sword-wielding one, asked angrily, causing his identical twin to laugh. ¡°The science nerd?¡± ¡°He¡¯ll kill you in a heartbeat. We should attack together.¡± ¡°Thirty-five on one?¡± he exclaimed, sounding outraged. ¡°We can take him.¡± Greedily, he licked his lips. ¡°Lots of ranks gonna be up for promotion when this war is over. I hear the Royal Roses just snuffed out a few of the top 20s down on the coast. I bet if me and my bro are the ones to bag the third-in-command, maybe we finally crack the top 30.¡± Wexzel grunted. ¡°If you attack him without the rest of us, you will die.¡± The man called Daviks laughed. ¡°Oh yeah?¡± ¡°Yes. The reason being is that the man¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°A former adventurer,¡± Alex finished for him, widening his stance and measuring his breathing as the tall, sword-wielding guild member approached, his brother occupying the space opposite him. Alex ignored them and stared directly at Wexzel. ¡°I want all of you to stand aside and let me through. I¡¯ve come to kill your king.¡± Upon his words, around three quarters of them erupted into a bout of hysterical laughter. He didn¡¯t blame them. It was tough talk coming from a lone science teacher at the end of his rope. Still, Alex meant every word, however suicidal. But of course, they did not take him seriously. But what they did not know¡ªand what Alex did know¡ªwas that following a brief nod Daviks sent his brother¡¯s way, his brother was going to use an ability called Morning Breaker. How did Alex know this? Very simply. That ability, which only worked when using a morning star as a weapon, had an unusual range requirement. Rather than have a maximum range, the user needed to be exactly between a range of 50 and 55. It would then launch the user upwards, into the air, cause him to flip twice, and then the user would descend with incredible force, slamming the spiked weapon down on whatever surface was beneath the user in the targeted area. Then, any targets in the general area¡ªincluding those not directly struck¡ªwould be stunned for up to 6 seconds. Shifting his eyes to the right while keeping his head straight, Alex noticed the position Daviks was taking. He¡¯d slowed, hanging just a bit back. Alex doubted trash like him had any genuinely threatening ranged abilities, so most likely, he was going to wait for his brother to attack and either kill or stun Alex. If the latter, he would then advance, and from there, he¡¯d likely dash forward and slice his sword around a few times. But if he did opt to use abilities, Alex was willing to bet he¡¯d open up with either Sword Rush II or Berating Slice. Alex took a deep breath, and then he released it. He was different from the likes of Zach. Zach, based on everything Alex had seen from the boy, was exceptionally talented when it came to reading his opponent¡¯s body language. And while Alex himself was fairly adept at dueling and reacting, he had never before seen anyone with Zach¡¯s raw talent for predicting enemy movements. It was a natural gift that he was born with: and Alex was not on that level whatsoever. What Alex did have, however, was a near encyclopedic knowledge of every non-unique ability he¡¯d ever come across in the world of adventuring. He knew them well. He knew them very, very well. He knew them so well that, often, other adventurers would approach him and use him for a reference when they themselves could not recall certain details. As far as Alex was aware, there were only four types of inner exertion abilities. There were the normal ones that everyone had, the unique ones that were incredibly rare and that few people had, and then there was legendary non-unique, which was even rarer than baseline unique. Finally, there was a type that was so rare Alex had not even known it existed at all until Zach had come around: legendary unique. He still couldn¡¯t believe that was a thing. Regardless, the point was that more than 99% of inner exertion abilities were simply called inner exertion abilities, and not all were made equal. In truth, these abilities deserved a rarity system all on their own, and over the years, many adventurers had tried to come up with one, but few could agree on how to rate and grade them. But going off a general sense, Alex doubted that anything these two had would have been classified as anything other than the most common of common¡ªby any adventurer¡¯s standards. Ahead of him, Wexzel stepped forward and extended his hand as if to gesture for caution. ¡°Don¡¯t do it,¡± he warned. ¡°I can¡¯t save you.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t need saving.¡± Once again, as though he believed he was being clever, Daviks gave another very quick, very brief nod to his brother, and then the man began to move¡ªand fast. Without a single word of warning, the spiked end of his morning star began to light up with reddish-colored sparks of energy, which danced off the end of his weapon, the very first sign that he was about to use Morning Breaker. And indeed, within just a mere fraction of a second following these sparks, the man launched himself into the air, rising nearly fifty feet above the ground, where he promptly forward-flipped twice and roared out, ¡°MORNING BR¡ª¡± Before he could finish speaking, Alex had already whirled his body to the left, removed his left hand from his blade, and then made a waving, flicking motion with it while activating the Medium-Low exertion ability, Light Dart II. As he flicked his wrist, an incredibly fast-moving dart made of pure light popped into existence between his pinched thumb and index finger, and he threw it. With a high-pitched whistling, the dart zipped upwards and across the air, penetrating the man¡¯s throat even as he was still calling out the name of his ability. Alex watched as it went straight through his neck, exiting the back of his head a moment later. Now, his words ended with a gurgle, and then he fell back to the ground, already dead upon impact. His morning star fell out of his uncurling fingers, rolling a few times along the street and nearly making it to the sidewalk. ¡°No!¡± Daviks screamed, rushing forward. Recklessly, he swung out with his blade. Alex sidestepped, causing him to go running straight past him, and while still wielding his blade in just his right hand, he then made a spinning, downward slash, cutting the man open along the back of his neck and causing him to drop to the ground and begin writhing in pain on the concrete, fatally wounded but not dead. Luckily, Alex was nothing like these animals, and he quickly plunged his blade downwards and through the man¡¯s brain to end his suffering. ¡°Next.¡± Alex beckoned as he pulled his summoned blade free and shook off the blood. ¡°I¡¯ll take on every single one of you at once. Just know that there¡¯s nothing in all of existence that¡¯s going to stop me from reaching your king. I don¡¯t care what it takes: you¡¯re going to let me through.¡± The thirty-three members of the Guild of Gentlemen widened their eyes. It seemed that, now, at least, they were willing to take him as seriously as their 3rd in command, Wexzel Ultdern, did. Good. Alex wouldn¡¯t have it any other way at this point. This was what he should¡¯ve just done from the start. It was what Zach would¡¯ve done. Chapter 165: The Path of Destruction Chapter 165: The Path of Destruction As he restlessly continued to observe what could only be described as an unspeakably awful tragedy, Olivir did not think there was anything in this world that could pull his attention away from the terrible yet captivating bloodbath that was taking place ahead of him in the distance. And then Kolona spoke, and Olivir could focus on nothing else. The moment she finished speaking, he released a displeasured groan. He couldn¡¯t believe what he¡¯d just heard. ¡°Geeze, Kolona,¡± he said. He stared at her a moment then began rubbing the back of his head as he released a nervous exhale. ¡°You¡¯re actually serious about this?¡± She reached out to him, and then he felt her hand wrapping around his, still warm as she clutched his tightly and nodded. ¡°We have to, Oli.¡± Olivir muttered to himself. Suffice it to say, he did not agree whatsoever with the wild, insane thing she¡¯d just suggested to him. It was even more harrowing that it¡¯d come from her mouth of all people, as such a thing was so unlike her. But most importantly, it was an easy way for one or both of them to get killed. ¡°So, you know that, uhm, if we play our cards right, we can live for thousands of years, yeah? Do you really want to risk all of that on this one little epoch?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Of course not,¡± Olivir said, frowning. ¡°Epochs pass, Kolona. And unlike the rest of the world, we remain.¡± Kolona squeezed his hand more tightly. ¡°You know what your problem is, Oli?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a big-picture thinker. And that¡¯s a good thing a lot of the time. But sometimes it¡¯s not.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. ¡°You can¡¯t always view life as one big timeline that you can just wait out, where you assume that nothing that happens matters if you just wait long enough for it to be a distant memory. Because you know what, Oli? Sometimes, it really does matter what happens in the small moments. Even if it all ends up fading with time. Yeah, we can live for thousands of years, but is that the only thing in the world that¡¯s important?¡± ¡°Eventually, yes.¡± Kolona playfully shoved him. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t live for the eventually or for the forever. I live for the now. That¡¯s where you and I are always going to be different.¡± Olivir looked beyond the grasslands and at the city, which was under siege from three different directions yet somehow seemed to be holding out. Honestly? The most likely conclusion to all of this was its total destruction, and that was becoming clearer and more obvious by the moment. Of all the possible ways things could play out, everything was shaping up to conclude with the Elvish annihilating all non-allied life in the city: everyone from the guild¡¯s soldiers to the children hiding in their homes. Hell, probably even their pets, too. It was terrible. There was no doubting that. By no means was Olivir unbothered by the prospect of yet another city falling victim to a mass-extinction event. For this reason, he was willing to do whatever he could to help steer events away from that outcome¡ªas long as he could do it safely and without jeopardizing his or Kolona¡¯s life. But Kolona¡­she was starting to come down with whatever craziness was running through Lord Oren¡¯s head, and this, Olivir found incredibly perplexing since she wasn¡¯t even human to begin with and had no reason to care for their lives. Not to mention the region was controlled by the Guild of Gentlemen¡ªthose responsible for the torture and cruelty she¡¯d experienced in her early upbringing. The humans here hate and despise her kind, and yet she still wants to get involved¡­ Olivir shook his head. Her idea was ridiculous. It was nuts! But¡­it might actually work. He had to at least give her that. It could actually work for how utterly insane it was. ¡°I¡¯m crazy for even considering this,¡± Olivir said to her. ¡°My sole priority is to protect you.¡± ¡°Then nothing changes,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m going no matter what. So if you want to protect me, you¡¯ll just have to come too.¡± Olivir sighed. ¡°So¡­that¡¯s how it is, huh?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± she said, folding her arms. ¡°That¡¯s how it is.¡± ¡°Gods damn it all.¡± Olivir stretched his back and neck muscles as he mentally prepared himself to become even more involved in this heinous fiasco. He couldn¡¯t believe he was really about to try something so wild. ¡°This might be the dumbest thing a pair of vampires has attempted in thousands of years.¡± Kolona made a cute, squeaky laugh. ¡°Only if we fail.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­only if we fail¡­¡± ***** For all his determination, Alex was not an idiot. Logically, he knew that he wasn¡¯t likely to live beyond the next few moments. He knew that he, a man who had decided to stand alone against thirty-three leveled members of the Guild of Gentlemen, could not rely solely on his experience and knowledge to endure the coming onslaught from such an overwhelming number of enemies. He knew these things. He understood them. There was no issue with his brain comprehending the facts. And yet, his ironclad will to persevere was so strong that it overwrote his common sense. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t grasp his situation, but more that his heart was signaling so strongly that he needed to stand and fight that he was willing to disregard all logic and rationality out of a sheer refusal to give up or abandon what he knew was right. His heart and mind were in conflict, and the former had won out. Switching back to a two-handed grip on his blade, he held the weapon towards the base with his left hand positioned directly above his right. He bent his knees slightly, extended his arms a bit farther, and now he scanned the foot of the street before him, where various lights, sounds, and colors were entering the world as staff-wielding healers and support began to cast a wide array of numerous different buffs on their allies, who then began to fan out, creating the start of what would likely turn into a wide net headed his way. I won¡¯t be stopped here, Alex vowed to himself. I don¡¯t care how many of them there are! It wasn¡¯t just their buffs he had to worry about. If anything, those would be the least of his problems. No, it was everything else that Alex needed to be mindful of, and in this context, everything else really did in fact mean everything. As in: all of it. All the ¡°roles¡± or ¡°archetypes¡± that made up the world of adventuring were represented before him, and this was true even if the men and women he¡¯d be facing did not label themselves adventurers. Aside from the obvious threats of melee weapons and magical projectiles, Alex would also have to contend with crowd control, debuffs, curses, poisons, enemy healing, ranged physical attacks¡ªall of it. There was enough plainly visible variety in the enemy¡¯s defenses here on 1st and Haven Street that Alex was fairly sure they had everything covered. And as for Alex? He had only himself. He was fighting alone. Thus far, no one from the Lords of Justice had shown up to assist him despite his ardent plea over the Comm. Not even one of them. And Alex didn¡¯t need to risk stealing a peek over his shoulder to know that nobody was on their way to back him up, either. No, Alex could tell that much just from the chatter coming over the Comm in his ear. He was able to listen in as those who could disengage safely announced they were doing so, and he highly doubted any of them were about to have a sudden, imminent change of heart just for his sake. Sadly, Alex couldn¡¯t even really blame them for choosing not to stand with him. Or at least¡­he couldn¡¯t blame them as much as he blamed the Elvish. The Elves made it impossible for them to resist the urge to flee, Alex thought. Simply by virtue of knowing what the Elves had planned, the leveled members¡ªas well as the level-1 troops¡ªwere naturally choosing to retreat. And why wouldn¡¯t they? Because of the Elves, they knew that their homes and families were not in peril¡ªthey knew that they didn¡¯t absolutely have to continue fighting and dying to the last one of them. Given the option, of course they would choose to return to their families, especially after so many had already been brutalized in what was shaping up to be a historic defeat. Thanks to Queen Vayra¡¯s shocking level of transparency regarding her intentions, every last one of them knew that even if they failed in their plans, the problem would still be resolved anyway, as the Elves would simply blow up the city. Faced with such knowledge, the desire to avoid fighting had likely been overwhelming from the start. In fact, now that Alex thought about it, it suddenly dawned on him that it probably played at least some role in why the Lords of Justice had performed so poorly to begin with. Indeed, the Elvish had created a disparity, because in the minds of those on the battlefield, the Guild of Gentlemen were fighting for their continued existence, whereas their own side had been fighting out of a sense of morality, duty, and honor. ¡°Lord Oren, please, retreat!¡± cried Lord Quillisk, the fourth-ranking member of the Lords of Justice. ¡°We¡¯ve lost a quarter of the guild already. These people aren¡¯t worth fighting for. Leave them to their fate!¡± As others chimed in with agreement, Alex removed his left hand from his sword, lifted it to the side of his face, plucked the Comm out of his ear, and in a very defiant yet admittedly Zach-like fashion, he crushed it between his fingers then opened his palm to let the various pieces fall to the street. This did not go unnoticed. ¡°Hear something ya didn¡¯t like?¡± taunted a woman wielding a mid-sized shield in her right hand and a broadsword in her left. The sight of her caused Alex to tense up, though it was not because he found her intimidating but because the tall, armored woman had an appearance that greatly reminded him of Lady Theolina; she even had the same emerald-green eyes. Her mannerisms, however, were completely different, which she demonstrated after Alex had gazed at her a bit too long. ¡°What¡¯re you looking at, sugar?¡± she asked. She made a cruel, wicked grin. ¡°Something catch your interest?¡± Alex ignored her and instead locked eyes with Wexzel Ultdern, who stood in the middle of their rapidly widening formation. His serpentine, artifact-quality staff, which glowed with an intense, red aura, appeared at odds with his blue-white set of plate armor and his full helm. ¡°It¡¯s not too late to surrender,¡± he said, a sadness in his voice. ¡°But I¡¯m not going to make any real effort to convince you, because I already know that nothing I say will deter you from your decision to choose death over life.¡± His remark angered Alex to a much greater degree than it should have. Really, it was the audacity of it more than anything else. His brow furrowing, Alex regarded Lord Ultdern. He did not bother to hide the displeasure he knew must¡¯ve been creeping onto his face. ¡°That¡¯s a disgusting remark,¡± Alex replied bitterly. ¡°A horribly shortsighted thing to say, especially coming from your side.¡± ¡°Is it?¡± ¡°Of course it is, Sir Ultdern. After all, the whole reason I¡¯m here at all is because I¡¯ve chosen to take the side of the living.¡± ¡°The thousands of corpses you¡¯ve left in our streets suggest otherwise, Lord Oren. All of that wasted life¡ªand for what?¡± ¡°For what?¡± Alex snapped, unable to believe what he was hearing. ¡°To save the lives of your citizens. That¡¯s for what!¡± A look of surprise flashed across Wexzel¡¯s eyes, and it caused Alex¡¯s anger to fall away immediately and for curiosity to take its place, as Alex did not understand the man¡¯s stunned reaction. For some reason, what Alex had just said seemed to have had an impact on the large, plate-armor-wearing man, for he seemed so taken aback by Alex¡¯s words that he actually paused a moment, halting in place. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± he asked. ¡°Are you actually making the outrageous claim that your violent presence here is of some benefit to our people?¡± The man¡¯s confusion caused a secondary confusion in Alex, as Alex had thought his words were quite clear¡ªor at least they should have been. Yet it was only now that he spoke them aloud that he realized the Guild of Gentlemen likely had no idea what was about to happen to them, and it came to Alex as something of a revelation, though it should¡¯ve been obvious from the start. Does he not even know? Alex wondered, suddenly coming to grips with the possibility that it might truly not have occurred to the Gentlemen what the consequences of their ¡°victory¡± over the Lords of Justice might be. Gods, they don¡¯t even know! ¡°Listen to me, Sir Ultdern,¡± Alex said to him, sensing a very real opportunity to negotiate his way out of this conflict. ¡°Please: hear me for just a moment.¡± In what seemed to come as a surprise to his allies, Sir Ultdern raised his gauntleted palm in a gesture signaling for the others to halt. This caused numerous, dissatisfied-sounding murmurs from his fellow guild members, which he seemingly ignored as he fixed Alex with a stern, unblinking stare. ¡°What is it?¡± he asked. Alex knew that, much like his brother, Maric, the man¡¯s patience could only be stretched so far. Thus, he wasted no time in cutting right to the chase. He didn¡¯t know if anything he said would be believed, but it was surely the kind of thing they¡¯d at least have to take seriously. ¡°The reason I¡¯m fighting so hard to get to your king,¡± Alex began, ¡°is not because I¡¯m trying to win a war or conquer your city. It¡¯s because, if I fail, every single innocent life in Shadowfall Coast is going to die in just a short while from now¡ªalong with the rest of you.¡± Upon these words, all muttering ceased, and all eyes focused more intently upon him. If nothing else, Alex could tell he¡¯d succeeded in gaining their undivided attention. This was good. Seizing upon this, he continued to truthfully explain the dilemma they were in¡ªone that they were seemingly not even aware of. ¡°By now, I¡¯m sure your guild has figured out that we know you don¡¯t have any more of your new weapon ready to fire¡ªbut that you will have more very, very soon.¡± ¡°He said what now?¡± a man wielding two purple swords whispered to a sickly-looking man in black robes carrying a scythe. From the blank stares and turned heads, Alex got the impression that many of those here did not know what he was talking about. This made sense, as such a thing would likely have been a well-guarded secret known only by those high up in rank such as Sir Wexzel Ultdern, the guild¡¯s third-in-command. Offering Alex a grunt along with a quick, curt nod, he acknowledged what Alex was saying to him. In the same instant, his fellow guild members became agitated as though they were hearing this for the first time. ¡°The hell is he talking about?¡± asked the broad-shouldered woman wielding a slingshot. ¡°He¡¯s full of shit!¡± shouted a man with white hair and crimson-colored eyes. Alex wasn¡¯t positive, but he believed the man to be the 13th in command, Gentleman Baine Restlocht. Visually, Gentleman Restlocht looked like the oldest of the bunch of them with his fully silver hair and his wrinkled face. Oddly enough, however, Alex was fairly sure the man was only in his early seventies. Yet he looked like he was thrice the age of someone like Wexzel Ultdern, who was over a hundred years old. ¡°I¡¯m not lying to you,¡± Alex told him. ¡°Like hell you aren¡¯t,¡± Gentleman Restlocht growled in response, reacting as though he were deeply offended by Alex¡¯s words. He began to massage the large, orange-red-colored crossbow he carried in his arms. Judging off the ornamental dragon¡¯s head mounted near the foregrip, Alex was willing to bet it was yet another item that¡¯d been stolen from the raid. He scowled at Alex as though desperately wanting to fire the weapon, but in short order, his scowl was replaced with a shocked gasp as Wexzel decided to confirm every word of what Alex was telling them. ¡°What he¡¯s saying is true,¡± Sir Ultdern said, speaking loudly enough so that the thirty-two other members of his guild on the street with him could hear his words. ¡°This may come as a surprise, but since it¡¯s hardly a secret worth keeping anymore, you may as well hear it from me and not him. Despite what you¡¯ve been told, the intercontinental ballistic missile we fired at Ogre¡¯s Axe was in fact the only one we possessed.¡± ¡°Wait, seriously?¡± coughed out a woman with the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s emblem tattooed on her forehead. Her voice became high in pitch as though she¡¯d spoken out of a sense of disbelief. ¡°I thought we had hundreds ready to fire: enough to destroy anyone who dared to stand in the way of humanity¡¯s progress a thousand times over!¡± ¡°No,¡± Sir Ultdern replied. ¡°That was a necessary lie we told in order to keep humanity safe. Yet, somehow, the enemy discovered otherwise. They¡¯ve also discovered our timetable for building more of the weapon, too. If we faced any less dangerous a foe, I¡¯d be inclined to try taking him alive for questioning, as we have no idea how such well-guarded secrets were able to leak.¡± Alex made a slight gesture with his chin. ¡°Actually, Sir Ultdern, if you really want to know so badly, I could just tell you how it happened. I really don¡¯t mind.¡± Sir Ultdern cocked his left eyebrow. ¡°Oh? You¡¯d just come right out and tell me?¡± he asked, his tone implying he had serious doubts that Alex was being genuine. ¡°You¡¯d tell us just like that?¡± ¡°I would,¡± Alex confirmed. ¡°If you really want to know, you can just ask. I actually have no reason to keep it a secret. Not that it really matters, though.¡± ¡°And why is that?¡± ¡°Because you wouldn¡¯t believe me anyway.¡± Clearly skeptical, Sir Ultdern narrowed his eyes and said, ¡°Nevertheless, if you¡¯re actually volunteering this information for free, then tell me, Lord Oren: how did your guild learn what it knows? How could it possibly have penetrated the numerous layers of airtight security we¡¯d set up?¡± As Alex replied, he kept a perfectly straight face. ¡°The Gods told us so,¡± he explained, stating it bluntly. ¡°The¡­Gods told you?¡± ¡°Correct. To be exact, they communicated telepathically with someone on the inside here in Shadowfall Coast, and then they relayed that information back to us: also telepathically. That was how we found out.¡± There was silence for a moment, and Lord Ultdern stared at him with a dumbfounded look. But this quickly fell off his face, and now, the man clenched his jaw tightly as though angered. ¡°I thought you far too mature and dignified to play these kinds of childish games with me, Lord Oren¡ªAlex.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t a game, and what I told you is the truth.¡± ¡°Preposterous! This is a crude attempt at mockery.¡± Alex sighed, and then he shrugged. ¡°Like I told you: you wouldn¡¯t believe me.¡± ¡°Of course I don¡¯t.¡± His frown deepened. ¡°Who would?¡± Sensing the question was rhetorical, Alex did not reply, and instead, he allowed the man to continue speaking. He watched as Sir Ultdern made yet another waving motion with his armored hand, but this time, it was one that he took to be a dismissive gesture. ¡°However it is your guild came upon this information, there¡¯s no longer any reason for either of our guilds to be coy about the facts here: they are what they are. Somehow, you found out.¡± Alex nodded. ¡°And that¡¯s why we¡¯ve come,¡± he said, though he was now speaking more to the thirty-two other guild members than to Sir Ultdern. ¡°From your perspective, it must have seemed like an act of suicide, no?¡± he asked them. ¡°For us to show up here and attack your city despite the likelihood of total destruction we would face? But now all of you should understand why we¡¯ve come. It¡¯s because we discovered the truth, but even more importantly, we¡¯ve become aware that, in slightly more than an hour from now, your guild will have another weapon built and ready to launch. We¡¯ve come to stop that from happening.¡± Another short moment of relative silence lingered over 1st and Haven Street, though in this case, perhaps ¡°silence¡± was too strong a word; the sounds of war and death were continuing to play out in every direction, with explosions and gunfire coming from sources both near and distant. There was also the occasional cry of pain from the sky drake as Queen Vayra and a group of her Elves dealt with it above the ocean. ¡°So¡­wait a minute,¡± the woman with the tattoo on her forehead said after a moment as though puzzling something out. She looked over her shoulder and in the direction of the city, and then she looked back at Alex. Her mood seemed to suddenly lift, and so did the spirits of all of those around her as they seemingly stumbled upon the same idea at the same time. ¡°So, if everything you¡¯re saying is true, then that really does explain why the Lords of Justice and the Royal Roses chose to attack us. It means you¡¯re not crazy after all. You were all just jumping at an opportunity. But then¡­but then wait a minute, because if that¡¯s the case, it sounds like what you¡¯re actually saying is¡­¡± ¡°¡­that all we have to do is hold off the invasion for another hour and we win!¡± cheered one of the men, his tone exuberant. Others joined in soon after. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what he¡¯s saying,¡± the woman replied. Then she too cheered. ¡°There¡¯s no way they¡¯ll break through by then, and then they¡¯ll all have to surrender once we have another weapon to defend ourselves with. We¡¯re going to win!¡± ¡°Gods, you¡¯re right!¡± Gentleman Restlocht shouted, raising his crossbow victoriously. ¡°They¡¯ll all be licking our boots and begging us for forgiveness once we cook up another weapon. The Gods be praised! Humanity is going to win this fight!¡± As the various members of the Guild of Gentlemen vocalized their joy, one could be forgiven if, just for a moment, it seemed more like a party or a celebration was taking place on 1st and Haven as opposed to something far darker and bloodier. Alex sighed. He tried to continue speaking but he actually had to wait for the nearly three-dozen members of the Guild of Gentlemen to cease their abrupt cheering and gloating before he could even be heard. ¡°You¡¯re wrong,¡± he said to them when they finally quieted down. ¡°All of you are so completely, totally wrong, and you still don¡¯t get it.¡± ¡°What don¡¯t we get?¡± asked Sir Ultdern. ¡°My patience is growing thin. Explain it now, Alex.¡± ¡°Very well,¡± Alex said. With his weapon still gripped tightly in both hands, he raised his voice and continued to explain it to them. ¡°Right now,¡± he began, ¡°you¡¯re not just fighting a battle against humans, but you¡¯re fighting against Elves, too¡ªElves that have thus far fought you conventionally, pitting their strength against yours. But they also know what I know. So why don¡¯t you tell me: what do you think they will do if we don¡¯t find and destroy your weapons before the next one is ready to fire?¡± Even before he¡¯d finished speaking, he could see that a great many of them were beginning to stir and shift their feet as though becoming nervous, yet it was only in a slight way that suggested to Alex they still did not understand the full gravity of the situation. And so, he decided to illuminate it for them. Taking just a moment to scan the numerous faces before him, he once more settled his gaze on Sir Ultdern and laid it out as simply as he could. ¡°By defeating us here,¡± Alex said, using the most serious tone of voice he could conjure, ¡°you have just made it more likely that the Elves will resort to their backup plan.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± asked a short man with curly red hair and a face full of freckles. He was wielding crystal-colored staff, his knuckles turning white as he clung to the weapon. Understanding was beginning to work its way into his expression, but it was important that he heard it said aloud despite this. Alex looked at him and said, ¡°Their plan is to bombard your city from a distance with magic and then run through it again and again at full speed until they¡¯ve leveled all of it: until every single human in Shadowfall Coast is dead along with whatever you were building. That is what every slain member of my guild was fighting to prevent, and that is what fate awaits Shadowfall Coast if I can¡¯t find and destroy your weapons before the Elves run out of patience.¡± The reaction from the Guild of Gentlemen came in all at once, and it began in the form of murmurs that progressed into a chorus of loud, angry shouts from so many people at once that Alex could hardly make out what any individual person was saying. Their reaction was exactly what he¡¯d been hoping for: it was exactly what he¡¯d need to convince them to stand down. At least¡­among the majority of them. But there was one man who did not seem shaken, and he was the man who most needed convincing. ¡°So that¡¯s what you meant,¡± Sir Ultdern whispered. Given the increase in the level of noise, Alex was amazed he could hear him at all. Thankfully, his fellow guild members quickly began to quiet as he started speaking. His face softened ever so slightly, and he gave Alex a brief but meaningful nod. ¡°So that¡¯s why you didn¡¯t retreat with the rest of your guild.¡± ¡°Correct.¡± He smiled. ¡°Very noble of you, Sir Oren. I always knew you¡¯d be better off in a real guild as opposed to mingling around with those silly little ¡®adventurer¡¯ gangs my brother loves so much.¡± Though harsh, the words were spoken with a fair degree of mirth, but the playfulness in his voice did not last; at once, his tone became darker and far more serious. ¡°This at least tells me one very important detail.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± His expression turned grim yet also eerily pleased; it was as though something Alex had said had caused him to become less worried as opposed to more. Alex had no idea why or how that was even possible, but it did cause a sense of foreboding to take hold of him¡ªone he had to fight to keep at bay. Sir Ultdern lifted his chin somewhat, and he did not blink a single time as he spoke. ¡°Through some means, you discovered our bluff and even the nature of our production capabilities, and yet¡­despite this, I¡¯ve just learned that you don¡¯t actually know where to find our weapon facilities.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­true,¡± Alex admitted. ¡°We don¡¯t know where they are. But that is not something that should cause you any degree of relief. Like I said, the Elves are going to¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s strange, though,¡± he continued, either deliberately interrupting Alex or no longer listening to him in the first place. ¡°How can you find out the first two but not the third?¡± he asked, the question again seeming more rhetorical than inquisitive. He lifted his shoulders. ¡°I guess it doesn¡¯t matter. I now understand the situation so much better.¡± ¡°Then what will you do?¡± Alex asked him¡ªor meant to ask, anyway. Although he spoke the words, his voice was drowned out as nearly ten members of the Guild of Gentlemen all called out the exact same question via slightly different wording. ¡°What do we do, Sir Ultdern?¡± one asked. ¡°What should we do?¡± another asked at the same time, a trembling quality in his voice. Sir Ultdern raised his staff as though to signal for their attention. ¡°We continue on,¡± he said. A very dangerous glint entered his eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the Elves. Of all the possibilities we have feared coming to pass, the one that high-command has spent the most time considering these past few weeks is the possibility of an indiscriminate Elvish attack directly on our city. Rest assured: we have already taken precautions.¡± Is he serious? Alex wondered to himself, trying not to fret as the man¡¯s confidence began to worry him. There¡¯s nothing they could possibly do to stop the Elves. He¡¯s either delusional or a fool. Of all the ways that things today could end, the destruction of Shadowfall Coast was only the second worst among them. The worst, by a far greater magnitude, would be any event in which the Guild of Gentlemen was somehow able to build another nuclear weapon. Compared to that, even the utter annihilation of the city was preferable. Therefore, just the mere suggestion, however implausible, that his guild might have some defense against the far-superior Elves¡­it was enough to roil Alex and make his knees feel weak. They can¡¯t. There¡¯s no way that they could. Sir Ultdern looked to his left and nodded, then he glanced to his right and did the same. Finally, he met Alex¡¯s eyes. ¡°This conversation is now over. You¡¯re either going to surrender immediately or die. If you choose the latter, then forgive me, Alex, but I will do what I must.¡± As he spoke, the leveled members of the Guild of Gentlemen once more began inching towards him. In response, Alex took several big hops backwards to gain some distance while raising his blade. It looked like he was going to have to kill his way through after all. ***** With the lance of a unicorn-mounted, white-cloaked Elf running through its belly, the sky drake suffered 42,627 points of damage and at last died. It released one finally cry, and then, following a loud boom that could likely be heard two regions over, the entirety of it vanished into what looked like a combination of fire and haze. Unfortunately, it was not kind enough to also take with it everything it¡¯d consumed on its way over here¡ªincluding about fifty level-1 troops of the Royal Roses. Now, raising his hands above his head like two miniature umbrellas, Vim ducked as bones, guts, pieces of destroyed fighter jets, and gallons upon gallons of blood rained down upon the Piercing Thorn. Even though most of it thankfully drifted on the wind and ended up in the ocean, there was still enough left over to paint a significant portion of the upper deck red. ¡°Fucking dragons,¡± he muttered. ¡°I¡¯m sick of them.¡± ¡°As are we all,¡± said an effeminate voice that was accompanied by a flapping, wing-like sound. Glancing upwards, Vim watched as Queen Vayra, flanked by seven of her Elves, landed their unicorn mounts atop the deck. She too was covered in blood, but she gave no indication that it bothered her in the slightest. Hell, it definitely didn¡¯t. The woman was insane. She probably liked being covered in it. But at least she killed the damned thing. At the cost of a fortune¡­ With the sky drake having been dealt with, Vim sighed with relief. All things considered, they¡¯d made out okay. His mages had managed to hold the sky drake off long enough for the Elves to come and pull aggro, and through some miracle, they hadn¡¯t lost any additional battlecruisers. They even had four fighter jets left, which was certainly better than zero. ¡°Haisel, tell the pilots they can return now.¡± The last four remaining jets had been ordered to pick a direction and keep flying in it until the situation here had been resolved. This was because, clearly, they were the drake¡¯s primary objective. It was only through a healthy combination of taunts and crowd control that they¡¯d managed to save the four jets and their pilots along with them. ¡°They¡¯re on their way,¡± Haisel replied. ¡°The pilots are requesting we give them a rest.¡± Vim shook his head. ¡°We can¡¯t spare it. They can have whatever time it takes us to refuel and rearm their aircraft, but then we need them back in the air. Even just four bombers are enough to make a critical difference in this war.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Haisel said. He turned his body to face the queen, her winged, white-haired mount staring at him. ¡°Thank you for your aid, Your Majesty.¡± He bowed to her, and she lowered her head in acknowledgement. Then Haisel shot Vim a stern, expectant glare. ¡°Sir Alazar?¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± With the beast slain and gone, Vim extended his hand towards Queen Vayra to show his gratitude¡ªand then he swore loudly and vengefully as her Gods-cursed fucking unicorn opened its mouth, extended its neck, and chomped down, biting his middle finger clean off his right hand. Vim cried out in pain as his guild reacted immediately to the slight, with several of them drawing their weapons including Haisel Ragora.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Sir Alazar!¡± a mage shouted, his expression lighting up with raw hatred as he glared at the unicorn. The sound of boots rushing along the deck followed his shout. With the same hand that had been bitten, Vim waved him¡ªand all the others¡ªdown. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll use a stone to grow it back. Everyone, calm down! It clearly wasn¡¯t on purpose.¡± ¡°Oh yes it was,¡± Queen Vayra said. ¡°It was very much deliberate. Good girl, Snowcone.¡± She began patting the top of the beast¡¯s head. Her words caused many of those aboard with him to become fiery and indignant, so Vim had to once again demand that they cool their temper. He wasn¡¯t about to get into a war with the Elves over a finger¡ªalthough he was definitely not going to forget this any time soon. His hand dripping blood, he stared daggers at the woman. ¡°I¡¯m deducting the cost of a red rejuvenation stone from whatever I owe you.¡± Queen Vayra smirked. ¡°You¡¯d actually waste one of your ¡®precious¡¯ little jewels on a missing finger?¡± Vim nodded. ¡°Of course. I have to have some way of flipping you off after what your flying rat just did to me.¡± Clearly possessing some rudimentary level of intelligence, the unicorn made a loud huffing noise. Vim glared at it and decided that if he ever had the chance to do so, he was definitely going to kill it and eat it. Waving his throbbing hand, he waited for someone to bring him one of the red stones, and then he crushed it with his hand. Although it would take a bit to grow back his finger, the pain at least came to an immediate end. Compared to what the Guild of Gentlemen put me through, this is nothing, he thought. For the second time¡ªand also to ease tensions¡ªVim slowly and cautiously extended his hand in the queen¡¯s direction. This time around, she made a cooing sound and patted the top of her mount¡¯s head, and then she offered her own hand in return. Vim took it and kissed the back of it as a show of respect, but very quietly, he said, ¡°I¡¯m never forgiving you for that you fucking bitch!¡± ¡°Careful,¡± she whispered, glee in her eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll have to take another finger if you continue with that tone.¡± Vim gave her his most hateful expression. Never had he been so angry¡ªand aroused¡ªat the exact same time. But that was something he really couldn¡¯t afford to reflect upon right now. No, there was a war going on, and there were big things happening all over the place. He needed to keep his focus on what was most important. To that end, he let the entire thing slide for the moment. ¡°Your Majesty,¡± he said, doing his best to keep his temper in check. ¡°Yes?¡± Vim took a step backwards before he continued speaking, not wishing to stand anywhere near her mount. ¡°Since you¡¯re here already,¡± he continued, ¡°you might as well push west with my forces rather than fly all the way back to where¡ª¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s ill-advised, Sir Alazar,¡± she said, cutting him off. ¡°As a matter of fact, I would strongly suggest you begin winding down your operations.¡± Vim frowned. ¡°And why would you suggest that?¡± Queen Vayra dismounted, her boots clicking down on the deck of the Piercing Thorn. She turned around, cupped her hand over her forehead as if to filter out the powerful, morning summer sun, and then she gazed in the direction of the city. ¡°Because it¡¯s getting late,¡± she said. ¡°Yes, I think it¡¯s indeed time you recalled your forces.¡± ¡°It¡¯s getting¡­?¡± Vim narrowed his eyes as it occurred to him what she was implying. Immediately, his temper returned with a fury, shooting from a three up to a nine. ¡°Now just wait a damned second here!¡± he shouted at her. ¡°It¡¯s still way too early for you to be talking about that.¡± Fylwen¡¯s expression turned icy. ¡°No, it¡¯s not,¡± she said. ¡°Time is just about up.¡± Vim lifted his foot and slammed it down hard enough to crack through a piece of the upper deck. ¡°Don¡¯t you even think of blowing up the Gods-be-damned city, Fylwen! You¡¯re being an idiot!¡± Upon these words, every one of her Elvish warriors¡ªand their unicorns, too¡ªspun their heads towards him as if wanting to either bite, stab, shoot, or magic him to death for having the audacity to talk to their queen in such a way. Still, Vim ignored all of them. He kept his focus solely on the woman. ¡°You¡¯d be making a very serious mistake.¡± ¡°How so?¡± she asked, appearing a great deal calmer and more collected than he currently was. Yet in her eyes, there was now a deadliness that could not be ignored: a resolve to commit an unspeakable and ruinous act. And an entirely unnecessary one, too! Becoming frustrated, Vim pointed his finger across the short stretch of water and at the city. ¡°Unlike the Lords of Justice, my boys and gals are kicking ass right now. We¡¯ve got the situation well under control. There¡¯s no damn reason for you to go blowing everything up. If you do that, it¡¯ll make the entire city worthless. This place will be a goldmine under my leadership, and you aren¡¯t going to ruin that for us.¡± Fylwen chuckled. ¡°So, this is more about your want of coin than out of any concern for the lives of those who live here?¡± Vim actually snorted in response to her ridiculous question. ¡°Of course it is. I¡¯m half Gnome¡ªthree quarters if we¡¯re being technical. These people hate me. They hate me so much that they beat me and maimed me and¡­¡± He ripped the rest of the statement out of his mind, not willing to recall some of the more profane indignities that had been inflicted upon him. ¡°The people who live here are garbage,¡± Vim finished. ¡°I don¡¯t care what you do to them. But I need the infrastructure intact.¡± Fylwen chuckled once again. ¡°All you care about is coin. Truly, it amazes me. It¡¯s no wonder my daughter¡¯s mate is so well-suited for the Royal Roses. The two of you are a match made in the heavens.¡± Vim scoffed at the comparison, as it was actually unfair and totally off basis. ¡°It¡¯s true I want the gold, but it¡¯s not for lining my pockets. I have mouths to feed, homes to rebuild, and people who rely on me. If I don¡¯t earn, they don¡¯t eat. Ever since Peter IV got us cut out of global trade, it¡¯s been a nightmare keeping everything from falling apart. I¡¯m probably the only guild leader in the history of North Bastia who lives in a one-bedroom apartment. I give everything I can spare to my people. I rented out my entire estate just to salvage every coin I can.¡± Rather than reply, Fylwen seemed to be studying his expression. Vim locked eyes with her, and he too said nothing for a moment. He took a short break to calm himself before continuing to speak. Then, lowering his voice somewhat, he said, ¡°Look, my people are the ones who were hit by their weapon. Believe me: if I thought there was any chance that they might get ahold of another, I¡¯d join you in wiping out the city. But we are winning this fight! There¡¯s no need for you to destroy Shadowfall Coast.¡± His words were not a bluff: they were quite literally the truth. Unlike the Lords of Justice, which had gotten absolutely obliterated in what might just be one of the most-humiliating defeats in the past few centuries, the Royal Roses were thrashing the Guild of Gentlemen. And this really did not come as much of a surprise to Vim, either. Of all the guilds in North Bastia, none had been put through what the Royal Roses had been forced to endure over the past few decades¡ªPeter IV had made sure of that much. His members knew how to fight, and how to fight well. Maybe nowhere near the level of the average adventurer, but compared to the softhearted Lords of Justice with their upscale lifestyles, aristocratic temperaments, and silly idealism? There was no simply contest between them. And yes, the Guild of Gentlemen had tried to deploy all the same kinds of little ¡°tricks¡± and ¡°tactics¡± on them that they¡¯d used on the LOJ, but it was not working on the Royal Roses. ¡°We¡¯re winning,¡± he repeated, speaking even more enthusiastically. ¡°I reckon that within two hours from now, we¡¯ll have conquered enough of the city to occupy any possible launch sites. Meaning, even if they do finish one of their weapons, there won¡¯t be a single spot they can launch it, effectively neutering them until we can search every nook and cranny of this place.¡± Of all the things Vim had said to her since she¡¯d landed aboard their aircraft carrier, it was this for some reason that brought about her anger. Whirling her body around to face him, she opened her mouth and shouted, ¡°That is not acceptable!¡± Confused and startled, Vim blinked several times before responding. ¡°Huh? Why not?¡± ¡°Because, Gnome, we cannot allow them¡ªor anyone¡ªto ever create such a weapon in the first place.¡± Vim, becoming even more confused, pursed his lips together to form a question, but he was so puzzled by her actions and sudden shift in tone that he wasn¡¯t even sure what to ask. It actually took him a good few seconds before he could put into words what he was trying to say. ¡°I don¡¯t get it,¡± he spoke at last. ¡°If we make it impossible for them to launch, who gives a shit if we find their weapons today, tomorrow, or two months from now? What does it even matter? Who cares?¡± ¡°Our God cares!¡± snapped one of the green-cloaked Elves. ¡°Precisely,¡± Fylwen agreed. ¡°That¡¯s exactly why we cannot wait.¡± If her words¡ªand the words of the green-cloaked Elf¡ªwere meant to, like, you know, ¡°clear things up¡± or whatever, it was actually having the opposite effect. Vim once again found himself with his lips pursed and a question on the tip of his tongue that he wasn¡¯t quite sure how to get out. ¡°I¡¯m not understanding,¡± he said. ¡°This makes no sense.¡± ¡°It is not that complicated, little man.¡± Fylwen moved closer to him so that she was towering over him and staring down at his face. ¡°We have been given a direct order from our God to disallow even a single new weapon from entering this world.¡± Vim turned her words over in his head. ¡°Now wait a minute. Are you trying to tell me that the inconsequential technicalities of how we dispose of their weapon matters just as much as actually doing so?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± ¡°¡­and this is because your ¡®God¡¯ told you so?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± Vim drew a deep breath, which he released slowly. ¡°Okay, two problems with that, Fylwen. One: Gods and Goddesses aren¡¯t actually real. They¡¯re fairy tales our parents tell us to make us behave. And two, if you¡¯re hearing voices in your head, you should really talk to someone about that.¡± Fylwen folded her arms as if to suggest she was not impressed by his choice of words or his tone. Vim didn¡¯t care. He knew he was correct. She didn¡¯t seem so convinced, though. ¡°I intensely dislike you, Gnome. Not only do you call me a liar, but you inquire about my sanity, to boot! If you do not believe me, then ask the boy¡ªask Zach. He was there for this.¡± Vim shook his head and tried to avoid chuckling. ¡°Oh really? So you¡¯re telling me Zach heard this imaginary voice too?¡± ¡°Heard it? He was the one who introduced us.¡± Vim¡¯s mouth fell open. ¡°Wait, what?¡± As though she were losing patience, Fylwen snarled at him. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whether or not you understand or believe what I¡¯ve told you. The Great Lord Adamus has commanded us, and we will not disobey the orders of a God.¡± Of all the things she¡¯d just said, it was the name Adamus that most stood out to Vim, as he¡¯d heard it once before¡ªon the night they were attacked during their celebration. As they¡¯d retreated north, a badly rattled Zach had been shouting about him. Subsequently, Vim and the other political guild members on the raid had learned that he was something called a ¡°Great One.¡± Supposedly, he was a very powerful individual that had played a role in forming the world. But to the Elvish, he is a God? Vim looked away a moment so that he could rub his eyes to relieve some of the stress that had suddenly begun building up. ¡°Are you sure your ¡®God¡¯ actually cares about the trivial details of how and when we dispose of this weapon?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Exasperated, Vim¡¯s words nearly got caught in his throat. ¡°Well¡­well I don¡¯t care! You¡¯re not blowing up Shadowfall Coast!¡± He extended his arm and pointed in a general northern direction. ¡°I already lost an entire city. A million of my people. Can you even imagine a number that large?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Fylwen said, her face abruptly turning red. A look of fury came upon her, though Vim realized after a short moment it was not directed at him. ¡°Yes, I can, little Gnome. Humans are awful creatures.¡± The fury vanished, and now a strange, seemingly out-of-place softness entered into her eyes as she looked down upon him. ¡°I will help you rebuild.¡± ¡°Help me rebuild?¡± Vim asked, repeating her words. ¡°I¡¯m already in debt to you for¡ª¡± ¡°I will waive the debt, and I will find a way to provide you with the gold you need to rebuild. We will work together and come up with a solution, but I must not disobey our Lord, Adamus.¡± Her turn from cold and ruthless to warm and compassionate occurred so quickly and without warning that Vim was thrown off by it. He tried to speak, but he stammered, having become confused by her behavior. But in no time at all, she reverted to her typical self, and she stood up straighter, glancing at him haughtily. ¡°Now, I¡¯ve heard enough from you on this subject,¡± she said. ¡°Besides, I¡¯ve already given the order. My Elves will begin bombarding the city momentarily, though they will begin in the southwest and the northwest. You ought to have enough time to pull your people back and get them to the coast. I¡¯m being more than reasonable here. Continue to badger me, and I might just stomp you into the deck as punishment.¡± Vim scratched his ear. ¡°How in the hell is that a punishment? I want that to happen. Do it, Fylwen. Do it. Stomp on me right now. I want everyone to see it happen, too. Make sure you don¡¯t miss the balls.¡± Her lips twisted sourly, and she turned away in apparent disgust. ¡°Vulgar, perverted, vile little Gnome.¡± ***** Alex concentrated. Despite his racing heart, and despite the fact that the hairs all along his arms and legs were standing on end, he somehow managed to focus. Right now, there was zero room for error. He had to function more like a machine than a man: he needed to have every single sense in his body at full capacity, analyzing, studying, and interpreting. He needed to be in a constant state of full alertness¡ªto keep his head moving, allowing his eyes to take in every last possible bit of data. And he needed to do all of this without letting up for even a microsecond, for to do so would mean an instant death. The only thing that would keep him alive now¡ªthe one and only chance he had at surviving¡ªwould be his vast knowledge of abilities and how they functioned. If even the smallest chance of victory existed, it would without question come as a result of using the enemy¡¯s lack of skill and experience against them. Alex would not be able to go on the attack; no, he would only be able to capitalize on their mistakes. To defeat them, he would need to catch them out of position or in the process of making a fatal error. Outside of that, every muscle in his body needed to be devoted solely towards defense. This was not going to be simple. This was not going to be easy. They¡¯re coming. Even as they began encircling him, Alex kept his eyeballs moving. He needed to be fast not only on his feet but in his brain, too. He needed to be sharp: he needed to be mentally agile. He took note of things as fast as it was humanely possible to do so, such as the fact that of the eight casters that made up the leveled defenders on 1st and Haven Street, five of them were likely mages, three were healers, and two were support¡ªand all of them were casting a spell. At the same time, two archers and Gentleman Restlocht were opening fire as well as the broad-shouldered woman wielding a slingshot; this, as the rest of them began moving towards him from three directions: to his left, his right, and from the front. But those he would have to worry about in a moment from now. For the time being, he had too many other things to contend with. Right now, Alex stood at the very foot of the street. Since 1st and Haven was also a main road, it was far wider than most, which meant there were four wide lanes for dual-directional traffic, and he was in the middle of all of four. Beside him were several burned-out husks of civilian DEHVs that had been destroyed in the earlier aerial bombardment by the Royal Roses¡¯ fighter jets. To his left was a badly damaged two-story apartment building, and to his right was a three-story complex with a demolished storefront; what had once been a clothing boutique was now a demolished, charred tomb of death. Smoke was still rising out from within. Farther ahead of him was where the level-1 troops were residing next to the bombed MLRS units. The troops, wisely, were choosing to stay out of this confrontation, likely knowing that there was very little¡ªif anything¡ªthey would be able to do other than get in the way and die. Alex was glad for it. This was going to be bloody enough without having to stomp on a bunch of 18-year-old kids who had no business being out here. I have to be precise. I have to be fast! Thinking as quickly as he could¡ªas fast as he had ever before commanded his brain to think¡ªAlex made several hasty yet hopefully accurate determinations. For one, it seemed like both of the support mages were about to cast Daze II on him. This, he determined by the yellowish aura that came upon the staff wielded by a lanky man with a seemingly permanent grin affixed to his lips, as well as a similar glow that lit up a shimmering spell sword gripped in the right hand of a woman with dark braided hair. Judging by both the luminosity and the size of the aura, Alex could rule out Daze III or¡ªGods forbid!¡ªDaze IV. And since it was too intense a glow to be Daze I, he felt comfortable in his prediction. Another sight worthy of note was the third of the five mages counting from the left. Alex wasn¡¯t entirely certain, but from the way he was twirling his raised staff around in circles, combined with the total lack of any noticeable physical effects, it seemed like he was about to cast Glacial Vortex, a relatively uncommon ability in the adventuring world and one he did not expect to see from a member of a political guild. There were other hazards, too, such as the fact that Alex suddenly wanted to abandon everything in the world that he cared about in order to charge forward and rip apart the woman with the sword and shield who¡¯d reminded him of Lady Theolina. This, he surmised, meant she was actively using a taunt on him. I don¡¯t care about her, he told himself. I don¡¯t need to attack her. I don¡¯t! Taunts were a pain in the behind because they were instant-cast and could not be dodged or even detected ahead of time. Their weakness, of course, was that with a sufficient-enough willpower and a determined state of mind, they could be mentally resisted, as Alex was doing now. The same was true of fears, though fears were significantly more difficult to resist. Hyper vigilance, he told himself. That¡¯s the key to survival. That¡¯s the key to everything. Hyper vigilance! Fast. He needed to be quicker. He needed to think quicker. What was the plan? What was he up against? Okay, so there were two mesmerize spells being cast, but they¡¯d come in last. One of the mages was clearly, overtly casting Seismic Reckoning, two others were angling for some kind of Firebolt variant¡ªthere were so many but most were essentially the same, differing only in color¡ªhe already knew about the Glacial Vortex, and he wasn¡¯t quite sure what the fifth mage was doing. It looked like he was going to cast Scorching Bolt II but it might¡¯ve also been Crack of Thunder. That left only the two healers, who were once again buffing their allies and not an immediate threat. Okay. There were also some projectiles zipping across the air towards him and they were traveling at great speed. This was¡­this was tough. But doable. He could do this. He had to do this. But first things first: dealing with Seismic Reckoning. That was going to come in first. And indeed, the concrete split apart not far from where he stood, and eleven flat, pancake-shaped rocks burst up from the ground with a dull crunch. They hovered about ten feet above the street for just an instant before they made a screeching sound as they hissed down the road moving towards him. They took off in a way that was staggered so that a few tenths of a second separated each. Thankfully, Alex had already lifted his sword and had begun to swing it around the air above him, quickly casting Elemental Ward on himself as well as Barrier of the Brave, which increased his magic resistance by 5% and his physical resistance by 8% respectively. His one and only unique ability¡ªhis summoned blade¡ªallowed him to cast spells despite being a traditional melee weapon. He could spot the surprise in his enemies¡¯ faces as a golden aura briefly wrapped around his body before vanishing. The two spells wouldn¡¯t provide much in the way of defense, but they would at least make some difference if he ended up taking a few hits. But as things stood, the gravest threat to him¡ªby far¡ªwas crowd control. Alex might survive a bit of damage here or there, but if he became mesmerized, his death was assured. The same was true for most other crowd-control effect as well. The only thing I absolutely cannot let them land on me is CC! His eyes continuously moving, Alex kept a careful watch on the melee-oriented members of the guild closing in on him while simultaneously keeping tabs on the incoming, pancake-shaped rocks that zipped across the air and over the heads of numerous members of the Guild of Gentlemen as they made their way to Alex. They moved so fast that they even pulled ahead of two arrows, a flaming crossbow bolt, and a large, ball-shaped pellet fired by the slingshot. Alex activated Light Volley. Above his head and in a horizontal row, sixteen arrows made of pure light materialized in the air. Removing his left hand from his blade, Alex thrust his palm forward, and following this gesture, all sixteen of them fired off, each making a high-pitched whistling in the air as they raced to intercept the numerous sources of danger heading his way. Only a fraction of a second came and went before the first of his arrows collided with the nearest rock, causing the rock to shatter into pebbles and the arrow to vanish into nothingness. The same was true for the second and also the third arrow. The fourth missed, and Alex was forced to bend his body backwards to avoid being struck in the face. Thankfully, his arrows managed to take out the remainder of the attack as well as the crossbow bolt, one of the two bow-fired arrows, and even the slug from the slingshot. The remainder went wayward and whistled off into the distance, leaving Alex with no choice but to narrowly avoid the second of the two arrows that had been heading straight at him by lurching off to the side. Now, his first hurdle cleared, he was immediately faced with another. Not a half-second following the first round of attacks, three separate bolts of fire converged upon his location all at the same time, two being a bright orange in color and one a dark red. The archers, the woman with the slingshot, and Gentleman Restlocht were also already firing another round of ranged attacks, too, keeping up the pressure. Abruptly, the early yet hot summer air suddenly began to feel a whole lot colder; an arctic-like wind began to blow, and in spite of the current season, a snowy, blizzard-like haze came upon the world from seemingly out of nowhere, one which only affected a small section of the overall street. In the span of a few seconds, an entire coating of snow dusted the concrete below his feet while the hazy wind slightly reduced visibility, though not to the degree it posed a threat. What did pose a threat, however, was the sudden rampaging tornado of ice and snow that appeared roughly twenty feet away and grew larger and larger as it blasted icy gusts of wind while making its way towards him. Before Alex could even consider what to do about the incoming twister, he first had to contend with the brief flicker of bluish-red light that emanated from above, signaling to him that the mage with freckles and curly red hair had indeed activated Scorching Bolt II. Having seen that ability spammed on electric- or fire-weak bosses thousands upon thousands of times, Alex knew very well that it would present itself as a blue-red flicker before striking directly downward a quarter of a second after. Unfortunately, the timing of it was bad: really, really bad. Because all around him, about a dozen or so orbs of perfectly yellow, pulsating, electric-like energy were releasing little sparks that quickly grew and expanded until they joined together to form something akin to an electric fence, one that surrounded him like a ring; each orb floated a few inches above the fresh coating of snow, and now that they were linked together, time was growing very short. Because this, he knew, was the crowd-control ability called Daze II, and anyone susceptible, be they mob or a living creature alike, would be mesmerized if they remained within the fenced-in area. In this moment, Alex¡¯s greatest weapon was his brain. Even with so much to contend with coming at him all at once, he processed the situation to the best of his ability and made a very quick determination on the best course of action. Priority one: avoiding the Scorching Bolt and the mesmerize. This, he could do with the exact same movement. Bending his knees, he leapt upwards and back-flipped out of the way as a combined crack of electrical energy intermingled with fire struck down from the sky and slammed into the snow, not only melting through a fair bit of it but even leaving a rush from orange flames in its wake. Flipping his body right-side up, Alex landed back down onto the street just outside the electrical, fence-like perimeter of Daze II, which at last activated, causing an entire screen of blueish static to fill the area within its bounds before quickly fading away along with the yellow orbs surrounding it; had Alex still been standing there when it had gone off, he would have been mesmerized and killed. For this reason, even as his feet touched down softly on the snow, he was forced to immediately and urgently spring forward yet again, as the second Daze II had been deviously placed behind the first. Had the two support mages been slightly more coordinated, both would have gone off at the same time, and Alex would have been trapped. Thankfully, a tiny window of time existed wherein Alex could jump back and then forward again, avoiding both. The downside, of course, was that Alex would have to absorb all three Firebolt attacks. This, he¡¯d been expecting. He knew he would have to take a few hits. It was either this or be mesmerized. It was simply how the timing worked out. Gritting his teeth, he braced himself as he launched himself forward and into the three magical projectiles, each one exploding on his body upon impact. The first two socked him in the stomach and third one got him right in the face. Alex closed his eyes briefly before it smacked into him, and he hissed in pain as a searing, burning sensation came upon his skin. A moment later, he landed on his feet exactly in the spot he¡¯d been standing when the first Daze II had been activated. I¡¯m okay, he told himself as a stinging, throbbing pain spread all over his face while a lesser but still intense ache filled his midsection. Though it hurt, Alex did not believe he was critically wounded; it seemed the mages here were not¡ªat least individually¡ªall that powerful. It reminded Alex that, even while he was so overwhelmingly outnumbered, there was still at least a chance, especially since he¡¯d just taken three direct hits and was only mildly hurt. I have to stay focused. There¡¯s a lot more coming! Whipping his arms to the left and then to the right, he slashed his blade back then forth, cutting two more arrows out of the air, and then he side-stepped around another crossbow bolt that whizzed by his ear. Once more, he braced himself yet again for a hit he wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid as a slug from the slingshot cracked right into his chest, and this, he really, really felt. Alex groaned as he was pushed back, stumbling. It was only through sheer willpower that he remained on his feet and was not toppled. This time around, the result was agony. The pain in his chest felt like an intense throbbing combined with a burning. Yet somehow, he regained his composure immediately, and this was a good thing, too, as the tornado from Glacial Vortex was upon him¡ªand with it, Alex sensed his very first opportunity. Rather than flee from the tornado, Alex instead leapt closer towards it¡ªso close, in fact, that he accidentally drew too near such that the spinning vortex of ice and snow made contact with the skin on his forearm, cutting into him like a sawblade and ripping up a shallow but painful layer of his skin. Even still, Alex kept close, backing slowly away from the tornado while keeping it very near to him. And for this, he was rewarded. Three more Firebolts came in around the same time, and all three slammed into the tornado instead of Alex, each one dissipating into nothingness upon contact. The same was true for another two arrows as well as a slingshot slug and another crossbow bolt. And with the tornado directly in front of him, Alex knew he was too obscured for the curly, red-haired mage with the freckles to visually target him, which was required in order to use Scorching Bolt II. What a foolish thing to use in a human-on-human combat encounter, he thought as he caught his breath. Many, many more attacks came in, and the fast-spinning tornado repelled each and all. This ability is meant to be used on big, slow-moving bosses or large clumps of mobs¡ªnot people. It was a sign of the mage¡¯s ignorance that he had actually called upon such a powerful but incorrect ability to use on Alex. The tornado, though incredibly deadly, was simply too slow to be of any practical use in this form of combat, and so for the moment, Alex continued to back measuredly away from it without straying too far, ensuring it provided him cover while trying not to get cut again. ¡°I can¡¯t hit him!¡± a voice shouted. Alex couldn¡¯t tell who the voice belonged to with the tornado in front of his face. ¡°Gods-dammit, Kerle!¡± a different voice yelled. ¡°Your stupid fucking tornado just gave him a lifeline. You dumb shit!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± a frail-sounding voice replied. ¡°I thought it would rip him apart.¡± ¡°How is he even still alive?¡± another person asked. ¡°How is he doing this.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I think he¡ª¡± ¡°Quiet!¡± commanded the voice of Sir Ultdern. ¡°I warned you¡ªall of you¡ªto take him seriously. The gap between us and the adventurers is enormous. It¡¯s bigger than any of you think. Now stay sharp and hold back until Gentleman Kerle¡¯s¡­whatever that thing is called goes away.¡± Sir Ultdern¡¯s words astonished Alex, as even he, being the best of them, and being a man who¡¯d been alive for over a century, did not know that the ability in question was called ¡°Glacial Vortex.¡± The mere fact of it filled Alex with hope that he could still pull this off and prevent a human catastrophe in the making. Even still, it wouldn¡¯t be easy. On their own, Alex was sure he could slaughter any one of them while blindfolded, but thirty-three leveled fighters all together was still close to insurmountable¡ªand his reprieve was about to end. Before long, the tornado halted in its pursuit of Alex, and then without any kind of gradual slowdown, its spinning simply came to a stop and the whole of it vanished away just as quickly as it had appeared; a few plumes of dust-like snow rose up on the air, shimmering, sparkling, but ultimately disappearing along with it. But the shallow snow that was now covering an entire quarter of the street, however, remained, though with the haze dissipating and the very hot summer sun in the sky, it would likely all melt within five minutes. ¡°There he is!¡± someone shouted. It was the man wielding two glowing, purple swords. ¡°Resume the attack!¡± Sir Ultdern called. Alex readied himself. The melee had closed in on him now, and the casters were all whipping up more nastiness for him to deal with. Things were about to get even worse. ***** With her right hand, Kalana cupped her palm over her mouth, and with her left, she squeezed Zach¡¯s wrist tightly enough to cut off circulation. ¡°Come on,¡± she chanted as a big metal ball rolled down a slippery narrow alleyway and headed towards ten white pins that stood defiantly at the end of it. ¡°Come on, come on, come on¡­¡± The ball struck the pins, and all ten collapsed. ¡°Yes!¡± Kalana cheered. ¡°I did it, Zach! I did it!¡± ¡°Yep, you sure did. Good work, Kal.¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s it, too,¡± she said cheerfully. ¡°I think we have enough tickets now, you guys!¡± Zach smiled. He was actually impressed. Kalana turned out to be really good at this ¡°bowling¡± game that the dungeon creator, Olandrin, had invented. How had he even thought something like this up? Even Jimmy, who claimed to love games, would have to admit that this was a fun and unique one: something he definitely couldn¡¯t get back in his old, boring world of the past. Zach couldn¡¯t wait to tell him about it when they found him. ¡°Good job, Your Highness,¡± Trelvor said, bowing. Seiley echoed her agreement, though just the slightest bit less formally. Rian, on the other hand, merely formed a sour expression, as he hadn¡¯t been able to hit a single pin. Lienne didn¡¯t fare that much better, but she nevertheless seemed to be having a good time despite this, and she shared in Kalana¡¯s cheer. Zach, for his part, had done okay, but he wasn¡¯t trying all that hard, and Tena had done slightly worse, but she had a lot on her mind. Fluffles, who had done as badly as Rian, was still muttering that the game was rigged and that ¡°Olandrin cheat Fluffles.¡± ¡°I appreciate all you guys hurrying for me,¡± Tena said, placing her hand over her heart as if to impress upon them that her words were sincere. It wasn¡¯t necessary. Zach believed her. How couldn¡¯t he? She was right about what she¡¯d said earlier: if it had been him in her shoes, he¡¯d be bashing down walls trying to get to Kal. ¡°How long until the grape wears off?¡± Rian asked. ¡°Not sure,¡± Zach said, rubbing his chin. ¡°The ones at Angelica¡¯s usually only last a few minutes, but we¡¯ve been here a half hour and we¡¯re still in a reduced state.¡± In order to ensure ¡°fairness,¡± this particular ¡°floor¡± of the ¡°dungeon¡± required two things from all participants: that they consume a nullification grape upon entering, reducing all their stats to 1 and purging all their abilities, and that they change into a ¡°bowling outfit¡± complete with special shoes that were actually kind of fun to wear. ¡°Everybody, let¡¯s umm, let¡¯s go back to the locker rooms and change quickly so we can get to Faded Island," Kalana said. "We all promised Tena we''d hurry." Seiley and Trelvor nodded; both had become incredibly eager to find Jimmy, seemingly thinking that it was now their ¡°mission¡± to see that he ¡°adhered to the Goddess¡¯s plan for him.¡± It was enough to make Zach laugh, though he did so quietly so as not to upset the easily offended Trelvor. The guy could not take a joke and had almost no sense of humor. ¡°Come, let¡¯s make haste,¡± the young, white-cloaked Elf said, turning and walking back towards the lockers and beyond numerous round dining tables. But he stopped and paused a moment. Zach watched as Trelvor then bowed his head at a group of seven older adventurers seated together and sharing a meal. ¡°Oh, and once again, happy birthday to you, Lensella. It was a pleasure meeting you and your friends.¡± ¡°Thank you, dear. The same to you.¡± Zach smiled at the group of them. At first, he had been surprised to run into them here¡ªuntil he remembered how popular this place actually was. They weren¡¯t even the first group of adventurers they¡¯d stumbled across since arriving. Not even close, actually. This was like the ninth bunch! What was unique, however, was that this group was the first Zach had seen that had come here for the sole purpose of throwing a small birthday party, something he still couldn¡¯t believe happened in a Gods-be-damned dungeon of all places. I just can¡¯t think of this as a dungeon. I just can¡¯t do it. He, Rian, and Fluffles followed behind Trelvor and made their way to the male locker rooms while Kalana, Tena, Seiley, and Lienne huddled together and became all talkative as they giggled their way to the girl¡¯s one across this wide, party-like ¡°floor¡± of this dungeon. Actually, the whole place had a party-like atmosphere, but this so-called ¡°bowling alley¡± really topped it off. NPCs here sold pizza, soda, and tons of different types of junk food, and there were even little boxes that for 5g would play a song for you. ¡°So, Fluffles,¡± Rian said as they strolled into the blue-tiled locker room, ¡°where in Faded Island is Jimmy hanging around, anyway?¡± Fluffles meowed and didn¡¯t reply, and Zach had the sense it was either because he either didn¡¯t ¡°feel¡± like saying for whatever reason or, as was more likely the case, he didn¡¯t know how to describe it in a way that would make sense to the human brain. Whenever Fluffles ignored questions or didn¡¯t reply, a lot of the time it really was because he couldn¡¯t be bothered, but there were times when he didn¡¯t know how. ¡°He¡¯ll show us when we¡¯re there,¡± Zach said. ¡°Right, Fluffles?¡± Fluffles stopped short. He sniffed the air, and then he spun around. ¡°No.¡± ¡°No?¡± Zach asked, surprised. ¡°The hell do you mean ¡®no?¡¯¡± Fluffles meowed a second time. ¡°I go play with Ruby now. I¡¯m bored!¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Rian asked grumpily. ¡°Fluffles want to do something else now!¡± the cat replied with a hiss. ¡°But didn¡¯t you come with us just to help us out?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°But¡­you¡¯re leaving before you actually even do it?¡± ¡°Yes! You all take too much time. Fluffles have fun but I want to play with Ruby now. And also Fluffles hate stupid smelly horsie!¡± "The fuck is that supposed to mean?" Zach asked. Rian shrugged. "No idea." Zach craned his neck to look down at the cat. ¡°Fluffles, you can¡¯t just¡ªwait! Ahh, shit!¡± It was too late. Fluffles turned around and practically vanished. He was gone so fast that Zach couldn¡¯t have grabbed him even if he¡¯d tried¡ªwhich he wouldn¡¯t because that would only get him scratched, bitten, or both. Even still, he was annoyed that Fluffles would just bail on them¡ªbut he certainly wasn¡¯t surprised, though. That was just something to be expected from the cat. He did what he wanted and that was just the way of it. Still, it was kind of bullshit that he ditched them after they played with him and fed him all day. Zach sighed. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll just have to find him on our own. I''ve got no idea how we''re going to do that, though. It''s a pretty big region for something that''s technically just an island.¡± ¡°Eh, relax,¡± Rian said. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure he''s not gonna be all that hard to find.¡± ¡°How do you figure? He can be literally anywhere on Faded Island. Where do we even begin to look?¡± ¡°Obviously, the pubs and wherever else they sell booze. Duh.¡± Zach shook his head. ¡°No, I doubt it. He¡¯s only nineteen, so he¡¯s too young to drink.¡± ¡°So? It¡¯s not Angelica¡¯s out there, Zach. You realize there¡¯s not going to be, like, a level-thousand-plus NPC stopping him, dumbass.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the dumbass,¡± Zach grumbled. He had no other comeback beside that, though, because he had to secretly admit Rian was probably right. Given his situation, it probably wouldn¡¯t be all that difficult for Jimmy to get a drink, especially if he flashed his level or was wearing something from the adventuring world. That alone would be enough to make just about any level-1 obey any request he actually had. ¡°All right. Let¡¯s just get over there and we¡¯ll see what we can turn up.¡± Zach reached into his locker and grabbed his adventuring gear. He¡¯d thought of putting it in Bank and Storage until he realized stealing from this place was virtually impossible and that, even if it could be done, the adventurers would never, ever steal from one another. The very idea of it was almost impossible to imagine. They lived in such a different reality than the rest of the world, and this was despite the fact that most of them had once been normal, level-1 people, too. Only a few adventurers were born into the world of adventuring as the children of existing adventurers: the rest were guided into it by the OMP. Therefore, Zach found it amazing how they could so easily cast aside all the worries and pain and suffering in the world and live as though none of it mattered or existed. Boss fighting is the only thing they do that in any way connects them to the rest of society. Zach did not voice these thoughts aloud, and he doubted he ever would¡ªat least in front of the adventurers, anyway. As things stood, there was already a risk that they were starting to see him as not quite being one of them anymore. The last thing he wanted to do was further that impression by talking like Mr. Oren. But he knew he was right. And what was more, he was beginning to fear that he couldn¡¯t live that way: that he couldn¡¯t just pretend that level-1 people didn¡¯t exist and that their lives were of no concern. To be clear, he certainly wanted to. He''d been seeking an ¡°offramp¡± almost since the day the dragon had spawned; ever since then, all Zach had wanted to do was ¡°clear the final hurdle¡± that would allow him to make a clean break from responsibility so that he could live a life of pleasure and riches with Kalana. But with each passing day, he was starting to wonder if he was ever going to be able to sever himself from the responsibilities of society in such a broken world. He was starting to feel a sense of duty, and it frightened him. But what lay beneath all of it was the simple fact that any given level 1 in this world could have been him. If his life had taken even a slightly different turn, they could have been him. He could be them, and they could be standing where he was in his place. And that thought alone was enough to weigh heavily on his shoulders. ***** Jimmy slammed his cup down onto the bar table, and he released a hiccup. ¡°Ahh, shit, man, sorry dude. Sometimes I forget my own strength.¡± He didn¡¯t even really have that many points into strength, and somehow, he not only broke the cup, but he put his hand through a big chunk of the table. The glass-coating shattered, and a chunk of the wood broke off. Several patrons he¡¯d become chummy with lowered their drinks and stared at him in fear as though only first remembering who he was and what he was capable of doing; until this point, he¡¯d totally erased the tension with them. But damn did it come roaring back as he unintentionally reminded them. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry about that,¡± he said to the bartender. Was it just him or was the room spinning? It was probably just him. He wiped his lips and then he pointed at the man. ¡°I¡¯m gonna pay for that. Don¡¯t even worry about it.¡± The bartender swallowed nervously. ¡°There¡¯s no need,¡± he said. He lowered his eyes and glanced down at the destroyed table, and he surprised Jimmy, bowing before him apologetically. ¡°It wasn¡¯t very sturdy. It¡¯s my fault if anything.¡± Jimmy laughed. ¡°Nah, dude, it was obviously my bad. I¡¯m gonna pay for that. Seriously.¡± The man bowed yet again, this time even more apologetically and graciously. What was with these people? ****** As Fiona Darkmae, guild leader of the Children of Order, listened to her personal secretary deliver a completely unexpected report, she couldn¡¯t help but ask him to repeat it for clarification. ¡°Whoah, seriously?¡± she asked, lowering the speed on her treadmill in the newly modernized aerobics gym on her dead-father¡¯s estate. She continued to do so until it came to a stop, and then she turned to face the man. ¡°What kind of disturbance?¡± Wiping her forehead, she got off the machine and then draped her red towel around the back of her neck while she continued to listen in. ¡°So is he threatening anybody?¡± ¡°No, Madam Darkmae, but he has become slightly destructive.¡± ¡°And he¡¯s definitely an adventurer?¡± ¡°Yes, Madam Darkmae.¡± She scratched her chin. ¡°That¡¯s weird. Usually, they don¡¯t show up and cause disturbances like this. They have their own secret hangouts or whatever. Okay, you know what? I¡¯ll go check it out myself.¡± ¡°Are you sure? We could send someone to¡ª¡± ¡°No, no, it¡¯s okay. Let me get my staff.¡± Fiona was soaked in sweat, her clothing clinging to her as she strutted across the gym. As the protector of Faded Island, she wasn¡¯t about to let any adventurers show up here and cause a ruckus¡ªif that was what this ¡°Jimmy¡± was indeed doing. Nope. Not on her watch, anyway. Chapter 166: Yes Chapter 166: Yes This was supposed to be a quick, simple job. It wasn¡¯t. With just three small, fast, and energy-efficient motions, Anelia ducked beneath the swing of an axe, took a lunging step forward, and then spun her body around so that she now stood behind its wielder. Lifting her arm as fast as she could, she pointed the ether cannon gripped in her right hand at the man before her, and with that, she squeezed the trigger. Got¡¯cha. A loud bang echoed off the walls of the graffiti-stained buildings to both sides of her. Having fired the weapon so close to the back of the axe-wielding man''s head that the barrel was practically touching it, Anelia had to lean her body sideways to avoid the splatter of blood, which would surely have covered her entire face. Now, as the man fell immediately forward and collapsed onto the filthy, diseased, and chipped-away pavement, Anelia extended both her arms, fired off two more shots, and killed two more leveled defenders of the Guild of Gentlemen before they even had time to react. Both were struck in the chest, and both collapsed backwards into opposite buildings before sliding down the walls onto their knees. What the hell is going on? The Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s defenses here on 10th and 94th were absurdly heavier than they said they would be¡ªand in a way that didn¡¯t even make sense, either. This foul-smelling, crime-laden, and thoroughly unpleasant corner of the city was, at best, a rundown, impoverished cesspit that served as a seedy den of prostitution and illegal gambling and, at worst, the poisonous epicenter of a burgeoning illegal drug trade in Shadowfall Coast that provided the city''s most depraved degenerates a place to buy the most illicit substances in North Bastia. The unsavory area that ran from 10th and 94th to 10th and 92nd wasn¡¯t just considered bad, but notoriously bad. Even during times of peace, the Guild of Gentlemen couldn¡¯t seem to spare the resources to police this place, so what the hell was going on? Why were they here now? And how many were left? Had she gotten them all? Anelia panted. She was exhausted and close to the point of E-debt. Adding in the three men she¡¯d just killed, there were now eleven dead bodies around her, and every single one of them belonged to a member of the Guild of Gentlemen. Low-ranking? Yeah, maybe. But still, that was a ridiculously high number of leveled members to stash away on the most dangerous street in the most dangerous part of the city. I could¡¯ve died there. Why are there so many of them here? Anelia wasn¡¯t happy about this, and Gods, you better believe Vim Alazar was going to hear about this from her later today. For starters, she didn¡¯t even want this fucking job in the first place. The only reason she¡¯d decided to take it was because they¡¯d kept nagging her and nagging her. So, to get the Royal Roses off her ass, she¡¯d agreed to clear this one minor street on 10th Avenue before heading home. Now, she regretted it. Desperate to catch her breath, she remained motionless to let her stamina regenerate. She didn¡¯t plan to remain this way for long. Really, she just needed a few seconds¡ªa moment or two to let herself recover. But she didn¡¯t get it. Her moment was cut short almost as soon as it began, and once more, she had to raise her guard. Ahead of her, a discolored, rusty, and puke-stained door burst open, and another four members of the guild burst out of the lobby of the apartment building they¡¯d been hiding in. Seeing the eleven corpses, rage erupted on their faces, and one of them fearfully shouted, ¡°Does he know?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter!¡± cried another, sounding equally on edge. ¡°Kill him! We¡¯ll worry about what to do later!¡± Anelia growled, and not because they thought she was a man. Most people made that mistake until getting a better look at her. No, she was just annoyed at the prospect of having to deal with yet another four pests¡ªassuming she even had the stamina to take care of them. For sure, there was no way she could fire her ether cannons. She was far too exhausted for that. To deal with these assholes, she would have to go with something a little bit less taxing. Dexterously, she spun both her medium-low exertion guns fast enough that the weapons became a blur, and then with a whip-like gesture, she holstered each while drawing her low-exertion-per-shot pistols in the exact same motion as though she had four hands and not two. Then she extended her arms and took aim. ¡°Kill him!¡± one of them shouted. All four men came for her at once, two up front with swords, one hanging back with a dagger, and the fourth winding up some kind of magical spell from a brownish-yellow staff. She needed to be careful. She was badly tired and they weren¡¯t. Kicking off both her feet, Anelia threw herself backwards at the ground while pointing both her guns ahead of her and firing off numerous shots as she gained distance from them. Even as she landed on her ass on the filthy street, she continued to shoot. And Gods did she feel each and every shot. Every time her fingers squeezed the trigger, she further lost her breath and an increasing, painful squeezing sensation spread throughout the left side of her chest. Still, she kept it up, unleashing shot after shot into the two charging swordsmen. Yet with weaker guns came less damage, and with less damage came more shots. Still, the job eventually got done. Right before reaching her, the two men succumbed to the myriad of holes she¡¯d opened up in their chests, heads, and throats. Just as they came into striking range, both simultaneously fell forward onto their faces, with one even coincidentally kicking her shin with his deceased corpse as it rolled twice along the street. Painfully exhausted, and still in a sitting position, Anelia lowered her arms slightly, took aim, and began to fire off another volley of shots at the spellcaster and the dagger-wielder, both of whom had only just unleashed attacks her way. Actually, the mage pulled off two attacks, with one coming in slightly earlier than the second. First, a red light similar to a barcode scanner appeared above her and then crisscrossed her body until forming what looked like a targeting reticle. It disappeared directly afterwards, and now, Anelia felt a sensation of cold travel through her¡ªone that she knew, even without checking, meant her RES had just been debuffed. There was a certain distinct, icy sensation that was impossible to mistake when one¡¯s magic resistances had been lowered, and this was unquestionably it. Following this debuff, the tip of the mage¡¯s staff lit up purple, and then three amethyst-colored crystals blasted forward at Anelia while the man across from the mage threw one of his daggers. And all this happened in the precise instant that multiple shots from her pistols¡ªthree each¡ªquickly put the two of them permanently out of commission. With blood splattering out of numerous bullet holes, they dropped onto their backs, dead and unmoving¡ªbut their attacks lived on. Now, three sharp, amethyst-colored, crystal projectiles as well as a thrown dagger sailed across the air at her. ¡°Shit,¡± she said in a low, deep groan. Anelia was terribly exhausted. Even still, she found the strength to lean backwards as the dagger flew right through the air where her chin had been. Then she hurriedly straightened her back and extended her right hand, and against the wishes of her tired, badly exerted heart, she squeezed the trigger. Bang! Her aim true, she blasted apart one of the three magical crystals, causing it to explode into a firework-like shower of purple and gold that soon disappeared. Unfortunately, the exertion of it made her widely open her mouth and begin huffing in as much air as she could fill her lungs with. And yet, she somehow managed to squeeze the trigger and fire again. Like before, her aim was impeccable, and she blasted another of the crystals out of the air. But this time around, the toll was finally more than she could pay. Though she did not pass out into E-debt, both her arms fell down to her sides on their own, and she became virtually paralyzed. Bracing herself, Anelia released a grunt of pain as the third crystal blasted into her, and thanks to the magic debuff, it not only left a fist-sized crack in her armor, but it penetrated into her skin and then detonated, sending pieces of magical shrapnel further into her body and causing her to groan aloud. ¡°Ah, shit,¡± she moaned. Gasping for air and now bleeding both internally and externally, she fought against her E-debt and struggled to raise her left hand. It didn¡¯t want to move. So she fought even harder. She gritted her teeth and demanded her body to move, unwilling to kick the bucket to an attack fired by an enemy she¡¯d already killed. Blood was dripping out of her, making her even more exhausted. If she passed out here, she would never wake up. Her desire to live spiking her adrenaline, she managed at last to lift her shaking, trembling left hand, and then she reached inside her armor near her chest, fishing out a locket attached to a chain around her neck. Her fingers shaking so fiercely, she somehow managed to pop open the locket, and her emergency red stone spilled out of it from within. A jolt of fear racing through her, she watched it fall straight downwards. If it hit the ground and rolled away, she would die before she summoned the strength to move after it. Yet through a miracle from the Gods, it landed with a very soft clack between her legs, remaining still. With her opposite yet equally trembling hand, she picked up the stone and pressed it into her chest, feeling it dissolve into nothingness. And then she inhaled several times before falling over onto her side and passing out into E-debt. The world went dark, reality seemed to fade away, and right there, in perhaps the filthiest street in Shadowfall Coast, she slept¡ªthough it was a shallow sleep, one in which she remained partially conscious. Thus, in the back of her mind, she could even hear herself snoring. If anyone else from the Guild of Gentlemen happened to emerge right now, she knew she would die. She had no idea if there even were any more enemies left to kill. If so, she didn¡¯t see how she could survive them. Her only option was to pray that she¡¯d gotten them all while her body went through this mandatory process. Thus, she lay there for a while, eventually falling into a true sleep, one in which she dreamed, though she could not remember of what she dreamt when she finally woke up. Her eyes popping open, she lifted herself up into a seated position and raised her guns, her head darting nervously around her. There were five men in front of her, and all were¡ª No, you idiot! You¡¯re still sleeping. Get the fuck up! Her eyes popping open¡ªthis time for real¡ªshe brought herself into a sitting position. How long was she out? Groggy, she checked her phone. It had only been about two minutes, yet the sleep had distorted her sense of time and made it feel far longer. The situation around her, however, remained unchanged. She was still right where she''d been, and the corpses all around her were fresh. In a weakened state, she gave her body an additional few minutes to recover, dozing off twice more, though this time in a very light sleep. By the time five minutes had come and gone, she was ready to get back to her feet. She¡¯d lost a considerable amount of blood, but she did not have a yellow stone to replenish it. She¡¯d just have to tough it out. I should just go home, she thought to herself. Fuck Vim Alazar and the Royal Roses. Had Anelia been even the slightest bit less of a professional, that was indeed what she would¡¯ve done. Yet she had a reputation to uphold, and for that reason alone, she stumbled her way into the apartment from where the four men had emerged. They had paid her to clear this area, and until she knew what was inside, she couldn¡¯t honestly say she¡¯d completed her mission. Pausing a moment just before entering, she shook her head to wake herself up. Though still a bit weak, she did regain enough of her strength to where she felt confident that she could handle herself if she had any more run-ins. She decided to stick with her low-exertion guns for the time being, however, as she stepped inside the apartment, extended her arms, and kept her eyes moving as she searched for any targets. ¡°Disgusting,¡± she muttered as she entered into a living room. The place was filthier than most. In addition to the typical cockroach-infestations to be found in this part of the city, Anelia was fairly sure the carpets were stained with piss and shit. The stench was horrendous. The kitchen was also so filthy that the thought of eating anything in here made her want to puke. Why were they even here? she wondered. She took a look around at her surroundings. There was nothing special about this place. The apartment consisted of a living room, a kitchen, and a bedroom. There was nothing else of note. She had no idea why the Guild of Gentlemen had been hiding in here, but it also wasn¡¯t her business and, to be honest? She didn¡¯t care, either. As far as she was concerned, she¡¯d done her job and now it was time to go home. She doubted she¡¯d ever want to return to Shadowfall Coast again. ¡°What a miserable city,¡± she muttered. Having cleared the apartment, she turned around and prepared to leave. Crack! Anelia stopped short at the sound of something breaking: something that sounded like shattered glass. A terrified-sounding gasp followed, and then after the gasp there was the distinct, unmistakable sound of a man making a ¡°shh¡± sound along with what sounded like whimpering from several female voices. What the hell? Slowly, stealthily, Anelia moved in the direction of the sound. She was careful not to make any noise as she crept along the floor, the disgusting carpet muting the thud of her boots. She took her time as she made her way back across the living room, and now, there was total silence as she moved. But this silence did not last. No, eventually Anelia could hear several people whisper, though she wasn¡¯t quite sure from where their voices originated. ¡°Be calm,¡± a voice said. ¡°I¡¯m so scared. I¡¯m so scared.¡± ¡°Shh. Please. Be calm.¡± Anelia continued to make her way in the direction of the voices, but she came to a stop upon reaching a stained, deteriorating wall. Was someone hiding behind there? It sure sounded like it. Holstering just one of her weapons, she gripped her right hand into a fist and then smashed it forward, blasting it right through the wall and causing about two-dozen voices to all release a scream in unison.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Anelia¡¯s mouth fell open in shock. The entire wall collapsed in on itself, revealing another, secondary kitchen, but this one was pristine, immaculate, and looked as though it had been built extremely recently. It was also very large, contained about ten full-sized tables, and there were people here: more than twenty of them. ¡°It¡¯s the Royal Roses!¡± a woman wearing what looked like a lab coat screamed. She, along with many other similarly dressed individuals turned around and began to flee. Anelia pointed her guns at them. ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡± she shouted. ¡°I said don¡¯t fucking¡ªGods dammit!¡± She chased after them. And this was where things began to get really weird, as they fled down a staircase: a very, very long staircase. One that not only led down, but seemed to run as deep as the one from the prison from her last job she¡¯d done earlier in the middle of the night. Only, whereas the prison had been a filthy, rotting place every bit as disgusting as the apartment, what she found as she descended the stairs was a fresh, clean, and incredibly well-furnished lobby, one which led to numerous corridors, some containing opened doors. Inside these doors was what looked like individual laborites complete with scientific instruments, testing stations, and other research equipment. ¡°Nobody better fucking move,¡± Anelia said as she began to corner and wrangle her captives. ¡°Or I¡¯ll start blowing brains out.¡± ¡°Please!¡± a woman begged. ¡°We¡¯re friends of Prila! She was working with you, right? We saw her vanish. We know she¡¯s with you.¡± ¡°We aren¡¯t loyal to them!¡± a man shouted. ¡°Ask Prila! Prila will vouch for us!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know who the fuck that is and I don¡¯t give a shit,¡± Anelia growled. ¡°Every single one of you better come out and sit down right here¡±¡ªshe shook her gun at a spot in the middle of the lobby¡ª¡°or I¡¯m going to have to start exploding heads. Don¡¯t test me. Do yourselves a favor and just don¡¯t test me.¡± The whimpering, begging, and crying began immediately. Yet it was something another of the women said to her that drew Anelia¡¯s attention and made her realize that this must have been the real reason she¡¯d been sent here. ¡°We¡¯ll give you all the research if you let us live. Please! Please!¡± ¡°Research?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Anelia sighed. ¡°It looks like I need to make a call.¡± She tried to raise Vim, but unsurprisingly, he was busy. The Orc wasn¡¯t, though. He¡¯d have to do. ****** The moment that Norc O¡¯cral, the 9th ranking member of the Royal Roses and Vim¡¯s chief intelligence officer, emerged from below deck and came scampering over in a hurry, Vim knew that he was at last going to be privy to some good news. He could tell this just from the way the gigantic Orc made such big, excitable thudding sounds as he ran barefoot along the deck. Unlike the other high-level members of his guild, Norc was not participating¡ªnor would he ever participate¡ªin any combat that wasn¡¯t strictly PVE in nature, but this was merely what one would expect from an Orc. Attempting to get an Orc to fight in a battle was a hopeless endeavor; they simply wouldn¡¯t do it. Almost as a whole, their race was a fairly soft-hearted group¡ªor at least they were when it came to matters of war and violence. On other issues? Not so much. While it might have been nearly impossible to enlist an Orc to use their considerable strength and brute force on the field of battle, that didn¡¯t mean Orcs did not constantly partake in fights; no, one could often find them engaging in constant battle on social media, where they were known to scold and shame people for using offensive language or engaging in ¡°problematic¡± behavior. Vim himself had personally been condemned by the Orcish queen for his social media posts on twenty-seven separate occasions, and that was just in the past six months. ¡°Sir Alazar,¡± Norc said cheerfully as he approached. The nearly eight-foot-tall Orc tended to tower over most people who stood next to him, but to someone like Vim, it was more like being in the shadow of a giant. He actually had to stretch his neck just to look up at the man, his dual tusks protruding from his mouth, his upper lip naturally raised enough to provide a clear view of his sharp, dangerous teeth. It was said that, long ago, Orcs were a warrior race, and on the one hand, Vim could totally see why. For starters, Orcs were the only race of beings on all of Galterra that did not enter this world with a mere 1 point in every stat; to the contrary, a level-1 Orc was born with 3 points into strength. They were also born with a passive ability that gave them a five-minute, stacking buff to their strength whenever they personally landed the killing blow on a target, sentient or otherwise. Thus, it made sense that pre-civilized Orcs were as ruthless as history claimed. Yet¡­on the other hand, it was just so hard to visualize them behaving in such a way. They were just so Gods-be-damned passivist that mentally drawing a picture of them charging into battle was too hard a thing for Vim to do. As Norc approached, he paused a moment to bow to the queen. She lowered her head slightly in acknowledgement. Then he turned to face Vim. ¡°I bring good news your way, Sir Alazar,¡± he said. This, Vim was pleased to hear. ¡°Your agents have located which bunker Sir Morrison is cowardly hiding in?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, no, no. It¡¯s about the¡ª¡± ¡°Quiet!¡± Vim shouted, suddenly realizing what Norc was about to say. It clicked in the back of his head as though hit by a bolt of lightning. Awareness flooded into him, and it caused his heart to pound in his chest. ¡°Say nothing!¡± Vim¡¯s shout came out as louder and more frantic than he¡¯d intended, and it caused Norc to twitch, Fylwen to take a reflective step backwards, and Haisel Ragora to lift his eyebrows. Norc, seemingly confused, tilted his head to the side and said, ¡°Sir Alazar, I don¡¯t understand what¡­did I perhaps say something to offend you? If so, I apologize.¡± Vim nervously glanced off to his left, where Queen Vayra was glancing back at him as though perplexed and mildly annoyed. This wasn¡¯t good. Or¡­or it was good, rather, but it was bad that Norc had stupidly almost blurted out what Vim strongly suspected Norc was about to say: that someone from their side had located where the Guild of Gentlemen were building the weapons, something he¡¯d specifically asked not to be announced over the Comm. ¡°Let¡¯s talk in private,¡± he said. ¡°Excuse me a moment, Fylwen.¡± ¡°Do hurry,¡± she replied, her tone dry. ¡°I¡¯ve elsewhere to be, and there are a few more issues I wish to discuss with you. I sincerely hope this matter between you and the Orc is urgent enough to keep me waiting.¡± ¡°It is,¡± Vim said. Norc nodded. ¡°Oh, rest assured that it is, Your Majesty.¡± He half-turned away, and Vim filled with an icy sense of fear and apprehension as Fylwen took a suspicious step towards them. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Why what?¡± Vim asked her defensively. ¡°Why is it so important you cannot speak in front of me?¡± ¡°Private guild matters,¡± Vim said. ¡°Obviously.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± Norc tapped his sharp-fingernailed thumb against the side of his head. ¡°Oh, no, no, no, that¡¯s not it at all, Sir Alazar. If that¡¯s why you¡¯re leading me away, I can assure you, this is by no means a private¡ª¡± ¡°Will you shut the fuck up!¡± Vim hissed at him under his breath. ¡°What¡¯s that? I didn¡¯t hear you, Sir Alazar.¡± Then, before Vim could stop him, he turned to the Gods-damned queen and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Your Majesty. This is nothing nefarious. I¡¯ve just received a wonderful report that we¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± Vim hissed again. ¡°¡ªhave located their primary nuclear research facility!¡± he finished, excitement and merriment in his every word. Vim scowled, and so too did Fylwen, only hers was darker, more sinister, and incredibly dangerous. ¡°You¡¯ve what?¡± she yelled. ¡°What is the meaning of this, Orc!¡± Norc¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°Why do you look so displeased?¡± Fylwen took several quick, urgent steps in his direction until she practically bumped into his impossibly muscular midsection while she stared fearlessly up at him. ¡°I heard nothing of this over the Comm. How can this be so? One of you had better answer me at once!¡± Vim felt a mixture of both outrage and misery as Norc smiled down at the Elvish queen. ¡°It¡¯s nothing nefarious at all, Your Majesty. Sir Alazar ordered us¡ªwisely, I might add¡ªto say nothing over the Comm in the event that we found anything pertaining to that awful, dreadful weapon, and though he did not state why, it was understood by me and those under my command that this was to ensure it was properly destroyed and that the Lords of Justice did not attempt to whisk such abhorrent technology back to Dal¡¯Zarrah.¡± Vim clenched his teeth furiously. That big fucking idiot! How could he be so stupid? Did he actually have to spell everything out? He supposed that, in some way, this was his own fault. He should have been clearer in what he wanted from Norc. But wait¡­no, that still wouldn¡¯t have helped the situation, because if Norc knew what he¡¯d actually intended to do, then unlike Haisel, who also took issue with it, he wouldn¡¯t have gone along with it. It made Vim curse the fact that he¡¯d ever appointed an Orc to be his chief intelligence officer in the first place, a decision he¡¯d only made because it meant he could be absolutely certain he wouldn¡¯t be backstabbed or betrayed¡ªbut alas, here was the ¡°con¡± part of that to complement the ¡°pro.¡± He probably just got me killed, the big idiot! Now, thanks to Norc, the queen might actually murder him right here in font of everyone, especially since Queen Vayra was far too intelligent to be fooled. She would likely understand exactly what had taken place¡ªprobably right away, too. And as understanding flashed across her face in a matter of mere seconds, Vim could see that was exactly what was happening. He could not help but feel the slightest pinch of fear in his belly as her pupils dilated and her brow furrowed. ¡°I believe you, noble Orc,¡± she said, her tone softening. ¡°At least, I believe that is how you interpreted our little Gnome¡¯s instructions.¡± Now, Fylwen turned her icy, angry eyes his way. ¡°But rest assured: Sir Alazar¡¯s intentions were not to destroy whatever research you may have stumbled upon.¡± ¡°What do you mean, Your Majesty?¡± Norc asked, sounding worried. Fylwen knelt down so that her face was right in front of Vim¡¯s. She poked him hard in the chest. ¡°You were going to attempt to secretly build more of the human weapon in Giant¡¯s Fall, weren¡¯t you? Do not lie to me, Gnome!¡± Vim scowled at her. ¡°Of course I was, Gods-dammit!¡± he shouted, no longer bothering to hide it. She¡¯d figured it out, and there was no point in attempting to deceive her. So instead, he became angry and indignant. ¡°What else would I do? Leave my people defenseless? Leave them in a state of helplessness so that the next time this happens we¡¯re forced to endure the brunt of it all over again with no means of retaliation? No! I will never let my people be in that position ever again!¡± The sound of a gasp came from behind him¡ªfrom Norc. ¡°Sir Alazar,¡± he whispered. ¡°That is an incredibly toxic thing to say. Tell me it¡¯s not true! Have you learned nothing from the destruction of Ogre¡¯s Axe?¡± Vim grunted but did not reply¡ªsomething he did only because he was being lectured to by an Orc. Had it been anyone else from any other race on the planet, he would not hesitate to engage in a prolonged defense of his actions. But if there was one thing in this world that Vim could not bring himself to do, it was get into an exhausting argument over morals and ethics with your typical self-righteous, holier-than-thou Orc. Why would he even bother? It was a fruitless endeavor, as nothing he could possibly say would ever stand any chance of penetrating their literally thick skulls; even worse, every word he used in his defense would only be turned against him in ridiculous ways to somehow imply that he hated this group or that group. Once, Vim had asked an Orc if he could have a glass of water. The Orc had then spent over an hour accusing Vim of hating women. There was nothing he could say that wouldn¡¯t be spun into some kind of personal moral failure. And right now, Norc was demonstrating that first hand. And here he goes¡­ Norc opened his mouth and began to speak. And then he continued to speak. And then he continued to speak after that. And still, he continued to speak. Words came out of his mouth one after the next, and Vim groaned as he was forced to endure it. ¡°¡­and none of this is to mention the inherent fascistic nature of your duplicitous actions, which reeks of toxic masculinity. Did you ever stop to consider what the women of the guild would think of your actions? Have you ever stopped to consider how it is women who are hurt most by these weapons? You didn¡¯t even think of that, did you? Of course not. Of course you didn¡¯t. Heavens, if only you knew how¡­¡± He continued. And then he continued to continue. ¡°¡­in 6582, the oppression of the merfolk was also tied to the patriarchal, hetero-normative behavior that¡­¡± Unbelievably, right here, in the middle of a warzone, with the sound of gunfire plainly audible from the city, he continued. ¡°¡­and Peter IV¡¯s actions were only possible because of his enablers. How many times did you yourself, Sir Alazar, excuse his madness as mere ¡®jokes¡¯ and try to say that he ¡®wasn¡¯t actually serious about destroying the other races?¡¯ Have you heard what he did to the Elvish in secret? All along, we¡¯d believed them to be extinct, and we¡¯d have been right, too, if his barbaric treatment had gone on for any longer. So, I don¡¯t see how I can continue to serve as your¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯ll write a fucking apology letter!¡± Vim snapped at him. ¡°Just shut the fuck up!¡± To Fylwen, who was still kneeling in front of him, he said, ¡°If you¡¯re going to kill me, then just do it already. I¡¯m not going to beg for my life. But if you have any mercy in your heart, then do it now so I don¡¯t have to listen to another fucking word from this tusk-faced beast of a¡ª¡± Fylwen began to move, and Vim snapped his mouth shut and braced himself. Now, he awaited the end. This would be the point where the Elvish queen executed him. Right here in front of all of his people. Except¡­she didn¡¯t. No, Fylwen did not kill him. She didn¡¯t even strike him or take another finger. She merely rolled her eyes and got back to her feet. ¡°You and your paranoia.¡± She straightened her back. ¡°Get it through your head, little Gnome: the Gods have personally tasked the Elvish with defending the world from the existence of such vile and cruel tools of humanity. You must trust in us. What we do, we do to protect all of Galterra, and that includes your regions as well.¡± Vim, confused, raised his pointer finger. ¡°Wait, so you¡¯re not going to kill me?¡± ¡°Not this time, no.¡± And then Vim finally understood. Just like that, it dawned on him. He wasn¡¯t sure why he only understood things now, yet for whatever reason, it wasn¡¯t until this moment that it really occurred to Vim that Queen Vayra didn¡¯t treat him quite the same way that she treated most others¡ªand no, it was not because she secretly wanted to get him naked and ravage him, unfortunately. It was something else: something that should¡¯ve been obvious from the start. It was something Vim should¡¯ve realized when she did not kill him earlier despite the way he¡¯d spoken to her. He¡¯d thought his rank and status had shielded him, and even more foolishly, he¡¯d also thought there was a part of her that secretly enjoyed their little banter despite pretending otherwise, but he could see now that he was mistaken about both things. It was something so much more fundamental and basic. It''s because I¡¯m not fully human, he realized with a sharp inhalation of breath. Though Vim did have some human blood in his veins, and though he had masqueraded as human for most of his life, it was difficult to dispute he was primarily of Gnomish ancestry. And that fact alone was likely why he could get away with speaking to her the way that he did, and it was also why she displayed no such desire to slaughter him in front of his guild. It was humanity that she reserved such impulses for. That was the only possible explanation. There must have been a very real compassion and patience within her that she held for non-humans as well as the very few humans that she actually liked, such as the boy. Still, this didn¡¯t mean she was willing to compromise on her ridiculous, stupid beliefs. And this, Vim was reminded of as she crossed her arms and gave a demanding yet not quite menacing look to Norc. ¡°You seem like a caring, morally upstanding Orc.¡± ¡°But of course I am, Your Majesty. Being a good person is my ultimate pursuit in life.¡± "Then please do tell me all that you have learned regarding the humans'' weapon." ¡°With pleasure, Your Majesty.¡± Look at him, betraying the guild right in front of me, Vim thought ruefully. And to make matters worse, Haisel was just standing there and letting it happen. He looked relieved of all things, the short-sighted idiot. As Norc explained in detail what he¡¯d learned, Fylwen listened intently, never interrupting a single time¡ªnot even when he went on a totally unrelated tangent about the way animals were treated at the Whispery Woods Zoo, even demanding the queen do something about it. Vim seethed listening to this. The worst part was that he couldn¡¯t even demote the Orc as the mere fact that an Orc held such a high rank in a powerful North Bastian guild was going to help big time when it came to repairing their image with the rest of the world. ¡°I hear your concerns, noble Orc,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°Perhaps we can discuss this matter at a more opportune time.¡± Norc bowed. ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡± Wasting not another word, Fylwen craned her neck to look at her Elves, who were standing at attention near their unicorn mounts. Having been quietly listening in to each and every word, they seemed unsurprised by what she had to say next. ¡°I want all of you to fly immediately to this research facility and destroy any documents related to¡ªor no, wait a moment.¡± She wet her lips and shook her head. ¡°No, we must be thorough. Destroy the entire compound and make absolutely certain you slay everyone inside of it except the mercenary, as we cannot know what information they hold in their minds, and the risk of them dispersing it if they somehow survive our upcoming bombardment is far too great.¡± To Vim, she said, ¡°I¡¯ve shown you an overwhelming amount of grace and forgiveness. As undignified as it may be, I tolerate your disgusting vulgarity and your disrespect towards me. But I cannot and will not allow you to stand against the Gods, and if anything like this should ever be attempted again, you will be killed without a second thought. Do you understand me?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Vim said, bowing before the queen. ¡°You win. Thank you for sparing my life.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be right back. I need to use the bathroom. I thought for sure I was going to die, and my bladder is barely holding.¡± Vim turned away and stormed off towards a quieter section of the ship. ¡°Anelia, are you there?¡± he asked into the Comm on the private channel Haisel had told him about. ¡°Yah, and I got a lot of shit to say to you. I don¡¯t know what the hell is going on. You told me this would be an easy job, and then I get fucking ambushed, and now I¡¯m hearing that Elves are on their way to¡ª¡± ¡°Listen to me,¡± Vim interrupted. ¡°I don¡¯t have much time. I need you to take a picture of every document you found. As many as you can in the time it takes the Elves to get there. You should have at least two minutes.¡± ¡°Huh? Why? Look, I¡¯m not about to get involved in¡ª¡± ¡°Fifty-thousand gold for each picture. That¡¯s what I¡¯m paying. Enough for you to retire for good if you get enough photos. They have to be legible, though. I need my scientists to be able to see what¡¯s on the page. And if you agree, just say the word ¡®yes¡¯ and get to work because you¡¯ve got almost no time.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Vim smiled. Things were going to work out after all. Chapter 167: The Fate of Shadowfall Coast Chapter 167: The Fate of Shadowfall Coast Angelica¡¯s was always noisy. That was a rule of life¡ªhell, it was a rule of the universe. But Gods-be-damned, it suddenly became extra loud in here. Sitting next to Zephyr, Donovan growled as a ruckus was being stirred up. ¡°Fuck¡¯s going on over there?¡± ¡°Donovan!¡± several adventurers shouted. ¡°Donovan, emergency!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± He and Zephyr turned around in their swivel stools and looked at one of the adventurers calling out to him, his face having gone pale. He was out of breath. He even had to bend over and hold up a finger while he gasped. Finally, he was able to speak. And when he did, Donovan wasn¡¯t sure he was willing to believe a Gods-damned word of it. ¡°No fuckin¡¯ way. You¡¯re shitting me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true!¡± the kid insisted. ¡°I swear it on my momma¡¯s life.¡± Donovan stared at him. ¡°If this is a joke, I¡¯m seriously gonna tear you ten different assholes. Maybe even eleven.¡± He pointed threateningly at the kid. ¡°Because you just told me ten heart attacks¡¯ worth of shit. There¡¯s no damn way all of those things are true at once.¡± ¡°I spoke to Zach myself. He said you need to get down there immediately.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true!¡± another adventurer cried. ¡°I spoke to Zach too. It¡¯s true!¡± Donovan looked at Zephyr in disbelief¡ªand rage. ¡°Jimmy lost his fuckin¡¯ mind!¡± he shouted. ¡°I¡¯m gonna kill that kid.¡± ¡°Not if I get to him first.¡± ¡°That punk!¡± Zephyr chuckled. ¡°Why¡¯re you smiling?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± ¡°Yeah you are. Admit it.¡± ¡°Fuck that. I¡¯m pissed right now.¡± He grabbed his mug and prepared to down the rest of the beverage, but Zephyr grabbed it and threw it¡ªthen apologized profusely to Angelica, whose name stayed red for over ten seconds. ¡°Sorry, Angelica. But this is a real emergency.¡± ¡°Throw a mug at one of my freshly cleaned walls again, and you¡¯re gonna have an entirely separate emergency, buster!¡± ¡°I know, I know, sorry!¡± He grabbed Donovan¡¯s wrist. ¡°We really have to go. This is bad.¡± Donovan grunted. ¡°Yep. Let¡¯s go.¡± ****** Fylwen placed her hands on the railing near the bow of the large, human-built aircraft carrier. Though she projected confidence and coldness, there truly was a part of her that did bemoan the actions she was now forced to take. Had it been possible and reasonable, she would have chosen to spare the lives of the citizens¡ªthose whom she hesitated to refer to as ¡°innocent,¡± as she felt that was far too strong and freeing of a word to describe the hateful humans who occupied this city. The Guild of Gentlemen¡­they had robbed her and her family of so much. And their citizens, though ignorant of the Elvish suffering at the time, would doubtless have supported the guild¡¯s actions had they discovered or been told of them. Of this, Fylwen was certain. They were cretins who did not believe in the sanctity of non-human life, and for that reason alone, she should not have cared much for their fate. But she did feel an inkling of sadness. Remorse? Not quite. This was not a decision that she had made but an order from the Gods themselves. It was not her place to feel guilt over a choice that was not hers to make. Unlike far too many other times in her life when she had acted brutally towards others, she would not lose sleep over what was to come, as the Great Lord Adamus himself had personally tasked her with delivering this justice. ¡°So, you¡¯re really going to do this, huh?¡± asked the Gnome, his voice coming from somewhere behind her. She did not bother to turn her head or look at him. The fool was lucky her mother had always told her to have a soft spot for the Gnomish or he might very well have ended up among the countless lives that were soon to be extinguished. ¡°Even if I had chosen otherwise, you would not have been able to stop them from firing their weapon.¡± ¡°Yes, we could have,¡± he insisted, approaching her. Sparing a quick glance over her shoulder, Fylwen noticed he was dragging a stool with him, which he set down so that he could stand beside her and similarly dangle his arms over the railing. ¡°We¡¯ve taken out their research facility. We¡¯re practically halfway there. All they have left is wherever they¡¯re manufacturing the ICBMs. Speaking of which, did your Elves find anything out?¡± ¡°No,¡± she replied truthfully. ¡°And do believe me when I say that my warriors were not gentle in their torture. I am therefore certain that the researchers were not told where the weapons are being made. If they had been able to discover that information, things might be different. But it¡¯s too late now.¡± ¡°I just don¡¯t know how you can say that, Fylwen. If we found their researchers, we could¡¯ve found their weapons, too. It would¡¯ve only been a matter of time.¡± ¡°Yes. Time that we do not have.¡± The Gnome sighed. ¡°Yeah, well¡­fair enough, I guess. Hey, can I ask you something?¡± Becoming suspicious, she frowned at the small man. ¡°If you must.¡± Vim shifted as though he were nervous. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to be an asshole here, but my question might piss you off. I really do mean it in good faith, though. It¡¯s about your Gods, but I know you get a bit¡­heated when anyone talks about them.¡± ¡°If you truly intend no harm, I will do my utmost to react with civility.¡± He hesitated, and Fylwen waited for him to speak. Yet when he said nothing for nearly half a minute, she became impatient and twirled her finger indicating for him to get on with it. He complied, and with a cautious quality to his voice, he asked, ¡°If your Gods are so just and wise, then why do they care so much about how, specifically, we solve this problem? Why do they put so much stock in formality and semantics? It just sounds petty to me.¡± Given his hesitance, Fylwen had been expecting a far, far more offensive question from the Gnome. Not only did she not find this question offensive, but it was exactly the kind of question she expected young Elvish children to ask during schooling for the next thousand years when today¡¯s events would inevitably be discussed. The few Elvish scholars that still remained in the world were no doubt already carefully choosing how to inscribe and explain this day to future generations. ¡°The Great Lord Adamus is callous,¡± she began, ¡°and this is written about him and known, and it is such that I witnessed it for myself. However, it is also known that he is not petty, and he is most certainly not superfluous. His decisions are rooted in a much deeper understanding of humanity than you or I possess, but one that becomes clear if you think a little more deeply on it.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Fylwen, sensing that he was indeed asking in good faith, decided to reward him with elaboration. ¡°I know you believe what you say. It is actually the same idea that the young scientist boy also tried to impress upon me.¡± ¡°Lord Oren?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Vim laughed. ¡°So, he also wanted to cover the launch sites?¡± ¡°He did. His argument and reasoning were much the same as your own.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Vim said. ¡°That kid¡¯s pretty smart, so if I came up with the same idea as him, it means I must be pretty smart, too.¡± ¡°You¡¯re both actually quite intelligent,¡± Fylwen admitted, ¡°and the logic behind your plan is sound. By capturing any possible sites that could be used to launch their weapon, one would naturally assume that it would make the possession of such a weapon useless, thus removing the need to lose thousands of lives to recklessness as our combined forces rush head-first in to disarm.¡± She waited for a gust of warm air to finish gliding over her before she resumed speaking. ¡°But what the Great Lord Adamus understands and what you do not,¡± she continued, ¡°is that wherever and whenever such a weapon exists, it will find a way to be used. And you yourself have proven this, Gnome.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Do you truly not know?¡± She watched as he shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s obvious. Had that warm-hearted Orc not alerted me to your incredibly foolish idea, you may well have prolonged this nightmare despite your best intentions. Do you see? Simply by its existence, the weapon is destined to continue to exist and to be used. This, I do believe, is why our God has commanded us to prevent such an occurrence.¡± Vim nodded, and unless Fylwen was falling for some expert-level manipulation, she believed he was being sincere. ¡°You might be right,¡± he said to her. ¡°In fact, you probably are.¡± The man¡¯s tone had changed. Something was odd with him. He now sounded¡­resigned. As though he¡¯d accepted her course of action and had given up trying to fight it. Even as he continued to argue with her, there was no longer any heat behind his words. He spoke in a way that was far more conversational than confrontational. The Gnome tapped his palms idly on the railing. ¡°So, you¡¯re going to watch it happen?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°How could I not? I ordered my Elves to carry out such an attack, and I will not turn my head from it. I will witness the destruction with my own two eyes.¡± ¡°When¡¯s it going to happen?¡± ¡°Any moment now.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ve already ordered a full retreat, so this boat¡¯s about to get a whole lot more crowded. But for the time being, I guess I¡¯ll stand here and watch the death of Shadowfall Coast with you.¡± Fylwen briefly looked away from the sandy shores and stared at the little Gnome. There was something about him that¡¯d been bothering her. It was a sense that she had, one that had only begun to register a short while ago but had grown and continued to grow. She decided to voice it. ¡°It was you, wasn¡¯t it?¡± she asked him. ¡°Huh?¡± he croaked out, his eyebrows rising and color seemingly draining from his face. Fear was now evident in his shocked expression. ¡°What was me? What¡¯re you talking about?¡± ¡°Those¡­those magnificent lights of destruction that filled the early-morning sky. That was you, was it not?¡± The Gnome exhaled with what Fylwen assumed to be relief. ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s what you¡¯re talking about.¡± His posture shifted, and his fear was seemingly exchanged for surprise and a touch of amusement. ¡°How did you know?¡± ¡°I take it I am correct, then?¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡­how did you find out?¡± She leaned forward a bit into another warm breeze that rolled along the ocean and caused her hair to flutter. ¡°At first, I believed it to be the boy¡¯s doing.¡± ¡°So did everyone else¡ªhell, they still do,¡± he said, a snicker following his words. ¡°What made you change your mind?¡± ¡°My daughter.¡± ¡°Kalana? She¡­told you that it was me?¡± Fylwen made a slight shaking motion with her head. ¡°No, it¡¯s more the fact that she was there at all. I simply cannot imagine her allowing the young man to have done something like that, nor can I imagine him doing such a thing in front of her. It¡¯s not that I think the boy incapable of carrying out an attack of that magnitude if he came to believe it was necessary, but what I couldn¡¯t envision is him allowing my daughter to witness it.¡± Vim made an ¡°ahh¡± sound and then snapped his fingers. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m actually impressed. So, that¡¯s how you figured it out. But why bring it up now? It¡¯s a bit strange, no? That of all the things going through your mind, you¡¯re thinking about Calamity of the Stars.¡± ¡°Is that what it¡¯s called?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°It¡¯s beautiful,¡± she whispered. ¡°The name.¡± ¡°Well, if I knew you¡¯d like it so much, I would¡¯ve taken credit for it earlier.¡± He laughed. ¡°But my question still stands, Fylwen: why is that what¡¯s on your mind?" The question caused Fylwen to feel her heart turning just a little bit colder. ¡°Because what you are about to see is going to be quite similar in nature albeit less impressive and brilliant to behold. I imagine it has been centuries since anyone on Galterra has seen runic artillery magic.¡± Vim seemed to have some familiarity with the term, as the moment she¡¯d spoken it, his face visibly cringed. ¡°My great grandfather told me about that. He was born back when the history books were a bit more honest. Elves used that to control all of Galterra more than a thousand years ago, didn¡¯t they?¡± Fylwen smiled. She was glad to see there were still those who knew the truth. ¡°That¡¯s right, little Gnome. Every continent and every region.¡± ¡°Runic artillery magic used to brighten the skies quite a bit, I bet.¡± ¡°Only to those who deserved to see it.¡± ¡°Does that mean I¡¯m deserving?¡± Fylwen rolled her eyes. ¡°I was referring to our enemies.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Vim said, releasing a dour chuckle. Now, he too leaned a bit more over the railing. ¡°I won¡¯t lie and say I know what kind of hell the Guild of Gentlemen put you through, and I won¡¯t pretend that what they¡¯ve put me through is even close to the same thing, but¡­¡± In what came as a surprise to Fylwen, his expression now darkened to the point she thought she might be looking into a miniature reflection of herself. ¡°They did some pretty bad things to me over the past few weeks. I¡¯ve seen for myself now how the guild treats those they hate. So, I for one won¡¯t be shedding any tears over this. If anything, I¡¯m just glad it¡¯s all finally going to be over. Ever since the dragon spawned, it¡¯s just been chaos nonstop, you know? One horrible thing after the next. But finally, it¡¯ll all be over.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Fylwen agreed. ¡°You¡¯re right to take comfort in that. Truly, it¡¯s all about to be over. And then you can rest and rebuild.¡± Fylwen meant every word of what she told him. She could feel it deep in her heart. This was all about to be over. Any moment now, the runic magic would rain down upon the city and annihilate it. The ghosts of her ancestors would rise again, as a form of warfare not seen for more than a thousand years was about to make its bold reappearance. ¡°It¡¯s all about to be over,¡± she whispered. ****** They had him surrounded. No longer was Alex just dealing with enemies to his front and both sides, but now, a few of his foes had managed to get behind his guard as well. There were four of them in total, and all four must have thought they were being crafty, having slipped to his flank while the Glacial Vortex ability had created a screen of haze and snow. But Alex knew they were there, and what was more: he¡¯d deliberately allowed it to happen. It was what he needed to happen. If I don¡¯t risk everything, I lose everything! The five mages, two support, and three healers stayed where they were along with the two archers, the slingshot-wielding woman, and Gentleman Restlocht, and all seemed primed to unleash another round of projectiles at him. Unfortunately, Alex couldn¡¯t even consider the option of going after them. They were well-protected by three tanks who had stayed behind to guard them. Sir Ultdern, who occupied the center of the enemy¡¯s formation, remained where he was as well. But the rest of the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s forces on 1st and Haven Street were now all closing in on Alex, their net tightening more and more with each step they took. It was here that he would either turn the tables or die. The next few seconds would be the most critical of all. Things were probably going to happen very, very fast the moment they began attacking. And that moment appeared to be now. This is it! The mages, healers, and the support all began to cast as the two archers, the slingshot-wielding woman, and Gentleman Restlocht fired their weapons. All the while, the tall, dark-skinned man wielding two purple-colored swords pressed closer towards him alongside a woman dual-wielding combat staves. Beside those two was the tall woman bearing a sword and shield who resembled Lady Theolina, and to Alex¡¯s left was a man in black robes brandishing a scythe who was approaching him alongside a spear-wielding man with very sharp-looking, spiked boots. To his right, a wiry, bald-headed man with an eyepatch drew nearer, a sword in his hand, and accompanying this man was a woman in ornate, golden robes wielding a rapier. It was only now that Alex recalled that she was the 10th ranking member of the Guild of Gentlemen, though he failed to remember her name. Finally, along with the four Gentlemen slinking up behind him, there were another four a bit farther back near Sir Ultdern, and these four appeared to be following a small distance behind and waiting to see if they were needed. Alex held his breath. This was the riskiest gamble he¡¯d ever taken. A brief, coincidental lull in the war gave way to a very short period of quiet, and it was during this period he could hear the snapping thwunk of a crossbow bolt being released as well as two twangs followed by the soft hiss of dual arrows traveling across the air. The mages were sticking to their previous failed attacks, all except for the curly-haired, freckle-faced mage who¡¯d casted Glacial Vortex. He seemed to have learned his lesson, and now, Alex heard him chant, ¡°Val En Icen Comme.¡± Ice comet. A brief flicker of light emanated from above, indicating that another Scorching Bolt II was about to drop down on him, and now three more Firebolts were racing just behind the ranged projectiles. Yet it was what he saw from the support mages that elevated things most of all, providing Alex with the biggest sense of hope¡ªyet also risk. Unlike earlier, the support mages had given up on attempting to use Daze II, and they likely believed themselves to be intelligent and tactically wise for doing so, as the ability¡¯s radius was large enough that, even if they succeeded in landing their mesmerize on Alex, they would likely also mez a whole bunch of their own people as well. For this reason, they had switched things up; Alex was certain that the woman with the dark, braided hair and the shimmering blue spell sword was casting Stunning Silence, which was a single-target, four-second stun along with a thirty-second silence, and the younger, blond-haired man beside her was casting a root, Earthly Confinement. And both of them were fools for doing so. Because while it may have seemed logical to avoid mesmerizing their allies, Alex was now effectively trapped and could not possibly escape. Therefore, what did it matter if they mezzed their own allies? It did no damage on its own and caused no pain or long-term health effects. A successful mez would mean that just one of them could calmly approach Alex and slit his throat while he stared blankly off into the distance, entranced and unaware. Instead, they were adding even more abilities to the clutter that was heading Alex¡¯s way. And Gods, he could not believe Sir Ultdern was allowing this to happen. As opposed to underestimating Maric¡¯s younger, century-old brother, he¡¯d overestimated him. It was to the extent that Alex worried there was something here he did not see: something vital he was missing. Surely, the guild¡¯s third-in-command could not be so inept. Especially not with the same blood in his veins that ran through his incredibly gifted older brother. It had to be a trap¡ªor part of some grander plan. Because if it was not a trap of his own making, then all these people that now surrounded Alex were about to fall into one of his. Can this really work? Alex, in total disbelief, watched as the black-robed man wielding the scythe to his left swung the weapon up and down while calling out, ¡°Reaping Shadow!¡± They¡¯re really going to¡­ A surge of confidence and optimism detonated within Alex as the man leapt forward at him while his body began to spin so fast that he appeared as nothing but a blurry, black shadow, one that moved with tremendous speed towards him, closing the distance immediately. Equally shocking, at the same time, the eyepatch-wearing man to his right jumped forward and shouted out, ¡°Blade Lunge!¡± It was the exact same common, three-hit combination sword ability that had gotten a high-ranking member of the Lords of Justice killed. Were the Guild of Gentlemen truly no better? Could it be that their superior performance in battle was solely due to stronger willpower combined with a smattering of dragon equipment? He thought his eyes would pop out of his head as the woman with the sword and shield who looked like Lady Theolina charged forward at him, her shield glowing a bright red. There were many, many different shield slams, and most of them stunned for five seconds. This was for sure one of them. And she was actually going to use it on him now of all times. This has to be a trap. It can¡¯t be real. I can¡¯t let myself think this is real. The Guild of Gentlemen were making such unbelievably foolish attacks that Alex knew he could not assume that everything was as it appeared. Though not typically superstitious, with everything that had gone wrong today, it simply did not seem real or possible. Yet with no idea what, if any, deeper tricks were about to be sprung on him, Alex had no choice but to react as though everything was really as simple as it seemed. He took his eyes off the bald-headed, eyepatch-wearing man with the sword. Even as the man¡¯s blade turned purple and he made a very fast upwards slash, Alex looked away from him, ignoring him completely. After all, he knew the ability by heart: he knew the exact pattern and its timing. It was not an exaggeration to say that he could be soundly asleep and still avoid both sword strikes along with the subsequent lunge. And the same was true for Reaping Shadow, which turned its user into a hollow, misty, ghost-like figure while launching them forward¡ªand through¡ªany obstacles ahead of them before once more becoming corporeal, at which point the user would viciously slash the scythe downwards. This can¡¯t possibly be as it seems, Alex thought in a state of absolute amazement. The universe would never be so kind to me. Stunned and baffled, Alex made several minimal motions as he twisted his body away from the eyepatch-wearing man¡¯s first slash, and then from the second one, and he did this without even bothering to look in the direction each came from. And now, as the black-robed man¡¯s hollow, ghost-like form solidified in the air above and to his left, Alex only had to take a small step to his right to avoid the downward slice of the scythe, which cracked straight into the street and cut several inches into it rather than come anywhere near his body. Likewise, he only needed to ever-so-slightly step to the side to avoid the shield bash from the woman charging at him¡ªbut he didn¡¯t. Instead, he dropped his own sword and reached out with both his arms to grab the shoulders of the black-robed man while simultaneously lurching his body violently to the right, causing the man to yelp in surprise as Alex forced both him and the man to move out of the way of the charging woman, who was about to run right past him. But Alex quickly stuck out his opposite foot and tripped her as she darted past, and now she too yelped as she fell forward. Having been knocked off balance, the woman was on course to face-plant onto the street¡ªbut Alex could not allow that to happen. Thus, with a very powerful shove, he launched the black-robed man forward, causing him to stumble away¡ªand right into the path of two arrows, a slingshot slug, and a crossbow bolt while Alex himself whirled his body around, grabbed the woman who had only half fallen over, and tore her back up to her feet, spun her around, and now shoved her body directly in the path of three flaming missiles, Scorching Bolt II, a root, a stun, a silence, and an icy comet that appeared from above and smashed down into her. ¡°Fuck!¡± she shrieked in terror as it all struck her at once. The sky flashed as the flaming bolt of electricity crashed down alongside the ice comet. Her body made several jerking motions as the Firebolts blasted her apart. An arm flew off to Alex¡¯s left, a foot flew off to Alex¡¯s right, and the rest of her simply became mush. The black-robed, scythe-wielding man, however, remained mostly intact, though his death was a bit slower and more painful. Alex could actually hear the sound of his flesh being punctured as all four projectiles tore into him. ¡°Ugh!¡± he said upon taking the first arrow. ¡°Ugh,¡± he said again. ¡°Ugh! Ugh!¡± And then he fell forward onto his belly, and he did not move again. Alex, having closed himself off to emotion, took his mind off the two and dashed to the side as the eyepatch-wearing man flew right past where he was standing, his sword extended as his body was lunged uncontrollably to Alex¡¯s rear. ¡°Stop! Don¡¯t!¡± cried two of the assassins sneaking up from behind. The man, totally incapable of controlling his own motion, released a horrified, sorrow-filled scream as his blade ripped right through both of his allies, killing one and mortally wounding the other before continuing on. And Alex knew exactly where he¡¯d stop, too. And he decided to make an example of the man. Not for the sake of punishment, but to let his enemies know that they had a lot more to fear than they might¡¯ve realized¡ªheck, than even he realized. As the man continued to skid along the road with his blade extended, Alex, still unarmed, quickly bent down and picked up his dropped blade with his right hand, enabling him to cast spells, and then with his left, he shot his palm directly backwards behind him and squeezed it shut. Several beads of sweat trickled down his forehead as he activated Black Spiral Blender in the precise location the man would come to a halt. When he did, the man found himself standing on top of a black, perfectly flat circle while another, identical one loomed above the top of his head. Both were so thin that they were practically two-dimensional in nature. And as both formed, the man was, at least for this very brief moment, still locked into his own attack and unable to control his own body. Yet his eyes rose to the top of his head and then down to his feet, and Alex could tell that he knew he was done for. ¡°H-help!¡± he cried. ¡°Someone help!¡± ¡°The fuck is going on?¡± the man with the two purple swords screamed. ¡°I¡¯m so confused. Did he just kill Gentlewoman Manalexa and Gentleman Seevor? What¡­what¡¯s happening!¡± He turned his head and only seemed to first notice the two dead assassins. Then he howled in fear and confusion. ¡°Sir Ultdern! Sir Ultdern, I don¡¯t understand, what did he just¡ª¡± ¡°Help me!¡± the man screamed as the two-dimensional black circles finally entered the third dimension, with one expanding downwards and the other expanding upwards until both met and formed a solid object: a cylindrical chamber from which there was no escape, nor was there any place to hide from the various cutting instruments that could only slightly be seen within the newly formed chamber; though transparent, it was only slightly so. It was like looking at a film-roll canister. Only the outline of the man could be seen, and only faintly even under the bright morning sun. Then came the sound of buzzing, shredding, and grinding, which brought about the subsequent sounds of shrieking and agony as the entire tube began to fill with a dark red liquid from the screaming, howling man, whose voice became so high in pitch that it broke while he was blended alive. ¡°SOMEBODY FUCKING HELP ME! PLEASE! PLEASSSSSEEEEEEE! IT HURRRRRRRTTTTSS!¡± The man with the two purple swords wet himself as a moist spot formed on his crotch. He even looked down at it as though ashamed. But wait, this meant¡­this meant he wasn¡¯t currently paying attention. So Alex took one quick step towards him, whipped his arms from right to left, and cut his entire head off at the point of the neck right then and there during his moment of paralysis. This caused the man next to him to shriek, and that meant Alex could disembowel him with one clean strike and dispose of him as well, since he too was now frozen in terror. Even as Alex tore apart both men, he was still in a state of absolute bewilderment that any of this was happening. This would never have worked on an adventurer. But somehow, it was working on the Guild of Gentlemen. And it seemed like¡­wait, were they routing? Gods, they were. They were actually routing. They¡¯re routing! The two assassins behind him backed away so suddenly that one bumped into the other and both fell on their backside. The woman holding a combat staff in each hand along with the robed woman bearing a rapier also threw themselves away from him, providing two very easy targets he could not afford to let escape. Every single one of them had, in just a single instant, become broken. He could not let this moment pass. He could not give them a chance to recover their wits and attack him in unison. Right now, despite still having an overwhelming advantage over him, the psychological damage he¡¯d inflicted upon them with Black Spiral Blender had unfathomably turned each and every one of them into a free target. Alex, raising his weapon high and ready to kill, bolted forward at the two women, both of whom screamed and failed to even raise their guard intelligibly as Alex cut open the scalp of the one wielding the two staffs. The other clumsily attempted to swing her rapier, but Alex parried, knocking it out of her hand, and then he riposted, slashing her across the neck and downing her. One of her allies seemed to find their courage, and he charged in from Alex¡¯s right side. But the terror had made him clumsy and disorganized, and so the man, who attempted to bludgeon him with a great-hammer, actually stumbled over a dead ally he clearly didn¡¯t realize was in front of him, and he ended up tumbling forward and impaling his own self on Alex¡¯s sword as he tripped. I¡¯m winning this! Alex thought. I¡¯ve got them! I¡¯m going to be able to¡ª Alex coughed. Something happened. He wasn¡¯t sure what. He didn¡¯t understand. He was confused. There was pain. Or was there? He didn¡¯t even know. He lowered his eyes. What was he seeing? His eyes had suddenly gone out of focus. It looked like there was¡­ Huh? When did that happen? ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Alex,¡± Sir Ultdern said. ¡°But you left yourself open.¡± There was a sword¡ªand it was inside of him. But it wasn¡¯t just any sword. It was a flaming, brilliant weapon made of steel and fire. Alex coughed a second time, and blood shot out of his mouth. Even despite this, his mind continued to work in his current state of shock. He realized that Sir Ultdern had activated the ability on his staff, which turned the weapon into a sword and boosted his stats to such a high level that they likely rivaled what Zach¡¯s had been in Phase Level 3 during the battle with Ziragoth¡¯s second phase. He must¡¯ve moved faster than an Elf, Alex thought, losing sensation in his fingers. His arms went limp and fell down to his sides. He now held his weapon in just his right hand, but his grasp on the blade was tenuous at best. The flames from the blade felt cold on his chest despite causing a burning sensation on his chin as they flickered and danced. ¡°It¡¯s through your heart,¡± Sir Ultdern said. ¡°This is over.¡± Alex nodded. He tried to speak and failed several times. He opened his mouth and used every bit of strength he had left to croak out a single sentence. ¡°Let me die on my belly so I can at least be at rest.¡± ¡°Very well,¡± Sir Ultdern said to his nonsensical, ridiculous request. He took a half-step back while yanking the weapon free from Alex¡¯s chest, causing blood to pour out of him and leak all over the road. Alex then fell forward onto his face, his forehead crashing down and cracking a portion of the street. He landed in such a way that his left hand folded and tucked into his belly as he remained seemingly motionless. The blow was fatal. Alex was now on the verge of death. I¡­can¡¯t¡­believe that it¡­ As Alex continued to die, he very carefully moved his hand upwards, which was tucked underneath his guild coat, until it lay flat over his left breast. And then he applied whatever pressure he could with his last remaining strength. And as the light began to turn dark, he experienced a degree of true relief, because upon that application of pressure, he could feel several objects he¡¯d sewn into the fabric of his guild coat become crushed and shattered. ¡­worked¡­ Two Red Rejuvenation Stones. Two Yellow Rejuvenation Stones. And two Purple Rejuvenation Stones. Six remnants from his days spent as an adventurer: six prizes he¡¯d saved and had never spent. All six were now gone. Now, Alex remained perfectly still, kept his eyes closed, and played dead. He was lucky. The weapon had a 45% chance to burn its targets from the inside. Had that activated, Alex would not have lived long enough to use the stones. Keeping quiet and motionless, he listened as Sir Ultdern began to literally whimper as the man seemingly took stock of his losses. It seemed that he was not as cold and dispassionate towards those who had just perished as he¡¯d been towards Daviks and Daviks¡¯ brother, whom Alex had killed upon arrival. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± Sir Ultdern whimpered, crying openly. His voice breaking, Alex could finally hear the man¡¯s advanced age as he spoke. Much like Maric, he did a great job in hiding it. Yet it now came through quite clearly. ¡°Gods, I¡¯m so sorry. This was all my fault. He was so much stronger than I thought he¡¯d be. I never thought¡­I never thought we¡¯d lose Gentlewoman Manalexa. Daviks and his disgraceful brother¡­I can live with that. But that sweet woman didn¡¯t deserve this.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Another voice, also full-on crying, joined Sir Ultdern in his grief. ¡°She was pregnant,¡± he said. His voice then became angered, rising in volume. ¡°Why in the fuck was she out here, Sir Ultdern? Tell me!¡± ¡°You know why!¡± he shouted, not even bothering to scold the man for taking such a tone with the 3rd ranking member of his guild. ¡°She died to protect the future of humanity!¡± They even began to yell at one another. This was good. It meant Alex could take his time as he lay there and recovered. He was at the point where he could, technically, get up and continue to fight, though he wasn¡¯t back to his full strength yet. But even more importantly, he stood absolutely no chance whatsoever of taking on Sir Ultdern while the active ability on his staff was in play. Even without that ability, the stats provided to him from his full set of dragon armor were such that Alex would need to clear the field just to go toe to toe with him. But with it? It was undoable. And so, Alex waited. ¡°High Command, this is Sir Wexzel Ultdern,¡± Sir Ultdern said, misery coming across very strongly in each spoken word. ¡°Yes. The Lords of Justice have been defeated, but¡­b-but Sir Rikel¡¯s daughter is dead, and so is Gentleman Huntsvel¡¯s son.¡± He paused for a moment, likely listening to a reply that Alex could not hear. If so, it was a long reply, which suited Alex quite well. At the moment, with his eyes closed, he relied on his ears to inform him. Specifically, he was listening to the sound of flickering from the man¡¯s staff-turned-blade. He could not make a move until that had come to an end. In the old days, playing dead was a war crime, he thought. But these are not the old days. ¡°No,¡± Sir Ultdern said. His tone became uneven. First, it grew in strength and decisiveness as he said, ¡°Believe me, my old friend, I understand your grief. But your daughter died a hero. You must stay at your post. We do not need any reinforcements here. I¡¯m sending almost everyone down south to repel the Royal Roses. We¡¯re not sure why, but they¡¯ve entered a full retreat. We¡¯re on the verge of winning this war for good. I promise you her death will be paid for in the blood of our enemies.¡± But then it broke just as suddenly, and the whimpering and crying returned. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. I¡¯m so sorry to make you do this. It¡¯s your daughter and I won¡¯t even let you come here. I¡¯m so sorry my friend. I know how heartless¡±¡ªhe sniffled¡ª¡°I know how heartless, I¡¯m so sorry.¡± His voice abruptly returned, again becoming commanding and powerful. ¡°We must be stoic. There will be a time for mourning when this is over. Until then we endure and we finish the job!¡± As Alex lay frozen and unmoving, his heart began to pound faster and faster as confusion swirled around in his head. In particular, it was because of one specific thing he¡¯d just overheard: that the Royal Roses were¡­retreating? It couldn¡¯t be. Vim Alazar wouldn¡¯t. Not after what his guild had endured¡ªwhat his people had endured. Not when he knew the consequences of failure. Could Sir Ultdern have been mistaken? But how could he be mistaken? He¡¯d specifically stated that the Royal Roses had entered a full retreat. That was not an easy thing to be confused about. All of this¡­it made Alex restless. It became a challenge for him to remain still. Alex was becoming agitated. But then the sound of flickering came to an end. Sir Ultdern¡¯s weapon had returned to its normal staff form. It was time. Now! Without any warning, without any preamble, and without any opportunity for the enemy to react, Alex exploded back up to his feet so fast that every single nearby member of the Guild of Gentlemen flinched, with several making loud, startled shouts. Alex ignored each and every one of them. He narrowed his eyes, bent his knees slightly, and then with every ounce of willpower and determination it was possible for him to draw upon, he launched himself forward into a desperate sprint, blasting straight by and then beyond them. A woman, this one also wielding a sword and shield, happened to be in his way, so Alex jumped into the air, sailed right over her head, and then landed upright behind her, where he continued to run straight for¡ªand at¡ªthe eight mages and four ranged fighters that had thus far been sheltering behind their allies while trying to blast him to pieces. There were screams of fear and alarm as he approached, his feet stomping down onto the road and then eventually onto the sidewalk, ripping apart numerous sections of it in the process. Nearly upon them, many of their lips twisted into the exact same position, forming the ¡°h¡± sound as they seemingly attempted to cry for help. Alex activated Light Volley. Sixteen arrows made of pure light materialized above him, and he sent all sixteen at the eight spell-casters, two per target, causing the air to fill with a high-pitched whistling. Spinning his body to the left, Alex then began wildly swinging his sword with an extreme sense of urgency at Gentleman Restlocht, the woman with the slingshot, and the two archers. He acted with such haste and with such desperation that he became reckless, yet if ever there was a time to do so, it was now. One time after the next, he sliced and sliced and sliced, carving apart all four of them into various pieces, becoming drenched in their blood. He exerted so much effort so quickly that, for the first time in this fight, he began to seriously pant, his mouth opened widely so that he could take larger and larger breaths as he butchered all of them, including Gentleman Restlocht. They screamed as they died. By the time he was finished, he had ripped apart his enemy with such frenzied ruthlessness that he was mentally unable to distinguish between what was blood and what was perspiration leaking down his face. With body parts scattered all around him, and with his head and hair absolutely soaked in blood, he craned his neck to ensure that the mages and healers were either dead or wounded to the point they couldn¡¯t be healed. They were. None of them were moving. ¡°You¡­you dishonorable son of a bitch!¡± Sir Ultdern roared at him, tears of rage in his eyes. "You¡¯re not the Alex I knew. You¡¯re a Gods-be-damned monster!¡± ¡°Dishonorable?¡± Alex said as thick, crimson-colored liquid fell down the sides of his face just like sweat. ¡°You mean like fighting one man thirty-three against one?¡± ¡°You had far more than that at the start of the battle!¡± Sir Ultdern shouted. ¡°This is a war!¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, actually,¡± Alex said. ¡°That was a terrible example. I¡¯m not quite myself right now. Very well. Here¡¯s a better one.¡± He inhaled and then released just two words in a vengeful, wrath-filled shout: ¡°Ogre¡¯s Axe!¡± Taking his left hand off his blade, he flicked his wrist and activated Light Dart. His hand brightening, a dart made of light appeared between his fingers, and then he threw it, watching as it whisked over the sidewalk, traveled halfway across the street, and then struck the last remaining assassin in the throat, causing him to gurgle and collapse right by Sir Ultdern¡¯s side. He even reached out and grabbed the man¡¯s armor-covered knee as he died, his hand eventually going limp and resting against the concrete as he let go of the old man. Now, only a few more members of the guild remained with Sir Ultdern, and to Alex¡¯s satisfaction, each one of them at last turned and fled, running right past Alex. They had given up, which meant Alex did not need to kill them. Ethically, it was best to allow them to escape. But he didn¡¯t. He instead activated Light Dart several more times and struck each one of them in the back while they ran for their lives. He wasn¡¯t even sure why he did that. It wasn¡¯t out of hatred. It wasn¡¯t out of justice. It wasn¡¯t out of revenge. It wasn¡¯t even that he wanted to kill or felt some deep desire to drink in more blood. Strangely, it was that it simply felt ¡°incomplete¡± for him not to do so. I¡¯ve let myself become pushed too far. Something of a duality formed in Alex, in which his logical, rational mind continued to operate at its full capacity whereas his actions, emotions, and impulses seemed to be traveling on their own track. It was an incredibly strange sensation, and one he had not before experienced. As a man of science and an avid reader across numerous different fields of study, including those which did not pertain to his own, Alex was able to rationally assess his own irrationality, and he determined that the emotional turmoil beginning with Lady Theolina¡¯s death and leading up to now had brought him into a state of disassociation or perhaps emotional dysregulation. He needed to be careful, as he knew from studies that both, if further intensified, could easily lead to psychosis. Alex took a deep, slow breath, and then he released it. The level-1 troops, witnessing his actions, had fled along with handful of horribly wounded survivors who probably would not make it much farther. It was now just him and Sir Ultdern here on 1st and Haven Street. That was for the best. ¡°Well, I hope you¡¯re proud of yourself,¡± Sir Ultdern said to him, his eyes flicking back and forth between various dead bodies. ¡°Whether you live or die today, they¡¯re going to write poems about what you just did. A thousand years from now, they¡¯ll still be talking about it.¡± The man¡¯s lips trembled. ¡°Did it feel good?¡± ¡°No.¡± The man knelt down and placed his arm on the shoulder of one of the slain women, and then he quickly returned to his feet, his eyes dripping tears. Even while still holding his staff, he raised both his hands, held them parallel to one another as though to indicate size, and he released more whimpering as he continued to speak. ¡°I knew her when she was a baby,¡± he said, gesturing at Alex. ¡°She was only this big, Alex. She was a tiny thing. Her mother loved her so much.¡± ¡°She shouldn¡¯t have let her fight,¡± Alex said coldly. ¡°She¡¯s not alive anymore. The demon child killed her weeks ago.¡± ¡°Demon child?¡± Alex asked, frowning. ¡°You mean Zach?¡± ¡°Of course I do.¡± He wiped his eyes with his sleeve. ¡°Only, everyone has it backwards. They¡¯re all wrong about you and him.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°They say that you¡¯re the softhearted nerd, and he¡¯s the ruthless, unfeeling killer. But that¡¯s not what I hear. Gods, they have it so backwards. At least, if you can trust the word of Sir Gaelan Malakor¡ªknown as Captain Malakor to some.¡± Alex felt his body tense. He¡¯d never met the man, but he was definitely familiar with his reputation. ¡°Zach encountered Captain Malakor?¡± ¡°Yes. It wasn¡¯t all that long ago, in fact.¡± ¡°No wonder he came so close to death,¡± Alex said. ¡°I cannot believe he fought the man and lived. He¡¯s one of the few members of your guild that I know for certain can fight on equal footing with an adventurer. Given the level difference, Zach is very lucky to have escaped with his life.¡± ¡°He won, actually.¡± ¡°Zach did?¡± ¡°Yes. And his wounds were due to his selflessness as I hear.¡± This really wasn¡¯t the right time to be discussing this, but Alex, still catching his breath, decided to use the time to further recover. ¡°What¡¯s that mean?¡± Sir Ultdern answered him, and in the process, he told Alex a brief but detailed story of a boy garbed in black who, like Alex, had challenged impossible odds singlehandedly and had triumphed over a stronger foe. In spite of every horrible thing Alex had seen and heard today, the tale brought him very close to smiling¡ªat least until Sir Ultdern got to the end of it, and Alex became awash with such profound disappointment. ¡°He used his stones on Sir Malakor instead of himself?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Because his daughter cried?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Alex could hardly believe what he was hearing. That was such an incomprehensibly stupid, foolish, and irresponsible thing to do. If¡ªand that was a very big if¡ªAlex somehow managed to live beyond this day, he would need to have another long chat with the kid. He was learning all the wrong lessons. Alex wanted him to be compassionate and had tried his best to instill a sense of compassion within him, but not to the extent that he became nonsensically soft-hearted and foolish. He gave his only healing stones up to an enemy: an enemy that was likely now fighting the Royal Roses in the south. Their strongest player had been taken off the board, and Zach put him right back on. Alex¡¯s disappointment was immense. ¡°Tell me one thing, Sir Ultdern. Is it true what you said into the Comm? That the Royal Roses are retreating?¡± ¡°It is true.¡± Alex felt pain flare in his chest. ¡°So then¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re all alone here, now. Or at least you will be very soon. Even the Elvish have retreated. We¡¯ve essentially won the day¡ªand the war. You should know that, without the Royal Roses fighting in the south, you have no realistic chance of getting to King Morrison. Even if you somehow get through me, you¡¯re not going to be able to take on him and everyone else in the guild. You¡¯ve lost.¡± ¡°No,¡± Alex whispered, sadly. He dropped his blade, listening as it clacked against the road. And then he took a seat, which seemed to surprise Sir Ultdern. More loudly, he said, ¡°Shadowfall Coast lost.¡± Sir Ultdern widened his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re sitting down? In front of an enemy?¡± he shouted. ¡°Do you think I won¡¯t kill you?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you do or don¡¯t,¡± Alex said softly. ¡°We¡¯re both already dead.¡± ¡°Dead?¡± He nodded. ¡°I just realized why the Royal Roses retreated. It¡¯s obvious. Especially if the Elves have retreated as well.¡± Something caught his eye. Something far above. He pointed at it. ¡°It looks like nothing I did here mattered. I could try running, but¡­it¡¯s too late. It looks like we¡¯re going to die together.¡± Sir Ultdern glanced upwards, and then he pulled back his lips, clenched his teeth, and several beads of sweat slid down his right cheek. ¡°So this is the moment I find out,¡± he said. ¡°Find out what?¡± Alex asked. He briefly turned his head to meet Alex¡¯s eyes. ¡°Whether or not Peter V had any redeeming qualities whatsoever as a king or whether he was indeed a total waste of flesh who weakened and nearly destroyed our guild¡ªand our kingdom.¡± Alex wasn¡¯t sure what he was talking about, but it didn¡¯t matter anymore, did it? Far up above in the sky, a sight that was both terrible yet beautiful filled his vision. Dozens¡ªand then many dozens¡ªof multi-colored lights were crossing the horizon like streaks, each one bright enough to be easily, readily seen even among the bright morning sunshine. The streaks were like comets only with a much longer tail and with a very differently shaped head. Rather than something roundish or even misshapen, every single tail connected to a head that was perfectly square in shape, and each of these square-shaped beams had some kind of letter or symbol on it in a language that Alex had never before seen. Almost every color was represented, though each was uniform and contained just a single one. There was blue, pink, orange, yellow, red¡ªall of it. The color stretched from the tail of these flying magic beams all the way to the square-shaped head, covering it completely except for the letter or symbol, which was white. So many of them, Alex thought. Closer and closer, they came. Each one would likely have a power and impact far, far greater than a bomb dropped by one of the Royal Rose¡¯s fighter jets. Alex couldn¡¯t imagine surviving the next few moments. He accepted that this was the end. It was a tragic ending, but at least he would die knowing he¡¯d done his best and¡­and that there was still hope left in the world, however bleak the future might become. ¡°Goodbye, Sir Ultdern,¡± he said, relaxing his muscles and placing his palms on the street as he stared upwards and watched the incoming lights like they were part of a display of fireworks. ¡°Don¡¯t count us out just yet!¡± Sir Ultdern shouted, though more sweat was now pouring down his face and he was visibly trembling. The lights came closer and closer and closer, appearing larger and larger. And now, Sir Ultdern began to loudly pray. ¡°Gods, please! Please! We are your children! Spare us! Raurum, see us through this monstrous and wicked assault on our home and families!¡± He got down to his knees and began to scream. ¡°Please, Raurum! Please spare us, your faithful children of men! PLEASE SPARE US!¡± It became difficult to keep his eyes open as the lights now approached so close that the brightness began to cause an ache in his pupils. Alex could no longer see more than just a single of the lights, and in this case, it was the one heading towards their immediate section of the city. It was far, far larger than he¡¯d realized. Maybe even the size of a house. It seemed the color of their death was going to be red. And indeed, a very bright, reddish light filled the entirety of the street to the extent that, a moment before impact, the entire world became bathed in the color to where it was the only thing Alex could now see. I¡¯m finally going to see you again, Alex thought, visualizing his mother and father, his two brothers, his sister. Each had died in front of him when a boss had spawned outside of the rural town in Whispery Woods where he¡¯d grown up: an event that, like all such boss spawns aside from the dragon, had been covered up and blamed on a natural disaster. If only the OMP had manipulated him into becoming an adventurer before that point, perhaps he would¡¯ve been able to save them. Like Donovan saved my life, Alex thought. I never really thanked him properly. I was hurting too much at the time. In his final moments, Alex made peace with himself¡ªand with all that he¡¯d done to bring himself here. He was going to die young, but at least he¡¯d literally go out with a bang. The thought even made him smile, though it was a bitter-tasting smile, as the movement of his lips caused some of the blood on his face to get on his lips and into his mouth, reminding him of the extraordinarily violent way in which he was exiting this world. A moment from the end, he stood back up to his feet, extended his arms widely, and he embraced the light. Despite how badly it blinded him, he could still see a faint outline of the strange symbol on the end of it. Now just above him, the light became so intense that it went from red to pure white. The scientist in him mused that it wasn¡¯t a change in color but a change in his eyes¡¯ ability to perceive a color with such blinding brightness. It was the last thought he had time to think before impact. There was an explosion. Alex braced himself. So did Sir Ultdern. The world shook. There was so much sound. His ears began to ring. He closed his eyes. He wondered if he was already dead. It didn¡¯t quite hurt. He opened his eyes. And then¡­ Then all the desperation, misery, and gloom in the world ripped through him in such a violent fashion that Alex fell back down into a seated position, though this time due to losing his footing. His body trembled. Confusion erupted inside of him. He struggled to understand what just happened. He tried so hard to make sense of things. The rational portion of his brain was completely shut off by such a morbid, all-encompassing feeling of utter hopelessness. Above him, perhaps only twenty feet above the tallest of buildings, there was now a shimmering, rippling, wavy barrier of energy, which looked not all that dissimilar from a DEHV crossing barrier only it hummed and pulsed and even made a slight screech, all of which came to an end a moment later as it disappeared¡ªonly to reappear within an instant as a green comet-like beam of magic again slammed down, similarly meeting its end as it crashed into the same kind of invisible force that appeared to surround the entire city. ¡°It worked!¡± Sir Ultdern yelled, tears once again in his eyes. ¡°It wasn¡¯t for nothing. Gods, it worked!¡± Alex, in a state of total despair, shook his head. ¡°What happened? I don¡¯t understand!¡± Sir Ultdern looked at him. ¡°All his life, Peter V neglected us and left us weak. He left us to the predations of the other guilds. He was feeble. He was unlike his father and his grandfather in just about every single way¡ªexcept for one: his distrust of the other, predatory races of Galterra. It was the only part of him that showed any sign of the true spirit of the Guild of Gentlemen. Except, even in that, he had failed. Because despite the absurdity of it, he spent his life fearing the Elves of all beings. Not the Dwarves, which have driven our economy into the ground and replaced human engineers. Not the Orcs, who have outpaced us in internet technology. No, the Elves. It was unthinkable!¡± He wiped his eyes as more tears fell. ¡°But we were wrong about him. He knew this day would come. In secret, he spent more than a decade using a rare form of spell-craft to construct an anti-runic barrier above Tomb of Fire and Shadowfall Coast: a magical forcefield useful only against long-range Elvish attacks. He must have completed it shortly before we¡­before he passed away.¡± Sir Ultdern again wiped his face. ¡°Gods, he was right all along. He spent so much money on crafting materials, buying much of it from adventurers. He demanded his project remain secret. But we viewed it as so ridiculous that there would be no temptation to spill it. Who would want to admit that their leader is wasting the precious treasure of his people on some delusional belief that we would one day face an Elvish attack? But Gods, he was right. He was right!¡± Alex didn¡¯t want to believe what he was seeing. He had never found himself in such a state of sordid denial. Yet all around the city, everywhere he looked, the Elvish magic was failing to inflict even a modicum of damage. But that wasn¡¯t even the worst part. No there was something even more terrible¡­ ¡°The Royal Roses have fled,¡± he said with a gasp. ¡°The Elvish must¡¯ve told them to flee, and now¡­¡± ¡°Now they won¡¯t be able to come back,¡± Sir Ultdern said with a boastful yet somehow also grief-filled laugh. ¡°The Lords of Justice have been thrashed, and with all of our forces on the southern coast, the Royal Roses will have no choice but to flee out to sea.¡± At once, his words became somber. ¡°You should know what your actions have cost this world, Alex. After the amount of pain, suffering, and terror your guild and the Royal Roses have inflicted, I can promise you there will be retribution.¡± ¡°Retribution?¡± Alex asked, whispering. ¡°Yes. We are going to have to punish you.¡± ¡°I accept,¡± he said. ¡°Take me and torture me. Do what you will. I will submit myself to any¡ª¡± ¡°Stop,¡± Sir Ultdern said. ¡°You know that¡¯s not what I mean.¡± Alex, trembling, began shaking his head. ¡°Do not attack another city. Please!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not up to me. But even if it was, I wouldn¡¯t disagree. Most likely, it¡¯s going to be the Lords of Justice hit this time, and it won¡¯t be a small city. It might be Slopes of Dal¡¯Zarrah, in fact I would bet on it.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t!¡± Alex shouted. ¡°There are 11 million people who live there!¡± ¡°Yes, and when they are gone, the lesson will hopefully be learned.¡± ¡°Please, sir Ultdern! Punish me instead. You cannot do this! Please!¡± Sir Ultdern glared at him. ¡°You murdered the ones I care about. I promise you that you will be punished just the same. I have a very real desire now to take you alive. I want you to see the toll you¡¯ve inflicted on this world, Alex. And notice, I will no longer call you Lord Oren. The Lords of Justice will be eradicated for what has happened here today.¡± Alex swelled with all the misery in the world. This was really happening, wasn¡¯t it? It was. And it was hopeless. They were going to acquire another nuclear weapon, and there was nothing in this world he could do about it. The Elvish had somehow failed. All hope was lost. This was the end of humanity. ****** The fear Vim felt was showing on Fylwen¡¯s face as well, and that was not a good sign. ¡°Fylwen! What¡¯s happening?¡± Vim screamed. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she said, covering her mouth. ¡°They¡­I don¡¯t know what they have done! I don¡¯t understand!¡± The few Elvish on the ship with him were weeping, and that was also not a good sign. It really helped sink in how fucked they were. Vim wished he had more hair, as this would be a good time to begin maniacally ripping it out of his head. ¡°You¡¯ve killed us all!¡± Vim screamed, losing his mind. ¡°My people will be eradicated like insects! I¡¯ll be tortured again!¡± His body began to shake. ¡°I trusted you. We all trusted you.¡± She grabbed his hands. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m so, so sorry.¡± He was shocked¡ªso shocked it temporarily knocked him out of his mania. The remorse in her eyes was genuine. ¡°I failed the Gods. I failed my allies. We will try to make this right. We will storm the city.¡± ¡°They will kill every single one of you with their traps.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. It¡­¡± The look of pain and misery on her face was so intense it managed to further break his hysteria. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to charge together. All of my people and yours.¡± ¡°Yes. Yes, indeed.¡± Vim knew it was hopeless, though. The enemy¡¯s morale was likely skyrocketing. His own people were now in utter shambles and despair. The Lords of Justice had fled back into the grasslands and were probably still running. It was done. Vim would be brutally tortured and killed, his guild would be dissolved, and King Morrison would rule humanity. That was how this was going to go. It was over. ***** King Morrison cheered. ¡°We did it!¡± He pumped his fist in the air. ¡°Those Elvish-loving sons of bitches!¡± His top commanders and strategists all celebrated with him. Even though they had lost so much, Alistair knew it was all going to be worth it when they ushered in a new era of human rule. Everyone who had died today would be honored as a hero. Even those who had fled. He was going to pardon every criminal in Shadowfall Coast as well. He was going to heap rewards and praise upon the people of this city. We did it. We really did it. ¡°You never lost faith in us,¡± Colonel Dakrit said. ¡°Even when it seemed like the worst was upon us. You and you alone believed we could beat two guilds and the fucking Elves! Gods, we are amazing.¡± ¡°No,¡± Alistair said, lifting his pointer finger. ¡°Humanity is amazing. And that¡¯s why¡ªwait, one moment.¡± He pressed his hand to his ear while making several facial gestures, switching Comm line frequencies. A man¡¯s voice spoke to him. He smiled. ¡°Great, send it down.¡± His commanders all turned their heads his way. ¡°What is it?¡± they asked. Alistair clapped his hands together. ¡°Champaign. For each and every one of you!¡± All of those in the bunker with him cheered. This could quite literally be the greatest moment of victory his guild had experienced in a thousand years, especially when factoring in the odds against them and the sheer number of enemies who wanted them dead. But they triumphed. They won despite all of it. And that was certainly worthy of celebration. ¡°There¡¯s something I wanted to say almost all my life,¡± he began. ¡°Something we were never allowed to say. Something society banned us from saying. But those days are over.¡± He opened his mouth and shouted, ¡°Peter IV was right!¡± The applause and cheers gave way to tear-filled eyes as for the first time in so very long, they were finally able to speak those forbidden words. And then he said the most taboo thing of all: a phrase that was so prohibited that merely writing it could invoke a ten-year dungeon sentence in many of the other regions. A phrase that was even illegal here but would no longer be. ¡°SELF-DEFENSE ISN¡¯T GENOCIDE!¡± he roared, crying out the final words Peter IV had spoken before his execution. It felt so liberating to finally say it. And the energy in the room exploded. Men and women slammed their fists down upon tables while crying it out in a beautiful chant. ¡°SELF-DEFENSE ISN¡¯T GENOCIDE!¡± ¡°SELF-DEFENSE ISN¡¯T GENOCIDE!¡± ¡°SELF-DEFENSE ISN¡¯T GENOCIDE!¡± Turning towards the elevator doors, he watched as the red arrow lowered and lowered. He couldn¡¯t wait to have a drink. He bet they all felt the same. The bunker, located quite deep beneath the surface, required nearly a minute¡¯s worth of travel via elevator. ¡°Who¡¯d they get to haul our champaign down here?¡± one of his commanders asked. ¡°Sammie,¡± another replied with a chuckle. ¡°That dumb kid?¡± King Morrison tsked. ¡°Be nice to your fellow guild member. Especially after how many we lost. In fact, let¡¯s all release a cheer when he walks through the door.¡± Laughter and eager nods came and went around the room. Sammie was someone Alistair actually liked a fair bit. The boy was only the 65th in terms of rank, whereas his father¡ªa great friend of Alistair¡¯s who was killed in action during the first invasion, sadly¡ªhad been 14th. But the boy had a lot of grit. Still a virgin, though, Alistair was willing to bet. Perhaps it was time Alistair did something about that. There were some very beautiful, widowed women in need of a new husband. The boy was always so depressed since his father¡¯s death. Maybe that would cheer him up. ¡°Okay, everyone, get ready,¡± Alistair said as the down arrow on the display indicator was nearly to ground level. ¡°Release a big cheer for the future of humanity on three.¡± ¡°One.¡± The elevator lowered. ¡°Two.¡± It came to a halt. There was a ding. ¡°Three!¡± The entire bunker released a cheer. Or at least, something that started as a cheer. It began as a happy, loud, good-natured, giggly cheer¡ªand ended as a wild, terrified, utterly confused scream of fear and shock as two forms emerged from the elevator. One was Sammie¡¯s severed head. It rolled out of the elevator all on its own and then came to a halt. The eyes were missing from the skull, and the boy¡¯s tongue was sticking out. ¡°What the fuck?¡± someone shouted. ¡°What the fuck! What the fuck!¡± The second form to emerge from the elevator was a small bat, which flew over their heads and disappeared to some other corner of the bunker. Given the horrifying sight of the severed head, Alistair could not spare the mental energy needed to contemplate why a bat had flown in here. There weren¡¯t even bats in this region. ¡°Sammie!¡± he shouted in disbelief. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Colonel Dakrit, call up to the surface now!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t!¡± he shouted. ¡°Our Comm lines just went dead!¡± ¡°Gods dammit, find out what happened at once!¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying!¡± Alistair marched his way over to the severed head. He knelt down, still not entirely sure if this was real and not some elaborate prank. It made no sense. How had this happened? What were the idiots near the surface entrance doing? Had something happened? ¡°Is that really you, Sammie?¡± he asked. Growling, he shouted, ¡°Colonel Dakrit! I thought I told you to contact the the fucking surface! What is taking so¡ª¡± ¡°Aghhhh!¡± he screamed in reply. And so did many, many others. A chorus of agonized screams filled the room, each one louder than the previous. ¡°No! Please, no!¡± A shiver traveled down Alistair¡¯s spine. Hurriedly, he climbed back to his feet and spun around to see that almost everyone¡ªnearly every single last member of high command¡ªwas as dead as Sammie. Horrified, mortified, and so totally perplexed that he wasn¡¯t sure any of this was even real, Alistair realized that there were now two new people in the bunker with him: people he was positive he¡¯d never seen before. One was a young Elvish woman who looked an awful lot like Kalana Vayra, and the other was a human, immaculately well dressed almost to the point of perfection. He looked to be just a boy, perhaps no older than fourteen or fifteen. And he, much like the Elvish girl beside him, were staring at him with red, glowing eyes. What¡­what are they? he screamed in his mind. Never had Alistair been so frightened. These were monsters. As in, the actual monsters one¡¯s parents might tell them about in the form of a scary story before bed: the kind that wasn¡¯t supposed to exist. The fictional kind. These were actual, literal monsters! The boy and the Elvish girl had fangs: dual, sharp teeth that protruded from their mouths. Blood was dripping down the chins of both almost as though they¡¯d been drinking it. In fact, in his haze, it was only now that Alistair realized the young boy had his hand gripping the hair atop the scalp of Colonel Dakrit, who was wobbling on his feet but still alive, his fingers twitching as though he were in his death throes. The boy looked at Alistair, and then, without breaking eye contact even once, he moved his mouth closer to Colonel Dakrit, opened it, and then ripped into his throat, biting deeply and making numerous gulping sounds while¡­while drinking his blood! What is this? What kind of horrid monster is this? ¡°What are you?¡± he asked fearfully, attempting to back away. ¡°Vampires,¡± the girl said. ¡°And we¡¯ve come for your head.¡± ¡°You what?¡± he shouted. ¡°How did you get in here? I am the king, Gods-dammit! Who are you?¡± The boy wiped his lips. ¡°Hi there!¡± he said cheerfully. ¡°Forgive my soul mate¡¯s rudeness. Kolona, you know you¡¯re supposed to introduce yourself first.¡± He bowed. ¡°I am Count Olivir Rudolph Soloux, and this beautiful woman by my side is Countess Kolona Vayra of the royal Vayra line. It is an honor to make your acquaintance, King Alistair Morrison of the Guild of Gentlemen.¡± He released his hold on Colonel Dakrit, whose eyes had already rolled into the back of his head. Blood still oozing out of his throat, he fell face forward on the semi-clean bunker floor. The boy wiped his lips a second time. ¡°Here¡¯s what¡¯s going to happen now,¡± he said. He raised his pointer finger. ¡°First, you¡¯re going to tell me and my lovely partner where your guild is producing your nuclear weapons. And then, we¡¯re going to eat you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± the female said cheerfully. ¡°And it¡¯ll be really, really slow and painful¡­well, unless you surrender, I guess. But we really hope you don¡¯t. Taking you alive would be so boring.¡± ¡°Yes, we love when they don''t cooperate. Don¡¯t we, sweetheart?¡± ¡°We sure do.¡± Astounded and terrified all at once, Alistair stood up straighter. ¡°I¡¯m in full dragon armor. If you value your lives, you¡¯ll leave and pray I don¡¯t come hunting for you!¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s not gonna work on us, bud.¡± The boy shrugged. ¡°You¡¯re kind of messing up the entire planet, and I have friends who live on it. So, yeah. Whatever it is you had going, it ends now.¡± Alistair reached behind his back and drew his double-bladed battle axe. He couldn¡¯t believe he was actually going to have to fight these two. It seemed the Gods had one last test for him. Surely, he would win. There was no way the Gods had put him on this world to die to a boy and his Elvish whore! ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are, but you just made the biggest mistake of your lives.¡± ¡°I told you who we are,¡± the boy, Olivir said. ¡°And I¡¯m several times your age, young man. Do not talk to me like a child.¡± ¡°Are you mocking me?¡± he screamed. And then he charged at them. How could he even possibly lose? ****** Alex sank deeper and deeper into his hopelessness. He wanted to die now. Not later. But perhaps, for his failure, he deserved the torture. Sir Ultdern cracked him across the side of his face. He didn¡¯t defend himself. He¡¯d lost the will to fight. ¡°I can¡¯t believe what you¡¯ve done!¡± he shouted. ¡°Taking you alive is not a mercy. If I had any desire to show you such, I¡¯d have already killed you. But I want you to live just long enough to see the consequences of your actions. I want you to live long enough to¡ª¡± ¡°No,¡± he said, suddenly backing away. He began screaming. What was going on? Was someone telling him something over the Comm? ¡°No, he can¡¯t. No!¡± he screamed even more loudly. ¡°No! How can the king be dead?¡± ****** Vim gasped. ¡°Wait, so we¡¯re not fucked?¡± he shouted. He exchanged an uncertain glance with Fylwen, the two of them still at the bow of the ship. The information was coming in fast¡ªfar too fast to follow. He tried to recall the person he was speaking with. He vaguely remembered him from the dragon raid. The boy¡ªno, man¡ªwho had brought him back to life after he¡¯d sacrificed himself via E-debt to help Zach pull off one final assault on the dragon. He was also related to Grundor somehow. ¡°Yeah, well, it was a real pain in the ass,¡± said the very young voice, almost sounding bored of all things. ¡°I didn¡¯t really want to get involved, but you guys were screwing up left and right. It goes against most of what I believe in, actually. But yeah, we went in and got ¡®em. I tried to scare him into surrendering because we wanted to take him alive, but he was a real fanatic so uh¡­yeah, he¡¯s dead. I got his head right here, actually. Oh, and very important: the terminal down here says the weapons are on 8th and 17th street. They didn¡¯t finish it yet, so the Elves can still¡ª¡± The entire Piercing Thorn shook. A rumbling came upon the world, and Vim actually fell over and onto his side. He shouted in terror. What now? What other horror awaited them? As it turned out, it was nothing at all this time. It actually took him a few moments to realize what had happened, but it seemed that Queen Vayra and her little band of Elves had blasted off at full speed, leaving a gigantic series of cracks in the upper deck. As hundreds of gallons of water now poured over his head¡ªso much that his guild would now have to actually remove it or risk real damage to the ship including sinking¡ªVim realized that the Elvish had jumped into the water and had made a tremendous splash as they swam to shore as though their lives depended on it. They moved so swiftly and so urgently that Vim didn¡¯t even get to see them in the water at all. By the time he¡¯d actually figured out what they¡¯d done, they were already kicking up a sandstorm and then blasting apart the boardwalk. There was another loud boom as they seemingly took down an entire building. ¡°Don¡¯t destroy the city!¡± he shouted despite knowing they couldn¡¯t hear him and wouldn¡¯t listen to him even if they could. Really, he was still trying to catch up with whatever the hell was happening, as it was all too much for him. ¡°Does nothing ever fucking let up?¡± He didn¡¯t know what to feel. He didn¡¯t know what to expect. Never had a series of events hit him so hard that he got whiplash from it. But was it safe to say that now, finally it was over? Maybe it was. Maybe it finally was. He was going to do it. Mentally, he needed to do it. Yes, there were still a ton of questions he wanted answered, especially about what had just happened and why. One moment, the world was ending, and in the blink of an eye, it was saved maybe¡ªhopefully. He needed to know all these things. But for the sake of his mental state, he needed, needed to just say it. The lack of catharsis was killing him. I¡¯m going to say it. I have to. ¡°It¡¯s finally over,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s finally¡ª¡± An urgent, panicked, and gruff voice shouted in his ear over the Comm. Vim was taken by such surprise he almost fell over the railing and into the water. He didn¡¯t even realize who was speaking at first. And when he did, he wondered just why in the name of the Gods a fucking adventurer would dare have the audacity to waste his time. Even someone as important to that community as Donovan had no business bothering him right now. ¡°Who the hell is Jimmy?¡± he shouted. ¡°And why should I care?¡± Vim resisted the urge to whimper as he found out. ¡°Oh, Gods, no. Not again. Not again! And what do you mean when you say he¡¯s ¡®soloing¡¯ it? What does that term mean?¡± Donovan angrily barked more things at him, and Vim held out his palm despite the man being unable to see it. ¡°He fucking what?¡± Vim shouted. ¡°Wait, you mean he¡¯s doing this on purpose? Is he suicidal? Gods dammit!¡± ****** ¡°¡­and that¡¯s why you¡¯re at fault for everything!¡± Sir Ultdern screamed. ¡°You are the reason humanity¡ª¡± Alex¡¯s heart came close to stopping as his phone made a loud, siren-like noise in his pocket, and in that moment, everything changed. His mood. His sense of reality His purpose. He¡¯d made an oath. One that could not be broken even after leaving the adventuring community. There was only one way that his phone could possibly ring in the middle of a warzone. There was only one single, lone circumstance by which it could actually go off during a moment like this. And that was if something even more serious than a war was going on. For this reason, a whole different kind of terror exploded within him as he answered immediately. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me what I think you¡¯re going to say, Donovan.¡± Donovan shouted loudly at him. He was in a ferocious mood¡ªbut not with him. With that kid who Zach had been hanging around with lately. But why? What could possibly be so important the he¡ª ¡°He what?¡± Alex shouted at the top of his lungs. ¡°He won¡¯t tell us where it is!¡± Donovan screamed. ¡°And the fucking auto censorship from the political guilds is making us have to search everywhere!¡± So completely confounded, Alex actually pulled on his own hair. ¡°But¡­but why?¡± ¡°Fucking maniac says he¡¯s solo¡¯ing it!¡± Donovan screamed. ¡°This is the craziest, dumbest shit I ever seen in my life. Get over here NOW!¡± ¡°¡­and when my father passed away, I swore to him that¡ª¡± ¡°I have to go,¡± Alex said, picking up his blade and taking off at a run. ¡°Something came up, sorry.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± Sir Ultdern shouted. ¡°Wait, seriously? You¡¯re leaving?¡± Alex ignored him. ¡°Donovan, get in contact with Vim again. Maybe he can access the censored social media information to find out where it is.¡± ¡°Alex! You can¡¯t seriously be leaving!¡± Alex left. ***** ¡°Did we not just have this conversation?¡± Vim said into the Comm, irritated. He had a billion things he had to do right now. He still didn¡¯t even fully understand what the hell had happened here and how it was possible that they¡¯d ¡°won¡± practically all of a sudden. He had a thousand-and-one questions he needed answers to. He just could not deal with this right now. Yet Donovan¡¯s voice continued to bark at him. Vim gestured for his men to continue readying a boat to take him to shore. Though they might have ¡°won¡±¡ªand that in itself was something he wouldn¡¯t be able to bring himself to believe until he saw proof with his own two eyes¡ªthere would still be about two-to-three months of fighting to fully take over the city and oust the entrenched resistance. Only, if they truly had disarmed the enemy, it could be done slowly, methodically, sensibly, and without any kind of city-wide destruction. But to even begin thinking of these things, he needed Donovan to stop harassing him. ¡°Okay, I hear you,¡± Vim said. ¡°But I can¡¯t help you. Like I said, Abram Gespon is in charge of that. You¡¯ll need to speak with him. So I¡ª¡± Vim scowled. ¡°What did you just say about my mother you five-IQ-having bitch!¡± Did he seriously just call me that? ¡°Oh, you would, would you? Well my mother wouldn¡¯t even feel that limp-dick of yours.¡± ¡°Sir Alazar!¡± Haisel Ragora said, his words coming in almost as background noise. ¡°Just disconnect. You don¡¯t always have to engage with childish insults.¡± ¡°Yes I do!¡± he snapped at his second-in-command. To Donovan, he said, ¡°Your face looks like an overcooked baked potato. And have you ever smelled yourself? Honestly, standing next to you for thirty seconds traumatized me more than the entire dragon raid. You smell like you bathe in commercially sold pig shit that¡¯s specifically sold to enhance the stench.¡± He cringed as the man barked even more loudly into his ear. ¡°Go ahead and scream, animal. You¡¯re only making a fool of yourself. Why don¡¯t you just¡ªall right!¡± he shouted at Haisel and now Norc as both were actually trying to snatch the Comm out of his ear. ¡°I have things to do. Go fuck yourself, Donovan!¡± I won anyway. I made him angrier than he made me. He climbed down the side ladder and into the speedboat. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ***** Abram Gespon did not expect this. He¡¯d been monitoring the war from his office in Varda¡¯s Lair when such an unexpected call had come in. ¡°Firstly, who is Jimmy?¡± he asked Donovan. ¡°And secondly, please tell me: what can I do for you, Donovan?¡± ****** (One hour earlier) Jimmy had done enough damage to the bar¡ªand probably to his liver as well. He could tell they wanted him out of here but were too afraid to ask. He couldn¡¯t blame them. He¡¯d been here all night and into the morning, and he¡¯d made a total mess of the place. Still, he needed to grab something to go, so he bought a nice big bottle of wine, left everybody a real generous tip, and then he stumbled out the front door and left to go sulk somewhere else. ¡°Oh, shit,¡± he muttered as he learned how hard walking could be sometimes. He was feeling really tipsy and had to try his best not to fall over. He giggled even though he wanted to cry. I humiliated myself. In front of everyone. I¡¯m no fucking good, man. I¡¯m no fucking good. His phone was going off nonstop. Most of it was from Zach. What did he want now? The kid had been texting him about wanting to talk, and wanting to ¡°be there for him.¡± Kalana too. Even Tena. Well, especially Tena. Jimmy was way too ashamed to look her in the eyes right now. Honestly, Jimmy didn¡¯t feel like talking to nobody. He decided to take a walk and see some sights, nearly falling over a second time as he stepped onto the sidewalk and into the hot morning sun. Giggling for no conceivable reason, he lifted the bottle of wine to his lips and took another gulp. ¡°Beautiful day in the fantasy world!¡± he shouted, laughing. ¡°Oh, wait, I¡¯m sorry. Did I scare you, ma¡¯am? Nah, it¡¯s cool you don¡¯t gotta¡­pfft, fine, whatever.¡± Some mean old bitch was screaming at him and waving her hands around frantically while running away. Honestly, that was going overboard. Actually, it wasn¡¯t just her, either. There was like fifty dudes running down the block. And they weren¡¯t just screaming but like they were really screaming. Like full-on ¡°ahhh ahhh¡± shit. Was this because of him? It turned out that the answer to that question was no. ¡°Someone save us!¡± a person cried. It was a man¡ªsomeone Jimmy actually recognized from the bar earlier in the night. He stopped short, grabbed Jimmy¡¯s shoulders, and actually began to weep as he started to beg Jimmy for some reason. Jimmy hiccupped in his face by accident. ¡°Please. Please help us, please.¡± ¡°Help you?¡± Jimmy hiccupped again. ¡°I don¡¯t know what your¡­oh, shit. Yo, is that giant-ass horse demon supposed to be there?¡± ¡°No!¡± ¡°Oh. Ohhh! Okay. I got you.¡± He took another swig. ¡°I almost understand what¡¯s going on here. Almost. Sir, I had a lot to drink tonight¡ªI mean this morning. That¡¯s right. It¡¯s day now. Haha.¡± The man merely took off crying and hysterical. Jimmy was so drunk that he stood there for nearly twenty seconds before it finally clicked in his head what was actually happening. And when it did, it sobered him up¡ªbut only slightly. Because as a horse taller than most buildings began stomping down on cars¡ªor DEHVs, whatever¡ªwhile shooting lasers out of its eyes and exploding parts of the sidewalk, Jimmy realized he was looking at the one thing he wanted more than anything right now. Even more than going home. Redemption. Maybe this could work. Maybe he could actually restore the dignity he¡¯d lost. ¡°I¡¯m gonna solo it!¡± Chapter 168: How Jimmy Got his Groove Back Chapter 168: How Jimmy Got his Groove Back A loud cross between a neigh and a roar filled the air as the heat from a nearby explosion added to the rapidly warming summer morning. Following this ear-splitting boom, the sight of dozens of people fleeing for their lives became apparent as their various forms emerged from within a large cloud of smoke and ash. The entire front side of a quaint diner had crumpled into nothing, simply collapsing onto itself. And amid all of this, on the opposite side of the street, a sterile buzzing came from a downed electrical wire, which shot sparks that caused a fire to erupt and consume three small decorative trees in front of a laundromat. Damn, Jimmy thought. That sucks. He wasn¡¯t referring to the destruction, although that sucked too, obviously. No, his thoughts regarded the fair bit of wine he lost as he stumbled while trying to stand up straight, causing several ounces of it to splash onto the street as well as onto the front of his already liquor-stained shirt. As Jimmy tried to regain his balance, another, even angrier neigh-roar blared out, and now, the overall sense of panic among the level-1 civilians increased tenfold. Just when it was starting to feel like home¡­ There was so much about this strange world that Jimmy didn¡¯t know. There was so much he was trying to learn in a hurry. He did know a few things, though. He knew that most of the world was only level 1, and he knew that they lived lives that weren¡¯t all that different from people back home. For most of those on Galterra¡ªas in, everyone on the planet but him¡ªthe existence of mobs and bosses was not a surprise. But actually seeing one out and about in the open? That, it seemed, was shocking to them. It was also probably why their reaction to the sudden emergence of a gigantic, three-story-tall horse was exactly what Jimmy would expect it to be if the thing had spawned out of nowhere in the middle of Midtown Manhattan. ¡°Oh my Gods!¡± a woman screamed as a giant hoof just smashed right down on top of her. She managed to run ahead of it but only barely; the hoof instead cracked several inches into the street and left a print of itself behind in its wake, one that took the form of a depression in the ground. ¡°Gods, save us!¡± Opposite this, a spacious, dark brown DEHV came to a halt beneath the creature, putting its terrified occupants¡ªwhich in this case appeared to be a family of four¡ªat serious, immediate risk. At first, Jimmy wasn¡¯t sure why anyone would stop right beneath a giant monster, but then he realized the vehicle¡¯s front-right side had actually gotten stuck in an existing crater, one too deep for it to hover itself out of. ¡°Take the kids!¡± a man screamed as he fumbled his way out of the vehicle¡ªbut not before passing two pint-sized children to a young mother. Then he and the woman, who Jimmy assumed to be his wife, scrambled down the road and also narrowly avoided being crushed as the giant horse-monster stomped down on the DEHV, causing all its windows to blow out as it became compacted like scrap. ¡°No!¡± a little girl cried to her father from the sidewalk. ¡°Daddy!¡± It seemed that, for such an unlucky event, the people of Faded Island were experiencing some pretty lucky outcomes. Ninety-nine out of one-hundred times, that little girl¡¯s pops should¡¯ve been dead. But not this time. Incredibly, as the tremendous, equine-like monster released twin red lasers from its eyes, both of which were aimed at the man, the terrified-looking father managed to survive the ordeal solely because, while screaming in terror, he stumbled backwards away and accidentally fell into an opened sewer grate. The lasers missed him by half an inch and instead exploded an appliance store that happened to be closed for the day, and as for the man, Jimmy heard a faint plop as he landed into the sewage below. It was probably a very unpleasant experience, but Jimmy had to imagine it was preferable to death. I don¡¯t think it got anybody yet, Jimmy realized as he looked around. I don¡¯t see any dead bodies. Call it a miracle or call it random chance: either way, it was incredible and fortunate that seemingly zero people had died so far despite the absurd amounts of damage. Even the diner having had its entire entrance blown apart did not result in any obvious casualties or injuries. Inside, a bunch of trembling men and women¡ªa mixture of diners and staff¡ªwere clinging to one another by the back wall near the bakery beside an entrance to the kitchen. Numerous tables had been overturned or knocked onto their side, though that looked due more to people fleeing in a state of panic than because of anything this horse-thing had done. Actually, what the hell is this thing? Jimmy wondered. Though the creature assumed a shape that was extremely similar to that of a horse, it was very dark in appearance, its skin being black with an ominous, purplish hue. It was also wide of frame, sinewy, and had very angry eyes, from which Jimmy could see more red laser beams firing out across the street. Occasionally, it would make loud sniffing noises from its large nostrils, and whenever it happened to open its mouth, Jimmy could spot an eerie, reddish light shining out from within its throat.
HP 13,225,000/13,225,000
Name (T9) Mare of the Primordial Void
Level 85
Jimmy stared dumbfounded at the boss¡¯s tier. Using the trick he¡¯d learned to approximate a boss¡¯s true level relative to its base level and tier, he calculated it as being¡­uh¡­wow. Okay, so this was harder than it should¡¯ve been. This shouldn¡¯t have been difficult at all. Was he stupid or something? Why was this so hard all of a sudden? A child should be able to do this kind of math. This was like 2nd grade shit. Wait, wait. This was easy. He could do this. Just think: tiers 7 through 9 had a base modifier of 25, right? Yeah, so then, it was nine multiplied by 25, which was uh¡­225! And then you add the 85 back on to get an effective level of 310. Damn, that actually took him a second to figure out. It wasn¡¯t his fault, though. Sure, it may have been a very, very simple calculation involving only basic arithmetic, but Jimmy¡¯s brain wasn¡¯t exactly operating at full capacity right now. Jimmy giggled then released another hiccup. Following this, he chugged down another gulp of wine as a swarm of people cried out in terror and desperation while running right past where he was standing. This was definitely a hell of a serious situation going on. It sure was. And the sight of it all was just terrible. Really, it was. This was nothing to be happy about. So why was Jimmy smiling and cackling? Because this could be my chance, he thought. I can basically erase my shame if I solo it! Jimmy knew it was a strange thing for him to be thinking, especially since it hadn¡¯t even been a full twenty-four hours since he¡¯d ¡°quit¡± adventuring forever out of sheer humiliation and frustration, so it surprised him how strong of an impulse he felt to jump right back into things by taking on this super-powerful boss. But how could he not? It just felt so much like fate. Seriously though, this was like God holding up a sign for him¡ªtelling him to get his dumb ass back in the game and stop being a little bitch about what happened last night. Like, just look around! How could Jimmy even possibly ignore such an opportunity? Everything was just so perfect and in place. You had a massive, gigantic boss that was only just beginning its rampage, you had people screaming and fleeing everywhere, and finally, you had Jimmy, who happened to end up in the area right as it all went down. It was kind of like what¡¯d happened to Zach in a sense, no? Actually, it really was like that. Jimmy knew that Zach had been in a situation like this, and just look at how that had worked out for him. It¡¯d transformed him into a globally known celebrity, earned him the respect of his peers, and made people take him way more seriously than they would¡¯ve taken him otherwise. But most importantly, it stopped his fellow adventurers from questioning his competency. Thanks to his run-in with the dragon, you never saw Donovan and Zephyr worrying that Zach was too ¡°inexperienced¡± or ¡°not ready¡± for this or that. Nah, never. And you know what the craziest part of it all was? He ain¡¯t even do a single goddamn damage to the fucking thing. Jimmy knew because he¡¯d watched it on TV. They apparently played that whole ¡°minute and forty-two seconds¡± clip all the time, and Jimmy had caught it on a few occasions already despite him barely watching TV and spending most of his time in the dungeons. And Jimmy couldn¡¯t help but notice each time he saw it that Zach didn¡¯t do any damage at all to Ziragoth. Or actually I think he did do exactly one damage to it, Jimmy thought. But still, that¡¯s basically zero. For sure, Zach was cool and all, but let¡¯s be real: all Zach really did was jump around and get his ass beat into the ground. He was nearly eaten, too. And look how popular he became. The kid was basically famous for not dying. That was his amazing feat of courage. He fought something and only ended up in critical condition. But Jimmy? Jimmy intended to kill this giant horse creature. Forget merely surviving it. He would kill that thing dead. Then I can face everybody again without shame. The stars seemed to be aligning right now. It was as if the universe had guided him to this boss with the intention for him to kill it. But¡­on the other hand, Jimmy did have to admit that he was the tiniest, teensiest, littlest-bit drunk. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t be certain his decision-making skills weren¡¯t badly compromised and that this was something he wouldn¡¯t be considering if he was sober. He doubted it, though. He loved soloing and taking on these kinds of challenges. Yet the fear of pain and death that¡¯d been instilled into him was totally gone right now. Am I too drunk for this? he wondered. He decided to administer the QF test. It was a test he¡¯d come up with as a joke with his buddies in university. He had no idea if there was any validity to this test whatsoever, but he didn¡¯t care. He decided he was going to do it anyway. And the test was simple, too: if Jimmy could correctly recall the quadratic formula, he wasn¡¯t too drunk. He cleared his throat as screaming voices shouted while more men and women darted past him as they fled from the monster. Jimmy ignored them. ¡°Negative B,¡± he said aloud, concentrating. ¡°Plus or minus¡­¡± ¡°WHAT IS THAT THING! OH MY GODS NO! NOT HERE! PLEASE GODS NO!¡± ¡°¡­the square root of B squared¡­¡± A woman carrying a very young, blonde-haired boy bumped into Jimmy and nearly made him lose his focus. But he really wanted to do this, so he needed to pass this self-administered test. He focused even harder. But it was hard because shit was getting crazy. Boom! Three parked DEHVs went up in flames as the mare¡¯s eye-fired lasers left a gaping hole in the side of the street to Jimmy¡¯s left. ¡°Malari!¡± a woman shouted. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. It didn¡¯t get me. Just keep running!¡± One woman ran to another, grabbed her, and then both fled towards the opposite end of the street behind the mare. There were still a few people attempting to escape. Jimmy would¡ªhopefully¡ªbe able to help them momentarily. He was having trouble. And he found it hilarious. He was once again giggling. But he chided himself and forced his mind to focus. ¡°Minus 4AC!¡± he shouted out, causing an already scared couple to recoil with even more fear as they seemingly tried to avoid both the T9 boss as well as Jimmy. But Jimmy was feeling pretty confident. Grinning, he added, ¡°Over 2A!¡± And with that, he knew it was on. He wasn¡¯t that drunk. He wasn¡¯t! If he was, how could he possibly recite the quadratic formula? He couldn¡¯t. And no, that wasn¡¯t backed up by science, but it was still good enough for him. He¡¯d passed the quadratic-formula-alcohol test. All that was left now was to very hurriedly prepare for battle¡ªbut first he needed to vomit. Taken by surprise, Jimmy bent forward, opened his mouth wide, and spewed so much puke on the sidewalk all at once that he began to panic, worrying he¡¯d run out of oxygen and die. Thankfully, he was able to inhale one large gasp of breath¡ªbut only just the one¡ªbefore puking a second time. Still, this didn¡¯t mean he was drunk. He passed the qua-blaptic-whatever-the-fuck-it-was-called test. Straightening his back, Jimmy walked into the middle of the street. He needed to pull aggro soon before someone actually died. He couldn¡¯t believe that, through sheer coincidence, there still wasn¡¯t a single dead body despite it looking like someone dropped a bunch of bombs all around him. It was a catastrophe. I got this, he thought as he wiped his lip with his sleeve. It was gross but he was getting rid of the shirt anyway. With everyone in the area far too concerned with their lives to bother paying him any mind, Jimmy stripped all the way down to his underwear¡ªwhich only meant removing a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and some sneakers. He was in civilian clothing, after all. With that, he raised his left hand and activated Bank and Storage. Although his Epic-Rare robes had been destroyed in the raid last night, suffering the dreaded Full Break, he actually had four more identical robes in storage, as he¡¯d farmed the shit out of the boss in Tower of Eternity that dropped it in order to get the full set of caster gear. Actually, he had a lot of good stuff he was hoarding. He hadn¡¯t wanted to flood the bazaar with too much at once, so he¡¯d kept a lot of it in his box, which was nearly full and definitely needed emptying sometime soon despite him constantly giving away stuff to people for free. As quickly as he could, Jimmy grabbed his rings, his necklace, and his bracers along with the rest of his gear and his staff. In somewhat backwards order, he put on his robes first, which were elegant and made of a soft, white, and silk-like material. The back of the robes contained a very cool pattern that looked like a combination of a clock and a compass. He didn¡¯t know what it meant or was but he liked it. The robes were also quite powerful, but that was also because it counted for both the chest and head slot, as an optional hood could also be drawn over his head if desired, but that was purely a choice of style and not required for him to gain access to Helm Sight. All right. Let me just get on the trousers and boots. Jimmy lifted his left leg¡ªand then fell completely over onto his side as his coordination seemed to fail him. Plopping hard onto the ground, he lost his grip on the wine bottle and it shattered with a crack behind him. But Jimmy ignored it and was quick to hurry back to his feet. But maybe he was too quick, because for some reason, the world began to spin. Or¡­not even really ¡°spin.¡± It sort of just seemed to turn sideways or something. Jimmy vomited yet again. With only one leg inside his trousers, he ignored the sick feeling coming over him and did his best to get into his equipment. But this time, even though he managed to pull up the left side of his trousers, he somehow forgot he¡¯d placed his boots on the ground, and he tripped over one of them and fell onto his back a second time, which resulted in another desperate climb up to his feet but thankfully not another round of puking. It was better to call it a near vomit. Because he didn¡¯t vomit. Really, he didn¡¯t. He just almost did. ¡°Maybe I did drink too much,¡± he said aloud. ¡°I just don¡¯t see how that can be if I know the quadratic equation. Haha. Hah¡­ha.¡± Jimmy shook his head and slapped himself on the cheeks. Then he slipped into his boots¡ªalmost falling but managing to remain upright¡ªand he grabbed his staff. Now, he was ready: it was time to show Donovan and Zephyr how badly wrong they were about him. Now, how was that whole ¡°walking¡± thing done again? He forgot for a second. But then he remembered so he was fine. ¡°Everyone, be calm!¡± he shouted as he marched farther into the street. ¡°I¡¯ve come to save¡­¡± Jimmy let his voice fall off. Nobody was listening to him. Everyone who hadn¡¯t already fled to a different street was currently in the process of doing so, and the shouting and screaming was so loud they couldn¡¯t hear anything he said anyway. He sighed. So much for making a heroic splash like Zach had done. But really? Jimmy didn¡¯t care about that. He didn¡¯t want or need to become a celebrity. He just wanted the respect of the adventuring community. That was all he actually cared about. And I¡¯m about to get it! Jimmy waded his way past the frantically running civilians and moved towards the center of the block. The fact that still no one had died was just¡­it was astounding. But it wouldn¡¯t be long before they did. Jimmy needed to get the ball rolling. And this was actually the most critical moment of all, because it was here that he¡¯d find out if he even could solo the boss. As usual, Jimmy had four conditions that absolutely needed to be met in order for him to solo something. And despite his drunken state, he had no problem remembering each of them. Condition 1: no slow immunity. Raising his staff and waving it back and forth twice in the air, Jimmy activated Crippling Mist. Immediately, a massive cloud of sizzling, crackling smoke popped into existence right on top of the so-called ¡°Mare of the Primordial Void,¡± blanketing the entire creature before quickly dissipating. Jimmy tensed nervously as he waited to see if that beautiful red down arrow would now appear above its equine face and its angry, animalistic eyes. It did! A red, upside-down arrow now resided directly above the T9 boss, which indicated that his slow had successfully been applied to his enemy¡ªthanks, of course, to his Legendary Unique passive, Scourge of Giants. If not for that, then even despite being susceptible to slows¡ªas most bosses were¡ªit would have been resisted outright due to the stat difference caused by his and the mob¡¯s effective level of 310. Here it comes. As the very first person to actually ¡°do¡± anything to the boss¡ªeven something non-damaging¡ªJimmy immediately became the sole focus of its aggro. The giant horse monster, which had been about two seconds from chomping down on a slow-moving old woman and earning its first actual kill, halted immediately and turned its head Jimmy¡¯s way. Jimmy stood at the foot of the block opposite it. And now, at a speed that was dramatically slower than what it was likely capable of moving, the mare approached. Condition one, check. Condition 2: could it be poisoned? Jimmy, eager to find out if he could actually solo this boss, activated Poisonous Miasma, which created a small, rust-colored, and oblong-shaped object directly in the boss¡¯s path, one that functioned similarly to a landmine. As the boss¡¯s incredibly large front-left hoof stomped down on it, his ability exploded into a purple cloud that enveloped the creature, causing it to release a loud neighing roar and suffer 225 damage. Not a lot by any means. But damage was damage. And that was still 225 times more damage than what Zach did to the dragon during his solo boss fight. I bet I could¡¯ve solo¡¯d Ziragoth, Jimmy thought smugly. He wasn¡¯t sure if that was the booze making him overconfident or if it was something he¡¯d think normally. It was probably the latter but it was impossible for him to be sure in his current state of mind. He chuckled. He was going to show everybody how Jimmy Green got things done. As the boss continued to slowly move towards him, Jimmy made another two large motions with his staff, and now he cast both of his AOE poisons despite facing only a single target. Since these spells didn¡¯t have a single-target variant, and since all three of his poisons stacked, he was forced to simply endure the extra exertion cost that came with using large, area-of-effect magic. At any rate, Jimmy was happy to see that both poisons landed and both poisons took effect, but now, he began to sweat profusely and breathe heavily. He suddenly became exhausted and drained. But it was fine. Because with the poisons ticking away, the bar he kept at the bottom of his vision was quickly filling.
Breath of Invigoration: 100%
Jimmy cast Breath of Invigoration. A big, blue, and cartoonish-looking heart materialized above his head, shining a reassuring blue-and-white light down on top of him, one which brightened as the heart spun faster and faster until bathing him in its glow. Eventually, it vanished¡ªand so too did Jimmy¡¯s fatigue, as within just one tick, he was feeling back to full strength and ready for anything. Conditions 1 and 2: check and check. Condition 3: did he have space? Jimmy looked around. Despite how much he¡¯d had to drink, he thankfully still knew where he was. That actually wasn¡¯t always something he could take for granted, sadly. But in this case, it wasn¡¯t something he had to worry about. Jimmy knew that he was standing at the intersection of a place called Grove and Market in the very suburban region of Faded Island. In particular, he was in the commercial district of a nice little town in the northeast part of the island, which was made up of several streets containing various stores and eateries and the like, all of which wrapped around a central market. Jimmy didn¡¯t have to spend long contemplating his location. It was obvious that he had plenty of space to move around in. In fact, as long as he didn¡¯t trip over himself again, he could easily loop the boss around the same four streets over and over as needed. He could also try pulling it out towards the main road, but that risked bringing it to a nearby community and destroying people¡¯s homes. Either way, he felt comfortable in giving this condition a check So finally, condition 4: attack range. Did Jimmy¡¯s attacks outrange that of the boss¡¯s that he was trying to solo? This one was always tricky to determine at first, but his instinct right now said yes. The boss had those eye laser things, and rather than use them, it was continuing to slowly make its way towards him. If it could have attacked him, it probably would¡¯ve. Like, yeah, some of that seemed to be down to RNG, but Jimmy¡¯s impression was that the game was skewed so that if something was being slowed and kited, it would be more likely to use a ranged attack if it had one. It''s not a game! he scolded himself. How many times you gonna make that mistake? Jimmy moved steadily backwards and away, keeping himself out of range of the boss¡¯s attacks while preparing to settle in for a very, very long and protracted fight. This was not going to be quick. This was going to be one of the longer boss marathons. He hoped nobody came along and fucked with him while he was dealing with this thing. Right now, he had it completely under control. And as he continuously backed away, he did cringe somewhat as the boss obliterated so much private property in its pursuit of him. He even tried to keep it centered in the middle of the street, but at best, its damage was limited to tearing down street poles, power lines, and crushing more DEHVs, and at worse, it would rip entire sections off stores and restaurants. Turning the corner and leading the mob down the start of another¡ªand as of yet untouched¡ªblock, Jimmy struggled not to lose his balance and fall. That actually could kill him. Right now, the biggest risk to Jimmy was Jimmy. He needed to stay concentrated and focused, but that was difficult to do since he had maybe a little bit more to drink than he wanted to admit, and also, because his Goddamn phone would not stop going off. They¡¯re probably really worried about me, he thought, becoming emotional out of nowhere, likely also due to the alcohol. Flooded with a sudden guilt, he held his staff with one hand and removed his phone with the other. Then he tucked it into the side of his face as he waved his staff around to reapply his poisons, his slow, and his Breath of Invigoration. There were several gasps on the other end of the line as though they were surprised that Jimmy had picked up. ¡°J-Jimmy?¡± cried Zach¡¯s voice. ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s up, man?¡± ¡°Finally! Oh my Gods, Jimmy. Please don¡¯t hang up. Everybody is so worried about you. Look, I heard what happened, but I need to talk to you, okay?¡± ¡°Nah, man, it¡¯s all good.¡± ¡°Listen to me, please. I know how it feels to be in your shoes. I¡¯ve¡­I¡¯ve had a whole lot of low points recently myself. But the thing is¡ª¡± ¡°Zach, yo, chill. You¡¯re not listening to me. I¡¯m fixing it all right now.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Huh? What¡¯s that mean? Jimmy, I can barely understand what you¡¯re saying. You sound drunk.¡± ¡°Hah! I was right,¡± said another voice in the background. It sounded like Rian. ¡°I told you he was gonna be shitfaced.¡± ¡°Can I please talk to him?¡± said an effeminate voice that caused Jimmy¡¯s heart to swell in a way that it normally wouldn¡¯t without booze. It was Tena. He wasn¡¯t ready to face her. ¡°Zach, tell her I love her and I¡¯ll talk to her real soon, but I gotta do something first before I can face her.¡± There was a moment of quiet from the other end of the line, and then Zach asked, ¡°What exactly are you doing? Why can¡¯t we come see you?¡± He laughed. ¡°Believe it or not, I¡¯m soloing a rare spawn. And when I get this done, I¡¯m going in your history books!¡± ¡°Not funny, Jimmy.¡± ¡°Huh? I¡¯m not making a joke.¡± Zach¡¯s voice became angered and heated. ¡°Are you fucking serious? Don¡¯t tell me we came all the way here just for you to run off back into a dungeon.¡± His words confused Jimmy. ¡°The hell you talking about? I¡¯m not in a dungeon. And what do you mean ¡®here?¡¯ Wait. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re on¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Kalana shouted in the background. ¡°We came to see you ¡®cause we were worried about you. I also have something really special for you from the raid, so tell us where you are.¡± Jimmy couldn¡¯t believe they¡¯d tracked him here to Faded Island. He was both touched and annoyed¡ªand curious as to how in the hell they¡¯d done it. ¡°Look, guys, I¡¯m taking care of something. I gotta get my mojo back. Once I finish with this boss, we¡¯ll all hang out or whatever, but I gotta deal with this first.¡± ¡°Jimmy, enough with the lying. Seriously, you¡¯re a worse bullshitter than me.¡± ¡°Fuck outta here. I¡¯m not lying.¡± ¡°Oh really?¡± Zach asked him. ¡°You¡¯re fighting a boss? Where, in public?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± There was a pause. ¡°Not funny.¡± ¡°Good, ¡®cause I¡¯m not joking. I really am fighting a boss.¡± ¡°Oh, come on. Can you knock it off?¡± ¡°Zach, will you listen to me? Damn, man. I¡¯m not lying. Do I need to send you a picture of it or something?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he replied with a laugh. ¡°Send me a picture. Go ahead.¡± Jimmy rolled his eyes. He almost fell over as he tried to aim the phone at the boss. Then he froze up like an idiot as his brain completely forgot how to take a picture on these dumb Galterra phones. Even an Android was better than this. Actually nah. That was going too far. But still he hated this unfamiliar OS. How the hell do I¡­? Oh, right. It¡¯s that app. He snapped a photo, opened a message, attached the photo, and pressed send. ¡°Okay, happy? See? I told you I was fighting a boss. Hey, Zach, do you think I should buy a suit for when they interview me about this? Haha. Well, Do you? Uh¡­Zach? Hello?¡± ***** Zach couldn¡¯t be sure who was shouting the loudest. It might¡¯ve been him. It might¡¯ve been Tena. It was probably Kalana. But even Lienne and Rian were losing their shit¡ªand for good reason, too. Zach waved at all of them, however, giving each a look of urgency so they would quiet down and let him try again to reason with this maniac. ¡°Jimmy!¡± he yelled into his phone. ¡°Tell us where you are right fucking now!¡± Instead of a reply, there was only giggling. Zach swore. Jimmy was like really drunk. He opened his mouth to shout at him yet again but Kalana snatched the phone out of his hand, glaring at it furiously. ¡°Where is the boss!¡± she yelled. ¡°You can¡¯t just¡­you can¡¯t just solo it ¡®cause you feel like it! Are you out of your mind?¡± ¡°Jimmy, I¡¯m normally not the scolding type,¡± Rian added. ¡°But this is the most fucked-up thing I¡¯ve ever heard.¡± ¡°Oh, bullshit!¡± he snapped at them. ¡°Zach did the same shit a few weeks ago!¡± Zach wanted to pull the hair out of his head. He couldn¡¯t believe how stressful things had just become over the past minute. They had gone from calm but worried to a state of all-out panic in a matter of moments. And all because Jimmy was somehow actually telling the truth. He was fighting a boss all on his own. And worse, it was a Gods-be-damned T9! What was wrong with him? ¡°What I did was way different, Jimmy!¡± Zach shouted, grabbing the phone back from Kalana. ¡°I didn¡¯t have a choice. I wanted help. I held it off only for as long as I had to. You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re trying to solo it! What in the fuck is¡­I can¡¯t even believe this is really happening. Where are you? Tell us!¡± ¡°I got this,¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t even worry about it.¡± A loud neigh from somewhere in the background was picked up over the phone, and what followed it was a tremendous bang. ¡°Jimmy!¡± Tena cried. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°Jimmy!¡± ¡°Guys, I¡¯m fine, damn.¡± ¡°What was that sound?¡± Zach asked him. ¡°Oh, that was just some dance studio that it stepped on.¡± Kalana actually howled into the phone. ¡°It¡¯s destroying people¡¯s things, Jimmy! You¡¯re drunk and not thinking. Please. Please tell us where you are so we can help you stop it!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need nobody¡¯s help!¡± Lowering his voice, Zach said, ¡°Rian, you need to contact the EEU immediately. As in like this second. Take out your phone and dial #518 and say that we¡¯ve got a level-3 apocalyptic event in progress.¡± ¡°What the held did I just hear?¡± demanded Jimmy angrily over the phone. ¡°Oh, no. Oh, I know ya¡¯ll aren¡¯t snitching on me. Somebody tell me I¡¯m not being snitched on right now. Jesus have mercy on me if I find out Zach snitched.¡± Zach ignored him as an entirely separate voice shouted out over Rian¡¯s phone and Rian replied. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct. Not a false alarm,¡± he said. ¡°And where is it?¡± a panicked, urgent voice cried. ¡°Every second counts. Tell me. Now!¡± ¡°Yeah, uh¡­so about that, uh¡­we don¡¯t actually know, sir.¡± ¡°¡­you what?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know where it is.¡± ¡°¡­come again?¡± Zach snatched the phone away from Rian so that he now held one in his left hand and one in his right. ¡°We don¡¯t know because Jimmy won¡¯t tell us.¡± ¡°What do you mean he won¡¯t tell you?¡± asked the responding adventurer. ¡°What are you saying to that dude?¡± Jimmy angrily shouted. ¡°You better not be saying shit, Zach!¡± ¡°Who said that? Is that Jimmy?¡± ¡°Oh, shit. Is that you, Dalora? We grouped up on F30 in TOE, right? What¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°Jimmy! Thank the Gods you¡¯re all right.¡± Zach moaned as the situation began to spiral so confusingly out of control that he didn¡¯t know what to do. Right now, he was standing there awkwardly in the middle of an island suburbia while holding two phones close together on speaker. ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± ¡°Has there truly been a T9 spawn?¡± ¡°Yeah, but don¡¯t worry. I got it.¡± ¡°You¡­got it?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s being handled.¡± ¡°Where?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Jimmy! Are you¡­are you refusing to say?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°WHAT?¡± the voice shouted. ¡°Okay, clearly this¡­this is getting us nowhere. Let me state this another way. Jimmy, tell me where you are right now or I¡¯ll lose my cool.¡± ¡°No.¡± Zach¡¯s temper flared. And Kalana reminding him of his ¡°breathing exercises¡± only made it worse. ¡°Jimmy, I¡¯ll kick your ass all the way back to the past if you don¡¯t start talking! Do you know how bad you have to be to make me look like the responsible adult in a situation? Gods, I feel like Mr. Oren. Where are you, Jimmy? Don¡¯t make me ask again!¡± Jimmy hung up on him, and now Zach was so, so close to crushing the phones¡ªboth of them¡ªin his hands, but this time, he did remember his breathing exercises. And he was going to need them, too. Because as five very painful and confusing minutes came and went, he now received a call on his own phone, which turned out to be a very angry and impatient Donovan. The man was demanding he start a conference call with Jimmy on the line. Zach tried to tell him there was no chance Jimmy was going to pick up, but Donovan started threatening him. So he tried anyway, and to his surprise, Jimmy actually did pick up. ¡°Jimmy?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Are you there?¡± It did not help soothe Donovan¡¯s own heightened temper that the very first sound on the call from Jimmy''s end wasn¡¯t the word ¡°hello¡± being spoken but instead some kind of super-explosion. ¡°ARE YOU FUCKIN¡¯ KIDDING ME, JIMMY!¡± Donovan roared over the line. ¡°This is the stupidest Gods-be-damned thing I¡¯ve ever seen anyone do. You better give up your location right now or I¡¯ll backhand you so hard you¡¯ll be slapped back to your own time!¡± Zach cleared his throat. ¡°I uh¡­I already used that joke.¡± He knew he should¡¯ve kept his mouth shut. He knew it. But he had to say it. And Rian seemed to sympathize with him, too. But no one else did, not even Kalana. The result was an unholy, vitriol-laden tearing down from Donovan that contained words so terrible even he wouldn¡¯t use them. Even Trelvor and Seiley were upset with him. ¡°Not helpful,¡± Trelvor said, shaking his head at Zach. Sensing that his commentary was not being appropriately appreciated, Zach decided to remain quiet and let Donovan try to talk sense into Jimmy. But that didn¡¯t seem to be working, either. Jimmy kept going on about how he was ¡°soloing¡± it and threatening Donovan not to ¡°assjam¡± on his ¡°1v1.¡± These were terms Zach was not familiar with, but they seemed fairly easy to understand in context. What was not easy to understand was how, even drunk, anyone could be dumb enough to earn Donovan¡¯s wrath and ire. Jimmy was only making it worse for himself, too. ¡°Jimmy, this ain¡¯t the way to go about dealing with things,¡± Donovan said. ¡°Now you listen to me, Gods-dammit. If you tell us where it is right now, then the way this goes down is simple: you pulled aggro, you saved some lives, and you held it for us until we got there. Everybody also forgives and forgets whatever crazy shit you just tried to pull. But if you don¡¯t and I gotta find it through other means¡­¡± He grunted. ¡°You don¡¯t wanna find out.¡± Another loud bang came from the speaker of Zach¡¯s phone, increasing the urgency of the situation. ¡°Just out of curiosity,¡± Zach said, ¡°how close is it to dying? How long would it even take you to solo something like that?¡± ¡°Like, 22 hours.¡± ¡°Gods dammit Jimmy!¡± Zach snapped. ¡°Are you f¡­you know what? Now I¡¯m mad all over again. You can¡¯t just fight that for 22 hours while everybody¡¯s property is destroyed.¡± Jimmy said nothing for yet another moment, and another loud bang came across over the speakers. ¡°Fine. You guys can come help. If you promise not to tell anyone else, you get half the loot, Zach.¡± Zach scowled. ¡°Jimmy, are you seriously trying to fucking¡­¡± The scowl fell off his face. ¡°Wait, what was that last part?¡± Kalana glared at him, and so did Trelvor, Seiley, Lienne, Tena, and even Rian this time. Even Donovan, too. And he wasn¡¯t even there but somehow Zach could feel it. As his friends closed in on him, Zach had to run halfway down the block to gain some distance from them as they demanded he turn over the phone. ¡°Say that part again?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let you and the others come help if you don¡¯t tell nobody else where I¡¯m at. You guys can even have half the loot.¡± Zach opened his mouth, then shut it as Kalana grabbed his wrist, brought him to a stop, and looked threateningly at him. ¡°Zach, umm, you better not make a deal like that! I¡¯m gonna be so upset with you if you do.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make me have to beat two kids today!¡± Donovan threatened. Rian merely shrugged and whispered, ¡°Why not just agree to get his location and then tell Donovan?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea,¡± Tena said. ¡°I hate to lie to Jimmy, but¡­but this is insane.¡± The idea riddled Zach with guilt. That was betrayal in a sense. He wasn¡¯t the kind of person to do that to someone. But this was a very unusual circumstance. He was torn. He wasn¡¯t sure what to say. ¡°Jimmy, listen to me. Whatever it is you¡¯re¡ª¡± ***** ¡°¡ªtrying to accomplish here, it¡¯s not going to actually change anything. Please. Just let us¡ª¡± Without actually meaning to, Jimmy hung up on Zach, but it was only because he was uncoordinated. Honestly, it was amazing he was doing as well as he currently was. Things had become almost boringly stable. In fact, Jimmy actually had to fight off a touch of drowsiness as he kited the large, lumbering creature down a slightly narrowed street containing a mixture of street merchants and small, mom-and-pop stores including a cute little place that only sold fruit. Or used to only sell fruit. Now, unfortunately, it sold nothing. Because, you know, there was nothing left of it. Ahead of him, the boss made very slight flinching motions three times in quick succession as all three ticks of the poison came in one after the next. 298 416 356
HP 13,055,620/13,225,000
Name (T9) Mare of the Primordial Void
Level 85
Jimmy¡¯s mood deflated somewhat as he realized he¡¯d reduced the boss¡¯s health by only slightly more than 1%. This really was going to be one hell of a long, drawn-out fight. And the longer he went without alcohol, the more he was wondering if maybe he should call for help or something. It was just that he wanted so badly to prove himself capable. It was beginning to bother him. A lot of people would be dead if I wasn¡¯t here, though. It wasn¡¯t a boast or a lie. If Jimmy hadn¡¯t pulled the boss, it was quite literally the case that dozens of people would¡¯ve been dead who were currently alive. And that wasn¡¯t even including those who¡¯d gotten trapped inside damaged buildings or near burning vehicles. Emergency personnel had begun showing up: level 1 cops in what looked like Galterran police uniforms along with orange-vested rescue workers. They had different names for those types of people here, but Jimmy couldn¡¯t remember what they were called, but they all seemed grateful to him. Jimmy had even briefly communicated with them, telling them that the boss was focused only on him and they could rescue whoever needed rescuing once he passed them by. ¡°Thank you so much!¡± one of them called to him. ¡°You¡¯re very brave!¡± cried another. But yeah, at any rate, with all four conditions met, Jimmy was basically just chilling at this point. It was definitely going to take a bit, but he had the situation completely under his control. The boss was ambling towards him, he was backing away, and everything was going smoothly. Sure, a few cars and some buildings were getting crushed, but by now, everyone in the immediate area had either already evacuated or was in the process of being rescued and removed, right? Apparently not. There was someone approaching¡ªand very, very fast. At first, Jimmy wasn¡¯t sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him or if he was so drunk he was hallucinating. Because it looked to him like there was a young woman leaping from rooftop to rooftop along the street as she headed his way. She was gripping what looked like a long, wooden combat staff in both hands, and it wasn¡¯t until she forward-flipped and landed on both feet atop a convenience store to his immediate right that Jimmy was able to get a look at her face. And when he did, he recognized her immediately. Oh, shit, it¡¯s her. Jimmy knew who she was. How could he not? How could anyone not? Jimmy wasn¡¯t even from this planet, and even he knew who the woman was. Aside from Kalana, she had to be one of¡ªif not the¡ªmost famous women on the entire planet. Her name was Duchess Fiona Darkmae, and she was the leader of the Children of Order: the guild that controlled this region. And how did Jimmy know this? Because she was everywhere. On posters, on TV ads, on billboards. She was what, back on Earth, they would have called a ¡°sex symbol,¡± though that name appeared to be offensive and confusing to the people here, as Jimmy had found out one night when he¡¯d used the term in Angelica¡¯s. Regardless, Fiona Darkmae was so ubiquitous that even Jimmy knew her name and her life story just from the little bit of Galterran TV he¡¯d actually consumed. He knew that she was only twenty-three years old, for example. He knew that she was a former child actress and later a full-fledged movie star. He knew that she was never meant to be the leader of the Children of Order, but that her older brother had recently died unexpectedly of a rare, incurable neurological illness and her father had committed suicide from grief, making her the unexpected leader of her guild and also the youngest guild leader in recorded history. This, Jimmy had somehow gleaned despite barely knowing anything about Galterra. He¡¯d even come to learn just in passing that she had her own clothing, jewelry, and perfume line. But more than anything else, he recognized her as being the most absurdly, stunningly, ridiculously attractive girl he¡¯d ever seen in his entire damn life, including his life on Earth. The girl was so unreasonably hot it was actually mind blowing. And she was just as incredible to behold in person as she was on the billboards. Her blonde hair, which was currently done into a ponytail, her supple cheeks¡­she didn¡¯t even need the makeup she was wearing. It was overkill. And complementing all of this was a body so curvaceous and well-proportioned it was like God had specifically decided to sculpt her manually rather than let her form through the usual, natural processes. Her build was athletic and yet she was well-endowed, and her backside was¡­well, it was impossible not to look at if it happened to be in front of you. But because Tena existed, Jimmy was not tempted by her appearance. No, not even slightly. Because while Tena was a cute, but overall average-looking girl, to Jimmy¡¯s eyes, she was the one with the most beautiful face in Galterra, and she was the one he wanted above all¡ªeven as he¡¯d shunned her to sulk here in his own shame and humiliation. So no, not even the sight of such a jaw-droppingly perfect girl could take his heart away from Tena. But that didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t rouse other emotions in Jimmy, such as a sudden rush of distrust, fear, and a territorial, animal-like aggression. Jimmy peeled back his lips and scowled at her the moment she launched herself into another forward-flip off the top of the convenience store and landed with a soft tapping sound across from him. She opened her mouth to say something to him¡ªbut he wouldn¡¯t hear it. Hell no. He was furious! And so, loudly, drunkenly, and with far more aggression than he realized he was capable of, he pointed his staff at her and shouted. ¡°Camped!¡± Her eyebrows rose, her head tilted to the side, and she again opened her mouth to speak. But Jimmy yelled at her before she could utter even a single word to him. Taking his eyes off the slowed but approaching horse boss, he shouted, ¡°This spawn is already camped! I claimed it. I was here first when it spawned, and I already aggroed it. It¡¯s mine!¡± She better not be trying to kill-steal, he thought as an evacuated school-bus DEHV was crushed beneath the hoofs of the approaching boss just as thoroughly as the car-sized ones had been. I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d have to deal with this problem in Galterra. I guess this was bound to happen sooner or later. Jimmy knew he was risking a lot by taking such a hostile tone with the leader of a uh¡­what were they called again? ¡°Political guilds¡± or some shit? Something like that, right? In all honesty, he still didn¡¯t really understand what the whole deal was between them and the adventurers. He¡¯d noticed that the adventurers seemed to control the dungeons and Angelica¡¯s, and the ¡°political guilds¡± were like in charge of running the regions and served as semi-autonomous governing bodies. Outside of that, Jimmy wasn¡¯t really sure what the specifics were or who outranked who. He didn¡¯t care, either. He was here first. Even if she did control the region, she couldn¡¯t just be allowed to come KS him. He stared at the woman. She didn¡¯t seem angry¡ªjust concerned. She was only four years older than him, but she regarded him with a strange look of amusement as though he were some troublemaking little brother of hers. It was a surreal, knowing expression despite him never having met her before. ¡°Whoah there,¡± she said, removing her right hand from her staff and holding it out as if in a gesture of peace. ¡°I have no idea what any of that means.¡± She turned her head towards the boss and frowned at it before looking back at him. ¡°You must be Jimmy, I take it, huh?¡± ¡°You¡­know me?¡± She nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°How do you know who I am?¡± She again looked at the T9 boss, apprehension flashing across her delicate features. ¡°Well, I was on my way here to make sure you were behaving. See, I got a report that an adventurer was getting a little bit out of hand at a bar, but when I showed up, I¡­I saw that.¡± Her tone shifted greatly, becoming filled with worry and fear. ¡°Is it happening again?¡± ¡°Is what happening again?¡± ¡°Another¡­another major boss spawn.¡± The fear left her eyes and words, and strength took its place as she seemingly scanned the destroyed block. ¡°How many are dead? More emergency services are on the way if we can hold it off for a bit. Also, how many are injured? And why are you alone? Where are the rest of your adventurers? Do you want me to have my guild help you hold it off while you wait for them to arrive?¡± Jimmy stared at her blankly. ¡°Huh? What? What are you¡­?¡± He shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m so confused.¡± ¡°You¡¯re¡­an adventurer, right?¡± ¡°Well, yeah.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re a member of the EEU, right?¡± ¡°The what?¡± Jimmy exclaimed, his head beginning to ache and the world beginning to spin again. ¡°The emergency extraction unit¡ªyou know, the people who show up whenever a boss spawns in public.¡± Jimmy continued to stare at her with the same blank expression, and now it caused even more concern to rush onto her face. He had no idea what she was talking about, and as he tried to ask her to elaborate, she seemed to have no idea what he was saying, either. But in his case, that was his own fault, because even to his own ears, he could hear that his words were slurred and nonsensical. He tried to gesture with his staff, but he nearly lost his grip on it. ¡°Are you drunk?¡± she asked him. ¡°I¡¯ve got a little buzz going on,¡± he said, managing to get the words out. ¡°Oh, dude. No wonder. Here, my T2 cure works on that.¡± She changed her grip on her combat staff so that she pointed it at Jimmy, and the tip of the weapon facing him began to take on a white, comforting glow. Suddenly, his entire sense of being changed. It felt like waking up from a dream. The spinning stopped, his emotions shifted, his sense of awareness became greatly heightened, and he was suddenly very, very, very thirsty. But also alert. In mere moments, he became so much more attuned with his surroundings, and his sense of balance and coordination was greatly restored, too. ¡°Did you just make me sober?¡± ¡°Almost,¡± she said. ¡°You look like you¡¯ve still got some left.¡± She raised her staff a second time. ¡°Ah, w-wait!¡± Jimmy released a nervous laugh. ¡°I think that¡¯s enough, actually. Let me at least keep some of my¡ª¡± Her staff flashed a second time, and despite his protests, she removed whatever buzz remained. Now, Jimmy was truly, one-hundred percent sober. And it was only now that it really started to dawn on him what he¡¯d just done: what he was doing. And you know what? It really didn¡¯t change anything. Sure, his level of caution went up a great deal, and his sense of danger and fear went along right with it, but everything he¡¯d felt while drunk was still right there inside of him: including his desire to kill this boss and earn redemption. ¡°Okay, so let¡¯s start over,¡± she said to him. ¡°Oh, and I¡¯m sorry if I seem pushy. I¡¯m normally really cool and calm and sociable, but¡­¡± She made a gesture with her chin at the T9 boss. ¡°I have no idea what that thing is and how much danger my region is in¡ªor why you¡¯re here. I don¡¯t even know if we can talk while it¡¯s coming right at us.¡± ¡°Oh, no we can definitely talk,¡± Jimmy said, nodding as he spoke the words. ¡°I got so much time right now. Here, move back a bit before it shoots you with its lasers.¡± ¡°Its what?¡± Jimmy reached out, grabbed her arm, and yanked her towards him just as the ground near her feet detonated upon being struck by two more of the creature¡¯s lasers. Her mouth falling open slightly, she regarded him a moment as though in shock, but then she slowly made a gracious bow of her head. ¡°Thanks, Jimmy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all good.¡± Jimmy backed away, keeping a constant distance from the boss, and now, she followed alongside him, staying close by. ¡°Are we¡­okay?¡± she asked. ¡°Oh, for sure, we¡¯re good.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so confused and have so many questions of you.¡± ¡°I kinda have a few as well.¡± ¡°Well, let me just start by introducing myself. My name¡¯s Fiona Darkmae, and I¡¯m the leader of the Children of Order.¡± He nodded. ¡°I know. I see you all over the place.¡± ¡°Ohh? You¡¯re a fan?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Jimmy lied. Who would answer no to that? That would only make things awkward. ¡°Well, it¡¯s good to meet you. So, uh¡­¡± Hesitantly, she looked ahead of her as Jimmy continued to backpedal. ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me why you¡¯re here, what happened, and where the other adventurers are. They should¡¯ve been here by now.¡± ¡°I came here for a drink, and this thing spawned by pure coincidence. And what other adventurers are you talking about?¡± He could sense his question confused her. She puckered her lips for a few seconds before responding. ¡°You called them to come help, right?¡± Jimmy snorted. ¡°Hell no.¡± Her eyes widened. ¡°You¡¯re joking, right?¡± ¡°Why would I be?¡± ¡°I¡­I¡¯m so confused. Can you start from the beginning and tell me everything that happened? And again, not to be pushy, but quickly.¡± ¡°Like I said, we¡¯ve got plenty of time, but if you really wanna know why I¡¯m out here¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll tell you.¡± As Jimmy began to speak, he surprised himself by how open he was being. The alcohol having been vaporized out of his system, it was not responsible for his loose lips. Holding back only the parts that he absolutely could not speak aloud, he decided, for a reason unknown to him, to tell this girl exactly what had happened to bring him here. Maybe it was just because he felt like talking about it. Or maybe it was to pass the time, of which he now had a great deal. Either way, he decided to fill her in. ¡°¡­and that was when I decided to show the other adventurers where the dungeon was. Because like, at this point, you know, I¡¯m still thinking I¡¯m worth something, because Eilea¡ªoh, right. You don¡¯t know who that is. So uh, Eilea¡¯s like a¡ª¡± ¡°Oh, I know Eilea!¡± Fiona shot in, sounding almost cheerful at the name. ¡°Wait, you do?¡± She nodded. ¡°Yeah. The Elves invited all of us to come meet her the moment she reappeared. A lot of high-ranking guild members haven¡¯t gone yet because they were busy with the war, but I showed up there yesterday and met her. I must¡¯ve just missed you. You remind me a lot of¡ª¡± she made an ¡°ohh¡± sound¡ª¡°wait, you¡¯re that boy they were talking about!¡± ¡°That who was talking about?¡± Jimmy asked, becoming self-conscious. ¡°Who is it you think I am?¡± ¡°The boy who came from Earth!¡± she said, smiling at him. Jimmy inhaled. ¡°Wait, you know about that?¡± ¡°Yep. I overheard Eilea talking to the adventurers about it,¡± she explained. ¡°How you were born of a colony of Earth survivors, and you trained in all those simulations and stuff. Right?¡± So that¡¯s how that got started, Jimmy thought, finally discovering the origin of his semi-fictional ¡°backstory.¡± Yesterday, Spider had approached him to let him know that he and the other adventurers had become aware of Jimmy¡¯s upbringing on Earth. At the time, he¡¯d become fearful that somehow secrets that really weren¡¯t supposed to spill had, well, spilled. But he¡¯d soon discovered that what the adventurers actually ¡°knew¡± was a completely modified, fabricated version of events that claimed Jimmy was rescued from a modern-day, destroyed Earth by Eilea and taken here via a portal or something. At the time, Jimmy had been wondering who¡¯d created this fictional¡ªbut very useful¡ªbackstory, which enabled him to be a little more comfortable around the adventurers and worry less about slipping up while also concealing the more sensitive details. Now, he knew. It was Eilea. Jimmy reapplied his slow, his poisons, and his stamina-regen buff, then said, ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s me.¡± ¡°Wow. Okay! Eilea talked really highly about you.¡± ¡°She did?¡± ¡°Mhm. She sure did. But go on. What happened next?¡± She frowned, but not at him, as a jewelry store went up in flames. ¡°And maybe be a bit quicker. Sorry.¡± Given her sense of urgency, Jimmy did his best to fill her in on the rest of the story as quickly as he could without leaving out any important details. By the time he¡¯d finished, he was surprised to see the genuine look of compassion on her face. Fiona clearly stood in contrast to all the bad things he¡¯d heard from adventurers about the so-called ¡°political guilds.¡± ¡°Oh, dude, I¡¯m so sorry,¡± she said. Then she again looked at the giant horse. ¡°So that¡¯s why you¡¯re fighting it alone?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. I gotta solo it.¡± ¡°To prove yourself, right?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± She gave him a pat on the shoulder. ¡°I get where you¡¯re coming from. I really do. Everybody thinks I¡¯m just a pretty face. Nobody believes I¡¯m actually a strong, capable leader. Not just because of my age, but because of who I am and how I look. I¡¯m constantly fighting to prove I belong in my position. But¡­¡± ¡°But what?¡± She squeezed his right shoulder blade. ¡°I really need you to call your adventurer friends over here, or if you want, I can call them.¡± Jimmy flared in outrage. ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°Look, I totally get where you¡¯re coming from. I really do. I mean that. But here¡¯s the thing, Jimmy. I love this region. I love it so much. I love the people here. Do you see that restaurant right there¡±¡ªshe pointed¡ª¡°that just got crushed by the boss? I used to eat there when I was a kid. And I know the owners. They¡¯re a really great family.¡± She released his shoulder as the two continued to back away and turn around before heading down the next block. ¡°I understand that you have something to prove. But my region is being destroyed right now. You have to understand you can¡¯t just¡­you can¡¯t just turn a whole district into your own personal arena for¡­how long is it going to take you to kill that, anyway?¡± Jimmy looked at the boss¡¯s HP. All his poisons combined were doing around 800 damage each tick. He made a very uneasy chuckle. ¡°About 21-and-a-half hours,¡± he said. ¡°Yeah¡­Jimmy, I¡¯m sorry, but you need to call this one in.¡± Having used magic to rid the alcohol from his system, Jimmy was far too sensible now to argue his way out of it. Actually, he couldn¡¯t believe he¡¯d ever resisted in the first place. The alcohol had made him act irrationally and ridiculously. ¡°They¡¯re gonna kill me, Fiona.¡± He briefly told her of his conversation with his friends over the phone. ¡°No they¡¯re not. They can¡¯t kill their raid leader.¡± ¡°Raid leader?¡± Jimmy repeated with a guffaw. ¡°I¡¯ll be lucky if I¡¯m not thrown out of the adventuring community for this. No way they let me lead a raid ever again¡ªand that was before I started soloing this.¡± Fiona raised her right hand, lifted her index finger, and then she wiggled it at him. ¡°Nope. You forget, this is my island, Jimmy. And if I say that only you¡¯re permitted to lead a raid here, then that is law.¡± Jimmy gasped. ¡°Wait, you can do that?¡± ¡°I sure can.¡± He felt his spirits rising¡ªonly to sink. ¡°But I¡¯m not a good raid leader. I told you what happened yesterday.¡± ¡°Today isn¡¯t yesterday, though. And isn¡¯t there some part of you that wants to try again? Based on everything you told me, I don¡¯t even think killing this giant horse all by yourself is gonna make you feel better.¡± This, he found strange. ¡°What do you mean?¡± She shook her head confidently. ¡°Well, it sounds to me like you could already do this kind of one-on-one boss fighting from the start. Maybe I¡¯m, like, totally off base here, but I kind of think the only thing that¡¯ll help you feel better is if you try to lead another raid¡ªand get it right this time.¡± Her words struck him deeply. ¡°And you¡¯d trust me to do that?¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°B-because you don¡¯t even know me, and why would you care at all? You¡¯re the leader of a guild, and the property of your people is being trampled on. Why would you risk losing even more on some unknown nobody like me?¡± ¡°Good question,¡± she said, sounding reflective. ¡°Hmm. I don¡¯t know. Maybe it¡¯s just intuition. Or maybe because I get it. I really get it. Every day of my life I feel like I have to prove myself to someone who thinks I¡¯m too young and too pretty to be taken seriously. I kind of want to see you win.¡± Jimmy was shocked: so much so that he wasn¡¯t even sure how to respond to that. Part of him wondered if he was even worthy of ever leading a raid again. Without the alcohol, his confidence had taken a hit. Still, he couldn¡¯t deny that the ideal appealed to him on a very deep level, and so he accepted her offer immediately. ¡°If you¡¯re really serious about this, then yeah, I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll do it. And I guess I can call Zach and Kalana back and tell them where I¡ª¡± ¡°Wait, wait, Kalana is here?¡± Fiona exclaimed. ¡°On Faded Island?¡± ¡°Well, yeah, she and Zach and some others came looking for me. Why?¡± In response, Fiona removed her own phone and began hastily making a call. ¡°What are you¡ª¡± ¡°Kalana?¡± Fiona said aloud. ¡°Thank the Gods I got you. No, this isn¡¯t about the fruit basket, but I¡¯m glad you enjoyed it. Thank you! Awwhh, you¡¯re so sweet. But seriously, there¡¯s a reason I¡¯m calling you. Um, you¡¯ll never guess who I just ran into.¡± The two began speaking as though they knew one another, and through their animated chatter, Jimmy learned that they had become friends during the dragon raid and had begun keeping in contact on social media ever since, in some cases speaking daily. Jimmy watched all of this in a state of sober bewilderment. It also occurred to him that he was going to have to deal with Donovan in a very short while from now. Damn, that wasn¡¯t going to be fun. Chapter 169: Elemental Shift Chapter 169: Elemental Shift With noon only two hours away, the Galterran summer heat was making itself known. Perspiration caused a dampness to form on the back of Zach¡¯s neck as the cloudless sky provided no shade or respite from the high temperature nor from the burning sun that scorched with an unprovoked vengeance. Still, Zach paid it little mind. He was far more focused on getting to Jimmy, and so were the others. But they were beginning to slow, as not all of them were able to move at quite the same pace. At the moment, Rian was panting, and Lienne was, too. But Zach was still fine, and so was Kalana, Tena, Trelvor, and Seiley. All seven of them had been sprinting down one of the main roads in the region of Faded Island, this one in particular spanning across the middle of the huge island from the west to the east. A few minutes ago, Zach had been relieved to learn some very important details from a miraculously sobered up Jimmy, beginning with the fact that he was back in a rational state of mind and was willing to work together. This is the last thing I thought was going to happen out here, Zach thought with a sigh. I¡¯m going to need another vacation after what these past twenty-four hours put me through. Zach periodically glanced at his phone to ensure he was moving in the right direction. This was his very first time ever visiting Faded Island, a region that was known to have the happiest population in all of North Bastia. Just off the western coast, the island housed something that could almost be called one gigantic pseudo-suburbia. There were no cities on Faded Island and no tall buildings. Instead, low-density communities filled with single-family homes were broken up by strip malls, shopping plazas, and other types of commercialized areas. There were also a few stretches of farmland and other more open, natural, and scenic spots to take in, such as the fields to the left and right of them as they ran off to the side of the main road. ¡°That¡¯s where all the chocolate comes from, right?¡± Rian asked, gazing longingly at the cocoa bean farms. ¡°Rian, you¡¯ve had enough chocolate in your life,¡± Zach muttered. ¡°Now run faster or I¡¯m leaving you behind.¡± A DEHV zipped by, blasting them with a gust of wind and moving at a speed fast enough to plainly put into focus how slow the six of them were moving in comparison. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not me,¡± Rian said, clearly lying. ¡°It¡¯s Lienne. I¡¯m only slowing down for her.¡± This, he said as beads of sweat rained down the front and both sides of his face. ¡°L-liar,¡± Lienne huffed, obviously struggling. ¡°Trelvor¡­baby, will you buy me chocolate after we kill the boss?¡± ¡°Of course I will, my Lienne.¡± Zach decided he¡¯d buy Kalana a bunch of it too assuming this boss didn¡¯t destroy the region or the entire world before that point, though from what he was hearing, everything seemed pretty well contained. This was good, because although she¡¯d set it aside for now, he knew that Kalana was still really mad at him for lying to her, and though it would definitely take more than a couple of boxes of chocolate to get back on her good side, it would surely be a start. Of course, even if she wasn¡¯t mad at him, he¡¯d still buy them for her. The idea of coming here to Faded Island and not buying the sweets was actually unthinkable. After all, the entire region was only able to sustain its upper-middle-class lifestyle due to being the sole exporter of all the cocoa beans used on Galterra. From what Zach had learned in school, it seemed that the nitrogen-rich soil enabled the crop¡¯s growth, and it couldn¡¯t be grown anywhere else. As a matter of fact, it reminded Zach that the rest of the entire world likely hadn¡¯t gotten to taste chocolate since Peter IV. That¡¯s right, he thought to himself. It doesn¡¯t grow anywhere else on this planet. That means only humans have eaten it in decades since nobody else trades with us anymore. Thanks to its relative position of isolation respective to the rest of the world, Faded Island had been involved in very few conflicts throughout history. Its ruling guild, Children of Order, had also been its steward for as far back as history could tell, but this was also due to the guild¡¯s total and complete rejection of any kind of expansionist philosophy, something it had consistently stuck to for all¡ªor nearly all¡ªof its existence. As a result, Children of Order made very few enemies, and according to history, they¡¯d maintained their position of power here and had only ever lost control of it briefly during the height of the Brayspark monarchy. Hence, the guild became synonymous with Faded Island, and it was impossible to imagine anyone else ruling over this peaceful but mostly unspectacular region. It''s so different here from where I grew up, Zach thought. Farmers looked on incuriously as Zach and his friends darted by. A few even waved as though recognizing him. People here didn¡¯t seem to have all that much interaction with guild members, which was similar to how things had been all Zach¡¯s life in Whispery Woods, only in this case, it wasn¡¯t because the region had been abandoned and left in disrepair; rather, it was because their ruling guild, Children of Order, were known to be extraordinarily mindful of disturbing their citizens. The only other guild like that was the Royal Roses, who also prioritized values such as putting the personal liberty of their citizens above things like custom and decorum. But unlike the Royal Roses, the Children of Order did not collect any property tax and instead sourced all of their money through export fees. They also weren¡¯t quite as unrestrictive as the Royal Roses when it came to personal morality. Just like most guilds, the Children of Order did have some, albeit looser, laws around obscenity and lewd public conduct. The Royal Roses, on the other hand, did not even arrest people who walked around naked. If they did, they would¡¯ve had to arrest Vim Alazar, their leader, who had nakedly and drunkenly stumbled around Giant¡¯s Fall on so many different occasions that even guild censorship had given up trying to cover it up. It was just another quirky thing he was known for, and people in Giant¡¯s Fall had just come to accept it. Everybody knew that, legally speaking, just about anything that didn¡¯t involve children was fair game in Giant¡¯s Fall. And anything that did was punishable by death. This was a universe away from Varda¡¯s Lair, where the People of Virtue imposed a strict, formal dress code and arrested people for walking around non-beachfront or pool areas in shorts. They even have brothels in Giant¡¯s Fall, Zach thought, something boys in his class had always snickered about and discussed wanting to go visit. Not Zach, though. He was an angel who never said anything wrong, and if anyone ever told Kalana otherwise, he¡¯d stab them in the face! In a strange way, the Children of Order were similar to the adventurers in the sense that they were very unaffected by world events, and this attitude seemed to carry over, culturally speaking, to the people they governed. Right now, all throughout North Bastia, there were riots, violence, and widespread public disorder as a response to the attack on Ogre¡¯s Axe and the broader war going on between the Guild of Gentlemen and basically everybody else. But Zach doubted any of that disorder was happening over here. Faded Island was practically disconnected from the politics of the world. Although, unlike the adventurers, they did have at least some involvement, though it was rarely anything that brought much attention or scrutiny down upon them. ¡°Rian, try to keep up,¡± Trelvor said. ¡°Lienne, you can hop on my back if you want.¡± She blew him a kiss and did exactly that, causing Rian to cock his right eyebrow at Seiley. ¡°Not a chance,¡± she growled. ¡°You should be carrying me.¡± ¡°Fucking whatever,¡± Rian huffed out, taking bigger and bigger breaths. ¡°Gods, how did we end up on the completely wrong side of the island?¡± ¡°Because Fluffles bailed on us and we had no idea where to look,¡± Zach said, becoming disappointed. He came to a halt to let Rian rest for a moment, and the others stopped with him. ¡°Why did he go and ditch us, anyway?¡± Kalana asked. She gave Zach a way-too discerning look. ¡°Did you or Rian do something to upset the kitty?¡± ¡°What? No, of course not,¡± Zach said defensively. ¡°Then why¡¯d he leave?¡± He shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Cat reasons, I guess. He said something about being bored and hating¡­¡± Zach¡¯s words trailed off as a strange sensation like that of a chill slithered down his spine. Kalana, noticing this, came a little closer and lowered her voice. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s just something that Fluffles said.¡± ¡°What¡¯d he say?¡± Abruptly, Rian and Trelvor also seemed to become paler as though they were now recalling what Zach had only just remembered. Zach turned his head down and stared at the grass beside the curb as he thought on the cat¡¯s words. He wanted to make sure he wasn¡¯t misunderstanding or misconstruing things. Afterwards, he looked at Kalana. ¡°He said that he was leaving because he¡­hates horses.¡± Kalana wet her lips like she had something she wanted to say but then seemingly froze as though it had taken a few seconds for the implications to really dawn on her. She was quiet a moment, and then she said, ¡°Wait, you don¡¯t think¡­?¡± ¡°He knew,¡± Rian said, still trying to catch his breath as they rested for the time being. ¡°That damn cat knew the boss was going to spawn right on top of Jimmy. That¡¯s why he didn¡¯t want to come.¡± ¡°But how?¡± Lienne asked. ¡°How can he possibly know something like that? Do Shadowfangs have access to spawn dates or something?¡± At this, both Trelvor and Seiley shook their heads at the same time. ¡°No,¡± Seiley said. ¡°Um, at least I¡¯m pretty sure they don¡¯t. I know that Chumpkenwiffles, at least, doesn¡¯t. I play with her all the time and she tells me everything. And she¡¯s always surprised when there¡¯s a rare spawn somewhere near the village.¡± Hearing this, Zach turned to look at the eyeshadow-wearing Elvish girl. ¡°Wait, seriously? You¡¯re saying they¡¯re not all weirdly omniscient like Fluffles is?¡± The question didn¡¯t appear to register to her, because she made an uncertain-sounding hum. ¡°Meaning what?¡± ¡°Well, Fluffles can do all kinds of crazy things. Like, he can ¡®appraise¡¯ people and see their level, abilities, their potential¡­you know, all that kind of stuff.¡± ¡°Yeah, Chumpkenwiffles can do that too. I¡¯m pretty sure they can all do that, actually.¡± ¡°Oh, right,¡± Zach said. ¡°I forgot for a second that it was actually the dog¡¯s appraisal of me that got me killed.¡± Zach shuddered at the memory, and Seiley also made a similar gesture, though in her case, Zach had to imagine it was more due to a sense of underlying shame over how her queen had betrayed him. He also sensed that she didn¡¯t feel like rehashing it, which was good, because he didn¡¯t, either. Thus, eager to move the conversation along, he said, ¡°Fluffles can do other things, too. Like, he can also find people wherever they are in the world. Can Chumpkenwiffles do that?¡± ¡°She can, yes. She can track people almost anywhere as long as she¡¯s met them before. So that¡¯s not anything strange, either. What else?¡± Zach thought on it. ¡°Fluffles knows whenever someone¡¯s leveled up or what level they are even when they¡¯re far away.¡± ¡°You mean he doesn¡¯t need to be near them to know what level they are?¡± ¡°Yup. He can tell you someone¡¯s current level even if they¡¯re on a different planet.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Seiley tapped her chin. ¡°Okay, so on that one, I think you¡¯ve got something.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Uh¡­yeah, I don¡¯t think Chumpkenwiffles can do that. I say this because whenever I used to level up and come home a higher level than I was when I left, she¡¯d come running up to me all happy and surprised and excited.¡± Seiley¡¯s expression warmed. ¡°She¡¯s so cute. She wags her tail and congratulates me and then asks me if she can have a new toy or beef.¡± Zach chuckled. ¡°Fluffles is always asking me for food, too. And I mean like always. I don¡¯t know how the cat is so hungry. And you know what?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°If I don¡¯t dangerously overfeed him well beyond what¡¯s reasonable or healthy, Fluffles goes around telling everyone that I¡¯m abusing and starving him. He actually goes and says, ¡®Zach abuse and starve Fluffles.¡¯ Like I¡¯d ever do that.¡± Seiley laughed. ¡°No way! Whenever I don¡¯t give the doggie extra meat, she uses guilt on me too! Ah, maybe not to that extreme, but one time, around a year and a half ago, back when my mom asked me to patrol the Skelly Highlands, Chumpkenwiffles came along with me, okay? So get this. Halfway through our patrol, she starts sniffing, right? And then she just¡ª¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad to see you all have the time to sit around and make idle chat,¡± a no-nonsense voice said from behind them. Zach looked over his shoulder then fully turned around to see Mr. Oren sprinting in their direction. But it was through his voice alone that Zach was able to identify his former science teacher¡ªand not at all through sight. Because the man heading towards them was almost unrecognizable, at least at first. What the¡­? The sight of Mr. Oren was incredibly jarring. Zach could hear Lienne gasp as he drew nearer. The man was absolutely covered in blood. From head to toe, it was all over him. It was even covering both lenses of his glasses. But what made it so jarring wasn¡¯t even just the blood itself but also the fact that, from his behavior and mannerisms, he seemed to have absolutely no idea the state he was in. ¡°We have a responsibility,¡± he said. ¡°All of us do. I understand you want to tell each other funny stories about your Shadowfangs, but Zach, my man, this is not the time to be doing it.¡± ¡°Are¡­are you okay?¡± Zach asked him warily. ¡°Hm? I¡¯m fine,¡± Mr. Oren said. He paused just in front of where Zach was currently standing. Despite speaking as he normally spoke, there was a strange, detectable edge to him that Zach didn¡¯t recognize. He seemed off, though Zach wasn¡¯t sure if this was because of any real deviation from his typical behavior or if it was simply a psychological effect of seeing the man covered in so much blood that it was hard to make out his distinct facial features. Clearly, Zach wasn¡¯t the only one of the two who¡¯d had a rough go of things since they¡¯d last seen one another the previous evening. But since Zach hardly had the right to judge, he tried his best not to dwell on it. What he did dwell on, however, was how the man could even possibly be standing here in front of him. How can he be here? Forgetting for the moment that Mr. Oren was now a very high-ranking member of a political guild and had dire responsibilities to take care of elsewhere, the man had still been in Shadowfall Coast the last time Zach had checked. For him to have arrived here at all, he''d have had to travel to an airport, board an eight-hour flight, land, and then hurry his way to this main road. There was no way he should''ve been able to get here so fast unless he had traveled through the dungeons, which was no longer something he had the ability to do. That was why his presence put Zach somewhat off guard. ¡°It¡¯s uh, it''s really good to see that you¡¯re okay,¡± Zach said to him, filling with uncertainty. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you were able to come at all with the war stuff going on and whatnot. Also, I thought you quit adventuring, so how exactly did you get here? I thought you gave up the buff. And when did you get here?¡± ¡°I only arrived just a few minutes ago,¡± he replied, ¡°and I don¡¯t consider this ¡®adventuring¡¯ but rather an important function of public safety. As far as how, it was quite simple. I managed to establish contact with Eilea Vayra, and I politely asked her to reinstate the buff. She agreed without any hesitation and impressively did so from afar. I don''t intend to keep it, however. I will rid myself of it once again after events here conclude." Even while Zach was still processing what Mr. Oren had told him, a ferocious scowl popped onto the face of Trelvor, whose white cloak swayed somewhat as a warm breeze drifted across the land. "Human," he said, practically snarling at Mr. Oren. "While I admit I''ve no idea what ''buff'' you are referring to, I hardly care. If you''ve been given a gift by the Great Goddess, I had best not discover you''ve thrown it away. I cannot forgive any who would eschew Her Greatness''s benediction." Mr. Oren lowered his head. "Forgive me for any offense I may have caused. I shall greatly consider what you''ve told me." Trelvor released a semi-satisfied grunt, clearly having no idea that Mr. Oren had basically just pulled a politician''s wool over his eyes and gave him a totally dismissive, noncommittal reply designed to put him at ease while promising him nothing. Hell, the fact Zach himself even realized what he''d done was nothing short of astounding. Still, it was better than having some kind of ridiculous conflict erupt at a time like now. It was probably smart of Mr. Oren not to piss off the Elves unnecessarily. "Anyway," his former science teacher continued, "I¡¯m glad I could catch up to all of you. Has Donovan arrived yet?¡± ¡°Well, no,¡± Kalana said worryingly. ¡°He''s not here yet, but¡­¡± ¡°But what?¡± Mr. Oren asked her. Kalana pointed at his face. ¡°What happened to you, Alex? You¡¯re covered in dried blood. It¡¯s even on your ears! You look like you were having, umm, a bath in it or something.¡± He sniffed. ¡°Is that really what you should be worried about right now?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just concerned is all.¡± Kalana began to speak a touch more softly. ¡°Alex, I can¡¯t even see your eyes because your lenses are covered with it. How do you even see out of those glasses?¡± ¡°I see just fine, Kalana, and there was no time to change or get cleaned up. As a matter of fact, my guild is enraged that I¡¯m even here at all. We need to deal with the T9 immediately so I can return.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on over there, anyway?¡± Zach asked, a nervous, squeezing sensation forming in his stomach as he recalled the stakes of the war. ¡°Did you guys find the weapons?¡± Even as he spoke the questions, it suddenly occurred to Zach that, aside from his initial chat with Kalana, he hadn¡¯t thought about the war a single time since he¡¯d woken up in Angelica¡¯s, and this really did come as a huge shock to him. Considering the fact that he himself had gotten so personally involved, and also the fact that the Guild of Gentlemen were posing an existential threat to life itself, it wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that virtually nothing happening anywhere was more important than the events taking place in Shadowfall Coast. And for these reasons as well as many others, Zach was utterly stunned that he hadn¡¯t spent even a little time thinking about it these past few hours. Now, as he reminded himself of both the stakes and the consequences of failure, an overanxious, morbid sense of dread began to occupy his sense of being. At once, Zach found himself holding his breath and studying Mr. Oren¡¯s blood-stained face for any hint of answers or reassurance even as the man was already opening his mouth to reply to him. ¡°We did,¡± he replied curtly. ¡°We found them, and they¡¯ve been destroyed.¡± Zach exhaled with relief, and he could see the same relief in everyone else¡¯s faces as well. ¡°Thank the Gods,¡± he said, feeling himself becoming more upbeat. It almost sounded too good to be true. ¡°How did it all go down?¡± he asked as a rush of questions stampeded through his brain. ¡°Is Vim still okay? I went through hell to save him. And where were all the weapons being hidden? Did most of your guild make it out okay? How¡¯s the city doing? Oh, and how close were they to finishing it when you¡ª¡± ¡°Zach, please,¡± Mr. Oren said, holding out his palm. ¡°Sir Alazar is fine to the best of my knowledge, and as to the rest of your questions¡­¡± He averted his gaze for a moment and closed his eyes. With a lowered voice, he continued, ¡°Look, Zach. Given how much you contributed and participated, you absolutely do deserve a full accounting of all events¡ªtruly, you do. But I just don¡¯t feel now is the appropriate time to discuss it. Later, perhaps. The battle isn¡¯t over yet, and there¡¯s still so much to do. More than any of you can imagine.¡± Zach reached out to give Mr. Oren a friendly pat on the shoulder but then withdrew his hand after realizing he¡¯d rather not touch his guild coat, which looked like it had been fully dipped into a barrel containing nothing but blood. ¡°I understand,¡± he said cautiously, reining in his curiosity for the time being. ¡°However it all happened, I knew you¡¯d get it done, Mr. Oren. I believed in you.¡± For some reason, his words caused Mr. Oren to wince as though he¡¯d been cut or struck. ¡°I¡­I didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°You what?¡± ¡°I¡­I didn¡¯t succeed.¡± Zach tilted his head to the side. ¡°But you just said the weapons were¡ª¡± ¡°The Guild of Gentlemen lost,¡± he said quickly, wincing yet again. The mask he was wearing was slipping, and Zach could now begin to see the pain beneath it. ¡°But not because of anything I did. I led my guild to ruination.¡± He clenched his hands into fists, his lips stiffening. ¡°I really don¡¯t want to get into this now, Zach. I told you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to¡­I wasn¡¯t trying to get you to speak more about it. I was only just trying to¡ª¡± ¡°To be encouraging, I know,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°And I appreciate that. But I can¡¯t have you thinking I¡¯ve done some great thing.¡± He stared directly at Zach, and Zach could see in his eyes that something was disturbing him. ¡°A quarter of my guild is dead.¡± Lienne stirred, Rian coughed, Trelvor and Seiley remained motionless, and Zach, along with Kalana and Tena, looked at one another before all three set their eyes on Mr. Oren. ¡°You mean a quarter of your whole guild?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Mr. Oren said, a scowl on his face. ¡°They were slaughtered. I led them to their death. We weren¡¯t just defeated. We were annihilated. That¡¯s what happened. Now you know.¡± For some reason, Kalana clasped her hand over her own mouth and began shaking her head. ¡°Oh no!¡± she cried out, confusing just about everyone as far as Zach could tell, especially him. ¡°Kal? What¡¯s wrong?¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Now, she seemed just as disturbed as Mr. Oren. She grabbed his wrist. ¡°Zach, if the Lords of Justice got beat, then that means my mom probably¡­¡± She inhaled sharply. ¡°The city¡¯s probably been completely destroyed.¡± Trelvor lowered his head as though in shame, and so did Seiley. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Your Highness, but that is what I believe will have happened.¡± Seiley made a mournful-sounding groan. ¡°It¡¯s really nothing to be proud of, but the Great Lord demanded it of us.¡± Kalana trembled. ¡°How many people? How many people did my mom¡ª¡± ¡°The city is fine,¡± Mr. Oren fired in, causing everyone to once again turn their heads his way, Zach included. ¡°The Elves attempted to destroy the city, but they failed just as my guild attempted to breach the city and likewise failed. Everyone failed. Even the Royal Roses. None of us were able to succeed. In all honesty, we don¡¯t deserve the victory we found ourselves with. We certainly did not earn it.¡± Zach opened his mouth to ask what he was talking about, but Mr. Oren preempted him. ¡°Yes, Zach, I know what you¡¯re wondering. I didn¡¯t want to get into this now, but I suppose since I¡¯m the one who keeps bringing it up, I might as well tell you at least a little more.¡± Mr. Oren took on an even stronger look of self-resentment as he continued speaking. ¡°Your vampire friends: Olivir and Kalana¡¯s cousin.¡± ¡°Kolona?¡± she whispered, her pointed ears suddenly perking up. ¡°What about Kolona?¡± ¡°Those two,¡± Mr. Oren said, ¡°they simply waltzed in and decapitated the king as though it were a trivial task. So many tens of thousands of people died trying to fight their way to the newly crowned king, but to them¡­to those two, they were able to put an end to the man all on their own.¡± ¡°But how?¡± Zach, Kalana, Rian, and Lienne all asked at once. ¡°From what I know, Kolona turned herself invisible, Olivir turned into a bat, and they infiltrated his bunker almost effortlessly. And for this, I¡¯m both grateful to them yet outraged. If they had only done this from the start, so many men and women would still be alive.¡± Zach couldn¡¯t believe what he was hearing. An even larger flurry of questions blasted into him. Why had Olivir and Kolona gotten involved in the fighting? That was the one thing that they absolutely did not want to do, or at least so they¡¯d made very clear. And when Mr. Oren said they ¡°decapitated¡± the king, did he mean that figuratively or literally? And turned into a bat? Zach knew that Kolona could turn invisible, as Fluffles had ¡°leaked¡± that about her on their ride through that big forest on the skelly horses. But he didn¡¯t know Olivir could shapeshift into a Gods-be-damned bat! ¡°I don¡¯t understand how¡ª¡± ¡°Not now, Zach,¡± Mr. Oren interrupted. ¡°We¡¯ve wasted far too much time as it is, and that¡¯s my fault, not yours. I just can¡¯t bring myself to discuss this anymore right now. Even if there wasn¡¯t a boss to kill, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d want to talk about it just this second. I¡¯ve had a very bad day.¡± Zach scanned Mr. Oren with his eyes, taking in the man from the top of his head down to his boots. There wasn¡¯t a single part of him that hadn¡¯t become coated in blood. ¡°I can see that,¡± he whispered. Mr. Oren turned his body so that he faced east along the road. ¡°We¡¯ll definitely talk later, my man. But for now, we have a job to do. I¡¯ll meet all of you there. Try to hurry if you can.¡± With that, he took off at a run all on his own, not even bothering to wait for any of them or to encourage them to catch up. Zach would¡¯ve thought he¡¯d have liked to at least hang around them and travel together as a group, but no, he just trekked right on by them all on his own. ¡°He¡¯s¡­not himself,¡± Kalana said. ¡°What happened to him in Shadowfall Coast?¡± ¡°War,¡± Trelvor said. ¡°It changes people.¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true. But he¡¯s really different right now. He¡¯s going to scare the shit out of people if they see him up close. He usually cares a lot about that kind of thing, too.¡± Zach cringed. ¡°Gods, he looks like a total psychopath right now: like some maniac who just murdered his wife and chopped her into little pieces. We need to go after him. I don¡¯t feel comfortable having him show up alone like that. He¡¯ll probably give Jimmy a heart attack.¡± ¡°Yeah, seriously,¡± Rian agreed. ¡°I did not like the vibe I just got from him.¡± Lienne grabbed her brother¡¯s arm. ¡°Same,¡± she whispered. ¡°Mhm,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll get his attention.¡± Loudly, she shouted after him. ¡°Hey, Alex, wait!¡± ¡°You¡¯re just wasting your breath, Kal,¡± Zach said. ¡°He¡¯s not going to stop.¡± ¡°Alex, wait up!¡± she shouted again, seemingly ignoring Zach. To Zach¡¯s surprise, Mr. Oren actually did pause, and now Zach watched as Kal took off after him at a run, prompting him, Rian, Lienne, Trelvor, Seiley, and Tena to follow along behind her as they made their way to Mr. Oren. The moment Zach reached his side, his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. It was Jimmy, likely calling for another check-in. Zach answered. ****** Until just this second¡ªuntil this exact moment in time right here and right now¡ªthe sole and only issue of Jimmy¡¯s concern had been his drowsiness. Having stayed up all night drinking, and having entered a very stable, calm, and steady kiting maneuver with the T9 horse boss, Jimmy had begun to yawn every now and again, earning him what could only be called ¡°amazed¡± stares from Fiona Darkmae, who continually sent him such shocked, open-mouthed looks that eventually he had to bring it up with her. ¡°Okay, what is it?¡± he asked. ¡°Why do you keep looking at me like that?¡± Fiona smiled at him in a way that seemed apologetic. ¡°Sorry, bud, it¡¯s just that every time you yawn, I have to ask myself if I¡¯m imagining it or not. Because you¡¯re literally fighting a¡­a that,¡± she said, pointing at the slowly moving and slowly approaching Mare of the Primordial Void. ¡°I just can¡¯t believe you can yawn at a time like this.¡± Just saying the word ¡°yawn¡± caused it to happen again. Jimmy said ¡°excuse me¡± and then patted his mouth with his hand as he released another one. Then, lazily, he reapplied his slow and three poisons. ¡°There¡¯s not much going on here,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m just a bit sleepy. But it¡¯s all good. I¡¯m not gonna actually fall asleep. You don¡¯t gotta worry about that.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± she asked with a mildly playful chuckle. He replied with one as well. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure.¡± ¡°Okay, then.¡± Her chin flicked in the direction of the boss. ¡°Hey, is it just me, or is the boss starting to look different to you?¡± ¡°Different?¡± he asked. Jimmy, groggily, turned his eyes towards the boss¡ªand then every last trace of sleepiness was exorcised from him like an ancient demonic entity. His drowsiness was simply jettisoned out of him, and now, all at once, a monstrous, overwhelming bout of dismay, disappointment, and realization all mixed together to create something akin to a bomb of misery that went off right in the center of his chest. He couldn¡¯t believe his luck¡ªor lack of it. He couldn¡¯t understand why nothing seemed to be going his way these days. Did something like this really have to happen? Did it, though? Really? The Galterrans claimed there existed like a thousand different Gods: are you telling him not even one of them could throw him a bone? ¡°God-dammit!¡± he shouted, unable to control himself. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me, man. Fuck!¡± His outburst seemed to cause Fiona¡¯s face to drain of color. ¡°Wh-what? What¡¯s wrong? Is everything still okay?¡± ¡°No!¡± he shouted. ¡°Not even close!¡± The boss released a loud mix of a neigh and a roar. ¡°Oh¡­oh shit, oh shit oh shit oh shit!¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Fiona demanded. ¡°Jimmy, talk to me. Should we run?¡± ¡°In like a second, yeah.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so confused!¡± ¡°The adventurers are gonna be as well.¡± He pulled out his phone as he watched the gigantic horse monster change before his very eyes; seemingly out of nowhere, it turned from a solid black-purple into a puke green. Beginning with its torso, this shift in color spread outwards running up the center of its body and down along its back, changing not only the color of it but also the shape of its face, making it appear sleeker. Large green bubbles were now constantly flying upwards off the top of its scalp before ¡°popping¡± and releasing green smoke. Its entire body had become a little larger, too, its nostrils widening as well. ¡°What just happened to it?¡± Fiona asked. ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what it means,¡± Jimmy said, swearing angrily. ¡°This boss has elemental shift!¡± ¡°Is that bad?¡± ¡°Yeah, really bad. Such a lame fucking mechanic. I hate elemental shift! Look, Fiona, we need to de-aggro this thing like right now, ¡®cause it¡¯ll kill us. I can¡¯t solo it. I was wrong. Just look.¡± He pointed with his staff, where the number 0 was popping up above the boss at steady intervals: his poisons. They were now hitting for nothing at all. God, this sucked. Stupidly¡ªand yeah, he knew this was just him being dumb¡ªbut a big part of what upset him so much was the fact that he couldn¡¯t solo it. And not even in the sense that he couldn¡¯t solo it right now, as he¡¯d already agreed to involve the other adventurers. Hell, not even in the sense that he¡¯d intended to solo it at all, as this thing probably had like a thousand-year respawn timer or something crazy. It was more the fact that, speaking purely in hypotheticals, if he had chosen to solo it, he now knew he couldn¡¯t ever have done it under any circumstance at all¡ªmeaning it was never possible in the first place despite him talking so much shit. And that, for some reason, hurt his already badly damaged ego. Even though nobody will probably even think of it that way. Jimmy, knowing he had no other choice, removed his phone and dialed Zach¡¯s number. The kid picked up immediately. Then he hesitated and braced himself before conferencing in a second number. Now, a very, very angry voice answered within a split second. He knew that Zach and the others were probably already on their way, but this just couldn¡¯t wait. ¡°Jimmy!¡± Donovan barked over the phone¡¯s speaker. ¡°I told you to call me back five minutes ago! Kid, I swear to the Gods when I get there I¡¯m gonna¡ª¡± ¡°Donovan, it¡¯s got elemental shift!¡± he shouted, interrupting the man. ¡°¡ªwrap my hands around yer neck and¡ªhuh? Elemental shift? Fuck¡¯s that?¡± Jimmy gestured to Fiona then spun around and began to flee, pausing only to ensure that the extraordinarily beautiful girl was able to keep pace with him. As it turned out, she was even faster than he was. Now, just as Jimmy feared, a gigantic, massive cloud of green, poisonous mist began filling the entire block, one that was spreading very, very quickly¡ªso quickly that Jimmy wasn¡¯t sure he could outrun it. Ah, damn. I think it¡¯s gonna get me. ¡°Donovan!¡± he shouted. ¡°Donovan, listen to me. I¡¯m sorry I pissed you off. I¡¯m paying for it right now, I promise. I need to tell you some important things because I¡¯m¡­¡± Fear jolted through him, but having already so thoroughly humiliated himself, he refused to give in to it as he had last night. He refused to let it paralyze him. ¡°I¡¯m not in a good spot.¡± ¡°Jimmy, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Donovan asked, now sounding far, far more concerned than angry. ¡°Mr. Oren, run! Go, go, go! He needs us!¡± a voice that sounded like Zach shouted over the line, though Jimmy doubted Zach was speaking to him. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on but something sounds like it went wrong.¡± ¡°Understood. Zach, can you patch me in?¡± ¡°Y-yeah.¡± Jimmy tried to tune both of them out so that he could focus on communicating directly with Donovan. But it was difficult to do while a rapidly expanding green mist was beginning to cover the world like a dense fog, one that was coming closer and closer to him. To make matters worse, he ran the wrong way. He split right, and Fiona split left. ¡°Jimmy, no! Don¡¯t go that way!¡± she shouted at him. But of course it was too late. He was now traveling down a one-way street with a furniture store to his left and a gigantic bed and linen warehouse to his right. The green mist expanded in both directions, cutting him off from Fiona. He hoped she¡¯d be okay. She was faster than him, so he assumed she would be. Once more, he fought to suppress his fear and focus on giving Donovan the information he needed just in case Jimmy suffered a terribly painful death in a few moments from now. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you don¡¯t know what elemental shift is, Don?¡± ¡°Never heard of it ¡°Wait, really? Are you sure you''ve never heard of it?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± he snapped. Jimmy resisted the urge to swear at him for being such a damn noob. How come nobody on Galterra never knew a got-dang thing? ¡°All right, listen to me. What I¡¯m about to say I¡¯m only like ninety-percent sure of. Actually, not even. Call it eighty-five to be safe. If I¡¯m right, though, whenever a certain type of damage is used beyond a threshold on this boss, the thing becomes immune to it.¡± ¡°What?¡± Donovan cried¡ªand so too did a voice Jimmy recognized as belonging to Zephyr, and another from Reni Sarwin. It seemed that, the moment Jimmy had called Donovan, he¡¯d patched in all his adventuring buddies. It sure would¡¯ve been nice to know ahead of time that Jimmy wasn¡¯t speaking just to Donovan and Zach. From the sound of all the voices shouting back at him, it sounded like he had the ear of the entire damn adventuring community. ¡°Jimmy,¡± Lord Oren said to him. ¡°Is there any way you can elaborate on what you just said?¡± Jimmy looked over his shoulder. He was beginning to pant as he ran farther down this one-way street. He spoke as quickly as he could while the mist gained on him. ¡°It¡¯s called elemental shift. It¡¯s a mechanic where bosses gain immunities throughout a fight. But it¡¯s not usually based on the amount of damage but the number of times that type is dealt. And it¡­it looks like it gains the powers of that element or damage type, too. I¡¯ve dealt with this shit before in my ga¡ªin my simulations. It¡¯s one of the most annoying goddamn types ¡®cause you gotta use math and only let certain DPS hit it or you run out of ways to hurt it before it¡¯s dead. Again, I can¡¯t say for sure, but if I had to bet, I¡¯d drop a million gold that this thing probably stays immune to that damage type for the rest of the fight. Only way to reset it is to de-aggro and let it go back to spawn. Meaning, it¡¯s not gonna be a determined roamer like that dragon ya¡¯ll dealt with. So at least you don¡¯t gotta worry about this being a world-ending threat.¡± A myriad of voices all began shouting out questions to him. Thankfully, neither Donovan nor any of the others were acting as though they were still mad at him. No, it seemed like they were all back to business as usual. ¡°Jimmy,¡± Lord Oren¡¯s voice said over the phone''s speaker, ¡°just to clarify, are you actually telling us that the T9 mare can become immune to every single element and damage type over the course of a single encounter?¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying it probably can,¡± Jimmy replied. ¡°Like I told you, I¡¯ve dealt with this before in my simulations. These bosses are annoying as hell. You need to calculate damage in real time and make sure everything you hit it with hurts it as much as it can, because otherwise you gotta reset the fight or wipe and come back. I don¡¯t think this thing is gonna roam anywhere. I¡¯m trying to de-aggro it now.¡± Jimmy looked over his shoulder. He was running so frantically that, even with his Breath of Invigoration, he was still panting, as his stamina regen buff was unable to replenish him fast enough each tick, though it did at least give him enough energy to keep up his sustained flight. The only real problem was that he was scampering off in random directions to escape the fast, constantly spreading mist, which was about to overwhelm him. And now, his lack of knowledge of the surrounding area finally bit him in the ass as he hit a dead end. With the fog taking over more and more of the street, visibility was now so poor that he could no longer tell where he was or what was happening. ¡°I think I just died,¡± he said into his phone, his knees trembling. He was trying really hard not to give in to it like he did last night. But now that he knew this was real¡ªthat he could really die¡ªit changed everything. He no longer had any doubt that he was living in the real world with a real body. Any last trace of belief in the idea that this was some kind of high-tech virtual reality experience had been burned out of him last night when he¡¯d been writhing in so much pain. His survival instincts were kicking in, and along with them came terror. ¡°I¡¯m dead,¡± he said into his phone. ¡°It got me. I can¡¯t escape. I can¡¯t¡­¡± He felt his body shaking. ¡°I can¡¯t escape!¡± ¡°The hell do you mean?¡± Donovan shouted, sounding alarmed. ¡°I fucked up. I ran into a dead end and it¡¯s¡­it¡¯s spreading like a poison fog all over the area.¡± Jimmy backed up until he¡¯d pinned himself against a large, decorative stone wall that served as a partition between two large stores of some kind. The fog had become so dense that he couldn¡¯t even see the writing above him. He could no longer see Fiona, either, having become separated with her during his scramble. He had no idea where she was or if she was even okay. ¡°I deserve this,¡± he muttered. ¡°I did this to myself. I¡¯m sorry, guys.¡± Ahead of him, a small miracle was followed by a greater disaster¡ªand in that order, too. Because the fog, which had been traveling faster than he could move, had at last ceased spreading. It came to a halt not even eight feet ahead of him. It was so dense and cloudy that nothing¡ªnot a single thing¡ªcould be seen beyond it. The fact that it had stopped before it came near enough to smother him in its toxic fumes should have been a good thing. But it wasn¡¯t, because emerging from within this fog was the T9 mare, roaring and neighing at the same time. As it approached, Jimmy realized the situation was no longer quite so well under control. For the first time since it¡¯d spawned, Jimmy learned to fear this boss¡ªbut it was a fear he was managing to keep in check as he swallowed nervously and tried to accept his fate. If he was going to die, he couldn¡¯t let it go down the way it¡¯d happened yesterday. He had to at least go down with a little dignity. Something to make up for all this. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I got drunk and tried to solo a T9 world boss,¡± he said to Donovan. ¡°Congrats on getting to be right yet again, Donovan. Tell Tena I love her. And I hope you don¡¯t gloat too much after I¡¯m gone.¡± ¡°Jimmy, just hold on!¡± he shouted. ¡°You better not fuckin¡¯ die you little prick! Zephyr, move your ass! Jimmy, where exactly are you? Look around. Do you see any¡ª¡± The world shook, and the call became disconnected. Jimmy shouted into the phone, but there was no longer any response. He tried in a panic to redial, but it just wasn¡¯t going through. He wasn¡¯t sure why. Maybe they¡¯d hung up on him. Maybe they¡¯d assumed it was too late. After all, if he just died here and now, there¡¯d be nothing left for the boss to aggro, and it¡¯d go marching right back to its spawn point. That was what would be best for everyone, right? He couldn¡¯t blame them for making the right decision. This was his own fault. He¡¯d gotten drunk and behaved like an idiot. But how could he have known the boss would be able to perform an elemental shift? He¡¯d never seen anything like that so far in Galterra. The horse approached, and though it was still slowed, Jimmy had nowhere left to run. And due to having insufficient points into strength, he couldn¡¯t even jump his way up and out of this situation, as the top of the wall behind him was more than five stories tall which translated into around fifty feet in height: too tall for him to leap. He could clear two, maybe three stories. But five? Not a chance. Five stories was well outside of his reach. ¡°All things considered,¡± he said aloud, returning his phone to his pocket so he could grip his staff with both hands. He surprised himself by releasing a terrified but genuine chuckle. ¡°When I was back on Earth, if you asked me how I wanted to go out, it¡¯d be like this.¡± This was it. This was the moment. Right? How bad is this gonna hurt? The mare opened its mouth wide, and then, lunging forward, it made as if to bite him, its jaw approaching so quickly that Jimmy saw it sinking down from above like a descending maw in a free-fall. He yelled at it defiantly. He was scared. He couldn¡¯t deny that. But at least he¡¯d probably go quickly. It wouldn¡¯t be like last night. It¡¯d happen so fast he wouldn¡¯t even feel it. The giant mare¡¯s mouth snapped down at him, and his body froze. He clenched his teeth together, and then he closed his eyes as the sound of several tapping feet and shouting voices caused him to immediately reopen them. Now, his vision was filled with white teeth¡ªand something else. The sight of a dagger and a blade straining against said teeth. Kalana was now standing to his left and Zach was to his right. Then came the sound of more feet dropping down from somewhere above. ¡°Rian, help!¡± Zach cried. ¡°This thing¡¯s so fucking strong!¡± He made a loud groaning cry. ¡°Rian!¡± ¡°I¡¯m coming!¡± A much louder, heavier thud along with a clank echoed from in front of Jimmy, and a piece of the pavement became cracked as the rotund boy slammed down like a cannonball, landing on both his feet yet in a way that was anything but graceful. Immediately, he ran forward and slammed his shield into two of the horse monster¡¯s chiseled teeth. ¡°Oh, shit,¡± Rian said with a grunt. ¡°Y-y-you weren¡¯t kidding. Gahh. This thing¡¯s strong as hell! Why¡¯s it trying to eat us? Horses are herbivores.¡± ¡°It probably thinks you¡¯re a giant fat tomato,¡± Zach replied, coughing out a laugh. Rian let out a cackle of his own. ¡°Fuck you, Zach.¡± The two began grunting and audibly straining as Rian¡¯s shield joined Zach¡¯s blade and Kalana¡¯s dagger: all three began forcibly shoving back on it, and all three, like Jimmy, were partially inside of its mouth. But although they¡¯d held it at bay thus far, it quickly became apparent that their strength and their strength alone was not going to be enough to stop it from chomping down. Right now, however, their efforts were the only thing keeping Jimmy¡ªand now them, too¡ªfrom being eaten alive. Jimmy didn¡¯t deserve their help. They should¡¯ve let him die. They shouldn¡¯t have put themselves in this situation. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Jimmy said. It was all he could think in the moment. ¡°Don¡¯t be,¡± Zach growled at him. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault that this happened!¡± Zach was still straining: that much was obvious. His knees were buckling, and his arms were trembling. But even still, he didn¡¯t seem to blame Jimmy for this situation. But Jimmy blamed himself. The least he could do was help. And so, hurrying forward, Jimmy tried to contribute what little he could. Despite barely making any difference, he held his staff horizontally and began to push against one of the horse¡¯s teeth. ¡°This thing¡¯s super-duper strong,¡± Kalana said. She was also making agonized-sounding groans. ¡°I c-can¡¯t hold it!¡± Rian cried in alarm. His arms began wavering, and so too did Zach¡¯s and Kalana¡¯s. ¡°Guys, I can¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°We¡¯re here!¡± cried Lienne, Trelvor, Seiley, and Tena. All four of them leapt down from the top of the wall, and together, they darted forward and joined the rest of them in pushing back on the boss. For an instant, it almost looked like their combined efforts would be enough to overpower the monster. But it soon became clear that, even all together, they were going to be overwhelmed. ¡°Jimmy,¡± Tena said, looking at him and meeting his eyes as she shoved her own staff against one of its teeth. Her eyes seemed to shimmer a moment, and in them, he could see pain and hurt¡ªthat he¡¯d caused to her. It led to a rush of guilt crashing into him, adding to his shame. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you trust me?¡± she asked. ¡°I care about you more than anyone else on Galterra, so why couldn¡¯t you believe and trust in me?¡± Jimmy opened his mouth to reply, his heart now hammering in his chest for an entirely separate reason. He couldn¡¯t believe she¡¯d ask him this right here and right now of all times. He didn¡¯t even know what he was supposed to say. Yet, incredibly, Zach came to his rescue once again, and this time for an entirely separate matter. ¡°Don¡¯t answer that question until you talk to Jascaila!¡± he shouted as he fought to hold off the mare. ¡°I¡¯m in the exact same kind of trouble with Kal that you¡¯re in. Refuse to say anything until we figure out what words will trick them into forgiving us!¡± Both girls glared at Zach, causing Jimmy to chuckle despite the absurdity of the entire situation¡ªand that in turn caused Kalana and Tena to once again shift their disapproving gaze off of Zach and onto him. Things were just so out of hand. They even began discussing plans to have him and Zach ¡°sleep out in the rain tonight¡± or something. ¡°I think I just aggroed Kalana and Tena,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°Now I¡¯ve got them and the boss on me.¡± Upon those words, Rian and Zach exploded into riotous, full-belly laughter to such an extent that they almost lost their grips on their weapons and got all of them killed. Jimmy hadn¡¯t even meant the comment to be funny, but the two coughed up spit from laughing so hard. ¡°It¡¯s true!¡± Rian practically squealed, a few tears falling out of his eyes. ¡°Jimmy aggroed the girls. He has aggro.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not funny,¡± Kalana said. ¡°Rian, you¡¯re being mean. And so is Zach. And¡­and so is Jimmy! All of you are being mean¡ªexcept Trelvor. He¡¯s being nice.¡± ¡°Thank you, your Highness,¡± the Elf said, bowing even as he fought against the T9 boss mare. He angled his body somewhat as he struggled along with the rest of them, and it was only now that Jimmy noticed something strange from the white-cloaked Elvish warrior. ¡°Hey, uh, Trelvor,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°Uh¡­are you¡­are you pushing against its tooth with a flute?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± For some inexplicable reason that made absolutely no sense whatsoever to Jimmy, his question¡ªalong with its answer¡ªinvoked another round of belly-laughter from Zach and Rian, and once more, Jimmy wasn¡¯t sure why any of that was so funny to them, but it did cause Trelvor¡¯s expression to darken as he gave both of them a disapproving glare. ¡°More flute mockery, yes?¡± he asked, his tone suggesting he was not impressed. ¡°I do not appreciate the insult from either of you. If it continues, I shall play you a song of attack.¡± ¡°Oh, no, don¡¯t play a beautiful melody for me,¡± Rian said sarcastically, choking on laughter. This caused Lienne to take one hand off her staff and slap him¡ªall while still pushing back against the thing trying to kill them all. What the hell was going on here? How were they acting like this? As the seven of them¡ªand Jimmy¡ªcontinued to struggle against the boss, the green, poisonous mist at last ran its course, and his view of the town cleared up. Now, Jimmy could see dozens of fast-moving shadows above him as a legion of adventurers poured down off the wall behind them like raindrops with Donovan leading the charge. ¡°Get this damn thing off of them!¡± he shouted as he slammed a glowing, sparking axe over the mare¡¯s head¡ªdealing a simply unbelievable 9,911 damage against something so much stronger than himself but also failing to stun it in the process. And not because of stat or level difference, either. It appeared the boss was stun immune, but not because of elemental shift; it must have been naturally immune to stuns. ¡°We need to de-aggro and reset!¡± Jimmy cried out. ¡°A boss like this requires a proper engage and careful positioning. This isn¡¯t a fight we can just zerg and win!¡± ¡°Zerg?¡± Donovan asked, his massive, plate-covered arms contributing significantly in the attempt to shove the horse away¡ªand actually succeeding. But now there were a great many adventurers here with them, and the horse began to slide backwards like a dog being dragged on a leash. ¡°It¡­it¡¯s just a word that means to rush at something with a bunch of people all at once. It''s from a simulation called Starcraft.¡± As though finally giving up on this game of tug of war, the horse retreated back a few steps. And then it fired more of its lasers at Jimmy, which Rian attempted to intercept, running in front of him. But then Rian himself was shoved out of the way as Maric Ultdern, wielding a much larger, much more capable shield dropped down from the ledge behind them and absorbed both blasts. The first laser he took with a grunt, and the second one shattered his shield into pieces, the defensive weapon suffering a full break. ¡°That¡­would¡¯ve killed me,¡± Rian said, sounding horrified. ¡°Thanks, Maric.¡± He ruffled Rian¡¯s hair. ¡°Any time. Now someone get me a spare shield!¡± Donovan looked down at Jimmy, and for a moment, Jimmy feared the man would strike him. But instead, he only laughed. ¡°Can¡¯t believe you tried to solo a T9, you crazy fuck. You look like you pissed yourself.¡± Far from anger, the adventurers actually began to roar with laughter, with many even giving him playful shoves in a chummy sort of way. Jimmy was so confused. They weren¡¯t mad at him? ¡°I don¡¯t always understand them either,¡± Zach said as though reading his mind. ¡°But I¡¯m just glad you¡¯re okay.¡± Jimmy nodded. ¡°It¡¯s slowed, so we can actually just run away from it any time we want if you guys can help us get around this dead-end. That way we can¡ª¡± Jimmy yelped in surprise as Trelvor grabbed him without warning and then leapt directly upwards, causing his stomach to lurch and churn. Before Jimmy realized what was happening, he¡¯d been deposited into a sitting position all the way atop the wall. Then Trelvor went back down to help grab other mages who couldn¡¯t make the jump, several of whom had leapt down to help without any realistic plan to escape. "Are you okay?" asked a man standing upright to his left. Jimmy realized it was that Lord Oren guy. He turned his head to nod and confirm that he was indeed okay, but as soon as he did so, he flinched and almost fell right back off the slanted wall. The dude was absolutely covered in blood. He looked like he''d been using a chainsaw to kill zombies or some shit. What the hell was with him? Even his glasses were bloodied. Jimmy hope that wasn''t human blood and that it was just mob blood. Immediately, he became unsettled. He decided to turn his attention away from the guy and instead look down upon the adventurers, who were once again cleaning up his mess. ¡°Tanks, hold the thing off while we extract!¡± Donovan roared from below. ¡°I don¡¯t think this one¡¯s a roamer. Jimmy¡¯s probably right, and I¡¯ve always had a good sense of these things. It¡¯ll probably go back to its spawn once we¡¯re off it. Jimmy!¡± ¡°Y-yeah?¡± ¡°You¡¯re gonna tell us everything you know about ¡®elemental shifting¡¯ and what it means once we de-aggro. This time, calmly and slowly.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°I¡¯ll explain it while I lead the raid.¡± Donovan¡¯s made a difficult-to-read expression. ¡°You? Lead the raid?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± He grunted. ¡°Maybe. We¡¯ll see.¡± Chapter 170: Responsibility Chapter 170: Responsibility Zach waved his hand in thanks as a waitress in a red apron placed a few more items down on his and other various tables before moving along and eventually bowing to Fiona Darkmae, who was standing near glass sliding doors towards the front of the large, pleasant-smelling eatery. Afterwards, like the rest of the staff here in ¡°Gall''s Grille,¡± she left the premises completely. Apparently, the owner and staff were being well compensated by the Children of Order in exchange for renting out the diner for the rest of the day. Now, with a degree of privacy, the adventurers began eating, getting rowdy, and displaying their usual drunken antics¡ªonly without actually being drunk, as Donovan and Zephyr had, for the moment, banned all alcoholic beverages pending a decision on whether or not a takedown would be attempted later this evening. But that, of course, was a discussion that probably wouldn¡¯t take place until bellies became fuller and things settled down a bit. It''s getting a bit overcrowded in here, Zach thought as the diner quickly filled to maximum capacity. Right now, the place was packed. More than eighty adventurers had shown up with more still arriving as well as a dozen members of Children of Order thrown into the mix. A sense of cheer filled the air as people dug into their food at tables large enough to seat eight apiece. Not everyone was seated, though, as a few of the late arrivals had to stand and lean against the wall while holding plates. Even the nine stools across from the bar were occupied despite liquor being prohibited for the moment. ¡°Mmm,¡± Kalana said appreciatively as she bit into a large cheeseburger with ketchup, lettuce, pickles, and a fried onion ring tucked away in the middle. She dabbed her chin with a napkin. ¡°It¡¯s good! Jimmy, quit being so gloomy and try yours.¡± Located almost perfectly in the middle of the diner, Zach sat with Kalana to his immediate right and Rian and Seiley to his left. Lienne, Trelvor, Jimmy, and Tena were across from him. Everyone including Zach was chowing down¡ªexcept Jimmy, who seemed to have become overtaken with a sudden gloominess during the past few minutes. He and Zach had actually both ordered the grilled chicken club sandwich, but he wasn¡¯t even touching his. ¡°Food¡¯s not what I need,¡± he said, rubbing his face. Though cramped, the place was well air conditioned, yet Jimmy was sweating. ¡°What I really need is a drink.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t even finish the one you¡¯ve got,¡± Zach said to him. He made a back-and-forth waving motion with his left hand. ¡°I¡¯m not talking about soda, Zach.¡± Quickly, his eyes shifted to the bar, which Donovan and Zephyr were standing around as though guarding it from the wild adventurers. At this, both Kalana and Tena frowned at him. ¡°You¡¯re not even legally allowed to drink yet,¡± Kalana said in a way that came across as scolding but was not exactly uncalled for. ¡°And umm, even if you were, nobody else is allowed to drink right now, either.¡± Rian laughed at Jimmy. ¡°You of all people should totally understand why that is. Especially after what just happened.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand,¡± Jimmy said, continuing to bury his face and eyes in his hands. ¡°Once I get started, it¡¯s real hard for me to stop.¡± Again, Rian laughed. ¡°Not gonna lie, dude, but what you just said makes you sound like you¡¯re an alcoholic or something.¡± Jimmy lifted his head, and his face flushed with what Zach assumed to be irritation. ¡°No shit, man, that¡¯s because I am an alcoholic.¡± At this, Zach could see Rian¡¯s lips part as though shocked; the others gave off a similar look. Zach was surprised as well, though he wasn¡¯t even sure if Jimmy was joking around or not¡ªat least at first. But then Jimmy seemed to retreat a bit, sinking lower into his seat, and Zach realized he was being serious. ¡°I don¡¯t even know how I made it weeks here without a drink,¡± he spoke at barely above a whisper. ¡°I had a bit of a drinking problem before I came to Galterra. I guess the shock of all this shit was so big it took my mind off it. I swear I never would¡¯ve gone that long without at least a few sips to get me by. But now that I¡¯m starting to accept this as my new reality and the uh, the you know, the ¡®novelty¡¯ of it is starting to wear off, I¡¯m starting to return to my ways from back home.¡± ¡°You mean Earth?¡± Rian asked him. ¡°Yeah.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Well, I guess I can¡¯t blame you for that. It sounds like there was nothing to do over there but play simulations and get wasted.¡± For just the slightest instant, Rian¡¯s words confused Zach, but then he remembered what Jimmy had told him a very short while earlier. Taking him aside so that the two could briefly speak in private, Jimmy had informed Zach that Eilea had come up with a very clever ¡°backstory¡± for him so that he could more openly be himself without giving away extremely sensitive information that it was too dangerous to discuss in front of anyone who didn¡¯t already know it. That was really nice of her, he thought. Eilea had informed the adventurers that Jimmy was born on Earth¡ªbut the Earth of today and not whatever it was when he¡¯d actually been living on it. She¡¯d told them that he was part of a colony of Earth survivors that had existed there since ancient times and that he had been trained in various simulations which was why he held so much knowledge about the world of adventuring. She¡¯d also told everyone that Jimmy¡¯s colony was destroyed by a boss spawn and that he was the only survivor, and that she¡¯d shown up too late to rescue the others or something like that. It really was clever on her part, and it seemed to be doing the trick. Lienne sat up straighter and looked across the table at Jimmy. ¡°No matter what caused it,¡± she said, ¡°you need to try to quit. And I don¡¯t mean to sound like I¡¯m lecturing you¡ªand yeah, I get it, that¡¯s exactly how I sound¡ªbut you¡¯re only two years older than me and Rian and Zach. That¡¯s way too young to be addicted to alcohol.¡± Jimmy chuckled. ¡°Not where I come from. And that¡¯s not all I¡¯m into. Fuck it, I might as well just be straight up with you guys. I love drugs, too.¡± Zach flinched, and so did Kalana. ¡°D-don¡¯t say it so proudly,¡± Kalana hissed at him, even going so far as to look around nervously in case other people might be overhearing their conversation. Zach did the same. What kind of maniac would admit to using drugs in public¡ªor at all? Yet from Jimmy¡¯s baffled look of cluelessness, it was almost as though he had no idea how seriously illegal it was to use drugs in Galterra. Even adventurers didn¡¯t touch that stuff. Did they just let people do drugs thousands of years ago or something? ¡°Jimmy,¡± Tena whispered, grabbing his shoulders. ¡°I had no idea you struggled so much. There are so many things I wish you would have confided in me.¡± Jimmy laughed, clearly not taking the situation as seriously as it was. ¡°What¡¯s with all these crazy looks? It was just weed.¡± ¡°Weed?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Yeah, you know.¡± ¡°No, we don¡¯t know,¡± Rian said. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of ¡®weed¡¯ unless you¡¯re talking about the things you need to rip out in your garden.¡± Jimmy seemed to find this humorous, because he coughed out several more laughs one after the next. ¡°Look, I am what I am. I love playing games, partying, getting drunk, and smoking weed. That¡¯s not even, like, bad where I come from. That¡¯s normal for someone my age. What¡¯s weird is how ya¡¯ll sit around drinking soda and talking about the news on a Friday night. That¡¯s what¡¯s weird. What I did was pretty normal,¡± he insisted. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not normal here,¡± Kalana said, narrowing her eyes. She leaned over the table and poked him in the shoulder, and from the way he winced, it must¡¯ve hurt him a bit. ¡°No more drugs and alcohol for you if you¡¯re gonna adventure and risk people¡¯s lives.¡± ¡°I¡¯m an adult,¡± Jimmy replied to her, sounding somewhat annoyed. ¡°If anything, until you turn 18, I should be the one telling you what you can¡ªouch!¡± She poked him a second time. ¡°No more drugs and alcohol!¡± ¡°I concur,¡± Trelvor said. ¡°And not simply because Her Highness demands it, but because you¡¯ve been blessed by the Great Goddess, and I cannot have you falter on your purpose because you¡¯re poisoning your mind with alcohol and illicit substances. Seiley and I will help teach you how to be strong the Elvish way if you prefer, but we will not let you fail the Great Goddess.¡± Rian nodded. ¡°Yeah, stop failing the Goddess, Jimmy,¡± he said, overtly pretending to be outraged. ¡°Can you guys believe he¡¯s failing the Goddess?¡± He waggled his finger at Jimmy. ¡°Drinking is bad for you.¡± ¡°So is cholesterol,¡± Jimmy retorted. Then he grumbled a few words Zach couldn¡¯t hear as though agitated before becoming just a bit more volatile. ¡°You need to shut your bitch-ass up, Rian. Always talking shit. I guarantee your heart gives out way before my liver.¡± Though Jimmy spoke the words from a position of anger, and though he was clearly annoyed, Zach was relieved to see Rian did not take his words personally whatsoever¡ªwhich was good because he¡¯d clearly provoked Jimmy. Thankfully, Rian was basically immune to insults due to his very rough upbringing. He was almost like Vim Alazar in a sense, except unlike Vim, he didn¡¯t often seem to feel the need to escalate, and in this case, he simply laughed off the diss. Jimmy also seemed unwilling to take things any further, and Zach noted the way he now avoided making eye contact with Rian. Are those two becoming enemies or something? It was hard to believe that most of them had only known Jimmy for around three days, but as a testament to how much had happened in such a short time, it felt way, way, way longer, and the ice had been broken very quickly, particularly during the time they spent barbequing and swimming together on that first day. Rian, being the chops buster that he was, had quickly gotten to work taunting Jimmy, but Jimmy was starting to snap back at him. Zach hoped it didn¡¯t evolve and become a problem. Rian and Lienne have no idea what Jimmy¡¯s actually been through. Maybe they¡¯d go easier on him if they did¡­ It wasn¡¯t that Zach wanted to keep secrets from the siblings. If anything, the opposite was true. From the very outset, it had always been Zach¡¯s intention to take the two of them into the ¡°privacy room¡± in Angelica¡¯s and reveal to them everything that he¡¯d recently learned. And not even just about Jimmy, but also about the world, the system, and the truth about the Great Ones. Unfortunately, Zach¡¯s deal with Adamus had been struck before he¡¯d gotten the chance, and since part of that deal was to abstain from further spreading his so-called ¡°illicitly gained knowledge¡± with any additional people, he could no longer tell them what he¡¯d discovered. The same was true for Seiley and Trelvor. Tena was also in the dark about much of it, though she did happen to know slightly more than Rian and his sister such as the real nature of Jimmy¡¯s origin, but she did not know much beyond that. With a sigh, Zach set his sandwich back down on his plate and then studied Jimmy¡¯s plainly tortured expression. ¡°Do you still feel like you¡¯re up to leading the raid?¡± he asked. The question itself seemed to have an outsized, mood-altering effect, because Jimmy¡¯s gloom gave way to a strong look of determination. ¡°Hell yeah I do,¡± he said. ¡°How could you even ask me that, Zach?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just because you seem like you¡¯re¡­¡± ¡°Like I¡¯m what?¡± ¡°Struggling a bit.¡± ¡°Pfft. Maybe I am, but there¡¯s no way I¡¯m throwing away this second chance. Not when I got the blessing of a guild leader.¡± Jimmy had told them all about how Duchess Fiona Darkmae had claimed that she would ensure he got to lead the raid. Zach thought that was nice of her, though he was also a bit skeptical of Fiona¡ªas he was when it came to all of the guild leaders. He just couldn¡¯t be sure if her intentions were actually good, though Kal seemed to like her a lot. The two had somehow become friends after the dragon raid, which in some ways was reassuring considering Kal¡¯s earlier plans to kill every guild leader and rule Galterra. I¡¯m glad she changed her mind about all that, Zach thought, suppressing a shudder. Not long after she¡¯d begun gaining levels, Kal had sent him some really crazy texts about ¡°bringing everything back¡± and ¡°taking down the guild leaders.¡± She¡¯d seemed nothing like her usual self. But then everything seemed to have changed a second time after her mother returned. Zach¡¯s best guess? Seeing how twisted her mother had become through her ambitions had repulsed Kalana to the point she¡¯d swiftly changed direction and was back to her original stance on being devoutly opposed to killing. I doubt she would¡¯ve ever gone through with her plans anyway, Zach thought. I just can¡¯t see her doing that.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. As Zach continued to make idle chatter and eat his lunch, his thoughts began to turn towards the T9 raid boss that they¡¯d possibly be going after as soon as a few hours from now. Much like Jimmy and Donovan had anticipated, the moment they¡¯d pulled off the gigantic, equine monster and gained some distance¡ªthanks to Jimmy¡¯s slows¡ªit had abruptly halted, turned back to its original color, and calmly walked back to its spawn point, which in this case was the rubble and ruins of a specialty shop that only sold area rugs about two miles east of here. At the moment, Zach, the adventurers, and a select number of guild members from Children of Order were coordinating inside of a diner located in a small strip mall containing just the diner, a hardware store, and a place that tutored children who were struggling with math and reading. The strip mall itself was just off one of the main roads, and due east of here was the market-square district that had been badly, if not completely, destroyed by the T9 world boss, which was now standing in its spawn unmoving, frozen, and waiting for someone to challenge it. Incredibly, news of this had not leaked out. For the first time, Zach was able to see guild censorship working in real time. As terrible as it was, he couldn¡¯t help but be impressed just on the basis that the guilds actually managed to contain this sort of information so successfully, as there were hundreds of level-1 witnesses out there that were aware of its existence, which was many more than there might have been if Jimmy had not come along. Though Jimmy had failed to protect¡ªand likely was the cause of¡ªthe destruction of much of their property, he was also responsible for saving a great number of their lives. Now, even as Zach removed his phone and carefully scanned all the news both regional, local, and North-Bastian-wide, he could find no references anywhere to what was happening. Almost everything was devoted to talking about the war, with news of the ¡°glorious, Gods-inspired victory¡± serving as the dominant headline. With the sole exception of Tomb of Fire, which was now the last remaining region controlled by the Guild of Gentlemen, the rest of North Bastia was likely erupting into celebrations as they were rapidly beginning to learn that their collective terror had ended and that the biggest current threat to their lives¡ªand world stability¡ªwas safely behind them. Amid this news, the rescue of Vim was also close to the top of the headlines, and so too was Zach himself and the role he¡¯d played in it. Numerous articles were referring to him as ¡°Sir Calador,¡± the ¡°newly promoted fourth-in-command of the Royal Roses.¡± He rolled his eyes at all that. Curiously, he searched various social media sites for phrases such as ¡°boss spawn¡± and ¡°Faded Island boss¡± to see if anything came up. Sorting the posts in order from newest to oldest, he was surprised to see that a few did in fact pop up relating to the T9 boss, and even more surprisingly, there were several pictures and videos as well. Not many, of course, but a few. This meant that if a significant enough number of people all spammed at once, some posts would get through the censorship. And yet¡­none of these posts were gaining any traction. Zach couldn¡¯t be sure, but he guessed that, as a secondary measure, the social media algorithms were able to suppress their rise to the top by preventing them from appearing automatically on feeds or gaining more exposure. In other words, these posts might as well not have existed at all, as they had no means of spreading. There were also accounts that Zach took to be bots replying and calling them fake or manipulated. To the very few people who might somehow possibly stumble across these posts, the combination of the bot accounts calling them fake along with the fact that the news media wasn¡¯t reporting any of the information¡ªit would likely be enough to convince them it was indeed not real. The guilds really know how to keep these things secret. The Children of Order, for their part, had apparently evacuated everyone within two miles of the boss and, in conjunction with regional peacekeepers, were preventing anyone from getting close enough to see the boss or become aware of its existence. For this reason, Zach knew that they were eager to have the adventurers take care of this today and not put it off for later. The longer the boss remained alive, the greater the chance the information could break out into the general public. It also led to the possibility of a new term that Zach had only heard a few minutes ago for the first time from a member of the Children of Order. Aggro terrorism. Supposedly, every so often during a boss spawn, a level-1 lunatic would go and piss off the boss then intentionally run it through civilian areas just to cause chaos and mayhem. And this, apparently, was something that had happened all across North Bastia on multiple occasions. Zach found this hard to believe¡ªat least until he thought about it. Sadly, he realized he actually could picture people doing something so stupid and horrible. ¡°¡­which is why we need to make sure nobody gets through. The last thing we need now is to deal with aggro terrorism,¡± a young, red-haired member of the Children of Order said to her colleague. The two were standing fairly near to Zach¡¯s table, so he was able to discern their words amid the raucous noise coming from the adventurers in the diner. ¡°We¡¯re calling up all the peacekeepers we can. But there are a whole lot of ways people can get in.¡± ¡°I know, but as long as we¡ª¡± Whatever the guild-member had been about to say became drowned out as the entire diner suddenly erupted into a loud, boisterous bout of cheering and hollering, which came across to Zach¡¯s ears as both genuine and also filled with mockery. Confused, he looked around to see what was going on¡ªand then he found the source of it all. Mr. Oren, now bedecked in his white lab coat, cat-eye glasses, and the rest of his adventuring gear, had emerged from the bathroom, having cleaned himself up. All of the blood was now gone from his face and other areas of exposed flesh. ¡°There he is!¡± Donovan shouted. ¡°We knew you¡¯d be back, you bastard! The real you!¡± Mr. Oren ignored him and strolled his way through the diner. In his eyes, Zach could see that it was only his clothing that had changed. He also looked uncomfortable as though the adventurers were getting the wrong idea about him¡ªwhich clearly, they were. His old adventuring outfit was likely the only thing he had in storage that he could wear that wasn¡¯t coated in other people¡¯s blood. That much was obvious. But to the adventurers, they were taking it as a sign that he was destined to return to them. They should¡¯ve known better. As Mr. Oren ventured farther into the diner in the direction of the entrance, Kalana shouted out to him. ¡°Sit with us, Alex!¡± He paused in place, turned his head, and then even as the adventurers continued to shout, mock, and in many cases, genuinely cheer him on, he seemingly ignored all of it and moved over towards where Kalana was sitting next to Zach. ¡°Your table¡¯s full,¡± he said. ¡°Every table¡¯s full. Pull up a chair!¡± ¡°Are you sure, Kalana?¡± ¡°Mhm!¡± He nodded as though grateful. ¡°All right.¡± He looked around as if to search for a chair. None were available, and there was no way an adventurer was going to give one up¡ªnot to him, at least. But then Zach noticed that, almost in unison, every member of Children of Order stood upright and made a motioning gesture towards their seat. At first, this struck Zach as odd, but then he realized that, as the third-ranking member of the Lords of Justice, he was a world leader and a man of incredible importance. Thus, while his status and stature had essentially cratered among the adventurers, they had risen proportionally among the political guilds, who respected his rank and status in a way the adventurers never could or would. ¡°Thank you very kindly,¡± Mr. Oren said to a middle-aged guild member who had practically begged him to take it. The entire thing seemed performative, though, almost as if it was a mandatory back-and-forth in the world of guild politics. It began with Mr. Oren refusing to take the seat despite clearly wanting it, which then led to the guild member insisting otherwise, and it was only after repeating this act three or four more times that Mr. Oren finally accepted. And so, with that, he slid the chair up to the edge of the table so that Lienne was to his left and Rian was to his right, and then he began to greet each of them individually. ¡°Jimmy, it¡¯s good to see you again,¡± he said. ¡°Hey, you too.¡± This round of greeting continued on until he hesitated when getting to Rian and Lienne, who regarded him with open disdain. Lienne crossed her arms, and Rian just had a general look of nastiness to him. The siblings had never liked Mr. Oren, and they seemed to like him even less now than they had before. Thankfully, however, neither of them said anything that would make the situation between the three of them any more awkward than it already was. ¡°Do you wanna get something to eat?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°I can ask Fi if she can get the chef back in here to make ya something.¡± Mr. Oren held up his palm as if to politely decline. ¡°That¡¯s all right.¡± ¡°Are you sure? I only ask ¡®cause I know it wouldn¡¯t be a problem for them to¡ª¡± ¡°Truly, I¡¯m not hungry at all right now, Kalana. But I really appreciate the concern.¡± ¡°All right, if you say so.¡± Mr. Oren looked around the table, his eyes moving from face to face before settling on Zach¡¯s. When they did, they became demanding in an uncomfortable sort of way. Although he was typically a pretty serious guy, Mr. Oren took on a heightened look of seriousness that caused a prickly sensation to spread all over Zach¡¯s shoulders and back. He had a feeling he wasn¡¯t going to like what Mr. Oren was about to tell him. ¡°Congratulations on your promotion, Sir Calador,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve only just heard the news, my man. You¡¯ve just become the youngest member in the history of the Royal Roses to hold a rank that high. Well done. You¡¯ve earned it.¡± Zach¡¯s feeling of discomfort became much greater as his brain registered the words Mr. Oren had spoken to him. It suddenly required effort on his part not to squirm or look away. ¡°Thanks, but uh, you¡¯re taking that whole thing a bit too seriously, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Am I?¡± Zach released a laugh, though it was more to calm his uneasiness than for reasons of amusement. ¡°Well, yeah. You were an adventurer until a recently, so you know that it¡¯s not actually real, right? This is just something that happens to adventurers sometimes and that we have to play along with.¡± Mr. Oren held his gaze, and if anything, it became even stronger and sharper as he continued to stare at Zach. ¡°Obviously, I¡¯m well aware that, on occasion, when adventurers unintentionally end up in the news, a guild might claim them as a member in order to explain their existence to the public and maintain public order. Though not exactly a common occurrence, it happens from time to time.¡± Zach nodded. ¡°Right, so then, why are you acting like this is¡ª¡± ¡°Because this is different,¡± Mr. Oren replied immediately. ¡°Zach, I don¡¯t know where exactly the line is between pretend-member of a guild and genuine one, but you¡¯ve most certainly crossed it by now. You can¡¯t storm a battlefield to rescue your guild leader or hold an impromptu press conference in the capital of humanity and then dismiss it all as ¡®playing along.¡¯ Surely, you must realize this by now.¡± Firmly shaking his head, Zach tried to keep himself from shouting in response. ¡°Nothing¡¯s changed. I¡¯m still an adventurer. I¡¯m not really a member of the Royal Roses. It¡¯s just not¡­it¡¯s not true.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Rian said, chiming in with agreement. So too did Lienne and Tena. Jimmy stayed silent, and Trelvor and Seiley looked as though this conversation was of no concern of their own, and neither of the two seemed to be paying any attention to it at all. Kalana, however, had her bottom lip curled and her eyes lowered as though in deep contemplation. She looked troubled, and Zach could not ascertain if she agreed or disagreed with what Mr. Oren was saying to him. His eyes still focused solely on Zach, Mr. Oren pushed his chair just a little closer towards the table and then leaned slightly forward. ¡°Whether you meant to do so or not, Zach, you¡¯ve taken on a responsibility that you can¡¯t simply throw away. But please understand this doesn¡¯t mean you have to quit being an adventurer.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t?¡± Zach asked, genuinely surprised to hear him say this. ¡°Not at all. Peter IV had the buff. Right now, I have the buff. If you still feel like an adventurer at heart, you don¡¯t actually have to rid yourself of it. The reason I¡¯ve chosen to do so is simply because it no longer reflects who I am inside, and that¡¯s a personal choice I decided to make¡ªa symbol of my commitment to my guild and to humanity, if you will.¡± He does have a point there, Zach realized. But then he became irritated, although it was for an entirely different reason. ¡°Varsh killed my dad,¡± he said. ¡°You didn¡¯t forget that, did you?¡± ¡°Of course not. How could I? We fought him together. But he¡¯s dead now, and it¡¯s only fitting you take his place and everything that once belonged to him.¡± Zach slowed his breathing to keep his emotions in check. ¡°What makes you think I want anything that piece of shit touched? Forget for a second the fact that I don¡¯t even want to be a member of any political guild in the first place, no matter which one, and let¡¯s also forget for a second that, well, that I don¡¯t even like the political guilds¡­¡± He paused to breathe. ¡°Even if in some alternate universe I decided to join one, what in the name of the Gods would make you think I¡¯d go with the Royal Roses?¡± ¡°Because you already have, Zach. You just don¡¯t fully realize it yet.¡± Upon these words, Zach pressed his lips together and fought even harder to keep his temper from rising. He wasn¡¯t sure why he felt such a great sense of restless agitation. Maybe it was because there was some truth to what Mr. Oren was saying¡ªtruth that he would much prefer to be false. But all of this only served to remind him of how complex a path he was now finding himself on. Lately, the idea had been growing on him that he could not simply ignore the problems of the world in the way that the other adventurers did, nor could he pretend he wasn¡¯t part of it. Yet, at the same time, he still valued his own independence. But how could that even work? How could he eschew the governing bodies of society while also contributing to issues he deemed to be of importance? ¡°I appreciate the congratulations,¡± Zach said to him after a moment of self-contemplation. ¡°But I¡¯m not sure why you¡¯re bringing this up now.¡± Up until this point, Mr. Oren had worn a very serious expression that strongly suggested he had something to say that would upset or annoy Zach. And now, Zach finally discovered why. Mr. Oren slowly moved his upper lip back and forth across his lower one as if carefully choosing his words before deciding to speak them. When he did, Zach felt his stomach sink. ¡°After we¡¯re done here, I think you really should head back to Dal¡¯Zarrah again and sit for a few press briefings to ensure that the Royal Roses will continue to support the families of the dead and wounded, and I think you should state that you¡¯re doing everything you can to ensure that public order is maintained for all people living in Giant¡¯s Fall, even those born in Shadowfall Coast and Tomb of Fire. In every region, we¡¯re seeing mob violence and, in some cases, outright murder of completely innocent individuals based on their region of birth.¡± ¡°That¡¯s terrible,¡± Zach said, already well aware of this. ¡°But how can I possibly do anything?¡± Mr. Oren¡¯s expression somehow became even firmer. ¡°Because as the fourth in command of the Royal Roses, you¡¯re in charge of the entire peacekeeper force in Giant¡¯s Fall, Spider¡¯s Eye Oasis, Dragon Squire, and quite possibly also Shadowfall Coast depending on how negotiations over that region¡¯s new controlling guild proceed. You¡¯re also the commanding officer of regional defense, the secretary of your guild¡¯s Bureau of Justice, and the chief warden of all regional prisons.¡± If not for the sudden, intensely painful burning pain in his lungs, Zach might not have remembered to breathe. The things Mr. Oren just said to him¡ªthey crashed into Zach as though they were a sack filled with bricks that¡¯d been swung at his face. Not only did Zach not know these things, as they were the kinds of minutiae of government he normally didn¡¯t care to learn about, but he still wasn¡¯t even sure what some of them were or meant. Unable to think of how to respond, Zach failed to reply the first few times he attempted. It was only after Kalana placed her hand on top of his own that he found the means to speak. ¡°I¡¯m only seventeen years old,¡± he said at last. ¡°I won¡¯t even be eighteen for another three months.¡± Mr. Oren nodded. ¡°It¡¯s a very unusual circumstance, my man. I¡¯m not denying that.¡± ¡°And I don¡¯t even¡­I don¡¯t even really know beyond a surface level what most of those things are.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay too,¡± Mr. Oren said. ¡°A lot of it is handled by bureaucracy.¡± Zach coughed out an unintentional, shocked laugh. ¡°I don¡¯t even really know what the word ¡®bureaucracy¡¯ means!¡± ¡°You¡¯ll learn.¡± Like before, Zach shook his head. ¡°This isn¡¯t for me. I don¡¯t know why Vim¡­I don¡¯t understand why he¡¯d put this on me, but I¡¯m already so close to being thrown out of the adventuring community. I can¡¯t do this. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Mr. Oren sighed. ¡°You say that now, but¡­I think you¡¯ll realize before long what I came around to realizing.¡± ¡°Oh yeah? And what¡¯s that?¡± Finally, the tightness in Mr. Oren¡¯s expression went away, and now he smiled. ¡°If not you, then who?¡± Chapter 171: The Rule of the System Chapter 171: The Rule of the System Standing upright with his hands folded behind his back, his eyes closed, and his breathing calm, Adamus set his gaze upon the world. Alone in his office, he concentrated on the people of Galterra, but more specifically, on the continent of North Bastia, where great progress had been made in pursuit of ridding the world of the accursed nuclear weapons that served as the last of Moldark¡¯s legacy. Thanks to the two vampires from Archian Prime, the threat to the system looked near to ending. Yes¡­yes, the threat had mostly passed. All that remained was a bit of diligence to ensure no remnants yet lingered, and it appeared the Elvish were leaving no stone unturned to that effect. Adamus was pleased. The moment of crisis was just about beyond them. ¡­but still, it had been a great deal closer than he¡¯d anticipated. Although Adamus could see far and wide, even his extraordinary gaze could not see all. Thus, no matter how prescient and observing, there were always things that slipped his attention¡ªthat sailed beyond his notice. For this reason, he had been caught unaware by the runic-disabling shields that the deceased Peter V had erected shortly before his passing, and for a short while earlier, he¡¯d feared that the Galterrans would fail in the critically important task he¡¯d bestowed upon them. This, of course, would have been a terribly unpleasant outcome, for it would have required Adamus to ¡°escalate¡± the situation. Wanting to interfere with the system¡¯s users as little as possible, Adamus naturally preferred the sort of solutions that saw the Galterrans themselves serving as the agents of change. In so doing, he could simultaneously achieve his objective while ensuring such objective was achieved in the fairest way possible. Yet in the event the Galterrans failed, he had indeed been prepared to act: first with his trackers and then, should they not succeed, personally if such a dramatic, remarkable intervention was absolutely required. Thankfully, that had not come to pass, and as things were, it did not seem as though any further involvement would be required on his part. Thus, he turned his attention elsewhere. Since the dawn of this crisis, Adamus had neglected other matters of great importance, of which there were many, but one in particular stood out most to him¡ªthe boy from the old times whom Eilea had used to breach the system: James Green, as he was known. His very existence here was an affront to all that Adamus had created, and Adamus was beside himself at the audacity Eilea had displayed in bringing him to Galterra. Meddling unforgivably with the strands of time, fate, and reality, his beloved had foolishly brought him here in direct opposition to not only the principles of the system but to the rules established by the old Gods. The woman risked so much to pluck the boy from his time and transport him to their world. But it was in this act itself where the conundrum had now begun to grow, for a puzzle was beginning to form: one that was becoming more alarming and confusing the more Adamus delved into it. Initially, Adamus had believed his beloved¡¯s intentions to be clear, obvious, and straightforward. Given that James Green was an unmodified, system-compatible, true-human specimen, he naturally had direct access to his internal psionic abilities in the same way that Adamus himself or Eilea did, providing this young man an incredibly unfair advantage that simply could not be allowed to stand. For he, unlike all other participants in the system, was capable of drawing directly upon his power and harnessing the four basic affinities. From the moment Adamus had detected the boy¡¯s appearance and learned who¡ªand what¡ªhad invaded the system, he had naturally and logically assumed that it was for this very reason that Eilea had risked the wrath of the old Gods in bringing him here. Adamus had been certain that her goal had been to have him call upon these abilities in order to either advance her own agenda or perhaps aid Zachys Calador in whatever foul schemes she had planned for the boy. And yet, incredibly, from the small bit of observation Adamus had been able to manage amid the larger threat of nuclear weaponry, he had thus far not been able to obtain any evidence whatsoever to suggest that Jimmy was utilizing these advantages, nor had he been able to conclude from his admittedly brief monitoring that the young man was even aware of his talents. Even more baffling was that Eilea didn¡¯t appear to be informing him or guiding him towards them, either. And this was where Adamus was now finding himself at a total loss to explain his beloved¡¯s motivation. Eilea was many things, but his beloved was most certainly not crafty, overly clever, or deceitful. Subterfuge, layered plans, and veiled desires were not things Adamus expected of her. Even now, he still believed this to be the case. But if so, it only further clouded the nature of the boy¡¯s presence here, for if Eilea had not brought him here to make use of his innate access to psionic abilities, then for what purpose had she brought him to Galterra? For what possible reason could she have to take such an obscene, grotesque, and dangerous action if not to make use of his unique disposition? Why? Why had Eilea done it? Why had Eilea put so much on the line to save the life of a random Psych who was meant to die thousands of years ago yet was now walking among them? Was she merely waiting for a future date to guide him in the ways of his innate abilities? Or was there some other purpose entirely that Adamus had not yet been able to see due to his very, very limited observations of the young man? Though Adamus had certainly not spent enough time studying the situation to definitively conclude that another purpose existed, the little he¡¯d seen so far strongly suggested that James Green was doing nothing untoward and was, quite to the contrary, an enthusiastic, ideal specimen of the sort his system was originally designed to cater to. Adamus had only checked in on him a few times, and each time he¡¯d done so, the boy had been happily traipsing through a dungeon, relishing in the world the Great Ones had created. He had adapted far better to the system than Adamus would¡¯ve expected, and by all accounts, he was, at least to this point, behaving as a gifted, but ordinary adventurer. But there had to be more. There had to be a reason. Sadly, Adamus would likely never learn of it, for the boy¡ªalong with nearly all the most powerful or important adventurers in Galterra¡ªwere about to die; this, he realized as he switched his gaze to the west, to Faded Island off the coast in North Bastia. Flashing, unstable images flooded his mind as he concentrated, bringing these moving pictures into focus until they settled to become an accurate representation of the world far below. Having been focused so intensely on Shadowfall Coast these past few weeks, Adamus had all but forgotten that the T9 boss called "Mare of the Primordial Void" was due to spawn. ¡°Come in,¡± Adamus said with a smile forming on his face. Even as he kept his eyes closed, he could sense the presence on the other side of the door. A moment later, he felt two warm hands settle down on his shoulders, massaging him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I disturbed you,¡± Prila said. Her voice dropped in volume. ¡°I¡­missed you.¡± ¡°You can always be with me,¡± he said to her. ¡°Your presence comforts me like no others.¡± She spoke nothing in reply. Adamus could sense she was troubled. ¡°Are you concerned about the mare?¡± ¡°I am,¡± she said. Adamus placed his right hand on top of her left, which was still on his shoulder. ¡°Prila, you agreed to recommit to my vision as a condition for rejoining us here¡­and for being together with me.¡± Her grip became firmer. ¡°I know, and I haven¡¯t gone back on that, Adamus. I¡¯m just saddened. I¡¯ve grown to care so much for Zach.¡± ¡°So you have¡­but you must let him go. We must not interfere.¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. She sighed. ¡°Are you sure they have no chance?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Adamus whispered. ¡°This is unlike the dragon. I told you why when last we spoke.¡± ¡°You did¡­¡± She quieted, seemingly content just to be with him and requiring little else, though her sadness stung at Adamus. Truly, he did feel for Prila, but the system demanded impartiality, and he could not allow her¡ªor anyone¡ªto interfere. In the coming moments, he fully expected a massive, devastating raid wipe to take place, one in which there would be few¡ªif any¡ªsurvivors, for the boss they were about to attack was unlike any others that spawned on Galterra. Like all T1 planets and moons, Galterran bosses were typically straightforward and only seldomly contained much in the way of complexity. There were some exceptions, of course, but even in those cases, such bosses contained one or, at most, two features that separated them from other such bosses. But Mare of the Primordial Void was different¡ªand in a way that would simply prove itself to be insurmountable for the adventurers. ¡°Delreza,¡± Adamus whispered, speaking the name of the beautiful, orange-haired Elvish Great One who had created the boss in question. ¡°Hmm?¡± Prila asked. ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Adamus whispered. ¡°Just my thoughts.¡± Delreza had created Mare of the Primordial Void, and it had been highly controversial among the Great Ones at the time. In clear violation of accepted protocol, she had given into her creative streak, and she had crafted a boss with a level of complexity far more befitting a T2 planet than a place like Galterra. Its stats were in line with other, similar bosses of its type, but its abilities and features went well beyond what was considered standard and acceptable for a Galterran boss. Thus, all but Adamus had immediately rejected her idea, claiming it violated the spirit of tiered planets and that superbosses were far too dangerous as is. Typically, a superboss¡ªdefined internally as any boss T8 or greater that spawned out in the world as opposed to one of the dungeons¡ªwas a boss designed to force a confrontation between itself and the citizens of Galterra. For this reason, superbosses had very long spawn timers, roamed from area to area based on population density, and left the people of Galterra with no choice but to band together in order to end the grave threat it posed to life. But Mare of the Primordial Void had been different. And for this reason, a compromise had been made. In exchange for allowing this boss to spawn on Galterra, it would be given a flat, 4,000-year spawn timer and, in addition, it not only would not roam or be a determined roamer, but it would have a vastly reduced aggro radius and an even smaller de-aggro radius, essentially isolating it to one spot. In other words, it would not pose a society-ending threat to the people of Galterra, nor would they be absolutely required to destroy it in the event they were unable to do so. Only having ever spawned once before in the history of the system, the Mare of the Primordial Void had a number of abilities that no one on Galterra had ever before seen, and thus, they would have no understanding of how to confront it. Adamus, whose ability to predict and assign an accurate probability to most events had always served him well, gave the adventurers less than a one-percent chance to defeat it, and perhaps ten percent for at least a quarter of them to survive via fleeing. The odds of half or more escaping with their lives¡­hmm¡­perhaps five percent thereabout. ¡°I don¡¯t want Zach to die,¡± Prila whispered sadly. ¡°I know you don¡¯t, and¡­I am sorry.¡± There were numerous ways the raid could wipe depending on chance and what abilities happened to come up first; this would also greatly influence the number of potential escapees. For example, if the small, reddish-green ring appeared near the boss, that would almost certainly spell the imminent death of every single last raid member bar none. They would not know how to react. Adamus was sure of it. And because of this, he would likely never come to learn what it was that Eilea had actually intended James Green to do. For with an almost guaranteed level of certainty, he would be dying in the coming moments. But, if nothing else, it absolved Adamus of having to see to his death via the use of more trackers. With their truce nearly over, the time was soon to come where he¡¯d have to dispatch more of his people to put the boy down for the sake of the system. At least, this way, he could die as the system intended: fairly. This was so much more preferable to the alternative. Yet, there was something strange going on now that Adamus more fully focused on the adventurers that had gathered down there in Faded Island. With a greater level of concentration, he began to absorb more information, with some now hitting him in the form of sound. From the looks of things, it seemed that the young man was going to lead the raid. Was Adamus interpreting this correctly? Was he misunderstanding something? This was¡­odd. James Green was a newer adventurer. Though his ability set appeared to allow him to propel himself forward in the levels far, far faster than most adventurers could, he was still a fresh adventurer whose level was in the mid-40s and who presumably did not know enough about the world of Galterra to be worthy of leading even a small raid, let alone one that sought to take on a superboss. ¡°Why would they allow him to lead?¡± Adamus whispered to himself. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Prila asked, overhearing him. He explained the situation to her and then said, ¡°With an inexperienced, unknowledgeable young man taking the reins, I am afraid the chance of survival has now plummeted even closer to zero.¡± ¡°But¡­but why would they even allow this?¡± ¡°I cannot say. It is unusual.¡± ¡°Do you think it factors into Eilea¡¯s plan?¡± she asked. Adamus shook his head¡ªand then he even laughed. ¡°No, of course not. Unless you¡¯re suggesting my beloved¡¯s plan was to bring the boy thousands of years forward in time just to have him lead raids as a completely inexperienced newcomer to what must be a frightening, unfamiliar world.¡± Prila also released a chuckle, though in her case, it came across as far more saddened than amused. ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. But¡­Adamus?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Do you really still have to call Eilea your beloved? It makes me feel so unwanted.¡± He opened his eyes, turned around, and looked at her. The girl¡¯s face was truly a thing of beauty. He could not remember the last time he had felt any passion in his heart¡ªeven if he lacked it in other areas, as his body had wilted away with age. ¡°You are my most favored now,¡± he said to her. ¡°Your jealousy is unnecessary.¡± Prila frowned. ¡°Then prove it.¡± ¡°Prove it?¡± She nodded. ¡°You know what I want.¡± Adamus briefly averted his gaze. He did know. It was something he had declined several times by this point. ¡°That is not to my liking.¡± ¡°Why?¡± she asked. ¡°Is it¡­is it because of me?¡± ¡°No, not at all,¡± he said, speaking in a calm whisper. ¡°It is simply that I decided long ago not to run from age as others do.¡± ¡°But¡­could you really do it? Reset yourself?¡± In some ways, Adamus regretted telling her about any of this. Although he¡¯d only rescued her from the research facility last night, the two had been in constant communication all throughout her stay there. She¡¯d fall asleep every night during their discussions, and it was during one of these talks he¡¯d told her that the reason why he is old and frail and Eilea is young and beautiful was simply that she had rejected aging and had chosen to keep her body at the ripe young age of eighteen. Adamus, on the other hand, wore his age like a badge of wisdom. His skin was thousands of years old, and he maintained it only to the extent that it was necessary to ensure function. But he could, indeed, reverse himself if he chose, and upon arriving back home last night, Prila had found a picture of him from his youth. It had¡­stirred the passions within her. Passions he could no longer feel due to his age. ¡°Please,¡± she said to him. ¡°Let me be with you in the way that you were with Eilea for so long.¡± Adamus considered her request. ¡°If I reset myself, this will be the final time. I do not enjoy concealing the truth of myself behind a false youth. Also, you must understand, that with a young, virile body comes a certain brashness that I must temper, for the frailty of age calms me and keeps me rational.¡± Prila chuckled, and this time, it seemed genuine. ¡°Are you saying you¡¯ll go crazy if you revert to your younger self?¡± Adamus smiled. ¡°Not quite, Prila. My mind is unchanging. It is more that the feeling of being inside a youthful body propels oneself in a way that my current form does not. I might find myself jogging around the halls, for example. And I would certainly feel a return to that which you seek from me¡­¡± He watched as Prila chewed her bottom lip, a gesture that meant nothing to him now but would certainly incite his passions if he indeed rejuvenated himself. ¡°Do it,¡± she said. ¡°I want to see that half-elf from the picture.¡± ¡°You may find him more than you can handle¡­my Prila.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be the judge of that.¡± ¡°Very well. I wish to continue my observations a bit longer, but tonight, at midnight North Bastian time, I shall begin the meditations. You will be unable to reach me for twenty-four hours. Yet when I awaken, I will be as I was.¡± Prila seemed excited. She kissed the side of his cheek and then returned to her station. Her coworkers were all overjoyed to have her back, and Adamus was glad they were willing to accept her as one of them again. Now, closing his eyes once more, he honed his senses in on Faded Island, where he knew that the adventuring community was about to suffer a tremendous blow from which it might never recover, especially if the two de facto leaders, Donovan Iseldar and Zephyr Vextran, perished in the coming battle¡ªwhich they likely would. None of them would be able to rise to the challenge they would soon be up against. They simply would not know what to do or understand what was happening, and having an inexperienced young man in charge¡ªfor some inconceivable reason¡ªwould only make things worse for them. Death was now their fate, and though such a thing was sad and regrettable, Adamus would not permit anyone to interfere. Such was the rule of the system. Chapter 172: The Argument Chapter 172: The Argument The infectious sound of a bored, tired yawn spread from person to person like an instantaneous plague. It began with Miss Britethorn and continued on to her husband. Reni Sarwin yawned right after, followed by a young adventurer girl named Ishina. Before long, Zach too was opening his mouth wide and adding one of his own. It reminded him of how long it¡¯d been since he¡¯d last slept¡ªand how badly he wanted to lie down and close his eyes. Especially since they were basically doing nothing right now but standing around and waiting. The hell are we doing out here? he wondered, disgruntled and exhausted. Glancing at the time on his phone, Zach found it hard to believe he¡¯d wasted four hours idly baking in the ruthless summer heat while Jimmy, Donovan, Zephyr, Fiona, Kal, and Mr. Oren repeated the same arguments over and over to the point that Zach could practically recite each of them from memory. It made Zach wonder why they couldn¡¯t have resolved their disagreements back at the diner where at least it was air conditioned and cool. Why did they have to come out here just to subject him and all the other adventurers¡ªof which there were now more than a hundred¡ªto this inferno-like temperature while they figured this shit out? Seriously, this was ridiculous. Why can¡¯t we just pick this back up tomorrow? Zach was getting sick of hearing the six of them go at it, and to be honest, if they didn¡¯t come to a consensus soon, he was considering speaking up and demanding they leave. In fact, that was what Donovan, Zephyr, and Kalana wanted to do. Despite his desire to support Jimmy, Zach found himself siding with those three, though he didn¡¯t dare say it out loud. It was just that he was worn-out and fatigued, and this boss clearly wasn¡¯t an imminent threat in the way the dragon had been. There was no reason they had to take it down today. Well, at least in his opinion. This was not, however, a view that was shared by Mr. Oren, Jimmy, and Fiona Darkmae; to the contrary, all three seemed united in opposition to that idea. ¡°You¡¯re telling me we can¡¯t keep the situation here under control for one fuckin¡¯ day?¡± asked Donovan, an exasperated growl following his words. ¡°Is that what you¡¯re trying to tell me?¡± ¡°That¡¯s an incredibly shallow and inaccurate summation of what we¡¯ve been saying,¡± Mr. Oren replied, his eyes locked with Donovan¡¯s as though the two were engaging in some kind of heated staring contest. ¡°You¡¯re misrepresenting the views of Duchess Darkmae¡ªand also my own.¡± There seemed to be two ¡°teams¡± at play here, with Donovan, Kalana, and Zephyr wanting to err on the side of caution and call it a day so that the Explorer¡¯s Brigade could then spend the rest of the evening¡ªand all night¡ªconducting ¡°field tests¡± thanks to the boss¡¯s smallish de-aggro radius. For several hours now, the three of them had been arguing that taking their time and collecting more data on the boss was the best course of action, whereas Mr. Oren, Fiona, and Jimmy had been making the case that an immediate takedown was in the best interest of the people. However, unlike Donovan, Zephyr, and Kal, who all seemed to be arguing from the same underlying position, those three clearly had very different individual reasons for wanting to slay the boss here and now. In the case of Jimmy, Zach detected a sense of urgency to prove himself and recover from whatever had happened to him the night prior, and for Mr. Oren and Fiona Darkmae, the two seemed to be arguing from a public safety standpoint. Where they differed, however, was that Mr. Oren was also trying to press the case that he needed to return to Shadowfall Coast and required this to be over with quickly, and with Fiona, the stunningly beautiful guild leader was attempting to make clear to the others how badly her region¡¯s economy would be harmed if this was allowed to drag on for days, weeks, or months, as she¡¯d been required to close off several main roads that ran through here; she seemed to be worried that, if the adventurers did not kill the boss by tonight, they would find some excuse or another to drag this on for much longer than just a day. And so, unable to come to an agreement, the debate continued. This is such a waste of time, Zach thought, releasing another yawn. Right now, they were all gathered just a block-and-a-half away from the T9 mare¡¯s spawn point. At first, when Zach had arrived here with the others, he¡¯d felt invigorated and even had a bit of adrenaline rushing through his veins. This was due to a combination of seeing the boss up close and personal but also witnessing the utter destruction that it had inflicted on this market square. Destroyed structures littered the entirety of it, and though there were still a few places of business that were mostly intact, nothing had truly escaped unscathed. Even the beauty parlor across the street from them had somehow had its windows shattered and a section of the roofing torn off. But considering the size of their foe, this did not surprise him one bit. If anything, Zach was amazed the market hadn¡¯t been damaged even worse. Thankfully, the boss was clearly nothing like Ziragoth. In contrast to the sentient fire wyvern, the giant horse appeared to have a very close aggro range and a slightly larger¡ªbut still pretty forgiving¡ªde-aggro range. Because of how large and tall the tremendous, equine-like monster happened to be, their current distance from the boss made it all feel way, way closer¡ªenough so that Zach couldn¡¯t believe they could stand this near to it and not draw aggro. For this reason alone, their close proximity to the T9 boss had, at least during the first hour, roused Zach enough that it¡¯d kept him feeling awake and alert. But then the arguing started, more time came and went, and the newness of the situation wore off. With no actual lives facing any immediate danger, and with no real need to carelessly rush into battle, Zach had become very tired and also a bit grumpy as he realized he¡¯d much prefer to go back to Elendroth with Kalana and pass out on a warm bed before returning tomorrow. I¡¯ve spent all night fighting in a war, then all day chasing after Jimmy. I need a break! It wasn¡¯t like he could do all that much before tomorrow anyway. His Unleashed Phase was still on cooldown and wouldn¡¯t reset until sometime in the middle of the night, at which point his Phase Level would drop from 2 to 1, meaning he could safely use it and withstand the High exertion cost required of the ability. On the other hand, he supposed he could technically use it now if he activated Phase Reset and brought his Phase Level up to 3, which had the exact same Very High exertion cost as Phase Level 2. But with the weekly ability of his sword on cooldown, it would mean having to pay the entire Very High exertion cost instead of just half. And since half a Very High was still somehow enough to kill him¡ªwithout the use of rejuvenation stones, of course¡ªZach wasn¡¯t willing to gamble his life on the stones being enough to save him if he attempted to pay off the entire thing at once. So, yeah, he wouldn¡¯t be able to contribute a whole lot until tomorrow. His overall tiredness and lack of access to his best abilities meant he¡¯d be fighting at a diminished capacity if he needed to partake in the raid today. But even still, if that was how things had to be, then you know what? Fine, whatever. He was ready if that turned out to be the case. But seriously, for the love of the Gods, could the six of them please just get on with it already? Enough was enough! Zach groaned quietly so that no one could hear it as he watched the argument loop back around without settling any of the outstanding problems between the six of them. As fierce a debate as they were having regarding the ¡°when¡± of it all, they were also bickering over the ¡°how¡± and the ¡°who¡± in addition. Specifically, they argued over the role that Jimmy was meant to play as well as the overall strategy for the raid, and it was those last two topics in particular that really got Jimmy all agitated and worked up. ¡°The fuck you mean co-leader?¡± Jimmy snapped as Donovan and Zephyr floated the suggestion of having all three of them lead together. ¡°Did you not hear what Fiona said, Donovan? This is her region which means she¡¯s the one who says who¡¯s allowed to lead the raid here. And she threw this ball in my court, not yours.¡± Zephyr released a chuckle. ¡°You think that¡¯s actually how this works, huh, Jimmy?¡± ¡°Well, yeah, obviously.¡± He made a waving motion with his index finger. ¡°Well then, you¡¯re wrong. And I say that meaning no disrespect to the beautiful Duchess Darkmae, but she needs us a lot more than we need her, and if we aren¡¯t able to conduct the raid how we think it should be done, we¡¯ll just leave.¡± At this, Fiona seemed to stiffen, her body becoming rigid and her grip on her combat staff tightening. ¡°Wait a sec, at least let¡¯s talk about this first. You guys can¡¯t just leave.¡± ¡°Actually we can,¡± Donovan said before opening his mouth and spitting out a wad of saliva and mucus, which made a slight plop as it hit the ground. ¡°We don¡¯t let the political guilds tell us how we conduct our raids. That ain¡¯t how things go.¡± Fiona said nothing a short moment as if to take in Donovan¡¯s words. Then she gave Jimmy a resigned, apologetic look. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I guess I can¡¯t force them to make you the leader after all, buddy. Not if it means they abandon my region.¡± ¡°He can be a leader,¡± Zephyr clarified. ¡°But this is a T9, and we can¡¯t leave it all to him. By all means, he¡¯s still not ready for that.¡± Jimmy looked perplexed. ¡°Wait, but if ya¡¯ll are saying you don¡¯t gotta listen to her, and if you really think I¡¯m not ready, then why are you willing to let me lead at all? Why even capitulate?¡± Zephyr¡¯s face visibly warmed. ¡°Because we¡¯re not capitulating. We both think you¡¯re very talented, Jimmy. So even if you¡¯re not seasoned enough just yet, we¡¯re willing to overlook your lack of real-word experience because Donovan and I know you can bring a lot to the table.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then let me bring it. Let me be the leader. Not the ¡®co¡¯ leader or whatever the hell. Let me do this my way.¡± Donovan grunted. ¡°Kid, have you learned a damn thing since last night?¡± Zach wasn¡¯t sure exactly what Donovan meant by the question, as he hadn¡¯t been there and had only heard a brief but succinct version of events, one which left out a great many details. From what he had heard, it seemed Jimmy had gotten badly hurt during the raid, which had become derailed during the end and required Donovan and Zephyr to step in and take charge. But as far as what, specifically, had gone wrong¡ªor if it was even Jimmy¡¯s fault at all¡ªZach was completely in the dark. Thus, all he had to go on was the pained look that popped up in Jimmy¡¯s expression as Jimmy seemingly considered what Donovan had asked him. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he admitted. ¡°I was actually so drunk I can¡¯t even remember if I did or didn¡¯t.¡± Of all the possible ways in which Donovan could¡¯ve reacted to that, he chose to bark out a laugh. ¡°Been there, kiddo. But try to think. Surely, you must¡¯ve learned something from what happened.¡± Jimmy was silent for a bit as if reflecting on the events that had taken place during the time when Zach was busy fighting his way through Shadowfall Coast. Chewing on his lower lip, he mouthed a few syllables and then stared at the ground for another couple of seconds before finally lifting his head; now, there was a very thoughtful glint in his eyes. ¡°Actually, know what? I did learn a lot now that you mention it.¡± Donovan grunted approvingly. ¡°Go on.¡± Zach didn¡¯t know what Donovan expected to hear Jimmy say. He had no idea what lessons or takeaways the gruff leader of the GSG was hoping Jimmy would have gained. But whatever it was that Donovan was anticipating, Zach had to imagine it was not this. Because as Jimmy opened his mouth and replied to the question, he did not simply just answer it, but he really answered it. With his staff sheathed on his back, Jimmy lifted both hands and began to expressively gesture while speaking enthusiastically about so many different tactical points and observations that it made Zach¡¯s head swim. Judging from the blank, incredulous stares being sent his way from Donovan, Zephyr, Kal, and even Fiona, he was willing to guess their heads were swimming as well. Right there beneath the scorching summer sun, in a market square devastated by a T9 raid boss, Jimmy launched into a lengthy, exhaustive speech that was about as interesting as an instruction manual. ¡°¡­which is why we should¡¯ve had the healers use a staggered pattern to manipulate the hate tables. That way, even if Emala still ended up pulling Imp Lord Tzumazleth¡¯s aggro, we would¡¯ve been able to get it off her quickly enough, especially since radial gradient decay suggests that the¡­¡± Jimmy spoke¡ªand spoke a lot. He began rambling off terms, directions, and endless strategic musings that must¡¯ve went on for at least ten minutes. It had to be at least that long. And all throughout, Donovan and Zephyr would hold up a finger every now and again as if to try to interject, but Jimmy, as though seemingly caught in his own world, didn¡¯t even appear to acknowledge them. Yet, if he was indeed in his own world, he¡¯d clearly invited a guest to visit him, as of all those present, only one man not only seemed to actually be following along, but he was also readily offering commentary as well as the occasional question. ¡°That¡¯s not a bad idea, Jimmy,¡± Mr. Oren said. Back in his lab coat and wearing his cat-eye glasses, he almost seemed like his former self. He rubbed his chin and nodded. Like Zach, he also had not been present during the raid last night, yet from the way he absorbed every word Jimmy had said while also filling in the blanks, it was almost as though he¡¯d been there in spirit. ¡°But I think I see a way in which aggro distribution can be improved beyond what you¡¯ve stated.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± Mr. Oren smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s say you¡¯re right about the existence of these ¡®hate tables¡¯¡ªand I have to admit, that does make a great deal of sense now that I reflect upon my own observations¡ªbut in that case, your model for maximum aggro distribution seems to imply a secondary, as-yet unstated aggro decay that is amplified by distance.¡± He snapped his fingers. ¡°I¡¯ve noticed so many things over the years that pointed me in this direction, but until now, I never imagined that each encounter with a mob held a literal table of raw numerical values assigned to each encounter participant. So then, factoring in aggro decay, if we use a model of circular, proximity-based threat modifiers, we can define a threat zone such that T=1+¦Ðd2B?¡­¡± Now, to be clear, Zach had studied hard enough in school that Kal used to call him a book nerd. And he did enjoy learning and whatnot. But the moment that Mr. Oren used the word ¡°pi¡± in a discussion about fucking boss raiding, it had been then and there that Zach tuned everything else out. Because who had time for that? Why in the name of the Gods would somebody ever have to use the word ¡°pi¡± when talking about fighting a boss? He didn¡¯t know. And from the looks of things, nobody else did, either. But to Jimmy and Mr. Oren, it seemed like a vital piece of their weird conversation. ¡°Oh, shit,¡± Jimmy said, sounding excited. Then he quickly apologized to Mr. Oren for swearing. ¡°I¡¯ll watch my mouth, sorry, but seriously, dude¡ªugh, Lord Oren, sorry¡ªyou¡¯re right. If we would¡¯ve used a geometric distribution instead of a¡ª¡± ¡°Enough!¡± Donovan snapped. ¡°Shut the fuck up, both of you!¡± He drew his axe and pointed it at Jimmy. ¡°When I asked if you learned something, I didn¡¯t mean whatever the hell that was.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t?¡± The question seemed to annoy Donovan. ¡°You tryin¡¯ to piss me off or something, kid? No I didn¡¯t mean that. Gods in heaven, never make me sit through anything like that ever again.¡± His chest inflated as though taking in a deep breath, and then he made a slight whistling sound as he blew it out. ¡°I was talking about raiding in general.¡± ¡°So was I,¡± Jimmy said. Donovan frowned at him, and Jimmy nervously took a step back. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re so upset about, man. I really was.¡± Zephyr cleared his throat. ¡°Jimmy, I think what Donovan is trying to get at is that your mistake wasn¡¯t tactical or strategic. Don and I were watching you very closely, and if we¡¯d have anticipated Emala pulling the boss¡¯s aggro due to your stamina-regen buff, we would¡¯ve said something to you about it. That¡¯s not to say it¡¯s not good of you to try to improve any way you can, but if you think the problem boils down to ¡®aggro distribution,¡¯ you¡¯re missing the point.¡± Jimmy shifted his weight somewhat as though becoming uncomfortable. ¡°Then what is the point?¡± Zephyr opened his mouth to reply, but Donovan beat him to it. Once again extending his axe towards Jimmy, he said, ¡°That everything goes smooth until it don¡¯t, and when shit did hit the fan, you didn¡¯t know how to handle it.¡± From the way Jimmy curled his lower lip, Zach had the impression that Donovan¡¯s words must¡¯ve bothered him or struck a nerve¡ªat least in the immediate moment after hearing them. Very quickly, however, Jimmy¡¯s defensive look vanished, and he instead flushed with what Zach took to be embarrassment. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± he whispered. Then, more loudly, he said, ¡°But I can do better this time. That¡¯s why I just want one more chance. I realize it¡¯s only been a day or whatever, and yeah, I get that ain¡¯t a lotta of time, but I worry if I don¡¯t get another chance now, ya¡¯ll might never give me one again.¡± Zephyr and Donovan looked at one another as though confused, and then Zephyr said, ¡°We are giving you another chance. I thought that was clear.¡± ¡°Nah, man, not like that.¡± ¡°Not like how?¡± Zephyr asked. Jimmy made an annoyed grumble. ¡°You wanna baby me and make me a ¡®co¡¯ leader or whatever. I meant another chance like, you know, what I had during the raid last night.¡± Once again, Donovan and Zephyr exchanged a look, and then in unison, both laughed. ¡°What exactly do you think we¡¯re doing?¡± Zephyr asked. ¡°This is the exact same thing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not, though,¡± Jimmy replied. ¡°This time around, you two wanna¡ª¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°It¡¯s exactly the same,¡± Zephyr interrupted. ¡°Did you really think you were the only one in charge of the raid? Donovan and I would never let you risk your life and so many others all alone before you¡¯re ready. We were with you the entire time, ready to step in if it all went to hell. And, as it happened, things did go to hell towards the end, and we stepped in. We want you to succeed, but you need to be guided. You can¡¯t expect us to put a hundred lives in your hands and say nothing if we feel things are going the wrong way.¡± Jimmy looked taken aback. Zach still had no idea what the hell they were talking about, but even without knowing, he could tell that whatever Zephyr was saying had begun to deeply resonate with Jimmy, because slowly, he began to nod as if accepting, reluctantly at first, what he was hearing. ¡°So it¡¯ll be just like last night?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Donovan said. ¡°Don¡¯t fuck up, and we won¡¯t have nothin¡¯ to say.¡± Jimmy shrugged. ¡°I guess that¡¯s the best deal I¡¯m gonna get out of you two.¡± Kalana clapped her hands together, reminding Zach and the others she was still huddled around with the rest of them. ¡°It sounds like we finally all agree,¡± she said cheerfully. ¡°Now all we gotta do is figure out when we¡¯re gonna fight this thing and how.¡± Upon those words, the debate over scheduling resumed¡ªor at least it was about to. But Zach had finally had enough. And so, stepping in at last, he marched up to the six of them and waved both his arms back and forth. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s enough.¡± ¡°Zach?¡± Kalana asked, sounding concerned as she turned to face him. Donovan, Zephyr, Fiona, Jimmy, and Mr. Oren all glanced in his direction as well. ¡°Zach, my man, what¡¯s going on?¡± Zach stood defiantly before them. ¡°It¡¯s been four fucking hours and I¡¯m done listening to this shit. Make up your minds in the next five seconds or I¡¯m leaving. And the other adventurers will probably go too. Seriously, either we fight that thing now or we do it tomorrow. But at this rate, it¡¯s going to be tomorrow by the time you guys decide.¡± In response to his demands, Fiona looked worried, Mr. Oren frowned, and Jimmy merely seemed uncertain. Donovan, Kalana, and Zephyr, on the other hand, actually bowed their heads in apparent agreement. ¡°The kid¡¯s right,¡± Donovan said. ¡°We¡¯re wasting time. Let the Explorer¡¯s Brigade do their thing and we¡¯ll go at it first thing in the morning.¡± ¡°That is not acceptable,¡± Mr. Oren replied. ¡°The disruption this will cause to the citizens of Faded Island as well as the danger being faced by those under my command back in Shadowfall Coast is too great for us to delay the hunting of this raid boss. Donovan, you have a responsibility as an adventurer. The one and only responsibility you drunken fools actually have to uphold!¡± As Mr. Oren spoke, he became more and more heated. ¡°It¡¯s fine that you¡¯re eager to get back to drinking and fighting and pissing but you can not walk away from this and leave it for tomorrow. People are stranded because of the road closures. Do your job!¡± ¡°Take it easy,¡± Donovan replied. He spoke at a low volume, his eyes narrowed. ¡°Remember who you¡¯re talking to, Alex.¡± ¡°I do,¡± Mr. Oren insisted. ¡°I¡¯m speaking to an imbecile. A man who, like his peers, has just one single responsibility and can¡¯t even be relied upon to do that much. Why do you think I left? The adventurers behave like oblivious, Gods-cursed fools, and you¡¯re the king of these idiots.¡± ¡°Say that again.¡± Like before, Donovan spoke the words in a calm, low tone. ¡°Go ahead, Alex. Call me that again.¡± To Zach¡¯s surprise, Mr. Oren actually stood his ground. ¡°You, Donovan, are the king of the¡ª¡± Mr. Oren¡¯s words ended in a croak as, with unexpected speed, Donovan¡¯s right, gauntleted hand blazed forward, grabbing at Mr. Oren¡¯s neck. Zach, too stunned to even process what he was seeing, let alone react, watched in absolute astonishment as Donovan¡¯s fingers wrapped tightly around Mr. Oren¡¯s throat, where he then began to lift his arm, causing Mr. Oren to raise up and dangle several inches in the air with his legs kicking as he continued to make gasping, choking sounds. ¡°Wh-what the hell?¡± Zach shouted, finally finding his words. ¡°Guys, what the fuck?¡± ¡°Stop!¡± Kalana shouted. Jimmy merely backed away. Now, the eyes of every adventurer out here under the early-afternoon summer sun turned towards the sudden commotion. And as anyone would expect, they began to cheer and create an absolute ruckus as Donovan continued to raise his arm, lifting Mr. Oren higher and higher, his legs kicking and the sound of his choking intensifying. Zach knew he should do something. He knew he should do something now. But he was so transfixed and shocked over the fact that something like this was even happening that it impeded his ability to react. ¡°Oh, wow!¡± cried an adventurer from somewhere behind Zach. ¡°Science bitch is finally getting what he deserves! Always wanted to see this!¡± ¡°Fuck him up!¡± another adventurer shouted. ¡°Fuck him up, Donovan!¡± The several-dozen members of the Children of Order that were mixed in with the adventuring crowd all now looked to Fiona Darkmae as though for some idea of how they should proceed. She herself didn¡¯t seem to know. ¡°Boys, knock it off,¡± she said to them. ¡°You, big guy, let him go. You¡¯re hurting him.¡± ¡°Donovan, let him go!¡± Kalana shouted, balling her hands into fists. This prompted Zach to panic. How badly could this escalate? What the fuck was even happening and why? Why now, all of a sudden? Had the bad blood between those two really gotten to such a point that something like this could happen? What do I do? I don¡¯t know what to do! As the adventurers were whipped up into a frenzy, one in particular began to share in Zach¡¯s sense of panic. ¡°Donovan, no!¡± Zephyr cried. ¡°He¡¯s the third-in-command of the Lords of Justice now! You can¡¯t do this! Gods, come to your senses! If you hurt or humiliate him too badly it will destroy our whole community!¡± Donovan tightened his grip. ¡°Nah, Zeph. He¡¯s the same old Alex he always was. He needs a bit of tough love, don¡¯t you, kiddo?¡± Mr. Oren¡¯s choking became even louder in volume, and for a moment, Zach worried that it sounded way too much like a death rattle. But then he realized it was something even worse. It was Mr. Oren laughing of all things. And now, with his throat being strangled, he somehow managed to croak out a few words. ¡°Not¡­the same old,¡± he managed to say. ¡°Oh no?¡± ¡°No!¡± Zach had the sense something really bad was about to happen. And he¡¯d never wanted to be more wrong. He¡¯d never wanted to be so off base. Yet as it all unfolded, he had his fears confirmed. And he was powerless to stop it. Mr. Oren flicked his hand from right to left, and in that single motion, a dart made of pure light appeared between his fingers. Then, at point blank, he launched this dart into the side of Donovan¡¯s neck, penetrating deeply into the man¡¯s flesh and causing blood to begin pouring out and hundreds of cheers to die off and turn to screams. He released Mr. Oren immediately, who landed on his feet as Donovan stumbled backwards. Then Mr. Oren snapped up his right foot and bashed it into Donovan¡¯s groin, causing the man to groan loudly. His knees buckled, and he entered a half-standing, half-squatting position. And everything just sort of happened so fast from that point on. Summoning a blade that he gripped in both hands, Mr. Oren actually took a real, genuine swing at Donovan, one that clearly held lethal intent. Donovan, still pressing his right, gauntleted hand against the dire, very serious open wound in his throat, drew his weapon with his left while continuing to stumble backwards and drip blood. Swinging it upwards, he managed to deflect Mr. Oren¡¯s sword, the two weapons clashing in a shower of sparks. Even with just one hand, and even while grievously wounded, Donovan struck with so much strength that the clumsy swing still almost managed to knock the sword out of Mr. Oren¡¯s grip. But Mr. Oren repositioned himself and pressed Donovan. And it was in this moment that it finally clicked: he was really going to kill him. This wasn¡¯t just playing around. ¡°Stop!¡± the adventurers shouted. ¡°Alex, stop! Please!¡± Mr. Oren swung his blade three times, and Donovan guarded against the first two, then stumbled and ended up being bit in the right shoulder. Mr. Oren¡¯s blade managed to cut right through the dark plate armor and slash him deep. This, as his right hand failed to stem the flow of blood that was leaving a trail in almost a perfectly straight line in the street as he continued to stagger backwards and away. ¡°F-fucker,¡± Donovan gargled. Zach screamed out to Mr. Oren, but there was such a dark rage in his eyes that it was impossible to get through to him. He didn¡¯t know who to help or what to do. He just wanted this to stop. And to make matters worse, five outraged adventurers were now rushing towards Mr. Oren with their weapons drawn. One, a caster, muttered something and then extended his staff. But Mr. Oren actually seemed to know what he was going to cast before he even cast it, because he swung his sword with such perfect, effortless timing that in the same instant the mage¡¯s purple ball of fire had ripped across the destroyed market square, it was already dissipating on the end of his sword. ¡°Alex, you son of a bitch!¡± cried the other four adventurers¡ªand then an additional five. No, ten. No, twenty! They were all charging at him. And Zach, still, had absolutely no idea what to do in this situation. This was a catastrophe. This was beyond awful. And Mr. Oren, he¡­his eyes were shifting actively around, and a look of determination settled on his face. He looked convincingly like he really intended to take on the entire Gods-be-damned adventuring community all by himself. Inexplicably, he also looked convincingly like he might win. At least if his posture and demeanor were anything to go by. He even cast several buffs on himself and entered a fighting stance. This, as Donovan, still stumbling away, dropped his axe and collapsed, likely near death. Everything was getting out of control. Everything was going to hell. And for just an instant, Zach wondered if, despite everything he¡¯d endured, this would end up being the worst day of his life. But then Kalana¡¯s voice rang out louder than all others. ¡°Trelvor!¡± she shouted. ¡°Seiley!¡± ¡°Yes, your Highness!¡± they replied at once, ferocity in their words. ¡°The humans have gone crazy! Subdue them!¡± ¡°Yes, your Highness!¡± And they did. They really did. Reminding everyone present just how much of a gap existed between themselves and the Elvish, Trelvor, Kalana, and Seiley went on a rampage, the latter two using only their fists and their speed. Blasting back and forth so fast that it seemed like a special effect in a movie, Kalana was conking people over the head left and right and putting them on their back. Many collapsed outright, including Reni Sarwin and even the incredibly stout Maric Ultdern. At the same time, Trelvor began playing a melody on his flute, and golden musical notes visible to the eye began gliding off the end of the flute and sailing over a half-dozen adventurers, causing them to immediately drop their weapons and fall onto their faces, several of them snoring. Kalana then dashed forward towards Mr. Oren, but not before looking over her shoulder, reaching into her pockets, and producing a handful of various rejuvenation stones. She locked eyes with Zach and then she threw them at him like speeding bullets. Somehow, he managed to catch each one. And with that, he ran as fast as he could over to Donovan. ¡°It¡¯s going to be okay,¡± he said, moving as urgently as he could. ¡°Donovan! Hey, hey, I¡¯ve got you.¡± Zach, dropping down immediately by his side, began slamming the healing stones onto the man. ¡°Here. You¡¯re okay. Here.¡± Something was wrong. Something wasn¡¯t right. They weren¡¯t working. For some reason, they weren¡¯t shattering or disappearing or being absorbed. They remained whole and unbroken. And this was true be they red, purple, or yellow. And then it suddenly dawned on Zach. It hit him so hard that feelings he thought Jascaila had helped put past him came rushing uncontrollably back to the surface. In just that moment, so much of the progress he¡¯d made seemed to become unraveled. His composure. His control of mind. His sense of stability. All that he¡¯d learned to endure and cope with. It was all just gone. ¡°Donovan?¡± he whimpered. He was dead. Right? That was why. That was why this wasn¡¯t working. Zach screamed. It happened so quickly. Too quickly. Too quickly. Too quickly. Too quickly. Too quickly. And you did nothing. And you did nothing. AND YOU DID NOTHING. He screamed. He screamed again. He was losing it. This wasn¡¯t happening. This wasn¡¯t real. He was okay now. He¡¯d gotten beyond this. So why? Why did he begin to tremble so terribly? Out of sheer desperation, with tears raining down his eyes, he began to smash the stones down on Donovan¡¯s face. Harder. And then harder. And then harder. There was a snap as Donovan¡¯s jaw broke. But he continued to slam the stones down on him over and over and over. ¡°No!¡± he screamed, bludgeoning him so hard in the face that his hands became bloodied. Again and again and again, he screamed and slammed and bludgeoned, his hands becoming bloodier and bloodier even as he began to question his own sanity. But then something happened. There was another crack, and the entire handful of stones vanished. Every stone at last shattered and disappeared, and the moment they did so, Zach held his breath, all while shaking uncontrollably in a state of bewildered shock. For a terribly painful few moments, nothing happened. And then, visibly, Donovan¡¯s just-broken jaw began to heal, the bone snapping back into place all on its own. Seeing this, Zach exhaled and then once more began to breathe. At the same time, Zach¡¯s sanity returned to him as quickly as it had fled. He had no idea what had happened or why. Was Donovan going to live? Was he actually pulling through this? But how? Perhaps there was some tiny, barely lit flame of life that still existed within him: one so faint that it was only by beating him mercilessly over the head with the stones that he was able to fan it just enough to where the items became usable. But with even more tears now raining down his eyes, Zach grabbed the man, whose neck wound had begun to close up and seal, and whose eyes were beginning to open. And in them, there was neither shock nor anger, just amusement. ¡°Fucker actually did it, huh? Good for him.¡± Utterly floored by Donovan¡¯s response, he watched as the man picked himself up off the ground, gave him a powerful pat on the back, and rose back to his feet, his axe once again in hand. Zach, still trembling, ran his mind through every breathing technique and every thought process that Jascaila had taught him. He was disappointed in himself: very disappointed. Yet perhaps that was his own fault for believing there was no more progress left to make. Even still, the fact that he¡¯d been on the verge of a mental collapse was not the most prominent thing on his mind. No, there was something else. A realization. A terrible realization. Donovan would never have killed Mr. Oren, he thought. He would not have actually choked him to death no matter what. I know it, Zephyr knows it, Kal knows it¡ªeverybody knows it. Even Mr. Oren probably knew it. Donovan would never, ever, ever have done that. But Mr. Oren tried to kill him anyway. ¡°Donovan,¡± Zach said, wiping his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t know why he did that to you. I don¡¯t know why he¡ª¡± There was a roar: a loud, angry roar that came from the boss. It was a loud, neighing growl that filled the air with its ominous sound. Alarmed, Zach turned his head to look in its direction, and now, floating above the top of its head more than two stories above them, he could just make out the number 491. Something¡ªsomeone¡ªhad damaged it. Likely by accident. And now, it was charging them¡ªbut at an angle that saw it run directly through three still-standing buildings, toppling all three with tremendously loud crunching sounds along with subsequent snaps. It also caused a cloud of dust and debris to dirty the air. Mr. Oren, as though finally coming to his senses, backed away from Kal just before she clobbered him over the head. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he said. ¡°Worry about that.¡± His throat having gone dry, Zach waited for enough saliva to form in order to swallow. And then he said, ¡°Donovan, I have no idea what¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± he said, his neck stained red from all the blood that¡¯d been pouring out of him. And just like that, he shifted gears as though everything was still as it was before. ¡°Jimmy! You got your damn wish. Raid¡¯s on!¡± It was only now that Zach realized Jimmy had snuck away during the little brawl, having moved half a block in the opposite direction as though wanting absolutely no part in whatever the hell that was. And who could blame him? Even having brought himself fully under control, Zach was still trembling almost as though it were a physical aftershock to the mental earthquake that¡¯d just gone off within himself. ¡°Don¡¯t you wanna de-aggro it?¡± Jimmy called back, having to really shout to be heard from this distance. Donovan shrugged. ¡°You really think you can beat this thing, kiddo?¡± ¡°Hell yeah I do.¡± ¡°Then go ahead.¡± He rubbed the spot on his neck where Mr. Oren¡¯s dart had almost caused him to bleed out. It was as though he could still feel the pain of it, though Zach doubted such pain was physical. ¡°You¡¯re in charge. No co-leadership either. It¡¯s all you.¡± Now, Jimmy, who still seemed to be slinking away, came to an abrupt halt and then immediately began running back towards them. ¡°Wait, no cap?¡± ¡°No what?¡± ¡°I mean, seriously?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s. Fucking. Go!¡± he shouted, pumping his fist. Rather than head straight for him, he instead headed first for a young-looking member of Children of Order. He exchanged a few words, then shook the man¡¯s hand, and then the man gave him a megaphone he¡¯d been holding. ¡°All right, boys and girls, listen up," his voice blared over the megaphone. "We¡¯re doing this shit. Everybody fall back to me for a de-aggro and a reset. We not starting things off like this. On me. Let¡¯s go!¡± Amid all the awful yet surprising things Zach had just witnessed, it seemed there was still room for more unexpected events. And in this case, it was the way in which Jimmy seemingly transformed himself into a more confident, capable, and genuinely inspiring figure in a matter of moments. He¡¯d seen this from him once before, actually: when they¡¯d entered Trials of Nolak for the first time. Almost until the exact moment in time they''d slid down into the dungeon, Jimmy had been timid and agreeable. This had begun to change as they neared the dungeon, but it was really upon entering it that this other side of him had emerged. Zach supposed that there was just something unique about the world of adventuring that turned this typically meek nineteen-year-old kid into a general-like figure with a certainty of purpose that could inspire confidence in even the most skeptical disbeliever. And it was a trait he seemed to know how to put to good use, such as right now. Even with a nod from Zephyr, the adventurers seemed to hesitate while the giant horse boss drew nearer and nearer, making straight for whoever had launched the wayward attack that''d aggroed it. All around, there was a general sense of reluctance due to the unresolved conflict between Donovan and Mr. Oren. Clearly, their focus was now on something other than the raid. But Jimmy found a way to overcome this problem, and it was likely due to nothing more than the commanding tone he struck as he addressed them all. First, Jimmy made a tsk sound, and then, moving his lips even closer to the megaphone, he called out, ¡°Everybody, leave your personal bullshit drama behind on my raid. I don¡¯t give a damn what ya¡¯ll are fighting about. You take that elsewhere or you¡¯re kicked out. Now get your asses over here. Now!¡¯ And to Zach¡¯s surprise, they listened. Even Mr. Oren. All at once, everyone sort of just sheathed their weapons and moved along¡ªall except those who¡¯d been knocked out cold or put to sleep by Trelvor¡¯s flute. Those, adventurers had to scoop up and carry. Ugliness had taken place here. Real, true ugliness. And for that reason, Zach was actually glad they had a raid boss to fight. He doubted he was alone in this thinking, too. Because anything right now was better than thinking about what had just happened. Truly, anything was better than that. Anything. ***** His hands still folded behind his back, Adamus watched carefully. His eyes closed, a vivid picture filling his mind, he was tempted to look away in disgust as the Galterrans proved themselves to be the same as they always were. Yet he also felt pleased to a degree. Once again, had it not been for the system, people would have chosen to fight one another to the death instead of striving to survive as one. His system was constantly proved correct and just. In spite of all the naysayers and second guessers who over thousands of years had condemned it, the correctness of Adamus''s philosophy prevailed. Yes indeed, as always, the system was self-vindicating. So why, then, were those Adamus relied upon the most always the first to cast doubt? Why, then, had all the Great Ones save for Eilea chosen to abandon it? And even in the case of his beloved, she had not remained due to a lingering belief in the system but rather an emotional attachment to the people of Galterra. But why? Why, when the proof was plainly on display for any who bothered to simply look? To behold with their own eyes that the only way a world of peace could ever exist in tandem with free will was to provide its inhabitants a common enemy: to force them into cooperation or face extinction. From the very beginning, the Great Ones had all worked against his vision. Adamus had been mortal enemies with most of them as a young man. Their conflicts had scorched the last remnants of civilization: all of it. Civilization itself had ended. For hundreds of years, a handful of magnificently powerful beings had fought one another over literally nothing, as nothing had remained with which to gain. Yet in a strange sort of harmony, all the Great Ones seemed to finally see the error of their ways, Adamus included, and they had worked as one to remake the world, and all had agreed to the fundamental basis of Adamus''s vision. But they simply would not cede full control of it. Compromise. Compromise had yielded failure. Had Adamus only been given his way, Galterra would have been a far more brutal, far more dangerous world than that which had been created. Yet the people had been given too much slack, and they had used this slack to fight one another and perpetuate all the injustices the system had been designed to erase. Compounding these issues was his beloved''s constant, never-ending interference. But none of that truly mattered anymore. The Great Ones would never be a threat to him again, and though he alone lacked the power to create new worlds, he did have the power to begin anew on Archian Prime once the World Eater destroyed Galterra. Archian Prime, though also a T1 planet, was far more dangerous, densely packed, and inhospitable to sentient life. And this time around, Adamus would not require anyone¡¯s agreement to seed it and start the project over from the beginning. Eagerly¡ªyet also sadly¡ªhe longed to see the World Eater spawn and devour the failure that was Galterra. And to that end, it would begin here today as he waited to learn the manner in which these adventurers would soon face their death. He could not envision this lasting beyond the next ten or so minutes. Would any survive? Most likely not. They would be utterly blindsided by the complexities of a boss, one equivalent to those more typically found on a T2 world. Yes, all was as it needed to be. Chapter 173: Broken Hearts Chapter 173: Broken Hearts Feeling tremendously distraught, Zach struggled to concentrate, but it wasn¡¯t easy, and he mostly wasn¡¯t succeeding, either. The agitation he felt was ever-present and something he was unable to tamp down on. At best, it would linger in the back of his mind for several minutes before bursting to the surface of his awareness, gripping him with a sense of wrongness and discontent. He''d then try to bury it down deep only for it to return again and again. At the moment, he really wished Jascaila was here, although¡­actually, on second thought, maybe not, as there was no telling how she¡¯d have reacted to seeing Mr. Oren nearly murder her brother. I can¡¯t believe he did that, Zach thought, the recent violent events flashing in his mind. I really can¡¯t believe it. He wasn¡¯t alone in his disbelief. The adventurers all around had become noticeably quieter as, from what Zach could tell, a general malaise seemed to have settled over just about everyone. They all looked like they were having as much trouble focusing as he was. It was difficult to think about anything else right now, and each time it popped up in his head, Zach felt as though a knot was further tightening in his stomach. ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± Donovan said quietly to him. The man actually happened to be standing to Zach''s immediate left near the ruins of an eatery that had been completely destroyed as though bulldozed. Oddly enough, its doorway remained undamaged despite most of its foundation having been reduced to rubble. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t let any of this get to you, kiddo.¡± The fact that Donovan was here next to Zach and not across the street with Jimmy and Mr. Oren was not an accident. Despite both men assuring everyone that there would be no further issues between the two of them, Kalana, Seiley, and Trelvor were not taking any chances and seemed like they were willing to use force if necessary to keep them separated. They meant business, too. Trelvor and Seiley were constantly sending wary, distrusting glares at Donovan¡ªbut very few if any were directed at Mr. Oren. It was like they¡¯d picked a side in the conflict. Initially, Zach had been confused as to why Trelvor and Seiley were openly glaring at Donovan but not also at Mr. Oren. The Elves, at least as far as Zach was aware, had no real history with Donovan or any other reason to pick a favorite in this totally unexpected blood feud. But then Zach realized that they were likely just going off the general vibe being exuded by Kalana, and she, on the other hand, was clearly more sympathetic to Mr. Oren than the leader of the GSG. She didn¡¯t even bother trying to hide it, either. As Zach had thought on it, he recalled that Kalana had actually told him in private on numerous occasions that she disliked Donovan and thought he was a sexist, brutish man who was ¡°very impolite¡± and ¡°uncivilized.¡± Mr. Oren, however, had always been her favorite teacher in school, and the two had been on good terms long before Zach and Kal had come to discover anything related to the adventuring world, so in light of this, Zach supposed Kalana¡¯s preference here wasn¡¯t all that surprising. But even still, the openly hostile looks that she, Seiley, and Trelvor were sending to Donovan were uncalled for in Zach¡¯s opinion. But at least she was keeping the peace. There were a whole lot of adventurers out here, and Zach knew that just about all of them would really like to take a shot at Mr. Oren on Donovan¡¯s behalf. They¡¯re never going to forgive him for what he almost did. At the moment, more than a hundred adventurers and two-dozen members of Children of Order were huddled together in groups of various sizes at different parts of a street that led directly into the next one down, which was where the boss awaited. Each group was growing or shrinking in size based on continuously changing orders from Jimmy, who seemed to be putting some kind of strategy together, though he¡¯d yet to explain to everyone what, exactly, he was planning. In total, another three hours had passed since the ¡°incident¡± between Mr. Oren and Donovan, but unlike the four hours preceding that, the delay this time around had been for good reasons and had also been productive. Jimmy, as though realizing the impracticality of leading with a megaphone, had asked the Children of Order to procure Comms for the entire raid to use. But doing so had taken almost an hour of time. Yet even if they¡¯d received the devices instantly, it likely would have done little to accelerate things, as Jimmy would still be doing exactly what he was doing right now: working things out with Mr. Oren. The two seemed to be getting along really well. Mr. Oren made what looked like a good-natured chuckle then gave Jimmy a pat on the back. He doesn¡¯t look like he¡¯s even slightly upset, Zach thought, becoming disturbed by the sight of him. Right now, the lab-coat-wearing former science teacher was enthusiastically lifting his finger as though making a point about something or another, and from looks alone, one would be hard-pressed to tell that there had ever been any conflict at all between him and Donovan. Put simply, he did not look like a man who had brought his former mentor to the verge of death. He seemed totally unbothered. Could it be an act? Maybe. Zach had no way of knowing. Truly, he had no possible way of peeking behind the man¡¯s exterior curtain and into his soul. Was there a part of Mr. Oren that was deeply upset? Did he feel any guilt at all below the surface? He¡¯d become so good at keeping his feelings sealed away that Zach couldn¡¯t even form a gut instinct. He simply did not know the answers to these questions. Donovan, on the other hand, had clearly been affected by the altercation, and the contrast was unmistakable, as the grief of it was written so plainly on his face it may as well have been drawn in bright ink. One thing Zach had learned about Donovan was that, while the man may not have been the type to articulate his emotional struggles¡ªor help others do so like his sister, Jascaila¡ªhe nevertheless tended to wear his heart on his sleeve, and it was never difficult to get a read on how he was thinking or feeling. Is he really okay? Zach wondered, becoming concerned. Zach regarded the GSG leader, whose neck, despite having healed, was still stained with dried blood. From what Zach could tell, it really seemed like he was trying to project the very same ¡°I¡¯m fine¡± energy that Mr. Oren was giving off, but unlike Mr. Oren, Donovan¡¯s slightly slumped shoulders and overall change in posture gave him away. Well, that and the fact that, for the past three hours, he¡¯d been occasionally muttering swear words under his breath. ¡°So,¡± Zach said to him, his tone conversational. ¡°Donovan, uh¡­¡± Donovan snapped his head in Zach¡¯s direction. ¡°Yeah?¡± Zach shrugged and tried to keep his voice casual. ¡°You sure you still want us to do the raid today and not wait for tomorrow morning?¡± Donovan looked at him a moment then chuckled. ¡°You worried about me, Zach?¡± ¡°No, not at all.¡± ¡°Bullshit.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not, honest.¡± ¡°Kid¡­¡± Zach sighed. ¡°Okay, fine, maybe just a little. But if it makes you feel any better, I¡¯m also worried about me¡ªand everyone else, too. I think we¡¯re all upset right now about what happened. Are you really sure we shouldn¡¯t just call it a day and come back tomorrow?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Donovan said, not volunteering an explanation or really anything beyond the one-word reply. This prompted Zach to ask the obvious follow-up question. ¡°So, what made you change your mind, then?¡± ¡°Eh? About what?¡± ¡°What do you think? Obviously, about us doing the raid today. And about letting Jimmy lead it all on his own. You wanted to wait until tomorrow and then, like, I don¡¯t know, just all of a sudden, you went one-eighty on that. It¡¯s weird and I don¡¯t get it.¡± Donovan fixed Zach with an uncomfortably serious look, but it only lasted an instant. Afterwards, his eyes briefly glanced in Mr. Oren¡¯s direction, and now he glowered contemptuously at the man. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna deal with him for another day, that¡¯s why.¡± ¡°Wait, seriously?¡± ¡°Find it too hard to believe, kiddo?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­that¡¯s a pretty small thing to base such a big decision off.¡± Donovan flashed Zach a look that began as one of annoyance but quickly shifted to something closer to resigned acceptance. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re probably right, but it is what it is. I don¡¯t ever wanna speak to the fucker again after this. I saved that Gods-be-damned kid¡¯s life when he was younger than you are now, and look at how that miserable, rotten bastard betrayed not just me but the entire fuckin¡¯ community.¡± Of all the words Donovan had just said, a few stood out to Zach to such an extent that all the others were drowned out. ¡°Really? You saved his life?¡± ¡°Sure did. Before he was even an adventurer, too.¡± Having never heard anything of this until now, Zach couldn¡¯t help but ask about it. ¡°What did you save him from?¡± ¡°Boss spawn,¡± Donovan said. He followed his words by spitting out a wad of saliva onto the paved street. ¡°A T4 showed up one day out of the blue. Ended up killing his whole family: everyone but him.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know that,¡± Zach whispered, shocked to be hearing this for the first time. ¡°Well, now ya do.¡± Zach again looked over to Mr. Oren, who was still smiling as though delighted as he continued his animated, lively exchange with Jimmy. With his lab coat back on and his cat-eye glasses, he really did appear to be his old self. But appearances can be deceiving, Zach thought, knowing better. He turned his attention to Donovan. ¡°I don¡¯t understand why¡­why all this happened.¡± ¡°Meaning?¡± Zach crossed his arms as he thought back to three hours ago and the events leading up to Mr. Oren¡¯s near slaying of Donovan. ¡°It bothers me. It bothers me because everyone knows you wouldn¡¯t have actually killed or even really hurt Mr. Oren. You would¡¯ve maybe slapped him a few times, but you never would¡¯ve gone as far as he did. He can¡¯t justify what he did with self-defense.¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t gotta justify it.¡± ¡°Of course he does.¡± ¡°Nah, he doesn¡¯t. Because like I said: after this, I don¡¯t intend to speak to him again. I just want to be done with it. He doesn¡¯t owe me an explanation.¡± Donovan grunted. ¡°Alex is too far gone. He ain¡¯t one of us anymore. Just gotta accept that¡ªand learn from it, too. Especially you.¡± ¡°Me?¡± Zach asked, having no idea what Donovan was trying to imply. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Donovan pointed at him. ¡°You¡¯re getting too deep into guild politics. You need to cut it out before it¡¯s too late. Just look at what it did to Alex. Look at how much it changed him in just a few weeks. Now imagine what the prick is gonna be like in a few years from now.¡± Donovan visibly shuddered. ¡°That¡¯ll be you if you keep on messing around.¡± Zach knew that, with a man like Donovan, it was in his best interest to simply nod and agree no matter what he said so as to avoid a harsh rebuke and possibly a painful shoulder slap. But in this case, he just couldn¡¯t. ¡°I think Mr. Oren only joined because he wants to help people,¡± Zach said. ¡°I¡¯m not defending his decisions and stuff or trying to take his side, don¡¯t get me wrong. But I really think he wants to¡ª¡± ¡°No shit,¡± Donovan interrupted, his temper clearly having been sparked. He shook the finger he was pointing at Zach. ¡°But that¡¯s how they get ya. Alex probably thought he¡¯d be different. Kid thought he wouldn¡¯t be like the rest of them. But you can see it with your own eyes, can¡¯t you? He¡¯s turning into one of them.¡± ¡°Okay, but, in fairness, that by itself doesn¡¯t mean anything since clearly they¡¯re not all bad, right?¡± Of all the things he¡¯d said, it was this that really set Donovan off. ¡°Of course they are!¡± he snapped. ¡°Every last one of the fuckers is evil. Ask anyone with sense and they¡¯ll tell you the same. The political guilds are corrupt shitheads who live for the power they have over folks. But I shouldn¡¯t have to tell you this. Look what happened to your father.¡± Zach had a billion things he could say in response to this, and every one of them he was sure would only serve to escalate the argument until he was the one having a potentially violent confrontation with Donovan. Only, in his case, he was sure he wouldn¡¯t actually try killing the man no matter how heated things became. He also couldn¡¯t really hold Donovan¡¯s views against him because Zach himself had held those exact same views for almost his entire life. Really, the only reason Zach now thought differently was because he¡¯d come to understand¡ªmostly due to his own experiences but also from discussions with Jascaila¡ªthat the only thing worse than having the often-villainous political guilds in charge would be to have nobody in charge at all. But Donovan just didn¡¯t understand that point, and it wasn¡¯t something Zach had the ability to make him see, so he decided to deescalate the tension he could feel growing between them. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Zach said to him, letting him win. ¡°They¡¯re all shit.¡± Donovan gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder, and it hurt like hell. ¡°That¡¯s right. Don¡¯t forget it. You¡¯re an adventurer, kiddo. You¡¯re one of us. We don¡¯t fuck around in that world. Trust me, you don¡¯t want that.¡± Zach nodded¡ªand meant it, too. Because on that point, Donovan was actually correct. Zach did not ¡°want that.¡± Gods no. It was the last thing on Galterra he wanted! Why would anyone want to be involved in violence, killing, and global politics when the alternative was gallivanting through dungeons with your buddies all day before heading back to a bar on the edge of the universe for drinks, food, and entertainment? What sane, rational being would prefer the former to the latter? No, Zach most certainly did not want to be dragged into the world of guild politics and the Royal Roses. But he was now more certain than ever that he was going to have to do so. And why? Because in five years from now, the World Eater was going to spawn, and he knew if he shoved this responsibility onto someone else, Galterra would be destroyed. No, they were going to need more than just human adventurers to stop it. Zach could sense that much. They were going to need everybody. To stop the World Eater, we¡¯re going to need the world, he thought. But to get the world, we need diplomacy. We need Mr. Oren¡­and me. ¡°You¡¯ve gone quiet. Getting nervous?¡± Zach laughed. ¡°To fight the boss? No way.¡± Donovan gave him a grunt of approval. ¡°Good. You better not be. After taking on that dragon, I expect you to shit fire and piss steel.¡± He straightened his back and, at the same time, the level of noise in the general area seemed to rise along with the overall activity. ¡°I think we¡¯re finally about to get started.¡± With the ferociously hot sun bearing down on them, Zach watched as the composition of the various groups of people here on the street began to change more rapidly, with Jimmy now constantly waving his arms around, pointing, calling out names, and ordering people to stand with others¡ªonly to move them soon after. On a surface level, it was clear that he was grouping people together based on their archetypes: healers with healers, mages with mages, tanks with tanks, etc. What was not clear, however, was why there were so many sub-groups where Jimmy seemed to be meticulously pairing groups of mages together. Fortunately, it seemed like he was about to find out. After about twenty more minutes of constant shifting around, what remained under the hot, intense summer sun was a large ¡°division¡± of tanks, a smaller one of off-tanks, and an absolute ton of miniscule groupings of mages, support, and healers, sometimes mixed in with one another, but all consisting of between five and ten apiece. The ranged DPS were also in with the mages now, including a man Zach took to be Ishina¡¯s father. His name was Frenk, but Zach only knew this because he heard Jimmy call it. The same was true for a strangely apologetic woman wearing an elegant, one-piece red dress named Emala. ¡°I won¡¯t let you down this time!¡± she cried out to him. Zach had no idea what that meant or why she¡¯d said it. Jimmy waved off her remark. ¡°Nah, I won¡¯t let you down this time. I should¡¯a told you not to spam those wisps on the boss last night. It was my fault what happened, not yours.¡± ¡°No, it was mine!¡± she insisted. ¡°But you¡¯re a darling, Jimmy.¡± Zach smiled. But there was a touch of sadness that he could feel within it, because it occurred to him that, in such a short time, Jimmy had become much closer with the adventuring community than he himself was. Zach couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that he was missing out. He didn¡¯t want to alienate himself from these people, but he was slowly coming to realize that it would be in his best interest not to get too close to them, since they were inevitably going to turn on him once he got more involved in activities they forbade. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. I wish that didn¡¯t have to happen, he thought, a pain actually flaring in his chest as he knew the day would come very soon. Donovan¡¯s going to be so upset. For now, however, and until such a time as they would no longer have him, Zach was going to proudly identify as an adventurer. And to that end, his ears perked up and all the fatigue seemed to flee from his body as the boss battle at last neared. ¡°Comms on!¡± Jimmy shouted. ¡°Everybody who¡¯s gonna be on the raid, turn your Comms on. This shit¡¯s about to go down!¡± He seemed incredibly upbeat for someone who was practically begging on his knees for some booze a few hours ago. It was truly incredible just how emboldened and alive he became in the face of the adventuring world. Jimmy was probably going to live the life here that Zach wished he could live. In a way, however, neither of them would get what they truly wanted. Zach wanted to be a free, careless adventurer, and Jimmy wanted to go home. But this was the hand he¡¯d drawn, and so be it. Once the World Eater is killed, if I¡¯m still alive, I¡¯ll be free¡­ Making the facial gestures required to activate his Comm, Zach simultaneously accepted the invitation to join the raiding party, causing the names of more than a hundred adventurers¡ªas well as some guild members from Children of Order¡ªto begin popping up above their heads in green lettering. They were now visible to Zach wherever they happened to be, as even while behind a wall, he could see the outline of their body. The last time he¡¯d joined a raiding party like this had been during the raid against the dragon. Hopefully, this would turn out to be a bit easier. It sure looks a bit easier. To be fair, this so-called ¡°Mare of the Primordial Void¡± was in fact a daunting, intimidating-looking creature. It was incredibly large, standing more than two stories tall, and its skin was pitch black but with an eerie purplish hue that was only occasionally visible depending on the direction of the light. It also had a red glow coming from inside its mouth as though it concealed a bright ruby projector within the confines of its jaw. But it was no Ziragoth. That was for sure. Compared to that Gods-cursed dragon, this thing was basically just a cute pony. I shouldn¡¯t underestimate it, he reminded himself. I know better. From what Olivir and Kolona had explained to him, Ziragoth wasn¡¯t even a superboss as everyone had originally called it. It had turned out to be something called a ¡°God Boss,¡± which was apparently worse or whatever. This would likely turn out to be just a superboss¡ªor maybe not. The truth was that Zach had no idea. But whatever it happened to be, he decided to treat this with the seriousness a T9 deserved. To do anything else would risk his and others¡¯ lives. Zach laughed quietly to himself¡ªbut also nervously. Because he realized he was starting to sound a bit like Mr. Oren. With his Comm now turned on, things began immediately. ¡°All right, everyone,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°Here¡¯s how we¡¯re gonna play this. So, first I¡¯m just gonna go over what I suspect is about to happen, and when I do, ya¡¯ll should understand why we got you in so many different groups. But don¡¯t worry. This is gonna be easy. We got this.¡± ¡°That sounds wonderful, but Jimmy, could you perchance start from the beginning?¡± asked the humble, kind, but deceptively strong voice of Miss Britethorn. Zach looked over to her. The poor old woman was absolutely soaked in sweat, though she gave off no sign that it bothered her. She, like her husband, Frederick, wore very heavy, massive suits of bronze-colored armor, each with a huge two-handed weapon sheathed on their backs. Considering they were rumored to be nearing two-hundred years of age¡ªand were confirmed to be the oldest living, non-vampire adventurers¡ªthey were both in excellent shape. ¡°I¡¯d be happy to,¡± Jimmy replied. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you want me to go over the whole elemental shift thing again, right?¡± If Miss Britethorn replied in the affirmative, Zach was unable to hear it among nearly a hundred voices all calling out their agreement. Zach also voiced his desire to hear it again, as the only time Jimmy had actually explained it to anyone other than Mr. Oren had been during the time everybody was running around looking for him and there were still civilians in the area in need of rescue. ¡°Okay, so¡­where do I start?¡± Jimmy mused aloud. But if the question was rhetorical, Mr. Oren decided to answer it anyway. ¡°Jimmy, maybe you should begin with a formal definition of what it actually is and then explain the two possibilities that you described to me.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, good idea.¡± Jimmy cleared his throat. When he spoke, the adventurers remained silent as though captivated by him. ¡°Okay, so uh, everybody listen up. Here¡¯s the deal about elemental shift. So, in some of the games¡ªI mean some of the simulations I¡¯ve run through, every now and then you get a boss that has this really annoying ability where, if you hit it with a certain element or damage type enough times, it becomes immune to that type. But that¡¯s not elemental shifting exactly. What makes something an elemental shift is when the dude you¡¯re fighting actually becomes the element you were hitting it with.¡± ¡°Becomes the element?¡± Zach asked. Jimmy, who stood on the other end of the street, cupped his hands over his face as if to filter out the sun as he regarded Zach. ¡°Yeah. It basically takes on properties of that element. So like, after I beat up the T9 with my poisons for a bit, its entire body turned green and it started gassing up the whole market square with poison.¡± ¡°Yeah, I saw that, actually,¡± Zach said. ¡°On my way over here.¡± ¡°And does this immunity last for the rest of the fight?¡± Lienne inquired, chiming in. She was currently grouped in with a bunch of mages Zach had never seen before¡ªor at least only vaguely recognized. ¡°Good question, Lienne. That¡¯s actually where the two possibilities I was talking about come into play.¡± At this, the adventurers once more became silent as they listened to him speak. ¡°So, in most of the simulations I¡¯ve run through, elemental shift is only permanent until the boss shifts again. Meaning, if ya¡¯ll hit it with fire enough times while it¡¯s gone poison, it¡¯ll switch to fire, turn red, and poison will hurt it again like it did before. This is how it goes in like eighty percent of the cases where you see this. Actually, probably more like ninety.¡± Jimmy paused for a second as though to ensure everyone was following along. He did not show even the slightest hint of nervousness or stage fight as a hundred eyes all trained on him. But Zach was one of the very few people who knew why this happened to be. He, along with only a small handful of others, knew that Jimmy¡¯s comfort in this sort of situation was born form spending many hours on ancient-Earth internet playing what he¡¯d called ¡°RPG games¡± with his friends online. Zach still found this so hard to both comprehend and believe. That the life-and-death dangers of the world had once been nothing more than a toy that people played for fun: something called the Nintendo Box Station X, assuming Zach was correctly recalling the name Jimmy had spoken. The biggest, baddest raid bosses of his time were just fun little images on his ¡°computer Nintendo¡± or whatever you call it. It¡¯s hard to believe, but it¡¯s true. After a brief pause, Jimmy continued his explanation. ¡°Every now and then, you have to deal with the other type¡ªand it¡¯s actually really rare. Only once in a blue moon, when the devs are either being lazy or just assholes, do you get one of those fucked-up raids where bosses gain perma-immunities throughout the fight. You usually see this more in offline g¡­uh, offline simulations. Like Shin Megami Tensei III had one of those. Oh, shit, that guy was hard as hell. I had to reload my save so many times.¡± ¡°Reload your save?¡± Zephyr asked. Jimmy sighed audibly over the Comm. ¡°It¡¯s¡­an Earth thing. Maybe I¡¯ll talk about it some other time. The point is that there are two ways I think this could go down. If it¡¯s the more common way, then all the formations we just set up won¡¯t matter. We can burn the boss down in like two minutes as long as we¡¯re careful in how we rotate our damage types.¡± ¡°And if it¡¯s the second type?¡± asked a determined-sounding Ophelia Graven, who Zach recalled was the guild leader of the adventuring guild, Boss Rush. ¡°If it¡¯s the second type,¡± Jimmy replied, ¡°that¡¯s why you¡¯re all set up the way you are. Fire with fire, ice with ice, and so on. Same for those of you who¡¯ve got elemental resistance buffs. Me and Lord Oren figured out it¡¯s best to organize everybody by their strongest damage type. That way we can make use of all hundred-plus of you by optimizing for what you¡¯re best at.¡± ¡°Ahh, so that¡¯s why we¡¯ve been standing out here sweating our asses off for all these hours,¡± Rian said over the Comm. ¡°Well, yeah, obviously. Why, what did you think we were doing?¡± The sound of a slap came from somewhere in the distance, but there was no further reply from Rian. Zach concealed a chuckle. This meant he was probably going to say something truly vile but he was stopped by someone before he could do so¡ªprobably Lienne, but it could¡¯ve also been Seiley, too. ¡°Jimmy,¡± Mr. Oren said, ¡°why don¡¯t you explain to everyone why you think we¡¯re more likely to face the latter type of boss.¡± ¡°Oh, snap, I forgot. Thanks, Lord Oren.¡± He briefly paused to twist the cap open on a bottle of water, which he quickly drank. ¡°So yeah, even though the first type is way more common, I think we¡¯re gonna be dealing with the worse kind here. Not just ¡®cause the boss is T9, either. But because when I hit it with poison too many times, it physically changed in ways I don¡¯t see it reverting from. Like, it actually got bigger and shit. It wasn¡¯t just the change in skin color. I think each time we strike this thing with enough of one damage type, it¡¯s gonna get more powerful, its stats will go up, and it¡¯ll gain new abilities that it can then keep until we either kill it, it kills us, or we reset.¡± ¡°So to clarify,¡± Zephyr said, ¡°the physical changes it undergoes is the basis for you thinking it will likely be this ¡®second type¡¯ you¡¯re speaking about?¡± ¡°That and just my basic intuition,¡± Jimmy replied. ¡°It just seems like it.¡± ¡°Is there any way you can elaborate further?¡± Jimmy again paused, and Zach watched him exchange a brief look with Mr. Oren, who nodded at him. ¡°Well, in its base form,¡± he continued, ¡°I noticed it only had three very simple, very basic attacks: a stomp, a bite, and eye lasers. To me, that doesn¡¯t seem like a whole lot for a T9, you know? I feel like there¡¯s no way that can be. This thing¡¯s definitely got a bunch more up its sleeve than just that. And I¡¯ll be real with you guys: I got a feeling that this is gonna be, like, the first actual, real raid boss most of ya¡¯ll have ever encountered till now.¡± Hearing this, Zach finally felt a small pinch of nervousness rising within himself. He opened his mouth to say something, but someone else beat him to it. Alixa, making almost the exact same remark Zach was about to make, called out, ¡°You said this was going to be easy. This sounds like something even worse than Ziragoth!¡± ¡°Chill,¡± he replied to her, ¡°it¡¯s fine no matter what ends up happening. Also¡ªand I¡¯m sorry if this sounds disrespectful and whatnot¡ªbut Ziragoth wasn¡¯t shit, ya¡¯ll just bad. Anyway, let¡¯s just say I¡¯m right and it really is the second type: it¡¯s still gonna be okay. People, just trust me on this, all right? Oh, and you know what else? I just decided right now we¡¯re gonna try cheesing it first anyhow.¡± ¡°The fuck does that mean?¡± Donovan barked over the Comm, finally deciding to get involved. He was joined in by Maric and a good number of other adventurers. ¡°Did he just say ¡®cheese?¡¯¡± snickered Reni Sarwin. Zach was also confused. But by this point, he was used to Jimmy saying strange things or speaking with strange lingo. The others not so much. They became frustrated and started demanding he explain. ¡°Hey, uh, Jimmy,¡± Rian said over the Comm. ¡°For those of us here who were not born in an underground colony on Earth, you mind telling us what the hell that means?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a gamer word,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°It just means¡­don¡¯t worry what it means, actually. I¡¯m not stopping to explain everything I say to a bunch of noobs. If you don¡¯t know what that word means, well, GG.¡± ¡°GG?¡± an adventurer near Zach whispered off-Comm. ¡°What¡¯s that mean?¡± ¡°No fuckin¡¯ idea,¡± Donovan growled, also off-Comm. ¡°Kid¡¯s speaking like he¡¯s possessed by a demon.¡± Not everyone was confused, though. There was exactly one other person who knew what he was trying to say, and it wasn¡¯t Zach or Tena. No, it was Mr. Oren, who somehow just automatically understood what he meant, likely because he was clearly the smartest person on the raid and had figured it out based solely on context clues that Zach¡ªand everyone else¡ªhad somehow missed. ¡°Based on usage, tone, and prior context, I¡¯m guessing he¡¯s using the word ¡®cheese¡¯ as a verb to mean ¡®succeed in something deliberately crafted to be difficult via a roundabout, unintended means.¡¯ And from the dismissive tone of voice in which he said ¡®GG¡¯, it¡¯s probably the equivalent of: ¡®deal with it.¡¯ Is this correct, Jimmy?¡± Jimmy made something that sounded like a cross between a gasp and a gulp. ¡°Y-yeah,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re smart as hell, dude. For real. How the hell did you know that?¡± Mr. Oren adjusted his cat-eye glasses. ¡°It was obvious. So, how do you intend to ¡®cheese¡¯ the boss?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s probably not gonna work, but I¡¯m just gonna have Zach go at it alone and see if he can solo it with his tiger mount. It probably won¡¯t work, but even if it doesn¡¯t, we might be able to chip away some of its HP if we stack DS and HOTs.¡± All at once, more than a hundred sets of eyes shifted in Zach''s direction along with anxious-sounding feet, which turned towards him. Even as they did so, Zach worried his jaw would not only drop, but fall off his face and land on the ground as he realized what was being asked of him¡ªor partially realized. In truth, he barely even understood what the hell Jimmy had just said let alone what the implications of it happened to be. All he knew was that he was once again being asked to do something ridiculous by a raid leader. Last time, it was to tank the dragon. And now? Now, he was being asked to do¡­well, something. None of what Jimmy just said made sense to him, though. He moaned. ¡°Not this again.¡± ****** Another fingernail was pulled, this time from his thumb, and the man screamed, the sound of it so horrific that even after all he¡¯d been through, Vim was considering showing him mercy. For all his bluster about wanting to do the same to the enemy that had been done to him, actually being in here and presiding over the torture of another¡­it was not to his taste. ¡°Major Kenth Baxtra,¡± Vim said, glancing down at the file on the desk. ¡°That¡¯s your name, correct?¡± ¡°It is, you despicable fucking Gnome!¡± he screamed. His fingers were bloodied, his eyes bruised, and he was missing three teeth. ¡°You¡¯ll pay for what you did to our king and our people! The Gods will avenge us!¡± Vim sighed, though not in response to the man¡¯s invective but because Fylwen appeared to be growing impatient. She was leaning against the wall here in this dark interrogation room that had originally served as an intelligence bunker in central Shadowfall Coast. ¡°I grow tired of this human,¡± she said. ¡°Let us remove an eye or perhaps a testicle and see if he feels like speaking.¡± ¡°Can we not?¡± Vim asked. She glared at him. ¡°Oh? Is that a degree of softness I detect in you, Sir Alazar?¡± ¡°Yeah, but never from the waist down.¡± ¡°From the¡­?¡± Her glare deepened. ¡°You vulgar little man!¡± Vim choked out a laugh. ¡°I am what I am.¡± Walking over to the table, where the level-1 human was handcuffed and shackled, Vim took a seat across from him. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t want to be in here doing this. If you just tell us where the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s surviving members are hiding in the city, we can let you go.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°Should you provide the information we want, your life shall be spared.¡± The man, Kenth Baxtra, recoiled in his chair, his teeth actually chattering with fear. ¡°You¡¯re lying!¡± Vim shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not. She is, clearly. She definitely intends to kill you. I don¡¯t.¡± He recoiled further. ¡°I¡¯ll never betray my allies to an Elvish whore! A filthy, vile Elvish¡ª¡± Vim ducked as the man¡¯s head sailed over his own head before bouncing off the wall behind him and landing on the stone floor. Outraged, he stood up, threw out his arms, and shouted. ¡°You fucking moron! He was our best lead!¡± ¡°He disrespected me. And unlike you, he is fully human. That is a sin I cannot forgive.¡± Vim slapped both his palms against the wall hard enough to leave an imprint in the stone. ¡°Fylwen, if you¡¯re just going to kill everyone we interrogate as soon as they insult you, then wait outside! Gods, woman! That¡¯s the eighth one!¡± ¡°Tenth,¡± she corrected. ¡°Oh, excuse me!¡± This was so frustrating. The city was putting up more resistance than they¡¯d expected given the death of their king, and nothing short of finding the highest-ranked members of the Guild of Gentlemen embedded deep within the city was going to pacify the resistance that had begun springing up. Incredibly, the ordinary people that lived here were sheltering and actively concealing the leveled guild members who had failed to escape with their brethren and retreat back to Tomb of Fire. ¡°We need Lord Oren,¡± Vim said. ¡°I¡¯d bet anything that kid would know how to get these people to talk.¡± Fylwen¡¯s lips contorted so as to give off a look of disgust. ¡°Have you not heard? He¡¯s gone adventuring with the boy and my daughter. Imagine that! He simply abandoned his post to go play with some horse in Faded Island.¡± ¡°I know, right? What a fucking prick. But we need him. Where is Lord Kolorn Besh? I need to shout at him.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bother,¡± Fylwen said. ¡°I¡¯ve already spoken with the man several times. He himself cannot seem to recall Lord Oren.¡± This wasn¡¯t good. The man was disobeying his own guild leader. And to be honest? Vim couldn¡¯t blame him for doing so. As more reports came in detailing just how badly the Lords of Justice had actually performed in combat, it was beginning to seem like Alex Oren was the only member of their guild who could actually wield a sword properly, let alone display any semblance of competence on the battlefield. He¡¯d gone from a mere asset to the most powerful, respected, and important figure in his guild solely due to a single battle. Had it not been for his and his actions alone, the Lords of Justice would be disgraced for how miserably they¡¯d been defeated. Yet because of Lord Oren taking down more than a dozen members of the Guild of Gentlemen all on his own, the narrative emerging in the media was one that was a bit more balanced if not slightly tilting towards the negative¡ªwhich was still better than the catastrophe they would have faced. Lord Oren¡¯s heroic stand would now spare the Lords of Justice from collapsing under the weight of its failure. So of course the kid was going to do whatever he wanted from now on. He was worth more than his whole guild combined. They needed him far more than he needed them. Even still, it was really shitty of him to run off at a time like now. ¡°I need him here,¡± Vim grumbled. ¡°I need Zach, too. I thought we¡¯d be fine without him, but the situation¡¯s changed.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even get me started on him or my daughter!¡± Fylwen said in a huff. ¡°Oh, the absolute audacity of them both.¡± Vim scratched his head. ¡°Wait, I thought you were fine with them leaving?¡± ¡°At first, yes,¡± Fylwen said with a nod. ¡°And so were you. But then, when I attempted to recall them, they both ignored me.¡± ¡°Same. I had no problem with them leaving at first, but now I can¡¯t even reach them to demand they come back.¡± Right now, Kalana more so than Zach was badly needed in Shadowfall Coast. Despite the ferocious racism its inhabitants displayed to everyone who wasn¡¯t human, they for some reason did not extend this attitude towards Kalana Vayra. The girl was incredibly popular and had taken photographs with numerous inhabitants and their children, cementing her as a friendly, deeply caring figure. As strange as it was, what they really needed to keep the peace¡ªand to prevent more level 1s from needlessly dying¡ªwas to have her here so they could cry on her shoulder and tell her how sad they were feeling or whatever bullshit they needed to get off their chest. The people of the city had gone crazy, and that was no exaggeration. They had lost their Gods damned minds. Mothers were throwing their children out of windows, people were smashing every store, setting fires, looting indiscriminately. And a whole lot of them were charging at the Royal Roses, Lords of Justice, or the Elvish, basically begging to die. Fortunately, after having to put down about a thousand level-1 humans¡ªan unacceptable number given the collapse of the king¡ªeven Fylwen was starting to become disgusted with all the death. She¡¯d ordered her Elves to restrain and arrest any level 1s who attacked them. Vim, for his part, had ordered his Royal Roses to do just that from the beginning. Through it all, the people were screaming that they wanted to see Kalana. Why? Vim had no idea. For some reason, they had this idea that she would understand and empathize with their pain, and that she would be able to convince her mother to spare them their culture and their life, as it was she more so than any other whom they now feared. Mostly, though, with the Guild of Gentlemen¡¯s presence here now crushed, Vim thought they just wanted someone with authority to listen, and they wanted it to be a world-famous celebrity like Kalana Vayra. This is all their own fault, Vim thought angrily. These people are the worst. Vim looked at Fylwen. ¡°Please, no more interrogations until we get Lord Oren back.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± ¡°I¡¯m serious, Fylwen. It¡¯s getting to the point where these are just willful executions.¡± Vim turned away. What a mess things had become. In the old days, victory was victory, and war was binary: you either won the contest outright or you lost, and the judges declared the victor if for some reason it wasn¡¯t clear or decisive. Now, with conventional warfare having returned, nothing was clear anymore. It seemed like their problems were only first beginning. Chapter 174: Mare of the Primordial Void Chapter 174: Mare of the Primordial Void To truly understand all the differences between Earth as he knew it and modern-day Galterra, Jimmy would need to live here a great deal longer and do a lot more research. Until that point, he couldn¡¯t tell you with any degree of certainty the current value of a second chance. But back home? On Earth? In a world where most people didn¡¯t get a first chance, let alone a second one? It was an opportunity you¡¯d have to be a fool to squander. It would be a true test of his worth. If I fuck this up, I really am quitting for good, Jimmy promised himself. The fact I get another shot at this after not even a full day¡­I just can¡¯t screw this up. I can¡¯t! He knew he¡¯d never be able to forgive himself if he blew it a second time. How could he? It wouldn¡¯t matter what anyone said to him, either. If he had to be bailed out on another raid¡ªor worse, cost people their lives¡ªthen he was just done with this shit. Nothing would change his mind at that point. He didn¡¯t care what spawned around him or how perfect an opportunity arose. If he didn¡¯t redeem himself here and now, he was done with this. So¡­yeah, he couldn¡¯t fail. No matter what! But Zach wasn¡¯t making this very easy for him. Clearly, the kid wasn¡¯t happy, and he was definitely a little nervous despite trying to hide it. But really, Zach didn¡¯t need to be. He was getting himself all worked up over nothing. From the overly serious look in his eyes to the way he was staring at the T9 boss, his reaction was just so unnecessary. And the only reason he was even stressing like this was because he just didn¡¯t understand what Jimmy actually wanted from him; instead, he was drawing conclusions and getting way ahead of himself. The same was true of Kalana, who was also starting to freak out a bit. At the moment, the Elvish girl was alternating between yelling at Jimmy and volunteering to ¡°take Zach''s place.¡± This naturally led to Zach starting an argument with her, insisting that such an idea was flat-out not an option. Obviously, that only caused them to argue even more. But both of them were totally misunderstanding things, yet it was difficult for Jimmy to explain this to them while they were too busy yelling at one another. It also didn¡¯t help that the rest of the raid had begun demanding answers from him while he was busy trying to get Zach and Kalana¡¯s attention. ¡°Nah-uh,¡± Kalana said to Zach, her tone adamant. She was responding to something Jimmy hadn¡¯t managed to overhear. ¡°This isn¡¯t an argument,¡± Zach replied to her. ¡°Enough, Kal!¡± ¡°It is an argument,¡± she insisted. ¡°Baby, you¡¯re not fighting that thing alone. I won¡¯t let you! Either you let me help, or umm, or I¡¯ll fight it all by myself.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere near that fucking thing. Look, Jimmy knows what he¡¯s doing. I don¡¯t know why he needs me, but I¡¯m willing to trust him on this.¡± Kalana stood her ground. ¡°Okay, well um, does Jimmy know that right now you can¡¯t even do your special power thingy and won¡¯t be able to do it again until tomorrow?¡± Zach, whose index finger was lifted as though he were about to confidently say something in reply, lowered his hand and seemed to freeze for a few seconds before saying, ¡°That¡¯s actually a good point. Maybe Jimmy doesn¡¯t realize that I can¡¯t use my Unleashed Phase.¡± ¡°Even if he does, I still don¡¯t care. I¡¯m not just gonna sit back and let you¡ª¡± ¡°Kalana, Zach, please!¡± Jimmy shouted. ¡°Will both of you just listen to me for fuck¡¯s sake!¡± They turned their heads his way. Having finally managed to draw their attention, Jimmy realized he might only be able to hold it for a fleeting moment, so he acted quickly. He made a waving-off gesture with both his hands and said, ¡°I do not want Zach to fight the boss, so this whole conversation is a dumb waste of time.¡± There was silence from the two of them for about eight consecutive, uninterrupted seconds, and then Kalana squinted as though confused, and so too did Zach. ¡°You don¡¯t?¡± she asked. ¡°No, Kalana. In fact, I don¡¯t even need him to go anywhere near that thing.¡± Jimmy pointed at it. ¡°I only need his war mount. That¡¯s the only thing he¡¯s got that I care about right now.¡± Zach looked puzzled, but also relieved. ¡°Wait, really?¡± he asked. ¡°My Kralzek¡¯s Beast is all you actually need from me?¡± ¡°Yes! But you two just keep on yelling and shit and I can¡¯t get a word in.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Zach whispered. Then, once again speaking at a normal volume, he asked, ¡°But why do you need my war mount?¡± ¡°Because,¡± Jimmy explained, ¡°it¡¯s the highest level ¡®thing¡¯ we have that can¡¯t feel pain.¡± ¡°And that matters because¡­?¡± Jimmy grinned. Finally, a question he actually wanted to answer. But rather than reply directly to Zach, he spoke over the Comm, as this concerned the entire raid. ¡°Summon your mount, Zach. I¡¯ll explain while we get things going.¡± Thankfully, Zach cooperated without a fuss, and he activated his ability. Now, standing beside him on all fours was a massive cat covered in orange and black stripes; two large teeth jutted out from its mouth, which seemed to release a constant drip of drool that ran down both of its cheeks. It was a vicious, dangerous-looking tiger, and it was also the highest-level entity here on the raid with them.
HP 225,000/225,000
Name Kralzek¡¯s Beast
Level 85
¡°There we go,¡± Jimmy said, smiling appreciatively at the creature. The sight of it lifted his spirits to such an extent he even reached out and pet it despite it being a non-sentient, mindless pet mob. Meeting Zach¡¯s eyes, he said, ¡°This thing might be able to get us through the entire raid all on its own. I mean, probably not, but there¡¯s at least a chance.¡± ¡°But how?¡± Zephyr asked¡ªalong with like twenty other adventurers. ¡°Jimmy, I realize a level-85 NPC is a great asset to have on a raid, but what makes this thing so special?¡± ¡°Like I was just telling Zach: the fact it can¡¯t feel pain.¡± Jimmy could tell that his words were not alleviating any confusion, but they were going to understand soon enough. Interestingly, even Lord Oren didn¡¯t seem like he had figured out Jimmy¡¯s intentions yet. Jimmy half expected him to work it out just based on what had already been said. From the way his face was angled downwards as though deep in concentration, the man was probably trying to do just that. But Jimmy was planning on elaborating in any case. ¡°Everybody who has a DS, cast it on Zach¡¯s mount,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°As in, right now. I¡¯m sure at least some of them must stack. For this to work, I think we need about five of them. If they don¡¯t stack, then we can forget this little plan, but I think a few will, and it¡¯s definitely worth trying. Oh, and don¡¯t worry about overriding anyone else¡¯s DS, either. I¡¯m pretty sure the strongest ones always take priority. Okay, let¡¯s get to it. Start casting.¡± Jimmy waited. And then he waited some more. But nobody was casting anything. ¡°Well?¡± ¡°¡­uh, what¡¯s a DS?¡± Donovan grunted over the Comm. ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s that?¡± asked Lienne. Jimmy exhaled slowly and reminded himself to be patient with them all. ¡°It¡¯s just short for damage shield. Now, come on, let¡¯s cast ¡®em. Everybody, start dropping them on the Kralzek¡¯s Beast.¡± Like before, Jimmy waited¡ªand then he continued to wait. But ten seconds came and went, and still nobody had cast a single spell. ¡°Come on, guys, what the hell? Cast them!¡± ¡°We¡¯re not sure what you want from us,¡± Alixa said. ¡°Or at least I¡¯m not. Am I the only one who has no idea what he¡¯s talking about?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t either,¡± Reni said. ¡°Same,¡± agreed Frederick Britethorn as well as his wife. ¡°I don¡¯t either,¡± Zach whispered to him off-Comm. He and Donovan had moved much closer to him now that Lord Oren had been assigned to a group on the other end of the street. Jimmy looked around¡ªfirst at Zach, and then at many of the other various adventurers. He felt himself abruptly entering into a state of total disbelief. ¡°Okay, time out for a second,¡± he said. ¡°Time out. Are you telling me we got over a hundred got-dang adventurers here, and not one of you has a damage shield? Really? That can¡¯t be. There¡¯s just no way.¡± ¡°Jimmy,¡± Mr. Oren said, ¡°is it possible whatever you¡¯re referring to is something you know by a different name than we do?¡± Jimmy thought on the question, and his enthusiasm returned straight away. ¡°Oh yeah! You¡¯re right. Maybe you guys call it something else here.¡± ¡°Can you describe the type of ability it is?¡± ¡°Uh, yeah. In most simulations, it usually has the same kind of name, like, uh, I dunno, ¡®Shield of Thorns¡¯ or ¡®Ward of Bramble¡¯ or some kinda shit like that. It¡¯s basically a buff that makes the enemy get hurt whenever it hits you. So if you fail to evade or whatever and you get hurt, at least the mob also takes a few points of¡ª¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve got something like that!¡± Alixa said excitedly. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard the term ¡®damage shield¡¯ before, but way back when I hit level 11, I got a buff called ¡®Embrace of Wind¡¯s Fury¡¯ that does damage to any target that lands an attack on whoever¡¯s buffed. I¡¯ve maybe used it once or twice in my life.¡± ¡°I have a spell like that too,¡± Emala said. She began laughing. ¡°It¡¯s called something very similar to what you said: Coat of Thorns. That¡¯s amazing how close you were, Jimmy!¡± Jimmy spread his palms. ¡°Eh, they always have names like that.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve also got one,¡± Zephyr added. ¡°I actually forgot all about it. No one ever uses those.¡± ¡°Yeah, I bet,¡± Jimmy said. ¡°Because you all feel pain when you get hit, and the damage returned to the enemy is usually so minor that it probably isn¡¯t worth the exertion if the only way to really make use of it is to let yourself get hit on purpose. I¡¯m sure you guys all probably think it¡¯s a useless spell¡ªbut it¡¯s not.¡± ¡°So, um, what does this have to do with Zach¡¯s mount?¡± Kalana asked. ¡°What is it you¡¯re planning?¡± Before Jimmy could reply, Lord Oren snapped his fingers, and the sound of it came through over the Comm. ¡°Of course! I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t see where you were going with this. That¡¯s brilliant, Jimmy. I never would¡¯ve come up with that.¡± ¡°Come up with what?¡± demanded Maric, Alixa, and a whole bunch of other adventurers. ¡°Jimmy¡¯s planning to send in Zach¡¯s level-85 mount and have it deliberately take hits from the boss in the hope that the reflected damage won¡¯t have a ¡®type¡¯ and therefore it cannot become immune to it. In that case, all we¡¯d have to do is use heal-over-time buffs supported by rotating heals to keep it alive. Am I correct, Jimmy?¡± ¡°Yep. That¡¯s what I¡¯m going for.¡± Zach looked over to his large, drooling war mount and then he again regarded Jimmy. ¡°Mr. Oren¡¯s right,¡± he said. ¡°You really are brilliant when it comes to this stuff.¡± Jimmy laughed. ¡°I¡¯m not actually brilliant. Ya¡¯ll just think that ¡®cause you don¡¯t know what I know. Believe it or not, this is actually a really common cheese tactic. There used to be this uh¡­this ¡®simulation¡¯ called Dark Age of Camelot, right? And if you got ML9 and threw a DS on your pet, you could solo ML10 bosses and farm the rarest loot in the¡­in the simulation. That game wasn¡¯t for me, though. Too much PVP. But if you liked PVP, the RVR¡ªrealm vs. realm¡ªwas apparently the best of its kind. I can¡¯t tell you how many times people would be like, ¡®Damn, Jimmy. WOW PVP is trash since they nerfed DKs. You need to get into Dark Age.¡¯ And I¡¯d just be like, ¡®Yeah, but that¡¯s for tryhards anyway.¡¯ I gotta be real with you guys: I can¡¯t stand PVP elitists. Those bitches always acting like they somehow superior or more skilled. Like, try taking down OG Yogg-Saron and then talk shit. Actually, a long time ago, my friend Marcus, uh¡­¡± Jimmy trailed off and then felt awkward and a fair bit embarrassed as he realized everyone was giving him the craziest looks: like just the craziest looks. Even Zach. The fact nobody was saying anything somehow made it even worse. Jimmy licked his lips and then released a nervous laugh. ¡°Yeah, forget all that, sorry. Anyways, damage shields. Yeah. They¡¯re good.¡± Zach stared at him a moment as if to ensure he was okay. But this expression quickly shifted to one that looked a great deal more devious. ¡°So wait,¡± he said over the Comm, ¡°if my mount is doing a hundred percent of the work¡­¡± ¡°Zach,¡± Kalana grumbled. ¡°¡­does that mean I get a hundred percent of the loot?¡± Jimmy rolled his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re forgetting it¡¯s also gonna be buffed and healed.¡± ¡°Okay, so then it should be split just between me and the people who do that and nobody else, right?¡± Jimmy shrugged. ¡°If you want. I really don¡¯t care.¡± Having always had such a relaxed attitude regarding loot¡ªboth here and in the games on Earth¡ªJimmy tended to forget how crazy people could get over boss drops. This, he was now reminded of as almost every adventurer at once exploded in protest and outrage. Even Fiona Darkmae and her guild members were waving their arms around and making a bunch of noise. It got so bad that Donovan and Zephyr had to step in; it served as a warning to Jimmy that, if he screwed up at any point, they¡¯d be quick to seize back control. They say they¡¯ve given me sole control of the raid, he thought, but I know now that I can¡¯t take them at their word. If they think I¡¯m failing, they¡¯ll grab control. For the time being, he decided to let them do their thing. After all, he should¡¯ve been more careful about how he replied to Zach¡¯s greedy request, so it was his own fault that Donovan and Zephyr now had to calm the situation down. It was a reminder that he needed to stay on his game and be more careful about what he said. ¡°Everybody, pipe down!¡± Donovan shouted¡ªand they obeyed. Then Donovan marched over to Zach, who was only a few feet away. ¡°Kiddo, don¡¯t start your shit! Everybody who¡¯s here gets to roll.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Zach said. Donovan¡¯s lips twitched, and for just an instant, the look on his face changed from stern to amused. He then spoke to Zach off-Comm. ¡°You¡¯re a little prick sometimes, but I still prefer this version of you to the one Alex wants to mold. This is the real you.¡± He then gave Zach a friendly pat on the shoulder¡ªor at least Jimmy assumed it was friendly. It looked hard enough to leave a bruise, and it caused Zach to wince. With that little moment of tension behind them, Jimmy asked them to begin buffing. Then he stood back and watched as spells came in from seemingly every direction. It began with a wave-shaped beam of dark green energy that popped up into the air about ten feet above the mount and then struck down at the Kralzek¡¯s Beast; immediately after contact, the beam turned into a silk-like substance that spread all over its body before changing yet again into a bunch of thorns that covered it all over. After a few seconds, these thorns vanished, and now, there was an up-arrow near its name, reminding Jimmy that NPCs, unlike biological beings, always had their list of buffs and debuffs visible for anyone to see.
Name Coat of Thorns
Effect Increases user¡¯s armor by 25; when struck, a small portion of damage is reflected back upon the attacker.
Duration 9:59
An instant after this buff came in, more were quick to follow. One looked like a nest of bees buzzing around, and then the one after that consisted of a bunch of hollow swords that floated above the mount and spun around and around before disappearing. This one actually overwrote the previous one, but both seemed to stack with Emala¡¯s ¡°Coat of Thorns.¡± This meant that at least two could be stacked at once.
Name Protection of Blades
Effect Any time user is struck by a melee attack, the attacker suffers damage that scales with the attacker¡¯s maximum HP.
Duration 19:59
The next buff to come in overwrote Emala¡¯s. Jimmy wasn¡¯t sure who cast it, but it looked pretty cool, visually speaking. It began with a rotating mirror that descended upon the Kralzek¡¯s Beast, stopping just above its head. Then it exploded into what looked like thousands of shards of glass, each one vanishing upon contact with the street or with the mount. As Jimmy read over the description, it made perfect sense to him why this buff in particular had overwritten Coat of Thorns but not Protection of Blades. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
Name Armor of Fractured Glass
Effect Increases user¡¯s armor by 35; when struck, a small portion of damage is reflected back upon the attacker.
Duration 14:59
More and more came in, with most coming from the support, healers, and mages, but a few even coming from the tanks and DPS. Finally, when all was said and done, the Kralzek¡¯s Beast had six DS buffs in total all stacked together. Jimmy was pleased with this result; it would definitely give them a leg up in the fight. Hopefully, a big one. ¡°Now what?¡± Zach asked over the Comm. ¡°Now do the same thing you guys just did, but this time with HOTs and every other buff you have. Just drop everything you have on it.¡± He grinned. ¡°This should look cool.¡± And it really did, though in a messy kind of way. Jimmy watched in awe as a storm of magic exploded, rained down, swirled around, or in some cases rose up from below, with all of it targeting the level-85 saber-toothed tiger. Within an instant, it became impossible to distinguish any one effect from another, as it created one giant circus of sounds and sights that looked to Jimmy like a drunken God creating a universe of chaos. Amid screens of smoke, mist, fire, and even some water, there were random things everywhere like ticking clocks, floating weapons, and showers of sparks. But eventually, all of it disappeared, and now the Kralzek¡¯s Beast had so many up-arrows that there were more than four rows of them stacked one on top of the other spanning the entire length of its name. With that, Jimmy looked over his shoulder and at the T9 boss waiting behind him just one street down. It stood there motionless, waiting for someone to come along and challenge it. How many years had it taken for that thing to spawn? Some of the bosses here in Galterra redefined the very meaning of the term ¡°rare spawn,¡± as Jimmy had come to learn it wasn¡¯t unheard of for things to only pop every few-thousand years. This, he was willing to bet, was one of them.
HP 13,225,000/13,225,000
Name (T9) Mare of the Primordial Void
Level 85
¡°Oh, I almost forgot,¡± Kalana said over the Comm. ¡°Jimmy, there¡¯s something everybody wanted me to give you.¡± Before Jimmy could ask what she was talking about, Donovan said, ¡°Let him earn it.¡± ¡°He¡¯d probably prefer it that way, actually,¡± agreed Zephyr. ¡°Besides, that¡¯ll just distract him right now.¡± Kalana pouted. ¡°It¡¯s going to him no matter what. Everyone on the raid last night agreed.¡± Zach raised his eyebrow as though curious. ¡°What¡¯s going to him?¡± the kid asked. ¡°Is it¡­is it loot?¡± ¡°Yep. For Jimmy! Not you. You already have one!¡± ¡°I do? What is it?¡± Jimmy immediately became intrigued, but he knew Donovan and Zephyr were right. This wasn¡¯t the right time for this. Also, he didn¡¯t deserve anything from the raid since he¡¯d nearly died and had almost gotten others killed along with him. ¡°Tell me about it after we beat this thing,¡± he said. Excitement beginning to rush through him, he clapped his hands together. ¡°All right, guys. It looks like we¡¯re all ready to go. But I gotta warn you: there¡¯s almost no chance this is going to work for very long. So everybody should be prepared to engage the boss. Okay? Good. Now, anybody got anything they wanna say or ask before we start? Last chance.¡± Looking around at the various groups of adventurers all over the street, it seemed that nobody had anything left to say¡ªno one except Lord Oren, who gently stroked his chin as if deep in thought even while he spoke. ¡°Jimmy,¡± he began, ¡°on this point, I¡¯m fairly sure you¡¯re worrying over nothing.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong: being cautious is always the correct decision, especially when facing a T9. But one thing that¡¯s absolutely certain is that bosses¡ªor mobs¡ªcannot ever be immune to their own reflected damage. Since these buffs are merely returning damage, I can confidently say you¡¯re wrong to think the Mare of the Primordial Void will gain immunity to the damage shields.¡± Jimmy tilted his head to the side. ¡°Huh? When did I say it would?¡± ¡°Well¡­you didn¡¯t, but I assume that¡¯s what you¡¯re referring to when you say this won¡¯t last?¡± ¡°Huh? Uh, no, of course not. Obviously, I know that won¡¯t happen.¡± Now, it was Lord Oren who sounded confused. ¡°Then what makes you think we can¡¯t utilize this strategy to take the boss all the way from full HP to zero?¡¯ Jimmy chuckled. ¡°Oh, anti-cheese mechanics, obviously.¡± ¡°Anti-what?¡± barked out Donovan as though alarmed. ¡°The fuck is that? And why are we only first hearing about this now?¡± ¡°What do you mean? I told you guys from the start not to expect Zach¡¯s pet to solo the entire raid¡ªthat it was possible but also unlikely yet still worth trying anyway.¡± ¡°But you never mentioned any kind of ¡®anti-cheese¡¯ mechanic!¡± Ophelia Graven fired in, sounding aggrieved of all things. ¡°Whoah, chill, damn. It was implied. I clearly said from the start that this probably won¡¯t work for long. I¡¯m not holding back important information from you guys, seriously.¡± Someone else began to speak, but Lord Oren interrupted them, albeit politely. ¡°Excuse me one moment, but please let me ask Jimmy something.¡± The adventurer who¡¯d been speaking swore at Lord Oren but then quickly acquiesced. There seemed to be a newfound fear of him as a result of his earlier violence towards Donovan. ¡°Jimmy,¡± Lord Oren continued, ¡°if you¡¯re agreeing with me that the boss can¡¯t become immune to its own damage, then how, exactly, will this initial plan fail? What I mean by that is what specific thing are you claiming might happen?¡± Jimmy understood his confusion. In all honesty, he really needed to do better when it came to assuming that the adventurers knew almost nothing at all. Waiting for the few chattering voices to quiet over the Comm, he addressed Lord Oren directly. ¡°Okay, so to start, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s gonna ¡®fail¡¯ exactly. In this context, ¡®success¡¯ means doing a fair chunk of damage to it. And as far as how it¡¯ll come to an end? That¡¯s simple. The Kralzek¡¯s Beast is just gonna die.¡± Lord Oren seemed taken aback, because he spoke half a word and then stopped speaking, pausing for a few seconds before trying again. ¡°That¡¯s not very clear, Jimmy. Die to what?¡± ¡°To nothing. It¡¯ll just die.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid I still don¡¯t understand.¡± Jimmy sighed, trying not to become frustrated. ¡°Look, at some point during the fight, if this thing really is like a ¡®real¡¯ raid boss and not the bullshit you guys have been fighting all your life¡ªand hey, I got no idea if that¡¯s the case, I¡¯m just over here guessing¡ªbut if this horse thing¡¯s the real deal, then after the Kralzek¡¯s Beast does a certain amount of damage, the anti-cheese mechanism is gonna kick in, and it¡¯s just gonna die. There might be an attack of some sort, maybe. I don¡¯t know how it¡¯ll go down exactly. But it''s just gonna die.¡± ¡°Meaning it¡¯ll be too difficult to keep the mount alive?¡± ¡°Nah, man, you¡¯re not listening. It¡¯s just gonna insta-die. Just¡­you just have to see it, okay? Everybody, please stop worrying so damn much. I¡¯m on my game today. This ain¡¯t gonna be like last night. I¡¯m staking everything on this.¡± ¡°If you say so,¡± Lord Oren relented, now sounding a touch nervous. This seemed unlike him, but since Jimmy didn¡¯t know him all that well, he actually couldn¡¯t really say that for certain. It was just a sense he got. It was also a quickly growing vibe, as everyone from Zach to Donovan now appeared to be a bit uneasy with the raid. Jimmy knew he needed to kick things off before anybody got cold feet and decided to back out. ¡°Okay,¡± he said, turning his body around so that he faced the large T9 mare one street down. ¡°Everybody follow me.¡± Without even looking behind to ensure they followed, Jimmy began strolling his way closer to the boss. Thankfully, after proceeding a few slow, calm steps in its direction, he heard the patter of more than a hundred pairs of feet hurrying after him. And so he continued on, leading them closer and closer to the raid boss. As he ventured nearer, he quickly surveyed the scenery around him. The devastation the boss had caused thus far was impossible to ignore. Reaching the end of the street and the start of the next one, Jimmy stepped over a downed street light then maneuvered around an overturned, partially crushed DEHV. To his left was a shipping and postal outlet missing most of its roof, and to his right was the bar he¡¯d been drinking in all night; though the structure itself remained standing, the window above the entrance door was shattered and the entire inside looked like someone had set off a stick of dynamite. Most likely, the T9¡¯s lasers had blown through the window and had detonated the inside of the bar. I liked that place, Jimmy thought. I hope I¡¯m not the reason it got destroyed. Though he felt slightly guilty, Jimmy knew that, even if he¡¯d called the adventurers over more quickly, it still likely wouldn¡¯t have made all that much of a difference, so he put the bar out of his mind and kept his focus on the boss up ahead. With the raid still following behind him in formation, he continued to amble towards the massive equine superboss until he was just outside of its aggro range, which the Explorer¡¯s Brigade had marked with red chalk that ran from one side of the sidewalk, all the way across the street, and then to the other. ¡°Zach,¡± Jimmy said over the Comm, ¡°you¡¯re up!¡± ¡°Got it. Uh, so do you just want me to go ahead and send it in?¡± ¡°Yeah. Have your pet attack the raid boss and then just leave it be. Everybody else: just chill for now. Nobody should be doing anything other than rebuffing or casting small heals on it with careful rotation to avoid picking up aggro. Actually, you know what? Don¡¯t heal it unless it falls below 50% HP. Otherwise, let the HOTs do their job.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± several of the healers in the back row sounded off. To his right, Jimmy saw Zach appear beside him. The kid stopped just before the red chalk line that represented the point of aggro. Once there, he turned his head towards Jimmy and gave him a brief, but powerful nod. Jimmy returned it. And now, the feeling of excitement but also tension became so strong that Jimmy wondered if everyone else was feeling it as well, as it seemed to come from the very atmosphere. ¡°Okay,¡± Zach said, ¡°I¡¯m ordering it to attack.¡± The moment Zach spoke those words, a total and complete silence filled the destroyed market square, one that was incredibly brief and lasted no longer than one or two seconds. Yet for just that short time, Jimmy felt as if his heart had given up beating as he held his breath and the muscles all over his body involuntarily tightened. And none of this was due to any kind of fear of the boss itself. No, what Jimmy feared was failure¡ªshame. I can¡¯t fuck this up! Breaking this short moment of silence, Zach¡¯s Kralzek¡¯s Beast suddenly released a vicious, angry roar, and then it began to run forward at the boss. The moment its front paws crossed the red chalk line, the boss seemingly awakened, letting out a rival cry of its own, in this case being an angry neigh. Now, it too moved towards Zach¡¯s mount. The result was that both met somewhere in the middle, and with that, the battle at last began¡ªand it was the saber-toothed cat that struck first. Releasing another growl, the tremendously buffed cat lifted its front-right paw and took a mean swipe at the boss. Despite being such a large creature, it was still barely a rodent compared to the two-story-tall Mare of the Primordial Void, and so its razor-sharp claws came in just above the horse boss¡¯s front-left hoof. The boss released another, pained-sounding neigh as the Kralzek¡¯s Beast cut into is nightmarishly dark flesh. 3,119 For a T9 boss with a level equivalent to 310, that was actually a great deal of damage¡ªfar more than Jimmy would¡¯ve expected, even from a level-85 pet. But it had so many buffs right now that, if Jimmy were to kneel down in front of the mount, they would actually block his vision of the world ahead. The Kralzek¡¯s Beast had so many damn buffs it was almost impossible to keep track of them all. Jimmy was therefore content to simply assume that every single one of its stats was now elevated along with its defenses and any manner of other capabilities. But that¡¯s not what I care about, he told himself. Intensely, he watched as the Mare of the Primordial Void lifted up off its hind legs and prepared to stomp down. I care about what happens next. Jimmy did not so much as blink as he watched the boss slam its front two hooves down upon Zach¡¯s war mount, causing a loud crunching bang to emanate and the level-85, saber-toothed cat to become slammed down into a newly formed crater several feet deep. It also suffered 92,155 damage¡ªnearly half of its HP. But this, too, was also not what Jimmy was focused on. Crossing his fingers, he glanced above the T9 mare¡¯s head. And then he saw what he was looking for. 1,922 2,092 3,651 3,211 2,762 2,051 All at once, the various damage shields on the mount activated in response to the attack on the Kralzek''s Beast, and each one nipped away at the massive T9 mare that had attacked it. Exactly as Jimmy had intended. The Kralzek¡¯s Beast attacked a second time, cutting deeply into the same hoof and adding another 3,004 damage. In the same instant that its attack connected, the various HOTs cast on it ticked, healing back nearly half the HP it¡¯d lost¡ªall of which was soon ripped away from it and then some as it suffered an additional 101,422 damage as the boss stomped down on the war mount yet again¡ªcausing the boss to neigh in pain as the six DS buffs inflicted their retaliatory damage against it. But of concern was the mount, which was now badly injured despite being buffed to the max.
HP 77,500/225,000
Name Kralzek¡¯s Beast
Level 85
¡°Dex, Florala, throw a small heal on it!¡± Jimmy shouted. ¡°On it!¡± A moment later, dual splashes of mist, one colored blue and one colored green, caused the mount to turn from a bloodied, badly crushed mess into a banged up but functional-looking predator. Then another tick from the HOTs came in, and now it was back to around 80% of its max HP. It retaliated, swiping again at the T9 mare, and it scored its most powerful blow yet, dealing 4,100 damage. ¡°Put it on passive and have it stand in place, Zach.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t want the boss to gain melee DPS immunity and power up just yet. Especially since your pet has already got aggro and it should be able to maintain it now with just the damage from the DS.¡± ¡°Gotcha.¡± The Kralzek¡¯s Beast, which was actually mid-attack, having raised its paw as though winding up another slice, abruptly lowered it back down and remained perfectly still and inactive as the horse stomped on it again, dealing 97,211 damage and suffering another round of DS counter damage. And now, after an apprehensive start to things, Jimmy could feel a general sense of excitement beginning to fill the air as the boss¡¯s HP began to steadily drop lower and lower each time it struck the Kralzek¡¯s Beast.
HP 13,167,710/13,225,000
Name (T9) Mare of the Primordial Void
Level 85
¡°I can¡¯t fuckin¡¯ believe what I¡¯m seeing,¡± Donovan said. ¡°How did the kid come up with something like this?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe it either,¡± Reni agreed. ¡°Are we seriously watching a T9 raid boss kill its own self on a passive pet?¡± A roar of cheers and applause erupted from the currently idle adventurers. ¡°This is one of the most spectacular and unbelievable things I¡¯ve ever seen in all my years raiding,¡± Zephyr said. ¡°My mind is blown.¡± ¡°Same here,¡± agreed Maric. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this is actually happening!¡± Jimmy laughed. ¡°Just don¡¯t get too comfortable. I¡¯m telling y¡¯all, this ain¡¯t gonna last.¡± ¡°It will,¡± Lord Oren said confidently. ¡°Don¡¯t be so pessimistic. You¡¯ve somehow come up with a¡­a bypass to raiding. It¡¯s like a¡­a¡­¡± For once, the guy seemed to be struggling to complete a thought, but Jimmy knew why. In this world, they didn¡¯t have words for it, so Jimmy decided to help him out a bit. ¡°A cheat code,¡± he finished. ¡°A what?¡± ¡°Or you can call it an exploit. But that¡¯s what we¡¯d have called it on Earth.¡± ¡°I see¡­well, either way, don¡¯t sell yourself short. This is incredible, Jimmy. It¡¯s losing HP at a steady clip, and the majority of us haven¡¯t had to lift a finger. Truly astounding.¡±
HP 13,017,006/13,225,000
Name (T9) Mare of the Primordial Void
Level 85
The adventurers released another round of cheering, and this one was even louder than the last. But rather than elevate Jimmy¡¯s mood, it actually had the opposite effect, causing him to worry. ¡°You guys aren¡¯t listening to me,¡± he said, feeling just a little bit nervous by their collective reaction. ¡°How many times do I gotta tell you: don¡¯t expect this to last. I¡¯m not just being dramatic. If this was any modern simulation from my time, this kind of shit wouldn¡¯t work on an end-game boss like this. It just wouldn¡¯t. The boss would detect what we were doing and kill every pet in the encounter.¡± ¡°I only understood half of that,¡± Rian said, ¡°but I just don¡¯t see why we should expect anything to change.¡± ¡°As of now, I don¡¯t think we should,¡± Lord Oren said. ¡°Of course, we should still take the possibility very seriously, but I¡¯ve been raiding a long time, and I¡¯ve never encountered the kind of behavior Jimmy is describing.¡± ¡°Are you guys seriously doubting me?¡± Jimmy asked, becoming defensive. ¡°Not at all,¡± Lord Oren replied. ¡°I fully respect you and the simulations you¡¯ve trained on. I¡¯m not at all discounting the value of your experience. Let¡¯s not forget: it¡¯s the only reason we have any idea what elemental shifting is, after all.¡± ¡°Then why do you think I¡¯m wrong about this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I think you¡¯re wrong or you¡¯re right. Either could be the case. I¡¯m merely siding with one possibility being far more likely than the other. The behavior you described is counterintuitive and also antithetical to what I think any of us have experienced before.¡± ¡°Because ya¡¯ll haven¡¯t seen shit,¡± Jimmy grumbled. He shook his head. ¡°Look, I hope it stays this simple. I really do. But just be ready to take this thing on properly.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Donovan agreed with a grunt. ¡°But what you said would happen¡ªthat the boss is just gonna fuckin¡¯ insta-kill the mount out of nowhere with no warning or whatever. That¡¯s real specific, Jimmy. In a way that makes it sound more like a wild guess.¡± Jimmy opened his mouth to defend himself, but then he closed it, as it turned out he didn¡¯t need to. Zach, it seemed, was willing to speak up on his behalf, which he appreciated. ¡°Jimmy¡¯s going to turn out right,¡± he said. ¡°When I first entered Trials of Nolak with him, he was saying things that were so specific and so exact I couldn¡¯t believe them at first. Like, he said that a boulder would roll down a wall and then we¡¯d fall through the floor and enter another area¡ªand that was exactly what happened. So if Jimmy says my pet¡¯s going to die out of nowhere, it probably will.¡± ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right,¡± Zephyr said, a hum following his words. ¡°It¡¯s just that it¡¯s so exact that it sounds more like a man¡¯s attempt at telling a fortune or a prophecy than a realistic outlook of raid progress.¡± Jimmy turned over his palms. ¡°Whatever, guys.¡±
HP 12,992,121/13,225,000
Name (T9) Mare of the Primordial Void
Level 85
¡°I¡¯m not gonna sit here and keep trying to convince you of shit.¡±
HP 12,881,772/13,225,000
Name (T9) Mare of the Primordial Void
Level 85
¡°It¡¯s either gonna happen,¡± he began as the horse boss continued to stomp on and pummel the level-85 war mount, suffering the consequences of doing so each time.
HP 12,573,200/13,225,000
Name (T9) Mare of the Primordial Void
Level 85
¡°Or it¡¯s not gonna ha¡ª¡± Out of nowhere, while Jimmy was still speaking, and with a speed far faster than anything the boss had thus far shown itself capable of, the black horse leapt up into the air and then dove back down to the ground, landing with so much force on top of the Kralzek¡¯s Beast that it caused two nearby, still-standing buildings to crumble into a pile of bricks, stone, and wood just from their mere proximity to the resulting tremor. 999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999
HP 0/225,000
Name Kralzek¡¯s Beast
Level 85
Three sounds filled the world at the same time: a multitude of horrified gasps from the raiding party, a bang as the boss smashed through the road and made dual, hoof-shaped indents into the ground nearly ten feet deep, and finally, a loud, defiant, but admittedly arrogant ¡°hah!¡± as Jimmy pointed at Zach¡¯s deceased mount, which was crushed so terribly it looked more like some kind of massive, soggy rug than a tiger¡ªat least until it disappeared a few seconds later. Now, Jimmy shook his finger wildly at the boss, and he shouted, ¡°I fucking told your asses! I told you! Now who¡¯s not being realistic?¡± Was it bad that he was actually glad this happened just so he could be proven right? Probably, but I don¡¯t care! Even as Jimmy looked over his shoulder and saw the terror and disbelief popping up on so many faces, with numerous adventurers pointing at the damage number in a state of petrified shock, Jimmy couldn¡¯t help but continue to gloat. ¡°I told you!¡± He laughed like an evil villain. ¡°Ha-ha-ha! Get fuuuuuuuucked! Okay, but for real, let¡¯s get on this thing now before it aggros on Zach.¡± Zach began to take several steps backwards. ¡°Oh, shit! I think it already is. Yeah, I have aggro!¡± ¡°Zach!¡± Kalana cried out. She rushed to his side, and so too did Donovan, Zephyr, Rian, Seiley, and Trelvor as the T9 superboss began charging forward. In hindsight, Jimmy probably should have been applying his slow to it all this time in anticipation of this moment. He chided himself for nothing thinking of doing so. This thing moved fast without it. It entered into a full-on gallop and began rushing at Zach. The situation becoming much more serious, Jimmy ceased his laughter and stood up straighter. He waved his hand at the raid boss. ¡°Maric!¡± he called out. ¡°Rush in with your whole group and taunt! It¡¯s time to get serious!¡± ¡°On it!¡± Maric cried out as he launched himself forward. It looked like they were going to have to do things the hard way. Jimmy warned them.